U.S. Army Spc. Kyle Oszczakiewicz, an infantryman with 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, scans for insurgents as the platoon receives small-arms fire from across a wadi, or valley, in Zambar, Khowst province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 18, 2011. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Guffey, U.S. Army. (Released)Tuesday, January 25, 2011
In Zambar, Khowst province, Afghanistan
U.S. Army Spc. Kyle Oszczakiewicz, an infantryman with 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, scans for insurgents as the platoon receives small-arms fire from across a wadi, or valley, in Zambar, Khowst province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 18, 2011. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Guffey, U.S. Army. (Released)
Lynn Discusses Cybersecurity with NATO, U.S. Leaders
Posted on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 12:40 AM
By Jim Garamone of American Forces Press Service BRUSSELS, Belgium, Jan. 24, 2011 - Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III met with NATO and U.S. leaders at the alliance headquarters here today to discuss the way forward in cybersecurity.
The threats are more frequent, more organized and more costly, a joint statement released at the summit said, and "they can reach a threshold that threatens national and Euro-Atlantic prosperity, security and stability." The threats, the statement added, can come from foreign militaries and intelligence services, organized crime, terrorist and extremist groups, or even individuals. In Lisbon, NATO leaders called on the alliance to develop the ability to prevent, detect, defend against and recover from cyber attacks. The alliance must protect critical networks and put in place processes to leverage national cyber defense capabilities, the alliance's leaders added. Partnerships between the public and private sectors are essential, as government and military networks routinely use private networks to communicate. Lynn furthered the public-private partnership concept during a roundtable at NATO this morning. Accompanied by Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, the deputy secretary stressed the need for public and private entities to work together to find a balance between openness and security, according to defense officials present at the meeting. Tomorrow, Lynn continues the cybersecurity conversation by taking part in a high-level meeting of national policy advisors on NATO cyber defense at the alliance's headquarters. He also will meet with European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton and the newly appointed chief executive of the European Defense Agency, Claude-France Arnould. | ||
| Biographies: William J. Lynn III Related Sites: NATO Special Report: Travels With Lynn |
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Red Cross volunteer helps
A Red Cross volunteer helps a recovering warrior at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Red Cross volunteers stand by at Landstuhl, where nearly every combat-wounded service member makes a stop before returning to the United States. Courtesy photo
Battle-hardened Marine Teaches Others
By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Bryan Nygaard
2nd Marine Expeditionary Force
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Jan. 21, 2011 - Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. William Abernathy, the company first sergeant for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group's Military Police Support Company, has no trouble getting the attention of his Marines.
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Abernathy was born and raised in the small town of Madison, Miss., and graduated from Madison Central High School. "I was 16 years old before we got our first stop light," he said in a distinctive Southern drawl.
Once he completed high school in May 1996, Abernathy quickly started down the path he's been on ever since.
"I walked across the stage, gave my diploma to my mom, gave her a hug, got in [the recruiter's] car, went to [Military Entrance Processing Station] and went to boot camp," he said.
Abernathy said he became a Marine because he wanted to serve his country, but not in the sense of 'Corps, country and Momma's apple pie.' Rather, he said, joining the military was more of a requirement than a career choice, in line with his belief that every American citizen should serve at least two years in any branch of service.
For Abernathy's first four years in the Marine Corps, he served as an infantry machine gunner before making a lateral move to military police. In addition to his time here, he has been stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and Kanoehe Bay, Hawaii, and he even did a tour of duty as a recruiter in LaGrange, Ga.
"It was absolutely the worst tour of duty I've ever had," he said. "And I've got five combat tours."
One of those tours was in Fallujah, Iraq, where he met his wife, Rachel, in 2005.
"Our guys went through a lot of ammo, ... and she was our battalion [ammunition technician] chief," he said. "When we got back, we kept up conversations, started dating, and a year or so later we got married."
Abernathy's other deployments also have made lasting impressions on him. On his last deployment to Afghanistan in 2009, where he was told by Afghan villagers the Taliban had a $50,000 price on his head, Abernathy found himself in a vicious firefight.
While repelling an enemy assault, Abernathy quickly and calmly helped every wounded Marine and established a casualty collection point behind barriers that effectively shielded the wounded from indirect fire.
It was during this firefight that he employed a unique first aid tool he tells all of his Marines to have in their individual first aid kits.
"I always carry tampons with me," he said. "They plug bullet holes pretty good."
After the fight was over, Abernathy's uniform was covered with blood from many of the Marines he helped. He wore that blood-stained uniform for more than a month, he said.
"I didn't have any water to wash the blood off my clothes," he explained. "I barely had enough water to drink. I wore those kids' blood on me for about a month and a half. My commanding officer made me burn my uniform. I still got the boots that have blood all over them. I keep them in my house. I can't bring myself to throw them away. I just can't."
Abernathy has a simple explanation for how he stays calm in battle: "I made my peace with God a long time ago," he said.
It's essential that leaders stay calm when under pressure, he added, because loss of bearing and panic only multiply the chaos.
"If my guys don't have faith in who's leading them, then we're all screwed," he said. "I'm depending on them to beat back the bad guy, and if I'm flipping out, then they can't do that effectively."
It was also on this deployment that he suffered a mild case of traumatic brain injury caused by a high-mobility artillery rocket that exploded near him while he was chasing a sniper. This injury is keeping him from deploying with his fellow Marines.
"It kills me to see guys I know go to very bad areas and know that I can't go with them," he said. "I'm not a warmonger. I know what I'm capable of and I damn sure know how to fight the Taliban. There's just one way to deal with them that's effective and gets results: You gain ground, you push them off, and you own the real estate. It is what it is."
Many of his Marines say that if there is one thing Abernathy teaches them, it is how to stay alive, and Abernathy said that's important to him.
"I've seen how brutal [the Taliban] can be," he said. "I've seen what they do when they get their hands on one of ours. I'll be damned if I take a kid into harm's way and I don't give him every tool that I have to use."
Even though he has been through the wringer on more than one occasion, Abernathy said, he doesn't use his experiences to brag or boast, but rather to validate what he is teaching.
"I try not to be that guy that's got a story for everything," he said. "I'm not the only one who's seen and done combat. There is nothing glorious in war. There is nothing glorious in taking another life. There's no awesome feeling that you get filled with. Dead is dead. You just killed somebody's son, husband or brother. There's nothing awe-inspiring about that stuff. It's a necessary evil."
Abernathy's Marines are more than willing to hear his advice.
"When he talks, he says everything in a way you understand, and you know he's not lying," said Sgt. Brad Bianchi, a military policeman in the company. "You always want to hear what he has to say."
Abernathy said he has yet to decide what he wants to do when his Marine Corps days are over. Many of his peers have encouraged him to pursue a college degree in psychology, he noted, because of his ability to counsel Marines who may be suffering from the effects of a combat deployment.
"I can relate to them," he said. "It's kind of hard for a combat veteran who's chewed dirt, spilled blood and had his blood spilled to relate what he's gone through to some 25-year-old psychologist who's never even left the country or gone into combat. I put a different spin on things. For some of them, it helps. For others, it's still a work in progress."
Simplicity is the key to success, Abernathy said.
"Focus on the basics -- high speed is not always better," he said. "So many people get wrapped around the axle about their own personal success, they forget what the purpose of this gun club is, which is to fight wars and to take care of our own."
Friday, January 21, 2011
One of the last masters of Ilm-e-Arooz passed away
Posted on Friday January 21, 2011 at 9:29am
Renowned Urdu poet and one of the last masters of the technical aspect of poetry writing (Ilm-i-Aroos), Raghib Muradabadi passed away on Wednesday. in Karachi. He was 93.
Born in 1918 in Delhi, Raghib Muradabadi graduated from Delhi College and learned the art of composing poetry from the likes of Yas Yagana, Safi Lakhnavi and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. After partition, he came to Karachi where he was made the head of the rehabilitation committee for migrants by former prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan. He contributed a great deal to the betterment of the migrant community.He wrote 40 books which include a collection of ghazals, nazms, naat, a collection of poetry in Punjabi and translations in verse of Quranic Ayats and Ahadees. His collection of ghazals Rag-i-Guftar was received with critical acclaim as did his naats, Midhatul Bashar .
After Josh Malihabadi, whom he knew very well, Raghib Muradabadi was considered the best writer of rubaai (quatrain). One of his books titled Maut has 500 rubaais on the topic of death.
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| Iftikhar Chaudri |
The foreword to the book is written by Allama Talib Jauhri. He also penned his thoughts on the issue of terrorism. His compilation of Josh`s letters, Khutoot-i-Josh Malihabadi , and a book titled Mukalmat-i-Josh-o-Raghib speak for his closeness to Josh Malihabadi. Raghib Muradabadi had thousands of shagirds (pupils) the most prominent of which was the popular poet Habib Jalib. It is believed it`s Raghib sahib who suggested to Habib that he adopt Jalib as his pen name.
Raghib sahib was quite fluent in the Punjabi language. Talking to Dawn in an interview last year, he explained what had inspired him to learn the language.
“I had developed friendship with a Hindu girl back in India. Once she remarked that `jay tusi saday naal pyar karday ho tay, sadi zaban naal vee pyar karo.` (If you love me, you should love our language also.) I accepted the challenge, listened to Punjabi programmes on the radio, read Punjabi books and acquired such mastery over the language that I began composing poetry in it.”
“I had developed friendship with a Hindu girl back in India. Once she remarked that `jay tusi saday naal pyar karday ho tay, sadi zaban naal vee pyar karo.` (If you love me, you should love our language also.) I accepted the challenge, listened to Punjabi programmes on the radio, read Punjabi books and acquired such mastery over the language that I began composing poetry in it.”
Home in a war zone
Posted on Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 8:18 PM By Army 1st Lt. Nicholas Rasmussen of Task Force Lethal PAKTIA PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Jan. 20, 2011 - Most soldiers who are deployed miss their homes. But for Army Spc. Steven Starkey and Army Pfc. Andrew Starkey, a large part of what the word "home" represents is just a five-minute walk up the hill.
Both Starkeys are assigned to the Iowa Army National Guard's Company F, 334th Support Battalion, out of Red Oak, Iowa. Both soldiers said they joined the Guard to serve their country and fulfill some personal goals. Steven enlisted in the active-duty Army in 1989 as a heavy equipment mobile tactical truck wheel mechanic. He was slated to serve during Operation Desert Storm when personal issues at home prevented his involvement. He was young and dealing with a troubled marriage when his chain of command made the determination to let him remain in the rear as his unit prepared to support Desert Storm, he said. "Looking back, I don't feel I was mature enough to handle the task at hand," he acknowledged, adding that his brief service helped him to mature and gave him cause to consider future opportunities for service. The events of 9/11 reignited that simmering ambition. "I felt like I had left something on the table, an obligation I had left incomplete" he said. So almost 15 years after his initial service, he began the process to rejoin the Army, eventually serving with the Iowa National Guard. The process wasn't easy. Steven had remarried and had three additional children -- daughters Ashley and Rachel and stepson Jon -- when he decided to re-enlist for active duty. Despite trying three times, the active Army would not accept his application because he had more than two dependents. Steven gave up trying for active duty after the third attempt. Then, in the spring of 2007, he met his daughter's soccer coach, a staff sergeant in the Iowa National Guard. The soccer coach informed Steven that the Iowa National Guard had waivers and programs to allow people in situations like his to join. A month after speaking with the soccer coach, he was at the military entrance processing station swearing in for service. A year later, Andrew raised his right hand and made the oath to serve his country, but he had a different reason: his daughter, Kyra. Being in the Iowa Army National Guard has given Andrew a means to provide health care and child support for Kyra, he said. "I plan to start a savings account with the money I'm making [on deployment] to help pay for her college," he said. But joining the Guard came with some additional, unanticipated benefits for Andrew. "I see myself grow every day," he said, "whether or not I enjoy it all the time." Before making his commitment to serve in the Iowa Guard, Andrew had a "loose-cannon mentality," as his father put it. He was an unruly youth who often did not think before he acted. That was nine months ago. Now, six months into deployment, Andrew is a much different person. "He's level-headed and can take criticism constructively like an adult," said Steven, who added witnessing this change has been one of the most rewarding benefits to come out of being on this deployment together. Steven said sometimes a father has to be a father, regardless of rank, and stick up for his son. "It's hard to keep the fatherly instinct at bay when I see my son getting in trouble by his boss," Steven said. "I often have to swallow my pride and know my place." The Starkeys act more like brothers or best friends when they're together here, calling each other by their last name and making fun of just about anything the other says. Though they work at the same company, the Starkeys still feel as though they could spend more time together. As trying as some days may get, they said, they usually find some time throughout the week to hang out and unwind together, giving them a chance to solidify, in a unique way, a bond that can only be made between a father and son deployed together. "The one thing that everyone else wants, we have: a family member on deployment," Andrew said. | ||
| Related Sites: NATO International Security Assistance Force |
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Recalling her love days
Posted on Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 3:29 AM
By Elaine Wilson of American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2011 – I’m pleased to introduce a new Family Matters guest blogger, Megan Just, a Navy veteran and the editor of the weekly newspaper at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif.
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Just a Boyfriend
By Megan Just
A gust of frigid rain pummeled my face. The hems of my Navy uniform pants wicked rainwater as I splashed across the sidewalk. Inside the dry safety of my car, I cranked the seat heaters to high. It was another stormy day in the long string of stormy days we'd had so far that winter. It was another day Eric would be soaked to the bone and hypothermic as he biked across town.
Faced with a half year of separation following my deployment to Iraq, Eric left the idyllic, sunny Southern California town where he attended graduate school to join me in Rhode Island.
Because the arrangement was temporary, we shared a car. In theory, Eric could have shuttled me to work and had the car to himself all day. The problem was, Eric was just a boyfriend. While he was allowed to drop me off, he was not allowed to come back on base to pick me up. And so he hunkered down and braved the rain.
One of the most important rituals in a military ceremony is to recognize the honoree’s spouse. The spouse is called on stage to receive a bouquet of flowers: a symbolic thank you for the sacrifices the he or she has made on behalf of the spouse's military service. These are always occasions for tears. The spouse's sacrifice has been great and it's been anything but easy.
Sometimes, when I observe these ceremonies, a lump forms in my throat. The sacrifices Eric made because of my military service ran a lot deeper than a few months of rainy bike rides. For the duration of my time in the Navy, Eric was just a boyfriend and therefore, he was never recognized for his sacrifices.
The truth is that, in many ways, the sacrifices of a service member's boyfriend or girlfriend are no different than those made by a spouse, but they make them without the benefits, recognition, commitment or support.
For a civilian, dating a service member is a lot more complicated than dating another civilian. Yes, there are all the acronyms that have to be translated and the silly little things you have to do (like sneaking your significant other in the backdoor of the gym so you can work out together), but there is so much more to it than that.
Eric has told me that one of the most profound peculiarities of dating a service member was the presence of a third party in the relationship. "It's like you're the most important thing to them, but Uncle Sam is more important."
It was our third date when the shadow of the Navy first altered our plans together. I had a rare four-day weekend and we planned to go rock climbing in Yosemite. I was not allowed to leave a designated radius from my duty station and Yosemite was significantly outside this distance.
Although I knew Eric had been eagerly anticipating the trip, I was afraid of being caught and I chickened out at the last minute.
We had only been dating a few months when I moved across country to my new duty station in Rhode Island. A few months after that, I received orders to Iraq.
"It's a scary prospect to date someone in the military because they are largely absentee," Eric told me once. "It's contrary to the idea of what a relationship is."
In addition to the separation, the deployment raised sobering questions we would have never faced so early in our relationship as a civilian-civilian couple.
As my colleagues prepared powers of attorneys for their spouses, I had to decide if I should list Eric as a life insurance beneficiary and include him in my will. He was just a boyfriend, but he also was the man I hoped to eventually marry. If I was hurt in Iraq, I wanted him to be the first to know. If I died, I wanted to recognize him not for the title held, but for his significance in my life.
Many military couples mitigate these complications by getting married right before deployment. This ensures rights of the significant other in the case of an injury or death, and it also provides perks, such as medical insurance, commissary benefits, a pay increase, and access to family support programs.
Eric and I had been dating less than a year when I left and we did not opt to do this, but he supported me through deployment like a spouse, nevertheless. He sent care packages, letters, e-mails, and he made funny little videos to keep me up-to-date on his life back in the United States. He ran a multitude of errands for me and he handled the details of our post-deployment plans.
Most importantly, he was available on the other end of the phone every time I called, no matter the hour, no matter what else I was interrupting. This was no small commitment; I called him almost every day of my deployment. It was because of this steady connection with him that I didn't implode from all the small stresses that add up while serving in Iraq.
Eric and I married a year after I got out of the Navy. Although he now wears the rank of husband, he is no more important to me than when he was just a boyfriend. He is still the same person I've loved all along and I know it was his continued patience and flexibility during our early years that made our relationship possible.
We've all heard our share of heartless "Dear John" stories, but it's important to not discount the contributions of the significant other during the happy periods of the relationship. Even if the couple never progresses to engagement or marriage, the service member's significant other has bent twice as far to compensate for the service member not being able to bend at all.
The military-civilian dating relationship is difficult, but there are things each party can do to make it easier. With our one-car situation in Rhode Island, for example, I started asking questions around base and learned that my commanding officer could write a special permission letter that would allow Eric to pick me up from work. It wasn't much, but anything that can ease external stress on your relationship is important, especially when you're working on the foundation of something you hope will last a lifetime.
As a former service member who had a civilian boyfriend, I have an appreciation for spouses' organizations that extend invitations to significant others, especially during deployments. I also think it's fantastic that the Reserve and National Guard's Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program welcomes spouses, as well as service members' boyfriends and girlfriends. After all, every military spouse was first a girlfriend or boyfriend.
As I look back on the years when my husband was just a boyfriend, I realize the guilty feeling I sometimes have at military ceremonies is not just because Eric never received a showy bouquet of flowers from the Navy. It is because I failed to thank him enough for his sacrifices.
Here are a few questions for you:
How did your experience as a service member's girlfriend or boyfriend differ from your experience as a military spouse?
How can a service member make the dating relationship easier for his or her significant other, and vice versa?
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