This Publication Is Published Weekly and Contains Information About, For, and of Interest to the Island Workforce
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This publication is published weekly and contains information about, for, and of interest to the Island Workforce. Island Insight Submission: https://home.army.mil/ria/index.php/contact/public-affairs Sections: Arsenal Traffic/Construction Army Community (ACS) Building/Space Closures MWR Outdoor Recreation Active Duty/Reserve Zone Employee Assistance Program Safety Spotlight Education/Training Review Equal Employment Defense Commissary Agency/PX March 17-23: National Poison Prevention Opportunity Focus Arsenal Archive Week Morale, Welfare & Recreation Healthbeat March 18-22: DA Photos, Bldg. 90, (MWR) Notes for Veterans Basement, Rm. B11, 7:20 a.m. - 3:40 MWR Leisure Travel Office Around the Q.C. p.m. Child & Youth Services March 20: First Day of Spring (Vernal Equinox) Soldiers' Selfless Service Honored During RIA March 20: Workforce Wednesday, Lock Retirement and Retreat Ceremony & Dam Lounge, 3-7 p.m. The Rock Island Arsenal March 20-21: Career Exploration Planning, Bldg. 56, 1st floor, classroom 2 hosted its second-quarter (Room 122), 8 a.m. Retirement and Retreat March 21: Thirst-day Thursday, Lock & Ceremony, to honor six Dam Lounge, 3-7 p.m. Soldiers as they retired March 25: National Medal of Honor Day from military service, March 27: Workforce Wednesday, Lock & Dam Lounge, 3-7 p.m. here, March 14, at March 28: Newcomer's Orientation and Heritage Hall. Joint Bus Tour, Arsenal Island Clubhouse, 8 Munitions Command a.m. - 5 p.m. senior executive service leader, JoEtta Fisher, Executive Director March 28: Women's History Month for Ammunition and Deputy to the Commander, and Sgt. Maj. Observance, Heritage Hall, Bldg. 60, 1-2 p.m. Shonita Edwards, presided as the official hosts of the ceremony. March 28: Thirst-day Thursday, Lock & Fisher provided a brief biography of each Soldier, thanked their Dam Lounge, 3-7 p.m. Families who supported them, mentioned their future plans, and March 28: Military Fatherhood Program, wished them well as they transition into retirement. "I'm proud Putnam Museum, 5:30-7:30 p.m. beyond words to be standing here before you hosting this great March 29: National Vietnam Veterans Day event and honoring these amazing Soldiers," said Fisher. "Soon March 29: Vietnam War 50th they will be retired from the United States Army, but we all Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony, know, they are Soldiers for Life and for that, we are eternally R.I. National Cemetery, 10 a.m. grateful. We are not only grateful for the selfless service of our April: Month of the Military Child retiring Soldiers, we are grateful for their Families…for all of April 1: April Fool's Day April 1: Coffee Break, ACS, Bldg. 110, their sacrifices, while supporting the Soldiers they love. The 9:30-10:30 a.m. Soldier could not be successful without the love and support of The contents of the Island Insight are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the Department of the Army. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Garrison or the Department of the Army. his Family, for it is they, who keep the home fires burning while the Soldier is working late or deployed." (More: www.army.mil/article/218554) Take a Look Inside the National Flood Fight Material Center As Crews Prepare for Flooding As area rivers rise above flood stage, the Army Corps of Engineers at the Rock Island Arsenal are stocking up on sandbags and other materials. The Emergency Operations Center at the Rock Island District activated Wednesday, March 13 at noon. Meanwhile, crews are staging materials at the National Flood Fight Material Center, the only one like it in the country. "Usually we have boxes pretty much stacked to the ceiling," said Emergency Management Chief Rodney Delp. "This district here of Rock Island is actually the reach back organization to support the whole United States," he said. Delp was there when the Army Corps of Engineers responded to the 2005 floods caused by Hurricane Katrina and other national disasters. He said the materials center can deploy materials to anywhere in the country within 48 hours. The federal agency also oversees the Emergency Operations Center staff on the Arsenal. (More: https://wqad.com/2019/03/13/stocking-sandbags-and-flood-barriers-rock-island-arsenals-national- flood-fight-material-center) Assumption of Responsibility Ceremony Welcomes JMC Senior Enlisted Leader Command Sgt. Maj. Brian J. Morrison was officially welcomed to the Joint Munitions Command during an Assumption of Responsibility Ceremony held, here, March 18. Command Sgt. Maj. Morrison assumed his duties as the senior enlisted advisor by receiving the command's colors from Brig. Gen. Michelle M.T. Letcher, commander, Joint Munitions Command. The JMC colors are always in the care of the Command Sergeant Major and as JMC's senior enlisted advisor, Morrison will serve as the commander's "right arm" and assist Letcher daily in supporting the ammunition enterprise mission. "Soldiers like Command Sgt. Maj. Morrison who obtain the distinction of being selected as the Command Sergeant Major really reflect the epitome of success in their chosen field," said Letcher. "Except for Sergeant Major of the Army, there is no higher grade or rank for our enlisted soldiers, and there's no greater honor than to serve." (More: www.army.mil/article/218707) First Army Highlights Training Opportunities for Reserve Component Crucial training opportunities for Army National Guard and Army Reserve units, and the assistance First Army can offer those units, was the focus of a Training Support and Synchronization Working Group (TSSWG), held here March 6-9. The purpose was to identify how First Army can support Reserve Component training requirements for its partners. Further, the TSSWG aimed to synchronize training support resources needed to build and maintain readiness for the next two fiscal years, while also forecasting needs for the two fiscal years after that. First Army Division East Chief of Staff, Col. Chris Hossfeld, who was attending his fourth TSSWG, further explained the Working Group's intent and focus. "The purpose of this is to synchronize the directed events across all The contents of the Island Insight are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the Department of the Army. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Garrison or the Department of the Army. components for First Army. It's synchronizing the who, what, where, when, and how we are going to do it, to help build budgets, to help build exercise support requirements, and to work through the friction that is identified," he said. "Because invariably, First Army has more requirements levied on it than we have people. And this allowed us to synchronize those events and the resourcing that allows us to meet those requirements." (More: www.army.mil/article/218452) Undersecretary Outlines New Budget Plans For Modernization Priorities As part of the release of the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget, more than $57 billion in a five-year defense plan will be dedicated to modernization and other signature Army programs, the Army's undersecretary said Thursday. In turn, the Army is offering "a tremendous opportunity" to industry officials that are willing to step up their research and development investments to innovate the force's six modernization priorities, Ryan D. McCarthy said during a discussion at The Brookings Institution. The modernization priorities are being driven by an era of "great power competition" as stated in the National Defense Strategy. The Army's near-peer competitors are creating effective forms of standoff through new tactics and technologies, McCarthy said. (More: www.army.mil/article/218652) FY20 Budget to Boost Air & Missile Defense The Army's budget request for fiscal year 2020 includes funding to field two "Iron Dome" air defense batteries and the first Maneuver Short- Range Air Defense, or MSHORAD, battery of Stryker variants. Lt. Gen. James F. Pasquarette, the Army's deputy chief of staff, G-8, spoke Tuesday afternoon at the Association of the U.S. Army's "Hot Topics" seminar for Air and Missile Defense. His presentation came shortly after specifics of the budget proposal were announced at the Pentagon. "There's $1.35 billion aligned against the top four AMD modernization programs," Pasquarette said about the FY20 budget request. He added that's a 65 percent increase from the 2019 budget for funding the four programs: MSHORAD; the Indirect Fire Protection Capability, or IFPC; the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS program; and the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System known as IBCS. (More: www.army.mil/article/218504) Army Leaders Discuss Benefits, Challenges with AI Systems Only months old, the Army Artificial Intelligence Task Force has already started pilot projects to find ways to speed up security clearances and analyze imagery for military activity. Split between the National Capital Region and Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center in Pittsburgh, the task force stood up in October as part of a recent push to increase AI efforts across the Defense Department. One of the first efforts they are exploring includes working with Army Analytics Group using personnel data to quickly identify risks in security clearances for Army personnel. The algorithms use "machine learning tools to speed up the risk management process that security clearance adjudicators are using," said Brig. Gen. Matthew Easley, the task force director. "It gives them evidence to allow them to make a decision much faster." (More: www.army.mil/article/218595) WeCare Rock Island Arsenal App The contents of the Island Insight are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S.