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In Solidarity With Belgium, Obama Wants ISIS Defeated by End of His Term

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brussels

By Debbie Gregory.

Even before the horrendous terrorist attacks on Brussels which killed at least 34 people and injured about 170, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said that President Obama wants the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) defeated by the end of his term.

Carter said that the president called for the process to be accelerated last fall — about a year after the U.S. first began its counter-ISIS campaign.

President Obama does not want to leave the defeat of ISIS to his successor, and Carter said he’s optimistic.

“I’m confident that we’ll do it. And we have an operational plan now,” Carter said.

Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command gave a more cautious assessment as to when the coalition could take back Mosul and Raqqa, ISIS’s respective strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

“I’m not going to put a timeline on it other than to say, you know, we are going to work with our partners on the ground, and the coalition to move as fast as possible,” Ryder said.

The president said that the U.S. will do whatever it can to assist Belgium in bringing to justice those responsible for the attacks, and he urged international unity in defeating ISIS.

The attacks followed the capture in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam, an organizer of the November terror attacks in Paris that targeted cafes, restaurants, a concert hall and stadium, killing 130 people and injuring more than 350.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders told the media that at the time of his capture, Abdeslam was “ready to restart something in Brussels,” and that he’d established a new network of people around him, and that a large weapons cache had been found.

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.

Nearly Half of Non-deployed Marine Corps Units Aren’t Combat-ready

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marinecorpsreadiness

By Debbie Gregory.

The assistant commandant of the Marine Corps has warned Congress that their mission is threatened by budget cuts, which has led to a dangerous lack of readiness and training.

Assistant Commandant Gen. John Paxton has said that nearly half of non-deployed Marine units do not have all of the personnel, equipment or training they need.

“I think it’s 46 percent [of units that] have some degree of personnel, training or equipment degradation,” Paxton told reporters after testifying before the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee.

“I worry about the capability and the capacity to win in a major fight somewhere else right now,” Paxton added.

Paxton warned about the drastically reduced ability of aviation, communications and intelligence units.

“In the event of a crisis, these degraded units could either be called upon to deploy immediately at increased risk to the force and the mission, or require additional time to prepare thus incurring increased risk to mission by surrendering the initiative to our adversaries,” Paxton said. “This does not mean we will not be able to respond to the call … It does mean that executing our defense strategy or responding to an emergent crisis may require more time, more risk, and incur greater costs and casualties.”

To remedy troop readiness issues, the Marine Corps plans to ask Congress for $460 million as part of the service’s unfunded priority list. That money would go toward training, exercises, facility sustainment and spare parts.

Buying new aircraft while maintaining older models has made it challenging to get aviation units the spare parts they need, Paxton said.

“A lot of times, it is the parts that [are] the key limiting factor,” he said. “You have to get them out there. That takes money to do it. It also takes time to get them there.”

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 Explores Alternative Medicine

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alternative

By Debbie Gregory.

In a sign of the times, the Navy held its first-ever “resiliency medicine” summit, which included exploration of healing methods outside of Western medicine, including meditation and yoga.

Guest headliner Deepak Chopra told the audience, “Stop thinking of your body as a thing. If you think of your body as a structure, you can only use mechanical means, like surgery or drugs. … Understand that your gene expression is influenced by your thoughts, your emotions, your social relationships.”

Since 2013, Cmdr. Jeff Millegan, a doctor stationed at the Navy hospital in Balboa Park, has put about 500 Navy personnel around San Diego through a seven-session “mind-body” curriculum. The curriculum includes discussion of sleep, meditation, social connections, diet and exercise.

The core issue is stress and the way it causes illness or magnifies existing health problems.

“We have a lot of sailors who go on ships that deploy by themselves, without a mental health provider, for seven months. These guys are trying to manage stress as best they can,” Millegan said during a break. “If we give them skills, tools to regulate their emotions, they are less likely to be overwhelmed.”

This is not news to the David Lynch Foundation, whose Operation Warrior Wellness (OWW) program uses transcendental meditation (TM) to build resilience and heal the
hidden wounds of war.

Since its initial launch in 2010, the OWW initiative has partnered with leading veterans service organizations, Army and Marine bases and VA medical centers across the country to deliver the Resilient Warrior Program to veterans, active-duty personnel and military families in need. The initiative also partners with military colleges to create a new generation of more resilient officers.

Over 340 published studies document the effectiveness of TM.

Another technique is tai chi,  a graceful form of exercise that’s now used for stress reduction and a variety of other health conditions. Often described as meditation in motion, tai chi promotes serenity through gentle, flowing movements.

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.

Can Terrorists Detonate a Dirty Bomb?

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dirty

By Debbie Gregory.

Radioisotopes are capable of causing radiation poisoning and sickness, making them a potential tool for terrorists seeking to build a “dirty” bomb that could cause widespread contamination.

Belgian authorities believe that a group of Islamic terrorists were trying to figure out a way to collect such materials to build a bomb. They have suspicions that a plot to kidnap an employee of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre might have been in the works in order to secure the  materials needed.

Didier Vanderhasselt, a spokesman for the Belgian Foreign Ministry, said that the security of their nuclear sites is of the highest concern, and that the country’s counterterrorism experts were “constantly monitoring the situation of all sensitive potential targets, including nuclear sites.”

Vanderhasselt  added that “as far as we know we have been implementing the same measures as the French did the last few years,” and that Belgian security precautions meet the International Atomic Energy Agency’s standards.

So just how worried should we be?

The real threat from dirty bombs lies in their psychological and economic effects, a fact that often sees these devices described as weapons of mass disruption rather than weapons of mass destruction.

A dirty bomb detonated in a major urban center would be sure to cause widespread fear and panic. Additionally, the economic costs associated with a dirty bomb would be considerable. The clean-up after such an attack could figure in the billions of dollars, if detonated in a high-value area such as city center or port.

So while the thought of ISIS using dirty bombs to further its terrorist agenda is unsettling, the threat should not be exaggerated, particularly when it comes to its impact on public health.

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.

Why Younger Vets Are Not Joining Established VSO’s

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old folks

By Debbie Gregory.

Why is there a lack of interest from younger veterans when it comes to joining legacy groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion? Could it be that these organizations are waiting for this younger generation of veterans to just walk in and join like their fathers and grandfathers before them? Or perhaps these veterans are looking for community connections that fit their needs, not the needs of older veterans.

As their membership ages and declines, these organizations need young bloods to maintain the political clout they have built up, and they need to be able to “pass the torch” in order to maintain the ground they have gained.

The VFW and American Legion report that only about 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are eligible to join have done so. Don’t these veterans want to be around other veterans?

Of course they do.

But these service members are the Facebook/Twitter/Snapchat/Instagram generation, and are gravitating toward groups such as Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, The Mission Continues, and Team Rubicon.

Younger veterans say the traditional organizations differ in many ways from groups that appeal to them.

To attract younger veterans, these organizations can take a few simple steps that will yield great results. First of all, they can communicate via email, vs. snail mail. They can make sure that they are as welcoming to female veterans as they are to male veterans.

Perhaps an updated look with a few flat screen televisions and a fresh coat of paint is in order. They can host events that will attract the younger crowd; out with the Bingo night and in with college fairs, career days, and veteran service officer Q&As.

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.

One Word Stands Between Guard and Reserves Veteran Status

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what is a veteran

By Debbie Gregory.

As the number of reserve component members of the National Guard and Reserves who have served in support of the war on terrorism nears the one million mark, it is shocking and unacceptable to learn that they are not considered “veterans” when they complete their service.

This inequity was written into antiquated law, in a time when the Guard and Reserves were called upon, for the most part, one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer.

The Reserve units of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard are now considered “operational,” used continually,  the same as our active forces.

To be considered a veteran, service members need 180 or more consecutive days on active duty, not including active duty while training. Getting nearly six consecutive months on active duty isn’t as easy as it sounds; the armed forces intentionally limit orders to 179 or fewer days because anyone on active duty 180 or more days is reflected on active duty manning documents, which counts against the service’s personnel ceiling.

It would seem reasonable that we would express our appreciation to these service members by giving them the same “veteran benefits” allotted to those who served in the “regular” forces.  And doing so would be pretty easy, just by changing one word in the current law: “consecutive” to “cumulative.”

The Reserve Officers Association has worked with Congress to try to get this change approved. And it appears that no one is opposed to making the change.

While many argue the semantics of who is a veteran, perhaps we can all agree that when a person dons the uniform of our country, and signs up to serve and sacrifice, we can repay that debt by honoring what they have done. It isn’t necessary to make a divide when unity makes us not only better, but also stronger.

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.

Wounded Warrior Project Fires Top Executives

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wwp

By Debbie Gregory.

The board of directors of the Wounded Warrior Project has fired two of its top executives.

Former CEO Steven Nardizzi and former COO Al Giordano were relieved of their duties following criticisms from more than 40 employees on how donated funds raised by the organization were spent.

The Board had hired forensic accountants to conduct an independent review of financial and other records. Additionally, they will interview former and existing employees and directors.

The board chairman, Army captain Anthony Odierno (Ret) will act as the Interim Chief Executive.

“It is now time to put the organization’s focus directly back on the men and women who have so bravely fought for our country and who need our support,” Odierno said in a statement.

John Melia, who founded the non-profit and  left following a 2009 dispute with Nardizzi and Giordano, has expressed interest in returning.

The non-profit veteran organization appeals to the American public’s generosity and desire to reward those who have served, and it works. In 2014, the group received more than $300 million in donations.

According to the charity’s tax filings, spending on conferences and meetings went from $1.7 million in 2010, to $26 million in 2014. That’s almost the same amount spent on its top program, combat stress recovery.

The all hands meetings would take place in great vacation locales, with first class accommodations and all expenses paid. And while the meetings were used to promote team building, many were left wondering if such extremes were warranted.

Many smaller non-profits depend on grants given out by the Wounded Warrior Foundation, and so, moving forward, the new leadership will be focusing on restoring the public’s trust in the good works WWF does.

From 2010 to 2015, participation across WWP’s many programs increased from approximately 1,850 wounded warriors to more than 144,000 wounded warriors.

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.

Don’t Underestimate the Impact of Concussions

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concussion suicide

By Debbie Gregory.

After any type of brain injury, there are a number of challenges during the recovery process. Scientists have known for a long time that suicide and brain injury are linked, but the actual number of people who have had a brain injury that have committed suicide wasn’t explored.

A new study conducted by a team of Canadian researchers, headed up by Dr. Donald Redelmeier, has found that the long term risk of suicide increases three-fold among adults who have had concussions.

Recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the results reflect a study that concentrated on ordinary people who had concussions but did not sustain severe brain injury. The researchers explored official death certificates that listed suicide as the cause of death, and then examined the person’s medical history over 20 years.

Their research revealed a suicide rate of 31 deaths per 100,000, which is three times the norm. Each additional concussion raised the suicide risk.

“Multiple concussions can be cumulative, and that’s where the more significant deficits occur,” according to Gary Pace, the director of the May Center for Education and Neuro-rehabilitation. “We do know now that as a result of multiple concussions, the brain becomes more vulnerable to more long-term kinds of brain injuries, which results in some of the depression we see in individuals.”

“The magnitude of the increased risk surprised me,” said Dr. Redelmeier, a practicing physician and professor of medicine.

Although research often focuses on traumatic brain injuries rather than smaller, milder concussions, concussions can lead to depression and anxiety.

Redelmeier feels that people who have sustained concussions should give themselves time to recover, and remember that their head injury, no matter how mild, is an important part of their medical history.

Additionally, it is very important for anyone who has experienced a concussion to be immediately informed about all potential problems associated with concussions — which include possible depression and suicidal thoughts — and to be encouraged to speak up immediately when he or she experiences a problem.

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.

West Point Graduate, Taylor Force, Killed During Trip to Israel

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taylor

By Debbie Gregory.

Members of the Vanderbilt community will gather Friday, March 18, to remember Taylor Force, a graduate student who was killed March 8th  in a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, Israel.

“Innocent of any wrongdoing, Taylor was taken cruelly from his family, his friends, fellow students at Vanderbilt University, and his community, in an act of terror which we condemn with all of our strength,” said William Gaunt, the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Tel Aviv, on behalf of US Ambassador Dan Shapiro.

Ten other people were wounded in the attack in Jaffa, an ancient port city that is now part of Tel Aviv. The attacker, who was identified as a Palestinian, was shot and killed during the knife rampage.

Force, 28, was a first-year MBA student and a 2009 graduate of West Point. He was part of a group of 28 Owen Graduate School of Management students who traveled to Israel to learn about global entrepreneurship.

The business student was an avid skier and guitar player who loved horses and ranch life, following a childhood spent in Texas.

His attendance at West Point had Force following his grandfather’s footsteps.

Force served in the Army from 2009 to 2014, with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then took about a year off after active duty. He lived in Lexington, Kentucky, before moving to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt. He was due to complete his studies in 2017.

The Vanderbuilt service is closed to the public, and priority will be given to members of the Owen School community, as well as those who knew Force well.

We at MilitaryConnection.com would like to offer our sincerest condolences to the family, friends and schoolmates of this fine young 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.

Army Pays Out $820,000 to Settle Sexual Harassment Case

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harrassment

By Debbie Gregory.

The Army has paid out a $820,000 settlement to a former military police trainee who was allegedly fired after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor.

Luydmila Starkey received one of the largest settlements ever made by a military branch in a sexual harassment case shortly before going to trial.

Starkey sued Army Secretary John McHugh in Federal Court  for discrimination and civil rights and employment violations. Starkey said that her then-supervisor, Sgt. Wayne Lord, sent her sexually explicit text messages and photos of his penis when she was employed at the Presidio of Monterey

She believes she was fired because Lord was popular, and she dared to report him. Lord was allowed to resign without an investigation of any magnitude.

“Rather than support me as the trainee officer that had been continuously harassed, the Army chose to set me up for termination while at the same time finding my harasser a new job without any repercussions for him,” Starkey said in the statement.

Lord, who was not a party to the lawsuit, went to work in a police position for the Department of Defense after the Army was presented with evidence from Starkey’s case.

A spokesman said the Army regrets what happened.

Starkey said she will never be able to work in law enforcement again because of the case.

“I only hope that my coming forward helps other women and the culture at the Army of silence and retaliation will change,” Starkey said.

Thousands of veterans have claimed that the Army blew off their complaints of military sexual harassment and rape, and denied or delayed treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder because of it.

Until those who perpetrate this behavior are held accountable, the problem will continue.

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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