Oct 30, 2008
BY Dave Melancon

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany (Oct. 30, 2008) — Soldiers and their families can expect to spend more time together between deployments thanks to continuing success in Iraq and the steady growth of the Army’s ranks, the service’s top officer said.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. visited with Soldiers and family members of U.S. Army Europe’s 172nd Infantry Brigade in Germany Oct. 29. During a series of three roundtable discussions and a lunchtime meeting with the brigade’s officers, noncommissioned officers, Soldiers and Family Readiness Group leaders, he said dwell time — the amount of time a Soldier or unit remains at home station between deployments — will grow from 12 months to 24 over the next three years.

“As the demand for our forces stays at what it is now, we are growing the Army by about 75,000 (Soldiers) between now and 2010, and we will gradually add more units,” Gen. Casey said. “So because of the growth and the demand being held steady, the time that Soldiers stay home between deployments gradually increases.”

Dwell time is expected to increase from 18 months in 2009 to 24 months in 2011, he said.

Casey said the increase in troop strength will be completed by 2011. At that point, about 15 brigades will be prepared to fight irregular conflicts and 14 more trained for other missions.

About 80 percent of the Army’s brigades have been converted to modular formations in the largest organizational change the Army has seen since World War II, Casey told junior officers and senior NCOs here. These modular units are trading their Cold War-era skills for those needed for 21st-century conflicts ranging from conventional battle to asymmetric warfare.

The effects of continuous deployments accumulate and are wearing Soldiers and their families down, the general said.

“We’ve got to give our folks more time at home so they can fully recover from the repeated deployments,” Casey said.

Units also benefit from longer times between deployments, he added, because leaders have more time to train their Soldiers to fight in conventional and unconventional warfare.

Units with a dwell time of 18 months or less should continue to train for the unconventional fight, Casey said. Units with more than 18 months at home station should enhance their conventional warfare skills.

“We have to build that depth into our force so we can truly operate across the spectrum of conflicts,” he said.

The change in dwell time is one part of bringing the Army back into balance, Casey said.
“We are deploying at a pace that we cannot sustain either from the standpoint of sustaining the all-volunteer force or the strategic flexibility to do other things,” he said. “So last year we started a program that would put us back into balance.”

The program will take about four years to complete, Casey explained. The Army has to continue to support, sustain and care for its Soldiers and Families as it prepares, trains and equips units to fight in current and future conflicts - all while continuing to transform the force.

Casey pledged that the Army will continue its commitment to the Army Family Covenant, noting that funding for Family programs will increase to $1.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2009.

Casey said he wanted to observe how the 172nd has prepared for its upcoming deployment to Iraq with only 12 months to get trained and ready.

“I am very impressed with (how) the leaders, the Soldiers and the Families are dealing with a difficult thing,” he said. “I am very proud of the commitment that I see in the eyes of everybody I have talked to. They believe in what they are doing, and they are going to make a difference.”

Casey also discussed issues concerning medical care for Soldiers and their Families, the possibility of bonus payments to Soldiers whose tours of duty are extended under the Army’s “stop-loss” program, difficulties faced by some family members in obtaining USAREUR licenses, and mental health programs for Soldiers and Family members.

As he prepared to join several junior enlisted Soldiers for a lunchtime meeting, Casey praised leaders throughout USAREUR for putting in the “the extra effort that it takes to hold things together” in an overseas environment.

“It is always a little harder when you are outside of the United States to do things,” he said.
“I believe the command is very focused on ensuring they have the support that they need. I certainly saw it in spades as I went around today.”

During his stay in Europe, Casey will also meet with leaders of the new U.S. Africa Command and discuss combined operations with senior European military leaders during the annual Conference of European Armies in Heidelberg, Germany.

Story by Lance Cpl. Laura A. Mapes, Desert Warrior Staff

In March, the Department of Defense launched a campaign geared toward extinguishing smoking and tobacco use for the more than 30 percent of active duty troops who use tobacco.

Although this is a significant decrease since the 1980s, the numbers are still too high, according to a 2005 survey from the DoD.

Each year, the Marine Corps spends $99 million to make up for illness and loss of productivity attributed to smoking.

“When a smoker takes a five minute break every hour, that is 45 minutes per day without productivity,” said Tara Hawkins, Semper Fit personal trainer. “This also puts a lot of stress on the nonsmoker.”

For those who wish to quit the habit or get information about quitting the Navy/Marine Corps Relief Society’s visiting nurse, Paula Snook, offers smoking cessation classes in building 645, room 107, the second Tuesday of every month.

“Other bases around the Marine Corps have programs run through (Marine Corps Community Services), but I started doing this many years ago to help the branch medical clinic,” said Snook. “I know what it is like to be a user, and I take that experience into my classes.”

After quitting smoking, the negative effects of smoking can begin to decrease almost immediately.

According to a study by the American Lung Association, a smoker’s heart rate drops 20 minutes after quitting, carbon-monoxide levels in the blood return to normal after 12 hours, and the sense of smell and taste are regained after only two days without a cigarette.

“I took the class on (Oct. 7), I quit on the 8th and by the 10th, I had no desire to smoke,” said Sgt. Sean Sweeney, a station inspection technician and a smoker for 20 years. “I could finally smell and taste how bad it was.”

There are long-term positive effects as well. One year after quitting, the added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s and five years after quitting, the stroke risk would be equal to that of a nonsmoker.

“After a 34-year love affair with cigarettes, quitting is the best decision I ever made,” said Snook. “I give users the tools and knowledge to quit, but they have to have the desire and drive.”

She also offers one-on-one counseling for Marines who are unable to attend the class, but would like help quitting.

After attending the one-day tobacco cessation class, graduates take their certificates of completion to BMC pharmacy, where they can receive medication such as nicotine patches and gum and tablets like bupropion and varenicline.

For more information about smoking cessation classes on station, or one-on-one counseling, call 928-269-2373. The next class is slated for Tuesday due to the holiday on Nov. 11.

Smokers can also find support through Web sites and hot lines, such as www.ucanquit2.org, smokefree.org, www-nehc.med.navy.mil, www.triwest.com/beneficiary and 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

Oct. 29, 2008
By Donna Miles

WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – The United States is holding out hope that issues delaying a status of forces agreement with Iraq will be resolved before the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing U.S. forces there expires Dec. 31, a senior Pentagon official said today.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said at a news conference that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is translating written issues submitted by the Iraqi government, and expects a “very deliberate” review to follow.

The United States will listen to the Iraqi government’s concerns and work to iron them out, but has little interest in “a wholesale rejiggering of this agreement,” Morrell said.

“We think it is good as it’s currently constructed,” he added.

“This is an agreement born of seven months of hard negotiations,” Morrell said. “We believe it’s a good agreement. We believe it’s a fair agreement. We believe it protects … Iraqi sovereignty while at the same time protecting our forces and [allowing] us to finish the mission in Iraq.”

In addition to the SOFA, the discussions also cover a strategic framework agreement that will define the long-term partnership between the United States and Iraq. “We want to have a long-term, good, healthy, open, working relationship,” Morrell said. The Iraqis have made it clear that they want to be treated as a partner, just as the United States treats other countries where its troops are based, Morrell said. That entails giving full consideration to Iraq’s concerns and ideas and working to resolve them. “And I think that’s where we are at this point,” he said.

The focus for now is on reaching an agreement so the Council of Representatives in Iraq can pass it into law, resolving the legal status of U.S. forces in Iraq. Lacking such an arrangement, U.S. forces will have no legal authority to be in Iraq on Jan. 1, and no legal protections to conduct their mission.

“And the risk you run,” Morrell said, “is that the gains that have been made … at great cost … to the American people and families – taxpayer dollars, blood lost, lives lost — will start to unravel, potentially, if we have to cease operations because we don’t have the legal mandate to operate any more.”

The only alternative to a SOFA would be to extend the U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing troops there, but Morrell said neither the United States nor Iraq prefers to go that route.

The Iraqis “don’t want to operate any longer under the auspices and the authorities of this U.N. resolution,” Morrell said. “They have emerged from the period of darkness in the aftermath of their liberation, and they wish to be treated … like the independent, sovereign, strong country that they are.”

Arriving at a SOFA will fulfill those Iraqi wishes while providing a framework for the U.N. to complete its mission in Iraq, Morrell said. This, he said, will ensure the Iraqis “have the security forces and the government capabilities to run that country without any U.S. force presence there — hopefully in the not-too-distant future.”

By Cpl. Aaron Rooks, 2nd Marine Logistics Group

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Recipe for pre-deployment training: Add one hour rules of engagement, one hour law of war, two days combat marksmanship, and more than 100 hours of basic infantry training. This may seem like a lot, but it’s just the beginning for Marines preparing to go overseas.

Most Marines know this. They understand that when they are called upon to deploy to other countries around the world, especially during a time of war, these hours of training are the norm.

Yet there are still some topics many individuals tend to overlook. These topics don’t have as much to do with combat prep although they are equally as important. Instead, they deal with personal matters unique to each individual Marine.

The Corps identifies four major areas, which deal with financial, legal, practical and personal matters. These areas, unlike they’re warfare-related counterparts, can in some cases be viewed as more trivial than say participating in a Basic Urban Skills Training course. These matters, if left unresolved, can all have a lasting, powerful effect on the individual Marine and his effectiveness on the frontlines.

Marines usually won’t see these issues posted on the average pre-deployment training calendars within their commands. It’s rare to see emergency information worksheet under combat stress brief, or property worksheet above combat lifesaver. These various individual matters are just that: individual matters. Because these preparations aren’t mandatory, they are sometimes not covered at all.

“If Marines have their personal, practical, financial and legal matters in hand before they deploy to combat, they will have more focus on the tasks they’re given while they’re over there,” said Sgt. Jonathan Hackworth, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the Corporal’s Leadership Course at the Camp Lejeune Staff NCO Academy. “Plus they will have peace of mind knowing that their family, bills and finances are all taken care of while they’re gone.”

The 24-year-old Carey, Ohio native has taught readiness classes to his students for more than a year now. To add to his resume, he’s an infantry rifleman by trade and has gone through three combat deployments, once to Afghanistan and twice to Iraq. During this time he has seen the true effects that come from lack of planning.

He used a past experience involving one of his junior Marines to show how not taking care of financial and legal matters can turn a person’s life upside down. He said the Marine gave a power of attorney to the wrong people before he left for Iraq, which he didn’t realize until he returned months later.

“He found a $100,000 house that he owned here in Jacksonville that he knew nothing about, plus a new sports car as well,” Hackworth explained. “He had no choice but to either sell the property or file for bankruptcy. He was later able to get his life back on line, and he learned a life-long lesson.”

Hackworth views financial and legal stability to come hand-in-hand, and that there are many different aspects to the two that Marines must look into. He said there are allotments that should be setup, medical, dental and life insurance policies to update, bills to organize, which only scratches the surface of the many issues that must be solidified. He added that if these are not handled properly, legal repercussions can be found, much as his former Marine discovered.

He said that there are a lot of other legal issues to consider aside from legal repercussions due to financial problems. Marines must determine estate plans, designate legal guardians of children and store important documents, just to name a few. He said these seemingly small matters can have drastic long-term effects on not only the individual Marine, but also on their family and friends as well. He views practical and personal issues in the same light.

For example, Marines are advised to ensure all of their home security measures are working and in place. One security measure, the smoke detector, is often times overlooked. So if a Marine fails to check the alarm, they’re house could burn down, possibly harming that individual’s family in the process. And that easily, a practical issue just became a personal issue.

The practical and personal matters, just like financial and legal matters, are in abundance. Hackworth uses the examples of appliances, vehicles, moving arrangements and health care as primary topics to convey their importance. He said that while Marines are gone, their family members need to know how to handle these different types of issues.

Now leaning more towards the personal issues, if a Marine gets injured or killed while in-country, his or her families might not get what they are entitled to simply because the information wasn’t updated.

Luckily a group of Marines currently participating in combined pre-deployment training at the 2nd Marine Logistics Group’s Battle Skills Training School are well aware of these issues, and understand the necessity of handling these matters. They have either solidified those issues, or are currently handling them.

“There’s a lot of focus toward it as far as deploying to ensure that we and our families are prepared,” said Sgt. Dan Clark, a field military policeman with MP Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd MLG. “Everything is important leading up to the deployment, there’s just two sides: the combat side and the personal side. We do a lot of training, but when it comes time to handle those personal matters, we get it done.”

Clark, a single male Marine from Quincy, Mass., has endured one deployment to Iraq so far in his career, and works with junior Marines on a daily basis ensuring they are taken care of. This greatly attributes to Clark’s unit’s success.

Like Hackworth, Clark uses his lessons learned to pass on to junior Marines, who are naturally the largest group affected by this issue.. Clark is a prime example of this; an NCO doing what’s necessary to take care of his Marines and helping them remain in good financial, legal, practical and personal standing.

“The NCOs are the individuals who must ensure that their Marines are prepared,” Hackworth said. “By setting goals and counseling sessions, every Marine will be better off (during deployments).”

Sgt. Russell Chastain, a platoon sergeant with security company, 2nd Supply Battalion, 2nd MLG, has a particular focus different from the average that only adds to the effort of preparing his Marines. He is married and has one daughter who’s just over a year and a half old. Because of the family he has waiting back home, he must put forth even more of his time to ensure they’re are taken care of after he leaves.

“I have to put a lot of focus into my family,” the Hampton, Va., native said. “I have to make sure I’m good, but I also have to ensure that they’re good. They are going to look to me for support.”

Chastain said that he has a comfort inside because he knows that he’s completed 75 percent of his personal preparation for himself and his family, and is confident that his family, as a whole, will make it through his upcoming deployment Ok. He said he could not say that he knows all other Marines are this confident, but he said he hopes that’s the case.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The nature of today’s battlefields require every service member to be rifle savvy regardless of their job, age or rank. With insurgents launching ambushes and improvised explosive device attacks on support elements, it’s more important than ever for Marines to remember their warrior ethos.

One particular Marine, a platoon commander from the Infantry Weapons Repair Shop of 2nd Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, is a prime example of 233 years of maintaining a combat mindset on the grounds of war.

In March 2008, Chief Warrant Officer Ronald C. Ivy served as the logistics advisor for the I Marine Expeditionary Force’s (Forward) First Iraqi Army Division Military Transition Team. The native of Yakima, Wash., who is an armorer by trade, exemplified the phrase, “every Marine is a rifleman,” when led a joint Iraqi Army and coalition patrol for nearly 15 kilometers through hostile territory, March 23.

Ivy’s mission was imperative during the operation. He was to conduct a combat resupply to the gates of Basra, Iraq, after days of intense fighting.

“When I pulled up, it was a typical convoy,” Ivy explained. “I had a better part of 15-20 vehicles behind me.”

Ivy was responsible for leading the convoy of coalition and Iraqi Army vehicles to the gates while under persistent sniper, small arms and mortar fire. At the gates awaited the First Iraqi Army Brigade, the MTT team and members of 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, who were all low on essential supplies such as food, water and ammunition.

He integrated both the convoy’s troops and vehicles into the defense of the gates after making sure that all the supplies were delivered to the battle-worn Marines and Iraqi soldiers. What was supposed to be a drop-and-go mission turned into roughly a month-long push into Basra. Throughout the rest of the day, under constant enemy fire, he continued to direct his Marines in support of the defense of the Iraqi Army’s Basra command post.

“The brigade wasn’t moving forward, but we didn’t let them go back,” Ivy said. “When we got to the Basra gates, we had our routine down. Everybody clicked. Everybody did their job.”

During a later mortar attack, while still braving direct and indirect enemy fire, he conducted the ground medical evacuation of two injured personnel.

Ivy describes his actions as just doing what he, as a Marine, needed to do. He said he stands by his actions because they were not only fighting to survive, but they were also fighting to keep the Iraqis in the fight.

This is the kind of situation that every Marine is trained for from the time they leave boot camp, and it’s one that all Marines should remain prepared for.

Ivy has this advice for young Marines like his son, Pfc. Charles Ivy, who is currently serving in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province.

“This is what I tell my son … keep your head on a swivel,” Ivy explained. “When you’re out there you need to have a heightened sense of awareness.

“Not only do you have to watch out for your fellow Marines, but you have to watch out for the Iraqis,” Ivy added. “You can tell which people have negative feelings for you.”

Ivy was presented the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a combat distinguishing device for his “zealous initiative, courageous actions and exceptional dedication to duty,” Oct. 17, by the 2nd MLG commanding general, Brig. Gen. Juan G. Ayala.

Ayala, who was an advisor in the First Iraqi Army Division the year prior to Ivy’s actions, is proud of his achievements and sees him as a model for all Marines to follow.

“It was an honor and privilege for me to get to do this,” Ayala said, speaking of the ceremony. “He epitomizes (the phrase), ‘every Marine a rifleman.’”

WASHINGTON (October 9, 2008, Army News Service) - Advancements in science and technology that support full-spectrum operations, like exoskeletons, were discussed Wednesday at the annual meeting and exposition of the Association of the United States Army.

The forum “Busting the Low-Tech Myth: Army S&T Support to Full Spectrum Operations” provided presentations on how experimental and applied technologies show the Army has advanced across the board, from recruiting to technology in theater.

Lt. Gen. Ross Thompson, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology opened the panel with a report on how to grow the AL&T workforce in order to aid research and development.

“We’re going to be ‘in-sourcing’ more things than we’ve been outsourcing lately,” Thompson said.

Other presenters went on to discuss the importance of recruiting future generations to research and operate technologies, and how technology itself plays an important part in the recruiting; how technology helps facilitate the ability to track business, the significance of internal research and external commercial partnerships, and the technological advancements themselves, both in the experimental and applied phases.

Nanoflyers and Exoskeletons

“Advancement in computers and our computational capabilities is enormous.” said Dr. Thomas Killion, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology and its chief scientist. The LandWarrior system, the technology in the back of a Stryker vehicle, allows us to do things we would have never been capable of before, he explained. “That’s why we are a really a high-tech Army.”

Current technologies in the field include precision munitions, unmanned vehicles from Future Combat Systems, and hybrid-electric power sources, Killion said. But these applied technologies are not the only things that make the Army high-tech; experimental systems and advanced research also make the Army more developed.

The Army has invested heavily in nano-technology and biotechnology, Killion said. “Nano-technology in terms of designing new materials from the ground up, atom by atom, to provide new properties” in terms of protection, sensing and monitoring the condition of the Soldier himself.

“Biotechnology, in terms of really mimicking biology to come up with new ideas for protection, sensing, communications, for doing things in ways that billions of years of evolution have helped living things to do things, and exploiting that knowledge to design man-made systems,” he said.

The Army is developing training avatars, computer generated simulations that will react to and interact with Soldiers intelligently, as well as researching sensors that monitor brain functions, which could lead to enhanced prosthesis control, Killion said.

During his presentation, Killion ran two videos of technologies still being experimented with: exoskeletons and nanoflyers.

The exoskeleton is a robotic device the Soldier wears like a full body suit. It would enhance Soldier performance, increasing strength without losing agility, and potentially developing into an entirely covered system — a little like the protective suit worn in the receint film “Ironman.”

Nanoflyers, Killion explained, weigh about as much as a penny and resemble tiny helicopters, able to fit into a backpack easily. The will serve as urban-interior surveillance technology, and can either hover inside buildings or be placed inconspicuously on a shelf for stationary monitoring.

Killion emphasized that in order to continue technological advancements the Army must foster science and engineering career paths.

“Tomorrow’s technology is in the minds of today’s youth,” he said.

Recruiting for the Future

Part of developing and maintaining a high-tech Army is having the manpower to research, develop and operate the business and technologies — which means recruitment, Thompson said.

Thompson explained how the AL&T is expanding its workforce, both on the civilian side and the military side. Currently, there are roughly 38,500 civilians in the workforce and he projects doubling that amount through 2012. On the military side, there are less than 16,000 people, but that’s expected to increase by 178 in the contract area, and 149 other military.

“All those acquisition career fields require highly trained people; it’s not just the PhD scientists — it’s the business school graduates that understand basics economics and finance and can help us put together a good contract instrument,” he said.

Ed Walters, chief marketing officer for the Army, spoke about the new Army Experience Center, a recruiting center in Philadelphia that uses advanced technology and marketing theories.

Based on the concept of experiential marketing, the Army Experience Center provides a relaxed environment for recruiters to interact with young people and their parents, Walters said.

The center is futuristic in appearance, complete with a command center where visitors can be briefed virtually by actual Soldiers. State-of-the-art gaming stations, touch screen monitors and realistic battle simulators all help reinforce the idea that the Army is high tech, and help to connect with the potential recruits who grew up in a technology-oriented environment, he explained.

“The mission is to apply alternative business practices to recruiting,” Walters said, and to create innovative programs to enhance the understanding of the Army.

Researching the Future

The director of the Tank and Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, Dr. Grace Bochenek, said that the Army is researching several types of alternative energy: biodiesel, hydrogen fuel and hydroelectric power sources. These would help run autonomous vehicles and provide clean, efficient power for the Soldier of the future.

In fact, hybrid-electric power has already been put to use as a power source for the FCS Non-Line of Sight Cannon.

The Army is also working with various representatives from the commercial automotive industry, like GM and Toyota, to research vehicle safety, Bochenek said.

Jeff Parsons of the Army Contracting Command spoke about how new software enables training and experience to be tracked, helping to build a “virtual contracting enterprise” and create better contracting officers.

“[Our job] is to recruit you to help us get the story out,” Killion said, asking the audience to spread the word: “That the Army is a high-tech service, that we provide Soldiers with technology that enables them to more effectively do their jobs, and do it safely.”

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2008 – Coalition forces detained 12 suspects, including members of Iranian-backed illegal militias and the Kataib Hezbollah terrorist group, in operations throughout Iraq today, military officials reported.

Coalition forces apprehended four suspects believed to be Iranian-supported enemy fighters this morning during two separate operations in Jadidah, north of Baghdad in Diyala province.

Acting on intelligence information, coalition forces targeted a suspected associate of groups involved in cross-border weapons smuggling and financial facilitation. During the first operation, forces moved in on the wanted man’s location in Jadidah, where they detained him without incident.

In the second operation, coalition forces targeted a suspected recruiter, financer, and weapons facilitator for the Iranian-backed enemy network. Forces moved in on the second wanted man’s location and detained three suspects without incident.

Coalition forces continued to degrade the Kataib Hezbollah network with the capture of three suspected criminals today during an operation in Baghdad’s Basrah neighborhood. Kataib Hezbollah is believed to be a proxy of Iran, and its members are believed to be responsible for recent attacks against Iraqi citizens and Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said. In the last two days, officials added, coalition forces have detained six suspected Kataib Hezbollah members.

Acting on intelligence information, coalition forces targeted a Kataib Hezbollah facilitator believed to have close ties to network leadership. Coalition forces approached a social club where they believed him to be, where they encountered three suspected Kataib Hezbollah members. Coalition forces observed that the three individuals were intoxicated, officials said, and they were detained without incident.

In other news, a wanted man and four other suspected terrorists were detained today as coalition forces continued to degrade al-Qaida in Iraq’s operating capabilities in central and northern Iraq.

Coalition forces captured the wanted man in the Jazeera Desert, southwest of Mosul. He is believed to be associated with the region’s al-Qaida courier network and senior leaders, and he surrendered himself to coalition forces, officials said.

In Jalula, northwest of Baghdad, forces targeted a suspected al-Qaida car-bomb and finance operative. Two men believed to be associates of the wanted man were detained during the operation.

Another coalition force operation targeting an alleged weapons facilitator in Baghdad netted two suspects.

In operations yesterday, a tip led Iraqi soldiers to the largest and most serviceable weapons cache since the completion of a barrier wall in Baghdad’s Sadr City district. Based on information from a source, Iraqi soldiers seized the cache, which included two 72.5 mm rockets, two 64 mm rockets, 15 armor-piercing projectiles, a directional fragmentary bomb, a 60 mm mortar round, various grenades and projectiles, 50 electrical blasting caps and various bomb components.

On Oct. 19, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers arrested five suspected criminals in Baghdad’s Rashid district.

Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, detained two men with false identification in the northern area of the Jihad community.

Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s Troop C, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigae Combat Team, detained a suspected Iranian-backed enemy fighter wanted for kidnappings and indirect-fire attacks in the Abu Tshir community.

Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, detained a suspect believed to be responsible for roadside-bomb attacks, indirect-fire attacks and financing other attacks in the Aamel community. Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, detained a suspected Iranian-backed enemy fighter during a raid in the eastern area of the Jihad community.

By Spc. John Higgins
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. - What has worked for enlisted recruiting in the Army National Guard is now working for the officer ranks.

A critical shortage of officers prompted the Army National Guard to offer recruiting incentives to its Soldiers through the Guard Recruiting and Assistance Program-Officers (GRAP-O).

“This program has been very successful for the enlisted side, so we figured if it works for them then it would work for us,” said Lt. Col. Walter Woodring, Officer Strength Maintenance branch chief for the Army National Guard.

Started last fall, GRAP-O is the officer version of G-RAP, which allows a Soldier to be a part-time recruiting assistant and earn up to $2,000 for every new Soldier that joins the Guard – $1,000 when the new Soldier enlists and another $1,000 when he or she ships to basic training.

GRAP-O has proved to be an invaluable tool for finding qualified officer candidates.

Woodring said the Army Guard gained 400 officers with GRAP-O in last fiscal year. “It’s just another tool in our tool bag to get folks to join.”

The Guard is offering $2,000 for basic officer and warrant officer recruits, and up to $7,500 for finding certain specialties, such as doctors, lawyers and chaplains.

And while the program’s financial incentives are tempting, Maj. Tanya Evans, the G-RAP Officer Program manager, said there was a wide range of reasons for Soldiers to participate.

“It’s not only just money, there’s esprit de corps. There are so many more things to being a recruiting assistant than money,” she said.

As a recruiting assistant for G-RAP, a Soldier can have a direct affect on the flow of officers, selecting from their own peers within the military and assisting them in becoming officers.

“A lot of people just don’t understand the path to becoming an officer,” said Evans. “Or we get stuck in enlisted vs. officer instead of how we work together to make the Army and the Army National Guard and all the service entities better. So, we limit ourselves. The RA’s job is to get those people on the pathway.”

One Soldier who has helping bring officers into the Guard is 2nd Lt. Taihei Hongo, a counter intelligence officer and native of Tacoma, Wash., who has produced 10 officer candidates, all from his pool of friends.

“From the recruiter’s prospective, you’re recruiting a friend or someone you know and feel comfortable working with,” said Hongo. “That is the kind of Soldier others can trust and rely on.

“From the recruited Soldier’s prospective, you’re talking to your friend which, in my opinion, is a hundred times better than working with a regular recruiter in the sense that the Soldier won’t be pressured into anything they don’t want to do. The Soldier can trust stories and experiences that the G-RAP recruiter has.”

Recruiting assistants such as Hongo have their work cut out for them, since the Guard is 5,000 officers short, and most in need of captains, Woodring said.

“You can’t just hire a captain, you have to grow a captain from a lieutenant,” he said. “It’s a long-term problem that requires us to grow more lieutenants to fill in the captain jobs.”

While the Army Guard is 107 percent strength in lieutenants, the shortage of captains requires a strength increase to 125 percent in lieutenants to fill in those shortages.

Warrant officers are also at critical lows, said Chief Warrant Officer Bonny Bell of the Army Guard’s Strength Maintenance Division.

“We are currently 3,000 short in the National Guard … 500 of those are for aviators, and 2,500 are for the technical warrant officers,” she said.

However, the need for warrant officers extends beyond that shortage. “Of our force, about 50 percent are eligible to retire at any time. Even though we have 3,000 vacancies, we’re looking to fill 6,000 slots.”

Recruiting warrant officers is a unique challenge for the RAs because the rank requires a high degree of technological knowhow.

“They’re looking specifically for enlisted Soldiers who have specialized technical expertise,” said Bell. “Many times the recruiter assistant is actually telling the enlisted Soldier … the [career] path to become a warrant officer.”

Oct 17, 2008
BY J.D. Leipold

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 17, 2008) - The Army announced Thursday night that the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program, which had been awarded to Bell Helicopter, has been scrapped because development costs had almost tripled from $359 million to $942 million.

Originally, the ARH contract was awarded for an expected development cost of $8.56 million per helicopter, but the Defense Department had re-estimated costs to spike to $14.48 million per unit. Additionally, the ARH was slated for delivery by 2009, but current projections moved that to 2013.

“Warfighting capability for a manned armed reconnaissance helicopter is crucial to support the ground combat commander and remains a critical requirement for the Army,” said Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, the Army’s deputy chief of staff of operations and plans, G-3/5/7, at a Pentagon press brief Friday morning. “The decision that was made yesterday does not in any way diminish the imperative for this capability.

“Our operational tempo, attrition and losses of six aircraft per year underscore the need to fill this requirement as quickly as possible,” he added. “To this end, we will rapidly pursue a re-validation of the particular characteristics needed for this capability so that we can restart the process of acquiring a manned, army reconnaissance helicopter.”

In the meantime, the Army will invest significant efforts into the existing Kiowa Warrior (OH-58) fleet to ensure aircrews and commanders continue to have the best capability possible in order to carry on their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, Thurman said.

Until the program can be re-evaluated and a contract awarded, the Army will use a bridging strategy that includes a safety enhancement program to standardize the entire Kiowa Warrior fleet and improve upon its survivability and reliability, officials said. They said this will include improved sensors, weapons systems and improved survivability equipment.

The Kiowa Warrior currently has the highest optempo of any aircraft in the Army — 60 are serving in Iraq; 32 in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – President Bush signed the fiscal 2009 defense budget into law today, authorizing a $512 billion base to support military readiness, as well as $66 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The law also authorizes a 3.9 percent pay raise for servicemembers, to take effect Jan. 1. This represents a one-half-percent increase over Bush’s initial request.

Bush signed the bill into law this morning without issuing a public statement, before leaving the White House to meet with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.

The budget represents Bush’s priorities and sustains U.S. commitment to the war on terror, increasing ground combat capabilities, improving force readiness, developing combat capabilities needed to meet future threats, and improving the quality of life for servicemembers and their families, defense officials said.

It “provides the resources necessary to maintain an agile, highly trained and lethal fighting force, increase Army and Marine Corps end strength and sustain the United States’ technological advantage over current and potential enemies,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said as Bush announced the budget request in February.

The 2009 budget provides more than $20 billion to grow the force and provide the equipment, training and facilities these troops will need. The new budget will fund efforts to increase the active Army to 547,400 soldiers and the Marine Corps’ strength to 202,000. It also includes continued funding for the Army’s transformation from a division-centric force to a more flexible modular force with increased mobility and combat power.

The new budget will strengthen the National Guard and reserves, providing $49 billion to recruit, train, equip and sustain units that provide critical military capabilities both at home and abroad.

It also provides funds needed to recapitalize aging aircraft fleets, providing $17.3 billion to modernize tactical fleets and develop and procure fighter aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

Quality-of-life issues play prominently in the new budget. In addition to the pay raise, the law provides more than $41 billion for the military health system. It also bars some participants in the military’s health care network from raising their fees.

The law also provides funds to continue action on recommendations of the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors. Officials said the funds will ensure world-class health and rehabilitative care to warfighters who are wounded, ill or injured in service to the nation.