The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is helping to protect an endangered species along the Arkansas River. Mary Cochran reports from Tulsa that a partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is providing successful help and assistance for a very unique bird whose habitat is threatened by dams, reservoirs, and other changes to the river system.
(Previously published on DODLive)
Bradley Smith is a project manager in the Clinical Telehealth division of the National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2) and a Captain in the Washington Army National Guard. He deployed to Baghdad as part of the Surge during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2006-2007.
Dr. Mishkind and Dr. Luxton with the National Center for Telehealth & Technology test the use of smartphones for video conferencing. (Photo by National Center for Telehealth & Technology.)
In 2007 and 2008 troops deployed to the Iraq “Surge” began returning home from deployments lasting as long as 15 months. Several staff members at the National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2) were part of those extended tours and like many others wanted to spend their first days at home with their families, and most of all, out of uniform. Also like most others, they groaned at the announcement of another mandatory briefing or medical appointment, especially ones that either delayed a return home or were scheduled at times that interrupted the readjustment to home life.
Recent advancements in mobile technology offer the potential to conduct some of these mandatory briefings and appointments on a smart phone. In January of this year, DOD Live noted the release of a new version of Skype that enabled two-way videochat on mobile devices. Apple’s newest iPhone features Facetime, an app capable of providing mobile videoconferencing between Apple’s mobile devices and, recently, their computers. T2’s David Luxton recently provided a great overview of our work in mobile applications, including research into Service Member’s impressions of mobile videoconferencing for mental health care. (more…)
Doc Bender on top of the Ziggurat of Ur in Southern Iraq, in February 2009.
Dr. James Bender is a former Army psychologist who deployed to Iraq as the brigade psychologist for the 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Hood, Texas. During his deployment, he traveled through Southern Iraq, from Basra to Baghdad. He writes a monthly post for the DCoE Blog on psychological health concerns related to deployment and being in the military.
It was an action-packed week recently as I was in Washington, D.C., for the American Psychological Association (APA) annual convention. I joined about 12,000 fellow psychologists to discuss a variety of topics, including the psychological health of service members and programs highlighting our latest research.
I presented at the workshop, Serving Those Who Served: Partnering with Returning Veterans to Aid Transitions, which was a forum for psychologists to become aware of information, resources and techniques to use when assisting this increasing population. As we know, military and civilian psychologists have an important role: as troops return from deployment, many will seek their help to cope with issues that may arise upon their return home. (more…)
By Mr. Dan Lafontaine (U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command)
U.S. Army Graphic
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Soldiers can now provide feedback on their equipment directly to military scientists, U.S. Army officials announced Aug. 25.
The Army has launched the Soldier Technology Suggestion Portal, which enables Warfighters to send suggestions through an Army Knowledge Online Web site.
“We as a Command have to give every Warfighter in theater, both in Iraq and Afghanistan, the ability to reach back into RDECOM,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Hector Marin, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s senior noncommissioned officer. “It’s extremely important because one of the things we struggle with is getting instant feedback from the Warfighter.”
Sgt. Maj. William Tager, noncommissioned officer-in-charge at the RDECOM Field Assistance in Science and Technology-Center at Bagram Airfield, led the push for a portal after speaking with sergeants major in several commands in theater.
Bill Langston, RDECOM knowledge management and collaboration division chief, led the information technology effort to build STSP. He stressed that making it easy to use was a priority for Soldiers. (more…)
Capt. William Helton
A retired Naval Reserve commander and Vietnam veteran, Captain William Helton has commanded 16 Military Sealift Command ships, most of them replenishment vessels. He has a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of Tennessee. He is a member of the Nautical Institute and the Council of American Master Mariners. He joined MSC as an Able Seaman (Manual) in 1982.
With dawn breaking on a balmy July morning in the Indian Ocean, the deck of Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock rocked underfoot as my crew prepared for an underway replenishment, or UNREP, that would provide several Navy ships with the products they needed to stay at sea.
This particular morning, Rappahannock was tasked primarily to replenish aircraft carrier USS George Washington not only with jet fuel, but also fruits and vegetables, repair parts and other provisions.
INDIAN OCEAN (July 8, 2011) Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington observe as the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock approaches for an underway replenishment. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman William Gatlin)
Roughly 1,000 yards astern of our ship, the 116,000-ton carrier moved to come alongside Rappahannock, where both our ships would knife through the seas at 13 knots – our replenishment speed – on a straight course into 40-knot relative winds.
(more…)
Capt. Craig Upton, Military Sealift Command
A recent graduate of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., Captain Craig Upton has sailed as master with Military Sealift Command since 1992. He has conducted well over 1,500 underway replenishments during this time.
American military might is projected daily at many hotspots throughout the world by the U.S. Navy. The Navy’s highly capable and powerful ships patrol strategic straits, hostile coastlines and support boots on the ground with air support in many global theaters simultaneously. Many of these global trouble spots are hundreds – sometimes thousands – of miles from friendly ports where fuel and stores are available. So how are these ships able to remain at sea for long periods of time? How do they continue their missions for weeks or even months without pause?
The answer lies with a sophisticated fleet of replenishment vessels in the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, a part of Military Sealift Command, itself part of the Department of the Navy. Manned primarily by civil service mariners, these ships routinely support naval vessels worldwide, shuttling fuel, food, stores, parts and ammunition from friendly foreign logistics ports to deployed naval ships at sea. Replenishment ships are purpose-built for their various support missions, specializing in various commodities. In the past, many of these ships were single-product ships, presenting the logistical challenge of mustering a fuel ship, a food ship and an ammunition ship to replenish one naval vessel. Many replenishment ships presently in operation are multi-product, carrying an array of food, ammunition and fuel, allowing the customer ship an opportunity to engage in one-stop shopping rather than three separate evolutions.
ARABIAN SEA (June 30, 2011) A pallet of supplies from the Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Bridge is transferred to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan during an underway replenishment. Ronald Reagan and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 were deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting close-air support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd)
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (Official Photo).
On Monday, August 22, DoDLive hosted a Bloggers Roundtable program with the 75th Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus who discussed alternative energy sources and the Navy’s energy goals.
Shortly after assuming office, in October 2009, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus laid out five aggressive energy goals to improve our energy security and efficiency, increase our energy independence, and help lead the nation toward a clean energy economy. Mabus directed the Department of the Navy (DoN) to increase alternative energy ashore. By 2020, the DoN will produce at least 50 percent of shore-based energy requirements from alternative sources and 50 percent of DoN installations will be net-zero. (more…)
(DODEA photo)
By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service
When children walk into a Defense Department school this year, they may be handed a laptop or electronic reader, or perhaps they’ll be asked to build a robot or try out a simulator on the school lawn.
Technology has long since changed the nation; it’s now time to use these advances to transform its schools, the acting director of the Department of Defense Education Activity said.
“It’s about 21st century learning,” Marilee Fitzgerald said in an interview with American Forces Press Service. “And 21st century learning is infused with technology.”
With new initiatives, state-of-the-art equipment and a student-centered model of education, the education activity is entering a new technology-based era, she said, that’s aimed at energizing and engaging its students.
DOD schools are moving away from an education model that calls for all children to be on the same page, learning the same information, all at the same time, Fitzgerald said, to a model that is about a child’s individual needs and learning styles.
Now, rather than all students being on Page 45 in Chapter 4, they’re divided into learning centers. A visitor to a 1st or 2nd grade room may see children at one table working on writing, and others working on vocabulary or reading at another. And at each table, the students are working at different levels based on their ability and interests.
“It’s a very student-centered approach,” Fitzgerald noted. (more…)
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