News Call Army Medic Earns Silver Star a 19-Year-Old Medic from Lake Some 500 Yards to Safety

News Call Army Medic Earns Silver Star A 19-year-old medic from Lake some 500 yards to safety. She treated Jackson, Texas, Spc. Monica Lin them on-site before a medevac heli- Brown, 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry copter arrived. Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, Although Pentagon policy prohibits is the first woman in Afghanistan— women from serving in frontline and only the second female soldier combat positions, female soldiers since World War II—to earn the Silver in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the Star. In April 2007, Spc. Brown was counterinsurgencies lack real front part of a four-vehicle convoy pa- lines, participate in close-quarters trolling in eastern Afghanistan’s Pak- combat more than women did in pre- tia Province when a roadside bomb vious wars. Spc. Brown joined the struck one of the Humvees, wounding Army in November 2006 and is ex- five soldiers in her unit. She ran pected to leave Afghanistan in April. through insurgent gunfire to reach the “I did not really have time to be casualties, shielded them with her scared,” she told an Associated Press own body from mortars falling less reporter. “I was in a kind of a robot- ovided by the family

than 100 yards away as she adminis- Pr mode, did not think about much but tered first aid, and helped drag them Spc. Monica Lin Brown getting the guys taken care of.”

Army Trains Afghan Police. The Com- development (FDD)—to train and re- cause they are local and know the land bined Security Transition Command- form the Afghan National Police. U.S. and people. Afghanistan (CSTC-A), headed by counterinsurgency doctrine advises Commanders in Afghanistan do not Maj. Gen. Robert W. Cone and tasked that an indigenous security force is have enough trainers to work with the with training, mentoring and equip- generally the best force to use in a country’s security forces; FDD is de- ping Afghan security forces, has be- counterinsurgency environment, and signed to concentrate trainers to make gun a new program—focused district often that best force is the police be- the best and most efficient use of

Col. James Klingaman, commander of Afghan Regional Security Integration Command- West, salutes an Afghan national policeman from the Bala-Beluk district during a graduation ceremony. More than 140 officers made up oubek, USN the first graduating class otr of the focused district development police training program. DoD/Petty Officer 1st Class David M. V DoD/Petty Officer

April 2008 I ARMY 85 Army Casualties in Iraq Army Casualties The following U.S. Army personnel were reported killed in Operation in Afghanistan Iraqi Freedom from February 1 to February 29, 2008. All names have been The following U.S. Army soldier released through the Department of Defense; families have been notified. was reported killed in Operation Enduring Freedom from Febru- Sgt. Rafael Alicearivera, 30 Spc. Orlando A. Perez, 23 ary 1 to February 29, 2008. His Sgt. Conrad Alvarez, 22 Spc. Micheal E. Phillips, 19 name has been released through Spc. Miguel A. Baez, 32 Capt. Nathan R. Raudenbush, 25 the Department of Defense; his SSgt. Chad A. Barrett, 35 Spc. Luke S. Runyan, 21 family has been notified. Cpl. Albert Bitton, 20 1st Lt. David E. Schultz, 25 Spc. Chad D. Groepper, 21 Sgt. Bradley J. Skelton, 40 SSgt. Donald T. Tabb, 29 SSgt. Bryant W. Mackey, 30 Sgt. Corey E. Spates, 21 Spc. Michael T. Manibog, 31 Spc. Matthew F. Straughter, 27 troops President Bush sent nearly a Sgt. Timothy P. Martin, 27 PFC Jack T. Sweet, 19 year ago redeploy. Gen. Petraeus told Spc. Micheal B. Matlock Jr., 21 Sgt. Timothy R. Van Orman, 24 Military.com in an exclusive interview Spc. Keisha M. Morgan, 25 SSgt. Javares J. Washington, 27 that he will report that violence in Iraq Spc. Kevin S. Mowl, 22 Spc. Christopher J. West, 26 has dropped 60 percent since the surge Capt. Michael A. Norman, 36 SSgt. Jerald A. Whisenhunt, 32 began. Sgt. John C. Osmolski, 23 Sgt. Gary D. Willett, 34 In March, Gen. Petraeus told reporters he wants time to assess the sit- them. In addition, Army and Coali- tion Command-West, one of five com- uation and review conditions before tion commanders have come to recog- mands that support the mission of the drawing down more troops. nize inadequate training, poor equip- CSTC-A, explained the pros and cons According to Gen. Petraeus, neigh- ment and corruption in the Afghan of the strategy in a Pentagon news borhood militias, recently renamed police force. CSTC-A developed the briefing in February. The retrained po- Sons of Iraq, have become vital to FDD plan to address those issues. It is lice “know the terrain and the peo- the improved security situation. The a reform by the Afghan Ministry of ple,” he said. “And of course, [one] of 90,000 Sons of Iraq, he told reporters, the Interior to improve the national the cons [is] that … if they were cor- are “substantially thickening our police force district by district. rupt, they may tend to go back to their forces.” In addition, he said the Iraqi FDD withdraws the police of one old ways, which is one of the reasons, army and police force have grown by district at a time, replacing them tem- in addition to the training, they get more than 100,000 people. porarily with Afghan National Civil some very close mentorship as well as As brigade combat teams redeploy, Order Police, who are generally not nationally vetted leadership as part of Gen. Petraeus emphasized that the from the same region. The district po- this program.” U.S. would not simply hand over an lice are all retrained together as a cohe- Police in seven of Afghanistan’s 365 area completely to Iraqi security forces. sive unit for eight weeks at one of eight districts have begun training; complet- “We will maintain a sufficient footprint regional training centers throughout ing it in all districts will take about four with an adequate, generally substantial the country. Exercises include mounted years. The United States spent $2.5 bil- Iraqi force of police and soldiers,” he and dismounted patrols, station secu- lion on the police in Afghanistan in fis- said. rity tasks, and urban and village opera- cal year (FY) 2007 and will spend at He noted that much work remains tions. The first classes graduated in late least $800 million in FY 2008. in the Diyala and Tigris River Valleys February—259 Afghan National Police and in Ninevah Province and its capital, from Zabul Province graduated in Gen. Petraeus on Iraq. On April 8 and Mosul. Kandahar; 143 from the Bala-Beluk dis- 9, Gen. David H. Petraeus, comman- U.S. commanders recognize Mosul trict graduated in Herat, in western der of Multi-National Force-Iraq, is as the last urban stronghold for al Afghanistan. scheduled to testify before Congress Qaeda and other insurgent groups in In the next phase of FDD, the grad- on security conditions there. He and Iraq, and they are relying on Iraqi secu- uates will be reinstated into their U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. rity forces there more than they have home districts, which takes about a Crocker will update lawmakers on anywhere else in the country. About week. Police mentoring teams, com- progress since their last report in Sep- 2,000 U.S. troops—3rd Squadron, 3rd posed of American and Coalition sol- tember 2007. Armored Cavalry Regiment, and 1st diers, will then accompany and work Gen. Petraeus has said that he favors Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment—are with them in the field for two to four a “condition-based” drawdown rather operating in Mosul and are establish- months. than a rapid reduction of troop num- ing combat outposts around the city Col. James Klingaman, commander bers and advocates a pause in mid- with Iraqi army and police troops. of Afghan Regional Security Integra- July, when the last of the additional Gen. Petraeus pointed to progress

86 ARMY I April 2008 made but warned that the way ahead 102 active duty soldiers committed suicides are related to the failure of inti- will not be easy. “Al Qaeda is trying to suicide in 2006, a rate of 17.5 per mate relationships,” Col. Ritchie said in come back,” he told reporters. “We 100,000. That is the highest suicide a news release. Legal, financial or occu- can feel it and see it. … At the end of rate since the Army began keeping pational problems rank next in order. the day, it’s about feel.” Most com- such records in 1980, and it appears Col. Ritchie was part of a team that manders in Iraq are on their second that the rate for 2007 will be at least as interviewed deployed soldiers to try tours, some on their third, he said. high. Thus far, the Army has con- to find ways to prevent suicides and “Over time, you can start to feel firmed that 89 active duty soldiers drew up 55 recommendations to im- where you can take a bit more risk committed suicide during 2007; it is prove the suicide-prevention program. and also where you cannot.” investigating another 32 deaths. Suicide attempts have also spiked— Money for New Recruits. In Febru- ‘Growing the Army.’ The Army has from about 1,400 in 2006 to more than ary, the Army began a pilot recruiting awarded Northrop Grumman a three- 2,000 in 2007. Col. Ritchie acknowl- program called the Army Advantage year $30 million instructional con- edged these numbers but noted that Fund that awards enlistees who com- tract. Under the U.S. Army Armor the increase is due, in part, to new mit to five years of active service up to Center’s “Grow the Army” contract, electronic medical record keeping and $40,000 for a down payment on a Northrop Grumman Technical Ser- better reporting compliance. home or seed money to start a busi- vices’ team of instructors “will sup- The Army has launched various ini- ness; reservists can receive up to port the center’s training for both offi- tiatives to combat suicides, including $20,000. Three- and four-year enlist- cers and noncommissioned officers in mental health screenings, outreach, im- ments pay lesser cash incentives. the development of instructional ma- proved access to mental health care, The Army is testing the Advantage terial, teaching, counseling/remedia- training and education. Col. Ritchie Fund program in five cities—Albany, tion and testing for several courses said it is impossible to determine how N.Y.; Cleveland, Ohio; Montgomery, and programs based on Army student many deaths these efforts may have Ala.; San Antonio, Texas; and Seattle, load projections and training sched- prevented, but the Army is concerned Wash. According to Lt. Gen. Benjamin ules,” according to the company. that the number of suicides continues Freakley, commanding general, U.S. Work on the contract began in to grow. It is a common misconception, Army Accessions Command, the pilot March, with more than 25 instructors she said, that most active duty suicides program will be evaluated later this teaching classes of 75 to 80 students in are among deployed troops or those re- year to determine whether it will be the center’s Mounted Basic Officer cently redeployed. Nor are they linked made available on a national level. Leadership course. Frank Thompson, directly to combat or to multiple de- Gen. Freakley acknowledged that program manager for Northrop’s Tech- ployments. Multiple, long combat de- the Army must be creative in order to nical Services sector, told ARMY Maga- ployments can rupture personal rela- compete with schools and businesses zine that the team of instructors tionships, however. “Historically, and for high school graduates. A recent sur- “brings expertise both from the school- now, two-thirds to three-quarters of vey in the test markets showed that six house as well as the battlefield, having served as senior noncommissioned officers in armor and armored cavalry ‘Active First’ Graduate. units equipped with Abrams tanks, Pvt. Raymond Loree is High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled the first soldier to Vehicles or Bradleys.” graduate directly into the Other courses and programs of in- active Army from the Army National Guard’s struction tasked under the contract in- Active First recruiting clude: program. Under Active I 19D and 19K initial entry training. First, recruits enlist in the I Master gunner program. Army National Guard I Scout/cavalry leader courses. and attend monthly drills I NCO Academy. until initial entry training I Combat Life Saver course. is complete; they then serve up to 48 months of I Career Management Field 63. active duty with the All instruction is scheduled to take option to continue active place at Fort Knox, Ky. duty or return to their National Guard units. The Army Suicides Increase. Col. (Dr.) program offers bonuses Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatric consultant of up to $60,000.

to Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Army

Eric B. Schoomaker, announced that U.S.

April 2008 I ARMY 87 GENERAL OFFICER COMMAND SERGEANTS CHANGES* MAJOR

Gen. W.L. Sharp Lt. Gen. A.E. CHANGES* CSM M.L. f rom Dir., Jt. Staff Dunwoody from Buxbaum from to Cmdr., UNC/ DCS, G-4, USA 18th Eng. Bde. to CFC/USFK. to Dep. CG/CoS, USACE. AMC.

CSM P.F. CSM M.G. Vigil Lt. Gen. S.A. Lt. Gen. M.H. Maj. Gen. J.P. Maj. Gen. B.S. Johndrow from from 5th Spc. McChrystal Stevenson from Basilica .from Dir Champoux from 1st Cav. Div. to Forces Grp. to f.,rom Cmdr CG, CASCOM of Log. (J-4), NG DCS, Ops., ISAF, CAC. USASFC. JSOC/Cmdr., and Fort Lee to Bureau, ARNG OEF to Chief, JSOC Forward, DCS, G-4, USA. to Dep. CG, Res. Legislative Liai- I CAC—U.S. Army Combined Arms Ctr.; USSOCOM to Component, Fifth son, OSA. USACE —U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Dir., Jt. Staff. U.S. Army. USASFC—U.S. Army Special Forces Cmd. *Command sergeants major positions as- Brigadier Generals: (P) C.A. Anderson f rom Dir., Force Dev., ODCS, G-8, USA to Dep. CG, Third signed to general officer commands. Army/USARCENT; M.T. Flynn from Dir. of Intel., J-2, CENTCOM to Dir. for Intel., J-2, Jt. Staff (DIA); S.S. Lawrence from CG, 5th Sig. Cmd./DCS, G-6, USAREUR and Seventh Army to CG, NETCOM; J.M. Milano from Dep. CG (Spt.), 4th Inf. Div. (M)/Dep. CG (Spt.), MND-B, OIF to CG, CPATT, MN- STC-I, OIF; J.G. Smith Jr. from Actg. CG, NETCOM to CG, 5th Sig. Cmd./DCS, G-6, USAREUR Afghanistan—has resulted in an “ap- and Seventh Army; R.P. Swan from CG, CMATT, MNSTC-I to Dep. CG (Spt.), 4th Inf. Div. (M)/Dep. palling gap” in forces able to respond CG (Spt.), MND-B, OIF; M.S. Tucker from Asst. SG for Warrior Care Transition, OSG to DCS, Ops., ISAF, OEF; S.G. West from CG, 21st TSC, USAREUR and Seventh Army to CG, TACOM LCMC. to attacks on U.S. soil. Arnold Punaro, the commission chairman and a re- I AMC—U.S. Army Materiel Cmd.; ARNG—Army National Guard; CASCOM—U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command; CENTCOM—U.S. Central Cmd.; CFC—Combined Forces tired Marine Corps Reserve major Cmd.; CMATT—Coalition Military Assistance Training Team; CPATT—Civilian Police Assistance general, said the panel found the Training Team; DIA—Defense Intelligence Agency; ISAF—International Security Assistance Force; JSOC—Joint Special Operations Cmd.; MND-B—Multi-National Div.-Baghdad; MNSTC-I— Army National Guard less ready than Multi-National Security Transition Cmd.-Iraq; NETCOM—U.S. Army Network Enterprise it was a year ago, when the commis- Technology Cmd.; NG—National Guard; ODCS—Office of the Dep. CoS; OEF—Operation Enduring Freedom; OIF—Operation Iraqi Freedom; OSA—Office of the Secretary of the Army; sion said 88 percent of units were not OSG—Office of the Surgeon General; TACOM LCMC—U.S. Army Tank-automotive and ready for deployment. Armaments Life Cycle Management Cmd.; TSC—Theater Support Cmd.; UNC—United Nations Cmd.; USARCENT —U.S. Army Central; USAREUR —U.S. Army Europe; USFK —U.S. Forces Among 95 recommendations in the Korea; USSOCOM—U.S . Special Operations Cmd. report is that U.S. Northern Com- *Assignments to general officer slots announced by the General Officer Management Office, De- mand, the primary mission of which partment of the Army. Some officers are listed at the grade to which they are nominated, pro- is homeland defense, have a signifi- motable or eligible to be frocked. The reporting dates for some officers may not yet be determined. cant increase in Guard and Reserve membership and have Guard and Re- in 10 young adults are concerned National Guard/Reserve Report. Af- serve members included by statute in about the difficulty they will face when ter more than two years of study of the the command’s leadership. buying their first home, and 79 percent seven reserve components of the U.S. The report states that the National viewed having enough capital to start military, the congressionally man- Guard and Reserve should form the a small business as a big problem. Par- dated Commission on the National backbone of DoD operations in the ticipants in the fund may be able to re- Guard and Reserve sees “no reason- United States. It also proposes that duce, or even eliminate, the need for a able alternative to the nation’s contin- governors be given command and bank loan. uing increased reliance on its reserve control of active duty troops respond- In a U.S. Army Recruiting Com- components” as an operational force ing to emergencies in their states. mand news release, Gen. Freakley for missions at home and abroad. Assistant Secretary of Defense for compared the pilot program to the GI According to the commission’s 400- Homeland Defense Paul McHale and Bill of Rights and said the Army page report, delivered to Congress Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of “wants to be a part of the solution by and Secretary of Defense Robert M. the National Guard Bureau, provided offering young adults the proper Gates in late January, lack of sufficient their perspectives on the report at a funds which will allow them to live training, personnel and equipment— Pentagon press conference in early their American dream.” because of deployments to Iraq and February. The commission, McHale

88 ARMY I April 2008 told reporters, got it right in recom- service—as young as age 40 for some- tion, the annuity would be reduced by mending that the reserve components one who enlisted at 20. A revised re- 5 percent for each year servicemem- should have the lead role in DoD oper- tirement system, which AUSA op- bers are under the statutory minimum ational capabilities within the United poses, would grant limited retirement retirement age. States. That statement, he noted, benefits after 10 years of service, but The commission also recommended echoes one in a DoD report published actual payment would not begin until sweeping changes to the number of in June 2005: “There should be a fo- age 62. Servicemembers who serve at duty statuses, pay and the promotion cused reliance upon the reserve com- least 20 years could begin drawing re- system, among them promotions based ponent.” tirement pay at age 60, and those who on skill rather than longevity and re- Some of the commission’s recom- serve 30 years at age 57. Although ear- ducing the number of duty statuses to mendations, however, would actually lier retirement payouts remain an op- two—on active duty or in reserve. ( hurt the reserve components, McHale said. He questioned the constitutional- ity of placing federal troops under the control of governors and said that having 50 different governors command active duty military forces “would guarantee an inability to achieve unity of command and unity of effort in a crisis.” By proposing that DoD shift capabilities, McHale said, the commission is in effect recommending “converting the National Guard into a domestic disaster response force.” Gen. Blum added that the active duty military could not fill the gaps in forces if the Guard were removed from its wartime mission. “We would unhinge the vol- unteer force, and we would break the total force,” he said. The Guard cur- rently makes up 40 percent of the U.S. military’s combat power—more than 355,000 troops serve in the Army Na- tional Guard. “While there are positive elements of the commission’s report, in most cases echoing and validating actions al- ready well under way within the De- partment of Defense,” McHale said, “the core elements of the report are fun- damentally flawed.” The commission, in its third and final report, went beyond its original mission of reviewing the structure and management of the reserve compo- aylor nents. After concluding that the only way the U.S. military can become an efficient operational force is to combine the training, promotion and management of active and reserve troops into one manpower system, the commission Army/SSgt. Paula K. T U.S. recommended revamping the person- Sun sets on Long Knife, rises on Highlanders. CSM Stephan Frennier, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, prepares to remove his Stetson nel policies of active duty members. to signify the end of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, at Now, active duty members are eligi- Fort Bliss, Texas. The Long Knife Brigade reflagged to the Highlander Brigade ble for retired pay immediately upon in March during a ceremony that marked the end of the 1st Cavalry Division’s completing a minimum of 20 years of time at Fort Bliss and the beginning of the 1st Armored Division there.

April 2008 I ARMY 89