Carl Vinson Hosts DC Olympics

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW) Luke B. Meineke, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs

USS CARL VINSON, At sea (NNS) -- Sailors aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) participated in DC Olympics - a practical training competition between the ship's 10 repair lockers, Air Department's crash and salvage team, and its hangar bay firefighting team - during underway operations, March 16.

Events ranging from hose-handling and phone talking, to dewatering and shoring, measured Sailors' damage control (DC) knowledge and skill.

"The DC Olympics gives the repair lockers a chance to display what they've learned over the course of our training cycle and through the deployment," said Chief Damage Controlman (SW/AW) Matthew Brenner, Engineering Department DC Division's leading chief petty officer.

"It promotes teamwork and competitive camaraderie between the repair lockers themselves and it's a good break from the routine of normal general quarters (GQ)."

Brenner said in addition to assessing overall knowledge gained from qualifications and GQ training, DC Olympics' events go beyond normal training to factor in speed and efficiency by timing the events and penalizing teams for any infractions.

"We're able to do things we aren't able to do at GQ, like charge hoses and discharge from the nozzle and give everyone a chance to handle the hose," Brenner said.

"It's better than GQ training, I think," said Yeoman 2nd Class (SW/AW) Adam Mostafa, assigned to Intel Department's OS01 Division and a Repair Locker 7B investigator. "GQ training is good, but more of a routine. There are certain events you don't get to do during GQ, like pushing the AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) tank with a charged hose, and the CBR (chemical, biological and radiological) dress-out. DC Olympics gives everybody motivation, like pride in your repair locker. And with the events, everyone has a competitive spirit. It's actually really fun; I wish we could do it more often."

"That's the big issue right there," said Machinery Repairman 2nd Class Michael Villarreal, leading petty officer of Engineering Department's R-1 Division and member of Repair 3, this year's DC Olympic winners.

"In general quarters, everything is simulated - and you can simulate only so far. The best training is the real-scene scenario - actually being able to use the equipment - because of the differences. Picking up a PeriJet eductor that's not in use - it doesn't weigh anything. When you have a PeriJet with a fully-charged 2 1/2 -inch hose and a 4-inch hose attached to it, it's really heavy," he said. "A fully charged hose compared to a hose that you're just flaking out - the weight itself is different and controlling it is different. It was good to actually put it to use."

One of the most popular events was the hose team relay, in which a four-person team dresses out in firefighting ensembles (FFE) and races across the flight deck carrying a rolled-up hose.

"I'm on the firefighting hose team and I live for that kind of stuff," said Information Systems Technician 3rd Class Clarence Thompkins, assigned to Combat Systems Department's CS3 Division, and a Repair 7B member. "I like the adrenaline you get. Yeah, we were tired, but once we went to that next event, I had a new burst of energy."

"We see the guys put on their FFEs every GQ, but to see them put it on and run across the flight deck carrying the hose was great," Villarreal added.

DC Olympics is a competition, Brenner said, and that raises the level of training.

"Everybody's pretty motivated and pumped up going through the events," he said. "Everybody wants to be the best at what we're doing here, so it brings out a lot of competitive spirit."

"I think it's great that they put an actual competition in place for DC," Villarreal said. "It only makes you push harder and want to do better. All hands get to do it; everybody's there to help out, which is good. I'll take away the team camaraderie and locker unity. The locker is a tight-knit unit; we gel over there."

"My favorite part is the camaraderie," Thompkins said. "I don't really feel that too much just doing day-to-day stuff , but once GQ hits or DC Olympics starts, it's like we're family and it feels great."

The cross-training DC Olympics provides and the full locker participation it promotes generates unique and lasting training, Mostafa said.

"The training is the best takeaway," Mostafa said. "It makes you do stuff that you know, but don't do often, like pipe patching. We all know how to do it, but we obviously don't always get a chance to do it. It forces you to remember. You make mistakes, but it comes back to you and reaffirms how important it is and motivates you to step up your game and knowledge."

"This time, we had to do everything," Thompkins said. "The only thing I really knew how to do was put on an SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) and be on the hose team. That's it. But I learned all of it in a short span of time."

Repair 3 team was crowned as repeat champions.

"It's a great training tool because, with nobody prompting them along, they have to apply the stuff that's been taught and actually do it without anybody assisting them," Brenner said. "It's a little bit of ingenuity that they have to come up with to get through some of this stuff."

"It reminds you to be ready," Thompkins said. "You can't have a fire and have no one know what to do. You want that mental readiness that you are going to go ahead and put this fire out and save the ship. Saving lives and saving the ship - those are our number one priorities."

Carl Vinson and embarked Carrier Air Wing 17 are conducting maritime theater security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

Training evolutions like DC Olympics are key elements of the readiness area of the 21st Century Sailor and Marine initiative which consolidates a set of objectives and policies, new and existing, to maximize Sailor and Marine personal readiness, build resiliency and hone the most combat-effective force in the history of the Department of the Navy.

U.S. Suspends MIA Search in North Korea

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – The United States has suspended efforts to find remains of U.S. service members lost during the Korean War due to North Korean threats to launch a ballistic missile, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said here today.

Recovering remains of those lost and unaccounted for is a priority to the Defense Department, and U.S. experts were due to enter North Korea this month.

“We have suspended that effort because we believe that North Korea has not acted appropriately in recent days and weeks and that it’s important for them to return to the standards of behavior that the international community has called for,” Little said at a Pentagon news conference. “We do hope at some point to be able to re-engage the effort.”

The United States sees the recovery of remains as a humanitarian mission and does not link those operations with other policy issues, Tara Rigler, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said in a statement. However, she added, the North Koreans politicized these humanitarian operations “by linking them to long-standing annual military exercises which are defensive in nature and are designed to increase the interoperability between the United States and [South Korea].”

Rigler said these actions and other developments call into question the credibility of all of North Korea's commitments, including the remains recovery operations. “As a result,” she added, “we are suspending the current arrangement to resume remains recovery operations with [North Korea] until their actions indicate a willingness to move forward in good faith on its commitments.”

North Korea cited the exercises in refusing to honor procedures agreed to in October. Since then, Little said, indications have emerged that North Korea might launch ballistic missiles. “That would be in contravention of U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he added, “and that is unacceptable behavior.”

The United States hopes to engage in the future with North Korea on efforts to recover remains, Little said. “But when there are suggestions that they might launch ballistic missiles, when they make bellicose statements about South Korea and engage in actions that could be construed as provocative, we think that it’s not the right time to undertake this effort,” he told reporters. “We’re hopeful that we will get past this period and that we can continue the remains recovery effort.”

The Defense Department remains committed to the fullest possible accounting of the more than 7,950 U.S. service members missing from the Korean War, officials said. An estimated 5,300 are missing in what is now North Korea. In many cases, the United States knows exactly where the service members were buried, as U.S. forces attacked up into North Korea in late 1950.

The Chinese army entered the fray and pushed U.S. and other United Nations forces out of the north. U.S. officials say they know where those burials are, but have not been able to get to them.

Other areas are more of a problem, officials said, especially graves associated with prisoner of war camps. The North Koreans and Chinese tortured, beat and starved POWs, and many hundreds died from the abuse, officials said.

USS San Diego Completes First Port Visit in Cuba

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist Holly Boynton, USS San Diego Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (NNS) -- USS San Diego (LPD 22) departed Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba following her first port visit March 21.

San Diego arrived in Cuba March 18, three days after departing Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. While in Cuba, San Diego hosted ship's tours for more than 100 base personnel and their families, including Commander, Joint Task Force Guantanamo, Rear Adm. David Woods.

"We don't get to see very many Navy ships come through here," said Woods. "This is really impressive and it's a pleasure to come out and show our joint team what the Navy's all about. It's a fantastic ship; I see why you're so proud of it. For the crew, it's obvious in the attitude how they want to display this ship. It is the Navy's finest."

San Diego is the fourth ship named for the city and the sixth ship in the San Antonio class. The ship features many new systems and features, both for mission effectiveness and crew comfort.

San Diego is currently en route to her future homeport and namesake city for commissioning in May 2012.

Obama to Visit DMZ During South Korean Trip

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will visit the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea and meet with U.S. troops as part of his visit to the South Korean capital of Seoul next week.

Obama will arrive in the country March 25 to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit hosted by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

The visit has a certain symbolism, said White House officials speaking on background. “The president is the commander in chief, and the U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea,” an official said. “So it is logical and important to him to have the opportunity to visit with some of them on the front line and to say thank you for their service.”

An official noted that the visit coincides with the two-year anniversary of North Korea’s sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors.

“That incident and the cooperation between the U.S. and [South Korea] that followed is a special example of the solidarity and the cooperation between two treaty allies,” the official said. “The DMZ is the front line of democracy in the Korean peninsula, and it’s the symbol of the U.S. and the [South Korean] resolve, as well as solidarity.”

During the talks, Obama will continue to push for nations to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials from terrorists, officials said. He also will discuss nonproliferation, including the challenges posed by North Korea and Iran. Obama also will emphasize that U.S. efforts on behalf of nuclear security and safety also are part of a commitment to peaceful nuclear energy as an important part of U.S. energy policy and energy around the world, an official said.

In addition to extended meetings with South Korean allies, the president will use the occasion to hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan and China, officials said.

Navy Medicine, Private Industry Partnership Seeks Malaria, Mosquito Control In Africa

By Lt. Ryan Larson, Navy Entomology Center of Excellence Public Affairs

ACCRA, Ghana (NNS) -- The Navy Entomology Center of Excellence (NECE) headquartered at Naval Air Station Jacksonville announced March 21 a key collaboration with an international company as part of a program to discover new public health pesticides for controlling mosquitoes.

Vestergaard Frandsen (VF) is an international company based in Europe that specializes in complex emergency response and disease control products.

VF is interested in techniques developed by NECE and the United States Department of Agricultural Center for Medical and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE) to aid in the discovery of new insecticides with new active ingredients for use in treating bed nets and conducting indoor residual pesticide applications, the cornerstone of malaria prevention programs in Africa.

Katelyn Chalaire, NECE entomologist, will provide direct support to Vestergaard Frandsen's pesticide discovery initiative. Chalaire's expertise stems from her work in the discovery and evaluation of new pesticides used to control mosquitoes as part of the congressionally mandated Deployed War-Fighter Protection (DWFP) Program.

Chalaire and Dr. James Becnel of CMAVE in Gainesville, Fla., presented a training workshop on pesticide screening procedures at VF's laboratory in Accra. NECE has collaborations with civilian and government agencies, including CMAVE, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"I conducted a toxicology screening workshop for five laboratory technicians and the laboratory manager of the VF-Ghana research laboratory," said Chalaire. "This workshop will enable the CMAVE and VF-Ghana screening programs to exchange chemicals for evaluation and will be beneficial to DoD's goal of identifying new chemicals for vector control."

The workshop included an oral presentation detailing advanced pesticide screening techniques used by Chalaire, followed by a hands-on demonstration of the screening protocol. Ultimately, the training standardized methods between the two labs, promoting product and results exchanges.

According to Chalaire, mosquitoes are developing resistance to insecticides commonly used in public health programs, so it is imperative to identify new compounds for both military and non-military use to control human disease transmitted by blood-feeding insects.

"Chemicals with new modes of action will be targeted in an effort to overcome insecticide-resistant insect populations," said Chalaire. "This coincides with efforts of CMAVE and NECE as part of the Deployed War-Fighter Protection Program to discover new public health pesticides and identify new strategies for insecticide-resistance management."

Although VF is focused on finding new products to be used on bed nets, these insecticides with new modes of action could also be used as an alternative to permethrin currently used to treat military fabrics (e.g., uniforms, tents, barriers, etc.), during residual insecticide applications, and as a spatial spray against resistant mosquitoes and other disease carriers, or "vectors."

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work on a project that has so much potential for the development of a new insecticide that could be used to protect our troops," said Chalaire.

Chalaire said the trip was also a great learning experience. She travelled to a small, rural village in Wenchi, Ghana, to visit a clinical study site where she learned how VF's bed nets are being evaluated for durability, ease of use, and efficacy.

"The most interesting part of the trip to Ghana was learning about Vestergaard Frandsen's new product development projects, specifically bed nets and durable wall linings for protection against malaria-vectoring mosquitoes," said Chalaire. "The products that VF is developing could easily translate into products that could be used for troop protection when they are deployed to geographic areas where mosquito-borne diseases are endemic."

While visiting the study site, Chalaire attended a brief meeting with the village chief, observed the testing set ups, and observed how the bed nets were being used by the people of Wenchi.

"As a young entomologist, it was such an amazingly inspiring experience," said Chalaire.

NECE is a field activity of the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center, and is part of the Navy Medicine team, a global healthcare network of 63,000 Navy medical personnel around the world who provide high quality health care to more than 1 million eligible beneficiaries. Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ship, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield.