THE MAGAZINE OF THE NEW JERSEY NATIONAL GUARD Vol. 27 No. 2THE MAGAZINE OF THE NEW JERSEY NATIONAL GUARD Vol. 27 No. 2

GUARDLIFEGUARDLIFE

GUARDLIFEVol. 27, No. 1

GUARDLIFE STAFF

EditorCol. John Dwyer

Assistant Editor-ProductionTech. Sgt. Mark C. Olsen

PhotographerSgt. First Class Kryn Westhoven

Writers1st Lt. John PowersSgt. Barbara AllingSgt. Thomas Porter

GUARDLIFE is a product of the NJDMAVAPublic Affairs Office, the 444th MobilePublic Affairs Detachment, the 177thFighter Wing, and the 108th Air RefuelingWing Public Affairs Offices. GUARDLIFEis published under provisions of AR 360-81and AFR 190-7. Opinions expressed inGUARDLIFE are not to be considered theofficial view of this headquarters, the De-partment of the Army or Air Force. Thisis printed via the photo offset process.Letters may be sent to: GUARDLIFE, Pub-lic Affairs Office, P.O. Box 340, Depart-ment of Military and Veterans Affairs,Trenton, New Jersey, 08625-0340. E-mailaddress is: OLSENM@NJDMAVA.STATE.NJ.US

About The CoverLast Minute Changes

Sgt. 1st Class Bill Castro (left)goes over last minutes changeswith 1st Lt. Greg Conklin (right) asCharlie Battery of the 3-112th FieldArtillery prepares to fire at FortDix. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class KrynP. Westhoven, 444th MPAD.

ErrorsWe didn't find any in the last issue. Ifyou did, we're sorry.

G U A R D L I F E2

Be Prepared For That Next Job!By Maj. Gen. Paul J. Glazar

CHANGE IS THEone thing that willalways be constantin an organizationlike the New JerseyNational Guard. Welive in the midst ofone of the most dy-namic economies inthe United States,with job changes,transfers, and re-tirements happeningall the time - with those changeshaving their effect on our Guardunits. We have seen the transition ofcommanders in both of our air wingsrecently, as well as the change ofcommanders in several of our armybattalions and air squadrons. Whenchanges occur, especially with littleadvanced warning, we look for thebest replacement to fill that vacancy.

If you are looking at your futureprogression and are counting on acouple of years before your bossretires or moves on - you know, acouple of years to “complete thatnext course,” or go to “that schoolyou need for promotion,” you mayfind yourself out of the running whenan opportunity pops up.

Balancing the demands of yourjob, family, and military requirementsis harder than ever, but I cannotstress enough the need to be pre-pared to step up to your next job orpromotion - you never know whenyou might be asked. In many casesmilitary school slots and professionaleducation go unfilled for lack of stu-dent inputs. In most cases, the schools

The Adjutant General addressing a group of Clinton ElementarySchool students for the Reading Is Fun Day.

are there - you only need to have theinitiative to apply and attend. Thesame is true of required civilian edu-cation - with all of the educationalbenefits you accrue as a Guard mem-ber, there are few reasons not tofinish that degree or other program.

We are always looking for lead-ers, and in some cases we must passover a person who demonstratesgreat leader qualities because theyare not qualified for that next job.Don’t let that happen to you - beprepared - that call may come muchsooner than you think.

A word of congratulations to ourtwo new air commanders, ColonelsMike Cosby in the 177th FighterWing and Craig Widen in the 108thAir Refueling Wing. Both are veter-ans of Desert Storm and both arepilots with many thousands of hoursin their aircraft. Both face the chal-lenge of maintaining our readinessand meeting the worldwide demandfor aircraft, aircrew, and supportpersonnel. Best of luck in the newpositions.

Mission: HondurasBy Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA

1st Lt. (Doctor) PhillipCampbell, 250th ForwardSupport Battalion, minis-ters to Petty Officer 2ndClass Blaise Horsman of theNaval Mobile ConstructionBattalion 7 (SeaBees) atLempira, Honduras. Photoby Col. John Dwyer, PAO,NJDMAVA.

The temperature is over 100 degrees. Poisonoussnakes and scorpions are not exactly strangers.The talcum-fine dust is everywhere and in every-thing. For the soldiers of the 250th Forward SupportBattalion, every day is an adventure.

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Mission: HondurasBy Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA

1st Lt. (Doctor) PhillipCampbell, 250th ForwardSupport Battalion, minis-ters to Petty Officer 2ndClass Blaise Horsman of theNaval Mobile ConstructionBattalion 7 (SeaBees) atLempira, Honduras. Photoby Col. John Dwyer, PAO,NJDMAVA.

The temperature is over 100 degrees. Poisonoussnakes and scorpions are not exactly strangers.The talcum-fine dust is everywhere and in every-thing. For the soldiers of the 250th Forward SupportBattalion, every day is an adventure.

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Twenty medics from CompanyC, 250th Forward Support Battalion,were part of "Operation New Hori-zons 2001" building roads, schools,clinics and latrines in rural villages inthe mountains of Honduras. The NewJersey medics provide medical carefor U.S. forces in their area and as-sisted with "sick call" for the localcitizens in the remote, impoverishedvillages in the Department (province)of Lempira.

While deployed to Honduras, themen and women of the 250th wereresponsible for the health care of themore than 500 personnel assigned tothe joint task force in Lempira. Thisincluded operating a clinic tent in thebase camp and having medics andambulances on all of the active con-struction sites out in the villages. Aswith any construction project, there is a risk of seriousinjury where backhoes, bulldozers, and heavy equipmentare being used. The medics treated mostly heat injuries,sprains, cuts, and some allergic reactions. In case of aserious medical emergency, there were medivac helicop-ters on 24-hour call to evacuate patients to the U.S. AirForce clinic at Soto Cano Airbase, Honduras.

Capt. (Doctor) Rocco Pascucci (left), Spc. Eric Guzman (center), and Spc. Melanie Metzger(right) from the 250th Forward Support Battalion work on a soldier suffering from heat injuryat the Base Camp Clinic in Gracias, Honduras. Photo by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA.

New Jersey medics also got to practice some "shade-tree medicine" as they accompanied medical teams tooutlying villages where clinics were held to treat the localcitizens. Often more than 700 people would show up tobe treated at these "sick call" sites. Teamed with medicalprofessionals from the South Dakota Army NationalGuard,the 250th medics helped translate, administer medi-cine, and teach basic sanitation techniques.

The medics lived in a tent camp with other guards-men from Puerto Rico, Tennessee, South Carolina, andSouth Dakota, as well as Marine Corps reservists fromMissouri and Navy Seabees from Mississippi. All drink-ing and wash water was drawn and purified from a localstream by the medics. A few amenities were around tomake camp life a bit easier: satellite TV was beamed intothe recreation tent to provide access to American pro-gramming and news; AFEES had a trailer on-site whichsold cold drinks, snacks, and sundries; there were a fewcomputers with internet access with E-mail; and therewere phones where they could call home. The showersand latrines - individual showers and flush toilets (high

HUMVEE transporting a patient from La Campa to the base campin Gracias, Honduras. Photo by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA.

Mission: Honduras

G U A R D L I F E5

tech deployable wonders) - just like home…well almost.Lempira Province is in the mountains of Honduras,

along their continental divide. It is extremely mountain-ous and fairly undeveloped. Many of the villages whereour soldiers were working had only just received electric-ity in the last few years. Running water was still far frombeing standard and horses and ox-carts were the norm fortransportation. Soldiers got to see first-hand how themorning cup of coffee started out, as sacks of fresh beanswere off-loaded from mules and sun-dried on concretepatios along the roads. In the villages, 300-year-oldchurches were more common than modern buildings, andthe daily bread was still baked in wood fired clay ovens.

New Jersey personnel rotated every two weeks

from February through the end of May. The 250thprovided medics in February and March, and the 50thMain Support Battalion in April and May. This is thesecond time that New Jersey has participated in Opera-tion New Horizons in Honduras - the first was in 1999 inthe Cortez and Yoro Provinces. Plans are underway todeploy to Nicaragua for a similar mission in 2002.

Spc. Cheryl Cwiklik, 250th FSB, provided aid and comfort to oneof inhabitants of the village of La Lima, Honduras. Photo by Col.John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA

Hondurans wait in line outside one of the sick call sites run by the 250thFSB. Photo by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA.

The La Campa Elementary School principal accepts a soccerball donated by Maj. Ronald Walls (far right). Every day 250thmedics would play soccer with area children. Also pictured Col.William Bertsch (center) and 1st Lt. Luis Aguinaga (left). Photoby Lt. Col. Eric Anderson, 250th Forward Support Battalion.

Faces of NewHorizons 2001

250th Deploys To Central America

G U A R D L I F E6

Exporting DemocracyBy Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA

f you ask the truckersfrom the 253rd Trans-portation Company whatthey were doing in Hon-

duras you'd hear: "Hauling blockand gravel and building schools."

But I would say that they wereexporting democracy - one truck-load at a time.

The soldiers of the 253rd arepart of the U.S. task force support-ing "Operation New Horizons 2001"in Honduras. They are responsiblefor transporting supplies, materiel,and equipment to a base camp inLempira Department (Province),and, from there, serviced five con-struction sites in remote mountain

villages. Through their efforts, Hon-durans will have five new schools,four new clinics, and four running-water latrines in this impoverishedarea and the United States will havea stronger ally in Central America.

The 253rd is no stranger to de-ployments - they were called up forDesert Storm, have participated injoint operations at Fort Bliss, have

moved supplies from Armydepots across America, andare on their way to the JointReadiness Training Centerat Fort Polk later this year. This operation is a littledifferent. The province'sroads are narrow - so nar-row that even a Humveeoccupies the whole width ofthe road. Steep mountainroads rose morethan 6,000 feet.The roads are

steep, wrought with hair-pin turns, and have noguardrails to save themfrom a plunge of severalhundred feet. Localdrivers pass at every op-portunity - regardless ofline-of-sight.

Then there is theequipment - not exactly

new trucks borrowed from otherNational Guard units, shipped by seato Honduras and driven eight hoursinto the mountains. Spare parts werescarce to nonexistent; the dust androads were a mechanic’s nightmare.The temperature was frequentlymore than hundred degrees through-out the day.

And then there are the loads -mostly construction materials - steel

Rush-hour traffic - Honduran style. Photo by Lt. Col. EricAnderson, 250th Forward Support Battalion.

Spc. Mark Leonard loading cement bags for a construc-tion site. Photo by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, DMAVA.

Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Dicola prepares for another trip from the base camp to one of theconstruction sites. Photo by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA.

I

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rebar, bags of concrete, sand, gravel,concrete blocks, roof trusses, andlumber; almost all of it loaded andunloaded by hand.

It was not hard to tell where theCape May troops were living - alarge sign decorated the entrance totheir GP medium tent and local plantshad been transplanted in front. Theyshare the camp with about 500 othersoldiers, Marines, and the SeaBeeswho were there tobuild schools, clin-ics, latrines, and torepair bridges androads.

The 253rd's daystarted at about 5a.m. when they gotup and queued upfor an open spot at asink to get shaved.Chow was serveduntil 6 a.m., but theconvoys to theworksites departedat 6 a.m., so thetruckers quickly ate the unit rationsand headed to the motor pool to drawtheir trucks for the day. From thattime until the crews from the villagesreturned at 6 p.m., the truckers of the253rd hauled as many loads of block,sand, gravel, or whatever that theycan. A single round-trip to a village14 miles away took about four hoursover primitive roads and steep grades.Since most materials have to be handloaded and unloaded, it adds moretime as well. The soldiers had MREsfor lunch. At the end of the day,trucks were serviced, and the driv-ers return to the base camp for Army

chow and a hot shower. After chow,the next day’s assignments werehanded out and the cycle would startall over again. The Marine Corpsengineers were so appreciative ofthe 253rd's support, that they pre-sented Spc. Stephen Hoppe with acommander’s coin for his work.

The 253rd rotated personnel tosupport Operation New Horizons ev-ery two weeks from January through

April. In January, the 253rd hauledin all of the material to construct thecamp in Lempira fromthe Port of LaCeiba eighthours away. As themission to build schoolswas completed and thecamp was dismantled,truckers from the 50thMain Support Battalionreplaced the 253rdtruckers and helped haulthe containers and equip-ment back to the portfor shipment back to theUnited States.

"A singleround-trip to avillage 14 miles

away takes aboutfour hours overprimitive roads

and steepgrades."

Be it ever so humble...the 253rd's home during their rotationin Honduras. Photo by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA.

Two hours and 14 miles later the supplies are dropped off at theconstruction site. Photo by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA.

One Truckload At A Time

When Sgt. 1st Class JosephDicola, rotation NCOIC, was askedhow he liked the work, he acknowl-edged that it was, "long, hot and hardbut I can see that it makes a differ-ence to the people in the villages."He also noted that, “Building schoolsmakes it real hard for these people todislike Americans…they can see thebenefit from being friends with theU.S.A." Exporting democracy onetruckload at a time works.

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L

The Second Hurdle: RetentionBy Sgt. Barbara Alling, 444th MPAD

et’s face it: most students must often hold apart-time job while attending college.

Extra money can help with tuition, books,as well as room and board. Yet how many

part-time jobs offer free state tuition in exchange forworking one weekend per month and two weeks eachyear? In the New Jersey National Guard, not only do youget paid, but you may also be eligible for up to an $8,000sign-on bonus and the Montgomery G.I. Bill.

Ironically, despite all the various benefits, recruit-ment and retention is still a challenge for the NJNG today.For Lt. Col. Edward Slavin, the new NJARNG Recruit-ment and Retention Manager, the first hurdle in recruit-ment right now is the public perception of the Guard. "Weare a community-based organization, but the majority ofpeople see us as the 'big, bad Army'." The Guard was

there in the towns helping out when Hurricane Floydcaused flooding across the state and was also instrumen-tal in assisting the Kosovo refugees housed at Fort Dix.

Slavin is starting an awareness campaign, using his74 recruiters. He wants to bring a brand new enthusiasmto recruiters, as well as recruits, to help spread the wordabout the NJNG's educational and economical benefits.The target is the young high school student intending to goto college in New Jersey. These include 2- and 4-yearcolleges, vocational-technical schools, cooperative pro-grams, correspondence courses, apprenticeships and on-the-job training, and even flight training.

The second hurdle is retention. Unfortunately, thereis a high turnover for first-year enlistees. Many recruitsdo not complete their obligation or do not reenlist. "Theseyoung people often have false expectations," noted Slavin.Part of this problem can be blamed on misinformationfrom recruiters. The other problem is poor retentionefforts from the units. "If we can get them past the firstyear of basic, AIT (Advanced Individualized Training),and give them a good Annual Training, we would have abetter chance of keeping them."

Slavin understands many young people are lookingfor "instant gratification." He realizes a lot of them sign-up for the benefits. "Ninety-nine percent of it is economicand one percent is patriotic," admits Slavin.

With good training and a positive experience, Slavinhopes those percentages will become more balanced.Consequently, soldiers will view the National Guard withlong-term service in mind while achieving substantialfinancial and educational rewards.

The National Guard got plenty of court time at theSovereign Bank Arena in Trenton when the re-cruiters sponsored the ‘Guard of the Game’ plaqueto a deserving player from the dozens of highschool basketball teams playing in the tourna-ment. Primetime tournament coordinator JeffHewittson, a former Guard member at theLawerenceville Armory with Lt. Col. EdwardSlavin. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kryn P. Westhoven444th MPAD.

Guard Of The Game

Space-Required Travel for UTAs

Members are now authorized to travel on DoD aircraft from their

homes to their drill location. They will be able to make

reservations on aircraft up to 30 days in advance. As with any

travel on DoD aircraft, missions are subject to cancellation at

anytime. This benefit will apply only for travel to and from

UTAs, NOT annual training. See http://www.af.mil/news/

n20010323_0410.shtml for more info.

G U A R D L I F E9

After months of prepara-tion, in 72 hours War-fighter was all over.The soldiers were ex-

hausted, but not from spending threedays in the field. This exercise tookplace on the virtual battlefield.

From February 23 through 25,approximately 450 soldiers from the1-114th and the 2-113th Infantry, the2-102nd Armor, the 3-112th FieldArtillery, the 250th Signal, and the250th Forward Support Battalionsparticipated in the exercise. Eachunit’s Tactical Operations Center(TOC) was lined up in the snowbehind the Training and TrainingTechnologies Battle Lab at Fort Dix.

The Warfighter concept issimple; the 50th Brigade, which nor-mally trains apart, could now traintogether without the costly logisticsof a brigade-size operation. Com-manders and staff officers get to-gether to fight the battle, but thetanks and the majority of the troopscould stay at home.

In the simulation room, the offic-ers and NCOs make and enter thedecisions into a computer. The deci-sions are then executed by virtual-units on a simulated battlefield. Be-cause all the action takes place in-side a computer, the officers andNCOs concentrated more on im-proving strategy, and worrying lesson the physical logistics of the exer-cise.

"Rather than having to deal withtroops out here, getting fuel to tanks,and food to the soldiers; we run itthrough the computer and it tells uswhat we lost," stated Cpl. Tom

Atkinson, 1-114th Assistant Opera-tions Sergeant. "That way, we canconcentrate on working the bugs outof the operations." The challenge isstill there, however. "The real logis-tics, we don’t have to deal with,"observed Master Sgt. Frank Kirby,1-114th Operations Sergeant. "Thegame logistics, we do."

"In a computer simulation, thestaff faces some of the same stressthey would face in a real situation;even though it’s a simulated battle,it’s still a battle," said Maj. JosephSarama, 2-113th Executive Officer.

"Planning for this exercise startedback in September, and some of usspent a week in Kansas (FortLevenworth) pre-paring," noted Maj.Sarama. "This is theculmination of a lotof work. That moti-vates these soldiersbecause they put alot of time into this.”

Before the ex-ercise, thirty seniorleaders from theRoyal Saudi LandForces observed theplanning process.The Saudis werehere to learn: theyplan to hold their ownWarfighter back inSaudi Arabia.

On the morningof February 24, Maj.Sarama stood on thefrozen ground thatserved as the floor ofthe 2-113th's TOC.

Warfighter: Next Best Thing To Being ThereBy Sgt. Thomas Porter, 444th MPAD

He was intensely involved in thebattle, and spoke as if it were reallyhappening. "The exercise is set up inreal time. Last night, we were ableto seize an objective and pass the 2-102nd forward, so they could ac-complish their part of the mission,"explained Maj. Sarama. "Right nowwe’re transitioning to defense. Thisevening, the 2-102nd is going to comeback, the enemy forces will comedown, and we’re going to do a rear-ward passage align, and the situationis just developing."

Behind him in the TOC weresoldiers from Massachusetts and Il-linois. "If we get called up for de-ployment to the field, we’re ready,"

noted Maj. Sarama.

Pfc. John Wells (left) of the 50th Brigade and Pfc. Thomas Hunt(right), from the 3-112 Field Artillery talk on radios during theWarfighter exercise. Photo by Spc. Kevin Collins, 444th MPAD.

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B

The McGuire ProjectBy Capt. Denise Waggoner, PAO, 108th ARW

rick TownshipHigh School stu-dents teamed upwith the 108th

Air Refueling Wing pilots,navigators and techniciansto learn the physics of flight.

On February 20, fif-teen Brick Township HighSchool students, along withtheir physics teacher, tooktheir classroom on locationto the 108th.

First came a tour ofone of the unit’s KC-135EStratotankers, followed byclassroom instruction. The studentslearned how to calculate total weight,ground speed, acceleration, thrust,drag, drift, distance, center of grav-ity, fuel consumption and all the othervariables involved in getting a KC-135E Stratotanker airborne.

When asked about the team’sgoals, 12th-grader Amanda Kissellobserved, "To apply physics in oureveryday lives. Sitting in the class-room and not know how it’s applied,well, it’s hard to visualize. You can’tgrasp the concepts. To actually see

it is another thing."A more down-to-earth re-

sponse came from 12th graderJeff Mercer who stated, "It wasreally cool! I got to sit in thepilot’s seat and see where theboom operator works. I can justimagine if I was up in theair…what it would be like."

After Maj. Pat Kennedy,Maintenance Officer and theprogram facilitator, wrapped upthe lesson, physics student BradMiller, noted, "It lets you appre-ciate the amount of work thatgoes into flying an airplane. Wecan use what we learn in theclassroom and see how it works

in real life." He added,"I liked the hands-onapproach." According to Jo-seph Tomaselli, Ex-ecutive Administratorof Quality EducationNew Jersey, theMcGuire Project com-bines classroom andhands-on learning." P r o b l e m - b a s e dlearning is the abilityto communicate anddemonstrate knowl-edge learned, with an

appreciation of the inter-dependenceand inter-relatedness of science,mathematics and technology."

"Problem-based learning is stu-dents gathering and applying knowl-edge from multiple disciplines intheir quest for solutions," explainedTomaselli. "The teachers aretrained as cognitive coaches help-ing students to develop critical think-ing skills, practice collaborativeskills, conduct data searches, gen-erate solutions, use problem solv-ing skills, formulate hypotheses,perform experiments and determinebest solutions."

Gary Tutzauer, a physics teacher,summed up the program, "I feel thatthe best way to learn the principles ofphysics is to experience them. Byparticipating in this project, studentsare working with members of the108th Air Refueling Wing to solveproblems and learn about the wing'smission."

Maj. Pat Kennedy, Maintenance Officer and the program facilitator describeshow engines work to a group of Brick Township High School students. Photocourtesy of the 108th Public Affairs Office.

Brick Township High School students prepare fortheir presentation at the 108th Air Refueling Wing aspart of the McGuire Project. Photo courtesy of the108th ARW Public Affairs Office.

G U A R D L I F E11

The New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal

After two weeks of accurate and outstanding weatherforecasting for Headquarters State Area Command at AT2001, Fort Drum, N.Y., Sgt. Hernando Coy, United StateProperty and Fiscal Office, was surprised and somewhatembarrassed to find that Chief Warrant Officer 4 HarryMcCurdy, Department of Logistics, had discovered hissecret. Chief McCurdy had found Sgt. Coy's improvisedweather forecasting system on Division Hill, behind build-ing 2314. The system consists of a large gray rocksuspended from a government issue tripod. The followingwritten instructions were attached to the tripod:

The Weather Rock Property of SGT H. CoyOperating Instructions: If it is wet, it's raining; If it is

dry, it's clear; If it is white, it's snowing; If it is hot, it'ssunny; If you can't see it, it's dark out; If it is swinging, it'swindy; And, if it is missing, it's a tornado!

The Weather Rock

YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR A NEW JERSEYDistinguished Service Medal (NJDSM) if you were aVietnam or Persian Gulf War combat veteran.

In order to be eligible for the NJDSM, recipients mustcurrently be a resident of New Jersey and also have beena resident of the state at the time they entered into militaryservice; have been honorably discharged; and, must haveproof of having served in combat while on active dutyduring wartime. Those recipients whose service wasrecognized by the award of the Bronze Star, PurpleHeart, Air Medal or equivalent medal will receive aNJDSM with an oak leaf cluster. The medal can also beawarded posthumously to the veteran's next-of-kin.

The NJDSM was originally issued in 1858 for veter-ans who had distinguished themselves in the New JerseyMilitia. After the Spanish American War, the MexicanBorder Expedition and again after World War I, the Stateof New Jersey minted special medals for returning NewJersey veterans to honor their service. After WWII,Korea, Vietnam and subsequent combat actions no suchmedal was available. Since its re-authorization in 1988 by

Governor Kean, more than4,000 medals have beenawarded to New Jersey com-bat veterans.

Anyone interested in ap-plying for the New JerseyDistinguished Service Medalshould send a written requesttogether with copies of allpertinent information, dis-charge document (e.g. DD214 ), award citation, honor-able discharge, etc. to:

NJDMAVAATTN: CIO-GS-PAP.O. Box 340Trenton, NJ 08625-0340Be sure to include full name, home address and

daytime telephone number.

Sgt. Hernado Coy and the Weather Rock pose out side of building 2314on Division Hill at Fort Drum, N.Y. Photo courtesy of Chief WarrantOfficer 4 Harry McCurdy, DOL.

G U A R D L I F E12

n Jan. 16, six members ofthe 444th Mobile PublicAffairs Detachment(MPAD) departed Phila-

delphia Airport for one of the moreexotic Annual Training events in thisyear’s calendar - Japan.

The ultimate destination wasCamp Kita-Kumamoto in KyushuPrefecture (prefectures are similarto states or provinces) to attend thebilateral exercise Yama Sakura(Mount Cherry Blossom) whichlasted from Jan. 26 through 31.

Yama Sakura, or “YS” is thesecond largest simulation in the Pa-cific Theater, after Cobra Gold inThailand and the single most impor-tant event in the Japanese GroundSelf Defense Force’s training calen-dar. The JGDSF hosts the biannualCommand Post computer exerciseon a rotating basis and has been heldtwice a year since 1980. Twice ayear one of the four regional armies(northern, southern, northeastern, orwestern) assumes responsibility tohouse and feed 4,000 to 5,000 sol-diers and operate the exercise whichis similar in size to a corps levelwarfighter. The strategies vary fromyear to year since YS rotates amongthe major Japanese commands andthe scenarios are geographically andpolitically specific. The basic sce-nario involves the combined forcesof United States Army Japan, 9thTheater Support command and theJGSDF defending the island of Ja-pan from an amphibious attack bythe 25th Infantry Division.

Ohayo (Good Morning) New JerseyStory and photos by 1st Lt. John Powers, 444th MPAD

O

In total, more than 1,300 Ameri-can and 3,000 Japanese troops par-ticipated in the event. Of the U.S.troops, reserve, National Guard andactive components of all fourbranches were involved. The pur-pose of the exercise was to enhancethe inter-operability of the Americanunits and the JGDSF.

During the exercise, the 444thwas able to perform its wartimemission on a real-time basis. Thisincluded writing news releases, han-dling reporters, holding press confer-ences, and publishing a newspaper.Titled US@YS, this publication con-tained six to ten pages of originalstories on the Yama Sakura exerciseand the many cultural events thattook place during the exercise. As aunit the 444th was allowed to partici-pate in press conferences, photo-

graphic coverage and reporting onthe people and events of YS.

Lt. Gen. Mitsuo Sakudo, West-ern Army Commander, JGSDF,stated “I would like to see usstrengthen the mutual trust we havebuilt by face-to-face contact, whilegaining an understanding of the dif-ferences between our national traits,culture, traditions, defense policiesand operational doctrine.”

Yama Sakura was also aboutdeveloping relations between the twocountries. Creating good will andunderstanding was included in theoverall mission’s success. Therewere bilateral social events plannedthroughout the week both on and offpost, and each day the word bilateralwas stressed a thousand times. Thisfact became obvious to the publicaffairs team the first full day at Camp

Preparing a news release during the exercise, left to right: Sgt. 1st Class Yasushi Yamakawa,Staff Sgt. Bob Stephenson, Spc. Joe Donnelly, and Sgt. 1st Class Yoshii Takeda.

G U A R D L I F E13

Kita-Kumamoto when the 444th metthe Japanese public affairs contin-gent. Fortunately the Japanese teamspoke English much better than wespoke Japanese. The New Jerseyteam fumbled its way through the“How do you do, pleased to meetyou” greetings in Japanese that hadbeen learned on the flight over. Therewas laughter and clapping and the444th was told that we spoke excel-lent Japanese, which proved howpolite they really were. That is oneimportant point about traveling toJapan. If a traveler make an effortto learn the basic greetings, learn alittle bit of Japanese geography andhistory the trip becomes more mean-ingful and the Japanese will go thatextra mile to help. This also appliesto the use of hashi (chopsticks). Justremember that you will becomplimented on how skillful youare regardless of your true abilities.

Japanese military customs aresimilar to the United States. Japa-nese enlisted personnel salute theirofficers, but unlike the U.S. military,Japanese enlisted members also ren-der salutes to each other. Since theJGSDF wear insignia very differentfrom the American Army, U.S. sol-diers don’t have to worry about learn-ing to recognize the different insig-nia. Especially since U.S. militarymembers are expected to salute theirJapanese military counterparts of allranks. As it is here, saluting isusually restricted to out-of-doors.However, unlike any of the Ameri-can customs, bowing within the mili-

tary ranks is commonly practiced inaddition to the hand salute to extendcourtesy and respect from subordi-nate to superior. You are not ex-pected to know how to bow properly,as it is practiced throughout Japan,but you should know to “bow whenbowed to.” Lastly, in Japan, whileshaking hands is common betweenJapanese and Americans, it is notunusual to be performing all threegreetings simultaneously trying tohonor the Japanese with a bow andthey reply with a handshake and thenboth groups finish with a salute.

The Japanese public affairs teamwere polite and generous - espe-cially when it came to giving gifts -omiyagi. This means is that if aperson receives a gift, then they are

expected to give one back. Thedownside is that this is not a one-offexchange. Omiyagi is a continualcycle in which both parties give andreceive over and over and over...So, to avoid any uncomfortable epi-sodes, wait until just before leavingand spring a present on them. Theywill surely have one ready and thepressure of a second go-round isrelieved (it worked for the 444th).

After 15 days, the MPADclimbed back on board the commer-cial flight for the 15-hour trip back toPhiladelphia. There was no questionthat not only had the 444th improvedupon its public affairs training, thedetachment had also done its best toimprove relations between the Japa-nese military and the NJARNG.

Seeing the sights in Kunamoto(l-r): Staff Sgt. Bob Stephenson, Sgt. Patrick O’Flaherty, Spc.Kevin Collins, 1st Lt. Yoshiio Katsutaka (JGSDF), 2nd Lt. Masako Iwamoto (JGSDF), Spc.Joe Donnelly, and Master Sgt. Joe McGrath.

444th Deploys To Kunamoto Japan

G U A R D L I F E14

S t o r y a n d p h o t o s b yS t o r y a n d p h o t o s b yT e c h . S g t . M a r k O l s e nT e c h . S g t . M a r k O l s e n

North To AlaskaNorth To Alaska

G U A R D L I F E14

S t o r y a n d p h o t o s b yS t o r y a n d p h o t o s b yT e c h . S g t . M a r k O l s e nT e c h . S g t . M a r k O l s e n

G U A R D L I F E15

It was. Truly. Yes, there was snow - in themountains; yes, it was 30 degrees - but only on one dayand that was at 6 o'clock in the morning and it got up to66 degrees later that same day; and yes the mosquitos didlook like they were wearing fur coats.

So how does the 177th Fighter Wing Civil Engineer-ing Squadron fit in with all this?

From May 12 through 25, forty-eight members of theCE Squadron deployed to Kulis Air National Guard Baseoutside of Anchorage. Following a two-day trip on a C-130, CES began remodeling a communications/controlcenter for the 210th Rescue Squadron - the largest andmost complex job of the deployment; installing a set ofsteps more than 40 feet long and 10 feet wide whichincluded excavating, creating the forms, and pouring thecement; removing the existing wiring and completelyrewiring the Non-Destructive Inspection Shop; installinga drainage system to prevent flooding; and laying aconcrete pad for a pavilion funded by the Kulis Chiefs'council. In addition, nine members from the ServicesFlight worked at Elmendorf Air Force Base (where CESstayed during the deployment).

Deployments play a key role in the development ofCES members’ skills. “By going to Kulis, everyone getsthe chance to adapt to working at a different base whiledoing their jobs,” noted Chief Master Sgt. Herb Mimler,

CES NCOIC. "During these two weeks they will get thesame amount of training they normally would get in twoyears of drill weekends. It also gives them the opportu-nity to see a project from beginning to end, the chance towork together and build team spirit."

Everyone got the chance to do their job; the electri-cians did electrical work, the plumbers plumbed, thecarpenters and utility people remodeled rooms, the ma-sons did concrete work, and the heavy equipment opera-tors got to work with equipment that for those of us whoplayed with Tonka trucks as kids only dreamed about."CE is unique, it is a great place to learn," noted Mimler.

continued on page 16

Everyone pitched in whenthe asphalt was deliveredto cover the drain in frontof the flightline facility. Thenew drain will prevent theannual spring floodingthat was part of life atKulis.

Civil Engineering Squadron members pour the concrete for the stepsbehind the operations building at Kulis Air National Guard Base.

It's May and springtime in Alaska which includes snow, 30 degree weather, andhairy mosquitos. Lovely.

G U A R D L I F E16

Continued from page 15

Learning was a key part of this deployment. Theconcrete steps that were formed in back of operationsare a good example of that process. Of the eight peopleworking at the site, only two were experienced in workingwith concrete. Yet with their leadership the steps areindistinguishable from those done by professionals.

Civil Engineering has a reputation for working hard,in a space of three days the future 210th Rescue Squad-ron communications/control center - a 60 feet long by 22feet wide empty room - turn into a six-room work areawith floor-to-ceiling sheetrock walls. Yet, all is not hardwork, the evenings were spent exploring Anchorage’snightlife, as well as the staggeringly beautiful country-side. The weekend was spent sightseeing and fishing.Portage Glacier (see picture on page 14) and SewardGlacier were visited. In fact, an airman who had justjoined the squadron landed a whopping 140 pound halibut.Bet he'll be telling his grandkids about this deployment.

In the end CE completed all the major tasks it hadbeen assigned. "The 177th CES saved the AlaskanGuard easily $100,000," stated Lt. Col. Andrew Mamrol,commander, 176th Wing Civil Engineering squadron."definetely a win-win situation."

Now about that snow, sub-freezing temperatures,and those hairy mosquitos...bring 'em on.

Staff Sgt. Mark Sparagna (left) and Tech. Sgt. Edwin Reyes (right)prepare a stud wall for the 210th Rescue Squadron communicationsand control room.

Staff Sgt. Steven Romine flattens the ground around the new stormdrain catch basin outside the flight line facility.

Tech. Sgt. Bob Leek (left), Master Sgt.Paul Nieczpiel (center), andSenior Airman Ryan Butcher (right) are observed closely by two chiefmaster sergeants and a first sergeant as they pour a slab for the KulisAir National Guard's Chiefs' Council gazebo.

North To Alaska

G U A R D L I F E17

Senior Airman Julius Simmons assists 6th graders from Stafford Inter-mediate School in planting pitch pine sapplings during the Earth WeekCelebration at Warren Grove Bombing Range April 23 through 27.During the celebration more than 4,500 saplings were planted. Photo byTech. Sgt. Mark Olsen, 177th Fighter Wing Public Affairs.

Earth Week Celebrated

Maj. Gen. Paul J. Glazar (left ), the AdjutantGeneral; and Maj. Gen. Tom Garrett (right),Commander, 42nd Division; pin on Brig. Gen.Kenneth F. Wondrack's (center) stars.

Brig. Gen. Wondrack was promoted toBrigadier General on March 24. Wondrackserves as the Commander of 42nd DivisionTroops in New Jersey. Brig. Gen. Wondrackbegan his career in 1963 as a private in theUnited States Marine Corps where he served incombat operations in Vietnam with the NinthMarine Regiment. Prior to his current assign-ment, Wondrack served as the Chief of MilitarySupport where he served as liaison betweenmilitary and civilian authorities and was respon-sible for overseeing emergency operations forcivil disorders or natural disasters.

Wondrack Promoted to BGPhoto by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA.

Know someone who wants to join the NJNG?Clip this card, have them fill it out and pass it onto your unit commander.

G U A R D L I F E18

he training and influence of the New JerseyArmy National Guard is stretching aroundthe globe.

The latest evidence is the high-level visitof Albanian Army officers who toured the 254th Regi-ment North East Training Center at Sea Girt and theTraining and Training Technologies Battle Lab at FortDix in the beginning of March.

Among the six visiting officers was the AlbanianMinistry of Defense liaison officer, as well as the chief ofstaff, chief of logistics, and operating officer of theAlbanian Army NCO Academy. They were on afact-finding mission, and said they will apply NewJersey’s experience to their own Army.

Speaking through an interpreter, the AlbanianNCO Academy Chief of Staff Col. Lulzim Bllakasaid, “It is known, even in Europe, both Westernand Eastern, that the United States experience isbest regarding NCOs. It is understandable that weare using your experience; we can copy that.”

"With everything I saw here, we are going tolet our other colleagues at our NCO Academyknow what we saw here," said Col. Bllaka. "Theimportance of the information we got here is to notkeep it to ourselves, but to let others know and doour best to apply to the Albanian NCO Academy."

Some of their observations can be put to useimmediately. For example, Capt. Isuf Kasmi andCapt. Perparim Taka teach tactics and fire. Theymay apply their lessons-learned directly to theircourses, noted Col. Bllaka.

Perhaps more important, the NCO model isinfluencing the Albanian Army in a fundamentalway. "The Albanian Army is being restructured,and a representative involved in that restructuringis here," stated Col. Bllaka. "He will tell others toput into the organizational structure the NCO role."

In essence, New Jersey Guard members,through their interaction with Albanian Army sol-diers, are influencing the restructuring of the Armyone of the world’s newest democracies.

Back in 1994, the United States helped Albaniaestablish its NCO Academy. In addition, Albanians havebeen visiting New Jersey for a few years now as part ofthe Partnership for Peace program.

Of course, New Jersey’s partnership with Albania isa two-way street, and representatives from the NewJersey National Guard have been visiting Albania peri-odically. When asked what we can learn from theAlbanian Army, Col. Bllaka smiled and said, "When youcome to Albania next time, you can see."

Continuing Partnership For PeaceBy Sgt. Thomas Porter, 444th MPAD

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The New Jersey National Guard hosted a second Partnership ForPeace delegation this spring. Tech. Sgt. John Duffy of the NewJersey Guard Emergency Operations Center at Fort Dix standswith (left to right) Maj. Nazmi Cahani, field artillery officer, Col.Bashkin Shehi, Director of Civil Protection and Capt. ClirimMema, civil protection logistics stand with Sgt. Maj. DukeKhadan-Sawh, operation sergeant major. In front are Col. ShetihSpahiu of the Albanian Army headquarters staff and interpreterDr. Denisa Tutla. The Albanian officers visited the BurlingtonCounty and New Jersey State Police Emergency OperationsCenters, a demonstration of air-sea rescue at Lakehurst Naval AirEngineering Center and a tour of the New York City emergencycenter as well as a visit to the Statue of Liberty. They even gota taste of American home cooking as Tech. Sgt. Duffy took thegroup to his house for a meal during the week. Photo by SFC KrynP. Westhoven, 444th MPAD.

Albanians Visit EOC

G U A R D L I F E19

Spc. Jason Gilsenan (left) talks with Staff Sgt.Jaime Cosme (right) in the converted classrooms andcafeteria at the National Guard Training and TrainingTechnology Battle Lab at Fort Dix that are now theUnited States Property and Fiscal Office offices.After more than 25 years in Lawrenceville, theUSP&FO moved to the T3BL on March 26. Of the74 USP&FO staffers, 54 made the move to theT3BL, the rest will remain in Lawrenceville to main-tain the warehouse and the data processing center.The move is part of Maj. Gen. Paul J. Glazar’s planto centralize major components of the NJNG. TheUSP&FO is responsible for obtaining and accountingfor the property and finances of the Unites StatesGovernment that is given to the Guard. Photo by Sgt.1st Class Kryn P. Westhoven, 444th MPAD.

USP&FO Moves To Fort Dix

f course we know it’s WOMEN! TwoNew Jersey Army National Guardwomen have been honored with theirpictures being featured in 2001 calen-

dars. Lt. Col. Deborah Allen (top calendar),Headquarters, 42nd DISCOM is in the NewJersey Education Association calendar whosetheme is “Celebrating Women of Accomplish-ment.” Sergeant Veronica Miller (bottomcalendar, photo on right) , Company B,50th Main Support Battalion is on thecover of the Women’s Memorialcalendar which celebrates the100th anniversary of ArmyNursing, the 50th anniversaryof the Korean War and the10th anniversary of DesertStorm. Miller deployed withthe 253rd TransportationCompany, NJARNG, forDesert Storm.

Calendar GirlsBy Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA

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State of New JerseyDepartment of Military and Veterans AffairsPO Box 340Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0340

BULK RATEU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPermit No. 515Burlington, NJ

pc. Mark Leonardhas a soft touchwhen it comes tochildren.

While on deployment toLempira, Honduras he devel-oped a huge fan club as hemade his rounds to the con-struction sites in the remotevillages. Like the aviator whobecame known as the "candybomber" for his drops of candyto the children of Germanyduring the Berlin Airlift, Spc.Leonard became the "candyman" around Gracias. At nightLeonard would collect theunopened and uneaten por-tions of the MREs that hisfriends didn’t want, then headoff to the AAFEES trailer to buy a big bag of candy inpreparation for his trucking missions the following day.

After getting his truck and loading it, Leonard wouldhead out to the first site he was assigned. As he drove hisroute, children would hail him from along the roadside andhe would stop and distribute some of his cache. Happilysmiling, eyes sparkling, they ran back into their mud-and-wattle houses to show off their treasures. The scene wasrepeated many times per day, the supply never quitemeeting the demand, but Leonard says he never saw asingle scuffle over the gifts. "They all seem to share

whatever they get," hesaid. "They can hear thebig diesel engine from along way off, and theyare always waiting as Icome up the road. If Ididn’t have anything left,I would wave and theyjust wave back." Leonard did morethan pass out candy. Ev-ery night he set up a 50-50 raffle next to the chowline which was to benefitthe orphanage in neigh-boring Gracias. He tookin U.S. dollars, Lempira(the local currency) andcoins of all types and di-vided into two piles – one

for the winner, one for the children. The regional ArmyCivil Affairs team planned to convert the proceeds fromthe two-week effort into goods needed by the childrenand present them to the orphanage.

Back home in N.J., Leonard plans to collect children’sclothing and school supplies and ship them back to thechildren he saw along the roadside. "We have so much,and they have nothing at all," noted Leonard. "We throwaway things that these people could desperately use.Every kid in New Jersey should see this place - it wouldmake them thankful for everything they have."

Last Round: Candy ManPhoto and story by Col. John Dwyer, PAO, NJDMAVA

Candy de jour is Swedish Fish. Spc. Mark Leonard and friend in thevillage of La Campa, Honduras.

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