Travis Tailwind: Friday, June 9, 2023

349th FSS wins Wartime Readiness Legacy Award again PAGE 3

TRAVIS TAILWIND

THE POWER

OF TEAMWORK

Senior Airman Jessi Roth/U.S. Air Force

U.S. Air Force special tactics airmen with the 320th Special Tactics Squadron pull an MC-130J Commando II 150 meters across the flightline during Monster Mash, an operational readiness and resilience training, at Kadena Air Base, Japan, May 5.

Military Star cardholders can enjoy one-day-only savings at Travis June 14

Army & Air Force Exchange Service Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — The Travis BX and Military Star are celebrating the U.S. Army’s 248th birthday with one-day savings for cardholders.

On June 14, soldiers, airmen, guardians, retirees, military families and other authorized shoppers can enjoy exclusive savings with Military Star, including:

n 15% off at participating Exchange restaurants instead of the everyday 10% discount

n 10 cents off every gallon of gas at Army & Air Force Exchange Service fuel locations and select Navy Exchange and Marine Corps Exchange locations instead of the everyday 5-cent discount

n $10 off a purchase of $25 or more at Exchange mall vendors (Coupon required. Visit the main store customer service desk to receive the coupon.)

“The Exchange is honored to play a role in the lives of servicemembers, retirees, Veterans and their families,” said Travis BX General Manager Cathie Byrns. “We are thrilled to celebrate the Army’s 248th birthday by offering these valuable savings to the Travis community.”

Shoppers can find additional Army birthday savings in stores and online. Visit ShopMyExchange.com/savingscenter/weekly-ads to view the latest deals and weekly sales flyers.

For more information on Military Star, shoppers can see a store associate or visit aafes.media/MilStarPA.

349th AMW Command Chief Ramirez hosts first enlisted call

TRAVIS AIR FORCE

BASE — “So, it’s not a matter of ‘if’ we are going to be called upon; it is a matter of ‘when’ we are going to be called upon,” said U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Edward “Eddie” Ramirez, command chief of the 349th Air Mobility Wing, who hosted two enlisted calls at the base theater, June 3 to 4.

This event was the first of many enlisted calls Ramirez plans to host, to reinforce the wing’s commitment to the welfare and professional development of its enlisted members and to reaffirm its commitment to readiness.

Ramirez, who became the wing command chief in July 2022, began by highlighting the importance of Air Force retention and emphasizing the essential role played by enlisted members in maintaining operational readiness. He also expressed an understanding of the current challenges faced by airmen in their military careers and reassured his fellow enlisted airmen that their concerns would be addressed and their voices would be heard.

“With everything going on around the world – not only over the Pacific – we need to be ready,” said Ramirez. “When I

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talk about readiness, I am not only talking about the tasks we need to complete related to our specific job duties. We need to be ready mentally, physically and spiritually. We have proven repeatedly in the past how important and much-needed the 349th (AMW) is.”

The enlisted call included Fredrick Moore, the Wing Director of Psychological Health, and Capt. Megan Stineman, the 349th Operations Support

Squadron.

Moore emphasized the importance of maintaining mental fitness and recognizing the demanding nature of military service.

“I am a resource for you all at any time,” said Moore. “I have this mental health toolbox full of tools that can help you to address stressors in your life, and if you show up, we can walk through your challenges.”

Stineman’s speech focused on the ever-evolving threats to

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U.S. national security. Emphasizing the importance of vigilance and readiness, she highlighted the need for continuous training and awareness to stay ahead of potential adversaries.

Ramirez expressed his gratitude to the airmen for their commitment and dedication to the Air Force mission. He reiterated his commitment to fostering an environment that values the input and concerns of all enlisted members.

10 Puzzle

12-13 Worship services

14 Classifieds

U.S. Air Force special tactics airmen with the 320th Special Tactics Squadron

Senior Airman Brady Penn/U.S. Air Force Airmen of the 349th Air Mobility Wing attend an enlisted call at Travis Air Force Base, June 5, 2023.

pull an MC-130J Commando II 150 meters across the flightline during Monster Mash, an operational readiness and resilience training, at Kadena Air Base, Japan, May 5. Staff Sgt. Jessi Roth/U.S. Air Force

349th FSS wins Wartime Readiness Legacy Award again

Rossi D. Pedroza

349TH AIR MOBILITY WING

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — Readiness pays off for the 349th Force Support Squadron at Travis AFB. A second-time recipient of the 2022 Air Force Reserve Command Force Support Wartime Readiness Legacy Award, the squadron won in the inaugural year of 2021.

The award recognizes AFRC’s best FSS performance in leadership, performance, and innovation in wartime readiness preparation. The 349th FSS led the command in readiness training, readiness activities, and utilizing innovative tactics, techniques, and procedures to advance the organization’s readiness strategy.

“What we have been doing is meeting several readiness factors,” said Lt. Col. Faith Eudy, 349th FSS commander. “We must accelerate change or lose. What we have been focusing on is the action order sent down from the CAFR.”

Lt. Gen. John Healy, Chief of the Air Force Reserve, AFRC Commander, published CAFR/ MAJCOM Commander TASK Order #2022-1. Healy stated his priorities within the order for all AFRC airmen to be “Ready Now” and navigate toward “Transforming for the Future.”

Eudy explained the focus is on airmen and leadership. She said the practice of looking at an action order and knowing how to prepare the warfighter for any challenge is critical to the upgrade training piece.

“The challenge over the last year is we went from paperbased records to a new system for training,” said Eudy. She added the squadron’s focus is on finding and addressing effective means to cut through any bureaucracy standing in the way of readiness.

The team innovators continuously look at processes that prove less time-consuming while maintaining a state of readiness that correlates with the CAFR’s

task order.

“Readiness in the FSS organization today is being multi-capable,” said Tech. Sgt. Diontae Edwards, 349th FSS sustainment and fitness flight chief. “Our section has many career fields, but we all share the same training capabilities with shelters, bed downs, and moving people out the door. FSS is one of our biggest charges in getting our people prepared to deploy and receiving them when they get back.”

The squadron also took on an active role in identifying training gaps. A significant focus was on home station readiness requirements. A continuous goal for the team is efficiently moving a member from yellow to green status quickly and preparing the airmen for deployment. Hence, they are ready to execute the mission during an exercise.

“My responsibility is to have our members ready to deploy in 72 hours,” said Master Sgt.

Caleb Seitz, 349th FSS military personnel flight chief. “Our biggest challenge is if it is a last-minute task and the member cannot complete training or reschedule, the airman will have to wait until the next unit training assembly. We must make sure they receive training and are ready.”

Eudy commented one of the highest priorities is individual medical readiness. “This is where the team has really come together and pushed to get our medical readiness at 93% currently.”

Another crucial area of readiness is cyber security and web technology. The FSS team maintains member readiness in the squadrons for compliance with computer operations and systems.

“As far as the wing’s reservists go, we make sure that everyone’s cyber security is up to date,” said Tech Sgt. Derek Villa, 349th FSS client systems technician. “We

The deployed reservists were placed in positions as supervisors in charge of different sections that were not in step with what they were accustomed to at the home station.

“This allocation of diverse supervision allowed the team to replan and replant members,” said Watkins. “This action allowed leadership to evaluate their skills in a different and productive way.”

Eudy reflected on how the 349th FSS will meet all the requirements and complete tasking with superior performance.

“I don’t know if the squadron has ever been more ready, at least since I’ve been here,” said Eudy.

counsel everyone so they understand what they can and cannot do when it comes to the network.”

Villa said the most significant challenge regarding computers and account management is constantly improving customer education with computer updates and programs.

The 349th FSS remains steadfast in its mission statement to “provide combat-ready airmen through human capital support, sustainment and cyber defense.”

A positive force in the squadron’s mission statement development in 2021 was Tech. Sgt. Siera Watkins, 349th FSS non-commissioned officer in charge of readiness. She said there had been a definitive overall improvement in readiness capabilities from last year.

“We had a good amount of deployers that were ready to deploy,” said Watkins. “When they arrived at their location, they performed outstandingly.”

“We’re not only just striving to do what the Air Force Reserve wants us to do, but we go further into it, and comply with the priorities Gen. Mike Minahan, Air Mobility Command commander, and our MAJCOM sends out,” said Eudy. “Col. Lee Merkle, our 349th AMW commander, communicates his four core priorities to the wing, so we remain focused on the goals, as well as to continue support to Col. Derek Salmi, 60th AMC commander, along with our total force mission partners here at Travis.”

The 349th FSS commander said her NCOs are doing an outstanding job of caring for their airmen and trying to help them understand where they fit in. Eudy said she recently spoke with two new airmen who are recent arrivals at the squadron. She said she was impressed and confident in their abilities.

“Once again, we serve the wings,” said Eudy. “We focus on the commander’s mission, vision, and priorities for readiness and get the job done.”

The Force Support Wartime Readiness Legacy Award is in memory of Mr. David Woodrow Holly, Jr., a former AFRC/A1R specialist.

Dennis Santarinala/U.S. Air Force

Group photo: 349th FSS staff pictured from left to right: Tech Sgt. Siera Watkins, Tech. Sgt. Derek Villa, Master Sgt. Caleb Seitz, Senior Master Sgt. Alex Forest, Chief Master Sgt. Lena Tamplin, Tech. Sgt. Diontae Edwards, Lt. Col. Faith Eudy and Tech. Sgt. Nikolai Fuller.

Healy testifies before defense subcommittee

Lt. Col. Elizabeth Magnusson OFFICE OF THE AIR FORCE RESERVE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senior Department of Defense leaders from the Reserve and Guard testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense regarding the Reserve Component fiscal 2024 budget request at the Dirksen Senate Office Building June 1.

The panel of senior leaders included Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau; Lt. Gen. John P. Healy, chief of the Air Force Reserve; Lt. Gen. Jody J. Daniels, chief of the Army Reserve; Vice Admiral John B. Mustin, chief of the Navy Reserve; and Lt. Gen. David G. Bellon, commander of the Marine Corps Reserve. Each senior leader highlighted their near-term and longer-range budget and operational plans during their opening statements.

“To optimize our performance as part of the Total Force, the Air Force Reserve must transform for the future,” Healy said. “That transformation requires the Air Force Reserve be proportionally and concurrently modernized with the Regular Component. Maintaining equipment parity with the Regular Component ensures our ability to match pacing threats.”

In addition to transforming traditional weapons systems, Healy emphasized the need to take care of what he called “our most important weapon system, our airmen.”

“We are focused on ensuring that Reserve citizen airmen receive the support they need,” he said. “This includes providing mental health resources, investments in resilience initiatives, offering social support through Yellow Ribbon reintegration programs, implementing recommendations from the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault and policy changes to

remove barriers to service.”

Throughout the hearing, Healy emphasized the capability and capacity the Air Force Reserve provides to the DoD and its partners and allies.

“This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Air Force Reserve,” the general said. “During that time, we have provided the nation with an operational capability, a strategic depth and surge capacity across every core mission set of the United States Air Force. As a largely part-time force, we provide a ‘Ready Now’ accessible force that is both mission-effective and cost-efficient.”

During the hour-long hearing, lawmakers asked questions on various topics, from healthcare and childcare for reservists and guardsmen, the Space Guard, the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account, recruiting and retention, cyber security, modernization and proportional equipment fielding.

Healy said that 77% of the Air Force Reserve’s aircraft fleet is legacy. “And in the words of the secretary of the Air Force, ‘legacy’ does not concern the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) in a fight,” he said. “KC-135s, C130Hs, pre-block F-16s and A-10 divestment are all issues and concerns for the Air Force Reserve in terms of proportionality. The National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force in 2014 called for and recommended proportional and concurrent fielding in weapons systems with the Guard and Reserve in association with the Active Component, and we’re constantly advocating adherence to that recommendation.”

The general concluded his testimony by saying, “We’re looking to contribute. And we want to be that surge capacity that we have provided for the last 75 years.”

Tech Sgt. Brent A. Skeen/U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David G. Bellon, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve commander, Lt. Gen. Jody J. Daniels, Chief of Army Reserve, Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Vice Adm. John B. Mustin, Chief of the Navy Reserve, and Lt. Gen. John P. Healy, Chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of the Air Force Reserve Command testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense in regards to the fiscal year 2024 budget, Washington D.C., June 1.

Citizen airmen play pivotal role in Women’s Air and Space Symposium

Air Force Public Affairs

WASHINGTON D.C. — Intending to empower airmen and Guardians to use their voices to enact meaningful change, citizen airmen led the all-volunteer team responsible for planning and executing the third annual Department of the Air Force Women’s Air and Space Symposium in March.

With its theme this year of “In the Room Where Decisions Are Made,” the symposium brought together service members, civilians and family members from across the Department of Defense to a forum that increased awareness, provided inspiration and tools to accelerate change, and highlighted wins and opportunities for airmen, guardians and civilians to remove barriers across the DoD.

Chief Master Sgt. Jaimee Freeman, a Reservist assigned to the Secretary of the Air Force Diversity and Inclusion Office, Lt. Col. Jadee Purdy from the Reserve’s 94th Civil Engineer Squadron at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, and Ivan Rivera, a graphic designer from Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command’s public affairs office, served on the event’s executive planning team. They not only curated impactful content with representation from more than 85 keynote speakers and panelists from across the DoD, industry and academia, but they brought together the team in collaboration with the 2nd Audiovisual Squadron from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, for full production of the three-day symposium.

“We are excited to have reached so many viewers, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive,” Freeman said. “We appreciated hearing from so many airmen and guardians, and were inspired by potential airmen and

Guardians who were motivated by the event to want to join military service.”

Additionally, the team created a new WASPS logo to promote branding and marketing.

“It was an honor supporting WASPS,” said Rivera, the lead graphic designer for the symposium. “It brings me great joy knowing the impacts women are having in the Air and Space realms all over the force.”

Powered by 71 volunteers from across the DoD, WASPS exceeded expectations by logging more than 18,000 viewers each day. The event sparked an ongoing dialogue that continued months after the event.

“By virtue of your hard work, airmen and guardians from around the world came together over the three days and focused on removing barriers that still exist for women and minorities who serve, while also increasing awareness and building leaders armed for action,” said Marianne Malizia, the Department of the Air Force’s director of Diversity and Inclusion. “Thank you for a job well done.”

“The dedication of our Reserve citizen airmen created an enduring platform to drive meaningful change across our enterprise with the WASPS’s framework and content,” Freeman said.

The symposium was recorded to ensure future access and opportunities to share. Each day was recorded separately and can be viewed at the links below. If you would like to be involved in supporting the 2024 event, stay tuned for a call for volunteers.

Military health confronts the stigma surrounding mental health care

Robert Hammer MHS COMMUNICATIONS

Stigma can be a barrier to a service member seeking support for their mental health. Recognizing mental health as part of overall health and changing attitudes are keys to addressing it.

“A significant challenge to seeking help for mental health is stigma,” said Dr. Nancy Skopp, research and clinical psychologist with the Defense Health Agency’s Psychological Health Center of Excellence.

Cultural biases, a lack of trust with the system, and even feeling shame and embarrassment are some of the reasons many do not seek out mental health care services, according to Skopp.

Skopp acknowledged that within the military, some service members view seeking help as a sign of “weakness, social inferiority, and/or a lack of resourcefulness. These feelings may be attributable to the culture within individual military units.”

“For example, warrior ethos emphasizes discipline, mental

toughness, and self-sufficiency, and foremost attention to successful mission execution,” she added.

Skopp emphasized the importance of normalizing conversations around mental health, which makes it easier to take the first step to reach out and seek help.

How Stigma is Evolving

The office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense recently issued a documentview or download the PDF recommending the Department of Defense begin a review of policies to eliminate stigmatizing language related to mental health.

“I think the military, in regard to mental health, has done a great job to address some of the concerns of stigma,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nick Guzman, mental health department head, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.

“Military service members are subjected to all sorts of stressors unique to the traditional U.S. population such as having to relocate

every two to three years, possibly overseas, adjust to a new assignment and uproot family that can bring upon career and financial challenges. These factors give rise to stress and anxiety in effort to quickly adapt to new sense of normalcy,” said Guzman.

Guzman explained many younger service members are more open to seeking help and talking about mental health.

Mental health is now a large part of military entry programs and talked about more openly.

He mentioned the services now introduce mental health education and resilience training in their introductory programs.

The U.S. Navy, for example, has employed a human performance curriculum during bootcamp training designed to strengthen a sailor’s mental, physical, and

spiritual capacity to strive towards optimal performance.

Older generations of service members are less likely to talk about or seek help for mental health conditions, he added.

“If they believe it could potentially have a negative impact on their career, or affect their security clearance, or put them out of commission for a bit, they are

Tech. Sgt. Jessica Lewellen/U.S. Air National Guard

Air Force Maj. Huong Timp, 133rd Medical Group Physician Assistant, sits down with an airman to guide them through what the Medical Group can

Stigma

From Page 6

more hesitant,” said Guzman.

According to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, out of more than 2.3 million security clearance reviews between 2012-2018, only 12 individuals (0.005% of all cases) had their clearance denied or revoked due to psychological health concerns.

Guzman also noted that service members with specialty duties or assignments may be more hesitant to seek help.

“They may see it as a negative reflection on themselves, like a deficiency or character default or defect, or a fear that others may judge them for seeking help,” Guzman said. “A bit of that does exist, but I do see stigma on the decline.”

He noted the recent Covid-19 pandemic helped lessen stigma as there was an increase in service members and their families seeking mental health assistance, taking into consideration the degree of isolation and unpredictability created by the pandemic.

“Mental health in general is not viewed as negatively as it once was, in part due to the perceived benefits from those that sought help proactively and who remain mission ready,” said Guzman.

Skopp said changing this stigma begins at the top with leadership.

“It will take time and sustained effort at all military levels,” said Skopp. “Leaders are uniquely positioned to influence desired cultural changes. It is critical for military leaders to fight aspects of military culture that promote negative beliefs about seeking care and continue efforts to reduce stigma.”

Changing the Language Used to Discuss Mental Health

Changing language used when working with a service member seeking help, or in promotional

materials, is one effort the Military Health System is using to reduce stigma.

“Avoiding negative language is important,” said Skopp. “Language can open discussion of mental health issues and stigma. Mental health providers can use language in useful ways to start talking about stigma with their patients.”

The Psychological Health Center of Excellence has suggestions for how alternative language can be used when discussing mental health.

Alternatives to stigmatizing language can include:

n Avoiding language that defines someone by their condition or assumes that condition can’t be managed or overcome

n Avoiding language that makes judgments or assumes intention

n Describing without downplaying or becoming overly graphic

n Using updated, accurate terminology

Testimonials are another tool to help normalize talking about mental health care, especially from senior leaders, suggested Guzman.

“I think putting stories out there from leaders who are open about seeking help is beneficial,” said Guzman. “If someone was willing to put themselves out there to share their story—this is good.”

Guzman believes the military needs to rethink what mental health is, and “think about it in a different capacity.”

“Mental health is important to stay healthy, because it includes various levels of functioning, or various aspects of our normal daily functioning,” said Guzman. “It’s linked to our physical health, and our social, interpersonal health, our emotional well-being, as well as our ability to perform complicated tasks and under stress.”

Military Discounts Gratefully Given THOSE WHO SERVE

Defend ‘every inch’ of NATO territory? New strategy is a work in progress.

The Washington Post

VIITNA, Estonia — They left France in the early hours, flying north and east over sleeping cities until they were less than 100 miles from the Russian border. Then, they jumped.

The French paratroopers who floated into the fields of Estonia in May were part of a stepped-up rehearsal of what it would take to reinforce a battle group if the country - and NATO - were attacked.

Before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last year, the multinational troops stationed in the Baltics and Poland were intended as a “tripwire” - a presence just large enough to signal that any aggression would be met with a collective response, and just capable enough to hope to slow down enemy forces until reinforcements arrived.

Now, as part of what NATO bills as its “biggest overhaul” since the Cold War, the alliance claims that it intends to defend “every inch” of its territory from Day One. That is meant as a message to Moscow, as well as reassurance for countries that feared being left to languish under Russian occupation. “How it works is to give a very clear signal to Russia that we are so ready, don’t even think about us,” Estonian

Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in an interview with The Washington Post.

That’s the idea, at least. Roughly a year in, an energized and expanded NATO has more soldiers in allied countries closest to Russia. It is training standby troops to deploy to border states more rapidly. And it is starting to preposition the kind of heavy weapons and equipment that can’t fit in a paratrooper’s pack.

Yet NATO hasn’t commit ted to the level of permanent onthe-ground troops that some na tions wanted. And interviews with more than a dozen senior officials, as well as former offi cials and analysts, suggest that the overhaul still has a ways to go before the alliance could re pel Russia without losing an inch of territory.

“Being faster than the Rus sians to get to a critical place is the only metric that matters for effective deterrence, and we still can’t do that,” said retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a for mer commander of U.S. Army Europe.

“Military mobility is still a problem,” he said. “It is better than it was five years ago, but that’s not the metric that matters.”

NATO Page 9

See

Juho Kuva/The Washington Post U.S. troops get ready for the next part of a training exercise in Kadrina, Estonia, on May 19.

NATO

From Page 8

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO has bolstered its eastern flank in part by establishing battle groups in four additional countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. There are now about 10,000 troops spread across eight battle groups, compared with 5,000 in four groups in 2021, according NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu.

Lungescu said allies have also sent dozens more ships and hundreds more planes to the eastern part of the alliance - especially important for the Baltic nations, which don’t have their own fighter jets.

Allies have additionally deployed an “unprecedented” number of groundbased air defenses, such as Patriot missiles, and air-defense-capable ships at sea, she added.

Other aspects of the strengthened posture are still under debate.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said ahead of last year’s NATO summit that the alliance would “enhance” battle groups in the eastern part of the alliance from battalion to brigade level - which generally means, Lungescu said, going from about 1,000 troops to 3,000 or more. The summit declaration, however, hedged that the scale-up would take place “where and when required,”

leaving allies to argue over what “required” means in practice.

While past concerns about provoking Moscow with too large a presence have receded, some allies say that a bigger presence isn’t worth the expense and could limit NATO’s flexibility.

Germany, for instance, which leads the battle group in Lithuania, has opposed calls for a permanent brigade there, saying it makes more sense to keep standby forces on German bases. The German military sent another 20 soldiers to Lithuania as a “forward command element” of an additional brigade. Nearly 6,000 more could be there “if necessary,” a spokesperson said, “within the shortest possible time.”

Lithuanian officials counter that because of the country’s geography, Russia could cut it off quickly, with little time for reinforcements to arrive.

The plan for rapid reinforcements is itself a work in progress.

Stoltenberg made headlines last June with an announcement that the alliance was putting 300,000 troops on high readiness - up from 40,000. Under this new force model, NATO said, troops would be pre-assigned to particular countries, with 100,000 troops deployable within 10 days and an additional 200,000 within 30 days.

The announcement appeared to catch some European defense officials by surprise, and left them wondering if or how

See NATO Page 15 Juho Kuva/The Washington Post French forces parachute into Viitna, Estonia, as part of training exercises on May 20.

Puzzles

Travis medic rescues man while on honeymoon

Airman Alexander Merchak

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — Vacations are typically a chance to unwind, but what happens when there is an emergency in paradise? While enjoying time off in Hawaii, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Harris Belmonte, 60th Inpa tient Operations Squadron criti cal care shift lead, rendered lifesaving aid to a stranger in need.

Belmonte and his wife took leave and went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. They were heading to Halona Beach in Ho nolulu, Hawaii, on Nov. 3, to take photos of the local scenery and no more than 30 minutes later, they heard screams for help.

No. 650

“I rushed over immediately and saw an individual lying down appearing to be unconscious,” said Belmonte.

Upon arriving, Belmonte saw roughly eight people gathered where the yells originated from. He noticed a nurse directing good Samaritans helping, but they were performing improper CPR techniques.

“I felt at that moment, that it was my responsibility to take charge of compressions and have someone else focus on giving breathes,” said Belmonte.

“Training kicked in.”

As a critical care technician, Belmonte says situations like these are practiced at the hospital frequently and afterwards the unit will debrief to discuss what went well and what didn’t.

rendered two cycles of CPR, and after an assessment of the patient, a weak pulse and breathing was observed.

but he wasn’t responding.”

Belmonte noticed that while the man was in the recovery po sition, he was demonstrating ag onal breathing – a reflex of a per son who isn’t getting enough oxygen and is gasping for air.

As the situation continued, Belmonte heard the nurse shout, “We don’t have a pulse!”

“At this time everything got si lent and my only focus was on the patient,” said Belmonte. “I wasn’t going to lose this man’s pulse.”

Belmonte administered one more cycle of CPR until the first responders arrived and took over the man’s care. The paramedics were able to maintain a pulse and transported the patient for fur ther treatment.

“Looking back, it really did feel like we were at the right place at the right time,” said Belmonte.

Belmonte explained that he and his wife planned to get an earlier start to the day and visit a different area but noticed a lot of people at Cockroach Cove, so they decided to check it out.

who Harris is.

“Our son always tells my husband that he is his superhero,” said Betty. “That day, he showed his superpowers!”

According to Belmonte, he

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“We turned him over and put him in the recovery position,” said Belmonte. “We tried talking to him while rubbing his back,

“He was so calm and collected as he ran over to assist the man that was taken out of the water,” said Betty Belmonte, spouse of Harris Belmonte.

According to Betty, this is just

If you are interested in serving in the Air Force medical field, visit here, or talk to your local recruiter.

Senior

SrA Alexander Merchak/U.S. Air Force

ABOVE: U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Harris Belmonte, 60th Inpatient Operations Squadron critical care shift lead, poses for photo at David Grant USAF Medical Center, Dec. 15.

Courtesy photo

Staff Sgt. Harris Belmonte and his wife, Betty Belmonte, at Halona Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 3.

81 years after Pearl Harbor attack a civilian-led effort to identify remains

The Washington Post

Kevin Kline grew up hearing stories about his great-uncle, Robert Kline, a 22-year-old sailor who perished aboard the USS Arizona when it was destroyed by Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He collected photos of him in his Navy uniform and framed the Feb. 6, 1942, front page of the local newspaper in western New York that blared “Olean Boy Dies On Arizona” in a banner headline. He thought occasionally about his great-uncle’s final terrifying moments.

So last year, fulfilling a longtime goal, Kline, 47, took his wife and two young daughters to Hawaii to visit the USS Arizona Memorial that straddles the sunken warship, a hallowed tomb for the sailors and Marines who went down with it. They had a U.S. flag raised in Robert Kline’s honor and spent nearly an hour reading the names of other victims, learning more about their stories and peering into the watery grave.

But what Kline didn’t find out until he was flying home from Hawaii was that not everyone who died on the Arizona remained entombed in it. A total of 1,177 sailors and Marines were killed aboard the ship. One hundred and five were identified, but the vast majority were never found. What Kline and many other relatives of the Arizona victims didn’t know was that the remains of at least 85 crew members were recovered but not identified. They were buried as “Unknowns” a few miles away in Honolulu at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl.

“I grew up thinking that my uncle was in the ship under the memorial,” Kline said. “Our family was never told, ever, that there were unknowns from the Arizona buried somewhere else.”

Kline knew that in recent years the unidentified remains of other sailors killed in the Pearl Harbor attack and buried at the Punchbowl had been identified using DNA analysis that connected them to family members. The vast majority of several hundred previously unidentified sailors killed on the USS Oklahoma, for instance, were identified through a project begun in 2016 by the Defense POW/

MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). The agency identified the Oklahoma’s victims by collecting DNA from their living relatives and using DNA testing as well as dental and anthropological analysis to make the match.

Kline wondered whether the same could be done with the unidentified remains of those from the Arizona.

What began as an idle thought turned into a mission, and Kline founded USS Arizona Operation 85 with the goal of collecting DNA samples from as many relatives of those killed on the Arizona as possible and working with the Navy and Marines to identify the remains of the Unknowns at the Punchbowl cemetery. Kline said that the project is focused only on the remains at the cemetery and there is no intention of disturbing the sunken Arizona.

When Kline first approached the Navy about the project, he says, Navy officials

were supportive and told him to look at how the USS Oklahoma project was conducted by the DPAA. Kline assumed that the DPAA would be eager to take the lead on the Arizona project. But, he says, the agency has mostly left him to his own devices. It provided him with a 2022 feasibility study that estimated it would cost $3 million and 12,500 human hours just to locate the families. When he tried to make additional contacts or arrange meetings, the agency declined, he said.

But Kline, who owns a real estate company with his wife in Northern Virginia, was not deterred and began reaching out to families of the Arizona casualties. Six months later, he has engaged 182 family members in his effort and 44 have sent DNA samples to the Navy and Marines for their database. Many others are in the process, Kline said, and will soon add to the growing total.

Teri Mann-Whyatt, 52, was one of the first people Kline contacted, and she signed on with enthusiasm. Mann-Whyatt’s uncle, William Mann, of Elma, Wash., was 21-year-old gunner’s mate third class on the Arizona. The eldest of 13 children, his death in the attack resonated with the family for decades, said Mann-Whyatt, whose father was the youngest child in the family.

“I know that a lot of people think that it’s been over 80 years and nobody knew them and nobody cares. But it’s really not true,” she said as she began to cry. “We were a really poor family, but my grandmother was the proudest Gold Star mother. Growing up, through my grandma’s stories, we just had honor in knowing my uncle had sacrificed his life for the nation and was on the mighty Arizona.”

Being able to identify the remains of any of the Arizona victims, even if not her uncle’s, would be something her grandmother would support, said Mann-Whyatt. “She would have stood side by side, arm in arm with any mother to bring their child home. And so I feel like I’m doing this for her.”

Kline acknowledges that getting to the point where the remains at Punchbowl could be disinterred and the identification process begun could take a while. The DPAA has told him he would need to have DNA samples from family members of 60 percent of the 1,072 unrecovered servicemen from the Arizona. So far they have collected just 7 percent.

Working out of an office in his home, Kline says he spends almost all of his free time on the project, which he has funded with his own money. He launched a robust website in January that has a running tally of families that have been contacted and have provided DNA. And the site has photographs and a brief history of the men who died on the Arizona.

Kline says he’s driven by his great-uncle’s memory and by a sense of patriotism. But he wouldn’t mind if the DPAA and Navy took over the work.

“You know, the question is, should I really be doing this? I’m a citizen. I’m a civilian,” Kline said. “When you have a

Joe Heim/The Washington Post

Kevin Kline discusses World War II at his home in Northern Virginia. Kline is founder of USS Arizona Operation 85, an effort to identify the remains of people killed on the Arizona when it was attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Kline’s great-uncle, Robert Kline, was among those killed.

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Remains

From Page 11

government agency that’s supposed to do this, when you have Congress trying to give them money to do it, why aren’t they doing it?”

Kline said DPAA officials did not respond to him for several months, but he finally met last month with DPAA Director Kelly K. McKeague. McKeague was

supportive, Kline said, but didn’t indicate that the agency was particularly interested in pursuing the project on its own.

In a statement, the DPAA said, “At Mr. Kline’s request, the DPAA Director and DPAA and other [Department of Defense] subject matter experts met with Mr. Kline to discuss his organization’s efforts and explain the challenges with attempting to disinter and identify the 85 Unknowns associated with the USS Arizona buried at the Punchbowl.

DPAA, like many organizations, has limited resources and must prioritize the use of its resources in an efficient and effective manner to provide answers to as many families as possible. That said, if the Department obtains the necessary DNA family reference samples, we will request to disinter and pursue these cases as resources allow.”

Kline said the DPAA’s reluctance to take on the identification work means that it will be left to him and other civilians.

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Sheri Clayton Spomer, of Chandler, Ariz., said she was happy to hear about Kline’s efforts to identify the remains from the Arizona and eager to take part. She lost two relatives in the Pearl Harbor attacks, Robert Clayton on the USS Arizona and Gerald Clayton on the USS Oklahoma. Gerald Clayton was her grandfather’s brother and Robert was their cousin. Clayton Spomer said her family provided DNA samples for the Oklahoma project that led to them being able

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“We buried him in our hometown cemetery in Central City, Neb., on July 5 of 2019,” she said.

Clayton Spomer, 51, said she wants the men who served on the Arizona to get the same treatment as those on the Oklahoma and other ships at Pearl Harbor.

“Their sacrifice to their country should be honored in a better way than just being buried together as ‘unknowns’ in a national cemetery,” she said.

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NATO

their troops were being counted. Almost immediately, NATO officials offered caveats. The overall target number was still conceptual, they said, and national commitments needed to be negotiated. “The train left the station before the tracks were built,” Tomas Jermalavicius, head of studies and research fellow at Estonia’s International Center for Defence and Security, recently told The Post.

Discussion of the proposed new force structure - including which troops would be pre-assigned to protect which countries and what level of readiness they would need to maintain - is on the agenda for the NATO leaders’ summit in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, next month.

Officials overseeing the recent exercises in Estonia said training together is important, but further readiness is contingent on knowing which troops would actually be deployed to protect them in a crisis.

“We need to know exactly . . . these units which are coming, to be interoperable, to exercise with them . . . how we receive them, how we move them, how we staged them,” said Gen. Martin Herem, military chief of the Estonian defense forces. “That makes everything very fast. If you haven’t done it right, that takes time. Not days, but weeks.”

Estonian military officials say they would like more detail on what might trigger deployments.

“We need reinforcements not when Russian aggression starts, but from the moment we see the first indicators and warnings,” Herem said.

Estonian officials are also looking for specific guarantees that the multinational battle group based here will stick around.

“Right now we have bilateral agreements with those countries, and we want to have it in NATO’s plans so that if, you know, one country decides to withdraw their troops here, there’s somebody else coming in,” Kallas said.

The prime minister is push ing others to follow Estonia’s lead in upping military spend ing to 3 percent of gross domestic product next year. Many allies, though, still aren’t even meeting the NATO standard of 2 percent of GDP. Some countries, Kal las said, hold out hope “that this problem will go away and they don’t actually have to invest in defense.”

Estonia and other nations in Central and Eastern Europe see the threat from Russia as real and existential.

“I think Russia is on a tra jectory to conflict or to war with NATO,” Gen. Karel Rehka, chief of the general staff of the Czech Republic, said in an interview in Tallinn, the Estonian capital. “That doesn’t mean they’re plan ning to do it. NATO doesn’t want to go to war with Russia, just as Russia doesn’t want to go to war with NATO. But that doesn’t mean it cannot happen. There’ve been many wars that no one real ly planned to have.”

Rehka said he was troubled by the swell of nationalist sentiment in Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s announced plans to expand his military. “Regardless of how the war ends” in Ukraine, Rehka said, “Russia will be more hostile towards us and less predictable.”

Being ready to defend against an enemy like Russia requires conventional military might, Herem said: “Bombs, not cyber.”

Analysts said that to provide credible deterrence and defense, Europe will need to invest in military logistics. Hodges, the former commander of U.S. Army Europe, said there are simply not enough train cars that can carry armored vehicles, or bridges and tunnels wide enough for the stuff of modern warfare.

There is diplomatic work to be done, too. Hodges sees a need for something like a “military Schengen zone” - like Europe’s borderless travel and trade zone - that would allow NATO military convoys to “cross borders with the same ease as truckloads of apples.”

Building trust is also key, said Camille Grand, a Frenchman

who was until last year NATO’s assistant secretary general for defense investment and is now a distinguished policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The disagreement between Germany and Lithuania over troop levels “has to do with polit ical and military trust,” he said. The Lithuanians worry that Ger man reinforcements might be held up by political delays or might show up lacking the rele vant capabilities, he said. “This is why the Lithuanians are pushing so hard to ask, ‘Are they worth their word?’”

Lungescu, the NATO spokes person, said German troops this month will practice reinforcing Lithuania’s battle group to brigade level. The alliance’s efforts “strike the right balance between a greater military forward presence and the ability to quickly send reinforcements,” she said. “There should be no misunderstanding about NATO’s will and ability to protect every ally.”

Estonian officials say they trust that NATO would come to

their aid and that the alliance would ultimately prevail in any conflict with Russia.

“I am quite sure that if Russia acts, then NATO will win,” Herem said. “However, if you look at a map, then how much of Estonia and for how long will we have to cede territory?”

He continued: “There will be books about how small, heroic Ukraine defended against Russia and was successful. If you go deeper, and look at what they have lost, it’s a tragedy.”

“To avoid this, we must be much more ready than we are today.”

Juho Kuva/The Washington Post photos Estonian troops participate in training.

A British soldier stands by an Apache helicopter at Tapa Army Base in Estonia. The Baltics count on NATO for air defense.