HSV Swift Departs Nigeria Following Africa Partnership Station Visit

By Ensign Joseph Keiley, High-Speed Vessel Swift Public Affairs

LAGOS, Nigeria (NNS) -- High-Speed Vessel Swift (HSV 2) completed a weeklong visit to Lagos, Nigeria, in support of Africa Partnership Station (APS) 2012, Aug. 24.

During the visit, Swift conducted several classroom and field training engagements with Nigerian service members, hosted a health fair, and held a reception for the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria.

Capt. Richard N. Soucie, commander, Task Force 63, said that visits such as this helps to promote partnership and interoperability between African countries.

 "Maritime domain awareness has been an issue at the forefront of our visits to Africa," said Soucie. "This serves as an opportunity for us to get together and work on common issues, and it's very exciting because we have numerous people and trainers aboard Swift who interacted all week with the Nigerian people as well as the Nigerian navy."

Terrence McCulley, U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, commended the crew for their partner-building training and their community outreach efforts during their visit.

"I'm delighted to have Swift in Lagos," said McCulley. "I'd like to thank the Swift team for their efforts in demonstrating partnership between the U.S. and the Nigerian navy. They showed how effective our military can be."

Local military officials said they valued Swift's visit.

"This visit strengthened our relationship as we sharpened our skills and ready ourselves to turn our attention back to the sea," said Commodore HM Babalola, Nigerian navy.

Upon leaving Nigeria, Swift will continue its APS deployment, making several more stops along the West African coast.

APS is an international security cooperation initiative, facilitated by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, aimed at strengthening global maritime partnerships through training and collaborative activities in order to improve maritime safety and security in Africa.

Canada: Washington Army Guard combat engineers take part in international training exercise

By Army Pfc. Ryan Scott

122nd Public Affairs Operations Center

TRAIL, British Columbia - Soldiers from the Washington Army National Guard’s 204th Engineer Company recently spent time training with their Canadian Army counterparts as part of the combined training exercise Kootenay Castor 2012.

The two week training exercise consisted of maritime, demolitions, and other tactical operations, as well as a “best sapper” competition.

“This is a great opportunity for the Soldiers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Anderson, a platoon sergeant with the 204th Eng. Co. “They’re looking forward to the combined training and are excited to be here.”

Both the American and Canadian soldiers were separated from their respective home units and then assigned to combined platoons. 

“It’s a way of maximizing our capabilities while fostering camaraderie between the two units and the two countries,” said Canadian Army Capt. Jason Kalincak, operations officer with the Canadian Army’s 39th Combat Engineer Regiment.

 The soldiers will be spending the next two weeks learning and sharing the tricks of their trade through in-depth training, friendly competition and a 24-hour field training exercise, something that many in the group are looking forward to.

“We’re very good at our way of doing things and when we work just as ourselves, we fall into a routine,” said Kalincak. “It gives a different perspective on tackling the same set of problems.”

Amos: Asia-Pacific Shift Won’t Overlook Other Regions

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Enemies of the United States would be making a mistake if they conclude the U.S. shift in defense strategy toward the Asia Pacific means less focus on other important regions, the commandant of the Marine Corps said today.

Gen. James F. Amos told reporters the strategy shift should not be taken to mean the U.S. military at large won’t remain engaged with the rest of the world. “We have the capability to do our nation’s bidding (elsewhere) while we’re doing (the Pacific strategy),” he said. “This doesn’t have to be a singular focus for the Marine Corps.”

Marines have a long and distinguished history in Asia and he honored part of that legacy by participating in the 70th anniversary of the Marine landing at Guadalcanal on August 7.

For today’s young Marines, Gen. Amos said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the proving ground the same way Khe Sanh or Da Nang in Vietnam were for their fathers. “For all the young kids who joined the Marine Corps in the past 10 years, I go out and visit them in Afghanistan and ask how many of you have been in the western Pacific?” he said. “The only ones who raise their hands are the old master gunnery sergeants, the sergeant major and the battalion commander. All the others have never been there before.”

NMCB 24 Commanding Officer Relieved of Duty

From Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Public Affairs

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (NNS) -- Cmdr. Franklin Fernandez, USNR, commanding officer, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 24 was relieved by Capt. Roger Motzko, Commodore, 3rd Naval Construction Regiment (NCR), in Huntsville, Ala., Aug. 21, due to a loss of confidence in Fernandez's ability to command.

Fernandez was cited by Redstone Arsenal base police for allegedly driving under the influence early in the morning Aug. 16. Fernandez is pending a nonjudicial punishment proceeding in early September.

Lt. Cmdr. Ronald Jenkins, chief staff officer of the 3rd NCR, will assume duties as the command's senior officer until a permanent replacement is identified. Jenkins is familiar with the current operations of NMCB 24 as well as the needs of the command and its Sailors.

Architect of the Army Guard's Best Warrior Competition reflects on the evolution of the competition

By Army Sgt. Darron Salzer

National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. - In June 2005, the selection process for the Soldier and noncommissioned officer of the year for the Army National Guard was a very different process.

Known then as the Soldier and NCO of the Year Competition the regional winners from throughout the Army Guard had to then compete at the First Army level, then again at U.S. Army Forces Command, before reaching the Department of the Army competition.

For Command Sgt. Maj. John Gipe, who in 2005 was the command sergeant major of the Army Guard, that process seemed to need a revamping.

Since the Army National Guard was a three-star command, just like First Army, Gipe said that as he watched the Guard competition unfold in 2006, it didn’t make sense to him why Army Guard Soldiers had to compete at another three-star command to advance to the DA level.

“But more importantly, as the largest organization within the Army, I felt that it was important to the Soldiers of the Army National Guard to have their own [Noncommissioned Officer] and Soldier of the Year Competition … within our own organization,” said Gipe, who now serves as the senior enlisted advisor for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.

He approached the Army Reserve command sergeant major to see if there was any interest in creating a similar competition within the Army Reserve, as they too had to send their Soldiers through First Army as well.

The two sergeants major were in agreement and they approached the sergeant major of the Army about changing how the Army Guard and Army Reserve competed.

Gipe also wanted to revamp the competition itself, in addition to the process that Soldiers and noncommissioned officers competed.

At the time, the competition included Soldier tasks, an Army Physical Fitness Test and weapons qualifications, but it in no way compared to the Army’s new competition, which was much more physically and mentally demanding.

“I knew what I wanted to do,” he said about the change. “I wanted to make sure our guys went in to this [Department of the Army] competition knowing they are the best prepared and the best trained they can be – and if they won our competition, they can win any competition.”

Gipe’s next step was a call to the Army National Guard’s Warrior Training Center at Fort Benning, Ga.

“I wanted our competition to be harder than the (Department of the Army) Best Warrior Competition; to stress our Soldiers to the point that when they went to the Army’s Best Warrior Competition, they had the confidence to know they could compete with anyone, anywhere – and win,” he said.

The Warrior Training Center was the only organization that could push competitors that hard and take care of them within a stressful environment, he said.

“After all, they conducted Pre-Ranger, Air Assault and several other high-stress courses for the Army,” Gipe said.

The cadre at the center worked up Gipe’s initial ideas.

“The command sergeant major of the center at the time drew up a draft of the [new] competition based on the Army’s Best Ranger competition … and my vision for what I wanted our competition to be like,” he said. “I told him I wanted it to be non-stop and … what things had to be there to mirror the Army competition, but the rest was left to whatever he saw fit.”

Gipe said his goal was to take what the Army did in five days, and fit it into two days.

“That’s changed over time,” he said. “It’s no longer the 42-hour Ranger Challenge-like competition.”

Today, the Army Guard’s Best Warrior Competition is conducted over a five-to-six day period, a major change from its fledgling beginnings in 2007, but the results brought out by the revamped competition were seen not long after its introduction.

In 2008, during the second year of the Army Guard’s reinvented Best Warrior Competition , the Army Guard’s NCO of the Year—Army Staff Sgt. Michael Noyce-Merino from the Montana Army National Guard—went on to win the Department of the Army level competition and was named the Army’s NCO of the Year.

“We came a long way in a short period of time,” Gipe said, referring to 2008. “I really don’t think that the active component thought Guard and Reserve Soldiers were capable of [winning].

“That same year, the Army Reserve won the Soldier of the Year competition,” he exclaimed. “So here in the year of the NCO, both reserve components held the titles – it was pretty phenomenal and rattled a few cages on the active side.”

That represented a pretty significant moment for the Army, said Gipe.

“I thought it was a big step for us, but also a big step for the Army because it showed that they were not afraid to let their reserve components shine when they deserved to shine,” he said. “It was a pretty significant moment for the Army.”

In 2011 another Guard member, Army Sgt. Guy Mellor from the Utah Army National Guard, won the Army competition to become the second NCO of the Year from the Guard in four years.

With such great success in such a short amount of time, Gipe said the face of the Army-wide competition has been changed for the better.

“I guarantee it has elevated the level of competition at the DA level,” he said. “It’s extremely tough out there now, and even tougher to win in the states now with what this competition has come to be, but that’s the good news.

Gipe said the program has been a huge success overall and gives much credit to the Soldiers who compete, but also to the state command sergeants major and the staff at the Warrior Training Center.

“Throughout the last 10-plus years, our Soldiers have built a reputation for being quality Soldiers and NCOs through their outstanding performance of duty while deployed – both at home and abroad,” he said.

“What Staff Sgt. Noyce-Merino and Sgt. Mellor have done is to elevate that awareness of the quality of our enlisted corps to the American public.”