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Members of the U.S. Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) wait to jump out of a UH-60 Black Hawk during helocast training as part of Emerald Warrior at Hurlburt Field, April 21.

EmErald Warrior

Page 2 | THE rEd 7 | Friday, May 1, 2015

Year No. 5 edition No. 18

The Red 7 is published by the Northwest Florida Daily News, a pri-vate firm in no way connected with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) or the U.S. Army.

This publication’s content is not necessarily the official view of, or endorsed by, the U.S. govern-ment, the Department of Defense, the Depart-ment of the Army or 7th Special Forc-es Group (Airborne). The official news source for 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is http://www.soc.mil/.

The appearance of advertising in this publication does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. govern-ment, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) or the Northwest Florida Daily News for products or services advertised. Ev-erything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national ori-gin, age, marital status, physical handi-cap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the North-west Florida Daily News.

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From staff reports

Military Family appreciation Day

The Panhandle War-rior Connection, with sup-port from the Military Affairs Committee of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, is hosting a Military Fam-ily Appreciation Day at 10 a.m. May 9 at the Land-ing Community Park, lo-cated sound side on Brooks Street, downtown Fort Wal-ton Beach. All military and their families are invited to attend the day’s festivities. Activities include a DJ, live bands, games, prizes and giveaways, free children’s inflatable Fun Zone, free food and beverages, Veter-ans Service Organization representatives, Field Day sports competition featur-ing Battle of the Best, and a patriotic fireworks dis-play at 8 p.m. The event is being coordinated on Eg-lin through the Airman & Family Readiness Center. For details visit www.fwb-chamber.com/military.

Big 7 Opening soon Fort Rucker Visual In-

formation Service Center is proud to announce the open-ing of a satellite photo facil-ity, June 8 on the 7th Group Compound. Many of you have asked for us to open a studio close to you. Now it is happening!

We appreciate your input over the last several years and look forward to serving you in our newest facility on the 7th Group Compound, Eglin, Florida. We will be in building 4385 El Salvador Way on the first floor. The studio will be open 2 weeks a month (10 full days). The facility will be open for regu-lar Army, National Guard and Reserve who live in the area.

Log into VIOS and select Fort Rucker Multimedia

Visual Information Service Center as your activity. Set-up your profile and select your unit. 7th Group units have been added. If you don’t see your unit, please call us at (334) 255-2116/2950 and we will add.

Dog Obedience Classes

Dog Obedience Classes will be held from 5-6 p.m. on Tuesdays, April 21-May 26. Can’t get Rover to roll over? Karen Harper teaches basic dog obedience curriculum at Eglin Outdoor Recreation. Course sessions last six weeks, with classes held on Tuesday evenings for a max-imum of 10 dogs. (The first class meeting should be at-tended by owners only—no dogs, please.) Participants must pre-pay $75 for their six-session course. Regis-ter and pick up additional class information at Eglin Outdoor Recreation, or visit www.dawggonegood.com. For information, contact Eglin Outdoor Recreation at 850-882-5058.

Color Me aware fun run

Eglin hosts the 2nd an-nual Color Me Aware fun run 2 p.m. April 30 at the CE pa-vilion. The run is to support Sexual Assault Awareness Month. White T-shirts are encouraged. No sign-up is required. For information, call 882-6223.

Ranger Open House set for May 9

Ranger Open House is May 9 at the Ranger Camp off of Lewis Turner Blvd. Look for the banner

The event begins with a Race the Rangers 5K. Reg-ister online before April 30 to get a T-shirt at http://race-theranger.eventbrite.com.

A car show begins at 9 a.m. Pre-register for $15 at http://rangerscarshow.even-brite.com.

Other events include: commander’s brief - 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Ranger squad demo 10:15 a.m. and 1:45 p.m., parachute demo 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., hand to hand combatives 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., reptile show noon and 3:30 p.m., car show awards at 4 p.m.

‘gate-To-gate’ Memorial eventIt’s Gate-to-Gate’s 30th

Anniversary and this year’s event is loaded with new fea-tures. The race, which takes place May 23, is open to the public, and participants may register for a 4.4-mile run/walk/ruck or an 8.8-mile run/ruck. Runners, walkers, and teams are invited to register online at www.active.com (search for “gate-to-gate”)

by May 17, or in person from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 9 at the Air Armament Mu-seum. Pre-registration is $25 through Apr. 30, $30 through May 17, and no registration on race day. A free Kid’s Fun Run will begin at 9 a.m. at Unity Park with t-shirts for all participants and awards for winners. No registration is required for the Kid’s Fun Run.

After race party is at Uni-ty Park, featuring free food and beverages, plus live en-tertainment and award pre-sentations for top racers in a variety of age categories. For information, contact the Eglin Fitness Center at 883-1682 or 882-6223 or visit www.EglinForceSupport.com.

Learn to Paddle Board

An introduction to this popular water sport will be offered the first Saturday of each month April-Sept. at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Postl Point. Skills discussed in-clude various paddling strokes, equipment, and basic safety procedures. Classes are conducted by World Paddling Association instructors and include one hour of fun paddle boarding. Cost is $25 per person for one class session, morning

or afternoon, and includes board rental and instruction. To sign up, contact Outdoor Rec at 882-5058.

Florida Institute of Technology

Register for summer classes now. We offer mas-ter degrees in business, logistics, engineering man-agement, technology, and management with classes online or in a blended for-mat of in class and online. Summer term begins May 18. We work with you during your travel or TDY. ***Of-ficers: Possible to complete Masters Tech Mgt degree in one year within the TA cap.*** Visit us at the Eglin Education Open House from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. April 29 at the Eglin Education Center, Bldg. 251. For more infor-

mation come by our office which is located in the Eg-lin Education Center, Bldg. 251, Room 108, or email Dr. Jeff Cerny at jcerny@fit.edu, or call Eglin office at (850) 398-5958, or visit http://es.fit.edu/off-campus/eglin.

Free webinar A free webinar – Unmanned Aerospace Systems: An overview of Applications and Operations led by David Thirtyacre will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 12. This webinar is presented as a free informational service of Embry-Riddle Aeronauti-cal University – Worldwide and is open to anyone with access to Eglin AFB. If you do not have access to Eglin, contact our office informa-tion. RSVP by May 8 to fort-waltonbeach@erau.edu or 850-678-3137.

RED 7 BriEfs

By SHANNON COlliNS

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

El PASO, Texas – As the crowd applauded, the vet-eran dipped his head to receive his first gold medal,

his eyes holding back tears, a slow grin creeping onto his face. Some-body yelled, “Hold hands,” and he grabbed the hands of his fellow athletes and raised them in the air, celebrating his victory in rifle shooting with his fellow wounded warriors at the Army Trials here earlier this month.

“I won a gold medal,” said Army Staff Sgt. Cory Davis, still in shock. “I didn’t expect to win. They were cheering my name. It was the first time I ever won a gold medal. Now I have something I can take back to my kids.”

While growing up in San Diego, Davis said, he always wanted to work on helicopters, and the Army gave him that chance. He enlisted in the active duty Army for nine years, took a break, and then became an avionics mechanic National Guard technician with the 1107th Theater Aviation Sus-tainment Maintenance Group in Springfield, Missouri.

aN eMOTIONaL YeaRFor Davis, this last year has

been an emotional one.During a deployment to Afghani-

stan in April 2014, Davis hurt his ankle and lost control of his right arm. He said the doctors thought it was the ulna nerve, and he was flown to Germany and then back to the United States. After performing several tests, the doctors realized he had Parkinson’s disease, a pro-gressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement.

Davis said it’s unusual for a 45-year-old to have the disease and that the diagnosis took him by surprise. But his wife, Dawn, has helped him through the stages of acknowledging and acceptance of having a disease, he said.

“It took me back a little bit, and now I’m just trying to live with the not knowing what’s next,” he added.

“But Dawn, she’s my resource, my rock. She pushes me to com-pete. She continues to challenge me. She’s the one who’s accepted the diagnosis. She’s my biggest supporter.”

Davis met his wife, a fellow National Guardsman, a few weeks before they deployed together to Afghanistan in 2010.

“But we fell in love with each other during the deployment and got married six months after we got back,” Davis said with a smile. They were deployed for almost a year. He and Dawn have two daughters, Ashley and Sydney, two step-chil-dren, Trenton and Whitney, and four grandchildren, Hayden, Autumn, Kinley and Brooklynn. Dawn has been in the National Guard for six years and is a human resources administrator.

TeNaCITY aND PeRSeveRaNCe

Dawn said her husband is her hero.

“Before my husband was de-ployed, he was a strong and healthy man. He came home with a life-altering condition with no cure,” she said. “He has put forward great tenacity and perseverance in overcoming the symptoms he en-counters each day. This makes me place him higher on the pedestal I thought he could never rise higher from.

“He is my hero, and I am filled with pride when he approaches each obstacle he faces every day,” she continued. “His constant at-titude of not giving up makes me so very proud and happy he is not al-lowing a terrible disease to control his life.”

While Davis was recovering at the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, his wife, along with Army Trials athlete Sgt. 1st Class Sam Goldenstein, the adaptive sports site coordinator there, encouraged him to give adap-tive sports a try.

“I had been spending time in my room doing nothing, getting pretty depressed,” Davis said. “Sam comes in and said, ‘Cory, what do you want do? We’ve got archery, shooting, this, this and this.’ She’s been great. She motivated me and inspired me to do more. She’s even got me and my wife going to a tennis camp. Every time I see her, I just smile, because I know it’s because of her and my wife that I’m here at the Army Trials.”

Goldenstein said she takes strength from Davis as well.

aLwaYS HeLPINg OuT“I wish all my soldiers were like

him,” said Goldenstein, an Army reservist from the 325th Combat Support Hospital in Independence, Missouri. “From Day One, he was like, ‘I’m going to come out and sup-

port your program.’ He’s always there helping out, helping others. I’ve seen how the adaptive sports help him as well. I’ve sat there at regionals, and I’ve seen him keep his composure, keep control of his motor functions. It’s so amazing to see. I was a proud mama there. I was proud to see him doing it again at the Army Trials. This is huge for him. He’s come a long way.

“It’s been because of competi-tions like this,” she added. “It’s taught him, ‘Hey, I have to stay calm. I have to focus on this. I can’t let my injuries distract me or take over. It’s been beneficial for him in numerous ways physically and mentally, and he’s helped recruit other people. He feels like he’s [a noncommissioned officer] again. He’s also taken the lead back home with helping train others. He’s a great mentor.”

Davis’s competitions began when Goldenstein put together a team to compete in the Veterans Affairs Valor Games in San Antonio in Oc-tober, where Davis won two bronze medals for shooting the air rifle. He then went to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in March and won a silver medal in shooting the air rifle and a bronze medal for sitting volleyball.

aRMY TRIaLSDuring the Army Trials, he got

into the finals in men’s compound archery, and his sitting volleyball team also did well. He earned a gold medal in the men’s stand-ing rifle, and his shooting scores were some of the highest shooting scores of the day.

Competitors who make the Army team will compete in the Defense Department’s Warrior Games at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, June 19-28. Wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans from the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard will compete, as well as athletes from Special Operations Command, and a team from the British military.

The athletes will compete in track and field, shooting, swim-ming, cycling, archery, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball events.

Adaptive sports help Soldier conquer illnessface of defense

EJ HERSOM | DoD photo

Army Staff Sgt. Cory Davis takes aim during the archery competition of the Army Trials on Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, March 31.

Page 4 | THE rEd 7 | Friday, May 1, 2015 Friday, May 1, 2015 | THE rEd 7 | Page 5

SENiOR AiRMAN KEiTH JAMES | USAF

A U.S. Army member from the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) pulls security while other members continue to search a compound for a high-value individual during Emer-ald Warrior 2015 at Eglin Air Force Base, April 25.

EmErald Warrior 2015

STAFF SGT. JAMAl D. SUTTER | USAF

U.S. Army Soldiers with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) wait in line to load gear onto a truck after a static-line parachute jump during Emerald Warrior 2015 at Eglin Air Force Base, April 21.

TECH. SGT. JOSHUA J. GARCiA | USAF

U.S. Army Green Berets from the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) jump out of a C-130H3 Hercules for Emerald Warrior at Hurlburt Field, April 22.

STAFF SGT. JAMAl D. SUTTER | USAF

U.S. Army Soldiers with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) perform static-line parachute jumps during Emerald Warrior 2015 at Eglin Air Force Base, April 21.

STAFF SGT. JAMAl D. SUTTER | USAF

U.S. Army Soldiers with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) return to their unit after a static-line parachute jump during Emerald Warrior 2015 at Eglin Air Force Base, April 21.

Emerald Warrior is the Department of Defense’s only irregular warfare exercise, allowing joint and combined partners to train together and prepare for real world contingency operations.

Page 6 | THE rEd 7 | Friday, May 1, 2015 Friday, May 1, 2015 | THE rEd 7 | Page 7

To save millions of dol-lars in compensation and ease streamlining of store operations on base, De-fense officials are weighing a plan to convert the De-fense Commissary Agency (DeCA) to a non-appropri-ated fund activity, which could reduce wages and benefits for 15,000 commis-sary workers.

The DeCA workforce would be converted from general schedule (GS) federal employees to lower salaried non-appropriated fund (NAF) employees whose work hours also are more pliable for achieving operational efficiencies.

The move would align pay, benefits and job protection for the DeCA workforce with employees of base exchanges, where profits are key to sustaining

operations as opposed to the higher goal of customer savings at taxpayer-subsidized grocery stores on base.

The Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission in January recommended that DeCA merge with the three large military exchanges service into a single defense resale activity. So far both the Congress and Defense offi-cials are rejecting that idea.

Inside the Pentagon, review this commission recommendation fell to Deputy Chief Management Officer, an under secretary

of defense-level post es-tablished in 2007 to better synchronize department business operations.

The nomination of Pe-ter Levine to be the next DCMO is pending before the Senate. Acting DCMO David Tillotson III is in charge. The DCMO doesn’t support the commission call to consolidate commis-saries and exchange ser-vices into a new Defense Resale Activity.

Instead it is recom-mending that the depart-ment convert DeCA to an NAF activity and operate its stores with exchange-run processes. There would be savings on per-sonnel but also from stan-dardizing accounting, joint contracts, combined sup-ply operations and other combined resale activities.

These moves are difficult to execute if DeCA remains funded by tax dollars while exchanges are self-sustain-ing, earning profits needed to support on-base morale, welfare and recreational activities.

Turning commissaries into NAF activities almost certainly would raise prices and lower cost savings to its patrons. But also hit hard would be store em-ployees, many of whom are military family members and retirees.

Making commissar-ies NAF store would save money “but on the backs of workers, particularly military families if you look at who takes these jobs” in base stores, said Candace Archer, labor management relations specialist with the American Federation of

Government Employees.Exchanges and other

NAF activities set wages based on local prevailing rates without regard to fed-eral employee pay scales or richer benefit structures for GS employees. A shift could create pay cuts of 30 percent or more at com-missaries in some areas of the country, Archer said.

In southern Nevada, for example, entry-level cashiers in commissaries are GS-3 employees who in their first year are paid at least $25,000, Archer said. Moving these employees under the NAF system would mean shifting to minimum wage, which in Nevada is $8.25 an hour or $17,160 a year.

“We see differences be-tween the two pay scales in double digits, as high as 20

to 30 percent for some, less for others,” Archer said.

“I would guess most every person moved from the GS to the NAF system would lose in terms of wages but there could be an exception.”

Commissaries, Archer said, converting to NAF would save “by bringing in low-cost labor just like Wal-Mart. We owe more to our military families.”

NAF employees also are easier to hire as flextime employees or temporary workers, avoiding the need for robust benefit packages.

DMCO is arguing the shift to NAF would allow considerable savings on store operations while pre-serving current business models for resale activities and service-unique ex-change operations.

Wages for 15,000 commissary employees targeted

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By KEllY HUMPHREY

Northwest Florida Daily News

A Jacksonville Navy veteran is reaching out to veterans across the Pan-handle and around the country to help them make the transition from military to civilian employment.

Former Navy Chief Petty Officer John Jacob-

son recently created a website designed to help veterans find job fairs and employment opportuni-ties where they currently live, or where they plan to relocate.

“As a former Navy and corporate recruiter, I know how challenging it can be to meet people who are in a position to hire you,” Ja-cobson said. “I wanted to

create a one-stop resource to make it easy to find qual-ity hiring events.”

Jobseekers can regis-ter on the site (www.finda-careerfair.com), providing location, education and certification data so the site can provide notifications of relevant events in their ar-ea. Career fair organizers can also list their upcoming events at no charge.

Website links veterans with job fairs

By TiM HiPPS

U.S. Army Installation Manage-ment Command

SAN ANTONiO — The 2015 U.S. Army Soldier Show, “We Serve,” pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, one of the bloodiest conflicts in the Vietnam War.

The battle was document-ed in the book “We Were Sol-diers Once … And Young,” by retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and reporter Joe Galloway. In 2002, director Randall Wal-lace depicted the first part of the battle in the movie, “We Were Soldiers,” starring Mel Gibson and Barry Pepper, playing the roles of Moore and Galloway, respectively.

Patrick Stephenson, an American Soldier in that bat-tle, is the narrator of the 2015 “We Serve” Soldier Show.

“The underlying storyline is that [Stephenson’s char-acter] grandfather served in World War I. His dad served in World War II. He served in Vietnam. His son served in the first Gulf War, and he’s got a grandson who’s serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom,” Soldier Show producer Tim Higdon said. “We acknowl-edge who he is as a real per-son, but he plays a character for the show, and the char-acter is this ‘Soldier for Life’ veteran.”

The show includes an introduction by Gibson. Stephenson helped Soldier Show artistic director Victor Hurtado persuade Gibson to add a taste of Hollywood to the Army Entertainment production.

“Mel is actually speaking about the men and women that were involved in the battle,” Hurtado said. “As an actor in ‘We Were Soldiers,’ he knows them very well. The show calls attention to Pat-rick as himself, but once the

show goes on, he represents all veterans.

“It’s not a stretch to think his grandparents would have served in World War I, that his mother would have been a Rosie the Riveter, that his grandson could be serving in the Army now - what an amazing way to call atten-tion to Vietnam vets and also make sense of him as a hu-man being in the continuum of being an American.”

The Soldier Show creative team had to incorporate many elements, including different styles of song and dance.

“This year was a particu-lar challenge for us because it was one person’s story, which we’ve never been able to do before,” Soldier Show music director Joey Beebe said.

As always, the Soldier Show delivers song-and-dance entertainment from diverse cultures.

“Some of the songs that we tried to get in, and we made them work, we picked them because they’re big, popular songs, like ‘Uptown Funk’ and ‘Bang Bang’ and ‘Turn Down for What,’” Beebe said.

Celebrating a “Soldier for Life” and the 50th anniversa-ry of a Vietnam War battle has expected moments of sad-

ness, but the show also dem-onstrates Soldiers’ resilience and readiness. It addresses important Army programs, such as Gold Star families, and sexual harassment and sexual assault response and prevention.

Hurtado was tasked to write the script with guidance to incorporate “We Serve” and “Soldier for Life” into the performance.

“We’re actually covering the new initiative by the ser-geant major of the Army: ‘Not in my squad,’” Hurtado said. That initiative puts first-line leaders directly into the fight against sexual assault and sexual harassment.”

The show also touches on recovery and what the Army does to help Soldiers transi-tion from being wounded and returning to duty, joining the civilian workforce, or transi-tioning out of the Army into mainstream America.

“The show is entertaining, but it also is very message-driven,” Hurtado said. “We want to make sure the au-diences that we play for are actually absorbing the mes-saging while being inspired at the same time - and finding the meaning in the messag-ing, as well.”

Soldier Show pays tribute to ‘Soldier for Life’

U.S. ARMY

Pfc. Jovan Maires sings lead vocals during a dress re-hearsal for the 2015 U.S. Army Soldier Show “We Serve” at Fort Sam Houston Theatre in San Antonio, April 15.

Page 8 | THE rEd 7 | Friday, May 1, 2015