Face of Defense: Army Captain Looks After Her Troops

By Mollie Miller

1st Infantry Division

FORT RILEY, Kan., Sept. 17, 2012 – Army Capt. Lisa Halvorson’s troops have called her "Mama Halvorson" since she took over the 1st Infantry Division’s Company C, 601st Aviation Support Battalion, Combat Aviation Brigade, nearly two years ago.

Halvorson, a signal officer who served as commander of the "Crusaders" until a few weeks ago, is an experienced soldier with just a hint of a southern drawl. And being Mama Halvorson to her troops suits her just fine, she said.

"I love my soldiers," Halvorson said. "I'm not just here doing a job, and they can tell."

Halvorson took command of Company C in October 2010, about halfway through the unit's deployment to Iraq. Quickly, the new commander realized her troops faced some challenges, and she began designing a plan to strengthen the men and women in her unit.

"I asked myself, 'How am I going to mentor all of them to become better soldiers?'" Halvorson said. "I immediately stopped, though, and said, 'No, how can I help my soldiers become better people?'"

Over time, Halvorson's plan to make her team into better soldiers and better people evolved into a schedule that included weekly classes covering topics such as resilience training, life skills and sexual assault prevention. The goal of the classes, Halvorson said, was to help to teach her soldiers how to "live the right way."

"In the beginning, we were building the trust level and getting to know one another," she said. "I talk a lot, but when I'm talking to my soldiers, I listen a lot, too."

Once the Crusaders returned to Fort Riley at the end of their deployment, Halvorson added more elements into the plan to strengthen the company. Monthly family readiness group events, long-range calendars and classes designed to address the unit's specific needs all provided stability and predictability as the soldiers returned to their "normal" lives back in Kansas.

"Charlie Company is a very tight group of soldiers, and they watch out for each other like family," said Lt. Col. Allan Lancetta, 601st ASB commander. "[Halvorson] and her leadership have found the right balance of educating soldiers, training soldiers and engaging soldiers."

The plan that kept her soldiers and family members safe during an often challenging reintegration time was not created in a vacuum, Halvorson said. To create something that works, she said, it was necessary to get out from behind her computer and really get to know her soldiers.

"Leaders need to step outside their offices," Halvorson said. "When you step outside your office, you will really see what is going on."

The Crusaders' success hasn't gone unnoticed. In December, the company received the 1st Infantry Division's "Encased Saber," honoring a record of more than 1,400 days free from alcohol- or drug-related incidents. At the award ceremony, Halvorson said her company's success could be traced to engaged leaders at all levels who listen and use their resources to take care of soldiers.

"Long gone are the days when a commander or senior noncommissioned officer simply scared people into listening," Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Sasser, the division’s senior NCO, said during the saber presentation ceremony. "Saving a career, and, sometimes, saving life requires outside-of-the-box thinking like this. This is a great accomplishment."

Halvorson concluded her time with the Crusaders at the end of August. Although she is no longer with her team -- men and women who she still considers family -- the signal officer will never forget the lessons they taught her during the past 20-plus months.

Halvorson said she hopes her soldiers do not forget the lessons she’s tried to teach them.

"I hope what I did here made them stronger," she said. "I hope that caring for them, listening to them and really seeing them will lead them to be positive, successful leaders and people in the future."

U.S., Japan Agree to Add Second Radar Installation

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

TOKYO, Sept. 17, 2012 – The United States and Japan have agreed to add a second U.S. anti-ballistic missile radar installation in Japan, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced here today.

During a news conference following separate meetings with Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Koichiro Gemba and Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto, Panetta and Morimoto both discussed the radar’s significance.

“The United States and Japan have begun coordination on the future deployment of additional ‘Tippy-Two’ surveillance radar to Japan,” the secretary said. “The purpose of this is to enhance our ability to defend Japan. It’s also designed to help forward-deployed U.S. forces, and it also will be effective in protecting the U.S. homeland from the North Korean ballistic missile threat.”

The continued close cooperation on ballistic missile defense reflects the two countries’ joint commitment to the alliance, and to promoting peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.

The secretary responded to a question on China’s likely reaction to the new radar installation in Japan. Panetta, whose next stop on this trip will be to Beijing, said it’s no secret to China that the United States is concerned about the ballistic missile threat North Korea poses.

“It’s for that reason that we believe it’s very important to move forward with this … radar. … We have made these concerns very clear to the Chinese, that North Korea and the use of these ballistic missiles is a threat to our security, … and we’ve also made clear that we will take steps to protect the United States and … our allies from that threat,” he said. “And I will continue to make that point with the Chinese when I have the opportunity to meet with them.”

While he agrees that the radar is important for Japanese, U.S. and regional defense, Morimoto said, the United States and Japan have yet to decide on a location for the second radar. “I don’t think we are at the juncture to discuss this yet,” he said in response to a question at the news conference.

A defense official traveling with Panetta told reporters on background the radar, a second Army Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance system, or AN-TPY-2, will augment one previously set up in Shariki on the northern part of Honshu island. A team from the United States arrived in Japan this week to work with Japanese officials in determining a site for the new radar, the official added.

The official said the radar is not a defense against China, but rather against the growing ballistic missile threat North Korea poses to “the U.S. homeland as well as U.S. citizens, our deployed forces, allies and partners in the region.”

“U.S. missile defense and Japan are focused on deterring North Korean aggression,” the official said, “and if deterrence fails, defending against the growing arsenal of North Korean ballistic missiles. North Korea has hundreds of ballistic missiles that can threaten our interests … [as well as] other countries in the region.”

The official said the land-based system will bolster regional security and allow flexibility in deploying ships equipped with the same radar, now stationed in the Asia-Pacific region, to other parts of the world as needed.

“The U.S. has been committed to the collective regional security of the Asia-Pacific region for decades, and to that end we cooperate with our partners on a broad range of capabilities, including missile defense,” the official said.

According to a Missile Defense Agency fact sheet, the AN-TPY-2 is an X-band, high-resolution, phased-array radar designed specifically for ballistic missile defense, capable of tracking all classes of ballistic missiles and identifying small objects at long distances.

Used with the Ballistic Missile Defense System, the AN-TPY-2 acts as advanced “eyes” for the system, detecting ballistic missiles early in their flight and providing precise tracking information for the system’s use.

Public Trust Requires Apolitical Military, Dempsey Says

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Sept. 17, 2012 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff wants service members and veterans to consider what using the uniform for partisan politics does to the trust Americans have in their military.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey has maintained throughout his 38-year career that the American military, as a whole, must remain apolitical – meaning being neutral in political matters.

“I have sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution and one of the principles of the Constitution is freedom of speech,” he said during an interview on his way to Ankara, Turkey. “Anyone who claims that I am in any way trying to deny someone freedom of speech, I just can’t accept that.”

Dempsey has been outspoken that service members have truly earned their right to vote, and that all Americans are entitled to private and personal opinions. But he also is worried that using the uniform for partisan purposes could damage the trust Americans have in their military.

Survey after survey reveals the American military is one of the most trusted and most respected institutions in the land, and maintaining that trust is key to the success of the United States, Dempsey said. In his studies of civil-military relations, he added, the cornerstone of the profession of arms is that “we remain apolitical – that we are not a special-interest group.”

And he applies that across the board. “I don’t care what side of the aisle someone happens to sit on or happens to support,” he said.

The chairman said he wants service members and those who have served and who may still use the title “just to think about what impact their actions will have on our standing as a profession with the American people if they engage in partisan political activity.”

“I just want them to think about it,” he said.

Retired general and flag officers must be extra careful when engaging in partisan political activities, the chairman said. They are held to a higher standard and probably should be, he explained, because many Americans do not make the distinction between an active duty and retired status. “And most [retired general and flag officers] understand that standard and meet it,” he added.

Panetta Lists Goals for Asia Trip, Assesses Mideast

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT – Defense Secretary Leon E Panetta yesterday told traveling reporters about the importance of the three countries he’s going to visit: Japan, China and New Zealand.

This trip, Panetta said, offers “an opportunity to further advance our strategy of rebalancing towards the Asia-Pacific.”

Panetta said the strategy calls for expanding the U.S. naval presence in the region, deepening military engagement with partners and allies, and establishing rotational troop deployments in areas throughout the Asia-Pacific as outlined in his speech at the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore in June.

The U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy involves not just defense issues but diplomatic and economic concerns as well, he said.

“Secretary [of State Hillary Rodham] Clinton … spent the last 10 days in the region,” the secretary said. Panetta noted that U.S. Pacific Command’s top officer, Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, was in China in June and that Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter spent 10 days traveling in the Asia-Pacific region in July.

These visits, Panetta said, along with this current trip, bolster the U.S. position that rebalancing focus to the Asia-Pacific region ensures stability there.

The strategy “is really about maintaining and strengthening, not just our presence, but also … a system of rules and norms and institutions in Asia that have brought decades of security and prosperity” that allowed many nations to thrive, Panetta said.

The U.S. alliance with Japan, the first stop on this trip, is a cornerstone of regional security, Panetta said. Topics to be discussed with Japanese leaders, such as Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto, include ballistic missile defense, relocating some U.S. Marines now in Okinawa to Guam and others to another more remote site on the island, and the roles, missions and capabilities of Japan’s Self Defense Forces, the secretary said.

The “realignment roadmap” for U.S. Marines in Japan is an issue that has been under discussion between the two countries for many years, he noted.

“We have worked with them closely … and we were able to work out an agreement, and we are putting that into effect,” Panetta said.

“Japan is making new investments for the 21st century, as are we,” the secretary said. Japan’s “extremely cooperative” support to U.S. troop deployments to the Asia-Pacific in the region is significant, he said.

Panetta said he looks forward to the opportunity on his first visit to China as defense secretary to deepen American-Chinese military-to-military relations. He is scheduled to meet with China’s top military and civilian leaders including Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie.

“I recognize the challenges that we have in the relationship,” the secretary said. “But I think it is in both of our nations’ interest to work towards a healthy, stable, reliable and continuous military-to-military relationship.”

Regular senior leader visits between Beijing and Washington have led to important progress toward that goal, Panetta said, adding that he views his trip to China “as an opportunity to advance that relationship even further.”

Panetta acknowledged he expects the current territorial disputes over some islands in the South China Sea and elsewhere in the region involving China, Japan, the Philippines and other Asia-Pacific nations will be part of the discussions. The secretary said he will continue to urge the U.S. policy of peaceful resolution for territorial disputes, in which the United States does not take sides.

Panetta said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, has developed a code of conduct that can serve as the basis for a forum aimed at resolving such territorial disputes peacefully. Issues involving freedom of navigation and mineral or fishing rights may complicate resolution of the dispute over the islands, but Panetta said his central message is that all states involved should refrain from provocative actions.

“Countries are searching for resources; there’s going to be questions raised as to who has jurisdiction over these areas,” he said. “What we don’t want is any kind of provocative behavior resulting in conflict.”

The secretary added that issues involving nuclear proliferation, piracy, trade and humanitarian assistance are all areas in which the United States and China can work together.

That work, he said, can foster security in the Asia-Pacific and “enhance the ability of that region to really … prosper in the future.”

Panetta’s final stop will be New Zealand, where, he noted, his visit will be the first by a U.S. defense secretary in 30 years.

In his experience, the secretary said, New Zealand is “a very steadfast and a very valued partner to the United States. We deeply appreciate the role that they’ve played in Afghanistan, and the sacrifice that they’ve made.”

The recent deaths of New Zealand troops serving in Afghanistan is tragic, Panetta said. Yet, New Zealand remains “committed to a strong and continuing role in Afghanistan,” he added.

The secretary said his central purpose in traveling to New Zealand is “to see what opportunities exist to try to deepen our defense cooperation.”

Even as he sets out on a trip aimed at advancing the U.S. strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, Panetta said, recent events “remind all of us of the need to maintain a strong presence in the Middle East as well.”

The United States has a robust troop presence in the region and has deployed more forces to a number of areas there to respond if the State Department requests defense assistance “to protect our personnel and American property,” Panetta said.

Panetta said Libyan authorities are making a strong effort “to respond to the crisis and deal with the issues involved” following the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that left U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead.

The secretary said defense leaders remain concerned about al-Qaida affiliates in Yemen, Somalia, North Africa and elsewhere, although any al-Qaida involvement in the Benghazi attack remains to be determined.

“We have to … go after al-Qaida wherever they are, and wherever they try to hide,” Panetta said. The terrorist group is still working to inspire violence and undermine stability, he said, and continues to represent a threat to the United States.

Panetta said he and other U.S. defense leaders have developed a strategy and budget that can address threats around the world while cutting spending by $487 billion over 10 years.

“We are able to respond to the threats that we confront, both in the Middle East and elsewhere,” he said. “Obviously, we continue to monitor … our resources and the costs involved, and to keep the Congress informed.”

DOD has “great support from Congress for the work that we’re doing,” Panetta said, “and I feel very confident we can respond to any contingency we face.”

The secretary noted that while some anti-American demonstrations continue in the Middle East, they seem to have leveled off.

“I suspect these demonstrations … are likely to continue over the next few days, if not longer,” Panetta said. His primary concern, he added, is to “make sure … our people are protected, and we don’t have a recurrence of what happened in Libya.”