By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 10, 2008 - Recruiting successes in fiscal 2008 continued into the first month of the new fiscal year, with all active and reserve components meeting or exceeding their October goals, defense officials reported today. Recruiting remained solid across the board, with the Army leading the effort by exceeding its active-duty goal by 1 percent, its Army National Guard goal by 16 percent and its Army Reserve goal by 10 percent, officials said. The Army signed on 5,324 active-duty soldiers in October, as well as 6,487 National Guardsmen and 3,049 reservists.
The Marine Corps topped its October active-duty recruiting goal by 4 percent and its Marine Corps Reserve goal by 51 percent, officials reported. The Marines recruited 2,983 new active-duty members and 968 reservists.
The Navy reported a strong recruiting month as well, reaching its goals of 2,930 active-duty sailors and 664 reservists.
The Air Force also met its October goals by signing on 3,336 active-duty airmen and 856 reservists. The Air National Guard exceeded its monthly goal by 20 percent, with 913 recruits.
The October recruiting successes came on the heels of strong fiscal 2008 recruiting successes, with all military services and their reserve components meeting or exceeding their goals.
David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, called 2008 the strongest recruiting year since fiscal 2004.
In addition to attracting numbers, officials emphasized, recruiters brought in quality members. More than 92 percent of recruits hold a high school diploma, contrasted with 75 percent of the general U.S. population in the same age range, officials said.
Nearly 70 percent of new active-duty recruits came from the top half of those in the United States testing highest in math and verbal aptitude, and about three-quarters of new recruits come from neighborhoods that are at or above the U.S. median annual household income of about $50,000.
"[It] is a great tribute to the qualities of America's youth today, their willingness to step forward, and their willingness to serve," Chu said. "The fact that we are getting some of the best and brightest in our society is a great tribute to the spirit that young people put into the notion of public service today."
Monday, November 10, 2008
National Mental Health Groups Sign on to Help Troops, Families
By Army Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy
Special to American Forces Press Service
Nov. 10, 2008 - Four major U.S. mental health groups have joined the network of professionals who donate an hour of their time each week to provide free mental health services to servicemembers and their families. The American Association of Pastoral Counselors, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers are now part of the "Give an Hour" nonprofit group.
For many of the volunteers, it is a way to give back to those who have served overseas.
"We can honor our veterans," said Dr. Donald Arthur, senior vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer of Main Line Health Systems, part of the Give an Hour network.
"Every week we can give an hour of our time and say thank you by listening and helping to heal the absolutely normal effects of the extraordinary circumstance of combat," Arthur said. "Combat stress is normal."
Being able to heal from the effects of combat may be difficult for some Guard and Reserve members, who may not live near a military or Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility.
"We know that the military and the VA have expanded their programs for mental health and substance abuse treatment, but much more needs to be done," said Dr. Carolyn Rabinowitz, immediate past president of the American Psychiatric Association.
"Resources are stretched to the limit," Rabinowitz said. "The mental health personnel from the bases have been deployed to be embedded with the troops, and veterans from the Guard and Reserve may go back... to neighborhoods in which there aren't sufficient choices."
According to a Rand Corporation report released in April, about 300,000 of the 1 million servicemembers who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan have reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. But those symptoms affect more than just the servicemember.
"Post-traumatic stress, depression and other mental health issues can have a devastating effect on those who serve in the military and their families," Rabinowitz said.
And while military members may be able to receive care through the military or VA, many times their parents, siblings or an unmarried partner are not entitled to those benefits. They can find help through the Give an Hour network.
One of the goals of the group is to provide easy access to mental health professionals for those affected, including the servicemember's family, by the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen Romberg, founder and president of Give an Hour.
Give an Hour now has almost 3,000 licensed mental health professionals in its network, covering all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
(Army Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy serves at the National Guard Bureau.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Nov. 10, 2008 - Four major U.S. mental health groups have joined the network of professionals who donate an hour of their time each week to provide free mental health services to servicemembers and their families. The American Association of Pastoral Counselors, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers are now part of the "Give an Hour" nonprofit group.
For many of the volunteers, it is a way to give back to those who have served overseas.
"We can honor our veterans," said Dr. Donald Arthur, senior vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer of Main Line Health Systems, part of the Give an Hour network.
"Every week we can give an hour of our time and say thank you by listening and helping to heal the absolutely normal effects of the extraordinary circumstance of combat," Arthur said. "Combat stress is normal."
Being able to heal from the effects of combat may be difficult for some Guard and Reserve members, who may not live near a military or Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility.
"We know that the military and the VA have expanded their programs for mental health and substance abuse treatment, but much more needs to be done," said Dr. Carolyn Rabinowitz, immediate past president of the American Psychiatric Association.
"Resources are stretched to the limit," Rabinowitz said. "The mental health personnel from the bases have been deployed to be embedded with the troops, and veterans from the Guard and Reserve may go back... to neighborhoods in which there aren't sufficient choices."
According to a Rand Corporation report released in April, about 300,000 of the 1 million servicemembers who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan have reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. But those symptoms affect more than just the servicemember.
"Post-traumatic stress, depression and other mental health issues can have a devastating effect on those who serve in the military and their families," Rabinowitz said.
And while military members may be able to receive care through the military or VA, many times their parents, siblings or an unmarried partner are not entitled to those benefits. They can find help through the Give an Hour network.
One of the goals of the group is to provide easy access to mental health professionals for those affected, including the servicemember's family, by the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen Romberg, founder and president of Give an Hour.
Give an Hour now has almost 3,000 licensed mental health professionals in its network, covering all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
(Army Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy serves at the National Guard Bureau.)
Lab Offers Last-Ditch Effort to Identify Servicemembers
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 10, 2008 - As U.S. military recovery teams scour the jungles and mountains and woods and fields around the world looking for missing servicemembers from past wars, they hope to find enough remains to identify and return to their families for a proper burial. A jawbone with some teeth intact or a piece of a thigh bone with its DNA still salvageable sometimes can be all that is needed to finally put to rest a servicemember who died fighting on foreign soil decades ago.
But sometimes there simply are no remains left, or very little, and the recovery teams return home with what looks to the untrained eye like only a box of scraps – varied buttons and corroded buckles, scorched cloth and shredded boot soles.
For those cases, the Hawaii-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, the agency charged with recovering and identifying the remains of missing servicemembers, has one last-ditch try at answering the burning question of family members: "What happened to my loved one?"
"When the cases come here, we are the last hope. If we cannot come up with an answer, there may not be an answer for the families who are waiting," said John A. Goines III, chief of the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory here.
The JPAC has identified nearly 1,500 formerly missing servicemembers, mostly through a combination of DNA and dental identification. But 88,000 are still buried on foreign shores and at sea. And in some cases, like those that end up at Goines' lab, it is likely no remains will ever be found.
The lab deals mostly with identifications from aircraft crash sites, because they are less likely to yield human remains. The heat, fed by jet fuel and loaded munitions, incinerates most human remains as temperatures reach several times those of a crematorium. But many pieces of military uniforms and equipment will withstand those temperatures.
Goines and his handful of equipment analysts are students of history and experts in aircraft ejection systems, parachutes, life support equipment and uniforms. Most are veterans. Remarkably, most times they are able to piece together with scientific accuracy the likely final moments of servicemembers based on the artifacts.
The lab supports the services' accident boards investigating current aircraft crashes, and it also provides feedback to agencies working to develop new uniforms and life-support systems. But its primary purpose is to help the JPAC with its cases, Goines said. The JPAC sends the lab about a dozen cases every year that can take anywhere from a few weeks to six months to work through, Goines said.
The lab began supporting the JPAC mission part-time in 1988 and started supporting it full-time in 1994. Since 1994, it has analyzed 156 cases and accounted for 172 servicemembers. And while an identity cannot always be made from the artifacts, sometimes they still provide enough clues for the JPAC teams to return to the site, Goines said.
The 21,000-square-foot lab at the former Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio is home to more than 50,000 uniforms and pieces of equipment from as far back as World War I. Parachutes dangle from racks, and rows of 250 ejection seats line the walls. The rebuilt cockpits of more than a dozen aircraft, mainly of the Vietnam War era, are parked on its floors, and workstations with microscopes are scattered among the artifacts.
Goines is a life-long collector of military uniforms and equipment. His first piece was an Air Force ball cap worn by airmen in his father's unit, he said. Goines was then 3 years old. He continued collecting patches, uniforms and equipment into his college years. Goines watched television in his college dorm room while sitting in an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet ejection seat, which now resides at the lab, where he started working full-time after college.
Goines estimates he has about 20,000 items in his personal collection, which he brings in when needed to help on a case.
The analysts use the artifacts and equipment at the lab as comparisons to those shipped to the lab from a recovery site. Goines is constantly on the lookout for new relics to add to the collection.
"Pretty much every night I'm on eBay looking for anything we don't have either in my personal collection or here in the lab to use as a reference item," Goines said.
Nearly every piece delivered from the field yields a clue. Melted pistols reveal portions of serial numbers, traceable back to the servicemember. Boot soles can be matched to the servicemember by uniform records. They also can indicate whether the pilot was still in the cockpit pressing down on the plane rudder at impact. A seatbelt buckle melted together in the closed position is a telltale sign that the pilot likely died in his craft.
These clues are pieced together like a puzzle and matched with historical reports, witness accounts, military records and other evidence.
It can be tedious and painstaking work, said equipment analyst Jim Hodges. He has worked at the lab since 1988 after finishing a career as an egress systems expert in the Air Force.
"It's very challenging. There's a lot of frustration, too," he said.
The analysts can spend hours hovering over a microscope analyzing fabric and piecing together uniforms. In Hodges' last case, he pinned together 122 individual pieces of a flight suit.
Hodges said he views the lab's mission as the fulfillment of the U.S. commitment to returning servicemembers home.
"When they say we never forget, that's not lip service," Hodges said. "There are a lot of people in this program still trying to account for those that are missing. And I'm proud to be a part of that."
Sometimes, though, despite their best efforts, there is not enough found at the site to render a conclusive identity.
"That's where the frustration is, when you just can't figure it out," Hodges said. "There's not enough there. You need more."
No speculation is allowed, Goines said. Everything must be proven. The integrity of the lab's report is critical, because families rely on it, he said.
To make an identity, lab officials work to match the remnants brought from a site to those of the aircraft believed to have crashed. This can be done with serial numbers found on data plates at the site, or by identifying equipment distinctive to a specific model.
They also try to pinpoint the timeframe of the crash, based on the artifacts, to verify a match with the case under investigation. For example, there were many uniform variations during the Vietnam War. Those found at the site must match those worn by those believed to have crashed.
It also is critical to find artifacts from the exact number of people reportedly in the crash. For example, recovering the soles of two right-foot boots would indicate that two people were in the crash. If the sizes match those worn by the two reported in the crash, that's more proof of identity.
Finally, the analysts try to determine, based on damage to the artifacts, if the crash was survivable.
"We have to follow all of those different leads to try to come up with the answer [to the question], 'What really happened at the event?'" Goines said.
A handful of families travel to the lab every year to find out about the last moments of their loved ones. The lab has an open-door policy and will accommodate anyone wanting to understand its identification process.
"The families who lost somebody lost somebody very important. And the hurt -- the 'miss' -- never goes away," said Robert S. Browning III, an equipment analyst at the lab. "There's no such thing as closure, but you can answer their questions. You can tell them what happened. In some cases, you can put their minds at ease that there was no suffering."
"You can, in fact, bring them to a better place," Browning said. "I think that's an important thing to do for people who have sacrificed a great deal."
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 10, 2008 - As U.S. military recovery teams scour the jungles and mountains and woods and fields around the world looking for missing servicemembers from past wars, they hope to find enough remains to identify and return to their families for a proper burial. A jawbone with some teeth intact or a piece of a thigh bone with its DNA still salvageable sometimes can be all that is needed to finally put to rest a servicemember who died fighting on foreign soil decades ago.
But sometimes there simply are no remains left, or very little, and the recovery teams return home with what looks to the untrained eye like only a box of scraps – varied buttons and corroded buckles, scorched cloth and shredded boot soles.
For those cases, the Hawaii-based Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, the agency charged with recovering and identifying the remains of missing servicemembers, has one last-ditch try at answering the burning question of family members: "What happened to my loved one?"
"When the cases come here, we are the last hope. If we cannot come up with an answer, there may not be an answer for the families who are waiting," said John A. Goines III, chief of the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory here.
The JPAC has identified nearly 1,500 formerly missing servicemembers, mostly through a combination of DNA and dental identification. But 88,000 are still buried on foreign shores and at sea. And in some cases, like those that end up at Goines' lab, it is likely no remains will ever be found.
The lab deals mostly with identifications from aircraft crash sites, because they are less likely to yield human remains. The heat, fed by jet fuel and loaded munitions, incinerates most human remains as temperatures reach several times those of a crematorium. But many pieces of military uniforms and equipment will withstand those temperatures.
Goines and his handful of equipment analysts are students of history and experts in aircraft ejection systems, parachutes, life support equipment and uniforms. Most are veterans. Remarkably, most times they are able to piece together with scientific accuracy the likely final moments of servicemembers based on the artifacts.
The lab supports the services' accident boards investigating current aircraft crashes, and it also provides feedback to agencies working to develop new uniforms and life-support systems. But its primary purpose is to help the JPAC with its cases, Goines said. The JPAC sends the lab about a dozen cases every year that can take anywhere from a few weeks to six months to work through, Goines said.
The lab began supporting the JPAC mission part-time in 1988 and started supporting it full-time in 1994. Since 1994, it has analyzed 156 cases and accounted for 172 servicemembers. And while an identity cannot always be made from the artifacts, sometimes they still provide enough clues for the JPAC teams to return to the site, Goines said.
The 21,000-square-foot lab at the former Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio is home to more than 50,000 uniforms and pieces of equipment from as far back as World War I. Parachutes dangle from racks, and rows of 250 ejection seats line the walls. The rebuilt cockpits of more than a dozen aircraft, mainly of the Vietnam War era, are parked on its floors, and workstations with microscopes are scattered among the artifacts.
Goines is a life-long collector of military uniforms and equipment. His first piece was an Air Force ball cap worn by airmen in his father's unit, he said. Goines was then 3 years old. He continued collecting patches, uniforms and equipment into his college years. Goines watched television in his college dorm room while sitting in an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet ejection seat, which now resides at the lab, where he started working full-time after college.
Goines estimates he has about 20,000 items in his personal collection, which he brings in when needed to help on a case.
The analysts use the artifacts and equipment at the lab as comparisons to those shipped to the lab from a recovery site. Goines is constantly on the lookout for new relics to add to the collection.
"Pretty much every night I'm on eBay looking for anything we don't have either in my personal collection or here in the lab to use as a reference item," Goines said.
Nearly every piece delivered from the field yields a clue. Melted pistols reveal portions of serial numbers, traceable back to the servicemember. Boot soles can be matched to the servicemember by uniform records. They also can indicate whether the pilot was still in the cockpit pressing down on the plane rudder at impact. A seatbelt buckle melted together in the closed position is a telltale sign that the pilot likely died in his craft.
These clues are pieced together like a puzzle and matched with historical reports, witness accounts, military records and other evidence.
It can be tedious and painstaking work, said equipment analyst Jim Hodges. He has worked at the lab since 1988 after finishing a career as an egress systems expert in the Air Force.
"It's very challenging. There's a lot of frustration, too," he said.
The analysts can spend hours hovering over a microscope analyzing fabric and piecing together uniforms. In Hodges' last case, he pinned together 122 individual pieces of a flight suit.
Hodges said he views the lab's mission as the fulfillment of the U.S. commitment to returning servicemembers home.
"When they say we never forget, that's not lip service," Hodges said. "There are a lot of people in this program still trying to account for those that are missing. And I'm proud to be a part of that."
Sometimes, though, despite their best efforts, there is not enough found at the site to render a conclusive identity.
"That's where the frustration is, when you just can't figure it out," Hodges said. "There's not enough there. You need more."
No speculation is allowed, Goines said. Everything must be proven. The integrity of the lab's report is critical, because families rely on it, he said.
To make an identity, lab officials work to match the remnants brought from a site to those of the aircraft believed to have crashed. This can be done with serial numbers found on data plates at the site, or by identifying equipment distinctive to a specific model.
They also try to pinpoint the timeframe of the crash, based on the artifacts, to verify a match with the case under investigation. For example, there were many uniform variations during the Vietnam War. Those found at the site must match those worn by those believed to have crashed.
It also is critical to find artifacts from the exact number of people reportedly in the crash. For example, recovering the soles of two right-foot boots would indicate that two people were in the crash. If the sizes match those worn by the two reported in the crash, that's more proof of identity.
Finally, the analysts try to determine, based on damage to the artifacts, if the crash was survivable.
"We have to follow all of those different leads to try to come up with the answer [to the question], 'What really happened at the event?'" Goines said.
A handful of families travel to the lab every year to find out about the last moments of their loved ones. The lab has an open-door policy and will accommodate anyone wanting to understand its identification process.
"The families who lost somebody lost somebody very important. And the hurt -- the 'miss' -- never goes away," said Robert S. Browning III, an equipment analyst at the lab. "There's no such thing as closure, but you can answer their questions. You can tell them what happened. In some cases, you can put their minds at ease that there was no suffering."
"You can, in fact, bring them to a better place," Browning said. "I think that's an important thing to do for people who have sacrificed a great deal."
MILITARY CONTRACTS November 10, 2008
NAVY
Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training and Support, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $221,642,000 firm fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide performance based logistics maintenance and support services for up to 500 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Hybrid, Radio Frequency, Communications Navigation and Instrumentation, and High Power Consolidated Automated Support System stations. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla. (80 percent) and at various ashore and afloat aviation intermediate maintenance depots, NAVY training sites, and Marine Corps airwings (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals; one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-09-D-0006).
EDO Western Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah, is being awarded a $33,272,851 firm fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for AN/SQS-53C Unit 717 Sonar Tranducer Array Shipsets. The AN/SQS-53C Unit 717 Sonar Tranducer Array is a component of the AN/SQQ-89(V), which is a fully integrated Surface Ship Undersea Warfare combat system with the capability to search, detect, classify, localize, and attack submarine targets. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is expected to be completed by November 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Federal Business Opportunities, with twooffers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-09-D-GP05).
Canadian Commercial Corp., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada, is being awarded a $22,250,250 firm fixed priced modification to delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5028) for the purchase of Authorized Stockage List (ASL) parts to support 673 vehicles. Work will be performed in Durban, South Africa, and work is expected to be completed no later than July 9, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics, Electric Boat, Groton, Conn., is being awarded a $6,290,977 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-4003) for Nuclear Regional Maintenance Department tasks in support of operational nuclear submarines including maintaining and modernizing Government-owned facilities and equipment and providing off-hull support of submarine maintenance. The contractor will provide supervisory personnel as necessary, program management, engineering and planning, training, inspection and nuclear services to accomplish intermediate-level nuclear submarine maintenance, modernization and repairs. The contractor shall accomplish naval nuclear work tasks using approved processes, technical work documents, and equipment. The contractor's efforts shall include program management services such as planning, scheduling, coordination, integration, training, and certification of nuclear work. Work will be performed in New London, Conn., and is expected to be completed by September 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $6,290,977 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington NAVY Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
AM General LLC, Mishawaka, Ind. is being awarded a maximum $62,718,847 firm fixed price, sole source, requirements type contract for parts and functional support services. Other locations of performance are Pennsylvania, Texas and Maine. Using service is Army. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract has a one year base and four possible one year options. The date of performance completion is January 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC), Columbus, Ohio
(SPM7LX-09-D-9001).
AIR FORCE
John Bean Technologies, JBT Aero Tech of Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a firm fixed price contract for a maximum $44,553,589.25. This action will provide Halvorsen aircraft cargo loaders: aircraft cargo loaders, 55 each; production support, 55 each; packaging, 55 each; data 1 lot. At this point, $29,201,030 has been obligated. Robins AFB, Ga. is the contracting activity. (FA8519-09-D-0001)
Army
Beretta U.S.A. Corp., Accokeek, Md., was awarded on Nov. 7, 2008, a $8,154,800 three year firm fixed price contract for 20,000 Beretta 92FS 9mm pistols. Work will be performed in Accokeek, Md., with an estimated completion date of Oct. 20, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. TACOM Contracting Center, Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52H09-09-D-0037).
ECM-GEC JV, Metairie, La., was awarded on Nov. 6, 2008, a $5,680,875 firm fixed price contract to provide four final Geotechnical Soil Reports, final construction plans and specifications for the design of the New Orleans-to-Venice back levees of reaches NOV-6, NOV-7 and NOV-8 Hurricane Protection Project. Work will be performed in New Orleans to Venice, Plaquemines Parish, La., with an estimated completion date of Mar 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, La., is the contracting activity (W912P8-07-D-0031).
Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training and Support, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $221,642,000 firm fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide performance based logistics maintenance and support services for up to 500 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Hybrid, Radio Frequency, Communications Navigation and Instrumentation, and High Power Consolidated Automated Support System stations. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla. (80 percent) and at various ashore and afloat aviation intermediate maintenance depots, NAVY training sites, and Marine Corps airwings (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals; one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-09-D-0006).
EDO Western Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah, is being awarded a $33,272,851 firm fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for AN/SQS-53C Unit 717 Sonar Tranducer Array Shipsets. The AN/SQS-53C Unit 717 Sonar Tranducer Array is a component of the AN/SQQ-89(V), which is a fully integrated Surface Ship Undersea Warfare combat system with the capability to search, detect, classify, localize, and attack submarine targets. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is expected to be completed by November 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Federal Business Opportunities, with twooffers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-09-D-GP05).
Canadian Commercial Corp., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada, is being awarded a $22,250,250 firm fixed priced modification to delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5028) for the purchase of Authorized Stockage List (ASL) parts to support 673 vehicles. Work will be performed in Durban, South Africa, and work is expected to be completed no later than July 9, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics, Electric Boat, Groton, Conn., is being awarded a $6,290,977 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-4003) for Nuclear Regional Maintenance Department tasks in support of operational nuclear submarines including maintaining and modernizing Government-owned facilities and equipment and providing off-hull support of submarine maintenance. The contractor will provide supervisory personnel as necessary, program management, engineering and planning, training, inspection and nuclear services to accomplish intermediate-level nuclear submarine maintenance, modernization and repairs. The contractor shall accomplish naval nuclear work tasks using approved processes, technical work documents, and equipment. The contractor's efforts shall include program management services such as planning, scheduling, coordination, integration, training, and certification of nuclear work. Work will be performed in New London, Conn., and is expected to be completed by September 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $6,290,977 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington NAVY Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
AM General LLC, Mishawaka, Ind. is being awarded a maximum $62,718,847 firm fixed price, sole source, requirements type contract for parts and functional support services. Other locations of performance are Pennsylvania, Texas and Maine. Using service is Army. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract has a one year base and four possible one year options. The date of performance completion is January 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC), Columbus, Ohio
(SPM7LX-09-D-9001).
AIR FORCE
John Bean Technologies, JBT Aero Tech of Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a firm fixed price contract for a maximum $44,553,589.25. This action will provide Halvorsen aircraft cargo loaders: aircraft cargo loaders, 55 each; production support, 55 each; packaging, 55 each; data 1 lot. At this point, $29,201,030 has been obligated. Robins AFB, Ga. is the contracting activity. (FA8519-09-D-0001)
Army
Beretta U.S.A. Corp., Accokeek, Md., was awarded on Nov. 7, 2008, a $8,154,800 three year firm fixed price contract for 20,000 Beretta 92FS 9mm pistols. Work will be performed in Accokeek, Md., with an estimated completion date of Oct. 20, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. TACOM Contracting Center, Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52H09-09-D-0037).
ECM-GEC JV, Metairie, La., was awarded on Nov. 6, 2008, a $5,680,875 firm fixed price contract to provide four final Geotechnical Soil Reports, final construction plans and specifications for the design of the New Orleans-to-Venice back levees of reaches NOV-6, NOV-7 and NOV-8 Hurricane Protection Project. Work will be performed in New Orleans to Venice, Plaquemines Parish, La., with an estimated completion date of Mar 31, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, La., is the contracting activity (W912P8-07-D-0031).
Wounded Soldier Advocate Finds His Calling
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 10, 2008 - Doug Miller never really knew what he wanted to do when he grew up – that was, until after he retired this year. The 65-year-old combat veteran and former technology businessman finally found his calling, he said, taking care of Army wounded warriors.
"I think we owe so much to these people who have served our country and who are now going through a whole lot more than they expected to go through. I want to do something for them," Miller said.
Miller took the federal civilian job this year after a friend called and asked if he'd be interested. With his daughter serving with the U.S. State Department in Iraq and his son serving as an Army helicopter pilot, Miller jumped at the opportunity.
"I just felt compelled to go back and serve some more. This is the best thing I could do at my age," Miller said. "This is a chance for me to come back and do something that's needed."
Miller is a retired Army helicopter pilot and two-tour combat veteran. That usually opens doors for him as he calls those under his watch and introduces himself. He has 84 cases right now, although he is supposed to have only 30. Eventually, those extra cases will be turned over to two other case managers.
Of Miller's cases, about 70 percent of the troops are retired or awaiting the outcomes of physical evaluation boards. Two continue to serve on active duty in duty assignments, while others still are working through their recovery in warrior transition units on military installations and at treatment facilities. Miller's territory includes northern California and parts of Nevada.
Poking Around the Edges
On a typical day, Miller spends most of his time on the phone, on e-mail or on the road. He calls every soldier once a month, Miller said.
"It's not just to have a brief conversation, but it's to, as best we can, assess the total family environment," Miller said. "We want to know how the soldier is doing but we want also want to know how the family is doing as well. Because a lot of times what's happened to the soldier has a significant impact on the family dynamics."
For the most part, he is a generalist, with no particular specialty, Miller said. His power comes from his reach back to Washington, D.C., that gives him access to specialists and senior leaders to whom many times the soldiers and families do not have access.
"We identify an issue and we call headquarters. They do all the research, find the right resources and come to us with some recommendations and a solution," Miller said.
Sometimes servicemembers or families are upset over bureaucratic snafus or, once they are away from a military treatment facility, have feelings of being ignored, Miller said.
"Sometimes you have to poke around the edges and not push too hard," Miller said of his conversations. "But as you establish a trust over several conversations, over several weeks or months, they begin to open up."
Miller said one soldier was extremely frustrated over not being able to receive his Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance -- a one-time payment aimed at helping severely injured soldiers through immediate financial needs brought on by their injuries. The amount varies depending on the injury, but it often makes it financially possible for families to be with the servicemembers during recovery.
For six months, the soldier's paperwork kept getting rejected over a discrepancy. The soldier was so frustrated by the time Miller first called him, he didn't even want to talk, Miller said.
"I said 'Just give me a chance. I know who to call,'" Miller said. "He gave me chance. I called him back and said 'Your payment's been approved.' We're the best of friends now. We talk all the time.
"It's not that I did anything. It's that I was there and showed some concern."
Care Plus Marketing Equal Advocacy
Miller's first objective is to let the soldiers and families know the Army still cares about them. After that, his goal is to help them along their transition, whether it is back to military duty or into civilian life.
"Whether they stay in the service or they get out and go to school or get a job, we want to help them, mentor them, facilitate them along the way," Miller said.
He helps the soldiers develop a five-year plan that takes them through their transition and sets goals as steps along the way.
Miller's job complements the efforts of the warrior transition units. There, troops have squad leaders and a command structure to help them through problems.
Part of Miller's time is spent meeting with and speaking to private and civic groups that want to help wounded warriors. He is active in his local Veterans of Foreign Wars in Pleasanton, Calif., and works with the Sentinels of Freedom, a nonprofit group that provides scholarships to help veterans become self- sufficient.
About 80 percent of Miller's time is spent talking to soldiers and families, and the rest marketing the program and advocating on soldiers' behalf.
The experiences of his past two jobs, as an Army officer and in corporate marketing, have provided him with a perfect combination of skills for his efforts now, Miller said.
"As a government employee I can't solicit help for them, but I can make people in the community aware they are there," Miller said.
To be successful as an advocate, you have to have a passion for taking care of soldiers, Miller said. While he was attending training in Washington with other new advocates, he was impressed by the overall sense of dedication, Miller said.
"Everybody was very emotional," Miller said. "It was one of the most emotional experiences to hear everyone's story."
When Miller first considered the job, taken on in what was supposed to be his golden years, he told his wife he would stick with it for a year or two, he said.
But somewhere down the line, something changed.
"I think I'm going to have difficulty telling my wife, but I don't see any reason to quit," Miller said. "I don't know how long I'll do the job, but I can't see why I'd ever want to quit."
Miller said he used to joke during his time in the military and while he was working in the corporate world that he never knew what he wanted to do when he grew up.
He's not joking anymore.
"Now, basically, I know. Everything I was doing in my life was preparing me for this job." Miller said.
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 10, 2008 - Doug Miller never really knew what he wanted to do when he grew up – that was, until after he retired this year. The 65-year-old combat veteran and former technology businessman finally found his calling, he said, taking care of Army wounded warriors.
"I think we owe so much to these people who have served our country and who are now going through a whole lot more than they expected to go through. I want to do something for them," Miller said.
Miller took the federal civilian job this year after a friend called and asked if he'd be interested. With his daughter serving with the U.S. State Department in Iraq and his son serving as an Army helicopter pilot, Miller jumped at the opportunity.
"I just felt compelled to go back and serve some more. This is the best thing I could do at my age," Miller said. "This is a chance for me to come back and do something that's needed."
Miller is a retired Army helicopter pilot and two-tour combat veteran. That usually opens doors for him as he calls those under his watch and introduces himself. He has 84 cases right now, although he is supposed to have only 30. Eventually, those extra cases will be turned over to two other case managers.
Of Miller's cases, about 70 percent of the troops are retired or awaiting the outcomes of physical evaluation boards. Two continue to serve on active duty in duty assignments, while others still are working through their recovery in warrior transition units on military installations and at treatment facilities. Miller's territory includes northern California and parts of Nevada.
Poking Around the Edges
On a typical day, Miller spends most of his time on the phone, on e-mail or on the road. He calls every soldier once a month, Miller said.
"It's not just to have a brief conversation, but it's to, as best we can, assess the total family environment," Miller said. "We want to know how the soldier is doing but we want also want to know how the family is doing as well. Because a lot of times what's happened to the soldier has a significant impact on the family dynamics."
For the most part, he is a generalist, with no particular specialty, Miller said. His power comes from his reach back to Washington, D.C., that gives him access to specialists and senior leaders to whom many times the soldiers and families do not have access.
"We identify an issue and we call headquarters. They do all the research, find the right resources and come to us with some recommendations and a solution," Miller said.
Sometimes servicemembers or families are upset over bureaucratic snafus or, once they are away from a military treatment facility, have feelings of being ignored, Miller said.
"Sometimes you have to poke around the edges and not push too hard," Miller said of his conversations. "But as you establish a trust over several conversations, over several weeks or months, they begin to open up."
Miller said one soldier was extremely frustrated over not being able to receive his Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance -- a one-time payment aimed at helping severely injured soldiers through immediate financial needs brought on by their injuries. The amount varies depending on the injury, but it often makes it financially possible for families to be with the servicemembers during recovery.
For six months, the soldier's paperwork kept getting rejected over a discrepancy. The soldier was so frustrated by the time Miller first called him, he didn't even want to talk, Miller said.
"I said 'Just give me a chance. I know who to call,'" Miller said. "He gave me chance. I called him back and said 'Your payment's been approved.' We're the best of friends now. We talk all the time.
"It's not that I did anything. It's that I was there and showed some concern."
Care Plus Marketing Equal Advocacy
Miller's first objective is to let the soldiers and families know the Army still cares about them. After that, his goal is to help them along their transition, whether it is back to military duty or into civilian life.
"Whether they stay in the service or they get out and go to school or get a job, we want to help them, mentor them, facilitate them along the way," Miller said.
He helps the soldiers develop a five-year plan that takes them through their transition and sets goals as steps along the way.
Miller's job complements the efforts of the warrior transition units. There, troops have squad leaders and a command structure to help them through problems.
Part of Miller's time is spent meeting with and speaking to private and civic groups that want to help wounded warriors. He is active in his local Veterans of Foreign Wars in Pleasanton, Calif., and works with the Sentinels of Freedom, a nonprofit group that provides scholarships to help veterans become self- sufficient.
About 80 percent of Miller's time is spent talking to soldiers and families, and the rest marketing the program and advocating on soldiers' behalf.
The experiences of his past two jobs, as an Army officer and in corporate marketing, have provided him with a perfect combination of skills for his efforts now, Miller said.
"As a government employee I can't solicit help for them, but I can make people in the community aware they are there," Miller said.
To be successful as an advocate, you have to have a passion for taking care of soldiers, Miller said. While he was attending training in Washington with other new advocates, he was impressed by the overall sense of dedication, Miller said.
"Everybody was very emotional," Miller said. "It was one of the most emotional experiences to hear everyone's story."
When Miller first considered the job, taken on in what was supposed to be his golden years, he told his wife he would stick with it for a year or two, he said.
But somewhere down the line, something changed.
"I think I'm going to have difficulty telling my wife, but I don't see any reason to quit," Miller said. "I don't know how long I'll do the job, but I can't see why I'd ever want to quit."
Miller said he used to joke during his time in the military and while he was working in the corporate world that he never knew what he wanted to do when he grew up.
He's not joking anymore.
"Now, basically, I know. Everything I was doing in my life was preparing me for this job." Miller said.
Veterans Get Free Health Exams at Redskins-Sponsored Clinic
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 9, 2008 - Scores of military veterans from across the National Capital Region visited FedEx Field here yesterday, but not to watch the National Football League's Washington Redskins play. Instead, while the players were taking a week off, veterans of all ages, some with their families, entered the Redskins' burgundy-hued locker room, where they received free health exams, including tests for cholesterol level, blood pressure, body fat percentage and other preventive-care checkups.
The event also featured children's games, candy, and appearances by the team's "Hoggettes" mascots and cheerleaders.
The Redskins conducted the clinic with the help of some health care firms and veterans' groups, said Stephanie R. Baldwin, the team's client services manager.
"Partnering together is a perfect way to get people out here and get them checked out," Baldwin said. "The military veterans do so much for our country. ... It's very important to recognize them."
Army veteran Nicol D. Martin, who was a finance sergeant when she left the Army in 2001 after six years of service, said the Redskins' health clinic was a great idea, as she waited her turn to get her body fat percentage checked via computer. Martin "did well" on her test, according to examiner Ammanuel Haile-Leal.
The Redskins should be saluted for holding a health clinic "for the veterans who've served the country," Martin said.
"For one, you get to see the Redskins' locker room and then, too, you get to have the health screenings," said Martin, a 38-year-old Woodbridge, Va., resident who now works at the Pentagon.
After receiving a cholesterol-level test, retired Navy Cmdr. Robert C. Douglass, 54, and his wife, Sheila, surveyed the bustling locker room. The Douglass' 11-year-old son, Jeremy, was among several other children at an X-Box 360 computer game set just a short distance away.
The Redskins and the other sponsors are to be commended for holding the health clinic, the Navy retiree and Chantilly, Va., resident said.
"I enjoy the fact that people are concerned about veterans' health," Douglass said, adding that the multifaceted event "made it exciting for the family as a whole."
World War II Army veteran and Alexandria, Va., resident Peter P. Evanko, 84, hailed the Redskins as he finished his prostate-specific antigen level screening, a blood test that helps to assess the health of the prostate gland.
"This is a very good thing, not only for a veteran, but I think all people should be taking care of themselves," said Evanko, left the Army at the end of the war with a sergeant's rank after serving in the European theater.
The health clinic "is a great thing for those of us who were in the service, and I thank everybody who sponsored it," Evanko said.
Pharmaceutical, biological and health care company GlaxoSmithKline was one of the co-sponsors of the Redskins-hosted veterans' health clinic, said Howard K. Thomas, a senior federal program manager with the firm.
"We're an active supporter of veterans, and we're very honored to be able to in some small way give back to the people who've so bravely served our country," Thomas said. "They're the ones who protect us."
The war against terrorism has caused Americans to reflect on military veterans' contributions throughout the years and of the efforts and sacrifices of present-day servicemembers, said Bill Bradshaw, 64, a Vietnam veteran, Army retiree and member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"They recognize the importance of the job that we do of taking care of America," Bradshaw said.
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 9, 2008 - Scores of military veterans from across the National Capital Region visited FedEx Field here yesterday, but not to watch the National Football League's Washington Redskins play. Instead, while the players were taking a week off, veterans of all ages, some with their families, entered the Redskins' burgundy-hued locker room, where they received free health exams, including tests for cholesterol level, blood pressure, body fat percentage and other preventive-care checkups.
The event also featured children's games, candy, and appearances by the team's "Hoggettes" mascots and cheerleaders.
The Redskins conducted the clinic with the help of some health care firms and veterans' groups, said Stephanie R. Baldwin, the team's client services manager.
"Partnering together is a perfect way to get people out here and get them checked out," Baldwin said. "The military veterans do so much for our country. ... It's very important to recognize them."
Army veteran Nicol D. Martin, who was a finance sergeant when she left the Army in 2001 after six years of service, said the Redskins' health clinic was a great idea, as she waited her turn to get her body fat percentage checked via computer. Martin "did well" on her test, according to examiner Ammanuel Haile-Leal.
The Redskins should be saluted for holding a health clinic "for the veterans who've served the country," Martin said.
"For one, you get to see the Redskins' locker room and then, too, you get to have the health screenings," said Martin, a 38-year-old Woodbridge, Va., resident who now works at the Pentagon.
After receiving a cholesterol-level test, retired Navy Cmdr. Robert C. Douglass, 54, and his wife, Sheila, surveyed the bustling locker room. The Douglass' 11-year-old son, Jeremy, was among several other children at an X-Box 360 computer game set just a short distance away.
The Redskins and the other sponsors are to be commended for holding the health clinic, the Navy retiree and Chantilly, Va., resident said.
"I enjoy the fact that people are concerned about veterans' health," Douglass said, adding that the multifaceted event "made it exciting for the family as a whole."
World War II Army veteran and Alexandria, Va., resident Peter P. Evanko, 84, hailed the Redskins as he finished his prostate-specific antigen level screening, a blood test that helps to assess the health of the prostate gland.
"This is a very good thing, not only for a veteran, but I think all people should be taking care of themselves," said Evanko, left the Army at the end of the war with a sergeant's rank after serving in the European theater.
The health clinic "is a great thing for those of us who were in the service, and I thank everybody who sponsored it," Evanko said.
Pharmaceutical, biological and health care company GlaxoSmithKline was one of the co-sponsors of the Redskins-hosted veterans' health clinic, said Howard K. Thomas, a senior federal program manager with the firm.
"We're an active supporter of veterans, and we're very honored to be able to in some small way give back to the people who've so bravely served our country," Thomas said. "They're the ones who protect us."
The war against terrorism has caused Americans to reflect on military veterans' contributions throughout the years and of the efforts and sacrifices of present-day servicemembers, said Bill Bradshaw, 64, a Vietnam veteran, Army retiree and member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"They recognize the importance of the job that we do of taking care of America," Bradshaw said.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Chairman Promises Wounded Warriors They Will be Cared for, Remembered
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 9, 2008 - The United States will not forget the servicemembers who have made incredible sacrifices on the nation's behalf, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during the "A Salute to Our Troops" dinner sponsored by United Service Organizations and Microsoft here last night. "I promise you we will never, ever forget," Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said told the 25 wounded warriors, their guests and corporate representatives. "You are our inspiration, and we care for you, and we will always care for you."
Nor, Mullen said, would the country forget the families who have stood beside the servicemembers.
"I give equal praise to the family members ... as well as those who sacrificed so much," he added. "You're very special people. You have given more than any of us really know."
Mullen had said earlier that as with many other events where he has the opportunity to interact with servicemembers, he would take away far more from the night than he would give.
Elaine Rogers, president of USO of Metropolitan Washington, echoed that sentiment.
"You all are so incredibly special," she told the wounded warriors during the dinner. "For us to share a day like today with you is the greatest gift that we have."
The wounded warriors -- on a weekend trip from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio -- will have some great experiences to take home, as well.
They arrived Nov. 7 and were warmly welcomed during a reception at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square. Hosted by the USO in partnership with Microsoft, the troops were treated to one-on-one time with celebrities such as James Brown, host of CBS television's "The NFL Today," comedian Ben Bailey, actress Carmen Electra, and country music singer-songwriter Stephen Cochran, a former Marine who broke his back in six places when he was ambushed while serving in Afghanistan.
That however, was just the warm-up for the rest of the weekend.
Yesterday, the group began with a chilly, but cheery, boat tour that took them past many historical sites including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Ground Zero. Then it was off to Little Italy for lunch and a brief performance by the USO Liberty Belles.
Despite the threatening weather, the majority of the group elected to attend a scheduled ceremony at Ground Zero after lunch. It was brief and emotional for many, yet still a highlight, for many of the servicemembers.
"It was kind of emotional, because ... that's where it all started -- the wars," said Army Cpl. Taylor Harder. "I've been there before, but I've never actually got to see down inside."
Harder's right foot was shattered in January when a roadside bomb detonated during a route-clearing mission in Iraq. He's currently recovering at Walter Reed.
"This afternoon, being at Ground Zero, that's very emotional," said Army Spc. Catherine Neary. "It's something that I won't forget."
Neary was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring while serving at Camp Victory, Iraq.
The experience of visiting the site where it all began may have been tough for the troops, but the evening was downright fun. With American tenor Roberto Iarussi singing the national anthem and a brief operatic selection and some heartfelt country tunes from Cochran, the evening ended on an "up" note.
Before heading for home, the servicemembers will attend a special performance tomorrow of the Radio City Music Hall's "Christmas Spectacular," featuring the Rockettes. They'll be part of an audience of 5,000 servicemembers and their families invited to the show as a larger piece of USO and Microsoft's "A Salute to Our Troops" weekend.
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 9, 2008 - The United States will not forget the servicemembers who have made incredible sacrifices on the nation's behalf, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during the "A Salute to Our Troops" dinner sponsored by United Service Organizations and Microsoft here last night. "I promise you we will never, ever forget," Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said told the 25 wounded warriors, their guests and corporate representatives. "You are our inspiration, and we care for you, and we will always care for you."
Nor, Mullen said, would the country forget the families who have stood beside the servicemembers.
"I give equal praise to the family members ... as well as those who sacrificed so much," he added. "You're very special people. You have given more than any of us really know."
Mullen had said earlier that as with many other events where he has the opportunity to interact with servicemembers, he would take away far more from the night than he would give.
Elaine Rogers, president of USO of Metropolitan Washington, echoed that sentiment.
"You all are so incredibly special," she told the wounded warriors during the dinner. "For us to share a day like today with you is the greatest gift that we have."
The wounded warriors -- on a weekend trip from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio -- will have some great experiences to take home, as well.
They arrived Nov. 7 and were warmly welcomed during a reception at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square. Hosted by the USO in partnership with Microsoft, the troops were treated to one-on-one time with celebrities such as James Brown, host of CBS television's "The NFL Today," comedian Ben Bailey, actress Carmen Electra, and country music singer-songwriter Stephen Cochran, a former Marine who broke his back in six places when he was ambushed while serving in Afghanistan.
That however, was just the warm-up for the rest of the weekend.
Yesterday, the group began with a chilly, but cheery, boat tour that took them past many historical sites including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Ground Zero. Then it was off to Little Italy for lunch and a brief performance by the USO Liberty Belles.
Despite the threatening weather, the majority of the group elected to attend a scheduled ceremony at Ground Zero after lunch. It was brief and emotional for many, yet still a highlight, for many of the servicemembers.
"It was kind of emotional, because ... that's where it all started -- the wars," said Army Cpl. Taylor Harder. "I've been there before, but I've never actually got to see down inside."
Harder's right foot was shattered in January when a roadside bomb detonated during a route-clearing mission in Iraq. He's currently recovering at Walter Reed.
"This afternoon, being at Ground Zero, that's very emotional," said Army Spc. Catherine Neary. "It's something that I won't forget."
Neary was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring while serving at Camp Victory, Iraq.
The experience of visiting the site where it all began may have been tough for the troops, but the evening was downright fun. With American tenor Roberto Iarussi singing the national anthem and a brief operatic selection and some heartfelt country tunes from Cochran, the evening ended on an "up" note.
Before heading for home, the servicemembers will attend a special performance tomorrow of the Radio City Music Hall's "Christmas Spectacular," featuring the Rockettes. They'll be part of an audience of 5,000 servicemembers and their families invited to the show as a larger piece of USO and Microsoft's "A Salute to Our Troops" weekend.
Leadership in Tough Times
Times are getting tougher. Most of us are not the top person in leading our organization; we are line supervisors and middle managers; but it’s still getting tougher. While we don’t make the big decisions we have a responsibility to provide leadership for our organizations and for our followers. Indeed, if enough of us in the ranks make small adjustments the cumulative effect on our organizations may forestall the sweeping cut-backs coming from the top. We have a responsibility to act and here are five cards you can play:
READ ON
http://www.pokerleadership.com/leadership_tough_times.html
READ ON
http://www.pokerleadership.com/leadership_tough_times.html
Soldier Wounded on Patrol in Iraq Defies Death Three Times
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - The detonation of a large roadside bomb near Baghdad on May 3, 2005, caused enough damage to Army Sgt. Robert Bartlett's body to cost him his life -- and it did, at least temporarily. Bartlett was providing route security with 1st Battalion, 64th Armor in the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team near Baghdad when an armor-piercing bomb behind a road barrier was remotely detonated.
"It blew through my vehicle and basically cut my face in half and took my gunner's legs and took the top of my truck commander's head off, and then went out the other side of the vehicle and kept on going," he said. "I think they said it was a 40-pounder, [but] I can't be for certain on that."
What he is certain of is that the bomb contained ball bearings that caused severe trauma to his hands and chest.
"My gunner and I were just embracing each other, because we thought we were about to die and didn't know who else was hit," Bartlett said. "I'd lost sight in my left eye and my right eye was going in and out of vision, [and] I couldn't do anything with my hands. Obviously, I had a head trauma, and I was losing air with every breath."
As it turned out, Bartlett had a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.
Fortunately, a second truck commander sitting behind Bartlett was thrown clear of the vehicle. He awoke in the middle of the street and, after three tries, was able to open door of the truck, which somehow was still running.
"He helped get me to the back seat and drove my gunner and me out of there," he said. "The truck was just grinding with metal. Ball bearings went through the motor, through the transmission, and all the tires were riding on their rims."
The truck lasted long enough to get the soldiers to another truck in their convoy, which in turn got them back to the support hospital at Camp Rustamiyah. A medical evacuation helicopter had been called, but it didn't arrive before Bartlett stopped breathing.
"I ended up dying there," he said. "I respiratory arrested on them, and they did an emergency [tracheotomy] and got me going again."
The helicopter evacuated Bartlett to the 86th Combat Area Support Hospital in Balad, where he died again. Doctors revived him, and he was flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he stayed for a couple of days before moving on to Walter Reed Army Medical Center here.
"The planes were running full, and they wanted to send the people who had a chance for living [to Walter Reed]," Bartlett said.
Nearly five days after he was injured, Bartlett arrived at Walter Reed where his mother, father and brother were waiting. But when doctors brought him out of a drug-induced coma, he stopped breathing again. Again, doctors were able to revive him.
"Twice in Iraq and once at Walter Reed and once when I was little, but that doesn't count for this," Bartlett said with a chuckle as he tallied the number of times his heart has stopped. "I just think God's got other plans for me."
After 18 months at Walter Reed, he worked to get stationed at home in Gilbert, Ariz., and attached to the Veterans Affairs medical facility there. Since his surgeries were scheduled every three months, he said, he figured he'd free up a bed for another servicemember and just fly back to Walter Reed for additional surgeries.
In the middle of his recovery, Bartlett reconnected with a woman he'd met before he deployed who participated in a fundraiser during his recovery that made it possible for the soldier's family to be with him.
"We started dating after I got blown up," Bartlett said of his relationship with his wife, Jordan. The two had been introduced before he left for Iraq, but Jordan decided he was too old -- he enlisted at 30 -- and he wanted to be single while in the military, Bartlett explained.
"I didn't want to put anybody through me not coming home," he said. "I knew what I was doing. ... [I was] a scout sniper."
After his first surgery, Bartlett went home on convalescent leave and was thanking everyone for their support when one of his buddies asked him if he remembered Jordan.
"I said, 'Yes,' and went over to her and told her she didn't know it yet, but I was going to kiss her in three months when the swelling in my face went down," he said. "The next day, we went on a date and we've been together ever since."
While Bartlett continues to heal and waits for medical boards to determine his level of disability, he has picked up the cause of urging other servicemembers to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
"These guys just have to take advantage of that and realize that to be vulnerable is OK," he said. "You're in good company, so you're not vulnerable."
Bartlett said his goal is making "America and the world a better place." The Purple Heart he earned in Iraq might say to some that he's already done that, but Bartlett doesn't see it that way.
"That's the medal you get for being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. "It's the award that everybody wants, but doesn't want to go through the process of getting. It changes your life forever. War changes you forever, but getting injured in war definitely increases that."
Until he learns the outcome of his medical boards, Bartlett said, he is undecided about what his future holds. But, he added, he has no regrets about his past.
"It's the best thing I ever did in my life," he said. "I love the military and I love the United States so much more now. I really understand everything. I was a skeptic that our government was doing a good job and I was wrong. I was absolutely wrong."
To hear Bartlett's story in his own words, search on You Tube for "Sgt. Robert Bartlett."
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - The detonation of a large roadside bomb near Baghdad on May 3, 2005, caused enough damage to Army Sgt. Robert Bartlett's body to cost him his life -- and it did, at least temporarily. Bartlett was providing route security with 1st Battalion, 64th Armor in the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team near Baghdad when an armor-piercing bomb behind a road barrier was remotely detonated.
"It blew through my vehicle and basically cut my face in half and took my gunner's legs and took the top of my truck commander's head off, and then went out the other side of the vehicle and kept on going," he said. "I think they said it was a 40-pounder, [but] I can't be for certain on that."
What he is certain of is that the bomb contained ball bearings that caused severe trauma to his hands and chest.
"My gunner and I were just embracing each other, because we thought we were about to die and didn't know who else was hit," Bartlett said. "I'd lost sight in my left eye and my right eye was going in and out of vision, [and] I couldn't do anything with my hands. Obviously, I had a head trauma, and I was losing air with every breath."
As it turned out, Bartlett had a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.
Fortunately, a second truck commander sitting behind Bartlett was thrown clear of the vehicle. He awoke in the middle of the street and, after three tries, was able to open door of the truck, which somehow was still running.
"He helped get me to the back seat and drove my gunner and me out of there," he said. "The truck was just grinding with metal. Ball bearings went through the motor, through the transmission, and all the tires were riding on their rims."
The truck lasted long enough to get the soldiers to another truck in their convoy, which in turn got them back to the support hospital at Camp Rustamiyah. A medical evacuation helicopter had been called, but it didn't arrive before Bartlett stopped breathing.
"I ended up dying there," he said. "I respiratory arrested on them, and they did an emergency [tracheotomy] and got me going again."
The helicopter evacuated Bartlett to the 86th Combat Area Support Hospital in Balad, where he died again. Doctors revived him, and he was flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he stayed for a couple of days before moving on to Walter Reed Army Medical Center here.
"The planes were running full, and they wanted to send the people who had a chance for living [to Walter Reed]," Bartlett said.
Nearly five days after he was injured, Bartlett arrived at Walter Reed where his mother, father and brother were waiting. But when doctors brought him out of a drug-induced coma, he stopped breathing again. Again, doctors were able to revive him.
"Twice in Iraq and once at Walter Reed and once when I was little, but that doesn't count for this," Bartlett said with a chuckle as he tallied the number of times his heart has stopped. "I just think God's got other plans for me."
After 18 months at Walter Reed, he worked to get stationed at home in Gilbert, Ariz., and attached to the Veterans Affairs medical facility there. Since his surgeries were scheduled every three months, he said, he figured he'd free up a bed for another servicemember and just fly back to Walter Reed for additional surgeries.
In the middle of his recovery, Bartlett reconnected with a woman he'd met before he deployed who participated in a fundraiser during his recovery that made it possible for the soldier's family to be with him.
"We started dating after I got blown up," Bartlett said of his relationship with his wife, Jordan. The two had been introduced before he left for Iraq, but Jordan decided he was too old -- he enlisted at 30 -- and he wanted to be single while in the military, Bartlett explained.
"I didn't want to put anybody through me not coming home," he said. "I knew what I was doing. ... [I was] a scout sniper."
After his first surgery, Bartlett went home on convalescent leave and was thanking everyone for their support when one of his buddies asked him if he remembered Jordan.
"I said, 'Yes,' and went over to her and told her she didn't know it yet, but I was going to kiss her in three months when the swelling in my face went down," he said. "The next day, we went on a date and we've been together ever since."
While Bartlett continues to heal and waits for medical boards to determine his level of disability, he has picked up the cause of urging other servicemembers to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
"These guys just have to take advantage of that and realize that to be vulnerable is OK," he said. "You're in good company, so you're not vulnerable."
Bartlett said his goal is making "America and the world a better place." The Purple Heart he earned in Iraq might say to some that he's already done that, but Bartlett doesn't see it that way.
"That's the medal you get for being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. "It's the award that everybody wants, but doesn't want to go through the process of getting. It changes your life forever. War changes you forever, but getting injured in war definitely increases that."
Until he learns the outcome of his medical boards, Bartlett said, he is undecided about what his future holds. But, he added, he has no regrets about his past.
"It's the best thing I ever did in my life," he said. "I love the military and I love the United States so much more now. I really understand everything. I was a skeptic that our government was doing a good job and I was wrong. I was absolutely wrong."
To hear Bartlett's story in his own words, search on You Tube for "Sgt. Robert Bartlett."
U.S., Japan Committed to Transformation Despite Delays, Admiral Says
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - Both the United States and Japan remain committed to moving about 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, but budget constraints could cause the process to take longer and cost more than initially expected, the senior U.S. commander in the Pacific reported. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating discussed military transformation initiatives, including the Defense Policy Review Initiative focused on the U.S.-Japan alliance, during sessions in New York at the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday and at the Foreign Press Center on Nov. 5.
The plan includes moving 8,000 Marines and their families from the Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam, relocating two U.S. air bases in Japan from urban to rural areas, and realigning the Japan Self-Defense Forces to complement the U.S. realignments.
The plan is expected to reduce the U.S. footprint in Japan to about 10,000 Marines, while taking advantage of opportunities provided in Guam.
"The two governments of the United States and Japan have recommitted at the very highest levels -- prime minister and president -- to the eventual success of the DPRI," Keating said at the Foreign Press Center.
But budgetary challenges "measured in the billions of dollars" that both countries face could cause slight delays in how quickly the relocation occurs, he said. Japan agreed to pick up about $6 billion of the cost, and initial plans called for the move to be completed by 2014.
A Government Accountability Office report issued in May noted that some Defense Department and Guam officials believed the schedule was overly optimistic in light of financial shortfalls and infrastructure requirements in Guam.
"It'll take a little bit longer to effect – we won't be done by 2014, or maybe even 2015, but it's about a decade in execution," Keating said. "It will cost us a little bit more money than we currently have budgeted, but our countries remain committed."
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited Guam in May to get a firsthand look at growth under way to prepare for the Marines' arrival.
The secretary took a helicopter tour of Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam and other island facilities to see construction already started in preparation of the arrival of members of 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force and an estimated 9,000 family members.
"All in all, it will be one of the largest movements of military assets in decades and continue the historic mission of the United States military presence on Guam: to serve as the nation's first line of defense and to maintain a robust military presence in a critical part of the world," Gates said.
Keating called the recent move of the USS George Washington to Japan a broad-reaching transformational issue in the region. The Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier arrived at Fleet Activities Yokosuka on Sept. 25, and headed out to sea Oct. 1 for its first operational training in the region.
"The support of the Japanese government in moving a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Japan was ... significant," Keating said. "It's been years in the making, and it's a very strong signal of the spirit of cooperation that's so prevalent in our dealings with Japan."
Keating spoke in broad terms about challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, which spans half the globe, emphasizing the importance of partnerships in the U.S. security cooperation plan.
"We want to represent the strength and the capabilities of the United States military, but we don't want to overdo that," he said. "We would much rather have a cooperative and collaborative atmosphere that we enjoy in almost every part of our [area of responsibility] rather than rely on military power."
Meanwhile, Keating said U.S. Pacific Command is watching closely the "potential areas of concern" in its region. These include terrorist threats in the southern Philippines from the Jamaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf organizations, as well as tensions between India and Pakistan, North and South Korea and China and Taiwan.
Keating said he continuously emphasizes the importance of multilateral cooperation that promotes regional stability during his meetings with military, political and commercial leaders.
"We do all that we can to reassure all of our partners and allies and friends in the region that we are all about a stable, secure environment with economic prosperity for all," he said.
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - Both the United States and Japan remain committed to moving about 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, but budget constraints could cause the process to take longer and cost more than initially expected, the senior U.S. commander in the Pacific reported. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating discussed military transformation initiatives, including the Defense Policy Review Initiative focused on the U.S.-Japan alliance, during sessions in New York at the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday and at the Foreign Press Center on Nov. 5.
The plan includes moving 8,000 Marines and their families from the Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam, relocating two U.S. air bases in Japan from urban to rural areas, and realigning the Japan Self-Defense Forces to complement the U.S. realignments.
The plan is expected to reduce the U.S. footprint in Japan to about 10,000 Marines, while taking advantage of opportunities provided in Guam.
"The two governments of the United States and Japan have recommitted at the very highest levels -- prime minister and president -- to the eventual success of the DPRI," Keating said at the Foreign Press Center.
But budgetary challenges "measured in the billions of dollars" that both countries face could cause slight delays in how quickly the relocation occurs, he said. Japan agreed to pick up about $6 billion of the cost, and initial plans called for the move to be completed by 2014.
A Government Accountability Office report issued in May noted that some Defense Department and Guam officials believed the schedule was overly optimistic in light of financial shortfalls and infrastructure requirements in Guam.
"It'll take a little bit longer to effect – we won't be done by 2014, or maybe even 2015, but it's about a decade in execution," Keating said. "It will cost us a little bit more money than we currently have budgeted, but our countries remain committed."
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited Guam in May to get a firsthand look at growth under way to prepare for the Marines' arrival.
The secretary took a helicopter tour of Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam and other island facilities to see construction already started in preparation of the arrival of members of 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force and an estimated 9,000 family members.
"All in all, it will be one of the largest movements of military assets in decades and continue the historic mission of the United States military presence on Guam: to serve as the nation's first line of defense and to maintain a robust military presence in a critical part of the world," Gates said.
Keating called the recent move of the USS George Washington to Japan a broad-reaching transformational issue in the region. The Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier arrived at Fleet Activities Yokosuka on Sept. 25, and headed out to sea Oct. 1 for its first operational training in the region.
"The support of the Japanese government in moving a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Japan was ... significant," Keating said. "It's been years in the making, and it's a very strong signal of the spirit of cooperation that's so prevalent in our dealings with Japan."
Keating spoke in broad terms about challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, which spans half the globe, emphasizing the importance of partnerships in the U.S. security cooperation plan.
"We want to represent the strength and the capabilities of the United States military, but we don't want to overdo that," he said. "We would much rather have a cooperative and collaborative atmosphere that we enjoy in almost every part of our [area of responsibility] rather than rely on military power."
Meanwhile, Keating said U.S. Pacific Command is watching closely the "potential areas of concern" in its region. These include terrorist threats in the southern Philippines from the Jamaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf organizations, as well as tensions between India and Pakistan, North and South Korea and China and Taiwan.
Keating said he continuously emphasizes the importance of multilateral cooperation that promotes regional stability during his meetings with military, political and commercial leaders.
"We do all that we can to reassure all of our partners and allies and friends in the region that we are all about a stable, secure environment with economic prosperity for all," he said.
DoD Announces $400 Million Investment To Basic Research
The Department of Defense today announced plans to invest an additional $400 million over the next five years to support basic research at academic institutions.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates secured the additional funding in the fiscal 2009 President's budget request to Congress to expand research into new and emerging scientific areas and to foster fundamental discoveries related to the DoD's most challenging technical problems. The DoD published a 'Strategic Plan For Basic Research' last summer, which built the case for this effort. Acknowledging this need, Congress authorized and appropriated funds to support these significant increases in basic research investment.
By making these additional investments, the DoD aims to "sustain and strengthen the nation's commitment to long-term basic research", as recommended by the National Research Council's 'Rising Above the Gathering Storm' report and to address similar recommendations from numerous other independent national security and scientific advisory groups.
"These new grants will lead to discoveries in fundamental fields which underpin many of the technologically complex systems fielded in today's Armed Forces," said William Rees, Jr., the deputy under secretary of defense for laboratories and basic sciences.
The anticipated awards will be intended for individual investigators and provide sufficient funding to support a cadre of graduate students working with the faculty member to make substantial and sustained progress in research areas of importance to the DoD. Merit-based awards, based on peer review, will support projects beginning in fiscal 2009 that will be funded for five years. Exceptionally meritorious projects that can be completed in less time will also be considered for funding.
Projects will be based on numerous academic disciplines, including: physics, ocean science, chemistry, electrical engineering, materials science, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, information sciences, civil engineering, mathematics, chemical engineering, geosciences, atmospheric science, and aeronautical engineering.
Topics for the initial funding will focus on the following areas of technical challenge: counter weapons of mass destruction (WMD), network sciences, energy and power management, quantum information sciences, human sciences, science of autonomy, information assurance, biosensors and bio-inspired systems, information fusion and decision science, and energy and power management.
DoD research offices that will make the awards, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of sufficiently high quality proposals, include the Army Research Office http://www.aro.army.mil/ , the Office of Naval Research http://www.onr.navy.mil/ and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research http://www.afosr.af.mil/ .
Information on specific program announcements and solicitations supported by this funding can be found at http://www.grants.gov , as well as at the respective research office Web sites.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates secured the additional funding in the fiscal 2009 President's budget request to Congress to expand research into new and emerging scientific areas and to foster fundamental discoveries related to the DoD's most challenging technical problems. The DoD published a 'Strategic Plan For Basic Research' last summer, which built the case for this effort. Acknowledging this need, Congress authorized and appropriated funds to support these significant increases in basic research investment.
By making these additional investments, the DoD aims to "sustain and strengthen the nation's commitment to long-term basic research", as recommended by the National Research Council's 'Rising Above the Gathering Storm' report and to address similar recommendations from numerous other independent national security and scientific advisory groups.
"These new grants will lead to discoveries in fundamental fields which underpin many of the technologically complex systems fielded in today's Armed Forces," said William Rees, Jr., the deputy under secretary of defense for laboratories and basic sciences.
The anticipated awards will be intended for individual investigators and provide sufficient funding to support a cadre of graduate students working with the faculty member to make substantial and sustained progress in research areas of importance to the DoD. Merit-based awards, based on peer review, will support projects beginning in fiscal 2009 that will be funded for five years. Exceptionally meritorious projects that can be completed in less time will also be considered for funding.
Projects will be based on numerous academic disciplines, including: physics, ocean science, chemistry, electrical engineering, materials science, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, information sciences, civil engineering, mathematics, chemical engineering, geosciences, atmospheric science, and aeronautical engineering.
Topics for the initial funding will focus on the following areas of technical challenge: counter weapons of mass destruction (WMD), network sciences, energy and power management, quantum information sciences, human sciences, science of autonomy, information assurance, biosensors and bio-inspired systems, information fusion and decision science, and energy and power management.
DoD research offices that will make the awards, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of sufficiently high quality proposals, include the Army Research Office http://www.aro.army.mil/ , the Office of Naval Research http://www.onr.navy.mil/ and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research http://www.afosr.af.mil/ .
Information on specific program announcements and solicitations supported by this funding can be found at http://www.grants.gov , as well as at the respective research office Web sites.
DoD Names Two Additional National Security Science And Engineering Fellows
The Department of Defense today announced two additional National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellows (NSSEFF), bringing the total number of distinguished scientists and engineers in the inaugural round of this prestigious program to eight.
Professor Constance Chang-Hasnain, University of California, Berkeley, and Professor Margaret Murnane, University of Colorado at Boulder, join the other notable university faculty announced by the DoD in June 2008. "Every NSSEFF award--up to $3 million in total direct research support for up to five years--provides DoD with top-tier researchers from U.S. universities, each conducting long-term, unclassified, basic research on challenging technical problems of strategic national security importance," said William Rees, Jr., deputy under secretary of defense for laboratories and basic sciences. "It also affords significant opportunities for Fellows to contribute to research programs within the DoD laboratories."
Selected from over 350 applicants to the fiscal 08 round, the eight researchers from the first NSSEFF competition "are expected to make considerable discoveries in the core science and engineering disciplines underpinning the technology of future DoD systems," said Rees. Rees also noted that the fiscal 09 NSSEFF competition is well underway and that selectees are anticipated to be announced by year's end.
Additional information on the NSSEFF is available online at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11964.
Professor Constance Chang-Hasnain, University of California, Berkeley, and Professor Margaret Murnane, University of Colorado at Boulder, join the other notable university faculty announced by the DoD in June 2008. "Every NSSEFF award--up to $3 million in total direct research support for up to five years--provides DoD with top-tier researchers from U.S. universities, each conducting long-term, unclassified, basic research on challenging technical problems of strategic national security importance," said William Rees, Jr., deputy under secretary of defense for laboratories and basic sciences. "It also affords significant opportunities for Fellows to contribute to research programs within the DoD laboratories."
Selected from over 350 applicants to the fiscal 08 round, the eight researchers from the first NSSEFF competition "are expected to make considerable discoveries in the core science and engineering disciplines underpinning the technology of future DoD systems," said Rees. Rees also noted that the fiscal 09 NSSEFF competition is well underway and that selectees are anticipated to be announced by year's end.
Additional information on the NSSEFF is available online at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11964.
Gates Emphasizes Warrior Care in Veterans Day Message
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - In his 2008 Veterans Day message, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates underscores the Defense Department's commitment to the nation's wounded warriors and their families. Here is the secretary's message:
"On Veterans Day we pay tribute to those who have fought for our country from its earliest days to the present. This day reminds us of how important it is that the men and women who wear this country's uniform know how grateful their fellow Americans are for that service.
"The holiday's birthplace is my home state of Kansas. Over half a century ago, a shoe store owner in Emporia named Al King promoted the idea of changing what had been Armistice Day – honoring veterans of the First World War – into a celebration of veterans of every conflict, and every era.
"What started in Emporia went national in 1954, when Congress passed and President Eisenhower signed a bill making the November 11 holiday the one we know today.
"As important as it is to publicly recognize the service of our troops returned from the battlefield, it is more important – indeed a sacred obligation – that we make sure they receive the care, benefits, and compensation they've so courageously earned. This is one of the preeminent challenges facing our nation. Aside from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have had no higher leadership priority.
"Since reports of substandard recovery facilities emerged last year, the Department of Defense has launched major reforms and improvements in outpatient care. Each of the services provides a multi-facetted approach to care. The Army, for example, gives each soldier a case manager, squad leader, and a primary care provider. Coordinators have been assigned to help guide troops and their families through what can be a bewildering system during a difficult period in their lives.
"The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are expanding a pilot program to streamline the Disability Evaluation System into a single process producing one disability rating. We must also continue to improve coordination and information-sharing between these two departments so that wounded warriors making the transition out of the military health system are not burdened by excessive delay or duplicate processes.
"To draw attention to the service and sacrifice of these extraordinary Americans, to take stock of what has been achieved, and to reflect on how much more needs to be done, I have designated November as 'Warrior Care Month.' The Department of Defense has launched a one-stop website at www.warriorcare.mil, where service members and their families will be able to find out about the full range of resources available to them.
"On this Veterans Day, let us redouble efforts to see our men and women get the care and the recognition that are their due. And if there are veterans in your family, in your community – or even if you see them walking down the hall or down the street – take a moment to say 'thank you' for all they have done for us. They deserve no less."
Nov. 7, 2008 - In his 2008 Veterans Day message, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates underscores the Defense Department's commitment to the nation's wounded warriors and their families. Here is the secretary's message:
"On Veterans Day we pay tribute to those who have fought for our country from its earliest days to the present. This day reminds us of how important it is that the men and women who wear this country's uniform know how grateful their fellow Americans are for that service.
"The holiday's birthplace is my home state of Kansas. Over half a century ago, a shoe store owner in Emporia named Al King promoted the idea of changing what had been Armistice Day – honoring veterans of the First World War – into a celebration of veterans of every conflict, and every era.
"What started in Emporia went national in 1954, when Congress passed and President Eisenhower signed a bill making the November 11 holiday the one we know today.
"As important as it is to publicly recognize the service of our troops returned from the battlefield, it is more important – indeed a sacred obligation – that we make sure they receive the care, benefits, and compensation they've so courageously earned. This is one of the preeminent challenges facing our nation. Aside from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have had no higher leadership priority.
"Since reports of substandard recovery facilities emerged last year, the Department of Defense has launched major reforms and improvements in outpatient care. Each of the services provides a multi-facetted approach to care. The Army, for example, gives each soldier a case manager, squad leader, and a primary care provider. Coordinators have been assigned to help guide troops and their families through what can be a bewildering system during a difficult period in their lives.
"The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are expanding a pilot program to streamline the Disability Evaluation System into a single process producing one disability rating. We must also continue to improve coordination and information-sharing between these two departments so that wounded warriors making the transition out of the military health system are not burdened by excessive delay or duplicate processes.
"To draw attention to the service and sacrifice of these extraordinary Americans, to take stock of what has been achieved, and to reflect on how much more needs to be done, I have designated November as 'Warrior Care Month.' The Department of Defense has launched a one-stop website at www.warriorcare.mil, where service members and their families will be able to find out about the full range of resources available to them.
"On this Veterans Day, let us redouble efforts to see our men and women get the care and the recognition that are their due. And if there are veterans in your family, in your community – or even if you see them walking down the hall or down the street – take a moment to say 'thank you' for all they have done for us. They deserve no less."
Staying Power: Army's Wounded Care Program Transformed for Future, General Says
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek, the Army's assistant surgeon general for warrior care and transition, recently spoke with American Forces Press Service about the Army's transformed wounded warrior care program. What follows is a question-and-answer session from that interview.
Q. It has been a little more than a year since the first wounded warrior brigade was stood up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Tell me how you think the model is doing and, overall, how you think the Army is doing in taking care of wounded warriors.
A. It is a tremendous program. We have literally completely transformed our rehabilitative care ... as we transition the soldier from inpatient care to either going back to the Army or civilian life.
To some degree we've never really fully had what I would call a rehabilitative capability in the Army on the scale of what we're doing now. Once we became engaged in the two wars now, when we started to look for those rehabilitative capabilities, they really didn't exist. I don't know that we have it exactly the way we want it yet, but I think we're at a point of irreversible momentum to where we will get these things really up, designed, functioning with the policies in place to make them a terrific system.
Q. So, do you think the triad of care and the warrior transition unit models are working for the Army?
A. Really when you look at what was going on at Walter Reed [before February 2007 when the Washington Post news articles exposed a breakdown in wounded warrior care there] it was really just a microcosm of the entire Army and our systems. I don't want to point too sharp a stick at it ... but it was not a system that we needed to properly take care of soldiers.
We were hit pretty hard about the facilities. But that's really only a small part of it. We had really no leadership structure. We were actually using an NCO that was in charge of those soldiers who was himself a cancer patient. We had no structure, no military discipline, no requirements for formation. We had soldiers that were not wearing uniforms, not getting hair cuts, growing beards, and really left to their own devices.
If you were a soldier trying to work the system and hang out there as long as you want, that was great. If you were a soldier who wanted to get better and get back to his unit, it was frustrating. It was difficult.
We didn't take good care of the families. We weren't watching out for the soldiers. We did not have the traditional military structure and leadership that soldiers are accustomed to. We also really didn't know what was going on. We weren't really checking and measuring how we were doing.
And that has completely changed. Now, by contrast, we have the 35 warrior transition units. We did consider going back to the rehab center concept ... but the reason we didn't want to do that is because we felt that to properly rehabilitate a soldier, it's best to have him close to his home, his family, his comrades. We wanted a system that was more adaptable.
We stood up the military unit with the familiar things like company commanders, and first sergeants and squad leaders and platoon sergeants and added to that some medical management capability with a nurse case manager and primary care physician.
All in all, I think we are off to a tremendous start to this program and we continue to adjust and revise.
Q. Do you think that that discipline helps them re-associate with the Army and focuses their intent on healing?
A. Absolutely. These are soldiers. And for a soldier, the things like the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the standards, the customs and the courtesies all apply. That leadership has to take into account the conditions ... unique to that soldier. Of course they will use judgment when dealing with those soldiers. We want to have discipline. We don't want it to be overly harsh. We want it to be appropriate.
The discipline I think is key and it is a big part of their rehabilitation and healing. That same discipline is also going to be pushing them to follow the instructions of their providers, their therapists and making their appointments.
Q. You've had some difficulty with the staffing the transition units. I know there are some initiatives to get that up to 100 percent. How is that going?
A. Is important for us to have the cadre right and the ratios should be at 100 percent and that's what we're moving toward. But I think there are some key misperceptions. The first one is, yes we have over 12,000 soldiers in this program ... but it is not 12,000 catastrophically wounded soldiers from theater. About one-third were evacuated from theater ... the other 66 percent really have come from our units ... a soldier in a car accident, a soldier who has cancer, a soldier with a sports injury, a soldier injured in training. Seventy-five percent of those 12,000 are combat veterans. We have a moral obligation to take care of all of them and that's what we'll do.
But the important thing is the cadre that looks after those soldiers is more to manage their care. It's not that they're being denied medical care. It's not that they're not being taken care of or supervised. They are.
The methods we were using to staff those cadres ... were just not agile enough to keep up with the growth. We've changed the way we're doing that. We have mandated to stay up with these ratios based on the population. We have brought in our commanders at the major command level ... all around the world, all of our installation commanders ... and we really came to a common azimuth that we're all responsible for this and we're going to keep this straight.
The main thing I would say is that even when the cadre's strengths were below the ratios we had set, I do not believe that had a major impact on the care provided to those soldiers.
As every day passes, the warrior transition units and the services, the medical care, the discipline, all the things we provide will get better and stronger with time.
Q. What was the rationale behind bringing in all wounded, ill and injured soldiers into the program, because it would seem to create more of an issue with barracks and staffing?
A. I suppose we could consider a special program for only our wounded soldiers, but then when I have a soldier who has three combat tours and he's injured in a motorcycle accident, he's not eligible. Do we not have an obligation to take care of him?
It is really about the severity of the wound, the illness or the injury. How bad is the medical condition of that soldier? That's what gains entry into this system.
We're going to tighten our criteria a bit. We have a significant number of soldiers in our warrior transition units that have a long-term problem, but with rather routine rehabilitative needs. In the future, we will more than likely keep that soldier in his unit and use traditional leadership to supervise him and the medical care provided to do that. We want to make our warrior transition units focus on those that need that intense managed care.
In the end, ...we didn't stand them up to ride focused, intense management of soldiers with fairly simple issues that don't require that. As the pendulum swings, we're going to bring it back but we're going to bring it back very carefully.
Q. How is your access to senior Army leadership and what is the priority for wounded warrior care?
A. I would say our support from the senior leaders of the Army is enormous. I easily have direct access to any of them should I need to bring up an issue. Typically it works the other way around. They typically call me and I go there quite often.
Q. Is the Army able to change its policies and procedures fast enough to accommodate the needs of wounded warriors?
A. I would say yes, but I would also say we have to be very careful. You want to be very wary of a knee-jerk reaction.
We are pretty agile, but we have to be very careful I think because the second- and third-order effects of making policy changes sometimes are not apparent. Our decision, for example, to bring a lot of our medical evaluation board soldiers into the WTUs had that beneficial effect for deploying units in that it removed them from their books and allowed them to get more personnel. And to some degree it brought these soldiers together where we could help expedite their board process .... The second-order effects were we had this explosion in our population and we had this great challenge of getting our cadre up to strength. And when we finally stepped back and looked at this population, we determined that ... this was designed to provide focused managed care and a lot of soldiers we brought in don't need that.
Q. Can you talk about streamlining the board process and where the Army is with its pilot program?
A. This is a process that's been around for probably 50 years. It's a very deliberate process that makes sure we do it right and that the best interests of the soldier are protected. So that process has got a lot of checks along the way to make sure we don't misstep.
We have looked hard at eliminating some of the duplicative paperwork. We're also going to automate this system. By January, we will be able to do this in an automated fashion which should help us considerably. The pilot brings the VA and the Army together to do a single physical. We used to do two.
What we would really like to see is the Army not to be in the disability business. The Army's decision really ought to be about fitness to serve or not. You can either stay in the Army or not, based upon your physical condition. The disability decision, we would rather have that be in the Veterans Affairs. Let them make the decision of the disability and work that.
For the soldier, he or she wants to make sure that they retain medical benefits for the family, to not have any degradation of pay ... and be as physically capable as they can. The MEB and our process really doesn't necessarily look after those interests. There will be some disappointed ... soldiers.
So until we can resolve that, we are left with this system which unfortunately puts us in a bit of an adversarial relationship with the solder.
Q. So are you saying that you would like to see that fall entirely to the VA? The soldier transitions to the VA, and the VA assigns the benefits and the compensation?
A. Right, and of course that's a sticky point because that gives the VA to some degree the keys to the kingdom to get into the ... Department of Defense's money. But ... it is the way the law is structured right now, so this is not a policy we can change. But it is one we often discuss with Congress and we say we would like this law changed.
But as long as we cooperate on the physical, it seems to me we can make some progress here, but within limits.
Q. The Army has begun leaning forward in allowing [seriously wounded] soldiers to stay on active duty if they choose. Why?
A. For any soldier who has been wounded in combat who wants to continue on active duty, we have yet to say 'no.' That's not a policy. I just know that to be a fact. Every one of those is done on a case-by-case basis.
We have a tremendous positive track record for great servants who have been grievously wounded in combat [and continued on active duty]. When we look at the history of the service that has been done by some of those who have made those kinds of sacrifices, I think keeping them in the Army has a lot of merit. They have a lot to offer.
I was sitting at lunch with a group of soldiers and one soldier told me how deeply appreciative he was of the transition assistance he was getting. He was being medically separated from the Army, but in the time he was in the WTU, he was able to take college courses and he was able to get coordinated to attend college [after he separated]. And he really was very complimentary of how he had been treated and helped and counseled through that process.
Across the table, another soldier said, "You know I am returning to duty and I really didn't get much at all."
From his perspective, we were putting more effort to get soldiers out of the Army than we were to keep soldiers in the Army. Boy, that was like a smack right on the forehead.
This gave me new energy to work that. We want to place a retention NCO in each of our WTU battalions and build a retention program to encourage our soldiers to stay in the Army. In particular, we may have a soldier who is medically unqualified for his current specialty, but we may be able to find another way to use his or her talents in another specialty.
We went to the AW2 symposium ... I spoke to those soldiers there and asked how many would like to be a cadre member. And a number of them were very interested in doing that. So I think we have a resource right there alone just for our own warrior transition units where these soldiers can serve. They can teach in schools. In many cases, they do continue to serve in their MOS and deploy to combat.
Q. What feedback are you getting from the troops and the families?
A. The feedback I get from families ... is really spectacular. I think especially for those families when they first arrive ... There's a lot of reticence and uneasiness about the condition of their loved one. But they are embraced immediately. So they are put at ease very quickly and taken great care of. For many of them, their challenges lie ahead, but at least we get them through that very difficult period where there's a lot of unfamiliarity with the military and the situation they're stepping into. We're doing a great job there.
From the soldiers, it's not all milk and honey. Soldiers are going to tell you the things they like and don't like. For many of them, they are greatly appreciative of this concept. Many of them are very, very complimentary of their cadre. Others are perhaps less so. But you will find that anywhere in the Army. But, by and large, they recognize the investment, the attention and the focus of the Army.
We also ask them about their level of care. Generally speaking, from the surveys we do, we range just under 80 percent satisfaction. Our goal is to get everybody over 80 percent and we have made incremental progress towards that.
Q. You talk about building an enduring program. Can you define that and tell me why you are designing the program this way?
A. We need an enduring program for the Army that is adaptable, expandable, collapsible and responsive to the needs of the soldiers.
We have a program that is fairly adaptable. And we've proven we can expand it, though it was uneven for sure. I think we're in a much better position now to handle future growth. We really haven't done much to figure out how to collapse this down. When Iraq and Afghanistan go away, we should return to the steady state of illnesses and injuries that soldiers typically get ....
Right now we have 35 warrior transition units and nine communities based healthcare organizations. We are fairly confident that about 26 of those 35 are what I would call permanent warrior transition units. The other nine we're not so sure about.
I want to look harder at the community based health care organizations approach. That's one that is very easily expandable provided those civilian capabilities are there.
We've asked for funding to build 21 warrior transition complexes at various posts, camps and stations in the United States. Right now, the office of the Secretary of Defense supports us for about half of those. Ultimately, Congress will decide how they would fund that.
Nothing says it's enduring like a complex that's built to be dedicated for this mission. And the first one will be started at the end of this fiscal year at Fort Riley, Kan., where we will build the barracks, the administrative headquarters and the soldier and family assistance center in close proximity to the hospital. We will have an excellent facility that takes care of wounded, ill and injured soldiers at that installation. We will get another major start on at least another eight in fiscal year 2009.
Q. Is there anything else you would like to add?
A. I'm just very concerned that America is getting a false impression. They think we have hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers. They think we have 12,000 amputees or worse in our warrior transition units. There are only 1,500 Purple Heart recipients. The number of amputees for the Army is less than 800.
Yeah, we have challenges out there. But the progress we've made is just spectacular. And the care we're providing the soldiers, the organization, the cadre, is all superb.
I think there's basically a misunderstanding of Army culture. We open ourselves up. We candidly ask for criticism. We work to improve it because that's what we want to do. No one seems to want to believe that we could love soldiers as much as we do. We are soldiers. This is a spectacular program and it's going to get better and better all the time.
(Editor's note: This is the third article an AFPS special report, Staying Power: Seriously Wounded Warriors Return to the Fight).
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek, the Army's assistant surgeon general for warrior care and transition, recently spoke with American Forces Press Service about the Army's transformed wounded warrior care program. What follows is a question-and-answer session from that interview.
Q. It has been a little more than a year since the first wounded warrior brigade was stood up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Tell me how you think the model is doing and, overall, how you think the Army is doing in taking care of wounded warriors.
A. It is a tremendous program. We have literally completely transformed our rehabilitative care ... as we transition the soldier from inpatient care to either going back to the Army or civilian life.
To some degree we've never really fully had what I would call a rehabilitative capability in the Army on the scale of what we're doing now. Once we became engaged in the two wars now, when we started to look for those rehabilitative capabilities, they really didn't exist. I don't know that we have it exactly the way we want it yet, but I think we're at a point of irreversible momentum to where we will get these things really up, designed, functioning with the policies in place to make them a terrific system.
Q. So, do you think the triad of care and the warrior transition unit models are working for the Army?
A. Really when you look at what was going on at Walter Reed [before February 2007 when the Washington Post news articles exposed a breakdown in wounded warrior care there] it was really just a microcosm of the entire Army and our systems. I don't want to point too sharp a stick at it ... but it was not a system that we needed to properly take care of soldiers.
We were hit pretty hard about the facilities. But that's really only a small part of it. We had really no leadership structure. We were actually using an NCO that was in charge of those soldiers who was himself a cancer patient. We had no structure, no military discipline, no requirements for formation. We had soldiers that were not wearing uniforms, not getting hair cuts, growing beards, and really left to their own devices.
If you were a soldier trying to work the system and hang out there as long as you want, that was great. If you were a soldier who wanted to get better and get back to his unit, it was frustrating. It was difficult.
We didn't take good care of the families. We weren't watching out for the soldiers. We did not have the traditional military structure and leadership that soldiers are accustomed to. We also really didn't know what was going on. We weren't really checking and measuring how we were doing.
And that has completely changed. Now, by contrast, we have the 35 warrior transition units. We did consider going back to the rehab center concept ... but the reason we didn't want to do that is because we felt that to properly rehabilitate a soldier, it's best to have him close to his home, his family, his comrades. We wanted a system that was more adaptable.
We stood up the military unit with the familiar things like company commanders, and first sergeants and squad leaders and platoon sergeants and added to that some medical management capability with a nurse case manager and primary care physician.
All in all, I think we are off to a tremendous start to this program and we continue to adjust and revise.
Q. Do you think that that discipline helps them re-associate with the Army and focuses their intent on healing?
A. Absolutely. These are soldiers. And for a soldier, the things like the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the standards, the customs and the courtesies all apply. That leadership has to take into account the conditions ... unique to that soldier. Of course they will use judgment when dealing with those soldiers. We want to have discipline. We don't want it to be overly harsh. We want it to be appropriate.
The discipline I think is key and it is a big part of their rehabilitation and healing. That same discipline is also going to be pushing them to follow the instructions of their providers, their therapists and making their appointments.
Q. You've had some difficulty with the staffing the transition units. I know there are some initiatives to get that up to 100 percent. How is that going?
A. Is important for us to have the cadre right and the ratios should be at 100 percent and that's what we're moving toward. But I think there are some key misperceptions. The first one is, yes we have over 12,000 soldiers in this program ... but it is not 12,000 catastrophically wounded soldiers from theater. About one-third were evacuated from theater ... the other 66 percent really have come from our units ... a soldier in a car accident, a soldier who has cancer, a soldier with a sports injury, a soldier injured in training. Seventy-five percent of those 12,000 are combat veterans. We have a moral obligation to take care of all of them and that's what we'll do.
But the important thing is the cadre that looks after those soldiers is more to manage their care. It's not that they're being denied medical care. It's not that they're not being taken care of or supervised. They are.
The methods we were using to staff those cadres ... were just not agile enough to keep up with the growth. We've changed the way we're doing that. We have mandated to stay up with these ratios based on the population. We have brought in our commanders at the major command level ... all around the world, all of our installation commanders ... and we really came to a common azimuth that we're all responsible for this and we're going to keep this straight.
The main thing I would say is that even when the cadre's strengths were below the ratios we had set, I do not believe that had a major impact on the care provided to those soldiers.
As every day passes, the warrior transition units and the services, the medical care, the discipline, all the things we provide will get better and stronger with time.
Q. What was the rationale behind bringing in all wounded, ill and injured soldiers into the program, because it would seem to create more of an issue with barracks and staffing?
A. I suppose we could consider a special program for only our wounded soldiers, but then when I have a soldier who has three combat tours and he's injured in a motorcycle accident, he's not eligible. Do we not have an obligation to take care of him?
It is really about the severity of the wound, the illness or the injury. How bad is the medical condition of that soldier? That's what gains entry into this system.
We're going to tighten our criteria a bit. We have a significant number of soldiers in our warrior transition units that have a long-term problem, but with rather routine rehabilitative needs. In the future, we will more than likely keep that soldier in his unit and use traditional leadership to supervise him and the medical care provided to do that. We want to make our warrior transition units focus on those that need that intense managed care.
In the end, ...we didn't stand them up to ride focused, intense management of soldiers with fairly simple issues that don't require that. As the pendulum swings, we're going to bring it back but we're going to bring it back very carefully.
Q. How is your access to senior Army leadership and what is the priority for wounded warrior care?
A. I would say our support from the senior leaders of the Army is enormous. I easily have direct access to any of them should I need to bring up an issue. Typically it works the other way around. They typically call me and I go there quite often.
Q. Is the Army able to change its policies and procedures fast enough to accommodate the needs of wounded warriors?
A. I would say yes, but I would also say we have to be very careful. You want to be very wary of a knee-jerk reaction.
We are pretty agile, but we have to be very careful I think because the second- and third-order effects of making policy changes sometimes are not apparent. Our decision, for example, to bring a lot of our medical evaluation board soldiers into the WTUs had that beneficial effect for deploying units in that it removed them from their books and allowed them to get more personnel. And to some degree it brought these soldiers together where we could help expedite their board process .... The second-order effects were we had this explosion in our population and we had this great challenge of getting our cadre up to strength. And when we finally stepped back and looked at this population, we determined that ... this was designed to provide focused managed care and a lot of soldiers we brought in don't need that.
Q. Can you talk about streamlining the board process and where the Army is with its pilot program?
A. This is a process that's been around for probably 50 years. It's a very deliberate process that makes sure we do it right and that the best interests of the soldier are protected. So that process has got a lot of checks along the way to make sure we don't misstep.
We have looked hard at eliminating some of the duplicative paperwork. We're also going to automate this system. By January, we will be able to do this in an automated fashion which should help us considerably. The pilot brings the VA and the Army together to do a single physical. We used to do two.
What we would really like to see is the Army not to be in the disability business. The Army's decision really ought to be about fitness to serve or not. You can either stay in the Army or not, based upon your physical condition. The disability decision, we would rather have that be in the Veterans Affairs. Let them make the decision of the disability and work that.
For the soldier, he or she wants to make sure that they retain medical benefits for the family, to not have any degradation of pay ... and be as physically capable as they can. The MEB and our process really doesn't necessarily look after those interests. There will be some disappointed ... soldiers.
So until we can resolve that, we are left with this system which unfortunately puts us in a bit of an adversarial relationship with the solder.
Q. So are you saying that you would like to see that fall entirely to the VA? The soldier transitions to the VA, and the VA assigns the benefits and the compensation?
A. Right, and of course that's a sticky point because that gives the VA to some degree the keys to the kingdom to get into the ... Department of Defense's money. But ... it is the way the law is structured right now, so this is not a policy we can change. But it is one we often discuss with Congress and we say we would like this law changed.
But as long as we cooperate on the physical, it seems to me we can make some progress here, but within limits.
Q. The Army has begun leaning forward in allowing [seriously wounded] soldiers to stay on active duty if they choose. Why?
A. For any soldier who has been wounded in combat who wants to continue on active duty, we have yet to say 'no.' That's not a policy. I just know that to be a fact. Every one of those is done on a case-by-case basis.
We have a tremendous positive track record for great servants who have been grievously wounded in combat [and continued on active duty]. When we look at the history of the service that has been done by some of those who have made those kinds of sacrifices, I think keeping them in the Army has a lot of merit. They have a lot to offer.
I was sitting at lunch with a group of soldiers and one soldier told me how deeply appreciative he was of the transition assistance he was getting. He was being medically separated from the Army, but in the time he was in the WTU, he was able to take college courses and he was able to get coordinated to attend college [after he separated]. And he really was very complimentary of how he had been treated and helped and counseled through that process.
Across the table, another soldier said, "You know I am returning to duty and I really didn't get much at all."
From his perspective, we were putting more effort to get soldiers out of the Army than we were to keep soldiers in the Army. Boy, that was like a smack right on the forehead.
This gave me new energy to work that. We want to place a retention NCO in each of our WTU battalions and build a retention program to encourage our soldiers to stay in the Army. In particular, we may have a soldier who is medically unqualified for his current specialty, but we may be able to find another way to use his or her talents in another specialty.
We went to the AW2 symposium ... I spoke to those soldiers there and asked how many would like to be a cadre member. And a number of them were very interested in doing that. So I think we have a resource right there alone just for our own warrior transition units where these soldiers can serve. They can teach in schools. In many cases, they do continue to serve in their MOS and deploy to combat.
Q. What feedback are you getting from the troops and the families?
A. The feedback I get from families ... is really spectacular. I think especially for those families when they first arrive ... There's a lot of reticence and uneasiness about the condition of their loved one. But they are embraced immediately. So they are put at ease very quickly and taken great care of. For many of them, their challenges lie ahead, but at least we get them through that very difficult period where there's a lot of unfamiliarity with the military and the situation they're stepping into. We're doing a great job there.
From the soldiers, it's not all milk and honey. Soldiers are going to tell you the things they like and don't like. For many of them, they are greatly appreciative of this concept. Many of them are very, very complimentary of their cadre. Others are perhaps less so. But you will find that anywhere in the Army. But, by and large, they recognize the investment, the attention and the focus of the Army.
We also ask them about their level of care. Generally speaking, from the surveys we do, we range just under 80 percent satisfaction. Our goal is to get everybody over 80 percent and we have made incremental progress towards that.
Q. You talk about building an enduring program. Can you define that and tell me why you are designing the program this way?
A. We need an enduring program for the Army that is adaptable, expandable, collapsible and responsive to the needs of the soldiers.
We have a program that is fairly adaptable. And we've proven we can expand it, though it was uneven for sure. I think we're in a much better position now to handle future growth. We really haven't done much to figure out how to collapse this down. When Iraq and Afghanistan go away, we should return to the steady state of illnesses and injuries that soldiers typically get ....
Right now we have 35 warrior transition units and nine communities based healthcare organizations. We are fairly confident that about 26 of those 35 are what I would call permanent warrior transition units. The other nine we're not so sure about.
I want to look harder at the community based health care organizations approach. That's one that is very easily expandable provided those civilian capabilities are there.
We've asked for funding to build 21 warrior transition complexes at various posts, camps and stations in the United States. Right now, the office of the Secretary of Defense supports us for about half of those. Ultimately, Congress will decide how they would fund that.
Nothing says it's enduring like a complex that's built to be dedicated for this mission. And the first one will be started at the end of this fiscal year at Fort Riley, Kan., where we will build the barracks, the administrative headquarters and the soldier and family assistance center in close proximity to the hospital. We will have an excellent facility that takes care of wounded, ill and injured soldiers at that installation. We will get another major start on at least another eight in fiscal year 2009.
Q. Is there anything else you would like to add?
A. I'm just very concerned that America is getting a false impression. They think we have hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers. They think we have 12,000 amputees or worse in our warrior transition units. There are only 1,500 Purple Heart recipients. The number of amputees for the Army is less than 800.
Yeah, we have challenges out there. But the progress we've made is just spectacular. And the care we're providing the soldiers, the organization, the cadre, is all superb.
I think there's basically a misunderstanding of Army culture. We open ourselves up. We candidly ask for criticism. We work to improve it because that's what we want to do. No one seems to want to believe that we could love soldiers as much as we do. We are soldiers. This is a spectacular program and it's going to get better and better all the time.
(Editor's note: This is the third article an AFPS special report, Staying Power: Seriously Wounded Warriors Return to the Fight).
Friday, November 07, 2008
South Dakota National Guard Prepares for Blizzard Response
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - Leaders of the South Dakota National Guard began preparing personnel and equipment last night to support the state's emergency response in the wake of a fall blizzard that began two days ago in the western part of the state. During a conference call, senior Army and Air National Guard Leaders across the state placed into action a plan to prepare soldiers and airmen to respond to five possible missions that the Guard may receive from the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management over the next few days.
Guard officials are preparing for search-and-rescue missions, support missions for snow removal and power restoration, requests for power generator equipment and aerial observation missions.
"Our soldiers and airmen will be there when called," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Steven R. Doohen, South Dakota's adjutant general. "Our Guard members are getting ready to hit the road and support our state's emergency management agencies, save lives, and ease suffering."
National Guard support is based on needs and requirements vetted though the Office of Emergency Management, which is the lead agency for all state emergency response.
The Guard has numerous pieces of snow removal equipment such as snow blowers, loaders, bulldozers, road graders and dump trucks throughout the state to support the potential emergency response.
"Our greatest resource is our people and their ability to respond," Doohen said. "Our team is standing by."
The South Dakota National Guard has more than 4,000 soldiers and airmen available to respond to state emergencies, natural disasters and homeland defense.
(From a South Dakota National Guard news release.)
Nov. 7, 2008 - Leaders of the South Dakota National Guard began preparing personnel and equipment last night to support the state's emergency response in the wake of a fall blizzard that began two days ago in the western part of the state. During a conference call, senior Army and Air National Guard Leaders across the state placed into action a plan to prepare soldiers and airmen to respond to five possible missions that the Guard may receive from the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management over the next few days.
Guard officials are preparing for search-and-rescue missions, support missions for snow removal and power restoration, requests for power generator equipment and aerial observation missions.
"Our soldiers and airmen will be there when called," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Steven R. Doohen, South Dakota's adjutant general. "Our Guard members are getting ready to hit the road and support our state's emergency management agencies, save lives, and ease suffering."
National Guard support is based on needs and requirements vetted though the Office of Emergency Management, which is the lead agency for all state emergency response.
The Guard has numerous pieces of snow removal equipment such as snow blowers, loaders, bulldozers, road graders and dump trucks throughout the state to support the potential emergency response.
"Our greatest resource is our people and their ability to respond," Doohen said. "Our team is standing by."
The South Dakota National Guard has more than 4,000 soldiers and airmen available to respond to state emergencies, natural disasters and homeland defense.
(From a South Dakota National Guard news release.)
DoD Announces Expansion of the Defense and Veterans Affairs Disability Evaluation System Pilot
The Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today the expansion of the Disability Evaluation System (DES) pilot to 19 installations across the country, representing all military departments.
"The decision to expand the pilot was based upon a favorable review that focused on whether the pilot met its timeliness, effectiveness, transparency, and customer and stakeholder satisfaction objectives," said Sam Retherford, director, officer and enlisted personnel management, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. "This expansion extends beyond the national capital region, so that more diverse data from other geographic areas can be evaluated, prior to rendering a final decision on worldwide implementation."
On Oct. 1, 2008, the pilot was expanded to Fort Meade, Md., and Fort Belvoir, Va. The remaining 17 installations will be introduced to the pilot upon completion of site preparations and personnel orientation and training, during a 7-month period from November 2008 to May 2009.
The remaining installations to begin the program are: Army: Fort Carson, Colo., Fort Drum, N.Y., Fort Stewart, Ga., Fort Richardson, Alaska, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, and Fort Polk, La.; Navy: Naval Medical Center (NMC) San Diego and Camp Pendleton, Calif., NMC Bremerton, Wash., NMC Jacksonville, Fla., and Camp Lejeune, N.C.; and Air Force: Vance Air Force Base, Okla., Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska., and Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
In November 2007 the DoD and VA implemented the pilot test for disability cases originating at the three major military treatment facilities in the national capital region. The pilot is a test of a new process design eliminating the duplicative, time-consuming, and often confusing elements of the two current disability processes of the departments. Key features of the DES pilot include one medical examination and a single-sourced disability rating. To date, more than 700 service members have participated in the pilot during the last ten months.
The pilot is focused on recommendations from the reports of the Task Force on Returning Global War on Terrorism Heroes, the Independent Review Group, the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors (the Dole/Shalala Commission), and the Commission on Veterans' Disability Benefits.
"The decision to expand the pilot was based upon a favorable review that focused on whether the pilot met its timeliness, effectiveness, transparency, and customer and stakeholder satisfaction objectives," said Sam Retherford, director, officer and enlisted personnel management, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. "This expansion extends beyond the national capital region, so that more diverse data from other geographic areas can be evaluated, prior to rendering a final decision on worldwide implementation."
On Oct. 1, 2008, the pilot was expanded to Fort Meade, Md., and Fort Belvoir, Va. The remaining 17 installations will be introduced to the pilot upon completion of site preparations and personnel orientation and training, during a 7-month period from November 2008 to May 2009.
The remaining installations to begin the program are: Army: Fort Carson, Colo., Fort Drum, N.Y., Fort Stewart, Ga., Fort Richardson, Alaska, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, and Fort Polk, La.; Navy: Naval Medical Center (NMC) San Diego and Camp Pendleton, Calif., NMC Bremerton, Wash., NMC Jacksonville, Fla., and Camp Lejeune, N.C.; and Air Force: Vance Air Force Base, Okla., Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska., and Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
In November 2007 the DoD and VA implemented the pilot test for disability cases originating at the three major military treatment facilities in the national capital region. The pilot is a test of a new process design eliminating the duplicative, time-consuming, and often confusing elements of the two current disability processes of the departments. Key features of the DES pilot include one medical examination and a single-sourced disability rating. To date, more than 700 service members have participated in the pilot during the last ten months.
The pilot is focused on recommendations from the reports of the Task Force on Returning Global War on Terrorism Heroes, the Independent Review Group, the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors (the Dole/Shalala Commission), and the Commission on Veterans' Disability Benefits.
Mullen Thanks Group That Bridges Gap Between America, Servicemembers
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last night saluted an organization dedicated to keeping America connected with its military. "You reflect America's communities, united in spirit, and action, across thousands of lighted hilltops across the land," Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told the members of the Soldiers' Angels group.
Mullen was the keynote speaker at the group's annual benefit gala at the Ronald Reagan Building here. The group connects servicemembers and civilians all across America. Volunteers connect with deployed soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen and let them know that they are valued. The group has sent more than 250,000 care packages to deployed troops, provided computers to wounded warriors, purchased airline tickets and distributed gift packages.
The group's motto is "May no soldier go unloved."
Almost 300 people attended the event, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, the House minority whip. About 20 servicemembers undergoing treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here and the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Md., were honored guests at the event.
Mullen called these wounded servicemembers the most distinguished guests, "who have served and sacrificed, and returned changed by war. It is the greatest of pleasures to say, on behalf of the Joint Chiefs and more than 2.2 million of your brothers and sisters in arms, 'Welcome home.'"
Mullen said he agrees with the idea that a nation reveals itself by those it honors. "November is a special month for America, when we honor our veterans, whose courage allows the freedom of choice we just exercised only two days ago," he said. "We honor them with parades booming down boulevards, and silent walks through sacred places like Arlington, and the Pentagon Memorial just consecrated in September."
The chairman called such sacred areas "vision-places of souls."
Another such area is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. President Ronald Reagan helped dedicate that memorial and said its healing touch was "a lesson in living love" for all those who served in Vietnam.
The chairman said that he and his wife, Deborah, and all those who lived and served in the 1960s and 1970s saw how disconnected U.S. society and American veterans became.
"We formed one lesson, in two words, indelibly etched in our minds: Never again," he said. "I feel that spirit in this room tonight. Because when we visit our heroes in Walter Reed and Bethesda, or meet families of the fallen during ceremonies in Arlington, or events like this one, we meet the true strength of our nation."
Mullen said the nation still has much to do to reach out to servicemembers and to wounded warriors. Aiding wounded servicemembers is the job of all Americans, he said.
The government has made progress is helping servicemembers and their families. The GI Bill is more generous today, and there are new efficiencies between the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the admiral noted. "We have, no doubt, sent a new sense of urgency down the spines of our governmental organizations," he said.
The war on terror continues, and it is changing at lightning speed, Mullen said. "And our peacetime processes at home must adapt to meet the realities of that war abroad. The truth, as of now, is that our support institutions have not yet met the demands of that struggle," he said.
Grassroots organizations provide a sea of goodwill and compassion that fills voids no institution could enter, he said.
"Recent studies suggest that as many as 20 percent of today's troops may suffer from post-traumatic stress brought on by combat in Iraq and Afghanistan," Mullen said. "It can be difficult to diagnose. Many are, understandably, wary of the stigma attached to mental health – a problem I believe we can alleviate through active early detection for everyone, so no one has to raise his or her hand."
Mullen spoke about a meeting he held with 25 to 30 post-traumatic stress disorder patients from all the services.
"It really bothered me to see what they had to go through just to get into the program – essentially bottoming out, like they were in an alcoholic or a drug rehab regimen," he said. "I believe we can do better. We must do better.
"There is no greater duty than to bind those wounds, both seen and unseen, and restore the losses of our families, who create the fabric of our society," he continued. "Those wounds, in many ways, have come to define their lives. They last a lifetime. And so should our care. Because how well we bind those wounds will, in time, define America."
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last night saluted an organization dedicated to keeping America connected with its military. "You reflect America's communities, united in spirit, and action, across thousands of lighted hilltops across the land," Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told the members of the Soldiers' Angels group.
Mullen was the keynote speaker at the group's annual benefit gala at the Ronald Reagan Building here. The group connects servicemembers and civilians all across America. Volunteers connect with deployed soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen and let them know that they are valued. The group has sent more than 250,000 care packages to deployed troops, provided computers to wounded warriors, purchased airline tickets and distributed gift packages.
The group's motto is "May no soldier go unloved."
Almost 300 people attended the event, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, the House minority whip. About 20 servicemembers undergoing treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here and the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Md., were honored guests at the event.
Mullen called these wounded servicemembers the most distinguished guests, "who have served and sacrificed, and returned changed by war. It is the greatest of pleasures to say, on behalf of the Joint Chiefs and more than 2.2 million of your brothers and sisters in arms, 'Welcome home.'"
Mullen said he agrees with the idea that a nation reveals itself by those it honors. "November is a special month for America, when we honor our veterans, whose courage allows the freedom of choice we just exercised only two days ago," he said. "We honor them with parades booming down boulevards, and silent walks through sacred places like Arlington, and the Pentagon Memorial just consecrated in September."
The chairman called such sacred areas "vision-places of souls."
Another such area is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. President Ronald Reagan helped dedicate that memorial and said its healing touch was "a lesson in living love" for all those who served in Vietnam.
The chairman said that he and his wife, Deborah, and all those who lived and served in the 1960s and 1970s saw how disconnected U.S. society and American veterans became.
"We formed one lesson, in two words, indelibly etched in our minds: Never again," he said. "I feel that spirit in this room tonight. Because when we visit our heroes in Walter Reed and Bethesda, or meet families of the fallen during ceremonies in Arlington, or events like this one, we meet the true strength of our nation."
Mullen said the nation still has much to do to reach out to servicemembers and to wounded warriors. Aiding wounded servicemembers is the job of all Americans, he said.
The government has made progress is helping servicemembers and their families. The GI Bill is more generous today, and there are new efficiencies between the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the admiral noted. "We have, no doubt, sent a new sense of urgency down the spines of our governmental organizations," he said.
The war on terror continues, and it is changing at lightning speed, Mullen said. "And our peacetime processes at home must adapt to meet the realities of that war abroad. The truth, as of now, is that our support institutions have not yet met the demands of that struggle," he said.
Grassroots organizations provide a sea of goodwill and compassion that fills voids no institution could enter, he said.
"Recent studies suggest that as many as 20 percent of today's troops may suffer from post-traumatic stress brought on by combat in Iraq and Afghanistan," Mullen said. "It can be difficult to diagnose. Many are, understandably, wary of the stigma attached to mental health – a problem I believe we can alleviate through active early detection for everyone, so no one has to raise his or her hand."
Mullen spoke about a meeting he held with 25 to 30 post-traumatic stress disorder patients from all the services.
"It really bothered me to see what they had to go through just to get into the program – essentially bottoming out, like they were in an alcoholic or a drug rehab regimen," he said. "I believe we can do better. We must do better.
"There is no greater duty than to bind those wounds, both seen and unseen, and restore the losses of our families, who create the fabric of our society," he continued. "Those wounds, in many ways, have come to define their lives. They last a lifetime. And so should our care. Because how well we bind those wounds will, in time, define America."
Vets, Troops Not in Uniform Now Can Salute Flag
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 7, 2008 - A change to federal law allows U.S. veterans and military personnel not in uniform to render the military-style hand salute during the playing of the national anthem.
The law took effect earlier this month, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs news release.
"The military salute is a unique gesture of respect that marks those who have served in our nation's armed forces," Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. James B. Peake said. "This provision allows the application of that honor in all events involving our nation's flag."
The provision builds on a change that went into effect last year. That change authorized veterans and military personnel not in uniform to render the military-style hand salute during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag.
Traditionally, veterans' service organizations rendered the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag while wearing their organization's headgear. Otherwise, as with all other Americans, the etiquette is to place the right hand over the heart.
The most recent change was part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Act, which President Bush signed Oct. 14.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, an Army veteran, sponsored both pieces of legislation.
"The salute is a form of honor and respect, representing pride in one's military service," Inhofe said in a written statement. "Veterans and servicemembers continue representing the military services even when not in uniform. The U.S. Code is now consistent for veterans and all service members in regards to the symbolic gesture of the military salute."
Nov. 7, 2008 - A change to federal law allows U.S. veterans and military personnel not in uniform to render the military-style hand salute during the playing of the national anthem.
The law took effect earlier this month, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs news release.
"The military salute is a unique gesture of respect that marks those who have served in our nation's armed forces," Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. James B. Peake said. "This provision allows the application of that honor in all events involving our nation's flag."
The provision builds on a change that went into effect last year. That change authorized veterans and military personnel not in uniform to render the military-style hand salute during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag.
Traditionally, veterans' service organizations rendered the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag while wearing their organization's headgear. Otherwise, as with all other Americans, the etiquette is to place the right hand over the heart.
The most recent change was part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Act, which President Bush signed Oct. 14.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, an Army veteran, sponsored both pieces of legislation.
"The salute is a form of honor and respect, representing pride in one's military service," Inhofe said in a written statement. "Veterans and servicemembers continue representing the military services even when not in uniform. The U.S. Code is now consistent for veterans and all service members in regards to the symbolic gesture of the military salute."
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