Friday, September 07, 2007

Hurricane Felix Assessment Team Arrives in Nicaragua

By Tech. Sgt. Sonny Cohrs, USAF
Special to American Forces Press Service

Sept. 7, 2007 - A 13-person hurricane assessment team from Joint Task Force Bravo and the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance arrived here Sept. 5 to begin surveying damage following landfall of Hurricane Felix. The team deployed from Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, as soon as the weather allowed, and made a quick stop for fuel in the capital city of Managua. There, a
military doctor and civil affairs officer remained behind to assist the American embassy in determining immediate needs of the country.

The CH-47 Chinook helicopter then transported the remaining members of the assessment team and 10 members of the Nicaraguan National
Police Special Brigade's search-and-rescue team to Puerto Cabezas.

Upon arrival in Puerto Cabezas, the assessment team was greeted by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who expressed his thanks for their efforts during his country's time of need.

Army Staff Sgt. Melvin Fleming, with the U.S. Embassy's Defense Attache office in Managua, said reports came in that the northern coast had been hit badly. "There have been initial reports of up to 80 percent damage to the infrastructure along the Atlantic Coast," he said."There is no desperation, but they are asking for aid. They need our help in getting (the relief) there."

The assessment team flew missions throughout the remote northeastern portion of the country yesterday to assess damage sustained from the storm. Most of their flight was recorded with an automated route recon kit, which captures video, still images and global positioning system coordinates to a laptop computer.

"Right now, we're just providing an assessment of the damage that was sustained," said
Army Lt. Col. Gregory Jicha, commander of the task force here with the mission. "We will take the imagery ... and provide it to the Embassy here, U.S. Southern Command headquarters, and back to Joint Task Force Bravo for them to make the determination of what is needed in the region."

Jicha is currently visiting with the American Ambassador to Nicaragua to review the video and photos taken during the flight.

In addition to the civil affairs officer and doctor, the assessment team also has communications specialists, engineers, command-and-control officers, and a member of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, who will help coordinate the U.S. government's response to the humanitarian emergency. The assessment team is living in a makeshift camp just off the air strip where they landed.

(
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Sonny Cohrs is assigned to Joint Task Force Bravo Public Affairs.)

State of Tennessee Honored With Top Employer-Support Award

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 7, 2007 - "The Volunteer State" is slated to receive the Defense Department's top award next week for supporting
Tennessee state employees who volunteer to serve in the National Guard and reserves. The state of Tennessee will be among 15 employers nationwide to receive the 2007 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award during a Sept. 12 ceremony here. The Freedom Award is the highest recognition the U.S. government gives to employers for outstanding support of their employees who serve in the National Guard and reserves.

State employee and former
Tennessee Army National Guard Sgt. Robert S. Nakamoto nominated the state for the award for creating an environment he said made its employees who serve in the military feel not just accepted, but applauded and rewarded.

"We all have to sacrifice when we are a nation at war; unfortunately, this is true for our employers too," said Nakamoto, who served with Company M, 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. "Without their support our situation would be truly bleak."
Nakamoto, an environmental protection specialist for the state, has deployed overseas several times for military duty. His most recent deployment, to Kuwait and Iraq, kept him away from his worksite from June 2004 to until his discharge from the
Army in July 2006.

Throughout the deployment, Nakamoto said the state and his fellow workers provided solid support for him and his family. That support was particularly evident after he was wounded by a roadside bomb and in a medical treatment program for nine months.

The state paid all his health care, dental, disability and life insurance benefits throughout his absence from the job. In addition, it supplemented his National Guard salary with $1,000 in monthly pay.

Meanwhile, the state allowed Nakamoto to accumulate sick leave, vacation leave, seniority time and time toward retirement as if he were on the job, and the state continued paying into his retirement.

Nakamoto's colleague's pitched in to help him, too. They covered his work assignments for two years, sent packages, e-mails and letters to him in Iraq, installed a water system in his home for his family, and got groceries for his wife when his children were sick.

"When I got back from deployment, I realized I had a lot of people to thank," Nakamoto said. "I owe a giant debt to the state of
Tennessee, my co-workers and my family."

Recognizing its top-level support, Nakamoto nominated his employer for the Freedom Award. "I'm grateful to God that
Tennessee's state government did everything that they could for me and the rest of the troops," he said. "They went above and beyond what is required."

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen signed an executive order Aug. 30 continuing a policy that ensures that state employees ordered to active military duty aren't financially constrained by lower
military pay while they're in service.

The order extends for another year the special leave with partial pay extended to executive-branch employees serving in the
Tennessee National Guard and in the reserves in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The state pays the difference between their state salary and their respective service pay.

"I am proud of these state employees and their service to our country," Bredesen said. "It is important that we support their service and limit the many sacrifices they and their families are making. The number of employees affected may be small, but continuity in the family budget provides a huge relief for these Tennesseans."

(Sarah McCleary from Army News Service contributed to this story.)

Army NCO Urges Public to Support Troops

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 7, 2007 - The
U.S. military is battling terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq so Americans don't have to fight them in the homeland, a senior air-defense noncommissioned officer said. If we're not over there solving that problem now, it's definitely going to be on our front door," Army Sgt. 1st Class Steven M. Adams told American Forces Press Service.

Adams, 34, has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Qatar, and is currently assigned to U.S. Space Command, at Peterson
Air Force Base, Colo. He is among an elite group of soldiers trained to operate the Joint Tactical Ground Station, a deployable air-defense system that warns servicemembers of incoming enemy-fired ballistic missiles, while forwarding information to friendly counter-strike units.

"We'd alert servicemembers: 'Hey, this is coming your way, you need to take the proper precautions,'" Adams said.

The missile-warning system employs infrared sensors, in tandem with orbiting satellites and mobile ground-based units to detect missile launches, Adams explained. Development of the system was put on the front burner when an Iraqi-launched Scud missile destroyed a barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 U.S. servicemembers on Feb. 25, 1991. The
U.S. Air Force manages a counterpart missile-alert system, he noted.

"I believe in the current duty that I have very much," Adams, who hails from East Point, Ga., said. "It's a much-needed asset, and I really enjoy doing what I do."

Being a soldier or a member of any branch of the military is a good place to be, said Adams, noting that he also relishes the mentoring part of his job.

"I enjoy watching my NCOs and myself coach, teach and mentor" younger soldiers to make them more proficient and successful, Adams explained.

And, the
U.S. military is an organization that attends to the well-being of each of its members, he added.

"Never will you find the camaraderie that we have in the
United States military," Adams said. "It's the things you can't find on a recruiting poster that really sell the Army."

Adams is one of eight servicemembers who have served overseas in the
war on terror who were selected to speak to American community groups and businesses across the nation as part of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public-outreach program.

The Why We Serve program "is a great opportunity" that enables U.S. servicemembers to go out and talk to the American people, Adams said.

After completing
training at the Pentagon in early July, Adams embarked on a series of public-speaking engagements at civic organizations and veterans gatherings across the country.

"I usually speak for 10 minutes and then I open it up for question-and-answer sessions," he explained.

Some citizens convey their misgivings about wartime reporting by the news media, Adams said. Others ask him for "the ground truth" about what really is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, he added.

Adams' main message to the public is: "Stay the course and support the troops."

The veteran NCO said he is very pleased with the quality of the soldiers he works with, noting his career field places great responsibility upon its members.

Hispanic Women's Magazine Honors Latina Servicemembers

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 7, 2007 - Six
military women of Hispanic descent were honored for their service to the nation at Latina Style Magazine's 4th annual awards luncheon held here Sept. 6. The Defense Department co-hosted the event, titled "Latinas in the Global Fight on Terror." The luncheon traditionally heralds other Hispanic-American Heritage Month activities, held Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.

Award recipients represent the
Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Marines and the National Guard Bureau. They were selected for recognition by their individual service branches. Notable Hispanic business leaders and entrepreneurs attended the luncheon, which is part of the magazine's annual National Latina Symposium.

The
military women were recognized for their "notable contributions, not only to the mission success of the services they represent, but their achievements in the promotion of diversity, equal opportunity and positive human relations," Michael L. Dominguez, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, noted in his luncheon remarks.

This year's awardees are:
Army Sgt. Major Venus Carpenter, Navy Lt. J.G. Angela Gonzales, Marine Capt. Edna Rodriguez, Air Force Capt. Zinnia James, Florida Army National Guard Master Sgt. Katherine Perez and Coast Guard Lt. Xochitl Castaneda.

Men and women of all ethnicities can improve and broaden their lives through military or federal civilian service, pointed out Dominguez, who is a West Point graduate. Women comprise about 15 percent of today's all-volunteer
military, and minorities comprise about 36 percent of America's military force, he added, with just over 9 percent being of Hispanic ethnic origin.

"In the past 10 years, the representation of Hispanics in all military pay grades has increased," Dominguez said. The highest increases realized among company-grade officers and mid-grade noncommissioned officers.

And, although the overall size of the Defense Department's civilian workforce has decreased during the past decade, the number of Hispanic representation has risen slightly, especially within higher civil service grades, Dominguez said.

Dominguez said the Defense Department is proud of the progress it has made in hiring more Hispanic servicemembers and civilians. But, he acknowledged the department realizes that more needs to be accomplished in this area.

"We'd like to see more diversity and better representation of all minorities in our senior civilian and
military grades," Dominguez said. "We'd also like to see more minorities and women in some of the key occupations that have a better prospect for leading to more senior ranks and grades."

Dominguez told Hispanic business
leaders and entrepreneurs in attendance that they can assist the department achieve its goal of hiring more Hispanic servicemembers and civilian employees.

"Each of you can help us by telling young people about the opportunities and value of service to our country either in the
military ranks or as civil servants," Dominguez said.

Dominguez is a former
Army officer who now serves as a senior Pentagon civilian. Dominguez said his father's service in the Air Force had served as a stepping stone for him to attend the United States Military Academy.

"I am standing here as a direct result of the opportunities afforded to me and my father by the armed forces of the United States," Dominguez said.

"I'm pretty excited that I can represent the
Marine Corps by receiving such a prestigious award," Rodriguez said after receiving her award plaque and some red roses from Bard and Dominguez. Rodriguez served in Iraq from June 2004 through June 2005 as a budget officer at Camp Victory in Baghdad. Now stationed on Quantico Marine Corp Base, Va., Rodriguez said she's also "extremely proud" to be Mexican-American.

Carpenter, a senior noncommissioned officer of Puerto Rican descent, works at
U.S. Army Human Resources Command in Alexandria, Va.

"I'm honored to receive the Latina award," Carpenter said. "I feel very privileged that I was chosen out of however many people to represent the
Army as a Latina."

Marine Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas said the award recipients are a testament "to the great, young Latinas who are serving in our military today. These are the young people, who, whether they serve four years or 24 years, are going to go back to their communities as better citizens."

Salinas currently serves as the first female commanding general of Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. She also commands the Marine's Western Recruiting Region. As a colonel, she was among the
military women honored at the 2005 Latina Style Magazine awards luncheon. Salinas traces her roots to Mexico.

Defense Department to Change Blood-Donation Policy

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 7, 2007 - The Defense Department is changing its
military blood-donation regulations to allow for a wider spectrum of civilian donors. Current department rules only permit blood donations from servicemembers, Defense Department civilians, retirees and their family members, Navy Cmdr. Michael C. Libby, director of the Armed Services Blood Program Office, told American Forces Press Service and Pentagon Channel reporters.

The new policy will enable non-Defense Department affiliated civilians to donate blood through the Armed Services Blood Program at collection points located on department or federal property, Libby explained.

The policy change, slated to become effective later this month, will address concerns of veterans who aren't military retirees, but nonetheless want to donate blood for the troops, Libby said. The change also should facilitate the collection of rare type AB blood plasma, a blood type that's possessed by about 3 to 4 percent of the U.S. population.

The Armed Services Blood Program Office purchases more than 100 units, or pints, of AB blood plasma each week, Libby said. The policy change, he added, should also result in the military having increased availability of blood products derived from the rare AB blood type.

Commentary that appeared in Ohio- and North Carolina-based publications had criticized the
military's current blood-collection policy, noting it was overly restrictive toward many civilians wanting to give blood.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Walter Reed
Army Medical Center has established several off-campus blood-collection sites, including one at the Pentagon, said Army Lt. Col. Francisco J. Rentas, chief of Walter Reed's blood services department.

The military also maintains several other large blood-collection sites across the United States, Rentas said.

"If you're eligible to donate to the Armed Services Blood Program, we can always use you," Rentas said.

There is plenty of blood available for overseas-deployed servicemembers in Afghanistan and Iraq, said Navy Cmdr. Brian K. Williamson, the director of the Navy's blood program who also served a tour of duty as the joint blood program officer in Qatar.

Military units deployed in the thick of fighting have to travel light and just carry a modest inventory of blood that's used for treating servicemembers injured on the battlefield, Williamson said. That's why some injured servicemembers receive on-the-spot blood donations from their "battle buddies," he explained.

Williamson said he knows of cases where some battlefield-wounded troops received as much as 30 pints of blood from their comrades.

Quick-coagulating blood platelets that can slow the rate of bleeding are now being provided to smaller, forward-deployed units, Williamson said.

The
military is meeting the need very well in providing sufficient blood and blood products for treating injured servicemembers, Williamson said.

Thousands to Participate in Third National Freedom Walk

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 7, 2007 - Thousands have indicated their desire to commemorate the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and support the nation's troops by walking in the third annual America Supports You Freedom Walk here Sept. 9. America Supports You is a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with
military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

"I think more than ever, our
military men and women need to know that we support them," said Stephanie Linder, the national Freedom Walk coordinator. "It's really meant to just show thanks for these people that are day in and day out putting their necks on the line for our freedoms."

Today, with just hours to go before online registration closes at 6 p.m., more than 8,000 people had registered to walk from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon. The walk, which will begin at 9 a.m., will conclude in the Pentagon south parking lot with a musical tribute by the Harlem Gospel Choir. Those wishing to attend the musical tribute must be registered and participate in the walk.

Across the country, 229 similar walks will be held in all 50 states and 10 countries around the world. That's nearly 100 more than last year, Linder said.

"I think that shows ... American citizens here within the country and American citizens all over the world are remembering the day ... and extending their support to our (military) men and women," she said.

The story behind each walk is as unique as the walks themselves. In Baton Rouge, La., Dani Lamona is organizing a Freedom Walk in honor of her brother Scott, a member of the U.S. Navy who died at the Pentagon.

In Bowling Green, Ohio, the terrorist attacks inspired longtime National Guardsman Chris McKinney to find his way to the Pentagon shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. Once there, he helped with rescue efforts. On Sept. 8, McKinney, his town's walk coordinator, will host a walk with the Bowling Green AM Rotary Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

In Colorado Springs, the Beacon of Hope Outreach Center is organizing its second annual Freedom Walk at the Fort Carson
Army post. Participants will include Cheryl McGuiness, wife of Tom McGuiness, the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 that hit one of the World Trade Center towers; author, radio host and comedian Ken Davis; and best-selling author Stephan Mansfield. Country singers Aaron Lines, Tammy Cochran, and the Kory Brunson Band will perform.

Linder said a lot of eyes are still on Colton Lockner, 10, who organized a Freedom Walk for his town of Sebring, Ohio, last year that drew 2,001 of the town's nearly 5,000 residents. Lockner has organized Sebring's second walk this year and has enlisted the talents of 13-year-old Nashville Star winner Jesse Galchick to perform after the walk.

"We also have another stellar student, Joey Rizzolo, who is in Paramus, N.J., who also is expecting tons of people to come out to his walk," Linder said of the 13-year-old. "He's written a book for other students on how to host their own Freedom Walks."

While the national walk is shaping up to be the largest walk by numbers, Linder said Beacon of Hope Outreach Center's walk may just be the biggest local walk this year.

More information on the national America Supports You Freedom Walk, how to participate or how to register a local walk, is available on the America Supports You Freedom Walk Web site, www.americasupportsyou.com/freedomwalk/.

NORTHCOM hosts Canada, Mexico at Pandemic Influenza Conference

By Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

Sept. 7, 2007 - Representatives from American, Canadian and Mexican
military and government agencies came to U.S. Northern Command headquarters here this week to discuss their plans and preparedness for a possible influenza pandemic. About 80 officials are attending NORTHCOM's first Tri-National Pandemic Influenza Conference.

"Pandemic influenza does not respect borders," said Francisco Averhoff, chief of quarantine and border health services at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's clear that it's necessary, when you talk about this disease, that we need to have a continental strategy and work together with our partners in Canada and Mexico to make sure that we can best deal with this."

Health officials cannot predict if or when a pandemic influenza will develop, but a particularly dangerous strain of avian flu known as H5N1 is being closely monitored around the world for signs it may be spreading from human to human.

"North America is a region, and we are close neighbors," said Dr. Ethel Palacios Zavala, deputy director of emergency preparedness for international health emergencies in Mexico's Ministry of Health. "This (conference) gives us an opportunity to share what we have been doing in the preparedness arena for pandemic influenza. It is also an excellent opportunity to meet face to face the people that you have been working with across the phone line or maybe an e-mail ... and have close personal contact with the other people in the region."

In a report on the North American plan for avian and pandemic influenza released in August at the North American Leaders' Summit in Montebello, Quebec, officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States committed to cooperating with mitigation efforts as much as possible. That makes NORTHCOM's timing for this conference perfect, said William Horne, secretariat of the pandemic influenza preparedness committee of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

"It's absolutely vital the three countries get together in very close working relationships," Horne said. "It was great of NORTHCOM to host this event and bring us all together to do that sharing. It would be important anyway, but it fits so nicely with the release of that report.

"I think it's a golden opportunity for those of us to make personal contacts with other people who are working in this field."

Government and health officials are better prepared to deal with the consequences of an influenza pandemic since the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, in 2002 and 2003, Averhoff said.

"I think we had a large wake-up call with SARS," Averhoff said. "When SARS happened a few years ago, we realized that infectious diseases can transverse the world ... very quickly through air travel. And there's a need for rapid coordination of activities between countries. With that experience, I think pandemic influenza preparedness has been really unique in the way people are actually proactively trying to deal with these issues before it happens as opposed to reactively."

NORTHCOM's mission is homeland defense and civil support. The command conducts operations to deter, prevent, defeat and mitigate threats and aggression aimed at the United States, its territories and interests within the assigned area of responsibility and provides
military assistance to civil authorities.

In the event of a pandemic, NORTHCOM primarily is concerned with continuity of operations and force protection. The command also expects to be asked to provide support to civil authorities.

(
Army Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen is assigned to the combined Public Affairs Office of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.)