PP12 Surgeons Provide Unique Service Aboard Mercy

USNS MERCY, At Sea (NNS) -- Surgeons aboard Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) provided a unique and relevant service to Pacific Partnership 2012 (PP12) participants in the form of minor surgeries, Aug. 14.

During the transit from the mission's final port in Cambodia to Guam, service members were able to request various surgeries to be performed on Mercy.

"A lot of the surgeries were minor cases from the removal of small lumps and bumps to orthopedic cases," said Cmdr. Matthew Provencher, a general surgeon aboard Mercy. "These were all cases that improve function and also help that individual return with the highest mission readiness possible."

Provencher said the reason behind offering the surgeries was to say thank you to the hard work the crew put in during the PP12 mission.

"We have the best that the armed forces has to offer in terms of surgical and nursing expertise and we thought it would be a great opportunity to offer elective surgery to the crew on a limited basis in terms of the complexity of the procedure goes," he said. "It was a small way of saying thank you to everyone that helped care for all of our patients throughout the mission."

Cpl. Aaron Morice, a surgery recipient, said the surgery was a new and welcomed experience.

"I didn't really think I would go on the ship as part of the mission and then be a part of the mission by getting surgery," he said. "It is definitely a privilege and for the crew, it is more secondhand because we were out here for the host nations to help them. It is nice to be able to get something removed that has been an annoyance for a year."

Provencher said the surgeries were an opportunity to finish the mission strong.

"I think this was a great opportunity to leverage a little bit of downtime and also capitalize on our surgical, nursing and technician expertise in order to provide a very good service to the crew," he said. "It helped us go full circle with the mission and get back to working with our normal patient populations for when we go back to our parent commands."

This service allowed service members to receive surgeries during downtime so when they return to their parent commands, they will not miss work.

Mercy's crew is now finished with working ports which included Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia in support of PP12. While at the mission ports, patients were provided free medical, dental and optometry care along with veterinary care for pets and livestock.

Now in its seventh year, Pacific Partnership is an annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance mission U.S. military, host and partner nations, non-governmental organizations and international agencies designed to build stronger relationships and disaster response capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Stay Alert, Stay Alive

By Capt. Michelle Baer

Wisconsin Army National Guard

Recent mass shootings at a movie theater in Colorado and Sikh Temple in Wisconsin may have you concerned about public safety and while all acts of violence aren’t necessary signs of terrorism, we in the military are taught to stay alert.

One such avenue is through annual Antiterrorism Awareness Training. But is it effective? For me, I would say “yes”. However, if you quizzed me on the eight signs of terrorism, I would fail.

The Army training model is repetition. Antiterrorism training is no different. Soldiers go through an hour of antiterrorism training every year. One of the goals is to ensure that Soldiers maintain situational awareness at all times. In a high-stress situation, you will always revert back to your training.

I have taken the antiterrorism training at least 10 times. Now when I sit in a restaurant, I naturally choose the seat facing the door. When I eat with my husband he also wants to face the door so I occasionally give him the better seat. However, we both want the seat for the same reason; in order to maintain situational awareness.

Situational awareness is knowing who and what are around you and having a plan to react in case of an emergency. I know that I stand out from the crowd when I wear the uniform and I understand that I could become a target. It is something I do not take lightly.

As I was leaving a busy Department of Motor Vehicle office, someone was walking about five paces behind me. Before I joined the Army, I would not have thought twice about someone walking behind me. However, after 10 years of antiterrorism training, I discreetly stepped into the grass adjusted my boot laces and waited for the person to pass.

Awareness is your first line of defense. Most people think of kicks to the groin and blocking punches when they hear the term “self-defense.” However, true self-defense begins long before any actual physical contact. The first, and probably most important, component in self-defense is awareness: awareness of yourself, your surroundings and your potential attacker’s likely strategies.

The criminal’s primary strategy is to use the advantage of surprise. Criminals are adept at choosing targets that appear to be unaware of what is going on around them. By being aware of your surroundings and by projecting a “force presence,” many altercations which are commonplace on the street can be avoided.

It is easy to discard antiterrorism training as a check-the-box requirement that we, as service members, need to do year-after-year. But for the sake of you and your loved ones, you should take it seriously and be aware because you never know when something tragic can happen.

Reintegration Support and Why It Matters

By U.S. Public Health Service Lt. Cmdr. Dana Lee

DCoE licensed clinical social worker

Deployment support programs initially focused on the needs of service members in the pre-deployment phase as they trained and prepared for deployment. With the progression of combat operations during the past 11 years, our understanding of deployment-related challenges for service members, veterans and families is better understood, and the importance of the actual deployment and post-deployment phases is also more apparent.

Reintegration is the process of transitioning back into personal and organizational roles after a deployment. It’s often seen as a series of positive events as the service member reunites with family and friends. However, it can also be associated with increased tension and difficulties readjusting to stateside roles, new family routines and changes at work — all of which can affect a service member’s ability to transition smoothly back to home life.

We now know, it’s common for service members to return from a deployment changed, shaped by their experiences. To help improve our understanding of the issues service members and their families face post-deployment, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) developed, “A Review of Post-Deployment Reintegration: Evidence, Challenges and Strategies for Program Development.” This report addresses the need for greater understanding of the factors that promote positive reintegration experiences and the importance of support resources during this process.

As important facilitators of the reintegration experience, military leaders, program managers and health care providers will benefit from recommendations that help them define and evaluate support resources across populations and services, a method currently lacking in consensus. A DCoE review of reintegration literature and support resources includes the following recommendations:

■Develop a cross-service, cross-agency definition and approach to reintegration policies and directives

■Implement an integrated approach to reintegration

■Improve access to behavioral health services, education and resources

■Conduct assessments of non-clinical needs (e.g., family support or counseling, finance assistance or counseling)

■Develop and implement reintegration assessment procedures and metrics

The Total Force Fitness model of readiness, resilience and performance informed the DCoE selection of information and resources on the reintegration process and relevant reintegration issues, and suggestions for further resource development to help service members and their families navigate the post-deployment period.

Undoubtedly, the challenges that today’s active-duty military members experience as they reintegrate to life stateside are unique and complex; even more so, for members of the reserve component. And as the military drawdown and plans to reduce the force continues to unfold, it’s now more important than ever for leaders at all levels to provide a unified, sustainable and integrated approach to support the reintegration needs of service members, veterans and families.

Kentucky Army National Guard Soldiers fast rope into training

By Army Sgt. David Bolton

1133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

ARTEMUS, Ky.  - Artillery simulators, grenades, convoy attacks, casualty evacuations and fast roping from UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were all part of the training that Soldiers of the Kentucky Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment experienced at the Harold L. Disney Training Center outside Barbourville, Ky.

“A lot of these guys are new recruits fresh out of basic, so it’s good training for them,” said Sgt. 1st Class Dennis Bumgardner, with B Company, 1st Bn., 149th Inf. Regt.

 The training these Soldiers received was not just to improve their skills in various fieldcrafts, but also to prepare them for stressful combat situations.

“We want these guys to get a feeling of what combat is like,” said Spc. Thomas D. Gross, an indirect-fire infantryman and acting trainer with Company A, 1st Bn., 149th Inf. Regt. “Being here lets us spend more time with the new guys and gives us a chance to train them to be comfortable under stress.”

Adding to the stress, daily rain showers kept the training areas constantly muddy. Grass, mud, and water covered their uniforms as the Soldiers crawled under barbed-wire obstacles, ran through the soggy underbrush and dangled from ropes in the cloudy skies.

 To enhance their training, Soldiers from another Kentucky Army Guard unit—the 2nd Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment—augmented the infantry Soldiers by providing the aircraft and aerial support for casualty evacuations and fast rope insertions and extractions, which for many Soldiers added to the excitement of the training and brought it all together.

“The training gets us where we need to be,” said Army Pfc. Markus W. Higgs, an infantryman with B Co., 1st Bn., 149th Inf. Regt. “It’s nice to be able to get a sense of the heat of the moment.”

Louisiana Air National Guard Airmen react quickly, save the lives of three boaters

By Air Force 1st Lt. Alex Juan

159th Fighter Wing

NEW ORLEANS – It was supposed to be a relaxing day for members of the Louisiana Air National Guard’s 159th Security Forces Squadron. During down time while taking part in training exercises at Volk Field, Wis., several members of the squadron rented a boat to spend time out on nearby Castle Rock Lake.

They anchored their boat near an island to fish and relax and, said squadron members, after a few hours, another boat with a group of women celebrating a bachelorette party anchored up near them.

One of the women jumped into the shallow water and quickly surfaced covered in blood and screaming in pain. A second person on the boat also jumped into the water, but surfaced motionless.

 “My first thought was that this isn’t good,” said Senior Airman Raenell M. Dubroc. “I honestly thought she might be dead.”

In total, seven Airmen rushed to render aid to the woman. Tech. Sgt. Edward J. Griffin, a trained medic, was credited with creative, quick thinking by ensuring the victim was stabilized and calm throughout the rescue.

“We used her arms to stabilize her spine, rolled her over and lifted her onto the boat,” said Griffin, adding that a life vest was used as a make shift cervical collar and other floatation devices were used to stabilize her body.

Griffin then assessed the patient’s condition.

“I conducted a neurological assessment and knew it was critical to get medical attention immediately,” said Griffin, who, from his responsibilities during the training event, knew there was limited medical response in the area. He said the boat ride seemed to take a long time as they were trying to keep the ride slow and steady to not further injure the woman.

 Griffin stayed with the patient as others in her party piloted the boat to shore. Squadron members followed behind in their own boat.

Senior Airman Steven Mehrtens, 159th SFS fire team leader, from Metairie, La., spoke

During the ride to shore, another member of the bachelorette party fell from the boat while calling for local emergency response. That individual suffered a head injury in the fall and was also rescued from the water by squadron members.

The Airmen said it was their training that kicked in and helped their response that day. 

“It’s not something that I think about on a daily basis …  how all of this training makes me a better person, but now that this happened, I am glad that I know how to react,” said Senior Airman Jared M Vignes.

 The injured woman, Katie Wahl Johnson, fractured two vertebrae in her neck, shattered a third and sustained a spinal cord injury. She was airlifted to the University of Wisconsin Hospital where she underwent a six-hour surgery. She was then sent to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago for recovery.

The accident left Johnson paralyzed from the chest down and with partial use of her hands, but she said she is incredibly grateful to the Airmen who she says saved her life.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s father, Bill Wahl, tracked down those who helped his daughter on that day. He persistently contacted the training center and recently made contact with the squadron commander.

“I just want to thank them for saving my daughter’s life,” said Wahl. “The timing of their response, the way they protected her body … it maximized her opportunity to recover, and we are just so grateful.”

Johnson and her fiancé, Jeremy Johnson, were married at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

“It was a beautiful wedding,” said Wahl, adding that it is still very emotional for him to discuss the events but he is eternally grateful for the quick response of the Airmen.

'No Zebras, No Excuses' Bring Sexual Assault Awareness to Naval Base San Diego

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eddie Harrison, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- More than 500 Sailors at Naval Base San Diego attended a live performance, Aug. 14, in the base theater, to raise awareness about sexual assault and how to prevent it.

Performing on stage were students from the Central Michigan University (CMU) 'No Zebras, No Excuses' performance group, which acted out a variety of vignettes to address and recognize forms of assault and ask the audience questions such as: What will you do when it occurs? How would you make a difference?

"Our acts portray different areas of sexual aggression," said cast member Paul Carbini. "In between the vignettes, there is an explanation on what the audience saw and how to interpret and intervene on that situation. The training is not sugar-coated; we put it right in the audience's face."

The acts featured scenarios ranging from situations at parties to predators using alcohol and drugs to target individuals.

According to Stephen Thompson, CMU faculty member and sexual aggression services director, these situations are taken from hundreds of real life experiences.

"What if you or someone you loved were in a situation dealing with sexual assault?" Thompson asked. "What would you want done? These situations point out behaviors that cause a reasonable person to be uncomfortable, threatened, offended, intimidated and afraid."

"These incidents do not happen in a vacuum," said Thompson. "Other people know, but they just don't know what to do about it and that's why we are here. The first thing you have to do is notice behavior."

"Doing nothing is the zebra," said Thompson, referring to an earlier analogy of bystanders being similar to a herd of zebras. "You can't change what you were before you walked in those doors. You can change what you are now and what you are going to be after today. Choose not to be a zebra."

Some of the acts incorporated comedy and emotion to keep the audience members engaged.

"A lot of times I do training that sounds very scripted and people fade out," said Ensign Kelli Gardner, attendee and sexual assault prevention and response representative for USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49). "This seems like a way to engage people more, a better way to present situations."

As the performance came to a close the 12-member cast encompassed the entire theater and expressed messages ranging from sexual assault statistics to living up to the Navy's Core Values. But the final message asked the audience: Now that you know, what are you going to do?

Other stops along the Zebras' tour include USS Boxer (LHD 4), Aug. 15; and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Aug. 16-17.

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response is an element of the 21st Century Sailor and Marine initiative which consolidates a set of objectives and policies, to maximize Sailor and Marine personal readiness, build resiliency and hone the most combat-effective force in the history of the Navy and Marine Corps. The Department of the Navy is working aggressively to prevent sexual assaults, support sexual assault victims, and hold offenders accountable.

Help raise awareness by joining the conversation on social media using #SAAM.

Face of Defense: Marine Credits Success to Mentorship

By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Paul Peterson

2nd Marine Logistics Group

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Aug. 14, 2012 – He plays a cat-and-mouse game with explosives for a living, but accepting credit for his achievements makes him shift uneasily in his seat.

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Christopher P. Lukas, an explosive ordnance disposal team leader with 2nd EOD Company, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, swept the field to receive the Marine Corps Engineer Association’s 2012 EOD Technician of the Year award. It is for “the most outstanding contribution as an EOD Marine,” but Lukas isn’t sure it is solely his to accept.

For him, working with explosives is a family affair.

“We end up closer than brothers because of the way we have to operate in our career field,” said Lukas, who spent his youth traveling as part of a military family. “You basically know what the other individual thinks.”

He credits his achievements to the mentorship of fellow Marines such as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher West and Gunnery Sgts. Jonathan Key and William Isele. The names, Lukas said, are more than just past mentors -- they reflect how he thinks and who he is as a team leader today.

Their example taught him to step forward while others are backing away, Lukas explained. Leadership at all levels showed him how to think like his opponents and approach each situation with a plan. His leaders, he added, gave him the ability to adapt when the situation changed.

“We rely on each other so much that I think their names need to be on [the award],” said Lukas, struggling to explain why his name came out on top. “I’m not going to sit here and say I deserve something or not. I started out as Gunnery Sergeant Key’s team member for the last deployment, and all I did was what he trained me to do.”

His modest tone hid the fact that Lukas found a calling in the EOD field, which he joined after nearly eight years calibrating and repairing aviation equipment. The lessons of Key, West, Isele and many others found an open mind in Lukas, who claims a desire to learn as one of his greatest strengths.

“At the end of the day, I learned everything I know from those guys,” said Lukas, who found himself a team leader halfway through his last deployment. “The tables have somewhat turned. We’re sitting here, and I’m training some new guys. I continually find myself saying, ‘I learned this from that guy, or I learned that from this guy.’”

All that information came to a crossroads when he took on the role of team leader in Afghanistan, where strategy and the safety of his team members became his top priority. Lukas worked in an area rife with improvised explosive devices. He said he couldn’t turn away when the call to lead came.

“You live with them every day, and get to know their personalities,” said Lukas as he recalled the brotherhood and tragedies that thrust him into a leadership role. “Some of the best moments were just sitting and talking with those guys. Obviously, the worst were whenever someone got hurt.”

Lukas’ leadership responsibilities weighed heavily upon him. He took Key’s example to heart as he led Marines through the IED threats of Afghanistan, where Lukas found himself tempted to take on each hazard his team faced.

“Everybody looks at somebody else and thinks, ‘I could never do that,’” he said. “It basically boils down to your training and the people who are going to teach you what you need to know.”

Every name has a place on that award, Lukas said, adding that he could not do his job without the support of his EOD family in the field, just as he could not do it without the support of his wife and children at home. Each, he said, helped to shape and protect the Marine who received the award.

Defense Has Vital Role in Catastrophe Planning, Official Says

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2012 – The Defense Department makes valuable contributions in U.S. disaster preparedness planning, a senior defense official said today.

At a panel discussion sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, Paul N. Stockton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas’ security, addressed the role the Pentagon plays in disaster planning and response.

Thanks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Stockton said, he got “a big wake-up call” during a 2011 national exercise that simulated the events surrounding a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which touches on the states of Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

“That scenario would have produced destruction on a scale that would differ from Hurricane Katrina in two important dimensions,” he explained. “First of all, on a quantitative scale, we would have had many, many more casualties over a much wider geographic area.

“There’s a second dimension that I believe is even more important,” he continued. “A seismic event of that scale would produce a long-term loss of power -- a loss of electric power for weeks to months over a multistate region.” Such a power loss would result in the cascading failure of critical infrastructure, he said.

Gas stations would be closed, Stockton said. Water would be in short supply, because electric pumps are needed to draw water from aquifers hundreds of feet underground, and urban wildfires would rage through cities, he added.

The Defense Department’s challenge is how to better position itself to support civil authorities during disaster response activities, Stockton said. Building resilience against cascading failures of critical infrastructure -- even, as in the case of the electric grid, when it is owned by the private sector -- is essential to mission assurance, he said.

“Our responsibility to the Department of Defense is to ensure that we can still execute the core missions of the department that the president assigns to us, even if critical infrastructure goes down,” Stockton said.

It’s not a question of if a complex catastrophe will strike, he said, but when.

“We need to continue to improve our … capacity to provide support to civil authorities when the call comes,” Stockton said.

To that end, Stockton pointed to a new complex catastrophe initiative signed by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta that would enable DOD to bring all of its capabilities, from all components, to bear in support of civil authorities. The initiative will make defense support of civil authorities faster and more effective in delivering life-saving and life-sustaining requirements, Stockton said.

In addition to the DOD initiative, a presidential policy directive required revision and addition of national response and recovery plans, Stockton said, noting that the initiatives are intended to streamline disaster planning and disaster recovery.

“It’s enormously helpful to us that the administration has led the integration of all of these lines of effort, including recovery, that we knew were important, [and] that we knew where DOD could make important contributions, but we lacked an overarching policy framework,” he said.

“It’s great when you’re in support to be given the framework within which you’re going to be able to operate and be able to serve,” he added, “and that’s what we have today.”

Defense Has Vital Role in Catastrophe Planning, Official Says

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2012 – The Defense Department makes valuable contributions in U.S. disaster preparedness planning, a senior defense official said today.

At a panel discussion sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, Paul N. Stockton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas’ security, addressed the role the Pentagon plays in disaster planning and response.

Thanks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Stockton said, he got “a big wake-up call” during a 2011 national exercise that simulated the events surrounding a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which touches on the states of Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

“That scenario would have produced destruction on a scale that would differ from Hurricane Katrina in two important dimensions,” he explained. “First of all, on a quantitative scale, we would have had many, many more casualties over a much wider geographic area.

“There’s a second dimension that I believe is even more important,” he continued. “A seismic event of that scale would produce a long-term loss of power -- a loss of electric power for weeks to months over a multistate region.” Such a power loss would result in the cascading failure of critical infrastructure, he said.

Gas stations would be closed, Stockton said. Water would be in short supply, because electric pumps are needed to draw water from aquifers hundreds of feet underground, and urban wildfires would rage through cities, he added.

The Defense Department’s challenge is how to better position itself to support civil authorities during disaster response activities, Stockton said. Building resilience against cascading failures of critical infrastructure -- even, as in the case of the electric grid, when it is owned by the private sector -- is essential to mission assurance, he said.

“Our responsibility to the Department of Defense is to ensure that we can still execute the core missions of the department that the president assigns to us, even if critical infrastructure goes down,” Stockton said.

It’s not a question of if a complex catastrophe will strike, he said, but when.

“We need to continue to improve our … capacity to provide support to civil authorities when the call comes,” Stockton said.

To that end, Stockton pointed to a new complex catastrophe initiative signed by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta that would enable DOD to bring all of its capabilities, from all components, to bear in support of civil authorities. The initiative will make defense support of civil authorities faster and more effective in delivering life-saving and life-sustaining requirements, Stockton said.

In addition to the DOD initiative, a presidential policy directive required revision and addition of national response and recovery plans, Stockton said, noting that the initiatives are intended to streamline disaster planning and disaster recovery.

“It’s enormously helpful to us that the administration has led the integration of all of these lines of effort, including recovery, that we knew were important, [and] that we knew where DOD could make important contributions, but we lacked an overarching policy framework,” he said.

“It’s great when you’re in support to be given the framework within which you’re going to be able to operate and be able to serve,” he added, “and that’s what we have today.”

Defense Has Vital Role in Catastrophe Planning, Official Says

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2012 – The Defense Department makes valuable contributions in U.S. disaster preparedness planning, a senior defense official said today.

At a panel discussion sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, Paul N. Stockton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas’ security, addressed the role the Pentagon plays in disaster planning and response.

Thanks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Stockton said, he got “a big wake-up call” during a 2011 national exercise that simulated the events surrounding a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which touches on the states of Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

“That scenario would have produced destruction on a scale that would differ from Hurricane Katrina in two important dimensions,” he explained. “First of all, on a quantitative scale, we would have had many, many more casualties over a much wider geographic area.

“There’s a second dimension that I believe is even more important,” he continued. “A seismic event of that scale would produce a long-term loss of power -- a loss of electric power for weeks to months over a multistate region.” Such a power loss would result in the cascading failure of critical infrastructure, he said.

Gas stations would be closed, Stockton said. Water would be in short supply, because electric pumps are needed to draw water from aquifers hundreds of feet underground, and urban wildfires would rage through cities, he added.

The Defense Department’s challenge is how to better position itself to support civil authorities during disaster response activities, Stockton said. Building resilience against cascading failures of critical infrastructure -- even, as in the case of the electric grid, when it is owned by the private sector -- is essential to mission assurance, he said.

“Our responsibility to the Department of Defense is to ensure that we can still execute the core missions of the department that the president assigns to us, even if critical infrastructure goes down,” Stockton said.

It’s not a question of if a complex catastrophe will strike, he said, but when.

“We need to continue to improve our … capacity to provide support to civil authorities when the call comes,” Stockton said.

To that end, Stockton pointed to a new complex catastrophe initiative signed by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta that would enable DOD to bring all of its capabilities, from all components, to bear in support of civil authorities. The initiative will make defense support of civil authorities faster and more effective in delivering life-saving and life-sustaining requirements, Stockton said.

In addition to the DOD initiative, a presidential policy directive required revision and addition of national response and recovery plans, Stockton said, noting that the initiatives are intended to streamline disaster planning and disaster recovery.

“It’s enormously helpful to us that the administration has led the integration of all of these lines of effort, including recovery, that we knew were important, [and] that we knew where DOD could make important contributions, but we lacked an overarching policy framework,” he said.

“It’s great when you’re in support to be given the framework within which you’re going to be able to operate and be able to serve,” he added, “and that’s what we have today.”

U.S. Medics Support Botswana HIV Prevention Efforts

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

THEBEPHATSHWA AIR BASE, Botswana, Aug. 14, 2012 – A U.S. military medical team here for the Southern Accord 12 exercise is helping the Botswana Defense Force confront its country’s most pressing health crisis one circumcision surgery at a time.

The U.S. team is working side by side with its military hosts to promote Botswana’s national program of education, HIV screening and male circumcision surgeries to stem what’s become a national epidemic, explained Army Col. (Dr.) Michael Kelly, an Army Reserve surgeon deployed here from the Army Reserve Medical Command in Washington.

The Botswana Ministry of Health’s goal, Kelly said, is to bring the number of new HIV diagnoses to zero by 2016. That’s an ambitious plan, in light of an HIV rate that has skyrocketed since the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in Botswana in 1985.

Today, 17.6 percent of the general population is infected with HIV, and the rate continues to climb by 2.2 percent per year, Maj. Mooketsi Ditsela, the Botswana Defense Force’s HIV coordinator, told American Forces Press Service. Men ages 30 to 45 suffer the highest infection rates, topping 40 percent, according to Health Ministry statistics.

As the Botswana government adopted an aggressive national prevention strategy, it teamed the Health Ministry with the Botswana Defense Force, which was showing signs of progress in reducing infections within its ranks.

In addition to education about the risks of unprotected sex and multiple partners and the importance of proper condom use, the national program includes a “safe male circumcision” strategy, Ditsela said. Unlike in the United States, circumcision is not a cultural norm in Botswana, Kelly explained. Yet research shows that the simple procedure can reduce HIV infections among males by as much as 60 percent.

So in meetings to plan humanitarian civic assistance projects for Southern Accord 12, Air Force Capt. Francis Obuseh wasn’t completely surprised by the Botswanans’ request for help in conducting male circumcisions.

Working with a partner-nation military to conduct male circumcisions during those clinics would be a first for the U.S. military, Obuseh said. Few U.S. medical doctors are experienced in the procedure. Kelly, for example, said he hadn’t performed one in about 30 years, when he was undergoing his surgery residency.

But as an epidemiologist who grew up in Nigeria and has studied HIV around the African continent, Obuseh welcomed the opportunity to teach U.S. medics new skills, strengthen the partnership between the two militaries’ medical teams and to make a valuable contribution to the Botswanan people.

“This is excellent way for them to partner together in an area of great importance that can make a lasting difference,” he said.

Obuseh emphasized that the circumcisions were just one part of a comprehensive HIV program for the local villagers, funded in part by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, program.

Members of the Botswana Defense Force provide HIV counseling, screening and education about the safe male circumcision procedure. Meanwhile, the U.S. medical personnel are working side by side with them, performing the surgeries. To prepare the U.S. surgeons, nurses and surgical technicians who arrived here earlier this month for Southern Accord 12, Botswana Defense Force medical personnel conducted two days of classes to teach them the techniques.

They put them to practice yesterday for the third medical clinic since they arrived, performing circumcisions on 28 men ranging in age from 14 to 49 not far from the base in the tiny village of Monwane.

Army Spc. Chris Kepler, a medic with the 396th Combat Support Hospital, said he “begged and pleaded” for the chance to serve as circulating nurse for the clinic. He scurried among five operating areas sectioned off within a generator-powered tent, preparing rooms, drawing medications and applying dressings once the surgeries were completed.

“This is a lot of work, but it’s exciting to be a part of a humanitarian mission like this,” Kepler said. “I feel that we are serving a bigger purpose and getting a chance to give back. … I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.”

Army Spc. Christina Shoemaker, a 396th CSH surgical technician, acknowledged the challenges of working in an austere environment with limited instruments and a steady flow of patients. But just as she knows she is helping to change their lives, she said, her experience here is changing her own.

“This has been a really big influence on me that I will take home,” she said, expressing interest in working with HIV-positive patients at a local veterans hospital as a volunteer. “It’s a great feeling knowing that we have helped these people,” she said.

Army Capt. Julie Karpinski, a registered nurse with the 396th CSH, said she enjoyed learning a new skill while making a contribution she knows will benefit the people of Botswana long after Southern Accord 12 ends.

“If you can’t change the fact that HIV is here, at least this procedure is minimizing the transmission rate. And that is huge,” she said. “Being a part of it is wonderful.”

Southern Accord is a joint, combined training exercise led by U.S. Army Africa to expand capabilities between the U.S. military and Botswana Defense Force and enhance their interoperability. In addition to training activities relevant to peace support operations, it includes engineering projects and four medical and dental clinics in local communities.

Families, Friends Support Military Olympians

By Gary Sheftick

Army News Service

LONDON, Aug. 14, 2012 – U.S. military athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony the night of Aug. 12 had more than just fans cheering them on throughout the games.

Service members competing in London had a support network of family members and fellow soldiers who came to help them train and to provide motivation.

U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program wrestler Spc. Justin Lester had his wife, daughter, parents and more than a dozen friends and family members from Akron, Ohio, here to see him compete in the Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling tournament. The group -- all wearing the same London 2012 T-shirts emblazoned with Lester’s name -- included two of his former wrestling coaches and three teammates from his high school wrestling squad.

The Akron community raised about $26,000 so the Lester family could travel to London and see him compete. Cradle Gear made a substantial donation, family members said, and so did an 82nd Airborne Division veteran, who donated $3,000.

Lester stopped in Akron to visit family and friends before coming here for the Olympics. The mayor declared June 30 as Justin Lester Day, and the Akron Bible Church held a community day attended by many, including the president of the city council. Lester also participated in a free wrestling clinic that day for youth in Akron.

“The whole community got behind us and supported us, and we are so grateful,” said Lester’s sister, Kenya Young.

Brad Sanderson was one of three of Lester’s former high school wrestling teammates who came to the Olympics to support him. “He was an inspiration to our team,” Sanderson said of their high school days.

Al McIntosh, a former wrestling coach at Cuyanoga Valley Christian Academy, provided Lester wrestling pointers when the athlete was only 10 years old. Young Lester would come to high school wrestling practice with his older brother, Damian.

“I saw his talent then,” McIntosh said while sitting in the bleachers at London’s ExCel Centre before Lester’s match against Germany's Frank Staebler.

The academy’s current head coach, Dave Bergen, was also at the arena to cheer on his former wrestler.

“I’m going to think of this as a huge positive,” Bergen said of Lester’s wrestling after he lost to Staebler in the repechage wrestle-back and finished the tournament in eighth place. Bergen said only 15 wrestlers worldwide, at most, are of Lester’s caliber in the 66-kilogram weight class, which is 145.5 pounds. He said just making it to the Olympics is a major achievement.

The wrestler’s father, Fred B. Lester, agreed, and added that he is proud of his son just making it to the Olympics. He has followed Justin to tournaments all over the world, including one in Azerbaijan, where Lester earned a bronze medal. Despite failing to make it to the bronze-medal match in London, Fred said, the family is going to tour the city and celebrate.

The family got to see the London Bridge, Jubilee Bridge and the Tower of London, among other sites.

“All day long we’re walking the streets, and there’s so much to see,” said the wrestler’s sister, Sandra Lester. “My camera’s all full. This is so amazing.”

Lester’s wife, Staci, and 2-year-old daughter, Zurriana, were also in London. At the ExCel Centre, Staci held young Zurriana, who enthusiastically waved an American flag in the grandstands while her father wrestled on the mat.

Lester is a three-time U.S. national champion and a six-time U.S. World Team member. He made the decision two years ago to join the military and the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program.

Lester’s mother, Verleane, said it was a good decision because the Army has helped her son. “It helped him a lot with his training and his diet,” she said. “I think it was a good choice.”

Some of Lester’s WCAP teammates also were in London to help him and fellow wrestlers. WCAP heavyweight wrestler Spc. Timothy Taylor was there as an alternate Olympian. When he was not helping to train the three Army wrestlers who were competing in the games, he was out touring the city.

“Everybody’s super friendly here,” Taylor said. “The history is cool. We walked into one pub that said: ‘Last remodeled in 1767.’”

Taylor, however, said the language is sometimes difficult to understand in London.

“Everybody’s talking English, but you can barely understand what they’re saying,” Taylor said. “The slang is all different.”

In addition, 1st Sgt. Terrence Burkett of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colo., was in London to watch his wrestlers compete.

“It’s been quite an experience,” Burkett said, even though none of his WCAP athletes earned an Olympic medal. The only soldier to win a medal in the 2012 games was Sgt. Vincent Hancock of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, who took the gold in skeet shooting and set two Olympic records in the process.

Army family member Jamie Gray, wife of Staff Sgt. Hank Gray, won an Olympic gold medal in the women’s 50-meter 3-positions rifle event Aug. 4 at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Air Force family member Janay DeLoach also won a bronze medal in the women’s long jump Aug. 8 at Olympic Stadium. Her father, retired Chief Master Sgt. William DeLoach, now a contract employee at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., was at the stadium to see her compete.

“My dad’s here with me, cheering me on,” DeLoach said. “He’s been there the whole way through. … He’s always supported me in all my endeavors.”

While in London for the past two weeks, Staff Sgt. John Nunn did more than prepare for the Olympic 50-kilometer race walk on Aug. 11. His mother and daughter Ella, 8, joined him in London, and together they toured historic sites in the city. They also watched the musical “War Horse” together in downtown London.

Nunn appeared on a segment of the NBC “Today” show early in the Olympics to show hosts of the show -- and the American public -- how to race walk. He also cheered on other American athletes in venues including basketball, gymnastics and swimming, along with the first night of track and field.

“Friendship through sports,” is the spirit of the Olympic Games said Team USA assistant wrestling coach and retired Army Staff Sgt. Shon Lewis. He said interacting with other athletes on and off the mat is all part of that Olympic spirit.

The spirit of the games is something that excites WCAP athlete Spc. Dennis Bowsher, who competed in the modern pentathlon Aug. 11.

Bowsher said he was exhausted after the five sports in one day of the pentathlon, but that he would walk in the Olympic closing ceremony, even if it was that night instead of the next.

“I’d still go and have a blast,” Bowsher said. “It’s the spirit of the Olympic Games.”

His father, John Bowsher, his sister, Devon, and his niece came to London to see him perform. His father works for Hilton, who provided some assistance for the trip, and the athlete lauded that because he said it’s often difficult for family members to travel to international events. The Olympics were the first time his father and sister have seen him in an international competition, Bowsher said.

“To have them see me for the first time internationally on the big stage was something,” he added.

CPPD Hosts Virginia Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security

By Susan Henson, Center for Personal and Professional Development Public Affairs

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- Virginia's secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security visited the Center for Personal and Professional Development Aug. 9.

Terrie Suit met with CPPD leadership and toured the command to gain an understanding of CPPD's role in developing Sailors who think critically, act responsibly and lead proactively.

The tour included a stop at the Virtual Education Center (VEC) for a brief on the center's capabilities and education services it provides to Sailors worldwide.

Suit was appointed as assistant to the governor for commonwealth preparedness in January 2010 by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. The Commonwealth reorganized some positions the following year, which resulted in Suit appointment

"It is a great honor to host such a distinguished visitor at CPPD," said CPPD Commanding Officer Capt. John Newcomer. "Secretary Suit's visit is a great opportunity to explain our work to provide Sailors the tools they need to lead with courage, respect and trust, and mentor future leaders to do the same. Part of that development is through voluntary education, and the VEC's work is essential to assisting Sailors navigate through the waters of completing higher education requirements for a degree."

The daughter of a career U.S. Army officer and wife of a now-retired Navy senior chief, Suit is familiar with the demands of military life and related challenges of earning a college degree. She has earned an Associate degree from Tidewater Community College and Bachelor's degree in political science from Old Dominion University.

Suit's tour included stops at the Training directorate, which creates, maintains and has oversight for personal and professional course curricula; the Voluntary Education (VOLED) directorate, which is responsible for the Navy's VOLED program; and VOLED's Virtual Education Center (VEC), which provides virtual education assistance and counseling to Sailors and veterans.

Julie Gifford, regional military liaison, accompanied her the tour of CPPD.

At the end of her visit, Suit said she was excited to see the progress of the Navy College Program.

"Governor McDonnell wants to ensure Virginia is supporting our service members as they pursue education and professional development for their Navy career as well as their eventual transition to civilian life," she said. "Julie and I will be proactively identifying future opportunities for Virginia to work together in support of Navy College and the Center for Personal and Professional Development. Thank you for all that you are doing here."

In addition to VOLED, CPPD is responsible for providing a wide range of personal and professional development courses and materials, including General Military Training, Navy instructor training, alcohol and drug awareness program training, suicide prevention, Bearings classes, and Personal Responsibility and Values Education and Training (PREVENT) classes. CPPD's leadership training is delivered multiple times throughout a Sailor's career via command-delivered enlisted leadership training material and officer leadership courses in a schoolhouse setting.

Pacom Works to Advance U.S.-India Strategic Partnership

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

CAMP SMITH, Hawaii, Aug. 14, 2012 – As U.S. Pacific Command strives to build stronger alliances and partnerships across the Asia-Pacific region, one of its big focuses is on taking the military-to-military relationship with India to the next level.

The new defense strategic guidance announced in January resets U.S. priorities toward the region, specifically calling for investments in a long-term strategic partnership with India “to support its ability to service as a regional economic anchor and provider of security in the broader Indian Ocean region.”

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, who took command of Pacom in March, is using that guidance as his marching orders as he implements the expanded Asia-Pacific strategy.

“We hope to partner with [India] to share the strategic landscape as it applies to how we apply security to the globe that allows prosperity and peace, freedom of movement and … prosperity in the world,” he told American Forces Press Service.

India’s strategic location between West Asia and the Middle East, and its ascent across economic, military, diplomatic and informational fronts makes it an influential leader in the region, said Army Col. Michael Albaneze, director of Locklear’s India strategic focus group.

The group of six military and civilian experts, one of three “mini think tanks” within the Pacom staff, advises Locklear and his senior staff on a broad range of issues that shape India’s strategic environment, and ways to advance the U.S.-India strategic partnership, Albaneze explained.

It’s a partnership that’s been slow in forming, he conceded. For the past half-century, India has been a leader in the nonaligned movement, and it has an official policy of being “strategically autonomous.”

That said, Albaneze recognized signs of India’s willingness to engage increasingly with the United States as it rises on the world stage. The two countries had their first strategic dialogue in 2010, with two more since then, the most recent in June.

Without a long history of cooperation, Albaneze noted a “maturing process” that could, over time, evolve into a more typical relationship characterized by routine engagement across the board. “We are not quite there yet, but there is a lot of effort in trying to move in that direction,” he said, adding that the relationship is continuing to deepen.

One high point is the exercise program. India partners with the United States in dozens of military exercises every year as it builds an increasingly strong military. Its navy is one of the world’s largest, and its army deploys routinely for peacekeeping operations, Albaneze noted.

Most of the exercises tend to be at the component level. The annual Exercise Malabar involves the U.S. and Indian navies, with several international observers during its latest iteration, in April. The U.S. and Indian armies train together through Yudh Abhyas exercises, frequently weaving humanitarian assistance and disaster response scenarios into the engagements.

The two countries’ air forces train together through Cope India exercises, and the Indian air force participated for the first time in the U.S.-sponsored Red Flag exercise in 2008. Although India has no marine corps, U.S. Marines train with an Indian army brigade that specializes in amphibious operations during Exercise Shatrujeet.

“Those are just the major mil-mil engagements,” Albaneze said, noting a broad array of other military-to-military engagements and exchanges at U.S. and Indian military training centers and schoolhouses.

Both the United States and India hope to increase the complexity of the exercise program over time, he said, and to elevate them into joint engagements that involve more than just one service.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta underscored during his visit to India in June, just ahead of the 2012 U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, that a “close partnership with America will be key to meeting India's own stated aims of a modern and effective defense force.”

“We have built a strong foundation,” the secretary said. “But for this relationship to truly provide security for this region and for the world, we will need to deepen our defense and security cooperation.”

That, Panetta said, extends to closer collaboration in sharing defense technology and developing future systems. Despite India’s decision not to buy a U.S. advanced jet fighter, U.S. defense sales to India have grown to more than $8 billion with the potential to increase more.

The secretary recognized legal restrictions that have hampered some sales, and vowed to work to eliminate as many hurdles as possible.

“The United States is firmly committed to providing the best defense technology possible to India,” he told Indian leaders in Delhi, while recognizing India’s ambitions to advance its own defense industry. “We are both leaders in technology development and we can do incredible work together,” Panetta said.

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter followed up that visit in July, encouraging India to move forward in engaging with the United States across the spectrum, from dialogue to exercises to defense trade and research cooperation.

“We want to develop a joint vision for U.S.-India defense cooperation,” Carter said. “We want to knock down any remaining bureaucratic barriers in our defense relationship, and strip away the impediments. And we want to set big goals to achieve.”

Recognizing the many mutual and converging interests the United States and India share, Albaneze said he’s hopeful about their future prospects.

“I am an optimist on the relationship,” he said. “Every time there is a hiccup, I just think that it’s part of our getting to learn more and more about each other, and how we interact.

“Sometimes it’s two steps forward and one step back,” Albaneze continued. “But at the end of the day, we still made a step forward -- and that is really what we are trying to do in the region.”