US Military News: 12/01/05

Pace Seeks Ideas from Future Top Military Leaders

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2005 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today challenged military and civilian leaders being groomed for top leadership posts in the future to think outside the box in coming up with ideas to confront terrorism.

Speaking today at the National Defense University at Fort McNair here, Marine Gen. Peter Pace asked each student to read the 35-page "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." The report, released by the White House on Nov. 30, defines the U.S. plan for success in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pace urged the members of the National Defense University audience to use their brainpower to come up with suggestions about how the U. S. should go about accomplishing its goals.

As one of the country's premier joint professional military education institutions, the NDU brings together military members identified for increasingly responsible positions, as well as their counterparts from other federal agencies and allied militaries. Many students have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pace noted.

Together, the group brings a wealth of experience in military, political and economic issues that can contribute a lot to the fight against global terrorism, Pace said.

"Take time to think about, what are the big ideas?" the chairman urged the group. "What are the things from your own experience that would help us all better understand how to achieve these objectives more effectively and more efficiently for our own government?"

Pace encouraged the group to think beyond just Iraq and Afghanistan, and to consider the long-term challenges the United States and the free world face in fighting terrorism.

He urged them to consider the best ways to:

- Fight an enemy inside countries with whom the United States is not at war;
- Promote interagency cooperation to bring it on par with joint operations within the military fostered over the past 20 years; and
- Build coalitions and remove barriers to their effectiveness and efficiency."This is a long war," Pace said, noting that members of today's audience will be the leaders who will carry it forward. "You are the leadership for this country for the next 20 years," he said.

"Failure is not an option," he told the group, and patience and resolve will ensure victory.

"But it's also true that inside of that patience and resolve, we should execute our mission as smartly as we possibly can," he said.

"And that's what this opportunity for you is all about ... to help us critique ourselves, to take a look at (the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq) ... and see what it is that we could do collectively, that would get us to the goals in that document as fast as humanly possible."

Biography:

Gen. Peter Pace, USMC [http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/pace_bio.html]

Related Site:

National Strategy for Victory in Iraq [http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_strategy_nov2005.html]

Iraqis Will Have Secure Voting Environment, General Says

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2005 - The success of joint Iraqi and coalition operations in Iraq will ensure a safe voting environment for Iraqi national elections, a senior military official in Iraq said today.

"We see great progress in our operations," Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said at a news conference in Baghdad.

But one element of concern casts a shadow over that progress: Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi still has 15 days to try and derail the democratic process in Iraq, Lynch said.

This mission is becoming an increasing struggle for the terrorist leader, however, the general said. He cited the success of recent coalition offensive operations in Iraq and the Nov. 10 hotel bombings in Amman, Jordan, that caused backlash against the terrorist leader in his home country. Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq network claimed responsibility for the attacks, spurring Jordanian protests denouncing the terrorist leader.

"He's struggling because we've taken away a lot of his munitions," Lynch said. "He's struggling because we've denied him safe havens across Iraq. He's struggling because we've taken away his freedom of movement."

Zarqawi also has lost 117 network leaders since January, Lynch noted, including his executive secretary, Abu Ubaydah, killed in October in what Lynch called "a blow for freedom."

Despite continuing insurgent activity, progress is being made in Iraq, Lynch said.

About 214,000 Iraqi security forces are trained and equipped, and the country has re-established control of its border, the general told reporters. On Nov. 30 the Iraqi defense minister declared the Iraq border with Syria at Husaybah sealed. It was a known entry point for Zarqawi and his forces, Lynch said.

During the past week, 11 car bombs exploded, 13 fewer than the preceding week. The reduction in car bombings is directly linked to joint Iraqi and coalition force operations that have turned up about 301 weapons caches in November, Lynch said, adding that that is the largest number of caches discovered since January.

Operation Tigers, an ongoing joint operation that began in Ramadi on Nov. 27, included cordon-and-search operations that resulted in the discovery of numerous weapons caches, Lynch said. Operation Iron Hammer recently started with the goal of denying Zarqawi the use of the eastern side of the Euphrates River as a safe haven, he added.

"In Kirkuk, we found the mother of all weapons caches," Lynch said, referring to a large cache discovered Nov. 27 on a tip from a local citizen. "The people of Iraq who are tired of the insurgency are turning to Iraqi security force members and saying, 'Hey, here's where they're storing their munitions.'"

Iraqi border enforcement also is beefed up and successfully patrolling the country's borders. The Border Enforcement Department now boasts 18,000 members, an increase of 3,000 since January. The addition of 170 border forts along the Iraqi border to the 58 existing in January makes the border easier to protect. Border enforcement expects to have 258 complete border forts by January, Lynch said.

The border patrol is employing technology at the border crossings, he said. A type of X-ray machine known as a Backscatter system is being used to scan cargo vehicles to detect people trying to enter Iraq by hiding in cargo.

All of these strides in security and stability are laying groundwork for an upcoming successful Iraqi national election, Lynch said.

"On the 15th of December, there will be peaceful elections in Iraq," Lynch said. "The people of Iraq will vote for a new Iraq. They're excited, and we are equally excited."

Related Site:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

Joint Chiefs Chairman Defines Victory in Iraq

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2005 - The war on terror won't come to a dramatic end as many past wars have, but rather will require continued vigilance to keep terrorists at bay, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today at the National Defense University here.

The terror war won't have a "pinpoint" victory like in World War II, with a signing ceremony aboard the battleship Missouri and large-scale Victory in Europe and Victory in Japan celebrations, said Marine Gen. Peter Pace.

In this war, victory will be incremental and will need to be guarded "daily, weekly, monthly and yearly," the chairman said.

"We can't say we've won and get on to the next event," Pace said. "We can say we are winning, and we will stay at it because our children and our grandchildren deserve to live in the same kinds of freedom that you and I have enjoyed all of our lives."

In Iraq, which Pace and other senior military and U.S. officials call the front line of the terror war, solid progress is under way on the political, economic and security sectors, the chairman said.

As that progress continues, its success needs to be measured over the short, medium and long term, he said. Those benchmarks are described in the "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq," which the White House released Nov. 30.

Over the short term, victory in Iraq can be measured by steady progress fighting terrorists, achieving political milestones, building democratic institutions and standing up security forces, Pace said.

Over the medium term, it's measured by Iraqis taking the lead in those efforts, Pace said. That means defeating terrorists and providing their own security, with a fully constitutional government in place, and continuing progress in achieving Iraq's economic potential.

"And in the long term, it is a free and peaceful Iraq, living at peace with its neighbors and no longer hospitable to terrorist acts," the chairman said.

On a global scale, victory in the terror war "is a suppression of terrorist incidents to a level below which all free nations can carry out the business of taking care of their citizens in the way that their citizens choose to be governed," he said.

"This is an 'over time' victory, it is not a pinpoint victory," the chairman said, noting that it will have to be safeguarded once achieved.

Pace said there's no question that events in Iraq are leading toward that victory. He cited political progress as Iraq prepares for its third election this year, on Dec. 15, to seat its new government. "That's incredible, when you think about it," he said.

Meanwhile, Iraq's economy is coming on line, with more than 30,000 new businesses now operating, he said. "They are smart people. They're well-educated. They've got resources," Pace said. "They have an economy that's ready and capable of creating wealth for their citizens."

On the security front, progress continues in training Iraq's security forces, something Pace called "a fundamental part of long-term success in Iraq and globally."

Iraq's security forces continue to grow in numbers and capability and to take on more responsibility for their own security, he said.

While a lot of work remains, Pace said the 34 coalition nations in Iraq "should take great pride in the enormous progress that has been made to date by the Iraqis."

This cooperation is critical in facing off against terrorists who he said ruthlessly murder innocent people, not only in Iraq, but also around the world.

"They murder children with bombs. They murdered tourists in Bali, children in Russia, folks waiting in line to vote," Pace said. The family of fugitive Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has taken out ads in Arab newspapers to denounce the carnage Zarqawi has formented in Iraq. "Even Zarqawi's family now recognizes what a murderer and thug he is, and they have disowned him," Pace said.

That's why, Pace said, "it's important for us to realize that there is no option other than victory."

Biography:

Gen. Peter Pace, USMC [http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/pace_bio.html]

Related Site:

National Strategy for Victory in Iraq [http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_strategy_nov2005.html]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3511.html.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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White House Makes National Iraq Strategy Available Online

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2005 - President Bush's National Strategy for Victory in Iraq is available online at the White House Web site, http://www.whitehouse.gov.

The 35-page document articulates the broad strategy Bush set forth in 2003 and provides an update on progress in Iraq as well as the challenges remaining, according to the Web site.

The document opens with an executive summary, which defines the national strategy as "helping the Iraqi people defeat the terrorists and build an inclusive democratic state." It then gives an overview of the different elements of the strategy before going into detail on the political, security and economic tracks.

An appendix at the end of the document lists and defines the eight strategic pillars:

- Defeat the terrorists and neutralize the insurgency;
- Transition Iraq to security self-reliance;
- Help Iraqis forge a national compact for democratic government;
- Help Iraq build government capacity and provide essential services;
- Help Iraq strengthen its economy;
- Help Iraq strengthen the rule of law and promote civil rights;
- Increase international support for Iraq; and
- Strengthen public understanding of coalition efforts and public isolation of the insurgents.
The document is available for viewing directly on the Web site and in portable document format.

Related Site:

National Strategy for Victory in Iraq [http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_strategy_nov2005.html]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3510.html.

====================================================

Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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Joint Task Force Bravo Spearheads Central America Security Efforts

By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service

SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras, Dec. 1, 2005 - U.S. efforts in Central America are helping to improve collective security in the region and cement relations with America's neighbors to the south.

Joint Task Force Bravo -- about 600 U.S. military members and roughly the same number of local-national employees here in a rural region in the middle of Central America -- spearheads such efforts.

The task force, based here since 1984, fills many roles for the U.S. military in Central America.

In mid-October, JTF Bravo personnel had 50 people and seven helicopters in Guatemala the day after Hurricane Stan's heavy rains devastated the country with landslides and flooding. "If that's not a case for a forward-deployed force, I don't know what is," Task Force Commander Army Col. Edmund W. Woolfolk Jr. said.

Deputy Commander Army Lt. Col. Howard L. Gray explained that forces were in the air for humanitarian missions within two hours of the call for help from the Guatemalan government, but had to turn back because of continuing dangerous weather in the region. He said relief operations in Guatemala required the efforts of 100 to 115 U.S. servicemembers from here for a few weeks. Humanitarian efforts operated primarily out of Guatemala City and a Guatemalan air base, he said.

Initial missions focused on search and rescue, but humanitarian relief quickly became the priority. JTF Bravo worked in closely with Guatemalan aid officials to move host-nation assets.

Aviation missions in Central America are inherently dangerous. "Rain, clouds and high mountains make a very dangerous combination," Gray said. Still, such efforts are in the United States' best interests in terms of the good will they build in this volatile region.

In a Nov. 22 letter, Guatemalan President Oscar Berger Perdomo thanked U.S. Southern Command chief Army Gen. Bantz Craddock for the U.S. military's assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan.

"In the name of the people of Guatemala and of the Government of the Republic, I deeply appreciate the show of solidarity that the Government of the United States of America has expressed to our country which was hit hard by Hurricane Stan," Berger wrote. "International cooperation in moments of crisis is a valiant mechanism that draws people together from the world and creates the conditions in order to construct harmony between nations."

During an October meeting of defense and security ministers from Central American countries in Florida, Guatemalan Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Carlos Humberto Aldana Villanueva thanked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for the U.S. support.

Forces out of Soto Cano also help with international and interagency counternarcotics efforts in the region. "These are some of the main routes for drugs to get into the United States," Woolfolk said of the areas his troops operate in.

Much of the support provided to the counterdrug campaign comes in the form of transporting local law enforcement assets on short notice to places where intelligence indicates criminal activity is in progress. Drug runners can crash a small plane into a remote area, unload the drugs onto a truck and be out of the area in four minutes, Woolfolk said. "They have it down to a battle drill," he said.

He said drug traffickers capitalize on rural areas, so it's vital to help maintain a friendly presence in, and get law-enforcement assets to, those areas.

JTF Bravo forces also routinely train with troops from Central American militaries, and U.S. military Reserve troops conduct several missions each year to provide medical, dental and veterinary treatment to local citizens.

"Anything to build collective security in the region and build relations with our neighbors," Woolfolk said.

Joint Task Force Bravo and Soto Cano Air Base also serve as an effective "tip of the spear" should more expansive military operations be called for in the region. The base has an airfield capable of accommodating the U.S. military's largest cargo-carrying aircraft and has a large surge capacity if that's needed. A contingency area can house a brigade of forces in tents, Woolfolk said. The base currently only uses only half of its electrical capacity and a third of its potable water capacity.

Forces here stand ready to react to any number of contingencies. Central America is full of threats from natural disasters. The region is hurricane prone, sits on major geologic fault lines and is full of countless live volcanoes. JTF Bravo maintains two Chinook helicopters on standby to evacuate American citizens from the region in the event of a natural disaster or civil unrest.

"We have a lot of ties here," Woolfolk said. "We can't ignore this region."

Related Site:

Joint Task Force Bravo [http://www.jtfb.southcom.mil/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3509.html.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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Pace Responds to Critics of Iraq Strategy

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2005 - Wouldn't the United States be better off if it simply left the terrorists alone and brought its troops home from Iraq? Wouldn't that stop the violence there? Don't we need more troops to do the job there? And why is just one Iraqi battalion capable of independent operations?

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responded today to these and other questions he often gets about operations in Iraq during a session at the National Defense University at Fort McNair here.

To those who question if the American people would be safer if the nation withdrew its forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, Pace conceded, "That would be nice if it would work."

"But that's not the world we live in," he quickly added, noting that the United States was "leaving them alone" when terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001.

"That was the day we realized in the United States that we were at war," the chairman said. "Our enemies had declared war on us years before, but the attacks in New York, in the skies over Pennsylvania and here in Washington, D.C., brought home very clearly to us that we were at war."

Pace also refuted claims of those who believe the threat will go away if the United States stopped fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and stopped chasing down terrorists.

"I say, you need to get out and read what our enemies have said," he said. Before World War II, Adolf Hitler clearly outlined his intentions in his book, "Mein Kampf," Pace told the group. "He said in writing exactly what his plan was, and we collectively ignored that, to our great detriment."

Similarly, terrorists today have publicly stated their goals, both on film and the Internet, he said.

"(There's) no equivocation on their part," the chairman said. "They're not saying, 'If you stay home, we will not come after you.' They are saying their goal is to rid the Middle East of all foreigners, then to overthrow all governments that are not friendly to them, which means every single one of those governments."

But terrorists have made it clear that they don't intend to stop there, Pace continued. Their ultimate goal is to bring the whole globe under their domination within the next 100 years, he said.

Pace told the group - military, civilian and foreign military leaders being groomed for top positions in the future - that they and others within their ranks are helping stop terrorists from realizing their goal.

"(You) and all those others in uniform, and not in uniform, serving this country and all of our friends and neighbors around the world are the ones who are going to make a difference," he said. "And that's why it's important for us to realize that there is no option other than victory."

But to achieve that victory, Pace said, he's often asked if the United States has enough troops in Iraq.

"The answer is, we need more Iraqi troops," Pace said, putting added emphasis on the word "Iraqi." "And we are working on that."

Pace cited solid progress in developing Iraq's security forces, which numbered zero in May 2003, 100,000 in June 2004 and more than 200,000 today - a number he said is steadily growing toward 300,000.

But this progress can't be measured only by numbers, he said. It's also based on quality, and developing quality forces takes time.

"You all know as well as I do that it takes time to train an individual soldier, an individual policeman," the chairman said. "It takes time for small units to get cohesion. It takes time for larger units to develop the kinds of leadership they need and the kind of sustainment they need."

There's still a lot of work to do, but the 34 coalition countries in Iraq should take great pride in the progress Iraqis have already made, he said. "And yes, we do need to help them grow so that they can take over more and more of the responsibilities so that as they are ready to, we can hand them over and come home to our collective countries."

But why, Pace said many have asked him, is just one Iraqi battalion deemed capable of operating independently?

The truth is, in the interest of defining how to measure the Iraqi forces' progress, U.S. planners have done themselves a disservice, he said.

Even many of the most highly trained and capable U.S. military units aren't totally independent, a measuring stick being used to gauge the Iraqis' performance, he said. A top-drawer Marine unit still needs the Navy or Air Force to get to the war zone, Air Force air support once there and for long-term operations, Army logistics support, Pace said.

So for Iraqi battalions to require some outside support doesn't mean they're not capable, the general explained. A better measure is how many are controlling their own areas of operation - something a division headquarters, four brigade headquarters and more than 30 battalions are already doing. "That, to me, is a real measure of progress," Pace said.

In closing today, Pace acknowledged that the war on terror will be long and demand vigilance. "But failure is not an option," he told the group. "There is no way that we can lose if we maintain our patience and our will, our resolve."

Biography:

Gen. Peter Pace, USMC [http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/pace_bio.html]

Related Site:

National Defense University [http://www.ndu.edu/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3508.html.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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Four U.S. Servicemembers Killed in Separate Iraq Incidents

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2005 - Four U.S. servicemembers were killed in Iraq on Nov. 30, military officials reported.

- A Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), died in a non-hostile vehicle accident near Taqaddum.
- Two Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd MEF (Forward), were killed by small-arms fire while conducting combat operations in Fallujah.
- North of Baghdad, a Task Force Baghdad soldier died as a result of a gunshot wound.

The names are being withheld pending notification of families.

In the skies over Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 59 close-air-support missions Nov. 30. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities, and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.

U.S. Air Force F-15s expended precision-guided munitions against an insurgent weapons bunker near Baghdad in a successful air strike. Air Force F-16s, a Predator and U.S. Navy F/A-18s and F-14s also provided close-air support to coalition troops in contact with insurgents near Hawijah, Mahmudiyah and Fallujah.

Fifteen U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and Royal Australian Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft also flew missions in support of operations in Iraq.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases.)

Related Sites:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

U.S. Central Command Air Forces [http://www.centaf.af.mil/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3506.html.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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Laptop Training Saves Space, Hones Skills

By Capt. Steve Alvarez, USA
American Forces Press Service

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 1, 2005 - Laptop computers were designed for portability and to limit impact on workspaces, and the Navy is taking full advantage of technology's robust capabilities, using laptops to train the Navy's submarine force.

The Navy uses laptops onboard submarines to train sailors in basic duties, Navy Chief Petty Officer Chris Brown, a sonar technician assigned to Submarine On Board Training in Connecticut, said. He demonstrated the laptops at the 2005 Interservice/Industry Simulation, Education and Training Conference here Nov. 28-Dec. 1.

"We use this for qualification-in-rate training," Brown said, using the Navy term for training that ensures sailors meet proficiency milestones in their specialties.

When the program started in the 1980s, it was mostly video-based, Brown said. But today, the 16-year veteran said, the training is personal-computer based, enabling sailors to learn or hone skills in a variety disciplines including supply and logistics, communications, general military training, strategic weapons systems, navigation, combat systems, basic submarining, training, maintenance, and nuclear propulsion.

Part of the SOBT packages includes Submarine Skills-training Network. The Navy said SubSkillsNet is a group of independent training simulations of several workstations on a submarine that were designed to enable seamless networked use for individual or team training.

Originally conceived to address collision avoidance training, the growing set of trainers has resulted in an integrated system that can now meet a variety of training objectives. These products are being used on attack and missile submarines, in electronic classrooms, and in simulators to train naval personnel. Interfaces between SubSkillsNet and other training and tactical systems, are under development.

Some courses in the SubSkillsNet portfolio are On-board Radar Collision Avoidance, Submarine Periscope Observation and Tracking, Surfaced Submarine Navigation and Piloting and GPS Simulation, to name a few.

SOBT comprises 11 military project managers and 10 civilian multimedia specialists who produce practical and interactive multimedia training aids to improve the Navy's submarine force.

Brown said the computer-based training ordinarily is made available to sailors who are on watch or as part of a sub's weekly training periods. Sailors also can voluntarily participate in the training individually.

The Navy does not mandate SOBT. The program solely exists to educate sailors, Brown said. Training is available on compact discs or via downloads with user authentication.

Related Site:

Submarine On Board Training [https://www.cnet.navy.mil/sobt/web/index.html]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3507.html.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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DoD Helps Other Nations Address HIV Challenges

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2005 - As the world commemorates World AIDS Day today, the U.S. military is at work, helping 67 militaries worldwide address HIV and AIDS within their ranks.

This global outreach program, now in its fifth year, is lending U.S. military medical expertise and capabilities to help other militaries confront the AIDS epidemic, according to Richard Schaffer, executive director of the DoD HIV/AIDS Prevention Program, based in San Diego.

For some of these militaries with HIV-positive rates as high as 35 percent, AIDS presents not just a health crisis, but also a readiness challenge, Schaffer said during an interview here with the American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel.

"Health is a very important readiness issue, for our forces and others," he said. "So we have a keen interest in protecting our forces and a keen interest in helping our partners stay healthy."

Because military members are often regarded as role models and opinion leaders in their communities, DoD's efforts are having an effect on civilian populations too, Schaffer said. In many cases, military leaders also serve on their government's AIDS coordinating agencies, helping shape their country's HIV policies and programs, he said.

As it helps other militaries and nations confront HIV and prevent its spread, the DoD program is also opening doors to new military-to-military relationships, Schaffer said. This includes new cooperation with countries that have never before partnered with the U.S. military.

"I know of many examples where that has happened, where by virtue of the medical people talking, that provided the opportunity for others in the two militaries to talk," Schaffer said. "I know that we have actually made connections with militaries when there really wasn't any other way ... for the U.S. military to get involved."

The DoD program has grown steadily during the past four years and now includes 67 countries in Africa, the Horn of Africa and Central Asia, the Far East, and Central and South America.

Schaffer was quick to point out there's no cookie-cutter formula for the DoD support, and all 67 programs are different. In some countries, U.S. military medical teams operate on the ground, advising their host-nation counterparts on ways to prevent HIV and treat HIV-positive members.

Elsewhere, military members serve as part of a U.S. government team. In other countries, DoD provides funding or other support to nonmilitary organizations that interact directly with the military.

"It runs the gamut, from U.S. military people on the ground, to contracting in the name of DoD, to assisting other agencies and other partners around the world and simply offering advice," Schaffer said.

While it's still too soon to determine the program's effectiveness in terms of HIV prevention, Schaffer said one measure of success is a country's reduced need for U.S. military support.

He pointed to Togo as "a huge success" because that West African country is now able to sustain its own HIV program.

"We're not looking to be there for the long term if they don't need us," Schaffer said of the program. "Our job is to go in, establish sustainable programs and let them pick up their programs and run with it.

"One way to look at success is when they don't need our help and are still able to put together good programs," he said.

Related Site:

DoD HIV/AIDS Prevention Program [http://www.nhrc.navy.mil/programs/dhapp/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3505.html.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site for the latest news
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Guantanamo Tube Feedings Humane, Within Medical Care Standards

By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service

U.S. NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Dec. 1, 2005 - The small number of involuntary feedings conducted at the U.S. detention facility here are done humanely and are well within common standards of medical care, officials said in an effort to counter allegations made by attorneys for some detainees here.

Thirty to 33 enemy combatant detainees here are currently on a hunger strike -- which officials here call "voluntary fasting" -- to protest their continued detention. Of those, 22 are receiving liquid nutrition through a tube inserted through the nose and into the stomach.

"We have an ultimate responsibility that every detainee on our watch is taken care of," Joint Task Force Guantanamo Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. John Gong said in an interview. "We have a great desire to ensure they are healthy."

Gong and other officials said widely reported allegations that the tubes are the width of a finger, are forcefully inserted without anesthesia or lubricant, and are reused on different detainees are patently false.

Navy Capt. (Dr.) John Edmonson, the senior medical officer at Guantanamo Bay, said the "enteral" feeding -- meaning directly into the stomach -- is done with a nasogastric "Dobhoff" tube. The tube is flexible and 4 millimeters in diameter, Edmonson said.

He stressed that only doctors and nurses insert the tubes and always use lubricant. They also always offer anesthetics and suggest stronger pain medication if a detainee appears to be uncomfortable. He described the Dobhoff tube as "very soft and non-irritating."

Medical staff members never reuse the tubes, Edmonson said.

"I can assure you that the doctors are doing everything within the character of the standard of their profession," Gong said.

For the most part, the feedings are not involuntary. Both men said the vast majority of detainees voluntarily participate in the feedings. In fact, Edmonson noted, some even insert their own feeding tubes. "They are generally cooperative with the medical staff in that effort," he said.

Detainees are considered to be on a hunger strike after they miss nine consecutive meals, and medical specialists begin monitoring their health status. Body mass index, weight loss and physical condition are monitored. Edmonson said a patient can survive for about three weeks without eating as long as he is drinking water, which the detainees are.

When a detainee's weight drops too much and his health begins to deteriorate, doctors speak to the individual and offer supplemental nutrition, first intravenously and then through a nasogastric tube. Detainees receive Ensure, a commercial nutritional supplement, through the tube. Most agree to the procedure, Gong said.

He explained that as long as detainees maintain a certain level of health, they get to choose how much liquid nutrition to take. "The doctors try to be respectful of what the detainees want to do," he said.

Most take 1,500 calories a day. In contrast, most U.S. dietary recommendations are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.

In rare cases, detainees have received tube feedings involuntarily. "Some, because of their character and temperament, they would be less than cooperative and would need to be restrained," Gong said. Officials said restraints are always applied with the least amount of force possible. Both he and Edmonson said this is the rare exception and only used when a detainee's health is seriously in jeopardy.

The number of hunger-striking detainees peaked at 131 around the most recent anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Gong said. Since then the number has steadily declined and has remained around the current number for the past several weeks.

"One has to really kind of scratch their head and ask why would they pick the anniversary of 9/11 (to protest their detention)," Gong said.

"It's their little contribution to their cause," Army Lt. Col. John Lonergan, commander of 1st Battalion, 18th Cavalry Regiment, said. Lonergan's unit provides security at the detention facility.

Edmonson, who has been at Guantanamo for two and a half years, said it's important to note that no detainees have died at Guantanamo Bay, while several of these men probably would have died if they weren't here. Task force doctors have treated cancer, battle wounds and other serious injuries and illnesses in a population that generally has limited access to medical care.

Related Sites:

U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba [http://www.nsgtmo.navy.mil/]

Joint Task Force Guantanamo [http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051201_3504.html.

====================================================

Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

====================================================
Visit the Defense Department's Web site for the latest news
and information about America's response to the war against terrorism: "Defend America" at http://www.DefendAmerica.mil.

====================================================

Unsubscribe from or Subscribe to this mailing list:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/subscribe.html
====================================================

US Military News

Thursday, December 01, 2005

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Iraqis Will Have Secure Voting Environment, General Says

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White House Makes National Iraq Strategy Available Online

Joint Task Force Bravo Spearheads Central America Security Efforts

Pace Responds to Critics of Iraq Strategy

Four U.S. Servicemembers Killed in Separate Iraq Incidents

Laptop Training Saves Space, Hones Skills

DoD Helps Other Nations Address HIV Challenges

Guantanamo Tube Feedings Humane, Within Medical Care Standards

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