posted by admin on Oct 30
In 1980, Maj. Marcia A. Potter has enlisted in the Air Force right after graduation. She served for four years and then decided to leave the military to pursue her education. Consequently, she earned a master’s degree in nursing and eventually became a family nurse practitioner.
She was already a mother of three when she decided to go back in the service. It was the terrorist attack in September 11, 2001 that ignited Potter’s decision. After consulting with her family, she rejoined the Air Force in 2003. She even received a commission for her medical and professional expertise.
Now at age 46, it was patriotism and a sense of duty that made Potter return. In fact, she is a part of a military outreach program called “Why We Serve.” She was selected from those who have already served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Along with other 10 servicemembers, Potter tells military stories to the American people at local events, veterans organizations, community assemblies and other gatherings.
According to Potter, the Why We Serve program is an excellent military program that lets service men and women tell their experiences directly to the public.
posted by admin on Oct 30
When the massive fire hit California, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) or the Defense Department’s biggest combat support agency, has supported and helped the fire victims. In fact, the agency has supplied the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with meals and other needs to help evacuees as well as put out the fire.
There were 214 active-duty personnel, 72 Defense Department civilians and 2,492 National Guardsmen who have come to make firefighting, security and relief operations possible.
All in all, DLA has provided 120,600 packaged meals as support to the entire operation, not to mention that it has also sent fire retardant coveralls and gloves.
Generally, DLA is the main agency that provides technical and logistic support to the United States Military Services and other federal civilian agencies. The headquarters of DLA is located in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. DLA is said to be the primary source for consumable items. They usually supplies these goods as aid to emergency preparedness, combat readiness or even simply daily operations in the Defense Department.
posted by admin on Oct 30
Iraqis in the northern part of Iraq has finally made a decision to help their government and the coalition to fight terrorism. Division soldiers have discovered a big explosively-formed projectile factory in the province of Diyala. One Iraqi resident told the policeman about a particular house in his village. When the U.S. Troops and other coalition soldiers checked the area, they found a huge cache of the killer projectiles that included 130 pre-made weapons and copper plates which make the projectiles themselves. The coalitions also found more than 600lbs. of rockets, C-4 explosives, mortar tubes and mortar rounds. Army officials said that cooperation from all commands made the raid successful.
The military authorities also disclosed that they have two jobs left Northern Iraq: One is to keep the al Queda “on the ropes,” and two is to help the local as well as the provincial Iraqi government settle down. Take note that under the former Hussein administration, the central government is in-charged with the provinces’ governance and welfare.
posted by admin on Oct 30
One of the major issues of Air Force members and their families is “domestic violence.” In 2006, there were about 3,914 cases of domestic abuse that involved Airmen (either the offender or the victim). 50% of the cases qualified for spouse or partner abuse. Hence, there were 40 cases that involved sexual abuse and assault of a spouse or partner. Air Force officials connected high level of job stress to such domestic abuses.
As the month of October ends, the Air Force has established an advocacy on Domestic Violence Awareness. The goal of the program is to help Airmen cope with risk factors, such as stress, which can increase the possibilities of domestic abuse or violence.
Generally, the Family Advocacy of the Air Force is a program that helps its members confront domestic violence treatment and its relative prevention. In connection with other military programs, Family Advocacy offers a variety of treatment options for both victims and offenders.
posted by admin on Oct 30
The military can no longer access YouTube, MySpace and other community-based websites. Pentagon authorities say that access to these sites consume huge part of the bandwidth and pose security risks. However, YouTube officials urge the Pentagon to reconsider the blocked access. Unfortunately, Army officials have no intentions of reconsidering, and may even block more social websites.
The Defense Information System Agency, the department which manages Defense Department communications and computing resources, said that the access blocking is an operational precaution. Yet, troops in bases can get through the websites from kiosks which access commercial Internet.
Instead, military officials admire and promote Army Knowledge Online (AKO), an internal military website that enables soldiers to send video clips to family and friends. AKO is an alternative to YouTube, if the point of watching videos is sending visual messages to significant others.
posted by admin on Oct 30
On October 29, 2007, the United States Army honored the children of the fallen heroes who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among them are the children of Chief Warrant Officer 4 John W. Engeman. It was a double ceremony, both held at the Pentagon and in Baghdad. The event was very emotional as high ranking military officials presented the Gold Medal of Remembrance to Engeman’s daughter Nicole Engeman at the Pentagon. At the same time, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, gave another medal to 1st Lt. Patrick Engeman, Engeman’s son and a platoon leader with the 10th Mountain Division, in Baghdad.
CW4 Engeman was part of a special transition team to advise and train Iraqi security forces while being assigned to the 1/312th Battalion, 30th Enhanced Separate Brigade. He died on May 14, 2006 when his vehicle ran through a roadside bomb.
The Gold Medal of Remembrance was created in 2006 by the White House Commission on Remembrance. The award is given to the children of servicemen who have lost a father or a mother during military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the commission director, the medal of honor is the first of its kind to acknowledge children and their military parents for their sacrifices in the wars.