By Steven Donald Smith
Special to American Forces Press Service
Sept. 21, 2007 - The U.S. military's new Africa Command will be dissimilar to other unified commands in a variety of ways, not least of which is its primary charge to cultivate security, not fight a war, a top Defense Department official said here yesterday. "Instead of saying warfighting is the primary mission of the command, we are flipping the equation around, and we are saying that the primary mission of this command is to focus on building security capacities in Africa so that Africans can manage their own security challenges," Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, said.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the American Enterprise Institute, Whelan also worked to allay fears and dispel rumors that AFRICOM represents an American militarization of Africa and a possible usurpation of power from African leaders. She said critics are wrong in their assertion that AFRICOM is an attempt to further expand the war on terror in Africa, secure oil reserves, or hedge against Chinese influence there. "That is patently untrue," she said.
Whelan said the U.S. military will work cooperatively with Africans to support many of their initiatives, such as an African standby force that can respond quickly to a problem area. "The Defense Department will not reinvent the wheel," she said. "We want to take what Africans have already built and assist in making a reality."
Much of Africa has been plagued by decades of strife and violence, much of which is directly attributed to the Cold War struggle for influence on the continent. Whelan said AFRICOM's mission could help bring the peace and security that common Africans deserve.
AFRICOM will work with other U.S. government agencies to make this a reality. The command will have many civilians from these agencies integrated into its work force. Whelan said the command will consist of people from the State, Treasury, and Commerce departments, along will personnel from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
She emphasized that all components of the U.S. government must work together with African governments to help achieve the goal of promoting stability and security.
"You cannot promote security and stability successfully in a vacuum," she said. "Stability and security are interlinked with other elements such as good governance, the rule of law, and economic opportunity."
By having interagency personnel with different areas of expertise integrated into the command, the knowledge base will be broadened, which will help the command fulfill its duty. "This does not represent an acquisition by the command of authority," she said. "It represents simply an acquisition of knowledge."
Africa Command also will be unique in that it will have two deputies, one of whom will be a State Department official who will be responsible primarily for theater security cooperation. In addition, the command will maintain the usual political advisor.
Whelan drove home the point that the creation of Africa Command does not in any way subordinate U.S. ambassadors to the Department of Defense or put the command in any position to dictate to those ambassadors. In essence, the command will be a supporting element to ambassadors in peacetime, she said.
"We see ourselves in the command as a supporting element of U.S. foreign policy. And through this single command for the 53 countries of the African continent, we believe that a holistic unified approach will make us a more effective supporting player in the system," Whelan said.
She emphasized that the bulk of U.S. operations in Africa over the past several years have been focused on non-security measures. Nine billion dollars has gone to non-security programs in recent years, and only $250 million to security programs, she said. The allocation of U.S. money to humanitarian efforts is unlikely to change, she said, but AFRICOM will work to create a secure environment where the money will be better used.
"We recognize that if countries in Africa are going to develop successfully, they must have a minimal semblance of security that is sustainable over the long haul," she said.
Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz also spoke at the event. He said Sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind the recent economic boom in many nations in Asia and Latin America mainly because of lack of security.
"I think the fundamental American interest is in seeing Sub-Saharan Africa turn the corner and stop being the hopeless continent that "The Economist" described in a cover story four or five years ago, and begin to be a continent of hope," he said. "The reluctance of the U.S. military to even think about Africa is much more of a problem than the danger of so-called militarization."
In July, President Bush named Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward as U.S. Africa Command's first commander. AFRICOM, which should be initially established by the end of this month, will be responsible for every African nation and associated islands, with Egypt, the sole exception, remaining under U.S. Central Command.
AFRICOM also will be responsible for helping to secure African territorial waters. Aside from the U.S. military base already established in Djibouti, there will be no U.S. military bases on the continent, and only about 20 percent of the command's personnel will be in stationed in Africa. The location of the command's headquarters has yet to be determined.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Reserve-Component Families Face Universal Challenges
By Capt. Steve Alvarez, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
Sept. 21, 2007 - Problems facing reserve-component servicemembers are universal, regardless of which country they come from, international officials here this week learned. Representatives from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand here to discuss reserve personnel issues all agreed that the biggest challenges facing reserve-component family programs are communication and overcoming the stigma of receiving support.
The group, known as the ABCA Information Team -- for America, Britain, Canada and Australia; New Zealand joined only recently -- has met for the past eight years to ensure member armies have necessary capabilities to conduct full-spectrum operations in a joint environment.
"Getting (reservists and their families) to admit they need help and then plugging them into the help is the challenge," British Brigadier Greg Smith, deputy inspector general for the territorial army of the United Kingdom, told the panel.
Spouses who may need support from family programs sometimes incorrectly assume that receiving assistance will hurt their spouse's military career. But beyond that the majority of reserve families do not live on military installations and aren't traditional Army families, Smith added.
"Where they are living, these neighbors aren't having these types of problems," Brig. Gen. David N. Blackledge, commander of the U.S. Army Reserve's 352nd Civil Affairs Command, said.
Not only are Army Reserve families isolated in the uniqueness of their problems in their communities, but they also feel disconnected from the Army, Paula Savage, director of Army Reserve family programs, said. "Any avenue we can communicate we try to take advantage of," she said.
The communication and isolation obstacles facing Army Reserve family-program personnel -- 345 of them geographically organized by region -- caused Army Reserve officials to rethink their approach to family support and deliver solutions that would lessen feelings of isolation and expand access to benefits.
Enter the Army Reserve's "Virtual Installations" Program.
The concept came into fruition after Laura Stultz, wife of Army Reserve chief Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, realized how scattered personnel from a single unit can be.
"A few years ago my husband had a unit in Florida and we decided to mail Christmas cards to children in the command," Mrs. Stultz said.
She then realized the unit's families were spread out in many different communities by themselves and likely felt isolated. The Virtual Installations program will help virtually unite these families in the same spirit of civilian social Web sites, but it also will inform Army Reserve families about benefits and services available to them.
"Virtual Installations is an important project to me," Stultz said. "Everything you can get on a regular installation, we want to offer to our soldiers."
The goal of Virtual Installations is to be a one-stop shop that Army Reserve families can go to and receive information on benefits and services. Many Army Reserve families do not have access to military posts and cannot take advantage of the many on-post services available to active-duty families. Stultz said the site also someday may include chat rooms for children of Army reservists, an idea the Stultzes' daughter floated.
The Virtual Installations Web site is just one piece of a two-pronged approach to reach out to Army Reserve families. The other branch is a community-based effort.
Stultz recounted to the panel an anecdote where a boy was elated to hear that his father, a deployed Army Reserve soldier, was coming home. His family and others assumed the boy knew that someday his father would return from the war. But what Mrs. Stultz and the boy's family didn't realize was that the child had learned that other soldiers had been killed in the war, and the boy presumed his father would meet the same fate and was walking around with that angst for months.
The child, Stultz said, didn't have commonality with his peers. Other kids in his community didn't have a deployed father, so he not only was misinformed, but also couldn't share his emotions with anyone who was like him -- a child from an Army Reserve family.
To fill that void, the Army is involved in multiple programs for children of Army families that occur regularly and are held regionally. The Army Reserve hosts enrichment camps, conferences and retreats that bring together children and allow them to find the missing commonality by interacting with kids living through similar experiences. The events are not only cathartic for many of the children, but they help kids establish contact with those in similar situations, the panel said.
Stultz admitted that while the Web site and community programs are effective, more needs to be done. She said Army Reserve family-programs personnel are trying to get more doctors to accept Tricare.
She noted that soldiers are offered counseling to help them cope with experiences during deployment. "We want to be able to tell these families how and where to get counseling," she added.
"These families deserve everything we can do for them," she said, adding that Army Reserve families don't want new services, just access to those that already exist for active-duty families.
Australian and New Zealand officers said they had similar issues in their forces, but that theirs paled in comparison to what U.S. reserve forces face because of the duration and magnitude of U.S. deployments.
"We have to get smarter about all this, and this has helped me," Canadian Brig. Gen. J.P. O'Brien said at the conclusion of the panel discussion.
(Army Capt. Steve Alvarez is the public affairs officer for 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary).
Special to American Forces Press Service
Sept. 21, 2007 - Problems facing reserve-component servicemembers are universal, regardless of which country they come from, international officials here this week learned. Representatives from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand here to discuss reserve personnel issues all agreed that the biggest challenges facing reserve-component family programs are communication and overcoming the stigma of receiving support.
The group, known as the ABCA Information Team -- for America, Britain, Canada and Australia; New Zealand joined only recently -- has met for the past eight years to ensure member armies have necessary capabilities to conduct full-spectrum operations in a joint environment.
"Getting (reservists and their families) to admit they need help and then plugging them into the help is the challenge," British Brigadier Greg Smith, deputy inspector general for the territorial army of the United Kingdom, told the panel.
Spouses who may need support from family programs sometimes incorrectly assume that receiving assistance will hurt their spouse's military career. But beyond that the majority of reserve families do not live on military installations and aren't traditional Army families, Smith added.
"Where they are living, these neighbors aren't having these types of problems," Brig. Gen. David N. Blackledge, commander of the U.S. Army Reserve's 352nd Civil Affairs Command, said.
Not only are Army Reserve families isolated in the uniqueness of their problems in their communities, but they also feel disconnected from the Army, Paula Savage, director of Army Reserve family programs, said. "Any avenue we can communicate we try to take advantage of," she said.
The communication and isolation obstacles facing Army Reserve family-program personnel -- 345 of them geographically organized by region -- caused Army Reserve officials to rethink their approach to family support and deliver solutions that would lessen feelings of isolation and expand access to benefits.
Enter the Army Reserve's "Virtual Installations" Program.
The concept came into fruition after Laura Stultz, wife of Army Reserve chief Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, realized how scattered personnel from a single unit can be.
"A few years ago my husband had a unit in Florida and we decided to mail Christmas cards to children in the command," Mrs. Stultz said.
She then realized the unit's families were spread out in many different communities by themselves and likely felt isolated. The Virtual Installations program will help virtually unite these families in the same spirit of civilian social Web sites, but it also will inform Army Reserve families about benefits and services available to them.
"Virtual Installations is an important project to me," Stultz said. "Everything you can get on a regular installation, we want to offer to our soldiers."
The goal of Virtual Installations is to be a one-stop shop that Army Reserve families can go to and receive information on benefits and services. Many Army Reserve families do not have access to military posts and cannot take advantage of the many on-post services available to active-duty families. Stultz said the site also someday may include chat rooms for children of Army reservists, an idea the Stultzes' daughter floated.
The Virtual Installations Web site is just one piece of a two-pronged approach to reach out to Army Reserve families. The other branch is a community-based effort.
Stultz recounted to the panel an anecdote where a boy was elated to hear that his father, a deployed Army Reserve soldier, was coming home. His family and others assumed the boy knew that someday his father would return from the war. But what Mrs. Stultz and the boy's family didn't realize was that the child had learned that other soldiers had been killed in the war, and the boy presumed his father would meet the same fate and was walking around with that angst for months.
The child, Stultz said, didn't have commonality with his peers. Other kids in his community didn't have a deployed father, so he not only was misinformed, but also couldn't share his emotions with anyone who was like him -- a child from an Army Reserve family.
To fill that void, the Army is involved in multiple programs for children of Army families that occur regularly and are held regionally. The Army Reserve hosts enrichment camps, conferences and retreats that bring together children and allow them to find the missing commonality by interacting with kids living through similar experiences. The events are not only cathartic for many of the children, but they help kids establish contact with those in similar situations, the panel said.
Stultz admitted that while the Web site and community programs are effective, more needs to be done. She said Army Reserve family-programs personnel are trying to get more doctors to accept Tricare.
She noted that soldiers are offered counseling to help them cope with experiences during deployment. "We want to be able to tell these families how and where to get counseling," she added.
"These families deserve everything we can do for them," she said, adding that Army Reserve families don't want new services, just access to those that already exist for active-duty families.
Australian and New Zealand officers said they had similar issues in their forces, but that theirs paled in comparison to what U.S. reserve forces face because of the duration and magnitude of U.S. deployments.
"We have to get smarter about all this, and this has helped me," Canadian Brig. Gen. J.P. O'Brien said at the conclusion of the panel discussion.
(Army Capt. Steve Alvarez is the public affairs officer for 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary).
Operation Homefront Gets High Marks
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 21, 2007 - Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit group started shortly after the 9/11 attacks, recently earned a leading charity evaluator's highest marks. Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities' financial health, including day-to-day operations and sustainability, has bestowed its top "four-star" rating upon Operation Homefront. Less than a quarter of the charities Charity Navigator evaluates received their highest rating.
"This exceptional designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Operation Homefront from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust," said Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, in a letter to Operation Homefront.
Operation Homefront is a supporter of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
Among the many charities evaluated, Operation Homefront received this four-star rating for its ability to efficiently and openly manage its finances, Operation Homefront officials said in a news release.
"The designation of such an honorable rating from Charity Navigator is positive proof of our strong fiscal responsibility as well as our financial strategy to ensure Operation Homefront is always there to help our troops and military families," said Amy Palmer, the group's executive vice president of operations and business development.
As the nonprofit sector continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, savvy donors are demanding more accountability, transparency and quantifiable results from the charities they choose to support with their hard-earned dollars, Operation Homefront officials said in the release. In this competitive philanthropic marketplace, Charity Navigator highlights the fine work of efficient charities and provides donors with essential information needed to give them greater confidence in the charitable choices they make, the release stated.
Sept. 21, 2007 - Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit group started shortly after the 9/11 attacks, recently earned a leading charity evaluator's highest marks. Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities' financial health, including day-to-day operations and sustainability, has bestowed its top "four-star" rating upon Operation Homefront. Less than a quarter of the charities Charity Navigator evaluates received their highest rating.
"This exceptional designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Operation Homefront from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust," said Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, in a letter to Operation Homefront.
Operation Homefront is a supporter of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
Among the many charities evaluated, Operation Homefront received this four-star rating for its ability to efficiently and openly manage its finances, Operation Homefront officials said in a news release.
"The designation of such an honorable rating from Charity Navigator is positive proof of our strong fiscal responsibility as well as our financial strategy to ensure Operation Homefront is always there to help our troops and military families," said Amy Palmer, the group's executive vice president of operations and business development.
As the nonprofit sector continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, savvy donors are demanding more accountability, transparency and quantifiable results from the charities they choose to support with their hard-earned dollars, Operation Homefront officials said in the release. In this competitive philanthropic marketplace, Charity Navigator highlights the fine work of efficient charities and provides donors with essential information needed to give them greater confidence in the charitable choices they make, the release stated.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Defense Department Will Not Relent in MIA Efforts, Leaders Pledge
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 21, 2007 - The United States military will "neither forget our duty to bring home all POWs and MIAs, nor relent in our efforts to do so," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. The secretary, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace, spoke at the POW/MIA Day ceremony at the Pentagon today.
Roughly 30,000 Americans alive today were once held as prisoners of war, Pace said. Millions of Americans have taken the oath to become servicemembers, he said, but few "have been called to sacrifice the way our prisoners of war have been called to sacrifice and to be tested in the belief in that oath."
The general spoke of the incredible way that former prisoners of war fulfilled their oaths, and he said they hand a legacy of service to servicemembers today.
"We hope and pray that if we were to be in the same state that they were in, that we might discharge our duties as well as they have discharged theirs," Pace said. "That legacy spurs us on to serve this nation out of respect for their honor and their service."
Gates gave a special welcome to former POWs in the audience and to the families of Americans still listed as missing in action.
"Missing-in-action status is marked by ambiguity and uncertainty, a severe test of spirit and resolve for anyone seeking closure," he said. "Your attendance today proves once again that the bond of love transcends the passage of time, that while our nation's heroes may remain missing in body, they are always present in spirit."
The POW/MIA commemoration is a time to remember and recommit, the secretary said. The day will be linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by coincidence of the calendar, but when the day was chosen it was picked because it was unconnected to any specific war or cause, Gates said.
But, he added, it is also fitting that POW/MIA Day be linked to Sept. 11.
"Throughout our nation's history, it has always fallen to the men and women of the armed forces to respond to aggressors and adversaries; to endure arduous and Spartan conditions; to risk life and limb on the battlefield; to make the sacrifices that are, in the final analysis, both our nation's tragedy and our glory," he said.
Servicemembers have again answered the call to duty and are fighting a conflict that is global in scope and generational in duration, Gates said. "And, as in the past, the honor, courage and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform will be our nation's glory," he said. "As in the past, losing them on the battlefield is ever our tragedy."
Gates paid special tribute to four soldiers missing in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom: Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, captured April 9, 2004; Spc. Ahmed Altaei, captured Oct. 23, 2006; and Spc. Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty, both captured May 12, 2007. "They may not be well known to the public, but within the brotherhood of arms, they will never be forgotten or left behind," Gates pledged.
"These men are the latest additions to the ranks of tens of thousands who remain missing from previous conflicts," the secretary said. "And they are the latest additions to the ranks of those we remember today."
Pace spoke about the families of those missing in action. "Our families, although they never stood in a formation or raised their right hand, ... especially the families of our missing in action, serve our nation as well as anyone who has ever worn the uniform," he said.
The families of the missing "are sacrificing in ways that only those sacrificing with them can possibly understand," he continued. "I don't know how any of us can ease that pain, but I hope in some small way, formations like this today and personal prayers might bring peace and comfort to the families of those missing in action and those members of the armed force who are MIA."
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 21, 2007 - The United States military will "neither forget our duty to bring home all POWs and MIAs, nor relent in our efforts to do so," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. The secretary, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace, spoke at the POW/MIA Day ceremony at the Pentagon today.
Roughly 30,000 Americans alive today were once held as prisoners of war, Pace said. Millions of Americans have taken the oath to become servicemembers, he said, but few "have been called to sacrifice the way our prisoners of war have been called to sacrifice and to be tested in the belief in that oath."
The general spoke of the incredible way that former prisoners of war fulfilled their oaths, and he said they hand a legacy of service to servicemembers today.
"We hope and pray that if we were to be in the same state that they were in, that we might discharge our duties as well as they have discharged theirs," Pace said. "That legacy spurs us on to serve this nation out of respect for their honor and their service."
Gates gave a special welcome to former POWs in the audience and to the families of Americans still listed as missing in action.
"Missing-in-action status is marked by ambiguity and uncertainty, a severe test of spirit and resolve for anyone seeking closure," he said. "Your attendance today proves once again that the bond of love transcends the passage of time, that while our nation's heroes may remain missing in body, they are always present in spirit."
The POW/MIA commemoration is a time to remember and recommit, the secretary said. The day will be linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by coincidence of the calendar, but when the day was chosen it was picked because it was unconnected to any specific war or cause, Gates said.
But, he added, it is also fitting that POW/MIA Day be linked to Sept. 11.
"Throughout our nation's history, it has always fallen to the men and women of the armed forces to respond to aggressors and adversaries; to endure arduous and Spartan conditions; to risk life and limb on the battlefield; to make the sacrifices that are, in the final analysis, both our nation's tragedy and our glory," he said.
Servicemembers have again answered the call to duty and are fighting a conflict that is global in scope and generational in duration, Gates said. "And, as in the past, the honor, courage and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform will be our nation's glory," he said. "As in the past, losing them on the battlefield is ever our tragedy."
Gates paid special tribute to four soldiers missing in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom: Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, captured April 9, 2004; Spc. Ahmed Altaei, captured Oct. 23, 2006; and Spc. Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty, both captured May 12, 2007. "They may not be well known to the public, but within the brotherhood of arms, they will never be forgotten or left behind," Gates pledged.
"These men are the latest additions to the ranks of tens of thousands who remain missing from previous conflicts," the secretary said. "And they are the latest additions to the ranks of those we remember today."
Pace spoke about the families of those missing in action. "Our families, although they never stood in a formation or raised their right hand, ... especially the families of our missing in action, serve our nation as well as anyone who has ever worn the uniform," he said.
The families of the missing "are sacrificing in ways that only those sacrificing with them can possibly understand," he continued. "I don't know how any of us can ease that pain, but I hope in some small way, formations like this today and personal prayers might bring peace and comfort to the families of those missing in action and those members of the armed force who are MIA."
DoD Joins The Civil Air Navigation Services Organization
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration and Chief Information Officer John Grimes announced today that the Department of Defense, represented by the DoD Policy Board on Federal Aviation (PBFA), has joined the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO) as an associate member.
"This membership in CANSO better enables the Defense Department to address the network-centric environment which links air traffic management and air security systems," said Grimes. "Moving toward network-enabled operations is vital to the transformation of the air navigation system and will enhance efficiency, safety and operational flexibility."
The move is one aspect of DoD's strategy to participate in the worldwide effort to create a new era of global collaboration in air navigation services. As a CANSO associate member, the PBFA will advocate the defense department's position in support of the U.S. National Airspace System as a partner with the Federal Aviation Administration. The PBFA provides strategic vision and policy for DoD's participation and partnering in U.S. and global air transportation systems as well as serving as the primary point of contact between the Defense Department and the Department of Transportation on domestic and international civil aviation issues.
CANSO is the 'voice' of the world's air traffic management community. Its air navigation service providers manage over 80% of the world's air traffic. The CANSO seeks to ensure the world's air transport system can meet the demands of growing traffic in an increasingly safe, efficient and environmentally sustainable manner.
Membership in CANSO is significant because of the Defense Department's unique role in aviation. Alongside the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the DoD is an air navigation service provider within the National Airspace System, as well as one of the largest operators of aircraft in the world. The DoD and FAA provide the same capability in terms of safety and security of civil and military air traffic, providing air traffic control services in the U.S. and globally in accordance with current FAA and military guidelines.
The Defense Department has over 150 facilities (tower, radar, or combination) including overseas locations such as Afghanistan, Germany, United Kingdom, Guam, Honduras, Italy, Iraq, Japan, and Qatar. In addition, DoD employs over 9,000 uniformed, civilian and contract controllers. With transparency to the U.S. National Airspace System, DoD is responsible for over 13 million traffic movements of which 23-25% are commercial and general aviation.
"This membership in CANSO better enables the Defense Department to address the network-centric environment which links air traffic management and air security systems," said Grimes. "Moving toward network-enabled operations is vital to the transformation of the air navigation system and will enhance efficiency, safety and operational flexibility."
The move is one aspect of DoD's strategy to participate in the worldwide effort to create a new era of global collaboration in air navigation services. As a CANSO associate member, the PBFA will advocate the defense department's position in support of the U.S. National Airspace System as a partner with the Federal Aviation Administration. The PBFA provides strategic vision and policy for DoD's participation and partnering in U.S. and global air transportation systems as well as serving as the primary point of contact between the Defense Department and the Department of Transportation on domestic and international civil aviation issues.
CANSO is the 'voice' of the world's air traffic management community. Its air navigation service providers manage over 80% of the world's air traffic. The CANSO seeks to ensure the world's air transport system can meet the demands of growing traffic in an increasingly safe, efficient and environmentally sustainable manner.
Membership in CANSO is significant because of the Defense Department's unique role in aviation. Alongside the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the DoD is an air navigation service provider within the National Airspace System, as well as one of the largest operators of aircraft in the world. The DoD and FAA provide the same capability in terms of safety and security of civil and military air traffic, providing air traffic control services in the U.S. and globally in accordance with current FAA and military guidelines.
The Defense Department has over 150 facilities (tower, radar, or combination) including overseas locations such as Afghanistan, Germany, United Kingdom, Guam, Honduras, Italy, Iraq, Japan, and Qatar. In addition, DoD employs over 9,000 uniformed, civilian and contract controllers. With transparency to the U.S. National Airspace System, DoD is responsible for over 13 million traffic movements of which 23-25% are commercial and general aviation.
'Junior' Set to Drive National Guard Car in 2008
By Master Sgt. Bob Haskell, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
Sept. 20, 2007 - Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose family's name is part and parcel with American motorsports legend, will drive the Chevrolet the National Guard will sponsor in NASCAR's top-level Sprint Cup series in 2008. Earnhardt -- "Junior" to the millions who follow the sport -- will drive the 88 car for Hendrick Motorsports' new team that will have PepsiCo products' Mountain Dew and AMP Energy as its other major sponsors, officials announced during a nationally televised news conference here yesterday.
The popularity of the Earnhardt name raises the Guard's participation in one of America's two most popular spectator sports, the National Football League being the other, to a new level, said Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard.
NASCAR appeals to the same age group, 18-24, that is the prime recruiting group for the Guard and the other military services, Vaughn pointed out. The Army Guard has to recruit about 70,000 new people every year, he said at the Dallas Convention Center.
"If the strength of our recruiting is the same place that you run NASCAR, which it is, and if Dale Earnhardt Jr., is the most popular of all the NASCAR drivers, which he is, then you would think that would make a difference in the number of people who will follow the Guard, the Guard car, and maybe effectively think about joining our team," he said.
"And that's all we ask him to do. Dale will have an enormous, enormous impact on that effort," Vaughn predicted. "People will look at the partnership this way: 'The Guard is a great way to serve. It's a first-class organization. And I like Dale Earnhardt Jr. So does the Guard. I'm going to have to think about that.'"
"I think it's important to support the military, especially now," Earnhardt said about his new affiliation with the National Guard.
Todd Bodine and Greg Biffle, who finished second in the Nextel Cup Series in 2005, have been previous Guard car drivers. Casey Mears is this year's driver.
Earnhardt, 32, has won 17 Cup-level races and two NASCAR Busch Series championships. He is the son of racing legend Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was killed in a crash on the final corner of the final lap of the NASCAR season's inaugural race, the Daytona 500, in February 2001. He is the grandson and nephew of, respectively, NASCAR pioneers Ralph Earnhardt and Morgan Shepherd. His mother's father, Robert Gee, built NASCAR cars.
Earnhardt will replace Mears as the driver for the Guard car and will add his name and pedigree to the Hendrick lineup of dominating drivers that includes Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.
Mears will replace Kyle Busch, who is leaving the Hendrick team for the Joe Gibbs team, after one season as the No. 25 Guard/GMAC Chevrolet car driver, and Earnhardt will begin racing for Hendrick Motorsports after severing his ties with Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company that his father founded.
Earnhardt announced in June that he signed a five-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports. His new car number is no accident. He has driven the No. 8 Chevrolet since he entered the Cup Series in 1999. His grandfather raced with that number, as well as 88, and Dale Sr. drove the 8 car early in his career. Earnhardt family politics, however, precluded Junior from bringing the famed single-digit number to the Hendrick team.
"We considered every number with 8 in it that was available," he told a room filled with media and Texas Army Guard recruiters, distinctive in their Army combat uniforms.
Earnhardt is currently in 13th place, and out of this year's 12-car chase for the Nextel Cup, after finishing 16th in the Sylvania 300 on Sept. 16 at the New Hampshire International Speedway. He has started on the pole, in first place, once this season but has yet to win a race. He has finished among the top five six times, and he has been among the top 10 drivers in 10 races.
He did qualify for the chase last year, beginning the season's 10-race championship series in sixth place and finishing fifth, 147 points behind Cup victor Jimmie Johnson.
Earnhardt is joining the Hendricks team that has ruled the NASCAR roost in 2007. Johnson and Gordon, with 10 victories and 30 top-five finishes between them, are tied for the lead with 5,210 points after 27 races. Kyle Busch, with one victory and a total of 22 top-five and top-10 finishes, is fifth in the Nextel Cup standings.
This year's Guard car driver, Mears, is in 15th place after his strong performance at New Hampshire, where he started 15th. He has one victory in the Guard/GMAC Chevrolet, coincidentally in the Memorial Day Coca-Cola 600, which raised money for the families of U.S. military troops. Ten drivers raced in cars painted in military camouflage patterns to signal their support for that cause.
(Army Master Sgt. Bob Haskell is assigned to the National Guard Bureau.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Sept. 20, 2007 - Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose family's name is part and parcel with American motorsports legend, will drive the Chevrolet the National Guard will sponsor in NASCAR's top-level Sprint Cup series in 2008. Earnhardt -- "Junior" to the millions who follow the sport -- will drive the 88 car for Hendrick Motorsports' new team that will have PepsiCo products' Mountain Dew and AMP Energy as its other major sponsors, officials announced during a nationally televised news conference here yesterday.
The popularity of the Earnhardt name raises the Guard's participation in one of America's two most popular spectator sports, the National Football League being the other, to a new level, said Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard.
NASCAR appeals to the same age group, 18-24, that is the prime recruiting group for the Guard and the other military services, Vaughn pointed out. The Army Guard has to recruit about 70,000 new people every year, he said at the Dallas Convention Center.
"If the strength of our recruiting is the same place that you run NASCAR, which it is, and if Dale Earnhardt Jr., is the most popular of all the NASCAR drivers, which he is, then you would think that would make a difference in the number of people who will follow the Guard, the Guard car, and maybe effectively think about joining our team," he said.
"And that's all we ask him to do. Dale will have an enormous, enormous impact on that effort," Vaughn predicted. "People will look at the partnership this way: 'The Guard is a great way to serve. It's a first-class organization. And I like Dale Earnhardt Jr. So does the Guard. I'm going to have to think about that.'"
"I think it's important to support the military, especially now," Earnhardt said about his new affiliation with the National Guard.
Todd Bodine and Greg Biffle, who finished second in the Nextel Cup Series in 2005, have been previous Guard car drivers. Casey Mears is this year's driver.
Earnhardt, 32, has won 17 Cup-level races and two NASCAR Busch Series championships. He is the son of racing legend Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was killed in a crash on the final corner of the final lap of the NASCAR season's inaugural race, the Daytona 500, in February 2001. He is the grandson and nephew of, respectively, NASCAR pioneers Ralph Earnhardt and Morgan Shepherd. His mother's father, Robert Gee, built NASCAR cars.
Earnhardt will replace Mears as the driver for the Guard car and will add his name and pedigree to the Hendrick lineup of dominating drivers that includes Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.
Mears will replace Kyle Busch, who is leaving the Hendrick team for the Joe Gibbs team, after one season as the No. 25 Guard/GMAC Chevrolet car driver, and Earnhardt will begin racing for Hendrick Motorsports after severing his ties with Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company that his father founded.
Earnhardt announced in June that he signed a five-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports. His new car number is no accident. He has driven the No. 8 Chevrolet since he entered the Cup Series in 1999. His grandfather raced with that number, as well as 88, and Dale Sr. drove the 8 car early in his career. Earnhardt family politics, however, precluded Junior from bringing the famed single-digit number to the Hendrick team.
"We considered every number with 8 in it that was available," he told a room filled with media and Texas Army Guard recruiters, distinctive in their Army combat uniforms.
Earnhardt is currently in 13th place, and out of this year's 12-car chase for the Nextel Cup, after finishing 16th in the Sylvania 300 on Sept. 16 at the New Hampshire International Speedway. He has started on the pole, in first place, once this season but has yet to win a race. He has finished among the top five six times, and he has been among the top 10 drivers in 10 races.
He did qualify for the chase last year, beginning the season's 10-race championship series in sixth place and finishing fifth, 147 points behind Cup victor Jimmie Johnson.
Earnhardt is joining the Hendricks team that has ruled the NASCAR roost in 2007. Johnson and Gordon, with 10 victories and 30 top-five finishes between them, are tied for the lead with 5,210 points after 27 races. Kyle Busch, with one victory and a total of 22 top-five and top-10 finishes, is fifth in the Nextel Cup standings.
This year's Guard car driver, Mears, is in 15th place after his strong performance at New Hampshire, where he started 15th. He has one victory in the Guard/GMAC Chevrolet, coincidentally in the Memorial Day Coca-Cola 600, which raised money for the families of U.S. military troops. Ten drivers raced in cars painted in military camouflage patterns to signal their support for that cause.
(Army Master Sgt. Bob Haskell is assigned to the National Guard Bureau.)
Pace Honors Families Who Lost Loved Ones
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 19, 2007 - Marine Gen. Peter Pace honored families who have lost military family members during Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation's third annual dinner here yesterday evening. Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been a member of the board of the charitable organization for many years. He said he was "overwhelmed, humbled and uncomfortable" after the foundation surprised him with honors during the dinner.
Marine Commandant Gen. James T. Conway and retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones Jr., a former Marine Corps commandant and former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe, praised Pace during the event. Pace thanked his friends and the other members of the group, but got right back to the point of the dinner.
"Tonight is about families who have lost loved ones," he said. "As much as I appreciate the incredible words from my good friend Jim Jones and my good friend Jim Conway, to the extent that it takes the focus off these families who need our help, I feel guilty."
The group was founded on the premise that Americans owe a debt to those who die to protect them. The foundation provides $35,000 scholarship bonds to the children of Marines, Navy corpsmen, Navy SEALs, and federal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. To date, the group has distributed $35 million to those children since it was founded in 1995. Last night's event raised $1.2 million for the fund.
Marines fight to uphold the legacy of those who came before them, the general said. Marines revere those who fought at Belleau Wood in World War I and at Iwo Jima in the Second World War. Future generations will feel the same way about the Marines who fought in Fallujah and Ramadi, Iraq, he said.
"It is not because Marines are fearless," Pace said. "You show me a Marine who knows no fear, and I will show you a Marine I don't want to be anywhere near. Marines do know fear in combat. But what makes Marines get up and do their job is a greater fear that somehow those of us who have the privilege of serving our corps and country that our actions will not measure up to those who have gone before, that somehow the legacy might stop because we didn't do what Marines always do, that somehow we will let down the Marine on our left and on our right. And it is the fear of letting down our fellow Marines and our corps that drives us forward."
Pace said three things help Marines as they confront combat: Navy corpsmen, Navy chaplains and "the absolute certainty that if we fall in combat our families will be taken care of."
"That is what this night is all about," he said. "It is not about these incredible gifts; it is not about the incredible words said about me. It's about these incredible Americans who have sacrificed their lives that we can do this in Chicago any d_mn time we feel like it."
Pace, whose wife, Lynne, accompanied him to the dinner, admitted he is sad about leaving active duty at the end of the month. "I'm not sad about putting down my pack," he said. "I'm sad because I will not be able to walk out to the battlefields and hug Marines. I'm sad because I will not be able to be with them and tell them face to face wearing the same uniform that they are wearing that I love them."
The general said he intends to remain involved in the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation and vowed "to do all I can for this support group for the Marines and sailors ... for as long as God gives me the ability to draw breath and contribute."
Pace met with a number of wounded warriors before and after the dinner. Following the dinner he presented Marine NCO swords to Lance Cpl. Kenneth Carleton-Smith and Sgt. Christopher Marron. Both men were wounded in Iraq and medically retired. He also presented a Navy cutlass to Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Robbins, assigned to SEAL Team 5 in San Diego.
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 19, 2007 - Marine Gen. Peter Pace honored families who have lost military family members during Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation's third annual dinner here yesterday evening. Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been a member of the board of the charitable organization for many years. He said he was "overwhelmed, humbled and uncomfortable" after the foundation surprised him with honors during the dinner.
Marine Commandant Gen. James T. Conway and retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones Jr., a former Marine Corps commandant and former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe, praised Pace during the event. Pace thanked his friends and the other members of the group, but got right back to the point of the dinner.
"Tonight is about families who have lost loved ones," he said. "As much as I appreciate the incredible words from my good friend Jim Jones and my good friend Jim Conway, to the extent that it takes the focus off these families who need our help, I feel guilty."
The group was founded on the premise that Americans owe a debt to those who die to protect them. The foundation provides $35,000 scholarship bonds to the children of Marines, Navy corpsmen, Navy SEALs, and federal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. To date, the group has distributed $35 million to those children since it was founded in 1995. Last night's event raised $1.2 million for the fund.
Marines fight to uphold the legacy of those who came before them, the general said. Marines revere those who fought at Belleau Wood in World War I and at Iwo Jima in the Second World War. Future generations will feel the same way about the Marines who fought in Fallujah and Ramadi, Iraq, he said.
"It is not because Marines are fearless," Pace said. "You show me a Marine who knows no fear, and I will show you a Marine I don't want to be anywhere near. Marines do know fear in combat. But what makes Marines get up and do their job is a greater fear that somehow those of us who have the privilege of serving our corps and country that our actions will not measure up to those who have gone before, that somehow the legacy might stop because we didn't do what Marines always do, that somehow we will let down the Marine on our left and on our right. And it is the fear of letting down our fellow Marines and our corps that drives us forward."
Pace said three things help Marines as they confront combat: Navy corpsmen, Navy chaplains and "the absolute certainty that if we fall in combat our families will be taken care of."
"That is what this night is all about," he said. "It is not about these incredible gifts; it is not about the incredible words said about me. It's about these incredible Americans who have sacrificed their lives that we can do this in Chicago any d_mn time we feel like it."
Pace, whose wife, Lynne, accompanied him to the dinner, admitted he is sad about leaving active duty at the end of the month. "I'm not sad about putting down my pack," he said. "I'm sad because I will not be able to walk out to the battlefields and hug Marines. I'm sad because I will not be able to be with them and tell them face to face wearing the same uniform that they are wearing that I love them."
The general said he intends to remain involved in the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation and vowed "to do all I can for this support group for the Marines and sailors ... for as long as God gives me the ability to draw breath and contribute."
Pace met with a number of wounded warriors before and after the dinner. Following the dinner he presented Marine NCO swords to Lance Cpl. Kenneth Carleton-Smith and Sgt. Christopher Marron. Both men were wounded in Iraq and medically retired. He also presented a Navy cutlass to Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Robbins, assigned to SEAL Team 5 in San Diego.
New San Antonio Center for Wounded Warriors to Replace Current Facility
By Minnie Jones
Special to American Forces Press Service
Sept. 20, 2007 - A new Warrior and Family Support Center being built here will be 10 times the size of the current facility. A Sept. 15 groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction on the new 12,000-square-foot facility located across from the post's Fisher Houses, where many wounded warriors and their families stay during long rehabilitations.
The new Warrior and Family Support Center will provide a nurturing and comfortable environment where returning soldiers and their families can rest and recover. The new building will replace the 1,200-square-foot facility currently housed on the second floor of the Powless Guest House here.
"President Theodore Roosevelt once said: 'A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that, no man is entitled to, and less than that, no man shall have,'" Maj. Gen. Russell Czerw, commander of Army Medical Department Center and School and Fort Sam Houston, said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
"In my mind, Roosevelt would approve of what we are doing here today for our wounded soldiers," Czerw said. "He would be proud. Not only are we taking care of the soldier, but we are also taking care of their entire family."
Since opening its doors in December 2003, the Warrior and Family Support Center, formerly the Soldier and Family Assistance Center, has accommodated more than 180,000 visits from wounded warriors and their families -- family members who have left their jobs and homes to come to Fort Sam Houston to help with the rehabilitation of their loved ones.
The current center has outgrown its space, due to the length of the war and an increase in wounded warriors, officials said. The additional influx requires a permanent facility to meet all of the Warrior and Family Support Center operations.
The new building will provide a "living room" environment, a place for social interaction and recreation between wounded warriors and their families. It was designed with wounded warriors' requirements in mind -- fully wheelchair-accessible, with an atmosphere that will encourage healing. The new facility will have a computer classroom, kitchen, dining room, conference room, adequate bathrooms, and storage and social-gathering areas. It also will provide opportunities in training for new job skills.
In attendance at the groundbreaking was Jayne Webber-Hardy, the mother of Sgt. Matthew Webber, a member of the Michigan National Guard who died of injuries he suffered in Iraq. Webber-Hardy explained how the center helped her during her stay here by her son's side and how she would have been lost without the assistance and help provided by Judith Markelz, the center's program manager, and her staff.
"This new building is absolutely the most wonderful, precious gift of healing that you as a community, the sponsors and parents can give to these soldiers and their families," Webber-Hardy said.
Army Spc. Francesca Duke, who was injured by a car bomb in Ramadi, Iraq, is now an outpatient receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center. She recalled her first encounter with the center.
"The Warrior and Family Support Center is where my mother and I found solace; it is one of the beginning steps in aiding in the recovery process for all heroes injured in support of operations Enduring (Freedom) and Iraqi Freedom. This is your home away from home," Duke said.
Markelz said she is thrilled about the new facility. "This is a place to honor (wounded warriors), a place where they can come and be themselves."
Steve Huffman, president of Huffman Developments and the Returning Heroes Home Board of Directors, attended the ceremony along with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and several local and state politicians.
Huffman helped to organize the effort to build the facility, and the fund has raised more than $800,000. Construction of the $3.5 million building is scheduled for completion in 2008, and Huffman said he expects that the remainder of the funds will be raised by the end of this year.
This project is just one of many pledges under the new Army Medical Action Plan that soldiers returning home from fighting the battles of war will not have fight a bureaucracy to obtain health care and other services during their recovery at Brooke Army Medical Center and elsewhere and their transition back to service or to civilian life afterwards.
"I have never seen a more collaborative and successful team. The plans were completed, reviewed and submitted to Washington for approval within one week," Huffman said. "From the time the plans left the post and sent to Washington, it was approved and accepted in record time by Pete Geren, the secretary of the Army. This project was a clear reflection of the efforts of the entire team – Col. Wendy Martinson (commander of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Sam Houston), Randy Robinson (director of Installation Management Command West Region) and their outstanding staff.
"Why did we get involved? The answer is simple: the men and women, our warriors and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that we can enjoy the liberties and freedom that we too many times take for granted," he said.
(Minnie Jones works at the Fort Sam Houston Public Information Office.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
Sept. 20, 2007 - A new Warrior and Family Support Center being built here will be 10 times the size of the current facility. A Sept. 15 groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction on the new 12,000-square-foot facility located across from the post's Fisher Houses, where many wounded warriors and their families stay during long rehabilitations.
The new Warrior and Family Support Center will provide a nurturing and comfortable environment where returning soldiers and their families can rest and recover. The new building will replace the 1,200-square-foot facility currently housed on the second floor of the Powless Guest House here.
"President Theodore Roosevelt once said: 'A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that, no man is entitled to, and less than that, no man shall have,'" Maj. Gen. Russell Czerw, commander of Army Medical Department Center and School and Fort Sam Houston, said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
"In my mind, Roosevelt would approve of what we are doing here today for our wounded soldiers," Czerw said. "He would be proud. Not only are we taking care of the soldier, but we are also taking care of their entire family."
Since opening its doors in December 2003, the Warrior and Family Support Center, formerly the Soldier and Family Assistance Center, has accommodated more than 180,000 visits from wounded warriors and their families -- family members who have left their jobs and homes to come to Fort Sam Houston to help with the rehabilitation of their loved ones.
The current center has outgrown its space, due to the length of the war and an increase in wounded warriors, officials said. The additional influx requires a permanent facility to meet all of the Warrior and Family Support Center operations.
The new building will provide a "living room" environment, a place for social interaction and recreation between wounded warriors and their families. It was designed with wounded warriors' requirements in mind -- fully wheelchair-accessible, with an atmosphere that will encourage healing. The new facility will have a computer classroom, kitchen, dining room, conference room, adequate bathrooms, and storage and social-gathering areas. It also will provide opportunities in training for new job skills.
In attendance at the groundbreaking was Jayne Webber-Hardy, the mother of Sgt. Matthew Webber, a member of the Michigan National Guard who died of injuries he suffered in Iraq. Webber-Hardy explained how the center helped her during her stay here by her son's side and how she would have been lost without the assistance and help provided by Judith Markelz, the center's program manager, and her staff.
"This new building is absolutely the most wonderful, precious gift of healing that you as a community, the sponsors and parents can give to these soldiers and their families," Webber-Hardy said.
Army Spc. Francesca Duke, who was injured by a car bomb in Ramadi, Iraq, is now an outpatient receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center. She recalled her first encounter with the center.
"The Warrior and Family Support Center is where my mother and I found solace; it is one of the beginning steps in aiding in the recovery process for all heroes injured in support of operations Enduring (Freedom) and Iraqi Freedom. This is your home away from home," Duke said.
Markelz said she is thrilled about the new facility. "This is a place to honor (wounded warriors), a place where they can come and be themselves."
Steve Huffman, president of Huffman Developments and the Returning Heroes Home Board of Directors, attended the ceremony along with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and several local and state politicians.
Huffman helped to organize the effort to build the facility, and the fund has raised more than $800,000. Construction of the $3.5 million building is scheduled for completion in 2008, and Huffman said he expects that the remainder of the funds will be raised by the end of this year.
This project is just one of many pledges under the new Army Medical Action Plan that soldiers returning home from fighting the battles of war will not have fight a bureaucracy to obtain health care and other services during their recovery at Brooke Army Medical Center and elsewhere and their transition back to service or to civilian life afterwards.
"I have never seen a more collaborative and successful team. The plans were completed, reviewed and submitted to Washington for approval within one week," Huffman said. "From the time the plans left the post and sent to Washington, it was approved and accepted in record time by Pete Geren, the secretary of the Army. This project was a clear reflection of the efforts of the entire team – Col. Wendy Martinson (commander of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Sam Houston), Randy Robinson (director of Installation Management Command West Region) and their outstanding staff.
"Why did we get involved? The answer is simple: the men and women, our warriors and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that we can enjoy the liberties and freedom that we too many times take for granted," he said.
(Minnie Jones works at the Fort Sam Houston Public Information Office.)
DoD CAP Director Recieves Service to America Award
The Department of Defense (DoD) Director of the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) Dinah F.B. Cohen received the Service to America Medal (SAMMIES) for leading the world's largest assistive technology program recently.
The Service to America Medals award program recognizes outstanding members of the federal workforce whose innovative and dedicated efforts result in significant contributions addressing national needs.
CAP is a centrally-funded assistive technology program that buys and delivers the hardware, software, and services that people with disabilities need to function in the workplace. The technology makes the electronic environment accessible to and usable by individuals with hearing, visual, dexterity, cognitive, and communications disabilities.
"At a time when our uniformed medical professionals are saving more lives than ever before in the Global War on Terror, the CAP program provides wounded and disabled
servicemembers and other federal employees a wonderful opportunity to live and work better with assistive technology," said Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
Since 2004, Cohen's program has been instrumental in assessing needs to accommodate severely injured servicemembers returning home from the Global War on Terror. She has provided guidance for over 2,400 accommodations to wounded servicemembers and she has partnered with DoD Military Treatment Facilities to integrate assistive technologies into occupational therapy and rehabilitation services, housing facilities, and employment training centers to support the transition back to reemployment.
Since its inception in 1990, the CAP has filled more than 57,000 requests for accommodations. In addition to serving military departments and defense agencies, CAP partners with 64 other federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Service to America Medals award program recognizes outstanding members of the federal workforce whose innovative and dedicated efforts result in significant contributions addressing national needs.
CAP is a centrally-funded assistive technology program that buys and delivers the hardware, software, and services that people with disabilities need to function in the workplace. The technology makes the electronic environment accessible to and usable by individuals with hearing, visual, dexterity, cognitive, and communications disabilities.
"At a time when our uniformed medical professionals are saving more lives than ever before in the Global War on Terror, the CAP program provides wounded and disabled
servicemembers and other federal employees a wonderful opportunity to live and work better with assistive technology," said Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
Since 2004, Cohen's program has been instrumental in assessing needs to accommodate severely injured servicemembers returning home from the Global War on Terror. She has provided guidance for over 2,400 accommodations to wounded servicemembers and she has partnered with DoD Military Treatment Facilities to integrate assistive technologies into occupational therapy and rehabilitation services, housing facilities, and employment training centers to support the transition back to reemployment.
Since its inception in 1990, the CAP has filled more than 57,000 requests for accommodations. In addition to serving military departments and defense agencies, CAP partners with 64 other federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Pace Thanks Enlisted Force for Service, Sacrifices
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 20, 2007 - The success that Marine Gen. Peter Pace has had in a 40-year military career has been based "on my listening to the incredible enlisted leaders who have been my partners," the soon-to-retire chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today at the Pentagon. Pace thanked the enlisted force for their service. The Pentagon Channel broadcast the 20-minute talk to stations around the world.
In his talk, the chairman thanked the enlisted force for their support and spoke about the influence that enlisted personnel have had on him.
Most of the military is enlisted. In the chairman's own service, 49 percent of the personnel are lance corporals or below.
"General officers may very well plan battles, but it's lance corporals and sergeants, second and first lieutenants, and captains who make the difference on the battlefield by carrying out the intent of the order when faced with a thinking enemy," Pace said.
The chairman listed the names of those Marines killed while following his orders as a platoon leader in 1968. "Lance Corporal (Guido) Farinaro, Lance Corporal Chubby Hale, Lance Corporal Whitey Travers, Corporal Mike Witt, Staff Sergeant Freddy Williams, Lance Corporal Little Joe Arnold, Corporal John Miller -- all Marines who followed 2nd Lietenant Pete Pace in combat and in following my orders died for our country," he said.
Pace arrived in Vietnam at the height of the Tet Offensive and fought in the battle of Hue City. His platoon -- normally around 50 Marines -- had just 14 when he arrived. He was the third platoon leader in as many weeks.
Pace went through 13 months in Vietnam without a scratch. "There was never a doubt in my mind what I was supposed to do with the rest of my life when I came out of Vietnam ... and that was to try as best I could to serve this nation on active duty in a way that would pay proper respect to those Marines who followed me as their platoon leader and gave their lives for their country," he said. "(These were) enlisted Marines who taught me what love on the battlefield is all about."
Pace told the crowd of about 1,000 enlisted personnel in the Pentagon courtyard that he had vowed to give to the personnel under his command what he could no longer give to the Marines who died. "And an interesting thing happened along the way," he said. "Looking back on it, I was trying to do the right thing as a leader for my folks -- in my case, Marines -- and in doing so, they gave back to me more than I ever could have asked.
"I find myself at the end of 40-plus years of service hopelessly behind in trying to give back," he continued. "Because the more I have tried to give, the more that has been given to me. It's been an incredible cycle that makes me feel humble to have had the opportunity to associate myself with so many wonderful Americans."
At each step of his career, Pace had an enlisted advisor whispering in his ear about what he was doing right and what he was doing wrong. In 1968, Sgt. Reed B. Zachary was his platoon sergeant. "He helped me understand not only what I needed to know about the battlefield, but what I needed to know and understand about each of the Marines in our platoon in a way that helped me be a more effective leader," Pace said.
This continued when he was a company commander and up through the ranks to chairman. Pace said he could not imagine doing the job of chairman without a strong right arm. He chose Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey to be the first senior enlisted advisor to the chairman.
Pace will step down as chairman Oct. 1. "As I leave the active ranks, I'm sad," he said. "I'm not sad because I'm not going to be chairman any more; ... I'm sad because I won't be able to put the uniform on and on occasion get out on the battlefield and hug my fellow servicemembers, tell them I love them and thank them for what they are doing for their country."
Pace visited Afghanistan on Sept. 2 and spoke to troops at isolated bases all over the country. He thanked them for their service and spoke about how he was going to miss military life.
"At the end, the troops are coming by to let me say thanks to them, and one Army sergeant ... said to me: 'Sir, thanks for your service; we'll take it from here,'" the chairman said. "That is exactly right. For that sergeant to look the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the eye and say, 'It's OK; we've got it,' I think is pretty cool. But it also puts an exclamation point on why my sadness is not about the institution, but it's selfishly about me in my wanting time to serve alongside you."
Pace started with 2nd Platoon, Company G, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, in Vietnam in 1968. On Sept. 4, the chairman visited his old outfit in Iraq's Anbar province. "I was able to sit with those Marines in Karmah, Iraq, and see their eyes and see their enthusiasm for what they were doing," he said.
"To me, it was a perfect bookend from where I started to where I'm ending," he said. "And I hope in some small way in my opportunity to talk to them and in my opportunity to speak with you this morning that I can communicate to you what an incredible honor it has been to serve alongside of you and how thankful I am to all of you for what you do and how proud I am for what you have accomplished and what you will continue to accomplish."
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 20, 2007 - The success that Marine Gen. Peter Pace has had in a 40-year military career has been based "on my listening to the incredible enlisted leaders who have been my partners," the soon-to-retire chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today at the Pentagon. Pace thanked the enlisted force for their service. The Pentagon Channel broadcast the 20-minute talk to stations around the world.
In his talk, the chairman thanked the enlisted force for their support and spoke about the influence that enlisted personnel have had on him.
Most of the military is enlisted. In the chairman's own service, 49 percent of the personnel are lance corporals or below.
"General officers may very well plan battles, but it's lance corporals and sergeants, second and first lieutenants, and captains who make the difference on the battlefield by carrying out the intent of the order when faced with a thinking enemy," Pace said.
The chairman listed the names of those Marines killed while following his orders as a platoon leader in 1968. "Lance Corporal (Guido) Farinaro, Lance Corporal Chubby Hale, Lance Corporal Whitey Travers, Corporal Mike Witt, Staff Sergeant Freddy Williams, Lance Corporal Little Joe Arnold, Corporal John Miller -- all Marines who followed 2nd Lietenant Pete Pace in combat and in following my orders died for our country," he said.
Pace arrived in Vietnam at the height of the Tet Offensive and fought in the battle of Hue City. His platoon -- normally around 50 Marines -- had just 14 when he arrived. He was the third platoon leader in as many weeks.
Pace went through 13 months in Vietnam without a scratch. "There was never a doubt in my mind what I was supposed to do with the rest of my life when I came out of Vietnam ... and that was to try as best I could to serve this nation on active duty in a way that would pay proper respect to those Marines who followed me as their platoon leader and gave their lives for their country," he said. "(These were) enlisted Marines who taught me what love on the battlefield is all about."
Pace told the crowd of about 1,000 enlisted personnel in the Pentagon courtyard that he had vowed to give to the personnel under his command what he could no longer give to the Marines who died. "And an interesting thing happened along the way," he said. "Looking back on it, I was trying to do the right thing as a leader for my folks -- in my case, Marines -- and in doing so, they gave back to me more than I ever could have asked.
"I find myself at the end of 40-plus years of service hopelessly behind in trying to give back," he continued. "Because the more I have tried to give, the more that has been given to me. It's been an incredible cycle that makes me feel humble to have had the opportunity to associate myself with so many wonderful Americans."
At each step of his career, Pace had an enlisted advisor whispering in his ear about what he was doing right and what he was doing wrong. In 1968, Sgt. Reed B. Zachary was his platoon sergeant. "He helped me understand not only what I needed to know about the battlefield, but what I needed to know and understand about each of the Marines in our platoon in a way that helped me be a more effective leader," Pace said.
This continued when he was a company commander and up through the ranks to chairman. Pace said he could not imagine doing the job of chairman without a strong right arm. He chose Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey to be the first senior enlisted advisor to the chairman.
Pace will step down as chairman Oct. 1. "As I leave the active ranks, I'm sad," he said. "I'm not sad because I'm not going to be chairman any more; ... I'm sad because I won't be able to put the uniform on and on occasion get out on the battlefield and hug my fellow servicemembers, tell them I love them and thank them for what they are doing for their country."
Pace visited Afghanistan on Sept. 2 and spoke to troops at isolated bases all over the country. He thanked them for their service and spoke about how he was going to miss military life.
"At the end, the troops are coming by to let me say thanks to them, and one Army sergeant ... said to me: 'Sir, thanks for your service; we'll take it from here,'" the chairman said. "That is exactly right. For that sergeant to look the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the eye and say, 'It's OK; we've got it,' I think is pretty cool. But it also puts an exclamation point on why my sadness is not about the institution, but it's selfishly about me in my wanting time to serve alongside you."
Pace started with 2nd Platoon, Company G, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, in Vietnam in 1968. On Sept. 4, the chairman visited his old outfit in Iraq's Anbar province. "I was able to sit with those Marines in Karmah, Iraq, and see their eyes and see their enthusiasm for what they were doing," he said.
"To me, it was a perfect bookend from where I started to where I'm ending," he said. "And I hope in some small way in my opportunity to talk to them and in my opportunity to speak with you this morning that I can communicate to you what an incredible honor it has been to serve alongside of you and how thankful I am to all of you for what you do and how proud I am for what you have accomplished and what you will continue to accomplish."
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Defense Civilian Earns Honor for Assisting Disabled Employees
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 20, 2007 - The director of the Defense Department's Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program is a Service to America award recipient for her efforts on behalf of disabled servicemembers and civilian employees. Dinah F.B. Cohen's award represents "a culmination of a lot of years of work," Cohen said today at an exhibition of assistive technology equipment available through the program.
"I am really, really honored," Cohen said.
The annual awards are presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service to honor significant achievements of federal employees.
Cohen played a key role in convincing Congress to change federal law to enable disabled servicemembers to keep CAPs-issued equipment that helps them do their jobs.
Before the law was changed, disabled servicemembers were required to turn in such equipment as they transitioned to Department of Veterans Affairs-provided care.
Now, "you're not taking it away from someone who is starting to use it and starting to feel engaged and independent," Cohen explained. Upgraded equipment can be provided later by the VA, she added.
The Defense Department established the Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program in 1990. It purchases and delivers hardware, software and services needed by disabled employees to function in the workplace. CAP partners with 64 other federal agencies, including Veterans Affairs.
Since its creation, CAP has furnished more than 60,000 requests for equipment accommodations for disabled employees, said Cohen, who has directed the program since its inception. As of this spring, the program has assisted more than 2,500 wounded servicemembers.
Improved medical technology has reduced U.S. battlefield deaths during the war against terrorism, Cohen said. But some surviving servicemembers "are coming back with massive disabling conditions and functional limitations," she observed.
That's where assistive technology for the workplace comes in, Cohen said.
"Once someone knows that there is an opportunity to continue to work with the use of assistive technology, you give them hope, you give them their independence back," she said.
Mark Rew, who is blind and has worked for CAP for more than three years, appreciates the integrated audio device that tells him what's on his computer screen.
"Without this technology, disabled people would not have jobs," Rew said.
Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, visited the CAP Technology Evaluation Center today to thank Cohen and to observe a demonstration of available technology for disabled federal employees.
"I'm so proud to stand next to Dinah Cohen," Casscells said. Cohen's labors, he said, enable disabled federal civilians and wounded servicemembers to obtain both work and respect.
Cohen is intimately familiar with surmounting adversity. Her parents are Holocaust survivors and she was diagnosed with an inoperable heart ailment when she was a youngster.
"The best part about this job is that I feel that I'm giving back," Cohen said, noting U.S. troops liberated her father from a Nazi concentration camp and nursed him back to health at the end of World War II.
"Nothing made him happier or more proud than when I started this job working for the Department of Defense," Cohen said of her father.
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 20, 2007 - The director of the Defense Department's Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program is a Service to America award recipient for her efforts on behalf of disabled servicemembers and civilian employees. Dinah F.B. Cohen's award represents "a culmination of a lot of years of work," Cohen said today at an exhibition of assistive technology equipment available through the program.
"I am really, really honored," Cohen said.
The annual awards are presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service to honor significant achievements of federal employees.
Cohen played a key role in convincing Congress to change federal law to enable disabled servicemembers to keep CAPs-issued equipment that helps them do their jobs.
Before the law was changed, disabled servicemembers were required to turn in such equipment as they transitioned to Department of Veterans Affairs-provided care.
Now, "you're not taking it away from someone who is starting to use it and starting to feel engaged and independent," Cohen explained. Upgraded equipment can be provided later by the VA, she added.
The Defense Department established the Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program in 1990. It purchases and delivers hardware, software and services needed by disabled employees to function in the workplace. CAP partners with 64 other federal agencies, including Veterans Affairs.
Since its creation, CAP has furnished more than 60,000 requests for equipment accommodations for disabled employees, said Cohen, who has directed the program since its inception. As of this spring, the program has assisted more than 2,500 wounded servicemembers.
Improved medical technology has reduced U.S. battlefield deaths during the war against terrorism, Cohen said. But some surviving servicemembers "are coming back with massive disabling conditions and functional limitations," she observed.
That's where assistive technology for the workplace comes in, Cohen said.
"Once someone knows that there is an opportunity to continue to work with the use of assistive technology, you give them hope, you give them their independence back," she said.
Mark Rew, who is blind and has worked for CAP for more than three years, appreciates the integrated audio device that tells him what's on his computer screen.
"Without this technology, disabled people would not have jobs," Rew said.
Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, visited the CAP Technology Evaluation Center today to thank Cohen and to observe a demonstration of available technology for disabled federal employees.
"I'm so proud to stand next to Dinah Cohen," Casscells said. Cohen's labors, he said, enable disabled federal civilians and wounded servicemembers to obtain both work and respect.
Cohen is intimately familiar with surmounting adversity. Her parents are Holocaust survivors and she was diagnosed with an inoperable heart ailment when she was a youngster.
"The best part about this job is that I feel that I'm giving back," Cohen said, noting U.S. troops liberated her father from a Nazi concentration camp and nursed him back to health at the end of World War II.
"Nothing made him happier or more proud than when I started this job working for the Department of Defense," Cohen said of her father.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
PACOM Chief Promises Solid U.S. Support for New Timor-Leste Democracy
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 19, 2007 - The commander of U.S. Pacific Command met here today with Timorese government and military leaders to praise strides they've made in building a new democracy, and he promised U.S. support to help them overcome challenges to that democracy. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating met with Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta, Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, and Brig. Gen .Taur Matan Ruak, the country's chief of defense, during his first visit here since taking command of PACOM in March.
"I wanted to express to them our gratitude for the progress that is been made here for a new independent nation and to commit those resources we have that might help the president and prime minister and chief of defense move along in their important work," Keating told reporters after meeting with Gusmao.
By all accounts, Timor-Leste has faced serious challenges since breaking free of a brutal, 24-year Indonesian rule in 1999. It formally declared statehood three years later and has been struggling to build its new government ever since.
Progress has been hindered by a wide range of factors: weak institutions, political infighting, poor education, extreme poverty and violence. Gusmao called the Timorese government "fragile" and its 700-member military ill-prepared to provide the protection it needs or to confront smuggling, trafficking and other problems.
Long-simmering tensions led to widespread violence in April 2006 that sent some 155,000 people fleeing their homes. An estimated 28,000 Timorese remain displaced, living in more than two dozen refugee camps dotting Dili, the capital.
An International Stabilization Force, made up of Australian and New Zealand troops, has been deployed to Timor-Leste since May 2006 at the government's request. Australian Brigadier John Hutcheson, the joint task force commander, told Keating today the unit's mission is to "maintain a secure, stable environment for the East Timorese to get on peacefully and resolve their differences."
But more than a year after their arrival, Hutcheson told Keating that conditions in Timor-Leste "are still simmering" and that the country has "a long journey to go."
Despite the ISF presence, as well as that of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste, violence broke out again in August after no single candidate won a majority vote during national parliamentary elections, and Ramos-Horta appointed a coalition led by Gusmao to form a new government.
Today, Keating praised strides the Ramos-Horta and Gusmao government is making to advance democracy. "The challenges you have faced have been formidable," he said. "But through what you have done, you have created an opportunity for your fellow citizens to live in an independent country.
"We in Pacific Command appreciate that commitment," he said, promising additional U.S. assistance.
Keating said the United States recognizes the importance of sharing its resources with "the coalition of the willing" that shares the U.S. commitment to promoting democracy and creating stable conditions that discourage terrorist ambitions.
"We are intensely interested in cooperating. We are intensely interested in helping," Keating told the Timorese leaders. "We are as committed as you are to supporting freedom and democracy."
PACOM already provides support to the U.N. and ISF efforts in Timor-Leste through humanitarian assistance and training through the International Military Education and Training program. The command also provides strategic airlift to support Australia's ISF deployments.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice provides police training in Timor-Leste through its International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program.
Keating suggested that PACOM might be able to assist in additional areas, possibly through education, language training and additional humanitarian assistance.
But while promising as much help as possible, Keating conceded that there's a limit to what PACOM can do. He expressed hope that the United States' support for Timor-Leste will encourage other countries to step up to help.
Similarly, Keating said he hopes to move beyond bilateral U.S.-Timorese relations to multilateral relations that promote broader international cooperation.
Achieving Timor-Leste's goals will be "a long struggle that won't happen overnight," Keating said, but he expressed "reason for optimism."
Keating pointed to Ruak, who led the independence movement and now serves as the country's defense chief, as an example of what's possible in Timor-Leste. "It is a pleasure to meet someone who has contributed so successfully in such an important way to the independence of this country," the admiral said.
"There is a price for democracy," Ruak told Keating. "No democracy in the world (comes) without a price tag attached to it."
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 19, 2007 - The commander of U.S. Pacific Command met here today with Timorese government and military leaders to praise strides they've made in building a new democracy, and he promised U.S. support to help them overcome challenges to that democracy. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating met with Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta, Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, and Brig. Gen .Taur Matan Ruak, the country's chief of defense, during his first visit here since taking command of PACOM in March.
"I wanted to express to them our gratitude for the progress that is been made here for a new independent nation and to commit those resources we have that might help the president and prime minister and chief of defense move along in their important work," Keating told reporters after meeting with Gusmao.
By all accounts, Timor-Leste has faced serious challenges since breaking free of a brutal, 24-year Indonesian rule in 1999. It formally declared statehood three years later and has been struggling to build its new government ever since.
Progress has been hindered by a wide range of factors: weak institutions, political infighting, poor education, extreme poverty and violence. Gusmao called the Timorese government "fragile" and its 700-member military ill-prepared to provide the protection it needs or to confront smuggling, trafficking and other problems.
Long-simmering tensions led to widespread violence in April 2006 that sent some 155,000 people fleeing their homes. An estimated 28,000 Timorese remain displaced, living in more than two dozen refugee camps dotting Dili, the capital.
An International Stabilization Force, made up of Australian and New Zealand troops, has been deployed to Timor-Leste since May 2006 at the government's request. Australian Brigadier John Hutcheson, the joint task force commander, told Keating today the unit's mission is to "maintain a secure, stable environment for the East Timorese to get on peacefully and resolve their differences."
But more than a year after their arrival, Hutcheson told Keating that conditions in Timor-Leste "are still simmering" and that the country has "a long journey to go."
Despite the ISF presence, as well as that of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste, violence broke out again in August after no single candidate won a majority vote during national parliamentary elections, and Ramos-Horta appointed a coalition led by Gusmao to form a new government.
Today, Keating praised strides the Ramos-Horta and Gusmao government is making to advance democracy. "The challenges you have faced have been formidable," he said. "But through what you have done, you have created an opportunity for your fellow citizens to live in an independent country.
"We in Pacific Command appreciate that commitment," he said, promising additional U.S. assistance.
Keating said the United States recognizes the importance of sharing its resources with "the coalition of the willing" that shares the U.S. commitment to promoting democracy and creating stable conditions that discourage terrorist ambitions.
"We are intensely interested in cooperating. We are intensely interested in helping," Keating told the Timorese leaders. "We are as committed as you are to supporting freedom and democracy."
PACOM already provides support to the U.N. and ISF efforts in Timor-Leste through humanitarian assistance and training through the International Military Education and Training program. The command also provides strategic airlift to support Australia's ISF deployments.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice provides police training in Timor-Leste through its International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program.
Keating suggested that PACOM might be able to assist in additional areas, possibly through education, language training and additional humanitarian assistance.
But while promising as much help as possible, Keating conceded that there's a limit to what PACOM can do. He expressed hope that the United States' support for Timor-Leste will encourage other countries to step up to help.
Similarly, Keating said he hopes to move beyond bilateral U.S.-Timorese relations to multilateral relations that promote broader international cooperation.
Achieving Timor-Leste's goals will be "a long struggle that won't happen overnight," Keating said, but he expressed "reason for optimism."
Keating pointed to Ruak, who led the independence movement and now serves as the country's defense chief, as an example of what's possible in Timor-Leste. "It is a pleasure to meet someone who has contributed so successfully in such an important way to the independence of this country," the admiral said.
"There is a price for democracy," Ruak told Keating. "No democracy in the world (comes) without a price tag attached to it."
Arizona Organization Works to Help Vets
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 19, 2007 - An organization in Phoenix is offering individuals, including some veterans, a lifeline when it comes to meeting some of their needs, such as housing, employment or just a simple word of encouragement. "We're here if anyone desires a more positive road," said Jacque Harris, business developer for the group, "My Brothers Keeper." "We try to help people get on the right track as much as we possibly can, (to) be a support system, a lifeline for them."
Some of the training and development center's clients are trying to reintegrate into their communities after incarceration. Some, however, are veterans of past wars looking for a better lease on life.
"We service a lot of the vets when they come through needing assistance with jobs, skill development, (and) housing referrals," she said. "I think every week we have a vet or two in our different workshops.
"We've found (vets) to be looking for about the same thing (as other clients)," Harris added, referring to the 28 veterans the program has helped since March.
The center also offers substance abuse and anger management counseling, as well as parenting skill development. All of the programs are free to anyone over the age of 18.
My Brothers Keeper, which will celebrate its first anniversary on Oct. 16, currently serves only Maricopa County and is doing a lot of what Harris called "soft skill" job training. That includes customer service, inventory management, sales and telemarketing.
The staff also has just implemented a business plan class, which offers those thinking of starting their own business a few reality checks, including an assessment of personal finances, she said.
"We teach them actually how to write their business plan and about projections and how do you project what's really your direct cost?" Harris said. "We also have referrals for funding small business loans, which we're really excited about."
Part of that syllabus includes a financial literacy workshop taught by a local bank executive. Students learn proper use of credit, how to look at interest rates, how to read a credit report, and how to spot fraudulent activity on that document.
All of this is done in the interest of placing veterans and other clients in jobs. Most have been unemployed for awhile and might be placed in several jobs before finding one that's mutually beneficial for employer and employee.
"We always encourage people, 'Don't quit. Allow us the opportunity to find you something else if this is not a good fit,'" Harris said. "We have built relationships with employers where we can really ... help them find (gainful) employment."
But My Brothers Keeper doesn't walk away after a vet is placed in that perfect job. The new employees are followed for 90 days to ensure their success, she said.
"There's accountability along the way," Harris said. "We're referring people to employers that we have relationships with, and we want to place other people there so it's important that we're there and involved."
Harris' goal for the next year is for My Brothers Keeper to open three more locations in Arizona.
"Then we want to go to California, (and) I don't know from there," she said. "Definitely the West Coast over the next two years is the plan."
If some have their way, My Brothers Keeper will eventually become a national organization. Harris already has received inquiries from people in Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas who heard about the program and hoped it was operating in their state. "That's encouraging," she said.
Each week between 15 and 20 people begin the weeklong orientation process, and while interested parties can walk into the Phoenix-based office, Harris suggests calling (602) 344-7504 to make sure there's space available that week.
Editor's Note: To find out about more individuals, groups and organizations that are helping support the troops, visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. The Defense Department's America Supports You program directly connects military members to the support of the America people and offers a tool to the general public in their quest to find meaningful ways to support the military community.
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 19, 2007 - An organization in Phoenix is offering individuals, including some veterans, a lifeline when it comes to meeting some of their needs, such as housing, employment or just a simple word of encouragement. "We're here if anyone desires a more positive road," said Jacque Harris, business developer for the group, "My Brothers Keeper." "We try to help people get on the right track as much as we possibly can, (to) be a support system, a lifeline for them."
Some of the training and development center's clients are trying to reintegrate into their communities after incarceration. Some, however, are veterans of past wars looking for a better lease on life.
"We service a lot of the vets when they come through needing assistance with jobs, skill development, (and) housing referrals," she said. "I think every week we have a vet or two in our different workshops.
"We've found (vets) to be looking for about the same thing (as other clients)," Harris added, referring to the 28 veterans the program has helped since March.
The center also offers substance abuse and anger management counseling, as well as parenting skill development. All of the programs are free to anyone over the age of 18.
My Brothers Keeper, which will celebrate its first anniversary on Oct. 16, currently serves only Maricopa County and is doing a lot of what Harris called "soft skill" job training. That includes customer service, inventory management, sales and telemarketing.
The staff also has just implemented a business plan class, which offers those thinking of starting their own business a few reality checks, including an assessment of personal finances, she said.
"We teach them actually how to write their business plan and about projections and how do you project what's really your direct cost?" Harris said. "We also have referrals for funding small business loans, which we're really excited about."
Part of that syllabus includes a financial literacy workshop taught by a local bank executive. Students learn proper use of credit, how to look at interest rates, how to read a credit report, and how to spot fraudulent activity on that document.
All of this is done in the interest of placing veterans and other clients in jobs. Most have been unemployed for awhile and might be placed in several jobs before finding one that's mutually beneficial for employer and employee.
"We always encourage people, 'Don't quit. Allow us the opportunity to find you something else if this is not a good fit,'" Harris said. "We have built relationships with employers where we can really ... help them find (gainful) employment."
But My Brothers Keeper doesn't walk away after a vet is placed in that perfect job. The new employees are followed for 90 days to ensure their success, she said.
"There's accountability along the way," Harris said. "We're referring people to employers that we have relationships with, and we want to place other people there so it's important that we're there and involved."
Harris' goal for the next year is for My Brothers Keeper to open three more locations in Arizona.
"Then we want to go to California, (and) I don't know from there," she said. "Definitely the West Coast over the next two years is the plan."
If some have their way, My Brothers Keeper will eventually become a national organization. Harris already has received inquiries from people in Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas who heard about the program and hoped it was operating in their state. "That's encouraging," she said.
Each week between 15 and 20 people begin the weeklong orientation process, and while interested parties can walk into the Phoenix-based office, Harris suggests calling (602) 344-7504 to make sure there's space available that week.
Editor's Note: To find out about more individuals, groups and organizations that are helping support the troops, visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. The Defense Department's America Supports You program directly connects military members to the support of the America people and offers a tool to the general public in their quest to find meaningful ways to support the military community.
Pace Details Lessons He Learned From Young Marines
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 19, 2007 - The reason the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Chaminade High School here was on the wall as he entered the building today: a simple plaque with the names of graduates killed in combat. Midway down the list of 55 Chaminade graduates killed in combat was the name Guido Farinaro, Class of 1967, killed in Vietnam in 1968.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace came to this Catholic school to honor Lance Corporal Farinaro, the first Marine to die following 2nd Lt. Peter Pace's orders. The four-star general keeps a picture of the young lance corporal under the glass on his desk in the Pentagon to remind him of the sacrifices young servicemembers make.
Rev. James C. Williams, the president of the school, invited Pace to address the 1,700 students of the all-male school.
"This is selfish on my part to want to come here to Chaminade," Pace told the students. "I've been invited to several Gold Star Masses and have not been able to attend. I did not want to leave active duty without coming to the place from which the single most influential military person in my life graduated."
During Pace's talk, the normal restlessness of young men disappeared. You could hear a pin drop when the general told the student body that he wanted to come to the school "to have a chance to look you in the eye and tell you of just one of Chaminade's incredible graduates."
Pace wanted the students to know that their lives will make a difference. "I want you to know about one Chaminade graduate whose life made a difference," Pace said.
Guido Farinaro was a 1967 graduate of the high school, Pace said. "As with all classes in Chaminade, the vast majority went on to college, but Guido joined the Marine Corps," he said. "When asked why, he said he was born in Italy, raised in the United States and had the opportunity to attend this incredible school and felt the need to pay back the country before he did any more schooling."
Pace met the young lance corporal in February 1968 during the Tet Offensive in Hue City, Vietnam. Pace was the third leader of the 2nd Platoon, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in as many weeks. The platoon was a skeleton, with only 14 Marines left. "Guido was one of them," Pace said to the assembly. "He and I served together until July 1968, and I came to know Guido as a great young man."
The lance corporal's death also had a profound impact on the young lieutenant. "We were on patrol one day outside Da Nang, and Guido was killed by a sniper," Pace said. "As I stayed with him, a sense of rage came through me, and as the platoon leader, I started calling an artillery strike on the village where the round had been fired.
"My platoon sergeant, who was my age – 21 or 22 -- didn't say anything at all," Pace said. "He just looked at me. And I knew in the look that he gave me that what I was doing was wrong."
Pace called off the strike and led the platoon to do what he should have done in the first place – a dismounted sweep of the village. "We found nothing but women and children," he said. "Had that artillery strike been conducted, I do not know how I could have possibly lived with myself."
The lesson for Pace was immediate. "Regardless what you do in your life, hold on to your moral compass," he said. "When you are emotionally least capable of defending yourself is when the biggest challenge will come. If you don't have an idea of what you will let yourself do and what you will not let yourself do, you may find that you have done something that you would never believe yourself capable of doing."
He said his epiphany came in combat, but it doesn't have to. "I learned that day, to think through what was going to be happening each day thereafter, and to think through what I would allow myself to do and not do," he said.
It could come in a meeting, a test, a temptation, whatever. "If you have thought through who you want to be at the end of each day, you will see that person," he said. "But, if you have not, you may not like the person you end up being."
This was one way the lance corporal's life changed the young officer's life. Guido Farinaro and all the other Marines who died following his orders made Pace realize what he should do with his life.
Pace never received a scratch during his 13-month tour in Vietnam. Farinaro was standing next to Pace when he was shot by the sniper. Another Marine was walking in front of Pace when another sniper shot and killed that Marine instead of Pace. "Some died, others did not. I still truly do not understand," he said. "But because of Guido and the others I lost, I determined that I would continue to serve in the Marine Corps until I was no longer needed, and to try to serve in a way that paid respect to their lives."
Pace said he was determined to give those Marines and servicemembers in his charge what he could not longer give to the men he had lost, and that he built his military career around that idea.
And as he faces the conclusion of his four decades of service when he retires at the end of the month, Pace said that was the last lesson he learned from the young Marines he commanded.
"I'm very calm about what comes next because of what I learned from Guido and Guido's death, which is we don't control when we're going to die. We do control how we live," he said. "In every disappointment there is a new door of opportunity. Every time in my adult life, when something happened that I wished had not happened, or I did not get what I thought I should get, in retrospect has turned out to be a blessing.
"I am not a volunteer to leave the armed forces of the United States," he continued. "I still owe Guido and his fellow Marines, and now so many others, more than I can ever repay."
Pace told the young men that he has no idea what he will do in the future, but that it will include another opportunity to serve. He asked the young men to serve, too.
"I ask you to embrace the path that God lays out for you: do the very best you can on that path and take care of the people near you who look to you for leadership," he said.
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 19, 2007 - The reason the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Chaminade High School here was on the wall as he entered the building today: a simple plaque with the names of graduates killed in combat. Midway down the list of 55 Chaminade graduates killed in combat was the name Guido Farinaro, Class of 1967, killed in Vietnam in 1968.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace came to this Catholic school to honor Lance Corporal Farinaro, the first Marine to die following 2nd Lt. Peter Pace's orders. The four-star general keeps a picture of the young lance corporal under the glass on his desk in the Pentagon to remind him of the sacrifices young servicemembers make.
Rev. James C. Williams, the president of the school, invited Pace to address the 1,700 students of the all-male school.
"This is selfish on my part to want to come here to Chaminade," Pace told the students. "I've been invited to several Gold Star Masses and have not been able to attend. I did not want to leave active duty without coming to the place from which the single most influential military person in my life graduated."
During Pace's talk, the normal restlessness of young men disappeared. You could hear a pin drop when the general told the student body that he wanted to come to the school "to have a chance to look you in the eye and tell you of just one of Chaminade's incredible graduates."
Pace wanted the students to know that their lives will make a difference. "I want you to know about one Chaminade graduate whose life made a difference," Pace said.
Guido Farinaro was a 1967 graduate of the high school, Pace said. "As with all classes in Chaminade, the vast majority went on to college, but Guido joined the Marine Corps," he said. "When asked why, he said he was born in Italy, raised in the United States and had the opportunity to attend this incredible school and felt the need to pay back the country before he did any more schooling."
Pace met the young lance corporal in February 1968 during the Tet Offensive in Hue City, Vietnam. Pace was the third leader of the 2nd Platoon, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in as many weeks. The platoon was a skeleton, with only 14 Marines left. "Guido was one of them," Pace said to the assembly. "He and I served together until July 1968, and I came to know Guido as a great young man."
The lance corporal's death also had a profound impact on the young lieutenant. "We were on patrol one day outside Da Nang, and Guido was killed by a sniper," Pace said. "As I stayed with him, a sense of rage came through me, and as the platoon leader, I started calling an artillery strike on the village where the round had been fired.
"My platoon sergeant, who was my age – 21 or 22 -- didn't say anything at all," Pace said. "He just looked at me. And I knew in the look that he gave me that what I was doing was wrong."
Pace called off the strike and led the platoon to do what he should have done in the first place – a dismounted sweep of the village. "We found nothing but women and children," he said. "Had that artillery strike been conducted, I do not know how I could have possibly lived with myself."
The lesson for Pace was immediate. "Regardless what you do in your life, hold on to your moral compass," he said. "When you are emotionally least capable of defending yourself is when the biggest challenge will come. If you don't have an idea of what you will let yourself do and what you will not let yourself do, you may find that you have done something that you would never believe yourself capable of doing."
He said his epiphany came in combat, but it doesn't have to. "I learned that day, to think through what was going to be happening each day thereafter, and to think through what I would allow myself to do and not do," he said.
It could come in a meeting, a test, a temptation, whatever. "If you have thought through who you want to be at the end of each day, you will see that person," he said. "But, if you have not, you may not like the person you end up being."
This was one way the lance corporal's life changed the young officer's life. Guido Farinaro and all the other Marines who died following his orders made Pace realize what he should do with his life.
Pace never received a scratch during his 13-month tour in Vietnam. Farinaro was standing next to Pace when he was shot by the sniper. Another Marine was walking in front of Pace when another sniper shot and killed that Marine instead of Pace. "Some died, others did not. I still truly do not understand," he said. "But because of Guido and the others I lost, I determined that I would continue to serve in the Marine Corps until I was no longer needed, and to try to serve in a way that paid respect to their lives."
Pace said he was determined to give those Marines and servicemembers in his charge what he could not longer give to the men he had lost, and that he built his military career around that idea.
And as he faces the conclusion of his four decades of service when he retires at the end of the month, Pace said that was the last lesson he learned from the young Marines he commanded.
"I'm very calm about what comes next because of what I learned from Guido and Guido's death, which is we don't control when we're going to die. We do control how we live," he said. "In every disappointment there is a new door of opportunity. Every time in my adult life, when something happened that I wished had not happened, or I did not get what I thought I should get, in retrospect has turned out to be a blessing.
"I am not a volunteer to leave the armed forces of the United States," he continued. "I still owe Guido and his fellow Marines, and now so many others, more than I can ever repay."
Pace told the young men that he has no idea what he will do in the future, but that it will include another opportunity to serve. He asked the young men to serve, too.
"I ask you to embrace the path that God lays out for you: do the very best you can on that path and take care of the people near you who look to you for leadership," he said.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Senior NCO: 'Capacity Building' Begins With Enlisted Force
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 18, 2007 - While Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, was here today meeting with senior Tongan military and government officials, his senior enlisted leader, who had accompanied the admiral, was noticeably absent. Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. James A. Roy frequently joins Keating during overseas meetings to explain how the U.S. military trains, equips and develops its enlisted force as leaders.
But, Roy said, Tonga already has a keen appreciation of the value of a strong enlisted force and noncommissioned officer corps, and an effort is afoot to professionalize the country's NCO corps.
So rather than preaching to the choir in military headquarters buildings, Roy spent his time here out in the field, checking on Tonga's progress. He visited with Tongan soldiers, sailors and Marines, observed troops going through basic training, walked through the Marine Corps barracks, and checked out the hangar that houses Tonga's tiny air force fleet.
"I'm impressed by what I've seen in Tonga, that commanders are giving (enlisted members) the responsibilities and authorities they need to lead the force," he said.
Just two and a half months into the job as PACOM's top NCO, Roy said he sees an increasing recognition within the Asia-Pacific theater of just how much the enlisted corps can bring to the mission.
Some regional countries haven't let go of the old mindset that strong NCOs diminish the authority of the officer corps, Roy conceded. "It doesn't. It compounds that authority," he said. "And that's what more militaries are realizing."
Mongolia, for example, has left behind its old Soviet-style military structure, investing training funds to develop its enlisted troops into leaders, he said. The Philippines are going through "complete reform" in professionalizing their force. Japan has made "huge strides," Roy said.
The U.S. military works closely with these countries to offer assistance. Foreign troops attend U.S. military schools and NCO academies. American NCOs train foreign servicemembers who return home to train other troops. The United States and its allies train together through military exercises around the world.
When he visits with foreign militaries interested in strengthening their NCO corps, Roy emphasizes there's no one-size-fits-all formula. Even the United States, which stands alongside Australia and New Zealand on the leading edge of NCO professionalism, has no one system for developing NCOs, he said.
In August, when a group of Malaysian officers visited the PACOM headquarters to talk about their enlisted force, Roy pointed to differences in the four U.S. armed services' NCO academy programs. "I told them that when you go out and visit our services, you will see different ways of doing it, all very successful in what they are accomplishing," he said.
As the United States helps other nations work to achieve similar successes within their own militaries, Roy said, it's also helping to build stronger regional partners.
This effort, called "capacity building," is critical for these partners to be able to carry out missions ranging from peacekeeping to humanitarian responses together.
But it's particularly important, he said, in light of pressing threats they face, particularly in the global war on terror.
"This is something we as a nation can't do alone. It's beyond our capability," Roy said. "Succeeding will take many nations working together and contributing to the effort. And as we help strengthen our partners, we're building the capacity that's needed to confront the threat."
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 18, 2007 - While Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, was here today meeting with senior Tongan military and government officials, his senior enlisted leader, who had accompanied the admiral, was noticeably absent. Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. James A. Roy frequently joins Keating during overseas meetings to explain how the U.S. military trains, equips and develops its enlisted force as leaders.
But, Roy said, Tonga already has a keen appreciation of the value of a strong enlisted force and noncommissioned officer corps, and an effort is afoot to professionalize the country's NCO corps.
So rather than preaching to the choir in military headquarters buildings, Roy spent his time here out in the field, checking on Tonga's progress. He visited with Tongan soldiers, sailors and Marines, observed troops going through basic training, walked through the Marine Corps barracks, and checked out the hangar that houses Tonga's tiny air force fleet.
"I'm impressed by what I've seen in Tonga, that commanders are giving (enlisted members) the responsibilities and authorities they need to lead the force," he said.
Just two and a half months into the job as PACOM's top NCO, Roy said he sees an increasing recognition within the Asia-Pacific theater of just how much the enlisted corps can bring to the mission.
Some regional countries haven't let go of the old mindset that strong NCOs diminish the authority of the officer corps, Roy conceded. "It doesn't. It compounds that authority," he said. "And that's what more militaries are realizing."
Mongolia, for example, has left behind its old Soviet-style military structure, investing training funds to develop its enlisted troops into leaders, he said. The Philippines are going through "complete reform" in professionalizing their force. Japan has made "huge strides," Roy said.
The U.S. military works closely with these countries to offer assistance. Foreign troops attend U.S. military schools and NCO academies. American NCOs train foreign servicemembers who return home to train other troops. The United States and its allies train together through military exercises around the world.
When he visits with foreign militaries interested in strengthening their NCO corps, Roy emphasizes there's no one-size-fits-all formula. Even the United States, which stands alongside Australia and New Zealand on the leading edge of NCO professionalism, has no one system for developing NCOs, he said.
In August, when a group of Malaysian officers visited the PACOM headquarters to talk about their enlisted force, Roy pointed to differences in the four U.S. armed services' NCO academy programs. "I told them that when you go out and visit our services, you will see different ways of doing it, all very successful in what they are accomplishing," he said.
As the United States helps other nations work to achieve similar successes within their own militaries, Roy said, it's also helping to build stronger regional partners.
This effort, called "capacity building," is critical for these partners to be able to carry out missions ranging from peacekeeping to humanitarian responses together.
But it's particularly important, he said, in light of pressing threats they face, particularly in the global war on terror.
"This is something we as a nation can't do alone. It's beyond our capability," Roy said. "Succeeding will take many nations working together and contributing to the effort. And as we help strengthen our partners, we're building the capacity that's needed to confront the threat."
Gates Reflects On 60 Years of Modern Military, DoD Effectiveness
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 18, 2007 - Six decades ago, the United States' armed forces were retrofitted to better face challenges that emerged after World War II, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today in a memorandum honoring servicemembers and civilians in support of U.S. missions through the years. The National Security Act of 1947 gave shape to the modern Defense Department. Sixty years ago yesterday, James V. Forrestal -- Gates' earliest predecessor -- was sworn in as the first secretary of defense.
"On this 60th anniversary it is fitting that we recognize our vital military establishment and the men and women of the Department, military and civilian, who have served us so well and are so deserving of the respect and gratitude of the nation," Gates wrote in the memorandum.
To strengthen bonds between service branches, the act placed the Army, Navy and the newly-created Air Force departments, plus the Joint Chiefs of Staff, under the defense secretary. Gates said increasing cooperation among branches remained a constant theme as the Defense Department has evolved to a present-day posture that relies heavily on joint operations.
Today, the Defense Department is the largest U.S. government institution and serves as the nation's "ultimate protector," Gates said. Able people working within a sound organizational structure are responsible for the department's effectiveness, he said.
"In answering the nation's call to duty, whether at home in response to natural disasters or abroad in the defense of freedom, the Department of Defense has always been a 'can do' institution that has risen to the many and varied challenges of its complex and indispensable mission," Gates said.
The secretary lauded the exemplary work of prior military members and Defense Department personnel.
"As we reflect on the past sixty years," he said, "let us resolve to honor the memory of those who came before us by recommitting ourselves to ever greater levels of military effectiveness and efficiency for this department in service to the nation."
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 18, 2007 - Six decades ago, the United States' armed forces were retrofitted to better face challenges that emerged after World War II, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today in a memorandum honoring servicemembers and civilians in support of U.S. missions through the years. The National Security Act of 1947 gave shape to the modern Defense Department. Sixty years ago yesterday, James V. Forrestal -- Gates' earliest predecessor -- was sworn in as the first secretary of defense.
"On this 60th anniversary it is fitting that we recognize our vital military establishment and the men and women of the Department, military and civilian, who have served us so well and are so deserving of the respect and gratitude of the nation," Gates wrote in the memorandum.
To strengthen bonds between service branches, the act placed the Army, Navy and the newly-created Air Force departments, plus the Joint Chiefs of Staff, under the defense secretary. Gates said increasing cooperation among branches remained a constant theme as the Defense Department has evolved to a present-day posture that relies heavily on joint operations.
Today, the Defense Department is the largest U.S. government institution and serves as the nation's "ultimate protector," Gates said. Able people working within a sound organizational structure are responsible for the department's effectiveness, he said.
"In answering the nation's call to duty, whether at home in response to natural disasters or abroad in the defense of freedom, the Department of Defense has always been a 'can do' institution that has risen to the many and varied challenges of its complex and indispensable mission," Gates said.
The secretary lauded the exemplary work of prior military members and Defense Department personnel.
"As we reflect on the past sixty years," he said, "let us resolve to honor the memory of those who came before us by recommitting ourselves to ever greater levels of military effectiveness and efficiency for this department in service to the nation."
Dod Permanently Discontinues Procurement Of Global Positioning System Selective Availability
The Department of Defense announced today that it intends to stop procuring Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites with the capability to intentionally degrade the accuracy of civil signals.
This capability, known as Selective Availability (SA), will no longer be present in the next generation of GPS satellites. Although the United States stopped the intentional degradation of GPS satellite signals by setting SA levels to zero in May 2000, this action to permanently remove SA eliminates a source of uncertainty in GPS performance that has been of concern to civil GPS users worldwide for some time. While this action will not materially improve the performance of the system, it does reflect the United States' strong commitment to users by reinforcing that this global utility can be counted on to support peaceful civil applications around the globe.
The decision to remove the capability from the next generation GPS satellites was approved by the President after a recommendation from DoD. The move coincides with the U.S. Air Force's solicitation to purchase the next generation of GPS satellites known as GPS III.
GPS is a dual-use, satellite-based system that provides accurate positioning, navigation and timing information to users worldwide. Originally developed by the Department of Defense as a military system, GPS has become a global utility. It benefits users around the world in many different applications, including aviation, road, marine and rail navigation, telecommunications, emergency response, resource exploration, mining and construction, financial transactions and many more.
This capability, known as Selective Availability (SA), will no longer be present in the next generation of GPS satellites. Although the United States stopped the intentional degradation of GPS satellite signals by setting SA levels to zero in May 2000, this action to permanently remove SA eliminates a source of uncertainty in GPS performance that has been of concern to civil GPS users worldwide for some time. While this action will not materially improve the performance of the system, it does reflect the United States' strong commitment to users by reinforcing that this global utility can be counted on to support peaceful civil applications around the globe.
The decision to remove the capability from the next generation GPS satellites was approved by the President after a recommendation from DoD. The move coincides with the U.S. Air Force's solicitation to purchase the next generation of GPS satellites known as GPS III.
GPS is a dual-use, satellite-based system that provides accurate positioning, navigation and timing information to users worldwide. Originally developed by the Department of Defense as a military system, GPS has become a global utility. It benefits users around the world in many different applications, including aviation, road, marine and rail navigation, telecommunications, emergency response, resource exploration, mining and construction, financial transactions and many more.
60 Years Old Today, Air Force Is Nation's 'Sword and Shield,' Gates Says
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 18, 2007 - The nation has stood in awe of the U.S. Air Force's "bravery and endurance," dating from the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War's outset, through two wars in Asia and to today's global conflict, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today. During a ceremony in the Pentagon courtyard, Gates, a former airman, spoke to hundreds who gathered to celebrate the U.S. Air Force's 60-year anniversary. Currently, the Air Force boasts a 700,000-strong force with roughly 25,000 members deployed in 120 locations around the world.
"It is the men and women of the Air Force who have for so many years made this institution what it is: the sword and shield of the nation, its sentry and its avenger," Gates said, addressing past and present airmen in the audience.
The secretary said the modern Air Force evolved from man's inherent desire to fly.
"Ever since the dawn of civilization, the idea of flight has held an unshakeable grip on the human imagination," he said. "The myths of ancient Greece, the musings of great philosophers, the charcoal sketches of Leonardo da Vinci -- all illustrated a dream that one day mankind would travel in the skies and maybe even among the stars."
Through history, flight by man alternately has been heralded by romantics as a vision of the future or panned by cynics as the wild musings of overactive minds, the secretary said. When human flight was first realized by Orville and Wilbur Wright on Dec. 17, 1903 -- albeit in primitive, yet seminal, form -- the seeds of today's U.S. Air Force were planted, Gates said.
"That first tentative and halting foray into the sky by a heavier-than-air flying machine -- a mere 10 feet above the sands of Kitty Hawk, 120 feet across the dunes -- marked more than just the dawn of the Age of Flight," he said. "It also marked the beginning of the incredible journey that brings us here today in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the United States Air Force."
The secretary noted that Army Brig. Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell -- often regarded as the father of the U.S. Air Force -- gained notoriety in the early 20th century for asserting the controversial proposal that aircraft be adopted by the U.S. military. "He did so with great fervor and little tact. Senior officers took to calling him the "Kookaburra," an Australian bird more commonly known as the "laughing jackass," Gates told the audience members, who broke into laughter.
Mitchell's protege Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold realized his mentor's vision years later, becoming the first and only five-star general of the Air Force in 1949. "People would often say Billy Mitchell was years ahead of his time, but many would forget how it was also true," Arnold was quoted as saying after Mitchell's death.
"Since then and throughout the 60-year history of the Air Force," Gates said, "the American people have stood in awe as airmen continued to push the limits of bravery and endurance, as they crashed through the sound barrier many times over, and extended the range, scope and nature of air missions beyond what anyone could have imagined."
The secretary thanked special guests in the audience. They included aviators who flew in Vietnam and Korea; representatives of the Tuskegee Airmen, a corps of African-American pilots who broke the color barrier before the Air Force broke the sound barrier; and female cadets who symbolized the service's gender parity. "Many had to defy personal fears. Others had to defy societal prejudice. All demonstrated unflagging devotion. They are examples for us all," the secretary said.
Gates expressed optimism for the Air Force's future and praised cadets for their service to the United States.
"As we look back on everything that has made this birthday possible, let us also look forward to many more birthdays as the Air Force continues its dominance of air, space and cyberspace," he said. "You represent the best our military, and our nation has to offer, a long and distinguished heritage of courage and endless horizons of innovation."
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 18, 2007 - The nation has stood in awe of the U.S. Air Force's "bravery and endurance," dating from the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War's outset, through two wars in Asia and to today's global conflict, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today. During a ceremony in the Pentagon courtyard, Gates, a former airman, spoke to hundreds who gathered to celebrate the U.S. Air Force's 60-year anniversary. Currently, the Air Force boasts a 700,000-strong force with roughly 25,000 members deployed in 120 locations around the world.
"It is the men and women of the Air Force who have for so many years made this institution what it is: the sword and shield of the nation, its sentry and its avenger," Gates said, addressing past and present airmen in the audience.
The secretary said the modern Air Force evolved from man's inherent desire to fly.
"Ever since the dawn of civilization, the idea of flight has held an unshakeable grip on the human imagination," he said. "The myths of ancient Greece, the musings of great philosophers, the charcoal sketches of Leonardo da Vinci -- all illustrated a dream that one day mankind would travel in the skies and maybe even among the stars."
Through history, flight by man alternately has been heralded by romantics as a vision of the future or panned by cynics as the wild musings of overactive minds, the secretary said. When human flight was first realized by Orville and Wilbur Wright on Dec. 17, 1903 -- albeit in primitive, yet seminal, form -- the seeds of today's U.S. Air Force were planted, Gates said.
"That first tentative and halting foray into the sky by a heavier-than-air flying machine -- a mere 10 feet above the sands of Kitty Hawk, 120 feet across the dunes -- marked more than just the dawn of the Age of Flight," he said. "It also marked the beginning of the incredible journey that brings us here today in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the United States Air Force."
The secretary noted that Army Brig. Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell -- often regarded as the father of the U.S. Air Force -- gained notoriety in the early 20th century for asserting the controversial proposal that aircraft be adopted by the U.S. military. "He did so with great fervor and little tact. Senior officers took to calling him the "Kookaburra," an Australian bird more commonly known as the "laughing jackass," Gates told the audience members, who broke into laughter.
Mitchell's protege Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold realized his mentor's vision years later, becoming the first and only five-star general of the Air Force in 1949. "People would often say Billy Mitchell was years ahead of his time, but many would forget how it was also true," Arnold was quoted as saying after Mitchell's death.
"Since then and throughout the 60-year history of the Air Force," Gates said, "the American people have stood in awe as airmen continued to push the limits of bravery and endurance, as they crashed through the sound barrier many times over, and extended the range, scope and nature of air missions beyond what anyone could have imagined."
The secretary thanked special guests in the audience. They included aviators who flew in Vietnam and Korea; representatives of the Tuskegee Airmen, a corps of African-American pilots who broke the color barrier before the Air Force broke the sound barrier; and female cadets who symbolized the service's gender parity. "Many had to defy personal fears. Others had to defy societal prejudice. All demonstrated unflagging devotion. They are examples for us all," the secretary said.
Gates expressed optimism for the Air Force's future and praised cadets for their service to the United States.
"As we look back on everything that has made this birthday possible, let us also look forward to many more birthdays as the Air Force continues its dominance of air, space and cyberspace," he said. "You represent the best our military, and our nation has to offer, a long and distinguished heritage of courage and endless horizons of innovation."
Department of Defense Garners Awards for Ozone Sustainment
The U.S. Department of Defense and individual military services are being honored with multiple awards from the United Nations Environmental Programme and by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency for advancements in ozone sustainment. The awards come as part of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol, considered as one of the most successful environmental treaties of all time
The "Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer," is designed to protect the ozone layer by freezing the use and production of ozone-depleting substances, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and halons, because these compounds significantly damage the stratospheric ozone layer. Today, 191 countries have signed the treaty.
The Defense Department made major contributions to the success of this treaty. Despite having some of the most demanding requirements for the use of CFC refrigerants and halon fire suppressants, DOD has spearheaded research, development, and testing efforts to identify suitable alternatives, and has one of the most aggressive and effective ozone-depleting substances phase-out programs in the world. As a result, since 1989, DOD has reduced usage of ozone damaging substances from over 12 million pounds down to less than half a million pounds, a 96 percent reduction.
The full list of United Nations awards that are being presented to the DOD and military services can be found at: http://ozone.unep.org/Public_Information/4C_PublicInfo_Awards.shtml.
The "Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer," is designed to protect the ozone layer by freezing the use and production of ozone-depleting substances, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and halons, because these compounds significantly damage the stratospheric ozone layer. Today, 191 countries have signed the treaty.
The Defense Department made major contributions to the success of this treaty. Despite having some of the most demanding requirements for the use of CFC refrigerants and halon fire suppressants, DOD has spearheaded research, development, and testing efforts to identify suitable alternatives, and has one of the most aggressive and effective ozone-depleting substances phase-out programs in the world. As a result, since 1989, DOD has reduced usage of ozone damaging substances from over 12 million pounds down to less than half a million pounds, a 96 percent reduction.
The full list of United Nations awards that are being presented to the DOD and military services can be found at: http://ozone.unep.org/Public_Information/4C_PublicInfo_Awards.shtml.
Gates Presents 'Realist's View of Promoting Democracy Abroad'
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 17, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates presented his "realist's view" of promoting democracy abroad during a speech delivered at the World Forum on the Future of Democracy here today. Gates said democratic reform takes time, and to abandon Iraq would be a setback for freedom and stability in the region, and it would not be in the United States' best interest.
"For America to leave Iraq and the Middle East in chaos would betray and demoralize our allies there and in the region, while emboldening our most dangerous adversaries," Gates said. "To abandon an Iraq where just two years ago 12 million people quite literally risked their lives to vote for a constitutional democracy would be an offense to our interests as well as our values, a setback for the cause of freedom as well as the goal of stability."
The secretary spoke to a group of international delegates, scholars and leaders gathered for the World Forum on the Future of Democracy. The final conference in a yearlong series, the World Forum brought together top leaders from 16 countries to examine the global advance of democracy, its challenges and prospects.
Gates told the group that the United States must balance its practical and ideological interests in its efforts to spread democracy.
While not specific about a timeline in Iraq, he said it could take "many years or decades" for democratic values to take hold across the globe. He added that Americans should look to the United States' early years when becoming impatient with progress in other regions.
"We would do well to be mindful of the turbulence of our own early history as we contemplate the challenges facing contemporary fledgling democracies struggling to find their footing," Gates said. "Four hundred years removed from those early days, it is all too easy to forget about these stormy beginnings."
And, Gates said, the United States cannot allow what may appear to be discouraging progress to dissuade its idealistic goals.
"Though achievement of the ideal may be limited by time, space, resources, or human nature, we must not allow ourselves to discard or disparage the ideal itself. It is vital that we speak out about what we believe and let the world know where we stand. It is vital that we give hope and aid to those who seek freedom," he said.
Gates called Afghanistan a litmus test of whether an alliance of advanced democracies can still make sacrifices and meet commitments to promote democracy. He said that America and its allies want stability in the region that was once home to al Qaeda and "one of the most oppressive governments in the world." But, some are now reluctant to dedicate the resources and forces to the region.
"For our friends and allies, as well as for our enemies and potential adversaries, our commitment to democratic values must be matched by actions," the secretary said. "It would be a mark of shame on all of us if an alliance built on the foundation of democratic values were to falter at the very moment that it tries to lay that foundation for democracy elsewhere, especially in a mission that is crucial to our own security."
During the 20-minute speech, Gates joked about his own self-described pessimism while serving in intelligence. And, today -- with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an ambitious and fanatical theocracy in Iran, a nuclear North Korea and terrorism -- there would seem to be ample grounds for pessimism, Gates said.
But, from a wider perspective, there has been record growth in human freedom since 1989, he said.
"Hundreds of millions of people -- from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, to South Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere -- have been liberated; they have left the darkness of despotism and walked into the bright sunshine of freedom," Gates said. "Many have seized the opportunity, and freedom has prospered and strengthened. Others liberated from the yoke of tyrannical ideologies or dictators continue to struggle to fully realize the dream. At no time in history, though, has freedom come to so many in so short a time."
In every case, the United States played a role in their liberation, he said.
Gates said the underlying theme of American history is that we are compelled to defend our security and our interests in ways that, in the long run, lead to the spread of democratic values and institutions.
"The spread of liberty both manifests our ideals and protects our interests. In making the world safe for democracy, we are also the champion and vindicator of our own," he said.
The secretary acknowledged the price America has paid for its own freedoms and those of others.
"It is our country's tragedy and our glory that the tender shoots of freedom around the world for so many decades have been so often nourished with American blood," he said.
American Forces Press Service
Sept. 17, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates presented his "realist's view" of promoting democracy abroad during a speech delivered at the World Forum on the Future of Democracy here today. Gates said democratic reform takes time, and to abandon Iraq would be a setback for freedom and stability in the region, and it would not be in the United States' best interest.
"For America to leave Iraq and the Middle East in chaos would betray and demoralize our allies there and in the region, while emboldening our most dangerous adversaries," Gates said. "To abandon an Iraq where just two years ago 12 million people quite literally risked their lives to vote for a constitutional democracy would be an offense to our interests as well as our values, a setback for the cause of freedom as well as the goal of stability."
The secretary spoke to a group of international delegates, scholars and leaders gathered for the World Forum on the Future of Democracy. The final conference in a yearlong series, the World Forum brought together top leaders from 16 countries to examine the global advance of democracy, its challenges and prospects.
Gates told the group that the United States must balance its practical and ideological interests in its efforts to spread democracy.
While not specific about a timeline in Iraq, he said it could take "many years or decades" for democratic values to take hold across the globe. He added that Americans should look to the United States' early years when becoming impatient with progress in other regions.
"We would do well to be mindful of the turbulence of our own early history as we contemplate the challenges facing contemporary fledgling democracies struggling to find their footing," Gates said. "Four hundred years removed from those early days, it is all too easy to forget about these stormy beginnings."
And, Gates said, the United States cannot allow what may appear to be discouraging progress to dissuade its idealistic goals.
"Though achievement of the ideal may be limited by time, space, resources, or human nature, we must not allow ourselves to discard or disparage the ideal itself. It is vital that we speak out about what we believe and let the world know where we stand. It is vital that we give hope and aid to those who seek freedom," he said.
Gates called Afghanistan a litmus test of whether an alliance of advanced democracies can still make sacrifices and meet commitments to promote democracy. He said that America and its allies want stability in the region that was once home to al Qaeda and "one of the most oppressive governments in the world." But, some are now reluctant to dedicate the resources and forces to the region.
"For our friends and allies, as well as for our enemies and potential adversaries, our commitment to democratic values must be matched by actions," the secretary said. "It would be a mark of shame on all of us if an alliance built on the foundation of democratic values were to falter at the very moment that it tries to lay that foundation for democracy elsewhere, especially in a mission that is crucial to our own security."
During the 20-minute speech, Gates joked about his own self-described pessimism while serving in intelligence. And, today -- with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an ambitious and fanatical theocracy in Iran, a nuclear North Korea and terrorism -- there would seem to be ample grounds for pessimism, Gates said.
But, from a wider perspective, there has been record growth in human freedom since 1989, he said.
"Hundreds of millions of people -- from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, to South Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere -- have been liberated; they have left the darkness of despotism and walked into the bright sunshine of freedom," Gates said. "Many have seized the opportunity, and freedom has prospered and strengthened. Others liberated from the yoke of tyrannical ideologies or dictators continue to struggle to fully realize the dream. At no time in history, though, has freedom come to so many in so short a time."
In every case, the United States played a role in their liberation, he said.
Gates said the underlying theme of American history is that we are compelled to defend our security and our interests in ways that, in the long run, lead to the spread of democratic values and institutions.
"The spread of liberty both manifests our ideals and protects our interests. In making the world safe for democracy, we are also the champion and vindicator of our own," he said.
The secretary acknowledged the price America has paid for its own freedoms and those of others.
"It is our country's tragedy and our glory that the tender shoots of freedom around the world for so many decades have been so often nourished with American blood," he said.
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