Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Dover Port Mortuary Honors Fallen Warfighters



By Army Master Sgt. Brian Hamilton, U.S. Army Human Resources Command

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del., Nov. 14, 2017 — In keeping with the Defense Department's commitment to honor its fallen warriors, the Port Mortuary was established here in 1955.

Operated by the Air Force since that time, management of the Port Mortuary shifted among multiple Air Force units until 2008, when Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations took control. Today, the Port Mortuary finds its home inside the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs, a sprawling 73,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility built in 2003 at a cost of $30 million.

Service members from all branches of the military, in addition to DoD civilians and contractors, work tirelessly to comfort the families of the fallen who’d died in contingency operations overseas. Their mission is to provide dignity, honor and respect to the fallen by preparing them to be returned home to their families.

Like those of their counterparts from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, soldiers assigned to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command's Joint Personal Effects Depot assist with mortuary operations. They serve as liaisons for families who travel to Dover for the dignified transfer of a loved one. They assist with the final preparations of the fallen in the uniform shop, working side by side with airmen, sailors and Marines to achieve their mission.

Dignified Transfer

When a service member perishes overseas, the remains are flown here for what is known as the dignified transfer. Upon arriving at Dover, a detail from that service member's branch of service transports the warrior's remains from the aircraft to the Charles C. Carson Center for final burial preparations.

Families have the option to attend the dignified transfer, and when they do, it's up to soldiers such as Army Sgt. 1st Class William Carson, a transport noncommissioned officer assigned to the JPED at Dover, to ensure their needs are met.

"Once we get notification of a deceased service member, it's my job to get the family members from the airport in Philadelphia to Dover, and back again," Carson said. "I also provide transportation for the military escorts who transfer the fallen service members from the flight line to the Carson Center."

Carson, now serving his second tour with the JPED, says a lot has changed since his first tour in 2007.

"Back in 2007 at the height of contingency ops overseas, families didn't have the option to attend. Now, they do," he said. "Dealing with the families can definitely be a roller coaster ride. You have to keep in mind that they just lost the one person that meant the world to them, and you never know how they're going to cope with that fact, whether it be through tears or through anger. It's not easy, but we just try to be as respectful as we possibly can so that they can get through this part of the process."

Carson said that in addition to the family aspect, operations at the JPED have also changed.

"It used to take several weeks for us to get the service member's personal effects," he said. "There were several stops in between the time those items left theater and the time they actually arrived at the JPED. Now it's a straight shot from there to here, and that time frame has been cut to a matter of days."

A True Joint Mission

"When service members get assigned here, they become a part of a unique team -- a joint team," said Army Maj. Laura Wood, who oversees the Joint Personal Effects Depot as its officer in charge. "At any given time, you can have a soldier working right alongside an airman or a Marine."

While soldiers assigned within the JPED typically handle the personal effects of all service members, others are routinely called in to assist with the handling of personal items.

"Take our Marine [liaison officers] for example," Wood said. "They come from all over to assist with Marine personal effects that we as soldiers wouldn't know. They help with those cultural nuances, like the shark's tooth, that only a Marine would know. The same goes for the Air Force and Navy as well."

Wood is charged with ensuring the soldiers assigned to the JPED are well rounded and prepared to execute their joint mission at a moment's notice.

"We don't know when we will have to perform our mission, so we spend our time here when we don't have a casualty training as if we do," she said. "Because we only have one shot at getting this right, we take the time to go over things such as Department of the Army Pamphlet 670-1."

The Uniform Shop

As the fallen reach the Charles C. Carson Center, the service members who care for them take the time to prepare their remains in a way that brings dignity to the deceased as well as the service, paying attention to every detail. Flags that will drape the caskets are individually pressed. Uniforms that will clothe the deceased are custom-tailored to fit.

Within the uniform shop, the walls are lined with every decoration and appurtenance from each individual service. Each uniform is meticulously assembled in accordance to the service member's service records. They are then checked and rechecked for proper order of precedence and measurements.

"We take a lot of pride in what we do here because you can instantly see the impact on the families with the work we are doing on the uniforms," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Giuseppe Francioni, uniform shop noncommissioned officer in charge. "So you can take a lot of pride in what you do and knowing that that uniform going out is the best that you can do."

Francioni's counterpart in the uniform shop, Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Luis Diaz, reemphasized that point.

"We have been working together in the uniform shop for about a year now," Diaz said. "This is our signature going out the door. This is our final product, and this is our way as service members of saying thanks to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice." Diaz added that the difficulty in working with families adds an extra degree of pressure to the job.

"It is difficult going out there and helping with the families who wish to attend the dignified transfer and then coming back inside here and helping to prepare their loved one for final burial," he said. "That's one of the hardest parts, and sometimes we have to step away."

While both Francioni and Diaz point out that working at the Port Mortuary can be both emotionally rewarding and draining at the same time, they also said that they wouldn't want to do anything else.

"This has such a greater impact than anything else I do in my day-to-day duties," Francioni said. "With each uniform that I do, I can say, 'This is my final product to you, the family, and my way of honoring your loved one for their service.'"

For the Fallen

Wood has served 16 years in the Army, and she said that while every mission she has undertaken in the military has been important, this one has been the most purposeful.

"With our work here, you see the families start the grieving process," she said. "You get to see the appreciation in the faces of the families for the job we do for them. Those things provide a purpose for what we do here."

That purpose, Wood said, is what drives the soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines assigned to the Port Mortuary and Joint Personal Effects Depot to continue with their mission of honoring the fallen.
"I think our motto probably captures it best: 'To honor the fallen,'" she said. "I think that no matter what the circumstances are out there, the service members inside here would take as much pride in what they are doing and the final product that goes out because they know this is the last memory those families will have of their loved ones."

Honorably Discharged Vets Now Have Online Exchange Shopping Privileges



By Chris Ward, Army and Air Force Exchange Service

DALLAS, Nov. 14, 2017 — Some 18.5 million honorably discharged veterans now have a lifetime benefit enabling them to shop online at ShopMyExchange.com, marking the first expansion of military exchange privileges since 1990.

"The Exchange is honored to open its virtual doors to millions of deserving veterans," said Tom Shull, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service's director and CEO, a Vietnam-era Army veteran.

"There are many generations of service members who have not been properly recognized," he added. "This new benefit acknowledges their service and welcomes them home. This is something veterans can enjoy the rest of their lives."

Purchases Improve Quality of Military Life

Every purchase veterans make online will help to improve the quality of life for those who wear the uniform today, Shull noted, as exchange earnings support programs such as combat uniforms below cost, fitness centers, child development centers and youth programs on Army garrisons, Air Force outdoor recreation programs, school lunches for warfighters' children overseas and more.

"This is a virtuous cycle," he said. "As a veteran myself, it is an honor to pay forward support to active-duty service members and their families."

Excitement for the new benefit has been building for months, AAFES officials said, thanks to social media shout-outs from Mark Wahlberg and Marcus Luttrell, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Richard Rawlings and other celebrities. As a result, they said, more than 255,000 veterans verified their eligibility for the benefit before its official Nov. 11 launch.
To verify eligibility and begin shopping, Veterans can visit ShopMyExchange.com.

Face of Defense: Honor Guard Service Gives Airman New Perspective



By Air Force Airman 1st Class Suzanna Plotnikov 81st Training Wing

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss., Nov. 14, 2017 — People see honor guard members participating in funerals or parades or presenting the colors at various events. They may not know what goes on behind the scenes, or what goes on in the members' minds.

For Air Force Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Graham, noncommissioned officer in charge of the base honor guard's Delta Flight here, the year-long honor guard contract has not been what he expected it to be.

"When I joined honor guard, I didn't know a lot about it," Graham said. "I just saw the face of the Air Force Honor Guard -- them doing shows, performing and twirling rifles. Now that I've gotten into it, it means a lot more."

Each Keesler honor guard member goes through several months of training to be proficient in posting the colors, folding the flag, and participating in funerals as pallbearers or as members of the firing party. But despite their training to project a stoic persona and perform precise facing movements while wearing meticulously maintined uniforms, they face difficulties as well.

First Funeral

Arriving to his first funeral at a dark, cloudy rain-filled New Orleans cemetery, Graham said, he had to focus on keeping his military bearing to render the proper funeral military honors in front of a grieving family.

"It was raining several days prior to the funeral, so the cemetery was run-down, the tombstones were folded over, and weeds were growing everywhere," he said. "There was two inches of muddy water throughout all the gravesites, so it gave it a really disturbing look. The whole group was trying to get our bearing to figure out each honor guardsman's position."

The final handing off of the flag to the next of kin can be one of the most memorable parts of a military funeral. As with other aspects of life, not every situation goes to plan, and for Graham, handing the flag to the mourning family at his first funeral was no exception.

"The family showed up to the funeral 30 minutes early so we had to improvise," he said. "There were tons of people in a small area, so it gave me a claustrophobic feeling. There was nowhere for the family to sit, so I had to hand the flag to someone who was standing up instead of the norm of them sitting down."

Motivated to Perform Well

Looking into the eyes of someone you don't know and handing them the U.S. flag may bring a sense of sadness to anyone, Graham said this last moment of each military funeral reinvigorates each honor guard member to perform better at each funeral.

"They're crying and they're thankful; you're kind of healing their sadness a little bit," Graham said. "It's something I've been very appreciative of, and I think that's what reignites the fire into most of the honor guard teams whenever they're handing off that flag."

Graham wouldn't have had a chance to experience the sense of pride and patriotism that comes with performing honor guard duties if it weren't for his superiors. After speaking to his mentor, a prior chief master sergeant, Graham realized he was going to be a part of something much bigger than himself and that he would be present for what possibly could be the last time some families have contact with the military.
"Most people who aren't affiliated with military don't really know what to expect from military members, and this might be the first and last time they see a military member," he said. "They can see how passionate we are, and it instills some sense of pride in America and gives them hope that there are people who are still willing to do what needs to be done, … even as an honor guardsman."