Most Complex Bold Quest Yet Focuses on ‘Friend or Foe’ ID

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2013 – Representatives from every U.S. military service and 10 other nations are wrapping up the final days of a coalition capability demonstration designed to increase combat effectiveness and interoperability while minimizing the risk of fratricide.

Bold Quest 13-1, which officially kicked off June 10 and concludes tomorrow, includes more than 1,300 participants from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, as well as Germany, France, Italy and Norway, John Miller, joint operational manager for the exercise, told reporters today. In addition, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom have sent observers.
About half of the participants are at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., Miller explained during a teleconference from the exercise hub. Another roughly 700 service members are participating from bases along the U.S. East Coast and as far west as Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.
Bold Quest 13-1 is the 11th in the Bold Quest series, created in 2003 to provide realistic conditions for the services and international partners to test their combat identification systems and the techniques and procedures they use to engage them, Miller explained.

“That is really the essence of the whole effort: to create this complex operational environment that requires more than any one individual [entity] could do on their own,” he said.

During 10 days of exercises and data collection, participants are putting to the test not only their different technologies, but also their tactics, techniques and procedures to ensure they’re interoperable.

The premise, Miller explained, is that coalition members that operate together need to develop and test their capabilities together before they employ them in combat.

“Our assumption is that the user is going to use these systems in a coalition fight, which involves the U.S. services and [coalition] nations,” he said, “so demonstrating that interoperability is key.”

During Bold Quest, every service and participating nation brings its own technologies and objectives to the exercise. Bold Quest 13-1, for example, represents the first time the United States is using the demonstration to assess how new “identification friend or foe,” or IFF, systems developed independently by the services work in a joint and combined environment.

Historically, Bold Quest has focused on ground-to-ground and air-to-ground initiatives, Miller said.
“The initiative brought to Bold Quest reflected current operations,” he said, particularly real-world requirements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bold Quest 13-1 represents a new step in the exercise’s 10-year evolution. Focused for the first time on the air-to-air and surface-to-air combat domains, it is helping to address gaps that could impact future operations, Miller said.

Eighteen months in the planning, Bold Quest 13-1 is the most ambitious every conducted. “There has been no event in our series history more complex than this one,” Miller said.

That’s largely because the entire exercise is live. With no virtual or simulation play, it is relying on ground assets, aircraft and, for the first time, two Navy ships to gather and share combat identification information. U.S Fleet Forces, recognizing the importance of the takeaways, is contributing USS Jason Dunham, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and USS San Jacinto, a Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruiser, to the exercise, Miller said.

After 10 days of intensive flights and data-collection efforts to conclude tomorrow, evaluators will provided a detailed quantitative assessment.

The results could have an immediate impact on warfighters. For example, a new combat identification server demonstrated during Bold Quest 11 proved so effective that it was deployed to Afghanistan within months of the demonstration. The system collects and maintains the locations of U.S. and coalition forces in a single server that aircrews can access as they provide close-air support.

With the benefits of Bold Quest 13-1 yet to be fully determined, Miller said, the demonstration has had a tremendous training benefit for the participants.

“Bold Quest is not designed as a training exercise,” he emphasized. “But because we set the conditions to be as operationally representative as we can, there is a natural opportunity [for participants] to actually train to do the things they would normally do in their warfighting mission.” It’s an opportunity, he noted, that many have not had in some time because of pressing operational demands and, more recently, budgetary constraints.

The pace of Bold Quest demonstrations is picking up, with the next one slated for September at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center in Indiana. Two more demonstrations are scheduled for the early months of fiscal year 2014.

Miller said enthusiasm for the exercise, particularly during a period of tough budget choices, reflects the effectiveness of Bold Quest in proving out technologies that will directly warfighting operations.
“This is about as good as it gets when you have participants here, working together as well as they are, committed to doing what they are doing and overcoming all the challenges,” he said.

CMSAF visits Shaw, conveys top priorities to Airmen

by Airman 1st Class Krystal M. Jeffers
20th Fighter Wing

6/19/2013 - SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody visited the men and women of 9th Air Force, Air Forces Central, the 20th Fighter Wing and tenant units of Team Shaw to get an update on the mission and dynamics of each unit while conveying his top priorities here June 17.

While at Shaw, Cody held an Airmen's call where more than 2,500 men and women from an array of units here were able to hear him discuss his main focus areas. Cody made the Airmen's call interactive by opening the floor to those in attendance, giving attendees the opportunity to ask questions.

Cody discussed his key focus areas : the deliberate development of Airmen; caring for Airmen and their families; and balancing Airmen's time. The CMSAF also made a point of speaking about sexual assault within the military.

"First and foremost we have to accept the fact that we have a problem," said Cody. "It is sometimes hard for people to do that because, if you haven't been personally touched by it, it is very easy to sit back and say we don't really have this problem. The fact is that we do have this problem and it is a big problem. It is impacting our Air Force, the Airmen and their families. We all have to accept the fact that we have a problem and we are all part of the solution. Those people who don't accept that fact are part of the problem."

"We have to fundamentally look at each other in different ways than we have been," he added. "The foundation for that is how we treat each other - that is with dignity and respect. We have an environment of trust - all of us: peer-to-peer, the reporting chain, and the chain of command. That takes a lot of work and that is what we are committed on doing."

Some of the other topics discussed included the proposed nominative selection process for recruiters, military training instructors, first sergeants, and other special duties that have broad impact on the creation, development and care of Airmen, and the future of the abdominal circumference measurement component of the Air Force's physical fitness assessment. Many Airmen were interested in the latter.

"I was really excited about the whole event," said Senior Airman Federico Devera, Air Forces Central knowledge operations manager. "It was very informative. He addressed some big Air Force topics and issues really important to us."

Cody started the discussion with a fact: The vast majority of people who fail the fitness assessment fail not because of the run, push-ups or AC, but sit-ups.

"Over the last three years we have administered the test more than a million times," said Cody. "Obviously, some of those people failed and had to re-test. Out of all the tests, 348 people passed every other component but failed AC. Of the 348, only 76 have been separated because they have been unable to subsequently pass the AC. There are a lot of people have done some pretty extreme things to get their waist measurement within standards who are not represented in the numbers."

"You have to understand that if we walk away from the AC we would have to go back to the BMI standards." Cody continued. "Department of Defense policy requires all services to do BMI. The Air Force has the only exception to that policy because we use the AC. We are going to do either AC or BMI. We may adjust the standards. We may add a provision where if someone passes all the components but fails the AC then we might go back and look at their BMI to see if they pass it and meet DOD standards. We will probably make a decision in the next couple of weeks."

In addition to holding an enlisted call for members of the 20th Fighter Wing, Cody also had lunch with members of Team Shaw and visited 9th Air Force, 28th Operations Weather Squadron and 20th Fighter Wing Airmen at their work centers. He also visited men and women at Airmen Leadership School.

"I thought it was very neat," said Staff Sgt. Michael Carney, 28th OWS weather forecaster. "He came over to the 28th OWS where we work because a lot of us wouldn't be able to leave (for the Airmen's call). You could tell that he cares about everybody. He took the time to shake everyone's hand and let them know that he actually cares about the people in his Air Force. To me, that meant a lot."

While Cody discussed his key focus areas, he also took time to recognize some of Team Shaw's top performing enlisted members. The chief visited with the Airmen and presented them with his CMSAF coin for their superior performance.

"It was definitely an honor to be coined by the CMSAF," said Airman 1st Class Nicole Sikorski, 20th Fighter Wing public affairs. "It feels good to be recognized at that level and to know that the hard work at the Airmen's (E-1 through E-4) level plays a key role in the Air Force's mission."

As Cody travels to different units speaking to Airmen and recognizing their hard work, he encourages questions which he answers as fully as possible.

"The men and women of Team Shaw received a great perspective from Chief Cody on what he termed 'family business,'" said Chief Master Sgt. James Davis, 9th Air Force command chief. "He discussed having an effective work-life balance, the effects of sequestration, deliberate development, and he placed emphasis on the most important topic of the day, sexual assault against fellow Airmen. There were many other topics discussed as he was candid and transparent on the future of our Air Force. Our Airmen appreciated him allowing them to express their perspective of how they see the Air Force from where they sit and stand on a daily basis."

"Overall the visit was very successful, because we needed to hear what our senior leaders are thinking and ask questions about issues that we don't understand; we were able to do that," Davis concluded.

Hagel: Stratcom Will Continue Key Defense Role

By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2013 – A day after President Barack Obama proposed deeper cuts in U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told service members at U.S. Strategic Command that nuclear deterrence has kept the peace for nearly 70 years and that Stratcom will continue to play an important role in national security policy.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel walks with Air Force Gen. C. Robert "Bob" Kehler, second from right, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina, the command's deputy commander, and Army Command Sgt. Maj. Patrick Z. Alston, the command's senior enlisted leader, on Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., June 20, 2013. Hagel met with senior leaders, received command briefings, and visited with troops and civilians to thank them for their service. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

“This institution is at the center of that responsibility,” Hagel told Stratcom employees after being introduced at its headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., by Stratcom Commander Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler. “Nuclear deterrence has kept world peace since World War II.”

U.S. Strategic Command and its elements are charged with overseeing the nation’s strategic nuclear deterrence as well as responding to space-based challenges and cyber threats. But even amid the “different times and new threats” facing the nation, Hagel said, Stratcom will continue to remain central to America’s defense. “Strategic Command probably has as much responsibility for those changes as far as threats, cyber, weapons of mass destruction, space, all elements that are literally part of this universe,” he noted.
The president called on Russia yesterday to negotiate new cuts in both countries’ deployed strategic nuclear weapons, beyond those agreed to in the 2010 New START Treaty.

“I note the president’s speech on our nuclear posture,” Hagel said at Stratcom today, “because it brings home in a very real way your assignment and responsibilities. Stratcom will remain a foundational piece of our national security for a long time.”

Yesterday, in remarks that followed the president’s, Hagel told an audience at the University of Nebraska the proposed cuts would still allow the United States to deter aggression as well as maintain the nation’s longstanding triad of nuclear-armed bombers, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear-armed submarines.

Pittsburgh 8-day inspection a unit record

by Capt. Shawn M. Walleck
911th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

6/19/2013 - PITTSBURGH IAP ARS -- The 911th Maintenance Group here set a new record and personal best with an eight-day fly to fly, May 31 to June 7, 2013.

The C-130 left the hangar June 7 and was flown on a local mission and returned with zero discrepancies.

According to Tech. Sgt. Michael Wolfe, 911th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, it is all about the preparation that goes into the process before the aircraft enters the hangar.

"Scheduling, coordinating and lining up all the jobs are key components to the process, says Wolfe. "There's also a lot of hard work and late nights for these guys, but turning an aircraft around in only eight days make it all worthwhile. Our best to this point was 10 days," he said.

"Our goal here is to consistently get an aircraft through the ISO process within seven to 10 days, and then back in the air with zero discrepancies," said Wolfe.

50 SCS, Schriever celebrates Airman's life

by Staff Sgt. Julius Delos Reyes
50th Space Wing Public Affairs

6/19/2013 - SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- A video montage was shown two minutes before the ceremony began.  Photos of a man during Basic Military Training, at a family member's wedding, in a foreign country and more. Some showed him with his mother, his father, his sisters and many with his friends and co-workers.  Then a slide with just the inscription, "10 Dec. 1975 - 3 June 2013".

The main fitness center gymnasium was almost full. Men and women wearing service dress and others in airman battle uniforms gathered to recognize one of Schriever's own. Co-workers, friends and strangers attended the event. Regardless of their familiarity, everyone seemed to be struggling; losing someone is tough.

The ceremony began June 14. It was a memorial service for Tech. Sgt. Edward Weber, an American Airman, a leader, a friend, a coworker, a brother and a son. Weber died in a motorcycle crash June 3 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"The day before the accident, I ran into Sergeant Weber three times," said Lt. Col. Lynn Plunkett, 50 SCS commander, during the service. "I said jokingly, 'Sergeant Weber, are you stalking me?' He said, 'No, ma'am, I am just out and about all the time.'"

Plunkett continued and talked about Weber's leadership style and work ethic as well as his love for the Air Force.

"Sergeant Weber was a model Airman," she said. "You heard a lot of stories about him today, his accolades, his leadership style, how he mentored his Airmen and his technical expertise. He lived by the Air Force core values."

Weber was the guy who made it happen, Plunkett said.

"He wasn't just the guy who made sure he got face time," she narrated. "He was the guy who just wanted to take care of his folks and get the mission done."

Plunkett also recounted the day of the accident and of learning that one of her worst nightmares as a commander had come true.

"For all commanders, they never want to lose an Airman," she said. "I am also an Airman, I am a friend, I am a supervisor, I am a subordinate, I am a mother and I am a sister. I feel for each of you today."

During the ceremony, friends and coworkers relayed stories about their experiences with Weber as well as his professionalism and how he was when he was out of uniform.

"The biggest things I valued [of Sergeant Weber] were the small things," said Staff Sgt. Nicholas Riascos, 50 SCS. "We would just crack jokes and bond with each other, making the time pass and making everybody laugh. He always had a great attitude. His selflessness to the mission and his attitude were contagious."

Staff Sgt. James Baker, 50 SCS, recounted Weber's love for riding and how they rode even during the cold weather.

"Through all the steak, beer, bikes, sports and ammo, Ed was one of the most genuine people I've known and the first person I would ride anywhere in this world with," Baker said. "Riding is a way of life and my life will never be the same. But those who knew Ed know he would tell you to keep on riding for him and never ride a motorcycle with a backrest. Rest in peace, buddy."

Master Sgt. Kevin Sargent, 50th Space Wing, said people generally thought of Weber as quiet and reserved.

"Behind this exterior was an individual with great talent and passion," Sargent said. "[Weber] was an avid motorcycle rider, incredibly intelligent, athletic, and caring and so many other things. He was also very close to his family, friends and coworkers. A lot of people care about him."

Throughout the ordeal, Plunkett found a higher respect for the men and women of the 50 SCS.

"To Sergeant Weber's family, thank you for being here, thank you for your son, thank you for his service, for making us part of your family for the past [few] weeks," Plunkett said. "To the men and women of 50 SCS, thank you for the Airmen that you are and for what you do every day for our mission and each other...Keep it up. We got this and we will make it through this and be stronger for it."

The people began to disperse from the gym as the montage of Weber's photos played one last time. Then the bugler played the last note of the taps, signifying the end of the ceremony.

Just like his life, the montage can't be extended with future photos of Weber anymore. His smiles can't be seen, his laughter and voice can't be heard and new memories with him can't be made; he can now only be remembered.

New senior leadership takes charge of 33rd Fighter Wing

by Chrissy Cuttita
Team Eglin Public Affairs

6/20/2013 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Another career fighter pilot took the helm of the 33rd Fighter Wing June 14 in an official ceremony attended by Team Eglin, their family and community.

Col. Todd Canterbury formally accepted the role when he received the wing guidon from Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr., commander, Air Education and Training Command, Randolph AFB, Texas. Col. Andrew Toth served as the 33rd FW commander from March 31, 2011 until he passed the colors to Canterbury at the ceremony.

The new leader of the F-35 Lightning II Integrated Training Center has held assignments as an Air Force Weapons School Instructor, Air Force Thunderbird demonstration pilot, director of operations, fighter squadron commander, and vice wing commander. Canterbury is a command pilot with more than 3,900 hours in the F-35A, F-15E, F-16 and MC-12W aircraft, including 650 combat hours. Prior to arriving here, he served as the as executive officer for the Deputy Commander United States Forces Korea, United Nations Command, Seoul, South Korea.

"It's very exciting to join the F-35 team and continue the success here," Canterbury said during the ceremony. "I can think of no better place to be than right here at the forefront of the F-35 training program developing our next generation of F-35 pilots and maintainers."

Toth remembered fondly how far the wing "Nomads" and the F-35 Integrated Training Center team have come since he arrived just a few months before they their first joint strike fighter was delivered in the summer 2011. The 2012 "year of execution" began with standing up the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron-501 and Air Force flying operations. It ended with an AETC "ready to train" which allowed the wing to begin its first official F-35 pilot courses in 2013.

"Your steady, constant performance will get the system where it needs to be," he said addressing the wing's three groups one last time. "The strategic impact of the maintenance group to get jets flying cannot be measured. As unsung heroes, the Academic Training center understood the focus on the aircraft but plowed forward to get simulators and learning systems ready before 700 students showed up last year."

Leadership acknowledged the skill, determination and talent brought to the F-35 program from the wing. Their work in meeting daily challenges has visibility in the defense, political and international circle.

"Under the wing's outstanding leadership, the men and women here executed their responsibilities in today's highly dynamic environment and helped shape the future so our military and nation remain strong today and tomorrow," said Rice. "Skillfully training 50 pilots and 722 maintainers from three branches of service and our international partners is a significant accomplishment."

While Canterbury serves as commander, the wing will go from a phase of standing up the Department of Defense's home for F-35 training to becoming operationally ready for the combat air forces.

"The path that you set right now will be walked by future generations of Airmen, Sailors, Marines and coalition partners around the globe," said the new wing commander. "Now is our time to perfect our tradecraft as professional warriors and instructors....you are setting the foundation for the next 50 years of F-35 operations."

Approximately 1,900 members from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Lockheed Martin Corp., Pratt and Whitney, other contractors and international partners make up the team behind the training wing for the three F-35 variants, organized under Air Education and Training Command.

Nomads not only said their farewells to Colonel Toth, but later that afternoon celebrated their vice commander's retirement. Marine Col. Art Tomassetti, a 15-year veteran of the F-35 program, has been at Eglin since the wing stood up under AETC in 2009. His replacement, Navy Capt. Paul Haas, arrives just in time to see the Navy squadron he once commanded receive their first carrier variants of the joint strike fighter.

Hagel: Opening Combat Jobs to Women the Right Thing to Do

By Nick Simeone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 20, 2013 – Opening more jobs in the military to women -- in particular lifting the combat exclusion -- is the right thing to do, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today as he brushed aside any notion that the armed forces would have to lower standards to do so. Hagel’s comments came during a visit with troops at U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., in response to a question about whether the policy change could affect mission success. On Tuesday, senior defense and military officials unveiled the services’ respective plans for lifting the combat exclusion for women. “I think everyone understands it’s the right thing,” he said. “It’s not a matter of lowering standards to assist women to get into combat positions.” Hagel added that part of the process will be finding “the right balance of implementation.” The plan to remove gender-based standards was announced by former Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta in January. The branches have a deadline of January 2016 to follow through – including ending the ban on women serving in the Navy SEALs and the Army Rangers -- with any exceptions requiring the approval of the defense secretary and the Joint Chiefs chairman. “Why shouldn’t [women] have the same opportunities as men?” Hagel responded to his questioner. Hagel also said increases in cases of sexual assault in the military are a “scourge and a very, very dark mark on all of the success of this institution.” He said “there is no higher priority” he has as defense chief “than to make everybody accountable all the time, up and down the line.”

731st AMS continues peninsula-wide logistics success

by Senior Airman Christopher Mitcham
731st Air Mobility Squadron

6/20/2013 - OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- As winter was winding down in the "Land of the Morning Calm", Airmen from the 731st Air Mobility Squadron stationed at Osan prepared to transition air freight operations to Kunsan Air Base for a projected two-month partial runway closure.

A team of close to 20 aerial porters received their first scheduled 747B cargo aircraft April 29 at Kunsan.

The 731st AMS proved to be masters of logistics operations, ultimately handling 22 cargo aircraft and proving the capability to operate from any location on the Korean peninsula.

The support of the 8th Fighter Wing leadership, transient alert and Air Mobility Command-contracted air terminal and ground handling services personnel, helped make partial runway closure operations successful. The team used a mixture of war reserve material along with their assets to accomplish their mission at the alternate location. Over the course of 30 days, they moved 894 tons of in-transit and terminating cargo through Kunsan including 83 tons of sensitive and hazardous cargo.

Additionally, the team assisted mortuary affairs by providing dignified transfer with distinction and honor. Although it was a very sad moment on the flightline, these Airmen realized the magnitude and scope of their mission as transporters to serve in this capacity. Construction at Osan progressed ahead of schedule, and so the 731st AMS was able to transition operations back a month early.

"I enjoyed the workload and camaraderie among Airman and Korean Nationals," said Yi Sang Pok, 731st AMS load planner. "You could feel that there was a close bond across the team and I think that it's what got us over each obstacle."

Throughout the month there was little slowing down this team as they continually strived for excellence. Always working safely, despite difficulties, the team downloaded and uploaded cargo to maintain the 731st AMS's outstanding 98 percent on-time aircraft departure reliability rate.

"Even when times were tough, we found a way to stay resilient and accomplish the mission at hand," said Airman 1st Class Roberto Rodriguez, 731st AMS aircraft services technician.

Throughout all the chaos and movement, the 731st AMS continued to innovate and save the Air Force money and protect resources, even in a different location. The typical thin plastic cargo pallet cover costs $6 per piece and is used to shelter household goods from inclement weather and insects as service members move to new assignments. By experimenting with prototype cargo pallet covers, 731st AMS Airmen in the runway closure mission alone managed to save the Air Force scarce funds by replacing pallet covers on 114 pallets containing household goods and more importantly, avert damage from the elements due to a lack of covered storage.

"Tracking, applying and moving the prototypes was challenging, but you could tell it was helpful for the environment when we saw the amount of plastic it saved," said Senior Airman David Webster, 731st AMS aircraft services technician.

The 731st AMS showed it's no challenge to move logistic operations at a moment's notice to any location on the peninsula. For these Port Dawgs, runway closures and other difficulties will not interfere with mission success, as they continue to lead the way for all of the Pacific Air Force.

Wounded Warrior Becomes Military Doctor

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
FORT BELVIOR, Va., June 19, 2013 – Ten years ago, Army Capt. Christian Labra’s spirit was as broken as his body.

Ten years after being wounded in Iraq, Army Capt. (Dr.) Christian Labra has completed medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and is about to graduate from a three-year residency at the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia. Now he is preparing for his first assignment as a board-certified family physician in Germany. DOD photo by Donna Miles   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

A U.S. Military Academy graduate deployed to Iraq just a few months after the initial invasion, he was pumped up about the importance of the mission and the close camaraderie he felt with his fellow 1st Armored Division soldiers.

All that came crumbling down on him -- literally -- during a night patrol outside Baghdad in late 2003. Labra and another soldier, searching out the source of mortar attacks that had been pummeling U.S. forces, approached a cinder block wall that blocked a known weapons cache.

They pulled a pipe that extended from the wall, suspecting that the insurgents used it to scale the wall and get to the trove. The wall immediately collapsed, breaking both Labra’s legs and his pelvis. He got a personal introduction to battlefield medicine and wounded warrior care as he was whisked from Baghdad to Kuwait and ultimately, to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

Looking back to the ordeal, Labra said he was struck by the skill and compassion he encountered from the moment of his injury. He remembered the combat medic who rushed to care for him at the scene. The Humvee driver who did everything within his power, albeit it unsuccessfully, to avoid bumps in the Baghdad streets while hurrying Labra to the combat support hospital. The medic who handed him a satellite phone when he woke up in the middle of the night, one leg now encased in a metal contraption, and urged him to call his worried parents to let them know he was OK.

That was just the beginning of Labra’s exposure to military medicine. He praised the professionalism of medevac crews who braved enemy rockets to ferry him to Baghdad International Airport, then on to Kuwait and Germany. The labor and delivery nurse who stayed beyond her shift when he arrived at Landstuhl to wash his body and give him the first shave he’d had in days. The hospital roommate who, despite his own excruciating injuries, hobbled to Labra’s bedside to comfort him during a particularly fitful nightmare.
“There was so much compassion, so much caring,” he said. “It was just a perfect storm of good care.”
And perhaps most influential of all, Labra remembers the orthopedic doctor, Army Maj. John Friedland. Also a West Point graduate, Friedland treated Labra’s broken bones and helped him realize that he could turn the worst experience of his life into something positive.

“He was exactly the guy I needed at that time in my life,” Labra said.

Labra arrived at Landstuhl feeling like the bottom had fallen out of his world. “One day I was walking through Baghdad. I was in charge of 35 to 40 guys, and I took that very seriously. And the next day I was the guy who was leaving early, before all of them, on a plane to Landstuhl,” he said. “I felt bad for myself. I was depressed. I felt like a failure.” While he struggled to shake the self-loathing, Labra watched the hospital staff tend to a steady stream of combat-wounded troops.

Because his unit was based in Germany at the time, Labra was among the rare patients not quickly transported on to the United States. He became a familiar face at Landstuhl, and the staff took pleasure in getting to see his slow but steady progress.

While coming to terms with his unexpected turn of events, Labra said he found inspiration in his caregivers.
He’d always planned to one day go to law school, then join the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. But seeing the life-changing care military medical practitioners provide every day, Labra found himself considering a career in medicine.

“I know how thankful I felt toward them, and saw how rewarding it had to be, and I know it had to be a good job,” he said.

Friedland encouraged Labra, inviting him along as he treated the flurry of patients that arrived with wounds from the Fallujah offensive in Iraq. The rest of the Landstuhl staff, recognizing Labra and excited about his new interest in medicine, stoked his ambitions by sharing their own experiences.

“They all wanted to show me how great it was to be doing what they were doing,” he said. “That experience really cemented for me that this was what I wanted to do.”

In many ways, Labra called his decision to go to medical school the key to his own emotional healing. “I had this hole I needed to fill,” he said. “And I realized that by going into medicine, I could take my own experience and make this bad thing that had happened good.”

Labra, who moved on to an assignment as operations officer for a recruiting battalion in Albany, N.Y., started taking night courses to get the prerequisites needed for medical school. Difficult as it was to juggle both, it got him what he wanted: acceptance into the same medical school Friedland had attended, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

The university, on the grounds of Walter Reed National Military Center in Bethesda, Md., is the only school of its kind dedicated to educating military doctors, graduate nurses and other specialized health-care professionals. This past spring, U.S. News & World Report identified the university’s F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine as a top-tier medical school in its “Best Graduate Schools 2014” rankings.

Labra said he chose USU because he knew from the start that he wanted to be a military doctor. His dream, he said, was to become as skillful and compassionate a doctor as Friedland had been to him. “I wanted to emulate this guy I look up to so much,” he said. “I was very indebted to my doctor, and I felt that I didn’t want to squander all this experience that I had gained.”

After four years of medical school, from 2006 to 2010, Labra chose to specialize in family medicine. It’s a field he said will give him an opportunity to build relationships with his patients and to become their ally in addressing their medical needs.

Next week, Labra will complete his three-year residency at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital here. As he reports to his first assignment as a board-certified family physician at Kleber Kaserne in Germany, he recognizes that he has come full circle, from patient to caregiver.

“When I think back on everything, how could I not have gone into medicine?” he said. “From the moment I got hurt, everyone who took such wonderful care of me and motivated me to defy the odds, making this all seem like a foregone conclusion.”

Labra said his only hope is that he can live up their example as he helps patients confront through their own medical challenges.

“I am where I am because people took really, really good care of me, and I am so incredibly grateful,” he said. “Now, as a doctor, I want to be the kind of ally who can lead someone through the dark. To be able to do that is really powerful. It is awesome when it works.”

350 ARS helps raise the roof, provides a home

by Staff Sgt. Jess Lockoski
22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

6/18/2013 - MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan.  -- While some may argue having a house doesn't essentially mean having a home, active duty Airmen are provided roofs over their heads through their military Basic Allowance for Housing, satisfying the basic necessity.

A group of McConnell Airmen from the 350th Air Refueling Squadron recently "paid it forward" by helping construct a house and a home for a deserving family during a Wichita, Kan., Habitat for Humanity project.

"About 15 Airmen from the squadron participated in the build," said Staff Sgt. Justin Walsh, 350th ARS boom operator. "We started the project about the middle of May when the framing was pretty much up. We put the siding up, and from there, we put basically the roof on."

The Airmen attended the home dedication with other community volunteers, June 17, to see the finished project and watch a single mother of two children receive the keys to her new home.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit Christian housing ministry that works in partnership with low-income families to improve their living conditions, where selected families pay closing costs and monthly payments on a no interest, no profit mortgage. Families also work with volunteers to build their Habitat homes.

"Having the Airmen volunteer helps lower the cost of the homes for the families," said Marci Hawks, Wichita Habitat for Humanity development director. "Volunteer labor is equal to around $20,000 in saved paid labor costs per house. It's also encouraging for our organization and the families to have the support of our local Airmen and know they are committed to giving back to the community they are stationed in."

Wichita hasn't been the only location Walsh has built a house in. He first started volunteering for Habitat while stationed at Dyess AFB, Texas.

"I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment being able to help because this isn't a mandatory function," said Walsh, a prior aircraft engine maintainer, who likes to work with his hands and enjoyed the construction work. "(The squadron) rarely leaves people hanging. We said, 'Let's take a shot at it,' and we had a really good turnout."

McConnell Airmen have been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in large groups since 2009. Hawks said in addition to building houses, they have also worked on special events and have helped the organization relocate.

On average, it takes roughly 20 days of volunteering and hundreds of volunteers to build each house - a house that undoubtedly becomes a true home for most.

"Most tell us it means stability for their family," Hawks said, "which is something they haven't experienced ... also a real sense of home and a feeling that they have accomplished something they never thought they would - owning their own home."

Helping give people that gift is something the Airmen foresee with future construction opportunities.

"I absolutely would do this again in the future," said Walsh. "The community welcomes us with open arms everywhere here, and it's been real nice to be able to help out."

Program fights mosquitoes, trains Airmen

by Maj. Dave Wilson
Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs

6/19/2013 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS)  -- Air Force Reserve Command is expanding its Innovative Readiness Training, or IRT, program this summer to help communities control mosquitoes.

C-130 Hercules aircrews will spray Williston and Minot in North Dakota June 30-July 3, and York County and the City of Poquoson in Virginia July 22-26. These communities are prone to high mosquito populations due to standing water, flooding and high precipitation.

In addition to drastically decreasing the number of irritations and infections, and the threat of West Nile Virus due to mosquito bites, these IRT missions will provide essential real-world training to aircrews, pest management personnel and maintenance members that they would not have otherwise received.

"From an aircrew perspective, this type of training is necessary for the safe, efficient performance of our assigned duties," said Maj. W. Travis Adams, an aerial spray instructor pilot.

Adams and his fellow citizen Airmen from the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, perform the Department of Defense's only full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray mission.

They typically conduct a variety of aerial spray missions over military installations, and for federal agencies using four specially modified aircraft equipped with Modular Aerial Spray Systems, or MASS. The MASS equipment sprays insecticides that target biting insects such as mosquitoes, biting midges and filth flies.

The IRT program provides a clear line of authority for the 910th AW to apply aerial spray on non-federal property without the requirement of a host federal entity. That means citizen Airmen can provide aerial spray over much larger urban areas, and receive essential training they don't get from regular operations.

According to Maj. Kerya Reyes, the chief of the IRT program at Headquarters AFRC, the command has used IRT missions successfully in other career fields, including civil engineering and medical squadrons. Citizen Airmen benefit from the training received while building dams, bridges and other community-use structures or working immunization lines and other medical treatments in off-base clinics at little, to no cost to the communities.

Reyes said IRT aerial-spray missions produce highly-qualified military personnel capable of evaluating medical insect-borne threats to troop and public health, as well as establish an appropriately implemented plan to break the cycle of disease transmission, which can result in an epidemic.

Each IRT aerial spray mission trains about 16 to18 reservists. These Airmen can step up to support combatant commander needs, or requests for support from other federal agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Defense Support of Civil Affairs.

The AFRC and the communities it supports mutually benefit from IRT missions. Communities pay for the insecticide, and the command uses training funds to pay for the rest of the costs. The Air Force already designates specific funds for fuel, maintenance and other travel costs for training.

The command took ownership of the aerial spray mission in 1973, but the U.S. military has been flying the mission since 1947.

The 910th AW started flying the aerial spray mission in 1992. Aerial spray teams also use the systems to control vegetation growth on military bombing ranges, and to help disperse oil spills. Since 2005, the wing has responded to three major natural disasters, including post hurricane applications for Katrina and Gustav, and an oil dispersant operation after Deep Water Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico.

New Standing Headquarters Focuses on WMD Elimination

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2013 – It’s a nightmare scenario: an adversary has assembled a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction with plans to inflict devastation on the United States, its allies and friends, and the world.

A standing headquarters element established in February 2012 and expected to reach full operational capability within the coming year is part of a coordinated U.S. military effort to identify, counter and secure -- and, when necessary, to eliminate -- WMD threats.

The Standing Joint Force Headquarters for Elimination was stood up to provide geographic combatant commanders the planning, intelligence and operational capability required in the event that they need to eliminate a foreign nation’s WMDs and WMD programs, Army Maj. Gen. Lucas N. Polakowski, the organization’s commander, told American Forces Press Service.

The headquarters works in support of the president’s National Security Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction in the hands of hostile states and terrorists, he explained. Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, calls this the No. 1 threat to U.S. national security.
Kehler established the headquarters to provide expert planning, intelligence and operational capability for combating and eliminating WMDs. The goal, he said when announcing the stand-up, is to provide a full-time, trained joint command-and-control element able to integrate into forward headquarters to help manage the elimination mission.

Leveraging the capabilities of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Stratcom’s Center for Combatting Weapons of Mass Destruction, for which Polakowski serves as deputy director, the SJFHQ-E would deploy to augment a combatant commander’s staff in conducting the mission, Polakowski said.

“It is such a specialized area, so [the combatant commands] don’t have the complete depth of [chemical, biological and radiological] and counter-WMD expertise that we have resident in these three organizations,” he said. “These three entities, under the headquarters mantle, would provide that resource and expertise to the combatant commands and any command underneath them.”

Experts assigned to the SJFHQ-E would provide capabilities needed to command and control operations that involve going into a foreign nation to locate, characterize, secure, and disable or dispose of hostile WMDs and WMD programs so they no longer pose a threat, Polakowski said.

Typically, such missions would be conducted in close coordination with allies and partners, he said.
Having a permanent headquarters trained and ready to act, if needed, improves the Defense Department’s ability to plan, train for and execute highly complex WMD elimination operations, Polakowski said.
“This is another tool in our toolkit, so that if the requirement arises, we as a nation are ready,” he said. “We want to have a deliberative and in-place capability that we have trained upon and are ready to execute if our nation calls on us to do it.”

To prepare for such a mission, the SJFHQ-E works closely with the combatant commands, conducting crisis planning and testing response procedures during major exercises.

“We train and prepare in peace in order to be ready when and if the nation needs to call upon this capability,” Polakowski said.

The SJFHQ-E reached initial operating capability in September 2012, after reaching major milestones during the Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2012 exercise in South Korea.

Polakowski, who assumed command in March, said he hopes to increase the level of support the SJFHQ-E provides to the combatant commands as he continues to build his staff. By design, SJFHQ-E will be a relatively small element that he said probably will top out at fewer than 100 members.

But capabilities -- rather than numbers -- are Polakowski’s priority. He hopes to achieve full operational capability within the next year, which means the SJFHQ-E will have the breadth of capabilities it needs to take on more -- and more demanding -- missions.

The best use of the SJFHQ-E’s capabilities, he said, will be if they are never needed to respond to a real-world crisis.

Ensuring a robust ability to conduct the WMD elimination mission, the standing joint force headquarters and its partner organizations send an important message to potential adversaries who have WMD programs or are working to develop them, he said.

“It puts them on notice,” he said, letting them know that “we, as a standing joint force headquarters, are prepared in case of the need to go in, locate, secure and help with the elimination of a potential foreign adversary’s program.”

“This should serve as a deterrent to those trying to establish their own WMD programs,” he said. “And if they already have one, it should dissuade them from continuing to maintain it.”

Bones turn and burn during surge operation

by Senior Airman Jonathan Stefanko
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

6/17/2013 - DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The 9th Bomb Squadron tested the capabilities of their aircrew and maintainers during a four-day surge operation June 10-13, launching a total of 58 sorties and setting the stage for future operations.

The training mission allowed aircrew members and maintainers to practice as if they were operating in a deployed environment, with the goal to launch as many sorties as possible within the shortest amount of time. To do this, hours of mission planning was accomplished beforehand, shrinking what would normally have taken two days to put a B-1 in the air into one.

"The typical process for a flyer would be to come in and plan for six hours, brief and then fly the next day," said Maj. Mike Taylor, 9th BS chief of weapons and tactics. "But to fly the amount of sorties we needed for the surge, the mission planning was done before we arrived, allowing us time to come in, get what we need and fly, all within about two hours."

Furthermore, due to the increase in flights, the B-1 Bomber required more maintenance than usual, according to the 7th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Airmen, who ensured more jets were in the air than on the ground.

"The B-1 can be very labor intensive at times, especially when we are short on man power, money and resources," said Master Sgt. George Campbell, 7th AMXS production expeditor. "But as a maintainer, we never want to turn down a challenge. When told we needed to launch almost double the amount of aircraft we normally do, we went straight to work and hit it head on."

To accomplish the mission successfully, maintainers had to incorporate hot pit refueling, a procedure that rapidly refuels an aircraft while the engines are running. By doing this, the longevity of the jet is increased, reducing the need to replace parts. Maintainers say this step is crucial for an aircraft that has been around since the 1980s. The procedure also allows the aircrew to keep valuable systems running, which decreases the time it normally takes to restart the systems and then re-launch the aircraft.


"I take a lot of pride in the aircraft I work on," said Senior Airman Antwan Henry, 7th AMXS crew chief. "There are numerous times I would come in early, stay late or even work through my lunch break because I believe in having my aircraft ready. Going through the surge gives us an opportunity to train all of our new Airmen, so they have a better understanding of the importance of what we do and how to accomplish it to the best of their ability in a timely manner."

Triple amputee gives words of wisdom during visit to Okinawa

by Airman 1st Class Malia Jenkins
18th Wing Public Affairs

6/18/2013 - KADENA AIR BASE, Japan  -- Bryan Anderson, a triple amputee and Purple Heart recipient, visited Okinawa June 12-19 to deliver his message of perseverance and determination to service members and their families across the island.

"His reach is much more beyond the military and wounded Soldiers," said Dick McLane, Anderson's manager. "There's a whole community of people with disabilities he supports and serves, especially the kids."

Anderson enlisted in the U.S. Army April 2001 and was a military policeman as a sergeant. He served two tours in Iraq and was injured October 23, 2005, due to an improvised explosive device.

As a result of the explosion, Anderson lost both his legs and his left hand. Although his life has changed, he still has a positive attitude on life, an energetic personality and is one of many examples of resiliency throughout the military.

"It's really all about your attitude and how you look at things and perseverance basically, adapt and overcome," Anderson said. "Just because something bad happens doesn't mean you have to have a (crappy) life."

Anderson said he's all about doing things for the first time. The two years in Iraq seemed like they flew by and those two years were new experiences and that's what he cherishes now; new experiences, he said.

"I don't see this as a bad thing or a tragedy. It's just another life experience that has taught me a lot about who I am, what I'm capable of and opened a lot of doors that might not necessarily (have) opened otherwise," Anderson said. "I have a great life and I'm very thankful for what I have, what I do and who I am."

Although he lost three limbs, he doesn't see his injury as being debilitating. Since he used to be a gymnast, he now sees the world as his personal jungle gym.

"People underestimate the power of having fun," Anderson added. "I think in life, (having fun) is important. Even being in a wheelchair, I think about it as skate boarding all the time."

Since his injury, Anderson has become the national spokesperson for Quantum Rehab, a division of Pride Mobility Corp., and USA Cares, which focuses on assisting post 9/11 veterans in times of need.

He also has had the opportunity to be featured in a Marvel Comic, be a murder suspect on Crime Scene Investigator's New York episode and has written a book, No Turning Back, about his experience of being in an explosion and his struggles with being an amputee.

He emphasizes taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves and challenges everyone around him to do the same in spite of the challenges they face.

Before Anderson departed the base, he left the 18th Wing with one thing, to look at the world with a different eye and to see the positives in life.

"Life is what you make of it," Anderson said. "Don't do things for the last time, do them for the first time."

Face of Defense: Soldier Hopes to Help Inner-City Students

By Army Sgt. Alexa Becerra
Task Force Longrifles

CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti, June 18, 2013 – Throughout history, teaching has been considered one of the most noble of careers. Teachers work long hours and live on a modest salary, yet the impact they have is immeasurable.

Army Cpl. De’Marcus Hopson, a Kentucky National Guard soldier deployed to Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, hopes to teach in inner-city schools. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alexa Becerra   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Another noble profession is that of a soldier. They endure long hours, hardships and separation from their families, also earn a modest salary and are willing to give their lives for their country.

 

The dream of one service member here is to be become both.

Army Cpl. De’Marcus Hopson, a native of Madisonville, Ky., is a National Guard soldier from the 2138th Forward Support Company deployed to the Horn of Africa in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He also is a full-time student at Kentucky State University, majoring in secondary social studies education with a double minor in African-American studies and speech communication.

“I plan on teaching at an inner-city school,” Hopson said. “The military has a program called Troops to Teachers, where you have a commitment to teach at an inner-city school for two to three years with military incentives, benefits and stipends.”

Hopson said he always has wanted to teach in that type of environment. “I feel very strongly about teaching, because growing up, I can count with one hand how many male teachers I had,” he added. “Also, to teach in an urban, poverty-stricken community, you need to be able to connect with the kids.”

Hopson said he believes he has what it takes to connect with those students because of his military background, and because he does not have the middle-class mentality that most new teachers have and try to enforce when they teach inner-city students.

Hopson is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and also plays in the university’s marching band.
His father was in the military, Hopson said. He initially joined the Guard to pay for school, he added, but now his motivation to serve has changed.

“I believe that everybody should serve their country,” he said. “This is a great opportunity to learn and grow, develop discipline and leadership skills, time management, and also get your school paid for.”

Hopson was selected as Soldier of the Year for the 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, and next is Kentucky’s statewide competition for Soldier of the Year. He was first selected for a company board out of his platoon for his outstanding leadership skills, military bearing, physical fitness scores and other factors, he said. He won that board, and then competed against nominees from the battalion’s four other batteries.

In addition to being a team leader providing security for the ammunition supply point here, Hopson also participated in the Warrior Leader Course held here.

“I really appreciate being able to go through the Warrior Leader Course while deployed,” he said. “I learned a lot more in depth about leadership abilities and skills, which will help me a lot in my military and civilian career.”

Hopson, the second of six children, said he hopes to finish his school within the next year and a half, and also plans to stay in the Guard until retirement. He said he would recommend the Guard, and the military in general, to everyone.

“The Guard is enabling me to serve my country and go to school at the same time,” he added. “And it also is helping me accomplish my dream of being a teacher.”

Gen. Dempsey reinforces Minot's nuclear leadership

by Senior Airman Jose L. Hernandez
Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs

6/18/2013 - MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, paid his first visit to the Air Force's only dual-nuclear capable base, June 17.

The main focus of his trip here was to hear directly from Airmen and families, including local community leaders, about issues affecting Team Minot. The chairman led a town hall forum where he had the opportunity to address all.

Dempsey expressed the importance of letting those at Minot know how critical their role as nuclear stewards is to not only him as chairman of the joint chiefs, but to the country as well.

"I want to make it clear that we are all contributing to the security of the U.S.," Dempsey said of all Team Minot members. It has been a goal of his to instill in all military members the concept of a unified joint team effort between all branches of service.

As part of his stay he also had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the day-to-day operations of Minot's strategic deterrence mission.

Meeting with commanders and leaders of both the base's bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile forces, he learned of the work dedication of Minot's Airmen under even the toughest of winter climates.

Accompanied by Col. Robert Vercher, 91st Missile Wing commander, Dempsey toured one of the wing's missile alert facilities, all located across the northwest part of North Dakota. There he met with missile combat crew members to personally see the work they conduct in watching over missile sites 24/7 from their underground capsules.

While recent fiscal challenges facing the country have placed the defense budget on the chopping block, he reassured Team Minot that the Secretary of Defense is committed to prioritizing funds in the nuclear triad mission.

"As our country faces a historic fiscal correction, we are not going to put our nation at risk," stated Dempsey. "Our number one priority is to defend our nation."

Concerns of the sequestration's effect on military readiness have continued to be a central topic of discussion for DOD personnel, as the department's 800,000 civilian employees await the beginning of furloughs in July.

"We must stay positive," said the chairman. "This isn't the first time we've gone through this (fiscal correction)."

Dempsey said it has been with great reluctance to have to accept and move forward with across the board cuts, but looked to history as a way of reassuring all that we have gotten through tough fiscal times before and that, "we will get through it."

The chairman also took time to speak candidly on sexual assault, an issue that has sparked a national conversation about a systemic problem.

It is an issue that has sparked a national conversation about a systemic problem the chairman calls a failure.

"We can't tolerate a climate of lewdness, innuendos, of harassment, because it's that climate that eventually leads to the failure that is sexual assault," stated Dempsey.

He added the recent scandals have reminded service members that it's still an issue which must be faced. It is a problem he believes can be fixed with good leadership by ensuring all, throughout the ranks, not put up with bad conduct.

Ultimately, he asked all service members to take a hard look at how they wanted their profession to be perceived as.

"Don't tolerate it," he expressed. "We can fix this through those who lead."

24th Special Operations Wing turns one

by Rachel Arroyo
Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs

6/12/2013 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The first Air Force wing devoted to special tactics celebrated its one-year mark June 12.

Members of the 24th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Fla., commemorated the occasion by focusing on the cornerstone of organizational success - what constitutes good leadership and how to cultivate it on and off the job.

Retired Lt. Gen. Bruce Fister, former commander of Air Force Special Operations Command and one of the early champions of developing a global special operations forces presence, led a professional development and leadership session for 24 SOW Airmen.

Fister focused on the idea of servant leadership.

Instead of viewing oneself at the top of a pyramid where work and feedback is always pushed down to subordinates, leaders should place themselves at the base where they solicit feedback from their subordinates and work to enable their success.

By demonstrating concern for those they lead, individuals set an example that makes a lasting impression.

On one mission, Fister's C-130 landed in Saudi Arabia for emergency maintenance. The mechanic tasked with repairing the C-130 would be working through the night with no light save for the flashlight he was holding in his mouth, Fister said.

"Could I repair the plane? No way," Fister said. "But, I'll tell you what, I could be there. I don't know anything about changing props, but I can hold the flashlight."

He differentiated between leadership derived from positions of authority and leadership exercised outside the scope of authority. Exercising authority is not the same as exhibiting leadership, he said.

"You all are proven leaders," Fister said. "You have to exercise leadership because you operate in joint environments."

In the joint environment, special tactics Airmen must frequently use their technical expertise and core convictions to influence those with authority to agree to a suggested plan of action.

Ultimately, Fister said the key ingredients to being a good leader are simple - work to protect your core values, guard your organizational culture, act with integrity and accept accountability, and strive to be a servant leader.

As the 24 SOW moves into its second year, wing commander Col. Robert Armfield encouraged his Airmen to make a continuous study of Fister's lessons in leadership.

"It is the simple things that are the true foundation of leadership," Armfield said.

Maj. Edmund Loughran, commander of the Special Tactics Training Squadron, said instructors at the squadron strive to routinely exhibit servant leadership as part of their training mentality.

Students are fully immersed in instruction and mentorship. Battle-tested operators return to pass their guidance and experience on to the next generation.

"I routinely observe a mentality at the schoolhouse from our operators and instructors that says it is no longer about operator qualifications but about qualifying the operators below me."

Capt. J.D. Rulien, a student at the Special Tactics Training Squadron, said he appreciates the fact that his leaders place such emphasis on professional development.

"Special tactics is one of the few communities that puts this type of investment in its leaders," Rulien said. "It is not often that you see the wing commander at a professional development session taking notes. It sets a great precedent."

In addition to the professional development session, the 24 SOW began its birthday with memorial pushups to honor and remember their fallen brothers-in-arms.

The youngest Airman at STTS, student trainee Second Lt. Brandon Fix, and the oldest member of the 24 SOW, retired Chief Master Sgt. Wayne Norrad cut a birthday cake marking the occasion.

The 24 SOW is the most highly decorated wing in the USAF since the Vietnam War.

Chairman affirms nuclear deterrence as top priority

by Tech. Sgt. Thomas Dow
Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs

6/18/2013 - MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey spoke with Airmen, spouses and local community members during a Town Hall meeting at Dock 1 here, June 17.

More than 1,000 attendees from Team Minot attended the event.

During his opening remarks, Dempsey said he came up to Minot because he wanted a chance to interact with those performing what he called, "the vital work for our nation."

He went on to say that throughout the life of the B-52 and intercontinental ballistic missile force, there has been a history of silent, dedicated service often in times of hardship and uncertainty.

The over-arching topic of discussion for the event was budget concerns. The concerns ranged from how sequestration would affect the nuclear mission to whether or not Airmen's base pay will be cut.

On the topic of readiness and the nuclear enterprise, Dempsey said, "Our Nation will never fail to do what is right. We will find the resources to do what is needed."

He continued by stating, "Our number one priority is the defense of the homeland. What does that mean? It means making sure we maintain a credible and reliable nuclear deterrent."

"The nuclear enterprise is a top priority because it has kept us safe for the last 60 years," he added.

Dempsey also fielded questions from the audience relating to the isolated environment that Airmen from Minot face on a daily basis.

He regaled the audience about the three years he spent patrolling the West German border as a young lieutenant in a remote and austere environment, quite similar to North Dakota.

But the general said this gave him a sense of service and duty, probably before many of his classmates.

"There is something extraordinary about doing something above and beyond what others are doing," said Dempsey.

He also said there must be a balance of character and competence in one's life.

"You need to wake up in the morning and think about how to be a better person," said Dempsey. "In our profession, you need to be able to count on the person to your left and right."

Dempsey also discussed the importance of tackling the issue of sexual assault in the military.

"We are working this issue as hard as anything, and at the highest level," said Dempsey.

He said leadership is looking for additional measures to combat sexual assault, some via the Uniform Code of Military Justice and some via policy changes. There is a need to get a hold of the issue on the front end in order to change the climate.

"What I need is the leaders at the tactical level to not accept it (sexual assault)," said Dempsey.

In his closing remarks, Dempsey noted the majority of the questions pertained to budget concerns. He said it is his responsibility to try to give civilian and military members a sense of certainty with regards to budget cuts and sequestration.

He stated that going year by year is what causes the uncertainty and the goal is to forecast budgets in order to allow servicemembers to plan for the future.

Puerto Rican proud to be an Airman

by Airman 1st Class Janelle Patiño
92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

6/17/2013 - FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Meeting new people from different places is refreshing to many people. It teaches people other cultures, introduces them to new food and exposes them to interesting stories they'd never imagined possible.

Senior Airman Alberto Garcia-Vidal, born and raised in Puerto Rico, is one of many Airmen who came from a different place. Garcia is currently stationed here and works in the 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron as a firefighter.

The Puerto Rico native's grandfather was a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Army while his father was in the Navy.

"I've always wanted to be in the military because of the stories I'd heard from my grandpa and dad," Garcia said. "They both inspired me to be who I am today."

Like every other Airman, Garcia has had several reasons to join the military; however, one historic day made his decision to join the Air Force.

"After seeing all the first responders running toward the tower to save as many people as they could during 9/11, I told my dad I wanted to be one of them," he said. "It was that very moment when I realized I wanted to help and save people from danger."

Because of his dream to be a first responder, he felt the U.S. Air Force would be the perfect place to start. He also chose to leave Puerto Rico because of a promise he made to his wife and their child.

"One night, I was talking to my son in my wife's belly and promised to give him the best possible life," said Garcia. "At the same time, I thought what better way to make my dad and grandfather proud than to follow in their footsteps."

Garcia faced several challenges in joining the military and leaving Puerto Rico, which he thinks influenced him to become a better person.

"While in Puerto Rico, I had to practice and become proficient in the English language before flying to the Texas for Basic Training," he said. "Another transition I had to make was changing from a college student without responsibilities to an Airman with a family to support."

According to Garcia, he feels blessed to have the opportunity to be part of the Fire Emergency Services here at Fairchild.

"Being part of the Fire Department, in my opinion, is one of the most important jobs in the Air Force and anywhere else," said Garcia. "It makes me proud knowing that people at Fairchild can sleep safe at night because we're here to give them high quality patient care and an excellent fire prevention."

Joe Mirasole, 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron fire inspector, said Garcia always has great stories, but his co-worker is all business when it comes to being a Civil Engineer Airman.

"Garcia shares quite a bit of his culture with other firemen, like telling us stories from his childhood as well as sharing with several people how their government and social structure works," he said. "When it comes to work though, he's the first to step up to any task and the last one to quit for the day. He's an outstanding leader on and off duty."

Although he comes from a different place, Garcia managed to excel in everything he did.

His personal motto is, "It doesn't matter where you come from, what matters is how you handle yourself.

"I would like to thank my mentors Tech. Sgt. Christopher Engelke and Mr. Joseph Mirasole for guiding me down the right path in becoming a great Airman and for giving me all the tools to be a better fireman," he added. "It doesn't matter what obstacle comes your way; nothing can stop you from accomplishing your goals. You just have to live one day at a time and never give up on your dreams."

Fly-away security teams stay vigilant for mission-critical assets

by Staff Sgt. Torri Ingalsbe
Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs

6/18/2013 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Rifle at the ready, eyes watchful and wary, sweat beads form on their brows and trickle down their chins, exhaust fumes and gritty sand fills their noses, words can barely be heard over the whine of engines, yet the Airmen of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron's Fly-Away Security Teams maintain a constant vigil over the aircraft, personnel and cargo coming in and out of the airfield here.

FAST members are required to fly on specific missions, to certain locations, to ensure the aircraft and crew are protected from hostile fire or on-board security breaches.

"If the aircrew is safe, they can focus on their mission," said Airman Brandon Gibson, a 455th ESFS FAST team member. "This just helps everything run more smoothly."

Gibson is deployed from Hector Air Field, Fargo, N.D., which is also his hometown. Even though the schedules can be unpredictable, with various show times and unknown mission duration, Gibson said he wouldn't have it any other way.

"I have the sweetest mission on base," he said. "I like traveling and interacting with career fields other than security forces."

The missions requiring FAST members can vary from carrying hazardous materials, personnel under control, medical units and mission-essential personnel. When flights travel to forward operating bases with limited airfield security, the FAST members play a vital role in protecting Air Force assets.

"We're in a hostile country, and we're the sole protectors of a multi-million dollar aircraft," said Senior Airman Michael Bullen, a 455th ESFS FAST team member. "We're really the only people protecting the crew, and protecting the mission."

Bullen is also deployed from Hector Air Field, N.D., and hails from Minot, N.D. The protection FAST members provide exists both on and off the aircraft. During the flight, the two-person team executes flight-deck denial; upon touchdown, they exit the aircraft and provide 360 degree security and overwatch during the unloading and reloading of cargo and passengers.

"I love to fly," Bullen said. "I love being in the air and still doing our mission."

He explained how he enjoys the interaction and cooperation with the aircrews.

"It's more than just saying 'hello' when I check your ID at the gate in the morning," he joked.

The respect and appreciation is mutual between the FAST members and aircrew.

"They are definitely an asset to the team," said 1st Lt. Whitt Hollis, a 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130 Hercules co-pilot. "It's peace of mind knowing we have riflemen outside the plane providing security."

Hollis is a Denver, Colo., native and is deployed from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. He explained the importance of the FAST members to missions, especially in hostile areas.

"They help provide more situational awareness when we're on the ground," Hollis said. "They're all highly motivated and professional. As intense as the job is, they're able to keep a cool head."

Both Bullen and Gibson said they hope to extend this first deployment for an additional six months.

"I'll never get this mission again, and I'm already in Afghanistan," Gibson said. "It just makes sense to stay for a year. Plus I don't want to go back to Fargo at the beginning of winter."

Bullen echoed his teammate's sentiments, stating his love of the FAST mission.

"If I could do this job stateside, I would do it forever," Bullen said.

Wireless Spectrum Essential to Defense Operations, Official Says

By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2013 – The Defense Department depends on the wireless spectrum for nearly all of its activities, the DOD chief information officer said here today.

Essentially, everything at the Defense Department is connected to the network, Teri Takai told attendees at a Washington Post forum.

In an effort to ensure commanders are fully informed of activities in and around the battle space, the department has moved beyond just wireless voice and data transmission, Takai said. Video now is part of many military platforms, she explained, and that is just one sign of the department’s growing need for wireless spectrum.

“The bulk of our training is done in the U.S.,” she said. “This isn’t just an international use of spectrum. We really are very heavily concentrated -- in terms of the utilization of spectrum -- around all of our [U.S.] bases.”

The department needs spectrum in the United States, Takai said. “We do 80 percent of our training here,” she noted. “The safety of our men and women overseas is really based on their … ability to train.”

The civilian market is increasingly reliant on wireless communications as well. Many countries, including the United States, already have more wireless connection points -- phones, tablets, hotspots, etc. -- than they have people, according to CTIA, one of the forum’s sponsors. As of December 2012, nearly 36 percent of U.S. households were wireless-only, compared to just 15.8 percent in 2007.

The explosive growth of wireless communications has resulted in a shortage of available spectrum for both federal and civilian uses. In response, President Barack Obama last week issued a memorandum establishing a spectrum policy team that will monitor and support spectrum-sharing technologies in concert with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. In the memo, federal agencies are tasked with finding ways to enhance spectrum efficiency and free up more spectrum for consumer services and applications.

Defense activities also are becoming heavily dependent on commercial wireless providers, Takai said, so the department naturally is concerned about its spectrum capacity.

Spectrum crowding already happens, said Mary Brown, Cisco Systems’ director of technology and spectrum policy, government affairs. “Anyone who tries to use their phone during the rush hour in a big city already begins to experience what life is going to be like if we don’t get to work on putting more spectrum out there,” she said. Dropped calls and slow or no data connections will become more common, she added.
As government and industry begin to investigate spectrum-sharing scenarios, several challenges emerge, Takai told the audience. Sharing can happen in a variety of ways, she said. For example, spectrum could be shared geographically by being assigned to federal agencies in high-density areas, but used by commercial entities in less-populated areas. Or, multiple users could share the same piece of spectrum at different times, Takai said.

To do that, she said, requires knowing who owns the spectrum, and when and where they’re using it.
“I think one of the challenges is there’s certainly opportunity for us to do spectrum-sharing in, for example, rural areas, where we don’t have the bases,” Takai said. “Unfortunately, those aren’t the areas where there’s the commercial demand.”

The next task is developing devices that can use the shared spectrum, she said.

The Defense Department will continue to seek out ways to operate while using the least possible amount of wireless spectrum, Takai said. “That’s a challenge, because historically, we have a lot of equipment that uses spectrum in a lot of different ways, so making a change isn’t something we can do overnight.”

But, DOD recognizes the need to balance national security with consumer needs, she said.

“Even though there may not be a financial incentive for us [to share spectrum], there is an operational incentive, because we have to weigh not only our responsibility to the nation, but also our operational responsibility,” Takai said. “I think it’s important from a national security standpoint to recognize that we have a certain amount of spectrum that we utilize which is exclusive to us from a national security and an interference perspective.”

Pentagon Announces Progress in Opening Jobs to Women

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2013 – The services and U.S. Special Operations Command have completed plans to gradually open jobs to female service members that used to be closed to them, senior Pentagon officials announced today.

Joined by senior service officials at a Pentagon news conference, Juliet Beyler, the Defense Department’s director of officer and enlisted personnel management, said today’s announcement is a milestone.

She noted that in January, then-Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, rescinded the 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule. That policy barred women from jobs -- such as tank mechanic and field artillery radar operator -- performed near combat units. It also prohibited women in jobs such as intelligence, communications and logistics from assignment at units smaller than a brigade.

“Our goal is to ensure that the mission is met with the best-qualified and most capable people, regardless of gender,” Beyler said in prepared remarks. This year, she added, the services and Socom have worked diligently to plan two lines of effort aimed at integrating women:

-- Currently open occupations that were restricted: for example, administrative clerk in a tank battalion or truck driver in an artillery battery; and

-- Currently closed occupations that require review and validation of occupational standards: for example, infantry, armor and combat engineer.

The services and Socom have filed separate plans, which Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has reviewed, she noted. Beyler added that while the plans differ, they all involve work with scientific and research agencies to review occupational standards and ensure they are current, operationally valid and applied on a gender-neutral basis.

All the plans are incremental in opening closed positions, which requires congressional notification, she said.

“Each service and Socom is conducting thorough doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities and policy analyses to ensure deliberate and responsible implementation,” she said.

Pentagon officials said the department expects to issue a report to Congress later this summer detailing more implementation specifics. Full implementation across the services should occur by Jan. 1, 2016, officials said.
The services and Socom have identified decision points by which they will make final determinations to open occupations and positions or to request an exception to policy to keep a position or occupation closed, Beyler said. The defense secretary and the Joint Chiefs chairman must personally approve any exceptions to policy, she added.

Hagel Dedicates Pentagon Korean War Exhibit

By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2013 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today dedicated what he called a “magnificent” permanent display in the Pentagon to honor veterans of the Korean War.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, center, Ahn Ho-young, South Korean ambassador to the United States, left, and Lewis M. "Lew" Ewing, national director of the Korean War Veterans Association, cut the ribbon June 18, 2013, to dedicate a new permanent display in the Pentagon to commemorate the Korean War. Hagel thanked Korean War veterans at the event for their service, and said the war and their service will never be forgotten. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

The display opened in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the 1953 armistice that ended hostilities on the Korean Peninsula, and of the U.S.-South Korean alliance.

“We not only acknowledge you, we thank you,” Hagel said to Korean War veterans who attended the dedication of the display, located on the first floor of the Pentagon’s “A” ring. “We assure you that through this dedication today, your efforts and your noble cause will live on. You have helped shape history in a unique and magnificent way.”

The exhibit comprises a collection of photographs, videos, weapons and other artifacts of the Korean War. It also highlights the advancements of women, medicine and technology and the integration of African-Americans into the U.S. military.

“The Korean War has been known in this country too long as ‘The Forgotten War,’” Ahn Ho-young, South Korea’s ambassador to the United States, said at the dedication ceremony. “We should change it to ‘The Forgotten Victory.’”

Since the war, South Korea has made significant economic progress and a transition to democracy, Ahn said, and has an important role in global issues. “[The war] was a victory and must not be forgotten,” he added.

Echoing Ahn, Hagel said the South Korean people have come far in many ways.

“I know of no other nation that has done as much in such a little bit of time to improve their people and the region, and I know of no country [that is] a better ally to the United States than the Republic of Korea,” the secretary said. “We are grateful for this relationship, [and] … what anchors it … is that special bond of people wanting a better life, who are willing to risk anything for it.”

Referencing his recent trip to Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit, Hagel emphasized how the 60-year bilateral relationship between the United States and South Korea was evident in the two nations’ relationships with Japan, the Philippines, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Chinese and European allies.

“This special relationship is bigger than just the Korean Peninsula or the North Asia region,” the secretary said. “It has affected the world.”

The secretary said he is particularly proud of the Americans who left their cities and towns and “went far away to a very bloody conflict in a distant land, where very few knew a lot about the Korean Peninsula.” Yet when the veterans returned home to the United States, he added, little acknowledgment of their service awaited them.

“Very few people knew where Korea was,” he said. “But … it was just as important in any conflict we’ve been in. The Republic of Korea still plays a key role as a very key ally in maintaining peace, stability and security in that part of the world.”

Hagel offered his gratitude to Korean War veterans on behalf of the Defense Department’s men and women.
“We acknowledge your service, everything you’ve done, what you mean to this country [and] the world, and the model you’ve provided for our young men and women for generations to come,” Hagel told veterans. “It will be evidenced by this great display that we are dedicating today.”