Army Spc. Caleb Ardaiz, a Task Force Guardian sniper, prepares to provide security for an Air Force C-130J Super Hercules in Somalia, June 16, 2020. The task force provides base security and force protection for Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa personnel and U.S. partner forces deployed in the region.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Beavers, a member of the Army Special Operations Command’s parachute demonstration team, the Black Daggers, descends during a demonstration in Jackson, Miss., June 17, 2020.
An Air Force B-2 Spirit receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker, June 18, 2020, while flying on a strategic bomber mission north of the Arctic Circle.
Marines fire an M240B from a mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicle during nighttime range training in Kuwait, June 16, 2020.
Defense Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency public affairs official Lee Tucker emphasized that South Korean soldiers fought alongside U.S. troops during that war against North Korea. The war lasted from 1950 to 1953. The remains are returning to South Korea after 67 years, he noted.
"This, like the past repatriation, is due to the strong and long standing partnership between the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and [South Korea's] Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification," Tucker said. "It is the incredible improvements in technology, advancements in forensic science and the strong partnership between DPAA and MAKRI which led to these identifications."
MAKRI and DPAA scientists have conducted joint forensic reviews and validated 147 remains as being of South Korean origin. Gleaned from advanced DNA and other forensic analyses, 77 of them are from the remains North Korea turned over in 55 boxes in July 2018, and the others are from remains repatriated in the early 1990s, he said.
The Pearl Harbor-Hickam ceremony will be followed by a June 25 repatriation ceremony in South Korea's capital of Seoul, hosted by President Moon Jae-in. June 25 coincides with the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, Tucker noted.
Seven South Korean family members have been identified as having DNA matches to seven of the 147 remains, and they will be present at the ceremony in Seoul.
South Korea also will turn over to the United Nations Command six sets of U.S. remains that South Korean teams have recovered. The seven South Korean soldiers, who have been identified, and the six U.S. service members will be at the forefront of the ceremony in Seoul, Tucker said.
The United Nations Command will conduct a dignified transfer of remains aboard a U.S. aircraft at Osan Air Base on June 26 or 27 for transport to Hawaii, he said.
A Marine fires an M240B machine gun during mixed weapons range training at Combined Arms Training Center Fuji, Japan, June 19, 2020. The Marines were participating in Fuji Viper, an annual exercise focused on sustaining individual and small unit proficiency and decision making.
Recruits assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, are issued gear upon arrival at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif., June 22, 2020. In the future, as recruits arrive at the depot, they will enter a 14-day staging period during which they will be medically screened and tested for COVID-19, monitored and provided classes to prepare them to begin training. All of this occurs before they step onto the iconic yellow footprints and make that memorable move toward earning the title Marine. Although current planning and execution remain fluid as the response to the pandemic evolves, one thing remains constant: the health and well-being of the recruits, the recruiting and training personnel, and their families remain the primary concerns.
The defense ministers/secretaries from the Five Eyes nations (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) met via videoconference on 22 / 23 June.
Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to advance defense and security cooperation on matters of common interest to support and defend a stable, rules-based, global order that is increasingly being challenged.
Ministers recognized the role of regional partners and institutions in shaping globally and across the Indo-Pacific a stable and secure, economically resilient community, where the sovereign rights of all states are respected.
Ministers discussed new opportunities for Five Eyes partners to further strengthen their relationship, build resilience, address challenges to international rules and norms and advance cooperation across key lines of effort in an increasingly complex and challenging geostrategic environment.
Ministers committed to meet regularly as part of efforts to address existing and emerging security challenges, and to advance their shared values of democracy, freedom and respect for human rights.
The 75th Medical Group at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, recently established a COVID-19 drive-thru screening and testing line for airmen with the 421st Fighter Squadron to get them out the door healthy and safe for deployment.
Prior to the pandemic, airmen would congregate at a building and be processed one by one through a line, stopping at different stations to ensure their immunizations, public health and other records were in order before they deployed.
To maximize social distancing due to COVID-19, the 75th Medical Group scheduled airmen to go through its medical predeployment screening and testing line while remaining in their personal vehicles.
The line consisted of three stations. At station one, airmen received a temperature check and all medical documents necessary for the upcoming deployment were verified. At the next station, medics performed a nasopharyngeal swab to test for COVID-19. At the third station, airmen with any outstanding requirements were directed to park and go into the clinic to complete them. Those who didn't require additional actions were given further predeployment quarantine instructions and exited the line.
Air Force Capt. Pedro Rivera, the laboratory and radiology flight commander for the 75th Medical Group, said the drive-thru line was practiced three times before it was executed. The practice, along with local hospital and laboratory coordination, helped ensure the line was safely and efficiently handled, he said.
"Collaboration with all sections was imperative," he added. "Medics were trained prior to collection to ensure safety for patients and medics, while the laboratory staff made sure to meet specimen and collection requirements and coordinated with the reference laboratory for quick processing."
Rivera said each airman spent only six to 10 minutes in the line, and the entire process was completed in less than five hours.
"The ingenuity of our personnel is outstanding," Air Force Col. Mark Cleveland, the 75th Medical Group commander, said. "When you can just provide the vision and then get out of their way and watch what happens, you usually find yourself amazed at the results."
Cleveland noted that the medical group's people are doing everything they can to lower the virus risk to their patient population and personnel, and that every procedure that can be done safely is still being accomplished at the clinic.
"It may take an extra minute to get in the doors, but once inside, you can expect the same great service from the professionals as you did prior to COVID-19," Cleveland said.
(Cynthia Griggs is assigned to the 75th Air Base Wing.)
Almost every sporting event in the United States has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an absence noted by the many service members who are ardent sports fans and enjoy playing sports. Because the games are mostly on hold, here's a look at two sports legends who also served in the military.
Roy Gleason and Donny Tidwell both have ties to Los Angeles Dodgers baseball and to military service in Vietnam. The difference is that one came home alive. One didn't.
Outfielder and switch-hitter Roy Gleason played just eight major league games for the Dodgers in 1963, though he had been with the Dodgers organization in the minor leagues since 1961. But 1963 was the year that the Dodgers swept the World Series over the New York Yankees, 4-0, making Gleason part of the team's legacy.In 1967, Gleason was drafted into the Army. He completed basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington, and advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Shortly after completing his training, he was deployed to South Vietnam with the 39th Infantry Regiment and then the 9th Infantry Regiment. He was stationed at the old French fort called Fort Courage, near Saigon, beside the South China Sea.
Gleason had many close calls with death, which he recounted in his collaborative biography, "Lost in the Sun."
Fort Courage got mortared regularly, Gleason wrote, once taking a direct hit which killed five soldiers and took the leg off his company commander.
In March 1968, Gleason's platoon came under heavy fire in the Mekong Delta as they were crossing a rice paddy. Two soldiers were hit by enemy fire, and Gleason carried each to safety as incoming fire continued. As a result, Gleason was meritoriously promoted to sergeant in June, thereby making him the platoon sergeant.
Shortly after his promotion, on July 24, 1968, while walking point, he and his men walked into an ambush. Almost immediately, he was wounded in the wrist and lower leg. After fashioning a tourniquet, he returned fire. Many of his buddies were wounded or killed that day. Eventually, they were evacuated by helicopter, and that ended Gleason's tour in Vietnam.
After his tour of duty, Gleason played in the Dodgers' farm system in 1969 and 1970, but his war wounds prevented him from returning to the major leagues. He went on to have a career in television and films, including starring in the TV series "Branded" alongside actor Chuck Connors, and portraying a race car driver in a "Batman" episode.
He makes his home in Melrose Park, Illinois. His father, Richard Roy Gleason, served as a Seabee during World War II.
Just about every rookie who gets drafted into the big leagues dreams of hometown glory. Donny Tidwell, most likely, had dreams, too.
The Dodgers selected pitcher Donny Tidwell in the 42nd round of the 1966 first-year player draft. In his only professional season at rookie-league level with the Ogden Dodgers, Tidwell went 4–3, with a 4.01 earned run average in 19 games, according to Mark Langill, L.A. Dodgers team historian and author of five Dodger-related books. Based in Ogden, Utah, The Ogden Dodgers were a minor league baseball team in the Pioneer League from 1966 to 1973.
It was future Baseball Hall of Fame coach Tommy Lasorda's second season as a minor league manager, and Ogden won the Pioneer League title with a 39–27 record, Langill said. Future major league players on that 1966 Ogden squad included then-outfielder Bill Russell and pitcher Charlie Hough. Tidwell's roommate at Ogden was infielder Justin Dedeaux, son of longtime University of Southern California baseball coach and former Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop Rod Dedeaux.
Tidwell, sensing a call to duty, enlisted in the Army in November 1966 for an expected three-year tour. He had been in Vietnam for only two months and 12 days when he was killed, at age 21, on April 12, 1968. Tidwell was a member of Bravo Company, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Langill said.
Lasorda, who later managed the major league Dodgers for 20 seasons and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, sent a message to the Tidwell family in 2018, when Tidwell's high school in Diana, Texas, renamed its baseball field in his honor. Hometown glory was just as sweet 50-plus years after that rookie season.
"I began my managerial career in the rookie leagues. It was an incredibly good feeling to take young, inexperienced players and mold them, build them into good players and winners," Lasorda wrote to Tidwell's family. "Throughout my playing career, I knew there was only a small difference between the mediocre ballplayer and the very good ballplayer on the team, and that distance could be narrowed through hard work and determination.
"My first championship team was the 1966 Ogden Dodgers," he continued. "I'll always look at that roster and think of Donny Tidwell. Every player who starts out in pro ball has a dream of playing in the Majors. While several of his teammates eventually played in the Majors, Donny decided there was something bigger than baseball. His decision to enter the Army took courage as he set aside his dream of playing baseball to serve his country. The image of Donny eagerly taking the ball and pitching in a Dodger uniform during that summer of 1966 is something I've carried with me for more than 50 years. I am thankful the community of Diana, Texas, continues to honor a true hero and role model."
Even a pandemic like COVID-19 cannot stop the Army from developing and training its future enlisted leaders, and the Emergency Basic Leaders Course in Kuwait made sure of that.
Deployed soldiers in the next generation of Army enlisted leaders were able to complete the Basic Leaders Course in Kuwait without having to go back to the United States for classes or delay their promotion eligibility.
The newest graduating class included more than 40 soldiers from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, with about 120 more from throughout the U.S. Army Central Command area of responsibility.
"This is your first developmental class; hopefully, you'll have plenty more," Army Maj. Gen. Steven Ferrari, the commander of Task Force Spartan Shield and the Infantry Division, told the latest graduates.
Enlisted soldiers must take many courses as they progress through the Army's ranks. Completing the Basic Leaders Course is the first step in that progression, and it gives future enlisted leaders a glimpse at what it takes to become a noncommissioned officer and what it takes to lead other soldiers properly.
"As you progress through your career, you will go to many courses, but none will be as unique as this one," Ferrari said. "It gives you an overview on how to lead, but everyone will develop their own style in how to lead. What you must do in order to become successful in this military is you must be a leader of character, competence and commitment."
As the coronavirus swept through the nation, schools once bustling with the sounds of children became ghost towns, school buses stopped in their tracks, and classrooms once filled with life went vacant.
The pandemic left families in Bladen County, North Carolina, in a dire situation. Unemployment skyrocketed, and families struggled more to feed their children.
Amy Stanley, the director of school nutrition for Bladen County Schools, said 76% of students attending Elizabethtown Middle School would typically receive free or reduced meals during the school year, and that most of the meals the children ate on weekdays, came from the school meal programs.
"On a daily basis, typically, students are here at school and they're able to get those lunches....But COVID-19 has impacted our society so much," said Jamal Dunham, the principal of Elizabethtown Middle School. “We transitioned to virtual schooling, but kids still need to eat.”
With parents out of work and students without a meal plan, the uncertainty of when their next meal would come became a mystery and a gut-wrenching horror.
"Without those meals, they're not going to have the nutrition that they need," Stanley said. "When we get out of school on Friday and come back on Monday, there are many children that do not eat during that weekend. So to go three or four months without the children eating would be devastating to the families and to the children."
Schools were no longer in session, but their desire to help remained strong. County leaders called on the North Carolina Army National Guard to help with their mission to provide school breakfast and lunches to students.
"The National Guard has stepped in and provided our district the opportunity to support children through natural and healthy eating habits," Dunham said. "We would not have been able to make the impact we're making without the help of the National Guard."
Fifty-five soldiers from guard units across North Carolina — including the 1131st Charlie Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 449th Theatre Aviation Brigade, Alpha and Bravo Battery, 5th Battalion, 113th Field Artillery Regiment, and the 1454th Transportation Company — arrived in Bladen County.
"It was just amazing to see how quickly they were able to come in, integrate into the system, and just hit the ground running," said Robert Taylor, the superintendent at Elizabethtown Middle School.
The guardsmen provided assistance to seven different schools throughout the county, including Elizabethtown Middle School. Their collaborative mission to help the hungry began early in the morning, as soldiers put on their uniforms and worked long hours with the school staff to make and prepare meals. Finally, the meals were loaded onto school buses and were off to their usual routes.
"The teamwork is just phenomenal," said Army Maj. Ashley Perdue, the officer in charge at Elizabethtown Middle School. "Working with the cafeteria staff, we all just melded. … It's been a really great experience."
The guard played a key role in helping Bladen County's limited workforce to produce and distribute mass quantities of food on a daily basis. The guard helped the county provide about 45,000 meals a week that were distributed daily along 26 bus routes.
"The feeding of the children during this COVID crisis has been a really tremendous effort," Taylor said. "Having the National Guard here has made a tremendous difference in terms of how we serve people."
During a time of social distancing, school buses were as rare a sight as an ice cream truck in the dead of winter. Nonetheless, children of Bladen County were once again able to hear the sweet sound of the roaring engine as their yellow beacon of hope approached their bus stop. Their unexpected guardian angel had arrived. However, the last thing the kids expected to see were boots emerging from the bus as the doors opened.
"At first they were kind of standoffish and scared, not used to seeing the uniform," said Army Spc. Amber Cohen, assigned to the 449th TAB. "Now they're running up to me like I'm family...and giving me hugs on my leg."
The experience ended up being more than just a duty and a job especially to Cohen. The word "family" was used to describe the relationship the staff and soldiers developed while working for the same cause. It brought new perspectives and grateful hearts as these heroes in green served their community.
"Their people of our own," Cohen said. "It feels like it's a family. You get to see the smiles on their faces, and you know that when you hand them that food, they're going to be eating for lunch and breakfast the next day at the very least."
An unlikely hero quickly became a friendly face that the children greeted with warm hugs and bright smiles.
"The National Guard in Bladen County will be a lasting memory for everyone," Taylor said. "The guard is actually helping out communities in ways that they have never imagined."
The dedication and perseverance of the Elizabethtown Middle School staff and soldiers served food and hope to many children. A time of tragedy evolved into an unexpected experience of unity and camaraderie.
"The National Guard has made an impact here at Elizabethtown Middle School and is touching the lives of the students here in Bladen County," Dunham said. "The National Guard has done some phenomenal work. We are blessed to have you on our side."
(Army Spc. Hannah Tarkelly is assigned to the 382nd Public Affairs Detachment)
Twelve Air Force F-16CM Fighting Falcons, two Air Force MC-130J Commando II aircraft, two Navy EA-18G Growlers, a Navy C-12 Huron, a Navy P-8 Poseidon and 12 Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft participate in an "Elephant Walk” at Misawa Air Base, Japan, June 22, 2020. The event showcased the base’s collective readiness and ability to generate combat airpower at a moment's notice.
Marines exercise during the High Intensity Tactical Training competition at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., June 18, 2020. The Marines showcased their fitness after having to social distance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Defense announced today the induction of seven new members to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. DACOWITS provides the Secretary of Defense with advice and recommendations on matters and policies relating to the recruitment, retention, employment, integration, well-being, and treatment of women in the U.S. Armed Forces.
The committee is comprised of up to 20 members, who include prominent civilian women and men from academia, industry, public service, and other professions. Selection is on the basis of experience in the military or with women-related workforce issues. Members are selected for a 4-year term and perform a variety of duties, to include visiting military installations annually, conducting a review and evaluation of current research on military women, and developing an annual report with recommendations on these issues for the secretary of defense.
New committee appointments include:
Current committee members:
To learn more about DACOWITS visit https://dacowits.defense.gov/.
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