The event tested competitors
Soldiers participate in a weeklong competition at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Feb. 16, 2021. The event tested competitors’ physical readiness and tenacity.
Photo By: Army Spc. Jessica Scott
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2011 - The United States and Iraq are in talks to chart military assistance Iraq needs after the pull-out of U.S. troops at the end of the year, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said today.
"We are seriously considering this request, and I want to make clear that no final decisions have been made," Panetta said. "We'll continue to consult extensively with the Iraqis, but we will also consult with the Congress before such decisions are made as to what a post-2011 training presence will look like." Panetta wants to normalize the security relationship between the countries. "The United States wants a normal, productive relationship and a close strategic partnership with a sovereign Iraq and with other countries -- similar, frankly, to the partnerships we have with other countries in the region and around the world," he said. Iraqi leaders still have challenges, including dealing with Shia extremists allied with Iran and contending with the remnants of al-Qaida in the country. U.S. military attention has shifted to Afghanistan where there are now about 100,000 U.S. service members. "Because of the hard work and the sacrifices of Afghan and coalition forces, we've established conditions that are putting Afghans on the path to assume lead responsibility for security nationwide by the end of 2014," the secretary said. The Taliban insurgency has lost ground in much of the country, especially in the south. "Afghan national security forces are increasingly strong and capable," Panetta said. "We have made significant progress with regards to our primary mission of disrupting, dismantling and ultimately defeating al-Qaida, particularly with the operations that took down bin Laden and that continue to take down the key leadership of al-Qaida and their affiliates." This progress has allowed the transition to Afghan security control to begin, Panetta said. "We've done that in seven areas of the country since July," he said. "As this transition commenced, we began implementing a gradual and responsible drawdown that is essential to the success of that transition process and lasting security and stability in Afghanistan." Yet, tremendous challenges remain in Afghanistan, Panetta said, noting the Taliban have shifted strategies to launch headline-grabbing attacks. "We are concerned that these attacks, because of the loss of life and because they represent an effort to disrupt the process we have made, must be confronted and cannot be allowed to continue," the secretary said. "Overall, we judge this change in tactics to be a result in a shift in momentum in our favor, and a sign of weakness of the insurgency." Overall violence in Afghanistan is down, especially in areas where the surge was concentrated -- Kandahar and Helmand province. But Afghans still perceive the Taliban network is still effective and the coalition must work with the Afghan government to provide security to destroy those perceptions, the secretary said. A second challenge is in the east, where "the topography, the cultural geography and the continuing presence of safe havens in Pakistan give the insurgents advantages they have lost elsewhere in the country," Panetta said. "We cannot allow terrorists to have safe havens from which they launch attacks and kill our forces," he said. "We cannot allow that to happen, and we have to bring pressure on the Pakistanis to do their part to confront that issue." Developing governance in Afghanistan is a third challenge, the secretary said, and the United States and its coalition allies must aid the effort. The United States and the coalition must retain their focus and dedication to the fight, Panetta said. "This is a heavy burden that I feel personally now as secretary of defense every time I write a condolence letter," he said. "Since taking this office, I've been to Dover to receive the remains of those who were killed in the Chinook helicopter crash last month. I've been to Arlington, and I've been to Bethesda. "In spending time with the families of those who have died or have been seriously wounded in the service of this country -- there isn't a family member who hasn't come up to me and said if you really care about what happened to my loved one, you will carry on the mission that they gave their life for or were seriously wounded for," Panetta added. "We owe it to those who've paid this price to continue the hard work of doing this right and protecting our country," he said. | ||
| Biographies: Leon E. Panetta Related Sites: Photo Essay: Panetta, Mullen Testify Before Senate Armed Services Committee |
  By Army Staff Sgt. Brad Staggs Camp Atterbury Public Affairs BUTLERVILLE, Ind., June 23, 2011 - Have you ever wanted to break a world record? Army Staff Sgt. John Halsey didn't know that he wanted to -- until he discovered that he had something to prove to his student soldiers.
"I challenged them to go do something productive, go break a world record," Halsey said. "They laughed about it and told me to go break a world record." Halsey said he replied, "I will," to the students. Halsey set his sights on the record for most push-ups in one minute with a 40-pound pack -- a record that was then held by Britain's Paddy Doyle, who'd performed 51 push-ups in one minute with a 40-pound pack on his back Oct. 11, 2010. Halsey said he felt that he needed to not only break the record, but to beat it decisively to show his soldiers that anything is possible. The barrel-chested Halsey trained every day for two months. The rules for breaking a world record are specific and include having witnesses present who aren't affiliated with the attempted record breaker or the organization. Shana Richmond of North Vernon; Connie Rayburn, North Vernon city councilor; and North Vernon's First Lady Joanne Campbell all volunteered to witness the event and act as unbiased judges. With more than 100 Patriot Academy students present in the old school house gymnasium, a 40-pound kettle bell weight was placed in a three-pound backpack, more than tipping the mandatory weight of 40 pounds as it was officially weighed and documented. When Halsey was told to go, he was more than ready. By the time 30 seconds had elapsed, the students were out of their seats and pounding the gymnasium floor, cheering louder and louder for Halsey until it was nearly impossible to hear the time keeper over the public address system. As soon as the members of the crowd, who were counting the number of Halsey's push-ups, shouted "52," everybody started cheering. But Halsey didn't stop. He wasn't satisfied with simply breaking the record. Stop was called at 60 seconds and the official final count was 60 push-ups. Halsey had performed 60 push-ups in one minute while wearing a 43-pound backpack -- an average of one push-up every second. Rayburn was in charge of counting the number of push-ups using a hand counter. "I was so excited, and I was looking at how much time was left. I knew where I was at on the count and kept thinking, 'This is too cool, but remember to focus on what you're doing,'" she said. "I knew the previous record was 51," said Richmond, the other official counter. "So the second I hit 51, I was cheering as hard as the soldiers behind me. I can't wait to tell my kids at school. They are going to think it's the greatest thing that's ever happened." Campbell said she was excited to be present at the breaking of a world record. "I have never done anything like this before. What an experience," she said. "I'm so proud of him and his motivation. It's awesome." After his record-breaking performance, Halsey didn't appear any worse for wear. "I'm just glad it's over with," he said. "My goal behind this was to show the students it can be done. I have a feeling a lot of them will be gunning for this record just because it was me who broke it. I want to watch them do it, because any time they are trying that hard, they are just becoming better soldiers." It may take as long as six weeks for the Guinness World Record committee to verify Halsey's record, at which point he will be sent a certificate to commemorate the achievement. But, for Halsey, the true accomplishment is the example he set for his soldiers. | ||
By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, - Five years from now, if Frank C. DiGiovanni has his way, warfighters from every service will learn aspects of their trade on a world in cyberspace.
DiGiovanni is director of training readiness and strategy in the office of the deputy assistant secretary of defense for readiness. He's also a retired Air Force colonel and a senior aviator. "I'd love to see it happen in the next 18 months to two years," DiGiovanni said in an interview with American Forces Press Service. "Realistically, a full-up world is probably five years away." Over the next five years, the Defense Department will build that world in cyberspace, where the men and women of the armed forces will take another step forward in the transition from analog to digital technology that began with the public Internet and DOD websites. A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment that's available 24 hours a day. Users create digital representations of themselves, called "avatars," that build out the world, creating content and communicating with each other. Second Life is one of many virtual worlds that exist in cyberspace. It opened in 2003, created by Linden Lab, a San Francisco-based company founded in 1999 by Philip Rosedale to create a new form of shared experience. Second Life residents -- 20 million and rising, from hundreds of countries -- build and own the world's digital infrastructure. This includes homes, vehicles, campuses of real-life universities, museums, nightclubs, stores, libraries, landscapes, games, islands, companies, government organizations and military bases. A handful of U.S. government agencies have facilities of varying complexity and interaction in Second Life. These include NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Institutes of Health and its National Library of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Homeland Security, the House of Representatives and more every day. The Defense Department's virtual world may be five years away, but the Army, Navy and Air Force all have public and private facilities in Second Life, and in other virtual worlds, including Teleplace and OpenSimulator. In Second Life, U.S. military activities take place on a growing collection of islands called "Military Islands." MiLands was established in 2008 by Doug Maxwell, formerly of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and now science and technology manager for virtual world and strategic applications at the Army Simulation and Training Technology Center in Orlando, Fla. MiLands includes the Air Force Air Education and Training Command and Air University, the Naval Undersea Warfare Command and other Navy projects, a Marine Corps island, several Army groups and Coalition Island, a military hub. Each group uses Second Life for activities that include training, education, collaboration and research. DiGiovanni praises these efforts as "pioneering work done by the services and some people with great vision who really saw the potential" of virtual worlds for military uses. "But we felt it was ad hoc," DiGiovanni said. For the DOD virtual world experts are working on "a governance model that makes sense" in which everyone in the world can participate, DiGiovanni said, much like the Constitution allows American citizens to participate in their government. "A governance model allows you to take all the efforts that are going on and synchronize them, integrate them, so you have a comprehensive whole, and not four separate efforts," he added. "I don't want four separate worlds, I want one world ... to be able to leverage all that content building that's being done by everyone out there," the director said. DiGiovanni began thinking about emerging technologies when he was asked to develop a training environment that was available globally, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some of the inspiration for virtual world military training came from massively multiplayer online games, such as Halo and Call of Duty, he said. "When you look at the ability to go to an online game, pick a team ad hoc, decide on the tactic and then start the game," DiGiovanni added, "that's when you think, if we can do that in the commercial world, the Defense Department needs a similar capability." A "perfect storm" of resource constraints, global repositioning of troops coming home from the Middle East, and competing demands for land, air and maritime training capability makes it critical to develop a virtual training capability, he said. Such an environment, DiGiovanni said, must be "augmented with some type of physical training to make sure that what you're learning in the virtual world can be exported to the real world." Virtual training can be very effective, he added, and can help people become much more proficient in the limited amount of time and space available with live resources. The Strategic Plan for the Next Generation of Training for the Department of Defense, published in 2010, DiGiovanni said, discusses "leveraging emerging technologies to enhance our training capabilities." The plan was fully vetted across all four services and signed by Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III, he added. Essential features of a technology-based training environment, the report says, include synchronizing "live and virtual training operations in near-real time to enable realistic simulation of sensors, replication of visual cues and platform interactions [among] live, virtual and constructive participants." DiGiovanni and his staff meet with industry experts and consult regularly with the technological pioneers who are building virtual capacity today for the military services. Carl Rosengrant, senior technical adviser for training readiness and strategy, said his office would soon receive the results of a study by industry experts to help DOD define the framework and tools needed to develop the Defense Department online world. When the report is written and vetted with technology experts in the military services, DiGiovanni said, "We think we'll be able to put the construct together that would allow us to build a world." American culture is well postured to lead a revolution in the use of the virtual training environment, DiGiovanni said. "I challenge everyone to put their pioneering spirit on," he said, "think about where technology can take us, and then let's go there together." (Issued on May 9, 2011) | ||
| Biographies: Frank C. DiGiovanni Related Sites: Video: Infantry Simulation and Training is Here (4:25) Related Articles: 'Virtual World' Helps With Post-traumatic Stress | ||
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By Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie L. Carl Task Force Thunder KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 25, 2011 – Tony Soto’s promotion to chief warrant officer 5 wasn’t like many other promotions.
“Everyone makes [chief warrant officer 2],” said Joe Roberts, a fellow chief warrant officer 5 and the command chief warrant officer for the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Thunder. “But there are only about 350 CW5s in the Army.” Chief warrant officer 5 is the pinnacle of a warrant officer’s career, and very few ever attain that rank. It takes dedication and drive to reach that point. It also takes diversity. “My success has had a lot to do with having the opportunities to take the right jobs at the right times,” Soto explained. “I’ve been multi-tracked –- working both safety and standardization -– which has also helped me to reach this point.” Soto began his career in the Army much like most warrant officers –- as an enlisted soldier. He started out as an infantryman and served for eight and a half years, attaining the rank of staff sergeant while at flight school, after assignments in Colorado and Germany. “I thought it was going to be a quick four years,” he said. Soto said he joined the Army looking for some direction after completing an associate’s degree. He also was looking for additional funding for school. “I didn’t come from a well-to-do family,” explained Soto, who hails from the Bronx, N.Y. “Everything we ever had fallen on the shoulders of my mom and dad.” Almost 30 years later, Soto is setting the example for others to follow. “Tony has had to stand out way above his peers,” Roberts said. “He has done everything the Army asked of him and more.” Early in his career as an aviator, Soto used his proficiency as a Spanish speaker to serve in South America working for the State Department. “That assignment really helped me see the big picture of aviation,” he said. While he was there, Soto helped to standardize the maintenance and training cycles for the UH-1 Huey and MI-17 helicopters being used in theater, as well as C-27 fixed-wing aircraft. Today, he fills a similar role here within Task Force Thunder. “He gets the point across in a professional way that lets the rest of the brigade know what’s expected of them,” Roberts said. As the brigade standardization officer, Soto is responsible for ensuring consistency in aircraft procedures throughout the brigade. He said he volunteered for the assignment, and he couldn’t be more proud to be part of the task force. As a chief warrant officer 5, Soto said he has the opportunity to influence change. “It’s about improving systems and making air crews safer,” he said. “Whatever you do, you should do it with a lot of passion and put safety first. It’s easy to identify a problem, but to come up with a solution, that’s what sets you apart.” | ||
| Related Sites: NATO International Security Assistance Force |
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., March 28, 2011 - Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary W. Scott Gould called on more than 350 disabled veterans last night to strive for new heights as they participate here this week in the 25th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic.
"Those of you who have been here before know why," he told this year's participants, many of whom have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Those of you who are new to the clinic will soon know. There is something here for everyone." The clinic, jointly sponsored by the Veterans Affairs Department and DAV, uses recreation as a rehabilitative tool for veterans with disabilities ranging from spinal cord injuries and orthopedic amputations to visual impairment and neurological conditions. As they learn adaptive alpine and Nordic skiing and get introduced to rock climbing, scuba diving, trapshooting, curling, snowmobiling and sled hockey during a five-day program, the veterans' eyes get opened to a whole new world of opportunity. "It is all about redefining possibilities in the life of a seriously wounded veteran," Gould told American Forces Press Service. "This set of events here is all about creating that moment where a veteran looks up at the hill and feels in the pit of their stomach, 'I don't know if I can do this," whether because it's a whole new experience or a first return to the mountain with a disability. "It is all about the camaraderie and the teamwork and the coaxing and the safety and the training and coaching that leads that person to get in the chairlift for the first time and go to the top of the hill," Gould said. "And that moment is very important. It is an experiential kind of learning," he added. "And it moves the veteran from a clinic environment ... to one in which they are guiding their own recovery." Those lessons, he said, will remain with the participants long after they leave Snowmass Mountain and the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. "They figure out what they can do next -- the next move, the next challenge," Gould said. "And maybe they take a look at Aspen and say, 'Life has some beautiful qualities to it. My life is changed, but not over.'" Tyson relayed his own experience participating in the clinic and its power in helping disabled veterans focus on their abilities rather than their disabilities. "You will face challenges," he told the group, warning that they're likely to come away from the experience tired, sore, and perhaps even with a few bruises. "But you will come out of it stronger in every possible way," Tyson said. Biden made a surprise appearance at last night's opening ceremony. The previous day he'd thanked the hundreds of volunteers and staff members that work to make the sports clinic a success. Snowmass Village rolled out the red carpet to the participants, hosting the annual "Taste of Aspen" as the event kicked off. | ||
| Biographies: W. Scott Gould Related Sites: National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic Department of Veterans Affairs Disabled American Veterans | ||
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