Saving a Little Energy Adds Up

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Erik Luebke,

Navy Public Affairs Support Element-East Detachment Europe

NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- The Naval Support Activity (NSA) Naples Public Works Department (PWD) has been making small changes over the past several years at Capodichino, Support Site, Lago Patria and Carney Park bases in an effort to conserve energy.

This push to save energy in its various forms, such as water, electricity and gas, stems from President Barrack Obama's current energy policy.

"We aren't just conserving energy because we have to," said Luca Guadagnuolo, the utility and energy management (UEM) branch head. "It's also a part of our environmental duty. By conserving energy, we help save the planet."

The UEM team already has many low-cost initiatives in place, including low-flush toilets, motion-sensor lights in offices and replacing low-efficiency light bulbs with ones designed to use less power. However, not all of UEM's energy-saving plans are so small. In 2010, PWD installed solar panels on top of the Capodichino west parking garage which will replace a portion of the electricity used by the base with energy from the sun.

 "We are just waiting for the paperwork right now," said Utilitiesman 2nd Class (SCW) Kyle Ciopryna, a PWD energy manager. "When we turn those solar panels on, they should pay for themselves within just a few years, allowing us to spend that money on other projects, like placing more solar panels on the other garage."

 Another program UEM has in place calls for motivated people to take the roll of building energy and water monitor (BEWM). BEWMs are volunteers who promote and demonstrate good energy use, such as closing open windows when air conditioning is on and turning off lights or running water taps.

 "We've got so many low-cost initiatives in place to cut back energy use that the BEWM program has become one of our major ways to conserve energy," said Ciopryna. "We provide them with support and training in ways that they can help reduce energy consumption and energy waste. We usually have anywhere from 60 to 70 volunteers at any given time."

Civil War Scholar: General McClellan Was Victim of History, Politics

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Union Army Gen. George McClellan is a victim of history, a leading Civil War scholar told a Pentagon audience Sept. 4 on the 150th anniversary of the start of the Maryland campaign of 1862.

In a presentation for the Defense Department’s historical speakers series, retired history professor Tom Clemens said McClellan, considered by many historians to be an ineffectual commander, was in fact hamstrung by political and military jealousies that ultimately led to his removal from command.

In describing the events leading up to the battle of Antietam, Clemens outlined efforts by the military and political establishment to prevent McClellan from being perceived as a hero of the Civil War.

His orders were often confusing and contradictory, Clemens said.

For example, on Aug. 3, 1862, at the same time he was ordering McClellan to retreat back to Washington, Gen. Henry Halleck wrote McClellan to tell him he soon would be put in command of the Army of Virginia. Instead, President Abraham Lincoln and Halleck give McClellan command only of the troops within the perimeter of the nation’s capital. On Sept. 3, 1862, McClellan was ordered to form a field army, but the order didn't say who would command it, Clemens said.

"He's got two missions -- he's got to defend the capital, but he also has to create this field army," Clemens said. "It's clear the Confederates are crossing the river [into Maryland], … and he begins to push troops out towards Rockville as an advance guard to essentially see where the Confederates are going." In response to this, Clemens said, Halleck reminded McClellan that he was not in command of any troops outside of Washington.

McClellan also was criticized by many, including Halleck, for moving his troops too slowly, averaging six miles a day in the Maryland campaign, Clemens said. Halleck, McClellan’s replacement as Union general in chief, was even slower.

“Halleck’s major claim to fame at this point in the war is that after Shiloh he had led the advance on Corinth,” Clemens said, noting that Corinth was 20 miles away, and it took Halleck 30 days to march there.

In addition, McClellan, a Democrat, was seen as a threat to the Republican presidency, Clemens said.

"You've got radical Republicans in the capital, and to them, McClellan is the symbol of everything they don't agree with,” Clemens said.

"What are [the Republicans] afraid of? Losing power,” he added. “What happens to McClellan's successor? What happens to victorious generals? George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, they become presidents. And these radical Republicans got into office on a very narrow margin. So, do you really want to take a popular Democratic general and give him the opportunity to end the war?

"You cannot separate politics and military operations," Clemens said.

On Sept. 5, 1862, Lincoln and Halleck issued verbal orders for McClellan to take command of the field army and accomplish two things, Clemens said. “No. 1: protect the capital and Baltimore. By this point on the 5th, they know that Lee's advance guard is at Fredrick -- there are direct roads from Frederick to both Baltimore and Washington -- and so, protect the capital. The second mission is to drive the Confederates out of Maryland.

"Unlike the order on the 2nd of September,” Clemens said, “this order is never put in writing. Ever. And at different times in different places, Halleck will say he had no idea Lincoln was going to put McClellan in command of the field army. And Lincoln will say, 'I didn't know Halleck was going to do it.' What does this tell you?

"You've got plausible deniability,” Clemens said, “from the commander of all the armies and the president [is] saying, 'I didn't tell him to do that.' How bold would you be?"

Clemens said that in many ways, McClellan’s army would be an army in name only. It was cobbled together with divisions from several corps and largely composed of soldiers with no experience in battle.

"When you look at what's in the capital,” Clemens said, “sure, there's 140,000 men to select from, but you're literally assembling an army on the fly, and a significant portion of that army -- 30,000 men -- have been in the army two months or less, some of them as little as three weeks. And they're going to get stuck into commands and sent out to fight in Maryland when they have never fired a weapon or performed any drill whatsoever.

"But this is a crisis,” Clemens continued. “The nation's capital is threatened, this has to be done."

So McClellan departed Washington on Sept. 7, 1862, with about 74,000 men, Clemens said, and by the time he reached Antietam, he'd gained another 13,000.

"Brigades [and] regiments are drifting in on a regular basis as he marches westward... The 12th Corps, for example, on the morning of the battle of Antietam will [consist of] 7,500 men, [and] of those 7,500 men, 4,500 are brand-new troops. The majority of the corps has been in the army less than two weeks.”

Lt. Col. Ezra Carman commanded the 13th New Jersey Infantry, one of the new regiments, in that battle. “He talks about coming down the Smoketown Road to the East Woods and seeing a fence along the tree line,” Clemens said. “[He] uses that as a straight line to show his command how to deploy from column of march into line of battle.”

Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, Clemens said, and was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history.

The two armies fought at close range for 12 hours, Clemens said. Some 15,000 to 16,000 wounded men needed immediate attention after the battle, he noted, pointing out that the entire population of Washington County at that time was 30,000.

Despite the staggering number of casualties, Clemens said, Antietam was a resounding victory for the North.

“It was the battle that ended the first real invasion of the North,” he said. “Lee’s perhaps best chance ever to win the war evaporates.”

Antietam also was the military victory that made the political goal of attacking slavery possible, Clemens said.

The Confiscation Act in June 1862 allowed the federal government to seize the property of anyone rebelling against the Union. The act was a way for the Union to attack the South’s finances.

“Slavery was the underpinning of the Confederate economy,” Clemens said. “It was the most valuable asset they owned [and] by attacking slavery you are weakening the South’s ability to make war.”

On the strength of the act, Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in July 1862. But on the advice of his Cabinet, Clemens said, he waited for a Union victory before making the announcement. “Antietam’s that victory,” he added.

During an interview with American Forces Press Service after his presentation, Clemens said that after Antietam, Lincoln pushed McClellan to pursue the Confederate army into Virginia. McClellan disagreed, wanting to rest and resupply his troops, but Lincoln eventually ordered the advance. When McClellan didn’t advance as quickly as expected, he was relieved of duty. He spent the remainder of the war in New Jersey awaiting orders.

“When we impart history for the masses, we tend to generalize,” Clemens said. “We tend to create heroes and villains and things become more black and white, good and bad, right and wrong. We know that two of the great icons of American history are Abraham Lincoln, the martyred president, and Robert E. Lee, the noble soldier.

“So when George McClellan argues with one and defeats the other, it doesn’t fit into the mold,” he continued. “We have to somehow reduce McClellan and minimalize his achievements so that the icons remain icons.”

Clemens is the editor of a two-volume history of the events surrounding the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, “The Maryland Campaign of September 1862,” written by Carman, the regimental commander who taught his men to maneuver at Antietam.

Carman spent the years following the war compiling firsthand accounts from veterans with maps and military records into a detailed manuscript that remained unpublished for more than 100 years. He also used the information he gathered to develop the cast iron tablets that still stand on the Antietam battlefield.

Face of Defense: ‘Old Guard’ Sentinel Serves Last Watch

By Army Staff Sgt. Megan Garcia

3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment

ARLINGTON, Va. – For the past four Christmases, Army Sgt. John Baker left his wife and son to spend the holiday with three strangers whose names he did not even know.

Baker is a tomb sentinel, a small group of soldiers entrusted to guard the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery here. Sharing his holidays with the unknowns is a small sacrifice. “I owe them perfection,” Baker said. “They not only gave up their lives for this country, but they gave up their identities as well. Their stories are an open-ended book that may never be closed.”

The tomb holds unidentified remains of soldiers from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. During the late 1990’s, previously unavailable DNA testing determined that the unidentified remains from the Vietnam War were those of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie.  The remains were returned to his family in St. Louis, Mo. for burial.

The tomb is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in all weather conditions. On Aug. 31, after taking his last walk, Baker ended his chapter in the unknowns’ story.

Reflecting on his first experience at the tomb, Baker said he never thought he would see the day when he would become a tomb sentinel.  “When I was 5 years old, I remember looking up at a tomb guard walking with a rifle, standing at 6-foot-4, and I was just in awe,” Baker said. “I didn’t think that I could do it.”

However, years later, his Army recruiter thought differently. “My recruiter was actually a tomb guard who had left the tomb in 2007,” Baker said. “He talked me into going down to the tomb and set up everything for me along the way.”

Five months later, Baker arrived to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard.”

The Army’s premier ceremonial unit regularly conducts events to honor fallen service members. A select group of the unit’s soldiers guards the tomb. They undergo a rigorous training process that instills the honor, discipline and seriousness necessary to carry out the solemn mission. Baker admitted going into the training that he did not have the right mindset.  “It was a little rough at first,” he said. “I was a 19-year-old kid. I just wanted to have fun. I wanted to have my off time, and I didn’t want to put in the amount of dedication that was necessary.”

Two months into his duty he realized the true honor of being a tomb guard. “It was pouring down rain and I was walking, and there was nobody out there except one old woman,” he said. “She was just looking at me and she was crying, and whenever I would walk past her she would just say, ‘Thank you.’

“I just kept thinking one of them could be her husband that she never saw come home from World War II,” he continued. “That’s when what I did really sunk in.”

Baker has trouble explaining the exact feeling that came over him from that moment and others like it. “It’s hard to put into words when you see those people who really appreciate what we do,” he said. “When a guard changer comes out and requests that the audience stand, I’ve seen veterans fighting to get out of their wheelchairs to pay their respect to the unknowns. That’s what has really drove it home for me.”

The sanctity of his service reshaped Baker’s mentality. “I have so much pride in my country,” he said. “I’ve done something that not a lot of people will do, and I hope I’ve served honorably.”

A long way from the 19-year-old who started this journey, Baker stood tall on the last day of his duty as a tomb sentinel. After walking his final guard shift, Baker relinquished his weapon and prepared to render his final respects to the unknowns.

Walking toward the tomb, Baker stopped to present his ceremonial white gloves to his mother and a rose to his wife and son. He placed a single red rose at the foot of each crypt and rendered one final salute. With his mother, wife and son by his side, Baker left the tomb plaza for the last time. “It’s bittersweet, but I know I’m leaving the tomb in good hands,” said Baker.

Those hands are the legacy of tomb sentinels who Baker said he has watched grow during his time at Arlington. He will miss this special brotherhood, but most importantly, he will never forget the bond he shared with the unknowns. “It’s a feeling that you can’t put into words,” he said. “I’ve asked other tomb sentinels, past and present, and they can’t explain it either. You just know it’s there. I feel like I will always have to defend them.”

Baker, who served at the Tomb of the Unknowns for four and a half years, will report to Fort Stewart, Ga., for his next Army assignment.

Hidden in Plain Sight … A Perspective on Suicide

Posted by U.S. Public Health Service Cmdr. Sarah Arnold, DCoE program manager for performance enhancement

Cmdr. Sarah Arnold is a physician trained in family medicine and preventive medicine. She served in the Navy for 14 years and completed two tours in Iraq. Five years ago, she lost her friend to suicide and was compelled to write about it, in part because she was the last person to see her colleague and friend before she died and also for her own healing.

Two police officers stood at my front door. As I invited them in, they asked if I knew the whereabouts of my friend Dawn (name changed) because she was missing from the hospital. Dawn, a Navy nurse, and I, a Navy doctor, at the time, worked together. We went our separate ways, as we all do in the Navy after a tour is over. I was now in a residency program, and she was stationed at another clinic. That’s why I was surprised to see her one day at the hospital where I was working.

A couple of days before the police showed up on my doorstep, I had lunch with Dawn in the food court at the hospital. That was the last time I saw her. I still had the receipt from Taco Bell — it was my treat. One of the officers said, “It looks like you may have been the last person who remembers seeing her, because shortly after, she was reported missing from the hospital. We were given your name because she has to sign in and out from the ward and tell the staff who is with her.” The officers left me a business card with instructions to call if I saw or heard from her.

I tried to remember earlier conversations to figure out where she could be. Dawn wouldn’t tell me why she was in the hospital, so I thought something must have happened at her clinic. All I knew about her medical history was that she had a traumatic brain injury in the past; I think from a car accident. When we were working together, she did OK. She was a hard worker and lived by herself while her husband and two children lived about an hour away. She didn’t like her job, but most of us didn’t like our jobs at the clinic because we were always understaffed because of deployments or nervous about being taken out of our clinic to deploy. There was no shore duty anymore, except for training programs like the one I was in. She always seemed lonely and kept to herself. Dawn was also very thin; I hardly saw her eat. In fact, the strange thing about having lunch with her that day was she actually ate her entire meal in front of me.

The next few days after meeting with the police officers were uneventful. I was really busy with my training program and still hadn’t heard from Dawn. Then, I checked my email. My heart sank as I read an email from a mutual friend saying Dawn was found hanging from a tree in a park near the hospital. My mind immediately went back to the words from the police officer — “You may have been the last person who remembers seeing her” — words I haven’t forgotten. After all, I am a primary care physician, Dawn was my friend and colleague, and I missed it — and I live with that every day.

As suicides in the military continue to gain media attention, we must remember the friends and family left behind. While suicide prevention programs are necessary and powerful tools, it’s also important to realize that sometimes the messages can be overwhelming to people who lost a friend or loved one to suicide. Messages like, “all suicides are preventable” are a strong call to action but can leave these folks feeling guilty and ashamed, which is no consolation after a tragic death.

Though it’s critical to recognize the circumstances of a potential suicide, we must also be sensitive to the needs of those who lost friends and loved ones. We can help by directing them to resources. If you're grieving and interested in talking to someone, explore the bereavement counseling options through resources such as Vet Centers, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and Give an Hour. DCoE also has a fact sheet that can help you understand some of the emotions you’re experiencing.

If you’re a service member in crisis, or know someone who may be showing signs and symptoms that suggest they may need help, contact Military Crisis Line at 800-273-8255 (press 1 for military) for 24/7 information and confidential crisis support.