Volume 7, No. 10 ©SS 2015
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015
Character doesn’t count Military lawyers are losing the ‘good soldier’ defense
ILLUSTRATION BY BEV SCHILLING / Stars and Stripes
2014 Nissan
PATHFINDER Military Price
S AWD
$ 27,709
260-hp 3.5-liter V6 Engine 18” Alloy Wheels • Seats Seven Advanced Drive-Assist™ Display Tri-Zone Automatic Climate Control
MSRP: VPP Price: Nissan Factory Cash:
CONTINENTAL NISSAN OF ANCHORAGE
CONTINENTALAUTOGROUP.com
5115 Old Seward, Anchorage • 907-563-2277
$32,040 $29,709 -$ 2,000
License Fee: Dealer Document Fee: Total Cost with all fees:
+ $ 280 + $ 199 $28,179
#55252, Mdl 25014, VIN 725217 Two or more available at this price.
Advertised prices are valid thru February 26, 2015. Stock numbers listed are subject to previous sale. Photo may vary from actual vehicle. Dealer-installed accessories and DMV and DOC fees additional. MSRP may not reflect regional selling price. All prices after manufacturer rebates and incentives, financing rate is offered with $0-down, O.A.C. Subject to vehicle insurance, availability.
2
February 20, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
PAGE 2
A N D
STRIPES •
Friday, February 20, 2015
COVER STORY
Good character is no longer a defense BY NANCY MONTGOMERY Stars and Stripes
Can good soldiers do bad things? It stands to reason that they can, just as good dentists, police officers, politicians, priests, astronauts and football players can. But unlike their civilian counterparts, military criminal defendants had recourse to “the good soldier defense”: to try to convince court-martial judges and juries — through service records, ratings and testimony from colleagues and superiors — that they were too professional to have engaged in the criminal behavior of which they stood accused. The 1998 court-martial of Sergeant Major of the Army Gene McKinney on charges of sexually harassing and assaulting six women, for example, featured 26 character witnesses, including a four-star general. They all testified to McKinney’s integrity, leadership and devotion to soldiers. “In military law, character does count, and character alone may be enough to cause reasonable doubt,” McKinney’s defense lawyer, Charles Gittins, said in his closing argument to the jury. McKinney was acquitted of all but one charge — obstruction of justice — and reduced in rank to master sergeant. Now that defense has gone the way of flogging as a tool in military justice. As part of reforms to address sexual assault that were included in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, Congress restricted using military character evidence, bringing courtsmartial more in line with civilian courts’ rules of evidence. “When I was prosecuting sex crimes in Kansas City courtrooms, defendants couldn’t use their good work record as proof they hadn’t committed a rape,” Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat and one of the measure’s sponsors, said in an email. “In the military, how good an airman, sailor, soldier, or Marine you are has absolutely nothing to do with whether a rape has occurred.” The change came with overwhelming bipartisan congressional support and approval from legal scholars who said it was long overdue. The defense was “the antithesis of criminal justice that prosecutes acts,
not character,” said Elizabeth Hillman, a law professor at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law and a former Air Force officer. “Who did it benefit? People of high rank and long service,” she said. “It exacerbated the perception that [they] were immune from prosecution.” The defense was pernicious in sexual assault cases, in which there is often little forensic evidence and factfinders must weigh witness credibility especially carefully, experts said. “It allowed people to put their thumb on the scale,” said Don Christensen, formerly the Air Force’s top prosecutor and now president of the victim advocacy group Protect Our Defenders. That was particularly true when commanders or high-ranking officers vouched for a defendant’s character, Christensen said. “It can have a potentially huge impact even though it’s factually meaningless,” he said. “It’s like a priest accused of sexual misconduct, or a teacher. How many times have they been teacher of the year? [The “good People who comsoldier” mit sexual defense] offenses are often model can have a citizens.” potentially But memhuge impact, bers of a military jury even though are likely to it’s factually give defermeaningless. ence to the Don Christensen testimony or formerly the Air Force’s statement of top prosecutor and a three-star now president of the general or a victim advocacy group defendant’s Protect Our Defenders commander, he said. “They’re going to assume that the three-star knows more about the case than they do. They think, ‘He’s looked at the evidence; he wouldn’t be saying that if the defendant were guilty.’ ” A 2012 article in The Army Lawyer by Marine Maj. Walter Wilkie explaining how to best use the defense called it “a powerful tool” in all phases of a criminal defense — from before charges are filed to after a guilty verdict.
‘
’
The “good soldier” defense largely worked for former Sergeant Major of the Army Gene McKinney, left, who faced charges of sexually harassing and assaulting six women but was convicted only of obstruction of justice. It also helped Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, right, when the commander of the 3rd Air Force used it to dismiss Wilkerson’s guilty verdict in a sexual assault case after reviewing letters vouching for Wilkerson’s sterling character. “[T]he defense can use it to influence the command in the accused’s favor before and after trial and to influence the factfinder in his favor during trial,” Wilkie wrote. In the case of Aviano Air Base, Italy, fighter pilot Lt. Col. James Wilkerson that same year, character evidence was unsuccessful at court-martial. A jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting a sleeping houseguest, dismissed him from the service and sentenced him to a year in jail. But it worked eventually. After reviewing scores of letters vouching for Wilkerson’s sterling character in his 2013 review of the case, now-retired Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, then commander of 3rd Air Force and convening authority in the case, decided Wilkerson would not have committed the crime. Franklin, as military law then allowed, dismissed the verdict and reinstated Wilkerson into the Air Force. Congress responded by changing the law to strip commanders of the long-held, unfettered discretion to dismiss verdicts and reduce sentences — despite opposition from military leaders, commanders and the defense bar. There was little opposition from military leaders to the change. Even the reaction of military defense lawyers to the good soldier defense curtailment has been mostly muted. “It is a step back for the defense,” said David Court, a Europe-based defense lawyer who retired last year. “Anytime you lose a potential defense it’s a loss by definition. It also strengthens the [prosecution]. Is it right? Is it fair? There you get into your own
2014 CHEVY
EQUINOX
AWD LS CTP* PROGRAM VEHICLE
$19,900 SALE PRICE CHEVROLET OF SOUTH
ANCHORAGE
personal point of view.” “I can understand that in the civilian world being a good Xerox repairman would not be a good defense,” said Kyle Fischer, a former Army lawyer now in practice near Fort Benning, Ga. “I would never argue that this soldier is a good soldier so he wouldn’t commit rape.” But putting on good soldier evidence was beneficial in reminding jurors that a defendant was in fact a good soldier whose career and life were in their hands, Fischer said. “I think they’re more likely to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt for reasonable doubt,” he said. Fischer said he expected more convictions as a result and lamented the recent changes to military law. “It seems at every step of the way they’re chipping away at every protection put in place to assure that the defendant can get a fair trial,” he said. The new law specifically prohibits the good character defense for sexual offenses, larceny, robbery and arson, and generally whenever it’s not “relevant.” Character evidence may still be introduced before sentencing at courtsmartial, just as in the civilian system. And it is still allowed during the factfinding portion of courts-martial for specifically military offenses such as desertion or disobeying orders. That’s where its use began, Hillman said, before the military courts gained jurisdiction of nonmilitary crimes such as rape and murder. montgomery.nancy@stripes.com
2014 CHEVY
SILVERADO 1500
DOUBLE CAB LT 4X4 CTP* PROGRAM VEHICLE
$24,900 SALE PRICE
ANCHORAGECHEVROLET.COM • 9100 OLD SEWARD HWY • (907) 365-8600
*CPT: Courtesy Transportation Program. Used, CTP vehicles may have up to 7,500 miles at time of delivery. EQUINOX: 1 at this price. See dealer for stock numbers. MSRP: $27,165. Priced after $1,250 Consumer Cash, $1,000 Loyalty Cash (Must currently own a ’99 or newer GM vehicle) and $5,215 CSA Discount. SILVERADO: See dealer for stock numbers. MSRP: $35,660. Priced after $1,500 Consumer Cash, $2,000 Trade Assist, $1,000 Loyalty Cash (Must currently own a ’99 or newer GM vehicle) and $6,460 CSA Discount. Price plus tax, title and license. Price includes $200 dealer Doc fee. Not all sales at MSRP. Price valid through 03/02/2015.
February 20, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
Friday, February 20, 2015
A N D
STRIPES •
PAGE 3
3
PACIFIC
THE
ASIA-PACIFIC
Where US military follows its nation’s money About a quarter of everything the U.S. sells goes to countries in the Pacific Rim. Security interests follow economic interests, making the Asia-Pacific region the top U.S. long-term priority. The biggest unknown:
BY ERIK SLAVIN Stars and Stripes
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan iddle East turmoil and the Islamic State’s gains dominated the security headlines in 2014, yet it’s the Asia-Pacific region that remains the United States’ top long-term priority. It is a case of security interests following economic interests — beyond North America’s shores, nowhere on Earth is the U.S. economy more dependent. About a quarter of everything the U.S. sells goes to 15 countries on the Pacific Rim, according to Census Department data analyzed by Stars and Stripes. More than 37 percent of all purchases come from those countries, or roughly the same as what Americans buy from Europe, Africa, most of the Middle East and South America combined. Total trade with those 15 countries is up 68 percent from 2004 through 2013. Although the trade deficit with those countries remains large, export growth is actually outpacing import growth by 28 percent over that time period. That U.S. growth trend in Asia is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, but security and economics analysts say there is one big unknown with the potential to unravel it: China’s ambitions. The big question is whether China will turn out to be a nation that wields its increasing power in concert with other countries or it asserts that power with force to seize disputed territory and regulate the international spaces where trillions of dollars in global trade flows. “It’s not about the China we see today,” said Sheila Smith, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington think tank. “It’s about the China we’ll see 20 years from now.” The uncertainty surrounding China’s
M
China
future direction is driving the U.S. “rebalance” of its forces to the Asia-Pacific. By 2020, the Navy and Air Force will base 60 percent of their assets in the region under current plans. The rationale for the rebalance, stated without fail by U.S. leaders, includes freedom of movement through waters and airspace. The only country in the region that actively disputes the American vision of that freedom is China. China holds an ambiguous claim on about 90 percent of the South China Sea — a congested area where $1.2 trillion in U.S. trade transits annually by ship, Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Locklear noted during a June security summit in Singapore. Add
hundreds of billions of dollars in trade flowing to the U.S. through the East China Sea — where the U.S. guards Taiwan from a Chinese invasion and defends Japan amid rising tensions — and the stakes grow even higher. What level of security is necessary to protect U.S. interests, and how to go about it, is a matter of intense debate in Washington.
China’s point of view In the last few years, China has proclaimed jurisdiction over airspace that includes Japan-administered and South
Your resolution solution Eating better is as simple as choosing our exclusive Simple Truth brand.
Mark your calendar
Starting in February, the 3rd Thursday of every month is Military Discount Day at Freddy’s. Learn more at fredmeyer.com/AKmilitary
12-13-3-85039
Koreanclaimed territory; engaged in ship-ramming incidents with the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam near disputed territory; scrambled jets in response to the movements of U.S. allies; and, had a fighter plane fly a barrel roll maneuver within 30 feet of a much slower U.S. antisubmarine plane, according to Pentagon officials. In nearly every case, China claims the uninhabited territories as its own by historical discovery, calls its neighbors
the true aggressors and refuses to bring its arguments to international court. China also called for an end to U.S. surveillance flights within its Exclusive Economic Zone — a 200-mile extension from a nation’s shoreline into international waters. Such zones represent more than onethird of the world’s oceans, and all but a handful consider them open to surveillance. The U.S. response to China’s assertiveness has been to increase military ties with its allies in the region, which Beijing officials view as an attempt to surround their country’s Pacific borders. To China’s south, the U.S. has new rotational troop agreements with the Philippines and Australia. To its east are 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan and about 28,500 more in South Korea. In between, the U.S. Navy holds dozens of exercises and hundreds of port visits annually. “We think about it as ‘projecting power,’ ” Smith said. “[China] talks about ‘pushing out.’ ” The air defense identification zone that China declared in 2013, to international consternation, can be viewed by China as a buffer zone for the concentration of wealth and trade lining their eastern coastal cities, Smith said. Beijing’s economic interests in the South China Sea are vast and potentially vulnerable, in the eyes of China’s hawks. About 83 percent of China’s oil imports flow through the Malacca Strait and into the South China Sea, according to the 2014 Defense Department report to Congress on China. Trade also accounts for a sizable chunk of global South China Sea trade, which a 2012 Center for Strategic and International Studies study pegged at $5.3 trillion annually. Pierre Noel, senior fellow for economic and energy security at the International Institute for Security Studies, doesn’t believe that China’s access to trade and resources is vulnerable, barring a major war. SEE PAGE 4
4
February 20, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
PAGE 4
A N D
STRIPES •
Friday, February 20, 2015
PACIFIC FROM PAGE 3
Their markets are simply too lucrative to foreign merchants. However, pro-military hawks in China view U.S. alliances as a security risk, Noel said. “Clearly one of the things they emphasize is the security of sea lanes and communications in Asia, which are either directly or indirectly controlled by the U.S., or countries close to the U.S,” Noel said. “This gives those powers, potentially, veto power over the Chinese.”
Chinese pre-eminence The goal of the U.S. presence in the Pacific since WWII has been “stability,” which largely boils down to preventing major wars and protecting trade routes from terrorism, piracy and smaller wars. The U.S. military rebalance seeks to continue that strategy by putting its best hardware in the region and by strengthening its alliances. “The Asia-Pacific’s shifting security landscape makes America’s partnerships and alliances indispensable as anchors for regional stability,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said May 31 in Singapore during a speech that also condemned China’s use of “coercion and the threat of force” to advance its aims. Even as Hagel, President Barack Obama and administration officials tout the rebalance at every turn, many in Asia remain skeptical that the U.S. will have the money to follow through.
Courtesy of the Vietnam Coast Guard
A Chinese ship, left, shoots a water cannon at a Vietnamese vessel, right, while a Chinese Coast Guard ship, center, sails alongside in the South China Sea, off Vietnam’s coast, on May 7. The U.S. Future Years Defense Program exceeds federal budget caps by $116 billion over the next five years, according to a Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments study released in September. There are less costly alternatives to the present strategy. All of them carry economic and strategic risk for the United States, according to analysts. One option would be to roll back the U.S. role in the region over the next few decades and watch Beijing supplant Washington as the top power in the region. The historical precedent for that is Great Britain’s
acceptance of U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere in 1890s, which ended more than a century of friction, said Ted Galen Carpenter, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. “One of the things would be absolutely essential if the U.S. conceded pre-eminence in East Asia would be a firm guarantee of navigation rights,” Carpenter said. “We are a maritime power, and I don’t think we’re about to let that part of the world become a Chinese lake.” However, it’s hard to see an authoritarian country like China and a democratic United States establishing enough trust to make such a deal, Carpenter said. Chinese pre-eminence also creates the possibility of territorial battles that could turn into wars on the open seas, absent U.S. support. Analysts estimate that about 90 percent of U.S. trade in the region is seaborne. Carpenter views the Obama administration’s rebalance as an unsustain-
ONLINE For a country-by-country breakdown of trade in the Asia-Pacific region, go to stripes.com/go/asiapacific
able mix of engagement and containment. Instead, he advocates a “first among equals” arrangement for the U.S. by which it maintains a deterrent presence but doesn’t try to contain China or dominate the region. The U.S. would cut spending just enough to get countries like South Korea, Japan and others to do more than they do now. “The problem is that the U.S. is a victim of its own great success over the last seven decades,” Carpenter said. “It has fostered, somewhat deliberately, a dependent mentality on the part of friendly countries. I think without the overall reliance on the U.S., we would see these countries at least consider doing more in the security arena for their own interest.” To some extent, U.S allies are already doing more than in the past, as are others. Of 22 Asia-Pacific countries reviewed by Stars and Stripes, at least 20 increased defense spending last year. Japan, which U.S. officials often call their “cornerstone” ally in the region, is planning Marine Corps-like capabilities. South Korea is improving its surface and submarine fleet. Those developments are welcome to Washington, but they are no replacement for U.S. spending, technology
and expertise in the region, analysts said. Japan, which has been criticized by China and South Korea for harboring supposedly militaristic sentiments, still spends only 1 percent of its gross domestic product on defense, according to the World Bank. Supporters of the rebalancing strategy in the Obama administration and the Pentagon also want to see U.S. allies take larger roles. The difference is that they believe the way to reduce tensions with China is through a greater projection of allied strength, combined with diplomatic and economic overtures. For now, the U.S. appears committed to its rebalancing strategy, Smith, of the Council on Foreign Relations, said. The trade routes that the U.S. and much of world depend on appear generally secure. However, the U.S. will become far more concerned in the future if China attempts to use its rapidly modernizing navy to manage the region’s trade routes. “If people feel like China can interfere with commerce, they will adapt their behavior accordingly,” Smith said. “Anything that threatens the basic stability of the region threatens economic behavior across the board.” slavin.erik@stripes.com Twitter:@eslavin_stripes
Taking Care of You ~Way Beyond Your Smile… Always Welcoming New Patients and Families! NEW PATIENT EXAM INCLUDES X-RAYS Dr. Jared Adams
Dr. Clark Bassham
Dr. Joe Baggette
Call office for details.
ALASKA PREMIER DENTAL GROUP www.smilealaska.com We’re honored to serve active duty and retired military families. We are Metlife Tricare, Premera Blue Cross and Delta Preferred Providers.
125
$
YOU SAVE $248!
Dr. Brian Kruchoski
Dr. Jessica Smith
Dr. Adam Walker
ANCHORAGE
WASILLA
6611 DeBarr Rd., Suite 100 & 200 Anchorage, AK 99504 (just off the Muldoon exit)
935 Westpoint Dr., Suite 202 Romar Center • Wasilla, AK 99654 (15 minutes from Eagle River)
907-337-1322
907-373-5930
February 20, 2015
5
H A IN IGH DD T A ER SP SK E H NE ED O T W !
ALASKA EDITION
Package offers starting at
$
$
MONTH For 12 Months Plus add’l fees
19
* 9m9o.
SELECT™ Package
Eligibility based on ZIP code. 24-mo. agreement req'd. Not eligible for NFL offer.
SAVE an additional $10/mo. for 12 months on every package! ALL DIRECTV OFFERS REQUIRE 24-MONTH AGREEMENT.**
GENIE® WHOLE-HOME HD DVR UPGRADE
With SELECT Package or above. Additional Equipment required. Additional & Advanced reciever fees apply. As of 2/5/15, minimum 2-room setup required for free Genie upgrade offer.
We Are Your Local Alaskan Satellite TV Expert! Upgrade to DIRECTV today. CALL NOW!
FOR 3 MONTHS
NO EQUIPMENT TO BUY. NO START-UP COST.
With SELECT through ULTIMATE Packages.
2015 SEASON
INCLUDED at no extra charge †
with CHOICE Package and above.
EVERY GAME EVERY SUNDAY ONLY ON DIRECTV Out of market games only
126 W. International Airport Rd, Anchorage
264-DISH (3474)
microcom.tv
Offers extended through 5/27/15. Credit card required (except in MA & PA). New approved customers only (lease required). $19.95 Handling & Delivery fee may apply. Applicable use tax adjustment may apply on the retail value of the installation. Programming, pricing and offers are subject to change and may vary in certain markets. Some offers may not be available through all channels and in select areas. *BILL CREDIT/PROGRAMMING OFFER: IF BY THE END OF PROMOTIONAL PRICE PERIOD(S) CUSTOMER DOES NOT CONTACT DIRECTV TO CHANGE SERVICE THEN ALL SERVICES WILL AUTOMATICALLY CONTINUE AT THE THEN-PREVAILING RATES. Featured package/service names and current prices: SELECT $49.99/mo.; Advanced Receiver fee $15/mo. Price includes the following instant bill credits for first 12 months: $30 for SELECT Package. For orders placed 2/5/15 or later, eligibility for bill credit amount will be based on ZIP code. Account must be in “good standing” as determined by DIRECTV in its sole discretion to remain eligible for all offers. **24-MONTH AGREEMENT: EARLY CANCELLATION WILL RESULT IN A FEE OF $20/MONTH FOR EACH REMAINING MONTH. Must maintain 24 consecutive months of any DIRECTV base programming package ($29.99/mo. or above) or any qualifying international service bundle. Advanced Receiver fee ($15/mo.) required for all HD DVRs. TiVo service fee ($5/mo.) required for TiVo HD DVR from DIRECTV lease. There is a fee of $6/mo. for each receiver and/or Genie Mini/DIRECTV Ready TV/Device on your account for orders placed by 2/4/15. After 2/4/15, there is a fee of $6.50/mo. for each receiver and/or Genie Mini/DIRECTV-Ready TV/Device on your account NON-ACTIVATION CHARGE OF $150 PER RECEIVER MAY APPLY. ALL EQUIPMENT (EXCLUDING GENIEGO DEVICE) IS LEASED AND MUST BE RETURNED TO DIRECTV UPON CANCELLATION, OR UNRETURNED EQUIPMENT FEES APPLY. VISIT directv.com/legal OR CALL 1-800-DIRECTV FOR DETAILS. †2015 NFL SUNDAY TICKET OFFER: Package consists of all out-of-market NFL games (based on customer’s service address) broadcast on FOX and CBS. Games available via remote viewing based on device location. Local broadcasts are subject to blackout rules. Other conditions apply. 2015 NFL SUNDAY TICKET regular full-season retail price is $251.94. 2015 NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX regular full-season retail price is $353.94. Customers activating CHOICE Package or above or MÁS ULTRA Package or above will be automatically enrolled in the 2015 season of NFL SUNDAY TICKET at no additional cost and will receive a free upgrade to NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX for the 2015 season. NFL SUNDAY TICKET subscription will automatically continue each season at special renewal rate unless customer calls to cancel prior to start of season. To renew NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX, customer must call to upgrade after the 2015 season. Subscription cannot be canceled (in part or in whole) after the start of the season and subscription fee cannot be refunded. Account must be in “good standing” as determined by DIRECTV in its sole discretion to remain eligible for all offers. **^GENIE HD DVR UPGRADE OFFER: Includes instant rebates on one Genie HD DVR and up to three Genie Minis with activation of the SELECT Package or above; ÓPTIMO MÁS Package or above; or any qualifying international service bundle, which shall include the PREFERRED CHOICE programming package. A $99 fee applies for Wireless Genie Mini (model C41W) upgrade. As of 2/5/15, free upgrade offer requires a Genie HD DVR and at least one Genie Mini. $99 fee applies for single-room setup. Whole-Home HD DVR functionality requires a Genie HD DVR connected to one television and a Genie Mini, H25 HD Receiver(s) or a DIRECTV-Ready TV/Device in each additional room. Limit of three remote viewings per Genie HD DVR at a time. Visit directv.com/genie for complete details. INSTALLATION: Standard professional installation in up to four rooms only. Custom installation extra. To access HD programming, HD equipment required. Programming, pricing, terms and conditions subject to change at any time. Pricing residential. Taxes not included. Receipt of DIRECTV programming subject to DIRECTV Customer Agreement; copy provided at directv.com/legal and in order confirmation. ©2015 DIRECTV. DIRECTV and the Cyclone Design logo, SELECT and GENIE are trademarks of DIRECTV, LLC. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.
ALL NEW KIAS ARE BACKED BY AN INDUSTRY LEADING
10 YEAR - 100,000 MILE WARRANTY
SIGN UP IN STORE OR ONLINE AT
GET A $25 VISA® PREPAID CARDWHEN YOU TEST DRIVE ANY NEW KIA! ¥ www.KiaTestDriveOffer.com All new Kias include • Bluetooth • USB & Auxiliary Jacks • Cruise • Air Conditioning • Steering Wheel Audio Controls • Alloy Wheels • Electronic Stability Control • Traction Control • ABS Brakes standard!
2015 KIA
SOUL
BASE HATCHBACK
2015 KIA
OPTIMA
19,958
16,995
$
$
2 AT THIS PRICE
22 AT THIS PRICE 18,015 MILITARY REBATE* $ - 400 LITHIA DISCOUNT $ - 620 MSRP $
GET 0% APR FINANCING
FOR 60 MONTHS ON SELECT VEHICLES!
With a down payment acceptable to lender, 60 monthly payments of $16,67 for each $1,000 financed at 0% APR. Available on new 2015 Kia Optimas, Sorentos, Hybrids, Fortes, and Forte Koups on approval of credit. Financing in lieu of rebates.
LX
22,565 -$500 MILITARY REBATE* $ - 400 LITHIA DISCOUNT $ - 1,707 MSRP $
CONSUMER CASH
Named BEST FAMILY VEHICLE by the Northwest Automotive Press Association
2015 KIA
SORENTO
LX
25,310 -$2,000 COMPETETIVE/ $ OWNER LOYALTY REBATE^ - 500 MILITARY REBATE* $ - 400 12 AT THIS PRICE LITHIA DISCOUNT $ - 415
21,995
$
MSRP $
FACTORY REBATE
LITHIA KIA OF ANCHORAGE ON THE CORNER OF OLD SEWARD & TUDOR
4434 OLD SEWARD HWY • CALL [855] 407-1982 • SHOP OUR INVENTORY KIAANCHORAGE.COM Offer thru 3/31/2015 or while supplies last. Must have valid drivers license to take test drive. One card per household. Kia Soul MSRP: $18,015. 2015 Kia Optima MSRP: $22,565. 2015 Kia Sorento MSRP: $25,310. The Best Buy Seal and other licensed materials are registered certification marks and trademarks of Consumers Digest Communications, LLC, used under license. For award information, visit ConsumersDigest. com. See dealer for stock numbers. Prices plus Tax, Title and License. Prices include $200 Dealer Doc fee. Not all sales at MSRP. ^See dealer for complete list of competitive make/models or customer must prove ownership of Kia. *Dealers are required to verify eligibility of military personnel. See dealer for warranty information. Vehicle offers expire 2/28/15. ¥
6
February 20, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
PAGE 6
A N D
STRIPES •
Friday, February 20, 2015
MILITARY
Carter sworn in as the new defense secretary BY JON H ARPER Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Ashton Carter was sworn in Tuesday as President Barack Obama’s fourth defense secretary, assuming the post at a time when the administration’s policy against Islamic extremists is being widely criticized and military brass are raising the alarm over the effects of budget cuts on America’s ability to cope with national security threats. Vice President Joe Biden, who administered the oath of office at the White House, praised Carter as “a thinker and a doer” with a history of looking out for the troops and their families. Carter previously served as deputy secretary of defense and the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Biden noted Carter’s key role in getting thousands of Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles into the field to protect American servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan from improvised explosive devices, which were responsible for the majority of U.S. casualties. “He worked like the devil to get our troops [MRAPs]. And they’ve saved lives and limbs in countless numbers,” Biden said. Biden also noted Carter’s low-profile visits to meet with wounded troops and their families.
“Almost every Saturday, when no one was looking, Ash and [his wife] Stephanie were out at Walter Reed [with] no cameras, no publicity. … They just became regulars,” Biden said. In a message sent out to all Defense Department personnel, Carter laid out three priorities for his tenure: � Helping the president make the best possible national security decisions for protecting the nation: “I have pledged to provide the president my most candid strategic advice. … I will also ensure the president receives candid professional military advice.” � Ensuring the strength and health of the force: “I will do that by focusing on the well-being, safety, and dignity of each of you and your families. … And I pledge to make decisions about sending you into harm’s way with the greatest reflection and utmost care — because this is my highest responsibility as secretary of defense.” � Making wise budget decisions: “We must steer through the turmoil of sequestration, which imposes wasteful uncertainty and risk to our nation’s defense. We must balance all parts of our defense budget so that we continue to attract the best people — people like you; so that there are enough of you to defend our interests around the world; and so that you are always wellequipped and well-trained to
execute your critical mission.” But analysts are skeptical that Carter will be able to have much of an impact on foreign policy or the long-term future of the Pentagon. Obama’s other secretaries of defense have complained about White House micromanagement of military policy. “I don’t see how Ash Carter can fix what Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta and Bob Gates couldn’t,” said Thomas Donnelly, a defense analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. On the war front, Obama’s policy toward the Islamic State group has been widely criticized as muddled and overly cautious. Obama has ruled out using American ground troops to fight the militants. Efforts to train and equip Iraqi forces and moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State group are moving slowly. And the administration has refrained from taking any action against President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria, which has been attacking the rebels that the U.S. is trying to help. “The level of effort we’re putting out is minimal, to put it mildly,” Donnelly said. “We’re measuring out airstrikes in eye drop measures. The president is unwilling to commit any boots on the ground to include spotters and targeters and stuff like that. I mean, I don’t see how we’ll be able to retake [the Iraqi city of] Mosul, for example, without the kind of
forward air controllers that would be effective. … I also don’t think that Secretary Carter will be able to do much to influence the president.” When it comes to getting the amount of money that Pentagon leaders believe they need to ex-ecute their missions and make needed investments for the future, analysts are skeptical that Carter will be able to deliver. The Pentagon is asking for $534 billion for fiscal 2016, but unless Congress changes the law, massive budget cuts known as sequestration will cap base defense spending at $499 billion. Beyond fiscal 2016, tens of billions of dollars will also be taken out of the Pentagon’s coffers each year through 2021. Obama has proposed raising some taxes and removing the caps on both defense and nondefense spending, but the GOP appears unwilling to accept major spending increases for domestic programs. “I am somewhat pessimistic” that there will be a budget deal that eliminates sequestration,” Ryan Crotty, a defense budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told reporters during a media roundtable last month. House Republicans are “going
to want to find money for defense in non-defense. And that is so clearly anathema to the president and what he sees as his priorities.” Another obstacle for Carter is that he won’t have much time in the job to make lasting changes. At the swearing-in ceremony, Carter himself acknowledged that he is stepping into the position during the “fourth quarter” of Obama’s presidency. Analysts noted that the Pentagon’s fiscal 2016 budget request was already submitted before Carter took office. “His first budget is really going to be the [fiscal] ’17 budget. [And] we don’t know who the hell is going to be president then,” said Lawrence Korb, a defense a defense analyst at the Center for American Progress. Experts say Carter has been dealt a bad hand. “He doesn’t have enough money to fund his programs or his department, and we’re losing all the wars that were in. … It’s really a lousy situation to be in,” Donnelly said. “Under these circumstances, the best he can do is keep things from getting worse than they would be otherwise.” harper.jon@stripes.com Twitter: @JHarperStripes
Homestyle
Breakfast & Lunch
The VA offers a special refinance program for Veterans who already have a VA loan on their home. It’s called the Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan, or IRRRL. In many cases this program is available without the need for an appraisal if the property is still your primary residence, regardless of the current value. If you have since transitioned the property to a second home or rental, you can still obtain up to 115% of the appraised value to refinance your current VA loan.
©2013 CBC National Bank is a FDIC insured chartered commercial bank approved VA Lender #6720800000. NMLS #402135
Ashton Carter arrives at the Pentagon to assume duties as the newly appointed secretary of defense on Tuesday.
10% discount - Veterans & active duty
Time to Refinance
Rich Moore, Mortgage Banker NMLS# 211177 toll free: 855.313.8138
Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force
Mon-Fri 5am-3pm
Sat-Sun 6am - 3pm
Breakfast & Espresso ALL DAY! Menu: BarbiesCafe.com 68th & Lake Otis 6728 Lake Otis Pkwy. Anchorage, AK
344-4100
Family Friendly Café featuring home-style cooking at its finest with Barbie’s array of homemade soups, potato salad, sweet cornbread, omelets, eggs benedict, burgers, chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy, sandwiches, salads and more Beer & Wine available 10am - 3pm
February 20, 2015
7
ALASKA EDITION
CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE RAM OF SOUTH ANCHORAGE
NO DEALER MARK UP!
C
CHEROKEE
2015 JEEP
C
2014 RAM
WE WILL BEAT ANY DEALER’S PRICE OR GIVE YOU $1,000! ¥
1500
2014 RAM
2500
2014 RAM
C
1500
SPORT
4 DOOR 4X4 TRADESMAN
CREW CAB 4X4
4 DOOR 4X4 BIG HORN
$21,938
$27,990
$32,300
SAVE $10,100
AFTER USAA REBATE 1 AT THIS PRICE
AFTER MILITARY REBATE 5 AT THIS PRICE
AFTER MILITARY REBATE 1 AT THIS PRICE
OFF MSRP!
AFTER USAA REBATE - 1 AT THIS PRICE
CHEROKEE: MSRP: $25,130. Priced after $2,250 Factory Rebate, $442 Lithia Discount and $500 Military Rebate. 1500 TRADESMAN: MSRP: $33,980. Priced after $2,000 Factory Rebate, $1,990 Lithia Discount, $500 Chrysler Capital Rebate (must finance through Chrysler Capital, on approved credit), $500 Non-APR Bonus Cash and $1,000 USAA Rebate. 2500: MSRP: $39,820. Priced after $3,500 Factory Rebate, $3,520 Lithia Discount & $500 Military Rebate. 1500 BIG HORN: MSRP: $46,520. Priced after $4,500 Factory Rebate, $3,600 Lithia Discount, $500 Chrysler Capital Rebate, $500 Non-APR Bonus Cash and $1,000 USAA Rebate. Sale Price: $36,420. Dealer required to verify eligibility of military personnel. Eligible USAA members must present certificate to qualify. See dealer for stock numbers.
AUTO SERVICES
E DIMOND BLVD
O ABB TT
SEWARD HWY
OLD SEWARD HWY
KEEP YOUR VEHICLE RUNNING AND LOOKING GREAT WITH 24 HOUR MAINTENANCE & DETAIL SERVICE
LITHIA CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE RAM OF SOUTH ANCHORAGE
On Old Seward between Dimond & O’Malley • (866) 956-3549 • LithiaRamAlaska.com
1 O’MALLEY
MON - SAT SUNDAY
SALES
9:00AM 11:00AM
-
8:00PM 7:00PM
PARTS & SERVICE
MON - SAT
7:00AM
-
7:00PM
See dealer for stock numbers. ¥Present any Anchorage dealer’s unexpired new vehicle advertisement for verification. Other Lithia dealerships do not qualify. The competing offer must be available for immediate purchase at the advertised price. The competitor’s vehicle must be identically equipped as our in stock vehicle used for comparison. Price includes $200 Dealer Doc fee. Price plus Tax, Title and License. Art for illustrative purposes only. Offers valid through 03/02/15.
crossword
ROLE TO PLAY By Gary Cooper
63 Garage and yard events
117 Amtrak announcement
24 Black-eyed edible
85 “___ before beauty”
27 Bothersome type
121 Bits of dust
31 Scottish landowner
87 Clairvoyance, for short
ACROSS
64 Entertainment center item
125 Go different ways
Slacken off
66 Is sore
127 Think too highly of
33 Device that records fluctuating voltages
90 Kind of sandwich
1
“New York ___ of Mind”
68 Blood red
128 Ravi’s instrument
34 Bald-spot cover
96 Starchy foodstuff
70 Lead on Broadway
129 Glitterati, e.g.
35 Hornet relatives
11 Tailor
71 Law firm VIP
130 Bearing
36 “It’s ___ time!”
97 Keep up, as a conversation
19 All-stops train
74 “___ bigger and better things!”
131 Take place as a result
20 Hawk’s weapon
37 Hardy brown-andgray bird
21 Long slender cigar
75 Clothing
22 Player
78 Very practical
24 Unwholly?
79 Some brown shades
25 Cowboy topper
82 ___, rattle and roll
26 Make malicious remarks
83 Crime report initials 86 Express one’s view
28 Microscope part
88 Aired unfresh things
29 Hog sound
89 Petting
30 “He’s ___ nowhere man ...” 32 Attempt, in basketball
6
92 Straight man?
98 Got more guns
38 Accident
103 Feature of a murder mystery
39 Kin of a llama
105 Rare baseball hit
DOWN
41 Lots and lots
107 Bat haven
1
“Sound of Music” setting
42 ___ Beta Kappa
108 Nigerian dollar
44 Seize forcibly
2
Dory or dinghy
47 Large
110 Photo ___ (camera sessions)
3
Land measure
49 Commotion
4
Arm decoration
91 Legendary singer Johnny
5
Syllable omission
50 More out of one’s gourd
6
Offend the nose
53 Have some
93 Learned one
7 Spigot
56 Contract signers
35 Exuberant cries
94 Bobby, the hockey legend
8
“Oh, were it not true!”
58 Closest
38 Wizards
95 Private pupils
9
Merchant ship capacity
60 Drive-___ window
132 Sandwich spots, briefly
43 Farm mother
97 Silly, self-conscious smile
10 Constituting the full quantity
45 Blood system letters
99 Before, before words
11 Sauna setting
46 Ready to tie the knot
100 ___ many irons in the fire
12 English noble
40 Cairo cobra
48 Meditative martial art 51 Inferior dog 52 Ladled meal 54 Trouble saying “S” 55 It may be clogged 57 Korea Strait port, formerly 59 Mountain passes in India 62 Not even
101 Exiter’s exclamation 102 Angle that’s less than 90 degrees 104 Animal’s restraint 106 Ex-Ugly Duckling 109 Symbols of industry? 111 A stone’s throw away
13 Add to a poker pot 14 Large water conduits 15 A squirrel’s collection of nuts, e.g. 16 ___ Aviv, Israel 17 Building annex, sometimes
112 Sally Ride’s org.
18 Romano of sitcom fame
115 ___ Novo (Benin’s capital)
23 Government official abroad
61 Brief quarrel
111 Mollusk-shell material 113 Check out groceries 114 Sax type 116 Table scraps 118 Colorado skiing destination 119 Contra- relative
65 Mineral-bearing stuff
120 Soap-making ingredients
67 Scissors cut
121 Herd of whales
69 Inner ear?
122 Fifth, for one
72 Evoke, as a response
123 Kind of sleep
73 Give a new title to
124 Always, in a sonnet
75 Dandy’s neck wrap
126 Greek “T”
76 Seven Wonders lighthouse 77 Everyone except the clergy 80 Kin of a tsunami 81 Disparaging look 84 Prepare to pop the question
Last week’s answers
8
February 20, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES
ribbon racks, mini medals, Coin displays, shadow Boxes & more!
Snow Removal Sidewalk, Driveway, Lot
Veteran Owned Business | CustOm wOrk
907-227-4071 ribbons-n-racks
Brush Clearing & Tree Branch Removal
Just call to ask!
Ronnita’s 337-7777
February 20, 2015
9
STARS AND STRIPES
One cowhide can produce 10 footballs.
Learn even more at National University. Service members are eligible for reduced tuition. Online. On base. Non-profit. Don’t think you have time to learn something new? You just did.
Keep learning at think.nu.edu Š 2015 National University NU14_1705-35
10
ALASKA EDITION
February 20, 2015
February 20, 2015
11
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
Friday, February 13, 2015
A N D
STRIPES •
PAGE 11
MILITARY
Navy Lt. Liza Dougherty, right, and wife Faith at their wedding in 2012. Courtesy of Dana Pleasant
ESPOUSING CHANGE
Military same-sex couples overseas fight for benefits BY STEVEN BEARDSLEY Stars and Stripes
F
NAPLES, Italy aith Dougherty arrived in Italy in 2013 with her pregnant Navy-officer wife and an expectation the military would support them like any other family. She quickly learned that wouldn’t be the case. Denied military sponsorship for an Italian visa, Dougherty was forced to return as a student and enroll in Italian language classes. Because she wasn’t put on her wife’s military orders, she was barred from using military travel and had to pay for her own flights. She might have been kept from on-base housing — had the base commander not been one of the couple’s biggest supporters.
, K C U R T A Y BU GET A ! R E L E E H 4W CHEVROLET OF SOUTH
ANCHORAGE
“We exhausted everything,” said Dougherty, 35, after her family left Italy in 2014, two years earlier than planned. “We were paying as much money as we had to. We were doing everything we could to keep me in the country.” Dougherty’s story is similar to those of other same-sex spouses who have tried joining Defense Department employees overseas in the past year and a half. When the Supreme Court discarded parts of the Defense of Marriage Act on June 26, 2013, it opened the door to housing and other benefits for same-sex spouses of federal employees, including servicemembers and civilian workers in the DOD. But the military has delayed extending certain benefits common to spouses overseas, including official passports, visas and housing allowances, citing the need to check first for sensitivities with host nations.
Overseas benefits remain off-limits to samesex spouses in Germany, and their status is unclear in Korea, two countries that together host more than 90,000 troops and civilians. Progress has been slow in other countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, the first two countries in the world to legalize gay marriage. Command sponsorships were offered in Italy beginning last summer — the same week the Doughertys left the country. A Defense Department spokesman said officials continue to work with the State Department on the issue. “This has been an evolutionary process since the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Lt. Col. Nate Christensen said. SEE PAGE 12
THE ULTIMATE POWER PACKAGE
ANCHORAGECHEVROLET.COM • 9100 OLD SEWARD HWY • (907) 365-8600
Purchase a new 2014 Silverado Crew Cab or Double Cab 4X4 equipped with option LV3, or any grounded 2014 Silverado CTP Program Vehicle from dealer stock, and receive a new 2015 CF Moto X5 4 Wheeler. Transaction price is MSRP. All rebates and incentives assigned to dealer. $200 Doc Fee included. Actual trade-in value and payoff amount may affect the final transaction price or financed amount. Offer cannot be combined with any other promotion or advertised sale price. 4Wheeler provided and delivered by Marita Sea & Ski/Alaska Power Sports and will be made available after dealer is funded for Silverado purchase. Offer ends 03/02/2015.
12
February 20, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
PAGE 12
A N D
STRIPES •
Friday, February 13, 2015
MILITARY FROM PAGE 11
Those affected say they’ve been forced to choose between family and assignments beneficial to their spouses’ careers. Some say the military should have anticipated the issue before it arose and then provided better guidance to components after the ruling, preventing haphazard interpretations of DOD policy. “Some detailers and branch managers have been very supportive and sympathetic and have changed orders,” said Ashley Broadway, president of the American Military Partner Association, which advocates for gay rights in the military. “The problem, in my opinion, is there hasn’t been clear direction from the Pentagon to the various branches about this issue.”
Implementation The Supreme Court decision changed the federal definition of the word “spouse,” a term used in most basing agreements between the U.S. and host nations but rarely, if ever, defined in those documents. In August 2013, the military delayed command sponsorships for same-sex spouses overseas as it reached out to host nations, concerned that some might not agree to similar interpretations of status-of-forces agreements. In the meantime, units in the U.S. were told to make sure their personnel were eligible to bring spouses overseas, and human resources commands were instructed not to issue passports or plane tickets in cases when they weren’t. Administrators didn’t always get the message. Senior Airman Melissa Garcia-Rubio, 25, received teo-year orders to a military police detachment in Sigonella, Sicily, in August 2013, and was told to put her wife on the documents. A month and a half before leaving, she was informed the tour would be unaccompanied. Theresa Mueller, 38, was issued an official passport before joining her wife and three children in Germany in May. She then was told she’d have to pay for the plane ticket because she was ineligible for military travel. Mueller’s family still doesn’t receive the full housing allowance, she said, and she remains concerned
Courtesy of Melissa Garcia-Rubio
Senior Airman Melissa Garcia-Rubio, left, stands with her wife, Juliana, following their wedding in 2013. After accepting orders to the Navy air station in Sigonella, Sicily, Melissa Garcia-Rubio was told she wouldn’t be able to bring her wife due to restrictions on command sponsorships for same-sex spouses in some countries. The restrictions for Italy were lifted last summer. someone could take her passport away. In Korea, gay spouses were initially denied access to commissaries and exchanges because officials considered those privileges part of command sponsorship, a decision reversed in December 2013. Confusion was widespread among commands, said Broadway, who is married to an Army lieutenant colonel. “JAG attorneys contact me weekly asking me for guidance as they are trying to assist servicemembers with this very issue,” Broadway wrote in an email last summer. Dougherty assumed she would need to wait a few weeks before applying for a residency permit following her arrival in Italy with her wife, Lt. Liza Dougherty, in July 2013, shortly after the DOMA ruling. The wait instead dragged on, with little word from officials. As Liza Dougherty, 32, entered her third trimester, Faith Dougherty returned to the U.S. to apply for a student visa to replace her tourist visa, paying for her own ticket. Things remained difficult after her return to Italy. Her
class requirements kept her from staying home with her newborn son, as the couple had planned. Then the Navy rejected Liza Dougherty’s request for an exemption to the command sponsorship policy. The couple started looking for a way out, but Liza Doughtery’s detailer turned down an initial request for new orders, relenting only after the officer’s boss, thenbase commander Capt. Scott Gray, became involved. “We had the benefit of a boss that stood up for me and went to bat for me and made sure the right things happened for our family, but there are so many other people in Italy who were in our spot,” Liza Dougherty said. “Maybe those who don’t have the financial resources we have.”
Local law Forty countries have agreed to recognize same-sex spouses since 2013, according to the DOD. Another 64 either have rejected recognition or weren’t even asked formally based on cultural attitudes toward the issue. Progress has come at
different rates. By the time Faith Dougherty’s tourist visa expired in the fall of 2013, U.S. officials hadn’t reached out to the Italian Foreign Ministry Affairs, according to a ministry official. That would happen at the end of the year, and it would take Italian officials another six months to approve the matter. Other responses haven’t been as clear. Korea has given no guarantees it will grant visas for same-sex spouses, but anecdotal accounts suggest that some requests are being approved. Germany, which has not legalized gay marriage, is asking the U.S. to recognize its domestic partners as spouses under the SOFA, a request it made last March. As of last November, it had yet to hear back from U.S. officials on the subject, a ministry representative said. A potential problem could be that the U.S. can’t guarantee equal treatment of gay spouses across the U.S., given the disparity in state laws, and Broadway said the military hasn’t responded to her questions on the issue. She said she isn’t sure how to answer the regular emails from
those mulling assignments in the country. “We just don’t know what to advise folks to do,” she said. The Netherlands, the world’s first country to legalize gay marriage, remains closed to command sponsorships for reasons that remain unclear. Belgium was added to the list of countries where command sponsorship is available at the beginning of November. A legal adviser for the Belgian Defense Ministry, Nicolas Lange, said the U.S. must decide who it considers a dependent, not Belgium. Chris Jenks, a former military lawyer who once headed the international law branch for the Army, agreed, saying that under diplomatic custom, the U.S. should determine who is a military dependent under the SOFA. “The sending state determines who are ‘spouses,’ ” he wrote in an email. “So when a U.S. servicemember arrives in a NATO country, (dependents) have documentation from the U.S. military that identifies them as a ‘member of the force’ for the purposes of the NATO SOFA … not documentation that they are either the spouse or the child of the servicemember.” Others, like Dru BrennerBeck, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served as chief of the military and civil law division at U.S. Army Europe from 2001 to 2003, say the military is being appropriately cautious. Diplomatic protocols go back centuries, she said, while foreign military basing is more recent and a much more delicate subject in most countries. “The various countries are quite sensitive about expansive interpretations [of the Status of Forces Agreement] because of the extensive privileges given to those with SOFA status,” she said. Whatever the reason, families like Mueller’s, the civilian in Germany, continue to wait for a resolution, their frustrations growing. “Some days I just want to be done with it and go home,” she said. “We spent a fortune to come over here.” Stars and Stripes reporter Ashley Rowland contributed to this report. beardsley.steven@stripes.com Twitter: @sjbeardsley
THANKS FOR YOUR
Get coupons and see the ads first by signing up for email at fredmeyer.com/email
SERVICE WE SALUTE 6-4-84731
YO U
Classic Alaska Trading Company
army-navy-store.com
DOWNTOWN: 4TH AVENUE | MIDTOWN: 3200 NEW SEWARD HIGHWAY | ANCHORAGE
February 20, 2015
13
ALASKA EDITION
code breaker In these Code Quotes from America’s history, each letter given is a code consisting of another letter. To solve this Code Quote, you must decode the puzzle by replacing each letter with the correct one. An example is shown. A ‘clue’ is available if you need extra help. Example: G E O R G E W A S H I N G T O N Is coded as: W J A M W J G I T C X Z W F A Z O
L
Z
L
I
O
E
W
Z
S
E
G
H
V
Z
.
E
V
S
K
W
S
H
P
B
A
F
L
I
O
O
O
C
L
Z
Z
V
F
S
.
O
E
L
F
-
Z
B
F
-
C
Z
I
I
E
Z
V
I
V
L
H
S
H
C
P
Z
I
B
O
I
C
Z
V
F
O
L
C
Hint: This individual played football for West Point with team member Omar Bradley, but stated that not making the West Point baseball team was one of the greatest disappointments of his life. Last week’s answer: “We assert the province of government to secure the people in the enjoyment of their unalienable rights. We throw to the winds the old dogma that governments can give rights.” Susan B. Anthony
word search
sudoku Created with TheTeachersCorner.net Word Search Maker
E
S
H
E
L
M
A
N
D
B
C
C
X
D
Q
Y
F
H
L
K
A
T
T
D
A
J
S
D
N
D
E
L
O
R
E
A
N
G
O
V
U
U
E
U
A
K
Q
U
A
X
J
V
E
A
H
U
S
Z
C
M
Q
D
A
U
M
C
E
R
L
F
F
E
U
F
N
P
F
H
O
G
Q
E
V
U
E
N
F
A
R
W
Q
C
Y
J
V
Y
N
T
M
W
Y
B
Z
B
R
V
J
N
E
R
C
T
S
B
I
O
U
W
O
D
Z
A
N
S
I
V
B
T
V
X
F
O
A
K
L
N
F
R
B
I
N
K
P
T
C
F
Q
Z
O
V
I
R
S
D
M
K
R
M
I
G
T
E
B
U
A
Q
X
S
S
K
Q
X
S
P
X
A
R
C
L
V
U
R
J
T
N
H
L
K
Y
B
H
M
M
J
E
I
Q
Y
E
C
C
L
O
Z
M
T
N
W
L
N
O
F
Z
C
J
S
E
R
U
R
K
E
Z
H
O
U
G
R
L
B
F
N
R
K
M
E
P
U
I
J
E
S
N
U
T
O
F
W
I
N
L
E
S
X
A
R
A
C
Q
L
R
D
D
D
O
M
H
L
W
O
I
U
G
F
Z
F
C
R
I
E
G
E
G
S
R
Y
E
F
S
P
I
J
J
W
T
R
K
E
S
R
W
V
E
O
S
L
V
A
N
Y
O
R
E
R
U
A
A
M
C
L
G
V
O
N
B
P
D
T
S
A
T
U
R
N
T
Z
R
Q
R
W
Z
Z
E
I
R
J
S
O
G
Y
Y
Z
Q
Q
S
E
D
U
O
Y
M
R
G
G
R
E
B
N
E
S
E
U
D
M
G
R
N
A
S
H
O
M
U
H
N
E
B
A
Y
X
C
Q
X
C
A
I
T
N
O
P
HUDSON NASH PACKARD STUDEBAKER WILLYSOVERLAND TUCKER DURANT STUTZ Past Automobiles LOCOMOBILE KAISERFRAZER PONTIAC OLDSMOBILE PLYMOUTH PIERCEARROW DUESENBERG Eshelman Duesenberg Locomobile Hudson VECTOR GEO MERCURY Edsel Vector AMERICANMOTORS Stutz Nash DELOREAN SATURN ESHELMAN EDSEL STUTZ
Packard
Kaiser Frazer
Geo
Studebaker
Pontiac
Mercury
Willys Overland
Oldsmobile
Delorean
Tucker
Plymouth
Saturn
Durant
Pierce Arrow
American Motors
Stutz
Previous week’s answers
FREELANCE WRITERS Stars & Stripes U.S. Edition – Alaska is looking for freelance writers to add a local flavor to our newspaper. Two specific areas of interest are “Veteran Spotlights”, focusing on Alaska Veterans, and “Explore Alaska” focusing on Alaska adventure. Other topics will be added as well.
If you have a desire to help tell our readers about our local Veterans, Alaska’s outdoors, and other newsworthy topics, please email SteveA@AK.net. Please include some writing samples.
14
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
PAGE 14
A N D
STRIPES •
February 20, 2015 Friday, February 13, 2015
just wrote to say Troops authorized to wear II love you, husband service stars on GWOT-EM T BY JON H ARPER Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Troops are now authorized to wear service stars on their Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal suspensions and service ribbons if they have received more than one GWOT-EM for their support of overseas operations. The new policy, retroactive to Sept. 11, 2001, was approved by Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Jessica Wright in a memorandum issued Monday. The change went into effect immediately. Servicemembers are allowed to wear only one GWOT-EM suspension or service ribbon on their uniform, even if they participated in multiple operations and received more than one award. In the past, there was no way to tell by looking at a servicemember’s uniform how many GWOT-EMs they had received. The new policy has changed that. Troops may now wear a service star for each subsequent award. For example, if a servicemember received a GWOT-EM for participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and one for Operation Iraqi Freedom, they may now wear one service star on their suspension or service ribbon to indicate a second award; if they received three medals for participating in OEF, OIF and Operation New Dawn, they may wear two service stars, and so on. The five approved operations
The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, front and back. are: � Enduring Freedom (inclusive dates: Sept. 11, 2001-TBD). � Iraqi Freedom (inclusive dates: March 19, 2003-Aug. 31, 2010). � Nomad Shadow (inclusive dates: Nov. 5, 2007-TBD). � New Dawn (inclusive dates: Sept. 1, 2010-Dec. 31, 2011). � Inherent Resolve (inclusive dates June 15, 2014-TBD). Although the Afghanistan component of OEF ended Dec. 31, OEF counterterrorism operations continue elsewhere in the world, including the Middle East, Africa and the Philippines. U.S. troops participating in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the follow-on training
Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher Terry Leonard, Editor Robert H. Reid, Senior Managing Editor Tina Croley, Managing Editor for Content Amanda L. Trypanis, U.S. Edition Editor Michael Davidson, Revenue Director CONTACT US 529 14th Street NW, Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20045-1301 Email: stripesweekly@stripes.com Editorial: (202) 761-0908 Advertising: (202) 761-0910 Michael Davidson, Weekly Partnership Director: davidson.michael@stripes.com Additional contact information: stripes.com
and counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, will not be eligible for the GWOT-EM. However, the Pentagon is staffing a request to make those troops eligible for the Afghanistan Campaign Medal. That request is expected to be approved, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because no final decision has been announced. Operation Freedom Sentinel will help support the NATO-led Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan. U.S. troops in Afghanistan who participate in Operation Resolute Support will be eligible for the NATO Medal but not the GWOT-EM, according to defense officials. harper.jon@stripes.com
This publication is a compilation of stories from Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military community. The contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Defense Department or the military services. The U.S. Edition of Stars and Stripes is published jointly by Stars and Stripes and this newspaper. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the DOD or Stars and Stripes of the products or services advertised. Products or services advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.
© Stars and Stripes, 2015
he reasons I love you worry uselessly. We might try are perhaps not quite to avoid the worst experiences Hallmark-worthy. and miss the ways they could It’s true they are not make us stronger. If we knew the trite stuff of greeting card all about the best duty station sentiments and romance novels ahead of time, we might wish — and thank heaven for that. away our lives as if we could get The chapters of our love story there faster. Not knowing what’s are punctuated by moving next means we have to enjoy trucks and cardboard boxes, what’s now. You may not know trips to the airport and powers where you’re going, but you of attorney, long distance phone always know where you are. calls and temporary housing. That’s all anyone really knows, Maybe that’s why the reasons and I love you for that. I love you are less about roses I love you for what you never and more about well-worn say. You do say you love and apuniforms, less about gourmet preciate me. I never get tired of meals in exclusive restaurants that, but I also love you for what and more about understocked you don’t say. You never tell me commissaries in remote locaI’ve spent too much or gained tions. Our love has always been weight, SPOUSE CALLS even when less about expensive gifts and more about priceless memories I have. You made by accident, rather than never say, by design. “My job is In honor of Valentine’s Day, important,” the conventional day for makeven though ing declarations like this, here it is. You are the unconventional reasons never say, I love you: “Will you I love you, because you are take care of not always with me. This goes things while beyond absence that makes the Terri Barnes I’m gone?” heart grow or “Will fonder. I love Join the conversation with Terri at you be here stripes.com/go/spousecalls you because when I get you are back?” Those dedicated to a questions are calling, even when it takes you unthinkable, because your trust away from all you love most, in me is absolute, and I love you including me. Those outside for that. You never say “You’re the military label the demands lucky to have me,” but I know of your life as “Sacrifice,” an I am. abstract concept with a capital I love you because you’ll “S.” But I know the tangible never be rich. We never wonder pieces of life your service costs, where our next meal will come the hours and minutes you can from. We can call the clinic if never get back: sweet days with the kids get sick. We can count our growing children, celebraon the next paycheck arriving tions experienced secondhand on time, but you’re not in this by phone and photographs. In for the money. With your ingethe line of duty, you set aside nuity, you could have come up your own safety. You also give with a hundred ways for more up the small comforts of your financial success if you had own home: hot showers, smooth chosen another kind of life. But sheets, morning coffee in you didn’t, and I love you for your own kitchen and Sunday that. You saw a need and chose afternoon football. All these you to spend your life meeting it. It give up for the larger purpose took scrimping and saving at of service to your country, and first, followed by training and I love you for that. I love you, preparation, to do what you do. because you never know where Along the way you had opporyou’re going. You can find your tunities to take easier detours. way in nearly any city, foreign You passed them by, gaining or domestic, without benefit of treasures more important and GPS. You rarely get lost, but lasting than money. in this military journey our I love you for all those reanext destination is never quite sons and more: not for where certain. I love that — and you. If we go, what you say or what you we knew about difficult assignearn, but for the man you are. ments before we got there, we’d Most of all, I love you for that.
February 20, 2015 Friday, February 13, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
A N D
STRIPES •
a hand UP not a handout. “Bean’s Cafe The Children’s Lunchbox”
15 PAGE 15
16
February 20, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
PAGE 16
ALASKA EDITION
Publishing Alaska Anchorage Art Direction Studio D Graphics
A N D
Distribution, Content, or other information
Brought to us each week with the support of these businesses
Sponsorship Level General:
none currently Colonel:
Major:
www.ContinentalAutoGroup.com
Captian:
RIBBONS-N-RACKS
Facebook Ribbons-n-Racks
www.AnchorageChevrolet.com
ARMY NAVY
www.ClassicAlaska.com
Barbies Cafe’
www.LithiaChryslerAnchorage.com
Contact Steve Abeln
(907) 250-0018 Steve@AlaskaStripes.com
Friday, February 13, 2015
ALASKA EDITION
Advertising Steve Abeln - (907) 250-0018 Steve@StripesAlaska.com
STRIPES •
www.LithiaKIAAnchorage.com
ALASKA PREMIER DENTAL GROUP www.SmileAlaska.com
Sponsorship Details - Steve 250-0018
www.BarbiesCafe.com
Fred Meyer
www.FredMeyer.com