Navy @ MindSay

By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Casey Jones

Special to American Forces Press Service

Oct. 9, 2008 - Four years ago in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods here, Marines were attacked within minutes of beginning routine foot patrols. Fallujah's citizens were strongly opposed to the presence of coalition forces, and a vicious insurgency devastated the city.  In 2004, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. James Swain, an intelligence specialist with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, was killed by a gunshot in one of the cities' neighborhoods. Last month, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Benjamin Swain, a corpsman with Battery M, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, from Kokomo, Ind., visited the site where his brother gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

"It felt as if I looked hard enough, I could see him there," Benjamin said. "It all seemed surreal, and I'm honestly not too sure how I feel, but I do know I'm glad I went."

Marine Corps Maj. Jeffrey McCormack, who was the intelligence officer for 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, and is a native of Oak Forest, Ill., worked closely with James during their deployment together in 2004 and was nearby when the shooting occurred.

McCormack, now the operations officer for 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, contacted the Swain family shortly after James' death and regularly keeps in touch with them.

A few months into McCormack's current deployment, he discovered Benjamin was deployed to Fallujah — only minutes away from his old living quarters. McCormack quickly contacted Benjamin via e-mail, and they planned to meet.

"Once I found out Ben was near Camp Fallujah, I set up a dinner with him after one of my meetings," McCormack said. "During the dinner, I asked Benjamin if he was interested in going to the alleyway where his brother was killed."

After some coordination, the two set out to visit the site.

They first visited the rooftop of a building formerly occupied by coalition forces. The roof of the building was the last place McCormack saw James alive.

The night before James left for what was to be his last mission, McCormack asked James if he had any pictures of himself from the deployment. James said no, and McCormack pulled out his digital camera and snapped a few shots of him on the rooftop.

"I immediately recognized the area from the pictures," Benjamin said. "Being there and just being able to see the places where he spent his last hours meant being able to connect with him in some way."

Benjamin and McCormack stood on the roof reminiscing about James. McCormack pointed out various sites in the city and told Benjamin the sequence of events leading up to James' death.

They looked over the city one last time before setting out on a foot patrol with Marines from 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, to the site where James was shot.

Iraqis smiled and waved as the patrol made its way to the alleyway. The friendly atmosphere was vastly different from the one James and McCormack experienced four years ago.

Benjamin said every day he sees the progress resulting from the sacrifice his brother and thousands of others have made, and that their loss is not in vain.

"I've never thought his death was in vain," Benjamin said. "He died doing what he believed in. But the progress we've made is a testament to the hard work and sacrifices of all who served, and that cannot be taken for granted."

Benjamin said his brother would be pleased at the country's improvement if he were alive to see it.

"He would be proud, and maybe even smug," he said. "He would probably joke and say something like, 'Its safe around here because of me, ... because of what I did.'"

Benjamin said he and James always believed in serving their country, and following James' death, Benjamin joined the Navy as a corpsman.

"In high school, my brother and I agreed that while everyone can't serve, everyone should want to serve to help repay for the many opportunities we are granted just by living in America," Benjamin said. "I understood that all Marines are brothers, and seeing how my brother was a Marine, that made the Marines my brothers, too. So I figured as a Navy corpsman, I'd get the opportunity to serve with some of my brothers."

McCormack said that while there can never be closure for him because it is far too difficult getting over someone's death, he is thankful for the opportunity to share the day with Benjamin.

"Benjamin was very grateful for the opportunity to see the actual area his brother was killed and the rooftop of the building where the pictures were taken," McCormack said. "It was just as beneficial for me to be on that rooftop with him. I don't want to say it brought closure, because the pain of losing a Marine never goes away, and the loss of a brother will certainly never go away for Ben. I lost a Marine, but he lost a brother."

(Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Casey Jones serves with Regimental Combat Team 1.)

Army

Caddell Construction Co.,Inc, Montgomery, Ala., was awarded Sept. 30, 2008, a $99,763,000 firm fixed price contract for design and construction of the 108 th Air Defense artillery complex. Work will be performed in Fort Bragg, N.C., with estimated and completion date of Oct 31, 2010. Four proposals bid were solicited and three proposal bids were received.   The U.S. Army Engineer District, Savannah, Ga., is the contracting activity (W912HN-07-D-0051).

Walsh Construction, Chicago, Ill., was awarded on Sept. 29, 2008, a $69,758,553 firm fixed price contract for replace family housing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. Work will be performed in Whiteman Air Force base, Mo., with an estimated completion date of Dec 1, 2011.   Bids were solicited via the Web and three bids were received. Corps Engineer Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity (W912DQ-08-C-0015).

CH2M Hill Facilities & Infrastructure Inc, Fort Bragg, N.C., was awarded Sept. 30, 2008, a $53,214,000 firm fixed price contract for construction of an ammunition supply point. Work will be performed in with estimated and completion date of Apr. 30, 2015. The U.S. Engineer, Savannah, Ga., is the contracting activity (W912HN-07-D-0060).

Spaw Glass Construction Corporation, Houston, Texas, was awarded Sept. 30, 2008, a $48, 390, 108 firm fixed price construction contract for Armed Forces Reserve Center Houston phase two and BRAC Armed Forces Reserve Center East Houston,, Ellington Field, Houston, Texas. Work will be performed in Ellington Field Houston, Texas, with estimated and completion date of Oct. 31, 2010. Bids solicited were posted on web and three bids were received. Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity (W912QR-08-C-0052).

Walton Construction Co., Dallas Texas, was awarded Sept. 30, 2008, a $42,553,510 firm fixed price contract. This construction contract is for the design and construction of a consolidated family care and troop medical clinic facility at fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas. Work will be performed in Fort Bliss El Paso, Texas, with estimated and completion date of May 31, 2010. One hundred and seventy-five bids were solicited and five bids were received. U.S. Army Engineers District, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-08-C-0075).

Baco-Epik-Metis Joint Venture, Los Angeles, Calif., was awarded on Sept. 30, 2008, a $41,664,278 firm fixed price contract for construction of the Fiscal Year 2008 SOF Aircraft Operations Program at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. Work will be performed in Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 1, 2010. Thirty bids were solicited and six bids were received. US Army Corps of Engineer, Winchester, Va., is the contracting activity (W912ER-08-C-0048).

  ACC Construction Co., Inc, Augusta, Ga., was awarded on Oct. 2, 2008, a $37,333,133 firm fixed fee price contract for design and construction of tactical equipment maintenance facilities and 108th Air Defense artillery complex site infrastructure at Fort Bragg. Work will be performed in Fort Bragg., with an estimated completion date of Mar. 30, 2010. Four bids were solicited and three bids were received. U.S. Army Engineer, Savannah, Ga., is the contracting activity (W912HN-07-D-0042).

DRS Sustainment Systems Inc, St Louis, Mo., was awarded on Sept. 26, 2008, a $29,313,108 firm fixed fee price contract for Armored Knight Vehicles, spare parts and special tools. Work will be performed in St Louis, Mo., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 30, 2010. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-06-C-0523).

Ross Group Construction Corp., Tulsa, Okla., was awarded on Sept. 29, 2008, a $22,083,241 firm fixed price contract for all work required to construct a Combined Arms collective training facility.  Work will be performed in Fort Bliss El Paso, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2010. Two bids were solicited and two bids were received. U.S. Army Engineer, Fort Worth., Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-08-D-0008).

Garco Construction, Spokane, Wash., was awarded on Sept. 30, 2008, a $19,236,000 firm fixed price contract for design build for a vehicle maintenance shop located in at Yakima, Washington.  Work will be performed in Yakima, Wash., with an estimated completion date of Oct. 10, 2010. Bids were solicited via posted on the Web and two bids were received. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, is the contracting activity (W912QR-08-C-0058).

Mapco Inc, San Antonio, Texas was awarded on Sept. 30, 2008, a $18,298,732 firm fixed price contract for building renovation and repairs at north Fort Polk, La., in support of foreign security forces transition team mission.  Work will be performed in Fort Polk Army Base, La., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2013. Bids were solicited via the Web and one bid was received. US Army Engineer, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-08-D-0045).

Viking Versar, Silver Spring, Md., was awarded on Sept. 30, 2008, a $9,449,530 firm fixed price contract for unit operations to include the temporary equipment maintenance facility, Fort Lee, Va.  Work will be performed in Fort Lee, Va., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2009. Eighty bids were solicited and four bids were received. Corps of Engineer, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (W91236-08-C-0076).

HHI Corp., Farmington, Utah, was awarded on Sept. 29, 2008, a $8,232,865 firm fixed fee contract for construction of a munitions maintenance facility at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Work will be performed in Hill Air Force Base, Toole & Weber County, Utah, with an estimated completion date of Mar. 29, 2010. Bids were solicited via the Web and four bids were received. U.S. Army Engineer, Sacramento, Calif., is the contracting activity (W91238-08-C-0024).

NAVY

General Electric Aviation, Lynn, Mass., is being awarded a $33,201,530 priced delivery order # GB64 under an existing basic ordering agreement contract (FA8104-05-G-0003) for repair of components in the T64 engine, used on the H-53 aircraft. Work will be performed at Lynn, Mass., (86 percent); and Cherry Point, N.C., (14 percent). Work is expected to be completed by Sept. 2009.  The contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.

UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND

CAV International Inc., of Colorado Springs, Co., 80920-4162, is being awarded a $15,509,395 fixed price modification. This contract modification will exercise option year three to provide continuing air terminal and ground handling services on behalf of the Air Mobility Command in support of the Department of Defense Airlift System at Kuwait International Airport Abdullah Al Mubarak Airbase, Kuwait and will be completed Sept. 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contracting activity is United States Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott AFB, Ill., 62225. (FA4428-06-C-0005). 

American Forces Press Service

Oct. 3, 2008 - Time is running out to nominate outstanding military spouses for Military Spouse magazine's 2009 Military Spouse of the Year award.  As the Oct. 8 deadline approaches, 252 Army spouses had been nominated at last count, along with 74 Navy and 70 Air Force spouses. The Coast Guard, with 22 nominations, was edging out the Marine Corps by one nominee.

"This award is MSM's opportunity to thank all military spouses for their invaluable contributions, in addition to recognizing them for the challenges they overcome every day," said Babette Maxwell, the magazine's co-founder and executive editor.

The Military Spouse of the Year honoree represents millions of unsung heroes who maintain the home front, give selflessly to their communities and provide support to the nation's troops, Maxwell said. Often, these spouses also have full-time jobs and raise families, she noted.

The winner will make additional public appearances, write a monthly column to appear in Military Spouse magazine, and maintain a blog during his or her reign, which will last through May 2010.

Last year's award generated hundreds of nominations from across the country, culminating in the selection of Army wife Chelle Brewer as military Spouse of the Year for 2008.

Nominees must be the spouse of a current member of the U.S. armed forces. Criteria for selecting the winner include impact on community change, volunteerism, personal sacrifice, education and career pursuits and other military spouse-related efforts.

Nominations can be made online at www.msoy.milspouse.com, and must be received by Oct. 8.

The winner will be announced nationally in the magazine's June issue and will be honored during the second annual military Spouse of the Year awards ceremony here in conjunction with National Military Spouse Appreciation Week in May.

The Military Spouse of the Year award is sponsored by USAA, a financial services company that serves military members and their families.

"The reason USAA exists is to help military families with their financial security and the peace of mind that brings – especially to the military spouse who shoulders so much responsibility," said Joe Robles, USAA's chief executive officer and a retired major general. "I know I couldn't have done what I did for the Army if my wife, Patty, hadn't taken care of everything else.

"Being the title sponsor of this award is a natural for us. We feel honored to honor military spouses," he added.

USAA is a corporate supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

Oct. 1, 2008 - A new U.S. unified command that seeks to meld civilian expertise with military planning and logistics raised its flag during a Pentagon ceremony today. Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward unfurled the colors and told Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen that "U.S. Africa Command reports for duty!"

The focus of American foreign policy in Africa is defense, diplomacy and development, Gates said during the ceremony.

"On the defense side, AfriCom's mission is not to wage war, but to prevent it – not to show United States military presence, but to enhance the security forces of our partners," Gates said.

The command will build lasting ties with African nations, the secretary said. "All of this contributes to our overall goal as a nation: to be a trusted, reliable partner for the nations of Africa," he added.

President Bush announced in February 2007 that the U.S. military would form the command as part of an overall change in the DoD footprint.

"Beyond moving and realigning troops and bases, we have also been reconsidering, on a more general level, the nature of the kinds of threats to our nation ... and those threats we might face in the future," Gates said.

Crime, terrorism, natural disasters, economic turmoil, ethnic fissures and disease can be just as destabilizing on the African continent as traditional military threats, Gates noted. "It makes sense to fuse old understandings of security with new concepts of security, and how security, stability and development go hand-in-hand," he said.

One sign that AfriCom is a different paradigm is that one of its deputy commanders is Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates. The U.S. Agency for International Development also has provided personnel for the new command, as has the departments of Commerce and Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

The command will focus on supporting military professionalism and military capacity, said USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore, who also spoke at the ceremony. Fore also represented the State Department for the unfurling.

Helping African nations build security will enhance their development prospects, Fore said.

"We welcome AfriCom's integrated and innovative command structure," she said. "The State Department will ensure that AfriCom's activities are coordinated by our ambassadors. Such coordination will make sure our foreign policy priorities are met and are complementary among all United States programs and activities, and [that] their effectiveness is maximized.

She said the State Department and USAID recognize security is fundamental to the success of their missions on the continent. "The link between security and development is clear throughout sub-Saharan Africa," she said.

The chairman called the stand-up an exciting day for the department, and he thanked all those who worked so hard to make the command a reality. He said the command "is different than what we've done in the past, and [it will] allow us to engage in a part of the world that is critical to the United States and the world."

While the command will face challenges, it also has opportunities, and the men and women of the command – with their African partners – will meet them head-on, the chairman said. The command personnel are excited "about making a difference and in the newness of the construct, and in the ability to engage in a place where heretofore we have not been able to dedicate the resources and the people to do so. It is in that dedication and focus and engagement that will make so much difference," Mullen said.

For his part, Ward emphasized that his new command will not hijack American foreign policy on the continent. AfriCom will take its foreign policy marching orders from the State Department and in concert with other U.S. government agencies and international partners, he said, and it will conduct sustained security engagement through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities and other military operations as directed. The goal is to promote a stable and more secure African environment in support of U.S. foreign policy, Ward said.

"Our first priority is the delivery and sustainment of effective security cooperation programs on the African continent and its island nations," he said. "We will work to build partner security capacity. Within our means, we will endeavor to provide value added to existing programs while establishing new programs based on what African nations and African organizations ask us to do as they seek to provide for their own security."

When all is said and done, Ward said, the command will exemplify new civilian-military and U.S.-African partnerships that seek to prevent wars and foster peace.

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

Sept. 29, 2008 - As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, the Defense Department also can take a bow for the key role it has played in lending technology and expertise to NASA's space exploration and research mission.  NASA began operations on Oct. 1, 1958, just a few days short of the one-year anniversary of the Soviet Union's successful Sputnik I launch. Concerned about the race for technological superiority in space, U.S. officials debated long and hard over whether the space program should be placed under military or civilian control, historical documents show.

Ultimately, NASA was established as a new civilian agency that borrowed heavily from the Defense Department and other government organizations as it built its own capabilities.

One doesn't have to look hard to see the deep connection between NASA and DoD, beginning with the astronaut program. In fact, President Dwight D. Eisenhower almost assured that connection when he decreed that all astronaut candidates be test pilots with college degrees.

All seven original astronauts – known as "The Mercury 7" because they were chosen for Project Mercury, the nation's first manned space flight program -- came from the military. Alan Shepard, Walter Schirra and Scott Carpenter were Navy aviators; Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Gordon Cooper and Donald "Deke" Slayton were Air Force pilots; and John Glenn flew in the Marine Corps.

The long list of military members who became "firsts" at NASA didn't stop there. Glenn, who flew 59 combat missions during World War II and another 63 during the Korean War before joining the Naval Air Test Center, made history at NASA as the first American to orbit Earth on Feb. 20, 1962.

Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, got his initial flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., in 1949 and 1950, then went on to fly 78 missions over Korea during the Korean War. His words as he stepped from the Apollo 11 lunar module on July 20, 1969-- "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" -- are an indelible mark in NASA's history.

Armstrong's fellow Apollo 11 crewmembers had deep military roots, too. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1951, before serving as an Air Force fighter pilot during the Korean War.

Michael Collins, who orbited the moon as Armstrong and Aldrin walked on its surface, also got his commission at West Point before joining the Air Force and receiving flight training at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.

Thirty years later, Eileen Collins – no relation to the Apollo 11 astronaut -- made NASA history in 1999 as the first woman to command a space shuttle aboard the Columbia. Collins, an Air Force colonel, graduated from Air Force undergraduate pilot training in 1979. She was attending Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., when NASA selected her for its astronaut program.

military members have participated in NASA's great triumphs as well as its deep tragedies, including the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters.

Four servicemembers were among the seven Challenger crewmembers killed when a fuel tank exploded 73 seconds after launch on Jan. 28, 1986. Michael J. Smith, the pilot, was a Navy captain; Francis Richard "Dick" Scobee and Ellison Onizuka were Air Force lieutenant colonels; and Gregory Jarvis was an Air Force captain.

Again, five U.S. military officers, as well as an Israeli officer, died when Columbia disintegrated over Texas as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003. That incident killed Navy Cmdr. William C. McCool, the pilot; Air Force Col. Rick D. Husband; Air Force Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson; Navy Capt. David M. Brown and Navy Capt. Laurel Clark. Israeli Air Force Col. Ilan Ramon and Kalpana Chawla, the only civilian on the mission, also died.

But the connection between the military and NASA goes far beyond the astronaut program.

From its inception, NASA looked to the Defense Department and other interagency, academic, industry and international partners to build its capability, Roger D. Launius, curator for the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, noted in an article written for NASA's 50th anniversary magazine.

The military had been looking to space and the development of rocket technology and expertise since the closing days of World War II, Air Force Space Command officials noted. NASA was anxious to tap into this expertise, and quickly absorbed several ongoing military efforts into its organization. These included the space science group of the Naval Research Laboratory in Maryland that would form the core of the new Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. NASA also incorporated the Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed for the Army by the California Institute of technology, and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville, Ala., where Wernher von Baun's engineering team was developing large rockets.

Shortly after its formal organization, NASA took over management of space exploration projects from other federal agencies, including the Air Force.

"These activities relied fully on the expertise and resources of the U.S. Air Force in seeing them to fruition," Launius wrote.

One of NASA's earliest borrowings from the military came in the form of launch vehicles originally developed to deliver nuclear weapons.

"Most of the launchers used by NASA during its formative years originated as military ballistic missiles," Launius wrote. "It was, and remains, the fundamental technology necessary for civil space exploration, and it came largely from the military."

Meanwhile, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – another organization Eisenhower created in response to the Sputnik launch – has provided critical expertise that has benefitted NASA throughout its 50-year history.

The Defense Department stood up DARPA to find and quickly develop advanced technology for the military so the United States would never again suffer a technological surprise by another nation.

Initially, DARPA scientists and engineers concentrated on the first surveillance satellites that ensured U.S. presidents had accurate intelligence information on Russian missile program activities, historical records show. But DARPA advanced other space projects as well, developing the Saturn V rocket that ultimately enabled the United States to launch the Apollo missions to the moon.

As it observes its 50th anniversary, NASA can look back on its many accomplishments that have brought mankind a better understanding of the solar system and universe. As it advanced this research, NASA, like the military services and DARPA, has pushed the technological envelope in everything from weather forecasting to navigation to global communications.

Speaking last week at NASA's 50th anniversary gala, Neil Armstong looked back on the agency's history and its future.

"The goal is far more than just going faster, higher and further," he said. "Our goal, indeed our responsibility, is to develop new options for future generations -- options for expanding human knowledge, exploration, human settlement and resource development in the universe around us."