By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Kyle P. Malloy, Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs
June 1, 2010 - WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead recognized 25 Navy individuals, ships, and installations for their exceptional environmental stewardship during his Environmental Awards ceremony June 1.
The awardees were recognized for reducing or eliminating hazardous materials, working with governmental and nongovernmental organizations to conserve natural resources, preserving land and restoring plant and animal species.
"I have been most impressed this year with the degree to which the commands and individuals partnered with civic leaders, students and volunteers from local communities," said Roughead. "Because they're not only preserving the environment, they're leading the Navy, indeed, to be a more responsible neighbor and community builder."
Roughead discussed the relationship between the creative and innovative 'green' tactics used by the award winners and how they can help achieve the Navy's overall energy conservation goals set by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.
"It is through your example, through your skill, through ingenuity, through your dedication, through your involvement with those who can introduce us to new and better ways of doing things, that we can meet those goals," said Roughead to the awardees.
Roughead identified the importance of staying technologically progressive in the 'green' industry and continuing to build on the award winning environmentally friendly initiatives.
"I applaud all of the Sailors [and Navy civilians] that are here today, who are the leaders in environmental conservation in their own right," said Roughead.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Service Members Honor Fallen at Guam Memorial Day Ceremonies
By Jesse Leon Guerrero and Oyaol Ngirairikl, Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs
June 1, 2010 - PITI, Guam (NNS) -- Service members on Guam honored the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to the nation during Memorial Day weekend ceremonies on Guam May 29.
The Annual Memorial Day Tribute Service in Talofofo, Guam, paid tribute the village's six sons who died during combat. The theme for the tribute was "You will never be forgotten."
Guest speaker at the event Rear Adm. Paul Bushong, commander, Joint Region Marianas, said nearly every family on Guam has lost or knows a family which has lost a loved one in battle.
"It is our responsibility as husbands, wives, parents, children, friends, and neighbors to honor those who have served and continue to serve, but particularly to preserve the memory of those who have fallen," Bushong said. "They are American heroes and it is for us to ensure that they will always be remembered and that they did not die in vain."
More than a dozen personnel from Navy Munitions Command East Asia Division (NMC EAD) Unit Guam and 9th Operations Group Detachment 3, Global Hawk on Andersen Air Force Base, attended the event and sat alongside other veterans, family members and friends of the military. Members of Father Duenas Memorial School's Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps provided color guard services.
Immediately following Bushong's speech, military members escorted island residents to lay wreaths and candles in front of the Talofofo Veterans Memorial Monument, erected in 1981 to recognize the fallen of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Mineman Seaman Apprentice Joshua Koellner, of NMC EAD Unit Guam, said it was an honor for him to participate as an escort. Guam is Koellner's first duty station since enlisting a year ago.
"It's paying tribute to fallen Soldiers who fought for our country and our freedom," Koellner said. "This means a lot."
Lt. Col. Brandon Baker, commanding officer of 9th Operations Group Detachment 3, Global Hawk, said it was an honor for his Air Force team to participate in the tribute.
"To be with family members of those that gave all, who gave everything for our nation, there's no higher respect that we can give them than to show up and support them," Baker said.
Hundreds of service members and island residents attended the Memorial Day ceremony at Veterans Cemetery in Piti, Guam, May 31. The event was hosted by the Office of the Governor and the Guam Veterans Affairs Office.
The ceremony started with a flyover by a 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron B-2 Spirit. The squadron operates out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and is currently deployed to Andersen Air Force Base.
Bushong served as guest speaker at this event as well, saying Memorial Day is to honor the nation's war dead and the ideals for which they gave their lives.
"Those same ideals that were defended at Gettysburg, ideals that have come to define our nation, the protection of liberty and freedom and the commitment to fight injustice," he said. "Memorial Day is dedicated to remembering the more than one million Americans who died defending these ideals while serving this nation in the military."
He noted how Guam's sons and daughters have answered the call to serve over the decades.
"They have aided America when our country called. I am awed and humbled by their unwavering display of patriotism and bravery," Bushong said.
"Our island and our people know firsthand the price of freedom," said Lt. Gov. of Guam Mike Cruz. "It is paid in blood, bought with unending vigilance, and earned by fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. They come from every walk of life, from every rung of the economic ladder, from every state and territory in this nation."
Honoring those men and women who sacrificed all, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Sailors, Marines and Soldiers placed wreaths on grave markers symbolizing the men and women who died fighting in various wars, including both World Wars; the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf Wars; and Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Chief Master Sgt. Allen Mullinex, 36th Wing command chief master sergeant, spoke of the pride he felt in standing beside fellow brothers- and sisters-at-arms in honoring the fallen.
"This is a humbling event for me," he said. "It honors those that went before us to protect our freedom of the United States and all our territories and actually other countries we've helped in the fight for their freedom."
Mullinex said the support from the community shown at that event and others throughout the year is something he appreciates. Youth from the Boy Scouts of America and various local schools' Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps assisted throughout the ceremony.
Mullinex said that involving these future leaders was a great way to ensure the freedoms service members of the past and present work so hard to secure are not taken for granted or forgotten.
"It gives all of us pride to know our country is behind us," he said.
Chief Boatswain's Mate (SW/AW) Leslie Bates, of Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron 7, Division 71, Detachment Echo, placed wreaths on the grave marker for service members whose lives were lost in Operation Iraqi Freedom. This was the first Memorial Day ceremony to have such a marker.
Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who died while during military service. Toward the end of the Civil War, groups of people honored the war dead by leaving flowers on their graves. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, and is celebrated on the last Monday in May.
June 1, 2010 - PITI, Guam (NNS) -- Service members on Guam honored the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to the nation during Memorial Day weekend ceremonies on Guam May 29.
The Annual Memorial Day Tribute Service in Talofofo, Guam, paid tribute the village's six sons who died during combat. The theme for the tribute was "You will never be forgotten."
Guest speaker at the event Rear Adm. Paul Bushong, commander, Joint Region Marianas, said nearly every family on Guam has lost or knows a family which has lost a loved one in battle.
"It is our responsibility as husbands, wives, parents, children, friends, and neighbors to honor those who have served and continue to serve, but particularly to preserve the memory of those who have fallen," Bushong said. "They are American heroes and it is for us to ensure that they will always be remembered and that they did not die in vain."
More than a dozen personnel from Navy Munitions Command East Asia Division (NMC EAD) Unit Guam and 9th Operations Group Detachment 3, Global Hawk on Andersen Air Force Base, attended the event and sat alongside other veterans, family members and friends of the military. Members of Father Duenas Memorial School's Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps provided color guard services.
Immediately following Bushong's speech, military members escorted island residents to lay wreaths and candles in front of the Talofofo Veterans Memorial Monument, erected in 1981 to recognize the fallen of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Mineman Seaman Apprentice Joshua Koellner, of NMC EAD Unit Guam, said it was an honor for him to participate as an escort. Guam is Koellner's first duty station since enlisting a year ago.
"It's paying tribute to fallen Soldiers who fought for our country and our freedom," Koellner said. "This means a lot."
Lt. Col. Brandon Baker, commanding officer of 9th Operations Group Detachment 3, Global Hawk, said it was an honor for his Air Force team to participate in the tribute.
"To be with family members of those that gave all, who gave everything for our nation, there's no higher respect that we can give them than to show up and support them," Baker said.
Hundreds of service members and island residents attended the Memorial Day ceremony at Veterans Cemetery in Piti, Guam, May 31. The event was hosted by the Office of the Governor and the Guam Veterans Affairs Office.
The ceremony started with a flyover by a 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron B-2 Spirit. The squadron operates out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and is currently deployed to Andersen Air Force Base.
Bushong served as guest speaker at this event as well, saying Memorial Day is to honor the nation's war dead and the ideals for which they gave their lives.
"Those same ideals that were defended at Gettysburg, ideals that have come to define our nation, the protection of liberty and freedom and the commitment to fight injustice," he said. "Memorial Day is dedicated to remembering the more than one million Americans who died defending these ideals while serving this nation in the military."
He noted how Guam's sons and daughters have answered the call to serve over the decades.
"They have aided America when our country called. I am awed and humbled by their unwavering display of patriotism and bravery," Bushong said.
"Our island and our people know firsthand the price of freedom," said Lt. Gov. of Guam Mike Cruz. "It is paid in blood, bought with unending vigilance, and earned by fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. They come from every walk of life, from every rung of the economic ladder, from every state and territory in this nation."
Honoring those men and women who sacrificed all, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Sailors, Marines and Soldiers placed wreaths on grave markers symbolizing the men and women who died fighting in various wars, including both World Wars; the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf Wars; and Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Chief Master Sgt. Allen Mullinex, 36th Wing command chief master sergeant, spoke of the pride he felt in standing beside fellow brothers- and sisters-at-arms in honoring the fallen.
"This is a humbling event for me," he said. "It honors those that went before us to protect our freedom of the United States and all our territories and actually other countries we've helped in the fight for their freedom."
Mullinex said the support from the community shown at that event and others throughout the year is something he appreciates. Youth from the Boy Scouts of America and various local schools' Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps assisted throughout the ceremony.
Mullinex said that involving these future leaders was a great way to ensure the freedoms service members of the past and present work so hard to secure are not taken for granted or forgotten.
"It gives all of us pride to know our country is behind us," he said.
Chief Boatswain's Mate (SW/AW) Leslie Bates, of Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron 7, Division 71, Detachment Echo, placed wreaths on the grave marker for service members whose lives were lost in Operation Iraqi Freedom. This was the first Memorial Day ceremony to have such a marker.
Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who died while during military service. Toward the end of the Civil War, groups of people honored the war dead by leaving flowers on their graves. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, and is celebrated on the last Monday in May.
YN, PS Advanced Course Gets a Makeover
By Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Melissa F. Weatherspoon, Center for Service Support Public Affairs
June 1, 2010 - NEWPORT, R.I. (NNS) -- Training specialists from the Center for Service Support in Newport, R.I., and its learning sites in Norfolk and San Diego tested the improved and modernized Yeoman/Personnel Specialist Advanced Administration Course, graduating seven students May 28 in San Diego.
The updated course blends computer-based training with traditional classroom instruction to bring the course up-to-date and in step with the ever-changing world of enlisted command and personnel administrators.
"As the environment in which command administrators work changes and evolves, so too, must the training and the curriculum by which we train our yeoman and personnel specialists," said Chris Leahy, one of CSS's instructional systems specialists.
Today's Navy demands that YNs and PSs be more technically proficient and well-versed in all aspects of naval administration and personnel. Therefore, according to Leahy, "graduates of this course of instruction now have a better understanding of the many technical elements of their ratings and will, as a result, be more efficient and effective members of their respective command administration teams."
Although only a small number of YNs and PSs graduated from the pilot course, the regularly scheduled course set to kick off in October 2010 will allow for approximately 400 students to attend annually in San Diego as well as the CSS Learning Site in Norfolk. Each site is scheduled to conduct eight classes per year.
The one-week, computer-based portion of the training must be completed at the prospective student's parent command prior to his or her arrival in either Norfolk or San Diego for the two-week residence portion. For last month's pilot course, however, the students completed the computer training at the schoolhouse with CSS staffers on hand to monitor the process.
The computer-based modules "were really helpful to have as a refresher of the 'big picture' and to help build a foundation in order to concentrate on the specifics during the instructor portion and to help find answers to our everyday issues," said Personnel Specialist 2nd Class Gerardo Arbulu, currently stationed at the Personnel Support Detachment in Sigonella, Italy. "[This training provides] great tools for Sailors that want to be better leaders and supervisors."
In developing curriculum, it is the responsibility of CSS and its learning sites to support the Navy's forward-deployed and widely distributed force by delivering more proficient and knowledgeable Sailors in less time. The blended solution as seen in this new course is designed to do just that.
"I strongly think that hybrid learning of computer-based training in the Navy Knowledge Online (portal) being used for pre-requisite requirements followed by the traditional classroom training will pave its way in the fleet," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Sotingco, officer in charge of the CSS San Diego learning site. "We are leveraging on new technologies familiar to our students, which provides a general overview and introduction to more-detailed topics once the [classroom portion] starts. This poises students to successfully meet and retain knowledge and skills that can be immediately employed upon graduation."
The course's lesson plans are tailored to enlisted leaders in the command and personnel administration workcenters, so this advanced course is restricted to top-performing first- and second-class petty officers. However, waivers for hard-charging third-class petty officers will be considered. To enroll in the course, interested Sailors meeting the course criteria should request to attend via their chains of command and educational services officer. More information about the course can be found in the Catalog of Naval Courses.
June 1, 2010 - NEWPORT, R.I. (NNS) -- Training specialists from the Center for Service Support in Newport, R.I., and its learning sites in Norfolk and San Diego tested the improved and modernized Yeoman/Personnel Specialist Advanced Administration Course, graduating seven students May 28 in San Diego.
The updated course blends computer-based training with traditional classroom instruction to bring the course up-to-date and in step with the ever-changing world of enlisted command and personnel administrators.
"As the environment in which command administrators work changes and evolves, so too, must the training and the curriculum by which we train our yeoman and personnel specialists," said Chris Leahy, one of CSS's instructional systems specialists.
Today's Navy demands that YNs and PSs be more technically proficient and well-versed in all aspects of naval administration and personnel. Therefore, according to Leahy, "graduates of this course of instruction now have a better understanding of the many technical elements of their ratings and will, as a result, be more efficient and effective members of their respective command administration teams."
Although only a small number of YNs and PSs graduated from the pilot course, the regularly scheduled course set to kick off in October 2010 will allow for approximately 400 students to attend annually in San Diego as well as the CSS Learning Site in Norfolk. Each site is scheduled to conduct eight classes per year.
The one-week, computer-based portion of the training must be completed at the prospective student's parent command prior to his or her arrival in either Norfolk or San Diego for the two-week residence portion. For last month's pilot course, however, the students completed the computer training at the schoolhouse with CSS staffers on hand to monitor the process.
The computer-based modules "were really helpful to have as a refresher of the 'big picture' and to help build a foundation in order to concentrate on the specifics during the instructor portion and to help find answers to our everyday issues," said Personnel Specialist 2nd Class Gerardo Arbulu, currently stationed at the Personnel Support Detachment in Sigonella, Italy. "[This training provides] great tools for Sailors that want to be better leaders and supervisors."
In developing curriculum, it is the responsibility of CSS and its learning sites to support the Navy's forward-deployed and widely distributed force by delivering more proficient and knowledgeable Sailors in less time. The blended solution as seen in this new course is designed to do just that.
"I strongly think that hybrid learning of computer-based training in the Navy Knowledge Online (portal) being used for pre-requisite requirements followed by the traditional classroom training will pave its way in the fleet," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Sotingco, officer in charge of the CSS San Diego learning site. "We are leveraging on new technologies familiar to our students, which provides a general overview and introduction to more-detailed topics once the [classroom portion] starts. This poises students to successfully meet and retain knowledge and skills that can be immediately employed upon graduation."
The course's lesson plans are tailored to enlisted leaders in the command and personnel administration workcenters, so this advanced course is restricted to top-performing first- and second-class petty officers. However, waivers for hard-charging third-class petty officers will be considered. To enroll in the course, interested Sailors meeting the course criteria should request to attend via their chains of command and educational services officer. More information about the course can be found in the Catalog of Naval Courses.
CNO Rides to Recovery on Memorial Day
June 1, 2010 - WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead cycled nearly 50 miles on the first day of the Ride 2 Recovery Memorial Challenge that began in Arlington, Va., and concluded in Manassas, Va., May 31.
Roughead, a cycling enthusiast, participated in the ride alongside Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George Casey Jr. and more than 200 injured veterans and supporters to help promote the organization's mission.
"I think it causes people to focus on moving forward," said Roughead. "It's physical, it's mental and you draw energy from the people around you - it's just really great."
CNO said it was an honor to be a part of the event and that he gets energy and inspiration from the extraordinary effort of those who rode with him.
"The example that you set, how you have driven on is just a reminder that life is like riding a bicycle, you got to keep moving otherwise you won't get where you have to go," said Roughead.
This was Roughead's second Ride 2 Recovery event. He rode in an event in Florida Dec. 17, 2009.
This is the first Ride 2 Recovery Memorial Challenge that began at Whipple Field on Fort Meyer. It will conclude at Virginia Beach June 5 at the Patriotic Festival. The ride encompasses six days and more than 350 miles. The Ride 2 Recovery is an organization which encourages both the mental and physical rehabilitation of veterans and active-duty service members while honoring the sacrifices they have made.
Vietnam Combat Lessons Apply Today, Mullen Says
By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service
June 1, 2010 - The military's top officer yesterday called on Vietnam Veterans to stay connected with today's servicemembers, saying their lessons learned, especially with post-traumatic stress disorder, can help veterans of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the comments as he led a Memorial Day observance at the Vietnam War Memorial here just before six names of fallen Vietnam veterans were added to the iconic, black marble wall.
"The Vietnam conflict was a life-defining experience for every American who lived during that era, and it continues to impact us all: the pain, the conflict, the healing," Mullen said, noting that Vietnam was his first war experience. "The lessons we learned in Vietnam were bought at a very great price. Acting on them is the best tribute we can pay to honor those who died."
Mullen noted that he and his wife, Deborah, came to The Wall after touring Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60 where many Vietnam veterans are buried near those fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. "As we come to this very hallowed ground, in ways it is like coming home," he said. "I, too, have friends on The Wall. I have classmates on The Wall."
When the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began after Sept. 11, 2001, Mullen said, he vowed to do everything possible to prevent the disconnect that happened between the American public and the military during the Vietnam war. To his relief, he said, Americans "are so incredibly supportive of our military men and women now."
Mullen said he attributes the changed attitudes to the lessons learned from the Vietnam war era about supporting troops unconditionally. "During that time, as a country, we were unable to separate the politics from the people," he said. "We must never allow America to become disconnected from her military. Never. "That's why this site, this wall, is so special," he continued. "Rather than separating us, this wall binds us together as nation. It has become, in the words of General [Barry] McCaffrey, a national place of healing."
The memorial on the National Mall memorializes more than three million Americans who served during the Vietnam war and more than 58,000 who died from combat-related injuries and illnesses.
The six names added yesterday are: Marine Lance Cpl. John E. Granville of Los Angeles, Marine Lance Cpl. Clayton K. Hough Jr. of Massachusetts, Army Capt. Edward F. Miles of New York, Army Sgt. Michael J. Morehouse of Kentucky, Army Lt. Col. William Taylor of Florida, and Marine Cpl. Ronald M. Vivona of New York.
"As your loved ones now join their brothers and sisters, we hope this day helps to bring you closure and peace," Mullen told the families of the six veterans' families.
Mullen asked surviving Vietnam veterans to reach out to today's veterans, especially in reducing the stigma of mental health treatment. Whether coping with anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts, he said, "having an experienced battle buddy you can turn to makes all the difference."
Mullen said his friend, former Marine Corp commandant Michael W. Hagee has said "Every Marine, every soldier he ever saw who was in combat suffered from post-traumatic stress. And I readily believe the same is true for today's ground forces."
He encouraged the veterans to share their experiences.
"We know we stand on the shoulders of the Vietnam generation as our young Americans in uniform give all they have to provide our children and grandchildren a safer world," Mullen said. "Let us honor their legacy by learning from them, listening to one another, and staying connected in the future."
American Forces Press Service
June 1, 2010 - The military's top officer yesterday called on Vietnam Veterans to stay connected with today's servicemembers, saying their lessons learned, especially with post-traumatic stress disorder, can help veterans of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the comments as he led a Memorial Day observance at the Vietnam War Memorial here just before six names of fallen Vietnam veterans were added to the iconic, black marble wall.
"The Vietnam conflict was a life-defining experience for every American who lived during that era, and it continues to impact us all: the pain, the conflict, the healing," Mullen said, noting that Vietnam was his first war experience. "The lessons we learned in Vietnam were bought at a very great price. Acting on them is the best tribute we can pay to honor those who died."
Mullen noted that he and his wife, Deborah, came to The Wall after touring Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60 where many Vietnam veterans are buried near those fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. "As we come to this very hallowed ground, in ways it is like coming home," he said. "I, too, have friends on The Wall. I have classmates on The Wall."
When the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began after Sept. 11, 2001, Mullen said, he vowed to do everything possible to prevent the disconnect that happened between the American public and the military during the Vietnam war. To his relief, he said, Americans "are so incredibly supportive of our military men and women now."
Mullen said he attributes the changed attitudes to the lessons learned from the Vietnam war era about supporting troops unconditionally. "During that time, as a country, we were unable to separate the politics from the people," he said. "We must never allow America to become disconnected from her military. Never. "That's why this site, this wall, is so special," he continued. "Rather than separating us, this wall binds us together as nation. It has become, in the words of General [Barry] McCaffrey, a national place of healing."
The memorial on the National Mall memorializes more than three million Americans who served during the Vietnam war and more than 58,000 who died from combat-related injuries and illnesses.
The six names added yesterday are: Marine Lance Cpl. John E. Granville of Los Angeles, Marine Lance Cpl. Clayton K. Hough Jr. of Massachusetts, Army Capt. Edward F. Miles of New York, Army Sgt. Michael J. Morehouse of Kentucky, Army Lt. Col. William Taylor of Florida, and Marine Cpl. Ronald M. Vivona of New York.
"As your loved ones now join their brothers and sisters, we hope this day helps to bring you closure and peace," Mullen told the families of the six veterans' families.
Mullen asked surviving Vietnam veterans to reach out to today's veterans, especially in reducing the stigma of mental health treatment. Whether coping with anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts, he said, "having an experienced battle buddy you can turn to makes all the difference."
Mullen said his friend, former Marine Corp commandant Michael W. Hagee has said "Every Marine, every soldier he ever saw who was in combat suffered from post-traumatic stress. And I readily believe the same is true for today's ground forces."
He encouraged the veterans to share their experiences.
"We know we stand on the shoulders of the Vietnam generation as our young Americans in uniform give all they have to provide our children and grandchildren a safer world," Mullen said. "Let us honor their legacy by learning from them, listening to one another, and staying connected in the future."
Northcom Chief Cites Mexico Partnership as Top Priority
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
June 1, 2010 - Confident in the strength of the U.S.-Canada security relationship, the new commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command said he's turning his focus southward.
"The Number 1 priority is going to be our partnership with Mexico. There is just no question," Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. told reporters here last week.
Winnefeld is touring the southwestern U.S. border region today, accepting the invitation extended by Arizona Sen. John McCain during Winnefeld's April confirmation hearing. It's Winnefeld's first visit there since assuming command on May 19, and he told reporters he's looking forward to getting a deeper understanding of the issues involved.
Although detailed plans are still being worked, the up to 1,200 National Guard troops expected to deploy to the U.S.-Mexican border as part of President Barack Obama's border-security initiative aren't expected to report to Winnefeld. The Guard members will serve under Title 32 authority, paid for with federal funds but under their state governors' authority.
However, Winnefeld sees himself as instrumental in helping to ensure the Mexicans understand what their role will be – and more importantly, what it won't be.
"This is not militarizing the border. There is no intent to do that," the admiral said. "This is a civil support mission that is a bridge until some of the $500 million that the president has identified to plus up the [federal law enforcement capability along the border] gets into place."
Winnefeld recognizes the importance of perception. "We have to make sure it is shaped appropriately so we don't achieve a tactical victory and end up with a strategic loss, particularly with our partners in Mexico," he said.
Obama's plan ensures these and other issues are addressed, he said, and recognizes that both countries have a stake in controlling cross-border trafficking.
"We are looking at stuff going south" – primarily cash and weapons – "as much as we are looking at stuff going north" – narcotics and other illicit materials, Winnefeld said. "And that is important to our partners."
He emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Mexico partnership and the role Northcom can play.
Working in cooperation with U.S. Southern Command, Winnefeld sees "tremendous opportunity" to build closer ties between the U.S. and Mexican militaries in ways that both countries find acceptable.
"The military-to-military relationship with Mexico we have has never been better," Winnefeld said. He credited efforts made by Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Air Force Gen. Victor "Eugene" Renuart, Winnefeld's predecessor at Northcom.
It's an equal partnership built on full respect for Mexico's sovereignty, he said.
The relationship-building also recognizes that addressing these challenges does not require U.S. boots on the ground, Winnefeld said, at least in the operational sense.
"We are just not interested in doing that and the Mexicans are not interested in having us [to] do that," he said. "But, there is a tremendous amount of opportunity in between that" to share training, information and intelligence and to help the Mexican military build capacity and capability."
Winnefeld emphasized during his confirmation hearing the importance of both Northcom's and NORAD's relationships, particularly with Canada and Mexico. "I've observed that there are no other combatant commands where support for their partners [is] more important than these two," he told the Senate panel.
NORAD, which celebrated its 52nd anniversary this year, stands as a testament to the enduring U.S.-Canadian defense relationship, Winnefeld told reporters.
Winnefeld expressed concern during his confirmation hearing that drug-dealing and other criminal cartels threaten U.S. national security as well as the Mexican government. He praised Mexican President Felipe Calderon's leadership and courage in confronting these challenges.
During his visit here last week, Mullen emphasized the importance of strengthening the relationship between the United States and Mexico.
"We're looking for ways to assist them and support them where they ask us to support them," he said at a town hall session. "I also think there are wonderful opportunities to strengthen the relationship between our countries and between our militaries."
It all boils down to trust, Mullen said, and the ability to see issues from another country's perspective.
"It is critical that you try to see it from their perspective," he said. "They are a neighbor. They are a good friend. And we want to do as much as we can to support them."
American Forces Press Service
June 1, 2010 - Confident in the strength of the U.S.-Canada security relationship, the new commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command said he's turning his focus southward.
"The Number 1 priority is going to be our partnership with Mexico. There is just no question," Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. told reporters here last week.
Winnefeld is touring the southwestern U.S. border region today, accepting the invitation extended by Arizona Sen. John McCain during Winnefeld's April confirmation hearing. It's Winnefeld's first visit there since assuming command on May 19, and he told reporters he's looking forward to getting a deeper understanding of the issues involved.
Although detailed plans are still being worked, the up to 1,200 National Guard troops expected to deploy to the U.S.-Mexican border as part of President Barack Obama's border-security initiative aren't expected to report to Winnefeld. The Guard members will serve under Title 32 authority, paid for with federal funds but under their state governors' authority.
However, Winnefeld sees himself as instrumental in helping to ensure the Mexicans understand what their role will be – and more importantly, what it won't be.
"This is not militarizing the border. There is no intent to do that," the admiral said. "This is a civil support mission that is a bridge until some of the $500 million that the president has identified to plus up the [federal law enforcement capability along the border] gets into place."
Winnefeld recognizes the importance of perception. "We have to make sure it is shaped appropriately so we don't achieve a tactical victory and end up with a strategic loss, particularly with our partners in Mexico," he said.
Obama's plan ensures these and other issues are addressed, he said, and recognizes that both countries have a stake in controlling cross-border trafficking.
"We are looking at stuff going south" – primarily cash and weapons – "as much as we are looking at stuff going north" – narcotics and other illicit materials, Winnefeld said. "And that is important to our partners."
He emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Mexico partnership and the role Northcom can play.
Working in cooperation with U.S. Southern Command, Winnefeld sees "tremendous opportunity" to build closer ties between the U.S. and Mexican militaries in ways that both countries find acceptable.
"The military-to-military relationship with Mexico we have has never been better," Winnefeld said. He credited efforts made by Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Air Force Gen. Victor "Eugene" Renuart, Winnefeld's predecessor at Northcom.
It's an equal partnership built on full respect for Mexico's sovereignty, he said.
The relationship-building also recognizes that addressing these challenges does not require U.S. boots on the ground, Winnefeld said, at least in the operational sense.
"We are just not interested in doing that and the Mexicans are not interested in having us [to] do that," he said. "But, there is a tremendous amount of opportunity in between that" to share training, information and intelligence and to help the Mexican military build capacity and capability."
Winnefeld emphasized during his confirmation hearing the importance of both Northcom's and NORAD's relationships, particularly with Canada and Mexico. "I've observed that there are no other combatant commands where support for their partners [is] more important than these two," he told the Senate panel.
NORAD, which celebrated its 52nd anniversary this year, stands as a testament to the enduring U.S.-Canadian defense relationship, Winnefeld told reporters.
Winnefeld expressed concern during his confirmation hearing that drug-dealing and other criminal cartels threaten U.S. national security as well as the Mexican government. He praised Mexican President Felipe Calderon's leadership and courage in confronting these challenges.
During his visit here last week, Mullen emphasized the importance of strengthening the relationship between the United States and Mexico.
"We're looking for ways to assist them and support them where they ask us to support them," he said at a town hall session. "I also think there are wonderful opportunities to strengthen the relationship between our countries and between our militaries."
It all boils down to trust, Mullen said, and the ability to see issues from another country's perspective.
"It is critical that you try to see it from their perspective," he said. "They are a neighbor. They are a good friend. And we want to do as much as we can to support them."
Children of Fallen Find Comfort at TAPS Camp
American Forces Press Service
June 1, 2010 - Trevor Jones peers into the vivid blue sky, tightly gripping the string holding his balloon. A warm breeze is blowing, and his blue balloon bobs against the dozens of red and white ones around it, each held by a child.
The children wait expectantly for the command. The cacophony of chatter dies down just moments before a woman calls out: "Let 'em go!"
Trevor releases his balloon into the wind, where it joins hundreds of others rising into the sky. They separate and rise swiftly as the children tilt their heads back, squinting into the sun as they strain to keep an eye on their balloon. They don't look away until the balloons become just distant specks.
Tied to each balloon are one or more messages to a loved one – a father or mother, sister or brother – who had died while serving the nation.
Some of the messages contained a simple, "I love you" or "I miss you." Eight-year-old Trevor chose to keep his private, a personal moment between him and his soldier dad, who died of a pulmonary embolism three years ago.
The balloon release was one of the culminating events of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors' Good Grief Camp held in Crystal City, Va., over Memorial Day weekend. About 375 children attended the camp, held in conjunction with the 16th annual TAPS National Military Survivor Seminar. Along with the children, more than 650 adult survivors also attended the seminar, said Ami Neiberger-Miller, TAPS public affairs officer.
While TAPS sponsors regional children's camps throughout the year, this D.C.-area camp is the largest, drawing families from across the nation.
"They learn how to express feelings, that whatever they're feeling is OK," Neiberger-Miller said as children lined up to head back to the hotel. She understands the process on a personal level. Her brother, Army Spc. Christopher Neiberger, was killed in Baghdad on Aug. 6, 2007, from wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device attack.
Along with the loss of a loved one, military children also suffer secondary losses, she noted. If the surviving parent doesn't also serve, the family often will move to a new community, and the child loses a familiar environment as well as a known peer support network of teachers and neighbors. The people around them may not understand what the child is going through, she added.
A network of care is vital, Neiberger-Miller said, and is something the camp aims to provide.
"We do a lot of activities with children that talk about feelings and how to express their feelings, and they learn whatever they're feeling is OK," she said.
"You can't take away the pain a child feels, as much as all of us wish we could," she continued. "But what we can do is give them skills to cope, strategies to cope, and give them a peer support network with other children."
The camp features "grief work" customized for all ages, since those who attend range from preschoolers to high school seniors.
The younger children, for instance, made life-size self-portraits on which they are asked to express their feelings. Some children made their feet extra big to show how grief weighs them down, while others changed their skin color to show how sick grief makes them feel, Neiberger-Miller said.
The older children also have an opportunity to blow off some steam at a teen bash, a hugely popular event, she said.
All campers work one-on-one with a mentor, who guides the child through the camp and also offers a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to cry on. The mentors are mostly active-duty servicemembers ranging from privates to generals, and represent all military services.
"This camp is just amazing," said Army Cpl. Eric Lichtenberg, a three-time camp mentor stationed at Fort Myer, Va. This year, he was paired with Trevor.
Lichtenberg said he has noticed a difference in Trevor, even over such a short time.
"It's slow; he's very reserved," he said. "But now and again, he'll talk about his dad. This is his first year here so he's still fresh in the grief process.
"It's comforting to know that something like this is here if my kids should need it," he said. "What this camp means to these kids ..." his words trailed off as he fought to hold back his tears.
Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Todd Kirby, a two-time mentor who works for the Defense Information Systems Agency in Arlington, Va., was drawn to the camp, hoping to give back to the families who have sacrificed so much. Kirby, who is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, said he's also glad TAPS is there to help his family, if needed.
Kirby mentors 18-year-old Ben Suplee, of York, Pa., whose father, Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel A. Suplee, died four years ago of injuries sustained when his Humvee was involved in a traffic accident in Kabul, Afghanistan. Kirby has spent time teaching Ben about expressing his emotions. He stressed the importance of talking and of understanding that some emotional outbreaks are fueled by grief.
He believes it's not just the talking, but the military connection the mentors provide that's beneficial to the children.
"Mentors offer a military mindset and that military perspective they're so familiar with," he said.
This is Ben's fourth year at the Good Grief Camp. He said he learns something new each year. This time, he's walking away with a more-positive attitude, he said.
The camp "gives us kids a sense of we're not alone in this fight of grieving," he said. While Trevor chose to keep his message private, Ben was eager to share the message to his father that he released into the wind:
"I love and miss you, Dad, and wish you could see the man I've become. Love, Ben."
MILITARY CONTRACTS June 1, 2010
NAVY
Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc., Frederick, Md., is being awarded a $94,919,758 maximum contract value firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ordering quantity of 500 expeditionary water purification systems. The initial delivery order is for three systems, and is valued at $1,116,000. Work will be performed in Frederick, Md., and is expected to be complete by May 31, 2015. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is a full and open competition with two offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-10-D-5034).
ARMY
Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 24 a $66,915,870 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 22 engineering change proposals to incorporate into 421 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles. Work is to be performed in Oshkosh, Wis., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, CCTA-ADC-A, Warren, Wis., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on May 25 a $45,633,519 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 980 stabilized commanders weapons stations. Work is to be performed in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM- Warren, CCTA-AHL-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-G-0006).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on May 25 a $45,517,686 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 261 stabilized commanders weapons stations. Work is to be performed in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM- Warren, CCTA-AHL-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-G-0006).
Critical Solution International, Inc., Carrolton, Texas, was awarded on May 24 a $40,601,966 firm-fixed-price contract for 10 vehicle-mounted mine detectors (VMMD) without mine detonation trailer systems (MDTS); 11 VMMD with MDTS; and accompanying handoff training, OPNET training, and maintainer training classes. Work is to be performed in Gauteng, South Africa, with an estimated completed date of Dec. 21, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM-Warren, CCTA-ADC-B, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-D-0001).
Protective Products Enterprises, Sunrise, Fla., was awarded on May 24 a $35,850,000 firm-fixed-price contract for 60,000 improved outer tactical vests in universal camouflage pattern, "IAW Product Description No. FQ/PD 07-05E," dated April 23, 2010. The vests are to be delivered within 120 calendar days after the first article testing approval letter. Work is to be performed Sunrise, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 27, 2010. Eight bids were solicited with two bids received. Research, Development & Engineering Command Contracting Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
GM GDLS Defense Group, LLC, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on May 25 a $29,131,606 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for action funds of 14 additional Stryker Double-V Hull prototype vehicles for government ballistic testing, performance/durability testing, and logistics demonstration. Work is to be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich. (41 percent); and London, Canada (59 percent), with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM, CCTA-AI, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
CTA Construction Co., Inc., Boston, Mass., was awarded on May 25 a $23,786,712 firm-fixed-price contract for commercial and institutional building construction, Massachusetts National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, Hanscom Air Force Base. Work is to be performed in Bedford, Mass., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 23, 2011. Fifteen bids were solicited with four bids received. National Guard Bureau, USPFO-MA, Milford, Mass., is the contracting activity (W912SV-10-C-0101).
Oakland Construction, Salt Lake City, Utah, was awarded on May 27 a $22,041,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of F-22 radar cross section test facility, Hill Air Force Base. Work is to be performed in Hill Air Force Base, Utah, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 14, 2012. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with eight bids received. U.S. Army Engineer District, Sacramento, Calif., is the contracting activity (W91238-10-C-0023).
Foster-Miller, Inc., Waltham, Mass., was awarded on May 24 a $21,814,805 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 651 spall liner kits for the RG-31 vehicle platform to support ongoing route clearance vehicle missions in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. An urgent and compelling justification and authority was approved, and this is a DX-rated program. Work is to be performed in Waltham, Mass., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2010. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pa., is the contracting activity (W911N2-10-C-0036).
Raytheon Co., Andover, Mass., was awarded on May 25 a $21,327,812 firm-fixed-price contract for the delivery of spares for Taiwan PAC-3 configuration upgrade, and Kuwait Patriot radar upgrade confidential spares. Work is to be performed in Andover, Mass., with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aviation & Missile Command Contracting Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-09-G-0002).
Oshkosh Corp, Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 27 a $20,829,704 firm-fixed-price contract for 1,400 Check-6 rear view sensor systems on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle. Work is to be performed in Oshkosh, Wis., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, CCTA-ADCA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
GM GDLS Defense Group, LLC, JV, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on May 25 a $19,925,190 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance engineering support for the Stryker family of vehicles. Work is to be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2011. One bid solicited with one bid received. TACOM Contracting Center, CCTA-AI, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
Caterpillar, Inc., Mossville, Ill., was awarded on May 27 a $18,129,057 firm-fixed-price contract for 15 motorized graders with Type A kits; one lot extended warranty for 15 graders; 48 motorized graders with Type A kits; one lot extended warranty for 48 graders; three motorized graders with Type B kits; and 27 motorized graders with Type B kits. Work is to be performed in Mossville, Ill., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2012. Bids were solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities Web site with two bids received. TACOM-Warren, CCTA-ADE-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-D-0037).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum, Md., was awarded on May 24 a $17,100,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the high altitude lidar operations experiment that will conduct a 3-D data collection of locations outside the contiguous U.S. to support a range of pressing warfighter needs. Work is to be performed in Linthicum, Md. (97 percent), San Diego, Calif. (2 percent), and Columbia, Md. (1 percent), with an estimated completion date of March 11, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 27 a $10,385,095 firm-fixed-price contract for 698 Check-6 rear view sensor systems on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All -Terrain Vehicles. Work is to be performed in Oshkosh, Wis. (50 percent), and McConnellsburg, Pa. (50 percent), with an estimated completed date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, AMSCC-TAC-ADCA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 27 a $15,458,616 firm-fixed-price contract for 1,039 Check-6 rear view sensor systems on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All -Terrain Vehicles. Work is to be performed in Oshkosh, Wis., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, AMSCC-TAC-ADCA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
AM General, LLC, South Bend, Ind., was awarded on May 25 a $6,815,223 firm-fixed-price contract to add 50 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles to contract. Work is to be performed in Mishawaka, Ind., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2010. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM Warren, CCTA-ATA-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
TW Metals, Inc., Carol Stream, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $50,000,000 fixed-price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for heat-treated aluminum sheet and plate stock. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. The original proposal was Web-solicited with five responses. The date of performance completion is May 31, 2012. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM8ES-10-D-0010).
Camel Manufacturing Co.*, Pioneer, Tenn., is being awarded a maximum $5,261,079 fixed-price with economic price adjustment, total set-aside contract for modular command posts. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The original proposal was solicited via the Defense Logistics Agency Internet Bid Board System with four responses. The date of performance completion is Oct. 31, 2011. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM1C1-10-D-1050).
MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a sole-source cost-plus-award-fee modification for $40,222,995. Under this contract, Boeing will continue post-flight experiment Laser 01 work with additional missile engagement scenarios and flight testing to include all required support. The work will be performed in Seattle, Wash., and at three California locations: Edwards Air Force Base, Sunnyvale, and Redondo Beach. The performance period is from June 2010 through September 2010. Fiscal 2010 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be used to obligate $20,000,000 for this effort. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (F29601-97-C-0001).
Torch Technologies, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (HQ0006-10-D-7092) with a maximum value of $9,709,503. Under this contract, Torch Technologies will conduct research and development on algorithms, operational software, and a new concept of operations for space and airborne infrared tracking systems and missile defense radars, supporting the Ballistic Missile Defense System. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Ala., with a five-year period of performance from June 2010 through June 2015. Research, development, test and evaluation funding fiscal 2010 will be used to incrementally fund the fiscal 2010 effort in the amount of $1,075,000. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity. Small business
Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc., Frederick, Md., is being awarded a $94,919,758 maximum contract value firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ordering quantity of 500 expeditionary water purification systems. The initial delivery order is for three systems, and is valued at $1,116,000. Work will be performed in Frederick, Md., and is expected to be complete by May 31, 2015. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is a full and open competition with two offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-10-D-5034).
ARMY
Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 24 a $66,915,870 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 22 engineering change proposals to incorporate into 421 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles. Work is to be performed in Oshkosh, Wis., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, CCTA-ADC-A, Warren, Wis., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on May 25 a $45,633,519 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 980 stabilized commanders weapons stations. Work is to be performed in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM- Warren, CCTA-AHL-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-G-0006).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on May 25 a $45,517,686 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 261 stabilized commanders weapons stations. Work is to be performed in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM- Warren, CCTA-AHL-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-G-0006).
Critical Solution International, Inc., Carrolton, Texas, was awarded on May 24 a $40,601,966 firm-fixed-price contract for 10 vehicle-mounted mine detectors (VMMD) without mine detonation trailer systems (MDTS); 11 VMMD with MDTS; and accompanying handoff training, OPNET training, and maintainer training classes. Work is to be performed in Gauteng, South Africa, with an estimated completed date of Dec. 21, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM-Warren, CCTA-ADC-B, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-D-0001).
Protective Products Enterprises, Sunrise, Fla., was awarded on May 24 a $35,850,000 firm-fixed-price contract for 60,000 improved outer tactical vests in universal camouflage pattern, "IAW Product Description No. FQ/PD 07-05E," dated April 23, 2010. The vests are to be delivered within 120 calendar days after the first article testing approval letter. Work is to be performed Sunrise, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 27, 2010. Eight bids were solicited with two bids received. Research, Development & Engineering Command Contracting Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
GM GDLS Defense Group, LLC, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on May 25 a $29,131,606 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for action funds of 14 additional Stryker Double-V Hull prototype vehicles for government ballistic testing, performance/durability testing, and logistics demonstration. Work is to be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich. (41 percent); and London, Canada (59 percent), with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM, CCTA-AI, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
CTA Construction Co., Inc., Boston, Mass., was awarded on May 25 a $23,786,712 firm-fixed-price contract for commercial and institutional building construction, Massachusetts National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, Hanscom Air Force Base. Work is to be performed in Bedford, Mass., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 23, 2011. Fifteen bids were solicited with four bids received. National Guard Bureau, USPFO-MA, Milford, Mass., is the contracting activity (W912SV-10-C-0101).
Oakland Construction, Salt Lake City, Utah, was awarded on May 27 a $22,041,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of F-22 radar cross section test facility, Hill Air Force Base. Work is to be performed in Hill Air Force Base, Utah, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 14, 2012. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with eight bids received. U.S. Army Engineer District, Sacramento, Calif., is the contracting activity (W91238-10-C-0023).
Foster-Miller, Inc., Waltham, Mass., was awarded on May 24 a $21,814,805 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 651 spall liner kits for the RG-31 vehicle platform to support ongoing route clearance vehicle missions in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. An urgent and compelling justification and authority was approved, and this is a DX-rated program. Work is to be performed in Waltham, Mass., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2010. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pa., is the contracting activity (W911N2-10-C-0036).
Raytheon Co., Andover, Mass., was awarded on May 25 a $21,327,812 firm-fixed-price contract for the delivery of spares for Taiwan PAC-3 configuration upgrade, and Kuwait Patriot radar upgrade confidential spares. Work is to be performed in Andover, Mass., with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aviation & Missile Command Contracting Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-09-G-0002).
Oshkosh Corp, Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 27 a $20,829,704 firm-fixed-price contract for 1,400 Check-6 rear view sensor systems on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle. Work is to be performed in Oshkosh, Wis., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, CCTA-ADCA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
GM GDLS Defense Group, LLC, JV, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on May 25 a $19,925,190 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance engineering support for the Stryker family of vehicles. Work is to be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2011. One bid solicited with one bid received. TACOM Contracting Center, CCTA-AI, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).
Caterpillar, Inc., Mossville, Ill., was awarded on May 27 a $18,129,057 firm-fixed-price contract for 15 motorized graders with Type A kits; one lot extended warranty for 15 graders; 48 motorized graders with Type A kits; one lot extended warranty for 48 graders; three motorized graders with Type B kits; and 27 motorized graders with Type B kits. Work is to be performed in Mossville, Ill., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2012. Bids were solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities Web site with two bids received. TACOM-Warren, CCTA-ADE-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-D-0037).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum, Md., was awarded on May 24 a $17,100,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the high altitude lidar operations experiment that will conduct a 3-D data collection of locations outside the contiguous U.S. to support a range of pressing warfighter needs. Work is to be performed in Linthicum, Md. (97 percent), San Diego, Calif. (2 percent), and Columbia, Md. (1 percent), with an estimated completion date of March 11, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 27 a $10,385,095 firm-fixed-price contract for 698 Check-6 rear view sensor systems on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All -Terrain Vehicles. Work is to be performed in Oshkosh, Wis. (50 percent), and McConnellsburg, Pa. (50 percent), with an estimated completed date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, AMSCC-TAC-ADCA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 27 a $15,458,616 firm-fixed-price contract for 1,039 Check-6 rear view sensor systems on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All -Terrain Vehicles. Work is to be performed in Oshkosh, Wis., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. TACOM, AMSCC-TAC-ADCA, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
AM General, LLC, South Bend, Ind., was awarded on May 25 a $6,815,223 firm-fixed-price contract to add 50 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles to contract. Work is to be performed in Mishawaka, Ind., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2010. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM Warren, CCTA-ATA-C, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
TW Metals, Inc., Carol Stream, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $50,000,000 fixed-price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for heat-treated aluminum sheet and plate stock. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. The original proposal was Web-solicited with five responses. The date of performance completion is May 31, 2012. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM8ES-10-D-0010).
Camel Manufacturing Co.*, Pioneer, Tenn., is being awarded a maximum $5,261,079 fixed-price with economic price adjustment, total set-aside contract for modular command posts. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The original proposal was solicited via the Defense Logistics Agency Internet Bid Board System with four responses. The date of performance completion is Oct. 31, 2011. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM1C1-10-D-1050).
MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a sole-source cost-plus-award-fee modification for $40,222,995. Under this contract, Boeing will continue post-flight experiment Laser 01 work with additional missile engagement scenarios and flight testing to include all required support. The work will be performed in Seattle, Wash., and at three California locations: Edwards Air Force Base, Sunnyvale, and Redondo Beach. The performance period is from June 2010 through September 2010. Fiscal 2010 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be used to obligate $20,000,000 for this effort. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (F29601-97-C-0001).
Torch Technologies, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (HQ0006-10-D-7092) with a maximum value of $9,709,503. Under this contract, Torch Technologies will conduct research and development on algorithms, operational software, and a new concept of operations for space and airborne infrared tracking systems and missile defense radars, supporting the Ballistic Missile Defense System. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Ala., with a five-year period of performance from June 2010 through June 2015. Research, development, test and evaluation funding fiscal 2010 will be used to incrementally fund the fiscal 2010 effort in the amount of $1,075,000. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity. Small business
U.S. Navy Ship Disrupts Suspected Pirate Attack
By Lt. j.g. Kyra D. Lassiter
USS San Jacinto Public Affairs
June 1, 2010 - The U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto yesterday disrupted nine suspected Somali pirates from attacking a Maltese-flagged vessel that was transiting here.
The San Jacinto responded to a distress call from the M/V Avenue Beauty, which was transiting 90 miles north of Somalia when the crew reported they were under attack by pirates. Upon hearing gun shots, the Avenue Beauty's chief officer sounded a general alarm and directed the crew to execute counter-piracy measures, which caused the pirate skiff to call off the attack.
The San Jacinto responded to the attack and dispatched a helicopter to follow the fleeing skiff. Aboard the aircraft, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Casey Halliwell tracked the skiff on radar as it speeded south toward the Somali coast.
The skiff, with nine suspects on board, failed to comply with the chopper's order to stop. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Corey Whittle then fired warning shots across the suspect vessel's bow and stern, compelling the skiff to stop.
The San Jacinto has interdicted 22 suspected pirates over the past week.
Earlier today, the San Jacinto dispatched a Navy/Coast Guard boarding team onto the pirate skiff. The sailors and Coastguardsmen quickly took control of the vessel and searched the skiff and crew, who had previously thrown their weapons, ammunition, and other incriminating paraphernalia overboard. The suspects were released in the skiff after the boarding team confiscated one engine and several gallons of fuel, ensuring the suspects could reach shore while limiting their ability to continue piracy attempts.
On May 26, the San Jacinto rescued five Yemeni mariners from 13 Somali pirates, while conducting routine counternarcotics operations 68 miles southeast of Ras Fartak, Yemen. The pirates were turned over to Yemeni Naval Forces.
U.S. forces conduct maritime security operations to help set the conditions for security in the maritime environment. Such operations complement the counterterrorism and security efforts of regional partner nations and assists in the disruption of violent extremists' use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.
USS San Jacinto Public Affairs
June 1, 2010 - The U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto yesterday disrupted nine suspected Somali pirates from attacking a Maltese-flagged vessel that was transiting here.
The San Jacinto responded to a distress call from the M/V Avenue Beauty, which was transiting 90 miles north of Somalia when the crew reported they were under attack by pirates. Upon hearing gun shots, the Avenue Beauty's chief officer sounded a general alarm and directed the crew to execute counter-piracy measures, which caused the pirate skiff to call off the attack.
The San Jacinto responded to the attack and dispatched a helicopter to follow the fleeing skiff. Aboard the aircraft, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Casey Halliwell tracked the skiff on radar as it speeded south toward the Somali coast.
The skiff, with nine suspects on board, failed to comply with the chopper's order to stop. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Corey Whittle then fired warning shots across the suspect vessel's bow and stern, compelling the skiff to stop.
The San Jacinto has interdicted 22 suspected pirates over the past week.
Earlier today, the San Jacinto dispatched a Navy/Coast Guard boarding team onto the pirate skiff. The sailors and Coastguardsmen quickly took control of the vessel and searched the skiff and crew, who had previously thrown their weapons, ammunition, and other incriminating paraphernalia overboard. The suspects were released in the skiff after the boarding team confiscated one engine and several gallons of fuel, ensuring the suspects could reach shore while limiting their ability to continue piracy attempts.
On May 26, the San Jacinto rescued five Yemeni mariners from 13 Somali pirates, while conducting routine counternarcotics operations 68 miles southeast of Ras Fartak, Yemen. The pirates were turned over to Yemeni Naval Forces.
U.S. forces conduct maritime security operations to help set the conditions for security in the maritime environment. Such operations complement the counterterrorism and security efforts of regional partner nations and assists in the disruption of violent extremists' use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.
USS Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group Enters 7th Fleet
June 1, 2010 - PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- The Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group (PEL ARG) entered the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Operations May 30 as part of its regularly scheduled Western Pacific deployment.
PEL ARG arrived in 7th Fleet with the ability to accomplish a variety of missions outlined in the nation's maritime strategy, including combat missions, humanitarian assistance and promoting peace and stability in the region.
The ready group consists of three ships – amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5), amphibious transport dock ship USS Dubuque (LPD 8) and amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52), and is led Capt. Dale Fuller, Amphibious Squadron 3 commodore.
"Our Navy, Marine Corps team can offer a full range of operational capabilities," said Fuller. "We are fully ready to meet any tasking required by 7th Fleet."
The ready group's more than 3,000 personnel include nearly 1,800 Sailors and 1,400 embarked Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), led by Col. Roy Osborn.
"The Peleliu and our embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit are fully integrated, fully certified and are fully capable of carrying out the [nation's] maritime strategy," said Capt. David Schnell, Peleliu commanding officer. "We are looking forward to transiting through 7th Fleet and to operating in 7th Fleet, to demonstrate those capabilities both operationally as well as in exercises with other countries and other U.S. forces in the region."
Other elements of the PEL ARG include the command element, Commander, Amphibious Squadron 3; Fleet Surgical Team 1; Tactical Air Control Squadron 11; Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23, Detachment Five; Assault Craft Unit 1, Detachment F; Assault Craft Unit 5, Detachment B and Beachmaster Unit 1, Detachment D.
The 7th Fleet Area of Operations includes more than 52 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean, running from the International Date Line to the eastern coast of Africa, and from the Antarctic to the Kuril Islands, northeast of Japan. It contains more than half of the world's population.
PEL ARG is on a regularly scheduled western Pacific deployment. While in 7th Fleet, PEL ARG reports to Commander, Amphibious Force 7th Fleet, Rear Adm. Richard Landolt, who is headquartered in Okinawa, Japan.
Selective early retirement board to be held in July
By 1st Lt. Gina Vaccaro McKeen
Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs
June 1, 2010 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – Air Force leaders will hold a selective early retirement board here July 19-23 to consider select officers who must retire by Jan. 1, 2011, or upon retirement eligibility.
The SERB is part of the Air Force’s expanded force management measures announced in March.
Colonels and lieutenant colonels may avoid the board by submitting applications for voluntary retirement by June 28, 2010, and establishing a retirement date of May 1, 2011, or earlier.
The board will consider officers for retirement in the ranks of colonel and lieutenant colonel in line of the Air Force, judge advocate, medical science corps, and chaplain competitive categories.
Colonels with four or more years time in grade and lieutenant colonels deferred for promotion at least twice who do not have an approved voluntary retirement date, are not on a promotion list, or do not have a mandatory retirement date will be considered. The board members will make their decisions based on review of each officer’s retention recommendation form, the officer selection brief, decoration citations, and training and performance reports using a process similar to the promotion selection board process.
All eligible officers will be able to review their RRFs and their officer pre-selection briefs prior to the board convening date. Officers are responsible for reviewing their records for accuracy and ensuring information is up to date.
The board may select for early retirement up to 30 percent of the eligible officers at the time of the board. If an officer is selected by the SERB for early retirement, Air Force Personnel Center officials will establish a mandatory retirement date of Jan. 1, 2011, or upon the first date of the month after becoming retirement eligible.
SERB-eligible officers remain available for Air Expeditionary Force deployments until an established retirement date limits their availability. Deployed officers may pursue voluntary retirement actions to avoid meeting the SERB.
AFPC officials will announce the board results in September. For more information please contact your servicing military personnel section or call the Total Force Service Center toll-free at (800) 525-0102. You can also visit the officer retirements Web page of AFPC’s personnel services website at https://gum.afpc.randolph.af.mil/ and click on FY 10/FY 11 Force Management Programs.
Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs
June 1, 2010 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – Air Force leaders will hold a selective early retirement board here July 19-23 to consider select officers who must retire by Jan. 1, 2011, or upon retirement eligibility.
The SERB is part of the Air Force’s expanded force management measures announced in March.
Colonels and lieutenant colonels may avoid the board by submitting applications for voluntary retirement by June 28, 2010, and establishing a retirement date of May 1, 2011, or earlier.
The board will consider officers for retirement in the ranks of colonel and lieutenant colonel in line of the Air Force, judge advocate, medical science corps, and chaplain competitive categories.
Colonels with four or more years time in grade and lieutenant colonels deferred for promotion at least twice who do not have an approved voluntary retirement date, are not on a promotion list, or do not have a mandatory retirement date will be considered. The board members will make their decisions based on review of each officer’s retention recommendation form, the officer selection brief, decoration citations, and training and performance reports using a process similar to the promotion selection board process.
All eligible officers will be able to review their RRFs and their officer pre-selection briefs prior to the board convening date. Officers are responsible for reviewing their records for accuracy and ensuring information is up to date.
The board may select for early retirement up to 30 percent of the eligible officers at the time of the board. If an officer is selected by the SERB for early retirement, Air Force Personnel Center officials will establish a mandatory retirement date of Jan. 1, 2011, or upon the first date of the month after becoming retirement eligible.
SERB-eligible officers remain available for Air Expeditionary Force deployments until an established retirement date limits their availability. Deployed officers may pursue voluntary retirement actions to avoid meeting the SERB.
AFPC officials will announce the board results in September. For more information please contact your servicing military personnel section or call the Total Force Service Center toll-free at (800) 525-0102. You can also visit the officer retirements Web page of AFPC’s personnel services website at https://gum.afpc.randolph.af.mil/ and click on FY 10/FY 11 Force Management Programs.
HSV 2 Delivers Project Handclasp Aid to Panama
June 1, 2010 - BALBOA-RODMAN, Panama (NNS) -- Sailors from High Speed Vessel Swift (HSV 2) unloaded eight pallets of Project Handclasp supplies in Rodman-Balboa, Panama May 26.
Several local humanitarian organizations met the ship's crew at the pier to collect water filters, hygiene products and food items which the non-governmental organizations will distribute to the less fortunate.
"These materials illustrate the United States Southern Command's commitment to a lasting partnership with the people of Panama," said Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Simmons, deputy mission commander, Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2010.
Swift delivered the supplies as part of the Navy's Project Handclasp program, designed to transport educational, humanitarian and goodwill material on a space-available basis aboard U.S. Navy ships for distribution to foreign nation recipients.
"It is our goal to continue our lasting friendship with Panama long into the future," said Simmons. "It is this friendship that will allow us to work together as partners in security and cooperation."
U.S. military officials explained that the goods distributed at the Panama Project Handclasp event will reach those in the most critical need of aid.
"The advance coordination and cooperation between ODC Panama, Project Handclasp, USAID, Swift and multiple Panamanian non-government organizations allowed us to identify specific communities and customize the most effective goods to donate today," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Cory Christensen, Navy/Air Force Section Chief of Office of Defense Cooperation Panama. "Over the past year we have been trying to bring more of a strategic and sustainable focus to distributions of donations, and this was the most successful outcome. USAID will help facilitate training of for different communities receiving the donated water filter systems, which will be a huge resource to areas where they have already targeted this need."
Swift is currently deployed in SPS 2010, an annual deployment of various specialty platforms to the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility in the Caribbean and Latin America. The mission's primary goal is information sharing with navies, coast guards, and civilian services throughout the region.
Officials release new selective re-enlistment bonus list
June 1, 2010 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – Pentagon officials recently released the latest selective re-enlistment bonus list which contains 89 Air Force specialties.
The revised listing places heavy emphasis on retaining Airmen with 17 months to six years of service, said Technical Sgt. Dina Elefante, NCO in charge of Air Force re-enlistments at the Air Force Personnel Center here.
“Using SRBs provides the Air Force with a highly effective retention tool to address shortages in certain Air Force specialties essential to support our mission at home and abroad,” Sergeant Elefante said.
Officials added seven Air Force specialty codes to the list and increased 20 AFSCs in at least one zone. Twenty-one AFSCs had a zone eliminated or decreased and two AFSCs were completely removed from the program.
All increases and additions will be effective June 1 and all decreases and deletions will go into effect July 1. Any re-enlistments or extensions of any length that have been completed prior to the official message release will remain valid. Airmen who are eligible for re-enlistment and are affected by decreases or removals should re-enlist before June 30 to receive the previously approved bonus.
These bonuses do not apply to Air Force Reserve or National Guard personnel.
To determine eligibility for re-enlistment with a SRB entitlement, contact the career development element at your local military personnel section.
For a complete SRB listing, type “SRB” in the search box on AFPC’s secure personnel services website, https://gum.afpc.randolph.af.mil. For more information about the SRB program, contact your local military personnel section or call the Air Force’s 24/7 Total Force Service Center toll-free at (800) 525-0102 or DSN: 565-5000.
The revised listing places heavy emphasis on retaining Airmen with 17 months to six years of service, said Technical Sgt. Dina Elefante, NCO in charge of Air Force re-enlistments at the Air Force Personnel Center here.
“Using SRBs provides the Air Force with a highly effective retention tool to address shortages in certain Air Force specialties essential to support our mission at home and abroad,” Sergeant Elefante said.
Officials added seven Air Force specialty codes to the list and increased 20 AFSCs in at least one zone. Twenty-one AFSCs had a zone eliminated or decreased and two AFSCs were completely removed from the program.
All increases and additions will be effective June 1 and all decreases and deletions will go into effect July 1. Any re-enlistments or extensions of any length that have been completed prior to the official message release will remain valid. Airmen who are eligible for re-enlistment and are affected by decreases or removals should re-enlist before June 30 to receive the previously approved bonus.
These bonuses do not apply to Air Force Reserve or National Guard personnel.
To determine eligibility for re-enlistment with a SRB entitlement, contact the career development element at your local military personnel section.
For a complete SRB listing, type “SRB” in the search box on AFPC’s secure personnel services website, https://gum.afpc.randolph.af.mil. For more information about the SRB program, contact your local military personnel section or call the Air Force’s 24/7 Total Force Service Center toll-free at (800) 525-0102 or DSN: 565-5000.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Live Lives Worthy of Fallen Warriors' Sacrifices
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2010 - President Barack Obama called on the nation during a Memorial Day address at Joint Base Andrews, Md., to honor the legacy of its fallen warriors and to live lives worthy of their sacrifices.
"At its core, the nobility and majesty of Memorial Day can be found in the story of ordinary Americans who became extraordinary for the most simple of reasons: they loved their country so deeply, so profoundly, that they were willing to give their very lives to keep it safe and free," Obama told an assembly of several dozen servicemembers today after landing in Washington from a weekend in Chicago.
He initially had been slated to deliver his address at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Illinois, but torrential rains and lightning cancelled that event. Instead, he visited wounded veterans and their families receiving care at the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital near Chicago.
Obama noted during his address at Andrews tonight the fallen warriors' shared belief in their country throughout its history, and willingness to sacrifice lives of comfort, and ultimately, life itself, to protect its ideals.
"They answered their country's call. They stepped forward. They raised their hand. They took an oath," he said.
As they served their country in uniform throughout its history, they left their loved ones when duty called. In doing so, they liberated countries, ended the Holocaust, rid towns of insurgents and saved villages from the terror of violent extremists, he noted.
They fought for freedom and the flag, the president said. But they also fought for each other, to bring their buddies home and keep their families safe. "And that is what they did, to their last breath," he said.
"This is what we honor today — the lives they led, the service they rendered, the sacrifice they made -- for us," he said.
"In this time of war, we pay special tribute to the thousands of Americans who have given their lives during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who have earned their place among the greatest of generations," he said. "And though our hearts ache in their absence, we find comfort in knowing that their legacy shines bright in the people they loved: America's Gold Star families."
The legacy of America's fallen lives on, the president said.
It lives through their parents who instilled the values and virtues that led them to service. It lives through their spouses who gave the nation the person they cherished most. It lives through their children, whose parents gave their lives so they could live theirs. And it lives through those who fought alongside them – veterans and troops still serving in harm's way.
"Just as you keep alive the memory of your fallen friends, America must keep its commitments to you," Obama told the servicemembers. "That means providing the support our troops and families need, and the health care and benefits our veterans deserve. This is our sacred trust to all who serve, and upholding that trust is our moral obligation."
Obama called on all Americans to live lives worthy of the sacrifices its fallen heroes have made, and that the country's men and women in uniform continue to make every day.
"The legacy of these fallen heroes lives on in each of us," he said. "The security that lets us live in peace, the prosperity that allows us to pursue our dreams, the freedoms that we cherish — these were earned by the blood and sacrifice of patriots who went before.
"Now it falls to us to preserve this inheritance for all who follow."
American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2010 - President Barack Obama called on the nation during a Memorial Day address at Joint Base Andrews, Md., to honor the legacy of its fallen warriors and to live lives worthy of their sacrifices.
"At its core, the nobility and majesty of Memorial Day can be found in the story of ordinary Americans who became extraordinary for the most simple of reasons: they loved their country so deeply, so profoundly, that they were willing to give their very lives to keep it safe and free," Obama told an assembly of several dozen servicemembers today after landing in Washington from a weekend in Chicago.
He initially had been slated to deliver his address at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Illinois, but torrential rains and lightning cancelled that event. Instead, he visited wounded veterans and their families receiving care at the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital near Chicago.
Obama noted during his address at Andrews tonight the fallen warriors' shared belief in their country throughout its history, and willingness to sacrifice lives of comfort, and ultimately, life itself, to protect its ideals.
"They answered their country's call. They stepped forward. They raised their hand. They took an oath," he said.
As they served their country in uniform throughout its history, they left their loved ones when duty called. In doing so, they liberated countries, ended the Holocaust, rid towns of insurgents and saved villages from the terror of violent extremists, he noted.
They fought for freedom and the flag, the president said. But they also fought for each other, to bring their buddies home and keep their families safe. "And that is what they did, to their last breath," he said.
"This is what we honor today — the lives they led, the service they rendered, the sacrifice they made -- for us," he said.
"In this time of war, we pay special tribute to the thousands of Americans who have given their lives during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who have earned their place among the greatest of generations," he said. "And though our hearts ache in their absence, we find comfort in knowing that their legacy shines bright in the people they loved: America's Gold Star families."
The legacy of America's fallen lives on, the president said.
It lives through their parents who instilled the values and virtues that led them to service. It lives through their spouses who gave the nation the person they cherished most. It lives through their children, whose parents gave their lives so they could live theirs. And it lives through those who fought alongside them – veterans and troops still serving in harm's way.
"Just as you keep alive the memory of your fallen friends, America must keep its commitments to you," Obama told the servicemembers. "That means providing the support our troops and families need, and the health care and benefits our veterans deserve. This is our sacred trust to all who serve, and upholding that trust is our moral obligation."
Obama called on all Americans to live lives worthy of the sacrifices its fallen heroes have made, and that the country's men and women in uniform continue to make every day.
"The legacy of these fallen heroes lives on in each of us," he said. "The security that lets us live in peace, the prosperity that allows us to pursue our dreams, the freedoms that we cherish — these were earned by the blood and sacrifice of patriots who went before.
"Now it falls to us to preserve this inheritance for all who follow."
Memorial Day Observed at NMCP Cemetery
By Rebecca A. Perron, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Public Affairs
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (NNS) -- Naval Medical Center Portsmouth held its 24th annual Memorial Day observance May 31 in the historic Captain Theodore H. Conaway Memorial Naval Cemetery, where more than 850 Soldiers, Sailors and Marines are interred. A light breeze fluttered the flags that Boy Scouts had placed at each grave site, identifying the home nation of the person laid to rest.
The ceremony was conducted and co-sponsored by the Tidewater Area Council of the Fleet Reserve Association and Ladies Auxiliary.
Rear Adm. Alton L. Stocks, NMCP commander, welcomed the guests to the ceremony and officially unveiled a new grave marker for a Medal of Honor recipient. In late 2009, the Medal of Honor Society determined that Seaman Hendrick Sharp, who died in 1892, had received the MOH for his participation in the Battle of Mobile Bay on board USS Richmond in 1864. The MOHS commissioned a new grave marker that was installed recently to recognize Sharp for his actions.
Stocks read from Sharp's MOH certificate, saying that he "fought his gun with skill and courage throughout a furious two-hour battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of the batteries at Fort Morgan." Not much else is known about Sharp, other than that he was born in Spain in 1815, claimed New York as his home and died in 1892.
In addition to the four known MOH recipients, the MOHS believes that as many as 13 others buried in the cemetery received the award, and the society is searching naval records to confirm.
The ceremony's featured speaker was Capt. Sean Mahoney, Incident Management branch chief for the Coast Guard's 5th District. Mahoney recognized the sacrifice of service members across the generations who paid the ultimate price and told the stories of three Coast Guard members killed in action during three different wars.
"When I speak about these three heroes," Mahoney said, "I hope you will reflect on all of the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen from all of the services who didn't make it home."
Mahoney told about the heroic actions of Petty Officer Douglas Munro, who served as a landing craft operator on Guadalcanal during World War II, helicopter pilot Lt. Jack Rittichier, who flew rescue missions in Vietnam, and Petty Officer Nathan Bruckenthal, who served with one of the Coast Guard's Tactical Law Enforcement Teams in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
As he concluded his remarks, Mahoney said, "The nature of the threats to liberty and our nation have changed throughout our history, but our service members across the generations have always risen to the challenge of defending our nation."
At the end of the ceremony, William and Carolyn Combs of the Fleet Reserve Association and the Ladies Auxiliary placed a wreath on the cairn surmounted by a stone pillar and urn honoring the men lost during the Hampton Roads' battle between USS Cumberland, USS Congress and the ironclad CSS Virginia's maiden voyage.
The cemetery is the final resting place of those who served bravely during our nation's major conflicts and wars, including more than 850 fallen Soldiers, Sailors and Marines from seven countries, as well as Union and Confederate service members. Also laid to rest are victims of the yellow fever epidemic that swept Hampton Roads in 1855.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (NNS) -- Naval Medical Center Portsmouth held its 24th annual Memorial Day observance May 31 in the historic Captain Theodore H. Conaway Memorial Naval Cemetery, where more than 850 Soldiers, Sailors and Marines are interred. A light breeze fluttered the flags that Boy Scouts had placed at each grave site, identifying the home nation of the person laid to rest.
The ceremony was conducted and co-sponsored by the Tidewater Area Council of the Fleet Reserve Association and Ladies Auxiliary.
Rear Adm. Alton L. Stocks, NMCP commander, welcomed the guests to the ceremony and officially unveiled a new grave marker for a Medal of Honor recipient. In late 2009, the Medal of Honor Society determined that Seaman Hendrick Sharp, who died in 1892, had received the MOH for his participation in the Battle of Mobile Bay on board USS Richmond in 1864. The MOHS commissioned a new grave marker that was installed recently to recognize Sharp for his actions.
Stocks read from Sharp's MOH certificate, saying that he "fought his gun with skill and courage throughout a furious two-hour battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of the batteries at Fort Morgan." Not much else is known about Sharp, other than that he was born in Spain in 1815, claimed New York as his home and died in 1892.
In addition to the four known MOH recipients, the MOHS believes that as many as 13 others buried in the cemetery received the award, and the society is searching naval records to confirm.
The ceremony's featured speaker was Capt. Sean Mahoney, Incident Management branch chief for the Coast Guard's 5th District. Mahoney recognized the sacrifice of service members across the generations who paid the ultimate price and told the stories of three Coast Guard members killed in action during three different wars.
"When I speak about these three heroes," Mahoney said, "I hope you will reflect on all of the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen from all of the services who didn't make it home."
Mahoney told about the heroic actions of Petty Officer Douglas Munro, who served as a landing craft operator on Guadalcanal during World War II, helicopter pilot Lt. Jack Rittichier, who flew rescue missions in Vietnam, and Petty Officer Nathan Bruckenthal, who served with one of the Coast Guard's Tactical Law Enforcement Teams in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
As he concluded his remarks, Mahoney said, "The nature of the threats to liberty and our nation have changed throughout our history, but our service members across the generations have always risen to the challenge of defending our nation."
At the end of the ceremony, William and Carolyn Combs of the Fleet Reserve Association and the Ladies Auxiliary placed a wreath on the cairn surmounted by a stone pillar and urn honoring the men lost during the Hampton Roads' battle between USS Cumberland, USS Congress and the ironclad CSS Virginia's maiden voyage.
The cemetery is the final resting place of those who served bravely during our nation's major conflicts and wars, including more than 850 fallen Soldiers, Sailors and Marines from seven countries, as well as Union and Confederate service members. Also laid to rest are victims of the yellow fever epidemic that swept Hampton Roads in 1855.
Obama Visits Troops at New Fisher House
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2010 - President Barack Obama visited gravestones at the Lincoln Cemetery near Chicago today, but when torrential rains cancelled his prepared Memorial Day remarks, paid a stop at a newly opened Fisher House.
The president laid a wreath and bowed his head in silence at the historic cemetery, and had just stepped to the podium to deliver his speech as driving rain turned to lightning and officials called off the event.
The president had planned to present a speech calling veterans and servicemembers "living memorials" to their fallen comrades, and pledging that a grateful nation will provide them and their families the support they deserve, according to a transcript of the speech provided to reporters in advance.
He had planned to pay special tribute to those killed in the current wars, including 17 buried at the historic cemetery near Chicago. Their legacy, he had planned to say, lives on through their loved ones, their comrades and a nation that enjoys the freedoms for which they sacrificed.
Obama traveled from the cemetery to the newly dedicated Fisher House in Hines, Ill., where he met with servicemembers and veterans receiving medical care at the Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital, as well as their families.
The Hines Fisher House is the first in Illinois and was officially dedicated May 28. It was donated to the VA by the Fisher House Foundation as a home away from home for families of veterans and military members receiving treatment at the VA hospital.
Obama donated $250,000 of the Nobel Peace Prize award he received in March to the Fisher House Foundation.
American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2010 - President Barack Obama visited gravestones at the Lincoln Cemetery near Chicago today, but when torrential rains cancelled his prepared Memorial Day remarks, paid a stop at a newly opened Fisher House.
The president laid a wreath and bowed his head in silence at the historic cemetery, and had just stepped to the podium to deliver his speech as driving rain turned to lightning and officials called off the event.
The president had planned to present a speech calling veterans and servicemembers "living memorials" to their fallen comrades, and pledging that a grateful nation will provide them and their families the support they deserve, according to a transcript of the speech provided to reporters in advance.
He had planned to pay special tribute to those killed in the current wars, including 17 buried at the historic cemetery near Chicago. Their legacy, he had planned to say, lives on through their loved ones, their comrades and a nation that enjoys the freedoms for which they sacrificed.
Obama traveled from the cemetery to the newly dedicated Fisher House in Hines, Ill., where he met with servicemembers and veterans receiving medical care at the Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital, as well as their families.
The Hines Fisher House is the first in Illinois and was officially dedicated May 28. It was donated to the VA by the Fisher House Foundation as a home away from home for families of veterans and military members receiving treatment at the VA hospital.
Obama donated $250,000 of the Nobel Peace Prize award he received in March to the Fisher House Foundation.
Leaders Salute Fallen Troops at Arlington National Cemetery
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2010 - Vice President Joe Biden today hailed the unselfish service and sacrifices of past and present generations of U.S. servicemembers during the annual Memorial Day observance held at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Collectively, the generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have served and sacrificed for us are the heart and soul, and I would say, spine, of this nation," Biden said. "And as a nation, we pause today to remember them; they gave their lives fulfilling their oath to this nation and to us.
"And in doing so," he continued, "they imparted a responsibility on us to recognize, to respect, to honor and to care for those who risked their lives so that we can live our lives."
Biden, the keynote speaker at the observance held in the cemetery's Memorial Amphitheater, was joined by Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The vice president previously laid a ceremonial wreath at the cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns, which contains the remains of unidentified soldiers from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. More than 300,000 people rest in peace at Arlington, including veterans from all of the nation's wars – from the American Revolution through Iraq and Afghanistan.
Biden said he'd met with a group of Gold Star Mothers at the White House earlier today. Gold Star Mothers is an organization of mothers who've lost a son or a daughter in military service to the country.
The Gold Star families "know all too well the price of their loved ones' patriotism," Biden said.
"None," he said, "should be asked to sacrifice that much."
Biden observed that many people in the amphitheater possibly were awaiting the return of loved ones deployed overseas in harm's way. Others, he added, may have waited in vain.
"To those who have lost a loved one in the service of our nation, I recall a famous headstone in Ireland," Biden said. "And the headstone reads as follows: 'Death Leaves a Heartache No One Can Heal; Love Leaves a Memory No One Can Steal.'
"No one can steal the memory from you," Biden continued. And the pain and heartache now felt by the survivors of departed military members, he said, eventually will "be replaced by the joyful memory of the son or daughter, husband, wife, father, mother that you loved so dearly, and lost."
Memorial Day "is a day in which sorrow mixes with incredible pride," Biden said. "We mourn those we've lost and we hold fast to their memories and we take pride – great pride – in the lives they've lived and the service they've provided."
American servicemembers who serve and sacrifice on far-flung battlefields are motivated by love – not hate, Biden said.
"Love is why we're here today," he said, "to show our love for the men and women who died showing their love for this great country and [to] honor their families who share that love even more deeply."
Biden wondered aloud what previous generations of U.S. servicemembers might think of today's world that's been made smaller - and sometimes more turbulent - by globalization.
"And as the world around us shrinks it means trouble halfway around the world can – and will – visit us, no matter how high our walls or how wide our oceans," Biden said. "Our men and women in uniform know full well that the promise and the peril of this time have never been greater; the threats to American security are more widespread, geographically, than ever before."
Current threats to America, Biden said, include the spread of weapons of mass destruction and dangerous disease, economic dislocations, a growing gap between the rich and poor, ethnic animosities in failed states and radical fundamentalism.
Today's generation of U.S. servicemen and women now "stands watch, protecting America's interests against all of these new threats," Biden said, "and it will take - and it has taken - equally great sacrifice as those who have gone before them."
America has lost 4,391 servicemembers in Operation Iraqi Freedom and during follow-on operations in Iraq, Biden said, and 1,074 troops have died in Operation Enduring Freedom and follow-on operations in Afghanistan.
These departed servicemembers "were the best of us; they were our blood ... and treasure," Biden said. American force of arms, he said, has protected America's freedoms and way of life since the nation was established. That will not change, he said.
And, as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, the U.S. government, Biden said, has "a sacred obligation to provide these warriors with everything they need to complete their mission, and everything they need – and I might add, deserve – when they come home."
Today's servicemembers, as were their predecessors, are "bright, educated and committed," Biden said. And the source of America's ultimate strength, he said, emanates from its values.
"In upholding our values, we're made stronger," Biden said, noting radical fundamentalists want "to change what we value, to change how we live our lives, to change what it means to be an American."
However, America is defended by "the finest military the world has ever produced - period," Biden said. And, America's servicemembers at rest at Arlington and elsewhere, he said, have fought and sacrificed for their fellow countrymen.
"They lived with integrity; they served nobly; they gave everything," Biden said. "They fought for what they believed in and maybe most importantly, they believed in something bigger than themselves.
"They believed in all of you, they believed in all of us and they believed in America," the vice president said. "So on this day, this solemn day, let us strive once again to be individuals in a nation worthy of that belief."
Lynn's and Mullen's remarks preceded Biden's.
"We gather today to honor our fallen in a sacred place," Lynn said. "Arlington Cemetery stands as one of our nation's greatest symbols of the sacrifices made for our freedom and our way of life. We have carried our fallen heroes to these fields for 146 years."
Arlington's "rows of marble headstones," Lynn continued, "are a testament to how one generation defends the next; to how our nation is built upon unimaginable heroism and sacrifice; and to how these sacrifices stretch from our forefathers to the present day."
Less visible at Arlington, he said, are the sacrifices made by the surviving loved ones of departed servicemembers.
"For every fallen hero laid to rest there is a mother and father who will not see their child through life's milestones," Lynn said. "For most, there is a spouse who must live without the spouse they chose. And for many there is a child who will not have a parent to guide them."
The sacrifices of war, Lynn said, ripple outward like water splashed by a stone. "So today we honor not only those who made the ultimate sacrifice; we honor all those who have shared the loss," he said.
Servicemembers who've fallen in Iraq or Afghanistan are laid to rest at Arlington in Section 60. The people buried there represent every race and creed, Lynn observed, noting the headstones bear symbols of several religions.
"Their graves are topped by the cross, the crescent moon and star, [and] the Star of David," he said.
Arlington's fallen servicemembers "reflect the more perfect union they died to defend," Lynn said. "In Arlington – like nowhere else – we can see freedom blossom and know its price."
Mullen echoed Lynn's sentiments.
"Every year since Civil War reconstruction Americans have set aside this day to pay tribute to service and to sacrifice," Mullen said. "No place, more than Arlington, reminds me of what we owe them and their families for what they have given to us."
Around the globe -- on the land, on the sea and in the sky -- generations of young Americans "have fought for each other, fought for their families and fought for us," the admiral said. "Now they peacefully rest in cemeteries, unmarked battlefield graves and in the deepest oceans around the world."
Each servicemember's gravesite "enshrines a unique story and we remember the sacrifice, the humanity and the service each name represents," the admiral said.
Mullen recalled that the famous World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle would often come upon letters from home, blank writing paper, photographs and other personal items belonging to servicemembers that were killed in action.
"I believe each story, each letter, each item they'd carried sends a powerful message," Mullen said. "It's not about how they died, but how they lived and what they cared for."
Times have changed, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are different than past conflicts, the admiral said, noting today's troops may carry fewer physical keepsakes than their forebears did.
"But they will always carry and cherish the love of their family, the respect of their fellow citizens and an abiding hope for a safe return," he said.
The admiral recalled what an Army corporal had written to his family in his final letter before he was killed in Afghanistan.
Mullen said the corporal wrote: "'Know that you all are the reason that I am here and to give my life for that is nothing to me.'"
At Arlington, "centuries guard the stories of those who gave their lives; those who willingly sacrificed all that they carry," Mullen said. "And such stories of courage, love and hope will be our continuous renewal, as grass comes through the freshly turned soil of Section 60.
"Our treasured keepsakes will be the lives we celebrate, every Memorial Day and every day of the year," the admiral said.
American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2010 - Vice President Joe Biden today hailed the unselfish service and sacrifices of past and present generations of U.S. servicemembers during the annual Memorial Day observance held at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Collectively, the generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have served and sacrificed for us are the heart and soul, and I would say, spine, of this nation," Biden said. "And as a nation, we pause today to remember them; they gave their lives fulfilling their oath to this nation and to us.
"And in doing so," he continued, "they imparted a responsibility on us to recognize, to respect, to honor and to care for those who risked their lives so that we can live our lives."
Biden, the keynote speaker at the observance held in the cemetery's Memorial Amphitheater, was joined by Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The vice president previously laid a ceremonial wreath at the cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns, which contains the remains of unidentified soldiers from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. More than 300,000 people rest in peace at Arlington, including veterans from all of the nation's wars – from the American Revolution through Iraq and Afghanistan.
Biden said he'd met with a group of Gold Star Mothers at the White House earlier today. Gold Star Mothers is an organization of mothers who've lost a son or a daughter in military service to the country.
The Gold Star families "know all too well the price of their loved ones' patriotism," Biden said.
"None," he said, "should be asked to sacrifice that much."
Biden observed that many people in the amphitheater possibly were awaiting the return of loved ones deployed overseas in harm's way. Others, he added, may have waited in vain.
"To those who have lost a loved one in the service of our nation, I recall a famous headstone in Ireland," Biden said. "And the headstone reads as follows: 'Death Leaves a Heartache No One Can Heal; Love Leaves a Memory No One Can Steal.'
"No one can steal the memory from you," Biden continued. And the pain and heartache now felt by the survivors of departed military members, he said, eventually will "be replaced by the joyful memory of the son or daughter, husband, wife, father, mother that you loved so dearly, and lost."
Memorial Day "is a day in which sorrow mixes with incredible pride," Biden said. "We mourn those we've lost and we hold fast to their memories and we take pride – great pride – in the lives they've lived and the service they've provided."
American servicemembers who serve and sacrifice on far-flung battlefields are motivated by love – not hate, Biden said.
"Love is why we're here today," he said, "to show our love for the men and women who died showing their love for this great country and [to] honor their families who share that love even more deeply."
Biden wondered aloud what previous generations of U.S. servicemembers might think of today's world that's been made smaller - and sometimes more turbulent - by globalization.
"And as the world around us shrinks it means trouble halfway around the world can – and will – visit us, no matter how high our walls or how wide our oceans," Biden said. "Our men and women in uniform know full well that the promise and the peril of this time have never been greater; the threats to American security are more widespread, geographically, than ever before."
Current threats to America, Biden said, include the spread of weapons of mass destruction and dangerous disease, economic dislocations, a growing gap between the rich and poor, ethnic animosities in failed states and radical fundamentalism.
Today's generation of U.S. servicemen and women now "stands watch, protecting America's interests against all of these new threats," Biden said, "and it will take - and it has taken - equally great sacrifice as those who have gone before them."
America has lost 4,391 servicemembers in Operation Iraqi Freedom and during follow-on operations in Iraq, Biden said, and 1,074 troops have died in Operation Enduring Freedom and follow-on operations in Afghanistan.
These departed servicemembers "were the best of us; they were our blood ... and treasure," Biden said. American force of arms, he said, has protected America's freedoms and way of life since the nation was established. That will not change, he said.
And, as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, the U.S. government, Biden said, has "a sacred obligation to provide these warriors with everything they need to complete their mission, and everything they need – and I might add, deserve – when they come home."
Today's servicemembers, as were their predecessors, are "bright, educated and committed," Biden said. And the source of America's ultimate strength, he said, emanates from its values.
"In upholding our values, we're made stronger," Biden said, noting radical fundamentalists want "to change what we value, to change how we live our lives, to change what it means to be an American."
However, America is defended by "the finest military the world has ever produced - period," Biden said. And, America's servicemembers at rest at Arlington and elsewhere, he said, have fought and sacrificed for their fellow countrymen.
"They lived with integrity; they served nobly; they gave everything," Biden said. "They fought for what they believed in and maybe most importantly, they believed in something bigger than themselves.
"They believed in all of you, they believed in all of us and they believed in America," the vice president said. "So on this day, this solemn day, let us strive once again to be individuals in a nation worthy of that belief."
Lynn's and Mullen's remarks preceded Biden's.
"We gather today to honor our fallen in a sacred place," Lynn said. "Arlington Cemetery stands as one of our nation's greatest symbols of the sacrifices made for our freedom and our way of life. We have carried our fallen heroes to these fields for 146 years."
Arlington's "rows of marble headstones," Lynn continued, "are a testament to how one generation defends the next; to how our nation is built upon unimaginable heroism and sacrifice; and to how these sacrifices stretch from our forefathers to the present day."
Less visible at Arlington, he said, are the sacrifices made by the surviving loved ones of departed servicemembers.
"For every fallen hero laid to rest there is a mother and father who will not see their child through life's milestones," Lynn said. "For most, there is a spouse who must live without the spouse they chose. And for many there is a child who will not have a parent to guide them."
The sacrifices of war, Lynn said, ripple outward like water splashed by a stone. "So today we honor not only those who made the ultimate sacrifice; we honor all those who have shared the loss," he said.
Servicemembers who've fallen in Iraq or Afghanistan are laid to rest at Arlington in Section 60. The people buried there represent every race and creed, Lynn observed, noting the headstones bear symbols of several religions.
"Their graves are topped by the cross, the crescent moon and star, [and] the Star of David," he said.
Arlington's fallen servicemembers "reflect the more perfect union they died to defend," Lynn said. "In Arlington – like nowhere else – we can see freedom blossom and know its price."
Mullen echoed Lynn's sentiments.
"Every year since Civil War reconstruction Americans have set aside this day to pay tribute to service and to sacrifice," Mullen said. "No place, more than Arlington, reminds me of what we owe them and their families for what they have given to us."
Around the globe -- on the land, on the sea and in the sky -- generations of young Americans "have fought for each other, fought for their families and fought for us," the admiral said. "Now they peacefully rest in cemeteries, unmarked battlefield graves and in the deepest oceans around the world."
Each servicemember's gravesite "enshrines a unique story and we remember the sacrifice, the humanity and the service each name represents," the admiral said.
Mullen recalled that the famous World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle would often come upon letters from home, blank writing paper, photographs and other personal items belonging to servicemembers that were killed in action.
"I believe each story, each letter, each item they'd carried sends a powerful message," Mullen said. "It's not about how they died, but how they lived and what they cared for."
Times have changed, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are different than past conflicts, the admiral said, noting today's troops may carry fewer physical keepsakes than their forebears did.
"But they will always carry and cherish the love of their family, the respect of their fellow citizens and an abiding hope for a safe return," he said.
The admiral recalled what an Army corporal had written to his family in his final letter before he was killed in Afghanistan.
Mullen said the corporal wrote: "'Know that you all are the reason that I am here and to give my life for that is nothing to me.'"
At Arlington, "centuries guard the stories of those who gave their lives; those who willingly sacrificed all that they carry," Mullen said. "And such stories of courage, love and hope will be our continuous renewal, as grass comes through the freshly turned soil of Section 60.
"Our treasured keepsakes will be the lives we celebrate, every Memorial Day and every day of the year," the admiral said.
Mullen: Military Will Continue to Support Spill Effort
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2010 - The military will continue to support the effort to cap and mitigate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but it does not have the technical expertise to take over the operation, the nation's top military officer said on the morning news shows today.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also used the opportunity to ask Americans to remember the sacrifices of servicemembers throughout history and today in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to note the progress made in the two wars.
Mullen spoke the day after BP announced the latest effort to stop the leak – "Top Kill" – had failed. The Pentagon has looked at the capabilities the military can provide to the oil companies as they battle the spill, he said.
"There are some limits to the skills that we have to do this," Mullen said on CNN. "We've looked at the technical side of this enormously difficult challenge. The oil industry really has the technical expertise to go after this."
More than 1,000 National Guardsmen already have been called up to help with the spill. The military has provided booms to contain the oil, as well as some aircraft to spray dispersants and some communications capabilities. The Defense Department is clearly in support of the lead agency, the chairman said.
"This is a very difficult problem, and from all I've been able to discern having industry be the technical lead is important," he said on "Good Morning America." "The military doesn't have the capability that could immediately get to eliminating or stopping this leak."
The oil companies have the kind of technology that potentially could get at this leak. The failures speak to the difficulties of the process, Mullen noted.
The Defense Department may provide more personnel for the effort, if called upon, the chairman said. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has authorized several thousand more National Guard troops who would be called up by state governors.
"From my understanding there is a great deal of civilian manpower available," Mullen said. "If we are called on we will continue to contribute [personnel]."
Turning to Iraq and Afghanistan, Mullen said American servicemembers have made significant progress in the two wars.
In Iraq, the number of troops is due to fall to about 50,000 by the end of August.
"There are certainly challenges politically in Iraq to stand up this new government, but from all I can see we're on track to do that," he said. Even with the spikes in violence in the country the political process continues to move forward, he added.
Mullen said the last of the 30,000 more U.S. troops President Barack Obama authorized in December will be in Afghanistan this fall. The operations there are centering in Regional Command South with actions in and around Marja in Helmand province and Kandahar.
"The operation started in February and it will take a few more months before the progress in Marja is irreversible," he said. "We are now focused on Kandahar."
Those servicemembers are always on his mind, he said.
"This is a day of remembrance. We've lost in these two wars over 5,400," Mullen said on NBC's "Today Show." "We've had tens of thousands visibly wounded and hundreds of thousands invisibly wounded in these wars. This is the best military I've been associated in more than 40 years. They continue to make the sacrifices.
"I'd like the American people to reach out to them, to remember them on this special day of remembrance," he continued. "But also they need to reach out to them every day of the year."
American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2010 - The military will continue to support the effort to cap and mitigate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but it does not have the technical expertise to take over the operation, the nation's top military officer said on the morning news shows today.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also used the opportunity to ask Americans to remember the sacrifices of servicemembers throughout history and today in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to note the progress made in the two wars.
Mullen spoke the day after BP announced the latest effort to stop the leak – "Top Kill" – had failed. The Pentagon has looked at the capabilities the military can provide to the oil companies as they battle the spill, he said.
"There are some limits to the skills that we have to do this," Mullen said on CNN. "We've looked at the technical side of this enormously difficult challenge. The oil industry really has the technical expertise to go after this."
More than 1,000 National Guardsmen already have been called up to help with the spill. The military has provided booms to contain the oil, as well as some aircraft to spray dispersants and some communications capabilities. The Defense Department is clearly in support of the lead agency, the chairman said.
"This is a very difficult problem, and from all I've been able to discern having industry be the technical lead is important," he said on "Good Morning America." "The military doesn't have the capability that could immediately get to eliminating or stopping this leak."
The oil companies have the kind of technology that potentially could get at this leak. The failures speak to the difficulties of the process, Mullen noted.
The Defense Department may provide more personnel for the effort, if called upon, the chairman said. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has authorized several thousand more National Guard troops who would be called up by state governors.
"From my understanding there is a great deal of civilian manpower available," Mullen said. "If we are called on we will continue to contribute [personnel]."
Turning to Iraq and Afghanistan, Mullen said American servicemembers have made significant progress in the two wars.
In Iraq, the number of troops is due to fall to about 50,000 by the end of August.
"There are certainly challenges politically in Iraq to stand up this new government, but from all I can see we're on track to do that," he said. Even with the spikes in violence in the country the political process continues to move forward, he added.
Mullen said the last of the 30,000 more U.S. troops President Barack Obama authorized in December will be in Afghanistan this fall. The operations there are centering in Regional Command South with actions in and around Marja in Helmand province and Kandahar.
"The operation started in February and it will take a few more months before the progress in Marja is irreversible," he said. "We are now focused on Kandahar."
Those servicemembers are always on his mind, he said.
"This is a day of remembrance. We've lost in these two wars over 5,400," Mullen said on NBC's "Today Show." "We've had tens of thousands visibly wounded and hundreds of thousands invisibly wounded in these wars. This is the best military I've been associated in more than 40 years. They continue to make the sacrifices.
"I'd like the American people to reach out to them, to remember them on this special day of remembrance," he continued. "But also they need to reach out to them every day of the year."
Sunday, May 30, 2010
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Review Process Vital, Mullen Says
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
May 30, 2010 - It's of vital importance that the Pentagon gain input from servicemembers and military families on their views about the repeal of the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" law, the top U.S. military officer said today.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the proposed repeal of the law, upcoming operations in Afghanistan and the military's support role in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico during CNN's "State of the Union" news program.
The House of Representatives passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Bill May 27 that would allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly. The Senate Armed Services Committee passed a similar amendment that same night.
Mullen noted that he has said he thinks the law and the policy should change. He also said that both he and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates believe it is "critical to understand the points of view of those it will affect the most as we look at the implementation challenges should the law change."
The current "don't ask, don't tell" law, enacted in 1993, provides only partial protection for gay and lesbian servicemembers, in that commanders may not question military members about their sexual orientation. Under current law, servicemembers may be discharged from the service, if by their actions they're determined to be gay or lesbian.
Gates has directed a military-wide review of the impact of the repeal, including town hall meetings with servicemembers and their families. The review is to be completed by the end of December.
Recent congressional activity to change the law, if completed, would be "legislation involved in a deferred repeal," Gates said in a May 28 message to military members.
"In other words," Gates continued, "it would repeal 'don't ask, don't tell,' but only after - I repeat after - the ongoing Department of Defense high-level review is completed, and only after the president, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and I all can certify that we are ready to make this change without hurting unit cohesion, military readiness, military effectiveness and recruiting and retention."
Mullen said today on "State of the Union" that he would have "preferred that legislation not be brought forward in terms of the change until we are completed with that review." Meanwhile, he said, the review is progressing.
"So we will complete that review and certainly incorporate what we learned from that into implementation when that time comes," Mullen said.
The admiral also addressed Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on the CNN news program.
Iraq trends "are moving in the right direction," Mullen said. The U.S. military in Iraq is on track to drawdown to 50,000 troops by the end of August. The Iraqi election recount has "come out very well," he added, while a recent spate of insurgent-inspired violence hasn't produced sectarian bloodshed.
Meanwhile, it's expected that 100,000 U.S. troops will be deployed in Afghanistan by the fall, Mullen said. Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban, will be a focus of the coming campaign.
"So, what we're doing in Kandahar, what we will do with our Afghan partners and in many cases with them in the lead and our coalition partners over the next several months will really be critical," Mullen said. "And I think by the end of the year, we'll certainly from a trend standpoint know whether this thing is headed in the right direction, or not."
Meanwhile, Mullen said, the U.S. military continues in a support role as part of the response to the ruptured BP oil well deep in the Gulf of Mexico. About 1,400 National Guard members have been deployed to the Gulf to assist in the effort, he noted.
Also, "we have brought thousands of feet of booms in terms of being able to try to contain this," Mullen said. The U.S. military, however, isn't the proper organization to take charge of the oil spill response "because of the technical challenges, quite frankly," the admiral said.
"And, as best as I've been able to understand, the technical lead for this in our country really is the industry," Mullen said. "You can see, obviously, the challenges that they are going through to try to figure out how to stop this."
American Forces Press Service
May 30, 2010 - It's of vital importance that the Pentagon gain input from servicemembers and military families on their views about the repeal of the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" law, the top U.S. military officer said today.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the proposed repeal of the law, upcoming operations in Afghanistan and the military's support role in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico during CNN's "State of the Union" news program.
The House of Representatives passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Bill May 27 that would allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly. The Senate Armed Services Committee passed a similar amendment that same night.
Mullen noted that he has said he thinks the law and the policy should change. He also said that both he and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates believe it is "critical to understand the points of view of those it will affect the most as we look at the implementation challenges should the law change."
The current "don't ask, don't tell" law, enacted in 1993, provides only partial protection for gay and lesbian servicemembers, in that commanders may not question military members about their sexual orientation. Under current law, servicemembers may be discharged from the service, if by their actions they're determined to be gay or lesbian.
Gates has directed a military-wide review of the impact of the repeal, including town hall meetings with servicemembers and their families. The review is to be completed by the end of December.
Recent congressional activity to change the law, if completed, would be "legislation involved in a deferred repeal," Gates said in a May 28 message to military members.
"In other words," Gates continued, "it would repeal 'don't ask, don't tell,' but only after - I repeat after - the ongoing Department of Defense high-level review is completed, and only after the president, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and I all can certify that we are ready to make this change without hurting unit cohesion, military readiness, military effectiveness and recruiting and retention."
Mullen said today on "State of the Union" that he would have "preferred that legislation not be brought forward in terms of the change until we are completed with that review." Meanwhile, he said, the review is progressing.
"So we will complete that review and certainly incorporate what we learned from that into implementation when that time comes," Mullen said.
The admiral also addressed Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on the CNN news program.
Iraq trends "are moving in the right direction," Mullen said. The U.S. military in Iraq is on track to drawdown to 50,000 troops by the end of August. The Iraqi election recount has "come out very well," he added, while a recent spate of insurgent-inspired violence hasn't produced sectarian bloodshed.
Meanwhile, it's expected that 100,000 U.S. troops will be deployed in Afghanistan by the fall, Mullen said. Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban, will be a focus of the coming campaign.
"So, what we're doing in Kandahar, what we will do with our Afghan partners and in many cases with them in the lead and our coalition partners over the next several months will really be critical," Mullen said. "And I think by the end of the year, we'll certainly from a trend standpoint know whether this thing is headed in the right direction, or not."
Meanwhile, Mullen said, the U.S. military continues in a support role as part of the response to the ruptured BP oil well deep in the Gulf of Mexico. About 1,400 National Guard members have been deployed to the Gulf to assist in the effort, he noted.
Also, "we have brought thousands of feet of booms in terms of being able to try to contain this," Mullen said. The U.S. military, however, isn't the proper organization to take charge of the oil spill response "because of the technical challenges, quite frankly," the admiral said.
"And, as best as I've been able to understand, the technical lead for this in our country really is the industry," Mullen said. "You can see, obviously, the challenges that they are going through to try to figure out how to stop this."
Obama: Memorial Day Honors Troop, Family Sacrifices
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
May 30, 2010 - Memorial Day is a time for Americans to remember and honor the ultimate sacrifices made by past and present generations of U.S. servicemembers, President Barack Obama said yesterday during his weekly address to the nation.
Each year on Nov. 11, Veterans Day, America honors all of its citizens who've worn a military uniform, Obama said. Yet, Memorial Day is something different, he said.
"On this day," Obama said, "we honor not just those who've worn this country's uniform, but the men and women who've died in its service; who've laid down their lives in defense of their fellow citizens; who've given their last full measure of devotion to protect the United States of America.
"These are the men and women I will be honoring this weekend, and I know many of you are doing the same," said the president, who tomorrow will provide Memorial Day remarks at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill.
From the Revolutionary War to the present day, generations of Americans have been willing to take up arms - and die, if necessary - in order to preserve the nation's freedoms, Obama said.
"That commitment – that willingness to lay down their lives so we might inherit the blessings of this nation – is what we honor today," Obama said. "But on this Memorial Day, as on every day, we are called to honor their ultimate sacrifice with more than words. We are called to honor them with deeds."
America also honors its fallen warriors, he said, by supporting the surviving family members who must carry on after their loved ones have passed.
"We are called to honor them by doing our part for the loved ones our fallen heroes have left behind and looking after our military families," Obama said. "By making sure the men and women serving this country around the world have the support they need to achieve their missions and come home safely. By making sure veterans have the care and assistance they need.
"In short," he continued, "by serving all those who have ever worn the uniform of this country – and their families – as well as they have served us."
Obama recalled a post-Civil War incident that occurred April 25, 1866, when a group of women in Columbus, Miss., visited a local cemetery to place flowers on the graves of Confederate soldiers who had died during the Battle of Shiloh.
As the women placed the flowers, he said, they noticed that a nearby group of Union soldier graves was bare of flowers.
"But no one had come to visit those [Union] graves, or place a flower there," Obama said. The women, he said, then "decided to lay a few stems for those men, too, in recognition not of a fallen Confederate or a fallen Union soldier, but a fallen American."
A few years later, he said, a group of Civil War veterans established what eventually became Memorial Day, picking a date when the spring flowers are in bloom.
"So this weekend, as we commemorate Memorial Day, I ask you to hold all our fallen heroes in your hearts, and if you can, to lay a flower where they have come to rest," Obama said.
American Forces Press Service
May 30, 2010 - Memorial Day is a time for Americans to remember and honor the ultimate sacrifices made by past and present generations of U.S. servicemembers, President Barack Obama said yesterday during his weekly address to the nation.
Each year on Nov. 11, Veterans Day, America honors all of its citizens who've worn a military uniform, Obama said. Yet, Memorial Day is something different, he said.
"On this day," Obama said, "we honor not just those who've worn this country's uniform, but the men and women who've died in its service; who've laid down their lives in defense of their fellow citizens; who've given their last full measure of devotion to protect the United States of America.
"These are the men and women I will be honoring this weekend, and I know many of you are doing the same," said the president, who tomorrow will provide Memorial Day remarks at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill.
From the Revolutionary War to the present day, generations of Americans have been willing to take up arms - and die, if necessary - in order to preserve the nation's freedoms, Obama said.
"That commitment – that willingness to lay down their lives so we might inherit the blessings of this nation – is what we honor today," Obama said. "But on this Memorial Day, as on every day, we are called to honor their ultimate sacrifice with more than words. We are called to honor them with deeds."
America also honors its fallen warriors, he said, by supporting the surviving family members who must carry on after their loved ones have passed.
"We are called to honor them by doing our part for the loved ones our fallen heroes have left behind and looking after our military families," Obama said. "By making sure the men and women serving this country around the world have the support they need to achieve their missions and come home safely. By making sure veterans have the care and assistance they need.
"In short," he continued, "by serving all those who have ever worn the uniform of this country – and their families – as well as they have served us."
Obama recalled a post-Civil War incident that occurred April 25, 1866, when a group of women in Columbus, Miss., visited a local cemetery to place flowers on the graves of Confederate soldiers who had died during the Battle of Shiloh.
As the women placed the flowers, he said, they noticed that a nearby group of Union soldier graves was bare of flowers.
"But no one had come to visit those [Union] graves, or place a flower there," Obama said. The women, he said, then "decided to lay a few stems for those men, too, in recognition not of a fallen Confederate or a fallen Union soldier, but a fallen American."
A few years later, he said, a group of Civil War veterans established what eventually became Memorial Day, picking a date when the spring flowers are in bloom.
"So this weekend, as we commemorate Memorial Day, I ask you to hold all our fallen heroes in your hearts, and if you can, to lay a flower where they have come to rest," Obama said.
Carthage Cemetery Honors World War II Fallen
U.S. Africa Command
May 30, 2010 - Less than a mile from the 2,000-year-old ruins of ancient Carthage, Tunisian groundskeepers worked under a bright Mediterranean sun to prepare for Memorial Day observances to honor the 2,841 Americans buried here, as well as the thousands more who gave their lives in the North Africa campaigns of World War II that laid the bloody groundwork for the Allied liberation of Europe. The North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial lies in a quiet open space surrounded by fig, cypress and eucalyptus trees on Roosevelt Road, between the Tunis airport and the tourist beaches, art boutiques and historic ruins of the Tunisian coast.
The grounds total about 27 acres, with a burial area about the size of four football or soccer fields, bounded on one side by the Wall of the Missing that includes 3,724 names. Bells from the cemetery's chapel play patriotic anthems, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "America the Beautiful," while calls to prayer from nearby mosques echo among the graves. The cemetery is easy to spot on Internet satellite maps -- due east of Tunis airport, it is the rectangle of bright green kikuyu grass that stands out against the darker olive-colored vegetation -- zooming in shows the orderly rows of crosses and Stars of David, all facing to the southeast.
Abdallah Lagahre, a stone mason whose job is to tend the grave markers, quietly spent several hours in the afternoon heat earlier this weekend refreshing the gold leaf on the headstone of Army Pvt. Nicholas Minue, the single Medal of Honor recipient buried in Carthage.
Born in Sedden, Poland, Minue has a "typical American story" of an immigrant who serves his adopted country, explained Carlos Castello, superintendant of the North Africa American Cemetery. Castello himself is another variation of the American story -- son of Cuban and Mexican parents, born in the United States, living overseas with a French stepfather, then serving 14 years in the U.S. Army, much of that time in Germany, with wartime service in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, though he stresses his military duties were largely administrative.
Minue was with an armored infantry unit assigned to 1st Armored Division on April 28, 1943, when a group of soldiers came under fire from an enemy machine gun nest. For reasons that were never recorded, he ran forward with a bayonet and killed 10 enemy machine gunners and riflemen, then continued attacking other enemy riflemen dug into the hillsides until he was fatally injured. His aggressiveness "was unquestionably the factor that gave his company the offensive spirit that was necessary for advancing and driving the enemy from the entire sector," according to Minue's Medal of Honor citation. The chapel bells happen to be playing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" while Castello retells Minue's story.
"We know a few of the stories," he adds. "It's a shame that we don't know them all."
For instance, there's Foy Draper, who Castello said "began fighting Germans in 1936" as part of the U.S. Olympic team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Those were the Olympic games where Germany's fascist leadership hoped to showcase their physical superiority, only to be bested by upstart Americans, led by African-American Jesse Owens.
The presence of an Olympic gold medalist among the gravesites is evidence that "America really gave her best in the pursuit of freedom," Castello said at Draper's gravesite.
Draper, from California, won gold as one of four members of the U.S. 400-meter relay team, and the cemetery has a photograph of Draper alongside teammates Owens, Ralph Metcalfe and Frank Wykoff. When the war started, Draper became a combat pilot. He and his crew were killed Jan. 4, 1943, after taking off from an airfield in Thelepte, Tunisia, near the Algerian border.
Not everyone honored at the cemetery is an Olympian or Medal of Honor recipient. The burials include 240 unknown Americans, including one headstone that marks the resting place of seven unknowns. Two adjacent headstones and a brass plaque mark the gravesite of four men whose names are known but whose remains could not be separately identified.
Michael Coonce, the cemetery's assistant superintendant, told the story of Alice P. McKinney of Michigan, a private first class in the Women's Army Corps. Her brother had died fighting in Europe, and she was being transferred from West Africa to Europe in the weeks after the war ended, in part to help with his burial arrangements. She is among 18 women soldiers aboard a transport plane that crashed off the African coast whose names are on the cemetery's Wall of the Missing. Her brother is buried at Henri-Chapelle Cemetery in Belgium.
All of those honored at the cemetery died during World War II, in campaigns that began with the Operation Torch landings in North Africa in November 1942, with the fiercest fighting taking place in Tunisia in early 1943. At a time when Germany and Italy occupied much of the European continent and North Africa, the United States and United Kingdom were under intense pressure from their Soviet ally to begin offensive operations against the Axis powers. An attack into Europe was deemed too risky, so the Allies sent a military force into North Africa, where the British were having success against German and Italian tank forces in desert fighting, and where it was unclear how the neutral French Vichy forces occupying the region would respond.
The French forces in North Africa soon sided with the Allies, but Germany and Italy were able to pour reinforcements into Tunisia, led by famed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The Battle of Kasserine Pass in early 1943 cost thousands of American lives and resulted in major changes in U.S. tactics and leadership. The Allied forces were able to reverse their setbacks, reorganized and defeated the German-Italian force by May 1943. Tunisia then became a launching point for invading Sicily and southern Italy, followed a year later by the D-Day invasion of Normandy in northern France.
"Without Operation Torch, there probably never would have been a D-Day," said Castello, summing up the historic significance of the North Africa campaign.
The nature of the fighting in Tunisia was described by wartime correspondent Ernie Pyle.
"For four days and nights they have fought hard, eaten little, washed none, and slept hardly at all," Pyle wrote in May 1943, traveling among American infantrymen. "Their nights have been violent with attack, fright, butchery, and their days sleepless and miserable with the crash of artillery. ... They are young men, but the grime and whiskers and exhaustion make them look middle-aged. There is an agony in your heart and you almost feel ashamed to look at them. They are just guys from Broadway and Main Street, but you wouldn't remember them. They are too far away now. They are too tired. Their world can never be known to you, but if you could see them just once, just for an instant, you would know that no matter how hard people work back home they are not keeping pace with these infantrymen in Tunisia."
Today, the people of Tunisia are respectful of the American cemetery, as well as British burial grounds, and a Tunisian military honor guard participates in annual U.S. Memorial Day observances. As the groundskeepers prepared for Memorial Day weekend, small groups of visitors kept stopping by the "Cimetière américain?," often young Tunisian couples who walked in silence among the graves.
"Like other people's, the Tunisian people lived through poignant tragedy of war and through dark hours under the occupation of Axis troops," Tunisia's founder and first president, Habib Bouguiba, said in a message posted on the wall of the cemetery's visitor's center. "Please accept, dear visitor ... the expression of my deep sympathy for the relatives of those who have sacrificed so much for the sake of freedom."
The North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunisia, is one of 24 permanent American military burial grounds on foreign soil administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Memorial Day weekend observances in Carthage are expected to include delegations from the government and military of Tunisia, and the U.S. government, including representatives from U.S. Africa Command.
City of Coupeville Honor Veterans
May 30, 2010 - By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nardel Gervacio, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West, Det. Whidbey Island
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nardel Gervacio, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West, Det. Whidbey Island (NNS) -- Hundreds of local residents from Coupeville and Whidbey Island paid their respects for all service members, past and present, during the Coupeville Memorial Day Parade, May 29.
Memorial Day was established shortly after the Civil War as Decoration Day. It is now a day set aside to remember the service members who have given their lives in the service of their country.
Despite a slight drizzle, the parade started at Coupeville's Middle and High school and proceeded down South Main Street with observers waving U.S. flags all along the way and ended at Coupeville Town Park.
With the participants and attendees present at the park after the parade, the Mayor of Coupeville, Nancy Conard spoke a few words, giving the audience a brief history of Memorial Day and what it means to the country and then thanked the crowd for attending regardless of "rain or shine."
After the parading of the colors, Capt. Gerral David, commanding officer of Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, in his last Memorial Day parade while assigned to the installation, addressed the crowd by remembering those who have given the ultimate sacrifice; describing them as being, "Good strong, capable and patriotic men and women who model what is best in all of us, who measure the value of life by the sacrifices they made and their dedication to the labors of their nation."
"Their lives inspire us, and it is our duty to remember them and not let the memory of their sacrifice fade," said David.
The 56th Army Band, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, played patriotic music throughout the ceremony.
Active-duty service members who participated in the parade said they felt a great sense of appreciation for the support the community gives to its military citizens.
"Today is the day to remember our veterans; it's a day of pride, and it's a great day for our nation," said Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class (AW) Michael Arebalo, from Fort Worth, Texas, a member of the Fleet Readiness Center Northwest color guard who marched in the parade. "I like to show my pride for our veterans and our active-duty personnel. I feel very honored to be a part of Coupeville Memorial Day Parade."
Despite the wet weather, the parade was a success according to Lynda Eccles, executive director of Central Whidbey Chambers of Commerce, the parade's sponsor.
"We had over 80 entries, and there were a lot of people along the parade route. Rain or shine, they all come out for this parade and they come from everywhere, off island as well, as every part of Whidbey to celebrate," said Eccles.
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nardel Gervacio, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West, Det. Whidbey Island (NNS) -- Hundreds of local residents from Coupeville and Whidbey Island paid their respects for all service members, past and present, during the Coupeville Memorial Day Parade, May 29.
Memorial Day was established shortly after the Civil War as Decoration Day. It is now a day set aside to remember the service members who have given their lives in the service of their country.
Despite a slight drizzle, the parade started at Coupeville's Middle and High school and proceeded down South Main Street with observers waving U.S. flags all along the way and ended at Coupeville Town Park.
With the participants and attendees present at the park after the parade, the Mayor of Coupeville, Nancy Conard spoke a few words, giving the audience a brief history of Memorial Day and what it means to the country and then thanked the crowd for attending regardless of "rain or shine."
After the parading of the colors, Capt. Gerral David, commanding officer of Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, in his last Memorial Day parade while assigned to the installation, addressed the crowd by remembering those who have given the ultimate sacrifice; describing them as being, "Good strong, capable and patriotic men and women who model what is best in all of us, who measure the value of life by the sacrifices they made and their dedication to the labors of their nation."
"Their lives inspire us, and it is our duty to remember them and not let the memory of their sacrifice fade," said David.
The 56th Army Band, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, played patriotic music throughout the ceremony.
Active-duty service members who participated in the parade said they felt a great sense of appreciation for the support the community gives to its military citizens.
"Today is the day to remember our veterans; it's a day of pride, and it's a great day for our nation," said Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class (AW) Michael Arebalo, from Fort Worth, Texas, a member of the Fleet Readiness Center Northwest color guard who marched in the parade. "I like to show my pride for our veterans and our active-duty personnel. I feel very honored to be a part of Coupeville Memorial Day Parade."
Despite the wet weather, the parade was a success according to Lynda Eccles, executive director of Central Whidbey Chambers of Commerce, the parade's sponsor.
"We had over 80 entries, and there were a lot of people along the parade route. Rain or shine, they all come out for this parade and they come from everywhere, off island as well, as every part of Whidbey to celebrate," said Eccles.
Arkansas Lighthouse for The Blind Hosts Admiral's Visit During Little Rock Navy Week
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Pat Migliaccio, Navy Office of Community Outreach Public Affairs
May 30, 2010 - LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (NNS) -- The Navy enjoyed a warm enthusiastic response during a recent visit to the Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind, a non-profit agency employing Arkansans who are blind and visually impaired.
Employees of the plant proudly lined up and stood at attention during the arrival of Rear Adm. Wendi B. Carpenter, commander, Navy Warfare Development Command, Norfolk, while one of their own visually impaired workers, Earl McClure played a rousing rendition of the Navy's theme song 'Anchors Aweigh' on his trombone.
"We're extremely pleased to have the Navy and admiral here," said Curtis Chase, director of Industries at Lighthouse. I'm sure it will be a humbling eye-opener to both sides. We appreciate all the Navy does to protect us and by coming here, you help to dispel myths and misconceptions about the blind and impaired. People are blown away when they learn what these individuals can actually do."
The Navy's visit to Arkansas Lighthouse of the Blind coincided with Little Rock Navy Week 2010, one of only 20 Navy Weeks being held across America this year, designed to educate Americans on the importance of naval service, understand the investment they make in their Navy, and to increase awareness of the Navy in cities which might not otherwise see Sailors at work on a regular basis.
Lighthouse employees manufacture diverse products for government clients and the United States Navy. Products of note used specifically by the Navy include T-shirts, notebooks and phone message pads.
During a tour of Little Rock production facilities, Carpenter observed numerous impaired and blind workers manufacturing various paper and clothing products throughout the plant. One of the individuals hard at work in the paper department was McClure, who moments earlier had entertained Carpenter by playing the Navy service song.
McClure, a punch press operator at the agency the past 35 years, caught the Carpenter's attention and was personally presented with her command coin after a friendly chat.
"I never met an admiral before," McClure said. "I'll keep this coin with me and will always cherish it."
The tour concluded with Carpenter giving a short speech to Lighthouse employees, thanking them for what they do for deployed troops. She ended her visit by leading them in the calling of the Hogs, the Arkansas Razorback school cheer.
"This visit was profoundly inspirational," Carpenter said. "It's so important to recognize everyone's contribution to our mission. We often take simple things like T-shirts and note pads for granted. But everything is important and needed to complete the mission. What they create makes our life better and gives us the tools to do my job."
Earl McClure summed it all up best: "Just because we don't have sight doesn't mean we don't have vision or ability."
May 30, 2010 - LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (NNS) -- The Navy enjoyed a warm enthusiastic response during a recent visit to the Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind, a non-profit agency employing Arkansans who are blind and visually impaired.
Employees of the plant proudly lined up and stood at attention during the arrival of Rear Adm. Wendi B. Carpenter, commander, Navy Warfare Development Command, Norfolk, while one of their own visually impaired workers, Earl McClure played a rousing rendition of the Navy's theme song 'Anchors Aweigh' on his trombone.
"We're extremely pleased to have the Navy and admiral here," said Curtis Chase, director of Industries at Lighthouse. I'm sure it will be a humbling eye-opener to both sides. We appreciate all the Navy does to protect us and by coming here, you help to dispel myths and misconceptions about the blind and impaired. People are blown away when they learn what these individuals can actually do."
The Navy's visit to Arkansas Lighthouse of the Blind coincided with Little Rock Navy Week 2010, one of only 20 Navy Weeks being held across America this year, designed to educate Americans on the importance of naval service, understand the investment they make in their Navy, and to increase awareness of the Navy in cities which might not otherwise see Sailors at work on a regular basis.
Lighthouse employees manufacture diverse products for government clients and the United States Navy. Products of note used specifically by the Navy include T-shirts, notebooks and phone message pads.
During a tour of Little Rock production facilities, Carpenter observed numerous impaired and blind workers manufacturing various paper and clothing products throughout the plant. One of the individuals hard at work in the paper department was McClure, who moments earlier had entertained Carpenter by playing the Navy service song.
McClure, a punch press operator at the agency the past 35 years, caught the Carpenter's attention and was personally presented with her command coin after a friendly chat.
"I never met an admiral before," McClure said. "I'll keep this coin with me and will always cherish it."
The tour concluded with Carpenter giving a short speech to Lighthouse employees, thanking them for what they do for deployed troops. She ended her visit by leading them in the calling of the Hogs, the Arkansas Razorback school cheer.
"This visit was profoundly inspirational," Carpenter said. "It's so important to recognize everyone's contribution to our mission. We often take simple things like T-shirts and note pads for granted. But everything is important and needed to complete the mission. What they create makes our life better and gives us the tools to do my job."
Earl McClure summed it all up best: "Just because we don't have sight doesn't mean we don't have vision or ability."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
