America Supports You: Sibling Group Helps Others With Loss

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 18, 2008 - For decades, mothers and wives who lost a loved one in combat had a community of others who faced similar feelings to turn to for support. Today, brothers and sisters of those killed in action have a similar support network.

Karen A. Hickman, of Indiana, founded Gold Star Siblings, Inc., so that siblings of deceased servicemembers had someone to lean on who understands what they're going through. "There has never been an organization just for siblings," she said. "Our goal is to become one voice, to reach out and help the ones trying to deal with such a traumatic loss."

That was something she didn't have when her brother was killed while serving in Vietnam.

"When the funeral took place, I felt like an outsider," Hickman said. "I had to grieve alone and where my parents couldn't see me because I had to be strong for them and my younger brother.

"I have never felt so alone," she added.

Gold Star Siblings grew from those feelings of isolation and Hickman's desire to never let another sibling suffer in silence. And while the members of her organization are not professional counselors, they certainly can understand what many siblings are facing today.

"We are just like (them): confused, angry, sad and always wondering, 'Why him or her, and not me? Why was our world turned upside down?'" she said. "We have been there, and everyday the thought is always with us."

Helping each other through grief, in part, means presenting a Gold Star flag to the oldest sibling, Hickman said. If there are other siblings, they receive Gold Star lapel pins.

If the family requests, Gold Star Sibling members also will stay with them during a servicemember's funeral.

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

Hickman said she hopes the affiliation will offer her organization exposure and the networking opportunities to let everyone know she and other Gold Star Siblings are there for those who need their help.

Contracts

NAVY

Radant Technologies, Incorporated, Stow, Mass., is being awarded a $14,114,142 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee provisions for submarine communication antenna radomes and related engineering services. This contract allows for the procurement of up to 20 radomes per year for the five year life of this contract along with the procurement of special tooling needed for the manufacturing of these radomes. This contract includes services for the testing, inspection and evaluation of damaged radomes, engineering services to include studies, upgrades, technical improvements, and life cycle refurbishment. Work will be performed in Stow, Mass., and work is expected to be completed by January 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $177,191 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, R.I., is the contracting activity (N66604-08-D-0660).

L3 Communications, Communication Systems - West, Salt Lake City, Utah, is being awarded a $13,847,222 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract to provide for continued life cycle sustainment of the Deployable Multi-Channel Satellite Communications System. Equipment available under the proposed contract includes quad band satellite terminals, terminal IP upgrades, IP baseband interface modules, Ka band upgrades, critical spares, and replacement components. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $65,758,336. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah, and work is expected to be completed by January 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The request for proposals was issued directly to L3 Communications, Communication Systems - West. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (N65236-08-D-5137).

General Dynamics Land Systems, under its operating unit General Dynamics Amphibious Systems, Woodbridge, Va., is being awarded an $11,960,776 modification to previously awarded contract (M67854-05-C-0072) for the advanced procurement of long lead materials for Systems Development and Demonstration (SDD) 2 phase of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program. Work will be performed in Michigan (37 percent), Indiana (20 percent), Arizona (13 percent), Maryland (5 percent), Louisiana (3 percent), Florida (2 percent), Mississippi (2 percent), New Jersey (2 percent), New York (2 percent), Ohio (2 percent), and Germany (12 percent), and work is expected to be completed by November 2009. The contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.


DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Chemical Specialists and Development, Inc., Conroe, Texas, is being awarded a minimum $11,619,400 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for fuel system icing inhibitor. Other locations of performance are Georgia, New Jersey, California, and Washington. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. The proposals were originally solicited by FBO with 3 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a 12 month contract with a 30-day carryover period. Date of performance completion is January 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), Fort Belvoir, Va. (SP0600-08-D-0752).

Falcon Fuels Inc., Paramount, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $2,080,350.00 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for regular unleaded gasoline. Other location of performance located in California. Using services are federal civilian agencies. There were originally 28 proposals solicited with 21 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is August 31, 2009. The contracting activity is the contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), Fort Belvoir, Va. (SP0600-05-D-4526).

AIR FORCE

ITT Industries, Systems Division of Cape Canaveral, Fla. is being awarded a contract modification for $6,792,630. This action will provide spares and interim supply for the Space Lift Range Systems contract. It addresses the continued wholesale supply sustainment for previously fielded spares following the tenants of interim supply support. The project also provides additional initial spares procurement, initial spares fielding, and interim supply support sustainment in support of Prime Mission Equipment projected to be field by the Space Lift Range Systems contract. At this time all funds have been obligated. SMC SLG/PK, Peterson Air Force Base, is the contracting activity (F04701-01-C-0001, P00465).

International Business Machines Corporation of N.Y. is being awarded a contract option for $6,375,674. The objective of the Sub-threshold-slope Transistors for electronics with extremely-low power program is to develop, novel transistor technologies that will enable high-performance logic circuits with extremely low power consumption. This program will develop transistors based on on-thermionic switching that will result in extremely low power consumption. At this time $4,462,051 has been obligated. Det 1 AFRL/PKDA, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-08-C-7806).

ARMY

Kidde Technologies, Inc., Goleta, Calif., was awarded on Jan. 16, 2008, a $5,715,150 firm-fixed-price contract for Stryker tire fire suppression kits. Work will be performed in Goleta, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Oct. 1, 2007, and one bid was received. The Tank Automotive and Armaments Command, is the contracting activity W56HZV-08-C-B001.

Army Aims to Better Identify Soldiers with Brain Injuries

By C. Todd Lopez
Special to American Forces Press Service

Jan. 18, 2008 - An Army report released yesterday outlines how the service can better identify and help soldiers who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. The report contains some 47 recommendations to help the Army better prevent, screen, diagnose, treat and research traumatic brain injury, said Brig. Gen. Donald Bradshaw, who led the task force charged with investigating TBI. Bradshaw is commander of Southeast Regional Medical Command and Eisenhower Regional Medical Center, at Fort Gordon, Ga.

"Our report indicates that, like our civilian counterparts, the Army has done well in the identifying and treatment of severe or penetrating traumatic brain injury, but is challenged to understand, diagnose and treat personnel who have suffered short-term or persistent symptoms of mild TBI," he said. "The task force identified opportunities for improvement as well as best-practice guidelines."

The general said 80 percent of those who suffer from mild TBI, commonly known as a concussion, recover completely. Some 10 to 20 percent of soldiers and Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with experience in combat may have suffered symptoms consistent with mild TBI.

Today, eight of the recommendations made by the task force have already been implemented, said Col. Judith Ruiz, deputy director for rehabilitation and reintegration with the Office of the Surgeon General.

"We have made significant progress to take care of soldiers and to standardize practices across the Army medical department," she said.

Some of the recommendations that have already been implemented include:

-- Working with interagency and civilian groups to better define TBI;

-- Implementing in-theater TBI screening and documentation for all soldiers exposed to brain injury-inducing trauma;

-- Adding TBI-specific questions to deployment-related health assessments;

-- Developing a proposal on the appropriate functions of a "TBI center of excellence";

-- Proposing the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center as the core of the new center of excellence;

-- Optimizing the positioning of clinical, educational and research activities;

-- Centralizing the evaluation of the scientific merit, clinical utility, and priority of new treatment strategies, devices or interventions; and

-- Adapting the Military Acute Concussion Evaluation overprint as an approved Department of the Army form to document mild TBI closest to the point of injury.

Ruiz said 31 additional recommendations are in progress, four are planned, and four are in the process of being transferred to other agencies.

For soldiers in theater, the most common cause of brain injury is a blast, such as from an improvised explosive device. But sometimes such blasts do not cause visible external injuries.

"Brain injury does not have to have outside symptoms, such as bleeding," Bradshaw said. "It may, but doesn't have to. That is one of the compounding things; folks may look totally normal, but be dazed."

Because some victims of IEDs or other blasts do not have external injures, they may feel they have not been injured at all -- even if they did sustain a mild TBI.

"It's hard to identify TBI when soldiers don't come forward and don't identify," Bradshaw said. "Some of the actions that have been taken (include) a very big ongoing education process for leaders, soldiers and family members."

The Army launched the post-traumatic stress disorder/mild traumatic brain injury chain teaching program in 2007 to help soldiers better identify signs and symptoms of these conditions and to reinforce the collective responsibility to take care of each other.

The Army is also working to educate the civilian medical community about mild TBI so that soldiers in the reserve components, who may not have full-time access to military medical care, also can be identified, said Col. (Dr.) Jonathan Jaffin, deputy commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command.

"One of the things we are concerned with and ... one of the points behind the whole chain teaching was trying to get the message out to the country, not just the active-duty force, Guard and reserve," he said. "(We wanted) the country, including providers throughout the country, to be aware of mild TBI and concussions and the long-term symptoms that some people may be having."

Bradshaw said Army leaders at all levels are committed to the good health and well-being of all soldiers and are proactively addressing the issue of TBI. "Continued research in this area can only help us more clearly understand the medical impacts of the war and the best ways to prevent, recognize and treat soldiers with TBI," he said.

(C. Todd Lopez works for the Army News Service.)

Aviation Support Soldiers Keep Helicopters Flying in Iraq

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 18, 2008 - When Command Sgt. Maj. Keith C. Dawson sees a formation of Army helicopters pass overhead in Baghdad, he knows it is likely that some of his soldiers are working to keep those aircraft aloft. After AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Blackhawk or CH-47 Chinook helicopters sustain battle damage or are submitted for routine maintenance, 603rd Aviation Support Battalion mechanics "turn those repairs around quickly to get those aircraft back into the fight," Dawson said today from Iraq during a telephone interview.

Dawson is the 603rd's senior noncommissioned officer. The battalion is a component of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade posted at Baghdad International Airport. Dawson and his combat support troops deployed to Iraq in May 2007 as part of the "surge" of troops design to disrupt insurgent activity.

Other soldiers in Dawson's supply and service battalion fix or drive trucks laden with fuel, food, ammunition, parts and other supplies, stock and administer warehouses, cook food, and provide medical treatment, calibration and other services, he said.

These soldiers' jobs are just as important as the work performed by the rotary-wing mechanics, Dawson pointed out, noting the Army depends upon its logistics system in order to be able to function. Since their arrival in Baghdad in May, Dawson said his soldiers have performed about 115 extensive helicopter inspections.

The rotary-wing mechanics also have completed more than 5,300 work orders of different types, he said.

"Of course, some of that (work) does include the battle-damage repair," he noted.

Dawson said his soldiers have pumped more than 5 million gallons of aviation fuel and handled more than 818 tons of ammunition.

"And, my transportation people have already logged over 37,000 miles" during fuel- and parts-delivery runs since May, Dawson said. The 603rd's supply-parts warehouse has handled more than 92,000 supply-request orders, he added.

Dawson said his support soldiers sometimes feel forgotten amid copious news reports highlighting the actions of infantry soldiers fighting and chasing al Qaeda and other insurgents across the Iraqi landscape.

Infantry soldiers deserve all the publicity they get, Dawson pointed out. Yet, he noted, "It takes my folks to maintain those Apaches to keep that air cover overhead" for the infantry.

Morale in the 603rd is good, Dawson said, noting the unit's reenlistment rate is running between 75 to 85 percent. About 15 soldiers, he said, are waiting to reenlist.

Many junior enlisted soldiers in his unit have performed previous tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, noted Dawson, who is himself a 26-year Army veteran.

"We have (privates first class) and very young specialists who came to this deployment with a combat patch," Dawson pointed out.

Some junior enlisted soldiers and younger NCOs in his unit are mulling leaving the Army, Dawson said, citing their stated desire to start a family without the distraction of deployments.

Dawson said he tells his soldiers the Army offers a good, solid career with a generous retirement package.

Staying Army provides other important benefits, the command sergeant major pointed out.

"If they do get out and they go to work in some civilian organization, although they may very well like their job, they will never feel a bond to coworkers as they do here in the military," Dawson explained. "They'll never get this kind of a 'connection' in any other job that they choose to do."

Dedication Runs High at MRAP Equipping Facility

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 18, 2008 - Just before rolling the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle they've spent the last several hours configuring with electronics for shipment to Iraq or Afghanistan, crews at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command here slip a simple 8-and-a-half-by-11-inch certificate onto the dashboard. "The SPAWAR Charleston MRAP Team has integrated the electronics capabilities on this MRAP with care and pride," the certificate reads. "We have done our job so you can do yours. Our goal is your safe tour of duty and return home."

Beneath the words are some 40 signatures of the people -- about half of them veterans themselves -- who had a hand in installing radios, sensors, jammers and other government-issued equipment into the vehicles.

It's the final step before the vehicles, with their distinctive V-shaped hulls and beefy profile, get loaded onto aircraft or ships and sent to combat troops whose lives they're designed to help save from improvised explosive devices and other underbelly blasts.

"I get tingles when I see it," said Barbara Holliway, whose job is to improve efficiency in the operation by outfitting the MRAPs with sensitive gear that makes them combat-ready.

"A lot of people here are veterans themselves or have relatives in Iraq, so putting their names on that piece of paper means a lot to them," she said. "It's a thumbprint that we stand behind our equipment. It's a warranty. It says that the person signing it stands behind their work and feels a personal connection to the people who are going to rely on it."

Holliway isn't unique to the sprawling Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command facility here at the old Charleston Naval Base. The once-vacant warehouse building hums with activity 24-7 as workers pull 10-hour shifts in the rush to keep up with demand for the MRAPs.

As quickly as the vehicles roll off the assembly lines at four major production facilities, they roll into this riverfront facility. Crews crawl in, on and around them over the course of the next several hours, readying them for deployment.

The facility reached its goal of equipping 50 MRAPs a day on Dec. 5 and is now up to 62, with hopes of becoming even more efficient, said Joe Rodgers, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command branch chief for Marine Corps Expeditionary Systems who served 30 years in the Navy.

A full "integration," as the staff calls it, takes five to 10 hours, depending on the particular model. "Some trucks are more difficult than others, but regardless of which one it is, the work we do here is pretty doggone fast," said Jim Thigpen, a retired Marine Corps colonel and vice president for the contractor that provides most of the workforce here.

Brian Burger, a former Marine corporal who's been chief engineer here for the past three years, is credited with coming up with the prototypes required to outfit MRAPs with gear that ,initially, was destined for up-armored Humvees.

"Our job is to figure out a way to get everything in (it) in a way that works, that's ergonomic and that's field-friendly," he said. "We make sure that everything doesn't just fit, but that it works."

As a Marine sniper, Burger has an appreciation of the conditions the MRAPs will operate under, and he's incorporated that know-how into his design prototypes. "I wear two hats here, one as an engineer and one as a Marine," he said. "I know what gets broken and how hard they are on things, so I make them tougher and able to withstand the rigors."

One of the big challenges, Burger said, is that there's no single MRAP design to work with. Several manufacturers churn out a wide range of vehicle variants and continually improve on their products. So, installing C4I gear -- command, control, communications, computers and intelligence equipment – requires constant adaptation.

"(Manufacturers) can move one little thing on the vehicle, and it means we have to make rapid decisions on the line to keep them moving," he said.

Manufacturers aren't the only ones making changes. The crews here get feedback from the field, and respond as quickly as possible. "It can be as simple as moving a cable so somebody doesn't trip," said Thigpen.

"This definitely isn't one-size-fits-all where there's one standard way of doing things that everybody follows," said Thigpen. "General Motors couldn't do what we do here running its production lines. For them, when you change horses, it's a major evolution. We change horses 50 times a day."

Throughout the factory floor, there's an appreciation of the importance of the work under way. A large banner stretched out where they enter the building each day reminds them: "Your work is directly supporting the war on terror."

"People here know, deep down, the kind of vehicle we're working on," Burger said. "They know they are the last stop before it gets to Iraq."

"This is a very energetic workforce," said Rodgers. "Well into the neighborhood of 54 percent of them are veterans, so the people working the floor here know their brothers are fighting the war. I can't think of a better motivator."

Christopher Collins, a retired Marine staff sergeant, oversees a section that works nonstop equipping six MRAPs at a time on three different production lines. "This is a team effort," he said. "It's like a Band of Brothers. We work together, learn each other's habits. It's just like a platoon.

"We put in long hours and the demand is high, but there's a lot of dedication and commitment and pride here. You feel it in this building," he said. "We all understand the cost of freedom and that we have to stay focused on the main issue: our men and women in uniform."

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited the facility today to see progress being made and to thank the people working behind the scenes to bring it about. In addition to his own appreciation, the secretary offered that of "countless moms and dads, husbands and wives and sons and daughters of U.S. troops deployed abroad."

"I don't think it will surprise you to hear me say you must keep pressing on," Gates told the workers. "The need for these vehicles will not soon go away," he said.

"So keep raising your sights. Keep these vehicles rolling off the line," he said. "Your efforts are saving lives."

Military Absentee Voting 'Primary' Concern for Federal Voting Assistance Program

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 18, 2008 - For the Federal Voting Assistance Program, getting deployed troops and their families engaged in the current election season is a primary goal. Ahead of the November general election, FVAP, which fosters voting participation by uniformed and U.S. citizens abroad, is assisting eligible absentee voters who wish to cast ballots in their states' primary election.

"It's important that voters participate in the upcoming primary elections," said Polli Brunelli, the program's chief. "We have over 20 primaries occurring in February, so now is the time, if you've received your ballot, to vote and get it back by the state deadlines."

During an interview yesterday, Brunelli said registering to vote is a simple process. "Absentee voters fill out a federal postcard application form to request a ballot, send it into their local election official where the voter is legally authorized to vote," she said. The ballot will be sent to the voter, who then votes on the ballot and sends it back to the local election office.

Paper copies of the application form are available at military installations, embassies and consulates and from organizations of overseas citizens. Electronic forms are posted online at the Federal Voting Assistance Program Web site, www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefwab.html.

Citizens using this form should vote and submit it immediately using regular mail or, where allowed by state law, by fax or e-mail, to their local election officials. The FVAP's Integrated Voting Alternative Site at www.fvap.gov/ivas/fvap_state_menu.html shows citizens if fax or e-mail alternatives are permitted in their home state.

Voting assistance officers are stationed at military installations abroad to help FVAP implement its program initiatives. Equipped with state-by-state voting assistance guides, the officers are available to assist servicemembers in navigating the registration process and election procedures, and inform voters of relevant deadlines, Brunelli noted.

FVAP carries out the responsibilities of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, which protects the voting rights of active-duty military members, Merchant Marines, eligible family members and citizens residing outside the United States.
Members of the U.S. armed forces traditionally represent an active component of overall voting-age Americans. The total voting participation rate among servicemembers was 79 percent in 2004, compared to the 64 percent rate of the general public, according to figures published by FVAP.

In a memorandum to military secretaries and top commanders sent Nov. 26, 2007, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates underscored the importance of extending voting rights to servicemembers at home and abroad.

"With the calendar of primary elections beginning early and stretching through September, 2008," Gates said, "it is important that the department and the services be prepared to carry out the voting assistance mission to inform and educate U.S. citizens of the right to vote, foster voting participation, and protect the integrity of the electoral process.

"Voting is a both a right and a responsibility of citizens in our country," Gates continued. "(Leaders of the armed services must) do everything we can to encourage participation and ensure that our servicemembers and families are able to exercise their right to vote and have that vote counted."

Soldiers Re-enlist to Commemorate 100th Army Reserve Anniversary

By Master Sgt. Anthony Martinez, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

Jan. 18, 2008 - More than 100 mobilized Army Reserve soldiers deployed in Iraq and Kuwait raised their right hands and recited the oath of enlistment in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Army Reserve, in a ceremony here today. In the grand rotunda of Al Faw Palace here, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, issued the oath of enlistment and remarked on the continued commitment Army Reserve soldiers make in reenlisting.

"In places like Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, the Philippines and Latin America, Army reservists are bringing their warrior skills and their civilian trades to the fight," Petraeus said.

"As everyone here knows," Petraeus told the citizen-soldiers, "that combination is particularly effective in the exceedingly complex environments we face today -- environments that require our troopers to be not just warriors but also diplomats, builders, trainers, advisors, intelligence gatherers, service providers, economic developers and mediators."

"Citizen-soldiers perform these diverse roles expertly, and in so doing, they demonstrate the critical role members of the Army Reserve play in safeguarding freedom at home and defending it abroad," the general added.

"Indeed, I cannot think of a better way to honor the Army Reserve's first century of service than being part of a ceremony where so many great reservists raise their right hands and commit themselves to continue serving our nation," Petraeus said.

During the ceremony, Army Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, chief of Army Reserve Command, commented on the transformation of the Army Reserve over the past 100 years.

"The Army Reserve was founded in 1908, but I can tell you that the Army Reserve of 2008 is vastly different than the Army Reserve of 1908," Stultz said.

"The Army Reserve today really is an operational force, an integrated part of the Army," Stultz added. "And there's no better way for us to kick off our 100th anniversary year and to symbolize what the Army Reserve today really is than to be able to conduct a re-enlistment ceremony here in Baghdad in the palace with 100 of our Army Reserve soldiers."

For many of the soldiers here today, the opportunity to participate was about more than just re-enlisting for themselves. It was a way to honor the service of those who came before them.

"I'm just one soldier, just one average 'joe,'" said Sgt. Jonathan Britt, a 25-year-old medic from Fayetteville, N.C., mobilized with 535th Military Police Battalion.

"I've only been in for two years, so for 98 years there were people upholding these traditions, and that's one of the reasons for me to re-enlist, to uphold the tradition, honor and integrity behind that -- not for my own personal sake but for those that served before me," Britt said.

Soldiers selected to participate in the commemorative ceremony are a sampling of the more than 1,876 Army Reserve soldiers who have reenlisted over the past 12 months while deployed in Iraq and Kuwait, according to the Army Reserve Retention and Transition Office here. Army Reserve re-enlistments in Iraq and Kuwait reflect approximately 20 percent of all re-enlistments for the Army Reserve worldwide, officials said.

(Army Master Sgt. Anthony Martinez is assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve Command.)

America Supports You: Partnership Remembers Troops at Valentine's Day

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 17, 2008 - Troops serving in Iraq this February will see a little Valentine love from the states thanks to a partnership between a troop-support group and a regional video store. On Jan. 15, 25 Family Video stores in the Central Illinois area began collecting DVDs and Valentines for the troops, said Eric Schuller, president of Operation Homefront's Illinois chapter. The effort is part of the "Send a Soldier a Movie and a Valentine" campaign, which will end January 29.

Operation Homefront 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.

"By sending this small gesture of a movie and a Valentine you are showing the men and women in the military that we care for them and what they are doing for us on a daily basis," Schuller said.

Family Video also is providing a card for the Valentine message as well as a $2 discount on any DVD patrons purchase in the store for the program.

Just after the program kicked off, the video chain announced it would match DVD donations one-for-one, Schuller said.

"If we collect 5,000, they'll donate another 5,000," he said. "That's huge."

Raelene Ohanesian, Family Video's director of sales and marketing, said the company is proud to team with Operation Homefront on this project. "Family Video has had a long-standing commitment in supporting the men and women who ensure our freedoms," she added.

For more information on participating in "Send a Soldier a Movie and a Valentine," please visit the Web site of Operation Homefront's Illinois chapter.

Troops, Civilian Employees Must Follow Rules for Political Activities

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 17, 2008 - As U.S. servicemembers and Defense Department civilians ponder candidates during the election season, they should realize there are limits placed upon their involvement in certain political activities. Political-related "dos and don'ts" pertaining to military members of all service branches are proscribed within Defense Department Directive 1344.10, titled: Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces on Active Duty.

The federal Hatch Act delineates what federal civilians, including those working for the Defense Department, may or may not do in the political realm.

For example, servicemembers and government civilians may attend political events like meetings and rallies, but military members must only be spectators and not wear their uniforms.

In addition, troops aren't permitted to make public political speeches, serve in any official capacity within political groups, or take part in partisan political campaigns or conventions.

Under Hatch Act rules, government civilians may be active in and speak before political gatherings or serve as officers of political parties or partisan groups. They're also allowed to manage political campaigns, distribute literature (except at work), write political articles, or serve as spokespersons for political parties or candidates.

Military members generally aren't allowed to campaign for political office. Civilians can campaign for office in non-partisan elections. Partisan political activity is defined as activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party or candidate for a partisan political office or partisan political group.

Yet, basic rules apply to both military members and government civilians. Neither can use their position in the military or the government to influence or interfere with elections. Servicemembers and federal civilians never can engage in political activity on the job, in a government vehicle, or while wearing an official uniform.

For example, servicemembers and government civilians are not to distribute political literature at work. This also applies to politically partisan electronic mail messages forwarded over the Internet.

Servicemembers and government civilians are encouraged to exercise their right to vote and participate in the democratic process. But, they should know there are rules in place that govern the extent of their involvement in political activities, officials said.

Pentagon Officials Salute King's Legacy

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 17, 2008 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today led the Pentagon's 23rd annual observance of the birth and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "This is a day to remember a great American. It is also a day to reflect on what we can do to further the struggle for human freedom and dignity that Dr. King helped lead and for which he gave his life," Gates said.

King was a Baptist minister and renowned civil rights leader during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He successfully advocated non-violent protest as the best path for African Americans to take in achieving civil rights guaranteed to all Americans under the U.S. Constitution. King was assassinated at age 39 in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. America honors King's memory each year on the third Monday of January.

"Dr. King pushed the country to adhere to the just and true idea on which it was founded: that all human beings are equal in their God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Gates said.

During African Americans' struggle for equality, Gates said, King employed tactics "that showed how well he understood the nation he sought to change for the better."

Gates recalled the year 1958, when a non-violent "sit-in" led by African-American students in his hometown of Wichita, Kan., "helped end segregation at drug stores throughout Kansas."

The Defense Department has long promoted racial equality, Gates said. President Harry S. Truman ended segregation across the U.S. military in 1948.

Gates said he is honored to lead "an institution that began breaking down the barriers of race at the dawn of the modern civil rights revolution." African American servicemembers, he said, "have represented the United States with honor and distinction" throughout the history of the country.

And, as America wages war against terrorists that threaten the destruction of the homeland, African Americans "have participated in the defense of the nation well beyond their percentage of the population," Gates pointed out.

The observance's keynote speaker, Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, follows in the footsteps of such exemplary African American military leaders as former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell; Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, the present-day commander of U.S. Africa Command; and others, Gates said.

Rochelle, the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel, will oversee an increase of 30,000 active-duty soldiers over the next several years.

"It is a tall order -- to grow the force in a way that relieves the stress from current military operations, enables the United States to meet its commitments at home and abroad, and achieves the goals without sacrificing the quality we have come to expect in our all-volunteer force," Gates said. He added that he has "every confidence" in Rochelle's ability.

"The Army and the nation are depending on General Rochelle, and my hope and expectation is that, in the years ahead, more African Americans will staff the Army and other branches at the highest levels following the examples set by Generals Colin Powell, Kip Ward, and many others," Gates said.

The U.S. military has come a long way since the days of segregation, Rochelle said. He related the story of World War II soldier Vincent R. Malveaux, who -- along with more than 2,200 other U.S. African American troops -- volunteered to transfer from support service to front-line infantry duty in early 1945 following the Battle of the Bulge in Europe. Malveaux and the other volunteers, he said, were required to drop in rank in order to fight against the German forces.

Malveaux had been a first sergeant and became a private. He and other African American volunteers fought with distinction with 309th Infantry Battalion, 78th Infantry Division. Malveaux earned the Combat Infantryman's Badge, Bronze Star Medal and multiple campaign medals.

However, the U.S. Army of that time was still segregated, Rochelle said, noting Malveaux's and others' awards were denied. Malveaux's and some other soldiers' medals were restored and presented in 1998 at a Pentagon ceremony.

Rochelle said he'd spoken recently with Malveaux, now nearly 90, and asked the World War II veteran why he and his fellow soldiers volunteered for front-line service all those years ago.

Malveaux's answer, the three-star general said, was simply: "'To whom much is given, much is expected.'"