By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
March 14, 2008 - Marine Capt. John Sand knows what it takes to be a good college student: go to class, read the book, and take good notes. And, for him, first spend four years in the Marine Corps. This realization came after Sand spent a few years as a not-so-good college student after high school, he said.
"I had a 0.8 grade point average for the semester when I left school. That's very hard to do. I pretty much flunked everything and didn't really care much about school," Sand said.
Sand grew up in the small Illinois town of Ottawa. Both of his parents were career educators; his father was a counselor and his mother a grade-school teacher. After high school graduation in 1988, Sand accepted an Army ROTC scholarship to attend college. But after a few years, both Sand and his parents accepted that he needed to do something different.
"I flushed a scholarship away, basically. I wasn't paying for school. I was having a little too much fun. I needed to get some discipline and more control over where I wanted to go," Sand said.
His father, once in the Navy, suggested the Marines, and Sand agreed.
In 1991, Sand enlisted as a Morse code interceptor. He said he did, indeed, learn self-discipline, and that he enjoyed his tour, which took him twice to Somalia on deployments. But Sand had promised his parents that at the end of his enlistment he would return to college.
He made good on that promise and returned to study criminal justice.
"It was a complete 180 from my experience the first time at college. Four years in the Marine Corps made coming back to college kind of ... simple," Sand said.
The former dropout then made the dean's list and played tennis competitively. In the 60 credit hours he amassed to finish his degree, Sand received nearly perfect grades.
Still, he missed the Corps, Sand said. After graduation, he returned to the Marines as an officer.
"When I enlisted in 1991, did I think I'd be doing this in 2008? No, I didn't, but it led me down that road, and I really enjoy it," Sand said.
Now Sand, as part of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public-outreach program, is traveling the country, telling his story to community, business and veterans group audiences and at other gatherings. Fresh from a deployment to Iraq, Sand said he hopes to convey the efforts of servicemembers there.
"It's important what we're doing in the global war on terrorism. I think it's important that they hear it from the servicemember's perspective," Sand said. "In Iraq, there's a lot more to it than guns and tanks. There's a lot of humanitarian assistance. There's a lot of nation building. We definitely do a lot of work for the Iraqi people, alongside the Iraqi people, to better their lives."
Sand served as an artillery battery commander in Iraq, returning in October. His battery provided a regimental combat team with artillery fire in support of operations in and around Fallujah. They also performed nonstandard missions such as providing security for explosives technicians who cleared the roads of bombs. His battery went on more than 500 combat patrols.
"I like to talk about my Marines a lot. I'm very proud of what my Marines did in Iraq, and I think that there's a really good story there," Sand said. "It's hard work over there. A lot of times they are out for long patrols. They don't get a lot of sleep. They don't get a lot of time off. But they do their job, and they're proud of what they do."
During his tour, Sand said, he saw the tangible signs of progress.
"Things got better while we were there. When we initially showed up, we were shooting quite a bit. By the time we were leaving ... we might go a week or more without ever pulling the lanyard on a howitzer," Sand said. "If we're not shooting as much, to me that's a sign that things are better there."
As a father of three children, being around the Iraqi children sometimes made him homesick, but also served as reminder for why he was there, Sand said.
"Seeing the little kids playing soccer, it's like 'Wow, I miss spending the time with my kids,'" Sand said. "On the other hand, it makes you feel like we're doing something good over there. The smiles, the little conversations -- sometimes just with hand gestures -- or kicking a ball around, that makes you feel good that day."
Sand said he also hopes to convey that servicemembers are typical people, Sand said.
"Military people are your average Joes," he said. We do a lot of the same things. I'm a husband. I'm a father. I'm also a Marine."
In fact, his family is a big part of why he continues to serve in the Marine Corps, Sand said.
"That's very important to me. I want them to grow up in a country where they (continue to) have the freedoms that we enjoy," Sand said. "And so I'm willing to serve to ensure that they grow up in a place where they don't have to worry. I want to ensure that they have a good childhood experience and continue to reap the benefits of the country that we live in."
Sand continues his service also because of the sense of camaraderie he feels for his fellow servicemembers and the sacrifices of those who have fought before him.
"I think that's a big deal. You keep doing it because the guy next to you is counting on you," the captain said.
He is in awe for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country, Sand said.
"It's just amazing to think that I'm part of that organization that would have somebody of that character. That makes you want to stay," he said.
"I serve because I'm proud to wear the uniform. I'm proud to be a Marine, and I want to get that message out there -- that it's a very honorable service and that we're proud to serve the American people," Sand said. "That's why I do what I do."
By Tech. Sgt. James Law, USAF
American Forces Press Service
March 14, 2008 - An airman's quick action following a Feb. 26 jet fuel starter explosion that sent shrapnel across the flightline here averted a possible explosion of an F-15E Strike Eagle, officials said. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathan Billie was working near a fellow airman preparing an F-15E for flight when the small motor that starts the fighter's engines blew up. The jet fuel starter imploded, and pieces of the machine flew across the flightline.
"I went out to help the crew chief on the jet clean up the area and find out how much damage had occurred," said Billie, an F-15E crew chief with the 335th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit here. "When I came upon the scene, I noticed there was a lot of shrapnel on the ground."
Instinctively, Billie looked up into the engine's exhaust to check the damage and noticed flames flickering in the engine compartment. In eight years as an F-15 crew chief, he said, he had never before personally witnessed flames in the engine.
"I had someone come over and verify, just to double check, because you don't want to jump to conclusions," Billie said.
With the flames confirmed, Billie immediately ran over and grabbed the hose off the halon fire extinguisher while simultaneously instructing another crew chief to charge the bottle. Charging the bottle is a process of removing a safety pin and pushing the charging handle forward to pressurize the hose.
Billie yelled out to the eight or so airmen nearby to clear the area. He ran back to the aircraft, pointed the hose into the exhaust and sprayed the bottle's contents onto the fire before it turned catastrophic.
"The first thing that crossed my mind was the live explosives," said Billie, who is deployed from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. "My thoughts were, 'We need to put this fire out now.'"
Billie said F-15 crew chiefs are trained to deal with this situation, but because it is not a frequent occurrence, it is imperative to remember the training and react without hesitation.
"His actions were outstanding," said Senior Master Sgt. Donald Poormon, the maintenance unit's F-15E assistant superintendent. "He acted perfectly, and you couldn't ask for better."
Brig. Gen. James W. Hyatt, then the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, recognized Billie with a commander's coin at a meeting with the wing's group commanders and chief master sergeants.
(Air Force Tech. Sgt. James Law serves with 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs.)
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
March 14, 2008 - A new "virtual installation" concept that helps families who live far from a military base get information and tap into services available for them during their loved ones' deployment is expected to begin rolling out next month. Plans are being laid to open several "brick and mortar" pilot sites by April 23, just in time for the Army Reserve's 100th anniversary celebration, Laura Stultz, wife of Army Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, told American Forces Press Service.
Focus groups are under way to identify where to put the first three to five sites, she said, likely in areas with big Army Reserve and National Guard populations and no Army post nearby.
General Stultz acknowledged that all spouses face hardships when their loved ones deploy – regardless of whether they're active-duty, National Guard or Reserve. But he said his wife reminded him that unlike active-duty families, who can turn to their local post for help if they need it, Army Reserve families often live far from an Army post and don't know how to tap into available services.
"She said, 'If I am living on an installation, I have Army Community Services, child and youth services, legal support, medical support, the Red Cross. I can go to Army Emergency Relief if I need to get help,'" the general said. He paused, then continued his wife's point: "But if I am in Pocatello, Idaho, who do I turn to?"
As Laura Stultz sees it, the gap is as much cultural as geographic. Active-duty families tend to live on or near a military post, know each other and know where to go for assistance, or at least who to ask how to get it, she said.
Reserve families often don't. A single Reserve unit can draw members from a 10-state area, and families may have had no past exposure to each other or to the Army system overall.
That quandary led her to come up with the virtual installation concept. As she envisions it, it not only will fill a gap for reserve-component families, but also will benefit the many active-duty families who leave their post for their hometowns during their loved one's deployment.
Each site to open next month under the pilot program will be slightly different; one may be a kiosk in a local shopping mall, another may be an office in an Army Reserve center or National Guard armory. "We'll try different approaches of going into the community and see what works best," Laura Stultz said.
Military family members will be able to walk into the sites to talk to someone about their questions or needs. A trained staffer – most likely a military or veteran volunteer – will know the answer or be able to pick up a phone or go online to get it.
The general's wife said she envisions people from the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veterans as well as community groups manning the sites. "They keep asking what they can do and saying that they want to help, so I am giving them a job to do," she said.
In addition to providing personal service to military families, the brick-and-mortar sites will serve as visible signs of a broader community outreach effort, Laura Stultz said. Volunteers who staff them will help make inroads into local businesses, churches and other groups to remind them that members of their community are deployed, and that they and their families need support, she added.
The sites will represent the first step in a two-pronged effort designed to reach out to Army Reserve and National Guard families who are nowhere near installations and the full range of support services they offer to active-duty families, she said.
In addition to physical sites, the new concept calls for a Web-based virtual installation that families can tap into from their computer for information and support. That site is expected to go live later this year.
Once it's operational, users will be able to navigate the streets of a simulated Army base with a click of their computer mouse, stopping wherever they wish, Laura Stultz explained. They'll be able to "stop" at the military identification card desk to find out how to replace a lost card, the Tricare office to check on their medical benefits or the family assistance center for other support. "You'll be able to navigate down the street just like in a video game and get the information you need," she said.
Families also will be able to enter their ZIP codes into the site to find the nearest place to get help or services or to contact the nearest family readiness group.
The Army Reserve chief's wife cited the "Fort Family" Web site launched by the Army Reserve's 108th Training Command as an example of the virtual installation's potential. That site links families with local military and civilian resources. It also offers a virtual volunteer program for people seeking ways to help local soldiers and families.
The Web initiative and other programs promoting family wellness and readiness earned the unit honors in the Defense Department's 2007 Reserve Family Readiness Award program.
Laura Stultz praised the 108th Training Command for taking the lead in helping make the virtual installation concept a reality. "It's a wonderful program," she said. "It's a smaller model of what we will take and then add to."
Among additional services she hopes to offer is a chat room for children of deployed troops.
While the general's wife never has served in the military herself, she said she's had lots of experience holding down the homefront far from the nearest military post when her soldier-husband deployed.
She recalled his deployments to the Persian Gulf and the Balkans in the 1990s, when she had four young children at home and couldn't make the two-hour drive to a family readiness group meeting for help and support. "So I know what it's like to be out there and not know where to turn," she said. "I understand."
Now that her husband is chief of the Army Reserve, Laura Stultz said she feels a personal responsibility to make things smoother for other Army Reserve spouses who keep the home fires burning during deployments.
"Their soldiers are putting their lives on the line just like everyone else, so they deserve and need the same help and resources available for active-component families," she said.
General Stultz called the virtual installation an important step toward taking better care of Army Reserve families. After all, he said, the Army Reserve recruits soldiers, but it retains families. "And we have to do a better job of reaching out to those families," he said.
The Defense Department today released two reports: the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2007 Report on Sexual Assault in the Military and the 2006 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members.
The Report on Sexual Assault, prepared by the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO), provides an overview of the SAPR program and data on alleged sexual assaults reported during fiscal 2007. In fiscal 2007, 2,688 reports of sexual assault involving service members as subject and/or victim were filed.
Restricted reporting, which provides a victim with support services without initiating the criminal investigation process and preserves the victim's anonymity, continues to be a crucial option for service members. Some research had found that victims may choose to forego services rather than participate in the investigative process. Of the 2,688 reports made, 705 were under the restricted program. In 102 of these cases, victims later decided to pursue legal charges and switched their report to unrestricted.
The report indicates that the services placed a high priority on training. Comprehensive programs were developed and delivered in methods ranging from traditional, in-person training to more innovative, automated methods delivered on compact disc or the Internet. All of the military services continued to build education and training programs designed to foster a climate of confidence.
The Gender Relations survey, conducted by the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), was based on a sample of 23,595 respondents and found that 34 percent of active duty women and 6 percent of active duty men indicated experiencing sexual harassment, while 6.8 percent of women and 1.8 percent of men indicated experiencing unwanted sexual contact.
Active duty members gave positive marks for improvement in Department of Defense sexual misconduct training and climate. About 90 percent indicated they received training in the previous year on topics related to sexual harassment and sexual assault and that their training was effective. More than 80 percent reported the Department's sexual harassment and sexual assault policies and procedures were well publicized. Overall, they were more positive in their assessment of the climate in the military than they were of the climate in the nation in regards to sexual harassment and sexual assault.
As a result of the survey and annual report, SAPRO and DMDC will partner along with other organizations within and outside of the Department of Defense to evaluate the effectiveness of past and present reporting efforts, identify enhanced prevention opportunities and strategies, and continue to monitor victim services.
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
March 14, 2008 - The senior military leaders of U.S. European Command, U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Africa Command discussed issues related to their areas of operation during testimony before a House panel here yesterday. Supporting the global war against terrorism is his top priority, Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe and European Command chief, told House Armed Services Committee members.
However, "EUCOM is also focused on sustaining Europe as a global partner and furthering U.S. security relationships," Craddock pointed out. Command objectives in this sphere, he explained, include "promoting lasting security and stability, maintaining the ability to employ the full range of capabilities across the spectrum of conflict, and fostering the growth of partner nation capacity and capability."
Servicemembers assigned to EUCOM routinely deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Craddock said, while other troops "are included in our global force pool and stand available for (other) missions as required."
From his NATO perspective, Craddock told the committee that nearly 50,000 NATO-aligned troops are in Afghanistan, including about 19,000 U.S. servicemembers.
"NATO remains committed to collective security and, increasingly, to a broader and more comprehensive view of security in an interdependent world," Craddock said.
The alliance "has taken the lead for security and stability in Afghanistan," Craddock reported. More than 47,000 International Security Assistance Force troops now deployed there are assisting Afghan forces in the fight against Taliban insurgents, he said.
European Command also supports efforts to keep the peace in newly independent Kosovo, Craddock said. U.S. forces make up about 10 percent of the 16,000 international troops in Kosovo, he noted.
Craddock said his organization also works closely with U.S. Africa Command, which was stood up at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, on Oct. 1. European Command previously had responsibility for several African nations.
U.S. Southern Command's area of responsibility includes all of Latin America and parts of the Caribbean. SOUTHCOM chief Navy Adm. James Stavridis described the region as a "vibrant and diverse part of the world" where $1.2 trillion worth of U.S. economic trade is transacted.
Yet, SOUTHCOM's area of responsibility also includes challenges, Stavridis said.
"There are enormous challenges, starting with poverty, but also drugs," the four-star admiral noted. Regional terrorists, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, increasingly rely on narcotics trafficking as a way to raise funds, he said.
Stavridis also sees "the beginnings of Islamic radical terrorism" in some parts of his area of responsibility.
On the Caribbean watch, Cuba remains the sole dictatorship in the Americas, Stavridis said, while noting Haiti "continues to be a nation that is trying to overcome extreme challenges of poverty."
The admiral also cited recent tensions caused by a border dispute between Colombia and its neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador. Venezuela and Ecuador accused Colombia of violating their sovereignty during recent Colombian military operations that attacked terrorists operating along the countries' common borders.
"Thankfully, those (tensions) appear to be diminished," Stavridis said.
Reporting on AFRICOM affairs, Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward said the command's creation "signals a new focus on United States' strategic interests for Africa and its island nations."
AFRICOM will work with its partners on the African continent "to help create a secure and encouraging future" for all, Ward said.
"Our intent is to enable them to provide for their own security," Ward explained. Other U.S. agencies in addition to the Defense Department are involved in this endeavor, Ward continued, including the State Department's Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program.
ACOTA "has helped prepare thousands of African military personnel for international peacekeeping operations," Ward pointed out. He said ACOTA-trained forces participate in U.N.- and African Union-sponsored peacekeeping missions in Darfur, Somalia and other areas of conflict.
U.S. soldiers and Marine now provide military training to African peacekeepers and professional development at the individual and unit level, Ward said, while the U.S. Air Force contributes airlift and logistical support.
"We also provide special operations counterterrorism training teams to strengthen national capabilities and enhance multinational cooperation," Ward added.
U.S. military forces also support numerous humanitarian missions in Africa, Ward said, in concert with the State Department's U.S. Agency for International Development.
In addition, the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard "are helping African nations increase their maritime safety and security through training activities and programs that enhance maritime awareness," Ward pointed out.
Ward's face-to-face meetings with African military and political leaders "have made it clear that they want these programs to continue," the four-star general said.
"We will sustain our current efforts, and through Africa Command, we will improve military programs through our strategy of active security" to prevent conflict, Ward said.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
March 13, 2008 - The 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation has suggested a new way of measuring military pay, proposed that more money be spent on special and incentive pays, and recommended restructuring the basic allowance for housing. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jan D. "Denny" Eakle -- former deputy director of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service -- chaired the commission and briefed the media on the recommendations yesterday.
This was just the first release of the review, Eakle explained. A second volume, covering retirement and quality-of-life aspects of compensation, will be released in the summer.
Eakle said that whenever a QRMC convenes, the first question it examines always is whether military pay is comparable to pay in the private sector. The second is whether military pay is adequate to maintain the force, she said.
The 9th QRMC, released in 2002, concluded that for pay to be comparable, it had to be at or above the 70th percentile of the age- and education-matched civilian population, Eakle said. Military pay followed this guidance through 2006, and targeted pay raises in 2007 and 2008 ensure DoD exceeds the 70th percentile for enlisted personnel. Officer pay exceeded this goal in 2006 and has kept pace since then, she said.
Eakle said the current review studied whether the comparability formula is adequate. "Basically, what we wanted to do is create something which would give military members a better means of assessing how their pay stacked up in comparison to civilians," she said.
Regular military compensation was the measure used in previous QRMCs. This included basic pay, subsistence, housing and a measure of savings on federal income tax. "But there's a lot more to military compensation," she said.
The new system begins with regular military compensation and adds state and FICA tax advantages. Military personnel also do not pay out-of-pocket health care costs, such as co-pays, she explained, and all these folded into the panel's calculations. The new measurement is called military annual compensation, and it sets the 80th percentile as the standard for military compensation comparability with the private sector. Pay for enlisted personnel and officers meets this standard, Eakle said.
Congress revamped the special incentive pay categories from more than 60 to eight, Eakle said. "That, in fact, was a recommendation of this QRMC, and it was enacted before the publication of this document, Eakle said. "And so now it's up to the department to begin the process of drafting out the instructions to adopt this."
The review recommended increasing the size of the special and incentive pay budget. "Today we have an S&I budget that, quite frankly, is rather small in comparison to the size of the other pay accounts," she said. "And because of that, it doesn't give the service as much flexibility for arranging pay."
The review examined the basic allowance for housing and a previous recommendation to do away with the without-dependent housing rate. The review also proposed changes to the partial-BAH program.
Because some single servicemembers are making as little as 52 percent of the pay their peers who have families receive, the QRMC recommends raising that floor to no less than 75 percent at first, and to 95 percent over time. But the gap between married and single BAH should not disappear, Eakle said.
"What we have determined is that if it were completely closed, we would in fact then be over-compensating the singles, because of the difference in things like utilities and insurances," she explained.
The review did recommend changes for singles living on post or aboard ships. "Today, a young man or woman who is living in the barracks (or) living on a ship forfeits their entire housing allowance for doing that, and we don't think that that's necessarily the most equitable way to operate," Eakle said.
The proposal is a new variable, partial BAH based on the value of the quarters the servicemembers occupy. The DoD standard is a one-plus-one dormitory -- meaning each individual having a bedroom and a shared cooking facility and bathroom. "That's very much like sharing a two-bedroom apartment," Eakle said. "And so for those people, we think that the BAH that they are giving up is actually pretty close to what they should be paying for it."
For those living with three roommates, the review believes they are overpaying for their accommodations by forfeiting their entire housing allowance, and "we would recommend that they get a rebate on their BAH."
"The range we are talking about is going from zero for people in the one-plus-one dormitories, up to a 25 percent rebate for those who are living in ships with hot-bunk arrangements," she said. "So you'd be able to give people something in recognition of the fact that housing is not at the DoD standard."
The review also recommended staying with time-in-service pay tables. A previous commission, the Defense Advisory Committee on Military Compensation, recommended replacing the time-in-service pay table with a time-in-grade pay table. This would reward pay for performance, the commission members believed.
"We looked very seriously at this recommendation, but we've chosen not to accept it and are not going to endorse the change," Eakle said.
She said it would exacerbate pay differentials, adding: "We don't think that's in keeping with our spirit of being fair and equitable to all members."
American Forces Press Service
March 13, 2008 - The majority of severely wounded warriors say the military health system is on the right track, and is doing all it can and should to provide their care, a new Zogby International survey shows. The poll of 435 servicemembers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan shows 77 percent are satisfied the military health system is doing all it can to meet their health care needs, and nearly 60 percent said their trust and confidence in the system has increased since they began receiving medical treatment for their wounds.
The poll was conducted Feb. 27 and commissioned by the Tricare Management Authority, the Defense Department office that manages the Tricare military health plan. Six questions were asked. Those questioned were randomly chosen. The polling firm Zogby International has been tracking public opinion since 1984 in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
A wide majority across all age groups agreed the system is doing all it should to meet their needs. Among men, 78 percent agreed, while 69 percent of women said the system is doing all it should.
Servicemembers home longer from their deployment were more likely to feel the military health system was doing all it should be doing to meet their needs. Among those who had been home six months or less, 64 percent felt the system was doing all it could. But 84 percent of those who had been home between 19 and 24 months, and 93 percent of those who had been home 25 to 36 months were more pleased with the health care they were receiving, saying they thought the system was doing all it should be doing.
The survey shows that, while a majority of all age groups were satisfied with and confident in the military health system, the older the servicemember, the more satisfied they were. Among those 18 to 35 years old, more than half said their trust and confidence in the system was improving. Fifty-nine percent of those 35 to 44 years old and 79 percent of those ages 45 to 54 said the same.
Servicemembers who had returned home from deployment within the last six months were least likely to feel their trust and confidence in the health system had increased, but trust and confidence grows over time, and then dissipates somewhat among those home longer than three and a half years.
Those surveyed were all members of "warrior transition units" who required at least six months of complex medical care. The units, established in June, were designed to more effectively deal with such health care needs. The warrior transition units were created after media reports of poor conditions for some injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here.
When asked about whether they believed conditions had improved since those widely publicized reports, 71 percent said they think the military health system is now on the right track, while 10 percent said it is not, and another 19 percent said they were unsure.
Among enlisted personnel, 69 percent said they think the military health system in on the right track since the Walter Reed reports, compared to 76 percent of officers who said the same thing.
A majority of the injured servicemembers said their expectations for recovery have increased since they returned from their deployments.
Three individuals and five teams have won awards from the Defense Standardization Program Office (DSPO) for outstanding contributions to the Department of Defense last fiscal year. Since 1987, DSPO has recognized individuals and organization that have effected significant improvement in quality, reliability, readiness, cost reduction, and interoperability through standardization.
The DSP mission is to identify, influence, develop, manage, and provide access to standardization processes, products, and services for warfighters and the acquisition and logistics communities. In addition, the program promotes interoperability and assists in reducing total ownership costs and sustaining readiness.
Individual award recipients for 2007 are James Todd, engineer, Army's program manager for training devices (PM TRADE), Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation, (PEO STRI), Orlando, Fla. Todd was instrumental in the development and implementation of standards for the Future Army Systems Integrated Target. Jack Mills, director, Naval Air Systems Command, Fleet Readiness Center, Executive Information Systems Division, implemented a standardized structure and process for software development and life-cycle management of the Naval Air Systems Command's Depot Maintenance System. Also recognized was Thomas Hess, electronics engineer, Defense Supply Center Columbus. Hess made outstanding contributions to revisions of the military performance specification for microcircuits. The revised document addresses the current engineering and technical needs of the space community, military agencies, and DoD equipment manufacturers for robust military and space grade microcircuits.
Team winners include Naval Air Systems Command, DoD Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) Operation Support Facility (OSF). By implementing lessons learned and applying the standardized process procedures, the Navy team has been able to provide OSF support to the entire STARS community more quickly and with fewer resources than would be possible if each service had its own OSF. Members of that team include Kathi Chesser, Adam Osborne Jr., Mark Minik, Kenneth Cole, and Michael Corrigan.
Also named as a team winner is the Air Force Materiel Command, Aeronautical Systems Center, Engineering Directorate, Aerospace Fuels Certification Military Handbook team. This team documented the certification process in Military Handbook (MIL-HDBK-)510, aerospace fuels certification. The new process is expected to reduce conversion to no more than three years for all weapon systems, ground support equipment, and refueling infrastructure and significantly reduce conversion costs. Members include James Edwards, Virgil Regoli, Martin Lentz, William Likos, and Edwin Wells.
Other winning teams are all from the Defense Logistics Agency, including the Defense Supply Center Columbus, improved power ratings for standard chip resistors covered by Military Performance Specification MIL-PRF-55342 Team. This joint DLA/Army team overhauled the military performance specification for standard chip resistors to incorporate improved power ratings. As a result of this effort, DoD can upgrade the existing part designs to improve power ratings rather than introduce new parts into the logistics systems. Members include Andrew Ernst, Jeffrey Zern, and Jeffrey Carver.
Also from the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Supply Center Richmond, was the team for implementation of polyurethane antenna gaskets and tape to mitigate corrosion of DoD aircraft. This joint DLA/Coastguard team implemented the use of new anticorrosion polyurethane gasket material and tape for antenna and floorboard applications on military aircraft. The use of this new material reduces or eliminates corrosion of antennas and airframes; simplifies removal of components; and allows for extension of maintenance cycle, which gives personnel more time to perform other maintenance tasks. Members are Ned Pruitt, Craig Matzdorf, Dick Kinzie, Steve Carr, and Larry Cornwell.
Another winning group is the Defense Logistics Agency's Defense Energy Support Center team for standardization of fuels, equipment, training, and laboratory operations. This team standardized critical fuels equipment and consolidated fuels training for military services and theater combatant commands. The team published a joint performance specification for collapsible fuel tanks, assisted with revising Society of Automotive Engineers Aerospace Standard 5877, developed policy to reduce the number of different fuel filter elements, and merged lesson plans and consolidated fuels quality training. Members are Larry Woolverton, Shawn Simon, Richard Iwanski, James Eberhardt, and William MacLaren.
For further information on the Defense Standardization Program please visit the DSP web site at http://www.dsp.dla.mil.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
The Produce Connection, Miami, Fla., is being awarded a maximum $9,979,371.60 fixed price with economic price adjustment, total set aside contract for fresh fruit and vegetables support. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Navy, Air Force, and USDA school customers. This proposal was originally solicited on DIBBS with two responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is Sep. 13, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM300-08-D-P034).
Burlington Apparel Fabrics, Greensboro, N.C. is being awarded a maximum $8,838,492.00 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for polyester/wool, tropical, khaki cloth. Other locations of performance are Va. Using service is Navy. This proposal was originally Gateway solicited with 1 response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is Mar. 19, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM1C1-07-D-1515).
NAVY
ITT Industries Avionics Div., Clifton, N. J., is being awarded a $111,540,000 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-05-C-0054) to exercise an option for the Fiscal Year 2008 full rate production Lot V of 66 AN/ALQ-214(V)2 On-Board Jammer Systems for the F/A-18 E/F Aircraft. This option combines purchases for the U.S. Navy ($103,090,000; 92 percent), and the Government of Australia ($8,450,000; 8 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed at various locations for all other vendors throughout the U.S. (43.5 percent); Clifton, N.J., (34.4 percent); East Syracuse, N.Y., (8.8 percent); San Diego, Calif., (8.3 percent); and Rancho Cordova, Calif., (5 percent), and work is expected to be completed in Dec. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Systems Co., McKinney, Texas, is being awarded a $44,253,923 firm-fixed- price order under a Basic Ordering Agreement (N00164-06-G-8555) for Multi-spectral Targeting Systems (MTS) Navy configuration, including 41 Turret Units and associated line items for the Government in support of Army and Navy aircraft and H-60 helicopters. The MTS is a forward looking infrared system for the aircraft. The MTS provides real-time imagery selectable between infrared and day TV, as well as a laser designation capability. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and work is expected to be completed by Oct. 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $12,206,250 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity.
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Inc., Melville, N.Y., is being awarded a $37,277,361 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-04-C-4304) to exercise an option for the procurement of seven AN/SPQ-9B Radar Sets with Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) transmitter upgrades, three combat interface kits for CEC, and four combat interface kits for AEGIS. The AN/SPQ-9B Radar is an over the horizon Anti-Ship Missile Defense Radar whose function it is to provide enhanced capability to detect, track and respond to very low flying altitude threats, small radar cross section, high-speed targets. This option will provide SPQ-9B Radars for installation on several ship classes, including CVN, CG-47, Coast Guard, and LPD-17. Work will be performed in Melville, N.Y., (85 percent); Norwalk, Conn., (14 percent); and Baltimore, Md., (1 percent), and work is expected to be completed by Oct. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz.., is being awarded a $30,985,622 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0569) for the Fiscal Year 2008 procurement of 68 Tomahawk Composite Capsule Launching System (CCLS) Capsules and 20 SSGN/SSN CCLS Retrofit Kits. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz.., and work is expected to be completed in Jan. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Solpac, Inc., DBA Soltek Pacific, San Diego, Calif., was awarded $18,998,000 for firm-fixed-price task order #0007 under a previously awarded contract (N68711-03-D-7509) on Mar. 12, 2008, to design and construct a combined arms and military operations urban terrain training facility at the MAGTGTC Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms. Work will be performed in San Bernardino, Calif., and work is expected to be completed by Sep. 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Integrated Defense Systems, Owego, N.Y., is being awarded $16,494,928 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order # P10010 under previously awarded contract (N00019-04-C-0028) for procurement of initial and wholesale spares requirements for various weapons replaceable assemblies used on the MH-60 common cockpit. Work will be performed in Oswego, N.Y., and work is expected to be completed by Dec. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.
Jacobs Engineering, Dumfries, Va., is being awarded $9,436,475 for task order #0016 under previously awarded contract (M67854-02-A-9017) to provide technical support to the Marine Corps Systems Command, Information Systems and Infrastructure Product Group (PG/ISI), Marine Corps Network and Infrastructure services program office for sustainment support and additional transition support to include assisting in monitoring the cutover progress and attending daily meetings. Throughout the contract period the Contractor will be required to coordinate schedules, assist with data collection for assets, user requirements management; application inventory; and related actions necessary to effect transition activities and seat cutover, technical refresh schedules and activities and life-cycle sustainment in the NMCI environment (e. g. SRM data collection, asset reconciliation and tracking). The scope of this task will be structured to reflect support for Major Commands across the Marine Corps sites. Work will be performed in Camp Lejeune, N.C.,(22 percent); New Orleans, La., (15 percent); Okinawa, Japan, (12 percent); Camp Pendleton, Calif., (11 percent); Quantico, Va., (11 percent); Miramar, Calif., (8 percent); Beaufort, S.C., (3 percent); Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, (3 percent); Albany, Ga., (3 percent); Arlington, Va., (2 percent); Bastow, Calif., (2 percent); Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif., (2 percent); Yuma, Ariz., (2 percent); San Diego, Calif., (2 percent); and Paris Island, S.C., (2 percent), and work is expected to be completed in Mar. 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Harris Corp., Government Communications Systems Div., Melbourne, Fla., is being awarded a $7,987,843 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0130) for the design and manufacture of production test equipment in support of the MH-60 Common Data Link Hawklink system. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Fla., and is expected to be completed in Jun. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Moog Aircraft Group Salt Lake Operations, Salt Lake City, Utah, is being awarded a $7,273,831 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 21 man-portable tactical air navigation units, including training for the distance/azimuth measuring equipment program. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah, and work is expected to be completed in Feb. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under an electronic request for proposals, with one offer received. The Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity (N00019-08-C-0037).
Advanced Concepts Enterprises, Inc., Mary Esther, Fla., is being awarded a $7,210,761 firm-fixed-priced, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for instructional training services related to Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal courses of instruction at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. This contract contains one base year plus four, one-year options, which if exercised, bring the total estimated value of the contract to $67,631,441. Work will be performed in Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and work is expected to be completed by Mar. 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through Navy Electronic Commerce Online, with four offers received. Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Philadelphia Office is the contracting activity (N00189-08-D-Z027).
BBN Technologies, Corp., Cambridge, Mass., is being awarded a $6,365,373 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for RDT&E in Petabit Highly Agile Robust Optical System. The objective is to develop the architecture, protocols, and control and management software for highly dynamic, multi-terabit global core optical networks with greatly enhanced performance, survivability and security. The ultimate goal of this program is to transition the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Strategic Technology Office's Dynamic Multi-Terabit Core Optical Networks: Architecture, Protocols, Control and Management program. Funds being awarded at this time are $5,659,505. Work will be performed in Cambridge, Mass., and work is expected to be completed Sep. 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $1,405,237 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under a Broad Agency Announcement #06-29. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00173-08-C-2010).
I.E. Pacific, Inc.*, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $5,812,000 for firm-fixed-price task order #0006 under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract (N62473-07-D-2015) for design and construction of additional parking level on the existing parking structures, Building 608 and Building 636, at the Naval Subase, San Diego. Additional parking expansion will provide approximately 172 additional parking spaces and will include additional electrical and mechanical (stand pipe system) utilities, paving and site improvement. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and work is expected to be completed by Mar. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Correction: The contract announcement awarded on Mar. 7, 2008, to General Dynamics C4 Systems, Scottsdale, Ariz., contract number M67854-02-C-2052, should have read: This modification definitizes P00092 Change Order of Full Rate Production (FRP) II Add/Delete Components and 17 Combat Operations Center Systems including 17 Common Modules, 7 Capability Set IIIs, and 10 Capability Sets IV.
AIR FORCE
Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Incorporated of Washington D. C., is being awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for $73,000,000. This contract is for advisory and assistance services for post-closing management of Air Force Privatized Endeavors. It provides for long-term PCM services in support of the Air Force's privatization programs, including oversight, monitoring, management of privatized endeavors real estate such as housing, enhanced use leasing and other privatization endeavors throughout the U. S. This indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) type contract has a five year ordering period, with one additional year performance. The Air Force can issue delivery orders totaling up to the maximum amount indicated above, though requirements may necessitate less than the amount indicated above. At this time $3,000 has been obligated. Brooks City-Base, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8903-08-D-8795).
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. of McLean, Va., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee
contract for $44,999,914. The Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis Center
(SURVIAC) will research survivability implications for U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command that integrates force protection analysis, transformation analysis, and counter terrorism analysis. At this time $5,376,474 has been obligated. Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380).
Boeing Co., of Anaheim, Calif., is being awarded a contract modification for $32,794,814. The Combat Survivor Evader Locator full rate production FY08 effort includes procurement of the following: radio sets, quantity 2,926, radio spares, quantity 293, radio sets adapters, quantity 244, radio set adapter spares, quantity 24, prime radio set batteries, quantity 2926, rechargeable radio set batteries, quantity 5852, rechargeable radio set battery adapters, quantity 1463. At this time $319,700 has been obligated. Hanscom AFB, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8807-05-C-0004/P00024).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Air Combat Systems of San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a contract for $20,000,000. This effort is for operation for the Global Hawk System in forward theaters of operation, for a classified length of time. The contractor shall also provide mission support plans and identify equipment necessary to support operations at contingency locations and procure deployment spares critical for sustained flight operations for the period of time specified on any deployment order. At this time $20,000,000 has been obligated. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-G-3005 0001-02).
ARMY
FLIR Systems, Inc., Wilsonville, Ore., was awarded on Mar. 11, 2008, a $49,476,870 firm-fixed price contract for FLIR STAR SAFIRE III sensors. Work will be performed in Wilsonville, Ore., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on Mar. 6, 2008, and one bid was received. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (W9113M-07-D-0004).
Boyd Jones Construction, Omaha, Neb., was awarded on Mar. 12, 2008, a $15,588,000 firm-fixed price contract for construction of additions/alterations intelligence squadron facility, Offutt, Air Force Base. Work will be performed at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., and is expected to be completed by Sep. 25, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were an unknown number of bids solicited via the World Wide Web on Nov. 16, 2007, and four bids were received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Omaha, Neb., is the contracting activity (W9128F-08-C-0003).
The Department of Defense released today the first volume of the report of the Tenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC), which assesses the effectiveness of military pay and benefits in recruiting and retaining a high-quality force.
Every four years, DoD conducts a complete review of compensation principles and concepts for members of the armed forces. The 10th QRMC began in 2006.
DoD will study the recommendations for potential implementation and send selected proposals to Congress as proposed legislation.
The QRMC looked at the following cash compensation areas: pay comparability, special and incentive pays, pay for performance and housing.
The commission recommended adopting a new metric to determine a more realistic value of military compensation compared to the civilian sector. The previous metric, regular military compensation (RMC), included base pay, basic allowance for housing (BAH), basic allowance for subsistence and federal income tax advantages resulting from non-taxed allowances. The more comprehensive metric, military annual compensation (MAC), would include RMC plus state and FICA tax advantages, the value of avoided out-of-pocket health costs and a measure of the differences in the value of military and civilian retirement.
A basic task of any QRMC is to evaluate the adequacy of compensation. The commission's findings confirm that member compensation is competitive – members' MAC meets or exceeds the 80th percentile when compared to their civilian peers of like age and education. The commission recommended setting the 80 percentile as the new standard for pay.
The commission's findings recommend more service flexibility for managing forces through recruiting and retention authorities. With the services growing in size, more special pays and incentive dollars will be needed to achieve objectives; appropriations are not expected to provide the depth of funding needed. Because special and incentive pays currently account for less than 5 percent of total pay, the services have little flexibility to shape their forces, meet emerging needs, or encourage variable career lengths. The commission findings recommended authorities that allow the services to reap efficiencies by targeting specific special pay and incentives for critical skills and assignments.
The committee examined how to better recognize and reward high performance. The QRMC recommended legistion that would allow the services to adopt constructive credit to reward fast promotees and better facilitate lateral entry into the force – thereby offering a means to provide service members with permanent pay credit for early promotion or experience acquired as a civilian. This proposal gives the services the flexibility with the existing pay table to reward performance and offer competitive compensation to high-quality service members.
Lastly, the QRMC was tasked to assess the rate setting process for BAH, which is set by estimating housing expenditures of civilians with similar incomes to military personnel.
The study recommended reducing the gap between "with" and "without dependent" BAH rates to achieve parity in out-of-pocket expenses. DoD accepted this recommendation and through the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, set BAH of "without dependents" to a minimum of 75 percent of the "with dependent" BAH rate.
This is the first volume of the study dealing with cash compensation. The second volume dealing with non-cash and deferred compensation will be published later in 2008. The Tenth QRMC is on the Web at
http://www.defenselink.mil/prhome/docs/Tenth_QRMC_Feb2008_Vol%20I.pdf.
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
March 13, 2008 - Three veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan arrived unannounced yesterday on the University of Cincinnati campus to lead classroom discussions with about 250 students and shed light on their military lives. As students sauntered into a lecture hall early yesterday morning for what they thought would be a lesson on European history, many were surprised to find the uniformed servicemembers standing in for their familiar, tweed-coat-clad professor.
"At first I thought they were coming to try and recruit people," freshman history student Rose Barrett told American Forces Press Service.
But what followed were presentations by three of 10 military members participating in the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" outreach program, which places military speakers before audiences at venues across the United States.
"I just want to start by saying that we're not recruiters," Marine Chief Warrant Officer Daniel K. Winnie, decked out in "dress blues," told students as he opened his remarks. "As a matter of fact," he continued, "if you ask me a question about it, I'd tell you that Iraq sucked at different times."
Winnie went on to share with students an anecdote from Nasiriyah, Iraq, where amid a particularly fierce gunfight with insurgents aboard a stolen bus, the Marine frantically worked to free a comrade's vehicle that was entangled in a metal briar patch of concertina wire.
Just as Winnie snapped through the last barbed-wired strand, he slipped and fell into a bed of slimy mud. The bolt cutters he was using fumbled from his hands and gashed his face. Meanwhile, gunfire from the busload of enemies whizzed over his head.
"So now I'm bleeding, laying on my back in the mud, and some (expletive) is shooting at me from a bus," he told the audience, drawing laughter. "Then my digital watch beeps to tell me that I'm 30 years old."
Winnie said he was at the end of his rope that night, until his gunner and driver surprised him. The battle buddies had constructed a crude birthday cake for him, made from cracker crumbs, granola and hot chocolate mix, and placed the makeshift tiding in a plastic military-issue meal wrapper.
"They stuck a match in it and sang me 'Happy Birthday,'" said the Marine, who hails from Everett, Wash., his voice imbued with the camaraderie that buoyed his spirits while many miles from home. "And that is the best birthday I've had, ever."
Yesterday's panel was hosted by history professor Tom Lorman, who for the second consecutive semester yielded the lectern to servicemember speakers. To maintain the presentations' spontaneity, Lorman had not promoted the speakers' appearances around campus, nor had he informed his students in advance about the visit.
The professor's pupils arrived to his regularly scheduled courses, expecting to hear lectures on the Napoleonic Era or the French Revolution. But as one bleary-eyed, coffee clutching latecomer discovered, yesterday's history lesson -- co-taught by Iraq war veteran Marine Capt. John N. Sand -- would cover the age of howitzers and hellfire missiles, not bayonets and bastilles.
Sand, whose steely, blue-eyed gaze projects a sense of inborn leadership, began his presentation by showing a video clip of the Battery T, 5th Battalion, 10th Marines under his command loading and firing 155 mm mortars from an M777 lightweight howitzer.
From March through October 2007, Sand served as the battery commander for his unit at Camp Fallujah, in Iraq's Anbar province. The unit was responsible for providing fire support and mounted security patrols for Regimental Combat Team 6.
During Sand's deployment, his battery fired 1,300 artillery rounds -- which can hit a target up to 18 miles away and create a blast the size of half a football field -- and provided some 500 mounted security patrols for explosive ordnance disposal teams and Army engineers.
But none of these, in the 38-year-old Marine's eyes, is the most vital statistic of his seven-month deployment.
"The thing I'm proudest of is that I left the U.S. with 131 Marines, and I returned with 131 Marines," he said.
Although he returned without having suffered loss of life, limb or Corps member from his 131-Marine unit, Sand touched on the sacrifices he did make while in Iraq.
He played a whirlwind slideshow, scored by a poignant rock tune, which showed students the everyday scenes that lay before Sand while he was deployed. A photograph of a convoy rolling along a dusty Anbar province highway dissolved into snapshots of smiling Iraqi children clamoring for the camera's attention.
From a picture of an artillery piece in action, the slideshow jumped to Sand's Marines surrounding visitor Katie Couric, CBS Evening News anchor, the armor-clad entourage standing against a backdrop of rising minarets.
Tucked into the seams of the presentation by Sand, the father of three daughters, were two photos that the Ottawa, Ill., native subtitled, "What I missed." The picture with the caption "Isabella's first soccer game," shows Sand's second-oldest daughter, dressed in shin guards and cleats, on a bright green patch of grass.
The other photo, "Ainsley's first birthday," captures his youngest daughter, her diapered rear end planted in her mother's lap, attempting to blow out a single birthday candle.
"You don't think about the faces or the number of families that are affected," said Barrett, the freshman history student. "I think the (speakers) made everyone respect them more by helping us understand what they go through in their personal experiences."
Before joining the Air Force ROTC program, Air Force Capt. Edward Szczepanik thought his 75-mph curve ball would earn him a free ride to college. He was wrong. Szczepanik then hedged his bets on academics, hoping that decent high school grades would merit a scholarship. He was wrong again.
"I'm thinking, 'How am I going to do this? I don't want to be in debt when I graduate school,'" the engaging Szczepanik recalled to students. "'What are my options here?'"
It was then that Szczepanik's high school guidance counselor suggested Air Force ROTC. The elderly woman, he recalled, said the only requirements for earning full tuition from the Air Force were "putting on your little costume once a week and running around."
"I said, 'I'd pretty much do anything once a week if you're going to pay me my entire scholarship,'" he said, as the audience laughed. "'I'd dress up like the school mascot and stand in the middle of the road directing traffic once a week.'"
Szczepanik continued to regard his ROTC commitment with some levity until the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred during his junior year at the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio.
"I remember I was in my bedroom when I saw the two planes crash into World Trade Center, and it became very real that I wouldn't be doing four years (in the Air Force) in a U.S. city then get out of the military. I'm probably going to be overseas," he recalled. "I thought, 'If I'm going to be overseas and I'm in the Air Force, I'm going to be flying something while I'm over there.'"
Since graduating from college, Szczepanik has completed two years of undergraduate pilot training, flown 900 hours in a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft -- 200 of which were combat hours -- and about 100 combat sorties, including dangerous missions over Afghanistan. The Columbus, Ohio, native, now 27 years old, also has traveled to more than 30 countries across the Middle East, most of Europe and parts of the South Pacific.
"The reason I got in was for financial reasons; I needed the scholarship. But the reason I stay in is for guys like this," said Szczepanik, pointing to the fellow military speakers onstage. "And I stay in for the guys that I fly with every day, who have become my brothers."
Daniel Glenn, an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati who teaches a course called War and the Modern World, said the "disconnect" between civilians and servicemembers has grown since the draft ended in the 1970s. He praised the "Why We Serve" participants for appearing before students on campus.
"I think the speakers put a face on military service," he said. "It gives the opportunity for students to ask the deeper questions you're not going to get from a 30-second commercial on what military service means."
History student Jennifer Sturlock said she was enthusiastic when she discovered the troops would lead her course.
"I was pretty enthused about it. It's not often that you get to talk to one soldier, let alone three," she said. "I like to get all sides on an issue so I can make own decision, so I think it's important to have a mix of opinions."
Gary Staub, a graduate student of history, said he enjoyed hearing individual accounts from the first-hand observers on the frontlines.
"These guys have lived it, so they're going to have their own personal impressions," he said, "but at least you're going to hear what's really going on."
By Patti Bielling
Special to American Forces Press Service
March 12, 2008 - Two military officers were recognized in front of their peers March 4 for assisting civil authorities during recovery operations following the I-35 West Minneapolis bridge collapse in August. Army Col. Michael Chesney and Navy Capt. Bradley Gawboy each received the Joint Service Commendation Medal and the Minnesota Commendation Ribbon with Pendant during the 2008 Joint National Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer Workshop in Miami.
Chesney is assigned to U.S. Army North as the Region 5 defense coordinating officer, and Gawboy is the Navy's emergency preparedness liaison officer in Minnesota. They were members of the federal team supporting local responders in recovering victims of the August bridge collapse that killed 13 people.
The medals were presented following a panel discussion of the recovery mission. Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, who led the response, was a member of the panel.
Stanek said that when Chesney arrived at the site of the bridge collapse, he "didn't know him from Adam and didn't know anything about the military."
However, when Chesney and his team began work, Stanek said he had no doubt they'd be successful in their singular mission of recovering victims' remains.
Stanek said he was continually impressed with how well the joint military team worked together throughout the operation. "I was amazed to see a Navy officer taking orders from an Army officer," he said. "Local law enforcement doesn't work that well. We strive to be like that. We'd love to have that type of organizational control and structure of a joint command."
Chesney said the knowledge and professionalism that the state and regional emergency preparedness liaison officers brought to the team were invaluable.
He said he relied on Gawboy's advice and expertise to integrate more than 20 members of Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 from Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va., into the recovery operations.
"The divers were the true heroes of this event; we just helped bring them in," Gawboy said. "We had such a critical and reverent mission, and everyone focused on that and responded in the most professional manner."
Gawboy said that, until this event, he and the other Minnesota emergency preparedness liaison officers thought the only civil support experience they would get would be assisting with hurricane response in another state.
"We were very surprised to find ourselves working a civil support mission in Minneapolis," he said. "But it's because we had trained here and elsewhere that we were prepared to do the mission."
Gawboy found being a member of the community helped him fit in quickly. He said he had attended high school with some of the local responders and was acquainted with Stanek through community and professional organizations in their town of Maple Grove, Minn.
Overall, Gawboy said, the event demonstrated the benefit of collaboration among local, state and federal responders and credited Stanek's leadership for the mission's success.
Chesney added that the successful mission reinforced the importance of a joint military team that includes emergency preparedness liaison officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. They are in a unique position, he said. Not only are they experts on integrating their service capabilities, they bring an understanding of the states and communities they serve.
Stanek agreed and said he emphasized to conference attendees the importance of building personal relationships before an emergency.
"Before working with them, I had never heard of an EPLO or DCO," Stanek said. "It's important that they go out and introduce themselves to the fire chiefs and police chiefs in their communities and continue working on building or strengthening those relationships before an emergency occurs."
(Patti Bielling works for U.S. Army North Public Affairs.)
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