Stars and Stripes 3.12.15

Volume 7, No. 13 ŠSS 2015

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015

For information please contact Waverly Williams 803-774-1237 or waverly@theitem.com

AL ASKA

OUTDOOR OBSESSION LIVING THE DREAM Servicemembers, vets drawn by Alaska scenery, sports LEARNING TO SURVIVE

Extreme training center teaches Cold War skills

A view of a glacier is shown from an Alaska Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter.

SETH ROBSON /Stars and Stripes

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MILITARY

LIFE ON THE EDGE IN AL ASK A

I

BY SETH ROBSON Stars and Stripes

ANCHORAGE, Alaska f you’re assigned to Alaska, it’s probably good to love the outdoors, because there’s plenty to go around.

America’s largest state, with the lowest population density, is a place of striking contrasts, where the sun barely comes up in winter and barely goes down in the summer, where mountains and glaciers create scenic masterpieces that can quickly turn deadly, where tourists flock to hike in Denali National Park when the weather is good and flee south when things turn cold.

For servicemembers, it’s a place to embrace hunting, fishing, skiing and snowmobiling, or to simply survive the brutal winters, when cabin fever can drive people to alcoholism and drug abuse.

Even though a winter road trip can mean packing a wide array of survival gear — the military encourages personnel heading into the wild to sign out emergency locator beacons — Alaska gets into the blood of many. More than 76,000 veterans — more than a tenth of the population — call it home, eschewing the warmer climates of Florida, Texas, California and Hawaii.

Fairbanks, known as America’s coldest city, is home to a brigade of soldiers 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle. In winter, which typically runs from September to May, average low temperatures range from 15 below zero to 25 below zero but can get as low as 75 below zero. Parking spots have electrical outlets that cars and trucks plug into to keep their engines from freezing.

In Anchorage, where the weather is milder than

in most of the state, there are tall buildings, bars, cafes and government offices that you’d find in any large city.

There’s also crime; police launched a crackdown in February prompted by 11 shootings and four suspected homicides related to the drug trade. It’s yet to be seen what impact Alaskans’ recent decision to legalize marijuana use will have.

The social problems don’t appear to have much impact on tourism. Visitors don’t have to search long to find carved bone ornaments in the shape of polar bears or hand-sewn moccasins in gift shops and gas stations.

In fact, it’s hard to escape that this is a dream for hunters, who can fill their fridges with all the moose meat they can eat. Walk through the arrival gate at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, and you’re greeted by an impressive collection of stuffed bears.

Hunting trophies are ubiquitous in a land teeming with big game. There seems to be a set of antlers in every office on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, and another pack of fierce-looking stuffed bears threatens to feast on diners at the Base Exchange food court. Inside the store there’s an arsenal of rifles, shotguns, fishing rods and 1,000 other pieces of essential outdoors gear on sale.

“If it’s in an REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) catalog, it’s going on here,” said Alaska Air National Guard Maj. Keenan Zerke, 39, an Anchorage native who takes full advantage of the lifestyle afforded by his home state when he’s not coordinating military search-and-rescue efforts out of Elmendorf.

Y O U D O N ’ T H AV E T O L O V E T H E O U T D O O R S T O M A K E A glacier is shown from an Alaska Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter. Set h Robson/Stars and Stripes

Friday, March 13, 2015

Zerke sleeps under the skin of a buffalo that he shot a few years back after riding 250 miles to track it on a snow machine — the Alaskan name for a snowmobile.

“I throw it down in front of the fire when I have a friend over,” he said of his buffalo skin. “It kind of sets the mood.”

It took two seasons to eat all the meat harvested from the great beast.

“All the meat is organic, natural with no preservatives, and groceries are expensive here,” he said of Alaskan game.

Most soldiers and airmen who arrive in Alaska are keen to try their hands at sports such as skiing, hiking, snowmobiling, mountaineering, hunting and fishing, Zerke said.

“You only get a limited time to be here if you are on active duty, so take advantage of it,” he said.

In a land where there’s so much to do, it pays to invest in the right gear.

“Everything here is further, more demanding, more expensive,” Zerke said. “You can’t just get into these sports for free. If you want to go hunting, for example, you need a rifle, a four-wheel-drive, a pack and more.”

The latest extreme sport involves riding fat-wheel mountain bikes, which perform well on snow and retail for more than $2,500. The Susitna 100 involves racers biking, skiing or running over a 100-mile marked winter course.

Another popular new sport here is pack-rafting, which involves hiking into the wilderness with inflatable rafts in backpacks, then inflating them and riding down rivers, Zerke said.

“A quarter of the pilots in my squadron own their own planes,” he said. “All of us are into boats and snow machines.

It’s a very active group of people we have here.”

The obsession with the outdoors translates well to a military environment.

In January, when an ice climber fell 1,200 feet, his partner called for help but didn’t know his coordinates, just the name of the mountain, Zerke said.

“The (military) rescue guy

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Early morning traffic passes through Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson outside Anchorage, Alaska, last month.

SETH ROBSON /Stars and Stripes

had climbed the same piece of rock and knew where to go,” he said.

The military search-andrescue crews have had some memorable missions.

During a Yukon Quest race, a blizzard snowed in several teams of sled dogs that were rescued by the Air National Guard. One pilot packed 26 dogs into his helicopter.

Capt. John Romspert, 40, a guardsman from Anchorage, rescued a trapped musher with his dogs after the man’s sled broke down in a deadly storm with a wind chill of 73 below zero — temperatures of 27 below zero with 30-knot winds.

After the rescuers located the musher, who was curled up in a sleeping bag, they started loading his dogs into the helicopter, Romspert said.

“I grabbed two dogs, but these guys are directional,” he said. “I had the left dog on the right and he wanted to

be on the other side and kept pulling me over. The dogs were paranoid about getting into the helicopter, but once they were in there, they didn’t want to get out.”

Running into trouble in the great outdoors or even on the drive to work is something that Alaskans prepare for. Drivers carry emergency kits with spare boots, sleeping bags, food and water in case they get stranded by a breakdown or bad weather.

A trip away from the road is even more dangerous. Jon Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild” tells the story of adventurer Christopher McCandless, who died in the Alaskan bush after becoming trapped and running out of supplies on the wrong side of a snow-fed river.

Anchorage businessman Justin Green, a native and keen outdoorsman, said he typically takes a large canvas tent with a stove when he goes hunting.

ONLINE Cold weather training critical as race for Arctic’s natural resources heats up Air crews must prepare for the worst in icy Arctic Plus photo galleries and an interactive map

stripes.com/go/alaska

“You have to figure out a way to get warm and dry because moose hunting season is late September, which is a cold time of year,” he said.

Green carries a first-aid kit and a .44 caliber revolver for bear protection on trips into the bush. He also has his own emergency locator and satellite phone that he keeps in a waterproof box.

“If the boat sinks or the truck goes into a river, I tell people to make sure they take the yellow box because that is what is going to get us home and save our lives,” he said.

“There’s no walking back so you are stuck until somebody comes to get you.”

The summer threat is mosquitoes. Repellent and nets are essential for trips into the woods, Green said. Bears that have been hibernating for the winter are out looking to stuff themselves before heading back to their caves again.

Servicemembers interact with native Alaskans when they fly missions to far-flung villages that are accessible only by air, ship or snowmobile. At Christmastime, the Air National Guard flies school supplies and presents to children in some of the state’s most isolated communities, which gives the crew a chance to experience indigenous culture and food.

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I T I N ‘ T H E L A S T F R O N T I E R ’ S TAT E , B U T I T H E L P S

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MILITARY

Skis and snow shoes are essential winter gear for moving across ranges at Black Rapids Training Site, Alaska.

PHOTOS

SETH ROBSON Stars and Stripes

BY

FEELING THE CHILL Northern Warfare Training Center tests troops’ mettle in harshest conditions

BY SETH ROBSON Stars and Stripes

BLACK RAPIDS, Alaska — Trying to shoot straight in combat is tough even under the best conditions. Add in mountainous terrain, and the degree of difficulty jumps dramatically.

Mountain marksmanship ranges at the Army’s Northern Warfare Training Center are set up so that troops can practice engaging the enemy in a steep and complex landscape.

In some places, troops are roped onto peaks while they practice shooting from high perches.

“It was designed for troops going to Afghanistan,” said the school’s commandant, Lt. Col. Mark Adams, 45, of West Farmington, Ohio. “When you are shooting on a horizontal range, things are pretty simple. Here you are shooting at steep angles up and down.”

First established 67 years ago, at the dawn of the long standoff with the Soviet Union, the training center remains just as relevant today as the Army and Marines ramp up cold weather training amid tensions in

Eastern Europe, disputes over Arctic resources and instability on the Korean Peninsula.

Essentially, the military is relearning skills that were at a premium during the Cold War. Troops come to the Army’s Black Rapids Training Site, a mountainous area deep in the Alaskan interior, to learn how to fight and survive in some of the harshest weather on Earth. The school’s 15 instructors and 35 support personnel run a range of courses, mostly for soldiers stationed in Alaska, who earn the coveted “Arctic” uniform tab once they have completed the program.

“We have the extremes here, so it makes the training very realistic,” Adams said on a recent, typical February day, when temperatures in the short daylight hours hovered around 30 degrees below zero before plunging an additional 20 degrees at night.

The school has trained West Point cadets, Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and FBI agents, but most of its students are assigned to U.S. Army Alaska’s two infantry brigades — the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team out

of Fort Wainwright and the ancient ski and mountaineering equipment.

4th Brigade Combat Team Memorials at the (Airborne) out of Fort school serve as a Richardson. reminder that operat“They have to get the ing in such a harsh basics, because back at environment can be their units they train deadly. in these temperatures,” In 1987, two soldiers Adams said of the died in training acciAlaska troops. dents near Black Rapids.

The training center West Point Cadet John was established in 1948.

Kilfeather had a fatal Originally based at Camp U.S. Army Alaska fall into a crevasse on Hale, Colo., the school troops earn the the Gulkana Glacier, and — now headquartered “Arctic” tab on Staff Sgt. Andy Silver at Fort Wainwright their uniform was killed crossing Phel— moved to Alaska once they have an Creek. As recently as in 1956. completed cold December, instructors The barracks at Black weather training. from the school rushed to Rapids are full of old phohelp a local backcountry tographs and keepsakes skier. The man, from depicting the school’s the nearby town of Delta history.

Junction, had been caught in an avaThere’s a Life magazine cover of an lanche that killed his skiing partner. ice ax-wielding “mountain trooper” “This is a very unforgiving time of from 1942; pictures of Gen. William year,” Adams said as a group of his Westmoreland — former commander soldiers prepared to venture outdoors of U.S. forces in Vietnam — visiting to practice cross-country skiing. the area; photos of soldiers summitSEE PAGE 6 ing Mount McKinley and pieces of

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MILITARY FROM PAGE 4

Some of the training at Black Rapids is as simple as teaching people how to dress properly to survive in the Arctic, he said.

The Army provides troops with insulated jackets and pants. If people go outside in extreme weather wearing face masks, it’s better not to take them off because the moisture inside will freeze to their faces.

Heavy winter mittens are worn over insulating gloves to protect fingers from frostbite, and soldiers are told to dress in layers and wear moisture-wicking materials close to the skin.

“We tell the soldiers to teach some of this stuff to their kids,” Adams said, noting that the Alaskan soldiers’ families also face harsh conditions in Fairbanks during winter.

Despite the precautions, troops have suffered frostbite and trench foot during training at Black Rapids in recent years, he said.

Missile-defense silos at nearby Fort Greely are a reminder of threats to the homeland, even in this desolate outpost. The Alyeska pipeline — which carries oil 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay in the far north to the port of Valdez — passes under the ranges at Black Rapids; evidence of the strategic importance of Arctic resources.

Increased interest in those riches from the likes of Russia, along with potential for contingencies in cold parts of Europe and on the Korean Peninsula,

SETH ROBSON /Stars and Stripes

U.S. and foreign troops hike past rock outcrops used to teach mountaineering at the Black Rapid Training Site in Alaska last month. mean demand for cold weather training is picking up. Last year, the school trained 1,300 personnel, Adams said.

The school has a fleet of snowmobiles and six -tracked SUSVs (small unit support vehicles) for moving people and supplies in the snow, but the school’s focus is dismounted soldier skills.

“We focus on cold weather training in winter and mountaineering and assault climbing in summer,” Adams said.

The Black Rapids site — about 140 miles south of Fairbanks on Richardson Highway — encompasses almost 5,000

FROM PAGE 3

“The only way to get to the real Alaska is by air,” said G Chief Warrant Officer Pamela Vitt, 47, an Alaska Army National Guard Black Hawk pilot.

“We have the biggest training areas here,” she said. “When you go anywhere else, it seems like you are training on a postage stamp.”

Vitt is a keen hiker who conquered Pioneer Peak, near her home in Wasilla, after a six-hour trek.

“It’s the tallest point in the area,” she said. “I can drive by and say, ‘Hey, I’ve been up there.’ ” Army National Guard Maj. Todd Miller, 25, of Watertown, S.D., said soldiers from his unit — 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, known as the “Arctic Cowboys” — have helicopters stationed all over Alaska that help with search and rescue.

The soldiers recently flew a mission to Little Diomede — one of the Alaskan islands closest to Russia in the Bering

acres of training area. Troops also have access to vast areas nearby that are part of the Joint Pacific Range Complex or administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

A series of rocky bluffs are used to teach basic military mountaineering. More advanced students can take an “assault climber” course that teaches them to lead climbs and install protective anchors so troops can follow in safety.

Black Rapids also has its own T-bar ski lift and a nearby lodge where soldiers can warm up and drink coffee between runs. The ski slope — cut

Strait — to ferry a pregnant woman with labor complications to a hospital in Nome.

It’s also common for the soldiers to rescue people who run into trouble traveling between isolated villages, Miller said.

“Between many of the towns there are no roads, and people move on snow machines along the rivers,” he said.

“When people get lost traveling, they call for help.”

Helicopter crews marvel at the spectacular scenery, but it pays to stay alert to the dangers posed by the wilderness.

“It doesn’t take long to get away from support,” Miller said. “If you are on the other side of the (Cook) inlet and weather pushes you down — it’s not like in the lower 48 where there are roads and people can pick you up.”

“Alaska is just huge,” said another guardsman, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Mike Edwards, 39, of Chugiak, Alaska.

“Until you see it in all the different environments — the different types of

through a hillside pine forest and lighted to allow training at all hours — wouldn’t be much of a test for even an intermediate-level downhill skier. For troops wearing the Army’s white vapor barrier boots attached to “white rocket” crosscountry skis, it’s a little more challenging.

The rubber boots and ancient NATO bindings that lack heel anchors don’t offer much support, meaning troops need a good sense of balance as they make their way downhill.

One of the instructors at the school, Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Miller, 37, of Fairbanks, said

terrain — it is hard to get a grip on how huge it is.”

While the mountain scenery is spectacular, there are parts of Alaska that look like a desolate wasteland with miles of flat, white nothingness.

Edwards compared it to his time flying over the desert in Iraq.

Many of the veterans living in Alaska stay on or come back after an assignment to Fairbanks or Anchorage, while others head north after hearing about the lifestyle from their buddies. Locals tend to be right-of-center when it comes to politics and are apt to thank soldiers in uniform for their service. In a land where there’s immense freedom to roam, responsibility can be a matter of life and death.

Asked about the state’s relationship to the rest of the country, Edwards said, “We identify ourselves as Alaskans and we feel a little separate from the lower 48.” robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1

the goal of the ski training isn’t to produce soldiers who can do tricks or race downhill at breakneck speed.

“In the U.S. Army, we are looking at covering long distances of flat terrain with the ability to go downhill,” he said.

Soldiers on cross-country skis could cover 15 miles in a day with relative ease, he said.

Capt. Cody Fritz, 30, of Grapevine, Texas, the school’s executive officer, rates himself a proficient cross-country skier after six months of physical training sessions on the white rockets.

“I was a novice skier when I got here,” he said.

Soldiers share the training area with all kinds of wildlife, including wolves, coyotes, eagles and caribou. Bears are a threat in summer but hibernate during the cold months.

Troops are warned that the most dangerous animals they are likely to encounter in winter are moose.

The tall creatures take the path of least resistance as they move across the landscape, which means they are often seen loping across the ranges at Black Rapids. Moose are known to attack people, especially if they perceive a threat to calves. Troops are advised to avoid them and talk loudly if they are nearby to avoid a nasty surprise. robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1

SETH ROBSON /Stars and Stripes

An ice climber makes his way up a cliff near Anchorage, Alaska.

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MILITARY

Mission: Readiness The amphibious transport dock ship USS New York is seen positioned off the coast of Kuwait on Feb 27.

PHOTOS

BY

H ENDRICK SIMOES/Stars and Stripes

5th Fleet assignment has USS New York on standby for variety of tasks

BY H ENDRICK SIMOES Stars and Stripes

ABOARD THE USS NEW YORK IN THE PERSIAN GULF — “The only solid plan was yesterday’s plan.”

That’s what some sailors aboard this ship like to say. Their mission is being ready to respond. On any given day, a downed pilot in a hostile area, an embassy in distress or any other crisis may send Marines off the deck in as little as six hours to execute a mission.

Capt. Chris Brunett, the USS New York’s commanding officer, said the crew is used to plans changing quite a bit. That’s the exciting part about what he called “amphibosity.”

“It’s the ability to be trained up on a lot of different missions, quickly plan and then go execute them,” Brunett said.

The Mayport, Fla.-based New York is currently on an eight-month deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility as part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which

Engineers aboard the New York monitor the consoles in the ship’s central control station.

also includes the USS Fort McHenry.

The warship has been maintaining a presence in the northern Persian Gulf, while the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima is positioned near Yemen because of the conflict there.

Sailors aboard the New York express deep pride and commitment to their jobs, even though uncertain deployment schedules and long times at sea can be stressful. Sequestration cuts and the fight against the Islamic State group haven’t made the situation any easier.

“It takes a toll overall,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Jody McClain, who’s going to miss his son’s graduation this year. “But when you go to sea duty, that’s why it’s called arduous: You never know when the nation needs to call for certain things and when we have to do certain things.”

McClain is not the only sailor who finds himself deployed during important life events: So far, six sailors have missed the birth of a child since the ship left homeport.

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MILITARY FROM PAGE 11

With a crew of 360 sailors and an embarked landing force of some 700 Marines, the New York can respond to a full range of missions, from combat to humanitarian assistance.

It’s equipped with a well deck with two landing craft air cushion transports, a flight deck capable of supporting a mix of helicopters and MV-22 Osprey aircraft, and a cargo bay filled with various types of combat vehicles. The ship even has a hospital, complete with operating rooms and a medical staff capable of handling a mass-casualty situation.

“We bring a lot to the fight,” Brunett said. “On any given day, we’re getting our intel updates, and we’re looking at probably a half-dozen different places.”

Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen are potential hot spots where the New York might be needed.

In June, the ship conducted a surge deployment in which it played a crucial role in the capture of suspected Benghazi attack ringleader Ahmed Abu Khattala in Libya. Along with work-ups, the ship spent most of last year at sea and left in December for its current deployment.

The ship’s embarked Marines recently spent a month ashore in Kuwait conducting weapons training and live-fire exercises. Besides serving as a ready crisis-response force, the ship is routinely involved in theater security cooperation efforts.

Amphibious warships like the New York are in high demand but short supply.

The Navy’s chief of naval operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, said last month that the Navy has been able to keep only one other amphibious ready group in a readiness posture, on average. The requirement from combatant commanders is three so the Navy can respond to a potential major crisis.

The Navy has only 31 of the 38 amphibious warships it says it needs to support global operations. Navy leaders have warned that the degraded readiness of the amphibious fleet may leave the service unable to properly respond to a contingency.

In addition, the Navy has struggled to bring stability

Above: An MV-22 Osprey takes off from the flight deck. Left: Well deck crews aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York unload a landing craft air-cushioned transport that brought equipment from Marines training in Kuwait back to the ship, Feb 28.

PHOTOS BY H ENDRICK SIMOES/ Stars and Stripes

to the shipboard deployment cycles in recent years as sequestration cuts have caused massive maintenance backlogs.

Its current plan to curtail deployment lengths and give sailors more predictable schedules is at the mercy of next year’s budget, the Navy’s

top brass warns.

Aboard the New York, the high operational tempo is the most demanding for the engineers who keep the ship in running order.

“Stuff breaks down a lot, but then you get to fix it” said Petty Officer 3rd Class

Allison Hodge, who works on the ship’s air-conditioning systems. “I love fixing stuff; I love the work. It can be stressful at times, but we’re a big family and we get through it one day at a time.”

Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrew Dailey, who main-

tains the ship’s diesel engines, said deployment isn’t as bad as people make it out to be.

“I think you’ve got to know why you’re here and what your motivation is, and just kind of hold onto it,” he said. simoes.hendrick@stripes.com Twitter: @hendricksimoes

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Operation 300 honors families of the fallen

MILITARY

B

JUANENRIQUE O WINGS/Courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps

U.S. Marines and sailors assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit prepare to depart Al Galail, Qatar, in May 2013 after Exercise Eagle Resolve 13. This year’s Eagle Resolve began Sunday in Kuwait.

Eagle Resolve underway in Kuwait Stars and Stripes

About 3,000 American troops are participating in an exercise in Kuwait this month aimed at strengthening coordination among Persian Gulf allies.

Eagle Resolve 2015, which began Sunday, continues a series of exercises hosted by members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and conducted with international allies. It is the first since GCC nations joined in U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State group last year and the first hosted by Kuwait.

U.S. defense officials have said the exercise is not related to current operations and that

Friday, March 13, 2015

planning began in January last year.

The exercise tests a combined military headquarters through various “injects,” or fictional military scenarios. It includes tactical demonstrations of air, maritime and land forces, and finishes with a seminar for senior military leaders.

The exercise involves representatives from the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, which planned the exercise, and American theater commanders for land, maritime and air forces. Marines from the USS Fort McHenry will conduct training with participant forces.

More than a dozen nations

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

were expected to participate in Eagle Resolve, CENTCOM said in a news release.

The GCC nations — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman — cooperate on economic and social issues across the region. The GCC is working to strengthen military ties to offset the perceived threat from Iran across the Persian Gulf.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE have all participated in airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria as part of the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve.

Eagle Resolve runs through March 31. news@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

efore the Battle of serving about 100 children Thermopylae between each year in four sessions. thousands of Persian While sailing, horseback ridsoldiers and three ing, learning to pitch tents and hundred warriors of the Greek build campfires, the campers city-state of Sparta, so the connect with other kids who’ve story goes, Xerxes, the Persian experienced a similar loss. king, attempted to convince “We hear a lot that the Sparta’s king, Leonides, that camp was the first time since the vastly outnumbered Sparthey lost their dad that they tan force should lay down their didn’t feel weird,” Tara said. weapons.

“They didn’t have to explain “Come and get them,” Leoniwhy their dad wasn’t there.” des responded. The Spartans Everyone already knows, and were defeated in that battle, understands. but their bravery became Operation 300 campers are legendary as did their king’s paired with personal mentors, words of defiance. men about the same age their Aaron Vaughn had that own fathers would be. The phrase tattooed on his foreratio is one mentor to one or arm in Greek. Even before he two children, so the interacbecame a Navy SEAL, he loved tion is close. Mentors undergo the story of the Spartans, said training and background his sister, Tara Baldwin. Aaron screening, but are not grief lost his life in Afghanistan on counselors.

SPOUSE CALLS Aug. 6, 2011, along with 29 “Some other U.S. servicemembers, are just when their transport, a Chidads. They nook helicopter, was shot down. come from After that loss, Tara wanted all walks of her brother’s adventurous spirlife,” Tara it to live on through his family, said. One including his three children. mentor is a She watched her sister-in-law, military son, Kimberly, grapple with her now 25, who own grief, her children’s loss lost his faand the reality of raising them Terri Barnes ther 10 years alone. ago. He Join the conversation with Terri at “I saw her spends time agonizing over stripes.com/go/spousecalls helping other who would do kids by sharthings with ing his own them that their father would story. Mentors stay in contact have done, who would teach with campers throughout the them about their father,” said year and are reunited when the Tara. “In that helicopter crash, kids return again for camp.

40 kids lost their dads. When Mothers of the campers are you see the numbers on the also welcome, and they don’t news, it doesn’t hit you the have to camp out. They stay in same as when it’s you. You see a hotel on or near the beach, the reality of the loss of even not far from the camp location. one life, then you multiply that Everything — even airfare exponentially.”

— is free to the participants, Recalling the activities her all funded by donations to brother loved — hunting, fishOperation 300. The camp’s ing, shooting and other outdoor current location in Florida is sports — the activities he would on borrowed land. The staff have enjoyed with his children has to rebuild and tear down if he had lived, Tara wanted to facilities for each session. The be sure they would still do those organization is trying to raise things. Realizing the numbers $400,000 to purchase land to of other military kids who had build a permanent camp. lost their fathers in wartime, “If we had a place that was she wanted to reach out to ours, we could serve a lot them as well. Out of her desire more children, do more than was born Operation 300, an four camps a year,” she said. adventure camp especially for “There are a lot of other things children who have lost fathers we would like to do.” to combat. The name was choWhatever the future holds, sen to honor Aaron’s affinity for the Spartan story. their plan is a simple one.

Grief is the common de“We try to honor their dads nominator, but adventure is the by living and enjoying life,” she focus of Operation 300 camps, said.

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