Garrett Phillip Anderson | Iraq/Afghanistan and More | In my documentary “And Then They Came Home” I ask Marines that I had served with the same thirty questions so that I can gauge patterns in their response eight years after our shared point of trauma. One of my questions is, “Do you think a warrior ever comes home?” I am preparing to film my interview leaving only one Marine in Mexico to be filmed when I return from my wedding. I meditate on my own response. My life-long hometown friend Antonio has been sleeping on my couch for the past few weeks, stringing filmed pieces together so that editing will not be a hassle and we will be able to make our December deadline for the film. Does a warrior ever really come home? I couldn’t tell you because deep in my beat up wallet I bought after my deployment to Afghanistan in 2006 is a National Guard ID tucked behind my plastic cards and license. In April of 2010 I wrote my Guard unit a letter of resignation and have not had to put my uniform on since. I am contracted until December 2013.
I don’t know what it is like to come home, I haven’t been there since I watched my southern California suburbia youth haven disappear in the rearview mirror of my recruiter’s SUV bound for Los Angeles to catch a bus for San Diego three weeks after I had turned eighteen in August 2003. (READ MORE)
Showing posts with label News From the Home Front. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News From the Home Front. Show all posts
September 27, 2012
Not Sure What the Future Holds When Your Husband is in the Army
Julie the Army Wife | Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life | Don’t you hate what your future holds? With the Army or Military in general, this will happen and happen often. You never really know when things will happen until they happen because of all the changes that go on within the Military.
You might hear that you will PCS to Washington in June, then it gets changed to South Carolina in May only to be changed once again to Virginia in July.
How does someone plan through all of this? It’s frustrating and hard but we make it work. (READ MORE)
You might hear that you will PCS to Washington in June, then it gets changed to South Carolina in May only to be changed once again to Virginia in July.
How does someone plan through all of this? It’s frustrating and hard but we make it work. (READ MORE)
Panelists Brainstorm to Buffer Against Supply Chain Threat
Amaani Lyle | American Forces Press Service | WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2012 – Defense Department and National Security Agency officials met with members of academia and industry today to discuss managing and protecting an ever-more-global, commercial and financially complex supply chain.
As National Cyber Security Awareness month approaches in October, panelists framed dialogue at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies to explore how its significant investment in cyberspace supports global missions... (READ MORE)
As National Cyber Security Awareness month approaches in October, panelists framed dialogue at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies to explore how its significant investment in cyberspace supports global missions... (READ MORE)
September 26, 2012
Afghanistan Prognosis Looks Gloomier
Asia Times Online | By Jim Lobe | WASHINGTON - With all foreign troops due to leave Afghanistan just two years from now, the news out of the Central Asian nation is becoming increasingly gloomy.
Adding to the pessimism is a just-released report by one of the most astute observers of the US war, Gilles Dorronsoro, an Afghanistan expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), who, among other things, predicts that the regime in Kabul "will most probably collapse in a few years" given current trends.
"Political fragmentation, whether in the form of militias or the establishment of sanctuaries in the north, is laying the ground work for a long civil war" that is likely to be fueled by competition among regional powers, according to his report, which also joined the call by a growing number of experts for Washington to open negotiations with the Taliban as soon as possible. (READ MORE)
Adding to the pessimism is a just-released report by one of the most astute observers of the US war, Gilles Dorronsoro, an Afghanistan expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), who, among other things, predicts that the regime in Kabul "will most probably collapse in a few years" given current trends.
"Political fragmentation, whether in the form of militias or the establishment of sanctuaries in the north, is laying the ground work for a long civil war" that is likely to be fueled by competition among regional powers, according to his report, which also joined the call by a growing number of experts for Washington to open negotiations with the Taliban as soon as possible. (READ MORE)
September 25, 2012
34 'High Risk' Guantanamo Detainees Approved for Transfer
The Long War Journal | Thomas Joscelyn | The Obama administration has released a list of 55 Guantanamo detainees who were approved for transfer by the Guantanamo Bay Review Task Force. The task force, which was authorized by President Obama as one of his first acts in office, completed its work in January 2010. The Obama administration has worked to resettle many of the detainees the task force approved for transfer, but the detainees on the newly-disclosed list remain at Guantanamo...(READ MORE)
Is Mililtary Suicide Preventable?
Amy Bushatz | SpouseBUZZ.com | By now most have heard the news – the suicide rate in the military is climbing and our leaders are calling it an “epidemic.”
Oregon Guard Gets the Word: Prepare to go to Afghanistan in 2014
Oregon Live | Mike Francis | Start planning for a mission to Afghanistan in 2014, the Army has told the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Oregon Guard leaders started notifying the 1,800 affected soldiers over the weekend.
The Army delivered to the Oregon Guard what it calls a "notification of sourcing," which is the first of three notices given to a unit scheduled to deploy. The notification provides money for training to prepare for the mission and may be followed by a mobilization "alert," typically given a year ahead of the scheduled deployment and, finally, by a mobilization order, which provides specific details.
Soldiers have been told to start planning to perform "a security mission" in Afghanistan, said Capt. Stephen Bomar, the Oregon Guard's top spokesman. The deployment is tentatively scheduled to be 400 days, which typically includes a couple of months of pre-deployment training in the United States... (READ MORE)
The Army delivered to the Oregon Guard what it calls a "notification of sourcing," which is the first of three notices given to a unit scheduled to deploy. The notification provides money for training to prepare for the mission and may be followed by a mobilization "alert," typically given a year ahead of the scheduled deployment and, finally, by a mobilization order, which provides specific details.
Soldiers have been told to start planning to perform "a security mission" in Afghanistan, said Capt. Stephen Bomar, the Oregon Guard's top spokesman. The deployment is tentatively scheduled to be 400 days, which typically includes a couple of months of pre-deployment training in the United States... (READ MORE)
Going Back to War, Trading a Gun for a Pen
By THOMAS JAMES BRENNAN | At War | The documentary filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington embedded in Afghanistan with one mission: to document war. The result was the gripping documentary “Restrepo.” For nearly one year, they lived in peril alongside the United States Army. Their project won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010 and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011.
Besides sharing their passion for reporting on conflict, they shared the fact that neither was a veteran.
Civilians have been writing on military affairs for generations, and many have done a superb job. But the question exists, particularly within military circles: Do veterans have an edge over nonveterans when it comes to covering war? (READ MORE)
Besides sharing their passion for reporting on conflict, they shared the fact that neither was a veteran.
Civilians have been writing on military affairs for generations, and many have done a superb job. But the question exists, particularly within military circles: Do veterans have an edge over nonveterans when it comes to covering war? (READ MORE)
September 24, 2012
To A Warrior's Daughter
By Mrs. G.I. Joe at ACUs, Stiletto Shoes and Pretty Pink Tutus:
Today you are turning 4 years old. One day a long time from now when you are "big" you'll probably find this note tucked into your travel journal from this week. You'll need to read it later because right now you are still so young, it might be hard for you to grasp everything I'm saying.
We have to constantly remind ourselves that you are still "little." This year has probably been the most life altering year you will experience for quite a long time. At barely 3 years old you had to adjust to Daddy being gone even more than normal, then deploying, and going from being the center of our universe to having to share the spotlight with your baby brother. Just when we thought things may settled down long enough for you to adjust and get life under control, the unthinkable happened. As you put it "Daddy got wounded because the war hit him." You went from missing your SuperMan to helping take care of your Daddy who was weaker and slower than you. And every step of the way we have been in awe of you and your sweet spirit. I think I was more nervous about him leaving the hospital than you were. The first time you saw him walk, you weren't scared. You were confident in him. You didn't panic. You didn't see his wounds, you saw the warrior. I told you once to be careful with his face and leg and never had to remind you again.
(READ MORE)
Today you are turning 4 years old. One day a long time from now when you are "big" you'll probably find this note tucked into your travel journal from this week. You'll need to read it later because right now you are still so young, it might be hard for you to grasp everything I'm saying.
We have to constantly remind ourselves that you are still "little." This year has probably been the most life altering year you will experience for quite a long time. At barely 3 years old you had to adjust to Daddy being gone even more than normal, then deploying, and going from being the center of our universe to having to share the spotlight with your baby brother. Just when we thought things may settled down long enough for you to adjust and get life under control, the unthinkable happened. As you put it "Daddy got wounded because the war hit him." You went from missing your SuperMan to helping take care of your Daddy who was weaker and slower than you. And every step of the way we have been in awe of you and your sweet spirit. I think I was more nervous about him leaving the hospital than you were. The first time you saw him walk, you weren't scared. You were confident in him. You didn't panic. You didn't see his wounds, you saw the warrior. I told you once to be careful with his face and leg and never had to remind you again.
(READ MORE)
October 3, 2011
VA agrees not to censor prayer at Houston cemetery
Ed Note: I'm a little late on this, but I just found this article.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to settle a lawsuit over allegations of religious censorship at Houston National Cemetery, according to documents filed in federal court Thursday.(READ MORE)
Local veterans and volunteer groups had accused VA and cemetery officials of banning them from using religious speech - including the words Jesus and God - during services at the cemetery.
The parties reached agreement on the case through mediation with former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips, according to the documents.
VA officials and attorneys representing the plaintiffs declined to comment until a judge signs off on it.
The Left’s Rage Over ‘Assassination’ Of US Citizens Begins
From Big Peace by Jason Bradley -
I wasn’t quick enough this morning to head this off. I knew it was coming and that it would only be a matter of time before the Left reacted to Anwar al-Awlaki’s death.(READ MORE)
From the heart and mind of Glenn Greenwald.It was first reported in January of last year that the Obama administration had compiled a hit list of American citizens whom the President had ordered assassinated without any due process, and one of those Americans was Anwar al-Awlaki. No effort was made to indict him for any crimes (despite a report last October that the Obama administration was “considering” indicting him). Despite substantial doubt among Yemen experts about whether he even has any operational role in Al Qaeda, no evidence (as opposed to unverified government accusations) was presented of his guilt.Grenwald, if nothing else, has been consistent in his displeasures and disagreement over US policy to track down and kill radicalized terrorists who happen to be US citizens. I’ve commented before on Greenwald’s assumptions.
September 28, 2011
The Truth About Who Fights for Us
In 2007, only 11% of enlisted military recruits came from the poorest U.S. neighborhoods.Writing at the Wall Street Journal, Ann Marlowe crushes the leftist myth that the majority of those who enlist come from the poorest communities and that they enlist because they have no other options. In point of fact, in 2008 25% of those who enlisted came from the wealthiest segment of society.
From her column:
It should no more be necessary to write this article than to prove that there were Jews killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11. And yet the mythology refuses to die. Just last week, two well-educated and well-known writer acquaintances of mine remarked in passing on the "fact" that those who serve in the U.S. military typically have no other career options. America's soldiers, they said, were poor and black.(READ MORE)
They don't mean this to denigrate their service—no, they mean it as a critique of American society, which turns its unemployed into cannon fodder. Especially today with high unemployment, the charge goes, hapless youths we fail to educate are embarking on a one-way trip to Afghanistan.
These allegations—most frequently leveled at the Army, the military's biggest service and the one with the highest casualty rate—are false.
May 6, 2011
The Insult to the American Soldier
I'm going to quote at length here I hope no one minds.
By Wesley Pruden
The president, revealing himself to be Barack Obungle, has done what nobody else could have done, not even the spectacularly hapless original New York Mets, who drove Casey Stengel to his famous cry of terminal frustration.
The White House converted a picture-perfect military operation into a public-relations disaster that will be cited as what not to do and how not to do it in flackery textbooks for a hundred years. Days after the raid on Osama bin Laden’s “mansion” they still can’t get the “fact pattern,” in the language of the White House, even close to straight.
Even that ubiquitous photograph of the president, the secretary of state and assorted minions bravely watching the operation in “real time” looks now to have been a “photo-op” taken after the fact. This is the scene that the goofy John Brennan, the president’s anti-terrorism chief, described as one of unbearable tension endured heroically by the magnificent minions. Hillary seemed to be clutching her throat, choking back terror as she watched the raid unfold, but now Leon Panetta, the chief of the CIA, reveals that 24 minutes of the 40-minute video were “blacked out” by some kind of electronic malfunction. Maybe she was only wishing she had ordered pepperoni with extra cheese when the president sent out for pizza.
What a rollercoaster ride: Osama bin Laden engaged the Seals in a firefight. Well, no, actually, it turns out he didn’t. But he did seize a woman, probably one of his wives, to use as a human shield. Uh, well, actually he didn’t do that, either. But he was armed, we know that for sure. Ummm, no, not really. OK, but we’re positive that woman was killed. Uh, not exactly. But we definitely, positively, absolutely know that Osama is dead. We have the photographs to prove it and the public can see them. Er, no, not quite. The president has them but you can’t see them. Everybody will just have to take his word for it.
That won’t happen, either. There was a time when everybody took a president’s word for everything. But nobody trusts the government on anything any more. Lies have withered public patience. Too bad, Mr. President, but you’ll have to show us the death certificate. No reasonable man can doubt that Osama is dead, dead, dead, but we’re talking now about the Middle East.
You might think the president would have rehearsed his minions in a story, even if concocted, so everybody would tell it like it is. The White House finally shut up with the explanation that “the fact pattern” is still being evaluated. It’s only now dawning on the president that he has done everything possible to guarantee an enduring worldwide harangue over whether Osama is in fact dead, how he was killed, whether dumping the body in the sea was wise, whether how he died violated the decencies of international custom, and whether burial traditions of Shariah law were followed before Osama became the ultimate fish dinner.
Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor and one of the most distinguished criminal lawyers in the land, says “burying his body at sea constituted the willful destruction of evidence.” The doubts that will be contrived by Muslim red-hots would have been prevented if Osama’s body had been subjected to the usual forensic testing, extensive examination of entrance and exit wounds, and paraffin testing for gunpowder residue. “Dead bodies,” he writes in an essay in the Wall Street Journal, “often talk more loudly, clearly and unambiguously than live witnesses.” He notes that when a Muslim or a Jew is murdered in the United States “religious considerations do not trump civil circumstances.”
But the real offense of the Washington wimpery is pushing a weakling’s canard against the military, asserting that the photograph can’t be shown because it would make Muslim terrorists cross at us. But surely the Army and the Navy can take care of themselves; soldiers, sailors and Marines aren’t Campfire Girls. Can anyone imagine FDR and his generals canceling D-Day because an invasion might infuriate the Germans? Or that a Muslim terrorist will now salute an American soldier in Afghanistan and put down his rifle and grenade launcher, telling him “we really appreciate your president’s keeping that ugly photograph to himself.”
Americans come from Mars, so the witticism goes, and Europeans are from Venus. But that doesn’t include this president and his bungling minions. They’re weepy refugees from Pluto.
By Wesley Pruden
Can anyone imagine FDR and his generals canceling D-Day because an invasion might infuriate the Germans?“Can’t anybody here play this game?”
The president, revealing himself to be Barack Obungle, has done what nobody else could have done, not even the spectacularly hapless original New York Mets, who drove Casey Stengel to his famous cry of terminal frustration.
The White House converted a picture-perfect military operation into a public-relations disaster that will be cited as what not to do and how not to do it in flackery textbooks for a hundred years. Days after the raid on Osama bin Laden’s “mansion” they still can’t get the “fact pattern,” in the language of the White House, even close to straight.
Even that ubiquitous photograph of the president, the secretary of state and assorted minions bravely watching the operation in “real time” looks now to have been a “photo-op” taken after the fact. This is the scene that the goofy John Brennan, the president’s anti-terrorism chief, described as one of unbearable tension endured heroically by the magnificent minions. Hillary seemed to be clutching her throat, choking back terror as she watched the raid unfold, but now Leon Panetta, the chief of the CIA, reveals that 24 minutes of the 40-minute video were “blacked out” by some kind of electronic malfunction. Maybe she was only wishing she had ordered pepperoni with extra cheese when the president sent out for pizza.
What a rollercoaster ride: Osama bin Laden engaged the Seals in a firefight. Well, no, actually, it turns out he didn’t. But he did seize a woman, probably one of his wives, to use as a human shield. Uh, well, actually he didn’t do that, either. But he was armed, we know that for sure. Ummm, no, not really. OK, but we’re positive that woman was killed. Uh, not exactly. But we definitely, positively, absolutely know that Osama is dead. We have the photographs to prove it and the public can see them. Er, no, not quite. The president has them but you can’t see them. Everybody will just have to take his word for it.
That won’t happen, either. There was a time when everybody took a president’s word for everything. But nobody trusts the government on anything any more. Lies have withered public patience. Too bad, Mr. President, but you’ll have to show us the death certificate. No reasonable man can doubt that Osama is dead, dead, dead, but we’re talking now about the Middle East.
You might think the president would have rehearsed his minions in a story, even if concocted, so everybody would tell it like it is. The White House finally shut up with the explanation that “the fact pattern” is still being evaluated. It’s only now dawning on the president that he has done everything possible to guarantee an enduring worldwide harangue over whether Osama is in fact dead, how he was killed, whether dumping the body in the sea was wise, whether how he died violated the decencies of international custom, and whether burial traditions of Shariah law were followed before Osama became the ultimate fish dinner.
Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor and one of the most distinguished criminal lawyers in the land, says “burying his body at sea constituted the willful destruction of evidence.” The doubts that will be contrived by Muslim red-hots would have been prevented if Osama’s body had been subjected to the usual forensic testing, extensive examination of entrance and exit wounds, and paraffin testing for gunpowder residue. “Dead bodies,” he writes in an essay in the Wall Street Journal, “often talk more loudly, clearly and unambiguously than live witnesses.” He notes that when a Muslim or a Jew is murdered in the United States “religious considerations do not trump civil circumstances.”
But the real offense of the Washington wimpery is pushing a weakling’s canard against the military, asserting that the photograph can’t be shown because it would make Muslim terrorists cross at us. But surely the Army and the Navy can take care of themselves; soldiers, sailors and Marines aren’t Campfire Girls. Can anyone imagine FDR and his generals canceling D-Day because an invasion might infuriate the Germans? Or that a Muslim terrorist will now salute an American soldier in Afghanistan and put down his rifle and grenade launcher, telling him “we really appreciate your president’s keeping that ugly photograph to himself.”
Americans come from Mars, so the witticism goes, and Europeans are from Venus. But that doesn’t include this president and his bungling minions. They’re weepy refugees from Pluto.
May 4, 2011
A Few Quiet Words on Justice
From Red Bull Rising by Charlie Sherpa -
Today is the funeral of Staff Sgt. James A. Justice, 32, killed April 23 in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, during a mission to secure the crash site of a downed U.S. Army scout helicopter.(READ MORE)
I knew Justice, although not well. We worked alongside each other last summer at Camp Shelby, Miss. Each of us was a non-deploying soldier assigned to help the Iowa National Guard mobilize 3,000 troops of 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division. We were to help get them out the door to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., and onward to Afghanistan.
In September or October, we'd each subsequently gone off to different assignments back in Iowa. I eventually retired from uniformed service. Justice somehow managed to volunteer to re-join the Red Bull. He was assigned to Iowa's 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment (1-113th Cav.). The unit had been in Afghanistan since November. Justice arrived in February.
The Newest Debate
From Letters to You by Chrissy -
So, I was never really done with my post the other night. However, I was getting way too emotional and I wasn't putting myself through anymore that night. Not to mention it was another "2" and I wasn't about to throw myself into a whirlwind.(READ MORE)
Anyways, I hear the newest debate in the White House is whether or not to release pictures of Osama after he was shot. Now. Here is what really pisses me off. The Associated Press, and the Government, didn't hesitate to post pictures of our dead. Remember that? You know the picture and article I saw of my lifeless boyfriend being carried onto a medivac. Or the pictures of another Marine who was clearly not going to make it.
You couldn't see your faces. But I could have told you that was Josh from a mile away and really not seeing their face didn't make it any better. So whats so special about Osama? Why the hesitation? It just angers me that they had to use pictures of our war dead to make a freakin point and then they hesitate to post a picture of that piece of shit. Really?!
March 22, 2011
Medevac Initiatives Save Lives in Afghanistan
Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
FORT DETRICK, Md., March 22, 2011 – New ambulances designed to negotiate Afghanistan’s rough, narrow roads, kits that quickly convert standard combat vehicles for casualty evacuation and state-of-the-art field medical packages are improving battlefield medicine and saving lives, an official involved in developing and fielding the new equipment reported.
“What we are doing is getting better technology far forward to the wounded, and as a result, we are seeing a decrease in mortality,” Jaime Lee, a product manager at the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity’s Medical Support Systems Division, told American Forces Press Service.
“We have improved getting care to the soldier in that far forward area, … and getting it to him in that ‘golden hour’ –- that first hour after he has been wounded,” he said.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has pressed hard for the past two years to bring medical care in Afghanistan in line with what’s available for U.S. troops in Iraq. This includes medevac capabilities that ensure wounded troops get advanced medical care within one hour of their injury -– a factor that medical experts agree makes a major difference in survival rates.
The Army Medical Materiel Development Activity has been hard at work supporting that initiative, with several new projects under way to support joint urgent requirements identified in the combat theater, Lee said.
One, developed in cooperation with the mine-resistant, ambush-protected, all-terrain-vehicle program office, is an M-ATV-like ambulance specifically designed to traverse Afghanistan’s demanding terrain. The first 250 are scheduled to go into production this summer and are expected to be fielded this fall, Lee reported.
Unlike the MRAP ambulances in Afghanistan that were designed to operate in Iraq, the M-ATV-like versions are being built from the ground up for conditions in Afghanistan. They have improved suspension systems and offer more mobility and speed than the MRAP models.
Each of the new ambulances is designed to hold two litter patients and several ambulatory patients, Lee said. It’s equipped with state-of-the-art field medical supplies organized according to injury, including breathing problems, bleeding, hypothermia and broken bones.
Unlike in the past, when medics always had to organize their own supplies, the components for the new ambulances arrive in the theater ready to use. “What we have done here is take a whole bunch of subject-matter experts and configure it to a standard format,” Lee said. “Now, when the medic gets it, he pulls it straight out of the box, hangs it up and is ready to go. He knows exactly where everything is.”
The medical kit bag hangs inside the ambulance, but because its components are attached using fabric fasteners, medics can easy pull them off when necessary to treat patients outside the vehicle, Lee said.
The M-ATV-like ambulance includes another first: an oxygen concentrator that creates medical-grade oxygen from ambient air. The benefit is two-fold, Lee explained. Gone are the bulky oxygen tanks that, if hit by a fragment, could turn into a projectile and kill passengers in the vehicle. The oxygen concentrator also eliminates the logistics burden of having to refill oxygen bottles in the combat theater.
But in cases where an ambulance isn’t on the scene to evacuate a wounded warrior immediately, troops now are gaining a new “scoop and run” capability to get the casualties to advanced-level care more quickly.
The Army Medical Materiel Development Activity helped to develop a new casualty evacuation, or CASEVAC, kit that converts any M-ATV into an ad-hoc casualty evacuation platform within a matter of minutes. Each portable kit contains two spine boards with restraint systems and litter straps to transport wounded warriors to the vehicle. Troops can then use their personal first-aid kits to begin initial care while transporting the casualty transported to an evacuation point.
The goal, Lee said, is for every M-ATV in Afghanistan to be equipped with the new kits. About 300 were delivered last year, with another 1,800 expected to be delivered this summer. “This will have a significant impact on the force and will really help to evacuate casualties,” Lee said.
In recognition of their work in developing these much-needed capabilities, Lee and the rest of the Army Medical Materiel Development Activity’s Medical Support Systems team received the 2010 National Security and International Affairs Medal. The award recognizes federal employees for significant contribution to the nation in activities related to national security and international affairs.
“In my opinion, the work that [the Medical Systems Support Division] does has been absolutely critical to our military’s mission in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Army Col. Russell E. Coleman, commander of USAMMDA, who nominated them for the award. “The CASEVAC and medical evacuation capabilities that they have fielded have saved the lives of many of our deployed servicemembers, and it is an accomplishment worthy of recognition.”
FORT DETRICK, Md., March 22, 2011 – New ambulances designed to negotiate Afghanistan’s rough, narrow roads, kits that quickly convert standard combat vehicles for casualty evacuation and state-of-the-art field medical packages are improving battlefield medicine and saving lives, an official involved in developing and fielding the new equipment reported.
“What we are doing is getting better technology far forward to the wounded, and as a result, we are seeing a decrease in mortality,” Jaime Lee, a product manager at the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity’s Medical Support Systems Division, told American Forces Press Service.
“We have improved getting care to the soldier in that far forward area, … and getting it to him in that ‘golden hour’ –- that first hour after he has been wounded,” he said.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has pressed hard for the past two years to bring medical care in Afghanistan in line with what’s available for U.S. troops in Iraq. This includes medevac capabilities that ensure wounded troops get advanced medical care within one hour of their injury -– a factor that medical experts agree makes a major difference in survival rates.
The Army Medical Materiel Development Activity has been hard at work supporting that initiative, with several new projects under way to support joint urgent requirements identified in the combat theater, Lee said.
One, developed in cooperation with the mine-resistant, ambush-protected, all-terrain-vehicle program office, is an M-ATV-like ambulance specifically designed to traverse Afghanistan’s demanding terrain. The first 250 are scheduled to go into production this summer and are expected to be fielded this fall, Lee reported.
Unlike the MRAP ambulances in Afghanistan that were designed to operate in Iraq, the M-ATV-like versions are being built from the ground up for conditions in Afghanistan. They have improved suspension systems and offer more mobility and speed than the MRAP models.
Each of the new ambulances is designed to hold two litter patients and several ambulatory patients, Lee said. It’s equipped with state-of-the-art field medical supplies organized according to injury, including breathing problems, bleeding, hypothermia and broken bones.
Unlike in the past, when medics always had to organize their own supplies, the components for the new ambulances arrive in the theater ready to use. “What we have done here is take a whole bunch of subject-matter experts and configure it to a standard format,” Lee said. “Now, when the medic gets it, he pulls it straight out of the box, hangs it up and is ready to go. He knows exactly where everything is.”
The medical kit bag hangs inside the ambulance, but because its components are attached using fabric fasteners, medics can easy pull them off when necessary to treat patients outside the vehicle, Lee said.
The M-ATV-like ambulance includes another first: an oxygen concentrator that creates medical-grade oxygen from ambient air. The benefit is two-fold, Lee explained. Gone are the bulky oxygen tanks that, if hit by a fragment, could turn into a projectile and kill passengers in the vehicle. The oxygen concentrator also eliminates the logistics burden of having to refill oxygen bottles in the combat theater.
But in cases where an ambulance isn’t on the scene to evacuate a wounded warrior immediately, troops now are gaining a new “scoop and run” capability to get the casualties to advanced-level care more quickly.
The Army Medical Materiel Development Activity helped to develop a new casualty evacuation, or CASEVAC, kit that converts any M-ATV into an ad-hoc casualty evacuation platform within a matter of minutes. Each portable kit contains two spine boards with restraint systems and litter straps to transport wounded warriors to the vehicle. Troops can then use their personal first-aid kits to begin initial care while transporting the casualty transported to an evacuation point.
The goal, Lee said, is for every M-ATV in Afghanistan to be equipped with the new kits. About 300 were delivered last year, with another 1,800 expected to be delivered this summer. “This will have a significant impact on the force and will really help to evacuate casualties,” Lee said.
In recognition of their work in developing these much-needed capabilities, Lee and the rest of the Army Medical Materiel Development Activity’s Medical Support Systems team received the 2010 National Security and International Affairs Medal. The award recognizes federal employees for significant contribution to the nation in activities related to national security and international affairs.
“In my opinion, the work that [the Medical Systems Support Division] does has been absolutely critical to our military’s mission in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Army Col. Russell E. Coleman, commander of USAMMDA, who nominated them for the award. “The CASEVAC and medical evacuation capabilities that they have fielded have saved the lives of many of our deployed servicemembers, and it is an accomplishment worthy of recognition.”
Funeral of Scottish dog handler killed in Afghanistan brings town to a standstill
Daily Record Mar 22 2011
AN ARMY dog handler killed in Afghanistan was hailed as a "hero" and "the best brother you could ask for" as hundreds of mourners gathered for his funeral today.
Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, 26, of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, was shot dead on March 1 while on patrol with his springer spaniel Theo.
The sniffer dog, described as a "true friend" to the soldier, died hours later after suffering a seizure, with L/Cpl Tasker's family believing Theo died from a broken heart.
Several hundred people packed into Tayport Parish Church, Fife, and lined the streets outside to pay their respects to the arms explosive search (AES) handler from Kirkcaldy.
During the funeral, L/Cpl Tasker's tearful brother Ian recalled fond memories of the soldier.
His voice quaking with emotion, he told mourners: "Liam was the best brother, son, grandson and indeed friend you could ask for."
Lieutenant Colonel David Thorpe, commanding officer of the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, paid his own tribute during the military funeral.
He described L/Cpl Tasker as a "natural dog man" who displayed an "uncanny empathy" with the animals during his training.
"It was obvious to all who encountered him that he would be a rising star in the veterinary corps," he said.
"It was as a AES handler that L/Cpl Tasker's talent really came to the fore.
"It is clear that the pride he took in his job came from the love he had for the dogs he worked with."
Lt Col Thorpe also spoke of the dog handler's love for his family and friends and described him as a "brave, loyal and strong" soldier.
He told mourners: "He was able to utilise all his skills and lead from the front as an example to us all.
"He saved the lives of his friends and colleagues on numerous occasions.
"He was a hero. He knew that he could be and he knew that he was, but he would never tell you himself."
AN ARMY dog handler killed in Afghanistan was hailed as a "hero" and "the best brother you could ask for" as hundreds of mourners gathered for his funeral today.
Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, 26, of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, was shot dead on March 1 while on patrol with his springer spaniel Theo.
The sniffer dog, described as a "true friend" to the soldier, died hours later after suffering a seizure, with L/Cpl Tasker's family believing Theo died from a broken heart.
Several hundred people packed into Tayport Parish Church, Fife, and lined the streets outside to pay their respects to the arms explosive search (AES) handler from Kirkcaldy.
During the funeral, L/Cpl Tasker's tearful brother Ian recalled fond memories of the soldier.
His voice quaking with emotion, he told mourners: "Liam was the best brother, son, grandson and indeed friend you could ask for."
Lieutenant Colonel David Thorpe, commanding officer of the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, paid his own tribute during the military funeral.
He described L/Cpl Tasker as a "natural dog man" who displayed an "uncanny empathy" with the animals during his training.
"It was obvious to all who encountered him that he would be a rising star in the veterinary corps," he said.
"It was as a AES handler that L/Cpl Tasker's talent really came to the fore.
"It is clear that the pride he took in his job came from the love he had for the dogs he worked with."
Lt Col Thorpe also spoke of the dog handler's love for his family and friends and described him as a "brave, loyal and strong" soldier.
He told mourners: "He was able to utilise all his skills and lead from the front as an example to us all.
"He saved the lives of his friends and colleagues on numerous occasions.
"He was a hero. He knew that he could be and he knew that he was, but he would never tell you himself."
Here we go again
From She Who Waits by Stephanie -
I stood in the kitchen Saturday afternoon just hugging my husband, unwilling to let go. Not crying, not hysterical, just hugging. He'd returned from the base for the day with a date. The date. You know, the one that just makes your shoulders sag with acceptance and dread? Yeah, that one. He'll be gone again soon, very soon. As we embraced, CNN was on in the background as yet another dictator was being fired upon by UN allies; I briefly wondered how many families were being affected in the same way by the news (worry and anxiety about their loved ones) and how many were just going about their days with only a brief glance (or none at all) at the news.(READ MORE)
His deployment was moved up, not by weeks but by months. At this point, it may be several months longer than normal, we don't know. It threw a lot of our plans out the window, not the least of which was to get pregnant. We tried, but the option to get pregnant naturally before he leaves is officially gone now, and all I feel is numb. We want a baby so bad and now we wait, again.
I just felt the need to say to my readers
From **Wife of a Wounded Marine** by Karie -
...to the universe, and even to myself that despite how I may feel one day to the next, I am very blessed. Yes, I've experienced some misfortunes, but we will all experience them at some point in our lives and I realize that. As much as I want to wallow in bad memories from the past, there is a part of me that really can't help but feel hopeful for the future. A lot of positive things have happened recently and they make me feel excited. I know I'm going to get past all of "this" and I'm going to have a happy life. There are too many things that really are good to think otherwise. I just hope that I can take my husbands sacrifice and everything I've experienced and use it to better the world in some way. I'm going to try. It's part of the reason I write. I know my blog isn't seen by millions, but I hope the few that it does reach are inspired in some way. Even though they are just a random girls thoughts and feelings.(READ MORE)
March 21, 2011
Stage 4: Depression, Reflection and Loneliness
From Back on the Homefront by Beth -
While I know that this deployment looming over us is not quite the same as dealing with the death of a loved one, it often feels like it. I find myself going through the same seven stages of grief. Each deployment brings about the shock and denial. "No, it can't be time for another one already." "But we just started getting back into a family routine again." Soon after the shock wears off, the pain and guilt stage sets in.(READ MORE)
During this stage, I feel like I'm somehow letting down my children. It hurts that I can't give them everything that they deserve. While Micah is gone, something as simple as the fact that I can't teach my little boy how to pee standing up can bring me to tears. In my heart, I know that all they really need is my love and reassurance, but sometimes my mind takes over my heart. No matter how hard I try, I just can't be the "father" who takes them to father/son fun night at school.
I move on from the pain and guilt and get into the anger stage. Somehow this stage seems to linger on throughout the deployment, so I'm sure I'll write about it more at a later date. Tonight though, I'm writing about my current state of grief: stage four. As you can see by my title, I'm finding myself depressed, reflecting and lonely. I can't believe how on target that description is.
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