VOLUME LII, NUMBER 47 TM December 13, 2018 Telling the Fort Bragg Story WWW.PARAGLIDEONLINE.NET Troops facing financial uncertainty aided by AER Fort Bragg community linked with millions of dollars in Army aid BY CURTIS STRATTON Special Forces PARAGLIDE NCO awarded To retired Lt. Gen. Ray- mond Mason, the director Soldier’s Medal of Army Emergency Relief Photos Sgt. 1st Class Mark Albright/SFAB PAO BY JANICE BURTON (AER), financial stability Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson, U.S. Army FORSCOM acting commanding general, hands off the SFAC unit colors SWCS PAO is tantamount to battlefield to Brig. Gen. Mark H. Landes, SFAC commanding general, during the unit’s activation ceremony Nov. 29. preparedness. “Financial readiness is It’s 3:30 a.m. on a spring about combat readiness,” morning. You are on a mis- Mason said. “If a Soldier is sion to deliver a VIP to a distracted with something SFAC, 2nd SFAB activates designated locale. Up ahead, you see a vehicle in a ditch. in their lives, they’re not fo- SFAC PAO cused on their training or the right people in the right posi- role in the Army. Their operations Smoke is coming out of it, unit mission, and if we send tions to be ready and effective.” aren’t as well-known as the large his- and you see tiny flickers of them into combat, they’re The Security Force Assistance Gen. Mark A. Milley, Army chief torical conventional military battles. flames. a danger to their buddy to Command (SFAC) and the 2nd of staff, attended the ceremony and The Army is full of security force as- What do you do? Before their left and their right be- Security Force Assistance Brigade spoke about the SFABs unique mis- sistance history ranging from train- you decide, add in the fact cause they’re distracted.” (SFAB) held a combined activation sion. ing police in Bosnia to large scale that you are carrying pre- He added, more than 50 ceremony, Nov. 29. “Their primary function is to ad- operations in Vietnam and Iraq, all cious cargo — a family. Do percent of E-4s and below, The ceremony marked the begin- vise, assist, enable and accompany of which provided vital contributions you stop and help or do you 32 percent of noncommis- ning of the two new units charged indigenous conventional forces in to achieving our nation’s goals. continue on your way? sioned officers and 22 per- with security force assistance. SFABs combat operations and to secure The U.S. Army has been advising For Sgt. 1st Class Erik cent of O-1 to O-3 officers are specialized Army units whose themselves against their threats,” partnered forces for decades. The Kingsley, a Special Forces have used predatory lending core mission is to conduct training, Milley said. SFAC heritage can be traced back noncommissioned officer agencies at least once. advising, assisting, enabling and ac- SFABs are the Army’s dedicated to Vietnam, the Military Assistance who was awarded the Sol- During his recent visit to companying operations with allied conventional organization for con- Command-Vietnam (MAC-V) was dier’s Medal by Maj. Gen. Fort Bragg, he cited a re- and partner nations. ducting security force assistance established in 1962 with the purpose Kurt Sonntag on Thursday, cent AER survey: an average The SFAC is the division-level around the world. Each SFAB has to control advisory and assistance ef- there was only one answer. of 35 percent of all service command element of the five active- a regional focus and its unique ca- fort in Vietnam. The MAC-V com- As he pulled off the road, he members had taken payday duty SFABs and the 2nd SFAB is pabilities enable them to perform mand relationship and mission with slammed breaks, he jolted loans with 300 to 500 per- the second security force assistance wherever they’re needed with mini- the Military Assistance Advisory his Family — his wife, his cent annual percentage rates brigade to be activated. mal cultural and regional orientation. Group is very similar to the relation- children and his brother- (APR), an issue which he “Soldiers that join the SFABs Security force assistance has a long ship the SFAC has with the SFABs in-law — awake. Before said AER could help. are experienced, well-trained and history and has always played a vital today, said Landes. he jumped out of the car, With a 76-year history of mature leaders who have deployed he told his wife to call 911. providing $1.9 billion in as- many times,” said Brig. Gen. Mark With his brother-in-law, sistance to over 4 million H. Landes, SFAC commanding a member of the U.S. Air Soldiers, AER has given general. “These Soldiers are volun- Force on his heels, he ran $4 million to Fort Bragg, teering to deploy again somewhere down the embankment to $300,000 of that in grants. in the world where they can affect the ditch where the car had Mason listed key items in change.” come to rest. The ground which Soldiers often require Landes most recently served as the around and under the car assistance, the first being deputy commanding general for sup- was on fire as the flames car repair, followed by rent port for Fort Bliss, Texas and the 1st licked at the vehicle. deposit, utilities, furniture, Armored Division, and Brig. Gen. “I knew we had to get away appliances, house repairs, di- Donn Hill, 2nd SFAB commander, from the car,” said Kings- saster relief and passport and most recently served as the G-3, -5 ley, who is assigned to the immigration fees. Most cat- and -7 at the XVIII Airborne Corps. U.S. Army John F. Ken- egories of eligible situations The 2nd SFAB is currently training nedy Special Warfare Cen- for aid are in the process of in preparation to deploy this spring ter and School and serves being expanded, with many to Afghanistan in support of Opera- as an operations sergeant Soldiers receiving 50 percent tion Enduring Freedom. for Company A, 4th Bat- loans/50 percent grants. “The way we train, prepare and talion, 1st Special Warfare operate has to be deliberate be- Training Group (Airborne). cause others are relying on us,” Brig Gen. Mark H. Landes, SFAC commanding general, hands off the 2nd Continue reading online Landes said. “I have the utmost SFAB unit colors to Brig. Gen. Donn Hill, 2nd SFAB commander, during at www.paraglide.net confidence that 2nd SFAB has their activation ceremony Nov. 29. See Hero Page A3 NY firefighters bring gracious greetings to service members BY TWANA ATKINSON Firefighters Operation Wounded service members and their Families. WAMC PAO Warrior. The appreciation tour consists of This organization has been trav- visits to wounded service members The New York Nassau County eling to bring joy to wounded Sol- at Walter Reed National Mili- Firefighters drove hundreds of miles diers at multiple military posts tary Medical Center in Washing- to show their appreciation for the in- and bases for more than 15 years. ton D.C., Fort Bragg and Camp jured Soldiers of Fort Bragg’s Wom- “This project initially began be- Lejeune, North Carolina. ack Army Medical Center Dec. 6. cause of the overwhelming sup- “We’re just a small representation About a dozen firefighters and port that we had from the Iraqi of a lot of people back home that emergency management specialists conflict,” Kushner said. “We re- make this happen,” said Patricia formed an organization called Op- ceived so many care packages that Lugar, the NCWOPP plans coor- eration Wounded Warrior to help we decided to go around to the dinator. give back to injured active-duty bases these Soldiers were deploying Once the organization complet- Soldiers. from and deliver them personally.” ed their appreciation tour, they “We started with the basic prem- The all-volunteer organization travel hours to their hometown in Photo by Twana Atkinson/WAMC PAO ise to bring some holiday cheer to conducts fundraisers throughout New York and immediately start New York Nassau County firefighter visits Fort Bragg those that were involved in military the year to deliver gifts of appre- planning for the next year’s tour. WTB and gives gifts during a wounded warrior ap- conflicts,” said Michael Kushner, ciation such as iPads, clothing and The New York firefighters will re- preciation event Dec. 6. vice chairman of the Nassau County other personal electronic devices to turn to Fort Bragg December 2019. WHERE TO GO GLIDE NEXT YEAR INSIDE THE ‘ ’ Wreaths Across America FORT BRAGG VOICES....... 2A Jedi training camp at Throckmorton IN BRIEF........................ 3A FOCUS - B Best of the best: Redleg paratroopers rival in USO Single-Soldier holiday lunch FROM THE ARCHIVES ....... 2B field artillery competition. LOCAL HAPPENINGS......... 2C LIFE - C WORSHIP....................... 3C Happy Hanukkah: Fort Bragg Jewish commu- GET FIT ........................ 2D nity celebrates 2018 festival of lights. Read the RUNNERS’CORNER ......... 2D SPORTS - D STRATTON COMMENTARY .. 2D PARAGLIDE online Army beats Navy: Black Knights triumphs CLASSIFIEDS................... 4D over Midshipmen in hottest game of the year. www.paraglideonline.net PA R A Ol TDF. % Fort Bragg I Voices How do you keep comedy in your life? ‘‘The way I keep during the holidays comedy in my life is being a dad. Just going home and Defending freedom is a year round mission spending time with my three little ones. This holiday season we take time to recognize the sacrifices of our dedicated Soldiers, civifians, and Just leaving the their Tamilies, who carry the 6urden of safeguarding our freedoms. Whether serving in forward depCoyed uniform behind and locations across the world or protecting our Tamilies at home, those who have answered the call tirelessly getting silly.