Meet Your Military
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Army Master Sgt. Steven Lotz, a geospatial analyst for the 416th Theater Engineer Command, is the first member of DARIEN, Ill., – A self-proclaimed “map geek” is the first soldier to join the newest geospatial cell at an Illinois engineer command, and he wants to find more soldiers like him to join the team.
Army Master Sgt. Steve Lotz began his career 27 years ago as a field artilleryman, but he fits right in at the new geospatial cell established this year as part of a broader redesign and revalidation for the Army Reserve’s 416th Theater Engineer Command headquarters. Lotz said he developed his appreciation for mapping through his father, a land surveyor who came to the United States from Germany in the 1950s. “So when I was a boy, I would actually go out on jobs with him and help him out with elevations and measuring,” he said. Even as a boy, Lotz said, he would collect highway maps given away at gas stations. And when his father died, he added, he inherited beautiful mountain-climbing maps made in the 1930s, all hand-drawn and incredibly detailed. “I was always fascinated by that -- looking at a map and knowing [where to go]. … When I was younger, I went to Europe. I could just look at a map and put it down, and I’d know where I’m going. I always wanted to know where I was going,” he said.
Read more: Meet Your Military: 'Map Geek' Finds Way to New Geospatial Unit
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Operating room nurse Army Capt. Rory Walton, left, and nurse anesthetist Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Rolfes prepare to move a Salvadoran patient after surgery aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort in Acajutla, El Salvador, during Continuing Promise, June 18, 2015. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer @nd class Derek Paumen BETHESDA, Md., – “Even in the middle of the ocean, the ‘spirit of jointness’ is alive,” Army Capt. Rory Walton wrote from the high seas of the Caribbean. The operating room nurse assigned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is one of 43 Walter Reed staffers aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort, deployed for the Continuing Promise 2015 humanitarian mission to Central America, the Caribbean and South America. The mission is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet-conducted deployment focused on civil-military operations. It includes providing medical, dental, veterinary and engineering support, along with disaster response preparation, to partner nations. Walton joined the ship April 1 in Norfolk, Virginia, for a six-month deployment. She called it a “unique opportunity” to continue developing Walter Reed’s interoperability with sailors, airmen and Public Health Service members.
Sharing Best Practices and Ideas “Having the opportunity to work together with our friends and partners in this mission setting allows for the sharing of best practices and ideas,” she said. “It further enables all of us to build partner capacity and promote collaboration [and] partnerships in order to meet challenges together and prepare for future missions, contingencies and response efforts.”
Read more: Meet Your Military: Army Nurse Sails High Seas on USNS Comfort
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Rhonda Brown, a landscape architect, for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston district, has managed projects around the world during her 21-year USACE career. U.S. Army photoGALVESTON, Texas, Sifting through artifacts dating back to the Roman era -- discovered while excavating a roadway for a $200 million Army housing project in Wiesbaden, Germany -- is the most interesting job assignment Rhonda Brown has overseen during her 21 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"We came across Roman coins, tile roof and pottery pieces,” said Brown. “I thought for sure this would require the project to be relocated. However, Roman sites are found all over Europe so the German government simply collected some items, documented the location and the project continued with construction over the Roman site.” Brown's career has provided her with other memorable experiences around the world, including a visit to ground zero of the World Trade Center during a disaster clean-up mission. The landscape architect now serves as a project manager for the USACE Galveston District, directing each stage in the life of a project, from programming and planning to design and construction.
Broad Responsibilities “I am currently managing the design of eight U.S. Customs and Border Protection command-and-control facilities in Texas and am the project manager for the Corpus Christi Border Patrol Station, Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station vehicle maintenance facility, and the Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project,” Brown said. She said the USACE Galveston District provides planning, design and construction services to local, state and federal agencies, such as the USCBP, that either do not have in-house capabilities or are interested in combining their resources with the Corps’ to support construction projects that serve our nation and our armed forces.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Army Civilian Finds Passion in Engineering Project Management
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A U.S. Airman Pursues his PassionNELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev., July 1, 2015 – He slowly walks to the foul line as his arm swings. He unleashes the ball, and it swiftly rolls toward the pins. With a noise that sounds like 10 champagne bottles being uncorked, the ball sends the pins flying, and he is rewarded with a strike.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua Cramer, a 57th Maintenance Squadron munitions systems technician here, has had a passion for bowling since he was a boy. "My dad got me into it when I was 6 years old," he said. "It was something that the two of us could do together." Some people take years to develop a high skill level for a sport, but Cramer said he enjoyed early success at bowling. "I've always enjoyed bowling and I performed really well at competitions when I was younger," he said. Cramer continued bowling, and he eventually applied to join the 2015 Air Force bowling team. Competing against other applicants at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, he made the team. In May, he bowled in the Armed Forces Championships. The Air Force women's team placed second, while the men's team took first place. Cramer and his men's doubles partner finished first in that category, and Cramer placed fourth overall individually.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Airman Pursues Passion for Bowling
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Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Timothy Sifuentes talks with Army Staff Sgt. Monica Martinez at Fort Belvoir, Va., before cycling training for the 2015 Department Of Defense Warrior Games, June 14, 2015. Sifuentes and Martinez are two of more than 40 active duty and veteran athletes training at Fort Belvoir. Sifuentes will represent Team Army in the field, swimming and cycling competitions, and Martinez will compete in the cycling, field ,sitting volleyball, swimming ,track and archery competitions during the 2015 Department of Defense Warrior Games at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va., June 19-28, 2015. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christophe PaulFORT BELVOIR, Virginia: Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Timothy Sifuentes has flown more than 2,300 hours and completed nearly 1,000 combat missions in an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter. Flying is a part of who he is. So when injuries to his back and knee and a tear in his right glute forced him out of the cockpit, he had to find a new way to soar.
Sifuentes is preparing to compete in the Department of Defense Warrior Games at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, June 19-28. “What do I think I’ll get out of the Warrior Games experience? A new challenge -- a new me, if you will,” said Sifuentes, a Glendive, Montana, native, and a former Fort Riley Warrior Transition Battalion soldier, now with the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. “Yeah, I know I’ll never be 100 percent where I was prior to my injuries,” he added, “but I can establish a new baseline.”
Sifuentes, a former runner, was able to use cycling to recover from injuries, thanks to the adaptive reconditioning program offered through the Warrior Transition Battalion. He will compete in cycling, swimming and field events at the Warrior Games. Different, But Therapeutic “Once I couldn’t compete in [running] any more and I started the recovery process, I thought, ‘Let me give cycling a chance,’” he said.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Soldier Finds New Ways to Take Flight