By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 5, 2008 - The Defense Department has launched a year-long pilot program to recruit about 1,000 non-U.S. citizen health care workers and language and cultural specialists for service in America's military, a senior DoD official said here today. The new program targets people who don't have "green cards" but do have visas and work permits. Those the military hopes to attract legally live and work in the United States and have capabilities highly valued by the military, Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, told Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service reporters.
"These are going to be people that are legally present in the United States [and] have been here for years," Carr said.
People sought for the program include doctors, nurses, other health care professionals and those proficient in certain foreign languages and associated cultures, according to a DoD news release issued today.
The U.S. military services sign up about 8,000 foreign nationals annually, Carr said, and about 29,000 non-citizens serve in the U.S. military today. Non-citizen servicemembers normally possess a State Department-issued green card that authorizes them to live and work in the United States.
The pilot program is designed to assist the Defense Department in maintaining its requirement of about 24,000 doctors, dentists and nurses for the military services, Carr said.
"In those areas, combined, we're short almost 1,000 [people] against that 24,000 base, divided equally between physicians and nurses," Carr said. All nursing specialties are needed, as well as neural surgeons, family practitioners, dermatologists and some other specialties.
Past accession programs failed to attract enough medical practitioners and linguists, Carr said, so the department decided to focus on foreign nationals.
"We observed there are tens of thousands of health professionals in the United States on a work visa who would be very interested in achieving green card status or, ultimately, citizenship," Carr said.
The pilot program provides successful applicants with a way to accelerate achievement of U.S. citizenship, Carr said, with the proviso that "they're willing to serve in our time of need to fulfill a vital national interest." Applicants are required to commit to specified periods of military service.
Applicants also will undergo security screenings and meet the same high standards required for every other person entering the military today, Carr said. Foreign nationals, he said, have provided exemplary military service throughout American history.
"If this program succeeds, it will leave us with a stronger medical care capacity, particularly in skills we're short of," Carr said, as well as providing much-needed linguists and cultural specialists.
Friday, December 05, 2008
New Jersey Guard Celebrates Alliance With Albania
Special to American Forces Press Service
Dec. 5, 2008 - The New Jersey National Guard is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its alliance with the republic of Albania through the State Partnership Program. The State Partnership Program, launched by the National Guard Bureau and the U.S. State Department in the 1990s, was started to foster alliances between U.S. states and former Soviet countries, officials said.
Soldiers and airmen with the New Jersey National Guard have worked with their counterparts in Albania since 1993 to modernize the former communist nation's defense forces and prepare it for membership in NATO.
Albania is scheduled to join the 26-nation alliance in April.
Albanian Defense Minister Gazmend Oketa said New Jersey provided critical assistance to help it reach its long-standing goal of NATO membership.
"The Albanian armed forces are proud of our achievements, and we are proud to say we were not alone," Oketa told National Guard members who gathered at a luncheon held at the Lawrenceville Armory in his honor. "The Albanian armed forces welcomed your help -- and your friendship."
Army Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, the state adjutant general, said the soldiers and airmen from New Jersey watched the Albanian defense forces blossom in the past several years.
"The quality of the Albanian soldier is top tier," he said.
Many of the New Jersey Guard members and former members, who deployed to Albania to serve as advisors, were honored at the event as well.
Among them was Dennis Bliss, a retired Army National Guard colonel who served as a legal advisor to Albania during the early years of the partnership. He helped draft a constitution that incorporates some of the language and ideas found in the U.S. Constitution.
"It was exciting to help an emerging democracy learn from the experiences we had in the United States and allow them to cherry pick the best of what we had to offer," he said. "You're kind of a Johnny Appleseed for a democracy that can be lasting."
The State Partnership Program has spawned many friendships over the years, program participants said.
"We have more in common than what separates us," said Lt. Col. Bruce Protesto, a former program participant.
Maj. Judie Marranco, another program participant, said it was a gratifying experience.
"With this partnership, we bring friendship," she said. "And when you have a friend, you know they're going to do anything they can to help."
(From a New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs news release.)
Dec. 5, 2008 - The New Jersey National Guard is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its alliance with the republic of Albania through the State Partnership Program. The State Partnership Program, launched by the National Guard Bureau and the U.S. State Department in the 1990s, was started to foster alliances between U.S. states and former Soviet countries, officials said.
Soldiers and airmen with the New Jersey National Guard have worked with their counterparts in Albania since 1993 to modernize the former communist nation's defense forces and prepare it for membership in NATO.
Albania is scheduled to join the 26-nation alliance in April.
Albanian Defense Minister Gazmend Oketa said New Jersey provided critical assistance to help it reach its long-standing goal of NATO membership.
"The Albanian armed forces are proud of our achievements, and we are proud to say we were not alone," Oketa told National Guard members who gathered at a luncheon held at the Lawrenceville Armory in his honor. "The Albanian armed forces welcomed your help -- and your friendship."
Army Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, the state adjutant general, said the soldiers and airmen from New Jersey watched the Albanian defense forces blossom in the past several years.
"The quality of the Albanian soldier is top tier," he said.
Many of the New Jersey Guard members and former members, who deployed to Albania to serve as advisors, were honored at the event as well.
Among them was Dennis Bliss, a retired Army National Guard colonel who served as a legal advisor to Albania during the early years of the partnership. He helped draft a constitution that incorporates some of the language and ideas found in the U.S. Constitution.
"It was exciting to help an emerging democracy learn from the experiences we had in the United States and allow them to cherry pick the best of what we had to offer," he said. "You're kind of a Johnny Appleseed for a democracy that can be lasting."
The State Partnership Program has spawned many friendships over the years, program participants said.
"We have more in common than what separates us," said Lt. Col. Bruce Protesto, a former program participant.
Maj. Judie Marranco, another program participant, said it was a gratifying experience.
"With this partnership, we bring friendship," she said. "And when you have a friend, you know they're going to do anything they can to help."
(From a New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs news release.)
President Offers Thanks to Troops During Annual Pageant of Peace
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 5, 2008 - As they have for 85 years, Americans gathered in front of the White House on the area known as the Ellipse last night for a ceremony to light the national Christmas tree. President George W. Bush reminded the large crowd gathered for the 2008 Pageant of Peace that there's meaning behind the ceremony.
"During Christmas, we celebrate the blessings of the season and the blessings that surround us every day," Bush said. "And the greatest of these blessings is freedom. Today, we give thanks to the brave men and women who protect the American people by defending freedom around the world. Over the past eight years, my greatest honor as president has been serving as commander in chief of the finest military ever known."
The nation's servicemembers and their families never are far from his thoughts, Bush said.
"And they're always in our prayers," he added. "America honors their service, and we are grateful to the sacrifice of the families who stand by their side."
Two representatives of the military families Bush spoke of -- Kayleigh Kepler, 11, and Lindsey Van Horn, 9 -- were on hand to help the president and the first lady light the tree.
Kayleigh is the daughter of Army Staff Sgt. Scott Kepler, who will deploy to Iraq next year with the 1st Infantry Division's 1st Brigade, 101st Forward Support Battalion, based at Fort Riley, Kan.
Lindsey's father, Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert D. Van Horn, is deployed to Iraq with the 743rd Military Intelligence Battalion, which has its headquarters at Fort Carson, Colo.
The tree the girls helped to light is a 42-foot Colorado blue spruce lit with 50 strings of LED lights donated by General Electric Co.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 5, 2008 - As they have for 85 years, Americans gathered in front of the White House on the area known as the Ellipse last night for a ceremony to light the national Christmas tree. President George W. Bush reminded the large crowd gathered for the 2008 Pageant of Peace that there's meaning behind the ceremony.
"During Christmas, we celebrate the blessings of the season and the blessings that surround us every day," Bush said. "And the greatest of these blessings is freedom. Today, we give thanks to the brave men and women who protect the American people by defending freedom around the world. Over the past eight years, my greatest honor as president has been serving as commander in chief of the finest military ever known."
The nation's servicemembers and their families never are far from his thoughts, Bush said.
"And they're always in our prayers," he added. "America honors their service, and we are grateful to the sacrifice of the families who stand by their side."
Two representatives of the military families Bush spoke of -- Kayleigh Kepler, 11, and Lindsey Van Horn, 9 -- were on hand to help the president and the first lady light the tree.
Kayleigh is the daughter of Army Staff Sgt. Scott Kepler, who will deploy to Iraq next year with the 1st Infantry Division's 1st Brigade, 101st Forward Support Battalion, based at Fort Riley, Kan.
Lindsey's father, Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert D. Van Horn, is deployed to Iraq with the 743rd Military Intelligence Battalion, which has its headquarters at Fort Carson, Colo.
The tree the girls helped to light is a 42-foot Colorado blue spruce lit with 50 strings of LED lights donated by General Electric Co.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Service Programs Strive to Strengthen Military Marriages, Curb Divorce
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 4, 2008 - Servicemembers and their spouses are flocking to a broad array of programs to help them strengthen their family relationships as the services step up efforts to curb divorce rates. Military divorce rates rose by .1 percent -- to 3.4 percent -- during fiscal 2008, with 492 more divorces than the previous year, Army Lt. Col Les' Melnyk, a Pentagon spokesman, reported. Military-wide, 25,750 marriages ended in divorce last year.
The Marine Corps, with 3,077 divorces last year, experienced the biggest increase, from 3.3 percent in fiscal 2007 to 3.7 percent.
The Army rate also increased -- to 3.5 percent -- with 10,200 divorces last year. The Army reported a 3.3 percent rate in fiscal 2007, with 9,134 divorces.
Meanwhile, divorce rates dropped .2 percent last year in the Navy and remained stable in the Air Force. The Navy reported a 3 percent rate in fiscal 2008, with 5,441 divorces representing a 618 decrease from the previous year's number.
The Air Force reported a 3.5 percent divorce rate in both fiscal 2007 and 2008, but the actual number of divorces dropped by 618 -- to 7,032.
Comparing these statistics to civilian divorce rates is difficult, officials said, but most sources agree that about 50 percent of first marriages end in divorce in the United States. The highest incidence of civilian divorces is within the 20- to 29-year-old population, which also makes up the largest percentage of the military.
Recognizing the hardships Military life often imposes -- and the challenges it can place on family relationships -- the military services are working to buck societal trends through a full range of outreach programs. The programs are offered through the services' family support, chaplain and mental health counseling networks and range from support groups for spouses of deployed troops to weekend retreats for Military couples.
The Army program, the largest, aims to build resiliency in soldiers -- 58 percent of them married -- and the families who stand by them, Lt. Col. George Wright, an Army spokesman, told American Forces Press Service.
The programs focus on communication, intimacy and conflict management, which research shows increases marriage satisfaction and reduces marital challenges.
"Military families have to adjust to more transitions than the typical family," Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Carleton Birch, from the Army's Chief of Chaplains Office, said. "These programs strengthen the bonds that build resiliency in Army families."
The centerpiece of the Army program is "Strong Bonds," a program initiated by commanders and led by chaplains that helps soldiers and their families build strong relationships. Strong Bonds has four parts: a general couples program, programs tailored for couples preparing for or returning from deployments, and programs for families and single soldiers.
Much of the training is provided in a retreat-style format so soldiers and their families can get away from their daily routines "to focus on their important relationships," Wright said.
Participation in the program has doubled every year since the program started five years ago, Birch reported. So far, more than 60,000 couples have participated in the training.
The National Institutes of Health, which recently completed the first year of a five-year study evaluating the program's effectiveness in building family resiliency, found "encouraging early results," Birch said.
Meanwhile, an attendee gave a full-fledged endorsement of the program's value after attending a recent Strong Bonds session at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
"This is the first time since getting back from Iraq in April where I have felt that I am capable as well as confident enough to lead my family in a loving and caring environment," he said. "The tools that I have learned will serve us a lifetime. This should be mandatory training for all married couples."
While praising the benefits these programs offer families, officials said they recognize that strong marital and family relationships make better soldiers.
It also has an important impact on a soldier's decision to re-enlist, Birch said. Quoting other Army leaders, he said, "The Army recruits soldiers, but it retains families."
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 4, 2008 - Servicemembers and their spouses are flocking to a broad array of programs to help them strengthen their family relationships as the services step up efforts to curb divorce rates. Military divorce rates rose by .1 percent -- to 3.4 percent -- during fiscal 2008, with 492 more divorces than the previous year, Army Lt. Col Les' Melnyk, a Pentagon spokesman, reported. Military-wide, 25,750 marriages ended in divorce last year.
The Marine Corps, with 3,077 divorces last year, experienced the biggest increase, from 3.3 percent in fiscal 2007 to 3.7 percent.
The Army rate also increased -- to 3.5 percent -- with 10,200 divorces last year. The Army reported a 3.3 percent rate in fiscal 2007, with 9,134 divorces.
Meanwhile, divorce rates dropped .2 percent last year in the Navy and remained stable in the Air Force. The Navy reported a 3 percent rate in fiscal 2008, with 5,441 divorces representing a 618 decrease from the previous year's number.
The Air Force reported a 3.5 percent divorce rate in both fiscal 2007 and 2008, but the actual number of divorces dropped by 618 -- to 7,032.
Comparing these statistics to civilian divorce rates is difficult, officials said, but most sources agree that about 50 percent of first marriages end in divorce in the United States. The highest incidence of civilian divorces is within the 20- to 29-year-old population, which also makes up the largest percentage of the military.
Recognizing the hardships Military life often imposes -- and the challenges it can place on family relationships -- the military services are working to buck societal trends through a full range of outreach programs. The programs are offered through the services' family support, chaplain and mental health counseling networks and range from support groups for spouses of deployed troops to weekend retreats for Military couples.
The Army program, the largest, aims to build resiliency in soldiers -- 58 percent of them married -- and the families who stand by them, Lt. Col. George Wright, an Army spokesman, told American Forces Press Service.
The programs focus on communication, intimacy and conflict management, which research shows increases marriage satisfaction and reduces marital challenges.
"Military families have to adjust to more transitions than the typical family," Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Carleton Birch, from the Army's Chief of Chaplains Office, said. "These programs strengthen the bonds that build resiliency in Army families."
The centerpiece of the Army program is "Strong Bonds," a program initiated by commanders and led by chaplains that helps soldiers and their families build strong relationships. Strong Bonds has four parts: a general couples program, programs tailored for couples preparing for or returning from deployments, and programs for families and single soldiers.
Much of the training is provided in a retreat-style format so soldiers and their families can get away from their daily routines "to focus on their important relationships," Wright said.
Participation in the program has doubled every year since the program started five years ago, Birch reported. So far, more than 60,000 couples have participated in the training.
The National Institutes of Health, which recently completed the first year of a five-year study evaluating the program's effectiveness in building family resiliency, found "encouraging early results," Birch said.
Meanwhile, an attendee gave a full-fledged endorsement of the program's value after attending a recent Strong Bonds session at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
"This is the first time since getting back from Iraq in April where I have felt that I am capable as well as confident enough to lead my family in a loving and caring environment," he said. "The tools that I have learned will serve us a lifetime. This should be mandatory training for all married couples."
While praising the benefits these programs offer families, officials said they recognize that strong marital and family relationships make better soldiers.
It also has an important impact on a soldier's decision to re-enlist, Birch said. Quoting other Army leaders, he said, "The Army recruits soldiers, but it retains families."
DoD Education Activity Encourages Nominations for Teacher Awards
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 4, 2008 - Department of Defense Education Activity officials are encouraging parents, students, school administrators and others to nominate worthy science and mathematics teachers for a prestigious presidential award. Michael Kestner, branch chief for mathematics for DoDEA headquarters, said the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Testing began in 1983 and recognizes educators for their dedication to teaching math and science at the 7th- to 12th-grade level.
The award is open to teachers from all 50 states and four jurisdictions, including DoDEA, who have been teaching science or math for at least five years.
"It's the presidential award, so it's a prestigious award," Kestner said. "It puts [recipients] in a network of other master teachers across the country ... so they create a network of master teachers who can share ideas and bring them back to their own schools."
Kestner said DoDEA teachers may have a bit of an edge because of their circumstances.
"We have teachers all around the world, so they're picking up techniques and experiences from the cultures they're in as well as things that are happening in this country," he said. "That's one advantage that we have."
Teachers are notified of their nominations and must then complete an application process that requires videotaping a lesson and then critiquing it. DoDEA teachers will get help with that, Kestner said.
"We try to support them going through the application process ... to get their application complete," he said. "It is a process that takes some time."
In addition to recognition, recipients -- potentially 108 of them -- receive a trip for two to Washington, a citation signed by the president and a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation. The monetary award is theirs to do with as they see fit, Kestner said, but he predicted that most would put at least a portion of it back into their schools.
The National Science Foundation will select the final winners from nominees who go forward from their jurisdiction.
Recipients also have the opportunity to attend recognition events and professional development programs during their trip to the nation's capital.
DoDEA officials ask that nominations be submitted before Jan. 8. Forms are available on the awards program's Web site, http://www.paemst.org.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 4, 2008 - Department of Defense Education Activity officials are encouraging parents, students, school administrators and others to nominate worthy science and mathematics teachers for a prestigious presidential award. Michael Kestner, branch chief for mathematics for DoDEA headquarters, said the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Testing began in 1983 and recognizes educators for their dedication to teaching math and science at the 7th- to 12th-grade level.
The award is open to teachers from all 50 states and four jurisdictions, including DoDEA, who have been teaching science or math for at least five years.
"It's the presidential award, so it's a prestigious award," Kestner said. "It puts [recipients] in a network of other master teachers across the country ... so they create a network of master teachers who can share ideas and bring them back to their own schools."
Kestner said DoDEA teachers may have a bit of an edge because of their circumstances.
"We have teachers all around the world, so they're picking up techniques and experiences from the cultures they're in as well as things that are happening in this country," he said. "That's one advantage that we have."
Teachers are notified of their nominations and must then complete an application process that requires videotaping a lesson and then critiquing it. DoDEA teachers will get help with that, Kestner said.
"We try to support them going through the application process ... to get their application complete," he said. "It is a process that takes some time."
In addition to recognition, recipients -- potentially 108 of them -- receive a trip for two to Washington, a citation signed by the president and a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation. The monetary award is theirs to do with as they see fit, Kestner said, but he predicted that most would put at least a portion of it back into their schools.
The National Science Foundation will select the final winners from nominees who go forward from their jurisdiction.
Recipients also have the opportunity to attend recognition events and professional development programs during their trip to the nation's capital.
DoDEA officials ask that nominations be submitted before Jan. 8. Forms are available on the awards program's Web site, http://www.paemst.org.
MILITARY CONTRACTS December 4, 2008
NAVY
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $66,629,940 fixed price incentive fee contract for advanced acquisition funding to provide for long lead material and associated efforts, required for the Lot 34 Full Rate Production of the F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in Dec. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-09-C-0019).
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $53,578,907 firm fixed priced modification to delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for sustainment items needed to support Category I Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production vehicles in theater. This order will also be used to support the renewal of Field Service Representative support within the Central Command area of responsibility. Work will be performed in WestPoint, Miss., and work is expected to be completed Nov. 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.
Engineering Remediation Resources Group, Inc.*, Concord, Calif.; Sealaska Environmental Services LLC*, San Diego, Calif.; and AIS-TN&A JV*, Wilmington, Calif., are each being awarded a firm fixed price, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity environmental multiple award contract for environmental remediation services on Navy and Marine Corps installations at various locations within the NAVFAC Southwest area of responsibility (AOR). The maximum dollar value for all three contracts combined is $50,000,000. The work to be performed provides for environmental remedial actions; removal actions; remedial design; expedited and emergency response actions; pilot and treatability studies; remedial action systems operation and maintenance; groundwater monitoring and other related activities associated with returning sites to safe and acceptable levels of contamination. Work under these contracts will be performed at various sites within the NAVFAC Southwest AOR including, but not limited to, Calif., (90 percent), Ariz., (4 percent), Nev., (3 percent), and N.M., (3 percent). Engineering Remediation Resources Group, Inc., is being awarded the initial task order in the amount of $160,971 for Installation Restoration Program work at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Calif. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by May 2010. The term of the contract is not to exceed five years, with an expected completion date of Dec. 2013. Contract funds for task order 0001 will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under the eight (a) Business Development Program via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 14 proposals received. These three contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62473-09-D-2608/2609/2610).
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Portsmouth, R.I., is being awarded a $17,136,007 firm fixed price, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity long term contract for repair overhaul of various weapons replaceable assemblies used on the Airborne Low Frequency Sonar utilized on the MH-60R helicopter. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, R.I., (10 percent), and Brest, France, (90 percent). Work is to be completed by Dec. 2010. Contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity (N00383-09-D-009F).
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, New Orleans, La., is being awarded a $16,801,209 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-2217) for Life Cycle Engineering and Support services on the LPD 17 Class Amphibious Transport Dock Ship Program. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss. (60 percent) and New Orleans, La. (40 percent), and work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., McLean, Va., is being awarded a $10,737,434 modification to a previously awarded cost plus fixed fee contract (N00421-06-C-0003) to exercise an option for technical, engineering, professional and management support services for the Special Communications Requirements Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in support of the Department of Defense, Joint Service, and Federal Agencies programs. The estimated level of effort for this contract is 149,760 man-hours. Work will be performed in Lexington Park, Md., (50 percent); and St. Inigoes, Md., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in Dec. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, St. Inigoes, Md., is the contracting activity.
Canadian Commercial Corp., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada, London, Ontario, Canada, is being awarded an $8,420,174 firm fixed priced modification to delivery order #0003 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5028) for the purchase of Battle Damage Sustainment Kits and associated Non-Recurring Engineering costs. Work will be performed in London, Ontario, Canada, and work is expected to be completed no later than 29 July 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The base contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Guam Industrial Services Inc., Santa Rita, Guam, is being awarded a $7,423,380 firm, fixed price contract for a regular overhaul of Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7). Rainier is one of four fast combat support ships that provide one-stop shopping to the U.S. Navy's fleet for fuel, ammunition, food and other cargo. These ships are especially valuable because of their speed and ability to carry all the essentials to replenish Navy ships at sea. Work performed will include dry-docking the ship, cleaning and painting the underwater hull, inspecting tanks and conducting numerous inspections and certifications. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $9,907,055. Work will be performed in Santa Rita, Guam, and work is expected to be completed within 55 calendar days from award. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with two offers received. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Fleet Support Command, a field activity of Military Sealift Command, is the contracting authority (N40442-09-C-2025).
Air Force
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus award fee contract with Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas for $29,144,714. This effort is for the incorporation of CCP 0184, F-22 Depot Activation Equipment for fiscal years 2007 and 2008. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 878 SESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8611-08-C-2897, modification P00006).
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus award fee contract with ITT Corp., Patrick AFB, Fla., for $5,819,931.84. This action will modify the contracts to add award fee which was earned by the contractor for Period 8. At this time the entire amount has been obligated. SMC/LRSW/PK, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity F04701-01-C-0001, modification P00524).
ARMY
RAX International Corp., La Vegas, Nev., was awarded on Dec. 2, 2008 a,
$222,365,344 cost plus award fee contract for non-personal test upport services in support of the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground Arizona. Work will be performed in Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., and Cold Region Test Center, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2013. Bids solicited were via Solicitation posted on website and five bids were received. Mission & Installation contracting Command, Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., is the contracting activity (W9124R-09-C-0003).
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $66,629,940 fixed price incentive fee contract for advanced acquisition funding to provide for long lead material and associated efforts, required for the Lot 34 Full Rate Production of the F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in Dec. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-09-C-0019).
Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $53,578,907 firm fixed priced modification to delivery order #0004 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for sustainment items needed to support Category I Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production vehicles in theater. This order will also be used to support the renewal of Field Service Representative support within the Central Command area of responsibility. Work will be performed in WestPoint, Miss., and work is expected to be completed Nov. 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.
Engineering Remediation Resources Group, Inc.*, Concord, Calif.; Sealaska Environmental Services LLC*, San Diego, Calif.; and AIS-TN&A JV*, Wilmington, Calif., are each being awarded a firm fixed price, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity environmental multiple award contract for environmental remediation services on Navy and Marine Corps installations at various locations within the NAVFAC Southwest area of responsibility (AOR). The maximum dollar value for all three contracts combined is $50,000,000. The work to be performed provides for environmental remedial actions; removal actions; remedial design; expedited and emergency response actions; pilot and treatability studies; remedial action systems operation and maintenance; groundwater monitoring and other related activities associated with returning sites to safe and acceptable levels of contamination. Work under these contracts will be performed at various sites within the NAVFAC Southwest AOR including, but not limited to, Calif., (90 percent), Ariz., (4 percent), Nev., (3 percent), and N.M., (3 percent). Engineering Remediation Resources Group, Inc., is being awarded the initial task order in the amount of $160,971 for Installation Restoration Program work at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Calif. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by May 2010. The term of the contract is not to exceed five years, with an expected completion date of Dec. 2013. Contract funds for task order 0001 will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under the eight (a) Business Development Program via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 14 proposals received. These three contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62473-09-D-2608/2609/2610).
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Portsmouth, R.I., is being awarded a $17,136,007 firm fixed price, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity long term contract for repair overhaul of various weapons replaceable assemblies used on the Airborne Low Frequency Sonar utilized on the MH-60R helicopter. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, R.I., (10 percent), and Brest, France, (90 percent). Work is to be completed by Dec. 2010. Contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity (N00383-09-D-009F).
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, New Orleans, La., is being awarded a $16,801,209 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-2217) for Life Cycle Engineering and Support services on the LPD 17 Class Amphibious Transport Dock Ship Program. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss. (60 percent) and New Orleans, La. (40 percent), and work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., McLean, Va., is being awarded a $10,737,434 modification to a previously awarded cost plus fixed fee contract (N00421-06-C-0003) to exercise an option for technical, engineering, professional and management support services for the Special Communications Requirements Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in support of the Department of Defense, Joint Service, and Federal Agencies programs. The estimated level of effort for this contract is 149,760 man-hours. Work will be performed in Lexington Park, Md., (50 percent); and St. Inigoes, Md., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in Dec. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, St. Inigoes, Md., is the contracting activity.
Canadian Commercial Corp., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada, London, Ontario, Canada, is being awarded an $8,420,174 firm fixed priced modification to delivery order #0003 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5028) for the purchase of Battle Damage Sustainment Kits and associated Non-Recurring Engineering costs. Work will be performed in London, Ontario, Canada, and work is expected to be completed no later than 29 July 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The base contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.
Guam Industrial Services Inc., Santa Rita, Guam, is being awarded a $7,423,380 firm, fixed price contract for a regular overhaul of Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7). Rainier is one of four fast combat support ships that provide one-stop shopping to the U.S. Navy's fleet for fuel, ammunition, food and other cargo. These ships are especially valuable because of their speed and ability to carry all the essentials to replenish Navy ships at sea. Work performed will include dry-docking the ship, cleaning and painting the underwater hull, inspecting tanks and conducting numerous inspections and certifications. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $9,907,055. Work will be performed in Santa Rita, Guam, and work is expected to be completed within 55 calendar days from award. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with two offers received. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Fleet Support Command, a field activity of Military Sealift Command, is the contracting authority (N40442-09-C-2025).
Air Force
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus award fee contract with Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas for $29,144,714. This effort is for the incorporation of CCP 0184, F-22 Depot Activation Equipment for fiscal years 2007 and 2008. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 878 SESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8611-08-C-2897, modification P00006).
The Air Force is modifying a cost plus award fee contract with ITT Corp., Patrick AFB, Fla., for $5,819,931.84. This action will modify the contracts to add award fee which was earned by the contractor for Period 8. At this time the entire amount has been obligated. SMC/LRSW/PK, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity F04701-01-C-0001, modification P00524).
ARMY
RAX International Corp., La Vegas, Nev., was awarded on Dec. 2, 2008 a,
$222,365,344 cost plus award fee contract for non-personal test upport services in support of the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground Arizona. Work will be performed in Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., and Cold Region Test Center, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2013. Bids solicited were via Solicitation posted on website and five bids were received. Mission & Installation contracting Command, Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., is the contracting activity (W9124R-09-C-0003).
'Sentinels of Freedom' Scholarships Help Wounded Veterans
By Sharon Foster
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - Thanks to a recommendation from the Army Wounded Warrior Program at Fort Riley, Kan., retired Army Sgt. Victor Thibeault of San Ramon, Calif., will study general education with the help of a "Sentinels of Freedom" scholarship that also benefits his family. "The Sentinels of Freedom scholarship has helped me to secure gainful employment [and] a rent-free living space and a minivan for my family, not to mention the unwavering support of the local community," Thibeault said.
The Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation provides four-year "life scholarships" to help severely wounded veterans become self-sufficient.
Scholarship recipients receive assistance with rent-free housing adapted for physical needs, new furniture and other household supplies, career-placement and training, new adaptive vehicles based upon need, educational opportunities, and financial and personal mentorship. To date, the program has awarded 31 scholarships, with 20 more in the pipeline.
Mike Conklin of Danville, Calif., the father of three Army Rangers, started the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation. Conklin said he was inspired to reach out to severely injured veterans after one of his sons was wounded in Iraq in 2003.
"Impressed by the level of care my son received in military hospitals and wanting to do something tangible to support U.S. troops, I created the nonprofit Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation," Conklin said. "The four-year program is meant for veterans with severe service-related injuries who have the aptitude, attitude and drive to become independent and successful members of society."
Scholarship recipients are called 'Sentinels' in honor of their sacrifice and commitment to guarding America's freedoms, Conklin added.
While in Afghanistan in 2003, Thibeault was injured when he was ambushed driving through a crowded market place. A Taliban militant threw a grenade through the driver's side of his vehicle, and it landed under his partner's seat.
"I grabbed it and put it in the center console of the vehicle, mitigating the effects of the blast," Thibeault said. "As a result of the blast, I suffered multiple shrapnel injuries and lost all the fingers on my left hand, except my pinky. I suffered damage to a large portion of my left side and leg."
For his wounds and for saving his fellow soldier's life, Thibeault received the Purple Heart and a Silver Star. Because of his heroism, he also was nominated to receive this scholarship.
"The scholarship has helped enforce a seamless transition from active duty to the civilian work force through a committed community dedicated to the welfare of severely disabled veterans," Thibeault said.
Thibeault is a senior support services technician for the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. Along with his expecting wife, Maleney, and 2-year-old daughter, Delilah, he moved from Kansas to California to accept the scholarship and start working.
Any member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard who suffered severe injuries - amputation, blindness, deafness, paraplegia or severe burns, for example - in the line of duty since Sept. 11, 2001, can apply for the scholarship. Qualified candidates also must have "the skills, experience and attitude that employers look for" in filling available positions and must successfully complete all interview processes, Conklin said. Once they become Sentinels, he added, they'll receive support from a variety of sources.
"Sentinels succeed because whole communities come forward to help," he said. "Local businesses and individuals not only give money, but also time, goods and services, housing and transportation."
Thibeault agreed.
"This has created a nearly stress-free environment where I can focus on my life, education and family goals," Thibeault said. "The Sentinels of Freedom have exceeded my expectations of what a nonprofit veteran service organization can do and be."
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - Thanks to a recommendation from the Army Wounded Warrior Program at Fort Riley, Kan., retired Army Sgt. Victor Thibeault of San Ramon, Calif., will study general education with the help of a "Sentinels of Freedom" scholarship that also benefits his family. "The Sentinels of Freedom scholarship has helped me to secure gainful employment [and] a rent-free living space and a minivan for my family, not to mention the unwavering support of the local community," Thibeault said.
The Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation provides four-year "life scholarships" to help severely wounded veterans become self-sufficient.
Scholarship recipients receive assistance with rent-free housing adapted for physical needs, new furniture and other household supplies, career-placement and training, new adaptive vehicles based upon need, educational opportunities, and financial and personal mentorship. To date, the program has awarded 31 scholarships, with 20 more in the pipeline.
Mike Conklin of Danville, Calif., the father of three Army Rangers, started the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation. Conklin said he was inspired to reach out to severely injured veterans after one of his sons was wounded in Iraq in 2003.
"Impressed by the level of care my son received in military hospitals and wanting to do something tangible to support U.S. troops, I created the nonprofit Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation," Conklin said. "The four-year program is meant for veterans with severe service-related injuries who have the aptitude, attitude and drive to become independent and successful members of society."
Scholarship recipients are called 'Sentinels' in honor of their sacrifice and commitment to guarding America's freedoms, Conklin added.
While in Afghanistan in 2003, Thibeault was injured when he was ambushed driving through a crowded market place. A Taliban militant threw a grenade through the driver's side of his vehicle, and it landed under his partner's seat.
"I grabbed it and put it in the center console of the vehicle, mitigating the effects of the blast," Thibeault said. "As a result of the blast, I suffered multiple shrapnel injuries and lost all the fingers on my left hand, except my pinky. I suffered damage to a large portion of my left side and leg."
For his wounds and for saving his fellow soldier's life, Thibeault received the Purple Heart and a Silver Star. Because of his heroism, he also was nominated to receive this scholarship.
"The scholarship has helped enforce a seamless transition from active duty to the civilian work force through a committed community dedicated to the welfare of severely disabled veterans," Thibeault said.
Thibeault is a senior support services technician for the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. Along with his expecting wife, Maleney, and 2-year-old daughter, Delilah, he moved from Kansas to California to accept the scholarship and start working.
Any member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard who suffered severe injuries - amputation, blindness, deafness, paraplegia or severe burns, for example - in the line of duty since Sept. 11, 2001, can apply for the scholarship. Qualified candidates also must have "the skills, experience and attitude that employers look for" in filling available positions and must successfully complete all interview processes, Conklin said. Once they become Sentinels, he added, they'll receive support from a variety of sources.
"Sentinels succeed because whole communities come forward to help," he said. "Local businesses and individuals not only give money, but also time, goods and services, housing and transportation."
Thibeault agreed.
"This has created a nearly stress-free environment where I can focus on my life, education and family goals," Thibeault said. "The Sentinels of Freedom have exceeded my expectations of what a nonprofit veteran service organization can do and be."
New Social Media Platform Helps Military Members With Relocation
By Jamie Findlater
Special to American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - From a civilian perspective, it may be hard to understand the challenge of constant relocation that comes with military service. Finding new schools, identifying new organizations to join and tracking down a safe neighborhood can be an overwhelming process. As a result, many military families turn to others in the military community for information and resources. "What one person doesn't know, someone else usually does," retired Army Col. Dale Kissinger said. "The problem is finding that person."
Kissinger is co-founder of MilitaryAvenue.com, a military-oriented Web site that offers moving, travel and lifestyle services and discounts. The site recently launched a new online platform for relocation information exchange.
"MilitaryAvenue Answers" is a community-based question and answer platform that allows the military community to seek information and assistance directly from other military members, the local base community and industry experts.
To access the online forum, visitors can go to www.militaryavenue.com/answers, type in a question and get answers from a variety of sources. The forum is organized so users can either ask general questions such as "What moving company offers a military discount?" or more specific area-based questions such as "What is the best pizza place near Fort Bliss?"
Once a question is asked, it is forwarded to a stable of volunteer experts and posted online so anyone with relevant information can respond.
"The platform allows for multiple responses to help ensure a well-rounded answer for each question," Dan Kissinger, the company's chief executive officer, said. "All information will be permanently catalogued and available to assist other military members with similar questions and concerns."
The new tool empowers members of the military community to help one another by tapping into others' individual knowledge and experience, he added.
"MilitaryAvenue.com began as a way to disseminate information about local base communities and the military life to its highly mobile members," the CEO said. "MilitaryAvenue Answers is empowering those members to disseminate their own information."
Dan Kissinger said he hopes the platform will be a useful resource not only for military members and their families, but also for military "outsiders" interested in better understanding the life and sacrifices made by military families or who may have access to additional information and resources.
The interactive nature of the site is geared to assist younger military families who have grown up with the Internet and rely on community forums like this regularly for information exchange, Dan Kissinger said. "With this flexible and easily updated platform, MilitaryAvenue.com is providing a much-needed resource for younger military members accustomed to seeking information from social media communities," he explained.
Looking forward, he said he is hopeful that this tool will set a precedent in how military members access and share information with one another.
"The goal is to move the entire site toward an exchange of information, rather than the display of information," he said. "There needs to be more than a one-way conversation."
(Jamie Findlater works in the New Media directorate of the Defense Media Activity.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - From a civilian perspective, it may be hard to understand the challenge of constant relocation that comes with military service. Finding new schools, identifying new organizations to join and tracking down a safe neighborhood can be an overwhelming process. As a result, many military families turn to others in the military community for information and resources. "What one person doesn't know, someone else usually does," retired Army Col. Dale Kissinger said. "The problem is finding that person."
Kissinger is co-founder of MilitaryAvenue.com, a military-oriented Web site that offers moving, travel and lifestyle services and discounts. The site recently launched a new online platform for relocation information exchange.
"MilitaryAvenue Answers" is a community-based question and answer platform that allows the military community to seek information and assistance directly from other military members, the local base community and industry experts.
To access the online forum, visitors can go to www.militaryavenue.com/answers, type in a question and get answers from a variety of sources. The forum is organized so users can either ask general questions such as "What moving company offers a military discount?" or more specific area-based questions such as "What is the best pizza place near Fort Bliss?"
Once a question is asked, it is forwarded to a stable of volunteer experts and posted online so anyone with relevant information can respond.
"The platform allows for multiple responses to help ensure a well-rounded answer for each question," Dan Kissinger, the company's chief executive officer, said. "All information will be permanently catalogued and available to assist other military members with similar questions and concerns."
The new tool empowers members of the military community to help one another by tapping into others' individual knowledge and experience, he added.
"MilitaryAvenue.com began as a way to disseminate information about local base communities and the military life to its highly mobile members," the CEO said. "MilitaryAvenue Answers is empowering those members to disseminate their own information."
Dan Kissinger said he hopes the platform will be a useful resource not only for military members and their families, but also for military "outsiders" interested in better understanding the life and sacrifices made by military families or who may have access to additional information and resources.
The interactive nature of the site is geared to assist younger military families who have grown up with the Internet and rely on community forums like this regularly for information exchange, Dan Kissinger said. "With this flexible and easily updated platform, MilitaryAvenue.com is providing a much-needed resource for younger military members accustomed to seeking information from social media communities," he explained.
Looking forward, he said he is hopeful that this tool will set a precedent in how military members access and share information with one another.
"The goal is to move the entire site toward an exchange of information, rather than the display of information," he said. "There needs to be more than a one-way conversation."
(Jamie Findlater works in the New Media directorate of the Defense Media Activity.)
Military Financial Road Show Heads to Washington State
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - As headlines scream news of an economic recession, a Defense Department team is heading to the Pacific Northwest tomorrow to help drive home the point that financial readiness is a big part of mission readiness. Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Bremerton in Washington state will host the next in a series of Financial Readiness Challenge events.
The program brings financial experts to military bases, where they present seminars and one-on-one sessions to help servicemembers and their families better manage their finances, explained Navy Cmdr. Dave Julian from the Pentagon's new Office of Personal Finance and Transition.
The events have been received "very, very well" at bases that have hosted them in the last month, Julian said, with participants calling the information they received practical and worthwhile.
Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., offered the first all-day session, which consisted of general discussions about budgeting, spending and savings. Participants who wanted individual assistance also got the opportunity to meet with financial experts to discuss their situations.
Larry Winget, a best-selling author and television personality known as the "Pitbull of Personal Development," was a featured speaker.
Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., hosted another major program, expanding the offerings to two days that included a Saturday. One session used games and other fun activities designed to introduce military children to the concepts of saving money and spending responsibly.
Although every installation's program is tailored to its specific priorities and needs, all build on what Julian calls the "pillars of personal financial readiness." These are:
-- Establishing and maintaining a good credit record;
-- Living within one's means and resisting the "buy now, pay later" mentality;
-- Establishing a routine savings plan that includes an emergency savings fund;
-- Planning for the future through a Thrift Savings Plan or Savings Deposit Plan;
-- Investing in Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and other insurance plans critical to financial security;
-- Borrowing, when necessary, with lower-percentage loans offered through military aid associations and base banks or credit unions;
-- Taking advantage of discounted tickets, gear and services offered through morale, welfare and recreation activities; and
-- Recognizing that seeking financial counseling won't cause a security clearance to be lost or denied -- but that getting buried under in debt could.
Julian said the economic downturn that's devastated many Americans hasn't hit most military families quite as hard. That's largely because servicemembers have secure full-time jobs, commissary and exchange privileges, free medical care and cash for housing if the military doesn't provide it.
"But military families aren't immune to what's going on in the economy," he said. "They are feeling the pinch just like everyone else."
The Financial Readiness Challenge events don't replace the free financial counseling and other services installations already provide, Julian noted. They augment those services. "We're an additional resource to help them reach out to servicemembers and their families," he said.
The goal, he explained, is to help them cope with the financial crisis so they don't face financial hardships that ultimately can become a readiness issue.
Worrying about whether they are going to be able to pay their bills or are about to lose their homes distracts troops from concentrating on the mission. That can put them and their buddies at risk, Julian said.
"We want to keep our men and women overseas, especially the ones in harm's way, concentrating on the mission at hand and the important tasks they have to accomplish, rather than their financial situation at home," he said.
Additional Financial Readiness Challenge event are slated for Fort Belvoir, Va., Jan. 24; Naval Base Kitsap, Wash., Feb. 23; Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., week of Feb. 25; San Diego region, Calif., week of Feb. 25; Norfolk, Va., Feb. 25; and Fort Polk, La., March 7.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - As headlines scream news of an economic recession, a Defense Department team is heading to the Pacific Northwest tomorrow to help drive home the point that financial readiness is a big part of mission readiness. Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Bremerton in Washington state will host the next in a series of Financial Readiness Challenge events.
The program brings financial experts to military bases, where they present seminars and one-on-one sessions to help servicemembers and their families better manage their finances, explained Navy Cmdr. Dave Julian from the Pentagon's new Office of Personal Finance and Transition.
The events have been received "very, very well" at bases that have hosted them in the last month, Julian said, with participants calling the information they received practical and worthwhile.
Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., offered the first all-day session, which consisted of general discussions about budgeting, spending and savings. Participants who wanted individual assistance also got the opportunity to meet with financial experts to discuss their situations.
Larry Winget, a best-selling author and television personality known as the "Pitbull of Personal Development," was a featured speaker.
Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., hosted another major program, expanding the offerings to two days that included a Saturday. One session used games and other fun activities designed to introduce military children to the concepts of saving money and spending responsibly.
Although every installation's program is tailored to its specific priorities and needs, all build on what Julian calls the "pillars of personal financial readiness." These are:
-- Establishing and maintaining a good credit record;
-- Living within one's means and resisting the "buy now, pay later" mentality;
-- Establishing a routine savings plan that includes an emergency savings fund;
-- Planning for the future through a Thrift Savings Plan or Savings Deposit Plan;
-- Investing in Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and other insurance plans critical to financial security;
-- Borrowing, when necessary, with lower-percentage loans offered through military aid associations and base banks or credit unions;
-- Taking advantage of discounted tickets, gear and services offered through morale, welfare and recreation activities; and
-- Recognizing that seeking financial counseling won't cause a security clearance to be lost or denied -- but that getting buried under in debt could.
Julian said the economic downturn that's devastated many Americans hasn't hit most military families quite as hard. That's largely because servicemembers have secure full-time jobs, commissary and exchange privileges, free medical care and cash for housing if the military doesn't provide it.
"But military families aren't immune to what's going on in the economy," he said. "They are feeling the pinch just like everyone else."
The Financial Readiness Challenge events don't replace the free financial counseling and other services installations already provide, Julian noted. They augment those services. "We're an additional resource to help them reach out to servicemembers and their families," he said.
The goal, he explained, is to help them cope with the financial crisis so they don't face financial hardships that ultimately can become a readiness issue.
Worrying about whether they are going to be able to pay their bills or are about to lose their homes distracts troops from concentrating on the mission. That can put them and their buddies at risk, Julian said.
"We want to keep our men and women overseas, especially the ones in harm's way, concentrating on the mission at hand and the important tasks they have to accomplish, rather than their financial situation at home," he said.
Additional Financial Readiness Challenge event are slated for Fort Belvoir, Va., Jan. 24; Naval Base Kitsap, Wash., Feb. 23; Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., week of Feb. 25; San Diego region, Calif., week of Feb. 25; Norfolk, Va., Feb. 25; and Fort Polk, La., March 7.
U.S. Commits to Reducing Collateral Damage from Cluster Bombs
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - The United States shares the concerns of some 100 countries who gathered in Norway today to sign a treaty banning cluster bombs, but believes that the best forum for such agreements is within the organization of the nations that produce them, a Pentagon spokesman said today. Bryan Whitman explained to reporters why the United States isn't signing the treaty, emphasizing that this doesn't mean U.S. officials aren't concerned about the issue.
"We are obviously concerned about unintended harm to civilians as a result of the whole range of munitions out there that are used in war," he said. "It is for that reason that we have taken a leading role in the negotiations on cluster munitions, but within the framework of the [United Nations] Convention on Conventional Weapons."
The CCW, he explained, includes all nations that produce cluster munitions, including China and Russia. Like the United States, these countries declined to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions agreement today in Oslo.
Whitman emphasized that the United States is committed to protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure from the unintended consequences of unexploded munitions.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates signed new standards for cluster bombs in early July that aim to strike a critical balance between operational requirements and safety concerns. The goal, officials explained, is to reduce collateral effects of cluster munitions used to pursue legitimate military objectives.
The new policy is designed to eliminate the number of bomblets dispersed by cluster bombs that don't explode on impact. It sets new safety standards that, by 2018, would require 99 percent of all bomblets to explode on contact.
The new policy is aimed at eliminating the chance that the bombs could remain active and pose a potential threat to civilians on the ground after the hostilities, Whitman explained.
Defense officials have expressed concern that an outright ban on cluster munitions would create a critical capability gap.
Future adversaries are likely to use civilian shields for military targets -- for example, by placing a military target on the roof of an occupied building, officials said. Under circumstances like that, officials said, cluster bombs would cause fewer civilian casualties and damage than other, far more destructive weapons.
In addition to improving its cluster munitions, the United States has spent $1.4 billion since 1993 to clean up land mines and other explosives, Whitman said.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - The United States shares the concerns of some 100 countries who gathered in Norway today to sign a treaty banning cluster bombs, but believes that the best forum for such agreements is within the organization of the nations that produce them, a Pentagon spokesman said today. Bryan Whitman explained to reporters why the United States isn't signing the treaty, emphasizing that this doesn't mean U.S. officials aren't concerned about the issue.
"We are obviously concerned about unintended harm to civilians as a result of the whole range of munitions out there that are used in war," he said. "It is for that reason that we have taken a leading role in the negotiations on cluster munitions, but within the framework of the [United Nations] Convention on Conventional Weapons."
The CCW, he explained, includes all nations that produce cluster munitions, including China and Russia. Like the United States, these countries declined to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions agreement today in Oslo.
Whitman emphasized that the United States is committed to protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure from the unintended consequences of unexploded munitions.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates signed new standards for cluster bombs in early July that aim to strike a critical balance between operational requirements and safety concerns. The goal, officials explained, is to reduce collateral effects of cluster munitions used to pursue legitimate military objectives.
The new policy is designed to eliminate the number of bomblets dispersed by cluster bombs that don't explode on impact. It sets new safety standards that, by 2018, would require 99 percent of all bomblets to explode on contact.
The new policy is aimed at eliminating the chance that the bombs could remain active and pose a potential threat to civilians on the ground after the hostilities, Whitman explained.
Defense officials have expressed concern that an outright ban on cluster munitions would create a critical capability gap.
Future adversaries are likely to use civilian shields for military targets -- for example, by placing a military target on the roof of an occupied building, officials said. Under circumstances like that, officials said, cluster bombs would cause fewer civilian casualties and damage than other, far more destructive weapons.
In addition to improving its cluster munitions, the United States has spent $1.4 billion since 1993 to clean up land mines and other explosives, Whitman said.
Gates Will Lead New Obama Team at Defense Department
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - While Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will stay in office in President-elect Barack Obama's administration, other Bush administration political appointees will move on, a Pentagon spokesman said today. More than 600 political appointees work in the Defense Department, 49 of them in positions requiring Senate confirmation. The Senate confirmed Gates in December 2006, and he does not have to go through that process again.
During a news roundtable yesterday, Gates said the vast majority of political appointees will leave Jan. 20 as planned. Others will remain until their successors are named and confirmed, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters today.
"There may be a very small number of folks that are asked to stay beyond that," Whitman added.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England announced yesterday that he will leave Jan. 20 or upon confirmation of his replacement. The defense undersecretaries for policy, personnel and readiness, intelligence, comptroller, and acquisition, technology and logistics -- as well as most of the assistant defense secretaries -- are expected to leave then also. "I would expect to see a new team," Whitman said.
Some positions will be "gapped" – meaning that the incumbent will leave the position Jan. 20 and it will be left vacant until the Senate confirms the nominee. Some positions are so important, however, that the secretary may ask the incumbent to remain in place, Whitman said.
"At this point, I am not aware of any that he has asked to do that," Whitman said. "We will see in the days ahead whether that becomes necessary and how quickly the new team gets aligned and is ready to come into position. If there are some positions that the secretary feels he cannot gap and instead [needs to] bridge with somebody, [he will see] if those individuals are willing to do that."
Those bridging the gaps will not have definite dates for departure, and therefore would not be able to make plans with potential new employers, Whitman explained. But he expressed confidence they would remain until their successors are in place if necessary. "The people in these positions have a tremendous sense of duty," he said.
Gates will be involved in the president-elect's DoD staffing process, Whitman said, interviewing the senior people and giving his opinion to the Obama.
"Still, the people nominated will serve at the pleasure of the president, and Obama will have the final say," Whitman said.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - While Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will stay in office in President-elect Barack Obama's administration, other Bush administration political appointees will move on, a Pentagon spokesman said today. More than 600 political appointees work in the Defense Department, 49 of them in positions requiring Senate confirmation. The Senate confirmed Gates in December 2006, and he does not have to go through that process again.
During a news roundtable yesterday, Gates said the vast majority of political appointees will leave Jan. 20 as planned. Others will remain until their successors are named and confirmed, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters today.
"There may be a very small number of folks that are asked to stay beyond that," Whitman added.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England announced yesterday that he will leave Jan. 20 or upon confirmation of his replacement. The defense undersecretaries for policy, personnel and readiness, intelligence, comptroller, and acquisition, technology and logistics -- as well as most of the assistant defense secretaries -- are expected to leave then also. "I would expect to see a new team," Whitman said.
Some positions will be "gapped" – meaning that the incumbent will leave the position Jan. 20 and it will be left vacant until the Senate confirms the nominee. Some positions are so important, however, that the secretary may ask the incumbent to remain in place, Whitman said.
"At this point, I am not aware of any that he has asked to do that," Whitman said. "We will see in the days ahead whether that becomes necessary and how quickly the new team gets aligned and is ready to come into position. If there are some positions that the secretary feels he cannot gap and instead [needs to] bridge with somebody, [he will see] if those individuals are willing to do that."
Those bridging the gaps will not have definite dates for departure, and therefore would not be able to make plans with potential new employers, Whitman explained. But he expressed confidence they would remain until their successors are in place if necessary. "The people in these positions have a tremendous sense of duty," he said.
Gates will be involved in the president-elect's DoD staffing process, Whitman said, interviewing the senior people and giving his opinion to the Obama.
"Still, the people nominated will serve at the pleasure of the president, and Obama will have the final say," Whitman said.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Country Star Uses Music to Take Troops Back Home
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - Country singer/songwriter Craig Morgan can relate to the veterans he meets when he performs, because he's been there. "I was in Panama in 1989 for Operation Just Cause, [and] I was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Desert Storm," the former soldier said. "I experienced a lot of the same stuff that they're going through."
Despite that fact, though, Morgan said he'd always discounted the impact music can have when a servicemember is far from home until he performed after a Jack Daniels-sponsored care package stuffing event at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and met some wounded servicemembers.
"They were talking about how my music affected them, and what it meant to them when they were going through what they were going through," Morgan said. "After hearing so many stories, especially ... [from] those guys, the men and women in the armed forces, the way that the music impacted them and made them want to keep going, I learned not to take it so lightly."
The stories he heard from those wounded troops at Quantico inspired him. With hand-written lyrics secured to a microphone stand, Morgan performed "Let Me Take You Home" for the first time that night.
"It's about where they're from. Let the music take you back home. Let the music take you there," he said. "That's basically what it says: 'I can't do a lot for you, but I can sing these songs and I can take you home. So let me.'"
He later recorded an acoustic version with the intent of making it available to the troops, but ran into some obstacles, including the release of his new album.
"I didn't want it to become part of the record," he said. "I really wanted it to be special for them."
With the chaos of a new album release out of the way, "Let Me Take You Home" now is available as a free download from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service Web site for a limited time. Valid military identification is required to access the song.
Those who miss the download just might catch Morgan in Iraq and Afghanistan. He'll be touring with United Service Organizations during the holidays.
"We're going to do that song every night, I know that," he said. "The men and women serving overseas, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, they ain't got no choice. They don't get to go home."
Morgan said this will be his fifth trip to perform for the troops overseas.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - Country singer/songwriter Craig Morgan can relate to the veterans he meets when he performs, because he's been there. "I was in Panama in 1989 for Operation Just Cause, [and] I was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Desert Storm," the former soldier said. "I experienced a lot of the same stuff that they're going through."
Despite that fact, though, Morgan said he'd always discounted the impact music can have when a servicemember is far from home until he performed after a Jack Daniels-sponsored care package stuffing event at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and met some wounded servicemembers.
"They were talking about how my music affected them, and what it meant to them when they were going through what they were going through," Morgan said. "After hearing so many stories, especially ... [from] those guys, the men and women in the armed forces, the way that the music impacted them and made them want to keep going, I learned not to take it so lightly."
The stories he heard from those wounded troops at Quantico inspired him. With hand-written lyrics secured to a microphone stand, Morgan performed "Let Me Take You Home" for the first time that night.
"It's about where they're from. Let the music take you back home. Let the music take you there," he said. "That's basically what it says: 'I can't do a lot for you, but I can sing these songs and I can take you home. So let me.'"
He later recorded an acoustic version with the intent of making it available to the troops, but ran into some obstacles, including the release of his new album.
"I didn't want it to become part of the record," he said. "I really wanted it to be special for them."
With the chaos of a new album release out of the way, "Let Me Take You Home" now is available as a free download from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service Web site for a limited time. Valid military identification is required to access the song.
Those who miss the download just might catch Morgan in Iraq and Afghanistan. He'll be touring with United Service Organizations during the holidays.
"We're going to do that song every night, I know that," he said. "The men and women serving overseas, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, they ain't got no choice. They don't get to go home."
Morgan said this will be his fifth trip to perform for the troops overseas.
MILITARY CONTRACTS December 2, 2008
NAVY
Archer Western Contractors, LTD, Atlanta, Ga.; Centennial Contractors Enterprises, Inc., Vienna, Va.; Hourigan Construction Corp., Virginia Beach, Va.; M.A. Mortenson Co., Minneapolis, Minn.; S. B. Ballard Construction Co., Virginia Beach, Va.; Sauer Inc. d/b/a Sauer Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla.; Tesoro Corp., Virginia Beach, Va.; Virtexco Corp., Norfolk, Va.; W. M. Jordan Company, Inc., Newport News, Va., are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract for new construction, renovations, alteration, and repair at Navy and Marine Corps installations in the Hampton Roads area, Va. The maximum dollar value for all nine contracts combined is $400,000,000. S. B. Ballard Construction Company is being awarded task order #0001 at $12,926,301 for ship maintenance engineering facility modernization at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by May 2010. The task order also contains one option, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative value of the task order to $12,983,301. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of November 2013. Contract funds for task order #0001 will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online Web site, with 15 proposals received. These nine contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-09-D-5019/5020/5021/5022/5023/5026/5027/5033/5034).
Shriver and Holland Associates*, Norfolk, Va., is being awarded a maximum amount $7,500,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect/engineering contract with a for preparation of project documents and other related project planning/design services for personnel support and administrative/training facility projects located at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. The work to be performed provides for development of project documentation, plans, specifications, preparation of Requests for Proposals for design/build and design/bid/build projects, cost estimates, related studies, surveying, soil borings, hazardous materials identification, energy computation, LEED documentation and certification, Life Safety Code Studies, interior space planning/design, other associated engineering services such as shop drawing review, as-built drawing preparation, Quality Assurance Plan preparation, Operation and Maintenance Support Information, construction inspection and engineering consultation services during construction. Work will be performed at Jacksonville, N.C. (80 percent) and Cherry Point, N.C. (20 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online Web site,with eight proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-09-D-3211).
Defense Technologies, Inc.*, Tampa, Fla., is being awarded an $8,314,356 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-05-D-0055) to provide additional funds for efforts related to the development of unmanned air systems' components and command and control stations, including flight testing and the achievement of Federal Aviation Administration certification. Work will be performed in Gastonia, N.C. (70 percent); and Patuxent River, Md. (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Valley Apparel LLC*, Knoxville, Tenn., is being awarded a maximum $20,934,014 firm fixed price, total set aside contract for supply of Navy Task Force Uniform parkas. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Navy. This proposal was originally Web solicited with 5 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Dec. 4, 2009. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM1C1-08-D-1029).
Archer Western Contractors, LTD, Atlanta, Ga.; Centennial Contractors Enterprises, Inc., Vienna, Va.; Hourigan Construction Corp., Virginia Beach, Va.; M.A. Mortenson Co., Minneapolis, Minn.; S. B. Ballard Construction Co., Virginia Beach, Va.; Sauer Inc. d/b/a Sauer Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla.; Tesoro Corp., Virginia Beach, Va.; Virtexco Corp., Norfolk, Va.; W. M. Jordan Company, Inc., Newport News, Va., are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract for new construction, renovations, alteration, and repair at Navy and Marine Corps installations in the Hampton Roads area, Va. The maximum dollar value for all nine contracts combined is $400,000,000. S. B. Ballard Construction Company is being awarded task order #0001 at $12,926,301 for ship maintenance engineering facility modernization at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by May 2010. The task order also contains one option, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative value of the task order to $12,983,301. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of November 2013. Contract funds for task order #0001 will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online Web site, with 15 proposals received. These nine contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-09-D-5019/5020/5021/5022/5023/5026/5027/5033/5034).
Shriver and Holland Associates*, Norfolk, Va., is being awarded a maximum amount $7,500,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect/engineering contract with a for preparation of project documents and other related project planning/design services for personnel support and administrative/training facility projects located at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. The work to be performed provides for development of project documentation, plans, specifications, preparation of Requests for Proposals for design/build and design/bid/build projects, cost estimates, related studies, surveying, soil borings, hazardous materials identification, energy computation, LEED documentation and certification, Life Safety Code Studies, interior space planning/design, other associated engineering services such as shop drawing review, as-built drawing preparation, Quality Assurance Plan preparation, Operation and Maintenance Support Information, construction inspection and engineering consultation services during construction. Work will be performed at Jacksonville, N.C. (80 percent) and Cherry Point, N.C. (20 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online Web site,with eight proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-09-D-3211).
Defense Technologies, Inc.*, Tampa, Fla., is being awarded an $8,314,356 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-05-D-0055) to provide additional funds for efforts related to the development of unmanned air systems' components and command and control stations, including flight testing and the achievement of Federal Aviation Administration certification. Work will be performed in Gastonia, N.C. (70 percent); and Patuxent River, Md. (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Valley Apparel LLC*, Knoxville, Tenn., is being awarded a maximum $20,934,014 firm fixed price, total set aside contract for supply of Navy Task Force Uniform parkas. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Navy. This proposal was originally Web solicited with 5 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Dec. 4, 2009. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM1C1-08-D-1029).
Recovery Efforts Help Write Final Chapter for Missing Pilot's Wife
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - Sallie Stratton always knew she wanted to write a book, but she just couldn't bring herself to put pen to paper -- until now. It is truly a Texas-sized love story that starts nearly 50 years ago in small record store near Dallas. It chases a pilot's dream around the globe to a foreign land, turns on its end in a fiery jet crash, returns to a grief-stricken widow and three small boys, and ends in a southwestern cemetery just last year.
Chuck was Stratton's first love. On New Year's Eve in 1959, the young man bent on flying for the Air Force happened into the record store where Stratton was working and tried to flirt with her. She was busy closing the shop, so he had to buy a record to get her attention, Stratton said. Though she wouldn't break her date that night to go out with him, she did yield her phone number.
They went out a few days later, and Chuck proposed within a month. But, Stratton was only 17 and had yet to finish high school. Chuck was set for pilot's training for the Air Force. So after she finished school and he finished training, they married. The two had a one-night honeymoon and left for their first duty station the next day.
"I knew it was Air Force from the time I met him. He was a flyer, and that was what he was going to do," Stratton said.
The two would spend the next decade traveling from base to base and starting a family. But the war in Vietnam was raging, and Jan. 3, 1971, found Capt. Charles W. Stratton with a fellow pilot, Maj. James H. Ayres, flying an F-4E Phantom II, a long-range supersonic fighter-bomber, on a night mission over Savannakhet province, Laos.
The two made a dry pass over the target, but did not drop their bombs. The plane did not return from its second pass.
Pilots flying nearby reported seeing a large explosion on the ground. No one saw anyone eject, and communication was lost with the jet. Hostile activity in the area prevented any search and rescue attempts, according to reports.
Stratton and Ayres were listed as missing in action that day.
While Chuck was deployed, Stratton had moved back to Dallas to live with her mother. She thought it would be a good opportunity for their three boys, ages 3, 5, and 8, to spend time with grandparents.
The next morning at 6 a.m., there was a knock on her door. An officer read to her a brief telegram detailing the facts of the night's events, then turned and left to relay the same information to Chuck's parents.
And Stratton began grieving, and waiting.
"Human beings, ... we can survive anything, if we know what it is we're surviving," Stratton said. "I think that the unknown is probably the most difficult situation to be confronted with. We want to know. We want to know the answers."
Stratton said she knew it was likely her husband had died in the crash. But because no body was recovered and no one knew for certain, there was always a question of whether he was still alive and held in a prison camp. So she waited to hear something -- anything -- that would let her know for certain one way or the other. But information was not forthcoming.
"We didn't get any information for the first couple of years, while the war was going on," Stratton said.
She pinned her hopes on the Jan. 27, 1973, peace accord that put an end to the war and the U.S. military involvement. U.S. prisoners of war were to be released and returned home. Foreign and U.S. military officials both promised lists of those who were held in the various prison camps.
Stratton received word via another telegram; this time an officer read it to her over the phone. There would be no such list from Laos, so her husband would continue to be listed as missing.
"I believed for years that Chuck was alive -- that he had survived the crash," Stratton said. "I clung to the dream I had of him where he was a POW. That dream gave me the hope I needed to survive at the time. I was so sure he would be on that list in 1973 and come home to us."
By 1977, Stratton had gone back to college, become active politically with other wives of POWs and served on the board of directors for the National League of Families, an organization for family members of servicemembers taken prisoner or missing from the Vietnam War.
And she had come to a point at which she needed to resolve her husband's case, Stratton said.
"By then, I decided I needed to figure what was going to happen. It was pretty obvious I wasn't going to get much of an answer at that point," she said.
Stratton decided she would request a status review of her husband's case by the military, she said, though she knew it would result in his being classified as presumed dead.
"There was this fear that if I have a status change, I'm killing him off," she said. But a status change would allow for his insurance to be paid and other benefits to begin. It also would allow her to be free socially to date or remarry.
"At that point, I really didn't think I would ever know anything. It was just one of those things we'd have to live with," Stratton said. "I had done everything I knew to get an answer, and there wasn't an answer."
She spent months considering her options and finally decided that the status review was best for her and her sons. And, Stratton said, she knew her husband would have supported her decision. Promoted twice during his time listed as missing, Lieutenant Colonel Stratton officially was classified as presumed dead July 8, 1977.
The family went through the motions of a memorial service. Stratton said she really didn't want to, but she knew it was important. Surprisingly, after the service, it was as if her husband had rejoined the family, Stratton said. They told stories about Chuck, and the children began remembering little things about him, she said.
"It had become very apparent that we didn't talk about Chuck [before]. And the boys particularly didn't talk about their daddy," she said. "How do you talk about somebody you haven't seen in forever? If you talk about him as if he's alive, it feels weird. ... But if you talk about him as if he is dead, then you are killing him off."
For the most part, after the service, life moved on for Stratton. She traveled, taking different jobs. She lived abroad for a few years. And she almost forgot about the nagging question of what really happened that night her husband didn't come home.
But from time to time, things happened to remind her that she never really knew.
Around 1992, rumors circulated that American POWs were being kept in Laos near where her husband's jet crashed. A native even identified her husband from a photograph as one of the POWs kept there. The military discounted the reports, though, and did not view the source as credible.
Then, in 1999, Stratton was back in Texas, living with a friend in Houston. She received a letter from the Defense Department's POW/Missing Personnel Office. The Washington, D.C.-based office is charged with developing the policy and overseeing the efforts of the nearly 600 men and women in a handful of agencies across the country who work to research, recover and identify those who still are listed as missing from past wars.
People assigned to the office travel across the country a dozen times each year to update families on the status of missing servicemembers. The next meeting was nearby and Stratton decided to attend.
There, she found out that her husband's crash site was next on the list to be excavated by a team from the U.S. military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command on its next visit to Laos. The command sends out research and recovery teams on about 70 missions each year. The JPAC is based in the U.S. Pacific Command and conducts 80 percent of its missions there. It has identified nearly 1,500 formerly missing servicemembers.
"I didn't realize that they were still excavating and that they were really going to those lengths," Stratton said.
While she was excited about the possibility of finally knowing whether her husband died that night, Stratton said original questions she had tried to quell began to resurface.
"It was almost like replicating those first few years of waiting for information," she said. "It's like [you feel] that hope again that you're finally going to get an answer. We started the waiting game again."
It would be five years before the site was fully excavated and all remains were recovered.
In 2001, a joint U.S./Laotian team, led by the JPAC, traveled to Savannakhet province and interviewed citizens about aircraft crash sites. One of the men led the team to what was believed to be the Ayres and Stratton crash site, according to military reports. Later that year, another team began excavating the site. The team recovered human remains and aircrew-related items. Between 2002 and 2005, joint teams visited the site six more times to complete the excavation.
Stratton received detailed reports from each trip. And finally, she learned that the teams had found bones and possible material evidence. Pieces of flight suits, boots, and a survival vest were found.
In August 2005, Stratton found herself at the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory in San Antonio. The lab supports the JPAC mission and 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. Most times, the equipment analysts at the lab are able to piece together with scientific accuracy the likely final moments of servicemembers based on the artifacts.
Analysts estimate that with the full bomb load that Chuck's jet was carrying that night, temperatures would have been eight times that of a crematorium. Yet they recovered 58 pieces of flight suit material.
Using those, analysts pieced together two right-leg pencil pockets -- evidence that both pilots were in the crash. Also, boot sole material was recovered. The tread on military boots made during the Vietnam era varied, and analysts found boot sole material with two different treads.
"Looking at that, it was like 'This was just incredible.' I felt so blessed," Stratton said. "I never thought I would get that much of a definitive answer. Now I know that he wasn't ever a prisoner. He died instantly on the third of January, 1971. That felt ... comforting to finally know."
That would not be the only evidence that her husband had died in the crash. The small amounts of bone material found at the site remarkably had rendered DNA, allowing technicians at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Rockville, Md., to help conclude that the remains were those of her husband.
The lab also supports the JPAC mission and extracts the DNA of 800 bone and tooth samples each year provided by the JPAC. DNA testing, once deemed unreliable by the scientific community, has developed to become a key piece of evidence in nearly 85 percent of all missing troop identifications.
On July 5, 2007, Stratton finally got the call she had been waiting on for more than 35 years.
"I was just like dumbstruck," Stratton said.
She said she asked the officer from the DNA lab on the other end of the line about a "buh-zillion times" if he was sure of the results. He was.
After she got of the phone, Stratton said, she walked only a few steps and stopped.
"There was just this wail, this scream ... this grief that just came up I think from my toenails. I cried like I have never. It just erupted," she said. "Getting the positive DNA [results] unleashed grief that was still buried somewhere in my body. It was just amazing."
So the family had another funeral service last year for Chuck. In stark contrast to his first funeral decades earlier, hundreds of family, friends, grandkids, and even some of Chuck's old cadet buddies gathered Oct. 9, 2007, at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery for what turned out to be more of a celebration than a memorial.
"It was like Dallas and the world welcomed Chuck home. It was absolutely awesome," Stratton said. "We laughed. We cried. We told stories. We celebrated his life from beginning to end. And it was just awesome."
But, truth be told, Chuck is not buried under the stone in the cemetery. Stratton chose to keep her small bone fragments with her in an urn. The two pieces of bone, thought to be the two ends of his thighbone, are roughly the size of a thumbnail.
"He was gone a long time. He's going to stick around for a while," Stratton said.
Stratton has dated other men, but never remarried. She has never checked the "widow" block on a form. In some ways, she said, that question was always there.
Stratton is now writing a memoir of her experiences. She had always wanted to, she said, but had not been able to start. Stratton said she cried and wrote in her journal for four days after hearing of the DNA results. It was then, Stratton said, that she knew she could write her book.
"This is why you haven't been able to write your story yet," Stratton said she realized. "It didn't have an end. Now [I] have an ending."
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 3, 2008 - Sallie Stratton always knew she wanted to write a book, but she just couldn't bring herself to put pen to paper -- until now. It is truly a Texas-sized love story that starts nearly 50 years ago in small record store near Dallas. It chases a pilot's dream around the globe to a foreign land, turns on its end in a fiery jet crash, returns to a grief-stricken widow and three small boys, and ends in a southwestern cemetery just last year.
Chuck was Stratton's first love. On New Year's Eve in 1959, the young man bent on flying for the Air Force happened into the record store where Stratton was working and tried to flirt with her. She was busy closing the shop, so he had to buy a record to get her attention, Stratton said. Though she wouldn't break her date that night to go out with him, she did yield her phone number.
They went out a few days later, and Chuck proposed within a month. But, Stratton was only 17 and had yet to finish high school. Chuck was set for pilot's training for the Air Force. So after she finished school and he finished training, they married. The two had a one-night honeymoon and left for their first duty station the next day.
"I knew it was Air Force from the time I met him. He was a flyer, and that was what he was going to do," Stratton said.
The two would spend the next decade traveling from base to base and starting a family. But the war in Vietnam was raging, and Jan. 3, 1971, found Capt. Charles W. Stratton with a fellow pilot, Maj. James H. Ayres, flying an F-4E Phantom II, a long-range supersonic fighter-bomber, on a night mission over Savannakhet province, Laos.
The two made a dry pass over the target, but did not drop their bombs. The plane did not return from its second pass.
Pilots flying nearby reported seeing a large explosion on the ground. No one saw anyone eject, and communication was lost with the jet. Hostile activity in the area prevented any search and rescue attempts, according to reports.
Stratton and Ayres were listed as missing in action that day.
While Chuck was deployed, Stratton had moved back to Dallas to live with her mother. She thought it would be a good opportunity for their three boys, ages 3, 5, and 8, to spend time with grandparents.
The next morning at 6 a.m., there was a knock on her door. An officer read to her a brief telegram detailing the facts of the night's events, then turned and left to relay the same information to Chuck's parents.
And Stratton began grieving, and waiting.
"Human beings, ... we can survive anything, if we know what it is we're surviving," Stratton said. "I think that the unknown is probably the most difficult situation to be confronted with. We want to know. We want to know the answers."
Stratton said she knew it was likely her husband had died in the crash. But because no body was recovered and no one knew for certain, there was always a question of whether he was still alive and held in a prison camp. So she waited to hear something -- anything -- that would let her know for certain one way or the other. But information was not forthcoming.
"We didn't get any information for the first couple of years, while the war was going on," Stratton said.
She pinned her hopes on the Jan. 27, 1973, peace accord that put an end to the war and the U.S. military involvement. U.S. prisoners of war were to be released and returned home. Foreign and U.S. military officials both promised lists of those who were held in the various prison camps.
Stratton received word via another telegram; this time an officer read it to her over the phone. There would be no such list from Laos, so her husband would continue to be listed as missing.
"I believed for years that Chuck was alive -- that he had survived the crash," Stratton said. "I clung to the dream I had of him where he was a POW. That dream gave me the hope I needed to survive at the time. I was so sure he would be on that list in 1973 and come home to us."
By 1977, Stratton had gone back to college, become active politically with other wives of POWs and served on the board of directors for the National League of Families, an organization for family members of servicemembers taken prisoner or missing from the Vietnam War.
And she had come to a point at which she needed to resolve her husband's case, Stratton said.
"By then, I decided I needed to figure what was going to happen. It was pretty obvious I wasn't going to get much of an answer at that point," she said.
Stratton decided she would request a status review of her husband's case by the military, she said, though she knew it would result in his being classified as presumed dead.
"There was this fear that if I have a status change, I'm killing him off," she said. But a status change would allow for his insurance to be paid and other benefits to begin. It also would allow her to be free socially to date or remarry.
"At that point, I really didn't think I would ever know anything. It was just one of those things we'd have to live with," Stratton said. "I had done everything I knew to get an answer, and there wasn't an answer."
She spent months considering her options and finally decided that the status review was best for her and her sons. And, Stratton said, she knew her husband would have supported her decision. Promoted twice during his time listed as missing, Lieutenant Colonel Stratton officially was classified as presumed dead July 8, 1977.
The family went through the motions of a memorial service. Stratton said she really didn't want to, but she knew it was important. Surprisingly, after the service, it was as if her husband had rejoined the family, Stratton said. They told stories about Chuck, and the children began remembering little things about him, she said.
"It had become very apparent that we didn't talk about Chuck [before]. And the boys particularly didn't talk about their daddy," she said. "How do you talk about somebody you haven't seen in forever? If you talk about him as if he's alive, it feels weird. ... But if you talk about him as if he is dead, then you are killing him off."
For the most part, after the service, life moved on for Stratton. She traveled, taking different jobs. She lived abroad for a few years. And she almost forgot about the nagging question of what really happened that night her husband didn't come home.
But from time to time, things happened to remind her that she never really knew.
Around 1992, rumors circulated that American POWs were being kept in Laos near where her husband's jet crashed. A native even identified her husband from a photograph as one of the POWs kept there. The military discounted the reports, though, and did not view the source as credible.
Then, in 1999, Stratton was back in Texas, living with a friend in Houston. She received a letter from the Defense Department's POW/Missing Personnel Office. The Washington, D.C.-based office is charged with developing the policy and overseeing the efforts of the nearly 600 men and women in a handful of agencies across the country who work to research, recover and identify those who still are listed as missing from past wars.
People assigned to the office travel across the country a dozen times each year to update families on the status of missing servicemembers. The next meeting was nearby and Stratton decided to attend.
There, she found out that her husband's crash site was next on the list to be excavated by a team from the U.S. military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command on its next visit to Laos. The command sends out research and recovery teams on about 70 missions each year. The JPAC is based in the U.S. Pacific Command and conducts 80 percent of its missions there. It has identified nearly 1,500 formerly missing servicemembers.
"I didn't realize that they were still excavating and that they were really going to those lengths," Stratton said.
While she was excited about the possibility of finally knowing whether her husband died that night, Stratton said original questions she had tried to quell began to resurface.
"It was almost like replicating those first few years of waiting for information," she said. "It's like [you feel] that hope again that you're finally going to get an answer. We started the waiting game again."
It would be five years before the site was fully excavated and all remains were recovered.
In 2001, a joint U.S./Laotian team, led by the JPAC, traveled to Savannakhet province and interviewed citizens about aircraft crash sites. One of the men led the team to what was believed to be the Ayres and Stratton crash site, according to military reports. Later that year, another team began excavating the site. The team recovered human remains and aircrew-related items. Between 2002 and 2005, joint teams visited the site six more times to complete the excavation.
Stratton received detailed reports from each trip. And finally, she learned that the teams had found bones and possible material evidence. Pieces of flight suits, boots, and a survival vest were found.
In August 2005, Stratton found herself at the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory in San Antonio. The lab supports the JPAC mission and 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. Most times, the equipment analysts at the lab are able to piece together with scientific accuracy the likely final moments of servicemembers based on the artifacts.
Analysts estimate that with the full bomb load that Chuck's jet was carrying that night, temperatures would have been eight times that of a crematorium. Yet they recovered 58 pieces of flight suit material.
Using those, analysts pieced together two right-leg pencil pockets -- evidence that both pilots were in the crash. Also, boot sole material was recovered. The tread on military boots made during the Vietnam era varied, and analysts found boot sole material with two different treads.
"Looking at that, it was like 'This was just incredible.' I felt so blessed," Stratton said. "I never thought I would get that much of a definitive answer. Now I know that he wasn't ever a prisoner. He died instantly on the third of January, 1971. That felt ... comforting to finally know."
That would not be the only evidence that her husband had died in the crash. The small amounts of bone material found at the site remarkably had rendered DNA, allowing technicians at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Rockville, Md., to help conclude that the remains were those of her husband.
The lab also supports the JPAC mission and extracts the DNA of 800 bone and tooth samples each year provided by the JPAC. DNA testing, once deemed unreliable by the scientific community, has developed to become a key piece of evidence in nearly 85 percent of all missing troop identifications.
On July 5, 2007, Stratton finally got the call she had been waiting on for more than 35 years.
"I was just like dumbstruck," Stratton said.
She said she asked the officer from the DNA lab on the other end of the line about a "buh-zillion times" if he was sure of the results. He was.
After she got of the phone, Stratton said, she walked only a few steps and stopped.
"There was just this wail, this scream ... this grief that just came up I think from my toenails. I cried like I have never. It just erupted," she said. "Getting the positive DNA [results] unleashed grief that was still buried somewhere in my body. It was just amazing."
So the family had another funeral service last year for Chuck. In stark contrast to his first funeral decades earlier, hundreds of family, friends, grandkids, and even some of Chuck's old cadet buddies gathered Oct. 9, 2007, at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery for what turned out to be more of a celebration than a memorial.
"It was like Dallas and the world welcomed Chuck home. It was absolutely awesome," Stratton said. "We laughed. We cried. We told stories. We celebrated his life from beginning to end. And it was just awesome."
But, truth be told, Chuck is not buried under the stone in the cemetery. Stratton chose to keep her small bone fragments with her in an urn. The two pieces of bone, thought to be the two ends of his thighbone, are roughly the size of a thumbnail.
"He was gone a long time. He's going to stick around for a while," Stratton said.
Stratton has dated other men, but never remarried. She has never checked the "widow" block on a form. In some ways, she said, that question was always there.
Stratton is now writing a memoir of her experiences. She had always wanted to, she said, but had not been able to start. Stratton said she cried and wrote in her journal for four days after hearing of the DNA results. It was then, Stratton said, that she knew she could write her book.
"This is why you haven't been able to write your story yet," Stratton said she realized. "It didn't have an end. Now [I] have an ending."
Iraq: An RPG to the Head and a Silver Star – the Gunny Speaks
On December 12, 2008, Conversations with Heroes at the Watering Hole will feature Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas A. Popaditch, USMC (ret.). On April 7, 2004, during the First Battle of Fallujah, Gunnery Sergeant Popaditch “was wounded in action. During a firefight with enemy insurgents, he was struck in the head by an enemy Rocket Propelled Grenade, fired from a rooftop into the commander’s hatch of his tank. He received numerous shrapnel wounds.” His injuries necessitated the removal of his right eye; and, “his remaining eye was legally blind. His right ear and nose sustained significant damage and an implant was placed in his skull.”
In his book, Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery, Popaditch describes how at first he “fights to get back to where he was in Iraq - in the cupola of an M1A1 main battle tank, leading Marines in combat at the point of the spear. As the seriousness and permanence of his disabilities become more evident, Nick fights to remain in the Corps in any capacity, to help the brothers in arms he so aches to rejoin. Facing the inevitable following a medical retirement, he battles for rightful recognition and compensation for his permanent disabilities. Throughout his harrowing ordeal, Nick fights to maintain his honor and loyalty, waging all these battles the same way - the Marine way.”
Program Date: December 12, 2008
Program Time: 2100 hours, Pacific
Topic: Iraq: An RPG to the Head and a Silver Star – the Gunny Speaks
Listen Live:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2008/12/13/Iraq-An-RPG-to-the-Head-and-a-Silver-Star-the-Gunny-Speaks
About the Guest
Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas A. Popaditch enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1986. After recruit training, “PFC Popaditch was assigned the job of tank crewman and given orders to report to the Basic Crewman’s Course.” During the First Gulf War, “he was assigned as Tank Commander of Bravo 2-2 (an M60A1 main battle tank) and promoted to the rank of Sergeant. During Operation Desert Storm, Sgt Popaditch commanded his tank through breaching operations of two minefields and numerous offensive operations against Iraqi forces as part of Task Force Papa Bear.”
Between the wars, Popaditch was an instructor at Tank Commander’s School and honorably discharged in May 1992. He returned to Indiana where he worked as a construction worker and a correctional officer. Ultimately, he re-enlisted in the Marine Corps and in December 1998, became a drill instructor.
During the Second Gulf War, he “commanded his tank through numerous offensive operations against Iraqi forces. Following the fall of Saddam’s Regime in Iraq, he participated in security and stabilization operations on the streets of Baghdad. In July 2003, he returned stateside.” In the Fall of 2003, now Staff Sergeant Popaditch “volunteered to return to Iraq.” In February 2004, he was “promoted to Gunnery Sergeant. And, in April 2004 his platoon was assigned to combat duty in the city Fallujah.”
About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.
About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in law enforcement, public policy, Criminal Justice technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in law enforcement.
Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2008/12/13/Iraq-An-RPG-to-the-Head-and-a-Silver-Star-the-Gunny-Speaks
Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530
In his book, Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery, Popaditch describes how at first he “fights to get back to where he was in Iraq - in the cupola of an M1A1 main battle tank, leading Marines in combat at the point of the spear. As the seriousness and permanence of his disabilities become more evident, Nick fights to remain in the Corps in any capacity, to help the brothers in arms he so aches to rejoin. Facing the inevitable following a medical retirement, he battles for rightful recognition and compensation for his permanent disabilities. Throughout his harrowing ordeal, Nick fights to maintain his honor and loyalty, waging all these battles the same way - the Marine way.”
Program Date: December 12, 2008
Program Time: 2100 hours, Pacific
Topic: Iraq: An RPG to the Head and a Silver Star – the Gunny Speaks
Listen Live:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2008/12/13/Iraq-An-RPG-to-the-Head-and-a-Silver-Star-the-Gunny-Speaks
About the Guest
Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas A. Popaditch enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1986. After recruit training, “PFC Popaditch was assigned the job of tank crewman and given orders to report to the Basic Crewman’s Course.” During the First Gulf War, “he was assigned as Tank Commander of Bravo 2-2 (an M60A1 main battle tank) and promoted to the rank of Sergeant. During Operation Desert Storm, Sgt Popaditch commanded his tank through breaching operations of two minefields and numerous offensive operations against Iraqi forces as part of Task Force Papa Bear.”
Between the wars, Popaditch was an instructor at Tank Commander’s School and honorably discharged in May 1992. He returned to Indiana where he worked as a construction worker and a correctional officer. Ultimately, he re-enlisted in the Marine Corps and in December 1998, became a drill instructor.
During the Second Gulf War, he “commanded his tank through numerous offensive operations against Iraqi forces. Following the fall of Saddam’s Regime in Iraq, he participated in security and stabilization operations on the streets of Baghdad. In July 2003, he returned stateside.” In the Fall of 2003, now Staff Sergeant Popaditch “volunteered to return to Iraq.” In February 2004, he was “promoted to Gunnery Sergeant. And, in April 2004 his platoon was assigned to combat duty in the city Fallujah.”
About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.
About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in law enforcement, public policy, Criminal Justice technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in law enforcement.
Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2008/12/13/Iraq-An-RPG-to-the-Head-and-a-Silver-Star-the-Gunny-Speaks
Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Gates Minot Visit Offers Insight Into Issues Facing Next Administration
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 2, 2008 - Calling his past two years as defense secretary "the most gratifying experience of my life," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told about 1,000 airmen here yesterday that he shares their commitment to service and feels both compelled and honored to retain his post into the next administration. Gates traveled here directly from Chicago, where President-elect Barack Obama announced his national defense team selections, including Gates as defense secretary.
The secretary opened his address to about 1,000 airmen gathered in a B-52H Stratofortress hangar telling them it had not been his "expectation or desire" to remain in the Pentagon post beyond the Bush administration. However, he said, Obama had persuaded him to stay "a little bit longer," not specifying exactly how long that might be.
Gates praised the airmen's service, including a 24/7 nuclear deterrence mission at Minot as well as more than 2,000 deployments in support on the war on terror, and said he, too, will be honored to continue serving.
Obama will be the eighth president Gates has served.
Flanked by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz and the North Dakota congressional delegation, Gates gave insight into the challenges he is likely to address during the next administration.
These include plans ranging from placing missile defenses in Eastern Europe to the need to overhaul the defense acquisition process to the issue that brought him to Minot: heightened oversight of the Air Force's nuclear mission.
Minot is home to the 91st Missile Wing and 5th Bomb Wing, and made national headlines last year when six nuclear missiles were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52 bomber here and flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. Gates called past lapses in nuclear weapons handling "unacceptable," but said he believes the Air Force is "now moving in the right direction to reclaim the standards of excellence for which it was known throughout the Cold War."
He noted sweeping efforts under way, and said he awaits recommendations from a task force he formed to review nuclear enterprise oversight within the Air Force and the Defense Department overall. Former Energy and Defense Secretary James Schlesinger is heading the task force, which is expected to deliver its findings later this month.
Gates got a firsthand look yesterday at operations supporting the nuclear mission. He climbed into the cockpit of a B-52 bomber, one of 12 at Minot, with a second squadron of 10 more to arrive beginning late next year. He toured a B-52 weapons system trainer and simulated launch facility.
The secretary also chatted with members of the 91st Security Forces Group, which safeguards 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and 15 missile alert facilities scattered across more than 8,500 square miles in northern North Dakota. As he greeted the airmen, Gates reminded them that their jobs handling land- and air-based nuclear weapons are "vital to the security of our nation."
"It's definitely a help for morale," Airman 1st Class Jeremiah Oswald, a member of the 5th Civil Engineer Squadron, said of Gates' visit. "It shows that they think of us and that they've come here to support us."
Staff Sgt. Marcus Thames from the 5th Maintenance Group's weapons section called it "a privilege" that Gates took time to visit Minot and see how the base operates. "This helps the airmen realize how important our mission is to national security," he said. "It's very important to us and to our country."
"Only the best come north," Air Force Col. Joel Westa, commander of the 5th Bomb Wing, told Gates, citing Minot's motto. "And that is absolutely true here. ... We never rest."
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 2, 2008 - Calling his past two years as defense secretary "the most gratifying experience of my life," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told about 1,000 airmen here yesterday that he shares their commitment to service and feels both compelled and honored to retain his post into the next administration. Gates traveled here directly from Chicago, where President-elect Barack Obama announced his national defense team selections, including Gates as defense secretary.
The secretary opened his address to about 1,000 airmen gathered in a B-52H Stratofortress hangar telling them it had not been his "expectation or desire" to remain in the Pentagon post beyond the Bush administration. However, he said, Obama had persuaded him to stay "a little bit longer," not specifying exactly how long that might be.
Gates praised the airmen's service, including a 24/7 nuclear deterrence mission at Minot as well as more than 2,000 deployments in support on the war on terror, and said he, too, will be honored to continue serving.
Obama will be the eighth president Gates has served.
Flanked by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz and the North Dakota congressional delegation, Gates gave insight into the challenges he is likely to address during the next administration.
These include plans ranging from placing missile defenses in Eastern Europe to the need to overhaul the defense acquisition process to the issue that brought him to Minot: heightened oversight of the Air Force's nuclear mission.
Minot is home to the 91st Missile Wing and 5th Bomb Wing, and made national headlines last year when six nuclear missiles were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52 bomber here and flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. Gates called past lapses in nuclear weapons handling "unacceptable," but said he believes the Air Force is "now moving in the right direction to reclaim the standards of excellence for which it was known throughout the Cold War."
He noted sweeping efforts under way, and said he awaits recommendations from a task force he formed to review nuclear enterprise oversight within the Air Force and the Defense Department overall. Former Energy and Defense Secretary James Schlesinger is heading the task force, which is expected to deliver its findings later this month.
Gates got a firsthand look yesterday at operations supporting the nuclear mission. He climbed into the cockpit of a B-52 bomber, one of 12 at Minot, with a second squadron of 10 more to arrive beginning late next year. He toured a B-52 weapons system trainer and simulated launch facility.
The secretary also chatted with members of the 91st Security Forces Group, which safeguards 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and 15 missile alert facilities scattered across more than 8,500 square miles in northern North Dakota. As he greeted the airmen, Gates reminded them that their jobs handling land- and air-based nuclear weapons are "vital to the security of our nation."
"It's definitely a help for morale," Airman 1st Class Jeremiah Oswald, a member of the 5th Civil Engineer Squadron, said of Gates' visit. "It shows that they think of us and that they've come here to support us."
Staff Sgt. Marcus Thames from the 5th Maintenance Group's weapons section called it "a privilege" that Gates took time to visit Minot and see how the base operates. "This helps the airmen realize how important our mission is to national security," he said. "It's very important to us and to our country."
"Only the best come north," Air Force Col. Joel Westa, commander of the 5th Bomb Wing, told Gates, citing Minot's motto. "And that is absolutely true here. ... We never rest."
Navy Names Four Ships After American Pioneers
Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter announced today the names of four new Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo/ammunition ships (T-AKE) as Mathew Perry, Charles Drew, Washington Chambers and William McLean. All of the Lewis and Clark ships are named in honor of American explorers and pioneers and are being built by General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, Calif.
The selection of Matthew Perry, designated T-AKE 9, honors Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858), who led a squadron of ships to Japan in 1853 with the aim of opening that nation to trade. He served during the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War, and was sent to suppress piracy and the slave trade in the West Indies.
The selection of Charles Drew, designated T-AKE 10, honors Dr. Charles R. Drew (1904-1950), a physician and medical researcher whose pioneering work in the late 1930s and early 1940s led to the discovery that blood could be separated into plasma. The model for blood and plasma storage developed by Drew has saved untold lives and is the same process used today by the Red Cross. In 1943, he became the first African-American surgeon to serve as an examiner on the American Board of Surgery. T-AKE 10 will be the first Navy ship named after Drew.
The selection of Washington Chambers, designated T-AKE 11, honors Navy Capt. Washington Irving Chambers (1856-1934), a pioneer in naval aviation. Responsible for the Navy's nascent aviation activities, Chambers arranged the world's first airplane flight from a warship. The Nov. 14, 1910, flight by aviator Eugene Ely on the light cruiser the USS Birmingham (CL-2) confirmed the potential of carrier-based naval aviation. T-AKE 11 will be the first Navy ship named after Chambers.
The selection of William McLean, designated T-AKE 12, honors William Burdette McLean (1914-1976), who conceived and developed the heat-seeking Sidewinder air-to-air missile while serving as a physicist for the Navy. During World War II, McLean worked on ordnance equipment and testing at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. Following the war, he moved to the Naval Ordnance Test Station in China Lake, Calif., where he led the project team developing the Sidewinder missile. T-AKE 12 will be the first Navy ship named after McLean.
The T-AKEs are 689 feet in length, have an overall beam of 106 feet, a navigational draft of 30 feet and displace approximately 42,000 tons. Powered by single-shaft diesel-electric propulsion systems, the T-AKEs can reach a speed of 20 knots. As part of the Military Sealift Command's (MSC) Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, the T-AKEs are designated United States Naval Ship (USNS). Unlike their United States Ship (USS) counterparts, the T-AKEs are crewed by 124 civil service mariners working for MSC, as well as 11 sailors who provide supply coordination. When needed, the T-AKEs can also carry a helicopter detachment.
The selection of Matthew Perry, designated T-AKE 9, honors Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858), who led a squadron of ships to Japan in 1853 with the aim of opening that nation to trade. He served during the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War, and was sent to suppress piracy and the slave trade in the West Indies.
The selection of Charles Drew, designated T-AKE 10, honors Dr. Charles R. Drew (1904-1950), a physician and medical researcher whose pioneering work in the late 1930s and early 1940s led to the discovery that blood could be separated into plasma. The model for blood and plasma storage developed by Drew has saved untold lives and is the same process used today by the Red Cross. In 1943, he became the first African-American surgeon to serve as an examiner on the American Board of Surgery. T-AKE 10 will be the first Navy ship named after Drew.
The selection of Washington Chambers, designated T-AKE 11, honors Navy Capt. Washington Irving Chambers (1856-1934), a pioneer in naval aviation. Responsible for the Navy's nascent aviation activities, Chambers arranged the world's first airplane flight from a warship. The Nov. 14, 1910, flight by aviator Eugene Ely on the light cruiser the USS Birmingham (CL-2) confirmed the potential of carrier-based naval aviation. T-AKE 11 will be the first Navy ship named after Chambers.
The selection of William McLean, designated T-AKE 12, honors William Burdette McLean (1914-1976), who conceived and developed the heat-seeking Sidewinder air-to-air missile while serving as a physicist for the Navy. During World War II, McLean worked on ordnance equipment and testing at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. Following the war, he moved to the Naval Ordnance Test Station in China Lake, Calif., where he led the project team developing the Sidewinder missile. T-AKE 12 will be the first Navy ship named after McLean.
The T-AKEs are 689 feet in length, have an overall beam of 106 feet, a navigational draft of 30 feet and displace approximately 42,000 tons. Powered by single-shaft diesel-electric propulsion systems, the T-AKEs can reach a speed of 20 knots. As part of the Military Sealift Command's (MSC) Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, the T-AKEs are designated United States Naval Ship (USNS). Unlike their United States Ship (USS) counterparts, the T-AKEs are crewed by 124 civil service mariners working for MSC, as well as 11 sailors who provide supply coordination. When needed, the T-AKEs can also carry a helicopter detachment.
Gates Pledges to Continue Tackling Tough Issues
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 2, 2008 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will devote himself to resolving challenges facing the Defense Department while serving as part of the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, he said during a Pentagon news conference today. "Our challenges -- from the budget to acquisition and procurement reform, war strategy, care of wounded warriors, meeting the needs of warfighters, decisions on important modernization and capitalization projects and more -- all demand the personal attention of the secretary of defense and they will get it," he said.
Gates said he has no intention of being "a caretaker secretary" in the Obama administration. As the first defense secretary asked to serve in the administration of another party, Gates said there is far too much at stake for the nation to simply occupy the position.
The secretary thanked President George W. Bush for appointing him as secretary in November 2006.
"Serving in this position has been the most gratifying experience of my life, and he made it possible," Gates said. "I also thank him for his support in the difficult decisions that I've had to make. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work for and with him."
He also thanked President-elect Obama for asking him to remain in office, adding that he does not have a time limit in the new administration. "The president-elect and I agreed that this would be open-ended," Gates said.
The secretary has said many times in the past that his desire was to retire to his home in Washington state. But, "with the country fighting two wars and our men and women in uniform at risk, if a president asks me to help, there's no way I can say no," he said.
As with every new president, Obama will appoint people to fill the civilian leadership positions at the Defense Department.
"Virtually every political appointee in the Department of Defense before yesterday assumed he or she would be replaced on Jan. 20 or soon thereafter," Gates said. "That assumption remains as valid today as it was before."
The secretary will have some input in the Obama administration's personnel choices for the department.
"I expect that the transition will provide names and candidates to me for positions -- particularly for the most senior positions," Gates said. "I will interview them, and then I'll make a recommendation to the president, and the president-elect or president will make the final decisions."
Gates admitted that he considers himself a Republican, but feels he can work well with President-elect Obama and his team. Gates has served under eight presidents of both parties.
"The president-elect has made it pretty clear that he wanted a team of people around him who would tell him what they thought and give him their best advice," Gates said. "I think he has assembled that team. There will no doubt be differences among the team, and it will be up to the president to make the decisions."
One area of decision involves U.S. forces in Iraq. Gates said the signing of the status-of-forces agreement already put the United States on a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
Obama's desire to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office is doable. "But he also said that he wanted to have a responsible drawdown, and he also said that he was prepared to listen to his commanders," Gates said. "So I think that that's exactly the position a president-elect should be in."
Gates painted in broad strokes some of the priorities for the next few years. A strategy review in Afghanistan, close scrutiny of the budget, and a very hard look at the way the department handles acquisition and procurement will be important steps in the next few months, he said.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 2, 2008 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will devote himself to resolving challenges facing the Defense Department while serving as part of the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, he said during a Pentagon news conference today. "Our challenges -- from the budget to acquisition and procurement reform, war strategy, care of wounded warriors, meeting the needs of warfighters, decisions on important modernization and capitalization projects and more -- all demand the personal attention of the secretary of defense and they will get it," he said.
Gates said he has no intention of being "a caretaker secretary" in the Obama administration. As the first defense secretary asked to serve in the administration of another party, Gates said there is far too much at stake for the nation to simply occupy the position.
The secretary thanked President George W. Bush for appointing him as secretary in November 2006.
"Serving in this position has been the most gratifying experience of my life, and he made it possible," Gates said. "I also thank him for his support in the difficult decisions that I've had to make. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work for and with him."
He also thanked President-elect Obama for asking him to remain in office, adding that he does not have a time limit in the new administration. "The president-elect and I agreed that this would be open-ended," Gates said.
The secretary has said many times in the past that his desire was to retire to his home in Washington state. But, "with the country fighting two wars and our men and women in uniform at risk, if a president asks me to help, there's no way I can say no," he said.
As with every new president, Obama will appoint people to fill the civilian leadership positions at the Defense Department.
"Virtually every political appointee in the Department of Defense before yesterday assumed he or she would be replaced on Jan. 20 or soon thereafter," Gates said. "That assumption remains as valid today as it was before."
The secretary will have some input in the Obama administration's personnel choices for the department.
"I expect that the transition will provide names and candidates to me for positions -- particularly for the most senior positions," Gates said. "I will interview them, and then I'll make a recommendation to the president, and the president-elect or president will make the final decisions."
Gates admitted that he considers himself a Republican, but feels he can work well with President-elect Obama and his team. Gates has served under eight presidents of both parties.
"The president-elect has made it pretty clear that he wanted a team of people around him who would tell him what they thought and give him their best advice," Gates said. "I think he has assembled that team. There will no doubt be differences among the team, and it will be up to the president to make the decisions."
One area of decision involves U.S. forces in Iraq. Gates said the signing of the status-of-forces agreement already put the United States on a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
Obama's desire to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office is doable. "But he also said that he wanted to have a responsible drawdown, and he also said that he was prepared to listen to his commanders," Gates said. "So I think that that's exactly the position a president-elect should be in."
Gates painted in broad strokes some of the priorities for the next few years. A strategy review in Afghanistan, close scrutiny of the budget, and a very hard look at the way the department handles acquisition and procurement will be important steps in the next few months, he said.
Deputy Secretary England Announces Departure
American Forces Press Service
, Dec. 2, 2008 - Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England said today that he will not be staying with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in President-elect Barack Obama's administration. "I congratulate President-elect Obama for retaining Bob Gates as secretary, and I salute Bob Gates for his continued commitment," England said.
"However, it's time for me to leave. When I came into government in early 2001, I anticipated serving for two to four years. After almost eight years, it's now time for me to turn over the reins to a successor. Also, it's most appropriate for the new administration to name its own deputy."
England said he will stay for some time past Jan. 20, if requested, to assure a smooth transition.
England added, "It's been an astonishing time to serve the nation under President Bush and alongside Secretaries Don Rumsfeld and Bob Gates, each of whom I greatly admire. I thank the brave men and women of our military, and their families, for their service and sacrifice, and for the honor of serving them."
, Dec. 2, 2008 - Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England said today that he will not be staying with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in President-elect Barack Obama's administration. "I congratulate President-elect Obama for retaining Bob Gates as secretary, and I salute Bob Gates for his continued commitment," England said.
"However, it's time for me to leave. When I came into government in early 2001, I anticipated serving for two to four years. After almost eight years, it's now time for me to turn over the reins to a successor. Also, it's most appropriate for the new administration to name its own deputy."
England said he will stay for some time past Jan. 20, if requested, to assure a smooth transition.
England added, "It's been an astonishing time to serve the nation under President Bush and alongside Secretaries Don Rumsfeld and Bob Gates, each of whom I greatly admire. I thank the brave men and women of our military, and their families, for their service and sacrifice, and for the honor of serving them."
MILITARY CONTRACTS December 2, 2008
ARMY
ADS North American Defense, Arlington, Va., was awarded on Nov 26, 2008 a, $208,375,756 firm fixed price contract for funding of Program Year 04 of the Army's Light Utility Helicopter contract for thirty-nine Light Utility Helicopters. Work will be performed in Columbus, Miss., and Grand Prairie, Texas with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2010. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. USA Aviation & Missile Command, Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-06-C-0194).
Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, Mo., was awarded on Nov 26, 2008, a $7,967,779 cost plus fixed fee price contract for Individual Protection Equipment Mannequin System. The integrated IPE Mannequin, Exposure Chamber, Exposure Chambers Ingress/Egress Support and Control Room are referred to as the IPE Mannequin System. Work will be performed in Kansas City, Mo., Waltham, Mass., Seattle, Wash., Atlanta, Ga., and Farmington, Utah, with an estimated completion date of Apr. 30, 2011. Three bids were solicited and two bids were received. USA Army Research Development & Engineer Command Acquisition Center, Aberdeen, Md., is the contracting activity (W911SR-09-C-0006).
AIR FORCE
The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract and cost plus fixed fee to Raytheon Missile System Co., Tucson, Ariz. for $15,000,000. This effort is for a requirements contract for non-routine actions. At this time $7,259,004 has been obligated. 657 AESS, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8982-09-D-0070 and FA8982-09-D-0070 DO 01).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Treen Box and Pallet, Bensalem, Pa.*, is being awarded a maximum $5,125,000 fixed price with economic price adjustment, total set aside contract for supply of wood pallets. There is no other location of performance. Using activities are the Defense Distribution Command Depots throughout the United States. This proposal was originally solicited to 11 entities with nine responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Dec. 04, 2009. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SP0530-06-D-0004).
ADS North American Defense, Arlington, Va., was awarded on Nov 26, 2008 a, $208,375,756 firm fixed price contract for funding of Program Year 04 of the Army's Light Utility Helicopter contract for thirty-nine Light Utility Helicopters. Work will be performed in Columbus, Miss., and Grand Prairie, Texas with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2010. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. USA Aviation & Missile Command, Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-06-C-0194).
Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, Mo., was awarded on Nov 26, 2008, a $7,967,779 cost plus fixed fee price contract for Individual Protection Equipment Mannequin System. The integrated IPE Mannequin, Exposure Chamber, Exposure Chambers Ingress/Egress Support and Control Room are referred to as the IPE Mannequin System. Work will be performed in Kansas City, Mo., Waltham, Mass., Seattle, Wash., Atlanta, Ga., and Farmington, Utah, with an estimated completion date of Apr. 30, 2011. Three bids were solicited and two bids were received. USA Army Research Development & Engineer Command Acquisition Center, Aberdeen, Md., is the contracting activity (W911SR-09-C-0006).
AIR FORCE
The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract and cost plus fixed fee to Raytheon Missile System Co., Tucson, Ariz. for $15,000,000. This effort is for a requirements contract for non-routine actions. At this time $7,259,004 has been obligated. 657 AESS, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8982-09-D-0070 and FA8982-09-D-0070 DO 01).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Treen Box and Pallet, Bensalem, Pa.*, is being awarded a maximum $5,125,000 fixed price with economic price adjustment, total set aside contract for supply of wood pallets. There is no other location of performance. Using activities are the Defense Distribution Command Depots throughout the United States. This proposal was originally solicited to 11 entities with nine responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Dec. 04, 2009. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., (SP0530-06-D-0004).
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