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What’s Inside This Week’s Roll Up? 1-14 Infantry Battalion 2 0ctober 2009 Weekly Roll Up 1-14 IN BN M. Aloha Valverde Office:(808)655-1823 [email protected]
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Red Cross
October's Free Community Events (outside installation)
FRG Calendar
66TH ENG FRG meeting info
Sapper Gear For sale
Golf Scramble
On post Community events and fliers-
FMWR
ACS Classes
Operation Purple
EDGE program
Parents Night Out
Recipes For Success
25th Infantry Division/Task Force Lightning Media Roll Up's
Youth and Children Day
Single Soldier Dinner and Movie
BOSS Announcement- EO host's Latin Festival
Oct SIMS Newsletter
Youth and Children’s Day Event
What’s Inside This Week’s Roll Up?
1-14 Infantry Battalion 2 0ctober 2009
Weekly Roll Up
1-14 IN BN M. Aloha Valverde
Office:(808)655-1823 [email protected]
USAG-HI COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER
October 1, 2009
1. COMMUNITY
USAG-Oahu Commander LTC Richard Gledhill 438-0428 Schofield Bks Oahu North Community Director James Brown 655-8978 Deputy Community Director Mel Wright 655-1252 Fort Shafter Oahu South Community Director Mark Young 438-6996 Deputy Community Director Rosey Stone 438-6147
2. FAMILY AND MORALE, WELFARE AND RECREATION (FMWR) Rocktoberfest - Mark your calendars for Friday, 9 October. The Nehelani will be hosting Rocktoberfest! Come and enjoy German food, fun activities and a live band. The fun starts at 1600 at the Nehelani! Serving lines will be open from 1630-2030. Look for more information to come regarding where you can get your ticket to this event. Call 655-4466/0660. Waikiki Express - Your FREE personal chauffeur travels now on pay day Fridays! The bus will travel 16 and 31 October, 2100-0400 both days. The bus picks up on Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter and takes you down to play in Waikiki, hassle-free. Play all night long and leave the driving to us. Tickets are free, but you must have a ticket to ride. Tickets are available at both Information, Ticketing and Registration (ITR) offices. Call 655-9971/438-1985. Library Programs - The libraries have tons of fun on tap for you during October! Enjoy episodes of various hit anime and swap old manga for new to you titles on 16 Oct, 1800-2000 at SGT Yano Library. Participate in Banned Books Week through 10 October or the Teen Read Week program 18-24 October. Also enjoy the Young Readers Book Club on 1 and 15 Oct at 1730 both days, or weekly preschool story times and afterschool activities scheduled throughout the month. Call 655-8001. Tropics Entertainment - Tons of entertainment options are available this month at the Tropics Recreation Center, Schofield Barracks. Family Fun Fridays take place on 2 and 16 October. As always, enjoy free Papa John’s pizza, fun and games, and tons more! Don’t forget karaoke Tuesdays every week, the Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament on 15 October and the Sand Volleyball Series on 24 October. Call 655-5698. Outdoor Adventures - Join us for a ton of fun-in-the-sun adventures throughout October. Enjoy a free Fishing 101 class on 7 October or a shoreline fishing excursion on 9 October. Explore the island with a hike on 10 October or kayaking on 11 October. Try your hand at the Evening Surf Patrol on 15 October or the Ocean Splash Camp on 17 October. Enjoy a snorkeling adventure on 24 October or a biking adventure on 25 October. Not enough? Go surfing again on 29 or 31 October. Whatever your outdoor interest, we’ve got you covered all month long! Call 655-0143. Arts & Crafts - Have you visited the Schofield Barracks Arts and Crafts Center lately? If not, you don’t know what you’re missing! In the month of October, you could learn how to paint, draw, or take up scrapbooking. Maybe you’ve always been curious about pottery and want to try painting some ceramics or even wheel-throwing. Sewing and quilting are also always available. If you need to keep
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the kids busy, stop by for our keiki art classes or mom and tot / toddler art sessions. All of these programs are available on a weekly basis. Call 655-4202. Big R: Countdown to Redeployment - Celebrate another month of deployment complete with your Blue Star Card Ohana on Tuesday, 20 October, 1800-2000, at the Nehelani. We will be experiencing the local culture by learning some of the vibrant and exuberant moves of Tahitian dance. Join us to learn how to “shake it” like the luau performers and also learn the difference between Tahitian and traditional hula movements. Light pupus and childcare will be provided but spaces are limited. To register to attend this event or to reserve childcare, please call 656-3327 or email [email protected] by 14 October. Halloween Happenings - All princesses, zombies, fairies, ghosts, and other fabulous creatures are invited to a Costume Party at SGT Yano Library. Bring your cameras for photo opportunities in the Pumpkin Patch and be prepared to be scared in the Mad Scientist’s Haunted House. Hope to see you all on Wed, 28 October, between 1500 and 1600. Blue Star Card holders can stop by for a special fall photo frame! For more information or to let us know you are coming, please call 656-3327 or email [email protected] by 23 October. The SGT Yano Library Haunted House will be open this year from 1700-1800, Mon, 26 October through Thurs, 29 October and is free and open to all ages, especially children. NEW BLUE STAR CARD BENEFIT
Blue Star Card holders now receive special discounts at the Hale Koa Hotel. Spouses with a valid Blue Star Card will receive a 10% discount on dining and entertainment at the following: Koko Café, Bibas, Hale Koa Room Restaurant, Sunday Brunch, and tickets purchased for weekly shows booked directly through the Hale Koa Activities Desk. Reservations must be made directly through the Hale Koa Activities Desk by calling 808-955-0555, ext 546. This discount does not include alcoholic beverages and is not combinable with any other offers or discounts. Blue Star Card holders now receive a 10% discount on the Hawaiian Luau at the Sunset Café at the Pililaau Army Recreation Center. Enjoy the opportunity to experience old Hawaii every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month. Dinner begins at 1800 and the show begins at 1830. For questions or reservations for a party of four or more, please call 696-4158. Blue Star Card holders have two new special Papa John’s discounts! Blue Star Card holders have their choice of one large 3-topping or specialty pizza for $14.99, or two large 2-topping pizzas for only $23.99! This special Blue Star Card discount may not be combined with any other offer and a valid Blue Star Card must be shown at the time of purchase. This offer is valid at any Papa John’s location throughout Oahu.
Blue Star Card Program Information:
Blue Star Card is on Facebook! - Are you a Facebook fanatic? So are we! Become a fan of FMWR Hawaii and join the Blue Star Card Group Page! Stay current on all of the upcoming Blue Star Card Special Events and Activities, RSVP online to attend events, view event photos, and tag your friends with special Blue Star Card stickers. Find us and friend us today!
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Health and Fitness Center STACC Site Information - The STACC site for the Health and Fitness Center will remain free for valid Blue Star Card Holders, Mon-Fri, 0800-1100, at the Kaala Community Activities Center, Bldg. 556. Registration is required. For more information, please call 655-8313. Deploying Units - FMWR is available to come to your pre-deployment FRG meetings to explain the benefits of the Blue Star Card program and to answer questions. Please call 656-3327 for more information or to set up a meeting. Still Need a Blue Star Card? - The Blue Star Card is a FMWR deployment discount card for spouses of deployed Soldiers. The card offers spouses discounts at FMWR facilities, activities, and special events. Blue Star Cards are valid throughout the entire deployment. For a full list of Blue Star benefits, visit the website at www.bluestarcardhawaii.com. Blue Star Card Email List - Are you a Blue Star Card holder but not receiving FMWR email updates? If so, please email [email protected] so we can register your email address for Blue Star Card updates. FMWR Deployment Program Information - If you have any questions, comments, or feedback regarding the Blue Star Card program and FMWR deployment programs, please contact Sarah Chadwick at 656-3327 or email [email protected]. Blue Star Card Holders are also encouraged to visit www.bluestarcardhawaii.com for all the latest updates and events. 3. ARMY COMMUNITY SERVICE (ACS) Mobilization and Deployment - Army Community Service, Tripler Army Medical Center and the Chaplains have teamed up to a form Family Strong Series. This is a collaborative effort between the three agencies to provide a wide variety of resources to address challenges at all stages of deployment. To view available classes and workshops, go to the ACS webpage on the MWR website at www.mwrarmyhawaii.com, select ACS, then welcome. Classes can be coordinated through your Family Readiness Support Assistant or Chain of Command. FAMILY ADVOCACY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Are you stressed out? Could you use some creative ways to manage your anger? Join us to learn basic information for designing a personalized stress management program. To register, call 655-0596. Date: 8 October Time: 1300-1430 Place: AMR Community Center (CC) Date: 8 October Time: 1500-1630 Place: Army Community Service (ACS), SB Anger Management - Get the tools to resolve anger in a healthy way. The Family Advocacy Prevention team offers Anger Management classes to help Army Families manage anger. To register,
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call 655-0596. Date: 15 October Time: 1500-1630 Place: Army Community Service (ACS), SB Date: 15 October Time: 1300-1430 Place: AMR Community Center (CC) Couples Communication - Provides couples with effective communication skills that can help improve relationships and break down barriers. For registration, call 655-0596. Date: 22 October Time: 1500-1630 Place: Army Community Service (ACS), SB Date: 22 October Time: 1300-1430 Place: AMR Community Center (CC) Daddy Boot Camp - This class offers hands-on training so new dads can be confident and effective parents. To register, call 655-0596. Date: 17 October Time: 0900-1200 Place: Army Community Center (ACS), SB Potty Training Your Toddler Classes - Learn all you can about potty training your child including the signs that your child is ready and how to start. To register, call 655-0596. Date: 1 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: AMR Community Center Date: 2 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: Army Community Services, (ACS), SB Active Parenting - FAP continues to offer active parenting; however, we have switched to a new curriculum titled 1-2-3 Magic, Managing Difficult Behavior in Children 2-12. 1-2-3 Magic, an internationally acclaimed program on child discipline, will be presented by FAP every 1st and 3rd Monday at Schofield’s ACS from 0900-1100, and every 2nd and 4th Monday at the AMR Community Center from 0900-1100. The program, developed by Thomas W. Phelan, Ph.D, offers a humorous look at parenting, with a serious look at discipline. Please call Regina Peirce at 655-0596. Ages and Stages of Infant and Child Development - Learning about normal child development will help you understand how to care for and encourage your young child. To register, call 655-0596.
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Date: 20 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: Army Community Service, ACS, SB Baby Massage I, II, III - Babies are intuitive and their sense of touch is highly developed. Baby massage is a great activity to increase the bonding between a baby and parents. The time spent massaging your baby greatly increases communication and helps you to understand your baby’s moods, needs, desires and expressions. In addition to increased bonding, there are many health benefits for your baby. Baby Massage is a three part consecutive series that is offered every month, so if a parent misses a class they can catch it in our other location or just wait until the following month. Babies should be between 4 and 8 months old. To register, call 655-4227. Dates: 2 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: Army Community Service (ACS), Bldg 2091, SB Dates: 7 October Time: 1400-1600 Place: AMR Community Center (CC) NEW PARENT SUPPORT PROGRAM (NPSP) The NPSP continues its mission to engage Army parents of every newborn at TAMC hospital. TAMC’s OBGYN department assists the NPSP in this mission with weekly referrals. NPSP also meets with post-partum and NICU staff at TAMC to provide weekly follow-up with Families. Resource Workshop - NPSP has a Resource Workshop available to all parents. The workshop provides important information on the Nurturing Parent curriculum, resources available in the community, and short videos on preventing shaken baby syndrome and basic newborn care. Call 655-4227. Date: 21 October Time: 1400-1600 Place: AMR Community Center, Bldg 1788 Date: 22 October Time: 1400-1600 Place: SGT Yano Library, Bldg 560, SB Newborn Care I and II - Taking care of a newborn for the first time can be scary for any parent. Come learn the basics of newborn care and make the early months special for you and your baby. Newborn care provides tips about everything from holding your baby, to diapering and bathing. This class is a two part series that is offered every month, so if a parent misses a class they can catch it in our other location or just wait until the following month. To register, call 655-4227. Class #1 Date: 5 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: SGT Yano Library, Bldg 560, SB
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Date: 6 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: AMR Community Center, Bldg 1788 Class #2 Date: 13 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: AMR Community Center, Bldg 1788 Date: 15 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: SB Library Breast Feeding Basics - Breast feeding should be one of the most natural things in the world, but for many moms breastfeeding can be frustrating. Join our breast feeding basics class to learn about getting started with breastfeeding, overcoming challenges, and the importance of breastfeeding for your baby. Call 655-4227. Date: 19 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: SGT Yano Library, Bldg 560, SB Date: 20 October Time: 0900-1100 Place: AMR Community Center, Bldg 1788 EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY MEMBER PROGRAM (EFMP) Autism Support Groups - ACS EFMP continues to partner with the Community Chaplains and the Children’s Community Council to offer Autism Support Groups. The groups provide Families an opportunity to share experiences, gather new information, and become knowledgeable about community resources. On-site child care will be available but children must be registered with CYSS STACC and sign up is required. Contact ACS EFMP at 655-4791 or 655-1551 for more information or child care reservations. Date: 6 October Time: 1800-2000 Place: AMR Chapel Date: 14 October Time: 1800-2000 Place: SB Main Post Chapel SHARE Support Group ACS EFMP has started a SHARE Support Group for EFMP Families. The groups will provide Families with an opportunity to share experiences, gather new information and become more knowledgeable about community resources. Onsite child care will be available but children must be registered with
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CYSS STACC and sign up is required. Contact ACS EFMP at 655-4791 or 655-1551 for more information or child care reservations. Date: 20 October Time: 1800-2000 Place: AMR Chapel Date: 28 October Time: 1800-2000 Place: SB Main Post Chapel Army Family Action Plan (AFAP) ALL ABOARD!!!! AFAP 2010, "Ride the Train of Change". That's right, get on-board with your quality-of-life issues. Submit your AFAP issue for the 2010 Installation Conference today. 2010 AFAP conference dates are 26-28 Jan 2010 at the Nehelani Conference & Banquet Center, Schofield Barracks. Issue submission can be made on-line at www.mwrarmyhawaii.com, via fax at (808) 655-1654 or at the Schofield Barracks ACS, 2091 Kolekole Ave and the TAMC ACS Satellite Center, 127A Krukowski Rd. For more information about this program, contact Michael Briglin at (808) 655-1696 or via email at [email protected]. Army Family Team Building (AFTB) Army life can be a jungle so let AFTB help you navigate through the rough terrain. Whether you are new to Army or have been around awhile, we have something for everyone. We even have opportunities for you to become a part of the AFTB team as a volunteer! AFTB Level I, “Welcome to the Jungle!” will be held on 7-8 October at the NCO Academy 0900-1230. This class is the beginning of the journey through the jungle and will assist you in obtaining the skills necessary to navigate your way. Level I will discuss expectations and impact of the Army lifestyle, acronyms, introduction to Family Readiness Groups, and Community Resources to name a few classes. AFTB Level III, “King/Queen of the Jungle!” will be held 19-21 October at Army Community Service, Schofield Barracks from 0900-1230 on each day. This class is designed to sharpen your survival skills and master your military environment enabling you to become an effective leader in any domain. Free childcare is offered for these classes. Call 655-4227 for more information. Money Matters Breaking the Financial Bonds provides couples with ways to financially navigate divorce. Topics include marital real estate, investing, retirement and tax issues. The class will be held on 28 October, 0900-1030, at the Schofield Barracks Army Community Service. Call 655-4227 for more information. Checkbook Maintenance: Obtain information about opening and maintaining a checking account on 7 October, 0900-1030, at Schofield Barracks Army Community Service. Call 655-4227 for more information.
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Credit Management: Do you know what your credit score is? Learn how to use your credit wisely and how to improve your credit score on 14 October, 0900-1030, Schofield Barracks Army Community Service (ACS). Call 655-4227 for more information. First Term Financial Training: This course will provide you with basic financial skills, help you develop self reliance and personal responsibility, encourage financial planning, improve money management skills and enhance personal financial literacy. The course is available 5-26 October, 0830-1600, at the Schofield Barracks Army Community Service. Call 655-4227 for more information. Money Management: Learn the basic tools for financial success, develop a spending plan, reduce expenses and make your paycheck work for you. Classes are available on 7, 14, and 28 October, 1030-1200, Schofield Barracks Army Community Service. Call 655-4227. The Financial Readiness Program has one-on-one personal financial counseling available by appointment. Call 655-4227 to schedule your appointment today. Work and Careers - Employment Orientation: Kick start your job search in Hawaii! Get employment information on Federal, State, private sector and staffing agencies. See reference materials, job listings, computers, etc., that are available for use. Classes are available on 2, 9, and 23 October, 0900-1030, Schofield Barracks Army Community Service. Call 655-4227 to register today. Relocation Are you new to the island? Check out our free newcomers island tour that will take you around the island. The tour departs from Schofield Barracks ACS the 2nd and 4th Saturday at 0800 and from Fort Shafter Flats ACS the 3rd Wednesday at 0800 every month. Call 655-4227 or 438-4499 to get your boarding pass today! Are you interested in learning more about Hawaiian Culture? Then Umeke (vessel) Ka’eo (knowledge) is the class for you. Join this fun and interactive class and take away a new piece of knowledge to fill your vessel. The 8-week series is held every Wednesday from 1800-2000 at Schofield Barracks ACS. Join us for one class or participate in all 8. Children 6 and up are welcome to participate as well. Call 655-4227 to find out more information. Outreach Programs Are you interested in learning about community resources and tasting foods from around the world? Join us 8 October, 1730-2000, HMR Community Center or 22 October, 1730-2000, AMR Community Center and bring an authentic dish from your corner of the world. For more information, call 438-4499. First Term Financial Training. This course will provide you with basic financial skills, develop self reliance and personal responsibility, encourage financial planning, improve money management skills and enhance personal financial literacy. Classes will be held on 15 October, 0800-1530, Fort Shafter Flats Army Community Service, bldg 1599; 5 November, 0800-1500, TAMC Chapel; and 19 November, 0800-1530, Fort Shafter Flats Army Community Service, bldg 1599. Call 655-4227 for more information. Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Awareness classes are available upon request. Please call 655-4779 to request a class.
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4. ARMED SERVICES YMCA (Dela LaFleur, 624-5645) 1262 Santos Dumont Ave, WAAF Hours of Operation - Our office is open Monday through Friday from 0800-1400 and at other times by appointment. Father Daughter Ball - Join us for an evening of dinner and dancing at our 3rd Annual Father Daughter Ball on Saturday, 7 November, at the Nehelani Club on Schofield. Purchase your tickets early as seating is limited. Food Drives: 1 and 16 October at the Schofield Barracks Commissary 0900 until 1500 and 2 and 15 October at the Fort Shafter Exchange 0900 until 1500. We will be partnering with ACS to promote Domestic Violence Awareness Month while hosting our food drive. Please plan to come out and support us on these dates. All donations will go back into the community through our Food for Families program. Spookfest - Join us for Spookfest on Thursday, 29 October 1730-1900. This fall festival is created especially for children up to age 5 and their families. Come in costume and enjoy games, face painting, crafts and treats. Proceeds benefit the Playmorning program. The cost is $4 in advance, $6 at the door. The Children’s Waiting Room - Have you been putting off your medical appointment? We can help you with some of your childcare needs while you attend medical appointments on Schofield or Tripler. We have a Children’s Waiting Room available to provide onsite child care for healthy children while parents or siblings attend regular medical appointments at:
Tripler Hospital (808) 833-1185 for reservations
Schofield Clinics (808) 624-5645 for reservations
Monday 8-12 8-12 Tuesday 8-12 8-12 Wednesday 8-12 8-12 Thursday
8-12 8-12 Friday 8-12 8-12
Food for Families - Our emergency food locker is available to families who are experiencing financial difficulty and who could use some assistance. We generally have a supply of canned goods, frozen food, dry goods, and personal care items. We also gratefully accept donations of non-perishable items to replenish our food supply. Please call 624-5645 for information. Playmorning - This family interactive playgroup is designed for children up to age 5 and their parents or caregivers. No registration is required but there is a fee of $1 per child to help cover the cost of supplies. The program is offered at the following locations from 0900-1030:
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Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Wheeler ASYMCA
Helemano
Community Ctr &
Iroquois Point Elementary
School
Wheeler ASYMCA
& Iroquois Point
Elementary School
Helemano
Community Ctr &
Iroquois Point Elementary
School
Wheeler ASYMCA
Welcome Baby and Me - For babies under 12 months old and their parents. Babies will have the opportunity to exercise and develop their fine and large motor skills through play. Come join us Thursday mornings 0830-1030 at the Wheeler Armed Services YMCA. $1.00 fee per child. First visit is free!
5. JOINT SPOUSE CONFERENCE (JSC) - 2009 This year's Joint Spouse Conference will be held on 16 October at the Nehelani with workshops at various locations throughout Schofield Barracks. The theme for the Conference is Celebrate Unity & Friendship. Ms. Patti Shinseki will be guest speaker. Conference participants will have over 70 workshops to choose from. Free child care is available and transportation will be provided to all workshops. The $35.00 registration fee includes 3 meals and 6 workshop sessions. 6. UNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS (USO) Nicole Darity, Programs Manager, 836-3351 Volunteers are needed for Hickam USO and for the Deployment / Re-deployment Support Program. Please contact Elaine Ota at 448-9966 or email [email protected] for more information. The Airport USO continues to offer the Gate Pass Program in support of OIF / OEF. Family members are asked to arrive at the USO at least an hour prior to the flight they wish to meet to fill out proper paperwork. Command members are asked to send a complete listing to William Johnson ([email protected] ) at least one day prior to flight arrival. On 4 October the USO will have a booth at this year’s Children and Youth Day at the State Capital. Please plan on stopping by to see what activities are offered. USO Hawaii will participate in Jumpstart for Reading’s Read for the Record on Wednesday, 8 Oct. The book of choice this year is The Very Hungary Caterpillar. Please contact Nicole at [email protected] for participation or more details. For further information on USO Hawaii, please visit our website: www.uso.org/hawaii.
Would you like to be on the ASYMCA’s mailing list? If so, please e-mail [email protected] and ask to be added.
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7. TRIPLER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER (TAMC), JANET CLARK, 433-2809 Seasonal flu vaccinations for all TRICARE-enrolled beneficiaries have begun at the Schofield Barracks Health Clinic and the Tripler Army Medical Center. "The good news is that we received ample supplies of the seasonal flu vaccines early this year, in both the nasal spray and shot forms," said COL (Dr.) Michael Sigmon, chief of preventive medicine at Tripler. "Our first priority is active duty Soldiers, especially those who are deploying soon. But we've received enough supplies to begin vaccinating Army family members and military retirees earlier than we did last year," Sigmon said. All TRICARE beneficiaries empanelled (enrolled) at the Schofield Health Clinic can get vaccinated without appointments at its family practice, immunization and pediatric clinics during normal business hours. At Tripler, those 18 years and older can walk into the allergy and immunization clinic on Tuesdays 1300 - 1500 and Wednesdays and Fridays 0900 - 1130. Tripler pediatric and adolescent clinics are already vaccinating walk-ins. Beneficiaries are reminded to bring their military identification cards and immunization records for their vaccinations. More information is available from your primary care provider, the Oahu Joint Services Flu Hotline (433-1FLU) or the "Fight the Flu" web page on the Tripler website (www.tamc.amedd.army.mil). Sigmon, who chairs the Joint Public Health Emergency Working Group, said that the Air Force and Navy clinics on Oahu have also received their seasonal flu vaccine supplies and should be vaccinating all of their TRICARE beneficiaries soon. The Working Group annually coordinates the flu vaccination program for all the military services on Oahu. "Vaccinations are just one way to protect you and your loved ones," Sigmon said. "Frequent and thorough hand washing, proper cough etiquette, and staying at home until you have no fever for 24 hours are also very important, unless you're a health care worker. Then it should be seven days." More information is available at the DHHS and CDC websites: www.flu.gov and www.cdc.gov/flu. All TRICARE beneficiaries empanelled (enrolled) at the Schofield Health Clinic can get vaccinated without appointments at its family practice, immunization and pediatric clinics during normal business hours.
Military Shopping Centers Hickam BX Sat - 24 Oct 0900 - 1400 Pearl Harbor NEX Sat - 7 & 13 Nov 0900 - 1400 Kaneohe Bay MCX Sun - 15 Nov 0900 - 1400 Schofield PX Sat - 21 Nov 0900 - 1400 School Age Children’s (SAC) 2009-2010 Influenza Program The schedule for students K-8 enrolled in and who have returned consent forms to the school listed below. Parents should check with schools for the latest information.
Barbers Point Elementary 15 OCT 0730-1200
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People who should get a seasonal flu vaccination each year include: (from “Key Facts about Seasonal Influenza (Flu)” on CDC website: www.cdc.gov/flu:
1. Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday 2. Pregnant women 3. People 50 years of age and older 4. People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions 5. People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities 6. People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
a. Health care workers b. Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu c. Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age
(these children are too young to be vaccinated) What actions can I take to protect myself and my family against both seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu this year? (from “Questions & Answers about the 2009-2010 Flu Season” on CDC website: www.cdc.gov/flu. The CDC recommends a yearly seasonal flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against seasonal flu. While there are many different flu viruses, the seasonal flu vaccine protects against the three main seasonal flu strains that research indicates will cause the most illness during the flu season. The seasonal flu vaccine will not provide protection against the new H1N1 influenza;
Iroquois Elementary 22 OCT 0730-1200
Solomon Elementary 29 OCT 0800-1400
Pearl Harbor Kai 03 NOV 0930-1400
Navy Hale Keiki School 05 NOV 0800-1030
Shafter Elementary 09 NOV 0800-1130
Wheeler Elementary 12 NOV 0800-1200
Hickam Elementary 16 NOV 0800-1200
Wheeler Elementary 18 NOV 0800-1200
Hale Kula Elementary 19 NOV 0730-1400
Mokapu Elementary 19 NOV 0730-1200
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however, a 2009 H1N1 vaccine is currently in production and is expected to be ready for the public in the fall. The 2009 H1N1 vaccine is not intended to replace the seasonal flu vaccine – it is intended to be used along-side seasonal flu vaccine. In addition, there are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza. Take these everyday steps to protect your health: • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash
after you use it. • Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. If soap and
water are not available, an alcohol-based hand rub can be used. • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way. • Try to avoid close contact with sick people. • If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after
your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick.
Tripler Army Medical Center and Schofield Barracks Health Clinic: The Customers Relations Offices (Patient Advocates) serve as the point of contact for all compliments, suggestions and concerns regarding care and services. At Tripler, the CRO is located near the mountainside entrance, 4th floor, G wing. Hours are 0730 - 1600 Monday-Friday. For assistance, please walk in or contact the office via phone at 808-433-6336, or email [email protected]. Visit the Tripler home page located at www.tamc.amedd.army.mil for up-to-date hospital information and access to a variety of service links. 8. SCHEDULED EVENTS Oahu North 26 Jan 2010, 1830-1930, Post Conference Room (Lg Rm)
Town Hall
25 May 2010, 1830-1930, Post Conference Room (Lg Rm) 21 Sep 2010, 1830-1930, Post Conference Room (Lg Rm) 7 Dec 09, 1015-1115, Nehelani (following SIMS Meeting)
ONCD PX/Commissary/Nehelani Advisory Council:
Oahu South
7 Oct 09, 1830-1930, Wednesday, AMR Chapel Town Hall
14 Oct 09, 1000-1100, Wednesday, Bldg 1599, Conference Rm #115, Fort Shafter Flats Fort Shafter PXMarket/ Council Meeting
9. NEWSLETTER AND MEETING INFORMATION Website: The Newsletter is also available on the Division Website at www.25idl.army.mil. Spouse Information Meeting POC: Ms. Linda Keller at [email protected]. Email Article Submissions by the 3rd Friday of Every Month to: [email protected].
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Next SIMS North Meeting: 5 Oct 09, 0900, Nehelani. Please send any related concerns/changes to SGT Ryan McCarty at [email protected]. Next SIMS South Meeting: 7 Oct 09, 0900, Hale Ikena, Fort Shafter. Please send any related concerns/changes to Leighton Siu at [email protected].
AMERCIAN RED CROSS RESPONSE TO SAMOAN EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI
9/30/09
Following yesterday’s 8.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting Tsunami, a significant portion of American Samoa is without power or water amid widespread damage. The American Red Cross has dozens of volunteers already providing food and supplies in affected areas. A leadership team of 50 volunteers is on its way to the island to supplement the local Red Cross workforce. The Red Cross priorities include:
• Provide food, water and needed supplies. The Red Cross has a warehouse on the island stocking cots, flashlights, cooking supplies and clean-up supplies, and we will be sending in additional supplies as quickly as we can.
• Provide communication – If you have been in contact with loved ones on American Samoa, the best way to share information about their well-being is to register them with Safe and Well. (Note: Safe and Well only works on American Samoa – it does not work on Western Samoa.)
You can register on the Red Cross Safe and Well Website at www.redcross.org
. For those that do not have internet access, call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to register your loved ones. Follow the prompts for disaster information. The information you post on the Safe and Well Website will let other loved ones know about the well-being of those on the island. Concerned family members who know the person’s phone number (home, cell or work) or a complete home address can search for messages posted about their loved ones. Following tips may be helpful in reaching family members:
• Telephone lines may be overloaded; try to call at off-peak hours. Phone service on the island is intermittent and may remain so for some time.
• If the sought person has a cell phone, send a text message, as they often go
through when phone calls do not.
• Contact other people who may have already been in contact with the sought person. Consider calling that person’s neighbors, employer, co-worker, school, or place of worship.
• Try sending the sought person an email or, if they are active on social
networking sites, they might check their Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace page.
• If your loved ones have pre-existing health or mental conditions listed
below, you may reach the Red Cross Response Center to open an Emergency Welfare Information Request by calling 1-866-438-4636.
o Diabetes o Recent heart attack/stroke o Oxygen dependence o Visual impairment o Wheelchair bound/paralyzed/bedridden o Broken limbs o Dialysis dependent o Severe depression, bi-polar disorder, dementia, Alzheimer’s o Any physical or mental health issue that affects mobility.
American Samoa, a U.S. territory, and the independent country of Western Samoa make up the Samoan group of islands in the center of the area known as Polynesia. American Samoa is made up of seven islands located 2,300 miles southwest of Hawaii. About 120 miles away in Western Samoa, our sister Samoa Red Cross Society is mounting a strong disaster response to the damage caused by the tsunami. As of Wednesday morning EDT, officials in Samoa estimate that 60 villages and 15,000 people have been affected by this disaster. Tremors continue to shake the country, and tsunami alarms are still sounding. Initial reports from the Samoa Red Cross say the situation is very bad and many homes have been destroyed. About 135 Samoa Red Cross volunteers are assisting with the relief efforts, including distributing relief supplies, clean water, tarps and first aid supplies to affected families, and managing three camps for people who have been displaced. These specially-trained volunteers initially provided early warnings to people in coastal settlements to stay clear of beaches, and they supported evacuation efforts in and around Apia.
The global Red Cross network is pulling together to provide the supplies and expertise as needed for the affected communities. The coordinating body of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the world (the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) has already released emergency funds of $313,000 to help the Samoa Red Cross Society in their immediate disaster response. Initial needs are clothing, blankets, water, shelter and food. The global Red Cross network will mobilize as needed to fill needs that cannot be met locally. Your financial support will help the American Red Cross respond quickly to disasters like the earthquake and resulting tsunami in American Samoa and Samoa. You can donate by calling 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) or (1-800-257-7575 (Spanish), or visiting redcross.org, and choosing whether to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund or American Red Cross International Response Fund.
###
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
30 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25
26 27 28 29
30 31
SB CDC & BYC Parents Night Out
1-14 IN BN FRG Calendar
OCTOBER 2009
Tropic Lightning Time 1500
CRT Training 9am – 1pm, ACS
2SBCT USC/FRSA Team Meeting
9:00am
Tropic Lightning Time 1500
Columbus day
Tropic Lightning Time 1500
Volunteer of the Quarter
Awards Ceremony
ACS CRT Training @
Kalakaua CC
Oahu South Town Hall 1830-1930, AMR Chapel
Holiday Stress Training 9-10:30
ACS
DIV VAC meeting 1pm Golf Scramble Leilehua Golf Course
registration starts 10:30
Deadline to Log VMIS hours!
Family Night, 1730 MPC
Holiday Stress 9:00am ACS
Family Night, 1730 MPC
BN SCM– BN Conference Rm
6pm
Pers & Comm Training For
Volunteers 0930-1200 ACS
ADONSA
1-14 IN BN Officer vs NCO
Dodgeball game 1600
Family Night, 1730 MPC
ACS Holiday Stress 9-11:00
66th ENG FRG Meeting 6PM BN Classroom, STACC@
Peterson Drop Off 5:30 and Pick
Up at 8:15 pm PLEASE call
STACC at 655-8628 to enroll
your child
BN Single Soldier Movie
Night BN Classroom 6pm
Halloween
Waikiki Express Bus ITR
29 September 2009
FRG Leaders Boot Camp
ACS
9-2PM
Living History Day
Tropic Lightning Museum 655-0438
Commissary Case Lot Sale 2-4 October
Golf Scramble Payment Due
POC: CW2 Stewart
Waikiki Express Bus ITR
Family Fun Fridays @ Tropics
1-14 IN BN FRG Leaders
Social 5pm
Tropic Lightning Time 1500
Tropic Lightning Time 1500
SIMS, 0900 Nehelani
PX/Commissary/Nehelani meeting (Small PCR) 1015-
1115
Survivor Outreach Services
Benefits and Entitlements Class
ACS
Family Night, 1730 MPC
Waikiki Express Bus ITR
Family Fun Fridays @ Tropics
Joint Spouses Conference
(Hosted by Army) Schofield
Barracks Nehelani
ADONSA
Rocktoberfest celebration
4-10pm Nehelani
AMR CDC &Youth Center Parents Night Out
Waikiki Express Bus ITR
PTA Rotation 24 SEP-17 OCT
ACAP- TAP Workshop @ Soldier Support Center 5-7 October
ACAP- TAP Workshop @ Soldier Support Center 19-21 October
ACAP- TAP Workshop @ Soldier Support Center 26-28 October
SAPPER S
66th Engineers
SAPPER SPOUSE T-SHIRTS $18.00 Adult T Shirts $15.00
Kids T Shirts $12.00
To P u r ch a s e yo u r S a p p e r S h i r t s
P l e a s e C o n ta c t
6 6 t h E N G F R G T r e a s u r e r , J a s m i n e M c I l q u h a m
o r F R G L e a d e r , C o u r t n e y P i e r c e
66th ENG FRG MEETING Tuesday, 27 OCTOBER 6:00 pm
Bldg.2097, BN CLASSROOMSTACC provided at Peterson CDC (Bldg 791)
STACC Drop Off: 5:30pmPick Up: 8:15 pm
Please call STACC at (808)655-8628 to register your child(ren)
STACC Information: CYS Services registration is required, and all children must have a current negative TB Tine (12 months and older)
and up-to-date shot records at the time of reservation. All children must wear closed toe and back shoes (no sling backs).
8th SB (P) GOLF SCRAMBLE
HOSTED BY 545th Transportation Company (WATERBORNE)
Registration begins at 1030hrsLeilehua Golf Course Wahiawa, Hawaii
96786
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Four Person ScrambleEntry limited to 36 TeamsShotgun Start at 1200 hrs2 free Mulligans & Golf Cart
POC: CW2 Stewart [email protected]
1st, 2nd, 3rd Place AwardLongest Drive ContestClosest to the Pin ContestMost Accurate Drive ContestE1 – E5………….$30.00
E6 – O10………...$40.00
DOD CIV………..$45.00
CIV Guest……….$45.00
Cart is included……….
Payment due by 2 OctMake checks payable to 545th Trans Co.
***Payment due by 2 Oct***
Golfers Name/Rank/Unit
1. _________________________2. _________________________3. _________________________4. _________________________
Page 1 of 4 – September 22, 2009 – SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS
Please email additional questions to: [email protected]
SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS Frequently Asked Questions (not applicable to charter schools)
as of September 22, 2009
GENERAL Q 1. If teachers are on furlough, will classes be offered? A 1. No. Classes will be cancelled.
Q 2. On furlough days, will any meal service or student transportation be offered to
students? A 2. No.
AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS
Q 1. Will afterschool tutoring or enrichment programs run by the school be offered on
furlough days? A 1. No.
Q 2. Will the DOE A+ Program be available on furlough days? A 2. No. Private providers may apply for Use of Facilities and run their own programs at parent
expense on furlough days. Principals will continue to approve/disapprove Use of Facilities requests for their school.
Q 3. What will happen with the monthly DOE A+ fee? A 3. The monthly DOE A+ fee will be adjusted based on the furlough days.
ATHLETICS Q 1. Will athletic events be conducted on designated furlough days? A 1. Yes. Athletic events will continue as scheduled. Athletic events may not be rescheduled prior
to 3:00 p.m. on furlough days.
Q 2. Will athletic teams be allowed to practice/play on furlough days? A 2. Yes. Teams may practice/play on furlough days after 3:00 p.m. only.
Q 3. Will teacher coaches be able to supervise/coach practices and games? A 3. Yes.
Q 4. Will preseason and statewide tournaments need to be rescheduled? A 4. Preseason and statewide tournaments are under review.
Tickets are free but must be picked up in advance! Stop by either ITR Office or call 655-9971 or 438-1985 for more information.
DatesSeptember 18 October 2
October 16 October 30
October 31 Special trip for Halloween Block Party
November 6
November 13 December 4
December 18December 31
Special trip for New Years Eve
www.mwrarmyhawaii.com
Tickets are free but must be picked up in advance! Stop by either ITR Office or call 655-9971 or 438-1985 for more information.
DatesSeptember 18 October 2
October 16 October 30
October 31 Special trip for Halloween Block Party
November 6
November 13 December 4
December 18December 31
Special trip for New Years Eve
Schedule9:00 pm:9:30 pm:
10:00 pm:3:00 am:3:30 am:4:00 am:
Pick up at Schofield Barracks ITR parking lotPick up at Fort Shafter Richardson Theatre parking lotDrop off at Hale Koa HotelPick up at Hale Koa HotelDrop off at Fort Shafter Richardson Theatre parking lotDrop off at Schofield Baracks ITR parking lot
Schedule9:00 pm:9:30 pm:
10:00 pm:3:00 am:3:30 am:4:00 am:
Pick up at Schofield Barracks ITR parking lotPick up at Fort Shafter Richardson Theatre parking lotDrop off at Hale Koa HotelPick up at Hale Koa HotelDrop off at Fort Shafter Richardson Theatre parking lotDrop off at Schofield Baracks ITR parking lot
www.mwrarmyhawaii.com
WaikikiWaikiki
The free way to Waikiki…. let FMWR be your driver!
Waikiki Express travels every pay day Friday and select other times:
The free way to Waikiki…. let FMWR be your driver!
Waikiki Express travels every pay day Friday and select other times:
3 OCT 09
10:00 a.m.Tropic Lightning Museum
Waianae Avenue
Building #361
Schofield Barracks
This event will be to celebrate 25th Infantry Division Organization
Day.
Activities include a restored vehicle display, re-enactors, food,
entertainment , and children’s activities.
This event is free.
For more information, call 655-0438.
LIVING HISTORY DAY
5-7, 19-21, and 26-28 OCT 09
ACAP Center
Soldier Support Center
Schofield Barracks
The ACAP offers a 2 ½ day Transition Assistance program
(TAP) employment workshop for Soldiers leaving active
duty and entering the civilian workforce.
Separating personnel must attend the mandatory pre-
separation briefing prior to attending the TAP workshop.
Spouses are also eligible to attend.
Please visit www.acapexpress.army.mil.
TAP WORKSHOPS
Mega 80's & 90's Music Festival10 Oct 09
Neal S Blaisdell Arena777 Ward Avenue
Honolulu, HI 968146:30 PM
CARE RESPONSE TEAM (CRT)
TRAININGCaring for our families during their darkest hours of need….
The concept behind CRT teams is to provide a team of caring and trained volunteers that can immediately “be there” for a spouse and
family after notification of a death or serious injury.
CRT volunteers are carefully screened and selected by the Rear Detachment Commanders. General criteria include: Maturity,
Life Experience, Emotional Stability, Discreetness, Availability (upon need). Volunteers are trained to provide a wide range of
assistance, from emotional support to basic, simple tasks (screening calls and visitors, caring for children/pets, minor housekeeping, etc.)
that may be difficult for the family to focus on during this time.
CRT teams convey a critical message to the spouse and family…
that people care…. that the Army cares.
CRT Class Schedule:
06 October (Tuesday), 10:00am – 2:30pm, Porter Community Ctr.15 October (Thursday), 9:00am – 1:00pm, ACS
(There will not be a lunch hour break, so you may bring a snack)
CRT Refresher Course:
20 October (Tuesday), 10:00am – 1:00pm, Kalakaua Community Ctr.(Only if CRT Class was attended 6-12 months ago)
Attendees must register in advance. Classes may be subject to cancellation if there is insufficient registration.
For additional information, please contactQuintin Ewing tel: 655-4227/email: [email protected] or
Robin Alexander tel: 655-4354/email: [email protected]
Family Retreat
Operation Purple Family Retreats are free, four day retreats created to help families reconnect after deployment. This unique experience is designed to bring families together for four days in a national park
setting. With an emphasis on environmental education, military families will participate in fun, family-focused activities that will allow them to
strengthen and renew relationships while exploring their naturalsurroundings.
December 18-21, 2009 YMCA of Honolulu Camp H. R. Erdman, Honolulu, HI
http://www.nmfa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=op_family_retreats
Kol Nidrei, Sept. 27, 6 p.m. •Yom Kippur, Sept. 28, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (This service will include Yizkor, after the Torah Reading.)•Mincha/Nehila, Sept. 28, 5 p.m. (to include the “Reading for Jonah”) A “Break the Fast" potluck will follow. For details,
contact [email protected].
October
1 / ThursdayCatholic Conference — Aliamanu Military Reservation (AMR) Chapel is hosting the Renew/Why Catholic Conference on
Christian prayer, Oct. 1-3, at the AMR Chapel. Small group workshops are scheduled Oct. 1 and 2, 7-9 p.m., and a Mass and retreat, Oct. 3, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Child care is available if registered. Contact Katie Hanna at 673-0591 or [email protected].
Military Scholarship Night — Military service academy and Reserve Officer Training Center (ROTC) representatives will host a Military Scholarship Night, Oct. 1, 6:15-8:30 p.m., at Radford High School.
Attendees can learn about the program benefits and entrance requirements while meeting with academy representatives from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and from ROTC programs here on the island.
Light refreshments will be served from 6:15-6:30 p.m.; presentations and breakout sessions will follow from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Aspiring officers and students are encouraged to contact their school counselor, a Service Academy/ROTC representative,
or Christine Gayagas at 488-8479, or [email protected] for details.
2 / FridayCase Lot Sales — Commissary case lot sales are scheduled to take place at Schofield Barracks, Oct. 2-4. Visit
www.commissaries.com .
3 / SaturdayLiving History Day — The Tropic Lightning Museum (Waianae Avenue, Building 361, Schofield) is hosting a Living
History Day, Oct. 3, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., to celebrate the 25th Infantry Division Organization Day. Activities include a restored vehicle display, re-enactors, food, entertainment and children's activities. This event is free;
call 655-0438. (See related story on page B-1.)
6 / TuesdayAsk The Commander— The next “Ask the Commander" community television taping session is scheduled, Oct. 6, 3-4
p.m., at the Helemano Military Reservation community center. U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii (USAG-HI) community members are encouraged to ask their questions on camera during an
open one-hour session. Questions will be answered by Col. Matthew Margotta, commander, USAG-HI (or his staff), and shared with the
community through the installation TV2 channel, the Hawaii Army Weekly newspaper, and the garrison Web site.Questions for the commander can also be submitted via e-mail, at any time, to [email protected] or
online at the “Ask the Commander” mailbox link at www.garrison.hawaii. army.mil.
September
Jewish High Holiday Services — The Aloha Jewish Chapel at Naval Station Pearl Harbor (Makalapa Gate) serves service members and their families, government civilians and contractors, and retirees and their families (with valid government ID or arranged escort). All are invited to participate during Jewish High Holiday Services:
First Term Financial Training Monday, 9/28 Army Community Service Schofield BarracksLearn basic financial skills, develop self-reliance and personal responsibility, encourage financial planning, improve money management skills, and enhance personal financial literacy. This is a
mandatory 8 hour program of instruction. Certificate will be awarded to each participant who completes the 8 hours of instruction.
AFTB Level II Monday, 9/28, 9am – Thursday, 10/1, 12:30pm Army Community Service SBAn individual wishing to attend AFTB Level II must be present all 4 days from 9:00am - 12:30 pm to receive
credit for the course. AFTB jungle instructors will help you to:Manage the stress of deployment and your personal time
Learn to make better decisionsLearn the jungle language
Learn how to get into your community and get involved
• Basic Investing Wednesday, 9/30, 9 – 10:30am Army Community Service SBLearn the basics of investing. This course teaches the difference between saving and investing and the
difference between savings accounts, CDs, Money Market Accounts, Mutual Funds, Bonds and Stocks.
Newcomers Ho'ike Thursday, 10/1, 9am – 2pm Army Community Service - Schofield Barracks New to Hawaii?
The Newcomers' Ho'ike is a lively orientation that is offered weekly. Join us to learn about community resources, the Hawaiian culture and language. FREE CHILDCARE is provided through Child and
Youth Services.
• Potty Training Friday, 10/2, 9 – 11am ACS Schofield Barracks Learn all you can about potty training your child. What are the signs that your child is ready and how
do you start. Please call 655-4227 for more information.
Employment Orientation Friday, 10/2, 9 – 10:30am Army Community Service - Schofield Barracks Kick start your job search in Hawaii. Get employment information on Federal, State, private sector and staffing agencies. See the reference materials, job listings, computers, etc, that are available for use.
“THIS IS A COMMUNITY BULLETIN” 141240SEP09
SUBJECT: Schofield Health & Fitness Center (HFC) temporary relocation to Martinez Physical Fitness Center (MPFC) 1. The Schofield Barracks Health and Fitness Center, Bldg 582 will be closed effective October 7, 2009 for approximately 90 days to replace the facility roof.
2. All classes and services will be relocated to the Martinez Physical Fitness Center, Bldg 488 during this time. Classes and services will commence on October 9, 2009. For class schedules and/or more information please call Linda Williams at 655-8007/8789 through 6 Oct 09 and 655-4804 effective 9 Oct 09. NO ACKNOWLEDGEMENT REQUIRED
Installation Operation Center (U) 656-3272 (C) 656-3269 SIPRNET: [email protected] NIPRNET: [email protected]
ARMY COMMUNITY SERVICE FINANCIAL READINESS PROGRAM
BLDG 2091 SCHOFIELD BARRACKS
REGISTER NOW BY CALLING: 655-4227
VISIT US ON THE WEB: www.MWRarmyhawaii.com
October 2009 Financial Readiness
Your Money Matters
Checkbook Maintenance 7 October 0900 – 1030 Discuss opening and maintaining a check-ing account.
Credit Management 14 October 0900-1030 Learn how to use your credit wisely and how to improve your credit score. First Term Financial Training 5 and 26 October 0830—1600 Learn basic financial skills, develop self reliance and personal responsibility, en-courage financial planning, improve money management skills, and enhance personal financial literacy. This is a mandatory 8 hour program of instruction. Certificate will be awarded to each participant who completes the 8 hours of instruction
Money Management 7, 14, and 28 October 1030-1200 Learn basic tools for financial success, de-velop a spending plan, reduce expenses and make your paycheck work for you. Breaking the Financial Bonds 28 October This course provides ways to financially navigate divorce. Topics include: marital real estate, investing, retirement, and tax issues.
2009 YMCA Camp H.R. Erdman – Family Camp Registration Form 69-385 Farrington Highway, Waialua, HI. 96791 / PH: 808.637.4615 / FX: 808.637.8744 / www.camperdman.net
(Please PRINT clearly)
Family Name Home Address City Zip Home Cell / Alt. Phone Phone Email
List of Participants (please list additional guest attending with you on an another sheet of paper)
Name Birthday (M / F) Name Birthday (M / F)
Name Birthday (M / F) Name Birthday (M / F)
Name Birthday (M / F) Name Birthday (M / F) Please check the family camp(s) you are registering to attend. ___Mother’s Day Weekend Family Camp (May 8 - 10, 2009) ___Independence Day Weekend Family Camp (July 3 - 5, 2009) ___*Labor Day Weekend Family Camp (September 4 - 7, 2009) 4 days & 3 Nights! ___Halloween Weekend Family Camp (October 30 - November 1, 2009) ___Single Parents Weekend Family Camp (November 20-21, 2009) ___Military Families Holiday Family Camp (December 18 –20, 2009)
Accommodations Mauka Cabins (Cabin #’s 18 – 32): Our Mauka cabins can sleep up to 16 people. All cabins have electricity, bathrooms with showers and bunk beds. Families choosing the per person rate will share their cabin with another family. For the best value choose the cabin rate and bring the extended family or friends along with you. Makai Cabins (Cabin #’s 11 & 12, 14 - 17) Our Makai cabins can sleep up to 8 people. All cabins have electricity, bathrooms with showers and bunk beds. These are our most popular cabins and due to the capacity of eight are only available for the per cabin rate. Tent Camping We have a few sites available for families who want to bring their own tents. Tent campers will have access to a community washroom for showering and bathroom facilities. Select Type of Cabin and Rate
Mauka Cabin Makai Cabin Tent Camping ____ $800 Cabin Rate ____ $700 Cabin Rate ____ $80 Per person Rate ____ $115 Per Person Rate *Labor Day Weekend camp has and extra night and additional fee of $300 for the cabin rate, $50 for the per person cabin rate and $30 for the per person tent camping rate Cabin Request (please list your top three cabin choices, if no preference leave blank
1._____________________ 2._____________________ 3._____________________
□ Check here if it’s your first time to our Family Camp. If referred, by whom?
Method of Payment ___ Check included ___Visa ___MasterCard ___Discover ___American Express
A fifty percent deposit for Family Camp must accompany this registration. Full Payment is due 30 days prior to the start of the Family Camp weekend. Payments are non-refundable. Payments are transferable within the calendar year if cancelled 30 days prior to the family camp. I agree to allow the YMCA of Honolulu to use any photographs, slides or video of my family and/or guests for public relations or promotional purposes. Signature of the person responsible is required before registration will be processed
Name on Card Account Number Exp. Date
Amount Enclosed or to be Charged to credit card $
Cardholder’s signature For more Program information contact: To REGISTER go to our website or Contact: Resident/Family Camp Director – Roy Harriman Program Admin. Assistant – Shan Calbero-Hun EXT.23 or [email protected] EXT.29 or [email protected]
Child and Youth & School Services (CYS Services) continues to offer a Parent’s Night Out to
families in our military community. Reservations will be accepted on a first come first serve basis at
the Registration Office. To enroll in Parent’s Night Out, children must be registered with CYS
Services no later than Wednesday at noon prior to the event. Reservations may be taken as early as
the Monday after the previous event.
Parent’s Night Out is offered at
AMR CDC & Youth Center (South) and at Schofield CDC & Bennett Youth Center (North).
South
AMR CDC & Youth Center
North
Schofield CDC & Bennett Youth Center
October 10, 2009 October 24, 2009
November 7, 2009 November 21, 2009
December 5, 2009 December 19, 2009
January 9, 2010 January 23, 2010
February 6, 2010 February 20, 2010
March 13, 2010 March 27, 2010
April 10, 2010 April 24, 2010
May 8, 2010 May 22, 2010
June 12, 2010 June 26, 2010
July 10, 2010 July 24, 2010
August 14, 2010 August 28, 2010
September 11, 2010 September 25, 2010
FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE E-5 and below - $20 for one child E6 and above - $25.00 for one child
$5.00 each additional child $5.00 each additional child
Children should have had their supper prior to arriving. No outside food is allowed. A snack will be
served. Children ages 6 weeks through 12 years are welcome. CYS Services registration is required,
and all children must have a current negative TB Tine (12 months and older) and up-to-date shot
records at the time of reservation. Spaces are limited, so come by the CYS Services Registration
Office no later than noon on the Wednesday prior to the Parent’s Night Out. All children must wear
closed toe and back shoes (no sling backs). Please bring your own blankets and/or pillows as it gets
cold in the center.
HOURS: 1800 – 2300
To register, please call one of the CYS Services Registration Offices listed below. Schofield Barracks Aliamanu Military Reservation CYS Services Registration Office CYS Services Registration Office
#655-5314 #833-5393
2-11th Field Artillery & Schofield Parent to Parent present:
Thursday, October 15, 2009
4pm to 5pm
D Quad, Schofield Barracks
A FREE event! Open to 2nd SBCT Children of all ages.
Come dressed in your Halloween costume and hear 3 Fall themed stories read aloud. Every Child will
also be able to decorate their own bookmark and participate in a “Batty” craft.
Children must be accompanied by an adult. To reserve a seat
for your child(ren), or if you have any questions please
contact Emily Harrison at 655-9482 or
“There was an Old Woman who Swallowed a Bat”, by Lucille Colandro
“When the Leaf Blew In”, by Steve Metzger
“Stellaluna”, by Janell Cannon
25th Infantry Division/Task Force Lightning
Media Roll up September 28, 2009
Disunity May Hurt Sunni Iraq (Wall Street Journal)
Prisoner release fueling concern in Iraq (Stars and Stripes)
Gunmen Kidnap Christian Female Doctor (BosNewsLife)
Suspect arrested in Iraqi taekwondo team murders (AP)
Iraq political party targeted by US drone aircraft (Beijing NewsNet)
Many Investors Still Avoid Risks of Iraq (NY Times)
Iraq’s once restive Diyala enjoys uneventful Muslim feast for first time since U.S. invasion (Azzaman)
Young sons welcome home parents from Iraq (AP)
Disunity May Hurt Sunni Iraq Leading Politicians Quit Sect's Major Grouping Before Polls
By GINA CHON
BAGHDAD -- A number of prominent Sunni politicians in Iraq have abandoned a once-formidable bloc, lowering expectations of significant gains in parliamentary elections that are just a few months away.
In 2005, Sunni Arab politicians largely boycotted Iraq's first parliamentary vote, and they've regretted it ever since. Shiite and Kurdish candidates swept those polls, sidelining Sunnis when it came time to assemble a government and put together provincial councils.
Sunni Arabs make up about a fifth of Iraq's population, and they constituted the ruling elite during the era of Saddam Hussein. Despite their electoral defeat in 2005, they participated in the second national elections that year and still retain a strong power base. Shiites, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, have courted them to win backing for key legislation and domestic-policy initiatives.
After many Sunni groups made peace with Mr. Maliki's government, Sunni politicians looked forward to January's election as a way to ratchet up their political standing.
Those hopes are now threatened by disunity. Several prominent politicians have recently left the biggest Sunni Arab political grouping, the Iraqi Islamic Party, or the IIP. After IIP losses to upstart rival Sunni groups in January elections, many bloc members said their political chances would improve outside the group.
The IIP is the largest bloc in an umbrella Sunni alliance known as the Iraq Accord Front, the third-largest bloc in parliament behind a Shia coalition and a Kurdish alliance.
Defections could hurt the slate as it positions itself as the main voice for the Sunni vote. It could also weaken Sunni unity and resolve in hostile disputes with Kurdish officials in Iraq's north.
Sunnis who are worried about being underrepresented in Iraqi politics have been the biggest proponents of a strong federal government in Baghdad, to check any Shiite and Kurdish encroachment. Kurds, however, have pushed forcefully for more sovereignty in the semi-independent northern enclave. Kurds have also squabbled with Sunnis over disputed land, including the oil-rich northern capital, Kirkuk.
"The Kurdish bloc is a coherent one because it shares the common goals of making Kirkuk a part of Kurdistan and other nationalistic issues," said political analyst Watheq Abdul Qadir. "That unity can hurt the Sunnis because they are not coming together as one."
This month, Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi said he would leave the IIP to form a new political party, called the Renewal List.
Mr. Hashimi has said his new party strives to rise above sectarian and ethnic divisions that have defined Iraqi politics for the last several years. He hasn't named others who will join him in the new party, but he said it will be made up of tribal leaders and academics, among others.
Earlier this year, another prominent Sunni lawmaker, Omar Abdul Sattar, left the party, saying it had failed to achieve its aims.
"I found working in the party was of no use to help build Iraq," said Mr. Sattar.
Saleem Juboori, an IIP spokesman, cites "differences in vision" in these and other prominent defections. He says the IIP and the Sunni cause haven't been hurt by the moves. He said no matter what banner Sunni politicians run under, they could ultimately come together after the election as a powerful voting bloc in the next parliament.
The IIP has, for now, ruled out an alliance with Mr. Maliki, who has so far declined to join Iraq's main Shiite coalition. Mr. Maliki is widely expected to run independently, at the head of a slate of candidates from several of Iraq's ethno-sectarian groups, including Sunni tribal leaders.
IIP party officials say they are already looking at post-election maneuvering. They have held talks with Mr. Maliki and others about working together after the polls, Mr. Juboori said.
Such formal moves toward cooperation between Shiite and Sunni politicians have been almost unheard of during most of Iraq's short, post-Saddam era.
—Zaineb Naji and Jabbar al-Obeidi contributed to this article.
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Prisoner release fueling concern in Iraq By Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Sunday, September 27, 2009
BAGHDAD — The converted garage was already sweltering at 7:15 a.m.
Iraqi army Maj. Saleem al-Asady delivered a sermon of peace to a group of weary-looking men donning the rumpled button-down shirts of the newly free.
Al-Asady used the story of Cain and Abel to urge the former prisoners not to harm fellow Iraqis.
“Congratulations on your release,” he said. “The hard times are almost done.”
After signing pledges of nonviolence, the former prisoners, many accused of ties to the insurgency, walked into a gymnasium full of friends and relatives to hugs, tears and celebratory ululation.
That scene has played out countless times in Iraq recently, as the United States transfers hundreds of prisoners a month to Iraqi custody as part of the U.S.-Iraqi security pact.
What happens next, though, has many in Iraq concerned, and one senior Iraqi officer says the prisoner releases have fueled recent insurgent violence.
“It seems to me that everyone who was released from (Camp) Bucca has returned to their old jobs and is attacking the security forces again,” said Iraqi army Col. Abul Razaq Jasim, who is responsible for operations across a large swath of Diyala province.
Many former detainees find it hard to secure jobs because of the stigma of imprisonment, making a return to violence the only way to make money. Others simply never changed and are feared to have rejoined the insurgency, Iraqi and U.S. military officials.
For example, a former detainee is suspected in the bombings last month of two Iraqi government ministries that killed around 100 people.
U.S. Army Maj. Greg Jones, an official with the U.S. military’s detainee program, said there has been little recidivism among released detainees.
“The release is at a responsible rate,” he said. “There are obviously people who, it doesn’t matter what happens, they’re going to fight. Obviously, you’re not going to be able to reintegrate everyone back into the population successfully.”
On Sept. 17, the U.S. closed its main prison at Camp Bucca, which once held more than 21,000 prisoners. Most are freed either because there is no outstanding warrant for their arrest or because they are deemed safe.
Some 8,000 detainees remain in American custody at Camp Cropper, in Baghdad and Camp Taji just north of the capital. Under Iraqi law, every prisoner not wanted for a specific crime will be freed at some point.
Prisoners are released with fresh clothes and bus fare.
“I have to begin my life anew,” said Manar Walid, 19, who spent 21 months in U.S. custody before his release earlier this month in Baghdad.
Some prisoners were undoubtedly swept up erroneously in the chaos of war. But some hardened insurgents were detained while the bullets were still flying and before new rules requiring warrants for arrest were enacted by the Iraqi government, and therefore would be eligible for release.
Some U.S. officials see the danger.
“It’s a big concern because we know some of them are bad guys,” said Capt. Peter Casterline with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.
Prisoners have to have a sponsor to be released, but in rural areas some sheiks will sponsor 100 prisoners at a time, making tracking all of them nearly impossible. Information sharing between the Iraqi army and police units in different provinces is spotty, further complicating the effort.
Maj. Basim Ibrahim Abed, who commands a force of Iraqi police officers in the Diyala province town of Abu Khamis, said he doesn’t even get a list of prisoners to be released in his area ahead of time.
In Diyala, where the insurgency is still active, recently released detainees are quickly finding old friends, Iraqi security officials said.
“There are some people, when they get released it is very hard to change their minds,” Abed said. “Therefore, when they get released they will go back to al-Qaida.”
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Gunmen Kidnap Christian Female Doctor
Sunday, September 27, 2009 (11:25 am) By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Gunmen have kidnapped a Christian doctor from her home near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul overnight in front of her four children, police said on Sunday, September 27. "The gang kidnapped the doctor, Mahasin Bashir, in her home late at night as her children watched, and then they put her into a car," police said in published comments. Police said the abduction happened in the predominantly Christian town of Bartala, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Mosul in northern Iraq's Nineveh province, one of
the country's most violent areas. The motives behind the kidnapping were not immediately clear. HOSPITAL WORKER Bashir worked in a hospital in a nearby Christian town, Hamdania, as a gynaecologist. Her husband, who is also a doctor, was not at home at the time of the kidnapping, reported French News Agency AFP. Bashir was the second Christian doctor known to have been abducted in Iraq this month. On September 16 Islamic kidnappers in thew town of Kirkuk dumped Christian doctor Sameer Gorgees Youssif in critical condition in front of a mosque after 29 days of “torture and threats” to him and his family, Christians said. His 23-year-old daughter, who did not want to be identified, told Christian news agencies that the abductors insisted on $500,000 ransom, and eventually dropped the amount to $100,000. “They were threatening us all the time, and we were living in hell. We just stayed and prayed and fasted and closed the doors and locked them. We were afraid that maybe they would come here and kill all of us. God was our only hope," she reportedly said. RIGHTS CONCERNS It comes as Iraq's human rights ministry estimates that about half of Mosul's Christian community -- some 2,275 families -- abandoned their homes and jobs in October to take shelter in Christian villages. Since the U.Ss-led invasion of 2003, hundreds of Iraqi Christians have been killed and a string of churches attacked, according to church groups and officials. Some 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq at the time of the invasion, but their number has since shrunk by around a third or more as members of the minority community have fled the country, Christian leaders said. The latest kidnapping came amid violence across Mosul and other parts of Iraq. Gunmen killed an off-duty policeman on Saturday, September 26, in a parking lot in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol also wounded two policemen on Saturday in northern Mosul, Reuters news agency quoted police as saying. In Ramadi a suicide car bomber killed three policemen and wounded eight when he
detonated himself outside a police station near that town, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, this weekend, local police colonel Ahmed Abood told reporters.
Return to top Suspect arrested in Iraqi taekwondo team murders By CHELSEA J. CARTER (AP)
BAGHDAD — Iraqi commandos and U.S. forces have arrested a suspect in the 2006 kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi taekwondo team whose highway ambush became one of the symbols of Iraq's lawlessness during its worse years of sectarian violence.
The U.S. military announced the arrest in a statement Sunday, but did not say when it took place or identify the suspect. The Iraqi military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Athletes and sports officials were frequent targets of threats, kidnappings and assassination attempts at the height of the civil strife in 2006 and 2007. Sportsmen were targeted for ransom or as victims of the sectarian violence.
The military statement said Iraqi forces working with American military advisers captured the suspect in Anbar province, a one-time Sunni insurgent stronghold west of the capital.
The taekwondo team was driving to a training camp in neighboring Jordan in May 2006, when their convoy was stopped on the highway in Anbar between Fallujah and Ramadi, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad. All 15 athletes were abducted.
More than a year later, the remains of 13 team members — mostly skulls and bones entangled in tattered sports uniforms — were found near the main highway leading to Jordan.
News of the arrest was met with some satisfaction by family members.
"We are still overwhelmed by sadness and bitterness. But the arrest of one of the killers will bring some relief to us," said Ali Hussein Hamid, whose cousin Ahmed Ali was among the team members killed.
Hamid said Ali had been a member of the Iraqi national team for two years when he was abducted. Ali's body was identified through the uniform he was wearing and an identification card he was carrying, he said.
Several top athletes and sports officials were kidnapped over that stretch, including the Sunni head of one of Iraq's leading soccer clubs and an Iraqi international soccer referee. A top player on the Iraqi Olympic soccer team, a national volleyball player, an Iraqi tennis coach and two of his players were also among those abducted.
Most recently, gunmen killed the coach of Iraq's national karate team, Izzat Abdullah, a 45-year-old Sunni, near his house in Mosul in June.
While insurgent violence has fallen off dramatically since 2007, crimes committed for money — from bank robbery to kidnapping for ransom — have been on the rise.
On Sunday, kidnappers freed a Christian doctor abducted the night before from her home just east of Mosul, according to a family member.
Suaad Shamoun said his cousin, Mehasin Beshir, was released after the family paid a ransom. Shamoun did not disclose the amount paid.
Iraqi police searched for Beshir after she was taken at gunpoint late Saturday from her home in a small Christian village just east of Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, an Iraqi police official said.
The gunmen appeared to have gained access to the doctor's house, where she routinely treated people. A woman, apparently working with the kidnappers, told the doctor she was ill and dropped by for treatment. Gunmen then stormed in behind the woman and abducted the doctor, a second security official said.
There are few official statistics on the number and kinds of kidnappings, in part because the government remains focused on the bombings and other insurgent attacks that continue to plague Baghdad and northern Iraq.
On Sunday, a suicide car bomber killed two policeman and wounded a civilian at a police checkpoint in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a policeman said.
In nearby Fallujah, a roadside bomb struck a police patrol, killing one officer, a police official said. Five people, including three policemen, were wounded in the attack, the official said.
The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Meanwhile, a police commander said recaptured al-Qaida-linked prisoners do not need to be moved to the Iraqi capital as part of an investigation into their recent break out of a prison in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wanted the recaptured prisoners transferred to Baghdad. But provincial police commander, Maj. Gen. Hamad al-Namis, told reporters Sunday the
prisoners do not need to be moved to another city because they can be sent to a new prison near Tikrit.
Five of the 16 were al-Qaida-linked prisoners awaiting execution. At least eight of the 16, including three al-Qaida-linked prisoners, have been hunted down following the jailbreak on Wednesday.
More than 100 officials and guards at the prison have been detained for questioning in the case.
Return to top Iraq political party targeted by US drone aircraft
Beijing News.Net Sunday 27th September, 2009
An Iraqi political party office in the northern city of Mosul has been badly damaged by a US drone. The office of the Iraqi Islamic Party was hit by the unmanned drone on Saturday afternoon. After the aerial reconnaissance plane crashed into the office, American soldiers were sent in to recover the wreckage. US officials claimed they had no indication of the aircraft being part of any enemy action, but said an investigation had been launched. Unmanned drones are often used by the US military in the region; normally to monitor insurgents planting bombs.
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Many Investors Still Avoid Risks of Iraq By STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: September 27, 2009
BAQUBA, Iraq — The Diyala State Company for Electrical Industries here staggers along, making transformers, spark plugs, ceiling fans and steam irons that few want or can afford anymore.
Its labor force has tripled in size, even as production has slumped. A deal to lure $60 million in foreign capital — one of only a handful of foreign investments in Iraq’s state-owned industries — collapsed. The American government recently gave the company $2.5 million to keep its main production line operating and its workers out of penury and, perhaps, insurgency.
Next month the United States and Iraq will gather hundreds of officials and company executives for a two-day conference in Washington intended to send a message that after six years of war, Iraq is open for business, and not just in oil. Now more than ever before, Iraqi officials boast that a trickle of foreign investment — including the first new hotel in Baghdad since Saddam Hussein’s government fell — is at last poised to be a flood.
The experience of the company here, though, shows that economic development and foreign investment face more obstacles than security alone.
The state-owned industries that dominate the country’s economy — from oil fields to dairies to textile factories — are as bloated and inefficient as they were in Mr. Hussein’s
time, arguably more so. They are hobbled by corruption, still sporadic electricity and poor roads and bound by bureaucracy and central planning that leave them unable to compete with a flood of cheap imports from Iran, Turkey and beyond.
New legislation intended to regulate investments, land rights, taxes, financial services and consumer protections remains stalled in Parliament. The mere mention of the sort of privatization that swept Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union after the collapse of Communism is anathema to officials here.
“We are not after shock therapy,” Sami al-Araji, the chairman of Iraq’s national
investment commission, said in an interview.
“We are after a gradual change from a centrally controlled economy to an open one.”
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki publicly pressed Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. earlier this month about “the need for this conference to be a success.”
Privately, though, American officials express concern that it will be little more than a political exercise before Mr. Maliki’s re-election campaign unless the Iraqis do more to create a solid foundation for foreign investors willing to take a risk on the country’s
prospects.
Mr. Biden, in his meetings with Mr. Maliki and other senior leaders, stressed the need for better regulatory and financial systems, according to a senior official traveling with him. The official said that reforms would, for example, allow the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to extend loan guarantees to American companies interested in investing in Iraq.
Few, though, expect the legislation to proceed before next year’s parliamentary
elections and the inevitable political bargaining that will follow, putting off significant reforms, and thus investment, for at least a year.
“Capital is cowardly,” said Mejul Mahdi Ali, the president of Diyala’s newly created
investment commission. “It is always looking for a safe place.”
As he spoke, an explosion reverberated through Baquba; a roadside bomb killed three police officers.
Mr. Ali complained that many government ministers showed little interest in foreign or private investment, or actively opposed it. The commission was kicked out of two government offices before moving to a shabby villa, equipped not by the provincial government, but the American reconstruction team at Forward Operating Base Warhorse, which is nearby. He has not been paid in three months, he said.
The provincial government’s idea of economic development, he said, is a plan to buy
10,000 taxis and lease them to drivers, against his advice. Baquba might soon be the easiest place in the world to catch a cab, but he said, “That’s not investment.”
Still, even with uncertain security and insufficient legal protections, Iraq has started attracting the attention of investors.
Daimler AG signed an agreement with Iraq last year and opened an office in Baghdad. Case New Holland, the international tractor maker, began building the first of 1,250 tractors for the Iraqi government at a factory in Iskandariya, once a center of the insurgency in an area south of Baghdad known as the “triangle of death.”
Workers broke ground in July on a high-end $100 million hotel near the “crossed swords” monument in Baghdad’s international zone.
“Potential investors have a virtual open landscape to develop projects that will fill the
needs of Iraq’s expanding and demanding population,” Dr. Araji of the national
investment commission wrote in an investors guide published this year.
Optimism has been premature before.
The Ministry of Industry last year solicited bids for more than 40 projects involving partnerships with state-owned enterprises, but received them for only 11. Most of those have since failed to come to fruition, including the $60 million proposal for the electrical company here in Baquba.
The plant, with eight separate factories, was originally built in 1982 and equipped with machines by Mitsubishi that are now out of date. They still function only because workers have cannibalized parts.
When the war in Diyala was at its worst in 2007, the company shut down; the Islamic Army of Iraq, one of the leading insurgent factions, established its headquarters nearby. The director, Abdul Wadoud al-Sattar Mahmoud, went into hiding; his personal assistant was killed.
The violence ultimately eased, and the factory began to operate again, though largely with the help of the American reconstruction team at Warhorse and the Task Force for Business Stability Operations, a Pentagon agency that supports economic development in Iraq. The task force’s function has been to restore production at Iraq’s state-owned enterprises, after American officials initially sought to shut them immediately after the invasion in 2003.
A report by the task force in 2007 criticized the factory’s management and described the
factory’s “most insidious” problem as “a general lack of industriousness.”
Government policies have not helped make it profitable either.
The Ministry of Industry has vastly expanded its payroll to 3,400 workers, compared with 1,200 after the invasion, and raised salaries, driving up the costs of its products. At the same time, a decision by the Coalition Provisional Authority to lower customs duties has meant cheaper foreign products. The factory now has 12,000 unsold ceiling fans and one million spark plugs stored in its warehouses.
Mr. Mahmoud said that while one ministry drove up costs, another, the Ministry of Electricity, complained that it could buy cheaper transformers from abroad. “The
competition here is very difficult for me,” he said.
Iraqi law forbids foreign companies from owning equity in state-owned enterprises. The Ministry of Industry also forbids wholesale restructuring of companies that would require dismissing workers.
Even worse, in the case of the factory here, when the Ministry of Industry initialed the $60 million investment deal with an Egyptian-Iraqi consortium last year, it suspended its subsidies for the steel needed to make electrical transformers, potentially its most lucrative product in a country starved for power.
The consortium, however, pulled out of the deal earlier this year — because of the general international economic crisis, officials said — and the supply of steel necessary to keep production going dwindled. The production line would have ground to a halt if the Americans had not stepped in with the grant.
“We could produce more if we had raw materials,” the line’s manager, Abdul Salam
Mohammed, said plaintively.
The director, Mr. Mahmoud, has begun to personally lobby provincial governments for business, deeply discounting the transformers and worsening the company’s losses,
something he never had to do before.
“This is a new experience for us,” he said.
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Iraq’s once restive Diyala enjoys uneventful Muslim feast for first time since U.S. invasion
By Hussein al-Yaaqoubi Azzaman, September 27, 2009
The once restive and violent province of Diyala, of which Baaquba is the capital, has enjoyed an uneventful Muslim feast for the first time since the 2003-U.S. invasion.
Festivities continued until midnight during last week’s Eid al-Fitr not only in the provincial center but in towns and villages which previously were rebel strongholds that defied even the mighty U.S. marines.
“There were so many things which told of how happy the people were during the Eid,” said Brigadier Mohammed al-Tameemi who spent the five-day holiday patrolling the streets of Baaquba.
Tameemi said what made him happy were the nights the people spent “reveling in the parks and play grounds.
“We have not seen so many people going out during such occasions for a long time,” he said.
The festive mood was easily discernible in Baghdad and other areas in Iraq.
But for Diyala it is something of to be proud of for a government which has made security a top priority.
Most of Diyala was in the grip of rebels and guerrillas fighting U.S. occupation.
U.S. occupation troops launched numerous massive military operations to regain control of the province but to no avail.
If Iraqi troops can reinstate security on their own and the current trend of relative quiet is sustainable, it will show how wrong-headed the U.S. had been in its insistence to directly control the lives of Iraqis.
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Young sons welcome home parents from Iraq
Associated Press
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - A return home by an Alaska-based Army brigade was doubly sweet for one family. Ten-year-year-old Joshua Carrasco and his 5-year-old brother Joseph were at Fairbanks International Airport on Thursday to welcome home both their father and mother, Staff Sgt. Ramiro Carrasco and Sgt. 1st Class Melanie Carrasco. The couple spent a year on Iraq's Diyala province with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Arctic Wolves. For the past year, the Carrasco brothers have lived with their maternal grandparents, Laurie and Rick Thompson, in Lebanon, Ind. "My parents have always been our long-term care providers," Melanie said. "I have the two most special parents in the world. They're happy to be grandparents." The role changed for the year. "You don't get to be a grandparent," said Laurie Thompson. "You can't just fill them with sugar and send them home." She said she and her husband were not apprehensive before the boys arrived, but should have been," Thompson said. "Discipline is different," she said. "You have to have the same set of rules for everybody." "Everybody" includes their 4-year-old twin sons, James and Ricky. The Thompsons became foster parents to the twins shortly after their premature births and adopted them two years ago. During the yearlong separation, Melanie and Ramiro kept in touch with Joshua and Joseph by e-mail and weekly telephone calls. "When I called her, it would sound like a crazy house," Ramiro said. Thompson enjoyed getting to know her grandsons and relished seeing all the boys interacting, especially when they acted like they liked each other, she said. The Carrascos' family arrangement is not uncommon. In military families where the heads of household are active-duty soldiers, extended family members often are called upon to care for their children.
Some parents entrust their children to close relatives or friends. Others have someone live in their home and take over their household while they are deployed. Ramiro is a senior mechanic for 2-8 Field Artillery. Melanie is a battalion communications chief. The Carrascos met and married while serving at Fort Hood, Texas. In the past 12 years, they have moved seven times. "If you don't have organizational skills, it can be very stressful," Ramiro said. "You're always having to be thinking ahead. It is essential to meet the Army's mission. If you don't, it becomes a conflict for the Army."
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25th Infantry Division/Task Force Lightning
Media Roll up September 29, 2009
At Least 15 Killed in Bombings Across Iraq (Washington Post)
Holy Month Ends, and Violence Rises Again in Iraq (NY Times) Medic saves Iraqi boy whose father claims U.S. violence (Stars and Stripes)
Iraq Is Struggling to Buy Equipment (Wall Street Journal)
US exit strategy: Empower Iraqis (Christian Science Monitor)
Got whiskers? Iraqis will notice (Christian Science Monitor)
Al-Qaida issues new threat in Mosul (UPI)
Mosul gets five pre-fab police stations (UPI)
Iraqi oil contract system needs grease (The Economist)
Local soldier back from Iraq (Oxford Press)
Sunday arrival ends regular flights from Iraq for Fairbanks Strykers (Daily News Miner)
At Least 15 Killed in Bombings Across Iraq
By Nada Bakri Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, September 28, 2009; 5:37 PM
BAGHDAD, Sept. 28 -- Explosions across Iraq on Monday killed at least 15 people and wounded many others, police said, further testing the ability of Iraqi armed forces to keep the country safe.
A suicide bomber driving a water tanker loaded with explosives blew himself up in the Anbar province near a police station, killing seven policemen and wounding 10. The explosion in Ramadi, a former insurgent stronghold 70 miles west of Baghdad, burned at least half a dozen cars parked nearby and damaged several buildings.
In Diwaniya, a town 100 miles south of Baghdad, a bomb planted in a minibus exploded, killing at least three passengers and wounding two.
In western Baghdad, two bombs exploded in the Sunni neighborhood of Ghazalieh, killing three people, including the commander of an army battalion. Security officials said that at least 28 people were wounded.
In the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a region that remains Iraq's most violent, where many insurgents are believed to have regrouped after they were driven from Baghdad and other provinces, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol exploded, killing two policemen.
Violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq in the past two years since the sectarian bloodshed of 2006 and 2007. But roadside explosions, assassinations and small bombs placed under cars are still frequent. Security forces remain a prime target for militants.
Iraqis fear that their armed forces are not yet capable of maintaining security. U.S. forces completed a withdrawal from inner cities last June and will continue to draw down troops until all combat forces leave Iraq in August 2010 as part of an Iraqi-U.S. security agreement.
Despite the violence, Iraq's chief military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Qassim Atta, said at a news conference this week in Baghdad that Iraqis this year enjoyed the safest Eid al Fitr vacation, the religious holiday that follows the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast from dawn until sunset. The holiday ended Wednesday.
Atta said that security forces increased the number of checkpoints in and around Baghdad, which led to the arrest of several wanted militants and confiscation of weapons and explosives.
But, Atta warned, "the enemy is trying to strike inside Baghdad. Our job is to tighten security as much as possible."
The death toll Monday was the highest since Sept. 10, when a suicide bomber driving a truck laden with explosives plowed his vehicle into a Kurdish village in northern Iraq, killing 20 people.
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Holy Month Ends, and Violence Rises Again in Iraq
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS Published: September 28, 2009
BAGHDAD — Eighteen people were killed and at least 55 others were wounded in bombings across Iraq on Monday as the country’s level of violence picked up again
after a relative lull during the holy month of Ramadan.
Monday’s attacks occurred in both Shiite and Sunni areas of the country and took aim not only at the Iraqi Army and the police but also at civilians.
In the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya, two bombs were detonated — the first directed at a passing Iraqi Army patrol, the second at people who gathered to see the wreckage, Iraqi security officials said.
The first blast, caused by a roadside bomb at about 1:45 p.m. caused no deaths, but it wounded one civilian. The second bomb, which had been attached to a parked motorcycle, detonated minutes later, killing 3 people and wounding 28, an Iraqi security official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
Among the casualties was the chief of the Iraqi Army regiment responsible for patrolling Ghazaliya, where Sunnis and Shiites had lived side by side before sectarian warfare tore the social fabric apart several years ago. They now live in areas separated by police and army checkpoints. The attacks occurred in the Sunni portion of the neighborhood.
The injured included 12 soldiers and 8 police officers, officials said.
Explosions also rattled other parts of the country. About 30 minutes after the Ghazaliya attack, a bomb attached to a minibus in Qadisiya Province exploded, killing three
passengers and wounding four, the authorities said. The bomb had apparently been placed on the bus as it traveled from Hilla, the capital of Babil Province, to Diwaniya, the capital of Qadisiya, about 100 miles south of Baghdad. The area is largely Shiite.
Fifteen policemen responsible for the checkpoints that the minibus had passed through were arrested as part of an investigation, security officials said.
An hour later, in the desert west of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, a suicide bomber detonated a water tanker packed with explosives at a checkpoint outside a police station, killing 7 officers and wounding 17 others who were members of a quick-response team, an Anbar police official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to reporters.
The police station was housed in temporary trailers, about 20 of which were burned, along with several police cars, the police official said.
On Monday morning in Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad, two civilians were killed and another was wounded after a roadside bomb exploded as their car passed in the town of Khan Bani Saad, the authorities said. Various areas of Diyala Province are contested by Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
In another contested area, the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, a roadside bomb aimed at a police patrol killed three officers and wounded four others, security officials said.
Reporting was contributed by Sa’ad al-Izzi, Duraid Adnan, Amir A. al-Obeidi and
Mohammed Hussein from Baghdad, and by Iraqi employees of The New York Times
from Qadisiya, Diyala, Nineveh and Anbar Provinces.
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Medic saves Iraqi boy whose father claims U.S. violence
By Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes European edition, Tuesday, September 29, 2009
BAQOUBA, Iraq — Spc. Adam O’Krent’s first patient had no body armor to remove, no blood type written on his helmet, and on top of that he didn’t speak English. He was just 6 years old, and he didn’t have much time.
Soldiers with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division’s, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, Apache Company, were on patrol in Biwaniya, in Diyala province, when the crackle of small-arms fire felled the young boy.
And while the soldiers worked to save his life, the boy’s father appeared on the scene, accusing the soldiers of shooting his son, according to U.S. military officials.
The soldiers say they never fired a shot because they couldn’t see who was shooting at them.
Stars and Stripes tried to contact the father, but was told by public affairs that the father would not talk to any media, fearing that if he or his son were identified as having received aid from U.S. forces, they would be in danger.
There is no evidence U.S. soldiers fired their weapons during the incident, so the military is not investigating, said 2nd Lt. Jennifer Palmeri, spokeswoman for the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.
According to O’Krent, an Army medic, and other soldiers on the scene, a patrol of Strykers was rounding a corner onto a normally busy street in Biwaniya on Sept. 20 when they noticed an unsettling absence of people outside.
Someone had just commented that something seemed amiss when the crack of small-arms fire broke the silence and the soldiers saw dust kicked up by the bullets next to the Strykers. But they couldn’t see the shooter.
"We thought we were in an ambush," said 2nd Lt. Terrence Nolan, 23, of Rochester, N.Y.
A boy on the street stumbled face-first to the ground. O’Krent heard Staff Sgt. David Hill yell for him and he grabbed his bag of medical supplies.
"When he gets serious, I get serious," O’Krent said.
O’Krent could see blood pooling but no wounds until he rolled the boy onto his back. The boy had been shot in the chest and pelvis and had shrapnel in his ankle. He was struggling to breathe. O’Krent covered the sucking chest wound and quickly opened a small hole on the other side of the boy’s chest to relieve pressure on his lungs.
After bringing the child to a nearby courtyard to stabilize him, Apache Company soldiers loaded him into a Stryker and rushed him to nearby Forward Operating Base Warhorse, where he was soon put on a helicopter and flown to Balad for further treatment.
"I honestly thought the kid was dead," said Hill, of Pomona, Calif. "But Doc did awesome."
Just one month into his first tour, this was not how O’Krent expected to test his skills.
"You’re not thinking anything, you just fall into training," he said. "It’s just about keeping your composure and trusting in your squad [to protect you]."
The mood in the room darkens when a reporter asks O’Krent, Hill and Nolan about the father’s allegations.
"It’s frustrating to hear stuff like that," Hill said. "It’s my third tour, and it’s not surprising at all."
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Iraq Is Struggling to Buy Equipment
By GINA CHON
BAGHDAD -- A severe budget crunch here is holding up the sale of billions of dollars of American military equipment, including tanks, more than two dozen helicopters and thousands of radios.
The hardware is seen by Iraqi and U.S. officials as crucial in helping Iraq's military and police force completely take over security from American combat forces, scheduled to depart by August 2010.
"We are in a cost-crunch, time-crunch situation," says Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, head of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, the command training and equipping Iraqi security forces.
Iraqi officials placed orders for the equipment during superhigh oil prices in recent years, then saw their finances dwindle as crude prices fell. Iraq gets most of its revenue from oil sales.
After soaring well above $100 a barrel last year, prices slumped during the global economic downturn. Officials in Baghdad slashed their budget several times to make up for the reduced forecast revenue.
For its 2009 budget, the ministry of defense requested $15 billion. It was allocated $4.1 billion.
Oil has since recovered, with U.S. benchmark crude for November delivery trading at $66.84 a barrel in New York on Monday. That has helped Iraq's spending plans, but it won't come close to covering the country's big-ticket defense needs.
Gen. Helmick says American commanders have asked the U.S. government to give Iraq what is known as "dependable undertaking" status as part of Washington's Foreign Military Sales program. Under the program, foreign defense ministries negotiate with Washington for the purchase of equipment. The U.S. government then awards contracts to private companies to deliver the goods.
Dependable-undertaking status would allow Iraq to pay the U.S. government for the equipment in installments. But qualifying requires proof of ability to pay in full eventually and a good credit history.
So far, Iraq hasn't qualified because of its financing crunch and its history of bad debts under Saddam Hussein. It also hasn't developed a reputable credit history since Mr. Hussein was ousted.
Its finances have created a kind of Catch-22 , with Iraq's credit rating after being invaded by the U.S. keeping it from buying U.S. equipment meant to aid the end of the U.S. military presence here. The equipment holdups go back as far as about a year.
The dependable-undertaking status review for Iraq has been held up partly because of an internal debate in the Pentagon over whether Iraq should be treated like any other country in the FMS program or if exceptions should be made given U.S. interests there, according to people familiar with the matter.
The need to get equipment moving fast enough to help with the U.S. drawdown is forcing more flexibility in Washington. For example, the U.S. government is no longer making Iraq pay upfront for the 15 coastal patrol boats Baghdad agreed to buy from the U.S. in 2008. The boats are part of a $454.3 million package aimed at beefing up basic maritime defense. Instead, Iraq will pay for the boats when it receives them.
Washington also is considering allowing Iraq to buy on credit. Big-ticket purchases will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, says Gen. Helmick. The uncertainty over Iraq's dependable-undertaking status, meanwhile, is holding up the release of 140 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 26 helicopters and thousands of radios.
"We are still waiting for lots of equipment from the U.S. side," said one Iraqi defense ministry official. "And they are things we really need."
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US exit strategy: Empower Iraqis Officers are forging a new approach in the south, building trust with their Iraqi
counterparts.
By Jane Arraf | Correspondent
from the September 27, 2009 edition
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IRAQ - The lights of long lines of freight
trucks and military vehicles illuminate the desert night at this former Iraqi air base, the
hub of the US military's evolution of a new kind of force meant to see Iraq through the
next two years.
Across a huge swath of southern Iraq, soldiers from the first of the military's new Advise
and Assist Brigades (AAB) have fanned out across three provinces stretching to the
Iranian border, drawing on lessons learned at military installations and civilian agencies
– even US city halls – and trying to leave behind the habits of previous combat tours.
"It's a giant laboratory," says Col. Pete Newell, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st
Armored Division, based in Fort Bliss, Texas. "I think what these three provinces
represent is what the rest of Iraq could look like in 10 or 12 months."
His brigade, which arrived early this summer, is the first fully functioning combat brigade
to be given intensive specialized civil affairs training and sent into an environment
where they largely rely on Iraqi security forces for protection.
In an Iraq where the US military is no longer in charge, the mission marks a major shift
– in mind-sets, as well as strategy – that relies on building relationships with Iraqi
leaders rather than telling them what to do.
The new approach, which involves sharing everything from office space to sensitive
intelligence, could probably only happen now in the less volatile south. But if security
continues to improve in other areas, the approach of "reengage to disengage" will be
the way home – making Iraqis so self-sufficient that US troops can leave.
Newell commands some of the most seasoned soldiers in the country. Up to 70 percent
of the brigade have served in Iraq at least twice before, many in Mosul and Diyala
provinces, the most dangerous in Iraq, where almost every Iraqi is considered a
potential threat.
Here in the south, some Iraqis have become friends. One US officer is even going to
name his baby after an Iraqi colleague's daughter. (See story on facing page.)
The tank brigade's transformation from leading combat operations to trying to help Iraqis
in a fully sovereign Iraq has required not only an evolution in training but a drastic
change of thinking.
"After June 30," with the withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraqi cities, "everything
has changed," says Command Sgt. Maj. Phillip Pandy, of Miami, Fla., who oversees the
brigade's almost 4,000 noncommissioned officers and enlisted men. "Normally, with the
war," he says, "you would have to train them to think 'war.' But with all this experience,
it's almost the opposite.... That's my biggest challenge I see here."
The tanks and Bradlee fighting vehicles lumbering onto the base come from all over
Iraq, on their way out to Kuwait as the US draws down its troops from the 130,000
currently in the country to what is expected to be fewer than 35,000 one year from now.
The base has swelled to 8,000 military personnel and another 3,000 contractors since
the June 30 withdrawal (required by a joint US-Iraqi security agreement) and is still
growing.
Lt. Col. Lance Varney, the brigade operations officer, explains the difference in daily
operations on previous deployments and today, as US involvement winds down:
"In rotations before ... maybe 60 percent of your time you would be doing a lethal type of
activity," says Varney, who is from San Diego. "You'd be kicking in doors, you'd be
cordon-and-searching and doing whatever that it is to get at the bad guy. Then you'd be
spending other parts of your time in partnership with Iraqi security forces, trying to bring
them to your formations so you could do combined operations, and then you'd have
another small percentage where you'd be doing civil capacity."
Now, he says, soldiers spend most of their time building civil capacity and training Iraqi
security forces and less than 20 percent on security operations.
"It's an opportunity to come in and do things in a different way, to break some of the
rules we have set for ourselves," says Newell, who five years ago was commanding a
battalion in the center of the battle for Fallujah.
In one of the most striking differences with the past, Newell made clear to his Iraqi
counterparts that outside the US bases, Iraqi security forces are responsible for keeping
American soldiers safe.
"I started hearing my counterparts stand up and say publicly ... 'We are responsible for
the Americans' security. They are here to train us; they are here to provide us with
enablers we don't have. An attack on them is an attack on us.' "
The three provinces Newell's brigade operates in – Maysan, Dhi Qar, and Muthanna –
are almost exclusively Shiite, with little sectarian violence, and were among the first to
be turned over to Iraqis from US control. The area, though, is a stronghold of anti-
American Shiite extremist groups and a "strategic support zone" for weapons and
fighters crossing the Iranian border and moving north for attacks on Baghdad.
When mortars or rockets are fired at US bases, as they still occasionally are, Iraqi
soldiers go after the attackers while US aerial surveillance images are fed into joint
tactical operations centers. Newell even rides in his Iraqi counterparts' vehicles, a
practice unheard-of in more volatile areas. Among the other changes: Newell has
decentralized intelligence gathering and analysis at the unit level, working closely with
Iraqis and sharing information with them.
Under the "clear, hold, and build" strategy emphasized during the past three years of
war, US forces and their Iraqi counterparts in the north are still preoccupied with holding
territory gained after clearing areas of insurgents. Here in the south, they're building.
Newell's officers and senior soldiers spend their time working side by side with Iraqi
police and Army officers, formally and informally. On a recent day near Nasiriyah,
noncommissioned officers held classes in crime-scene analysis for the Iraqi police while
downtown, in the joint security station, US officers manned desks next to Iraqi officers.
An entire artillery battalion is tasked with working with the US State Department's
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), including going out to check on projects that
State Department employees can't visit because of security restrictions. In some cases,
US officers have gone through the Iraqi police force's own training certification course.
In the impoverished south, a key incentive for Iraqi security and political leaders to keep
Americans safe is the money the US military spends on infrastructure, which is needed
to attract foreign oil firms and investors.
After a drop in US willingness to fund Iraqi projects, the US officers have begun to turn
on the taps again.
Lt. Col. Michael Eastman is overseeing $16 million spread over 260 projects under the
Commander's Emergency Response Program – discretionary funds made available to
US commanders in Iraq.
"We are helping this democratically elected government [of Iraq] ... meet some of the
obligations it has to the people that they cannot [do] right now ... because of the budget
shortfalls that they have encountered," says Eastman, a former West Point instructor
from Lawton, Okla. "We are still working in an environment where if you can employ
someone they're less likely to be paid to plant bombs."
Nasiriyah was notorious during the war as the site of one of the first major battles during
the invasion of Iraq, when 11 US soldiers were killed after their supply convoy took a
wrong turn. Six years later, it's one of the calmest places in Iraq. On a recent evening,
the head of the PRT here, Anna Prouse, wandered through a teahouse wearing
camouflage body armor with a silk flower tucked into it, chatting with residents.
Faced with the prospect of hundreds of Iraqi police being thrown off the force because
they couldn't read, and with no Iraqi government program to deal with it, Ms. Prouse
arranged for her interpreter to hold literacy classes.
"Sometimes we think we all need to spend huge amounts of money doing something
that's quite easy," says Prouse, a former journalist and an Italian citizen. The PRT is a
joint US-Italian venture. "We have a linguist, they have classrooms. Why do I have to
spend a huge amount of money to bring someone from abroad to teach the alphabet?"
U.S. forces operate under the US-Iraqi security agreement, which now makes the US
military very clearly guests rather than occupiers. In some cases, it's still a tenuous
relationship. Among Newell's recent hiccups was the rumor in Maysan's provincial
capital, Amarah, that the US military was dropping pigs (taboo under Islam) into the city
to spread swine flu. Iraqi officials soon sorted it out.
Now, after the June 30 agreement, there are actually more US soldiers living in cities
than before in the three provinces Newell oversees. They're there to advise and train
their Iraqi counterparts.
Now their focus is responding to what the Iraqis say they need to learn, not what US
commanders say they need. That's altered everything, from the kind of training Iraqis
receive to the selection of intelligence targets – now they're the ones Iraqis choose, not
US-chosen ones.
"All of these classes, all these things didn't come from coalition forces – we asked for
them," says Dhi Qar's provincial police chief, Maj. Gen. Saad al-Harbia, sitting in his
office late into the evening with his American counterparts. "I consider this the first true
relationship between us because it is based on something real instead of raids and
firing at people in the street."
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Got whiskers? Iraqis will notice
US officers say that building relationships with Iraqi security forces includes
doing small things as well as the bigger, more obvious ones.
By Jane Arraf | Correspondent 09.28.09
AMARAH, IRAQ - Among the challenges of being redeployed to Iraq, one that Capt. Allen Trujillo least expected was the need to grow a mustache. But Trujillo of Chimayo, N.M., has done just that to bond with the Iraqi officers he works with in the first of the US Advisory and Assistance Brigades intended to be the future of the American presence here.
While the concept of this new brigade was designed at the military’s highest levels, it’s
the young officers and noncommissioned officers on the ground who will determine its success. Most of the Americans are here on their second or third deployments, but unlike previous missions this one depends on forging trust with their Iraqi counterparts.
Trujillo, commander of Commanche Company, 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, plans to give the daughter he’s expecting an Arabic middle name after the daughter of
the provincial police general with whom he works.
When it comes to facial hair – a display of masculinity in Iraq – it’s apparently the effort
that matters.
―No one took him seriously two weeks ago,‖ says Trujillo, pointing to the wispy
beginnings of a ginger mustache (in stark contrast to a shaved head) on platoon leader Thomas Gossweiler.
―It’s true,‖ says Lt. Gossweiler, of Holbrook, N.Y. Visiting the Iraqi police chief, the US
officers joke with their Iraqi counterparts as if they’re old friends.
For Trujillo, this mission is a way of coming to terms with some of the losses of previous deployments. He pushed to name Amarah’s joint security station after Lt. Mark Daily,
who was killed in Mosul in 2007 shortly after writing an essay saying he had joined the Army because Americans had a responsibility to help the oppressed.
―He would have wanted to be here – to see it full circle from where we’ve come,‖ says
Trujillo.
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Al-Qaida issues new threat in Mosul Published: Sept. 28, 2009 at 3:35 PM
MOSUL, Iraq, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Terrorists with al-Qaida's network in Iraq issued death threats to truck drivers attempting to deliver goods in the northern city of Mosul, officials say.
Ali Malih al-Zawbaie, a paramilitary leader in northern Ninawa province, told the Voices of Iraq news agency that al-Qaida has threatened to kill any truck driver entering the Tal Abta district just west of the city.
"Gunmen alleging to belong to al-Qaida network have imposed an economic siege on the Tal Abta district," he said.
Zawbaie accused provincial leaders with the Sunni Hadbaa movement in Ninawa with supporting al-Qaida affiliates and members of the deposed Baath Party.
The Sunni-led Hadbaa list won a surprising victory in Ninawa in the January provincial elections, trouncing their Kurdish counterparts by taking 19 of the 37 council seats and effective control over the government.
Mosul remains one of the more violent places in Iraq. U.S. military commanders had earlier this year considered exceptions for Mosul for a June withdrawal date as conflict lingered in the north.
Two police officers were killed and two others were injured Monday when a roadside bomb struck their patrol in Mosul.
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Mosul gets five pre-fab police stations
MOSUL, Iraq, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers teamed up with the Iraqi government to set up five new police outposts in Mosul in preparation for January elections.
The Corps through its Mosul resident office said it was working to construct five "expedient" Iraqi police stations to provide additional security as the country prepares for national elections in January.
The Iraqi police and the U.S.-led security transition command are placing the prefabricated stations in heavily populated areas throughout the city of 1.8 million people.
Mosul remains one of the more volatile cities in Iraq. The al-Qaida network in Iraq issued recent threats to truck drivers in the region.
Mike Fellenz, a project engineer in Mosul, said the five police stations would bring quick and easy enhancements to regional security.
"These police stations are designed for rapid construction and provide both office space and living quarters for police officers and the administrative staff," he added.
Each stations costs more than $490,000 with funding provided by the Iraq Security Force Fund.
Nanocon Engineering & Technology Co., Cosmopolitan Inc. and Albial Group Construction Co. are the contractors for the five police stations.
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Iraqi oil contract system needs grease Political infighting, not insecurity, is what hobbles Iraq's oil industry now.
By THE ECONOMIST Last update: September 28, 2009 - 5:12 PM
Suitors keep knocking on the door of Iraq's oil ministry but the people inside are still coyly loath to say "come in."
Licenses to develop oil fields are being awarded at tortoise speed. The ministry has been telling companies looking for exploration and drilling contracts to give unusually large up-front loans before they can be considered for long-term deals.
Still, Iraq has the fourth-largest oil reserves in the world behind Saudi Arabia, Canada and Iran. With members of parliament in recess for the summer, technocrats in the ministry have quietly been taking some cautious steps toward turning Iraq into the global hydrocarbon giant it says it wants to be.
Oil ministry officials have recently tweaked plans for a long-awaited license auction in December, to make it more attractive. International bidders will be able to take part in several -- rather than just one -- of the 10 greenfield projects on offer, including Majnoon in the southeast, one of the country's two largest fields.
Officials met an array of oil bigwigs from around the world last month in Istanbul to discuss terms. Most of the prospective buyers were persuaded that they have a chance of winning contracts, with more than one-third of Iraq's reserves up for grabs. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, a statistical agency in the Department of Energy, reckons that oil in those 10 undeveloped Iraqi fields would fill about 41 billion barrels, worth nearly $3 trillion at today's price.
Yet Iraq's government is still discouraging foreign investment by insisting on offering rock-bottom fees to companies bidding to get the oil out. In June, at the first oil field auction since the U.S. invasion, the government offered $2 a barrel against the $4 proposed by the companies. As a result, only one field, Rumaila, was sold. Even so, BP and the China National Petroleum Corp., which won the contract, are still waiting for it to be signed. Meanwhile, no work at the field is going on.
Despite Iraq's long history as an oil producer, the country still sorely needs foreign help to explore and get the stuff out. Saudi Arabia can fend off the oil majors' demands because it has enough experts of its own. But most of Iraq's geologists and engineers have left the country in the past six years, either because they could not tolerate the insecurity or because the new establishment has chased them away. At 2.45 million barrels a day, latest production is still a shade down on its peak output before the U.S. invasion.
Last month, the cabinet agreed on a law to set up a national oil company. The ministry will be split into a regulator and a producer, embracing the 16 companies it now runs. Presently, North Oil Co., focusing on the area around Kirkuk, and South Oil Co., around Basra, produce most of the oil. But they do not drill, explore or refine the oil and process gas. Those activities fall to other companies supervised by the ministry, few of which cooperate with each other.
The latest idea is to bring them together under one management. That would be progress. Yet there are repeated setbacks. Royal Dutch Shell expected to clinch a deal this month to get natural gas from oil extracted in Basra province. But locals loath to let foreigners make profits have forced a delay until after the general election due in January.
Insecurity is no longer the biggest factor deterring foreigners. Most vociferously they complain about the new Iraqi establishment's lack of political will. A few months before the crucial election, politicians feeling obliged to beat a nationalist oil drum are unable to tell voters that the country will earn more from its oil only if foreigners are drawn in. If the second international oil auction flops as badly as the first one did, Iraq risks deterring investors for a long time.
Return to top Local soldier back from Iraq
‘I have a much greater appreciation for what the Iraqis are trying to do’
By Elizabeth Hagedorn, Contributing Writer Updated 6:04 PM Monday, September 28, 2009
An Oxford resident returned three weeks ago after being stationed in Iraq for the past year. 1st Lt. Adam Vance is a Civil Affairs Officer in the Army Reserve and a 1995 graduate of Talawanda High School.
As a Civil Affairs Team Leader, Vance spent the past year in the Eastern Diyala province of Iraq, serving in an ambassadorial role between the military and the Iraqi elected officials and sheiks.
―We worked hand-in-hand with the government and Iraqi officials,‖ Vance said. ―We
would help the mayors and city councils with infrastructure projects with water and roadways. We would also hire Iraqis to do this work to stimulate the local economy.‖
According the Vance, the southern qada of Eastern Diyala, called Bala Ruz, was populated by Arabs, while the northern qada of Khanaqin is mostly Kurds. He said his team worked to ease a lot of the existing tension between the Arabs and the Kurds.
―It was interesting to work with the Arabs and the Kurds, and be able to understand the reasons for their tension and see both sides of the story,‖ Vance said.
Vance said that under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, the Kurds were forced out of their land and were replaced by Arabs. His team helped Arabs move back to their original location and get the Kurds back to their land.
―The government gave money to both parties to help them move. It seemed like all
parties were pleased,‖ Vance said.
Vance said he now sees how difficult it is for the Iraqis to create a new government because the only government they have ever known is a dictatorship.
―I have a much greater appreciation for what the Iraqis are trying to do,‖ Vance said. ―I
have a new perspective on their struggle with the daunting task of starting a government from scratch.‖
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Sunday arrival ends regular flights from Iraq for Fairbanks Strykers
By Christopher Eshleman Published Monday, September 28, 2009
FAIRBANKS — Lucy Hoegle thinks months of cooking for soldiers overseas is probably enough for her husband, Army Sgt. Gregory Hoegle. So the family is taking him out to eat, the first step as they welcome him home from his deployment to Iraq, which ended Sunday when Hoegle and roughly 100 other soldiers returned following a year in Iraq.
―He’s ready to come home and see his son,‖ Lucy said.
The soldiers, members of various direct and supporting companies with the Fort Wainwright-based 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, represented the final returning party for the brigade. In the past month, more than 4,000 men and women have returned to the Army post from Iraq’s Diyala province, northeast
of Baghdad, where the brigade had a key role in the United States’ campaign in Iraq.
The brigade has worked with Iraqi security forces in largely rural areas; a Stryker brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash., replaced the 1-25th.
Sunday’s return was the last in a string of flights that returned soldiers to Alaska from the Middle East. It included members of a public affairs attachment; Among them was Sgt. Tim Chatlos, who will now get to know his 1-year-old daughter, who was only 4 days old when he deployed last year.
―Fifteen months is such a long time, especially with children,‖ said Chatlos, who also
plans to take 5-year-old son Trevor gold panning. ―It’s time to get reacquainted.‖
Members of Pfc. Clyde Tate’s Stryker platoon were on hand to welcome him back — he was the last from the 30-soldier platoon to return. Spc. Adam Severson said they’d
promptly ensure he gets a warm meal and a cold beer.
―It’s just good to have everyone back,‖ Severson said.
The prospect of seeing her husband again kept an exhausted Petra Jardine, wife of Staff Sgt. Brandon Jardine, awake for four days, she said. Jardine returned Sunday from his second deployment in Iraq — he was part of the 172nd Brigade Combat Team that remained in Baghdad beyond its regularly-scheduled return in 2006.
―I am just beyond excited,‖ she said.
Lynsie Serra, wife of returning Sgt. Sean Serra, and a friend kept the plan simple. They stocked up on cookies, movies and drinks in case the 21-year-old Serra preferred quality time at home to more rigorous options such as four-wheeling around Fairbanks.
―He can’t wait to be home,‖ Lynsie said just before the soldiers’ arrival.
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SINGLE SOLDIERSINGLE SOLDIER
DINNER & A MOVIEDINNER & A MOVIE T U E S D A Y
2 0 O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9
B N C L A S S R O O M , 6 : 0 0 P M
I N A P P R E C I A T I O N T O A L L O U R S I N G L E
S O L D I E R S W E ’ L L P R O V I D E A L L T H E
C O M F O R T S O F H O M E !
H O M E C O O K E D F O O D ,
D E S S E R T & D R I N K S P R O V I D E D
F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N C O N T A C T
Y O U R C O M P A N Y R E P O R T H E B N C H A P L A I N
1-14 INFANTRY BATTALION
Golden Dragons
CH (CPT) Nathan P. McLean
2
0
0
9"Embracing The Fierce Urgency of Now!"
When: 14 OCT 09Time: 1030-1200Where: Fort Shafter Flats
Bldg 1554 – Assembly Hall
Guest Speaker: Marie Villa(President of Latin Business Hawaii)
Entertainment: El Mariachi Loco DJ Rod
Latin Food Sampling
“Festival Latino”(Latin Festival)
POC LTC Garcia -438-1600 x 3281
the state capitol and surrounding areas will
overflow with youthful energy at the
16th annual
{Children & Youth Day}o c t . 4, 2009
10 a . m . to 3 p . m .
Join over 200 exhibitors and community
organizations for a day of free interactive,
educational and fun activities for the whole
family under the “Big Top” tents and on the
grounds surrounding the capitol.
• Games & rides
• Demonstrations
• Guided tours
• Non-stop entertainment
• “Teen Zone”
• “Green Zone”
• Food & drink vendors
Free parking available at all neighboring
state and county public parking lots.
Children & Youth Day is the first major
event of the Children & Youth Month
celebrated each year in October.
For more information or a complete listing of events,
please call Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland’s office at 586-6130
on Oahu or email [email protected].
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