Generals’ aerial exchange demonstrates alliance, friendship

By Senior Airman Jose L. Hernandez-Domiilo, 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published October 16, 2015

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNS) -- As a testament to the strong friendship and alliance between the U.S. and Japan, two top military leaders from both nations came together for a bilateral exchange flight here Oct. 14.

The exchange involved Lt. Gen. John Dolan, the U.S. Forces Japan commander, flying onboard a Japanese Mitsubishi F-2, while Japan Air Self-Defense Force Lt. Gen. Yoshiyuki Sugiyama, the Air Defense Command commander, flew onboard one of Misawa's F-16 Fighting Falcons.

During his visit, Dolan recognized the recent move by the Japanese government in setting a new path for the Japanese military, but reassured a strong continued alliance between the two countries. He also spoke of the strong symbol of peace and alliance Misawa AB stands for.

"One thing we can enjoy here is the outstanding hospitality and support of the local citizens," Dolan said. "You can't find a better partner and a better neighbor than Misawa."

Both generals also saw this flight as an opportunity to demonstrate the air superiority and the interoperability of their forces, which serve to ensure peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

Guatemalan-born NCO relishes life as airborne cook

by Airman 1st Class Kyle Johnson
JBER Public Affairs

10/15/2015 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Army Staff Sgt. Jose Acevedo stepped up to the door, looked at the 34 feet of nothing between himself and Georgia; he froze for the second time.

The black hat airborne instructor sent him back down again with a little added motivation: if he did that one more time, he would be recycled and repeat the last grueling week of his life.

Acevedo went back down the five-story tower, past all the other Soldiers waiting to test their mettle, his dreams of wearing a maroon beret suddenly not so tangible.

"I love jumping and I'll jump every day," Acevedo said, senior food operations sergeant for A Company, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion. "I don't know what it is; that 34-foot tower is the scariest thing - even to this day. I hate that tower, I'd rather jump any day than go out that tower."

"The zipline - that's fun," Acevedo said. "Leaping out into nothing - that's rough."

And yet, perhaps, that is exactly what got him to the top of the tower.

Out of the pan and into the melting pot
Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Acevedo's family moved to the United States when he was 7 years old.

"My mom had three degrees. Even with all her education and my father working at a battery factory, they were barely making ends meet," Acevedo said. "So they decided to move to the states and provide a better life for their three kids."

Even though he was the oldest of three siblings, Acevedo said he does not remember much about Guatemala or the civil war that was sweeping the country at the time.

As a 7-year-old, he wasn't concerned with national politics. He had much more important matters on his mind; like his school schedule.

"In Guatemala, the school year runs from January until October, with November and December off," Acevedo said. "We moved to the states in January, I had just finished the third grade in Guatemala."

Because he didn't speak English yet, Acevedo attended English-as-a-second-language classes with other kids while the American school system finished out its cycle.

"There were a lot of kids there," Acevedo said. "We were all in the same boat, we didn't speak english and were from a bunch of different countries. Stamford [Connecticut] is like a melting pot of nationalities and cultures."

When it was all said and done, Acevedo had spent so much time in third grade, he could have completed it three times - though he still graduated high school at 18.

Even though Acevedo was young when his family moved to the U.S., the opportunities his family enjoyed because of it impacted his life forever.
"We started off in a small apartment in 1987 and they kept working hard; both of them always had at least one or two jobs," Acevedo said. "My mother was working at a deli, and my dad was working in construction. Almost nine years later, they purchased their first home in 1996, and that's where they still live today."

Acevedo's Guatemalan parents speak Spanish, his generation of cousins speak English, and his Puerto Rican in-laws melt the two together to create their own particular flavor.

"We try to show them what our different cultures have, both of us are kind of Americanized, so our parents show more of the culture when they visit," Acevedo said. "My mother is coming over for my son's birthday, and the only thing my son asked for was a traditional Guatemalan dish. That's pretty much all he asked his grandma for - to come down and cook for him, because he loves her cooking."

"It's the same thing with her side of the family, my father in-law is the one who does all the cooking on her side and it's all good food, but it's totally different," Acevedo said. "How they use all the spices - It's a completely opposite palate."

"I feel like it was my duty to serve," Acevedo said. "And if I needed to, fight for this country that has provided me with everything I have now."

A palate for diversity
As a junior in high school, Acevedo walked into the local Army recruiter's office with one goal in mind: "I want to be an airborne cook," Acevedo said.

After all, there's not very many cooks who can say part of their job description is jumping out of an airplane into the jaws of a battlefield; Army airborne food service personnel can.

The surprised recruiter looked at the young man in front of him.

"No problem!"

The paperwork commenced, and Acevedo joined via the delayed entry program. Nov. 12, 1997, Acevedo raised his right hand and leaped into the Army.

"I remember the day, because it was my girlfriend's birthday," Acevedo said. "She's my wife now."

"I wanted to look different than everybody else," said the Guatemalan native.

Now, with his white chef's coat, unique heritage and maroon beret, he doesn't look like most Soldiers, and he certainly doesn't look like the average chef.

A taste for adventure
The threat of being recycled was enough motivation to get Acevedo out of that 34-foot tower and into his first jump.

"During the first jump, I think everybody was scared. Everyone is excited to go up in the air, but you look around; everybody's all white-faced," Acevedo said with a small chuckle. "At that point, everyone who made it to that final week graduated."

After graduating from Airborne School, Acevedo and his family arrived at their new home, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and he began his military career at the 3rd Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.

"After that, I did one year in Korea and came right back to the same [dining facility] I was in before, but in a different unit," Acevedo said. "I was there from 2004 until March 2014 when I reported here."

"As much as I love the 82nd, I'd been trying to leave there since I got there," Acevedo said. "I wanted to go to Italy, anywhere. I came back to Bragg right after being at Korea. I just wanted to see - to experience something different."

However, because of the timing of his deployments and the limited number of Airborne food service locations, the opportunity never came; until, after 10 years, his first sergeant told him to pack his bags - he's going to Alaska.

"I didn't believe him, I thought he was pulling my leg," Acevedo said. "He had to pull out his roster and show me there were eight noncommissioned officers from 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division coming up here to [Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson]. Then I believed him."

Acevedo wanted to see exotic places where he could get a taste of different drop zones. After 10 years of Fort Bragg, he was finally going to jump somewhere else.

"The view up here is beautiful. I have 62 jumps at Bragg, so I've seen the same drop zones over and over again," Acevedo said. "Up here, every time you go in the air and get a chance to look out the window, it's beautiful. I hear it's really awesome to jump into fresh powder."

As the administration sergeant for the Wilderness Inn, Acevedo is responsible for documenting personnel, supply and inventory.

"We are kind of split up into three main areas," Acevedo said.  "There's the guys on shift who produce the whole meal, the guys in the ration room which control all the food supplies - they order it, put it away, maintain it, and we've got the guys in the administration office, that's all the paperwork.

"Our most important troops are the guys on shift; they're the ones that make it happen, they're the ones that make us shine in here," Acevedo said. "Nobody comes in here and looks at my paperwork and says 'Hey good job.' They look at the food."
With the recent closure of the Gold Rush Inn, the Wilderness Inn is now the only dining facility on the Richardson side of JBER, so their workload - and hours - have increased.

"If our [troops] are on morning shift, they'll be here by 4:45 a.m. in formation, getting an inspection, and making sure uniforms are squared away, clean and presentable," Acevedo said. "They start working by 5, if there are no other field requirements. If there are field requirements, they are here earlier than that. We've been here as early as 1 a.m. to accomplish the mission."

The Soldiers at the Wilderness Inn have to have breakfast up and ready to be served by 7 a.m, and it goes until 9:30 a.m.
"We have an hour and a half break from 0930 to 1100," Acevedo said.

By break, he means a break from the flood of hungry Soldiers, not from work. They have 90 minutes to break down breakfast and have lunch ready to serve.

"We serve lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first shift goes til about 2 p.m., they clean up lunch and around 1400, they start [physical training]. Around 1500, they are done for the day," Acevedo said. "If there's nothing else that needs to get done at the company, weapons, motorpool, anything that has to happen that day - that's the time when they have to go do
it."

The hours for the second shift are just as harrowing.

"The second shift does PT in the morning at 6:30 a.m. and reports to work at 10:30 a.m.; between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. is their time to take care of anything the company needs to take care of or any personal stuff," Acevedo said. "Those guys work til about 1900, 1930 depending on what's going on with the field chow."

Because of the inordinately long hours, the two shifts alternate between the late and morning
shift.

"The first shift comes in, and on the following day they work late, the shift that comes in late comes in the next day early," Acevedo said. "They leave here around 7 or 8 p.m. and are right back here the next day at 4:45 a.m. to do it all over again."
"Regardless of what is going on, we've got a mission three times a day we've got to meet," Acevedo said. "Breakfast, lunch and dinner."

Keeping Soldiers fueled up for the fight is not an easy assignment, but it's an important one.

"You're only as good as your last meal," Acevedo said. "It wasn't my intention to stay in this long. I was only going to do three years, but I've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed the crazy and I've had good times."

Eight years into his service, Acevedo officially became a U.S. citizen.

"It was part of a ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina," Acevedo said. "The secretary of defense or somebody pretty big came down - I have a letter, certificate and pictures signed."

His cultural differences were accepted as a part of what makes him American in a city so recently the center of a racial controversy that rocked the nation.

"I didn't personally see it as a huge obstacle to overcome because the opportunity was always there," Acevedo said. "It wasn't until after I did it that I wish I would have done it a lot earlier."

Now, with 20 years in service looming up on him, Acevedo doesn't speak of retirement, only the next jump.

Maybe this time there will be fresh powder.

Guard Engineers Aid Flood-Stricken South Carolina Residents

By North Carolina Army National Guard Sgt. Brian Godette, 382nd Public Affairs Detachment DoD News

EASTOVER, S.C., October 15, 2015 — Just a week after historic rainfall caused severe flooding in South Carolina -- devastating lives, cities, and infrastructure -- the examples witnessed here and across the state Oct. 13 were neighbors helping neighbors.

The South Carolina National Guard and emergency services departments throughout the state began helping their citizens immediately, and in a show of unity, camaraderie and support, have received assistance from the North Carolina National Guard and others.

"This is our neighboring state, and we should want to help everybody," said North Carolina Army National Guard Spc. Yazmaine Chand-Singh, assigned to the Forward Support Company, 505th Engineer Battalion. "If somebody needs help, that's what we are here for."

More than 2,500 National Guard assets are on the ground in the area, including engineer support from North Carolina and more than 40 state Guard members. Soldiers from the North Carolina Army National Guard’s 505th Engineer Battalion took to local roads to begin assisting residents to traverse more safely in the flood-damaged areas.

Roads Washed Out

"All the roads have washed out due to the significant amount of rainfall that the area has received, so we are doing a hasty road repair so residents can at least get in and out of their homes until the [Department of Transportation] can get out here and fix it," said North Carolina Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Jack Gray, noncommissioned officer in charge of the 505th Engineer Battalion’s 882nd Engineer Company.

The decision to assist South Carolina was an easy call, Gray said. "We all signed up to support and defend our country, and this is one of the ways we can support our country," he added.

Gray, a North Carolina Department of Transportation employee, said he found himself in familiar territory working on the roads in South Carolina, and uses his 15 years of experience to help the soldiers who are with him on this mission.

"This is the type of work I do for a living,” he said, “and in turn I try to pass that knowledge down to my soldiers."

Happy to Help

In the wake of destruction, the soldiers say they are happy to help.

"I was excited when I got the orders for state active duty, because doing this makes me feel better, helping other people out," Chand-Singh said. "I've done more now doing stateside deployment than I've done overseas during my mission in Kuwait. Everything is hands-on here -- helping the people and getting things done."

Working with local authorities is significant for the National Guard’s citizen-soldiers, who know that at any time, they could find themselves on the other end of a natural disaster.

"This is the eighth or ninth state active duty I've done, and every time we've made a significant impact," Gray said. "The local authorities, fire departments, police departments and DOT can become overwhelmed, so we try to do the best we can."

The engineers arrived at an intersection in Eastover where the roads were crumbling and huge craters made travel impossible. One home just off one of the roads belonged to a family who happened to be outside when the engineers arrived with their equipment, standing near a 20-foot-long ditch that used to be their driveway.

"That first night it started and things got really bad, the damage to my driveway happened," said Marcus Bostic, a resident of Eastover and a firefighter with the city of Columbia. "Thankfully, my wife woke me up, and I was able to move all my cars back to the farther end of the property, and as I got closer, that's when I realized there was a gigantic trench going through my driveway.”

Gray assured the family his team would do what they could to help the Bostic family with their driveway before the day was over. "When the dirt gets here, we can start doing the actual repairs on the washout areas, like this gentleman's driveway, so they can be more mobile," he said.

Bostic looked on as the engineers began work on the nearby road, and he began to recount the days during the flooding from the standpoint of a local first responder.

First Responder’s Perspective

"It was bad," he said. "It was just so much at one time. You are just asking yourself, ‘What do you do first?’"

He noted that as a firefighter, he usually knows what to do when something happens, but said this situation was different. "A natural disaster affects everybody, and you look at it and go, ‘Now who's going to help me?’" Bostic said. "Now that you guys are out here, it's good to see some reciprocation. You give, give, give, so actually it's a real good feeling."

As Bostic spoke, 10-ton dump trucks rumbled down the road. The dirt was dumped, and a case-skid steer loader, similar to a small bulldozer, pushed it across the road and compacted it to smooth out the rough road.

"We haven't been able to drive our cars out since that happened," Bostic said. "It's been over a week since I've driven my car." With the help of the engineers from the 505th Engineer Battalion, Bostic and his family will have use of their driveway again.

The image of neighbors from the north, companions on the road to help others, was clear in South Carolina.

"I appreciate you guys and thank you for what you do," Bostic said. "As a firefighter, people always look up to me, so when it comes time for someone to help me out, I give the same appreciation I get."

Dunford Arrives in Jerusalem for Talks With Israeli Officials

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

JERUSALEM, October 17, 2015 — In his first trip overseas as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. will meet with Israeli leaders here.

“The trip has been planned for months,” said Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, the chairman’s special assistant for public affairs. “The purpose is to meet his counterpart for the first time and reaffirm the strong ties between our militaries and our two countries.”

Dunford will meet with Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, the commander-in-chief of the Israeli Defense Force, tomorrow at the Kiriya – the Israeli version of the Pentagon. He will also meet with several other senior Israeli leaders.

Dunford will also meet with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro and his country team at the U.S. consulate here.

Dunford is in listening mode on this trip, Hicks said. “He wants to get a from-their-eyes view of our relationship and hopefully build upon that and establish a relationship with General Eizenkot as we move forward and advance our alliance,” he said.

Dunford will stress America’s continuing strong support for Israel. “He will reaffirm America’s commitment to Israel’s security and then get a view from them of what security conditions are like here,” Hicks said.

There has been a recent outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence in the region. Extremists have reportedly called for a "day of rage" against Israel. More than 40 people have reportedly been killed in attacks over the past two weeks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called on Israel and Palestine to restore calm. He will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in Berlin next week.