Medical team provides realism to international airport exercise

by Staff Sgt. Stephenie Wade
375th Air Mobility Wing, Public Affairs

4/22/2014 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE,Ill. -- Three members of the 375th Medical Group moulaged 21 patients for a 2-hour training exercise at the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, April 19, 2014.

The trio from the 375th MDG readiness office, helped simulate wounds from an aircraft crash on volunteers for a live exercise. The full scale, emergency exercise is required for all commercial airports by the Federal Aviation Administration every three years.

Leading this effort was Staff Sgt. Lacey Erbe, Miranda Krill and civilian Clyde Nobles, who stepped up to provide their moulage skills.

"We provide trauma field makeup to enhance the first responders training to prepare them for real world scenarios," said Erby, moulage team chief.

After the simulated casualties' moulage was completed, the Scott team accompanied the casualties out to the accident to position them accordingly for the first responders. As part of the exercise, the airport's emergency responders coordinated treatment and transportation of crash victims. Some of the volunteers were transported to area hospitals to extend the emergency training to those facilities.

Bill Korte, Lambert's assistant director for operations and maintenance, said they have used Scott before in past exercises.

"They [Scott moulage team] provide us the realism we need in a drill like this," said Korte. "This exercise wouldn't be possible without them. The more real it is the better it is for the first responders."

The airport rescue firefighters acted as the first responders to a live fire produced by a Mobile Aircraft Trainer that simulated a fully engulfed aircraft. Airport Police, EMS, and dozens of other departments participated in the drill along with support from Lambert airlines and two area hospitals.

Krill said, "This exercise demonstrates just one of the many ways Scott personnel support the community and its good practice for us to keep our skills current."

DOD Announces Military Equipment Moves with Australia, Egypt

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

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2014 – Australia has agreed to purchase F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter aircraft, and the Defense Department will deliver Apache helicopters to Egypt, a Pentagon spokesman announced today.

“Our partners in Australia announced that they decided to buy 58 F-35 aircraft,” Army Col. Steven Warren said. “The first two F-35s for Australia are already in production and are on track for delivery later this year. Today’s announcement for additional aircraft will help fulfill their country’s national security needs, strengthen our long-standing relationship and solidify the strategic role F-35s will have in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Warren noted Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke yesterday with his Egyptian counterpart, Defense Minister Col. Gen. Sedki Sobhy, to inform him of the delivery of 10 Apache helicopters to support Egypt’s counterterrorism operations.

“I think what’s important here is to note that we believe these

Apache helicopters are very useful and powerful tools for the Egyptians to fight terrorism particularly in the Sinai,” Warren said. “The purpose behind this is we have identified a very significant, mutual national security interest.

It is in America’s national security interests, he added, for Egypt to continue battling terrorism in the Sinai Peninsula.

Warren said that due to uncertainty over Egypt’s democratic transition, other equipment and supplies are being withheld for now. For example, F-16 fighter jets, M-1 tanks and Harpoon missiles have not been released, he said.

The Pentagon spokesman noted that DOD officials took a “holistic look” at its entire program with Egypt.

“Now that we’ve completed this look and we know that Egypt has been continuing the fight against terrorism in the Sinai, we believe that they need this additional equipment to continue that fight,” Warren said. “We continue to have very close dialogue with Egypt focused on counterterrorism.”

White House Launches One-stop Shopping for Vets Seeking Jobs

By Terri Moon Cronk

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2014 – First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, today launched the Veterans Employment Center, the first online one-stop shopping tool for veterans, transitioning service members and spouses in search of employment.

The announcement was made at a third-anniversary celebration for their “Joining Forces” initiative at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Joining Forces mobilizes all sectors of American society to support service members, veterans and their families.

The Veterans Employment Center is designed to connect veterans and transitioning service members with employers and help translate military skills into the public- and private-sector civilian workforce.

“Our service members haven’t always had the time or information they needed to prepare their resumes, to plot their career goals, to meet with employers and get the jobs they deserve. And that’s simply not acceptable,” the first lady said. “As my husband has said, when you’ve fought for this country around the world, you shouldn’t have to fight for a job when you return home.

“Starting today,” she continued, “every single service member, every veteran, and every military family will have access to a new online tool that will revolutionize how you find jobs in both the public and private sectors.”

The online tool is available at http://ebenefits.va.gov.

"Our service members transitioning to civilian life, as well as their spouses, deserve the resources they need to be successful," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a White House news release. "Through this effort, they are getting that help. Our troops and their spouses are proven leaders, highly skilled and hard working. Employers hiring them are getting the best this nation has to offer."

The center is the result of an interagency effort to improve, simplify and consolidate the existing array of employment resources for veterans, officials said. It also will provide a single, comprehensive database of resumes for employers who seek to leverage the skills and talents of veterans, service members and their spouses.

The new online resource is the first interagency tool to bring together a wealth of public and private job opportunities, a resume-builder, military skills translator and detailed career and training resources.

In connection with Joining Forces, DOD and the departments of Veterans Affairs, Labor and Education and the Office of Personnel Management worked with employers to design and develop the site and incorporate features of existing online employment tools within government.

“Veterans deserve an authoritative source for connecting with employers,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “The online Veterans Employment Center is the single, federal source for veterans looking for new career opportunities, service members transitioning to the civilian workforce, and spouses and beneficiaries looking to connect with job opportunities.”

With this tool, employers will be able to search and view veteran, service member and spouse resumes in one location.

Resumes are visible to all employers with an active LinkedIn or Google profile. To prevent spam, applicants’ names and email addresses are redacted, and are visible only to employers verified by VA as registered companies with the IRS. The site also is built using open data and an open application programming interface to attract private-sector innovation.

“Improving veterans’ employment is an all-hands-on-deck enterprise,” Labor Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez said. More than 1 million service members projected to leave the military in the coming years.

“OPM’s USAJobs program is excited to be partnering with the VA on making this a robust tool for our nation's veterans and transitioning service members seeking federal employment,” said Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta.

“It has been more than four years since President Obama established the Veterans Employment Initiative, and in that time, the executive branch hired the highest percentage of military veterans in more than 20 years –- of the 195,000 new employees hired in [fiscal year] 2012, approximately 56,000 were veterans, equaling 28.9 percent of total hires,” she added.

“We can continue to honor and show our appreciation for the dedicated and heroic service of America’s veterans by ensuring that they have every opportunity to continue their service to this great nation as federal civilian employees, Archuleta said. “The Veterans Employment Center helps us honor these men and women by making employment opportunities available when our servicemen and women lay down their uniforms.”

At today’s Fort Campbell event, Biden noted the success of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, which began in June 2011 with fewer than 60 companies. Today, she said, the partnership has 228 partner employers, more than 1.8 million jobs posted on the MSEP Career Portal, and more than 60,000 military spouse hires to its credit.

Navy reveals dozens more rare images, supporting documents on anniversary of Spanish American War From Naval History and Heritage Command Communication and Outreach Division

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy’s Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) is publishing a series of blogs and offering a selection of rare glass-plate Spanish-American War photos re-discovered in the command’s photo archive earlier this year in honor of the 116th anniversary of the Spanish-American War the week of Apr. 25, 1898.

The blogs, cover the Spanish-American War, its military heroes, and its effect on America. Included will be a sneak peek at NHHC’s Spanish American War collection of documents. Readers will also go behind the scenes into NHHC’s photo archive to take a look at how the archivists are curating the century old glass plates to make them available for future generations.

Although the majority of the glass plate images are still being processed, the staff has processed and is posting 50 more rediscovered Spanish American photos.

These rare pictures offer a uniquely rich perspective in understanding the period, and it remains unknown how many of these images may have been published previously.

The blogs will be available on http://www.navalhistory.org/

The photos are available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/navalhistory/sets/72157644224605974/

To see the original article on NHHC’s archivists' historic photo find, visit http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=78986

Pacific Naval Leaders Agree to Adopt Sea Guidelines

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

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2014 – Nearly two dozen Asia-Pacific nations agreed to sea guidelines adopted by naval leaders at the Western Pacific Naval Symposium yesterday in China, Defense Department spokesman Army Col. Steven Warren said here today.

“The Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea -- we call them CUES -- offers guidelines for maritime encounters at sea,” he said. “It offers safety procedures, basic [communications] plans and basic maneuvering instructions for naval ships and naval aircraft during unplanned encounters at sea.”

Warren said DOD supports a shared understanding of procedures during encounters, which he said can reduce the potential of an unintended incident at sea.

“We fully support efforts to standardize maritime conduct and improve operational safety at sea,” he said. “These guidelines provide steps to potentially avoid encounters such at the [USS] Cowpens incident last year. These initiatives have been in development since 1999, and they were developed multilaterally.”

In December, the USS Cowpens, a guided-missile ship, took evasive action to avoid colliding with Chinese navy ship Liaoning in the South China Sea.

“This is a great step towards improving operational safety at sea,” Warren said. “It’s a positive development that should help reduce the risk of misunderstandings between navy vessels and aircraft operating in a region.”

The guidelines demonstrate the effectiveness of dialogue, transparency and multilateral approaches to dealing with 21st-century challenges, he added.

Deskins: Military leadership committed to fixing sexual harassment, assault

by Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Michelle Gonzalez
National Guard Bureau

4/23/2014 - WASHINGTON -- Bare walls dominate the office décor, evidence that the newest tenant has recently moved in.

"I'm still getting used to it," says Air Force Brig. Gen. Dawne Deskins about her promotion to brigadier general last month.

For Deskins -- the sixth woman promoted to general in the New York National Guard -- spearheading the Air National Guard's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program for the 100,000 Air National Guard members is the latest opportunity in a 30-year career.

"It's an exciting time to be in this program. It's a terrible thing that's happening within our ranks, and we've got to get our arms around it, because if we don't, someone else will. I know our leadership all the way up is committed to fixing this."

With her experience as a commander, Deskins was attracted to the opportunity to work as the special assistant to Air Force Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, the director of the Air National Guard, and influence the program at a higher level.

"As a commander, there was nothing more important to me than taking care of the people under my command. I held that responsibility very closely and very dear to my heart that I was supposed to create an environment where people could come safely to work and felt that they would not be in any kind of hostile work environment."

Deskins' military experience has been extremely positive and harassment free. "I want every Airman to have that experience," she says. "I bring a perspective of what I know things should look like."

Her goals: improve training for commanders at all levels, improve the process of reporting across the Guard and improve success with local law enforcement.

"Our availability to train people is a little bit different," Deskins says referring to the drill status of Guard members. "Ultimately we need to educate all of our Air National Guard leaders so that they can better implement these programs by understanding the nature of this crime, the people who commit it and the impact on the survivors so that we can support them."

Deskins plans to look at the similarities of reporting across the Army, Air Force and the Guard to integrate reporting and improve the process.

"Ultimately, I would hope that as we go through our climate assessments, that we'll see trust in the system," Deskins says on how she would measure the success in the program. "That we will find that eventually reports will go down because we've had an effect at the culture level."

Leading the Air National Guard's sexual assault prevention program at a time where sexual assault in the military has garnered national attention, Deskins is carving a moment in the program's history.

But it is not the first time Deskins is part of history: She helped coordinate the military response following the Sept. 11 attacks and the official 9/11 Commission report credits Deskins and the personnel she led that day with responding well to a confusing set of circumstances.

Her transition from active duty to the Air National Guard came in the mid-90s, at a time when air defense sector missions were being transitioned under the Guard's jurisdiction. An assignment opportunity in air defense became available in New York. Taking her family into consideration, the reductions taking place at that time, and being able to use a honed skill set, the opportunity to join the Guard was a good fit.

Deskins doesn't limit her opportunities.

"Gen. Clarke asked me if I was willing to look at an opportunity outside of New York. My response was 'yes, as long as I can make a difference.'"

And by taking charge of the Air National Guard's SAPR program she can make a difference.

AMC seeks 2014 Air Force Marathon Participants

by Scott Black
Headquarters Air Mobility Command

4/23/2014 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill.  -- The 18th annual United States Air Force Marathon will be held Sept. 20, 2014 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Air Mobility Command will again sponsor an active duty team comprised of both male and female runners representing various age groups to compete in the full and half marathon.

Interested teams should submit an Air Force Form 303 through myPers or with their local fitness center by May 15. Those selected will be placed on permissive TDY status as authorized by AFI 36-3003, Military Leave Program. Individual travel, registration fee and lodging will be reimbursed.

In addition to the official AMC competitive team, all others interested in competing in the Air Force Marathon are encouraged to do so at their own expense.

Other events include a wheelchair division of the marathon (consisting of hand-cranked and push-rim divisions), half marathon, 10K, and 5K. The USAF Marathon, Half Marathon, and 10K are held Sept. 20 and the 5K race is held Sept 19 at Wright State University.

For more information, visit the USAF Marathon website at www.usafmarathon.com or contact John Anderson at 210-395-7224 or DSN 969-7224.

DH-8 ACCIDENT REPORT RELEASED

Release Number: 010414

4/23/2014 - DHC-8 Accident Report Released -- LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va.-Air Combat Command released an Accident Investigation Board report for the Oct. 5, 2013, crash of a de Havilland DHC-8-202 "Prospector" while flying a mission in the U.S.Southern Command area of operations. Four of the six crewmembers were killed and the two pilots were injured when the aircraft impacted the terrain in a remote area of the Republic of Colombia, approximately one kilometer south of the Panama-Colombia border. The DHC-8-202 was supporting a nighttime counter-narcotics mission.

The mishap aircraft was operated by Sierra Nevada Corporation under a contract with the United States Air Force. The crash destroyed the aircraft along with $7.2 million in U.S. government equipment on board.

The mishap aircraft departed a forward operating location in the Republic of Panama at 10:45 p.m. on Oct. 4, 2013, and proceeded to its tasked area of operations in the Caribbean Sea off the southeastern coast of Panama. The crew had detected a boat suspected of transporting illegal drugs and began to monitor it from an altitude of 1,500 feet above sea level. Although intending to remain over water during the operation, the pilots unintentionally flew over land and impacted the terrain
at 12:42 a.m., Oct. 5.

The board president found, by clear and convincing evidence, the cause of the mishap was the pilots' failure to ensure the aircraft remained over water, which resulted in unplanned night flight over land at low altitude, and subsequent controlled flight into the terrain. Additionally, the board president found four other factors that substantially contributed to the mishap: inappropriate delegation of terrain avoidance responsibility; ineffective communication among the aircrew; an inoperative Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System; and a lack of operational oversight.

Navy Leaders Agree to CUES at 14th WPNS

From Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs

QINGDAO, China (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and the U.S. Pacific Fleet commander joined over 20 maritime leaders April 22 at the 14th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) to exchange ideas and agree upon procedures affecting maritime conduct at sea.

"It's great to be with the heads of navy and the maritime leaders of the Pacific," said CNO Adm. Jonathan Greenert of the WPNS. "We're strongest when we all operate together," said Greenert, who often stresses the importance of coalitions to respond natural disasters and future global challenges.

During Greenert's remarks he stated that forums like the WPNS offer the most tangible agenda to accomplish worldwide naval initiatives by allowing heads of navy to sit down as a group and discuss important issues of the highest consequence.

The most significant issue at this year's symposium was the vote on the endorsement of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), which passed by an overwhelming majority of the WPNS voting members.

The CUES document is not legally binding, but is an agreement upon which the participating nations have a standardized protocol of safety procedures, basic communications and basic maneuvering instructions to follow for naval ships and aircraft during unplanned encounters at sea.

"We can be proud of our collective work," said Greenert of the CUES document, which was years in the making. "I appreciate the hard work in developing the document."

Greenert expanded upon the significance of the CUES agreement stating, "We've agreed to increase the standards that we will set at sea. We've agreed to establish proficiency in communications. We've agreed to establish common behavior at sea. We've agreed to prevent misunderstanding and miscalculations."

In Greenert's remarks he also highlighted the importance of building on WPNS achievements and the need to communicate more openly, directly and talk more frequently.

Greenert said the endorsement of CUES is just the beginning. He said the real challenge will be what comes next; the implementation and training of future generations of commanding officers and junior officers on achievements like CUES and other cooperative initiatives spawned from the WPNS and annual WPNS workshops.

The WPNS is a biannual meeting among navies with significant strategic interests in the Western Pacific. The WPNS aims to increase cooperation and the ability to operate together, as well as build trust and confidence among navies by providing them a venue to discuss maritime issues of mutual interest as a group and through bilateral meetings.