Marine Corps recruits participate in the receiving process at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Feb. 9, 2021. For the first time since it’s opening in 1921, the depot began integrated training of male and female recruits.
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Rust Removal
Navy Petty 2nd Class Samuel White removes rust with a grinder aboard the USS Hershel “Woody” Williams in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, Feb. 4, 2021.
Biden Announces DOD China Task Force
Feb. 10, 2021
|
, DOD News
President Joe Biden announced the formation of a DOD China Task
Force to provide a baseline assessment of department policies, programs
and processes in regard to the challenge China poses.
Ely Ratner, a special assistant to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, will lead the effort. The task force has four months to develop recommendations for senior defense leaders.
Austin and newly sworn in Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks called China the "pacing threat" for America in this era of strategic competition.
China is seeking to overturn the current rules-based structure, which has benefitted all nations in the Indo-Pacific region. The United States and its allies seek to continue the free and open environment in the region. China is using all elements of national power to bend the nations to its will.
The United States is conducting freedom of navigation operations to
ensure all nations can use international waterways and air routes. The
U.S. is working with allies to improve policing of national borders and
exclusive economic zones to ensure sovereignty.
Countering Chinese efforts is the focus of the task force.
Defense officials called the task force a "sprint effort" that will examine high-priority topics including strategy, operational concepts, technology and force structure, force posture and force management and intelligence. The task force will also examine U.S. alliances and partnerships and their impact on Sino-American relations and DOD relations with China.
The 15-member task force will come from a wide swath of the department and include the Office of the Secretary of Defense staff, the Joint Staff, the services, the combatant commands and representatives from the intelligence community.
The task force will also speak with interagency partners to ensure the defense response is aligned with the whole-of-government approach toward China that the president wants.
Flight Quartet
Military aircraft fly near Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 9, 2021, as part of a formation of U.S. and Japanese aircraft participating in Cope North. The annual exercise serves as a keystone event to enhance U.S. relations with regional allies and partners and promote security and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
Seaside Oath
Army Capt. Tiara Tompkins-Bradley reaffirms Sgt. Ricky N. Paige’s oath of enlistment during a ceremony at Kuwait Naval Base, Feb. 4, 2021.
Sunlit Signal
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Alexandra Graham signals a Marine Corps CH-53E helicopter to land on the flight deck of the USS America in the Philippine Sea, Feb. 8, 2021.
Ice Breaker
Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Luis Castro participates in an ice-breaker drill during cold weather training in Setermoen, Norway, Feb. 8, 2021.
Flight Prep
An airman prepares a KC-10 Extender to take on cargo in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Feb. 1, 2021.
Sailing Duo
The USS Sterett and USS John S. McCain sail in formation in the South China Sea, Feb. 9, 2021.
Direct Fire
Army 1st Lt. Nancy Gomez fires an M777 howitzer during a direct-fire exercise at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, Feb. 4, 2021.
Giving Directions
Army Staff Sgt. Jonathon Peyton, a wheeled vehicle mechanic assigned to the 3648th Maintenance Company, South Carolina National Guard, directs traffic as patients arrive at a South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control COVID-19 mobile test site at the Kershaw County Parks and Recreation complex in Camden, S.C., Feb. 9, 2021.
Vaccine Inoculation
Army Sgt. Valorie Reed, a medic assigned to the 303rd Cavalry Regiment, administers the COVID-19 vaccine in Puyallup, Wash., Feb. 4, 2021. Reed is on a mobile vaccination team administering vaccines at various locations in the area.
Jungle Ops
A soldier patrols during a jungle operations training course in Wahiawa, Hawaii, Jan. 20, 2021.
Load Duty
Airmen load munitions on an F-15E Strike Eagle at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 5, 2021.
Eye Exam
Army Capt. Kelly McCormick conducts an eye exam on a military working dog in Miesau, Germany, Feb. 5, 2021.
Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Call With Norwegian Minister of Defence Frank Bakke-Jensen
Feb. 10, 2021
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone today with his Norwegian counterpart, Minister of Defence Frank Bakke-Jensen, to reaffirm the strategic defense relationship between the United States and Norway.
Secretary Austin thanked Minister Bakke-Jensen for hosting rotational U.S. Marines for cold weather training and underscored the importance of continued training, operations, and cooperation in the High North. Notably, the U.S. recently announced that it would deploy a B-1 Lancer Bomber squadron for Bomber Task Force missions out of Ørland Air Base to improve interoperability with our allies and partners in the High North and across Europe.
Minister Bakke-Jensen congratulated Secretary Austin on his new position and expressed appreciation for our long-standing military cooperation and shared values.
Secretary Austin and Minister Bakke-Jensen agreed to meeting in person at the earliest opportunity but noted they looked forward to speaking at the upcoming NATO Defense Ministerial.
Online Tool Focuses on Exceptional Family Members
Feb. 10, 2021 | , DOD News
The Exceptional Family Member Program's online tool, EFMP & Me,
recently got an upgrade that provides leadership and program service
providers with access to an array of information and checklists curated
especially for them.
"There are four specific users we identified for EFMP & Me, and now they each have their own section, their own content and an information source for their particular role within the Exceptional Family Member Program," said Karen M. Terry, program analyst with the Defense Department's Office of Military Community and Family Policy.
The four identified users are family members, service members, leaders and providers.
The DOD identifies family members in the Exceptional Family Member program as having a special medical and/or educational need that meet the criteria for enrollment into the program, Terry said.
Terry said the Defense Department created the Exceptional Family Member Program to ensure the department considers the needs of military families during the assignment process.
The leader's role is to make sure service members are ready to
deploy or whatever the military needs them to do and part of that is
ensuring family members are being cared for.''
Karen M. Terry, program analyst, Office of Military Community and Family Policy
The online tool is part of the suite of resources on Military OneSource. Planning and development began a few years ago when leaders in the Military Community and Family Policy Office recognized that families with special needs may have concerns unique to their situation that are not addressed elsewhere. MC&FP developed EFMP & Me to provide service members and their families an online tool to explore information and resources of interest to them. Users can access the tool via a mobile device or desktop.
“For example, these families have additional concerns or considerations when they're moving," she said. "So, we put together a working group to kind of talk about the idea of checklists. And what became very apparent very quickly was because of the differences in each family’s individual concerns and where they might be in their military career, a one-size-fits-all approach would not be sufficient. There are so many variables in every family's military life, and even more so with families in EFMP."
The EFMP & Me tool was born out of those discussions. The tool initially launched in June of last year with resources and checklists tailored for family members. They cover multiple concerns within 10 different topic categories and are customizable to the needs of the user.
“The tool also gives suggestions of resources and tools that they can check out for more support or guidance, like who to ask a particular question to, so that they experience less guesswork and less running around. With EFMP & Me, they have more information on exactly what they need to do to get that PCS move, or whatever it is, done as efficiently as possible," Terry said.
Family members were just the first "profile" available under EFMP & Me. The next profile, made available in August 2020, was for service members.
Terry said they added two new profiles to EFMP & Me in January. One is for military leaders who have service members in their ranks with family members in the EFMP, and one is for service providers within the program.
"The leader's role is to make sure service members are ready to deploy or whatever the military needs them to do and part of that is ensuring family members are being cared for," Terry said.
"A lot of times we find, with family members who have special needs, there's a lot going on at home, and there are a lot of considerations," Terry said. "It may be that you don't just need to find a babysitter; you need to find a babysitter who is skilled at taking care of a child with a particular disability. For those families, it's helpful for the military leader to understand not just that the service member has a family member with special needs, but also that the service member is going to have additional concerns and priorities on their mind."
The EFMP & Me tool gives leaders access to resources that allow them to better understand the Exceptional Family Member Program and better help their service members. It should be a tool that leaders use to be more effective ensuring their units are ready for whatever the military asks the unit to do, Terry said.
Content for the leader profile is organized in a way that is more intuitive to common questions or situations a leader might face when working with service members who have exceptional family members. Any leader, no matter the rank or number of people he or she leads, can benefit from the information.
"We did our best to anticipate what those questions and situations might be and organized the content accordingly," Terry said. "We wanted to make it less intimidating and easier to get them the information they need quickly. The resources included in EFMP & Me can help promote a service member’s readiness and, therefore, help the leader in what he or she is trying to do, which is to maintain a high level of overall readiness."
Terry said service providers are the fourth profile on EFMP & Me. Providers can log in to get program information, as well as professional updates, such as continuing education within the EFMP provider community and news from the Office of Special Needs.
"There are a lot of things on EFMP & Me for service providers that's beyond just the basic information that they should already know as a provider," she said. "It's going to be more of a communication hub for our service providers, as well."
Interested family members, service members, leaders and EFMP service providers can access the EFMP & Me tool at https://efmpandme.militaryonesource.mil/. They can also contact Military OneSource 24 hours a day at 1-800-349-9647.
About Military Community and Family Policy
Military Community and Family Policy is directly responsible for establishing and overseeing quality-of-life policies and programs that help our guardians of country, their families, and survivors be well and mission-ready. Military OneSource is the gateway to programs and services that support the everyday needs of the 5.2 million service members and immediate family members of the military community. These Department of Defense services can be accessed 24/7/365 around the world.
About Military OneSource
Military OneSource is a DOD-funded program that is both a call center and a website providing comprehensive information, resources and assistance on every aspect of military life. Service members and the families of active duty, National Guard and reserve (regardless of activation status), Coast Guard members when activated for the Navy, DOD expeditionary civilians and survivors are eligible for Military OneSource services, which are available worldwide 24 hours a day, seven days a week, free to the user.
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