By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 24, 2011 - In a recent speech at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the Army has changed the most of all the services.
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey will relieve Casey as Army chief of staff next month, when Casey ends four decades of service. During an interview in his Pentagon office, the outgoing chief of staff spoke about the changes that have happened in the Army since he became the service's highest-ranking officer in 2007. "We will have done in seven years what normally would take us 20 years to do," the general said. "We've done it in the middle of a war, and we are a fundamentally different force and a more versatile and experienced force than we were seven years ago. I'm very pleased with the way that turned out." In the months before Casey took over, stories about the Army and its future were common in the media, centering on concern about the pace of operations and its effect on the service. It was the height of the U.S. surge into Iraq, and soldiers were deployed for 15-month tours and often spending less than a year at their homes before deploying again. Worries surfaced that departures of mid-level officers and noncommissioned officers would "hollow out" the service, and that families weary of the repeated deployments would get their soldiers to vote with their feet and leave the Army. When he first took office, the general and his wife traveled all over the Army to get their own sense of what was going on. "When we got back we thought our way through it, and it was clear to us that the families were the most brittle part of the force," Casey said. "We needed to do something immediately to demonstrate to the families that we were going to take a load off." An immediate move was to hire and pay family readiness advisers. The service put in place the Family Covenant Program, and doubled funding for family readiness programs. Dealing with deployments was another priority, Casey said. "The 15-month tours – on top of everything they had already done – that was choking people," Casey said. "We had to show them that there was daylight, and that daylight was going to come sooner, rather than later." Then-President George W. Bush had authorized an increase in the size of the Army by 2012. Casey told about going into auditoriums full of troops in 2007 and telling them relief would come in 2012. "And they would look at me like, "C'mon, General, get real,'" he said. He met with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and told him that the Army growth had to be sped up to 2010, "and he agreed," the general said. The Army met its growth goals in 2009. Casey also was worried about a hollow force, and instinctively concentrated on the mid-level officers and NCOs. "They were the ones carrying the heaviest loads," he said. Casey looked to the Army's Center of Military History for historical research, and the data showed it really was all about the midlevel leaders. "When the people it takes you a decade to grow leave, it takes you a decade to get [that capability] back," he said. The service put in place selective retention bonuses for captains and increased the selective re-enlistment bonuses for mid-level NCOs. "I believe it gave a lot of those captains the ability to look at their spouses and say, 'We're going to be OK," he said. But people were saying the Army already was hollow because of the readiness level of "next-to-deploy" forces. The service had to strip these forces of soldiers for units already in the combat theater. "We started thinking about generating readiness differently and enhancing the Army force-generating model that we had come up with in 2005 to make it more realistic," Casey said. Follow-on forces now are fully manned and fully trained as a unit before deploying. Dwell time – the time troops spend at home between deployments – became an important measurement. The goal is for soldiers to spend twice as much time at home as deployed. Casey said the differences are visible in the soldiers themselves. "I went out with a unit that was home for 18 months," he said, "and you could see the difference that time at home meant in their faces, and in the preparation they could do." The Army also is changing to meet the demands of 21st century operations. Casey continued the process of changing to a modular brigade system. During World War II, the division was the basic unit for the Army. Today, it is the brigade combat team. "With everything we had going on, if I had made hard turns, it would have derailed the progress," he said. "I came in and said, 'Let's finish it,' and we kept on going." By the end of the year, the Army will have converted all but a handful of the 300-plus brigades to these modular organizations, "and we will have rebalanced 300,000-plus soldiers out of Cold War skills to those more necessary today," Casey said. "Together, it's the largest transformation of the Army since World War II." The personal costs and effects of combat also pushed Casey. "I'd been in Iraq," he said. "I'd seen the effects of combat on folks and what it did to folks, and I recognized that no matter who you are, everyone is affected by combat in one way or another. I set out to try to reduce the stigma associated with getting treatment for behavioral health issues." Post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries are the signature wounds of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but there may be no outwardly visible signs of the injuries. "I started getting the word out then to everyone we could that combat is hard, everyone is affected by it -- we're human beings," Casey said. "If you've got a problem, get some help." The general said he wanted to encourage openness, and knew it was going to be a hard slog. "We went from where 90 percent of the people wouldn't get help to now, where about half of the people won't get help," he said. "That's still a lot of people, but it's a start. We still have to crack the company and platoon levels. It's gradually getting more traction." Concurrently, the Army's suicide rate began rising. "It struck me how futile it is to be sitting around a company orderly room – like we've all done – with the first sergeant saying, 'Gosh, Smith was a wonderful guy. I should have seen something, I should have known something, I should have done something.' And you never can," Casey said. "It occurred to me that maybe we ought to come up with something that gives them skills on the front end before they get to that dark place that would lead them to suicide to begin with." The Army introduced Comprehensive Soldier Fitness to unit operations to avoid some of the stigma that some people associate with a medical program. "The whole idea was to bring mental fitness up to the same plane as physical fitness," the general said. "The thrust behind it is [that] part of being a good soldier is knowing when you need a break and when you need to get some help. That doesn't mean you're a wimp." All this is having results. Army surveys show that family satisfaction with the service has increased steadily since 2007, and this continues to trend upward. But the Army is not out of the woods yet, Casey said. For the next several years, the United States will continue to send 50,000 to 100,000 soldiers to combat. They are going to have to maintain their edge, but so will the thousands of soldiers who won't be going to combat. At the same time, the Army has to reconstitute after a decade at war. "What I worry about is you get these guys back in garrison and you go back to the same bull I went through in the 1970s, and these young guys are going to say, 'I'm outta here,'" Casey said. The service also has to concentrate on building resilience in soldiers and their families, Casey said. "We've just got to keep at it," he added. The Army has learned from Iraq and Afghanistan that the next conflict probably won't look like anything it is fighting today. "We changed our doctrine in 2008 and said that full-spectrum operations are offense, defense and stability operations," Casey said. "It's done simultaneously and in different proportions, depending where you are in the spectrum of conflict." He said that when he commanded the 1st Armored Division in 2000 and 2001, he believed that if a unit could do conventional war, it could do anything. "But after 32 months in Iraq, I don't believe that any more," he said. "What we realized was its not going to be either conventional or counterinsurgency. The wars in the 21st century are going to be different than the wars I grew up trying to fight. We're not going to be fighting corps-on-corps operations, except maybe [in] Korea. "So we're working scenarios where we have hybrid threats that are a mix of conventional, irregular, criminal [and] terrorist, and we've set up the training centers with these types of [opposing forces]. The 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, went through such a hybrid threat scenario. "We're training them for full-spectrum operations, and that includes having to deal with uniformed militaries," he said. More work needs to be done, Casey said. "While we've talked about this and thought about it," he added, "until we start putting brigades out there on the ground and have them do it, we're not going to crack it." Casey said he is worried about the Army's budget. He wants a balanced force in which the manning, training and equipping is in the right proportion. "The kicker is the wheels are falling off the budget," he said. The Army will remain its current size through at least 2015. "People are motivated and focused and trying to do the right thing," the general said. Casey commanded his first platoon in April 1971 in Mainz, West Germany. He had nine soldiers in a 36-man mortar platoon, and five of them were pending discharge from the Army. Each company had a duty officer, he said, and that officer had to be armed. "Drugs were pretty bad, and there were tensions," he said. "I remember ... the first time we went to the field it struck me like a ton of bricks that these guys depended on me, and I resolved at that point to never let my subordinates down. I always tried to make the unit I was in as good as it could be." It was just the scale that changed. | ||
| Biographies: Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. | ||
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Saturday, March 26, 2011
Wars Have Been Catalyst for Army Change--Casey
Friday, March 25, 2011
Amnesty Condemns Attack on Mosque
Amnesty International Condemns Attack on Mosque Amid Wave of Detentions in Syria
Washington, D.C.: Amnesty International has condemned last night’s deadly attack on a mosque by Syrian security forces, amid a sweep of detentions of suspected dissidents across the country.At least seven people are reported to have been killed in a night-time raid on the ‘Omari mosque in the southern town of Dera’a, where scores of protesters were staging a sit-in. The lethal attack came as security forces rounded up scores of students, activists, journalists and intellectuals around the country following a week of protests, amid similar demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa.
Dera’a is now under curfew with government announcements telling residents they will be shot if they leave their houses.
“The Syrian authorities must cease the use of excessive force to crush protests and immediately release all of those detained for the peaceful expression of their beliefs,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Those held are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment and we are deeply concerned for their safety.”
Shortly after midnight, scores of soldiers and plain-clothed security agents arrived at the ‘Omari mosque and some opened fire on protesters.. .
A Syrian human rights activist told Amnesty International that local residents said at least two of the seven people killed were shot inside the mosque. If confirmed, the seven deaths bring the number killed during six days of protests in the town to 13.
The activist said security forces were shooting from the tops of buildings at protesters, ambulances and nearby houses. Videos sent by human rights activists appear to show armed forces shooting in the mosque area while civilians plead for them to stop.
Local sources say those killed are ‘Omar ‘Abd al-Wali, Muhammad Abu al-Eyoun, Hamid Abu Nabbout, Dr Ghassan ‘Ali al-Mahameed, Ashraf Masalma, Ibtisam Masalma and Tahir Masalma. They said scores more were injured. There are no credible reports suggesting the protesters were armed.
The Syrian authorities have accused “armed gangs” of being behind some of the protests in Dera’a and issued a statement saying Dr al-Mahameed was killed when the ambulance he had travelled in was “assaulted by an armed gang, which caused his martyrdom”. They provided on further details to support the claim.
Roads to the town have been closed by the authorities, while security forces are said to be going from house to house detaining people and taking them to unknown locations.
Among those detained in Dera’a in the last two days is community leader Nizar al-Harek, who had been appointed to negotiate with the authorities.
Based on reports from Syrian human rights organizations and relatives, Amnesty International has compiled the names of 93 people who were arrested between March 8 to 23 in Damascus, Aleppo, Banias, Dera’a, Douma, Hama, Homs, Latakia, Ma’aratan Nu’man and al-Malkiyah and remain detained in unknown locations. The 93 people are believed to be aged between 14 and 45 and include five women. Some are members of the same family.
The real number of those arrested is likely to be considerably higher. According to one Syrian human rights organization, around 300 people had been arrested in Dera’a in the five days before last night’s attack.
The detained include students, intellectuals, journalists and activists. Not all took part in the demonstrations; some seem to have been arrested for their activities on the internet. Issued on :(Wednesday, March 23, 2011}
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Amnesty Reacts to Release of Activists in Cuba
Amnesty International Reacts to Release of Activists in Cuba
Washington, D.C.: In response to news that the Cuban authorities will release the last remaining activists from the group of 75 detained in March 2003, Amnesty International’s expert on Cuba, Gerardo Ducos, said:
“It is a step in the right direction for human rights in Cuba to see the release of all prisoners of conscience from the March 2003 crackdown and an activist detained last December, particularly considering they should have never been imprisoned in the first place.
"What we want to see now is for the Cuban authorities not to force activists into exile as a condition for their release and to ensure all human rights activists are able to carry out their legitimate work without fear of threats, harassment, further arrests or unfair trials in their own country.”
Background Information
Seventy-five people were jailed in a massive crackdown against the dissident movement around 18 March 2003 for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression.
Most of them were charged with crimes including “acts against the independence of the state” because they allegedly received funds and/or materials from US-based NGOs financed by the US government.
They were sentenced to between six and 28 years in prison after speedy and unfair trials for engaging in activities the authorities perceived as subversive and damaging to Cuba. (Issued on :Wednesday, March 23, 2011)
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Thursday, March 24, 2011
CMC staff & students celebrated founder's day
Ludhiana, 24th March, 2011 :It was time of Pardah. Women used to prefer Burqa or Pardah. In that tough time.The Christian Medical College and Hospital was established in 1894 by a British Baptist missionary, Dr. Edith Brown, who saw the desperate need of medical and nursing care for. She wrote a new and glorious history of Ludhiana in the medical field. According to Wikipedia Dame Edith Mary Brown (24 March 1864 – 6 December 1956) was the founder of The Christian Medical College Ludhiana, the first medical training facility for woman in Asia.Brown was born in Whitehaven on 24 March 1846.
She graduated from Girton College, Cambridge, one of the first woman to be admitted to the Honours Degree Examination at the University of Cambridge in 1882. After graduating she studied medicine at Edinburgh and in Brussels, where she finally qualified as a doctor of medicine.
Brown sailed from London on 17 October 1891 on the S.S. Oceana as a second class passenger.
Her motto was: "My work is for a King"
She retired as principal of the College in 1942.
Additional information added by Church History Fan
The Annual Founder’s Day celebrations of Christian Medical College, Ludhiana were held on March 24, 2011.
This day is celebrated in the loving memory of CMC’s founder, Dame Edith Brown, who realized the need for training the nurses and doctors to serve the community. Her initiative over 100 years ago now stands as one of the premier medical institutions in India. Nearly 50 alumni from the reunion batches visited their alma mater, some of them decades after having left the portals of Christian Medical College!
There was a Continuing Medical Education programme in which eminent speakers from the reunion batches of 1961 and 1980 delivered scientific talks. Visiting alumni, alumni from the city and nearby towns and CMC faculty and students attended the scientific session with great interest. After the CME, the Alumni shared their experiences since graduation and also narrated anecdotes about their time spent in CMC many years ago.
Dr. Abraham G. Thomas, Director, CMC & Hospital and Dr. S. M. Bhatti, Principal, CMC welcomed the visiting alumni. Dr. Sybil Singh gave away the mementoes. The alumni also visited the hostels, college and hospital premises to relive old memories and to see the newer developments. The day culminated with a gala banquet hosted in the campus lawns along with a colorful cultural program. Report Compiled & presented by Shalu Arora & Rector Kathuria
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
150 students from CMC played “The Wicked”
Ludhiana: “This hospital was founded as a means of providing quality healthcare to the poor and needy... and under the patronage of our director, Dr Abraham G Thomas; we are setting up this musical to raise funds for our poor patients. The proceeds from this year’s musical will be used for treating patients in the Intensive Care Unit. We are inviting sponsors and donations for this worthy cause” said Dr Simi Samuel, a medical intern.
Since the past 2 months, about 150 students from Christian Medical College and Hospital are practising rigorously for a musical show “The Wicked”. And as in the previous years, the proceeds will go to the financial aid of poor patients.
The musical is exclusively directed by students and doctors from the college. With Felix Manoharan as the acting director and Jerin Kuruvila as the music director, the production is managed by Dr Sajin G Joseph. There are about 32 students in the show’s cast and the rest are involved in its production, designing, sounds, finance and publicity.
‘The Wicked’ is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire and is a prequel to the popular book ‘The Wizard of Oz’. It is the story of the witches of Oz- Elphaba and Glinda and it conveys the message that good always wins over evil.
“With a demanding script, dazzling stage settings, enchanting melodies and special effects, this highly innovative production is a must see for all” said Dr Albert, an intern with Christian Medical College while talking about the play.It's first show was a grand success on Tuesday March 22 and the show will be continued for three evenings at Guru Nanak Dev Bhavan; on 23rd and 24th March.also to inspire the love and charity. -Shalu Arora & Rector Kathuria
Russian Navy Capt.Andrey Lyalin with Gates
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Face of Defense: Army Medic Builds Medical Career
Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 6:22 PM By Army Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division FORT BRAGG, N.C., March 21, 2011 - From the ski slopes of Montana to the bomb-laced desert highways of western Iraq to the expert field medical badge course in the pine forests here, an 82nd Airborne Division medic is navigating his own path to a hands-on career in health care.
"I am applying to IPAP right now," said the 20-year-old Billings, Mont., native while preparing to navigate the first of three scenario-based testing lanes for the expert field medical badge. As a medic attached to a company of combat engineers, Meyer recently spent a tour in Iraq, traveling the roads between Ramadi and Fallujah hunting for roadside bombs. Army Capt. Jessica Larson, a physician assistant attached to Meyer's brigade, said the Army's PA program is an excellent choice. It rates consistently as one of the country's top physician assistant programs, she said, and the financial support afforded in exchange for service takes a great burden off students. "I went to a state school, so my expenses were a third of a normal PA program," said Larson, a native of Chicago who left a lucrative career in aviation engineering when she was moved by amputees and other service members recovering from wounds received in Iraq and Afghanistan. "My schooling, housing, books, food and other living expenses cost $106,000 for two and a half years," she continued, "which included my rotation to Africa. However, without my scholarship, it would have cost around $134,000. PAs who attend private schools are typically coming out with over $200,000 in debt." Through the Army's Health Profession Loan Repayment Program, civilian-trained PAs can have their student loans repaid up to $120,000 in exchange for a three-year additional duty service obligation, which is the route that Larson took. The downside, she said, is that students remain civilians during schooling, so they are not drawing Army pay. "Meyer is saving a lot if he goes to [the Interservice Physician Assistant Program]," Larson said. "To come from that excellent background with no expenses, while drawing either lieutenant or Officer Candidate School pay for those two years, is a huge stress off the education process. "However," she added, "he is giving back with four years of service as an Army PA, and graduates deploy immediately. Being gone from your family for a year is a nonquantifiable cost, too." Becoming a physician assistant typically is not a stepping stone to becoming a medical doctor, Larson said, as much of the schooling is redundant. Soldiers considering one or the other should study both career fields and ask lots of questions, she added, because the Army uses physicians and physician assistants in very different ways. For Meyer, who first treated injuries in Montana as a part-time ski patroller at Red Lodge Ski Resort during high school, a priority is to get more hands-on experience as a provider before committing to the long road into medical school. If Meyer decides to become a physician, he'll use the Army's Health Provider Scholarship Program to fund medical school, he said. "I have had the full support of everyone in my chain of command, and they have been very helpful with writing letters of recommendation and allowing me the time to complete my packet," Meyer said. "If all else fails, I can still exit the Army with a master's degree and a useful skill. "There are a lot of different routes that I can take to arrive at a point where I can start my [scholarship] packet," he added, "but after doing a bit of research, I feel that [the physician assistant program] is best tuned to my goals." | ||
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