Wounded Marine Makes New Discoveries at Winter Sports Clinic

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

April 5, 2007 – U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Nick Bennett said he'll take away lifetime memories and new discoveries from his experience here at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. He said the experience will steel him through his upcoming-and 27th--surgery since he was wounded in Mamadiyah, Iraq. The 37-year-old Marine Corps Reservist said he'll always remember the thrill of skiing down Snowmass Mountain and trying out all the other winter sports opened to him here. He'll remember the friends he made here and the support of people who made this clinic possible. The clinic is co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Disabled American Veterans.

But the most important takeaway of all, he said, will be his chance to prove to himself, and to his family, what he can still do despite extensive shoulder, spinal, hand and leg injuries.

Bennett acknowledges he's lucky to be alive after a 107mm rocket came careening over his Indianapolis unit's base wall, only partially detonating. It should have flattened everything within a football field's distance, he said.

While living through the blast, Bennett said a piece of him died that day-ironically, Veterans Day of 2004.

As he went through surgery after surgery to repair what medical officials call "polytrauma injuries," it wasn't the pain or the tedious rehabilitation that troubled him the most. It was thinking about what he could no longer do.

He remembered the joy he felt as a young boy playing softball with his dad, and realized he would never share that with his own children.

"To rob that of my kids just killed me," he said. "It's easy to sit around and feel sorry for yourself and feel like your life is over."

His family rallied around him and did everything they could to care of him as he went through the long, difficult healing process. In some ways, he said they tried too hard to protect him.

"I liken it to a flower in a flowerpot," Bennett said, turning philosophical. "At first, the people who love us the most don't want to transfer us to a bigger pot. But our roots are still growing, and if we don't move into that bigger pot, we're going to end up dying."

Coming here to the winter sports clinic was part of Bennett's transplant into that bigger flowerpot.

As he swooshed down the mountain in his adaptive ski equipment, his 17-year-old son was on the same slope, learning to snowboard. "This is great because now I've found an activity that we can do together," Bennett said.

Now he sees all kinds of possibilities ahead and activities he can share with his family. "Just because I'm injured doesn't mean there aren't things we can do together as a family," he said. "There's still a whole lot I can do."

That's a revelation Bennett knows he's sharing with other severely wounded troops and disabled veterans here, particularly those recently back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They don't have a clue how much they will change this week, or how many doors are going to open for them," he said.

Three years after his injury, Bennett said he's still overwhelmed by the "fragility of life."

He said he knows he and the other wounded troops here still have a long road ahead as they go through the healing process and face the next step in their lives.

"I'm taking one day at a time because nobody can predict what the future holds," Bennett said. "I am going to wait and see what doors open up."

As he prepares for April 13 surgery at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Bennett said he'll take his experiences from the winter sports clinic along with him.

"This is my last big adventure for a bit," he said as he rested on the slopeside, awaiting his next run down the mountain. "That's why it's pretty cool."

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USS Cleveland Hosts Naturalization Ceremony

By Petty Officer 2nd Class Brooke Raffaele, USN
Special to American Forces Press Service

April 5, 2007 – The United States gained 59 new citizens here yesterday, as 59 servicemembers took the oath of citizenship aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Cleveland. With retention and recruitment at the highest levels in recent history, officials said the Navy can now afford to focus on shaping the force to ensure the best-qualified, most diverse candidates are challenged to seek leadership roles in the senior enlisted and officer ranks of the future.

"Our true strength comes from our nation's diversity," said Rear Adm. Leendert "Len" Hering Sr., commander of Navy Region Southwest and keynote speaker at the ceremony. "The United States has been built upon diversity, and today's ceremony represents our country on what it stands upon."

During the ceremony, sailors, Marines and a lone soldier from various local commands became American citizens. They represent native countries from around the globe, including: Australia, Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, Micronesia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palau, Philippines, and South Korea.

The ceremony -- co-hosted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Commander, Navy Region Southwest; and USS Cleveland -- marked the first all-military naturalization ceremony held in the San Diego region this year.

Seven USS Cleveland crewmembers who were among the group of America's newest citizens sworn in yesterday joined more than 50 fellow crewmembers who already had completed the citizenship process.

Last year, four such ceremonies were held in San Diego, resulting in more than 240 servicemembers becoming U.S. citizens.

(Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brooke Raffaele is assigned to Commander Naval Surface Forces Public Affairs.)

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Department Works to Improve Acquisition Process

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service


April 5, 2007 – Defense Department officials work every day to ensure service requirements and resources are integrated, and to improve the overall acquisition process, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani addressed a crowd of active and retired servicemembers, defense industry officials and other civilian professionals at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition. Giambastiani summarized the different groups with which he works on acquisition, and the initiatives they're pursuing.

"Our business within the Pentagon is complex, and it's a highly interrelated business," Giambastiani said. "You have to overcome a variety of stovepipes erected in what I'll call the requirements world, in the acquisition world, and also within the resourcing and budget world."

Giambastiani said he is one of the only leaders who has a say in all three communities - requirements, acquisition and resourcing. This gives him an opportunity to work to integrate all three areas, making the entire process run more smoothly, he said.

Giambastiani serves as the chairman of the joint requirements oversight council, which by law is made up of him and the four service vice chiefs. However, to better inform the council's debates and to increase trust and confidence, the group has opened its discussions and debates to combatant commanders, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, defense agencies, other federal agencies and other cabinet departments, he said.

Another improvement is that the joint requirements oversight council now considers cost risk at the beginning of the acquisition process, rather than letting the services deal with the results of their decisions later, Giambastiani said. This includes assessing programs' technology readiness levels, which were developed by NASA and help identify if a program is ready for implementation, he said.

If programs project large cost growths, the council will revisit its requirements and make necessary changes, Giambastiani said. This happened in the case of the Joint Tactical Radio Program and the National Polar Orbiting Operational Environment Satellite System, a multi-department weather system, he noted.

The council also has a joint rapid acquisition cell, which meets urgent needs with off-the-shelf products, Giambastiani said. This cell works to supply the services with things like the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles that are in heavy demand from the Army and Marine Corps in Iraq.

"Let's face it, we're in a war, so responding to urgent combatant commanders ... is exceptionally important," he said.

The defense acquisition board, which Giambastiani co-chairs with Kenneth Krieg, undersecretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and logistics, works to ensure proper execution of each individual acquisition program, Giambastiani said. When the board reviews programs, it looks at differences in cost estimation between DoD and industry groups, funding stability, and the gradual escalation of capability a program delivers, he said.

"We work closely to align the acquisitions, requirements and resource communities at the individual program level," he said.

Giambastiani is also co-chairman of the deputy's advisory working group with Gordon England, deputy secretary of defense. This group, which meets at least twice a week, grew out of the senior oversight group for the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review and works to implement the strategic vector set by the QDR, he said.

"This group has been particularly key in resource decisions on a day-to-day basis," Giambastiani said. "We do this every day; we don't leave these decisions till the 11th hour."

The business of acquisition, requirements and resources is complex, Giambastiani acknowledged, but fixing the problems in the system is vital for commanders on the ground, who want to ensure their troops have everything they need to accomplish the mission.

"Working acquisition issues as well as related resource and requirements issues is one of the key reasons, frankly, why I came back to Washington as the vice chairman," Giambastiani said.

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Rules Change for Free, Reduced-Price School Lunches Overseas

American Forces Press Service

April 4, 2007 – Defense Department Education Activity officials are encouraging families of children attending its overseas schools to reapply for free and reduced price school lunches. Earlier this year, DoDEA requested an increase in the reimbursement rate the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides for school lunches. The USDA approved the request and also authorized the use of the Alaska Income Eligibility Guidelines in qualifying families to participate in the program.

As a result, more families may qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, DoDEA officials said.

This change applies to families of children attending DoDEA schools overseas in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Azores, Turkey, Korea, Japan, and Okinawa. It does not include families of children attending DoDEA schools in Puerto Rico or Guam, who fall under their state Department of Education programs.

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command and Marine Corps Community Services are designated school food authorities for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools overseas.

AAFES is the largest school food authority, providing USDA-approved school meals to students on Army and Air Force installations in nine countries throughout Europe and the Pacific.

The school lunch program is designed to meet federal requirements for nutritionally balanced meals and to offer free or reduced price meals to eligible children.

Installation commanders operate and maintain the program by providing instructions on how to apply for the program, determining eligibility of applicants and maintaining and updating a list of students enrolled in the program.

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New Program Connects Iraq-Deployed Troops to U.S. Public

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

April 4, 2007 – American military members serving in Iraq have an additional opportunity to share their experiences with the U.S. public, thanks to a new public outreach initiative, a senior U.S. military officer said today in Baghdad. "The 'Share the Story' initiative is a new program that's designed to connect U.S. military personnel with organizations and groups like yours," Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told stateside-based representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Reserve Officers' Association and others during a telephone conference call.

Military members of all ranks and service branches serving in Iraq who are slated to return stateside for leave or duty rotation "will have an excellent opportunity to share their story with the folks who want to hear it," Fox said.

The Multinational Force Iraq Web site, www.mnf-iraq.com, provides a "Share the Story" link where interested Iraq-deployed servicemembers register to participate in the program, Fox said. Servicemembers can choose to discuss their Iraq experiences with interested groups while on leave in their hometowns, he said, or with organizations situated near upcoming stateside assignments.

"Share the Story" is managed by Multinational Force Iraq, Fox said, noting the new initiative supplements the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public outreach program that was introduced last fall.

Fox likened the "Share the Story" Web link to "a virtual tool" that connects veterans groups and other interested organizations to servicemembers who can provide their unique, individual perspectives on military service in Iraq.

The admiral said he's excited about the new program's potential to tell interested groups about servicemembers' experiences in Iraq, Fox said.

"We understand the nature of the (public) curiosity and desire to know about what we're about and our mission," the admiral said.

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Officials Emphasize Zero Tolerance of Sexual Assault

By Carmen L. Gleason
American Forces Press Service

April 4, 2007 – Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military values and will not be tolerated within the Defense Department, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness said here yesterday. David S.C. Chu kicked off the month-long DoD observance of sexual assault prevention during a ceremony at the Women in the Military for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Sexual assault is devastating to the individuals it victimizes," Chu said. "It weakens trust and creates strife within our units. It undermines the state of readiness of the armed forces as a whole."

Sexual assault is one of the nation's most underreported crimes. National statistics show that an assault occurs every 90 seconds. One in every six women and one in every 33 men will be the victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.

"Sexual assault remains a troubling issue in America," Chu said. "Since the military reflects the society it serves, the issue faces the Department of Defense as well."

This year's DoD campaign is promoting a climate of respect that encourages every servicemember to join in a cooperative effort to end sexual violence, said Kaye Whitley, director for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

SAPRO is the Defense Department's single point of accountability for sexual assault policy matters. The organization develops policy and programs to improve prevention efforts, enhance victim support, and increase offender accountability by collaborating closely with each military branch.

Whitley said the goals of this year's campaign are three-fold: fostering awareness of the impact of sexual assault on victims, encouraging community-wide prevention, and facilitating awareness of the availability of health services to care and support victims.

In an effort to create a "climate of confidence," the Defense Department has changed reporting options for sexual assault victims. Beginning in 2005, victims were given an option of restricted or unrestricted reporting.

When filing a restricted report, victims could receive medical care and counseling for assaults without alerting their chain of command or triggering an investigation. DoD officials attribute a 65 percent increase in reporting to this change.

In 2006 there were 756 restricted reports of sexual assault, Chu said. These were victims who might not have come forward under the old policy, he noted. After receiving initial medical treatment and counseling, Chu added, 86 of those changed their reports to unrestricted status, allowing the pursuit of those who acted against them.

DoD officials continue to focus on providing education and training for its more than 1 million active-duty servicemembers. During a worldwide conference held by the department this year, more that 350 troops were trained to be "first responders" for victims on their installations.

"We believe that the numbers of reports will continue to rise because we are changing a culture," Whitley said. "While these numbers make an initial rise, we hope to see a leveling off and eventual elimination of assaults within the department."

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Disabled Veterans Aim for Paralympic Dreams

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

April 4, 2007 – For some participants at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here, it's not enough simply to make it down the mountain. They've set their sights on conquering it - and any other obstacle that stands between them and the U.S. Paralympic Ski Team. Mark Mix is among about a dozen veterans at the six-day clinic, the only one of the group wounded in Iraq, who have set their sights on becoming accomplished racers and even making the 2010 Paralympic team.

"My goal is to knock him off the podium," Mix said, pointing to fellow disabled veteran Chris Devlin-Young, head coach for the clinic's Alpine race and development program.

That's a lofty goal, considering that Devlin-Young is a three-time Paralympian with two gold and two silver medals under his belt. He's also the first U.S. athlete to win gold medals in two disability categories.

And like Mix, he got his first taste of skiing at the winter sports clinic here.

Devlin-Young, a Coast Guard veteran, said he reluctantly agreed to participate in the first clinic in 1985, three years after a C-130 aircraft crash left him a paraplegic. He was mad at the world at the time about losing use of his legs and had little interest in trying out skiing, he said.

But the first time down the hill, he was hooked. "It gave me adrenaline and control. It gave me my life back," he said.

Now Devlin-Young is helping to bring that exhilaration to other disabled veterans bent on pushing their limits on the slopes.

"A lot of these guys want to be racers, and a lot want to be better skiers," he said. "They want to master the mountain in a way they never imagined."

He said he sees a lot of potential in Mix, a Navy veteran and former Seabee who was paralyzed from the waist down by a mortar blast in Baghdad in 2004. "Does he have the potential? Yes," Devlin-Young said. "Does he have the ambition? Yes. Does he have the drive? Yes."

Three years ago, Devlin-Young might have assessed Mix differently. Mix was a self-proclaimed "couch potato" whose sporting life centered on watching drag racing and NASCAR on TV.

He'd never been on skis before finding himself in a wheelchair, and tried it out for the first time during the 2005 winter sports clinic.

After that, there was no turning back. "The freedom you feel when you're out there takes the disability away and makes you feel like you're able-bodied again," he said.

Mix said he quickly tried to get on with his life after being wounded.

"I didn't sit back and pout. My wife wouldn't let me!" he said. Instead, he set his sights on becoming a role model for his children and showing them that "being in a wheelchair doesn't stop you from anything."

In fact, it's pushing the 36-year-old to levels he never thought he would attain. He's among three Iraqi Freedom veterans in the U.S. Olympic Committee's Veterans' Paralympic Performance Program Alpine Skiing program, based here, and has set his sights on the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games.

The VPPP program, a partnership between the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Challenge Aspen, helps groom disabled veterans for national and international ski competitions, explained Houston Cowan, founder and chief executive officer of Challenge Aspen.

Other Iraqi Freedom veterans participating in the program are Keith Calhoun, an Army staff sergeant who had both legs amputated when a rocket-propelled grenade hit in convoy in November 2003, and Casey Owens, a Marine Corps corporal who lost both legs when his Humvee hit a land mine.

Mix is taking the lessons he's learning through the program and pushing forward with his dream. He returned last week from one of a long string of competitions toward qualifying for the Paralympics: the 2007 Hartford U.S. Disabled Alpine Championships in Waterville Valley, N.H. "I didn't make it to the podium, but I held my own," he said.

"He not only held his own, he made a huge statement of what's to come," Houston said.

Other veterans at the winter sports clinic here share Mix's aspirations of refining their skiing technique and becoming champion racers.

Peter Axelson, who raced on the U.S. Disabled Ski Team from 1985 to 1982 and is here working with group, said reaching that goal requires more than just the ability to ski fast.

"It takes strength and a mindset to want to push through limits. It also takes patience and a willingness to do drills over and over. It's very physical, and it's very mental," he said.

Bruce Gibbings, a Vietnam-era Army veteran, said he's taking in all the lessons Axelson, Devlin-Young and the other instructors here have to offer.

At age 60, Gibbons acknowledges that making the Paralympic Ski Team may be a long shot. But he insists it's not a dream he's willing to abandon just yet.

"I might be the oldest member of the Paralympic team, but I want to see if I can get myself there," he said. Gibbings said he feels up to the rigors of the training.

"I'm healthier and stronger than I've ever been," he said. "God blessed me with a lot of energy, I still have a lot of the use of my body, and I've taken my skiing to a level I never dreamed of."

Terry Smutney, an Army veteran who was disabled due to chemical exposure in northern Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, said he, too, is all ears to the lessons he's getting here.

Now an adaptive ski instructor himself in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., Smutney frequently works with wounded troops returning from combat. He said the pointers he's picking up here are helping make him a better skier, racer and teacher to other disabled skiers.

Smutney remembers his first time on skis after his injury, in December 2004, as a life-changing experience. "I was on 12 different medications, four of them narcotics for pain control. I was smoking. I was doing everything wrong," he said.

Within four months, Smutney was skiing every time he got the opportunity and had tossed away all his medications, as well as his cigarettes. "The only drug I was on was the mountain," he said.

Now 50, Smutney said he's too old to think about the Paralympics, but said wants to continue progressing and sharing the joy of skiing and racing with other disabled veterans, especially those just back from combat.

"That's my way of giving back what I've been given," he said. "To see the frowns and wonderment on their faces turn to smiles and relaxation, well, that's just not something you can put in a bottle. You have to be here and experience it, because if you can come down that mountain, you can do anything."

Devlin-Young agreed that it's gratifying to help disabled skiers stretch beyond their comfort zones to become more confident and more capable. "My goal is to give back some of what skiing gave to me," he said.

And while he'd love to see some of the veterans he's working with here achieve their Paralympic dreams, he said what's happening here on Snowmass Mountain is about a lot more than racing.

"This is the next level: mastering the mountain," he said. "When you do that, you will be confident and safe-anytime, anyplace and in any condition. And ultimately, that's what this is all about."

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Why We Serve: Air Force Captain Relates Afghanistan Experience

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

April 4, 2007 – An Air Force logistics officer essentially traded in his blue uniform for Army green during his stint as a convoy commander in Afghanistan. Air Force Capt. Michael J. Frasco, 35, who hails from Albuquerque, N.M., volunteered to be a supply convoy commander during a tour in Afghanistan in 2006, a job traditionally performed by an Army officer. He also served as a trainer for the Afghan National Army.

Frasco is among a group of eight servicemembers who served in Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa who have been selected to tell the military's story to the American people at community, business, veterans' and other gatherings as part of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public outreach program.

The "Why We Serve" program, initially the idea of Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began last fall, noted Air Force Maj. Ann N. Biggers, the program's director. Eight military members, two from each service, are selected to participate in the program, which is conducted in quarterly segments, she explained.

"We know that the American public is hungry to hear about what these young men and women have been during," Biggers said. "It's important for our speakers, as well, because they are out there serving their country and they want to be able to tell their stories."

Looking for challenges and an opportunity to serve his country, Frasco enlisted in the Air Force in 1992. A decade later, he had earned a degree at the University of Oklahoma and an officer's commission through the school's ROTC program.

After receiving two months of Army ground-combat skills and convoy training at Camp Shelby, Miss., Frasco headed to Afghanistan in early 2006, he said.

"I stepped off of that airplane ready to go and confident enough that there was nothing that I couldn't go out and do," recalled Frasco, who's now assigned at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Frasco commanded more than 90 supply convoys that traversed thousands of miles of dangerous, rugged terrain across Afghanistan. His vehicles successfully delivered more than 100 passengers and more than 70,000 tons of cargo.

"We got from Point A to Point B successfully and accomplished whatever mission that we had to accomplish and got home safely," Frasco said, noting he'd commanded soldiers and Marines, as well as airmen.

Challenges facing military convoys in Afghanistan include washed-out roads and the possibility of roadside bombs and ambushes, Frasco said.

Frasco's leadership philosophy boils down to "while taking care of the people, we take care of the mission." He saluted the "amazing" ability and stamina possessed by the servicemembers he commanded, as well as the high caliber of his superiors.

Asked if he'd volunteer for convoy duty again, Frasco responded: "Absolutely. I'd do it tomorrow."

Frasco's Army ground combat training was also put to use when civil unrest erupted in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city. The Air Force captain led a platoon that rescued a group of airmen who had been stranded outside Camp Eggers during the violence.

The Air Force officer also mentored Afghan National Army noncommissioned officers and officers as an embedded trainer. That mission, he said, was "to get them to a point where they are proficient and can defend their own country."

Helping Afghans to remain free from the Taliban "in turn, protects America," Frasco pointed out.

Frasco remembers working 30 consecutive 16-hour days during his first month in Afghanistan. However, he said, it's worth the effort to help the Afghans get back onto their feet after enduring years of brutal rule under the Taliban.

"Despite all the long hours, despite all the hardships that we'd gone through and despite all the difficult things that we'd faced during our deployment, servicemembers are ready to go back" to assist the Afghans to make them stronger, Frasco said.

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Elmo Helps Military Kids Through Deployments

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

April 4, 2007 – Sesame Street's Elmo and his friends at Sesame Workshop are helping military children deal with a parent's deployment through a new project called "Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployment." Sesame Workshop and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., an America Supports You corporate team member, launched the project last August, with additional support from New York State Office of Mental Health and the Military Child Education Coalition.

America Supports You is a Defense Department program that highlights ways in which American individuals, home front groups and companies are supporting U.S. troops and their families.

Talk, Listen and Connect was created to help military families cope with the challenges of deployment when research showed a true need for outreach to military pre-school children.

"The emotional toll that the conflict and the deployments overseas have on families is what inspired us to try to deal with the 700,000 (military) pre-school children," Gary Knell, president and chief executive officer of Sesame Workshop said. "When we heard about the statistic, we felt that there was a way in which we could connect the almost four decades ... of Sesame Street and Sesame Workshop's work to this important cause."

The Talk, Listen, Connect project offers families a kit with materials in English and Spanish to help them better cope with deployments. That kit provides parents a DVD featuring Elmo and his dad who preparing to deploy, a poster that explains some of the ways Elmo is dealing with the his father's absence, and a magazine for parents and caregivers.

"What we found ... is that the kit provides parents with strategies to help their preschoolers cope with deployment," Lawrence Hooper, a partner with Russell Research, which helped conduct an impact study of the kit, said. "The strategies (are) to answer your child completely, do things to feel normal, have age-appropriate chores to foster independence, and do things to keep the child busy."

The results of the impact study were presented at a luncheon here yesterday. Hooper said the results were all positive and revealed that the kit was appealing, easy to understand and provided useful activities and strategies that were easy to implement.

"As importantly, it helped parents and kids feel better ... and prepared them for future deployment," he said.

Joanna Lopez, whose family is featured on the DVD, agrees with the findings. Stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., she is the mother of three children, ages 10, 6, and 4 months. Her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Ernesto Lopez, is on his third deployment to Iraq.

"The video helped me a lot," she said about appearing in and watching the video. "It was wonderful for me and my kids that we are going to share our activities and out ability to stay calm when our dad is deployed."

Lopez, a Spanish-speaking day care provider for military children, said her family's goal in appearing in the video was to help parents help their children understand the deployment, that dad or mom are working, and that it's not forever. She also learned that staying busy is key.

Leslye Arsht, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, said the kit was a much-needed addition to her office's arsenal of literature.

"The materials themselves filled a very important gap in the literature and in the tools that we had for military families," she said. "We know a lot about the effects of deployment and of the stages around deployment, but we really didn't have very many materials for pre-school children, and we didn't have very many supports for pre-school parents."

The Listen, Talk, Connect materials, which Arsht described as groundbreaking, helped parents as much as it did the children. It also served as a boost for Military OneSource, an online resource for military families. The site, www.militaryonesource.com, is one of the methods by which military families can acquire the Talk, Listen, Connect kit.

"By using Military OneSource as a mechanism for distributing this wonderful tool, we've also raised its profile and its availability ... so that other things that we have available to support (military families) are also more accessible," Arsht said. "On all of those grounds, I would say this has been a terrific asset and addition for helping families cope with their military lifestyle."

Military families have requested about 250,000 kits since August, Knell said. With support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, "When Parents are Deployed" will air April 9, on PBS stations across the country, and Maryland Public Television will air the piece twice during Memorial Day weekend, Knell added.

Editor's Note: Military families can also avail themselves of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which highlights home-front groups across the nation that are providing a variety of services and support to troops and their families. A listing of these groups and information about their efforts is available at www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil.

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Group Puts Flags in Servicemembers' Pockets

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

April 4, 2007 – Since 2002, Project Prayer Flag's goal has been to put an American flag into the pocket of every American servicemember fighting in the global war on terrorism. "For us it's very simple," Shawn Black, founder of the Irvine, Calif.-based organization, said. "We've shipped over 220,000 (flags) now to servicemembers."

Those miniature American flags come as part of the "Patriot Packs" the group sends to servicemembers, Black said. The packs also include a letter or a thank you card.

Project Prayer Flag is a member of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which highlights how Americans and the corporate sector are supporting the nation's servicemembers.

The idea for the Patriot Packs started shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, when Black was serving as an undercover federal air marshal. A colleague was deployed to Afghanistan and Black wrote him a letter. But he also remembered the small American flag his grandfather, a veteran of the battle of Normandy, carried with him and had handed down to Black's father.

"I thought, 'What if I take a small American flag, just a little hand-held flag off a stick, and I put it in there with the card and mail it to him?'" Black said. "(It was) just my way of showing appreciation for my friend."

That friend requested enough for the rest of the servicemembers in his unit and, "from there it just grew and grew by word of mouth," he said.

Project Prayer Flag has since started Operation Christmas Care, a program that has a family adopt a unit and send a personalized care package at the holidays. The adopting family is encouraged to keep up correspondence throughout the servicemember's tour.

Those tours are a little more pleasant thanks to some Major League Baseball teams and Project Prayer Flag's Operation Grandslam.

Black initially contacted the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team with a request for a donation of baseball equipment for the servicemembers fighting in the global war on terrorism. After not making much headway, he turned to Louisville Slugger, a major baseball bat manufacturer. With that move, he was batting a thousand -- $10,000 worth of gloves and bats, to be exact.

"But it got better from there. ... The Angels called me out of the blue one day," Black said. The team donated uniforms, baseballs, bats and batting helmets.

The Colorado Rockies sent thousands of dollars worth of baseball gear recently, and the Atlanta Braves have expressed interest in getting on board with Operation Grandslam, he said.

Additionally, the Rockies sent Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig a letter informing him of Operation Grandslam.

Black said the group's membership in the America Supports You program has opened many doors and lent the group credibility.

"We can't thank America Supports You enough," he said. "With Operation Grandslam ... once they knew we're an America Supports You member, they said, 'Well, I've heard nothing but good things about this group, and I know you guys are legitimate.

"So (membership) kind of separates the wheat from the chaff," Black said.

Black, however, gives a majority of the credit for the program's success to the more than 400 volunteers that make it tick.

"It's the volunteer's project," he said. "We really see the heart of America in the actions here."

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