By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 8, 2010 - Knowing about and engaging with people of other cultures, other beliefs and other ethnicities may be as important to American security as battle plans, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen spoke at the Naval War College to an audience that included 110 students from other countries.
"I have been driven for a long time by the belief that the world we're living in requires us to understand problems from somebody else's perspective," Mullen said. "And I see that to be the case more and more in everything that I'm doing."
The strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for example, is predicated on American servicemembers understanding and respecting the cultures of the countries. It is so important, he noted, that it is at the heart of an initiative he has to develop a core group of servicemembers who concentrate on the region even when they are not assigned there.
"I'm very focused right now on getting a cadre of some 700, 800, 900 individuals that are going to be focused on and do tours in Afghanistan and Pakistan," the chairman said. "And when they come back for a year or two, they're still working those issues." This cadre will know the "complex human terrain" of the region and understand the dynamics of the people and their leaders, the admiral said. Part of their value is that they will not have to spend time getting up to speed when they arrive for an assignment in the country.
The idea breaks service promotion-track paradigms, the chairman acknowledged. "But we've got to promote those kinds of people," he added. "This is my top priority right now."
The United States does not have the luxury of time in Afghanistan, Mullen said. "I am losing people almost every day in a fight," he told the audience. "There should be nothing that's more important, quite frankly."
And the same is true in other areas of the world, the chairman said. Military leaders need to know the military leaders of other nations.
"I can go to the Pacific, I can go to Africa, I can go into our own hemisphere -- where we haven't spent enough time, in my view -- focusing on making sure those relationships are strong," he said. "That's culture. That's language."
This type of knowledge, he admitted, has not been rewarded in the past. "We need to change that, in terms of what we value, because of the importance of those relationships," he said.
Mullen offered some advice to the foreign military officers at the war college.
"I hope you get out and see America," he said. "I hope you get to go out and meet our citizens, and not just our military. That's really who we are. And take every opportunity to teach us about you and your countries and your histories and traditions."
It is very difficult to establish relationships in the middle of a crisis, Mullen said. Though leaders must work to avoid crises, it's important to have an established relationship if they occur -- a relationship in which "we've got an e-mail address, got a telephone number and know the person," he said.
Friday, January 08, 2010
New Guide Aims at Improving DoD-NGO Field Collaboration
By Matt Pueschel
FHP&R Staff Writer
A hit at last month’s Special Operations Medical Association (SOMA) conference was the release of a new Guide to Nongovernmental Organizations for the Military (PDF download), which was edited and co-written by FHP&R International Health Division (IHD) member Dr. Lynn Lawry.
The guide is aimed at helping deploying DoD personnel understand how to work in a collaborative, productive fashion with NGOs that they likely will encounter in the field. The guide was originally written in 2002 by Grey Frandsen, who was then a project officer for the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine (CDHAM). Lawry, who is assigned to IHD through a Henry Jackson Foundation grant at CDHAM, rewrote and updated the guide last summer. “It’s for DoD in general for anybody who is deploying,” she advised. “The civil-military world has changed a lot since 2002. The military has had a lot of experiences with NGOs and it needed more of a focus on the military.”
Fundamental differences between DoD and NGOs have presented challenges in the field at times, although their relationship is evolving. “[The guide] can be used by host nations and anybody, but we focused on the military so some of the conflict could be mitigated,” Lawry said.
“What’s new about it is it pulls in [recent] military guidance and doctrine and shows where difficulties between the military and civilian community happen. It is more extensive in talking about coordination and adds a section on security, and how NGOs do security. They have their own security measures and protocols, which have developed in the last 10 years. They don’t [always] have to go to the military [for security]. There are a lot of myths that we debunked in this book.”
Much of the new policy basis for increasing collaboration with NGOs stems from DoD directive 3000.05, which was established in late 2005 and updated in an instruction last fall. The policy elevated the importance of stability operations and directs DoD to be prepared to conduct them across the range of conflict and non-combat environments, and to integrate mission planning and execution with other U.S. government agencies, foreign governments and security forces, and NGOs.
“In many cases NGOs can operate in space DoD can’t. They can move faster through customs, etc., and many NGOs have been in countries longer than DoD and have experience,” said Fred Gerber, the Iraq country director for the NGO, Project HOPE.
IHD member Cdr. Patrick Laraby, MC, USN, said NGOs prefer to maintain neutrality from the government, so there is an inherent friction between them and DoD. He added that there are some NGOs that have former military members in them that are more amenable to working with DoD, and then a wide range of other international and local NGOs. “How DoD works with them is what we’re trying to work out right now,” he said. “It will take some time. I think things are moving in the right direction.”
The guide shows how the military can work with NGOs that may not want to be perceived as being aligned with people in uniform on the ground. “Through coordinating mechanisms and understanding how to work with NGOs without being face to face. They just have to know at the field level. The book can point people in the right direction,” Lawry said.
Cdr. Laraby said NGOs do not want to be coordinated by the military, so it is best to collaborate and coordinate with them from the beginning. “Then they can say if and how they can help you,” he said.
Gerber acknowledged many NGOs do not want to be associated with people in uniform so that they are not recognized as collaborators in conflict areas, but not all NGOs feel this way. Project HOPE, for example, works with the Army Corps of Engineers on a children’s hospital in Basra, Iraq, and has been involved with the Navy’s global interagency humanitarian civic assistance hospital ship missions the last several years.
“The Department of State and USAID are the lead [in development], but are not equipped to operate in combat zones and are not well organized or experienced with these environments and rebuilding health systems,” he said. “[Through] health and engineering—DoD recognized that as being important, especially with the creation of IHD--I’ve seen a distinct change and improvement in how DoD is reaching out to NGOs. DoD realizes it doesn’t have experience in capacity building and needs to partner. NGOs are standard across battlefield spaces and have been there for decades.”
Lawry said the guide gives the military a ready reference for looking up and understanding issues the military may have with NGOs when they are trying to work in an area where NGOs exist. “There is not enough training early in military careers to understand who and what NGOs are and how they operate and how they can be helpful,” she advised. “There are cultural differences that have to be understood.”
The military has varying sets of leaders who have had different experiences with NGOs, Lawry added. For example, a major might be more open to communicating with NGOs than some colonels or generals. “This book is aimed at everybody, not just the young guys,” she said. “All of the surgeons general are dying to see it because they realize with the new doctrine and new COIN (Counter-Insurgency), they have to deal with them. They should be shown how.”
Lawry said there are also three courses at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) that are focused on these issues and will utilize the new guide in the classroom. “The NGO guidebook is an outstanding resource for clinicians, medical planners and commanders,” said Maj. Pat Hickey, MC, USA, deputy director for Tropical Public Health at USU. “In today’s operation environment, knowing how to leverage the resources and skill sets of NGO partners is a key to mission success. Doing so allows military resources to be employed more efficiently and synchronized with civilian humanitarian aid and development projects.”
Hickey said he will be utilizing the guide to teach military physicians, nurses and Master’s degree level graduate students in several arenas. It will serve as a core resource in the USU course, Public Health Issues of Disasters, and will also be incorporated into the two-day Military Medicine Humanitarian Assistance Course that is offered at various venues around DoD.
“For USU medical students [and others], this text can serve as a great resource to be filed in that ‘just in case’ section of your files,” Hickey said. “Given current operations, most of these students can expect to deploy in support of combat or stability operations, and everything in between. With a little bit of extra preparation, a tool like this has the potential to turn you into the local subject matter expert—and provide invaluable guidance to the command they are supporting, whether it be at the battalion, brigade or corps level.”
NGOs bring many strengths to the table that can complement DoD’s heavy lift, logistics, trauma lifesaving abilities and capability to work in hostile areas. NGOs conduct long-term capacity building in a diverse range of areas, including water, sanitation, food, schools and health, which are strategically important for the country’s health ministry and what the local population wants and can support. “The NGO has local partnerships, a history in the area and sustainability, and all of the new guidances are saying if you create a program it has to be sustainable and the hand-off to the host nation or NGOs working with the host nation is appropriately done,” Lawry said.
The guide is geared to disaster relief environments and the full range of complex conflict areas and peacetime situations that require health services, nutrition, shelter, communications and security. Lawry said military members who are deploying abroad should be aware that there are NGOs in the area and they need to be given instructions on what they do, who they are and where they are. “You need to communicate with them and this gives you a guide,” she said. “You need to understand your differences and their differences, and the culture clash and how to get around it.”
Many times the clash comes down to a communication breakdown. “The [differences in] terminology, culture, and education,” Lawry said. “Not understanding development and only understanding the military, or only understanding development and not understanding the military.”
But Lawry, who herself worked for NGOs for 16 years before joining DoD, said it is a myth that NGOs do not want to talk to the military. She said the relationship has improved. “Absolutely, NGOs understand the military is not going anywhere and vice versa with the military,” she said.
“I’ve been in this a long time. It used to be five people talking [about civil-military international work]. Now there are hundreds of people discussing it in the room and this is doctrine. So obviously it has gotten better. More people are interested in it and understand you do have to do COIN, which includes ensuring the host country’s basic needs are met.”
The most efficient and best way is for DoD to allow NGOs to do their job, understand their needs in the field and provide security and development support. Lawry said the end goal of assisting the host nation is the same. “It’s just the method of getting there,” she said. “NGOs don’t have command and control. The military can’t do command and control [in international development where the U.S. Agency for International Development has the lead]. So there has to be working together from the planning stage all the way through.”
Military attendees of the SOMA conference said they often stumble upon NGOs in deployment missions, so they expressed a need for the guide and a list of operating NGOs. The guide has an annex of 200 NGOs and contact information. A releasable version of the guide is available for download here, and will also be published by the Borden Institute and be made available at www.cdham.org. The Borden Institute is a military publishing agency run in cooperation with the U.S. Army and Government Printing office, and is located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
IHD member Mary Ann Ante-Amburgey added that there is a process for NGOs to register in countries they are working in, such as with the Iraqi government for example, and that local leaders can advise which ones are most effective.
Through the CDHAM grant, Dr. Lawry further has helped develop a new online database of about 5,000 international NGOs that will soon be available on www.global-health.org. The database contains local NGO contacts and will be self-updating. Dr. Warner Anderson, director of IHD, said the newly updated database will allow Service members to type in a stability topic such as water or health and the place they are deploying to, and pull up the best NGO contacts in that area.
“Before you leave, you should be querying the database about who’s there and where,” Lawry advised.
Download the Guide to Nongovernmental Organizations for the Military (PDF)
http://www.health.mil/Content//docsngo_guidebook_S1.pdf
FHP&R Staff Writer
A hit at last month’s Special Operations Medical Association (SOMA) conference was the release of a new Guide to Nongovernmental Organizations for the Military (PDF download), which was edited and co-written by FHP&R International Health Division (IHD) member Dr. Lynn Lawry.
The guide is aimed at helping deploying DoD personnel understand how to work in a collaborative, productive fashion with NGOs that they likely will encounter in the field. The guide was originally written in 2002 by Grey Frandsen, who was then a project officer for the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine (CDHAM). Lawry, who is assigned to IHD through a Henry Jackson Foundation grant at CDHAM, rewrote and updated the guide last summer. “It’s for DoD in general for anybody who is deploying,” she advised. “The civil-military world has changed a lot since 2002. The military has had a lot of experiences with NGOs and it needed more of a focus on the military.”
Fundamental differences between DoD and NGOs have presented challenges in the field at times, although their relationship is evolving. “[The guide] can be used by host nations and anybody, but we focused on the military so some of the conflict could be mitigated,” Lawry said.
“What’s new about it is it pulls in [recent] military guidance and doctrine and shows where difficulties between the military and civilian community happen. It is more extensive in talking about coordination and adds a section on security, and how NGOs do security. They have their own security measures and protocols, which have developed in the last 10 years. They don’t [always] have to go to the military [for security]. There are a lot of myths that we debunked in this book.”
Much of the new policy basis for increasing collaboration with NGOs stems from DoD directive 3000.05, which was established in late 2005 and updated in an instruction last fall. The policy elevated the importance of stability operations and directs DoD to be prepared to conduct them across the range of conflict and non-combat environments, and to integrate mission planning and execution with other U.S. government agencies, foreign governments and security forces, and NGOs.
“In many cases NGOs can operate in space DoD can’t. They can move faster through customs, etc., and many NGOs have been in countries longer than DoD and have experience,” said Fred Gerber, the Iraq country director for the NGO, Project HOPE.
IHD member Cdr. Patrick Laraby, MC, USN, said NGOs prefer to maintain neutrality from the government, so there is an inherent friction between them and DoD. He added that there are some NGOs that have former military members in them that are more amenable to working with DoD, and then a wide range of other international and local NGOs. “How DoD works with them is what we’re trying to work out right now,” he said. “It will take some time. I think things are moving in the right direction.”
The guide shows how the military can work with NGOs that may not want to be perceived as being aligned with people in uniform on the ground. “Through coordinating mechanisms and understanding how to work with NGOs without being face to face. They just have to know at the field level. The book can point people in the right direction,” Lawry said.
Cdr. Laraby said NGOs do not want to be coordinated by the military, so it is best to collaborate and coordinate with them from the beginning. “Then they can say if and how they can help you,” he said.
Gerber acknowledged many NGOs do not want to be associated with people in uniform so that they are not recognized as collaborators in conflict areas, but not all NGOs feel this way. Project HOPE, for example, works with the Army Corps of Engineers on a children’s hospital in Basra, Iraq, and has been involved with the Navy’s global interagency humanitarian civic assistance hospital ship missions the last several years.
“The Department of State and USAID are the lead [in development], but are not equipped to operate in combat zones and are not well organized or experienced with these environments and rebuilding health systems,” he said. “[Through] health and engineering—DoD recognized that as being important, especially with the creation of IHD--I’ve seen a distinct change and improvement in how DoD is reaching out to NGOs. DoD realizes it doesn’t have experience in capacity building and needs to partner. NGOs are standard across battlefield spaces and have been there for decades.”
Lawry said the guide gives the military a ready reference for looking up and understanding issues the military may have with NGOs when they are trying to work in an area where NGOs exist. “There is not enough training early in military careers to understand who and what NGOs are and how they operate and how they can be helpful,” she advised. “There are cultural differences that have to be understood.”
The military has varying sets of leaders who have had different experiences with NGOs, Lawry added. For example, a major might be more open to communicating with NGOs than some colonels or generals. “This book is aimed at everybody, not just the young guys,” she said. “All of the surgeons general are dying to see it because they realize with the new doctrine and new COIN (Counter-Insurgency), they have to deal with them. They should be shown how.”
Lawry said there are also three courses at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) that are focused on these issues and will utilize the new guide in the classroom. “The NGO guidebook is an outstanding resource for clinicians, medical planners and commanders,” said Maj. Pat Hickey, MC, USA, deputy director for Tropical Public Health at USU. “In today’s operation environment, knowing how to leverage the resources and skill sets of NGO partners is a key to mission success. Doing so allows military resources to be employed more efficiently and synchronized with civilian humanitarian aid and development projects.”
Hickey said he will be utilizing the guide to teach military physicians, nurses and Master’s degree level graduate students in several arenas. It will serve as a core resource in the USU course, Public Health Issues of Disasters, and will also be incorporated into the two-day Military Medicine Humanitarian Assistance Course that is offered at various venues around DoD.
“For USU medical students [and others], this text can serve as a great resource to be filed in that ‘just in case’ section of your files,” Hickey said. “Given current operations, most of these students can expect to deploy in support of combat or stability operations, and everything in between. With a little bit of extra preparation, a tool like this has the potential to turn you into the local subject matter expert—and provide invaluable guidance to the command they are supporting, whether it be at the battalion, brigade or corps level.”
NGOs bring many strengths to the table that can complement DoD’s heavy lift, logistics, trauma lifesaving abilities and capability to work in hostile areas. NGOs conduct long-term capacity building in a diverse range of areas, including water, sanitation, food, schools and health, which are strategically important for the country’s health ministry and what the local population wants and can support. “The NGO has local partnerships, a history in the area and sustainability, and all of the new guidances are saying if you create a program it has to be sustainable and the hand-off to the host nation or NGOs working with the host nation is appropriately done,” Lawry said.
The guide is geared to disaster relief environments and the full range of complex conflict areas and peacetime situations that require health services, nutrition, shelter, communications and security. Lawry said military members who are deploying abroad should be aware that there are NGOs in the area and they need to be given instructions on what they do, who they are and where they are. “You need to communicate with them and this gives you a guide,” she said. “You need to understand your differences and their differences, and the culture clash and how to get around it.”
Many times the clash comes down to a communication breakdown. “The [differences in] terminology, culture, and education,” Lawry said. “Not understanding development and only understanding the military, or only understanding development and not understanding the military.”
But Lawry, who herself worked for NGOs for 16 years before joining DoD, said it is a myth that NGOs do not want to talk to the military. She said the relationship has improved. “Absolutely, NGOs understand the military is not going anywhere and vice versa with the military,” she said.
“I’ve been in this a long time. It used to be five people talking [about civil-military international work]. Now there are hundreds of people discussing it in the room and this is doctrine. So obviously it has gotten better. More people are interested in it and understand you do have to do COIN, which includes ensuring the host country’s basic needs are met.”
The most efficient and best way is for DoD to allow NGOs to do their job, understand their needs in the field and provide security and development support. Lawry said the end goal of assisting the host nation is the same. “It’s just the method of getting there,” she said. “NGOs don’t have command and control. The military can’t do command and control [in international development where the U.S. Agency for International Development has the lead]. So there has to be working together from the planning stage all the way through.”
Military attendees of the SOMA conference said they often stumble upon NGOs in deployment missions, so they expressed a need for the guide and a list of operating NGOs. The guide has an annex of 200 NGOs and contact information. A releasable version of the guide is available for download here, and will also be published by the Borden Institute and be made available at www.cdham.org. The Borden Institute is a military publishing agency run in cooperation with the U.S. Army and Government Printing office, and is located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
IHD member Mary Ann Ante-Amburgey added that there is a process for NGOs to register in countries they are working in, such as with the Iraqi government for example, and that local leaders can advise which ones are most effective.
Through the CDHAM grant, Dr. Lawry further has helped develop a new online database of about 5,000 international NGOs that will soon be available on www.global-health.org. The database contains local NGO contacts and will be self-updating. Dr. Warner Anderson, director of IHD, said the newly updated database will allow Service members to type in a stability topic such as water or health and the place they are deploying to, and pull up the best NGO contacts in that area.
“Before you leave, you should be querying the database about who’s there and where,” Lawry advised.
Download the Guide to Nongovernmental Organizations for the Military (PDF)
http://www.health.mil/Content//docsngo_guidebook_S1.pdf
USO Plans Family Centers at Bethesda, Belvoir
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 8, 2010 - USO officials plan to build family centers at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., and Fort Belvoir, Va., to continue the USO's tradition of bringing troops a piece of home. The project was inspired by the Army Community Services center at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, said Sloan Gibson, USO Inc. president, who toured the facility in March. He said he got to thinking about construction under way at Bethesda and Fort Belvoir for new military medical facilities and decided the new facilities needed similar centers.
The 25,000 square-foot facility at Bethesda will feature phone banks and computer banks where people can stay in touch with home, as well as places to get together and watch movies and football games and for troops and their families to play video games. "We want to have a huge kitchen, because we've learned from [Brooke] in particular ... that that winds up being a real gathering place," Gibson said. "It's a very important part of creating that environment that makes people feel very much like they're at home."
USO officials also want to include a major training facility, as many of the wounded warriors and their families end up spending months -- and sometimes years -- at the medical facilities.
"That's a long time, and many of these troops and their families feel like they're kind of treading water," Gibson said. "They're doing their therapy, and they're working to get better, but in terms of other things, they don't necessarily feel like they're getting ready for what's next. What we wanted to do was to be able to provide a robust training and education space inside the building."
Navy Vice Adm. John Mateczun, commander of Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical, called the USO's proposal "serendipitous," Gibson said.
"He was sitting there trying to develop a joint solution to deal with a lot of the very issues that we were talking about," he said. "From that first visit, we proceeded to visit with every command element conceivable that would be involved, even peripherally, in a project there at Bethesda."
Those visits started the USO down a parallel track planning a similar facility for Fort Belvoir with the Army, Gibson said.
The Fort Belvoir facility, though smaller at a planned 15,000 square feet, will possess all the qualities of the Bethesda center. The only true difference, besides floor space, is that the Bethesda center will have office space for governmental and nongovernmental organizations that wounded warriors and their families rely on for essential support. The same accommodations were offered for the Belvoir center, but the Army had already made provisions for them in a nearby building, Gibson said.
"One of the biggest challenges that these families have [is that] there are a lot of resources out there to help them, but finding those resources and actually benefitting from the service sometimes is a real challenge," Gibson said. "One of the thing we've offered to do at Bethesda is put, under the same roof, offices for the Veterans Affairs, offices for the Social Security Administration, offices for the billeting office."
USO of Metropolitan Washington, the local USO affiliate, will staff both facilities with some full-time staff and many volunteers, but just how many is still unknown.
"I think that's going to be one of those things we're going to have to wait and see," said Elaine Rogers, president of USO Metro. "We have about 5,000 USO volunteers in the metropolitan area, but [they're] not all hospital-related. We have hundreds of volunteers right now who help us with hospital programs, and we'll be expanding that."
And USO Metro plans to provide many programs, including everything from celebrities coming for autograph sessions to possibly having chefs come in to do cooking programs.
"We're really, really excited about this," Rogers said. "[We're] trying to take some of the things that everybody experiences in life and kind of bring them to that center."
The chance to get out of a hospital environment and relax somewhere that feels more like home is an important part of the healing process, said Deborah Mullen, wife of Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a nonvoting member of the USO Metro board.
"I really do believe [this] is going to be a significant assist in the healing process, just because of the ability to get away, to be calm, to be out of the hospital with the noises and the smells -- all of the things that go on in a hospital," she said. "This will be just a very quiet peaceful environment."
Mullen said she knows first-hand the effect these centers can have on wounded warriors and their families. When she travels with her husband, she makes a point of trying to visit USO airport centers or nearby family centers.
Recently she visited a family center in Germany.
"What they're going to do here, it's very similar to the [USO Warrior Center] in Landstuhl, which Michael and I just visited before Christmas," Mullen said. "I think what we can expect is the same sort of place that's almost a home away from home. It's outside the hospital, but yet on the campus, easily reachable. It's a place, really, for rest, restoration, respite -- a comfortable place to go where you can just renew."
But it's not just the warriors who need to be able to get away from the sights, sounds and smells associated with a hospital stay. Family members also need that respite. The USO centers will give families a place to relax outside their rooms at a Fisher House, the Navy Lodge or motel where they're staying.
While the homey feel surely will be welcome, Mullen said, at some point those relaxing in the new home-like family centers will recognize that these centers are really the American people showing their support and gratitude to the nation's servicemembers and their families.
"I think this is an expression of the citizens of our country wanting to help support our men and women," Mullen said. "I think that will register with them."
Gibson said he expects the two facilities to cost about $25 million to build, equip and furnish. The USO, however, is hoping to raise $100 million. That would cover the cost of the construction another $20 million to $25 million to endow their perpetual operation, including permanent staff and some supplies, and $50 million to support an array of "best-in-class programs" to support wounded warriors and their families.
Should fundraising go smoothly, Gibson said, he's hoping to break ground on the Bethesda center July 4 and would like to see both buildings completed by Sept. 15, 2011, the day the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to close, with its patients moving to Bethesda or Fort Belvoir.
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 8, 2010 - USO officials plan to build family centers at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., and Fort Belvoir, Va., to continue the USO's tradition of bringing troops a piece of home. The project was inspired by the Army Community Services center at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, said Sloan Gibson, USO Inc. president, who toured the facility in March. He said he got to thinking about construction under way at Bethesda and Fort Belvoir for new military medical facilities and decided the new facilities needed similar centers.
The 25,000 square-foot facility at Bethesda will feature phone banks and computer banks where people can stay in touch with home, as well as places to get together and watch movies and football games and for troops and their families to play video games. "We want to have a huge kitchen, because we've learned from [Brooke] in particular ... that that winds up being a real gathering place," Gibson said. "It's a very important part of creating that environment that makes people feel very much like they're at home."
USO officials also want to include a major training facility, as many of the wounded warriors and their families end up spending months -- and sometimes years -- at the medical facilities.
"That's a long time, and many of these troops and their families feel like they're kind of treading water," Gibson said. "They're doing their therapy, and they're working to get better, but in terms of other things, they don't necessarily feel like they're getting ready for what's next. What we wanted to do was to be able to provide a robust training and education space inside the building."
Navy Vice Adm. John Mateczun, commander of Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical, called the USO's proposal "serendipitous," Gibson said.
"He was sitting there trying to develop a joint solution to deal with a lot of the very issues that we were talking about," he said. "From that first visit, we proceeded to visit with every command element conceivable that would be involved, even peripherally, in a project there at Bethesda."
Those visits started the USO down a parallel track planning a similar facility for Fort Belvoir with the Army, Gibson said.
The Fort Belvoir facility, though smaller at a planned 15,000 square feet, will possess all the qualities of the Bethesda center. The only true difference, besides floor space, is that the Bethesda center will have office space for governmental and nongovernmental organizations that wounded warriors and their families rely on for essential support. The same accommodations were offered for the Belvoir center, but the Army had already made provisions for them in a nearby building, Gibson said.
"One of the biggest challenges that these families have [is that] there are a lot of resources out there to help them, but finding those resources and actually benefitting from the service sometimes is a real challenge," Gibson said. "One of the thing we've offered to do at Bethesda is put, under the same roof, offices for the Veterans Affairs, offices for the Social Security Administration, offices for the billeting office."
USO of Metropolitan Washington, the local USO affiliate, will staff both facilities with some full-time staff and many volunteers, but just how many is still unknown.
"I think that's going to be one of those things we're going to have to wait and see," said Elaine Rogers, president of USO Metro. "We have about 5,000 USO volunteers in the metropolitan area, but [they're] not all hospital-related. We have hundreds of volunteers right now who help us with hospital programs, and we'll be expanding that."
And USO Metro plans to provide many programs, including everything from celebrities coming for autograph sessions to possibly having chefs come in to do cooking programs.
"We're really, really excited about this," Rogers said. "[We're] trying to take some of the things that everybody experiences in life and kind of bring them to that center."
The chance to get out of a hospital environment and relax somewhere that feels more like home is an important part of the healing process, said Deborah Mullen, wife of Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a nonvoting member of the USO Metro board.
"I really do believe [this] is going to be a significant assist in the healing process, just because of the ability to get away, to be calm, to be out of the hospital with the noises and the smells -- all of the things that go on in a hospital," she said. "This will be just a very quiet peaceful environment."
Mullen said she knows first-hand the effect these centers can have on wounded warriors and their families. When she travels with her husband, she makes a point of trying to visit USO airport centers or nearby family centers.
Recently she visited a family center in Germany.
"What they're going to do here, it's very similar to the [USO Warrior Center] in Landstuhl, which Michael and I just visited before Christmas," Mullen said. "I think what we can expect is the same sort of place that's almost a home away from home. It's outside the hospital, but yet on the campus, easily reachable. It's a place, really, for rest, restoration, respite -- a comfortable place to go where you can just renew."
But it's not just the warriors who need to be able to get away from the sights, sounds and smells associated with a hospital stay. Family members also need that respite. The USO centers will give families a place to relax outside their rooms at a Fisher House, the Navy Lodge or motel where they're staying.
While the homey feel surely will be welcome, Mullen said, at some point those relaxing in the new home-like family centers will recognize that these centers are really the American people showing their support and gratitude to the nation's servicemembers and their families.
"I think this is an expression of the citizens of our country wanting to help support our men and women," Mullen said. "I think that will register with them."
Gibson said he expects the two facilities to cost about $25 million to build, equip and furnish. The USO, however, is hoping to raise $100 million. That would cover the cost of the construction another $20 million to $25 million to endow their perpetual operation, including permanent staff and some supplies, and $50 million to support an array of "best-in-class programs" to support wounded warriors and their families.
Should fundraising go smoothly, Gibson said, he's hoping to break ground on the Bethesda center July 4 and would like to see both buildings completed by Sept. 15, 2011, the day the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to close, with its patients moving to Bethesda or Fort Belvoir.
Gates Will Remain as Secretary at Least Another Year
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 8, 2010 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will stay in office for at least another year, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed yesterday. Gates met with President Barack Obama before Christmas and committed to another year on the job, Morrell said.
Then-President George W. Bush nominated Gates for the job in December 2006, and Obama asked the secretary to remain as defense secretary when his administration began in January 2009. Gates is the only Cabinet member to span both administrations.
Gates has worked to remake the way the Defense Department does business, and another year in office will give him another opportunity to shape the department's budget. In the fiscal 2010 budget, for example, the secretary recommended ending the F-22 Raptor program and concentrating on the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter. He also ended the Army's Future Combat System and pledged the money to other Army programs.
He drove the effort to buy and rapidly deploy mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles to protect servicemembers in Iraq from roadside bombs and to provide all-terrain versions of the vehicles for troops in Afghanistan.
Gates took over at a tough time for the department. The troop surge in Iraq was just getting under way, and casualties in the fighting were mounting. Gates also was in charge when revelations about substandard conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center came out. He fired the Army secretary, the service's surgeon general and the commander at the facility. He has concentrated attention on care for wounded warriors and putting in place systems so the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs can work together.
Amid concerns over the Air Force's handling of its nuclear weapons, Gates asked for and received the resignations of the service's secretary and chief of staff in June 2008.
More recently, Gates has been instrumental in developing the new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy.
As with any appointed official, Morrell noted, Gates serves at the pleasure of the president.
"[The president and Gates] agreed to revisit this issue again later this year, but for all intents and purposes, their original agreement still stands: he serves at the pleasure of the president indefinitely, and he is honored to do so, though he certainly looks forward to one day retiring to his family home in the Pacific Northwest," Morrell said.
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 8, 2010 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will stay in office for at least another year, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed yesterday. Gates met with President Barack Obama before Christmas and committed to another year on the job, Morrell said.
Then-President George W. Bush nominated Gates for the job in December 2006, and Obama asked the secretary to remain as defense secretary when his administration began in January 2009. Gates is the only Cabinet member to span both administrations.
Gates has worked to remake the way the Defense Department does business, and another year in office will give him another opportunity to shape the department's budget. In the fiscal 2010 budget, for example, the secretary recommended ending the F-22 Raptor program and concentrating on the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter. He also ended the Army's Future Combat System and pledged the money to other Army programs.
He drove the effort to buy and rapidly deploy mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles to protect servicemembers in Iraq from roadside bombs and to provide all-terrain versions of the vehicles for troops in Afghanistan.
Gates took over at a tough time for the department. The troop surge in Iraq was just getting under way, and casualties in the fighting were mounting. Gates also was in charge when revelations about substandard conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center came out. He fired the Army secretary, the service's surgeon general and the commander at the facility. He has concentrated attention on care for wounded warriors and putting in place systems so the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs can work together.
Amid concerns over the Air Force's handling of its nuclear weapons, Gates asked for and received the resignations of the service's secretary and chief of staff in June 2008.
More recently, Gates has been instrumental in developing the new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy.
As with any appointed official, Morrell noted, Gates serves at the pleasure of the president.
"[The president and Gates] agreed to revisit this issue again later this year, but for all intents and purposes, their original agreement still stands: he serves at the pleasure of the president indefinitely, and he is honored to do so, though he certainly looks forward to one day retiring to his family home in the Pacific Northwest," Morrell said.
Spouse Describes Reunion, Reintegration Challenges
By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 8, 2010 - Kelly Henry was hoping for a picture-perfect reunion when her husband returned after a yearlong deployment to Iraq. But what she got was far from a Hollywood scene. "All four [of my kids] cried within 48 hours of my husband coming home," said Henry, wife of Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Michael Henry, a family medicine doctor assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C.
Henry described the ups and downs of reunion and reintegration and lessons learned yesterday in an interview with American Forces Press Service.
The floodgates first opened when her husband arrived home early Dec. 2.
"His flight had been delayed, so he arrived at 1 a.m.," she recalled. Henry asked him to take a cab home rather than wake up their four children to pick him up at the airport.
When he walked through the door, "Our 4-year-old woke up and burst into tears; he couldn't be soothed," she said.
He had seen his father on a Web cam a week before, "but he was totally freaked out," Henry said. "It wasn't one of those warm reunion moments; both of us were trying to console a frightened 4-year-old."
It was downhill from there. "Later in the day, one of my kids became feverish at school and came home," she said. "So, on my husband's first day home, I was in the acute clinic with a child with a double ear infection, and he was making dinner and feeding three kids. Not a good first 24 hours."
Then, two of their kids cried at dinner after their father corrected their behavior. "Big tears; big, big tears," Henry observed.
It took some time, but life has been smoother sailing since those tough first days, Henry said.
"I'd say it took a good month to get back to normal," she said. "The first couple of days, a kid was glued to his side constantly. Now we're a lot more casual. We're back into our regular routine."
Henry said she's not surprised there were a few rough spots. She's experienced the gamut during her husband's four deployments, and she has first-hand experience as a Navy "brat" and retired Navy commander.
"I grew up with a parent in the Navy; this has been my life from birth," she said. "I feel like I'm pretty well equipped."
Henry said she's learned by now that the reunion "is not going to go the way you think it's going to go. Someone is going to cry," she said. Still, each time is different, with different lessons learned, she added. To illustrate, she described a "meltdown" her daughter had when her husband first returned home.
Henry was out running an errand while her husband stayed behind to help their daughter with her math homework. Their older son began to tease her about her math skills, and she started crying.
"My husband called me and said, 'I don't know why she's crying,'" Henry recalled. "I knew right away what was up. You can't do math with our daughter while her brother, a 'math wiz,' is in the room. "It didn't occur to me to tell him this. These are the subtle things you forget to mention. They lose the flavor of what it's like to be in the room."
To add to the challenge, children may change substantially while a loved one is away for long periods of time.
"Our 4-year-old was a baby when he left, and is now an independent boy," Henry said. "There are big changes in our children's personalities and what they can do, what they worry about, what they think is funny or scary."
To ease reunion roadblocks, Henry advises parents to maintain closeness by keeping an open line of communication between the deployed parent and their children during the separation. She also said a strict routine is all important.
"It's important to maintain a routine, whether he's here or not," she said, noting that a routine maintains a healthy order to the household.
At the same time, "I think you have to balance between bringing the parent back into a family routine and not dumping everything on them all at once," she said.
Over the years, Henry said, she's learned the importance of allowing her husband time to decompress.
"I think what's hard is that they go from an environment where the things they deal with are life-and-death issues, and then they come home, and what people are reacting to [is] treated with the same urgency," she said. "It's hard to reframe that perspective and not dismiss concerns because they're not life-and-death."
Henry said she tries to be sensitive to this and encourages her children to seek Dad out, but doesn't let all four pummel him with things that need to be done immediately. "I tell them, 'Dad's going to be really tired and may not remember all the rules. Let's show him how we do things,'" she said.
Whether the spouse is deployed or at home, Henry said, military programs can offer families some much-needed help.
"The first time my husband went to Iraq, I would meet with a coffee group," she said. "We had informal 'battle buddies' to help us over the course of a deployment. It was really helpful."
Henry also used online military resources to ease the reintegration for her family. "So much of the information is common sense, but during such an emotional time, it's hard to remember it all," she said. "Everyone's emotions are running high."
She also emphasized the importance of reaching out to younger military spouses who may not be aware of the support and the extensive amount of resources available to help them.
"We're older -- late 40s and married almost 20 years. I think, as a family, we're well-equipped to handle deployments, but it's still hard even for us," she said. "But there are young families that don't have a long-term relationship to fall back on. For them, the reunion can be very challenging."
Henry said she's always willing to lend a helping hand.
"We have a young couple in our neighborhood; the husband is deployed," she said. "We get together for pizza a couple of times a month. It's fun for our kids and nice for me to have another grownup over. Being able to have adult conversation was helpful to me when my husband was deployed."
Henry said she knows more separations and rough patches loom ahead, but today, she's just grateful to have her husband home.
"He's fitting right back in," she said. "I'm enjoying this time with all of us together."
And, she added, "No one has cried in over a week."
Jan. 8, 2010 - Kelly Henry was hoping for a picture-perfect reunion when her husband returned after a yearlong deployment to Iraq. But what she got was far from a Hollywood scene. "All four [of my kids] cried within 48 hours of my husband coming home," said Henry, wife of Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Michael Henry, a family medicine doctor assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C.
Henry described the ups and downs of reunion and reintegration and lessons learned yesterday in an interview with American Forces Press Service.
The floodgates first opened when her husband arrived home early Dec. 2.
"His flight had been delayed, so he arrived at 1 a.m.," she recalled. Henry asked him to take a cab home rather than wake up their four children to pick him up at the airport.
When he walked through the door, "Our 4-year-old woke up and burst into tears; he couldn't be soothed," she said.
He had seen his father on a Web cam a week before, "but he was totally freaked out," Henry said. "It wasn't one of those warm reunion moments; both of us were trying to console a frightened 4-year-old."
It was downhill from there. "Later in the day, one of my kids became feverish at school and came home," she said. "So, on my husband's first day home, I was in the acute clinic with a child with a double ear infection, and he was making dinner and feeding three kids. Not a good first 24 hours."
Then, two of their kids cried at dinner after their father corrected their behavior. "Big tears; big, big tears," Henry observed.
It took some time, but life has been smoother sailing since those tough first days, Henry said.
"I'd say it took a good month to get back to normal," she said. "The first couple of days, a kid was glued to his side constantly. Now we're a lot more casual. We're back into our regular routine."
Henry said she's not surprised there were a few rough spots. She's experienced the gamut during her husband's four deployments, and she has first-hand experience as a Navy "brat" and retired Navy commander.
"I grew up with a parent in the Navy; this has been my life from birth," she said. "I feel like I'm pretty well equipped."
Henry said she's learned by now that the reunion "is not going to go the way you think it's going to go. Someone is going to cry," she said. Still, each time is different, with different lessons learned, she added. To illustrate, she described a "meltdown" her daughter had when her husband first returned home.
Henry was out running an errand while her husband stayed behind to help their daughter with her math homework. Their older son began to tease her about her math skills, and she started crying.
"My husband called me and said, 'I don't know why she's crying,'" Henry recalled. "I knew right away what was up. You can't do math with our daughter while her brother, a 'math wiz,' is in the room. "It didn't occur to me to tell him this. These are the subtle things you forget to mention. They lose the flavor of what it's like to be in the room."
To add to the challenge, children may change substantially while a loved one is away for long periods of time.
"Our 4-year-old was a baby when he left, and is now an independent boy," Henry said. "There are big changes in our children's personalities and what they can do, what they worry about, what they think is funny or scary."
To ease reunion roadblocks, Henry advises parents to maintain closeness by keeping an open line of communication between the deployed parent and their children during the separation. She also said a strict routine is all important.
"It's important to maintain a routine, whether he's here or not," she said, noting that a routine maintains a healthy order to the household.
At the same time, "I think you have to balance between bringing the parent back into a family routine and not dumping everything on them all at once," she said.
Over the years, Henry said, she's learned the importance of allowing her husband time to decompress.
"I think what's hard is that they go from an environment where the things they deal with are life-and-death issues, and then they come home, and what people are reacting to [is] treated with the same urgency," she said. "It's hard to reframe that perspective and not dismiss concerns because they're not life-and-death."
Henry said she tries to be sensitive to this and encourages her children to seek Dad out, but doesn't let all four pummel him with things that need to be done immediately. "I tell them, 'Dad's going to be really tired and may not remember all the rules. Let's show him how we do things,'" she said.
Whether the spouse is deployed or at home, Henry said, military programs can offer families some much-needed help.
"The first time my husband went to Iraq, I would meet with a coffee group," she said. "We had informal 'battle buddies' to help us over the course of a deployment. It was really helpful."
Henry also used online military resources to ease the reintegration for her family. "So much of the information is common sense, but during such an emotional time, it's hard to remember it all," she said. "Everyone's emotions are running high."
She also emphasized the importance of reaching out to younger military spouses who may not be aware of the support and the extensive amount of resources available to help them.
"We're older -- late 40s and married almost 20 years. I think, as a family, we're well-equipped to handle deployments, but it's still hard even for us," she said. "But there are young families that don't have a long-term relationship to fall back on. For them, the reunion can be very challenging."
Henry said she's always willing to lend a helping hand.
"We have a young couple in our neighborhood; the husband is deployed," she said. "We get together for pizza a couple of times a month. It's fun for our kids and nice for me to have another grownup over. Being able to have adult conversation was helpful to me when my husband was deployed."
Henry said she knows more separations and rough patches loom ahead, but today, she's just grateful to have her husband home.
"He's fitting right back in," she said. "I'm enjoying this time with all of us together."
And, she added, "No one has cried in over a week."
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Wounded Vets to Participate in First Warrior Games
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 7, 2010 - Some 200 wounded active duty members and military veterans will compete in the inaugural Warrior Games May 10-14 in Colorado Springs, Colo., Defense Department officials announced today. The U.S. Olympic Committee will host the games, and events will include shooting, swimming, archery, track, discus, shot put, cycling, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball, Army Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek, commander of the U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command, said at a Pentagon news conference.
Athletes will be recruited from each of the military services, including the Coast Guard, through an independent selection processes. Many already participate in some kind of training with Paralympics coordinators, but the competitors also will train with Olympic and Paralympics coaches at the Olympic training facilities in Colorado for about a month before the actual competitions, Cheek said.
The competition is open to military members and veterans with bodily injuries as well as mental wounds of war, such as post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.
The Army will be represented by 100 soldiers chosen out of a pool of almost 9,000 wounded warriors. The Marine Corps will send 50 competitors, while the Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard will send 25 each, Cheeks said.
"The value of sports and athletic competition and the fact that you can get great satisfaction from what you do is really what we're after," he said. "And we're really looking for this opportunity to germinate this program in May and have it get bigger and stronger."
The goal isn't necessarily to determine the best athletes, but rather to maximize wounded veterans' abilities, and to show them their true potential through competitive sports, he explained.
"While we've made enormous progress in all the military services in our warrior care, ... it's not enough," the general said. "And what we have to do with our servicemembers is inspire them to reach for and achieve a rich and productive future -- to defeat their illness or injury to maximize their abilities and know that they can have a rich and fulfilling life beyond what has happened to them in service to their nation."
The general added that an Olympic-style event will challenge those servicemembers to prove to themselves that they have abilities within them that they can carry over into everyday life.
"Our hope is that, by doing this every year, we can extend that down into all of our warrior care programs ... of increasing adaptive sports and physical activity and defeating these wounds," he said. "From that, it becomes part of the life of that servicemember, and it will expand into their everyday life and all the things that they do."
Adaptive sports rehabilitation has proven time and again to have a positive, long-lasting effect on wounded warriors, said Charlie Huebner, Paralympics chief for the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Huebner noted that adaptive sports have positive effects on wounded veterans in their continued education, family life and in the work force, though that's not the Paralympics' goal.
"The outcomes that we see every day utilizing physical activity as part of the rehab process -- higher self-esteem, lower stress levels, lower secondary medical conditions ... young men and women pursuing higher education at a higher level, young men and women being employed at a higher level -- those are outcomes we see every day with the population we serve," he said.
Since 2003, the Paralympics have worked in partnership with the Veterans Affairs Department, providing adaptive sports therapy to veterans. And through the annual Warrior Games, Huebner said, he hopes to expand their standing commitment to veterans and servicemembers.
"Our armed forces are the best in the world," he said. "And our athletes want to be the best in the world at the Olympic and Paralympics games. That is a core part of what we do at the U.S. Olympic Committee."
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 7, 2010 - Some 200 wounded active duty members and military veterans will compete in the inaugural Warrior Games May 10-14 in Colorado Springs, Colo., Defense Department officials announced today. The U.S. Olympic Committee will host the games, and events will include shooting, swimming, archery, track, discus, shot put, cycling, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball, Army Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek, commander of the U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command, said at a Pentagon news conference.
Athletes will be recruited from each of the military services, including the Coast Guard, through an independent selection processes. Many already participate in some kind of training with Paralympics coordinators, but the competitors also will train with Olympic and Paralympics coaches at the Olympic training facilities in Colorado for about a month before the actual competitions, Cheek said.
The competition is open to military members and veterans with bodily injuries as well as mental wounds of war, such as post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.
The Army will be represented by 100 soldiers chosen out of a pool of almost 9,000 wounded warriors. The Marine Corps will send 50 competitors, while the Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard will send 25 each, Cheeks said.
"The value of sports and athletic competition and the fact that you can get great satisfaction from what you do is really what we're after," he said. "And we're really looking for this opportunity to germinate this program in May and have it get bigger and stronger."
The goal isn't necessarily to determine the best athletes, but rather to maximize wounded veterans' abilities, and to show them their true potential through competitive sports, he explained.
"While we've made enormous progress in all the military services in our warrior care, ... it's not enough," the general said. "And what we have to do with our servicemembers is inspire them to reach for and achieve a rich and productive future -- to defeat their illness or injury to maximize their abilities and know that they can have a rich and fulfilling life beyond what has happened to them in service to their nation."
The general added that an Olympic-style event will challenge those servicemembers to prove to themselves that they have abilities within them that they can carry over into everyday life.
"Our hope is that, by doing this every year, we can extend that down into all of our warrior care programs ... of increasing adaptive sports and physical activity and defeating these wounds," he said. "From that, it becomes part of the life of that servicemember, and it will expand into their everyday life and all the things that they do."
Adaptive sports rehabilitation has proven time and again to have a positive, long-lasting effect on wounded warriors, said Charlie Huebner, Paralympics chief for the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Huebner noted that adaptive sports have positive effects on wounded veterans in their continued education, family life and in the work force, though that's not the Paralympics' goal.
"The outcomes that we see every day utilizing physical activity as part of the rehab process -- higher self-esteem, lower stress levels, lower secondary medical conditions ... young men and women pursuing higher education at a higher level, young men and women being employed at a higher level -- those are outcomes we see every day with the population we serve," he said.
Since 2003, the Paralympics have worked in partnership with the Veterans Affairs Department, providing adaptive sports therapy to veterans. And through the annual Warrior Games, Huebner said, he hopes to expand their standing commitment to veterans and servicemembers.
"Our armed forces are the best in the world," he said. "And our athletes want to be the best in the world at the Olympic and Paralympics games. That is a core part of what we do at the U.S. Olympic Committee."
Sons Follow in Father's Footsteps
Special to American Forces Press Service
Jan. 7, 2010 - Any parent whose child follows him into his profession will feel pride. A Pennsylvania National Guard soldier here can be doubly proud, then, as one son has followed in his military footsteps while another is pursuing his civilian career.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Gary Williard of Company D, Task Force Diablo, is a retired police officer and an Army National Guard aircraft maintenance platoon sergeant.
His older son, Gary Jr., joined the Tower City Police Force in Pennsylvania, where his father retired in 2006 as chief of police. Williard's younger son, Army Sgt. Joshua Williard of 628th Aviation Support Battalion's Company B, worked in the next hangar over from his dad during much of their recent deployment here and is now completing his deployment with final processing in the United States.
"I pinned on Joshua's sergeant stripes when he got promoted here on Aug. 27," Williad said. "That was quite a moment for me."
Williard began his military career in 1976 as a propeller and rotor mechanic for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. After a break in service from 1982 to 1990, he returned to the Guard and has worked in maintenance on many aircraft. His younger son said he plans on a career in aviation maintenance with the Army National Guard.
Gary Jr. worked for his father for five years in the Tower City Police Department before moving to the Pennsylvania State Police, where he has worked for seven years.
Williard and his wife, Dina, ran an automotive repair business together. Now they own rental apartments.
"Dina runs the apartments while I am away," Williard said. "With Joshua and I deployed and Gary Jr. busy with work, she'll be very happy for us to come home."
Williard deployed from 2003 to 2004 to Kuwait in both aviation maintenance and security roles.
"Even on deployment, I was still a cop," he said.
(Army Sgt. Neil Gussman serves with Task Force Diablo.)
MILITARY CONTRACTS January 7, 2010
NAVY
Environmental Management, Inc., dba EMI Services*, Idaho Falls, Idaho, is being awarded a combination firm-fixed-price (FFP), indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for facilities maintenance and repair and heavy equipment repair at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River, and other outlying properties in the eastern North Carolina area. The maximum dollar value, including the base period, four one-year options, and five one-year award options, is $187,326,438 ($161,540,726 FFP and $25,785,712 IDIQ). Task order 0001 is being awarded at $16,252,747 to provide funding for the base year, firm-fixed priced services, which are expected to be performed from April 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by March 2020. Contract funds for task order 0001 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 12 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-10-D-0213).
RBF Consulting, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect/engineering contract for civil engineering services in the Southwest area of responsibility (AOR) of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC). The work to be performed provides for engineering design, studies, and site investigations to support new development on raw land or re-development of existing developed sites; preparation of request for proposal for design-build projects; fully designed plans and specifications for invitation for bid projects; other civil engineering analysis, reports, cost estimates, and evaluations; preparation of facility planning documents, such as DD Form 1391; construction inspection; and construction support services including incidental surveying, geotechnical, structural, cost estimating, specification writing, and environmental engineering services. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Southwest AOR including, but not limited to, California (87 percent), Arizona (5 percent), Nevada (5 percent), Colorado (1 percent), New Mexico (1 percent), and Utah (1 percent). Work is expected to be completed by January 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the NAVFAC E-solicitation website with 21 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62473-10-D-5402).
Optics 1, Inc., Westlake Village, Calif., is being awarded a $9,650,070 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research project under Topic N99-192 entitled "Single Aperture Multiband Sensor." The contractor will provide services and materials for the design and development of multi-spectral imaging technology with specific requirements for the development, prototyping and production of the optics and sensors of the Advanced Multi-Band Optical Surveillance System. Work will be performed in Manchester, N.H., and is expected to be completed in January 2015. Contract funds in the amount of $77,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.3. Optics 1, Inc., was a small business, and accepted for the SIBR program, until Dec. 1, 2009, when its acquisition by Sagem, through Sagem's Swiss subsidiary Vectronix AG, was completed. A Special Security Agreement is in place and has been approved by the State Department and other government agencies. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-10-C-0072).
MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
Orbital Sciences Corp., Chandler, Ariz., was awarded a definitization modification under its previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (HQ0147-08-C-0003). Under this contract modification, Orbital Sciences will perform medium range target system integration, mission planning, and launch services in support of the Aegis flight target mission event 16E2. The work will be performed in Chandler, Ariz., with launch services at the Pacific Missile Range Facility with an estimated completion date of March 2011. The obligated amount of $10,824,205 used fiscal year 2009 research, development, test and evaluation funds.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Special T. Hosiery Mills, Inc.*, Burlington, N.C., is being awarded a maximum $7,192,800 firm-fixed-price, total set-aside contract for boot socks. Other location of performance is Burlington, N.C. Using service is Army. The original proposal was Web solicited with 12 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract includes a base and three one-year options. The date of performance completion is Jan. 6, 2011. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa (SPM1C1-10-D-1033).
Environmental Management, Inc., dba EMI Services*, Idaho Falls, Idaho, is being awarded a combination firm-fixed-price (FFP), indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for facilities maintenance and repair and heavy equipment repair at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River, and other outlying properties in the eastern North Carolina area. The maximum dollar value, including the base period, four one-year options, and five one-year award options, is $187,326,438 ($161,540,726 FFP and $25,785,712 IDIQ). Task order 0001 is being awarded at $16,252,747 to provide funding for the base year, firm-fixed priced services, which are expected to be performed from April 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by March 2020. Contract funds for task order 0001 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 12 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-10-D-0213).
RBF Consulting, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect/engineering contract for civil engineering services in the Southwest area of responsibility (AOR) of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC). The work to be performed provides for engineering design, studies, and site investigations to support new development on raw land or re-development of existing developed sites; preparation of request for proposal for design-build projects; fully designed plans and specifications for invitation for bid projects; other civil engineering analysis, reports, cost estimates, and evaluations; preparation of facility planning documents, such as DD Form 1391; construction inspection; and construction support services including incidental surveying, geotechnical, structural, cost estimating, specification writing, and environmental engineering services. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Southwest AOR including, but not limited to, California (87 percent), Arizona (5 percent), Nevada (5 percent), Colorado (1 percent), New Mexico (1 percent), and Utah (1 percent). Work is expected to be completed by January 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the NAVFAC E-solicitation website with 21 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62473-10-D-5402).
Optics 1, Inc., Westlake Village, Calif., is being awarded a $9,650,070 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research project under Topic N99-192 entitled "Single Aperture Multiband Sensor." The contractor will provide services and materials for the design and development of multi-spectral imaging technology with specific requirements for the development, prototyping and production of the optics and sensors of the Advanced Multi-Band Optical Surveillance System. Work will be performed in Manchester, N.H., and is expected to be completed in January 2015. Contract funds in the amount of $77,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.3. Optics 1, Inc., was a small business, and accepted for the SIBR program, until Dec. 1, 2009, when its acquisition by Sagem, through Sagem's Swiss subsidiary Vectronix AG, was completed. A Special Security Agreement is in place and has been approved by the State Department and other government agencies. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-10-C-0072).
MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
Orbital Sciences Corp., Chandler, Ariz., was awarded a definitization modification under its previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (HQ0147-08-C-0003). Under this contract modification, Orbital Sciences will perform medium range target system integration, mission planning, and launch services in support of the Aegis flight target mission event 16E2. The work will be performed in Chandler, Ariz., with launch services at the Pacific Missile Range Facility with an estimated completion date of March 2011. The obligated amount of $10,824,205 used fiscal year 2009 research, development, test and evaluation funds.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Special T. Hosiery Mills, Inc.*, Burlington, N.C., is being awarded a maximum $7,192,800 firm-fixed-price, total set-aside contract for boot socks. Other location of performance is Burlington, N.C. Using service is Army. The original proposal was Web solicited with 12 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract includes a base and three one-year options. The date of performance completion is Jan. 6, 2011. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa (SPM1C1-10-D-1033).
Mullen Lays Out Progress, Challenges in Middle East
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 7, 2010 - Stability in the greater Middle East remains the highest security priority for the United States, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen spoke to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he also addressed the terror challenges facing Yemen.
The chairman said he has been concerned about the situation in Yemen for years. "We've engaged with their military, we've been engaged in terms of support, and Yemen is a country – along with Somalia – that I have been concerned with for some time in terms of becoming the next safe haven for al-Qaida," he said.
Mullen praised the Yemeni government and military, which the U.S. military supports with training and equipment, for their actions against al-Qaida.
Even with increased U.S. support, the chairman said the likelihood of large numbers of U.S. forces being needed elsewhere in the U.S. Central Command region – including Yemen – is very low.
Mullen spoke about his recent trip to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said he was encouraged by the response of local officials in Iraq. In the past, Iraqis wanted to talk about security, "now they wanted to talk about development and investment," Mullen said.
That change occurs as Iraq heads into national election scheduled for March 7. Following the elections, the United States will begin pulling out a significant number of troops, Mullen said. There are about 112,000 U.S. servicemembers in Iraq today; by August that number is to be below 50,000.
"That is not to say that there won't be challenges or that it will be easy," he said. "There are huge political challenges there, we understand that."
The al-Qaida bombings in Iraq that have killed hundreds of innocent men, women and children, have not set off sectarian or ethnic civil war, as the terror group wants, and that is encouraging, Mullen said. "The government there has learned from these bombings and is moving forward," he said.
The United States is intensely interested in Iraq and "will not take our eye off the ball" there, he said. "We're very vigilant there, but I am pleased with the progress."
The chairman discussed Pakistan and the problems confronting that nation. His visit before the holidays was his 14th since taking office in October 2007.
"It's speaks to the priority ... and the need to continue building a relationship on the basis of re-learned trust, because we lost trust there," he said. U.S.-Pakistani military-to-military ties were non-existent from 1990 to 2002, and it will take time to rebuild those ties, he said.
Mullen was impressed with the progress the Pakistani military has made in taking on the Pakistani Taliban in the Swat region. The chairman visited the region north of the capital of Islamabad in December with Pakistani Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani.
The Pakistani military conducted a textbook counterinsurgency campaign in the region, he said. There was minimal collateral damage, the army handled the refugee problems well and the military is reaching out to the people of the region.
"A year ago, it was going so badly in Swat that none of us would have expected this" result, he said.
Mullen told the group that the Pakistani military has taken many casualties during the operations against insurgents in the tribal regions, but they are continuing the mission.
"We are working hard to form a mutual path to eliminate the terrorists ... and get at those safe havens where al-Qaida leadership still lives and plans," he said.
President Barack Obama's decision on the Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy was the right one, Mullen said, and one he fully supports. The plan calls for 30,000 more American troops in Afghanistan and focuses U.S. aid on building governance and infrastructure at all levels.
"I believe we have the right leadership there now, so our main goal over the next couple of years is to execute that strategy," the admiral said.
Iran continues to be a concern in the greater Middle East. "Iran's continuing strategic intent to have nuclear weapons would be incredibly de-stabilizing – not least because an arms race in that part of the world is exactly what we don't need," he said. Iran is believed to support terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Mullen noted the importance of continuing relations between the United States and Middle East nations. The 12-year gap in relations with Pakistan was incredibly damaging to U.S. interests, he said. With Iran, there has been no relationship for 30 years.
"There's a lot of concern, potential and ... focus that needs to be sustained in that part of the world," Mullen said.
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 7, 2010 - Stability in the greater Middle East remains the highest security priority for the United States, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen spoke to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he also addressed the terror challenges facing Yemen.
The chairman said he has been concerned about the situation in Yemen for years. "We've engaged with their military, we've been engaged in terms of support, and Yemen is a country – along with Somalia – that I have been concerned with for some time in terms of becoming the next safe haven for al-Qaida," he said.
Mullen praised the Yemeni government and military, which the U.S. military supports with training and equipment, for their actions against al-Qaida.
Even with increased U.S. support, the chairman said the likelihood of large numbers of U.S. forces being needed elsewhere in the U.S. Central Command region – including Yemen – is very low.
Mullen spoke about his recent trip to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said he was encouraged by the response of local officials in Iraq. In the past, Iraqis wanted to talk about security, "now they wanted to talk about development and investment," Mullen said.
That change occurs as Iraq heads into national election scheduled for March 7. Following the elections, the United States will begin pulling out a significant number of troops, Mullen said. There are about 112,000 U.S. servicemembers in Iraq today; by August that number is to be below 50,000.
"That is not to say that there won't be challenges or that it will be easy," he said. "There are huge political challenges there, we understand that."
The al-Qaida bombings in Iraq that have killed hundreds of innocent men, women and children, have not set off sectarian or ethnic civil war, as the terror group wants, and that is encouraging, Mullen said. "The government there has learned from these bombings and is moving forward," he said.
The United States is intensely interested in Iraq and "will not take our eye off the ball" there, he said. "We're very vigilant there, but I am pleased with the progress."
The chairman discussed Pakistan and the problems confronting that nation. His visit before the holidays was his 14th since taking office in October 2007.
"It's speaks to the priority ... and the need to continue building a relationship on the basis of re-learned trust, because we lost trust there," he said. U.S.-Pakistani military-to-military ties were non-existent from 1990 to 2002, and it will take time to rebuild those ties, he said.
Mullen was impressed with the progress the Pakistani military has made in taking on the Pakistani Taliban in the Swat region. The chairman visited the region north of the capital of Islamabad in December with Pakistani Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani.
The Pakistani military conducted a textbook counterinsurgency campaign in the region, he said. There was minimal collateral damage, the army handled the refugee problems well and the military is reaching out to the people of the region.
"A year ago, it was going so badly in Swat that none of us would have expected this" result, he said.
Mullen told the group that the Pakistani military has taken many casualties during the operations against insurgents in the tribal regions, but they are continuing the mission.
"We are working hard to form a mutual path to eliminate the terrorists ... and get at those safe havens where al-Qaida leadership still lives and plans," he said.
President Barack Obama's decision on the Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy was the right one, Mullen said, and one he fully supports. The plan calls for 30,000 more American troops in Afghanistan and focuses U.S. aid on building governance and infrastructure at all levels.
"I believe we have the right leadership there now, so our main goal over the next couple of years is to execute that strategy," the admiral said.
Iran continues to be a concern in the greater Middle East. "Iran's continuing strategic intent to have nuclear weapons would be incredibly de-stabilizing – not least because an arms race in that part of the world is exactly what we don't need," he said. Iran is believed to support terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Mullen noted the importance of continuing relations between the United States and Middle East nations. The 12-year gap in relations with Pakistan was incredibly damaging to U.S. interests, he said. With Iran, there has been no relationship for 30 years.
"There's a lot of concern, potential and ... focus that needs to be sustained in that part of the world," Mullen said.
Air Force dedicates Center for Families of Fallen at Dover
By Air Force Master Sgt. Russell P. Petcoff
Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center
(1/7/10) - Air Force officials dedicated the new Center for Families of the Fallen at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center here yesterday.
Since its activation Jan. 6, 2009, the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center has provided dignity, honor and respect for fallen warriors and care, service and support for their families. And on the center's one-year anniversary, officials said the new facility would carry that family support even further.
"For many of us, this dedication is a bittersweet event," said Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff. "This center is emblematic of our genuine gratitude to the families of our fallen servicemembers.
"In an ideal world – one that is universally committed to resolving disputes in a peaceful manner – a Center for the Families of the Fallen perhaps would not be necessary," the general added. "But alas, it is, as all here know very well."
Schwartz dedicated the center alongside Air Force Col. Bob Edmondson, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center commander. Dignitaries on hand included Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and Delaware's congressional delegation of U.S. Sens. Thomas R. Carper and Edward E. Kaufman and U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, as well as other state, local and Air Force officials.
Schwartz said the new center represents a commitment by military leaders to care for fallen servicemembers and their families.
"Our most serious obligation is to lead in a way that minimizes the likelihood of losing a teammate," he said. "But, when we properly honor our fallen, we must also properly care for the families.
"This center is one manifestation of our fidelity to this commitment," the general continued, "so that when families from all over the country come to receive their loved ones for the last time, they do so in a place that befits their grief, and can begin to offer them comfort, support, and the sincere thanks of a grateful nation."
Biden said she and the vice president are proud to have such a facility in their home state of Delaware. She praised the initiative, saying the center will be a place of comfort for families "as they come to meet their fallen angels."
The number of families coming to meet their fallen warriors has increased since an April 2009 Defense Department policy change that provides aid to families attending dignified transfers of remains of their fallen military members. As participation grew, Air Force senior leadership and spouses recognized that the facilities here could benefit from additional resources. Previously, chaplains and support staff shared a facility with base chaplains serving Dover's 436th Airlift Wing and the reserve 512th Airlift Wing.
An idea to transform a former base convenience store was conceived, and a renovation contract was awarded in the fall. Construction on the center began Nov. 9, and contractors completed the job within 60 days.
The result: a 6,000-square-foot center that offers a comfortable and quiet environment with dedicated sitting areas for the families, as well as private rooms that can be used for counseling or meditation. The center will allow mortuary affairs specialists, chaplains and mental health technicians to better assist families of the fallen, Edmondson said.
Schwartz acknowledged the vision and hard work it took to open the center so quickly, noting the dedication of everyone involved was a true "labor of love."
The center will play a part in helping the nation fulfill "its most sacred of obligations," he said, and servicemembers can know "that their families will be cared for in the way that they would hope in the most difficult of circumstances."
The center's staff will oversee the appointment of family liaison officers – members of fallen servicemembers' units who help the family work through the paperwork and problems that come with their loved one's death, said Todd Rose, mortuary affairs division director. The staff also will provide "reach-back" help for families, especially those who don't live near a military installation.
"The intent is for the staff to be proactive, to reach out to families," Rose said. "The team will develop a package of information on resources available for the next of kin. They can provide support over the phone or help them find that support in their local community."
Rose said the center supervisor will be a certified counselor who will be available to help families work through their grief. Staff members will be available to help a family from the time they arrive at the airport until the family decides help no longer is needed.
(1/7/10) - Air Force officials dedicated the new Center for Families of the Fallen at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center here yesterday.
Since its activation Jan. 6, 2009, the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center has provided dignity, honor and respect for fallen warriors and care, service and support for their families. And on the center's one-year anniversary, officials said the new facility would carry that family support even further.
"For many of us, this dedication is a bittersweet event," said Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff. "This center is emblematic of our genuine gratitude to the families of our fallen servicemembers.
"In an ideal world – one that is universally committed to resolving disputes in a peaceful manner – a Center for the Families of the Fallen perhaps would not be necessary," the general added. "But alas, it is, as all here know very well."
Schwartz dedicated the center alongside Air Force Col. Bob Edmondson, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center commander. Dignitaries on hand included Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and Delaware's congressional delegation of U.S. Sens. Thomas R. Carper and Edward E. Kaufman and U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, as well as other state, local and Air Force officials.
Schwartz said the new center represents a commitment by military leaders to care for fallen servicemembers and their families.
"Our most serious obligation is to lead in a way that minimizes the likelihood of losing a teammate," he said. "But, when we properly honor our fallen, we must also properly care for the families.
"This center is one manifestation of our fidelity to this commitment," the general continued, "so that when families from all over the country come to receive their loved ones for the last time, they do so in a place that befits their grief, and can begin to offer them comfort, support, and the sincere thanks of a grateful nation."
Biden said she and the vice president are proud to have such a facility in their home state of Delaware. She praised the initiative, saying the center will be a place of comfort for families "as they come to meet their fallen angels."
The number of families coming to meet their fallen warriors has increased since an April 2009 Defense Department policy change that provides aid to families attending dignified transfers of remains of their fallen military members. As participation grew, Air Force senior leadership and spouses recognized that the facilities here could benefit from additional resources. Previously, chaplains and support staff shared a facility with base chaplains serving Dover's 436th Airlift Wing and the reserve 512th Airlift Wing.
An idea to transform a former base convenience store was conceived, and a renovation contract was awarded in the fall. Construction on the center began Nov. 9, and contractors completed the job within 60 days.
The result: a 6,000-square-foot center that offers a comfortable and quiet environment with dedicated sitting areas for the families, as well as private rooms that can be used for counseling or meditation. The center will allow mortuary affairs specialists, chaplains and mental health technicians to better assist families of the fallen, Edmondson said.
Schwartz acknowledged the vision and hard work it took to open the center so quickly, noting the dedication of everyone involved was a true "labor of love."
The center will play a part in helping the nation fulfill "its most sacred of obligations," he said, and servicemembers can know "that their families will be cared for in the way that they would hope in the most difficult of circumstances."
The center's staff will oversee the appointment of family liaison officers – members of fallen servicemembers' units who help the family work through the paperwork and problems that come with their loved one's death, said Todd Rose, mortuary affairs division director. The staff also will provide "reach-back" help for families, especially those who don't live near a military installation.
"The intent is for the staff to be proactive, to reach out to families," Rose said. "The team will develop a package of information on resources available for the next of kin. They can provide support over the phone or help them find that support in their local community."
Rose said the center supervisor will be a certified counselor who will be available to help families work through their grief. Staff members will be available to help a family from the time they arrive at the airport until the family decides help no longer is needed.
Air Force Dedicates Center for Families of Fallen
Special to American Forces Press Service
Jan. 7, 2010 - Air Force officials dedicated the new Center for Families of the Fallen at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center here yesterday. Since its activation Jan. 6, 2009, the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center has provided dignity, honor and respect for fallen warriors and care, service and support for their families. And on the center's one-year anniversary, officials said the new facility would carry that family support even further.
"For many of us, this dedication is a bittersweet event," said Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff. "This center is emblematic of our genuine gratitude to the families of our fallen servicemembers.
"In an ideal world – one that is universally committed to resolving disputes in a peaceful manner – a Center for the Families of the Fallen perhaps would not be necessary," the general added. "But alas, it is, as all here know very well."
Schwartz dedicated the center alongside Air Force Col. Bob Edmondson, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center commander. Dignitaries on hand included Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and Delaware's congressional delegation of U.S. Sens. Thomas R. Carper and Edward E. Kaufman and U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, as well as other state, local and Air Force officials.
Schwartz said the new center represents a commitment by military leaders to care for fallen servicemembers and their families.
"Our most serious obligation is to lead in a way that minimizes the likelihood of losing a teammate," he said. "But, when we properly honor our fallen, we must also properly care for the families.
"This center is one manifestation of our fidelity to this commitment," the general continued, "so that when families from all over the country come to receive their loved ones for the last time, they do so in a place that befits their grief, and can begin to offer them comfort, support, and the sincere thanks of a grateful nation."
Biden said she and the vice president are proud to have such a facility in their home state of Delaware. She praised the initiative, saying the center will be a place of comfort for families "as they come to meet their fallen angels."
The number of families coming to meet their fallen warriors has increased since an April 2009 Defense Department policy change that provides aid to families attending dignified transfers of remains of their fallen military members. As participation grew, Air Force senior leadership and spouses recognized that the facilities here could benefit from additional resources. Previously, chaplains and support staff shared a facility with base chaplains serving Dover's 436th Airlift Wing and the reserve 512th Airlift Wing.
An idea to transform a former base convenience store was conceived, and a renovation contract was awarded in the fall. Construction on the center began Nov. 9, and contractors completed the job within 60 days.
The result: a 6,000-square-foot center that offers a comfortable and quiet environment with dedicated sitting areas for the families, as well as private rooms that can be used for counseling or meditation. The center will allow mortuary affairs specialists, chaplains and mental health technicians to better assist families of the fallen, Edmondson said.
Schwartz acknowledged the vision and hard work it took to open the center so quickly, noting the dedication of everyone involved was a true "labor of love."
The center will play a part in helping the nation fulfill "its most sacred of obligations," he said, and servicemembers can know "that their families will be cared for in the way that they would hope in the most difficult of circumstances."
The center's staff will oversee the appointment of family liaison officers – members of fallen servicemembers' units who help the family work through the paperwork and problems that come with their loved one's death, said Todd Rose, mortuary affairs division director. The staff also will provide "reach-back" help for families, especially those who don't live near a military installation.
"The intent is for the staff to be proactive, to reach out to families," Rose said. "The team will develop a package of information on resources available for the next of kin. They can provide support over the phone or help them find that support in their local community."
Rose said the center supervisor will be a certified counselor who will be available to help families work through their grief. Staff members will be available to help a family from the time they arrive at the airport until the family decides help no longer is needed.
(Edward Drohan of the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center public affairs office contributed to this article. Air Force Master Sgt. Russell P. Petcoff serves in the secretary of the Air Force public affairs office.)
Army Announces Force Structure Actions
The Army announced today the decision to relocate Headquarters, Army Contracting Command and Headquarters, Expeditionary Contracting Command from Fort Belvoir, Va., to Redstone Arsenal, Ala. These force structure actions will result in the reassignment of 79 soldiers and 234 civilians to Redstone Arsenal. The move is expected to be completed in August 2011. Headquarters, Army Contracting Command provides global contracting support to combatant commanders, and Headquarters, Expeditionary Contracting Command plans and executes contracting support for Army service component commanders in support of Army and joint operations. Headquarters, Expeditionary Contracting Command also provides support for multi-national contracting requirements.
Both contracting commands will collocate with the U.S. Army Materiel Command and the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command, which are also moving to Redstone Arsenal as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
The collocation of these organizations will serve to improve the integration of contracting services within the continental United States, overseas installations, and theater operations.
Point of contact for this notification is Lt. Col. Lee M. Packnett, 703-614-2487, Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, Office of the Secretary of the Army
Both contracting commands will collocate with the U.S. Army Materiel Command and the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command, which are also moving to Redstone Arsenal as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
The collocation of these organizations will serve to improve the integration of contracting services within the continental United States, overseas installations, and theater operations.
Point of contact for this notification is Lt. Col. Lee M. Packnett, 703-614-2487, Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, Office of the Secretary of the Army
F-15s Scramble to Escort Hawaiian Airlines Flight
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 7, 2010 - Two Oregon Air National Guard F-15 fighters, under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command, intercepted Hawaiian Airlines Flight 39 yesterday after a passenger caused a disturbance on the plane and the pilot decided to return the aircraft to Portland. The F-15s, stationed at Portland Air National Guard Base, escorted the aircraft until it landed at Portland International Airport without incident at about 1:15 p.m. PST, where the plane was met by law enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration.
The Oregon National Guard's 142nd Fighter Wing guards the skies from northern California to the Canadian border on 24-hour alert as part of the North American Air Defense system. The F-15 fighter jets become a federal asset once alerted, placing them under presidential authority, officials said.
(From an Oregon National Guard news release.)
U.S. Army Africa Focuses on Long-term Threat Reduction
By Ian Graham
Special to American Forces Press Service
Jan. 6, 2010 - Since the thwarted terrorist attack against Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day, news reports detailed the possibilities of security threats from Africa. Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa, spoke to that topic and his unit's ongoing initiatives during a Jan. 5 "DoDLive" Blogger's Roundtable.
In the past year, U.S. Army Africa has built relationships with African partner nations that will set conditions for ongoing security threats on the continent, said Garrett, speaking via teleconference from the command's headquarters in Vicenza, Italy.
"U.S. Army Africa, as the Army service component command for U.S. Africa Command, enables full-spectrum operations while conducting sustained security engagement with African land forces to promote security, stability and peace," Garrett said.
The work of U.S. Army Africa soldiers and civilians includes small advise-and-assist teams with niche capabilities to help partner nations in a variety of mentorship programs that build African capacity in everything from security and logistics to small-unit operations and leadership development.
With some African countries in on-going turmoil, assisting partner nations to establish effective security is key to U.S. Army Africa's efforts, Garrett said. The command shares its responsibilities with a host of partners, including national and international agencies, non-governmental organizations, the United Nations and the African Union.
The command conducts sustained security engagements in Africa as part of a comprehensive approach to making the nations self-sustaining in their security, Garrett said.
"This approach is especially important when we're discussing transnational threats that can form parasitic relationships with weak or ineffective governments, insurgencies or criminal organizations," he said.
U.S. Army Africa's job, however, is not to take over security operations across the continent. Nor is it to make African land forces into U.S. Army-style military units, which might be inappropriate or counterproductive to a partner nation's needs, the general said.
The U.S. Army's role is to help strengthen the capabilities and capacity of its partners in Africa.
"Professional military education is and will be the U.S. Army's Number One engagement tool in Africa," he said. "[It] gives us the biggest bang for the buck, allowing us to help build entire generations of leaders at relatively low costs."
Such education programs are "a hit," Garrett said, whether conducted in the United States during immersion programs or in classrooms in Africa. Often that means peer-to-peer environments.
"Wherever we go, our soldiers typically teach, coach, mentor, advise and assist," he said.
No single approach is correct when facing threats on a continent as diverse as Africa, Garrett said. During interactions with African forces, learning extends to both sides of the partnership, with U.S. soldiers often gaining a broader perspective from their African counterparts, he said.
"In the end, our partners may not choose to emulate us, but my bet is some mutual respect is in place," he said. "More importantly, we've built up some trust, the one thing that can change everything."
(Ian Graham is assigned to Defense Media Activity's Emerging Media Directorate.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Jan. 6, 2010 - Since the thwarted terrorist attack against Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day, news reports detailed the possibilities of security threats from Africa. Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa, spoke to that topic and his unit's ongoing initiatives during a Jan. 5 "DoDLive" Blogger's Roundtable.
In the past year, U.S. Army Africa has built relationships with African partner nations that will set conditions for ongoing security threats on the continent, said Garrett, speaking via teleconference from the command's headquarters in Vicenza, Italy.
"U.S. Army Africa, as the Army service component command for U.S. Africa Command, enables full-spectrum operations while conducting sustained security engagement with African land forces to promote security, stability and peace," Garrett said.
The work of U.S. Army Africa soldiers and civilians includes small advise-and-assist teams with niche capabilities to help partner nations in a variety of mentorship programs that build African capacity in everything from security and logistics to small-unit operations and leadership development.
With some African countries in on-going turmoil, assisting partner nations to establish effective security is key to U.S. Army Africa's efforts, Garrett said. The command shares its responsibilities with a host of partners, including national and international agencies, non-governmental organizations, the United Nations and the African Union.
The command conducts sustained security engagements in Africa as part of a comprehensive approach to making the nations self-sustaining in their security, Garrett said.
"This approach is especially important when we're discussing transnational threats that can form parasitic relationships with weak or ineffective governments, insurgencies or criminal organizations," he said.
U.S. Army Africa's job, however, is not to take over security operations across the continent. Nor is it to make African land forces into U.S. Army-style military units, which might be inappropriate or counterproductive to a partner nation's needs, the general said.
The U.S. Army's role is to help strengthen the capabilities and capacity of its partners in Africa.
"Professional military education is and will be the U.S. Army's Number One engagement tool in Africa," he said. "[It] gives us the biggest bang for the buck, allowing us to help build entire generations of leaders at relatively low costs."
Such education programs are "a hit," Garrett said, whether conducted in the United States during immersion programs or in classrooms in Africa. Often that means peer-to-peer environments.
"Wherever we go, our soldiers typically teach, coach, mentor, advise and assist," he said.
No single approach is correct when facing threats on a continent as diverse as Africa, Garrett said. During interactions with African forces, learning extends to both sides of the partnership, with U.S. soldiers often gaining a broader perspective from their African counterparts, he said.
"In the end, our partners may not choose to emulate us, but my bet is some mutual respect is in place," he said. "More importantly, we've built up some trust, the one thing that can change everything."
(Ian Graham is assigned to Defense Media Activity's Emerging Media Directorate.)
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
No Need to Feel SAD During the Winter
January 06, 2010: Occasionally feeling depressed is normal. Everyone has days when they feel low, irritable or sad, but these moods usually last a few days and As the season changes and the days get shorter, some people develop symptoms of depression. Sadness and lack of energy and motivation are not a normal part of the transition to fall and winter, however, studies show an increase in these symptoms during darker months.
This condition is known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and it usually happens during the winter. Symptoms of winter SAD normally begin in October or November and end in March or April.
The symptoms of SAD sound familiar to many and include:
• Oversleeping
• Daytime fatigue
• Carbohydrate craving
• Weight gain
TRICARE beneficiaries suffering from SAD can be optimistic about recovering and living normal lives in the winter with the many options available.
Non-active duty TRICARE beneficiaries can schedule a behavioral health care appointment and can receive the first eight behavioral health care outpatient visits per fiscal year (Oct. 1- Sept. 30) from a TRICARE provider without a referral or pre-authorization. Primary care providers can give an initial assessment and possibly treatment. To find out more about getting help go to TRICARE’s Mental Health Resource Center at http://tricare.mil/mentalhealth.
TRICARE also recently launched the TRICARE Assistance Program (TRIAP) to help service members and their families get the behavioral health assistance they need, when it’s needed.
TRIAP provides short-term, problem solving counseling assistance 24 hours a day to beneficiaries dealing with personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance, health and well-being. Eligible beneficiaries can access TRIAP from any location in the United States, provided they have the necessary computer hardware and software. TRIAP includes assessments, short-term counseling and referrals to more comprehensive levels of care if needed. Learn more about TRIAP at www.tricare.mil/TRIAP.
This condition is known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and it usually happens during the winter. Symptoms of winter SAD normally begin in October or November and end in March or April.
The symptoms of SAD sound familiar to many and include:
• Oversleeping
• Daytime fatigue
• Carbohydrate craving
• Weight gain
TRICARE beneficiaries suffering from SAD can be optimistic about recovering and living normal lives in the winter with the many options available.
Non-active duty TRICARE beneficiaries can schedule a behavioral health care appointment and can receive the first eight behavioral health care outpatient visits per fiscal year (Oct. 1- Sept. 30) from a TRICARE provider without a referral or pre-authorization. Primary care providers can give an initial assessment and possibly treatment. To find out more about getting help go to TRICARE’s Mental Health Resource Center at http://tricare.mil/mentalhealth.
TRICARE also recently launched the TRICARE Assistance Program (TRIAP) to help service members and their families get the behavioral health assistance they need, when it’s needed.
TRIAP provides short-term, problem solving counseling assistance 24 hours a day to beneficiaries dealing with personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance, health and well-being. Eligible beneficiaries can access TRIAP from any location in the United States, provided they have the necessary computer hardware and software. TRIAP includes assessments, short-term counseling and referrals to more comprehensive levels of care if needed. Learn more about TRIAP at www.tricare.mil/TRIAP.
California Boosts Support to Combat Vets
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
Jan. 6, 2010 - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced a new state initiative to better help returning combat veterans to land jobs and get whatever help they need in securing housing, health care and other veterans' services. Schwarzenegger unveiled the Operation Welcome Home outreach campaign during his State of the State address in Sacramento, citing "a fundamental obligation to anyone who has shed or risked blood for this country."
The new program charges state agencies with providing better support for veterans.
"California has more returning veterans than any other state. So our state, as well as the federal government, has a special responsibility," he said. "We have a fundamental obligation to anyone who has shed or risked blood for this country."
The state plans to hire 325 combat veterans to make contact with recently discharged troops in need of job assistance. Other plans call for recruiting 1,000 volunteers to help veterans cut through red tape so they can better tap into services provided by the Department of Veterans
Affairs and state and municipal programs, as well as non-government organizations.
Sparked by his pre-Thanksgiving visit to Camp Victory in Baghdad, Schwarzenegger said he felt compelled – despite the state's financial crisis -- to find better ways to help troops returning from the combat theater transition to civilian life.
"They have seen and experienced some hard things. Many have served tour after tour after tour. As a result, some have lost homes, spouses, limbs and lives," he said. "Too often our soldiers bring back the enemy with them in their heads," noting cases of post-traumatic stress and suicides.
Schwarzenegger acknowledged troops in uniform who recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and attended today's address, and thanked them for their service.
'To each of you, I say, 'Welcome home,'" he said.
Jan. 6, 2010 - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced a new state initiative to better help returning combat veterans to land jobs and get whatever help they need in securing housing, health care and other veterans' services. Schwarzenegger unveiled the Operation Welcome Home outreach campaign during his State of the State address in Sacramento, citing "a fundamental obligation to anyone who has shed or risked blood for this country."
The new program charges state agencies with providing better support for veterans.
"California has more returning veterans than any other state. So our state, as well as the federal government, has a special responsibility," he said. "We have a fundamental obligation to anyone who has shed or risked blood for this country."
The state plans to hire 325 combat veterans to make contact with recently discharged troops in need of job assistance. Other plans call for recruiting 1,000 volunteers to help veterans cut through red tape so they can better tap into services provided by the Department of Veterans
Affairs and state and municipal programs, as well as non-government organizations.
Sparked by his pre-Thanksgiving visit to Camp Victory in Baghdad, Schwarzenegger said he felt compelled – despite the state's financial crisis -- to find better ways to help troops returning from the combat theater transition to civilian life.
"They have seen and experienced some hard things. Many have served tour after tour after tour. As a result, some have lost homes, spouses, limbs and lives," he said. "Too often our soldiers bring back the enemy with them in their heads," noting cases of post-traumatic stress and suicides.
Schwarzenegger acknowledged troops in uniform who recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and attended today's address, and thanked them for their service.
'To each of you, I say, 'Welcome home,'" he said.
Dashing Through the Snow, Don’t Forget the Sunscreen
By Michael M. Gleeson
TRICARE Management Activity
January 06, 2010: Winter is here, and with the colder weather comes a different set of challenges for those who enjoy spending time out-of-doors. Being adequately prepared for cool or colder weather can help TRICARE beneficiaries avoid some potentially dangerous situations. Listed below are a few serious health conditions that can occur during the winter months, the symptoms of each and information about what to do.
Hypothermia
Hypothermia develops when body temperature falls below normal due to exposure to cold. In the winter months, this condition often occurs during prolonged periods outdoors, either in wet clothes or without proper layering.
Signs of hypothermia include: a decline in body temperature, shivering and increasingly lethargic or clumsy speech. If any of these signs are detected, call 911 immediately, remove any wet clothing, wrap up in a dry blanket if possible and get indoors.
Frostbite
Frostbite is the freezing of the skin and body’s outer tissues. The condition happens most often on the body’s extremities: fingers, toes, ears and nose. Individuals with frostbite will feel a burning or numb sensation and the affected area will become pale, gray and blistered.
If frostbite occurs, do not rub the affected area. Place the affected body part in warm, but not hot, water. Continue this treatment for five minutes. Seek medical help if normal feeling and color do not return promptly after home treatment for mild frostbite.
Dehydration
Dehydration occurs when the body does not have as much water and fluids as it should, and can be brought on by losing too much fluid, not drinking enough water or fluids, or both. The condition is most closely associated with exposure to extreme heat, but during the winter it can be an often overlooked danger.
The symptoms of dehydration include dizziness, headache and dark urine. If these symptoms are detected, drinking fluids is usually sufficient. It is better to have frequent, small amounts of fluid (using a teaspoon or syringe for an infant or child) rather than trying to force large amounts of fluid at one time. For more serious cases of dehydration, intravenous fluids and hospitalization may be necessary.
Sunburns
Many people associate sunburns with long days on the beach, but the sun’s rays can still cause sunburn during winter, especially when reflected off snow. To prevent sunburn, cover exposed skin and wear sunscreen.
Being aware of and prepared for the current and forecasted weather during the winter can help prevent illness and injury from cold weather. For more information about winter weather and cold-weather safety go to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/winter
TRICARE Management Activity
January 06, 2010: Winter is here, and with the colder weather comes a different set of challenges for those who enjoy spending time out-of-doors. Being adequately prepared for cool or colder weather can help TRICARE beneficiaries avoid some potentially dangerous situations. Listed below are a few serious health conditions that can occur during the winter months, the symptoms of each and information about what to do.
Hypothermia
Hypothermia develops when body temperature falls below normal due to exposure to cold. In the winter months, this condition often occurs during prolonged periods outdoors, either in wet clothes or without proper layering.
Signs of hypothermia include: a decline in body temperature, shivering and increasingly lethargic or clumsy speech. If any of these signs are detected, call 911 immediately, remove any wet clothing, wrap up in a dry blanket if possible and get indoors.
Frostbite
Frostbite is the freezing of the skin and body’s outer tissues. The condition happens most often on the body’s extremities: fingers, toes, ears and nose. Individuals with frostbite will feel a burning or numb sensation and the affected area will become pale, gray and blistered.
If frostbite occurs, do not rub the affected area. Place the affected body part in warm, but not hot, water. Continue this treatment for five minutes. Seek medical help if normal feeling and color do not return promptly after home treatment for mild frostbite.
Dehydration
Dehydration occurs when the body does not have as much water and fluids as it should, and can be brought on by losing too much fluid, not drinking enough water or fluids, or both. The condition is most closely associated with exposure to extreme heat, but during the winter it can be an often overlooked danger.
The symptoms of dehydration include dizziness, headache and dark urine. If these symptoms are detected, drinking fluids is usually sufficient. It is better to have frequent, small amounts of fluid (using a teaspoon or syringe for an infant or child) rather than trying to force large amounts of fluid at one time. For more serious cases of dehydration, intravenous fluids and hospitalization may be necessary.
Sunburns
Many people associate sunburns with long days on the beach, but the sun’s rays can still cause sunburn during winter, especially when reflected off snow. To prevent sunburn, cover exposed skin and wear sunscreen.
Being aware of and prepared for the current and forecasted weather during the winter can help prevent illness and injury from cold weather. For more information about winter weather and cold-weather safety go to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/winter
Walt Disney World celebrates U.S. military in 2010
(1/5/10) - As Disney Parks ask "What Will You Celebrate?" and invite guests to turn their personal milestones into magical family vacations in 2010, America's military personnel will have more reasons to celebrate: Special offers on theme park tickets and accommodations. With Disney's Armed Forces Salute, from Jan. 3 to July 31, 2010, active and retired U.S. military personnel (including active and retired members of the United States Coast Guard and active members of the National Guard or Reservists) or their spouses can purchase Disney's 4-Day Military Promotional Base Tickets for $99, plus tax, for themselves and up to five additional family members or friends for use at Walt Disney World Resort. The Park Hopper and Water Park Fun & More options can be added for an additional $26, plus tax, per option, per ticket. No more than six Disney's 4-Day Military Promotional Tickets (with or without options) may be purchased by any eligible member of the U.S. military (and/or spouse) pursuant to this offer.
All tickets and options are non-transferable and must be used by Sept. 30, 2010. However, the tickets and options are not valid for use on the following blockout dates: March 27, 2010, to April 9, 2010, for all Walt Disney World theme parks and other gated attractions; and July 3 to July 4, 2010, for the Magic Kingdom park.
Active and retired U.S. military personnel also can save up to 40 percent on rooms at select Disney resorts! This offer is good for stays most nights Jan. 3-Sept. 30, 2010, except not available 3/28-4/10/10 and 7/1-7/5/10, and can be booked through July 31, 2010.
The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited. Minimum length of stay requirements may apply for Friday or Saturday arrivals. Savings based on non-discounted price for the same room. Valid Military ID will be required upon check-in. No group rates or other discounts apply. Advance reservations required. Additional per-adult charges apply if more than two adults per room.
For information regarding Disney's 4-Day Military Promotional Tickets, or to make room reservations, military personnel may call 407-939-7830 or participating U.S. military base ticket offices. Information is also available at www.disneyworld.com/military
All tickets and options are non-transferable and must be used by Sept. 30, 2010. However, the tickets and options are not valid for use on the following blockout dates: March 27, 2010, to April 9, 2010, for all Walt Disney World theme parks and other gated attractions; and July 3 to July 4, 2010, for the Magic Kingdom park.
Active and retired U.S. military personnel also can save up to 40 percent on rooms at select Disney resorts! This offer is good for stays most nights Jan. 3-Sept. 30, 2010, except not available 3/28-4/10/10 and 7/1-7/5/10, and can be booked through July 31, 2010.
The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited. Minimum length of stay requirements may apply for Friday or Saturday arrivals. Savings based on non-discounted price for the same room. Valid Military ID will be required upon check-in. No group rates or other discounts apply. Advance reservations required. Additional per-adult charges apply if more than two adults per room.
For information regarding Disney's 4-Day Military Promotional Tickets, or to make room reservations, military personnel may call 407-939-7830 or participating U.S. military base ticket offices. Information is also available at www.disneyworld.com/military
Challenges for U.S. Military
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 6, 2010 - The broader Middle East, taking care of troops and their families and managing risk remain the military's top priorities, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told participants in the Inside Washington Seminar held at George Washington University here that his goals for the coming years mirror the goals he set when he took office in October 2007.
The seminar, which includes students from 75 colleges and universities around the country, is a way for the chairman to reach out to the next generation of American leaders.
Mullen told the students that two wars in the greater Middle East are the highest priority for the Defense Department. In addition to Iraq and Afghanistan, the focus is on the Gulf states and Iran.
The chairman said he welcomed the vigorous debate over the Afghanistan strategy. "I've learned a lot, and I think we all have," he said. "Very instructive to me has been the policy debate that we had late last year for almost three months about the strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan."
The strategy encompasses both Afghanistan and Pakistan and under it, President Barack Obama ordered another 30,000 U.S. servicemembers to Afghanistan. "Now we're in the execution phase of that," Mullen said.
The chairman called the president's decision "courageous," and said that the commanders in the region have all they need to reverse the Taliban's momentum and disrupt and defeat al-Qaida.
The chairman stressed to the students that they need to look at international problems and challenges not just through U.S. eyes, but that of other countries. Before taking office, Mullen had been to Pakistan once. Since taking office, he has traveled to Pakistan 14 times.
"It's a critical country in a critical part of the world," he said. "I encouraged the debate and I think we should always have debate on issues of this magnitude in this country."
Taking care of the people of the armed services is another priority. Putting the best people where they are needed most is a big part of that push, Mullen said.
"Putting my best people on my No. 1 priority is an absolute requirement," he said. "In the end, so much of what we do boils down to leadership and it boils down to how leaders lead, how they lead in times of change. And you are going to grow up learning leadership as things change."
The U.S. Army is deploying now as the Navy and Marine Corps always have, Mullen said. Servicemembers are deploying more and spending less time at home, and this has placed great strain on servicemembers and their families.
"Multiple deployments, stress on individuals, stress on families, a dramatically increased suicide rate across all the services" -- all are problems, he said. "But the military has taken significant steps to address those issues."
Managing risk is the chairman's third priority. This means looking at the rest of the world and making an educated guess where more risk can be accepted. The entire Pacific Basin is posed to be a sustaining economic engine for the globe, he said. Other areas, such as Africa, have similar potential, but also enormous challenges.
The chairman said his early military experience trained him to look east and west. But Mexico and the rest of Latin America are crucial to American well-being, with Brazil being another global economic engine, he said. "We as Americans are going to have to focus more and more on our partners," he said.
Mullen already is looking at what will happen once the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are over. "What does our military look like? What will our challenges be for the future?" he said.
"Part of my charter is to look out 10 and 20 years to see what we need to do, with my first priority being the missions I've got, the second priority, making sure we take care of the people, and then the third really is to look to the future in terms of how does it look, and knowing in the incredibly challenging times in which we exist that the military will be a big part of this."
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 6, 2010 - The broader Middle East, taking care of troops and their families and managing risk remain the military's top priorities, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told participants in the Inside Washington Seminar held at George Washington University here that his goals for the coming years mirror the goals he set when he took office in October 2007.
The seminar, which includes students from 75 colleges and universities around the country, is a way for the chairman to reach out to the next generation of American leaders.
Mullen told the students that two wars in the greater Middle East are the highest priority for the Defense Department. In addition to Iraq and Afghanistan, the focus is on the Gulf states and Iran.
The chairman said he welcomed the vigorous debate over the Afghanistan strategy. "I've learned a lot, and I think we all have," he said. "Very instructive to me has been the policy debate that we had late last year for almost three months about the strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan."
The strategy encompasses both Afghanistan and Pakistan and under it, President Barack Obama ordered another 30,000 U.S. servicemembers to Afghanistan. "Now we're in the execution phase of that," Mullen said.
The chairman called the president's decision "courageous," and said that the commanders in the region have all they need to reverse the Taliban's momentum and disrupt and defeat al-Qaida.
The chairman stressed to the students that they need to look at international problems and challenges not just through U.S. eyes, but that of other countries. Before taking office, Mullen had been to Pakistan once. Since taking office, he has traveled to Pakistan 14 times.
"It's a critical country in a critical part of the world," he said. "I encouraged the debate and I think we should always have debate on issues of this magnitude in this country."
Taking care of the people of the armed services is another priority. Putting the best people where they are needed most is a big part of that push, Mullen said.
"Putting my best people on my No. 1 priority is an absolute requirement," he said. "In the end, so much of what we do boils down to leadership and it boils down to how leaders lead, how they lead in times of change. And you are going to grow up learning leadership as things change."
The U.S. Army is deploying now as the Navy and Marine Corps always have, Mullen said. Servicemembers are deploying more and spending less time at home, and this has placed great strain on servicemembers and their families.
"Multiple deployments, stress on individuals, stress on families, a dramatically increased suicide rate across all the services" -- all are problems, he said. "But the military has taken significant steps to address those issues."
Managing risk is the chairman's third priority. This means looking at the rest of the world and making an educated guess where more risk can be accepted. The entire Pacific Basin is posed to be a sustaining economic engine for the globe, he said. Other areas, such as Africa, have similar potential, but also enormous challenges.
The chairman said his early military experience trained him to look east and west. But Mexico and the rest of Latin America are crucial to American well-being, with Brazil being another global economic engine, he said. "We as Americans are going to have to focus more and more on our partners," he said.
Mullen already is looking at what will happen once the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are over. "What does our military look like? What will our challenges be for the future?" he said.
"Part of my charter is to look out 10 and 20 years to see what we need to do, with my first priority being the missions I've got, the second priority, making sure we take care of the people, and then the third really is to look to the future in terms of how does it look, and knowing in the incredibly challenging times in which we exist that the military will be a big part of this."
MILITARY CONTRACTS January 6, 2010
ARMY
Lockheed Martin Corp., Missile and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded on Dec. 30, 2009, a $968,727,585 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract is for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 fiscal year 10 production buy for 253 tactical missiles, 5 test missiles, 20 launcher modification kits, 15 motor control units, 13 fire solution computers, 13 programmable array logic systems, 13 shorting plugs, 6 telemetry kits, and 1 lot each of the following: United States storage and aging, replenishment spares, obsolescence; United States/United Arab Emirates/Taiwan basic missile tooling upgrades, command and launch control tooling; United Arab Emirates unique cost; Taiwan unique cost; Taiwan spares, ground support equipment; German concurrent spares; and United States contractor field support and data items. Work is to be performed in Dallas, Texas (88.7 percent); Camden, Ark. (4.0 percent); Lufkin, Texas (2.4 percent); Chelmsford, Mass. (3.5 percent); and Ocala, Fla. (1.4 percent), with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-10-C-0002).
KCI Construction Co., St. Louis, Mo., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a $20,680,000 firm-fixed-price design build contract. This project is to renovate three existing three-story barracks buildings, a dining hall and a battalion HQ/OPS building. Work is to be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., with an estimated completion date of June 23, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with 10 bids received. US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity (W912DQ-10-C-4002).
BAE Government Services, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a$19,396,162 firm-fixed-price contract to provide vehicle maintenance and training for the Afghan National Army for one calendar year. Work is to be performed in Kabul, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with four bids received. Kabul Regional Contracting Center, Camp Eggers, Afghanistan, is the contracting activity (W91B4M-08-C-0009).
Weeks Marine, Inc., Covington, La., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a $16,134,750 firm-fixed-price-contract. The contract consists of maintenance dredging, approximately 2,500,000 cubic yards using a pipeline dredge. Work is to be performed in Cameron County, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2010. 14 bids were solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Engineer District-Galveston, Galveston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W912HY-10-C-0009).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded a $10,000,000 undefinitized contract action, letter contract, cost contract, for procurement of long-lead equipment, program management services and travel for the facilitization of a production plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the M1A2S program. At completion of this facilitization effort in December 2012, this production plant will be used to convert 315 M1A2 Saudi tanks to M1A2S Saudi tank configuration. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work is to be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2012. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-10-C-0160).
Didlake, Inc., Manassas, Va., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a $9,827,909 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract provides custodial services to non-sensitive areas of the Pentagon. Work is to be performed in Arlington, Va., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Washington Headquarter Services, Acquisition and Procurement Office, Rosslyn, Va., is the contracting activity (HQ0034-08-C-1021).
L-3 Communications Combat Propulsion Systems, Muskegon, Mich., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a $9,250,945 fixed-price with award-fee options for system technical support services; 20 new Bradley transmissions; 1,001 repaired Bradley transmissions; 8 transmission control tests; 481 electronic assemblies; 4 electronic assembly control tests; 481 adapters; 481 TEC cables; 481 shift towers; 1,170 transmission repair parts kits; and $5,394,209 incentives. Work is to be completed in Muskegon, Mich. (76.95 percent); Texarkana, Texas (16.51 percent); and Huddersfield, United Kingdom (6.54 percent), with an estimated completion date of December 2013. One bid wassolicited with one bid received. U.S. Army TACOM Contracting Center, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-C-0098).
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on Dec, 31, 2009, an $8,219,728 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract is for the UH-60 Blackhawk for 22 transmissions. Work is to be perfomed in Stratford, Conn., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Army Contracting Command, Aviation and Missile Command Contracting Center, CCAM-AL-A, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (N00383-06-G-006F).
Anderson Excavating Co., Omaha, Neb., was awarded on Dec. 31 2009, a $7,868,475 firm-fixed- price construction contract for the Western Sarpy Levee Improvement Project, Segment 3, on Platte and Elkhorn Rivers. Work is to be performed in Sarpy County, Neb., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 5 2011. Bids were solicited via the FedBizOpps Web site with nine bids received. US Army Corp of Engineers, Omaha, Neb., is the contracting activity (W9128F-10-C-0004).
Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Va., was awarded on Dec. 31 2009, a $6,780,000 non-competitive, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, single award, firm-fixed-price, sole-source contract for Rule Point enterprise software license and maintenance product developed by Agent Logic. Work is to be performed in Reston Va., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2014. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Army Geospatial Contracting Center, Alexandria, Va., is the contracting activity (W5J9CQ-10-D-0001).
NAVY
Lex Products Corp., Stamford, Conn., is being awarded $8,000,000 for a task order under blanket purchase agreement (M67854-07-A-5016) for the mobile electric power distribution replacement that distributes efficient electrical power from all standard tactical generators to military shelters and systems requiring power. Work will be performed in Stamford, Conn., and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2010. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. The blanket purchase agreement was awarded on a competitive basis. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being awarded a $6,862,387 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-2303) to exercise an option for additional systems engineering and class logistics services associated with the detail design and construction of the DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer. Systems engineering efforts include detail design excursions, shock qualification, production process prototype manufacturing, and life cycle support services prior to post shakedown availability. Class logistics efforts provide for the continued development of integrated logistics support for the DDG 1000 class, including development of training curriculum, supply support documentation, maintenance analyses, and configuration status accounting. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine, and is expected to be completed by November 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Missile and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded on Dec. 30, 2009, a $968,727,585 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract is for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 fiscal year 10 production buy for 253 tactical missiles, 5 test missiles, 20 launcher modification kits, 15 motor control units, 13 fire solution computers, 13 programmable array logic systems, 13 shorting plugs, 6 telemetry kits, and 1 lot each of the following: United States storage and aging, replenishment spares, obsolescence; United States/United Arab Emirates/Taiwan basic missile tooling upgrades, command and launch control tooling; United Arab Emirates unique cost; Taiwan unique cost; Taiwan spares, ground support equipment; German concurrent spares; and United States contractor field support and data items. Work is to be performed in Dallas, Texas (88.7 percent); Camden, Ark. (4.0 percent); Lufkin, Texas (2.4 percent); Chelmsford, Mass. (3.5 percent); and Ocala, Fla. (1.4 percent), with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-10-C-0002).
KCI Construction Co., St. Louis, Mo., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a $20,680,000 firm-fixed-price design build contract. This project is to renovate three existing three-story barracks buildings, a dining hall and a battalion HQ/OPS building. Work is to be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., with an estimated completion date of June 23, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with 10 bids received. US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity (W912DQ-10-C-4002).
BAE Government Services, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a$19,396,162 firm-fixed-price contract to provide vehicle maintenance and training for the Afghan National Army for one calendar year. Work is to be performed in Kabul, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2010. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with four bids received. Kabul Regional Contracting Center, Camp Eggers, Afghanistan, is the contracting activity (W91B4M-08-C-0009).
Weeks Marine, Inc., Covington, La., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a $16,134,750 firm-fixed-price-contract. The contract consists of maintenance dredging, approximately 2,500,000 cubic yards using a pipeline dredge. Work is to be performed in Cameron County, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2010. 14 bids were solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Engineer District-Galveston, Galveston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W912HY-10-C-0009).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded a $10,000,000 undefinitized contract action, letter contract, cost contract, for procurement of long-lead equipment, program management services and travel for the facilitization of a production plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the M1A2S program. At completion of this facilitization effort in December 2012, this production plant will be used to convert 315 M1A2 Saudi tanks to M1A2S Saudi tank configuration. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work is to be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2012. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-10-C-0160).
Didlake, Inc., Manassas, Va., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a $9,827,909 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract provides custodial services to non-sensitive areas of the Pentagon. Work is to be performed in Arlington, Va., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Washington Headquarter Services, Acquisition and Procurement Office, Rosslyn, Va., is the contracting activity (HQ0034-08-C-1021).
L-3 Communications Combat Propulsion Systems, Muskegon, Mich., was awarded on Dec. 31, 2009, a $9,250,945 fixed-price with award-fee options for system technical support services; 20 new Bradley transmissions; 1,001 repaired Bradley transmissions; 8 transmission control tests; 481 electronic assemblies; 4 electronic assembly control tests; 481 adapters; 481 TEC cables; 481 shift towers; 1,170 transmission repair parts kits; and $5,394,209 incentives. Work is to be completed in Muskegon, Mich. (76.95 percent); Texarkana, Texas (16.51 percent); and Huddersfield, United Kingdom (6.54 percent), with an estimated completion date of December 2013. One bid wassolicited with one bid received. U.S. Army TACOM Contracting Center, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-C-0098).
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on Dec, 31, 2009, an $8,219,728 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract is for the UH-60 Blackhawk for 22 transmissions. Work is to be perfomed in Stratford, Conn., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Army Contracting Command, Aviation and Missile Command Contracting Center, CCAM-AL-A, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (N00383-06-G-006F).
Anderson Excavating Co., Omaha, Neb., was awarded on Dec. 31 2009, a $7,868,475 firm-fixed- price construction contract for the Western Sarpy Levee Improvement Project, Segment 3, on Platte and Elkhorn Rivers. Work is to be performed in Sarpy County, Neb., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 5 2011. Bids were solicited via the FedBizOpps Web site with nine bids received. US Army Corp of Engineers, Omaha, Neb., is the contracting activity (W9128F-10-C-0004).
Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Va., was awarded on Dec. 31 2009, a $6,780,000 non-competitive, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, single award, firm-fixed-price, sole-source contract for Rule Point enterprise software license and maintenance product developed by Agent Logic. Work is to be performed in Reston Va., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2014. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Army Geospatial Contracting Center, Alexandria, Va., is the contracting activity (W5J9CQ-10-D-0001).
NAVY
Lex Products Corp., Stamford, Conn., is being awarded $8,000,000 for a task order under blanket purchase agreement (M67854-07-A-5016) for the mobile electric power distribution replacement that distributes efficient electrical power from all standard tactical generators to military shelters and systems requiring power. Work will be performed in Stamford, Conn., and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2010. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. The blanket purchase agreement was awarded on a competitive basis. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being awarded a $6,862,387 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-2303) to exercise an option for additional systems engineering and class logistics services associated with the detail design and construction of the DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer. Systems engineering efforts include detail design excursions, shock qualification, production process prototype manufacturing, and life cycle support services prior to post shakedown availability. Class logistics efforts provide for the continued development of integrated logistics support for the DDG 1000 class, including development of training curriculum, supply support documentation, maintenance analyses, and configuration status accounting. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine, and is expected to be completed by November 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
Alaska Guardsmen save 48 lives in 2009
By Maj. Guy Hayes
Alaska National Guard
(1/6/10) - Army and Air National Guardsmen saved 48 lives here in Alaska in 2009 and assisted 12 others to safety during another busy year for the Alaska National Guard.
The 11th Rescue Coordination Center, the Alaska representative responsible for most aeronautical search and rescue cases in Alaska, released its end of year statistics Jan 2. It lists annual search and rescue data for the state.
Since 1994, Alaska National Guardsmen have supported RCC calls with search and rescue assets, flying 19,400 mission hours, while logging 1,718 saves and 720 assists.
Supporting an unforgiving land that is twice as large as the next largest state, Texas, with a road system that covers a relatively small area of the state, Alaska National Guardsmen provide a sense of security in a place where too often the National Guard represents the last chance for survival.
"Our Alaska National Guardsmen are called on to perform rescues in the worst conditions and because of their expertise, many Alaskans have received the emergency medical support they've desperately needed," said Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Katkus, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard.
Requirements for search and rescue in Alaska have increased over the last two years after the Department of Army's Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic or MAST program ended in 2008. Started in 1973, MAST provided valuable training to Soldiers and life saving benefits to communities throughout interior Alaska, with about two rescue calls per week. This void created additional demands on Alaska National Guard resources, but they continue to meet the challenge.
"Medical evacuation support continues to increase for Alaska National Guardsmen after the MAST program ended and is critical to the citizens of Alaska living in our rural communities," Katkus said.
This support came amid another busy year of deployments around the world for the Alaska National Guard, including Air National Guard deployments to Afghanistan and Army National Guard deployments to Kosovo and Iraq.
"Whether it's here in Alaska supporting search and rescue efforts or defending our country in the Global War on Terrorism, Alaska Guardsmen are highly trained and recognized for their exceptional professionalism," Katkus said. "And for 48 people in Alaska in 2009, they're glad we're ready and always there."
(1/6/10) - Army and Air National Guardsmen saved 48 lives here in Alaska in 2009 and assisted 12 others to safety during another busy year for the Alaska National Guard.
The 11th Rescue Coordination Center, the Alaska representative responsible for most aeronautical search and rescue cases in Alaska, released its end of year statistics Jan 2. It lists annual search and rescue data for the state.
Since 1994, Alaska National Guardsmen have supported RCC calls with search and rescue assets, flying 19,400 mission hours, while logging 1,718 saves and 720 assists.
Supporting an unforgiving land that is twice as large as the next largest state, Texas, with a road system that covers a relatively small area of the state, Alaska National Guardsmen provide a sense of security in a place where too often the National Guard represents the last chance for survival.
"Our Alaska National Guardsmen are called on to perform rescues in the worst conditions and because of their expertise, many Alaskans have received the emergency medical support they've desperately needed," said Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Katkus, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard.
Requirements for search and rescue in Alaska have increased over the last two years after the Department of Army's Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic or MAST program ended in 2008. Started in 1973, MAST provided valuable training to Soldiers and life saving benefits to communities throughout interior Alaska, with about two rescue calls per week. This void created additional demands on Alaska National Guard resources, but they continue to meet the challenge.
"Medical evacuation support continues to increase for Alaska National Guardsmen after the MAST program ended and is critical to the citizens of Alaska living in our rural communities," Katkus said.
This support came amid another busy year of deployments around the world for the Alaska National Guard, including Air National Guard deployments to Afghanistan and Army National Guard deployments to Kosovo and Iraq.
"Whether it's here in Alaska supporting search and rescue efforts or defending our country in the Global War on Terrorism, Alaska Guardsmen are highly trained and recognized for their exceptional professionalism," Katkus said. "And for 48 people in Alaska in 2009, they're glad we're ready and always there."
New Iraq post office honors four Illinois Guardsmen
By Sgt. Ryan Twist
139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
(12/2/09) - Four fallen Illinois Soldiers from the 1544th Transportation Company based in Paris, Ill., were honored for their support of postal operations in Iraq during the dedication of a new post office Dec. 17 here at Joint Base Balad (JBB), Iraq. Nine Soldiers and civilians names are written on a bronze plaque that is a replication of the one from Camp Liberty, Baghdad. The original plaque’s location was destroyed and a replica of the plaque was made for the dedication.
The Illinois National Guard Soldiers on the plaque are Spc. Jeremy Ridlen, 23, of Moroa, Ill., killed in action May 23, 2004; Spc. Charles Lamb, 23, of Casey, Ill., killed in action Sept. 5, 2004; Sgt. Shawna Morrison, 26, of Paris, Ill., killed in action Sept. 5, 2004 and Sgt. Jessica Cawvey, 21, of Normal, Ill., killed in action Oct. 6, 2004.
Capt. David W. Laes, commander of the 847th Human Resources Company based in Fort Snelling, Okla., with the 90th Special Troops Battalion, 90th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), spoke of the nine Soldiers and civilians who voluntarily give their life in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as proud American citizens.
He said their brave and vital tasks create a stable and secure environment for communities worldwide.
At JBB, those tasks sometimes involve placing themselves in harm’s way by conducting missions that range from route clearance and reconnaissance to postal operations and logistical support convoys.
“Since the beginning of operations in Iraq, there have been numerous casualties,” Laes said. “We honor our fallen daily by continuing to serve and conduct our mission with integrity, bravery and honor. The postal personnel at Joint Base Balad are dedicating the newly built post office on east Balad to our fallen postal heroes (who) gave their lives in support of the United States of America.”
Brig. Gen. Paul L. Wentz, commanding general of the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) out of Fort Hood, Texas, said he was honored to be at the dedication.
“I think it’s fitting and appropriate that the plaque down in (Camp) Liberty got moved up here and recognizes the nine fallen postal workers that paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Wentz said. “It really represents the postal community and the folks that have been dedicated to providing mail services to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and civilians in this theater for a long time.”
Laes reminded everyone present at the ceremony what the building, and the plaque, symbolized.
“(Americans) have given their lives in sacrifice for something that they believe will bring a better, more promising future for our children, grandchildren and generations to come,” Laes said. “We come together in the most difficult of times to help one another, whether in financial crisis, natural disaster or armed conflict.”
The other five Soldiers and civilians on the plaque include Spc. Darryl Dent, 21, 547th Transportation Company, Washington, killed in action Aug. 26, 2003; Vernon Gaston, 45, Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) Inc., Lampasas, Texas, killed in action Sept. 3, 2003; Pfc. Isaiah Hunt, 20, 497th Transportation Company, 1st Corps, Fort Lewis, Wash., Green Bay, Wis., killed in action Nov. 15, 2004; Sgt. Rocky Payne, 26, 497th Transportation Company, 1st Corps, Fort Lewis, Wash., Howell, Utah, killed in action March 16, 2005 and Fred Bryant, 39, KBR Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., killed in action Aug. 5, 2003.
(12/2/09) - Four fallen Illinois Soldiers from the 1544th Transportation Company based in Paris, Ill., were honored for their support of postal operations in Iraq during the dedication of a new post office Dec. 17 here at Joint Base Balad (JBB), Iraq. Nine Soldiers and civilians names are written on a bronze plaque that is a replication of the one from Camp Liberty, Baghdad. The original plaque’s location was destroyed and a replica of the plaque was made for the dedication.
The Illinois National Guard Soldiers on the plaque are Spc. Jeremy Ridlen, 23, of Moroa, Ill., killed in action May 23, 2004; Spc. Charles Lamb, 23, of Casey, Ill., killed in action Sept. 5, 2004; Sgt. Shawna Morrison, 26, of Paris, Ill., killed in action Sept. 5, 2004 and Sgt. Jessica Cawvey, 21, of Normal, Ill., killed in action Oct. 6, 2004.
Capt. David W. Laes, commander of the 847th Human Resources Company based in Fort Snelling, Okla., with the 90th Special Troops Battalion, 90th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), spoke of the nine Soldiers and civilians who voluntarily give their life in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as proud American citizens.
He said their brave and vital tasks create a stable and secure environment for communities worldwide.
At JBB, those tasks sometimes involve placing themselves in harm’s way by conducting missions that range from route clearance and reconnaissance to postal operations and logistical support convoys.
“Since the beginning of operations in Iraq, there have been numerous casualties,” Laes said. “We honor our fallen daily by continuing to serve and conduct our mission with integrity, bravery and honor. The postal personnel at Joint Base Balad are dedicating the newly built post office on east Balad to our fallen postal heroes (who) gave their lives in support of the United States of America.”
Brig. Gen. Paul L. Wentz, commanding general of the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) out of Fort Hood, Texas, said he was honored to be at the dedication.
“I think it’s fitting and appropriate that the plaque down in (Camp) Liberty got moved up here and recognizes the nine fallen postal workers that paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Wentz said. “It really represents the postal community and the folks that have been dedicated to providing mail services to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and civilians in this theater for a long time.”
Laes reminded everyone present at the ceremony what the building, and the plaque, symbolized.
“(Americans) have given their lives in sacrifice for something that they believe will bring a better, more promising future for our children, grandchildren and generations to come,” Laes said. “We come together in the most difficult of times to help one another, whether in financial crisis, natural disaster or armed conflict.”
The other five Soldiers and civilians on the plaque include Spc. Darryl Dent, 21, 547th Transportation Company, Washington, killed in action Aug. 26, 2003; Vernon Gaston, 45, Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) Inc., Lampasas, Texas, killed in action Sept. 3, 2003; Pfc. Isaiah Hunt, 20, 497th Transportation Company, 1st Corps, Fort Lewis, Wash., Green Bay, Wis., killed in action Nov. 15, 2004; Sgt. Rocky Payne, 26, 497th Transportation Company, 1st Corps, Fort Lewis, Wash., Howell, Utah, killed in action March 16, 2005 and Fred Bryant, 39, KBR Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., killed in action Aug. 5, 2003.
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