FORGING THE WARRIOR SPIRIT - United States Army...2019/10/18 · FORGING THE WARRIOR SPIRIT THEJRTC...

WARRIOR SPIRITFORGING THE

JRTC & FORT POLK GUARDIANTHEHome of Heroes @ Fort Polk, LA Oct. 18, 2019Vol. 46, No.42

Weekend weather

Today Saturday Sunday

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Inside the GuardianRAD events ................. 3

32nd HC NTC prep ....... 5

Justice beat ................ 6

Misty’s story ............. 11

Links fun .................. 12

Hispanic heroes ......... 16

Operation Wingman team members visit with Soldiers of FortPolk’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division “Patri-ot Brigade” during its current deployment. The teams provide

encouragement for the Soldiers. See page 6 of today’s Guardianfor a story on Operation Wingman and how it enhances the re-siliency of Soldiers.

Operation Wingman provides resiliency, support to Patriot Soldiers

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In our viewGuardian staff asked Fort Polk community members, “What is your most favorite Hal-

loween costume you’ve worn and why?” Here are their responses:

Spc. Shivam Shar-ma: "The HeathLedger (actor) joker.He killed that roleand I just wanted tobe that character."

The Guardian, a civilian enter-prise newspaper, is an authorizedpublication for members of the U.S.Army. Contents of the Guardian arenot necessarily official views of, or en-dorsed by, the U.S. Government, De-partment of Defense, Department ofthe Army or Fort Polk.

The Guardian is published weeklyby the Public Affairs Office, JointReadiness Training Center and FortPolk. Printed circulation is 13,000.

Everything advertised in this publication shall be made availablefor purchase, use or patronage with-out regard to race, color, religion, sex,national origin, age, marital status,physical handicap, political affiliationor any other nonmerit factor of thepurchaser, user or patron.

A confirmed violation of this policy of equal opportunity by an ad-vertiser will result in the refusal toprint advertising from that source.

All editorial content of theGuardian is prepared, edited, pro-vided and approved by the Public Af-fairs Office, Joint Readiness TrainingCenter and Fort Polk.

The Guardian is printed by theNatchitoches Times, a private firmin no way connected with the Depart-ment of the Army, under exclusivewritten contract with Fort Polk. Thecivilian printer is responsible for com-mercial advertising.

The appearance of advertising inthis publication, including inserts andsupplements, does not constitute en-dorsement by the Department of theArmy or the Natchitoches Times ofthe products or services advertised.

GuardianEditorial Staff

Brig. Gen. Patrick D. FrankJoint Readiness Training Center

and Fort Polk commanding general

Col. Ryan K. RoseberryGarrison commander

Kim ReischlingPublic affairs officerChuck Cannon

Command information officer

Angie ThorneT.C. BradfordKeith Houin

Staff writersEditorial Offices

Building 4919, Magnolia StreetFort Polk, LA 71459-5060

Voice (337) 531-4033Fax (337) 531-1401

Email: [email protected] post ads:

[email protected] Polk Homepagehome.army.mil/polk/

AdvertisingFor advertising contact

(337) 404-7242Email: [email protected]

Osceola Moore: "Iwent as myself. Itwas great because Iwas just me."

Sgt. Jeremy Mid-dlebrooks: "I’venever really partici-pated in Halloween,but if I had I wouldhave probably beenMichael Myers fromthe ‘Halloween’movie franchise. Heis really scary."

Sgt. Thomas Lyons:"I was a Spartan oneyear. It was cool. Itwas when the movie‘300’ came out. Ithink movies reallyinfluence costumepopularity."

Staff Sgt. KelciDonahue: "It wouldhave to be when Iwas a pirate and myson was, too. Wematched and it wasgreat."

Spc. Taylor Brook-field: "I was a ninja.It was my first Hal-loween costume andI loved it. I think Iwas 10. I wore it con-stantly the wholeweek after Hal-loween until it tore."

Spencer Davis: "I’dsay it was when Idressed up as a Sol-dier. I was followingin my Family’s foot-steps and that ledme to be a real Sol-dier."

Pfc. Paul Jones: "Idressed up as musi-cian Rick James. Itwas fun and I evenwore elevatorshoes."

AdvertisingFor advertising contact Theresa Larue

(337) 404-7242Email: [email protected]

GuardianOct. 18, 2019

NNeewwSSccooppee

AFAP programThe Army Family Action Plan Program

is an Army-wide initiative to identify is-sues of concern to improve the overallquality of life for Soldiers and their Fami-lies. This process is used to identify themost critical well-being issues facing theArmy today and present them to seniorArmy leadership for resolution. To submita quality of life issue go to www.myarmy-onesource.com, Family Programs andServices drop down box, AFAP Issue Man-agement System or pick up a form at ArmyCommunity Service, bldg 920, BellRichardAvenue, and submit it to the AFAP Pro-gram Coordinator. Issues can be hand car-ried to ACS or Family Readiness Center,bldg 924, faxed to 531-7171, or emailed [email protected]. Issues willbe accepted up until 4:30 p.m. today. If youhave questions or concerns, call 531-1895.

PT hoursArmy physical readiness training has

been expanded from 6:30-8 a.m., Mondaythrough Friday.

This necessitates the closure of the oneways along Alabama and Georgia avenuesfrom 6:30-8 a.m. Monday through Friday.Signs are being updated with the newtimes and road blocks/barricades will bein place.

Please exercise caution when encounter-ing Soldiers conducting PT.

Road repairPhase 2 of the Louisiana Avenue road re-

pair project requires the closure of ACP 1(Entrance Road) outbound traffic throughOct. 25. Repairs include base failure repairson the outbound lane of ACP 1.

ACP 1 outbound traffic will need to usealternate ACPs to exit post. Hours of oper-ation for ACPs 2 (North La. Hwy 467) and5 (South La. Hwy 467) are extended for theduration of this phase from 9 p.m.-5 a.m.Monday through Friday and 24 hours Sat-urday and Sunday for outbound trafficonly. ACP 4 (Louisiana Avenue East gate)remains open Monday through Fridayfrom 4-6 p.m. for outbound traffic.

Local traffic on Louisiana Avenue fromLa. Hwy 467 to Bell Richard Avenue isopen, but motorists are encouraged to usealternate routes due to traffic congestion.

Abandoned vehiclesThe Directorate of Emergency Services

Traffic Section will release the followingvehicles to a towing company for disposal

Briefs

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Please see Briefs, page 6

FORT POLK, La. — Each year, the Joint Readi-ness Training Center and Fort Polk extends an in-vitation to retirees and their families to have aone-stop shop experience at the installa-tion’s annual Retiree Appreciation Day.

This year’s activities kick off todaywith a Soldier For Life Golf Tourna-ment at Warrior Hills Golf Course. Thefour person per team, 18-hole scrambletees off with a shotgun start at 9 a.m.Cost is $180 per team or $45 per individ-ual. Participants receive greens fee, cartand lunch. The top finisher will receiveprizes. Call 531-4661 for more informa-tion.

For gun enthusiasts, a skeet shootingcompetition hosted by Fort Polk Soldierfor Life — Transition Assistance Pro-gram begins at noon today on Range 23A,the Recreational Shooting Range, 4111 CaliforniaAve. The event is open to active duty, NationalGuard, Army Reserve, retirees and veterans. Costis $25 per shooter and covers ammunition,prizes, refreshments and clay targets. Call (225)654-7225.

On Saturday, an opening ceremony, complete

with cake cutting, informational briefs and doorprizes begins at 9 a.m. in the In and Out Process-ing Center, bldg 250, Third Street, across fromBayne-Jones Army Community Hospital. Servic-es offered include: Veterans services, dental in-

surance agencies, disabled veteransservice officer, ID card renewals andDEERS updates and legal assistance.

Once participants have finished atthe In and Out Processing Center,

they can cross Third Street and visitBJACH and its annual health fair. Serv-ices offered include: Glaucoma and vi-sion screenings; flu, pneumonia, shin-gles and T-Dap immunizations; labservices; Composite Health Care Sys-tem (CHCS) registration; full-servicepharmacy; blood pressure screenings;dental screenings; and panoramic X-rays. Brunch and lunch will be servedin the hospital dining facility.There will also be booths from the De-

partment of Veterans Affairs, Disabled AmericanVeterans, Women’s Veterans Association, ArmyCommunity Service and Soldier for Life.

To learn more about Retirement AppreciationDay activities call 531-0363/0402 or email [email protected].

Polk sets day aside for retiree services

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Participants in the 2018 Fort Polk Retiree Appreciation Day browse the services set up atBayne-Jones Army Community Hospital. The 2019 event is slated for Saturday at the instal-lation In and Out Processing Center, bldg 250, and BJACH, both on Third Street. Servicesinclude: Veterans services; dental insurance agencies; disabled veterans service officer; IDcard renewals; DEERS updates; legal assistance; glaucoma and vision screenings; flu,pneumonia, shingles and T-Dap immunizations; lab services; Composite Health Care Sys-tem (CHCS) registration; full-service pharmacy; blood pressure screenings; dental screen-ings; and panoramic X-rays.

GUARDIAN STAFF

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SecArmy highlights top priorities at AUSA opening

WASHINGTON — After a per-sonal look at Soldiers who make uptoday’s Army, the service’s new sec-retary delved deeper Monday intowhat the force needs to competeagainst near-peer threats.

Less than a week after beingsworn in as secretary, Ryan Mc-Carthy, the previous undersecretary,touted recent efforts in the service’stop priorities — readiness, modern-ization and reform — to open thisyear’s Association of the U.S. ArmyAnnual Meeting and Exposition.

Readiness, he said, has been re-stored across the Army, with morethan half of its brigade combatteams now at the highest levels ofreadiness.

But he urged the need to modern-ize the force, such as developingcloud-based architecture, as Russiaand China inject billions into theirmilitaries and other adversariesgrow their capabilities. The Armyhas also drastically cut its require-ments timelines from up to sevenyears to now just 18 months or less,he said, which has gotten newerequipment out quicker, like the Inte-grated Visual Augmentation Systemcurrently being tested by Soldiers.

“Our adversaries are investing intomorrow today, unconstrained by acontinuing resolution and singular-ly focused on shifting the currentbalance of power,” he said. PeopleBefore McCarthy took the podi-

um, seven Soldiers who representeda microcosm of the Army ranks ap-peared on stage and introducedthemselves to the audience.

In his full combat kit and a 1stCavalry Division patch on hissleeve, Capt. Travis Roland said hejoined the Army after being inspiredby the service of other Soldiers.

“Like them, I had a strong desireto defend our country and preservethe freedoms that we continue toenjoy today,” he said. “I’m honoredto serve in the infantry and be theheart of the fight wherever, whenev-er.”

With 17 years of service, Sgt. 1stClass Chelsea Porterfield said sherecently served in the most reward-ing assignment of her long career —as a drill sergeant at Fort LeonardWood, Missouri.

“Nobody likes a drill sergeant,”she said, donning her campaign hat,an intimidating sight for any new

recruit. “But it’s my responsibility tomold Soldiers and give them thetools and training that they need tofight and win.”

Sgt. Maj. Christal Rheams saidshe started off her Army career as alogistics management specialist.Now a vocalist for the U.S. ArmyBand “Pershing’s Own,” she hasbeen able to perform around theworld and even competed this yearon the TV show “America’s Got Tal-ent.”As with many other Soldiers, shesaid the Army also allowed her toattain skills that would not havebeen possible as a civilian.

“Each one of us represents themany jobs that are available in theArmy,” she said. “Whether it’s aculinary artist, engineer, cyber ana-lyst, journalist or even a member ofthe 1st Armored Division, each oneof us are always, first and foremost,American Soldiers.

Then, in front of the crowd, Armysenior leaders administered theOath of Enlistment to a group ofnew recruits, signifying the nextbatch of Soldiers to serve the Army.

Following the ceremony, Gen.James McConville, chief of staff ofthe Army, told media that people —Soldiers, Family members andArmy civilians — make the otherpriorities happen.

“People are our No. 1 priority,”he said. “How we get to readiness,how we get to modernization, howwe get to reform — it’s people thatare going to do that.”

To better manage the talent with-in its ranks, the general added theArmy is developing a 21st centurytalent management system that willmove the service from the industrialage into the information age.

The system will help assign jobsthat match Army requirements toSoldier knowledge, skills and be-haviors. It will even log a Soldier’spreferences, such as if he or she hasa desire to stay in one locationlonger.FundingTo prepare current and future

Soldiers for the next fight, Mc-Carthy noted the Army recentlyshifted another $10 billion in its nextfive-year budget plan to fund mod-ernization efforts. The move came after senior leadersrealigned $30 billion in what theycalled a “night court” reviewprocess that reallocated funds fromprograms that did not meet theArmy’s six modernization priorities:

Long-range precision fires, futurevertical lift, next-generation combatvehicle, network, air and missile de-fense and Soldier lethality.

McCarthy stressed that if Con-gress cannot pass the next budget,the Army could potentially lose upto $7 billion worth of buying powerwhile under a continuing resolu-tion.

“From a readiness standpoint,commanders can’t buy parts (so)they reduce training events. Thewhole machine starts to slowdown,” he said. “We have to get abudget deal. It’s on the table. Weneed to work hard with Congress toget this done.”

If not, cloud-based technology,which is being eyed to help theArmy carry out its new concept ofmulti-domain operations, is one ofthe efforts that could suffer. TheArmy plans to invest $700 million in

Cloud systems over the next fiveyears, McCarthy said. Those sys-tems could address a challenge fore-seen in future warfare of how unitscan handle big data and network se-curity in order to make quick deci-sions on a contested battlefield.

“Seamless access to data in theCloud is the foundation for the en-tire Army modernization effort,” hesaid. “If we do not have a system inplace, access to the data becomesour no man’s land.”

While lawmakers decide on up-coming budgets, McCarthy said theArmy still plans to stay on coursewith its priorities and finish what itstarted as it heads into an era ofgreat power competition. “The world is complex and danger-ous,” he said. “In times of peril, thenation looks to the U.S. Army andexpects us to win. And win weshall.”

By SEAN KIMMONSArmy News Service

Secretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy, attends the Association ofthe United States Army's 2019 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.,Oct. 14.

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32nd Hospital Center prepares for National Training Center rotationGUARDIAN STAFF

FORT POLK, La. — Soldiers with Fort Polk’s32nd Hospital Center spent Oct. 15 prepping ve-hicles for transport to the National Training Cen-ter at Fort Irwin, California.

The unit’s vehicles were being transported tolink up with 32nd HC advance party that leftOct. 17, followed by the rest of the unit slated toleave Monday. The NTC rotation runs from mid-October to mid-November.

The photographs on this page show 32nd HCSoldiers preparing their vehicles to be loadedonto 18-wheelers for the drive to Fort Irwin.

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FORT POLK, La. — Fort Polk Soldiers havebeen engaged in a mission in support of home-land defense. Spread out across 1,600 miles, the“Climb to Glory” Soldiers have been workingtirelessly, in some austere conditions, 24 hours aday, while still keeping up their Soldier skills.

To help strengthen and encourage the PatriotBrigade, Operation Wingman was developedand employed to partner with the Soldiers of 3rdBrigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.Seven people from Fort Polk were hand selectedto be members of Operation Wingman.

Three teams of one noncommissioned officerand one civilian, along with a team leader for themission, deployed on Oct. 1 to meet up with thechaplains of the Patriot Brigade in three key ar-eas: Capt. Daniella Preece from Bayne-JonesArmy Community Hospital’s Behavioral Health(team leader), Sgt. 1st Class Jerry McMillian ofthe Ready and Resilient Program, and RandyBehr from the Directorate of Family Morale, Wel-fare and Recreation; Sgt. 1st Class Sabrina Her-nandez of 3rd Battalion, 353rd Infantry Regiment

and John Pilgrim, Suicide Awareness and Pre-vention Program; and Sgt. 1st Class TroyMcWilliams, Joint Readiness Training Center Op-erations Group and Eric Middleton, ArmyWellness.

Their mission was to travel to des-ignated sectors to engage with Sol-diers and assess their physical, psy-chological and mental readiness. Thisis the first time a team of this type —civilian and military — has been de-veloped and employed from Fort Polkto act as an assessment and strength-ening resource to a brigade com-mander on mission outside the instal-lation.

Each team traveled more than 1,000miles over the course of eight days.Along the way they experienced whatPatriot Brigade Soldiers are seeingevery day — a total of four to six hoursof drive time to and from mission sites onpaved and dirt roads, rugged and isolated terrainin the southwest desert, temperature swings of40 degrees in 24 hours, early mornings, latenights and little sleep.

Team members spoke with more than 1,000Soldiers, learning their mission, assessing rou-tines and mission requirements to help the Sol-

diers build effectiveness and prepare fortheir return home.

To close out the mission, the teambriefed Col. Kendall Clarke, 3rd BCT,10th Mtn Div commander, on theirobservations and recommendations to

help his Soldiers maintain their effec-tiveness and strengthen their abilitiesto function as Warriors.

Fort Polk has had units continu-ously deployed within the U.S. forhumanitarian support as well as out-side the U.S. in support of the nation-al defense strategy for more than twoyears. When units launch overseas,they always go with the prayers and

support of the Fort Polk Family, andcommitments from garrison to take care

of those Families back home. This time, Fort Polk was able to stretch its

arms across the continental miles and continue tobe a strengthening resource to the commandersand Soldiers on this mission.


FORT POLK, La. — In the past 30 days, thecommanding general has issued five General Of-ficer Memorandum of Reprimands and one Gen-eral Officer Article 15 for misconduct on FortPolk. Additionally, 30 Soldiers have been admin-istratively separated by their units for miscon-duct or failure to meet Army standards.

Across the installation, the following discipli-nary issues continue to be prevalent: Sexual as-sault, domestic violence, driving under the influ-ence, wrongful use/possession of controlled sub-stances, fraternization and inappropriate rela-tionships. Below are recent examples of adverselegal actions on Fort Polk.

• A major was issued a General Officer Memo-randum of Reprimand for driving his vehiclewhile under the influence of alcohol in violationof Article 92, Uniform Code of Military Justice.

• A captain, assigned to Joint Readiness Train-ing Center Operations Group, was issued a Gen-eral Officer Article 15 for basic allowance forhousing fraud in violation of Article 132, Uni-form Code of Military Justice. The Soldier was

sentenced to forfeiture of $3,690 pay per monthfor one month and a written reprimand.

• A first lieutenant, assigned to 3rd BrigadeCombat Team, 10th Mountain Division, was is-sued a General Officer Memorandum of Repri-mand for driving his all terrain vehicle on thehighway while under the influence of alcohol inviolation of Article 113, Uniform Code of MilitaryJustice.

• A chief warrant officer three, assigned to 1stBattalion, 5th Aviation Regiment, was sentencedto forfeiture of $2,841 pay per month for twomonths and restriction for 60 days, suspendedfor 180 days, for wrongful use of a controlledsubstance in violation of Article 112a, UniformCode of Military Justice.

• A staff sergeant, assigned to 3rd BCT, 10thMtn Div, was court-martialed on Fort Polk forraping a female in violation of Article 120, Uni-form Code of Military Justice. The Soldier wassentenced by a panel to five years confinement,forfeiture of all pay and allowances, a reprimand,reduction to rank of private and a dishonorabledischarge.

• A sergeant, assigned to 3rd BCT, 10th Mtn

Div, was court-martialed on Fort Polk for assaultand battery of a civilian in violation of Article128, Uniform Code of Military Justice. The Sol-dier was sentenced by a panel to 90 days hard la-bor, 60 days restriction, a reprimand and reduc-tion to private first class.

on Dec. 8 if they remain unclaimed. Vehicles arelisted with the last four numbers of their VINnumber. If one of these vehicles belongs to youplease contact the Fort Polk Police Traffic Section531-1806/2677.

2008 KIA SPORTAGE 7546 2011 CHEV 1500 46082001 KIA RIO 53781999 CHEV 1500 54692002 SATURN VUE 77972009 VW JETTA 00492006 KIA OPTIMA 9904

2012 NISSIAN VERSA 83792006 GMC 1500 38472008 BMW X5 47572003 TOYOTA COROLLA 01392006 MAZDA 3 95002010 KAWASAKI KLR650 9760

DAV assistanceThe Chapter 20 Disabled American Veterans in

Leesville has a service officer available to file VAdisability claims. The officer is located in theRailway Suites behind the Vernon Parish Court

House. For more information and to make an ap-pointment call 531-5614.

RCCC briefA Reserve Component career counselors brief

for first term Soldiers who are slated to ETS with-in six months is held Tuesdays at 1 p.m. in bldg250, 1716 Third Ave., the installation In/Out Pro-cessing bldg. The brief provides professionalguidance and career counseling to Soldiers leav-ing the active Army. For more information call531-1850.

Operation Wingman partners with Patriot BrigadeBy Chap. (Lt. Col.) DERRICK RIGGSGarrison chaplain

Fort Polk Justice Beat: Soldiers receive punishment for misconductSTAFF JUDGE ADVOCATE

BriefsContinued from page 11


Soldier-athletes win the 35th annual Army Ten-Miler

WASHINGTON — After a 10-mile run trailingaround national monuments in Washington,D.C., Spc. Lawi Lalang, from Fort Carson, Col-orado, a member of the 2019 All-Army Ten-Milerteam, crossed the finish line with a time of 48:38,making him the men’s champion of the 2019Army Ten Miler.

Spc. Elvin Kibet, also a member of the 2019All-Army Ten Miler team, earned first place inthe women division with a time of 54:05.The winning active-duty mixed team was FortLee with a time of 3:48:37.

The Joint Readiness Training Center and FortPolk team finished 19th out of 48 teams that com-peted with a time of 4:35:33, while the Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital’s Spartan War-riors finished 36th with a time 5:44:53.

“It was so great out there, I have no words todescribe how I am feeling,” said Kibet, a Soldier-athlete in the U.S. Army’s World Class AthleteProgram “I had Soldiers cheering me on; it waslike no race I have ever done before.”

An All-Army Ten-Miler team Soldier-athletehas won the Army Ten-Miler every year since2015.

Lalang, a horizontal construction engineer,kept a mile pace of 4:51 during his first everArmy Ten-Miler.

“Spc. Benard Keter and I started with a prettyfast pace,” said Lalang. “At mile seven I pushedit a little bit more and that’s when I knew I had it.I won this race for the Army

Keter, also a WCAP Solider-athlete, won sec-ond place overall for the men with a time of49:04. Lalang has an extensive running back-ground including being an eight time NCAA Di-vision 1 National Champion at the University ofArizona.

Kibet ran at the University of Arizona whereshe broke the school’s women’s 5,000 meterrecord. She kept a mile pace of 5:24 and knew shewas going to win after mile four.

“When we started it was a big crowd and Iwasn’t sure if there were females in front of me

but when I got to mile four someone said ‘first fe-male’ and I thought ‘Oh that’s me!,’” said Kibet.“The rest of the way I kept hearing first femaleand I was confident that I was going to win.”

The 2019 All-Army Ten-Miler team was madeup of six Soldier-athletes from around the worldand coached by retired Col. Liam Collins. Threeof the Soldier-athletes are members of WCAP.Kibet also won first place in the female militarydivision. Maj. Kelly Calway, a member of the All-Army Ten-Miler team, won second place for thefemale military division.

More than 35,000 people participated in the2019 Army Ten-Miler with more than half of therunners affiliated with the military.

“The best part was running with my fellow

Soldiers,” said Lalang. “Seeing the Soldiers cheeryou on is the greatest feeling. I have wanted towin the Army Ten-Miler since basic training andnow my dream has come true.”

Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy andVice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Joseph Mar-tin were present at the finish line of the race tocongratulate Lalang and Kibet. Sergeant Major ofthe Army Michael Grinston and Chief of Staff ofthe Army Gen. James McConville were on stageduring the ceremony to hand the winners theirawards. “Being congratulated by the senior Army leader-ship was great,” said Lalang. “I had just finishedthe race so I didn’t realize who had given me acoin then I looked down at it and thought ‘Ohmy gosh, that’s the Secretary of the Army!’ It wasindescribable.”

Up next for Lalang is the seventh CISM Mili-tary World Games where he will compete in the1,500 meter race.

Both Lalang and Kibet are also gearing up forthe Olympics trials for the 2020 SummerOlympic Games.

“The preparation for the games has alreadystarted,” said Lalang. “Doing a race like this 10miler is a great tempo run. Now I will focus onstaying consistent and believing in myself.”

The Army Ten-Miler was established to sup-port Army fitness goals, promote the Army andbuild esprit de corps.

All race proceeds benefit the Family Morale,Welfare and Recreation program, which includesAll-Army Sports.

The 2019 All-Army Ten-Miler team membersinclude: Spc. Michael Biwott from Fort Hood,Texas; Maj. Kelly Calway from Fort Jackson,South Carolina; Sgt. Peter Koskey from USAGHumphreys, Korea; and WCAP Soldiers Spc.Bernard Keter, Spc. Elvin Kibet, Spc. LawiLaLang, all from Fort Carson.

Retired Col. Liam Collins coached the team.

By BRITTANY NELSONIMCOM

Spc. Lawi Lalang, who ran on the 2019 All-Army Ten Miler team, won the 2019 Army TenMiler with a time of 48:38. Lalang is also a Soldier-athlete in the World Class Athlete pro-gram. 2019 All-Army ten miler team members include: Spc. Michael Biwott from FortHood, Maj. Kelly Calway from Fort Jackson, Sgt. Peter Koskey from USAG Humphreys, andWCAP Soldiers Spc. Bernard Keter, Spc. Elvin Kibet, Spc. Lawi LaLang, all from Fort Car-son.

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The team from the JRTC and Fort Polk finished 19th out of 48 teams with a time of 4:35:33.Pictured left to right are Command Sgt. Maj. David W. Bass, JRTC and Fort Polk commandsergeant major, Capt. Nathaniel Burrell, Capt. John Bassette, Sgt. Jeffrey Cassel, Sgt.Chestley Davie, Sgt. Megan Adams and Sgt. Megan Gray.

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WASHINGTON — Eleven top-performing Sol-diers from around the Army came together Tues-day to receive the Army’s first-ever Expert Sol-dier Badges.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConvillemade the presentation during the EisenhowerLuncheon at the Association of the U.S. Army’sAnnual Meeting and Exposition.

“I’m really proud of what these Soldiers haveaccomplished,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael A.Grinston said. “At the time, the (ESB) was a newchallenge not only for them but for the Army.These 11 individuals can now proudly wear abadge that firmly recognizes them as experts intheir profession, something all Soldiers shouldstrive to be.”

Announced on the Army’s 244th birthday inJune, the ESB is a proficiency badge that recog-nizes a Soldier’s lethality outside of the infantry,by measuring their “mastery of physical fitness,marksmanship and other critical Soldering skillsnecessary for combat readiness,” said Sgt. 1stClass Dennis Moore, the badge’s noncommis-sioned officer in charge at the Army Center forInitial Military Training.

“(The ESB) recognizes the next generation ofcompetent, committed leaders who thrive inchaos, adapt and win in a complex world,” saidMaster Sgt. Norbert Neumeyer, a U.S. ForcesCommand master gunner who oversaw the firstESB test.

In April 2017, 56 Soldiers were selected fromFORSCOM units across the Army during the pi-lot phase of testing. Of those who tested, 12passed, making the pass-fail rate on par with theExpert Infantryman Badge and Expert FieldMedical Badge.

Staff Sgt. Tyler Lewis, a field artillery firefinderradar operator from Fort Bliss, Texas, said earn-ing the ESB represents all aspects of being a Sol-dier.

“Being a Soldier means being a tactical andtechnical expert from the level of basic Soldieringskills to the advanced levels of your (military oc-cupational specialty),” he said. “A Soldier learnsto be adaptable, disciplined and master andsteward of his or her profession in every situa-tion.”

Sharpen your Soldiering skillsSgt. Michael Ostrander, armament shop non-

commissioned officer at Joint Base Lewis-Mc-Chord, Washington, said he had to touch up hisland navigation skills in order to earn his ESB. The small arms repairmen said he relied on theSoldering skills he learned during basic combattraining and throughout his military career dur-ing the test. He also suggested Soldiers planningto test for the badge “brush up on things they’rerusty on.

”For many Soldiers, the ESB tasks may seemlike common ones that have been taught before,”Lewis said. “But, (Soldiers) need to ensure thattheir knowledge is accurate to each standard test-ed. Practicing each skill until it becomes secondnature is the key to success.”

Staff Sgt. Mike Mata, joint fire support special-ist at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, echoed his fellow re-cipients when he credited “hands-on trainingand mock repetitions” to earning the ESB.

“It’s important to remember that testing is in-

tended to be rigorous, mission-focused and con-ducted under realistic conditions,” Neumeyersaid.

The new skill badge is an equivalent of the EIBand the EFMB. It’s nearly a spitting image of theCombat Action Badge, minus the wreath. Thebadge displays the same M9 bayonet knife andM67 frag grenade inlaid against a solid, gray rec-tangular bar.

The test includes various commander-selectedtasks essential to their respective units, like howto respond to an improvised explosive device at-tack, forging fighting positions, finding Soldiersin a tactical environment, and how to markchemical, biological, radiological and nuclear-contaminated areas. Other tasks include a dayand night land navigation test, a 12-mile ruckmarch and a series of individual assessments.

The test also contains a variety of events, shar-ing roughly 80% of the tasks in the EIB andEFMB, and takes five days for Soldiers to com-plete. Standards for the test will not be adjustedbased on age, gender or any other criteria.

“The (ESB) will increase overall readiness andlethality, and the first recipients are among thetop-qualified Soldiers in the Army,” Moore said.

To qualify, Soldiers must first pass the newArmy Combat Fitness Test, slated to be the offi-cial fitness test for the Army by October 2020.Soldiers must also qualify as expert on the M16or M4 and be recommended by their chain ofcommand.

“The ESB gives units a baseline and ability tomeasure their Soldiers’ physical fitness,”Neumeyer said. “It also ensures Soldiers performto standard all the critical tasks they’re supposedto have knowledge of, and measures their abili-ties to an expert level.”

Grinston said the Expert Soldier Badge will in-crease readiness and Soldier lethality across theforce.

“We have ESB testing that will be underwaylater this month at Joint Base Lewis-McChordand next month at Fort Eustis, Virginia,” Grin-ston said. “I look forward to seeing the results.This is a truly challenging badge to earn withtraining along the way that will help better pre-pare our Soldiers for combat.”

The first-ever recipients of the ESB include: Staff Sgt. Joseph Alcorn, Joint Base Lewis-Mc-Chord, Washington; Staff Sgt. Freeman Harris,U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart, Germany; Sgt. 1stClass Christopher Harvey, Joint Base Lewis-Mc-Chord, Washington; Staff Sgt. Thomas Jacobsen,U.S. Army Recruiting Office, Gretna, Louisiana;Staff Sgt. Tyler Lewis, Fort Bliss, Texas; Staff Sgt.Anthony Lodiong, Fort Bliss, Texas; Staff Sgt.Julio Macias, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Staff Sgt.Mike Mata, Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Staff Sgt. EvanNeilson, Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Sgt.Michael Ostrander, Joint Base Lewis-McChord,Washington; Staff Sgt. Bradley Sherman, FortBenning, Georgia; and Spc. Mahrubius Ledford,released from active duty March 2019.

First Soldiers awarded Expert Soldier BadgeBy THOMAS BRADINGArmy News Service

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School lunch menuThe following school lunch menu is for

Vernon Parish schools for Monday throughOct. 25. Meals are served with salad barand choice of milk:

Monday: Chicken nuggets, mac attackand cheese, green beans, chilled pearhalves, whole wheat roll.

Tuesday: Taco salad with whole grainchips, Mexicana corn, taco salad cup, fruit,spice cake.

Wednesday: Turkey roast and gravy,creamy mashed potatoes, peas and carrots,pear halves, whole wheat roll.

Thursday: Cheesy chili mac, butteredcorn, creamy coleslaw, fruit, whole wheatgarlic bread.

Oct. 25: Ham and cheese sandwich,oven fries, lettuce/tomato/pickle cup, can-taloupe.

Coffee with policeThe Fort Polk Directorate of Emergency

Services hosts “Coffee with a Cop”Wednesday from 3-5 p.m. at communitycenters in Maple, Cypress and PalmettoTerrace housing areas. Visitors are encour-agement to meet their law enforcement of-ficers, view static displays and share com-munity concerns.

Survivor luncheonBayne-Jones Army Community Hospital

and the Vernon Parish Chamber of Com-merce will join forces to host the Sixth An-nual Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheonhonoring local area breast cancer survivorsand individuals battling breast cancer.

The event is Thursday from 11 a.m.-1p.m. at the Warrior Center on Corps Roadat Fort Polk. The guest speaker is Dr.Oluwaeymisi Ojemakinde, a diagnostic ra-diologist and internal medicine physicianat Byrd Regional Hospital in Leesville.

If you are a breast cancer survivor, knowsomeone who is a survivor or is currentlybattling breast cancer, please call or contactBJACH’s Health Promotion Program at531-6880 to be recognized by local agenciesand the community. The registration dead-line is Thursday.

On-line registration is required using thefollowing website: www.breastcancer-awarenessluncheon.eventbrite. Cost is $12and can be paid the day of the event bycash only.

Nerf FestMilitary children are invited to partici-

pate in the upcoming Nerf Fest at the FortPolk Exchange Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. Youngsters can test out Nerf Blasters

Briefs

Please see Briefs, page 10


Runners prepare to participate in the National Breast Cancer Month Glow Run at FortPolk’s Alligator Lake Oct. 10.

Glow Run kicks off National Breast Cancer Month

FORT POLK, La. — Bayne-Jones Army Com-munity Hospital officially kicked off NationalBreast Cancer Month with the third Annual GlowRun at Alligator Lake Oct. 10. More than 100 par-ticipants, many of them families, turned out toshow their support for survivors, those battlingbreast cancer and those who have lost their bat-tle.

Col. Jody Dugai, BJACH commander, wel-comed the supporters, many dressed in pinkwith glowing hair and necklaces. Dugai shared apersonal story about losing her best friend whodied of breast cancer at age 38. She urged thecrowd to get their yearly mammograms, espe-cially if they have a mother, father or sister whohas been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Early diagnosis is how we beat breast can-cer,” Dugai said.

“This is a cause very dear to my heart,” SheilaAnthony told the group. Anthony is a four-year,

seven-month survivor. This year, an estimated 268,600 new cases of

invasive breast cancer are expected to be diag-nosed in women in the United States, along with62,936 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.As of January 2019, there are more than 3.1 mil-lion women with a history of breast cancer in theU.S. This includes women currently being treatedand women who have finished treatment.

Alligator Lake provided a paved path withhills and valleys, ideal for runners, walkers andstrollers filled with babies and toddlers, whoseglowing necklaces, headbands and braceletshelped light the path as the sky became dark.Pickering Girl Scout Troop 143 and Troop 124Boy Scouts manned water points along the trail.

After finishing the event, participants enjoyedfree snow cones complements of Roland Cimini,a training officer with the Fort Polk Fire Depart-ment and owner of the snow cone machine andhis helpers, Carlos Jackson and Rusty Self, bothfire inspectors with the Fort Polk Fire Depart-ment.

By KATHY PORTSBJACH Public Affairs Officer

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Learn about breast cancer statistics

Breast cancer awareness month is the per-fect time to learn more about this deadly dis-ease. Take note of these statistics found atwww.breastcancer.org.

• 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will devel-op invasive breast cancer over the course oftheir lifetime.

• In 2019, an estimated 268,600 new cases ofinvasive breast cancer are expected to be diag-nosed in women in the U.S., along with 62,930

new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.• About 2,670 new cases of invasive breast

cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in2019. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer isabout 1 in 883.

• For women in the U.S., breast cancerdeath rates are higher than those for any othercancer, besides lung cancer.

• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is themost commonly diagnosed cancer amongAmerican women. In 2019, it's estimated thatabout 30% of newly diagnosed cancers.

WWW.BREASTCANCER.ORG

10/GuardianOct. 18,2019

with friends and family. A tent will be set up in-side the toy department where participants canchoose a blaster and have fun shooting at targets.For more information call 537-1792 or [email protected].

AAFES double pointsFor Fort Polk Military Star shoppers, it’s no

tricks and twice the treat with double rewardspoints Oct. 28. Soldiers and their Families whouse their Military Star card at the Fort Polk Ex-change or commissary on Oct. 28 will receivefour points per $1, instead of the usual twopoints. For every 2,000 points earned, cardhold-ers receive a $20 rewards card that can be re-deemed anywhere an exchange gift card is ac-cepted.

Community giftwrapVolunteer groups can raise money and get in

the holiday spirit by partnering with the Armyand Air Force Exchange Service to provide giftwrapping services for military shoppers this hol-iday season.

The Fort Polk Exchange will provide wrap-ping paper, tape and other supplies for volunteergroups to set up their stations. Groups can seekdonations in exchange for gift wrapping. Groupscan sign up to wrap gifts from Veterans Daythrough Christmas Eve. Interested organizations

can contact the Fort Polk Exchange at 537-1792for information on scheduling a time to partici-pate in the program.

For more information contact Carrie Beltz,537-1792 or [email protected]

Women’s healthA Women’s Health Transition Workshop,

sponsored by the Fort Polk Soldier For Life —Transition Assistance Program is held Nov. 5from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Warrior Center, 1321Corps Road. Women veterans are invited to learnabout VA and Department of Defense benefits.Dress is civilian casual. Lunch is available forpurchase at the Warrior Center. Call 531-1591 formore information or to register.

MCY nominationsOperation Homefront is accepting nomina-

tions for the 2020 Military Child of the YearAwards, as well as applications for the 2020 Mili-tary Child of the Year Award for Innovation.Nominations are open through Dec. 9, andawards will be presented at a recognition galaApril 2 in the nation's capital.

The awards will recognize seven young peo-ple ages 13 to 18 who are legal dependents of aservice member or military retiree. Six MilitaryChild of the Year recipients will represent abranch of the armed forces — Army, Marine

Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Nation-al Guard. The seventh award is the MilitaryChild of the Year Award for Innovation to a mili-tary child who has designed a bold and creativesolution to address a local, regional or globalchallenge.

To nominate a child for the award go towww.militarychildoftheyear.org and click onthe nominations tab. Award recipients will beflown with a parent or guardian to Washington,D.C., and recognized at the April 2 gala, wherethey will receive $10,000 each and a laptop com-puter.

Teen funThe Directorate of Family Morale, Welfare and

Recreation’s Child Youth and School’s MiddleSchool and Teen program hosts a special screen-ing of “Screenagers: Growing up in the DigitalAge,” Tuesday from 5-8 p.m. at the Warrior Com-munity Center.

Tickets are fee and include dinner. Register atMST, bldg 4966. For more information on themovie visit www.screenagersmovie.com.

DeCA WIC acceptanceThe Fort Polk Commissary can now process

Louisiana Women, Infants and Children (WIC)electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card purchases.For more information call 531-7678.

BriefsContinued from page 9


Editor’s note: This is the true story of a braveyoung woman who was able to break free from arelationship filled with domestic violence. She issharing her story in hopes that others in a similarsituation might find the courage to get away. Thenames of the victims have been changed to pro-tect their identity.

FORT POLK, La. — Misty was 18 years oldwhen she met and fell in love with Joe. At first itwas magical. He adored her, showering her withgifts, flowers and his undying love and attention,she said.

“At first, he was super nice, extremely gener-ous and always bringing me presents or flow-ers,” Misty remembered. “Joe worked as a plantshutdown crewmember, so the paychecks weresteady, and he made good money, but he neverconsidered his income as our income, it was al-ways his money. He wanted me to be completelydependent on him. He did all the shopping.”

The “honeymoon” lasted for a long time, butslowly small changes started to creep into the re-lationship. They decided to take a break fromeach other and figure out if they wanted to moveforward with the relationship. Misty and Joe sep-arated for a month, but eventually reconciled.Their life resumed and they moved to Ruston,La. For a short period, their relationship im-proved.

“In public or with friends, Joe bragged aboutme being in nursing school and becoming anurse, but once ‘his audience’ was gone, he belit-tled me, told me that I would never finish schoolor amount to anything and often he was violent,”she said. “He didn’t want me to have friends. Hewanted me to be completely dependent on him.If I needed something, I was expected to call himor his mother.”

One day during a heated argument, Joe back-handed Misty, busting her lip and bruising theside of her face. Joe began apologizing for hittingher, promised he would never do it again andtold her he wanted to get married.

Every day, he brought her gifts and moreapologies. He pleaded with her, promising to getprofessional help for his anger. Misty discoveredthat she was pregnant and married Joe. After thewedding, his loving attitude changed and hisempty promises of seeking help disappeared.

Misty was about eight months pregnant whenthey got into a big fight and Joe told her to leave.

“I had nowhere to go and no family to turnto,” she said. “As the argument intensified, Joepushed me, I fell and went into premature labor.A family member rushed me to the hospital andthey were able to stop the contractions.”

After being released from the hospital, Mistydid not return to Joe. She pleaded with her moth-er to let her come stay with her. Finally, hermother agreed.

Misty’s childhood was not a happy one. Herparents fought most of the time and eventuallydivorced, splitting up the children. Misty went tolive with her mother while her brother lived withtheir father. Misty recalled one visit to her fa-ther’s house. He was drinking, which was an al-most daily event.

“My father was a mean drunk,” she said. “Hewas living with another woman who also drank

and they were fighting.” Misty remembered her father kicking the

woman in the head while wearing his steel-toedboots. As the woman’s blood ran down her faceand her screams filled the house, Misty ran to herbrother’s room for help. Her brother told her thiswas the normal state of affairs for the householdand to try and get some sleep.

Just then, the bedroom door swung open andher father came in and started beating her broth-er. Misty begged her father to stop, but the beat-ing continued. Her father shouted his intent tokill them all and then kill himself. His partner’sson crawled out a window and ran to a neighborfor help. Luckily, help arrived before her fatherwas able to act on his threats.

After Misty and Joe’s baby boy was born, Joebecame more distant, refusing to help withhousehold chores or the baby. When Joe left forwork, he would make sure that the house wasstocked with food, would leave Misty moneyand tell her to call his mother, who lived nearby,if she needed anything. He also took the car, soMisty had no transportation.

One day in 2005, Joe and Misty were drivingseparate vehicles and encountered a huge trafficjam on Interstate 20. Misty had her older daugh-ter and Joe had the baby. She decided to stop ather grandparents’ house to take a break and,hopefully, let the traffic clear. In 2005 cellphoneswere not as ubiquitous as they are today and shehad no way to reach Joe and tell him of herchange of plans. When she arrived home a fewhours later, Joe was furious.

Misty stood in their bedroom, holding thebaby as Joe screamed at her and told her he wasleaving. Then the argument turned violent.

“He grabbed my arm and began twisting it,”she said. “I was struggling to keep the baby onmy hip and felt my arm snap. I lay on top of myson, trying to comfort him and make sure he was

alright. I was in excruciating pain.“My mom took me to the Natchitoches Emer-

gency Room where I was diagnosed with a spiralfracture. I was going to be in a cast for at least 12weeks. At age 21, my life was a mess, I was in aviolent relationship,” Misty recalled. “The ERphysician called the authorities to report theabuse. While I was being treated, Joe contacted afriend in law enforcement who came to the hos-pital wanting me to give a statement absolvingJoe of any blame.”

Misty made a difficult decision. She decided topress assault charges against Joe and apply for arestraining order.

The next two years were spent calling the Dis-trict Attorney’s Office concerning the case. Lucki-ly the Domestic Abuse Resistance Team assistedMisty, but it still took two years before the casewent to trial.

DART helped her get to and from court, madesure her kids had presents and food for Christ-mas, listened to Misty and accompanied her dur-ing the trial.

Joe was offered a plea agreement, but wantedhis day in court. He was convicted of second-de-gree battery by a 6-person jury. The court orderedhim to pay all Misty’s medical bills, child sup-port and restitution.

“It took me awhile to get back on my feet,”said Misty. “Joe filed for divorce. Even thoughhe’d been convicted of second-degree battery, heasked for full custody of our son. He called ChildProtective Services on me several times to helpbuild the case that I was an unfit mother. Butwhen CPS came out they found no grounds forhis complaints.”

Misty was awarded sole custody and Joe gotsupervised visitation with his son. By now, Joehad moved on and was in a relationship with an-other woman and they had a daughter together.Misty said she saw Joe following the same pat-tern with his new family as he had with her.

“I actually felt sorry for her, because I knewwhat was ahead,” Misty said. “I was free andcould take my kids and start over.”

“I try to always look for the good in people,”Misty said. “I finished school, got my LPN li-cense and met and married a wonderful manwho adopted my daughter. He tried to adopt myson, but Joe would not allow it. During the pro-ceedings, one of the attornies died, extending theordeal for eight months” she said.

Misty says Joe has not seen his son in morethan 13 years.

“I don’t wish him ill will, but my son does notknow him and he’s never had anything to dowith him. The only father he knows is my hus-band, who is a wonderful man and father,” saidMisty. “When we met, my husband had custodyof his daughter. My son and his daughter are fivemonths apart. We also had two children togetherand are about to celebrate our 11th anniversary.Out of terrible relationships, we have been ableto blend our family into one that I cherish.”

“I am so blessed that I was able to get out,”she said. “It was hard asking my mother for help,basically begging her and she was there for us.Often I felt like a burden, but I knew I had to getout for my children and that if I didn’t get awayfrom Joe, he would have eventually killed me.

“Sure, I was scared, but I wanted a better lifefor my kids and myself. I am thankful every daythat that part of my life is over.”

Survivor shares her story in hopes of helping othersBy KATHY PORTSBJACH Public Affairs Officer

GuardianOct. 18, 2019 /1312/ GuardianOct. 18, 2019

Golfers swing for birdie or better as Warrior Hills Golf Course hosts second annual Invitational Golf Tournament

FORT POLK, La. — The second annual JointReadiness Training Center and Fort Polk InvitationalGolf Tournament took place Oct. 11 on a cloudyLouisiana morning. Golfers packed the course earlyto register, warm up on the putting green and driv-ing range and have breakfast before hitting the links.

M.K. Akins, Directorate of Family Morale, Welfareand Recreation commercial sponsorship, advertisingand sales manager, said the invitational is a morale-focused event.

“It allows Soldiers to spend time together andrelax,” she said.

Shelby Waryas, Directorate of Family Morale, Wel-fare and Recreation marketing chief, said golf is agreat stress reliever for Soldiers and an event like theinvitational is something that DFMWR would loveto do more often.

“We want to center our efforts on the golf course.It is visually beautiful thanks to the recent refurbish-ment and looks better than it has in years. We wantto continue to watch it grow,” she said.

Part of that effort includes encouraging units andorganizations to contact the golf course to take partin tournaments, scrambles and organizationalevents.

“We want to showcase Warrior Hills Golf Courseand the Warrior Center’s ability to host tournamentslike this and more with professionalism and skill,”she said.

Col. Ryan K. Roseberry, Fort Polk garrison com-mander, said a lot of time and effort went into thecourse to get it ready for the invitational.

“I think it’s great that we’ve had such a successfulturnout with 95 individuals and 23 teams out on thelinks to play today,” he said.

Tournaments are great, but the annual invitationalseems to have a fun energy and excitement about it,said Diane Clark, Warrior Hills Golf Course businessmanager.

“It’s great way to show off the course, as well asthe new Warrior Store,” she said.

The golfers taking part in the tournament seemedto be enjoying the fruits of all that labor.

Sgt. 1st Class Richard Roberts, 46th Engineer Bat-talion, said the course is challenging.

“Events like this invitational tournamentbuild esprit de corps because it’s a dif-ferent environment than work andeveryone wants to come out andhave a good time,” he said. “In ad-dition to the invitational, I thinkthe scrambles our unit hosts areimportant because we invite Sol-diers who have never played be-fore and often they end up likinggolf, buying their own clubs andplaying more.”

One of the players invited totake part in one of those scrambleswas Capt. Cristina Palomino, 46thEng Bn. She said she has only been play-ing golf for about three months after her fel-low Soldiers talked her into joining them. She endedup loving it.

“I think the course is great. It’s easy to navigate;yet there are plenty of challenging holes. You neverknow what kind of game you are going to have andI enjoy hanging out with friends and having fun,”she said.

Palomino was one of only a handful of women

playing in the invitational. Unfortunately, Clark saidthere aren’t a lot of women golfers that take advan-tage of playing at Warrior Hills. She said it’s some-thing they would like to change. “We want toencourage women to visit the course and give golf atry. It’s great exercise and a lot of fun,” she said.

Palomino said she thinks the most intimidatingpart about golf for women is that they don’t knowthe rules of the game.

“It helped me to learn about the game with agroup of people who were willing to teach me. I

would encourage other women to join ascramble and give it a try,” she said.

As a long time member of the War-rior Hills Golf Course, Ronald

Degray, a retired sergeant major,said the Fort Polk golf coursekeeps getting better and better.

He said the golf course is im-portant to the post because thereis a lot of competition and the im-provements have encouraged Sol-

diers to stay at home to play golf.“The effort to improve the course

is impressive. It’s obvious that a lotof hard work is being put into the

course and I appreciate it,” he said.As teams headed to their golf carts to

begin the tournament, Brig. Gen. Patrick D. Frank,JRTC and Fort Polk commanding general, thankedSoldiers and guests for coming out to Warrior Hillsto play golf.

“Today is a great time to get out on the golf coursethat our garrison team has put so much work intoover the last year. It’s a great way to spend a day ofcamaraderie together here at Warrior Hills,” he said.

By ANGIE THORNEGuardian staff writer

Golfers warm up on the driving range Oct. 11 before taking part in Fort Polk's second annualWarrior Hills Golf Invitational Golf Tournament.

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After paying their fees, golfers line up to getscore cards, golf cart keys and more as theyget ready to warm up for a day of playinggolf.

Matt Berry takes a mighty swing during theWarrior Hills Golf Course Invitational GolfTournament.

Ken McCune, a member of the Warrior HillsGolf Course, takes a moment to practice hisputting before the tournament gets under-way.

Golfers take time to have breakfast before hitting the links Oct. 11.

Carts filled with golfers head out to begin playing during the Warrior Hills Golf InvitationalTournament Oct. 11.

Col. Ryan K. Roseberry, Fort Polk garrison commander, putts as his team looks on during theInvitational Golf Tournament held Oct. 11 at Fort Polk's Warrior Hills Golf Course.


FORT POLK, La. — Fort Polk’sArmy Substance Abuse Programpartners with on- and off-post or-ganizations to participate in drugprevention activities Mondaythrough Thursday in observance of2019 National Red Ribbon Week.

“After the murder of Drug En-forcement Agent Enrique Camare-na, angered parents and youth be-gan wearing red ribbons as a sym-bol of their commitment to raiseawareness of the killing and de-struction caused by drugs in Ameri-ca,” Amelia Connor, Fort Polk ArmySubstance Abuse ProgramPrevention coordi-nator said.

“Camerenaleft his officeon Feb. 7,1985 tomeet hiswife forlunch. Fivemen ap-peared at theagent’s sideandshoved himinto a car. Ca-marena’s body wasfound one month later.He had been tortured todeath. To honor Ca-marena’s memory andhis battle against illegaldrugs, friends andneighbors began towear red badges ofsatin,” Connor said.

“Parents, sick of thedestruction of alcohol and otherdrugs, had begun forming coali-tions. Some of these coalitions tookCamarena as their model and em-braced his belief that one person canmake a difference. These coalitionsalso adopted the symbol of Camare-na’s memory, the red ribbon,” Con-nor said.

In 1988, the National Family Part-nership sponsored the first NationalRed Ribbon Week Celebration.

“Red Ribbon Week is dedicatedto addressing drug use. It is a pre-ventive campaign to inform thecommunity about drugs and how toprevent people from engaging indrug abuse behaviors,” Tai Moton-McIntyre, Army Substance AbuseProgram Employee Assistance Pro-gram Coordinator said.

Fort Polk ASAP will be atLeesville High School from 11:49a.m.-1:13 p.m. Monday. They willhave information and educational

items available at the Ex-change Thursday, and will

conduct substance abuse train-ing for youth at the Siegfried

Youth Activity Center at 4:30 p.m. There will be an ASAP infor-

mation table set up atScreenagers at Siegfried YouthActivity Center on Tuesdayfrom 5-7 p.m.

Screenagers is an informa-tional video that addresses

screen time with adolescents andteenagers, and helps them navi-

gate the digital world. ASAP will also con-duct a two day

course Prime forLife Tuesday and

Wednesday atthe education

center from 9 a.m.-3p.m. This is a preventive

class that helps, individ-uals assess whether or not they areengaging in high risk behaviors thatcan lead to substance abuse or alco-holism. Registration is required.Seats are limited.

If you would like more informa-tion or resources about drugs andalcohol, call the Fort Polk ASAP of-fices at 531-2031/1964 or visit 7700Alabama Ave. Bldg. 1947.

You can also follow ASAP onFacebook at JRTC and Fort PolkArmy Substance Abuse Program.

Red Ribbon Week: dedicated to drug abuse education, preventionBy KEITH HOUIN Guardian staff writer

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FORT POLK, La. — October isNational Cybersecurity AwarenessMonth, a collaborative effort be-tween government and industry toraise awareness about the impor-tance of cybersecurity and ensure allAmericans have the resources to besafer and more secure online.

NCSAM 2019 emphasizes per-sonal accountability and stresses theimportance of taking proactive stepsto improve cybersecurity at work,home and while traveling. Thisyear’s message is, “Own IT. SecureIT. Protect IT,” and focuses on keyareas including citizen privacy, con-sumer devices and ecommerce secu-rity.

When you think of cybersecurityyou generally think of your comput-er or mobile device, but cars, appli-ances, wearables, lighting, health-care and home security all containsensing devices that can talk to an-other machine and trigger other ac-tions.

Examples include devices that di-rect your car to an open spot in aparking lot, control energy use inyour home and other tools thattrack your eating, sleeping and ex-ercise habits.

Today’s technology is convenientand can help improve productivity,but it requires sharing more infor-mation than ever. The security ofthis information, and the security ofthese devices, is not always guaran-teed.

The Department of Homeland Se-

curity recommends the followingtips to protect your information anddevices:

• Shake up your password proto-col. According to the National Insti-tute for Standards and Technologyguidance, you should consider us-ing the longest password orpassphrase permissible. Get creativeand customize your standard pass-word for different sites, which canprevent cybercriminals from gain-ing access to these accounts andprotect you in the event of a breach.

• Whether it’s your computer,smartphone, game device, or othernetwork devices, the best defenseagainst viruses and malware is toupdate to the latest security soft-ware, web browser, and operatingsystems. Sign up for automatic up-dates, if you can, and protect yourdevices with anti-virus software.

• Limit what information youpost on social media — from per-sonal addresses to where you like tograb coffee. What many peopledon’t realize is that these seeminglyrandom details are all criminalsneed to know to target you, yourloved ones, and your physical be-longings — online and in the physi-cal world.

• Keep Social Security numbers,account numbers and passwordsprivate, as well as specific informa-tion about yourself, such as yourfull name, address, birthday andeven vacation plans. Disable loca-tion services that allow anyone tosee where you are — and where youaren’t — at any given time

• Enable multi-factor authentica-tion to ensure the only person whohas access to your account is you.Use it for email, banking, social me-dia and any other service that re-quires logging in.

• Before you connect to any pub-lic wireless hotspot be sure to con-firm the name of the network andexact login procedures with appro-priate staff to ensure that the net-work is legitimate. If you do use an

unsecured public access point, prac-tice good internet hygiene by avoid-ing sensitive activities (such asbanking) that require passwords orcredit cards. Your personal hotspotis often a safer alternative to freeWi-Fi. Only use sites that begin with“https://” when online shopping orbanking.

For more tips on cybersecurityvisit www.dhs.gov/stopthinkcon-nect-toolkit.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month - “Own IT. Secure IT. Protect IT”GUARDIAN STAFF

Fort Polk community takes time to celebrate Hispanic heritageA

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FORT POLK, La. — The Joint Readi-ness Training Center and Fort Polk pre-sented its Hispanic Heritage Month cele-bration Oct. 16 at Bayou Theater. Thetheme was Hispanic Americans: A His-tory of Serving Our Nation.

As part of the event, 3rd BrigadeCombat Team, 10th Mountain DivisionSoldiers represented Hispanic Soldiersfrom wars and major conflicts of thepast from the Civil War through theGlobal War on Terrorism, as well as fu-ture Hispanic Soldiers.

Sgt. Marisol Salazar, 3rd BCT, 10thMtn Div, was the master of ceremoniesfor the event. She said the Hispanic her-itage celebration was important becauseit embodies diversity.

“The Hispanic Soldiers we are honor-ing today made a huge impact on thisnation’s history. Being a Hispanic Sol-dier myself, learning about the Soldiersrepresented today makes me want tocarry on their proud legacy,” she said.

Salazar said Hispanic American menand women embody the American val-ues of devotion to faith, family, hardwork and patriotism through countlesscontributions as leaders, innovators en-trepreneurs and members of the armedforces.

Sgt. 1st Class Erick Martinez, 3rdBCT, 10th Mtn Div, said the celebrationbrings an awareness to people whodon’t know about the Hispanic culture’smilitary efforts.

“This program gives the audience anopportunity to learn more about our val-ues and bravery,” he said.

Spc. Brandon Elliott, 3rd BCT, 10thMtn Div, said watching the program andlearning about the history of famousHispanic Soldiers in history was eyeopening.

“You don’t often hear about these Sol-diers and the missions they achieved. Itwas wonderful to learn about these His-panic heroes,” he said.

Brandon Perez, 3rd BCT, 10th MtnDiv, said he was proud to take part inthe ceremony as the future Hispanic Sol-dier. The 20 year old said he expressed

how he felt as he wrote his presentation.“Growing up in a small town you

don’t see many heroic Hispanic figures.It wasn’t until I joined the Army that Irealized the role Hispanics have playedin the armed forces. Without these His-panic heroes and their efforts we would-n’t be where we are today. The HispanicSoldiers who have come before us haveserved this country with bravery, re-silience and dedication. Hispanic Sol-diers serving today continue to carry onthat legacy of proud service,” he said.

Spc. Luchs Orijuela, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division,kicks off the Hispanic Heritage celebration presentation as he extols themilitary efforts of Hispanic American David G. Farragut during the CivilWar. Farragut was named the Navy's first full admiral by President Abra-ham Lincoln. He is known for shouting the famous order, "Damn the torpe-does! Full speed ahead!"

By ANGIE THORNEGuardian staff writer

Check out interesting facts about Hispanic heritage

If you are curious about Hispanicheritage, check out the following factsfound at www.hispanicdiversity.com.

• Expanded to a month by Presi-dent Ronald Reagan.

• Hispanic Heritagemonth was enactedinto law on August17, 1988, on theapproval ofPublic Law 100-402.

• The termHispanic or

Latino, as defined by the United StatesCensus Bureau, refers to Puerto Rican,South or Central American, or otherSpanish culture or origins regardless ofrace.

• Hispanic population in the U.S. isaround 55 million.

• Hispanics are the largest ethnicor race minority in the United

States• There are 1.2 million

Hispanics serving in theU.S. armed forces.

• California has thelargest Hispanic popu-

lation.

• Dr. Ellen Ochoa was the first His-panic woman astronaut to go intospace.

• Joseph Marion Hernández wasthe first Hispanic member of U.S. Con-gress in 1822.

• José Ferrer was the first Hispanicto win an Oscar for Best Actor in 1950for the film Cyrano de Bergerac.

• Carlos Santana was the first His-panic Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in-ductee in 1998.

• Roberto Clemente, a famous base-ball player, was also a humanitarianwho worked in organizing charitydrives, donating his time and money.

HISPANICDIVERSITY.COM


WASHINGTON — The Army plans to test anew approach to talent management this fiscalyear on how to select battalion commanders be-fore possibly extending it to other ranks, said theArmy’s top officer.

“To ensure we recruit and retain the right peo-ple for the Army, we are implementing a 21stcentury talent management system,” said Chiefof Staff of the Army Gen. James C. McConvilleduring his first address in the role at the Associa-tion of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Expo-sition Oct. 15.

Officers being considered will be screened by acommand board. After that, top qualifiers willcompete in person during a five-day assessment— the Battalion Commander Assessment Pro-gram — at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in January, priorto selection.

After having a chance to learn lessons from theupcoming battalion commander program, Mc-Conville hopes to expand it to sergeants majorand brigade-level commanders in the future.

Another talent management initiative is theArmy Talent Alignment Process, or ATAP, a de-centralized, regulated, market-style hiring sys-tem that aligns officers with jobs based on prefer-ences.

“The Army spends more time and more mon-ey selecting a private to be in a Ranger regimentthan it does selecting battalion commanders,”McConville said, urging the need for a change.

The new talent management system will or-ganize Soldiers by 25 variables instead of two,like how they are currently managed. The way itworks now, “you’re a captain of infantry or a ser-geant of engineers,” McConville said.

The new system will collect and measure datafrom Soldiers, such as their individual knowl-edge, skills and attributes. Then, it will gaugetheir cognitive and non-cognitive abilities to get aclear picture of where to put those skills, likecommand or graduate school, he said.

ATAP is enabled by Assignment InteractiveModule version 2, or AIM 2.0, which allows offi-cers to self-identify various personal aspects ofthemselves, such as knowledge, skills, behaviorsand preferences. All active-duty officers are nowbeing matched with assignments on it, withplans to expand it to all Soldiers.

“It’s almost blasphemous to think the Armywould actually consider someone’s preferences,"McConville said, jokingly. “But, if we knowwhere they want to go and what they want to do,

we believe we can get the right person in theright job at the right time and we will have a bet-ter Army that is more committed.

“When our people are treated this way,” headded, regarding his people-first priority, “weknow they perform better, stay longer and theywill make our Army stronger.”

Another big facet of talent management, theIntegrated Personnel and Pay System-Army, orIPPS-A, has been a large total Army focus that isinitially being fielded by the National Guard. Thesystem will eventually streamline all componentsof the Army into a single cohesive personnel andpay system, and help leaders better manage tal-ent and assign jobs to match Army requirements.

People want to be recognized for their talents,the general said, and not be “treated like inter-changeable parts in an industrial-age process.

“After we prototype and test these programswith our officers and make sure we have themright, we will expand them to our enlisted Sol-diers, to our civilians, into our reserve compo-nents,” he said.

People strategyTalent management falls into the new Army

People Strategy, published Tuesday, after beingapproved by McConville and Secretary of theArmy Ryan McCarthy. The strategy addresseshow the Army will take care of people by recog-nizing and managing their unique skills, he said,and is foundational to their readiness.

It focuses efforts on the Army’s people, includ-ing Soldiers, Families, Army civilians, and “Sol-diers for Life” veterans and retirees.

McConville addressed five quality-of-life pri-orities also in the strategy: Quality housing forboth Families and Soldiers in the barracks;world-class health care; quality childcare andyouth services; meaningful employment forspouses; and solving permanent change of duty

station moving issues, he said. Although people are McConville's top priority,

he also discussed the Army’s other priorities ofreadiness, modernization and reform.

Modernization is “fighting the next fight bet-ter,” he said. “It must include building multi-do-main doctrine, organizations and training, deliv-ering the six modernization priorities and imple-menting the 21st century talent management sys-tem.”

During last year’s AUSA annual meeting, theArmy rolled out its six modernization priorities:Long-range precision fires, next generation com-bat vehicles, future vertical lift, the Army net-work, air and missile defense and Soldier lethali-ty.

Now, one year later, McConville stood on thesame stage as his predecessor — Gen. Mark Mil-ley, now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff —and made good on those modernization priori-ties.

In the next two years the Army plans to field anew mobile short-range air defense system, anintegrated visual augmentation system, the nextgeneration squad weapon, precision strike mis-sile, extended-range cannon, and the first hyper-sonic weapon battery, he said.

In addition, the next-generation tactical un-manned aerial surveillance system is slated for2025, he continued, and fielding an optionallymanned fighting vehicle to replace the BradleyInfantry Fighting Vehicle is scheduled for 2026.

“And shortly after that, we’ll begin fieldingour future vertical lift aircraft,” he said. “All partof delivering the six modernization priorities.

“No matter how much technology we devel-op, Soldiers will always remain the centerpiece ofour Army,” he added. “We equip people, wedon’t man equipment, and that philosophy willnot change.”

CSA: People are centerpiece of ArmyBy THOMAS BRADINGArmy News Service

Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. James C. McConville addresses the audience during theAssociation of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition, Oct. 15 in Washington, D.C.

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“No matter how muchtechnology we develop,Soldiers will always remainthe centerpiece of our Army.We equip people, we don’tman equipment, and thatphilosophy will not change.”

Gen. JAMES C. MCCONVILLEArmy Chief of Staff


WASHINGTON — The Army is pumpingmore funds into military housing, while findingways to ease challenges when Soldiers and Fami-lies head to a new duty station.

In front of a standing-room-only crowd, seniorleaders spoke on those efforts as they took ques-tions from the audience and social media on mili-tary family issues during a town hall at the Asso-ciation of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Ex-position.

“The Army is people. It's our most importantweapon system,” said Gen. James McConville,chief of staff of the Army. “That’s what makes usthe world’s greatest Army. So we have to takecare of them.”

This year, the service established five qualityof life priorities: Housing, health care, child care,spouse employment and permanent change-of-station moves. By making them priorities, thegeneral said, Army officials are creating new ini-tiatives for them.

“We believe we owe it to you to provide quali-ty of life that’s commensurate to quality of serv-ice,” he said, referring to ways to keep Soldiers inboots.

HousingSo far, privatized housing companies have

committed $500 million to fix military housing,which the general said is not enough.

Senior leaders have had “candid conversa-tions” with the CEOs of those companies, push-ing them to improve housing conditions.

“We need to do a lot more than that,” Mc-Conville said. “We want to not have Ms, we wantto get some Bs on those numbers to fix the hous-ing.”

He also noted that about $1 billion has beenspent on barracks, with plans to increase thatnumber, too.

The Army has also hired additional housingofficials to ensure contractors quickly address is-sues brought up by families living in militaryhousing.

This fall, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy ex-pects to release a new Tenant Bill of Rights,which is intended to hold privatized housingcompanies more liable by giving oversight au-thority to local military leaders.

The Army has worked with the Air Force andNavy to create the Bill of Rights, but must waitfor Congress to pass the National Defense Au-thorization Act before it can be codified into law,he said.

McCarthy said the housing problems arosefrom a leadership issue over the years that he in-tends to make right.

Earlier this year when problems first surfaced,the secretary said he traveled to installations tomeet with Families during housing inspections.In those visits, he realized the Army essentiallyjust outsourced housing, leading to reduced re-sources and responsibility.

“When I came home and made my assessmentto (the other senior leaders), I pointed the thumbmore so than pointed the finger,” he said. “It’'s aleadership issue.”

Unlike a corporation, the Army is more ac-countable for its people, McConville said.

“We're a military organization, we’re not a pri-vate company,” he said. “The leadership sittinghere, we’re responsible and accountable for all

our Soldiers and Families. That's what makes usdifferent.”

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston saidissues in housing, as well as in the other qualityof life priorities, should first try to be handled atthe ground level.

Junior leaders need to take action when theirSoldiers voice a problem to them, he said. And ifthey don't have a solution, they can go up theirchain of command until they find one.

“You’re going to actually have to figure outwhat’s going on with your folks,” Grinston said.“You know your people and most of the time,somebody knows it. We're going to fix this, what-ever this is.”

Do-it-yourself movesTo alleviate the peak PCS moving season each

summer, McConville said the Army is looking toincentivize “do-it-yourself” moves for Familiesinterested in doing so. If a Family can completeall the required paperwork, perhaps they shouldbe given up to 100 percent of what the Armywould pay a commercial mover, he said.

“You go move if you want to do it. If not, yougo through the system,” he said. “I think we’ll beable to reduce those moves.”

A new talent management system being devel-oped by the Army may also reduce moves, headded, since it may allow Soldiers to stay a fewyears longer in one location.

Efforts aim to improve ‘quality of service’ for Soldiers, FamiliesBy SEAN KIMMONSArmy News Service

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville, and Sgt. Maj.of the Army Michael Grinston participate in a family forum during the Association of theU.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Oct. 15.

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Futures Command forces academia partnershipsARMY NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — As the Army’s youngestcommand, Army Futures Command has al-ready developed strategic partnerships withhundreds of colleges and universities over thepast year.

“We're leveraging the strength of academ-ics and intellectual freedom to position Armymodernization in a way to win the fight be-fore an actual fight,” said Gen. Mike Murray,commander.

Combat development complexIn one of its partnerships with Texas A&M

University, a new $130 million complex brokeground this week to serve as a research hubfor the command, as it looks to acceleratemodernization programs through researchand technology development.

The complex is named the Bush CombatDevelopment Complex in honor of former

President George H.W. Bush.“(Academia) partnerships should be a two-

way road," Murray said during a panel dis-cussion Oct. 16 at the Association of the U.S.Army Annual Meeting and Exposition. “If weinvest our resources into a university, weshould get something back in return.

“By testing emerging technology in an op-erationally relevant environment, and withSoldiers providing feedback, we can evaluateit early to ensure we're getting exactly whatour troops need in the field.”

The center will focus on research programssuch as robotics, assured positioning and nav-igation and timing, and hypersonic, and di-rect energy systems. In addition, it will coor-dinate research on those topics with otheruniversities. By fiscal year 2023, the Armyplans to field a long-range hypersonicweapon , said Robert Strider, deputy directorof Army hypersonic programs.

WASHINGTON — The Depart-ment of Labor recently launched awebsite to help military spousesthat possess an occupational licenseand need to transfer their creden-tials to another state.

Through the Veterans.gov web-site, military spouses can revieweach state’s law concerning specificlicensed occupations, said Kristo-pher Rick, assigned to the DoL’sveterans’ employment and trainingservices.

Spouses can then arm themselveswith information about a state’s li-censure portability laws, Rick saidTuesday during a family forum atthe Association of the U.S. ArmyAnnual Meeting and Exposition.

In 2019, 13 states have imple-mented changes to legislation tosupport military spouses who havecredentials. Through the website,spouses can easily navigate an inter-active map of the country and re-ceive a short synopsis of each legis-lation.

The website also features a “Ca-reerOneStop License Finder,” pro-viding users the ability to access in-formation on a state's occupationallicensure board. Further, spousescan review the necessary require-ments to transition their license intothat state, he added.

“More importantly, (the site) pro-vides a point of contact informa-tion,” Rick said. “Spouses can nowbuild a roadmap on how to engage… when preparing to move to (anew) location.”

The Army will also reimburse upto $500 in relicensing costs, saidKrista Simpson Anderson, ArmyEmergency Relief military spouseambassador. If expenses exceed theallotted reimbursement amount,Soldiers and spouses could receiveup to $2,500 in Army EmergencyRelief support.

Spouse relicensing support is aneeds-based program and not de-signed to reimburse military fami-lies, she said. Regular Army, Na-tional Guard, and Reserve spousescan receive assistance up to 180days after they move to a new dutystation.

The intent of the program is “torelieve distress, promote resiliencyand overall financial readiness ofArmy Families,” Anderson added.

Spouses with occupational licens-es slated to move should review the“License Recognition For MilitarySpouses resource guide,” Rick said.Users can find a downloadable ver-sion of the guide on theVeterans.gov website.

Military One SourceSpouses who are looking to start

a career search, or in the process of

transitioning to a new field, can turnto Military One Source for support.

The Military One Source site(www.militaryonesource.mil) pro-vides a comprehensive suite of ca-reer resources to build, refine andhighlight a military spouse’s uniqueskillset, said Lee Kelley, MilitaryOne Source director of militarycommunity support programs.

For example, spouses have accessto a “certified masters-level careercoach,” available Monday throughFriday 7 from a.m. to 10p.m. EasternTime, and all day Saturday. Spousescan access this resource through thephone or online via live chat.

“It’s important to know that ca-reer assistance, resume help andmock interview sessions are avail-able when spouses are available,”Kelley said.

Starting in November, spouseswill have access to a 90-second ca-reer assessment tool that will pro-vide insight into their careerstrengths, she said. This is just oneexample of how Military OneSource is evolving to meet theemerging needs of military families.

“My message to military spousesat any stage of their career … Iwould recommend either walkinginto their base’s family center orpicking up the phone and callingMilitary One Source,” Kelley said.

“With the thousands of resourcesout there, it is hard to know whereto start,” she added. “Start with us— your (Department of Defense)family of resources."

Spouses also have access to 400-

plus companies and organizationscommitted to recruiting, hiring, pro-moting, and retaining personnelthrough the Department of DefenseMilitary Spouse Employment Part-nership, she added. Thus far, MSEPpartners have hired close to 140,000military spouses since the programlaunched.

“I challenge (spouses) to put theMilitary One Source phone numberin their phone right now — (800)342-9647,” she said. “You may notneed it today, but you will have it

for yourself and the rest of the mili-tary community family.”

Child care providersSpouses looking for a career in

child care services — or looking tomaintain employment while raisingtheir children at home — may wantto consider a family child care pro-fession, officials said.

Family child care providers man-age their own business, all whileproviding quality and affordablechild care to other military families,said Suzanne King, with Army In-stallation Management Command'sChildren and Youth Services familychild care program.

Military family members, retireesand qualified civilians living in on-post housing can apply to be anFCC provider. Home inspections

and background checks are requiredfor anyone living in the house overthe age of 12, she said.

If accepted into the program, CYSwill provide training and support.Providers will enter into an 18-month training program, which in-cludes CPR, first aid, reporting childabuse and other child developmentor special needs training.

“After the training, CYS special-ists will continue to provide supportto the FCCs,” she said. “Providerscould receive access to supplies andequipment to open up their homechild care. They are authorized cov-erage under the Army’s risk man-agement program, and can receivereferrals through the Military ChildCare website (MilitaryChildCare.com).”


New options available for spouse employment, relicensingBy DEVON SUITSArmy News Service

“It’s important toknow that careerassistance, resumehelp and mockinterview sessionsare available whenspouses areavailable.”

LEE KELLEYMilitary One Source

BOSSTake note of Better Opportunities for Single

Soldiers upcoming events and volunteer possi-bilities.

• Halloween tripBOSS takes a trip to Leesville Tree Farm

Massacre Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Sign up for ascary good time. The cost is $5 per person.Space is limited, so register soon at 531-1948.

• Lemon lotTrying to sell your vehicle? Bring it to the

BOSS Lemon Lot. Registration is $5 for 30 days.Cars that are not registered will be towed. Reg-ister at the Home of Heroes Recreation Center.

For more information call 531-1948.

Festivals• Rougarou FestIf Halloween is your favorite holiday you

won’t want to miss the Rougarou Fest, held indowntown Houma Oct. 26-27. Enjoy live enter-tainment, spooky parade, costume contest,pumpkin lighting and more. For more informa-tion visit www.ro

FORGING THE WARRIOR SPIRIT - United States Army...2019/10/18 · FORGING THE WARRIOR SPIRIT THEJRTC...

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