One Marine's story example of casualty notifcation process

[thedrifter]

One Marine's story exaple of casualty notifcation process
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2004916112718
Story by 1st Lt. Eric M. Knapp



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq (Sept. 16, 2004) -- She had just got home from a long day at work and was sifting through the mail when the phone rang.

Elizabeth Avellino picked up the phone when she saw the words 'US Government' displayed on the caller ID. She had never seen those words displayed before, and like many families who have gotten a similar call, never wants to see them again.

"When I answered the phone, Lt. Col. Mike Melillo identified himself and said he was from Camp Pendleton," said Elizabeth, 54, and the mother of two. "He told me Paul had been injured in Iraq by a rocket attack. At that point, I didn't hear anything after that."

Captain Paul Avellino had been walking to the showers from his barracks room here May 29 when a rocket smashed into a wall near his head.

"I heard the explosion, but it didn't quite register right away what it was," said Avellino, a 28-year-old intelligence officer by trade. "It felt like someone poured a bunch of water on my head. I got some shrapnel in the head and chest."

Avellino was rushed to the base battalion aid station by an Army soldier who had been walking nearby.

"They put me down on a stretcher. Everyone kept talking to me to make sure I was conscious," explained Avellino.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Robert L. Spencer, the senior corpsman on the scene, kept talking to Avellino for two reasons: one, to make sure his mental functions were not damaged by the blast; two, to get the necessary information to report him as a casualty.

"We treated his wounds, bandaged him up, put some dressings on him, and wrote out a casualty tag, which has all the patient's information," said Spencer, 41, of Marietta, Ga. "As people would come in, the adjutant would jot down their information and made sure she had all the accurate information: name, rank, social security number, type of injury and unit they were attached to."

Obtaining all of that information is necessary so the unit can report the casualty to their higher headquarters, but more importantly, so they can track the casualty and notify the family.

"The adjutant should be actively engaged by the first responder that provided care for the Marine to find out the extent of the injuries," explained Gunnery Sgt. Marco A. Rico, who tracks casualties for the 1st Marine Division. "She would prepare the official Personal Casualty Report that is sent in to us here. At the same time her section would be gathering his personal information to relay to the rear so his next of kin can be notified."

That duty fell to Melillo, the executive officer of 11th Marine Regiment, Avellino's parent command.

"He was very supportive," Elizabeth said. "I was running around the house screaming and crying. He tried to calm me down by talking about Paul and said he knew Paul would heal quickly and he would pray for him."

After Melillo gave her all the information he had on her son, he answered Elizabeth's questions and offered her any support she needed.

"I felt that if there was anything I needed I could call him," Elizabeth said. "I felt I had the support of the entire Marine Corps if I needed it."

The Avellinos' story is not uncommon, and neither is the care that was provided to each of them throughout the casualty notification process. However, notification for very seriously injured Marines, and those that are killed, has additional steps.

For serious injuries and death, the PCR is forwarded up the chain of command to the headquarters of the Marine Corps. A PCR contains a Marine's personal information: name, rank, social security number, unit, time and date of incident, extent of injuries, and where he is being treated at.

There is a balance, though, in including too little or too much information in the PCR the family receives.

"Our general's intent is not to provide information where the enemy can retrieve it and get an accurate assessment of the force they are inflicting on us," Rico said. "When we do our PCR everything is in general terms."

Understandably, some families want to know exactly when, where, why and how their son or daughter was injured.

"That is where the unit comes into play," Rico explained. "The battalion commander, company commander or platoon commander will write a letter and explain exactly what happened to their son or daughter."

The Marine Corps has another crucial element to providing information to families and giving them comfort in their time of need, though.

"In cases of very serious injury or death, the (Marine Corps) will assign a CACO - a casualty assistance officer - to make notification to the family," Rico said.

"Many families do not know what's involved with getting a Marine home, getting therapies, or getting through medical facilities before he's discharged," Rico added. "Or they're not aware of how a deceased Marine is processed within the Marine Corps. That's where the CACO comes in."

The CACOs are Marines who are hand-picked from the Inspector Instructor staff stationed across the US, whose primary job is to train and instruct reservists. The CACOs are assigned to a family the minute the PCR is received and often stay in close contact until the family buries their loved one or is rehabilitated, as in the case of a severe injury.

CACOs can be sent out alone, in pairs or be a whole team. Chaplains often accompany them on the visits.

"They have refined the process to an art form," said Rico, who has served as a CACO. "Every single I&I staff knows we're out here and have their procedures in place and their designated CACOs. There's always gas in a van ready to go. Their Dress Blues are hanging up in their office ready to go. It's just amazing."

Fortunately, Elizabeth did not get a knock on the door by a CACO that day. A half an hour after Melillo gave her the bad news, her son called her from a hospital in Iraq.

"I remember she started crying," Avellino said. "I was just trying to reassure my mom everything was alright."

Avellino's mother didn't know what to think when she heard his voice.

"I asked him 'are you okay?' and he said yes," Elizabeth said. "I asked him if he's coming home and he said no. I thought to myself 'if he's not coming home, he must not be injured serious enough to be sent home.'"

Avellino recovered from his injuries quickly and returned to duty. He will be heading home soon after a seven-month deployment to visit his mother in Brimfield, Ohio.

"First thing I'm going to do when he gets home is look over every inch of his head like those apes on the Discovery Channel," said Elizabeth. "I want to make sure his head's alright."



Capt. Paul D. Avellino stands in the same spot where he was injured by a rocket blast May 29. The crater above him and the scars on his head are reminders of that day.
(USMC Photo by Cpl. Veronika R. Tuskowski) Photo by: Cpl. Veronika R. Tuskowski

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...8?opendocument

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Friday, September 17, 2004
Family, friends and fellow Marines say goodbye to Captain killed in Iraq

The Twentynine Palms community is anticipating the return of nearly 1,000 Marines and sailors from Iraq over the next 24 hours. But earlier today, the mood was much more somber, as family, friends and fellow Marines said goodbye to another local Marine, Captain Allen Rowe

On a day when hundreds of Twentynine Palms families would welcome home their Marines, hundreds of others packed the protestant church on the base to remember one Marine who won't be coming back. 34-year-old Captain Allen Rowe of Yucca Valley was killed in the Al Anbar province of Iraq on September 3rd, just a little over a week after being deployed.

"If you knew Allen he was the last person you thought wouldn't make it back,” Captain Rowe’s best friend Billy Weaver told us today. “He was a warrior. It broke my heart."

In fact, Weaver was the one who dropped Captain Rowe off at the base before he deployed. At today's memorial, Weaver fought back tears, as family members, friends, and servicemen from various branches of the armed forces reflected on the life of a man who paid the ultimate price.

There was obvious sorrow and pain, but also celebration, of a valiant marine and loving husband and father.

"He was a dedicated marine,” said Captain Rowe’s wife Dawn. “Honest, passionate, and he died doing what he loved."

Captain Thomas Garcia was Rowe's college roommate and served with him in Iraq. He says Rowe believed in their mission.

"In the long picture, there is a greater good. I think that's something Allen would want us all to remember."

Friends and family we spoke to say whether you're for or against the war, they say they hope people remember the price these men and woman are paying.

"I just wish more people out there would be supportive of the sacrifice the families up here in Twentynine Palms are making for all of us.”

Captain Allen Rowe was scheduled to be promoted to Major. Officials here on the Twentynine Palms Marine Base say he still will be promoted and that should happen in the next couple of weeks.

Captain Rowe leaves behind his wife and a young son and daughter, ages 3 and 5.


http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp...6&nav=9qrxR2ro


Ellie

[thedrifter]

MSSG-24 Dental Helps Marines Fight With A Better Bite
Submitted by: 24th MEU
Story Identification #: 200491564258
Story by Lance Cpl. Sarah A. Beavers



FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq (Aug 31, 2004) -- A large hypodermic needle looms overhead as a Marine with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit slowly opens his mouth in apprehension. With eyes wide, unflinching, he watches the dentist’s hand maneuver the needle against his gums, piercing his soft, pink flesh with repeated injections of Lidocaine. Carefully, the dentist sets the needle down and grasps the drill. A loud mechanized echo engulfs the room as the process of repairing the Marine’s smile begins.

This is only one of the 2,200 Marines and Sailors with the 24th MEU serviced by the Dental Detachment of MEU Service Support Group 24. With only one dentist and two assistants, the team is not only stabilizing patients, but providing what the MEU dentist, Lt. Cmdr. Chris Register, calls “definitive dental surgical care.”

“I chipped my tooth, so I came up here from Iskandariyah to see (Doctor) Register,” said Gunnery Sgt. Steven Jones, 35, a Childersburg, Ala., native and combat engineer with the Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. “(During my exam he also discovered that) a filling had come out, so he replaced that too.”

Appointments like Jones’ are a common occurrence within the 24th MEU, requiring the dental staff to maintain prime working hours so Marines and sailors can have access to the many services they provide.

“We have sick-call from (8 a.m. until 10 a.m.) for patients with pain, and rotuine appointments from (10 a.m. until 4 p.m.),” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Miguel Serratos, 33, one of the detachment’s two dental technicians and a Riverside, Calif., native. “We do everything here: fillings, cleanings, yearly exams, extractions, [root canals] and oral surgery. Sometimes [the work load] is hard, but we manage it pretty well.”

Besides working their regular hours, the dental team is also on call for medical emergencies.

“Even though our patient hours (seem limited), if someone gets a broken tooth we wake up and fix it,” added Seaman Gustavo Delgado, 24, a native of Colombia, South America, the detachment’s other dental technician. “We’ve already done that at least once.”

But military personnel aren’t the only ones being seen. Even with the accelerated workload, the dental crew still finds time to provide vital treatment to the local national civilian contractors who work on base.

“We are able to spread good will as we take care of their pain and correct severe [dental] problems,” said Register, 32, a Kansas City, Kan., native. “We’re like ambassadors for the MEU.”

Still, working on a forward operating base in a place as violent and unpredictable as Iraq presents its own difficulties in creating a safe working environment for patients and doctors alike.

“During the mortar attack almost three weeks ago, we were working on a patient. (When we heard the first one hit), he jumped out of the chair, still wearing his rubber dam, and [we all] got on the floor,” said Delgado. “We just stayed down listening – boom, boom, boom. Afterwards, we checked in with medical and prepared for (a possible) mass casualty (before) getting back to work (on him).”

Love them or fear them, the three sailors of the Dental Detachment have a uniquely difficult job within the 24th MEU. Their goal is to ensure every Marine and sailor has a healthy smile so they can concentrate on the operations and challenges faced in Iraq without the painful distraction of an unhealthy mouth.

“I feel I have a real mission here,” said Register. “[We treat the Marines] so they don’t have problems, or infections, while trying to fight. [The pace] can get hectic, but the reward is there.”

Despite the searing heat and incoming artillery, MSSG-24 Dental is determined to give the service members of 24th MEU the best treatment possible. This attention to detail is something no Marine can ignore.

“It was real nice -- no wait -- and the (dental staff) was very courteous,” said Jones. “(It feels) different, but the quality is the same.”





Lt. Cmdr. Chris Register of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit looks inside the mouth of Gunnery Sgt. Steven Jones before replacing his filling at the MEU Service Support Group 24 dental office.
Register, 32, is a Kansas City native and the MEU’s sole dentist.
Jones, 35, is a combat engineer and Childersburg, Ala., native with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, 24th MEU.
The MEU is currently conducting security and stability operations in Northern Babil Province.

(Official USMC Photo by Lance Cpl. Sarah A. Beavers. This photo is cleared for release.)
Photo by: Lance Cpl. Sarah A. Beavers

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...5?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq duty a family affair for local Marine
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times


Northampton - Thomas Bodkin knew when he signed up for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in March there was a chance he would end up in Iraq.

Six months later, that's exactly where he's headed.

Bodkin, of Northampton, caught a plane Monday morning to Camp Pendleton in California. If all goes according to plan, Bodkin will head to Iraq by the end of the week. He's not sure if he'll run into his older brother, U.S. Marine Maj. Michael Bodkin, 37, once he gets there. The major, a Marine since 1989, is wrapping up his second tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Michael Bodkin's battalion is scheduled to return to Pendleton in October.

Thomas Bodkin, a Marine officer between 1993 and 1997, said his older brother's involvement in the Iraqi war had little to do with his decision to join a reserve unit in Philadelphia.

"I joined because I felt the Marines needed people to fill some responsibilities," the Council Rock and Penn State graduate said.

The structural engineer learned on Sept. 1 he's needed to fill a logistics officer's position with the 7th Engineering Support Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group. The active-duty unit is being deployed to an undisclosed location. The battalion is expected to be in Iraq until spring.

"It will be a pretty demanding, high-pressure-type job. I'm looking forward to it," Bodkin said.

He discussed his assignment on Saturday, his 36th birthday, before spending the rest of the weekend packing his gear, visiting friends and enjoying some birthday cake with his family.

While he would rather have had a couple of weeks at Pendleton to get to know his battalion before heading to Iraq, the captain's prepared for the deployment. He credits a two-week training session in June with giving him a good idea of what to expect.


Bodkin realizes insurgents commonly attack supply convoys traveling in Iraq. But his main focus is making sure he coordinates his unit's travels so it gets needed supplies to the combat units.

"I guess if a truck blows up in front of me, I'll be more concerned. I just have to make sure we are well-protected and paying attention to what we are doing," he said.

Ironically, even if the Marines hadn't tapped Bodkin to go with the support battalion, he eventually would have gone to Iraq. He learned last week his reserve unit will be activated in January.

The captain's father said he's not surprised that Thomas is heading to the Middle East.

"It's something you have to do. I'm just disappointed that more people don't get involved," said James Bodkin, a retired Marine.

Thomas Bodkin (left), a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, stands with his older brother, U.S. Marine Maj. Michael Bodkin, in a family photograph taken about seven years ago. At the time, both were on active duty. Thomas Bodkin left the Marines in 1997. He joined the reserves in March and was activated this month to go to Iraq with a support unit. Michael Bodkin is expected to return from a second tour of duty in Iraq in October.

Joan Hellyer can be reached at 215-322-9714 or jhellyer@phillyBurbs.com.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...04-365456.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Lack of base camaraderie can leave Reserve families feeling isolated


By Ron Jensen, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, September 13, 2004

The home front was a lonely place for Holly Romano when her husband, Anthony, a member of the National Guard in Maine, deployed to Iraq, leaving her with the couple’s two children.

No other wife or husband in Sanford, Maine, had bid farewell to a deploying spouse. No other person in town had her worries. No other person in town shared her concerns.

“I had one woman in the next town whose husband was with my husband,” Holly Romano said. “We talked quite a bit. I felt like no one was around.”

That is one of the differences between active-duty troops and members of the National Guard and Reserves, who have been called up for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan in numbers not seen for decades. Guard and Reserve families are left behind, often alone with their thoughts and worries.

“In the [active-duty] military, they have a whole base full of families going through the same thing,” Anthony Romano said. “Our families are isolated.”

His deployment was somewhat unusual, adding to his wife’s isolation. He left in April 2003 with only 27 other members of the 133rd Engineer Battalion from throughout Maine. But they were attached to a unit from Georgia.

“When my husband left, the rest of the unit was still here,” said Holly Romano.

Her friends, she said, could not understand her sense of loneliness and fear. They treated her husband’s absence as nothing extraordinary.

“You just don’t understand what it’s like until you’ve been through it,” she said.

The Romanos’ son, Devin, 10, had his own problems.

“My son got called a liar because he said his dad was in Iraq,” Anthony Romano said.

Imagine that happening in Baumholder or Würzburg, Germany, where thousands of families sent a member to the desert.

“It’s not really anyone’s fault,” Anthony Romano said. “We kind of slipped underneath the radar.”

There is a learning process under way, he said, as the National Guard — and the Army and Air Force Reserves — learn to deal with the needs of families during deployments.

Since those 28 guardsmen returned this summer, another group from the Maine National Guard — a much larger group — has deployed. Family support centers have sprouted in the state.

Every state National Guard has some sort of family support system, but the quality is inconsistent from state to state, according to Mary Graham, senior policy adviser for the National Mental Health Association.

“We find they really vary as to how good they are and the services they provide,” she said.

Members realize this and are, for the most part, understanding of the challenge.

“They’re learning because they’ve never been through this before,” said Kenneth Merrifield, who deployed with Romano. “We don’t have the support set up like the active duty does. They’re in the infancy stage of getting it up and running.”

Kimberlee Merrifield, Kenneth’s wife, was the voice on the phone in the next town for Holly Romano.

She is a military brat, she said, so she knows what bases provide for families left behind. When her husband deployed, however, she felt alone and her worst worries would not leave her.

“I waited for someone to come in a uniform and tell me something had happened,” she said. “Every single day. When I drove to work, I cried.”

She was afraid to be away from her home in Wells, Maine. For six months, she said, she rarely left home. And when she did, she rushed back to be there in case the call came with the bad news she feared.

The North Dakota National Guard held family support meetings throughout the state, trying to limit the drive time for spouses and families as much as possible.

“We let families [set] their own schedules,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Shelly Sizer, family readiness coordinator for the North Dakota guard. “We ensure that one of our staff is present at each of these meetings.”

Jill Staudinger, wife of Scott Staudinger, a North Dakota Guard member, said the time was hard when her husband was gone for more than one year to Iraq.

“Many times you just felt alone and that nobody knew how you felt,” she said. “To pick up that phone and say you need help is so hard.”

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?...7&archive=true


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Truck Company Marine given last respects
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200491541817
Story by Lance Cpl. Graham Paulsgrove



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq (Sept. 9, 2004) -- The mood was somber and little noise was made as the Marines gathered to pay their last respects.

Marines and Sailors entered the chapel here Sept. 9 to mourn the loss of their fallen brother in arms, Lance Cpl. Derek L. Gardner, motor transport operator, Truck Company, Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division.

During a supply convoy on Sept. 6, a sedan swerved underneath Gardner's 7-ton truck detonating simultaneously. The severity of the blast killed Gardner.

When Gardner, an Orange County, Calif., native, turned 18 he followed in his father's footsteps and enlisted in the Marine Corps. He turned 20 Aug. 9.

"Lance Cpl. Gardner went to a foreign land to bring freedom, to its people and to protect our great nation," said Capt. Terence M. Connelly, commanding officer, Truck Company. "In order to defend and serve his country, he left his loved ones."

Gardner's passion extended beyond his country, he was known as a hard worker and one who cared greatly about those to his left and right.

"Despite his short time in the Corps, he was a Marine fellow Marines went to for help. He led quietly yet noticeably," said Connelly. "Even before he went on his first deployment, he had earned the reputation as a hard worker who was eager to take on the difficult jobs."

For Gardner's hard work, he had been nominated for a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for professional achievement during combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom II.

"He laid down his life for his nation and each one of us," said Connelly. "We honor him by performing our duties in the same manner he did, with selflessness and determination."

Gardner's commanding officer reflected on a day where Gardner stood out amongst his comrades.

"He fit my picture of the typical tough young Marine," said Connelly. "He was dirty, he was tired and he was ****ed off. But I could tell he loved his buddies, he loved being a truck driver and he loved being a Marine."

Gardner made the ultimate sacrifice for his country and his service will not be forgotten.

"Lance Cpl. Gardner as you knew him, Derek as I knew him, was a great friend and he was also a great Marine, and he will be missed, but not only by me but his family and friends as well," said Pfc. M. D. Hawkins, a friend of Gardner. "My heart goes out to his family for this will be a very hard time for them. I ask that you keep his family in your prayers. Pray for them all. Semper Fi Derek, we'll be missing you."



Major Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general, 1st Marine Division takes a knee in silent tribute during a memorial ceremony for Lance Cpl. Derek L. Gardner at Camp Blue Diamond's chapel Sept. 9. Gardner was a motor transport operator with Truck Company, Headquarters Battalion. A vehicle-born improvised explosive device hit him during a recent convoy.
(Official USMC photo by SSgt. Nathaniel Garcia)
Photo by: SSgt. Nathaniel Garcia



During a memorial ceremony at Camp Blue Diamond Sept. 9, Lance Cpl. Derek L. Gardner, motor transport operator, Truck Company, Headquarters Battalion was honored and remembered. Marines came forward to pay their respects and were often struck by the loss of their fallen brother. A vehicle-born improvised explosive device hit Gardner during a recent convoy.
(Official USMC photo by SSgt. Nathaniel Garcia)
Photo by: SSgt. Nathaniel Garcia



Tongan Royal Marines sing in tribute to a fallen Marine, Lance Cpl. Derek L. Gardner, during a memorial ceremony at Camp Blue Diamond's chapel Sept. 9. Gardner was a motor transport operator with Truck Company. A vehicle-born improvised explosive device hit him during a recent convoy.
(Official USMC photo by SSgt. Nathaniel Garcia) Photo by: SSgt. Nathaniel Garcia

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...D?opendocument

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Washington Post
September 17, 2004
Pg. 25

Players: Jonathan Shay


Modern Soldiers From Ancient Texts


Physician Advising Army on Personnel Policy Takes Lessons From Homer


By Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post Staff Writer

What do the works of the Greek poet Homer have to do with the nitty-gritty details of personnel policy in today's U.S. Army?

Plenty, says Jonathan Shay. In fact, so much that the former assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, who has written two well-received books examining Homer as a chronicler of military men in "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," signed on this month as an adviser to the Army's personnel chief. Shay's task is far from literary. Rather, it is to help boost "cohesion" -- that is, the essential psychological glue that holds soldiers together -- in Army units.

It is a long way from ancient Troy to today's Pentagon. But Shay sees a direct line.

In his first book, "Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character," he used Homer's account of combat in the Trojan War to examine the Vietnam War, and especially how poor leadership increased the trauma of many U.S. soldiers in that conflict. Shay's sequel, "Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming," reinterpreted Odysseus's troubled voyage back to Ithaca as a way of understanding the long and painful journey home of many combat veterans.

Through his work as counselor of Vietnam veterans, Shay has become a passionate advocate of the three things that he has concluded reduce the trauma of war on soldiers: keeping members of units together, giving them good leadership, and putting them through intense and realistic training.

"Cohesion, leadership and training -- each of these is a protective factor against psychological injury," he said. And together, "the synergism is enormous."

So, he said, he sees his one-year stint at the Pentagon as a work of "preventive psychiatry."

Signing on with the Army at age 62 may seem to be an odd career move for someone who is a veteran not of the armed forces but of three different Ivy League universities. Indeed, everything about Shay's background paints him as an unlikely candidate to advise the military: a beard-adorned, yoga-practicing resident of Newton, Mass., who describes himself as a "lifelong liberal Democrat, and proud of it."

But, he explains, 17 years of counseling Vietnam veterans at what is now the Department of Veterans Affairs transformed him from being a detached academic into a zealot for cohesion in U.S. military units.

"I am a physician with a fire in the belly for prevention of psychological injury in military service," Shay wrote in a summary of his work. "As such I am the missionary for the injured veterans whom I serve in the VA. They don't want other young kids to be wrecked the way they were wrecked." Indeed, to not abandon his patients, he is staying with the VA part time during his Pentagon tour.

His goal of cohesion is easily explained but harder to achieve, he said.

" 'Cohesion' is really about mutual trust," he said. "If you don't have mutual trust, you tend to burn up all your physical and emotional resources." For example, a soldier in the front lines who distrusts his comrades' ability to protect him from the enemy will not be able to sleep well. "If your gaze is directed inward -- 'Can I trust these guys?' -- then your cognitive resources are directed inward, when they should be directed outward, toward the enemy," Shay said.

The notion extends beyond small units such as squads and platoons. When subordinate commanders trust and understand their superiors, entire large divisions and corps become more militarily effective, he argued.

"Trust lubricates the friction of warfare," he said. "If every move in the chain of command has to be formally laid out, you are going to move slowly, and the enemy is going to move faster than you."

Another oddity of his move to the Pentagon is that it comes essentially after he and his allies in personnel policy have won much of the argument, especially on unit stabilization. After decades of transferring people every couple of years, the Army earlier this year reversed course and is trying to keep soldiers attached to the same unit for much of their careers.

Shay cautiously applauds the Army's recent shift, saying it goes in the right direction. But, Shay said he is not sure how far the service has moved or how permanent the changes will be.

"Changing the culture of a large institution is a very protracted process," Shay cautioned.

He said he sees some worrisome signs in the U.S. military in Iraq. The abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, he said, directly resulted from the failure of leadership at the small unit level.

"What you need is a crusty, old sergeant who says at the right moment, 'We're soldiers; we don't do that [expletive],' " Shay said.

An Army report released in March found widespread problems with unit cohesion in Iraq. Its authors recommended that the Army do a better job of getting mental health resources to the troops.

Shay appears to disagree with that view.

"Honestly, I don't think the most important thing to do is to provide mental health professionals," he said. Rather, he returned to his three core issues: "The most important thing to do is to provide cohesion, leadership and training."

Overall, he said he is less worried about the mental health of regular, active-duty soldiers serving in Iraq than he is about the part-time troops in the National Guard and Reserves, and even more the thousands of private security personnel working on contract there.

Unlike service personnel, he noted, contractors have no formal network of support to help them when they return home, even if they are hired as bodyguards or placed in other combat-type roles.

"The amount of potential dynamite we are sowing in our own society by sending people into that situation, that way -- it just terrifies me," Shay said.

What do his friends and neighbors back in the liberal suburbs of Boston think of him helping the top brass make the Army more militarily effective?

"They know that I'm not just trying to turn people into more effective killers," Shay said. "The point of fighting in a just cause is to win, not to kill. The highest form of military skill is to win without killing."

What is more, he said, it also has to do with the morality of our own society. "If we're sending people to fight in our name," Shay said, "we damn well better be sure to win swiftly, and not kill any more of the enemy than is necessary."

In Profile

Title: Chair of ethics, leadership and personnel policy in the U.S. Army's Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel.

Education: Bachelor's degree, Harvard University; graduate work in sociology, Columbia; medical degree, University of Pennsylvania; doctorate in neuropathology, University of Pennsylvania.

Age: 62.

Career highlights: Staff psychiatrist, Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic, Boston, 1987-present; assistant professor of pathology, Harvard Medical School, 1976-1977; neurosurgical assistant, Massachusetts General Hospital, 1972-1977.

Family: Married to a professional violinist; four children; three grandchildren.

Pastimes: Yoga, walks 2 1/2 miles a day.

Favorite books: Thomas Mann's "Doctor Faustus" and Martha C. Nussbaum's "The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy."



Ellie

[thedrifter]

Troops' Terror War Contributions 'Unbelievable,' Sanchez Says
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2004 – As commander of Combined Joint Task Force 7 in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez saw the contributions of the soldiers in Iraq firsthand during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Their dedication to democratic principles and to getting the job done drew great praise from him.

"I think that's something that history will record, the unbelievable accomplishments of the American military and the coalition during the first 13 or 14 months of Operation Iraqi Freedom," Sanchez said Sept. 16 during a Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service interview.

The military was, Sanchez said, able to take a country that was totally defeated and stand up its political structures, begin the economic revitalization of the country, and bring freedom to the people while eliminating a brutal regime that had been terrorizing the country for more than 30 years.

Though the insurgency is still strong, the military has been able to bring some sort of security to the country, and the people are grateful for it, said Sanchez, who commands Army 5th Corps, based in Heidelberg, Germany. "That's what cannot be lost in all of what is happening still today in that country," Sanchez said.

"The fact that there is an interim government today in Iraq is a significant accomplishment. As challenged as it is and given the security challenges that are faced there, that country is still better off than being under the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein," he said.

Sanchez credited successes to the qualities possessed by the men and women of the American armed forces.

"Unquestionably, it's their dedication to our democratic principles. It's their courage, their discipline," he said. "When you look at the performance or our servicemembers over my period of command over CJTF 7, there's no question that 99.99 percent of them served with honor and integrity and discipline and respected the Iraqi people. And, more importantly, they were benevolent victors in battle. And those are the values that we live by."

While many servicemembers are in-theater fighting terrorism, those in the rear detachments are providing support that allows those on the front lines some peace of mind. That rear detachment commander back at any installation inside or outside the continental United States is vital to the readiness of the formation that is engaged in battle, Sanchez said.

He added that while they may not be physically in-country facing the enemy, it was crucial to his formations to know that the rear detachments were keeping things going.

During his CJTF 7 command, Sanchez saw many hard-fought victories in Iraq. Perhaps one of the most publicized was the nabbing of the Ace of Spades on the coalition's most-wanted list.

"Clearly our biggest success was the capture of Saddam Hussein. That was a very special time in our operation," Sanchez said.

He was also privy to a unique view of what life was like for the Iraqi people under Saddam Hussein. That struck a deep chord.

"It was the suffering of the Iraqi people, the tremendous disparity between the haves and the have-nots," Sanchez noted. "When you see young children that are living in garbage dumps with dogs, that gives you an indication of the brutality of the regime.

"When you … listen to Iraqis talk to you about the suffering of their people and their families as the regime carried out its policies, it lets you know, first of all me as a leader and then the average soldier on the ground, that what they're doing is right. It's a mission that we can't walk away from."

Sanchez praised the troops and all Americans for their unwavering dedication and sacrifice in the global war on terror. The contributions they have made have benefited not only the people of Iraq, but also the region and the international community, he said.

"The performance of our servicemembers in the Iraq theater of operations during my period in command was amazing. It is something that America has to be proud of," Sanchez said. "The sacrifices are appreciated by the Department of Defense and the Army. It was the right thing. All of the country is committed to our success I believe. And it must be. We cannot falter."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Stars for Stripes Brings Chely Wright to Iraq, Kuwait
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2004 -- Country music star Chely Wright of "Single White Female" fame is heading to Kuwait and Iraq next week with her band to boost the troops' morale with some foot-stomping entertainment.

Wright's five-concert series, slated for Sept. 13 to 22, is sponsored by Stars for Stripes, a nonprofit group committed to providing quality entertainment to deployed troops — particularly those in remote outposts not typically visited during USO tours.

Founder, president and chief executive officer Judy Seale, who manages a variety of musical artists in Nashville, said participating in USO shows during Operation Desert Storm "opened my eyes to the military and the fact that we have people serving all over the world."

But Seale said she recognized that many of the bigger entertainment shows, which often feature big-name entertainers, gave concerts in large, fixed locations, too far away for some deployed troops to enjoy.

So she established Stars for Stripes and began recruiting stars willing to provide free concerts for servicemembers in far-flung reaches of the world. A DoD organization, Armed Forces Entertainment, pays for the tours.

The upcoming tour is Stars for Stripes' third to Southwest Asia. Stars for Stripes sent two country music artists to the theater for its Seasons Greetings Tour during the 2003 holiday season, which included seven stops in Kuwait and 13 in Iraq. This year's Summer Salute Tour in June and July included concerts at 14 camps in Kuwait, Iraq, Djibouti and Qatar.

"There's no way to even estimate how many thousands of troops we have visited just on those two tours, because we sometimes hit three and four camps a day," Seale said.

The concerts were a bit more basic than at stateside venues, with instrumentation generally limited to acoustics. During one concert, country entertainer Jolie Edwards performed on top of a freezer in a dining facility at a forward operating base in Iraq — a testament to the remote outposts Stars for Stripes serves. At another concert -- when singers Chalee Tennison and Danni Leigh entertained the troops at Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq, this summer -- mortars hit the camp during the show. After donning flak vests and helmets, the artists simply went on with the show.

But Seale said the upcoming Chely Wright concert will represent a big step forward for Stars for Stripes. Wright will perform with her full band and stage equipment to be rented in Kuwait, bringing full-production-value music to the troops.

Seale said the concerts are as meaningful to her and the performers as their audiences. "It's a way to give back and say 'thank you' to the people who are allowing me to live the way I live," she said. And although she knows the concerts "are good for the troops," Seale said "it's the artists whose lives are forever changed."

Among the program's top billings is Wright, a member of the Stars for Stripes board, who has a long tradition of military service. Her brother, Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Wright, recently returned from Iraq.

Wright said she was taught from a very young age "to do my part to show my appreciation to those who served or are serving" in the U.S. military. Her childhood lessons have evolved into an unabashed love for the troops — a love she never fails to exhibit when she steps onstage.

"I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm an American," Wright told a crowd at a Labor Day weekend concert in Annapolis, Md. "And whether you're for Kerry or for Bush, what's important is that you show your support for our troops."

Wright traveled to the area a day early for the concert, at Seale's urging, so she could visit wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

"It was unreal. I can't put into words what an experience that was," Wright told the crowd in Annapolis, as she described meeting with troops who had lost arms, legs, even eyesight in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I asked one of them where he wanted to do his convalescent leave and he told me, 'Baghdad, ma'am.' That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?" she asked.

The upcoming trip to Iraq will be Wright's second with Stars for Stripes, which she called "an efficient, professional and classy vehicle for entertainers of all types to 'give back.'"

Wright said her motivation for performing for the troops is "selfish" in nature. "It simply makes me feel good, fills up my heart, inspires me, galvanizes my appreciation for life and freedom, and it just makes me feel like I'm doing something valuable," she said.

But the country diva said she gets a special kick — and a lot of pride -- when a servicemember comes up to her at a show in the United States and says, "Hey, I saw your show in South Korea. Thank you for coming all that way to bring a little bit of home to us."

A new DVD/CD, slated for release this week, will feature footage from Wright's trips to Japan, South Korea and the Middle East to entertain the troops.

The highlight of her career, she said, was being named "Woman of the Year" by the American Legion Auxiliary in 2003. "Although I feel I don't deserve that distinctions, I cherish the acknowledgement," Wright said.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Sep2...004090806.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Base Chapel New, Improved
Submitted by: 24th MEU
Story Identification #: 200491573435
Story by Lance Cpl. Zachary R. Frank



FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq (Sep. 12, 2004) -- A new chapel opened its doors here to congregants of all faiths Sept. 5, ensuring that the religious needs of the Marines and Sailors of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit will be met even while they’re away from home.

Relocating from the camp barbershop to the middle of the newly built town square, the new chapel also serves as the town hall building. The town square and chapel construction took place on the few days previous to its opening.

The MEU will be more than able to have all religious needs met, assured 24th MEU chaplains Cmdr. James M. Hightower and Lt. Cmdr. James C. Pierce.

Services are offered every day, and the chaplains’ goal is to make certain the chapel is always readily accessible to anyone in need of spiritual enlightenment, or just some peace and calm during trying conditions.

Walls and shelves inside the building, put up by the four-person chapel staff, hold devotional reading material that everyone is invited to come and take at their leisure.

“It’s our goal that nobody comes to Kalsu who can’t get their religious needs met,” said Pierce.

Since the move to the new building, the chaplains have begun two new programs for everyone aboard the camp. A choir has begun practicing Thursday nights, and immediately following the choir, an evening service is offered for the sake of, but not limited to, workers who can’t make the regular service. The evening service goes every night of the week except Sunday.

The chapels’ doors are always open, and everyone is welcome to go and have their spiritual needs met whenever convenient.

“We’re here to provide what everyone needs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” added Pierce.



Cmdr. James M. Hightower, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit senior chaplain, delivers a sermon at the new chapel on Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Sept. 12.
Hightower gave the first sermon Sept. 5 in the new facility that serves the religious needs of everyone stationed at Kalsu.
The 24th MEU is conducting security and stability operations in Northern Babil Province. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Zachary R. Frank

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...C?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Norfolk Marine tells story of rooftop fight in Iraq



Marine Cpl. Lonnie Young waged the battle of his life in Iraq on April 4: Trapped on a rooftop with a handful of other men, he helped to face down hundreds of Iraqi insurgents attacking from all directions. BILL TIERNAN/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

By KATE WILTROUT, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 18, 2004

NORFOLK — Outnumbered, low on ammo, perched on a rooftop for hours in a battle against Iraqi insurgents, Lonnie Young figured his number was up.

It was April 4, 2004, and the war had entered its deadliest month for Americans. Days earlier, four contractors passing through Fallujah had been ambushed, killed, and strung from a bridge.

At least half a dozen other men from their firm – Blackwater USA , based in Moyock – handled security at the Coalition Provisional Authority’s base in Najaf, where Young, a 25-year-old Norfolk-based Marine Corps corporal, was working that day.

After installing an antenna on the roof to upgrade communications, Young stretched out in the back of a truck for a pre-lunch catnap. Gunfire – and the more atypical sound of guards returning fire – woke him.

The battle that followed became front-page news, an early indication of the growing insurgency across Iraq. Within days, a picture of Young and the Blackwater commandos atop the roof appeared in newspapers across the country. But until Young sat down recently to share his story, his role in the outcome of the battle has gone untold.

According to one senior Marine officer on the ground in Najaf that day, Young’s actions helped turn the tide of the battle against a well-coordinated militia attacking from various directions.

“All of the Blackwater guys told me that if it hadn’t been for him, they may indeed have been overrun,” said the officer, who asked that his name not be used.

Moments after the attack began, Young donned his body armor, grabbed his M249 light machine gun, and raced upstairs with a handful of Blackwater commandos. The gun battle against hundreds of members of the al-Mahdi militia, loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, grew so intense that Young had to stop shooting every 15 minutes to let the barrel of his gun cool. He’d tear through 700 to 800 rounds, then spend five minutes filling magazines with bullets until the metal was cool enough to use.

The first break in action for the Kentucky native came when an Army captain near him was shot in the arm and back. Young dug into his medical kit and bandaged the man up, then eased him down four stories to nurses below. Next, Young dashed across the camp to Blackwater’s ammunition supply room, strapped about 150 pounds of bullets to his body, and sprinted back to the roof.

The noontime battle stretched into the afternoon. Young figured he’d die.

“I thought, 'This is my last day. I’m going out with a bang.’ If I had to die it would be defending my country,” Young said Friday.

“I just felt like we were losing ground, and I thought, 'If I’m going to die, I’m not going down without a fight.’ I knew we were seriously outnumbered. They were coming at us with pretty much everything they had. We were seriously struggling to keep our ground.”

The insurgents had machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and a sniper shooting out the window of a local hospital.

Young saw a red flash, then blood spurting 5 or 6 feet out of the jaw and neck of a contractor. He reached into the quarter-sized bullet hole in the man’s jaw and pinched his carotid artery closed, then dragged the man across the roof to where his medical kit lay sprawled open.

Midway across the roof, Young heard a loud smack. Pain danced across his face, chased by adrenaline, and he forgot about it. After a medic packed the man’s wounds with a substance that clots blood, Young strapped the man to his back and carried him downstairs. In all, the Marine left the roof five times: twice to transport wounded comrades, three times for ammunition.

When a group of U.S. Army military police officers joined the fight, Young used his experience as a weapons instructor to talk them through it. Conserve your ammo. Slow and steady before you squeeze. Adjust your sites for range and distance. Take breaks so your gun barrel doesn’t melt.

At some point, Young felt dizzy. He realized he couldn’t see out of his left eye. The doctor found a gunshot wound high on his left shoulder. Young didn’t want to leave the fight, but an Army captain told him otherwise.

“Basically, I refused to get down off the rooftop at first,” said Young, the father of a 7-year-old son back in Dry Ridge, Ky.

Soon afterward, a Blackwater helicopter flew Young to a combat support hospital in Baghdad. Chris Taylor, a director at Blackwater USA, praised Young after hearing how the Marine replenished the contractors’ ammunition to keep the bullets flying.

“When there are rounds firing, coming at you from down range, everybody pulls together to do what needs to be done,” said Taylor, a former Marine. “He should be proud of the way he acted.”

After surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder – it lodged an inch from his spine – and shrapnel from his eye, Young recuperated for two weeks in Baghdad, then spent a month at home in Kentucky.

Young said he dreams about combat every night, and his wounds remind him of what happened – especially on long runs or while doing pull-ups. The pain makes him wonder whether he should stay in the Marines when his hitch ends in December.

If he does leave, Young has a Purple Heart and a chunk of bullet cut out of his back for souvenirs. He has also been nominated for another award based on his actions that day, according to a Marine Corps spokesman.

Even if he gets out, and puts his degree in design engineering from Eastern Kentucky University to use, Young will never forget how he got to be a sniper, medic, ammunition supplier, weapons coach, and communications specialist – all on the same day.

Said Young: “I’d always wanted to be a Marine.”

Reach Kate Wiltrout at 446-2629 or kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com



Young is in the foreground wearing a helmet in this photo taken during the April standoff with Iraqi insurgents in Najaf. File photo.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories...750&ran=122276


Ellie