Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Staff Sgt. Jessica M. Wing, 42, of Alexandria, Va., died Aug. 27, in Kuwait City, Kuwait in a non-combat related incident.  She was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, Bangor, Maine.

For more information related to this release, media may contact the Maine Army National Guard public affairs office at 207-626-4390.

Kuwait: Rhode Island Army Guard chaplain, former Marine provides chaplain services to Marine aviation unit

By Marine 2nd Lt. Joshua Larson

24th Marine Expeditionary Unit

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait - Army Capt. David Harvey, a chaplain with the Rhode Island Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, is connected to the “Devil Dogs” of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in more ways than one.

 Currently deployed to Kuwait, Harvey recently volunteered to support Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (Reinforced), the aviation squadron for the 24th MEU when they came ashore to train for several weeks.

 The relationship began when Harvey, whose office is located at the far north end of the airfield at Camp Buehring, began providing chaplain support to the 1204th Aviation Supply Battalion, located at the opposite end of the flight line.

“As I was making my rounds between the two, I began noticing these strange creatures in tan flight suits…along with strange aircraft – (AH-1) Cobras and (MV-22) Ospreys,” said Harvey. “I said to myself, ‘there’s Marines here.’”

However, he wasn’t pulled toward the Marines of the 24th MEU because of their tan flight suits or “strange” aircraft – his connection is much stronger than that.

Harvey began his military career in 1989 – as a Marine recruit at Parris Island, S.C.. His enlisted path took him through the ranks as an armorer to Quantico Marine Corps Base’s Officer Candidate School where he was commissioned as a Marine artillery officer in 1994 and deployed as a forward observer. He deployed again in 1998 as a platoon commander, attached to Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Coincidentally, the reconnaissance platoon commander with BLT 3/1 in 1998 was a young Capt. Frank Donovan, now Col. Frank Donovan, commanding officer of the 24th MEU.

 Sometime around 2004, Harvey said, he began entertaining the idea of becoming a chaplain. He had a history of involvement with teaching and mentoring throughout his life, including leading religious functions as a Marine aboard ship.

“Putting that all together, combined with the military, which I had been in since I was 17, the chaplaincy was a natural progression,” he said.

 Throughout this progression, several individuals helped him make the decision. Although most of these people were other chaplains in the Navy or Army, an unusual number of them were former Marines.

 Harvey’s decision to become a chaplain also required him to change services, though many expected him to go to the Navy since the Navy provides chaplain services to all Marines. 

“You spent 18 years in the Marine Corps, why the sudden change?’” said Harvey.

 He said this was something he wrestled with but decided he didn’t want to let his affiliation with the Marine Corps be the deciding factor.

“Once you strip off the rank, the uniform and get to the heart of it, everyone’s the same on the inside,” he said. “As a chaplain, it doesn’t matter to me whether someone is Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, whether they’re a PFC, lance corporal, colonel… they’re coming to see me as a wounded person, not as a battalion commander.”

Harvey was always checking on the 24th MEU Marines – stopping by, lending an encouraging word or just to say hello, even sometimes in the middle of the night during a shift change on the flight line.

“A chaplain’s priority of work is his own unit, then other military units,” said Harvey. “I’m not assigned as a Marine chaplain by any stretch of the imagination, and I’m not trying to take over for the MEU chaplain. But, when the Marines find out you’ve got the club ring, got the tattoos, you can establish a rapport with them right away.”

The 24th MEU is in the middle of a scheduled deployment, currently supporting the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility along with maritime security operations with the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

Kendall: Afghan Drawdown Logistics to be 'Huge' Undertaking

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2012 – The man who oversaw the logistics of the military withdrawal from Iraq sees a greater challenge coming in the Afghan drawdown, describing it as ‘huge”.

Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told reporters logistics is a much bigger part of his job than he thought it would be.

“The aphorism that amateurs worry about tactics and professionals worry about logistics is very true,” Kendall said.

“We have a huge logistics challenge getting out of Afghanistan.” That challenge, he said is different than the one involved in the withdrawal from Iraq.

Kendall oversaw the Iraq effort as the principle deputy undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. “That was a piece of cake compared to what we have to do in Afghanistan. This is a much more difficult job.”

Afghanistan is a land-locked country and the United States, NATO countries and coalition partners have sent mountains of equipment and supplies there since operations began in 2001. Now the coalition effort is drawing down as Afghan forces increasingly take over security. By the end of the summer, 23,000 additional American service members will leave, as well as those from many coalition nations. Combat operations are to wind down next year, and all coalition combat operations are set to conclude at the end of 2014.

The recent reopening of supply lines through Pakistan has helped, Kendall said. “Hopefully they will stay open and we will be able to use them,” he said. “We’ve gone a long way towards negotiating agreements to help in the Northern Distribution Network. There’s still some work to be done there. But that also will help.”

The U.S. military has been planning the maneuver for months, and an exercise is underway.

There are things that make the Afghan operation more difficult than the effort in Iraq and some that make it easier, Kendall said. “One of the things that made the Iraq situation easier was, of course, you could just drive in to Kuwait, park things in Kuwait and then ship them wherever you had to,” he said.

“It’s not quite as easy to get out of Afghanistan, but on the other hand, we expect to have a more enduring presence in Afghanistan,” he said. “So we will be able to move material out at a pace, which is perhaps more reasonable.”

Materiel may be shipped out past the December 2014 deadline, Kendall said. “I think because of the physical constraints we will probably do that,” he said.

“One of the reasons we are going to need overseas contingency funds beyond 2014 is that we’re going to have to do the logistics job – not just in getting the equipment we want out – but in refurbishing it when we get it back,” he added.

South Carolina Army National Guard troops train for embassy evacuation missions

By Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Drumsta

Camp Buehring

CAMP BUEHRING, KUWAIT (6/18/12) -- Though they performed unit-level tasks in the exercises, the companies' ultimate success was due to the most basic Soldier skills of all -- leadership and discipline.

Faced with role players shouting criminal accusations and other insults, the troops of the South Carolina Army National Guard’s 4th Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment maintained their game faces during separate exercises at Range recently. Dubbed Operation Desert Defense, the exercises were designed to test the troops' ability to air-assault into an area, move to the embassy, defend it and set up conditions to evacuate it.

"Our Soldiers never overreacted," said Army Lt. Col. Frederick Pasley, commander of 4th Bn. "They used good use-of-force techniques and had good restraint."

In addition to manning the embassy defenses for about 24 hours, the companies coordinated the medical evacuation of simulated wounded and a re-supply by helicopter, as well as their movement back to Camp Buehring by the 1118th Forward Support Company, said Capt. Michelle Roberts, operations officer with the battalion.

"There were a lot of moving pieces," Roberts said.

Like Company A two days before, Company C air-assaulted to an area near Range 5 around 5:30 a.m., linked up with Soldiers who were acting as embassy personnel and moved tactically to the buildings, enclosed by tall sand berms, which served as embassy compounds for the exercise.

Slogging across the soft desert sand, the troops encountered a group of their fellow 4th Battalion Soldiers -- decked out in civilian clothing and head scarves -- playing the part of host-nation civilians for the scenario. Though they cheered the troops, the role players became too friendly, enthusiastically crowding around the Soldiers and blocking their route to the embassies.

The troops then moved in and set up their defenses. For the Soldiers, this meant lying prone behind their weapons on the sand berms.

Then the sun climbed higher, the temperature rose above 115 degrees and the exercise began in earnest as the role players formed mobs, continually pounded on the wire-mesh representing embassy gates and shouted demands for food, water and medicine. The role players also tossed small stones into the embassy grounds and tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate the defenses.

“This is the kind of real-world situation which could inhibit the mission,” said Army Capt. Gene Hindman, Company C commander, from Charleston, S.C.

"It makes the leaders at every level have to react and make decisions," he said of the scenario. This includes the team leaders and "anybody who has 'leader' in their title," he added.

The role players' mission was to elicit an emotional response from the troops, but the troops' job is to react as Soldiers, Hindman explained. Though the role players performed their mission well, the Soldiers kept their composure, he said.

The mob left and returned several times throughout the morning, eventually accusing the Soldiers of making illegal arrests and committing a homicide. Despite the shouts and clanging sound of the role players pounding on the gates, the Soldiers calmly and quietly manned their posts, and seemed to speak only to pass their tactical observations onto their team and squad leaders.

Planning, preparation and rehearsals at the unit level, especially the evacuation part of the mission, ensured the exercises' success, said Pasley. The units briefed the Soldiers about the possibility of a hostile crowd, and the standards on the use of force were "embedded into every soldier," he stressed.

"It requires a lot of discipline from (the Soldiers) and their leaders to make sure we don't get sucked into a situation," Hindman said.

Sgt. 1st Class Eric Gallman, a Company C platoon sergeant who was acting as platoon leader for the exercise, said the troops "showed great restraint when being provoked by the role players."

"As infantrymen, it's natural for us to aggressive," said Gallman, of Spartanburg, S.C. "This was a passive situation. This was a training challenge."

A unit's composure under pressure depends on how well the Soldiers know each other, including how each Soldier reacts to different stresses, Hindman said. Continuing exercises like this are a valuable part of building that cohesion, he added.

"It's kind of like building muscle," he said. "If you lift the same weight, you never get stronger. It's only by pushing yourself that you get stronger."

The battalion went to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., in October 2011, and his platoon has been building the muscles of cohesion since they came together under new leadership there, Gallman said. The training at NTC was a heavy lift that set them up for success, and the lessons learned there defined everybody's role, he added.

Company C's noncommissioned officers "did a phenomenal job" during Operation Desert Defense, Hindman said. Along with understanding and adhering to the mission intent and end state, the noncommissioned officers took care of the troops, ensuring they kept their cool despite the role players and desert heat, he stressed.

"It was black flag, 120 degrees," Hindman said, referring to the heat category at times during the exercise. "We had no heat casualties."

They're blessed with good leaders, Gallman said.

"They make good things happen," he said. "It's the team leaders and squad leaders who ensure success."

Kuwait: Kentucky Army National Guard Soldiers train to recover air resupply drops

By Army 1st Lt. Gregory Slater & Spc. Matthew Magreta

1204th Aviation Support Battalion

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (6/14/12) – At times, using convoys to resupply troops in the field isn’t feasible. But, those troops are able to continue to operate, however, thanks to the abilities of Army and Air Force airdrops. Food, clothing, barrels of fuel, construction materials and ammunition have all found their way to those in the field because of this aerial support.

Soldiers with the Kentucky Army National Guard’s 1204th Aviation Support Battalion recently received training to contribute to those efforts.

Soldiers from 1204th ASB participated in Joint Precision Air Drop System recovery training. The Soldiers received hands-on training in preparing the system for an air drop mission and recovering of sensitive equipment. These Soldiers were then tasked to train other Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment that would augment the unit’s recovery team.

Those Soldiers then took part in a multi-unit training exercise testing JPAS operations. The event took place recently on the north side of Camp Buehring and consisted of approximately 60 troops from the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Sqdrn., 7th Cav. and the Air Force.

Although JPADS are commonly used in Afghanistan, this was the first time that Kuwait-based units had coordinated as a combined arms team to demonstrate their ability to resupply ground combat units.

"Mission success was contingent upon the positive relationships between U.S. units and our Kuwaiti partners to ensure that airspace was available and clear during the operation," said Army Lt. Col. Todd Coulson, deputy chief of staff for operations, Task Force 3.1.

The operation was previously delayed due to administrative issues, but last month the exercise was conducted flawlessly with JPADS performing as it was designed.

Air Force personnel dropped four bundles totaling 5,000 pounds from a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. Flying in at almost 10,000 feet, two pilots and a full crew guided the drops using a Global Positioning System, meteorology data kit and a mission planner laptop. Each bundle varied in size and weight, but each one resembled a giant cube with netting holding the cargo in place.

The bundles consisted of food, water and other supplies, “which would simulate a realistic resupply drop to ground combat personnel located anywhere," said Coulson.

Soldiers from the 1204th ASB and 1st Sqdrn., 7th Cav. were responsible for transportation, security, recovery and safety of the bundles as they immediately touched down in the 360-degree perimeter.

"Before the drop, we do a reconnaissance and a visual sweep of the drop zone to ensure the area is clear of debris, camels and Bedouin camps," said Army Capt. Michael Kiser, with Troop A, 1st Sqdrn., 7th Cav.

According to Staff Sgt. David Davis of the 1204th ASB, With a one-minute response time to each bundle, it took the recovery team less than 30 minutes to collect the equipment, parachute, and sensitive items and load them for transport to a more secure location where a unit can then conduct resupply operations, said Army Staff Sgt. David Davis, with the 1204th ASB.

Used in combat operations in Afghanistan, one of the main benefits of JPADS is to increase the availability of cargo that can be delivered to troops on the ground. JPADS allows those units to be quickly and regularly resupplied by air where ground transport often is not practical.

"I have worked with JPADS for seven years as an infantryman on the ground and experienced the benefits firsthand," said Coulson. "The recovery might be difficult in four feet of snow in the Afghan mountains making the precision of the delivery invaluable for those Soldiers who may have to conduct recovery in a hostile environment."

Cargo weighing as much 60,000 pounds of weight can be delivered using the system, but no matter the amount of cargo a successful resupply mission often comes down to a few basic elements.

"Pray for good weather, talk to the pilots constantly, and over-communicate with one another throughout the planning. That is the secret of a successful operation," said Coulson.