Tuesday, January 29, 2008

America Supports You: Groups Gear Up to Send Valentines to Troops

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 29, 2008 - Hearts at home are gearing up to connect with hearts overseas through an America Supports You effort to send valentines to servicemembers. The effort is part of the America Supports You program's calendar that provides a year's worth of ways to show appreciation for U.S. troops and their families. America Supports You is a Defense Department initiative that helps to showcase America's support for the troops and their families.

"Every February, loved ones exchange flowers, candy and cards, but for troops overseas who are separated from the ones they love, Valentine's Day can be hard," said Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and public liaison.

To meet postal deadlines for sending packages overseas, America Supports You home-front groups are gearing up now for February activities. Groups planning to send valentines to troops include Hugs for Soldiers, My Soldier, and Operation Pinecone.

Supporters can learn more about these groups and other groups, as well as find other ideas to support the troops, on the America Supports You Web site, www.americasupportsyou.mil. Organizations sending valentines can be found by clicking on "Letters and Messages."

The America Supports You calendar, which can be downloaded from the "New Year's Resolution" link on the site as a portable document format file or to work with the user's Outlook program, provides a new idea each month for ways to show
military men and women support.

Ideas in the calendar include donating to scholarships in March to help
military families trying to plan for educational costs, or participating in a "Month of the Military Child" event in April. Organizing a local "America Supports You Freedom Walk" is the suggestion for September. Freedom walks commemorate victims of Sept. 11, 2001, and honor veterans, past and present.

Fiscal 2009 Budget Request Includes $70 Billion for Terror War

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 29, 2008 - President Bush is asking Congress to approve $70 billion as partial payment for
global war on terrorism operations in his fiscal 2009 defense budget request, Defense Department officials said today. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said during a news conference that the $70 billion request will fund operations through the first quarter of fiscal 2009. The fiscal 2009 budget request goes to Congress on Feb. 3.

"Why we are submitting just a partial amount is predicated on a couple of things, one of which is the fact that ... we haven't gotten our money that's needed and has been requested for fiscal year '08 yet to fight the
global war on terror," he said.

The department is still waiting for Congress to approve $102 billion for this fiscal year, Morrell said. During his State of the Union address last night, President Bush asked Congress to approve the 2008 supplemental funding request quickly.

How much the department will need is based on events on the ground, Morrell said. Trends in Iraq are positive, but Pentagon officials want to hear the reports of
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, Multinational Force Iraq commander; Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, U.S. Central Command chief; and the Joint Chiefs of Staff before making budgeting decisions.

"So we are submitting the $70 billion request with the anticipation that at some point we will go back to the Congress and ask for what else is needed in fiscal year '09," Morrell said.

The $70 billion request is a marker for what the department will need in fiscal 2009, Morrell said. That money should be able to at least handle much of the first quarter of the fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, and then the rest will be executed by a subsequent administration and secretary of defense, he noted.

"But we will likely come back to the Congress at some point in this year to revise the
global war on terror funding request, to include what is needed in its totality," he said.

Face of Defense: Military Wife Shares Experiences Through Writing

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 29, 2008 - Being married to the
military has its benefits, but it also comes with some very rigid truths, as one Virginia native began to understand when she and her Marine husband married 10 years ago. Those realities are part of Anne Miren Berry's written contribution to a National Endowment for the Arts project that gives voice to military family members enduring deployment.

"Operation Homecoming," a mixture of stories,
poems, letters, essays and journal entries, is written by family members discovered by authors the NEA sent to military bases around the globe to find literary talent.

"It's all about our experiences with wartime," said the long-time writer and journalist. "I haven't seen one like it, because it actually includes the words of the family members. You've got some parents (and) some spouses that give their accounts of being part of homecomings (and) leavings."

Berry's short story, "Down the Road," is just one of about 100 personal writings in the anthology edited by Andrew Carroll, editor of "War Letters." It's also a recounting of her first combat deployment as a
military spouse.

"When my husband deployed to (Operation Iraqi Freedom) in January of 2003, during the worst of it I'd say I was barely functional," she said. "One thing that I did – we all did it, all the spouses – if you knew of an embedded reporter that was with your husband or wife's unit, you followed that reporter."

She learned through tracking the embedded journalist's reports that her husband's unit was, at one point, near Nasiriyah, where some of the heaviest fighting took place during the opening phase of the war. While she was reassured every time she heard one of those reports, her subconscious was working overtime.

"I awoke one morning at like 4 ... and the thing that had awakened me was I had turned on the BBC on the radio in my sleep," Berry said. "I can't remember the reporter's name, but I was thinking, 'Well, if he's OK, he's with my husband's unit.' It seemed a little comforting."

As the grip of anxiety and depression began to ease up toward the end of her husband's deployment, she started thinking ahead to what she wanted their life to be like. That included the dream of a house on the water in eastern
North Carolina, and hunting for the perfect property was a terrific distraction, she said.

She called a realtor and spent a couple of days driving around taking pictures of property on the ocean or the Inter-coastal Waterway. The pictures went into care packages for her husband.

Many care packages later, Berry had become friends with a woman working at the shipping store. Soon, she learned the woman was enduring her son's deployment to Iraq.

"She was very maternal, very comforting," Berry said. "Then one day she wasn't there any more, and I learned that ... (her son) had passed away."

After that, Berry realized that where she lived with her husband didn't matter nearly as much as just being together. "As long as he's with me, it doesn't matter where we are," Berry said. "That's sort of the theme of ("Down the Road"), I guess. It was sort of therapeutic to get these feelings out about what that was like."

Her husband, Joel H. Berry III, now a
Marine colonel, returned safely from his first deployment to Iraq. In June 2006, he was deployed again, this time with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which eventually was diverted to aid in the evacuation of American citizens from Lebanon.

While Berry said her second experience with deployment was still awful, she had a better idea of what to expect.

"Still, it's just the worst feeling," she said. "You just don't want to let go of them. Once you get that day over with, that's one of the worst days you'll have in the deployment."

Col. Berry is now the commander of
Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools on Camp Gilbert H. Johnson, adjacent to Camp Lejeune, N.C. Consequently, his wife is worrying less and pursuing freelance writing while continuing to work on an original novel that she wrote for a contest in 2005.

"It didn't win, (but) I just felt strongly about the book and I felt like it was a good story," Berry said. "So I kept submitting it to agents, and finally one said, 'I want to read the whole thing.'"

The work of fiction, which is currently in the agent's hands, does have a
military element to it, but that's not the true theme. "The theme of the book is really friendship – in the service, in combat, at home," Berry said.

Listening to Berry describe her experience with
military life, there is little doubt it influenced that theme.

"I love it. I love the people I've met," she said. "I've met servicemembers from all branches, and I think they're tremendous people. They're generous. They're smart. They're kind.

"I can't say enough good things about them," she added.

Berry has a
bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in history, both from George Mason University in Virginia.

Troops to Receive Retroactive Pay Next Month

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 29, 2008 - Active duty troops will receive retroactive earnings next month, followed weeks later by a supplemental payday for non-active personnel, a Pentagon official said today. The National Defense Authorization Act signed into law yesterday by President Bush stipulates a 3.5 percent
military pay raise. This hike is 0.5 percent higher than an executive order Bush signed Dec. 28 to increase pay by 3 percent, which took effect Jan 1.

In mid-February, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service will pay active duty troops the extra 0.5 percent raise earned since the start of 2008. Non-active members will receive the supplement "a couple weeks later," said Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary for
military personnel policy.

Carr said the Pentagon is "delighted" with the act and praised cooperation by Congress. Disagreement between the president and Congress over non-defense-related earmarks and controversial language about the Iraq war had delayed the bill's enactment.

"I think it's good news for everybody in uniform," Carr said. "This Congress has been terrific in working with us in terms of providing to the troops the things that they need."

Between 2000 and 2007, private-sector pay increased by 29 percent, while
military pay jumped 42 percent during the same time, Carr said. Meanwhile, wages paid to noncommissioned officers, which includes corporals and all grades of sergeant and petty officer, spiked by about 52 percent.

"We've made considerable headway, in terms of increasing the value of
military pay, to the point where we're now frankly in about the 70th or 80th percentile of similarly educated American earners," Carr said. He noted that the most recent raise, by virtue of exceeding the current inflation rate, will increase servicemember recipients' purchasing power.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said the retroactive payments ensure "that our forces are compensated commensurate to their service and sacrifice." In a news conference at the Pentagon today, Morrell noted that troops will benefit in various ways by provisions codified in the act.

"It lets us resume offering bonuses to new recruits and re-enlisting troops," he said. The act also includes funding to improve health care and benefits for wounded troops and veterans.

The bill became law just a week before the next budget cycle begins as Bush sends his fiscal 2009 request to Capitol Hill. That budget proposal, along with a request for $70 billion in emergency war spending, will be delivered to Congress Feb. 3.
AIR FORCE

Pika-Pirnie JV, LLC of Stafford, Texas, is being awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for $50,000,000. This action is for procuring architect-engineer environmental services for the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The contract is to support the compliance, restoration, pollution prevention, conservation and other environmental programs. Task orders will be issued against the contract to satisfy AETC environmental requirements, such as environmental assessments, natural and cultural resources surveys, community relations plans, etc. At this time no funds have been obligated. AETC CONS/LGCU, Randolph
Air Force Base, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA3002-06-R-0043).

Foster Miller-Last Armor of Waltham, Mass., is being awarded a contract for $16,303,636. This action will provide removable armor kits applicable to the C-5 aircraft. Kits will protect air crew and vital aircraft components from small arms fire in hostile areas. Trial kit install – one kit; armor A/B kits 99 kits; monthly status report one Lot. At this time all funds have been obligated. 330th Contracting Aircraft Sustainment Wing, Robins
Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8525-08-C-0001).

McDonnell Douglas Corp. A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of the Boeing Co. of St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a firm-fixed price contract for $9,113,000. This action will provide FY08 T-38C Avionics Upgrade Program post production support, to continue
Air Force Education and Training Command T-38C Training System operations such as providing continuing Avionics Block Update and Sustaining Avionics Upgrade Program Engineering Development Capability. At this time $2,753,524 has been obligated. 663 AESS/PK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8617-04-C-6153, Agreement P00102).

NAVY

Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. McLean, Va., is being awarded a $10,455,374 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-06-C-0003) to exercise an option for technical, engineering, professional and management services in support of the Special Communications Requirements Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in support of the Department of Defense, Joint Service, and Federal Agencies programs. The estimated level of effort for this contract is 149,760 man-hours. Work will be performed in Lexington Park, Md., (50 percent); and St. Inigoes, Md., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in Jan. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, St. Inigoes, Md., is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Bethesda, Md., is being awarded $5,630,547 for firm-fixed price Task Order #AZ01 under a previously awarded multiple award contract (N62473-07-D-4021) for design, construction, equipment and maintenance of Anti-
Terrorism Force Protection upgrades at Naval Station Great Lakes, Naval Support Activity (NSA) Mid-South, and NSA Crane. The total task order amount is not to exceed $13,052,599 (base period and four option years). Work will be performed in Great Lakes, Ill., (80 percent); Millington, Tenn., (10 percent) and Crane, Ind., (10 percent), and work is expected to be completed by Mar.2009 (Jan. 2012 with options). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Midwest, Great Lakes, Ill., is the contracting activity.

ARMY

CTI and Associates, Inc., Brighton, Mich., was awarded on Jan. 25, 2008, a $10,000,000 firm fixed price or cost plus fixed fee contract for furnishing all plant, labor, materials and equipment necessary for providing response actions at various hazardous waste sites. Work will be performed at various locations based on individual task orders issued during the ordering period of the base contract, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 24, 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Bids were solicited via ASFI, FED BIZ OPPS and FEDTEDS on Sep. 22, 2006, and 15 were received. The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity W912DQ-08-D-0031.

America Supports You: Fund Supports North Carolina Troops

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 28, 2008 - Servicemembers from the Tar Heel state who face financial burdens can turn to a newly established fund for assistance. The
North Carolina Heroes' Fund was established to provide support to military men and women from North Carolina or stationed at one of North Carolina's many military bases, said Scott Stone, the fund's chairman.

"This support is primarily centered on hardships which these men and women, or their families, may have endured due to their service overseas," he said.

The assistance is provided through various methods, including direct payments or coordinating volunteer efforts. Family members also can benefit from cash payments for financial needs, Stone said.

As resources allow, academic scholarships will be available to dependents of
North Carolina's servicemembers, with special consideration for children of servicemembers killed in action, according the fund's Web site.

Initial reaction to the new fund has been positive, Stone added. "We have already seen widespread support of the organization," Stone said of the fund, which has a first-year goal of raising $500,000. "Between some of the commitments we have already received from corporate sponsors as well as private individuals, we are confident that the
North Carolina Heroes' Fund will be able to raise a substantial amount of money."

The
North Carolina Heroes' Fund recently became 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.

"One of the greatest challenges is spreading the word of our organization, particularly to potential grant recipients," Stone said. "Often those soldiers in need or their families are either reluctant to ask for help or don't know where to turn for assistance."

Stone said he hopes his group's affiliation with America Supports You will help spread the word.

'Legends of Wrestling' Tour Rolls Into Bagram

By Spc. George Welcome, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

Jan. 28, 2008 - When the "Legends of Wrestling" tour rolled in here Jan. 26, servicemembers and civilians gathered at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation clamshell to take part in the festivities. Professional wrestling greats Nicholai Volkoff, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Diamond Dallas Page, and legendary manager "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart took pictures and signed autographs for wrestling fanatics. Trivia questions were asked of the crowd, those who gave correct responses won hats and T-shirts.

For some die-hard wrestling fans, the event was a dream come true.

"I became a wrestling fan in 1999 after constantly seeing it on TV," said
Army Pfc. Michael Grandi Jr., a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, who has attended numerous live wrestling events.

"I had constant adrenaline pumping during the event," he said of meeting his idols. "It was really cool how laid-back they were. And none of the soldiers were bothering them; they took pictures, got their autographs and moved along. There was a mutual respect."

The meet-and-greet session lasted for just over an hour, with the stars posing and chatting with all comers. Afterward, those who stayed were treated to an inspirational speech by Page, former three-time World Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. In his address, Page told of how he overcame a turbulent family life, a learning disability and other issues to achieve his dreams through a process he called "living life at 90 percent."

"I once heard (football coaching legend) Lou Holtz say, 'Life is 10 percent of what happens to you and 90 percent of how you react to it,'" Page said. "In our personal lives and our professional lives, we are constantly hit with one adversity after another, most of which we have no control over. The one thing we have control over is our mindset."

Page introduced the audience to his no-impact workout system, which he calls "Yoga for Regular Guys." Page said he scoffed at the idea of yoga until a spinal injury threatened to keep him out of the ring.

"When I got injured, my wife tried to get me to do yoga," Page said. "But I always thought yoga was for sissies. I learned that flexibility was the key to youth, not just in the body, but in the mind. I wanted to get back to wrestling so badly that I started doing it. "

At the completion of his rousing speech, Page received a standing ovation from the audience. After signing more autographs and taking photos with fans, he led all those who stayed behind through an intense hour-long session of Yoga for Regular Guys.

The program, which consisted of slow-count isometric exercises, static holds and various yoga poses, managed to raise heart rates and get the crowd sweating.

"I liked it a lot, it was an awesome workout," said
Army Chief Warrant Officer Stephen Cranford, Company C, 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade. "I am going to get the DVD and keep doing it. Once I get better, I will introduce it to my guys for (physical training)."

(
Army Spc. George Welcome serves in public affairs with 101st Combat Aviation Brigade.)

Military Health System Conference to Focus on Enhanced Healthcare Delivery & Patient Satisfaction

The Department of Defense (DoD) announced today the 2008 Military Health System (MHS) conference to be held Jan. 28-31 at Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, D.C. Leading an enterprise of more than 134,000 health care providers, senior MHS leaders will finalize 2008 plans to ensure top quality healthcare for all service members and beneficiaries.

"Earlier this year, Secretary of Defense Gates charged me with being the guarantor of quality healthcare for service members, retirees and their families," said Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. "Quality healthcare is the Secretary's top goal, apart from the war itself."

This year's conference focuses on the MHS
Strategic Plan. All of the presentations for the conference will be aligned with the plan's goals and objectives including:

Enhance deployable medical capability, force medical readiness and homeland defense including humanitarian missions.
Sustain the
military health benefit through top quality patient-centered care and long-term patient partnerships with a focus on prevention.
Provide globally accessible, real time, health information that enables medical surveillance and evidence-based healthcare.
Provide incentives to achieve quality in everything we do.
Develop our most valuable asset-our people.
Build and sustain the best hospitals and clinics; nurture a caring environment.

Casscells and conference organizers also expect to raise awareness among
military and civilian communities worldwide regarding the value of military medicine, not only in combat care, but in research, education, international healthcare and humanitarian relief.

"The conference agenda is ambitious," Casscells said. "But it's the right event at the right time to energize our commitment to quality care throughout the entire enterprise."

This conference is unique since 3,000 individuals will attend and others will take part via telecommunications from Afghanistan and Iraq. All interested parties can view plenary sessions in live streaming video and receive daily updates at the MHS Web site,
http://www.health.mil, beginning Jan. 28. In addition, all conference plenary sessions will be available via on-demand viewing and audio-podcasting for three months, beginning Feb. 7, 2008.

Cooperation, Attentiveness Keys to Military Health Success

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 28, 2008 - Increasing cooperation across the
military health community and responding to health care feedback should guide health professionals serving U.S. troops, a top Pentagon official said. During the annual Military Health System conference that kicked off here today, David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, spoke to an auditorium packed with servicemember medics and military health personnel.

The public's expectation, appropriately, is that the
military health system will deal well with every medical case, Chu said, reminding the crowd that each patient is somebody's son, daughter, father or mother. Far outreaching expectations placed on the private sector, he said, military health care should strive to perform at or above its own elevated standards.

One precept that should steer
military health care toward achieving this goal is increasing cooperation among military health personnel, said Chu, who quoted one of the nation's forefathers to illustrate the benefit of working together and the risks of working apart.

"After signing the Declaration of Independence, (Benjamin Franklin's) acid phrase was, 'Gentlemen, either we all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately,'" Chu said. "Working together, bringing the country together, is one element of future success."

Chu said the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have adopted a "joint approach" to confronting issues facing the treatment of servicemembers who have suffered significant wounds or injuries during U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The other precept Chu recommended is that personnel listen more closely to concerns raised about
military health issues. He noted that two decades ago, the Army conducted seminal research on breast cancer primarily by listening to patients.

In addition to being receptive to patients' feedback, the
military health system is listening to the recommendations of external health experts. For instance, the Defense Department has approved nearly every recommendation offered by a bipartisan commission tasked to improve wounded warrior care, Chu said.

Known as the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, the nine-member panel -- co-chaired by Donna Shalala, a former secretary of health and human services, and former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole -- was created in March by President Bush in the wake of news reports that troops at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center here were receiving subpar treatment.

In addition to the Dole-Shalala commission, Chu said, key findings have been reported by the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission, the Marsh-West Independent Review Group, the Veterans Affairs Interagency Task Force on Returning Veterans and the Mental Health Task Force. Some of the recommendations help to codify partnerships among various departments; implementing them also will encourage the precept of cooperation, he noted.

Chu said the military health system is tackling key challenges as it rebounds from a year in which the news media -- with varying degrees of accuracy -- raised doubts about
military health care.

The CBS television program "60 Minutes" praised the military health system's clinical achievements in a segment highlighting wounded warrior care. But the investigative newsmagazine also questioned "larger personnel" issues, including the system's treatment of veterans and servicemembers suffering from traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and stress related to repeat deployments. The articles about Walter Reed that appeared in the Washington Post in February exposed similar shortcomings in long-term care.

Further, an article in the New York Times questioned whether the
military health community paid sufficient attention to the effects of war on servicemembers, suggesting that violent behavior patterns in veterans might be rooted in combat experience. Chu noted the report's veracity was later questioned by an editor at the paper.

"Nonetheless, all these questions, I argue, remind us that we're responsible for every case that we care for, from the beginning to end, as these individuals resume their military careers or move to civil life," Chu said. "In short, a good clinical outcome is not enough. The whole personnel outcome is really the issue with which we must deal."

To amplify the level of feedback from servicemembers, Chu said military health patients are surveyed on how satisfied they are with health care they receive. Results of surveys completed by patients and family members will be considered by the
military health community, Chu said.

"We are not simply aiming at an absence of complaints in these surveys," Chu said, "but on whether most, if not all, feel good about the experience they've had accepting that many of the wounds are grievous and that there will be life-changing outcomes as a result of these events."

Chu said the military health system has recently succeeded by adapting to meet challenges. A decade ago, he said,
military personnel were not responsible for bringing servicemembers injured in combat back to the United States. Now, however, it is virtually taken for granted that servicemembers arrive home in some cases within 36 hours of their injury.

"We can do it if we listen; we can do it if we work together," Chu said about continuing military health success. "I hope at next year's conference, as we look back on what's happened in 2008, that we can conclude that Ben Franklin would have indeed been proud of us."

CONTRACTS

NAVY

Stewart & Stevenson
Tactical Vehicle, Division of Armor Holdings, Sealy, Texas, is being awarded $64,199,068 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0002 modification under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5030) to purchase Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Expedient Armor Program Test Support, MEAP Kits for Testing, DT-C3 Test Support, Initial Operational Test & Evaluation and Battle Damage Repair parts. Work will be performed in Sealy, Texas, and work is expected to be completed Sep. 2008. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

CSC Applied Technologies, LLC,
Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $25,493,718 modification under previously awarded contract (N66604-05-C-1277) to support requirements for increased base operations at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC). AUTEC is a major range and test facility base providing both deep and shallow water test and training environments. Efforts for this modification will support increased scheduling and conduct of test operations, administrative and clerical support in the business operations area and additional overtime in base operations functions such as housekeeping, facilities maintenance, utilities, vehicle maintenance, and helicopter operations. Work will be performed in Andros Island, Bahamas (81 percent); West Palm Beach, Fla. (18 percent); and Cape Canaveral, Fla. (1 percent), and work is expected to be completed by Mar. 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, R.I., is the contracting activity.

Eclypse International Corp.*, Corona, Calif., is being awarded a $23,668,807 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for four aircraft wiring test sets and associated data item deliverables for the
Navy (2) and the Air Force (2). Work will be performed in Corona, Calif., and work is expected to be completed in Jan. 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals as a 100 percent small business set-aside; five offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-08-D-0009).

AIR FORCE

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems of Clearfield,
Utah is being awarded a contract modification option for $33,500,000. The Remote Visual Assessment Program is in support of the ICBM Security Modernization Program. The program will install security camera at 250 Launch Facility Sites to provide ICBM security forces remote visual access to assist in identifying security issues that arise. At this time $16,750,000 has been obligated. OO-ALC/526th ICBMSG/PKE, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42610-98-C-0001).

Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solutions of Manassas, Va., is being awarded a contract modification for $6,169,210. This action is in support of DOD's Global Transportation Network system. This action is Spiral III in the developmental the data warehouse. At this time $3,587,218 has been obligated. HQ AMC Specialized Contracting Branch, Scott
Air Force Base, Ill., is the contracting activity (F19628-95-C-0029, P00310).

Army

Alutiiq International Solutions, LLC, Aurora, Colo., was awarded on Jan. 24, 2008, a $12,938,883 firm fixed price contract for re-locatable facilities and training resource arbitration panels. Work will be performed at Fort Knox, Ky., and is expected to be completed by Jun. 30, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Dec. 19, 2007, and one bid was received. The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity W912QR-08-C-0005.

Precision Lift, Inc., Seneca, S.C., was awarded on Jan. 24, 2008, a $1,639,742 firm fixed price contract for maintenance platforms required to support maintenance operations of aircraft. Work will be performed in Great Falls, Mont., and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Bids were solicited through FedBizOpps on Jan. 24, 2008, and eight bids were received. The U.S.
Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity W58RGZ-08-D-0091.

Military Health Care Rivals Private Industry, Pentagon Official Says

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 28, 2008 - Providing troops quality health care through a
military system that rivals and even outperforms the private sector is a top Defense Department priotity, a senior Pentagon official said today. In opening remarks to a packed auditorium at the Military Health System conference here today, Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, delivered a presentation featuring data comparing military care to treatment by private industry providers.

The data showed that last year, the
Air Force provided complete childhood immunizations in higher numbers than the private sector, according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Air Force health personnel immunized 86 percent of eligible recipients, compared to 84 percent immunized by the highest-rated state and 77 percent nationally. Complete immunizations comprised vaccinations of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; polio; measles, mumps and rubella; haemophilus influenza type B; hepatitis B; and varicella.

Furthermore, the
Air Force provided the same regimen of vaccines more promptly than the commercial sector and Medicaid, according to findings by a Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set evaluation. The Air Force met 75 percent of vaccination deadlines, the commercial sector 70 percent, and Medicaid 59 percent.

"The reason we collect this data is because I was told (on) Day One that we faced a crisis," said Casscells, who has served since April as the Pentagon's top health affairs official. "I believe we have got the brakes on this, and we're going to get it going in the other direction."

According to DoD Health Affairs data, the
military health system is leading the nation in overall influenza vaccinations in the 18-to-65-year-old demographic. The numbers of flu vaccines performed by the military in fiscal 2007 dwarfed the latest national averages tracked by the Centers for Disease Control. The military also is ahead of national averages in administering vaccination for pneumonia, according to Health Affairs findings.

Despite the
military's higher incidence of burn victims -- victims who often suffer more extensive injuries -- servicemember burn victims' mortality rate is comparable to those in the civilian sector. In his presentation, Casscells cited information from the June 2006 publication of Annals of Surgery that found "similar mortality ... (of) civilian compared to the military (burn) patient, despite longer time to definitive care, greater amount of full thickness burns, higher incidence of inhalation injury and more associated non-burn injuries."

Improvements in military health care between June and December were reflected in news media coverage during that time, Casscells said. In
military health care news last June, 27 percent of the coverage was "positive," 55 percent was "balanced," and 18-percent was negative, according to information provided by Health Affairs. The data noted a dramatic shift in the tone of December's coverage, with 49 percent positive, 50 percent balanced and only 1 percent negative.

In a survey of Defense Department beneficiaries conducted by Health Affairs this month, patients' confidence in
military health care appears to be rebounding. Of those surveyed, 17 percent said military health care is much better than in the civilian sector. Eighteen percent said military health is "slightly better," while 47 percent said the two systems offer roughly the same quality treatment.

Fifteen percent of those surveyed said the military's care is "slightly worse," and 4 percent called it "much worse." The main complaints cited about the military health system were a lack of adequate parking and
hitech medical equipment, and difficult-to-navigate facilities.

In another survey, inpatient and outpatient care was significantly favored over the treatment administered at the average non-military hospital. Inpatient Tricare service rated an 89 percent satisfaction rate, and outpatient care fetched an 84 percent rating.

"I have learned from this perspective at Health Affairs ... that our military health clinicians are better than the outside world realizes," Casscells told the audience of
military health professionals. "And you're better than you realize."

Fiscal 2008 New Start and Additional Fiscal 2007 Joint Capability Technology Demonstrations Announced

The Department of Defense announces the selection of seven Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) projects for fiscal 2008 and three JCTD projects that started at the end of fiscal 2007.

Fiscal 2008 New Starts:

Combat Autonomous Mobility System (CAMS) — Autonomous, ground-mobile system that leverages manpower for Special Operations Forces
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
Transition Service/Agency: U.S.
Army Special Operations Command
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Communications AirBorne Layer Expansion (CABLE) — Integrated Services airborne communications relay and gateway effort to provide seamless mesh network environment for data, voice, and IP-based networks
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM)
Transition Service/Agency:
Navy and Air Force
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Collaborative On-Line Reconnaissance Provider/Operationally Responsive Attack Link (CORPORAL) — Scalable, IP-based, plug and play open architecture tailored to the ground war fighter for critical information sharing
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM)
Transition Service/Agency:
Marine Corps
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Hard Target Void-Sensing (HTVS) Fuze —Void-sensing, cockpit-programmable, and BLU-109/113/122 warhead-compatible fuze that functions in greater than 10,000 pounds per-square-inch concrete
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: USSTRATCOM
Transition Service/Agency:
Air Force
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Joint Force Protection Advanced
Security System (JFPASS) — Integrates and automates access control and perimeter security for expeditionary military installations
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: U.S. European Command (USEUCOM)
Transition Service/Agency:
Army
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Multi-Function Threat Detector (MFTD) — Affordable, hostile fire indicator with threat classification
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: USCENTCOM
Transition Service/Agency:
Navy
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Shadow Harvest (classified) — Obscured target mitigation via a rapidly tailorable multi-intelligence on-board package
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: U.S. Southern Command
Transition Service/Agency:
Air Force
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Three additional Fiscal 2007 New Starts:

Global Observer (GO) — High-altitude, long-endurance, liquid hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicle
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: USSOCOM and USSTRATCOM
Transition Service/Agency: USSOCOM
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Joint Surface Warfare (JSuW) — Integrated multiple airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance and strike platforms with dynamic retasking of existing stand-off weapons for maritime interdiction
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: U.S. Pacific Command
Transition Service/Agency:
Army
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

Zephyr — Joint, real-time, battlefield persistent surveillance and communications via an extended-duration, solar-powered, unmanned aerial vehicle
Combatant Command/User Sponsor: USCENTCOM and USEUCOM
Transition Service/Agency: TBD
Project Oversight: OSD/DDR&E/AS&C

The JCTD business model, entering its third year, completely replaced the ACTD model in fiscal 2007 to rapidly move advanced
technology and innovative concepts into the hands of warfighters in the field. Building on the successful ACTD model in which new operational concepts are combined with maturing technologies in a joint environment, JCTDs focus more on tailoring projects to a combatant commander's specifically identified needs — emphasizing "needs pull" over historical "technology push."

A JCTD enables faster project start-up by providing more resources earlier in the traditional two-year DoD budget cycle and a flexible start process that facilitates urgently needed combatant command-driven capabilities throughout the fiscal year. One key aspect of the JCTD program is the enhanced transition planning process, which seeks to deliver enduring capabilities to the combatant commands.

The JCTD program also demands faster fielding of interim capabilities; structures funding to provide incentives for military service and agency participation without requiring the services or agencies to fund from their existing programs; and, provides services and agencies clear visibility in their participation of joint efforts.

Servicemembers Receive Invitations to State of Union Address

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 28, 2008 - A
Marine who lost both legs in Iraq, a 61-year-old doctor who joined the Navy after his oldest son was killed in Iraq, a soldier and an airman wounded in Iraq, and a Marine whose unit was part of the troop surge in Iraq's Anbar province will join first lady Laura Bush tonight during the president's State of the Union address. The servicemembers were selected as special guests for the annual address to both houses of Congress, President Bush's eighth, and the last before he leaves office.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said today the president will discuss the vast improvements in Iraq during the past year and remind people that the challenges there continue. Bush is expected to push the Iraqis to do more to speed up progress and to warn against withdrawing U.S. troops there too quickly, she said.

"This is a chance for the president to remind people that it was a bold decision to send more troops into Iraq at a time when things were so dire, and it would be a really bad decision to rashly pull troops out at the moment," Perino said.

Troops who have served in Iraq will be among the president's specially invited guests who sit with the first lady during the address. They are
Marine 1st Lt. Andrew Kinard, Army Staff Sgt. Craig Charloux, Air Force Senior Airman Diane Lopes and Staff Sgt. Andrew Nichols. Also invited are Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bill Krissoff and Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Willard Milam.

Kinard, 25, of Spartanburg, S.C., is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who received his diploma from the president in 2005. He deployed to Iraq on Sept. 11, 2006, with the 2nd
Marine Division's 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. Two months later, he was on a patrol when he was struck by an improvised explosive device. He lost both of his legs, one above the knee and the other at the hip, and received several other internal and external injuries. Kinard was flown to the United States, where he remains on active duty as an outpatient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Krissoff, who joined the
Navy Medical Corps in November in response to his son's death in Iraq, also will attend the State of the Union address. His oldest son, Marine 1st Lt. Nathan Krissoff, was serving as a counterintelligence officer with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion when he was killed in December 2006.

Inspired by his son's dedication and commitment, the elder Krissoff decided to join the
military himself. When his recruiter initially told him it was unlikely he'd qualify because of his age, Krissoff refused to give up. He raised the issue during a private meeting with the commander in chief in Reno, Nev., and soon got the waiver he needed to begin the application process. Now commissioned in the Navy Medical Corps, Krissoff is preparing to deploy as an orthopedist in a Forward Resuscitative Surgical System, a Level II combat surgical team that treats injured Marines in the field.

Krissoff closed his private practice, and he and his wife, Christine, moved to the San Diego area, where he is assigned to 4th Medical Battalion, 4th
Marine Logistics Group. His youngest son, Marine 2nd Lt. Austin Krissoff, is stationed at nearby Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Charloux, of
Bangor, Maine, also is invited to tonight's address. He was deployed to Muqdadiyah in Iraq's Diyala province for 14 months during 2006 and 2007, serving as a squad leader in an armored reconnaissance squadron. In September, as Charloux led a squad into the town of Baloor, his unit was ambushed, and he received two grenade blasts that injured his arm, face, eyes and leg.

Despite his wounds, Charloux completed the raid, killing eight al Qaeda operatives. He returned from Iraq in November. His entire unit, 1st Calvary Division, returned to Fort Campbell, Ky., in January and is not being replaced.

Lopes, of Danbury, Conn., is an outpatient at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center. Lopes joined the Army in 1991, transferring to the Air Force Reserve in January 2003. She deployed to Iraq in August as a member of a security force at Kirkuk Air Base that provides security and patrols the base perimeter to detect and prevent physical security breaches.

One month into her deployment, Lopes was wounded by a rocket attack on the base. She suffered shrapnel and puncture wounds to her right arm and lower body and was transported to Walter Reed, where she continues to receive physical and occupational therapy.

Another
Marine, Staff Sgt. Andrew Nichols, of Klamath Falls, Ore., will be among tonight's guests. As infantry platoon commander for 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, Nichols is responsible for his Marines' training, welfare and tactical employment. He has served multiple tours of duty in Iraq, most recently with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Anbar province in support of the troop surge.

Following their successful deployment, Nichols and his unit returned to their Camp Pendleton base in November without being replaced by another U.S. unit. Before redeploying, they turned over tactical control of their operating area to 1st Iraqi
Army Division.

Another guest tonight will be
Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Willard Milam, from Phoenix. Milam is a rescue swimmer credited with braving 40-degree waters in the Bering Sea to rescue four people adrift on a life raft after their boat sank in February. Milam spent six years in the Navy before entering the Coast Guard in 1992.

Other guests tonight include Eric Whitaker, a Foreign Service officer who leads a provincial reconstruction team in Baghdad, and Dr. Thomas "Tom" M. Stauffer, president, chief executive officer and professor at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul.

Former Sen. Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, co-chairs of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, are also among tonight's specially invited guests. The two led a bipartisan commission that conducted a comprehensive review of the care wounded service members receive from the time they leave the battlefield through their return to civilian life.