Face of Defense: Enlisted Leader Runs Construction Project

By Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Garas
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 15

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 15, 2013 – Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Ronald Stocker stood in the blistering sun, carefully watching his Seabees pour concrete. “Without this labor force, this job just couldn’t be done,” he said.

Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Ronald Stocker coordinates activity to complete a runway expansion project at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, June 22, 2013. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Garas   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

“You talk to anyone on this camp and they’ll tell you that the Seabees are the only ones working before 9 o’clock in the morning,” Stocker added in an unmistakable Boston accent. “We are on that job site religiously every day at 7 o’clock in the morning.”

Stocker is the acting officer in charge for the Regional Command East Seabee detachment.

Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 15, a reserve unit from Belton, Mo., were using more than 2,000 cubic yards of concrete to add more than 1,500 feet of runway for Regional Command East -- the largest current construction project in the Afghan theater of operations.

Stocker used effective planning and management to ensure his team’s success. Breaking his crew into three teams, he divided the work by the Seabees’ specific specialties. Scheduled shifts help to fill gaps in work to complete other tasks, such as allowing steelworker Seabees to prepare the steel and rebar while builder Seabees construct the frames for the concrete. This way, when the concrete is ready to pour, the Seabees simply need to lay the rebar inside the frames, Stocker explained.

“We try to pour concrete every three days in cycles,” he added. “We try to maintain that schedule for the entire detachment.”

The consistent work schedule allows the Seabees to have zero down time, meaning no disruptions or slack during the process, Stocker said. It has also allowed the Seabees to be ahead of schedule two months into the project, he added.

Stocker is no stranger to building large projects under a tight schedule. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Stocker was given control of a small detachment and tasked with building Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“I took a group of 75 Seabees there and built the camp,” he said. “It was a lot of concrete and steel work -- pretty much the same pace as this project.”

But the similarities to building in Cuba end there, Stocker said. “The biggest thing here is getting our material,” he explained. “If we don’t have it, we don’t get it.”

If tools break, the Seabees must fix them on site. If equipment breaks, they must salvage parts from other equipment. But the resilience it takes to work through such issues is a Seabee hallmark, Stocker said.

“If we don’t have it here, we’re not getting it here, so we have to make do,” he added.

Stocker started his career on active duty as a young man, but left the service in 1987 to run his own construction company in Boston. He re-entered the military in 1991.

“My civilian construction business in Boston is similar to what we are doing here,” he said.

Stocker’s assignment here is a position usually occupied by a commissioned officer. Though officers tend to be more educated than enlisted sailors, he said, some of them lack the job experience. Officers may manage construction projects, he noted, but they usually don’t work them. Both roles are challenging, Stocker said.

Stocker admits he micromanaged the project when he first arrived on the site. But the first class petty officers began to step up and take charge, he said, and as they did, the lines of communication opened up and he was able to achieve his desired effect.

“You have to let your leaders find themselves,” Stocker said. “Leaders are leaders, regardless if they are a first, second or even third class petty officer.”

The senior chief was quick to give his Seabees credit for the progress they’ve made. “This job isn’t done by me. This job is done by those 30 guys out there,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

ARPC receives Air Force Organizational Excellence Award

by Maj. Lennea Montandon
Air Reserve Personnel Center Public Affairs

7/15/2013 - BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Headquarters, Air Reserve Personnel Center was recently awarded the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award for exceptionally meritorious service from Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2012.

During this period, the center's strategic vision, new information technology system support and integrated solutions for the Air Force and Air Reserve communities provided for more efficient support to nearly 1 million Guard and Reserve members, retirees, and their families.

"Congratulations to the innovative civilians and military members on the ARPC team," said Brig. Gen. Jay Flournoy, ARPC commander. "From an efficient headquarters transfer to the implementation and improvement of programs like e-BOSS and vPC-GR, our customers saw minimal interruption in service and today have access to more user friendly systems."

Members assigned to ARPC during the award period are authorized to wear the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award ribbon on their "blues" uniforms, and civilians are authorized to wear the pin. The 460th Military Personnel Section Force Support Squadron and civilian personnel will load the award for affected members, who can later go into myPers to verify the award is in the system.

ARPC's mission is to ensure members are ready to provide total force war-fighting capability for the Air Force and provide Guard and Reserve members with support from entry to retirement. Customer service is paramount at ARPC.

One critical branch most members will come into contact with is the Points Management Branch where representatives, like Nanina Baldwin, build records and service histories for enlisted members and officers transferring into the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve. During the award period, the branch created more than 7,000 new records within four months of a member entering the Guard or Reserve.

Baldwin has focused solely on officer records for the past nine years and assisted nearly 2,000 officers a year. She pours through various systems to find supporting documentation and verifies critical dates and points are entered correctly. Some cases can take hours to research.

"The process can get complicated, especially for members who've also served in other branches of service," Baldwin said. "If the member is missing documents or something doesn't seem correct, we often coordinate with our contacts in the other services to get supporting records."

She has also educated members and helped find solutions. She worked with individuals who had "bad years" and didn't realize it. A reservist must have 50 points during each retention/retirement year, but if they do not meet that requirement, the year cannot be counted toward retirement. Sometimes it's because the member transferred from a different service and the R/R date may have changed. Also some customers may not have been educated on how the R/R year process works. Baldwin recommends reservists check their points at least once a year in Virtual Military Personnel Flight or Virtual Personnel Center- Guard Reserve or call ARPC's Total Force Service Center-Aurora.

Computer systems were also changed and improved upon for ease of use.

A new automated case management system allowed ARPC representatives to access multiple personnel systems and answer questions electronically from customers requesting help through vPC-GR and myPers.

"It has greatly reduced the amount of paperwork, cut down on response time and has allowed for better tracking," explained Mark Williams, deputy director of Future Operations and Integration.

The Electronic Board Operations Support System was also brought online during this period for use during promotion boards. e-BOSS is a system that automated all officer records, saving man hours and money. The system allows promotion board members to pull-up records on their screen and score each officer's record electronically.

Finally, during the award period, ARPC moved 400 employees from the former Lowry AFB to Buckley AFB over a weekend with no interruption of customer service. Future Operations and Integration carefully planned the IT move, accounting for every detail.

"We were like a surgical team," said Williams, when explaining the process.

The entire move took only 90 minutes, and ARPC was serving customers the following Monday.

Maj. Susan Murphy, Promotion Eligibility Division chief, worked with each of the branches to put together the award package. She was impressed by the assistance offered by ARPC, from documentation for the Post 9-11 GI bill benefits to the design of the Reduced Retired Pay Age vPC-GR application and work done in retirements.

"Writing the award package for ARPC was a rewarding experience. It was amazing to capture how much the center has accomplished and is still accomplishing regarding transformational improvements, technological advancements, and our premier customer service actions," she said.

The Air Force Personnel Center website describes the Air Force Organizational Unit Award as recognizing the accomplishments of unique internal organizations that perform functions normally done by numbered wings, groups, and squadrons. ARPC is a direct reporting unit of Air Force Reserve Command with technical and policy guidance provided by the Chief of Air Force Reserve.

Combat Air Forces to resume flying

7/15/2013 - JOINT BASE LANGELY-EUSTIS, Va. (AFNS) -- Combat Air Forces, or CAF, units from multiple commands began flying again today after many stopped flying in April of this year due to sequestration.

The restored flying hour program represents $208 million of the $1.8 billion reprogramming allocation authorized by Congress. The money reinstates critical training and test operations for the CAF fleet across the Air Force for the remainder of fiscal 2013. This impacts not just Air Combat Command units, but also CAF units assigned to United States Air Forces Europe and Pacific Air Forces.

For ACC, the restored flying hours will be allocated to combat aircraft and crews across the command's operational and test units, including the Air Warfare Center's Weapons School, Aggressors and the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team.

While the return to the sky means a return to crucial training and development for pilots, navigators, flight crews, mission crews and maintainers, the leader of the Air Force's CAF fleet cautions that this is the beginning of the process, not the end.

"Since April we've been in a precipitous decline with regard to combat readiness," said Gen. Mike Hostage, the commander of ACC. "Returning to flying is an important first step, but what we have ahead of us is a measured climb to recovery."

"Our country counts on the U.S. Air Force to be there when needed -- in hours or days, not weeks or months," Hostage said. "A fire department doesn't have time to 'spin up' when a fire breaks out, and we don't know where or when the next crisis will break out that will require an immediate Air Force response."

The restoration of flying hours only addresses the next 2 1/2 months of flying up until Oct. 1.

"This decision gets us through the next several months, but not the next several years," Hostage said. "While this paints a clearer picture for the remainder of (fiscal 2013), important questions remain about (fiscal 2014) and beyond. Budget uncertainly makes it difficult to determine whether we'll be able to sustain a fully combat-ready force."

Additionally, the restoration comes at a cost to future capability, including reduced investment in the recapitalization and modernization of the combat fleet, he said.

"We are using investment dollars to pay current operational bills, and that approach is not without risk to our long-term effectiveness," Hostage said. "We can't mortgage our future. America relies on the combat airpower we provide, and we need to be able to continue to deliver it."

(Courtesy of Air Combat Command Public Affairs)

New 1st SOW commander inherits Air Commando legacy

by Senior Airman Joe McFadden
1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

7/3/2013 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.  -- Before hundreds of Air Commandos, citizens of the Emerald Coast, and static displays of special operations aircraft, Col. William West assumed command of the 1st Special Operations Wing during a change of command ceremony at the Freedom Hangar here, July 3.

Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, presided over the ceremony in which West, former commander of 27th Special Operations Group at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., received the reins of the wing from outgoing commander, Col. Jim Slife.

"A change of command ceremony is as much about recognizing great Airmen, civilians and Air Force families as it is about commanders," Fiel said. "It's an honor for me to recognize the achievements of Colonel Jim Slife and the 1st SOW's dedicated Air Commandos as he relinquishes command and to appoint Colonel Bill West, another extraordinary officer, as your new wing commander."

West now assumes the mantle of the 1st SOW's 36th commander since Col. Phil Cochran headed its ancestor, the 1st Air Commando Group, in 1943. The wing which began by flying wooden Chindit gliders in Burma-Indo-China during World War II is today the Air Force's fourth largest combat wing on one of its most populous installations.

"Since they first took to the air in World War II, they have served with distinction, and the men and women of the 1st SOW continue to serve our nation's call for specialized airpower any time, any place with spectacular results," the general said. "The courage, precision and execution by our modern Air Commandos would make the early pioneers proud."

West, who earned his commission from Texas Tech University, has flown more than 2,400 hours as an instructor and evaluator navigator in the C-141B and AC-130U aircraft. He previously served at Hurlburt Field while assigned to AFSOC Headquarters, the then-16th Special Operations Group, the 1st Special Operations Support Squadron and the 4th Special Operations Squadron during his nearly 24-year Air Force career.

"Colonel West has a wealth of combat leadership experience coupled with a history of providing groundbreaking solutions to tough problems," Fiel said. "Bill, you are a proven leader, and I am extremely confident in the future of the 1st SOW as you assume command today of this elite, combat-ready unit and continue to take the fight to our nation's enemies."

In his first address to the 1st SOW as its commander, West remarked on the journey he took as one who attended previous wing changes of command here as a spectator to now being the present commander on the stage receiving the guidon.

"Words cannot convey what an honor it is to stand up here and take command of this wing," West said. "It's very humbling. General Fiel, thank you for the trust and confidence you have put in me to command this wing. I will not let you down."

West then thanked the wing for their professionalism and emphasized a renewed focus on training and responsiveness in times of uncertainty.

"To the men and women of the 1st SOW, I recently had the privilege of deploying with you in Afghanistan, and I was absolutely impressed. You should be proud of your combat performance," he said. "Now that we have this historic time as we have most, though not all, of the wing home for the first time in over a decade, we're going to take advantage of this opportunity and refocus on training so we're prepared to go back to Afghanistan and so we can maintain that high state of readiness that you are at right now to respond to crises when our nation calls any time, any place."

Slife, who was awarded the Legion of Merit during the ceremony, lauded the men and women who comprise the wing he commanded since June 2011.

Since then, the 1st SOW accumulated 25,446 combat sorties in support of joint and allied special operations missions around the world. The wing additionally earned an "Excellent" rating on its first Consolidated Unit Inspection, oversaw the transfer of its units on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., back to Hurlburt Field and the first full return of flying squadrons from deployment since 9/11.

"I could not be any prouder of the wing," Slife said. "This team is the best in the United States Air Force. It has been a highlight of my life to be your commander, and I would do it again - any time, any place. The wing could not be passed to a better commander than Colonel Bill West. I walk away from here with my head held high and absolute confidence that this wing is going to far surpass anything it's ever done in the past now under Colonel West's leadership."

Slife, who was selected for promotion to brigadier general, is being assigned to MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

Dyess Father participates in stepdaughter's enlistment ceremony at Texas Rangers ballgame

by Senior Airman Cierra Presentado
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

7/15/2013 - DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- From generation to generation, Tech. Sgt. Craig Cooper is keeping the military tradition in his family.

Cooper, a third generation Airman, always knew what he wanted to do with his life.

Growing up, Cooper was always surrounded by military members. Not only has he followed in his family's footsteps, but now his step daughters are following his. Cooper's stepdaughters, Elizabeth, who will join the Air Force and Katherine, who will join the Navy, will continue that family tradition.


"My dad and grandpa played a big part in my decision making, both of them served in the Air Force retiring at chief master sergeant," Cooper said. "The commitment and willingness to devote my life to something so special means a lot to me."

During the Fourth of July weekend, Cooper got the opportunity to witness a fourth generation take the oath of enlistment at a baseball game. The Texas Rangers provided that opportunity during their annual enlistment ceremony for Air Force recruits around Texas. Cooper and his daughter Katherine were there to support Elizabeth during the ceremony.

"I was excited to be a part of the event," Cooper said. "It was a great opportunity to have both my daughters supporting each other."

When asked about her career, Elizabeth said her inspiration came from her stepfather.

"Watching my stepfather serve in the Air Force inspired me to join," said Elizabeth, who is currently in the delayed entry program and graduates high school next year.

Cooper's other daughter, Katherine, who leaves for Navy Basic Training in just two weeks, took a different path from her sister, but still wanted to serve.

"I decided to join the Navy because I really like what they have to offer," said Katherine, a recent graduate of Abilene High School, Texas.

Cooper said he is proud of both his daughter's choices.

"I gave them options, but ultimately they made the decision to serve their country," Cooper said.

With one leaving for basic military training this month and the other leaving in 2014, Cooper said he has nothing but positive hopes for his daughters.

"I'm enjoying my time in the military, and I only hope my girls will enjoy it as I have," Cooper said. "They are wonderful young women with a great future ahead of them, I know they will succeed at whatever they do."

Innovation extends ORS-1's life, mission

by Scott Prater
Schriever Sentinel

7/12/2013 - SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.  -- The Operationally Responsive Space-1 satellite launched June 29, 2011 and has been a star Air Force performer since its first day on orbit. As members of the 1st and 7th Space Operations Squadrons celebrated the spacecraft's second birthday this week, they couldn't help but imagine years three and four.

"This is a great time to recognize all of ORS-1's accomplishments, but we're not looking to rest right now," said Lt. Col. Toby Doran, 1 SOPS commander. "We're focused on continuing to push innovation and the utility of this system."

The vehicle has earned numerous awards from the scientific community thus far. It was named one of the top 25 most important concepts by C4ISR Journal, an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance industry magazine, and the 2012 Mission Sustainment Integrated Product Team award from the Association of Old Crows, an association that advocates for electronic warfare, information operations and cyber technology.

Designed as a quick-response and low-cost alternative to traditional satellite systems, ORS-1 differs in several ways, but its primary distinction stems from its birth. It took approximately three years to develop from concept to launch and on-orbit operations, compared to seven years or longer for traditional systems.

Its payload technology was gleaned from a camera first developed for use aboard U2 spy planes decades ago. Contractors attached a larger telescope to the Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System-2 camera to give it adequate resolution from orbit.

"It was initially designed to operate for only a year, but 1 and 7 SOPS engineers and operators discovered they could expand the life of the vehicle by pushing it to a higher orbit," said. Lt. Col. Tony Calabrese, 1 SOPS director of operations. "They also found that the higher orbit would not substantially affect the required quality of its images. That action alone extended the life of ORS-1 by three years."

Doran explained that 1 and 7 SOPS, also known as Team 8-Ball, will continue to take innovative steps to prolong the vehicle's life even further, upwards of five times its original lifespan.

For instance, the team informed U.S. Central Command that they could deliver effects on short-notice, urgent, high-priority tasks earlier this year. USCENTCOM responded a short time later when a CH-53 helicopter crashed in a remote location.

"They sent us a message saying they had a helicopter go down," Calabrese said. "They gave us a location and a tasking to get an image and we made a quick turn that exceeded all expectations."

In the meantime, the squadrons also expanded ORS-1 capabilities beyond a single combatant commander.

"We're focusing on the future," Calabrese said. "The vehicle was designed to support CENTCOM, but we recognized it could do so much more. We sent word out to U.S. Pacific and U.S Africa Commands, and reached out through the Joint Functional Component Command directly to combatant commander staffs to let them know we could support their taskings too. All they needed to do was ask."

As a result, ORS-1 now provides effects for PACOM on a regular basis and does so occasionally with AFRICOM and Special Forces commands.

"Our crews in 1 and 7 SOPS understand the effects and impacts we're making around the world," said Capt. Eric Palmer, 1 SOPS Operations Flight commander. "Since getting involved in these ad hoc tasks, our members have come to work even more excited. We know we are making an impact; we're innovating and asking for more. There's a lot of pride and sense of job satisfaction."

Doran inferred that the point behind the Team 8-Ball anniversary ceremony was to acknowledge ORS-1's success, but more importantly, announce their intent to focus on future capability and performance.

"Hopefully, we can provide effects to all combatant commanders," Doran said. "Team 8-Ball is demonstrating that Airmen, military, civilian and contractors can take systems and make them incredibly powerful."

Exercise Talisman Saber 2013 begins

7/15/2013 - Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii -- More than 28,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and women will be taking to the sea, land and sky in northern Australia as part of Exercise Talisman Saber 2013.

Talisman Saber is a biennial training activity jointly sponsored by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Joint Operations Command and the US Pacific Command to train the United States 7th Fleet and Australian Deployable Joint Headquarters staffs as a designated Combined Task Force.

Australian Talisman Saber 2013 spokesman Brigadier Bob Brown, said the training activity would see US and Australian forces mobilise to react to a fictional scenario.

"The scenario will be a peace enforcement mission, that sets the conditions for the task force to hand over to a United Nations peacekeeping force," Brigadier Brown said.

"The forces will operate in military training areas in central and south-east Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Coral, Timor and Arafura seas. Shoalwater Bay Training Area will be used predominantly, with a large staging area at Defence Base Rockhampton.

"This year Talisman Saber sees further practice and progression of Defence's emerging amphibious capability. The exercise will be the third block of training for the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment's Amphibious Ready Element Landing Force.

"Talisman Saber is a unique and invaluable opportunity to exercise combined and joint Defence capability between Australia and the US.

"As with the previous Talisman Saber exercises, this activity is a major undertaking reflecting the Australian and US alliance and the strength of the military-to-military relationship," Brigadier Brown said.

Approximately 21,000 US and 7000 Australian Defence Force personnel will be involved in the exercise, along with other Australian Government agencies including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAID, Australian Federal Police, and Australian Civil-Military Centre.

The ADF has conducted a full environmental impact assessment on the Shoalwater Bay region and strong measures have been put in place for participants to respect and protect the marine environment.

Talisman Saber 2013 runs from 15 July until 6 August 2013.

Raptor drill time

by Fighter Group Public Affairs

7/15/2013 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- F-22 Raptors assigned to the 3rd Wing fly over Alaska during the Reserve unit training assembly weekend July 13. The Raptors were flown by Reserve pilots assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron during the 477th Fighter Group's monthly training weekend. During the week the 477th Fighter Group, Alaska's only Reserve unit, integrates with the active duty 3rd Wing.

First of its kind Airman Resilience Center opens at Altus AFB

by Senior Airman Kenneth W. Norman
97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

7/11/2013 - ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- A ribbon cutting ceremony was held June 11, 2013 to celebrate the grand opening of the Airman Resilience Center.

The ARC is the first facility of its kind at Altus AFB.

"The ARC includes five classrooms for training use, a theater room, a game room, and an electronic gaming area," said Tech. Sgt. Jonathan Mathe, 97th Air Mobility Wing NCO in charge of chapel operations. "It also includes an interfaith chapel and religious education classrooms for students of all ages. Airmen and their dependents will greatly appreciate the addition of the newly renovated Airman's Attic and food pantry. These areas help sustain our base populace through the challenges of permanent change of stations, furloughs and personal tragedies like those experienced recently by members of our community in the apartment fire."

The ARC was the vision of Maj. Trent Davis, 97th AMW chaplain and Mathe.

"We attended the Air Education and Training Command Chaplain Corps Resilience training conference and during a long car ride home the concept of an ARC arose," Mathe said. "The focus of our current Airman Ministry Center seemed too small in our current cost conscious culture. Adding in the Airman's Attic, food pantry, and creating an open environment where Airmen, units, and other base organizations could utilize the ARC's tremendous resources seemed vital to our vision of creating a stronger and more resilient force."

Volunteers spent two weeks helping to make the ARC a viable resource for the entire Altus AFB community.

"A handful of Airmen and family members worked 16-hour days transporting supplies, reorganizing supply closets and the Airman's Attic, and moving furniture," Mathe said. "The Airman's Attic and Airman's Ministry Center have never been more accessible and welcoming to the Altus AFB community."

The ARC is open to all base members and their families.

"The Airman's Attic is organized to assist Airmen, Technical Sgt. and below," Mathe said. "The Airman's Ministry Center is open nightly and on weekends as a resource to assist all single Airmen, Senior Airman and below including our student Airmen, to help build community and support. The food pantry is available to any Airman - civilian, military or family member - that may benefit from immediate subsistence. Finally, the ARC is provided to the entire base populace to encourage better fitness in the four areas of resilience - mental, social, physical and spiritual."

According to Mathe, the ARC houses the Airman's Ministry Center, which supports more than 1,800 students annually through monthly dinners, trips, group studies and community service outings. It is also the center of religious education for both the Catholic and Protestant communities supporting more than 800 classes and 3,400 people each year.

"The base Chapel is committed to supporting the quality life and readiness of our Airmen, students, dependents, and deployers," Mathe said. "With the opening of the Airman's Attic and base food pantry we hope to encourage even more Airmen as life throws them a curve. We believe that by continuously improving fitness in the four areas of resilience, Airmen and their family members reduce the feelings of hopelessness and despair that sometime arise and become healthier, happier, more resilient members better equipped to deal with the rigors of 21st Century military life."

All base members are encouraged to visit the ARC and see what it has to offer.

"It is our hope that organizations and units across the base will want to utilize the ARC for social and training events," Mathe said.

For more information about the ARC or to reserve a room, contact the Chapel at 481-7485.

Maritime Forces Returning to Traditional Roles, Greenert Says

By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2013 – The Navy and Marine Corps spent the last decade moving away from their traditional supporting/supported roles, “and it’s time to come back,” Navy Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the chief of naval operations, said today at a forum on the future of maritime forces.

For the Navy, Greenert said, that means maintaining a day-to-day presence where it matters, “and we’ve got to be there when it matters.”

The admiral noted the speed with which naval forces were able to respond during the recent North Korean missile crisis.

“If we were not there, if we did not have … a forward deployed naval force, we would not have been able to put in place the ballistic missile defense construct that we had in place in just about 72 hours,” Greenert said.

Today, he said, the Navy has the Kearsarge Amphibious Readiness Group in place in the North Red Sea, off the coast of Egypt. They wouldn’t be there if they hadn’t already been forward-deployed, he added.

“We can’t garrison and respond, because it will be too late,” Greenert said.

In an era of shrinking budgets, the Navy has to make the most of what it has today, he said, and that means finding innovative ways to be forward. “We have a budget that has been sequestered, but the requirement [to respond] hasn’t been sequestered,” the admiral said.
Flexibility is the key to keeping costs down while maintaining a forward presence, he said.
Through disaggregated operations, commanders have the ability to pull together ships and units to meet specific requirements, Greenert said, but the Navy’s older inventory wasn’t designed with this in mind.

The Navy has to build smarter, he said, and that means not constructing platforms that are so integrated and so complicated that they’re only good for about a decade, instead of a more realistic 30-40 year lifespan.

“An alternative is distributed operations with tailored ships with tailored capabilities,” the admiral said.

The Navy’s newest vessels, including Littoral Combat Ships, Joint High Speed Vessels and Mobile Landing Platforms, will provide volume, speed and persistence, with modular, evolvable payloads, and at a lower cost than previous ship generations, Greenert said.
Construction is already underway on these ships, he said, and won’t be affected by sequestration.

But, the admiral said, sequestration will mean fewer carrier strike groups and amphibious readiness groups available to surge to respond to crises. He likened the result to hollowing out a melon. At some point, Greenert said, the Navy will reach a point where it won’t be able to support a surge.

The admiral acknowledged that after spending so long largely operating independently of each other, command and control between Navy and Marine Corps forces is still a challenge.
During Bold Alligator 2012, an annual fleet exercise, he said, “We found we needed a common way to plan and execute amphibious operations … We need a better way to understand the ship-to-shore connectors.”

However, exercises are intended to serve as learning experiences, Greenert said, and the Navy is now investing in portable mission planning and force-tracking capabilities to address this issue.

Amos: Nation, Military Face Challenging Times

By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2013 – The United States and its military are facing very challenging times, Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, said today.

“I’m not a hand-wringer,” Amos said. “I don’t sit around and ‘woe is me,’ but I just take a look at … the reality of the environment we currently live in.”

Speaking at a forum on the future of maritime forces, the general said that after more than a decade of continuous conflict, he understands that the nation would grow weary of war, particularly during a period of fiscal difficulties.

But after an extended period of fighting, and combined with the drawdown from Afghanistan, the U.S. military must be reset and modernized, he said.

Amos noted that 70 percent of the equipment in Afghanistan came out of Iraq, where it had already been in service for about six years.

“You can’t use the same gear over and over and over again, there has to be a degree of modernization,” the general added.

Internationally, crisis has followed crisis, Amos said, noting that the recent cycle includes Libya, North Korea, Syria and Egypt.

“I think there’s zero peace dividend coming out of Afghanistan,” he said, adding, “I don’t think the world is getting any nicer at all.”

When a crisis occurs somewhere in the world, Amos said, the Joint Chiefs of Staff owe the president the ability to choose from a series of options. And the best way to ensure that options are available, the general said, is to maintain a forward presence around the world.

“We are America’s insurance policy,” he said.

As a leader on the world stage, the United States requires forward presence, Amos said.

“People count on us for stability,” Amos said. “People depend on us for presence. They depend on us for relationships around the world. We have a responsibility.”

Citing the strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific as one example of the expectations partner nations hold for the United States, Amos noted that the U.S. has 5 major treaties with countries in the region.
Aside from the diplomatic and economic reasons for engaging with partner nations, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, he said, there’s a moral imperative -- the Navy and Marine Corps are uniquely suited to provide humanitarian assistance in maritime regions. Natural disasters kill 75,000 people each year in the Asia-Pacific, Amos added.

“How do we do that … by coming home? Do we do that by virtual presence? I’ll tell you that virtual presence is actual absence,” he said.

Without actually being present in a particular region of the globe, Amos said, it’s difficult to establish relationships and build trust with that region’s partners and allies.

“When things begin to unravel around the world, you truly cannot surge trust,” the general said.
Sequestration is putting that strategy at risk, he said. The strategy itself is valid, Amos added, but how much of it the nation can afford is still being worked out.

U.S.-China Military Ties Growing, Pacom Commander Says

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2013 – The military-to-military relationship between the United States and China is deepening in a “quite commendable” way that may help improve overall engagement between the two countries, Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told Pentagon reporters today.

During a news briefing, Locklear said he has spent the week here taking part in security, strategic and economic dialogues with Chinese officials, the last two gatherings hosted by the State Department.
“I think that the progress that we're making between our two militaries is quite commendable,” the admiral said. “It’s commendable because we are able to have very good dialogue on areas where we converge, and there are a lot of places where we converge as two nations, and we're also able to directly address in a matter-of-fact way where we diverge.”

Those divergences are where the friction points occur, he said.

“And friction points are where militaries that understand each other can maybe not solve the friction,” Locklear added, “but they can manage it so that diplomacy can continue to work.”

Locklear said both China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, and the U.S. military, starting with his own Pacific-based troops, understand that and are committed to it.

“I think that alone is significant progress,” he added.

Locklear said the growing relationship is evident in events such as a large humanitarian relief exercise in which both nations’ navies recently took part.

“U.S. and PLA ships and forces were working side-by-side,” he noted. “That's substantial.”

Locklear noted the Navy’s USS Shiloh, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, completed a port visit in China. Pacom, he added, will open port visits for Chinese ships in the future, though dates have not yet been confirmed.

He noted that China has agreed to participate in the Rim of the Pacific exercise in 2014. “That's a big step for the Chinese military, Chinese navy,” Locklear said. “They'll be entering a multinational three-week-long exercise that's basically run by the U.S. from the 3rd Fleet headquarters.”

The Chinese sailors will be near Hawaii for the exercise and thus a long way from home, the admiral noted.

“But they're excited about it,” he said. “They're excited about coming and participating. And we wish them all the success.”

In response to a reporter’s question, Locklear said the two nations’ forces “have been able to conduct operations around each other in a very professional and increasingly professional manner,” especially in areas close to China. As China’s maritime capabilities increase, he said, the ongoing dialogue between it and the United States about rules of the road will become more crucial.

Because relatively young and inexperienced troops from both countries will encounter each other more often as China increases its reach and “the U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific is not going anywhere,” Locklear said, “… we have to manage our ability to operate around each other.”

The admiral acknowledged China has a sophisticated ballistic missile program, and that it will likely acquire increasingly sophisticated military equipment as its reach continues to grow.

“We're already seeing some examples of that,” he said. “We're seeing Chinese operating today in places beyond the first and second island chain that we wouldn't have seen before. We've seen them be able successfully do [anti-piracy] operations alongside of us in the Gulf of Aden. I think it's a natural thing as their global, economic power grows for them to have security interests that go beyond their backyard.”

The Chinese military is not a threat, but an opportunity, Locklear said in response to a question.
“If opportunity is not realized, then, as it would be with any other … growing military, it potentially could become a threat,” he said. “But I certainly view it and approach it as an opportunity. That's really the only best path forward.”

New VA Grants Target Homeless, At-risk Veterans, Families

From a Department of Veterans Affairs News Release

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2013 – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki today announced the award of nearly $300 million in grants that will help approximately 120,000 homeless and at-risk veterans and their families.

The grants have been awarded to 319 community agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

“With these grants, we are strengthening our partnership with community non-profits across the country to provide veterans and their families with hope, a home, and a future,” Shinseki said. “The work of Supportive Services for Veteran Families program grantees has already helped us prevent and end homelessness among tens of thousands of homeless veterans and their families, but as long as a single veteran lives on our streets, we have work to do.”

Under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, VA is awarding grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives that provide services to very low-income veteran families living in -- or transitioning to -- permanent housing. The SSVF program supports VA’s efforts to prevent at-risk veterans from becoming homeless and rapidly re-house those who have recently fallen into homelessness.

Thanks to the SSVF grants, those community organizations will provide a range of services that promote housing stability and play a key role in connecting veterans and their family members to VA services such as mental health care and other benefits.

Community-based groups can offer temporary financial assistance on behalf of veterans for rent payments, utility payments, security deposits and moving costs.

This is the third year SSVF grants have helped veterans and their families find or remain in their homes. Last year, VA provided about $100 million to assist approximately 50,000 veterans and family members.

In 2009, President Barack Obama and Shinseki announced the federal government’s goal to end veterans’ homelessness in 2015. The grants are intended to help accomplish that goal. According to the 2012 Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness, homelessness among veterans has declined 17.2 percent since 2009.

Through the homeless veterans initiative, VA committed over $1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to strengthen programs that prevent and end homelessness among veterans. VA provides a range of services to homeless veterans, including health care, job training, and education.

Centcom Prepares for ‘New Normal’ in Mideast, Central Asia

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

TAMPA, Fla., July 11, 2013 – After 12 years of sustained conflict in their area of responsibility, officials at U.S. Central Command are preparing for what they expect to be the “new normal” -- a strategic environment that albeit unpredictable, supports long-term stability and ultimately, peace.

While continuing their current mission in Afghanistan, deployed U.S. forces there continue to hone skills U.S. Central Command will count on during future engagements across the Middle East and Central Asia. Here, soldiers from Blackfoot Troop, 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team and Task Force Iron Warrior wait for the signal to load personnel onto a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during a training exercise in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, June 22, 2013. U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Charles Morgan   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

The 20-nation region that stretches across the Middle East and Central Asian states remains rife with challenges, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. William D. Beydler, Centcom’s director of strategy, plans and policy, said during an interview at the command’s MacDill Air Force Base headquarters.

With combat operations set to wind down in Afghanistan through 2014, Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the Centcom commander, has other destabilizing factors front and center on his radar screen: Iranian activities and influence, the civil war in Syria and the persistent threat of violent extremists backed by Iran or al-Qaeda and its affiliates, among them.

Meanwhile, the Arab Spring continues to unfold, most dramatically in recent days in Egypt. The political and social effects of the movement could take a decade of change and tumult to be realized fully, Beydler noted.

With a clear eye on these and other trouble spots, the Centcom staff is laying the foundation for what many have come to call the “new normal.”

It’s a strategic environment that will require the United States to remain closely aligned with its regional partners and be ready to respond, as needed, said Air Force Brig. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, the command’s deputy operations director.

“As much as we try to get ahead of that and anticipate, we have to be constantly at the ready,” he said. “If something pops, we need to be able offer the commander options to make timely decisions. So we would not be doing our due diligence and our jobs if we weren’t thinking about and planning for the possibilities, and being prepared should our leadership decide we need to act.”

Preparing for potential contingencies, particularly in an era of shrinking budgets and limited resources, will require tough decision-making, Harrigian said.

“We will have to prioritize, focused on our [top] mission sets,” he said. “That is part of what we look at as this ‘new normal’ across the [area of responsibility]. We will continue to look at that to find the right balance and ensure we are not so thin that we are unable to respond, if required.”

In planning for this post-2014 future, Harrigian said there’s likely to be only one “given” within the volatile AOR.

“I’m not sure peace is going to break out in our region and suddenly the pace is going to slow down,” he said. “There will still be areas of concern that we are going to have to work through. So while we hopefully will not be at war, I still see us quite actively engaged to ensure we are able to maintain stability, the free flow of commerce and stability across the global economy.”

“It is clearly in our national interest to ensure that occurs,” Harrigian added. It’s also in the interest of nearly every other country, not only in the region, but around the globe, he said.

So as the United States pursues its goals in the region, the partnerships it has built and strengthened over the past dozen years will remain critical, Beydler said. He cited the continued importance of the broad Centcom engagement strategy in the region: training and education, exchanges, exercises, foreign military sales and other security assistance.

Centcom’s efforts and the forward presence of U.S. forces in the region go far beyond increasing partner capacity, Harrigian said. They also help maintain relationships and trust that have taken time and sacrifice to build.

Without assurance of a continuing U.S. commitment, there would be “significant concern of the perception that America is leaving the region,” he said. “Then you run the risk of those nations looking in other directions for support.”

As Centcom plans for the new normal, Beydler emphasized that the United States has no intention of withdrawing from the region.

“We will continue to engage not only in Afghanistan, but across the entire Centcom AOR. We will be engaged financially. We will be engaged from a training standpoint. We will be engaged from an exercise standpoint,” he said.

“The fact is, we will continue to be engaged across the spectrum,” Beydler said. “And some in areas and in some ways, we will be able to be more engaged than ever before, because after 10 or 12 years of sustained combat operations, we will have the capacity to do so.”

Military Veterans Get ‘Tribute for Heroes’ Honor

From a Defense Finance and Accounting Service News Release

INDIANAPOLIS, July 11, 2013 – Injured Army veteran Jeffrey Mittman and 29 other military veterans will be honored July 16 during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game held at Citi Field in Queens, home of the New York Mets.

Mittman and the other finalists were chosen by People magazine and MLB in their joint “Tribute for Heroes” campaign. Each finalist was selected after receiving the highest number of votes among other veterans representing their chosen MLB teams. Mittman will represent the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“Right on the heels of the Fourth of July, I couldn’t be more honored to be recognized amongst such a distinguished group of patriots -- at a game of baseball no less,” Mittman said. “You can’t get more American than that.

“My first memory of baseball is watching Pittsburgh in the ’79 World Series,” he continued, “so my connection to the Pirates began very early.”

The heroes will participate in the All-Star pre-game ceremony and All-Star Week festivities. One of the “Tribute for Heroes” winners will be featured in People magazine. The event and subsequent game will be broadcast on the Fox network July 16 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and 4:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

A roadside bomb left Mittman nearly blind and with severe injuries while he was serving as a U.S. Army advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior on July 7, 2005. Mittman, who was driving a team of soldiers in a Humvee that came under attack from unseen assailants, sustained the brunt of the explosion. He was left without a nose, lips, most of his teeth and the majority of his vision.

After enduring more than 40 operations, Mittman’s face was reconstructed and he successfully adapted to life with limited vision. After retiring from the Army in 2011, Mittman worked for the National Industries for the Blind before joining the Defense Finance and Accounting Service as a public affairs specialist.

“There’s no one I can think of that exemplifies an American hero and deserves recognition more than Jeff,” said Aaron Gillison, the director at DFAS Indianapolis and Executive Champion for the DFAS Hire A Hero Program. “His attitude and uplifting message of perseverance and continuing service despite incredible adversity has inspired not only his co-workers, but thousands of others who have been lucky enough to hear his story.”

Mittman is a nationally sought-after public speaker and regularly advocates on behalf of disabled Americans and veterans. He received three Bronze Star medals, the Purple Heart and numerous other awards for combat actions during his nearly 22-year military career.

Mittman’s non-military national awards include the 2010 Osborne "Oz" Day Award presented by the federal government for increasing public awareness of the federal AbilityOne Program, and the Lighthouse International's 2007 Henry A. Grunwald Award honoring outstanding public service.

Fort Belvoir Hospital Strives for Health Care Excellence

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

FORT BELVOIR, Va., July 9, 2013 – The old adage that “if you build it, they will come” doesn’t necessarily apply to military hospitals, the commander of the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital recognizes.

Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Northern Virginia, shown here, is a state-of-the-art military medical facility that opened in August 2011. The hospital, along with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and other military health care facilities in the Washington D.C. area, is part of National Capital Region Medical -- a joint-service organization providing health care for military beneficiaries throughout the region. DOD photo by Marc Barnes   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

That’s particularly true in places like the Washington, D.C., area where service members, retirees and family members can choose from an array of top-notch civilian facilities to get their medical care, Army Col. Chuck Callahan told American Forces Press Service.

But with a gleaming 1.3-million-square-foot facility and a strategy centered on taking care of patients and their families, Callahan has set out to attract more of the 164,000 military health care beneficiaries in the region that currently use TRICARE to seek their care at Fort Belvoir.

“Because Fort Belvoir Community Hospital is not the only game in town, we must compete with civilian facilities who also want to care for our patients,” Callahan said. “My opinion is that the way to do that is to build a system that people want to come to.”
The new hospital stands in stark contrast to the 1950s-era DeWitt Army Community Hospital it replaced. Built in compliance with the congressionally mandated 2005 Base Realignment and Closure reorganization plan, the new hospital is part of a sweeping plan to improve the efficiency of military health care in the Washington, D.C., area.

While the renamed Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., serves as the military’s premier referral medical center, Fort Belvoir provides primary and specialty care to a largely regional clientele.

Shortly after assuming command last year, Callahan unveiled an organizational strategy aimed at making the hospital the facility of choice to an estimated half-million eligible beneficiaries in the national capital area.

In the most basic terms, it boils down to economics, he explained. The Defense Department spent $19 billion on health care in 2001 and will spend $49 billion this year. That figure is expected to skyrocket to $92 billion by 2030 -- consuming almost 10 percent of the entire DOD budget.

As Callahan sees it, paying for patients to get care at civilian facilities when military ones can accommodate them doesn’t make financial sense. “We are buying the care twice,” he said, paying for the new $1 billion Fort Belvoir hospital and its staff, but also picking up the tab for 164,000 people enrolled in the regional TRICARE network.

“Something has to change,” Callahan said, particularly with rising health care costs on a collision course with shrinking budgets.

So Callahan has taken matters into his own hands, working to create an environment “where patient- and family-centered care meets evidence-based design in a culture of excellence.” That boils down to a facility where patients and families have hassle-free access to the highest-quality care and services, and where they feel comfortable and welcomed as they receive them, he explained.

Everything about the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital supports this vision. The new facility has greater capabilities than standard community hospitals. It includes 120 single-inpatient rooms, a 10-bed intensive-care unit, 10 state-of-the-art operating rooms, a behavioral health unit, an advanced cancer care center, breast care center, emergency department, pharmacy, diagnostic centers and modular clinic space for outpatient services.

Planners have made getting these services as simple and convenient as possible. Appointments are easy to make and parking is plentiful. Once inside the hospital, patients and their families are treated to a beautiful, calming environment designed to be therapeutic: lots of natural light and outside views, décor inspired by nature and color-coded wings that help visitors maintain their bearings.

One of the most soothing features is what visitors don’t see. There’s no click-clacking of laundry carts crowding the hallways, and maintenance and other logistics activities are relegated to non-prime operating hours.

The staff took a cue from The Walt Disney Co., instituting its strict standards of “on-stage” and “off-stage” activities, Callahan explained.

“The idea that health care should have at least the same service standards as any other service industry is not the way health care has always looked at itself,” he said. “But this is really evolving, and it is part of the culture of excellence that we are working to establish here.”

It’s all part of a plan to make care at the facility centered on the patient and family, he said. That begins the moment they pick up the phone to make an appointment and continuing when they arrive at the facility and throughout their treatment.

But most importantly, Callahan said it centers on a relationship between patients and the health care providers who make up their “medical home.” Unlike most civilian doctors whose focus is on treating patients when they are sick -- necessitated largely by the way insurance reimburses them for services -- medical home providers concentrate on keeping patients healthy, he explained.

It’s a formula Callahan said the entire Military Health System is embracing, and that makes Fort Belvoir Community Hospital particularly attractive to military health care beneficiaries.

“People like coming here,” he said. “But they also have a choice” about where they get their care.
"As we implement this strategy, we are building a culture of excellence and an [environment] that people will want to come to," he said.

"We know that consistent, predictably accessible, and convenient health care created around the medical home and medical neighborhood will build trust, foster communication and provide opportunities to promote health and well-being for our beneficiaries,” Callahan said. “This is the mission and the vision of the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital."

(Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of two articles on the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Northern Virginia.)

Face of Defense: Army Chaplain Tends to Firefighting Flock

By Army Staff Sgt. Jecca Geffre
Colorado National Guard

PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo., July 12, 2013 – Army Chaplain (1st Lt.) Justin Cowan said he knew the day he walked out his door in early June to see huge plumes of smoke -- the beginnings of the West Fork Complex fire -- there was a possibility the Colorado National Guard would be called to help his community.

Army Chaplain (1st Lt.) Justin Cowan prays during a visit to Guard members in the area of the West Fork Complex fire during Colorado National Guard operations, June 30, 2013. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Wendy Waldrop   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Cowan, who also is the assistant principal at Pagosa Springs Middle School here, said most residents in his small town have never seen him in his uniform -- because he's never had to wear it at home.

As a chaplain now wearing his Army uniform in his community, Cowan has been going out to checkpoints and talking to soldiers and airmen assigned to the Colorado National Guard's Task Force-Security, checking up on their morale and emotional status.
He said his job is taking care of the troops while they take care of the community.

"Many of these Guard members were manning checkpoints on the Black Forest fire and have returned to duty here, leaving behind jobs and loved ones," Cowan said.

Cowan took along more than 16-dozen, home-baked cookies made by Melanie, his wife of 22 years.
"She loves to be a part of it any way she can," he said, noting the cookies "disappeared pretty fast."
Cowan said the first person he interacted with on-site was also a fellow local, Army Lt. Col. Jesse Morehouse, National Guard liaison officer to incident commanders at the West Fork Complex fire. Morehouse, a teacher at Pagosa Springs High School, was a familiar face for Cowan through both the school system and the National Guard.

After receiving a situational brief, Cowan began attending to the spiritual needs of the rest of the Guardsmen assigned across a four-county area in the mountains of southwestern Colorado. He conducted chapel services, led prayers, and visited with troops and community members.

"The morale is amazing," Cowan said. "These service members come out and do this job and are so happy to do it. It's very moving and does my heart good."

He attended a town meeting where a resident stood up and thanked all the agencies involved, and lastly pointed to Morehouse and said, "Especially that big guy in camouflage."

Cowan says the remark reflects the overall attitude he and his neighbors have of the Guard presence.
He also attributes his past experience teaching and his current position as assistant principal to making valuable contributions in his ability to be a chaplain, because both involve problem solving.

"In my profession you deal with many issues daily," he said. "You have to have a vision of your desired outcome in your head."

Pacom Commander Discusses North Korea Situation

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2013 – While North Korea’s historic, alternating cycle of provocative attacks and inconclusive negotiations is well known, its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons limits any chance of meaningful international dialogue, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command told reporters yesterday.

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, who was here this week as part of the U.S. delegation for security, strategic and economic dialogues with Chinese officials, responded to questions on North Korea’s intent.

North and South Korea, whose capitals are Pyongyang and Seoul, respectively, have maintained an uneasy cease-fire since 1953. Communist North Korea is allied with China, but under three generations of Kim family rule and a “military first” policy, its people have suffered widespread hunger and deprivation as North Korea pours its limited resources into its armed forces and nuclear weapons program.

While the United States has provided food to North Korea in times of famine, and assisted U.S. nongovernmental organizations with aid to fight infectious disease outbreaks and supply electricity at provincial hospitals, most other trade and aid is tightly restricted by U.S. and international economic sanctions.

“I don’t have a crystal ball on that one,” Locklear said when asked whether more provocations from Pyongyang are likely in the near future. “History would say that there would likely be one.”

Locklear added, however, that the position of countries in the region as well as the United States is “that North Korea must be committed to the total denuclearization [of the Korean Peninsula], and [present] a complete and verifiable plan to [do] that. And that's kind of the bottom-line entry of how you would get into a broader set of negotiations with North Korea at this time.”

During meetings in June, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jingpin agreed that North Korea must denuclearize, that neither country will accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, and that both nations would work to deepen U.S.-China cooperation and dialogue to achieve denuclearization.

Locklear said North Korea has a range of missiles, from short-range to intercontinental, but only the short-range missiles have been demonstrated. North Korea’s medium-range missile and a purported road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, he said, have not been credibly demonstrated.

North Korea’s leaders announced in December they had successfully launched a satellite. In February, they completed an underground nuclear test, and in subsequent months communications were cut off with South Korea, and Kaesong, a joint North-South business and industrial sector situated on the North Korean side of the border, was shuttered.

“The fact that they were able to successfully do that [launch] was a demonstration to us that they have the ability to put something into a larger ballistic orbit,” Locklear said. “Now, whether they can successfully take that technology and mate it with where they are in their nuclear program has not been demonstrated.”

Indiana Guard Promotes First African-American to General

From an Indiana National Guard News Release

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2013 – Army Col. Wayne Black of the Indiana National Guard will be promoted to brigadier general during a July 13 ceremony held at the Indiana War Memorial here.

Army Col. Wayne Black of the Indiana National Guard will be promoted to brigadier general. Indiana National Guard photo    (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Black is the first African-American to be promoted to brigadier general in the Indiana National Guard. He will be an assistant adjutant general.

The colonel is a 1984 graduate of the Military College of South Carolina -- also known as The Citadel. He has nearly 30 years of military experience.

Black joined the Indiana Army National Guard in 1996. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 as the commander of an embedded training team that provided training, mentorship and oversight to the Afghan National Police and the Border Police.

Hagel, Senior Chinese Official Meet at Pentagon

American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2013 – Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi met at the Pentagon today to discuss the United States-China military relationship, the Defense Department announced.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi at the Pentagon, July 12, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett    (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Hagel expressed DOD's support for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the related Strategic Security Dialogue and Cyber Working Group. The defense secretary was pleased that the day-long security dialogue expanded this year to include nuclear policy and missile defense issues.

The defense secretary also affirmed the importance of the inaugural cyber discussion, which will serve as a platform to build better understanding and increase practical cooperation in cyberspace and enhanced cooperation on regional security issues of concern to both the United States and China, including North Korea.

Hagel congratulated State Councilor Yang on his promotion, and the two leaders discussed their shared history and friendship that stretches back many years to their previous positions in government service.

The defense secretary told State Councilor Yang that he looks forward to hosting China's Minister of National Defense General Chang Wanquan at the Pentagon next month