Thailand: Guard members dedicate new school building they help build

Washington National Guard Courtesy report

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand -- Army National Guard Soldiers and members of the Royal Thai Armed Forces attended a dedication ceremony with members of the local community to commemorate a new school building here, Thursday.

Soldiers from the 176th Engineer Company, Washington Army National Guard, constructed the new building over the last few weeks, with their Royal Thai counterparts from the 2nd Development Division, Royal Thai Army, as part of Exercise Cobra Gold 2012.

“No matter where in the world each of us is from, we all share a common desire: to ensure the quality of our children’s future,” said Army Maj. Gen. Gary Beard of U.S. Army Pacific.

The multipurpose building is slated to be used as a secondary school for the Ban Wang Nam Khiao School, and is one of six humanitarian action projects built during Exercise Cobra Gold.

“Our armies’ combined efforts to provide an appropriate venue for learning to prosper is a down-payment on the future, as these young students advance the United States – Thailand relationship into the next generation,” Beard said.

Beard said Exercise Cobra Gold is vital for increasing joint military cohesion in preparation for disaster response and other future missions in the region.

A medical civic action project was held in conjunction with the dedication ceremony.

Service members from the U.S. Navy’s 3rd Medical Battalion and the U.S. Army’s 65th Medical Brigade provided general medical and dental care along with pediatric and optometry services, alongside medical personnel from the Royal Thai Armed Forces.

Service members from Japan, the Indonesia, Republic of Korea and Malaysia also provided medical care.

Cobra Gold 2012 is the thirty-first iteration of the joint, multinational exercise held to increase interoperability with participating nations and to advance security throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Cobra Gold 2012 is scheduled to conclude today.

Face of Defense: Toy Drop Becomes a Family Affair

By Army Staff Sgt. JaJuan S. Broadnax
49th Public Affairs Detachment

FORT BRAGG, N.C.  – Army Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Vallade and his son, Army Sgt. Joseph Vallade, spent a special day together Dec. 10, when both paratroopers participated in the annual charity toy drop near here.

The father-son duo jumped from an aircraft together for the first time – possibly the only time -- and earned Thai army jump wings in the process.

The junior Vallade arrived to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team nearly three years ago. He’s a military policeman in the brigade’s Special Troops Battalion. His father took over responsibilities as the command sergeant major for the 82nd Sustainment Brigade’s Special Troops Battalion earlier this year. They’ve been trying to coordinate a jump together ever since.

The 14th annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop provided the opportunity. Participating paratroopers are supervised by a foreign jumpmaster from one of ten countries. This year, the Vallades’ jumpmaster was from Thailand.

“The odds of us jumping together are not the best in the world, so today was a very special day for us,” said the senior Vallade. “It will probably be the only jump that I will have with this young sergeant before he gets promoted again or I retire.”

“I was thinking that I would never get a chance to jump with him, but thank the Lord,” he added.

Vallade is in his 28th year of service, but his son has the edge on airborne operations, he said with pride, praising Sgt. Vallade for getting his twelfth jump that day. Command Sgt. Maj. Vallade has seven.

“That’s why he got to go in front of me today,” Vallade said of his son. “That doesn’t happen often.”

“The good thing about jumping side-by-side is that he was teasing me most of the day,” he added. “He gave me six cherry pies to put into my pocket. Needless to say, I did not jump with the cherry pies in my pocket.”

“Now I’m just waiting to [inspect his parachute],” said Sgt. Vallade, referring to his ambition to become a jumpmaster.

Command Sgt. Maj. Vallade said that along with having his battalion commander enlist his son into the military and being able to drop him for his first pushup, the chance to jump with him is something he always will remember. His son agreed.

“It’s awesome to have someone to look up to,” said Sgt. Vallade. “I’ve always wanted to be in the Army. It’s awesome to finally be here and be able to look directly up at my dad in uniform and out of uniform.”

“He’s most definitely my role model,” he added.

Command Sgt. Maj. Vallade is equally proud, as his son has developed a reputation for taking care of his soldiers.

“I love you, boy,” he said, as he patted him on the shoulder.

The jump may be the Vallades’ last opportunity as Joseph is about to embark on his second Afghanistan deployment. His father soon will retire from the Army.

Both are feeling the anxiety about the junior Vallade’s upcoming mission, they said. Command Sgt. Maj. Vallade explained that although he has five combat deployments under his belt, nothing can prepare a father to send his son off to war.

“When you’re the deployer, you don’t think about it,” Vallade said. “You train and you prepare, but when your son or your family member is gone downrange, you don’t get a break. You’ve been there, done that. You know what could happen.”

“But, I know that he is trained for it,” he added.

Vallade said the only thing that could top the pride he felt jumping with his son and watching him turn into the combat-proven soldier he’s become, is to jump with both of his sons. The third Vallade is an Army lieutenant.

“If I could get that to happen before I retire, I wouldn’t need a retirement gift,” he said. “That would be my gift.”

Face of Defense: U.S. Troops Combat Floods in Thailand

By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Matheus J. Hernandez
Marine Corps Bases Japan

BANGKOK  – U.S. Marines, airmen and sailors worked in tandem with their Thai military counterparts to provide flood relief late last month at the Don Mueang International Airport here.

The U.S. service members and Royal Thai soldiers and airmen transported equipment from the Laem Chabang port to fight flooding at the water-inundated airport Nov. 29.

Marines and sailors assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 3, part of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force’s 3rd Marine Logistics Group, performed water removal operations with the Thai air force. Before the operation, Thai airmen placed sandbags as barriers around the airport’s four flooded maintenance facilities.

“The Marines were tasked to drain a specific area of the airport that the Royal Thai Air Force had isolated,” said Marine Corps Maj. Jonathan A. Derosier, engineering officer for the 3rd MEF’s flood relief command element. “They had a mission, which was to drain a specific targeted area, and that was within the scope of our capability.”

U.S. forces provided equipment to assist in draining the area, including hose-and-reel systems, 600-gallon-per-minute fuel pumps and vehicles to transport the equipment.

“They wanted to accelerate the natural drainage of the flood water, and to do that we deployed the hose reel to pump the water from the isolated area and routed it through the hose down to a drainage canal,” Derosier said. “That was going to allow the water to naturally flow [from the canal].”

U.S. Marine Corps and Army engineers and civil engineers with the U.S. Air Force’s 36th Contingency Response Group worked with Thai service members, officials said, to determine how to conduct the flood-relief operations, including routing flood water to minimize the length of hose needed, and determining the amount of water to be moved.

Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer Julio C. Dominguez, the engineering detachment officer in- charge with the logistics regiment, said the American and Thai service members worked diligently during the successful operations.

“The Marines were able to adapt to the environment and complete their mission,” Dominguez said. “Completing our mission allowed the Thai people to get back to work by gaining access to their buildings.”