|
|
you are here We Are National Voice/Pine Level News Gazette Home of
To stay informed, subscribe to our
RSS feeds, book mark us, or even better,
Subscribe to Missing Children RSS Feed Subscribe to Desktop - The Editorial Page RSS Feed Subscribe to Religion RSS feed Rss Business Feed
webmasterb@nationalvoicesite.com Legislation Extends Special Stop-Loss Pay Deadline By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (NNS) -- President Barack Obama signed legislation Sept. 30 extending the Retroactive Stop-Loss Special Pay deadline through Dec. 3. Officials estimate about 80,000 eligible service members, veterans and beneficiaries have yet to apply for the special stop-loss pay. "It's important that all those eligible for this benefit take the opportunity to apply for what they've earned," said Lernes Hebert, Defense Department acting director of officer and enlisted personnel management. "We encourage those eligible to apply as soon as possible, to avoid the last-minute rush, which can increase processing time." The program was due to run out Oct. 21. The extension is part of the continuing resolution that funds federal government operations. Congress has not yet passed authorization or appropriations bills for fiscal 2011. The program affects military members whose service was involuntarily extended under stop-loss between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009. Eligible members or their beneficiaries are required to submit a claim to their respective military service in order to receive the benefit of $500 for each full or partial month served in a stop-loss status. The original deadline for claims was Oct. 21. Stop-loss allows the military to extend service members beyond their end-of-term of service dates. The program has been used extensively since 9/11 to maintain personnel strength in deploying units. The program allows the military to extend service members whose end-of-term of service, retirement or end-of-service obligation date falls during a deployment. They may be involuntarily extended until the end of their unit's deployment. The Army and Marine Corps used the policy the most. The special pay is meant to remunerate the service members for their sacrifices. When the program began last year, the services estimated 145,000 service members, veterans and beneficiaries were eligible. Most had already separated from the services. The services have sent direct mail to those eligible under the program. The military has engaged with military and veteran service organizations. The services also reached out via social networks and media outlets. Last month President Obama reached out to veterans in a video posted to the White House Web site encouraging those who are eligible to apply for the benefit. VA Extends Coverage for Gulf War Veterans By Donna Miles WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2010 – Veterans of the first Gulf War as well as current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan now have a smoother path toward receiving health-care benefits and disability compensation for nine diseases associated with their military service, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today. A final regulation published in today’s Federal Register relieves veterans of the burden of proving these diseases are service-related: Brucellosis, Campylobacter jejuni, Coxiella Burnetii (Q fever), Malaria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Nontyphoid Salmonella, Shigella, Visceral leishmaniasis and West Nile virus. Shinseki added the new presumptions after reviewing a 2006 National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine report on the long-term health effects of certain diseases suffered among Gulf War veterans. He also extended the presumptions to veterans of Afghanistan, based on NAS findings that the nine diseases are prevalent there as well. The new presumptions apply to veterans who served in Southwest Asia beginning on or after the start of Operation Desert Shield on Aug. 2, 1990, through Operation Desert Storm to the present, including the current conflict in Iraq. Veterans who served in Afghanistan on or after Sept. 19, 2001, also qualify. For Shinseki, who pledged to honor the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War by improving health-care access and benefits for its 697,000 veterans, the new presumptions represent a long-overdue step in addressing the medical challenges many face. “This is part of historic changes in how VA considers Gulf War veterans’ illnesses,” he said. “By setting up scientifically based presumptions of service connection, we give these deserving veterans a simple way to obtain the benefits they earned in service to our country.” The new presumptions initially are expected to affect just under 2,000 veterans who have been diagnosed with the nine specified diseases, John Gingrich, VA’s chief of staff, told American Forces Press Service. He acknowledged that the numbers are likely to climb as more cases are identified. With the final rule, a veteran needs only to show service in Southwest Asia or Afghanistan during the specified time periods to receive disability compensation, subject to certain time limits based on incubation periods for seven of the diseases. “It gives them easier access to quality health care and compensation benefits,” Gingrich said. “The message behind that is that the VA is striving to make access to health care easier for our veterans who have served in our combat zones.” He expressed hope that by providing quick, easy access, VA will help veterans get the care they need early on, without having to fight the bureaucracy. “When we find these presumptions and we reach out and get the veterans into our system, we can help them and give them the proper medical care they need, and maybe keep their disease from getting worse or getting it to go away altogether,” he said. It also will help eliminate the piles of paperwork and long claims adjudication process veterans had to go through to prove their cases to receive care and benefits. “This will help break the back of the backlog in the long run, while sending a reassuring message to veterans that the VA is there for them,” Gingrich said. He called the new presumptions part of Shinseki’s effort to “create a culture of advocacy” within VA that builds trust as it reaches out to veterans. For Gingrich, a Gulf War veteran himself, the effort is very personal. He remembers being deployed as a 1st Infantry Division field artillery battalion commander during Operation Desert Storm, when one of his officers became very sick with an illness nobody could diagnose. “The medics couldn’t diagnose it. We called in the doctors and they couldn’t diagnose it. And eventually, he had to be medevaced back,” he recalled. “And now here we are, 20 years later, and I saw him in Dallas in August, and he is still sick. You can’t identify all the reasons and symptoms, but he is sick.” Veterans deserve better, Gingrich insisted. “I believe that our veterans that served in uniform for our country deserve the absolute best care and benefits that we can provide,” he said. VA provides compensation and pension benefits to more than 3.8 million veterans and beneficiaries, and received more than 1 million claims last year alone, VA officials reported. Veterans without dependents receive a basic monthly compensation ranging from $123 to $2,673. Taliban Fighters Seek Reintegration, Officers Say By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden WASHINGTON – Taliban fighters in northern Afghanistan are tired of fighting U.S. and international forces and are looking to reintegrate back into society, the top military commanders of the NATO International Security Assistance Force element in the region said today. Maj. Gen. Hans-Werner Fritz of the German army, commander of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command North, and his deputy, U.S. Army Col. Sean Mulholland, briefed Pentagon reporters today in a video news conference from their headquarters in Afghanistan. NATO troops in the region appear to have the upper hand, Mulholland said, underscoring the progress and success of their Afghan partnerships. These efforts, he added, are limiting the Taliban’s resources and have helped to diminish their will to fight. Taliban fighters in northern Afghanistan are working with limited supplies, indicating to U.S. and international forces there that extremists possibly are conceding defeat. “What I see with the Taliban is that their resources are finite,” Mulholland said. “Our forces, with our partners, are going after a lot of the supply lines, the rat lines that come through [Regional Command] North. In many areas, a tipping point appears near for Taliban fighters who are thinking about giving up, the colonel added. One of Mulholland’s responsibilities as deputy commander involves talking about reintegration issues with Taliban in the region. Many are weary of fighting, he said. “I deal with a lot of issues where we talk to the Taliban that don’t want to fight anymore,” he said. “And I get a better sense from former fighters that they’re tired of fighting.” Some fighters remain opposed to giving up, he said, but they are mostly senior Taliban and extremist leaders. “There are Taliban that will never change their path,” he explained. “Those are hard targets that will never change their opinion about fighting ISAF and trying to disrupt the Afghan government. However, [with] the mid-level fighters, there are many opportunities to persuade them. As we get it better with governance and development and security up here, … there are many opportunities to persuade them to take another path.” The local populace also is growing weary of the violence and fighting, Fritz said. “Talking to the people in the villages, my impression is these people are war-tired,” the general said. “What they want to have is a little bit of peace. They want to have security. And they want to see their children growing up.” The main goal of coalition and Afghan troops in the north is to bring down the level of violence, Fritz said. Violence did spike during the summer, as it did throughout much of the country, but troops are hopeful about the future, he added. Fritz commands about 11,000 troops from 16 nations. All have faced harsh combat in recent months, but that is due to the increased footprint of coalition troops, which are “provoking” Taliban actions, he said. “It’s been tough fighting,” he said. “The Taliban, they are serious enemies. On the other hand, I must say that our troops are doing very, very well. They are highly motivated. They are a good partner. We are one team.” Germany recently increased the number of its troops in Afghanistan to 5,000. Fritz said his nation will be involved in Afghanistan as long as they are needed. There is no reason to expect German troops to withdraw forces, Fritz said. He added that he expects no change in NATO or U.S. troop levels or their mission in the near future, he said. “I can tell you that cooperation between all of us is so close, it couldn’t be closer,” the general said. “I can only say I am very, very optimistic that we are on the right track and things are getting better.” Air Force Races Ahead as Scientific Field Levels Out By Ian Graham WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2010 – The world is flattening because engineering capabilities are becoming more and more widely available, the Air Force’s chief scientist said this week. That poses a significant challenge to the United States, because technologies that were once purely in the realm of top-level military research and development are now in the hands of more and more allies and potential enemies, Werner J.A. Dahm said during a Sept. 13 “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable. “There is, I would say, greater risk as a result of that,” he said. “The number of peers and near-peers who we could potentially face over the next 20 years and beyond is certainly going to grow. The world, as we say, is flattening from a science and technology and engineering-derived-capabilities perspective.” And the United States is not going to be able to stop the world from flattening, he added. “That is a one-way train that is going to continue, and we recognize that, and it is irreversible,” he said. “And it's the Air Force's challenge to maintain its technological superiority in that environment.” Dahm also discussed key findings and summarized major elements contained in the recently completed Air Force Technology Horizons effort. Technology Horizons is vision that will be used to focus Air Force Science and Technology efforts in the coming decades. Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley announced at this year’s Air Force Association conference that the completion of Technology Horizons is one of the Air Forces’ major accomplishments this year. The project was announced publicly at last year’s conference. “The major findings of Technology Horizons are, first of all, that the Air Force is going to have to do far broader and deeper use of autonomous systems and processes to get manpower efficiencies, which we desperately need,” Dahm said, “as well as capability increases to meet some of the challenges we face.” The increase in use of augmentation doesn’t end at using remote-controlled or computer-controlled vehicles or weapons, Dahm said. The second major finding is that the military is going to have to conduct further research into human performance augmentation and human-machine coupling. “To get many of the benefits of greater use of autonomous systems and processes,” he said, “we will also need to go much deeper into human-machine coupling, as opposed to human-machine interfaces -- since humans are recognized as becoming increasingly less well matched in terms of their natural capacities to the demands that technology has -- and then finally even going so far as direct augmentation of humans using technologies in some cases developed from the world of prosthetics and elsewhere.” Dahm said the third major finding was the necessity for development of technology to allow more freedom of operations in contested areas. “Those include quantum-interferometry approaches to provide us GPS-like capabilities for [positioning, navigation and timing], even in GPS-denied environments,” he said, “a shift from cyber defense to cyber resilience using technologies for massive virtualization, and then finally, technologies for electromagnetic spectrum dominance in the increasingly crowded and contested [electromagnetic] environment that we work in.” The Air Force has the means to keep its position as a technology leader, Dahm said -- it’s simply going to be a different game to play in the future. While the hierarchy of technological dominance levels out, he said, the Air Force will have to work harder to stay ahead of its adversaries. “I think our job as an Air Force, through efforts like Technology Horizons, is to in effect stay ahead of the curve in order to have a better, a clearer, a sharper understanding of where those disproportionately valuable technologies are, both on the opportunity side for the U.S. Air Force and the broader joint force, as well as on the threat side, those technologies that would be disproportionately valuable to our potential adversaries,” Dahm said. “I think we can avoid technology surprise, or at least we can minimize the risk of it, through efforts like Technology Horizons that allow the Air Force to step back from its day-to-day narrower look at the technology landscape and really look from the 65,000-foot view over, say, a decade-long period and assess where the great opportunities and risks are, and then prepare itself to address those risks,” he added. Lisbon Summit Will Chart NATO’s 21st Century Course By Jim Garamone WASHINGTON – NATO’s roadmap for a new world and its mission in Afghanistan will be the main topics of discussion when the alliance’s leaders gather in Lisbon, Portugal, in November for their annual summit, a senior Pentagon official said yesterday. Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, said two “main baskets” of issues will be on the table at the summit. “The first will be revitalizing the alliance for the 21st century,” she said, “and the second will be succeeding as an alliance in Afghanistan.” Leaders are working on a new strategic concept to capture NATO’s missions going forward, Flournoy said. The last update of the strategic concept was in 1999. The United States also would like to see some changes in the alliance’s infrastructure and organization, she added. “We have a whole series of reform proposals looking at command structure, NATO agencies and institutions, NATO committees and NATO financial reform,” she explained. Flournoy said she believes that with many in Europe calling for cutbacks in the face of the world’s economic situation, the impetus is there to reform the alliance. That, she added, sets the stage for organizational changes that suit the alliance’s operational evolution. “There is a downward pressure to do things more efficiently,” she said. “Secondly, NATO has now had more than a decade of experience in the requirements to do expeditionary operations – to actually have your command structure actually be able to deploy and employ forces in real-world contingencies.” The economic and operational imperatives mean NATO leaders have become serious about reforming command structure and streamlining how the alliance does business so the alliance is more efficient and effective in how it spends its resources. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has put forth an initiative to pare down the number of NATO committees from more than 400 to fewer than 200. Other changes also are in the offing, Flournoy said. “We are taking a look at 14 NATO agencies and seeing if we can consolidate them to three,” she said. “There is also a very careful scrub now of the common funding budget for NATO. Again, countries are asking, ‘What am I getting for my money, and are we spending it well?’ That is leading to some serious reform for the first time in a long time.” The United States would like to revive the NATO-Russia Council, Flournoy said. The relationship has had its ups and downs, she acknowledged, but she added that progress is possible in light of current U.S.-Russian relations. NATO and Russia have many areas in which they can work together, Flournoy noted, such as the effort in Afghanistan, fighting terrorism, ballistic missile defense and counterpiracy. “We would like to revive the NATO-Russia Council and make it a much more productive body,” she said. “We’re quite open to that.” Flournoy said she hopes a NATO-Russia Council meeting could take place during the NATO summit in Lisbon, but that has not been decided yet. As they discuss the Afghanistan mission, NATO leaders will focus on assessing how the alliance is doing, identifying milestones for progress and keeping the cohesion of the International Security Assistance Force, Flournoy said. “We are approaching 150,000 international troops in Afghanistan – about 45,000 are non-American,” Flournoy said. “When we had our plus-up of 30,000 [troops], NATO also stepped up with an additional 9,000.” And while the alliance members have stepped up in numbers, a number of the countries are stepping up in terms of their activities, Flournoy said. For example, the Germans in Regional Command North are now fully partnered with the Afghan units and “are operating with them, training with them, doing everything with them,” she said. “That is a real change, and we’ve seen other countries also step up.” But problems and shortages still exist, Flournoy acknowledged, with a shortfall in institutional trainers and mentoring teams foremost among them. “The long pole in the tent here is growing Afghan capacity in the security forces,” she said, “and while we are getting traction there – especially with the army – the trainers shortfall must be addressed if we’re going to be in a position to transition to greater Afghan lead for security.” The need for police trainers has slowed the process, the undersecretary said. Changes in NATO’s training mission in Afghanistan have improved the process, she added, but the police still lag significantly behind the Afghan army. Before, she explained, police simply were hired and placed on the streets. They received rudimentary training, if any at all, she said, and they failed spectacularly. “Now,” she said, “we are actually vetting them, we are training them before we put them out in the field, and we are trying to partner them with units and mentors so they get on-going professional development once they are actually in the field. “We are hearing from our infantry and [military police] units in Kandahar that when we actually partner with the Afghan National Police, they do quite well,” she continued. “There is a lot of on-the-job training and development that goes on, [and] a lot of leadership development, when we are closely partnered 24/7.” The counterinsurgency strategy is permeating ISAF forces in Afghanistan, Flournoy said. “Our troops really ‘get’ counterinsurgency,” she said. “They understand it’s not about how well they can do something -- it’s about how well the Afghans can, and building the Afghan capacity and confidence to be in the lead. That’s what it’s about, so we are doing everything we can possibly do together.” Though the Dutch have left Afghanistan and the Canadians are leaving, this is counterbalanced by a number of countries that have increased their commitments, Flournoy said. Still, she acknowledged, all of the NATO nations involved in the effort need to show their publics at home some demonstrable progress in Afghanistan by the Lisbon summit, and even more progress by next summer. NATO leaders also will discuss Kosovo at the summit, Flournoy said. The alliance still has 9,000 troops in the country, she added, and overall, the mission is progressing well. “The United States is emphasizing training local security forces to eventually be in a position to take the lead on security,” she said. “The principle that we are operating under is ‘in together, out together.’ Any decisions toward the next gate and some reduction of forces will be made together as an alliance, rather than individual troop-contributing nations.” Missile defense is another priority for NATO in Lisbon, Flournoy said, and the United States hopes the alliance will embrace missile defense as a mission. NATO would need to contribute a command and control system, with individual countries contributing various capabilities, she said. The defenses would be focused on the threat from Iran and would in no way be aimed at Russia, the undersecretary emphasized. U.S. officials hope that Russia embraces the system, she added, as Russian radars would be particularly helpful. “We would welcome Russian participation, but we have some work to do to convince them that it makes sense for them,” Flournoy said. Army Reserve Postures for ‘Uncertain’ Future By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden WASHINGTON – With tough budget decisions on the horizon and the changing military missions in the Middle East, an uncertain future awaits the Army Reserve, the organization’s commander said today. Speaking to Army Reserve soldiers in a town hall meeting at the Pentagon today, Army Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz talked about the state of the Army Reserve and what he’s doing to help evolve the force to better meet the needs of tomorrow’s military. “Everyone is trying to figure out what the future will look like and plan accordingly,” Stultz said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty out there.” Stultz cited “uncertainty” in how the Army Reserve’s mission will change with the drawdown of forces in Iraq and the troop surge in Afghanistan. He said he also recognizes the effects unemployment and the national deficit will have on future fiscal budget requests. Meanwhile, he said, soldiers must stay focused and can’t let the current issues influence “the things we need to get done.” Initiatives are under way, he added, to “operationalize” the Army Reserve. “The natural tendency is to wait and see and let somebody tell us what the future is,” the general said. “My push from my position is to push our staff, our commanders [and] our leaders to not wait. We’re going to continue to move forward with the vision that we have for the Army Reserve and the things we need to do to shape the future for us.” Operationalizing the Army Reserves means that the force would be used on a regular basis to augment the active Army, Stultz explained. In the future, he said, the active Army and the Army Reserve will not have separate missions. The idea will help to ensure the Army is more fiscally efficient and streamlined, he explained. Most importantly, he added, it will ensure the Army Reserve is an effective tool for combatant commanders throughout the armed forces. The mission in Iraq now requires fewer troops, and the same will eventually happen in Afghanistan, Stultz said. But because Army Reserve units are made up primarily of combat support and combat service support skills, a need exists for reservists outside of the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, he said. He noted that on a recent trip to Southeast Asia, he met with Army reservists partnering with Navy sailors to provide medical support to people in need in Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore. Their efforts supported the U.S. Pacific Command mission and provided thousands of people with much-needed dental and medical care, the general said. The same types of missions are under way in South America and Africa, Stultz said, noting that Army Reserve troops, in this capacity, can boost combatant commanders’ effectiveness and efficiency. “I’ve seen Army Reserve forces doing a lot of great things in security operations, theater engagements [and] nation building outside of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom,” he said. “There’s a goal for forces in the future to do great things for our nation around the world, not necessarily associated with kinetic operations.” Army Reserve troops can have a positive impact in helping foreign armies train and improve their defenses, he added. “The Army Reserve is not just a contingency force for America,” he said, “but also a valuable asset to theater engagements.” Stultz also talked about the Army campaign to manage resources and eliminate redundancy within the force. That includes military and civilian personnel and programs, he said. “We can’t afford redundancy,” he said. “We can’t afford two guys doing the same job. We’ve got to work for efficiency.” Despite these challenges and future changes, the one thing that’s remained constant is the quality of Army Reserve soldiers, Stultz said. “The good news in all of this is that our soldiers are outstanding,” he said. “As I travel around the states, the world, seeing what our soldiers are doing, their attitudes [and] the dedication have never been higher.” Retention rates are exceeding goals, despite actions to reduce retention and enlistments, Stultz said. The Army Reserve still have more people than authorized, he added, and that’s because of the soldiers’ attitude. “We’ve got a lot of great soldiers out there,” he said. “All we’ve got to do is give them training and opportunities to grow, and keep them engaged. The force is in great hands.” Navy Releases Record of Decision for Guam/Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands Relocation
From Joint Guam Program Office WASHINGON, D.C. (NNS) -- The Department of Navy announced today the release of the record of decision (ROD) on the Guam and Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Military Relocation Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The ROD, a document required at the conclusion of the environmental review of a federal project or program, outlines the decisions the Navy has made to implement the proposed realignment actions and specifies associated with the mitigation measures. These decisions are the result of thorough consideration of public and resource agency comments on the EIS, interagency discussions, and ongoing discussions with the Guam and CNMI communities and leadership. The ROD includes the Navy's decision to implement the preferred alternatives as identified in the FEIS for the main base, aviation and waterfront operations for approximately 8,600 Marines and their 9,000 family members who will relocate from Okinawa to Guam. The Army has decided to implement its preferred alternative for placement of an air missile defense task force should it be assigned this mission on Guam. As stated in the FEIS, the Navy will defer a decision on a specific location for a transient nuclear powered aircraft carrier berth in Apra Harbor and will voluntarily collect additional data on marine resources in the two alternative site locations. The Navy has also deferred a decision on the location of training ranges for the Marine Corps forces pending completion of the Section 106 consultation process under the National Historic Preservation Act. "The decisions in the ROD begin the long-term strategic realignment of U.S. forces on Guam," said Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment, who signed the ROD. "In reaching these decisions, we carefully considered the many comments received throughout the EIS process. We recognize that there are issues remaining to be addressed and we look forward to working with the people of Guam and CNMI to implement the military relocation in a way that will benefit the community at large Ð both military and civilian." NAVFAC Pacific Awards Contract for Naval Hospital in Guam By Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific Public Affairs PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific awarded a $158 million firm-fixed price contract Sept. 16 to Watts Webcor Obayashi A JV, a large business company from Honolulu, Hawaii, for the construction of a new replacement naval hospital in Guam. The construction of the hospital is not funded with Defense Policy Review Initiative/Guam Realignment funds. Contract funds are Military Construction, Defense Medical. "This is a very significant and historic event," said Capt. Kevin Haws, U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, commanding officer. "The new hospital will provide a facility that meets the medical needs of our patient population today, and in the future. It will provide easy access and the latest in inpatient and outpatient technology, and will promote and sustain a healthy force, ready to deploy when called upon." The work to be performed includes the demolition of the existing naval hospital and various designated structures, and the reconstruction of the new replacement naval hospital. The work also includes the expansion of the central utility plant building, new boilers, emergency generator, required ancillary equipment and utility service lines from the plant to the new hospital building. The work will be phased so the existing hospital remains operational during construction, and the new hospital will be operational before demolition. Construction is expected to be completed by Oct. 2014. The exact amount of the contract is $158,132,500, and it was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with five proposals received.
|
National Voice Gazette
www.nationalvoicesite.com
Remember the Troops
Support the Mission
