Face of Defense: Soldier Shares Love of Skeet Shooting With Family

By Shannon Collins

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

CHARLES CITY, Va., May 21, 2015 – The sound of shotgun shots reverberate off the walls as the soldier steadies his breath for his next shot at a three-ounce clay target that will fly at about 44 mph from either a high house or low house.

He lines up the sight on his Beretta 682 Gold E and pulls the trigger, hitting yet another target during the 55th Annual Armed Services Skeet Championship here.

Army Maj. David Guida, a logistician with the directorate for logistics on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., began his shooting journey at 12 and is passing that journey on to his family.

“My parents bought me my first gun, a Remington 870 pump shotgun, for my 12th birthday,” said Guida, who hails from Crosby-Ironton in Minnesota. “It was big and heavy at the time, but I was a pretty big 12 year old as far as 12 year olds go. I duck hunted and shot grouse and squirrels with it. It worked well, and it still shoots straight.”

Quality Family Time

Guida said his father was a conservation officer who taught him about gun safety, a lesson he has shared with his children, who also shoot skeet. He said he still hunts with the Remington.

“My daughter, Billie, just turned 13, and she really wants to start shooting skeet,” he said. “My son, Matthew, is 15, and he already shoots with me. They’re both taking the referee test for skeet so they can come with me to shoots like this. My wife doesn’t shoot but she’s very supportive of the kids and I spending time together doing events like this.”

Guida has a machine to reload his own ammunition, and his children help him with the machine. They also team up together on their worship team at church.

“My daughter plays bass, my son plays piano and guitar, and then I play guitar,” he said.

Call to Service

While his wife, Jeannie, isn’t in the worship team and doesn’t shoot, Guida said he couldn’t do anything without her support.

“About a year ago, I returned from my fifth deployment, and she took care of everything and everybody while I was away. She just loves the military, and although she doesn’t like it when I’m away, she understands,” he said. “She understands that it’s for a higher purpose, and the call to service of the military is a big deal to her. She makes all of it possible.”

Guida has served three deployments to Iraq, one in Afghanistan and one in Kuwait. He began his Army career in 1998 as an infantryman and then received a commission through Officer Candidate School.

“I have loved working with the soldiers, and I have loved learning from some phenomenal leaders we’ve had across our formation in the Army,” he said. “I love every day I go to work. I have every intention to serve as long as the Army will have me.”

Competition Success

Throughout the week, Guida competed on his five-man Army team, alongside other five-man teams from other service branches consisting of active-duty, retired service members and honorably discharged veterans who competed in the 12-gauge, 20-gauge, 28-gauge, 410-gauge, doubles and high overall events.

He earned various awards including overall class champion, 28-gauge class champion, 20-gauge class champion and doubles class champion. He also earned multiple first-place medals in concurrent classes among his age group and active-duty military competitors. Many of the events were determined by shoot-offs.

He had previously competed in three Armed Services Skeet Championships and three world championships. He said in 2011, he shot 200 targets in a row without missing one. He said that doesn’t often happen and that missing targets shouldn’t discourage people from trying skeet shooting. He said shooting skeet is one of his resilience tools.

A 'Regenerating' Week

“I love shooting, shooting competition, and I absolutely love the outdoors,” he said. “I’m out here, it’s beautiful out, the targets are flying nicely, you get to shoot them; it’s a lot of fun for me. I can’t think of a place I’d rather be.”

Guida added, "This week is regenerating me. It’s giving me a good opportunity to have good conversations with a lot of different people. You meet retired veterans who have served in different services and different wars.”

There was a World War II veteran who had a hard time walking who came out one day to the skeet field who couldn’t see very well, “but on that particular day, he walked out onto the skeet field and ran a 100 straight,” Guida said.

“It was just amazing to see that,” the major said. “I was nowhere near a 100 straight that day, but this World War II vet could do it.”

Guida encourages any service member or veteran to reach out to their local Morale, Welfare and Recreation or Marine Corps Community Service office to find out about skeet in their local area.

F-35 pilot training begins at Luke

by Senior Airman James Hensley
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

5/21/2015 - 5/18/2015 - LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, ARIZ. -  -- The first ever F-35 Lightning II pilot training class was held at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, May 4.

Two F-16 Fighting Falcon instructor pilots and two A-10 Warthog instructor pilots were selected for the class, making them the first students to learn how to operate the fifth-generation fighter.

"Luke's Academic Training Center focuses on the academic and simulator training and the 61st Fighter Squadron will train on the flying piece," said Lt. Col. Matt Hayden, the 56th Training Squadron director of operations. "It's a buildup approach training, where we start with academics, move to hands-on training with the simulators, and finally to the aircraft. The F-35 is built in a way to introduce students to the basic overall aircraft handling of its systems and what makes up the F-35."

The students will learn various systems throughout the aircraft and how they work together. Hydraulics, electrical, engine and flight controls are systems every pilot must understand prior to taking their first flight.

"Initially the training will be focused on understanding the airplane: how to take off, land, fly formation and how to interact with all the sensors on the aircraft," Hayden said. "As the training progresses we look at a tactical approach, as far as how to employ the airplane air-to-air, air-to-ground, what the capabilities and limitations of the aircraft are, and how to communicate.

"The tools in the ATC are set up to help immerse the students in the aircraft environment in an academic way," Hayden said. "The student stations in each of the classrooms have large monitors and a stick and throttle. In addition to that, the instructor at the front of the classroom has a couple of projectors which enable him to bring up a console, or any of the students' consoles, to talk about what the student sees on the displays."

The displays are a panoramic touch screen and can be customized to every scenario.

"The displays can also be manipulated using the stick and throttle which gives students a way to familiarize themselves with the glass display and build comfort with the 'switch-ology' of the aircraft," Hayden said. "We want to get the students familiarized with all of these things long before they get into the aircraft or even the simulator. It helps them understand how that interface works between the pilot and the airplane."

The training in total, from academics to simulators to flightline, takes approximately three months. This first class is training to become flight ready with the F-35, but to also become instructors upon completion of the course.

"The pilots going through the training right now are going to be staying here at Luke to be instructors," Hayden said. "When they graduate they may very well turn around in a matter of days to instructing students in what they just learned, which is why we chose previous fighter pilot instructors to be in the first class to have that tactical experience."

The students have many challenges ahead of them to become F-35 pilots, as well as become knowledgeable enough to lead and instruct future classes.

"It's exciting to be the first class at Luke," said Maj. Eric Puels, a 944th Operations Group Detachment 2 student. "A couple of us have been part of this program since 2008 and we're looking forward to hitting the ground running. It was extremely competitive to apply to become an F-35 pilot, let alone to be accepted. My father was a fighter pilot, he flew F-4 Phantoms, so I always wanted to fly the best fighters and the F-35 is the best."

Leaders Discuss U.S.-Greece Security, Defense Issues

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2015 – Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine E. Wormuth met yesterday with Greece's Minister of Defense Panos Kammenos at the Pentagon to discuss security and defense issues of mutual concern, according to a DoD news release.

Those issues included trans-Mediterranean migration, terrorism, Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine, the Balkans, Libya, and the Middle East, the release said. Wormuth thanked Greece for hosting U.S. forces at Souda Bay, Crete, and for its participation in operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, according to the release.

Greece's Support in Opposing ISIL

Wormuth also noted the important support Greece is providing the coalition in opposing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the release added. She and Kammenos agreed that the security situation along NATO's southern flank is a growing concern and called for NATO to develop a southern strategy.

She also conveyed that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is looking forward to working with Kammenos at the NATO Ministerial next month, the release said.

AFOSI Det. 512 proves itself best in Air Force

by Senior Airman Christine Halan
100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

5/20/2015 - RAF MILDENHALL, England  -- The Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 512 was recently awarded the 2014 Air Force-level Detachment of the Year award.

The detachment was officially notified by U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Keith Givens, U.S. Air Force OSI commander, April 7, 2015.

"Every person at Det. 512 contributed to this award," said Special Agent Marcy Givens, AFOSI Det. 512 superintendent. "We had a great year in 2014, starting in February when our detachment received an 'Outstanding' rating during our Unit Effectiveness Inspection. This was an amazing accomplishment and we were absolutely thrilled about our performance during this inspection."

The team also stood up the AFOSI's very first Joint Sexual Assault Team - which is part of the Chief of Staff's number one priority, taking care of people.

In 2014, the efforts of Det. 512 efforts led to 86 criminal investigations and opened 40 sexual assault cases. Their Joint Drug Enforcement Team opened 32 cases involving drug use/possession and their efforts in force protection were also record breaking for 2014, with 107 intelligence products being produced.

RAF Mildenhall's AFOSI team is a combined workforce of the criminal, fraud, counter-intelligence and special missions branchs.

The detachment covers a wide variety of investigations, such as: sexual assault and rape investigations, fraud investigations; larceny; in the case of high-value thefts, provides briefings for Air Force personnel traveling to high-threat areas, and provide support to tenant units. The Detachment is also responsible for areas away from the tri-base area, such as temporary duty locations.

"This is a fulfilling job because you have the ability to effect real change in the Air Force and you see the tangible results of your efforts every day," said SA Craig Seals, AFOSI Det. 512 criminal investigations branch chief. "I became an OSI agent because I was always interested in law enforcement from the perspective of solving crime, even though that's just a fraction of what we do. As an agent, I've had the opportunity to see various aspects of the Air Force at work in locations around the world. It's been an eye-opening experience for me, in a very good way."

The award is a result of the hard work of the Detachment's OSI agents and the obvious pride they have in their job.

"Personally I'm very proud to be a part of this," Givens said. "An award of this magnitude is something that a lot of agents could go without ever experiencing. So it's really neat to be a part of the team and working with this high caliber of people."

The AFOSI Det 512 leadership team consists of SA Tim Olive (Special Agent-in-Charge); SA Givens (Superintendent); SA Linsay Temes (Director of Operations); SA Craig Seals (Crim Chief); SA Jennifer Peterson (CI Branch Chief); and SA Casey Restivo (Superintendent, Special Missions Branch).

Children remembered during Kindergraves ceremony

by Senior Airman Jonathan Stefanko
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

5/20/2015 - KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- U.S. service members gathered alongside  German community members to honor 451 children who passed away during the years 1952 to 1971  ,as part of the Kindergraves memorial service May 16, 2015, in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

The memorial service is held annually the week following Mother's Day to honor the memories of the deceased children who weren't able to be buried in America, as well as pay respect to their parents.

"This ceremony allows people from both the U.S. and German community to come together and celebrate the lives of these children," said Senior Master Sgt. Wayne Donnelly, Kaiserslautern Kindergraves Memorial Foundation event coordinator. "This also lets the parents know that even though time has passed, there are people here who care."

Children buried here were no more than 12 months old and most died of various childhood diseases or birth complications.

The children's memories are kept alive through the Kaiserslautern Kindergraves Memorial Foundation by preserving a respectful and eternal resting place for the children.

"It is a very humbling experience to be a part of [the foundation]," Donnelly said. "It will be something I will cherish for the rest of my life."

Representatives from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and the host nation serve as co-chairs for the foundation by maintaining open communication with families, preserving historical archives, conducting ceremonies, and providing oversight to site maintenance.

"I believe honoring these children will continue, especially for those who know what it feels like to leave someone behind," said Capt. Cyriacus Onyejegbu, 86th Airlift Wing chaplain. "There is an appreciation for the sacrifices their parents had to make by leaving their deceased loved ones here."

Each spring floral wreaths are placed at the front monument along with a candle lighting ceremony in memory of the children, as well as American flags placed at each grave marker. Though the children lived short lives, their memories continue to live on in the men and women in the military community.

Patriot Files: a rainy day in June

by Staff Sgt. Jarad A. Denton
501st Combat Support Wing Public Affairs

5/20/2015 - RAF ALCONBURY, England  -- The light rain began to soak through his uniform.

It was nearly 4 a.m. and Tech. Sgt. Bill Toombs stood outside his barracks, waiting for a ride to the chow hall, when he heard something strange off in the distance.

"Listen to the thunder," a friend said, as both he and Toombs heard the resounding crashes.

Toombs paused and listened again to the rolling, almost rhythmic, barrage that seemed to float into RAF Debach, England from across the nearby water.

"That doesn't sound like thunder," Toombs said as he boarded the truck to breakfast.

Nearly 71 years later, Toombs recalled his very first mission, as a flight engineer and gunner with the 493rd Bombardment Group, during a visit to RAF Alconbury, May 18, 2015.

"Ipswich was pretty close to the [English] Channel, and we could hear the guns from the battleships across the water," the 91-year-old veteran said. "We knew there was going to be an invasion, didn't know when. No one had any idea."

Every day for nearly five weeks, Toombs and his crew had been flying around England in a B-24 Liberator, getting the lay of the land and learning to maintain aerial formations. On that particular morning, he had just finished eating when everyone was called for a mission briefing. Sitting in the cramped room, Toombs said he was prepared for an ordinary training mission. He wasn't ready for what the executive officer said when he began the briefing.

"Gentlemen," the executive officer began, pulling back a curtain to reveal a map of Normandy, France. "This morning we're going to invade the continent."

As the briefing ended, the 19-year-old from Little Rock, Ark. sat in complete shock as the minutes before the invasion ticked away, June 6, 1944.

"My first mission was D-Day," Toombs said. "[We] didn't have time to think about the invasion or anything."

Scrambling for his B-24, affectionately named "Baby Doll," Toombs had no idea what to expect - having never experienced actual combat. The pilot, Lt. William Bowden, guided the aircraft into the sky, where it joined 39 other bombardment groups which comprised the 8th Air Force's role in what would become one of the most significant moments of World War II.

"The first lesson is that you can't lose a war if you have command of the air," said Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, 8th AF commander during D-Day. "And you can't win a war if you haven't."

Doolittle's reflections on the necessity of airpower proved accurate, as the bomb runs made by groups like the "Fighting 493rd" obliterated the Nazi fortifications along the Atlantic Wall. Despite dense cloud coverage, Toombs and the crew of Baby Doll aided 628 bombers in destroying 74 of the 92 enemy radar stations along the Normandy coasts.

"That was the easiest mission I ever flew," Toombs said. "No encounter with the enemy whatsoever - no fighters, no anti-aircraft fire, nothing."

When the dust settled and the largest single-day amphibious assault in history was over, Toombs said his perspective on war was quite different from his battle-hardened compatriots.

"It gave you a false impression of war," he said. "I thought, 'well, man, this is nothing.' This is going to be easy - until [I flew] the next mission."

He laughed, recounting the next time Baby Doll took to the skies - hitting enemy positions and assisting ground forces fighting in Caen and Saint-Lô, France.

"We didn't have any fighters, but we had an awful lot of anti-aircraft fire," he said. "My first few missions, I don't remember exactly - probably 10 or 12, were all in support of the ground troops in France. It was mostly bridges and airfields that were pretty well defended."

With "flak" from German 88 mm anti-aircraft guns exploding all around Toombs and his crew, during their 20 missions in Baby Doll, the former Missouri Pacific Railroad machine apprentice quickly became wise to the ways of warfare.

"After we got kind of 'battle-hardened' it wasn't quite so bad," he said. "None of them were easy, but it wasn't quite so bad on you."

Toombs paused and looked away. The smile faded from his face.

"We had a mission to Meersburg [Germany] later on in our combat tour," he began. "We were hit by a heavy group of fighters, and we lost nine planes out of one squadron. They shot down eight of them on their first pass."

Watching as aircraft, carrying his friends, spiraled toward the ground, Toombs said he couldn't have known how prophetic the sight was. On his 24th mission, Sept. 13, 1944, Toombs and his crew were shot down while flying a B-17 Flying Fortress, aptly named "Baby Doll II."

"We were flying to Ludwigshafen, Germany, to the forward chemical works - it was a huge chemical compound across the river from Manheim," Toombs said. "We weren't bothered with fighters. There were fighters in the vicinity, but they didn't attack our group. But, the anti-aircraft fire was intense."

While flying over the target, Toombs said he saw one plane from their formation go down before Baby Doll II was violently shaken by an explosion.

"We got [the] number three engine shot out," he said. "An 88 aircraft round went through our number four fuel tank."

The flak passed through the fuel tank and into the sky above before exploding.

"Had it exploded below, or in the wing, I wouldn't be talking today," Toombs said.

With all the fuel from the number four tank gone, and the number three engine out of commission, Bowden decided to continue flying with the rest of the formation.

"Number one and two were fine," Toombs said. "We tried to stay up with the group, rather than straggle. Had we straggled, we would have been in trouble."

While attempting to keep pace with the formation, Baby Doll II's remaining engines began to overheat and fail. The plane started losing altitude.

"We knew we weren't going to make it back," he said. "We flew about an hour-and-a-half, losing altitude all the time. We threw out everything we had, guns, ammunition, flak suits - anything that wasn't bolted down."

After speaking with Bowden, Toombs made his way to the center of the plane in an attempt to dislodge and jettison the ball turret. He hoped lightening the load would allow Baby Doll II to stay in the air a little longer. However, before he could drop the turret, Bowden's voice broke through on the intercom.

"'We're going to take a vote, whether we're going to bail out or stay with it,'" Toombs said, recalling Bowden's words. "I think I was the first one to speak up and say I would stay with it as long as the engines kept running."

Setting a course to Brussels, Belgium, and Melsbroek Air Base, Toombs continued his attempt to jettison the turret as the plane slowly descended.

"We were about a mile from the air base," he said. "We hit the ground in a turnip field, with the wheels down. We never had a chance to retract them. It kicked up a lot of dirt and dust, but finally came to rest - and we got out and walked away from it."

Following a night in Brussels, Toombs said he and his crew were picked up and taken back to complete the four missions left on their term of service. Reflecting on that time of his life, Toombs said he marveled at the accomplishments made in aviation during that time.

"You'll never see that again," he said. "There will never be an air war like that - a thousand planes on a raid. You have airplanes now that can carry a bomb load equivalent to that on one plane."

He also expressed full confidence that the current generation of Airmen could accomplish as equally challenging a task as the veterans of World War II achieved.

"We had just come out of a Depression. We were farm kids who had never been out of their state," Toombs said. "Certainly knew nothing about aviation, but we brought all those people together and formed a great aerial armada. Some of the young people today think they can't do that - but they can. They can."

With one eye focused on the past and another looking toward the future, Toombs said he, and those who fought alongside him during World War II, have a deep appreciation and love for their country.

"It means a lot. America means a lot." he said. "There's that old expression, 'freedom is not free,' and it sure isn't. I think we have a great country and we need to preserve it."

For Toombs, preservation of this nation comes not just from knowing when to fight, but also when not to.

"I hate war," he said, solemnly. "I think if there's any way you can negotiate through diplomatic sources to prevent a war, you should go to the extent of that - as far as you can go. I don't think you ought to yield to someone - but you should negotiate as much as you can."

Toombs said war is a terrible accord, for any country and any generation.

"It's the young people who are going to fight it," he said. "It's going to be the cream of the crop - your kids who are supposed to take care of the country in the future. You're going to lose that. But if you have to do it - you have to. You can't yield to a power that is against everything you believe in."

DoD Likely Lessened Nepal Quake’s Effects, Official Says

By Terri Moon Cronk

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2015 – Defense Department efforts in Nepal to mitigate future disaster impact likely lessened the scale of the humanitarian disaster following the Himalayan mountain nation’s recent earthquakes, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for stability and humanitarian affairs said on Capitol Hill yesterday.

Anne A. Witkowsky testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Asia and Pacific subcommittee on DOD’s efforts in the earthquake response, dubbed Operation Sahayogi Haat.

“[DoD] has a long history of military-to-military engagement in Nepal,” she said. DoD’s work in Nepal began well before the April 25 magnitude-7.8 earthquake there, Witkowsky told the panel, as the department had set up an earthquake-resistant blood bank, emergency operations centers and other facilities.

The U.S. military also provided training for the Nepalese military on techniques to quickly repair Nepal’s main airport runways and engaged in bilateral disaster-reduction exercises with them, she added.

DoD Responded Immediately

Just hours after the earthquake, Defense Secretary Ash Carter directed DoD personnel to respond to the crisis, Witkowsky said. Two special operations teams already in Nepal quickly began carrying out life-saving relief and medical support, she noted.

U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft provided transportation for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s disaster response team and urban search and rescue teams, Witkowsky said. Meanwhile, U.S. Pacific Command deployed a 20-person joint humanitarian assessment team to provide expertise to the USAID team and frame military requirements, she said.

Damage Assessment Brought in More Help

Once U.S. military forces assessed the scale of the disaster, it was clear more support was necessary, Witkowsky said. “Rotary-wing airlift and airfield-management specialists, in particular, were needed to help in the increasingly backlogged international airport,” she told the panel.

DoD, in support of USAID and the State Department, responded swiftly to assist the Nepalese government, Witkowsky said. “The relief efforts highlight the unique capabilities the department can bring to bear in the U.S. government’s response to natural disasters and human crises,” she added.