War of 1812 Expert Delivers History Lecture at Pentagon

By John Valceanu

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2012 – A Pentagon audience yesterday learned about the impact and legacy of the War of 1812 on the United States from a historian specializing in the conflict.

Christopher T. George, author of “Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay” and editor of the Journal of the War of 1812, spoke about the war’s early stages to a packed room in the Pentagon Conference Center. The event was part of a speaker series coordinated by the Historical Office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

More than 100 people, including military service members from U.S. and allied nations, along with Defense Department civilians and guests, listened as George delivered a lecture titled “The War of 1812: First Campaigns on Land and Sea.”

Speaking with a British accent resulting from a childhood spent in England before emigrating to the U.S. as a boy, George described the defeats suffered on land by American troops against their British and Native American foes, as well as the stunning successes of U.S. naval forces against the British navy, which was then the dominant naval force in the world.

Though time limitations prevented him from going into great detail, George sketched some of the more important events and leaders of that conflict, including U.S. Brig. Gen. William Hull surrendering Fort Detroit to British Maj. Gen. Sir Isaac Brock and Brock’s later death during the Battle of Queenston Heights in what is now the province of Ontario, Canada.

British Navy Adm. Sir George Cockburn, whose troops burned Washington, D.C., and attacked Havre de Grace, Md., was another figure about which the historian talked, as well as U.S. 2nd Lt. John O’Neill, a hero of Havre de Grace who single-handedly manned what came to be known as the “Potato Battery” against the ransacking British.

But George didn’t just discuss U.S. and British military figures. He also talked about Tecumseh, a Native American leader of the Shawnee, who fought alongside the British against the Americans in the hope of creating an American Indian confederacy and stopping the westward expansion of European Americans, and about President James Madison and the impact his lack of military knowledge had on the war. In concluding his presentation, the historian noted that the war was an important milestone in the development of the United States.

“It was desperately hard work, but it was part of the growing up process for the new American nation,” he said. “It allowed American forces to stand toe to toe with a major nation, to gain a new respect in the world, for Americans to think of themselves at last as a nation, rather than a collection of states.”

Speaking with American Forces Press Service after the lecture, George expounded on that theme. “Previously, the nation saw itself as being just separate states in a federalized system, but here they managed to have a national identity,” he said. “The U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy had stood up to perhaps the preeminent military might in the world, and they managed to hold their own against the British without French help, which of course they had in the Revolution. So it was a whole new ball game, in a way.”

During the interview, George said he disagreed with those who use the term “the second war of American independence” to describe the conflict, as he said the British were clearly not interested in recapturing their colonies.  “The major British intent was to protect Canada,” he said. “By the end of the war, the U.S. Army and Navy had proved themselves and although it wasn’t an American victory overall, they had done themselves good credit.”

Though the war was essentially a stalemate, George says he sees it as “a big part of America’s expansion across the continent” and credits it with producing some important national symbols, such as the USS Constitution’s nickname, “Old Ironsides,” the Star Spangled Banner and the motto “Don’t give up the fight!”

“It’s sometimes said that the Americans think they’ve won the War of 1812, the Canadians know they won the War of 1812 and the British have forgotten all about it,” he said. “There’s something for each side to like about the war, some success that each of those three sides had.”

The biggest losers of the conflict, George pointed out, were the Native Americans. The possibility of realizing the dream of a nation of their own died along with Tecumseh and the dissolution of his confederacy.

Arizona Army National Guard hosts, takes part in Native American Gourd Ceremony

By Army Sgt. Crystal Reidy

128th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP NAVAJO TRAINING CENTER, Ariz. - Arizona Army National Guard members got a taste of traditional tribal life in a ceremonial Gourd Dance performed by dozens of Native American Indian dancers at the parade field here, recently.

“It is a real joy to continue to host this amazing ceremony again this year,” said Lt. Col. Dale Oldham, commander of the training center. “It has great significance to our nation and our community.”

The Gourd Dance is done to welcome home troops after war, said Army Master Sgt. Freddie Hatathlie, the noncommissioned officer in charge of engineering operations, adding that traditionally, the dance was for men only.

“We now allow women to participate because they are a part of the military,” said Hatathlie. “Any warrior coming home can participate.”

The Gourd Dance, which originates from the Plaines tribes, has been passed down from generation to generation, said Hatathlie. The dance is now open it to everyone.

“We want to share our traditions and cultures so more people understand us,” said Hatathlie.

 Many of the dancers are veterans of the United States armed forces and participated in conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, said Oldham. This is the third annual Gourd Dance ceremony.

 Since its beginning as an Army depot in 1942, Native Americans helped build, sustain and establish what today’s Camp Navajo is, said Oldham.

“Navajo and Hopi Indians built, worked and lived on this institution,” said Oldham.

The five-hour event started at 9 a.m. with opening ceremonies, prayers, dancing, a community lunch and then the dancing resumed. As many as 200 people attended the gathering.

“This event shows the increased interest in the Native American contribution,” said Oldham. “We are proud of this event and look forward to hosting it every year.”

South Dakota National Guard kicks off international exercise Golden Coyote

By Army National Guard Maj. Anthony Deiss

South Dakota National Guard

RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota National Guard's 28th annual Golden Coyote training exercise is underway in Rapid City and the southern Black Hills, with more than 2,200 service members participating from across the country and the world.

The two-week training exercise, which began June 9 and is scheduled to continue until June 23, allows military forces to conduct combat support and combat service support missions in a realistic training environment and provide valuable services to the public.

Created in the mid-1980s with the cooperation of the National Forest Service and Custer State Park, the exercise provides relevant training opportunities in support of overseas contingency operations and homeland defense. Golden Coyote has developed into one of the nation's top training opportunities for National Guard, Reserve and active-duty forces, as well as military personnel from foreign countries.

"This exercise is a great opportunity for units to tailor their training to their needs," said Army Brig. Gen. Jeff Marlette, commander of forces for Golden Coyote. "Nationwide there are very few exercises that are designed for National Guard, U.S. Reserve and international forces to come together and train. It helps to prepare units to be able to go abroad and support operations overseas, as well as train on homeland security missions right here in the United States."

There are 37 units representing 17 states, and six foreign nations participating in the exercise from multiple branches of military service – Army, Navy, and Air Force – working together to create an invaluable training experience. This includes medical, chemical, transportation, signal, aviation, military police, engineer and quartermaster units. These military forces train on their equipment and employ tactics to prepare them for any future overseas deployment.

"Military forces are able to participate in numerous warrior training tasks and battle drills, such as urban combat operations, medical aid, and day and night convoy operations," said Army Maj. Travis Eastman, exercise coordinator.

Units can also participate in combat patrols, fire arms training and reacting to improvised explosive devices, Eastman said.

Participating units also complete various projects that help improve the forest and local communities. Local residents receive numerous benefits of the many engineering projects being conducted during the training exercise.

Units will be repairing roadways, providing reclamation of hazardous wilderness areas and hauling cut timber from the forest.

"We have transportation units moving timber cut by the National Forest Service for fire control purposes to Native American reservation communities who can use it as firewood," Eastman said. "Our engineers will also repair hazardous wilderness areas and make them safe for public use, and re-surface local roadways that have fallen into disrepair."

"This exercise is a great testament to how we come together with the civilian public," Marlette said. "We coordinate with the National Forest Service, Custer State Park and other local agencies, and the event allows both their agencies and us to be better prepared to meet homeland security missions and provide services to the public."

This year's exercise also includes members from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Suriname.

"The training aim for this exercise is the interoperability with our allies and synchronization between different work forces and equipment," said United Kingdom Territorial Army Maj. Andrew Inglis, Headquarters, 71st Engineer Regiment. "We are looking to provide aid to your civil community here; mainly to conduct route construction, hauling missions and other construction projects.

"As combat engineers we are soldiers first, so we will take part in the exercise's warrior lanes," said Inglis. "The majority of [soldiers] here will probably deploy in the next two to three years, so this is a method of the sub-unit commander to look at his people and make sure they are ready to deploy."

"The international units here provide us an opportunity for joint operations that we will conduct serving our counties abroad," Marlette said.

Northwest Sailors Promote Environmental Stewardship

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Scott A. McCall, Navy Public Affairs Support Element, Det. Northwest

INDIAN ISLAND, Wash. (NNS) -- Sailors from Navy Region Northwest helped local Native American tribes seed 3 million manila clams along the beaches of Naval Magazine (NAVMAG) Indian Island Aug. 9-11.

The seeding project is part of a larger agreement between the Navy and the local Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest to recognize the tribes' rights and satisfy the Navy's mission requirements while sharing shorelines.

This particular project is a seeding mitigation effort related to the installation of a port protection security barrier for the ships and submarines, said Bill Kalina, NAVMAG Indian Island environmental site manager.

"We entered into a 10-year memorandum agreement to seed their tribal beaches, so the money they lose from crab and shrimp is recuperated down here with clam," said Kalina. "This is a beach that they would normally harvest from for manila clams."

The seeding process improves clam growth density, allowing the tribes to harvest heavier bags of clam.

"It's like stocking a fish lake," said Kalina. "You can go to fish a lake and you'll catch a few fish. You stock it and you can catch tons of fish."

Six beaches on Indian Island have been labeled as tribal harvest beaches, allowing the tribes to seed and harvest those particular beaches every year of the agreement. The tribes will "farm" more than an acre a year, checking on the clams every year until they're ready to be harvested, which usually takes about three years, said Kalina.

"It's like farming crops," said Kalina. "You rotate your crops. It's the same thing at the beach. This is actually shellfish aqua culture."

This year, the project started Aug. 1. For three days, tribal members and Navy personnel staked out predator nets along the beach. Then Aug. 9, they began seeding the protected areas.

"There are ducks and crab that like to come in and eat the baby clam, so these nets provide a higher rate of survival," said Kalina.

The opening of Indian Island's beaches allows tribes to harvest shellfish, such as the clams seeded this week, for the purpose of subsistence.

"It helps a lot because the tribal members harvest commercially for their existence and for ceremonies, so the more resources available for them is the extra income," said Viviane Barry, shellfish program manager Suquamish Fisheries Department.

"It's a tradition that's been going on for thousands of years," said Barry. "Tribes have been living off the tide lands in Washington State and it's a tradition that they want to continue."

Indian Island has had a long-standing relationship with the local tribes. The installation has partnered with the tribes for decades to mutually agree on policies and procedures to achieve both the Navy's mission as well as preserve the tribes' cultural traditions and harvesting rights even before any federal requirement or mitigation were discussed, Kalina said.

"They're water people and we're a water mission agency, so we have that in common," said Kalina. "We can keep the Navy running and supply the fleet with ordnance and weapon storage here, but we can also maintain the eco-system here and provide the tribes here harvest treaty rights."

In 2003, the Navy established the Northwest Navy-Tribal Council, which provides a means for ongoing collaboration between the Navy and 24 federally recognized tribes in Washington State, according to Kalina. The Navy and tribes share unique federal "usual and accustomed" shoreline rights in the Puget Sound area. Mitigation projects -- like clam-seeding at Indian Island -- help support these mutual interests within the Navy's third-largest fleet concentration area.

"We want to be good neighbors. We work well with the tribes and we always have," said Cmdr. Gary Martin, NAVMAG Indian Island commanding officer. "The Navy does a great job with all the tribes in Puget Sound. We just want to continue to have that good relationship."

Seeding and harvesting manila clams on Indian Island may also provide additional environmental benefits to the surrounding community.

"One of the main goals of the tribes is to maintain the water quality where the water quality is good enough where you can have open harvest areas," said Barry. "Second is to improve the water quality in areas where's there's pollution, or you can identify the pollution sources and correct them, so eventually you can open more beaches."

The local tribes participating in the project are the Suquamish from Poulsbo, Wash., the S'Klallam from Port Gamble, Wash., and Jamestown, Wash., along with the Lower Elwah Klallam from Port Angeles, Wash.

NOSSA Employee Recognized for Career Achievements by SAIGE

From Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- John Mario Harley, traffic management specialist, for Naval Sea Systems Command's (NAVSEA) Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA), will be recognized with the 2011 Society of American Indian Government Employees (SAIGE) award, June 13.

The organization's eighth annual training conference will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Tulsa, Oka., June 13-17.

SAIGE awards recognize those who promote the recruitment, hiring, retention, development, and advancement; ensure equitable and fair treatment; foster communications; and establish employee associations of, and for, American Indians and Alaska Natives in the government workforce.

"Mr. Harley not only supports a myriad of Native American diversity programs," NOSSA Commanding Officer, Capt. Robert Fowler. "He's also a strong mentor within the Native American/Alaskan Native community, and has developed plans to target applicants for all areas of career opportunities to include Engineering, Science, Research and Development. We're very proud of his recognition."

In addition to his efforts as a youth mentor and counselor for his local tribe in the Southern Maryland area, Harley was instrumental in the establishment of the NAVSEA Native American Outreach Program and helped target the recruitment of Native Americans with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) skills. Harley's efforts also provided the opportunity for more than 1,000 Native American students to participate in hands-on STEM demonstrations at the 2010 United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) forum in San Diego, Calif.

NAVSEA is an organization that values, and benefits from, a diverse workforce. Recognition of our workforce by organizations such as SAIGE helps the NAVSEA enterprise support the Chief of Naval Operations' objectives for the Navy to become increasingly diverse, to build an inclusive climate that retains talent, and have the Navy recognized as an employer of choice in the United States.

Ho-Chunk warrior, Guard member promoted

By Tech. Sgt. Sarah Ellis

Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office

In a ceremony complete with ceremonial Native American raiment and music, a Ho-Chunk Nation warrior was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Wisconsin Army National Guard Saturday (March 19) at Joint Force Headquarters in Madison.

David James Whitehorse Klauser of Madison, an assistant staff judge advocate assigned to Joint Force Headquarters and a state public defender in Janesville, was lauded for his 14 years of service to the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

"He is a good example of a Ho-Chunk warrior and officer in the Wisconsin Army National Guard," Robert Mann, veterans service officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation, said of Klauser. "He served his people, his country, and the Wisconsin National Guard proudly. He has earned the status of warrior ever since he signed up and went into the military."

Brig. Gen. Mark Anderson, commander of the Wisconsin Army National Guard, agreed.

"It was not hard to realize his tremendous effort and dedication, what he has already accomplished, what he has done, what he has been, and the value he has provided to this organization and nation," Anderson said.

Klauser is one of 74 Wisconsin National Guard members of Native American or Alaskan native heritage. Mann related how, during a 2007 deployment to Iraq with the 332nd Rear Operations Center, Klauser raised the Ho-Chunk Nation flag over the headquarters building.

"That just shows the type of person he is," Mann said. "He is very proud of his heritage."  

Native Americans and the United States Coast Guard

Written by: LTJG Stephanie Young

In recognition of Native American Heritage Day, we have asked William H. Thiesen, Ph.D. the United States Coast Guard Atlantic Area Historian to provide some history on Native Americans who have served with pride and distinction in the United States Coast Guard and its predecessor services.

Minorities have participated in the U.S. Coast Guard since the service’s beginning in 1790 and have served throughout the history of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services. Since the nineteenth century, Native American members of the U. S. Coast Guard have served from a variety of tribes and locations and pioneered the way ahead for service diversity.

It is not known who the first Native American individual to enlist in the Coast Guard was, but, as a group, the first Native Americans that served typically came from coastal tribes known to be expert watermen. These tribes included the Wampanoags in Massachusetts, Ojibwa in the Great Lakes and the Makah tribe in Washington State. Native Americans from these tribes typically served at shore bases in predecessor services such as the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the U.S. Lighthouse Service.

An example of one of the earliest documented Native American involvements in the service occurred in 1879 at the Life-Saving Service station at Neah Bay, Washington. Neah Bay was composed of a white keeper and an entirely Native American crew. The crewmembers included skilled surfmen, such as As-Chik-Abik, Tsos-et-oos, and Tsa-la-boos. This unit was the first one in federal service composed primarily of Native Americans and it was formed not long after Custer’s Last Stand at the Little Bighorn, when anti-Native American sentiment ran high.

From 1912 until 1933, Charles Vanderhoop, of the Aquinnah Wampanoags, served in the U.S. Lighthouse Service as a keeper for lighthouses on the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. As keeper, Vanderhoop would hire other Wampanoag tribal members as assistants because they proved more reliable and hardworking. Vanderhoop was very popular as the long-serving keeper at Gay Head Lighthouse, and visitors from the community flocked to the lighthouse where he gave tours to approximately 300,000 visitors.

Native American Coast Guard personnel have also served with distinction in time of war. Wampanoag Carlton West, of Nantucket, served in World War I and World War II. George “White Bear” Drapeaux, of the Sioux Nation, served as a gunners mate during World War II, including service on the USS Wakefield in Singapore. And, in 1943, James Leftwich, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, enlisted in the Coast Guard at the ripe age of fourteen. He retired as an officer in 1964 after a fruitful career in the service.

Native Americans in the United States Coast Guard have served from a variety of Indian nations, including not only coastal tribes, but the Sioux, Cherokee, Chickasaw and many others. These personnel pioneered the way ahead for minorities in the Coast Guard and their efforts have benefitted all who serve in the U.S. military and their efforts have benefitted all who serve in the U.S. military and federal government, and the nation as a whole.