By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden of American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today challenged the Defense Department and all Americans to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy during a Pentagon observance in advance of the Jan. 18 holiday that marks the civil rights leader's birth. .
King spent his life advocating for equality and eventually became a world figure in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The Baptist minister led peaceful demonstrations and marches throughout the country and gave thousands of memorable speeches until his assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. The path of service and equality led by King paved way for desegregation and better opportunities, not just for African Americans, but for all citizens. He sought a society "founded and fueled on equality, justice, dignity, freedom and strength that can come only from being a truly united country," Gates said. The secretary noted that King's efforts continue to break down barriers even today. In the past two years, the nation has celebrated 60 years of desegregation in the armed forces and witnessed the election of the first black U.S. president. Gates cited prominent African-American military officers as examples of the opportunities King and the civil rights movement provided. He noted Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command; Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, director of the Joint Staff; and Air Force Maj. Gen. Darren W. McDew, vice director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff, for their examples. "These officers represent the very best our nation has to offer, and I'm truly thankful that they chose to serve and defend our country," Gates said. The men and women who serve throughout the Defense Department are "ordinary Americans from all walks of life and backgrounds, [and] have put themselves in harm's way ... to confront those who would attack the ideals that Dr. King espoused." Their sacrifices have been made willingly on behalf of all Americans and speak volumes to their character and King's work, Gates said. Still, the secretary said, it's important to continue furthering King's principles and what he ultimately died trying to preserve. "Progress is neither automatic nor inevitable," Gates said, quoting King. "Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle." The Martin Luther King federal holiday was signed into law in 1983 and was first observed in 1986. The holiday is observed on the third Monday in January each year, around the time of King's birthday, Jan. 15. (Issued on : Jan 14, 2010) | ||||
| Biographies: Robert M. Gates | ||||
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Friday, January 15, 2010
Pentagon Honors Civil Rights Leader's Legacy
Thursday, January 14, 2010
U.S. Coast Guard cutters sit offshore near Haiti
Guided-Missile Destroyer
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Mike McCartney, the commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), gives a tour of the forecastle of the ship to Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsuya Okada Jan. 11, 2010, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, Okada met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to discuss the movement of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, the expansion of the Japanese and U.S. security alliance, the war in Afghanistan and North Korea’s nuclear programs. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mark Logico, U.S. Navy)
Engineers Wire Up New Living Areas in Iraq
By Army Staff Sgt. April Mota Special to American Forces Press Service BAGHDAD : Soldiers from 317th Engineer Company and 808th Engineer Company are providing electricity to the future living spaces of U.S. forces as they prepare to hand off their current housing to the Iraqi army.
The engineers are busy digging ditches, upgrading electrical boxes, burying cables and connecting boxes to generators that provide housing units with electricity. The new housing units will allow the U.S. soldiers to vacate the space their Iraqi counterparts plan to use as they continue toward independent operations. Army Sgt. 1st Class Theodore Blanford of 1434th Engineer Company, who is responsible for some of the work done by the soldiers of 317th Engineer Company, said he was impressed with the soldiers' hard work. The most time-consuming part of the project was digging the ditches to bury the wires leading from the generator to the electrical boxes. The soldiers dug more than 60 feet of trenches by hand to conceal the cable. Wiring the electrical boxes correctly is paramount in ensuring the quarters are safe, said Army Spc. Josue Delgado of San Antonio, who serves with 808th Engineer Company. "We had to make sure the boxes didn't piggyback off each other," he explained. "They all have their own electric supply, [and] they are all routed and grounded properly, which is important. This makes sure there are no fire hazards." Another challenging aspect of the project, Delgado said, was salvaging electrical boxes. "The electrical boxes we used came from the [scrap yard]," he said. "We had to pick through, find proper boxes, then drill holes in the bottoms of the boxes to feed the wire through." Creating housing to relocate the 10th Mountain Division soldiers is a vital part of U.S. forces handing responsibility to the Iraqi army at Carver, Delgado said. (Army Staff Sgt. April Mota serves in U.S. Division Center with 101st Engineer Battalion, 16th Engineer Brigade.) | ||||
| Related Sites: U.S. Forces Iraq | ||||
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Extraction exercise with a Marine Corps
U.S. Air Force pararescuemen conduct a combat insertion and extraction exercise with a Marine Corps CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter attached to Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 464 in Djibouti Jan. 5, 2010. The two units are deployed to Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa. (DoD photo by Master Sgt. Jeremiah Erickson, U.S. Air Force/Released)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Soldiers Bring Electronic Banking to Iraq
By Army Capt. Randy J. Michael
Special to American Forces Press Service
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, (Iraq) : Iraq may not be ready for PayPal, but with the help of the U.S. Army, the southern Iraqi provinces of Dhi Qar, Maysan and Al Muthanna are moving closer to a cashless system in order to deal with the mounting costs of dealing with cash.
Task Force Pathfinder is increasing its use of electronic funds transfer as a better way to pay local contractors and vendors instead of in stacks of Iraqi dinar. The transactions are part of the unit's role aiding the State Department's Provincial Reconstruction Teams as they build up the Iraqi civilian infrastructure.
Officials are pursuing the change to electronic transfers as a way to save money and reduce the security risks associated with transporting funds. Also, they say, electronic transfers increase public confidence in the Iraqi banking system, which gets a boost with every deposit.
Today, the U.S. Army brings an estimated $42 million in currency into Iraq and Afghanistan monthly, down from $192 million per month this time last year and as much as $400 million a month in 2003. With the development of new banks, including one nearing completion on base here, transferring funds electronically is becoming the preferred method of payment.
When paying for reconstruction projects with hard currency, the cost to the Army is about $32 per payment – nearly all of which goes to security costs -- compared to $2.50 per electronic transaction. Changing to an all-electronic transfer system of payments is expected to save the Army about $20 million annually.
Task Force Pathfinder's paying agents have handled more than $14 million in both dinar and electronic disbursements with local contractors and vendors in Maysan, Al Muthanna and Dhi Qar provinces in the past eight months. Another $21 million is approved and pending future payments for local humanitarian assistance projects. Most of this is to be paid via electronic transfer.
The Army would like to move to electronic money transfers for reconstruction contracts, but it isn't easy convincing Iraqi businessmen that an electronic receipt is going to pay them when they always have received bundles of cash. Contractors need reassurance that the process works. That means both soldiers and program managers must be well versed in the process and understand everyone's responsibility to ensure efficiency.
1st Lt. Andrew King, a disbursing agent with the 33rd Finance Management Company, explained the electronic process.
"We process the [payment] request and send it up within the first 24 to 48 hours," he said. "Then, Baghdad releases a voucher number. At this point, it takes five to seven days for the payment to reach the contractor's account."
Not only is the finance company a resource, but there also is an EFT Assistance Center, created and funded by the task force to serve as a help desk to stakeholders in Iraq's newly introduced payments system.
Since October 2008, the assistance center has resolved more than 150 payment problems totaling more than $15 million. The center also, provides monthly statistical analysis of the most common electronic payment problems within Iraq, and communicates the causes to Joint Contracting Command-Iraq, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and other agencies.
The Army is working toward going cashless within the year for contracts with local vendors, Brig. Gen. Phillip E. McGhee, director of resource management for U.S. Army Central Command, said.
As Task Force Pathfinder soldiers continue their efforts to build civil capacity in southern Iraq, "the transition to electronic funds transfers is a welcomed sign of progress that has the added benefit of saving the U.S. government money," added Lt. Col. Mike Eastman, task force commander.
(Army Capt. Randy J. Michael serves with 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division public affairs.)
Related Sites:
U.S. Forces Iraq
Special to American Forces Press Service
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, (Iraq) : Iraq may not be ready for PayPal, but with the help of the U.S. Army, the southern Iraqi provinces of Dhi Qar, Maysan and Al Muthanna are moving closer to a cashless system in order to deal with the mounting costs of dealing with cash.
Officials are pursuing the change to electronic transfers as a way to save money and reduce the security risks associated with transporting funds. Also, they say, electronic transfers increase public confidence in the Iraqi banking system, which gets a boost with every deposit.
Today, the U.S. Army brings an estimated $42 million in currency into Iraq and Afghanistan monthly, down from $192 million per month this time last year and as much as $400 million a month in 2003. With the development of new banks, including one nearing completion on base here, transferring funds electronically is becoming the preferred method of payment.
When paying for reconstruction projects with hard currency, the cost to the Army is about $32 per payment – nearly all of which goes to security costs -- compared to $2.50 per electronic transaction. Changing to an all-electronic transfer system of payments is expected to save the Army about $20 million annually.
Task Force Pathfinder's paying agents have handled more than $14 million in both dinar and electronic disbursements with local contractors and vendors in Maysan, Al Muthanna and Dhi Qar provinces in the past eight months. Another $21 million is approved and pending future payments for local humanitarian assistance projects. Most of this is to be paid via electronic transfer.
The Army would like to move to electronic money transfers for reconstruction contracts, but it isn't easy convincing Iraqi businessmen that an electronic receipt is going to pay them when they always have received bundles of cash. Contractors need reassurance that the process works. That means both soldiers and program managers must be well versed in the process and understand everyone's responsibility to ensure efficiency.
1st Lt. Andrew King, a disbursing agent with the 33rd Finance Management Company, explained the electronic process.
"We process the [payment] request and send it up within the first 24 to 48 hours," he said. "Then, Baghdad releases a voucher number. At this point, it takes five to seven days for the payment to reach the contractor's account."
Not only is the finance company a resource, but there also is an EFT Assistance Center, created and funded by the task force to serve as a help desk to stakeholders in Iraq's newly introduced payments system.
Since October 2008, the assistance center has resolved more than 150 payment problems totaling more than $15 million. The center also, provides monthly statistical analysis of the most common electronic payment problems within Iraq, and communicates the causes to Joint Contracting Command-Iraq, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and other agencies.
The Army is working toward going cashless within the year for contracts with local vendors, Brig. Gen. Phillip E. McGhee, director of resource management for U.S. Army Central Command, said.
As Task Force Pathfinder soldiers continue their efforts to build civil capacity in southern Iraq, "the transition to electronic funds transfers is a welcomed sign of progress that has the added benefit of saving the U.S. government money," added Lt. Col. Mike Eastman, task force commander.
(Army Capt. Randy J. Michael serves with 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division public affairs.)
Related Sites:
U.S. Forces Iraq
 | Army 1st Lt. Adam Marquis and Navy Lt. j.g. Christopher Deluzio, both assigned to Task Force Pathfinder, inspect the progress made on an electrical project in Dhi Qar province. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Aaron Brooks Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution |
Friday, January 08, 2010
Security from inside a Stryker armored vehicle
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