Face of Defense: Pursuing Christmas Thief Earns Recognition for Sailor

By JoAnna Delfin, U.S. Naval Forces, Marianas

HAGATNA, Guam, Jan. 10, 2018 — Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony Mugavero, a master at arms assigned to U.S. Naval Base Guam Harbor Security, received a legislative resolution at the Guam Congress Building Dec. 29, for his courageous efforts while pursuing a thief at a mall in Dededo, Guam, two days before Christmas.

"There aren't too many times in your life you get to meet a hero, but today I've met a hero and we're here to show our appreciation on behalf of the people of Guam," said Guam Sen. Dennis Rodriguez Jr. "What Mr. Mugavero did was something above and beyond."

On the evening of Dec. 23, Mugavero, his wife and their children were walking in the mall's parking garage when Cynthia Manibusan yelled that her purse had been stolen.

Stopping a Thief

"I just heard someone yelling, 'He took my purse!' and immediately ran after the guy, jumped over the wall and tackled him," Mugavero said.

Once on the ground, he retrieved the stolen purse and returned it to Manibusan. The suspect fled the scene on foot.

"A lot of [sailors], we go out there and we want to do better for our community because we come from the same community," Mugavero said. "If we can show [that service members] are out there helping the community, maybe it will foster our relationship more within the community itself. I feel like something like this encourages other people take a step to help out."

Gratitude

Manibusan expressed her appreciation to Mugavero for his efforts to retrieve her purse and ensuring she and her daughter were OK following the incident.

"I was expecting someone else to help me out, not a military person," she said. "I was so blessed to have him there at the exact moment to assist us. I want to thank Tony and his family, and the military for all the training he's learned. It kicked in on him that evening and he did what he learned and it helped out."

‘Chain of Command’ TV Series Connects Strategy With Troops on the Ground

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2018 — Strategic decisions made in the Pentagon have immediate and far-reaching effects on service members around the world. National Geographic’s documentary “Chain of Command” shows both sides of that process.

The eight-part show premiered last night at the Newseum here -- showing the first episode “By, With, Through.”

The series looks at the war against violent extremism starting in Mosul, Iraq, and branching out -- in later episodes -- around the world. The series begins on television on January 15.

The effort began two years ago and has spanned two administrations, said Courtney Monroe, the chief executive officer for National Geographic Global Networks, as she introduced the documentary. Videographers and reporters traveled around the world filming service members doing their jobs in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Niger and in Washington -- where the strategic decisions are made.

The first episode action’s takes viewers from the Tank -- the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s meeting room in the Pentagon -- to a line company of the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul working by, with and through Iraqi allies to liberate East Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. These are real soldiers doing real jobs in defense of the United States. These troops are proud of the jobs they are doing and stress that what they are doing is keeping terrorism away from American shores.

Access

The National Geographic film crews had incredible access, and Monroe gave a shout-out to Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, then-special assistant for public affairs to the Chairman, for setting the tone of cooperation between the news organization and the military. National Geographic and the military developed trust over the course of the project. The National Geographic crew received access to some places not usually photographed, such as the Combined Air Operations Center, and placed a camera aboard an F-22 Raptor doing missions over Mosul. In the Pentagon, they videotaped inside the Tank, and videotaped conversations among advisers at an in-house think tank dedicated to developing strategy.

Geographic videographers traveled with Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and embedded with troops fighting against extremists. The juxtaposition of those images in the series drives home the connection between the two.

Hicks, now the acting Navy chief of information, said this illustrates the vision that National Geographic had when they first approached him with the idea. He supported the project, “because of their history of telling great stories, the interlocking elements of what makes us humans. The chairman’s … emphasis was about making the story about the people on the ground doing the hard work.”

Army Capt. Mark Zwirzgdas of the 82nd Airborne Division was featured in the film and spoke as part of the panel. The captain has more than one deployment to Iraq under his belt, and he noted that his most recent deployment was fundamentally different to his previous combat tours.

In the past, Zwirzgdas said, the feeling among service members was that American forces would handle all of it. Now, however, the understanding is, “This is [the Iraqis’] timeline, this is their plan,” he said. “We help them execute, we aid that. It’s their country and they should win.”

A key element in the series depicts the procedures American and Iraqi service members employ to avoid civilian casualties. This is especially hard when ISIS uses civilians as human shields.

“Ultimately, it is more important to us to fight the right way and avoid civilian casualties than it is to get everything as fast as we can,” Zwirzgdas said. “We struck the right balance with our Iraqi counterparts understanding the situation.”

Face of Defense: Basic Training Flightmates Serve Together 21 Years Later

By Air Force Master Sgt. Phil Speck 379th Air Expeditionary Wing

AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar, Jan. 9, 2018 — It all started in 1996. One kid from Prattville, Alabama, and another from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, took a bus to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. They were both a little scared and excited to become the Air Force’s newest airmen.

Twenty-one years later, the Air Force brought Air Force Maj. Nick Hardeman, the distribution flight commander for the 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, and Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Nathan McCoy, the chief enlisted manager, together again here.

Hardeman said he vividly remembers sitting in the day room on their first day of BMT with his flightmates as the military training instructors asked for volunteers for dorm chief and element leaders. Most trainees were too scared to speak up at first as they were told “Don’t volunteer for anything” before leaving for BMT.

“What I remember about Nate is that he was the first one -- raised his hand, stood proud, stood tall and said he was the team captain for his basketball team,” Hardeman said. “Since Day One, he’s always been the one to stand up and take the lead.”

Bad News Bears

Their flight was affectionately called the Bad News Bears, and the two agreed they were out of the running of being honor flight graduates within the first week.

“The big reason I joined the Air Force was I didn’t have a whole lot of other options, and I thought, ‘Hey this might be cool,’” Hardman said. “I was that kind of kid, … still here after this many years later.”

Both of them thought they would get out of the military after their initial enlistments, but their Air Force careers turned into adventures that developed them personally and professionally.

“The camaraderie, the people you meet in certain places, you don’t get this in the civilian world. It’s all corporate, it’s all about the mighty dollar,” Hardeman added. “But in the military, it’s not about that. It’s about relationships.”

McCoy arrived here in June and Hardeman arrived a month later. However, it took a little time for the two prior flightmates to realize their common history.

During McCoy’s recent promotion ceremony, Air Force Lt. Col. Kellie Courtland, commander of the 379th ELRS, described the new chief’s military career and mentioned him showing up to BMT in July 1996.

Photographic Memory

At that moment, Hardeman flashed back to that summer of ’96 and realized he knew McCoy from basic training. After the ceremony, he rushed back to his room and pulled up his BMT flight photo, confirming it was him.

“So he sent me the basic training photo, and he had himself and me circled,” McCoy said.

McCoy said he felt proud to have known Hardeman, both back in basic and now that he is a commander.

As commander, Hardeman has overseen many projects, including a new customs and immigration terminal here. He also directs vehicle operations, the base’s bus routes, aircrews that need to get out to their planes, the traffic management office that manages inbound and outbound cargo and makes sure service members get transportation when being forward deployed to other bases around U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.

“The way they have done business over there is through the roof,” McCoy said when talking about Hardeman’s flight. “You kind of fall back into ‘Wow, that’s a guy I started with 21 years ago.’”

As the chief enlisted manager, McCoy has to stay in tune with and support enlisted airmen. His job requires ensuring squadron members have everything they need, living quarters are in good condition and training deficiencies and morale issues are resolved. He pushes younger airmen to expand their professional development and take advantage of opportunities they have while deployed. He wants to pass on all of his knowledge to help mentor tomorrow’s airmen.

“I take enjoyment in the fact that I can give back. I can ensure that the next airman McCoy is 10 times better than me. We have some bright kids in this Air Force now,” he said.

“The person you are seeing right now was the same person that I saw in basic training,” Hardeman said. “The way he talks about pulling people together, being the cheerleader, he was that guy in our basic training flight. It’s no surprise that he’s a chief master sergeant.”