VETTEDSEPTEMBER 2010

VIGILANTAn 18th MP Bde. Vietnam War vet keeps the legacy alive

(FOR)EVER

War Dogs: Unsung Heroes

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{Handlers share what makestheir battle buddies so special

of theCowboy

OURFIRSTISSUEEVER

The

RETURN

Nation’sTriathlon

The

TATTOOConvention comesto Baltimore area:

Military Inkmakes a strongshowing duringcompetition

CONTENTSVETTED MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2010

14

6

12

FEATURES

Dog handlers explain why military working dogs, technically classified as equipment by the miltary, are

often unsung heroes in the Global War on Terror.

6 War Dogs

12 The Return ofthe Cowboy

A quick look at the J Bar W Ranch’s annual Battle of the Beast 2010 rodeo competition and the quiet return of an

American pastime.

14 (For)Ever VigilantAfter a chance meeting with an 18th Military Police

Brigade soldier, retired Master Sgt. Cody Turpin reflects on the two tours in Vietnam and the MP brigade that

made him the man he is today.

NEWS4 Nation’s Triathlon

Servicemembers and civilians will be competing in a triathlon in front of a backdrop of some of the nation’s

most enduring monuments to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

ON THE COVER: Cody Turpin walks down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. , Aug. 21. The memorial

was the site of numerous protests during the Vietnam War. Turpin wears his custom Vietnam veteran ball cap as a display of pride in the

brigade he served under during his two tours in Vietnam.

STAFFEditor.........................................

Motivatior................................

Everything Advisor...................

Inspiration................................

Adrienne Killingsworth

Lana Killingsworth

Chris Kutlesa

Antoine Dodson

From the

Editor

Dear Readers,As I reflect on this first issue of the magazine and all of

the hard work that went into making it a reality, I can’t help but think about the journey I have gone on to get to this point in my profession.

I embarked on my career in the Army with an unwavering passion for what I was doing and the stories

I would be telling. I’ve always said that I have the best job in the Army, and--more importantly-- I’ve always believed it. I’m doing what I love for the people I love. The Soldiers’ (yes, with a capital “S”) stories that I get to tell on a daily basis mean more to mean than anything else I’ve ever done. It is with a desire to improve my ability to tell these stories that I asked my unit to send me to the IPC course here at DINFOS.

I’ll admit that after the first day of class I was pretty intimidated by the skill and experience of my classmates. I viewed the course as a competition instead of a learning experience--it would be the first of many mistakes I would make during my time here.

The course quickly humbled me, as I suppose it’s intended to do. But, it also showed me on a daily basis that I was capable of so much more than I had thought. I soon realized what the instructors had tried to explain from the first day: it isn’t about how nice I can make something look or what my grade is ... it’s about how well I can tell the story.

I soon found myself back in the mindset that I was when I first joined the Army. It became about telling the stories again. It wasn’t about being better than anyone else or winning awards. I found myself really wanting to make sure that the story that I thought was important became important to everyone else. I wanted to show the caring that went into each piece.

While I may not be the best photographer or the best writer in the class, I can honestly say that I am the best photographer and writer I’ve ever been ... and that means so much to me.

As soon as I stopped competing and started allowing myself to really soak up the information and the tools that were being given to me, I felt my work start to open up and change. It’s too easy sometimes to stick with what’s comfortable and what you think works for you. Once I stopped thinking that I knew what worked best, I finally started to not just learn, but grow.

I feel like I’ll be able to take a lot of what I learned here and apply it to stories and projects at my shop. I know that I will see the world a little differently from now on and it will make me more versatile and well-rounded as a public affairs specialist and will allow me to better mentor and coach Soldiers in the future.

I’m looking forward to getting back to my unit and breathing some new life into our products and the stories we tell. I’m excited to see how I can continue to expand on the skills I’ve learned here and to refine my techniques. Really, I’m just ... excited, and it’s nice to be able to say that again. I hope you enjoy this magazine as much as I enjoyed making it.

Adrienne Killingsworth

TRAINING FOR TROOPS

Damone Brown, a former U.S. Army special forces soldier, trains at Ft. Meade, Md. for the Nation’s Triathlon to Benefit Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which is scheduled for Sept. 12. Brown will be participating in the Military Challenge competition within the triathlon, competing for friends he’s lost.

NEWS

VETTED 5

The Nation’s Triathlon

or the third consecutive year, the University of Maryland University College is sponsoring the Military Challenge during the 5th Annual Nation’s Triathlon to Benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, scheduled for Sept. 12 in Washington, D.C.

This year, to better accomodate veterans returning from Iraq, the program’s organizers of the Military Challenge extended the registration date for military members.

The military competition is open to all active-duty and and veteran servicemembers and there are currently more than 500 military members signed up to participate this year.

Jennifer Devlin, the event coordinator, said, “We are really honored by the participation of so many of our top military triathletes.”

The race is conducted against a backdrop of some of the capital’s most famous monuments and settings.

Participants will swim 1.5 km in the Potomac River, bike 40 km throughdowntown D.C., and run 10 km, passing the White House, National Mall and the Washington Monument to finish at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street.

Military members can participate individually or as teams.The top finishers in the Military Challenge will be recognized at a ceremony following the race.

“I’m running for guys that I’ve lost,” said Damone Brown, a former special forces soldier who will be participating in his first triathlon at the Nation’s Triathlon.

There will be booths with food, refreshments and entertainment for spectators.

Brown said making sure to register early is key for those thinking about competing in next year’s event. Registration for next year’s race will open in December 2010.

F

Staff Sgt. Graves, a dog handler with the 241st Military Police Detach-ment, gives his partner, Bobo, some affection while on patrol.

WarDogs

A look into the lives of the unsung heroes in the Global War on Terror

BY SGT. ADRIENNE KILLINGSWORTH

gate creaks open. It’s faint, but it’s enough. The dogs hear it and respond in force. Baying, barking, whining—the

sounds collide, bounce off each other and echo off of the walll.This a typical morning in the kennels. But these are not

typical dogs. They risk their lives and serve their country.Almost immediately, amid all the noise, their distinct

characters begin to emerge. One dog lays quietly at his door, his head resting on his

paws, seemingly unaware or just completely uninterested in the noise and chaos around him. Another runs in circles, barking with excitement. An especially mean-looking Malinois jumps against the fence and pushes his body against it, as if he’s trying to break through.

Just as there are a number of different types of military working dogs—patrol explosive detection dogs (PEDD), specialized search dogs (SSD), combat tracker canines (CTC)—there are various distinct personalities that come with those dogs. They each function under an individual set of traits that allow the dogs to operate in a high-stress environment.

“He looks a lot meaner than he is,” says Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua Fehringer, a dog handler with 11th Security Forces Squadron, about the dangerous-looking Malinois. “Watch. He just wants some love.” Fehringer puts his hand through

A

VETTED 6

LIFE

WORKING DOGSMWDs in a garrison

environment work to supplement security and law enforcement opera-tions while also training on the skills they will need during deployment to combat zones.(1) Air Force Staff Sgt.

Gaines trains with MWD Timi on his bite work. (2) Army Staff Sgt. Charles Graves shows a photo of Udi’s first big find in Iraq--a suicide vest that was hidden behind a false wall in an Iraqi home. (3) Timi does some of his daily training at the obstacle course behind the kennels at Bolling Air Force Base in Washing-ton, D.C. (4) UU2 enjoys her reward after properly responding to the com-mands of her handler.

1

3

4

2

{ @vetted.comPORTRAITSOF WORKINGDOGS.

VETTED 8

LIFE

“THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM AND US IS THAT THEY DON’T KNOW

THAT WHAT THEY’RE DOING IS DANGEROUS”he is instructed to do his job or not, he is always working, always searching.

Their convoy was coming back from a mission at the time. They were stopped on the side of the road so the soldiers could relieve themselves.

One soldiers walked over to a bush and Udi followed. Immediately Udi started to pace back and forth. Graves watched him; he looked like he was working on a scent. Then Udi sat right next to where the soldier was standing. That was Udi’s indicator that he’d found something.

“Don’t move.” Graves told the soldier.Udi had walked right around a trip

wire and found an improvised explosive device just feet from where the soldier was standing. It had a remote device.

Fortunately, whoever had planted the device wasn’t around to detonate it.

Graves remembers the look on the soldier’s face when he’d realized how close he came to death, he says. But, his reaction after the fact was what really impacted Graves.

Graves says the soldier just kept repeating over and over, “That dog saved my life. That dog saved my life.”

Every single morning after that—for the next six months—that soldier stopped by Graves’ room and brought a treat for Udi. It was a simple gesture of appreciation.

For a military working dog—a dog who does his job out of an eagerness to please—a daily treat was more than he expected or wanted, Graves says.

“It was acknowledgement, and that’s all he wants,” Graves said. “After all,” he continues, with a smirk, “he’s only human.”

On the surface these dogs may appear ordinary—they bark and howl just like any other dog—but they prove daily that they are so much more. They are war dogs.

the fence and rubs the dog’s neck. The dog pushes harder. He wants more. The Malinois is named Ivan and he works for affection. No matter how much of it he gets or how often, his appetite for pats and rubs is never-ending, Fehringer says.

Military working dogs are highly- trained to operate under extremely dangerous conditions. Whether they are deployed and sniffing for explosives,

tracking down high-value targets, or patrolling military posts, the threat of danger is always looming. “But the difference between them and us is that they don’t know that what they’re doing is dangerous,” said Army Staff Sgt. Charles Graves, a dog handler with 241st Military Police Detachment at Fort Meade, Md. Graves deployed four times with his SSD, Udi. “They do it because we ask them to and they want to make us happy. They want that

reward.”For dogs like Ivan, the reward is

affection from his handler. For other dogs, like Timmy, a german shepherd PEDD, he seems to genuinely enjoy the work. “If he isn’t training or working, he’s restless. He never runs out of energy,” says his handler, Air Force Staff Sgt. Brandon Gaines. Air Force Tech Sgt. Timothy Evans, Timmy’s previous handler and the noncommissioned officer in charge of the kennels on Bolling Air Force Base, Washington D.C., says Timmy has always worked at a high pace. “We were out on patrols almost every day when we were deployed. We would be out for days at a time,” Evans recalled, noting how Timmy’s energy and eagerness to work were constantly on display.

“We were attached to an Army cavalry unit and they loved it because they didn’t have to flip coins anymore to see who was going to be the point man. It was always me and Timmy,” Evans says. Fehringer chimes in, summing up the handlers’ opinion of Timmy. “Timmy is our rock star war hero around here,” he says.

Military working dogs like Ivan, Timmy and Udi may technically be classified as equipment, but to the men and women who work with them and whose lives they

save every day, they are so much more than that. They are, in fact, heroes.

What makes them unique, their handlers say, is that their actions are based solely on training. They are not making conscious decisions; they are just reacting to an immediate situation, epitomizing the highest level of military training.

Graves remembers a moment with Udi in Iraq when Udi showed how, whether

Spotlight

COMBAT SUPPORT

VETTED 9

Dogs have been used by people to help protect themselves and their property since ancient times. Trained dogs have

been used by most of the world’s military forces since the first military units were organized.

From these ancient beginnings, the MWD’s training has been continuously refined to produce a highly sophisticated and versatile extension of the soldier’s own senses. Even the most complex machines remain unable to duplicate the operational effectiveness of a properly trained MWD.

The MWD team’s specialized capabilities make it one of the most effective tools available to the commander for combat support, security, and law enforcement.

In combat support operations, patrol dog teams are used to enhance the detection capabilities of the combat support force, and to provide a psychological deterrent to hostile intrusions. In a hostile environment, a dog’s response will, in many cases, provide the initial warning to the presence of a hostile force.

MWD teams often provided warning of attacks early enough to allow RFs time to deploy into advantageous positions and prevent enemy forces from reaching their objectives. MWD teams also have helped to clear protected areas of hostile persons, explosives, and weapons after attacks.

Patrol dog teams used with reconnaissance patrols during daylight or darkness help by detectingw enemy presence,helping the patrol to avoid discovery, and locating enemy outposts.*

* Department of the Army Pamphlet 190–12

APPRECIATION

Staff Sgt. Charles Graves gives his dog, Bobo, a hug while on patrol Aug. 23, 2010 at Ft. Meade, Md. Due to the dangerous nature of their job, the bond between handler and dog is especially close.

VETTED 10

“AFTER ALL,he’s onlyhuman”

LIFE

COWBOY DOWN

Spectators and fellow riders look on as Justin Shue is thrown from a bull during the Battle of the Beast rodeo at J Bar W Ranch in Union Bridge, Md. Aug. 7. Hundreds of spectators come out to J Bar W during the summer series to enjoy this American pasttime.

VETTED 12

Battleof 2 0 1 0Beastthe

SPORTS

EVER(for)

vigilant

HISTORYCracks and scrathes mark the other-

wise well-kept military police helemet. Cody Turpin wore during his two tours

in Vietnam from 1969-1970.

FACES

CODY TURPINvolunteered for the Vietnam War

and was assigned to the

18th MILITARY POLICE BRIGADE.

M ore than forty years later, Turpin still reveres the two tours he spent in Vietnam and the ‘Ever Vigilant’ brigade that shaped the man he would become. After a chance encounter with

Sgt. Adrienne Killingsworth, a current Ever Vigilant soldier, Turpin proves that the legacy of the brigade is

alive and well in its Vietnam vets.

VETTED 15

In 1968, at 20 years old,

VETTED 16

W hen I ran into Cody Turpin in the halls of the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Md., I didn’t have the slightest inclination to start a conversation with him. I’m a soldier and he’s a civilian. As far as I knew—and as harsh as it might sound—he was just another overpaid paper-pusher roaming the halls on an extended coffee break.

But, when Turpin spotted me, the first thing he did was tap the 18th Military Police Brigade patch on my sleeve and say, “Hey! You’re wearing my patch!” I smiled instantly.

It has been almost 40 years since Turpin wore the patch, but the two tours he spent in Vietnam with the brigade meant that the brigade became a part of who he was. It was still his patch all these years later. But, it is also our patch—we have an immediate bond.

Some of the best memories of his life were with the 18th MP Brigade, he says.

But, as he pauses and mulls over the memories that seem to make their way in from the recesses of his mind, I start to think that maybe some of the worst were too.

Turpin doesn’t talk about those memories, though. I get the

VETTED 17

FACES

LEGACY

Cody Turpin is still impacted by the time he spent as an MP in Vietnam

with the 18th MP Brigade. His time as an MP shaped him as a person, he says.

sense that he’s just happy to have another “Ever Vigilant” soldier by his side again. “I can’t remember the last time anyone asked me about Vietnam,” he says. “It’s nice to be able to talk about it. It’s bringing back lots of memories, a lot of feelings, a lot of emotions.”

Turpin and his fellow MPs patrolled the highways and rivers of Vietnam in much the same way that today’s MPs patrol the towns and roads of Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the lookout for roadside bombs and ambushes, they made sure

convoys of troops and supplies could travel safely through Vietnam.

Their legacy can be seen throughout the 18th Military Police Brigade. Vietnam campaign streamers hang proudly from unit colors, unit awards of superior service are proudly displayed on Soldiers’ dress uniforms and photos and plaques line the halls of companies all over Germany—a constant reminder of their accomplishments.

The brigade’s soldiers distinguished themselves time and again during the Vietnam War. Their legacy is what our Soldiers today have to uphold. Those are the shoes we fill during today’s wars. It is the bond we share.

Turpin is an Ever Vigilant soldier through-and-through. The unit patch he wore in Vietnam seems to have been driven into him further and further with every mile of highway he patrolled during his two tours. It defines so much of who he has become, he says.

Turpin’s ties to the brigade are brought up whenever he gets a chance. In his home, his MP helmet from Vietnam is on proud display by the front door. He wears his custom “18th MP Brigade Vietnam veteran” baseball cap to visit the Vietnam War Memorial. In his office cubicle, MP artwork and trinkets compete with family photos for space.

“I used to have an 18th MP Brigade sticker on my car, too,” Turpin says,

“but it got so worn I had to take it off.” Turpin gives credit to the

development of the man he is today to his experience in Vietnam. He says that who became had a lot to do with the men he served with and the experiences they shared.

The bonds Turpin experienced during his tours were something that he says he was never able to replicate.

He left the Army after his second tour in Vietnam and soon realized that he missed the bonds he’d built with his fellow MPs in combat. But, he couldn’t find it outside of the Army.

So, Turpin says he joined up again hoping to find it, hoping that he’d be able to experience it again. He never did. “The camaraderie that I experienced in Vietnam was one of the reasons why [I came back],” he says. “I had no intention of making the military a career—none whatsoever. But after I came home from Vietnam, the camaraderie that I missed was so intense. It had become so much a part of my life.”

Losing that camaraderie, Turpin says, “Was worse than going through the death of a loved one or a divorce, as far as missing something in your life.”

So when he sees the 18th MP Brigade patch now, he wants to reach out to the soldiers wearing it, he says. In that way, he continues to reaffirm his bond to the brigade, to the unit that helped make him who he is.

Turpin spent more than 20 years of service as an MP, eventually retiring as a master sergeant. Of all the brigades Turpin served under in his military career, the 18th MP Brigade shaped him as a person, he says. “I will always treasure that experience,” he says. He takes a quick pause and, in that moment, his gaze focuses on a time and a place far away from where we are. He looks at me, and before he can get the words out, I already know what he is about to say. It is a feeling I know we both share.

“It changed my life.” VETTED 18

SpotlightM P s i n V I E T N A M

“AFTER I CAME HOME FROM VITENAM, THE CAMARADERIE THAT I MISSED WAS SO INTENSE.IT HAD BECOME SO MUCH A PART OF MY LIFE.”

America's involvement in Southeast Asia brought about a significant expansion in military police responsibilities, underscoring new and varied uses for military police in a war without defined rear areas. In addition to their usual wartime functions, military police units served in a direct combat support role. They provided convoy security, often escorting supplies and equipment through districts subject to direct enemy attack. They controlled traffic throughout the four combat zones where front lines had ceased to exist in the usual sense of the word. They secured highways and bridges against both local subversives and North Vietnamese regulars. They joined combat troops in the hazardous task of locating and destroying enemy tunnels. They supervised the movement of refugees and the control of political detainees in a war where determining friends and enemies could be a deadly decision. Military police also became frontline fighters during the successful effort to repel the North Vietnamese during the Tet offensive in 1968.

This increase in responsibility was recognized organizationally by the expansion in the number of military police units in Vietnam and by their organization for command and control purposes under a military police brigade. The seven military police battalions that served in Vietnam were organized into three military police groups. These units in turn were organized under the 18th Military Police Brigade, the first military police unit of its level to be employed in the Army.*

* U.S.Army Center of Military History

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LOOKING BACK

Turpin pauses at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C. The

statue depicts three women tending to a wounded soldier-- the women are said to

represent Hope, Faith and Charity.

NOT FORGOTTENTurpin finds the name of a

friend on the wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The helmet of a North Vietnamese soldier sits on display in the home of retired U.S. Army Master Sgt. Cody Turpin.

MEMORIES

Intermediate Photojournalism Course

Strength Through Truth.

STRENGTH THROUGH TRUTH

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INFORMATION

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