Stars and Stripes 8.28.15

Volume 7, No. 36 ŠSS 2015

First female graduates of Ranger School earn elite tab

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015

Capt. Kristen Griest stands amid a crowd after receiving her Ranger tab at a graduation ceremony Aug. 21 at Fort Benning, Ga. C OREY D ICKSTEIN /Stars and Stripes

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HISTORY MAKERS

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

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Friday, August 28, 2015

COVER STORY

JOHN BAZEMORE /AP

First Lt. Shaye Haver, center, and Capt. Kristen Griest, right, pose for photos with other female West Point alumni after the Army Ranger school graduation ceremony on Aug. 21 at Fort Benning, Ga.

RANGERS MAKE HISTORY First female graduates earn elite tab after completing premier course

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

FORT BENNING, Ga. — Under a clear blue southwest Georgia sky, the Army’s first female soldiers to earn the coveted Ranger tab were pinned with the black-andgold half-moon patches on the morning of Aug. 21.

Amid a swarm of wellwishers, media and 94 male graduates, family members of Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver placed the hard-earned tabs on their left

shoulders, the culmination of 123 days of often-brutal training in the Army’s premier leadership course.

Addressing an overflow crowd that included new Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley and several “Ranger leg-

‘ There was no pressure on me from

above to lower any standards. These soldiers graduating today accomplished it with the very same standards of Ranger School as those before them.

’

Army Maj. Gen. Austin Miller commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence

ends,” Army Maj. Gen. Austin Miller, the commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence, called the graduating class “historic for a number of reasons,” including the two female soldiers.

Miller turned his speech toward the many naysayers, especially online, who continue to express beliefs that the Army lowered its standards.

He invited them to visit Fort Benning “and re-qualify as a Ranger.”

SEE PAGE 3

Tell us: Should women be fully integrated?

The Pentagon is committed to opening combat military occupational specialties to women. But the services are still studying whether to integrate women into special operations units. Two women officers have graduated from the Army’s elite Ranger School. But some argue against assigning women to the Green Berets, Delta Force, SEALs or other special operations units is a step too far because of those units’ unique nature and missions.

What do you think? Take our survey, and share your thoughts in the comments section. Please note that responses are subject to our comments policy.

To give us your feedback and participate in the poll, go to: stripes.com/go/womenpoll

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COVER STORY

PHOTOS

BY

JOHN BAZEMORE /AP

U.S. Army Capt. Kristen Griest, of Orange, Conn., left, smiles as she stands in formation during an Army Ranger School graduation ceremony on Aug. 21 at Fort Benning, Ga. Griest and First Lt. Shaye Haver became the first female soldiers to complete the Army’s rigorous school, putting a spotlight on the debate over women in combat.

FROM PAGE 2

“To date we’ve not had takers who want to come and revalidate their tabs,” Miller said. “There was no pressure on me from above to lower any standards. These soldiers graduating today accomplished it with the very same standards of Ranger School as those before them.”

Griest, a military police officer stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., and Haver, an

The women, speaking Aug. 27, said they struggled at times during the three phases of training that take candidates from the woods of Fort Benning through mountainous north Georgia and the swampland of north Florida.

“I’m just happy to be done with the course,” said Griest, who plans to go into civil affairs and hopes to become a Green Beret. “I came here to be a better leader. I feel like I

Apache pilot at Fort Carson, Colo., stood stoic among their male peers through the ceremony — which included demonstrations of Ranger tactics including fast roping from a helicopter, hand-tohand combat, explosives and waterborne exercises — at Fort Benning’s picturesque Victory Pond. In their greengray Army Combat Uniforms, the women did not stand out from their male counterparts.

‘ I’m just happy to be done with the

course. I came here to be a better leader. I feeli like I accomplished that.

’

Army Capt. Kristen Griest

U.S. Army First Lt. Shaye Haver, right, smiles after receiving her “Ranger Tabs” after an Army Ranger school graduation ceremony on Aug. 21 at Fort Benning, Ga.

accomplished that.”

“We just kind of forced ourselves through,” said Haver, an Apache pilot, acknowledging low points along the way.

“But the ability to look at my (male) peers and see they were sucking just as bad as I was, that kept me going.”

The women are still barred by policy from joining the Rangers. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter:@CDicksteinDC

‘ ... The ability to look at my (male)

peers and see they were sucking just as bad as I was, that kept me going.

’

Army 1st Lt. Shaye Haver

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Friday, August 28, 2015

MILITARY

VA touts reduction in claims backlog

BY TRAVIS J. TRITTEN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday its disability claims backlog has fallen below 100,000 for the first time after reaching a historic high two years ago.

The backlog includes the oldest unresolved claims — those that are 125 days old or older — and stood at 98,535 this week. That is a reduction of 84 percent since 2013, according to the department.

The VA has struggled in recent years to handle a massive influx of claims from aging Vietnam vets and those who returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Congress and veteran service organizations have criticized the backlog for keeping benefits from servicemembers with severe service-connected disabilities for months or sometimes longer.

“We’ve done something today that we have never done in our history before,” Allison Hickey, the VA undersecretary for benefits, told reporters.

The VA created a strategic plan to reduce a backlog of over 600,000 old claims in 2013 that included digitizing the filing process and requiring mandatory overtime for employees.

Hickey attributed most of the reduction to staff, saying she “would point without hesitation or pause to people.” But she also acknowledged that the required overtime work is not sustainable for the VA and will end after September.

The backlog is a fraction of overall pending disability and pension claims, which have decreased to about 363,000 from 884,000 three years ago, according to data published by the VA. What was touted by Hickey on Monday as a “historic moment” was greeted by some frustration from the VFW, the nation’s largest service organization for war veterans.

‘ All they’ve talked about is reducing that part of the workload and that part of the backlog. They’ve done that, at least in part, at the expense of other work.

’

Gerald Manar deputy director of National Veterans Service at VFW The Veterans Benefits Administration, the section of the VA tasked with the claims, accomplished the dramatic reduction by focusing in on one small section of its responsibilities, said Gerald Manar, deputy director of National Veterans Service at the VFW. “All they’ve talked about is reducing that part of the workload and that part of the backlog,” Manar said.

“They’ve done that, at least in part, at the expense of other work.”

Manar said claim appeals and decisions on benefits for dependent spouses and children often languish as well but have been pushed aside by the department as it whittles away at the oldest disability claims.

The number of appeals by veterans asking for reconsideration of a claims decision increased to 298,000 in July from 239,000 two years ago, according to figures provided Monday by the VA. But the department said the percentage of appeals have remained relatively static for decades and are only rising now due to more overall claims.

“I think a big part of it is the visibility of disability claims,” Manar said. tritten.travis@stripes.com Twitter: @Travis_Tritten

RICHARD PACKER /Courtesy of the U.S. Army

The first of 24 Apache AH-64 attack helicopters arrive Aug. 18 at their new home, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

First Apaches arrive in Alaska

BY SETH ROBSON Stars and Stripes

The first of 24 Apache AH64 attack helicopters arrived on Aug. 18 at their new home, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

Two Apaches, shipped from Katterbach, Germany, were unloaded from an Air Force Galaxy C-5 cargo jet at Wainwright’s Ladd Army Airfield, said Col. Blake Alexander, commander of the U.S. Army Alaska Aviation Task Force.

“This is the first time Apaches have been stationed in Alaska,” said Alexander, whose task force includes a battalion of UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters that carry troops and cargo.

The two-seater Apache, armed with Hellfire missiles, Hydra rockets and a 30 mm chain gun, is the Army’s primary attack helicopter.

“It is a quick-reacting, airborne weapon system that can fight close and deep to destroy, disrupt or delay enemy forces,” according to a U.S. Army Alaska news release.

A new unit that includes 400 soldiers — 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, (Attack Reconnaissance) 25th Infantry Division — will fly the Alaska Apaches. The core of the unit’s personnel and its first two helicopters have come from Katterbach, where the Army recently inactivated the 3rd Battalion, 159th Regiment, (Attack Reconnaissance), Alexander said.

The new battalion will fall in on facilities vacated by 6th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, which flew Kiowa helicopters out of Fort Wainwright until its inactivation in April, he said.

The first job for soldiers assigned to the new unit will be moving into maintenance facilities and hangars on Fort Wainwright and training to operate in the Arctic, Alexander said.

“Then we will get them on the ranges to do gunnery and get them mission qualified,” he said.

The Apaches will train with U.S. Army Alaska’s Stryker and airborne infantry units, integrate with the Air Force’s long-range sensors and participate in next year’s Red Flag Alaska exercise, he said.

Basing the helicopters in Alaska is in line with the rebalance of military forces to the Pacific.

“Fort Wainwright is a great location strategically for the Army as far as forward positioning of forces,” Alexander said.

The base is closer to many potential hot spots in the Pacific than the continental U.S., U.S. Army Alaska officials said.

Apaches are already stationed in South Korea, and there will likely be another Apache unit stationed in Hawaii within a year, Alexander said.

The Alaska-based Apaches will join large-scale training

at the Fort Irwin National Training Center in California, and deploy overseas for Pacific Pathways, a program of engagement with U.S. partners in the Pacific.

Apaches can land on ships — something the Army has been doing as part of Pacific Pathways — if crews are trained and a mission requires it, but that likely won’t happen much at landlocked Fort Wainwright, Alexander said.

The Apaches will team with 12 Gray Eagle drones due to join them next year, he said.

Apache crews will be able to take control of the Gray Eagles in flight and use them to scout ahead for danger without exposing the manned helicopter, according to officials.

U.S. Army Alaska spokesman Lt. Col. Alan Brown said the Apache unit’s arrival won’t offset the loss of Army personnel in Alaska signaled by the Department of Defense earlier this year, because the additional troops are replacing those who were flying the Kiowas.

However, stationing Apaches at Fort Wainwright means the number of soldiers stationed near Fairbanks will fall only by about 70 over the next few years, a drop in the bucket compared to the 2,600 soldiers who will depart Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage under the drawdown, he said. robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1

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MILITARY

Photos courtesy of The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Above left: Pershing Park as seen in June. Above right: Pershing Park as seen in the 1980s. Plans for a World War I memorial to be placed in the space now occupied by the park have caused some controversy. See the design ideas online at stripes.com.

World War I memorial plans stir ire

BY CARLOS BONGIOANNI Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — An effort to build a new World War I memorial is causing controversy even as the project moved forward on Aug. 19 with the announcement of five design-competition finalists.

Finalists were thrilled at being chosen, and for the $25,000 they each received.

Joseph Weishaar said he was “overwhelmed” at the news. “I never thought it would turn out like this,” the 25-yearold intern at a Chicago architectural firm said. More than 300 designs were submitted.

But organizers from the WWI Centennial Commission, which launched the design competition in May, are finding themselves battling those up in arms over the site of the new memorial.

“I was shocked there was even such a contest,” said landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg, who designed Pershing Park, where the memorial is to be built.

Friedberg, 83, told Stars and Stripes on Aug. 18 that he was never consulted about the new plans. “You don’t destroy something that has value to build something and give it some other value.”

Charles Birnbaum with the Cultural Landscape Foundation believes Pershing Park is a seminal work by Friedberg, whom he referred to as a “master” in the field of landscape architecture. The design competition plans threaten what Birnbaum sees as a nationally significant architectural site that his organization is petitioning to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

After reviewing the five design finalists announced on Aug. 19, Birnbaum said his group opposes the designs, all of which call for the demolition of Pershing Park in downtown D.C., “one of the most important public spaces.”

But to Edwin L. Fountain, vice chairman of the WWI Centennial Commission, the current site where the WWI memorial is to be built is a “35-year-old

failed park” that should be replaced.

On the southeast corner of the park — at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, one block from the White House — a 12-foot bronze statue of WWI Army Gen. John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing stands along with several granite panels with inscriptions. At the other end of the 1.8-acre enclosure toward the White House, amphitheater-style steps lead down to a concrete basin that in better days served as a shallow pool fed by an upper fountain.

For years after it opened in 1981, the pool was a well-kept water garden that drew many visitors. But in recent years, the park has not been maintained and has significantly deteriorated. The pool, which also served as an ice-skating rink during winter, has not been used for several years because of poor plumbing conditions.

Friedberg called it “obscene” and a “dereliction of duty” that city officials and the National Park Service have allowed the park to fall into such

disrepair. But that doesn’t mean you do away with it, he said. “Would you destroy Central Park in New York City, just because it needed some repairs?” he asked. Friedberg said replacing his work with another was a “destruction of culture” akin to burning books. He said he’s prepared to fight to keep Pershing Park the way it is.

Fountain said it’s premature to say whether there will be a legal battle over Pershing Park. The five designs chosen to compete in the second stage of the competition will be extensively developed with several midcourse and compliance reviews before a final design is chosen in January. All pertinent agencies will be involved during the process to give guidance. If it’s determined that Pershing Park should be listed in the National Register as a historical site and cannot be substantially changed, Fountain said alterations would be made to the designs to accommodate that.

bongioanni.carlos@stripes.com

Friday, August 28, 2015

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VETERANS

Academic accommodations can help troubled veterans

BY H EATH DRUZIN Stars and Stripes

PHOENIX — Relocated to an empty clinic in the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System after going public about dangerous patient care problems, Dr. Katherine Mitchell needed a project to stay busy.

With the rate of suicides increasing within the Phoenix system, she started studying victims’ case files and found a pattern that seemed tragically easy to address: Of four who reported struggling in college, three had not received widely available but little-known academic accommodations for mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

The fourth was already failing before he received any information.

“There’s a lot of myths and a hesitation to use academic accommodation because all the soldiers come from a very strong warrior background where asking for accommodation can be a sign of weakness,” she said. “It’s not a sign of weakness; it’s a strategy to use to make it through school.”

From her research and collaboration with veterans, Mitchell has drafted a first: a veterans’ guide to reasonable academic accommodation for mental health issues, for use by doctors, VA caseworkers and veterans. With so many returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars poised to begin using their GI Bill money for college, Mitchell hopes the next step will be for the VA and veterans service organizations to use the guidelines to educate veterans on their options and help them formulate academic plans.

Academic accommodations are available for a range of disabilities. Students dealing with mental issues from posttraumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries commonly are given additional time to take tests, note-taking assis-

tance, breaks during lectures and tutoring.

Mitchell has submitted the guidelines to Federal Practitioner, a professional journal of the VA, the Department of Defense and U.S. Public Health Service health care workers.

She said that there likely were a number of factors in the Phoenix suicides, but failure in college can compound problems associated with post-traumatic stress and depression.

“Whenever you have academic failure, it helps snowball other stresses in your life,” she said.

Mitchell, who helped uncover the ongoing national Veterans Affairs health care scandal and has testified in front of Congress, was looking at suicide charts when she discovered the wait-time issue.

She was working at the empty clinic — where she had been assigned after complaining about patient care problems in the Phoenix VA emergency room — when she found patterns in patient scheduling that reflected the existence of secret wait lists. She and Dr. Samuel Foote blew open a nationwide scandal that cost the Phoenix director, Sharon Helman, her job.

After Mitchell forwarded findings of improper care to the VA’s inspector general’s office, she said she was put on administrative leave and forbidden to look at suicide charts.

The order still stands, she said.

Aid not in vets’ nature The Americans with Disabilities Act guarantees anyone with physical or mental disabilities academic accommodations. The disability does not need to be connected to military service, but the student must seek help and register with the campus disability resource center or admissions office. That means they need to know about the benefit in

the first place, which has been a major hurdle.

“I think people aren’t aware of it,” Mitchell said.

Dan Standage understands the importance of veterans knowing their academic rights. As a blind former Marine, Standage spent years doing battle with professors to get the help he needed to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arizona. As director of disability in education for Student Veterans of America, he worked with Mitchell to craft the language of her guide, and he hopes to incorporate it into his group’s outreach efforts.

Veterans need a push to seek help and assurances that they’re not getting special treatment, he said.

“They’re really bad at taking care of themselves,” he said. “The way we’re trained in the military is, ‘I’m going to take care of the team because the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf.’ ” Trying to get through school with a disability, though, is “like eating soup with chopsticks,” Standage said. And while many professors seek to help disabled students, Standage said some see accommodations as cheating and need to be reminded of their obligations.

“Disability scares people and that’s because most of the time they’ve never been around it,” he said.

Tool for achievement Iraq veteran Gary Saleh, 29, who was medically retired after multiple traumatic brain injuries, said he arrived at Cochese Community College in Sierra Vista, Ariz., determined to better himself but unsure how he would overcome his trouble with concentration, memory problems and anxiety. Fortunately for him, another student asked a professor about academic accommodations in front of the class.

PHOTOS

BY

H EATH D RUZIN /Stars and Stripes

Above: Dan Standage, a legally blind veteran and Director of Disability in Education for Student Veterans of America, displays glasses that magnify text in books. For the most part, Standage must use audio books, an accommodation he says many professors still resist. Below: Dr. Katherine Mitchell, who helped uncover a scandal in veterans’ health care, developed a guide to academic accommodations for disabled veterans after her VA bosses moved her to an empty clinic after she reported patient care problems.

“I had no idea that college even offered that,” Saleh said.

Uneasy at first with asking for help, he waited another week before deciding to check on accommodations. Now in the second semester of a two-year associate degree in cybersecurity, he gets extra time on tests, is allowed to take breaks as needed and can record lectures.

“These tools are what helps me achieve what I need to achieve,” he said. “Every once in a while, everyone needs a little help.”

As Mitchell sees it, beyond being an issue of fairness, it’s also a medical concern, and she hopes going over her guidelines with incoming veterans will become a normal part of the doctor-patient relationship at the VA. Veterans are often older

than their classmates and are coming out of a very different environment, raising their anxiety about college. The vast majority of veterans who use academic accommodations will not have suicidal thoughts. However, given the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries among returning veterans and the ongoing suicide crisis in the military ranks, Mitchell said anything that can reduce stress and improve mental health should be welcomed.

“I can’t prevent all suicides,” she said, “but what you do for anyone who is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts is you try and stack the cards in their favor.” druzin.heath@stripes.com Twitter: @Druzin_Stripes

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Friday, August 28, 2015

PACIFIC

PHOTOS

BY

JAMES K IMBER /Stars and Stripes

An explosion at the U.S. Army’s Sagami Depot outside Tokyo sparked a fire that burned for hours early Monday and shot up fireballs and some fireworks-like blasts that were visible miles away. Officials said there were no injuries.

Explosion at Army facility near Tokyo draws criticism

BY ERIK SLAVIN Stars and Stripes

YOKOHAMA, Japan — The Army is investigating an explosion at Sagami Depot outside Tokyo amid calls from Japanese officials to take further steps to minimize the chances of future accidents.

Initial findings deemed it unlikely that criminal activity started the warehouse explosion early Monday, the Army said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. No injuries were reported.

The 12:45 a.m. explosion produced fireballs and streaking flames visible far from the depot in Sagamihara city, which is 34 miles from Tokyo Station. The fire smoldered for more than six hours before dying out, Army and Japanese fire officials said.

The explosion set off dozens of fire extinguishers and pressurized oxygen canisters

stored inside the building, Army officials said.

The Army initially said some canisters contained Freon and nitrogen, but further inquiries ruled that out, officials said Tuesday.

After the explosion, U.S. Army Garrison Japan ordered its units to conduct safety checks at the depot, home to about 500 Japanese and 300 U.S. personnel.

“Commanders were instructed to double check their storage facilities while the investigation continues to determine the cause of the explosion,” Army spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Toner said Tuesday.

Sagamihara Mayor Toshio Kayama called on the U.S. military to provide a thorough response to the explosion during a Monday meeting with Col. William Johnson, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan.

“Such an accident at the

depot, which is located in an urban area, caused great fear to residents in the surrounding community and threatened the safety of citizens,” according to a transcript of Kayama’s statement to Johnson. “The city of Sagamihara files a strong protest and calls for a prompt investigation into the cause of the accident and release of the findings to the public.”

The explosion occurred in a warehouse about 500 yards from the fence line of the facility, which is across from the city’s main train station.

Base and Sagamihara city firefighters let the blaze burn out rather than fight it with water because of uncertainty about the approximately 9,700square-foot building’s contents.

The fire posed no threat to nearby structures, officials said.

The Army plans to share the final investigation report with the Japanese government, but

An explosion at the U.S. Army’s Sagami Depot in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 34 miles from Tokyo, occurred inside a onestory, concrete warehouse at about 12:45 a.m. on Monday. did not set a timetable for its release.

“The length of investigations vary, and we will take as much time as necessary to try to determine the probable cause of the explosion,” the Army said Tuesday.

The Japanese government called on the Army to improve its storage processes.

“This (incident) caused concerns to the people living in the neighborhood,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

“As to the root cause analysis and prevention mechanisms for the future, the Japanese government strongly requests to enhance measures going

forward.”

Sagami Depot — about 7 miles from Camp Zama, home to thousands of U.S. soldiers and Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel — opened in 1935 as a Japanese army arsenal.

The U.S. Army took over the property in 1945 and uses it as a storage and logistics facility.

The roughly 500-acre property includes 86 acres of U.S.Japanese joint-use land, and 25 acres dedicated to a public park. In July, Army officials said the U.S. had returned 42 acres of Sagami Depot to Japan last year that had been used for Army family housing. slavin.erik@stripes.com Twitter:@eslavin_stripes

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MILITARY

BY CHRIS CHURCH Stars and Stripes

ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT — ”Reveille! Reveille! Reveille! All hands heave out and trice up.

Reveille.” The U.S. Navy’s 6 a.m. wake-up call on the USS Theodore Roosevelt marks the start of a long day that for many may seem like a repetition of the day before. But on this aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, every task is key to the mission of launching strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

For that, everyone — from the flight deck crew to the engineers — must retain focus, a challenge given the monotony of repetitive tasks carried out day after day, month after month, sometimes in extreme temperatures.

In addition to battling the insurgents, the commander of the Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is intent on battling complacency among the crew.

Rear Adm. Roy J. Kelley, let his staff and crew know immediately after taking command mid-deployment in July that the issue is one of his top priorities.

“This is typically when complacency sets in,” Kelley said of the halfway point of an eight-month deployment.

“There’s always the fear that someone’s mind is going to wander away from the task at hand, and in this business, especially, that can become very dangerous.” The reveille call, broadcast over the public address system, means it’s time to get dressed, eat and prepare for a 12-plus-hour shift. For some, such as the flight deck crew, that means spending large portions of the day in the beating sun. On this particular day, the heat index is only 110 degrees aboard the aircraft carrier, better than a couple of weeks before, when it soared into the 150s.

Along the flight deck, sailors in brown shirts sit in the cockpits of F/A-18 Super Hornets riding the breaks while shipmates check the jets’ equipment. Blue and yellow shirts are walking along the flight deck ensuring jets are properly positioned.

SEE PAGE 12

Sailors battle complacency at sea by shaking up routine

A sailor looks out at the sea while standing watch onboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on Aug 13. Staying focused can be difficult during a monthslong deployment as sailors perform the same tasks day after day.

C HRIS C HURCH /Stars and Stripes

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Friday, August 28, 2015

MILITARY FROM PAEG 11

The red shirts, a team of aviation ordnancemen, begin their day carrying munitions, some weighing more than 500 pounds. Facing one another in two rows, they link arms under the bomb they are hoisting onto a jet, their faces contorted from the strain.

But when the task is done, the crewmates joke and laugh.

One sailor sings a medley of Britney Spears and NSYNC songs.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Emily Marie Blonski, an aviation ordnanceman, said it’s this sort of camaraderie with her “red nation community” that keeps her focused every day. “My job is repetitive, but it’s not at the same time,” Blonski said. “Our chain tells us to always try something new to keep the mind fresh.”

Staying fresh and focused isn’t always as easy as Blonski makes it seem. Five months into the deployment in the 5th Fleet Area of Operations, some sailors said their jobs are becoming second nature, and that’s when the mind can wander.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Britton Jackson, an aviation electrician’s mate, said he does basically the same thing over and over.

“You’ll find yourself just going with the motions, not even thinking about what you’re doing,” Jackson said.

“They tell us not to get complacent, but it’s really hard not to.”

Small missteps could cause aircraft to crash on the flight deck, those standing watch might miss a potential threat on the radar system, or a sailor could get injured falling down a ladder well.

Kelley has ordered the commanders of the five ships that comprise the strike group to make small adjustments to prevent such scenarios.

“You change some of those sequences and force people to refocus on the mission and what they’re doing,” Kelley said. “Quite often that’ll help prevent you from having mishaps due to complacency.”

The Roosevelt’s commander, Capt. Craig Clapperton, who also took command just last month, tries to instill a

PHOTOS

BY

C HRIS C HURCH /Stars and Stripes

A member of the flight deck crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt directs the pilot of an F/A-18 Super Hornet prior to launch Aug. 13. Flight deck crew use hand signals to communicate with the pilots to ensure proper protocol is followed and to reduce risk of an accident. sense of shared mission and achievement. He gives a daily rundown via the public address system of what the crew has accomplished each day.

“They work so hard, I think it’s important to know on a daily basis the impact they are having in Iraq and Syria,” he said.

Although Petty Officer 3rd Class Ramon Martin does not feel it helps him personally, he welcomes the shared information. “Because now we know where we are at and what’s going on elsewhere,” said Martin, an aviation machinist’s mate. ”We sort of understand our position in the bigger scheme of things.”

Recreation, entertainment and other sanctioned distractions from the daily routine are also key to keeping sailors on their game.

After the long work day, sailors can participate in a variety of fitness programs, including soccer and basketball games in the hangar bay.

‘ You’ll find yourself

just going with the motions, not even thinking about what you’re doing. They tell us not to get complacent, but it’s really hard not to.

’

Britton Jackson Petty Officer 3rd Class

A sailor performs maintenance on a jet in the hangar bay while other sailors are working out on treadmills onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt on Aug. 13.

The ship organizes bingo, open mic nights, singing competitions and sometimes brings musicians onboard for concerts. The pop group We The Kings rocked the hangar bay in June.

The Roosevelt’s “Fun Boss,” Megan Villapudua, said such programs allow sailors to

relieve stress and get a sense of normalcy. “This gives an opportunity for sailors to get involved and to relax in a way they might not think possible on deployment,” she said.

Port visits also offer a break from the grinding routine.

The strike group still has months to go before it

heads back to San Diego, its new home port, Kelley said.

“Getting everyone successfully home at the end of this is important.”

At day’s end, the voice on the public address system is a reminder that tomorrow will start and end the same as today: “Taps! Taps! Lights out. All hands turn in to their racks and maintain silence about the decks. Taps.” church.chris@stripes.com Twitter: @CChurchStripes

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MILITARY

Separations for misconduct raise risk of homelessness

BY NANCY MONTGOMERY Stars and Stripes

Troops separated from military service because of misconduct are far more likely to become homeless than other veterans, a study released Tuesday has found.

Researchers with the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System in Utah found that more than a quarter of veterans who were homeless at their first Veterans Affairs visit had been separated for misconduct, with a risk for homelessness nearly five times greater than that for troops with normal separations.

Researchers had expected to find higher rates of homelessness for veterans with misconduct-related separations — troops discharged because of drug use, unauthorized absences and other misconduct.

“But we were surprised at how high the rates were,” said Jamison D. Fargo, of Utah State University, one of the authors of the study, which was published in the Tuesday issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers analyzed the VA records of 448,290 active-duty servicemembers who had been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, separated between 2001 and 2011 and were eligible for and used VA services. About half were from the Army, about two-thirds had had combat exposure, most

were men and nearly all were enlisted.

Although only 5.6 percent of the troops — 24,992 — had been separated for misconduct, they represented 25.6 percent of homeless veterans when they first visited the VA, the study found. Within a year, such vets accounted for about 28 percent of the homeless veterans, and within five years, more than 20 percent.

The higher percentage of homelessness among those with misconduct-related discharges found within the first year of seeking VA services suggests that “over the course of the year, there are increased difficulties in reintegrating into civilian life and creating a stable living situation and lifestyle,” Fargo said.

The length of time a veteran was homeless, or whether there were repeated instances of homelessness, was not captured in the study. Homeless veterans were defined as those who had indicated they were homeless, those who had sought the VA’s housing services or both. Troops who were dishonorably discharged were not included in the study because that discharge renders them ineligible for VA services.

Misconduct-related discharges usually are “other than honorable” or “general.”

Previous research on homeless veterans found risk factors such as being male and being

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younger or older than average, as well as drug or alcohol problems and mental-health issues. “The biggest risk factor is always economic-related,” Fargo said.

Rates of homelessness in the study for veterans who had been discharged honorably — from 0.2 percent at the first VA visit to 1.4 percent after five years — were more in keeping with the national rate of homelessness, Fargo said, which hovers at a little less than 1 percent.

But for veterans with misconduct-related discharges, the rate was far higher: from 1.3 percent at an initial VA visit to 9.8 percent within five years.

According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, homeless vets make up about 12 percent of the adult homeless population. Most are single, live in urban areas and suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse or other disorders. About 41 percent are between the ages of 31 and 50.

“What this study does is help us pinpoint a risk factor,” Fargo said.

According to the study authors, the results “represent the strongest risk factor for homelessness among U.S. veterans observed to date.”

“It calls for action on the part of the VA and the Department of Defense,” Fargo said. montgomery.nancy@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.

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© Stars and Stripes, 2015

Courtesy of the U.S. Army

Port of Anchorage dock workers load military vehicles and equipment from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division on to a ship on Aug. 19 for shipment to Japan.

Task Force Blackhawk to train in the Pacific

BY SETH ROBSON Stars and Stripes

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A task force of 450 soldiers and 25 Stryker armored personnel carriers from Alaska is headed for Japan and South Korea to train with U.S., South Korean and Japanese forces.

Task Force Blackhawk — composed of soldiers from 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment and other elements of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division — is preparing to depart Fort Wainwright, Alaska, for Japan, according to U.S. Army Alaska officials. The deployment — part of the Army’s Pacific Pathways program of engagement with friendly nations in the region – comes at a time of heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea halted propaganda broadcasts across the Demilitarized Zone this week after North Korea expressed regret after two South Korean soldiers were maimed by land mines allegedly planted by the North. The incident led to an exchange of artillery fire and the evacuation of some areas south of the DMZ. “Our folks watch the news,” 5-1 commander Lt. Col Jim Hayes said Wednesday. “It adds to the realism of this (deployment). They are part of history and current events going on over there.”

The unit has already shipped

its Strykers — to include reconnaissance, command, mortar carrier and medevac variants — and an advance party of troops will leave for Japan later this week, Hayes said.

“The main body will arrive in early September in Japan,” he said.

The task force will participate in Orient Shield — U.S. Army Japan’s annual exercise with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force — which will take place in and around Sendai, one of the northeastern Japan cities that bore the brunt of 2011’s devastating tsunami.

Training in Japan will involve partnering with Japanese forces and live-fire range drills. 5-1 is bringing forward observers and three of its 155 mm towed howitzer guns to Japan. The training will culminate with a four-day force-onforce exercise, Hayes said.

In Korea, the Alaska-based troops will join in the 2nd Infantry Division’s Warfighter exercise, in which the unit will maneuver for 10 days in the Wonju area, east of Seoul.

Soldiers will also conduct live-fire training at the Rodriguez Range complex, just south of the DMZ. The trip, which follows 5-1 deployments over the past 12 months to India and the Fort Irwin National Training Center in California, provides valuable expeditionary training, said U.S. Army Alaska spokesman Lt. Col. Alan Brown.

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