Big E Begins Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions Program

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gregory White, Enterprise Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs

USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea (NNS) -- Service members aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) formed a Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions (CSADD) committee aboard the ship July 10.

CSADD is a peer-to-peer mentoring program geared toward assisting Sailors in making positive decisions in all areas of their lives.

The program was originally created for those in ROTC, JROTC and similar programs. However, it quickly spread throughout the Navy and is now a resource for all Sailors.

Enterprise Command Master Chief Dwayne E. Huff, initiated the organization of the program aboard the carrier after attending a number of captain's masts which he felt could have been prevented if the Sailors involved were better informed before making the decisions that landed them in trouble.

"I believe that if Sailors have a program like CSADD and the mentorship that it offers, we will all benefit from it," said Huff. "I've been involved in the program at previous commands and I've seen how successful it can be when it is utilized correctly."

The purpose of the program is peer mentorship. The goals of its members are to get a group of Sailors who, through networking and discussion, can create ways to inform and inspire others to make better decisions, and to equip all hands with the tools they need to make those decisions.

"Once fully organized and established, we will meet weekly to put together ideas to help with the message we're driving to our Sailors," wrote Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Kyle T. Gregory, a member of CSADD, in an e-mail to the other members of the coalition.

The coalition has different topics they want to focus on every month in an effort to raise awareness about these issues. Topics range from addressing problems such as sexual assault to everyday issues such as car buying.

"Once or twice a month we will give training to the command via posters, skits, departmental training, etc.," wrote Gregory.

"With a program like CSADD in place Sailors have an option to ask questions and gain perspective before making decisions that could affect them in an unexpected manner," said Huff. "If we get the volunteers needed to get involved and get this program off of the ground, and if we gain interest from Sailors in utilizing the tools we offer, then the program can be a real success here."

Huff said that he believes CSADD will help Sailors make informed decisions, build trust and develop healthier relationships. It may not totally alleviate certain problems but it will definitely help.

CSADD recently held its first meeting and plan to meet at least once per month throughout the rest of deployment.

After six decades, Volk Field renders final respects for namesake

By 1st Sgt. Vaughn R. Larson

Wisconsin National Guard

More than 61 years after 1st Lt. Jerome Volk's F-80 Shooting Star fighter jet was shot down over the skies of North Korea, the Wisconsin Air National Guard base bearing his name held a formal memorial ceremony July 11 for his family and guests.

"He was my stable friend. He meant a lot to me," said Don Volk, 85, Jerome's younger brother and next of kin who kept alive the hope that Jerome's remains would someday be recovered and returned. After all these years, that day has yet to come.

"We waited nearly 62 years to find out whatever was going to happen," Don continued. "It's hard for me to talk about -I know we're never going to get anything back. I just decided, I'm 85, not in the best of health anymore … I want to close it out."

Jerome was born March 17, 1925 in Harvey, N.D., and after his family moved to Milwaukee, he graduated from Rufus King High School in 1943. Shortly after graduation he joined the U.S. Army's enlisted reserve corps and began air cadet training June 22. Six months later he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and flew P-51 Mustangs during the remainder of the war. Now a first lieutenant, Jerome joined the Wisconsin Air National Guard's 126th Fighter Squadron in January 1949, and was called to active duty with his squadron two years later.

Jerome's final flight - a strafing mission against communist Chinese forces in North Korea - began shortly after 3 p.m. on Nov. 7, 1951. About two hours after departing the U.S. Air Force Base at Suwon, South Korea, Jerome reported that his tip tanks - fuel tanks positioned at the wingtips - were not working and that he would return for repairs when he was down to 150 gallons of fuel. About seven minutes later the right napalm bomb was damaged, spraying napalm everywhere. Less than two minutes later the entire tail section came off, and the F-80 Shooting Star rolled uncontrollable at an estimated 200 mph. He was the first Wisconsin Air National Guard pilot killed in the Korean War.

"The other members of the strafing mission only witnessed a fiery ball," Kevin Barry, Jerome's great-nephew, said at the ceremony. Kevin wrote a 10-minute speech about his great-uncle when he was in fifth grade, drawing from official military documents his grandfather provided. Now a college graduate, he updated the speech for the July 11 memorial.

Jerome was unable to position his wounded aircraft to eject, and the jet struck the ground at an 80-degree angle. After years of searching, he was presumed dead on Dec. 31, 1953.

The Wisconsin National Guard rededicated the part of Camp Williams used by the Air National Guard as Volk Field. The following year, the Wisconsin legislature officially approved the name change.

But the base is not Jerome's only namesake - Don named his daughter, who goes by the name Jerri, after the fallen Airman.

"My dad has relived to me the day he came home from work and his dad was standing in the big glass window - sobbing, shoulders shaking - and the military had just been there with the news that [Jerry] was missing in action," she recalled. "I think [my dad] will find a sense of peace with this. It means a lot to him to really honor his brother."

Kevin, Jerri's son, agreed.

"I think [this memorial] means a lot to my grandpa," he said. "I think it's coming to peace with the fact that we probably won't find his remains but that we don't really need to - this base is named after him and the Air National Guard clearly hasn't forgotten about it. I think his sacrifice has been immortalized."

Jerome's memorial marker joins the headstones of Pvt. Robert Williams, Lt. Col. Charles Williams and Brig. Gen. Hugh Simonson, as well as the memorial marker for Col. Jack King, in Memorial Cemetery at the foot of Long Bluff near the main gate.

Col. Gary Ebben, Volk Field commander, said he was honored to host the ceremony.

"It's certainly a personal event for them. It appears to have met a real need for them," Ebben said. "It's just a privilege and an honor to be a part of it."

Don said he would give the flag from the July 11 ceremony to his youngest daughter. His oldest daughter has the flag from the ceremony when Volk Field was renamed.

"The name will go on forever," he said of the Air National Guard base being renamed for his brother. "It meant something to my father - he was military, too. He was in World War I. He was a corporal. It meant a lot to him and my mother."

Kevin said that, despite never having the opportunity to know his great-uncle, he feels well acquainted with Jerome Volk.

"It is very evident that his spirit lives on through the efforts of both my grandfather and the Wisconsin Air National Guard," he said.

Horses for Heroes Program Helps Wounded Warriors Heal

By Erin Wittkop

American Forces Press Service

CROWNSVILLE, Md. – Army Sgt. Jonathon Biddle never imagined that the challenge of learning to ride a horse would help him recover from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and severe anxiety. A program called Horses for Heroes, however, is helping the wounded warrior do just that.

Biddle joined the Horses for Heroes program in the fall of 2011, following a month-long hospital stay at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. It was Biddle’s wife, Jackie, who encouraged him to try the program after he brought home a flyer from the Warriors in Transition Unit. The program, started in 2009 by Maryland Therapeutic Riding Inc., is designed to help wounded warriors relieve stress so they can focus on healing.

“I feel more confident and less intimidated when talking to people,” Biddle said after a recent riding session with his wife and sons at the Maryland facility here. “It’s been therapeutic for the whole family.”

Suzie Stricker, an MTR Horses for Heroes instructor, said the riding lessons “are an opportunity for the service members to relax and forget about their stresses for a while.”

Kelly Rodgers, MTR program director, developed the idea to provide horseback riding opportunities for wounded warriors after talking with retired Army Col. Ken McCreedy, an MTR board member who actively works with the Warriors in Transition Unit on Fort Meade, Md. The program began with six wounded warrior riders, and currently has 50 wounded warrior riders who take part in eight-week horseback riding sessions.

Family members are welcome to participate in the program , which is what attracted Biddle and his family. “I’d always wanted to learn how to ride and thought it would be a good way to bring our family together while Jonathon was recovering,” Jackie Biddle said. “I really value the downtime [that our lessons provide]. It’s one hour out of the week that our whole family can stop, relax and just enjoy being together. It’s my release.”

Biddle’s progress has been notable, said Chris Lewis, social services coordinator for the Fort Meade Soldier and Family Assistance Center and the liaison to the Horses for Heroes program.

“When Jonathon started the program, he was very shut-in. He was very non-communicative outside of his immediate family,” Lewis said. “He’s more outgoing now and willing to interact with other people.”

Lewis said he has worked with MTR since Horses for Heroes began in 2009. “Troops who ride at MTR undergo a change in their whole demeanor after participating in the program,” Lewis said. “Individuals who struggle with PTSD and traumatic brain injury find new ways to cope with their symptoms. They suddenly become more outgoing and open to new ideas, which propel them to try new programs [that would also help them heal].”

Biddle said he now encourages fellow service members assigned to the Fort Meade Warrior Transition Unit to join the MTR program. “I tell them to try it -- even if they’ve never ridden -- and to make it a family affair or social activity,” he said.

Like Biddle, Army Sgt. Thomas St. Maur struggled with recovery after he returned from a four-month deployment in Afghanistan. St. Maur, too, has found help in the Horses for Heroes program.

He said he is amazed at the new dynamic the riding lessons have brought to his life. “I started the program a month-and-a-half ago and was very wary of horses. I had no previous riding experience at all,” St. Maur said. “It didn’t take me long to realize that they’re just big puppy dogs, and I didn’t have to be anxious around them.”

A combat veteran of multiple deployments, St. Maur said Horses for Heroes has helped him manage his emotions and focus on having new experiences.

St. Maur strongly encourages other troops to get involved with the program, especially those like him without previous experience around horses.

“If given the chance, service members should definitely give it a try,” he said. “It’s been a great experience.”

Pacom Chief Calls Australia Key Player in Regional Security

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia has been a staunch U.S. ally for more than 60 years and its leadership will continue to be critical to regional security and the future of the Asia-Pacific, Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, the top U.S. officer in the region, told reporters here at the National Press Club today.

Locklear, here for his first visit since taking the helm of U.S. Pacific Command in March, said he welcomed the opportunity to meet with senior Australian leaders to discuss “the challenges we face, how we are going to work together as allies and further our partnership and to increase our interoperability.”

Meeting yesterday with Australian Army Gen. David Hurley, chief of Australia’s defense force, and other military leaders and today with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Locklear said his talks focused on advancing the alliance to the next level as the United States “rebalances” its forces in Asia and the Pacific.

The rebalancing is part of the United States’ new strategic guidance that recognizes the importance of the region that covers more than half the globe and includes 36 nations, 3.4 billion people, the world’s largest militaries and largest economies and its most important sea lines of communications.

One of the first steps in that effort was the introduction this spring of Marine Corps rotational deployments to Australia’s Robertson Barracks near Darwin. The first rotation includes about 250 Marines, but the force could grow to as many as 2,500 over time.

“I think it is progressing quite well,” Locklear told reporters, “and on a timeline that both the Australian government and the U.S. government are comfortable with.”

The admiral emphasized that the deployed U.S. troops will not constitute a permanent presence, and typically will be deployed only between April and September. “The United States doesn’t seek to create any more U.S. bases anywhere,” he said.

But by providing a rotational U.S. presence at an important strategic location, the concept is important to U.S. rebalancing efforts, Locklear said, noting “it is an important aspect of the alliance we have with Australia.”

The arrangement, he added, postures U.S. forces to better support trilateral and multilateral exercises in the region.

Meanwhile, the first element of Marines here is already demonstrating the enhanced collaboration the rotations make possible as they partner with their Australian hosts, Locklear said. “We are starting to train together, to talk about how to be [more] interoperable and starting to look at how we are going to exercise, not only bilaterally, but how we will start to expand that into multilateral opportunities,” he said.

“So we think it is a good thing for our security relationship,” he continued. “And it is certainly a good thing across all aspects of security in the Asia-Pacific -- whether it is humanitarian assistance-disaster relief, or just being prepared for other contingencies.”

Looking toward the future in the vast Asia-Pacific region, Locklear said the greatest challenges are likely to be transnational and threats to the global commons that include the maritime, space and cyberspace domains.

“So you have to develop forces that can work in those commons across a broad range of mission sets,” he said. “And we are seeing that in the U.S. military rebalance. And we are seeing that most of the nations in the Asia-Pacific are starting to recognize that they have got to look beyond their borders and … they have got to be able to operate multilaterally beyond their borders.”

As the rebalance promotes more trilateral and multilateral engagement in the region, Locklear emphasized that is not aimed at “containing” China. He told American Forces Press Service he underscored that point during his recent visit to China, encouraging China to become a closer partner in promoting regional security and stability.

“You have to base your strategies on having a positive outcome,” Locklear said today. “And a positive outcome would be a shared security environment in the Asia-Pacific of which all countries were able to participate in and to contribute what they could into that.

“And that would include the Chinese as well,” he added. “I believe that they have the opportunity to enter into this security environment in a very productive way, and we are going to encourage that at every opportunity.”

Locklear said he welcomes, for example, Indonesia’s efforts to bring China into more trilateral and multilateral training exercises, calling it “a good sign for the region.”

“We should look for opportunities to bring China into these forums,” he said, noting its growing economic power and its potential to be a strong, stabilizing influence in the region. “I think it is in all of our best interests to ensure that we allow them to be properly integrated into that security environment.”

Asked about tensions in the South China Sea -- specifically, the standoff between China and the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal -- Locklear said the United States doesn’t take sides in territorial disputes. Rather, he said, it encourages nations to resolve their differences peacefully and without coercion using international legal processes.

Locklear did, however, warn of the risks of excessive maritime claims that go beyond customary maritime law or the Law of the Sea Convention. There is the potential, he said, for these issues to cause friction among regional neighbors, particularly as they compete for resources in the contested waters.

This friction could lead to “miscalculation” that could disrupt overall stability in the area, the admiral said.

“No nation in the South China Sea area or Asia wants to see a conflict in the South China Sea,” he told reporters. “No one does. It is counterintuitive to the economic development there.”

Working through the sovereignty issues of who owns what is not going to be easy, Locklear conceded. “And while it is diplomatically challenging,” he said, “our concern is just to ensure it doesn’t become militarily challenging.”

Responding to a question about Australia’s reduced defense spending levels, reportedly the lowest since 1938, Locklear said he recognizes that Australia, like the United States, is facing difficult fiscal times. Not commenting directly about Australia’s defense budget, he emphasized the importance of both countries maintaining a credible deterrence and defense -- regardless of the economic climate.

“Defense is not something you can turn on and off with a switch from year to year based on how bad the economies are,” he said, noting the long-term planning and investment that drives defense programs.

Meanwhile, responding to another reporter’s question about the potential impact of sequestration in the United States, Locklear said he’s “confident we will work our way through our challenges.”

Locklear summarized the roundtable, telling reporters he values the unique perspectives senior Australian military leaders shared with him during the past two days of closed-door meetings.

“I look forward to learning more from them as we look forward on how we better cooperate across all the aspects of security cooperation, whether from cyber to humanitarian assistance-disaster response all the way up to contingency planning,” he said.

Building on groundwork laid during this visit, Locklear said he hopes to expand that dialogue in a way that enhances “how we exercise together, how we train together and [how] we build our multilateral and trilateral exercises together so we get that right.”