Face of Defense: Palau Native Marine Returns to Island Home

By Marine Corps Cpl. Drew Tech

3rd Marine Expeditionary Force

IRAI, Palau, Oct. 6, 2014 – Bedtime stories can have an impact on children’s imaginations. For many young people, hearing tales of fictitious characters like “Peter Pan” or “Jack and the Beanstalk” can create the desire to experience Peter’s or Jack’s extraordinary adventures.

For one boy from Ngaraard, Palau, bedtime stories were not about fighting pirates or giants. This boy was told stories of combat and the U.S. Marines at the Battle of Peleliu during World War II.

That boy was Milton Donatus, and the stories his grandmother told him as a child spawned a lifelong dream to become a U.S. Marine.

“Every time my grandmother would talk about war, the Marines came up,” said Donatus, the training chief with Combat Logistics Detachment 379, Combat Logistics Regiment 37, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force.

Idolized Marines

“The Marines were always talked about as the saviors and the best [warriors] ever, so growing up, I didn’t know about any other military,” he added. “I only knew about the Marines, and that I wanted to be one.”

Shortly after graduating from high school in 1995, Donatus moved to Guam to pursue his dream, and in May 2000, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

His career has seen him rise to the rank of staff sergeant and has brought him aboard the USNS Sacagawea as part of exercise T-AKE 14-2, a maritime pre-positioned force, multinational theater security cooperation event that deploys from the Japanese island of Okinawa to conduct training exercises.

Teaching pistol marksmanship

Palau national law enforcement officers and Combat Logistics Detachment 379 Marines completed live-fire training with the M9A1 9 mm service pistol here Sept. 16. The training, led by Donatus, taught the Palauan law enforcement officers the fundamentals of combat marksmanship with the weapon, such as loading, clearing and firing procedures.

“The training went according to plan,” Donatus said. “The national police showed up eager to learn. They left with a good image of what the Marines stood for and a knowledge that they will carry on with them throughout their careers as police officers.”

For the law enforcement officers of Palau, the opportunity to train with the U.S. Marines and receive instruction from a native of their island nation was special, said Fave Ngiramengior of Koror, Palau.

Great opportunity

“It was a great opportunity to get to train with the U.S. Marines,” said Ngiramengior, a police officer with Palau’s patrol division. “The last time we were able to shoot was two years ago, so getting to learn from the Marines, and especially a local in the Marines, was very nice.”

Donatus’s positive effect on the Palauan police officers was evident, said Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Barr from Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

“One thing I noticed during the training was how the police officers gravitated to him,” said Barr, the company gunnery sergeant for the detachment. “Whenever he was instructing them, they paid close attention and really took in what he said.”

Meaningful experience

The chance to come home and participate in this training was a very meaningful experience, Donatus said.

“It feels good, and it means a lot to me to come back in this situation,” he added. “I was not a wealthy kid growing up, so people kind of always looked at me thinking that I wouldn’t amount to anything. Being able to come back with a different life is just awesome, because it gives me a chance to show everyone who grew up where I did that there is hope.”

CONS at FIP forefront

by Senior Airman Jason Wiese
90th Missile Wing Public Affairs

10/3/2014 - F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- Most people know a lot goes on behind the scenes in large organizations to make things happen. Most people also want to know the answer to the million-dollar question: who is handling the money, and where is it going?
For the Mighty Ninety, to answer these questions one must check behind the scenes at the 90th Contracting Squadron.

Contracting Airmen have handled the selection of contractors and awarding of contracts for the Air Force Global Strike Command Force Improvement Program, and over the course of September, have awarded almost $30 million in contracts.

More than half of this year's awards directly funded FIP initiatives to help execute a safe, secure and effective ICBM mission and shape its future.

"This is the most amount of money for a month of September that I've ever seen," said Maj. Katrina Curtis, 90th Contracting Squadron commander.

Air Force contracting squadrons receive project dollars -- money to spend on projects such as repairs and construction -- in September. For comparison, last year, the 90th CONS received $17 million, she said.

Millions of the dollars awarded in the contracts benefitted local businesses, especially small businesses, Curtis said.

"The programs [determining what contracts get awarded and to whom] are specifically laid out to inject money back into the local community," she said. "It's important for us to support the local economy because the community supports the people on base."

Funding funneled through the 90th CONS will support contracts for projects including roofing repair on base, a new skid pad for vehicle training, truck toppers for vehicles used in the missile complex, flooring repair, new mattresses for missile alert facilities and security forces uniform items.

Changes happening as a result of FIP has led to projects and funding that have not been seen in some time, Curtis said.

"It's a unique experience that I might never get in my career again," said 1st Lt. Cassie Fletcher, 90th CONS contract specialist. "I really appreciate the experience."

FIP is about improvement, and it takes money and resources to make improvements, so CONS is at the forefront of making FIP happen, Curtis said.

"Seeing the funding coming down totally validates that our mission here is important," Fletcher said.

Senior Department of Defense and Air Force leadership have long touted the nuclear deterrence mission as a high priority for the U.S.

It is easy to say something is a priority, but it is not until nuclear Airmen get the projects they need funded that they will say, "They really are treating us like a number-one priority now," said Curtis.

Now the command is doing just that, she said.

As a direct result of FIP, the 90th CONS has and will continue to take great strides for the betterment of the nuclear force.

Airman Basic to Command Chief, journey to the top

by Senior Airman Matthew Lotz
31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

10/3/2014 - AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- In 1985, Mark Batzer was a young, motocross-loving, drag-car racing teenager coasting into adulthood without direction; however, his family would give him the push he needed to change his life for the better.

"I came home one night and my mother told me I was no longer welcome," said Chief Master Sgt. Mark Batzer, 31st Fighter Wing command chief, of the moment that would lead him to join the military.

"I grew up into a family where I wasn't spoiled. I had really great parents and a great childhood. But I had gotten into the wrong crowd," he admitted.

Turning to the Air Force, Batzer found his path for redemption when he was offered a job as a crew chief.

"When I came into the Air Force, I had something internally that I wanted to prove to my parents -- to show them I was worthy and I wanted to do the best I could," he said. "As a young Airman looking at the rank of chief master sergeant and seeing their leadership, I just thought they were awesome and inspired me to want to be the same."

Now, after 29 years of serving in the Air Force, the Lancaster, PA, native will relinquish his position as the highest enlisted service member to a new command chief on Oct. 31, and will officially retire Jan. 15, 2015.

During his career, Batzer soared through the Air Force ranks, including the now-retired rank of buck sergeant, achieving milestones such as NCO of the Year and the U.S Air Forces in Europe Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, an award that recognizes outstanding maintainers.

After almost 30 years in the service, Batzer experienced several changes with the military. He says he has seen the Airman Performance Report go to the Enlisted Performance Report and watched the utility uniform change three times, but the biggest change throughout his career was computers.

Technology advanced not only for computers, but for the F-16 Fighting Falcon he was responsible for too. As an aircraft maintainer, Batzer was responsible for everything from the tip of the jet to the tail --performing various functional checks, cleaning the aircraft and carrying the safety of a pilot on his shoulders.

"My favorite memory as a crew chief is when I was crewing the F-111 [Aardvark F-model] because it had the most powerful engines - the Pratt and Whitney engine," Batzer explained. "When I was engine-run qualified, there was no greater feeling to be out there running both engines in afterburner, especially at night.

"I can't say for certain that the ringing in my ears is related to aircraft maintenance, but 26 years on the flightline, I'm sure it has something to do with it," he joked.

With so many years under his hat, he has accumulated several memories, but one of his greatest doesn't involve the military at all.

Batzer says that his greatest memory is marrying his wife and having his two boys, Tom and Jonathan. While Jonathan resides in Utah, working as a machinist, Tom is an Air Force staff sergeant following in his father's footsteps as a crew chief stationed here at Aviano with the 31st Maintenance Squadron.

"I never pushed my kids to join the military," said Batzer. "It was always their choice, but I did give them specific directions for after high school: 'you're not just going to sit at home. You're either going to college, get a job or you're going to go into the military.'"

According to Staff Sgt. Tom Batzer, he has mixed feelings on his dad's retirement, but is fortunate to have the unique experience of being stationed at the same base.

"This has given me the opportunity to spend time with him that I never thought I would have had and I will really miss that," he said. "On the other hand I can understand that sometimes you reach a point in your life where you just need to do something new for both the challenge and the adventure. I can honestly respect his decision."

Chief Batzer says he has given a lot of advice to his sons over the years, which will help them grow in their careers and knows they will continue making their own path. As for him, he and his wife of 26 years, Joanna, plan to reside in Pennsylvania where he plans to start his next challenge in life.

"With all my achievements throughout my career, I wouldn't have any of them or be here today without my wife," he said. "My wife knew the emergency procedures for engine runs as well as I did because she used to quiz me. Our service members should always remember how important the family aspect is to their career.

"Just like anything in life, if you're not challenged and don't try to overcome your weaknesses, you're going to look back on life and think 'what have I really done,'" he added.

Let's celebrate: HHM festivities held at Moody

by Airman 1st Class Ceaira Tinsley
23d Wing Public Affairs

10/3/2014 - MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Team Moody members mingled and tasted Hispanic inspired dishes during the Hispanic Heritage Month luncheon here Oct. 2.

The Hispanic Heritage Month committee hosted the luncheon and this year's theme was "Many Backgrounds, Many Stories ... One American Spirit."

"We gathered to celebrate the diversity and experience of our nation's Hispanic Americans ... they have served in today's Air Force and can trace their roots back to the United States Army Air Force," said U.S. Air Force Col. Andra Kniep, 23d Wing vice commander. "Hispanics, both men and women have reached the top ranks of our Air Force and served with both courage and honor."

The history of Hispanic Heritage Month began in 1968 when it was only a week long observation. President Ronald Reagan later expanded it to be recognized for a 30-day period from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

"Each year Americans observe the National Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America," said Staff Sgt. Lionel Garcia, 23d Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter. "The day of 15 September is significant because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries."

Notably, the Hispanic population continues to grow with more than 157,000 Hispanics serving in the armed forces and approximately 134 serving at Moody.

"According to the 2010 Census 50.5 million people or 16 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino origin," said Chief Master Sgt. Guillermo Castillo Jr., 74th Aircraft Maintenance Unit superintendent. "We are the No.1 growing population in America and will continue to positively impact the military, economics, politics, education and society for generations to come."

The luncheon featured a Hispanic inspired menu including: pernil (pork), yellow rice with pigeon peas, green salad and tres leches (milk cake).

Castillo also served as the luncheon's featured speaker emphasizing that America is made of many different heritages and highlighted a few Hispanics who have helped shape history and answered their nation's call.

"It is this diversity that has developed and defined America as a melting pot and a great world power," said Castillo. "It is this diversity that I have come to appreciate and celebrate."

Castillo left the guest in attendance with these final words: "United we stand, divided we fall and together we can make a difference. Together we are America's past, present and future with many backgrounds, many stories and one American spirit."

Obama: ‘Move Heaven and Earth’ to Care for Disabled Vets

By Cheryl Pellerin

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2014 – With the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, the nation commemorates for the first time the two battles disabled veterans have fought -- the battle “over there” and the battle at home -- the battle to recover, President Barack Obama said today during the dedication ceremony.

Congress approved the building of the memorial with the passage of Public Law 106-348. In October 2000 President Bill Clinton signed the federal legislation into law, authorizing the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation Inc. to establish the memorial.

The foundation was created to educate the public on issues related to disabled veterans. The memorial will provide a place of healing and unity and a point of education for remembering disabled veterans after their wars are over.

A moment that shapes a lifetime

“To all our disabled veterans, our extraordinary wounded warriors, we gather … on this gorgeous autumn day in America because each of you endured a moment that shaped the arc of your lives and that speaks to our debt as a nation,” Obama told those gathered for the dedication.

“Maybe it was there on the battlefield as the bullets and shrapnel rained down around you. Maybe it was as you lay there, the medics tending to your wounds. Perhaps it was days or months later, in that hospital room when you finally came to. Perhaps it was years later as you went about your day, or in the midnight hour when the memories came rushing back like a flood,” the president said.

“Wherever you were, whatever your story,” Obama continued, “it was the moment that binds each of you forever, that moment of realization that life would not be the same. Your foot, your hand, your arm, your leg -- maybe both -- your sight, your peace of mind; a part of you was gone.”

The president said that it was a great honor to be with those who made the memorial possible, naming Lois Pope, Art Wilson and everyone at the memorial foundation and the veterans service organizations, especially those at the Disabled American Veterans; to the architects and craftspeople who helped bring the memorial to life; members of Congress, secretaries Jewell and McDonald; distinguished guests; and most of all to the veterans and their families.

Painful history

For more than two centuries, Americans have left everything they have known and loved and stepped forward to serve, the president said.

“To win our independence, to preserve our Union, to defend our democracy, to keep safe this country that we love. And when the guns fall silent, our veterans return home, ready to play their part in the next chapter of our American story,” he added.

“As a nation, we have not always fulfilled our obligations to those who served in our name,” Obama said. “This is a painful truth and few have known this better than our veterans wounded in war.”

The president described how in the first years after the American revolution, when the young nation still resisted the idea of a standing army, veterans of the Continental Army returned to towns that could be indifferent to their service.

After the Civil War and again after the First World War, he said, disabled veterans had to organize and march for the benefits they had earned.

A vow to do better

Down the decades the nation has worked to do better, Obama added, “Because in the United States of America, those who have fought for our freedom should never be shunned and should never be forgotten.”

With this memorial, the nation takes another step forward, he said.

“You walk these quiet grounds, pause by the pictures of these men and women, you look into their eyes, read their words, and we’re somehow able to join them on a journey that speaks to the endurance of the American spirit. And to you, our veterans and wounded warriors, we thank you for sharing your journey with us,” Obama said.

At the memorial the nation can see the perseverance of disabled veterans, he added.

“Your unyielding faith that tomorrow can be better. Your relentless determination, often through years of hard recovery and surgeries and rehab, learning the simple things all over again -- how to button a shirt, or how to write your name, in some cases how to talk or how to walk,” the president said, “and how when you’ve stumbled, when you’ve fallen, you’ve picked yourself up, you’ve carried on, you’ve never given up.”

No matter which war the disabled veterans served in and whether one effect of the war was called shell shock or battle fatigue or the thousand-yard stare or post-traumatic stress, Obama added, “You know the unseen wounds of war are just as real as any other, and they can hurt just as much, if not more.”

No veteran is alone

At the memorial the nation is reminded that no disabled veteran has made the journey alone, he added.

“Beside each of you is a wife or a husband, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and neighbors and friends who, day after day, year after year, have been there, lifting you up, pushing you further, rooting you on,” the president said.

Obama told the story of retired Army Capt. Dawn Halfaker, whose Humvee was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq and she suffered burns and broken bones, lost her right arm, and struggled physically and emotionally.

“But with the help of her fellow wounded warriors she came to focus … and today what she has is the respect of her fellow veterans that she mentors, a business of her own -- one that hires veterans, and a beautiful 6-month-old son.”

Obama asked Halfaker to stand, and as she did the audience broke into applause. And he asked the veterans in the audience to stand or raise their hands, and the audience continued to cheer.

“America,” Obama said, “if you want to know what real strength is, if you want to see the character of our country, a country that never quits, look at these men and women.

‘Let us never rush into war’

From this day forward, he added, Americans will come to this place and ponder the immense sacrifice made on their behalf so they might live in freedom and peace.

“And if we are to truly honor these veterans, we must heed the voices that speak to us here, the president said.

“Let’s never rush into war, because it is America’s sons and daughters who bear the scars of war for the rest of their lives. Let us only send them into harm’s way when it’s absolutely necessary,” he said to a burst of applause.

“If we do, let’s always give them the strategy, the mission, and the support that they need to get the job done. When the mission is over … let us stand united as Americans and welcome our veterans home with the thanks and respect they deserve,” Obama added.

And if they come home having left a part of themselves on the battlefield on our behalf, the president added, the nation must move heaven and earth to make sure they get every benefit, every bit of care they have earned and deserve.

“To every wounded warrior, to every disabled veteran,” Obama said, “thank you.

Dempsey Lauds Warrior Games Competitors, Families

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Oct. 5, 2014 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff lauded wounded warriors, their families and sponsors yesterday for their participation in the 2014 Warrior Games competition.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey praised this year’s competitors during the final live broadcast of DoD News’ “Adaptive Warrior,” just before the Air Force-Navy football game at the Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium.

“I’m looking out at that crowd of the warriors and their families and the support agencies, and you know, it’s not a cliché to say how proud we are of them,” he said.

“We’re humbled by the recognition of their sacrifices,” Dempsey said, “[and] what they’ve done to overcome some of the wounds that they suffered.”

Public-private partnership

The chairman said the Warrior Games are a “great example of some of public-private sponsorship or partnership.”

Dempsey said he was happy to represent the Joint Chiefs of Staff and praised the U.S. Olympic Committee, BP and Deloitte for their support and sponsorship of the Warrior Games.

“I think that’s what it’s going to take to get us through our uncertain and unpredictable [fiscal] future,” he said.

Dempsey also explained the benefit of military adaptive sport programs.

“One of the things that, maybe, the American people are not as familiar with as we are,” he said, “is … [that] our work on prosthetics, traumatic brain injury, medical evacuation has actually had a beneficial effect, not just for our servicemen and women, and their families, the American people at large.”

Wartime medical advances

Dempsey said he hopes to maintain the advances in the military health system developed over a decade-plus of war.

“I think we need to keep that even, hopefully, as conflicts diminish and we’re not suffering so many wounds,” he said, “we can make sure we’re don’t lose those skill sets because at some point we’ll need them.”

Dempsey reaffirmed the Joint Staff’s commitment to supporting programs that benefit America’s wounded service members and their families, such as the Warrior Games.

“As I said, I represent the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and I think what you can count on from us is continued support for these kinds of programs,” he said.

“When we ask young men and women to go into harm’s way,” Dempsey said, “and we ask their families to support us, then we owe them support for life.”

“That’s our commitment to you,” the chairman said. “I want to thank, again, those service organizations and corporations who have helped us make these games a reality.”

We’re proud not only of the athletes and their families, but the sponsors as well, Dempsey added.