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U.S. Troops Hone Cold War Skills

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cold war

By Debbie Gregory.

In light of increasing threats from Eastern Europe, the United States Army is focused on relearning Cold War-era skills to confront potential Russian threats.

The adjustments include re-camouflaging vehicles to blend into the terrain, dispersing into smaller groups to avoid sophisticated surveillance drones and the use of netting to hide troop positions.

Senior Army commanders are rehearsing updated tactics and strategies that had been previously used to counter Soviet troops when the Berlin Wall was still standing, although the U.S. Army’s presence in Europe is a far cry from the height of the Cold War, when 300,000 soldiers were stationed there, versus 30,000 soldiers.

Russia’s hybrid warfare combines conventional military might with the ability to manipulate events using a mix of subterfuge, cyber-attacks and information warfare. The U.S. and NATO allies recently positioned some 4,500 soldiers in the three Baltic States and Poland as a deterrent to Russian aggression.

American intelligence is closely watching Russian operations in Crimea, eastern Ukraine, and Syria.

The colonels who will more than likely be the next generation of Army generals have spent the bulk of their careers battling Al Qaeda or ISIS.

Col. Clair A. Gill, a 1994 West Point graduate who commands the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Drum, N.Y. was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division when Russia was still considered a threat. An accomplished Black Hawk helicopter pilot, Col. Gill spent most of his career battling Islamic militants. He has acknowledged that it took a while to adjust to preparing to fight more conventional battles.

Col. Gills’ West Point classmate, Col. Patrick Ellis, studied Russian to learn the language of his potential adversary. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Colonel Ellis was deployed multiple times to Afghanistan with specialized Army Ranger units.

Now Colonel Ellis commands the Second Cavalry Regiment in Europe.

“We know when we wake up every morning who the threat is,” Colonel Ellis said. “We’re very focused on the Russian threat.”

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, and their families.

New Mexico VA Rejected Majority of Gulf War Veteran Claims

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By Debbie Gregory.

A federal report shows that a Veterans Affairs office in New Mexico has denied 592 out of 640 of benefit claims related to Gulf War Illness (GWI), also known as Gulf War Syndrome.

Data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office shows that Albuquerque’s Department of Veterans Affairs denied about 90% of these claims in 2015.

According to the report, VA staff members noted the complexity of GWI claims, which was first identified in soldiers returning home from Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield in the early 1990s.

Lack of training on the part of the medical examiners may be to blame. There is a 90-minute training course on Gulf War illness, but currently taking the course is voluntary, and only 1 in 10 of the VA’s 4,000 medical examiners had completed it, according to the report.

Gulf War illness has two main clinical categories: medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness and undiagnosed illness. Symptoms include joint pain, chronic fatigue syndrome and neurological problems.

There were many factors present in the Gulf during the war that could have played a role in causing illness in those present at the time. It is likely that a combination of these factors together is what led to the illness. Exposure to infectious diseases, biological and chemical weapons, as well as toxic elements, such as smoke from burning oil wells, are believed to have caused Gulf War illnesses.

Sonja Brown, acting associate director of the New Mexico VA Health Care System said that the Gulf War Examination training is currently on their curriculum for their medical.

“While I don’t have a percentage of those completed, I can tell you that the training is being taken,” Brown said.

The VA said all its pension and compensation examiners will complete the mandatory 90-minute course on GWI by November, and it will make necessary changes in the notification process by August.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Navy Calls off Search for USS McCain Sailors, Identifies the Dead and Missing

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By Debbie Gregory.

As search and rescue efforts at sea were suspended for the nine missing John S. McCain sailors, the Navy identified the sailor whose remains were located inside the ship’s flooded compartments as Electronic Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22, of New Jersey. Smith was a third-generation sailor.

Divers will continue recovery efforts inside flooded compartments in the ship for the remaining missing sailors. The Navy identified the missing as:

  • Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, from Maryland joined the Navy soon after graduating high school.
  • Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, from Connecticut was an avid skier and runner.
  • Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, from Ohio recently received a Navy and Marine Corps achievement medal for going above and beyond the call of duty during an inspection.
  • Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, from Maryland enjoyed the outdoors, including hiking, kayaking and working out.
  • Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, 31, from Missouri. His love of computers made his choice of electronics technician a natural fit.
  • Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, 20, from Texas was recent high school graduate.
  • Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, 28, from New York, was, according to friends, very outgoing and always willing to lend a hand.
  • Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, 39, from Texas. Lopez was responsible for keeping the ship’s communication lines open.
  • Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, from Illinois enjoyed bass fishing and whitewater rafting.

The McCain has been towed to Singapore’s Changi Naval Base. The other ship, the Alnic MC, a 600-foot, Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker, was towed to Singapore’s eastern anchorage for inspection.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of these brave men.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Mental Health Tricks Used by Special Forces Can Help You

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By Debbie Gregory.

When it comes to overcoming our daily challenges, we civilians can learn a thing or two from our elite military forces.

Our Special Forces are masters of warfare, fitness, endurance, and preparation. Here are some of their mental preparation techniques that we can all use:

Concern yourself with just the immediate: don’t think past the next five minutes. Rather than worrying about the future, just do your best for the next five minutes.

Put your mind on autopilot- intently focus on the present and only the present. Similar to the five minute rule, don’t be concerned with what happened in the past or what the future could bring, just be present. Going on autopilot will help you succeed, regardless of the nature of the challenge in front of you.

Breathing techniques-breathe slow, breathe deep, and clear your mind. Pause, focus and slow your breathing, take several slow deep breathes, clear your mind, and focus 100% on the task at hand.

Practice makes perfect- mental rehearsals contribute to success. Mental rehearsal, also referred to as imagery perspective, is when you clearly imagine what the perfect completion of your task looks like.  This technique can set you up to actually complete the task successfully. This type of imagery is a proven technique to enhance the attainment of the behavior you imagine. These techniques improve learning, enhance performance and reduce the negative effects of stress. Relaxation and imagery provide the foundation for positive change and for relief from stress.

Act and look relaxed- even if you’re far from it! If you have to fake it until you make it, one of the best ways to manage your own stress is to make sure you project an image of personal calm, serenity, and relaxation

Utilizing some or all of these techniques can help you conquer any challenge.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Missing Black Hawk Crew Identified

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By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the active search for five crew members missing after their Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down during a training exercise on August 15th off the Hawaiian coast.

The Army has identified the crew as:

  • 1st Lt. Kathryn Bailey, 26, of Hope Mills, North Carolina, was an aviation officer. Her decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon and the Army Aviator Badge.
  • Chief Warrant Officer 2 Stephen Cantrell, 32, of Wichita Falls, Texas, was a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot. He received multiple decorations and awards including the Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Army Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.
  • Staff Sgt. Abigail Milam, 33, of Jenkins, Kentucky, was a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew chief. She received multiple decorations and awards including the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal and Army Good Conduct Medal with two loops.
  • Sgt. Michael Nelson, 30, of Antioch, Tennessee, was a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew chief. He received multiple decorations and awards including the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Medal.
  • Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brian Woeber, 41, of Decatur, Alabama, was a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot. He received multiple decorations and awards including the Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and Navy Achievement Medal.

They all served with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division.

“I know that all the responders helping in this rescue effort join me and the rest of this division in offering the families of the missing soldiers our deepest condolences and sympathies, “ said Maj. Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division. “They have been and will constantly remain in our thoughts and prayers during this trying time.”

Our sincerest sympathies go out to the loved ones of these five heroes.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Troops’ Biophysical Data Could Lead to Better Weapons, Performance

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By Debbie Gregory.

Breakthroughs in biometric science mean future troops will fight with weapons that understand them,  inside and out.

The U.S. military is funding research to collect biophysical data from soldiers, sailors, Marines, and pilots in order to improve troops’ performance by understanding what’s happening inside their bodies.

The research will help develop the next generation of fighter jets, body armor, computer systems, and weapons, which will work more cohesively with those at the controls.

Pentagon-backed researchers are designing an entirely new generation of wearable health monitors that will relay valuable information about the person to whom the system is bound, including focus, alertness, health, and stress.

Over the past two years, the military has purchased more than $2 million worth of biomedical tracking devices. But it turns out that off-the-shelf consumer devices, such as Fitbits, aren’t good enough for the military’s biotracking ambitions.

That’s why researchers are creating a new class of wearables, based on new research into what size electrodes are the most efficient.

One application for such sensors would be helmets that record brain activity while their wearers do their jobs. Modern fighter jets expose human bodies to physical forces that are still not entirely understood. For example, in the past, F-22 pilots reported in-flight episodes of confusion, shortness of breath, and skin-color changes, which are symptoms of hypoxia, or decreased oxygen in the blood. These symptoms were due to speed.

Beyond helmets, Air Force researchers are working on a comprehensive cognitive monitoring system, one which may not need a physical sensor on the body, but rather the information would be gathered using cameras.

In fact, one research project configured a laptop camera lenses to detect hemoglobin oxygenation, which lets you read a person’s heart rate from a distance.

Sensors can also detect changes in metabolism that indicate weariness and stress before the person notices.

These innovations are making their way into actual gear and weapons. By 2020, Navy SEAL teams and Army Rangers could take down high-value targets while wearing an exoskeleton that’s earned the nickname ‘Iron Man.’

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Air Force Seeks More Authority to Deal With Civilian Drones

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By Debbie Gregory.

The head of the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command wants permission to deal with civilian drones—including shooting them down

Gen. Mike Holmes, the head of Air Combat Command (ACC), is trying to remedy the problem of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) that are flown near a military airfield.

Holmes reported that back in July, there were two such incidents on the same day.

“At one base, the gate guard watched one fly over the top of the gate check, tracked it while it flew over the flight line for a little while, and then flew back out and left, and I have no authority given to me by the government to deal with that.”

In a second incident, an F-22 Raptor had a “near collision” with a small UAS. The ACC commander was left with few options.

Flying drones within five miles of a U.S. base without getting permission from that installation is already illegal, but actually taking action against them is a federal matter, and only federal civilian agencies can jam drones.

When a civil aircraft enters a restricted airspace, the military can make sure that the pilot faces consequences from the FAA, such as a fine or losing his or her license.

But that’s more difficult with small unmanned systems. While the espionage aspect is a given, there is always the threat of a terrorist or state-sponsored drone swarm attack crippling an air base.

“Imagine a world where somebody flies a couple hundred of those and flies one down the intake of all my F-22s with just a small weapon on it? I need the authorities to deal with that,” Holmes said.

If General Holmes has his way, Air Force security police may soon be carrying weapons such as the Battelle DroneDefender, which utilizes a non-kinetic solution to defend airspace against UASs without compromising safety or risking collateral damage.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Veteran’s Global War on Terror Memorial Moving Forward

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By Debbie Gregory.

It’s been a few years since former Army Aviation Officer Andrew Brennan began his quest to ensure veterans of the Global War on Terror have a memorial in Washington, D.C.

But, finally, the Pittsburgh veteran’s effort to memorialize his comrades’ sacrifices is set to move forward.

The stumbling block has been the 1986 Commemorative Works Acts, which requires a war to be over for 10 years before a memorial can be built.

On August 3, 2017, the Senate cleared the way for the Global War on Terrorism memorial, unanimously passing the first bill in recent history approving a national war memorial before the fighting is over. The bill cleared the House on July 28th.

For those who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, the memorial will be a place to honor their dead and wounded, even as those numbers continue to climb.

“Ten years from the end of never … is always never,” Brennan said as he testified at a congressional hearing.

The bill now goes to the White House, where Brennan said staff have assured him it has the president’s support.

The next step is a detailed 24-step bureaucratic process that will include choosing a site, which could take two years; selecting a design through competition, which could take up to three years; and constructing the memorial.

The memorial will include six themes: endurance, sacrifice, all-volunteer, global, multicultural and unfinished.

The foundation has raised about $300,000 so far, but it is estimated the project will run $40 to $50 million to staff, plan, design and construct the project. Brennan said he expects the memorial to be built by 2024.

“This memorial will be wholly dedicated to our 7,000 brothers and sisters who deployed with us but did not return, and their survivors,” Brennan said. “It is dedicated to the 1 million wounded warriors who are reclaiming their lives back here at home. It is for the soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines who struggle in their transition from combat deployments.”

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

California Legislators Push Bill to Help Combat Veteran Suicide

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By Debbie Gregory.

A proposal for new state legislation in California that will help confront the issue of veteran suicides has been introduced by Assemblyman Dr. Joaquin Arambula and Assemblyman Jim Patterson.

AB 242 would require death certificates to reflect whether the deceased person was ever a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Currently, details such as marital status, birthplace and occupation are required on death certificates, but military service is not.

“Getting ahead of the suicide, getting help when it’s needed, not after it’s too late, and I think this is a good first step,” said Patterson.

The bill would also require the California Department of Health compile a report on veteran suicides, beginning in 2019.

“As a physician, I know accurate data will help us better understand the full scope of the problem of veteran suicides in California,” Arambula said. “Tracking this information will help determine whether or not existing suicide prevention efforts are having a positive effect, if more attention to this matter is needed in the future and where to allocate existing resources for mental health funding.”

“I have no question this information will be very helpful,” said Sen. Jim Nielsen, who voted for the bill in the Senate Veteran’s Affair Committee. “To our various veteran operations in the area, we can identify and allot them resources they desperately need.”

If passed into law, Arambula, an emergency room doctor, said California will join 21 other states in implementing such an effort to better calculate veteran suicide deaths.

The legislation is to be heard before the Senate Appropriations Committee at the end of this month after the legislators return from recess.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Marine Corps Looking to Turn Officers into PhDs

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By Debbie Gregory.

Two pilot programs are being offered by the U.S. Marine Corps that would allow qualified majors through lieutenant colonels to receive their PhDs with the Corps picking up the tab, as long as they agree to stay in the service for an additional six years.

Interested applicants should get moving: with only four officers being picked, it will be competitive. And applications are only being accepted through the end of this month.

Two of the recipients will be required to pursue a doctorate in strategic affairs, geared toward  national security, military history, public policy, political science, government, or some other related field.

The other two will be required to attend a doctoral program with a technical focus in operations research, modeling virtual environments and simulation (MOVES), information sciences, or computer science.

The MOVES program focuses on the principles of applied visual simulation technology and the application of quantitative analyses to human-computer interaction. The coursework may include instruction in object-oriented programming, artificial intelligence, computer communications and networks, computer graphics, virtual worlds and simulation systems, probability, statistics, stochastic modeling, data analysis, human-performance evaluation, and human-behavior modeling.

Interested candidates must already have a masters degree, or currently be pursuing one if they are applying for the technical doctorate.

By developing a cohort of strategic thinkers and technical leaders, the Marine Corps has a goal of achieving innovative thinking. This will be the result of applying substantive knowledge, directing original research, and leveraging relationships with industry and elements of national security.

“Uniformed doctorates provide the Marine Corps deployable, highly-skilled manpower in support of senior leader decision-making as well as helping generate national, defense, and service strategies in an increasingly complex world.”

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.


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