Posted on 03/02/2005 7:19:21 PM PST by TexKat
Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne, his father Carl and Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli, stand together after Payne was awarded the Silver Star at the cross sabers monument in central Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Queen, 3rd BCT Public Affairs
Spc. Scott Brennan, a medic from the 725th Main Support Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, provides medical assistance to an Afghan boy in Sadak. Photo by Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen.
These pictures look to hopeful. I thought this was a "quagmire." :)
Staff Sgt. Payne received the United States third highest award for heroism in combat.
U.S. Army Sgt. John Queen 3rd BCT Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 1, 2005 — Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne of the 1st Cavalry Division received the United States third highest award for heroism in combat Feb. 27 during a brief ceremony held at the crossed sabers monument in central Baghdad. Although Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli, the division's commander, was on hand to present the award, Payne took the unique opportunity to have the medal pinned on him by his father, Carl Payne, a Department of the Army employee working in Iraq.
"I could never be more proud," said the elder Payne, a retired Army tanker.
"As a parent it's like a double edged sword though," he said, speaking of his sons actions. "I'm glad he was recognized for the duty that he did, but it is tough to know that your son risked his life in a situation like that."
"I've read a lot of citations since I've been here, but I have read none that talks of any greater act of heroism than what Staff Sgt. Payne did that day." Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli"
Payne, from Benford, Okla., and an infantryman assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, is credited with rescuing a group of soldiers from a disabled Bradley fighting vehicle while under fire last September.
"Staff Sgt. Payne displayed gallantry and valor that was truly amazing," Chiarelli said. "He did it in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Baghdad - Sheik Maroof."
The neighborhood has many areas that have been dubbed with nicknames like "Grenade Alley", and "Purple Heart Lane" by the soldiers who regularly patrol it. The infamous Haifa Street runs along the northern border.
"I've read a lot of citations since I've been here," Chiarelli added, "but I have read none that talks of any greater act of heroism than what Staff Sgt. Payne did that day."
During the late morning hours of Sept. 12, 2004, Payne's battalion was wrapping up an operation on Haifa Street. As Bradley fighting vehicles patrolled the streets, soldiers on the ground set up defensive positions in order to pick up other soldiers that had been manning observation posts in high-rise buildings throughout the night.
Payne and his dismounted squad were in their position along the side of the street when the unthinkable happened - a car laden with explosives sped onto the street and detonated into the rear of a Bradley.
"I looked back," Payne explained, "it was like; there is no way that this was happening."
A split second later the blasts powerful concussion hit his squad knocking one soldier to the ground.
"When I heard the concussion I knew it was real and it was time to go," he said.
Although Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne was the recipient of the Silver Star medal, he credits his squad for their teamwork in the successful rescue of wounded soldiers from a burning armored vehicle last September. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Queen, 3rd BCT Public Affairs
While Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli watches, Carl Payne pins the Silver Star medal on his son, Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne. Payne was awarded the decoration for his heroic actions on Haifa Street last September. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Queen, 3rd BCT Public Affairs
The force of the blast disabled the 33 ton Bradley bringing it to a halt. It's rear ramp was engulfed in flames and the upper cargo hatch was blown off.
Small arms fire began to rain onto the street, so Payne had Sgt. Richard Frisbie shift the squad into a new position so they could provide cover fire while he and Spc. Chase Ash went to help the soldiers in the Bradley.
"Luckily I had someone there to help out," Payne said. "I had a soldier to keep control of the squad and another to help me with the wounded."
Payne and Ash ran 50 meters to the burning vehicle while insurgents fired on them. At the Bradley, Payne climbed up on top and helped two of the crewman out of the turret. He then turned his attention to the infantrymen still inside the crew compartment. One by one he pulled them up through the damaged cargo hatch.
"I lowered them down the side of the Bradley to Spc. Ash so he could get them to safety," Payne said. "There was a lot of gunfire going on."
Within seconds of retrieving the wounded soldiers from the Bradley the vehicle's load of ammunition began to cook off from the heat and fire.
According to Payne the whole series of events lasted nearly five minutes.
"All the training just kicked in," Payne said about what happened. "It's hard to explain, I didn't really have time to think about it."
Once back in a safe position on the south side of the street Payne's squad teamed together again to further protect the rescued soldiers as the medic treated them.
"Some of the wounded were unable to get their equipment out of the Bradley," Payne explained. "We had one soldier that didn't have his helmet and another was missing his weapon."
Payne's men began giving them whatever piece of protective gear they could spare.
"They were giving up goggles and things like that," Payne added. "They were giving them anything they could to provide them better protection than what they had when they got out of the vehicle."
When it was safe enough, Payne and his soldiers put the wounded into another Bradley for evacuation to the combat support hospital in the International Zone.
"I owe everything to my squad," Payne said. "If my squad wasn't there I couldn't have completed that mission. My squad was there for me - that's what it comes down to."
quagmire, smagmire. Some peoples bubbles have been bursted. Wonder where they are going to next. You can rest a sure they are busy conjuring up something.
By U.S. Army Spc. Leah R. Burton 28th Public Affairs Detachment
LOGISTICS SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, BALAD, Iraq, March 2, 2005 — Over the past month, the military police here have responded to 54 larcenies, including burglaries, theft of government and private property, postal theft and shoplifting.
“Larceny is probably the majority of our cases,” said U.S. Army Spc. Daniel Krupka, 939th Military Police Detachment (Law and Order).
Two of the most recent incidents involved third country nationals who were caught with unauthorized items from alcohol to digital cameras to military issued equipment. “We got a tip that the [Army and Air Force Exchange Service] employees had alcohol in their possession, so we went over there and found all kinds of stuff,” said Investigator Shane Stephens, 939th MP Detachment.
The suspects were adamant that soldiers gave them the items, but much of it had clearly been stolen, Stephens said. One suspect was in possession of 11 brand new military issue knives worth $144 each. Others had expensive digital cameras, SAPI (body armor) plates, rucksacks, load bearing equipment and desert camouflage uniforms.
In the second incident, two men were caught by Army and Air Force Exchange Service loss prevention attempting to steal two packages of underwear. When they were questioned, loss prevention personnel found an additional four packages, said Capt. Gary Blagburn, 939th MP Detachment operations officer.
“We take an aggressive approach to stopping shoplifting by using in-store exchange detective teams, electronic surveillance systems, electronic article surveillance and other methods,” said Amanda R. Bittle, exchange service area loss prevention manager. “It is a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the value of the stolen merchandise.”
“It involves more than just the physical act of concealing or taking possession of goods or merchandise, altering a price tag or other price marking, or transferring the goods from one container to another. It also involves the intent to convert the goods or merchandise to the shoplifter’s own or another’s use without paying the full purchase price.”
In both cases, the individuals were fired by their companies and flown out of theater.
“Usually, when they’re caught, they’re back home in one to two days,” Blagburn said.
Other incidents include a unit that had some government property stolen. They posted up signs that they needed the items returned and provided an amnesty box. The items were recovered.
Much of the theft of personal and government property is borne of sheer soldier negligence, troops failing to secure their belongings. To date, the MPs have recovered items such as M-16s, AT4s, M-9s, grenades and vehicles.
Service members go to public areas like the fitness center, leave their bags unattended and return to find them missing. Or they leave their trailer going to the latrine, leaving their door unlocked and come back to find their television missing. “Just keep your stuff secured. Know your roommate, and know who’s been in your room,” Blagburn said.
While the civilian employees are liable to lose their livelihood as a result of a larceny charge, service members have much more at stake.
Several articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice could be violated including:
• Article 108, sale, loss, damage destruction or wrongful disposition of military property
• Article 121, larceny and wrongful appropriation
• Article 122, robbery
• Article 129, burglary
• Article 134, knowingly receiving, buying or concealing stolen property, with the maximum punishments of dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and confinement for anywhere from two to 15 years.
Blagburn said individuals are encouraged to think about the consequences before setting their sights on someone else’s property.
Mr. B.J. Penn, was sworn in yesterday as the assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and environment by Secretary of the Navy Gordon England. In this position, Penn is responsible for formulating policy and procedures for the effective management of Navy and Marine Corps real property, housing, and other facilities; environmental protection ashore and afloat; occupational health for both military and civilian personnel; and timely completion of closures and realignments installations under base closure laws.
Prior to his appointment, Penn served as the Defense Department’s director, industrial base assessments, where he was responsible for the overall health of the U.S. defense industrial base. A retired Navy officer, Penn’s assignments included deputy director of the Navy Office of Technology Transfer & Security Assistance, command of Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., and command of Electronic Attack Squadron Thirty Three (VAQ-33). Penn holds a bachelor’s of science degree from Purdue University and a master’s of science degree from George Washington University. He received certificates in aerospace safety from the University of Southern California and in national security for senior officials from the Kennedy School, Harvard University.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Danny L. Anderson, 29, of Corpus Christi, Texas, died Feb. 27 in Baghdad, Iraq, from injuries sustained from small arms fire. Anderson was assigned to the Army's 26th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died from injuries sustained in a military vehicle accident that occurred Feb. 28 in Bayji, Iraq. Both Soldiers were assigned to the Army's 360th Transportation Company, 68th Corps Support Battalion, 43rd Area Support Group, Fort Carson, Colo.
Sgt. Julio E. Negron, 28, of Pompano Beach, Fla., died in Bayji on Feb. 28.
Spc. Lizbeth Robles, 31, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, died at the 228th Command Support Hospital in Tikirt, Iraq, on March 1.
The incident is under investigation.
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 2, 2005 – This year will likely be a momentous one for U.S. and coalition efforts in confronting extremism in the Middle East region, a senior U.S. officer told the House Armed Services Committee today. American forces deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq the past few years “have not only been protecting the United States from attack,” Army Gen. John P. Abizaid said to committee members, but “has also done much to help the (Middle East) region move forward in the direction of moderation.”
Abizaid said he was “optimistic” about the situation across the Middle East, including future developments in Afghanistan and Iraq. As head of U.S. Central Command, he oversees U.S. troop operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I think 2005 can be a decisive year,” Abizaid said, in the fight against extremism in the Middle East. He pointed to recent events in Lebanon, where its citizens have called for the ouster of Syrian troops and intelligence agents from the country.
There’s also renewed momentum in efforts to make peace between Palestinians and Israelis, Abizaid noted, as well as an opportunity “to establish greater stability in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
This year should also provide Iraqi and Afghan forces an opportunity “to take more and more of the responsibility of fighting the insurgencies” within their countries, he said.
And the Pakistani and Saudi governments, Abizaid observed, can benefit from more U.S. and coalition assistance to help them confront extremists operating inside their borders.
However, the general cautioned committee members that extremist elements operating out of Iran and Syria could foment “more violence” across the Middle East.
“The extremist enemy that we face throughout the region will not surrender,” Abizaid said, noting the extremists “won’t move away, they’ll continue their attacks.”
By voting in nationwide elections held in their countries, the Afghan and Iraqi people have chosen to reject extremism and participate in a democratic process, Abizaid observed.
“This battle between moderation and extremism in the region is one that the people of the region have chosen to fight, and they can’t win it without our help,” he concluded.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Sandel patrols in his Bradley fighting vehicle. The 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, soldier is serving in Iraq with the 1st Battalion, 156th Regiment, of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, and has survived 19 bomb and mortar attacks. Photo by Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Stuckey, USA
Soldier Survives 19 Bombs, Mortar Attacks in Iraq
By Spc. Erin Robicheaux, USA Special to American Forces Press Service
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 2, 2005 – Thirteen improvised explosive devices, five mortar attacks, and one car bomb -- that’s the scorecard of Army Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Sandel’s tour in Iraq.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Sandel patrols in his Bradley fighting vehicle. The 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, soldier is serving in Iraq with the 1st Battalion, 156th Regiment, of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, and has survived 19 bomb and mortar attacks. Photo by Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Stuckey, USA (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
This DeRidder, La., native has faced those kinds of encounters more times than any other soldier in the 256th Brigade Combat Team. He counts his blessings every day that he is still here.
Sandel said his inaugural mission “outside the wire” was a prophetic vision into what lay ahead for him and his soldiers, when they were met with a mortar attack. A few days later, he said, he hit the first IED, and only now has it begun to slow down.
“November and December were busy for us,” said the 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, now serving in Iraq with the combat team’s 1st Battalion, 156th Regiment. “Right now, it’s been three weeks since I’ve been hit, and that’s the longest I’ve gone without (being hit) in a while.”
According to Sandel, his platoon’s reaction to an attack has improved with each incident, and actually has become second nature. If something happens, they immediately begin sweeping the area for threats. Along with incorporating the training they received at Fort Hood, Texas, he said, they have a strategy that works best for them, and within two seconds of getting hit the platoon members are out and scanning their sector.
“It’s just like brushing your teeth now,” he said. “We have this process down to an art.”
The platoon recently lost Sgt. Seth Trahan, from Crowley, La., to an IED attack. Sandel said that until this happened, getting hit seemed normal -- just part of the job. The soldiers were clearing an intersection, and as Trahan rounded the corner, the device went off, instantly killing him and wounding two others.
“We weren’t complacent on the patrols, by any means,” said Sandel, “but until it killed somebody, getting hit was a routine thing.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Stuckey from Shreveport, La., is the command sergeant major for 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment. He said Sandel’s spirit and enthusiasm for his job have not diminished over time, even in the face of such adversity.
“A lot of the guys who get hit by IEDs get scared and start to wear down, but Sandel has not,” said Stuckey. The leadership that Sandel has shown is exemplary and shines through in his own attitude for his job, and also in the attitude of his soldiers toward him.
“He never stops, and he’s always high-spirited,” said Stuckey, “his soldiers like to go out with Sandel, and I think they’d do anything for him.”
(Army Spc. Erin Robicheaux is assigned to 256th Brigade Combat Team public affairs.)
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2005 – Putting Army restructuring in the emergency supplemental request for fiscal 2005, makes perfect sense, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the Senate Budget Committee today. The Bush administration has come under fire for including the $5 billion request in the $75 billion supplemental request. Many elected representatives believe the funds should be part of the president’s fiscal 2006 defense budget request.
Wolfowitz told the senators that beginning in fiscal 2007, DoD will place restructuring in the budget request. But it was important to begin the process as soon as possible.
“When it comes to restructuring ground forces, the department has made a major commitment to restructuring the U.S. Army, adding $35 billion over the seven years of the FY 2005 to 2011 future years defense plan, on top of $13 billion that was already in the Army baseline budget,” he said.
The restructuring plan will increase the number of Army brigades and convert them into independent brigade combat teams that can conduct operations on their own. The Army will add personnel and equipment to the new brigade combat teams and take assets now at the division level and place them in the units. The Army calls the new units “modules” and the process “modularity.”
The Army effort is a fundamental transformation in the way it organizes and thinks about deploying forces. The changes will mean vast differences in the strain placed on the troops and their families through deployments. The plan will add more deployable units to the Army. On the active side, the number will go from 33 to 43 and in the reserves from 15 to 34. “The most significant consequence of these two expansions is that for any required level of overseas force deployment, active brigades will deploy less often and reserve maneuver brigades will be mobilized much less frequently,” Wolfowitz said.
The 3rd Infantry Division – the division that took Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom – has gone through the process and is deployed back in Iraq. He used that unit as an example of why DoD is asking for funds from supplemental requests rather than budgeting them. “As the 3rd Infantry Division redeployed from Iraq some 15 months ago, we simultaneously reset it from the wear and tear of combat, and transformed it from three brigades to four,” he said.
It was only after the war – and the lessons learned from it – that the proposal came out. It was not planned by the military. If it were part of the fiscal 2006 defense budget request, the proposal could not start until at least Oct. 1, 2006. The Pentagon would lose a good bit of time and place unnecessary strain on servicemembers and their families.
VMGR-452 "Yankees" return home from Iraq
NEW YORK(March 2, 2005) -- When Lance Cpl. Joel Pasqualino, Marine Aeriel Refueler Squadron 452 (VMGR-452), Newburgh, N.Y., left for Iraq last year, his family waved him farewell under the hot sun on a steamy morning in August. When he returned, his family welcomed him home in the midst of hugs, kisses, and a snow flurry.
The Marines of VMGR-452 returned from Iraq Friday. For many of them, it was their second homecoming during the war on terror.
"Now that the day is here and we're looking back, it doesn't seem like that long," said Elise Pasqualino on her son's return from war. "But a couple of months ago, looking forward, [his return date] seemed like forever."
"For about seventy percent of [the Marines who returned], this was their second time deploying," said Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Dixon, Marine Aircraft Group 49, Detachment Bravo Sergeant Major. "They were more focused," he said. "Things were more intense this go-round."
VMGR-452 maintains and flies KC-130T Hercules aircraft, which the Corps uses for aerial refueling and transportation. In addition to refueling, the Marines also played a role in Iraqi history.
"During the Iraqi elections, we ferried [more than 3,000] Iraqi nationals back and forth to vote," said Sgt. John Sabarese, a powerlines and flight mechanic with VMGR-452 who returned from his second deployment. "You heard about the blue ink on the finger," he said. "Well, we saw all of that. They were so happy to be voting," he said. "We hung a sign inside the aircraft that said 'congratulations to the world's newest democracy' in Arabic."
Because the Marines kept busy, the deployment was over before they knew it.
"It went by really fast," said Cpl. Thomas Dorozynski, a reservist from Frankfort, N.Y., and an electrician for the squadron. "...Especially after New Year's. We knew we were going home soon."
Friends and families traveled from all over New York to welcome the Marines home.
"We were the first ones in the hangar at like 9 o'clock this morning," said Dorozynski's father, Stan Dorozynski. "They told us we were a bit early," he said with a chuckle. "We said, 'we know,' we were just excited."
The excitement increased throughout the day as the families waited for the Marines' highly anticipated arrival. As the four KC-130s landed and taxied down the runway, emotions ran high for returning Marines and their families.
"It was a very emotional moment," said Peter Pasqualino. "There was such a...real feeling of pride," said his wife Elise.
"As soon as I came around the plane, I could see my wife and daughter," said Sabarese. "It was great," he said. Sabarese's 3-year-old daughter, Faith, ran to him with outstretched arms as he walked from the plane to the hangar.
"Last time, she was two, and she kind of huddled around her mother," said Sabarese. "This time she knew who I was and ran straight toward me."
"They've done such a great job," said Elise. "We're all part of these historic events."
New York Governor George Pataki welcomed the squadron home with a letter. "The people of New York salute the Marines of [VMGR-452]," Pataki wrote. "Your courage and sacrifice not only helped secure this historic triumph of freedom, but helped make the world a safer place."
brrrrr!
Marines arrive in Norway for Exercise Battle Griffin
Submitted by: Marine Forces Europe Story Identification #: 200531174935 Story by Master Sgt. Phil Mehringer
HAIA, Norway (March 1, 2005) -- The depth of the snow near the field training area during Exercise Battle Griffin stands nearly 2 meters. The temperature is a crisp, steady, 12 degrees Fahrenheit - brrrrr!
Although the sun is lengthening its daily routine in and around central Norway, dangerous conditions are extreme. Teams have been out testing the snow and electronic transmitters have been issued to all land force participants in case of an avalanche.
In these conditions, just getting to the training ranges is a success.
The Marines of Marine Air Ground Task Force 25 assembled near the city of Trondheim in preparation for the 180-kilometer road march to the field-training site near the town of Bodo. The 1,200 Marines arrived in Norway, departing from 31 cities and 20 states to support the exercise. They married up with equipment stored in caves in the region, spent a few days adjusting to the climate, and started the drive north.
The Command Element for MAGTF 25 is Headquarters Company, 25th Marine Regiment, led by Col. Joseph L. Osterman, based out of Worcester, Mass. The bulk of the Ground Combat Element is 2d Bn, 25th Marine Regiment with Marines from Company D, 4th LAR in support.
The Aviation Combat Element consists of six F/A-18s from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 112 and two KC-130s from Marine Aerial Refueling Squadron (VMGR) 234. Supporting units belong to Marine Air Control Squadron 23 and Marine Air Support Squadron 6. Combat service support is provided by Marines from 4th Force Service Support Group.
"We must take every opportunity to capitalize on the multinational dimension of the exercise to improve interoperability, while ensuring that safety is paramount," said Osterman. "No training objective is worth unnecessary risk and the loss of personnel and equipment."
For the next several weeks, the area of Bodo, Norway, will play host to nearly 10,000 military members from 15 nations, participating in an exercise testing a multinational task force's ability to respond to humanitarian crises in a cold weather environment. There will be several more thousands of military persons at sea, conducting simulated embargo control and mine operations.
The scenario developed for the exercise is similar to what NATO forces experienced during the Kosovo campaign. Ethic tensions boil to a point and the UN delivers a Security Council resolution to send NATO troops to establish security and stabilize the area.
"My intent is to maximize our training opportunity in a joint and combined environment, focusing on MAGTF doctrine and the full spectrum of warfare", added Osterman.
Battle Griffin is a Norwegian invitational exercise conducted yearly, rotating from different regions of the country. The exercise is scheduled to conclude March 9, when the Marines will retrograde to their stateside-based units.
For additional information about the Marines participating in Battle Griffin 2005, click the following link: http://www.battlegiffin.no
3/2/2005 - HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AFPN) -- Electronic Systems Center officials here are working on a new airborne network that will revolutionize airborne communications and bring network-centric warfare to the air.
"The intent ... is to translate information superiority into combat power by linking sensors, decision makers and shooters to share all available information," said Dave Kenyon, technical architectures and standards division chief. The system will employ an Internet-based airborne network to allow information-sharing among large numbers of users in the air and on the ground, he said.
Today, aircraft exchange information via data links, which communicate specific information to specific radios in specified message formats, said Marc Richard, the division’s chief engineer.
In contrast, network connectivity provides global access to information and the ability to pull or push information to all others connected to the network. If two aircraft are connected to the network, they will be able to exchange information, even if they do not have a direct connection, officials said.
“The challenge for the airborne network is to make what works easily in a ground-(based) environment work in an airborne-dynamic environment,” Mr. Richard said. While wires and fiber optic cables provide the “backbone” for ground-based networks, space-based optical lasers and aircraft carrying advanced communications systems will form the backbone of the airborne network, he said.
“We envision that larger aircraft and possibly unmanned air vehicles, equipped with greater communications capability and connections to space and ground, will form the backbone-in-the-sky,” Mr. Kenyon said. “This network will be constantly (reconfigured). Every platform is a user as well as a service provider, meaning capabilities increase as additional aircraft enter the network.”
Smaller tactical aircraft, with limited space, will be equipped with terminals that can transmit, receive and relay data among each other and to the larger backbone aircraft, officials said.
Making these connections and reliably sending data are key challenges toward creating a self-forming, self-healing airborne network, officials said. While much of the equipment needed for the network is in various stages of development, the airborne network is still in the foundation stage, they said.
Weapons training goes expeditionary OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- Staff Sgt. William Newcomb takes aim through the lens of his protective mask March 1 on the firing range here. Offutt officials said they incorporated the mask into qualification training in July to familiarize Airmen with using an M-16 in a chemical environment. Sergeant Newcomb is assigned to the 55th Mobile Command and Control Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Lance Cheung)
(TFF Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (March 2, 2005) – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces discovered two weapons and munitions caches during operations in northern Iraq yesterday.
Troops from the 107th Iraqi Army discovered a large weapons cache during a cordon and search operation south of Al Had. The cache included 170 mortar rounds, hundreds of rocket propelled grenade rounds, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The weapons and ammunition were confiscated for future destruction.
Multi-National Force Soldiers discovered a large cache that consisted of over 2,000 rounds of various ammunition during a cordon and search operation west of Mosul. The ammunition was confiscated for future destruction.
Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces continue operations to protect the rights of Iraqi citizens to live free of fear and intimidation from terrorists. The success of those operations has increased due to the information provided by Iraqi citizens helping Security Forces capture insurgents and seize weapons.
Bashir jailed for 30 months over bombing
15:37 AEDT Thu Mar 3 2005
AP - Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail after a court in Jakarta found him guilty of conspiracy in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The charge was brought under Indonesia's standard criminal code.
Alleged terror mastermind Bashir was acquitted of other more serious charges laid under the Indonesia's tough new anti-terrorism laws.
"The defendant has been proven legally and convincingly to have committed the crime of evil conspiracy that caused fire that left other people dead", Chief Judge Soedarto said.
Prosecutors had sought eight years in jail for Bashir on various terrorism and criminal charges related to bomb attacks.
Western governments accuse Bashir of being the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, seen as the regional arm of al-Qaeda.
11:46 AEDT Thu Mar 3 2005
AP - Italy's interior minister blamed anarchists for three explosive devices that caused blasts near a paramilitary police barracks in Genoa and two others that exploded near paramilitary barracks in Milan.
Although no injuries were reported at the two Carabinieri offices, Minister Giuseppe Pisanu told politicians the devices were "meant to kill."
Pisanu, political head of Italy's state police forces, also repeated his assessment in comments to reporters and pledged the country would crack down on the attackers.
An anarchist group linked in the past to a series of parcel bomb explosions in Italy, claimed responsibility for planting the devices in the two cities, authorities said.
The minister, referring to the Italian Mediterranean island, described the bombs as the latest "attempt to link the anarchists with other subversive groups cut from different ideological matrixes, in this case, with the movements of revolutionary Sardinian resistance."
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, March 2, 2005
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Army has a shortage of active-duty sergeants and a plan to fix the problem.
On Thursday, 19,000 qualified corporals and specialists will automatically be placed on the promotion list for sergeant, instead of having to wait for a commander to recommend them for advancement to that rank.
Army leaders decided to change the way soldiers reach the noncommissioned officer ranks because of a chronic shortage, according to according to retired Sgt. Maj. Gerald Purcell, the Army’s personnel policy integrator for enlisted professional development.
The Army currently needs about 1,500 more sergeants from 31 specialties [see list].
Purcell said the reasons for the sergeant shortage include an “insatiable appetite” for E-5s due to the ongoing active-duty end- strength increase of 30,000 soldiers.
At the same time, “the number of eligible specialists who are on a promotion list have dwindled to the point where we can’t fill all the sergeant requirements,” Purcell said Tuesday.
Advancement through the pay grades E-1 (private) through E-4 (corporal or specialist) is automatic, based on time in service and time in grade.
The Army also has a minimum requirement for promotion to E-5, or sergeant, and entry into the ranks of noncommissioned officers or NCOs, who have leadership roles.
That minimum is 48 months in service and 12 months in grade, and an absence of negatives in their personnel record.
But until now, soldiers who hoped to move to the E-5 level also required a commander’s recommendation to go before a promotions board of senior NCOs.
If the board approves the recommendation, soldiers are awarded points for a variety of skills and achievements. The minimum number of points a soldier needs to qualify for promotion to E-5 is 350, while the maximum score is 800.
The higher the total score, the more likely an E-4 is to get one of the sergeant slots, whose number varies each month and by Military Occupational Specialty.
But commanders are recommending only 10 percent of all eligible soldiers, Purcell said.
The problem, he said, is that many unit commanders believe that soldiers should meet higher standards than the Army’s minimum before they are ready to assume leadership duties.
“The notion that you have to be fully ready to be a sergeant is a bad notion,” Purcell said. “I’ll tell you, if that were true, I’d never have been promoted.”
The new policy, which begins Thursday, “is really is a forcing mechanism to get soldiers in a promotable status to satisfy requirements, but it keeps the chain of command fully involved in that entire process,” Purcell said.
From now on, soldiers will automatically be placed on the E-5 promotion list, with a score of 350 points, as long as they meet the minimum requirements.
That means 19,000 active-duty soldiers who otherwise would not have been eligible for sergeant’s stripes will go on the March list, Purcell said.
But that does not mean those 19,000 troops will get promoted.
Unit commanders will get a copy of the new list, and will have 15 days to strike any of their soldiers they believe should not be promoted, Purcell said.
Even if they stay on the list, those soldiers who made it automatically are limited to 350 points, which in most MOSs is nowhere near enough to be competitive, Purcell said.
But for MOSs with severe shortages, soldiers with 350 points could be promoted.
Hatin Surucu just wanted to live her own life. Instead, she became Berlin's latest victim of honor killings. Her Turkish Muslim brothers allegedly gunned her down for adopting Western ways.
"The Whore Lived Like a German"
THE DEATH OF A MUSLIM WOMAN
By Jody K. Biehl in Berlin
In the past four months, six Muslim women living in Berlin have been brutally murdered by family members. Their crime? Trying to break free and live Western lifestyles. Within their communities, the killers are revered as heroes for preserving their family dignity. How can such a horrific and shockingly archaic practice be flourishing in the heart of Europe? The deaths have sparked momentary outrage, but will they change the grim reality for Muslim women?
Polizei Berlin
The shots came from nowhere and within minutes the young Turkish mother standing at the Berlin bus stop was dead. A telephone call from a relative had brought her to this cold, unforgiving place. She thought she would only be gone for a few minutes and wore a light jacket in the freezing February wind. She had left her five-year-old son asleep in his bed. He awoke looking for his mother, who, like many Turkish women in Germany, harbored a secret life of fear, courage and, ultimately, grief. Now her little boy has his own tragedy to bear: His mother, Hatin Surucu, was not the victim of random violence, but likely died at the hands of her own family in what is known as an "honor killing."
Hatin's crime, it appears, was the desire to lead a normal life in her family's adopted land. The vivacious 23-year-old beauty, who was raised in Berlin, divorced the Turkish cousin she was forced to marry at age 16. She also discarded her Islamic head scarf, enrolled in a technical school where she was training to become an electrician and began dating German men. For her family, such behavior represented the ultimate shame -- the embrace of "corrupt" Western ways. Days after the crime, police arrested her three brothers, ages 25, 24 and 18. The youngest of the three allegedly bragged to his girlfriend about the Feb. 7 killing. At her funeral, Hakin's Turkish-Kurdish parents draped their only daughter's casket in verses from the Koran and buried her according to Muslim tradition. Absent of course, were the brothers, who were in jail.
The crime might be easier to digest if it had been an archaic anomaly, but five other Muslim women have been murdered in Berlin during the past four months by their husbands or partners for besmirching the family's Muslim honor. Two of them were stabbed to death in front of their young children, one was shot, one strangled and a fifth drowned. It seems hard to fathom, but in the middle of democratic Western Europe -- in Germany, a nation where pacifism is almost a universal mantra -- murderous macho patriotism not only exists but also appears to be thriving. It may even be Germany's liberalism -- and its post World War II fear of criticizing minority cultures -- that has encouraged ultra-religious families to settle here.
The problem is that much of this insular and ultra-religious world is out of public view, often hidden in inner-city apartments where the most influential links to the outside world are satellite dishes that receive Turkish and Arabic television and the local mosque. Tens of thousands of Turkish women live behind these walls of silence, in homes run by husbands many met on their wedding day and ruled by the ever-present verses of the Koran. In these families, loyalty and honor are elevated virtues and women are treated little better than slaves, unseen by society and often unnoticed or ignored by their German neighbors. To get what they want, these women have to run. They have to change their names, their passports, even their hair color and break with the families they often love, but simply can no longer obey.
DER SPIEGEL
Turkish women who have fled their husbands and violent marriages and live in a shelter take a stroll in Munich's Olympic Park. The women, activists say, live in constant fear that their husbands or families will find them and abuse or kill them.
Precise statistics on how many women die every year in such honor killings are hard to come by, as many crimes are never reported, said Myria Boehmecke of the Tuebingen-based women's group Terre des Femmes which, among other things, tries to protect Muslim girls and women from oppressive families. The Turkish women's organization Papatya has documented 40 instances of honor killings in Germany since 1996. Examples include a Darmstadt girl whose two brothers pummelled her to death with a hockey stick in April 2004 after they learned she had slept with her boyfriend. In Augsburg in April, a man stabbed his wife and 7-year-old daughter because the wife was having an affair. In December 2003, a Tuebingen father strangled his 16-year-old daughter and threw her body into a lake because she had a boyfriend. Bullets, knives, even axes and gasoline are the weapons of choice. The crime list compiled by Papatya is an exercise in horror. And the sad part, said Boehmecke, is that it is far from complete. "We'll never really know how many victims there are. Too often these crimes go unreported."
In many cases, fathers -- and sometimes even mothers -- single out their youngest son to do the killing, Boehmecke said, "because they know minors will get lighter sentences from German judges." In some cases, these boys are revered by their community and fellow inmates as "honor heroes" -- a dementedly skewed status they carry with them for the rest of their lives. Currently, six boys are serving time in Berlin's juvenile prison for honor killings. "In a way, these boys are victims, too," she said. Sometimes they are forced to kill their favorite sister.
One of the unsettling truths about Hatin's death and the plight of many Muslim women is that it took the comments of three Turkish boys and the outrage of a male school director to get people to notice. When the murder first happened, it sent no shock waves through the mainstream German press. It only became big news when a group of 14-year-old Turkish boys mocked Hatin during a class discussion at a school near the crime scene. One boy said, "She only had herself to blame," while another insisted, "She deserved what she got. The whore lived like a German." The enraged school director not only sent a letter home to parents, but also to teachers across Germany. The letter ignited a media fury. Less known, however, is that the letter also hit a nerve among educators. "Teachers from across the country wrote back saying they had had similar experiences," Boehmecke said. They reported Turkish boys taunting Turkish girls who don't wear headscarves as "German sluts." "That's the part no one has written about. Clearly there is huge potential for similar violence across Germany," Boehmecke said. "Not just in the big cities, but all over. It's a problem many politicians haven't been willing to face."
But that is not entirely true. Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the revelation that several of the 9-11 plotters lived hidden lives in the up-scale German city of Hamburg, politicians and everyday Germans have more closely scrutinized the private lives of their friendly Turkish grocers, housecleaners, taxi drivers and even colleagues. At the same time, religious Muslims tightened their ranks, becoming more protective of each other in a world increasingly fearful of and hostile toward Islam.
German legislators, for their part, began rethinking the traditional delicacy with which the nation has handled its immigrants. For decades, German legislators lived under the shadow of the country's Third Reich past and the fear of appearing racist if it singled out a particular community or religion for scrutiny or special treatment.
"People were afraid they would be called Nazis if they dared to bring up issues of human rights in the Turkish community," said Serap Cileli, a Turkish author and filmmaker who at 15 was forced into an arranged marriage.
When Cileli fell in love with another Turkish man and threatened to break free, her mother came to Turkey, kidnapped her two children and took them to Germany. She then gave Cileli an ultimatum: give up the lover or never see the kids again. At first Cileli chose the kids and a life in Germany. But unlike many other stories, hers has a happy ending -- the lover later followed her to Germany and, after an enormous struggle with her family, the pair married and now live together with her children. She has written prodigiously about her experiences and now helps Turkish women escape oppressive families.
For the greater part of a decade, however, Cileli was unable to find a publisher for her work. "Everything I wrote from 1994 to 1999 was rejected, even by newspapers," she said. "They told me I was writing about a minority issue and they were afraid of appearing racist." That changed following Sept. 11, she said, when suddenly the hidden lives of Muslims became a hot topic and her writing and views are now widely published and even translated into her native Turkish.
Last year, a virtual tectonic shift occurred when Germany -- long considered a Mecca of religious tolerance by Muslims -- took its first step toward enforced secularism. Five of the nation's 16 states voted to ban teachers and other public officials from wearing headscarves to work. In October, after much lobbying, Turkish women's groups scored a coup when the government passed a law making it illegal for parents to force their children to marry. Turkey, a secular Muslim state, has long had such a law.
The November murder in neighboring Holland of filmmaker Theo van Gogh -- who was shot and stabbed to death by an Islamic extremist angry over his depiction of the violence inflicted on Muslim women in forced marriages -- galvanized the Netherlands and sent shock waves across Europe. As a result, Germans, too, began to take a second look at the 3.2 million immigrants -- 2.5 million of whom are Turkish -- living among them and to talk about the serious flaws of the nation's 1960's immigration policies. The program brought thousands of Turkish workers to Germany, but provided no real means of integrating the Muslim Turks or helping them understand Western concepts like individualism, human rights and equality. Now, Cileli said, perhaps, honor killings and other horrors experienced by Muslim women will finally be given the scrutiny they have long deserved.
Frightened for their lives
DDP
Muslim women often live insular lives focused on family and religion. How they live at home often clashes greatly with the society they are surrounded by.
The new laws are a vital step toward empowerment, said Cileli, but unfortunately, the corpses of disobedient women offer a more compelling reason for many young women to stay put. Plus, she said, laws don't take into account the psychological terror under which the women live. "These girls are frightened for their lives," she said. "If they do manage to get away, it would be an illusion to say the girls would run to the police." Besides, laws only cover civil marriages -- not religious ones. In many cases, families force their young daughters into Muslim weddings at very young ages (sometimes as early as 12 years old) and then only unite the couple civilly when the girls turn 18.
Though subtle, evidence of the seclusion in which religious Muslim women live in Germany abounds. Turkish tea rooms are often packed with men, while women are often at home caring for children. They rarely can be seen on the streets alone after dark. At a memorial vigil held a few weeks after Hatin's death, a mere 120 people showed up. Almost none were Turkish. In fact, most were from a lesbian and gay organization that -- outraged by the crime -- organized the make-shift ceremony.
The ceremony underscored another disturbing reality: It is often not the Muslim community that first expresses outrage over how its women live, but those on the outside. "It's often very frustrating for us that more doesn't come from within," Boehmecke said. "We've been trying to bring attention to the plight of women for years, but with little success." Cileli sees it in harsher terms. "It not only took the death of a white man" for people to prick up their ears, she said, but of a "white European" man (van Gogh). "A European was killed because he defended us -- and the world press stood up to listen. But how many women died before him?"
A statistical black hole
DPA
A memorial to Hatin, showing her holding her son when he was a baby. That was before she discarded her headscarf and insisted on living as she wanted.
Astonishingly, the first extensive data the German government collected about the lives of Turkish women was published last summer, as part of a study done by the Ministry for Family Affairs. The study showed that 49 percent of Turkish women said they had experienced physical or sexual violence in their marriage. One fourth of those married to Turkish husbands said they met their grooms on their wedding day. Half said they were pressured to marry partners selected by relatives and 17 percent felt forced into such partnerships.
So far, the Turkish community has been sluggish in its response to such data and even to the question of honor killings. But last week -- about three weeks after Hatin's death and under heavy pressure from activists -- the Turkish Association of Berlin and Brandenburg held a round table discussion about the plight of Muslim women. At the talks, the group issued a 10-point plan calling for a "zero tolerance" stance on violence against women and encouraged other Turkish and Islamic organizations to "actively recognize" and address the problem.
Will it help? Because the group is secular, it will likely have little sway with deeply religious Turks. "The truth is, we can't reach those who aren't interested," the group's spokesman, Cumali Kangal, conceded.
The response among Germany's devout Muslims is equally tough to gauge as there is no single organization the community looks to for leadership. Instead, the community is divided into about three dozen groups, each with its own leadership. Ali Kizilkaya, the chairman of the Council of Islam, one of the largest umbrella organizations, has decried Hatin's murder as "an abuse and affront to the Muslim religion." He insists Islam does not condone honor killings.
But try telling that, said Boehmecke, to the hoards of young boys who taunt Turkish girls in schools and their families who tacitly encourage such behavior. Educators at the grassroots say their numbers are rising, she says. Indeed, the German weekly Die Zeit reports that the percent of schoolgirls wearing headscarves in the Berlin district where Hatin was killed has gone from virtually none to about 40 percent in the past three years. Which one of today's smiling schoolgirls, Boehmecke wonders, will be next year's victim of honor?
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