Editor's Note: Two of the authors are prior military.
April 6, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books. The website added three big city gunfighters to the growing list of state and local police officers who have written books.
Arthur Niederhoffer was born in New York City, graduated from Erasmus High School and Brooklyn College, received his LL.B from Brooklyn Law School in 1939 and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1940. From 1940 through 1961 he was a member of the New York Police Department. He began by "pounding a beat" and retired with the rank of Lieutenant. In 1963 he received his PH.D. in sociology from New York University. He has taught at Hofstra University and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York. He is the author of five academic books on policing, the most famous of which is likely Behind the Shield: The Police in Urban Society.
Louis Gervasio was a New York State Police Trooper from 1953 to 1956. He then joined the New York Police Department in 1956. He retired in 1978 at the rank of Lieutenant. Additionally, he served in the United States Army from 1951 through 1953. According to the book description of Louis Gervasio’s book, Not In My Memo Book, “is a compilation of over 50 humorous short stories about the New York Police Department from 1956 through 1978. It includes a few about the NY State Police prior to 1956. The title evolves from the memo books the New York Police Department were mandated to carry to enter their assignments and any incidents. Many police actions involved "unorthodox methods" used by police officers when dealing with the public, boredom, the elements or merely because of their sense of humor.”
John E. McLaughlin, author of Just a Cop, became a police officer by accident. A former US Marine, John wondered what life held in store for him when he realized that the military no longer needed his services. He was invited to join the Fairmount Park Guard, a private police force then guarding Philadelphia's largest public park. His time in the Guard marked the start of a 25 year career in the city, and when the Guard was finally merged with the Philadelphia Police Department, John was merged with them.
According to the book description, “this book tells, in hilarious fashion, the way the ordinary cop worked his beat, dealt with troublesome Senior officers, and handled criminal - everything, in fact, from thieves to killers to rioters. Told in a simple, down to earth way, this book will delight anyone keen on police memoirs, and will undoubtedly bring a demand for more.”
Police-Writers.com now hosts 449 police officers (representing 191 police departments) and their 944 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Friday, April 06, 2007
Wounded Marine Makes New Discoveries at Winter Sports Clinic
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
April 5, 2007 – U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Nick Bennett said he'll take away lifetime memories and new discoveries from his experience here at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. He said the experience will steel him through his upcoming-and 27th--surgery since he was wounded in Mamadiyah, Iraq. The 37-year-old Marine Corps Reservist said he'll always remember the thrill of skiing down Snowmass Mountain and trying out all the other winter sports opened to him here. He'll remember the friends he made here and the support of people who made this clinic possible. The clinic is co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Disabled American Veterans.
But the most important takeaway of all, he said, will be his chance to prove to himself, and to his family, what he can still do despite extensive shoulder, spinal, hand and leg injuries.
Bennett acknowledges he's lucky to be alive after a 107mm rocket came careening over his Indianapolis unit's base wall, only partially detonating. It should have flattened everything within a football field's distance, he said.
While living through the blast, Bennett said a piece of him died that day-ironically, Veterans Day of 2004.
As he went through surgery after surgery to repair what medical officials call "polytrauma injuries," it wasn't the pain or the tedious rehabilitation that troubled him the most. It was thinking about what he could no longer do.
He remembered the joy he felt as a young boy playing softball with his dad, and realized he would never share that with his own children.
"To rob that of my kids just killed me," he said. "It's easy to sit around and feel sorry for yourself and feel like your life is over."
His family rallied around him and did everything they could to care of him as he went through the long, difficult healing process. In some ways, he said they tried too hard to protect him.
"I liken it to a flower in a flowerpot," Bennett said, turning philosophical. "At first, the people who love us the most don't want to transfer us to a bigger pot. But our roots are still growing, and if we don't move into that bigger pot, we're going to end up dying."
Coming here to the winter sports clinic was part of Bennett's transplant into that bigger flowerpot.
As he swooshed down the mountain in his adaptive ski equipment, his 17-year-old son was on the same slope, learning to snowboard. "This is great because now I've found an activity that we can do together," Bennett said.
Now he sees all kinds of possibilities ahead and activities he can share with his family. "Just because I'm injured doesn't mean there aren't things we can do together as a family," he said. "There's still a whole lot I can do."
That's a revelation Bennett knows he's sharing with other severely wounded troops and disabled veterans here, particularly those recently back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"They don't have a clue how much they will change this week, or how many doors are going to open for them," he said.
Three years after his injury, Bennett said he's still overwhelmed by the "fragility of life."
He said he knows he and the other wounded troops here still have a long road ahead as they go through the healing process and face the next step in their lives.
"I'm taking one day at a time because nobody can predict what the future holds," Bennett said. "I am going to wait and see what doors open up."
As he prepares for April 13 surgery at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Bennett said he'll take his experiences from the winter sports clinic along with him.
"This is my last big adventure for a bit," he said as he rested on the slopeside, awaiting his next run down the mountain. "That's why it's pretty cool."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 5, 2007 – U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Nick Bennett said he'll take away lifetime memories and new discoveries from his experience here at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. He said the experience will steel him through his upcoming-and 27th--surgery since he was wounded in Mamadiyah, Iraq. The 37-year-old Marine Corps Reservist said he'll always remember the thrill of skiing down Snowmass Mountain and trying out all the other winter sports opened to him here. He'll remember the friends he made here and the support of people who made this clinic possible. The clinic is co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Disabled American Veterans.
But the most important takeaway of all, he said, will be his chance to prove to himself, and to his family, what he can still do despite extensive shoulder, spinal, hand and leg injuries.
Bennett acknowledges he's lucky to be alive after a 107mm rocket came careening over his Indianapolis unit's base wall, only partially detonating. It should have flattened everything within a football field's distance, he said.
While living through the blast, Bennett said a piece of him died that day-ironically, Veterans Day of 2004.
As he went through surgery after surgery to repair what medical officials call "polytrauma injuries," it wasn't the pain or the tedious rehabilitation that troubled him the most. It was thinking about what he could no longer do.
He remembered the joy he felt as a young boy playing softball with his dad, and realized he would never share that with his own children.
"To rob that of my kids just killed me," he said. "It's easy to sit around and feel sorry for yourself and feel like your life is over."
His family rallied around him and did everything they could to care of him as he went through the long, difficult healing process. In some ways, he said they tried too hard to protect him.
"I liken it to a flower in a flowerpot," Bennett said, turning philosophical. "At first, the people who love us the most don't want to transfer us to a bigger pot. But our roots are still growing, and if we don't move into that bigger pot, we're going to end up dying."
Coming here to the winter sports clinic was part of Bennett's transplant into that bigger flowerpot.
As he swooshed down the mountain in his adaptive ski equipment, his 17-year-old son was on the same slope, learning to snowboard. "This is great because now I've found an activity that we can do together," Bennett said.
Now he sees all kinds of possibilities ahead and activities he can share with his family. "Just because I'm injured doesn't mean there aren't things we can do together as a family," he said. "There's still a whole lot I can do."
That's a revelation Bennett knows he's sharing with other severely wounded troops and disabled veterans here, particularly those recently back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"They don't have a clue how much they will change this week, or how many doors are going to open for them," he said.
Three years after his injury, Bennett said he's still overwhelmed by the "fragility of life."
He said he knows he and the other wounded troops here still have a long road ahead as they go through the healing process and face the next step in their lives.
"I'm taking one day at a time because nobody can predict what the future holds," Bennett said. "I am going to wait and see what doors open up."
As he prepares for April 13 surgery at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Bennett said he'll take his experiences from the winter sports clinic along with him.
"This is my last big adventure for a bit," he said as he rested on the slopeside, awaiting his next run down the mountain. "That's why it's pretty cool."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
USS Cleveland Hosts Naturalization Ceremony
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Brooke Raffaele, USN
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 5, 2007 – The United States gained 59 new citizens here yesterday, as 59 servicemembers took the oath of citizenship aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Cleveland. With retention and recruitment at the highest levels in recent history, officials said the Navy can now afford to focus on shaping the force to ensure the best-qualified, most diverse candidates are challenged to seek leadership roles in the senior enlisted and officer ranks of the future.
"Our true strength comes from our nation's diversity," said Rear Adm. Leendert "Len" Hering Sr., commander of Navy Region Southwest and keynote speaker at the ceremony. "The United States has been built upon diversity, and today's ceremony represents our country on what it stands upon."
During the ceremony, sailors, Marines and a lone soldier from various local commands became American citizens. They represent native countries from around the globe, including: Australia, Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, Micronesia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palau, Philippines, and South Korea.
The ceremony -- co-hosted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Commander, Navy Region Southwest; and USS Cleveland -- marked the first all-military naturalization ceremony held in the San Diego region this year.
Seven USS Cleveland crewmembers who were among the group of America's newest citizens sworn in yesterday joined more than 50 fellow crewmembers who already had completed the citizenship process.
Last year, four such ceremonies were held in San Diego, resulting in more than 240 servicemembers becoming U.S. citizens.
(Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brooke Raffaele is assigned to Commander Naval Surface Forces Public Affairs.)
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 5, 2007 – The United States gained 59 new citizens here yesterday, as 59 servicemembers took the oath of citizenship aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Cleveland. With retention and recruitment at the highest levels in recent history, officials said the Navy can now afford to focus on shaping the force to ensure the best-qualified, most diverse candidates are challenged to seek leadership roles in the senior enlisted and officer ranks of the future.
"Our true strength comes from our nation's diversity," said Rear Adm. Leendert "Len" Hering Sr., commander of Navy Region Southwest and keynote speaker at the ceremony. "The United States has been built upon diversity, and today's ceremony represents our country on what it stands upon."
During the ceremony, sailors, Marines and a lone soldier from various local commands became American citizens. They represent native countries from around the globe, including: Australia, Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, Micronesia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palau, Philippines, and South Korea.
The ceremony -- co-hosted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Commander, Navy Region Southwest; and USS Cleveland -- marked the first all-military naturalization ceremony held in the San Diego region this year.
Seven USS Cleveland crewmembers who were among the group of America's newest citizens sworn in yesterday joined more than 50 fellow crewmembers who already had completed the citizenship process.
Last year, four such ceremonies were held in San Diego, resulting in more than 240 servicemembers becoming U.S. citizens.
(Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brooke Raffaele is assigned to Commander Naval Surface Forces Public Affairs.)
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Department Works to Improve Acquisition Process
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service
April 5, 2007 – Defense Department officials work every day to ensure service requirements and resources are integrated, and to improve the overall acquisition process, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani addressed a crowd of active and retired servicemembers, defense industry officials and other civilian professionals at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition. Giambastiani summarized the different groups with which he works on acquisition, and the initiatives they're pursuing.
"Our business within the Pentagon is complex, and it's a highly interrelated business," Giambastiani said. "You have to overcome a variety of stovepipes erected in what I'll call the requirements world, in the acquisition world, and also within the resourcing and budget world."
Giambastiani said he is one of the only leaders who has a say in all three communities - requirements, acquisition and resourcing. This gives him an opportunity to work to integrate all three areas, making the entire process run more smoothly, he said.
Giambastiani serves as the chairman of the joint requirements oversight council, which by law is made up of him and the four service vice chiefs. However, to better inform the council's debates and to increase trust and confidence, the group has opened its discussions and debates to combatant commanders, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, defense agencies, other federal agencies and other cabinet departments, he said.
Another improvement is that the joint requirements oversight council now considers cost risk at the beginning of the acquisition process, rather than letting the services deal with the results of their decisions later, Giambastiani said. This includes assessing programs' technology readiness levels, which were developed by NASA and help identify if a program is ready for implementation, he said.
If programs project large cost growths, the council will revisit its requirements and make necessary changes, Giambastiani said. This happened in the case of the Joint Tactical Radio Program and the National Polar Orbiting Operational Environment Satellite System, a multi-department weather system, he noted.
The council also has a joint rapid acquisition cell, which meets urgent needs with off-the-shelf products, Giambastiani said. This cell works to supply the services with things like the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles that are in heavy demand from the Army and Marine Corps in Iraq.
"Let's face it, we're in a war, so responding to urgent combatant commanders ... is exceptionally important," he said.
The defense acquisition board, which Giambastiani co-chairs with Kenneth Krieg, undersecretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and logistics, works to ensure proper execution of each individual acquisition program, Giambastiani said. When the board reviews programs, it looks at differences in cost estimation between DoD and industry groups, funding stability, and the gradual escalation of capability a program delivers, he said.
"We work closely to align the acquisitions, requirements and resource communities at the individual program level," he said.
Giambastiani is also co-chairman of the deputy's advisory working group with Gordon England, deputy secretary of defense. This group, which meets at least twice a week, grew out of the senior oversight group for the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review and works to implement the strategic vector set by the QDR, he said.
"This group has been particularly key in resource decisions on a day-to-day basis," Giambastiani said. "We do this every day; we don't leave these decisions till the 11th hour."
The business of acquisition, requirements and resources is complex, Giambastiani acknowledged, but fixing the problems in the system is vital for commanders on the ground, who want to ensure their troops have everything they need to accomplish the mission.
"Working acquisition issues as well as related resource and requirements issues is one of the key reasons, frankly, why I came back to Washington as the vice chairman," Giambastiani said.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 5, 2007 – Defense Department officials work every day to ensure service requirements and resources are integrated, and to improve the overall acquisition process, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani addressed a crowd of active and retired servicemembers, defense industry officials and other civilian professionals at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition. Giambastiani summarized the different groups with which he works on acquisition, and the initiatives they're pursuing.
"Our business within the Pentagon is complex, and it's a highly interrelated business," Giambastiani said. "You have to overcome a variety of stovepipes erected in what I'll call the requirements world, in the acquisition world, and also within the resourcing and budget world."
Giambastiani said he is one of the only leaders who has a say in all three communities - requirements, acquisition and resourcing. This gives him an opportunity to work to integrate all three areas, making the entire process run more smoothly, he said.
Giambastiani serves as the chairman of the joint requirements oversight council, which by law is made up of him and the four service vice chiefs. However, to better inform the council's debates and to increase trust and confidence, the group has opened its discussions and debates to combatant commanders, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, defense agencies, other federal agencies and other cabinet departments, he said.
Another improvement is that the joint requirements oversight council now considers cost risk at the beginning of the acquisition process, rather than letting the services deal with the results of their decisions later, Giambastiani said. This includes assessing programs' technology readiness levels, which were developed by NASA and help identify if a program is ready for implementation, he said.
If programs project large cost growths, the council will revisit its requirements and make necessary changes, Giambastiani said. This happened in the case of the Joint Tactical Radio Program and the National Polar Orbiting Operational Environment Satellite System, a multi-department weather system, he noted.
The council also has a joint rapid acquisition cell, which meets urgent needs with off-the-shelf products, Giambastiani said. This cell works to supply the services with things like the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles that are in heavy demand from the Army and Marine Corps in Iraq.
"Let's face it, we're in a war, so responding to urgent combatant commanders ... is exceptionally important," he said.
The defense acquisition board, which Giambastiani co-chairs with Kenneth Krieg, undersecretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and logistics, works to ensure proper execution of each individual acquisition program, Giambastiani said. When the board reviews programs, it looks at differences in cost estimation between DoD and industry groups, funding stability, and the gradual escalation of capability a program delivers, he said.
"We work closely to align the acquisitions, requirements and resource communities at the individual program level," he said.
Giambastiani is also co-chairman of the deputy's advisory working group with Gordon England, deputy secretary of defense. This group, which meets at least twice a week, grew out of the senior oversight group for the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review and works to implement the strategic vector set by the QDR, he said.
"This group has been particularly key in resource decisions on a day-to-day basis," Giambastiani said. "We do this every day; we don't leave these decisions till the 11th hour."
The business of acquisition, requirements and resources is complex, Giambastiani acknowledged, but fixing the problems in the system is vital for commanders on the ground, who want to ensure their troops have everything they need to accomplish the mission.
"Working acquisition issues as well as related resource and requirements issues is one of the key reasons, frankly, why I came back to Washington as the vice chairman," Giambastiani said.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Rules Change for Free, Reduced-Price School Lunches Overseas
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – Defense Department Education Activity officials are encouraging families of children attending its overseas schools to reapply for free and reduced price school lunches. Earlier this year, DoDEA requested an increase in the reimbursement rate the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides for school lunches. The USDA approved the request and also authorized the use of the Alaska Income Eligibility Guidelines in qualifying families to participate in the program.
As a result, more families may qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, DoDEA officials said.
This change applies to families of children attending DoDEA schools overseas in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Azores, Turkey, Korea, Japan, and Okinawa. It does not include families of children attending DoDEA schools in Puerto Rico or Guam, who fall under their state Department of Education programs.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command and Marine Corps Community Services are designated school food authorities for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools overseas.
AAFES is the largest school food authority, providing USDA-approved school meals to students on Army and Air Force installations in nine countries throughout Europe and the Pacific.
The school lunch program is designed to meet federal requirements for nutritionally balanced meals and to offer free or reduced price meals to eligible children.
Installation commanders operate and maintain the program by providing instructions on how to apply for the program, determining eligibility of applicants and maintaining and updating a list of students enrolled in the program.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
April 4, 2007 – Defense Department Education Activity officials are encouraging families of children attending its overseas schools to reapply for free and reduced price school lunches. Earlier this year, DoDEA requested an increase in the reimbursement rate the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides for school lunches. The USDA approved the request and also authorized the use of the Alaska Income Eligibility Guidelines in qualifying families to participate in the program.
As a result, more families may qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, DoDEA officials said.
This change applies to families of children attending DoDEA schools overseas in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Azores, Turkey, Korea, Japan, and Okinawa. It does not include families of children attending DoDEA schools in Puerto Rico or Guam, who fall under their state Department of Education programs.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command and Marine Corps Community Services are designated school food authorities for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools overseas.
AAFES is the largest school food authority, providing USDA-approved school meals to students on Army and Air Force installations in nine countries throughout Europe and the Pacific.
The school lunch program is designed to meet federal requirements for nutritionally balanced meals and to offer free or reduced price meals to eligible children.
Installation commanders operate and maintain the program by providing instructions on how to apply for the program, determining eligibility of applicants and maintaining and updating a list of students enrolled in the program.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
New Program Connects Iraq-Deployed Troops to U.S. Public
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – American military members serving in Iraq have an additional opportunity to share their experiences with the U.S. public, thanks to a new public outreach initiative, a senior U.S. military officer said today in Baghdad. "The 'Share the Story' initiative is a new program that's designed to connect U.S. military personnel with organizations and groups like yours," Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told stateside-based representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Reserve Officers' Association and others during a telephone conference call.
Military members of all ranks and service branches serving in Iraq who are slated to return stateside for leave or duty rotation "will have an excellent opportunity to share their story with the folks who want to hear it," Fox said.
The Multinational Force Iraq Web site, www.mnf-iraq.com, provides a "Share the Story" link where interested Iraq-deployed servicemembers register to participate in the program, Fox said. Servicemembers can choose to discuss their Iraq experiences with interested groups while on leave in their hometowns, he said, or with organizations situated near upcoming stateside assignments.
"Share the Story" is managed by Multinational Force Iraq, Fox said, noting the new initiative supplements the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public outreach program that was introduced last fall.
Fox likened the "Share the Story" Web link to "a virtual tool" that connects veterans groups and other interested organizations to servicemembers who can provide their unique, individual perspectives on military service in Iraq.
The admiral said he's excited about the new program's potential to tell interested groups about servicemembers' experiences in Iraq, Fox said.
"We understand the nature of the (public) curiosity and desire to know about what we're about and our mission," the admiral said.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – American military members serving in Iraq have an additional opportunity to share their experiences with the U.S. public, thanks to a new public outreach initiative, a senior U.S. military officer said today in Baghdad. "The 'Share the Story' initiative is a new program that's designed to connect U.S. military personnel with organizations and groups like yours," Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told stateside-based representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Reserve Officers' Association and others during a telephone conference call.
Military members of all ranks and service branches serving in Iraq who are slated to return stateside for leave or duty rotation "will have an excellent opportunity to share their story with the folks who want to hear it," Fox said.
The Multinational Force Iraq Web site, www.mnf-iraq.com, provides a "Share the Story" link where interested Iraq-deployed servicemembers register to participate in the program, Fox said. Servicemembers can choose to discuss their Iraq experiences with interested groups while on leave in their hometowns, he said, or with organizations situated near upcoming stateside assignments.
"Share the Story" is managed by Multinational Force Iraq, Fox said, noting the new initiative supplements the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public outreach program that was introduced last fall.
Fox likened the "Share the Story" Web link to "a virtual tool" that connects veterans groups and other interested organizations to servicemembers who can provide their unique, individual perspectives on military service in Iraq.
The admiral said he's excited about the new program's potential to tell interested groups about servicemembers' experiences in Iraq, Fox said.
"We understand the nature of the (public) curiosity and desire to know about what we're about and our mission," the admiral said.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Officials Emphasize Zero Tolerance of Sexual Assault
By Carmen L. Gleason
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military values and will not be tolerated within the Defense Department, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness said here yesterday. David S.C. Chu kicked off the month-long DoD observance of sexual assault prevention during a ceremony at the Women in the Military for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Sexual assault is devastating to the individuals it victimizes," Chu said. "It weakens trust and creates strife within our units. It undermines the state of readiness of the armed forces as a whole."
Sexual assault is one of the nation's most underreported crimes. National statistics show that an assault occurs every 90 seconds. One in every six women and one in every 33 men will be the victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.
"Sexual assault remains a troubling issue in America," Chu said. "Since the military reflects the society it serves, the issue faces the Department of Defense as well."
This year's DoD campaign is promoting a climate of respect that encourages every servicemember to join in a cooperative effort to end sexual violence, said Kaye Whitley, director for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.
SAPRO is the Defense Department's single point of accountability for sexual assault policy matters. The organization develops policy and programs to improve prevention efforts, enhance victim support, and increase offender accountability by collaborating closely with each military branch.
Whitley said the goals of this year's campaign are three-fold: fostering awareness of the impact of sexual assault on victims, encouraging community-wide prevention, and facilitating awareness of the availability of health services to care and support victims.
In an effort to create a "climate of confidence," the Defense Department has changed reporting options for sexual assault victims. Beginning in 2005, victims were given an option of restricted or unrestricted reporting.
When filing a restricted report, victims could receive medical care and counseling for assaults without alerting their chain of command or triggering an investigation. DoD officials attribute a 65 percent increase in reporting to this change.
In 2006 there were 756 restricted reports of sexual assault, Chu said. These were victims who might not have come forward under the old policy, he noted. After receiving initial medical treatment and counseling, Chu added, 86 of those changed their reports to unrestricted status, allowing the pursuit of those who acted against them.
DoD officials continue to focus on providing education and training for its more than 1 million active-duty servicemembers. During a worldwide conference held by the department this year, more that 350 troops were trained to be "first responders" for victims on their installations.
"We believe that the numbers of reports will continue to rise because we are changing a culture," Whitley said. "While these numbers make an initial rise, we hope to see a leveling off and eventual elimination of assaults within the department."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military values and will not be tolerated within the Defense Department, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness said here yesterday. David S.C. Chu kicked off the month-long DoD observance of sexual assault prevention during a ceremony at the Women in the Military for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Sexual assault is devastating to the individuals it victimizes," Chu said. "It weakens trust and creates strife within our units. It undermines the state of readiness of the armed forces as a whole."
Sexual assault is one of the nation's most underreported crimes. National statistics show that an assault occurs every 90 seconds. One in every six women and one in every 33 men will be the victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.
"Sexual assault remains a troubling issue in America," Chu said. "Since the military reflects the society it serves, the issue faces the Department of Defense as well."
This year's DoD campaign is promoting a climate of respect that encourages every servicemember to join in a cooperative effort to end sexual violence, said Kaye Whitley, director for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.
SAPRO is the Defense Department's single point of accountability for sexual assault policy matters. The organization develops policy and programs to improve prevention efforts, enhance victim support, and increase offender accountability by collaborating closely with each military branch.
Whitley said the goals of this year's campaign are three-fold: fostering awareness of the impact of sexual assault on victims, encouraging community-wide prevention, and facilitating awareness of the availability of health services to care and support victims.
In an effort to create a "climate of confidence," the Defense Department has changed reporting options for sexual assault victims. Beginning in 2005, victims were given an option of restricted or unrestricted reporting.
When filing a restricted report, victims could receive medical care and counseling for assaults without alerting their chain of command or triggering an investigation. DoD officials attribute a 65 percent increase in reporting to this change.
In 2006 there were 756 restricted reports of sexual assault, Chu said. These were victims who might not have come forward under the old policy, he noted. After receiving initial medical treatment and counseling, Chu added, 86 of those changed their reports to unrestricted status, allowing the pursuit of those who acted against them.
DoD officials continue to focus on providing education and training for its more than 1 million active-duty servicemembers. During a worldwide conference held by the department this year, more that 350 troops were trained to be "first responders" for victims on their installations.
"We believe that the numbers of reports will continue to rise because we are changing a culture," Whitley said. "While these numbers make an initial rise, we hope to see a leveling off and eventual elimination of assaults within the department."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Disabled Veterans Aim for Paralympic Dreams
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – For some participants at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here, it's not enough simply to make it down the mountain. They've set their sights on conquering it - and any other obstacle that stands between them and the U.S. Paralympic Ski Team. Mark Mix is among about a dozen veterans at the six-day clinic, the only one of the group wounded in Iraq, who have set their sights on becoming accomplished racers and even making the 2010 Paralympic team.
"My goal is to knock him off the podium," Mix said, pointing to fellow disabled veteran Chris Devlin-Young, head coach for the clinic's Alpine race and development program.
That's a lofty goal, considering that Devlin-Young is a three-time Paralympian with two gold and two silver medals under his belt. He's also the first U.S. athlete to win gold medals in two disability categories.
And like Mix, he got his first taste of skiing at the winter sports clinic here.
Devlin-Young, a Coast Guard veteran, said he reluctantly agreed to participate in the first clinic in 1985, three years after a C-130 aircraft crash left him a paraplegic. He was mad at the world at the time about losing use of his legs and had little interest in trying out skiing, he said.
But the first time down the hill, he was hooked. "It gave me adrenaline and control. It gave me my life back," he said.
Now Devlin-Young is helping to bring that exhilaration to other disabled veterans bent on pushing their limits on the slopes.
"A lot of these guys want to be racers, and a lot want to be better skiers," he said. "They want to master the mountain in a way they never imagined."
He said he sees a lot of potential in Mix, a Navy veteran and former Seabee who was paralyzed from the waist down by a mortar blast in Baghdad in 2004. "Does he have the potential? Yes," Devlin-Young said. "Does he have the ambition? Yes. Does he have the drive? Yes."
Three years ago, Devlin-Young might have assessed Mix differently. Mix was a self-proclaimed "couch potato" whose sporting life centered on watching drag racing and NASCAR on TV.
He'd never been on skis before finding himself in a wheelchair, and tried it out for the first time during the 2005 winter sports clinic.
After that, there was no turning back. "The freedom you feel when you're out there takes the disability away and makes you feel like you're able-bodied again," he said.
Mix said he quickly tried to get on with his life after being wounded.
"I didn't sit back and pout. My wife wouldn't let me!" he said. Instead, he set his sights on becoming a role model for his children and showing them that "being in a wheelchair doesn't stop you from anything."
In fact, it's pushing the 36-year-old to levels he never thought he would attain. He's among three Iraqi Freedom veterans in the U.S. Olympic Committee's Veterans' Paralympic Performance Program Alpine Skiing program, based here, and has set his sights on the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games.
The VPPP program, a partnership between the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Challenge Aspen, helps groom disabled veterans for national and international ski competitions, explained Houston Cowan, founder and chief executive officer of Challenge Aspen.
Other Iraqi Freedom veterans participating in the program are Keith Calhoun, an Army staff sergeant who had both legs amputated when a rocket-propelled grenade hit in convoy in November 2003, and Casey Owens, a Marine Corps corporal who lost both legs when his Humvee hit a land mine.
Mix is taking the lessons he's learning through the program and pushing forward with his dream. He returned last week from one of a long string of competitions toward qualifying for the Paralympics: the 2007 Hartford U.S. Disabled Alpine Championships in Waterville Valley, N.H. "I didn't make it to the podium, but I held my own," he said.
"He not only held his own, he made a huge statement of what's to come," Houston said.
Other veterans at the winter sports clinic here share Mix's aspirations of refining their skiing technique and becoming champion racers.
Peter Axelson, who raced on the U.S. Disabled Ski Team from 1985 to 1982 and is here working with group, said reaching that goal requires more than just the ability to ski fast.
"It takes strength and a mindset to want to push through limits. It also takes patience and a willingness to do drills over and over. It's very physical, and it's very mental," he said.
Bruce Gibbings, a Vietnam-era Army veteran, said he's taking in all the lessons Axelson, Devlin-Young and the other instructors here have to offer.
At age 60, Gibbons acknowledges that making the Paralympic Ski Team may be a long shot. But he insists it's not a dream he's willing to abandon just yet.
"I might be the oldest member of the Paralympic team, but I want to see if I can get myself there," he said. Gibbings said he feels up to the rigors of the training.
"I'm healthier and stronger than I've ever been," he said. "God blessed me with a lot of energy, I still have a lot of the use of my body, and I've taken my skiing to a level I never dreamed of."
Terry Smutney, an Army veteran who was disabled due to chemical exposure in northern Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, said he, too, is all ears to the lessons he's getting here.
Now an adaptive ski instructor himself in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., Smutney frequently works with wounded troops returning from combat. He said the pointers he's picking up here are helping make him a better skier, racer and teacher to other disabled skiers.
Smutney remembers his first time on skis after his injury, in December 2004, as a life-changing experience. "I was on 12 different medications, four of them narcotics for pain control. I was smoking. I was doing everything wrong," he said.
Within four months, Smutney was skiing every time he got the opportunity and had tossed away all his medications, as well as his cigarettes. "The only drug I was on was the mountain," he said.
Now 50, Smutney said he's too old to think about the Paralympics, but said wants to continue progressing and sharing the joy of skiing and racing with other disabled veterans, especially those just back from combat.
"That's my way of giving back what I've been given," he said. "To see the frowns and wonderment on their faces turn to smiles and relaxation, well, that's just not something you can put in a bottle. You have to be here and experience it, because if you can come down that mountain, you can do anything."
Devlin-Young agreed that it's gratifying to help disabled skiers stretch beyond their comfort zones to become more confident and more capable. "My goal is to give back some of what skiing gave to me," he said.
And while he'd love to see some of the veterans he's working with here achieve their Paralympic dreams, he said what's happening here on Snowmass Mountain is about a lot more than racing.
"This is the next level: mastering the mountain," he said. "When you do that, you will be confident and safe-anytime, anyplace and in any condition. And ultimately, that's what this is all about."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – For some participants at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here, it's not enough simply to make it down the mountain. They've set their sights on conquering it - and any other obstacle that stands between them and the U.S. Paralympic Ski Team. Mark Mix is among about a dozen veterans at the six-day clinic, the only one of the group wounded in Iraq, who have set their sights on becoming accomplished racers and even making the 2010 Paralympic team.
"My goal is to knock him off the podium," Mix said, pointing to fellow disabled veteran Chris Devlin-Young, head coach for the clinic's Alpine race and development program.
That's a lofty goal, considering that Devlin-Young is a three-time Paralympian with two gold and two silver medals under his belt. He's also the first U.S. athlete to win gold medals in two disability categories.
And like Mix, he got his first taste of skiing at the winter sports clinic here.
Devlin-Young, a Coast Guard veteran, said he reluctantly agreed to participate in the first clinic in 1985, three years after a C-130 aircraft crash left him a paraplegic. He was mad at the world at the time about losing use of his legs and had little interest in trying out skiing, he said.
But the first time down the hill, he was hooked. "It gave me adrenaline and control. It gave me my life back," he said.
Now Devlin-Young is helping to bring that exhilaration to other disabled veterans bent on pushing their limits on the slopes.
"A lot of these guys want to be racers, and a lot want to be better skiers," he said. "They want to master the mountain in a way they never imagined."
He said he sees a lot of potential in Mix, a Navy veteran and former Seabee who was paralyzed from the waist down by a mortar blast in Baghdad in 2004. "Does he have the potential? Yes," Devlin-Young said. "Does he have the ambition? Yes. Does he have the drive? Yes."
Three years ago, Devlin-Young might have assessed Mix differently. Mix was a self-proclaimed "couch potato" whose sporting life centered on watching drag racing and NASCAR on TV.
He'd never been on skis before finding himself in a wheelchair, and tried it out for the first time during the 2005 winter sports clinic.
After that, there was no turning back. "The freedom you feel when you're out there takes the disability away and makes you feel like you're able-bodied again," he said.
Mix said he quickly tried to get on with his life after being wounded.
"I didn't sit back and pout. My wife wouldn't let me!" he said. Instead, he set his sights on becoming a role model for his children and showing them that "being in a wheelchair doesn't stop you from anything."
In fact, it's pushing the 36-year-old to levels he never thought he would attain. He's among three Iraqi Freedom veterans in the U.S. Olympic Committee's Veterans' Paralympic Performance Program Alpine Skiing program, based here, and has set his sights on the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games.
The VPPP program, a partnership between the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Challenge Aspen, helps groom disabled veterans for national and international ski competitions, explained Houston Cowan, founder and chief executive officer of Challenge Aspen.
Other Iraqi Freedom veterans participating in the program are Keith Calhoun, an Army staff sergeant who had both legs amputated when a rocket-propelled grenade hit in convoy in November 2003, and Casey Owens, a Marine Corps corporal who lost both legs when his Humvee hit a land mine.
Mix is taking the lessons he's learning through the program and pushing forward with his dream. He returned last week from one of a long string of competitions toward qualifying for the Paralympics: the 2007 Hartford U.S. Disabled Alpine Championships in Waterville Valley, N.H. "I didn't make it to the podium, but I held my own," he said.
"He not only held his own, he made a huge statement of what's to come," Houston said.
Other veterans at the winter sports clinic here share Mix's aspirations of refining their skiing technique and becoming champion racers.
Peter Axelson, who raced on the U.S. Disabled Ski Team from 1985 to 1982 and is here working with group, said reaching that goal requires more than just the ability to ski fast.
"It takes strength and a mindset to want to push through limits. It also takes patience and a willingness to do drills over and over. It's very physical, and it's very mental," he said.
Bruce Gibbings, a Vietnam-era Army veteran, said he's taking in all the lessons Axelson, Devlin-Young and the other instructors here have to offer.
At age 60, Gibbons acknowledges that making the Paralympic Ski Team may be a long shot. But he insists it's not a dream he's willing to abandon just yet.
"I might be the oldest member of the Paralympic team, but I want to see if I can get myself there," he said. Gibbings said he feels up to the rigors of the training.
"I'm healthier and stronger than I've ever been," he said. "God blessed me with a lot of energy, I still have a lot of the use of my body, and I've taken my skiing to a level I never dreamed of."
Terry Smutney, an Army veteran who was disabled due to chemical exposure in northern Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, said he, too, is all ears to the lessons he's getting here.
Now an adaptive ski instructor himself in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., Smutney frequently works with wounded troops returning from combat. He said the pointers he's picking up here are helping make him a better skier, racer and teacher to other disabled skiers.
Smutney remembers his first time on skis after his injury, in December 2004, as a life-changing experience. "I was on 12 different medications, four of them narcotics for pain control. I was smoking. I was doing everything wrong," he said.
Within four months, Smutney was skiing every time he got the opportunity and had tossed away all his medications, as well as his cigarettes. "The only drug I was on was the mountain," he said.
Now 50, Smutney said he's too old to think about the Paralympics, but said wants to continue progressing and sharing the joy of skiing and racing with other disabled veterans, especially those just back from combat.
"That's my way of giving back what I've been given," he said. "To see the frowns and wonderment on their faces turn to smiles and relaxation, well, that's just not something you can put in a bottle. You have to be here and experience it, because if you can come down that mountain, you can do anything."
Devlin-Young agreed that it's gratifying to help disabled skiers stretch beyond their comfort zones to become more confident and more capable. "My goal is to give back some of what skiing gave to me," he said.
And while he'd love to see some of the veterans he's working with here achieve their Paralympic dreams, he said what's happening here on Snowmass Mountain is about a lot more than racing.
"This is the next level: mastering the mountain," he said. "When you do that, you will be confident and safe-anytime, anyplace and in any condition. And ultimately, that's what this is all about."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Why We Serve: Air Force Captain Relates Afghanistan Experience
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – An Air Force logistics officer essentially traded in his blue uniform for Army green during his stint as a convoy commander in Afghanistan. Air Force Capt. Michael J. Frasco, 35, who hails from Albuquerque, N.M., volunteered to be a supply convoy commander during a tour in Afghanistan in 2006, a job traditionally performed by an Army officer. He also served as a trainer for the Afghan National Army.
Frasco is among a group of eight servicemembers who served in Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa who have been selected to tell the military's story to the American people at community, business, veterans' and other gatherings as part of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public outreach program.
The "Why We Serve" program, initially the idea of Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began last fall, noted Air Force Maj. Ann N. Biggers, the program's director. Eight military members, two from each service, are selected to participate in the program, which is conducted in quarterly segments, she explained.
"We know that the American public is hungry to hear about what these young men and women have been during," Biggers said. "It's important for our speakers, as well, because they are out there serving their country and they want to be able to tell their stories."
Looking for challenges and an opportunity to serve his country, Frasco enlisted in the Air Force in 1992. A decade later, he had earned a degree at the University of Oklahoma and an officer's commission through the school's ROTC program.
After receiving two months of Army ground-combat skills and convoy training at Camp Shelby, Miss., Frasco headed to Afghanistan in early 2006, he said.
"I stepped off of that airplane ready to go and confident enough that there was nothing that I couldn't go out and do," recalled Frasco, who's now assigned at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
Frasco commanded more than 90 supply convoys that traversed thousands of miles of dangerous, rugged terrain across Afghanistan. His vehicles successfully delivered more than 100 passengers and more than 70,000 tons of cargo.
"We got from Point A to Point B successfully and accomplished whatever mission that we had to accomplish and got home safely," Frasco said, noting he'd commanded soldiers and Marines, as well as airmen.
Challenges facing military convoys in Afghanistan include washed-out roads and the possibility of roadside bombs and ambushes, Frasco said.
Frasco's leadership philosophy boils down to "while taking care of the people, we take care of the mission." He saluted the "amazing" ability and stamina possessed by the servicemembers he commanded, as well as the high caliber of his superiors.
Asked if he'd volunteer for convoy duty again, Frasco responded: "Absolutely. I'd do it tomorrow."
Frasco's Army ground combat training was also put to use when civil unrest erupted in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city. The Air Force captain led a platoon that rescued a group of airmen who had been stranded outside Camp Eggers during the violence.
The Air Force officer also mentored Afghan National Army noncommissioned officers and officers as an embedded trainer. That mission, he said, was "to get them to a point where they are proficient and can defend their own country."
Helping Afghans to remain free from the Taliban "in turn, protects America," Frasco pointed out.
Frasco remembers working 30 consecutive 16-hour days during his first month in Afghanistan. However, he said, it's worth the effort to help the Afghans get back onto their feet after enduring years of brutal rule under the Taliban.
"Despite all the long hours, despite all the hardships that we'd gone through and despite all the difficult things that we'd faced during our deployment, servicemembers are ready to go back" to assist the Afghans to make them stronger, Frasco said.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – An Air Force logistics officer essentially traded in his blue uniform for Army green during his stint as a convoy commander in Afghanistan. Air Force Capt. Michael J. Frasco, 35, who hails from Albuquerque, N.M., volunteered to be a supply convoy commander during a tour in Afghanistan in 2006, a job traditionally performed by an Army officer. He also served as a trainer for the Afghan National Army.
Frasco is among a group of eight servicemembers who served in Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa who have been selected to tell the military's story to the American people at community, business, veterans' and other gatherings as part of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public outreach program.
The "Why We Serve" program, initially the idea of Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began last fall, noted Air Force Maj. Ann N. Biggers, the program's director. Eight military members, two from each service, are selected to participate in the program, which is conducted in quarterly segments, she explained.
"We know that the American public is hungry to hear about what these young men and women have been during," Biggers said. "It's important for our speakers, as well, because they are out there serving their country and they want to be able to tell their stories."
Looking for challenges and an opportunity to serve his country, Frasco enlisted in the Air Force in 1992. A decade later, he had earned a degree at the University of Oklahoma and an officer's commission through the school's ROTC program.
After receiving two months of Army ground-combat skills and convoy training at Camp Shelby, Miss., Frasco headed to Afghanistan in early 2006, he said.
"I stepped off of that airplane ready to go and confident enough that there was nothing that I couldn't go out and do," recalled Frasco, who's now assigned at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
Frasco commanded more than 90 supply convoys that traversed thousands of miles of dangerous, rugged terrain across Afghanistan. His vehicles successfully delivered more than 100 passengers and more than 70,000 tons of cargo.
"We got from Point A to Point B successfully and accomplished whatever mission that we had to accomplish and got home safely," Frasco said, noting he'd commanded soldiers and Marines, as well as airmen.
Challenges facing military convoys in Afghanistan include washed-out roads and the possibility of roadside bombs and ambushes, Frasco said.
Frasco's leadership philosophy boils down to "while taking care of the people, we take care of the mission." He saluted the "amazing" ability and stamina possessed by the servicemembers he commanded, as well as the high caliber of his superiors.
Asked if he'd volunteer for convoy duty again, Frasco responded: "Absolutely. I'd do it tomorrow."
Frasco's Army ground combat training was also put to use when civil unrest erupted in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city. The Air Force captain led a platoon that rescued a group of airmen who had been stranded outside Camp Eggers during the violence.
The Air Force officer also mentored Afghan National Army noncommissioned officers and officers as an embedded trainer. That mission, he said, was "to get them to a point where they are proficient and can defend their own country."
Helping Afghans to remain free from the Taliban "in turn, protects America," Frasco pointed out.
Frasco remembers working 30 consecutive 16-hour days during his first month in Afghanistan. However, he said, it's worth the effort to help the Afghans get back onto their feet after enduring years of brutal rule under the Taliban.
"Despite all the long hours, despite all the hardships that we'd gone through and despite all the difficult things that we'd faced during our deployment, servicemembers are ready to go back" to assist the Afghans to make them stronger, Frasco said.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Elmo Helps Military Kids Through Deployments
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – Sesame Street's Elmo and his friends at Sesame Workshop are helping military children deal with a parent's deployment through a new project called "Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployment." Sesame Workshop and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., an America Supports You corporate team member, launched the project last August, with additional support from New York State Office of Mental Health and the Military Child Education Coalition.
America Supports You is a Defense Department program that highlights ways in which American individuals, home front groups and companies are supporting U.S. troops and their families.
Talk, Listen and Connect was created to help military families cope with the challenges of deployment when research showed a true need for outreach to military pre-school children.
"The emotional toll that the conflict and the deployments overseas have on families is what inspired us to try to deal with the 700,000 (military) pre-school children," Gary Knell, president and chief executive officer of Sesame Workshop said. "When we heard about the statistic, we felt that there was a way in which we could connect the almost four decades ... of Sesame Street and Sesame Workshop's work to this important cause."
The Talk, Listen, Connect project offers families a kit with materials in English and Spanish to help them better cope with deployments. That kit provides parents a DVD featuring Elmo and his dad who preparing to deploy, a poster that explains some of the ways Elmo is dealing with the his father's absence, and a magazine for parents and caregivers.
"What we found ... is that the kit provides parents with strategies to help their preschoolers cope with deployment," Lawrence Hooper, a partner with Russell Research, which helped conduct an impact study of the kit, said. "The strategies (are) to answer your child completely, do things to feel normal, have age-appropriate chores to foster independence, and do things to keep the child busy."
The results of the impact study were presented at a luncheon here yesterday. Hooper said the results were all positive and revealed that the kit was appealing, easy to understand and provided useful activities and strategies that were easy to implement.
"As importantly, it helped parents and kids feel better ... and prepared them for future deployment," he said.
Joanna Lopez, whose family is featured on the DVD, agrees with the findings. Stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., she is the mother of three children, ages 10, 6, and 4 months. Her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Ernesto Lopez, is on his third deployment to Iraq.
"The video helped me a lot," she said about appearing in and watching the video. "It was wonderful for me and my kids that we are going to share our activities and out ability to stay calm when our dad is deployed."
Lopez, a Spanish-speaking day care provider for military children, said her family's goal in appearing in the video was to help parents help their children understand the deployment, that dad or mom are working, and that it's not forever. She also learned that staying busy is key.
Leslye Arsht, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, said the kit was a much-needed addition to her office's arsenal of literature.
"The materials themselves filled a very important gap in the literature and in the tools that we had for military families," she said. "We know a lot about the effects of deployment and of the stages around deployment, but we really didn't have very many materials for pre-school children, and we didn't have very many supports for pre-school parents."
The Listen, Talk, Connect materials, which Arsht described as groundbreaking, helped parents as much as it did the children. It also served as a boost for Military OneSource, an online resource for military families. The site, www.militaryonesource.com, is one of the methods by which military families can acquire the Talk, Listen, Connect kit.
"By using Military OneSource as a mechanism for distributing this wonderful tool, we've also raised its profile and its availability ... so that other things that we have available to support (military families) are also more accessible," Arsht said. "On all of those grounds, I would say this has been a terrific asset and addition for helping families cope with their military lifestyle."
Military families have requested about 250,000 kits since August, Knell said. With support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, "When Parents are Deployed" will air April 9, on PBS stations across the country, and Maryland Public Television will air the piece twice during Memorial Day weekend, Knell added.
Editor's Note: Military families can also avail themselves of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which highlights home-front groups across the nation that are providing a variety of services and support to troops and their families. A listing of these groups and information about their efforts is available at www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – Sesame Street's Elmo and his friends at Sesame Workshop are helping military children deal with a parent's deployment through a new project called "Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployment." Sesame Workshop and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., an America Supports You corporate team member, launched the project last August, with additional support from New York State Office of Mental Health and the Military Child Education Coalition.
America Supports You is a Defense Department program that highlights ways in which American individuals, home front groups and companies are supporting U.S. troops and their families.
Talk, Listen and Connect was created to help military families cope with the challenges of deployment when research showed a true need for outreach to military pre-school children.
"The emotional toll that the conflict and the deployments overseas have on families is what inspired us to try to deal with the 700,000 (military) pre-school children," Gary Knell, president and chief executive officer of Sesame Workshop said. "When we heard about the statistic, we felt that there was a way in which we could connect the almost four decades ... of Sesame Street and Sesame Workshop's work to this important cause."
The Talk, Listen, Connect project offers families a kit with materials in English and Spanish to help them better cope with deployments. That kit provides parents a DVD featuring Elmo and his dad who preparing to deploy, a poster that explains some of the ways Elmo is dealing with the his father's absence, and a magazine for parents and caregivers.
"What we found ... is that the kit provides parents with strategies to help their preschoolers cope with deployment," Lawrence Hooper, a partner with Russell Research, which helped conduct an impact study of the kit, said. "The strategies (are) to answer your child completely, do things to feel normal, have age-appropriate chores to foster independence, and do things to keep the child busy."
The results of the impact study were presented at a luncheon here yesterday. Hooper said the results were all positive and revealed that the kit was appealing, easy to understand and provided useful activities and strategies that were easy to implement.
"As importantly, it helped parents and kids feel better ... and prepared them for future deployment," he said.
Joanna Lopez, whose family is featured on the DVD, agrees with the findings. Stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., she is the mother of three children, ages 10, 6, and 4 months. Her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Ernesto Lopez, is on his third deployment to Iraq.
"The video helped me a lot," she said about appearing in and watching the video. "It was wonderful for me and my kids that we are going to share our activities and out ability to stay calm when our dad is deployed."
Lopez, a Spanish-speaking day care provider for military children, said her family's goal in appearing in the video was to help parents help their children understand the deployment, that dad or mom are working, and that it's not forever. She also learned that staying busy is key.
Leslye Arsht, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, said the kit was a much-needed addition to her office's arsenal of literature.
"The materials themselves filled a very important gap in the literature and in the tools that we had for military families," she said. "We know a lot about the effects of deployment and of the stages around deployment, but we really didn't have very many materials for pre-school children, and we didn't have very many supports for pre-school parents."
The Listen, Talk, Connect materials, which Arsht described as groundbreaking, helped parents as much as it did the children. It also served as a boost for Military OneSource, an online resource for military families. The site, www.militaryonesource.com, is one of the methods by which military families can acquire the Talk, Listen, Connect kit.
"By using Military OneSource as a mechanism for distributing this wonderful tool, we've also raised its profile and its availability ... so that other things that we have available to support (military families) are also more accessible," Arsht said. "On all of those grounds, I would say this has been a terrific asset and addition for helping families cope with their military lifestyle."
Military families have requested about 250,000 kits since August, Knell said. With support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, "When Parents are Deployed" will air April 9, on PBS stations across the country, and Maryland Public Television will air the piece twice during Memorial Day weekend, Knell added.
Editor's Note: Military families can also avail themselves of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which highlights home-front groups across the nation that are providing a variety of services and support to troops and their families. A listing of these groups and information about their efforts is available at www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Group Puts Flags in Servicemembers' Pockets
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – Since 2002, Project Prayer Flag's goal has been to put an American flag into the pocket of every American servicemember fighting in the global war on terrorism. "For us it's very simple," Shawn Black, founder of the Irvine, Calif.-based organization, said. "We've shipped over 220,000 (flags) now to servicemembers."
Those miniature American flags come as part of the "Patriot Packs" the group sends to servicemembers, Black said. The packs also include a letter or a thank you card.
Project Prayer Flag is a member of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which highlights how Americans and the corporate sector are supporting the nation's servicemembers.
The idea for the Patriot Packs started shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, when Black was serving as an undercover federal air marshal. A colleague was deployed to Afghanistan and Black wrote him a letter. But he also remembered the small American flag his grandfather, a veteran of the battle of Normandy, carried with him and had handed down to Black's father.
"I thought, 'What if I take a small American flag, just a little hand-held flag off a stick, and I put it in there with the card and mail it to him?'" Black said. "(It was) just my way of showing appreciation for my friend."
That friend requested enough for the rest of the servicemembers in his unit and, "from there it just grew and grew by word of mouth," he said.
Project Prayer Flag has since started Operation Christmas Care, a program that has a family adopt a unit and send a personalized care package at the holidays. The adopting family is encouraged to keep up correspondence throughout the servicemember's tour.
Those tours are a little more pleasant thanks to some Major League Baseball teams and Project Prayer Flag's Operation Grandslam.
Black initially contacted the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team with a request for a donation of baseball equipment for the servicemembers fighting in the global war on terrorism. After not making much headway, he turned to Louisville Slugger, a major baseball bat manufacturer. With that move, he was batting a thousand -- $10,000 worth of gloves and bats, to be exact.
"But it got better from there. ... The Angels called me out of the blue one day," Black said. The team donated uniforms, baseballs, bats and batting helmets.
The Colorado Rockies sent thousands of dollars worth of baseball gear recently, and the Atlanta Braves have expressed interest in getting on board with Operation Grandslam, he said.
Additionally, the Rockies sent Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig a letter informing him of Operation Grandslam.
Black said the group's membership in the America Supports You program has opened many doors and lent the group credibility.
"We can't thank America Supports You enough," he said. "With Operation Grandslam ... once they knew we're an America Supports You member, they said, 'Well, I've heard nothing but good things about this group, and I know you guys are legitimate.
"So (membership) kind of separates the wheat from the chaff," Black said.
Black, however, gives a majority of the credit for the program's success to the more than 400 volunteers that make it tick.
"It's the volunteer's project," he said. "We really see the heart of America in the actions here."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – Since 2002, Project Prayer Flag's goal has been to put an American flag into the pocket of every American servicemember fighting in the global war on terrorism. "For us it's very simple," Shawn Black, founder of the Irvine, Calif.-based organization, said. "We've shipped over 220,000 (flags) now to servicemembers."
Those miniature American flags come as part of the "Patriot Packs" the group sends to servicemembers, Black said. The packs also include a letter or a thank you card.
Project Prayer Flag is a member of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which highlights how Americans and the corporate sector are supporting the nation's servicemembers.
The idea for the Patriot Packs started shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, when Black was serving as an undercover federal air marshal. A colleague was deployed to Afghanistan and Black wrote him a letter. But he also remembered the small American flag his grandfather, a veteran of the battle of Normandy, carried with him and had handed down to Black's father.
"I thought, 'What if I take a small American flag, just a little hand-held flag off a stick, and I put it in there with the card and mail it to him?'" Black said. "(It was) just my way of showing appreciation for my friend."
That friend requested enough for the rest of the servicemembers in his unit and, "from there it just grew and grew by word of mouth," he said.
Project Prayer Flag has since started Operation Christmas Care, a program that has a family adopt a unit and send a personalized care package at the holidays. The adopting family is encouraged to keep up correspondence throughout the servicemember's tour.
Those tours are a little more pleasant thanks to some Major League Baseball teams and Project Prayer Flag's Operation Grandslam.
Black initially contacted the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team with a request for a donation of baseball equipment for the servicemembers fighting in the global war on terrorism. After not making much headway, he turned to Louisville Slugger, a major baseball bat manufacturer. With that move, he was batting a thousand -- $10,000 worth of gloves and bats, to be exact.
"But it got better from there. ... The Angels called me out of the blue one day," Black said. The team donated uniforms, baseballs, bats and batting helmets.
The Colorado Rockies sent thousands of dollars worth of baseball gear recently, and the Atlanta Braves have expressed interest in getting on board with Operation Grandslam, he said.
Additionally, the Rockies sent Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig a letter informing him of Operation Grandslam.
Black said the group's membership in the America Supports You program has opened many doors and lent the group credibility.
"We can't thank America Supports You enough," he said. "With Operation Grandslam ... once they knew we're an America Supports You member, they said, 'Well, I've heard nothing but good things about this group, and I know you guys are legitimate.
"So (membership) kind of separates the wheat from the chaff," Black said.
Black, however, gives a majority of the credit for the program's success to the more than 400 volunteers that make it tick.
"It's the volunteer's project," he said. "We really see the heart of America in the actions here."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police officers and military personnel who have authored books.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
New Regiment Focuses on Wounded Marines, Sailors
By Carmen L. Gleason
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – The U.S. Marine Corps has created a new regiment focused on tracking and assisting wounded Marines and sailors across the nation, the regiment's first commander announced at a Pentagon news conference today. "The mission of the Wounded Warrior Regiment is to provide and facilitate assistance to wounded, ill and injured Marines, sailors and their families throughout the phases of their recovery," said Marine Col. Gregory Boyle.
The Marine Corps has taken care of its own since 1775, Boyle said, and the way the Corps does it is through "caring and concerned leadership - from the commandant down to the individual Marine."
Although taking care of their fellow Marines isn't a new concept, Boyle said, the establishment of the regiment marks the first time the Marine Corps has given oversight in tracking wounded troops to one command.
He said a single data base and tracking system will help streamline the transition process and help Marines cut through red tape.
The Wounded Warrior Regiment plans to support troops as they navigate through medical evaluation boards and assist in the processing of traumatic life insurance claims, Boyle said. Regiment leaders will provide information on charitable organizations to family members and will ensure accountability in the management of non-medical phases of transition.
Boyle also said the regiment will ensure the continuation of care without discrimination to the type of illness, whether it is physical or behavioral.
Leaders within the command will strive to make the transition seamless for wounded sailors and Marines as they go from Defense Department care to that of the Veterans Affairs Department.
Former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael W. Hagee established similar assistance under the "Marine for Life" program in 2005. Injured Marines and sailors used the nationwide network as a means to transition back to civilian life in their hometowns.
More emphasis was put on the existing program when current Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway made it one of his top priorities March 23 to establish a regiment with battalion headquarters on both the East and West coasts.
The regiment, with headquarters in Quantico, Va., is spending $53 million in new construction for its two battalions -- one on Camp Lejeune, N.C., and one on Camp Pendleton, Calif. Each battalion will have a barracks facility to house outpatient Marines who are recovering before returning to their units or who are transitioning out of the military to civilian life.
The two locations will help eliminate possible seams and cracks for Marines to fall through, Boyle said. Marines will receive the same level of support regardless of their location.
Efforts will first focus on the 370 Marines who are currently on inpatient and outpatient status at military medical centers across the country. After addressing these cases, Boyle said, he plans to widen his efforts.
"My vision is to get in touch with Marines from (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom) efforts as far back as 2001 on a monthly basis," the colonel said. "The new organization will allow us to give a personal touch to former Marines."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 4, 2007 – The U.S. Marine Corps has created a new regiment focused on tracking and assisting wounded Marines and sailors across the nation, the regiment's first commander announced at a Pentagon news conference today. "The mission of the Wounded Warrior Regiment is to provide and facilitate assistance to wounded, ill and injured Marines, sailors and their families throughout the phases of their recovery," said Marine Col. Gregory Boyle.
The Marine Corps has taken care of its own since 1775, Boyle said, and the way the Corps does it is through "caring and concerned leadership - from the commandant down to the individual Marine."
Although taking care of their fellow Marines isn't a new concept, Boyle said, the establishment of the regiment marks the first time the Marine Corps has given oversight in tracking wounded troops to one command.
He said a single data base and tracking system will help streamline the transition process and help Marines cut through red tape.
The Wounded Warrior Regiment plans to support troops as they navigate through medical evaluation boards and assist in the processing of traumatic life insurance claims, Boyle said. Regiment leaders will provide information on charitable organizations to family members and will ensure accountability in the management of non-medical phases of transition.
Boyle also said the regiment will ensure the continuation of care without discrimination to the type of illness, whether it is physical or behavioral.
Leaders within the command will strive to make the transition seamless for wounded sailors and Marines as they go from Defense Department care to that of the Veterans Affairs Department.
Former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael W. Hagee established similar assistance under the "Marine for Life" program in 2005. Injured Marines and sailors used the nationwide network as a means to transition back to civilian life in their hometowns.
More emphasis was put on the existing program when current Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway made it one of his top priorities March 23 to establish a regiment with battalion headquarters on both the East and West coasts.
The regiment, with headquarters in Quantico, Va., is spending $53 million in new construction for its two battalions -- one on Camp Lejeune, N.C., and one on Camp Pendleton, Calif. Each battalion will have a barracks facility to house outpatient Marines who are recovering before returning to their units or who are transitioning out of the military to civilian life.
The two locations will help eliminate possible seams and cracks for Marines to fall through, Boyle said. Marines will receive the same level of support regardless of their location.
Efforts will first focus on the 370 Marines who are currently on inpatient and outpatient status at military medical centers across the country. After addressing these cases, Boyle said, he plans to widen his efforts.
"My vision is to get in touch with Marines from (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom) efforts as far back as 2001 on a monthly basis," the colonel said. "The new organization will allow us to give a personal touch to former Marines."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
Top Enlisted Soldier at Walter Reed Gets Back to Basics of Soldier Care
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2007 – During the past three weeks, Army Command Sgt. Maj. Althea Green Dixon has done a lot of walking and talking. She's also done a lot of listening. As well as much inspecting, checking, moving and shaking. Sitting in her new office in the command section of the red-bricked Building 1 on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus, Dixon is surrounded by blank walls and bare cabinets. Her office is adorned with only the American and Army flags. All of her "stuff" is still in her old office on Fort Detrick, Md., she said.
But that's OK, because the new top NCO over the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command hasn't spent a lot of time in her office since being handpicked for the job at Walter Reed.
"I believe in management by walking around. Just stop in on people and say, 'Hi.' See how they are doing. Check on things," Dixon said.
"I can get a lot done in this office sitting behind that computer, but I can get a lot more done by walking around and interacting with people and really seeing how things are going out there and hearing from folks directly," she said.
Army Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the new commander of Walter Reed and the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, chose the 29-year career medical soldier to lead the changes in wounded soldier care at the center and within the command. The center and its previous leadership have been under fire for the past month since media reports of poor outpatient soldier care caught national attention.
Dixon served as Schoomaker's "right hand" on Fort Detrick and Fort Gordon, Ga. She found out March 2 that Schoomaker wanted her to move to Walter Reed with him. The next day, when she was supposed to be packing her bags for a vacation in California, she was instead at the center helping coordinate the packing and moving of soldiers and their belongings out of Building 18. The building was spotlighted in the media for poor living conditions, including moldy walls, faulty plumbing and backed-up maintenance work orders.
"I needed to be here," Dixon said. "Our first priority that weekend was to move our soldiers out of Building 18 and into suitable quarters. And we got that done."
Dixon has taken only one day off since.
A native of Trinidad, Dixon speaks with a pleasant Caribbean accent, soft and sure about the basics of soldier care. Her passion for taking care of troops showed during an interview with American Forces Press Service.
"I hate to talk about the past. I probably shouldn't. But part of the reason that we have this situation that we're in right now is because noncommissioned officers failed to do their jobs," Dixon said.
"They're supposed to check on their soldiers," she added. "They are supposed to know how they are living, what problems they have.
"I'm sorry. I get a little emotional when I talk about that because that's basic stuff and they didn't do it," she said.
For the past three weeks, Dixon has spent countless hours making her rounds across the sprawling 113-acre campus reacquainting the center's NCOs with the basics of soldier care as she sees them.
"I'm about three things: basics, standards and accountability," she said. "Basic things like taking care of soldiers, basic things like checking soldiers' living quarters, basic things like keeping up with your soldiers' whereabouts. If you stick to the basics, you generally end up OK."
Probably the biggest effort she's taken on so far has been making sure all wounded warriors at Walter Reed are housed in "accommodations that are suitable for an American soldier," she said.
Wounded soldiers in outpatient care with families at the center now live in the 280-room Mologne House, which boasts all the amenities of a luxury hotel, as well as Delano Hall and the two popular Fisher Houses.
The 274-room Abrams Hall became the primary facility for unaccompanied soldiers in outpatient care. Each room offers a private bath -- some with tubs -- kitchenette, walk-in closet, a large, flat-screen television mounted on the wall, and a brand new 17-inch iMac computers. Ten of the rooms there are fitted for wheel-chair access. Brightly lit dayrooms sport large-screen televisions and pool, foosball and ping pong tables.
"It's the nicest set of barracks that I've ever seen since I've been in the Army, ... and I've been in a lot of barracks," Dixon said with a laugh as she walked from her office toward Abrams Hall to finish her room inspections.
Abrams Hall is across the street and only a short walk from Dixon's office. The grounds look more like an apartment complex than an Army barracks.
Walking down bright white halls with waxed floors, past the security desk, Dixon lightly quizzed a handful of soldiers on duty about an upcoming town hall meeting.
They told her they knew about it, but not the time or the place.
She kindly set them straight. "Looking forward to seeing you there," Dixon said.
To make room in Abrams hall, some permanent party and student soldiers living there were moved into furnished, two-bedroom apartments off the campus. Each has walk-in closets and private baths. A shuttle is provided for transportation. The Army paid all relocation, utility transfer and hook-up fees, Dixon said.
"We don't want our young soldiers to be subject to any financial liabilities because of decisions that their leadership has made," Dixon said. "I don't think any soldier lost anything in this shuffle."
Both Dixon and her boss have talked regularly to the student soldiers and have received nothing but positive feedback, she said. "I haven't heard any major complaints so far. But we're keeping those lines of communication open. We want to make sure we're doing right by all of our soldiers," she said.
Regular barracks checks help keep her in touch with the soldiers and the NCOs who lead them, Dixon said.
"When a new face comes in they tend to open up a little bit," she said. "When I go over there, ... I try to have a dialogue with them, just to see how they're doing, get an azimuth check on how we're doing and if there are any issues."
Face-to-face communication is a recurring theme in many of the changes that Dixon and Schoomaker have made.
The center now has a weekly orientation for every new soldier-patient and family. On March 21 Schoomaker held his first town hall meeting with the soldier-patients, and more are planned. Schoomaker and Dixon also have held sensing sessions with NCOs and other leaders.
"We are here for the soldier. That's our job. They ought to not feel they are imposing on us if they come to us with an issue. We are here to deal with those issues," Dixon said.
In light of recent changes, Dixon said, morale for wounded soldiers is on an "upswing."
At the same time, Dixon must also focus on the morale of her staff of soldiers. She said that the negative publicity has had an effect on those in uniform serving there. She said she is meeting with staff members to "get their thoughts on how they are doing and what can be done to improve their quality of life," she said.
"Although a lot of the scrutiny has been on the (care of the) patient-soldiers, I want our employees to know that we still care for them," she said. "We are here to take care of them the same as we are here to take care of our patient-soldiers."
Dixon said she is pleased with the changes made already, but acknowledged much work ahead. She said she is receiving support, both from top-level leaders across the Army and DoD, as well as from her NCOs and staff.
The next step is to stand up the Wounded Warrior Transition Brigade, charged with overseeing the health, welfare and morale of patients as they recover. Army combat veterans have been chosen to stand up brigade. Its new top NCO, Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Hartless, has spent time recovering at the center from wounds he suffered while serving in Afghanistan.
About 600 soldiers will make up the three companies in the new brigade. Many officers and NCOs have been given only 30 days notice to report to their new assignments at the center, but haven't complained about the sudden change. There has been "no whining," Dixon said.
"They are just stepping up to the plate," she said.
The three company commanders for the new transition brigade are already on the ground working through issues of furniture, space, personnel restructuring, offices and so forth.
By the end of this month, half of the staff is set to be in place, three-quarters by the end of April, and full staffing for the brigade should be in place by the end of May, Dixon said.
In the meantime, the sergeant major makes no apologies for the standards she sets and said she will continue taking care of soldiers with "high standards with a big heart."
"I can be pretty easy going. But I'm often not, because I have high standards, because I really like people and I really care about people," she said. "Sometimes I have to correct people. I try to be nice about it. Sometimes I'm not so nice about it."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2007 – During the past three weeks, Army Command Sgt. Maj. Althea Green Dixon has done a lot of walking and talking. She's also done a lot of listening. As well as much inspecting, checking, moving and shaking. Sitting in her new office in the command section of the red-bricked Building 1 on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus, Dixon is surrounded by blank walls and bare cabinets. Her office is adorned with only the American and Army flags. All of her "stuff" is still in her old office on Fort Detrick, Md., she said.
But that's OK, because the new top NCO over the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command hasn't spent a lot of time in her office since being handpicked for the job at Walter Reed.
"I believe in management by walking around. Just stop in on people and say, 'Hi.' See how they are doing. Check on things," Dixon said.
"I can get a lot done in this office sitting behind that computer, but I can get a lot more done by walking around and interacting with people and really seeing how things are going out there and hearing from folks directly," she said.
Army Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the new commander of Walter Reed and the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, chose the 29-year career medical soldier to lead the changes in wounded soldier care at the center and within the command. The center and its previous leadership have been under fire for the past month since media reports of poor outpatient soldier care caught national attention.
Dixon served as Schoomaker's "right hand" on Fort Detrick and Fort Gordon, Ga. She found out March 2 that Schoomaker wanted her to move to Walter Reed with him. The next day, when she was supposed to be packing her bags for a vacation in California, she was instead at the center helping coordinate the packing and moving of soldiers and their belongings out of Building 18. The building was spotlighted in the media for poor living conditions, including moldy walls, faulty plumbing and backed-up maintenance work orders.
"I needed to be here," Dixon said. "Our first priority that weekend was to move our soldiers out of Building 18 and into suitable quarters. And we got that done."
Dixon has taken only one day off since.
A native of Trinidad, Dixon speaks with a pleasant Caribbean accent, soft and sure about the basics of soldier care. Her passion for taking care of troops showed during an interview with American Forces Press Service.
"I hate to talk about the past. I probably shouldn't. But part of the reason that we have this situation that we're in right now is because noncommissioned officers failed to do their jobs," Dixon said.
"They're supposed to check on their soldiers," she added. "They are supposed to know how they are living, what problems they have.
"I'm sorry. I get a little emotional when I talk about that because that's basic stuff and they didn't do it," she said.
For the past three weeks, Dixon has spent countless hours making her rounds across the sprawling 113-acre campus reacquainting the center's NCOs with the basics of soldier care as she sees them.
"I'm about three things: basics, standards and accountability," she said. "Basic things like taking care of soldiers, basic things like checking soldiers' living quarters, basic things like keeping up with your soldiers' whereabouts. If you stick to the basics, you generally end up OK."
Probably the biggest effort she's taken on so far has been making sure all wounded warriors at Walter Reed are housed in "accommodations that are suitable for an American soldier," she said.
Wounded soldiers in outpatient care with families at the center now live in the 280-room Mologne House, which boasts all the amenities of a luxury hotel, as well as Delano Hall and the two popular Fisher Houses.
The 274-room Abrams Hall became the primary facility for unaccompanied soldiers in outpatient care. Each room offers a private bath -- some with tubs -- kitchenette, walk-in closet, a large, flat-screen television mounted on the wall, and a brand new 17-inch iMac computers. Ten of the rooms there are fitted for wheel-chair access. Brightly lit dayrooms sport large-screen televisions and pool, foosball and ping pong tables.
"It's the nicest set of barracks that I've ever seen since I've been in the Army, ... and I've been in a lot of barracks," Dixon said with a laugh as she walked from her office toward Abrams Hall to finish her room inspections.
Abrams Hall is across the street and only a short walk from Dixon's office. The grounds look more like an apartment complex than an Army barracks.
Walking down bright white halls with waxed floors, past the security desk, Dixon lightly quizzed a handful of soldiers on duty about an upcoming town hall meeting.
They told her they knew about it, but not the time or the place.
She kindly set them straight. "Looking forward to seeing you there," Dixon said.
To make room in Abrams hall, some permanent party and student soldiers living there were moved into furnished, two-bedroom apartments off the campus. Each has walk-in closets and private baths. A shuttle is provided for transportation. The Army paid all relocation, utility transfer and hook-up fees, Dixon said.
"We don't want our young soldiers to be subject to any financial liabilities because of decisions that their leadership has made," Dixon said. "I don't think any soldier lost anything in this shuffle."
Both Dixon and her boss have talked regularly to the student soldiers and have received nothing but positive feedback, she said. "I haven't heard any major complaints so far. But we're keeping those lines of communication open. We want to make sure we're doing right by all of our soldiers," she said.
Regular barracks checks help keep her in touch with the soldiers and the NCOs who lead them, Dixon said.
"When a new face comes in they tend to open up a little bit," she said. "When I go over there, ... I try to have a dialogue with them, just to see how they're doing, get an azimuth check on how we're doing and if there are any issues."
Face-to-face communication is a recurring theme in many of the changes that Dixon and Schoomaker have made.
The center now has a weekly orientation for every new soldier-patient and family. On March 21 Schoomaker held his first town hall meeting with the soldier-patients, and more are planned. Schoomaker and Dixon also have held sensing sessions with NCOs and other leaders.
"We are here for the soldier. That's our job. They ought to not feel they are imposing on us if they come to us with an issue. We are here to deal with those issues," Dixon said.
In light of recent changes, Dixon said, morale for wounded soldiers is on an "upswing."
At the same time, Dixon must also focus on the morale of her staff of soldiers. She said that the negative publicity has had an effect on those in uniform serving there. She said she is meeting with staff members to "get their thoughts on how they are doing and what can be done to improve their quality of life," she said.
"Although a lot of the scrutiny has been on the (care of the) patient-soldiers, I want our employees to know that we still care for them," she said. "We are here to take care of them the same as we are here to take care of our patient-soldiers."
Dixon said she is pleased with the changes made already, but acknowledged much work ahead. She said she is receiving support, both from top-level leaders across the Army and DoD, as well as from her NCOs and staff.
The next step is to stand up the Wounded Warrior Transition Brigade, charged with overseeing the health, welfare and morale of patients as they recover. Army combat veterans have been chosen to stand up brigade. Its new top NCO, Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Hartless, has spent time recovering at the center from wounds he suffered while serving in Afghanistan.
About 600 soldiers will make up the three companies in the new brigade. Many officers and NCOs have been given only 30 days notice to report to their new assignments at the center, but haven't complained about the sudden change. There has been "no whining," Dixon said.
"They are just stepping up to the plate," she said.
The three company commanders for the new transition brigade are already on the ground working through issues of furniture, space, personnel restructuring, offices and so forth.
By the end of this month, half of the staff is set to be in place, three-quarters by the end of April, and full staffing for the brigade should be in place by the end of May, Dixon said.
In the meantime, the sergeant major makes no apologies for the standards she sets and said she will continue taking care of soldiers with "high standards with a big heart."
"I can be pretty easy going. But I'm often not, because I have high standards, because I really like people and I really care about people," she said. "Sometimes I have to correct people. I try to be nice about it. Sometimes I'm not so nice about it."
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
President Congratulates Navy Midshipmen for Gridiron Glory
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2007 – President Bush today congratulated the U.S. Naval Academy football team for its feats on the gridiron, and thanked members for their service to America. Navy ended the season with a 9-3 record, capped off by a Meineke Car Care Bowl appearance against Boston College. The team led the nation in rushing yards, had the highest graduation rate, and for the fourth straight year, the Midshipmen beat Army and Air Force during its season and earned the Commander in Chief's Trophy.
"It seems to me that this is becoming a spring tradition," the president quipped during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.
"I appreciate the fact that your class is the first in school history to win four straight Commander in Chief trophies, the first to go 8 and 0 against Army and Air Force, and the first to play in four straight bowl games," Bush told the Navy gridders. "That's a lot of firsts."
Bush said that when the Midshipmen signed up for the Naval Academy, they signed up for more than playing football. "You signed up to become officers in the finest military the world has ever known," he said.
But the finest military the world has ever known can't exist without men and women who volunteer to wear the uniform, the president said.
"You volunteered after Sept. 11, 2001. That's a remarkable decision you have made," Bush said. "I vowed after Sept. 11, 2001, that I would use the full power of our government to protect the American people from harm. And I meant what I said."
Bush said that therefore, anyone who signed up after the Sept. 11 attacks knew what they were getting into.
"It's a remarkable country when people make such a noble decision to serve their country in a time of war," he said. "And I'm proud to be the commander in chief of such decent, honorable, sacrificing men and women."
Lessons that the Midshipmen have learned on the football field and at the Naval Academy, including the importance of teamwork and leadership and having strong personal character, will serve them well on the battlefield, the president said.
"You're going to put those qualities to the highest possible use, and that is to protect the American people and to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come," he said. "The Navy and Marine Corps are on the front line of fighting and winning the war against the extremists (and) radicals who would do this country harm. Every day we're on the offense against an enemy."
The president said he would rather defeat enemy combatants "over there" so that U.S. servicemembers do not have to face them here. "And the Marine Corps and the Navy are helping to lead that charge," he said.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
American Forces Press Service
April 2, 2007 – President Bush today congratulated the U.S. Naval Academy football team for its feats on the gridiron, and thanked members for their service to America. Navy ended the season with a 9-3 record, capped off by a Meineke Car Care Bowl appearance against Boston College. The team led the nation in rushing yards, had the highest graduation rate, and for the fourth straight year, the Midshipmen beat Army and Air Force during its season and earned the Commander in Chief's Trophy.
"It seems to me that this is becoming a spring tradition," the president quipped during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.
"I appreciate the fact that your class is the first in school history to win four straight Commander in Chief trophies, the first to go 8 and 0 against Army and Air Force, and the first to play in four straight bowl games," Bush told the Navy gridders. "That's a lot of firsts."
Bush said that when the Midshipmen signed up for the Naval Academy, they signed up for more than playing football. "You signed up to become officers in the finest military the world has ever known," he said.
But the finest military the world has ever known can't exist without men and women who volunteer to wear the uniform, the president said.
"You volunteered after Sept. 11, 2001. That's a remarkable decision you have made," Bush said. "I vowed after Sept. 11, 2001, that I would use the full power of our government to protect the American people from harm. And I meant what I said."
Bush said that therefore, anyone who signed up after the Sept. 11 attacks knew what they were getting into.
"It's a remarkable country when people make such a noble decision to serve their country in a time of war," he said. "And I'm proud to be the commander in chief of such decent, honorable, sacrificing men and women."
Lessons that the Midshipmen have learned on the football field and at the Naval Academy, including the importance of teamwork and leadership and having strong personal character, will serve them well on the battlefield, the president said.
"You're going to put those qualities to the highest possible use, and that is to protect the American people and to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come," he said. "The Navy and Marine Corps are on the front line of fighting and winning the war against the extremists (and) radicals who would do this country harm. Every day we're on the offense against an enemy."
The president said he would rather defeat enemy combatants "over there" so that U.S. servicemembers do not have to face them here. "And the Marine Corps and the Navy are helping to lead that charge," he said.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
Heroes in the Global War on Terror
The Department of Defense Office of Public Affairs has recently updated its "Heroes in the Global War on Terror" website, which includes profiles of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who have received medals of distinction for their bravery and contributions to fighting the Global War on Terror.
Some of the heroes include Maj. Kim Campbell, aka "Killer Chick," who flew her bullet-riddled Warthog 300 miles back to base after a close engagement with Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers; 1st Lt. Elliott Ackerman, who led his Marines through a series of ambushes and attacks during the battle of Fallujah; and Staff Sgt. Jo Turner and Spc. Cheryl Ivanov, combat medics who, through their skills, eventually earned respect from the Afghan soldiers they served with.
You can find all of our heroes at: http://www.defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/heroes/index.html.
Some of the heroes include Maj. Kim Campbell, aka "Killer Chick," who flew her bullet-riddled Warthog 300 miles back to base after a close engagement with Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers; 1st Lt. Elliott Ackerman, who led his Marines through a series of ambushes and attacks during the battle of Fallujah; and Staff Sgt. Jo Turner and Spc. Cheryl Ivanov, combat medics who, through their skills, eventually earned respect from the Afghan soldiers they served with.
You can find all of our heroes at: http://www.defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/heroes/index.html.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Walter Reed Breaks New Ground With 3-D Vision System
By Kristin Ellis
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2007 – Virtual reality made its way into the operating room last week when an Army doctor performed the military's first three-dimensional minimally invasive surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. Armed with a state-of-the-art helmet, Col. (Dr.) Ernest Lockrow, director of the Telerobotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, used the 3-D capabilities to perform a hysterectomy.
Minimally invasive surgery, also known as laparoscopy, uses tiny incisions to operate and typically involves a telescopic lens that is connected to a video camera. The operation last week was the first time the military has used the 3-D vision system to help visualize and guide the surgeon during a laparoscopic procedure. According to Lockrow, the typical laparoscopy procedure is done with a two-dimensional display. The images from the telescopic lens appear on a monitor, and surgeons use this to guide their way through the operation.
Some of the problems with teaching new surgeons in two-dimension technology are that they can easily miss something while practicing operations until their eyes adjust to the two-dimension view. This lack of depth perception can hamper the surgeon during an operation, Lockrow explained. With the new three-dimensional headset capability, surgeons can precisely get to where they need to be.
"What the three-dimensional procedure now gives is a camera for each eye, so the surgeon can now see just as he was operating in a general, open procedure," Lockrow said. "When you're used to operating in two dimensions and then you go to three dimensions, it just makes it so much easier. We actually had a fellow who has not done a lot of laparoscopic surgery and was able to easily grasp the laparoscopic procedure in three dimensions."
Lockrow is taking the technology a step further by exploring a new realm of telecommunications with the use of this device. Although there are issues associated with transmitting images across a network in terms of signal delay, it could be possible someday to have a doctor use a 3-D helmet in Germany to assist a doctor here who also is wearing the helmet, and vice versa, Lockrow said.
"In military aspects, that's really where we want to go; it's just a long road to get there," he added. Walter Reed now has the facilities that give surgical teams the capability to broadcast the surgery, Lockrow noted.
"We're actually able to take the new technologies and techniques, and we can now televise them to a network or to a classroom," he said. "Now, more than two people can watch a procedure; a whole classroom can watch."
The 3-D laparoscopy device is part of a bigger project involving robotic surgery and minimally invasive surgery in which the Army is trying to incorporate new technologies and make them available at health-care facilities throughout the military. Lockrow's team tested the helmets at the robotic training center lab at Uniform Services University.
A Navy surgeon, Cmdr. (Dr.) Christine Sears, assisted Lockrow in the operating room. An Air Force surgeon, Maj. (Dr.) Chad Hamilton, watched the procedure.
Sears said she's impressed with the new technology. "The 3-D visualization improves the ergonomics of laparoscopy - the image is directly in front of the surgeon at all times," she said. "Rather than looking at a screen which is stationary, the helmet moves with the surgeon's head, improving visualization."
Hamilton said continuing to bring state-of-the-art procedures and methods to military medicine will ensure servicemembers get the best available care. “Incorporation of such technology will allow (the military) to continue offering cutting-edge procedures our beneficiaries have come to expect and keep us in the vanguard of technology and medicine," Hamilton said.
Lockgrow agreed. "I think it's important that we keep exploring these new technologies, because this is great for military medicine," he said.
(Kristin Ellis is a Stripe staff writer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.)
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have authored books as well as criminal justice online leadership.
Special to American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2007 – Virtual reality made its way into the operating room last week when an Army doctor performed the military's first three-dimensional minimally invasive surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. Armed with a state-of-the-art helmet, Col. (Dr.) Ernest Lockrow, director of the Telerobotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, used the 3-D capabilities to perform a hysterectomy.
Minimally invasive surgery, also known as laparoscopy, uses tiny incisions to operate and typically involves a telescopic lens that is connected to a video camera. The operation last week was the first time the military has used the 3-D vision system to help visualize and guide the surgeon during a laparoscopic procedure. According to Lockrow, the typical laparoscopy procedure is done with a two-dimensional display. The images from the telescopic lens appear on a monitor, and surgeons use this to guide their way through the operation.
Some of the problems with teaching new surgeons in two-dimension technology are that they can easily miss something while practicing operations until their eyes adjust to the two-dimension view. This lack of depth perception can hamper the surgeon during an operation, Lockrow explained. With the new three-dimensional headset capability, surgeons can precisely get to where they need to be.
"What the three-dimensional procedure now gives is a camera for each eye, so the surgeon can now see just as he was operating in a general, open procedure," Lockrow said. "When you're used to operating in two dimensions and then you go to three dimensions, it just makes it so much easier. We actually had a fellow who has not done a lot of laparoscopic surgery and was able to easily grasp the laparoscopic procedure in three dimensions."
Lockrow is taking the technology a step further by exploring a new realm of telecommunications with the use of this device. Although there are issues associated with transmitting images across a network in terms of signal delay, it could be possible someday to have a doctor use a 3-D helmet in Germany to assist a doctor here who also is wearing the helmet, and vice versa, Lockrow said.
"In military aspects, that's really where we want to go; it's just a long road to get there," he added. Walter Reed now has the facilities that give surgical teams the capability to broadcast the surgery, Lockrow noted.
"We're actually able to take the new technologies and techniques, and we can now televise them to a network or to a classroom," he said. "Now, more than two people can watch a procedure; a whole classroom can watch."
The 3-D laparoscopy device is part of a bigger project involving robotic surgery and minimally invasive surgery in which the Army is trying to incorporate new technologies and make them available at health-care facilities throughout the military. Lockrow's team tested the helmets at the robotic training center lab at Uniform Services University.
A Navy surgeon, Cmdr. (Dr.) Christine Sears, assisted Lockrow in the operating room. An Air Force surgeon, Maj. (Dr.) Chad Hamilton, watched the procedure.
Sears said she's impressed with the new technology. "The 3-D visualization improves the ergonomics of laparoscopy - the image is directly in front of the surgeon at all times," she said. "Rather than looking at a screen which is stationary, the helmet moves with the surgeon's head, improving visualization."
Hamilton said continuing to bring state-of-the-art procedures and methods to military medicine will ensure servicemembers get the best available care. “Incorporation of such technology will allow (the military) to continue offering cutting-edge procedures our beneficiaries have come to expect and keep us in the vanguard of technology and medicine," Hamilton said.
Lockgrow agreed. "I think it's important that we keep exploring these new technologies, because this is great for military medicine," he said.
(Kristin Ellis is a Stripe staff writer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.)
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have authored books as well as criminal justice online leadership.
Bush: Delay in War Funds Will Hurt Military Readiness, Morale
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2007 – Further congressional delay in forwarding an appropriate emergency war spending bill to the White House will damage military readiness and morale as well as endanger the nation, President Bush told reporters today at a White House news conference. Congress's failure to fund our troops on the front lines will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines, and others could see their loved ones headed back to the war sooner than they need to," Bush said.
That scenario is "unacceptable," Bush said, noting he believes the American people would agree with him.
"Members of Congress say they support the troops. Now they need to show that support in deed, as well as in word," Bush said. Congressional debate over the conduct of the war against terrorism "shouldn't come at the expense of funding our troops," the president said.
The Senate and the House of Representatives have both passed emergency war supplemental funding bills providing funding for U.S. troops, but the money is contingent on troops being withdrawn from Iraq according to a set timetable. Each chamber's bill also contains unrelated domestic spending.
The president sent his recommended military spending bill to Congress almost 60 days ago. Bush has rejected the recent Senate and House legislation out of hand, saying he'd veto any military funding bill with set timetables for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
Bush said he'd just received an update on the U.S. troop reinforcement, or surge, to Iraq from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Two of the five additional Army brigades involved in the surge are now operating in Baghdad, Bush noted, with another now making its way into Iraq from Kuwait.
"And the remaining two brigades will deploy in April and in May," the president said. It'll be early June, he said, before all five brigades and other U.S. reinforcements are in place in Iraq.
The U.S. Army brigades already in Baghdad are having a positive effect on reducing violence there, Bush said.
"And as more of those reinforcements arrive in the months ahead, their impact will continue to grow," the president said.
The current House and Senate war spending bills "undercut the troops by substituting the judgment of politicians in Washington for the judgment of our commanders in the ground, setting an arbitrary withdrawal from Iraq, and spending billions of dollars on 'pork barrel' projects completely unrelated to the war," Bush said.
If Congress fails to forward the White House a favorable war spending bill for presidential signature by mid-April, then, "the Army will be forced to consider cutting back on equipment, equipment repair, and quality of life initiatives for our Guard and Reserve forces," Bush said.
Bush said those cuts would become necessary, "because the money would have to be shifted to support the troops on the front lines." The Army also would have to consider cutting training for stateside-assigned Guard and Reserve units, he said.
That scenario would negatively affect unit readiness and might delay the affected units' availability for missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush said.
Additionally, if Congress doesn't pass and forward a favorable war spending bill by mid-May, then potential problems would become more acute, the president said. The Army would be forced to consider slowing or freezing funding for its equipment-repair depots, Bush said, or delay training of some active-duty forces for overseas deployment.
"If this happens, some of the forces now deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq may need to be extended because other units are not ready to take their places," Bush explained. "The Army may also have to delay the formation of new brigade combat teams."
Bush then read from a letter to Congress written by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, who informed legislators of the impending funding crisis for his service: "'Without approval of the supplemental funds in April, we will be forced to take increasingly draconian measures which will impact Army readiness and impose hardships on our soldiers and their families.'"
A shortage of funds, Bush explained, would cause some stateside-based Army units to be unavailable for mobilization to Iraq and Afghanistan to replace units set for rotation back to their home bases.
The president acknowledged that some Americans are concerned about U.S. policy on Iraq, but he emphasized that failure to defeat terrorism there would doom the fledgling Iraqi democracy and endanger U.S. citizens.
American military forces serving in Iraq are providing its young government "breathing room" so that it can eventually defend and sustain itself against its enemies, Bush said.
If U.S. troops leave Iraq too early, it could become a "caldron of chaos, which would embolden" the Sunni, Shiite and other extremists who are now trying to tear the country apart, Bush said. Terrorists could then use Iraq as a safe haven, he pointed out, from which to launch new attacks against America.
Bush said his primary presidential task is to protect the American people.
"And, I firmly believe that if we were to leave (Iraq) before the job is done, the enemy would follow us here," the president said.
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have authored books as well as criminal justice online leadership.
AAFES Marks Four Years of Service, Support to Troops in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2007 – The Army and Air Force Exchange Service marks four years of service to deployed troops in Iraq this week. Ared with little more than backpacks and footlockers full of energy drinks, protein bars and baby wipes flown into Iraq aboard a C-130 flying 300 feet off the ground, Craig Sewell and Dennis Hatcher launched AAFES "combat retail" operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 7, 2003.
On that day, AAFES' first mobile exchange in Iraq was actually an old Toyota Landcruiser that Sewell and Hatcher commandeered to follow troops patrolling what was previously an Iraqi airfield south of Baghdad.
"The environment was very austere," said Sewell, AAFES vice president assigned to the Strategic Partnership Directorate. "While there wasn't running water or power, and we had limited shelter," he said, "we understood that we were there to provide service regardless of the conditions.
"With the battle for Baghdad still in full swing, and enemies launching multiple attacks on the airfield during the evening sandstorms," he continued, "this was one of the most challenging missions I have supported in my nearly 30 years of service with the exchange."
Four years later, the footlockers, backpacks and even the Landcruiser have been scrapped in favor of a sophisticated supply chain that leverages air, ground and sea assets to deliver the exchange benefit to soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines throughout the Operation Iraqi Freedom theater.
This logistics pipeline ensures 26 base or post exchange facilities, 24 unit-run exchange operations, 63 name-brand fast food restaurants and hundreds of services, including barber, beauty and laundry, have the goods needed to deliver a slice of Americana to troops called to serve far from home.
"AAFES started with absolutely nothing in Iraq," said Lt. Col. Steven Dean, AAFES chief of contingency operations. "While name-brand fast food was just a distant hope on that April day in 2003, troops deploying today have convenient access not only to BX/PXs, but also dozens of recognizable restaurant brands including Burger King, Taco Bell and Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits."
Making sure the food is hot and exchange shelves are stocked is a force of more than 390 American civilians voluntarily deployed to operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom at any given time. These AAFES associates, many of whom have deployed multiple times, live and work alongside the troops they serve during 6- to 12-month deployments.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, 1,890 AAFES associates have voluntarily left the comforts of their homes and families to extend the exchange benefit to troops craving a well-deserved taste of home.
While long-term, international operations continue in the Middle East, AAFES also is prepared to support natural disaster and contingencies closer to home with a fleet of state-of-the-art mobile retail facilities that come complete with satellite communications, coolers and built-in shelving.
Called tactical field exchanges, or TFEs, these units are often the first resources to be deployed to domestic emergencies. Staged at various locations throughout the United States, including AAFES's sprawling distribution center in Waco, Texas, the TFEs have been redesigned using lessons learned not only in Iraq, but also in operations throughout North America, including support of firefighters in Washington state last summer as well as relief operations in the wake of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005.
Armed with the information that can only be learned in these extreme conditions, AAFES's Waco Facilities Management Office was on the forefront of designing the new TFEs, from the ground up, to better service the field needs of both troops and emergency responders.
"They have everything necessary to be a 'turn-key' operation," Dean said. "These new TFEs give AAFES's commanding general a 48-hour response capability for any contingency occurring in the United States. AAFES has deployed these TFEs to many locations already, with terrific results for our deployed military."
After nearly 112 years in military resale, it is hard to imagine there would be much more the Defense Department's oldest and largest exchange service could learn about retail, but since Sewell and Hatcher ventured out onto Iraq's back roads in 2003, the AAFES team has learned more about its people, services and support than those who created the exchange service in 1895 could have ever imagined.
"Our military and civilian personnel have demonstrated time and again that they are ready, willing and able to go where the troops go for as long as America's armed forces are called to serve in harm's way," Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Bryan Eaton, AAFES senior enlisted advisor, said. "These past four years in Iraq are not only important because of the support we have delivered to those 'on the ground,' but also troops we will serve in the future, because today AAFES is better prepared than ever before to fulfill its motto, 'We Go Where You Go.'"
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have authored books as well as criminal justice online leadership.
April 3, 2007 – The Army and Air Force Exchange Service marks four years of service to deployed troops in Iraq this week. Ared with little more than backpacks and footlockers full of energy drinks, protein bars and baby wipes flown into Iraq aboard a C-130 flying 300 feet off the ground, Craig Sewell and Dennis Hatcher launched AAFES "combat retail" operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 7, 2003.
On that day, AAFES' first mobile exchange in Iraq was actually an old Toyota Landcruiser that Sewell and Hatcher commandeered to follow troops patrolling what was previously an Iraqi airfield south of Baghdad.
"The environment was very austere," said Sewell, AAFES vice president assigned to the Strategic Partnership Directorate. "While there wasn't running water or power, and we had limited shelter," he said, "we understood that we were there to provide service regardless of the conditions.
"With the battle for Baghdad still in full swing, and enemies launching multiple attacks on the airfield during the evening sandstorms," he continued, "this was one of the most challenging missions I have supported in my nearly 30 years of service with the exchange."
Four years later, the footlockers, backpacks and even the Landcruiser have been scrapped in favor of a sophisticated supply chain that leverages air, ground and sea assets to deliver the exchange benefit to soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines throughout the Operation Iraqi Freedom theater.
This logistics pipeline ensures 26 base or post exchange facilities, 24 unit-run exchange operations, 63 name-brand fast food restaurants and hundreds of services, including barber, beauty and laundry, have the goods needed to deliver a slice of Americana to troops called to serve far from home.
"AAFES started with absolutely nothing in Iraq," said Lt. Col. Steven Dean, AAFES chief of contingency operations. "While name-brand fast food was just a distant hope on that April day in 2003, troops deploying today have convenient access not only to BX/PXs, but also dozens of recognizable restaurant brands including Burger King, Taco Bell and Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits."
Making sure the food is hot and exchange shelves are stocked is a force of more than 390 American civilians voluntarily deployed to operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom at any given time. These AAFES associates, many of whom have deployed multiple times, live and work alongside the troops they serve during 6- to 12-month deployments.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, 1,890 AAFES associates have voluntarily left the comforts of their homes and families to extend the exchange benefit to troops craving a well-deserved taste of home.
While long-term, international operations continue in the Middle East, AAFES also is prepared to support natural disaster and contingencies closer to home with a fleet of state-of-the-art mobile retail facilities that come complete with satellite communications, coolers and built-in shelving.
Called tactical field exchanges, or TFEs, these units are often the first resources to be deployed to domestic emergencies. Staged at various locations throughout the United States, including AAFES's sprawling distribution center in Waco, Texas, the TFEs have been redesigned using lessons learned not only in Iraq, but also in operations throughout North America, including support of firefighters in Washington state last summer as well as relief operations in the wake of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005.
Armed with the information that can only be learned in these extreme conditions, AAFES's Waco Facilities Management Office was on the forefront of designing the new TFEs, from the ground up, to better service the field needs of both troops and emergency responders.
"They have everything necessary to be a 'turn-key' operation," Dean said. "These new TFEs give AAFES's commanding general a 48-hour response capability for any contingency occurring in the United States. AAFES has deployed these TFEs to many locations already, with terrific results for our deployed military."
After nearly 112 years in military resale, it is hard to imagine there would be much more the Defense Department's oldest and largest exchange service could learn about retail, but since Sewell and Hatcher ventured out onto Iraq's back roads in 2003, the AAFES team has learned more about its people, services and support than those who created the exchange service in 1895 could have ever imagined.
"Our military and civilian personnel have demonstrated time and again that they are ready, willing and able to go where the troops go for as long as America's armed forces are called to serve in harm's way," Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Bryan Eaton, AAFES senior enlisted advisor, said. "These past four years in Iraq are not only important because of the support we have delivered to those 'on the ground,' but also troops we will serve in the future, because today AAFES is better prepared than ever before to fulfill its motto, 'We Go Where You Go.'"
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have authored books as well as criminal justice online leadership.
Franchise Helps Group Support Injured Troops
American Forces Press Service
April 3, 2007 – Members of Daniel Acosta's family already had a lot on their minds when he arrived at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio from serving in Iraq with injuries that ultimately cost him an arm. And shortly thereafter, his wife, Sandy, delivered their third child.
To ease part of their burden, Maid Brigade is lending a hand with weekly household cleaning as part of a national partnership with Operation Homefront to serve military families in need.
Operation Homefront is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program that highlights the ways Americans are supporting the nation's servicemembers.
"This is the best baby gift ever!" Sandy said. "Maid Brigade and Operation Homefront have relieved so much stress from our lives, and the weekly cleaning allows me to spend precious minutes with my children and help my husband recuperate."
After America Supports You officials introduced Operation Homefront and Maid Brigade, the organizations announced in January their partnership to support military families in crisis by offering free cleaning service.
With a mission to provide emergency assistance to troops, military families and wounded warriors, Operation Homefront anticipates many scenarios like this, where Maid Brigade will make a genuine difference to military families.
Working with Operation Homefront is a way of saying "thank you" to the nation's troops and families who have sacrificed so much, Josie Rangel, the San Antonio Maid Brigade franchisee who is assisting the Acostas, said. "It's nice that Operation Homefront gives regular businesses an opportunity to show their support."
"The work these two America Supports You groups are doing is truly outstanding," Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and architect of the America Supports You program, said. "Something as simple as cleaning a house or an apartment can make a huge difference in the lives of our wounded veterans and their families.
"Operation Homefront and Maid Brigade are a perfect match, and we're so happy we were able to connect them," she added.
In Arlington, Texas, Maid Brigade and Operation Homefront are helping another family as it relocates to San Antonio.
Marvin Williams was an Army National Guard soldier activated to an Austin-based unit when he was injured in a training accident. Operation Homefront is relocating his wife and 11-month-old daughter.
"Our daughter was born one month after I was activated, and she won't even come to me," Williams said. "Because I am being treated for injuries here at (Brooke Army Medical Center), I could not help my wife with the burdens of packing our entire household to prepare for the move.
"Operation Homefront and Maid Brigade helped my wife in ways I could not," he added. "I can't say thank you enough!"
Keith Clem, of the Fort Worth franchise of Maid Brigade, has agreed to clean the apartment once the household items have been moved out.
"Maid Brigade is bringing genuine peace of mind to families who have sacrificed so much," Meredith Leyva, founder of Operation Homefront, said.
"Our many offices throughout the country have eagerly volunteered to help our wounded warriors in many different ways, and we are proud of the way our people have stepped up to assist our ... wounded military who have sacrificed so much," Don Hay, chairman of Maid Brigade, said.
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have authored books as well as criminal justice online leadership.
April 3, 2007 – Members of Daniel Acosta's family already had a lot on their minds when he arrived at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio from serving in Iraq with injuries that ultimately cost him an arm. And shortly thereafter, his wife, Sandy, delivered their third child.
To ease part of their burden, Maid Brigade is lending a hand with weekly household cleaning as part of a national partnership with Operation Homefront to serve military families in need.
Operation Homefront is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program that highlights the ways Americans are supporting the nation's servicemembers.
"This is the best baby gift ever!" Sandy said. "Maid Brigade and Operation Homefront have relieved so much stress from our lives, and the weekly cleaning allows me to spend precious minutes with my children and help my husband recuperate."
After America Supports You officials introduced Operation Homefront and Maid Brigade, the organizations announced in January their partnership to support military families in crisis by offering free cleaning service.
With a mission to provide emergency assistance to troops, military families and wounded warriors, Operation Homefront anticipates many scenarios like this, where Maid Brigade will make a genuine difference to military families.
Working with Operation Homefront is a way of saying "thank you" to the nation's troops and families who have sacrificed so much, Josie Rangel, the San Antonio Maid Brigade franchisee who is assisting the Acostas, said. "It's nice that Operation Homefront gives regular businesses an opportunity to show their support."
"The work these two America Supports You groups are doing is truly outstanding," Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and architect of the America Supports You program, said. "Something as simple as cleaning a house or an apartment can make a huge difference in the lives of our wounded veterans and their families.
"Operation Homefront and Maid Brigade are a perfect match, and we're so happy we were able to connect them," she added.
In Arlington, Texas, Maid Brigade and Operation Homefront are helping another family as it relocates to San Antonio.
Marvin Williams was an Army National Guard soldier activated to an Austin-based unit when he was injured in a training accident. Operation Homefront is relocating his wife and 11-month-old daughter.
"Our daughter was born one month after I was activated, and she won't even come to me," Williams said. "Because I am being treated for injuries here at (Brooke Army Medical Center), I could not help my wife with the burdens of packing our entire household to prepare for the move.
"Operation Homefront and Maid Brigade helped my wife in ways I could not," he added. "I can't say thank you enough!"
Keith Clem, of the Fort Worth franchise of Maid Brigade, has agreed to clean the apartment once the household items have been moved out.
"Maid Brigade is bringing genuine peace of mind to families who have sacrificed so much," Meredith Leyva, founder of Operation Homefront, said.
"Our many offices throughout the country have eagerly volunteered to help our wounded warriors in many different ways, and we are proud of the way our people have stepped up to assist our ... wounded military who have sacrificed so much," Don Hay, chairman of Maid Brigade, said.
Article sponsored by police and military personnel who have authored books as well as criminal justice online leadership.
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