Military News

Navy Advances Electrical Protection for Shipboard Sailors

2012-01-27T13:59:00.001-08:00

From Naval Sea Systems Command Office of Corporate Communications

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Sailors aboard U.S. Navy ships soon will have new protective clothing for low voltage maintenance work, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) announced, Jan 26.

A new type of coverall featuring flame resistant fabric and accompanying safety equipment will provide Sailors greater comfort and protection against arc flashes. Sailors will be able to use the coveralls like standard shipboard coveralls while conducting initial voltage verification checks, fuse removal, authorized energized work, or when an electrical circuit breaker is installed or removed.

"The new electrical safety coveralls are designed for initial voltage verification or approved work on energized equipment, and are designed to protect Sailors from inherent heat, excessive pressure," said Khosrow Moniri, NAVSEA electrical systems technical warrant holder.

Sailors can expect to use the coveralls and associated equipment such as a face shield by late spring, on board naval ships with electrical systems between 300 and 1,000 volts, such as Arleigh Burke destroyers.

The clothing compliments existing heavier and bulkier coveralls designed for high voltage verification checks on board naval ships with electrical systems greater than 1,000 volts, such as aircraft carriers.

The low- and high-voltage coveralls are rated at 12-calorie and 40-calorie (per centimeter squared). NAVSEA determined that these ratings adequately provide the required amount of thermal energy protection based on National Fire Protection Association and U.S. naval warship design criteria. The calorie/cm-squared rating represents a value of the energy necessary to pass through any given fabric to cause a 50 percent probability of a second or third degree burn.

Both types of coveralls protect Sailors against arc flashes, which occur when an electrical current passes through air gaps between ungrounded conductors or between conductors and grounded components. Use of electrical systems on board U.S. Navy ships is increasing rapidly. Accordingly, the probability of arc flashes increases as well. The blast or explosion that results from arc flash may be fatal or cause major injuries such as burns, the loss of eyesight and hearing.

"While arc flashes don't happen often, this new safety equipment represents a significant advancement in how we protect our Sailors," said Moniri.

Surface Warfare Officers School Hosts the Ship Material Readiness Course Board of Visitors

2012-01-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

From Surface Warfare Officer School Public Affairs

NEWPORT, R.I. (NNS) -- Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) is hosting a Board of Visitors (BOV) for the Senior Officer Ship Material Readiness Course (SOSMRC) in Newport, R.I. Jan. 25-27.

An annual event until the previous SOSMRC curriculum was disestablished, this is the first BOV since 1995. SWOS Commanding Officer Capt. Neil Parrott welcomed the advisory group as the meeting kicked off.

"We reestablished the SOSMRC based on the recommendation of the Surface Warfare Enterprise and the first course of the new curriculum convened in January 2010," said Parrott. "This five-week course for prospective surface ship commanding officers and executive officers is designed to improve their knowledge of material readiness requirements and improve the material condition of the fleet, two things that are vital to success during an afloat command tour."

"We are constantly improving the course and ensuring that we are teaching the most current topics to the future commanding officers of our ships," said Capt. Glenn Zeiders, SWOS department director for SOSMRC. "SOSMRC is the only course in the command pipeline to provide training on improving ship material readiness, and the BOV gives us an opportunity to brief flag stakeholders on current SOSMRC curriculum, focus areas, initiatives, statistics and metrics, measures of effectiveness, and resource requirements or shortfalls. It is a key part of validating and improving our curriculum, and we appreciate the time of so many experts from the surface Navy."

Over the course of three days, the BOV advisory group, comprised of 10 captains and commanders from commands throughout the Navy, will receive briefings on the SOSMRC curriculum and prepared recommendations for the BOV principals group consisting of seven flag officer stakeholders. Chaired by Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, commander, Naval Surface Force, the principals group will convene Jan. 27. Hunt emphasized the importance of upholding and refining a strong professional development curriculum.

"We must instill a culture of ownership, and re-establish rigor in the maintenance and material readiness process," said Hunt. "That starts with ensuring every member of the crew, from the commanding officer to the youngest Sailor on the deckplate, has a thorough knowledge of their ship's equipment and that they can repair and maintain that equipment throughout the ship's service life."

The SOSMRC BOV is slated to become a biennial event in the future.

To find out more about the SOSMRC or other courses of instruction at SWOS, visit http://www1.netc.navy.mil/swos/. You can also reach SWOS through Facebook, Twitter, and SWONET.

Madison Fighter Wing Airmen continue to perform at an 'Outstanding' level

2012-01-27T13:56:00.000-08:00

Tech. Sgt. Jon LaDue
115th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

The 115th Fighter Wing is known in Wisconsin for their patriotic flyovers, but they continue to be known across the nation for sheer excellence.

For the third time in six years, the 115th has been recognized with the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (AFOUA) - solidifying the fighter wing as one of the best Air National Guard units in the country.

"This highlights that we are one of the premier units in the nation," said Brig. Gen. Joseph Brandemuehl, 115th FW commander. "It speaks to the professionalism and dedication of each and every Airman in this organization."

This includes personnel like Airman 1st Class Patrick Soderlund, of De Pere, Wis., who was recently recognized as the top Airman in the state. He's been with the unit for three years and credits his success to the culture that resonates everywhere within the fighter wing.

"I've been mentored through a culture of 'lead by example' - working with very driven Airmen, peers and supervisors, who go out of their way to help with tasks and understanding information," Soderlund said. "It's an honor and a privilege to be part of a unit that performs and operates at the level we do."

Brandemuehl emphasized the AFOUA is a collective effort of the more than 1,000 Airmen that come together, train together and execute together to keep the fighter wing running as safely and efficiently as ever before.

"These Airmen will never cease to amaze you with their performance, and they are the best in the nation," he said. "The commitment and professionalism of these individuals are really what this award is highlighting."

Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar, adjutant general of Wisconsin, said he was extremely pleased but not surprised with the award.

"This award continues to validate the professionalism and dedication our Airmen of the 115th Fighter Wing display each and every day," Dunbar said. "It is gratifying that the Air Force recognizes what I see on a regular basis - the continuation of a 60-year legacy of excellence at the 115th."

The fighter wing's motto is "Dedicated to Excellence." Those words hold true to the legacy that continues to be written as this is the 115th's seventh AFOUA in unit history. Previous awards have come in 1980, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2005 and 2009.

This award - which recognizes the Wing's achievements from Nov 1, 2009 through Oct. 31, 2011 - speaks to the overall, and well-rounded, success of the Wing and its members. The Wing has made a significant impact on the state, nation and even across the globe during this timeframe.

Some of those accomplishment include executing 4,740 sorties equating to more than 7,000 flight hours, deploying more than 200 Airmen to 18 different countries around the globe in support of numerous U.S. led and supported contingency operations, deploying medics to Nicaragua to treat more than 6,200 patients as part of a humanitarian mission and lessening the carbon footprint in Wisconsin by embracing innovating design and technology in the realm of environmental stewardship.

There are countless other accomplishments the Airmen of the 115th have previously and continue to achieve across the spectrum of all operations on base - from logistics and personnel to mission support and operations.

Inspiring Airmen to continue performing at such a high tempo and culture of excellence could be considered difficult. Brandemuehl sees it a different way.

"I don't think it's one thing we do to motivate - I think it's the organization itself that motivates the individuals to maintain that legacy of excellence," Brandemuehl said. "These Airmen just expect that they have to live up to that high standard."

Pentagon Observance Honors Civil Rights Leader’s Impact

2012-01-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta led the Pentagon in honoring the “lasting impact” of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during its 27th annual observance here today.

“Dr. King’s dream was America’s dream, and as he put it, the dream was about taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by our founding fathers,” Panetta said.

“The simple power of Dr. King’s message resonates across generations,” he said. “It changed my whole life in public service.”

Panetta said as the son of Italian immigrants he had his own experiences with discrimination.

“Enough to know,” he said, “that unless we provide equality to all, regardless of race, color, creed, gender, disability, sexual orientation, … none of us can truly be free.”

Panetta shared some background of his own career during the civil rights movement.

“As many of you know, my own career in public service began at the height of the civil rights movement,” he said. “I was a young legislative assistant in the United States Senate working for California Senator Tom Kuchel, who was very much involved in drafting civil rights legislation.

“I had the opportunity to work on some of the landmark civil rights legislation at that time,” he noted. “I also, at a signing ceremony at the White House with then-President Lyndon Johnson, had a chance to meet Dr. King.”

The defense secretary also spoke about his time serving as director for the U.S. Office for Civil Rights in the early 1970s.

“It was an office that was responsible for enforcing civil rights law, particularly with regards to achieving equal education for all children,” he recalled. “You can imagine this was a tough time.”

Panetta called this time tough for him “politically” due to being in an administration “not that dedicated to strong civil rights enforcement.”

“Ultimately, it cost me my job,” he said. “But it taught me a great deal about where that line is between your conscience, and what’s right and what, sometimes, you’re told to do by others that may not meet the requirements of your conscience.”

Panetta also pointed to highlights in his career, such as casting his vote for a day to commemorate King’s legacy, and fighting “to preserve the progress made that had been made by protecting our national commitment to affirmative action.”

Panetta cited the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that had barred gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military as removing one of the last “barriers” to allowing everyone to serve the nation.

“[It] ensured that today’s military more closely reflects the society that we are obligated to defend,” he said.

“We can now more proudly say, out of many, we are one,” Panetta added. “So regardless of background, regardless of perspective, every man and every woman at DOD has answered the call to serve.”

The keynote speaker, Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles, a leader in the civil rights movement, is the last living person present during King’s final hours before he was assassinated.

Kyles often referred to a quote from Harlem Renaissance writer, Langston Hughes, in encouraging others to hold onto their dreams like King did.

“‘Hold fast to your dream for if dreams die you’re like broken-winged birds who cannot fly,’” he quoted Hughes as saying. “Hold fast to your dreams.

“Dreamers, they’re not bound by glass ceilings or brick walls, they don’t go down that road at all,” he added.

“All of us have dreams, [but] some of us have lost our dreams,” the pastor said. “I encourage you to recapture your dream. It’s yours. Nobody has a right to take your dream. It is your dream.”

Panetta lauded King for his “boundless impact” and noted the importance of commemorating the civil rights leader.

“Martin Luther King Day is a chance to ensure that our children and every generation that follows knows Dr. King’s story of courage, strength, dedication, and that all of them can hopefully follow the great example that he set,” the secretary said. “That, I think, in many ways, is the test of life which is whether or not we make a difference.

“Though much has been achieved, Dr. King’s own words remind us that we can never sit still,” he continued. “We have to continue to press ahead to fight each day to make sure we achieve that American dream.

“May God bless our nation and may God bless Dr. King’s enduring hope for a better future,” he said.

Face of Defense: Marine Sets Lego World Record

2012-01-26T22:47:00.001-08:00

By Marine Corps Cpl. Aaron Diamant
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz., Jan. 26, 2012 – While many have a hobby, few have the drive and dedication to turn that hobby into a world record. But Marine Corps Capt. Kyle Ugone not only has that drive, but also the certificate declaring him as the Guinness world record holder for the most completed Lego sets in a private collection, with an astonishing 1,091 sets.

While his record officially stands at 1,091, Ugone actually has 1,251 sets. But some did not count toward the record because they are reproductions or don’t have the original instructions, Ugone explained.

His vast collection started small and at a young age, but has grown in size and number, including one set that contains more than 5,000 individual pieces.

"I got my first set as a gift when I was 5 years old," Ugone said. "It's a windmill, and I still have it today. From there, I kept getting more and more sets."

Rooms in his Yuma home look as if they belong in a Lego Land theme park, containing hundreds of completed Lego sets separated by genre, such as space, trains, castles and “Star Wars” sets, displayed on tables and shelves.

Lego is a line of construction toys consisting of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, mini-figures and various other parts.

Lego bricks can be assembled and connected in many ways to form vehicles, buildings, and even working robots. Anything constructed can be taken apart to make other objects.

The toys originated in the 1940s in Denmark and have achieved international appeal, with an extensive subculture that supports Lego-themed movies, games, video games, competitions and five amusement parks.

It wasn't until 2009, when Ugone was talking to other Lego enthusiasts online, that he decided to go for the world record.

"I was talking to a guy who said he wanted to build every set Lego has ever made," Ugone said. There are more than 5,000 sets, he added, some of which are extremely rare and others available only in certain areas.

Ugone contacted officials at the Guinness Book of World Records and found that no such record existed. He was told he would need at least 500 sets to claim a record.

"At the time, I had about 600 to 700 sets, but I wanted more," Ugone said. "So I spent a lot of time scouring the Internet to purchase more sets and build them."

After a Lego expert visited Ugone's home to verify his plethora of building-block masterpieces, 1,091 of his 1,251 sets were authenticated for the record, earning him the title as the man with the most.

Now, Ugone is slowly taking the sets apart for storage to regain some of the square footage in his home. He’s taking a break from collecting Lego sets, planning instead to focus more of his attention on restoring a classic muscle car.

U.S., Canada Strengthen Bilateral Security Relationship

2012-01-26T22:45:00.001-08:00

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – The United States and Canada expanded their security relationship today by entering into two new agreements and renewing another that promote closer cross-border cooperation and lay out both countries’ roles and responsibilities in the event of a natural disaster or attack.

Army Gen. Charles Jacoby Jr., commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, joined Lt. Gen. Walter Semianiw of the Canadian army, commander of Canada Command, during defense meetings in the Canadian capital of Ottawa to sign three key documents that strengthen the combined defense and security of the United States and Canada, Northcom officials reported.

The new Combined Defense Plan establishes a planning framework to enhance defense cooperation between the two countries in the event their governments need each other’s assistance, such as during a natural disaster or attack, officials explained.

Jacoby and Semianiw also renewed for the next two years the Civil Assistance Plan that allows the military from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a civil emergency. That agreement, in effect since 2008, recognizes the role of each nation's lead federal agency for emergency preparedness, but facilitates military support of civil authorities once government authorities have agreed on an appropriate response, officials said.

In the United States, the Homeland Security Department would be the lead agency. In Canada, it would be Public Safety Canada.

A third document signed today, the Information Sharing Memorandum of Understanding, updates and formalizes existing arrangements to promote information-sharing among the three organizations, officials said.

Jacoby said the documents reinforce an already-strong defense relationship.

“Canada and the United States are great security partners who have worked together for over half a century,” he said at the signing.

“These three documents provide us with the necessary means to better coordinate our combined military resources to help our fellow Americans and Canadians during emergencies,” Jacoby continued. “They help us be better prepared to defend the interests of our two great countries.”

The signing took place as both generals attended meetings of the Permanent Joint Board of Defense, the highest-level defense forum between the United States and Canada. The current meeting, the 228th in the body’s 70 years, featured talks on continental defense and security cooperation, regional engagement and the arctic.

Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay, who delivered the keynote address at the forum last night, told participants the new agreements promote combined defense of the United States and Canada during peace, contingencies and war.

They describe the authorities and means by which the two governments would approve homeland military operations in the event of a mutually agreed threat, and how the two militaries would collaborate and share information, he added.

MacKay emphasized the close defense and security relations between the two countries, calling the bilateral military-to-military relationship a model for broader cross-border cooperation between civilian agencies as well.

He cited the value of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense in promoting this relationship.

“The United States is Canada’s most important ally and defense partner, and strategic discussion entrench our defense relationship at a critical time,” he said.

Vinson Holds Memorial FOD Walk-down for Nimitz Sailor

2012-01-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Byron C. Linder, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs

USS CARL VINSON, At Sea (NNS) -- Sailors assigned to Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 held a memorial foreign object damage (FOD) walk-down Jan. 25, for a fellow shipmate who was killed two days prior.

Lt. Cmdr. Regina Mills, formerly Rogers, was assigned to USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in Bremerton, Wash., as the Navy's only female aircraft handling officer. She was struck and killed by a vehicle when she stopped to assist others involved in a traffic collision in Gig Harbor, Wash., Jan. 23.

Though she was never stationed aboard Vinson, she made an impact as a member of the Aviation Boatswain's Mate (AB) community, explained Master Chief Aviation Boatswain's Mate (AW/SW) Raul Castillo, an El Paso, Texas, native and Vinson's senior enlisted aircraft handler. Castillo served with Mills for two tours of duty, one aboard the Nimitz and one at Afloat Training Group San Diego. She was his division officer at both commands.

"Being part of such a small community, we all know each other," he said, explaining how the Navy's 21 total platforms for ABs to serve at sea, combined with high attrition and turnover rates, resulted in longtime ABs being a premium. "Everybody loved her and respected her passion for life. She shared a lot of moments with me that would have broken a person down, but her passion for life is what will always stick with me."

Castillo said FOD walk-downs were a favorite for Mills, and a memorial FOD walk-down was most appropriate.

"In the seven years I knew her, that was her thing," said Castillo. "She found it a way to relax. When she called it, she'd take off her gear and go out there. She really liked being out there with the young ABs. She was a big promoter of female ABs because there are not very many, and the places she went in her career should be very inspirational to young female ABs to pursue the same route."

Hundreds of Sailors from a wide range of departments and divisions gathered on the flight deck for the walk-down. At 4:26 p.m., the attendees observed a moment of silence. The walk-down commenced one minute later, and concluded at 4:35 p.m., the sun descending on Vinson's port side.

Chief Religious Programs Specialist (SW/AW/FMF) Monica Kuhl, a Cheyenne, Wyo., native and USS Carl Vinson Command Religious Ministries department leading chief petty officer, was one of the hundreds in attendance. She had served aboard the Nimitz with Mills, and noted her influence spanned far beyond the flight deck.

"I just knew her from around the ship, but she was the highest-ranking female there," Kuhl. "A lot of the junior females looked up to her and respected her because she had done so much in the Navy. She set the example for everybody, and I would like to be that kind of leader."

Mills' leadership also affected and continues to impact Lt. Paul Dussault, a Barrington, R.I., native and Vinson's flight deck officer.

"I served on several ships with her, and she was one of my best friends ever," he said. "She was the emcee at my commissioning and one of my mentors when I became an officer. She was an amazing human being and one of the best ABs I've ever known. She had to overcome some hurdles that we as males did not, and I always respected her for that."

"The AB community lost not only a great person but a great AB and one of my personal friends," Castillo added. "She truly will be missed. This tragedy happened because she was trying to help somebody else. She'd take the shirt off her back to give to someone in need. She gave a lot to the community, and she gave a lot to the young ABs in hopes that one would take her spot."

Carl Vinson and CVW-17 are conducting maritime theater security operations in U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

Landstuhl Medical Center Saves Lives, Advances Medicine

2012-01-26T21:34:00.001-08:00

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

LANDSTUHL, Germany – Medical-surgical teams at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center here save the lives every day of warriors wounded in Afghanistan and, until recently, saved troops wounded in Iraq. But that’s only part of their success.

Here, a side benefit of providing relentlessly superior care from the point of injury in the war zone to what doctors call “definitive care” -- care given to manage a patient’s condition -- has been to advance the practice of military medicine and, ultimately, the practice of medicine everywhere.

For medical teams at Landstuhl, the brutality of combat and the urgent need to respond to the wounded have yielded advances in en-route lung bypass, whole-blood transfusion, and even combat tourniquets that can be applied with one hand and in the dark.

“Ten years ago, we had to stabilize [patients] before we could move them,” said Army Col. (Dr.) Jeffrey B. Clark, commander of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

“Now what our Air Force can do is basically put an intensive care unit in the back of a C-17 with a critical-care air-transport team so we can continue to stabilize while we are moving,” Clark said.

The critical-care team program is part of the Air Force aeromedical evacuation system. A team consists of a critical care physician, a critical care nurse and a respiratory therapist, along with supplies and equipment.

Over the past 70 years, and especially over the past 10, a combination of evolving surgical capabilities, technology-intensive critical care and long-range air transport have pushed medical-surgical capability far forward. This saves lives and helps to reduce the load on teams at Landstuhl, a military hospital operated by the Army and the Defense Department, whose staff since 2004 has treated nearly 66,000 patients from Iraq and Afghanistan and military personnel and their families stationed in Germany.

From the United States, 48 visiting civilian trauma surgeons rotate in to Landstuhl for two weeks at a time from hospitals at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, the Oregon Science and Health University in Portland, and others.

Also under the Landstuhl command are seven clinics: two in Belgium, two in Italy and three in Germany.

Landstuhl is the only hospital outside the United States designated a Level I Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons. Its survival rate for trauma patients is 99.5 percent.

“About 14,000 of the 60-some thousand were actual battle injuries,” Clark said. “We have returned to duty about 20 [percent] to 21 percent of those who have come to us from Iraq or Afghanistan, which is huge.”

Every week, every critically ill patient is discussed on a video teleconference that spans nine time zones on three continents. Attendees include “our NATO colleagues such as MERT [Medical Emergency Response Team], the British paramedic units that have physicians on the helicopter teams, to the forward surgical team, the [three] combat support hospitals [and] Landstuhl … as well as our partners on the East Coast and San Antonio and the [Air Force] Aeromedical Evacuation service,” said Air Force Maj. (Dr.) David H. Zonies, Landstuhl’s trauma director.

“Everyone discusses their care that’s provided along the continuum,” he added.

The broad influence of Landstuhl’s medical-surgical innovations is seen 25 to 30 times a day, Zonies said, every time a patient undergoes surgery in an operating room.

“From the last 10 years, a lot of the evidence that we’ve gathered has changed not just the practice of military medicine, but has now been completely translated back into civilian practice,” Zonies said.

For example, he added, the way patients are resuscitated has changed significantly since 2001.

For the past 50 years, he explained, the standard practice for storing blood has been to break it up in to components such as red blood cells, platelets and plasma.

When it was time to give stored blood to a patient, “we’d give them a bunch of red cells, and maybe for every four of those we’d give a unit of platelets [and plasma]. That was how it worked,” Zonies said.

“Well,” he added, “we noticed that our mortality rate was extremely high doing that, and it was standard practice.”

Then six or seven years ago, Army surgeon Dr. John Holcomb and Air Force surgeon Dr. Donald Jenkins, now both retired, observed that transfusions with 1-to-1 ratios of plasma and platelets to blood cells lowered patient mortality rate by about 15 percent. They began to use the practice for combat trauma patients, Zonies added.

“That is how we changed our guidelines for how we resuscitate all our patients,” he said. “We have now taken that evidence back to our civilian counterparts, and they’ve been able to replicate the same approach in civilian practice, and it has decreased mortality there.”

Another life-saving innovation involves a procedure called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or just extracorporeal life support. This is basically a lung bypass, or cardio-pulmonary bypass, that a special team from Landstuhl flies downrange to perform en route as the patient is evacuated from the war zone.

The suitcase-sized device takes the patient’s blood through an artificial membrane that replaces carbon dioxide with oxygen.

The technology, developed by a team at the University of Regensberg, about a four-hour drive from Landstuhl, has been around for 30 or 40 years, but only in the past decade, Zonies said, “has it gotten to the point where everyone feels this is a safe modality that truly … improves patient outcomes.”

So far, Landstuhl has the only capability in the Defense Department of providing that kind of support, Zonies said.

At Landstuhl, the hospital itself is a sprawling complex built in the early 1950s. By 2018, a new hospital that’s more contemporary and flexible will replace it, to be called the Kaiserslautern Community Medical Center.

“It’s a very special mission,” Clark said. “We take a tremendous amount of pride in what we do, and so we consider it a privilege. In many ways, it is so terribly uplifting to take care of wounded warriors, to take care of our own. But … it can wear on you, so we try very hard to look out for each other.”

Colonel ‘Proud, Humbled’ to Represent Gay, Lesbian Troops

2012-01-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Air Force Col. Ginger Wallace, an intelligence officer, had a choice seat for President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech yesterday -- she listened to it live, as a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama.

Wallace was there at the White House’s invitation to represent gay and lesbian service members and veterans. The White House contacted her through Servicemembers United, which calls itself America’s gay military organization. Wallace has been a member for about a year and a half, she said.

She got the invitation Jan. 20, and “stressed out all weekend,” she said.

The colonel first made news in December, when her partner of 10 years, Kathy Knopf, attended her promotion ceremony as her significant other and pinned on Wallace’s new rank. Wallace that said as far as she knows, that was the first time a same-sex partner had taken such a role in a promotion ceremony following repeal of the law that had banned gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Knopf also was at Wallace’s side at the White House yesterday before the president’s speech at the House of Representatives chamber, Wallace said. She added the event left her feeling “extremely proud, and so honored and humbled to represent the thousands of gays and lesbians that serve in the military.”

That includes not only those serving now, she added, but also those who didn’t get to serve out full careers under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” as well as those who will serve in the future, “because there will be many more that follow.”

Wallace said she hopes her attendance at the State of the Union speech offers a teachable moment for parents of young people who are being bullied about their sexuality, calling the pressure on those young men and women “tragic.”

“And I hope that last night provides an opportunity for parents to highlight to their children that it really does get better, and it is better,” she added. “We have a ways to go; we’re not there, but it is better. And every day it’s going to get a little bit better. We just have to be patient.”

Wallace said she was glad to have the chance to thank the first lady for the work she and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, do in support of military families.

“And then to get to thank the president for his leadership in the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ … was pretty amazing,” the colonel said.

Wallace said before 2010, she hadn’t expected to see the law repealed during her career.

“I thought, the economy the way it is, the president’s got a lot going on, Congress has a lot going on, there are other issues that need to be dealt with,” she said. “That’s hard to say, considering how hard it was to live under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ but it was true. For the greater good of the country, their focus needed to be on, ‘Let’s get this economy moving again.’”

From 2008 to 2010, Wallace said, she wasn’t sure repeal would happen, but then momentum started to build.

“Then there were those dark days in December [2010],” she said, when repeal couldn’t get through the Senate, and the provision was stripped out of the National Defense Authorization Act. "I thought, ‘Now I won’t see it until I retire.’”

Before repeal, Wallace said, she always felt her career as an intelligence officer could be over if her sexual orientation became known.

“I could never talk about Kathy. I didn’t talk about Kathy,” she said. “She was always on my security clearance, but not who she really was.”

Security clearance requirements dictate that service members report “everything you’ve ever done,” she noted. “You have to be 100 percent honest and truthful -- you have to be, in order to retain the clearances that we have. That was an added concern. I didn’t ever lie. I just wasn’t forthcoming with everything.”

When the legislation did pass and repeal was implemented, the colonel said, the freedom to serve openly brought both relief and challenges -- and her promotion ceremony was an example of both.

“At one point, it was very stressful,” she said. “I’m from a real small town in Kentucky, and I knew that this was the start of me coming out of the closet, basically.”

Wallace said she was concerned about the effect her openness might have on her parents, public educators who are “very well known” in their community.

“I was a little bit worried about how they would be treated, but Kathy and I talked about it,” she said. “I finally said to her, ‘Look, we’re going to do this the right way.’”

Not including Kathy in her promotion ceremony, Wallace said, would have implied there was “something wrong” with their relationship.

“And there’s absolutely nothing wrong,” she added. “She sat exactly where any other spouse or significant other would sit -- I had to move my dad. … I said, ‘Dad, that’s not your seat, you need to move down one. That’s where Kathy sits.’”

Military and civilian friends and family who have supported the couple also attended the ceremony, she said.

“It was awesome. And really, to be able to thank her for what she’s been through. … She had to become accustomed to what it meant to be partnered with someone who [had] to live under those circumstances [the law imposed],” Wallace said. “And she’s unpacked boxes by herself, just like everybody else.

“She’s made houses into homes,” Wallace added, “just like everybody else. And to be able to acknowledge that, and her sacrifice, was huge.”

Wallace was 10 years into her Air Force career when she met Knopf, and the military “was my life,” she said. She was used to gays and lesbians being barred from serving openly, she added, but Knopf wasn’t.

The biggest difference repeal has made for her, the colonel added, is the freedom to acknowledge how important her partner is in her life.

“The bottom line is, our families – and I think everyone would agree -- sacrifice much more than we do,” the colonel said. “When we go away, our lives simplify so much. Theirs become so much more complicated.”

Wallace now is taking part in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program, known in defense circles as “Af-Pak Hands.” She is in a year of language and cultural training “trying to learn Dari,” she said, and will start a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan this spring. She will then return to the United States and work for a year in a regionally focused job.

The Af-Pak Hands program offers U.S. service members the information and knowledge they need to advise the Afghan people as they rebuild their country after decades of war, the colonel said.

“It’s the [U.S.] military’s attempt to build a cadre of individuals that are experts in that region,” she said, “and can go over and … assist the Afghan government and be effective, as [Afghans] tackle the challenges that they face.”

Wallace said she’s very excited to be part of the program, which is aimed at “one of the biggest challenges we face.”.

“As hard as it will be to leave Kathy, I have not been to Afghanistan yet,” Wallace said. “I checked the Iraq box, … but I’m really looking forward to [Afghanistan]. I think it’s a critical, critical region for our national security. We’ve got to figure it out, and we’ve got to get it right.”

Wallace’s partner is a civilian intelligence analyst whose father is a retired Air Force colonel.

In a telephone interview, Knopf said she felt a constant “low level of anxiety that somehow, I could inadvertently cost Ginger her career” before repeal of the law. She avoided official events and effectively remained in the background of Wallace’s life, she said.

“She obviously couldn’t introduce me as her partner, so when we did meet people, I was her ‘friend,’” Knopf said. “We had to do it, and I was fine with that, but it was always just kind of strange.”

When the repeal took effect in September, the couple woke up the next morning and felt “just a sense of relief,” she said.

Now, “she can just introduce me as, ‘This is my partner, Kathy,’” Knopf said.

Knopf said she was a little anxious before Wallace’s promotion. “She was going to publicly thank me as her partner in front of a roomful of military personnel,” she explained.

“It was wonderful,” she added. “Everybody was so nice. … [They] made a special point to look at me and say, ‘It was wonderful to meet you,’ and ‘This is great,’ and ‘We’re very happy for you and Ginger.’”

Since repeal, “it’s just been super,” Knopf said.

“I’m so happy for her, because she just loves the Air Force,” she said. “She’s given them 150 percent for 20 years, and she does it cheerfully. And so to see that happen, and it was in time for her promotion, … I’m just thrilled for her.”

Knopf joined Wallace at a White House reception before the president’s speech, and she and others who accompanied the first lady’s guests watched the event from the White House theater.

“It was great,” she said. “The staff was wonderful. … We all just sat there and watched it on CNN and applauded.”

Knopf said she also got the chance to thank Michelle Obama for her support to military families, and the fact that Wallace met the president is “a thrill.”

“It’s still surreal, for both of us,” she said.

NSC Offers Winter Safety Tips

2012-01-26T21:30:00.000-08:00

By April Phillips, Naval Safety Center Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- Much of the continental U.S. has experienced a milder than average winter, but that's no reason to get complacent. The month of February often packs a big winter punch, and it's not too late to prepare. The Naval Safety Center (NAVSAFECEN) offers tips to help Sailors and their families get ready for inclement weather.

One of the most important things to do before winter weather strikes is to prepare the vehicles. A NAVSAFECEN "Safe Tips" factsheet entitled "Winter, Your Car, and You" states that the first order of business is a winter checkup that includes inspecting the battery, the ignition, breaks, wiring, hoses, and fan belts; changing and adjusting the spark plugs, ensuring tires have adequate tread, and checking the antifreeze level.

An emergency situation can arise without much warning, so it's important to keep a winter survival kit in the trunk at all times. Essential supplies include a working flashlight and spare batteries; a first aid kit; an ice scraper and snow brush; non-perishable, high energy foods such as nuts and granola bars; and blankets.

For stranded motorists, these items could mean the difference between life and death. However, it's also important to note that it is usually a good idea to stay put in the vehicle when stranded. Don't leave the car unless you know exactly where you are, how far it is to possible help, and you are certain that leaving the car will improve your situation. Never leave the car while blizzard conditions continue.

Many make the smart choice not to drive during winter storms, but there are still other risks associated with extreme cold weather and snow and ice. NAVSAFECEN has an entire factsheet dealing with the dangers of shoveling snow. Recently, Blue Cross Blue Shield looked at hospital emergency admissions in Michigan after a blizzard and found that the number of people suffering from cardiac-related conditions skyrocketed 59 percent during the first 24 hours of the storm. This is because people were shoveling snow and many of those people were unaccustomed to strenuous activity.

When you do go out to shovel the driveway, it's important to take it slow. Drink plenty of water, because dehydration also stresses the heart. Dress in layers, and wear a hat. Much of the body's heat is released through the head. Don't ignore chest pain or tightness. Assume the worst if it strikes and call an ambulance or have someone take you to the emergency room.

Finally, even those who choose to ride out the storm indoors with a cup of hot chocolate may face risks. Space heaters can pose a significant fire hazard. The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns consumers to only use those space heaters that have been certified by a national testing laboratory. Place heaters on a level, hard, nonflammable surface such as a tile floor. Keep the heater at least three feet away from furniture and drapes, keep it away from children and pets, and never leave it unattended.

Squadrons Team Up For E-2D Evaluation

2012-01-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

By Clark Pierce, Naval Air Station Jacksonville Public Affairs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 1 combined forces with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 120 to bring a joint detachment to Naval Air Station Jacksonville Jan. 16, to help meet its schedule for the E-2D Hawkeye Initial Operational Test and Evaluation.

The squadrons are conducting four weeks of operational evaluations in conjunction with the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) and Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) underway in the Atlantic Ocean.

The new Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye is the Navy's latest carrier-based airborne early warning, battle management command and control system that works in concert with surface ships equipped with the Aegis combat system.

"The Hawkeye is highly valued by admirals who want to know what friends and foes are in the vicinity of their carrier strike group. Where naval surface ship surveillance systems like Aegis can only see as far as the horizon, VAW aircraft fly above the curvature of the earth to provide the strike group's command and control leadership with a more expansive look of potential battle spaces," said Officer-in-Charge Lt. Cmdr. Dave Champaigne of VAW-120.

VX-1 E-2D Operational Test Director Lt. Cmdr. Greg Harkins said, "The new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is able to scan a larger area, detect smaller targets, process data about those targets faster, and transform all of that information into improved situational awareness for strike group leadership."

Champaigne said, "This is an unusual mission for VAW-120. We're glad to assist our brethren at VX-1 and help keep the fleet introduction of the E-2D on schedule."

VAW-120, based at Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field, is the fleet replacement squadron (FRS) for the E-2C and E-2D Hawkeyes, and the C-2A Greyhound. The FRS is responsible for training pilots, naval flight officers (NFOs) and maintenance personnel for fleet operational squadrons.

"The tasking of our joint detachment at NAS Jax comes to VX-1 from Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force (COMOPTEVFOR) and Commander Strike Force Training Atlantic (CSFTL). VX-1, based at NAS Patuxent River, Md., is in the midst of a big wave of operational evaluations that include programs for the P-3C and the new P-8A platform -in addition to programs for C-2A, E-2C and the new E-2D platform," explained Harkins.

Champaigne said, "VAW-120 acts as a trusted agent for VX-1. Our job is to determine how well the E-2D compares to what the Navy asked for, and how it operates in the real world as opposed to a controlled test environment."

"We're already getting qualitative assessments from aircrew and maintainers, including good feedback on the glass cockpit," he continued. "NFOs are liking the large 17-inch monitors at their workstations, as well as the option for the co-pilot to plug in as a fourth mission systems operator."

Harkins said, "We brought a cross-section of junior and senior flight crew because we want the perspective of those fresh from the FRS, as well as those with five or more years of operational experience in the Hawkeye community."

Over the next six months, the detachment will travel around the country to evaluate how it functions in large-force exercises, strike group and air wing exercises and joint exercises. During their time in Jacksonville, the sqaudrons will be part of the Enterprise JTFEX, the strike group's final operational exam before being certified for overseas combat operations.

"Since E-2s have the biggest footprints on the flight deck, the Enterprise air boss isn't going to be happy when we add two more to the mix. But they understand we're doing these tests to provide a new and improved platform to the fleet. So, we'll put two E-2Ds on board Enterprise and fly our other pair from NAS Jacksonville," said Harkins.

"To this point, the aircraft has proven it can meet developmental requirements. Now it's up to this detachment to assess everything in a more fluid and realistic operational environment," said Champaigne.

San Diego Learning Center Recognized for Information Management, Technology Excellence

2012-01-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

By Steve Vanderwerff, Naval Education and Training Command Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The Center for Sea, Air, Land and Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewman (CENSEALSWCC) was presented the Navy Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) Award at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Conference at the San Diego Convention Center Jan. 24.

In his commendation the Department of the Navy's Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen wrote, "Your team's foresight and innovative use of the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS) database has resulted in system-wide enhancements and increased functionality. Now operational commanders Navy-wide can quickly and accurately extract detailed capabilities of their units and individuals within their units."

CENSEALSWCC changed the Navy's E-7 advancement process for Special Warfare Operators and Special Warfare Boat Operators, which increased the commanders' knowledge management, improving how commanders can employ their personnel.

"Information that previously took days or weeks to compile is now available to decision makers in minutes," said Gerald Moy, director, Knowledge Management Department. "Operational commanders can now easily and quickly determine how many Joint Terminal Attack Controller qualified personnel are assigned to a specific SEAL team, and which SEALs assigned have a language capability. This enhanced functionality is not limited to Naval Special Warfare (NSW), but can be used by all Navy commands."

The effort is the result of four years of identifying requirements and enhancing NSIPS to accommodate a Chief of Naval Personnel (CNP) approved NSW Alternative Final Multiple Score (AFMS) project. NSW AFMS determines NSW Selection Board Eligibility (SBE) by adding five variables - Leadership, Deployments, Qualifications, Awards and Ethos to the Navy's existing two variables - Performance Mark Average (PMA) and Standard Score. The goal of modifying the system was to enable war-fighting commanders and the Navy enterprises to use additional selection criteria to shape their forces to meet their communities' unique needs and values. CNP directed that any enhancements created for NSW AFMS must be exportable to other Navy communities as well.

"The challenge for the CENSEALSWCC team was to meet the requirement that all information used for advancement purposes is authoritative and legally defensible if challenged," said Harold Farley, Knowledge Management Process manager. "The information needed to be collected and extracted from an enterprise system that would capture and combine the NSW factors with current exam scores and PMA of any given advancement cycle."

Enhancements were made to the Electronic Service Record (ESR) and NSIPS Analytics. The ESR modification enabled the capture of NSW relevant skills such as medic, sniper, range safety officer, or other specialties. Information entered such as deployments, leadership and ethos count for points to determine E-7 Selection Board eligibility.

Within NSIPS, an electronic worksheet was developed to display the NSW AFMS factors to the individuals. The worksheet is used by leaders and mentors to provide individuals with a snapshot of their career achievements and how they relate to NSW community values.

One example of the enhancements and improvements that were made to NSIPS included language, an item of critical importance to NSW. Previously, it was necessary to use six different objects when forming an NSIPS query, to find out whether an individual had a particular language skill, which was complex and time consuming. These were combined into one language object, and a single language query filter was added. The result was a substantial improvement to the existing language reporting capability.

Individual Personnel Tempo (ITEMPO) panels were developed to track an individual's time served on deployments, including Individual Augmentee (IA) deployments, in leadership positions, and while on temporary assigned duty, in country and out of country. This provides NSW commanders the capability to track and report on individuals who are away from their assigned units at any given time. he report automatically calculates personnel in violation of the Navy ITEMPO and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) dwell time policies.

"Leveraging an existing enterprise IM/IT system saved time and money, improved the knowledge management of NSW commanders, increased effectiveness and vastly improved electronics records management," said Moy.

For more information about the Center for SEAL and SWCC visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/censealswcc/.

Author of Self-Help books for Kids kicks off first USO tour to the Pacific

2012-01-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

USO Sponsored “With You All the Way” program kicks off International Tour and helps children cope with issues unique to growing up a military child

Tour led by Trevor Romain, award winning author and illustrator of self-help books for kids

Arlington, Va. (January 26th, 2012) –USO’s With You All the Way program concluded the 2012 international tour kick off this week with presentations to military children in Guam. The With You All the Way program is led by award winning author and illustrator, Trevor Romain. Romain uses humor to help children identify and cope with serious issues such as deployment, reintegration and when a parent returns home with invisible and visible wounds.

On his first visit to the region for the With You All the Way program, Romain led the two-week tour kick off with presentations to thousands of children at schools throughout Hawaii and Guam. Hawaii is home to more than 56,000 military family members and Guam’s approximately 8,000 military personnel experience frequent deployments due to mission requirements. Romain visited with more than 3500 children bringing messages of hope and comfort to kids who have experienced deployments, multiple deployments, the visible and invisible wounds of war, as well as loss of a parent or loved one.

“It is about being real and sharing stories. I mix in humor and encourage the children to express themselves,” said Romain. “For some, just knowing that there are other kids out there going through the same thing as them can be so comforting.”

The presentations, tailored to children in length and content, opened with kid friendly jokes followed by a showing of the video “With You All the Way! Dealing with Deployment” as well as clips from other Trevor Romain Company videos such as “Bullies Are A Pain In the Brain” and “Facing Fear Without Freaking Out”. The presentations closed with an interactive session of questions and answers. In the week following the presentations, children will receive the With You All the Way Military Family Empowerment Pack containing videos and resources to help both children and parents. Romain has been working with the USO for the past five years- visiting approximately 21 military installations on seven USO tours.

“We are so excited to have Trevor work with the children in our region,” said Carolyn Harris, USO Regional Vice President of Operations for the Pacific. “The families here have experienced multiple deployments and Trevor’s presentations and tools provide the children with a way to express themselves and know that they are not alone.”

The With You All the Way tour will return to the Pacific in February with visits to military children living in Korea and Japan. The fall leg of the tour will include presentations to U.S. military children living in Germany and the Mediterranean.

Click here for photos from the tour kick off.

SEMI-FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2012 MILITARY CHILD OF THE YEAR® AWARD

2012-01-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Deserving Young Patriots Will Win $5,000

SAN ANTONIO – Operation Homefront today announced the 100 semi-finalists – 20 representing each branch of Service – for the 2012 Military Child of the Year® Award. For the second year in a row, the award will be given to an outstanding military child from each branch of Service – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

Each semi-finalist will be interviewed by Operation Homefront staff, and award recipients will be chosen by a committee including active duty military personnel, Family Readiness Support Assistants, teachers, military mothers, and community members.

The recipient of the Military Child of the Year® Award for each branch of Service will be announced March 8. Each award recipient will receive $5,000 and will be flown with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C. for a special recognition ceremony on April 5, 2012.

Ideal candidates for the Military Child of the Year® Award demonstrate resilience and strength of character, and thrive in the face of the challenges of military life. They demonstrate leadership within their families and within their communities.

“The sons and daughters of America’s service members learn what patriotism is at a very young age,” said Jim Knotts, President & CEO of Operation Homefront. “Children in military families understand sacrifice and live with the concept of service. This is what the Military Child of the Year® Award honors.”

Following are the semi-finalists for the 2012 Military Child of the Year® Award.

AIR FORCE

Tasha D. – Age 15 – Callaway, FL

Gregory C. – Age 17 – Albuquerque, NM
Jacob P. – Age 11 – Childress, TX
Ilaria R. – Age 10 – Valrico, FL
Brookelyn S. – Age 17 – Marblehead, MA
Brandon S. – Age 16 – Andrews AFB, MD
Chelsea R. – Age 17 – Panama City, FL
Joanna S. – Age 17 – Europe
Caitlin R. – Age 17 – Luling, TX
Alexandra D. – Age 17 – Durham, NC
Bryce R. – Age 12 – Valrico, FL
Bailey C. – Age 8 – Surprise, AZ
Kyle W. – Age 15 – Ashland, IL
Brianna S. – Age 13 – Kadena Air Base, Japan
Jada K. – Age 12 – Tolleson, AZ
Mika D. – Age 12 – Lumberton, NC
Katherine O. – Age 16 – Las Vegas, NV
Jeffrey M. – Age 13 – Scott AFB, IL
Ryan P. – Age 18 – Yuba City, CA
Madyson N. – Age 15 – Lackland AFB, TX

ARMY

Hunter M. – Age 12 – Fort Huachuca, AZ

Amelia M. – Age 17 – Carlisle, PA
Brock W. – Age 12 – Vine Grove, KY
McKenna T. – Age 14 – Fort Meade, MD
Jacob F. – Age 12 – Europe
Marly K. – Age 12 – Hope Mills, NC
Andrew M. – Age 11 – Lakewood, WA
Gabriella G. – Age 10 – Copperas Cove, TX
Samuel B. – Age 14 – Fortson, GA
Brandon G. – Age 17 – Hope Mills, NC
Sydney S. – Age 12 – Wake Forest, NC
Jessica H. – Age 17 – Fort Riley, KS
Courtney L. – Age 16 – Fayetteville, NC
Robert D. – Age 11 – Europe
Robert W. – Age 13 – Gastonia, NC
Alexis S. – Age 13 – Fort Drum, NY
Zachary H. – Age 17 – Aberdeen, NC
Kirsten L. – Age 14 – Elizabethtown, KY
Erika J. – Age 17 – Raeford,, NC
Marquis H. – Age 17 – Sanford, NC

COAST GUARD

Alena D. – Age 17 – Fairfax, VA

Felicity M. – Age 8 – South Portland, ME
Meaghan, M. – Age 15 – Grosse Pointe Park, MI
Collin E. – Age 17 – Morehead City, NC
Margaret C. – Age 17 – Chesapeake, VA
Maggi F. – Age 10 – Prescott, AZ
Matthew M. – Age 9 – Lake St Louis, MO
Lyric S. – Age 13 – Bayamon, PR
Maverick J. – Age 15 – Port Angeles, WA
Meaghan B. – Age 8 – Astoria, OR
Ayden M. – Age 10 – Cocoa, FL
Alyssa S. – Age 12 – Davie, FL
Chandel B. – Age 13 – Chesapeake, VA
Tamalega T. – Age 8 – Amherst, NY
Matthew Y. – Age 16 – Fairhope, AL
Jack F. – Age 8 – Prescott, AZ
Felicity L. – Age 11 – Kittery, ME
Sara H. – Age 11 – Virginia Beach, VA
Zahkeira B. – Age 13 – Jacksonville, NC
Duncan M. – Age 15 – Groton, CT

MARINE CORPS

Renalyn Q. – Age 16 – Kailua, HI

Michael-Logan J. – Age 13 – Oceanside, CA
Jacob M. – Age 14 – Garden City, NY
Erika B. – Age 16 – Jacksonville, NC
Benjamin L. – Age 18 – Tampa, FL
Bailey – Age 16 – Beaufort, SC
Desirae S. – Age 18 – Jacksonville, NC
Tanner G. – Age 11 – Concord, NC
Kathleen D. – Age 16 – Camp Lejeune, NC
Tyler V. – Age 17 – Chester, VA
Eric D. – Age 15 – San Diego, CA
Bailey L. – Age 15 – Tampa, FL
Archie B. – Age 17 – Pearl City, HI
Joseph K. – Age 18 – Hubert, NC
Whitney H. – Age 18 – Prince Frederick, MD
Mikayla L. – Age 12 – San Diego, CA
Thomas C. – Age 10 – Beaufort, SC
Anastasia B. – Age 10 – Oceanside, CA
Gavin S. – Age 8 – Jacksonville, NC
Savannah C. – Age 8 – Paso Robles, CA

NAVY

Desiree' W. – Age 13 – San Diego, CA

Ashley F. – Age 16 – Jacksonville, FL
Haley F. – Age 8 – Lexington Park, MD
GiVahna P. – Age 14 – Springfield, VA
Daniel N. – Age 12 – Fleming Island, FL
Addalyn B. – Age 13 – Newbury Park, CA
Malcolm T. – Age 10 – Odenton, MD
Avery D. – Age 12 – Jacksonville, FL
Elisha D. – Age 15 – Pacific Area
James Nathan R. – Age 9 – Jamul, CA
Debra P. – Age 11 – Seattle, WA
Sheridamae G. – Age 12 – San Diego, CA
Hallie G. – Age 11 – Chula Vista, CA
Mariah W. – Age 14 – Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan
Isabella T. – Age 13 – Jacksonville, NC
Kasey P. – Age 13 – Ramona, CA
Maiya D. – Age 16 – Portsmouth, VA
Keegan M. – Age 13 – Panama City Beach, FL
Amanda N. – Age 12 – Aiea, HI
MacKenize F. – Age 11 – Browns Mills, NJ

Real Warriors, NFL Players Association host ‘Game Day’ Event at Quantico

2012-01-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

By Robyn Mincher, DCoE Strategic Communications

Former NFL players, Marines and their families watched the New England Patriots take on the Baltimore Ravens at a “Game Day” event hosted by the Real Warriors Campaign Sunday. Hosted at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., the event helped open a dialogue about coping with reintegration, as players shared their own stories about transitioning out of the NFL, and encouraged service members and families to reach out for support when times are tough.

“What they do on the combat field and in life, it’s a parallel with us. We make the transitions from sports to the real world, and they make the transition from combat [to home],” said John Booty, a former defense back for the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Phoenix Cardinals, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “For me, this event is part of giving back.”

Before the game, NFL players spoke about common reintegration challenges and the resources available to them, citing the tools and resources available at www.realwarriors.net, including articles, tip sheets, public service announcements and video profiles.

“A campaign like this is bringing a message from someone who’s not in uniform, but it’s someone our Marines and their families can relate to,” said Col. Daniel J. Choike, base commander. “The message is that asking for help is not showing a sign of weakness. In hearing this from NFL players, that might cause more people to take the time and effort to stop, listen and recognize the fact that there are things going on in their life.”

Ken Harvey, a former linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals and Washington Redskins, personally related to reintegration challenges. At home after retiring from 11 years in the NFL, he coped with depression.

“Athletes are taught to be tough, and Marines are taught the same thing. Because you have that mindset it can be hard to say, ‘hey—I’m struggling with something.’ I’ve dealt with it myself,” said Harvey, who has participated in the event for the second year. “I want to help people [in a] transition to [know] that it’s okay to say something. Then the doors will open and you can get help.”

The event also featured the video profile of Marine Staff Sgt. Josh Hopper, who reached out for support after experiencing post-combat psychological concerns following a traumatic brain injury from improvised explosive device (IED) blasts.

After presentations, players, service members and families enjoyed food and conversation as they cheered on their favorite teams.

Real Warriors Campaign has partnered with the NFL Players Association since 2010 to host “Game Day” events at bases around the country, including Fort Carson, Colo., Fort Drum, N.Y., Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Fort Bragg, N.C., this month.

VAW-123 Support Personnel Prepare for Enterprise's Final Deployment

2012-01-25T20:01:00.000-08:00

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW) Peter Melkus, Enterprise Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs

USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea (NNS) -- As the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) enters the second week of its composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) Jan. 23, Sailors assigned to the carrier's squadrons continue to work around the clock to ensure their aircraft and the personnel who make them fly are ready for Big E's upcoming deployment.

For Sailors assigned to the "Screwtops" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 123, the importance of keeping aircraft "mission ready" is amplified by the fact that they possess only a fraction of the aircraft their fellow squadrons have.

With only four E-2C Hawkeye aircraft aboard Enterprise, "Screwtop" mechanics have worked tirelessly since the conclusion of their last deployment in July to ensure their upkeep and repair skills remain on point.

"During the span of two months, our Sailors completed three major aircraft modifications that will improve the capabilities of the E-2C in relation to the strike group's deployment mission," said Kersey. "They have done an amazing job maintaining our aircraft while building upon their range of skills in the process."

From mid-July through the commencement of COMPTUEX, "Screwtop" Sailors completed more than 17,000 man hours of maintenance, which included nearly 6,000 preventive and corrective maintenance actions. The efforts of VAW 123 mechanics on the ground also paved the way for pilots to complete 459 flight training hours in the air.

"Unlike last deployment, 80 percent of our Sailors are now returning with previous deployment experience," said Lt. Robert Franklin Kersey III, VAW-123 assistant maintenance officer. "Our crew is much sharper now. They know what to expect and can correct issues in a shorter turnaround time."

While "Screwtop" mechanics are charged with the responsibility of keeping their aircraft in proper working order, VAW 123's administrative team is responsible for keeping the affairs of the more than 150-Sailor crew in order as well.

"Our job is to take care of the people taking care of the aircraft," said Yeoman 2nd Class Jarrell R. Riggins, who has worked with the VAW 123 administrative team for the last two-and-a-half years. "Whatever the issue, whether personal or career-oriented, we focus on those issues so our Sailors can, in turn, focus on their jobs."

Riggins said his team is very excited to be part of Enterprise's final deployment, and it's their goal to do the best job they can do every day in order to account for and take care of every Sailor within the VAW 123 command.

Enterprise is currently underway conducting training exercises and evolutions as part of a composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) in preparation for the ship's 22nd and final deployment following 50 years of naval service.

For news regarding USS Enterprise or the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, visit www.enterprise.navy.mil, or the USS Enterprise Facebook page at www.facebook.com/USS.Enterprise.CVN.65 and follow on Twitter @TheCVN65.

Wisconsin Airmen hone skills under Florida sun

2012-01-25T19:58:00.000-08:00

Tech. Sgt. Jon LaDue
115th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

About 150 Airmen from the Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing returned to the white snow of Wisconsin from the white sands of Key West, Fla., following a joint training exercise with the U.S. Marine Corps Jan. 7-21.

The two-week exercise, based out of Naval Air Station Key West, pits the fighter wing's F-16 Fighting Falcons against Marine F-18 Hornets in simulated combat.

Airmen in nearly every aspect of flying, aircraft operations and aircraft maintenance made the trip to take advantage of the near-optimal training conditions - including the time, airspace and weather to support increased training sorties.

"Right now we can get so much more flying and training in than we can do at home station," said Lt. Col. Gary Pelletier, deputy commander of the 115th Maintenance Group. "Everyone's been performing great."

Missing only a few sorties due to weather, 115th Maintenance and other fighter wing support personnel helped pilots log nearly 120 sorties and more than 175 flying hours.

"Key West provides a premier location for accomplishing our defensive counter - air scenarios, due to its combination of superior airspace, ramp space for adversaries, briefing and debriefing capabilities and the integration it provides for our GCI controllers and our range training officers for real time kill removal and training through scenario management," said Lt. Col. Erik Peterson, 115th Operations Group commander.

The airspace surrounding Key West provided Madison's fighter pilots the opportunity to train and perform in conditions not available in Wisconsin. For instance, the designated airspace for this exercise is about four times larger than the training airspace in Wisconsin. Also, the elevation cap is boosted significantly from 28,000 to 50,000 feet. These conditions allow for supersonic speeds.

"[Key West] provides an excellent opportunity for flying against the F-16 Fighting Falcon in some of the best air space the country has to offer," said Marine Capt. Michael Huck, F-18 pilot with the Marine Fighter Attack (VFMA) 314 based out of Miramar, Calif.

"The F-16 is a very capable aircraft ... very capable weapons system," Huck said. "So we look to use our tactics and find gaps in those strengths so we can get out there and have a good engagement."

Peterson said he appreciates the value of the exercise and training with the Marines as well.

"The VMFA 314, as an extremely professional organization, provided outstanding adversary support," Peterson said. "It went very, very smooth overall."

For the maintainers specifically, the pace of the exercise provided some very valuable experience across the spectrum of Airmen - from the youngest to the more veteran force. The flying schedule was "6-turn-6," meaning the Airmen launched six of the seven F-16s on station and had only a couple hours to recover, reconfigure and fix any issues before the next six took off.

"Many of our traditional Guard members have not had an opportunity to work day-after-day ... experiencing what actual flying and maintenance operations are really like over more than just one drill weekend," said Capt. Christy Kasten, deputy commander of the 115th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

"The training our traditional Airmen receive on deployments like Key West is highly valuable to them, increasing the knowledge of their job specifically as well as the other areas that support maintenance," she said.

The exercise also enhanced the maintainers' relationship with the pilots and operations personnel - a value that will be extremely beneficial to the fighter wing in the future.

"They were extremely flexible in meeting our flying windows and our aircraft configuration requirements," Peterson said. "They provided the operations group with a solid basis going into the months ahead in preparation for our Operational Readiness Inspection.

Roughly 50 aircrew and support Airmen from the Milwaukee-based 128th Air Refueling Wing, along with three KC-135 Stratotankers, also gained valuable training and supported the exercise by providing in-flight refueling to both the F-16's and F-18's throughout the two-week training.

"They can stay up here, do two flights instead of one, train with multiple units and also practice their in-flight refueling skills as well," said Master Sgt. Will Mattert, in-flight refueling for 128th ARW.

Deploying and sustaining flying operations, involving nearly 150 Airmen and seven fighter jets, to any location is no easy task. In addition to pilots and maintainers, medics, security forces, force support personnel, life support and many other support personnel were on hand to achieve training and contribute to the overall exercise.

"Each and every Airman on this deployment can be proud to know they directly contributed to the success of this exercise," Kasten said.

It’s All About the Guns

2012-01-25T15:01:00.000-08:00

Firepower and other February Programs
Battleship NORTH CAROLINA
February 18, 2012
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM

WILMINGTON, NC - Learn about and explore the Battleship's 16-inch and 5-inch guns from the gun houses to the ammunition loading compartments; the 40mm and 20mm guns, and the weapons that they replaced (1.10 and 50 caliber guns). The finest guns are of little use without the means to direct their fire accurately at the target. Presenters will discuss the various types of fire control equipment (directors/optical range finders, radar, computers) and how main and secondary battery plotting rooms and the combat information center operated. Participants will enjoy a lively, engaging, in-depth program with presentations, hands-on experience, and serious exploration for adult learners.

The program is for adults only (ages 16 and up) and limited to 40 participants. It is not appropriate for those who may have difficulty climbing narrow ladders. Wear warm, comfortable, washable clothing, sturdy, rubber-soled shoes and bring a camera! Registration and payment are due by Thursday, February 16, 2012. Event is $95; $85 for Friends of the Battleship or active military. Program includes a box lunch. Call 910-251-5797 for reservations.

February 26 from noon until 10:00 PM, the Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club will operate from the Battleship North Carolina during the North Carolina QSO Party. This annual “HAM RADIO” event allows amateur radio operators worldwide to contact as many of North Carolina’s 100 counties as possible. The Battleship (NI4BK) is one of four stations worth “extra points” if contacted.

The Club will communicate by voice through the Ship’s original cabling and antennas. Morse code communications will originate from the TDE transmitter, placed in service aboard the Battleship in 1944, and restored to operating condition by Club members in 2005, after a 50+ year slumber. Contact for the event is club member and battleship volunteer, Jack Jacobs, who may be reached at 791-1566 or wd4oin@arrl.net. For other club activities aboard visit http://ac4rc.org/default.htm.

Interested in more details of the magnificent World War II vessel? March 7, 2012, the Battleship will present the Power Plant Tour. This in-depth program will give details about the ship's boilers, turbines and reduction gears, steam and diesel powered service turbo generators, along with electrical distribution, water distillation, and steering mechanisms. Also, October 13, go behind the scenes of the Battleship and explore un-restored areas not open to the public. For more information on these programs or to learn more about the new Professional Military Education Program (PME) please call 910-251-5797.

The Battleship NORTH CAROLINA is self-supporting, not tax supported and relies primarily upon admissions to tour the Ship, sales in the Ship's Store, donations and investments. No funds for its administration and operation come from appropriations from governmental entities at the local, state or federal levels. Located at the junction of Highways 17/74/76/421 on the Cape Fear River. Visit www.battleshipnc.com or follow us on Facebook.com/ncbb55 and Twitter.com/battleshipnc for more information.

Air Force Leaders Say Strategy Calls for F-22, F-35 Capabilities

2012-01-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Fifth-generation fighter aircraft are key to America maintaining domain dominance in the years ahead, Air Force officials said here today.

Lt. Gen. Christopher D. Miller, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and programs, and Maj. Gen. Noel T. “Tom” Jones, the service’s director for operation capability requirements, said the technology – exemplified in the F-22 and F-35 – assumes greater importance in combating growing anti-access, area-denial capabilities.

The generals spoke during a media roundtable in the Pentagon.

Fifth-generation aircraft are particularly valuable as part of the new defense strategy guidance that President Barack Obama unveiled here earlier this month, they said. That strategy explicitly affirms that the United States military must be able to defeat ant-access, area-denial threats.

“This is not a new thing,” Miller said. “Militaries have operated in ant-access environments probably since the beginning of time. But what is different, and why fifth-generation aircraft is relevant to that, is that operating in anti-access environments continues to become more complex and challenging.”

There is a continuing competition between nations developing anti-access capabilities and others devising ways to defeat that, the general said. “Fifth-generation aircraft are a key ability that the Air Force is bringing to the nation’s ability to operate in those environments,” he added.

The Air Force has flown against anti-access environments since it was founded. American fighters countered this capability in the skies over Korea and Vietnam. Airmen faced off against surface-to-air missiles ringing Hanoi. In the Persian Gulf War, airmen defeated the ground-to-air threat over Iraq, and most recently, they knocked out the anti-access capabilities around Tripoli.

But missile technology has become more complex and more difficult to counter. Command-and-control capabilities have grown. This will require a new set of capabilities flying against them, Jones told reporters. “The fifth-generation capabilities that the F-22 and F-35 possess will allow us to deal with that environment,” he said.

F-22s and F-35s bring maneuverability, survivability, advanced avionics and stealth technology to the fight. Both planes are multi-role capable, able to fight air-to-air and air-to-ground.

“These capabilities give our leaders the ability to hold any target at risk, anywhere in the globe, at any time,” Jones said. “I think it is important for any adversary to understand we possess those capabilities and intend to continue the development.”

Another aspect of the strategy includes the ability to operate against adversaries across the spectrum of conflict. F-22s and F-35s are particularly relevant at the top of the spectrum, “where we can’t always set the conditions for our operations as easily as we have in the last couple of decades of military conflict,” Miller said.

This is an extremely valuable capability that must be nurtured, the generals said.

Americans have become used to having domain dominance, Miller said, expecting U.S. service members to be able to operate on land, at sea, in the air with a fair degree of autonomy as they pursue national objectives.

“This is not a birthright,” Miller said. “That is something we have had to work very hard in the past to gain, … and we can’t take for granted that we are going to be able to support the joint team in future environments unless we maintain a high-end capability to target an adversary’s air forces, their surface-to-air forces and basically be able to seize control of parts of the air space and other domains the joint commander needs.

“It’s an Air Force capability,” he added, “but it’s a key Air Force contribution to the joint warfighting capability of the nation.”

U.S.-Japan Exercises Underscore New Strategy Guidance Focus

2012-01-25T14:12:00.001-08:00

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Two bilateral command post exercises with Japan kicked off yesterday and today, reflecting the growing strategic importance of the Asia-Pacific region as outlined in the new defense strategy guidance President Barack Obama announced earlier this month.

Japanese and U.S. military forces launched Keen Edge 12 yesterday at Yokota, Japan. The biennial exercise continues through Jan. 27.

Today, Exercise Yama Sakura kicked off, with operations to run through Feb. 5.

Both exercises are designed to increase interoperability of U.S. and Japanese forces and their readiness to defend against external threats, officials said.

By providing realistic, combined and joint training that enhances both countries’ combat readiness posture, they in turn provide for regional stability and security, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bill Clinton, a U.S. Pacific Command spokesman.

“These regular engagements showcase our commitment to peace and security in the region and to the protection of U.S. interests and those of our partners and allies,” he said.

Keen Edge historically has been part of an annual exercise series that alternates between field training exercises, called Keen Sword, and command-and-control exercises.

About 500 U.S. personnel and about 1,380 Japanese forces are participating in this year’s CPX, during which headquarters staffs will use computer simulations to practice steps they would take in the event of a crisis or contingency.

Participants will practice responding to events ranging from non-combatant evacuations and force-protection scenarios to integrated air and missile defense to enhance bilateral coordination and cooperation, officials said.

Forces involved will use the computer-based Joint Theater Level Simulation System to direct and respond to exercise events. This system, officials reported, helps provide a realistic environment for commanders and staffs as they react and respond in real time to events generated by computer simulation.

U.S. participants in Keen Edge 2012 hail from U.S. Forces Japan headquarters; 13th Air Force, with headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and in Japan through its Detachment 1; U.S. Naval Forces Japan; U.S. Army Japan; and Marine Forces Japan.

Meanwhile, nearly 800 U.S. military personnel and more than 3,500 Japanese forces are participating in Yama Sakura, the largest bilateral exercise between the U.S. Army Pacific and Japanese ground forces since the Great Tohoku Earthquake in March.

About 150 U.S. soldiers from the 8th Army headquarters element at Yongsan Garrison, South Korea, will serve as the higher command for participating U.S. forces, which include members of U.S. Army Japan.

The exercise, officials said, will focus on bilateral and joint planning, coordination and interoperability of ground-based elements of the U.S. and Japan security alliance.

Officials called these command post exercises a cost-effective way to provide participants realistic and unobtrusive training in a simulated crisis or contingency operation while improving their ability to work together.

During senior-level talks between U.S. and Japanese military leaders last month about future operations and engagement between the two countries, Air Force Lt. Gen. Ted Kresge, 13th Air Force commander, said interoperability strengthens the bilateral alliance.

Kresge noted the success of the humanitarian relief mission after a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Japan last March. American aid to the Japanese ultimately included 20 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, almost 20,000 personnel and huge amounts of supplies and heavy equipment.

“As was demonstrated during Operation Tomodachi, there is tremendous value added in working and exercising side-by-side,” Kresge said. “When real-world events occur, we are better able to operate in a joint environment and respond effectively and efficiently.”

Meanwhile, 8th Army officials said, staff coordination exercises like Yama Sakura allow the staff to practice their role as a mobile warfighting headquarters, which in turn strengthens their ability to defend Korea as well as maintain regional security.

“This exercise improves 8th Army’s ability to deter or defeat aggression on the Korean peninsula,” said Army Brig. Gen. David J. Conboy, 8th Army’s deputy commander. “It also helps strengthen the Republic of Korea-United States alliance by enabling critical staff coordination and collaboration at the multinational level.”

Clinton said engagements like these support the new defense strategy guidance that recognizes the challenges as well as opportunities in Asia and the Pacific.

That strategic guidance, announced earlier this month, provides a strategic vision intended to guide the military through 2020 with its heavy focus on the region.

“Through continuous evaluation of our force posture and engagement activities, we will work with our regional partners and allies to maintain the military strength to protect our interests, defend our allies and deter potential adversaries from acts of aggression and intimidation,” Clinton said.

U.S. relationships with Asian allies and key partners will remain critical to the region’s future stability and growth, Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard, U.S. Pacific Command’s commander, told the Annual Hawaii Military Partnership Conference on Jan. 6, the day after the guidance was announced.

In addition to strengthening existing alliances that have provided a vital foundation for regional security, Willard said, the United States also will strive to forge closer ties with emerging regional partners.

Combat Rations Change to Reflect Troops’ Palates

2012-01-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2012 – For a sense of what’s ahead for combat rations, check out offerings at one of the many sit-down chain restaurants that have sprung up like mushrooms around the country and outside many military bases.

Food scientists at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center near Boston look to Applebee’s, TGI Friday’s and other popular chain eateries for inspiration in their quest to provide warfighters the kind of food they’d seek out at home if they weren’t deployed, explained Jeremy Whitsitt, technology integration analyst for the center’s Department of Defense combat feeding directorate.

So “Meals, Ready to Eat” and other combat rations the Natick center develops for all the services are a blend of comfort foods such as the ever-popular beef stew, old standbys such as spaghetti and meat sauce and an increasing number of ethnic selections, particularly Italian, Mexican and Oriental dishes, he said.

A Southwest beef and black bean dish introduced in 2010 is “quickly becoming a favorite,” Whitsitt said, along with a Mediterranean-inspired chicken with tomato and feta cheese course also added that year. Ratatouille and Santa Fe rice and beans entrees made their debut in 2011. This year, Asian pepper steak and Mexican chicken stew went into production.

Also new for 2012 are au gratin potatoes -- one of Whitsitt’s personal favorites -- as well as multigrain snack bread, jalapeno-cheese-filled crackers, a fiber-fortified banana nut Ranger bar and sour fruit candy discs.

“We try to stay true to what our demographic is eating when they are not on the battlefield, and I think our current product offering reflects a lot of that,” Whitsitt said. “With the advances in food science and processing technology and packaging innovation -- and I think most warfighters would back me up on this -- I think we actually have a very good, current, trendy product offering out there now.”

Keeping up with changing culinary trends in developing combat rations is a never-ending process. “We run a continuous product improvement program,” Whitsitt said, balancing what troops want to eat with other considerations such as nutrition and field-worthiness.

Achieving that balance is no hit-or-miss proposition. There’s a ton of science behind it, with food scientists factoring in challenges that the popular eateries they strive to emulate simply don’t have to contend with.

MREs must be able to maintain their quality for three years if stored at 80 degrees Fahrenheit, or six months when exposed to more extreme temperatures. They must satisfy the surgeon general’s strict nutritional requirements, with specific standards for calories and for composition of carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Even more challenging, they have to be packaged to withstand being airdropped by parachute, free-dropped from 100 feet and subjected to rough handling and extreme temperature swings.

To make sure they meet these standards, testers at Natick subject them to scorching heat and frigid cold, high impacts to ensure they don’t break open when airdropped, and nutrition analyses to make sure they meet prescribed requirements.

But no matter how well MRE items perform in these tests, they never enter the military inventory until they survive the toughest test of all: the troop taste test.

Every year, a team of product developers, food scientists, nutritionists and consumer researchers travel to field training exercises to hear firsthand what troops think of current combat rations referred to as the “control group” and some of the most promising prototype entrees.

“We collect a lot of data, and from that data we boil it down to: here are the top-rated items from the new group, and here are some of the lowest-rated items from the control group,” Whitsitt said. Those findings then go to a joint-service operational rations forum, which approves eliminating the least-popular current selections and replacing them with the highest-rated new ones.

Based on overwhelming service member input, “country captain chicken,” a cross between chicken a la king and chicken and dumplings, got scratched off the MRE menu board back in 2005. The veggie omelet followed suit in 2009.

Last year, white albacore tuna, chicken and dumplings, the veggie griller and Mexican corn got dropped from production. This year, the same fate fell to the hamburger patty, Buffalo chicken and Mexican rice.

Whitsitt acknowledged that decisions about what foods stay or are introduced and which ones are dropped is challenging because “somebody’s least-favorite item might be somebody else’s most-favorite item.”

But he said he’s convinced that a product improvement process based 100 percent on customer recommendations and feedback is paying off. “A lot of the comments that we get hint to the fact that we are pleasing most of the people most of the time,” he said. “And when it comes to food, that probably is the greatest compliment you can get, considering you are talking about 2.2 million warfighters.”

Tales of military rations falling short of the mark in the past have become the stuff of legends. During Operations Desert Shield and Storm in 1990 and 1991, Army Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, reportedly was so dissatisfied with the state of MREs that he summoned the director of the combat feeding program to his office. As the story goes, Powell held up an MRE and rendered the simple order: “Fix it.”

Since then, 241 new ration items have been added to better reflect what warfighters want, and the fixing continues. “There is always room for improvement,” Whitsitt said.

In that quest, the researchers at Natick and their industry and academic partners are pushing the envelope in food processing and packaging to broaden the array of foods they can deliver.

One, which the FDA approved in 2009, involves pressure-assisted thermal sterilization -- basically, using high pressure rather than intense heat to sterilize MREs and other combat rations. The benefit, Whitsitt explained, is less protein degradation during processing and improved taste, texture, odor, flavor and overall product quality.

The FDA also approved another technology Natick advanced with its partners: microwave-assisted thermal sterilization that heats packaged foods uniformly to kill any bacteria. In the past, microwaves heated foods unevenly, either “overcooking” the entire product or heating some parts enough to kill the bacteria but leaving some parts below that “kill temperature.”

These new processing methods open the door for improving the quality and acceptability of combat rations, while also expanding their product offerings, Whitsitt explained. This could include foods that couldn’t stand up to standard sterilization methods, such as fish and seafood. Using the new methods, “you can actually start to see something like a salmon filet in an MRE, which is unheard of right now,” he said.

Natick scientists already have developed a prototype salmon-in-alfredo-sauce entrée using microwave-assisted sterilization. “It’s a very high-quality product, but also shelf-stable for three years,” Whitsitt said.

Meanwhile, food scientists also are looking at ways to enhance the warfighting capability combat rations provide.

Caffeine, for example, is known to increase people’s cognitive abilities when they’re fatigued or under stress. So Natick food scientists have come up with a caffeine-infused meat stick, and also are looking at other ways to deliver caffeine, possibly through a bar, gum or candy product, Whitsitt said.

They’re also exploring innovative ways to boost physical and cognitive performance by lacing foods with naturally occurring compounds such as curcumin and Omega 3s, he said. Curcumin is an anti-inflammatory supplement, and Omega 3s found in fish oils promote a broad range of functions, including reducing cholesterol and heart disease. New research also suggests they play a role in preventing traumatic brain injury -- an obvious concern on the battlefield, Whitsitt reported.

Several new food items being developed at Natick incorporate Omega 3 fatty acids in a chicken chili dish and also bakery items such as cookies and cakes.

As some Natick researchers strive to improve food processing and foods themselves, others are studying ways to reduce the weight of the rations.

“We know that the warfighters already are sometimes carrying 75 to 100 pounds on their back, and the last thing we want to do is to add more weight or unnecessary weight for them,” Whitsitt said. “So we are looking at ways to reduce that weight in rations -- while still maintaining the proper calorie count so they have the proper nutrition, the proper energy and the proper percentages of fat, proteins and carbohydrates.”

Whitsitt said there’s a clear understanding at Natick that the work done in the food lab has a direct impact on the mission -- and the health and well-being of those carrying it out.

Napoleon Bonaparte famously observed 200 years ago that an army marches on its stomach. And despite all the changes that have taken face in warfare, Whitsitt said, that adage still holds true, impacting warfighters every single day. “They may not fire a weapon every day or drive a Humvee or [mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle] every day, but they certainly are eating every day,” he said.

Natick’s focus, Whitsitt said, is to make that experience as beneficial and positive as possible.

“Our whole mission is to ensure the joint warfighter is the best-fed warfighter in the world,” he said. “And we take our mission very seriously, because we truly feel that we are fueling the Defense Department’s most adaptive and flexible weapons platform, which is the individual warfighter.”

VA's War Against the US Navy's Agent Orange Survivors

2012-01-24T21:40:00.001-08:00

The January 26, 2012, episode of American Heroes Radio features a conversation with former US Marine Bob Ford, the author of War Against the Navy.

Program Date: January 26, 2012

Program Time: 1500 hours, PACIFIC

Topic: VA's War Against the US Navy's Agent Orange Survivors

Listen Live: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lawenforcement/2012/01/26/vas-war-against-the-us-navys-agent-orange-survivors

About the Program

Our Guest, Bob Ford is a former US Marine & author of War Against the Navy.

According to the book description, "Agent Orange is a term used to describe a combination of deadly dioxins which were repeatedly sprayed over Vietnam for the purpose of defoliating the jungles. The term originated from the Orange stripe around the barrels of chemicals that were used.

Dumped by the tons from the skies from large multi-engine aircraft, often 3 & 4 abreast, & it did indeed transform much of Vietnam into a deadly wasteland. It also exposed American servicemen & women to the origins of numerous cancers that now have them dying at a rate of 13 years earlier than their counterparts who did not serve in Vietnam. When all this was taking place, the military was told there was nothing to fear from Agent Orange.

After years of denial in a prolonged battle by Vietnam veterans, the government finally acknowledged the disabilities caused by Agent Orange, and a system was established to process claims for those who now have one or more of the related diseases recognized by VA as caused by exposure to these chemicals. The legislation was clear in that anyone who served, whether on land or sea, was presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange. Obviously, the one claim no veteran would ever hope to file with VA would be for Agent Orange benefits. The stark reality is that you must already have cancer to qualify.

The main conclusion of this story is there is a controlling group of senior bureaucrats within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs who are relentlessly determined to prevent United States Navy veterans of the Vietnam War from receiving benefits that are automatically granted to all other Vietnam veterans.”

About the Guest

Bob Ford has spent his life trying to make a difference where he could. He was a Marine infantryman, serving as clerk, radio operator and machine gunner. While a student under the GI Bill, he started a volunteer counseling program, by veterans for veterans, to help other veterans get into college. Upon graduation from Penn State in 1970, his program was adopted by Governor Shafer as Pennsylvania’s Program to Advance Veterans Education (PAVE), with Ford as Director, and with counseling centers at over 50 campuses eventually aided thousands of Pennsylvania veterans to receive a college degree. He was appointed to the national Veteran’s Education and Training Action Committee (VETAC) where he served with Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong and General William Westmoreland, and he was one of three veterans, along with John Kerry and John O’Neill, invited to address the 1971 national convention of the National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors.

In 1971, Ford was appointed by President Nixon to replace Brigadier General Henry Gross as Pennsylvania State Director of the Selective Service System, becoming, at age 31, the youngest Draft Director in the history of the United States, where he supervised the second largest operation in the Selective Service System, with over 70 Field Grade Officers, active and reserve, from all branches of the U.S. military, 176 Draft Boards, and over 800,000 registrants.

He was often in the news as he quickly changed many draft boards in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh from all white to all black members, appointed many women to draft boards, and eliminated occupational deferments for thousands of young men, including school teachers, athletes, and Amish and Mennonite farmers. He also appointed the first 18-year-old draft board member in U.S. history, and to emphasize fairness in Pennsylvania, he personally handed the draft notice to his own brother-in-law, who was subsequently inducted into the U. S. Army. Ford was awarded the Selective Service Silver medal, and two Bronze medals for his performance. At the request of Governor Shapp, to celebrate the 1973 homecoming of Pennsylvania’s P.O.W’s, Ford originated a new program which was to become the Governor’s Veterans Action Centers, which operated until 2010.

In 1989, Ford had a private clubs’ liquor license revoked for racial discrimination against a retired U. S. Army veteran. Bob Ford’s latest successful project, on Memorial Day, May 29, 2006, was to have the Newville, Pennsylvania Post Office named in honor of SFC Randall D. Shughart, Medal of Honor recipient for the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia.

War Against the US Navy is his newest project. It is written in the hope of convincing the President of the United States to restore equality and benefits to those sailors and Marines who served their nation honorably in the Vietnam War.

About the Watering Hole

The Watering Hole is police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.

About the Host

Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in law enforcement, public policy, law enforcement technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in law enforcement.

Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lawenforcement/2012/01/26/vas-war-against-the-us-navys-agent-orange-survivors

Listen from the Archive:

http://www.americanheroesradio.com/war_against_navy.html

Program Contact Information

Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA

editor@police-writers.com

909.599.7530

LinkedIn Event:

http://linkd.in/xZkXv8

Facebook Event:

http://www.facebook.com/events/223821044371985

Yama Sakura 61: Guard members among U.S. personnel getting unique cultural experience

2012-01-24T21:20:00.000-08:00

By Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Fredrick Varney
Kentucky National Guard

CAMP ITAMI, Japan (1/24/2012) - Many times when a U.S. Soldier hears the word “exercise” he or she may often think of a broad range of training possibilities that may include use of advanced weaponry, communications, or even time spent in a field training environment.

However, the annual Yama Sakura in Japan offers a unique cultural experience designed to strengthen relationships between U.S. personnel and their Japanese counterparts.

This year’s Yama Sakura 61 presents the largest bilateral exercise between the U.S. Army Pacific and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force since the Great Tohoku Earthquake in March 2011.

Various entertainment and cultural activities include a Japanese drum performance and traditional Awa dance, a tea ceremony, as well as courses of instruction in calligraphy, ceramics, and cooking.

There are also several off-post tours that enable U.S. Soldiers to see the beautiful sights and historical landmarks of Japan such as the Kyoto Temple, Todai Temple, and Osaka Castle.

“This is my first time overseas and I had no idea about what to expect from the Japanese culture,” said Army Pvt. Tyler J. Ritter, a motor transport operator for the 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota National Guard.

Ritter said the ceramics course was his favorite cultural activity because of the tremendous challenge that was presented to him.

“Centering the symbols properly on the bowl takes a great deal of precision. I am very excited to tell my parents about this wonderful experience here in Japan,” he said.

According to Army Sgt. 1st Class Natsuo Endo, a drill instructor for the Middle Army Combined Brigade at Camp Itami, Japan, the Soldiers are very motivated to learn new and exciting things about the history of Japan.

“It has been very interesting for us to show the Soldiers about our culture and customs. “I personally observed the Soldiers to be great students while participating in the cultural activities thus far.”

“Although the highlight of this event is the main exercise, it is also very important to develop our bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Japan through various cultural activities.”

Nearly 800 U.S. military service personnel and more than 3,500 Japan Ground Self Defense Force are participating in Yama Sakura 61 Jan. 23 through Feb. 5 which focuses primarily on the bilateral and joint planning, coordination, and interoperability of ground based elements of the United States and Japan security alliance.

DOD Website Connects Military Kids

2012-01-24T20:45:00.001-08:00

By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2012 – A new Defense Department website is connecting military children -- whether it’s across town or across the world -- who are dealing with a loved one’s deployment.

The website, Military Kids Connect, offers military children an online community where they can learn about deployments, recognize and share feelings, and develop coping skills.

Psychologists from the DOD’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology developed the site to build on military kids’ strength and resilience, especially as they deal with the unique stressors of military life.

“We felt by connecting military kids with each other, through providing peer-to-peer support, they’d be able to build on the resilience they have already and learn new coping skills to deal with deployments,” explained Kelly Blasko, a psychologist from the center, dubbed T2.

The site features tools for all stages of the deployment cycle -- from predeployment through reintegration.

To help prepare kids for an impending separation, the site includes an interactive map that offers information on numerous deployment locations. The aim here is to “give them positive information, rather than the negative information they hear on the phone or on the news,” Blasko said.

“We tried to focus on the fact they get increased responsibility at home [during a deployment], as well as new routines, because their parent is gone,” she said. “We developed activities around that.”

The post-deployment section deals heavily with the reconnection process upon the service member’s return, Blasko added.

While the sections share a common theme, site developers customized information and activities to best suit children’s age-specific needs. They created tracks for three different age groups: 6 to 8, 9 to 12 and 13 to 17.

“We wanted to develop content around the different challenges that these kids face during the different phases of deployment,” Blasko explained.

Kids react to deployment-related stress in different ways, she noted. Teens may isolate more, act out, and may even get involved with drugs and alcohol. Tweens often rely on their parents for feedback and acknowledgement, and when a parent is absent, that can create a void. And younger children may regress due to anxiety, she added.

“The focus really is on the kids and providing them with coping skills for the different challenges they face,” she said.

Blasko said they came up with the idea for the site after noting a marked gap in resources for military kids dealing with deployments. T2 offers a deployment website called afterdeployment.org for troops, veterans and their families, with a module for parents helping children with deployments. But that wasn’t enough, she said.

“We realized that helping children with deployment was actually larger, and that particular module didn’t really address the issues that military children face,” she added.

Experts believed a site dedicated to aiding kids through the deployment cycle “would be an incredible contribution to help kids with this challenging time,” she said. To gain ideas from a military kid’s perspective, they hosted a series of focus groups with children 9 to 17 about what they’d like to see on the site.

“One of the things they felt was missing was an online military kids community,” Blasko said. “We developed an online social network forum where [teens and tweens] can post comments and get replies -- where they can share things about deployment.”

To further the dialogue, the site features videos with military kids and their parents discussing situations they’ve dealt with and the coping skills they’ve employed.

In one video story, a soldier talks with her three daughters about their feelings when she deployed to Afghanistan. They discussed how they felt when she left and their experiences while she was gone.

“I felt kind of sad at first,” one of her daughters said, “but I knew she was helping other people, so it kind of eased away my pain inside.”

Other popular add-ons include sections where students can create scrapbooks, participate in instructional and video vignettes, and in interactive games that wrap around the deployment cycle.

One of the site’s most-popular features is a section where kids can select the weather and time from among the six most common deployment locations. Once selected, the information always shows up on their home page. This enables the kids to feel a connection with a parent deployed, for example, to Afghanistan, Blasko noted.

As kids progress through the site, they can earn passport stamps in a virtual passport by completing games and activities.

While the site is geared for the younger generation, adults shouldn’t hesitate to log on, Blasko said. A parent module explains behavioral changes they should keep an eye out for and parenting strategies they can employ to help their kids through tough times.

The site also features a module for educators to raise awareness of military children’s challenges and to help educators recognize in-school behaviors that may indicate deployment-related anxiety.

Blasko acknowledged concerns regarding Internet safety for the online kids community. Developers kept this in mind throughout the process, she said, and have exceeded security requirements. For example, parents must give permission for children to use the message boards.

“We have been working really hard to provide a safe online community for these kids,” she said.

With the site’s first iteration under way, experts already are forging the path ahead. For the next version, they’d like to focus on three areas, Blasko said. First, they’d like to improve the online parent-child interaction, perhaps by having parents provide a stamp of acknowledgement when their child is on the site. They’re also hoping to engage deployed parents more by offering a game the deployed parent and child can play together.

Next, they’d like to focus on post-deployment, which is often the most difficult time of the deployment cycle, Blasko noted.

“So many changes occur during deployment for the kids and parents,” she explained. “When they come home, just getting back to the family routine gets very difficult and even more difficult if there’s been post-traumatic stress disorder or some type of problem that results from deployment.”

Finally, they’d like to enhance the site’s teen content. “We really think it is certainly an at-risk population, and [we want to] be sure we give them as many skills to deal with anxiety as possible,” she said.

Blasko said the project has been rewarding both professionally and personally. “I really admire military kids and the strength that they have given the different challenges they face,” she added. “It really is an honor to serve them some way through the website and connecting them with other kids, and parents.”

One of the nice things about the website, she noted, is that it teaches coping skills now. “They can carry that through their whole life and deal with things that come up that we can’t even anticipate,” she said.

Guard members participate in Army Warrior Games training at Ft. Bliss

2012-01-24T20:42:00.000-08:00

By Sgt. Valerie Lopez
1st Armored Division

FORT BLISS, Texas (1/24/2012) “Inhale,¦exhale, the sound of breathing in a small quiet room, then a sudden pop, as the pellet is shot from an air rifle into the target in a room filled with Soldiers taking their chance at tryouts for the National Warrior Games competition.

Twenty five wounded Soldiers, including Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Tracy J. Smith, gathered at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, to participate in the Warrior Games Shooting Training Camp, Jan. 11-14.

"This is our very first of three shooting clinics for selecting the 2012 Warrior Games Shooting team," said Army Master Sgt. Howard Day, an Army shooting coach for Warrior Transition Command and student at the United States Sergeants Major Academy. "We partnered with University of Texas El Paso, Warrior Transition Battalion, Fort Bliss, and Reps from Army Marksmanship in order to make this clinic happen."

The Warrior Games were created in 2010 as an introduction to Paralympics' sports for injured service members and veterans of all services â€“ Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Special Operations. During this year's games, wounded service members and veterans will compete in seven sports: archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball.

"This year's mission is to bring home the gold, from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.," Day said.

During the clinic, there were three stations set up â€“ mental, physical and range practice.

In the mental station, Lindsay Holtz, a performance enhancement specialist, assisted warriors with creating imagery scripts to do mental practice when they don't have a weapon.

"It's like a movie script that you play in your head to that helps you keep your patterns, muscles and mind prepared for when you go back out there," Holtz said.

The physical station had UTEP woman's shooting coach George Brenzovich and team member Andrea Vautrin, exchanging ideas with the warriors on different ways to deal with anxieties and the pressures of competing. They also demonstrated alternate positions for shooting pertaining to each person's disabilities or weaknesses.

The third station was an indoor air shooting range at the ROTC building where the warriors practiced shooting and received instructions from Day, who was the coach.

Despite their circumstances these warriors all come together to compete, said Day.

One warrior, Army Spc. James Darlington, then 19, was deployed with the 82nd Airborne when his group was hit with two rocket propelled grenades in July 2010 and his arm was struck. With nerve damage and muscle loss in his right arm, Darlington, now 21 years old, has his mom with him as his non-medical attendant.

"He did his job well," said Gery Darlington, "because everyone came home from that deployment. He's here alive, and we can deal with whatever happens with his arm."

“The Warrior Transition Battalion has great programs to help Soldiers transition back to their units, and other activities to keep us from getting down," Darlington said. "The shooting clinic helped us get better at shooting. I'm looking forward to getting [on] the team."

The Soldiers' injuries here run the full scope, said Day, from Traumatic Brain Injury, to Post Traumatic Stress, and amputations. Many have multiple injuries and other medical conditions that challenge them as well.

Army Staff Sgt. Tracy J. Smith, originally with 48th Brigade, Army National Guard, was deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan, survived mortar rounds, explosions and firefights. Now she's battling with TBI and PTS, three pins in her knee and 50 percent hearing loss.

"I was initially introduced to adaptive sports, and wanted to stay active and physically fit so I did archery, seated shot put, track and field events, power lifting, and now marksmanship," Smith said.

She said because of the TBI and the PTS, she was at first nervous to handle a weapon, but after watching someone use the air rifle it was not as "off-putting" and was almost therapeutic.

"It's â€¦ a very easy reintroduction into the basics of Soldiering, but also very different from what we are taught in marksmanship," she said. "I am doing this for those that can't, for my battle buddy who is partly paralyzed and unable [to], because he would have if our situations were reversed."

Of the 83 Soldiers that applied, "seventy-five were notified eligible for these clinics," Day said. "From these clinics the best [shooters] will be put together to form our Army team."

As a wounded warrior himself, Day said it is vital for Soldiers to recognize that the injuries are not the end of their career and definitely not the end of possibilities in life.

"This is nothing but a speed bump, a simple turn in the road," said Day. "There is a big bright future and lots of opportunities."

Navy Reminds Sailors of Member-Designated Benefits

2012-01-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy is reminding Sailors of several benefits and programs where members may designate beneficiaries of their choosing, as outlined in NAVADMIN 028/12, released Jan. 24.

Recipients for these benefits may include anyone designated by the service member, including a dependent, friend, significant other, fiancée or fiancé, co-worker, or a family member who is not a military dependent.

Sailors may designate any individual as beneficiary to a total of 15 benefits and programs, including:

-- Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI);

-- Post Vietnam-era Veteran's Educational Assistance Program (VEAP);
-- Basic Educational Assistance Death Benefit;
-- Death Gratuity Benefit;
-- Final Settlement of Accounts;
-- Wounded Warrior Act Designated Caregiver;
-- Thrift Savings Plan (TSP);
-- Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP);
-- Casualty Notification;
-- Escorts for Dependents of Deceased or Missing Members;
-- Designation of Persons Having Interest in Status of a Missing Member;
-- Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI);
-- Person Eligible to Receive Effects (PERE) of Deceased Persons
-- Travel and Transportation Allowance for attendance at Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program events; and
-- Person Authorized To Direct Disposition (PADD) of the Remains of a Decedent.

NAVADMIN 028/12 explains how Sailors can update or verify beneficiaries for each of these benefits. The NAVADMIN also outlines conditions and limitations for appointing beneficiaries.

"I can think of few things more important for our Sailors than ensuring their loved ones are provided for in case of an emergency," said Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Scott Van Buskirk. "Ensuring this information is accurate and up-to-date is the responsibility of every Sailor."

A comprehensive listing of all benefits can be found in the Navy Pay and Benefits Guide, located online on the Navy Personnel Command webpage at http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/career/payandbenefits/pages/default2.aspx.

For more information on member-designated benefits, contact your local personnel office or visit NPC's website at npc.navy.mil.

SECDEF Tours Enterprise, Addresses Crew

2012-01-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Scott Pittman, Enterprise Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs

USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea (NNS) -- Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Leon E. Panetta visited the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 21 and 22.

Following his arrival on the carrier's flight deck via helicopter, Panetta was greeted by Rear Adm. Walter E. Carter, commander, Carrier Strike Group 12, and Capt. William C. Hamilton Jr., Enterprise commanding officer.

Following a brief meeting, Panetta ate lunch with enlisted Sailors on the mess decks and held an All Hands Call for more than 1,700 Sailors and Marines.

"Even after 50 years of service, because of your tireless work on the Big E, there is no other nation that can match this ship," Panetta told the crew. "This is a great ship, and all of you are a great crew."

Twenty-one of the Sailors gathered in the ship's hangar bay had the privilege of being reenlisted by Panetta, who also presented awards to 10 additional Enterprise Sailors.

"It's an amazing feeling, and it's something I never thought would happen," said Senior Chief Navy Counselor Ramous K. Fleming, one of the Sailors who reenlisted Jan. 21. "It fills me with pride to get to stand in front of someone as high ranking as the Secretary of Defense and renew my commitment to my country."

Following the all hands call, Panetta presented 200 Sailors with his personal coin.

"It was one of the coolest things I've done in my military career," said Machinist's Mate 1st Class James Holman, the Reactor Labs leading petty officer. "It'll be cool to show my parents the SECDEF coin I received and the picture I took with Mr. Panetta, because how many people can say they've met the Secretary of Defense?"

That evening, the SECDEF ate dinner in the Enterprise wardroom with junior officers before heading to the flag bridge to watch evening flight operations.

"I've had a really good tour," said Panetta. "I enjoyed every aspect of the ship, but the greatest thrill was watching the aircraft takeoffs and landings; a thrill I will never forget."

"Carriers play a major role in our military, not only today, but they will play a role in our future," said Panetta. "You are part of what keeps our force agile, flexible, quickly deployable and capable of taking on any enemy anywhere in the world."

Enterprise is currently underway conducting training exercises and evolutions as part of a composite training unit exercise in preparation for the ship's 22nd and final deployment following 50 years of Naval service.

For news regarding USS Enterprise or the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, visit www.enterprise.navy.mil or the USS Enterprise Facebook page at www.facebook.com/USS.Enterprise.CVN.65 and follow us on Twitter @TheCVN65.

New Concept Emphasizes Joint Force’s Speed, Synergy

2012-01-23T13:53:00.000-08:00

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2012 – With military budgets shrinking as threats grow in number and complexity, the Defense Department still must ensure the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps can defend national security in the coming decades.

“The Joint Operational Access Concept is an important first step,” a senior Pentagon officer told reporters here Jan. 20.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. George Flynn, the Joint Staff’s director of joint force development, said the concept -- which Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey released last week -- provides a framework for developing forces for future wars.

“This concept describes, in broad and general terms, how the joint force will operate in response to what we see as a growing challenge to our ability to achieve and maintain operational access … in the various domains [of sea, land, air, space and cyberspace],” Flynn said.

The 64-page concept focuses on defeating enemy “anti-access and area-denial” capabilities -- getting U.S. forces into places and then moving them around within those places against enemy opposition.

That opposition can include “mines, missiles, cyber threats -- but complicated by the threat that a lot of those capabilities could be available to nontraditional [actors], just because of the proliferation of technology,” Flynn said.

The general offered as an example nonstate actors -- groups that aren’t aligned with national governments -- who can pose a disproportionate threat in the cyber domain.

“That’s why it’s important, as we do force development, that we don’t get myopic on a specific threat,” he added.

The concept’s authors say there are three reasons why gaining access against armed opposition is the “essential problem” for future joint forces: potential enemies are acquiring dramatically improved anti-access and area-denial capabilities; the number of U.S. troops permanently based overseas is declining, which will mean deploying troops for combat from the United States; and space and cyberspace are becoming increasingly important and contested domains.

The concept lists 30 critical capabilities, divided among command and control, intelligence, fires [which the document’s glossary defines as “the use of weapon systems to create a specific lethal or nonlethal effect on a target”], movement and maneuver, protection, sustainment, information and engagement.

It’s too soon to tie those capabilities to platforms or tactics, techniques and procedures, Flynn said, but the 30 objectives will serve as a guide to the military services in their spending plans.

“Those capabilities … can be provided by one service, or it could be the collective capability of the joint force,” he said. “The existing force development processes [will] bring those capabilities to reality.”

The concept emphasizes joint operations, synergy and cooperation starting at a much lower level than they do now, the general noted. DOD’s existing air-sea battle strategy and upcoming concepts detailing entry, littoral (seas, lakes and rivers close to shore), and sustained land-based operations will align under the joint access concept, Flynn said.

When Dempsey released the new concept document, initial response within the Pentagon to its emphasis on “cross-domain synergy” was that it’s nothing new, Flynn said.

“It is something we have to explore in greater detail,” he added. “Traditionally, we used to talk about combined arms … [in] the same domain. … What we’re saying in the Joint Operational Access Concept is we’re going to have multiple-domain operations going on that have to be sequenced in a way that they’ve never been sequenced before.”

The military understands the traditional domains of land, sea, air and space very well, Flynn said. “You have this new domain, cyber -- man-made, that changes all the time -- that now has to be thrown into the mix,” he added.

That’s one challenge, he said, and another challenge is the level at which future conflicts will need to “go joint.”

“We think that this is going to have to be operated … [and] coordinated at lower levels than we’ve ever had to do this before,” he explained. Lower-level operational synergy among services is core to the concept, and so is integrating cyber into the battle space, Flynn said. Both ideas need more exploration before they can be realized, he added.

The concept is in line with the guidance he got from Dempsey to “take jointness and push it deeper, sooner in our force development,” Flynn said.

Earlier emphasis on joint operations will allow the nation’s military to achieve its objectives more effectively, more efficiently and more affordably, he added.

Warfare will become more complex as threats in the cyber domain mature, Flynn said, and equipment, doctrine, tactics, training and organization will have to adapt to that reality.

The Capstone Concept for Joint Operations, last updated in 2009, details the main security challenges facing the joint force: winning the nation’s wars, deterring adversaries, developing cooperative security, defending the homeland and responding to civil crises.

“This month, we just completed the review of the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations,” Flynn noted. “[We’re now] undertaking a revision of that document, and we’re on a pretty aggressive timeline.”

In the hierarchy of documents, Flynn said, the revised capstone concept will bridge the Joint Operational Access Concept and further development of joint doctrine.

The current version of the capstone concept doesn’t address the speed at which future operations will have to happen, Flynn said, adding that the new concept serves as a guide to the services and the joint force in managing development changes already under way and still to come.

“It’s really easy to say, ‘I have a concept. I have to be able to operate fast. I have to be able to do this at levels lower than I ever have before,’” Flynn noted.

“Will we be able to field that tomorrow?” he asked. “No. What we’re doing is identifying the challenges, identifying in general terms the capabilities, so that we can get to where … [we can] operate at speed [and] integrate at lower levels, and … do that in a joint context.”

Sailors Enjoy Port Visit in Rota, Spain

2012-01-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

By Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dylan Miles, USS Bataan Public Affairs

ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- More than 2,500 Sailors and embarked Marines aboard multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) completed a port visit to Rota, Spain, Jan. 19.

The crew experienced the culture and sights of the city, and participated in tours in Rota and the surrounding area.

"The city was beautiful," said Electronics Technician 3rd Class (SW) Steven Ray, a native of Hickory Grove, S.C. "I especially liked the old look of the cobblestone streets, and the people were really helpful and kind."

The ship's Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) office provided a variety of tours for the crew including Sevilla, ancient Ronda and the Rock of Gibraltar.

"The tours were a great way for everyone to relax," said Airman Juan Cardona, a native of New York. "It was also a good way for people to see parts of Spain they wouldn't normally have been able to experience on their own."

Several Sailors and embarked Marines attended community relation events while in port. Musicians aboard Bataan performed at a retirement home, and sports fans were able to play a game of soccer against a Division Two Team from Rota.

"I think the community relations were a great idea," said Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class (AW/SW) Evan Droegemueller, a native of Greeley, Co. "Not only did we help people, but it gave us a chance to relax and interact with the people of Spain."

Bataan is currently deployed as the command ship of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility.

Panetta Touts Carrier’s Agility in Visit to Enterprise

2012-01-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

By Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Scott Pittman
Enterprise Carrier Strike Group

ABOARD USS ENTERPRISE, Jan. 22, 2012 – Aircraft carriers will continue to be important to U.S. military strategy, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told the crew of the USS Enterprise yesterday.

Enterprise is underway in the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for the ship's 22nd and final deployment following 50 years of naval service.

"Carriers play a major role in our military, not only today, but they will play a role in our future," Panetta said. "You are part of what keeps our force agile, flexible, quickly deployable and capable of taking on any enemy anywhere in the world."

Following his arrival on the carrier's flight deck via helicopter, he was greeted by Navy Rear Adm. Walter E. Carter, commander of Carrier Strike Group 12, and Navy Capt. William C. Hamilton Jr., Enterprise commanding officer.

Following a brief meeting, Panetta ate lunch with enlisted sailors on the mess decks and held an all-hands call for the more than 1,700 sailors and Marines aboard the ship.

"Even after 50 years of service, because of your tireless work on ‘the Big E,’ there is no other nation that can match this ship," Panetta told the crew. "This is a great ship, and all of you are a great crew."

The secretary administered the re-enlistment oath to 21 sailors and presented awards to 10 more in the ship’s hangar bay.

"It's an amazing feeling, and it's something I never thought would happen," said Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Ramous K. Fleming, one of the sailors who re-enlisted. "It fills me with pride to get to stand in front of someone as high-ranking as the secretary of defense and renew my commitment to my country."

Following the all-hands call, Panetta presented 200 sailors with his personal coin.

"It was one of the coolest things I've done in my military career," said Petty Officer 1st Class James Holman, the reactor labs leading petty officer. "It'll be cool to show my parents the SECDEF coin I received and the picture I took with Mr. Panetta, because how many people can say they've met the secretary of defense?"

In the evening, Panetta ate dinner in the Enterprise wardroom with junior officers before heading to the flag bridge to watch evening flight operations.

"I've had a really good tour," Panetta said. "I enjoyed every aspect of the ship, but the greatest thrill was watching the aircraft takeoffs and landings -- a thrill I will never forget."

Navy, EPA Negotiate on Kitsap Underground Storage Tanks Inspection

2012-01-23T12:24:00.001-08:00

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Scott A. McCall, Navy Public Affairs Support Element, Det. Northwest

SILVERDALE, Wash. (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) negotiated a settlement resolving violations of the Washington State Underground Storage Tank (UST) regulations at Naval Base Kitsap (NBK)-Bangor, Jan. 11.

During an EPA inspection in March 2010, the EPA noted record keeping deficiencies by EJB Facilities Services over the 12 months prior to the inspection. EPA also identified concerns with equipment. The total negotiated fine was $161,000. EJB will pay more than $127,000 of the fine.

EJB Facilities Services is responsible for maintaining and operating the USTs on NBK-Bangor along with maintaining compliance with environmental regulations.

"The EPA and Navy were working for over a year to agree to the facts of the situation, and we have recently come to an agreement and what an appropriate settlement would be," said Greg Leicht, NBK environmental director. "We did so in concert with legal counsel, technical staff and EJB."

Washington State UST regulations require that records for underground fuel storage tanks be kept on file for 12 months. The records are required to show the tank systems are monitored every month for possible leakage. In Washington, the Department of Ecology issues regulations implementing the underground storage tank amendment to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976.

Leicht described the settlement saying that the Navy was forceful in asserting the facts of the case during the negotiation process. "We spent a lot of effort to ensure EPA was using the correct facts. For example, we dug up two fueling stations to take pictures to prove to EPA they were constructed properly," said Leicht.

"The number one fact is that we did not have any leaks," said Leicht. "The other was, with few exemptions, the systems functioned as intended. The largest collective limitation was a lack of record keeping.

Leicht added that EJB was monitoring the USTs; it was that EJB did not properly document the monitoring by keeping adequate records.

"We were aware of the lack of record keeping prior to [inspection]. We, within the Navy, had taken action to identify the lack of record keeping to EJB management," said Leicht. "They took action and their record keeping improved prior to the inspection. But the (EPA) inspection window was 12 months, and they did not have 12 months of records for each tank."

According to a press release by the EPA, the Navy had the appropriate monitoring equipment in place at most of the sites, but failed to check the monitors on a monthly basis and document that the tanks and pipes were not leaking.

Brian Zimmerman, the Tank and Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Program Manager for NBK and Naval Magazine Indian Island said that was a key point that the EPA saw differently during the negotiations of the fine.

"The EPA takes a stance that if you don't document the monitoring, then it did not occur," said Zimmerman.

"The monitoring systems indicate leaks by setting off alarms. Anybody near the tanks would hear the alarms,"said Leicht.

"We conducted all the required maintenance on the monitoring systems, over and above what is required, and the tanks had people near them frequently," said Zimmerman. "If there ever was an alarming condition, assuming there was a leak, then we absolutely would have known about it and taken the appropriate action."

Zimmerman added that EJB has a fuel truck driver that checks the emergency generator fuel tanks weekly, and the fuel tanks have the levels checked weekly.

There were several other equipment deficiencies also identified by the EPA during the inspection that were included in the fine. These deficiencies were related to piping overfill alarms and release prevention equipment.

Zimmerman said the overfill alarm issue was not a risk to the environment in any way. In the pipeline issue, the pipe was in compliance with Coast Guard regulations, but a small section of the pipe that did not meet EPA regulations.

"There was another issue were the pipeline did not meet regulations because they are very specific about what equipment you must have, and we had alternate equipment that functions in a more conservative manner than they require," said Zimmerman. "It is not exactly what they require, but it functions in the same manner and they fined us for that as well, despite the fact that our set up offered enhanced environmental protection."

Naval Base Kitsap operates 53 regulated UST at 31 sites on NBK-Bangor. These tanks contain diesel fuel, gasoline and recycled oil. All are equipped with monitoring systems that provide audible and visual alarms if the tanks leak.

All the underground tank monitoring systems at NBK-Bangor are certified by an independent laboratory to provide protection to EPA standards, said Zimmerman. Technicians certified by the manufacturer annually inspect these monitoring systems.

According to Zimmerman, the Navy has completed more than $600,000 worth of projects on fueling systems since the EPA inspection.

The Navy has upgraded the monitoring systems for 15 tanks, installed new leak detection and overfill prevention equipment, upgraded pipeline monitoring for five tanks, installed five new fuel dispensers with remote leak monitoring, installed improved high level alarms, and installed five new mechanical pipeline leak detectors. The Navy has recently awarded an additional $375,000 worth of fuel system upgrade contracts. These projects address EPA concerns as well as installing voluntary upgrades.

"We're paying attention to this stuff and we're doing a good job of protecting the environment and the health of the Puget Sound and Hood Canal," said Zimmerman.

Bataan Participates in Community Relations Projects

2012-01-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

From USS Bataan Public Affairs

ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- Sailors and Marines aboard multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) volunteered for community relations (COMREL) projects while in Rota, Spain, Jan. 17.

Sailors and embarked Marines participated in two separate COMRELs during the ship's visit. Volunteers chose to give up some of their liberty to visit a local home for the elderly, while another group played a soccer game against a local Spanish team. A total of 17 Sailors and Marines of all ranks attended the events, which help to forge stronger bonds with the local community.

"COMREL events give our Sailors and Marines a chance to interact with people from another country," said Cmdr. Russell Graef, a Navy chaplain, Religious Ministries department head and coordinator of the COMRELS. "This helps to create good will between the U.S. and the international community. It builds bridges of understanding between people who would otherwise never get a chance to meet."

At the first COMREL, Sailors played guitar and sang for the residents at one home run by a Spanish convent.

"That put a smile on their faces," said Electronics Technician 3rd Class Randy Howe, a participant in the music COMREL. "We let them know that people really care. It makes me proud seeing my fellow sailors give up a little of their liberty to help others."

Residents at the retirement home thanked the volunteers with a standing ovation.

A second group of 13 volunteers also played a soccer game against a local Divisional Two team from Rota. Although the American team lost to the more experienced Spanish team, Sailors agreed the game was still an excellent way to let off steam from a long deployment, and to have some fun.

"We had a chance to meet and play against some really great soccer players," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handler) Morden Joyles, who participated in the game. "We usually don't get a chance to practice onboard ship, so this was an excellent outlet."

Both of the COMRELs were considered a success by those who gave their time.

"We do COMREL projects because it gives all interested personnel a great opportunity to interact with civilians and military members from foreign countries in a venue that may not otherwise be available," said Graef. "There are many people on Bataan who want to give of themselves. They want to do things for others."

Bataan is the command ship of the Bataan Amphibious Ready group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility.

Navy Misawa CPO 365 Program Hosts Chili Cook-off Fundraiser for Adopted School

2012-01-23T10:40:00.001-08:00

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Hueming Mui, Naval Air Facility Misawa Public Affairs

MISAWA, Japan (NNS) -- Members of the Navy Misawa Chief Petty Officer (CPO) 365 program hosted a chili cook-off fundraiser at Cumming's Elementary School at Naval Air Facility Misawa, Japan, Jan. 18.

Chief petty officers and first class petty officers (FCPOs) joined together to raise money for the elementary school they adopted as part of the Navy's CPO 365 Program. With all proceeds going directly back to the school toward funding future CPO 365 service projects, the combined efforts of these Sailors helped raise more than $700.

"We'll be utilizing these funds immediately," said Chief Navy Counselor Todd Wean, who serves as the Navy Misawa CPO 365 community relations coordinator. "The school has asked us to build shoe "cubbies" (cubicles) for the children, so they will have an organized area to put their wet snow boots when they arrive each morning."

Wean said volunteers will begin building the cubbies next and week, and will place them in classrooms soon after.

Navy Misawa Chief Petty Officer Association members adopted Cummings Elementary last year and have already organized several school-assistance projects along with Misawa FCPOs.

"We appreciate the Navy for helping out by putting together this wonderful event which will help raise money to support our children," said Cummings Elementary School Principal Scott Sterry.

Of the 15 chili entries that took part in the cook-off, Naval Air Facility Misawa Safety Officer Jeff Wilson took home the top prize: "The Golden Ladle."

"I was surprised I won," he said. "My secret for the chili is pork, beef, very few beans, lot of sugar, and then I smoke it."

NAF Misawa Executive Officer Cmdr. Dave Cotts took the second place prize, while Chief Mineman Scott Kopelwitz took home the third place award, "The Bronze Spork."

"It was wonderful that so many people came out to support the school and enjoy themselves tonight," said Sterry. "It was for a good cause, and I think our staff and children will really appreciate the cubbies."

CPO 365 is a program which provides CPO mentorship to first class petty officers, while also introducing greater aspects of senior enlisted leadership, responsibility and accountability.

For more news from Naval Air Facility Misawa, visit https://www.cnic.navy.mil/misawa/index.htm or check out our Facebook page at Facebook.com/nafmisawa.