By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Feb. 4, 2007 – The sky was the limit for six wounded Iraq war veterans who met here Feb. 2 at Sport Rock Indoor Climbing Center. Disabled Sports USA and Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project sponsored the event that brought three double-leg amputees, two single-leg amputee and one soldier blinded during combat together to transcend their handicaps and climb toward recovery.
Volunteers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center sat the amputees in wheelchairs and modified their prosthetic legs for the climb. Carbon-fiber foot shells, designed to absorb the impact of physical activity, replaced standard rubber feet. Rock-climbing shoes were fitted over the composite appendages.
"These guys keep pushing themselves, pushing their limit, and we're just here to facilitate it," U.S. Army Capt. D.J. Skelton, the program organizer, said. "All we did is set the stage so that when these guys were ready and had the confidence to take the step out, it was there for them."
For retired U.S. Army soldier Jake Kessler, who lost his legs to an improvised explosive device in June, this trip to the climbing gym marked his first with prosthetic legs.
"Climbing is one of the passions I've wanted to get back to," Kessler said. "Being able to get back here and climb is the first step of many."
Rock climbing was a cornerstone of Jake and Vanessa Kessler's relationship before Jake's accident, Vanessa said. She said her husband's progress here represents a step in the right direction. "This is just another piece of what our lives are going to look like now," she said. "And every new thing that he accomplishes reinforces the fact that we're going to be okay."
Since she lost both legs in December 2005, Marissa Stroch, a 21-year-old Military Police soldier, wondered if she could still climb.
"A week ago in physical therapy, I heard them say 'rock climbing' and I said, "Oooh Oooh, pick me! Pick me! I wanna go!" she said. "When I came in today, I said, I'm either going to end up leaving here really angry with myself, or really happy."
Here at the rock-climbing center, Stauch fought her way up a 15-foot tall rock and slapped her hand defiantly on its top. "It's definitely a cool feeling to know that I'm still able to do some of the stuff that I had fun with before," she said.
"Whether they're going to use more arms, more legs, more turning of the hips, or be more creative with how they use their body, they're going to find a way to get from the bottom to the top," Lillian Chao-Quinlan, the Sport Rock president, said.
U.S. Army Capt. Scotty Smiley was blinded by shrapnel during combat in Iraq, yet his disability couldn't keep him from climbing a 50-foot wall, the gym's tallest rock.
When asked if he was nervous, Smiley joked, "Nah, I'm not afraid of heights. I can't see the ground.
"As the voices get farther and farther away, I know I'm getting higher and higher," he said. "I don't know how high I am, but I know I'm going up."
After Smiley reached the top of the wall, voices from below guided his hand toward a cowbell hanging within reach. As the mallet slapped against the cast-metal bell, clanging rang from the rock top and mixed with the echo of applause and cheers from below.
"Scotty sees more right now climbing on this wall than most of us see with two eyes in life," Skelton said. "What's it teaching you about the limitations you think you have in life?
"When you leave here, are you going to open doors you closed earlier?" Skelton said. "That's why Scott's doing this: to teach a lesson."
Disabled Sports USA and Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project are partners in the Defense Department's America Supports You program. The program highlights activities corporations, grassroots groups and private citizens are doing to support the men and women in uniform.
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have written books; and criminal justice online leadership.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
China Relationship Key to U.S. Strategy, Official Says
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service
Feb. 2, 2007 – A strong U.S.-China relationship is important in promoting peace and stability in Asia, and the United States is working to shape China's choices positively, a top Defense Department official said here yesterday. Testifying before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Richard Lawless, deputy undersecretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, said China's rapid military transformation has significant implications for the United States.
"Our policy is to shape China's choices in ways that foster constructive cooperation in addressing common security challenges," Lawless said. "It is through these efforts the Department of Defense supports the broader U.S. government objective of building a cooperative, constructive relationship with China."
The pace and scope of China's military transformation has accelerated each year, Lawless said. China continues to invest heavily in the modernization of its military, particularly in weapons and capabilities for power projection and access denial, he added.
"The lack of transparency behind this effort continues to be a source of concern," he said. "China's military modernization appears focused on preparing for potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait."
China continues to deploy short-range ballistic missiles to garrisons opposite Taiwan, Lawless said. The People's Liberation Army maintains more than 700 combat aircraft within operational range of Taiwan, and modern aircraft are making up a growing percentage of the force, he said.
China's navy has also been modernizing with new submarines, advanced long-range anti-ship cruise missiles, and ship-based air defenses, Lawless said. China's counterspace developments, punctuated by the successful test in January of a direct-descent anti-satellite weapon, poses dangers to human space flight and threatens the assets of spacefaring nations, he added.
"In the face of these potentially disruptive developments, the United States continues to monitor closely China's military modernization while pushing for greater transparency," he said. "At the same time, as our (Quadrennial Defense Review) outlines, the department will continue to work with partner states to build capacity and reduce vulnerabilities."
China's emergence as a world power brings the opportunity for it to demonstrate whether or not it will contribute responsibly to regional and global challenges, Lawless said. In the last year, China has begun to view the North Korean nuclear issue with more concern and has improved its posture against nuclear proliferation. The United States continues to encourage China to more fully leverage its relationship with North Korea to convince leaders to give up nuclear ambitions, he said.
China is beginning to benefit from its long-term investment in military modernization, Lawless noted, but with that comes the risk for miscalculation. The United States may underestimate China's military power, or China's leaders may overestimate themselves and act recklessly, he said.
"This is an important factor to consider as the United States military assesses its own transformation efforts and considers how best to manage and shape this critical relationship with China," he said.
Lawless also highlighted the advances made in the military-to-military relationship between the United States and China. In 2006, the two countries completed a two-phase bilateral search-and-rescue exercise, and China has shown greater willingness and interest in assisting efforts to account for American servicemembers missing from past conflicts, he said. He added that he expects to see progress on the development of a defense telephone link between the two countries, and a dialogue on nuclear policy, doctrine and strategy.
"We have made incremental yet meaningful progress in the quality and quantity of our educational and functional exchanges with China, and we seek to build on this progress with the objective of demystifying one another," he said.
Defense exchange can play an important role in supporting President Bush's overall vision for a U.S.-China relationship, which is key to a prosperous, stable Asia-Pacific region, Lawless said. He stressed that DoD will continue to work with China to encourage responsible decisions.
"The United States has long been a force for stability in the region, and we will continue to play that positive role," he said.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act to monitor, investigate and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the relationship between the U.S. and China, and to provide recommendations for legislative and administrative action.
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have written books; and criminal justice online leadership.
American Forces Press Service
Feb. 2, 2007 – A strong U.S.-China relationship is important in promoting peace and stability in Asia, and the United States is working to shape China's choices positively, a top Defense Department official said here yesterday. Testifying before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Richard Lawless, deputy undersecretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, said China's rapid military transformation has significant implications for the United States.
"Our policy is to shape China's choices in ways that foster constructive cooperation in addressing common security challenges," Lawless said. "It is through these efforts the Department of Defense supports the broader U.S. government objective of building a cooperative, constructive relationship with China."
The pace and scope of China's military transformation has accelerated each year, Lawless said. China continues to invest heavily in the modernization of its military, particularly in weapons and capabilities for power projection and access denial, he added.
"The lack of transparency behind this effort continues to be a source of concern," he said. "China's military modernization appears focused on preparing for potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait."
China continues to deploy short-range ballistic missiles to garrisons opposite Taiwan, Lawless said. The People's Liberation Army maintains more than 700 combat aircraft within operational range of Taiwan, and modern aircraft are making up a growing percentage of the force, he said.
China's navy has also been modernizing with new submarines, advanced long-range anti-ship cruise missiles, and ship-based air defenses, Lawless said. China's counterspace developments, punctuated by the successful test in January of a direct-descent anti-satellite weapon, poses dangers to human space flight and threatens the assets of spacefaring nations, he added.
"In the face of these potentially disruptive developments, the United States continues to monitor closely China's military modernization while pushing for greater transparency," he said. "At the same time, as our (Quadrennial Defense Review) outlines, the department will continue to work with partner states to build capacity and reduce vulnerabilities."
China's emergence as a world power brings the opportunity for it to demonstrate whether or not it will contribute responsibly to regional and global challenges, Lawless said. In the last year, China has begun to view the North Korean nuclear issue with more concern and has improved its posture against nuclear proliferation. The United States continues to encourage China to more fully leverage its relationship with North Korea to convince leaders to give up nuclear ambitions, he said.
China is beginning to benefit from its long-term investment in military modernization, Lawless noted, but with that comes the risk for miscalculation. The United States may underestimate China's military power, or China's leaders may overestimate themselves and act recklessly, he said.
"This is an important factor to consider as the United States military assesses its own transformation efforts and considers how best to manage and shape this critical relationship with China," he said.
Lawless also highlighted the advances made in the military-to-military relationship between the United States and China. In 2006, the two countries completed a two-phase bilateral search-and-rescue exercise, and China has shown greater willingness and interest in assisting efforts to account for American servicemembers missing from past conflicts, he said. He added that he expects to see progress on the development of a defense telephone link between the two countries, and a dialogue on nuclear policy, doctrine and strategy.
"We have made incremental yet meaningful progress in the quality and quantity of our educational and functional exchanges with China, and we seek to build on this progress with the objective of demystifying one another," he said.
Defense exchange can play an important role in supporting President Bush's overall vision for a U.S.-China relationship, which is key to a prosperous, stable Asia-Pacific region, Lawless said. He stressed that DoD will continue to work with China to encourage responsible decisions.
"The United States has long been a force for stability in the region, and we will continue to play that positive role," he said.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act to monitor, investigate and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the relationship between the U.S. and China, and to provide recommendations for legislative and administrative action.
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have written books; and criminal justice online leadership.
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