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Index of Articles Note: Topics below are now bookmarked! Click on the underlined topic below to link to the pages on that topic. |
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READINESS…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 National Guard Members Will Ready Camp Shelby For Troop Training DEPLOYMENT…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
Army May Send Special Reserves To Active Duty Involuntarily LA National Guard Heading Out Guard Receives Deployment Alert Father of Triplets Braces for Duty in Iraq REUNION…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8 National Guard Members Return From Iraq MPs back from Iraq BENEFITS…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
As Many As 22,000 Iraq, Afghan War Veterans From Mississippi And Other States Already Seek Care From VA System DOD Begins New Tricare West Region Transition Metro; In Brief GUARD IN IRAQ………………………………………………………………………………………… 14 North Dakota National Guard: On The Road To a Safer Iraq Military Honors Sergeant Who Rescued UND Student HOMEFRONT: DEALING WITH DEPLOYMENT………………………………………. 16
Keeping Up On The Home Front War Takes Toll on Military Kids Sergeant Dad Chafes At Home While Wife Serves In Baghdad TRIBUTE TO OUR FALLEN HEROES………………………………………………………… 24 170-mile Run For Slain GI Ends Western Pa. Town Mourns Soldiers Guard Pilot Loved Family and Flying GENERAL…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 28 License Tag Bill Touted To Help Kin of National Guard Troops In Iraq Quilts Bring Comfort to Children of Deployed Service Members Air National Guard Takes Over Clear Station |
Websites:
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National Guard Family Program Online Communities for families and youth: |
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TRICARE website for information on health benefits |
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Civilian Employment Information (CEI) Program Registration for Army and Air National Guard, Air Force, and Coast Guard Reserve |
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Cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve who are currently on active duty |
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Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) contains links and information about schooling, distance education, scholarships, and organizations devoted to the military family |
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Militarystudent.org is a website that helps military children with transition and deployment issues. It has some great features for kids, parents, special needs families, school educators, and more—even safe chat rooms for kids. |
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Disabled Soldiers Initiative (DS3) This website provides information on the new DS3 program. Through DS3, the Army provides its most severely disabled Soldiers and their families with a system of advocacy and follow-up. |
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Have an article, announcement, or website that you’d like to share with the National Guard Family Program Community? Send your suggestions in an e-mail to [email protected]. |
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READINESS
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National Guard Members Will Ready Camp Shelby For Troop Training |
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Associated Press May 20, 2004 Hattiesburg, Miss. – About 700 Mississippi National Guard members will report to Camp Shelby to ready the training facility for its new mission as a mobilization station. The soldiers will help prepare other troops for other missions, possibly overseas. The Guard facility near Hattiesburg was designated as a 1st U.S. Army Mobilization Center in March. More than 4,000 troops from the National Guard’s 278th Armored Calvary Regiment based in Tennessee will arrive at Camp Shelby in mid-June for five months of training before they are deployed. Guard officials said Tuesday that most of those activated to run the mobilization station are Guardsmen assigned to units based at Camp Shelby. They will start between June 7 and June 14. Another 21 people from the 220th Finance Detachment based in Jackson will spend about three weeks training at Camp McCoy, Wis., and then report to Camp Shelby. They will start June 16. The soldiers are expected to be on active duty for a year, though it could be as long as two, National Guard spokesman Maj. Danny Blanton said. The 220th was last deployed in 2002 to Bosnia as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force, handling purchasing, payroll and other finances in Tuzla, Bosnia. Camp Shelby was last used as a mobilization station during the Gulf War, officials said, and it is one of 17 stations in America. |
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DEPLOYMENT
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Army May Send Special Reserves To Active Duty Involuntarily |
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Knight Ridder Washington Bureau May 19, 2004, Wednesday By Joseph L. Galloway Washington _ The U.S. Army is scraping up soldiers for duty in Iraq wherever it can find them, and that includes places and people long considered off-limits. The Army on Tuesday confirmed that it pulled the files of some 17,000 people in the Individual Ready Reserve, the nation’s pool of former soldiers. The Army has been screening them for critically needed specialists and has called about 100 of them since January. Under the current authorization from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the Army could call as many as 6,500 back on active duty involuntarily. “Yes we are screening them and, yes, we are calling some of them up,” an Army spokesman, Col. Joseph Curtin, told Knight Ridder. “We need certain specialties, including civil affairs, military police, some advanced medical specialists, such as orthopedic surgeons, psychological operations, military intelligence interrogators.” The Army has been forced to look to the Individual Ready Reserve pool and elsewhere for soldiers because it’s been stretched so thin by a recent decision to maintain American troop levels in Iraq at 135,000 to 138,000 at least through 2005. The Army is also considering a plan to close its premier training center at Fort Irwin in California so the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the much-vaunted Opposition Force against which the Army’s tank divisions hone their combat skills, would be available for combat duty in Iraq. No decision has been made on that plan. In addition, the Defense Department this week announced that one of the Army’s two mechanized infantry brigades in South Korea _ a total of some 3,600 soldiers _ would be rotating to Iraq this summer to pull 12-month combat tours, an unprecedented move. The Individual Ready Reserve pool is comprised of people who completed their active-duty tours but are subject to involuntary recall for a period of years after leaving. A soldier who’s served a four-year enlistment in the Army, for example, remains in the IRR for an additional four years. During that time he or she receives no pay and doesn’t drill with a Reserve or National Guard unit. Curtin said the fact that 17,000 files were being screened “is not a reflection of how many will be called back.” He said the Army has 118,732 people on the IRR rolls. The last major call-up of Ready Reserve troops was during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, when some 20,000 were returned to active duty. In November 2001, the Army took a number of Ready Reserves who volunteered back on active duty, and in November 2002 it took volunteers and non-volunteers. The spokesman said that about 100 Ready Reserves had been recalled under the January authorization. About 7,000 Ready Reserves have been recalled since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. More than 160,000 National Guard and Reserve forces from all the services are on active duty, many of them in Iraq, where they comprise at least 50 percent of the total forces. Earlier this week, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the Department of Defense had proposed to Congress that it be permitted to ask for the Internal Revenue Service’s help in locating more than 50,000 people who have Individual Ready Reserve obligations to one of the services but can’t be found. Although those recently separated from service are obligated to notify their branch of any change of address, many don’t. The largest number of “missing” Ready Reserves belongs to the Army _ some 40,000. The Defense Department would like to be able to tap IRS records for the addresses of those it has lost touch with. The proposal is likely to be challenged by privacy rights advocates. |
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LA National Guard Heading Out |
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KPLC (LA) May 20, 2004 Reported by KPLC Staff As the fighting continues in Iraq, troops from Southwest Louisiana are rising to the call. On Wednesday, the 3rd Infantry of the 156th Brigade left for Fort Hood, Texas for 90 days of training, then they’ll head to Iraq. The final unit will come through the national guard armory in Lake Charles this morning. Charley company out of Crowley is the last unit of the 156th Infantry to leave for training at Fort Hood. |
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Guard Receives Deployment Alert |
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By Russell Hood Winston County Journal A Mississippi National Guard brigade that includes a unit based in Louisville has been alerted for possible deployment. The Guard announced last Monday that the adjutant general’s office had received an alert notification for the nearly 4,000 soldiers of the 155th Separate Armored Brigade, headquartered in Tupelo. The notification alerts the command of the brigade and its units to begin sensible planning and preparation for possible mobilization in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to a statement from the adjutant general’s office. The 155th SAB comprises units in 49 locations throughout the state. They include the A/98 CAV of Louisville and the 2nd Battalion, 114th Field Artillery headquartered in Starkville, which has an authorized strength of 607 soldiers. The unit includes Bravo Battery in Ackerman and Detachment 1 in Eupora as well. “These are highly trained soldiers, and I know they will do an excellent job supporting our national defense if called,” said Gov. Haley Barbour, commander in chief of the Mississippi National Guard. “Marsha and I wish them well, and we certainly stand by all of them and their families.” Maj. Gen. Harold A. Cross, the Guard’s adjutant general, said, “Although the brigade has received an alert, the decision to mobilize or deploy these units has not occurred. Our troops are trained and ready to provide any military support overseas if needed.” Possible mobilization is expected to occur in the upcoming months, according to the National Guard. Maj. Danny Blanton of the Guard’s public affairs office in Jackson told The Associated Press this week, “They’re going to make sure all their records are ready to go. Likewise, they’re going to make sure that their equipment meets mobilization standards, make sure the personnel strength meets mobilization standards.” Blanton told The AP he had no specifics about when the anticipated order will be issued or where troops will be headed. “It could be as few as 30 days or as long as three months,” he said. “That’s up to the Army.” Blanton also said it’s possible the troops would not be mobilized, according to the report. “We have had units that have been alerted and de-alerted,” he said. “It just depends on the needs of the combatant commander in the theater.” |
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Father of Triplets Braces for Duty in Iraq |
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Associated Press May 22, 2004 Dateline: Billings A man who became the father of triplets last fall after he and his wife spent six years trying to conceive is preparing for duty in Iraq with the Montana National Guard. Staff Sgt. John Smith has been notified his infantry battalion of about 700 soldiers will be mobilized at a date still to be announced. First there will intensive training stateside, probably in Texas. Smith, 38, is a Yellowstone County deputy sheriff and has taken a month off work to spend time with his family. He said he gets up at night with the triplets “and I think, ‘When’s the next time I’m going to hold them?”‘ “Their first haircuts, the first time they walk. Birthdays are a big thing,” he said. “It just feels weird to think I’m not going to be there for a lot of those milestones.” Joshua, Trey and Alexis were born in October. Smith worries about leaving his wife, Lily, to manage the daily routine of bottles, diapers and laundry. When he first got word of deployment, he considered appealing for exemption from duty based on family circumstances, but decided that was not something he could do with a clear conscience. “I basically looked in the mirror, and I looked at myself,” he said. “I couldn’t say ‘I’m going to do everything I can to get out,”‘ “I’m going. It’s going to stink, but I’m going.” In 16 years with the National Guard, this will be his first deployment. “The Guard’s been good to us,” he said. “This is just absolutely rotten timing.” His sister-in-law plans to move into a basement apartment at the Smith home and help with the children, and two people have offered to stay with them on Fridays and Saturdays, allowing Lily Smith to continue working as a hairdresser two days a week. The Smiths also have an offer of lawn mowing and snow shoveling. “I can’t believe the outpouring of support we’ve gotten,” Smith said. The National Guard has family assistance workers and support groups to help families deal with the trauma of deployment. |
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REUNION
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National Guard Members Return From Iraq |
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WKYT, KY
May 17, 2004
The last eight members of Danville’s National Guard Unit 217 are home from Iraq. They were deployed to Iraq on Valentine’s Day, last year and they arrived home Saturday. Sergeant First Class Mark Metcalf says deployment it more difficult on the families than on the soldiers. He returned from duty with the 217th Water Purification Unit last month as part of another eight-man deployment. After teary-eyed hugs the soldiers and their family gathered briefly for a homecoming ceremony. They were joined by the eight members of the 217th who returned from their tour of duty in Iraq last month. |
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MPs back from Iraq |
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Birmingham (AL) News By Tom Gordon, News staff writer Fort Benning, Ga. — They started by training hundreds of Iraqi police officers while working out of three police stations in Baghdad, then trained 3,000 Iraqi police cadets in a police academy. They patrolled the streets of Baghdad, sought to control riots in the war-torn city and lost one of their number to a bomb attack. And 26 of them have Purple Hearts. The memories of all that – plus the heat and dust and other dangers they faced – may still have been very much on the minds of members of the Alabama National Guard’s 214th Military Police Company as they flew in here Saturday. But memories were no match for the joy they felt in the open arms, cheers and tears of waiting family, friends and loved ones. Shortly before noon eastern time, a C-17 touched down at Lawson Army Airfield with 63 members of the Alexander City-based MP Company, most of whom had not been home since they flew to the Persian Gulf nearly a year ago. Nearly of all of them were carrying their weapons, their packs and wearing desert camouflage. Many were wearing armbands that had words in English and Arabic identifying them as military police. After some processing inside a hangar, the soldiers were to walk to waiting white buses that would carry them to a miles-distant pavilion for a welcome ceremony. But most of them wanted some contact right then and there with loved ones waiting and cheering and waving signs behind a chain link fence. That fence became a reunion point where soldiers pushed their lips through narrow openings for a first kiss with their spouses and knelt to marvel at the changes in their no-longer baby children who looked but did not seem to easily recognize them. “That was the longest Guard drill weekend I’ve had in my life,” said Sgt. Bryan Scroggins of Birmingham, who greeted his wife, Denise, at the fence. “We went over there, we had a job to do, we did it well, and we deserve to be back here.” Sgt. Jeremy Holloway of Cusseta left the hangar carrying the swallow-tailed green and gold 214th banner and headed for the part of the fence where his wife, Kelley, and 20-month daughter, Grace, waited. “About to cry,” is how he described his feelings. At the fence, he did. Also along the fence, all the while knowing the man he called his daddy was not coming home with the 214th, was 11-year-old Kyser Ezell of Tuskegee. The man Kyser knew as daddy was Sgt. Aubrey Bell, a member of the 214th’s Tuskegee detachment. Bell became the first Alabama National Guard member to die in hostile fire in Iraq. He was killed last October in a bomb attack on the police station where he was working. At the welcome home ceremony, there was a moment of silence in tribute to Bell, and Lt. Jim Napier, Bell’s platoon leader, spent some time with his arm around Kyser, leaning over and quietly talking to him. Asked about the day Bell died, Napier struggled to keep his composure and took about 10 seconds to answer. “It was probably the roughest day of my life,” the Baxley, Ga., resident said in a hoarse voice. “And I prefer not to talk about it.” Talking about what the 214th had done in Iraq – and whether what it had done would be of lasting good – was easier. “It’s just going to take time,” he said. “Some days, you feel that what we’re doing is the right thing. Some days you feel that – pardon the French – why the hell are we here. It’s going to take a lot of patience on both sides to rectify what’s going on. “There’s a lot of people there that don’t want us there. The majority of the people do. The majority of the people see that, you know, we want to do the right thing and they get frustrated just like the American people get frustrated when we can’t get something and we know the money or we know the time and we know the effort being put into it … They want stuff that we promised them now, and it’s hard for them to understand that it takes time.” The final soldier to leave the 214th’s homecoming aircraft was the unit’s commanding officer, Capt. Johnathan Clifton. He walked across the hot tarmac with Sgt. Barry Denham of Dadeville, who had broken a leg three weeks ago and was making his way with crutches. A year ago, Clifton had left for Iraq with an Auburn flag, and he left that flag flying above one of the buildings where he and other 214th members trained Iraqi officers at the Baghdad Police Academy complex. Clifton said he wished the unit could continue its training work because the Iraqis needed more of it, but he was optimistic about their ability to do the job down the road. “Every class, we had’em for eight weeks, and so that gave us plenty of time to try to instill discipline and democracy, being proud of who you are, being proud of being a police officer like it is in this country,” said Clifton, who is a canine officer with the Opelika Police Department. Standing nearby was Clifton’s wife, Tammy, a schoolteacher who spent the year with 20 first-graders while he spent his year with about 130 soldiers. “I’ve been deployed longer than I have been married,” Clifton said. “So it’s time for me and her to settle down and start our relationship back over again … It’s going to be good.” About 66 other members of the 214th are expected to fly into Fort Benning on Monday. Their departure will leave only one other active Alabama National Guard MP company – the 1165th out of Fairhope – still in Iraq. The 1165th recently received a three-month duty extension, and is expected back home by late summer. |
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BENEFITS
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As Many As 22,000 Iraq, Afghan War Veterans From Mississippi And Other States Already Seek Care From VA System |
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The Associated Press May 18, 2004 By Larry Margasak, Associated Press Writer Dateline: Washington When Mississippian Willie Buckels applied for veterans health care after returning from Iraq, the back and knee injuries he suffered while rescuing a fuel truck during a mortar attack were not enough to guarantee him treatment. The reservist from Bogue Chitto had to bring along Army paperwork proving his combat service because the Veterans Affairs Department still lacks a computer system that tracks a new applicant’s service record. More than a half-century ago, soldiers who fought in World War II were showing similar paper documents to ensure they got medical care. “I took my paperwork, showed it to the VA, they got me in the system, got me an ID card and made appointments for doctors,” said Buckels, who did not complain about his experience. More critical, however, are lawmakers who have pressed the agency to make amends for the highly publicized problems it had serving veterans of the first Iraq war a decade ago. “In this technologically advanced age,” proof of service “can’t be a sheet of paper crumbling around the edges,” said Republican Rep. Christopher Smith of New Jersey, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Nearly 18,000 soldiers who have returned from Iraq have sought care at VA health facilities, officials reported at the end of March. A separate report in mid-April said 4,000 troops from the war in Afghanistan sought care, although there is some overlap from those who served in both conflicts. About 60 percent of the Iraq veterans and 84 percent of those from Afghanistan who sought VA care came from the National Guard and Reserves. The most common problems affected joints and back, teeth and the digestive system. Mental disorders were diagnosed in 16 percent of the Afghanistan veterans and 15 percent of the Iraqi veterans. The statistics reflect medical conditions regardless of their origin. They are not broken down by causes such as bullet wounds, blast injuries, accidents and illnesses. With thousands more veterans expected to seek benefits and health care, the VA faces its biggest challenge since the early 1990s. Officials are well aware of the stakes. “I believe the agency will be defined for generations by how well we take care of these returning troops,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, a combat-decorated Vietnam veteran, said in an interview with The Associated Press. The agency has a mixed record in dealing with the crush of new veterans. The lack of a 21st-century computer operation is a black eye. Recently the VA health care director, Dr. Robert Roswell, resigned after the failure of a $472 million hospital computer system for veterans in Florida that was supposed to become a national model. The department, in a statement, said it does not now have an automated way of identifying veterans who served in Iraq of Afghanistan. “We rely on military records provided by the veteran,” the VA said. The Defense Department has compiled a computerized roster of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans for the VA, but the list has many discrepancies, officials said. Nonetheless, some returning veterans who expected long delays in qualifying for medical treatment say they were surprised how quickly they entered the VA system. Sabrina Sue, a reservist from New York City, was told by a veteran of the first Gulf War to expect a year’s wait to see a doctor for a service-connected thyroid condition. She waited only two weeks. “I was amazed,” said the supply specialist with the 340th Military Police Company, who also is entering a VA educational program. Also impressed by his first VA experience was First Sgt. Gerry Mosley, also from Mississippi. He was injured with Buckels when the two members of the Army’s 296th Transportation Co. freed the jammed air brakes of a truck in their convoy and jumped to the ground as mortars exploded around them. “They’re just awesome representatives,” Mosley said. To address the backlog of cases that delayed disability pay for veterans, the VA has hired 1,500 workers and formed special teams to reduce the March, 2002 peak of 233 days for an initial disability ruling. Today, the wait averages 171 days. The agency also has extended hours at medical facilities, added examination rooms and hired or moved employees to reduce the backlog of veterans waiting for doctor’s appointments. There were 176,000 veterans waiting for their first doctor’s visit in July 2002, a number reduced to 3,242 currently. Principi, who worked as the top deputy at the VA during the first Gulf War, is determined to avoid a repeat of the 1990s. Backlogs then led a congressional committee to accuse the agency of having “a “tin ear, cold heart and a closed mind” in caring for sick veterans. The VA chief promises the new veterans, “I’m not going to wait until every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed to care for them.” If costs and money were not enough to challenge, there also is politics. Veterans’ attitudes toward government are crucial this election year, with President Bush’s conduct of the Iraq war a growing campaign issue. A Bush ad highlighted Democratic challenger John Kerry’s vote last year against an $87 billion aid package for Iraq and Afghanistan, contending the vote denied body armor and higher combat pay for troops and better health care for reservists. Kerry has run ads featuring fellow Vietnam veterans to boost his claim that he can confront Bush on national security. Veterans groups, who keep a close eye on the VA, give the agency a passing grade in absorbing the new entries but are not fully convinced the agency is up to the task. “We’re encouraged that the VA is reaching out to veterans” of the two recent wars, said Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center. “But we feel it’s very important that the VA address the veterans’ needs physically, emotionally and spiritually to include psychological screenings, information pamphlets and hot lines for prevention of suicides. It’s obvious to us that mental health disorders and psychological injuries are going to play an important role for the next 20 years.” |
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DOD Begins New Tricare West Region Transition |
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May 18, 2004 Immediate Release The Department of Defense (DoD) announced that on June 1, 2004, beneficiaries in the military healthcare plan, Tricare, in Oregon, Washington and northern Idaho will transition to the new Tricare West region and will receive health services and support through its new regional contractor, TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp. These states constitute the current Tricare Region 11 area. This transition is part of DoD’s next generation of healthcare contracts in which three new regional contractors will provide improved customer service, easier access to care and a reduced need for transferring Prime beneficiaries’ enrollments when moving. “I am very pleased that the transition to TriWest is proceeding as scheduled,” said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. “While our military treatment facilities remain the core of the military health system, our regional contractors are important partners, providing additional providers and facilities for our beneficiaries through a civilian network.” The second of the three-phase West Region transition will take place on July 1, when beneficiaries in California, Hawaii and Alaska will become part of Tricare West. The final phase of this new expanded West Region will take place on Oct. 1 and will include the beneficiaries located in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and Central Texas. The West Region makes up the current Tricare Regions 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. “We are committed to providing our beneficiaries with continuous, uninterrupted access to the high quality of care that they expect from the Tricare benefit,” said Winkenwerder; “their health and their satisfaction with their health plan are very important to us.” This transition to new contractors will not change Tricare benefits and costs. Beneficiaries in the West region, who are not enrolled in Tricare Prime, will have the opportunity to enroll and all beneficiaries will receive TriWest enrollment information before each of the current regions transition. Beneficiaries also will receive information on network providers, procedures for filing claims and points of contact for Tricare assistance. The military health system has a team that will monitor the transition to ensure it proceeds smoothly and that contractors meet required performance standards. Procedures are in place to ensure that claims sent to the former contractor by beneficiary providers, after the start of the new contract, will be automatically forwarded to the new West region claims contractor. The national healthcare information line will not be available under the new regional Tricare contracts. Local healthcare information lines will be available in some locations. Beneficiaries seeking local healthcare information should contact their Tricare primary care manager or local military treatment facility for assistance. Additionally, beneficiaries in the West Region may access health information by calling (888) TRIWEST, (888) 874-9378. The number offers options for accessing information about the Tricare benefit, as well as healthcare information, including an audio health library. For information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, beneficiaries may access the following Web sites. Tricare online at https://www.tricareonline.com/ for healthcare information or the Tricare Web site at https://www.tricare.osd.mil/ for benefit information. The next generation of Tricare contracts consists of a suite of services that were competitively procured and awarded to provide beneficiaries with the highest quality of care, a higher level of customer service and added value in all aspects of the world-class Tricare benefit. The new contracts will make a strong program better, building on the best aspects of the current system and providing a system of incentives for improvements in quality care, access and claims payments for the 8.9 million Tricare beneficiaries. In addition to three regional contracts for health services and support, specific contracts were awarded for: mail order pharmacy, retiree dental, the uniformed services family health plan, Tricare global remote overseas, Tricare healthcare for Puerto Rico, marketing and education, information services, retail pharmacy, national quality monitoring, and claims processing for ! Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. Coming soon will be the new Tricare dental program for active duty families. For more information on the contracts and the transition schedule, visit the Tricare Web site at https://www.tricare.osd.mil/contractsimplementation/default.cfm. |
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Metro; In Brief |
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The Washington Post May 21, 2004 Friday D.C. Army and Air National Guard members would each be eligible for as much as $2,500 in federal tuition assistance a year as part of a bill passed yesterday by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill authorizes $422 billion in defense expenditures. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and Rep. Dave Hobson (R-Ohio) introduced the amendment to the spending bill, Norton said. Residents of the District, Maryland, Virginia and other states who serve in the D.C. Guard could apply for the tuition assistance. Norton noted that similar tuition programs are financed by states for their National Guard units. Although governors have authority over the units in the states, Norton said, the president has authority over the D.C. National Guard. |
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GUARD IN IRAQ
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North Dakota National Guard: On The Road To a Safer Iraq |
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Grand Forks Herald, ND May 17, 2004 Iraq– Soldiers of the 141st Engineer Combat Battalion are minding their own safety, and they’re working to ensure others’ safety, as well. The North Dakota battalion’s main mission is Task Force Trailblazer. The mission involves clearing “improvised explosive devices,” or roadside bombs, from roads in Iraq, as well as deterring insurgents from placing new bombs or ambushing military convoys. The mission makes the roads safer for soldiers and civilians. “The mission at hand is an ever-changing one,” said Spc. Casey Haught of Bismarck and a member of C Company’s support platoon. “The insurgents are constantly changing the tactics they use against our patrols and coalition forces’ convoys. This requires us Trailblazers to be on our toes at all times.” The soldiers remain alert, looking for anything unusual in the ditches and medians. When a roadside bomb is found, the soldiers use demolition materials to safely dispose of it or call in an explosive ordnance disposal team to take care of it. “Most of the time, our job is boring, but boring is good,” said Staff Sgt. Greg Wanner, Bowman, N.D., of C Company. “(It) means we didn’t find any weapons or IEDs today.” Patrol teams often use specialized, blast-resistant equipment – some of which is robotically operated – to search for improvised explosive devices. Trailblazer patrols also move beyond searching for bombs as they work for a safer Iraq. Teams set up traffic control points and randomly search people and vehicles. They also put wire obstacles around culverts to prevent bombs from being placed in them. “We are trying to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, but it is hard to trust any of them when there are still a few trying to kill you,” Wanner said. |
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Military Honors Sergeant Who Rescued UND Student |
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Brandon Erickson Recalls Bravery of Kevin Remington, Who Pulled Him to Safety Under Fire in Iraq May 20, 2004 Thursday By Sgt. Jonathan Haugen Dateline: Bismarck
Joint Force Headquarters North Dakota National Guard The man who rescued Spc. Brandon Erickson, a UND student, from his bombed-out vehicle in the middle of an ambush last year in Iraq has received the Silver Star. Erickson and 1st Sgt. Kevin Remington, members of the 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company based in Bismarck, were on patrol in separate vehicles in July when their convoy was attacked northwest of Baghdad. It started with an “improved explosive device” followed by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.
Remington, of Richardton, N.D., ordered the convoy to continue to a safe location, leaving one disabled vehicle behind and returning fire as they went. Then, he directed his driver to turn around and “go back in.” Upon arriving at the disabled vehicle, Remington jumped out to safeguard the soldiers in the vehicle that was hit. The soldiers in the disabled vehicle were Spc. Jon Fettig, Dickinson, N.D., and Erickson, Wilton, N.D. Remington removed Fettig and Erickson from their damaged vehicle, trading fire with the attackers until the gun truck (a heavily armed vehicle in the convoy) could take them to safety. The gun truck made four trips through the ambush site to remove the troops. Fettig died of the wounds suffered in the attack, but Erickson survived, although he lost part of his right arm. “The one thing that will forever stick in my mind was when 1st Sgt. Remington came to my side of the truck after I had been hit and he told me that he was going get me out of there,” Erickson said. “With his back to the enemy fire, he completely put my life in front of his own well being.” Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz decorated Remington with the Silver Star in January for gallantry in action against enemy insurgent forces. “It’s an honor to be considered and receive the Silver Star,” Remington said. “But there will never be any joy associated with it.” The citation for the Silver Star says Remington “displayed undaunted courage. He made the decision to put himself in harm’s way to save the life of a comrade.” “He will be forever known as the man that saved my life,” said Erickson. “I will be forever indebted to Remington and the men in that gun truck … . I just pray every night that we could have all came home safe.” |
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HOMEFRONT: DEALING WITH DEPLOYMENT
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Keeping Up On The Home Front |
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May 17, 2004 Monday When reservists are away, many companies struggle By Judith Crown, Special to the Tribune. For Steven Rubin, serving as a reservist has been interesting and rewarding, but not at all profitable. As a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, he made six trips to the Middle East during the past 24 months, diverting attention from his businesses: leasing mobile kitchens and developing real estate. The period has turned into a time of lost opportunities for Rubin. His partner kept the kitchen business simmering, but the pair had to live without the 20 percent growth that was expected had Rubin been around to court new business. At the same time, Rubin didn’t have time to line up new retail tenants for his vacant parcels in Naperville and Lake County. “You lose focus and momentum,” the 47-year-old said while on a recent training exercise in Alaska. And Rubin isn’t alone. Many small businesses suffer setbacks when their owners or key staffers are called to active duty. Usually, they lack the capital and other resources of large and mid-size companies that can more readily hire temporary workers and reallocate workloads. Of course, uncertainty over how long workers will be away is disruptive to companies of all sizes—current troop levels are being maintained through 2005, instead of being scaled back this summer as originally expected. Last month the tours of some mobilized troops, including reservists, were extended by 90 days. Reservists and members of the National Guard represent 57,000 of the 200,000 U.S. service members deployed in the Middle East. There are nearly 170,000 guard members and reservists mobilized around the world, including the U.S., according to a Defense Department spokesman. The disruption hits the smallest businesses particularly hard. Some experts estimate income can drop by as much as 50 to 75 percent at these smaller concerns. Even worse, a company that was in the black, or breaking even, can start generating losses if the key staffers are away. That was the case with Francisco Perez, owner of South Suburban Chemical and Supply, a commercial cleaning service. The Chicago business was breaking even before Perez was sent to Afghanistan last year where he served as a sergeant for a U.S. Army postal unit. Perez’s wife kept the business operating, but she wasn’t able to generate much new business, he said. She was forced to dip into the company’s line of equity at the rate of $2,000 a month in order to pay bills. He owes about $21,000 on that loan to a unit of American Express Co. “I wasn’t prepared for the deployment, and the business suffered economically,” said the 30-year-old Perez, adding that the business is recovering with the help of a $22,200 Small Business Administration loan. Perez was among five Illinois recipients who received a total of $295,000. SBA offers assistance Since 2001, the SBA has awarded 285 grants worth $14.8 million to reservists whose business was hurt as a result of time away for military service. Small businesses are often sole proprietorships, or small partnerships that lack the resources of even slightly larger concerns that have 10 to 20 employees, noted SBA spokeswoman Carol Chastang. “If the person with the expertise is gone, there’s a huge decline in profits–the effect is devastating,” she said. Losing expertise was a problem for Entec Services Inc., a contractor near Peoria that installs and retrofits commercial and industrial heating and cooling systems. Entec President Mark Auer, 40, says it was difficult enough when he was gone for about three months in the first half of 2003 when he was mobilized as a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force where he coordinated air missions in the Middle East. While he was gone, his management responsibilities were divided among other staffers. “In a small business, you wear multiple hats, but everyone is stretched thin,” he said. “When I came back everyone was exhausted—they had been putting out so much energy.” Even more difficult was the departure of a key professional–33-year-old Mark Janco. The Air Force master sergeant spent a year working overseas as a flight engineer before returning in February. Auer said customers were sympathetic—but only up to a point. “I noticed that patriotism lasted about 35 days,” he said. “The market is amoral–it didn’t care. It wanted to be served.” Staffing adds to costs So Entec had to fly in technicians from Canada who were knowledgeable about the computer codes that drive the equipment it was handling. The company didn’t lose any projects, but costs soared, leading to a 35 percent decrease in profits last year. The firm has since hired another technician and instituted cross-training. But Auer concluded that small business is at a disadvantage. “We can’t have two or three people on the bench just in case,” he said. Occasionally, small businesses are fortunate enough to support a reservist without taking a big financial hit. Tony Sommer was in the process of moving to Evanston from Houston to consult on consumer product sales and marketing at Cannondale Associates when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks spurred the first big mobilization. He was called into service after only two weeks on the job. During the next two years, the Air Force major served in a series of assignments in the United States and the Middle East—coordinating air strikes, aerial refueling and air intercepts. The 36-year-old said he sent the office weekly e-mails and appreciated that Cannondale helped support him financially. “In a small way, it was our contribution,” said Cannondale partner Ken Harris. Aside from providing that financial aid, Harris said there wasn’t a big disruption because Sommer had just started and wasn’t deep into projects. And though the Evanston office has a staff of only six, Harris contended, “We set up our company so that no one individual is so important that [in their absence] the company goes away.” The consulting firm has a staff of about 50 nationwide. But more often than not, the departure of an owner or key employee causes hardship. When Rubin was away, he was fortunate to have his partner Fred Stowell pick up some of the work. But there was no way to go after new contracts. “We couldn’t move along at the rate we would have liked,” Stowell said. “We lost business.” |
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War Takes Toll on Military Kids |
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Friday, May 14, 2004 By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
Washington — The War on Terror is taking a toll on the children of American soldiers as public school and Pentagon officials report an increase in behavior problems, failing grades and dropout rates. “These kids are not doing well — they are not doing well academically, they are not doing well socially, they are not doing well emotionally. It’s wearing thin,” said Barbara Critchfield, a longtime guidance counselor at Shoemaker High School in Killeen, Texas, which sits right outside of Fort Hood, the largest Army base in the country. At least 80 percent of the 2,000-member student body at Shoemaker lives in a military household. A majority of them have parents who have been or are currently deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Critchfield told Foxnews.com of numerous teens who have stopped coming to school altogether. Of the 396 expected graduates this June, 75 to 80 have already either dropped out or have skipped too much school to graduate on time, she said. “They’re dropping like flies,” she said. She reported that one teenage girl was living alone for a year before her father returned home from Iraq. One student is adjusting to a returned parent’s painful post-traumatic stress. Another boy’s father never came home. “I don’t think we will ever be the same,” Critchfield said, noting that there have been three deaths and at least two serious injuries to parents of students on campus. “For the most part, we just try to be there for the kids, we roll with the punches, and every day brings a whole new problem.” Such are the circumstances for schools connected to the many installations across the country that have been rotating troops since Sept. 11, 2001. Currently, about 135,000 American troops are serving in Iraq, several thousand are deployed in Afghanistan, and still thousands more are in the Gulf region or other hotspots across the globe. Department of Defense officials dedicated to keeping watch over military families say there are around 1.2 million school-age children of parents in the military’s active duty force. Dr. Jean Silvernail, program analyst for the Pentagon’s Military Children in Transition and Deployment, said the Pentagon has no firm data for the number of children, including those whose parents are serving in the National Guard and Reserves, directly affected by current deployments. Recent reports have put the number served by public schools at close to 650,000. School officials say because of their location outside of major military installments, they have always been prepared for transitory issues, since children frequently come to and go from the school district when their parents are transferred. But the war has tested the skills of many teachers, some of whom are military spouses themselves. “I have a husband who is about to be sent off again,” said Amanda Tooke, assistant principal at Kenyon Hills Middle School in El Paso, Texas, which serves a large number of families connected to Fort Bliss. She has three children in the local schools, including one in the middle school. “It’s up and down, an emotional roller coaster,” she said. Tooke said teachers are watching for warning signs and giving personal attention where needed. For the most part, she said, they just try to keep up a patriotic, positive atmosphere. “The awareness is important,” she said, noting that they have a student whose older brother was recently injured in a roadside bomb attack. “Everyone is really supportive.” Silvernail said the Department of Defense has enlisted the help of organizations like Generations United , a group of retired military personnel and veterans who go to school districts to offer tutoring services. The Military Impacted Schools Association is also looking out to make sure schools get the resources they need. The Defense Department has put up a Web site, MilitaryStudent.org, which offers links to information, resources and personal contacts for teachers, students and parents. Silvernail said her department is also hiring regional counseling coordinators for the most impacted districts. “One of the things we know is that children under the stress of deployment are affected academically, socially, and emotionally,” she said. “We are truly trying hard to do the best we can for these kids.” Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, R-N.C., successfully pushed through a House resolution honoring the teachers and administrators in schools that are disproportionately affected by war. His district includes Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, and he said he will continue to fight for federal aid for these schools. “It’s a pretty disruptive life,” he told Foxnews.com. “This is something we tend to take for granted — that our school personnel is stepping up to make things as seamless, and if at all possible, as uninterrupted as they possibly can.” Critchfield said spirits have been brightened by the prospect of graduation day on May 30, for which there will be a teleconference between mothers and fathers in Baghdad and their graduates at Ft. Hood. Not only will they be able to see the commencement ceremony, but each parent will have a few minutes afterward for a video chat with their children. In addition, the whole event will be broadcast live on the Web. The whole undertaking represents a huge gift for both the parents and the students, who have, in many cases, been a bundle of nerves throughout the entire school year, she said. “We pretty much take it one day at a time. It’s tense, and intense.” |
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Sergeant Dad Chafes At Home While Wife Serves In Baghdad |
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Times (AL) By Steve Nowottny Times Staff Writer [email protected] Joe Cox may yet go to Iraq, and so might eldest daughter When the U.S. invaded Iraq last year, Sgt. Joe Cox was ready to go to war. Cox, an active duty member of the Alabama National Guard’s 279th Signal Battalion, has been a professional soldier for 22 years. A combat-trained infantryman, he served with the regular Army before transferring to the National Guard, and was stationed in Germany with the 3rd Armored Division. But the military moves in mysterious ways. When the orders came through, Joe was assigned to a desk job at the National Guard Armory in Huntsville. And, the powers that be sent another Sgt. Cox – Joe’s wife, Dana – to Baghdad. “I never thought that she’d go before I went,” Joe said in an interview last week. “I’m trained for combat; she’s an office worker. I feel like if either of us should be in harm’s way, it should be me.” Dana left in February, and with her tour likely to last a year, Joe has spent the last few months playing “Mom” to their four children – Rachelle, 17; Marie, 14; Stephen, 13; and Scott, 9. “To be honest, I’d rather be over there,” he said. “I talked about volunteering, but she said, ‘No, the kids need you.’ ” He may not need to volunteer. Although the unstable situation in Iraq means next year’s troop rotations are impossible to predict, Joe expects to be deployed to Iraq himself after his wife comes home, in September 2005. There’s more. “My eldest daughter Rachelle’s going to join the National Guard later this year and will probably be in the unit with me,” he said. “We could all end up over there.” Mortar fire Dana, a part-time member of the 279th, was attached to the headquarters company of the 711th Signal Battalion after she was activated. She is based in Camp Babylon, a relatively safe compound in Baghdad. “She does administrative work, working on promotions for other soldiers,” said Joe. “The day-to-day operations that you’d do over here, they do over there.” Still, conditions in Iraq are very different. Dana’s office is not air-conditioned, despite temperatures regularly hitting 120 degrees, and she has to contend with antiquated computers and patchy communications. Living conditions are somewhat better – she shares a (air-conditioned) trailer with a roommate – but the showers are unpredictable and the toilets unflushable. Worst of all, in Baghdad even office staff are on the front line. “They get mortar fire on their installation,” said Joe. “It seems like they’re really bad shots, because they keep shooting over. But her compound has been hit. “She said that it felt like God had grabbed the base and just started shaking it.” Rallying round Joe, meanwhile, has been thrust into an unfamiliar role. “I’ve always been the one to go, but now I’m mom and dad where she was always mom and dad,” he said. “It’s so hard, there’s so much I took for granted.” That includes grocery shopping, ferrying kids to school, piles of dirty laundry and looking after Scott, who has been diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). “She kept our home spotless, and now it looks very lived in. It’s a constant battle to keep up,” Family have rallied around, though. Rachelle takes care of the transportation and Marie handles the housework. The grandparents have helped out as well. “If both parents are in the service, then another member of your family has to be ready to take custody of the children,” said Joe. It turns out that Dana and Joe being on separate rotations is by happy accident, not design. No Army regulation prevents couples with children being activated simultaneously. “They could call me today and tell me ‘You have to go,’ ” said Joe. He sounds almost hopeful. Staying in touch Despite the hardships, Joe and Dana are counting their blessings. Both of them being in the military means that they have access to secure communication systems, and can talk regularly. In an emergency, Joe can pick up his desk phone and direct-dial his wife in Baghdad. The line is full of static, and drops out frequently, but it’s still nice to know she’s only a phone call away. “We’re lucky we can communicate,” he said. “A civilian spouse may not have access to the same phone lines or Internet access systems.” They also e-mail each other every day. “I send a daily paragraph about the kids. She’s missing the kids more than she’s missing me,” he said. Joe signs off every time with “Love you, always have, always will.” Dana puts various “silly names” in her e-mails, he admits, but military gruffness stops him from revealing more. They’ve been married eight years. “I’ve finally met my best friend,” he said. Honorable work Reports of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners and mounting U.S. casualties have made the last few weeks particularly hard for Joe and the children. “It aggravated me,” he said. “We’re trained better than that, we’re supposed to set an example. My first reaction was, if my wife is taken prisoner and they do something … how much better are we?” Although he supported the invasion of Iraq, Joe is frustrated by reports that the Army is unable to fire on insurgents taking cover in mosques. “Let us do our job – or let us come home,” he said. For now, home for the Cox family is a difficult concept. In two weeks, Rachelle will go to Nashville to start the application process for joining her mom and dad in the 279th. It’s a process which could see her on active duty in Iraq in little more than a year. For Joe, for years the soldier of the family, it’s a painful decision, but one he proudly supports. “I don’t want my girls to go to war,” he said. “Does it pay the best? No. But it’s honorable work.” |
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TRIBUTE TO OUR FALLEN HEROS
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170-mile Run For Slain GI Ends |
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A Hollywood man completes a 170-mile run in honor of a Wisconsin woman killed in Iraq. He’s accompanied to the end by the National Guardswoman’s mother. By Daphne Duret
Alex Estrella, the Hollywood man who embarked on a 170-mile run in honor of a Wisconsin woman killed in Iraq, hobbled into his final destination Sunday in Key West — slumped in a wheelchair, sunburned and blistered.
Pushing him was Lori Witmer, mother of Michelle Witmer — the 20 year-old National Guardswoman who died when a bomb tore apart her Humvee in Baghdad. ‘I’m a mom, and it’s hard for me to see people in pain like that,” Lori Witmer, who walked alongside Estrella for part of the trip, said in a phone interview from Key West. “But I feel like my role in this whole thing was to bring him in, and that’s what I did.” The story of Michelle Witmer’s death touched many across the United States, especially since her two sisters were serving with her at the time. Rachel and Charity Witmer, Michelle’s twin, are still on active duty though not in a combat zone. Estrella, a former U.S. Ranger who served in the Gulf War, read about Witmer in the newspaper. He decided to march in her honor, and to raise money for an orphanage in Baghdad where Witmer volunteered, and for Project ChildHelp, a Miami-based group that supports programs for abandoned, special-needs children in the Dominican Republic. So far, though, Estrella’s efforts have only raised $130. Organizers hope the news of his journey will bring in more donations. From Thursday through Sunday, Estrella slept no more than four hours a day and ate no solid meals as he jogged and walked to complete his mission, continuing for a full 85 miles after doctors told him he should stop. The blisters came from heavy boots Estrella wore for the first 10 miles of the journey in honor of Pat Tillman, the Army Ranger killed in Afghanistan last month after giving up a multimillion dollar NFL career to join the Armed Forces. Estrella was resting Monday in a Key West hotel and couldn’t be reached. Lori Witmer, though, said that spending the weekend with Estrella helped her understand why Michelle’s sisters struggled when deciding whether they should return to Iraq after Michelle was killed. ”Ever since my daughters came back home, they’ve been telling me that they have two families, and that’s why they wanted to go back,” Witmer said. “And being with Alex this weekend, I got more of a sense that there is an Army family. I felt like now I am the mother supporting a soldier.” Donations can be made by calling Project ChildHelp at 877-807-5050. |
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Western Pa. Town Mourns Soldiers |
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Philadelphia Inquirer Two members of the First Battalion, 107th Field Artillery were killed near Fallujah. By Charles Sheehan, Associated Press New Castle, Pa. – Flags flew at half-staff in this Western Pennsylvania town as residents heard news yesterday that two Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers from the same unit had been killed in Iraq. The deaths of Spec. Carl F. Curran 2d, 22, of Union City, and Spec. Mark J. Kasecky, 20, of McKees Rocks, marked the first time since World War II that soldiers from the First Battalion, 107th Field Artillery had been killed in action. Curran and Kasecky were riding in a Humvee near Fallujah, Iraq, on Monday when it drove over a bridge, and an explosive device detonated. The vehicle flipped over into a canal, where the men drowned, officials said. Robert Emerick of Monroeville, also assigned to the Oil City-based unit, had minor injuries. About 350 soldiers from the 107th were retrained as military police before leaving for Iraq in February. Curran and Kasecky were deployed to Kuwait on Feb. 8 and arrived in Baghdad 10 days later. The two men were providing security in a four-vehicle convoy when they were killed. Curran married his wife, Dianna, about a month before he was deployed. The couple had an infant daughter. Kasecky joined the Army National Guard two years ago, his family said. He was scheduled to come home on leave last month, but the leave was canceled as fighting intensified, relatives said. |
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Guard Pilot Loved Family and Flying |
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Indianapolis Star May 19, 2004 Training flights suspended until at least Thursday after fatal midair collision. By Matthew Tully and Jason Thomas Terre Haute, Ind. — His death came just five days shy of his 10th wedding anniversary and a month before the birth of his third son. But family and friends said Tuesday that Maj. William E. Burchett died doing the work he loved. Burchett was killed on a training mission with his F-16 on Monday, flying along the Illinois border for the Indiana Air National Guard. “He loved children and he loved his boys,” said sister-in-law Carol Burchett, of Terre Haute. “He wasn’t just a dad. He played with them. He was actively involved in the training of his kids. . . . It’s not just saying, ‘You did something wrong,’ but training them what to do correctly. He was just so good at that and so patient.” Monday’s collision, which also involved a pilot from Indianapolis who escaped with minor injuries, prompted the military to halt practice flying missions by the Guard unit until at least Thursday afternoon. “We don’t want grieving to get in the (way) of flying,” said Capt. John Puckett, public affairs officer for the 181st Fighter Wing in Terre Haute. Maj. Thomas R. Sims, of Indianapolis, a 1986 graduate of Perry Meridian High School, parachuted to safety after the collision. He was treated and released from Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes on Monday. A day after the accident, investigators searched for evidence as Burchett’s family prepared for the funeral of a deeply spiritual pilot whose call sign was “Padre.” Known for playing basketball and the trumpet, he was remembered as a doting father to sons Eric, 6, and Sam, 2. He would have celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary with his wife, Debbie, on Friday. Burchett, a FedEx pilot who grew up in Michigan, moved to Terre Haute after leaving active duty in 2000. He lived in Indiana until recently and returned monthly from his new home in Tennessee for his Air National Guard training. Sims, who played football and ran track at Perry Meridian, could not be reached for comment. But neighbors in Sims’ Far-Southside neighborhood said he works for American Airlines and is the married father of four daughters. American Airlines could not confirm whether Sims worked for the company. On Tuesday, an American flag flew from the front of Sims’ house, and neighbors spoke of his annual Indianapolis 500 party. “I feel sorry for what he must be going through,” said Regina Langferman, who lives across the street from Sims. “I’m sure the shock hasn’t quite worn off yet.” Military officials are saying little about the accident. In such cases, said Puckett, the 181st spokesman, an Air Force investigation board conducts the review. Officials recover any available evidence, Puckett said, including the black boxes present in every aircraft. It could be months before the Air Force team releases the official cause of the accident. Meanwhile, Burchett’s remains have been taken to Indianapolis, where a group of federal forensics specialists were expected to take part in an autopsy Tuesday night, according to the Knox County coroner. Burchett will be buried in Tennessee this weekend, said his sister-in-law. The military is refusing to specify the type of training Burchett and Sims were taking part in Monday. Peter Field, a Missouri-based aviation consultant and a former U.S. Naval Test Pilot School director, said exercises range from training with various weapons to practicing the many maneuvers the plane is capable of or flying in formation. “Training to shoot another airplane down is probably the most difficult thing to train for,” Field said. “It would be in this training where most midair collisions occur.” State Sen. Thomas Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, who served in the Air National Guard for 31 years, said flying aircraft close together at high speeds is a dangerous but necessary duty. He said officials will use the results of the investigation to prevent future accidents. But this accident, he said, should serve as a reminder of the work Guard pilots perform. “These guys are practicing the different parts of a mission should they be called to duty,” Wyss said. “Here’s a guy who is doing something he doesn’t have to — something he loves, but doesn’t have to do.” Burchett’s love of flying stood out, according to Mark Grayless, Burchett’s pastor at Union Christian Church in Terre Haute. “He just loved to fly, especially F-16s,” Grayless said. “He flew for FedEx to make a living. But his joy was to come here and fly the F-16s.” |
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GENERAL
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License Tag Bill Touted To Help Kin of National Guard Troops In Iraq |
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Jacksonville Daily News May 18, 2004 Patricia Smith Daily News Staff Morehead City – A proposed new vehicle license plate will give Tar Heel motorists an opportunity to financially support families of the N.C. National Guard serving in Iraq and other countries. Those who buy the specialty tags, if approved, will also display the national motto, “In God We Trust,” adopted by Congress in 1956. “We felt it would give people an opportunity to express their support for the national motto and to support our troops at the same time,” said Sen. Scott Thomas, D-New Bern, who announced Monday at the National Guard Armory in Morehead City that he will introduce a bill in the state Senate this week to create the plates. Thomas also represents Carteret County. Rep. Connie Wilson, R-Charlotte, introduced the bill in the House Monday night. The tags look similar to the regular North Carolina license tags except there is no Wright Brother’s plane and “In God We Trust” replaces the bold print “First in Flight.” To the right of identifying numbers or letters is a yellow ribbon overlaid with the words “Support Our Troops.” Those who wish to purchase the tags will pay an additional $30 fee (for a total of $50), $20 of which will go to The Chaplain Aubrey McLellan Soldier and Airman Assistance Fund and $10 will go to a state specialized license tag fund that supports such things as the Wildflowers Program and visitors centers. The Chaplain Aubrey McLellan Soldier and Airman Assistance Fund is a non-profit fund established during Desert Storm to provide grants and loans to the families of deployed National Guardsmen who are struggling financially, said Gen. Bill Ingram, commander of the N.C. National Guard. More than half of the 12,000 men and women of the N.C. Army National Guard have served on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, Ingram said. Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry, made up of Morehead City and Jacksonville units, are in Iraq now, he said. The 5,000 currently deployed have left probably 30,000 family members behind, Ingram said. With the regular military, a serviceman stationed in North Carolina at bases like Camp Lejeune might not call this state home. That’s not the case with the N.C. National Guard, Ingram said. “Every one of these soldiers and airmen are North Carolinians,” he said. They have left behind regular jobs and careers to serve their country. By now, many have served a complete 24-month stint and some even longer, Ingram said. “The vast majority of our force depends on their civilian income to pay the bills,” Ingram said. “Many have never anticipated long-term deployments,” Thomas said. Capt. Sherrell Murray, state family program coordinator from the N.C. National Guard, said she often gets phone calls from the wife of a deployed Guardsman who has never had to seek assistance before but now finds herself running short on money. Often the soldier or airman is making less in the National Guard than he was at home, but not always, Murray said. “Sometimes you have soldiers that have their own business, even if it’s a barber shop, and they had to fold the barber shop,” Murray said. Or it may be that a large appliance, such as a water heater, went out and the husband is not there to fix it, she said. With all the deployments, The Chaplain Aubrey McLellan Soldier and Airman Assistance Fund has depleted and is now at about $30,000, Thomas said. The National Guard approached legislators for help, Thomas said. At about the same time Wilson had seen “In God We Trust” license tags in South Carolina and was interested in creating one here, he said. To meet General Assembly rules for consideration in this year’s short session, the bill was approved by the Justice and Public Safety Oversight Committee, which Thomas chairs. A proposal to delete “In God We Trust” from the tags was overwhelmingly defeated in committee, Thomas said. On several occasions, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the use of the motto as not in violation of the First Amendment prohibition against establishment of a state religion, Thomas said. Thomas said he voted with the committee majority. “I think that ‘In God We Trust’ is a very popular phrase and I think that will cause us to sell even more plates,” Thomas said. “It’s a very patriotic phrase and for some people an inspirational phrase also,” Wilson said. The license tag is expected to raise between $300,000 and $1 million for the fund, Ingram said. |
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Quilts Bring Comfort to Children of Deployed Service Members |
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American Forces Press Service By Rudi Williams Washington, May 18, 2004 – Ann Flaherty’s 18-month-old grandson was suffering from the emotional stress of his father not coming home from work as he usually did. He carried pictures of his dad around, and began having temper tantrums and difficulty sleeping. Then Flaherty came to the rescue with something that helps her grandson cope with the absence of his father. And it may eventually help hundreds of children of servicemen and women who are deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the globe. A quilt artist, Flaherty made what she calls a “daddy quilt for her grandson, Christian Roman. It was the beginning of what has become a big program. In the case of a deployed mother, it’s a “mommy quilt.” Pillows also are made for the children of deployed service members. The idea evolved out of watching her grandson’s reaction to the absence of his father. Christian’s father, Army Chief Warrant Officer Michael Roman, an Apache helicopter pilot, was deployed to Iraq at the onset of the Iraqi war, said Flaherty, whose daughter, son and son-in-law (Roman) all deployed to Iraq. Roman is married to Flaherty’s daughter, Elisa. “Christian started hoarding photographs,” she said. “He would go into the living room and take all the framed photographs to his room and hide them. He was having temper tantrums and difficulty sleeping – reacting to his dad being gone.” Flaherty said she realized that she uses photography on many of her quilts. “So I took his favorite pictures and some others, scanned them, printed them on fabric and incorporated them into a quilt for him.” To her amazement, her grandson calmed down. “He slept better. He went to bed with his daddy blanket and dragged it everywhere he went. And it works!” said the pleased grandmother. “My daughter told another family whose dad was deployed with Mike (Roman), and the mom was in Afghanistan,” Flaherty said. “That little boy was having a really hard time. He was in the same daycare with Christian, so I made a quilt for him, and it worked for him, too.” Flaherty said children can’t cuddle up to a photograph, but a quilt is a daily soft, tangible and comforting reminder of the parent. As word got around, Flaherty made daddy and mommy quilts for “another child and another child, and I realized that this was going to be too much for me to do by myself.” She asked Lynne Grates, executive director of the Fort Bragg/Pope Air Force Base, N.C., Armed Services YMCA and Clitha Mason, the arts and humanities director, for help. “They loved the idea. So we formed ‘Operation Kid Comfort,’ Flaherty said. “So it was born out of necessity.” Operation Kid Comfort is designed to serve children, ages 5 and under, of deployed service members. The program addresses the emotional stress that children suffer during a parent’s absence from home. Operation Kid Comfort was so successful that it earned the Fort Bragg/Pope Air Force Base Armed Services YMCA branch the 2004 Raytheon Program Achievement Award in the Best New Program category. The award was recently presented during the ASYMCA’s 17th annual Recognition Luncheon on Capitol Hill. Flaherty said when the kids are given the quilts, they take instant, total possession of them. “Immediately, no one else can touch them,” she said. “They’re theirs. It’s amazing how quickly it works and how quickly they react to having them. “I just feel so happy that I can do something for them,” she said. Flaherty estimated that, so far, about 100 quilts have been made for children of deployed military personnel. “We’re still setting up the program and expect to exceed our goal of 1,500 by the end of the year,” she noted. “We’ve been approached by several units around the country asking for quilts,” Flaherty noted. “One group has 3,000 service members being deployed, and they came to us and asked us to make quilts for the kids. The 82nd Airborne Division (Fort Bragg) is going back over, and they want quilts.” Flaherty had only one stipulation for recipients of the quilts: “On receiving a quilt, the parent or guardian of the child should realize that the quilt is for the child – to play with, sleep with or just carry around – not to be used as a wall hanging for people to admire.” Last winter, Georgia (Statesboro) Southern University’s assistant professor of marketing, Kathleen Gruben, arranged for two of her classes to take on Operation Kid Comfort as their class project. Flaherty said they developed marketing and advertising strategies and a Web site. They divided into groups according to geographic regions and developed strategies for each area and where military bases are located. “For example,” Flaherty noted, “when we’re ready to take Operation Kid Comfort to Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Lewis, Wash., or to a Navy base, they’ve made a book for us that tells us where the sources, quilt shops, quitter’s guilds, grant money, who the competition is and where the media outlets are.” Many individuals and organizations are supporting Operation Kid Comfort, such as the Junior League of Fayetteville (N.C.) donating money to purchase a computer, monitor, software and a sewing machine. Staples donated software and cables. Hewlett-Packard donated a digital camera and two specialized scanners needed to do the photo transfers. At the International Quilt Festival held in Houston last November, Quilts, Inc., accepted the program as their charity of the year. Participants at the festival donated about $16,500 worth of fabric, batting and sewing notions. Kinko’s of Houston donated and delivered 1,500 flyers to the volunteers at the festival, and Freeman Decorating Transportation Services donated the shipping and delivery of the donated items. One Hour Koretizing in Fayetteville and Royal Cleaners on Fort Bragg washed and pressed the fabric. “The more people hear about Operation Kid Comfort, the more they call and say, ‘I want to help with it,'” Flaherty said. “People are calling me from all over the country saying, ‘Send me the fabric and I’ll make the quilts and send them back.” Quilt-making workshops are held at the Fort Bragg/Pope Air Force Base ASYMCA every Wednesday. “We’re discussing scheduling other classes on different days with family readiness groups,” she said. “We teach graphic arts, including scanning, editing and cropping photographs and how to print them onto fabric to make a quilt.” In addition to needing funds to support the program, Flaherty said Operation Kid Comfort needs fabric, batting, threads, sewing equipment, tools and supplies and photo transfer technology. All donations of goods are tax deductible. For more information on Operation Kid Comfort, write to: ASYMCA of Fort Bragg/Pope Air Force Base Clitha Mason, Arts and Humanities Director Bldg. 2-2411 Fort Bragg, NC 28307 Or, call or write to: Operation Kid Comfort 208 Thorncliff Drive Fayetteville, NC 28303 Tel: (910) 436-0500 |
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Air National Guard Takes Over Clear Station |
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Associated Press May 22, 2004, Saturday, BC cycle Dateline: Fairbanks The Alaska Air National Guard has taken over operation of Clear Air Force Station and its early warning radar from active duty troops. Seven generals attended the ceremony Friday that transferred power from the Air Force to the Air Guard. “We call this a general overload,” joked Lance Lord, a four-star general who heads the Air Force Space Command. For the first time in 40 years, the remote station 80 miles south of Fairbanks will be staffed by permanent troops instead of airmen rotating through for a year. The transition to 85 full-time and nine part-time Air Guard members will happen gradually over three years until only two regular Air Force officers and two Royal Canadian Air members remain to act as liaisons. There are 23 Air Guard members in place now with 20 slated to join them next year, 15 in 2006 and 11 more in 2007. By that time, the airmen will become a separate entity called the 213th Space Warning Squadron instead of functioning as a detachment of the guard’s headquarters at Kulis Air National Guard Base in Anchorage. The Air Guard members will not only staff the radar but also provide security and administrative duties. There are also 264 civilian workers – 59 Department of Defense and 205 contractors – who maintain the radar and station. The change mirrors that of the Army National Guard soldiers who operate and guard the national missile defense system site at Fort Greely near Delta Junction. The two National Guard units are linked because the Clear radar’s primary mission is early detection of incoming enemy missiles for the defense system that is designed to intercept the weapons in space. The radar’s secondary mission is space surveillance. The radar is capable of seeing 3,000 miles into space and relays information to the Missile Warning Center at the North American Aerospace Defense Command at Cheyenne Mountain, Colo. |
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