Airmen's List available to assist moving units

by Tech. Sgt. James M. Hodgman
U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa

2/26/2014 - RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- With renovations to the U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa Headquarters building complete, nearly 800 Airmen are making final preparations to relocate in March.

The Airmen will move into new offices with new furniture, and they may not need items they used during the building's four-year renovation. Like other units across the command with older, but serviceable equipment, they may wonder what to do with that equipment.

Airmen's List, a website designed by the command's Business Transformation Office to help units repurpose supplies and save money, can help, said Lt. Col. Brian Lewis, USAFE-AFAFRICA deputy chief of staff.

"In any move, we find things that have outlived their usefulness to us, but still have serviceable life," he said.

"Airmen's List is a great way to offer items to others so they can be reutilized. It's also a handy place to start looking for the item you didn't realize you needed, but now that you've moved, find that your mission would be better accomplished with it," Lewis said.

Maj. Rene Alvidrez, USAFE-AFAFRICA BTO Information Management and Technology Branch chief and the developer of Airmen's List, said the site has helped several units.
Since June 2013, five USAFE-AFAFRICA bases have used Airmen's List to repurpose supplies saving the command $150,000, Alvidrez said.

Airmen from Ramstein Air Base have used the site to repurpose $11,000 in equipment and supplies. Another $9,000 in items from across the command are listed on the site.

Alvidrez encourages units to consider using Airmen's List to find items the unit needs before buying them.

With the upcoming move to the USAFE-AFAFRICA HQ building, units may have a surplus supply items or furniture such as refrigerators or other items the unit may no longer need, Alvidrez said. "If they have furniture and they don't know what to do with it, they can post those items on Airmen's List."

"In the financially constrained Air Force we live in now, every dollar counts," Alvidrez added. "Money is not easy to find, so if you can find supplies, monitors, office equipment --things you would normally use your government purchase card to buy for free -- why not do that."

Charles Hollis, a unit-level command and control trainer with the 48th Fighter Wing Plans, Programs and Inspections Office at Royal Air Force, Lakenheath, England, recently used Airmen's List to repurpose 15 furniture items from a storage room in one of his unit's buildings.

Hollis said that two weeks after posting the items, two units from RAF Mildenhall picked them up.

Now, the approximately 400 square foot room is used as a classroom. "We can now use the room to teach up to 10 students at one time," Hollis said. Airmen's List has had a direct impact on enhancing his unit's mission, he added.

Airmen's List is available to anyone with a common access card.

The site can be accessed by logging on to the USAFE-AFAFRICA Portal. Once there, perform a general search for "Shared AirmensList." Then, click the top link and the front page of the site should pop up. Airmen can then post equipment and supply needs directly to any base within USAFE-AFAFRICA.

Nimitz Diary Unveils Naval War College Legacy of Learning

From U.S. Naval War College Public Affairs

NEWPORT, R.I. (NNS) -- The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) unveiled the public online digitization project of Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz's 4,000 page operational diary, known as The Nimitz Graybook, during an evening lecture, Feb. 24 at NWC in Newport, R.I.

Covering activities and correspondence of the Pacific Command from Dec. 7, 1941 to Aug. 31, 1945, the Graybook is a historical record of operations and planning in the Pacific during World War II and serves as a window into Nimitz's decision making process during the war.

"We can trace the planning process, a lot of which was pioneered here at the Naval War College, for large-scale operations and watch the war unfold almost as if we were in the room," said Craig L. Symonds, U.S. Naval Academy professor emeritus of history, during the evening lecture.

According to Symonds, Nimitz proclaimed that 'the war-gaming experience and education he received here at NWC were central to his success in the Pacific war.'

"Chester Nimitz once declared that he never encountered an event in the entire war that had not been anticipated at some level during the war-gaming practices that they had here at the Naval War College, except the kamikaze," said Symonds.

Following the war, Nimitz's Graybook remained classified for 30 years and even after it was declassified in 1972, scholars had to travel great distances to what is now, the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) at Washington Navy Yard, to access the document.

Following the events of 9/11, scholars not associated with the Department of Defense, now had to leap more barriers in security to access the source.

In 2009, thanks to the generosity of the American Naval Records Society, the Naval Order of the United States and the Naval War College Foundation, the Graybook contents were scanned so that a CD-ROM version became available.

This proved helpful but making copies of carbon paper proved imperfect.

"It was evident that a fully digitized version, the version we celebrate and welcome this evening, was far more desirable and essential," said Symonds.

During the evening lecture, held on the anniversary of Nimitz's 129th birthday, Symonds provided insight to the contents of the Graybook, and Nimitz's leadership and decision making process.

"Reading it pulls aside the curtain of history," said Symonds. "What do we see when we part aside that curtain?

"It becomes evident that one essential key to Allied and American success in the Pacific was Nimitz's personal role as a theater commander and in particular, his calm and even temperament."

"Behind those cool blue eyes was the calculating mind of a man who weighed the odds and made plans accordingly," said Symonds.

Following the Battle of Coral Sea and Doolittle Raid, Nimitz had lost two of his four carriers in the Pacific.

In May 1942, Nimitz learned from his code breaking team that the Japanese were planning an assault of Midway Atoll.

Nimitz was faced with a decision. Wait for repair of his carriers and preserve the only two carriers left in the Pacific, or lay a trap for the Japanese and risk the only thing standing between them and the west coast of the U.S.

"Was Midway, that outpost of coral and sand, worth risking the few carriers he had? Did Nimitz want to bet his career on an unlikely victory? Yes he did," said Symonds.

Nimitz believed he could repair the Yorktown quickly and use Midway's airstrip as an immobile fourth carrier that couldn't be sunk.

"Instead of being surprised by the Japanese as had happened at Pearl Harbor, Nimitz could surprise them and send some of their carriers, and as it turned out, all of their carriers to the bottom.

"It's hard today, aware of how this battle turned out, to appreciate what a bold decision that was. It seems like a gamble. But in Nimitz's mind, it was not a gamble. He did not throw the dice carelessly or thoughtlessly. Nimitz fully expected to win and of course he did, spectacularly.

"More than any other single individual, Chester Nimitz was the man who won the war in the Pacific for the Allies. Now, thanks to the public availability of the Graybook, we can see and understand how he did it," said Symonds.

The digitization of the collection is the product of collaboration between the NWC and NHHC, funded generously through the Naval War College Foundation.

"We see this as a pilot program," said Capt. Henry Hendrix, director of NHHC. "The method in which The Graybook was digitized and cross-referenced is going to give us a path forward in making documents together that are accessible to scholars and the American public."

Navy to Commission Amphibious Transport Dock Somerset

Navy to Commission Amphibious Transport Dock Somerset

From U.S. Department of Defense

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy will commission the newest amphibious transport dock, USS Somerset (LPD 25), Saturday, March 1, during an 11 a.m. EST ceremony at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia.

Somerset is named in honor of the courageous passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed near Shanksville, Pa., in Somerset County during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Somerset honors the heroic actions of the 40 crew and

passengers of United Flight 93 for their collective sacrifice and the tremendous courage displayed in the face of overwhelming adversity.

"As we commission the Navy's newest LPD, the USS Somerset, we remember the heroes of United Flight 93, whose selfless actions on Sept. 11, 2001, serve as an inspiration to us all," said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. "I have no doubt that the sailors and Marines who will serve aboard this ship will live up to the ship's motto of 'courage through adversity' and proudly honor those who acted so heroically nearly 13 years ago."

The third of the three U.S. ships named in honor of victims and first responders of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Somerset will join USS New York (LPD 21) and USS Arlington (LPD 24) which are already a part of the Navy's combat force.

Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, will deliver the ceremony's principal address. Mary Jo Myers, wife of former chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, retired Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, will serve as sponsor of the

ship. The ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when Myers gives the first order to "man our ship and bring her to life!"

Designated LPD-25, Somerset is the ninth San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship. Its design incorporates state-of-the-art self-defense capabilities, including command and control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I)

suites. Somerset also has a reduced radar cross-section. The advanced enclosed mast/sensors, which enclose the ship's radars and communications antennas, characterize the ship's distinctive profile.

Capt. Thomas L. Dearborn, a native of Mount Vernon, Maine, is the commanding officer of the ship and will lead the crew of 385 officers and enlisted personnel. The 24,900-ton Somerset was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Shipbuilding in Avondale, La. The ship is 684 feet in length, has a

waterline beam of 105 feet, and a navigational draft of 23 feet. Four diesel engines will power the ship to speeds in excess of 22 knots.

Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield Tests Crisis Response

By Shawn Miller, Naval District Washington Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Military and civilian emergency services throughout Naval District Washington (NDW) concluded two weeks of extensive drills and crisis response training during the annual anti-terrorism and force protection exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield (SC-CS) on Feb. 25.

Solid Curtain is a Navywide exercise led by Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces and Commander, Navy Installation Command, and Citadel Shield is designed to evaluate installation-level responses to a range of force protection situations.

At Naval Support Activity (NSA) Washington, leaders gathered for a tabletop exercise to discuss emergency action plans (EAP) different services would practice in the case of an actual emergency.

Audrey Champagne, installation training officer, said the exercise provided valuable feedback to develop better plans for the command as well as installation tenants.

"It was solution-oriented," Champagne said of the training. "It was focused on all the stakeholders within NSA Washington's area of responsibility and they all felt like they had an important role to help get their EAP plans and our EAP plans in the right direction."

Further south in NDW, Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River hosted an active training schedule featuring an active shooter and hostage situation, a bomb threat, and base intruders, among other events.

"We had superb tenant participation this year, with all levels of leadership involved ensuring their workforce is trained and ready for unpredictable threats," said Capt. Ben Shevchuk, NAS Patuxent River commanding officer. "We do an excellent job when it comes to accomplishing the mission, but we should always take advantage of training opportunities that allow us to enhance safety and security throughout the workforce."

Nearby at NSA South Potomac and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB), exercise leaders also focused on deterring falsely-credentialed intruders along installation perimeters, as well as participating in active-shooter scenarios within the bases.

To ensure safety and security during the training, role players acting as the shooters were escorted by base personnel who oversaw and evaluated the events. As an annual exercise, SC-CS allows military and civilian responders alike to hone emergency skills as threats evolve, but in a safe environment, much like any other military drill.

Joseph Goldsberry, lead exercise planner for NDW, said SC-CS follows the classic military adage, 'train like we fight.'

"The same plans that we use during the exercise are the same ones we use in a real world event," Goldsberry said. "Our goal is to make the exercise scenario as realistic as possible to facilitate a realistic crisis situation."

The overall event for NDW culminated with a large-scale active-shooter drill at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in NSA Bethesda designed to mitigate damages and devise better protection plans for visitors, residents and staff.

Immediately following the tabletop exercise at Washington Navy Yard, Champagne said positive feedback about the exercise began flowing in from participants.

"It was a success," Champagne said. "Everyone had a better understanding of what's going on during these emergency situations and the best way we can get information to civilians who are locked down."

Personnel are encouraged to sign up for the AtHoc alert network and follow the "If you see something, say something" rule in the case of witnessing any suspicious activity.

U.S.-Lebanese Engagement Remains Important, Official Says

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2014 – Despite impacts from the Syrian conflict, Lebanon is making progress in security and stability, but continued U.S. engagement is crucial, the Defense Department’s principal director for Middle East policy said here yesterday.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael T. Plehn testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Near Eastern and South and Central Asia Affairs subcommittee on the security situation in Lebanon.

“Our continued engagement and assistance to Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces is all the more important in this time of increased challenges to Lebanon’s security,” he said.

The Lebanese have just agreed upon a new government, Plehn noted. “This important step provides us with an opportunity to increase our engagements,” he said, “both with Lebanon’s government as a whole and the Lebanese armed forces, in particular.”

The general said the Syrian conflict’s impact on Lebanon has been “acute.”

“The Syrian conflict is also attracting foreign fighters from across the region and around the world,” Plehn said. “Those foreign fighters are becoming battle-hardened and gaining experience that could have destabilizing effects in years to come. Of great concern, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in particular, has exploited the growing governing vacuum in eastern Syria to carve out territory to train its fighters, recruit more fighters, and plan attacks.”

Plehn said both ISIL and Al Nusrah Front have established a presence in Lebanon and are seeking to increase their cooperation with Sunni extremists groups already operating in Lebanon.

Sunni terrorist attacks are on the rise in Lebanon, he said, noting that seven attacks against Shiia population centers have been executed in 2014. “Approximately 10 individuals have died and more than 120 have been wounded in those attacks,” Plehn added.

The general said the Lebanese armed forces have taken “bold measures” to maintain stability and counter the destabilizing effects the Syrian conflict risks to Lebanon’s security.

“The increased operational tempo of Lebanese armed forces deployments over the past few months reflects their commitment to Lebanon’s security,” Plehn said.

“In fact, the LAF's willingness to exercise its role as the sole legitimate defense force in Lebanon has made it a target as well,” he added. Lebanese troops, he said, were killed last weekend in a suicide bombing near a checkpoint.

Since 2005, the United States has been Lebanon’s key partner in security cooperation, Plehn noted, having allocated nearly $1 billion to support the Lebanese armed forces and the country’s internal security forces.

“For fiscal year 2014, we have provided approximately $71 million in foreign military financing … and $8.7 million in fiscal year 2013 [counterterrorism] funding,” he said. Since 2006, the United States has provided more than $100 million in counterterrorism funding to the Lebanese armed forces, he added.

“[This] assistance has enabled the LAF to monitor, secure, and protect Lebanon’s borders against terrorist threats and the illicit transfer of goods,” Plehn said.

The general said both foreign military funding and counterterrorism funding strengthen the Lebanese armed forces and support their mission to secure Lebanon’s borders, defend the country’s sovereignty and implement U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701.

Plehn also outlined assistance from international partners seeking to strengthen Lebanon’s security and stability situation. In December, the general said, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman announced that Saudi Arabia will grant Lebanon $3 billion to purchase defense items from France.

Working with international partners such as the French and the International Support Group for Lebanon, he said, the United States fully supports strengthening the Lebanese armed forces and ensuring its efforts are complementary and used effectively to meet these growing challenges.

Plehn also highlighted the International Military Education and Training program with Lebanon, noting that it’s the fourth-largest such program in the world.

“It builds strong ties between the U.S. and Lebanon by bringing Lebanese officers to the United States,” he said. “In [fiscal 2013], Lebanon received $2.9 million under the IMET program that allowed 67 Lebanese military students to attend education and training classes in the United States.” Since 1985, he added, this program has brought more than 1,000 Lebanese military students to the United States for education and training.

The general also said the Defense Department is focused on the Lebanese armed forces’ desire for institutional reform.

“The DOD has just instituted a Defense Institution Reform Initiative with the LAF,” he said. “This initiative complements a U.S. ‘whole-of-government’ effort supporting Lebanese security sector reform.”

With the current progress in strengthening Lebanon’s security and stability, it is critical to continue engagement with the country’s government and military, Plehn said.

San Antonio reservist competes in regional Golden Gloves tourney

by Tech Sgt. Carlos J. Trevino
433rd AW

2/26/2014 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- When Senior Airman Dustin "Spydaman" Southichack is not busting bugs, he's throwing punches in the ring as the only reservist on the Air Force Boxing Team.

Like the superhero Spiderman, the 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron pest management specialist is weaving a web that will carry him to the next level in boxing.

Southichack's 2-1 win over John Van Meter from Uvalde, Texas, helped the Air Force team finish second out of 20-plus teams at the San Antonio Regional Golden Gloves Tournament, Feb. 18-22.

This year, Southichack added new tactics and raised his conditioning level to fight in the super lightweight class at 141 pounds.

"I used a different style and came forward, using counter punches." Southichack said. "I mixed it up." Coaches Bobby Deleon and Steven Franco had us running more."

"He has gotten better. From long-range and from the outside, his combinations have improved. He has gotten better. As a southpaw (left handed), he is slick, said Steven Franco, Air Force Boxing coach. "That is an advantage he has over his opponents."

"He is going to be a Golden Gloves champion," said Franco, a San Antonio Regional Golden Gloves Hall of Fame coach.

In the semifinals, Southichack lost a 3-0 decision to Henry Arredondo from the Parks and Recreation Boxing Team.

"That (loss) will make me train twice as hard; it was a learning experience," he said.

On the national level, most fighters have at least eight years of amateur experience. Southichack, who has been boxing for three years, vowed to come back next year.

Last year, the team used the local Golden Gloves tournament as a warm-up prior to going to the Armed Forces meet, where they will take on other service's champions. Southichack has two years left on his enlistment, and plans to reenlist in the Air Force Reserve and eventually earn a professional boxing contract as well.

Charleston reserve wing hosts AFSO-21 training

by Michael Dukes
315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

2/26/2014 - JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The 315th Airlift Wing hosted an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century Green Belt Academics Course here this week and organizers say there's plenty of interest from people looking to help improve their work environments.

"We have a cross-section of ranks and career fields from the 315 AW members and one member from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.," said Maj. Kimberly Champagne, 315th AW performance planer.

Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century is a dedicated effort to maximize value and minimize waste in its processes. The training's objective is to establish a community of continuous process improvement that leverages the benefits of the collective experience, expertise, tools, and best practices.

In the course, attendees learned the AFSO-21 philosophy and tools for its practice. They also learned about other organizations using quality improvement programs similar to AFSO-21. Participants broke into work groups and chose a process relevant to them and their coworkers. They next identified the steps involved to complete that process and wrote them down on sticky notes to hang on the wall to create the overall picture.

"The goal is not to solve any problems here with these processes," said Matthew Arens, an Air Force Reserve Command contractor teaching AFSO-21. He said the focus was to use something attendees were familiar with to give them the building blocks and to better understand AFSO-21 methods. Once they return to their work areas they can then use the tools they learned to work with their coworkers to start making improvements.

As a retired colonel who served almost 30 years on active duty, Arens is well versed in the Air Force quality improvement programs and has seen them evolve over the years - especially in the early days of the movement with Total Quality Management was a strange new buzz word that leaders were trying to sell to Air Force members in the 1990s.

The goal of the course is produce green belt certified cadre' of members well versed in the process improvement tools. "So members can increase productivity of our most valued asset- People," Champagne said.

The training also helps identify gaps, with a goal to get results and it develops an Air Force-tailored model of continuous process improvement to fit Airmen culture.

"This is the first class we offered. I was overwhelmed by the response and now have to schedule 3 more classes just to meet the demand," Champagne added. "That tells me people want to improve their work environments and that is a huge win for the wing."