ARMY
Harris Corp., Rochester, N.Y., was awarded on Jan. 10, 2008, a $118,898,154 firm-fixed price contract for high-frequency radio installation kits and installation and training services. Work will be performed in Rochester, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by Jan. 9, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on Dec. 20, 2007, and one bid was received. CECOM Acquisition Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (GS-35F-0163N).
Unit Company, Anchorage, Alaska, was awarded on April 3, 2008, a $29,930,714, contract for construction of a new antenna addition, a new weather vestibule, relocating a previously removed fuel storage tank, and expanding the area within the security fence at an existing defense satellite communication system facility. Work will be performed at Fort Greely, Alaska, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 30, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on Dec. 17, 2007, and three bids were received. U.S. Army Engineer District, Alaska, is the contracting activity (W911KB-08-C-0004).
Craft-Tech Manufacturing, Holbrook, N.Y. was awarded on April 2, 2008, a $6,743,125 firm-fixed price contract for 62,500 punch plates for Mine Resistant Armored Protected (MRAP) vehicles. Work will be performed in Holbrook, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. 10 bids were solicited on Jan. 4, 2008, and four bids were received. U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, Warren, Mich. Is the contracting activity (W56HZV-08-C-0347).
USSOCOM
Integrated Directives Incorporated of Oxford, Mich., is awarded a $47,266,462. indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for special forces training in support of U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Army Special Forces Command and the Acquisitions and Contracting Office, U.S. Army Special Operations Command. The work will be performed at Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; and other locations throughout the United States and Germany. The contract is expected to be completed by April 30, 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was awarded through competitive procedures set aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses. The solicitation was posted on FedBizOpps and 11 proposals were received. The contract number is H92239-08-D-0003.
AIR FORCE
Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, is being awarded a contract for $34,362,411. This action will provide for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear technical analysis related to training and readiness directorate functions for Commander Navy Installations Command. The National Agency Technical Homeland Defense and Homeland Security Geospatial Information Systems, technical collection and Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance/incident awareness and assessment, and intelligence analysis for North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command. At this time $647,632 has been obligated. Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-00-D-3180, Delivery Order: 0538).
Data Link Solutions Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a contract for $25,814,110. This action will provide repair of 26 National Stock Numbers (NSNs) for the multifunctional information distribution system. Platforms associated with the NSNs include, but are not limited to Joint Interface Control Officer Support System, F-15, F-16, F-22, B-1B and B-2. At this time no funds have been obligated. Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8539-08-D-0002).
Boeing Launch Services of Huntington Beach, Calif., is being awarded a modified contract for $20,000,000. This contract modification will authorize Boeing to perform demonstration testing on a rebuilt RS-68 engine, labeled 10009. The launch and range systems wing is currently tracking several "low-medium" risks on the RS-68 engine. The government has authorized work under the Assured Access to Space initiative to develop hardware that will reduce or element these risks and increase the reliability of the RS-68 engine. In order to certify this hardware as flight worthy, a certain number of tests must be performed. At this time $20,000,000 has been obligated. El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8816-06-C-0001, Modification Number P00026).
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. of Herndon, Va., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for $17,514,399. The National Agency Technical Homeland Defense and Homeland Security Geospatial Information Systems, technical collection and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance/incident awareness and assessment, and intelligence analysis for North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command (NORAD and USNORTHCOM). At this time $174,000 has been obligated Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, Delivery Order: 0249).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Carter Industries, Inc., Olive Hill, Ky.* is being awarded a maximum $16,125,000 firm fixed price contract for combat vehicle crewman's universal camouflage pattern coveralls. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Army. There were originally 3 proposals solicited with 2 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is December 30, 2008. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM1C1-08-C-0022).
JC Produce, West Sacramento, Calif.* is being awarded a maximum $10,724,670 fixed price with economic price adjustment, total set aside contract for fresh fruit and vegetables support. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and USDA Schools. This proposal was originally DIBBS solicited with 2 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is September 17, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM300-08-D-P028).
Carter Industries, Inc., Olive Hill, Ky.* is being awarded a maximum $5,995,840 firm fixed price contract for combat vehicle crewman's tan coveralls. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Marine Corps. There were 3 proposals originally solicited with 2 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is November 30, 2008. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM1C1-08-C-0021).
NAVY
Bell-Boeing Tiltrotor Team, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded $15,516,616 for ceiling priced order #0260 against previously awarded contract (N00383-03-G-001B) for repairable and consumable spare components for the CV-22 aircraft. Examples of parts to be purchased are valve module-brake, air data unit, hand wing unit (manual), ramp door actuator, and torque link subassembly. Work will be performed in Hurst, Texas, and work is expected to be completed July 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not awarded competitively. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.
Bell-Boeing Tiltrotor Team, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded $12,160,515 for ceiling priced order #0259 against previously awarded contract (N00383-03-G-001B) for repairable and consumable spare components for the CV-22 aircraft. Examples of types of parts to be bought include rod end assembly, slip ring assembly, fairing assembly, blade assembly, and link assembly. Work will be performed in Hurst, Texas, and work is to be completed July 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not awarded competitively. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.
Solid State Scientific Corp.*, Hollis, N.H., is being awarded $7,499,807 for a ceiling price delivery order against a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-07-D-0006) for the development of the Multi-Function Technology Demonstration (MFTD) module as a Hostile Fires Indication (HFI) sensor. The delivery order will also include integration of the module into the AN/AAR-47 missile warning sensor, in direct support of the FY08 Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD). Work will be performed in Hollis, N.H., and work is expected to be completed in April 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Soldiers Remember Medal of Honor Recipient in Iraq
By Sgt. Jasmine Chopra, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2008 - He was a husband, father, soldier and leader, but today Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, the 3rd Infantry Division's 51st Medal of Honor recipient was remembered here simply as a hero. U.S troops held a remembrance ceremony the courtyard where five years ago to the day, Smith gave his life in defense of others.
On April 4, 2003, Smith was setting up a short-term enemy prisoner of war holding area near the Baghdad International Airport when his unit was attacked by enemy soldiers.
Outnumbered, with wounded soldiers and damaged vehicles, Smith told his men to get back, as he manned a .50-caliber machine gun from the exposed turret of an armored personnel carrier damaged by rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. He fired at the enemy and unleashed some 300 rounds allowing his other soldiers to reorganize and mount an attack. Smith and his men defeated the enemy. During the attack Smith fell mortally wounded.
A disciplined, no-nonsense platoon sergeant with the division's Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, Smith received the nation's highest award for bravery in 2005.
"He was a soldier who took care of soldiers ... he lost his life doing it," said Brig. Gen. William Grimsley, who commanded the 1st Brigade Combat Team at the time of Smith's death.
Now the deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Division, Grimsley recommended Smith for the Medal of Honor. He was one of several leaders who knew Smith and took time out from operations today in order to attend the ceremony.
In 2003, Capt. Christopher Doerr, of the 3rd Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion, was a 23-year-old brand-new second lieutenant.
"I'll always treasure the fact I got to serve with and know Sgt. 1st Class Smith," Doerr said.
He admired Smith's expertise, precision and dedication to mission accomplishment.
"He was an expert engineer, the best in the battalion," Doerr said. "The way he motivated his soldiers, they didn't necessarily like him, he wasn't their friend, but he made them train to standard.
"It all makes sense now, why he pushed us, why we did the things we did. Now we are here because of that," Doerr said.
Smith had been in combat when he was a young private first class in Desert Storm. In Kuwait, just days before invading Iraq, Doerr asked Smith to tell him what war was going to be like.
"He said, 'war is hell,' and he showed me that first hand," Doerr said. "He laid it all on the line and that was not a fluke ... he was concerned for the safety of his men and others and he put that above his own personal safety, and I think you've got to say he's a hero for that."
More than 200 people attended the remembrance ceremony, including Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of Multi-National Corps – Iraq, who in 2003 was the deputy commander for maneuver for the 3rd Infantry Division.
Large-scale pictures showed Sgt. 1st Class Smith in desert camouflage uniform days before the battle. Diagrams, mounted on an armored personnel carrier like the one Smith used, detailed his heroic action. Visible from the courtyard was the bullet-riddled tower that the enemy had fought for but failed to seize.
A bugler played Taps and, after the ceremony, soldiers walked the site and reflected on the sacrifice he had made for our country.
(U.S. Army Sgt. Sgt. Jasmine Chopra is assigned to the Multinational Division - Center Public Affairs Office.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2008 - He was a husband, father, soldier and leader, but today Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, the 3rd Infantry Division's 51st Medal of Honor recipient was remembered here simply as a hero. U.S troops held a remembrance ceremony the courtyard where five years ago to the day, Smith gave his life in defense of others.
On April 4, 2003, Smith was setting up a short-term enemy prisoner of war holding area near the Baghdad International Airport when his unit was attacked by enemy soldiers.
Outnumbered, with wounded soldiers and damaged vehicles, Smith told his men to get back, as he manned a .50-caliber machine gun from the exposed turret of an armored personnel carrier damaged by rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. He fired at the enemy and unleashed some 300 rounds allowing his other soldiers to reorganize and mount an attack. Smith and his men defeated the enemy. During the attack Smith fell mortally wounded.
A disciplined, no-nonsense platoon sergeant with the division's Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, Smith received the nation's highest award for bravery in 2005.
"He was a soldier who took care of soldiers ... he lost his life doing it," said Brig. Gen. William Grimsley, who commanded the 1st Brigade Combat Team at the time of Smith's death.
Now the deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Division, Grimsley recommended Smith for the Medal of Honor. He was one of several leaders who knew Smith and took time out from operations today in order to attend the ceremony.
In 2003, Capt. Christopher Doerr, of the 3rd Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion, was a 23-year-old brand-new second lieutenant.
"I'll always treasure the fact I got to serve with and know Sgt. 1st Class Smith," Doerr said.
He admired Smith's expertise, precision and dedication to mission accomplishment.
"He was an expert engineer, the best in the battalion," Doerr said. "The way he motivated his soldiers, they didn't necessarily like him, he wasn't their friend, but he made them train to standard.
"It all makes sense now, why he pushed us, why we did the things we did. Now we are here because of that," Doerr said.
Smith had been in combat when he was a young private first class in Desert Storm. In Kuwait, just days before invading Iraq, Doerr asked Smith to tell him what war was going to be like.
"He said, 'war is hell,' and he showed me that first hand," Doerr said. "He laid it all on the line and that was not a fluke ... he was concerned for the safety of his men and others and he put that above his own personal safety, and I think you've got to say he's a hero for that."
More than 200 people attended the remembrance ceremony, including Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of Multi-National Corps – Iraq, who in 2003 was the deputy commander for maneuver for the 3rd Infantry Division.
Large-scale pictures showed Sgt. 1st Class Smith in desert camouflage uniform days before the battle. Diagrams, mounted on an armored personnel carrier like the one Smith used, detailed his heroic action. Visible from the courtyard was the bullet-riddled tower that the enemy had fought for but failed to seize.
A bugler played Taps and, after the ceremony, soldiers walked the site and reflected on the sacrifice he had made for our country.
(U.S. Army Sgt. Sgt. Jasmine Chopra is assigned to the Multinational Division - Center Public Affairs Office.)
Fulcher, Mock and Prins
Editor's Note: One of the authors is a former servicemember.
April 4, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website added three police officers from California law enforcement agencies.
Dean Fulcher grew up in the state of Michigan along the southern shores of Lake Superior. Upon completion of high school, he spent four years in the United States Marine Corps in the aviation and intelligence fields. After serving honorably for four years, he left the Marine Corps and was hired by the Santa Ana Police Department (California), where he currently holds the rank of homicide detective. Dean Fulcher is the author of The Grand Island Adventure.
According to the book description of The Grand Island Adventure, “An edge-of-your-seat adventure novel for young adults. The Grand Island Adventure follows three teenagers trapped on an uninhabited island pursued by a band of criminals who have freed their leader from prison. The three will need the latest in technology, their wit and commitment to one another to escape a certain death.”
James Mock spent 19 years with the Torrance Police Department (California). He current works as a teacher for law enforcement related occupations, on both a volunteer and professional basis. James Mock has worked street narcotics, major narcotics, and was certified as a Drug Recognition Expert in 1992. After his retirement he was certified as a DRE instructor. He currently teaches DRE, the DRE instructor course, DRE recertification classes for many States, for the California Narcotic Officers’ Association, and for various law enforcement and related agencies in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. James Mock is the author of Basic Latent Print Development.
According to one review, Basic Latent Print Development, “can be used as a training text for new employees or can be read by beginners. Many instructors use it as a primer for basic latent print development college classes. Sections cover: How latent prints are deposited, Investigating the Crime Scene, Which powders to use, How to lift and preserve the latent prints. There are simple to follow sketches on how to powder a surface and how to tear and lift with tape.”
Sergeant John Prins is a 27-year member of the Torrance Police Department. He has served the Torrance Police Department in many capacities, including as a patrol officer, crime scene investigator, detective, background investigator, SWAT officer, and K-9 handler. John Prins is the author of Torrance Police Department.
According to the book description, “The Torrance Police Department dates to May 23, 1921, when city trustees appointed Ben Olsen as city marshal and, shortly thereafter, hired Byron Anderson as night watchman. The efforts of these men were devoted to dealing with thieves, keeping the peace, and “declaring war on speedsters.” From such humble beginnings, the Torrance Police Department has grown into the fourth largest municipal law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County. Its position as the anchoring police force of the South Bay section of the county and its reputation as an innovator in crime fighting have been firmly established over time. Today, with a total of 242 sworn and 100 support personnel, the highly regarded Torrance Police Department serves more than 142,000 inhabitants in 21 square miles.”
Police-Writers.com now hosts 930 police officers (representing 391 police departments) and their 1944 police books in 33 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
April 4, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website added three police officers from California law enforcement agencies.
Dean Fulcher grew up in the state of Michigan along the southern shores of Lake Superior. Upon completion of high school, he spent four years in the United States Marine Corps in the aviation and intelligence fields. After serving honorably for four years, he left the Marine Corps and was hired by the Santa Ana Police Department (California), where he currently holds the rank of homicide detective. Dean Fulcher is the author of The Grand Island Adventure.
According to the book description of The Grand Island Adventure, “An edge-of-your-seat adventure novel for young adults. The Grand Island Adventure follows three teenagers trapped on an uninhabited island pursued by a band of criminals who have freed their leader from prison. The three will need the latest in technology, their wit and commitment to one another to escape a certain death.”
James Mock spent 19 years with the Torrance Police Department (California). He current works as a teacher for law enforcement related occupations, on both a volunteer and professional basis. James Mock has worked street narcotics, major narcotics, and was certified as a Drug Recognition Expert in 1992. After his retirement he was certified as a DRE instructor. He currently teaches DRE, the DRE instructor course, DRE recertification classes for many States, for the California Narcotic Officers’ Association, and for various law enforcement and related agencies in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. James Mock is the author of Basic Latent Print Development.
According to one review, Basic Latent Print Development, “can be used as a training text for new employees or can be read by beginners. Many instructors use it as a primer for basic latent print development college classes. Sections cover: How latent prints are deposited, Investigating the Crime Scene, Which powders to use, How to lift and preserve the latent prints. There are simple to follow sketches on how to powder a surface and how to tear and lift with tape.”
Sergeant John Prins is a 27-year member of the Torrance Police Department. He has served the Torrance Police Department in many capacities, including as a patrol officer, crime scene investigator, detective, background investigator, SWAT officer, and K-9 handler. John Prins is the author of Torrance Police Department.
According to the book description, “The Torrance Police Department dates to May 23, 1921, when city trustees appointed Ben Olsen as city marshal and, shortly thereafter, hired Byron Anderson as night watchman. The efforts of these men were devoted to dealing with thieves, keeping the peace, and “declaring war on speedsters.” From such humble beginnings, the Torrance Police Department has grown into the fourth largest municipal law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County. Its position as the anchoring police force of the South Bay section of the county and its reputation as an innovator in crime fighting have been firmly established over time. Today, with a total of 242 sworn and 100 support personnel, the highly regarded Torrance Police Department serves more than 142,000 inhabitants in 21 square miles.”
Police-Writers.com now hosts 930 police officers (representing 391 police departments) and their 1944 police books in 33 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Marlo, Bollinger and Winston
Editor's Note: One of the authors is prior military.
April 4, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website added three police officers from California law enforcement agencies.
John Marlo was a San Jose Police Department (California) police officer from 1955 to 1961. In in1961, he became the City Attorney for the City of Capitola (California). In 1973, he became a Superior Court Judge and was the Presiding Judge of the Santa Cruz County Superior Court four times during his judicial career. John Marlo is the co-author of The Police Officer and Criminal Justice.
Pete Bollinger first became interested in law enforcement while serving in the United States Air Force, where he attained the rank of Sergeant. While in the military, he obtained AA Degrees in Industrial Security from the College of the Air Force and Criminal Justice from Devils Lake College in North Dakota. After honorable discharge, Mr. Bollinger continued his education, obtaining a BS Degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne and a Masters Degree in Management from the University of Phoenix.
Pete Bollinger has been a police officer with the Santa Ana Police Department since 1988 and has worked a variety of assignments throughout his career. First and foremost, he is proud that the majority of his work history has been on patrol. He has served in an undercover capacity, both purchasing and selling narcotics, in vice programs with prostitutes, transvestites and other dregs of society. Pete Bollinger was fortunate enough to earn an assignment in Personnel, specifically in the background unit. He attained the rank of Sergeant and now supervises a team of Officers. Pete Bollinger is the author of 45 Days of Perfection; And God Made Eve; First, Kill the Lawyers; Man Landers; and, Rx for Justice.
Steve Winston was hired in law enforcement in 1981 and has worked in several assignments. For the last nine years he has been a background investigator with the Santa Ana Police Department and involved in the hiring of over 1,000 employees, including both police and firefighters. Steve Winston and Pete Bollinger are the co-authors of How to Get Hired in Law Enforcement & Fire.
Police-Writers.com now hosts 927 police officers (representing 391 police departments) and their 1941 police books in 33 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
April 4, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website added three police officers from California law enforcement agencies.
John Marlo was a San Jose Police Department (California) police officer from 1955 to 1961. In in1961, he became the City Attorney for the City of Capitola (California). In 1973, he became a Superior Court Judge and was the Presiding Judge of the Santa Cruz County Superior Court four times during his judicial career. John Marlo is the co-author of The Police Officer and Criminal Justice.
Pete Bollinger first became interested in law enforcement while serving in the United States Air Force, where he attained the rank of Sergeant. While in the military, he obtained AA Degrees in Industrial Security from the College of the Air Force and Criminal Justice from Devils Lake College in North Dakota. After honorable discharge, Mr. Bollinger continued his education, obtaining a BS Degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne and a Masters Degree in Management from the University of Phoenix.
Pete Bollinger has been a police officer with the Santa Ana Police Department since 1988 and has worked a variety of assignments throughout his career. First and foremost, he is proud that the majority of his work history has been on patrol. He has served in an undercover capacity, both purchasing and selling narcotics, in vice programs with prostitutes, transvestites and other dregs of society. Pete Bollinger was fortunate enough to earn an assignment in Personnel, specifically in the background unit. He attained the rank of Sergeant and now supervises a team of Officers. Pete Bollinger is the author of 45 Days of Perfection; And God Made Eve; First, Kill the Lawyers; Man Landers; and, Rx for Justice.
Steve Winston was hired in law enforcement in 1981 and has worked in several assignments. For the last nine years he has been a background investigator with the Santa Ana Police Department and involved in the hiring of over 1,000 employees, including both police and firefighters. Steve Winston and Pete Bollinger are the co-authors of How to Get Hired in Law Enforcement & Fire.
Police-Writers.com now hosts 927 police officers (representing 391 police departments) and their 1941 police books in 33 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
Last Colorado Air Guard MIA Laid to Rest in Arlington Cemetery
By Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith, USAF
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2008 - The remains of Colorado Air National Guard Maj. Perry H. Jefferson, who vanished during an observation flight 39 years ago over the jungles of South Vietnam, were at last laid to rest yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery. Three days of events here were a high-profile attempt to put closure to a missing-in-action mystery, but what exactly happened to the intelligence officer and his Army Reserve pilot, then-1st Lt. Arthur Ecklund, during their fateful observation flight may never be known.
A closed-casket viewing was held at a funeral home here April 1. Families, fellow servicemembers, veterans and friends to both men attended full-honors funerals April 2 and 3, which started at the Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer, Va., followed by platoon, band and caisson escorts to their gravesites on the nation's most sacred property.
Ecklund was interred at Arlington on April 2; he was previously interred in Knoxville, Ill., by his family in 2004. The Reservist attended Arizona State University and was drafted in 1966. He attended helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft training prior to his combat deployment.
More than 150 people attended Jefferson's services here, including nearly 100 from Colorado who watched the state's reported last Guard Vietnam MIA put to rest.
Jefferson was an intelligence officer at Colorado's 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron, which flew the F-100C Super Saber. He received his bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist College and worked for Aramco in the Middle East before joining the Air Guard. His wife, Sylvia, died in 1992.
Jefferson and 375 other Colorado Air Guard members deployed to Phan Rang, Vietnam, in April 1968. They were the first Air Guard fighter squadron assigned to active duty in Vietnam.
For retired Col. Don Neary, an F-100 pilot who served with Jefferson, thinking of his friend still brought up a mix of tears and happy memories of home at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., and deployed to Vietnam.
Neary said Jefferson didn't need to fly on visual reconnaissance missions from Phan Rang.
"I think what his motivation was he probably wanted to be a pilot, ... but also the aircraft was our forward air control airplane," Neary said. "I think it gave him an appreciation for us, and he went out to get that experience for when he would come in and brief us in the morning."
On April 3, 1969, 37-year-old Jefferson was flying aboard an O-1 Bird Dog observation aircraft piloted by 24-year-old Ecklund. They never returned to their base.
Defense officials said a three-day search found no evidence of a crash, and hostile forces in the area prevented other searches. Both men were listed as MIA.
"We were within a month of coming home," said Maj. Gen. John L. France in "Colorado Pride," a Colorado Air Guard history book.
France was the unit's operations officer in Vietnam and later served as Colorado's adjutant general. In the book, he shares the moments leading up to Jefferson's disappearance.
"Clyde Seiler and Don Neary were on (an F-100) mission together; Clyde got shot down and went into the jungle, ... (and with) no parachute, he didn't get out. ... Then, we lost Perry Jefferson a few days after Clyde. It was a rough time," France said.
The unit returned home in April 1969, and the Air Guard members who served at Phan Rang were immortalized later in the National Guard Heritage Series painting "Scramble at Phan Rang."
Across the nation, 22,745 Army and Air Guardsmen mobilized during the Vietnam War. More than 9,000 deployed to Vietnam.
Jefferson's and Ecklund's case remained unsolved, and there were even rumors of them being seen after the fateful flight.
After defense officials received human remains in 1984 from a suspected military crash, eyewitnesses were interviewed. One witness said the aircraft crashed on a mountainside, and that the pilots died and were buried there. An excavation led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command uncovered the aircraft's wreckage, but no human remains were found at the crash site.
In 2000, the remains turned over in 1984 were identified as Ecklund's.
Defense officials said Jefferson's remains were not identified until 2007, after a Vietnamese national living in California turned them in.
The day before Jefferson's interment ceremony, visiting Colorado Guard members walked among blossoming cherry trees to the Vietnam War Memorial to lay a wreath. They also located Jefferson's name on the dark granite and took a rubbing for their military museum.
"Perry was everybody's friend. ... He took off on a normal observation run and never returned. He just vanished," France said.
The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office's Web site states "efforts continue to recover nearly 1,800 Americans who remain unaccounted for from Vietnam."
(Air Force Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith serves at the National Guard Bureau.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2008 - The remains of Colorado Air National Guard Maj. Perry H. Jefferson, who vanished during an observation flight 39 years ago over the jungles of South Vietnam, were at last laid to rest yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery. Three days of events here were a high-profile attempt to put closure to a missing-in-action mystery, but what exactly happened to the intelligence officer and his Army Reserve pilot, then-1st Lt. Arthur Ecklund, during their fateful observation flight may never be known.
A closed-casket viewing was held at a funeral home here April 1. Families, fellow servicemembers, veterans and friends to both men attended full-honors funerals April 2 and 3, which started at the Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer, Va., followed by platoon, band and caisson escorts to their gravesites on the nation's most sacred property.
Ecklund was interred at Arlington on April 2; he was previously interred in Knoxville, Ill., by his family in 2004. The Reservist attended Arizona State University and was drafted in 1966. He attended helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft training prior to his combat deployment.
More than 150 people attended Jefferson's services here, including nearly 100 from Colorado who watched the state's reported last Guard Vietnam MIA put to rest.
Jefferson was an intelligence officer at Colorado's 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron, which flew the F-100C Super Saber. He received his bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist College and worked for Aramco in the Middle East before joining the Air Guard. His wife, Sylvia, died in 1992.
Jefferson and 375 other Colorado Air Guard members deployed to Phan Rang, Vietnam, in April 1968. They were the first Air Guard fighter squadron assigned to active duty in Vietnam.
For retired Col. Don Neary, an F-100 pilot who served with Jefferson, thinking of his friend still brought up a mix of tears and happy memories of home at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., and deployed to Vietnam.
Neary said Jefferson didn't need to fly on visual reconnaissance missions from Phan Rang.
"I think what his motivation was he probably wanted to be a pilot, ... but also the aircraft was our forward air control airplane," Neary said. "I think it gave him an appreciation for us, and he went out to get that experience for when he would come in and brief us in the morning."
On April 3, 1969, 37-year-old Jefferson was flying aboard an O-1 Bird Dog observation aircraft piloted by 24-year-old Ecklund. They never returned to their base.
Defense officials said a three-day search found no evidence of a crash, and hostile forces in the area prevented other searches. Both men were listed as MIA.
"We were within a month of coming home," said Maj. Gen. John L. France in "Colorado Pride," a Colorado Air Guard history book.
France was the unit's operations officer in Vietnam and later served as Colorado's adjutant general. In the book, he shares the moments leading up to Jefferson's disappearance.
"Clyde Seiler and Don Neary were on (an F-100) mission together; Clyde got shot down and went into the jungle, ... (and with) no parachute, he didn't get out. ... Then, we lost Perry Jefferson a few days after Clyde. It was a rough time," France said.
The unit returned home in April 1969, and the Air Guard members who served at Phan Rang were immortalized later in the National Guard Heritage Series painting "Scramble at Phan Rang."
Across the nation, 22,745 Army and Air Guardsmen mobilized during the Vietnam War. More than 9,000 deployed to Vietnam.
Jefferson's and Ecklund's case remained unsolved, and there were even rumors of them being seen after the fateful flight.
After defense officials received human remains in 1984 from a suspected military crash, eyewitnesses were interviewed. One witness said the aircraft crashed on a mountainside, and that the pilots died and were buried there. An excavation led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command uncovered the aircraft's wreckage, but no human remains were found at the crash site.
In 2000, the remains turned over in 1984 were identified as Ecklund's.
Defense officials said Jefferson's remains were not identified until 2007, after a Vietnamese national living in California turned them in.
The day before Jefferson's interment ceremony, visiting Colorado Guard members walked among blossoming cherry trees to the Vietnam War Memorial to lay a wreath. They also located Jefferson's name on the dark granite and took a rubbing for their military museum.
"Perry was everybody's friend. ... He took off on a normal observation run and never returned. He just vanished," France said.
The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office's Web site states "efforts continue to recover nearly 1,800 Americans who remain unaccounted for from Vietnam."
(Air Force Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith serves at the National Guard Bureau.)
America Supports You: Walter Reed Troops Get Some Comic Relief
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2008 - It was all a big joke for servicemembers and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Fisher House yesterday when comedian Kathy Griffin came to visit. With camera crew in tow, Griffin, star of Bravo cable network's "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List," spent the morning touring the installation's two Fisher House facilities and joking with the residents.
"I had to get a pass to come out here so I could see Kathy Griffin," said Army Cpl. Nicholas Joseph McCauley. "I heard about her; she seemed cool, and my buddy ... who lost his leg in September kind of figured he'd show me around, make me smile, cheer me up a little bit."
McCauley is recovering from a head injury suffered March 23 in Iraq. Getting out of the hospital, where he'd been for two days, and verbally sparring with Griffin about his tattoos, a salty take on an Irish phrase, seemed to give McCauley the boost he needed.
"(She's) the first person I've ever met that's famous," he said. "It's pretty cool. I get to be on TV, I guess. It's not cool being on TV in a wheelchair, but I'm alive."
Army Spc. Michael Brown, a below-the-knee amputee who's living at Fisher House with his wife and 14-month-old daughter, agreed.
"It's definitely a cool thing to tell your friends about when you go home," he said. "It's definitely a morale booster for everybody that's here.
"You get so run down with appointments every day and the daily grind," Brown continued. "Something like this is good to have, a break ... (to) find out what's actually going on elsewhere."
Amanda Poppenhouse, whose husband, Army Cpl. Adam Poppenhouse, is recovering from a recent leg amputation, said celebrity visits aren't uncommon, and most of the visitors take a real interest in the families.
"We had a wrestler come (from World Wrestling Entertainment), Mankind, I think is his name," she said. "We met him like two or three times, and he recognizes us, calls us by name. He's really cool."
She said visits by stars can offer an outlet for servicemembers and their spouses to talk and tell their stories.
Servicemembers and their families soon will have a huge audience to listen to their stories thanks to Griffin, who is planning to turn her visit into an episode for her show. She discovered just how many people are interested in troops' stories when an episode of her show featured her tour to entertain troops overseas.
"Doing our silly little reality show, we got the most response we've ever gotten from the episode where I went and performed in Iraq," Griffin said. "I got lots and lots of e-mails, 'How are the guys doing?' That was an interesting insight to something.
"So often you hear about these men and women and they're just numbers ... on the news, and it's a news story that's 90 seconds and then it's on to what starlet was drunk and flashing," she quipped.
Griffin said the combination of her audience's reaction to her episode from Iraq and some stories last year about conditions at Walter Reed made her want to show her audience a bigger picture. She wants to make sure her viewers understand the facility and the people there, and Bravo agreed.
"I felt really passionately about doing an episode here," Griffin said. "What I think is important about today, what's so great about Fisher House and coming here, is it really humanizes the numbers we see on the news."
Griffin was working to carry out a secondary mission as well: to make the servicemembers and their families laugh.
"That's all I know how to do," she said. "I think everybody needs a laugh and especially at a time like this.
"I just really, really hope I can provide them a good chuckle," she said before leaving to spend her afternoon with patients in the hospital and her evening performing a stand-up comedy show.
The episode of her show featuring Walter Reed is expected to air in late summer.
The Fisher House Foundation is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2008 - It was all a big joke for servicemembers and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Fisher House yesterday when comedian Kathy Griffin came to visit. With camera crew in tow, Griffin, star of Bravo cable network's "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List," spent the morning touring the installation's two Fisher House facilities and joking with the residents.
"I had to get a pass to come out here so I could see Kathy Griffin," said Army Cpl. Nicholas Joseph McCauley. "I heard about her; she seemed cool, and my buddy ... who lost his leg in September kind of figured he'd show me around, make me smile, cheer me up a little bit."
McCauley is recovering from a head injury suffered March 23 in Iraq. Getting out of the hospital, where he'd been for two days, and verbally sparring with Griffin about his tattoos, a salty take on an Irish phrase, seemed to give McCauley the boost he needed.
"(She's) the first person I've ever met that's famous," he said. "It's pretty cool. I get to be on TV, I guess. It's not cool being on TV in a wheelchair, but I'm alive."
Army Spc. Michael Brown, a below-the-knee amputee who's living at Fisher House with his wife and 14-month-old daughter, agreed.
"It's definitely a cool thing to tell your friends about when you go home," he said. "It's definitely a morale booster for everybody that's here.
"You get so run down with appointments every day and the daily grind," Brown continued. "Something like this is good to have, a break ... (to) find out what's actually going on elsewhere."
Amanda Poppenhouse, whose husband, Army Cpl. Adam Poppenhouse, is recovering from a recent leg amputation, said celebrity visits aren't uncommon, and most of the visitors take a real interest in the families.
"We had a wrestler come (from World Wrestling Entertainment), Mankind, I think is his name," she said. "We met him like two or three times, and he recognizes us, calls us by name. He's really cool."
She said visits by stars can offer an outlet for servicemembers and their spouses to talk and tell their stories.
Servicemembers and their families soon will have a huge audience to listen to their stories thanks to Griffin, who is planning to turn her visit into an episode for her show. She discovered just how many people are interested in troops' stories when an episode of her show featured her tour to entertain troops overseas.
"Doing our silly little reality show, we got the most response we've ever gotten from the episode where I went and performed in Iraq," Griffin said. "I got lots and lots of e-mails, 'How are the guys doing?' That was an interesting insight to something.
"So often you hear about these men and women and they're just numbers ... on the news, and it's a news story that's 90 seconds and then it's on to what starlet was drunk and flashing," she quipped.
Griffin said the combination of her audience's reaction to her episode from Iraq and some stories last year about conditions at Walter Reed made her want to show her audience a bigger picture. She wants to make sure her viewers understand the facility and the people there, and Bravo agreed.
"I felt really passionately about doing an episode here," Griffin said. "What I think is important about today, what's so great about Fisher House and coming here, is it really humanizes the numbers we see on the news."
Griffin was working to carry out a secondary mission as well: to make the servicemembers and their families laugh.
"That's all I know how to do," she said. "I think everybody needs a laugh and especially at a time like this.
"I just really, really hope I can provide them a good chuckle," she said before leaving to spend her afternoon with patients in the hospital and her evening performing a stand-up comedy show.
The episode of her show featuring Walter Reed is expected to air in late summer.
The Fisher House Foundation is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.
NAVY
Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc., Columbia, Md., is being awarded a $69,454,718 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee performance based contract (N65236-02-D-7839) for engineering support in Certification and Accreditation (C&A) testing and support, information assurance support, communications security support, Navy Marine Corps Internet C&A and protected distribution system, cross domain solutions, and specialized information technology support services. The cumulative value of this contract, including this modification, is $133,754,718. Work will be performed in world-wide locations (65 percent); Charleston, S.C., (25 percent); Columbia, Md., (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by Mar. 2009. Contract funding will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with one proposal solicited and one offer received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $19,000,000 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0014) for final economic price adjustment labor adjustment to support the F/A-18 E/F and E/A-18G aircraft programs. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in Sep. 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
New Balance Apparel, Huntington Station, N.Y., is being awarded a $14,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract (M67854-07-C-3053) for additional quantities of the Marine Corps Running Suit. Work will be performed in El Paso, Texas (88 percent) and Salem, Ore., (12 percent), and work is expected to be completed in Jun. 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $14,000,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command (M67854), Quantico, Va., is the contracting facility.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Carter Industries, Inc., Olive Hill, Ky.*, is being awarded a maximum $5,995,840.00 firm fixed price contract for combat vehicle crewman's tan coveralls. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Marine Corps. There were 3 proposals originally solicited with 2 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is November 30, 2008. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM1C1-08-C-0021).
Hunt refining Co., Tuscaloosa, Ala., is being awarded a maximum $65,420,548.60 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for aviation fuel. Other location of performance is in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. There were 48 proposals originally solicited with 23 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is Apr. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-0468).
ARMY
Main/Mass A, SDVOSB Joint Venture, LLC, Pueblo, Colo., was awarded on Mar. 31, 2008, a $6,240,000 firm-fixed price contract for the design and construction of a headquarters band training facility. Work will be performed at Fort Carson, Colo. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work is expected to be completed by Jul. 31, 2009. Web bids were solicited on Jan. 10, 2008, and six bids were received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District is the contracting agency (W9128F-08-C-0004).
BAE Systems Survivability Systems LLC, Fairfield, Ohio, was awarded on Apr. 1, 2008, a $12,055,569 firm-fixed price contract for cab field kits for M915 vehicles with add-on armor. Work will be performed in Fairfield, Ohio. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2009. One bid was solicited on Feb. 27, 2008. TACOM LCMC, Warren, Mich. Is the contracting agency (W56HZV-08-C-350).
AIR FORCE
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for $17,514,399. The National Agency Technical Homeland Defense and Homeland Security Geospatial Information Systems, technical collection and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance/incident awareness and assessment, and intelligence analysis for North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command (NORAD and USNORTHCOM). At this time $174,000 has been obligated Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, Delivery Order: 0249).
DEFENSE SECURITY COOPERATION AGENCY
Softsol Technologies Inc., is being awarded a Firm Fixed Price contract for $10,969,599.00. This requirement acquired service to transform the business application software currently being used by the Defense Security Assistance Management System from Sun Microsystems Unified Development Server environment, formerly known as Forte, and using Transactional Object-Oriented Language, to a new environment and language called .NET. At this time, all funds have been obligated. For more information please call (703) 604-6566. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), Defense Contracting, DBO-CON, 201 12th Street South, Ste. 203, Arlington VA 22202 is the contracting activity (HQ0013-08-C-0002).
Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc., Columbia, Md., is being awarded a $69,454,718 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee performance based contract (N65236-02-D-7839) for engineering support in Certification and Accreditation (C&A) testing and support, information assurance support, communications security support, Navy Marine Corps Internet C&A and protected distribution system, cross domain solutions, and specialized information technology support services. The cumulative value of this contract, including this modification, is $133,754,718. Work will be performed in world-wide locations (65 percent); Charleston, S.C., (25 percent); Columbia, Md., (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by Mar. 2009. Contract funding will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with one proposal solicited and one offer received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $19,000,000 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0014) for final economic price adjustment labor adjustment to support the F/A-18 E/F and E/A-18G aircraft programs. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in Sep. 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
New Balance Apparel, Huntington Station, N.Y., is being awarded a $14,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract (M67854-07-C-3053) for additional quantities of the Marine Corps Running Suit. Work will be performed in El Paso, Texas (88 percent) and Salem, Ore., (12 percent), and work is expected to be completed in Jun. 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $14,000,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command (M67854), Quantico, Va., is the contracting facility.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Carter Industries, Inc., Olive Hill, Ky.*, is being awarded a maximum $5,995,840.00 firm fixed price contract for combat vehicle crewman's tan coveralls. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Marine Corps. There were 3 proposals originally solicited with 2 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is November 30, 2008. The contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM1C1-08-C-0021).
Hunt refining Co., Tuscaloosa, Ala., is being awarded a maximum $65,420,548.60 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for aviation fuel. Other location of performance is in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Using service is Defense Energy Support Center. There were 48 proposals originally solicited with 23 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is Apr. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-0468).
ARMY
Main/Mass A, SDVOSB Joint Venture, LLC, Pueblo, Colo., was awarded on Mar. 31, 2008, a $6,240,000 firm-fixed price contract for the design and construction of a headquarters band training facility. Work will be performed at Fort Carson, Colo. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work is expected to be completed by Jul. 31, 2009. Web bids were solicited on Jan. 10, 2008, and six bids were received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District is the contracting agency (W9128F-08-C-0004).
BAE Systems Survivability Systems LLC, Fairfield, Ohio, was awarded on Apr. 1, 2008, a $12,055,569 firm-fixed price contract for cab field kits for M915 vehicles with add-on armor. Work will be performed in Fairfield, Ohio. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2009. One bid was solicited on Feb. 27, 2008. TACOM LCMC, Warren, Mich. Is the contracting agency (W56HZV-08-C-350).
AIR FORCE
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of Herndon, Va., is being awarded a cost plus fixed fee contract for $17,514,399. The National Agency Technical Homeland Defense and Homeland Security Geospatial Information Systems, technical collection and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance/incident awareness and assessment, and intelligence analysis for North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command (NORAD and USNORTHCOM). At this time $174,000 has been obligated Offutt AFB, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380, Delivery Order: 0249).
DEFENSE SECURITY COOPERATION AGENCY
Softsol Technologies Inc., is being awarded a Firm Fixed Price contract for $10,969,599.00. This requirement acquired service to transform the business application software currently being used by the Defense Security Assistance Management System from Sun Microsystems Unified Development Server environment, formerly known as Forte, and using Transactional Object-Oriented Language, to a new environment and language called .NET. At this time, all funds have been obligated. For more information please call (703) 604-6566. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), Defense Contracting, DBO-CON, 201 12th Street South, Ste. 203, Arlington VA 22202 is the contracting activity (HQ0013-08-C-0002).
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Cops and Veterans
Editor's Note: All three police authors are former servicemembers.
April 3, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. Each of the police officers newly listed on the website is also a former servicemember.
In 1954, Robbie Waters enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, completing his tour of duty in 1957. In 1958, he joined the Sacramento Police Department. His law enforcement career with the Sacramento Police Department included assignments in patrol, detectives, and administrative functions. Retiring at the rank of lieutenant, he was elected sheriff of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.
In addition to serving as a member of the law enforcement community for over 28 years, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology from California State University at Sacramento. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He retired from the Sacrament County Sheriff’s Department in 1987 and was subsequently elected to the Sacramento City Council. Robbie Waters is the author of An Introduction to Law Enforcement.
Arthur Knuckey was a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy. Discharged in 1951, he returned to his life as a professional rodeo cowboy. In 1954, he joined the San Bernardino Police Department (California), retired 22 years later at the rank of lieutenant. A law school graduate, he was ultimately appointed as a Superior Court Commissioner in 1988 and retired in 1999. He is the author of Me and Other Great Hunters: A Humorous Look at True Events in the Sport of Hunting; Recollections of a Rodeo Cowboy: We May Not Have Been; and, The Odor of Death.
According to the book description of The Odor of Death, “With its cast full of brawny, bright, and beautiful characters, this book is a thrill a minute! The Odor of Death is a must for anyone who loves a modern adventure. The author has crafted a compelling and thoroughly entertaining story that includes wonderfully accurate depictions of cowboys, cops, and civilians.”
Richard Carlson is a veteran of the US Army and who joined the San Diego Police Department in 1969. During his 35 year law enforcement career, Richard Carlson worked patrol, crime prevention and detectives. He spent eight years a homicide detective and five years assigned to the Violent Crime Task Force. Richard Carlson is the author of I'm in the Tub, Gone.
According to the book description of I'm in the Tub, Gone, “We now live in a time of comfort, convenience and opportunity such as mankind has never known. With all the great things we are provided, we also get many side effects that some thrive on and others do not welcome. Some of these are expectations, added or unwanted responsibility, inconvenience, or extreme supervision to name a few. We all deal with these pressures in a different manner. Then we add another factor, our personal lives. Most people have the ultimate goal to make their personal lives better. We want a happy, normal life at home, no matter what our status is in the community. Some choose suicide as an option to get relief. These are true stories of those final thoughts. Could they have been helped? We will never know. Can we help others in desperate need? Maybe, if we provide a little kindness and understanding. At least we can try.”
Police-Writers.com now hosts 921 police officers (representing 390 police departments) and their 1931 police books in 33 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
April 3, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. Each of the police officers newly listed on the website is also a former servicemember.
In 1954, Robbie Waters enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, completing his tour of duty in 1957. In 1958, he joined the Sacramento Police Department. His law enforcement career with the Sacramento Police Department included assignments in patrol, detectives, and administrative functions. Retiring at the rank of lieutenant, he was elected sheriff of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.
In addition to serving as a member of the law enforcement community for over 28 years, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology from California State University at Sacramento. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He retired from the Sacrament County Sheriff’s Department in 1987 and was subsequently elected to the Sacramento City Council. Robbie Waters is the author of An Introduction to Law Enforcement.
Arthur Knuckey was a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy. Discharged in 1951, he returned to his life as a professional rodeo cowboy. In 1954, he joined the San Bernardino Police Department (California), retired 22 years later at the rank of lieutenant. A law school graduate, he was ultimately appointed as a Superior Court Commissioner in 1988 and retired in 1999. He is the author of Me and Other Great Hunters: A Humorous Look at True Events in the Sport of Hunting; Recollections of a Rodeo Cowboy: We May Not Have Been; and, The Odor of Death.
According to the book description of The Odor of Death, “With its cast full of brawny, bright, and beautiful characters, this book is a thrill a minute! The Odor of Death is a must for anyone who loves a modern adventure. The author has crafted a compelling and thoroughly entertaining story that includes wonderfully accurate depictions of cowboys, cops, and civilians.”
Richard Carlson is a veteran of the US Army and who joined the San Diego Police Department in 1969. During his 35 year law enforcement career, Richard Carlson worked patrol, crime prevention and detectives. He spent eight years a homicide detective and five years assigned to the Violent Crime Task Force. Richard Carlson is the author of I'm in the Tub, Gone.
According to the book description of I'm in the Tub, Gone, “We now live in a time of comfort, convenience and opportunity such as mankind has never known. With all the great things we are provided, we also get many side effects that some thrive on and others do not welcome. Some of these are expectations, added or unwanted responsibility, inconvenience, or extreme supervision to name a few. We all deal with these pressures in a different manner. Then we add another factor, our personal lives. Most people have the ultimate goal to make their personal lives better. We want a happy, normal life at home, no matter what our status is in the community. Some choose suicide as an option to get relief. These are true stories of those final thoughts. Could they have been helped? We will never know. Can we help others in desperate need? Maybe, if we provide a little kindness and understanding. At least we can try.”
Police-Writers.com now hosts 921 police officers (representing 390 police departments) and their 1931 police books in 33 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
NATO Summit Participants Wrap Up Busy Second Day
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2008 - The second day of NATO's summit conference wrapped up here today with clear support for more troops in Afghanistan, a missile defense system for Europe and the hopes of eventually adding at least five more countries to the alliance. It was a day of extended, hours-long, closed sessions in which NATO members went "off script" and passionately debated the language of communiqués and declarations that would map out the direction of the alliance for years to come.
It was a "fine day for NATO," according to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"I think that it was, for me, affirming of the decision to expand this alliance; it was affirming of the decision to keep new blood coming into the alliance, especially new blood of people who understand what it was to live under tyranny and now are breathing freedom and liberty with a kind of gusto and enjoyment that perhaps only those who have been denied it can have," Rice said.
Rice was joined at the news conference by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.
"People really got off script," Hadley said. "You know, the characterization of these meetings is people sitting around a table reading prepared talking points. In the discussions today, people talked with a first person and a passion that was interesting."
In the end, NATO issued a summit declaration in which it:
-- Invited Albania and Croatia to begin accession talks with NATO;
-- Named the mission in Afghanistan its "top priority;"
-- Acknowledged for the first time that ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to the allies; and
-- Agreed to work with Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro in their quest for NATO membership.
NATO also invited Serbia to begin a dialogue with the alliance.
The declaration said that "Euro-Atlantic and wider international security is closely tied to Afghanistan's future as a peaceful, democratic state," and asserted that the alliance would not allow extremists and terrorists to regain control of Afghanistan or use it as a base for terror.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced his country would send another battalion of troops to help in Afghanistan. The troops will be added to the eastern provinces of the country, allowing U.S. troops, who have been successful at squelching the troubles there, to move to the embattled southern provinces.
Also, Hadley said, another dozen or so allies have pledged contributions. He said that it will be about three weeks before the final numbers of troops dedicated to the region can be tallied, but that the commitment would meet the Canadian parliament's demands that allies provide at least 1,000 more troops and equipment to the region in order for it to keep its 2,500 troops there.
In a show of support to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, NATO also committed to building an equipped Afghan army to 80,000 troops by 2010.
"Bottom line, a good day on Afghanistan," Hadley said. "NATO has adopted a vision statement to explain the mission and the importance of the mission to their publics. They have developed and integrated a plan for integrating political and military instruments in order to try and achieve success there."
NATO pledged to invite Macedonia to join the alliance as soon as it can work through the dispute over its name with its neighbor, Greece. Greece objects to using the name Macedonia, saying it implies claims on a Greek province of the same name.
"We encourage negotiations to be resumed without delay, and expect them to be concluded as soon as possible," the declaration reads.
NATO reaffirmed both its open-door policy and its plans for developing a missile defense strategy in its declaration, which said that "far from posing a threat to our relationship, (those efforts) offer opportunities to deepen levels of cooperation and stability."
Russia has opposed U.S. plans to place radars in the Czech Republic and Poland. The United States wants to develop a long-range missile defense system complimented by a NATO-led, short- and medium-range missile defense system.
"The NATO allies ... asked Russia to stop its criticism of the alliance effort and to join in the cooperative efforts that have been offered to it by the United States," Rice said. She called the declaration a "breakthrough document for missile defense for the alliance." Russian President Vladimir Putin meets tomorrow with the NATO-Russian Council.
In the declaration, NATO said it would explore ways to link the United States' proposed capability to current NATO-wide missile defense architecture. NATO tasked the North Atlantic Council, its main governing body, to develop options for a comprehensive plan for review at the alliance's 2009 summit.
The declaration also reiterated the allies' commitment to supporting the government of Iraq and agreed to extend the NATO training mission there through 2009.
American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2008 - The second day of NATO's summit conference wrapped up here today with clear support for more troops in Afghanistan, a missile defense system for Europe and the hopes of eventually adding at least five more countries to the alliance. It was a day of extended, hours-long, closed sessions in which NATO members went "off script" and passionately debated the language of communiqués and declarations that would map out the direction of the alliance for years to come.
It was a "fine day for NATO," according to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"I think that it was, for me, affirming of the decision to expand this alliance; it was affirming of the decision to keep new blood coming into the alliance, especially new blood of people who understand what it was to live under tyranny and now are breathing freedom and liberty with a kind of gusto and enjoyment that perhaps only those who have been denied it can have," Rice said.
Rice was joined at the news conference by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.
"People really got off script," Hadley said. "You know, the characterization of these meetings is people sitting around a table reading prepared talking points. In the discussions today, people talked with a first person and a passion that was interesting."
In the end, NATO issued a summit declaration in which it:
-- Invited Albania and Croatia to begin accession talks with NATO;
-- Named the mission in Afghanistan its "top priority;"
-- Acknowledged for the first time that ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to the allies; and
-- Agreed to work with Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro in their quest for NATO membership.
NATO also invited Serbia to begin a dialogue with the alliance.
The declaration said that "Euro-Atlantic and wider international security is closely tied to Afghanistan's future as a peaceful, democratic state," and asserted that the alliance would not allow extremists and terrorists to regain control of Afghanistan or use it as a base for terror.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced his country would send another battalion of troops to help in Afghanistan. The troops will be added to the eastern provinces of the country, allowing U.S. troops, who have been successful at squelching the troubles there, to move to the embattled southern provinces.
Also, Hadley said, another dozen or so allies have pledged contributions. He said that it will be about three weeks before the final numbers of troops dedicated to the region can be tallied, but that the commitment would meet the Canadian parliament's demands that allies provide at least 1,000 more troops and equipment to the region in order for it to keep its 2,500 troops there.
In a show of support to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, NATO also committed to building an equipped Afghan army to 80,000 troops by 2010.
"Bottom line, a good day on Afghanistan," Hadley said. "NATO has adopted a vision statement to explain the mission and the importance of the mission to their publics. They have developed and integrated a plan for integrating political and military instruments in order to try and achieve success there."
NATO pledged to invite Macedonia to join the alliance as soon as it can work through the dispute over its name with its neighbor, Greece. Greece objects to using the name Macedonia, saying it implies claims on a Greek province of the same name.
"We encourage negotiations to be resumed without delay, and expect them to be concluded as soon as possible," the declaration reads.
NATO reaffirmed both its open-door policy and its plans for developing a missile defense strategy in its declaration, which said that "far from posing a threat to our relationship, (those efforts) offer opportunities to deepen levels of cooperation and stability."
Russia has opposed U.S. plans to place radars in the Czech Republic and Poland. The United States wants to develop a long-range missile defense system complimented by a NATO-led, short- and medium-range missile defense system.
"The NATO allies ... asked Russia to stop its criticism of the alliance effort and to join in the cooperative efforts that have been offered to it by the United States," Rice said. She called the declaration a "breakthrough document for missile defense for the alliance." Russian President Vladimir Putin meets tomorrow with the NATO-Russian Council.
In the declaration, NATO said it would explore ways to link the United States' proposed capability to current NATO-wide missile defense architecture. NATO tasked the North Atlantic Council, its main governing body, to develop options for a comprehensive plan for review at the alliance's 2009 summit.
The declaration also reiterated the allies' commitment to supporting the government of Iraq and agreed to extend the NATO training mission there through 2009.
Navy to Christen The USNS Amelia Earhart
The Navy will launch and christen the USNS Amelia Earhart at a 9 p.m. PDT ceremony on April 6, 2008. The christening ceremony for the newest ship in the Lewis and Clark (T-AKE) class of underway replenishment ships will be held at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.
Designated as T-AKE 6, the new ship honors aviation pioneer Amelia Mary Earhart for her courage, vision and groundbreaking achievements, both in aviation and for women.
Earhart's name became a household word in 1932 when she became the first woman -- and second person -- to fly solo across the Atlantic, flying from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Londonderry, Ireland. That year, she received the Distinguished Flying Cross from the U.S. Congress, the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor from the French government, and the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society from President Herbert Hoover. In January 1935, Earhart became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif. Later that year she soloed from Los Angeles to Mexico City and back to Newark, N.J. In July 1936, Earhart took delivery of a Lockheed 10E "Electra," financed by Purdue University, and started planning her around-the-world flight.
Rep. Susan A. Davis, will deliver the ceremony's principal address. Earhart's niece, Amy Kleppner, will serve as ship's sponsor. The launching ceremony will include the time-honored Navy tradition when the sponsor breaks a bottle of champagne across the bow to formally christen the ship "Amelia Earhart."
The USNS Amelia Earhart is the sixth ship in the Navy's 11-ship T-AKE class. The ship will directly contribute to the ability of the Navy to maintain a worldwide forward presence by delivering ammunition, food, fuel, and other dry cargo to U.S. and allied ships at sea. The ship is designed to operate independently for extended periods at sea and can carry and support two helicopters to conduct vertical replenishment.
As part of Military Sealift Command's (MSC) Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force,the USNS Amelia Earhart is designated as a United States Naval Ship (USNS) and will be crewed by 124 civil service mariners working for Military Sealift Command's. The ship will also have a military detachment of 11 U.S. Navy sailors to provide supply coordination.
One previous ship has been named for Earhart. The SS Amelia Earhart was a Liberty ship built in the U.S. during World War II.
Additional information about this class of ship is available on line at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4400&tid=500&ct=4.
Designated as T-AKE 6, the new ship honors aviation pioneer Amelia Mary Earhart for her courage, vision and groundbreaking achievements, both in aviation and for women.
Earhart's name became a household word in 1932 when she became the first woman -- and second person -- to fly solo across the Atlantic, flying from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Londonderry, Ireland. That year, she received the Distinguished Flying Cross from the U.S. Congress, the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor from the French government, and the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society from President Herbert Hoover. In January 1935, Earhart became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif. Later that year she soloed from Los Angeles to Mexico City and back to Newark, N.J. In July 1936, Earhart took delivery of a Lockheed 10E "Electra," financed by Purdue University, and started planning her around-the-world flight.
Rep. Susan A. Davis, will deliver the ceremony's principal address. Earhart's niece, Amy Kleppner, will serve as ship's sponsor. The launching ceremony will include the time-honored Navy tradition when the sponsor breaks a bottle of champagne across the bow to formally christen the ship "Amelia Earhart."
The USNS Amelia Earhart is the sixth ship in the Navy's 11-ship T-AKE class. The ship will directly contribute to the ability of the Navy to maintain a worldwide forward presence by delivering ammunition, food, fuel, and other dry cargo to U.S. and allied ships at sea. The ship is designed to operate independently for extended periods at sea and can carry and support two helicopters to conduct vertical replenishment.
As part of Military Sealift Command's (MSC) Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force,the USNS Amelia Earhart is designated as a United States Naval Ship (USNS) and will be crewed by 124 civil service mariners working for Military Sealift Command's. The ship will also have a military detachment of 11 U.S. Navy sailors to provide supply coordination.
One previous ship has been named for Earhart. The SS Amelia Earhart was a Liberty ship built in the U.S. during World War II.
Additional information about this class of ship is available on line at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4400&tid=500&ct=4.
Tactics and Fiction
Editor's Note: One of the authors is a former servicemember.
April 3, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books.
Special Agent Ronald Adams, Riverside Police Department (California), retired, is a 28 year veteran, of law enforcement and a widely known and recognized as an expert in police officer safety and survival. He is the co-author of Street Survival: Tactics for Armed Encounters.
Peter Wright is a retired detective from the Redlands Police Department (California). Peter Wright is the author of The Iron Dog.
According to the book description, “The Iron Dog case follows the abduction and assault of a seventeen-year-old highschool girl and the hunt for the suspects by Barton Keene, a former San Francisco homicide detective, and his two close friends, Buddy Bigfeather, a grape grower in the California wine country, and Denton Tuggle, a local cop. Keene’s pursuit of the outlaw gang that kidnapped Tonya Charbonneau eventually includes murders, crime scene investigations, airplane crashes, and autopsies.”
Charlie Staump is a retired investigator from the Orange County Sheriff's Department in California. After 8 years in the Marine Corps and 18 years in law enforcement he found himself in the unenviable position of being retired at the age of 43 because of health problems. In an attempt to keep busy, he organized and directed an eighteen-piece swing band which was comprised of many veterans of the famous big bands of the forties and fifties. He also started a little business of making miniatures which he sold throughout the country. Charlie Staump is the author of The Calico Incident and The Lady of Goldstone.
According to the book description of The Calico Incident, “In the year of 1988 Johnny M. Johnson, a retired deputy Sheriff in San Bernardino, California, takes a job as an actor-gunfighter in the ghost town of Calico. He was well aware of the history of that old mining town and the rumors of its reported ghostly legends. Johnny had a personal connection to Calico that went back one hundred years. He had no idea that this connection would come back to haunt both he and his partner.”
Police-Writers.com now hosts 918 police officers (representing 390 police departments) and their 1926 police books in 32 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
April 3, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books.
Special Agent Ronald Adams, Riverside Police Department (California), retired, is a 28 year veteran, of law enforcement and a widely known and recognized as an expert in police officer safety and survival. He is the co-author of Street Survival: Tactics for Armed Encounters.
Peter Wright is a retired detective from the Redlands Police Department (California). Peter Wright is the author of The Iron Dog.
According to the book description, “The Iron Dog case follows the abduction and assault of a seventeen-year-old highschool girl and the hunt for the suspects by Barton Keene, a former San Francisco homicide detective, and his two close friends, Buddy Bigfeather, a grape grower in the California wine country, and Denton Tuggle, a local cop. Keene’s pursuit of the outlaw gang that kidnapped Tonya Charbonneau eventually includes murders, crime scene investigations, airplane crashes, and autopsies.”
Charlie Staump is a retired investigator from the Orange County Sheriff's Department in California. After 8 years in the Marine Corps and 18 years in law enforcement he found himself in the unenviable position of being retired at the age of 43 because of health problems. In an attempt to keep busy, he organized and directed an eighteen-piece swing band which was comprised of many veterans of the famous big bands of the forties and fifties. He also started a little business of making miniatures which he sold throughout the country. Charlie Staump is the author of The Calico Incident and The Lady of Goldstone.
According to the book description of The Calico Incident, “In the year of 1988 Johnny M. Johnson, a retired deputy Sheriff in San Bernardino, California, takes a job as an actor-gunfighter in the ghost town of Calico. He was well aware of the history of that old mining town and the rumors of its reported ghostly legends. Johnny had a personal connection to Calico that went back one hundred years. He had no idea that this connection would come back to haunt both he and his partner.”
Police-Writers.com now hosts 918 police officers (representing 390 police departments) and their 1926 police books in 32 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
Security Sector Reform in Liberia: Mixed Results from Humble Beginnings
The author presents an explanatory overview and analysis of progress made with the process of security sector reform in Liberia--with particular reference to the armed forces and the police. The author begins with a concise review of what the theory of SSR and its application in the Liberian context and follows with a description of Liberia’s post-war security architecture and the urgent need for a comprehensive and sustained process of reform. An overview of the legal and conceptual framework for engaging in SSR in Liberia is provided as further backdrop to substantive sections dealing with the reform (or re-building) of the Armed Forces of Liberia and the Liberia National Police. The author concludes with a critical analysis of the SSR process and recommendations for further action.
READ ON
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=855
READ ON
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=855
The Political Context Behind Successful Revolutionary Movements, Three Case Studies: Vietnam (1955-63), Algeria (1945-62), and Nicaragua (1967-79)
Following the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the new world order did not bring about a closure of revolutionary warfare. In fact, the Soviet-inspired wars of liberation against imperialism have been eclipsed by reactionary, jihadist wars. By all indications in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Somalia, and Iraq, Islamic militants have embraced revolutionary warfare, although not Mao’s People’s War model. Therefore, a study of revolutionary warfare is apt because the conflict between the West and radical jihadism will continue to take place in dysfunctional, collapsing, or failed states. The author examines the political-military lessons from these conflicts and suggests that the United States should minimize the level and type of assistance to states fighting in an insurgency because these states possess greater advantages than previously supposed.
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http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=851
Drug Intoxicated Irregular Fighters: Complications, Dangers, and Responses
The presence of drugged fighters is not unknown in the history of warfare. Yet widespread drug use on the battlefield is now part of protracted conflicts largely fought by nonprofessional combatants that take place in an international system characterized by the process of globalization. From marijuana, khat, hallucinogenic mushrooms, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine to looted pharmaceuticals, irregular fighters have found a ready supply of narcotics to consume for a variety of combat purposes. Such consumption has led to unpredictable fighting, the commission of atrocities, and to the prolongation of internal violence. The presence of intoxicated combatants will continue to be a feature of armed conflict and requires a fuller accounting to adequately prepare policymakers and military planners for future conflicts.
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http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=850
READ ON
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=850
NATO Offers Membership to Two of Three Balkan Candidates
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Romania, April 3, 2008 - NATO formally offered membership today to two of the three Balkan nations President Bush had strongly advocated for acceptance. Albania and Croatia were accepted by the 26 other NATO members to begin the accession process after hours-long discussions of the North Atlantic Council, NATO's principal decision-making body, this morning.
"Both these nations have demonstrated the ability and the willingness to provide strong and enduring contributions to NATO," Bush said at a meeting of the council in which representatives of the candidate nations were present. "Both have undertaken challenging political, economic and defense reforms. Both have deployed their forces on NATO missions. Albania and Croatia are ready for the responsibility NATO brings, and they will make outstanding members of this alliance," he said.
Greece blocked Macedonia, the third Balkan nation under consideration, from receiving an invitation to join. Greece objects to the nation using the name Macedonia, saying it implies claims on a Greek province of the same name.
U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, in a briefing after the meetings to the White House traveling press, said NATO agrees that Macedonia "clearly" is ready for NATO membership, but that a mutually accepted name should be resolved between the two countries before an invitation to membership is extended.
"We regret that we were not able to reach consensus today to invite Macedonia to join the alliance," Bush said. "Macedonia has made difficult reforms at home. It is making major contributions to NATO missions abroad. The name issue needs to be resolved quickly, so that Macedonia can be welcomed into NATO as soon as possible."
Bush said NATO needs to intensify its engagement with Macedonia to ensure it becomes a member.
"Albania, Croatia and Macedonia all know the difference between good and evil, because they clearly remember evil's face," Bush said. "These nations do not take their freedom for granted, because they still remember life without it. These nations respect the hard work of building democracy, because they brought it to life in their countries."
In other NATO issues, Georgia and Ukraine were not invited to start the membership action plan, a necessary step toward membership. Hadley said a strong consensus is in place within the alliance that the two former Soviet republics eventually will join NATO, but the timing of starting the plan is in question.
Some members questioned whether the democratic reforms in the two countries have taken root and their political systems are stable, Hadley said. Also, Georgia has unresolved disputes with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he said.
Still, NATO members agreed to a strongly worded statement that "NATO welcomes Ukraine and Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO," Hadley said.
"That's a very strong statement, giving them a clear prospect of NATO membership," he said.
Instead of starting the MAP process with the two countries, NATO opted instead to step up its engagement with the countries, and their status will be reassessed in December. NATO's foreign ministers will decide then whether Georgia and Ukraine have made sufficient progress to begin the membership action plan. The decision does not have to go back to NATO for consensus, Hadley said.
"Would we have preferred to have MAP today? Of course. Do we think we achieved the strategic decision we needed from the NATO alliance that these countries will be members of NATO? Absolutely," Hadley said.
Two other countries moved toward eventual membership during the talks today.
NATO agreed that an "intensified dialogue" should begin with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. Both are considered in the "Partnership for Peace" stage of working toward membership. Intensified dialogue is the stage just before being invited to begin the membership action plan. NATO also agreed that an intensive dialogue would be offered to Serbia.
In other news from the NATO summit conference, a communiqué is expected to come from the meetings today delivering what U.S. officials wanted on the issue of missile defense, a senior administration official said, speaking on background. The United States expects a NATO endorsement of its missile defense plan in Europe, as well as plans to develop a NATO-run short- and medium-range missile defense system, the official said.
The statement is expected to say that ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to allies' forces, territory and populations. Also, it is expected to task the heads of state with developing a plan for the NATO missile defense architecture to bring back to the 2009 summit.
Missile defense was not a specific agenda item for the summit, but is expected to be discussed through the day and tomorrow, when Russian President Vladimir Putin joins the talks tomorrow for the NATO-Russian Council. Putin has expressed concern over U.S. plans for the missile defense system, and officials have been working to ease his concerns that the system could be used against Russia.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced in the early meetings his country would send another battalion of troops to help in Afghanistan. The troops will deploy to the eastern provinces of the country, allowing U.S. troops, who have been successful at squelching problems there, to move to the embattled southern provinces.
The Canadian parliament had agreed to extend Canada's troops in the south only if allies provided more resources. Other countries are expected to announce troop increases.
American Forces Press Service
Romania, April 3, 2008 - NATO formally offered membership today to two of the three Balkan nations President Bush had strongly advocated for acceptance. Albania and Croatia were accepted by the 26 other NATO members to begin the accession process after hours-long discussions of the North Atlantic Council, NATO's principal decision-making body, this morning.
"Both these nations have demonstrated the ability and the willingness to provide strong and enduring contributions to NATO," Bush said at a meeting of the council in which representatives of the candidate nations were present. "Both have undertaken challenging political, economic and defense reforms. Both have deployed their forces on NATO missions. Albania and Croatia are ready for the responsibility NATO brings, and they will make outstanding members of this alliance," he said.
Greece blocked Macedonia, the third Balkan nation under consideration, from receiving an invitation to join. Greece objects to the nation using the name Macedonia, saying it implies claims on a Greek province of the same name.
U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, in a briefing after the meetings to the White House traveling press, said NATO agrees that Macedonia "clearly" is ready for NATO membership, but that a mutually accepted name should be resolved between the two countries before an invitation to membership is extended.
"We regret that we were not able to reach consensus today to invite Macedonia to join the alliance," Bush said. "Macedonia has made difficult reforms at home. It is making major contributions to NATO missions abroad. The name issue needs to be resolved quickly, so that Macedonia can be welcomed into NATO as soon as possible."
Bush said NATO needs to intensify its engagement with Macedonia to ensure it becomes a member.
"Albania, Croatia and Macedonia all know the difference between good and evil, because they clearly remember evil's face," Bush said. "These nations do not take their freedom for granted, because they still remember life without it. These nations respect the hard work of building democracy, because they brought it to life in their countries."
In other NATO issues, Georgia and Ukraine were not invited to start the membership action plan, a necessary step toward membership. Hadley said a strong consensus is in place within the alliance that the two former Soviet republics eventually will join NATO, but the timing of starting the plan is in question.
Some members questioned whether the democratic reforms in the two countries have taken root and their political systems are stable, Hadley said. Also, Georgia has unresolved disputes with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he said.
Still, NATO members agreed to a strongly worded statement that "NATO welcomes Ukraine and Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO," Hadley said.
"That's a very strong statement, giving them a clear prospect of NATO membership," he said.
Instead of starting the MAP process with the two countries, NATO opted instead to step up its engagement with the countries, and their status will be reassessed in December. NATO's foreign ministers will decide then whether Georgia and Ukraine have made sufficient progress to begin the membership action plan. The decision does not have to go back to NATO for consensus, Hadley said.
"Would we have preferred to have MAP today? Of course. Do we think we achieved the strategic decision we needed from the NATO alliance that these countries will be members of NATO? Absolutely," Hadley said.
Two other countries moved toward eventual membership during the talks today.
NATO agreed that an "intensified dialogue" should begin with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. Both are considered in the "Partnership for Peace" stage of working toward membership. Intensified dialogue is the stage just before being invited to begin the membership action plan. NATO also agreed that an intensive dialogue would be offered to Serbia.
In other news from the NATO summit conference, a communiqué is expected to come from the meetings today delivering what U.S. officials wanted on the issue of missile defense, a senior administration official said, speaking on background. The United States expects a NATO endorsement of its missile defense plan in Europe, as well as plans to develop a NATO-run short- and medium-range missile defense system, the official said.
The statement is expected to say that ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to allies' forces, territory and populations. Also, it is expected to task the heads of state with developing a plan for the NATO missile defense architecture to bring back to the 2009 summit.
Missile defense was not a specific agenda item for the summit, but is expected to be discussed through the day and tomorrow, when Russian President Vladimir Putin joins the talks tomorrow for the NATO-Russian Council. Putin has expressed concern over U.S. plans for the missile defense system, and officials have been working to ease his concerns that the system could be used against Russia.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced in the early meetings his country would send another battalion of troops to help in Afghanistan. The troops will deploy to the eastern provinces of the country, allowing U.S. troops, who have been successful at squelching problems there, to move to the embattled southern provinces.
The Canadian parliament had agreed to extend Canada's troops in the south only if allies provided more resources. Other countries are expected to announce troop increases.
Department to Phase Out Full Social Security Numbers on IDs
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2008 - As a means of combating identity theft, the Defense Department will issue identification cards without full Social Security numbers printed onto them, a senior official said here today. The Defense Department cares about protecting personal information as well as increasing database security, Mary Dixon, director of the Defense Manpower Data Center based in Arlington, Va., told Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service reporters.
Identity theft is a very real problem today, Dixon explained. Criminals who pilfer SSN-bearing identity cards can virtually assume someone's identity through a few computer keystrokes and clicks of a mouse, she said.
TriCare, the military services' health maintenance organization, already has removed Social Security numbers from its members' identification cards, Dixon said.
Plans are to remove the Social Security numbers from identification cards issued to military family members by the end of this year, Dixon said, noting that those cards still would display the sponsors' SSN, for now. Between 2009 and 2010, all department-issued identification cards will feature only the last four digits of a holder's Social Security number, she said.
About 3.4 million people now have department-issued common access cards, Dixon said. Around two-thirds of those card holders are military members, and some civilians who deploy overseas, who have full Social Security numbers printed onto the back of their CACs.
"You might lose that card," Dixon pointed out, noting that family members, including children, could misplace their identification cards, too.
Modern information technology precludes the need to have full social security numbers printed onto employee and family member ID cards, Dixon said.
"Today, all of our (computer) systems can 'talk' to each other, so we don't necessarily need to know all of that information printed on your card," she said.
New identification cards will be issued as they reach their expiration dates, Dixon said.
American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2008 - As a means of combating identity theft, the Defense Department will issue identification cards without full Social Security numbers printed onto them, a senior official said here today. The Defense Department cares about protecting personal information as well as increasing database security, Mary Dixon, director of the Defense Manpower Data Center based in Arlington, Va., told Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service reporters.
Identity theft is a very real problem today, Dixon explained. Criminals who pilfer SSN-bearing identity cards can virtually assume someone's identity through a few computer keystrokes and clicks of a mouse, she said.
TriCare, the military services' health maintenance organization, already has removed Social Security numbers from its members' identification cards, Dixon said.
Plans are to remove the Social Security numbers from identification cards issued to military family members by the end of this year, Dixon said, noting that those cards still would display the sponsors' SSN, for now. Between 2009 and 2010, all department-issued identification cards will feature only the last four digits of a holder's Social Security number, she said.
About 3.4 million people now have department-issued common access cards, Dixon said. Around two-thirds of those card holders are military members, and some civilians who deploy overseas, who have full Social Security numbers printed onto the back of their CACs.
"You might lose that card," Dixon pointed out, noting that family members, including children, could misplace their identification cards, too.
Modern information technology precludes the need to have full social security numbers printed onto employee and family member ID cards, Dixon said.
"Today, all of our (computer) systems can 'talk' to each other, so we don't necessarily need to know all of that information printed on your card," she said.
New identification cards will be issued as they reach their expiration dates, Dixon said.
Senior Citizen Hits Slopes to Inspire Younger Disabled Vets
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2008 - Seventy-four-year-old Bob Eiden stood on a snow bank overlooking Snowmass Mountain yesterday, mentally preparing himself for his first experience on skis, 16 months after having his right leg amputated. "I'm scared to death," admitted Eiden, an Air Force Korean War veteran who is joining about 400 other disabled veterans for his first National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. "But I'm going to do this, because I want to be an example for the younger people."
Eiden broke his leg in two places sliding into home plate during a pickup softball game while he was assigned to Strategic Air Command in Topeka, Kan. That was in 1957, decades before many of the troops he hopes to inspire here were born.
After eight surgeries, the most recent one to remove his leg, Eiden said he finally feels liberated from the pain that haunted him for 43 years. "It was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said.
Now, despite failing eyesight and hearing, Eiden said he's ready to push himself to new limits on the mountain. It's a way to prove something not only to himself and his son, but just as importantly, to younger veterans he said he hopes to inspire.
Eiden remembers all too clearly what it felt like to be cut down in his prime by a freak accident, and said he sees a lot of the same emotions he felt in combat-wounded troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Some come back depressed; they don't want to do anything but sit in a wheelchair. They think that their life is over," he said. "Well, I'm here to show them that there's still life after a disability. I hope my being here will show other people that their life isn't over."
Eiden is an active member of Disabled American Veterans, serving as its chapter commander in Nampa, Idaho. He said he's proud of the DAV's role in supporting disabled veterans, including cosponsoring the winter sports clinic with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"It's important that we recognize our disabled veterans and look out for their needs," he said.
A big part of that, he said, is helping disabled veterans realize what they're still able to do. Eiden remembers how it felt to have his family clamor to protect him and do things for him. What he really needed at the time, he said, was to learn how to become independent in his new circumstances.
"Disabled people want to be able to do things themselves," he said. "They need to know that, 'I'm still a whole man,' or 'I'm still a whole woman.'
"Being here at the winter sports clinic, putting on those skis and going down that mountain is one way of proving that."
American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2008 - Seventy-four-year-old Bob Eiden stood on a snow bank overlooking Snowmass Mountain yesterday, mentally preparing himself for his first experience on skis, 16 months after having his right leg amputated. "I'm scared to death," admitted Eiden, an Air Force Korean War veteran who is joining about 400 other disabled veterans for his first National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. "But I'm going to do this, because I want to be an example for the younger people."
Eiden broke his leg in two places sliding into home plate during a pickup softball game while he was assigned to Strategic Air Command in Topeka, Kan. That was in 1957, decades before many of the troops he hopes to inspire here were born.
After eight surgeries, the most recent one to remove his leg, Eiden said he finally feels liberated from the pain that haunted him for 43 years. "It was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said.
Now, despite failing eyesight and hearing, Eiden said he's ready to push himself to new limits on the mountain. It's a way to prove something not only to himself and his son, but just as importantly, to younger veterans he said he hopes to inspire.
Eiden remembers all too clearly what it felt like to be cut down in his prime by a freak accident, and said he sees a lot of the same emotions he felt in combat-wounded troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Some come back depressed; they don't want to do anything but sit in a wheelchair. They think that their life is over," he said. "Well, I'm here to show them that there's still life after a disability. I hope my being here will show other people that their life isn't over."
Eiden is an active member of Disabled American Veterans, serving as its chapter commander in Nampa, Idaho. He said he's proud of the DAV's role in supporting disabled veterans, including cosponsoring the winter sports clinic with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"It's important that we recognize our disabled veterans and look out for their needs," he said.
A big part of that, he said, is helping disabled veterans realize what they're still able to do. Eiden remembers how it felt to have his family clamor to protect him and do things for him. What he really needed at the time, he said, was to learn how to become independent in his new circumstances.
"Disabled people want to be able to do things themselves," he said. "They need to know that, 'I'm still a whole man,' or 'I'm still a whole woman.'
"Being here at the winter sports clinic, putting on those skis and going down that mountain is one way of proving that."
Newly Wounded Warriors Experience 'Miracles on the Mountainside'
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2008 - Less than six months ago, Army Pfc. Michael Dinkel had his leg destroyed by a roadside bomb while he was deployed to Afghanistan with the Fort Riley, Kan.-based 70th Engineer Battalion. Today, still a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Dinkel is shimmying down the slopes of Snowmass Mountain, refusing to let a disability stand in the way of a good time -- or a full, productive life. "I'm having a blast!" exclaimed 27-year-old Dinkel as he took a break after another run down the mountainside. "This is something I dreamed about!"
Dinkel is among several active-duty troops who have joined nearly 400 disabled veterans here for the 22nd National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. Together, they're experiencing what event organizers describe as "Miracles on the Mountainside" as they try their hands at Alpine and Nordic skiing, rock climbing, scuba diving, trapshooting, snowmobiling, sled hockey, curling, fencing and a host of other activities.
In doing so, they're demonstrating that an amputation, spinal cord injury, visual impairment or other severe disability doesn't have to stop them in their tracks, explained Sandy Trombetta, who came up with the concept of the winter sports clinic and serves as its national director.
Dinkel never took much convincing that an amputation didn't have to keep him from his longtime love of skiing. "Three months after I got blown up, I went skiing," said Dinkel, recalling a trip to Windham Mountain, N.Y., organized through Walter Reed. His next ski trip was to Liberty Mountain ski resort in Pennsylvania, where he continued to fine-tune his technique with adaptive skis.
Here at Snowmass Mountain, Dinkel is a world away from the surgeries still ahead of him at Walter Reed over the next six to seven months before he's able to return to his native Cincinnati, Ohio.
But in reality, the six-day winter sports clinic is a big part of Dinkel's and other disabled veterans' rehabilitation, said Lisette Mondello, assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs for public and intergovernmental affairs.
"This is a rehabilitative event. It's not about a week of camaraderie and ski lessons," she said. "It's about taking someone who's had a catastrophic injury and saying, 'Now is the time to move on. Your life isn't over. It's time to start again.'"
Edward Hartman, Disabled American Veterans' national director for voluntary services, agreed that the clinic is a valuable first step toward disabled veterans' moving forward with their lives. "This is just an introduction to what they can do and what the possibilities are for them," he said. "This event helps make them realize that their life doesn't end with their disability."
Vance Pease, a recreational therapist at the VA center in Seattle who specializes in spinal cord injuries, said he's witnessed firsthand the benefits the clinic has brought to the disabled veterans he works with. "This can open so many doors and show the veterans that there are so many opportunities out there for them," he said. "It's showing to these veterans that life goes on. The challenge, the thrill, the adventure, the risk -- all of it is still there for them if they want it."
Not everyone arrives at the winter sports clinic quite as mentally prepared as Dinkel for the challenges, thrills, adventure and risk they'll face here. Harry Williamson, a Vietnam-era Marine Corps veteran suffering from multiple sclerosis, admitted he had some trepidation about his first time down the slope in an adaptive sit-ski.
"I'm nervous," said the Long Beach, Calif., native. "But I'm going to give it a try. I'm going to see if I can do it, to see if I can master it. And if I do, that's another challenge I tried and I conquered."
Conquering challenges on the mountainside is a metaphor for conquering life challenges with a disability, clinic organizers explained. For about one-third of the veterans here for the first time, the clinic offers an opportunity to push themselves in ways many never thought imaginable.
Marine Cpl. Steve Schulz was serving his second tour in Iraq in April 2005 when an improvised explosive device in Fallujah left him blind in his right eye and suffering a traumatic brain injury.
Three years and 17 surgeries later, 23-year-old Schulz said he's attending his first winter sports clinic to recapture some of the thrill the roadside bomb stripped from his life. "I like going fast," said Schulz, lamenting that his brain injury has left him unable to drive.
So as volunteers at the winter sports clinic strapped him into a sit-ski for his first whirl down Snowmass Mountain, Schulz was looking forward to feeling the wind in his face and the blur of spectators' faces as they cheered him down the mountain.
Darol Kubacz, a 33-year-old Army veteran rendered a paraplegic 15 years ago during a training accident at Fort Knox, Ky., said he remembers being in Schultz' shoes when he attended his first clinic a year after his injury.
Kubacz skied for the first time here and fell so in love with the sport that he moved to Vail, Colo., and ultimately became an adaptive ski instructor. "It changed my life," he said.
But Kubacz said the clinic gave him something far more powerful than just a new activity to pursue -- and it's kept him coming back year after year, 13 times. "There's so much that goes on here, on so many levels," he said. "It's about brotherhood. It's about great people. It's about great physical and emotional experiences.
"But most of all, it's about positive mental attitude," he said. "That's what they're teaching people here. Because, when it comes down to it, the only way we are going to succeed and have fun in life is to have a positive mental attitude."
Kubacz said he gains much from sharing with fellow veterans at the clinic. As they meet at sporting activities, during meals, or at social events throughout the week, they swap stories about everything from the latest adaptive equipment to advice for navigating the VA benefits system, he said. "We educate each other on so many things on so many levels," he said.
Just as disabled Vietnam veterans guided him when he was first injured, Kubacz said, he hopes to help guide younger veterans with new disabilities suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I'm here for the new guys," he said. "I'm here to listen to them, to support them and to share motivation with them."
Hope Cooper, an Air Force veteran who was medically retired in 1989, said she, too, hopes to share the life-changing impact the clinic had on her own life with newly wounded veterans.
Cooper said she attended her first clinic in 1991 as a withdrawn and sometimes suicidal woman struggling to come to terms with the disease that left her wheelchair-bound. But she left a new woman, with a new outlook on life that she's embraced for the past 17 years.
"Coming to this clinic made me realize that no matter what I may have lost, I didn't lose me," she said. "The core of me is still there."
Cooper said she's sharing that discovery with the newly wounded veterans attending this year's clinic. "I go around to them and let them know we're here for them," she said. "We've been through it, and what we tell these young folks is that it's not over. It's just a new program for them, and a way for them to triumph over adversity."
American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2008 - Less than six months ago, Army Pfc. Michael Dinkel had his leg destroyed by a roadside bomb while he was deployed to Afghanistan with the Fort Riley, Kan.-based 70th Engineer Battalion. Today, still a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Dinkel is shimmying down the slopes of Snowmass Mountain, refusing to let a disability stand in the way of a good time -- or a full, productive life. "I'm having a blast!" exclaimed 27-year-old Dinkel as he took a break after another run down the mountainside. "This is something I dreamed about!"
Dinkel is among several active-duty troops who have joined nearly 400 disabled veterans here for the 22nd National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. Together, they're experiencing what event organizers describe as "Miracles on the Mountainside" as they try their hands at Alpine and Nordic skiing, rock climbing, scuba diving, trapshooting, snowmobiling, sled hockey, curling, fencing and a host of other activities.
In doing so, they're demonstrating that an amputation, spinal cord injury, visual impairment or other severe disability doesn't have to stop them in their tracks, explained Sandy Trombetta, who came up with the concept of the winter sports clinic and serves as its national director.
Dinkel never took much convincing that an amputation didn't have to keep him from his longtime love of skiing. "Three months after I got blown up, I went skiing," said Dinkel, recalling a trip to Windham Mountain, N.Y., organized through Walter Reed. His next ski trip was to Liberty Mountain ski resort in Pennsylvania, where he continued to fine-tune his technique with adaptive skis.
Here at Snowmass Mountain, Dinkel is a world away from the surgeries still ahead of him at Walter Reed over the next six to seven months before he's able to return to his native Cincinnati, Ohio.
But in reality, the six-day winter sports clinic is a big part of Dinkel's and other disabled veterans' rehabilitation, said Lisette Mondello, assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs for public and intergovernmental affairs.
"This is a rehabilitative event. It's not about a week of camaraderie and ski lessons," she said. "It's about taking someone who's had a catastrophic injury and saying, 'Now is the time to move on. Your life isn't over. It's time to start again.'"
Edward Hartman, Disabled American Veterans' national director for voluntary services, agreed that the clinic is a valuable first step toward disabled veterans' moving forward with their lives. "This is just an introduction to what they can do and what the possibilities are for them," he said. "This event helps make them realize that their life doesn't end with their disability."
Vance Pease, a recreational therapist at the VA center in Seattle who specializes in spinal cord injuries, said he's witnessed firsthand the benefits the clinic has brought to the disabled veterans he works with. "This can open so many doors and show the veterans that there are so many opportunities out there for them," he said. "It's showing to these veterans that life goes on. The challenge, the thrill, the adventure, the risk -- all of it is still there for them if they want it."
Not everyone arrives at the winter sports clinic quite as mentally prepared as Dinkel for the challenges, thrills, adventure and risk they'll face here. Harry Williamson, a Vietnam-era Marine Corps veteran suffering from multiple sclerosis, admitted he had some trepidation about his first time down the slope in an adaptive sit-ski.
"I'm nervous," said the Long Beach, Calif., native. "But I'm going to give it a try. I'm going to see if I can do it, to see if I can master it. And if I do, that's another challenge I tried and I conquered."
Conquering challenges on the mountainside is a metaphor for conquering life challenges with a disability, clinic organizers explained. For about one-third of the veterans here for the first time, the clinic offers an opportunity to push themselves in ways many never thought imaginable.
Marine Cpl. Steve Schulz was serving his second tour in Iraq in April 2005 when an improvised explosive device in Fallujah left him blind in his right eye and suffering a traumatic brain injury.
Three years and 17 surgeries later, 23-year-old Schulz said he's attending his first winter sports clinic to recapture some of the thrill the roadside bomb stripped from his life. "I like going fast," said Schulz, lamenting that his brain injury has left him unable to drive.
So as volunteers at the winter sports clinic strapped him into a sit-ski for his first whirl down Snowmass Mountain, Schulz was looking forward to feeling the wind in his face and the blur of spectators' faces as they cheered him down the mountain.
Darol Kubacz, a 33-year-old Army veteran rendered a paraplegic 15 years ago during a training accident at Fort Knox, Ky., said he remembers being in Schultz' shoes when he attended his first clinic a year after his injury.
Kubacz skied for the first time here and fell so in love with the sport that he moved to Vail, Colo., and ultimately became an adaptive ski instructor. "It changed my life," he said.
But Kubacz said the clinic gave him something far more powerful than just a new activity to pursue -- and it's kept him coming back year after year, 13 times. "There's so much that goes on here, on so many levels," he said. "It's about brotherhood. It's about great people. It's about great physical and emotional experiences.
"But most of all, it's about positive mental attitude," he said. "That's what they're teaching people here. Because, when it comes down to it, the only way we are going to succeed and have fun in life is to have a positive mental attitude."
Kubacz said he gains much from sharing with fellow veterans at the clinic. As they meet at sporting activities, during meals, or at social events throughout the week, they swap stories about everything from the latest adaptive equipment to advice for navigating the VA benefits system, he said. "We educate each other on so many things on so many levels," he said.
Just as disabled Vietnam veterans guided him when he was first injured, Kubacz said, he hopes to help guide younger veterans with new disabilities suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I'm here for the new guys," he said. "I'm here to listen to them, to support them and to share motivation with them."
Hope Cooper, an Air Force veteran who was medically retired in 1989, said she, too, hopes to share the life-changing impact the clinic had on her own life with newly wounded veterans.
Cooper said she attended her first clinic in 1991 as a withdrawn and sometimes suicidal woman struggling to come to terms with the disease that left her wheelchair-bound. But she left a new woman, with a new outlook on life that she's embraced for the past 17 years.
"Coming to this clinic made me realize that no matter what I may have lost, I didn't lose me," she said. "The core of me is still there."
Cooper said she's sharing that discovery with the newly wounded veterans attending this year's clinic. "I go around to them and let them know we're here for them," she said. "We've been through it, and what we tell these young folks is that it's not over. It's just a new program for them, and a way for them to triumph over adversity."
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
America Supports You: 4-H Provides Ways to Help Military Kids
By Spc. William E. Henry, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2008 - In mid-March, Indiana school administrators, military support groups and volunteers met at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville, Ind., to learn about ways to assist children affected by a family member's deployment. One way is through "Operation Military Kids," a program initiated by U.S. Army Child and Youth Services. Now in 42 states, the program works through the 4-H program and other volunteer organizations that connect with military youth and provide support through a network of community resources.
"The idea of the meeting is to give training to the educators to know what steps they can take to form the right connections (to help military kids)," said Judy Hauser, 4-H project coordinator.
She stressed how important these connections were in establishing resources to assist military children in times of trouble or confusion.
"Socially, it gives them support through being able to interact with other kids on their level, do fun activities away from school, plus gain support from the volunteers," said Amy Nierman, a 4-H member with the Purdue Extension. "It gives the youth an opportunity to meet with other kids throughout the county, focusing on things they are interested in."
During family meetings like those held by the Family Readiness Group for the Indiana National Guard, 4-H volunteers try to provide children with fun educational activities, including packets created specifically for them.
Another program 4-H participates in is the assembly and distribution of "Hero Packs" for children. Hero Packs are backpacks or sacks filled with fun things to occupy children's time.
"When you work on projects with kids, they tend to talk more and open up about things," said Jacque McBride, a counselor at South Elementary School, in Danville, Ind.
She said the program has given her a lot of insight on things that could be done when dealing with military children. "I think it will help give me some ideas on who to talk to, and things to do with (the children)," McBride said. "I would like to be more connected with them and be more open.
"I've been brainstorming some ideas on, like a wall of fame for the military, to put up in the hallway and things like that," she added.
4-H is a youth organization administered by the Cooperative Extension System of the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." The four "H's" stand for head, heart, hands and health. The organization provides extracurricular activities in every county in the United States, including arts and crafts, photography and working with animals.
(Army Spc. William E. Henry serves with the Indiana National Guard.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2008 - In mid-March, Indiana school administrators, military support groups and volunteers met at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville, Ind., to learn about ways to assist children affected by a family member's deployment. One way is through "Operation Military Kids," a program initiated by U.S. Army Child and Youth Services. Now in 42 states, the program works through the 4-H program and other volunteer organizations that connect with military youth and provide support through a network of community resources.
"The idea of the meeting is to give training to the educators to know what steps they can take to form the right connections (to help military kids)," said Judy Hauser, 4-H project coordinator.
She stressed how important these connections were in establishing resources to assist military children in times of trouble or confusion.
"Socially, it gives them support through being able to interact with other kids on their level, do fun activities away from school, plus gain support from the volunteers," said Amy Nierman, a 4-H member with the Purdue Extension. "It gives the youth an opportunity to meet with other kids throughout the county, focusing on things they are interested in."
During family meetings like those held by the Family Readiness Group for the Indiana National Guard, 4-H volunteers try to provide children with fun educational activities, including packets created specifically for them.
Another program 4-H participates in is the assembly and distribution of "Hero Packs" for children. Hero Packs are backpacks or sacks filled with fun things to occupy children's time.
"When you work on projects with kids, they tend to talk more and open up about things," said Jacque McBride, a counselor at South Elementary School, in Danville, Ind.
She said the program has given her a lot of insight on things that could be done when dealing with military children. "I think it will help give me some ideas on who to talk to, and things to do with (the children)," McBride said. "I would like to be more connected with them and be more open.
"I've been brainstorming some ideas on, like a wall of fame for the military, to put up in the hallway and things like that," she added.
4-H is a youth organization administered by the Cooperative Extension System of the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." The four "H's" stand for head, heart, hands and health. The organization provides extracurricular activities in every county in the United States, including arts and crafts, photography and working with animals.
(Army Spc. William E. Henry serves with the Indiana National Guard.)
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