November 1, 2004, Volume 2, Issue 22

Index of Articles

Note: Topics below are now bookmarked! Click on the underlined topic below to link to the pages on that topic.

National Guard Family Program Online Communities for families and youth:

https://www.guardfamily.org/

https://www.guardfamilyyouth.org/

TRICARE website for information on health benefits

https://www.tricare.osd.mil/

Civilian Employment Information (CEI) Program Registration for Army and Air National Guard, Air Force, and Coast Guard Reserve

https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/esgr/index.jsp  (Note to those viewing this page in Word or PDF format: You may have to copy this address and paste it into your browser’s address window.)

Cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve who are currently on active duty

https://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2004/d20040331ngr1.pdf

Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) contains links and information about schooling, distance education, scholarships, and organizations devoted to the military family

https://www.militarychild.org/index.cfm

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.

http://www.militarystudent.org

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.

http://www.armyds3.org

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].

READINESS

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“Vigilant Guard” Focuses On Homeland Defense

Illinois Public Affairs Office

26 October 2004

SPRINGFIELD – In the months leading up to the national election, the Illinois National Guard has stepped up homeland defense training and exercises in order to be ready on a moment’s notice to respond to potential terrorist threats in Illinois aimed at disrupting the electoral process.  Called Vigilant Guard, the increased homeland security focus, began in August and runs through the presidential inauguration early next year.  According to Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Vigilant Guard activities will be conducted in every U.S. state and territory leading up to and through the election.

Over the past few months, the Illinois National Guard has taken part in various statewide exercises as part of Vigilant Guard.  In early August, the Joint Operations Center went to 24-hour operations and conducted various communication exercises throughout the state to test its capability to coordinate with different local, state and federal agencies.  Also in August, the 5^th Civil Support Team of Bartonville took part in a major civil response exercise with the City of Aurora as part of the City Emersion Program.

Guard participation in homeland security initiatives since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have brought to the forefront more than ever before the Guard’s vital role as the nation’s primary homeland security force.  Like the Minutemen of revolutionary times Illinois Guardsmen responded at a moment’s notice when called upon to provide enhanced security at Illinois commercial airports and help guard nuclear power generating plants throughout the state.

“We are the tip of the spear when it comes to homeland defense,” said Brig. Gen. Randal Thomas, Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard.

Although the Illinois Guard has been a significant force contributor in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, the Guard remains ready to provide support to conduct homeland defense operations here in the U.S.

“We currently have about 3,000 Illinois Army and Air National Guardsmen deployed all over the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan,” Thomas said.  “That represents less than 25 percent of our total strength.  The majority of our force, including the Civil Support Team, Quick Reaction Force and CERFP element, is still in Illinois we are ready to handle any domestic emergency that may arise.”

Guarding The Nation

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Homeland Protection Professional

By Aaron Keith Harris

The devastating terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 jolted U.S. military, intelligence and public safety institutions to reexamine their roles in defending the American homeland and, three years later, many of them are still figuring out how to shoulder these additional burdens without shorting their existing responsibilities.  No one is more familiar with that quandary than Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum. As chief of the National Guard Bureau, Blum is charged with forming and carrying out a policy vision for the Army and Air National Guard, which have to play both “home” and “away” games in the war on terrorism. “After a period of focusing on the war fight verseas for the last 100 years,” Blum says, the National Guard “finds itself moving back to our roots, moving back to the future to become America’s 21^st century Minutemen and –women, turning from citizens to citizen soldiers and airmen in a matter of moments to protect our liberties, freedoms, lives and property right here in our homeland.”

With Blum’s estimate that “40% of the Army’s boots on the ground in Iraq are Guard and Reserve units,” the Guard will continue to play the critical role of supplementing forces deployed around the world, but Blum is proud of the way the Guard has adapted to homeland security missions, beginning on the morning of 9-11.

According to Blum, the National Guard had 8,600 citizen soldiers on the streets of New York City and close to 400 armed aircraft patrolling the skies of every population center in the United States within 24 hours of the first attack. Blum also notes that the first external military  responders at the Pentagon were Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., Guard members.

“We are working very hard to be ready for an unscheduled home game such as another 9-11,” Blum says of the Guard’s efforts to use its structure and legal status to take on duties that other branches of the military can’t.

 In most homeland security emergencies, those duties are to advise and support local and state law enforcement and other public safety personnel in managing the crisis and to serve as a liaison between civil authorities and the Defense Department, which can offer logistical and technical support and provide additional equipment. A Guard unit, when activated by its governor, is uniquely allowed to fill just about any homeland security role.

 (The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits federal armed services from performing law enforcement work within the

United States.)

WMD Civil Support Teams

Its Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams perform one of the Guard’s main homeland security duties. They are federally funded state National Guard units whose function is to support local and state first responders in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack. “Primarily they’re a source of information,” says Maj. Gen. Jerry W. Grizzle, commander of the Army National Guard’s Joint Task Force Civil Support, which plans and  oordinates the Defense Department’s response to a CBRNE event.

“They are going to be on the scene first to determine what agent was used, so we know what we need to bring to handle the situation,” Grizzle says.

Made up of 22 full-time soldiers and airmen who are always on call, the WMD-CSTs can mobilize within three hours of a request from a  state governor to the Guard’s adjutant general. An advance team of seven to nine members is always ready to move within 90 minutes.

Currently there are 32 WMD-CSTs, with 12 more being created this year and 11 scheduled for FY05.When the 23 new teams are active, each state and territory will have a WMD-CST.

When it arrives on the scene as the first group of military responders, a WMD-CST provides tactical support to the local civilian incident commander, who should already be coordinating the activities of local police, fire, hazmat and EMS responders.

The WMD-CST then has a four-fold mission:

·        identify any CBRNE agent,

·        assess the current and potential consequences of its release,

·        advise the incident commander on appropriate response actions, and

·        assist and expedite the delivery of additional state or federal assets needed to combat the crisis.

A recent test

The Virginia National Guard’s 34^th WMD-CST, based at Fort Pickett near Blackstone, Va., recently had a chance to practice such a mission. As part of U.S. Northern Command’s determined Promise ’04 exercise, designed to test  NORTHCOM’s ability to help federal and state authorities deal with a CBRNE event, the 34^th responded to a mock chemical weapons incident in Richmond, Va., on August 6.

In the simulation, terrorists tried to enter the main gate of a defense supply center, but when guards blocked their truck, they drove into the parking lot of a nearby elementary school, where they were confronted by a local police officer. After a shootout in which the officer was injured, a bomb inside the truck went off, releasing a cloud of sarin next to two trailers where teachers were holding a conference and into a stiff breeze blowing toward a residential area.

About an hour and a half after the explosion, the 34^th WMD-CST began its participation in the exercise, with their commanding officer, Lt. Col. Colleen Chipper, meeting with the incident commander.

Chipper welcomed the chance to take part in a multi-agency exercise like DP04, because it allowed her team to work on perhaps the most important part of its mission: supporting civilian responders. “We’ve found that [incident commanders] may not know what we can do, so when we arrive on the scene, we tell them what we can offer them.”

In DP04, Chipper says, the incident commander was most interested in the 34^th WMD-CST’s advanced detection equipment and its ability to use computer modeling to estimate the spread and effect of the sarin.

After donning Level A suits, one hour SCBA and rebreathers with four hour air supplies, two team members set off to the explosion site to find out what, if anything, had been released. One walked ahead and the other followed on a Gator all-terrain vehicle carrying the team’s detection equipment.

Cool tools

The WMD-CSTs are outfitted with a comprehensive array of state-of-the art equipment to test for any kind of CBRNE agent:

The teams also have kits to test the surrounding environment to gauge an agent’s dispersal rate and range. After the tedious process of scouring the incident site, the two survey team members brought the samples they collected back to the team’s trailer, which features an analytical  aboratory system that Chipper says has nearly the same capabilities as the most advanced state laboratory.

In addition to the mobile lab, each WMD-CST also has a communications van with secure satellite phone and Internet capabilities that are on line even when civilian systems are down. The communications systems allow team members access to information and advice from other sources, such as CDC and FEMA. They can also get a real-time weather picture from airborne Air National Guard units, which supplements their computer modeling in advising the incident commander what areas are likely to be affected by any WMD release.

The team also has medical specialists, who can help local EMS personnel treat casualties.

The 34^th WMD-CST’s participation in the DP04 exercise went very well, Chipper says, with local responders having a “very positive” reaction to what her team brought to the table. “[Local responders] are able to detect some things, but sometimes they don’t have the same level of technology that we have,” Chipper says, noting that WMD-CST team members have the time to be fully trained on new equipment, a luxury local responders don’t always have. Though WMD–CSTs may be better equipped and trained to analyze a CBRNE event, Chipper says DP04 helped her reassure Virginia’s civil authorities that her team’s role is not to take control of the incident, but to support the local incident commander, an important message that should make cooperation and coordination easier in case of an actual event.

Other HS capabilities

In addition to the WMD-CSTs, Blum says, “we’ve established a Joint Force Headquarters in every state and territory that has a capability to coordinate and control communications, information or intelligence, and then be able to provide logistics support and … fully integrate any forces that would come in from the federal government.” The state JFHQs work with the national Joint Force Headquarters Homeland Security in Norfolk, Va., which co-ordinates both DOD’s homeland defense efforts, which are responses to external aggression, and its civil support contributions to local and state governments and to other federal  agencies like FEMA, DOJ and DOT.

“DP04 really proved the worth of these JFHQs and the vital role or the essential role that the Guard must play when it comes to homeland defense and [civil] support,” Blum says.

Complementing the WMD-CSTs, the Guard recently established 12 regional CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Packages. When fully staffed, these CERFPs have about 100 members trained to provide emergency medical care to victims of a CBRNE attack and to make sure they’re decontaminated before being admitted into civilian hospitals.

The CERFPs also have engineering units trained to extract victims from collapsed buildings, Blum says. At presstime, 11 of the 12 teams had reached operational capability for the decon and medical missions.

Blum has also overseen the creation of Quick and Rapid Reaction Forces in each state ready to respond to their governor’s call. The QRF, a Guard spokesperson explains, is a force of 75-125 personnel responding in four to eight hours of an incident. The RRF is a follow-on force of up to 375 personnel arriving in 24-48 hours as dictated by the situation. Both types of forces consist of personnel drawn from existing Guard units, so each QRF or RRF member is essentially wearing two hats.

“Calling up a National Guard Reaction Force is an efficient use of the military, as the Guard units are already deployed in the state,” says the spokesperson.

“With the QRFs and the RRFs,” says Blum,” the Guard is “starting to build a very formidable ability for the governors and the National Guard to respond here at home.”

A continuing transition

“The Guard has done a good job of adjusting to the mission within their resources,” says James Jay Carafano, PH.D., a defense and homeland security expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation and the author of “Citizen Soldiers and Homeland Security: A Strategic Assessment,” published by the Lexington Institute in March. But, he notes, “we don’t have the right force structures for the Guard to do good homeland response.”

According to Carafano, the military’s restructuring efforts should include a National Guard with better trained units with specific homeland security functions, a tough task given that the Guard’s main duty is still to supplement overseas missions.

Blum agrees that some changes need to be made to enable the Guard to better execute its growing role in homeland security.

“The Guard is not funded, not resourced and not equipped the way it should be, because it’s being used as an operational force right now,” he says, “but it’s being resourced, funded and equipped as a strategic reserve.” He notes that an operational force with missions that include emergency response doesn’t have adequate lead time in which to prepare.

With that reservation, Blum is optimistic about the Guard’s ability to broaden its mission and defend against tomorrow’s uncertainties by going back to its roots in homeland defense.

Rhode Island EMA and Governors’ Office to Conduct Statewide Meeting on State Readiness

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Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency

Immediate Release

October 24, 2004                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Cranston, RI — Major General Reginald Centracchio, the Adjutant General of Rhode Island and Director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA), announced that on, Monday, 25 October, at 9:00 AM, the state will conduct a seminar on the status of the state’s preparedness to deal with both natural and man made disasters. The meeting will take place at the Newport Naval War College, Newport, RI.

The meeting will concentrate on state and local preparedness, Emergency Support Functions, State Police and National Guard assets. The meeting will also feature a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) update and the status of the RI National Guard’s Civil Support Team to respond to a WMD incident. Additionally, the terror threat for the National election will be discussed. 

The media is invited to attend the meeting. Both Governor Carcieri and Major General Centracchio will make themselves available for interviews following the meeting.

DEPLOYMENT

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National Guard Troops Depart For Training In Iraq

Juneau Empire.com

25 October 2004

The Associated Press

 
 ANCHORAGE – A company of soldiers from the Alaska National Guard has departed for training in Texas before deployment to the war in Iraq early next year.

Wearing desert camouflage, the riflemen of Alpha Co., third Battalion, 297^th Infantry had about two hours Saturday morning to say goodbye to their families before loading onto a chartered Boeing 757.

About half the soldiers are from Southeast Alaska and the rest from Southcentral and Kodiak.

The 131 soldiers will train at Fort Bliss, Texas, for several months along with members of the Hawaii National guard. Early next year, they will depart Kuwait and then to Iraq for deployment.

Gen. Craig Christensen, head of the Alaska Army National Guard, gave the company an Alaska flag. He told them to bring the flag home safely and bring themselves home alive.

Pfc. Mathew Nore is from Wrangell and is majoring in education at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He will have to pick up his studies when he gets back.

“At first I was kind of bummed out, because I had a lot of plans for education and I was doing a lot of sports in college too, so I was excited about that this semester, But I signed up for the Guard first, before I went to college, so I’ve got to do this,” he told the Alaska Public Radio Network.

Nore’s wife, Rachel, said she would be praying for the soldiers.

“You just keep praying for them and hopefully they stay safe. It’s just something they have to do.”

Christensen said soldiers will have another chance to see their families before heading overseas during a holiday break in December. Some soldiers plan to return to Alaska. Some will meet their families in the Lower 48.

The company already had switched to desert camouflage, with the Hawaii National Guard insignia on their shoulders, instead of the familiar Alaska flag. When they get to Iraq, the unit will join one of the divisions already there and will change patches again.

Tiffin Guard Unit Mobilized

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The Advertiser-Tribune

28 October 2004

By Jefferson Wolfe

Tiffin’s National Guard unit has been called to active duty.

Bravo Company, 612^th Engineer Battalion, 500 Riverside Drive, received mobilization orders and will leave Tiffin Nov. 13 for further training at Camp Atterbury Ind., said Maj. Nicole Gabriel, a spokeswoman for the National Guard in Columbus. The unit’s ultimate destination and mission has not been released yet.

A skeleton crew is on orders now, inventorying tools and equipment and getting ready to go, said Capt. Jeff Gillmor, the unit commander. Equipment is being loaded on semi trucks and taken to Camp Atterbury.

The rest of the soldiers will be called in a few days before they leave, Gillmor said.

“Morale is pretty high,” he said. A couple of solders are still working to get ready for the deployment, but most are prepared already.

“Ninety-five percent of the unit is on board, ready to go and champing at the bit to get out of here,” Gillmor said.

There will be a farewell ceremony for the soldiers at noon Nov. 12 at Heidelberg College’s Seiberling Gymnasium, according to information from the college.

One soldiers’ mother works at Heidelberg, and she worked with Gillmor and the family support group president Virginia Bocanegra to set up the ceremony.

The family support group has been holding meetings in anticipation of the deployment, Bocanegra said. The group is composed of the families of the soldiers in the 612^th.

The group has had speakers from the American Red Cross, insurance officials and others come in to help prepare the families and the soldiers for the deployment.

They will continue to meet after the unit deploys, because the families can support each other, she said.

The soldiers are concerned about leaving their families behind, and the group hopes to continue having support from the local area.

Well-wishers also can gather at 9 a.m. Nov. 13 on South Washington Street. To show their support of the soldiers as they leave for Camp Atterbury.

The family support group is asking people to come out and wave as the soldiers go by, Bocanegra said.

“We can’t just have the soldiers leave and nobody be there,” she said.

Bravo Company, 612^th Engineer Battalion is comprised of combat engineers and heavy equipment operators from Northwest Ohio. The unit’s primary missions are mobility, counter mobility and survivability engineering.

This means that the unit makes sure friendly troops can get where they are going to go, and making sure the enemy can’t, Gillmor said.

Survivability means that the unit can build defensive positions, such as berms, using earth-moving equipment, he said.

National Guard Unit Deployed To Iraq

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By the Associated Press

October 25 2004

 MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Nearly 250 family members saluted the 171 men and women of the 1173^rd National Guard Transportation Company on Monday at a ceremony deploying them to Iraq.

The Guardsmen leave Wednesday for Fort Dix, N.J., where they’ll train for one to three months before flying overseas.

“The soldiers here have come together for a common cause,” Capt. Mike Waterman, the company’s commander, told the crowd. “Our country called, and we have answered.”

They expect to spend at least 18 months in Iraq driving supply convoys.

About 90 members of the 1710^th Transportation Company—based in Bowling Green and Manassas—have joined the western Virginia-based 1173^rd.

“It’s not easy for me to sign orders to send them away from here,” Maj. Gen. Claude Williams, the Virginia Guard’s adjutant general, said during a speech Monday. “(But) what we’re doing is right. We’ve got to take this war to the evil-doers. That’s what you need to remember.”

Bravo Company of Ohio National Guard to deploy Nov. 13

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Port Clinton News Herald

October 30, 2004

Bravo Company, 612^th Engineer Battalion of the Ohio Army National Guard, of Tiffin, has received mobilization orders and will be deploying overseas Nov. 13

Heidelberg College will host a farewell ceremony for the soldiers, their families and the community at noon Friday, Nov. 12 in Seiberling gym. The community is also organizing a send-off gathering for the soldiers, according to Capt. Jeff Gillmor, company commander of Bravo Co. Well-wishers can gather at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, on South Washington Street in Tiffin to show their patriotism and support the unit as it deploys for overseas duty.

Although the unit’s upcoming assignment was not available, Gillmor said the unit expects to be deployed for about a year at a duty station outside the U.S. The unit will first go to Indiana for additional training before flying to its final destination.

Bravo Co., 612^th Engineer Battalion is comprised of combat engineers and heavy equipment operators from northwest Ohio. Their primary missions are mobility, counter-mobility and survivability engineering.

Bravo Co., 612^th Engineer Battalion has a long and distinguished history since its beginnings in 1873. Since then, it has served in almost every major conflict in defense of our country.

The unit was designated Company B, 148^th Infantry Regiment in 1916 and served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.

200 Guard Members Answer Call To Duty, Soldiers Depart For Southwest Asia

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News Channel 10

29 October 2004

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – A group of 200 Rhode Island National Guard soldiers gathered Friday at Quonset Air National Guard Base as they prepared to depart in the largest single deployment in nearly two years.

Troops Deploy 1^st Battalion, 126^th Aviation Regiment A group of 200 Rhode Island National Guard soldiers gathers at Quonset Air National Guard Base as they prepare to depart for duty in Southwest

The soldiers from the 1^st Battalion, 126^th Aviation Regiment will initially deploy to Fort Bragg, N.C., where they will train and prepare for 12 months of service in Southwest Asia.

It is the biggest single-day deployment of Rhode Island National Guard members since Feb. 12, 2003, when more than 500 soldiers were deployed.

The regiment flies the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and will be transporting personnel, equipment and medical supplies throughout Southwest Asia.

They were scheduled to leave Quonset in their eight Blackhawk helicopters after a ceremony held Friday morning at the base for the soldiers to say goodbye to family and friends.

Fighting From Home; How the National Guard Serves Stateside

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 WebDevil

1 November 2004

by Katie Ruark

While more than 2,500 Arizona National Guard soldiers and airmen are fighting overseas, many remain here, protecting the country from home base.

Across Arizona, National Guard men and women work by supporting local emergency response teams and providing security. They aid in state emergencies and respond to important local events when called.

The National Guard provides security at the Hoover Dam and 10 airports across the country. They also have been sent to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station to increase security, and border stations to help with inspections .

“There are approximately 7,000 men and women statewide in the Arizona Air National Guard and Arizona Army National Guard,” said State Public Affairs Officer Major Eileen K. Bienz. “Of the 7,000, about 2,500 have been ordered to federal active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Noble Eagle. Of that number, there are currently about 650 deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Twenty-one soldiers from the Phoenix-based 159^th Finance Detachment were called to active duty at the beginning of September to support the conflict in Iraq for up to 18 months.

The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the Arizona National Guard when the National Guard is federalized. During peacetime, the commander-in-chief of the Arizona National Guard is the governor of Arizona. The guard is called upon to assist Arizona citizens in times of disaster, such as the Rodeo-Chediski Fire in 2002. Since Sept. 11, 2001, there has been more emphasis on homeland security in the Guard.

The Arizona National Guard has always worked jointly with other agencies, including law enforcement and emergency response teams. During the deployments to the nation’s airports in Oct. 2001, they underwent training from the Federal Aviation Administration and stayed there until they transitioned into what is now known as the Transportation Security Administration.

“The morale amongst Guardsmen and women is good,” Bienz said. “We continue to work hard to support our communities, our state and our nation. We also work closely with our Family Support Groups to take care of the families of deployed guard members.

All of us in the National Guard continue to say farewell and welcome home to our soldiers and airmen who continue to be deployed to locations throughout the world.”

GUARD IN IRAQ

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Stationed In Iraq With Hearts At Fenway Park

Portland Press Herald

October 29, 2004

By Meredith Goad, Writer

Maine soldiers serving in Iraq celebrated the Boston Red Sox World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the same way they celebrated the team’s trouncing of the New York Yankees in the playoffs – with a lot of happy screaming.

Yet the jaw-dropping news was also bittersweet.

Imagine being a diehard Red Sox fan on the night that generations of Sox devotees have waited for – and finding yourself thousands of miles from friends, family and Fenway Park.

“My goodness, I can’t even believe it. It’s so surreal! I can’t believe I am in Iraq for this!” Spc. Peter Morrison, 29, wrote in an e-mail from Mosul.

Morrison, who is from Scarborough, is part of the Maine Army National Guard‘s 133rd Engineer Battalion, which was mobilized last December. Soldiers of the 133rd have been a little distracted – and sleepy – the past few days, rising in the wee hours every morning to watch the Sox over the Armed Forces Network.

“We literally missed our start time for our convoy today because we couldn’t leave the game,” Morrison said. “I have to continuously push the elation out of my head to stay focused. I can hardly imagine the excitement in New England.”

Spc. Chris Mallett of Winslow was so happy after the game he ran into his boss’s room and woke him up to tell him the Red Sox had – finally! – gone from cursed to first.

“There was also a sense of depression,” Mallett wrote in an e-mail from Mosul. “I have known Spc. (Franz) Oberlerchner since second grade, and we both were sitting here thinking what all of our friends were doing and what we would be doing if we were at home and not in Iraq. But the fact that they won the World Series overtook that feeling.”

Spc. Chad Haskell of Augusta called Wednesday night’s game “the single greatest sporting event ever.”

“I remember when I was 9 and Bucky (who cares) Dent hit the home run over the monster,” he said. “That was my first Red Sox heartache.”

But this year made that 1978 heartache, and all the ones that came after it, worth it, Haskell said. He hasn’t really celebrated yet, but is making plans with some friends for an instant replay of sorts when he comes home from Iraq.

“A few guys and myself are going to go for a weekend trip to Boston when we get home and find a pub that will let us play the tape of the final game, and then we will let it out,” Haskell said. “It would be great if some of the 133rd and other deployed Maine soldiers could get to Fenway for Maine Day next year.”

Maj. Dwaine Drummond of Weeks Mills and four friends got up at 2 a.m. the day of the final game and drove a half-hour to the Habour Gate Turkish border crossing, the site of the closest satellite television hookup.

“I am pleased to say I predicted Johnny Damon’s leadoff home run, but was especially impressed by (Derek) Lowe’s (pitching) performance,” Drummond said.

He said it’s been nice “sharing the moment” with Yankees fans in Iraq, “although I think many are happy for the Sox (though they will probably not admit it).”

Sgt. 1st Class John Keene of Danville is a third-generation Sox fan. His grandfather followed the careers of Jimmy Foxx and Babe Ruth, and his father is partial to the players of the 1940s and ’50s, including Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky and, of course, Ted Williams.

Keene, 40, remembers watching the Sox of the 1970s and ’80s.

“I am very glad that at last the Red Sox have won a World Series in both my father’s and my lifetime,” he said.

Keene said Sox fans in Iraq talked about the team most of the day Thursday, “remembering the former players who had passed away without seeing this day.” They used the Internet to read news stories and see photographs of the game, and e-mailed friends and family.

Of all the soldiers, Master Sgt. Greg Madore of Saco had the best view of the championship game. He watched it from his own comfortable chair, just after arriving home on a 15-day leave.

Madore celebrated the Sox victory with an ice-cold beer, then went to sleep.

“It was a great way to end a couple long days of travel,” he said

Shipping Out: A Student Veteran’s Account Of War

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 WebDevil

1 November 2004

by La Poasa

When Sgt. David M. Stidham, 26, received word that his unit, the Army National Guard 2220th Transportation Co. based in Flagstaff, was going to be deployed to Iraq, David was prepared to do his part.

In February 2003, Stidham, an ASU political science junior, dropped out of his classes and the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps at ASU to go to Iraq.

“I believed in what we were doing,” said David. “For me, it really didn’t have much to do with the politics. It was my unit going, and they are my family.”

A native of Arizona, David spent about a year in Iraq, supporting the 5th Special Forces Group, the 101st Airborne Division and the Polish-led Multi National Division.

Born in Payson, David began his career with the Army National Guard when he was 17, three years after moving from his home in Arizona to Laughlin, Nev.

“I knew what I was getting into (joining the military),” David said. “I was willing to do it, and I also wanted to join early because I wanted to go to college.”

David joined the Army National Guard 1864th Transportation Co. in Las Vegas, Nev. At the same time, David attended the University of Nevada in Reno, majoring in secondary education. In 2002, David moved back to Arizona after his father, Fred, a former middle and high school teacher, got into a motorcycle accident.

Family support

David’s dad was supportive of his son joining the military. “I always knew his personality would find the military satisfying,” said Fred, noting David’s athletic leadership as captain of the football, baseball and basketball varsity teams at Laughlin High School. However, David’s mother, Debbie, never liked the idea.

“She begged me not to join, but I told her that I was going to go no matter what,” David said. “She worries a lot, and I try to make her feel comfortable about it as much as possible.”

Later, when David told his mother that he volunteered for an assignment in Egypt after Sept. 11, 2001, she tried convincing him to stay. “She kept saying, ‘Don’t go, don’t go,'” David said. “She was very upset and took it really hard.”

David said he got the same reaction from his mother when he told her that he was heading to Iraq.

Fred said his son leaving for the war was a difficult concept to accept. “If they would allow me to accompany my son, I would have gone and watched his back,” Fred said. “I would have gone and protected him however way I could.”

David’s girlfriend, Louise Rene, who works in Phoenix, said she supported him leaving for Iraq because it was what he wanted to do.

“He knew what his responsibilities were and felt strongly about going to the war,” Rene said. “It was hard for me, but I wanted him to know that I supported what he wanted to do.”

After two weeks of training in Fort Bliss, Texas, David and his unit left for Kuwait on March 26, 2003, a few days after the United States declared war on Iraq.

Living war

David got his first experience of the war the next day when he arrived at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, after only four hours of sleep the night before. A Chinese Silk Worm Missile, which is a low-flying surface-to-surface missile that was launched from a civilian tugboat, hit near their location, he said.

“Just the blast shook our stomachs,” David said.

He went on to describe the feelings he felt the first time the soldiers received scud missile launch warnings.

“We would hear sirens go off and we were freaking out because we thought chemical weapons were coming out at us,” he said. “We were putting on biological chemical gears, trusting the equipment to protect us. Later, when we heard more scud missile attacks, we don’t worry about because it became routine.”

At home, Fred and Debbie watched the TV news as much as they could. Like other families with loved ones serving in the war, Fred and Debbie wrote letters and sent boxes of food items to their son.

“I kept reminding him, ‘Don’t let your guard down,'” Fred said.

David said when his unit reached Iraq, it was different from when they were in Kuwait. In addition to the flat desert and dusty streets, there were numerous military helicopters flying over Iraq, David said. “As you cross in, you see mud homes and there are kids without shoes on the streets, waving at you and begging for food,” David said. “The soldiers didn’t care any more why they were there, and that reason became clearer as we spent more time there. We knew we had to help these people.”

But there were also successful social programs in Iraq about education and health care that benefited a good number of Iraqis. He said he met a few 19-year-old Iraqis who were doctors and some with their educational degrees.

David said one of the tragedies he witnessed was the barbaric tactics used by the enemy, which included the use of civilian structures such as hospitals and schools that often times were occupied by children.

At home, David’s father said his biggest enemy was the telephone. “I hated the phone because every time it rang, I think it might be someone from the military telling me news about David,” Fred said. “You think of the worst thing that could happen and hearing it on the phone. My heart would race every time the phone rang.”

After six months in Iraq, David and his unit were given a new assignment, which started with the reconstruction phase of the war.

In one of the postcards sent to his father, David wrote, “We are under the impression that we might be coming home soon. I can’t wait for the day. Missions here seem to be more and more difficult. I hope everything is going good with you.”

Rene said she felt happy and secure every time she received an e-mail from David, which came once a day and sometimes every other day.

“Trying to get on the phone for him was hard because there was always a line and it was expensive,” she said.

In early March, rumors were spreading around camp that they might be coming home, David said. When he and his unit went through numerous briefings and surveys to prepare for their return home, David said he was still skeptical.

“We still didn’t have a fly-out date,” said David. “It wasn’t until two days before we left Iraq that we knew we were leaving for Kuwait and heading home.”

A new perspective

David and his unit returned to Phoenix in April. He said his company traveled hundreds of miles and accomplished several missions without anyone getting serious injuries.

David, who is now taking a break from ASU for a semester, said his experience in Iraq has made him support President George Bush more than before. He said the war on terrorism is one of the top issues in the upcoming elections for him because if our homeland is not safe and secure, all other issues like the economy would be greatly affected in a negative way.

“I agree with President Bush when he said that ‘you can’t trust our security in the hands of a madman,'” David said. “After Sept. 11, we learned that we can’t wait for an attack to happen and I support Bush because of his strong lead for our country to be safe and secure from terrorists.”

David said with the presidential election drawing near, he would like to see more students get involved in discussions about the war in Iraq with classmates and friends who actually went there.

“They should find out what the soldiers saw and experienced while in Iraq,” David said. “Everybody is going to have a different story, and it’s not what the media is portraying. Hopefully, that’ll provide them with an idea about the war which they can then compare with the candidates’ policies and see where they stand on the issue.”

HOMEFRONT: DEALING WITH DEPLOYMENT

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Teachers Trained On Deployment

 The Courier News

28 October 2004

By Lori Kamerling

Child Development, Inc.’s preschool teachers got a lesson in caring for the children of deployed soldiers during regularly scheduled teacher training this month at All Saints Episcopal Church. Bambi George, youth development coordinator for the U.S. Army National Guard, told the group of educators — Head Start, Early Head Start and Arkansas Better Chance teachers — that they are prepared to deal with the situation because these programs already focus on the family-parent-child connection.

A former Head Start child and Head Start center director, George began her discussion praising the work that Head Start does for low-income families and reassuring the teachers that they are well-equipped for the task.

“Children Serve Too: How School Personnel can Help Students During Deployment” addressed several topics including a definition of deployment, emotional issues and the stages of deployment.

“The soldier can be called at 8 in the morning and told he is going to be deployed. Paperwork is being done by 10 and he or she is gone by 1 in the afternoon sometimes,” George said, explaining how quickly the process can happen. Deployment, she said, is defined as military assignments in which family members may not accompany the soldier. She added that it doesn’t have to be overseas to be considered deployment, and any emotional issues begin when the soldier gets the call.

The military, she said, gives three stages of deployment — pre-deployment, deployment and reunion — but she added another stage, pre-reunion. That’s the stage she’s is in now, George explained. George’s husband has been deployed for several months. She cares for the family’s four children.

“I’m at the stage where I wake up every morning at 4 and wonder if I’ve done everything I need to do before he gets back,” she said. “The kids want to make sure their rooms are clean before Daddy gets home.”

Reunions, she said, are a joyful time but are extremely stressful and can sometimes be more difficult than the deployment. A typical deployment can last from 18 months to two years and in that time, the family has learned to function without the deployed parent, and everyone has grown and changed.

“If you have a 2-year-old in Early Head Start and Dad is deployed for two years, the child is 4 years old when he returns,” she said. “Those are critical years for growth and development.”

Teachers and educators play an important role in supporting the children of the deployed soldier, George added. Teachers, especially preschool teachers, may be the only consistent adults in the children’s lives.

George encouraged teachers to allow quality time with the parent before deployment, so a few days away from school or the child care center should be tolerated. She added that teachers should expect unusual behavior in their young charges. Toddlers may become angry with their remaining parent. Some young children may be afraid of everything. Preschoolers, George said, are the best at coping with change that occurs in families of deployed soldiers.

“They are already dealing with so many changes going on in their bodies and their minds that they have learned to cope with change,” she said.

Older children may be flippant or “mouthy.” Teen-agers may feel the need to volunteer heavily or become politically active. Most teen-agers don’t like to talk about the situation, she said. College-age children may become politically active as well.

Preschool children may not talk about the situation, so teachers should encourage them to draw to express their feelings.

Other tips she gave include: finding a project for the entire class to do to send the deployed soldier, such as a scrapbook or a photo project; e-mailing the deployed soldier photos or drawings of the child and reporting on their progress; supporting the remaining spouse through talking and “patting them on the back;” and letting the deployed soldier know that the teachers are supporting the family and the children until their return.
“The smallest gesture of kindness is appreciated,” George said.

George said that part of her job connecting families with needed resources. Military One Source has been great starting place for such needs. She said the organization gives free counseling sessions to families during any stage of deployment. Family Assistance Centers make referrals for families in need, as well.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life was to help children realize that their Dad or Mom wasn’t coming home,” George said. She found the book “When Someone Dies” to be helpful in the situation. Since December when she took the job, George said that she’s had to help 13 children this way. She’s also found other resources for these children and has made a few of her own. However, she said, there aren’t many children’s books on the subject.

George encouraged parents and teachers to monitor media exposure to young children because of the some of the graphic photos that have appeared with front page stories and on the broadcast news. She said for parents to reassure their children that if their father or mother has been killed, they will be notified within 24 to 48 hours “with a knock on the door and a man in uniform to tell them.”

“Children don’t understand that the same incident will be played over and over on the news and that they are not separate incidents,” she said. “My children found out about the first fatality through a newsbreak during cartoons.” She said children should be reassured that unless a uniformed soldier tells them differently, their parent is fine.

George also encouraged teachers to be on the lookout for unusual behaviors that are threatening to the children themselves or other children or family members, and for possible abuse or neglect by the remaining parent. She cited an incident in which a child refused to eat. Later, it was learned that the child’s mother told him that if he didn’t eat, his father could come home. George stressed that this situation is rare, but it does occur. Should these occur, she suggested contacting the appropriate authorities.

Virginia National Guard Family Assistance Program Supports all Services

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OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL OF VIRGINIA
VIRGINIA NATIONAL GUARD
BUILDING 316, FORT PICKETT
BLACKSTONE, VIRGINIA 23824-6316

For Immediate Release

October 25, 2004   

By Capt. Colin S. Noyes

BLACKSTONE, Va. – The Global War on Terrorism is placing a strain on people across communities throughout the commonwealth.  That is especially true of the families of our service members.  Just because a service member’s family member or friend is not deployed to some strange place on the other side of the world does not mean they don’t experience uncertainty, fear, or emotional strain.  The people who remain at home have “duties and responsibilities” that must be met just as those Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines that are sent to answer freedom’s call.  Homes must be maintained, checkbooks must be balanced, and children must be raised.  These responsibilities and requirements don’t stop because someone is ordered to active federal service or deployed from where they are normally stationed to a foreign land.  Maybe those left at home are not accustomed to dealing with home repairs, legal issues, filing taxes, or the pressures of being “home alone.”  The Virginia National Guard has a program in place to serve as an outreach to those who must carry on the day to day activities while their loved ones are deployed.  That outreach program is supported by Family Assistance Centers located throughout Virginia.  The program is headquartered at the Joint Force Headquarters – Virginia located at Ft. Pickett, Va.

 The primary mission of the Family Assistance Center program is to reach out to and support families of mobilizing and deploying Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines.  The Family Assistance Center provides a wide range of services, support, and referral designed to address the wide range of day-to-day issues encountered by family members affected by mobilization.  The intent of the Family Assistance Center is to provide support and referral services to these families as close to their hometown or residence as possible.  In addition to providing responsive and personal support to family members this program also reduces the impact of responding to family requirements on mobilization installations which must focus resources on supporting the mobilization effort and installation security.  The Family Assistance Center is designed to, as much as possible, relieve the service member of concern about issues impacting on those at home so he or she can focus on accomplishing the mission at hand and returning home safely.

The Family Assistance Center outreach in Virginia has had a significant impact on families affected by mobilizations and deployments.  So far this year the Virginia National Guard’s 26 Family Assistance Centers located in communities throughout the commonwealth have responded to over 5,751 family members (33 Army, 5,614 Army National Guard, 25 Army Reserve, 6 Air Force, 1 Air Guard, 44 Navy, 13 Navy Reserve, 13 Marine Corps, 1 Marine Corps Reserve, and 7 Coast Guard).  These centers have received over 10,995 phone calls and 11,108 e-mails.

The spouse or family member of a deployed service member has access to many resources to answer questions on day-to-day problems and issues.  Service members and their families can reach the Virginia National Guard Family Assistance Center in their area by contacting:

In addition to the Virginia National Guard Family Assistance Centers there are other groups and agencies ready to help our service members and their families.  Some of these agencies include:

The American Legion’s Family Support Network.  According to the agency’s website help available to families include grocery shopping, childcare, lawn care, fixing the family car, and countless other challenges to a military spouse.  Family members simply call toll free:  1-800-504-4098 or e-mail [email protected].

Veterans of Foreign Wars.  According to the agency’s website the VFW’s Military Assistance Program (MAP) is a quality of life initiative that focuses on easing the financial emergencies of deploying service members and supporting them and their families through the hardships of deployment.  For more information see the VFW’s website at www.vfw.org.

American Red Cross.  The American Red Cross keeps service members in touch with their families following the death or serious illness of a family member or other important events, such as the birth of a child.  For more information contact the American Red Cross as www.redcross.org or 1-877-272-7337.

Army One Source is a fairly new asset to families and Soldiers alike.  Army One Source is designed to help families deal with life’s issues.  Army One Source is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.   

Army One Source can be accessed by logging on at www.armyonesource.com.  Logon “Army” and password is “OneSource.”  Army One Source can also be accessed at 1-800-464-8107, outside the US 484-530-5889, TTY/TDD 800-346-9188, Espanola 1-800-375-5971.

For more information contact your local Virginia National Guard Family Assistance Center or Capt. Colin Noyes at 800-542-4028.

For Additional Information Contact:

CHESTER C CARTER III
Lieutenant Colonel, Va. Army National Guard
Public Affairs Officer
Commercial: 434.298.6107 DSN 438.6107
Fax: 434.298.6303 DSN 438.6303
Cell: 434.294.1477
e-mail: [email protected]
Virginia National Guard Web Site: <http://www.virginiaguard.com>

GENERAL

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Lee Set To Visit Hawaii Troops In Afghanistan

 The Associated Press

October 25, 2004

By B.J. Reyes, Associated Press Writer

 HONOLULU –  State Adjutant Gen. Robert G.F. Lee plans to travel to Afghanistan to see how Hawaii guardsmen deployed there are doing and to boost morale, officials confirmed Monday.

Lee confirmed his plans in a message left with The Associated Press.

Maj. Charles Anthony, a spokesman for the state Defense Department, said Monday that Lee’s visit would occur in the next few months. The exact date was being kept confidential for security reasons, he said.

It would be Lee’s second visit to troops in Afghanistan. He also visited with Hawaii soldiers there in December 2003.

About 60 members of the Hawaii Army National Guard‘s Bravo Company, 193rd Aviation Division from Wheeler Army Airfield are currently deployed in Afghanistan.

Sixty-seven members of two other Guard units – the 117th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment and the 298th Engineer Detachment – were notified Friday of plans to send them to the Middle East on an 18-month deployment beginning in January. Their exact location has not yet been determined, but some guard members have said they expect to be sent to Afghanistan.

Anthony said it was too early to determine whether Lee also would visit about 2,500 members of the Hawaii Army National Guard‘s 29th Infantry Brigade (Separate) scheduled to arrive in Iraq by February or March. About 600 members of the Hawaii Guard and Hawaii Reserves already are on duty in Iraq.

In addition to the Guard and Reserves, about 10,500 soldiers from the Army’s 25th Infantry Division (Light) based at Schofield Barracks on Oahu also are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To date, 23 soldiers with notable Hawaii ties have been killed in the Middle East since the March 2003 start of the war in Iraq. Sixteen soldiers have died in Iraq, six in Afghanistan and one in Kuwait.

All six casualties in Afghanistan and nine of those in Iraq have been soldiers assigned to the 25th Infantry Division.

As adjutant general, Lee serves as director for the state Department of Defense, which includes the Hawaii National Guard. He supervises Hawaii’s armed forces, maintains the readiness of the Hawaii National Guard for state and federal active duty and coordinates civil defense activities.

National Guard Honors Rocklin Firm for Supporting Soldier

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ABC News10

27 October 2004

Being called to active duty often puts a heavy burden on a military family. That burden can be worse when employers are not sympathetic. So, when a company goes out of its way to support to a worker deployed by the National Guard, the Guard likes to say thanks.

The National Guard honored Fillner Construction with the Guard’s Patriotic Employer Award for its support of Staff Sergeant Erick Fleming, who has been called to active service. “I believe very strongly in what they do and the sacrifices they make for the rest of us,” said company president Steve Welge.

The company continues to pay Fleming, which it is not required to do, and offers to step in if the family needs help. “I can deal with the money part of it, but fixing the roof and things like that, I don’t think so!” said Fleming’s wife Gina.

The Rocklin-based construction company builds light industrial buildings such as service stations.

Fleming is currently at Camp Roberts and is about to be deployed to Fort Irwin, outside of Barstow. After that, his family doesn’t know where he will go, but expect him to be gone 18 months.

ALLTEL Shows Support of Guardsmen and Reservists

Statement of Support Signing on Thursday

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ESGR

For Immediate Release

27 October 2004                                          

Lincoln, Neb. (Oct. 27, 2004) – ALLTEL will sign an official Statement of Support for the National Guard and Reserve at a ceremony at its regional headquarters on 1440 M St. in Lincoln, Neb. The ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28. ALLTEL will formally show its support in keeping a strong national defense through the nation’s Reserve component.

Brad Hedrick, vice president of Nebraska operations, will sign the Statement. ESGR State Chairman Arlo Bower will preside over the ceremony.

The Statement of Support is issued by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), an agency of the Department of Defense. ESGR promotes cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and civilian employers.

“ALLTEL’s support shows their commitment to employees and community members who serve voluntarily in the National Guard and Reserve,” said Nebraska ESGR Chairman Arlo Bower. “They are true patriots who understand the importance of supporting our military personnel as they defend our freedom, both at home and abroad.”

ALLTEL is a customer-focused communications company with more than 13 million customers and $8 billion in annual revenues. The company provides wireless, local telephone, long-distance, Internet and high-speed data services to residential and business customers in 26 states. It employs more than 1,300 people in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas. The regional headquarters is in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The ESGR, an agency of the Department of Defense, was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and civilian employers through a network of 60 Nebraska volunteers and 4,200 national volunteers in 55 state and local ESGR Committees. For more information on ESGR, visit www.esgr.com.

Along With Prayers, Families Send Armor

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New York Times

October 30, 2004

By Neela Banerjee and John Kifner

When the 1544th Transportation Company of the Illinois National Guard was preparing to leave for Iraq in February, relatives of the soldiers offered to pay to weld steel plates on the unit’s trucks to protect against roadside bombs. The Army told them not to, because it would provide better protection in Iraq, relatives said.

Seven months later, many of the company’s trucks still have no armor, soldiers and relatives said, despite running some of the most dangerous missions in Iraq and incurring the highest rate of injuries and deaths among the Illinois units deployed there.

“This problem is very extensive,” said Paul Rieckhoff, a former infantry platoon leader with the Florida National Guard in Iraq who now runs an organization called Operation Truth, an advocacy group for soldiers and veterans.

Though soldiers of all types have complained about equipment in Iraq, part-timers in the National Guard and Reserve say that they have a particular disadvantage because they start off with outdated or insufficient gear. They have been deployed with faulty radios, unreliable trucks and, most alarmingly for many, a shortage of soundly armored vehicles in a land regularly convulsed by roadside attacks, according to soldiers, relatives and outside military experts.

After many complaints when the violence in Iraq accelerated late last year, the military acknowledged there had been shortages, in part because of the rapid deployments. But the Army contends that it has moved quickly to get better equipment to Iraq over the last year.

“War is a come-as-you-are party,” said Lt. Gen. C. V. Christianson, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for logistics, in an interview yesterday. “The way a unit was resourced when someone rang the bell is the way it showed up.

“As we saw this become a more enduring commitment, those in the next rotation had full protective gear, like the newest body armor,” he said. General Christianson acknowledged, however, that more work needed to be done to protect vehicles in particular and that broader changes were needed so that the Army and Reserve would be better prepared in the future.

Not all National Guard units are complaining about their equipment. The soldiers in Company C of the Arkansas Army National Guard‘s First Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, have operated in one of the riskiest parts of Baghdad since they arrived in April.

Capt. Thomas J. Foley, 29, the company commander, and his soldiers bragged in recent interviews that their equipment, from Bradley fighting vehicles to armored personnel carriers, was on par or better than what many regular Army units in Iraq now have.

The improvements are of little solace to many soldiers’ families. Progress has been made, but it has been slow and inconsistent, soldiers, families and other military observers said. When 18 reservists in Iraq refused an order to deliver fuel on Oct. 13, they cited the poor condition of their trucks and the lack of armed escorts in a particularly dangerous area.

Families Buy Equipment

Before the 103rd Armor Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard left in late February, some relatives bought those soldiers new body armor to supplant the Vietnam-era flak jackets that had been issued. The mother of Sgt. Sherwood Baker, a member of the regiment who was killed in April, bought a global positioning device after being told that the Army said his truck should have one but would not supply it.

And before Karma Kumlin’s husband left with his Minnesota National Guard unit in February, the soldiers spent about $200 each on radios that they say have turned out to be more reliable – although less secure – than the Army’s. Only recently, Ms. Kumlin said, has her husband gotten a metal shield for the gunner’s turret he regularly mans, after months of asking.

“This just points to an extreme lack of planning ,” said Ms. Kumlin, who is 31 and a student. “My husband is part of the second wave that went to Iraq.”

Critics who say that disparities and shortages persist fault the Pentagon for incorrectly assuming that American troops would return home quickly after the war. As a result, they say, little was done to equip and train the thousands of National Guard and Reserve soldiers who were called to serve in Iraq and who now make up 40 percent of American troops there.

“I am really surprised that planners relied on the best-case military scenario,” said Jonathon Turley, a military historian at George Washington University Law School who wrote last year about shortages of body armor. He was then deluged with e-mail messages from soldiers complaining of such shortages, 90 percent of them from the National Guard and Reserve.

Military officials strongly dispute assertions that reservists and National Guard troops have training and equipment inferior to that of the regular Army. “The resourcing and equipping of the National Guard today is indistinguishable from that of active duty soldiers,” said Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum. “In no time in history have soldiers gone to battle as well equipped as they have gone into Iraq.”

Structured like the regular Army, the National Guard functions as a state militia, typically called out for natural disasters or civil disorder. The Reserve, in contrast, is largely composed of support elements like civil affairs, the military police and supply. Both groups train one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. The rest of the military does not consider them as well trained, well equipped or well led as the standing Army, and many of these part-time soldiers are also older.

Reliance on Reserves

Under a reorganization of the military after the Vietnam War, support functions were passed from the Army to the Reserve. Historians say the idea was to protect the Army from being sent into another unpopular war because widespread support would be needed to call up the reserves.

In his biography of Gen. Creighton Abrams, “Thunderbolt” (Simon & Schuster, 1992), Lewis Sorley wrote than General Abrams built into the restructuring “a reliance on reserves such that the force could not function without them, and hence could not be deployed without calling them up.”

The reliance on the Reserve and National Guard also increased with the shrinking of the active military from roughly 2.1 million at the end of the Persian Gulf war to some 1.4 million today. But for years, under what is called the Tiered Resourcing System, new equipment went to those most likely to need it – the active Army – while the Reserve and the Guard got the hand-me-downs.

“In addition to personnel shortfalls, most Army Guard units are not provided all the equipment they need for their wartime requirements,” said Janet A. St. Laurent of the General Accounting Office in testimony before Congress in April. Ms. St. Laurent noted that many Guard units had radios so old that they could not communicate with newer ones, and trucks so old that the Army lacked spare parts for them.

Army officials concede that the old approach to training and equipping the Guard and Reserve did not prepare them for the new realities of Iraq. Progress appears to have been made in providing modern body armor and some other equipment, families and soldiers say.

The Army says it is on schedule to armor all its Humvees in Iraq by April 2005, despite the fact that only one factory in the United States puts armor on the vehicles. Moreover, the Guard is developing a plan to heighten the training and preparedness of its soldiers, under which a given unit could expect to be deployed every six years.

But the glaring problem for soldiers and families remains the vulnerability of trucks. In a conventional war there would be a fixed front line and no need for supply trucks to be armored. But in Iraq, there are no clear front lines, and slow-moving truck convoys are prime targets for roadside attacks.

Gen. James E. Chambers, the commander of the 13th Corps Support Command, to which the recalcitrant soldiers who refused the assignment are attached, told a news conference in Baghdad: “In Jim Chambers’ s opinion, the most dangerous job in Iraq is driving a truck. It’s not if, but when, they will be attacked.”

Of the Illinois National Guard units now in Iraq, none of the 11 units has suffered as many casualties as the 1544th Transportation Company. Of the approximately 170 men and women in the unit, 5 have been killed and 32 wounded since the unit arrived in Iraq in March and began delivering supplies and mail and providing armed escort to civilian convoys. Three of the soldiers died during mortar attacks on their base south of Baghdad. The other two were killed when roadside bombs exploded next to their unarmored trucks. Soldiers’ relatives said that they expected the Army to outfit the trucks better than they themselves could have, after being told by the military that the steel plates proposed by the families would shatter if hit.

But in fact, most of the trucks in the unit have nothing more than the steel plates that the families offered to have installed in the first place, said Lt. Col. Alicia Tate-Nadeau, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Guard.

3 Meanings of Armored

The Army considers the 1544th’s vehicles armored, a word that has a broad and loose meaning in the Iraq conflict. There are three categories of armored vehicles, Colonel Tate-Nadeau said. The “up-armored” ones come that way from the factory and provide the best protection for soldiers. Then come vehicles outfitted with “armor kits,” or prefabricated pieces, on the chassis. The last option consists of “whatever the soldiers try to do themselves, from large sheets of metal on their trucks to sandbags on the floor of the cab,” Colonel Tate-Nadeau said.

“If we’re one of the richest nations in the world, our soldiers shouldn’t be sent out looking like the Beverly Hillbillies,” said the mother of one soldier in the unit, who, like many parents, asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions for their children.

According to figures compiled by the House Armed Services Committee and previously reported in The Seattle Times, there are plans to produce armor kits for at least 2,806 medium-weight trucks, but as of Sept. 17, only 385 of the kits had been produced and sent to Iraq. Armor kits were also planned for at least 1,600 heavyweight trucks, but as of mid-September just 446 of these kits were in Iraq. The Army is also looking into developing ways to armor truck cabs quickly, and has ordered 700 armored Humvees with special weapons platforms to protect convoys.

Specialist Benjamin Isenberg, 27, of the Oregon National Guard, died on Sept. 13 when he drove his unarmored Humvee over a homemade bomb, the principal weapon of the insurgents, said his grandmother, Beverly Isenberg of McArthur, Calif. The incident occurred near Taji, the town north of Baghdad where the 18 reservists refused to make a second trip with fuel that they say had been rejected as contaminated.

“One of the soldiers in his unit said they go by the same routes and at the same times every day,” said Mrs. Isenberg, whose husband is a retired Army officer and who has two sons in the military and another grandson in the Special Forces who was wounded in Iraq. “They were just sitting ducks in an unarmored Humvee.”

Sen. Pippy, Legislators Discuss Military Absentee Ballots; Father of PA Army National Guard Member Details Need for Voting Extension

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PR NewsWire

29 October 2004     

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ — When called to duty, Pennsylvania Army National Guard PFC Naomi Bondy of Bridgeville put aside her studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and headed off to serve in Iraq.

Unfortunately, because of her service PFC Bondy won’t have a chance to vote in the upcoming election as it stands now because she will be unable to return her absentee ballot by November 2.

“It’s unfair that the voices of many Pennsylvania men and women in uniform like PFC Bondy will not be heard in this upcoming election,” Senator John Pippy (R-37) said. “The men and women of the U.S. military who serve us daily in harm’s way deserve to have their votes counted.”

 PFC Bondy’s father, Frank Bondy of Bridgeville, joined Senators Pippy and Jane Clare Orie, state Representatives Mark Mustio, Thomas Stevenson and Mike Turzai, U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, U.S. Representatives Melissa Hart and Tim Murphy and other officials at a press conference Friday to again call upon Governor Rendell to support a two-week extension for absentee ballots from military members serving overseas.

 Frank Bondy recently contacted Senator Pippy about his daughter’s case, which started when she left Indiana University earlier this month en route to Baghdad, where she is now serving on temporary duty with Company A, 13th Signal Battalion.

 Mr. Bondy said he received his daughter’s absentee ballot in Bridgeville on October 26 and immediately forwarded it to her APO address. However, unless the balloting extension is granted, PFC Bondy – a registered Allegheny County voter – will be disenfranchised.

 Senator Pippy and a number of federal, state and local officials continue to urge Governor Ed Rendell to stop his opposition of the U.S. Justice Department’s suit to give military and overseas voters extra time to return their absentee ballots.

“At the very least, we should take the imminently reasonable step of extending a deadline by two weeks in order to ensure that our fellow citizens now serving in uniform like PFC Bondy can participate in this election and enjoy one of the most basic rights of citizenship,” Senator Pippy said.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Senate Republican Communications

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