Indiana Support Group Offers Prayer, Packages

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Aug. 15, 2007 - An Indiana group is employing what it considers its most powerful weapon in its quest to support the nation's servicemembers: prayer. "We take an active role in praying for each of them, believing that prayer is the single most effective means we have of meeting needs that we do not know or understand firsthand," said Gary Strader, a volunteer with the Military Support Group of Connection Pointe Christian Church.

The group formed in spring 2003 when church members realized that several of the church's families had sons or daughters in Afghanistan or en route to Iraq.

"War was new for all of us; we were worried about what the future might hold," he said. "We met every week at first to support each other, pray for safety for our children and for a sense of God's peace for ourselves."

That original purpose grew to include a more tangible form of support for servicemembers, he added. Soon the group was sending care packages that, they learned from thank-you letters, were touching other troops as the original recipients shared the boxes' contents.

"Our main efforts are focused on supplying those on our list with items from home that they might otherwise not get," Strader said. "We package supplies on a regular basis."

February means boxes and boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, he said, adding that this year's shipment totaled 450 priority mail boxes of cookies -- more than 2,415 boxes of the sweet treats.

Each fall, the group ships "Treats for the Troops" boxes containing snacks and other goodies. At Christmas, it's more edibles, but the members also send small Christmas trees and blankets.

While the Military Support Group's original purpose expanded in scope, it also recently shifted in direction, Strader said.

"Our prayer efforts took a new direction when one of our members designed and produced the 'Prayer Warrior Challenge Coin,'" Strader said. "This coin, much like the challenge coins popular with our armed forces, can be carried everywhere, providing a reminder every time it's touched that our faithful troops need our prayers."

The gold coins show an eagle in flight with an American flag in its talons on one side with the words "Military Support Prayer Warrior." On the other is a set of hands pressed together in prayer with the phrase "Hand-to-Hand Combat."

The Military Support Group of Connection Pointe Christian Church recent became a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

"We are ... privileged to be counted with the many dedicated organizations which are also supporting our troops," Strader said. "It is our distinct privilege to be able to provide some small measure of support for the United States military while they stand for us around the globe, many in harm's way every day."

Troops Play Important Role in Horn of Africa Mission, Chairman Says

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Aug. 14, 2007 - American servicemembers based in the Horn of Africa are doing an important job that has many implications for the future, the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff said here today. "What you are doing here is making it so that the Horn of Africa does not appear on the front page of the Washington Post or your local newspapers," Marine Gen. Peter Pace told the troops. "We are operating in Afghanistan and Iraq right now because the international community was not able to get those nations straight before it was necessary to use force."

Pace told the servicemembers that what they are doing with coalition partners and the host nations of the region is helping the nations of the Horn of Africa "develop the skills, the capacities, the kind of good governance that's required so we don't have to do here what we're doing in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Pace said what servicemembers here are doing – digging wells, providing medical aid, training neighboring militaries and so on – will be what more and more U.S. military personnel will be doing in many places around the world.

The interagency nature of the mission has important implications for the U.S. government as a whole, the chairman said. As the military sets up U.S. Africa Command – with an initial capability set for Oct. 1, 2007 – the lessons of the combined joint task force will be amalgamated into the set up of the command.

"We'll get through Iraq. We'll get through Afghanistan, but then we're going to need nations like Djibouti in places around the world to help our nation and their nations prevent the kind of conflict that we're fighting right now," Pace said. "I hope you have as much pride and satisfaction in how you are spending this part of your adult life as you deserve to have, because you are making a huge, huge difference."

Chairman Reflects on Military Service

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Aug. 14, 2007 - In a town hall meeting here today, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the military's senior general, spoke about how proud he has been to look out for the welfare of lower-ranking servicemembers during his 40-year career. Pace is retiring Oct. 1. He has been chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2005, and was vice chairman for four years before that.

"I talk frequently on the impact of decisions on 'Pfc. Pace,'" he said. "It's my way of making sure that those of us on the high-end of the rank structure don't forget that each decision we make has an impact on a (private first class) or a senior airman or petty officer."

Pace said he is proud that civilian leaders in the Pentagon now talk about the impact of decisions on young enlisted members and officers.

"I'm happy that the dialogue includes a clear understanding that there are real people involved here and that when you say to do something in Washington, it has very specific impacts on the 'Pfc. Paces' of the world who have to make that decision work," he said.

During a question-and-answer session, a young airman asked the general if he ever thought he would reach the heights to which his career has taken him. Pace responded that he always planned to serve as long as he was needed.

Pace first entered combat in Vietnam during the Battle of Hue City in 1968 as a platoon leader in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. He was the third platoon leader in as many weeks. Only three Marines in his company of 156 did not get wounded in Hue. "I was one of them," he said.

In one incident, a staff sergeant walked in front of him when a sniper fired. "The (round) caught him in the side rather than me in the chest," the general said. "I walked through a minefield one day when I didn't know I was in a minefield.

"I had no idea how I had gone through 13 months in combat as a platoon leader without getting scratched and, more importantly, I lost some wonderful Marines who died following Second Lieutenant Pace's orders in combat," he continued.

He said that when he came back from Vietnam he made a promise to himself.

"For me, (service in the military) has been about trying to repay those who died following my orders," he said. "In the process, I have never thought about the next promotion, because I've always felt I would serve the nation until I was no longer needed. And I would know that when I stopped getting promoted. Whenever that happened would be just fine."

The general said the idea worked "pretty well" for 40 years.

"Now I am going home," he said referring to his retirement in October. "I am not a volunteer to go home, nor am I dragging my feet. I am sitting here saying the same thing I have said for 40 years: I love this nation, I love each and every one of you who wear the uniform, I would serve until I die if they would let me.

"But I am also very comfortable that I have fulfilled the mission that I set for myself 40 years ago. And those great young Marines who will be forever young with their names on the Vietnam Wall and those who died with us in Somalia and those who died in this conflict, I hope I have served the way I meant to serve, and that is to remember the impact on 'Pfc. Pace' and not care about whether General Pace gets promoted."

Pace Applauds All-Volunteer Force

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Aug. 14, 2007 - The all-volunteer force is serving the United States extremely well, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told servicemembers at a Town Hall meeting here today. Marine Gen. Peter Pace spoke of the difference between the conscripted force of his youth and the all-volunteer of today.

When Pace first came in to the Marine Corps in 1967, it was a draftee military, and there were many people serving in the military who didn't want to be there.

Pace said in the conscript military leaders had to spend time motivating people to do the right thing. This is not a problem confronted by commanders with an all-volunteer force, Pace said.

"This is because you have in your heart of hearts the basic knowledge that you volunteered to do this and because you wanted to be there," Pace told the troops.

"Everybody here either volunteered to serve their initial tour or re-upped while the nation was at war and wanted to do their part," Pace said. "God bless you for that. That motivation factor allows you to have teamwork and train to heights that you could not if you just fundamentally had people who didn't want to be there."

Pace said he thinks that everyone should serve the nation.

"I think it would be good if everyone served the nation in some capacity," he said. "Through an accident of birth we are American citizens. We grew up in an incredible nation that allows us to be literally anything we want. To pay back the opportunity is a price that is worth the nation considering."

Pace said he is not talking about military conscription, "but an opportunity for all young folks to pick from a variety of things to give back to the nation that has given them so much."

Air Force Pilot Missing From Vietnam War Is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Lt. Col. Alton C. Rockett, Jr., U.S. Air Force, of Birmingham, Ala. He will be buried Monday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

On June 2, 1967, Rockett and his co-pilot, Capt. Daniel L. Carrier, crewed the number two aircraft in a flight of two F-4Cs flying an armed reconnaissance mission over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. During their bomb run, anti-aircraft ground fire was observed, but Rockett reported that his aircraft was not hit. When the lead aircraft completed its bomb run, the flight leader told Rockett to return to base, but moments later, he saw a large fireball in his rear-view mirror. He made several radio calls to Rockett, but did not hear or see anything from the aircraft. Due to the dangerous location, there were no further search and rescue attempts.

In June and July 1989, Vietnamese officials repatriated to the United States sets of remains of U.S. servicemembers. The officials also supplied documents identifying that three of the sets of remains were those of Rockett, Carrier and another serviceman, Col. Samuel C. Maxwell. It was later discovered that the name associations among those remains had been confused. In October and November 1989, Maxwell and Carrier were identified after further analysis, but the third set of remains could not be attributed to Rockett at that time.

In 1993, a joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), investigated the incident and interviewed witnesses. One Vietnamese citizen said that Rockett and Carrier were buried near the crash site, but that their remains were exhumed in 1978 by Vietnamese officials.

In 2001, another joint U.S./S.R.V. team re-interviewed witnesses and surveyed the burial and crash sites. Small pieces of airplane wreckage were found at the crash site. In 2003, a maternal-line mitochondrial DNA reference sample for Rockett was obtained. In 2006, another joint U.S./S.R.V. team excavated the burial sites, but recovered no human remains.

Using forensic identification tools, circumstantial evidence and mitochondrial DNA, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory identified Rockett's remains, which were those previously repatriated to the United States in 1989. For additional information of the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.

Environmental Education for Afghans Essential, U.S. Officials Say

By Spc. Nathan W. Hutchison, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

Aug. 15, 2007 - In a country that has seen constant war for decades, it is easy for environmental issues to fall to the wayside. But U.S. officials are working to bring the issue to the forefront. U.S. Embassy and Environmental Protection Agency officials hosted a class here Aug. 13 to raise awareness of illegal fur trading.

Environmental and wildlife agencies are hoping to prevent further damage to habitats and endangered species in Afghanistan. "It all feeds into rebuilding the country and trying to establish some sort of rule of law within their government," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Thomas A. Lockhart, customs noncommissioned officer in charge for the Provost Marshal Office of Combined Joint Task Force 82.

After six years in Afghanistan, officials now are looking at environmental issues while still implementing and executing tactical operations and reconstruction projects, he said.

To halt the production of illegal furs, steps have to be taken to decrease the market for them. "I think people just don't know," said Alex Dehgan, country director for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Afghanistan. "They don't realize that buying one of these skins increases demand for the wildlife, and that means someone else is going to go out and hunt more of these animals."

Endangered animals native to Afghanistan include brown bears, leopards, snow leopards, Marco Polo sheep and wolfs. These animals are protected under Afghanistan's constitution, in agreement with the multinational Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and under several U.S. laws and military and postal codes.

"I think people don't realize the consequences," said Clay Miller, a representative for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. "There's a $100,000 fine if you are knowingly bringing in or shipping endangered species to the U.S.

"Many people just don't know the U.S. laws and the trouble they can get in," he said. "They have never been exposed to furs before and just figure, 'Hey I'm in Afghanistan, and (furs) are kind of cheap here.'"

Beyond the legal ramifications, soldiers who know they can't get the items back to the United States will be more cautious with their purchases. "Ultimately, what we're trying to do is get the soldiers to realize they're wasting their money on this," Lockhart said. "Since they're focused on the soldiers to purchase these furs, they will see the soldiers aren't going to buy them any more and try another avenue."

Along with decreasing the market for the illegal furs, the EPA has been working to inform the Afghan people about endangered animals. "We have an education campaign working with the Ministry of Education where we've been writing articles for Afghan newspapers," Deghan said. "We have posters that we have been putting up throughout the country in English, Dari and Pashto.

"We've had a lot of support from the Afghan people," he added. "They actually want us to help protect their wildlife, and a lot of time they realize the plight that it's in."

(Army Spc. Nathan W. Hutchison is assigned to 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.)