Volume 7, No. 18 ©SS 2015
FRIDAY, A PRIL 24, 2015
HEROES WELCOME A Marine hugs his children at Camp Pendleton last week, as he returned home from a 7½-month deployment to the Middle East. J ENNIFER HLAD/Stars and Stripes
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COVER STORY
Crisis response group returns from Mideast BY JENNIFER HLAD Stars and Stripes
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A crisis response unit that was created last year and deployed to the Middle East just as tensions were rising in Iraq returned home last week. The unit, the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command was formed in April 2014 to give U.S. Central Command a forward-deployed unit ready to respond to any crisis. For the task force, the main crisis was Operation Inherent Resolve. Many of the unit’s Marines went to al-Asad air base to advise Iraqi soldiers, though parts of the unit were based in six different countries in the region and performed a range of missions. Officials would not reveal which other countries the unit worked in, but said the Marines were busy from the time they arrived in September until they began turning over responsibility to the next task force iteration. Marines from the unit went into Iraq for the advising mission shortly after President Barack Obama authorized 1,500 additional U.S. troops there in early November. The deployment was Capt. Patrick Jones’ first. His daughter, Maggie, 4, clung to him April 14 and tried to
get him to pet their dog as he looked for his bags. She said she was very excited her daddy was back. Jones said that he and the other Marines were very busy during the deployment and that it was good to be home. The Marines worked 12 to 14 hours every day for the 7½ months they were gone, said Staff Sgt. Jose Jimenez, which made the deployment seem long. It was his fourth deployment, but the first since he’s had a family. Jimenez’s wife, Adela, said she was thankful she could communicate with her husband while he was away; the couple moved to California from Washington with their infant daughter, Melina, two months before he left. Like a Marine Expeditionary Unit, the crisis response unit comprises ground troops, logistics Marines, aviation assets and a headquarters group. But unlike an MEU, the unit is not based at sea. In an interview earlier this year, Lt. Gen. David Berger said most combatant commanders would ask for twice as many MEUs and twice as many ships, if they could, because sea-based crisis response units can move around quickly and fully sustain themselves at sea. But, he said, since there aren’t enough amphibious ships to create more MEUs,
special purpose Marine air-ground task forces can provide many of the same capabilities. The special Marine task force was formed less than six months before it deployed, so it did not complete a full predeployment training cycle. But the unit that has replaced it trained and was certified in its ability to execute a host of crisis-response missions, including tactical recovery of aircraft, embassy reinforcement and theater security cooperation. “All of our supporting elements and their Marines have been preparing for this deployment for months,” said Lt. Col. Jacob Matt, executive officer of the new task force, which has already begun arriving in the Middle East. “A MAGTF is by definition a conglomeration of units with different talents and specialties,” Matt said. “The effort it took to consolidate these different units into one cohesive team should not go unnoticed.” hlad.jennifer@stripes.com Twitter: @jhlad
‘
A MAGTF is by definition a conglomeration of units with different talents and specialties. The effort it took to consolidate these different units into one cohesive team should not go unnoticed.
’
Lt. Col. Jacob Matt Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command executive officer
PHOTOS
BY
J ENNIFER HLAD/Stars and Stripes
Top: Staff Sgt. Jose Jimenez hugs his wife, Adela, after returning home to Camp Pendleton, Calif., on April 14. Above: Maggie Jones, 4, greets her father, Capt. Patrick Jones, as he returns from his first deployment.
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COVER STORY
Marines were based in six countries over the course of the deployment.
Marines embrace their loved ones at Camp Pendleton on April 14 after returning home.
PHOTOS
BY
J ENNIFER HLAD/Stars and Stripes
A Marine holds his daughter’s hand as he looks for his gear on April 14 at Camp Pendleton, Calif., just after returning from a 7½-month deployment to the Mideast.
Motorcyclists with the Patriot Guard Riders came from all over California to escort members of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force — Crisis Response — Central Command back to their elated families April 14 at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
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Friday, April 24, 2015
WAR ON TERRORISM A man tries to use his phone while passersby try to help another injured person after a suicide attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Saturday. AP
Intelligence gaps may help Islamic State gain foothold in Afghanistan BY CARLO MUNOZ
AND
JON H ARPER
Stars and Stripes
KABUL, Afghanistan — Saturday’s massive suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan claimed by the Islamic State group shows how shortcomings in coalition intelligence-gathering may have made it difficult to gauge the militants’ strength in the country and enabled them to gain a foothold under the radar. A self-styled Islamic State group spokesman claimed his group was responsible for the attack, which occurred when a motorcyclist detonated his explosives in a ANALYSIS crowd of government workers collecting their pay at a bank in Jalalabad, killing 35 people and wounding more than 100. The Taliban condemned the attack, which President Ashraf Ghani blamed on the Islamic State group. For months, Afghan political and military officials have warned that the Islamic State was making inroads into Afghanistan. But those claims have sometimes fallen on deaf ears among U.S. military and coalition forces, who dismissed them as scare-mongering by Afghan leaders who overestimated superficial rebranding by existing insurgent groups. In the wake of Saturday’s bombing, such skepticism is giving way to concern that the Islamic State’s reach has been underestimated. Col. Stephen Basener, head of Train, Advise and Assist Command-North’s intelligence division, said American and NATO military intelligence have had difficulty confirming many of the reports of Islamic State efforts coming from their Afghan colleagues. In part, this is due to reduced numbers of resources and intelligence personnel since the drawdown of forces last year, he said.
Threat downplayed In Washington, the Pentagon is still downplaying the Islamic State’s role in Afghanistan, although Defense Department spokesman Col. Steve Warren said U.S. officials are concerned about “the potential emergence” of the militant group in the country. “Certainly there have been a lot of reports about the growing ISIL presence in Afghanistan,” Warren said Monday, referring to the
Islamic State by one of its several acronyms. “We don’t necessarily believe that … the conditions in Afghanistan are such that ISIL would be welcome” there. Despite the Jalalabad attack, Warren said DOD officials “don’t see [the Islamic State] yet as a cause of increased violence in Afghanistan” although he did not rule out some limited “rebranding” by groups formerly associated with the Taliban or other insurgents. “If we begin to see operational linkages of any sort, then I think that would be” a troublesome sign of a more serious Islamic State threat. He said coalition intelligence would “continue reassessing” the situation. But one former Afghan army general told Stars and Stripes that Afghan intelligence officials have reduced the amount of information they share with coalition forces. “They barely share intelligence reports …
otherwise, they would have known much more about the activities of (the Islamic State) in Afghanistan,” said Naqeebullah, who goes only by his last name. He is now a legislator representing Laghman province. Shahidullah Shahid, the self-appointed spokesman for Islamic State in Afghanistan, claimed his group was behind the bombing. It was the first claim of responsibility by the Islamic State for an attack inside Afghanistan. Ghani put the blame squarely on the group during a televised speech shortly after the bombing in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province. “Today the deadly attack in Nangarhar province — who claimed responsibility?” Ghani said Saturday. “Taliban did not claim responsibility, but Daesh claimed responsibility,” he said using an alternative Arabic name of the group. SEE PAGE 6
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WAR ON TERRORISM
An Afghan security forces officer inspects the site of suicide attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Saturday. AP
FROM PAGE 4
Before Saturday’s attack, Afghan media reports claimed Islamic State members fought alongside Taliban insurgents during a series of attacks against Afghan military outposts earlier this month in northern Badakhshan province. Some purported witnesses said insurgents raised the Islamic State’s black flag over an Afghan army compound they had overrun in Jurm district. Before the Badakhshan attacks and the Jalalabad bombing, coalition commanders said that the radical Islamist group, which has declared a caliphate in the territory it controls in Syria and Iraq, had little to no military capability inside Afghanistan. “We have seen a certain element of franchis-
ing” by Islamic State in northern Afghanistan among disillusioned Taliban commanders and other insurgent groups, attracted to the Islamic State’s spectacularly violent push across the Mideast,” Brig. Gen Andreas Hanneman, the TAACNorth commander, said last month. But, “when it comes to … military operations” in northern Afghanistan, the reported Islamic State presence is not substantial enough to carry such missions out, the German general told Stars and Stripes at his headquarters in Mazar-i-Sharif.
Militants’ opportunity The sheer amount of territory in Afghanistan left to monitor by a rapidly shrinking U.S. and NATO presence gives an advantage to groups like
the Islamic State and others looking to move in, officials said. That could create a blind spot that the militant group could exploit, TAAC-North Deputy Commander Col. Paul Sarat said. “Everyone remembers what happened in Iraq,” Sarat said, referring to the Islamic State’s sudden sweep last year through Syria and Iraq. In January, Islamic State leaders created a group known as the Khorasan Shura, led by Saeed Khan, to spearhead their activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to a recent report by STRATFOR, an Austin-based global intelligence company. “The establishment of the (Afghan) chapter … strengthens the group’s image as a phenomenon with global reach,” the report said. But as the Islamic State seeks to push into Afghanistan and other parts of the globe, it will be met with resistance from local insurgent groups opposed to the group’s expanding influence, STRATFOR said. Still, growing disenchantment with senior militant leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan, combined with growing pressure from Afghan security forces, has created a sizable pool of recruits from among disaffected members of the Taliban and other insurgent groups. Some of the disenchantment stems from differences within the Taliban on whether to take up peace talks with the government and the lengthy absence of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who has not been seen publicly since the collapse of the Taliban in the U.S.-led invasion of 2001. In March, a propaganda video released by the Taliban-affiliated Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan featured one of the group’s commanders disavowing its ties to the Taliban and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In February, Mullah Abdul Rauf, a former top Taliban commander who had begun recruiting for the Islamic State group — was killed together with several other Afghan Taliban fighters in a NATO-led air strike in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Rauf had been “one of the major targets of (Afghanistan’s) security forces” because of his reported ties to Islamic State, Afghan intelligence officials said at the time. At the Pentagon, Warren suggested U.S. defense officials are more concerned about the Islamic State’s growing presence in Libya. “In Libya, we are beginning to see what I think is probably more than a rebranding effort,” he said. “I think Libya is probably where ISIL most wants to gain a foothold. They probably have at this point gained at least a toehold in Libya based on the extraordinary amount of unrest and the almost completely deteriorated security situation.” Despite concern about Libya, the Pentagon is focusing its operations on combating the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, Warren said. munoz.carlo@stripes.com Twitter: @natseccarlo harper.jon@stripes.com Twitter: @JHarperStripes
Friday, April 24, 2015
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Friday, April 24, 2015
VETERANS
7 vets suing VA over wait times for their records BY H EATH DRUZIN Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Seven disabled veterans have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs, claiming they have been waiting for their medical records for 10 months to more than two years, potentially delaying crucial benefits. The suit was filed Monday by the National Veterans Legal Services Program on behalf of the veterans, who come from across the country. Filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the suit asks that the VA produce the plaintiffs’ records within 20 days. Bart Stichman, co-executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, said he believes that the problem is widespread and that many veterans get frustrated by the delays and give up, never getting their benefits. “There’s no good reason to me,” he said. “How hard is it to photocopy a file?” The plaintiffs need their files to apply for further compensation. Five believe they are eligible for Combat-Related Special Compensation, which is a monthly payment for military retirees with combatrelated disabilities. Veterans need their medical records to file for
disability benefits and to appeal benefits decisions. “This delay is preventing me from applying for benefits that would help me to live a better life,” plaintiff Juan Rodriguez said in a statement released through the Legal Services Program. The VA did not respond to questions by deadline. The agency has been embroiled in a yearlong scandal that cost former Secretary Eric Shinseki his job, and some lawmakers and veterans advocates are frustrated by the pace of change at the agency. Even now, VA whistleblowers say they continue to face retaliation and that new controversies regularly pop up, including a recently released VA Inspector General’s investigation into the Philadelphia VA Medical Center that showed employees were keeping mail from veterans for years without a response, potentially delaying their benefits. druzin.heath@stripes.com Twitter: @Druzin_Stripes
‘
There’s no good reason to me. How hard is it to photocopy a file?
’
Bart Stichman co-executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program
Agency still undecided on Philly VA staff punishment ‘We are not completely
BY TRAVIS J. TRITTEN Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday it has not decided whether any employees at a Philadelphia regional office will be punished following an inspector general investigation that found widespread mismanagement and dysfunction. Last week, the department temporarily moved one of the Philadelphia managers to a new position in Washington to be an adviser on national VA issues. Allison Hickey, the VA undersecretary of benefits, said an internal investigation of the employees involved in the crisis will wrap up in June and must be completed before any new training or reprimands can be ordered. Meanwhile, Hickey assured reporters during a conference call Monday that most of the problems at the regional office were fixed last year, despite the IG contention that whistleblowers continued to report schemes and cover-ups involving management. “We are not completely done yet, but we are aggressively tackling the remaining issues,” she said. “We will improve every area of this to the level we expect.” The IG went to the Philadelphia office in June after receiving numerous complaints from whistleblowers that management was mistreating and retaliating against staff. The final audit released this month found chronic inefficiency with claims and
done yet, but we are aggressively tackling the remaining issues (at the Philadelphia regional office).
’
Allison Hickey VA undersecretary of benefits
veteran mail, and poor working conditions that included a lack of restrooms and a rodent infestation. The pension management center in Philadelphia, one of four such facilities in the country, was responsible for more than 31,000 veteran inquiries that had languished for an average of 312 days — the standard response time is supposed to be five days — and 22,000 pieces of returned mail that were never processed. Hickey said the mail backlog was overstated and was eliminated in August, and now mail is no longer routed through the local office, instead going through the VA’s national processing system. The manager of the pension center, Gary Hodge, was transferred last week to the national office to lend his expertise in the transition to a new national VA pension system, she said. The move was described by the department as neither a promotion nor demotion. A VA spokeswoman said last week that the department wants “different eyes” on the pension center in Philadelphia. “He will resume his duties at the pension management center on Aug. 17,” Hickey said. She also said Philadelphia VA Director Diana Rubens is working aggressively to turn the facility around and mend the management’s relationship with staff, who lodged the complaints with the IG.
The whistleblower complaints squarely targeted management of the pension center as well as the veterans’ service center and call centers, which each have their own managers in charge of the operations in Philadelphia, according to the IG. Auditors disputed the VA claims that most problems were solved last year. “Despite having concluded our onsite review work at the Philadelphia [VA regional office] on Aug. 15, 2014, we continued to receive additional allegations of wrongdoing from VARO staff,” they wrote. Complaints in November, December and March alleged a scheme to credit employees with training they never completed, worsening problems with mail and improper payment of burial benefits. The Philadelphia audit is the latest revelation in a yearlong scandal for the VA — widely seen as the worst in its history — that included the manipulation of wait times to mask long waits for health care at hospitals and clinics across the country. The scandal led to the passage by Congress last summer of a massive emergency overhaul law that pumped $16.3 billion into the VA, mostly to fund outside care for veterans who could not make good on their earned health benefits due to hospital delays. tritten.travis@stripes.com Twitter: @Travis_Tritten
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Military spouses often their own worst critics
MILITARY
Paratroops sentenced for T raping a pregnant woman BY NANCY MONTGOMERY Stars and Stripes
VICENZA, Italy — Two U.S. paratroops were sentenced earlier this month by an Italian judge to six years in prison for the rape and beating of a pregnant Romanian woman last summer. Pfc. Jerelle Gray and Pvt. Darius McCollough, both with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, were sentenced April 9, a lawyer for the victim confirmed. Officials with the brigade did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The two soldiers had agreed to pay for sex with the woman, who sometimes worked as a prostitute, on July 15, 2014. They attacked her after she declined to have sex when they refused to wear condoms, according to news reports. They beat and raped her in a secluded spot for more than two hours, according to the woman’s testimony and other evidence in the case, said the woman’s lawyer, Alessandra Bocchi. The woman memorized the car’s license plate during the assault. She reported the rape the same night. “They dragged her from the car by her hair,” Bocchi said. “She had a lot of signs of trauma — bruises, cuts to her head.”
Friday, April 24, 2015
‘ All the evidence pointed in one direction
’
Alessandra Bocchi victim’s lawyer The woman, who was six months pregnant, was hospitalized for more than two weeks after the attack. Her baby was born with a disability that could have been caused by the rape, and the Italian government is seeking damages from the U.S. for the woman and her baby, Bocchi said. In addition to the medical evidence and the woman’s testimony, Italian prosecutors had images of Gray’s car entering and exiting the secluded area and the woman’s ripped underwear, which was found in the car. “All the evidence pointed in one direction,” Bocchi said. The soldiers denied raping the woman, saying they’d paid her for sex as agreed, Bocchi said. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bocchi said her client was gratified by the sentences, which showed that the judge believed her. The prosecutor
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had asked for five years for Gray and about 4½ years for McCollough. McCollough remains restricted to the barracks at Del Din. Gray is in custody in a Verona jail, following a December incident in which he allegedly attacked other women. The status of that case is unclear. He also was accused of rape in fall 2013, after a 17-yearold Colombian girl told police that Gray had grabbed her and raped her in an alley. That trial is ongoing. Bocchi said her client had faced an uphill battle because of her nationality and line of work. “There was a feeling that this was a person who was not really an Italian, but a Romanian, so they didn’t believe her. Even the preliminary judge said when he met her in court, ‘Are you telling a lie?’ “She was not seen as a woman who was a victim of violence,” Bocchi said. “She was seen as a woman on the street, a woman you can do anything to.” The sentence and verdict will be reviewed by an appeals court in Venice and could also be appealed to the country’s highest court in Rome. 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. 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.
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he Internet is a rough country and is proud to play a neighborhood for supporting role. military spouses these • watches her budget carefuldays, and unfortunately, always asks about military ly, some of the cyberbullies are discounts, but responds politely from our own block. Military if one is not available; always spouses and families were shops at the commissary. singled out in recent online • shares her husband’s opinion articles, some written responsibility to his troops by by military veterans. The edihelping to care for their famitorials use belittling language lies, hosting events. to accuse military spouses of • never acts like he knows more than younger, less experihaving a sense of entitlement to enced spouses. what we have not earned, which • is always ready to offer according to these writers is encouragement, advice and just about everything from a helping hand to less experismoothie discounts to common enced spouses. respect. • is an independent person Publication on respected sites with independent interests like The Washington Post gives and associathese opinions power and reach and creates fodder for Internet SPOUSE CALLS tions, never participates trolls, as if they needed any. in military However, the vitriol is not new, spouses nor is it news that in military clubs. life we are often our own worst • is critics. These articles and involved the resulting spate of online and always mudslinging reflect the many ready to criticisms of military spouses volunteer for I’ve heard in person over the military unit years, very often from military activities, members and spouses. fundraisers Taking these into and support Join the conversation with Terri at functions. account, I’ve stripes.com/go/spousecalls • is made a list of characteristics politically active and inof the military formed, always ready to speak spouse who might be above reproach. out and act on relevant issues. The perfect military spouse: • avoids politics and contro• has her own thriving versial issues. career, does not depend on Of course, no one spouse her spouse’s military pay and fulfills all of the above, because benefits. many are mutually exclusive. • quits his job every two or For each of these descriptions three years as necessary for there are hundreds more to military moves. describe the choices of indi• lives apart from her milividual military spouses. Sadly, tary husband to maintain her each choice risks accusation own career. and finger-pointing from our • chooses not to have a own community. Military career or works at home to be members and families would the primary caregiver for her be better served by acceptance, children, because her husband’s allowing each to make his or military duties make it difficult her own decisions unless advice or impossible for him to do so. is requested or someone is in • Sends her children to daydanger. care while she works. She and Civilians may believe her military husband share the military spouses are a homogeresponsibility of taking time off neous crowd but we know betto care for sick children. ter. We are not all alike under • has no children, for any whatever camouflage we wear. number of reasons. Our lives are as varied as our • never uses her husband’s choices and philosophies. Our military status for personal community and our hearts are gain of any kind. This includes big enough to welcome them all. military-related jobs, discounts We can demonstrate that or parking spaces. capacity for unity instead of • doesn’t shop at the commistaking each other apart. Let the sary. Internet trolls rage under their • expresses pride in his virtual bridges while we take military wife’s service to her the high road together.
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