F r i d a y , M a y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 T H E R E D 7 . n E T

Tiny device could save lives on the

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Briefs...............................7

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Green Berets conduct

FRIES training Page 3

7th Group helps bid farewell to MC-130P PaGE 4

Page 2 | THE RED 7 | Friday, May 22, 2015

WASHINGTON (Army News Service) - Getting rapid treat-ment for wounds or injuries suf-fered on the battlefield can mean the difference between life and death.

Army medical researchers recently developed “a device that will revolutionize triage,” said Lt. Col. Robert Carter. In other words, it could lower ca-sualties in the first few minutes dramatically.

Carter, task area manager for Tactical Combat Casualty Care Research at the U.S. Army Insti-tute of Surgical Research, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, spoke during Lab Day at the Pentagon, May 14.

He demonstrated the Com-pensatory Reserve Index, or CRI, device. It’s about the size of a small matchbox with a com-puter display. A wire connects it to a plastic clip that’s placed on an injured Soldier’s finger.

Once it’s attached to the Sol-dier’s finger, it displays his vital signs: body temperature, heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure.

“One of the challenges now with triage is that with multiple casualties on the battlefield, the medic may have a difficult time determining which patients need to be treated first,” Carter said.

He explained that while some-one who is bleeding profusely might obviously need to receive care first, someone else may be suffering from internal injuries caused by a blast that resulted in injuries even more severe. But the extent of those injuries would likely go unnoticed until the vital signs were taken.

With the CRI, the medic can quickly snap the device on to ev-eryone who is down and the vital signs are almost immediately displayed, Carter said.

In addition to the CRI, the medic has a smart tablet that displays multiple vital signs of multiple casualties, all on one screen, he said. So once the medic snaps the CRI on a finger, he doesn’t need to monitor each one. He can see the data from all patients on one screen and that

makes it easier to keep track of things and do the prioritization.

Each CRI transmits its data signal wirelessly to the smart tablet. For purposes of the Lab Day display, a Bluetooth was used for the transmission, but Carter said in real-world opera-tions, a more secure method of transmission would be needed. That determination has not yet been made.

The most important aspect of CRI is the “machine-learn-ing algorithm” embedded in its chip that drives its intelligence, Carter said.

That algorithm extracts the patient’s vital signs using “a material waveform-based pho-toplethysmography,” which is the medical way of saying that it uses a non-invasive, optical method of detecting blood vol-ume changes in the microvascu-lar tissue, he said.

So, for example, each time the heart contracts, blood enters

the finger at a maximum rate and as the heart muscle relaxes, the amount of blood decreases. The algorithm analyzes the wave form it produces over time, meaning a matter of seconds, he said.

If a patient is losing blood, the waveform changes and the algorithm analyzes the rate and type of change taking place. It predicts how long the patient has before he “decompensates” due to loss of blood and reaches a dangerous threshold where death is at risk.

If the CRI indicates very poor vital signs, the medic would then know to provide blood or resus-citative fluids to the patient im-mediately, Carter said, before it’s too late to resuscitate him.

Another appealing factor of the CRI is that it’s inexpensive and rugged, Carter said. During the interview, he inadvertently dropped the CRI and it continued to work.

Currently, CRI is being tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Ad-ministration for certification. Then the Army will determine whether or not to field it, Carter said. Meanwhile, multiple civil-ian trauma care centers and clinics around the country are testing and using the device, as the Army has decided to share its technology.

“Right now, the Israeli De-fense Force is using it and sav-ing lives,” he added, predicting that in the future, CRI “will save a lot of time and a lot of lives” when it gets in the hands of U.S. Army medics.

OTHeR DISPLaYSLab Day featured many other

Army medical displays show-casing combat casualty care advances, including hemorrhage control and blood products, the Army’s Ebola response and

Tiny device could save lives on battlefield

Year No. 5 edition No. 21

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Friday, May 22, 2015 | THE RED 7 | Page 3

DAVID.VERGUN.| Army News Service

Lt. Col. Robert Carter shows the Compensatory Reserve Index, or CRI, that could lower casualties on the battlefield. Carter is the task area manager for Tactical Combat Casualty Care Research at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. He spoke during Lab Day at the Pentagon, May 14. Behind the CRI is the smart tablet (green screen) which can display multiple CRI results.

research efforts, as well as regenerative medi-cine, including burn care, wound healing and skin substitutes.

Sgt. Aniysa Barnes, lab technician, U.S. Army Medical Research Insti-tute of Infectious Disease, at Fort Detrick, Maryland, and her co-worker, Spc. Elizabeth Meza Hernan-dez displayed a disposable Tyvek suit used to protect

Army medical personnel from infectious diseases like Ebola.

Barnes explained that the suit is very comfort-able to wear, especially in the tropics. Both Soldiers work at the lab where they take real samples of blood flown in from the field. She said they break down the DNA into RNA and then measure the amount and type of disease present.

While some of their co-workers have traveled to Africa to work at Ebola treatment units, Barnes said she and Meza Her-nandez remained at Fort Detrick. She said they wear non-disposable rub-ber suits that are not quite as comfortable.

“It’s exciting to know you’re part of the big pic-ture and making a differ-ence,” Barnes said.

See DeVICe Page 3

DeVICe FROM Page 2

By.MAj..TIffANyCOllINS

U.S. Special Operations Command Central

THE.HASHEMITE.KING-DOM. Of. jORDAN. (USA-SOC News Service) — U.S. Green Berets, assigned to Task Force Oryx, conduct-ed Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction System, or FRIES, training at the Prince Hashim Royal Air Base, Jordan, May 10, dur-ing Exercise Eager Lion 2015. This exercise is an annual, multinational exer-cise designed to strength-en military-to -military relationships, promote regional security and im-prove interoperability with partner nations.

The Special Forces Air Operations Field Manual (FM 3-05.210) describes the FRIES method as one employed specifically in situations where the ter-rain restricts an aircraft from landing. The Helicop-ter Sea Combat Squadron 84 (HSC-84), a U.S. Navy element assigned to Nor-folk, Virginia, is dedicated to special operations forc-es support within the De-partment of Defense, and supported today’s training event.

An HH-60H pilot as-signed to the HSC-84 stated, “the objective is to get the team in as fast as possible.” Two small teams

of seven to ten operators slid down a massive rope at lightning speeds. Not only do the operators con-ducting fast rope training participate in extensive in-struction to certify on this method of infiltration, this is also true of the aircrews that fly FRIES activities. He continued by saying, “the teams’ objectives are to gain [fast rope] profi-ciency at getting down the rope, while the crew gets

good practice with holding a steady hover and inter-cepting at the right point.”

Earning its name from the type of rope used during deployments, the fast rope possess inher-ent risks, therefore it re-quires great attention to detail from all personnel involved. Crewmembers of the two HH-60H Rescue Hawks provided all partici-pants with a detailed safety brief prior to the execu-

tion of training. A Green Beret, assigned to Task Force Oryx, describes fast roping “as having no actual connection points; with air assault you wear a Swiss seat or some type of repelling harness you actually clip into a rope; you just grab on and slide down.”

Another Green Beret of the same unit, said “the special forces military occupational specialty requires certification on the FRIES method by all operators.” Although op-erators told us “today’s event was familiarization training for an upcoming deployment,” they will also use this technique as part of the Exercise Eager Lion 2015 scenario.

Credited with the first recorded fast rope infiltra-tion during a conflict, the

British Special Forces em-ployed the FRIES method during the Falklands War. Since that time, several nations adopted this ca-pability as standard oper-ating procedure for their elite forces, including U.S. special operators.

Exercise Eager Lion 2015 is yet another ster-ling example of why this and the vast array of multi-national exercises, accredited to U.S. Central Command, remain not only valid training opportuni-ties, but vital to security in the Middle East and the United States. The skills honed here, cemented by the relationships fostered throughout the years by partner nation’s special operations forces ensure the next generation of in-teroperability among the world’s elite forces.

MAj..TIffANy.COllINS.| U.S. Army

U.S. Special Operators conduct fast rope training as part of Exercise Eager Lion at the Prince Hashim Royal Air Base, May 9. Exercise Eager Lion 2015 is an annual, multina-tional exercise designed to strengthen military-to-military relationships, promote re-gional security and improve interoperability with partner nations.

Green Berets conduct FRIES training during Exercise Eager Lion

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Page 4 | THE RED 7 | Friday, May 22, 2015 Friday, May 22, 2015 | THE RED 7 | Page 5

Argonne

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Midway

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Khe Sanh

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These are the places we remember,

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By.STAff.SGT...KATHERINE.HOlT

1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

The final two MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft in the Air Force landed for the last time in front of more than 400 people during an MC-130P Heritage Flight here, May 15.

Aircrafts 66-0217 and 69-5819 dropped members of the 7th Special Forces Group, 24th Special Operations Wing and joint partners, who per-formed high altitude low opening jumps. Aircraft 66-0217 performed a fly by with two HH-60G Pave Hawk heli-copters from the 41st Rescue Squadron assigned to Moody Air Force Base, Ga., and air-craft 69-5819 performed a fly by with two CV-22 Ospreys assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron.

“As we get ready to retire a venerable war horse…to-day is bittersweet,” said Col. Sean Farrell, 1st Special Op-erations Wing command. “We are truly saying goodbye to a legend. The Shadow’s been a war horse for AFSOC and SO-COM and the nation for over 25 years, and the airframes are even older. It is a legacy of valor that we are honoring today.”

Since Desert Storm, the MC-130P has been involved in many operations: Northern and Southern Watch, Deny Flight in Yugoslavia, Restore Democracy and Uphold De-mocracy in Haiti, Deliberate Force and Joint Endeavor in Bosnia, Assured Response in Liberia, Guardian Retrieval from Zaire, Enduring Free-dom in Afghanistan, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn and Odyssey Dawn.

“As a wing commander whose task is providing com-bat ready forces, I hate to see the Shadow go,” said Farrell. “The capability it brings is nearly irreplaceable. As we say a somewhat bittersweet

goodbye, we’ll never fully replace what the Shadow has done. What the planes, the crews, the maintainers brought to the fight. The leg-acy of valor, persistence and tenacity will carry on in our force for the next generation of helicopter and tilt-rotor refueling.”

Built with 1960s technol-ogy, the MC-130P began its special operations career in the mid-1980s and went on to conduct critical air refueling missions in the late 1980s dur-ing Operation Just Cause in Panama and the early 1990s

during Operation Desert Storm.

From the aircrew who execute the mission to the maintainers who enable it, the old airframe comes with a long history that inspires and motivates those who contrib-ute to its mission today.

“The Combat Shadow’s accomplishments are legend-ary, and I am sad to see them go,” said Senior Master Sgt. Rebecca Shelley, 1st Special Operations Aircraft Main-tenance Squadron AC-130J superintendent. “Seventeen years of taking care of them

have defined who I am today as an Airman as much as tak-ing care of my kids defines me as a mother. We would keep them flying for another 20 years if you let us. It has been an honor serving with the MC-130P for half of its life and nearly all of its special operations life.”

Since the early 1990s, the Air Force Special Operations Command looked to replace the aging aircraft with cut-ting edge technology, but the Combat Shadow managed to prove its worth within the

special operations commu-nity time and again.

“This is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of the thousands of maintainers who put their blood, sweat and tears in to keeping these planes airworthy and safe,” said Farrell. “We talk about what the shadow brought to the fight, those guys kept go-ing until the very end.”

After the heritage flight, an informal reception was held for the members of Det. 1, their families and past Combat Shadow Airmen.

“Thank you to the men and women of Det 1 and at-tached flyers,” said Lt. Col. Sam Kwan, 1st SOG Det. 1 commander, “It has been the privilege of my life to com-mand this unit. It is bitter-sweet, but there is no better way to go out.”

Additionally, Chief Master Sgt. Matt Caruso, Air Force Special Operations Com-mand command chief, gave remarks regarding his time as a Combat Shadow flight engineer.

“We were there regard-less of condition. Call us, we’ll go no problem,” he said. “We never complained; leader-ship wouldn’t have it. We are simply strong and tough Air Commandos. The spirit lives on with each of you. Be proud of what you have done and how you have done it.”

Aircrafts 66-0217 and 69-5819 were built in 1969 and received their MC-130 P des-ignation in 1996. They are the last two MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft in the Air Force to be retired. On June 1, 217 and 819 will take their last flight to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.

7th Group helps bid farewell to MC-130P

AIRMAN.1ST.ClASS.RyAN.CONROy.| USAF

An aircrew member flies an American flag out of the top of an MC-130P Combat Shadow, May 15, at Hurlburt Field.

AIRMAN.1ST.ClASS.ANDREA.POSEy.| USAF

Capt. Tim Nettles, 1st Special Operations Group Detach-ment 1 pilot, listens to instructions from the MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft during a heritage flight.

5SENIOR.AIRMAN.jEff.PARKINSON.| USAF

Members of the 7th Special Forces Group perform a High Altitude Low Opening jump from an MC-130P Combat Shadow over Hurlburt Field, May 15. The final two MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft in the Air Force landed for the last time at Hurlburt Field, in front of more than 400 people and will take their last flight to the boneyard at Da-vis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, June 1.

Page 6 | THE RED 7 | Friday, May 22, 2015 Friday, May 22, 2015 | THE RED 7 | Page 7

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Military appreciation lunch

On-Air Radio Person-alities will help Miller’s Ale House serve up free lunch for the military in honor of Military Appreciation Month. The free lunch will be from 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Thurs-day, May 21 at Liza Jackson Parkway, Highway 98, Fort Walton Beach (in west pa-vilion nearest to the boat launch). Lee Automotive and Eglin Federal Credit Union will join the event to hand-out items to attend-ees and giveaway cash and prizes. All past and present military service members are welcome to enjoy free lunch of burgers, wings, fries and Pepsi products while it lasts. Last year, over 600 were served.

‘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 regis-ter 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.

Family Beach campout, Movie Eglin Outdoor Recre-

ation invites all families out

for a Family Beach Cam-pout & Movie Night under the stars at the Eglin Beach Park on Okaloosa Island, at 5 p.m. every fourth Saturday-Sunday of the month, April-September. Enjoy the park’s pristine white beach right on the Gulf of Mexico. Activities are planned for all ages, and a family movie will be shown on the big outdoor screen after sunset. Restrooms and showers are available at the Beach Park. Bring your beach chairs, sunscreen, and blankets, and get ready to have a blast at the beach! Cost for families providing their own camping equip-ment is $15. For families who need a camping equip-ment package provided to them, cost is $50 for a 4-per-son tent or $60 for a 5-person tent. Packages also include sleeping bags, a cooler, and lantern. Camping packages can be picked up one hour prior to sunset at the Beach Park. A community grill is available until sundown for campers who bring their own food or snacks to prepare for the evening. Outdoor Rec will bring the popcorn and s’mores! Pre-registration is required prior to the event

date. For information, con-tact Eglin Outdoor Recre-ation at 882-5058.

Fishing Clinic 101Eglin Outdoor Recreation

presents a Fishing Clinic 101, where a professional in-structor will teach the basic techniques of fishing, includ-ing baiting, casting, reeling, and fish identification. Ba-sic shore fishing of the bay will be taught, all in a fish-ing environment. Cost is $25 for ages 11 and up. Children ages 6-10 may participate with parental supervision. A free shoreline fishing license is required to participate. Price includes all equipment and bait needed to complete the class. Dates and times are: 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. May 16; 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. June 6 and 20.

Classes are subject to re-scheduling due to weather. To reserve a date and time, call Outdoor Recreation at 882-5058.

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Course presents Get Golf Ready—an introductory golf program for ages 14 through adult. Whether you’re a complete begin-ner, or just haven’t played in some time, you’ll be right into the swing of things af-ter just five lessons! Golf Ready is a nationwide ini-tiative by the USGA, PGA, PGA Tour, and LPGA to en-gage golfers and is taught by Eglin’s PGA Profes-sional. The clinic consists of four lessons and one day of “on course” instruction. Cost is $99 per person. Les-sons are from Tuesday-Fri-day 5-6:30 p.m. & Saturday 1-2:30 p.m. May 12-16 and June 23-27. Registration opens one month prior to each clinic’s start date. For information or to regis-ter, contact the Eglin Golf Course at 850-882-2949.

Free vessel safety examinations

Free vessel safety exami-nations will be provided to the public from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. May 23 at Coast Guard Station Destin on Highway 98 west of the Brooks Bridge.

This is the conclusion of Na-tional Safe Boating Week for 2015.

Bring your boat, either by water or trailer, proper registration and safety equipment.

Flotilla vessel examiners will examine your vessel and upon successful completion provide you a 2015 Safety Sticker.

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To.submit.an.item.for.the.briefs,.e-mail.us.at.news@eglindispatch.com..Deadline.for.friday’s.edition.is.noon.Monday..

Both the Senate and House armed services com-mittees have rejected two TRICARE reform plans, one from the Obama admin-istration to raise fees and consolidate the triple-op-tion health benefit, and a second from the Military Compensation and Re-tirement Modernization Commission to replace TRICARE entirely with a menu of civilian health in-surance options.

Both ideas went too far to win support in Congress this year. Indeed only the Senate panel is willing to back even another round of pharmacy co-pay increases for brand name drugs filled off base.

The armed services committees are divided too over the administration’s call to continue to cap an-nual military pay raises and to dampen Basic Al-lowance for Housing rate increases until stateside members living off base are paying five percent of rental costs and utilities

out of pock-et. Again, only sena-tors appear willing to accept the notion that personnel costs must be slowed.

Commit-tee differ-

ences are likely to survive passage of separate ver-sions of the fiscal 2016 defense authorization bill, leaving it for House-Sen-ate conferees to negotiate compromises before final passage.

The House commit-tee reported out its bill, HR 1735, the first week of May. The Senate commit-tee planned to release full details on its bill after com-pleting closed-door mark-up sessions by midmonth. On May 12, however, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of military per-sonnel subcommittee, and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), its ranking Democrat,

presented sketched out key personnel initiatives endorsed so far by their panel.

“I want to state up front that sequestration has caused us to make some difficult choices, Draconian choices,” Graham said. “And until we can replace sequestration [as set by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA)] with more ra-tional cuts, these choices are only going to get worse over time.”

The House committee shaped its personnel pack-age assuming $38.3 billion will be restored to the fiscal 2016 defense budget with-out having to repeal the BCA, just by adding those extra dollars to Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), which as wartime spending is not subject to BCA caps.

President Obama’s budget also shows a $38.3 billion restoral in defense spending but on the as-sumption BCA caps on domestic spending are lifted too, which the Repub-lican-controlled Congress refuses to consider. So Obama vows to veto the House defense bill if it clears Congress.

The Senate committee

has shaped its defense bill assuming BCA caps will remain. Until the man-dated cuts are replaced “with something that will not do damage to the abil-ity of the nation to defend herself,” Graham said, his subcommittee has to steps to curb personnel costs. Therefore his subcommit-tee proposes:

ANOTHER PAY RAISE CAP of 1.3 percent next January, the figure re-quested by the administra-tion. The House committee endorses a 2.3 percent basic pay increase to keep pace with private sector wage growth.

DAMPENING HOUS-ING ALLOWANCES with another one percent trim to Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) increases planned for January, thus sustaining the administra-tion’s commitment to slow BAH growth gradually until rates cover only 95 percent of members’ rent and utility costs.

RX CO-PAY INCREAS-ES also are endorsed in the Senate subcommittee’s version of the defense bill, though senators join House colleagues in rejecting the administration’s plan to eliminate TRICARE Prime

and Extra and consolidate options into a single fee-for-service program. That plan also called for sharp fee increases for working-age retirees and a first-ev-er enrollment fee for new Medicare-eligible retirees using TRICARE for Life.

Graham didn’t im-mediately reveal the size of pharmacy co-pay in-creases, but if it reflects the administration’s plan, beneficiaries would see an $8 increase, from $20 to $28, for brand name drugs at TRICARE retail outlets, and a $12 hike, from $16 to $28, to fill brand drugs through mail order. Pre-scriptions filled on base would stay cost free to beneficiaries.

Military dependents and retirees unable to get prescriptions filled at base pharmacies might soon be better off using Wal-Mart pharmacies rather than TRICARE outlets, some military associations plan to argue. Graham said higher co-pays are needed to help the military control pharmacy costs.

LIMITED URGENT CARE VISITS would be a positive initiative for TRICARE users in the Senate bill. It would allow TRICARE Prime enrollees to make four urgent care visits a year without pre-authorization, a move that could “dramatically im-prove” quality and timeli-ness of care, Graham said.

The Senate subcommit-tee language also would authorize TRICARE to conduct a pilot of VALUE-BASED HEALTH CARE provider reimbursements. The idea is to replace the fee-for-service model of paying network doctors and hospitals based on patient visits and tests or-dered. Instead, value base reimbursements are set by tracking health outcomes,

curbing the tendency to run more tests and do more procedures that pa-tients don’t want.

To succeed, a value base pilot would have TRICARE more closely tracking value care measures including numbers of complications, infections and readmis-sions for care, with finan-cial penalties if such rates are high.

Unclear yet is whether the Senate bill would take a bite out of the $1.4 billion annual appropriation for the Defense Commissary Agency. The House bill rejected that course as well as the compensation com-mission’s recommendation to consolidate back store commissary and exchange operations.

As expected, the Senate committee will join House colleagues in endorsing a more “modern” retirement package for future genera-tions of service members, and in allowing current force members to opt in if they find the new plan’s details attractive. The House committee largely embraces the retirement plan designed by the pay modernization commis-sion, with its 20 percent cut to defined benefits payable after 20 or more years of service in return for a portable 401(k)-like Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with government matching of members’ contributions up to 5 percent of basic pay and full vesting in TSP ac-counts after only two years.

Critics hope senators’ version of retirement re-form, when full details are known, will surpass House-plan enticements for serv-ing longer careers.

Tom.Philpott.is.a.syndicated.columnist..you.may.write.to.him.at.Military.Update,.P.O..Box.231111,.Centreville,.VA.20120-1111;.or.at.milupdate@aol.com..

Big TRICaRE ‘reforms’ rejected; caps on pay, BaH raises eyed

Tom Philpott

RED 7 BRiEfs

from.staff.reports

The Armament Museum will host the 2015 Roll Call Memorial Service on May 22, beginning at 9 a.m. This service will honor all local service members who perished while serving in the United States Armed Forces in conflicts from WWII to present day.

Many speakers and dignitaries will be

participating in the event. Opening remarks will be delivered by Dr. John Wilcox, Direc-tor, Air Force Research Laboratory Muni-tions Directorate. The two guest speakers include Chief Master Sgt. Brook McLean, USAF retired, and Command Sgt. Major Ted Arthurs, U.S. Army retired.

The event is open to the public and all are invited to attend.

Armament Museum to host Roll Call Memorial Service

Page 8 | THE RED 7 | Friday, May 22, 2015

MeMorial Day, May 25

©2015 USAA. 216998-0515

To those who were vigilant so we could rest,

Who gave everything that we might thrive,

Who are silent that we may breathe free,

We honor you.

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