Bodies of Missing Servicemembers Recovered After Helicopter Crash

Dec. 4, 2006 – Coalition forces have recovered the bodies of all three missing servicemembers lost during an emergency water landing by a helicopter yesterday.

A U.S. Marine Corps CH-46 helicopter from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing made an emergency water landing near the shore of Lake Qadisiyah in western Anbar province. Sixteen personnel were on board, including the crew. Thirteen of the individuals on board were accounted for yesterday, including the body of one Marine who was recovered from the water after the emergency landing.

The rescue effort included all available surveillance and rescue capabilities to include air, amphibious and joint pararescue teams, U.S. officials said. "We have recovered all of our comrades," Marine Lt. Col Bryan Salas said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased." Initial reports confirm the helicopter experienced mechanical difficulties and executed an emergency landing.

The incident was not a result of enemy action. The names of the service members who died are being held pending notification of next of kin.

Craddock Takes Reins of U.S. European Command

By Tech. Sgt. Devin L. Fisher, USAF

Dec. 4, 2006 – Army Gen. John Craddock took the reins of U.S. European Command during a change of command ceremony at Patch Barracks here today. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England presided over the ceremony that transferred command to Craddock from Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones, who served as the EUCOM commander since Jan. 16, 2003.

"U.S. European Command remains in strong capable hands. Our nation is blessed to have a person of (Craddock's) caliber and experience to take on this vital mantle of leadership," England said. He added that the general's 13 years of prior assignments in Europe will prove "invaluable" in this position.

The EUCOM commander's responsibility spans 92 nations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and he commands five U.S. components: U.S. Army, Europe; U.S. Navy, Europe; U.S. Air Force in Europe, U.S. Marine Forces, Europe; and Special Operations Command, Europe.

Craddock, who is the 14th EUCOM commander, ensured the European Command staff that their hard work has been noticed. "Your reputation for excellence and your extraordinary competence have been and continue to be an inspiration for all," Craddock said. "Day in and day out you provide an example of sterling professionalism to more than 90 countries."

He said he is honored and humbled to join the European Command team. "My pledge to you is to give you full measure of effort, 100 percent every day, and to lead by example from the front."

Craddock, who previously served as the commander of U.S. Southern Command, with headquarters in Miami, also will serve as the NATO supreme allied commander for Europe following a Dec. 7 change-of-command ceremony in Mons, Belgium.

"I won't forget that European Command and its components have formed the backbone of the North Atlantic Alliance," Craddock said. "Make no mistake, we will continue to work with our partners to protect the United States and our allies in the war on terrorism while at the same time laying the foundation for peace and prosperity."

England said Jones' extraordinary accomplishments and successes throughout his 40-year military career will have a lasting effect and influence on the future of NATO, European Command, the Marine Corps and the countries within the European Command theater.

"Jones is a magnificent leader and a warrior statesman in the mold of the famous George C. Marshall, but most of all he is a Marine's Marine," England said.

"Under his leadership, (European Command) has had extraordinary success in hardcore warfighting, building and strengthening partnerships from the Balkans to the countries of Africa to Iraq and Afghanistan, to the countries of the former Soviet Union, while simultaneously transforming the command itself, moving towards a more expeditionary posture," he continued. "All these efforts directly support the strategic vision of our nation and of our friends and allies for the transformation necessary to meet the security challenges of the 21st century."

The deputy defense secretary also thanked the men and women of European Command for their service. "(You) stand at the front lines of the great struggle for freedom," England said. "Thank you for your dedication, courage, service and sacrifice ... and for everything you do every day to leave a better world for our children and our grandchildren."

Jones echoed the praise. "You have been magnificent," he said. "You have performed during the most difficult and challenging time of change. You have gone through transformation of not only capabilities, but indeed of philosophy -- one that moves towards regional understanding of the 92-country area of responsibility that we've been privileged to participate in."

Jones said that in addition to reaffirming the command's role to fight and win when required, the European Command staff has added equal importance to the value of deterrence and prevention of potential conflict and confirming the command's commitment to help emerging democracies reach their full potential.

The general praised each of European Command's components and the National Guard for their contribution to the "great team effort."

Jones will retire with more than 40 years of military service after he passes his NATO command to Craddock.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff created EUCOM in 1952 to facilitate American NATO obligations by providing U.S. combat forces for the defense of Europe. The European Command's mission is to support and achieve U.S. interests and objectives throughout 92 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and portions of the Middle East. The command performs a variety of functions including planning for and conducting contingency operations such as noncombatant evacuations and humanitarian relief operations; providing combat-ready forces to both Allied Command Europe and other U.S. unified commands, and conducting intelligence activities and security assistance.

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National Guard Responds to Midwest Winter Storms

Dec. 4, 2006 – Hundreds of National Guardsmen responded over the weekend and today to devastating winter storms in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, National Guard officials reported. Missouri has 262 Guardsmen on state active duty, removing debris, providing generator support, health and welfare checks, and transportation support. Highways there are much improved, with a few closed by downed power lines and fallen trees, and 198,800 Missouri residences are still without power, officials said. Missouri has reported seven storm-related fatalities to date.

As of today, Illinois has no Guardsmen on state active duty, officials said. Over the weekend, 73 Army National Guard personnel on drill status provided emergency support coordination and operations.

Four Guardsmen in Kansas are on state active duty today, providing security for an armory that is being used by Fort Scott City Fire Department after the firehouse roof collapsed, officials said. These Guardsmen will continue their operations until tomorrow.

Winter storms hit the Midwest Nov. 30, dumping large amounts of snow from Texas to Michigan. The National Weather Service was not forecasting additional snow or ice in the affected region today, but temperatures were expected to be around freezing and to drop lower overnight.

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'Nothing Happens Until Something Moves' Illustrates TRANSCOM Mission

By Jim Garamone

Dec. 4, 2006 – A Post-It note over one of the computers in the Deployment and Distribution Operations Center here says, "Nothing happens until something moves." You get a feeling for this saying and the mission of U.S. Transportation Command at the Balad Air Base-Anaconda Logistics Support Area complex in Iraq.

Located northwest of Baghdad, the complex is the heart of logistics for coalition forces in Iraq. In 2003, it was a runway, some bombed buildings and dust. Today, it is a military city, with C-17s offloading cargo, C-130s picking up goods, a full Level-3 trauma hospital and convoys bringing all the "beans and bullets" servicemembers need to operate in a challenging environment.

But scratch the surface and you realize it's more than just the fact that goods are delivered to a combat area. What is the infrastructure behind the move? How do people on the ground know what is on the plane or in the convoy? How do they know where to send the goods once they arrive? How do they even know what is available in-country?

U.S. Transportation Command is a unified command that oversees military transportation around the world. Three service components work through the command: the Navy's Military Sealift Command, the Air Force's Air Mobility Command and the Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. In addition, the command coordinates commercial air and sea missions that help support deployments around the world.

TRANSCOM synchronizes the various means of delivering combat power. For example, an Army brigade moving to Iraq has certain transportation needs. Heavy equipment may leave the base via train. It moves to a port of embarkation and loads aboard a ship. The ship steams to the port of debarkation and off-loads. The equipment may then load aboard a heavy equipment mover for the trip to the staging base.

While this is going on, soldiers load transport containers with supplies, and trucks may haul those to ports for delivery to the staging area.

Finally, the troops themselves must move. Buses may take these soldiers to commercial aircraft that bring them to an aerial port of debarkation where they then marry up with their equipment.

But even this doesn't capture all the complications inherent in moving 3,500 soldiers and all their equipment. Someone in Transportation Command has to assess whether runways are long enough for the transport aircraft and can bear the weight of the delivery, what kind of off-loading equipment is available at the seaport, what kind of diplomatic clearances the ships and aircraft need, what navigation aids are available, and what threats exist in the region.

And the ships and planes need fuel.

All this is with what TRANSCOM officials call a "mature" receiving area, such as Kuwait. And as people and supplies transit those receiving areas on their way to the front lines, usually a unit is redeploying to its home station at the same time.

Just for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, TRANSCOM has moved more than 3.4 million passengers and 8.3 million tons of dry cargo. It has moved more than 4 billion gallons of fuel. This has meant about 2 million truck and 143,000 railcar shipments, about 71,000 airlift missions and 709 shiploads.

And this still doesn't capture the scope of the command, because the military operates in more than just the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Transportation Command has to meet the rest of the military's needs as well.

Nov. 17 was as good a day as any for a snapshot of the command. The Deployment and Distribution Operations Center was tracking 20 ships carrying Defense Department cargo. Another 20 ships carried DoD cargo in addition to commercial freight. This does not include tankers.

On that day, the center tracked more than 300 airlift missions and airlifted 6,880 passengers and 1,368 short tons of cargo around the world.

"We don't ever forget that we're a supporting - with an emphasis on the 'ing' - command," said Air Force Col. Doug Luhrsen, director of the operations center. "We work with the services and the combatant commands to get them what they need, when they need it."

With all the transportation modes at its disposal, the command must make decisions on how best to send things. "It doesn't make sense to ship Abrams tanks on C-17s," said Craig Koontz, a spokesman for the command. "You ship those by sea."

Airlift is the most responsive and flexible transportation medium, Koontz said, and sometimes a mix of modes is needed. When it became apparent that Humvees in Iraq needed to be armored, he explained, the command sent a certain number of sets via air to get the process moving forward. Once those were delivered, TRANSCOM dispatched a ship with hundreds of sets of armor. The airlifted sets allowed the process to start, the sealifted sets allowed the process to continue. There was no pause or hold-up in placing the armor on the vehicles.

"Everyone is intent on providing the best service we can for the men and women in the combat zones," Luhrsen said. "That is our core. That is why we exist."

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Scrapbook Project Helps Students Support Troops

By Samantha L. Quigley

Dec. 4, 2006 – An America Supports You corporate team member is coordinating creation of what it calls the world's largest scrapbook as a way for the nation's students to show their support for America's servicemembers. Connect and Join, an Internet-based communications company that provides a safe, secure way for families and deployed servicemembers to stay in touch, is connecting students across the country with servicemembers fighting overseas through its "Connect With the Troops" program.

The company joined America Supports You -- a Defense Department program highlighting ways Americans and the corporate sector support the nation's servicemembers -- in May.

Connect and Join's program has students creating pages that, once compiled, will create the world's largest scrapbook, Linda Dennis, Connect and Join's founder and president, said. The pages are filled with thanks and appreciation for the troops. "We are overwhelmed by the response from the classrooms of America and from the great teachers who have responded to us," she said.

The project is about 24,000 pages along, and is continuing to grow, Dennis said. Those pages are important because the country needs to keep saying, "Thank you," she added.

But servicemembers aren't the only ones who'll benefit from this project, Dennis said, noting that the students get something from it as well. "I think it gives them a great sense of pride (and) ownership in what they do," she said. "It helps them understand what freedom is and not to take it for granted."

Fifth-grade students at White Oaks Elementary School in Burke, Va., worked today to create more pages to add to the scrapbook. They brainstormed words they could use on their pages -- words like "courage," "bravery," and "freedom." Many students chose a word and broke it down, telling what each letter in the word meant to them.

The pages, a record of the students' appreciation and support of the troops, will be compiled into the "World's Largest, Now Greatest, Scrapbook" and presented to the military during halftime of the Armed Forces Bowl football game in Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 23.

The students were proud to have been able to do something for the troops. They also thought the scrapbook would boost the morale of the servicemembers who will see it.

"It feels really good that we're thanking the troops," Emma Puranen, 10, a White Oaks Elementary School fifth grader, said. Her page included sentiments like, "You must be very brave to be in Iraq. People in America are very proud of you and that (servicemembers) should never really forget that," she said.

"It's going to touch their hearts," she added. "They've been away from home for so long and I think it'll (make them) feel really good if they get some messages."

Her beliefs were confirmed when Marine Maj. Matt Morgan surprised the classes by stopping by to collect the pages the students had completed and answer their questions.

"I think any servicemember that's been overseas can tell you that you don't think too much about it," Morgan said. "But then that one day when you're at rock bottom. ... You come back in the squad tent or walk in the chow hall and you see one of these things hanging on the wall, it can mean the world for you."

"It can just turn your whole day around," he said.

Creating the scrapbook was a project that held special meaning to some of the students. Dustin Jutras, 11, lost his brother, a soldier, who died in fighting in Iraq last year. His father and his brother-in-law are both servicemembers.

Dustin he read a letter he'd written to the servicemembers as part of his scrapbook page.

"We are all so proud of you. Only the bravest of our country would fight for freedom and peace, and all of you are heroes," he read. "What you do is wonderful. My brother went to Iraq and was killed doing his job, and I know you are willing to make that sacrifice, and that is brave. Being brave leads you to victory, and I know you'll become victorious."

It was the letters he used to write to his brother that inspired him to write the current one, he said.

One teacher in particular had good reason to be enthusiastic about the project. Marion Fegley, a fifth-grade teacher at White Oaks, comes from a strong military family. One son is a soldier serving in Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division. The other son is at Fort Benning, Ga., going through Officer Candidate School, and her husband is a retired servicemember.

The scrapbook pages have not only helped her feel as though she's actively supporting her sons and the other servicemembers, but it's provided her a way to use current events as lessons in her classroom. In fact, on the schedule for language arts today was "Troops Letters."

"My classroom has many children who are connected with the military. So we do a lot of projects, and this one was near and dear to our hearts," she said. "We've asked the children to write letters (and) write poems. So they created these beautiful pages, which are going to be part of the world's largest scrapbook."

The thoughts expressed by the children amazed her, she added. "It's true and honest feelings from their hearts," she said.

It was White Oaks Elementary School's Harmony Program that got the students involved with the scrapbook project, said Robert Young, 10, whose cousin is serving in Iraq. Harmony is a program that brings together a small group of students from each of the fifth-grade classes for community service projects.

"This time is was 'The World's Greatest Scrapbook,'" he said. "I think it's great that we could give back to the soldiers, because they've done so much for us," citing defending the country and giving him someone to look up to as examples of what the troops have done for him.

The scrapbook pages are being scanned and will become a permanent part of history as part of the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project, Dennis said. About 500 schools across the country are participating in the project, she added.

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Insignia: The Way You Tell Who's Who in the Military

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

One big problem throughout military history has been identifying who's in charge. From the earliest days of warfare to the present, special rank badges meant survival. In the heat of battle, knowing who to listen to was as important as the fighting skills soldiers and sailors developed. They had to know at a glance whose shouted orders to obey.

In the earliest times, rank was not an issue. "Do what Grog says" was enough so long as everyone knew Grog. As armies and navies started growing, however, that kind of intimacy wasn't possible. The badge of rank, therefore, became important. Today's Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard rank insignia are the result of thousands of years of tradition.

Through the ages, the badge of ranks have included such symbols as feathers, sashes, stripes and showy uniforms. Even carrying different weapons has signified rank. The badges of rank have been worn on hats, shoulders and around the waist and chest.

The American military adapted most of its rank insignia from the British. Before the Revolutionary War, Americans drilled with militia outfits based on the British tradition. Sailors followed the example of the most successful navy of the time -- the Royal Navy.

So, the Continental Army had privates, sergeants, lieutenants, captains, colonels, generals, and several now-obsolete ranks like coronet, subaltern and ensign. One thing the Army didn’t have was enough money to buy uniforms.

To solve this, Gen. George Washington wrote, "As the Continental Army has unfortunately no uniforms, and consequently many inconveniences must arise from not being able to distinguish the commissioned officers from the privates, it is desired that some badge of distinction be immediately provided; for instance that the field officers may have red or pink colored cockades in their hats, the captains yellow or buff, and the subalterns green."

Even during the war, rank insignia evolved. In 1780, regulations prescribed two stars for major generals and one star for brigadiers worn on shoulder boards, or epaulettes.

The use of most English ranks carried on even after the United States won the war. The Army and Marine Corps used comparable ranks, especially after 1840. The Navy took a different route.

The rank structure and insignia continued to evolve. Second lieutenants replaced the Army's coronets, ensigns and subalterns, but they had no distinctive insignia until Congress gave them "butterbars" in 1917. Colonels received the eagle in 1832. From 1836, majors and lieutenant colonels were denoted by oak leave; captains by double silver bars -- "railroad tracks"; and first lieutenants, single silver bars.

In the Navy, captain was the highest rank until Congress created flag officers in 1857 -- before then, designating someone an admiral in the republic had been deemed too royal for the United States. Until 1857, the Navy had three grades of captain roughly equivalent to the Army's brigadier general, colonel and lieutenant colonel. Adding to the confusion, all Navy ship commanders are called "captain" regardless of rank.

With the onset of the Civil War, the highest grade captains became commodores and rear admirals and wore one-star and two-star epaulettes, respectively. The lowest became commanders with oak leaves while captains in the middle remained equal to Army colonels and wore eagles.

At the same time, the Navy adopted a sleeve-stripe system that became so complex that when David Glasgow Farragut became the service's first full admiral in 1866, the stripes on his sleeves extended from cuff to elbow. The smaller sleeve stripes used today were introduced in 1869. Chevrons are V-shaped stripes whose use in the military go back to at least the 12th century. It was a badge of honor and used in heraldry. The British and French used chevrons -- from the French word for "roof" -- to signify length of service.

Chevrons officially denoted rank in the U.S. military for the first time in 1817, when cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., wore them on their sleeves. From West Point, chevrons spread to the Army and Marine Corps. The difference then was chevrons were worn points down until 1902, when Army and Marine Corps enlisted personnel switched to the present points up configuration.

Navy and Coast Guard petty officers trace their insignia heritage to the British. Petty officers were assistants to the officers aboard ship. The title wasn't a permanent rank and the men served at the captain's pleasure. Petty officers lost their rank when the crew was paid off at the end of a voyage. In 1841, Navy petty officers received their first rank insignia -- an eagle perched on an anchor. Ratings -- job skills -- were incorporated into the insignia in 1866. In 1885, the Navy designated three classes of petty officers -- first, second and third. They added chevrons to designate the new ranks. The rank of chief petty officer was established in 1894.

During World War II, the Army adopted technician grades. Technicians of a given grade earned the same pay and wore the same insignia as equivalent noncommissioned officers except for a small "T" centered under the chevrons. Technicians, despite the stripes, had no command authority over troops. This evolved into the specialist ranks, pay grades E-4 to E-7. The last vestige today survives plainly as "specialist," pay grade E-4. When there were such people as specialists 7, they wore the current eagle symbol surmounted by three curved gold bars -- often called "bird umbrellas."

When the Air Force became a separate service in 1947, it kept the Army officer insignia and names, but adopted different enlisted ranks and insignia.

Warrant officers went through several iterations before the services arrived at today's configuration. The Navy had warrant officers from the start -- they were specialists who saw to the care and running of the ship. The Army and Marines did not have warrants until the 20th century. Rank insignia for warrants last changed with the addition of chief warrant officer 5. The Air Force stopped appointing warrant officers in the 1950s and has none on active duty today.

Other interesting rank tidbits include:

Ensigns started with the Army but ended with the Navy. The rank of Army ensign was long gone by the time the rank of Navy ensign was established in 1862. Ensigns received gold bars in 1922, some five years after equivalent Army second lieutenants received theirs.

“Lieutenant" comes from the French "lieu" meaning "place" and "tenant" meaning "holding." Literally, lieutenants are place holders.

While majors outrank lieutenants, lieutenant generals outrank major generals. This comes from British tradition: Generals were appointed for campaigns and often called "captain generals." Their assistants were, naturally, "lieutenant generals." At the same time, the chief administrative officer was the "sergeant major general." Somewhere along the way, "sergeant" was dropped.

Gold is worth more than silver, but silver outranks gold. This is because the Army decreed in 1832 that infantry colonels would wear gold eagles on an epaulette of silver and all other colonels would wear silver eagles on gold. When majors and lieutenant colonels received the leaves, this tradition could not continue. So silver leaves represented lieutenant colonels and gold, majors. The case of lieutenants is different: First Lieutenants had been wearing silver bars for 80 years before second lieutenants had any bars at all.

Colonel is pronounced "kernal" because the British adopted the French spelling "colonel" but Spanish pronuniciation "coronel" and then corrupted the pronunciation.

While rank insignia are important, sometimes it isn't smart to wear them. When the rifled musket made its appearance in the Civil War, sharpshooters looked for officers. Officers soon learned to take off their rank insignia as they approached the battle line.

The Air Force actually took a vote on their enlisted stripes. In 1948, then-Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg polled NCOs at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington and 55 percent of them chose the basic design still used today.

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Visit the DoD "The United States Military Rank Insignia" web site at www.defenselink.mil/pubs/almanac/almanac/people/insignias/index.html