Northwest Sailors Volunteer at Veterans Home

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

RETSIL, Wash. (NNS) -- More than 40 chief petty officers (CPO) and CPO selects, assigned to commands within Navy Region Northwest, participated in a community relations (COMREL) project at Washington Veterans Home, Aug. 9.

 The CPO selects, Sailors undergoing an induction process to CPO, assisted the grounds crew of the veterans home with brush clean-up of the campus, tree trimming and weed pulling.

"Our ultimate goal is not only to make this thing pretty, but to give back and appreciate our veterans," said Chief Hospital Corpsman (SS/FMF) Robert Ripps, stationed at Naval Submarine Support Center on Naval Base Kitsap (NBK) Bangor.

During the clean up the CPO selects also interacted with the veterans living on the campus sharing stories of their time currently serving and listening to the stories from those who preceded them.

"Some of the selects broke off and engaged some of the veterans here that reside in the facility and they appreciate not only us here helping maintain their home, but to listen and appreciate them and what they sacrificed for us and our nation," said Ripps. "A lot of times all people want sometimes is to be appreciated and someone to listen to them."

Washington Veterans Home is on a 31-acre campus with a state-of-the-art facility serving more than 240 veterans needing both long-term nursing and assisted-living care.

Don Veverka, superintendent administrator for the Washington Veterans Home, said that due to a limited budget the home can only allocate two people to manage the grounds for the entire campus, so they rely heavily on volunteers especially current active duty service members.

"The help that we receive is a tremendous value to us, it allows us to keep the grounds looking, much better than they would otherwise," said Veverka. "We rely on them very heavily to come and provide those extra hands and assistance in keeping the place looking better than it would otherwise. We respect and appreciate their contribution immensely."

Veverka said the veterans love it when current active duty personnel take the time to visit. He described the service members here in the Pacific Northwest as being generous and very supportive of the veterans.

"They come in and meet with our residents, they'll call bingo, they'll engage in activities and involve with them, getting to know our residents," said Veverka. "What is better then to have service veterans connected with active duty service personnel? They love it and look forward to it and are always eager to share their stories and their experiences, which really is very valuable to those that are engaged in the current active duty as well."

Being able to have this opportunity to connect with the past had a big meaning for some of current active duty Sailors who participated in the COMREL.

"It's amazing to me that they're here and we're here and they are from times before ours," said Chief (select) Logistics Specialist (SS) Bernard Drayton, assigned to Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific at NBK Bangor. "One day we'll be here and I'll come out and watch the young guys do it and be proud that they are following from were I came from."

Ripps said that COMREL projects like this are very effective and important for the Navy by building a bond and uniting the Sailors with the surrounding community.

"Even though our jobs all too often carry us away from our communities and our families, an event like this gives us a chance to come back and plant roots," said Ripps. "We're not just the travelers in the night that come and go every couple of years, we show that we care and we're willing to do what we need to do to help out our community."

Gates: America Must Balance Idealism, Realism

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

MOUNT VERNON, Va., April 14, 2011 – Since the beginning of the republic, the United States has had to balance its idealistic impulses with realism, and that remains true today, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.

Gates was the keynote speaker at the groundbreaking for the National Library for the Study of George Washington on the grounds of the Mount Vernon Estate.

Washington faced some of the same questions over the rise of revolutionary France that President Barack Obama faces with the revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East, Gates said. Washington became America’s first president in 1789, and he was confronted with the consequences of the French Revolution.

“The issue was whether to support the revolutionary government and its war against an alliance of European monarchies led by Great Britain,” Gates said. “To many, like Thomas Jefferson, the French Revolution, with its stated ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, seemed a natural successor to our own.”

But many disagreed, including Vice President John Adams. “They were appalled by the revolution’s excesses and feared the spread of violent French radicalism to our shores,” the secretary said.

Washington had to resolve the matter. “My best wishes are irresistibly excited whensoever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom,” he wrote. But the upheaval in Europe had begun to disrupt the U.S. economy, and he understood the fragility of America’s position at the time. He “adopted a neutrality policy toward France and would go on to make a peace treaty with Great Britain – sparking massive protests and accusations of selling out the spirit of 1776,” Gates said.

“Washington was confronting a question, a dilemma, that has been persistent throughout our history: how should we incorporate America’s democratic ideals and aspirations into our relations with the rest of the world?” the secretary said. “What Washington’s experience shows is that, from our earliest days, America’s leaders have struggled with ‘realistic’ versus ‘idealistic’ approaches to the international challenges facing us.”

The most successful American leaders steadfastly encouraged the spread of liberty, democracy, and human rights, Gates said. “At the same time, however, they have fashioned policies blending different approaches with different emphasis in different places and at different times,” he added.

The United States has made human rights the centerpiece of its national strategy, even as it was doing business with some of the worst violators of human rights, the secretary noted. “We have worked with authoritarian governments to advance our own security interests, even while urging them to reform,” he said.

The world is witnessing an extraordinary story in the Middle East and North Africa, the secretary said.

“People across the region have come together to demand change, and in many cases, a more democratic, responsive government,” he said. “Yet many of the regimes affected have been longstanding, close allies of ours, ones we continue to work with as critical partners in the face of common security challenges like al-Qaida and Iran, even as we urge them to reform and respond to the needs of their people.”

A theme of American history is that the United States is compelled to defend its security and interests in ways that spread democratic values and institutions, Gates said.

“When we discuss openly our desire for democratic values to take hold across the globe, we are describing a world that may be many years or decades off,” the secretary said. “Though achievement of the ideal may be limited by time, space, resources or human nature, we must not allow ourselves to discard or disparage the ideal itself.”

America must speak about its values and ideals, Gates said.

“And when we look at the challenges facing contemporary fledgling democracies, or societies and governments facing pressures for change,” he added, “we would do well to be modestly mindful of the turbulence of our own early history and to remember our own long journey from a political system of, by, and for property-owning white men to an inclusive nation with an African-American president.”

Washington State Honors U.S. Navy

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Nathan Lockwood, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West, Det. Northwest

OLYMPIA, Wash. (NNS) -- The State of Washington honored the U.S. Navy at the capitol in Olympia as part of the Navy Appreciation Day, April 13.

Government officials convened a special recognition proclamation for service members in the Senate Chamber and in the House Chamber to honor the U.S. Navy.

To kick off the event, Musician 3rd Class Sarah Reasner, vocalist from Navy Band Northwest, sang the national anthem in the Senate Chamber.

After the opening remarks from Washington State Lt. Governor Brad Owen, Commander, Navy Region Northwest, Rear Adm. Douglass T. Biesel addressed the senate.

"Thank you for providing such great support to our Navy's Sailors, our families and all our great veterans that have served this nation," said Biesel. "You have made Washington State the state of choice for many that have served this great nation."

After Biesel addressed the senate he recognized Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Search and Rescue for all their dedication, and particularly for their efforts during the rescue of a 15-year-old girl in the Skokomish River Canyon where Lt. Brandon Sheets flew a MH-60S Knighthawk under a steel bridge.

"Due to that narrow canyon, Lt. Sheets was not able to turn that helicopter around, he literally had to back the helicopter out underneath the bridge, of course that's all in a days work," said Biesel.

Navy officials had an opportunity to tour the Legislative Building and visit the Senate Caucus, the House of Representatives Caucus and met with the Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Navy Band Northwest performed a concert in the Capitol's Rotunda room where spectators enjoyed live music. Lt. j.g. Patrick Sweeten, director of Navy Band Northwest, said performing at the state capitol was a privilege.

"It is an honor to be able to perform here and visit the capitol," said Sweeten. "The legislators go out of their way to thank the U.S. Navy and performing here is one of the highlights of the year for the band."

MILITARY CONTRACTS October 23, 2008

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Washington Gas Energy Services, Inc., Herndon, Va. is being awarded a maximum $27,741,396 firm fixed price contract to provide electrical services. Other locations of performance are District of Columbia and Maryland. Using service is Navy. There were originally 100 proposals solicited with 14 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is December 31, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), Fort Belvoir, Va. (SP0600-08-D-8035).

Burlington Apparel Fabrics, Greensboro, N.C. is being awarded a maximum $6,410,240 firm fixed price, indefinite delivery contract to provide wool cloth. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Air Force. There were originally 65 proposals solicited with 2 responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is October 29, 2009. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Philadelphia, Pa.(SP0100-05-D-0516).

ARMY

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, Oak Brook, Ill., was awarded Oct. 21, 2008, a $27,344,101 firm/ fixed price contract for Baltimore District maintenance dredging in Baltimore Harbor and Baltimore Channels waterways. Work will be performed in Maryland, Baltimore area waterways in various locations, with an estimated and completion date of April 30, 2009. Bids solicited were via the Web and three bids were received. USA Corp of Engineers, Baltimore, Md., is the contracting activity (W912DR-09-C-0002).

Navy

BAE Systems Land & Armaments, Ground Systems Division, York, Pa., is being awarded a $22,932,814firm-fixed-priced modification to previously awarded delivery order #0004 under contract (M67854-07-D-5025) for Field Service Representatives (FSR) and Instructors to support Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. Work will be performed in York, Pa., and is expected to be completed by the January 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

Electric Boat Corporation, Groton, Conn. is being awarded a $19,041,627 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-2103) for reactor plant planning yard services for nuclear-powered submarines and support yard services for the Navy's moored training ships. The contractor will furnish, fabricate, or acquire such materials, supplies and services as may be necessary to perform the functions of the planning yard for reactor plants and associated portions of the propulsion plants for nuclear powered submarines. Work will be performed in Groton, Conn. (95 percent) and Charleston, S.C. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $17,198,984 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Group Helps Military Families Take Flight

By Sharon Foster
American Forces Press Service

Oct. 20, 2008 - While on patrol in northern Iraq last year, Army Spc. Kevin Hardin of Jupiter, Fla., was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. He suffered injuries to his hands and arms. As a result, some of his fingers were amputated. Shrapnel penetrated his skull, leaving inoperable injuries. Twenty surgeries later, and while recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here, Hardin wrote to Luke's Wings, a Washington-based group that provides travel tickets and travel agency services for families of wounded servicemembers. He asked if the group could arrange for his mother and brothers to join his father at his side as he faced yet another operation.

"By purchasing travel agency services and travel tickets for loved ones, Luke's Wings provides an immediate and invaluable service to families of our men and women in the Armed Forces," Fletcher Gill, co-founder of Luke's Wings, said. "We receive about one request per month. I believe once the word gets out, we will see a flood of requests, and we will try to fill all of them."

Recognizing the immediate need for families to be with their loved ones after being wounded in combat, Luke's Wings provides them with the means to visit their servicemembers during hospitalization and rehabilitation at Walter Reed and at the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Md.

Since its inception in December, Luke's Wings has purchased eight tickets and has helped three families travel to the Washington area to visit servicemembers.

Luke's Wings has raised nearly $30,000 in 10 months, mostly through fundraisers and private and corporate donations. A recent fundraiser, a 1940s-style cocktail party at a local club, attracted some 200 guests who donned period attire and military uniforms to dance the night away.

"We not only raised enough money to pay for our next family," Gill said, "but had enough left over to finance a minimum of two more families."

The idea to create Luke's Wings came when co-founder Sarah Wingfield, then a Washington Redskins football team ambassador, visited Walter Reed to sign autographs and entertain veterans receiving treatment. There, she met a soldier she refers to as Luke, a triple amputee struggling to accept what had happened to him.

From talking to him and seeing his need to have his family around for support, she met with Gill, her long-time friend, to create Luke's Wings. Families such as the Hardin's are glad such an organization exists.

"We are so very thankful our son is alive," Terry Hardin said. "We have Luke's Wings to thank for making it possible for us to visit with him this year for yet another surgery. They will never be forgotten for what they have done for us." Her son is still recovering at Walter Reed.

Luke's Wings is included on the America Supports You Web site. America Supports You is a Defense Department program that communicates citizen support to the men and women serving in the nation's armed forces and their families.

Face of Defense: Soldier Looks Forward to Steelers 'Medicine'

By Army Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret
Special to American Forces Press Service

July 30, 2008 - Even medical professionals need their medicine to remain healthy. For Army Capt. James Hart, the remedy is Pittsburgh Steelers football.

"That's my 'keep-me-sane' medicine," said Hart, a physician assistant for the 10th Mountain Division's Headquarters and Support Company, Division Special Troops Battalion.

The black-and-gold octagon on his office door warns, "Danger Ahead. Stop. Steelers Country." A "Terrible Towel" lays flat and neat, taking up a third of his desk space. The July image on his calendar shows wide receiver Santonio Holmes cutting upfield, both hands on the ball, tearing down yards.

Hart works in a Level 1 aid station here, where he treats soldiers with a variety of ailments. Hart has been a physician assistant since October 2005 and calls the job self-rewarding, because he gets the chance to take care of other soldiers.

"[The job is important] because it keeps our fighting strength up. I'm here to medically ensure our soldiers can stay deployed and continue with the mission."

This is Hart's second deployment with 10th Mountain Division. In January 2006, he deployed to Afghanistan, where he had the opportunity to care for local citizens as well as fellow servicemembers.

Hart works to keep the soldiers here strong, but he said he gets his fighting strength from the "Black and Gold." He recalled his 2006 just-in-time arrival in Afghanistan for the Super Bowl XL kick-off. The Pittsburgh Steelers squeaked by the Seattle Seahawks to win the Lombardi Trophy.

"We were stoked," he said about being able to catch the game.

A group of 50 Pennsylvania National Guardsmen, each sporting a Terrible Towel, was stationed at the base where Hart landed. They took over all the best seats in front of the screens at the dining facility to watch the game, he said.

Hart said his affection for the Steelers started when he was 7 years old. He calls Washington, D.C., home, but he picked the Steelers over the Dallas Cowboys while watching Super Bowl XIII in 1979. His team beat his brother's team, and the fanaticism was born.

"Man, I really like that team right there in black-and-gold," he remembers thinking. "I've been a die-hard fan ever since."

He really does mean die-hard. When the Steelers and the Cowboys met again in Super Bowl XXX in 1996, Hart said, he threw a chair through a window, punched holes through the wall, ripped up the carpet and tore a couch in half after the Steelers lost.

"I was that kind of upset," he said. "Let's just say I was evicted from the apartment. It was a rough day."

Fortunately, Hart said, he has grown since those college days. "It just might be a grumpy day," at worst for any Steelers loss this season, he said.

As the National Football League season begins in September, Hart said, he looks forward to the games that will provide some new excitement to his deployment. It doesn't matter to him that the games will play with a seven-hour time difference. A night game that kicks off at 8 p.m. on the U.S. East Coast won't start until 3 a.m. in Iraq.

"If you're a fan, you're a fan, and you're going to watch," he said.

(Army Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret serves in the Multinational Division Center Public Affairs Office.)

Chairman Links Family Readiness to Military Readiness

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

July 21, 2008 - Military commanders agree that troops need good training and good equipment before they deploy. But equally important to preparing servicemembers for war is readying their families, the nation's top military officer said today.

"Family readiness is really about Military readiness," Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a group of about 1,500 family support volunteers gathered here for a National Guard volunteer workshop.

"[Family support is] tied to having a healthy, dedicated, focused, capable military that can accomplish the mission it needs," the chairman said.

This was Mullen's first visit with an exclusively National Guard family audience, although he has talked with National Guard troops and families as part of his regular town hall meetings around the world. The volunteers represented every state and territory in the United States, and packed a downtown hotel's banquet hall. The back of each chair was marked with a state's name, and ever so militarily, they were lined up alphabetically, row after row. Many groups in the crowd wore color-coordinated shirts, scattering swaths of red, green blue and other colors throughout the crowd.

Mullen noted the transformation of the Military's reserve components from a strategic reserve to an operational force that has taken place since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

"What the Guard and the reserves have done since 9/11 ... has made what we are able to do with fighting these two wars possible," Mullen told the crowd. "It would not be possible -- we would not be making the progress we are making in both of these wars -- without the incredible performance of the Guard and Reserve."

But, Mullen conceded, policy makers inside the Capitol Beltway haven't always given enough attention to programs for families of the National Guard spread out across the nation. While spouses of active-duty troops typically live on or near Military installations, reservists often are spread out in rural areas, many times hundreds of miles from the nearest military installation, and sometimes even from the armories where they report for duty.

In fact, Mullen told the audience, his single biggest worry is "the disconnect between the policies that we have and what is actually going on on the ground. We don't get enough feedback."

Mullen said in an interview after the visit with the group that the audience understood what he was talking about. The admiral said he could see heads nodding affirmation in the audience as he addressed the issue.

"One of the biggest challenges that we have is to -- no kidding -- find out what's actually happening in execution [of policies]," Mullen said.

Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said the Guard was not fully ready to take care of its families in the wake of the heavy demand for reserve forces after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Programs were in place to take care of families while the units were activated, he said, but the support systems were not properly resourced as the Guard transitioned from a strategic reserve to an operational reserve. Missing were the programs that would help prepare families as the units were readying for war, and take care of them after the units came home from deployment, he explained.

"When we first started this war, we were not prepared for the full life-cycle support of the citizen-soldier and -airman," Blum said in an interview after his opening remarks.

But now, Blum said, the programs and policies are in place to take care of families in all phases of deployment: before, during and after. He said the Army especially has made supporting families one of its top priorities.

Both Mullen and Blum said this conference and others like it are key to breaking down the dissonance between policy makers and those they affect, and continuing to improve policies. These workshops bring representation from each state together to propel their issues to the forefront of the leaders and policy makers. Family programs are now better because of them, Blum said.

Mullen said in the pace of today's war and deployments, the Military can ill afford lag time between identifying a needed change and creating policy to make the change.

"Too many of us in Washington think [when] we've essentially created a policy that things are OK," Mullen said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. You've got to have good policies, but how do you know it's working?" Workshops like this one provide the type of "grassroots" feedback vital for healthy policy change, he added.

"There is so much information in this ballroom," the chairman said. "If I could tap into that information and feed it into the programs and policy changes instantly, I would be a very happy guy, and I know I could make some really positive changes."

The admiral said he wants family members to continue to put pressure on Military leadership so that discussions continue on key family issues.

"Believe me, we want to get this right," Mullen said.

Feedback on developing family programs is critical as the military continues to rely heavily on its reserve forces for combat deployments, Mullen said.

"There is going to continue to be a battle rhythm which requires us to continue to deploy [the National Guard and reserves]," Mullen said. "We cannot move forward without the Guard and the Reserve, and we have high expectations to be able to do that in the future."

The admiral implored those in attendance to deliver honest, unfiltered feedback throughout the workshop that could make programs better.

"There is no one that knows how to take care of families better than families," he said. "Those in the field around the nation are able to take care of families around the nation better than those in Washington. Bring forth those things that aren't working. Bring forth those things that don't make sense. Bring forth those things where we need to have policy adjustments, resource adjustments, better focus."

Mullen also said that he wants to use the Guard and reserves to help connect America with its Military. Blum noted that the only active-duty Army installation in California is the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, in the middle of the Mojave Desert. The only interaction Californians have with the Army is with the National Guard, he said.

Mullen said he worries that what the American people understand about the military is what is in the headlines of the mainstream media, and not the depth, dedication, needs of those who serve. The Guard and reserves, he said, are the hometown connection of the Military with Americans.

"This is something we have to continue to do better to make sure the military needs of our country are met and that the people of America understand what the United States military is all about," he said. "There is no better group in the country than the Guard and reserve to do exactly that."

Blum agreed.

"If you really want to reach into every ZIP code and sample -- Are we caring for our veterans? Are we caring for our current servicemembers? Are we caring for our families? -- this is the group that will serve as the litmus test for that," Blum said.

And while both Mullen and Blum said that Military family programs are now better than they have ever been, both also said that there is still work to be done.

"If we could create family programs for the Guard and reserve that are commensurate with their sacrifice and their commitment in these two wars ... it would be a home run," Mullen said. "We're not there. But we need to be. They deserve it. It's critical, and we've got to do that, and that's what this is all about."

Blum said supporting the family is critical to maintaining an all-volunteer force. The National Guard never has drafted anyone into its force, he said.

"If we lose the ability to generate the volunteer force and keep it whole, we've really lost the ability to defend this nation the way our government intends and the people of America intend it," Blum said.

Top Army Doc Cites Progress One Year After Walter Reed Revelations

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Feb. 15, 2008 - The Army has made huge improvements in the way it cares for combat-wounded troops during the year since news reports brought problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to light, the Army surgeon general told Congress today. Army Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Eric Schoomaker, who also commands U.S. Army Medical Command, told the House Armed Service Committee's Military Personnel Subcommittee the Army's medical action plan "is continuing to move forward" and making steady progress in improving care for wounded warriors.

"We as an Army are committed to getting this right and providing a level of care and support to our warriors and families that's equal to the quality of their service," he said.

Navy Vice Adm. (Dr.) Adam Robinson and Air Force Lt. Gen. (Dr.) James Roudebush, their services' surgeons general, joined Schoomaker at the table during today's hearing. However, one year after a Washington Post series outlined serious gaps in care at the Army's premier medical center, the bulk of the discussion focused on the Army's efforts through its medical action plan.

Schoomaker called the day the first of those articles appeared "a painful day" for Army medicine, but one he said has strengthened the Army's collective resolve to do better. Because of those revelations and the Army leadership's response, "we truly are a better Army today with respect to how we care for our soldiers," he told the panel.

Schoomaker called new warrior transition units the backbone of the Army medical action plan designed to address the problem.

More than 2,400 soldier-leaders -- up from fewer than 400 this time last year -- now are assigned as cadre to 35 of these units, he told the panel.

The warrior transition units, collocated Army-wide with medical treatment facilities, offer a "triad" that includes a soldier's primary-care physician, nurse case manager and squad leader, he explained. All work together to attend to the needs of wounded soldiers and their families.

The triad provides "a web of overlapping responsibility" to ensure no soldiers ever fall between bureaucratic cracks for the duration of their treatment, recovery, rehabilitation and transition back to military service or to civilian life, Schoomaker said.

A new Medical Command-wide ombudsman program is another improvement in the care provided to wounded, ill or injured troops, he said. Ombudsman at 26 installations work outside the chain of command but have direct access to the hospital, garrison and installation commanders "to get problems fixed," Schoomaker said.

The Army also has established a toll-free hotline for wounded soldiers and their families, he said. The Department of Veterans Affairs has expressed interest in setting up a similar hotline, which gives wounded soldiers and family members 24-hour access to assistance regarding their care or administrative concerns.

"We have fielded in excess of 7,000 calls to date, and we answer that call and find a solution for them and get the process going to get it ultimately fixed within 24 hours," Schoomaker said.

Schoomaker pointed to the hotline and ombudsman programs as examples of multiple feedback mechanisms now in place to ensure Army leaders are "seeing the full picture" in ways they didn't a year ago. The Army is now able to monitor and evaluate its performance through 18 internal and external means, including patient surveys. These "provide a very granular view of how our patients and families feel we're doing for them," Schoomaker said.

Despite these successes, he said, there's much still to be done. More research is needed into psychological health and traumatic brain injury, he said. The physical disability and evaluation system needs to be changed to make it less antagonistic, more understandable, more user-friendly and more equitable.

A good start, he said, is a pilot program under way in the Washington, D.C., area designed to bring the Defense Department's and VA's programs more in line. "I want to continue to pursue changes in the disability evaluation system as aggressively as possible and to get legislative relief for a single system of adjudication," he said.

Schoomaker thanked the panel for its support for these and other initiatives to help wounded warriors and their families, and he reiterated the Army's resolve in ensuring they're treated fairly.

"The Army's unwavering commitment and a key element of our warrior ethos is that we never leave a soldier behind on the battlefield or lost in a bureaucracy," he said. "We are doing a better job of honoring that commitment today than we were at this date last year. ... We have turned the corner."

Pentagon to Set Up Nationwide Troop, Family Support Network

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Feb. 15, 2008 - The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act provides for the establishment of a nationwide center of excellence network that will assist servicemembers of all components in readjusting and reintegrating with their families when they return from overseas deployments, a senior Defense Department official said here today. Thomas F. Hall, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, announced the new initiative today at the Department of Defense Reserve Family Readiness Awards ceremony that highlighted the best National Guard and reserve unit family readiness and support programs in 2007.

The new organization will be established quickly, Hall said, noting it will assist and coordinate efforts of more than 700 military family-support centers located across the country.

Efforts to obtain funding and staffing for the organization are under way, Hall said, adding it will have a central staff based in the Washington, D.C., area, and will have a board of directors.

The new support network will assist active duty, National Guard and reserve servicemembers, as well as their families, Hall pointed out.

"We've got to get that 'jointness' throughout (the system), and this is one of the things that this center for excellence is going to talk about," Hall said.

Military Contracts

AIR FORCE

General Electric Co. Aircraft Engines of Cincinnati, Ohio is being awarded a firm-fixed price contract modification for $15,592,486. This contract modification will provide for mixing duct and two flame-holder segments. It is redesigned hardware meant to address the fact that the augmenter/exhaust nozzle section is a leading contributor to labor intensive unscheduled engine removals in direct relation to excessively repaired parts that are subject to thermal variances. The mixing duct incorporates redesigned support hangers and outer lugs at all flame-holder attachment locations. The design incorporates replaceable inserts made from L605 material coated with chromium carbide on both face surfaces. The flame-holders consist of a 10 piece design that has the mid and outer rings split at ten locations, which reduces thermally induced stresses that cause crack initiation in the rings. This acquisition is being accomplished under a sole source, four plus-year requirements type contract with a basic period (15 months) and three one year options. This program in combination with the F110 Services Life Extension Program is designed to extend the life of the F110-GE-100 and -129 engines to 2025. The F110 engines power the Air Force's F-16 fleet. The F-16 fleet is an aging fleet that is exceeding its "design life" of 8000 Total Accumulated Cycles by an average 485 TACs. A complete engine re-design was accomplished under the Component Improvement Program ordered by ASC/LPK. At this time no funds have been obligated. 748 CBSG/PKP, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity (FA8104-05-D-0042-P00006).

Global Ground Support LLC of Olathe, Kan., is being awarded a contract for $14,679,715.56. This action provides for 44 Truck Mounted Deicers. At this time all funds have been obligated. 642nd CBSG/GBKAC, Robins Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity (F41608-99-D-0029).

NAVY

InnovaSystems International LLC, San Diego, Calif.,is being awarded a $14,100,185 cost-plus-award-fee contract for system engineering, system design/development, integration, testing, installation, training, lifecycle maintenance, procurement support, help desk services, management support, and system documentation for the Defense Readiness Reporting System – Navy. This one-year contract includes four one-year options which, if exercised, would bring the potential, cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $75,767,799. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and work is expected to be completed Feb. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a sole-source justification and approval was signed in accordance with FAR Subpart 6.302-1 and 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), for Only One Responsible Source. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-08-D-0030).

Prexis, Inc. Alexandria, Va., is being awarded a $5,824,313 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development engineering and technical support services. Tasks will include systems engineering (hardware and software) systems analysis (hardware and software) and data collection and analysis. This contract contains four 12-month options which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $28,796,848. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., and work is expected to be completed Feb. 2009 (Jan. 2013 with options). Contract funds in the amount of $209,000 will expire by the end of current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under a Request for Proposal Number (N000173-07-R-SC05), with one offer received. The Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N000173-08-C-2013).

Airman Missing In Action From The Vietnam War Is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Capt. Stephen A. Rusch, U.S. Air Force, of Lambertville, N.J. He will be buried on Nov. 30 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

On March 7, 1972, Rusch was the weapons systems officer in an F-4E Phantom II aircraft attacking enemy targets in Salavan Province, Laos. The plane was the number two aircraft in a flight of two. When Rusch's aircraft was cleared to begin its second run over enemy targets, the flight leader of the number one aircraft lost sight of Rusch's plane and observed enemy ground fire followed by a large explosion. An immediate search was begun, but all attempts to establish radio contact and later search efforts were unsuccessful.

In 1995, a joint U.S./Lao People's Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), investigated the incident and interviewed several Laotian citizens. The team surveyed the crash site identified by one of the citizens and found aircraft wreckage.

In 2001, a U.S. citizen, acting as an intermediary for a Laotian citizen, turned over to U.S. officials a bone fragment and a photocopy of Rusch's military identification tag. The bone fragment proved not to be from Capt. Rusch.

In 2002-2003, joint teams conducted two excavations of the crash site. The teams recovered human remains and non-biological evidence including U.S. coins and life support equipment.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

New Agreement to Help Balance Active Army, National Guard

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Oct. 11, 2007 - A new agreement between the active Army and Army National Guard represents a big step toward achieving the force structure balance Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. calls critical to the Army's transformation. Senior Army leaders signed a memo of understanding Oct. 9 during the Association of the U.S. Army convention here to firm up a plan to rebalance force structure and resources between the active and reserve components.

Under the plan, the Army National Guard will have 112 brigades: 28 brigade combat teams, 46 multifunctional brigades and 38 functional brigades. It is slated to grow by more than 5,000 troops to 358,000 in 2013. Almost 321,000 of those soldiers will be in the operational force.

The plan also ensures Guard units, many underequipped after leaving their best equipment in the combat theater for follow-on units, receive replacement equipment on par with their active-duty counterparts.

Gen. Richard A. Cody, Army vice chief of staff, joined Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard, and Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau, Louisiana's adjutant general and chairman of the Adjutants General Association Force Structure Committee, at the signing ceremony at the Washington Convention Center.

Cody called the plan a "necessary journey" that will "make our Army stronger."

Vaughn said the plan will reduce stress on the force by providing more formations in the deployment cycle. "It's more capacity for the Army," he said.

He pointed to the talks that led to the agreement as a model for the future. "This is the way we need to go in (addressing) some of the hard things," he said.

Casey called adapting the reserve components a key element in the Army's transformation and its ability to confront what is expected to be an era of "persistent conflict."

"Our reserve components are performing magnificently, but in an operational role for which they were neither designed nor resourced," he said during an address to AUSA attendees Oct. 9. "They are no longer a strategic reserve, mobilized only in national emergencies. They are now an operational reserve deployed on a cyclical basis," enabling the Army to sustain operations.

"Operationalizing" the reserve components "will require national and state consensus, as well as continued commitment from employers, soldiers and families," Casey said. "It will require changes to the way we train, equip, resource and mobilize."

It also will require changes to outdated Cold War-era administrative policies that inhibit reservists' ability to serve. "We changed the paradigm for our reserve-component soldiers and families, and we owe it to them to make this transition right," Casey said.

Pentagon Sets Record Contribution Goal at CFC Kickoff

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 24, 2007 - Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England today asked servicemembers and department civilians to open their hearts and wallets and contribute generously to the Combined Federal Campaign. The CFC's annual contribution drive "is hugely important" to communities in the National Capital Area and other localities across the United States, England, the department's CFC vice chairman, declared during a kickoff ceremony today.

"A lot of organizations need our help," England pointed out, adding that there are about 3,600 charitable organizations listed in the CFC beneficiary catalog.

The 2007 CFC campaign, which began Sept. 21 and runs through Dec. 15, repeats last year' theme: "Be a Star in Someone's Life."

The Pentagon kickoff ceremony featured a videotaped message from President Bush, who urged federal civilian employees and servicemembers to give generously to the CFC.

"By giving to the Combined Federal Campaign each year, you can extend a helping hand to provide new hope and transform lives," Bush said in his message.

The Defense Department's goal for this year's CFC campaign is $13.2 million, which is $200,000 more than last year, said Michael B. Donley, director of administration and management for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

That is "our highest goal ever attempted," Donley said. Service-branch goals for this year's CFC National Capital Area campaign are: Navy and Marine Corps, $3.55 million; Army, $2.8 million, and $1.82 million for the Air Force.

Last year, the Pentagon and its affiliated agencies in the National Capital Area collected $15.6 million in CFC donations, Donley recalled. The department's average individual CFC contribution last year was $342, he said, and the overall participation rate was 56 percent.

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen, a key CFC organizer for the Defense Department since 2000, said he's honored to participate as honorary chairman for the 2007 campaign. Allen kicked off the CFC's national capital area campaign for 2007 by throwing a ceremonial pitch before the start of the Washington Nationals-Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball game here Sept. 21.

"It's been clear to me over the years the great value that CFC brings," said Allen, who led the federal government's on-site Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the fall of 2005.

CFC contributions have helped people in Gulf Coast communities affected by Katrina, as well as servicemembers and their families, Allen noted.

The CFC goal for the national capital area is $60 million, said Anthony De Cristofaro, the CFC's national capital area director. There are about 350,000 federal employees in the Washington Metropolitan area, he said.

"The Defense Department's support is absolutely vital" to the annual CFC campaign, De Cristofaro said. "Literally, 25 percent of all of our money will come from people who are working in the Department of Defense, uniformed military and civilian people."

Wounded Troops Get Help Rebuilding Lives

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Aug. 20, 2007 - A charitable group in Washington State has made it its goal to create warm, safe and accessible homes for injured veterans. The "Heroes at Home" program aims to help military families and veterans remain in the homes they own and the communities in which they live and contribute to, said Becky Carter, program manager of veterans housing for the Washington-based group "Rebuilding Together."

The program is a charitable partnership between Rebuilding Together, a national volunteer home-rehabilitation organization, and Sears Holdings Corporation, the parent company of Sears and Kmart stores.

Through the Heroes at Home program, Rebuilding Together and Sears Holdings are working to improve the lives of military families in need across America. Help comes in the form necessary repairs, improvements or modifications to these families' homes at no cost to them.

Army Spc. Ryan C. Major, 21, of Silver Spring, Md., was the first beneficiary of Heroes to Home, Carter said. "Ryan is currently recovering from severe wounds he received when a (roadside bomb) detonated while he was on patrol in Iraq," she said.

The blast, which occurred near Ramadi, cost Major both legs. It also caused a traumatic brain injury and damage to both arms, Carter said. With help from local volunteers, Heroes at Home was able to equip the young soldier's home with a wheelchair-accessible bedroom and bathroom and an elevator. The renovations were completed in mid-July.

While the improvements to veterans' homes cost the veterans nothing, there ultimately is a price tag attached for the program. Sears Holdings Corporation's efforts have helped defray those costs, however.

"Sears and Kmart customers and associates had the opportunity to support military families and veterans via an in-store and online campaign," Carter said.

Between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July this year, Sears Holdings raised $1.3 million for Heroes at Home. A similar effort is planned for later this year.

Rebuilding Together operates another similar program for injured veterans called "Serving Those Who Serve."

The group recently became supporters of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

Carter said the group anticipates greater exposure because of its affiliation with America Supports You.

"We anticipate several things, (including) exposure for Homes to Heroes and the opportunity to generate support for the program and the people we serve," she said. "Networking opportunities ... also will allow us to build our network and assist more families and veterans, in addition to raising awareness for the program and generating additional monetary support."

For each dollar donated to the Heroes to Home program, Rebuilding Together can achieve $4 worth of work through volunteer labor and contractor-donated time, Carter added.

Soldiers Mia From Vietnam War Are Accounted For

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that group remains of five U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, will be returned to their families soon for burial with full military honors.

They are Chief Warrant Officer Dennis C. Hamilton, of Barnes City, Iowa; Chief Warrant Officer Sheldon D. Schultz, of Altoona, Pennsylvania.; Sgt. 1st Class Ernest F. Briggs Jr., of San Antonio, Texas; Sgt. 1st Class John T. Gallagher, of Hamden, Connecticut; and Sgt. 1st Class James D. Williamson, of Olympia, Washington.; all U.S. Army. The group remains of this crew will be buried on Aug. 14 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Gallagher's remains were individually identified, and his burial date is being set by his family.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

On Jan. 5, 1968, these men crewed a UH-1D helicopter that was inserting a patrol into Savannakhet Province, Laos. As the aircraft approached the landing zone, it was struck by enemy ground fire, causing it to nose over and crash. There were no survivors. All attempts to reach the site over the next several days were repulsed by enemy fire.

Between 1995 and 2006, numerous U.S./Lao People's Democratic Republic /Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, all led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted more than five investigations, including interviews with Vietnamese citizens who said they witnessed the crash. Between 2002 and 2006, JPAC led three excavations of the site, recovering remains and other material evidence including identification tags for Schultz, Hamilton and Briggs.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of the remains. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http:// www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.