By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 7, 2007 - Transitioning from military to civilian life can be daunting for some, but one group is helping to streamline the process. Fast Forward Community Technology Center, in Columbia, S.C., provides access to technology and technology education to people who might otherwise have access. Recently, however, the group has created a program to provide veterans with tools necessary to successfully transition into civilian employment.
"The main effort of the 'Homefront Readiness' program is to help military veterans find good, secure jobs within the civilian sector," said Becca Smith, the program's director.
Veterans meet with Smith to decide on a course of action, which can include anything from getting help with technology and job skills to networking. She can help them create or edit a resume or find military-friendly employers in the area.
"We have been incredibly successful thus far," Smith said. "Currently, 69 veterans are enrolled in the program, and 16 have secured civilian jobs."
She said more than half of veterans participating in Homefront Readiness have increased their technology skills. "I believe it's the personalized attention and individualized plan that makes our program different and that helps veterans achieve success in the civilian sector," she said.
Homefront Readiness recently became a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
"I'm excited about the networking aspect of being on the (America Support You) Web site," Smith said. "We are actively looking for funding and support to help us keep the programs running." Homefront Readiness, which began in January, is funded through a grant by the South Carolina Department of Commerce, Smith said. That grant will expire in January 2009.
By Sgt. Sara Moore, USA
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 7, 2007 - The Army is getting ready to launch a new pay and personnel system next year that will streamline personnel processes and integrate the active-duty, National Guard and Army Reserve components, the Army representative for the new program said today. The Army Defense Integrated Human Resources System, which is part of a Defense Department initiative, will be implemented Oct. 1, 2008, at all Army installations and within all service components, Army Col. Patrick Devine, program director of DIMHRS, told online journalists and "bloggers" during a conference call.
DIMHRS is a commercial product that will take the pay and personnel data from all three components of the Army and put it in a single database accessible online 24 hours a day. A key feature of DIMHRS is that it integrates the pay and personnel systems, which means that when a personnel action is taken, the system automatically will trigger any associated pay change, Devine said.
DIMHRS goes toward solving the problem of multi-component units, or those units made up of soldiers from the active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve, Devine said. In the past, these units had to deal with six different personnel systems and three pay systems, he noted, and DIMHRS will consolidate those into one system.
A big benefit that DIMHRS will give National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers is continuity of pay when they are mobilized, Devine said. In the current environment, National Guard soldiers go through five different sites from mobilization to deployment and have to complete paperwork and be certified at each location, he said. When DIMHRS is launched, all military pay will be handled in the one system, and is coordinated with personnel data, so problems can be avoided.
"In a DIMHRS environment, it's one record per soldier for military personnel and pay, so all that information is shared and it further expedites his entitlements and getting his compensation," Devine said.
A unique aspect of DIMHRS is that it will allow soldiers to access their records and make certain self-service changes, such as a change of address or requesting a personnel action, Devine said. In this way, every soldier will be a user of the system, and all supervisors, including Army civilians who supervise soldiers, will be required to know the system so they can process leave requests, awards and evaluations, he said.
To prepare for the implementation of this new system, the Army is launching an ambitious training program designed to reach all installations, Devine said. The training team starts by briefing senior leadership on the program, he said, then moves to battalion- and brigade-level leadership, and then briefs the human resources personnel who will be using the system the most.
The Army also is making distance-learning materials available for DIMHRS, and will be training soldiers to be instructors on the system, Devine said. The DIMHRS Web site, at www.armydimhrs.army.mil, also will have all the training materials available to soldiers, he said.
The Web site also includes other helpful materials, such as a universal translator to help with commercial terms soldiers may not be familiar with, and work force readiness packages, which describe how each action was done under the old system and how it will be done under DIMHRS.
The Air Force also is set to launch DIMHRS in February 2009, and although the Navy has not set a date for implementation, Navy officials have appointed a program director.
The Department of Defense today released key findings from this year's Military Service Academy Assessment report. The report is the first such assessment to combine an evaluation of the academies' new sexual assault prevention and response programs, an evaluation of sexual harassment programs, and feedback from cadet and midshipmen focus groups.
DoD officials met with academy personnel, reviewed academy policies and procedures, conducted an extensive data-call for reports and investigative files, and held focus groups with cadets and midshipmen. Based on information obtained during site visits, DoD found that the academies' programs fulfilled the requirements of existing DoD policies and directives.
Key findings of the report include:
The new DoD sexual assault prevention and response policy is fully implemented at each institution.
Comprehensive and consistent response structures for victim support and care are present and functioning.
All programs ensured every cadet and midshipman receives sexual harassment and violence prevention training as part of their preparation to become military leaders.
Cadet and midshipmen focus group members provided a great deal of frank information, including the following:
A significant amount of time is dedicated to sexual harassment and sexual assault prevention training. Sexual harassment and sexual assault are taken very seriously by leadership and staff at the academies.
Cadets and midshipmen felt safe on academy grounds and believed that sexual assault occurred infrequently at their schools.
In order to enhance academy programs, the DoD report made several recommendations, including:
Victims of sexual assault should be connected with legal resources as soon as possible.
Academy staff who work with the sexual assault prevention and response programs should increase their training, communication, and cooperation between each other and with off-base resources that support the criminal justice system.
Cooperation agreements with local community resources should be updated to provide greater information sharing and to resolve jurisdictional problems with civilian authorities.
The assessment also found there were a total of 40 reports of sexual assault at the academies during the evaluation period. Of those 40 reports, 20 cadets and midshipmen took advantage of the new confidential reporting option that was enacted across the DoD in 2005-2006. Under this option, military members may choose to obtain medical, mental health care and other services without becoming involved in the criminal justice process. The other 20 sexual assault victims who desired to participate in the military justice process were also provided with support and care. All cadets who reported a sexual assault were able to access services 24 hours a day, seven days a week through their installation's sexual assault response coordinator.
The 2007 National Defense Authorization Act directed DoD to assess the effectiveness of the three academies' related policies and programs on an annual basis. The report released today includes data from the last academic program year, from June 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007. The U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Col., were included in the assessment.
The complete report is available at http://www.sapr.mil . For specific information contact the individual military services at (703) 697-2564 for Army, (703) 695-0640 for Air Force, and (703) 697-5342 for Navy.
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 7, 2007 - It's been 66 years, and tears still well up in the eyes of Robert Bishop when he thinks of that day. He was a 20-year-old sailor aboard the USS Tennessee when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1941. Some images are burned into his mind that he will never forget, he said.
"It was just an unbelievable sight. I couldn't believe it. How could this thing happen? But it did," Bishop said today outside the U.S. Capitol.
He had gathered with 13 other survivors and about 100 others including family, friends, servicemembers and members of Congress for a remembrance ceremony sponsored by the White House Commission on Remembrance and the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund in partnership with the AMVETS and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. The event was synchronized and satellite-linked to a ceremony in Hawaii at the USS Arizona memorial.
During the attack, Bishop's duty station was in the heart of the ship, preparing to fire the ship's main battery of guns. For four hours, the horrors of that day were relayed through his radio.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing about ships blowing up, catching on fire, rolling over. It was about four hours later before I got to go topside to see what actually happened," he said.
When he finally went topside, he couldn't believe what he saw. Bishop said he doesn't remember what he did the rest of that day.
Now, Bishop lives in Youngstown, Ohio, with his wife. At 87, he still works every day, getting up at 5 a.m. to put in eight hours working at a nearby steel mill, where he orders maintenance equipment.
Married for 65 years, Bishop jokes that he will retire when his wife quits getting up with him in the mornings and fixing his breakfast and packing his lunch.
The two meet on the third Saturday of every month with a local Pearl Harbor survivor chapter. It's the reading of the official minutes and a meal, sometimes a game of cards. There were once about 22 members. Now there are about eight who come regularly, Doris said. They try to make it to the anniversary ceremonies held in Hawaii every five years. Other years, they attend a Pearl Harbor commemorative Mass near their home.
Bishop said it is important that Americans remember the attack at Pearl Harbor and not become overconfident or too secure.
"I think we need to be more alert. It seemed that most people thought that nothing like this could happen to us. But because we were not alert enough as a nation, it did happen. We need to know what's going on around us," Bishop said.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead spoke at the event and said that today's military is stronger because of those who served then.
"Because of your example, your service, your sacrifice, we are stronger, we are better and we see the importance of a strong military to carry on that which you began: To ensure the safety and the security and the prosperity of our great country. To be able to go forward wherever it may be and serve our nation proudly as you did and to do that which is right and be mindful of that which has gone before, and be an example for the next generation that will follow us," Roughead said. "We walk in your footsteps. We honor what you have done. We have the highest respect for your service and your sacrifice."
The admiral, who once commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet based in Hawaii, said the harbor is hallowed ground for the Navy.
"In the 13 years that I was there sailing in and out of Pearl Harbor, commanding the fleet ... I never stopped looking out on that harbor without a sense of awe, without a sense of great respect, without a sense of reverence. ...The sacrifice, the service, the camaraderie that is embodied there is palpable," Roughead said. "You feel it every day that you're on the water."
Pearl Harbor serves as a memorial for those who fought and died there, but it also is a source of inspiration for those still in uniform, he said.
"We draw our inspiration, we draw our strength, we draw our commitment from that which has gone on before. And there is no greater example than what took place that day in Pearl Harbor," Roughead said.
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 6, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates made his first visit to a U.S. Navy warship, the USS Vicksburg, today to tour the vessel, meet its crew and thank them for their service in the Persian Gulf region. Arriving here for bilateral talks at a regional security meeting that opens tomorrow night, Gates took advantage of the Vicksburg's port call in Bahrain to pay it and its crew a visit.
Navy Capt. Chip Swicker, Vicksburg's commanding officer, greeted the secretary at the Mina Salman Pier and joined him as he climbed aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile vessel.
As the secretary climbed the steps toward the ship -- steps he later joked to reporters challenged his "64-year-old knees" -- the crew rendered a traditional Navy welcome. The sound of eight bells, the highest honor afforded any visitor, including the president, rang out, along with the call, "Defense arriving."
Swicker led the secretary around the vessel, pointing out its vertical-launch missile system, rapid-fire cannons and SH-60 Seahawk helicopters.
This mix of weapons provides "a wonderful capability" to face threats in the air, ashore and on and underneath the sea. "It's big and very, very heavily armed," Swicker said, noting the ship helps provide security through its mere presence.
As he awaited Gates' arrival, Swicker said he was looking forward to showing Gates the vessel's hardware and weaponry, but wanted even more to show him the quality of his crew. "This is an awesome piece of technology," he said of the ship. "But it's those 350 young sailors who make it all happen."
The crew has been conducting maritime security operations in the Central Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman since leaving their homeport of Mayport, Fla., on Aug. 2. They are slated to return home in late January.
While touring the ship, Gates expressed thanks to crewmembers, then administered the oath of re-enlistment to Senior Chief Petty Officer Johnny Taylor. Taylor, a 23-year Navy veteran who signed on for another three years of service, specifically requested that Gates perform the honors.
Swicker said Gates' visit reaffirms the importance of Vicksburg's mission as its crew works with coalition partners "to keep the maritime environment secure for everybody."
Crewmembers have no doubt they're playing an important role in the Gulf region. "We're policing the seas, and preventing and deterring, just by projecting our image," said Petty Officer 1st Class Dominic Bills, a fire controlman. "We're here to do everyone good and to ensure the seas are safe. In this part of the world, it's something that needs to be done."
"I see it as bringing security to everyone," agreed Petty Officer 1st Class Adrix Wyatt, an electrician who's served in the Navy for 12 years. "We're making a difference through our presence in this region."
The visit was a highlight for Swicker, who will turn over Vicksburg's command to Capt. Chuck Nygaard during a ceremony at sea Dec. 10. "It's always bittersweet leaving a ship," he said. "But to be able to host the secretary of defense and show him the quality of the men and women who make up its crew, well, that's a real opportunity."
Gates told reporters he had a great experience on the ship and was "just very impressed with the young people that are on the crew and by the ship."
He said he was intrigued by the types of questions the crewmembers asked him. "It was really interesting. Most of the questions were about Russia, China, Iran," he said.
Alluding to his past as a dean, then president of Texas A&M University, Gates added with a smile, "I felt like I was teaching a political science course."
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 6, 2007 - Defense officials this week lauded 16 everyday heroes for overcoming disabilities. Among them is an aspiring young gymnast left paralyzed from the chest down by a car accident after high school who is now a college graduate working as a human resources specialist, a senior accountant born with muscular dystrophy, and a career civil servant with dwarfism who started 22 years ago using a desk and chair much too large for her small frame.
The disabilities varied, but their stories are similar, and each demonstrated the stuff heroes are made of, Army Maj. Daniel M. Gade said at the Dec. 4 event. Gade works for the White House as associate director for domestic policy and is responsible for disability and health care issues related to servicemembers and veterans. The major also is an amputee who lost his right leg to a bomb in Iraq.
"Being a hero does not necessarily mean grabbing a rifle and manning a post. It simply means doing your best and choosing to do right," he said.
"The people we honor today are great examples of everyday heroes, and so we celebrate them. Many have overcome debilitating disease and trauma and inspire us by their daily devotion to doing the right thing -- their best, despite their circumstances. The agencies and organization leaders represented here today are also everyday heroes, because they choose to employ and empower people with disabilities," he said.
The purpose of the annual ceremony is to increase awareness of contributions to national security made by those with mental and physical disabilities. The awards program began in 1981, and recipients are nominated by their respective agencies. The program also recognizes three DoD components with outstanding affirmative action programs for people with disabilities.
The Defense Department now employs more than 5,000 people with severe disabilities, or nearly 1 percent of its work force. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates wants to increase that to 2 percent, officials said.
A shift in attitudes and developing technology have opened more doors to disabled people, David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said at the ceremony.
Chu cited the governmentwide Computer/Electronic Accommodation Program, which provides assistive technology for federal employees with disabilities at no cost to the employing agency. The program began in 1990 to help break down barriers for people with disabilities, Chu said. Congress has since expanded the program to include all federal agencies, and in 2006 expanded it to include wounded servicemembers. This will help as the military begins to retain more wounded servicemembers on active duty.
"I think it is important to note that today we have a shift within our military structure in attitudes, too. Our military organizations realize that putting aside personnel with disabilities is a wasteful loss of valuable human resources," Chu said.
Thanks to advancements in technology and rehabilitation programs, "it has become common practice (for) military personnel who so desire and can demonstrate their ability to return to military duty and certainly to pursue rewarding careers in civil society," he said.
Gade was able to stay on active duty and is heading to a teaching position at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He said that after his injury, people often referred to him as a hero. But to those at the ceremony, he offered a different definition.
"A hero by my way of thinking is not captured by a dictionary search or (an Internet) search. Most heroes simply live their lives unnoticed and uncelebrated," Gade said. "Perhaps the best definition of a hero is one who chooses a harder right over an easier wrong. You may be thinking that the warfighters are the heroes, and some are. You may think the military families are the heroes, and some are. You may even think that you are not a hero, but aren't you, or couldn't you be?
"Those of you with disabilities who are working despite those disabilities and employees who empower them are my heroes today, and I applaud you," Gade said.
Nicole Richards has worked two years for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Indianapolis. A car accident after high school left the aspiring gymnast paralyzed. She went on to college and wasn't sure what she wanted to do. Her grandfather was a retired civil servant and told her of the benefits. Now, she said, she plans to make civil service a career.
"The two short years that I've been there have been great, and I can see myself there for a very long time. Anything I need or have needed, they seem to get right away," she said.
For Richards, the awards show that disabled employees work as hard as those without disabilities.
"It means a lot really. ... It shows me that the government really does care about people with disabilities," she said. "We are working just as hard and sometimes harder as able-bodied people to get our mission accomplished."
Rocco Arizzi, an electrical engineer with the Navy in Bethesda, Md., said the awards send a message to young people with disabilities who may be wondering what they are going to do with their lives or who will employ them. Arizzi was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease.
"I like for younger people and students with disabilities to see people accomplishing things and serving their country so that they know they can do the same," he said. "The more they see people not only just existing and working, but achieving great things, the more that they believe that they can do it themselves."
Arizzi's grandfather and brother both served in the Navy. He would like to see disabled people eventually deploy in support of the war. "There's a lot of front-line work that can be done by people with disabilities -- people who are sitting at desks or controlling unmanned aerial vehicles or running logistics. I would like to see more opportunities for (disabled) people in those types of areas," he said. "I believe they can contribute in the war directly."
Kane Urban, a senior auditor with the Defense Contract Audit Agency, at Fort Worth, Texas, was born with muscular dystrophy. He said he is happy with accommodations the Defense Department makes to hire disabled people, but he would like to see the day when special recognition is no longer needed because such hiring practices are commonplace.
"They have these types of awards and ceremonies and conferences to highlight improvements that are made, ... and their goal is total integration and equality. Once you reach that, you don't need conferences and awards, because you met the goal," he said.
Urban said he believes more managers would hire disabled people but are held back by misperceptions of additional costs and difficult accommodations. "We bring the same things to the table as anyone else does, with minimal increased costs when you compare it to what employees cost anyway. I think ... that managers don't realize how marginal the cost is," he said.
Linda Keel, an administrative assistant a Redstone Arsenal, Ala., component of Defense Intelligence Agency, began federal service more than two decades ago, before many of today's accommodations were in place.
Keel, who has dwarfism, showed up on her first day of work to a full-sized desk and chair. But she didn't let it intimidate her, she said. Her only complaint was that it was sometimes hard to reach things.
Now she works in a cubicle that fits her size and is delivering big dividends for her employers. Last week, she was named Outstanding DIA Employee with a Disability. This award means a lot to her, she said, because it means that she makes a difference.
Keel serves up tall advice for those following in her tiny footprints. "Don't give up. Go after it with the attitude that you can do it and with the determination that you can do it, and just put being disabled behind you," she said.
Other award recipients were:
-- Bruce E. Beyer, Department of the Army;
-- Ronald B. Greenfield, Department of the Air Force;
-- Steven R. Clark, Office of the Secretary of Defense/Washington Headquarters Service;
-- Maria T. Andrade, Army and Air Force Exchange Service;
-- Anthony Green, Defense Commissary Agency;
-- Joseph P. Higginbotham, Defense Contract Management Agency;
-- Kimberly J. Pare, Defense Information Systems Agency;
-- Constance Gardener, Defense Logistics Agency;
-- Jennifer L. Perry, Defense Threat Reduction Agency;
-- Michael J. Morgan Jr., National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency;
-- Michael P. Herron, National Guard Bureau; and
-- John H. Loftis Jr., National Security Agency.
DoD organizations honored were: the Department of the Air Force, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense/Washington Headquarters Service.
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 6, 2007 - The National Fatherhood Initiative is looking for a few good military fathers for the 2008 NFI Lockheed Martin Military Fatherhood Award. "The purpose of the award is to recognize the outstanding efforts of military fathers to stay engaged with their families while meeting the military missions, even through deployments," said Jim Knotts, Lockheed Martin Corp.'s director of corporate citizenship. "(It) helps bring attention to those sacrifices and celebrates the efforts above and beyond the call of duty to balance military duty with family obligations."
Though the award is given to the father, he added the National Fatherhood Initiative's first guideline for being a good father is to respect the children's mother; therefore, he said, it recognizes the whole family.
The first award was presented in 2007 to Marine Gunnery Sgt. Kevin Andrade.
Nominations for the 2008 award are being accepted through Jan. 4, Knott said. Nominations in the form of a one- to two-page explanation of how the nominated father meets established contest criteria can be e-mailed through the National Fatherhood Initiative Web site, www.fatherhood.org/mfa.asp.
Any father serving on active duty or in the National Guard or reserves is eligible for the award. It is not required that he be deployed.
The winner will be announced Feb. 28 and honored at an April 29 gala in Washington.
Nomination information must include name, rank, and service affiliation of the nominee, as well as information about his family, number and ages of children, marital status, and his contact information. The nominator also should include his or her name, contact information and connection to the nominee.
Knott said the award is part of Lockheed Martin's "United in Gratitude" initiative to provide support to servicemembers in many different areas.
"With a large number of employees who are veterans, and employees who are activated and deployed, we understand the challenges faced by our military families," he said. "Outstanding military fathers take extraordinary efforts to father from a distance during military separation and go to great lengths to successfully balance mission requirements and their fathering role.
"They also are active to help other military fathers or military children who are separated from their fathers," he said.
Knotts, a father and veteran, also gave a nod to the moms. "It simply would not be possible (to be good military fathers) without the steadfast dedication and support of our military moms," he added.
Editor's Note: To find out about more individuals, groups and organizations that are helping support the troops, visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. America Supports You directly connects military members to support from the America people and offers a tool to the general public in their quest to find meaningful ways to support the military community.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 6, 2007 - The visit of the USS Essex to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Nov. 26 to Dec. 4 is a concrete example of the importance of military-to-military ties between countries. The Essex and the embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit was part of a "friendship-building event" with the Kingdom of Cambodia, said Chief Petty Officer Tyler A. Swartz, the public affairs officer for the effort.
The 2,400 sailors and Marines learned about Cambodian history and trained with members of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.
Cambodia is a desperately poor country struggling to recover from war and genocide. It was a battleground in the latter stages of the Vietnam War, and in the 1970s the Khmer Rouge ruled the nation. During the regime of Pol Pot, between 1.7 million and 3 million Cambodians died, including hundreds of thousands of people who were executed. The era brought the term "Killing Fields" into the world's vocabulary.
The government is now a constitutional monarchy and is working to be a full member of the community of nations. Cambodia is working with other nations on counterterrorism initiatives and overcoming transnational problems, such as the flow of narcotics and crime.
But the government is weak, and government control in many areas of the country is tenuous, DoD officials said. The United States military wants to work with the Cambodian armed forces to help them face the challenges in their country.
The Essex visit is the latest U.S. Defense Department effort to reach out to the Cambodians. During the port visit, Essex medical personnel working with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and non-governmental organizations were able to see more than 5,000 patients at Kulen and Kampong Cham, Swartz said. Medical and dental services in Cambodia included eye surgery, dispensing drugs, pulling teeth and oral hygiene education.
During the port visit, sailors and Marines engaged, taught and attended classes at the Cambodian National Defense University. Marines provided anti-terrorism training for Cambodia's national counterterrorism task force, Swartz said. The training enhanced the force's ability to conduct sustained counter terrorism training and gave Cambodia capabilities to participate in future military exchange programs.
The Essex crew also distributed several pallets of Project Handclasp material. Project Handclasp is a U.S. Navy program that provides donated items like books, clothes, toys and medical items to agencies and organizations in countries that could benefit from those materials.
The next step is to increase the number of Navy port visits to Cambodia, defense officials said.
By Sgt. Sara Moore, USA
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 6, 2007 - Throughout the Middle East, the U.S. Navy provides vital medical support to U.S. troops serving in the war on terror, the Navy surgeon general said today during a visit to the region. Navy Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson Jr. spoke to online journalists and "bloggers" from Iraq, where he was midway into a trip touring medical facilities in the region. Robinson has visited U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, in Bahrain; Camp Arifjan, Kuwait; and Camp Buehring, Kuwait, which is 50 miles from the Iraqi border.
In Camp Arifijan, Robinson visited the 44-bed U.S. Military Hospital Kuwait, staffed by Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait, which includes about 370 Navy medical personnel from 30 different health care facilities. Medical professionals there provide care to the 20,000 coalition forces in Kuwait using modular shelters that are set up in less than 48 hours.
"By providing world-class medical care to the U.S. Army Central and the 1st Sustainment Command, which has command and control of logistics in the entire (U.S. Central Command area of responsibility), Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait is playing a vital role in supplying and sustaining combat operations," Robinson said.
In Camp Arifjan, Robinson said his staff also toured the warrior transition mall, which is offered to all Navy individual augmentees returning from Iraq or Afghanistan. The warrior transition mall gives sailors three to five days to acclimate out of combat operations and decompress, he said. Multidisciplinary teams of health professionals, including mental health professionals and chaplains, screen the troops for any operational stress issues that may be confronted as they return home.
Camp Buehring serves as the last training and staging base for tens of thousands of Iraqi-bound troops, and Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait provides primary care to about 10,000 soldiers there, Robinson said.
This weekend, Robinson and his staff are flying to Landstuhl, Germany, to observe the medical system and the casualty evacuation system, he said. Landstuhl Regional Medical Center can accommodate 75 seriously wounded servicemembers airlifted from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and is just a part of the continuum of care for those wounded in combat, he said.
"Combat casualty care is a continuum of care, which begins with the corpsmen in the field, alongside whatever warrior is there. In this instance, corpsmen are always with our Marines," Robinson said. "It progresses to forward resuscitative care units, which are in theater, and it culminates in care provided through en-route care of our patients as they're evacuated to the rear and our military hospitals."
Robinson said the Navy has plenty of medical professionals to treat combat veterans. The service's challenge is to properly screen troops for physical or mental problems and make sure they get treatment they need, he said.
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 6, 2007 - A cadre of military officers with special foreign language training and cultural expertise are helping the Defense Department and U.S. military bridge gaps between American allies and local foreign populations. More than 1,400 foreign area officers, or FAOs, possess a vital foreign language, regional expertise and cultural awareness that are integral to the Defense Department's warfighting capability, the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Plans said at the Pentagon today.
"Foreign area officers are an extraordinary group of people who have in-depth knowledge of cultures, of regions of the world and languages of the world, sometimes the more difficult and strategic languages, who play an incredibly important part in our ability to communicate and work with other countries," said Gail H. McGinn.
Strategic languages identified by the Defense Department include Arabic, spoken by an estimated 206 million as a mother tongue, and 246 million as a second language; Dari and Pashto, Afghanistan's primary languages; and Chinese dialects.
FAOs work in the Pentagon on the joint staff, service staffs, and with the defense agencies as regional desk officers, planners and policy officers. They also work at combatant commands and U.S. embassies around the world, advising commanders on a region's cultural aspects and geopolitical issues, and enhance military-to-military relations.
U.S. Africa Command, which is slated to become fully operational next October, will benefit greatly by having FAOs in place from the start, McGinn said.
"Those foreign area officers will know parts of Africa, they will know some of the languages of Africa, they will be able to be in the African community, talking with the leaders and advising," she said, noting that other Combatant Commands have requested additional FAOs.
McGinn -- who has a language background in French, German and Danish -- said the Defense Language Institute is establishing a broad curriculum to address the steady demand for trained linguists across the globe. She noted that that by 2012, some 1,000 officers are expected to join the ranks of FAOs.
McGinn said the Defense Department and all military service branches established standards for FAOs several years ago. Officers seeking to become FAOs first must successfully perform their military specialty, speak a strategic or dominant language in their area of concentration, possess a graduate level education that focuses on their region of expertise and have experience and in-country training in the countries and region of their specialty.
"The personal touch of (FAOs) being able to understand and communicate in the language of the country you are situated in is a sign of respect for the country, and a sign that the United States is aware of the fact that we need to be able to communicate and operate in other places," McGinn said. "It isn't all about us being Americans and (speaking) English."
FAOs are "key links" in building coalition partnership in regions across the world, McGinn said. "It is our corps of individuals who have professional foreign language capability, ... (who are) our ambassadors, they can help us with alliances, they can help us understand parts of the world we find ourselves in," she said.
Language has the unique ability to connect U.S. operators with people of other countries, McGinn said.
"To be able to communicate with the people, to understand what they're saying, to understand what they're thinking, to understand what they're habits are and the correct way to interact with people ... is incredibly important," she said.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Pfc. Donald M. Walker, U.S. Marine Corps, of Springfield, Ky. He will be buried Dec. 7 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
Walker was assigned to the Service Company, 1st Service Battalion, of the 1st Marine Division deployed near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. On Nov. 27, 1950, three Communist Chinese divisions launched an attack on the Marine positions. Over the next several days, U.S. forces staged a fighting withdrawal to the south, first to Hagaru-ri, then Koto-ri, and eventually to defensive positions at Hungnam. Walker died on Dec. 7, 1950, as a result of enemy action near Koto-ri. He was buried by fellow Marines in a temporary United Nations military cemetery in Hungnam, which fell to the North Koreans in December 1950. His identity was later verified from a fingerprint taken at the time of the burial.
During Operation Glory in 1954, the North Korean government repatriated the remains of 2,944 U.S. soldiers and Marines. Included in this repatriation were remains associated with Walker's burial. The staff at the U.S. Army Mortuary in Kokura, Japan, however, cited suspected discrepancies between the biological profile from the remains and Walker's physical characteristics. The remains were among 416 from Operation Glory subsequently buried as "unknowns" in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (The Punchbowl) in Hawaii.
In April 2007, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command exhumed remains from The Punchbowl believed to be those of Walker. Although the remains did not yield usable DNA data, a reevaluation of the skeletal and dental remains led to Walker's identification.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 5, 2007 - The United States-Peoples' Republic of China annual defense consultative talks ended yesterday with the two nations agreeing to increase military-to-military ties, Pentagon officials said today. Defense spokesman Bryan Whitman said the delegations -- led by Eric S. Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, and Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, the People's Liberation Army's deputy chief of general staff for foreign affairs -- discussed U.S.-Chinese defense relations, regional and global defense issues and a "proposed dialogue on nuclear policy, strategy and programs."
The annual talks came a month after Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited China and spoke to Chinese leaders about better communications to enhance mutual understanding between the nations.
The talks also came after Chinese leaders refused to allow the USS Kitty Hawk carrier battle group to make a port visit to Hong Kong over Thanksgiving. Whitman said the port call incident came up as part of discussions on the importance of improving overall military-to-military relations. "I've talked about this for some time," Whitman told reporters. "The United States has expressed its concern and its disappointment over this, and we have moved beyond it."
Representatives from U.S. Strategic Command and China's 2nd Artillery Corps attended the talks to provide expertise on nuclear issues. "This led to a good, worthwhile discussion on a future dialogue on nuclear policy, strategy and programs," Whitman said.
U.S. officials brought up the issue of Iran and followed up on the proposal to implement a defense telephone link between Washington and Beijing, "with a goal of completing that in early 2008," Whitman said.
Both sides agreed to plus up defense exchanges between the nations, including increased interactions between mid-level and junior officers and increased exchanges between military educational institutions. The two sides also agreed to cooperate more closely on opening Chinese archives to U.S. researchers seeking information on Americans missing in action in U.S. wars in Asia, Whitman said.
"Overall, we expressed our efforts to move forward with our defense relations with China and to promote a constructive and cooperative relationship," Whitman said.
Edelman and Ma agreed the two sides would continue the discussions at the Defense Policy Coordination talks in February.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 5, 2007 - Improved conditions in Iraq and a desire to remain a light, mobile force caused the Marine Corps cut its order for mine-resistant, ambush–protected vehicles, a decision that included careful assessment of its effect on safety of deployed forces, the commandant of the Marine Corps said here today. The Marine Corps has asked the Joint Requirement Oversight Council to cut the number of MRAP vehicles earmarked for the service from 3,600 to 2,300.
The safety of Marines and sailors in Iraq was paramount in planners' minds when making the decision, the commandant emphasized. "I am absolutely comfortable that no Marine or sailor will experience additional risk in Iraq as a result of the recommendation," he said.
The need to keep the Marine Corps light was part of the reasoning, he said. The vehicles weigh 48,000 pounds each, and the sealift and airlift needed for them would be excessive, he added.
Another part of the decision to reduce the Marine Corps' MRAP order has to do with changes in conditions in Iraq, Conway said.
The September 2006 decision to replace every up-armored Humvee in Iraq with an MRAP was "absolutely the right thing to do" at the time, Conway said. "It's a moral imperative to protect our people as soon as we can, as soon as we can get those vehicles built," he said. At the time, the insurgency was at its height, and improvised explosive devices were pandemic in Iraq.
"What's happened since September of 2006 has been absolutely amazing by most counts," he said. The surge and the so-called "Anbar Awakening" have cut the number and lethality of attacks against the coalition.
"We have not lost nearly the numbers of vehicles that we were experiencing, because attacks have gone down dramatically," he said.
Also, the heavy vehicles cannot handle some of the off-road work that needs to be done and cannot navigate some of the narrower confines in many parts of Iraq. "So what we found is that (commanders are) mixing their convoys and their patrols with some MRAPs, maybe as route clearance, but also with some ... 7-ton vehicles and also with some up-armored Humvees," the commandant said. "So, that mix has also driven down our requirement."
Conway said cutting the Marines' MRAP order may speed up purchase of the vehicles for the Army.
The Marines still have a use for the smallest variant of the vehicle as an engineer combat vehicle, even in an expeditionary environment, Conway said. The service has tried for 20 years to develop an engineer combat vehicle, he noted. The MRAP could fill that bill with 360-degree protection and its V-shaped hull, which directs shrapnel away from riders.
"It can wage into a fight and protect those young men and women, in some cases, deliver them to whatever the obstacle is and in some cases even breach it," Conway said. "So we're going to have to develop that vehicle to its fullest, I think, as an engineer and (explosive ordnance disposal) combat vehicle."
Conway said the change in the Marine Corps' MRAP order will not adversely affect industry. The service checked that the companies building the vehicles "hadn't laid in such quantities of steel and tires and transmissions that they were going to be left holding ... an expensive bag," he said. "So we're comfortable that our timing was pretty good and that no one is really being injured in the process."
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 5, 2007 - First lady Laura Bush attended a special event here today to learn about challenges facing military youth and to let them know they're not forgotten. "We need to get the word out to children of all of our military families, (that) we know you do serve also, and (of) the sacrifices you make with your parents gone for a long part of your childhood. We want military kids to know we are aware of that," Bush said during the special "Helping America's Youth" event at the base youth center.
"We (also) know that if children have caring adults in their lives, they're more likely to make wise decisions for their own lives," the first lady said.
"And when your parents are deployed, it's really important that other caring adults have an opportunity to step in and help young people while their parents are away," she continued, adding that she knows many do have that benefit.
Helping America's Youth is a nationwide effort to raise awareness about the challenges facing the nation's youth and to motivate caring adults to connect with youth in the areas of family, school and community.
Dr. Stephen Cozza, professor of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University, told the audience that military kids have just as tough and important a job as their parents do. Despite that, they're resilient, he said.
"We need to remember, first and foremost, that they are generally a healthy and capable group of youngsters who possess strengths that are at least equal to their civilian counterparts," said Cozza, who also serves as the associate director for the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. He went on to note that certain events and situations can cause increased stress on military children.
Combat deployments tax even the healthiest families, and multiple deployments even more so, he said. The combat experience itself can affect servicemembers, and consequently their children, upon the parent's return to the family.
"During wartime, servicemembers often witness and participate in violent and destructive acts that fall outside the realm of the typical human experience," Cozza said. "Combat can lead to neurobiological and psychological consequences that don't simply disappear when they return home."
These issues can be as benign as the common cold or much more serious, he said. Open discussion can help families and children better understand the changes they may see in their parents.
"Our community programs should be knowledgeable about child and family responses to deployment and reintegration challenges, and should be comfortable referring troubled service or family members to health care facilities when appropriate," he said.
Brooke Borelli, 12, the daughter of Air Force Col. Elizabeth Borelli of the 11th Operations Group at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., knows well the challenges of being a military child. When she's switched schools in the middle of the school year, she said, she often finds she may be ahead in one subject but behind in another. Perhaps the biggest challenge came when her mother was deployed to Iraq.
It was tough when her mom didn't come home every day and she couldn't have individual time with her, Brooke said. But the situation came with its own benefits. She reached out to her family and community and filled her mother's deployments with activities.
"I think it's made me a better person for doing it," Brooke said. "I've learned to be more independent and stable on my own."
Shanice Gaddy, 17, also knows what it means to be part of a military family. Her mother, District of Colombia Army National Guard Master Sgt. Jacqueline Whitney, was deployed to Iraq for a little more than a year just as her daughter was starting high school.
Shanice said not having her mom there as she charted that new territory was a struggle, but National Guard programs helped her shake feelings of sadness and loneliness.
"I discovered that they had National Guard youth programs," Gaddy said. "Then I started to feel better, because I felt as though people were there for me."
And using resources like the National Guard youth programs is exactly what the first lady encouraged families to do if they feel they may need help, said Barbara Thompson, director of the Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth, a part of the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.
"Mrs. Bush gave a very powerful message when she mentioned to military families that if they need help, they should reach out and seek help through programs and support systems," she said. "I think she sets the tone for the nation in telling the nation that military children also serve and they sacrifice and we should take good care of them as a nation."
That's easier, thanks to the many resources available to military children and families; however the programs are good only if they're accessible, Thompson said.
She said Mrs. Bush heard about the importance of addressing needs of military children who are geographically separated from a military installation, and consequently are far way from the resources located there.
"We're a great organization. We have a lot of programs at every one of our installations, but we can't do it alone," Thompson said. "We need the expertise, and we need the ability to reach out to the larger community to ensure all children's needs are met."
The first lady also heard from organizations such as the Armed Services YMCA, the National Military Family Association, and Boys and Girls Clubs of America, which are reaching out to the overall community to ensure all military children have resources available.
Armed Services YMCA and the National Military Family Association are both supporters of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 5, 2007 - As negotiations on Kosovo's "final status" are expected to reach a political stalemate Dec. 10, a top commander in NATO's Kosovo Force said today his troops are prepared for any potential conflict in the breakaway province. The commander of Kosovo Force's Multinational Task Force East said the mood in Kosovo is "anxious" days before talks led by the United States, the European Union and Russia are likely to end in disagreement. Provincial leaders of the 90-percent ethnic Albanian enclave in southern Serbia are expected to unilaterally declare Kosovo's independence in January or February.
"When the declaration of independence comes, we will be prepared to act against any kind of activity," Army Brig. Gen. John E. Davoren told American Forces Press Service.
"We are impartial," he said. "It doesn't matter whether you're a Kosovar Albanian or a Kosovo Serbian ... if you engage in violence, then we as members of Kosovo Force are going to have to act against you."
Kosovo has been under United Nations administration and policed by 16,000 NATO peacekeepers, known as KFOR, following a U.S.-led bombing campaign in 1999 that expelled the Serb army and prevented "ethnic cleansing" of the region's Albanians.
Davoren and the 35th Infantry Division took command of KFOR's Multinational Task Force East, or MNTF-E, on Nov. 2. MNTF-E, with headquarters in Urosevac at Camp Bondsteel, is one of five task forces that conduct intelligence-led operations, and work closely with both the local police and the local population to gather information, according to NATO's Web site.
MNTF-E also is responsible for more than 60 miles of administrative "boundary lines," the official name for the UN-mandated demarcation separating Kosovo and Serbia. The task force oversees roughly 50 miles of Kosovo-Macedonia border to the south, where incidents between ethnic Albanians and law officers in Macedonia the past two months have stirred controversy, Davoren said.
The brushes near Kosovo's border come in the midst of increasingly harsh political rhetoric from the Serb government in Belgrade, and growing concern over reports in Kosovo's news media of paramilitary activity along Kosovo's boundaries.
Though largely autonomous, Kosovo remains under the sovereignty of Belgrade, which sees Kosovo as the site of cherished Serb mainstays, including several of the most prominent Orthodox Christian shrines in the country. As Kosovo seeks independence, Serbia refused to relinquish the province.
"There is anxiety because there are a number of folks making statements about what the potential future could be," Davoren said of recent political discourse in the region. "There is a lot of discussion about what is actually going to happen on the 10th of December."
Davoren said Kosovo appears calm on the ground, but KFOR is constantly reevaluating the situation in the Serb enclave, assessing threats to stability amid the shifting political landscape.
Meanwhile, recent claims about paramilitary activity in Kosovo are making their rounds in the media. Davoren said the two most prominent groups discussed in reports are the "Tsar Lazar Guard," a group that has organized patrols in Serbia, according to Kosovo media, and the outlawed Albanian National Army, known as AKSH and branded as a terrorist organization by the U.N. mission in Kosovo.
"One of the TV stations in Kosovo filmed a group of 10 people in black uniforms and masks, supposedly walking along the administrative boundary line to protect Kosovo," Davoren said. "There's also been news reports of a reporter attending some induction ceremony where 20 Kosovo Albanians were joining the AKSH in a ceremony so that they could be prepared to defend Kosovo from the invasion of the Tsar Lazar Guard."
Davoren said the Tsar Lazar Guard reportedly has vowed to wage war on all Kosovo Albanians and U.N. personnel if Kosovo declares independence. Furthermore, they have publicized their desire to detonate a nuclear bomb in Kosovo.
"I, as Task Force East commander, and we as KFOR, are concerned about these reports; we take them seriously, (and) we go out and we conduct operations to look for these groups," he said. "But what we find is there are an awful lot of these reports, but not much in the way of activity of these groups actually out along the administrative boundary line."
Davoren said many similar reports, which often quote local residents who allege they have seen groups of uniformed and armed men around Kosovo, are based on hearsay or otherwise unconfirmed accounts.
"I also have to take into consideration the perceptions of the people that are listening to the stories," he said. "Where I don't find a lot of facts substantiated in reports, those reports still cause folks some anxiety, (and) there is a little bit of tension caused from that anxiety."
The commander said KFOR's mission is to eliminate or mitigate issues early on before they escalate to something bigger. He cited a March 2004 example, when a disputed news report which alleged that three ethnic Albanian children drowned after being chased into a river by a group of angry Serbs, triggered a wave of riots.
"We want to make sure that we take a look at a number of different things that could be trigger events, separate fact from fiction, and then take appropriate measures so that we are able to deal with those," he said.
Since March 2004, KFOR has worked to correct problems identified following the riots that killed at least 36 people, wounded nearly 1,000 others, and destroyed an estimated 110 houses and 16 churches in its trail.
To gauge the milieu in Kosovo, for instance, KFOR troops interact with the local populace during mounted and dismounted patrols, and through liaison monitoring teams, which listen to concerns of coffee shop and restaurant owners, and other local people. Davoren said he and other senior leaders interact with village leaders, local priests and Imams, municipality leaders and other elected officials.
"We get a wide cross-section from people who are in positions of power, people who are just your average citizen, and get a feel for what the concerns are – where things are going well, where things are going badly," he said.
Additionally in 2004, nations with forces in Kosovo removed the majority of military caveats that hindered troops' operational capabilities, Davoren said. For roughly the past two years, he added, KFOR has rehearsed how troops would smoothly transition from posts around Kosovo, rehearsing scenarios that might require additional NATO reserve troops be brought into Kosovo or the greater Balkan region.
"Right now, the troop levels are sufficient," he said. "There are contingency plans where if additional troops are needed to be brought in, those have been identified."
Davoren's comments came a day after NATO's supreme allied commander acknowledged the possibility of quickly raising the force level if needed in Kosovo, which he called NATO's "most volatile" issue.
"There will be those who want to create mischief, and that will be manifested as strife and potentially violence, in Kosovo," Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock told reporters at the National Press Club here yesterday. "There will be, then, those who will respond to that, against the advice of, I think, calmer heads to not respond."
The general said, however, that community leaders in Kosovo hope to avoid violence, and that military strategy is in place to maintain stability.
"We have done contingency planning for the best case and the worst case," he said. "I am very comfortable with what we have done."
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is 1st Lt. Dixie S. Parker, U.S. Army, of Green Pond, Ala. He will be buried Dec. 6 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
Representatives from the Army met with Parker's next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the Army.
Parker was assigned to Battery B, 8th Field Artillery Battalion, 25th Infantry Division then occupying a defensive position overlooking the Kuryong River in P'yongan-Pukto Province, North Korea. On Nov. 27, 1950, Parker was killed in his foxhole while serving as a forward artillery observer. His body was not recovered.
In 2000, a joint U.S./Democratic People's Republic of Korea team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a site overlooking the Kuryong River in P'yongan-Pukto Province where U.S. soldiers were believed to be buried. The team recovered human remains and non-biological evidence including Parker's identification tags and first lieutenant rank insignia.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of Parker's remains.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 4, 2007 - Some Army civilian employees may get layoff notices before Christmas, because $178 billion in emergency funds have not yet been approved to continue the war on terror, a senior Defense Department official said today. President Bush called on Congress twice publicly this week to pass an emergency funding bill, but has vowed to veto any bill that imposes a mandatory troop withdrawal date.
Some members of Congress have responded by saying the Pentagon has funds to continue operations through March, but a Pentagon spokesman today said furlough notices for Army employees could start going out the middle of this month. The employees would not be furloughed until after Christmas, but some contracts require a 60-day notice if the furlough will be longer than 60 days, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters at the Pentagon. The department is using fiscal 2008 funds – not part of the supplemental funding needed – to keep operations going in the war on terror, he explained.
"Anyone who thinks that this is not a serious situation is simply misinformed or is ignoring the facts. We have tried to be as matter of fact as we can on this, but the reality is that we are using our program budget for FY 08 ... to fund our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan," Whitman said.
DoD is using its readiness funding, or operations and maintenance accounts, which typically pay for training, supplies, and maintenance of weapons and equipment.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates requested to shift $3.7 billion from Navy and Air Force payrolls and an $800 million excess in the working capital fund to Army and Marine Corps operations.
If funding continues to be delayed, it could affect as many as 200,000 civilian employees and contractors, DoD officials reported earlier.
"In mid-February, the Army will run out of all of their O&M funding for the entire year, because they will have spent it on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. That will require some fairly significant and harsh actions by the department, specifically the Army. And the Marine Corps is only about a month behind them," Whitman said.
Military installations soon will have to shut down operations and furlough civilian employees, terminate contracts, and move into what Whitman called a "warm" status.
"Facts are the facts. We're trying to keep people as well informed as we can, but anybody that thinks that we have sufficient funding to go beyond what we have stated is just either misinformed or electing not to examine the facts," he said.
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 4, 2007 - In an effort to lift spirits and say "thank you" during the holiday season, 10 area chefs presented recovering servicemembers and their families with a mouth-watering meal last night. "As chefs here in the nation's capital, we do a lot of fundraisers for a lot of different organizations, but this one means so much," said Chef Robert Wiedmaier, owner of Marcel's and Brasserie Beck, in the dining room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Mologne House. "For us to be able to come up here at Christmas and use our talents to do something really nice for them makes us feel good, and hopefully they warm their bellies and feel really good about it."
The residents dined on fare that included barbequed brisket, beef stew with potato puree and roasted chestnut soup, among other delicious entrees. Two restaurants provided pecan pie and other assorted deserts.
The idea for the dinner, which is completely apolitical, Wiedmaier said, started with his mother, Virginia Ann Wiedmaier. While a patient at Walter Reed, she told her son he needed to go to the hospital and cook for the wounded troops.
The event, which was renamed the Virginia Ann Wiedmaier Holiday Dinner when she passed away a little more than two years ago, celebrated its fifth year last night.
Wiedmaier, whose father is a retired Army colonel, said the dinners would continue "as long as we need to keep doing it."
"It's in honor of my mother ... so I feel strongly about it," he said. "I'm also hoping that one day we won't have to do this any more."
Until that day arrives, the dinner is just the best medicine the doctors can't order, said Pete Anderson, manager of Mologne House.
"It's kind of a compilation of the community coming together and taking care of the servicemembers ... and showing them a good time," he said. "I think it's as beneficial for all of the restaurants to come up here and be around the servicemembers as it is for the servicemembers to come and enjoy some really, really wonderful food."
The servicemembers tended to be of like opinion.
"It was fantastic," said Army Spc. Cory Smith, who's recovering from injuries to his right eye and hand. "(I tried) everything; really, everything."
Army Spc. Travis Webb, a bilateral leg amputee, agreed the food was good, but said the event was a step better than just a good meal.
"It was better than the food I ate in Iraq and in the hospital," he said. "We appreciate people coming out here and doing stuff like this."
Stuff like the dinner serves as a reminder to the troops that they still have support back home, said Adrienne Trout, vice president of communications and development for United Service Organizations of Metropolitan Washington.
"It's not just the meal," she said. "I think it's a symbol that America is behind them, that people are thinking of them and they're not forgotten."
USO of Metropolitan Washington has helped to organize the event from the first year, and once again provided volunteers to help out at last night's event. USO volunteers helped to hand out door prizes and took boxed meals to hospital inpatients.
For the second year in a row, USO volunteers also took the same meal to sailors and Marines recovering at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md.
As the evening concluded and Santa Claus finished handing out gifts to the children, the chefs gathered in the lobby to thank the servicemembers for their sacrifices. But they weren't the last thanks the troops and their families would receive.
Vice Adm. John G. Cotton, chief of the Navy Reserve and commander of the Navy Reserve Force, offered his gratitude and holiday greetings on behalf of the Defense Department and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
"Of all the countries in the world, there's about 112 constitutions, (but) there's only one constitution that starts with the word 'We,'" he said. "We're special. But we're extra special because of our forces we send overseas to give peace and freedom to other countries like you all have done in Afghanistan (and) in Iraq ... so they can enjoy the words 'freedom' and 'democracy' and celebrate their happy holidays and their own religions in their own way."
Editor's Note: To find out about more individuals, groups and organizations that are helping support the troops, visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. America Supports You directly connects military members to the support of the America people and offers a tool to the general public in their quest to find meaningful ways to support the military community.
Today the Department of Defense announced its new Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program for 2008 at the Defense Manufacturing Conference in Las Vegas. John J. Kubricky, deputy under secretary of defense for advanced systems and concepts, explained that the Army, Navy and Air Force have successfully managed their individual ManTech programs for decades; this is the first year for DoD's defense-wide program.
“The services have realized billions in savings and cost avoidance over the years by applying ManTech to production and sustainment of their major systems," said Kubricky. "Now, the department and Congress want to apply ManTech to a broader set of defense technologies where prudent investments will yield benefits to all of the armed services."
Beginning in the federal government's fiscal 2008, the program expects to fund investments that will mature ceramic matrix composites manufacturing processes, system-on-chip packaging technology and design guidelines, and advanced manufacturing processes for prosthetics for our wounded warriors. "Other project candidates are being evaluated, and we anticipate returns-on-investment that range from 6:1 to 12:1 in terms of procurement and operating costs, improved operational availability rates, and faster availability for deployment," said Kubricky.
The defense-wide ManTech program aims to mature cross-cutting manufacturing processes in parallel with new and emerging technologies that are inserted into DoD systems. ManTech enables a cost-efficient and collaborative development process that concurrently retires cross-cutting manufacturing risk with technology risk to enable product-ready technology insertion. Equally important, the program aligns research and development investments with suitable levels of technology maturity or calls for corrective options in advance of Milestone B decisions.
"The ManTech processes that are developed, demonstrated and deployed through this program will be used to produce increasingly complex defense systems so our nation maintains superior equipment that is more affordable to acquire, operate and maintain," added Kubricky. ManTech generally measures results in decreased cycle time for production, lower manufacturing costs, more predictable performance, and improved reliability that yields reductions in life-cycle-costs.
Over the longer term, DoD anticipates the defense-wide ManTech program will transition to the Services to execute cross-cutting manufacturing projects that benefit all of the armed services.
More information regarding the Defense Manufacturing Conference can be found at: http://www.dmc.utcdayton.com.
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 4, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today pointed to the new national intelligence estimate as evidence that non-military means are the best way for the United States to deal with Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Responding to a reporter's query during a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai here, Gates said the estimate, released yesterday, also underscores the need for the international community to continue pressuring Iran not to restart its nuclear weapons program.
"If anything, the new national estimate validates the administration's strategy of bringing diplomatic and economic pressures to bear on the Iranian government to change its policies," Gates told reporters.
The report finds that the intelligence community "has high confidence that Iran halted its covert nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003 and they have moderate confidence that they have not restarted that program as of mid-2007," national security advisor Stephen Hadley said in a Washington news briefing yesterday.
The estimate concludes that international scrutiny and pressure probably led Iran to halt work involving uranium enrichment that had previous gone undeclared.
Gates said the NIE gives the U.S. intelligence community "more confidence than ever before" that Iran had, in fact, had a nuclear weapons program before suspending it.
The secretary said the report underscores the role international pressure played in forcing that action, but expressed concern that Iran continues to "keep its options open."
"As long as they continue with their enrichment activities, then the opportunity to resume that nuclear weapons program is always present," he said.
Gates said the estimate demonstrates the need for the international community to keep up its pressure on Iran so it doesn't restart the program. He urged nations of the world "to join the United States in bringing pressure to bear on the Iranian government."
This, he said, will help "ensure that what apparently was a suspension in 2003 becomes a policy of the Iranian government and that they agree to the requirements of the international community in terms of their enrichment program."
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