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Friday, June 26, 2009
1. GI Bill Transfer Protocol Established
The Defense Department has clarified procedures service members can use to transfer their Post 9/11 GI Bill education benefits to eligible family members. Beginning June 29, they can log into a new Web site -- https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/TEB/ -- and register family members’ names, and the length of time they want to authorize those beneficiaries to use the benefits. Service members can transfer their 36 months of education benefits to a spouse or children, providing they are enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS). The new GI Bill takes effect August 1, and is open to anyone serving on active duty or the Selected Reserve on or after that date.
2. Soldier Receives Silver Star
A Fort Jackson, S.C.-based soldier received the Silver Star medal in a June 11 ceremony, for heroism he displayed during a July 13, 2008, firefight in the town of Wanat, in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. Staff Sgt. Sean Samaroo, now with the 4th Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment, and members of his squad were monitoring a vehicle checkpoint near their base when 200 enemy fighters launched an assault of a vehicle patrol consisting of 30 U.S. and coalition troops. While Samaroo and his comrades defended the checkpoint from attackers, he was hit with shrapnel and was bleeding. Nevertheless, he refused to leave his position until reinforcements arrived. Although nine U.S. soldiers died and 27 more were wounded, as well as four Afghan soldiers, his fellow soldiers believe casualties would have been higher if not for Samaroo’s actions.
3. AF Announces E-6 Promotions
The Air Force has promoted 7,724 staff sergeants to technical sergeant, out of a pool of 37,172 eligible airmen. The list of names is available on the Air Force Personnel Center’s Web site, www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/, under the “Ask” heading. Click on “Spotlight and Enlisted Promotions.” Selectees averaged scores of 319.69, with their time in service ranging from 5.68 years to 10.85 years.
4. Report Stresses Need To Curtail Civilian Deaths
Even though the troops on the ground and the pilots who provided close air support for them followed the rules of armed conflict during a May 4 firefight in Afghanistan’s Farah province, a panel of Defense Department investigators determined that more could have been done, and should be done in future operations, to ensure the safety of civilians. The panel did not discount reports that 26 Afghan civilians died in an air raid during the fight, which targeted and killed 78 Taliban fighters, and stopped short of recommending that close-air-support missions in such situations be curtailed. But the panel believes that a review of operational and tactical procedures – including the role of close air support – is necessary. When the review is complete, all troops should be retrained accordingly. The report also called for better lines of communications between coalition forces and international humanitarian organizations who maintain a presence in the theater.
5. IG Seeks Help in Combating Fraud
Arnold Fields, the special inspector general in charge of monitoring compliance during Afghanistan reconstruction, wants help in eliminating fraud, waste and mismanagement of the U.S. taxpayers’ money that underwrites the project. “We need the help of those on the front lines,” Fields said June 19. “If they see something they believe is suspicious or illegal, we are asking them to tell us so we can look into it.” To report activities, phone +93(0)700-10-7300 (from Afghanistan); +1-866-329-8893 (international); 318-237-2575 (DSN); 312-664-0378 (DSN International); or +1-703-604-0983 (AAX). Or, email hotline@sigar.mil, or visit http://www.sigar.mil.fraud on the Web.
6. MC Backs off on Land Claim
The Marine Corps announced it is no longer interested in acquiring nearly 60,000 acres of public and private land near Twentynine Palms Air Ground Combat Center, Calif. The Marines had wanted the land to accommodate plans to expand the base’s training range, used by Marine expeditionary brigades. As a result, a planned environmental impact statement will focus instead on the remaining 360,000 acres of land and airspace that borders Twentynine Palms’ western, eastern, and southern perimeters. The Marine Corps first expressed public interest in the land last August, when it filed an Application for Withdrawal of Public Lands. The change will keep recreational areas open for public use.
7. MC Releases 0-2 Promotion List
The Marine Corps has announced the names of second lieutenants selected in July for promotion to first lieutenant. To view the list, read MARADMIN 374-09 on the service’s Web site, www.marines.mil/news/messages.
8.
Navy, MC Conduct Sexual Assault Prevention Survey
The Navy and Marine Corps are conducting joint voluntary, anonymous surveys of their ranks to determine the efficacy of their sexual assault victim intervention program, through September 1. The survey is available online via the Marine Corps’ Web site, at http://www.marines.mil/. More information is outlined in MARADMIN 328/09, also on the service’s Web site.
9. AF Changes PCS Policy
Married Air Force couples who are stationed at the same base now only have to live in the same residence 12 months to meet the time on station requirement, according to a change announced June 17. Air Force officials made the change in an effort to ease the financial burden on some married service couples who have to maintain two separate households while they are geographically separated. Another change readjusts manning requirements for airmen stationed in the continental U.S. It will hopefully provide first-term and career airmen a better shot and being stationed at the base of their choice. Ultimately, the Air Force hopes to extend average assignment lengths to 48 months. Families would be allowed to remain in one location longer, and out-of-pocket costs for permanent-change–of-station (PCS) moves would decline as well.
10. Foreign-Language Training Scrutinized
The Defense Department needs to develop a more thorough strategic plan for organization and implementation of its foreign-language training effort, according to a June 19 report by the Government Accountability Office. DoD has “made progress in transforming its language and regional proficiency over the last five years,” the GAO report stated. But the department needs a more detailed plan of determining where language deficiencies exist, how they should be addressed, and how progress should be measured, according to the report stated. “Not all [language] objectives are measurable, linkages between these goals and DoD’s funding priorities remain unclear, and DoD has not identified the total cost of its planned transformation efforts,” the report stated. “Without a complete inventory and a validated methodology, DoD cannot effectively assess risk and make informed investment decisions in its language and regional proficiency capabilities.”
