USS Lassen Promotes Maritime Security in South China Sea

By Lt. j.g. Lauren Chatmas, USS Lassen Public Affairs

SOUTH CHINA SEA (NNS) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) continues to patrol the South China Sea since the end of May 2015 in support of security and stability in the region.

Since August 2013, Destroyer Squadron 15 DDGs have operated in the South China Sea. During these patrols, safe interactions with People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessels at sea, courteous radio conversations, and prudent shiphandling establishes U.S. Navy's commitment to maritime security and informs our Chinese counterparts the U.S. Navy intends to operate freely in international waters.

"It is a unique opportunity for Lassen to read about U.S. defense policies which affect the region and then be called to the tip of the spear to execute these policies," said Lassen's Commanding Officer Cmdr. Robert Francis. "These are priceless lessons for our young junior officers, and will undoubtedly shape them into the skilled mariners who will one day lead our Navy."

Additionally, Lassen assists U.S. Navy aircraft with safety of flight through the area. These aircraft have been queried throughout their flight, and these queries have become ordinary as the U.S. Navy conduct patrols in the South China Sea, a major sea line of world-wide communication for commercial shipping traffic.

Operations Specialist 2nd Class Ashley Smith runs the air controller console on board Lassen. As an air controller, she is one of the personnel responsible for the safety of flights. She sums up the experience as, "this is just another day at work in the South China Sea."

On board Lassen, in clear and perfect English, it is common to hear Chinese voices over the radio in the combat information center. Lassen conducts daily flight operations with her two embarked MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 51, also known as the "Warlords." During these flights, Warlords are often queried by the Chinese. The pilots on the helicopter respond in a professional manner by reiterating they are operating in international airspace in accordance with international law.

Lassen, Forward Deployed Naval Forces in Yokosuka, Japan and assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15, is on patrol in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region.

Face of Defense: Soldier Puts the Count in Accountability

By Army Staff Sgt. Melissa McGaughey

303rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade

SAGAMI DEPOT, Japan, July 10, 2015 – It is 15:07. Army Spc. Donna C. Moya stands up.

"Sir, the number of personnel on the ground is 4,721. In the last 24 hours we received enemy contact at two locations within Task Force Bayonet. Seventy-nine soldiers are being treated, 14 have been medically evacuated. Currently we are still operating at full strength. There are no additional issues. For the next 24 hours, we will continue to monitor any developing situations. Pending any questions, this concludes my brief."

There are no further questions. Moya sits down.

While the words may sound simple, a vast amount of work goes on behind the scenes in order to create that accurate picture of the battlefield. In the U.S. Army, that work is done by human resource soldiers in the S-1 -- the personnel section.

Moya is one of those soldiers, serving in the 303rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade during annual training here as part of Exercise Imua Dawn.

Imua Dawn is a command post exercise created specifically for maneuver enhancement brigades. The exercise covers the fictional island of Tembago, and is designed to replicate the Pacific Command area of responsibility and exercise the brigade-level staff. Within the exercise, the S-1 must maintain accountability of almost 5,000 troops operating on a simulated battlefield of more than 236 square miles. Moya’s job is to make sure the numbers add up.

Changing Roles

Moya joined the Army as a mechanic in 2010. After three years on active duty, she decided to continue her military career by joining the Army Reserve’s 303rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade in Fort Shafter Flats, Hawaii, as a human resources specialist.

Within six months of getting her new job, Moya accompanied the unit to their annual training -- a combat support training exercise that took place at Fort Hunter Liggett, California.

It was Moya’s first opportunity to see how a human resource specialist would work in a forward-deployed environment.

“At first, I found it different, going from turning wrenches to typing,” she said. “It was a huge change for me.”

She spent most of her time learning the roles and responsibilities of her new position. Along with the new work environment, Moya also had to deal with the simulated battlefield.

She recalled an incident during last year’s exercise when the scenario had the base being attacked by mortars. “I never had that level of realism in training before. Even on active duty, I didn’t have training like that,” she said. “It was very different.”

Responsibility for Accountability

This year, Moya has found her rhythm.

“I’ve gotten so much more proficient than last year,” said Moya. “This year I have perfected my ability to do my job.”

During exercise Imua Dawn, Moya is responsible for receiving and maintaining the personnel status from every subordinate unit in the brigade’s area of operations.

“We keep accountability of all the down-trace units, and their subordinate units,” Moya said.

It sounds simple, but accountability is more than just tracking numbers on paper.

“You’re not only accountable to the commander, you’re also accountable to the American public -- to the families,” said Lt. Col. Daniela A. Allen, the brigade’s senior human resource officer. “They need to know their loved ones are being taken care of while they do their job. Accountability is so critical.”

For the S-1, that means constantly monitoring the movement of every single soldier. Luckily for her, Moya said putting all the pieces together comes naturally.

A Numbers Puzzle

“I really like problem-solving,” Moya said. “For me, it’s fun. It’s a lot like solving puzzles. You have to figure out the numbers.”

In addition to tracking the numbers, Moya also prepares the daily brief for the commander which is an integral part of what the S-1 does.

“You give the commander a picture of who he has on the ground,” said Chief Warrant Officer Eric P. Hollis, a human resources technician in the 303rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade and Moya’s supervisor. “That picture is what allows him to make decisions.”

A lot of times, Hollis added, the numbers don’t add up. "Specialist Moya has the ability to go in and find the missing piece."

Wing recognizes top performers in AFAF campaign

by Airman 1st Class Jeremy L. Mosier
366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

7/10/2015 - MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho  -- Col. Byron Anderson, 366th Fighter Wing vice commander, recognized airmen for their efforts in the 2015 Air Force Assistance Fund campaign here July 8.

The AFAF is an annual effort to raise funds that go directly back to airmen from four different foundations: The Air Force Aid Society, The Air Force Village, The Air Force Enlisted Village, The General and Mrs. Curtis E. Lemay Foundation.

"Our wing did well, even with all the deployments," said Capt. Judene Rohde, installation project officer of the campaign on base.

MHAFB was able to reach 100 percent contact with the base raising a total of $52,002.18 this year which was 96.2 percent of the goal of $53,000.

While all squadrons and groups were able to reach 100 percent of personnel the 366th Medical Group had the greatest number of participation, 26 percent, which earned them the large coin they'll hold on to until next year.

"There's a lot of things going on; everyone is running 100 mph. So, to take time out and make sure we are making contact with everybody so they can have the opportunity to help these organizations is awesome" said Anderson. "I just want to say thanks on behalf of the team. Thanks for the effort."


Squadron Awards

Achievement Award

366th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron  Senior Master Sgt.  Brian Burdick
366th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron  Senior Master Sgt. Justin Gunther
366th Component Maintenance Squadron  Master Sgt. Forest Odgers
366th Component Maintenance Squadron 2nd Lt. Andrew Fiegan
366th Equipment Maintenance Squadron Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Green
366th Equipment Maintenance Squadron Tech Sgt. Travis Slaughter
366th Maintenance Operations Squadron Tech. Sgt. James Marcucci
366th Maintenance Operations Squadron Senior Airman Tyler Hill

Superior Achievement

366th Medical Operations Squadron  Tech. Sgt. Bryan Olano
366th Medical Operations Squadron  Staff Sgt. Timothy Begley
366th Security Forces Squadron   Tech Sgt. Robert Wilson
366th Security Forces Squadron   Staff Sgt. Kyle Harmon
 

Outstanding Participation

366th Aerospace Medicine Squadron  Staff Sgt. Sylvia Smith
390th Electronic Combat Squadron  Tech. Sgt. John Gleese
390th Electronic Combat Squadron  Senior Airman Taylor Clay
391st Fighter Squadron    Staff Sgt. Trevor Smith
391st Fighter Squadron    Senior Airman Tiffany Shaw
366th Communications Squadron  Staff Sgt. Noah Bickell
366th Communications Squadron  Tech. Sgt. Michael Vilcinskas
366th Contracting Squadron   Master Sgt. Tracie Sowels
366th Contracting Squadron   Master Sgt. David Dike
366th Medical Support Squadron  Staff Sgt. Christopher Higginbotham
366th Medical Support Squadron  Senior Airman Kara Bailey

 

Group Awards
 

366th Medical Group  Master Sgt. Martin Castillo first highest participation rate
366th Medical Group Staff Sgt. Sylvia Smith first in highest participation rate
366th Mission Support Group Master Sgt. Stephanie Holman second highest participation rate
366th Mission Support Group Tech. Sgt. Scot Procanin second highest participation rate
366th Fighter Wing 2nd Lt. Cameron White third highest participation rate
366th Fighter Wing Master Sgt. Karen Bain third highest participation rate

Blue and White Coin presented to 366th Medical Group for Highest participation rate

COBRA DANE team moves forward with radar's sustainment plan

by Justin Oakes
66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

7/9/2015 - HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- The Battle Management program executive officer at Hanscom AFB recently approved a strategy for the sustainment of one of the largest radars in the Air Force's arsenal.

The COBRA DANE radar located on Shemya Island, Alaska, stands 120 feet tall, has a 95-foot diameter, detects objects 2,000 miles away and was built in the 1970s to serve as an early warning system during the Cold War.

Control of the radar's operation and maintenance contracts transferred to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's Battle Management Directorate from Air Force Space Command in May 2015.

With a short amount of time until the current contract expires, the COBRA DANE program team finalized a sustainment plan to award a new sole-source contract before the existing agreement runs out in December of this year.

A panel of acquisition specialists was able to identify key aspects and challenges associated with maintaining the aging radar system.

"For most of the radar, options for long-term supportability are diminishing and becoming more expensive, as significant portions of the system and its facilities infrastructure are well past the system's original design lifespan," said Capt. Daniel Barker, COBRA DANE deputy program manager. "Many of the original 1970s equipment manufacturers no longer exist. As a result, most spare procurements require identification of alternate industry sources to perform expensive and time-consuming re-engineering."

Part of the sustainment process requires the program team to identify which components have available commercial-off-the-shelf replacements and which parts are in need of re-engineering.

COBRA DANE is a ground-based, L-band, phased-array radar that provides midcourse coverage for U.S. Strategic Command's Ballistic Missile Defense System. The radar can detect sea-launched and intercontinental ballistic missiles, classify re-entry vehicles and other missile objects and track threats with enough accuracy to commit to launching interceptors and update in-flight targeting data.

"Certainly the missions have changed since the end of the Cold War, but the utility of the COBRA DANE radar has actually increased over time," Barker said. "The radar's small object detectability performance is better than any of the other Space Surveillance Network phased-array sensors currently available."

Within the past three years, COBRA DANE expanded its role to include tracking deep space satellites. It operates as part of the larger Space Surveillance Network and provides observation data to agency command and control nodes.

Additionally, COBRA DANE supports STRATCOM's Space Object Identification mission by providing narrowband radar data of man-made resident space objects in low-earth orbit. The collected data is analyzed to determine satellite characteristics such as size, shape, motion and orientation. SOI information is used to ascertain the mission and operational status of various payloads and aids in forecasting maneuvers or deorbits.

"COBRA DANE is the only large L-band phased-array radar in the Air Force's inventory that can accomplish the small object tracking and discrimination necessary for the missile defense and space situational awareness missions," Barker said.

In order to meet the program's aggressive timeline, officials expect to release a request for proposal in August; the result will be a two-year estimated $77 million contract with a subsequent competitive follow-on option for five years valued at $150 million.

"Nearly 40 years after construction, COBRA DANE continues to exhibit a respectable reliability record with outstanding performance over multiple missions that have evolved over time," Barker said. "With a concrete strategy in place, we move forward to the next phase of sustainment."

AFSC signs partnership agreement with research institute

by Air Force Sustainment Center Logistics Directorate

7/2/2015 - TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The Air Force Sustainment Center recently entered into an Enterprise Partnership Agreement with Southwestern Research Institute that will improve efficiency and provide readiness to support operations, by reducing time and costs associated with negotiations for work at all three air logistics complexes at Hill, Tinker and Robins Air Force Bases.

The private partner is enabled to negotiate specific implementation agreements with any of the three air logistics complexes allowing for faster workload execution within the partnership via the IAs, said Shannon Wagner, AFSC team lead for Public Private Partnering.

"With the nature of today's threats to national security and the challenges of sustaining military readiness during this period of budgetary decline, PPPs will continue to be a viable means for workload sustainment in the future," said Wagner. "The AFSC will continue to fine-tune and make improvements to the PPP process in a manner in which cost-savings and war-winning capabilities will not be diminished."

The Enterprise AFSC and SwRI EPA is expected to facilitate bringing workloads into the ALCs to include Turkish AF/FMS F110 Engine Performance and Trending Training, F110 Modernized Digital Engine Control Tester and Test Program Sets, B-52 Power Drive Unit Depot Repair, A-10 Improved Electronic Processor Units Fleet Support/Testing, and A-10 Support Equipment Roadmap/proof of concept and repairs.

According to Steve Alsup, AFSC director of Logistics, the implementation of this agreement will roll out as needed and as negotiated for individual workloads.

"With enterprise partnering we can assure we have the right balance of capabilities across the industrial complex while delivering cost effective readiness back to the warfighter," said Alsup. "Through Public-Private Partnering, we have a combined workforce vested in mission success that is the catalyst for 'Art of the Possible' results."

Southwest Research Institute Executive Vice President Walter Downing echoed those comments.

"This enterprise agreement is a good example of the strong relationship Southwest Research Institute has with the Air Force. The improved and streamlined process will enable us to be more effective in supporting the Air Force mission, and ultimately, assist the warfighter. It also opens up additional opportunities for us to support the military depots to accomplish new workloads," said Downing.

U.S. takes partnerships to new heights

by Senior Airman Damon Kasberg
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

7/10/2015 - RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- U.S. Air Force and Army counterparts joined together with service members from nine allied countries to participate in International Jump Week July 6 to 10, 2015 at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

The five-day event was hosted by the 435th Contingency Response Group and it gave multiple nations the opportunity to work side-by-side, increasing interoperability and strengthening relationships.

"The overall goal of this event is to get everyone to work with each other," said Staff Sgt. Chris Zavala, 435th Security Forces Squadron jumpmaster. "We're all NATO Allies, so it's important we know each other's procedures and that people take the skills they learned here back to their home stations."

Paratroopers traveled throughout Europe, including England, Poland, Greece, France, Germany, Estonia, Czech Republic, Belgium, and as far away as New Zealand to build stronger partnerships by jumping out of C-130J Super Hercules's assigned to the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein.

"It's difficult to do jumps in England because of the weather and aircraft availability," said Royal air Force Sgt. William Bunday, Airborne Delivery Wing jumpmaster. "The U.S. always has several shoots to jump and aircraft available. This is my second year coming to Jump Week and everyone always enjoys it. It's a great time and we'll come back every year we're invited."

The feeling of building camaraderie through jumping out of an aircraft thousands of feet up in the air was shared throughout paratroopers.

"Being able to jump with the foreign paratroopers is an absolute privilege," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Vincent Cipolla, Special Operation Command Europe intelligence analyst. "We build a strong esprit de corps and camaraderie during this week."

International Jump Week is an annual event giving paratroopers the opportunity to practice high altitude, low opening and static line jumps. Pilots, loadmasters and parachute riggers were also able to train on their proficiencies during the week. Supporting units at the drop zone included Air Force and Army personnel, air traffic controllers and medical teams.

Every year to culminate the jump training, paratroopers from the allied countries gather for a wing exchange, where they exchange jump wings from fellow paratroopers, signifying the bonds built.

Army National Guard Official Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Accepting $30,000 Bribe

An Army National Guard official was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for accepting a $30,000 bribe in exchange for steering a $3.6 million contract to a retired sergeant major of the Minnesota Army National Guard and his consulting company.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia, Acting U.S. Attorney Kelly T. Currie of the Eastern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew McCabe of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Acting Special Agent in Charge Paul Sternal of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office and Director Frank Robey of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit (Army-CID) made the announcement.

Jason Rappoccio, 39, of Hampton, South Carolina, pleaded guilty on Feb. 3, 2015, to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of bribery.  U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady of the Eastern District of Virginia imposed the sentence and ordered Rappoccio to forfeit $31,328.

Rappoccio was an active duty sergeant first class in the Army National Guard.  In connection with his guilty plea, Rappoccio admitted to accepting a $30,000 bribe from Timothy Bebus, a retired sergeant major of the Minnesota Army National Guard and owner of Mil-Team Consulting and Solutions LLC (Mil-Team).  In exchange, Rappoccio agreed to steer a $3.6 million contract to Mil-Team by awarding the contract to a Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) certified company, chosen by Bebus, that Rappoccio understood would sub-contract a portion of the work to Mil-Team.

Rappoccio admitted that the $30,000 bribe was structured to conceal the payment.  Specifically, Bebus gave $6,000 in cash directly to Rappoccio, and the remaining $24,000 was paid in a cashier’s check in the name of Rappoccio’s wife.

Rappoccio also admitted to accepting additional benefits in exchange for steering an additional $4 million contract to Mil-Team.  In particular, Rappoccio solicited and received from Bebus airline tickets for two of Rappoccio’s family members.  He also received NFL tickets worth over $1,300 from another co-conspirator.

In connection with this investigation into corruption within the National Guard Bureau, eight others, including Bebus, have been convicted of offenses related to the awarding of millions of dollars of Army National Guard marketing, retention and recruitment contracts.  The investigation is ongoing.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with assistance from DCIS’s Mid-Atlantic Field Office and Army-CID’s Expeditionary Fraud Resident Agency’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Alison L. Anderson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Fahey of the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marisa Seifan and Martin Coffey of the Eastern District of New York.