By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
July 25, 2008 - Ensuring the Army's force is diverse now goes far beyond the initial integration of blacks into the service 60 years ago, the Army's top personnel officer said today. While the presidential order in 1948 desegregating the military was monumental in its time, diversity in the force now takes on a national security context and serves as a combat multiplier on the battlefield, Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, the service's deputy chief of staff for personnel, said.
"We tend to think rather narrowly about diversity sometimes -- it's a black-white or it's a Hispanic-black-white issue. It's not," Rochelle said in an interview at the Pentagon.
"Diversity is a national security issue and one that every one of us should be concerned about, frankly, because it is a force multiplier for our soldiers," he said.
In 2002, as the Army was preparing for the possibility of war in Iraq, the Army's recruiting command was given the mission to recruit Arabic linguists that would be needed for troops on the ground to communicate with local citizens. But the service couldn't recruit and train them fast enough, said Rochelle, who headed the command from 2002 to 2005
"We were somewhat ill-prepared to do that, and it took quite a long time to spin the system up to the point of where we are today," he said.
The Army now has nearly 1,000 Arabic linguists in its ranks, Rochelle said. But this is nearly six years into the war, and the Army needs to be prepared for the next point of conflict, he said.
"Primarily, the question we should ask ourselves is, 'Where may we need those skills tomorrow?' And let's not wait until we are there and our soldiers are having to confront the populations of those locations. Let's reach out," Rochelle said.
"It's really a national security issue that is large; it's complex; ... it's all about ensuring our soldiers are successful wherever our nation sends them," he said.
When Rochelle entered the Army in 1972, there were four African-American generals, he said. Today there are 26. Diversity adds to the strength of the military as a force, and the U.S. Army now serves as a model for diversity for many foreign militaries, he said.
Iraqi forces "marvel" at a typical American infantry squad and how different races and ethnicities work together, the general said.
"America's Army is the best in the world at what we do. And we are significantly the best because of our diversity. Diversity strengthens us," Rochelle said. "It certainly makes us better in terms of bringing together the richness of backgrounds, the richness of language, the richness of culture, and inevitably the outcome of that diversity is a better product."
Before military operations began in Iraq, the Army had seen success in its goal of reflecting the demographics of America as a whole within its ranks. But since then, there has been a slowdown in minority recruits entering the service.
The change is not entirely due to the war, but partially because a boost in the economy led to more opportunities for minorities in employment and higher education, Rochelle said.
Also, part of the problem is that minorities are not equally represented demographically among today's high school and college graduates, Rochelle said.
"The challenge is a national one," he said.
Now, though, minority recruiting numbers are "tipping up," he said.
Even though the Army strives to maintain a diverse fighting and civilian employee force, Rochelle was quick to point out that no special recruiting plans or incentives target minorities.
"There are no quotas; there are no goals with respect to representation in an all-volunteer force. It's just that -- an all-volunteer force," he said.
Instead, the Army tries to encourage potential high school dropouts to stay in school. As an example, in cities around Army installations soldiers serve as mentors, role models and tutors within local school systems, he said.
Also, Army officials position recruiters geographically to ensure they are recruiting within large minority demographics.
"How do we position our recruiters so that, as they go about their normal day-to-day business, the outcome is as close as we can get it to that mirror image of the United States?" Rochelle said.
Another effort is to push messages out to what the Army calls "influencers," or those who have a say in a potential recruit's decision, such as parents, teachers, coaches and relatives.
"The challenge is communicating to the person or persons who influence that young man or woman," Rochelle said.
After six years of war, though, that barrier is becoming harder to break through.
"We live in the richest nation on earth, and if every American simply recognized just how fortunate we are, I think more would be inclined to serve," Rochelle said.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Soldier Missing in Action from Korean War is Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Master Sgt. Cirildo Valencio, U.S. Army, of Carrizo Springs, Texas. He will be buried on Aug. 4 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
Representatives from the Army met with Valencio's next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
Valencio was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division then occupying a defensive position near Unsan, North Korea in an area known as the "Camel's Head." On Nov. 1, 1950, parts of two Chinese Communist Forces divisions struck the 1st Cavalry Division's lines, collapsing the perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. In the process, the 3rd Battalion was surrounded and effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit. Valencio was one of the more than 350 servicemen unaccounted-for from the battle at Unsan.
In 2002, a joint U.S.-Democratic People's Republic of Korea team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a burial site south of Unsan near the nose of the "Camel's Head" formed by the joining of the Nammyon and Kuryong rivers. The team recovered human remains.
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.
He is Master Sgt. Cirildo Valencio, U.S. Army, of Carrizo Springs, Texas. He will be buried on Aug. 4 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
Representatives from the Army met with Valencio's next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
Valencio was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division then occupying a defensive position near Unsan, North Korea in an area known as the "Camel's Head." On Nov. 1, 1950, parts of two Chinese Communist Forces divisions struck the 1st Cavalry Division's lines, collapsing the perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. In the process, the 3rd Battalion was surrounded and effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit. Valencio was one of the more than 350 servicemen unaccounted-for from the battle at Unsan.
In 2002, a joint U.S.-Democratic People's Republic of Korea team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a burial site south of Unsan near the nose of the "Camel's Head" formed by the joining of the Nammyon and Kuryong rivers. The team recovered human remains.
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.
America Supports You: Contest Brings Kudos to Teen, Support Group
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
July 24, 2008 - The founder of a Texas-based troop-support group proved volunteer work can be glamorous when she was chosen as one of five winners of a contest to honor women involved in their communities. Tania Foster, founder of "Dallas is Love," was flipping through a magazine when she saw information about the contest.
"I have a subscription to Glamour magazine, and about a year ago I applied for a contest listed in the magazine for the Sally Hansen [beauty products company's] 'Best of You' contest," she said. "Sally Hansen sponsored the award and partnered with Glamour to fly all five winners to New York to participate in a photo shoot and meet representatives from both Glamour and Sally Hansen."
The trip to the "Big Apple" wasn't all business, however. Foster and her mother took time to see "Chicago" on Broadway and do a little shopping before heading home.
"I would have to say the best part was being able to share the experience with the other four winners, as well as meeting the amazing people from Glamour and Sally Hansen," she said.
That opinion might change once the September issue featuring the winners hits the newsstands.
"Through our trip to New York, Dallas is Love gained a ... sponsorship from Sally Hansen, and hopefully the article in Glamour reaches many people that don't know about Dallas is Love," Foster said. "[I hope] we will reach our goal of being nationwide."
The sponsorship resulted in a large donation of Sally Hansen products to Dallas is Love, which will get them into the hands of deployed servicewomen. That will be in addition to the organization's regular mission of providing Army and Air Force Exchange Service gift cards to deployed servicemembers.
The organization is preparing for the upcoming holiday season and is hoping for public support so it can send "tons of AAFES gift cards to troops worldwide," Foster said.
The organization is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.
American Forces Press Service
July 24, 2008 - The founder of a Texas-based troop-support group proved volunteer work can be glamorous when she was chosen as one of five winners of a contest to honor women involved in their communities. Tania Foster, founder of "Dallas is Love," was flipping through a magazine when she saw information about the contest.
"I have a subscription to Glamour magazine, and about a year ago I applied for a contest listed in the magazine for the Sally Hansen [beauty products company's] 'Best of You' contest," she said. "Sally Hansen sponsored the award and partnered with Glamour to fly all five winners to New York to participate in a photo shoot and meet representatives from both Glamour and Sally Hansen."
The trip to the "Big Apple" wasn't all business, however. Foster and her mother took time to see "Chicago" on Broadway and do a little shopping before heading home.
"I would have to say the best part was being able to share the experience with the other four winners, as well as meeting the amazing people from Glamour and Sally Hansen," she said.
That opinion might change once the September issue featuring the winners hits the newsstands.
"Through our trip to New York, Dallas is Love gained a ... sponsorship from Sally Hansen, and hopefully the article in Glamour reaches many people that don't know about Dallas is Love," Foster said. "[I hope] we will reach our goal of being nationwide."
The sponsorship resulted in a large donation of Sally Hansen products to Dallas is Love, which will get them into the hands of deployed servicewomen. That will be in addition to the organization's regular mission of providing Army and Air Force Exchange Service gift cards to deployed servicemembers.
The organization is preparing for the upcoming holiday season and is hoping for public support so it can send "tons of AAFES gift cards to troops worldwide," Foster said.
The organization is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.
MILITARY CONTRACTS July 24, 2008
Army
SRCTec, Inc., Syracuse, N.Y., was awarded on Jul. 23, 2008, a $159,011,900 firm-fixed price contract for adjunct systems as a result of an engineering change proposal. Work will be performed in Syracuse, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by Jun. 30, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Jul. 18, 2008. CECOM Acquisition Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15P7T-05-D-S205).
Canadian Commercial Corp., Ontario, Canada, was awarded on Jul. 23, 2008, a $15,778,311 firm-fixed price contract for MRAP sustainment spare parts. Work will be performed in Guateng, South Africa, Trenton, N.J., and Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be completed by Jul. 5, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Jun. 17, 2008. U.S. Army TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0514).
BAE Survivability Systems, LLC, Fairfield, Ohio, was awarded on Jul. 22, 2008, a $15, 301,626 firm-fixed price contract for M1116 and M1114s with gun shield. Work will be performed in Fairfield, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Apr. 10, 2000. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-00-C-S019).
Trevicos and Soletanche, in a joint venture, were awarded on Jul. 23, 2008, an $8,000,000 firm-fixed price best value contract for the construction of a sub-surface seepage wall barrier to address foundation seepage problems. Work will be performed at the Wolf Creek Dam Seepage Project, Jamestown, Ky., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on Dec. 10, 2007, and two bids were received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville, Tenn., is the contracting activity (W912P5-08-C-0008).
Air Force
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus fixed fee contract with Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, for and estimated $18,495,272. This Foreign Military Sales contract is for the modification of Royal Saudi Air Force F-15S aircraft maintenance trainer and integrated avionics trainer devices to provide for General Electric re-engine training capability. At this time all funds have been obligated. 558 ACSG/PK, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8223-08-C-0006).
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus fixed fee, indefinite delivery, requirements contract with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., for and estimated $15,156,632. This contract action is for U.S. Coast Guard small boats acquisition program analysis. At this time $1,449,275 is being obligated. 55th Contracting Squadron, 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, DO 0260).
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus fixed fee, indefinite-delivery, requirements contract with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., for and estimated $6,986,978. This contract action is for submarine exercise and tactical operation analysis for survivability and combat effectiveness. 55th Contracting Squadron, 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, Delivery Order 0256).
NAVY
Aluminum Chambered Boats, Inc., Bellingham Wash., is being awarded a $12,824,070 firm-fixed-priced order no. M67854-08-F-5038 under GSA contract no. GS-07-F-0133M for 42 bridge erection boats, 42 trailers, 42 technical manuals, and 42 warranties. Work will be performed in Bellingham Wash., and work is expected to be completed Jul. 2009. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competed on GSA. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
SRCTec, Inc., Syracuse, N.Y., was awarded on Jul. 23, 2008, a $159,011,900 firm-fixed price contract for adjunct systems as a result of an engineering change proposal. Work will be performed in Syracuse, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by Jun. 30, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Jul. 18, 2008. CECOM Acquisition Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15P7T-05-D-S205).
Canadian Commercial Corp., Ontario, Canada, was awarded on Jul. 23, 2008, a $15,778,311 firm-fixed price contract for MRAP sustainment spare parts. Work will be performed in Guateng, South Africa, Trenton, N.J., and Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be completed by Jul. 5, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Jun. 17, 2008. U.S. Army TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0514).
BAE Survivability Systems, LLC, Fairfield, Ohio, was awarded on Jul. 22, 2008, a $15, 301,626 firm-fixed price contract for M1116 and M1114s with gun shield. Work will be performed in Fairfield, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Apr. 10, 2000. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-00-C-S019).
Trevicos and Soletanche, in a joint venture, were awarded on Jul. 23, 2008, an $8,000,000 firm-fixed price best value contract for the construction of a sub-surface seepage wall barrier to address foundation seepage problems. Work will be performed at the Wolf Creek Dam Seepage Project, Jamestown, Ky., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on Dec. 10, 2007, and two bids were received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville, Tenn., is the contracting activity (W912P5-08-C-0008).
Air Force
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus fixed fee contract with Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, for and estimated $18,495,272. This Foreign Military Sales contract is for the modification of Royal Saudi Air Force F-15S aircraft maintenance trainer and integrated avionics trainer devices to provide for General Electric re-engine training capability. At this time all funds have been obligated. 558 ACSG/PK, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8223-08-C-0006).
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus fixed fee, indefinite delivery, requirements contract with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., for and estimated $15,156,632. This contract action is for U.S. Coast Guard small boats acquisition program analysis. At this time $1,449,275 is being obligated. 55th Contracting Squadron, 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, DO 0260).
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus fixed fee, indefinite-delivery, requirements contract with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., for and estimated $6,986,978. This contract action is for submarine exercise and tactical operation analysis for survivability and combat effectiveness. 55th Contracting Squadron, 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, Delivery Order 0256).
NAVY
Aluminum Chambered Boats, Inc., Bellingham Wash., is being awarded a $12,824,070 firm-fixed-priced order no. M67854-08-F-5038 under GSA contract no. GS-07-F-0133M for 42 bridge erection boats, 42 trailers, 42 technical manuals, and 42 warranties. Work will be performed in Bellingham Wash., and work is expected to be completed Jul. 2009. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competed on GSA. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Marksman Soldiers Prepare for Olympics
By Paula J. Randall
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 24, 2008 - Six soldiers of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit are living out their wildest dreams. Maj. Michael E. Anti, Sgt. 1st Class Jason A. Parker, Sgt. 1st Class Daryl L. Szarenski, Spc. Walton Glenn Eller III, Spc. Jeffrey G. Holguin and Pfc. Vincent C. Hancock made the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and will represent the United States at the Olympics Games in Beijing in August.
"The first time I watched the Olympics on TV, I knew I wanted to be an Olympian," said Anti, who won a Silver Medal in the 2004 Olympics. "I have been to three Olympics, all of which have been an amazing experience."
Anti, 43, who joined the Army in January 1988, is attached to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit through the World Class Athlete Program. The infantry officer, from Winterville, N.C., outshot 48 competitors to make the Olympic Team in prone rifle. Competitors in prone rifle lie on their stomachs and shoot .22-caliber rifles at targets 50 meters away. The bull's eye is 10.4 millimeters wide -- much smaller than a dime.
Parker, 34, is a 2008, 2004 and 2000 air rifle Olympian. This year, he defeated 34 competitors to make the Olympic Team in men's air rifle, in which competitors shoot lead pellets from .177-caliber guns at targets 10 meters away. The bull's eye is a half millimeter wide, the size of the period at the end of this sentence. He finished in eighth place at the 2004 Games and in fifth place in 2000, missing an Olympic medal by seven tenths of a point.
"It has been a goal of mine since I was a kid to be an Olympic gold medalist," Parker said. "The Army and the Army Marksmanship Unit have provided me with everything I've needed to be successful -- the best coaches, gunsmiths and equipment -- but it also has taken a lot of hard work and dedication."
Parker, who joined the Army in January 1997, made the Olympic Team in men's three-position rifle, in which competitors shoot the same rifles at the same targets as in prone rifle, except they shoot in three positions: standing, kneeling and prone. The Omaha, Neb., native said he feels confident about his chances for a medal in Beijing.
"I have more experience and better equipment this time around," Parker explained. "My coaches have prepared me for a successful Olympic Games, and the AMU gunsmiths have found the best possible rifle and ammunition for me to use."
Holguin, 29, from Yorba Linda, Calif., joined the Army in September 2006 along with his friend Eller. Holguin and Eller defeated 12 competitors to get on the Olympic double trap team.
In double trap, competitors fire their shotguns at two clay targets thrown simultaneously from an underground bunker at speeds up to 50 mph; competitors get one shot per target.
"The hardest part of this Olympic experience is waiting for the day to get here," Holguin said. "I wanted to compete at the highest level of clay target shooting; to do that, I had to commit myself to the sport. The U.S. Army and the USAMU have given me the necessary resources to compete and win at the level required to win an Olympic medal."
A Katy, Texas, native, Eller, 26, will be competing in his third Olympics in double trap. He finished in 17th place in 2004 and in 12th place in 2000. He joined the Army in September 2006.
"Growing up, I had always wanted to be an Olympian," Eller said. "The Olympics were greater in every aspect than I had anticipated, both in highs and lows. The emotions involved are so great because of the years of training that go into that one day of competition.
"I joined the Army to better myself as a person and as a soldier," Eller continued. "It is my way to serve the country in a time of war and to continue my Olympic career."
Hancock, of Eatonton, Ga., joined the Army Reserve in June 2006. As a junior in high school, he went through basic training and then returned to school to finish his senior year. After he graduated, Hancock went to his advanced individual training and then joined the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit.
The 19-year-old triumphed over 65 competitors to make the skeet Olympic Team. In skeet, competitors fire their shotguns at clay targets thrown from high and low houses at 55 mph.
"I wanted to be an Olympian because it is the pinnacle of all competition in sports," Hancock said. "The Army and the Army Marksmanship Unit have given me the opportunity to do what I love and the means to do it. They have made me more determined to achieve my goal of a gold medal.
"I joined to be part of a team of soldiers helping to bring our country medals and wins," Hancock continued. "The shotgun team has the best marksmen in the world, and being a part of that team helped me to become the best I can be."
Szarenski, 40, also competed in the 2004 and 2000 Olympics. He finished in 13th place in air pistol and 15th place in free pistol in 2004, which was a great improvement over his 25th place finish in free pistol in 2000.
"The high point of my Olympic experience was just being able to shoot at the Olympics, and the low point was the disappointment of not getting a medal when I thought I shot a good performance," Szarenski said. "I felt that I had the ability to win the Olympics, but things had to go right; unfortunately they didn't."
The Saginaw, Mich., native joined the Army in October 1991. After three days and 200 shots of grueling competition at the Olympic trials last month, it came down to the last shot, but Szarenski prevailed to beat 25 competitors and make the Olympic Team. In free pistol, competitors shoot .22-caliber pistols from 50 meters away at bull's eye targets with a center about 50 millimeters in diameter.
"Staying focused on the competition and not being carried away with the hype of the Olympics will be the hardest part of the Games," Szarenski said, "but the training, mindset and events that I have won are what is going to help me in this Olympics. I have always loved shooting, and winning the Olympics is the pinnacle of the sport."
(Paula J. Randall works at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Accessions Support Brigade.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 24, 2008 - Six soldiers of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit are living out their wildest dreams. Maj. Michael E. Anti, Sgt. 1st Class Jason A. Parker, Sgt. 1st Class Daryl L. Szarenski, Spc. Walton Glenn Eller III, Spc. Jeffrey G. Holguin and Pfc. Vincent C. Hancock made the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and will represent the United States at the Olympics Games in Beijing in August.
"The first time I watched the Olympics on TV, I knew I wanted to be an Olympian," said Anti, who won a Silver Medal in the 2004 Olympics. "I have been to three Olympics, all of which have been an amazing experience."
Anti, 43, who joined the Army in January 1988, is attached to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit through the World Class Athlete Program. The infantry officer, from Winterville, N.C., outshot 48 competitors to make the Olympic Team in prone rifle. Competitors in prone rifle lie on their stomachs and shoot .22-caliber rifles at targets 50 meters away. The bull's eye is 10.4 millimeters wide -- much smaller than a dime.
Parker, 34, is a 2008, 2004 and 2000 air rifle Olympian. This year, he defeated 34 competitors to make the Olympic Team in men's air rifle, in which competitors shoot lead pellets from .177-caliber guns at targets 10 meters away. The bull's eye is a half millimeter wide, the size of the period at the end of this sentence. He finished in eighth place at the 2004 Games and in fifth place in 2000, missing an Olympic medal by seven tenths of a point.
"It has been a goal of mine since I was a kid to be an Olympic gold medalist," Parker said. "The Army and the Army Marksmanship Unit have provided me with everything I've needed to be successful -- the best coaches, gunsmiths and equipment -- but it also has taken a lot of hard work and dedication."
Parker, who joined the Army in January 1997, made the Olympic Team in men's three-position rifle, in which competitors shoot the same rifles at the same targets as in prone rifle, except they shoot in three positions: standing, kneeling and prone. The Omaha, Neb., native said he feels confident about his chances for a medal in Beijing.
"I have more experience and better equipment this time around," Parker explained. "My coaches have prepared me for a successful Olympic Games, and the AMU gunsmiths have found the best possible rifle and ammunition for me to use."
Holguin, 29, from Yorba Linda, Calif., joined the Army in September 2006 along with his friend Eller. Holguin and Eller defeated 12 competitors to get on the Olympic double trap team.
In double trap, competitors fire their shotguns at two clay targets thrown simultaneously from an underground bunker at speeds up to 50 mph; competitors get one shot per target.
"The hardest part of this Olympic experience is waiting for the day to get here," Holguin said. "I wanted to compete at the highest level of clay target shooting; to do that, I had to commit myself to the sport. The U.S. Army and the USAMU have given me the necessary resources to compete and win at the level required to win an Olympic medal."
A Katy, Texas, native, Eller, 26, will be competing in his third Olympics in double trap. He finished in 17th place in 2004 and in 12th place in 2000. He joined the Army in September 2006.
"Growing up, I had always wanted to be an Olympian," Eller said. "The Olympics were greater in every aspect than I had anticipated, both in highs and lows. The emotions involved are so great because of the years of training that go into that one day of competition.
"I joined the Army to better myself as a person and as a soldier," Eller continued. "It is my way to serve the country in a time of war and to continue my Olympic career."
Hancock, of Eatonton, Ga., joined the Army Reserve in June 2006. As a junior in high school, he went through basic training and then returned to school to finish his senior year. After he graduated, Hancock went to his advanced individual training and then joined the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit.
The 19-year-old triumphed over 65 competitors to make the skeet Olympic Team. In skeet, competitors fire their shotguns at clay targets thrown from high and low houses at 55 mph.
"I wanted to be an Olympian because it is the pinnacle of all competition in sports," Hancock said. "The Army and the Army Marksmanship Unit have given me the opportunity to do what I love and the means to do it. They have made me more determined to achieve my goal of a gold medal.
"I joined to be part of a team of soldiers helping to bring our country medals and wins," Hancock continued. "The shotgun team has the best marksmen in the world, and being a part of that team helped me to become the best I can be."
Szarenski, 40, also competed in the 2004 and 2000 Olympics. He finished in 13th place in air pistol and 15th place in free pistol in 2004, which was a great improvement over his 25th place finish in free pistol in 2000.
"The high point of my Olympic experience was just being able to shoot at the Olympics, and the low point was the disappointment of not getting a medal when I thought I shot a good performance," Szarenski said. "I felt that I had the ability to win the Olympics, but things had to go right; unfortunately they didn't."
The Saginaw, Mich., native joined the Army in October 1991. After three days and 200 shots of grueling competition at the Olympic trials last month, it came down to the last shot, but Szarenski prevailed to beat 25 competitors and make the Olympic Team. In free pistol, competitors shoot .22-caliber pistols from 50 meters away at bull's eye targets with a center about 50 millimeters in diameter.
"Staying focused on the competition and not being carried away with the hype of the Olympics will be the hardest part of the Games," Szarenski said, "but the training, mindset and events that I have won are what is going to help me in this Olympics. I have always loved shooting, and winning the Olympics is the pinnacle of the sport."
(Paula J. Randall works at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Accessions Support Brigade.)
Historian Charts Six Decades of Racial Integration in U.S. Military
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - July 26 marks the 60th anniversary of President Harry S. Truman's executive order that integrated the U.S. armed forces. Conrad Crane, director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., said the order recognized a basic tenet of warfare.
"When your life depends on your buddy, the color of their skin tends to become less important; it's how good they are," he said.
The order came five years before the Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that struck down the idea of "separate, but equal" and ushered in integration of American schools.
Looking back on the order after 60 years, one might think it was a slam-dunk decision, but it was not. In fact, Truman and Defense Secretary James Forrestal were about the only two U.S. leaders who favored the proposal.
"Everyone expected Truman to lose the 1948 election," Crane said in a telephone interview from his office. "The Navy and Air Force already had plans to integrate, but the Army maintained a rigid policy of segregation."
The executive order didn't really change much at first, Crane said. It took a war for integration to become a reality.
"Both the Army and Marine Corps integrated because of the Korean War," Crane said. "That's because in combat they became desperate for troops, and they found that black soldiers fight better in integrated units. The pressures of combat and the need to find people to fight is what really pushed the Army and Marine Corps into it."
The Army integrated in Korea before it did in noncombat areas. Fort Benning, Ga., and other posts in the United States still were segregated, as were units in Europe and areas of the Pacific, Crane said.
But the war changed that, and by 1953, 95 percent of African-American servicemembers were serving as members of integrated units.
But while the posts were integrated, going off post meant going back to a segregated world. In the 1950s, blacks and whites used separate drinking fountains and bathrooms. Schools, transportation systems, theaters and sporting events all were segregated.
The education system worked against African-Americans when they were drafted or enlisted in the military. The Army classification system sent soldiers with the highest scores to service units and those with lower scores to combat units.
"African-Americans did not have the educational opportunities in the civilian world," Crane said. "We know now that the tests themselves were culturally unfair, and these educational inequalities continued through Vietnam."
African-Americans took a slightly higher rate of casualties during the Vietnam War than their percentage of the U.S. population – 13.5 percent of casualties, 11 percent of the population – and this became a bone of contention.
From the 1960s through the early 1970s, race relations in the military mirrored those of society in general. Race riots occurred in the streets of America and on military bases around the world.
But the advent of the all-volunteer force in 1973 helped break the cycle, as all members of the military wanted to be in the service. The military offered many African-Americans a way out of poverty, Crane said.
"In the 1970s, there were all kinds of racial problems," he said. "But as society settled down, the situation in the military improved. You can't break the link between the Army and the society it serves.
"Having said that, the military should get credit for its integration policies," he continued.
The military instituted orders forbidding discrimination. All servicemembers went to classes, and as a new generation of African-American commissioned and noncommissioned officers rose to positions of responsibility, it became commonplace for white servicemembers to serve under black leaders.
"When the military puts out orders for racial awareness programs, everybody does it," Crane said. "And there is immediate and nasty retribution for anyone who breaks the tenets, as well. The military maintains discipline."
By the 1980s, the public viewed the U.S. military as a true meritocracy, where integration actually worked, Crane noted.
"And that perception reinforced the reality," he said. "And when [Army Gen.] Colin Powell becomes chairman of the Joint Chiefs, it's a pretty amazing statement to the world at large and the military specifically." Today, it is accepted in the military that "you will work for black officers or NCOs," Crane said.
African-Americans make up roughly 17 percent of today's military. In addition to serving their country, black servicemembers see the military as a place to gain an education and learn skills.
The military is not perfect, and there are ugly racial incidents occasionally, but the problem is not systemic, Crane said. The military simply does not tolerate discrimination.
"The military is quick to respond to problems," he said. "Prejudice is far more prevalent outside [the military] than in."
Today, platoons patrolling in Mosul or Kandahar show Iraqis and Afghans the benefits of diversity and the ability of many different people to work together.
The lesson of the history of integration in the military really comes down to individuals of all races making moral decisions, Crane said.
"If you force people together, they figure out how to get along," he said. "It's as true on the streets of Baghdad or the mountains of Afghanistan as it was on the frontlines of Korea."
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - July 26 marks the 60th anniversary of President Harry S. Truman's executive order that integrated the U.S. armed forces. Conrad Crane, director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., said the order recognized a basic tenet of warfare.
"When your life depends on your buddy, the color of their skin tends to become less important; it's how good they are," he said.
The order came five years before the Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that struck down the idea of "separate, but equal" and ushered in integration of American schools.
Looking back on the order after 60 years, one might think it was a slam-dunk decision, but it was not. In fact, Truman and Defense Secretary James Forrestal were about the only two U.S. leaders who favored the proposal.
"Everyone expected Truman to lose the 1948 election," Crane said in a telephone interview from his office. "The Navy and Air Force already had plans to integrate, but the Army maintained a rigid policy of segregation."
The executive order didn't really change much at first, Crane said. It took a war for integration to become a reality.
"Both the Army and Marine Corps integrated because of the Korean War," Crane said. "That's because in combat they became desperate for troops, and they found that black soldiers fight better in integrated units. The pressures of combat and the need to find people to fight is what really pushed the Army and Marine Corps into it."
The Army integrated in Korea before it did in noncombat areas. Fort Benning, Ga., and other posts in the United States still were segregated, as were units in Europe and areas of the Pacific, Crane said.
But the war changed that, and by 1953, 95 percent of African-American servicemembers were serving as members of integrated units.
But while the posts were integrated, going off post meant going back to a segregated world. In the 1950s, blacks and whites used separate drinking fountains and bathrooms. Schools, transportation systems, theaters and sporting events all were segregated.
The education system worked against African-Americans when they were drafted or enlisted in the military. The Army classification system sent soldiers with the highest scores to service units and those with lower scores to combat units.
"African-Americans did not have the educational opportunities in the civilian world," Crane said. "We know now that the tests themselves were culturally unfair, and these educational inequalities continued through Vietnam."
African-Americans took a slightly higher rate of casualties during the Vietnam War than their percentage of the U.S. population – 13.5 percent of casualties, 11 percent of the population – and this became a bone of contention.
From the 1960s through the early 1970s, race relations in the military mirrored those of society in general. Race riots occurred in the streets of America and on military bases around the world.
But the advent of the all-volunteer force in 1973 helped break the cycle, as all members of the military wanted to be in the service. The military offered many African-Americans a way out of poverty, Crane said.
"In the 1970s, there were all kinds of racial problems," he said. "But as society settled down, the situation in the military improved. You can't break the link between the Army and the society it serves.
"Having said that, the military should get credit for its integration policies," he continued.
The military instituted orders forbidding discrimination. All servicemembers went to classes, and as a new generation of African-American commissioned and noncommissioned officers rose to positions of responsibility, it became commonplace for white servicemembers to serve under black leaders.
"When the military puts out orders for racial awareness programs, everybody does it," Crane said. "And there is immediate and nasty retribution for anyone who breaks the tenets, as well. The military maintains discipline."
By the 1980s, the public viewed the U.S. military as a true meritocracy, where integration actually worked, Crane noted.
"And that perception reinforced the reality," he said. "And when [Army Gen.] Colin Powell becomes chairman of the Joint Chiefs, it's a pretty amazing statement to the world at large and the military specifically." Today, it is accepted in the military that "you will work for black officers or NCOs," Crane said.
African-Americans make up roughly 17 percent of today's military. In addition to serving their country, black servicemembers see the military as a place to gain an education and learn skills.
The military is not perfect, and there are ugly racial incidents occasionally, but the problem is not systemic, Crane said. The military simply does not tolerate discrimination.
"The military is quick to respond to problems," he said. "Prejudice is far more prevalent outside [the military] than in."
Today, platoons patrolling in Mosul or Kandahar show Iraqis and Afghans the benefits of diversity and the ability of many different people to work together.
The lesson of the history of integration in the military really comes down to individuals of all races making moral decisions, Crane said.
"If you force people together, they figure out how to get along," he said. "It's as true on the streets of Baghdad or the mountains of Afghanistan as it was on the frontlines of Korea."
President Truman Championed Military Integration
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - The idea that President Harry S. Truman would integrate the armed forces in 1948 was counterintuitive. Truman, after all, was the product of a segregated society in Missouri. He served as an artillery captain in the segregated World War I Army. He had a reputation as a machine politician who didn't rock the boat.
There was really nothing in his biography to suggest he would champion integration.
Yet less than four months before the 1948 presidential election, Truman signed Executive Order 9981.
"It is hereby declared to be the policy of the president that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin," the July 26, 1948, executive order read in part.
The sweeping change virtually guaranteed that Truman would not win the so-called "Solid South" in the elections. The Southern states were reliable wins for Democratic politicians at the time. Truman's stand on race relations caused many politicians to bolt the Democratic Party and run as "Dixiecrats."
Strom Thurmond -- who later would represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate for almost a half century -- opposed Truman in the election, garnering 39 electoral votes as the candidate for the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party.
New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican nominee, was considered a shoo-in for election. Thurmond took four states that normally would have voted Democratic in the November election, but Truman still won.
Through the next four years, Truman battled with military and civilian leaders to ensure they carried out Executive Order 9981. The Truman order was a landmark in American history. It intimated that separate was not equal five years before the Supreme Court agreed.
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - The idea that President Harry S. Truman would integrate the armed forces in 1948 was counterintuitive. Truman, after all, was the product of a segregated society in Missouri. He served as an artillery captain in the segregated World War I Army. He had a reputation as a machine politician who didn't rock the boat.
There was really nothing in his biography to suggest he would champion integration.
Yet less than four months before the 1948 presidential election, Truman signed Executive Order 9981.
"It is hereby declared to be the policy of the president that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin," the July 26, 1948, executive order read in part.
The sweeping change virtually guaranteed that Truman would not win the so-called "Solid South" in the elections. The Southern states were reliable wins for Democratic politicians at the time. Truman's stand on race relations caused many politicians to bolt the Democratic Party and run as "Dixiecrats."
Strom Thurmond -- who later would represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate for almost a half century -- opposed Truman in the election, garnering 39 electoral votes as the candidate for the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party.
New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican nominee, was considered a shoo-in for election. Thurmond took four states that normally would have voted Democratic in the November election, but Truman still won.
Through the next four years, Truman battled with military and civilian leaders to ensure they carried out Executive Order 9981. The Truman order was a landmark in American history. It intimated that separate was not equal five years before the Supreme Court agreed.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Face of Defense: Soldier Continues Jujitsu Training in Iraq
By Army Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - A tour of duty in Iraq isn't stopping a noncommissioned officer here from continuing to pursue his passion. Army Sgt. Scott Sperling has been fighting in Brazilian jujitsu since 2005, and now he trains with fellow servicemembers in the basement of the Multinational Division Center headquarters.
Sperling, a "lightweight" from Rochester, N.Y., said he keeps training for a simple reason.
"I like competition. It's kind of a release as well when you've been in the office all day, and then you get to go work out," Sperling said. "When I'm rolling full speed, I try not to think of anything. I just let it happen."
In the past three years, Sperling -- an intelligence analyst -- has competed in various Army fighting tournaments and in-house gym tournaments, was a top-10 finalist in his weight class at the Pan American Championships, earned a bronze medal at the American National Championships and a silver medal at the Jujitsu U.S. Open, and finished in third place at the North Eastern Grappling Championship No-Gi Tournament.
Sperling first got into jujitsu while stationed in Yongsan, South Korea. He advanced his training from 2006 to 2007 while studying Arabic at the Defense Language Institute, in Monterey, Calif.
Sperling earned his blue belt in December, shortly before moving to Fort Drum, N.Y., and subsequently deploying to Iraq. Sperling fills in as the instructor when his group trains, though he always welcomes everyone to bring new techniques to the mat -- whether practicing wrestling, grappling or submissions.
Training in jujitsu can be an intensive and rigorous commitment, especially if training for a tournament, he said. To prepare for a tournament, he trains five to seven times a week, lifting weights in the morning and practicing Jujitsu in the evening. Running to maintain cardiovascular fitness also is important for stamina.
"In jujitsu, there are a lot of different aspects to the game as far as strength and speed [are concerned]," he said.
Jujitsu was developed by Samurai as early as the 14th century. The word literally means the "art of softness." This fighting style consists of grappling and striking techniques that use an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it. Today, jujitsu is practiced both in its original form and in a modified form for sport practice.
Brazilian jujitsu combines elements of Kodokan judo in its fighting style. The moves can be complex, often requiring several steps just to assume control over the opponent. The Army uses Brazilian jujitsu as a standard for teaching soldiers combative training.
"It's definitely more technical [than other fighting styles]. ... You have to train the movements over and over and over," Sperling said. "Everyone can throw a punch, but not everyone knows how to wrap someone up and put him in an arm bar. ... In jujitsu, you also have to think at the same time. It's almost like a chess match."
For Sperling, one of the biggest challenges was overcoming his nervousness during big fights. One must be mentally sound to out-think an opponent, he said. The sport is less about explosiveness and more about versatility.
A clear mind also allows him to hear his coaches during competitions. Good training partners who can coach and shout out moves from outside the ring during a fight are very important too, he said.
"You have to be able to listen to their voices when they're coaching you," Sperling said. "A lot of times you get tunnel vision during the fight. So you have to practice [listening to them] in the gym before you go out there."
Sperling said some of his greatest memories in fighting range from body-slamming his opponent to standing inside a ring surrounded by the sheer energy of a crowd.
"You would not believe the intensity. You would not believe," he said. "I've had some friends go to tournaments who never went before – couldn't take their eyes off the mat. Screaming. They left there with no voice."
One factor Sperling said he found intimidating was seeing championship-fighting celebrities such as Ronaldo de Souza, Mike Fowler or Marcello Garcia watching him from the crowd.
"I learned from them, trying to take things from their instructional [videos] and put it in my game, and then I'll see them in the stands watching me," he added. "You know, it's crazy."
Sperling said he hopes to one day earn his black belt. For now, though, he continues to train while deployed to Iraq and takes the opportunity to teach others what he knows.
"It's my life now," he said. "I've been doing it for three years, and I want to continue to progress."
(Army Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret serves in Multinational Division Center.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - A tour of duty in Iraq isn't stopping a noncommissioned officer here from continuing to pursue his passion. Army Sgt. Scott Sperling has been fighting in Brazilian jujitsu since 2005, and now he trains with fellow servicemembers in the basement of the Multinational Division Center headquarters.
Sperling, a "lightweight" from Rochester, N.Y., said he keeps training for a simple reason.
"I like competition. It's kind of a release as well when you've been in the office all day, and then you get to go work out," Sperling said. "When I'm rolling full speed, I try not to think of anything. I just let it happen."
In the past three years, Sperling -- an intelligence analyst -- has competed in various Army fighting tournaments and in-house gym tournaments, was a top-10 finalist in his weight class at the Pan American Championships, earned a bronze medal at the American National Championships and a silver medal at the Jujitsu U.S. Open, and finished in third place at the North Eastern Grappling Championship No-Gi Tournament.
Sperling first got into jujitsu while stationed in Yongsan, South Korea. He advanced his training from 2006 to 2007 while studying Arabic at the Defense Language Institute, in Monterey, Calif.
Sperling earned his blue belt in December, shortly before moving to Fort Drum, N.Y., and subsequently deploying to Iraq. Sperling fills in as the instructor when his group trains, though he always welcomes everyone to bring new techniques to the mat -- whether practicing wrestling, grappling or submissions.
Training in jujitsu can be an intensive and rigorous commitment, especially if training for a tournament, he said. To prepare for a tournament, he trains five to seven times a week, lifting weights in the morning and practicing Jujitsu in the evening. Running to maintain cardiovascular fitness also is important for stamina.
"In jujitsu, there are a lot of different aspects to the game as far as strength and speed [are concerned]," he said.
Jujitsu was developed by Samurai as early as the 14th century. The word literally means the "art of softness." This fighting style consists of grappling and striking techniques that use an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it. Today, jujitsu is practiced both in its original form and in a modified form for sport practice.
Brazilian jujitsu combines elements of Kodokan judo in its fighting style. The moves can be complex, often requiring several steps just to assume control over the opponent. The Army uses Brazilian jujitsu as a standard for teaching soldiers combative training.
"It's definitely more technical [than other fighting styles]. ... You have to train the movements over and over and over," Sperling said. "Everyone can throw a punch, but not everyone knows how to wrap someone up and put him in an arm bar. ... In jujitsu, you also have to think at the same time. It's almost like a chess match."
For Sperling, one of the biggest challenges was overcoming his nervousness during big fights. One must be mentally sound to out-think an opponent, he said. The sport is less about explosiveness and more about versatility.
A clear mind also allows him to hear his coaches during competitions. Good training partners who can coach and shout out moves from outside the ring during a fight are very important too, he said.
"You have to be able to listen to their voices when they're coaching you," Sperling said. "A lot of times you get tunnel vision during the fight. So you have to practice [listening to them] in the gym before you go out there."
Sperling said some of his greatest memories in fighting range from body-slamming his opponent to standing inside a ring surrounded by the sheer energy of a crowd.
"You would not believe the intensity. You would not believe," he said. "I've had some friends go to tournaments who never went before – couldn't take their eyes off the mat. Screaming. They left there with no voice."
One factor Sperling said he found intimidating was seeing championship-fighting celebrities such as Ronaldo de Souza, Mike Fowler or Marcello Garcia watching him from the crowd.
"I learned from them, trying to take things from their instructional [videos] and put it in my game, and then I'll see them in the stands watching me," he added. "You know, it's crazy."
Sperling said he hopes to one day earn his black belt. For now, though, he continues to train while deployed to Iraq and takes the opportunity to teach others what he knows.
"It's my life now," he said. "I've been doing it for three years, and I want to continue to progress."
(Army Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret serves in Multinational Division Center.)
Army Wrestler Earns Greco-Roman Berth in Beijing Olympics
By Tim Hipps
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - Army Staff Sgt. Dremiel Byers secured an Olympic berth by defeating U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program teammate Spc. Timothy Taylor in the Greco-Roman heavyweight finals of the U.S. Olympic team trials for wrestling June 15.
Three other soldiers reached the finals of their respective weight classes but fell short of earning spots on the U.S. Olympic Team during the three-day tournament at the University of Nevada Las Vegas' Thomas and Mack Center.
Byers, the 2002 Greco-Roman heavyweight world champion, defeated Taylor in their first match, 1-1, 4-0, but lost the second bout of their best-of-three series, 2-5, 2-1, 1-1.
"Taylor is pretty good at being a wall when he wants to," said Byers, 33, a native of Kings Mountain, N.C., who is stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., where he trains daily with Taylor. "I really don't have any tricks for him. He knows what I'm going to do every time.
"He's a fast learner, a quick study, and his body's coming together," Byers said of Taylor, a 2007 armed forces champion who finished second in the U.S. nationals and third in the U.S. World Team trials last year. "That first match, I saw it. And in that second match, I really saw it – this guy is coming, and he's defending hard. I knew it was time to take it up a notch and do what I'm supposed to do."
In the decisive third match, Byers dominated the first period, 4-0. In the second period, he scored five points with a high-amplitude throw of Taylor that ended the match and tournament in dramatic fashion.
"I just felt that if I worked my under hooks it would pay off, and right there in a clutch moment, it paid off – just like I had hoped," said Byers, who was interviewed by his former training partner and archrival, MSNBC wrestling analyst Rulon Gardner, who struck Olympic gold at the 2000 Sydney Games and bronze in the 2004 Athens Games.
"It's been a long road. It's been a real long road," said Byers, who thanked a long list of supporters -- including All-Army coach Staff Sgt. Shon Lewis -- who helped him along the way. "Some of it was luck, and a lot of it was hard work. I'm very fortunate to be here right now. I think life starts now."
Byers said he plans to fulfill the promise of winning an Olympic medal for his late grandfather, Theodore, in Beijing in August.
"He probably would have asked me why I lost that one match," said Byers, who won his spot on the Olympic team on Father's Day. "Coming out that tunnel, and every time I looked up, I said, 'I know you're watching. I know you're watching.' I wish he could be here."
Taylor made sure soldiers would be represented on the U.S. Olympic Team by reaching the 264.5-pound finals against Byers with a 3-0, 0-3, 1-1 victory over Russ Davie of New York Athletic Club.
"I knew whoever won the first period was winning the match, regardless of what happened," said Taylor, 25. "I had to get the first period -- got the first period. Tried to stand up in the second period and he kept me down, so I just stopped moving. Third period, same situation: if I don't get turned, I win.
"Coach has been always saying that you have to have heart with 30 seconds left to win the match," said Taylor, a proud, new father of 3-month-old Makyla Aleece Taylor. "Being Father's Day, I was thinking about her. Reached down, thought about her, stood up -- and once I stood up, there was no way he was getting a point."
Several other soldiers competed gamely in the Olympic Trials.
The World Class Athlete Program's Spc. Aaron Sieracki wrestled through longtime nemesis Jacob Clark, a former Marine, and WCAP teammate Sgt. Brad Ahearn, who grappled with a broken hand, before losing 6-0, 3-0 in the 84-kilogram Greco-Roman finals to New York Athletic Club's Brad Vering, a two-time Olympian and four-time World Team member.
"I wrestled well, overall -- just wish I had stepped it up a little more for the finals," Sieracki said. "I just made a couple of mistakes, and if you make a mistake here, it's going to cost you."
Nothing stung Sieracki, however, quite like seeing his older brother, Keith, leave his boots on the mat, signaling the end of a brilliant Army wrestling career.
"Wow, that's tough to talk about," said Aaron, who buried his head in his sweatshirt to absorb the tears of disbelief. "He's the one who drove me. He's why I'm where I'm at. I can't believe he's retiring. It just won't be the same without him."
Staff Sgt. Keith Sieracki, an Olympic Trials winner in 2000 and 2004, lost to New York Athletic Club's Cheney Haight in the 74-kilogram Greco finale of the challenge tournament. Walking off the mat for the final time gave Sieracki a bittersweet sense of relief.
"I was hoping to do it at the Olympics, but I knew this was my last go-around," Keith said. "If you don't have the fire, mentally, it's hard -- you're on auto-pilot. I gave it everything I had. I just didn't have anything left. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to make the Olympic team, but when it's all said and done, I've been in the top two [in the United States] for the last 13 years.
"The Army has given me the opportunity to wrestle this long. I can't say enough good things about the Army. I never in my life thought I would get such a privilege. I get to be a soldier and I get to wrestle for the Army and honor these guys. It's amazing."
Sieracki lost his 2000 Olympic spot in a legal battle with Matt Lindland, whom Keith defeated on the mat in the U.S. Olympic Trials at Reunion Arena in Dallas. He also made the 2004 team that failed to qualify the weight class for the Athens Games.
"Yep, I'm [the answer to] a trivia question," said Sieracki, 36, an 18-year Army veteran who will be remembered as a two-time U.S. Olympic Team member who never graced a mat in the Games. "But now the pressure is gone. I'm so tired of carrying that weight on my shoulders, of hearing, 'This is your year.'"
World Class Athlete Staff Sgt. Glenn Garrison made it to the 60-kilogram Greco-Roman finals, but lost back-to-back matches to New York Athletic Club's Joe Betterman.
"I feel like I wrestled good in my last match -- thought I took it to him," said Garrison, 34, a five-time armed forces champion from Portland, Ore. "In my first match, I made a couple of mistakes that really cost me. I just didn't come out hard enough."
WCAP's Pfc. Jeremiah Davis finished third in the same weight class with a 6-4, 6-0 consolation victory over C.C. Fisher.
WCAP's Spc. Faruk Sahin, 32, a two-time Turkish national champion, lost 2-3, 7-5, 3-0 to Minnesota Storm's Jake Deitchler in the 66-kilogram Greco finals. Sahin was leading 5-0 in the second period before the bottom fell out.
"I guess I wasn't pumped up enough to win, but that was a great match," Sahin said. "He just goes, goes, goes, goes -- that's his advantage -- but I did my best. I'm happy with my performance. Now, I'll get ready for the CISM World Championships." The International Military Sports Council is known by its French acronym, CISM.
En route to his Olympic Trials finale, Sahin eliminated 2004 Olympian and All-Army teammate Sgt. Oscar Wood from the challenge tournament semifinals.
"He is the epitome of a warrior," Lewis said of Wood, who defeated Deitchler, 8-0, 8-0, earlier this year at the Sunkist Invitational. "He just leaves it all on the mat. We have a little saying that some people wrestle to the death and some people are scared to death. He's definitely a wrestle-to-the-death kind of guy. Every single time, he brings it, and I don't know what it is about the Olympic Trials, but he wrestled his butt off. I was getting excited for him to be a back-to-back finalist in the Olympic Trials."
WCAP's Staff Sgt. Marcel Cooper, 37, also left his boots on the mat after losing to Gator Wrestling Club's Harry Lester in a Greco-Roman 66-kilo consolation bout. This was Cooper's second retirement from the sport.
"I left my shoes out there four years ago at this same tournament," said Cooper, who then was wrestling for the Marines. "I just have too many injuries. My body can't hold up any more. I've been doing this for a long time. Guys are just younger and stronger. I just can't compete at that level no more. That's not the way I wanted to go out, but I have no excuses. I had a good career.
"It's time to let it go," added Cooper, who began wrestling at age 5. "I have a bunch of surgeries I've got to get. My body was really telling me four years ago to let it go. But I have no complaints. I'd do it all over again. I gave it my best, but I want to be able to walk after all this is over."
Lewis, a 13-time armed forces champion on the mat, paid Cooper an ultimate compliment.
"We went at it several times, and I always had utmost respect for him because he was one of the only guys I knew in the United States who could stop my gut wrench," Lewis said.
Three soldiers competed in the women's freestyle tournament.
Sunkist Kids' 17-year-old Tatiana Padilla pinned WCAP's 1st Lt. Leigh Jaynes with 14 seconds remaining in a 55-kilogram freestyle semifinal.
"I just made a technical error," Jaynes said. "You need to be on your game at all times, and she stuck me in the last 20 seconds. It's heartbreaking, but she's a fighter, and I knew better to tie up with somebody who didn't have anything to lose at that point."
In the same weight class, 2nd Lt. Tina George, a two-time world silver medalist and seven-time U.S. World Team member, lost to Gator Wrestling Club's Sally Roberts in the semifinals before wrestling back to take third place with a consolation victory over GWC's Sharon Jacobson.
WCAP's Sgt. Iris Smith, a 2005 world champion and four-time U.S. Nationals champ, lost 1-0, 0-2, 3-0 in the women's 72-kilo challenge tournament semis to NYAC's Kristie Marano, a two-time world champ and nine-time world medalist, the most among U.S. women. Marano prevailed with a takedown in the final 20 seconds of the match.
"Iris definitely had the momentum going, and Kristie was tired," Lewis said. "That takedown really was a tough one for me. I expect my world champions to get it done, but when you lose, you can't say anything but we've got to get better."
Lewis said he realizes the end is near for a few more All-Army wrestlers.
"The gladiators are going to get moved out by the younger gladiators one day, and that's really what's happening," he said. "Over my 20-plus-year career in wrestling, I have never seen so many people retire at the same tournament. It's a changing of the guard, and that's the way it's supposed to be."
(Tim Hipps works in the U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command Public Affairs Office.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - Army Staff Sgt. Dremiel Byers secured an Olympic berth by defeating U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program teammate Spc. Timothy Taylor in the Greco-Roman heavyweight finals of the U.S. Olympic team trials for wrestling June 15.
Three other soldiers reached the finals of their respective weight classes but fell short of earning spots on the U.S. Olympic Team during the three-day tournament at the University of Nevada Las Vegas' Thomas and Mack Center.
Byers, the 2002 Greco-Roman heavyweight world champion, defeated Taylor in their first match, 1-1, 4-0, but lost the second bout of their best-of-three series, 2-5, 2-1, 1-1.
"Taylor is pretty good at being a wall when he wants to," said Byers, 33, a native of Kings Mountain, N.C., who is stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., where he trains daily with Taylor. "I really don't have any tricks for him. He knows what I'm going to do every time.
"He's a fast learner, a quick study, and his body's coming together," Byers said of Taylor, a 2007 armed forces champion who finished second in the U.S. nationals and third in the U.S. World Team trials last year. "That first match, I saw it. And in that second match, I really saw it – this guy is coming, and he's defending hard. I knew it was time to take it up a notch and do what I'm supposed to do."
In the decisive third match, Byers dominated the first period, 4-0. In the second period, he scored five points with a high-amplitude throw of Taylor that ended the match and tournament in dramatic fashion.
"I just felt that if I worked my under hooks it would pay off, and right there in a clutch moment, it paid off – just like I had hoped," said Byers, who was interviewed by his former training partner and archrival, MSNBC wrestling analyst Rulon Gardner, who struck Olympic gold at the 2000 Sydney Games and bronze in the 2004 Athens Games.
"It's been a long road. It's been a real long road," said Byers, who thanked a long list of supporters -- including All-Army coach Staff Sgt. Shon Lewis -- who helped him along the way. "Some of it was luck, and a lot of it was hard work. I'm very fortunate to be here right now. I think life starts now."
Byers said he plans to fulfill the promise of winning an Olympic medal for his late grandfather, Theodore, in Beijing in August.
"He probably would have asked me why I lost that one match," said Byers, who won his spot on the Olympic team on Father's Day. "Coming out that tunnel, and every time I looked up, I said, 'I know you're watching. I know you're watching.' I wish he could be here."
Taylor made sure soldiers would be represented on the U.S. Olympic Team by reaching the 264.5-pound finals against Byers with a 3-0, 0-3, 1-1 victory over Russ Davie of New York Athletic Club.
"I knew whoever won the first period was winning the match, regardless of what happened," said Taylor, 25. "I had to get the first period -- got the first period. Tried to stand up in the second period and he kept me down, so I just stopped moving. Third period, same situation: if I don't get turned, I win.
"Coach has been always saying that you have to have heart with 30 seconds left to win the match," said Taylor, a proud, new father of 3-month-old Makyla Aleece Taylor. "Being Father's Day, I was thinking about her. Reached down, thought about her, stood up -- and once I stood up, there was no way he was getting a point."
Several other soldiers competed gamely in the Olympic Trials.
The World Class Athlete Program's Spc. Aaron Sieracki wrestled through longtime nemesis Jacob Clark, a former Marine, and WCAP teammate Sgt. Brad Ahearn, who grappled with a broken hand, before losing 6-0, 3-0 in the 84-kilogram Greco-Roman finals to New York Athletic Club's Brad Vering, a two-time Olympian and four-time World Team member.
"I wrestled well, overall -- just wish I had stepped it up a little more for the finals," Sieracki said. "I just made a couple of mistakes, and if you make a mistake here, it's going to cost you."
Nothing stung Sieracki, however, quite like seeing his older brother, Keith, leave his boots on the mat, signaling the end of a brilliant Army wrestling career.
"Wow, that's tough to talk about," said Aaron, who buried his head in his sweatshirt to absorb the tears of disbelief. "He's the one who drove me. He's why I'm where I'm at. I can't believe he's retiring. It just won't be the same without him."
Staff Sgt. Keith Sieracki, an Olympic Trials winner in 2000 and 2004, lost to New York Athletic Club's Cheney Haight in the 74-kilogram Greco finale of the challenge tournament. Walking off the mat for the final time gave Sieracki a bittersweet sense of relief.
"I was hoping to do it at the Olympics, but I knew this was my last go-around," Keith said. "If you don't have the fire, mentally, it's hard -- you're on auto-pilot. I gave it everything I had. I just didn't have anything left. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to make the Olympic team, but when it's all said and done, I've been in the top two [in the United States] for the last 13 years.
"The Army has given me the opportunity to wrestle this long. I can't say enough good things about the Army. I never in my life thought I would get such a privilege. I get to be a soldier and I get to wrestle for the Army and honor these guys. It's amazing."
Sieracki lost his 2000 Olympic spot in a legal battle with Matt Lindland, whom Keith defeated on the mat in the U.S. Olympic Trials at Reunion Arena in Dallas. He also made the 2004 team that failed to qualify the weight class for the Athens Games.
"Yep, I'm [the answer to] a trivia question," said Sieracki, 36, an 18-year Army veteran who will be remembered as a two-time U.S. Olympic Team member who never graced a mat in the Games. "But now the pressure is gone. I'm so tired of carrying that weight on my shoulders, of hearing, 'This is your year.'"
World Class Athlete Staff Sgt. Glenn Garrison made it to the 60-kilogram Greco-Roman finals, but lost back-to-back matches to New York Athletic Club's Joe Betterman.
"I feel like I wrestled good in my last match -- thought I took it to him," said Garrison, 34, a five-time armed forces champion from Portland, Ore. "In my first match, I made a couple of mistakes that really cost me. I just didn't come out hard enough."
WCAP's Pfc. Jeremiah Davis finished third in the same weight class with a 6-4, 6-0 consolation victory over C.C. Fisher.
WCAP's Spc. Faruk Sahin, 32, a two-time Turkish national champion, lost 2-3, 7-5, 3-0 to Minnesota Storm's Jake Deitchler in the 66-kilogram Greco finals. Sahin was leading 5-0 in the second period before the bottom fell out.
"I guess I wasn't pumped up enough to win, but that was a great match," Sahin said. "He just goes, goes, goes, goes -- that's his advantage -- but I did my best. I'm happy with my performance. Now, I'll get ready for the CISM World Championships." The International Military Sports Council is known by its French acronym, CISM.
En route to his Olympic Trials finale, Sahin eliminated 2004 Olympian and All-Army teammate Sgt. Oscar Wood from the challenge tournament semifinals.
"He is the epitome of a warrior," Lewis said of Wood, who defeated Deitchler, 8-0, 8-0, earlier this year at the Sunkist Invitational. "He just leaves it all on the mat. We have a little saying that some people wrestle to the death and some people are scared to death. He's definitely a wrestle-to-the-death kind of guy. Every single time, he brings it, and I don't know what it is about the Olympic Trials, but he wrestled his butt off. I was getting excited for him to be a back-to-back finalist in the Olympic Trials."
WCAP's Staff Sgt. Marcel Cooper, 37, also left his boots on the mat after losing to Gator Wrestling Club's Harry Lester in a Greco-Roman 66-kilo consolation bout. This was Cooper's second retirement from the sport.
"I left my shoes out there four years ago at this same tournament," said Cooper, who then was wrestling for the Marines. "I just have too many injuries. My body can't hold up any more. I've been doing this for a long time. Guys are just younger and stronger. I just can't compete at that level no more. That's not the way I wanted to go out, but I have no excuses. I had a good career.
"It's time to let it go," added Cooper, who began wrestling at age 5. "I have a bunch of surgeries I've got to get. My body was really telling me four years ago to let it go. But I have no complaints. I'd do it all over again. I gave it my best, but I want to be able to walk after all this is over."
Lewis, a 13-time armed forces champion on the mat, paid Cooper an ultimate compliment.
"We went at it several times, and I always had utmost respect for him because he was one of the only guys I knew in the United States who could stop my gut wrench," Lewis said.
Three soldiers competed in the women's freestyle tournament.
Sunkist Kids' 17-year-old Tatiana Padilla pinned WCAP's 1st Lt. Leigh Jaynes with 14 seconds remaining in a 55-kilogram freestyle semifinal.
"I just made a technical error," Jaynes said. "You need to be on your game at all times, and she stuck me in the last 20 seconds. It's heartbreaking, but she's a fighter, and I knew better to tie up with somebody who didn't have anything to lose at that point."
In the same weight class, 2nd Lt. Tina George, a two-time world silver medalist and seven-time U.S. World Team member, lost to Gator Wrestling Club's Sally Roberts in the semifinals before wrestling back to take third place with a consolation victory over GWC's Sharon Jacobson.
WCAP's Sgt. Iris Smith, a 2005 world champion and four-time U.S. Nationals champ, lost 1-0, 0-2, 3-0 in the women's 72-kilo challenge tournament semis to NYAC's Kristie Marano, a two-time world champ and nine-time world medalist, the most among U.S. women. Marano prevailed with a takedown in the final 20 seconds of the match.
"Iris definitely had the momentum going, and Kristie was tired," Lewis said. "That takedown really was a tough one for me. I expect my world champions to get it done, but when you lose, you can't say anything but we've got to get better."
Lewis said he realizes the end is near for a few more All-Army wrestlers.
"The gladiators are going to get moved out by the younger gladiators one day, and that's really what's happening," he said. "Over my 20-plus-year career in wrestling, I have never seen so many people retire at the same tournament. It's a changing of the guard, and that's the way it's supposed to be."
(Tim Hipps works in the U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command Public Affairs Office.)
America Supports You: Group Helps Wounded Vets Secure Adaptive Housing
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - Wounded veterans have a new source to turn to when looking for housing to meet their individual challenges after the expansion of a successful pilot program in Texas. "Helping a Hero" has been working for the past year to provide adaptive homes to wounded veterans of the war on terrorism, said Meredith Iler, chairman of the organization's Wounded Hero Home Program.
"Our principal activity is to provide specially adapted homes for qualifying servicemembers as well as engaging the community to provide services and resources for our wounded heroes and their families," she said. "We have awarded 13 homes and have plans to award another 100 homes in the next 12 months."
All the houses the group provides are part of planned communities, she said. The developers donate a lot, and one of the builders in the community matches the amount of the donated land in construction costs.
The homes range from $200,000 to $300,000 in value, with an average of $250,000. Recipients of the homes are required to sign a contract prohibiting them from borrowing against the equity in the house for 10 years, however. That policy is non-negotiable; even if the loan were for a worthy cause like starting a business, it's too risky, Iler explained. If the business were to fail, the veteran and his or her family could lose the home.
"We're trying to establish stability in their lives," Iler said.
To that end, Helping a Hero doesn't just get veterans into homes and wish them well. The group also offers ongoing workshops to help them reintegrate into the community and works to connect them with community service organizations such as the Rotary Club.
These connections not only provide support and a sense of community, but also could lead to employment, Iler said.
Helping a Hero is a new supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad. The group's hope is that this affiliation will help spread the word to qualified veterans, Iler said.
"Our goal is to provide a home to every single severely wounded Hero in the next 10 years," she added.
Full details on how to apply for an adaptive home through Helping a Hero are available on the organization's Web site.
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - Wounded veterans have a new source to turn to when looking for housing to meet their individual challenges after the expansion of a successful pilot program in Texas. "Helping a Hero" has been working for the past year to provide adaptive homes to wounded veterans of the war on terrorism, said Meredith Iler, chairman of the organization's Wounded Hero Home Program.
"Our principal activity is to provide specially adapted homes for qualifying servicemembers as well as engaging the community to provide services and resources for our wounded heroes and their families," she said. "We have awarded 13 homes and have plans to award another 100 homes in the next 12 months."
All the houses the group provides are part of planned communities, she said. The developers donate a lot, and one of the builders in the community matches the amount of the donated land in construction costs.
The homes range from $200,000 to $300,000 in value, with an average of $250,000. Recipients of the homes are required to sign a contract prohibiting them from borrowing against the equity in the house for 10 years, however. That policy is non-negotiable; even if the loan were for a worthy cause like starting a business, it's too risky, Iler explained. If the business were to fail, the veteran and his or her family could lose the home.
"We're trying to establish stability in their lives," Iler said.
To that end, Helping a Hero doesn't just get veterans into homes and wish them well. The group also offers ongoing workshops to help them reintegrate into the community and works to connect them with community service organizations such as the Rotary Club.
These connections not only provide support and a sense of community, but also could lead to employment, Iler said.
Helping a Hero is a new supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad. The group's hope is that this affiliation will help spread the word to qualified veterans, Iler said.
"Our goal is to provide a home to every single severely wounded Hero in the next 10 years," she added.
Full details on how to apply for an adaptive home through Helping a Hero are available on the organization's Web site.
Soldiers With Enlistment Waivers Find Success
By Army Sgt. Susan Wilt
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - When Army Staff Sgt. Clarence Masiwemai greets someone, it's with a large grin and firm handshake. Beneath his smile, his chest and arm are covered in badges and awards that showcase his Army accomplishments, including the Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge and the esteemed Ranger tab. At 23, Masiwemai is a decorated combat veteran who's led paratroopers in Iraq. In many ways, he seems like the prototype of a paratrooper on an Army recruiting poster.
But Masiwemai wasn't always so picture-perfect. Before he joined the Army, he had an anger problem; if someone looked at him funny, he was ready to fight. In fact, he had so many brushes with the law because of his brawling that he needed a waiver to be allowed to join.
"If [someone] tried to make a joke and it was in reference to our friends, family or where we came from, we'd respond back with fists," said Masiwemai, the land and ammunition noncommissioned officer for Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, in reference to how he and his friends were. "Now I'm the one making the jokes."
According to Army Recruiting Command statistics, the past three years have seen a 65 percent increase in the number of recruits who needed conduct waivers to join the Army. Today, about one in eight new armed services recruits are let in on these waivers. Media outlets have reported on this with a tone of concern for the quality of today's soldiers.
But Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, stresses that waivers don't mean the military relaxes its standards, and that each waiver decision is based on "solid judgment calls."
"Last year's [waivered enlistees] proved to perform; they retained as well as the non-waivered counterparts, and they wouldn't be retaining if they weren't performing," he told online journalists and bloggers in an April 25 conference call. "They are doing as well as the non-waiver crowd. Therefore, we are making correct bets on the risks that we take for someone that has done something that was that much of an aberration against what we expect of our teenagers."
In fact, a study by the Army's Human Resource Center showed that soldiers who enter the Army on a conduct waiver are more likely to re-enlist, are promoted quicker than their peers, and even win more awards and badges.
Like Masiwemai, Sgt. John Adkerson, a squad leader from the 82nd Airborne Division's Company A, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, was allowed to join the Army on a conduct waiver.
"Really, I joined because I wanted to -- I needed to -- keep myself out of trouble," said Adkerson, an Alpharetta, Ga., native.
Adkerson has done more than that. He's in charge of seven soldiers, has led paratroopers in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and received a Purple Heart after being wounded by shrapnel from a mortar.
"He leads from the front," Army 1st Lt. Travis Pride, Adkerson's former platoon leader, said. "He's a good role model."
Adkerson will give advice to his soldiers even if they don't know they need it, Pride explained.
When he was a private first class, Adkerson passed Ranger School, an intense combat leadership course, paving the way for a speedy promotion to sergeant in a little over two years. The average soldier takes 4.2 years. Masiwemai -- "Masi" for short -- also took two years to be promoted to sergeant; it took him five and a half to make staff sergeant.
Masiwemai, an Island of Yap, Micronesia, native, said that as soon as he finished basic training, he started to notice a change in himself as well as a few of his comrades who also came in on conduct waivers.
"Right when they finished basic training was when they realized, 'Hey, this is helping me out. I'm changing. I'm becoming a better person than I once was,'" Masiwemai explained. He said he believes soldiers who required a waiver to enlist end up doing well because they strive to improve themselves.
"They try harder to stay in the military by having an outstanding performance, by learning their job and knowing that the military is a great place to change yourself," he explained.
Adkerson said he believes that granting waivers to Army hopefuls with a questionable past helps get them off the streets and out of trouble.
"Waivers are the right thing to do," Adkerson said. "Instead of keeping people out of the Army, it's going to help the kids and make them a better person to society. ... People say you join a gang to get a family. The Army's a tighter family than you'd ever have."
(Army Sgt. Susan Wilt serves in the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - When Army Staff Sgt. Clarence Masiwemai greets someone, it's with a large grin and firm handshake. Beneath his smile, his chest and arm are covered in badges and awards that showcase his Army accomplishments, including the Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge and the esteemed Ranger tab. At 23, Masiwemai is a decorated combat veteran who's led paratroopers in Iraq. In many ways, he seems like the prototype of a paratrooper on an Army recruiting poster.
But Masiwemai wasn't always so picture-perfect. Before he joined the Army, he had an anger problem; if someone looked at him funny, he was ready to fight. In fact, he had so many brushes with the law because of his brawling that he needed a waiver to be allowed to join.
"If [someone] tried to make a joke and it was in reference to our friends, family or where we came from, we'd respond back with fists," said Masiwemai, the land and ammunition noncommissioned officer for Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, in reference to how he and his friends were. "Now I'm the one making the jokes."
According to Army Recruiting Command statistics, the past three years have seen a 65 percent increase in the number of recruits who needed conduct waivers to join the Army. Today, about one in eight new armed services recruits are let in on these waivers. Media outlets have reported on this with a tone of concern for the quality of today's soldiers.
But Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, stresses that waivers don't mean the military relaxes its standards, and that each waiver decision is based on "solid judgment calls."
"Last year's [waivered enlistees] proved to perform; they retained as well as the non-waivered counterparts, and they wouldn't be retaining if they weren't performing," he told online journalists and bloggers in an April 25 conference call. "They are doing as well as the non-waiver crowd. Therefore, we are making correct bets on the risks that we take for someone that has done something that was that much of an aberration against what we expect of our teenagers."
In fact, a study by the Army's Human Resource Center showed that soldiers who enter the Army on a conduct waiver are more likely to re-enlist, are promoted quicker than their peers, and even win more awards and badges.
Like Masiwemai, Sgt. John Adkerson, a squad leader from the 82nd Airborne Division's Company A, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, was allowed to join the Army on a conduct waiver.
"Really, I joined because I wanted to -- I needed to -- keep myself out of trouble," said Adkerson, an Alpharetta, Ga., native.
Adkerson has done more than that. He's in charge of seven soldiers, has led paratroopers in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and received a Purple Heart after being wounded by shrapnel from a mortar.
"He leads from the front," Army 1st Lt. Travis Pride, Adkerson's former platoon leader, said. "He's a good role model."
Adkerson will give advice to his soldiers even if they don't know they need it, Pride explained.
When he was a private first class, Adkerson passed Ranger School, an intense combat leadership course, paving the way for a speedy promotion to sergeant in a little over two years. The average soldier takes 4.2 years. Masiwemai -- "Masi" for short -- also took two years to be promoted to sergeant; it took him five and a half to make staff sergeant.
Masiwemai, an Island of Yap, Micronesia, native, said that as soon as he finished basic training, he started to notice a change in himself as well as a few of his comrades who also came in on conduct waivers.
"Right when they finished basic training was when they realized, 'Hey, this is helping me out. I'm changing. I'm becoming a better person than I once was,'" Masiwemai explained. He said he believes soldiers who required a waiver to enlist end up doing well because they strive to improve themselves.
"They try harder to stay in the military by having an outstanding performance, by learning their job and knowing that the military is a great place to change yourself," he explained.
Adkerson said he believes that granting waivers to Army hopefuls with a questionable past helps get them off the streets and out of trouble.
"Waivers are the right thing to do," Adkerson said. "Instead of keeping people out of the Army, it's going to help the kids and make them a better person to society. ... People say you join a gang to get a family. The Army's a tighter family than you'd ever have."
(Army Sgt. Susan Wilt serves in the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)
Military Tracks Hurricane Dolly, Readies Relief Support
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - "Hurricane Hunters" from the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew through Hurricane Dolly last night and this morning as it headed toward the Texas coast, relaying critical data to National Weather Service forecasters in Miami. Six-person crews from the squadron have been tracking the storm since July 16, when it was a tropical disturbance over St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, reported Air Force 1st Lt. Douglas Gautrau, a squadron aerial reconnaissance weather officer aboard last night's mission.
Since then, the squadron has been flying its C-130J aircraft 24/7 out of its base at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., delivering near-real-time data to the National Weather Service.
Gautrau and his fellow crewmembers took off from Keesler at about 7 last night for a 10-hour mission, crisscrossing Dolly in what Gautrau described as an "alpha pattern." They used sophisticated onboard instruments and small "dropsonde" canisters dropped by parachute to collect the most accurate measurements of the hurricane's location and intensity. The canisters relay details about barometric pressure, wind speed and direction and other measurements to the aircraft during their descent until they hit the water, Gautrau explained.
After a quick quality-control check on the data collected, the crew forwarded it every 10 minutes to the National Hurricane Center.
The aircrews, which consist of an aircraft commander and copilot, flight engineer, navigator, weather officer and dropsonde operator, fly through rough turbulence and heavy rains during the missions. The heaviest turbulence occurs in the "eye wall," the circular area directly around the hurricane's eye.
Gautrau described last night's turbulence as "moderate," but "nothing too bad" as the aircraft encountered 75-knot wind speeds. "It can get pretty bumpy," he said.
Toward the end of the mission, Hurricane Dolly had strengthened, and its leading edge was approaching the Gulf Coast near the Texas-Mexico border. Heavy rain and sustained 95 mph winds pounded the coast as Dolly's eye headed toward Brownsville, Texas.
For Gautrau, last night's flight through Hurricane Dolly was a rite of passage: his first hurricane mission without the benefit of an instructor watching over his shoulder.
"At some points, I'd think, 'Holy cow. I'm in a hurricane,'" he said. "Other times, I'd think, 'Holy cow. I still have to do my job.'"
But with that mission now complete, Gautrau said, he's thrilled to have "the best weather job out there." A native of New Orleans, he said he understands the impact of severe weather and knows he and his fellow crewmembers are giving the National Weather Service the best data possible so it can make accurate forecasts.
"I get a lot of joy out of this job, and I feel that what we are doing is a great benefit to the public," he said.
As the Hurricane Hunters continued their missions, some 600 Texas National Guard members were on the ground, preparing to offer assistance after Hurricane Dolly makes landfall, reported Air Force Tech. Sgt. Gregory Ripps, a Texas Guard spokesman.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry authorized the call for up to 1,200 Texas Guardsmen, to assist civilian emergency responders preparing for the first storm to threaten the United States this hurricane season.
Troops were fanning out across the region, poised to provide search-and-rescue support and emergency relief as required, Ripps said. Shelter management teams were standing by in Brownsville and McAllen, and the Guardsmen set up distribution points in the towns of Alice and Weslaco.
Meanwhile, the Texas Guard's Joint Operations Center is maintaining contact with the State Operations Center, as both monitor the hurricane.
Officials predict rain accumulations of four to eight inches, with isolated deluges of 15 inches, over much of southern Texas during the next few days. Coastal flooding of four to six feet above normal tide levels, with dangerous battering waves, was predicted north of the storm's landfall.
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - "Hurricane Hunters" from the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew through Hurricane Dolly last night and this morning as it headed toward the Texas coast, relaying critical data to National Weather Service forecasters in Miami. Six-person crews from the squadron have been tracking the storm since July 16, when it was a tropical disturbance over St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, reported Air Force 1st Lt. Douglas Gautrau, a squadron aerial reconnaissance weather officer aboard last night's mission.
Since then, the squadron has been flying its C-130J aircraft 24/7 out of its base at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., delivering near-real-time data to the National Weather Service.
Gautrau and his fellow crewmembers took off from Keesler at about 7 last night for a 10-hour mission, crisscrossing Dolly in what Gautrau described as an "alpha pattern." They used sophisticated onboard instruments and small "dropsonde" canisters dropped by parachute to collect the most accurate measurements of the hurricane's location and intensity. The canisters relay details about barometric pressure, wind speed and direction and other measurements to the aircraft during their descent until they hit the water, Gautrau explained.
After a quick quality-control check on the data collected, the crew forwarded it every 10 minutes to the National Hurricane Center.
The aircrews, which consist of an aircraft commander and copilot, flight engineer, navigator, weather officer and dropsonde operator, fly through rough turbulence and heavy rains during the missions. The heaviest turbulence occurs in the "eye wall," the circular area directly around the hurricane's eye.
Gautrau described last night's turbulence as "moderate," but "nothing too bad" as the aircraft encountered 75-knot wind speeds. "It can get pretty bumpy," he said.
Toward the end of the mission, Hurricane Dolly had strengthened, and its leading edge was approaching the Gulf Coast near the Texas-Mexico border. Heavy rain and sustained 95 mph winds pounded the coast as Dolly's eye headed toward Brownsville, Texas.
For Gautrau, last night's flight through Hurricane Dolly was a rite of passage: his first hurricane mission without the benefit of an instructor watching over his shoulder.
"At some points, I'd think, 'Holy cow. I'm in a hurricane,'" he said. "Other times, I'd think, 'Holy cow. I still have to do my job.'"
But with that mission now complete, Gautrau said, he's thrilled to have "the best weather job out there." A native of New Orleans, he said he understands the impact of severe weather and knows he and his fellow crewmembers are giving the National Weather Service the best data possible so it can make accurate forecasts.
"I get a lot of joy out of this job, and I feel that what we are doing is a great benefit to the public," he said.
As the Hurricane Hunters continued their missions, some 600 Texas National Guard members were on the ground, preparing to offer assistance after Hurricane Dolly makes landfall, reported Air Force Tech. Sgt. Gregory Ripps, a Texas Guard spokesman.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry authorized the call for up to 1,200 Texas Guardsmen, to assist civilian emergency responders preparing for the first storm to threaten the United States this hurricane season.
Troops were fanning out across the region, poised to provide search-and-rescue support and emergency relief as required, Ripps said. Shelter management teams were standing by in Brownsville and McAllen, and the Guardsmen set up distribution points in the towns of Alice and Weslaco.
Meanwhile, the Texas Guard's Joint Operations Center is maintaining contact with the State Operations Center, as both monitor the hurricane.
Officials predict rain accumulations of four to eight inches, with isolated deluges of 15 inches, over much of southern Texas during the next few days. Coastal flooding of four to six feet above normal tide levels, with dangerous battering waves, was predicted north of the storm's landfall.
MILITARY CONTRACTS July 23, 2008
Navy
Dimensions Construction, Inc.,* San Diego, Calif.; Allen Engineering Contractor, Inc.*, San Bernardino, Calif.; RMA Land Construction, Inc.*, Brea, Calif.; Candalaria JV LLC.*, Glendale, Ariz.; Marcon Engineering, Inc.*, Escondido, Calif.; RQ-Brady JV 01 * San Diego, Cailf.; I.E.-Pacific, Inc.*, San Diego, Calif.; Patricia I. Romero Inc., dba Pacific West Builders*, San Diego, Calif., and Hal Hay Construction, Inc.* Riverside, Calif., are each being awarded a not to exceed $100,000,000 8(a) set-aside firm-fixed-price multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract for new construction and renovation of general building construction at various locations within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest area of responsibility including but not limited to Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The $100,000,000 (with guaranteed minimum of $5,000) is for all contracts combined - base period and four option years. The work is for the design, construction, supervision, equipment, materials, labor, and all means necessary to provide complete and usable facilities at various locations. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps installations within the NAVFAC Southwest Area of Responsibility including, but not limited to Calif., (82 percent), Ariz., (16 percent), and N.M., (two percent). The terms of the contracts are not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of Jul. 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as a set-aside for eight (a) Small Businesses via the NAVFAC e-solicitation website, with 77 proposals solicited, and 28 offers received. These nine contractors listed may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (contract numbers N63473-08-D-8650, N63473-08-D-8642, N62473-08-D-8643, N62473-08-D-8644, N62473-08-R-8645, N62473-08-R-8646, N62473-08-R-8647, N62473-08-R-8648, and N63473-08-D-8649 respectively).
Western Branch Diesel, Inc., Portsmouth, Va., is being awarded a $10,158,500 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity requirements contract for the procurement of maintenance services (engine overhaul) and repair of the MK V Special Operations Craft MTU 12V396TE94 diesel engines. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Va., (80 percent) and Norfolk, Va., (20 percent), and is expected to be completed by Mar. 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with three offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity (N61331-08-D-0018).
Army
Archer Western Contractors, Atlanta, Ga., was awarded on Jul. 21, 2008, a $45,079,000 firm-fixed price contract for the design and construction of unaccompanied personnel housing. Work will be performed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 21, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four bids were solicited on Mar. 27, 2008, and three bids were received. U.S. Army Engineer District, Savannah, Ga., is the contracting activity (W912HN-07-D-0051).
Park Construction Co., Hampton, Minn., was awarded on Jul. 22, 2008, a $12,939,650 firm-fixed price contract for a flood protection project. Work will be performed in Lincoln, Ne., and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on Apr.15, 2008, and four bids were received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Ne., is the contracting activity (W9128F-08-C-0014).
Alliant Lake City Small Caliber Ammunition Co., LLC, Independence, Mo., was awarded on Jul. 22, 2008, a $10,635,417 contract for small caliber ammunition. Work will be performed in Independence, Mo., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Jan. 2, 2008. U.S. Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (DAA09-99-D-0016).
Barr Incorporated, Putnam, Conn., was awarded on Jul. 18, 2008, a $6,128,000 firm-fixed price contract for the construction of an addition to a fire crash rescue station. Work will be performed at Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, Mass., and is expected to be completed by Aug. 15, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on Apr. 14, 2008, and ten bids were received. National Guard Bureau, Milford, Mass., is the contracting activity (W912SV-08-C-0008).
Chugach Government Services, Inc., Anchorage, Ala., was awarded on Jul. 22, 2008, a $6,494,099 firm-fixed price contract for the construction of a substation and natural gas generators. Work will be performed in Redstone Arsenal, Ala., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 24, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on May 2, 2008. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity (W91278-08-C-0044).
Air Force
Associates for International Research Inc., Engineering Services LLC, of Annapolis, Md.; Boeing Support Systems of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; DRS Technical Services of Herndon, Va. and Calverton, Md.; L-3 Communications TCS (3 Com) of Warner Robins, Ga.; Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems of Warner Robins, Ga.; MacAulay-Brown, Inc., of Dayton, Ohio; MTC Technologies (now BAE Systems Science and Technology, Inc.) of Dayton, Ohio; Northrop Grumman Technical Services Inc., of Herndon, Va.; Raytheon Technical Service Co., Customized Engineering Depot Support, of Indianapolis, Ind.; Science Applications International Corp., of San Diego, Calif.; Scientific Research Corporation of Atlanta, Ga.; Support Systems Associates, Inc., of Melbourne, Fla., are being awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for a maximum of $6.9 billion. This action will provide for potential requirements to include modifications, development, repairs, and limited, critical or contingency spares for all Air Force managed weapons systems. At this time a minimum of $5,000 for each contractor has been obligated. WR-ALC/PKE, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (ARINC – FA8530-08-D-0001; Astronautics –FA8530-08-D-0002; BAE IESI – FA8530-08-D-0003; Boeing – FA8530-08-D-0004; DRS – FA8530-08-D-0005; General Dynamics – FA8530-08-D-0006; L-3 Comm – FA8530-08-D-0007; LMIS – FA8530-08-D-0008; MacB – FA8530-08-D-0009; MTC – FA8530-08-D-0010; Northrop Grumman – FA8530-08-D-0011; Raytheon – FA8530-08-D-0012; SAIC – FA8530-08-D-0013; SRC – FA8530-08-D-0014; SSAI – FA8530-08-D-0015).
E.J. Mlynarczyk and Co., Inc., DBA: EJM Aerospace Services of Crestview, Fla., is being awarded a firm fixed price contract for $14,553,548.57. This requirement is for the additional production kits and storage containers for the Improved Ballistic Armor Suppression Sub-System in support of the HH-60G helicopter. At this time all funds have been obligated. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, WR-ALC/580th ACSG, GFKAB, Special Operations Forces Contracting Division, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8509-05-D-0004-0020).
Dimensions Construction, Inc.,* San Diego, Calif.; Allen Engineering Contractor, Inc.*, San Bernardino, Calif.; RMA Land Construction, Inc.*, Brea, Calif.; Candalaria JV LLC.*, Glendale, Ariz.; Marcon Engineering, Inc.*, Escondido, Calif.; RQ-Brady JV 01 * San Diego, Cailf.; I.E.-Pacific, Inc.*, San Diego, Calif.; Patricia I. Romero Inc., dba Pacific West Builders*, San Diego, Calif., and Hal Hay Construction, Inc.* Riverside, Calif., are each being awarded a not to exceed $100,000,000 8(a) set-aside firm-fixed-price multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract for new construction and renovation of general building construction at various locations within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest area of responsibility including but not limited to Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The $100,000,000 (with guaranteed minimum of $5,000) is for all contracts combined - base period and four option years. The work is for the design, construction, supervision, equipment, materials, labor, and all means necessary to provide complete and usable facilities at various locations. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps installations within the NAVFAC Southwest Area of Responsibility including, but not limited to Calif., (82 percent), Ariz., (16 percent), and N.M., (two percent). The terms of the contracts are not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of Jul. 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as a set-aside for eight (a) Small Businesses via the NAVFAC e-solicitation website, with 77 proposals solicited, and 28 offers received. These nine contractors listed may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (contract numbers N63473-08-D-8650, N63473-08-D-8642, N62473-08-D-8643, N62473-08-D-8644, N62473-08-R-8645, N62473-08-R-8646, N62473-08-R-8647, N62473-08-R-8648, and N63473-08-D-8649 respectively).
Western Branch Diesel, Inc., Portsmouth, Va., is being awarded a $10,158,500 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity requirements contract for the procurement of maintenance services (engine overhaul) and repair of the MK V Special Operations Craft MTU 12V396TE94 diesel engines. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Va., (80 percent) and Norfolk, Va., (20 percent), and is expected to be completed by Mar. 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with three offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity (N61331-08-D-0018).
Army
Archer Western Contractors, Atlanta, Ga., was awarded on Jul. 21, 2008, a $45,079,000 firm-fixed price contract for the design and construction of unaccompanied personnel housing. Work will be performed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 21, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four bids were solicited on Mar. 27, 2008, and three bids were received. U.S. Army Engineer District, Savannah, Ga., is the contracting activity (W912HN-07-D-0051).
Park Construction Co., Hampton, Minn., was awarded on Jul. 22, 2008, a $12,939,650 firm-fixed price contract for a flood protection project. Work will be performed in Lincoln, Ne., and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on Apr.15, 2008, and four bids were received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Ne., is the contracting activity (W9128F-08-C-0014).
Alliant Lake City Small Caliber Ammunition Co., LLC, Independence, Mo., was awarded on Jul. 22, 2008, a $10,635,417 contract for small caliber ammunition. Work will be performed in Independence, Mo., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Jan. 2, 2008. U.S. Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (DAA09-99-D-0016).
Barr Incorporated, Putnam, Conn., was awarded on Jul. 18, 2008, a $6,128,000 firm-fixed price contract for the construction of an addition to a fire crash rescue station. Work will be performed at Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, Mass., and is expected to be completed by Aug. 15, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on Apr. 14, 2008, and ten bids were received. National Guard Bureau, Milford, Mass., is the contracting activity (W912SV-08-C-0008).
Chugach Government Services, Inc., Anchorage, Ala., was awarded on Jul. 22, 2008, a $6,494,099 firm-fixed price contract for the construction of a substation and natural gas generators. Work will be performed in Redstone Arsenal, Ala., and is expected to be completed by Jul. 24, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on May 2, 2008. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity (W91278-08-C-0044).
Air Force
Associates for International Research Inc., Engineering Services LLC, of Annapolis, Md.; Boeing Support Systems of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; DRS Technical Services of Herndon, Va. and Calverton, Md.; L-3 Communications TCS (3 Com) of Warner Robins, Ga.; Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems of Warner Robins, Ga.; MacAulay-Brown, Inc., of Dayton, Ohio; MTC Technologies (now BAE Systems Science and Technology, Inc.) of Dayton, Ohio; Northrop Grumman Technical Services Inc., of Herndon, Va.; Raytheon Technical Service Co., Customized Engineering Depot Support, of Indianapolis, Ind.; Science Applications International Corp., of San Diego, Calif.; Scientific Research Corporation of Atlanta, Ga.; Support Systems Associates, Inc., of Melbourne, Fla., are being awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for a maximum of $6.9 billion. This action will provide for potential requirements to include modifications, development, repairs, and limited, critical or contingency spares for all Air Force managed weapons systems. At this time a minimum of $5,000 for each contractor has been obligated. WR-ALC/PKE, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (ARINC – FA8530-08-D-0001; Astronautics –FA8530-08-D-0002; BAE IESI – FA8530-08-D-0003; Boeing – FA8530-08-D-0004; DRS – FA8530-08-D-0005; General Dynamics – FA8530-08-D-0006; L-3 Comm – FA8530-08-D-0007; LMIS – FA8530-08-D-0008; MacB – FA8530-08-D-0009; MTC – FA8530-08-D-0010; Northrop Grumman – FA8530-08-D-0011; Raytheon – FA8530-08-D-0012; SAIC – FA8530-08-D-0013; SRC – FA8530-08-D-0014; SSAI – FA8530-08-D-0015).
E.J. Mlynarczyk and Co., Inc., DBA: EJM Aerospace Services of Crestview, Fla., is being awarded a firm fixed price contract for $14,553,548.57. This requirement is for the additional production kits and storage containers for the Improved Ballistic Armor Suppression Sub-System in support of the HH-60G helicopter. At this time all funds have been obligated. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, WR-ALC/580th ACSG, GFKAB, Special Operations Forces Contracting Division, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8509-05-D-0004-0020).
Truman's Military Desegregation Order Reflects American Values, Gates Says
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - President Harry S. Truman's 1948 executive order that desegregated the U.S. military was a definitive statement of equality that declared all servicemembers must be judged by individual merit instead of their racial background, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. "No aspect of black Americans' quest for justice and equality under the law has been nobler than what has been called, "the fight for the right to fight," Gates said at the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the integration of the armed forces held in the Capitol Rotunda.
"Our commemoration today of the racial integration of the armed forces makes us reflect on how far we have come toward living up to our founding ideals and yet how much remains to be done," Gates said.
The Defense Department began breaking down the barriers of race at the conclusion of World War Two in 1945, Gates said. As in past wars, African-American troops had served in World War Two with honor and distinction, he noted. However, African-American troops had to fight and live separately from all-white units.
America's sons and daughters fought in World War Two to preserve freedom and human dignity for the world's people, Gates said. Yet, African-Americans who'd served with distinction in that war, he noted, "returned to face segregation and harassment at home," as so-called Jim Crow segregation laws in place across the South relegated African-Americans to second-class-citizen status.
Truman's Executive Order 9981, signed July 26, 1948, was an important statement and an important step, Gates said. However, he said, Truman's directive "had to overcome stiff institutional resistance, as deeply entrenched attitudes were hard to change."
For example, "segregated units remained the norm and integrated units the exception," Gates noted, for several years after the integration order was issued.
The start of the Korean War in June 1950 prompted the need to put hundreds of thousands of Americans into uniform after the U.S. military had demobilized following the end of World War Two.
"With the sudden outbreak of war in Korea, the urgent demands of the battlefield trumped the old habit of Jim Crow," Gates said.
Before the start of the Korean War, he said, 50 percent of African-Americans in the Marine Corps -- about 750 men -- served as stewards. At the end of the Korean War in 1953, Gates said, there were 17,000 African-American Marines, and only 3 percent served as stewards.
"By 1954, the Korean War was over, the last of the segregated units were dissolved, and the momentum for equality and civil rights was carrying over into American society as a whole," Gates said.
In the ensuing decades after Truman's directive took effect, "black and white Americans trained, served, and fought together with honor and distinction," Gates said.
Today's integrated U.S. military continues to "put merit and integrity above all," Gates said, noting there's still more to achieve.
"My hope and expectation is that, in the years ahead, more African-Americans will staff the armed forces at the highest levels," Gates said. "We must make sure the American military continues to be a great engine of progress and equality -- all the better to defend our people and our values against adversaries around the globe."
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - President Harry S. Truman's 1948 executive order that desegregated the U.S. military was a definitive statement of equality that declared all servicemembers must be judged by individual merit instead of their racial background, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. "No aspect of black Americans' quest for justice and equality under the law has been nobler than what has been called, "the fight for the right to fight," Gates said at the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the integration of the armed forces held in the Capitol Rotunda.
"Our commemoration today of the racial integration of the armed forces makes us reflect on how far we have come toward living up to our founding ideals and yet how much remains to be done," Gates said.
The Defense Department began breaking down the barriers of race at the conclusion of World War Two in 1945, Gates said. As in past wars, African-American troops had served in World War Two with honor and distinction, he noted. However, African-American troops had to fight and live separately from all-white units.
America's sons and daughters fought in World War Two to preserve freedom and human dignity for the world's people, Gates said. Yet, African-Americans who'd served with distinction in that war, he noted, "returned to face segregation and harassment at home," as so-called Jim Crow segregation laws in place across the South relegated African-Americans to second-class-citizen status.
Truman's Executive Order 9981, signed July 26, 1948, was an important statement and an important step, Gates said. However, he said, Truman's directive "had to overcome stiff institutional resistance, as deeply entrenched attitudes were hard to change."
For example, "segregated units remained the norm and integrated units the exception," Gates noted, for several years after the integration order was issued.
The start of the Korean War in June 1950 prompted the need to put hundreds of thousands of Americans into uniform after the U.S. military had demobilized following the end of World War Two.
"With the sudden outbreak of war in Korea, the urgent demands of the battlefield trumped the old habit of Jim Crow," Gates said.
Before the start of the Korean War, he said, 50 percent of African-Americans in the Marine Corps -- about 750 men -- served as stewards. At the end of the Korean War in 1953, Gates said, there were 17,000 African-American Marines, and only 3 percent served as stewards.
"By 1954, the Korean War was over, the last of the segregated units were dissolved, and the momentum for equality and civil rights was carrying over into American society as a whole," Gates said.
In the ensuing decades after Truman's directive took effect, "black and white Americans trained, served, and fought together with honor and distinction," Gates said.
Today's integrated U.S. military continues to "put merit and integrity above all," Gates said, noting there's still more to achieve.
"My hope and expectation is that, in the years ahead, more African-Americans will staff the armed forces at the highest levels," Gates said. "We must make sure the American military continues to be a great engine of progress and equality -- all the better to defend our people and our values against adversaries around the globe."
Defense Leaders Promise Improved Contracting Oversight
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - The U.S. military depends heavily on the support contractors provide in Iraq and Afghanistan and is stepping up efforts to ensure dollars dedicated to their activities are spent appropriately, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told Congress today.
England joined Army Gen. Benjamin S. Griffin, commander of U.S. Army Materiel Command; acting Defense Department Inspector General Gordon S. Heddell; and Shay Assad, DoD's director for defense procurement and acquisition policy, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on contractor accountability.
The Defense Department takes its contract accountability and oversight responsibilities "very seriously," England told the lawmakers. He noted that multiple department agencies have conducted "literally thousands of aggressive reviews, audits and oversight."
In doing so, "they have indeed uncovered incidences of fraud and abuse," he said.
The Defense Department takes meaningful corrective actions and makes structural organizational changes where appropriate, England said. Meanwhile, it holds people accountable for their actions.
Heddell, who became acting DoD inspector general last week, noted that the department is completing or conducting audit oversight efforts that cover about $158.9 billion related to Defense Department efforts in Iraq alone.
As of June 30, the Defense criminal Investigative Service had 124 ongoing investigations related to Southwest Asia that involve 286 subjects, he told the committee. Thirty-two of these investigations have been adjudicated, resulting in 22 federal criminal indictments and 32 felony convictions, he reported. It also resulted in 32 federal "criminal informations" -- essentially, cases where defendants agreed that evidence against them was so strong that they agreed to forego trial proceedings and accept sentencing, Heddell said.
The adjudications have resulted in 54 years of confinement, 44 years of probation, debarment of 10 people and four companies, and suspension of 28 people, Heddell said.
In addition, the U.S. government accepted three settlement agreements, received $13.5 million in restitution, levied more than $374,000 in fines and penalties, received $1.76 million in forfeitures and seized another $2.65 million in assets, he reported.
With $71 billion obligated to 98,000 contracting activities since January 2003, the department has struggled to provide full oversight for this huge volume of contracts, England conceded. Complicating the process, he said, is the fact that 98,000 expeditionary contract actions have occurred since 2003, with much of the work performed in a dangerous and difficult environment.
The department "will continue to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our contracting across the entire enterprise," but recognizes that it will take time, England said. He noted that the defense contracting force was cut dramatically during the 1990s, and that bringing replacements up to speed won't happen overnight. "It will likely take a few more years before all of these critical skills are fully replenished," he said.
Meanwhile, England pointed to yesterday's swearing-in of retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnie Fields as special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction as a positive step forward.
"I'm confident Arnie Fields will help to do in Afghanistan for the departments of Defense and State what [special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction] Stu Bowen has been able to accomplish over the past several years in Iraq as part of his special investigative status," England said.
Griffin told the senators the military knows it has improvements to make in its contracting systems and oversight.
"I will state up front that we are not where we want to be today in terms of contracting," he said. "But we have made significant progress. We are committed to improve our ability and capability, to provide not only first-class expeditionary contracting, but also to implement improvements across the entire contracting system."
While vowing to improve oversight of contractor activities, England told the lawmakers the military depends on contractors who work as partners with servicemembers in harm's way. "I ... want to thank the people who deployed and who are deployed today who do this contracting work for America," he said.
American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008 - The U.S. military depends heavily on the support contractors provide in Iraq and Afghanistan and is stepping up efforts to ensure dollars dedicated to their activities are spent appropriately, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told Congress today.
England joined Army Gen. Benjamin S. Griffin, commander of U.S. Army Materiel Command; acting Defense Department Inspector General Gordon S. Heddell; and Shay Assad, DoD's director for defense procurement and acquisition policy, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on contractor accountability.
The Defense Department takes its contract accountability and oversight responsibilities "very seriously," England told the lawmakers. He noted that multiple department agencies have conducted "literally thousands of aggressive reviews, audits and oversight."
In doing so, "they have indeed uncovered incidences of fraud and abuse," he said.
The Defense Department takes meaningful corrective actions and makes structural organizational changes where appropriate, England said. Meanwhile, it holds people accountable for their actions.
Heddell, who became acting DoD inspector general last week, noted that the department is completing or conducting audit oversight efforts that cover about $158.9 billion related to Defense Department efforts in Iraq alone.
As of June 30, the Defense criminal Investigative Service had 124 ongoing investigations related to Southwest Asia that involve 286 subjects, he told the committee. Thirty-two of these investigations have been adjudicated, resulting in 22 federal criminal indictments and 32 felony convictions, he reported. It also resulted in 32 federal "criminal informations" -- essentially, cases where defendants agreed that evidence against them was so strong that they agreed to forego trial proceedings and accept sentencing, Heddell said.
The adjudications have resulted in 54 years of confinement, 44 years of probation, debarment of 10 people and four companies, and suspension of 28 people, Heddell said.
In addition, the U.S. government accepted three settlement agreements, received $13.5 million in restitution, levied more than $374,000 in fines and penalties, received $1.76 million in forfeitures and seized another $2.65 million in assets, he reported.
With $71 billion obligated to 98,000 contracting activities since January 2003, the department has struggled to provide full oversight for this huge volume of contracts, England conceded. Complicating the process, he said, is the fact that 98,000 expeditionary contract actions have occurred since 2003, with much of the work performed in a dangerous and difficult environment.
The department "will continue to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our contracting across the entire enterprise," but recognizes that it will take time, England said. He noted that the defense contracting force was cut dramatically during the 1990s, and that bringing replacements up to speed won't happen overnight. "It will likely take a few more years before all of these critical skills are fully replenished," he said.
Meanwhile, England pointed to yesterday's swearing-in of retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnie Fields as special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction as a positive step forward.
"I'm confident Arnie Fields will help to do in Afghanistan for the departments of Defense and State what [special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction] Stu Bowen has been able to accomplish over the past several years in Iraq as part of his special investigative status," England said.
Griffin told the senators the military knows it has improvements to make in its contracting systems and oversight.
"I will state up front that we are not where we want to be today in terms of contracting," he said. "But we have made significant progress. We are committed to improve our ability and capability, to provide not only first-class expeditionary contracting, but also to implement improvements across the entire contracting system."
While vowing to improve oversight of contractor activities, England told the lawmakers the military depends on contractors who work as partners with servicemembers in harm's way. "I ... want to thank the people who deployed and who are deployed today who do this contracting work for America," he said.
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