Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Defense Department Works to Battle Remaining California Fires

American Forces Press Service

Oct. 30, 2007 - Defense Department personnel continue to help state authorities battle five wildfires still burning in
California, Pentagon officials said today. According to U.S. Northern Command officials, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard C-130s flew 10 sorties yesterday dropping fire retardant. They will continue the mission today. The aircraft have flown 74 sorties since arriving in southern California.

The Global Hawk, the Air Force's state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle, flew missions to spot fires, as did an Air Force U-2 reconnaissance plane and a
Navy P-3C Orion.

On the ground, more than 2,700 California Guardsmen are working in a variety of roles from firefighting to security and communications assistance.

In addition, the
Army Corps of Engineers is helping to coordinate public works and engineering support for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, NORTHCOM officials said. The Corps is addressing four emergency support missions under FEMA: temporary power, temporary housing, planning, and debris removal and disposal.

The wildfires destroyed 2,772 structures and damaged another 437. At their height, the fires forced more than 500,000 people from their homes from an area north of Los Angeles to the Mexican border.
California officials said the fires killed seven people and hurt 117. California fire control officials said they expect the fires to be out by Nov. 2.

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Landstuhl Outpatient Facility Makes Good on Promise to Wounded

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Germany, Oct. 30, 2007 - Patients at a new medical transient detachment barracks that opened here earlier this month point to the facility as proof that the
military is living up to its promises to ensure troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan get the best care possible.

When word broke in February of substandard conditions at Washington's Walter Reed
Army Medical Center, outpatients at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center here were getting shuttled to their appointments from a barracks almost 20 miles away.

Their 10-person, open-bay rooms at Kaiserslautern's Kleber Kaserne were noisy and offered little privacy. But the biggest headache was the 30-minute bus ride back and forth to meet with doctors, case managers and liaisons.

Those days are gone. Two weeks ago, wounded and sick servicemembers from the combat theater undergoing outpatient treatment here transferred to the new facility, which offers a higher quality of life and easier access to care.

The four-story, two-building facility -- a former
Air Force hotel transformed by a $2.5 million renovation -- sits directly on the Landstuhl hospital grounds. It boasts one- and two-person rooms equipped with computers with free Internet access, cable TV with DVD players, and telephones to stay in touch with loved ones.

Up to 230 residents can pop popcorn in their in-room microwaves and keep sodas cold in their own mini refrigerators. They can wander down the hall to play video games, use the full-service laundry, or follow the aroma that wafts through the facility to pour themselves a fresh cup of coffee.

Work on the new facility started in the spring, shortly after news of problems at Walter Reed came to light and officials promised quick fixes throughout the military medical system. The
Air Force donated the buildings and most of the money for renovations, and construction moved along quickly until the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"They went all out for the warriors, I have to say," said Army Capt. Katrina Gawlik, medical transient detachment commander.

Gawlik called the conditions optimal for soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen who typically spend up to two weeks here getting care. "We tell our warriors who come here their only mission is to heal," she said.

About 60 percent of the patients who leave here will go on to other treatment facilities in the continental United States, including Walter Reed. The other 40 percent will return to duty -- most in Iraq and Afghanistan, but others in Djibouti or Kosovo.

Among those to return to their units is
Army Capt. Paul Tarman, a 1st Cavalry Division soldier evacuated out of Iraq due to a shoulder injury. After 16 years in the military, Tarman has seen the full range of military medical care facilities, including some that needed improvement. When facilities aren't up to snuff, "you lose a little bit of hope," he said.

Tarman raved about the new Landstuhl facility and said it goes a long way in promoting healing. "You have everything you physically need," he said, adding that the amenities "put you in a different mindset," to focus on getting better.

He called the new outpatient treatment unit here a perfect example of the military living up to its promise to pull out all stops in caring for wounded and sick soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. "You want to believe that people care about what you've gone through," he said. "This is a perfect example" of that care.

Army Col. Kirk Lawrence, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Army Europe, pointed to the new facility as an example of the services working together to care for wounded warriors. "All we want is the best care for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines," he said.

Gates Considers Extending Brigades in Europe

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Oct. 30, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is leaning toward approving a proposal to temporarily hold two
Army brigade combat teams in Europe rather than move them to the United States, a defense official said today. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, commander of U.S. European Command, has proposed a short-term solution that would keep a greater force presence in Europe to accomplish theater security engagement missions.

"It's not a request for an indefinite period," Whitman said.

Four brigades are currently based in Europe: 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, in Grafenwoehr, Germany; 173rd Airborne Brigade, in Vicenza, Italy; 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, in Baumholder, Germany; and 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Craddock's proposal would keep the two brigades due to rotate back to the United States in Germany for another year, Whitman said. This will enable Craddock to carry out EUCOM's theater engagement mission of
military-to-military contacts among European nations and the U.S. military, U.S. Army Europe officials speaking on background said.

EUCOM officials have expressed concern that a reduction to two brigade combat teams would cut manpower on the continent to a point that the organization could not meet currently scheduled theater cooperation exercises.

Keeping the two brigades in place "would enable the
U.S. military to continue engaging with the new democracies and our established allies in Europe," the official said.

Defense officials are looking at the proposal and working out issues that would be raised if the brigades remained in place. Among them are Base Realignment and Closure issues, building at stateside bases, and closing bases in Germany.

Unless Gates approves the extension, the brigades are due to rotate back to the United States in fiscal 2008 and 2009.

Adaptive Adventure Equals Healing for Injured Vets

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Oct. 30, 2007 - A group of injured war veterans on a 12-mile round-trip kayak adventure paused on the shores of this small British island earlier this month for a two-night stay at a campground locally known as "Ivan's." The most structured thing about Ivan's, or as it's formally known, White Bay Campground, is "Ivan's Local Flavor Stress Free Bar," which still works on the honor system; take a beverage, write it down and pay up before you leave. Decorated from floor to ceiling, inside and out, with shells and shell art from previous patrons, it exudes relaxation.

"It's like being deserted on a tropical island, but you know you're going to be rescued," said
Army Sgt. Peter Rooney, who lost both legs above the knee in April when the Humvee he was riding in hit a roadside bomb near Ramadi, Iraq. "Peaceful, but at the same time you know you're in a remote location, so it has that edge to it."

One sign verifies that past visitors agree with Rooney. In pieces of coral and shell it says, "Ivan's = Healing."

Getting to Ivan's was the reward for a long day that began with what surely sounded like a strange request to others staying at Cinnamon Bay campground on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands: "All legs in the dry bag!" yelled Joe Mornini, director of Team River Runner, which organized the trip for the veterans, most of whom have lost both legs serving in a combat zone.

The laughter his command drew only increased with Danielle Pannell's response. "Have legs will travel!" she said, dropping her husband's prosthetic legs into a blue rubber bag. A power boat carried the bag of legs as well as three of the veterans' wheelchairs on the trip to Jost Van Dyke.

Danielle's husband, Kevin Pannell, is a former soldier who lost both of his legs above the knee while on a foot patrol in Baghdad.

With hardware and passengers settled into their respective vessels, all left Cinnamon Bay on a trek across the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea.

About four hours later, the group was setting up camp and figuring out how to negotiate the new beach with its unique sand. The soft, almost powdery sand that makes up Ivan's campground was worse for traction than the variety found at Cinnamon Bay.

"Everybody's front axles are below the sand," Bill Johnston said of his and the other wheelchairs. Johnston, a former
Marine, lost both of his legs nearly 40 years ago while serving in Vietnam.

The chairs, in fact, sank into the sand, making it difficult for Johnston and the others to move. The immediate solution was a plastic tarp that kept the wheels on the sand instead of in it.

The lack of mobility in the sand for those in wheelchairs - Johnston, Rooney and former
Marine Christopher Fesmire - encouraged creativity and teamwork, however. Fesmire got a piggyback ride out of the surf from Phil Sayre, a member of Team River Runner's board of directors, after snorkeling.

"He described the sand to me," Mornini said of the director of the Arawak Expeditions, a local company that guided the international expedition. "Well, it's a hell of lot more sand than I thought it was going to be. Then the guys that are here say, 'Well, this is cool. We'll get through it. We'll make it, but next time, do this, bring this,'" he said.

To help battle the sand and the chafing it caused, Mornini said, he'd dig deep into his bag of parenting tricks for the next trip.

"If everybody had two bottles of baby powder, they wouldn't care about the sand," Mornini said. "When you get sand on your skin ... the talcum bonds with the sand, and you brush it all off and it's gone, and there's no abrasion.

"It's on my list now," he added. "It's on my list to get a wheelchair with balloon tires, too."

The second night on the island, the group ate dinner at "Foxy's" a restaurant favored among local residents and tourists alike. Here, the veterans and their wives discovered something that's definitely nice to have while camping so far from home. It won't be found on any packing list, however.

While the group ate in the open-air restaurant under rafters covered with mementoes of past diners, a patron picked up the tab and quietly left, asking an employee to pass along a message of thanks to the veterans.

As everyone packed up the next morning, Mornini declared it a successful trip of "yakking and snorking." He reserved his greatest praise, however, for the landing at Cruz Bay, St. John, after everyone had cleared U.S. Customs.

"That's where we just came from," he said pointing out the taxi window at Jost Van Dyke, seemingly forever away. "We did great."

Team River Runner is a chapter of Disabled Sports USA, a supporter of "America Supports You," a Defense Department program connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

Iraqi Police Learn Basics During Prep Course

By Spc. Shejal Pulivarti, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

Oct. 30, 2007 - The Military
Police Platoon from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, has developed a 10-day preparatory class to implement the basics for Iraqi police recruits before they attend the Baghdad Police Academy, which initiates them as official police officers. This course is designed to give police recruits a basic understanding on what their job will consist of, said Army Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Brinson, the MP Platoon's top sergeant.

The trainees waiting to attend the academy come from various stations in the surrounding area to learn basic
police skills, he added. It's an orientation, ensuring all new police cadets go into the academy with the same level of general knowledge.

"The
training covers basics on ethics, principles, Iraqi law, first aid, basic rifle marksmanship, responding to a crime scene, and search techniques in various scenarios," said Brinson, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native. "The recruits follow a structured daily schedule emphasizing teamwork and discipline."

The 10 days are spent introducing the material in the classroom and then actively applying what they've learned. The last two days consist of practical exercises that incorporate the entirety of the course.

"Everything learned has to be applied during the hands-on scenarios. The situations gradually get harder to test their understanding," Brinson said.

"Everything is a perishable skill; they have to practice it in order to retain it," he continued. "They understand the task; they are definitely learning what they need to know to be successful."

"The trainees get better every day. The course helps them become good IPs and work with the coalition forces to do our job," said Iraqi Police 1st Lt. Hesham Saman Ali Sauba Boor, a course instructor.

Each Iraqi
police station is responsible for sending an academy graduated officer to teach the new recruits. Military personnel rotate through as instructors from the MP Platoon and are assisted by Iraqi army liaison officers.

"Having the IP officers teach them accomplishes a lot; it mainly helps the Iraqi police force become self-sufficient," Brinson said. "It's another step in the progress to make security forces stronger."

As he watched the recruits successfully complete a bounding exercise, Brinson noted, "I see the trainees take more pride in themselves. This course is helping them to become a cohesive unit to accomplish the mission."

Staer Gabar Abedallah, a trainee, said he chose to become an Iraqi
police officer to serve his country, secure his community and stop the terrorists.

"The
training is a great opportunity to concentrate on training and help the Iraqi people move forward in self governance," said Stonington, Ill., native Army Sgt. David Ashbridge, a military police leader.

(Army Spc. Shejal Pulivarti is assigned to 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)

Defense Official Calls U.S-India Partnerships Critical

By Donna Miles
Special to American Forces Press Service

Oct. 30, 2007 - Broad-based partnerships between the United States and India are critical as the South Asian republic increasingly exerts its influence on the world, a senior Defense Department policy maker said today. "The U.S.-India strategic potential is very, very profound," James Clad told online journalists and bloggers during a conference call from the Pentagon. Clad is deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia. "It's been slow in coming - I think it will be slow in coming in the future - but it is steady. The trend lines are unmistakable," he said.

While India's sometimes contentious neighbor, Pakistan, continues to search for Osama bin Laden and help wage the global war on
terrorism, Clad explained, the U.S.-Indian relationship is more important in the long run.

"India simply must, as a long term consideration, matter more for us than Pakistan," he said. "India, I think, is seen as a potentially a power with global reach."

India is on a major course to ramp up its
military infrastructure, Clad said, with a multi-billion budget at the ready to purchase, among other equipment, 126 multi-role combat aircraft.

"It is the largest external-announced defense procurement budget in the world," Clad said. "And people are obviously interested in this."

Clad noted that 52 U.S. defense corporations, including "brass nameplates" like Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Ratheon, Honeywell and General Electric, have all set up offices in India. "That's a lot."

Each
U.S. military service participates in training exercises with Indian troops, Clad explained, and Indian ports welcome U.S. Navy ships. He noted a recent visit by the USS Nimitz to Chennai, an Indian city situated along the Bay of Bengal.

"The visit was an enormous success, greeted with great interest by the people of the city," he said.

The
U.S. Navy also recently refurbished its former USS Trenton and presented it as a gift to the Indian navy, Clad explained. "This is a substantial vessel which has been very well received in Indian naval circles."

Besides
military partnerships, Clad said, Indian-American economic partnerships also are important, and in many cases already are in place.

"You hit a golf ball on the Bangalore golf course, and that ball, unless you're careful, is going to go right through a window of IBM, which is right next to Infosys, which is an Indian firm staffed by Indian-Americans who are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. So it's a much bigger relationship."

That relationship, Clad explained, consists of multiple, rich layers.

"The India relationship now is more comprehensive in trade, information technology, movement of its peoples, he said. "There are 2 million Indian-Americans now living in the United States."

Rather than fear India's global transformation, Clad said, The United States should embrace the opportunity to assist and advise the country.

"It's about maintaining a type of equilibrium, about accepting India's rise into a type of maturity and power and prowess I think we broadly welcome," he said. "We're coming into something that's naturally there. It's like a seat which is already at the table, and we're sliding into it."

(David Mays is assigned to New Media at American Forces Informations Service.)

Auditor Finds Tallil Fish 'Most Finicky'

By John Connor
Special to American Forces Press Service

Oct. 29, 2007 - Bill Zett, an auditor with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, believes it's nice to catch a fish when fishing, but not always necessary. Zett goes fishing most Friday mornings at Lake Wisconsin, a manmade lake not far from the headquarters of the Corps' Gulf Region South district on this sprawling onetime Iraqi air base. He said it is peaceful and relaxing and helps break up the routine of long work weeks.

Zett said he has been told Lake Wisconsin is so named because it was built by a National Guard unit from Wisconsin. He said it is home to three kinds of fish: asp, which he likened to small-mouth bass back home, catfish and carp.

On his most recent outing, Zett caught none of the above. In fact, he only had a few nibbles and saw just one fish break the surface. "I can't believe they're not biting," he said at one point.

"These are the most finicky fish I've ever been around," he added later.

Still, Zett said, it was a most enjoyable couple hours, a pleasant break from his work as the command's internal auditor. And he applied some homespun wisdom to the fishless fishing expedition, saying, "All I know is if you don't fish, you won't catch anything."

On this day, Zett used dates as bait. He said Patricia Biltoft, the Gulf Region South administrative chief, accompanied him to the fishing hole recently and caught seven fish using corn and peas as bait.

He said he has caught some 3- or 4-pounders in Lake Wisconsin and remarked that people believe all sorts of things about the key to catching fish, such as the fullness of the moon or the time of day.

When he does land some fish, he said, he throws them back.

Zett, a native Texan who worked for the
Texas National Guard since 1969, is on his second year in Iraq, having extended for a year. He left the Texas Guard altogether "to support my country" in Iraq. He said his work can be taxing at times, but that he enjoys the people and the mission and serving his country, something his family has done before.

Zett said his father and two other relatives were at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when the Japanese attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, and that his father managed to get off the USS Utah before it sank. He said all three survived and that his father spent nearly two years afloat during World War II without touching land.

(John Connor is a public affairs officer with the Gulf Region South District,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iraq.)