Friday, January 12, 2007

Soldier Hits Big Kick to Win $10K

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 12, 2007 – Football fans across America got a sneak preview of the nation's newest class of
college stars at the seventh annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio's Alamodome on Jan. 6. But the brightest star of the game was Army Pvt. Josh Lucas, who took home $10,000 when he put a football through the uprights during an in-game promotion by USAA. Lucas and his roommate, Pfc. William Herron, both assigned to Company C, 264th Medical Brigade, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, were selected to compete against one another and be the first to kick a 30-yard field goal. Lucas booted the ball between the uprights on his second try and took home the $10,000 prize. However, Herron didn't go home empty handed; he walked off the field $3,000 richer, courtesy of USAA.

ASAA is a corporate member of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which highlights ways Americans support U.S. servicemembers and their families.

"That was a pretty exciting deal," Lucas said. "It seemed like I got called out of the stands just out of the blue, and the next thing I know I'm kicking a field goal and winning $10,000."

"USAA's mission is to support the men and women who defend our nation, and their families," said Mike Luby, president of USAA Federal Savings Bank. "As Americans, we can never truly repay the debt we owe our troops and their families. However, holding this contest and giving away these tickets is a small token of our appreciation for their service and sacrifice."

In addition to the field goal contest, USAA provided Fort Sam Houston leaders 1,000 tickets to the game for soldiers and their families. They also provided lunch for the more than 3,000 soldiers attending the game.

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Medal of Honor Recipient Honored at Pentagon

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 12, 2007 – The second servicemember to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in the Iraq war was inducted into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes today.
Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham's name was added to the more than 3,000 engraved on the wall in the Defense Department's shrine to those who have been awarded the nation's highest honor. President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Dunham's family yesterday at the White House.

Dunham earned the Medal of Honor for his actions in Iraq on April 14, 2004, when he threw himself on top of a live grenade to save the lives of his fellow Marines. He died of his injuries eight days later at the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md.

"There are rare heroes who affirmatively make the decision to do an extraordinary thing and give up their lives for others," Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said at the induction ceremony. "That's the decision that Jason made in April 2004. That's the reason we gather here today, to stand in awe of that choice he made and to pay tribute to that sacrifice."

Heroes like Dunham, and others who have earned the Medal of Honor, share the same fundamental character and sense of responsibility for others, England noted. The Medal of Honor is surrounded by grandeur, he said, but at the end of the day, it is about the character of those who have received it. The character of these heroes is a reflection of people who have had the greatest effect on them, he added.

"This nation is eternally grateful to Jason and eternally grateful to his family," England said.

Dunham's mother, Deb, and father, Dan, were at the ceremony, along with his two brothers and sister. After the unveiling of the plaque bearing Dunham's name, Deb talked about the void left in their lives when Jason died. She and her family have worked through the pain, she said, and have had support from all sides.

"We've acquired a
Marine family, and it's huge, and they're loving, and they're strong, and they're gentle, and they're kind, and they're ever so supportive," she said. "We gave them a young man who couldn't remember to take out the garbage, who tormented with practical jokes that were fun and never (malicious), and the Marines polished him. They made him into a phenomenal person."

Deb thanked all of Dunham's fellow Marines for their service and all those who have rallied behind the family since their loss.

"As much as this has hurt, we've got so many gifts -- from the public, cards and phone calls, the gift of a thousand more sons then we could ever begin to remember, and the gift of having each other," she said. "Jason gave a gift of love, and I'm so proud of him."

Marine Corps Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, lauded Dunham's service. The Hall of Heroes may be a small place, he said, but it holds a vast accounting of all that is best in America. Dunham deserves to join the ranks of those honored there, Conway said.

"When he placed his helmet and then his body on that enemy grenade, he did so willingly; he did it bravely and, I'm convinced, did it solely to prevent the deaths of those Marines around him," he said. "He realized the danger, and he went out to meet it."

Dunham's deeds and valor will live on after him and inspire future generations, England said. Those who have earned the Medal of Honor are caretakers of a medal that many deserve, he said.

"Jason and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice remind us of the price of freedom," England said. "It's a price that is periodically required to be paid in blood and suffering and courage, and in this new
war on terror, it's a price that has been paid -- here in the Pentagon, in New York, in Pennsylvania, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and wherever the brave men and women who wear the cloth of our nation serve."

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Survey: Most Troops Have Positive View of Military, Eschew Drugs

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 12, 2007 – Most active-duty servicemembers have a positive view of their
military service and aren't turning to alcohol or illegal drugs to cope with wartime-related stressors, according to findings from a Defense Department-sanctioned survey conducted in 2005. "Despite the stresses of war and ongoing deployments, nearly all indicators of servicemembers' health and well-being continue to be quite good, especially when compared with civilian populations," Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said during a telephone interview with reporters.

The survey results also show that 66 percent of armed forces members polled view their military service positively and are satisfied with their jobs, Winkenwerder said, and nearly 50 percent of respondents said they'd like to serve in the military at least 20 years.

More than 16,000 active-duty
military members assigned at 60 installations worldwide took part in the Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel, which has been conducted every three to four years since 1980. The randomly selected respondents answered questions about their military service, substance abuse, deployment stress, mental health and weight management.

The survey was conducted by a DoD-contracted research firm, Winkenwerder said, and the information provides is used for programs that enhance troops' physical and mental well-being.

The survey's findings are consistent with military trends that began in the mid-1980s, said Dr. Robert M. Bray, director of the survey project for contractor RTI International. Servicemembers' use of alcohol and tobacco continues to decline, a circumstance that mirrors what's happening in civilian society, Bray said.

"Military rates of smoking are lowering to match civilian rates," Bray said.

Overall, military smoking for all age groups is at about 31 percent, according to survey data, compared to an overall civilian smoking rate of about 30 percent.

Yet, although smoking is declining within the military, servicemembers' use of smokeless tobacco has risen, Bray noted.

Regarding servicemembers' use of alcohol, heavy drinking has declined since 1988, Bray reported. "We see that the heavy drinking rate seems to be staying fairly flat," he said, noting that overall alcohol consumption in the
military is going down.

In addition, overall incidence of illegal drug use by servicemembers of all ages has remained at 5 percent or lower since 1988, he said.

While more than 75 percent of survey respondents said they regularly engage in rigorous exercise, the incidence of overweight servicemembers is increasing, just like the average civilian's weight has increased over the last 10 years, Bray said. One culprit, he said, could be that the body mass index method of measure used today doesn't distinguish between fat and muscle, which weighs more.

Surveyed servicemembers reporting a lot of stress at work (32 percent) and family stress (19 percent) are similar to findings from the 2002 survey, Bray said.

The survey's findings also indicate a significant decline since 2002 in the incidence of serious injuries or accidents that put servicemembers in hospitals, Winkenwerder said. This could be partly explained by increased servicemember use of automobile seatbelts and motorcycle helmets, he said.

Just fewer than 18 percent of servicemembers surveyed said they believe they need mental health counseling, Winkenwerder said, adding that about 15 percent said they'd sought such counseling. Other respondents indicated that they'd visited a chaplain or talked things over with friends, he added.

"This is important, because I think it suggests that people are going for and receiving the mental health support and services that they need," Winkenwerder said.

In all, 56 percent of servicemembers polled said they believe it would not harm their military careers if they sought mental health help, Winkenwerder said. "We're pleased with that," he said,

Although wartime's circumstances are taxing servicemembers and their families, the survey's findings indicate that people are finding healthy ways to deal with stress. About 81 percent of survey respondents said they deal with stress by working out a plan, which may include exercise, hobbies, talking with family members or prayer, Winkenwerder said.

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Patient Care System Aims to Reduce Medical Errors

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 12, 2007 – The defense department has trained thousands of
military health care providers to employ a quality management system that's designed to minimize human errors in hospital operating and delivery rooms, a senior defense official said yesterday. The Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety, or TeamSTEPPS, program stresses teamwork and communication among doctors, nurses and other healthcare givers to improve quality, safety and efficiency across military health care, Dr. David N. Tornberg, deputy assistant secretary of defense for clinical and program policy, said during an interview with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service.

"Providing the optimum, cutting-edge care to our beneficiaries is what this is all about," Tornberg said. "And, I'm proud to say that the department of defense and the military health care system are absolute leaders in enhancing a culture of safety in our military treatment facilities."

Use of TeamSTEPPS creates "an environment where people broadly communicate and have a clear understanding of the goals and objectives of the team," he said.

Establishing a culture of patient-centered care through the use of teamwork and enhanced communication among health care employees is absolutely vital, Tornberg said. "Miscommunication clearly is associated with medical errors," he said.

More than 5,000 health care givers at more than 80
military treatment facilities in the continental United States have received TeamSTEPPS instruction in the last three years, Tornberg said. And now, about 1,000 trainers and coaches are teaching the concept at other military hospitals and clinics, he said.

The program has been "incredibly well-received" by military health care givers, Tornberg said.

The training system was developed from more than 20 years of experience in the aviation, military, nuclear power, healthcare, business and other safety-conscious industries, Tornberg said.

The defense department is now collaborating with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to make TeamSTEPPS available to the public health care industry, he said.

The military health system operates 72 hospitals and more than 500 medical and dental clinics administering care to more than 9.3 beneficiaries, according to DoD documents.

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Gates, Pace Support 'Surge' to Iraq, End-Strength Increases

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 12, 2007 – President Bush's plan to send additional forces to Iraq and to increase the
military end strength sends an important message to the troops, the defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. U.S. military commanders on the ground asked for and support the plan to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq to help stabilize the country, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told committee members.

"(Our commanders) have asked for additional forces and are happy to have additional forces in the pipeline," he said. These additional troops will give them the flexibility they need to "to reinforce success" already made or respond to unexpected increases in enemy action, he said. If conditions on the ground demonstrate the troop surge isn't needed, the pipeline "can be turned off," Pace said.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told committee members his recommendation to boost the active-duty
Army by 65,000 soldiers and the active-duty Marine Corps by 27,000 Marines over the next five years will go a long way toward increasing their combat capability.

At the same time, the secretary said, it will help reduce stress on the force and help pave the way for more predictable deployment cycles. The rotation goal for the active force is one-year deployments followed by two years at home station, he said.

For the reserves and Guard, it is one-year deployments followed by five years at home, but Gates said that may not be possible across the board as quickly as he'd like. "Today's global demands will require a number of selected Guard and reserve units to be remobilized sooner than this standard," he told the committee today. "Our intention is that such exceptions will be temporary."

Even when a 547,000-soldier active-duty Army and 202,000-member active-duty
Marine Corps is put into place, getting those new troops trained and ready for deployment won't happen right away, Gates acknowledged. But he said getting this effort started will offer reassurance to troops serving today.

"While it may take some time for these troops to become available for deployment, it is important for our men and women in uniform to know that additional manpower and resources are on the way," he said.

Pace praised the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have endured frequent deployments and long family separations to wage the global war on terror. "(These troops) continue to perform magnificently and do everything we have asked them to do," he said.

The chairman extended his appreciation to military family members who he said also are sacrificing for the country. "The addition of troops, the extension of troops, all impact families, and we deeply appreciate what they do on the home front to provide support to the security of this nation," he said.

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Pace, Gates Discuss Retention, Iraq Challenges

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 12, 2007 – High
military retention rates, particularly among troops who have served in Iraq, shows they recognize the importance of what they're doing and the consequences of failing, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates spoke about retention, the challenges facing troops serving in Iraq, and the president's new Iraq strategy during their testimony.

"First of all, fundamentally, (the troops) believe in the mission they have been given," Marine Gen. Peter Pace told the panel. "Second, and also fundamentally, they believe that the American people support them in their mission and support them as a military."

Pace offered his assessment the day after defense officials announced that all the services met or exceeded their active-duty recruiting goals for December. The
Army, Marine Corps and Air Force met or exceeded their retention missions, and the Navy fell 4 percent short of its year-to-date retention mission.

Pace attributed much of this success to the fact that the troops understand what ultimately happens in Iraq will affect them, their loved ones and the country's future.

Gates agreed with Pace's estimate. "There is no doubt in my mind that a failure -- which I regard as our leaving Iraq in chaos or an Iraq that has a government that is supportive of terror - would have enormous impact for the region and for us for a long time to come," Gates said.

Gates acknowledged that the situation the troops face in Iraq has become increasingly difficult and complicated.

"Whatever was the case when the war started, .... the reality is, virtually all of the bad guys of the Middle East are now active in Iraq," Gates told the panel. "Hezbollah is proving training, al Qaeda is active, the Iranians are interfering, the Syrians are interfering, so they are all there. And so the situation is both violent and complex."

Gates and Pace told the Senate committee they believe the new Iraq strategy President Bush announced on Jan. 9 will help the situation in Iraq around. The plan calls includes more than 20,000 additional U.S. troops on the ground in Baghdad and Anbar province, increased responsibility for the Iraqi government and Iraqi security forces, and more diplomatic and economic initiatives.

A big difference in the plan - one Pace said is key in making it work - is that it includes a pledge by Iraqi leaders to allow U.S. commanders to work throughout Baghdad without previous constraints. They will be able to operate "without regard to sectarian areas to bring rule of law to all criminals, to work in mixed neighborhoods and Sunni neighborhoods and Shia neighborhoods to bring the peace that is required," the chairman said.

In addition, the plan will help jump-start the Iraqi economy and improve everyday life for its people. Pace called Iraq's pledge to spend $10 million of its own money for reconstruction efforts "important and significant."

Pace called commitments by both the U.S. and Iraqi governments to increase economic activity another major step forward that will "provide jobs to get the young men off the streets and pick up employment."

Both the secretary and chairman reiterated President Bush in telling the senators the U.S. commitment in Iraq isn't open-ended and that the Iraqis will have to hold up their part of the deal.
Gates said the United States will be able to tell "early in this process...probably within a couple of months" if the Iraqis are living up to their commitments in the plan.

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Bush Presents Medal of Honor to Fallen Marine

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 11, 2007 – President Bush today presented the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest decoration, to the family of
Marine Corps Cpl. Jason Dunham, who died shielding his fellow Marines from a grenade blast in Iraq in April 2004. "With this medal, we pay tribute to the courage and leadership of a man who represents the best of young Americans," Bush said before presenting the medal to Dunham's family at the White House.

Dunham, who grew up in Scio, N.Y., was the leader of a rifle squad with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, in Iraq. Dunham's squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in Karabilah on April 14, 2004, when a nearby convoy returning to base was ambushed. When Dunham's squad approached to assist the convoy, an Iraqi insurgent jumped out of a vehicle and grabbed Dunham by the throat. As Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground, he noticed that the enemy fighter had a grenade in his hand. Dunham ordered his Marines to move back, and when the enemy dropped the live grenade, Dunham took off his Kevlar helmet, covered the grenade with it, and threw himself on top to smother the blast.

Dunham initially survived his wounds, but died eight days later at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., with his mother and father at his bedside.

"By his selflessness, Corporal Dunham saved the lives of two of his men and showed the world what it means to be a Marine," Bush said.

Dunham is the second servicemember in the war on terror and the first Marine since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor. His mother, father, sister and two brothers were at the ceremony today, which was attended by Cabinet members, Defense Department and Marine Corps leaders, members of Congress, past Medal of Honor recipients, and members of Dunham's unit.

Bush spoke about Dunham's upbringing in upstate New York. Dunham was a star athlete who was popular and a natural leader. His father, a dairy farm worker, and his mother, a school teacher, were devoted parents. "He grew up with the riches far more important than money," Bush said.

Dunham joined the
Marine Corps on July 31, 2000. It was in the Marines that he learned honor, courage, commitment and leadership qualities, Bush said. "As the leader of a rifle squad in Iraq, Corporal Dunham led by the values he had been taught," he said. "He was the guy everybody looked up to; he was a Marine's Marine who led by example."

Bush noted that Dunham's mother called the Marine Corps her son's second family. Now that family is embracing her and the rest of the Dunham family as they deal with their loss, Bush said.

Since World War II, more than half of those who have earned the Medal of Honor have lost their lives in the action that earned it, Bush said. "Corporal Jason Dunham belongs to this select group," he said. "On a dusty road in western Iraq, Corporal Dunham gave his own life so that the men under his command might live. This morning, it's my privilege to recognize Corporal Dunham's devotion to the Corps and the country and to present his family with the Medal of Honor."

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December Recruiting Numbers Exceed Goals

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 11, 2007 – Last month's recruiting figures for all
military services exceeded goals, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during testimony today before the House Armed Services Committee. "I'm pleased to report that all active branches of the United States military exceeded their recruiting goals for the month of December," Gates said, "with particularly strong showings by the Army and the Marine Corps."

In December, the Army recruited 861 soldiers, exceeding its goal by 23 percent, according to information released by the Defense Department. The
Marine Corps recruited 1,761, exceeding its goal by 10 percent, and the Navy and Air Force met their recruitment goals of 2,071 and 2,330, respectively.

Additionally, the Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve exceeded their recruiting goals in December.

Gates' comments come a day after President Bush announced his plan to increase the Army's and Marine Corps' overall strength.

"We propose to (increase) in annual increments of 7,000 troops a year for the Army and 5,000 for the Marine Corps until the Marine Corps reaches a level of 202,000, and the Army would be at 547,000," Gates said at a news conference this morning.

"We should recognize that while it may take some time for these new troops to become available for deployment," Gates said, "it is important that our men and women in uniform know that additional manpower and resources are on the way."

Gates then reflected on those who volunteer to serve in the
U.S. armed forces.

"Our nation is truly blessed that so many talented and patriotic young people have stepped forward to defend our nation and that so many servicemen and women have chosen to continue to serve," he said at the news conference.

Gates' remarks today about the value of recruits echo President Bush's comments during his speech yesterday outlining the new way forward in Iraq.

"In these dangerous times, the United States is blessed to have extraordinary and selfless men and women willing to step forward and defend us," Bush said. "These young Americans understand that...the advance of freedom is the calling of our time."

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