By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 16, 2011 - The U.S.-Pakistan relationship is complicated, but the two countries must keep the lines of communication open, said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates during his last news conference today.
"It is complicated, but as ... I've said often before, we need each other, and we need each other more than just in the context of Afghanistan," Gates said. "Pakistan is an important player in terms of regional stability and in terms of Central Asia. And so my view is that this is a relationship where we just need to keep working at it." Mullen said the relationship is still critical, and he will continue to work with Pakistani Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani. "What the Pakistani military's going through right now, obviously is considerable introspection based on recent events," Mullen said. "That makes a lot of sense to me. They've got some questions. I know General Kayani well enough to know (that) what he cares about the most is not himself: What he cares about the most is his institution." Pakistan is a partner against terrorists, Gates and Mullen said. They pointed out that Pakistan has 140,000 troops along its border with Afghanistan. The Pakistani military has cleaned South Waziristan and the Swat Valley of the Taliban. The United States ships a majority of its supplies to Afghanistan across Pakistan, and keeping those lines of communication open is also literally and figuratively important. Finally, both men pointed out that Pakistan is a nuclear country. Maintaining good relations with Pakistan could help ensure nuclear know-how or even weapons don't fall into the hands of terrorists. Gates responded to a question about Ayman Zawahiri's "promotion" to lead a-Qaida. "I'm not sure it's a position anybody should aspire to, under the circumstances," he said. "I think he will face some challenges. Bin Laden has been the leader of al-Qaida, essentially since its inception. In that particular context, he had a peculiar charisma that I think Zawahiri does not have. I think he was much more operationally engaged than we have the sense Zawahiri has been. I've read that there is some suspicion within al-Qaida of Zawahiri because he's Egyptian." The al-Qaida announcement, though, highlights the fact that the organization is not going away, its leader still hate America and it remains committed to terror, the secretary said. Americans are worried about the war in Afghanistan. He said that that with the exception of the first couple of years of World War II, "there has never been a popular war in the United States in our whole history. They've all been controversial." He said the war weariness rests heavily on all. "The key is how do we complete our mission, as we have largely done in Iraq, in a way that protects American national security interests and the American people and contributes to stability?" Gates said. "I think most people would say we've been largely successful in that respect in Iraq. I think we're on a path to do that in Afghanistan." The cost of the wars are huge, but it is declining. "The costs of these wars will go down between FY '11 and FY '12 by $40 billion, from $160 (billion dollars) to less than $120 billion," Gates said. "There's every reason to believe that between FY '12 and FY '13 there would be another significant reduction. And, of course, with the Lisbon agreement, the size of our forces left in Afghanistan in December of 2014 would be a small fraction of what they are today." | ||
|
Friday, June 17, 2011
U.S.-Pakistan Must Keep Communications Lines Open
Thursday, June 16, 2011
His only 'crime' was to report a human rights abuse
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Chinese Foreign Ministry yesterday confirmed that Ershidin Israil is being held on terrorism charges as a "major terror suspect", although the charges were not substantiated.
"It appears that Ershidin Israil's only 'crime' was to report a human rights abuse. He was living openly before fleeing the country and only appears to have become a 'major terror suspect' after divulging the inside story of torture in Chinese jails to the world," said Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific director at Amnesty International. "This makes him a prisoner of conscience, detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression, and the Chinese authorities must release him. Currently, he is at grave risk of torture and an unfair trial."
Ershidin Israil fled on foot to Kazakhstan from China in September 2009, just days after giving an interview to a foreign journalist about the death in custody of a young Uighur, Shohret Tursun, in the wake of the July 2009 unrest in Urumqi, China.
After the interview the Chinese authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, along with two other individuals involved in reporting the death in custody.
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Kazakhstan granted Israil refugee status in March 2010 and he was due to be resettled in Sweden on April 1, 2010.
However, he was instead taken into custody by the Kazakh authorities in April 2010 and formally arrested in June 2010. He was in prison until his extradition this year.
The UNHCR revoked his refugee status on May 3, reportedly under intense pressure from the Chinese and Kazakh authorities. The U.N. Refugee Agency has refused to disclose the grounds for their decision.
Israil was reportedly handed over to the Chinese authorities on May 30.
Chinese nationals are prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms for providing information deemed sensitive by the Chinese authorities to foreign sources.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
# # #
Amnesty International Condemns Extradition of Uighur Teacher to China on Politically Motivated 'Terror' Charges
Washington, D.C.: A Uighur schoolteacher is facing politically motivated terror charges in China after he reported a death in custody, Amnesty International said today following his extradition from Kazakhstan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry yesterday confirmed that Ershidin Israil is being held on terrorism charges as a "major terror suspect", although the charges were not substantiated.
"It appears that Ershidin Israil's only 'crime' was to report a human rights abuse. He was living openly before fleeing the country and only appears to have become a 'major terror suspect' after divulging the inside story of torture in Chinese jails to the world," said Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific director at Amnesty International. "This makes him a prisoner of conscience, detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression, and the Chinese authorities must release him. Currently, he is at grave risk of torture and an unfair trial."
Ershidin Israil fled on foot to Kazakhstan from China in September 2009, just days after giving an interview to a foreign journalist about the death in custody of a young Uighur, Shohret Tursun, in the wake of the July 2009 unrest in Urumqi, China.
After the interview the Chinese authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, along with two other individuals involved in reporting the death in custody.
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Kazakhstan granted Israil refugee status in March 2010 and he was due to be resettled in Sweden on April 1, 2010.
However, he was instead taken into custody by the Kazakh authorities in April 2010 and formally arrested in June 2010. He was in prison until his extradition this year.
The UNHCR revoked his refugee status on May 3, reportedly under intense pressure from the Chinese and Kazakh authorities. The U.N. Refugee Agency has refused to disclose the grounds for their decision.
Israil was reportedly handed over to the Chinese authorities on May 30.
Chinese nationals are prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms for providing information deemed sensitive by the Chinese authorities to foreign sources.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
# # #
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Hindu Genocide in Goa Inquisition ???
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 11:18 AM
Vivek arya
Tortures:
Three kinds of torture were practiced: 1) the rope or the pulley, 2) water and 3) fire. The torture by rope consisted of the arms being tied backwards and then raised by a pulley, leaving the victim hanging for some time, and then let the victim drop down to half a foot above the floor, then raised again. These continued up-and-down movement dislocated the joints and made the prisoner emit horrible cries of pain. This torture went on for an hour.
Vivek arya
Hindu Genocide in Goa Inquisition
I stood beside him; on the torturing cross
No pain assailed his unterrestrial sense;
And yet he groaned. Indignantly I summed
The massacres and miseries which his name
Had sanctioned in my country, and I cried
"Go! Go!" in mockery.
-- Shelley's The Christ
I stood beside him; on the torturing cross
No pain assailed his unterrestrial sense;
And yet he groaned. Indignantly I summed
The massacres and miseries which his name
Had sanctioned in my country, and I cried
"Go! Go!" in mockery.
-- Shelley's The Christ
1541: Francis Xavier landed in Goa - sent there by Ignatius Loyola of Jesuit order under the direction of the King João III of Portugal.
1545: Francis Xavier comes to the following conclusions that Hindus are an "unholy race" that they are "They are liars and cheats to the very backbone.". that"the Indians being black themselves, consider their own color the best" and also that
"they believe that their gods are black. On this account the great majority of their idols are as black as black can be, and moreover are generally so rubbed over with oil as to smell detestably, and seem to be as dirty as they are ugly and horrible to look at."
He writes to Rome to install inquisition in Goa immediately.
1560: Viceroy's building modified to become the palace of inquisition with 200 cells with residence of the first inquisitor, house of secret, house of doctrine, any number of cells, and other special ones: of secret, of penitence; of perpetual confinement; of the tortures etc. Inquisition installed with powers higher than those of viceroys.
Apr-2 1560: Viceroy D Constantine de Braganca orders that all Brahmins should be thrown out of Goa and other areas under Portuguese control.
Feb-7 1575: Governor Antonio Morez Barreto,issues orders that the propeties of those Hindus whose "presence was prejudicial to Christianity" would be confiscated.
1585 : The Third Concilio Provincial adopts a resolution asking the king of Portugal to banish from Goa 'the Brahmins, physicians and other infidels' who the Church finds as an obstacle to convert the 'the heathens' to the 'only true faith'.
1545: Francis Xavier comes to the following conclusions that Hindus are an "unholy race" that they are "They are liars and cheats to the very backbone.". that"the Indians being black themselves, consider their own color the best" and also that
"they believe that their gods are black. On this account the great majority of their idols are as black as black can be, and moreover are generally so rubbed over with oil as to smell detestably, and seem to be as dirty as they are ugly and horrible to look at."
He writes to Rome to install inquisition in Goa immediately.
1560: Viceroy's building modified to become the palace of inquisition with 200 cells with residence of the first inquisitor, house of secret, house of doctrine, any number of cells, and other special ones: of secret, of penitence; of perpetual confinement; of the tortures etc. Inquisition installed with powers higher than those of viceroys.
Apr-2 1560: Viceroy D Constantine de Braganca orders that all Brahmins should be thrown out of Goa and other areas under Portuguese control.
Feb-7 1575: Governor Antonio Morez Barreto,issues orders that the propeties of those Hindus whose "presence was prejudicial to Christianity" would be confiscated.
1585 : The Third Concilio Provincial adopts a resolution asking the king of Portugal to banish from Goa 'the Brahmins, physicians and other infidels' who the Church finds as an obstacle to convert the 'the heathens' to the 'only true faith'.
Jan-31, 1620: Portuguese government orders that "...no Hindu, of whatever nationality or status he may be, can or shall perform marriages in this city of Goa, nor in the islands or adjacent territories of His Majesty..."
1625: Governor Francisco Barreto, issues orders that 'bar Hindus from seeking employment' in the Portuguese held Indian territory and Portuguese officials were ordered not to 'use the services of any infidel in matters of his office anyway'
Historian Alfredo DeMello describes the performers of Goan inquisition as
"nefarious, fiendish, lustful, corrupt religious orders which pounced on Goa for the purpose of destroying paganism and introducing the true religion of Christ"
The Goan inquisition is regarded by all contemporary portrayals as the most violent inquisition ever executed by the Portuguese Catholic Church. It lasted from 1560 to 1812 though in Europe it ended by 1774. (briefly restarted in 1778) Given below are some of the eye-witness accounts of this genocidal Holy office:
Eye-witness accounts of Goan inquistion:
"...The inquisition of Goa, distinguished itself on account of the greater rigors than those of the tribunals of the metropolis; thousands of victims died at the stake in flames.
-Joao Felix Pereira(19th century) in Historia de Portugal, 3rd edition, page 235
"..The inquisition, this tribunal of fire, thrown on the surface of the globe for the scourge of humanity, this horrible institution, which will eternally cover with shame its authors, fixed its brutal domicile in the fertile plains of the Hindustan. On seeing the monster everyone fled and disappeared, Moguls, Arabs, Persians, Armenians, and Jews. The Indians even, more tolerant and pacific, were astounded to see the God of Christianism more cruel than that of Mohammed, deserted the territory of the Portuguese..."
-Memoirs of Judges Magalhães and Lousada: (Vol 2,Annaes Marítimos e Coloniais,page 59)
1625: Governor Francisco Barreto, issues orders that 'bar Hindus from seeking employment' in the Portuguese held Indian territory and Portuguese officials were ordered not to 'use the services of any infidel in matters of his office anyway'
Historian Alfredo DeMello describes the performers of Goan inquisition as
"nefarious, fiendish, lustful, corrupt religious orders which pounced on Goa for the purpose of destroying paganism and introducing the true religion of Christ"
The Goan inquisition is regarded by all contemporary portrayals as the most violent inquisition ever executed by the Portuguese Catholic Church. It lasted from 1560 to 1812 though in Europe it ended by 1774. (briefly restarted in 1778) Given below are some of the eye-witness accounts of this genocidal Holy office:
Eye-witness accounts of Goan inquistion:
"...The inquisition of Goa, distinguished itself on account of the greater rigors than those of the tribunals of the metropolis; thousands of victims died at the stake in flames.
-Joao Felix Pereira(19th century) in Historia de Portugal, 3rd edition, page 235
"..The inquisition, this tribunal of fire, thrown on the surface of the globe for the scourge of humanity, this horrible institution, which will eternally cover with shame its authors, fixed its brutal domicile in the fertile plains of the Hindustan. On seeing the monster everyone fled and disappeared, Moguls, Arabs, Persians, Armenians, and Jews. The Indians even, more tolerant and pacific, were astounded to see the God of Christianism more cruel than that of Mohammed, deserted the territory of the Portuguese..."
-Memoirs of Judges Magalhães and Lousada: (Vol 2,Annaes Marítimos e Coloniais,page 59)
"...The terrors inflicted on pregnant women made them abort....Neither the beauty or decorousness of the flower of youth, nor the old age, so worthy of compassion in a woman, exempted the weaker sex from the brutal ferocity of the supposed defenders of the religion..
..There were days when seven or eight were submitted to torture. These scenes were reserved for the inquisitors after dinner. It was a post-prandial entertainment. Many a time during those acts, the inquisitors compared notes in the appreciation of the beauty of the human form. While the unlucky damsel twisted in the intolerable pains of torture, or fainted in the intensity of the agony, one inquisitor applauded the angelic touches of her face, another the brightness of her eyes, another, the volluptuous contours of her breast, another the shape of her hands. In this conjuncture, men of blood transformed themselves into real artists !!
-Alexandre Herculano Famous writer of 19th century in his Fragment about the Inquisition
Mechanism of Inquisition as recorded by Dellon a French Roman Catholic - 'a very mild account of inquisition':
The cells:
a fetid cell, provided with a hole for relieving himself. But it overflowed, and there were faeces all over, an abominable smell, practically no light, save for slits on the wall, well above the reach of one’s hands.
No honour even in death:
Those who died in the jail were buried inside the building, and as they were going to be judged, the bodies were exhumed, and the bones were kept to be burnt on the next auto da fé.
Condemning the accused:
Seven witnesses were required to condemn a person. But the witnesses were never brought face to face with the hapless accused. The inquisition admitted the testimony of all kinds of people, even of those who were interested in the utter condemnation of the accused. Among the seven witnesses, was included the victim himself, who under torture had admitted the heresies that he had (not) committed.
..There were days when seven or eight were submitted to torture. These scenes were reserved for the inquisitors after dinner. It was a post-prandial entertainment. Many a time during those acts, the inquisitors compared notes in the appreciation of the beauty of the human form. While the unlucky damsel twisted in the intolerable pains of torture, or fainted in the intensity of the agony, one inquisitor applauded the angelic touches of her face, another the brightness of her eyes, another, the volluptuous contours of her breast, another the shape of her hands. In this conjuncture, men of blood transformed themselves into real artists !!
-Alexandre Herculano Famous writer of 19th century in his Fragment about the Inquisition
Mechanism of Inquisition as recorded by Dellon a French Roman Catholic - 'a very mild account of inquisition':
The cells:
a fetid cell, provided with a hole for relieving himself. But it overflowed, and there were faeces all over, an abominable smell, practically no light, save for slits on the wall, well above the reach of one’s hands.
No honour even in death:
Those who died in the jail were buried inside the building, and as they were going to be judged, the bodies were exhumed, and the bones were kept to be burnt on the next auto da fé.
Condemning the accused:
Seven witnesses were required to condemn a person. But the witnesses were never brought face to face with the hapless accused. The inquisition admitted the testimony of all kinds of people, even of those who were interested in the utter condemnation of the accused. Among the seven witnesses, was included the victim himself, who under torture had admitted the heresies that he had (not) committed.
Three kinds of torture were practiced: 1) the rope or the pulley, 2) water and 3) fire. The torture by rope consisted of the arms being tied backwards and then raised by a pulley, leaving the victim hanging for some time, and then let the victim drop down to half a foot above the floor, then raised again. These continued up-and-down movement dislocated the joints and made the prisoner emit horrible cries of pain. This torture went on for an hour.
The torture by water was as follows: the victim was made to lie across an iron bar, and was forced to imbibe water without stopping. The iron bar broke the vertebrae and caused horrible pains, whereas the water treatment provoked vomits and asphyxia. Thetorture by fire was definitely the worst: the victim was hung above a fire, which warmed the soles of the feet, and the jailers rubbed bacon and other combustible materials on the feet. The feet were burned until the victim confessed. These last two tortures lasted for about an hour, and sometimes more.The house of torments was a subterranean grotto, so that other might not hear the cries of the wretched. Many a time, the victims died under torture; their bodies were interred within the compound, and the bones were exhumed for the auto da fe, and burnt in public.
Showing them mercy by burning at stake:
By daylight, each convict was ordered to march alongside a godfather, one of the officials assigned to each victim. It was a great honor to be appointed godfather for these ceremonies. The procession was led through the long streets of the city,so that the multitudes could watch the ugly pageant. Finally, covered with shame and confusion, tired of the long march, the condemned reached the church of St. Francis, which was decked with great pomp and circumstance. The altar was covered with black cloth on which stood six silver candleholders. On both sides of the altar there were two kinds of thrones: the right side for the inquisitor and his councilors, and the left side for the viceroy and his court
Showing them mercy by burning at stake:
By daylight, each convict was ordered to march alongside a godfather, one of the officials assigned to each victim. It was a great honor to be appointed godfather for these ceremonies. The procession was led through the long streets of the city,so that the multitudes could watch the ugly pageant. Finally, covered with shame and confusion, tired of the long march, the condemned reached the church of St. Francis, which was decked with great pomp and circumstance. The altar was covered with black cloth on which stood six silver candleholders. On both sides of the altar there were two kinds of thrones: the right side for the inquisitor and his councilors, and the left side for the viceroy and his court
The convicts and godfathers were seated on benches.
Next, four man-sized statues were brought, accompanied by four men who carried boxes full of bones of the victims who had died by tortures: these statues, wearing the Samarra and representing the dead victims would be tried too. Once the sermon was concluded, two officials went up to the pulpit to read publicly the proceedings of all the guilty, and to declare the sentences upon them.
The condemned to be burnt at the stake were delivered to the secular arm, to which the Inquisition begged to use clemency and mercy with these wretched, and to impose the death penalty without effusion of blood - by burning them at stake!
Remarks of a historian:
The words Auto da fé reverberated throughout Goa, reminiscent of the furies of Hell, which concept, incidentally does not exist in the Hindu pantheon. On April 1st 1650 for instance, four people were burnt to death, the next auto da fé was on December 14, 1653, when 18 were put to the flames, accused of the crime of heresy. And from the 8th April 1666 until the end of 1679 - during which period Dellon was tried - there were eight autos da fé, in which 1208 victims were sentenced. In November 22, 1711 another auto da fé took place involving 41 persons. Another milestone was on December 20, 1736, when the Inquisition burnt an entire family of Raaim, Salcete, destroying their house, putting salt on their land, and placing a stone padrao, which still existed in the place (at least in 1866)
-Alfredo De Mello ('Memoirs of Goa' Chapter 21)
Next, four man-sized statues were brought, accompanied by four men who carried boxes full of bones of the victims who had died by tortures: these statues, wearing the Samarra and representing the dead victims would be tried too. Once the sermon was concluded, two officials went up to the pulpit to read publicly the proceedings of all the guilty, and to declare the sentences upon them.
The condemned to be burnt at the stake were delivered to the secular arm, to which the Inquisition begged to use clemency and mercy with these wretched, and to impose the death penalty without effusion of blood - by burning them at stake!
Remarks of a historian:
The words Auto da fé reverberated throughout Goa, reminiscent of the furies of Hell, which concept, incidentally does not exist in the Hindu pantheon. On April 1st 1650 for instance, four people were burnt to death, the next auto da fé was on December 14, 1653, when 18 were put to the flames, accused of the crime of heresy. And from the 8th April 1666 until the end of 1679 - during which period Dellon was tried - there were eight autos da fé, in which 1208 victims were sentenced. In November 22, 1711 another auto da fé took place involving 41 persons. Another milestone was on December 20, 1736, when the Inquisition burnt an entire family of Raaim, Salcete, destroying their house, putting salt on their land, and placing a stone padrao, which still existed in the place (at least in 1866)
-Alfredo De Mello ('Memoirs of Goa' Chapter 21)
christians claims themselves as lover of peace .
whats your comments on atrocities against hindus in goa inquisition ?
whats your comments on atrocities against hindus in goa inquisition ?
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Vietnam Vet Guardsman Savors View From Top
 National Guard Bureau ARLINGTON, Va., June 9, 2011 - As one of the last remaining active-duty National Guard members with service experience in Vietnam, Army Master Sgt. Leland Lesher said the most rewarding thing about his career is the view from the top while at the Army Guard headquarters.
Lesher's first enlistment came in December 1970 with the Marine Corps. After training, he spent a year in Vietnam. "After Vietnam, I left the Marine Corps and went to college," he said, where he learned about the Guard and made the switch. "I was a traditional Guard member, and after I graduated from college, I spent 22 years as a police officer." He originally enlisted with the Illinois National Guard, and also served as a North Dakota Guard member and as a member of the Colorado National Guard for a few years, but since has returned to the Illinois Guard. Over those years, Lesher has done a lot at home and abroad with the Guard, spending time in Vietnam and South Korea and providing blizzard, flood and ice storm assistance in North Dakota. Since his first enlistment into the Guard, Lesher said, he has seen it go through major changes. "When I got back from Vietnam," he said, "the Guard was full of those who wanted to continue their military careers, those who wanted to avoid Vietnam and then those who, like myself, had decided they were done with regular military and wanted something else. "Then 9/11 happened," he continued, "and it changed the demographics of the Guard from those who had no or very little combat experience to a force that has 85 percent [of its forces] with combat experience. I've seen the Guard become very professional over the years." Lesher said he was part of some great units early on, and the camaraderie has kept him in the Guard. "The North Dakota Guard and Illinois Guard really were some great units to belong to," he said, "and they put off any reservations I had had initially about the Guard when I first joined." His final stop in his long Guard career is Stuttgart, Germany, where he will have an active role in the State Partnership Program at the U.S. European Command level. "Part of my position in Germany will be coordinating with and assisting states that have State Partnership Programs with the European Union nations that fall under the European Command," Lesher said. "It's still at the level of assisting states, but it's helping them to expand beyond their state borders." After a long military career that has seen the Guard mature over the years and become an operational reserve, Lesher said, he looks forward to his final tour in Germany and having the opportunity to work within the State Partnership Program. "As my final three-year tour, it is just phenomenal," he said. | ||
| Related Sites: National Guard Bureau |
Friday, June 10, 2011
I still remember M F Hussain---Dr. H S Bedi
 |
| Husain painting in Dr Bedi's office in CMC |
Dr Bedi still remembers Mr Husain making a remarkable recovery. He was then 74 years old but even then had a twinkle in his eye and a spring in his walk. Those days we were doing bypass surgery with the heart lung machine – said Dr Bedi (beating heart surgery developed later – and Dr Bedi has been a world leader in the beating heart technique - with his name in the Limca Book of World Records for the Worlds first multivessel beating heart series with angiograms published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery USA) . Dr Bedi remembers that in spite of having used a heart lung machine and having stopped his heart for over 45 minutes to do the triple bypass – Mr Husain was up and about in 2 days. He was shifted to the VIP room on the 3rd Floor. At rounds on the 4th day he asked Dr Bedi to give him his letterhead and next day gave him a beautiful sketch. It was of Mother Teresa tending to two children.. It was this is still with Dr Bedi and is a prize possession in his office. Dr Bedi remembered that he joked with all the doctors and nurses and was a really model patient. In fact he offered his help in counseling the other patient’s pre and post op while he was there. Dr Bedi felt that he was fortunate to have met such a lovely and talented personality and was sad that he was no more. --Shalu Arora and Rector Kathuria
Paratroopers Commemorate D-Day Anniversary
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 6, 2011 - About 300 U.S. soldiers, most of them combat veterans themselves, joined their British, French and German counterparts in Normandy, France, to honor the sacrifices of World War II veterans who conducted the D-Day invasion 67 years ago today.
Throughout the visit, where they received briefings about the history of the sites and got a firsthand look at the tactical challenges Allied forces faced, the troops participated in D-Day commemorative ceremonies and met veterans of the invasion. Today, they took part in ceremonies at Ponte du Hoc, the formidable cliff-top perch west of Omaha Beach that U.S. Rangers assaulted; and Utah Beach, the westernmost of the five D-Day landing beaches. "Getting the chance to be here has been an amazing opportunity," Army Capt. Ted Jacobs, executive officer for the Army Reserve's 345th Tactical Psychological Operations Company in Dallas said by phone as he waited for the Utah Beach ceremony to begin. "Seeing what these veterans had to go up against -- the terrain, the weather situation, ... the wet, the cold, being in fear of their lives all the time -- it really does help you understand the challenges they had to deal with." Jacobs is among about 150 Army Reserve paratroopers with the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command, with headquarters at Fort Bragg, N.C., participating in Operation Airborne Normandy, a mission that is bringing together U.S. and European forces for commemorations and interoperability training. Other U.S. participants include active-duty soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg; 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team at Vicenza, Italy; 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky.; and riggers from the Army Reserve's 824th, 421st and 861st Quartermaster Companies and U.S. Army Europe's 5th Quartermaster Detachment. One planned event, a combined jump involving more than 700 U.S., British, German and French paratroopers, has been canceled twice due to bad weather. Participants are hoping the event may take place tomorrow, conditions permitting, to enable every paratrooper who jumps with another country's jumpmaster to receive that country's jump wings. Meanwhile, the soldiers called the chance to meet with veterans of the D-Day invasion the highlight of the visit. "I feel honored to have the opportunity to come out here and meet them face to face and shake their hands and say thank you," said Army Sgt. Nathaniel Bier, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom serving with the 301st Psychological Operations Company from San Diego. "That is one of the best things I will always remember about this trip." With two combat deployments in Afghanistan under his belt, Jacobs said, he gained a new appreciation for the odds the Allied forces -- including his own father -- faced during Operation Overlord. Then-Sgt. Thomas Jacobs jumped into Normandy during the D-Day invasion, but has spoken little of the experience except to describe it as "godawful" until recent years. "We grew up basically with the understanding that we didn't ask questions about that," his son said. "He was one of those veterans who just wanted to forget." Bier shares Jacobs' personal connection to the D-Day visit: his great-grandfather, who died before Bier was born, took part in the invasion. "My father really looked up to him," Bier said of his great-grandfather. "So he was even more excited to hear that I was coming here than I was." Walking the beaches, seeing the formidable terrain and standing the ground his great-grandfather helped to liberate has given Bier a special appreciation of the magnitude of what happened in Normandy. Pausing to reflect on it, he admitted, "I had to stop myself from tearing up, because it's so powerful just to be here." Bier said he's been particularly struck by the courageous leadership the D-Day noncommissioned officers demonstrated in the face of adversity. "I don't know how some of those sergeants kept going, how they kept their people motivated as they were coming off the boats, and how they kept them moving forward," he said. "My hat is really off to those sergeants." Jacobs said he, too, stands in awe of what the D-Day veterans accomplished, and declined to compare it with anything he has experienced in combat. "I wouldn't even dare to hold a candle to what those guys did," he said. "Certainly, what we are doing in Afghanistan is at times very difficult and dangerous. But what these guys went through, there is no comparison. Ours is a counterterrorism fight, so there are brief moments of intensity, but nothing to even come close to the scale of events that happened here." Walking the hallowed grounds where many made the ultimate sacrifice "has given me a deeper appreciation for the legacy that has been left to us by the greatest generation by these soldiers who came over here and did what they did," Jacobs said. "It further solidifies the fact that I do not ever want to betray that kind of legacy, and want to continue to build it and maintain what they have carved out for us." A high school math teacher in the Dallas public schools in his civilian life, Jacobs said he intends to share the experiences he's gained at Normandy, like those from Afghanistan, with his students. "All these values from the military are just common core good-citizenship skills and behaviors that these children desperately need, particularly those from the inner city," he said. "So I incorporate everything I can from my experience in the military: what it means to serve instead of always looking out for yourself or putting yourself first, [and] thinking about putting others before yourself and service to the community and country," he said. "That is just a core theme in my classroom." | ||||||||
| Related Sites: U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) | ||||||||
|
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Navy Strives to Build on Expertise Gained Since 9/11
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 3, 2011 - Committed to preserving and building on expertise garnered during the past decade of conflict, the Navy is hard at work institutionalizing lessons learned as the military draws down in Iraq and looks toward a drawdown in Afghanistan as well, one of the fleet's top training officers reported.
"As the conflict draws down, clearly we may not be doing some of the same missions as we do today," said White, a rear admiral selectee. "So the question becomes, 'How do you keep that in reserve?' And essentially, we believe that is the legacy of our sailors" who will draw on experience they are gaining now to train the future fleet. Unlike garrison-based ground forces, the Navy always has been a forward-deployed organization, White noted. That requires constant vigilance and readiness to respond to conditions as they arise. "As our sailors are going through training and learning from their instructors, the end goal is to join a unit -- a ship or squadron or construction battalion, whatever that unit might be -- that will be forward-deployed and ready for any action that might come up," he said. And with plenty of examples of deployments that began in peacetime, then changed based on world situations, White said, there's clear recognition throughout the Navy of the need to be ready to execute the mission, regardless of its nature, on a moment's notice. "It's that forward-deployed mentality that will keep our folks sharp," he said. Facing the future, White said, the fleet is as combat-hardened as it's ever been, enriched by new capabilities developed during the past 10 years. The Navy's 15 learning centers, established several years ago as part of the Navy's "Revolution in Training" initiative, is ensuring the specialized career training provided remains aligned with activities being conducted within the fleet, White said. In addition, human performance requirements reviews routinely bring together the centers' learning specialists with subject matter experts from the fleet to keep their programs as current and relevant as possible. "Our goal is to make sure that as things evolve, we can continuously adapt and improve our training process," White said. Explosive ordnance disposal divers, for example, have incorporated counter-improvised explosive device tactics, techniques and procedures into their core curriculum. In addition to evaluating the threat, they have become expert in post-blast analysis and investigations, and continually evolve their training to reflect current operations, White said. Navy security forces have undergone a transformation, particularly within the master-at-arms and gunner's mate ratings. Rather than focusing on basic weapons training that emphasized weapons handling and employment in relatively benign training scenarios, the training has been amped up to incorporate the all-important decision-making process. "The Center for Security Forces has really stepped that up to include judgment and engagement in the base training," White said. "It's not only in how to employ a weapon, but what decision process do you use in determining when you should employ it." This includes not just static weapon employment, but also the ability to "shoot, move, communicate and survive," he said, whether the sailor is operating on the ground in Afghanistan, or protecting his ship from attack. The Navy also has refined its longstanding visit, board, search and seize, or VBSS, mission, particularly in light of increased piracy off the coast of Somalia. "The training for these teams has increased to not only include the basics of boarding a ship and searching it, but to do it in a more tactical manner, where you have perhaps a Navy boat crew and a Marine Corps team that might go aboard a ship," White said. "We are conducting the training today as part of the improvements in the adaptation to what we are seeing in the fleet." Other major changes have occurred within the Navy's Center for Information Dominance, where sailors are trained to use their computer systems and networks as more than just tools. "We are teaching our information technicians to protect networks [and] to exploit networks and really to do it on a level that we haven't done before," White said. He noted that many of the technicians are getting commercial certifications so they have the skills to employ commercial tools that have become critical to Navy systems and networks. Throughout the fleet, White reported a big emphasis on promoting language, cultural and regional expertise. "We recognized the gap that our sailors had, where they would go into a country to be part of the conflict or humanitarian operations ... and we hadn't really prepared them to be ambassadors, if you will, of the United States," he said. So the Navy stood up the Center for Language, Regional Expertise and Culture at Corry Station Naval Technical Training Center in Pensacola, Fla., in March 2006. This center helps to prepare sailors for the multiple and diverse cultures they will encounter while conducting the full spectrum of military operations across the globe, White explained. It has expanded to include courses covering about 182 countries, with special emphasis on subjects such as Islam, Afghan culture, Middle Eastern etiquette, and even the Taliban. "The idea is that as sailors deploy, we can give them a brief background on what they might be exposed to so they don't make those common mistakes that we wouldn't perceive in our American culture that might be very offensive to our partners," White said. At the high end of this training continuum, the Navy is an active participant in Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen's Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program. This program, launched in 2009, provides a core cadre of mostly mid-career officers with specialized language and cultural skills. Looking ahead to the end of the current conflicts, White said, the Navy plans to make wide use of simulation to present sailors with realistic, demanding training scenarios. "To truly replicate the challenge of a wartime environment is tough, so what we are training to do at Naval Education and Training Command is to use technology to help us," White said. Bridge simulators, for example, train bridge teams to enter a threatened port or react to an attack at sea. A mock village at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal School at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., teaches EOD technicians to identify, defuse and dispose of IEDs and other ordnance. Simulators transform traditional classrooms into settings that challenge students to make judgments about the best way to respond to a particular threat. "It is absolutely amazing, within a few minutes of the scenario starting, how quickly you become immersed in it and forget your surroundings as your brain tries to work through these complicated things," White said. "It is not real combat, but we believe we can certainly induce some stress. I can tell you from personal experience that you feel it. The perspiration begins, and it really is challenging." As it strives to introduce the emotional, intellectual and physical rigors of combat into its training, the Navy is applying another lesson of the current conflicts and is helping to give sailors the tools to cope with those demands. "We want to build better resilience into our sailors through the stresses of combat and deployment," White said. "We are learning a lot from subject-matter experts in industry and other militaries, and really trying to build that into an effective training tool to help our sailors cope with these stresses so they can be resilient and ready to deploy whenever and wherever they are needed." (This is the fourth article in a series about how the Defense Department and the military services, as well as NATO, plan to maintain combat effectiveness and readiness as the current operational tempo begins to decline.) | ||||||||||||||
| Biographies: Navy Capt. Michael White Related Sites: Naval Education and Training Command | ||||||||||||||
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)