'First Response' Helps Wounded Troops

By Carmen L. Gleason
American Forces Press Service

March 26, 2007 – The soldier's eyelids fluttered as he heard his mother's voice over the phone. In a coma, it was the first time there had been any response from Army Spc. Jerry De La Cruz since he had arrived to Germany's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center from the combat zone in Iraq.

By holding a cell phone to his ear, a perfect stranger made it possible for Cathy Holcomb to whisper words of encouragement to her son from the other side of the world, telling him that she loved him and wanted him to make it home alive.

Tears ran down Carolyn Crossley's checks as she held the phone to his ear and tenderly grasped his hand that day.

An Army wife whose son had been a Marine, Crossley understood this mother's agony in not being by her son's side. At the same time, her heart went out to all the war-torn troops in the hospital ward who didn't have families with them in their time of need.

It was on that day that she silently promised herself that she would be by their sides when their own families could not and she would be there to help support those families who were.

Only two days before, Crossley had linked up with Peggy Baker to offer her assistance in helping troops after coming across Baker's name on the Internet. Baker, whose son was in the Army, had been visiting the wounded at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here for more than a year, but she wanted to do more.

Baker, in Culpeper, Va., was the one who initially received the phone call from the desperate mother and contacted her new-found counterpart in Germany for assistance.

Crossley said she was hooked from the very beginning. Her obvious love for the troops and previous medical experience led hospital leadership to immediately ask her to join their ranks by working as a nurse on the ward, and the groundwork for Operation First Response was laid.

Operation First Response is one of the first members of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, a program helping connect home-front groups with servicemembers and their families.

Initially, the nonprofit group focused on supplying patients with backpacks filled with a new set of clothes, personal hygiene items, a phone card and a handmade blanket upon their arrival to medical centers. The group since has branched out to assist servicemembers with financial needs, such as helping to provide airfare for families or offsetting living costs when spouses or parents miss work to stay by a wounded relative's bedside.

Since the duo joined forces in 2004, they have touched the lives of more than 2,000 families who have come through Landstuhl and Walter Reed, in addition to other medical facilities.

The Operation First Response staff has grown to five members who work around the clock to help servicemembers. Crossley's husband has since been stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. She said she hopes to continue her outreach efforts for wounded troops at the installation's Womack Army Medical Center.

"It's an honor to be making an impact on these heroes' lives," Baker said. "The mere fact that these young men and women step up to the plate and putting their lives on the line for the country is ... well, more than words can express."

More than offering tangible donations, the organization gives emotional support as well.

"My focus has always been working with families and offering a shoulder for them to cry on," Crossley said.

Many families are on emotional roller coasters when seeing their injured soldier for the first time, she said. The emotions usually go from anger, to grief, to sadness and, with the help of First Response volunteers, to hope.

Volunteers from the organization visit wounded troops weekly, bringing by their favorite soda, or food in case a patient misses a meal due to an appointment, or giving them a little cash to live off of while in the hospital.

Most importantly, Baker said, they bring friendship. She considers each one to be part of her extended family.

"When you do that every week, you become very close with a family," she said. "You develop a bond. I can't find the words to describe how this has impacted me."

"It comforts me to know that there is an organization like yours out there to give families like mine comfort when they need it most," an Army wife said on the organization's Web site. "There is nothing like an organization that can give you love and emotional support."

In cases when their organization can't meet the requests of families, Baker and Crossley are quick to point them in the direction of support groups who can. By networking with other America Supports You members, Operation First Response can help fulfill the needs of a soldier or their family.

"The (Defense Department) support is invaluable," Baker said. "(Each home-front group's) scope is a slightly different, so if I can't help a troop, I know someone who can."

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Marines to Alert 1,800 Individual Ready Reservists for Reactivation

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

March 26, 2007 – Over the next week, 1,800 Individual Ready Reserve Marines will receive notice from the Marine Corps that they are needed in Iraq, an official announced today. Marine Lt. Col. Jeff Riehl, Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs spokesman, told reporters at the Pentagon today that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates approved the notification March 23, and the letters are being mailed today.

All enlistees in all services incur an eight-year commitment in some capacity, generally a combination of active or reserve duty and then IRR service. The Marine Corps can call up to 2,500 Marines from its 60,000-member IRR pool to involuntary service at any one time, following a July 26 authorization from President Bush.

To date, the Corps has recalled 69 IRR members under this authorization, and today's announcement represents the largest involuntary recall in the Marine Corps since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

From the 1,800 IRR members notified, Riehl said, Marine Corps officials expect 1,200 to re-enter active duty, including 1,067 sergeants and 133 captains. The ratio of notified IRR Marines to those expected to reactivate is 1 and a half to 1, as some Marines will be unable to fulfill their orders due to various mitigating circumstances, he said.

"We've adopted the philosophy of 'do no harm to the Marine,'" Riehl said. "So if a Marine comes aboard during the muster and they have family issues, medical issues (or) they cannot be activated for that timeframe, we have a delay, deferment or exemption process."

In addition, the service is excluding Marines who are in their first year of IRR service. Only Marines in their second or third year of IRR service are being involuntarily recalled, Riehl said.

The service is targeting Marines in aviation maintenance, logistics support, combat arms, motor transportation, communications, intelligence and military police -- career fields that are experiencing personnel shortages, he said.

"We're doing this to help beef up the forces in the shortfalls that we have," Riehl said. "Marines who receive notifications will be instructed to muster April 10-30 at the Mobility Command in Kansas City, Mo., and they will report between Oct. 9 and Oct. 20 for one year of additional active duty, Riehl said. Unit deployment dates will be in early 2008, he added.

The service has set up a Web site, https://mcmps.manpower.usmc.mil/MCMPS/GIDA/, to allow IRR Marines and recent retirees to volunteer for war on terror assignments.

The breakdown of military occupational specialties for the 1,200 IRR members is:

-- 361 Aviation Maintenance
-- 225 Logistics and Support
-- 223 Infantry, Tanks and Artillery
-- 178 Motor Transport
-- 97 Communications
-- 95 Intelligence
-- 21 Military Police

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Home-front Group Draws Accolades

By Carmen L. Gleason
American Forces Press Service

March 26, 2007 – A home-front group that alters clothing for wounded servicemembers received accolades for its efforts on an evening news show last week. "ABC's World News Tonight" named Ginger Dosedel, founder of Sew Much Comfort, as being the news organization's "Person of the Week" during its March 23 broadcast.

"It was wonderful of ABC to nominate us, and I truly look at that as an 'us,'" Dosedel said. "I am only one small part of this organization. For them to take time to recognize everything America is doing to support the troops -- I think that is incredibly important."

President Bush invited the Dosedel family for a visit to the White House today so he could meet the inspiration for the nonprofit organization - Dosedel's son, Michael.

When the 13-year-old was younger, he had to undergo multiple surgeries on his legs that prohibited his wearing of regular clothing. His mom started making him clothing to accommodate the casts and large metal braces while he recuperated.

Dosedel applied her knowledge of adaptive clothing to help wounded troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan when she formed her organization in 2004.

She now heads up more than 1,000 volunteer seamstresses throughout the nation to sew adaptive clothing to help wounded troops who have difficulty wearing normal clothing due to amputations, burns or cumbersome medical devices.

"It's nice that I can help all these people," Michael said. "It can benefit a lot of people not only because it can give them a sense of dignity, but they can also go out on the street and feel good about themselves."

Sew Much Comfort is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program helping grassroots groups show their support for members of the armed forces and their families.

"I know the volunteers work so hard doing something that is not easy," she said, as she described the difficulty the organization's volunteer seamstresses overcome in changing the way they think about making and adapting clothes for their recipients.

"It's important to them to get this recognition," she said.

The group's seamstresses stretch across the nation, and include prison inmates who put their skills to use to thank the men and women in uniform.

"It's huge for the inmates," Dosedel said. She added that sewing for troops gives inmates life skills that are a tremendous increase to their self-esteem, as it allows them to do something for the men and women in uniform.

"It's humbling to be part of something that does something that's really, really good," Dosedel said.

The adaptive clothing not only minimizes the visual impact of servicemembers' wounds, she said, but it allows them to feel more independent, more comfortable and more dignified.

Hospital staff members also play a big role in the organization's success at meeting the needs of wounded troops. They have frequently made recommendations on how to better adapt clothing for their patients.

Dosedel said small things like increasing the opening of a shirt to include the shoulder helps burn patients to more easily don clothing over the tender skin of their wounds. Amputees have difficulty with buttons, so she and her seamstresses make buttons decorative objects with fabric fasteners instead.

Dosedel said one servicemember who lost his arm in combat stands out in her mind. While he was going through the surgery amputating his right arm, she gave his wife a shirt made specifically for him. The next day she stopped by to see how he was doing.

"It's a good day," he said. "I got dressed by myself today."

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Keating Becomes Commander of U.S. Pacific Command

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Hawaii, March 26, 2007 – Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating will bring the same good judgment and decisiveness to the U.S. Pacific Command that he demonstrated as commander of U.S. Northern Command, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. Gates spoke at a ceremony in which Keating assumed command of the largest U.S. combatant command, which encompasses 51 percent of the Earth's surface and includes 43 countries.

Gates said the admiral has demonstrated being able to handle a wide variety of complex and challenging assignments.

"He commanded a carrier group based in Japan, and later the Navy's 5th Fleet during Operation Iraqi Freedom," Gates said.

As the commander of U.S. Northern Command, he was responsible for guarding the United States "against a range of threats and means of attack from weapons of all kinds - some so small that they could even fit inside a thimble. His area of responsibility ranged from our nation's cities and coastlines to outer space and everything in between."

Keating, whose father served in World War II, assumed command under a cloud-studded Hawaiian sky. Flags snapped in the tradewinds as he accepted the flag signifying the change of command. He said he believes in the "power of the Pacific," and that PACOM servicemembers and civilian employees will work collaboratively with other agencies and ambassadors to perform the missions needed to protect the United States, its allies and American interests in the region.

"We are going to work hard to minimize internal staff churn and 'self-licking ice cream cone' assessments and instead concentrate on working with our ambassadors and our forward troops throughout this theater," the admiral said.

Gates thanked the men and women of U.S. Pacific Command. "I know that Admiral Keating would agree that much of what has been accomplished in this region is due to your dedication and professionalism," he said. "You and your families have our appreciation and thanks for everything you do for our nation."

Representatives from many countries in the Pacific Command area of operations - including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand -- attended the ceremony.

"I suspect that Admiral Keating may be visiting many of your countries in the coming months," Gates said.

The secretary said the sheer size of the command demands any country's attention. "But more than that, the scope of relationships and challenges encompassed in this area of responsibility are key to the security and continued welfare of the United States," he said.

The area is home to some of America's oldest allies on one hand and some of its emerging relationships on the other, Gates said.

"A great many partnerships across this command - old and new - have grown considerably stronger in recent years," the secretary said. "The restoration of military relations with Indonesia comes to mind, as does the strengthening of our long-standing ties with Japan and Australia."

Gates said the nations of the region must face both the newest and oldest threats to security. Missile and nuclear proliferation are problems, as is the threat of piracy. But there are other uncertainties as well, he said.

"Countries with limited transparency are taking actions that seem contrary to international stability - causing other countries to question their intentions," the secretary said. "And violent jihadists are trying to undermine the foundations of free society that have allowed many countries in this region to prosper."

Keating understands today's challenges and opportunities, Gates said. "He is fully prepared to continue the record of accomplishments that the countries of this region have built together," Gates said.

"The opportunities are immense. They are profound," Keating said. "We are going to capitalize on that."

He said the command and all its members will work hard to ensure a better quality of life for people throughout the region, free lines of communication, and the development of free and democratic societies throughout the Pacific Command area of responsibility.

Keating succeeds Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, who took command of U.S. Central Command on March 16. Air Force Lt. Gen. Daniel P. Leaf, PACOM's deputy commander, served as interim commander until today's ceremony.

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DoD, Army Conclude Tillman's Death Was Accidental

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

March 26, 2007 – Army Spc. Patrick D. Tillman was accidentally shot and killed by members of his divided Ranger unit after part of it had been ambushed by enemy fighters in a canyon in Afghanistan, senior Defense Department and Army officials told reporters here today. An early unit-level report listed Tillman as being killed by hostile fire, acting DoD Inspector General Thomas Gimble told reporters at a Pentagon news conference.

However, findings of follow-on investigations showed that Tillman was the accidental victim of friendly fire, Gimble said. Yet, Tillman's parents weren't told that their son had died in that manner, he said, until a memorial service held weeks after his death.

"What should have happened (is) the moment that they'd suspected fratricide, there should have been a supplemental notification that processed through (the chain of command and to Tillman's family)," Gimble said.

This situation represents "a failure to follow the directives," and it's inexplicable at this point as to why the supplemental notification wasn't made, Gimble said.

Follow-up investigations will determine why the proper notification was delayed, Gimble said. At least nine individuals, including a general, have been identified for further questioning involving this and other administrative aspects surrounding the reporting of Tillman's death, he added.

Tillman, who was posthumously promoted to corporal, died at age 27 on April 22, 2004, on a hillside located not far from Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Fort Lewis, Wash.

Gimble and Army Brig. Gen. Rodney Johnson, commander of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, briefed reporters on the findings of two separate investigations into Tillman's death initiated by the DoD IG and Army investigators in 2005.

There was no criminal intent involved in the former National Football League player's death, Johnson said, noting that was the focus of his investigation. Soldiers in Tillman's unit bore him no ill will, he said.

Prior to the enemy attack, Tillman's company commander had divided the unit into two groups, Johnson said, and the command was towing a disabled vehicle. Tillman's section had just passed through a canyon, Johnson said, when enemy fighters engaged the trailing group.

Tillman requested and received permission to go back on foot with another American and an Afghan soldier to try to help the ambushed convoy, Johnson said. As the besieged Americans passed through the canyon in their vehicles, some of its soldiers mistook Tillman, standing midway on a hill overlooking the scene, for an enemy soldier. The American troops fired on Tillman, killing him, the Afghan soldier, and wounding the other U.S. soldier, Johnson said.

The DoD IG and Army investigations each performed a ground survey of the site where Tillman died, Gimble said. Investigators working the two investigations interviewed hundreds of people, he said, including eye-witnesses.

The DoD IG was focused on discovering if the proper administrative processes were followed surrounding reporting of Tillman's death, including the notification of his next of kin, as well as award processing, Gimble said. Not all of the information in Tillman's Silver Star Medal paperwork was accurate, he said, noting further investigation of this matter will be performed.

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Pace Visit Paves Way for Better Relations With China

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

March 25, 2007 – By their words and deeds, Chinese military leaders made Marine Gen. Peter Pace welcome in their country and showed their desire to find common ground. Pace and his staff arrived in Beijing March 22 and left from Nanjing today. In between, there were a number of "firsts" for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Every single Chinese leader I met with went out of their way to make sure that our needs were accommodated," Pace said during an interview on his way back to the United States. "They made it abundantly clear to me both in the way they treated us person-to-person and in the things that we saw that they were interested in this being a successful trip."

The trip was a way to continue dialogue between senior U.S. and Chinese leaders and to build military-to-military relations. During the first meeting with his Chinese counterpart, People's Liberation Army Gen. Liang Guanglie listed a number of suggestions to move the relationship forward.

Liang suggested exchanges of students at the cadet level, more junior officer level exchanges and more senior officer meetings, Pace said. The two military leaders said they would also like to do more search and rescue exercises and find ways to cooperate on humanitarian relief exercises.

"All of the proposals they offered were well-within the realm of the possible based on the current restrictions under which we both operate," Pace said.

The general will work with the services, U.S. Pacific Command, the Joint Staff and the office of the secretary of defense staff to quickly implement the proposals, "because they all made good sense," Pace said.

Both men want a hotline running between Beijing and the Pentagon set up quickly.

"Now that I have had a chance to visit with my counterpart and I can put a face to a name, and a personality to that name and face, being able to pick up a phone and say to General Liang ... 'we have an issue we need to talk about' is possible now," Pace said. "You can reduce considerably the confusion and miscalculation, if you can pick up the phone and say, 'this is what I'm seeing. What are you seeing?'"

Pace visited the PLA's University of Science and Technology - akin to the U.S. service academies - today before leaving Nanjing. "I told the cadets at their military academy that when I was graduating from our Naval Academy it was inconceivable that a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would do the things that I did on this trip," Pace said.

The Chinese let the chairman visit and get into their top-of-the-line air superiority fighter, the Su-27, during a visit to Anshan Air Base. They also let him examine and drive around in their state-of-the-art T-99 tank after he observed a military exercise at Dalian military training area. Both were firsts for U.S. officers, Chinese officials said.

"It was indicative the lengths which the Chinese wanted to indicate to me their willingness to find common ground," Pace said.

Pace said he would like to see continued visits at his level on a yearly basis. He would like to see visits by other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, staff visits by senior members of the Joint Staff with their Chinese counterparts and would like to see the leaders of the military academies visiting their counterparts.

"That's the kind of recurring dialogue that opens pathways for better understanding," Pace said.

A military force is by nature command driven, and now the leaders of both militaries have given their blessings to the continued cooperation. "You've got to have senior decision-makers deciding it's the right thing to do, that it's okay to do more," Pace said.

He said the Chinese clearly understand the U.S. position on military transparency. "I think they believe a lot of what they are doing is a head nod in the direction of transparency on their part," Pace said, alluding to being allowed to go to the Su-27 and T-99 tank.

Chinese leaders also took time to talk about the details of their newest defense budget. Chinese military spending jumped almost 18 percent this year to around $44 billion. "I think they want to be more transparent, but like anything else that we do together, there's a difference between the things that we would want to know and the things they want to show us," Pace said. "We have to close that gap."

Pace understand that no military is going to share everything. "It's not as important how much money they are spending on the budget, as it is what capabilities they are buying and why they want those capabilities," he said.

Pace used the example of the U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review. He said that document is important because it details where the United States wants to go in military development and why. "If we had the same kind of transparency from the Chinese, it would go a long way towards reducing misunderstandings," he said.

And understanding each other was at the heart of the trip to China. "It was amply clear to me that they wanted me to feel welcome and they wanted to show me things they had never shown anybody else to make the point that they wanted to move closer," he said.

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President Requests Spending Bill Without Deployment Restrictions, Deadlines

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

March 25, 2007 – President Bush yesterday urged Congress to send him an emergency war-spending bill that funds overseas troop operations, but contains no deployment restrictions or deadlines for a withdrawal of forces from Iraq. "One of the most urgent legislative priorities is to fund our troops fighting the war on terror," Bush said during his weekly national radio address. "I've asked Congress to pass an emergency war spending bill that gives our troops what they need, without strings and without delay."

The Defense Department's emergency fiscal 2007 supplemental requests includes $93.4 billion to help fund U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the global war on terror. The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a defense funding bill that includes some domestic spending measures and requires U.S. combat troops to depart Iraq by Aug. 31, 2008.

The House war-spending bill "would cut the number of troops below the level our military commanders say they need to accomplish the mission," Bush pointed out. "It would set an artificial timetable for withdrawal that would allow the enemy to wait us out."

And, military deployment restrictions outlined in the House bill "would take an army of lawyers" to sort out, the president said.

The president has been adamant that he would not support such legislation.

"I have made it clear that I will veto any such bill, and it is clear that my veto would be sustained," Bush said, noting time is running short for Congress to send him a favorable bill.

If the supplemental funding bill is not passed by April 15, the Army will be compelled to consider curtailing and suspending training for Reserve and National Guard units, slow up training of units scheduled to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan, and possibly cut funding for the upgrade and renovation of barracks and other facilities, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters during a March 22 news conference at the Pentagon.

"This kind of disruption to key programs will have a genuinely adverse effect on the readiness of the Army and quality of life for soldiers and their families," Gates said at the news conference.

Bush concurred with Gates' assessment, noting that implementation of the U.S. House of Representatives' war spending bill in its present form would hurt the military.

"Our men and women in uniform will face significant disruptions - and so will their families," the president said.

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Top U.S. Officer Gives Young Chinese Troops Career Advice

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

March 24, 2007 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had some career advice here today for junior members of the Chinese Peoples' Liberation Army. A PLA television crew asked Marine Gen. Peter Pace how people build successful careers in the military. Pace had just finished observing a PLA military exercise. Standing in front of a Chinese T-99 main battle tank, Pace said it was important to understand the job that servicemembers have, "and do your job to the best of your ability."

Pace said servicemembers must know what those two levels below them are supposed to be doing, and to understand the intent of those two levels above them. "So that as you do your job to the best of your ability, you can take care of those who look to you for leadership and respond properly to those who look to you to follow," he said.

Troops should not think any job is beneath them or that any job deserves less than their best efforts. "We have an expression that says, 'Grow where you are planted,'" Pace said. "So what ever job you are given, do your best, and you will get another good job."

Pace also spoke about the military exercise he had just seen and an earlier visit to Anshan air base. He said the visit hasn't changed his attitude toward the Chinese military, "because I came here with great respect for the Peoples' Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force," he said.

The chairman said his visit reinforced his belief that the Chinese military is "world-class." It also reinforces the idea that there is much that the armed forces of the United States and China can do together to promote world peace, he said.

The PLA reporter asked the general if he considered China a threat to the United States.

"I believe a threat has two parts to it: One part is capability and the other part is intent," Pace replied. "Both the armed forces of the United States and China have great capabilities or capacities. But neither country has the intent to attack the other country. Because of that we are not a threat to each other."

He said exchanges between the Chinese and American militaries are key to bringing the two countries closer together.

"What we do need to do is have more opportunities to work together, to understand each other better, so we can build trust and confidence that will allow our two countries to go forward together," Pace said.

Pace listed some of the many new proposals to encourage these military-to-military contacts. He said his Chinese counterpart Gen. Liang Guanglie had suggested some of these proposals during Pace's first meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing March 22.

"I agreed with the proposals immediately," Pace said. "There were such things as having our cadets at our academies trade experiences with each other. (Another would) have our junior officers trade places at some of our educational institutions."

Still another is to boost maritime search and rescue exercises and to find ways to cooperate on humanitarian missions.

"We need to just to seek ways to allow our armed forces to get to know each other better, to understand each other better," he said. "That will allow us, then, to build trust and confidence then that will allow us to work more closely together in the future."

He said there are 300 million Americans and 1.3 billion Chinese. Those men and women who serve in the respective militaries "can help both countries provide a better future for all 1.6 billion of those people," Pace said.

Pace moved to Nanjing, China where he will speak to the members of the PLA University of Science and Technology.

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