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The EagleU.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/U.S. Army Forces Strategic Command Volume 15, Number 1, January 2008

InsideThe

EagleWinter Safety ,pages 4-5

50 years ago... Army launches

into space race with Explorer I SMDC/ARSTRATHistorical Office

Courtesy Photo

The architects of Explorer I celebrate during a 2 a.m. press conferenceon Feb. 1, 1958, following the successful launch of the satellite. From leftto right are Dr. William H. Pickering of the Jet Propulsion Lab, Dr. JamesVan Allen of the State University of Iowa, and Dr. Wernher von Braun.

O n J an . 31 Hunts vi lle/ Madison Coun ty , Ala. ,will host a gala grand

opening of the Da vidson Centerfor Space Exploration at th eU.S. Space and Rocket Centerand ce lebra te the 50 thanniversary of the launch of America’s first satellite,Explorer I.

The cen te r i s na med a fte r Dr.Julian Davidson and his wifeDorothy, who ha ve devoted

the i r ca reers to spaceexploration techn ology and arededicating this center to themen a nd women who buil t therockets that put Americans inspace. Dr. Davidson was anSMDC/ ARSTRAT emp loyee from1960 to 1976.

Sta r t ing a t 4 :45 p .m. and en d-ing a round 10 p .m, . a t tendeeswill hea r from Gov. Bob Riley,Walter Cronkite, astronautsBuzz Aldrin and Scott Carpen teran d oth er invited VIPs.Cronkite will receive aLifetime Achievement Awardfor J ourn alism for his coverageof the space program. All of thisis to celebrate the launching of Explorer I .

I t was on Ja n . 31 , 1958 , tha tthe U.S. Army once again madehistory. At 10:48 p.m. Ea sternStanda rd Time, the Army

launched a J upi te r-C rocketfrom Cape Canaveral , Fla. Thisin i tself wasn ’t rem ark able, therocket ha d already flown a tes tflight, but this flight wasdifferent . This put the UnitedSta tes in th e space ra ce with

the launch of Satell i te 1958Alpha, m ore common ly knownas Explorer I .

Three months previous, onOct. 4, 195 7, th e Soviet Unionhad put the f irst art if icial earthsat el li te , Sputn ik I , into orbit .One m onth later, on Nov. 3, theSoviets sent another satel l i teinto orbit , this one with apassen ger, a dog nam ed Laika .

The American Vanguardprogram, h owever, was plagued

with difficu lties. The ra ce tospace had begun wi th a Ju ly1 9 5 5 a n n o u n c e m e n t b yPresident Eisen hower ’s PressSecre ta ry James Hager ty.

Speaking from the WhiteHouse , Hager ty announ ced tha tthe Uni ted S ta tes would launch“sm all Ear th-circl ing sat el li tes”as part of the Americanpart icipation in theInternational Geophysical Year(IGY). 1 In keeping with thePresiden t’s “Open Skies ” policy,the Naval Research Laboratoryheaded the pro jec t. 2 Basedup on a Navy soun ding rocket ,the Vanguard requi red

See Explorer I on page 9

COLORADO SPRINGS, Co lo . — Apr il 27,1944 , was a n ex t remely tense a nd h ighlystressful t ime for many Soldiers. Ordershad come through tha t an exerc i se ,nam ed Opera t ion Tiger, was to tak e p laceto prepare for a counter offensive thatwould later be widely know as D-Da y.

The morning of April 28, Operation Tigerwas underway. Everything was going asschedu led un t i l German E-boa ts on pa t ro lspotted t he convoy of eight ta nk lan dingships (LSTs) carrying vehicles and combatengineers . The Germans a t tacked theunsuspec t ing t ranspor t s resu l t ing in morethan 600 casua l t ies . Many serv icemendrowned in the cold sea waters. Soldiersnot acc l ima ted be ing a t sea pan icked an dput on their l i febelts incorrectly. In somecases th e pan icked Sold ie rs jum ped in tothe water a nd the weight o f the packsfl ipped them onto the i r backs , pu sh ingthe i r heads underwater and drowningthem. Operation Tiger would bring about

Army teams up with Olympic Training Center to save livesBy Michael Kahl, Colorado Springs

A member of the 1st Space Battalion uses thepants from his Army Combat Uniform to stayafloat in the water.

Photo by Michael Kahl

the rea l iza t ion th a t wate r su rv iva lt ra in ing was of ext reme impor tan ce in thefield. The relevance to learn such trainingwas now more impor tan t th an ever.

The need for this training st i l l proves tobe vital for Soldiers during the presentwartime. Although the cl imate of Iraq ismos t ly deser t , there a re por t ions of thecountry that can incur heavy flooding from

the Tigr is an d Eu phra tes Rivers , an d s incethe s ta r t o f the war, a nu mber of Amer icanSold iers h ave drowned in th e cana ls tha trun through Baghdad .

According to Capt. Erich Atkins , the 1s tSpa ce Batta l ion S-4, “We lost th reeSoldiers to d rowning when I was inBaghdad with the 3rd Armored Cava l ryRegiment , and i t was because theycouldn’t get th eir equipm ent off in t ime.”

These tragedies made Atkins realize theimportance of water survival training forSoldiers, especially the ones in hisbat tal ion. As luck would ha ve it , Atkinsran into an old fr iend from h igh s chool,J an ine DiSa lva tore , who jus t hap pened to See Survival on page 5

be the chief of aquatics at the OlympicTraining Center here. After somereminiscing about old t imes, DeSalvatoreand Atk ins cam e up wi th the idea of theba t ta l ion conduct ing water su rv iva ltraining at the Olympic Training Center.

HHC 53rdSignal Bn.Dining Out,page 7

History:Arch rival’sunexpectedsuccess,page 9



The Eagle ... is an authorized unofficial newspaper published for military and civilian members of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/U.S. Army Forces Strategic Command published under the authority of AR 360-1. The editorial style applies the industry standard Associated PressStylebook. Contents of The Eagle are not necessarily official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, Departmentof the Army, or SMDC/ARSTRAT. This monthly newspaper uses offset reproduction and has a circulation of 2,250. Reader input is solicited andwelcomed; however, no payment will be made for such contributions. For more information about SMDC/ARSTRAT or to view The Eagle on-line, visitour Web site at www.smdc.army.mil.

SMDC/ARSTRAT, ATTN: Editor, The Eagle,P.O. Box 1500, Huntsville, AL 35807-3801

Phone (256) 955-3887 (DSN 645) FAX: 645-1214e-mail: [email protected]

CG DIRECTWant to communicatedirectly with the CG?Call (866) 243-4732

Publisher......................................Lt. Gen. Kevin T. CampbellDirector, Public Affairs................................William M. CongoEditor.........................................................Diane SchumacherAssistant Editor....................................................Dottie White

The Command Corner

2 The Eagle January 2008

Lt. Gen. Kevin T. CampbellCommanding General CSM Ralph C. BorjaCommand Sergeant Major

Last year, SMDC/ ASRSTRAT celebrat ed 50 years of service tothe na tion. This mon th we start the next 50. Will ouraccompl ishm ents in the next 50 years be as dram at ic and

meteoric as th e first 50 years? I t will depend entirely on thepeople within th e comma nd. With th e New Year comes a n ewbeginning and a renewal of our commitment to the ideas an d theva lues tha t form who we a re as ind ividua ls and who we a re asc it izens . Tha t comm itment began for man y wi th an oa th .

Those who are in the military or work for th e governm ent t ook an oa th of office. We comm itted our selves to defend th e ideas a ndthe values enum erated by the foun ding fath ers of our na tion. Theoath we take as officers, as enlisted members of the ArmedForces and as civil ians entering federal service are remarkablys i m i l a r.

That oath states that we will defend the Consti tut ion of theUnited States against al l enemies, foreign and domestic, and thatwe will bear true fai th and allegiance to the same. I t is an oaththat inextricably l inks the mili tary and the civil ian components of the military. I t is an oath th at sh ould not be taken l ightly an dtha t should be executed in an appropr ia te ceremony with th edignity and respect for the solemn ity i t evokes. I t is an oath to dothe very best we can, to “bear true fai th and allegiance.”

I believe that means doing the r ight thing for the r ight reason,even at great cost or at great per i l. I t is esp ecially tru e while ourna t ion i s a t war wi th a de te rmined enem y dur ing an e ra of persistent conflict .

The Arm y has m ore than 147,00 0 Soldiers deployed in sup port of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Opera tion Endu ring Freedom. ThoseSoldiers inclu de SMDC/ ARSTRAT Soldiers – warfight erssu pporting warfighters! They deserve our best efforts .

Over th e coming year, I would l ike u s to focus our efforts in fourareas : read iness , ensu r ing our tac t ica l un i t s a re ready to f igh t ,shaping our organization for the future, and taking care of ourpeople.

First , readiness continues to be a priori ty for the command.Our space and missi le defense forces are national strategicas sets. Their readiness directly contribut es to our na tion’ssecur i ty a t home an d abroad . I am s a t i s fied tha t we a re tak ingthe r igh t app roach to main ta in ing read iness , bu t th i s i s an a reathat we can never miss the mark. I expect continued dil igence inth i s a rea .

Second, our tactical un its mu st be ready to fight – tonight. Thewarfighters we deploy in s up port of OIF an d OEF m us t be ta cticallyan d techn ically proficient . Our Soldiers provide the comb ata ntcomman ders enh anced capabi li t ies to execute combat opera t ions .I expect Soldier skil ls to be cu rrent an d hon ed to a ra zors edge.However, whether our Soldiers are in tactical units or assigned tostaff elements, each Soldier must be trained and ready to deploy.

Thi rd , we must s hape ou r organiza t ion for the fu tu re . We mu stfocus our developmental energies in our core competency areas of space a nd miss i le defense . The need for advanced s pace an dmiss i le defense sys tems r emains . I t is our job to ensu re tha t th eArmy and our nation have the r ight tools to win in the 21 st

century.Finally, how we perform will depend on th e people who are t he

bedrock of an y su ccess we enjoy. We mu st take car e of ourSoldiers, civilians a nd contr actors. I am comm itted to providingt rus ted leadersh ip , gu idance to d i scern the impor tan t from th eurgent, and fighting for the resources to accomplish the mission.

See Focus on page 3

T he first da y of the calenda r year is one of the world’s oldestholidays. The an cient Babylonian s celebrat ed the conceptof the “New Year” more tha n 4,00 0 years a go. They also are

credited with start ing the annual tradit ion of making a NewYear ’s resolution. A comm on resolution du ring the BabylonianNew Year wou ld be to return someth ing borrowed from a fr ienddu ring the previous year. Today, our resolutions ten d to befocused more upon improving ourselves through the cessation of

bad habi t s , o r th rou gh the s t rengthening of our good h abi t s .During the past year, I had the pleasure of visi t ing with many of the Soldiers as signed to our global comm an d. Everywhere Itraveled, from the coral sands of Kwajalein Atoll to the frigidtu ndr a of Fort Greely, Alaska , I could not help bu t note th ecommitment to d u ty an d th e ou ts tan ding profess iona l i sm of a llthe personne l ass igned to our comma nd. I use the phra se “ourcomm an d,” becau se tha t’s just wha t it is ; an organ ization of profess iona ls str iving for excellence on a d aily bas is. SMDC/ ARSTRAT is a group of outs tan ding men an d women who arefocused u pon provid ing space force enha ncements and miss i ledefense ca pabil it ies vital to th e su ccess of the Warfighter incomba t an d to the overall defense of our great n ation.

It’s easy to look back u pon the outs tan ding accomplish men ts of the m en a nd wom en of SMDC/ ARSTRAT and to be jus t ifiablyproud . I t might also be jus t as eas y to look back a t theiraccompl ishm ents an d become complacent . With th i s in mind , Iwould like to u rge each of you to a dd t he following to you r list of New Year ’s resolutions.

COMMITMENT- Both Lt. Gen. Campbell and I are committedto th e wellbeing of the pers onnel a ssigned t o SMDC/ ARSTRAT, aswell as th at of their families. We will do everything in our p owerto provide each of you with t he tools necess ary to carry out yourass igned m iss ion , and with a s t rong suppor t s t ru c ture for yourloved ones. In return , I as k tha t each of you res olve to mainta inyour current outstanding levels of performance, and to commit toan even higher level of operational success in the coming year.

GROWTH- Professiona l and person al growth is vital to theoverall wellbeing of every Soldier a nd to their Fa mily memb ers aswell. Professiona l m ilitary as well as civilian ed u cat ion helpseach of us grow as Sold iers a nd a s cont r ibu t ing members of society. I ur ge each of you to res olve to grow both pr ofess ionallyand persona l ly dur ing 2008. S ta r t and/ or complete theapp ropriate level of professional m ili tary educa tion. Take ac iv il ian course tha t expands your mind a nd increases yourabil i t ies.

LEADERSHIP- I expect you to continu e to lead by exam ple.Dur ing the “New Year,” I also as k th at ea ch of you resolve to u seyour leadersh ip posit ions to help th e other mem bers of SMDC/ ARSTRAT to ach ieve growth a nd increa sed comm itment. Provideyour t roops wi th the t ime an d encouragement n ecessary tocomplete their educa tiona l goals. Recognize their individu al aswell as group a chievemen ts. Help our Soldiers feel valued byshowing your commitment to them as well as to the mission.

2007 was an excellent year. Each of you played a role in th esu ccesses we enjoyed, a nd I believe each of you will play a vitalrole to our continu ed su ccess du ring 2008. Let’s al l resolve tomake 2008 an outs tanding year !

S ECURE THE H IGH G ROUND !



January 2008 The Eagle 3

What We Think

The Eagle asks:Do you make New Year resolutions? If so, what are they? If not, why not?

Focuscontinued from page 2

I charge leaders and supervisorswi th in the command to se t measurab lean d a chievable objectives for th eirsubordinates, to provide meaningful

coun seling, and t o reward those who gobeyond what is expected.

It’s ha rd to predict what th e next 50years will bring, so let’s focus on th ecoming year instead: readiness, tacticalproficiency, resh aping for th e fut ure, a nd

taking care of people. Our s ucces s willdepend on a renewal of our commitmenttha t began with an oa th . How we car ryout tha t oa th def ines who we a re a sindividuals and who we are as ci t izens.

S ECURE THE H IGH G ROUND !

A note from the Editor Attr ibution wasinadvertently omitted:

Lisa Vann, chair-person for th e Soldierdedication, led DoraeCombs and Maj.Michael Belton increa t ing the emot iona lsl ide sh ow which wasdedicated to theSoldiers serving in Iraqand Afghanis tan tha t

By Diane Schumacher was shown du r ing theSMDC/ ARSTRAT holi-day social on Dec. 7

Vann also coordinatedthe efforts in gatheringthe photos of SMDC/ ARSTRAT employeeFami ly members andfriends which wereincorporated into thes l ide sh ow which m adeit al l the more personalto audience viewers.

Yes, I made a resolution tostart exercising and get inshape even and althoughround is a shape, I’d like toget into better condition.Am I going to keep it? I’mtrying, I’m watching my dietbut I so need to exericse. Ican’t afford a whole lot of new clothes so I’m workingat exercising!

John UppInformation ManagementSpecialist, CIO/G-6Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Yes, I’ve made a couple of

resolutions. One is to loseweight and the other is to doa better job at my workplace. I always want to dobetter at the things I do.

Michael Miller CustodianPhoenix ServicesRedstone Arsenal, Ala.

Brenda RainsBusiness AnalystTechnical Center Redstone Arsenal, Ala

I don’t make resolutionsbecause they areridiculous!

Karen M. PriceComputer Operator CAMOPhoenix ServicesRedstone Arsenal, Ala.

I do make new year resolu-tions as I view the new year as a time for renewal. For example, one can focus onrenewal of relationshipswith friends, family andmost importantly God. Also,given that we’re usuallycelebrating the last day of Kwanzaa during the first dayof the new year, I lookforward to creating resolu-tions that align themselveswith the seven principles of Kwanzaa— these principlesare firmly rooted in positiveactions. By the way, theseven principles includeUnity (Umoja), Self Determi-nation (Kujichaqulia),Collective Work (Ujima),

Cooperative Economics(Ujamaa), Purpose (Nia),Creativity (Kuumba) andfinally Faith (Imani). Thisyear’s resolution is to “livesimply in order that othersmay simply live.”

I don’t make resolutionsbecause I just can’t keepthem. I don’t like lying toothers let alone to myself!

No, I don’t. I don’t likefeeling guilty and depressedat the end of January.

Maj. Seamus SmallwoodStrategy and Policy DivisionDCS, G3Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Joan McGeeOffice Automation AssistantTechnical Center Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

All Army KnowledgeO n l in e / D e fe n s eKnowledge Online usersare asked to be vigilantin combat ing phish inga t t a c k s .

Users a re remindedtha t AKO/ DKO willnever solici t personal oraccount in format ion bymass e -mai l . Recentexamples inc lude e -ma i ls a ppear ing to be

AKO site warns: beware of phishing!from AKO and from com-merc ia l sources such asBank of America.

Any e-m ail ask ing youfor pers ona l or AKO/ DKOaccount in format ionshou ld a lways be t rea tedas frau du lent. If you doreceive such e-mail , donot res pond to i t or click any inc luded l inks foundins ide . Ins tea d , repor tthe i s su e to your loca l

informat ion manage-ment officer and reportit to AKO by sending ane-mai l to repor t . abu [email protected] . Moreinformat ion abou t h owto protect yourself fromphish ing can be foun d byreading the document“What is Phishing?”

[This news alertapp ears on th e AKO Websi te home pa ge .]




SafetyAt home: Preparing for asnow storm

While the win te r s eason u shers inoutdoor fun in the snow, winter stormsbr ing hazardous condi t ions th a t pose aserious safety threa t . Ranging frommodera te sn ow over a few hours to blizzardcondit ions that last several days, a winters torm i s no t someth ing to mess a roun dwith. Your bes t defense is to be prepa red.P lan ahead to keep your fami ly and homesafe .

Winterize your house

Don’t wait u nti l the f irst sn ow to think about preparing your house for winterweather , do it in the fal l. Be energyefficient a nd keep th e cold out by inst al l ingstorm windows or covering your windowswith stu rdy plas t ic. Fill in any cracksaround windows an d doors with cau lk orweather s t r ipp ing. Insu la te p ipes andremove hoses from outdoor water faucets.Be sur e to have a good snow sh ovel an dkeep plenty of rock salt or san d on ha nd forsl ippery driveways and walks. Look arou ndthe yard to determine if any trees might

pose a hazard to the house if they were tofall . Consider ha ving them r emoved by aprofessional tree service.

When a snow storm approaches

A severe snow storm could keep youtrap ped in your hom e for several days orlonger. If you he at with wood, oil or bottledgas, check your fuel supply and call for adelivery before the storm h its . Conservefuel by keeping your h ouse cooler thanusual . Temporari ly shut off heat to less-us ed rooms. Let fau cets drip a l it t le toavoid freezing. Be sure smoke detectorsare working and keep a f ire extinguisherready.

Prepare for a Power Outage

In the event of a power outa ge, having asafe al ternative source of heat isessen tial . Keep an a mp le su pply of woodfor the f ireplace or a kerosene spacehea ter with extra heating fuel . Make surethat you have flashlights with extraba t te r ies or candles and m atches . S taytun ed to your local forecast with a portablebatter y-operat ed radio. If your fur na cegoes out, take these precau tions. Close off an y rooms tha t aren’t needed. Stu ff towelsin c racks and u nder doors to prevent hea tloss. Cover windows with blan kets atn igh t . S tay nour i shed an d hydra ted so yourbody can produce i t s own hea t .

Protecting your pets

Dogs

No ma t te r what b reed your can ine i s , apair of doggie boots is ess ential when thereis snow or ice on the ground . Many dogsha ve sensit ive foot pads, a nd s now or icecan make walking very uncomfortable.Just imagine being forced to walk throughsn ow barefoot!

In ad dit ion to t he frost factor, ice ballscan d eve lop in be tween the pa ds a nd toeson your pet’s pa ws, cau sing pain withevery step. Anoth er winter element to becaut ious of is sa l ted s t ree t s a nd s idewalks .For pu ps with s ens it ive or injured footpads, the salt can be very irr i tat ing andcaus e the pads to become sore andswollen. Boots are the best way to preventda ma ge to your dog’s pa ws. However, if you

opt no t to use them, m ake su re you gent lywash an d dry your pet’s pa ws after everywalk. This will help to remove salt, excessice , and sm al l s tones an d twigs tha t cange t caught an d cau se d i scomfor t .

Dogs with long ha ir are better s uited forthe cold weath er. They can b e outside forshor t in te rva ls , bu t ma ke sure to payattention to signs that they are gett ing toocold. Some signs include: shivering,whimpering, repea ted l ift ing of paws , an dlethargy. If the temp eratu re dips belowfreezing, do not let your p et outs ideunsuperv ised .

Short-h aired dogs can b e al lowed out insnow and freezing temperatures for justenou gh time to relieve them selves. If youin tend to take your s hor t -ha i red pup forlong walks, however, you should purchasea swea ter or jacket for your dog. Fleececoa ts o ften m ake the bes t choice , as th eyare l ightweight an d s l im, an d offersu per ior warm th an d insu la t ion .

If your dog is sm all and s hort-ha ired,however, you m ay wan t to forego the wa lksa l toge ther. Dogs such as Chihuahuas ,min ia ture P inschers , and min ia tureDachsh un ds a re espec ia lly vu lnerab le toco ld tempera tures , a nd ca n deve lophypothermia oreven frostbite.

Cats

While most dogsneed to get outsideevery day, cats areoften content tocur l up ins ideespecially when the temperatures are lowan d the s now is blowing. Try keeping yourcat inside for th e winter, bu t if your fel inei s the adventurous type, there a re a fewprecaut ions you should take . One i s toma ke cer ta in your ca t has a warm p lace tosleep if he does not come back in t ime tobe let in. Be sure to create a bed with drys t raw or b lanke t s t r ips in a s he l te red a reasu ch as th e garage or un der the porch .

Courtesy Photo

Driving SafetyIf you’re ou t of the office a nd on th e roa d

when you’re on th e job , keep in m ind tha tyou are st i l l at r isk for a work-relatedinjury, a traffic accident . Roughly 2,000people are kil led each year in work-relatedhighway driving accidents. From 1992 to2001, nearly 14,000 civil ian workers werekilled in roadway cras hes . In fact ,roadway crashes were the number onecause of death for U.S. workers,accou nting for 22 percen t of al l fata l it ies.Accidents that most people consider to bethe m os t common work-re la ted a re fa l ls ,they mad e up 10 percent o f workerin jur ies dur ing tha t same per iod .

With over 210 million vehiclesregistered in the United States, i tshou ldn’t be su rpr i s ing tha t a l a rgenu mber of them a re us ed for work- re la teddriving. Also consider th at 4.2 millionpeople work full- t ime while on the road.For these people, most accidents while onthe job can only occur in one way, a t rafficaccident . Many of thes e people are in jobso ther than t rucking or t ranspor ta t ion .Roadway crashes a re the number twocaus e of dea th am ong execut ives , sa lesworkers and technic ians .

These t rag ic acc idents h ave aneconomic cost to employers as well asemployees. An injured employee may losew a ge s h e / s h e c o u ld h a v e h a d i f h e / s h ewasn’t in jured , which mean s a n em ployerloses produ ctivity from th at em ployee

bein g off the job.In 2000 , los t wages an d ben efi t s a lonecost em ployees $ 61 b ill ion dollars.Em ployer costs were in excess of $4 bill iondolla rs , inc lud ing lawsui t s tha t s tem medfrom work-related driving accidents. Thegood news i s tha t there a re ways tominimize these acc idents .

Both employers a nd employees need tobe proactive. An emp loyer sh ould design,implement and moni tor s t ra teg ies tha tcombine traffic safety principles and sounddriving practices. Safe vehicle operationbegins outside the vehicle with theemployer and carries over inside thevehicle with th e employee. Together, theyc a n m a k e o u r r o a d s a m u c h s a fe r p la c e .

Try thes e l ists of sou nd sa fety principalsfor employers and employees.

Employers:

• Promote s afe driving beha vior byproviding sa fety informa tion.• Set a nd enforce driving sa fety policies.• Assign a m ana ger to moni tor andenforce safety policies.• Enforce man datory sea t be l t use .• Do not require workers to drive

i r regula r h ours ; ex tended hours orschedu les tha t force employees toexceed th e pos ted speed l imi t s .

• Provide sa fe vehicles; perform regu larv e h i c l e m a i n t e n a n c e .• Ens ur e workers h ave a valid driver ’slicense for class of vehicle.• Make sure your employees a rei n s u r e d .• Provide training for specializedvehic les .• Teach workers how to recognize andmanage driver fat igue.• Maintain records of employee drivingrecords.

See Driver Safety on page 5Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo

Dog in snowsuit and boots.

Courtesy Photo




Army officials areemp owering Fam ilymembers to take an

active role in implementingsafe ty prac t ices to pro tec t the irFam ilies an d loved onesretu rning hom e from deploy-ments. The Army recognizesthat Army Families are ahighly powerful group, ca pableof positively influencing howSoldiers and Family memberst h i n k .

The Army’s n ew Fam ilyEngagement Kit raisesFam ilies’ awaren ess of theleading indicators in accidents

while pas sing along the “what ”an d “how” of best practices.

Armed with these newlycreated tools, Family membersare afforded active involvementin their Soldiers’ safety.

The U.S. Army Comb atReadiness / Safety Center s tudyof accident and associatedstat ist ics, indicates whenSoldiers return from adeploymen t or controlledenvironment, the r igors andoversight provided by leaders is

diminished. Between fiscalyears 2002 and 2007, 186Soldiers died within one year of returning from deployments.Approximately 30 per cent of thedeaths occurred within the f irst30 da ys of post-deployment a nd63 percent within the f irst s ixmonths. Of the 186 fatal i t ies,145 involved privately ownedvehicles d uring off-dut y hour s.

Army safety officials areconvinced that oversight,cont ro l and s t ruc tu re a rebeneficial to achieve anacc ident - f ree envi ronment .The USACRC’s collectivecha llenge is to formu late toolstha t t a rge t sa fe ty and r i sk management as a “way of l ife”

for a pplication wh en Soldiersar e off du ty.

“As leaders , we know th atdirect engagement with ourSoldiers makes a posit ivedifference in their safety,” saidBrig. Gen. Bill Forrester,director of Arm y sa fety an dcommanding general of theUSACRC. “No one kn owsSoldiers better than theirFamilies and there are feworganizations better posit ionedthan Families to influence

Soldiers to make safer choicesand take fewer r isks.”For res te r added tha t theUSACRC believes it isextrem ely difficu lt to look aspouse or child in the eye andtell them you are n ot going towear your helmet or a seat beltbecau se you don’t care enou ghto sta y al ive for them .

“The Family Engagement Kitfeatures tools that Familymembers can use to engagetheir loved ones in best safetypract ices in order to h elpprotect them,” said Forrester.“Many take very little time oreffort , an d th e pa yoff is h uge.”

In al l , the kit includ es s ixtools for post-deployment best

prac t ices . One such too l i s theTravel Risk Planning System,better known as TRiPS. Theaim of TRiPS is to redu ce therisk of accidents whentra veling by POV, the No. 1killer of Soldiers. Anoth erpotentially life-saving toolincluded in the kit is theMotorcycle/ ATV Agreem en t.This tool encourages Familiesand their Soldiers to discussthe hazards an d sa fe tymeasures assoc ia ted wi th

Families first, safety alwaysU.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center

Driver Safety continued from page 4

Employees:

• Attend/ complete a l ldriver safety trainingoffered by employers.• Wear s ea t be l t s a t a l lt i m e s .• Keep a reasona ble and

safe d is tan ce behind o thervehic les .• In th e event of a d evelopinghazard , app ly brakesgradually.• Be aware of road condit ions :hea t , ra in , snow and ice .• Keep track of traffic bylooking far d own th e road.• Be a t ten t ive to sur rou nd-

ings; keeps eyes moving tospot pr oblems before your e a c h t h e m .• Check rearv iew mir rorsfrequently.• No cell phone use whiledriving, pull over to side of road to ma ke any ca l ls .• Signa l l ane changes ear lyas wel l as an y turns .

The original plan was for members of theOlympic swim team to be there for thet ra in ing, bu t du e to sch edule confl ic t s th eywere unable to a t tend . Atk ins proposedthe t ra in ing to h i s ba t ta l ion commanders ,Lt . Col . Tom J am es an d Comma nd Sgt .Maj. J am es Ross , and was g iven th e go-ahea d to condu ct the t ra in ing.

“The m ain objective for Lieut ena ntColone l Ja mes was to b u i ld esp r i t -de-corps,” said Atkins . “He wan ted u s to getSoldiers in the water, to get them into as i tua t ion tha t th ey’re no t in norma l ly, andto have some fun learn ing . It was no tsu pposed to be if you don’t comp lete thisyou fai l . He does want u s to get up to alevel where we have some proficiency, butfor now this was the f irst s tep in b uilding arelat ionship with the Olympic TrainingCenter and also having our Soldiersrealize swimming is important as well as

jus t a fun thing to do.”The t ra in ing, which was conducted on

Nov. 30, consisted of a 50-m eter swim withand without un i form, s urv iva l swimm ing,and remedial swimming; however,swimming in general was new to a fewindiv idua ls who had never been in thewater.

“The one st ipu lation we did have wasyou will get into t he wa ter,” added Atkins .

Survival

continued from page 1 Everyone h ad to get in the water, somewith f lotat ion devices, and at leas t holdonto th e side of the p ool. As th e non -swimmers got more comfortable towardthe en d , some were ou t t ry ing to do somewater t read ing and what they renamed thesurvival float.

“It is n o longer ca lled th e dead ma n’sfloat. That didn’t really go over very well, sonow it is t he su rvival float ,” Atkins sa idwith a laugh .

The S.A.F.E. principle, a meth od tocounter the tendency to panic in thewater, was tau ght to the Sold ie rs dur ingthe t ra in ing . This r eminds a Sold ie r tous e S low easy movements , Apply na tu ra lbu oyancy, have Full lun g inflat ion an d beExt remely re laxed . Each s tep rememb eredass i s t s the Sold ie r and increases thechan ce for su rv iva l in a dan gerouss i t u a t i o n .

Other por t ions of the t ra in ing tau ght theSoldiers how to remove their MOLLE(modu lar l ight weight load-ca rryingequipment ) ves t once th ey h i t the water.This training highlighted the importanceof hit t ing the water in a survival mode. “Itwas a lo t eas ie r th i s t ime because therewere no p la tes in the ves t s , bu t genera l lyspeaking, the weight of a vest with platesis abou t 35 poun ds, s o if you don’t get i t off ,you’re going to t ire qu ickly an d go un der,”said Atkins. The Soldiers had to create

a f lotat ion d evice out of the pan ts of theirArmy Combat Uniform. This wasaccompl ished by removing the pan tbottoms, tying the legs together, putt ingthem aroun d the Sold ie r ’s n eck , thenfi ll ing th e pa nt legs with air.

After the training was f inished, thosein te res ted competed to see who couldswim the fa r thes t u nderwater. Accord ingto Atkins , “i t ha ppen ed to be Staff Sgt. Tiddwho i s a former Mar ine , so th a t was k indof fun ny. He wa s like, ‘we didn ’t do toomu ch s wimm ing in th e Mar ines , ’ bu t i t

jus t hap pened to work out tha t he endedup s wimm ing the fa r thes t an d got a four-day pass a nd a s e rgean ts ma jor co in . ”

“The overall tra ining wen t well so we’rep lanning another one for spr ing , and th i st ime we’re going to step i t up a l it t le bitwith m ore equipment an d events , ” addedAtkins. “We also identified a few people wewant to send to lifeguar d sch ool, so thiswas a c tua l ly an added benefi t .”

Although the Olympic swimmers couldnot be there for this event, they haveexpressed interest in part icipating infu tu re t ra in ing . “We can ge t them someArmy un i forms a nd we can do the su rv iva lswim tes t with th em, tha t way they cansee exactly what we’re doing and thenma ybe they can ra ce somebody an d win bya lot ,” Atkins sa id, laughing.

riding motorcycles or a l l- terrainvehic les .

These web-based tools areself-explan atory, self-sup portingwith PowerPoint briefscontaining associated talkingpoints.

The Army’s goal is to p u tthese too ls in to the han ds an dempower Arm y Fam ily TeamBuilding trainers, FamilyReadiness Group leaders ,brigade-level safetyprofessiona ls, BOSS leaders ,parents, and individual Familymemb ers to keep our Armyteam safe , For res te r added .

Families are encouraged toembrace the Family Engage-ment Ki t as an other tool

supp or t ing one common des i re– safer Soldiers and Families.“Family involvement isessential , so I ask forengagement with your lovedones,” Forrester said. “Withyour help, we can better protectour Nation’s m ost preciousassets – our Soldiers.”

For more information aboutthe Family Engagement Kit ,visit the USACRC Web site atcrc. army.mil/ fami lyengagement .




FORT GREELY, Alaska — Th e“sta rs” were out a t Fort GreelyDec. 15 as a h ost of dist in-guished visi tors joined theinstal lat ion for i ts annualHoliday Ball.

The visitors included: Lt.Gen. Kevin T. Campbell,commanding general , U.S.Army Space and MissileDefense Comma nd/ U.S . ArmyForces S t ra tegic Comm and;Maj. Gen. Cra ig Cam pbell,adjutant general , AlaskaNationa l Guard ; Brig. Gen.Cra ig Chr i s tensen , ass i s tan tad ju tan t genera l Space and

Missile Defense; Brig. Gen.Thomas Katkus , ass i s tan tadjutant general , Alaska ArmyNat iona l Guard ; Comm and Sgt .Maj. Ralph Borja, comm an dsergeant major SMDC/ ARSTRAT; Comm an d Sgt. Ma j.Gordon Choate, Alask a NationalGuard S ta te command sergeantmajor.

Lt. Gen. Cam pbell was th eguest speaker for the event.He emphas ized tha t the miss i ledefense program at Fort Greelywas an endur ing miss ion tha twould last as long as U.S. ArmyEu rope and U.S. Forces Korealast . Cam pbell described theSoldiers, Families and contrac-tors a t Fort Greely as being at“the end of the screwdriver” atthe remote Alaskan base . Hethanked all involved saying, “Iapp reciate from th e bottom of my hea rt wha t you’re doing uph e r e . ”

Also visiting Fort Gr eely wereKath y Cam pbell, wife of Lt. Gen.Cam pbell an d Nguyet Borja,

The ‘end of the screwdriver’By Capt. Tim Brower 49th Missile DefenseBattalion, (GMD)

wife of Command Sgt. Maj.Ralph Borja received U.S. ArmyGar rison – Fort Greely’s Qu alityof Life Plan t o better u nder -s tand the cha l lenges a t For tGreely and to provide feedback to the Garrison Plans, Analysisand Integration office.

The Qu ality of Life Plan is anintegrated effort between theGarr i son and i t s cus tomers . Itis a working, living docum enttha t s e rves as a ba se l ine repor ton th e cu rrent qua lity of l ifean d highlights Gar rison’s plansfor the future.

When asked about th e Qual ityof Life Plan at Fort Gr eely, Mrs.Cam pbell replied, “I was h app yto see tha t th ere i s a p lan inplace. In my view, the plan

addresses n eeds tha t wil limpr ove the qu ality of life forthe cur ren t r es idents a nd forthose who will come to FortGreely over the next years.

“I was also impr essed withthe recent es tab l i shment of thequality of life council,” she said.“This s hould ensu re tha teveryone’s voice is hea rd. Irealize that some of theinitiatives will take years tocomplete, but having a plan isthe f ir s t s tep , an d without th efirst s tep, p rogress would bedifficu lt.”

Overall, the Soldiers,Fami lies , a nd cont rac tors a tFort Greely were thrilled toha ve this group of leaders visi tduring this frigid time of yearwhere tempera tures d ip tominus 30 degrees Fahrenhe i tand the su n s h ines for l it t l emore than four hou rs .Experiencing Fort Greely at thist ime of year gives these leadersa b etter a ppreciat ion for l ife at“the end of the screwdriver.”

The 49th MissileDefense Battalion

Color Guardrenders honors tothe national colors

before retiringthem during the

2007 Team GreelyHoliday Ball on

Dec. 15.

Among the more than 230 attendees at the ball were the senior leaders of the missile defense mission at Fort Greely, Alaska which included, left toright: Command Sgt. Maj. Sylvia Laughlin, Fort Greely Garrison commandsergeant major; Command Sgt. Maj. Gordon Choate, Alaska National GuardState command sergeant major; Brig. Gen. Craig Christensen, assistantadjutant general Space and Missile Defense; Brig. Gen. Thomas Katkus,assistant adjutant general — Alaska Army National Guard; Maj. Gen. CraigCampbell, adjutant general, Alaska National Guard; Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell,commanding general, SMDC/ARSTRAT; Lt. Col. Edward Hildreth, commander,49th Missile Defense Battalion.; Col. Michael Yowell, commander, 100thMissile Defense Brigade; Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph Borja, command ser-geant major, SMDC/ARSTRAT; and Lt. Col. Gregory McClinton, Fort GreelyGarrison commander .

Shantel Mathison, wife of Military Police Officer Staff Sgt. Richard Mathison,is awarded the Molly Pitcher award by Lt. Gen. Kevin T. Campbell during the2007 Team Greely Holiday Ball on Dec. 15. The Honorable Order of MollyPitcher recognizes women who have voluntarily contributed in a significant

way to the improvement of the Air Defense Artillery community.

Left to right: Nguyet Borja, wife of Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph C. Borja, KathyCampbell, wife of Lt. Gen. Kevin T. Campbell, commanding general, SMDC/ARSTRAT, and Command Sgt. Maj. Sylvia Laughlin, Fort Greely Garrisoncommand sergeant major discuss quality of life issues at Fort Greely duringa working group with spouses of Soldiers on the installation.

Photos by Sgt. Jack W. Carlson III,Unit Reporter,

49th Missile Defense Battalion

(GMD)




The holidays are a t ime of celebration and joy. It is a t ime to sp end with family an dfr iends ; bu t a l so to remem ber those whoare in h arm ’s way, un able to en joy thehapp iness of the seas on . Headquar te rsand Headqu ar te rs Compan y, 53rd S igna lBat ta l ion , embraced th e season of celebration, hosting a Dining Out for theSoldiers, Families, and fr iends of the unit .

The Din ing Out was h e ld a t theDoubletree Hotel in Colorado Springs. I twas a snow fi l led evening as spouses,escor ted by the i r Serv icemember hus-band s an d wives , ma de the i r way to thelobby for pre-dinn er cocktails . Forma l

photos were a vailable for th ose whowanted to ca tch th e grandeur of theevening as dress un i forms a nd fancyevening gowns were the proper at t ire. Atexac t ly 6 :30 p .m. mes s ca l l was t rum petedthroughout the bu i ld ing, s igna l ing tha t theformal ceremony was about to begin .

Members m ade th e ir way in to the d in ingroom, quickly f inding their seats. TheMarch of the Sergean t Major began to play,let t ing everyone know that the officialpar ty was abou t to en te r. Capt . Michae lEuper io , comm and er of HHC, was thepresiding official of the event. ThePresident’s nu mb er t wo, “Mr. Vice,” wasCapt. Ga ry Kelly and th e guest of honor

was 53 rd S igna l Ba t ta l ion’s Comm and Sgt .Maj. Terence Farmer. After the officialpar ty ma de the i r way to the ir sea t s ,Euper io opened the mess (d inner ).

The evening was f i l led with muchce lebra t ion and en te r ta inment . The grogceremony i s a t ime-honored t rad i t ion ,al lowing noncom miss ioned officers of theunit to mix a special drinking concoctionfor fel low mem bers of the u nit to drink a nd“guaran teed” to keep them warm. 1 s t L t .Bryan Blocklinger and Sgt. 1st ClassMichelle Waychoff did the first tasting of the mixture, declaring i t f i t for humanconsumpt ion .

The various squads within HHC providedente r ta inmen t for the group . Per formingskits , they el ici ted much laughter fromthe c rowd. Sgt . J ose Mosquera per formeda realist ic impersonation of Euperio,giving a week-end sa fety brief. In a ddit ion,he was able to pull off the comma nder ’sdetermined att i tude for perfection whendealing with the haircu ts he gets. Staff Sgt . S tephen Ba hn to ld the ta les of ma nytemporary du ty ass ignments , sheddingsome l igh t on what happ ens du r ing thosetrips. He was able to realist icallydemonstrate Chief Warrent Officer 2J ames Henry’s u ncan ny ab i li ty to wake upfrom a dead sleep to give directions an dthen just a s qu ickly fal l back into his deeps lumber.

The highlight of the evening was thegues t speaker, Comm and Sgt . Maj .Farmer. Spea king of the h i s tory andfu ture of the un i t he presen ted guidanceon the pa th tha t the 53rd S igna l Ba t ta l ionwill be traversing in the upcoming years.Rece iv ing much applause a t theconc lus ion of h i s sp eech , he waspresen ted a n en graved pen s e t fo r t ak ingthe t ime to join the celebration.

The evening drew to an en d as Euper ioclosed the ceremony, al lowing for dancingand more ce lebra t ion th rough the n igh t .

The holidays are a t ime for togethernessan d th e Dining Out f i t that bi ll exactly forHHC, 53rd Signal Battal ion.

Celebrating, entertaining, remembering at HHC 53rd Signal Battalion Dining Out By Staff Sgt. Luke BlumUnit Reporter

Sgt. 1st Class Michelle Waychoff and 1st Lt. Bryan Blocklinger determine if the famous HHC 53rdSignal Brew is fit for human consumption.

Soldiers in 1 st Squad entertain the crowd with a hilarious skit about some of the company’s previousroad trips. (And no, that’s not an actual slumbering Soldier, he’s a member of the skit.)

Capt. Gary Kelly amusedthe members of the messwith his antics andbrilliant performance inthe role of “Mr. Vice.”




Civilian News Military News

The Sena te on Dec . 17 adopted by un animous consent a b i ll tostrengthen the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) for federal

government workers, despite threats of a veto from PresidentBus h. The bil l, S. 274, plugs a governm ent a ccoun tabil i ty loopholecrea ted las t year when th e Suprem e Cour t ’s Garcetti v. Ceballosdecision restr icted free speech rights for government workerscarrying out their job duties. A similar version passed the Housewith a veto-proof margin. In addressing the court decision, thebil l makes i t clear that the WPA applies to al l lawful communica-t ion of misconduct . The b i l l a l so s t rengthens the du e processenforcement s t ru c ture for WPA paper r igh ts , an d ap pl ies th em toa broader se t o f harassment scenar ios , such as secur i tyclearance actions, retal iatory investigations and gag orders, saidthe Governm ent Accoun tab ili ty Project (GAP), a watch dog grouptha t sup por ted the b i ll .

Senate approves whistleblower protection bill

Salaries and wages

Healthier federal employees HealthierFeds provides information and education to Federal

employees and ret irees about healthy l iving, greater individualresponsibil i ty for personal health, and best- treatment strategies.Through the 2007 init iat ive, the U.S. Office of Personn elMana gement (OPM) worked with Federa l agency fi tness an dwellness leaders to promote healthy behavior decisions amongFederal em ployees. HealthierFeds fully su pports Pres ident Bus h’s

HealthierUS initiative for a healthier America. The “Four Pillars,”or key elements, of this initiative were:• Be phys ica l ly ac t ive every day;• E a t a n u t r it io u s d ie t;• G e t p re ve n t ive s c r e en i n gs ;• M a k e h e a l th y c h o ic e s .As envisioned by HealthierFeds , effective worksite healthpromotion programs in Federal workplaces have the potential toinfluence a number of important factors:• R ed u c e in c r e a s e s in h e a l th c a r e c os t s ;

• E n h a n c e e m p lo ye e p r o du c t ivit y;• Shi ft hea l th care from a “t rea tment” parad igm;• R ed u c e a b s e n t e e is m a n d p r es e n t e eis m ;• Help employees take res ponsibil ity for lifestyle choices.While the HealthierFeds Fitnes s Challenge occured an dcompleted dur ing 2007, th ere’s no reas on why anyone can’t an dsh ouldn’t carry on with a h ealth program du ring 2008. Ongoingconsultat ion and support for Federal agency health and wellnessprogram s continu es. For fur ther information about HealthierFedscont act t he OPM Work/ Life group at work life@opm .gov.

Cost-of-living adjustments to civil serviceretirement benefits - how is COLA determined?The U.S. Department of Labor calculates the change in theConsumer Price Index (CPI) for urban wage earners and clericalworkers from the third quarter average of the previous year to thethird quarter average for the current year. For Civil ServiceRetirement System (CSRS) or Organization and Disabil i tyRetirement System (ORDS) benefi ts , the increase percentage isapp lied to your m onth ly benefi t am oun t before any dedu ctions ,an d is rounded d own to the next whole dollar. For FederalEm ployees Retiremen t System (FERS) or FERS S pecial benefits , i f the increase in the CPI is 2 percent or less, the Cost-of-LivingAdjustment (COLA) is equal to the CPI increase. If the CPIincrease i s more than 2 percent bu t no more than 3 percent , theCOLA is 2 percent. If the CPI increase is more than 3 percent, theadjus tm ent i s 1 percent l ess than th e CPI increase . For fur th erinforma tion, go to th e OPM Web si te: www.opm .gov/ retire.

Four ways to fund your education

The mili tary encourages servicemembers to use al l programsavailable, whether they are from federal , mili tary-related, orprivate sources. There are many out there, and you’ll l ikely f indmore tha n one to su i t your educa t iona l needs . Here a re a fewplaces to get you start ed.• Tuition Assis tance (TA): A finan cial assistan ce program

providing active-du ty person nel 100 percent fun ding of tu i t ioncosts for college courses . TA is not a loan ; i t shou ld be viewed asmoney you have earned just l ike your base pay.• The Mont gom ery GI Bill (MGIB): Provides up to 36 mon ths of education benefi ts during active duty and is payable for 10 yearsfollowing your last release from service. The GI Bill is aneducation benefi t earned by Active Duty, Selected Reserve andNational Guard servicemembers. The benefi t is designed to helpservicemembers and eligible veterans cover the costs associatedwith gett ing an education or training. The GI Bil l has severalprograms and each is administrated differently — depending on aperson ’s el igibil ity and du ty stat us .• Military Scholarships : There are over $3 00 m ill ion worth of scholarships for servicemembers, veterans and their families.Visi t mili tary.com/ finan ce to help yourself f ind t he s cholarsh ipright for you .• Federal Studen t Aid: Federal loans, grants, and tuit ionprograms are available to meet a variety of f inancial needs andedu cation levels. Work-stu dy programs are a lso available. Thefederal governm ent offers several Finan cial Studen t AidPrograms. These programs offer you extremely low interest loansand grants (free money). Unlike the GI Bil l , these programs arepaid th rough t he s chool; however, like the GI Bill , Federal Studen tAid is designed to as sist you in m eeting the cost of tui t ion, books,fees, an d l iving expens es while you go to sch ool. That m ean s th atonce the school has taken i ts sh are , the rema in ing loan or gran tbalan ce goes to you. I t doesn ’t ma tter wheth er you are a ctive du ty,reserve, veteran, ret iree, on MGIB, or not — you sh ould be ta kingadvantage of these programs. There a re n um erous examples of even senior active duty members receiving federal loans andlarge gran ts. Remem ber: Grants are gifts th at you don’t repay!

President Bus h’s veto of the Nationa l Defense Auth orization Act of 2008 pos tpones th e expected 3 .5 percent ac ross th e board ra i sepas sed b y Congress . However, du e to an exist ing law,serv icemembers a re guaran teed a pay increase , which meansmili tary servicemembers will see an across-the-board payincrease of 3 .0 percent in th e ir J an . 15 , 2008 pay checks . Whi teHouse officials h ave sta ted th at they will work with Congress toma ke su re the addi t iona l 0 .5 percent pay ra i se i s approved andretroactive to J an . 1 u nder a reworked NDAA.

3.5 percent pay raise on hold

House Comm ittee on Veterans ’ Affairs Ch airma n Bob Filner (D-CA) introduced a pa ir of bills to addr ess t he n eeds of veteran sduring the ongoing subprime mortgage market crisis . “Thecurrent VA home loan program is irrelevant because fees for theloans are too high and equity requirements are overly restr ict ive.As a result , veterans are forced to turn to the commercialmortgage market , which is r isky and volati le ,” says ChairmanFilner. “Loan products in this market offer non-tradit ionalfeatures that have recently lead to the r ise in delinquency andforeclosures in the su bpr ime ma rke t am ong the vete ranpopulation.” H. R. 488 4 , The Veteran Home Loan Gua rantyImprovement Act of 2008, wil l make home loans more accessibleto ve te rans b y eas ing res t r ic t ions on th e home loan gua ran typrograms administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs(VA). The bill eliminates the equity requirements for refinancingin response to the declining home values which prohibit manyveterans from qua lifying for the ben efi t . The b ill also redu ces th eVA guaranteed home loan funding fees to one percent andeliminates the funding fees for veterans seeking to refinance ahome loan , am ong o ther th ings . H.R. 48 83 will pr ohibitforeclosu re of property owned by a s ervicemem ber for one yearfollowing a period of military service. “For many of our returningserv icemembers and ve te rans , th e s t ress of what th ey have gonethrough in war i s s t i ll p reva len t when th ey re turn home,”continued Chairman Filner. “Unfortunately, for many of theseheroes , sub pr ime loans a re th e on ly op t ion when they do not ha vethe best credit score, and more often than not, their low creditscore is a direct result of their service to our country. These bil lsprotect veterans from predatory lending, increase opportunit iesfor hom eownersh ip and p rotect veterans from foreclosu re for awhole year after their mili tary service.”

Bill to help Vets through mortgage crisis

The President has signed an Executive order to implement theJ anu ary 2008 pa y ad jus tments . The Execut ive order au th or izes a2 .5 percent ac ross - the-board increase for the s ta tu tory paysystem s u nder th e provisions of 5 U.S.C. 5303 an d locali ty payincreas es costing appr oxima tely 1.0 percen t of payroll un der 5U.S.C. 5304, reflecting the overall average pa y increase of 3.5percent required b y section 740 of Division D of the ConsolidatedAppropriat ions Act, 2008. Un der 5 U.S.C. 5318, Execu tiveSchedu le (EX) rates of pay will be increa sed by 2.5 p ercent(roun ded to the nea rest $100). The 2008 sa lary tables are postedon th e U.S. Office of Pers onn el Mana gemen t’s (OPM’s) Webs ite athttp :/ / www.opm.gov. The 200 8 pay rates beca me effective on thefirst pay period beginn ing J an . 6, 2008.




Although Oct. 4 is s eldomrecognized as a significant dayin history by most people, theevents of that day in 1957forever al tered the course of Soviet and American history.On th at da y, the Soviet Unionsurprised the world with thelaunch of the first “artificialmoon” or sa tel li te . Spu tnik (Russian for “TravelingCompan ion”) was a 18 4-poundaluminum sa te l l i t e , 23 inchesin d iameter. It had a rad iot ransmi t te r and four an tennaswhich broadcas t a c lear s e r iesof “beep s” to th e ea rth ’ssur face . J ohn Gibson , who wasan Army second l ieu tenan tposted to Redstone Arsena l , wasassigned the duty of monitoringSpu tnik’s orbits andt rans miss ions . The sa te l li t ewas at an al t i tude of 560 milesand was m aking an e ll ip t ica lorbit every 96 minu tes. Gibsonnoted th at i t ha d “two radiot ransm i t te rs on wavelengths of 7 .5 and 15 meters … sending acontinuously al ternating ortelegraph like signal withpulses be ing about 0 .3 secondsapar t . ”

The Russian satel l i teprogram and i ts Americancounterpart grew out of theInternational Geophysical Year1957-19 58. The IGY wasconceived by the InternationalCouncil on Scientific Unions in1952 and was in tended toprovide an internationallycoordinated series of observations of variousgeophys ica l phenomen a .Although 67 coun trieseventually became involvedwith the IGY, only the SovietUnion a nd th e Uni ted S ta tes

comm itted to developingart ificial sa tel li tes as part of the program .

The Spu tn ik rad io t rans mis-sion served only one pu rpose, tobroadcas t Soviet su ccess and toprove to the world tha t thesatel l i te was indeed in orbit .Spu tnik’s car eer was s hort — itfel l back to Earth only threemonths a f ter i t was laun ched .Despite i ts sh ort l ife an dlimited ability, its affect on theworld was immediate and longlast ing.

Although the United Statesha d been developing it ownsa te l li t e, i t was u naware tha tthe Soviets had achieved somu ch, so soon in the i r ownresearch . The Sovie t t echnica lach ievemen t cau ght th e world’sa t ten t ion and the Amer icanpu blic com pletely off gua rd.Congressional and public outcryresulted with the correctperception that the Soviets hadsurpassed the Uni ted S ta tesscientif ically.

Before the s hock of Sputn ik

su bs ided , theSoviets launchedSpu tnik II on

Nov. 3. At 1,100pounds th issatel l i te was sixtimes the size of Sputn ik I andcarried “Laika” asm all dog. Laikasurvived thela u n c h b u tper i shed whenhis capsu lefailed to separatefrom its boosteron reentry.

The Soviets touted Sputnik as a grea t ach ievementbecause none of i tsengineering tasks for thislarger satel l i te had beens ta r ted u n t i l a f ter the lau nch of Sputn ik I.

The cont inued s uccess of theSputn ik program fur therinflamed p ub lic opinion on th egovernm ent’s lack of a s paceprogram . Some sc ien t i s t s a lsosuggested that the Soviet’sability to place an object in orbittranslated to an abil i ty toaccurately target the UnitedSta tes an d Europe with nu c leart ipped Intercontinental ball ist icmiss i les. G. Mennen Williamsthe Governor of Michigan wrotea poem about the Sputn ik c r i s i s :

Oh little Sputn ik, flying so highWith ma de-in-Moscow beepYou tell the w orld it’s a Comm iesk y

And Uncle Sam ’s as leep!

Sena te Majority LeaderLyndon B. J ohns on recalled of Oct. 4, 1 957, “Now, som ehow, insome n ew way, the sky seemedalmost al ien. I also remem berthe profoun d sh ock of realizingtha t i t might be poss ible for

another nation to achievetechnological superiority overthis great country of ours.”

As a resu lt of Spu tnik,J ohnson opened hea r ings of theSenate Armed ServicesCommittee in late November1957 to review the entire scopeof American missi le defensesand th e space program.

The Committee found seriousun der fun ding, redundan cy andchaotic organization inAmerica’s space efforts.

“Laika.” The dog was considered amartyr for the Soviet SpaceProgram.

George Reedy’s (one of J ohnson’s Sena te s ta ffe rs )comments were typical of mostAmericans, “The simple fact isthat we can no longer considerthe Russ ians to be behind us intechn ology. I t took them fouryears to ca tch up to our a tomicbomb and n ine months to ca tchup to our hydrogen bomb. Nowwe are trying to catch up totheir satel l i te .”

Although th e White Hous ehad a nnoun ced p lans to p lace asa tel li te into orbit in J uly 1955,these efforts had received noserious at tention or funding.

After reviewing severalproposals, th e Navy’s Vangu ardprogram had been chosen overth e Arm y’s Exp lorer projectbased a t Reds tone Arsena lun der Dr. Wernher von Brau n .This cha nged a f te r Sputn ik ,when the Defense Depar tmentrespon ded to th e polit ical stormand concur ren t ly fun ded theArmy’s program.

Van guar d exploded on thelaunch pa d on Dec . 6 , 1957 ,m u c h t o t h e em b a r r a s s m e n t o f the Navy and the DefenseDepartm ent. However, vonBrau n’s Army team did whatVan guar d could not. With onlyabou t six weeks of prepa rationtime, the Army’s Explorer Il ifted off the lau nch pad on topof a J up iter-C rocket from Ca peCanavera l , Fla . on J an . 31 ,1958.

The U.S. Arm y had pu tAmerica into space for the f irstt ime , and Reds tone Arsena lwould forever be ch an ged as i tbecame the center of Army, andlater NASA, rocket a nd miss i letechn ology developmen t.

Arch rival’s startling success spurs America’s entry into long space race

By Mark Hubbs, SMDC/ARSTRAT Historical Office

Sputnik

Courtesy Photo

f irst and second sectionand the development of anew th ird stage to deploy asa te l l i t e .

Although p relimina rytests had proved promising,the f irst complet Vanguardtest , on Dec. 6, 1957,exploded seconds after lift-off.

In the interim, on Oct. 4,1957, Secretary of Defensedesignate Neil McElroy wasat Redst one Arsen al for aninspection visit of theArm y’s r ocket an d gu idedmissile capabil i t ies. Thatevening, with the news of the Sputn ik lau nch , Dr.Wernher von Braun a rguedthat the the Army Ball ist icMissile Agency cou ldlaunch an Amer icansatel l i te within 60 days.Maj. Gen . J ohn Medar i s ,ABMA Comm an der,concu rred only modifyingthe t ime span to 90 days .

Five days a fter th elaun ch of Sputn ik II , onNov. 8, McElroy order ed th eArm y to m odify twoJupi te r-C miss i les andattempt to place a satel l i tein orbit by March 19 58.J us t 84 days la te r, theArm y was rea dy to go. Mod-

ifications made to theJ up iter-C and i ts’ sat el li tepayload were completed. 3

The weather howeverproved difficu lt. Thecountdown a t Cape Canav-era l began on Jan . 29 bu twas h alted, by Medaris,du e to high winds. Thenext day, the launch waspostpon ed, jus t before theliquid oxygen was add ed tothe rocket , due to gales inthe upper a tmosphere . OnJ an . 31 the launch go-ahea d was g iven an d the

Army achieved anotherfirst . At 10:55 p.m. , theArmy had laun ched thefirst American satel l i teinto orbit.F o o t n o t e s : 1Modeled after earliercoordinated international stud ies,the IGY went from J uly 1957through December 1958.Ultimately 67 counties partici-pated in this opportunity to studygeophysical phenomena acrossthe globe. Areas to be studiedincluded: aurora and airglow,cosmic rays, geomagnetism,glaciology, gravity, ionosp hericphysics, longitude and latitudedetermination (precisionmap ping), m eteorology, ocean-ography, rocketry, seismol-ogy,and solar activity. 2The NRL wasviewed as a scientific researchfacility as opposed to a joint Army-Navy-Air Force concept whichused already developed OrdnanceDepartment weapons technology.3The Ju piter-C was a modifiedRedstone ballistic missile,lengthened by eight feet toinclude ad ditional pr opellant,with a second stage composed of a ring of 11 scaled-down Sergeantrocket engines, a third stage witha cluster of three scaled downSergeant rockets and a fourthstage was a scaled down Sergeantrocket with the Explorer I.

continued from page 1

Explorer I

Explorer 1’s orbit around the Earthranged from 220 miles to 1,563miles. The satellite was equippedwith radiation detection equipment.

Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo




By Spc. Richard Taylor Unit Reporter

CAMP ROBERTS, Calif . —Members of Delta Compa ny,53rd Signal Battal ion, gathered

together Dec. 13 to celebrate“the m ost wonderful t ime of theyear” with i t s a nnu a lChr i s tmas par ty. It was h e ld a ta loca l p izza pa r lor as a cas ua lget together of co-workerswhere the mood was ca lm an da t tendance was h igh .

The local Family ReadinessGroup he lped p lan th e eventtha t included a l ive jazz ban dand a white elephant gif texchan ge. The jazz band a ddeda fest ive atmosphere to thebeau tiful ba cklighting of the

Delta Company celebrates ‘most wonderful time’

Duane Anderson (left) and Sgt.Joseph Mason enjoy the night andChristmas Spirit at the Delta Com-pany, 53rd Sig. Bn. holiday party.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Avila

I tal ian -l ike pizza pa rlor andeveryone enjoyed dinner as theband p layed in the background.

After the dinner the companycommander gave a speech tha tinc luded a toas t to the m any

Soldiers deployed overseas . Thecomman der a l so inc ludedadvice and reminded a t tendeesto take sa fe ty precau t ions tha tare normally needed with anevent where alcohol is served.

The part icipants, aware of theneed for sa fe ty, had ma de p lanslong in advan ce to obtain a sa fealcohol-free ride home fromam ong one of the m an y individ-ua ls who chose no t to dr ink .

Soon after the heartfel tspeech a white elephant gif texchange began. Part icipants

prize from th e tab le or tak ing aprize from someone who hadalready opened one. A prizecould only be taken fromanother person three t imesbefore i t was “dead” to tra ding.

Anyone whose p rize was juststolen was a ble to go and obtaina n ew prize from wh at wa s lefton th e prize table. Prizesincluded a ss orted giftcert if icates from local businessvenues an d plenty of wine fromthe abu ndan ce of loca lvineyards.

The evening was a good an dwell-deserved break from theday to day chores of theoperations floor with whichthe Soldiers have becomeaccus tomed.

were given n um bers an d begantaking pr izes on e by one fromthe prize table. As one prizewas opened , the par t ic ipantwi th the next number had theoption of gett ing an u nopen ed

LANDSTUHL, Germ an y — Early

in November , Capt. CarlosSanta na took a sm al l t r ip tocheck h is mai l a t Lands tuhlMedical Center, Germany (thema il room). Upon h is arrival , henot iced tha t there was a sma l lsl ip that indicated a package inhis m ailbox.

Thinking nothing of it,Santa na re t r ieved the s l ip an dwaited pat iently for his m ail ,hoping that he had receivedsometh ing he might haveordered from Ama zon.com.

A couple of minu tes went byand the ma i l c le rk came ba ck with an unexpectedly big andregrettably, heavy package.The pa ckage had n one of thewrappings tha t den oted anyaffi liat ion to an ything tha tSanta na would buy onl ine , andto make m at te rs worse , he d idnot recognize the sender.

Caution quickly turned toa n n o y a n c e a s S a n t a n a m a d ehis way to an open a rea of thehallway to inspect the package.

“I kept pictur ing the longwalk back to the car with th ebox in front of me, a s I lookedfrom left to right, won derin g if itwould look weird if I ju st wa lked

awa y from th is box,” jokedSantan a . S t i ll , he kne l t andopened th e box, al l the whileen te r ta in ing the f lee t ing

notions of escape. Cu riously,various items of different colorsg la red ba ck a t h im.

As Santa na m ade h is wayback to h i s ca r, he remembered

Members of Charlie Company, 53 rd Signal Battalion wear scarves theyreceived from a group of volunteers headed by Spc. Nathaniel Housley’smother, Judy. The banner they hold states, “Great big hugs for the Army’s 1stSpace Brigade from very thankful citizens;” it has more than 25 notes andsignatures.

Photo by Pedro Bernal

Unit Reporter, CharlieCompany 53rd Sig. Bn.

Serving those who serve ...

Charlie Company receives handmade comforts

LANDSTUHL, Germ an y — The b eau ty of Lichtenberg Cast le, one of Germ an y’slargest cast les is magnificent in i ts ownright, but i ts dining hall there wast rans formed in to a brea th tak ing , win te rwonder land when Cha r l ie Compan y, 53rdSigna l Ba t ta l ion , condu cted the i r ann ua lholiday party there, Dec. 8. The FamilyReadiness Group (FRG) was respon sible forthe snowflake covered dining experiencethat accentuated an evening of candleli tfel lowship an d fr iends hip for those whoat tended .

The FRG s ta r ted decora t ing a round 10a .m. a nd worked in to the a f te rnoon tomake sure every last detai l was perfect .

Candles were p laced throughout th e roomwith some floating in water-filledcandleholders a nd o thers l in ing tab les andpathways. The soft sound of Christmasmu sic in th e backgroun d he lped tocomplete the mood for the evening. Asgues ts a pproached the cas t le , they couldsee the l ights from it i l luminating thesurrounding hil l tops. The air outsidecarried a bit of a chil l, but th at only mad ethe warmth ins ide the d in ing ha l l tha tmuch be t te r.

The master of ceremonies, a zany Staff Sgt. Christopher Miller, kicked off theevening by welcoming everyone ina t tendan ce , and showing apprec ia t ion tothe FRG for prepar ing such a memorableoccas ion . Wi th tha t , the games began .

Those in a t tenda nce c i rcled u p an d foun dout jus t h ow many le ft s a nd r igh ts could bein one s tory, and how man y people cannotrecite “The Twelve Days of Christmas” infront of an au dience. While th e FRGawarded door pr izes an d en te r ta ined gues t swith games that encouraged socializationan d part icipation of the group a s a whole,d inner was prepared an d se rved . Gues tsfeas ted on roas ted pork, stu ffed chickenand a variety of side dishes, and finishedoff their meal with a scrumptious apple

strudel topped with vanil la ice cream.Capt . Pedro Sanabr ia took the

opport u nity to bid farewell to two of Cha rlieCompa ny’s m ost esteem ed Soldiers, Sta ff

Christmas at Charlie’s: Fellowship by candlelight By Christina Maxwell

See Charlie’s on page 12

cor respondence h e ha d wi thSpc. Nath an iel Hous ley’smother, J udy Hous ley.

“Back in Februar y, she ha d

taken i t upon herself to reachthe un i t and inqui re about thenu mber of personne l tha t wehave here and the type of wea ther tha t we have in

Germany for a p ro jec t tha t s hehad back a t h ome,” sa idSantana. “I gave her theinformat ion and thought

noth ing more of i t .”Nevertheless, they kept in

touch an d House ly upda tedSantana periodically on theprogress of her project .

Months passed , an d var ioustasks came and went ; a l l thewhile, Hous ely taking i t uponherself to continuously e-mailS a n t a n a a n d u p d a t e h im o n t h eprogress of her project .

“The colors in the box werefrom 60 han d-croche ted orknit ted winter neck scarvestha t we were ab le to pass a longto each controller at theCharlie Company Thanksgivingdinner, ” Santa na sa id .

Fortun ately, Housely’s kindwords a nd a t ten t iveness to th ewelfar e of Cha rlie Compa ny’sSold iers cam e a t a t ime whenthey needed i t the mos t —when they were about tocelebrate the holidays far awayfrom home.

The great care and effort thateach volunteer took in makingthe neck scarves was muchapprec ia ted as i t he lped remindthe Soldiers of CharlieCompa ny of the goodwill andsu pport of everyone back h ome.




FORT DETRICK, Md. — Soldiers a nd

Fam ily member s of Alpha Comp an y, 53rdSignal Battal ion, came together Dec. 17, tocelebrate the holiday season together as aunit before each individual went to spendtheir own respective holidays with lovedones and Family. The event was held atthe Community Activity Center here.

The compan y event wa s des igned foreveryone in the unit to relax whileenjoying good food and enterta inmen t inthe process . As Soldiers an d Fam ilymem bers arrived, different levels of dresswere observed, from ca su al at t ire to pin

s t r ipe su i t s and even one noncommis-sioned officer who arrived in a very vibrantsu i t tha t b rought mu ch hu mor to a ll .

After everyone was settled, it was

an nou nced th at food would soon be servedan d the ba r would be opened. A sa fety planha d been pu t into effect well before th eevent , so tha t an yone who dec ided to makethe choice to drink would have a definiter ide home with one of the nu merousdesignated drivers such as Sgt. AdamFairchild or Sgt. Gary Grooms. Bothvolunteered to serve as designated driversto ensure everyone would get home safely.

People quickly sta rted to go through thebu ffet l ine, ch oosing from all the holidayfavorites includ ing turkey, pot roas t ,

...and a good time was had by all mas hed pota toes an d a var ie ty of p ies an dsa lads . The s ta ff ensu red there was p len tyof food an d drink s for everyone, an d th eyprovided a professiona l service tha t was

enjoyed by a ll.After everyone h ad their fair sha re of theholiday m eal, the white elephan t giftexchan ge began . Approximately 15 giftswere exchanged which included everythingfrom a Ch ia pet to DVD box sets . Many of the part icipants l iked what they received,an d th ose who did not were st i ll able tolaugh a t th eir own gifts .

Everyone in Alpha Compa ny whoat tended th e event h ad a grea t t ime wi thgreat food, great people, greaten te r ta inment and a sa fe r ide home.

By Sgt. Konrad NiedUnit Reporter

FORT BUCKNER,OKINAWA, J apa n —

Walking through thedoor, hea r t s werewarmed by the sounds of ho liday music , and th ewonderful sights of holiday decora tions.

The looks on the facesof Soldiers a nd theirFam ilies told th e story.Being so far from hom e,man y were no t ab le tosee their familiesduring the holidayseason , so th ey werewelcomed and overjoyedto be greeted b y fr iendsand co-workers du r ingth is year ’s Ch ildren ’sChr i s tmas par ty.

Lights , decorat ions ,smal l Chr i s tmas t rees ,m i n i a t u r e S a n t aC la u s e s a n d a s m a l lma nger f il led th e roomand brought a s ense of toge therness and aspecial twinkle to

everyone’s eyes. Yetwhat s eemed to br igh tenthe room the m os t werethe smiling faces.

The par ty s ta r tedaround d inner t ime , andas people slowly cam einto the room, moods

Christmas for the children - Santa and his elf visitBy Spc. Steven BowmanUnit Reporter

Spc. Daniel Rohrbaugh (Santa Clause) and Spc. Russell Malinsky (Santa’s “little” helper)brought delight to the many children at the Echo Company, 53rd Signal Battalion Children’sChristmas party.

Photo by Sgt. Vicente Gonzalez

WASHINGTON — Pres ident Bush us ed h is weekly rad io address[Dec. 22. 20 07] to tha nk America’s Ser vicemem bers who willspend Ch r i s tmas fa r away from the i r homes and loved ones .

“America is blessed to h ave men an d women will ing to stepforward to defend ou r freedoms a nd keep u s sa fe from ourenemies. We are thankful for their courage and their dedicationto duty,” Bush said.

Fam ilies of the na tion’s Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines a ndCoas t Guards men serve the i r coun t ry too , Bush s a id .

“America is also blessed to have military Families willing tosacr ifice for our cou ntry. And this Ch ristma s, m an y will s i t downto dinner thinking of their loved ones ha lf a world awa y,” thepres ident sa id .

Bush also praised the Families of wounded warriors who helptheir loved ones recover from injuries suffered in combat.

“Through their encouragement and devotion, they help heal thebody and sp i r it , and they remind our wounded warr iors tha t ourna t ion s tands behind them,” he sa id .

Bush thanks Servicemembers, military Families for sacrificesBy Melinda L. Larson, American Forces Press Service For the m ili tary Fam ilies who ha ve lost loved ones in bat t le ,

Bush commended them for turning their grief into acts of compassion and love.

“One s uch inspiring example is th e Fam ily of Arm y Spec.Michael Rodriguez, of Knoxville, Tenn. During his deployment inIraq, Micha el often wrote h ome to h is Fam ily about the ch ildrenhe m et on patr ol. In April , Michael was killed by a s uicidebomber,” Bush said.

Bus h ad ded tha t Rodriguez’s Fam ily honors his m emory byhelping to collect school supp lies for stu dents at a n Iraqi sch ool forgirls.

“At th is t ime of year, we a cknowledge that love and sa crifice cantran sform our world,” he s aid.

While thousands of mili tary Families are apart this holidayseas on, Bus h expres sed h is hope for al l of America’s Fa milies tot ighten their familial bonds.

“As Christmas approaches, Laura and I extend to al l Americansour bes t wishes, an d we hope every fam ily is brou ght closertogether during this season of reflection and rejoicing,” thepresident concluded.

began to l ighten andspirits began to lift.

Newborn b abies of theBlecker, Gonzalez,Van langendonck , Ivey,and the Mar t inezfami l ies madeappearances a t the i rfirst par ty, this onetak ing p lace a t th e

Kish aba Towers onCamp Fos te r.

Capt . Jas on Shin , 1s tLt . Donald Thomas and1st S gt. Lester Blan dinalso joined th e party an dgave a special surpriseto a deserving Soldier —

jus t before food an ddr inks . Of course tha t

was n o t un t i l a fte r thechildren filled the airwith screams of delighta t th e s igh t o f SantaClaus himself, followedby a ra th er la rger- than-the-usual peti te elf .

Spc. Daniel Rohrba ugha s S a n t a C la u s , a n d S p c .Russell Malinsky as

Santa’s “little” helper,came da nc ing in to theroom an d sa t by theChr is tmas t ree sochildren could si t onSan ta’s lap for picturesan d gifts . Althou gh som eof the youn g ones s t i llnew to th e world foun dthemselves wi th tea rsan d fear of the b ig jollyred-cheeked man, mos tof the ch ildren ha d agreat t ime. After Santaand h is e l f p rancedaway, Blan din grabbedeveryone’s at ten tion bycalling Pfc. RussellMettendorf, front a ndcenter for the specialsu rprise — to bepromoted to rank of specialist , for breakingpas t h i s phys ica l andmenta l bar r ie rs , andshowing everyone in thecompa ny, according toBlandin, “Tru e Heart .”

Following th at, foodand dr ink , whichincluded Spc. J oyceNarciso’s s infully sweettreats, were set out for

all to enjoy. And a s thechi ldren bounced a roundin the a i r cas t le, theadu lts enjoyed holidayeggnog. After abou tthree hours the par tyconc luded a s a grea ts u c c e s s .




Sgt. Dawn Westrumand Sgt . Jenn i fe rWise. The two werepresented withp laques f rom the

company and tokens of appreciat ion from theirfellow Soldiers.

The evening endedwith a White Elephantgift exchange thatpicked on Capt. Car losSantana , who s ta r tedout with great gifts

which kept gett ingstolen and left himholding only pean uts .

Throughout the yearthe FRG he ld nu merousfun dra ise rs to reducethe cost of the d inner formembers of thecompa ny. The cost of the

d inner ended up be ing10 Eu ro per person; l essthan half of the originalcost.

The har d work of theFRG made for a mem -orable evening for theSoldiers, Civilians andFamilies of Charlie

Company, as theywere d ined a ndente r ta ined a t anaffordable cost in amagni f icen t Germancast le. I t was a greatevening for greatfriends who felt likeroyalty.

continued frompage 10

Charlie’s

Von Braun Complex phase 3 contract awardedBraun Complex , inc lud ingbui ld ings th a t were comple tedin 2004 an d 2007, wi ll houseapproxima te ly 4 ,500 personne l .

The project, which will becons t ruc ted v ia a des ign-bu i ldcontract , wil l be incrementallyfunded over three years withinitial funding in FY08 of $67mill ion.

The fun ding plan ca lls for anadd it ional $1 27 m ill ion in FY09an d $27 .8 m ill ion in FY10.Groundbreak ing andcons t ruc t ion a re expec ted as

early as sp ring of 2008 .

The U.S Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a$221.2 mill ion contract toArcher Weste rn Cont rac tors ,Ltd . , head quar te red in At lan ta ,for des ign a nd cons t ruc t ion of the th i rd and la rges t phas e of the Von Bra un Complex onRedston e Arsen al , Ala. for th eU.S. Missile Defense Agency.

The bu ilding will accomm o-

dat e 2,649 posit ions an d will be

the largest single building onRedstone Arsenal .

The 839 ,873-squa re foo tfacility will house 2,248 MissileDefense Agency posit ions thatwere realigned from theWash ington , D.C., a rea as aresu l t o f the Base Rea lignm entand Closure Comm iss ion(BRAC) recommen dat ions in2005, a s wel l as 240 p os it ionsfrom Huntsvil le and 161 ArmySpace and Missile DefenseAgency posit ions from theWashington , D.C. , a rea .

The building will include

approxima te ly 750 ,000 squa refeet of administrat ive space, an800-sea t audi tor ium, acafe te r ia , a f i tness cen te r anda cen t ra l mechanica l p lan t .

The facility will becons t ruc ted in two phas es .Pha se I will be comp leted inthe s pring of 2010 , al lowing themove-in of the first 80 0 to1 , 0 0 0 w or k e r s t h a t s u m m e r.Pha se II wil l be completed inearly 2011 with move-in of remain ing workers in thesu mm er. When the bu i ld ing i s

completed, the entire Von

By Pam RogersMissile Defense AgencyPublic Affairs Office

Delta Diablos show off their Raider pride at the McAfee Coliseum during a recent Oakland game against the Denver Broncos. The Raiders won 34-20.

Photo by unknown Raiders fan

One nation … Raider nationBy Staff Sgt. Jason AvilaUnit Reporter

CAMP ROBERTS, Calif. – Early on aS u n d a y m o r n i n g, 1 s t a n d 3 r d s q u a d o f Delta Compa ny met u p here for a two an da ha l f hour r ide nor th to the OaklandColiseum. The 12 Delta Diablos, eventhose not a part of the Raider Nation, weredecked out in si lver and black. In a convoytha t s ta r ted with two vehic les , the groupheaded up Highway 101 . With ea ch c i typassed, a new vehicle joined the Raiderconvoy. In the 30 degree wea ther a ndwith windows down, each vehicle had i tsown mu sic b las t ing , ramping up th ea tm osphere in prepara t ion for the par tydr ivers a nd occupa nts were about to jo in .As th e group pu lled off the 65th Street exit

with the Coliseum on their r ight , al l thatcould be seen was a s ea of Black .

Pull ing into the parking lot , a bannerread ing “65th Street MOB Raider Nation”was immediately seen. Driving throughthe pa rk ing lo t more of the sa me waseverywhere. People were gett ing into theircos tumes , pa in t ing the i r faces , ge tt ing thegril ls going and thr owing footba lls a roun d.Although the Raiders were si t t ing at 3-8, i twas eas y to te ll tha t d idn’t pha se d iehardRaider fans .

And th i s wasn’t jus t a ny game, th i s wasa division rival . This was Mike Shanahan,an d th is was a Denver “Pony” (Broncos)team tha t the Raiders had not bea t int h r e e y e a r s .

Regardless of the records, one knew thiswas going to be a s treet f ight . Walking

through the d i ffe ren t a reas of the pa rk inglot it was h ard t o tel l tha t mos t people weres t rangers to one another. Once oneente red the ga tes , as long as a persondidn’t lose his mind or wear t he opposingteam ’s colors, a l l were cons idered fam ily.Everyone was welcome to eat , drink andparty with everyone else throughout thepark .

Anyone cou ld expect to ta lk to, high five,even hug at least four t imes before gett ingto h i s o r her des i red des t ina t ion .

The game d id no t s ta r t u n t i l 1 :30 p .m. ,and with th e ta i lga te par ty s ta r t ing a t 8a.m . , i t was expected tha t al l would be t iredby the t ime they en te red the s tad ium . Butas fans walked through the ga tes , a rucku scould be heard as one “genius” thought i twould be a good idea to wear a J ohn Elway

jersey an d h ad to deal with jeering fromthe fans , a nd even f rom h is own

wife, as she denied any relat ionto h im.The 12 Diablos had sea ts

about four rows f rom thes tad ium l igh ts in the South EndZone, also known as The Black Hole. If an yone ha d a voice aftertailgating, it was definitely goneby the end of the f ir s t qu ar te rwith the score locked at sevenapiece . In the second quar te rthe Col i seum erupted as thenumber one overall draft pick stepp ed foot on the field for thefirst t ime. You could hear theexcitement of a promisingfu ture as JaMarcus Russe l l h i tJ e r ry Por te r for a 16-yard s t r ikeon h is fi r s t pass a s aprofessional football player.

At h alf- t ime with th e Raidersup 14-7, th e few “Pony” fans th atmad e an appeara nce d i sp layedthe i r d i sappoin tm ent , fea r a ndshame. When the game c lock hit double zero the count was34-20 Raiders, bu t the Diabloscoun ted th e points differently …nose b leed sea ts $40 , gas $8 0 ,losing your voice … priceless!

US Army: Jan

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