Stars & Stripes - 12.08.17

Volume 9, No. 52 ©SS 2017

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2017

Pfc. Michael Bailey, left, shovels debris and Pfc. Dennis Canavan uses a hydraulic tamper near San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 10.

CARLOS BONGIOANNI /Stars and Stripes

‘WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG?’

Bureaucracy, economic woes, logistics slow return of electricity in Puerto Rico Page 2

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Friday, December8,8,2017 2017 Friday, December

COVER STORY

Many areas still powerless in Puerto Rico

BY DIANNA CAHN Stars and Stripes

M

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ore than two months after Hurricane Maria, the list of what’s needed to fix the island’s devastated electrical grid is staggering: 60,000 poles, more than 6,000 miles of electrical wire and tens of thousands of electricians — much of it from the mainland.

In mid-November, about 500 generators were providing over 150,000 kilowatts of power — more generators installed than after any other disaster, but only about half of what’s needed, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Since the Sept. 20 storm, about 100,000 Holland people have fled Puerto Rico, depleting an already declining population on the bankrupt island, according to the federal oversight board. Bureaucracy reigns, the economy is stagnant and, with power restored to just over 50 percent of the island, some businesses remain shuttered and schools closed.

It’s hard to envision a fully vibrant territory emerging from this ruin.

“I know from a customer’s standpoint it seems like nothing is happening, and ‘Why is it taking so long?’ ” said Brig.

Gen. Diana Holland, the Army Corps commander in charge of helping Puerto Rico get the lights back on. “But a storm of this magnitude combined with the vulnerability and the weakness of the system before the storm — it’s just hard to overstate.”

Drive down any highway on this hurricane-ravaged island and the storm’s effects are still visible. Giant metal electrical

PHOTOS

BY

CARLOS BONGIOANNI /Stars and Stripes

U.C. power poles lie across a concrete barrier along Highway 22, one of Puerto Rico’s main East-West arteries, near the Toa Alta exit west of the island’s capital city, San Juan, on Nov. 13, nearly two months after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island. poles are toppled and kicked to the side like discarded toys.

Concrete poles are broken in two like they were punched.

Leaning wood poles line streets like a faltering army, wires drooping and tangled.

“It’s like, you know, you had your toys on the table and someone just came in with their arm and pushed everything over,” said Sgt. 1st Class

Jitu Whitehead, a noncommissioned officer whose crew from the 249th Engineering Battalion was installing a new electrical pole on the outskirts of San Juan.

For every pole or wire or substation fixed, there’s another one just up the road.

“In the neighborhoods we go into, you fix it, but the next street over looks exactly the

same,” Whitehead said.

Many of the linemen here were working in Florida after Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6.

He knows that getting logistics in order takes time, particularly when it means getting everything delivered to an island.

“No one should be this long without power,” Whitehead said.

‘ In the neighborhoods we go into, you fix it, but the next street over looks exactly the same. ’

Sgt. 1st Class Jitu Whitehead 249th Engineering Battalion

A rough state of affairs Puerto Rico’s population and economy had been on the decline for years before Maria struck. The troubled government filed for the largest bankruptcy in the history of the U.S. municipal bond market in early May, with a $74 billion debt.

The storm made everything worse, complicating efforts to rectify its long-standing economic woes.

According to a Bloomberg report Nov. 17, government bonds have dropped to as little as 24 cents on the dollar — less than half of what they SEE PAGE 3

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COVER STORY FROM PAGE 2

were before the storm and the lowest since they were issued three years ago.

“The state of affairs in Puerto Rico existed way before these hurricanes made landfall,” said Rep. Rob Bishop, chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, which oversees the Financial Oversight and Management Board created in 2016 to oversee Puerto Rico’s financial recovery.

“Decades of mismanagement led to a paralyzing debt burden,” he said.

“Now, with the hurricane, there is other work the board must be doing — work that is even more complicated.”

The Army Corps has been tasked with working with PREPA, the bankrupt and beleaguered Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority, to restore the grid and bring it up to code.

Building a new grid would cost $17.8 billion, according to a request by the governor submitted to Congress in November.

Compared with U.S. electrical systems, which are 20 to 25 years old and regularly updated, Puerto Rico’s grid has been around more than 40 years, mostly left to deteriorate, Holland said.

Maria simply toppled the teetering giant.

PREPA, which Bishop described as having “a long record of inadequate maintenance and political cronyism,” has no sophisticated computer systems to diagnose faults in the lines, and aerial inspections can be misleading.

It might look good and still not work.

“It might not have worked for a year,” Holland said.

PREPA, along with Army Corps teams, had to physically assess every line and pole — on highways, in towns and villages — to determine what needs to be done.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello in October pledged to restore 95 percent of the territory’s power by Dec. 15.

The task is daunting.

But the consequences are enormous.

“If Puerto Rico is going to economically recover and become vibrant, it has to have reliable, abundant and affordable energy,” Bishop said.

Slow going Gaps in the initial response after Maria’s landfall were notable. Part of the delay was the devastation itself — and the time it took to determine the magnitude of the disaster.

But Rossello and federal agencies continue to blame each other for the delay.

Rossello told reporters in New York in early November that his government and PREPA were reluctant to ask other states for aid, which is common practice after a disaster, because of

CARLOS BONGIOANNI /Stars and Stripes

Pfc. Matheau Sicard, a member of the 249th Engineer Battalion, feeds a line to fellow workers about to use a hydraulic tamper at a worksite in a neighborhood near San Juan, Puerto Rico. concerns about how the bankrupt island would pay utility workers.

Holland said 10 days passed before a request from the governor filtered down to the Army Corps to help restore electricity and fix the grid.

“Certainly if you are in Texas or Florida or anywhere on the mainland, as soon as the hurricane passes, the governor normally requests the mutual assistance,” Holland said.

“So other utility companies from other states rush in and they go in en masse and … tackle all the work as soon as possible. That’s just not the case here.”

Rossello traded barbs with the Army Corps over the pace of the work, saying that he had hundreds of crews, or brigadas, out working while the Corps was not delivering.

“This does not have the sense of urgency that it should have,” he told The New York Times.

“He’s frustrated,” Holland told Stars and Stripes. “He wants the lights on. He’s the leader of this island so it’s certainly understandable.”

But as an engineer, and a military commander, she had to focus on “the

facts and the numbers and the physics of this.”

“If we rush in, if we aren’t responsible with federal dollars, if we don’t do things the right way with quality and safety and all of those things, then that’s a different set of things we have to account for,” she said.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., the ranking member on the House Natural Resources committee, pressed for greater urgency.

“If a man is drowning in the ocean, you don’t stop to tell them to take swimming lessons,” he said.

“Instead, you act immediately to save lives.

“Once the lights are back on and the families have access to clean drinking water and medical care, Congress can turn its attention to the future of the island and its economy,” he said. “But now, we shouldn’t be asked to look away from this administration’s embarrassing recovery effort.”

Logistics were far more complicated because Puerto Rico is an island.

To get the necessary equipment and supplies meant bringing them in by aircraft or ship. Trucks and equip-

ment had to compete for space on barges and helicopters with more immediate emergency relief supplies like food and water, Holland said.

Coming on the heels of hurricanes Irma and Harvey, stateside supplies for poles and wires had been depleted. The Army Corps had to activate the Defense Procurement Act, obtaining a priority designation so its requests for those materials would take precedence on shipments, Holland said.

Slowly, the Army Corps has been building its fleet of bucket trucks and a stockpile of poles being brought in by barge and cargo aircraft. But that process took time.

Crews continue to conduct assessments. Holland said her people still do not have a clear picture of the condition of the grid. The Army Corps now has about 1,000 people working on the lines through the two contracts. That’s up from the 640 people it had on the ground Nov. 10 but a far cry from the 60,000 crewmembers one lineman said would be needed.

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Friday, December8,8,2017 2017 Friday, December

MILITARY

101st Airborne gets Army’s new sidearm

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON – Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division last week became the first to receive the Army’s new handgun, which will be distributed to team leaders in a first for the service, according to Army officials.

Twenty-five soldiers with the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team received and fired the M17 Modular Handgun System on Nov. 27, said Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell.

The division received about 2,000 M17s and M18s, a compact version of the new pistol, kicking off the replacement of the decades-old M9, set to be phased out during the next 10 years, he said.

The new sidearms, produced by Sig Sauer, offer better accuracy, tighter dispersion and better ergonomics than the service’s M9, said Lt. Col. Steven Power, a product manager with

‘It is easier to fire and simpler to operate. The pistol felt very natural in my hand. ’

Sgt. Matthew J. Marsh 1st Brigade Combat Team

the Army’s Project Manager Soldier Weapons office.

The new pistol is “far more lethal” than the Beretta-made M9, which was first fielded by the Army in 1986 and has long drawn the ire of soldiers, he said.

In an Army statement, soldiers who tested the M17 said they were impressed.

“It is easier to fire and simpler to operate,” said Sgt. Matthew J. Marsh, with the 1st Brigade Combat Team.

“The pistol felt very natural in my hand.”

The 101st Airborne’s commander,

Maj. Gen. Andrew Poppas, said the new pistol was “an easy, smooth-firing weapon.”

For the first time, the Army will provide the sidearm to team leaders, typically corporals, to give soldiers in charge of the Army’s smallest tactical units more options on the battlefield, the Army said. Team leaders in the 101st will be the first to receive the pistols, but the policy will eventually expand across the service.

The handguns are expected to be distributed to several other units before the end of the year, including the Army’s newly formed 1st Security

Forces Assistance Brigade at Fort Benning in Georgia, an official said.

M17s and M18s will be distributed to the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force eventually.

Sig Sauer won the Army’s $580 million contract to manufacture the service’s new pistol in January. The contract includes the handgun, accessories and ammunition and is slated to run for the next decade.

The sidearm is a variant of Sig Sauer’s commercially available P320 pistol, according to the New Hampshire-based company.

It is equipped with an external safety and includes an integrated rail system to attach light and laser systems and night-vision sights.

The M17 and M18 also can be outfitted with sound suppressors, according to Sig Sauer. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

FROM PAGE 3

Overcoming hurdles PREPA filed for bankruptcy in July after failing to restructure $9 billion in bond debt and, since the storm, has been saddled with controversy over a questionable $300 million reconstruction contract with a tiny Montana company ill-equipped to tackle the island’s electrical problems. The authority canceled the contract and PREPA CEO Ricardo Ramos Rodriguez resigned Nov. 17.

Rossello has appointed an interim director, but questions regarding better oversight of the troubled agency remain.

Despite the problems at PREPA, Holland said working with them has been invaluable in understanding the intricacies of the outdated system and its weaknesses. Her engineers have worked closely with the Puerto Rican linemen to assess the damage, meeting with them every day.

“We would not have been able to describe what we needed here and build the scope of work required to award hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts had it

CARLOS BONGIOANNI /Stars and Stripes

Soldiers with the 249th Engineer Battalion shovel debris out of an area where they were planning to attach a guy wire from a utility pole to a ground anchor last month to keep the pole upright in a neighborhood near San Juan. not been for the friendship, partnership and transparency of PREPA,” she said.

Rossello in early November asked Congress for $94.5 billion. President Donald

Trump’s administration has requested from Congress a supplemental disaster pack-

age of $44 billion — to cover Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Texas and damage from West Coast wildfires.

That figure is about a quarter of the combined $180 billion requested for all of those disasters, according to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

It is also “wholly inadequate and downright insulting, especially for the people of Puerto Rico who, eight to 10 weeks after Hurricanes Irma and Maria are struggling to get the lights back on,” Leahy said.

On Nov. 28, Rossello announced that Puerto Rico had agreed to let the Federal Emergency Management Agency preapprove any spending of federal relief funds for the island — a move that appeared aimed at mollifying Congress, which will ultimately determine how much federal aid the territory will receive.

“We want to embark in the most transparent, effective and efficient recovery process in the history of our nation,” he said. cahn.dianna@stripes.com Twitter: @diannacahn

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MILITARY

Navy blames poor training, leadership in May collision

BY T YLER HLAVAC Stars and Stripes

JOSEPH A BREGO/Courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps

A girl runs to greet her family after Strike Fighter Squadrons 115 and 195 and Electronic Attack Squadron 141 arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, on Nov. 28.

Trio of USS Reagan fighter jet squadrons relocate to Iwakuni

BY T YLER HLAVAC Stars and Stripes

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Three USS Ronald Reagan fighter jet squadrons arrived at their new home Nov. 28, the latest step in transferring the bulk of Naval Air Facility Atsugi’s Carrier Air Wing 5 to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.

Strike Fighter Squadrons 115 and 195 and Electronic Attack Squadron 141 turned up at Iwakuni after participating in the carrier strike group’s routine fall patrol, the Navy said in a statement Nov. 28.

Capt. Michael Wosje, Carrier Air Wing 5’s commander, said the arrival of the first F/A-18 squadrons is an important step forward for the phased relocation.

“Today represents years of hard work and coordination between the U.S. and Japanese governments and we are looking forward to enjoying the hospitality and building new friendships with our Iwakuni hosts,” he said in a statement.

In February, Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 125, previously based at Norfolk, Va., arrived at Iwakuni to replace Atsugi-based Airborne Early Warning Squadron 115 — the first major step in relocating seven of Carrier Air Wing 5’s nine squadrons from Atusgi to Iwakuni.

Two helicopter squadrons will remain at Atsugi. The Navy has yet to announce a timetable for the relocations of Strike Fighter Squadrons 27 and 102 and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30.

The relocation is part of the Navy’s goal of sending all of Atsugi’s fixed-wing aircraft to Iwakuni. The move, directed in May 2006 as part of the U.S.-Japan Roadmap for Realignment, was to be completed by 2014.

“The arrival of these initial Japan-based elements moves us ever closer to the culmination of years of planning and preparation here under the Defense Policy Review Initiative,” Iwakuni’s commander, Marine Col. Rick Fuerst, said in the statement. “This transformation was designed to both fulfill the United States’ strategic vision for its rebalance in the IndoAsia-Pacific region, and to further strengthen the responsiveness and potency of our role in the U.S.-Japan security alliance.”

Iwakuni will undergo a physical transformation because of the relocation. The base is slated to get new schools, a commissary, a Marine Corps Exchange, family and unaccompanied housing, hangars, a gym, a childcare center, a theater, administrative buildings, a gas station and runway modifications. hlavac.tyler@stripes.com

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Poor training and leadership led to an “avoidable” collision between a U.S. warship and a South Korean fishing boat last spring, according to a Navy report on the incident.

Failures in watchstanding and navigation were the main causes of the May 9 collision between the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain and the fishing vessel Nam Yang 502, the service said in the report released Nov. 30.

The cruiser’s bridge team and combat information center also were at fault, it said. Sailors there didn’t communicate properly or notify the ship’s executive officer of the situation.

The collision, which resulted in administrative and disciplinary actions against the Lake Champlain’s captain, executive officer and several other crewmembers, was one of several incidents involving U.S. warships in the Pacific this year.

In January, the USS Antietam ran aground and spilled roughly 1,100 gallons of hydraulic fluid into Tokyo Bay. In June, a collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a merchant ship killed seven sailors; and an Augusta collision between the USS John S. McCain and a merchant vessel killed 10 sailors.

The Navy initially withheld details of the Lake Champlain incident, citing litigation concerns. However, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in the report that it was “paramount that the Navy transparently explain the causes and lessons learned to the American people.”

He added, “I am committed to make every effort to ensure these types of incidents do not happen again.”

On the morning of the accident, the Lake Champlain was operating in the Sea of Japan alongside the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and a South Korean destroyer, ROKS Yang-

manchun. A radar display on the bridge was not working and the cruiser was not transmitting its position to civilian ships, the report said.

At 10:31 a.m., the Carl Vinson spotted the fishing boat on radar 11 nautical miles from the Lake Champlain and reported the information. The Lake Champlain identified the fishing vessel, which didn’t have a working global positioning system or radio, at 10:50 a.m., tracked it for 45 minutes and lost contact with it at 11:35 a.m.

The Lake Champlain’s crew tried to change position to stay on course with the Carl Vinson, not realizing that they’d turned in front of the fishing boat. The cruiser then ordered maximum speed and attempted to turn right and then left in a futile attempt to avoid a collision. The bridge watch team was “slow to react and executed improper and untimely maneuvers,” the report said.

At 11:51 a.m., the fishing boat’s bow struck the cruiser on the center of its left side. The impact “created a 3-foot-by-5foot-wide dent as well as visible scrapes to the paint,” the report said. There were no significant injuries reported aboard either ship, and the Lake Champlain remained operational.

The warship’s thencommanding officer, Capt.

Chris Cegielski, was attending a meeting aboard the Carl Vinson and the executive officer and navigator were not on the bridge during the collision, the report said.

The Lake Champlain’s crew “was ultimately unprepared for the situation in which they found themselves through a lack of preparation, ineffective command and control, and deficiencies in training,” the report said.

The crew also was faulted for poor radar operation and seamanship as well as improper use of lookouts, it added. hlavac.tyler@stripes.com

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MILITARY

Helping hand Army borrows from Navy playbook to treat wounded patients in combat zones

BY WILL MORRIS Stars and Stripes

LANDSTUHL, Germany — The Army has reduced the need for medical evacuations from combat zones by adopting a Navy program that soldiers say has saved money and improved care.

The 7227th Medical Support Unit at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center — where many wounded servicemembers from Afghanistan first arrive for treatment — earlier this year adopted the Health Experts onLine Portal, or HELP, a web-based program used by the Navy to treat sailors deployed on ships.

The system stores patient information — X-rays, electrocardiograms and treatment records — that specialists anywhere in the world can access to advise less experienced medical personnel on how to treat patients.

Because of improved communications and downrange diagnosis, 40 percent of the patients who normally would have been medically evacuated to Landstuhl were able to remain in theater, according to the hospital.

By reducing the number of transport cases, HELP saved about $100,000 per month in transportation costs, for a total savings of $743,736 by Oct. 31.

Lt. Col. Aaron Neil, commander of the 7227th Medical Support Unit, said that before using HELP, the way forward-deployed doctors communicated with specialists about treating patients was “disjointed.”

A deployed doctor who needed to consult a specialist would have to call around and hunt one down, Neil said.

When the two finally got connected, they often wouldn’t be able to review vital information together.

“We needed to be able to provide accurate medical consultation across the board of services,” said Neil, whose Co-

Stars and Stripes

A soldier is evacuated to a medevac helicopter after being injured by an improvised explosive device near Molla Dust in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, in 2011. lumbia, Mo.-based reserve unit recently finished a nine-month rotation at Landstuhl. “There wasn’t really a program designed to do this. We weren’t using anything to do it.”

On April 24, with the support of Navy Medicine East in Portsmouth, Va., the 7227th became the first Army unit in Europe to use the HELP system.

Landstuhl’s medical transportation center managed the treatment of 1,067 patients with HELP through early November. From June through September, 64 percent of those patients were from U.S. Central Command, which includes the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Behavioral health issues were the most commonly treated problems, followed by orthopedic issues and general sur-

gery, according to unit data.

“I and all of our team started getting other people to use the program,” Neil said. “We went downrange to CENTCOM in Afghanistan. When I say ‘went,’ I mean I picked up the phone and called them, ‘You need to use this program.’

And then to troops in Poland, ‘You need to use this program.’

“I’m a salesman for the program,” Neil said. “I’m trying to get buy-in.”

The first adopters of HELP outside of Neil’s unit were the specialists at Landstuhl, followed by the medical clinic at Ramstein Air Base. Neil quickly found he could use Landstuhl’s location and status to get others to adopt HELP. “One of the unique things about our area here is that we work so much with

‘ It’s really changed the way we operate; everybody is starting to use it now because it is so efficient.

’

Capt. Marquita Gillespie patient administration officer, on the HELP program

all the branches,” Neil said.

“In the [medical transportation center] we have Navy sitting right there; we’ve got the Marine Corps sitting right next to us; we’ve got Special Forces; we’ve got Army; and we’ve got an entire detachment here from the Air Force. So we’ve got virtually every branch in the United States military except for the Coast Guard right here at Landstuhl.”

Because Landstuhl sends many patients back to the U.S. for further treatment, Neil’s unit was able to interest several major hospitals in adopting the program, including Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Neil estimated that most military treatment facilities will adopt the system on their own by October 2019.

Capt. Marquita Gillespie, a 7227th patient administration officer who used HELP during the deployment, said she expects the medical community to act rapidly.

“It’s really changed the way we operate; everybody is starting to use it now because it is so efficient,” Gillespie said. morris.william@stripes.com Twitter: @willatstripes

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MILITARY

Navy: Fallen pilot’s flying helped save lives in Philippine Sea crash

BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — Navy Lt. Steven Combs determined an emergency landing of his transport plane on the choppy waters of the Philippine Sea was necessary as the aircraft he was piloting failed only miles from the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan, according to Navy officials.

The 28-year-old pilot’s decision to land the C-2A Greyhound on the water ultimately saved the lives of eight of the 11 people aboard the aircraft, Combs’ co-pilot told Navy investigators probing the Nov. 22 crash.

Combs, Seaman Matthew Chialastri and Seaman Apprentice Bryan Grosso were declared dead in the crash after their bodies were not recovered during a three-day search.

“Lt. Combs’ co-pilot was effusive in his praise.

He said, ‘He flew the hell out of that plane,’ ” Navy Cmdr. Ronald Flanders, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces, told Stars and Stripes. “It was heroic. A remarkable piece of flying that was instrumental in saving eight lives.”

The Navy is considering a posthumous award for Combs’ actions, Flanders added.

Those final actions, Combs which allowed rescuers to retrieve the eight survivors within 45 minutes of the crash, did not surprise people who knew Combs best, the pilot’s sister, Elizabeth Combs, told reporters after his death.

“Even in his last moment, he was looking out for others. I wouldn’t have expected anything less,” she said of her brother, according to the Berkshire Eagle, a newspaper in Pittsfield, Mass., where they grew up. “We are so, so proud of him.”

Combs commissioned into the Navy in 2011 after graduating from the University of Colorado and was assigned to the Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30 and the Reagan as part of Carrier Air Wing 5, according to the Navy.

Elizabeth Combs and friends of the fallen sailor described him as an athletic, fun-loving man who grew up dreaming of flying airplanes.

He especially loved downhill skiing and competed in the sport growing up, she said.

“He was a blast to be around and had a great sense of humor. He was always laughing,” Brian Pedrotti, Combs’ childhood friend, told Fox 13 News. “Whatever he put his mind to he could do, and he never stopped until his goals were complete.”

Chialastri was an aviation boatswain’s mate from Baton Rouge, La. He was a 2013 graduate of Woodlawn High School, where he was the valedictorian of his class, according to the school.

His Junior ROTC instructor at the school

described him as loyal and dependable, telling the New Orleans’ newspaper The Advocate that Chialastri quickly made an impression as a freshman in the program and was leading older students before he left the program his sophomore year to focus on his studies.

“He was just that good and he knew how to talk to them so it was never an issue of them getting mad or upset,” retired Sgt. 1st Class Jill Pearl said, adding she was proud when he enlisted in the Navy.

Grosso, an aviation ordnanceman, had only recently completed initial Navy training and joined the Reagan’s crew, according to the Navy.

He was a 2017 graduate of West Florida High School in Pensacola, Fla., where he played lacrosse.

One of Grosso’s naval instructors wrote in a public Facebook post she had “high hopes” for his career.

“You stood out … because you were such a good person, acted very mature and had a big heart,” Petty Officer 1st Class Justine Chanelle Ramos wrote. “You’re a great sailor and a friend to all of us, you will always be in our hearts and thoughts. May God give your family the strength for the loss, I cannot imagine the pain everyone is going through right now.”

It remains unclear precisely what caused the aircraft to fail about 500 miles southeast of Okinawa on a routine flight from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni to the Ronald Reagan during a joint exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Flanders said.

It appears the C-2, which is designed to carry people and cargo, suffered a rare double engine failure, two Navy officials told Stars and Stripes on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

The officials said it was unclear what would have caused the engines to fail.

C-2s have been in service since the 1960s, but have a remarkable safety record, Flanders said.

The Nov. 22 crash was the first fatal C-2 crash since 1980, when the Naval Safety Center began collecting data on such incidents.

Flanders said, in that time, the turbo-prop aircraft has had only four incidents characterized as Class A mishaps, which include damage of more than $2 million or a fatality.

“This is one of the safest aircraft, if not the safest, in naval aviation,” he said. “An incident like this — it’s almost unheard of.”

There was no record of any pilot previously attempting to land a C-2 on water under the conditions that Combs did, one of the unnamed officials said.

While pilots train to handle emergency situations, it is difficult to simulate certain situations, such as the ones that Combs and his co-pilot experienced, Flanders said.

“It took a great deal of skill and poise to do what he did,” he said. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

Courtesy of U.S. European Command

A U.S. RC-135U flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea is intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker on June 19. A Russian Su-30 fighter flew within 50 feet of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea on Nov. 25.

Russian jet makes ‘unsafe’ intercept of US Navy plane

BY JOHN VANDIVER Stars and Stripes

STUTTGART, Germany — A Russian fighter crossed within 50 feet of a U.S. surveillance aircraft flying over the Black Sea, blasting its afterburners in a dangerous maneuver in front of the American aircraft, military officials said Nov. 28.

The encounter on Nov. 25 between the Sukhoi Su-30 fighter and the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol jet lasted about 25 minutes and culminated with the Russian plane cutting in front of the P-8A, U.S. European Command said.

“The commander of the aircraft determined it was unsafe,” said Maj. Juan Martinez, a EUCOM spokesman.

The Su-30’s afterburners created a stream of turbulence that caused the U.S. plane to tilt into a 15-degree roll, Martinez said.

The P-8A, based on Boeing’s 737-800 airliner, lacks the maneuverability of the much smaller Su-30 fighter jet.

Navy P-8s, which often fly out of the Navy’s air station in Sigonella, Italy, are specialized in anti-submarine warfare and electronic support measures.

U.S. military officials have

repeatedly expressed concern about Russian submarine activity in the Black Sea and Mediterranean.

Encounters between Russian and U.S. military aircraft are fairly routine around the Baltic states and the Black Sea. In most cases, intercepts happen without incident as aircraft follow a set of air safety protocols.

U.S. and NATO officials have complained that the Russians sometime engage in unpredictable, aggressive maneuvers.

In June, a Russian fighter flew toward a U.S. Air Force surveillance plane over the Baltic Sea with a “high rate of closure speed and poor control of the aircraft,” EUCOM said at the time. Last year, a Russian fighter barrel-rolled over the top of an Air Force RC-135 flying in international airspace in a maneuver that the military said put the U.S. crew at risk.

The Nov. 25 encounter also occurred in international airspace, EUCOM said. The Navy P-8A was observing international flight rules and was flying with its transponder on, Martinez said. vandiver.john@stripes.com Twitter: @john_vandiver

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Friday, December8,8,2017 2017 Friday, December

EUROPE

German Christmas markets’ security boosted

BY M ARCUS K LOECKNER Stars and Stripes

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Security has been boosted at Germany’s famed Christmas markets, including in cities with large populations of U.S. military personnel and their families.

The efforts come in the wake of attacks by Islamic State sympathizers and other extremists in various cities in Europe this year. Focus on security at Christmas markets sharpened in 2016 following an attack in Berlin that left 12 people dead.

Video surveillance, increased police presence and other measures will be in place for the downtown market in Kaiserslautern, city police spokeswoman Chris-

WILL MORRIS/Stars and Stripes

Two patrons enjoy a beer at the Kaiserslatern Christmas Market on Nov. 27. Police announced increased security measures for the market and others like it in Germany. tiane Lautenschlaeger said Nov. 27. About 50,000 U.S. personnel and their families

live in the area, making it the largest overseas U.S. military community.

The market, which includes food, crafts and entertainment, will run through Dec. 23.

Security will focus on preventing both terrorism attacks and petty crimes, such as pickpocketing, Lautenschlaeger said. Police also will check drivers in the area for alcohol impairment, she said.

U.S. military police will patrol alongside their German counterparts, an Air Force spokeswoman said. In Stuttgart, home to U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, a large Christmas market will operate on several city streets until Dec. 23.

Major streets leading to the market will be blocked, police spokesman Jens Lauer said.

“There will be an increased number of police officers at

the Christmas market as well as in the city’s center,” Lauer said.

Stuttgart already has held multiple festivals this year where it has used roadblocks and police armed with machine guns for protection, Lauer said.

Wiesbaden, home of U.S. Army Europe headquarters, will follow similar procedures at its market, which runs through Dec. 23. There is no such thing as total protection from a terrorist attack, “but we do our best to prevent it from happening,” Wiesbaden police spokesman Markus Hoffmann said.

Stars and Stripes reporter Will Morris contributed to this report. kloeckner.marcus@stripes.com

Presley’s only European concert

BY M ARTIN EGNASH Stars and Stripes

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — The Grafenwoehr Training Area is known today as the largest U.S. Army training area in Europe, a place where artillery maneuver and fire alongside tanks and infantry.

But the “King of battle” wasn’t always the only king on base.

Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, spent several weeks training on base here in 1958 after he was drafted into the Army. He returned for an encore to do maneuver training in 1960.

Presley’s time in Grafenwoehr wasn’t spent only on training. The King left a lasting legacy on base and off, and he is still remembered as the most famous person to visit the area.

In November, Grafenwoehr’s Culture and Military Museum hosted a special exhibit on Presley’s time in the area, complete with dozens of photographs of the King working with fellow soldiers at Camp Algiers, where he was based.

Presley was selected for

the draft in 1957, but he was allowed to finish filming “King Creole” before entering service. Though he was offered a chance to serve as “special service,” performing for troops, he turned it down to be a regular soldier.

“People were expecting me to mess up, to goof up in one way or another,” Presley said in explaining his decision during an interview with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services Network at the end of his tour. “They thought I couldn’t take it and so forth, and I was determined to go to any limits to prove otherwise, not only to the people who were wondering, but to myself.”

In doing so, Presley earned the respect of his fellow soldiers, including veterans of World War II, who previously viewed him as frivolous.

At Grafenwoehr, he sought to avoid the perception he was receiving special treatment, gaining a reputation for doing more than was asked of him.

According to a 1950s Stars and Stripes article, he began his first maneuver training in Grafenwoehr on Nov. 3, 1958,

trading his suite near the base for a standard-issue GI tent, and roughing it in the field with the other soldiers. At the time, Presley, a private, was a scout jeep driver for the 3rd Armored Division.

Yet, as much as the singer sought to be just a regular soldier, news of his presence, along with “Presley fever,” spread to the surrounding area.

Waves of fans — both German and American — gathered at the base gates, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous soldier.

“We boys did not like Presley because the girls got on our nerves with their puppy love for Presley,” said Martin Hossl in the base history book, “Grafenwoehr Training Area, Yesterday and Today,” by Gerald Morgenstern.

Hossl, who worked as a painter at the barracks, met Presley. Despite his complaints about the girls, he got several autographs from Presley.

The exhibit at the Grafenwoehr museum featured a re-creation of Micky Bar, where the King performed

Courtesy of Gerald Morgenstern

During his time in the Army, Elvis Presley carved “Elvis GI” into an artillery observation tower in Grafenwoehr, or so locals claim. his only concert outside North America.

A happening place where international bands performed, Micky Bar was run by the local Feiner family, who allowed Presley’s father and friends to stay in the apartment upstairs.

As a way to say thank you, Presley performed a private concert for the Feiner family and German workers at Micky Bar, singing such hits as “Hound Dog” and “My Happiness.”

Presley may have made a more tangible mark during his days in Grafenwoehr at the

Bleidorn Tower, where locals believe he scratched “Presley GI” into the brick artillery observation platform.

But there is disagreement about whether the mark was left by the King himself. Believers maintain that Presley referred to himself jokingly.

Doubters cite the brick several feet above it, where “Jesus” is scratched into the tower, as proof that not everything scratched into an observation tower can be taken as gospel. egnash.martin@stripes.com Twitter: @Marty_Stripes

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PACIFIC

Tankers prep for battle in South Korea

BY M ARCUS FICHTL Stars and Stripes

RODRIGUEZ LIVE FIRE RANGE, South Korea — Tank rounds have been screeching across mountains just a few miles south of the tense border with North Korea over the past two weeks, and they won’t stop until Christmas.

Amid Pyongyang’s recent missile test and a high-profile defection at the Joint Security Area, Texas-based tank crews from 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, have been conducting gunnery qualifications at Rodriguez Live Fire Range, the Army’s premiere training site near the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea.

“The first step in gunnery is qualifying that crew,” said Capt. Andrew Gregory, the battalion’s headquarters company commander.

To qualify, crews need to shoot seven out of 10 pop-up targets — five during the day and five at night, he said.

Qualified M1A2 Abrams tanks receive nicknames that crews, who earn buckled tanker boots, paint on the sides of their 120mm barrels.

The nicknames and boots show that crews are ready for battle, said Gregory, 31, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind. In Korea, tank crews prepare to fight on rough terrain.

A company of 16 tanks might have to hold several miles of front line, Gregory said.

“They have to be fully confident that they can fight and win,” he said. “This fight

PHOTOS

BY

M ARCUS FICHTL /Stars and Stripes

M1A2 Abrams tanks from Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, enter a qualification range at Rodriguez Live Fire Range, South Korea, on Nov. 28. (a potential conflict with North Korea) can come down to one or two tanks holding a critical road juncture or valley pass.”

Gregory said there are a lot of specific mission sets — such as countering weapons of mass destruction — that tankers need to know before battling a

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nation like North Korea.

“But the bottom line is we’re a combined-arms battalion that needs to conduct offensive and defensive tasks,” he said. “The tank crew is the building block for that.”

The tankers, known as “Mustangs,” have grown field

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.

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© Stars and Stripes, 2017

mustaches.

They decorated one of their tanks with a small Christmas tree and celebrated Thanksgiving with a meal at the range.

“We have our families back at home and we have our Army family here with us,“ said Sgt. 1st Class Jamie Weaver, a platoon sergeant with Company A. Weaver, 31, from Shelbina, Mo., said Rodriguez is a challenging place to live but that sending rounds down range and training for tank-on-tank battles that he calls “grown-up laser tag” is what it’s all about.

“We actually get to do our job here,” he said. “This is our Super Bowl.”

Spc. Paul Carrico, 24, of Lawton, Okla., a loader who calls himself a “tank housewife” because it’s his job to keep the tank clean and the rounds prepped for firing, said he enjoys spending extra time

An Abrams tank is geared up for qualification at Rodriguez Live Fire Range. with his tank.

“I sling 120mm rounds of freedom,” he said. “Nothing beats seeing the rounds go off and being the most lethal force on the battlefield.” fichtl.marcus@stripes.com Twitter: @marcusfichtl

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7pm - 9pm Singing Christmas Tree Abilene Baptist Church Free, but tickets required and can be picked up at the church office or online at itickets.com ($1 fee online). Continues at 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10. Call 706-869-1774 or visit myabilene.org.

Sat Dec 9

4pm Nutcracker in the South

AU’s Maxwell Theatre A Cutno Dance Center production that includes dancers of all ages and an updated version of the Tchaikovsky piece using Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite and other holiday classics to tell the story. $10-$35. Visit cutnodance.com or call 706-364-3442.

2pm - 9:30pm 12 Bands of Christmas

Augusta Common Held at Augusta on Ice, this lineup features performances by Joe Stevenson Band, King Size, Phillip Lee Jr., Bethany Davis and Brandy Douglas, Jason Shepard and Chuck Holt, Will McCranie, John Krueger, Michael Hitchcock. Benefits the Children’s Hospital of Georgia. Visit augustaonice. com.

2pm - 6pm Toy Shoppe at Towne Center

Evans Towne Center Park Event includes full Christmas

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Friday, December 8, 2017

vendor village, free Santa photos, free train rides, cookies with Mrs. Claus, ornament decorating, food and beverage vendors, nine holes of North Pole Mini Golf, a giant maze and more. Bring a new, unwrapped gift to the ticket booth for Toys for Tots collection. A second opportunity will be from 2-6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16. Visit evanstownecenterpark.com or call 706868-3484.

10am Mistletoe 5K Fun Run

Lake Olmstead Stadium Free fun run hosted by Fleet Feet Sports and the Augusta GreenJackets; no registration required. After the fun run is the annual Auggie’s Holiday BUZZAR which includes a holiday vendor market, Santa and Mrs. Claus, Touch-A-Truck, inflatables, free hot chocolate and coffee. Bring your leashed dogs, and if you bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots, you’ll get a free hot dog and soda.

Call 706-922-9860 or visit facebook. com/events/1966438790276478.

Ongoing

Lights of the South

633 Louisville Road, Grovetown See millions of lights, roast marshmallows, take a hay ride, and experience more holiday fun. $12, adults; $9, kids 4-17; free, kids 3 and under. Open through Dec. 30 from 6-10 p.m. (closed on Christmas). Visit lightsofthesouth.com or call 706-5566623.

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Friday, December 8, 2017 Friday, December 8, 2017

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