Monday, July 30, 2007

ApNano Materials Establishes Nano Armor Subsidiary to Produce Ultra-Strong Bullet-Proof Products

July 30, 2007. ApNano Materials, Inc.(www.apnano.com), a provider of nanotechnology-based products, today announced the establishment of a subsidiary of ApNano Materials that will develop and manufacture the company's new NanoArmor™ line of nanotechnology-based bullet-proof products. The new subsidiary will start with products that enhance the performance of personal safety items such as bullet proof vests and helmets, and will continue with protection products for vehicles and aircraft.

"The company has already started negotiations with investors," said Aharon Feuerstein, ApNano Materials' Chairman and CFO. "In addition, NanoArmor potential products have already attracted huge interest from
military, law enforcement and homeland security organizations and agencies in various countries."

The Nano Armor products will be based on ApNano’s proprietary nanospheres and nanotubes, which are excellent shock absorbing materials and among the most impact resistant substances known in the world today. These revolutionary nanoparticles of inorganic compounds provide exceptional shock absorbing capabilities. ApNano's nanomaterials have up to twice the strength of today’s best impact resistant protective armor materials such as boron carbide and silicon carbide used in hard armor plates, and is 4-5 times stronger than steel.

The Nano Armor products will be made of tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanoparticles, currently manufactured by ApNano Materials, under the trade name NanoArmor™. In addition, the subsidiary will develop multi-walled titanium-based nanoparticles which will enable it to produce over 50% lighter weight armor products.

NanoArmor will provide multi-hit protection as well as enhanced ballistic and blast resistance. It will enable the development of special trauma layers behind the armor, reducing the level of blunt force trauma injuries.

ApNano's nanospheres were tested by a research group headed by Dr. Yan Qiu Zhu of the School of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, at the University of Nottingham, England. The material was subjected to severe shocks generated by firing shots at it at impact velocities of up to 1.5 km/second. The nanospheres withstood the shock pressures generated by the impacts of up to 250 tons per square centimeter. The nanospheres are so strong that after the impact the samples remained essentially identical compared to the starting material. In contrast, similarly structured hollow spheres of carbon, fail under much lower pressures of less than one tenth of those that the nanospheres can survive. Apnano's nanospheres are termed inorganic fullerene-like nanostructures, or IF for short. Fullerenes are soccer ball-like clusters of atoms, named after R. Buckminster Fuller, architect of the geodesic dome that he designed for the 1967 Montreal World Exhibition.

ApNano's nanotubes were also found as ultra-strong impact resistant material. "The unique nanotubes of ApNano Materials are up to 4-5 times stronger than steel and about 6 times stronger than Kevlar, a popular material today for bullet proof vests," said Professor Reshef Tenne, The Drake Family Chair in Nanotechnology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and the Director of Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Nanoscale Science, who co-discovered the unique nanoparticles.

"Laboratory experiments conducted by Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Harold Kroto and his colleagues have demonstrated that ApNano’s nanotubes are strong enough to withstand a pressure of 21 GPa (Gigapascal) – the equivalent of 210 tons per square centimeter,” said Dr. Menachem Genut, President and CEO of ApNano Materials. Dr. Genut was a research fellow in the original research group which discovered the IF nanoparticles at the Weizmann Institute and first to synthesize the new materials.

Recently ApNano Materials opened a new 1,000 square meter manufacturing facility in Israel. The facility houses a semi-industrial reactor with a production capacity of tons of the company's nanomaterial. The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility meets international guidelines for health, safety and manufacturing of nanomaterials.

ApNano has already launched another product, NanoLub®, the world's first commercial nanotechnology-based solid lubricant. “NanoLub has been shown in numerous independent tests worldwide to reduce friction and wear significantly better than conventional lubricants, especially under extreme conditions such as very high loads,” said Dr. Niles Fleischer, Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of Product Development of ApNano Materials.

About ApNano Materials
ApNano Materials (www.apnano.com ), is a private nanotechnology company founded in 2002 by Dr. Menachem Genut, President and CEO and Mr. Aharon Feuerstein, Chairman and CFO. ApNano Materials was incorporated in the US and is headquartered in New York, USA. Its fully-owned Israeli subsidiary - NanoMaterials, Ltd., is located in the high tech science park adjacent to the Weizmann Institute campus in Nes Ziona, Israel. The company was granted an exclusive license by Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd, the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, to manufacture, commercialize and sell a new class of nanomaterials based on inorganic compounds that were discovered at the Institute. The shareholders of ApNano Materials, besides the founders, are Newton
Technology VC Fund, Yeda Research and Development Co. LTD. (the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science), AYYT LTD. (the commercial arm of HIT, Israel), and private European investors.

NanoLub and NanoArmor, green, environmentally friendly materials, are trademarks of ApNano Materials, Inc.

Connects Heroes, Employers

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

July 30, 2007 - An online nonprofit group is helping servicemembers preparing to transition to the civilian work world connect with solid job opportunities. "Our mission is accomplished through online networking, and the key to our success is our volunteers," said Vikki Skrypez, volunteer coordinator for the group, "Hire a Hero."

Dan Caulfield, a former
Marine, started the group's Web site, www.HireaHero.org, in January. It currently has 5,000 former servicemembers signed up for help with job hunting.

Participants are asked to complete a profile about their situation -- for example, what skills they have, how close they are to separating, and where they hope to live once they've left the
military. Those who register with Hire a Hero also can search and apply for jobs with "military-friendly employers" on the site.

"As these three groups connect and network, there are benefits for all," Skrypez said. "Members from the
military community find meaningful employment opportunities. Employers obtain quality (employees), and volunteers expand their network and become more established in their communities by ... helping veterans."

Hire a Hero is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with
military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

"We are excited about the exposure and networking opportunities through America Supports You," Skrypez said. "We hope to get our message out to like-minded individuals who want to help.

"This is a great opportunity for those that want to give back and say thank you to our
military," she added.

Major Leaguers Tour Pentagon

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

July 30, 2007 - Three pitchers from Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals and about 20 others associated with the team spent their day off at the Pentagon today, exploring the Defense Department's nerve center and signing autographs for fans. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, a self-described baseball fan, invited the major league visitors here this morning to strengthen the relationship between baseball and the
U.S. military.

"We love to support the Nationals, and we appreciate your great support for the Department of Defense and all the people and their families who serve America, and I want to say 'Thank you,'" England said.

England was accompanied by Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato, who collected several autographs to add to his massive memorabilia collection.

Today's tour came a day after the Nationals completed and tied a hard-fought series against the New York Mets, currently the National League's top team. Mike Bacsik, Chad Cordero and Chris Schroder, among the visitors, pitched during the series. Bacsik picked up his fourth win this season in the first showdown against the Mets, allowing only two runs in seven innings. Cordero, better known as "Chief," threw a perfect ninth inning and earned his 21st save.

Cordero noted that Cal Ripken Jr., who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday, played in 2,632 straight games, and said baseball players and servicemembers are similar because both commit themselves to performing hard work on a daily basis.

But baseball players simply offer a diversion for fans, as opposed U.S. military members who serve to protect Americans' freedom, the Nationals' closer said.

"They're out there maintaining our freedom. They're out there making sure we still have all of our rights that we know and love," he said. "And for us, we just go out there (and) we're trying to basically give everybody a place to go to have fun."

Cordero said it's an honor to play before servicemembers during the various military appreciation events that occur throughout the season at RFK Stadium, the Nationals' home field.

"For the troops, I want get a chance to (let them) not think about what their job is for a day," he said. "We go out there to entertain them, so any time we can do that for them, it's good, because they're the ones doing all the fighting for us."

Meeting the visitors as they arrived by bus from RFK Stadium was
Navy Vice Adm. John G. Morgan Jr., deputy chief of naval operations for information, plans and strategy.

"There is nothing more emblematic of what the American way of life is than baseball," Morgan told the group.

While participating in the first post-9/11 strikes in Afghanistan, Morgan said, he and fellow servicemembers looked to baseball as a "noble distraction" between missions.

"The men and women in combat, a lot of whom are baseball fans, wanted to know what you were doing back here in the United States, to sort of to get our lives back together," he said. "(They) would go on combat patrols, fly combat missions, then want to get on the Internet and see what the box score was.

"They wanted to know if their home team was winning or losing," said Morgan, a loyal New York Yankees supporter.

Visitors got a rare glimpse inside the secretive National
Military Command Center, as guides ushered them into the Navy's Service Watch Cell for a nonsensitive peek at how the branch conducts operations from a "macro view," using GPS and satellite technology to monitor and direct naval elements.

Inquisitive guests tossed questions after their briefing: "What does that map do?" "How did you respond to Sept. 11 attacks?" "How about Hurricane Katrina?"

A tour guide, walking backward, snaked the group around the second story A-ring through Corridor 4, which commemorates the "Soldier Signers of the Constitution." These 25 men, who led the charge in combat and politics against British colonizers, are commemorated in a series of oil paintings by John Trumball, the tour guide explained as he identified key characters in Trumball's compositions that hang on the corridor's walls.

During a somber stretch of the tour, guests learned in detail how roughly 20 percent of the Pentagon was destroyed in the Sept. 11 attack. Inside the point of impact, a room commemorates the 125 Pentagon workers and 59 passengers who died when American Airlines Flight 77 barreled into the building's western wall.

Later, as visitors filed into the Pentagon briefing room -- the familiar setting portrayed on news broadcasts and recreated in scores of films -- they posed behind the podium affixed with the Defense Department emblem, displaying resolute hand gestures and projecting mock bravado as flashbulbs flicked.

Visitor Alphonso Maldon Jr., senior vice president of external affairs for the Washington Nationals, once knew the briefing room intimately. As assistant secretary of defense for force management Policy from 1998 to 2000, Maldon appeared in the briefing room regularly.

"We really have a great partnership with the Department of Defense, and we're proud of that partnership," he told the group. "I know our players, and I know our Nationals front office really have great appreciation for the contribution and the sacrifices that the
military make every day."

Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, also keyed in on the importance of the partnership. She encouraged players to film "shout outs" to deployed troops, expressing the Nationals' collective support of
military members. Later, all three players present gladly complied.

"We do research all the time on our
military members and what keeps them going, ... and the morale of our military is really based on support they feel from the folks back home," she said. "And so for them to hear from you, for them to know you're thinking about them ... it really keeps the morale of our troops high."

SEAL Recruiter Finishes Strong in Badwater Ultramarathon

By David Mays
Special to American Forces Press Service

July 30, 2007 - A
Navy SEAL recruiter went the extra mile – or extra 135 miles, to be exact – to reach athletes who may have the fitness and drive to make it through the notoriously difficult SEAL training course. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class David Goggins, assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Recruiting Directorate in Coronado, Calif., competed in and finished third place in the Badwater Ultramarathon by running 135 miles across Death Valley and up the side of Mount Whitney in California last week.

Goggins was on orders from his directorate to compete in Badwater. He and fellow recruiters are sent to "extreme" events across the country in an effort to reach out to athletes who may be good candidates for SEAL
training.

Because the Navy refuses to lower its standards for passing SEAL
training, it must attract already highly trained candidates. The Navy aims to graduate 500 SEALs during the next three years, said Lt. David Hecht, a spokesman for the directorate.

"The kids who swim, the kids who bike, the kids who run, they have a higher success rate making it through the program," Hecht said.

Fallen comrades were especially on Goggins' mind as he prepared to conquer Badwater. His participation in the event this year and last helped raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides college scholarship grants, based on need, along with financial aid and educational counseling to the children of Special Operations personnel who are killed in an operational mission or training accident.

The
Navy SEAL, who is also a former Army Ranger, took 25 hours and 49 minutes to complete what is considered the most grueling event of its type in the world. The course begins at 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere in California's remote southwestern interior near the Nevada border and ends 8,360 feet above sea level on the base of the continental United States' tallest mountain.

"In all these races you stay up a long time," Goggins said. "And to train to be a SEAL you're up for hours and days, so that helps out quite a bit knowing that you can go the distance."

Badwater participants frequently face temperatures approaching 130 degrees Fahrenheit. During the blazing daylight portion of their journeys, participants run on the white lane markers painted onto the right of the road as opposed to the asphalt itself. That way the soles of their shoes are less likely to literally melt from the heat.

Race directors intentionally hold Badwater in the middle of July so that runners will experience the very hottest weather Death Valley has to offer. Unlike most marathons and shorter organized races, Badwater offers no official aid stations. Instead, runners must bring their own support crew, all their own food and any other supplies they may need to survive the trek across Death Valley and up Mount Whitney.

Participants become so spread out over the course of the race that many complete most of the 135-mile event completely alone. Many participants stop to catch a few hours sleep along the way, and some have actually fallen asleep while running the race.

Goggins attributes his extraordinary performance on his crew, who would drive alongside in a support vehicle. "They worked their butt off for me out there, and it showed by the time I had, he said. "I mean you saw them out there on that mountain, they were coming off the car and sponging me down."

It was a specially designed sock, with individual compartments for each toe, that saved Goggins the agony of last year's race, when his feet became so mangled from 30 hours of pounding pavement that they were photographed and posted on Badwater's Web site, a sort of twisted badge of honor appreciated by the event's close-knit community.

"Last year I wore some thin socks, and it was just killing me," Goggins said. "This year the pain is not too bad, just on the front of my feet from going downhill."

This year's event featured unexpectedly cooler weather, with daytime highs only in the 112- to 117-degree range. Because of this, predictions of a possible new course record abounded before the start.

While many participants thought of the 24-hour mark as a mythical time that could never be bested, first-time Badwater participant Valmir Nunes, a 43-year-old from of Brazil, smashed the previous record by nearly two hours, finishing in 22 hours and 51 minutes. Nunes spent more than a week living in the Death Valley town of Stovepipe Wells to train on the course and acclimatize to the brutal conditions.

Goggins had no such luxury. He lives in Chula Vista, Calif., where daytime high temperatures hover in the comfortable 70s year round. That's perfect for recreational running, but not for Badwater preparation.

Goggins dressed in heavy layers of clothing to simulate the heat he would face in the desert and ran for hours at a time. He even turned the heater full blast in his car to experience sweltering conditions when he drove.

Only 90 athletes are allowed to compete in Badwater each year, although hundreds apply. The bare minimum requirement to even be considered for entry into the event is to have officially finished a running race of at least 100 continuous miles in length. Goggins surprised everybody when he placed fifth last year in his first Badwater attempt. He finished nearly four hours faster this year.

"I've run a few more hundred-mile races this year," he said. "It gets your legs used to the distance."

Department Honors Radio's 'Dr. Laura'

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

30, 2007 - Radio talk-show host Laura Schlessinger is used to millions of people listening to her. Today, however, it was her turn to listen, as Defense Department officials acknowledged her support of America's servicemembers. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England thanked "Dr. Laura" as he presented Schlessinger with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service in a brief ceremony at the Pentagon. The award cited her work to raise awareness of and financial support for a California-based nonprofit group, "Operation Family Fund."

"On behalf of the Department of Defense and everybody who serves in the Department of Defense and the American people, I just want to say, 'thank you for your great work,'" England said.

England also thanked Operation Family Fund's founder, Mike Cash, for his work supporting
military families. "Thank you also for your great work directly benefiting these great men and women who need help, deserve help and appreciate (what you do)," he said.

Operation Family Fund provides financial assistance to families of
military personnel severely injured or killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group also is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

Schlessinger said she was touched to receive the honor, but that her actions were simply to offer "support, morally and physically, ... to these people with this extraordinary attitude."

"But it's nice to get some recognition, ... and hopefully it motivates other people when they see how involved I am," she added. "Normally, you do what you need to do, and you don't' give a lot of thought to, 'Gee, I'm going to get a ribbon for it.'"

Schlessinger has another reason to support the troops that's even nearer to her heart.

"My kidlet's in Afghanistan," she said of her who son, is deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division. "I wouldn't have understood as much as I do now (if it weren't for him). So I've taken it as my personal responsibility to get everybody up to speed."

The radio personality's troop-support efforts include ensuring her nearly 8 million listeners know about Operation Family Fund. She also has raised more than a half million dollars for the organization.

She also has spoken with managers at the newspaper for which she writes a twice-weekly column, the Santa Barbara News-Press, in Santa Barbara, Calif., about hiring former servicemembers. "These are smart people, mature people, focused people, disciplined people who should be hired as reporters," Schlessinger said. "So if anybody's interested in coming to Santa Barbara, Calif., ... there's a job waiting for you."

Cash, who represented Operation Family Fund at the ceremony, offered his praise for Schlessinger's work on behalf of his organization. When Schlessinger talks, people listen, he said. And lately, that has equated to more help for the families the organization serves, he added.

"There (are) a lot of great people out there that want to help but don't know how to help," he said. "Dr. Laura has been able to channel those people into Operation Family Fund and say, 'Look, you want to help a great cause? Here's what you do.'"

New Joint Qualification System Enhances Officer Management

The Department of Defense announced today the details of a new joint qualification system (JQS), which will help to identify military personnel who possess the abilities needed to achieve success in the joint/interagency environment. This new program will allow DoD to better incorporate an officer's joint experiences and qualifications into assignment, promotion and development decisions.

Inherent in this new system is the ability to recognize the skills that aid
U.S. military efforts to respond to national security threats, as well as interagency, combat operations and humanitarian crises at home and abroad. A four-level system serves to enhance the tenets of jointness set forth in the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act (GNA) of 1986 and will be implemented for all services on Oct. 1, 2007.

While officers may still earn designation as a Joint Qualified Officer, formerly known as a Joint Specialty Officer, by completing the requisite joint professional
military education and a standard-joint duty assignment, officers may also earn qualifications by accumulating equivalent levels of joint experience, education, and training. The experience-based system awards points in tracking the progression through successive qualification levels, while accounting for the intensity, environment, and duration/frequency of each joint activity.

The system encourages officers' career-long development of joint expertise because it recognizes experiences earned from commissioning to retirement. Earning these joint qualifications is vital for officers who wish to advance their careers to the highest level. As of Oct. 1, 2008, active component officers must have completed a full joint duty assignment and be designated a joint qualified officer in order to be appointed to the rank of general or flag officer.

The JQS also represents a "total force" approach that allows active and reserve component (RC) officers to earn the same joint qualifications. Recognizing that the reserve components lacked the opportunity to receive joint credit since the inception of the GNA in 1986, RC officers who served in qualifying joint assignments under provisions of title 10 U.S.C., chapter 38 that were in effect from Oct. 1, 1986, until Sep. 30, 2007, may be awarded joint duty credit. Additionally, all officers may self-nominate their joint activities for point recognition dating back to Sep. 11, 2001, enabling the recognition of joint experience outside of traditional joint duty assignment positions.

Multi-Service Teams Provide Dental Care Aboard USNS Comfort

By Petty Officer 2nd Class Joan E. Kretschmer, USN
Special to American Forces Press Service

July 30, 2007 - Servicemembers from different branches of the
U.S. military and Canadian forces have united to provide dentistry services aboard hospital ship USNS Comfort. The ship arrived in El Salvador on July 25 during a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean after caring for patients in Belize, Guatemala, Panama and Nicaragua.

As in other sites and countries, the dental specialists are working on routine dentistry such as extractions, cleanings and fillings. They also educate children as a preventive measure of future dental problems.

"My job here is to assist the doctors and work the patient flow outside," said
Air Force Master Sgt. Faith Elmore. "Our job here is important, some (the countries' citizens) don't have the ability to receive dental care, and we are able to come here with the professionals and take care of them."

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sarah Boyll, also assigned to Comfort, is working at Unidad de Salud Health Center in Acajutla, assisting the Dental Department by applying fluoride to patients' teeth and helping them learn how to take care of their teeth properly.

"Fluoride treatments are very important for the population; it definitely helps prevents cavities," Boyll said. "So it is something we want to make sure everyone receives."

The dental teams provide preventive measures against cavities that can last up to 10 to 12 years, said
Navy Capt. Joseph Rusz, the head of Comfort's Dental Department. They strive to do a lot of dental work, but more importantly, they devote strong effort toward a footprint of care for patients to follow.

Along with the humanitarian aspect of Comfort's mission, it is a unique deployment because of the diversity of participating organizations.

"This is my first time having multiple services working together here, it's very exciting," Rusz said.

Rusz's department is typical of other multi-service departments on the ship, with members from the
U.S. Navy, Air Force, Air National Guard and Canadian forces.

"We find it very exciting working together, if anything it has increased the motivation of the people," Rusz said. "We want to make this work and we find everything to be very successful. I hope this may be a model for future deployments."

For Boyll, her excitement for this mission is equally matched by the reward she found when teaching children how to clean their teeth and the importance of oral hygiene.

"It will have such an impact on their lives," Boyll said. "I don't think that a lot of them have been taught that skill."

The dental team is very excited to aid the countries, Rusz said.

"We are very happy to be here, and from what we can tell they are happy to have us here."