AUGUST 10, 2017 1 THE AUGUST 10, 2017 VOL. 74, NO. 31 ® UTY ONOR OUNTRY OINTER IEW D , H , C PSERVING THE U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY AND THE COMMUNITY V OF WEST POINT ® Getting the hang of it A Class of 2021 cadet from F Company practices rappelling during Cadet Basic Training II on July 31 at Camp Buckner. The new cadets will fi nish CBT II Monday with March Back. PHOTO BY MICHELLE EBERHART/PV 2 AUGUST 10, 2017 NEWS & FEATURES POINTER VIEW GC Proclaims Antiterrorism Month Initial message to the Force Army Family, What an honor it is to again be a part of the United States Army, the world’s most powerful and effective land fighting force, made up of the finest men and women our great nation has to offer. As a veteran and a Soldier for Life, I’m extremely humbled to assume the duties of Under Secretary of the Army. Our Army continues to be the most trained and ready-to-fight force worldwide. The Army has made great progress in improving its readiness across the total force. However, being ready to fight today’s adversaries is not enough. Now, the Army must also focus efforts on modernizing today to be ready to fight tomorrow, against increasingly capable adversaries and near peer competitors. This will involve hard choices and investment to rapidly develop capabilities that our Soldiers will need to win decisively across all domains on complex future battlefields. We must not forget that our most important assets continue to be the Soldiers, Department of Army civilians, and families that make up the Total Army. Over the last sixteen years, much has been asked of you, and you have delivered. You continue to fight the longest war in our nation’s history while 33rd Under Secretary of the Army Ryan D. meeting additional challenges worldwide, and this McCarthy COURTESY PHOTO demand is not going away. Thank you for your dedication to our nation. I look I will work tirelessly to honor your service forward to serving alongside you. and sacrifice, to maintain the high quality of our volunteer force, and provide you the quality of Ryan D. McCarthy life you deserve. 33rd Under Secretary of the Army Askew selected First Captain By U.S. Military Academy Media Relations selection is a direct result of her hard work, dedication and commitment to the Corps over the last three years,” Brig. Gen. Steven W. Gilland, Cadet Simone Askew of Fairfax, Virginia, has been selected First commandant of cadets, said. “I know Simone and the rest of our incredibly Captain of the U.S. Military Academy’s Corps of Cadets for the 2017- talented leaders within the Class of 2018 will provide exceptional 18 academic year, achieving the highest position in the cadet chain of leadership to the Corps of Cadets in the upcoming academic year.” command. She will assume her duties on Sunday. Outside of the curriculum, Askew is a member of the Army West Askew, an International History major, currently leads 1,502 cadets Point Crew team and developing leaders as the Cadet-in-Charge of the as the Regimental Commander of Cadet Basic Training II. Elevation Initiative. As First Captain she is responsible for the overall performance of the She is a graduate of Air Assault School, an EXCEL Scholar, a member approximately 4,400-member Corps of Cadets. Her duties also include of the Phi Alpha Theta Honorary National History Society, a recipient implementing a class agenda and acting as a liaison between the Corps of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Military Leadership, and and the administration. holds the highest female Recondo score during Combat Field Training Askew is the first African-American woman to hold this esteemed II for the class of 2018. position. See the entire list of Class of 2018 leadership positions at http:// Class of 2018 Cadet Simone Askew “Simone truly exemplifies our values of Duty, Honor, Country. Her go.usa.gov/xRPNV. PHOTO BY 2ND LT. AUSTIN LACHANCE 40 Mulberry Street, Middletown, NY 10940 POINTER VIEW ® To subscribe to the Pointer View or The Army civilian enterprise newspaper, the Pointer View, is an authorized publication for members The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not if you have delivery problems, call 845-346-3213. of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Pointer View are not necessarily the official views of, or constitute endorsement of the products or services advertised by the U.S. Army or the Times Herald- Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, Jr. Michelle Eberhart endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of the Army or the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Record. 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The Times Herald-Record is If a violation or rejection of this equal opportunity policy by an advertiser is confirmed, the publisher PV Managing Editor, 938-2015 responsible for all commercial advertising. will refuse to print advertising from that source until the violation has been corrected. [email protected] [email protected] POINTER VIEW IN FOCUS: MERRILL’S MARAUDERS AUGUST 10, 2017 3 Two Merrill’s Marauders honor their commanders at West Point Cemetery Story and photos by Kathy Eastwood Staff Writer Former Staff Sgt. Robert Passanisi, 93, and retired Master Sgt. Gilbert Howland, 94, two of the 18 survivors of about 3,000 original Merrill’s Marauders, visited the West Point Cemetery Aug. 4 to place a wreath on two of their commanders’ gravesite, Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill and Lt. Gen. Joseph ‘Vinegar Joe’ Stilwell. A wreath laying ceremony followed a brief welcome reception at the West Point Old Cadet Chapel with U.S. Military Academy Historian Sherman Fleek giving a quick history of the chapel. Roughly 50 family members or members of the Merrill’s Marauders Proud Descendants organization headed by Bob Menta, whose father Carmine was part of the Merrill’s Marauders. “There were six of the China, Burma, India Theater veterans in Philadelphia for their reunion last year and everyone treated them like heroes,” Menta said. “They presented them with a flag that flew over Independence Hall and opened up the Liberty Bell to allow them to touch and pose with it. This is something that is very rare.” Passanisi and Howland said they volunteered for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1943 call for volunteers for a secret, dangerous and hazardous mission that none were expected to survive. They were known as the ‘expendables’ and originally codenamed Galahad, but were Two members of Merrill's Marauders, retired Master Sgt. Gilbert Howland, 94, and former Staff Sgt. Robert Passanisi, officially known as the 5307th Composite Unit 93, talk with U.S. Military Academy Chaplain, Col. Matthew Pawlikowski, outside of the Old Cadet Chapel Aug. 4 before (Provisional). Roosevelt needed an American long-range the start of the wreath laying ceremony for Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill and Lt. Gen. Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell following penetration unit that would be assigned to a brief welcome reception. Passanisi and Howland are two of the 18 survivors of Merrill's Marauders who volunteered the British under Lord Louis Mountbatten’s for a secret mission to capture the North Burma Myitkyina airstrip to enable supplies to be flown into the China-Burma- Southeast Asia Command and trained under India Theater. Brig. Gen. Orde Wingate’s Chindits Operation Passanisi, from Brooklyn, New York, is the Unit until transferred to the China-Burma-India 12th child of Italian immigrant parents and said Theater under Stilwell. that he enlisted at the age of 17 by lying about Their mission: To capture the North Burma’s his age, and later volunteered for Roosevelt’s Myitkyina airstrip to allow supplies to be flown secret mission. in and allowing Ledo and Burma roads to “While securing the airfield at Myitkyina, connect to forge a crucial land route into China, I developed malaria and three weeks later, an important ally at the time. received shrapnel wound in my right side. Six “Man and mule moved a thousand miles over months later, I was wounded again in the right mountains, always fought while outnumbered temple by shrapnel,” he said. by the Japanese and fighting deadly dysentery, Howland, from Pennsylvania, is a World dense jungle and malaria,” Col. Matthew War II, Korea and a two-tour Vietnam veteran. Pawlikowski, U.S. Military Academy chaplain, His name is displayed at the National Infantry said. “These heroes left a legacy for our Museum in Columbus, Georgia, for being a Soldiers.” “triple Combat Infantryman Badge recipient.” When the remaining unit was disbanded in “Our mission was Burma,” Howland said. 1944, less than 100 remained. “We spent five months there. Gen. Stilwell Merrill’s Marauders was the first of the trained us well and he cared about his men. ‘special forces’ units, the precursor to the “I first met Gen.