Victory Weekly Vol. 1, Issue 37.Qxp

VictoryVictory WeeklyWeekly Vol. I, Issue 37 telling the Camp Victory story Nov. 15, 2005 Coalition safety conference held at Victory First-time, Corps-sponsored event brings theater managers together to share knowledge, ideas Pfc. Matthew Clifton MNC-I PAO Since January, 53 Coalition lives have been lost to vehicle rollover accidents. The number one cause of those accidents was speeding. This statistic, and countless other pieces of Soldier-vital information, were discussed by more than 95 safety officers throughout Multi-National Corps-Iraq, including some civilian agencies and others from military organizations outside the Corps, during a theater-wide safety conference Nov. 8 at the Al-Faw Palace. The conference was hosted by the MNC-I Safety Office, and was the first since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. "MNC-I conducted a safety conference that allowed all of the safety managers throughout Iraq to come together in one location and be able to share ideas, lessons learned, things that work for them and things that don't work for them. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience out there," said David Martin, safety manager, MNC-I. "There was a lot of very useful dialogue that was Out of 133 fatalities since the beginning of January, 64 of those were from vehicle acci- exchanged between safety officers.” dents. Forty percent of all vehicle accidents were rollovers, resulting in 53 fatalities. Presentations given by MNC-I to the attendees negligent discharges happening throughout Iraq allowed them to see the big picture. The officers that are not getting reported." Safety Spotlight: and managers from the major subordinate com- Ways to prevent negligent discharges are Leaders must always enforce mands usually only see things that are specific to through weapons discipline, training, rehearsals standards. their units. They don't necessarily see trends that and leaders physically checking Soldiers to make are already happening to others and could poten- sure they can properly clear the weapons systems Seatbelts are the standard. tially happen to theirs, Martin said. they are operating. It is important to know how to Adjust vehicle speed to road con- Among the topics discussed at the conference perform all functions of a weapons system and to ditions. were weapons, ground and air safety. rehearse those functions at least once a week. Maintain strict weapons discipline. "Preventing negligent discharges is the goal Practice, practice and more practice, Martin said. when discussing weapons safety, and the problem A large part of the air safety portion of the con- Be aware of safety hazards with our figures on negligent discharges is the ference was unmanned aerial vehicles. around you and your buddy. safety office only has vision on negligent dis- "As the aviation safety manager for MNC-I, I charges that result in injury or damage to property. am responsible for everything from helicopters to accident causation. Of all the accidents caused, 81 Honestly, we don't have a good picture on them," UAVs," said Rich Eppler. "At the conference, one percent were caused by human error, 16 percent Martin said. "There are a significant number of of my main focuses was UAVs. were material and six percent were undetermined. "I talked to the group regarding the UAV safe- As far as increasing safety awareness, the sys- ty issues we have been having in Iraq. The prob- tems and programs are out there to mitigate these lem we have been having with UAVs has been an issues. It is just a matter of recurring training -- pri- increase in human error accidents. We analyze the marily crew coordination training, Eppler said. information that comes in on the accident reports The Army has recently mandated aircrews to and disseminate our findings to the units." go through reinforcement training and evaluation The problem is a training issue. The training annually, Eppler said. for UAVs is still new, and the Army is still devel- When focusing on ground safety at the confer- oping training systems. Another issue is that con- ence, vehicle safety issues were stressed. trol of UAVs has moved from the Military Improvements are being made to the Humvee, Intelligence Branch to the Aviation Branch of the including a single-movement combat lock, an Army, Eppler said. advanced communication system, new seat belts, The goal is to inject aviation standards into the a fire suppression system and restraints for the The safety conference held in the Al-Faw UAV program, which will have a marked gunner, Martin said. Palace Nov. 8 was designed to help safety improvement on standardization and training As well as talking about vehicles and weapons, officers in Iraq develop ways to reduce in- throughout the community. theater accidental injuries and deaths. All the other aircraft are meeting the norm for See SAFETY, Page 4 Page 2 Victory Weekly Nov. 15, 2005 Corps signal command transfers from 35th to 22nd Story, photo by time in March 2003. Pfc. Matthew Clifton "The 22nd is fully prepared to MNC-I PAO assume our wartime mission," said Cross. "I want to thank the 35th for The 35th Signal Brigade, XVIII their warm reception, and our goal Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C., is to improve upon the success of handed over command responsibil- the 35th Signal Brigade." ity for corps-level signal capabili- It is a different fight and a differ- ties in Iraq to the 22nd Sig. Bde., V ent enemy. Soldiers must be ready Corps, Hoechst, Germany, in a to engage at all times, Vines said. transfer of authority ceremony "Many people may think that the Wednesday, at Building 43 at threat of Islamic Jihadists started Camp Victory. with the 9/11 attacks on the World More than 100 service members Trade Center," Vines said. "In fact, stood at attention as Command Sgt. the threat started at least 25 years Maj. James Jordan, sergeant major, ago … we are facing a global prob- and Col. Bryan Ellis, commander, Command Sgt. Maj. James Jordan (left), sergeant major, and Col. lem," Vines said. "We must have 35th Sig. Bde., cased their colors Bryan Ellis, commander, 35th Signal Brigade, XVIII Airborne the courage and commitment to and Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas J. Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C., case their unit's colors during a transfer conquer it." Clark, sergeant major, and Col. of authority ceremony Wednesday. It doesn't matter when the threat Frederick Cross, commander, 22nd year, such as contributing to the Iraq. Vines was the guest speaker started. It only matters that the Sig. Bde., uncased theirs. success of Iraq's elections and the for the ceremony. threat is recognized, and the "Many people have played an drafting of their constitution, Ellis "To all of the warriors in the Coalition is committed to the elim- integral part in our success in the said. 35th, I want to say well done," ination of that threat, Vines added. past year," Ellis said. "While Thanks to the 35th, with the help Vines said. "To the 22nd who are "When we get back to Fort deployed, we have successfully of other units and contractors, the returning: it is great to have you Bragg, our thoughts and prayers introduced and used new technolo- Coalition has been successful in back." will be with all of the Soldiers who gy that has been a key to the fight." running the most complex commu- The 22nd Sig. Bde. is starting continue to fight here," Ellis said. Most 35th Soldiers measure their nications system throughout Iraq, its second deployment in sup- "We will also continue to remem- success by what they have done for said Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, com- port of Operation Iraqi Freedom ber and honor those Soldiers who the Iraqi people during the past mander, Multi-National Corps - after having deployed the first have made the ultimate sacrifice." Troops gather in Al-Faw Palace to observe Veterans Day Story, photo by Sgt. David Foley the face of 600 hardened British MNC-I PAO Regulars," said Multi-National Corps -- Iraq Commander Lt. Hundreds of Coalition service Gen. John R. Vines, as he members gathered in the Al- addressed the service members Faw Palace ballroom Nov. 11 at the ceremony. "As the British for a Veterans Day observance soldiers raised their weapons, ceremony held in honor of past Capt. Parker ordered, 'Don't fire and present service members unless fired on, but if they want from around the globe. a war, let it begin here.'" The holiday, which was origi- "Those colonial Soldiers died nally observed as Armistice that day at Lexington," Vines Day, began in 1919 as a way to said. "But they died for an idea celebrate the Treaty of -- the idea that they could form Versailles, the final peace treaty their own nation; a nation between Allied Forces and unlike any other. Germany during WWI, which "Since then, generations have Hundreds of service members watch a patriotic video during a was signed on Nov. 11, 1918. worn the uniform and fought on Veterans Day observance ceremony Nov. 11 in the Al-Faw Palace President Dwight D. both domestic and foreign soil," the War on Terror. odds and died saving the lives Eisenhower, the 34th president he said. "Our veterans crouched "Soldiers represent what is of fellow Soldiers," Vines said of the United States, signed leg- in the trenches of Europe, scaled good and right about our somberly. "Hampton, the stu- islation on June 1, 1954, chang- the Italian Alps, waded ashore nation," Vines added. "Soldiers dent body president at her high ing the name to Veterans Day, a on the beaches of Normandy, like Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, school, was killed when the national holiday that has been Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, the recipient of the first Medal Kiowa Warrior helicopter she observed at the 11th hour of the Panama, Iraq, the Balkans, of Honor in the War on was flying was shot down in the 11th day of the 11th month ever Somalia and Afghanistan.

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