AFN-Iraq ‘Freedom Radio’ Goes Off Air

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By Terri Moon Cronk

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2011 – The soundboard lights went dark for the last time when American Forces Network Radio–Iraq “Freedom Radio” went off the air at midnight Sept. 23, after an eight-year run in Baghdad.

The station’s ending closed a chapter in the final 100 days of the U.S. drawdown of Operation New Dawn in Iraq.

Operated by Army Reserve broadcasters, AFN-Iraq hit the airwaves in March 2003, when a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq to oust dictator Saddam Hussein.

Since that time, the team of Army announcers kept service members entertained and informed with a variety of music, chat and news.

“It’s … a morale boost for the troops,” Army Staff Sgt. Brad Ruffin, an AFN-Iraq announcer, said of the broadcasts. “That why we’re here. We do it for them.”

Army Sgt. Adam Prickel called entertainment an important factor in AFN-Iraq programming, “to get [the troops’] minds off something that might be stressing them out a little too much.”

Emails from listeners came in every day to say they enjoyed the music AFN-Iraq played, announcer Army Staff Sgt. Jay Townsend said.

The final broadcast that began at 6 a.m. Sept. 23 was filled with listener requests, entertainment and special interviews.

“We had shout-outs from celebrities, interviews with military leaders and the famed Adrian Cronauer,” Sgt. 1st Class Don Dees said during his on-air shift.

Cronauer is the former AFN radio broadcaster who was the inspiration for the 1987 Hollywood film, "Good Morning, Vietnam."

Coming up on midnight for the final time, AFN-Iraq Freedom Radio played its most-requested song: “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” by Toby Keith, Dees said.

Radio programming now gives way to AFN signals from other locations, he said.

AFN-Iraq, an Army Reserve 206th Broadcast Operation Detachment in Texas, will become AFN-Europe out of Germany, officials said.

“We lived by the motto, ‘Always there, on the air,’” Dees said.

The station also plans to keep its Facebook page, which has 5,400 “friends,” active. “We have decided to keep this page running indefinitely,” according to a post on its wall.

Muppets Make Sure Kids, Parents Prepare for Emergencies

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 17, 2008 - When Rosita, a Sesame Street Muppet, showed up at John Tyler Elementary School here today, she had a flashlight, batteries, a shiny new radio and a message for about two dozen of the school's pre-kindergarteners: "Be prepared." "Do you know what an emergency is?" asked Rosita as the children nodded their heads. "Then you know that an emergency is when something happens that you didn't expect."

Rosita and another Sesame Street favorite, Grover, were on hand to help the Sesame Workshop and the Homeland Security Department launch a new joint program called "Let's Get Ready! Planning Together for Emergencies." The kit was created in collaboration with the department's "Ready Kids" campaign.

"This new initiative between Ready Kids and Sesame Workshop not only empowers parents to prepare for an emergency, but also helps children to feel stronger, more capable and more ready to deal with whatever life may bring their way," said Meryl Chertoff, wife of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "It's ... important that we, as parents and caregivers in the community, equip our next generation with the tools they need to be prepared for the unexpected."

And there aren't many better to help children between the ages of 2 and 5 understand the importance of preparing for an emergency than Rosita and Grover.

"These are friends they know and trust," Chertoff said. "We've all seen how important preparedness is in light of recent natural disasters around the country. Therefore, I hope you will share with your children and with children in your community the important information that this kit provides."

Chertoff was appearing on behalf of her husband, who was in Texas overseeing response to the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

Disasters like Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina made clear the need to protect the nation's children in these types of situations, said Gary E. Knell, president and chief executive officer of Sesame Workshop.

"We know today that two-thirds of American families have no emergency plan at all," he said. "We also know that by remembering a very few important things, we can substantially improve the chances of protecting our nation's children from physical or psychological damage emanating from one of these disasters."

The "Let's Get Ready! Planning Together for Emergencies" kit builds on an episode of Sesame Street that dealt with Big Bird's nest being blown away in a hurricane and another that told kids it was OK to ask about Sept. 11.

"Through Grover and Rosita, our famous Muppets, we'll teach the basics for kids; memorizing your name, phone number and address in case you get lost, [and seeking] out a police officer or trusted adult in an emergency," Knell said.

The bilingual kit includes a DVD featuring songs by Rosita and Grover as well as activities to help children learn about getting ready for emergencies with their families. It also includes a children's activity book that has Grover and Sesame Street's Elmo teaching kids about important information they need to remember in an emergency.

While the kit is for kids, parents aren't left out. The kit provides them with a magazine that offers easy steps and resources the whole family can use to create an emergency plan.

About 150,000 of the kits will be distributed by Sesame Workshop's partners in the project, some of which include American Greetings, "Ready Kids" and the Ad Council. The materials also are available free on Sesame Workshop's Web site.

The Sesame Workshop kit was launched in September to coincide with the Homeland Security Department's "National Preparedness Month," which helps to raise awareness and promote action on emergency preparedness by Americans, businesses, and communities.

Afghan Family Donates Land for New Girls' School

By Air Force Capt. Jillian Torango
Special to American Forces Press Service

Aug. 25, 2008 - On a hillside overlooking the picturesque stepped farmlands of the Rokha district in Afghanistan's Panjshir province, a small group of people attended a ground-breaking ceremony Aug. 20 for the $130,000 Haish Saidqi eight-room schoolhouse. Hajji Kabiri, the province's deputy governor, and Zolmaid Shahid, the provincial director of education, were among those on hand. Of special importance was the attendance of Abdul Rahman Panjshiri; he and his wife donated the land for the school.

Panjshiri, as his name indicates, is originally from Panjshir. His wife's family had to leave the province when she was a girl so she could continue with school and get a good education.

Panjshiri said he and his family took asylum in the Netherlands during the Taliban regime, but he always knew he wanted to come back to Afghanistan.

"When the Taliban fell and I decided to come back to Afghanistan, some of my family was not happy with me," he said. "My three sons even did not come back with me, but my wife and daughter did, and we now live and work in Kabul."

Panjshiri is a communications engineer and serves as a director of International Radio and Television in Kabul. A year ago, he assisted in bringing the first television station to Panjshir.

His wife, a chemist, was the only woman from Rokha district to graduate from Kabul University in 1977. She now teaches at a school in Kabul.

"When we heard from the Ministry of Education in Kabul that they desperately needed land for a school, my wife encouraged me to give this land here for a girls' school," Panjshiri said. "She had to move away from Panjshir to get an education, and she didn't want the girls today to have to do the same thing."

Air Force Capt. Jayson Stewart represented the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team and offered Panjshiri words of thanks.

"It is a good thing that his family was willing to give their personal land for a girls' school, because good, useable land is getting very hard to find here in Panjshir," Stewart said.

Panjshiri said it takes not only commitment from people like himself, but also financial help from international donors and assistance from NATO's International Security and Assistance Force for progress to continue in Panjshir and throughout Afghanistan.

"When I decided to come back to Afghanistan, a good friend of mine from Holland asked me why I would want to leave the Netherlands for Afghanistan," Panjshiri said.

For Panjshiri, the answer was duty.

"I told him that I was sure that as long as coalition forces were here helping our government, then I knew it would be a good, safe place to come," he said. "I am very happy that I made the decision to come back to Afghanistan, because I can do something for the people here – for my people."

The Haish Saidqi eight-room schoolhouse is scheduled to be complete in April.

(Air Force Capt. Jillian Torango serves with the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team.)

Mullen Presents Medals for Valor to 12 Paratroopers in Afghanistan

By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service

July 12, 2008 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday took the opportunity to present 12 paratroopers with awards here for valorous and heroic achievements in combat. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen pinned five Army Commendation Medals with valor devices, five Purple Heart Medals, one Bronze Star with valor device, and one Silver Star on the troopers' chests during a ceremony at their combat outpost here.

"It's an honor and privilege to be here," Mullen said to the awardees. "This ceremony is about individuals who represent the sacrifice of so many."

The paratroopers are assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, and have been operating in the valley for 14 months. Though their tour at the secluded combat outpost has been somewhat primitive, with few luxuries and the bare necessities, their mission of counterinsurgency has been quite complex.

The troopers often found themselves patrolling the rugged Korengal Valley and surrounding areas for days at a time with little contact with the rest of the world. Only radio communication and a keen sense of their environment kept the rotation of patrolling squads and platoons connected with even their isolated outpost, soldiers explained.

Army Capt. Greg Ambrosia, executive officer of Company A and recipient of the Silver Star that Mullen awarded here, said he can attribute his leadership and confidence during such patrols to the lives he saved during one particular encounter with Taliban fighters on the night of Sept. 27.

Ambrosia and his men set up a makeshift outpost after a nighttime air assault into the valley. The troopers made contact with the enemy early the next morning, receiving a hail of rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire. But they couldn't spot where exactly the attack was coming from, he said.

His basic function and responsibility was to radio information from the company commander in a nearby mounted element on the side of the mountain back to the battalion headquarters, he continued.

"We spotted an enemy scout and eventually made contact, but he was able to [disengage and communicate] our location to other fighters in the valley," Ambrosia said.

Ambrosia's element had a translator monitoring the enemy communication with a basic one-way radio. After the initial contact, it was quiet for about 45 minutes. The interpreter continued to monitor the radio, and Ambrosia learned that the scout was coordinating with other enemy fighters in the area to launch an attack, he explained.

Soon there were at least three enemy elements with three to five fighters each closing in on the platoon. So close, in fact, they were in hand-grenade range of his troops, he said.

"They were able to get to really close using the terrain," he continued. "At one point, I started calling the vehicles in the valley to start shooting on our position, because the enemy was too close to call in artillery or mortar fire."

"So we ended up having our guys shooting on our own position," he continued.

Even though Ambrosia and his men maintained some safety behind a mound of rocks, the smoke from the mounted vehicle engulfed their position. He began call for aerial support from AH-64 Apache helicopters, he said.

Enemy radio traffic intercepted by Ambrosia's interpreter let the paratroopers know the insurgents planned to overrun their position and take them hostage, but they were able to repel the attack, he said.

However, Ambrosia's radio requests for Apaches to provide aerial support wouldn't arrive for another 45 minutes, he added.

"That's when it began to get really hairy," he said. "The enemy was getting really close and using hand grenades."

Ambrosia's actions and direction of his men repelled the enemy fighters long enough for the helicopters to arrive. The modest captain said he doesn't know exactly how many enemies were killed, but knows that two of his men were wounded. None were killed.
"I'm very thankful for that," Ambrosia said.

"It has been a very dangerous time here," Mullen told the troopers. "You're almost home; it's not far off, so stay focused and get home safe. I can't say enough about how impressed and proud I am of what you've accomplished.

The battalion has already begun redeploying troopers. The entire battalion should conclude its 15-month deployment and be back at home station in Vicenza, Italy, by the end of the month.

Gates: Iranian Boats' Actions 'Raise Concerns'

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 10, 2008 - U.S. defense officials were very disturbed by the actions of Iranian attack boats in the Straits of Hormuz on Jan. 6, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today, and he dismissed Iranian charges that U.S. officials doctored a videotape to make the Iranians look bad. The five Iranian boats "buzzed" three U.S. Navy warships transiting the straits into the Persian Gulf. The boats approached within 500 yards of the ships and appeared to drop boxes into the water in the path of the U.S. ships. Officials released a video showing the boats and recordings of the threatening radio messages the Iranian ships broadcast.

"I think that what concerned us was, first, that there were five of these boats, and the second, that they came as close as they did to our ships and behaved in what appeared to be a pretty aggressive manner," Gates said during a Pentagon news conference. "All of those things raise concerns."

Iranian officials said the United States fabricated the tapes. "With respect to ... the charges of fabrication, I think that the most appropriate answer is actually the one that I heard on television last night from former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, who said, 'Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?'" Gates said. "I think that aptly characterizes and appropriately characterizes the Iranian claim."

The secretary said the Iranians engaged in similar incidents against U.S. ships last year, but the number of Iranian boats was fewer and their actions were not as aggressive.

Gates also addressed news reports that 3,000 Marines will flow into Afghanistan in coming months. He said there is a proposal making its way to him. "I have asked a number of questions that I expect to be answered before I make up my mind," the secretary said.

NATO countries had promised to man the force in Afghanistan but have not been as forthcoming with troops as expected, Gates said. He added that he does not want to take the pressure off NATO allies to fulfill their commitments, but he is committed to the alliance continuing to be successful in Afghanistan.

NATO needs to "continue to keep the Taliban on their back foot and (to ensure) that we defeat their efforts to try and come back," he said. "So these are all considerations that I think have to be taken into account before I make up my mind and make a recommendation to the president on this."

Gates said he expects the results of his decision will be announced soon.