Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Federal Government Contract Training Seminars


How do you navigate the Federal contracting requirements?  Every business who has attempted to gain a Federal government contract becomes, at one point or another, discouraged by the seemingly endless regulations and requirements.   Yet, some businesses are successful.  Federal contracting can be a lucrative and stable way to grow your business.  Indeed, the rewards caqn offset the effort.  You can minimize the pain and effort by starting at the right place – Federal Publications Seminars.

FederalGovernment Contract Training Seminars are the best way to get started, improve your current efforts and train new employees.   Federal Publication Seminars offers a variety of programs, in house training and books targeting your needs as a government contractor.  Their website is well designed and easy to navigate.

Training programs are organized by type as well as location.  Or, you can use their robust search function to find the government contracting training and information your company needs.  In addition to seminar like programs and in house training, the also provide a considerable body of “on demand” web-based training.  The web-based programming runs the gamut from information regarding new SBA size standards to the rules government eligibility as a service-disabled veteran small business.

You can also stay current on issues impacting federal government contracting by following their blog or by subscribing to their email updates.

Patriot Day message from the Adjutant General of Wisconsin



By Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs

Today (Sept. 11) is Patriot Day and we remember the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001 when terror visited our shores. A lot has happened since that fateful day, but it is right to pause and remember. 9/11 was a day of tragedy, but also a day of heroism and triumph as brave first responders, military personnel and citizens answered the call in a moment of great peril.

Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those whose lives were lost. Today, we aren’t a weaker nation as the terrorists intended, but a stronger nation.

And today, we remember.

Donald P. Dunbar
Maj. Gen., WI National Guard
The Adjutant General

Panetta, at Pentagon Memorial, Praises America’s Strength



By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2012 – President Barack Obama, commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces, led a remembrance ceremony today at the Pentagon Memorial, 11 years to the day since terrorists crashed passenger jets into the western side of the U.S. defense headquarters, the top stories of the World Trade Center’s towers in New York, and the soil of a field near Shanksville, Pa., killing a total of 2,996 people.

First Lady Michelle Obama, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey and the chairman’s wife, Deanie Dempsey, accompanied the president as he placed a wreath at the memorial.

All bowed their heads, then Dempsey saluted and the rest placed their right hands over their hearts as a Navy bugler sent the sad, slow notes of “Taps” floating through the clear, cool September air.

Then, at 9:37, the exact time in 2001 that American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon’s western façade, the ceremony’s announcer asked for a moment of silence in memory of the 184 people -- ages 3 to 71 -- who died here that day.

Panetta told the crowd, which included friends and families of the 9/11 victims as well as past and current Pentagon employees, that that day forever changed 21st-century America.

The 9/11 attacks, he said, targeted “the symbols of American strength -- our economy and our commerce, our military might and our democracy -- and took the lives of citizens from more than 90 countries. It was the worst terrorist attack on America in our history.”

Those who died -- here, in lower Manhattan or in a Pennsylvania field -- whether they were passengers on one of the four planes, workers in the struck buildings or rescue workers, are “heroes forever,” the secretary said.

Panetta told the audience about his visit yesterday to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. “I was reminded of those horrible moments after the hijacking when the passengers and crew were able to make frantic calls to speak to their loved ones for the last time,” he said. “They knew what was at stake, and yet they decided to fight back. Together, they took swift and decisive action to stop yet another attack targeted at the nation's capital.”

The action those passengers took that day, the secretary said, is one end of a chain that links them, their survivors, the nation’s citizens, and the service members who since that day have stepped up to protect freedom and deny terrorism a safe haven.

“Out of the shock and sadness of 9/11 came a new sense of unity and resolve that this would not happen again. … In trying to attack our strengths, the terrorists unleashed our greatest strength: the spirit and the will of Americans to fight for their country,” Panetta said.

Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who orchestrated the terror, flames and death 9/11, died last year at the hands of American special operations forces. Al-Qaida is still a threat, the secretary said, “but we've dealt them a heavy blow, and we will continue to fight them -- in Yemen, in Somalia, in North Africa, wherever they go -- to make sure they have no place to hide.”

Sept. 11 is now, in America, a day of solemn remembrance, he said.

“Let us renew a solemn pledge to those who died on 9/11 and their families,” the secretary said. “It is a pledge we also make to all of those who put their lives on the line and who paid a heavy price for the last 11 years of war. Our pledge is to keep fighting for a safer and stronger future.”

Our pledge, he continued, is to ensure that America always remains a government of, by and for the people.

“That pledge, that legacy, makes clear that no one -- no one -- who died on that terrible day 11 years ago died in vain,” Panetta said. “They died for a stronger America.”

Face of Defense: Pilot Helps Iraqis Earn Wings



By Air Force Airman 1st Class Nathan Maysonet
47th Flying Training Wing

LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, Sept. 11, 2012 – Mounted aboard an armored SUV with a pistol at his side, an 85th Flying Training Squadron pilot based here begins his days in Iraq checking in on classes miles apart, filled with students not unlike those he left in Texas thousands of miles from home.

Air Force Lt. Col. Chris Lachance is one of a handful of American airmen working to ensure that Iraqi Air force units at Al Sahra Airfield in Tikrit are getting the level of training they need to protect their skies.

"I look at the big picture of the Iraqi training mission from here to see if they are being taught and properly engaged by the American contractors and Iraqi instructor pilots," Lachance said. "I make sure Iraq is getting what it pays for."

The training, which originally was operated by the United States, now is in the hands of contractors and Iraqi airmen. Now, just three U.S. airmen advise the more than 800 civilian contracted instructors and fresh Iraqi airmen. They are tasked with training the growing population of Iraqi students set to become their nation's future maintainers, pilots and air traffic controllers.

"If you were to squish Randolph, Keesler and Laughlin [Air Force bases] together, you'd get a picture of what our base here is like," Lachance said.

Lachance, who has served in Iraq for the last three months, acts as the security assistance lead in Tikrit for the U.S. Embassy Office of Security Cooperation Iraq. He helps to advise Iraqi squadron commanders on the finer points of pilot training.

"We are teaching them to be a lot like Laughlin," Lachance said. "A pilot here or at Laughlin would recognize the training."

Much like Laughlin's specialized undergraduate pilot training, the pilots training in Iraq begin from scratch. They learn the basics of aviation, following a syllabus similar to that used at Laughlin, Lachance said. But there are some differences, he added.

"We in the U.S. Air Force are selected for a specialty and then train to perform that job," he said. "Because the Iraqi air force is so small, they each have to do so much more, and it can be a distraction."

It's not uncommon for Iraqi officers and enlisted service members alike to work all night and show up the next day in class with little sleep, Lachance explained. Other differences can be found in the schedule and in the resources available to the Iraqis for training. Due to limited fuel, only 10 to 15 sorties take place per day, in comparison to the more than 250 flights at Laughlin's airfield, the busiest in the U.S. Air Force.

Additionally, the T-6 Texan II trainer, which is used by both countries as a key part in training, serves different roles to each, Lachance said. At Laughlin and at all U.S. pilot training bases, the T-6 is flown for several months before the student is sent to either the T-38 for fighter training or T-1 for tanker and airlift training. In Iraq, though, the T-6 is used as a replacement for the T-38 portion of training.

Cultural differences also play a part in what Lachance and his co-workers deal with daily. Things in Iraq are slower-paced, he said, with decisions being made after both parties slowly get to know each other.

"We want to get it done now, but they like to move slowly," he said. "Following that pace has led to a good partnership that will give us friends for life."

Regardless of the difficulties, Lachance said, he has high hopes for the future and is thankful for his experiences as an instructor pilot here, which have helped him prepare for his time in Iraq.

"I've seen the best and worst of pilots. Being with first-assignment instructor pilots at Laughlin has helped me, because in Iraq, they are all first-assignment instructor pilots starting something new," he said. "There is no animosity towards us. They want to rebuild as our partner and friend. Things are going well. And although there are bumps in the road, no one is giving up."

September is Preparedness Month



“A Time to Remember. A Time to Prepare.”

(MADISON) –Tuesday marks the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. To remember the victims - Wisconsin Emergency Management’s ReadyWisconsin is encouraging individuals, families, businesses and communities to prepare for disaster and emergencies.

Preparing for emergencies such as tornadoes, flooding and winter storms requires individuals and families to be self-reliant and ready to face days without utilities such as electricity, water and phone service, access to local businesses such as gas stations and supermarkets, and other needed services Preparing can start with three important steps:

 - Get an emergency supply kit
- Make a plan for what to do in an emergency
- Be informed about emergencies that could happen in your community, and identify sources of information in your community that will be helpful before, during and after an emergency.

The ReadyWisconsin website has more information on how to make an emergency supply kit on a budget, tips for creating your own emergency plan and commonly asked questions and answers about preparedness. Just go to: http://readywisconsin.wi.gov

9/11: Remember Past, Honor Present, Cherish Future



By Navy CAPT Paul S. Hammer, DCoE director

Each generation of Americans witness, and some personally experience, “a date which will live in infamy.” These specific moments are etched in our minds and in the history of our country. They are periods of time recalled in an instant, by some more vividly than others. Where we were, what we were doing, what we were feeling — these powerful shared experiences bond each generation with the next.

Generations were witness to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life, and the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Never forgotten, always remembered.

Like others, I too, can recall where I was, what I was doing and what I was feeling on Sept. 11, 2001. I was on the west coast at the time. It was a warm, bright sunny day, like so many others that year in California and I was headed back to the clinic after my workout. When I arrived back at the clinic, it was then that I saw the slowly developing news coverage and the collapse of the Twin Towers. Looking back I just remember thinking, everything has changed.

On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, I urge all Americans to remember the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Coast Guardsmen who are still at war, and particularly those who gave their lives defending our nation during the last 11 years. We also pay tribute to the veterans, wounded warriors and their families who shoulder the burden of war here at home and will continue to do so for decades to come.

While we will never forget all that was lost on 9/11, I ask that you also remember what we gained as a country. As a part of the National Day of Service and Remembrance, I hope each and every one of us can rekindle the growth of a country sparked by an unspoken bond and once again come together to give back to our communities — today, tomorrow and the next. In doing so we ensure we are honoring the victims, survivors and those who volunteered to serve the days, weeks and years following Sept. 11, 2001.

No matter how you choose to pay it forward, whether it’s through volunteering, charitable organizations or random acts of kindness, your efforts will make a difference.

Godspeed.