Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Fund Memorializes Soldier by Honoring Others

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

July 25, 2007 - Through scholarships, care packages and emergency financial relief, the Scott Vallely Soldiers Memorial Fund, a troop-support group in Montana, honors its namesake.
Army Pfc. Scott Paul Vallely was attending special-operations training at Fort Bragg, N.C., when he died on April 20, 2004. The 29-year-old, who entered the Army in October 2003, had just completed infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga.

"Scott always helped other people and was a very generous person," Marian Vallely, Scott's mother, said in a statement on the fund's Web site. "The Memorial Fund has been established to assist and provide monetary support to members of the armed forces and/or their families in (their) time of need.

"The fund will also serve to provide scholarship assistance to those young men and women who will be serving in the armed forces," she added.

Each spring the Soldiers Memorial Fund presents cash leadership awards to graduates entering
military service. More than 15 such awards were presented to ROTC and high school students in 2006 alone, according to the Web site.

In addition to the
leadership awards and the care package program, the group is working to ensure fallen heroes are never forgotten.

The goal of the fund is "to honor, memorialize and pay tribute to those men and women who have fallen in combat and training -- either giving their lives or being wounded in the
global war on terror," Scott's father, retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, said.

The Scott Vallely Soldiers Memorial Fund also supports the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which works to connect citizens and corporations with
military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

Civilian Hospital Provides Training for Texas National Guard Medics

By Tech. Sgt. Gregory Ripps, USAF
Special to American Forces Press Service

July 25, 2007 - Patients in the emergency room at the Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital here may find themselves being treated by someone in a camouflage uniform. That's because a dozen health care specialists in the Texas National Guard's 386th Engineer Battalion, based here, are
training there during their drill weekends.

At the hospital, they have the opportunity for hands-on training with real patients that they don't have at their armory. This way they can better ensure their skills are up to
Army standards, officials said.

Unit medics whose civilian jobs are in the medical field can rely on those jobs to keep them current. However, most of the unit's medics don't have a corresponding civilian career, and the time they have to practice their skills is limited to drill weekends and annual
training.

Army Lt. Col. John Besignano, an individual ready reservist who works with the battalion and also works full time at Christus Spohn Healthcare System, explored the idea of training the medics at the hospital. With the assistance and guidance of Army Lt. Col. Francisco Zuniga, the battalion's commander, the Christus Spohn Healthcare System administration, and some of his hospital colleagues, the idea became a reality.

"The ability to work side by side with hospital personnel presents the medics with an opportunity to keep their skills fresh and to learn about current practices from fellow medical professionals," Besignano said.

The battalion's 12 health care specialists, all qualified in their military occupational specialty, have been
training at Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital since December 2006. The only Level Three trauma center in the Corpus Christi area, the hospital has the capability, personnel and resources for emergency resuscitation, trauma surgery and a trauma intensive care.

The Guard medics are split up into three groups of four under a clinical supervisor, currently Besignano. They are assigned to the hospital's Emergency Department to work in triage, fast track or trauma, and work side by side with the hospital personnel. Although the agreement with the hospital restricts what care they can provide, their training still encompasses most of the 107 tasks
Army medics are trained and qualified to perform.

"The
training in the three sections provides the medics with experience in areas they will see in their military duty," Besignano noted. "They are incorporated into the hospital teams covering these areas and perform many of the same duties that hospital personnel do."

The training emphasizes teamwork, which Besignano said was a significant aspect of care "as important to patient outcomes as the clinical skills involved."

The medics have been involved in assisting with a number of real-world cases, including multiple traumas from motor vehicle accidents, gunshot wounds, stabbings, and many common medical emergencies that the medics will treat in real-world situations.

"They have done everything from taking vital signs, to starting an IV, to translating, to stopping bleeding, to comforting a patient in pain," Besignano said. "They have witnessed and participated in efforts to save lives and also have been there when the efforts failed and the patient passed away."

In short, the hospital staff seems to have been using every opportunity to teach the medics and to share their skills with the soldiers, he said.

"The doctors and nurses have gone out of their way to not only provide our troops with tightly supervised hands-on experience with actual patients but to help them understand the clinical reasons behind the care and help the soldiers improve their abilities," Besignano said. "Our soldiers are gaining not only experience but confidence."

"The (emergency) staff has been very receptive to the National Guard
training," added Wally Fears, a registered nurse and the Central Emergency Department/Trauma Education Program coordinator. "I think it just puts our job as 'teachers' in a different perspective. We are accustomed to teaching people that will be working in our community, but helping prepare someone that may be deployed to a war zone really makes you stop and think about the opportunity we have to make a contribution to supporting our troops."

Zuniga observed that the hospital
training "has increased the readiness of the medics for their state and federal missions while contributing positively to the overall training of the unit."

(Air Force Tech. Sgt. Gregory Ripps is assigned to Texas National Guard Public Affairs.)

Commission Urges Improvements to Servicemembers' Care

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

July 25, 2007 - A commission tasked to fix problems with wounded servicemembers' care today presented a 29-page proposal to President Bush that suggests overhauling the disability-rating system and urges more attention be paid to returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffering from brain injuries. In the wake of reports that servicemembers at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center here were receiving sub-par treatment, President Bush created the bi-partisan panel in March, citing a "moral obligation" to provide the best possible care to men and women in uniform.

Bush welcomed the recommendations at the Oval Office, where he received the draft report, calling the analysis an "extensive search" that highlights "important suggestions" for the best government response to the current system's shortcomings.

"We owe a wounded solider the very best care and the very best benefits and the very easiest-to-understand system," Bush said.

Today, the nine-member panel outlined six recommendations:

-- Create comprehensive health recovery plans and develop a corps of highly trained coordinators to help servicemembers transition back to military duty or civilian life every step of the way.

-- Simplify the way disabilities are determined and make the compensation system less confusing.

-- Improve the system for diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, and work to make servicemembers less vulnerable to these two signature ailments of the war on terror.

-- Significantly strengthen support for families.

-- Develop "My eBenefits," a one-stop Web site and information source for servicemembers that combines Defense Department and Veterans Affairs databases.

-- Keep Walter Reed staffed with first-rate professionals until it closes in 2011.

"These are bold, innovative recommendations that are doable and can be acted upon quickly. Our motto is 'Put patients and families first,'" said Donna Shalala, a former secretary of health and human services and current co-chair of Bush's panel.

"The system should work for the patient, instead of the patient working for the system," she added.

Shalala and former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole chair the nine-member commission. Other members include two veterans wounded in Iraq, the wife of an
Army staff sergeant wounded in Iraq, the chairman and chief executive officer of a nonprofit group that builds "comfort homes" for families of hospitalized military personnel and veterans, two leaders in the health care industry, and an expert on veterans affairs and military health care.

"Our injured servicemembers deserve a system that serves their different needs, supports them and their families while they recover, and simplifies the delivery of care and services," Dole said. "We will not let these recommendations sit on a shelf. They need to be acted upon now to improve the quality of lives for our brave men and women and their families."

The final commission report, including reports from subcommittees and survey findings, will be made available to the public by July 31.

Keating: Pacific Rim Enjoys Widespread Peace, Stability

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

July 25, 2007 - Pacific Rim nations are enjoying peace, wealth and stability made possible by free-market economic forces, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command said here yesterday. "Things are better,"
Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating said during remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. U.S. trade in the Pacific region has increased six-fold since 1985, he said.

"Peace and stability are the watchwords of all the countries we've visited," said Keating, who assumed command of PACOM on March 23.

Quality of life, including medical care, continues to improve across the Pacific region, the admiral reported, with some nations' economies having grown "dramatically."

Keating cited Australia, South Korea, the Philippines, and Japan as robust U.S. regional allies. And, other dynamic Pacific-region countries, like Indonesia and Malaysia, want to work with the United States as partners to defeat global terrorism, he said.

The People's Republic of China also experienced great economic growth in recent years, Keating said, noting he's had several meetings with senior Chinese
military officials since he assumed command. Two decades ago, he recalled, thousands of bicycles, but few cars, could be seen traversing Beijing's busy Tiananmen Square.

"Today, not so many bikes, but an awful lot of automobiles" are plying Beijing's streets, the admiral noted. The change from bicycles to cars has increased China's need for oil and gasoline, he added.

Consequently, China has stated that critical regional sea lanes must be available for it to import the billions of barrels of oil needed for its still-growing economy, Keating observed.

He pointed to the Strait of Malacca, a potential oil "choke point" that runs between Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Half of China's imported oil passes through the strait, Keating said, as well as 95 percent of the oil shipped to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

China is embarked on a military build-up that includes establishing a deep-water navy that likely will be used to ensure the country's use of the Strait of Malacca, Keating said. U.S. officials have taken notice of China's
military buildup and are watching it with interest, he added.

The Chinese say their military buildup is for defensive purposes only, but the United States has expressed concern about China's recent testing of satellite-killing
technology, Keating said. "So, there is a difference between the way the People's Liberation Army and the Pacific Command view China's military development and Chinese military capabilities," he said.

"This commerce moves through a maritime domain, and China wants to develop a blue-water navy, they say, so they can protect their right to use" important ocean trade routes, like the Malacca Strait.

In light of that scenario, it's hard to argue against China's logic, the admiral said.

China also wants to build aircraft carriers, Keating said.

"We said to them, essentially, 'Knock yourselves out,'" he recalled, adding that operating aircraft carriers "is very difficult
technology to master."

A modern aircraft carrier is a very sophisticated piece of military hardware that's extremely expensive to build and maintain, Keating said. The Chinese reserved their right to build an aircraft carrier, if they wanted to, he said.

The Chinese, who've toured many U.S. ships of the line, including aircraft carriers, made the observation: "'There is no more prominent and visible signal of a nation's resolve and might than an aircraft carrier coming into a port,'" Keating recalled.

Wanted: Wearable Power System, Batteries Included

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

July 25, 2007 - The Defense Department is offering $1 million to the person who invents a way for servicemembers to take a load off. During a conference call with Internet "bloggers" today, William Rees, deputy undersecretary of defense for laboratories and basic sciences, explained the department's "wearable power" competition announced earlier this month.

Currently, an individual servicemember on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan carries roughly 40 pounds of batteries to provide four days' worth of power. The department's goal, he explained, is to lower the load to less than 9 pounds.

The essential electronic equipment that dismounted warfighters carry today -- radios, night-vision devices, global positioning systems -- runs on batteries. This competition will gather and test good ideas for reducing the weight of batteries that servicemembers carry.

"We are setting the bar high," Rees told the bloggers. "We don't think it's unrealistically high, but we acknowledge it's a challenge."

To spur private citizens, companies or international organizations into designing a light, wearable electric power system for warfighters, the department is offering $1 million for first place, $500,000 for second place and $250,000 for third place in the competition.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams in a final competitive demonstration, planned for fall 2008. At this "wear-off," individuals or teams will demonstrate their prototype systems under realistic conditions, Defense Department officials said.

The top three competitors that demonstrate a complete, wearable system that produces 20 watts average power for 96 hours but weighs less than 4 kilograms will win the prizes.

"The mantra is four days, 4 kilograms," Rees said during an interview earlier this month.

Information about the technical details, contest rules and qualification requirements is posted on the Defense Department Web site. A forum to be held in Washington in September will review these details for potential competitors.

Competitors must register to participate in the prize program by Nov. 30. The competition is open for international participation; however the individual or team
leader must provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Details on the forum, as well as contest registration and rules, are posted on the Defense Research and Engineering Prize Web site, www.dod.mil/ddre/prize.

Medical Personnel Bring Comfort to Nicaragua

American Forces Press Service

July 24, 2007 - Medical personnel aboard the USNS Comfort hospital ship are providing free medical assistance to thousands of people in Nicaragua. The Comfort sailed out of Norfolk, Va., June 15 on a four-month humanitarian assistance deployment to more than a dozen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Before arriving in Nicaragua, personnel aboard the ship provided medical care to more than 55,000 patients in Belize, Guatemala and Panama.

"This deployment provides an opportunity for us to work together with countries in the region to make a lasting contribution across our hemisphere,"
Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said before the ship departed. "Comfort's mission will reach far beyond the patients we will see each day."

The ship's medical treatment facility is staffed by about 500 medical personnel, covering a wide variety of medical fields and areas of expertise. In addition to
Navy personnel, the staff includes members from other military services, other government agencies and even non-government organizations.

One such organization is "Operation Smile," whose members are providing medical care to children from Nicaragua with facial deformities, primarily cleft lips and palates. About 25 volunteers from Operation Smile will complete 35 surgeries by tomorrow in Nicaragua. They started working in that country July 19.

"We have a whole team of nurses, anesthesiologists, plastic surgeons, dentists, orthodontists, a speech therapist, a nutritionist and a psychologist, because it is all connected," said Lily Montealegre, president of the board for Operation Smile in Nicaragua. "Once the operation is done, we do follow-up, and that is what the local Nicaraguan mission also takes care of."

Operation Comfort and the
Navy began working together during a mission aboard the USNS Mercy in Bangladesh. The "positive experience" during that mission led to the organization's continued collaboration with the Navy, said Linda Highfield, a registered nurse and clinical coordinator for Operation Smile aboard Comfort.

"I think it just goes to show, both with Operation Smile and everyone helping this mission, how we feel about the people around the world," said Highfield. "We want to be helpful, and that is why we are here."

Dr. Arash Babaoff, the Operation Smile pediatrician aboard Comfort, said the partnership with the military is working out very well.

"I can't think of a better alliance than working with the
U.S. Navy, or any of the forces, for that matter," said Babaoff. "I really hope we get more opportunities to work together in other countries. I have been personally so impressed by what I have seen here and what we are doing. I always knew that our military was helping people in other places, but to really see this firsthand, for me, has been a really great experience."

In addition to the work done by Operation Comfort in Nicaragua, the ship's personnel are providing thousands of people with various other health care services. One of three locations the Comfort team is serving is the Quince de Julio Health Care Center, lying at the foot of the San Cristobal Volcano in the rural area of Chinandega.

Medical doctors and personnel from the
U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Public Health Service and volunteers from Project Hope and Operation Smile were operating a full medical clinic within moments of arrival. The services provided at Quince de Julio included adult and pediatric primary care, dentistry, optometry, immunizations, and prescription services. Navy Seabees from Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202 also made repairs to the site.

"We're putting a footprint here and hopefully someday they'll remember the U.S. was here," said Cmdr. Linda Nash, Comfort's director of nursing services. "We were able to administer health care to the people and take care of ongoing health problems that they hadn't been able to take care of before.

"By helping these people and
training them by practicing with other professionals, they'll carry that knowledge and that relationship with them for many years and always remember it," Nash said. "Hopefully that's what we are doing here in Nicaragua is establishing some long-term relationships."

Children from the Montica Berio Education Center supported Comfort's mission by providing translation assistance to the medical personnel so they could better understand each patient's needs.

"We are helping our community by translating for the doctors and patients," said Ana Villanueva, a Nicaraguan translator. "I feel great about being here working with the U.S. to help with translating generally because we think that it pleases our heart to do something good."

Comfort is spending three days at la Rancheria Clinic and is also providing care at the Jose Schendal Hospital in Corinto and Health Care Center Realejo in Chinandega.

During the mission in Nicaragua, surgeons aboard the removed an extra toe from a five-year-old Nicaraguan boy on July 21.

Darwin Padilla, was born with the extra toe, which prevented him from wearing shoes or attending school. His mother, Paula Padilla, said she heard about Comfort's humanitarian mission three days before service members and civilians from Comfort started seeing patients at Jose Schendal Health Center in Corinto, Nicaragua, and had a friend put her son's name on the list to be seen.

Padilla said they traveled for two hours by bus from the town of Somotillo along the Nicaraguan border to reach the hospital where Darwin was evaluated by medical staff and flown by helicopter to Comfort for surgery.

Padilla was very impressed when she came aboard Comfort.

"I like the ship, but what I like most about it is the people," Padilla said. "They are loving and caring. It's good to know that there are people that care about other countries and are willing to help."

Lt. Cmdr. Eric Shirley, the pediatric orthopedic surgeon aboard Comfort, operated on Darwin and said the surgery went well and Darwin should be able to function normally from now on.

"He'll have no problems running or wearing normal shoes. He's going to do very well when he gets back, though I'll have to put him in a cast for the first couple of weeks to keep him out of trouble," Shirley said.

Comfort's mission is part of U.S. Southern Command's Partnership for the Americas initiative, an on-going
training and readiness operation designed to strengthen regional partnerships and improve multinational interoperability. The ship is also scheduled to visit Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago before completing its voyage in September.

(Compiled from reports by U.S. Navy Seaman Jeff Hall, Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Karsten and Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Shelander, USNS Comfort Public Affairs.)

Bush: Defeating al Qaeda in Iraq Key to Defeating al Qaeda Worldwide

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

July 24, 2007 - Defeating al Qaeda in Iraq is critical to defeating the larger al Qaeda terrorist network, and the United States won't stop short of that goal, President Bush said today at Charleston
Air Force Base, S.C. Bush told airmen and their families at the base that some people call Iraq a distraction from the war on terror and argue that al Qaeda in Iraq is unrelated to Osama bin Laden's larger al Qaeda network.

"That would be news to Osama bin Laden," the president said. "He's proclaimed that the third world war is raging in Iraq."

Nearly six years since al Qaeda launched the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Iraq has become a key theater in the
global war on terror, the president said. Troops fighting there are opposing ruthless enemies, "and no enemy is more ruthless in Iraq than al Qaeda."

As its members work to bring down Iraq's democracy and create a
terrorist safe haven, al Qaeda in Iraq's leaders are trying to trick their Iraqi followers into thinking they're serving fellow Iraqis, Bush said.

In fact, the Qaeda in Iraq network was founded by foreign
terrorists, is led largely by foreign terrorists, and pays allegiance to a foreign terrorist, Bush said. Foreign-born terrorists carry out 80 to 90 percent of the suicide attacks in Iraq and inflict the most suffering on the Iraqi people, he said.

"They know they're al Qaeda. The Iraqi people know they are al Qaeda. People across the Muslim world know they are al Qaeda, and there's a good reason they are called al Qaeda in Iraq," Bush said. "They are al Qaeda, in Iraq."

Bush called the merger between al Qaeda and its Iraqi affiliate "an allegiance of killers." Its members share a common ideology, a desire to establish a terrorist safe haven in Iraq and a goal of attacking the United States, he said.

That's why "the finest
military in the world is on their trail," the president said.

Bush quoted
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, who declared al Qaeda "public enemy No. 1 for the Iraqi people."

The group is public enemy No. 1 for the American people, too, Bush said. "And that is why, for the security of our country, we will stay on the hunt, we'll deny them safe haven, and we will defeat them where they have made their stand," he said.

Bush said leaving Iraq too early would be surrendering the country's future to al Qaeda. "Those who justify withdrawing our troops from Iraq by denying the threat of al Qaeda in Iraq and its ties to Osama bin Laden ignore the clear consequences of such a retreat," he said. "If we were to follow their advice, it would be dangerous for the world and disastrous for America."

The president vowed not to let that happen and said he's counting on U.S. servicemembers to continue supporting that effort.

"Every man and woman who serves at this base and around the world is playing a vital role in this
war on terror," he said. "With your selfless spirit and devotion to duty, we will confront this mortal threat to our country, and we're going to prevail. I have confidence in our country, and I have faith in our cause, because I know the character of the men and women gathered before me."

Joint Contracting Command Helps Boost Iraq's Economy

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

July 24, 2007 - More Iraqi firms are obtaining more reconstruction contracts, which in turn creates more jobs and strengthens Iraq's economy, a senior
U.S. military officer said today. Iraqi firms have now received more than $1 billion in reconstruction contracts, Navy Capt. Robert J. Gilbeau, deputy commander and chief of staff for Joint Contracting Command Iraq/Afghanistan, told stateside-based online journalists and "bloggers."

"That's a real milestone for the Iraqi economy and for the Iraqi people, as it employs a good number of local nationals," Gilbeau pointed out.

The availability of jobs provides Iraq's young people with hope for a better future, he said, thus keeping them out of insurgents' clutches.

JCC I/A, a major subordinate command of Multinational Force Iraq, also manages contracting operations in Afghanistan, Gilbeau said. The command has 157 contracting officers at more than 18 locations throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

Last year, the command awarded more than $6.5 billion in overall contracts, Gilbeau said. Nearly $2.5 billion worth of contracts have been awarded so far this fiscal year.

The command's Iraqi First Program seeks to develop economic expansion and create entrepreneurship to better the lives of Iraq's people, Gilbeau explained, noting that a similar program exists in Afghanistan.

"Our efforts under this program were to remove barriers that prevented Iraqi-owned businesses from competing on a level playing field with the rest of the world's businesses," Gilbeau explained.

As more Iraqi firms obtain reconstruction-related contract work, more Iraqis are gaining employment, Gilbeau observed. This produces "a trickle-down effect" across Iraq's free-market economy, he said.

Iraqi contractors are doing everything from providing pens and pencils to furnishing cement barrier walls used in security zones, the captain said.

The increased prevalence of Iraqi contractors represents a shift in thinking, Gilbeau said, compared to the past when most of goods and services were procured from non-Iraqi firms and vendors.

Gilbeau recalled the success of an Iraqi expatriate who returned to his native land in 2003 to start a business with about $3,000 in initial capital. Today, that company employs thousands of Iraqis and does more than $300 million in contracted business to supply building material to U.S. bases, Gilbeau said.

Today, more than 50 percent of contract dollars go to Iraqi and Afghan firms doing business in their respective countries, Gilbeau noted.

JCC I/A follows federal and defense department contracting compliance and oversight regulations, Gilbeau said.

"We safeguard against corruption, and we execute prudent stewardship of the taxpayer's dollar, because we think it's paramount that we continue to keep the confidence of those we support here on the battlefield, as well as back home," he said.

Student Recognized for Documentary on Military Medical Center

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

July 24, 2007 - It's hard enough for adults to get their voices heard in Washington, let alone a teenager. Ian Scott Wilson, 13, however, discovered a positive way to grab attention with his award-winning documentary, "When the Boys Come Home." The 10-minute film tells the story of poor conditions discovered earlier this year at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center here and the Army's efforts to correct the problems.

The film, which won first place in the middle school division of C-SPAN's "Student Cam" contest, also garnered him an audience with Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

Casscells expressed his pride in Wilson and thanked him for his efforts to even-handedly tell the story of Walter Reed's recent tribulations.

"What struck me is that he was so measured in his approach to things," said Casscells, who has children Wilson's age. "For a 13-year-old to grasp the shades of gray in this and not have a simplistic answer, to me, is amazing.

"I hope other kids will see you can get attention to your views without having extreme views," he added.

Casscells presented Wilson, his mother, Julie, younger sister Katherine and brother Sean with his commemorative coin. He thanked Wilson's family for supporting the aspiring filmmaker's efforts.

Walter Reed was the hot topic in all the newspapers when Wilson was deciding what his 10-minute entry into C-SPAN's contest should focus on. But it was the personal angle that truly inspired him to embrace the project so passionately.

"My brother is in the
Army, and if he was hurt and had to go through the treatment (patients) went through at Walter Reed, he'd be wrecked," he said.

His brother,
Army Sgt. Gordon Hamm, is serving in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division. Though the two didn't grow up together, Wilson said, they're close.

"When the Boys Come Home" included "man-on-the-street" interviews and C-SPAN footage of congressional hearings on the conditions at Walter Reed. It also included information on the Army's efforts to fix the problems.

Wilson, who is considering joining the
Navy when he's old enough, said that gathering information for the film wasn't the hard part, however. "The hardest part was editing and getting all the different bits in the right spot," he said.

That minor difficulty didn't deter him, though, and the aspiring filmmaker already has started on his second documentary. This time he'll tackle how young people under 18 can influence the 2008 elections. He was able to gather one more interview today when he turned his camera on Casscells to get his opinion on the topic.

The first-place he earned with "When the Boys Come Home," came with a $1,000 prize that he has grand plans for, though they don't involve new video equipment or editing software.

"I'm giving it to a soldier (at Walter Reed)," he said. "They're the ones that defend us, that make us able to even buy that stuff. I just thought that that's the least we can do."

Before long, the soon-to-be former-Virginian will have a new world to document when his family moves to Cairo, Egypt, where his mother will continue her job with the U.S. Agency for International Development. This will be the family's second posting in the country.

'EagleCash' Helps OIF-Deployed Troops Manage Money

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

July 24, 2007 - Thousands of servicemembers deployed overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom have found it easy and convenient to use "EagleCash" cards when making financial transactions, officials said. Also known as stored-value cards, EagleCash cards are issued at no charge to servicemembers before deployment for use at overseas
military exchange stores, postal facilities and vendor concessions, officials said. The cards are electronically-linked to users' stateside banking accounts.

"The EagleCash card is better than cash,"
Army Col. Stephen J. Riviere, commander of the 13th Finance Group, said in a recent news release. The Army is encouraging Middle East-deployed soldiers to use EagleCash, since use of the card precludes their not having to wait in long lines to cash their paper paychecks.

EagleCash recently celebrated its one-year anniversary in the Operation Iraqi Freedom theater-of-operations. More than 300,000 EagleCash transactions have been made in the past 12 months.

EagleCash is a cooperative effort between the
U.S. Army's Finance Command and the U.S. Department of the Treasury's financial management service. Officials said use of the cards reduces the amount of U.S. currency in circulation overseas and also cuts the number of military financial specialists deployed in theater. This frees up servicemembers for other duties.

Card users can access specially-equipped kiosks to check their balances, transfer funds or access cash.

There are now more than 100 EagleCash kiosks and 1,200 sales transaction points across Multinational Corps Iraq's area-of-operations, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno stated in a recent announcement to MNC-I troops.

Odierno requested that servicemembers, government civilians and contractors assigned to his command who use Army finance office services obtain EagleCash cards by August 1.

Thanks to EagleCash, "the
military finance office is no longer the only location where individuals can access their funds to meet their financial needs," Odierno said.

"I ask leaders at every level to ensure our servicemembers and civilians are properly educated on all the benefits and capabilities of the EagleCash SVC program," he said.