Stars & Stripes - 01.19.18

Volume 10, No. 6 ©SS 2018

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2018

Surrender or die Top NCO gives Islamic State two options Page 2

Army Command Sgt. Maj. John W. Troxell, senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued warnings to ISIS on Facebook and Twitter.

DOMINIQUE A . PINEIRO/Courtesy of Department of Defense

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NCO vows to kill ISIS ‘with extreme prejudice’

BY CHAD GARLAND Stars and Stripes

The Pentagon’s top enlisted servicemember has a penchant for hand-tohand combat, a fact brought to light in recent comments vowing that U.S. troops would defeat its enemies by “shooting them in the face” or in close-quarters combat with shovels.

Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell, senior enlisted adviser to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued the warnings to Islamic State on Facebook and Twitter last week, telling them they have two options — surrender or die.

Senior defense officials have issued similar threats to ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria, as well as Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, but Troxell’s evocative language seems to have caused a stir online and in the media.

“If they choose not to surrender, then we will kill them with extreme prejudice, whether that be through security force assistance, by dropping bombs on them, shooting them in the face, or beating them to death with our entrenching tools,” Troxell wrote in a Facebook post published Jan. 9.

“Regardless, they cannot win, so they need to choose how it’s going to be.”

A photo of what appears to be Troxell holding an entrenching tool with its blade bent to 90 degrees accompanied the post. The photo seems to have been taken at a holiday USO show, where Troxell issued a similarly blunt promise.

On Christmas Eve at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Hendrex, the senior enlisted adviser for 3rd Infantry Division, introduced Troxell with a series of improbable tidbits, not unlike internet memes about martial artist and actor Chuck Norris’ prowess.

“He is the only one allowed to talk about ‘Fight Club,’ ” Hendrex said.

“He has won the lifetime achievement award — twice.”

Troxell also was excused from having to take his anti-malarial medication, Hendrex joked, “because the mosquitoes respect him so much they won’t even bite him.”

Moments later, Troxell was pacing on stage in front of Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg, when he assured a gathering of hundreds of troops that they were making a difference.

“The Afghan forces are getting

Courtesy of the U.S. Army C HAD G ARLAND/Stars and Stripes

From left, Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell, senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Florent Groberg listen as Gen. Joseph Dunford speaks to troops at a USO show Dec. 24 at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. stronger every day,” Troxell said.

“And let there be no doubt, we’re going to keep after this enemy until this enemy is vanquished. We’re going to continue to pursue them, we’re going to fix that location, and then we’re going to annihilate them, period.”

He then repeated the promise to bomb, shoot or beat the enemy to death. The crowd roared in response.

Successive U.S. and NATO leaders have vowed to wipe out the insurgents ever since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime in 2001. Although vastly outnumbered by government and coalition forces, the guerrillas have made significant territorial gains in the past two years.

In Iraq and Syria, a U.S.-backed anti-ISIS campaign has successfully wrested back nearly all of the territory ISIS once held. Brig. Gen. Charles Costanza, a U.S. commander in Irbil, said the terrorist group has been reduced to about 1,000 fighters in small, disorganized, disconnected cells. The

United Nations, however, has warned that the group could re-emerge as a force in some parts of the country.

In Afghanistan, where officials estimate about 1,100 fighters are operating as part of an ISIS offshoot, the group has carried out several highprofile attacks in recent months. The joint U.S.-Afghan counterterrorism fight in Nangarhar province was the most deadly for U.S. combat troops last year.

In a Twitter message, Troxell told Stars and Stripes he was referring to the Army Field Manual on hand-tohand combat, which provides instructions for using the entrenching tool as a weapon. He sent an image from the manual.

“Almost all soldiers carry the entrenching tool,” he said. “It is a versatile and formidable weapon when used by a soldier with some training.”

Troxell said he wasn’t aware of reports earlier this week that a British commando reportedly had beheaded an ISIS fighter with a spade after

A page from the Army Field Manual shows how an entrenching tool can be used as a weapon. running out of ammunition during a grueling firefight in eastern Afghanistan. The incident was first reported Sunday by the British Daily Star newspaper, which cited anonymous sources who said it happened about six weeks ago.

“I had not heard of that,” Troxell said, but he noted that an American servicemember had fought with gallantry using an entrenching tool as a weapon during the Korean War, and received a Medal of Honor.

Troxell, a 35-year veteran with five combat tours, is the senior noncommissioned officer in the U.S. military and serves as a principal enlisted adviser to Dunford and Defense Secretary James Mattis. His military education includes Ranger, Airborne, Jumpmaster and Pathfinder schools.

“I am an avid combatives person,” he said, using the Army term for hand-to-hand combat skills. “Our doctrine trains troops to use nonstandard means to defeat threats.” garland.chad@stripes.com Twitter: @chadgarland

‘ Almost all soldiers carry the entrenching tool. It is a versatile and formidable weapon when used by a soldier with some training. ’

Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell senior enlisted adviser to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

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MILITARY

Army announces deployments of 4 US-based units

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

RON LEE /Courtesy of the U.S. Army

Sgt. Mjr. of the Army Dan Dailey, center, stands with soldier models wearing the proposed “pink and green” daily service uniform.

Army mulling WWII-era ‘pink and green’ uniform

BY JOHN VANDIVER Stars and Stripes

The U.S. Army will make a final decision in a matter of months on whether to switch back to its classic World War II-era “pink and green” dress uniform as part of an effort to more closely link troops to the service’s history, the Army said.

The uniform would replace the current Army Service Uniform — introduced in 2008 — which would be used as a more formal dress uniform.

The proposed change has the support of Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey, who donned a prototype at the Army-Navy game in December.

“That (World War II) was a point in history where soldiers were highly respected and there was a sense of nationalism in the country.

When you looked at them, you said, “That is an American soldier,’ ” Dailey said recently.

The pink and green uniform, considered by many to be the sharpest in Army history, appears to have support among a large number of soldiers. An Army Times survey found more than 70 percent of respondents favored the idea

of returning to that uniform.

Still, some soldiers have voiced reservations about adding yet another dress uniform to their wardrobes.

A switch, however, appears inevitable. The Army has showcased the uniform at prominent events, such as the Association of the U.S. Army convention in October and the ArmyNavy football game.

The service said development of the uniform was done in collaboration with the Center for Military History “In order to maximize the positive interest in this new uniform, the Army has planned key engagements to assist with a possible design decision and introduction of the Pink and Green Uniform to the Army workforce,” the Army said in a statement Wednesday.

For example, there is a trial with 150 soldiers from the New England Recruiting Battalion along with a traveling historical exhibit, the Army said.

“Based on soldier feedback the Army will make a decision in 2018,” the statement said. vandiver.john@stripes.com Twitter: @john_vandiver

WASHINGTON — The Army on Jan. 10 announced deployments this spring and summer for four U.S.-based units, calling them regular troop rotations.

This spring, soldiers from Fort Drum, N.Y., will travel to Iraq, soldiers from Fort Campbell, Ky., will deploy to Afghanistan and soldiers from Fort Stewart, Ga., will be sent to South Korea, the Army announced. Soldiers from Fort Hood in Texas will deploy in the summer to Europe.

Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division Headquarters will replace the Army’s 1st Armored Division Headquarters in Iraq, taking over the role of Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command for Operation Inherent Resolve, according to the Army.

In that role, 10th Mountain Headquarters, led by division commander Maj. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, will oversee the ongoing training and advising of Iraq’s security forces, a mission that has continued following Islamic State’s loss of all the land that the terrorist group once controlled in Iraq.

In Afghanistan, Fort Campbell’s 101st Airborne Division Headquarters will replace the 3rd Infantry Division’s Headquarters, which has served as the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan National Support Element since July, according to the Army. In that role, the 101st Headquarters, led by division commander Maj. Gen. Andrew Poppas, will oversee logistics and sustainment operations throughout the country. It will mark

the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters’ fourth deployment to Afghanistan in the last decade.

The Fort Stewart-based 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division will deploy to South Korea to replace the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, according to the Army. It will make the first time a 3rd Infantry Division unit has returned to the Korean Peninsula since 1953, when fighting in the Korean War ended. The division participated in major battles of that war, including the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

Since 2015, the Army has rotated combat brigades to South Korea on temporary assignments to train side-byside with that nation’s forces in an effort to guard against North Korean aggression.

The 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division has served that role since June.

Fort Hood’s 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, will deploy to Europe in the summer in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the U.S. mission to train with and support NATO allies and deter Russian aggression in the region following its intervention in Ukraine.

The brigade will replace 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, which arrived in Europe in September with nearly 4,000 troops and has participated in training operations in nations across the continent. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

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Army’s new unit of advisers to go to Afghanistan

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The Army will send its new brigade of experienced combat advisers to Afghanistan in the coming months to train and assist Afghan security forces as they launch offensive operations against the Taliban, according to service officials.

The 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, based at Fort Benning, Ga., will deploy this spring to the country where the U.S. has been at war for more than 16 years, the Army said Jan. 11

in a long-anticipated official announcement.

The unit is a first-of-its-kind brigade of specially trained officers and noncommissioned officers designed specifically to train, advise and assist U.S.backed military forces to fight America’s enemies. The 1st SFAB was established in the summer and is participating in predeployment training at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La. The unit’s commander, Army Col. Scott Jackson, said his brigade was “honored” to deploy as the first of the Army’s newly established

units.

“I am proud of our advisers’ hard work to build and train this unit, and I am confident in their skills, and ability to get the job done,” he said in a statement. “I couldn’t ask for a better team to fight alongside.”

The Army declined to specify how many troops would deploy with the 1st SFAB, citing a recent Pentagon policy not to disclose such information because of security concerns.

However, Army officials have said previously the unit includes about 700 soldiers.

The Army intends to establish six SFABs in the coming

years. The 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade is scheduled to be activated this month at Fort Bragg, N.C. Soldiers must volunteer to join an SFAB. Those qualified to join the units attend the Military Assistance Training Academy at Fort Benning, which includes language and foreign weapons instruction and advanced medical training, according to the Army.

In Afghanistan, the 1st SFAB is expected to work with Afghan army and police units in a manner similar to how U.S. special operators work with Afghan com-

mandos, Army Gen. John Nicholson, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has said.

That means in addition to training their Afghan partners, the soldiers likely will advise the Afghans closer to the front lines than American forces have operated in recent years. Nicholson believes that will be instrumental to the Afghans’ success as they prepare to launch an offensive against the Taliban in the spring, Afghanistan’s traditional fighting season. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

Airmen honored for actions during airdrop in Afghanistan

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The MC-103J Commando II airplane rumbled low to the ground, nearing the intense firefight below where a team of American special operators and allied commandos were encircled by Taliban fighters in a remote part of Afghanistan.

One Green Beret had been killed and another soldier had been seriously wounded. The remaining force was out of water and nearly out of ammunition — each soldier with as little as one magazine of rounds left. They were in danger of being overrun.

The MC-130J crew refused to hesitate, even as insurgents turned machine guns and anti-aircraft artillery toward the burling turbo-prop transport plane. Taking heavy fire, the crew made lifesaving calculations and decisions necessary to drop a combat load of water, food and ammunition to the American and allied fighters below, ultimately allowing them to hold off the attack and survive the Jan. 5, 2016, encounter, according to Air Force award citations and documents.

On Jan. 5, exactly two years to the day of that mission, two of the six Air Force special operators manning the MC-130J that day were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their heroic actions that ensured the success of the mission, said Air Force Brig. Gen. William Holt II, director of operations for Air Force Special Operations Command. All six members of the crew have been approved

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

Air Force Capt. Charlotte Raabe, left, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Gary Bjerke were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on Jan. 5, exactly two years to the day of the Afghanistan mission that earned their entire MC-130J crew the award. to receive the decoration, he added.

“They didn’t hesitate because there were friendly forces on the ground inside that compound that were under fire from 360 degrees,” Holt said Jan. 12, moments before pinning the Distinguished Flying Cross on Capt.

Charlotte Raabe and Staff Sgt. Gary Bjerke during a ceremony at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. “The crew had to perform quickly, at low level, during midday, under intense enemy fire, and that’s exactly what they did.”

Raabe, then a first lieutenant, was serving as the combat systems officer aboard the MC-130J aircraft. She was credited for making on-the-fly calculations to direct the pilots away from incoming artillery rounds and, eventually, into the proper position to make a precision airdrop, according to

the citation for her award.

“Although her aircraft was struck multiple times by enemy fire, [Raabe’s] decisive actions and expeditious recalculation of the combat airdrop led to the successful resupply,” it read.

Meanwhile, from the rear of the aircraft, Bjerke, then a senior airman and the crew’s loadmaster, watched the incoming fire as he prepared to drop the supplies, which had to land within 50 meters of the American troops or risk falling into enemy hands, his award citation read.

“Bjerke notified the pilots they were taking fire, despite the high potential for surface to air engagement, Airman Bjerke diligently prepared the resupply bundles for airdrop as the aircraft flew through the effective lethal range

of small arms and anti-aircraft artillery,” the citation stated. “… Under direct fire from enemy forces, Airman Bjerke’s decisive actions and initiative led to the successful resupply … of the Special Forces team, halting any further loss of life.”

The crew understood the dire situation on the ground, Bjerke said.

“It did not set in that we were taking fire until the ramp and door had opened,” he said in an Air Force statement. “I distinctly remember hearing the cracks of the bullets passing behind the aircraft. The only thing I could think of was this resupply needed to be executed successfully.”

In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross awards, the MC-130J crew from the 9th Special Operations Squadron received the Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner Award for the most outstanding airlift crew in the Air Force, Holt said.

The Distinguished Flying Cross is the nation’s oldest award for military aviation accomplishment. The vast majority of the awards are received for extraordinary achievement, Holt said.

“Very, very few are awarded for heroism in combat,” the general said.

“Both of these are valor awards for heroism in combat … joining a very small group of military aviators.

These are two exceptional Americans right here.” dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

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Officials, users tell of snags as Tricare overhaul begins

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The military’s largest overhaul to its Tricare health care system in two decades began Jan. 1, promising users expanded access to health care and simplified out-of-pocket rates for visiting doctors, but the changes have come with system failures and snags, officials and users have reported.

Since Jan. 1, servicemembers, their families and veterans attempting to use Tricare have reported difficulties connecting to the online systems and long waits to speak with customer service representatives by phone about the problems. Tricare’s Facebook page, as of Jan. 12, was riddled with dozens of complaints from users who detailed long periods on hold, dropped phone calls and difficulties registering on the new websites run by Tricare contractors.

In 2016, Congress mandated an overhaul of Tricare, the government-managed military health care program administered by the Pentagon, citing rising costs to the Defense Department and a need for greater flexibility for medical care for Tricare users. In that year’s National Defense Authorization Act, Congress authorized about $440 million for the Pentagon to reform the Tricare system, which provides coverage to some 9.4 million active-duty and reserve servicemembers, their family members and veterans.

Tricare officials on Jan. 11 pledged the issues would be worked out, placing the blame for the website problems on the contractors — Humana Military and HealthNet Federal Services — who are “working diligently” to fix them, according to a Tricare statement that said the websites would be “fully functioning soon.”

The customer service issues were largely blamed on a massive influx of tens of thousands of calls per day from users seeking information about the changes to Tricare, the statement added.

“In an attempt to resolve inquiries in one call, call center staff are spending a longer time with beneficiaries,” the Tricare statement reads, stating they aimed to answer all calls to customer service within 30 seconds. “There has been noticeable improvements (sic) in the last few days, and they are expected to improve even more in the coming days.”

The changes to Tricare include new contractors running the health systems, a blending of two old coverage options into a new one, an adjustment to how customers’ copayments are calculated and an increase next month in the out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs for users who are not on active duty.

On Jan. 1, Tricare shifted from three coverage regions to two as Tricare North, South and West became Tricare East and West. That

means all users, other than ones previously in the Tricare South area, are now under new Tricare management contractors. For people in Tricare West that contractor is HealthNet and for people in Tricare East that is Humana, according to the Defense Health Agency, the Pentagon agency that manages Tricare.

Tricare officials said the change would allow for greater coordination between military hospitals and clinics and civilian health care providers within those regions. However, they acknowledged it could also mean some users would have to change their civilian doctors if those doctors do not opt in to the new system.

Another major change is the merging of the former Tricare Standard and Tricare Extra plans for dependents of active-duty servicemembers into a single, new coverage plan called Tricare Select. The new program largely mirrors the former plans, according to Tricare, allowing users greater freedom of choice of doctors than Tricare Prime, a standard option for active-duty servicemembers and their families.

Tricare Prime will not change under the new system. HealthNet and Humana will select primary care managers for the users. Under Tricare Select, users can choose their own medical providers, but they will pay more out of pocket to see providers outside of their networks, according to Tricare.

Additionally, Tricare has moved to a standard out-of-pocket fee for users who visit civilian health care providers, as opposed to its previous system that required patients to contribute copayments of 15 to 20 percent of their bills.

For example, family members of active-duty servicemembers on the new Tricare Select plan would pay $21 out of pocket for a visit to a primary care doctor, according to Defense Health Agency documents. The same patient would pay a $31 copayment for a specialty care visit and an $81 copayment for an emergency room visit.

Military retirees and their families on the Tricare Select plan would pay $28 for a primary care visit, according to the documents. They would pay $41 for a specialty care visit and $109 for an emergency room visit.

Beginning in the fall, Tricare also will change the time of year for its open enrollment season, moving to a calendar-year system similar to most civilian health insurance options.

The open enrollment season will begin on the Monday of the second full week in November and will run through the Monday of the second full week in December, allowing all beneficiaries to make changes to their coverage options during that period. It also allows for users to change their coverage options following qualifying significant life events, such as marriages, changes in military status or having children. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

N ATHANIEL NICHOLS/Courtesy of the U.S. Army

U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua Oliver of the 4th Infantry Division looks down the sights of a training AT-4 during Exercise Combined Resolve VIII at the Hohenfels Training Area, Hohenfels, Germany, on June 7.

Soldiers praise lightweight, anti-armor AT-4 weapon

BY M ARTIN EGNASH Stars and Stripes

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — The AT-4 may be a disposable, low-cost alternative to more robust anti-tank systems, but it’s a crowd favorite.

Weighing in at less than 15 pounds, the light, single-shot weapon is a very popular piece of Army equipment.

The AT-4, built by Sweden’s Saab Bofors Dynamics, was introduced into the U.S. arsenal in 1983 and has been applauded by soldiers for its sheer simplicity and the sensation they get from firing it.

“Firing the AT-4 is a rush, to me,” said Spc. Elliot Cason, an infantryman with the Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment. “It’s louder than you think it will be, but it’s awesome when you hear and feel the ‘boom’ as the projectile explodes from the tube.”

That “boom” from the 440-gram HEAT, or High Explosive Anti-Tank, round zipping out of the lightweight, fiberglass tube at 950 feet per second has proved to be unforgettable.

“I remember my first time firing an AT-4,” Cason said.

“I was conducting a companylevel live fire … I was excited, (and) it took me a few seconds longer to line up the sights than normal. And when I pressed the trigger, feeling it kick as it sailed to the target, and the rush of adrenaline as it hit its

mark, was awesome.”

One of the reason so many soldiers enjoy firing the AT-4 is because of its ease of use.

Saab says on its website that the disposable weapon does not even require an expert gunner to operate it. “You simply aim, fire, destroy the target and discard the empty tube,” it says.

It also can be used against buildings or fortifications or against exposed infantry.

However, this little tube of destruction is not without its drawbacks.

“Compared to many modern shoulder-launched weapons, the AT-4 is a relatively shortrange, unguided weapon,” said John Gordon, a senior policy researcher at the Rand Corp.

“It is much less capable than the Army’s Javelin, which can operate at much longer ranges.

However, it is much cheaper and still a relatively versatile weapon.”

The AT-4 also lacks the kind of stopping power that heavier anti-armor systems have. Still, most soldiers like it anyway.

“I like that it gives me a sense of security, knowing that we have the capability to take on more than just dismounted troops. However, it does not give us the ability to take on all armored vehicles,” said Cason.

“Regardless, I think it’s an excellent weapon to have in the Army. It’s very versatile, and it adds to what a well-trained infantry squad can accomplish.” egnash.martin@stripes.com

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Make a smart, informed decision about retirement

by Laura Levering | Fort Gordon Public Affairs Office

Details of the military’s new retirement system were announced, leaving some Servicemembers with a potentially life-changing decision to consider.

Effective Jan. 1, the new Blended Retirement System (or BRS) replaced the current Legacy retirement system.

Anyone who joined the military after Dec. 31, 2017, will be automatically enrolled in BRS. Servicemembers who joined after Dec. 31, 2005 but before Jan. 1, 2018 have a choice to either remain in their current retirement system or to opt in BRS. Those who joined active duty before Jan. 1, 2006, will remain in their current retirement system.

Those currently on active duty with 12 years or less in service (and Reserve component with few than 4,320 points) who are eligible to opt in to BRS have until Dec. 31 to decide. If a Servicemember does not opt in to the BRS plan, then they will remain in the current system.

Melissa Smith, Financial Readiness Program manager, Army Community Service, said Servicemembers should carefully explore their options before making a decision because once made, it is irrevocable.

“For brand new Soldiers coming onboard, it’s a no brainer,” Smith said. “For Servicemembers who have been in for a while, they really should review, compare, and look at their family dynamic to see what works best for their short and long term financial goals.”

To make a wise decision, it is important to understand both BRS and the current Legacy retirement plans. One of the key differences between the two plans is an availability of automatic and matching contributions the Department of Defense will provide to Thrift Savings Plan accounts.

Under BRS, TSP matching begins at 1 percent immediately upon entry for Servicemembers who are automatically enrolled (although they must wait two years to be considered vested).

Servicemembers have an option to contribute and have up to 5 percent matched. At the end of the third year, Servicemembers become “fully vested,” meaning all DoD contributions become theirs regardless of time in service. Legacy does not have a matching incentive.

Another benefit of BRS is that Servicemembers can depart the military with less than 20 years of service and still have an established retirement account. With Legacy, you must reach 20 years of service to receive any amount of pension. The tradeoff is in the annual pension percentage.

Servicemembers who retire under Legacy receive 2.5 percent of their base pay multiplied by the number of years served and the average highest 36 months of pay. Under BRS, the percentage drops down to 2.0 percent.

“The premise is that if you’re a new Soldier coming onboard, and you’re investing, that really won’t make that much of a difference,” Smith said.

Servicemembers who do not plan on making it to at least 20 years in the military should opt in to BRS. If you have reached the 10 to 12 year mark, it is time to do some serious thinking.

“If they have been investing in TSP already and have significant money in TSP, I would strongly encourage them to go into the BRS calculator, crunch those numbers, and look at the comparisons,” Smith said.

Servicemembers should also consider family dynamics, debt, living costs and other factors when choosing.

“All of that plays a part when you have to make a decision about where you want to be,” Smith said.

Smith also said not to worry if choosing between the two plans seems overwhelming. There are resources available to help Servicemembers determine which plan is best for their future.

Neil Kendrick, personal financial counselor, ACS, recommends starting with the BRS calculator – an online tool designed to assist Servicemembers with comparing the two retirement programs.

“You can input how much you are going to contribute to the TSP and then it does a side-by-side comparison of the current system versus BRS to help them make a good decision,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick went on to say it is key that Servicemembers are completely honest when using the tool because like with most things, the output is only as good as the input.

“If you put down that you’re going to save 5 percent and then you don’t, you’ve just cheated yourself for your retirement,” Kendrick said. “It’s a big deal.”

Smith said eligible Servicemembers should have gone through “opt-in” training by now. Anyone with questions can reach out to Smith or Kendrick for additional training or assistance if needed.

“We are here to answer questions,” Smith said. “We are not here to convince someone to switch one way or another, but just to be there to make sure they get all of the tools and information needed to make a decision about what’s going to work best for them.”

To make an appointment, call (706) 791-3661/3579.

BRS comparison calculator Making a decision about one’s financial future can be daunting, but it does not have to be. There are many resources available designed to help Servicemembers make the best possible decision. The Blended Retirement System online calculator is one such tool.

To view the BRS calculator and get started, go to: http://militarypay.defense.gov/blendedretirement.

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PACIFIC

Japan protests after sub, Chinese frigate sail near Senkakus

BY M ATTHEW M. BURKE AND H ANA KUSUMOTO Stars and Stripes

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Japan has complained to China after a pair of vessels sailed a week ago near disputed islands in the East China Sea. Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama lodged protests Jan. 11-12 to China’s ambassador to Japan, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said.

The incursions happened Jan. 10-11 in Japan’s contiguous zone around Okinawa and the Senkaku Islands by a Chinese frigate and a submarine presumed to be from China, Japanese officials said.

Sugiyama expressed “great concern” over the provocations and strongly urged China not to hinder efforts to improve the countries’ relationship. He also called sending a submarine to the area a “unilateral escalation in new form” and urged China not to do it again.

The Senkakus — an uninhabited chain surrounded by resource-rich waters between Okinawa and Taiwan — are claimed by Japan, Taiwan and China, which refers to them as Diaoyu.

The U.S. has long declined to take a position on the islands’ sovereignty; however, Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump both have declared that the Senkakus will be protected under the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

“Senkaku is Japan’s territory and territorial waters internationally and historically, and Japan’s claim about the contiguous zone is absolutely correct,” Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters Jan. 12.

The Japanese military first observed a submarine of unknown origin entering the contiguous zone just outside its territorial waters northeast of Miyako Island on the evening of Jan. 10, a Ministry of Defense statement said.

The submarine’s presence

was confirmed by a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ship and a P-3C aircraft, the statement said. The sub exited the contiguous zone and headed toward the Senkakus on the morning of Jan. 11. It then re-entered the contiguous zone around Taisho Island, which is part of the Senkakus, before leaving that afternoon.

A Chinese navy frigate was spotted Jan. 11 entering the contiguous zone northeast of Taisho island, the statement said. It left that afternoon.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe responded to the incidents by giving instructions to prepare for all possible contingencies and to coordinate closely with the U.S., according to a statement released by his Cabinet.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that Japan will “definitely defend our territory, territorial waters and airspace.” A Defense Ministry spokesman declined to discuss the measures being taken.

Chinese officials defended the move, saying that the Senkakus are China’s territory and that the incident was instigated by two Japanese navy vessels.

“The [Diaoyu Islands] are a natural part of Chinese territory,” Lu Kang, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Jan. 11, according to UPI. “China’s decision to guard the sovereignty of the [Diaoyu] territory is unshaken.”

Maritime confrontations and jet interceptions between China and Japan have become commonplace in recent years, especially around the Senkakus. Five submarines have been spotted entering Japan’s contiguous zone since 2013, a Defense Ministry spokesman said. A Chinese frigate was last seen in the contiguous zone in June 2016.

The Japan Coast Guard said Chinese ships entered Japanese waters 114 times last year. burke.matt@stripes.com kusumoto.hana@stripes.com

DAVID K RIGBAUM /Courtesy of the U.S. Navy

The amphibious-assault ship USS Wasp, background, pulls into Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, beside the USS Bonhomme Richard on Jan. 14.

Wasp joins 7th Fleet in Japan

BY T YLER HLAVAC Stars and Stripes

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The USS Wasp has arrived at its new homeport in Japan, bolstering the 7th Fleet’s amphibious and stealth-attack capabilities in the Pacific.

The amphibious assault ship — which some have dubbed a mini aircraft carrier because of upgrades that allow it to host the next-generation F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter — and its crew of approximately 1,100 pulled into Sasebo Naval Base on Jan. 14 after a five-month journey from Norfolk, Va. It will replace the USS Bonhomme Richard as the flagship of Task Force 76. The bulk of the ships in the 7th Fleet’s amphibious force are based in Sasebo.

“The arrival of USS Wasp represents an increase in military capability and a commitment to our partners and allies for security and stability in the region,” Capt. Colby Howard,

the ship’s commander, said in a Navy statement. “Paired with the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, we remain ready to execute the full range of military operations from crisis response to disaster relief.”

F-35Bs, which are capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, will embark on the Wasp when it departs for its next regional patrol, the statement added. The stealth jets are flown by Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, which arrived last year at nearby Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.

The Wasp can embark more than 1,600 Marines. The 844-foot flattop ship employs 31 aircraft, as well as Marine amphibious craft out of its well deck.

Not long after its August departure from Norfolk, the Wasp was diverted to the Caribbean to assist with relief efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Dominica after Hurricane Irma. It was then tapped to provide aid to Puerto Rico after the island was struck by

Hurricane Maria.

Its aircraft flew 108 missions in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, totaling 385 hours of flight time and moving 1,129 passengers along with 26,720 pounds of equipment and 1,718,200 pounds of various logistical support items, including 328,100 pounds of food and water, a Navy statement said.

The Wasp resumed its voyage to Japan in October, with stops in Brazil and Hawaii along the way. It also conducted drills during the transit that covered damage control, combat systems, aviation and casualty response, the Navy said.

The Bonhomme Richard, which has been homeported at Sasebo since April 2012, will remain there for an undetermined period before heading to its new home in San Diego, where it will undergo maintenance and upgrades.

It is slated to participate in the Thailand-based exercise Cobra Gold next month. hlavac.tyler@stripes.com

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WAR ON TERRORISM

Fighting drives Afghan region’s deadly ranking Nangarhar province saw most US combat deaths in country in ’17

BY CHAD GARLAND Stars and Stripes

KABUL, Afghanistan — The death of a Green Beret in a New Year’s Day firefight in Nangarhar province was a grim reminder of continued violence in the deadliest province in the deadliest country where Americans are deployed.

Sgt. 1st Class Mihail Golin, 34, a native of Lativa who joined the Army in 2005 shortly after immigrating to the U.S., was killed while on a foot patrol in Achin district recently, the first U.S. combat death of 2018 and the eighth in Nangarhar province in the past nine months.

Since March, U.S. warplanes have conducted hundreds of strikes and U.S. special operations troops have carried out hundreds more tactical operations on the ground in Nangarhar, a mostly Pashtun province east of Kabul along the border with Pakistan.

Nowhere is more dangerous for American troops deployed overseas.

Nangarhar is one of the few places Americans routinely have been accompanying Afghan forces into battle.

One-third of the 21 U.S. servicemembers killed in combat last year died there, more than in any other single spot where troops were fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Niger.

Combat deaths were far rarer in 2017 than at the height of the wars in Iraq — in 2007 — and Afghanistan — in 2010 — but the recent uptick in Nangarhar could foreshadow a rise in American bloodshed in the country as the U.S. escalates the fighting in its longest war.

Last year’s combat deaths in Nangarhar all followed the intensification of a counterterrorism campaign there that’s been putting U.S. troops alongside Afghan units on the front lines of the battle with a resilient Islamic State offshoot known as ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K. The group has taken root there in recent years, where the Taliban also operate, making it a three-sided war.

The U.S.-led NATO mission is poised to follow suit elsewhere in Afghanistan by putting more advisers and their force protection troops with conventional Afghan tactical units battling

Eight U.S. troops have been killed in combat in Nangarhar province since March. Slain in 2017 were, top row, from left: Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar, Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers, Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas and Sgt. Eric M. Houck; bottom row, from left: Sgt. William M. Bays, Cpl. Dillon C. Baldridge and Staff Sgt. Aaron R. Butler.

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Army

the Taliban insurgency. A new campaign launched in the southern province of Helmand last month already has stepped up the fighting with airstrikes and special operations ground raids against the Taliban-linked drug trade there.

It’s all part of the latest shift in the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, which President Donald Trump announced in August, giving U.S. forces here wider leeway to attack Taliban insurgents and sending several thousand more troops to support Afghan fighting units. There are about 14,000 U.S. troops in the country this year, up from 11,000 through much of 2017.

Elsewhere in the country last year, four soldiers were killed in action in three other provinces — Helmand and Kandahar in the south and Logar in the east. The two southern provinces, in the Taliban heartland, historically have been the bloodiest for international forces, with more than 1,500 killed there since 2001. But deaths there largely have tapered off since the withdrawal of most of the international combat forces at the end of 2014.

More than 1,870 U.S. troops have been killed in action and more than

20,000 have been wounded since the start of the Afghan War in 2001, but combat deaths have been so rare in recent years that a single incident can make one place stand out as the deadliest of the year.

A suicide bombing at Bagram Air Field put it at the top of the list for hostile deaths when six airmen were killed in a December 2015 blast.

Another blast in November 2016 that killed three soldiers at Bagram made it the deadliest spot in Afghanistan for Americans that year.

The numbers in Nangarhar last year, however, reflect not a single deadly event, but months of heavy fighting.

Since April, the seven Americans killed fighting there were victims of enemy gunfire, bomb blasts, an insider attack and friendly fire that happened during an intense, three-hour battle.

That’s compared with one American killed there the year before.

Days after the first of last year’s casualties there in an April firefight, an airstrike drew the world’s attention to the intensified campaign when an Air Force MC-130 dropped a 22,000pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, also known as the “mother of all

bombs,” onto an ISIS-K cave network in the province’s Achin district.

In November, Gen. John W. Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said U.S. forces had conducted about 1,400 ground assaults and airstrikes in the area since March and had reduced the group’s grip on Nangarhar from nine districts to parts of three.

The fighting had removed some 1,600 ISIS-K militants from the battlefield, he said, and he promised more strikes in the coming months.

What’s left of the terrorist group there “is stuck in the mountains to starve and die,” President Ashraf Ghani said last month.

But the violence shows no sign of abating, as the group so far has defied efforts to snuff it out, managing to carry out several successful attacks throughout the country.

U.S. officials had estimated 700 ISIS-K fighters were operating in Afghanistan last spring, but despite heavy battlefield losses, that estimate had increased by November to 1,100, including 300 outside Nangarhar.

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MILITARY

$70M in new facilities planned at Grafenwoehr

BY M ARTIN EGNASH Stars and Stripes

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — The Army plans to build new facilities at Grafenwoehr Training Area this year, mainly to support the increased training requirements in Germany and Eastern Europe.

The projects, valued at about $70 million, are set to begin this spring with work on a vehicle maintenance shop and a modern training support center.

The new $20 million training facility, which will include classrooms and combat simulators, will be located at Camp Algier, adjacent to the main post. It will replace 16 different buildings spread out around the training area, cutting down on travel time for soldiers.

“The construction of these new buildings underlines the Army’s efforts to provide state-of-the-art home facilities, allowing best training opportunities for its soldiers and their partners within NATO and allied forces,” Army spokesman Nathan Van Shaik said.

The new training center will have FROM PAGE 12

Nicholson said ISIS-K offset its battlefield attrition by recruiting aggressively from the ranks of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an Islamist group with ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban known for carrying out a 2014 attack that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at an armyrun school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Hundreds of thousands of TTP fighters and their

M ARTIN EGNASH /Stars and Stripes

Construction equipment sits at the site of the new elementary school on Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on Jan. 9. several different types of simulators covering artillery, anti-tank and other infantry skills, said Training Support Center chief Peter Rocha. Some of them will be portable.

Many of the simulators and training devices are designed so as many as 25 soldiers at a time can check them out

families had fled to Afghanistan from Pakistan’s federally administered tribal areas under military pressure since 2010. They began establishing communities in Nangarhar’s border districts, exploiting both tribal rivalries there and local sympathies for them as “refugees.”

Many have switched allegiances to ISIS-K since late 2014. The group has established a command base in the Mamand and Peka valleys of

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher Terry Leonard, Editor Robert H. Reid, Senior Managing Editor Tina Croley, Managing Editor for Content Doreen Wright, 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) 761-0900 Advertising: (202) 761-0910 Michael Davidson, Weekly Partnership Director: davidson.michael@stripes.com Additional contact information: stripes.com

and easily take them to a classroom within the facility. The centralized location will help soldiers rotating though the area conduct training without wasting time getting around an unfamiliar base.

The $50 million vehicle maintenance shop, located near the main post on

Achin district, according to Borhan Osman, a researcher with the Afghan Analysts Network. Residents there told Osman that weapons and ammunition are ferried into the rugged passes from just over the Pakistan border on the backs of mules.

It’s there, in the ISIS-K bastion of Mamand Valley, that Afghan forces have been fighting in recent weeks, said Navy Capt. Tom Gresback, a military spokesman in Kabul.

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, 2018

Camp Aachen, will provide a place for soldiers to take care of the tactical vehicles in use in the training area, such as the Strykers belonging to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment based in Vilseck or the various heavy-armor platforms brought over from the U.S. in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve and the enhanced forward presence in Poland.

Atlantic Resolve and the forward presence are initiatives aimed at reassuring allies along Russia’s western border.

The new buildings will be located outside the natural protected areas of the base. Because of the clearing of land needed to make room for the facilities, new trees will be planted in other areas of the base, in keeping with German environmental laws.

“A forest conversion process with environmental impact assessment, including German public information was implemented,” Van Shaik said.

The projects are being planned and constructed in a joint effort between the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the German Amberg-Sulzbach Bavarian State Construction Office. egnash.martin@stripes.com

Backed by U.S. warplanes and special operations ground troops, they’d pushed more than 4 miles into the valley since Dec. 22, trying to open it to “normal life.”

Nangarhar combat deaths in ’17 Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar, 37, of Edgewood, Md., died April 8 from injuries sustained in a firefight. The father of five, who had waited 11 years after high school to enlist in the Army to pursue his dream of being a Green Beret, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, of Bloomington, Ill., and Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas, 23, of Kettering, Ohio, both of the Fort Benning, Ga.-based 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, were killed April 27 near the start of a firefight during an operation targeting the head of Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate, Abdul Haseeb Logari. An Army investiga-

tion found the two soldiers had been killed by friendly fire in the fierce battle in which Logari also was killed, the Pentagon has said.

An insider attack last summer claimed the lives of three soldiers from the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Sgt. Eric M. Houck, 25, of Baltimore; Sgt. William M. Bays, 29, of Barstow, Calif.; and Cpl. Dillon C. Baldridge, 22, of Youngsville, N.C., died June 10 of gunshot wounds in Nangarhar’s Peka Valley.

Staff Sgt. Aaron R. Butler, 27, a member of the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) out of Camp Williams, Utah, died Aug. 16 from injuries suffered from a bomb blast. The incident occurred while the Monticello, Utah-native was clearing a building that had been booby-trapped to explode. The blast injured 11 other soldiers.

Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report. garland.chad@stripes.com Twitter: @chadgarland

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DELI IOUS

Tucked in the heart of South Carolina, you’ll find a city that’s equal parts urban and low-key. After enjoying brunch at a sidewalk café or picking up a pulled pork sandwich from a takeaway hutch, there’s still room in this thriving metropolis to enjoy our gracious charm and a rollicking good time. Start your trip at ExperienceColumbiaSC.com

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Sat Jan 20

10am - noon Animal Show

Mistletoe State Park Learn about animals native to Georgia, with a discussion on mounted animals, furs and live animals. $3, plus $5 parking.

Call 706-541-0321 or visit gastateparks. org/mistletoe.

2pm - 6pm Southern Gospel Concert

Belair Church, Grovetown This free concert will feature several musicians including The Powells, All For Him, Your Hope, Terrell Hannahand more. Call 864-377-3545, email daisyflower0333@gmail.com or visit csra-sgma.com.

7pm - 10pm An Evening of New York Jazz Saluting Our Military Aiken Center for the Arts Featuring jazz singer Gerry Eisenberg of Aiken with her trio of New York jazz musicians. Proceeds will benefit Saratoga WarHorse. $100. Includes wine, coffee and dessert. Email daria@ saratogawarhorse.org or call 301-9286439.

7:30pm Beethoven’s Ninth

Miller Theater A Symphony Orchestra Augusta performance. $25-$69. Visit soaugusta. org or call 706-826-4705.

Sun Jan 21

2pm Harpist Vonda Darr

Friday, January 19, 2018

Morris Museum of Art Part of the Music at the Morris series. Free. Call 706-724-7501 or visit themorris.org.

4pm “Shopkins Live! Shop It Up!” Miller Theater $29.50-$100. Visit millertheateraugusta. com or call 800-514-3849.

Wed Jan 24

7pm Edgar’s Grille Beer Dinner Edgar’s Grille This four-course dinner is partnered with beer from Riverwatch Brewery.

Benefits Goodwill. $60 per person; reservations required. Call 706-8544700 or visit edgarsgrille.com.

Thu Jan 25

7:30pm The Texas Tenors

Miller Theater $35-$101. Visit millertheateraugusta.com or call 800-514-3849.

Ongoing

Columbia County Democratic Party Meeting

Columbia County Government Center Auditorium, Building A The Columbia County Democratic Party invites the public to its monthly meetings, held on the first Monday of every month (unless it’s a holiday).

Social time takes place before the meetings at 6:30 p.m. Visit facebook. com/columbiacntydemocrats for updated information.

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