68Th Trans. Co. Returns to the Road by Maj
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May 8, 2009 Kaiserslautern American Page 1 Proudly published by May 8, 2009 HAVE YOU READ YOUR KA TODAY? Volume 33, number 18 68th Trans. Co. returns to the road by Maj. Donna Johnson 3d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Public Affairs CAMP TAJI, Iraq – The 68th Transportation Company served as a logistics training and advisory team with the mission to train, advise and mentor the Iraqi Army’s General Transport Regiment from September 2008 to February 2009, but in March the transporters returned to doing what they do best – driving trucks. While in Iraq, the 68th Trans. Co. is under the operational control of the 419th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, but still assigned to the 28th Transportation Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command. “I liked partnering with the GTR. It was a good experience,” said Pfc. Brandy Kallio, a Fayetteville, N.C., native. “I enjoyed learning about a different culture, but I am excited Photos by the U.S. Army about returning to the road.” Sgt. Michael Chappell, 68th Transportation Company driver, straps down a Humvee on an M915/M872 tractor trailer while transporting mission- While their mission training the essential equipment throughout Iraq at Camp Taji, Iraq. GTR has ended, they positioned the transportation unit in the Iraqi Army, nance training program, enabling nical and tactical knowledge with the GTR for success in continuing to has a tremendous task of transport- the GTR to keep its fleet of more Iraqi soldiers and leaders. The GTR self sustain their logistics and trans- ing critical supplies and equipment than 350 vehicles on the road. successfully transported more than portation operations. to and from various depots, multiple Establishing a driver’s train- 1,500 pieces of equipment across The GTR, the only theater-level ports of embarkation and 12 loca- ing academy, the 68th Trans. Co. 12,000 miles throughout Iraq. tion commands Soldiers trained and licensed the As the GTR’s need for trans- around Iraq. GTR vehicle operators. As a result, porters has increased, they continue The Soldiers the GTR now operates a DTA with to display outstanding performance of the 68th Trans. no coalition forces’ assistance. as they support coalition forces Co. planned To date, the GTR DTA cadre have throughout Multi-National Division and executed trained and licensed more than 100 – Baghdad. a month-long Iraqi soldiers on the regiment’s fleet Since returning to truck mis- exercise for the of vehicles. sions, the 68th Trans. Co. executed GTR to become This is a significant accomplish- numerous missions supporting the trained and cer- ment for any unit – let alone one 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment tified to conduct manned entirely by Iraqi Army non- and other customers within Multi- convoys. commissioned officers. National Division – Baghdad. The unit also While mentoring the GTR through The 68th Trans. Co. is sched- Staff Sgt. Karenthia T. Bland, 68th Transportation Company, inspects the tie-downs of a Humvee on an M915/M872 tractor trailer during a taught an exten- 50 real-world missions, the 68th uled to re-deploy to Germany next transportation mission at Camp Taji, Iraq. sive mainte- Trans. Co. has shared essential tech- month. FEATURES NEWS SCHOOLS SPORTS Day of Remembrance in 86th AES cares for wound- LEMS participates in Alaska Hütschenhausen soccer Dachau, Page 7 ed warriors, Page 8 PACE Trek, Page 11 team wins big, Page 20 Page 2 Kaiserslautern American May 8, 2009 Discipline and vigilance keys to information protection by Senior Airman Amanda Dick “Compliance with Information Assurance pol- Unlicensed or unauthorized software poses a Ramstein Public Affairs icy and directives ensures appropriate measures threat to information that should be protected. are taken to guarantee the availability, integrity “Software exploits take advantage of bugs or In the cyberspace age, protecting information and confidentiality of Air Force information sys- vulnerabilities in software and use them to cause should be a priority for every member associated tems and the information they process,” said unintended behavior on computer systems,” with the military. Tech. Sgt. Cory Cross, Ramstein Information Joshua Neate, 39th Air Base Wing Information The Air Force’s annual information protection Assurance assistant non-commissioned officer in Assurance Office chief of IA at Incirlik Air Base, training defines information protection as “the charge of IA. “Using appropriate levels of pro- Turkey, wrote recently in an article. collective policies, processes and implementa- tection against threats and vulnerabilities helps Mr. Neate further explains the best way to pre- tion of risk management and mitigation actions prevent denial of service, corruption, compro- vent software exploits is to only install Air-Force- instituted to prevent the compromise, loss, unau- mise, fraud, waste and abuse.” approved software from or in transition to the Air thorized access/disclosure, destruction, distortion Sergeant Cross gives some tips to help protect Force Electronic-Approved Products List. or non-accessibility of information, regardless information against threats. This approved software helps prevent against of physical form or characteristics, over the life • Users should not share their Common Access threats infiltrating the networks users work on. cycle of the information.” Card personal identification numbers or pass- “The Air Force Communications Agency has Two issues users should be especially vigi- words conducted due-diligence testing for all approved lant of are information discipline and software • Users should protect passwords at the same software to ensure the software does not pose exploits. classification level as the information systems threats or vulnerabilities to the Air Force net- they grant access to work,” Sergeant Cross said. Information discipline • Users should always lock workstations that The assistant non-commissioned officer in “The discipline required to protect informa- will be unattended and use a secure screen charge went on to say why it is so important for tion has become more critical than ever due to saver users to only used approved software. our increasing reliance on cyberspace to achieve • Users should be aware of their surroundings “Unauthorized software has not been tested national military objectives,” wrote Tech. Sgt. and their individual work areas to prevent casual and could possibly create network vulnerabili- Scott Sheldon, 31st Fighter Wing Information viewing of information by unauthorized people. ties or provide backdoor access to unauthorized Assurance Office non-commissioned officer in individuals,” he said. charge of IA at Aviano Air Base, Italy, in a recent Software exploits Because of new and constant threats to cyber- article. A recent Ramstein Information Assurance tip space, it is every member’s responsibility to As the ability to access information increases, stated “official reports show that as much as 40 make sure they protect the information on their so does the potential for information to become percent of software in use today is not licensed government systems through discipline and lost or compromised. properly.” vigilance. Civic leader tour Maj. Gen. Marc Rogers (center), U.S. Air Forces in Europe vice commander, and Col. Don Bacon (far left), 435th Air Base Wing com- mander, along with other Team Ramstein members, pose with 23 civic leaders from the local area April 27 on the Ramstein flightline prior to departing on a trip to various instal- lations in the United States. Over the next four days the group toured the Pentagon, Scott Air Force Base, Tyndall AFB and Charleston AFB and also heard from the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and the Commander of Air Mobility Command, who talked about the impor- tance of Ramstein and Spangdahlem AFB to Air Force operations and how grateful senior leadership is for the friendship and support Air Force members receive from the nation- al, state and local leaders in Germany. Civic leader tours are designed to increase com- munity leaders’ awareness and understand- ing of the Air Force’s role in national security by inviting groups of civilian opinion leaders to witness the Air Force mission through Photo by Senior Airman Nathan Lipscomb visiting Air Force installations. including insert or supplements, does not constitute Deadlines: AdvantiPro endorsement by the DOD, the Department of the Air Force •News, feature, school articles and photos — noon Thursday Editor Stephani Hinderliter or the AdvantiPro GmbH of the products or the services for the following week’s edition advertised. 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