Maj. Lisa Reaver, an Air Force reservist with the 477th Fighter Group here, was able to do both when she and a group of friends climbed Africa’s highest peak -- Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.“A teammate of mine from rugby did the climb a couple of years ago and said it was a life-changing experience,” Reaver said.Kilimanjaro’s highest point, Uhuru Peak, rises to an altitude of 19,341 feet above sea level, according to the CIA World Factbook.Reaver left Alaska Sept. 17 en route to her mountain-climbing quest with a group from the Global Alliance for Africa, a non-profit organization that benefits children orphaned by HIV and AIDS. The major said she was among the four people of her six-person group that were able to reach Uhuru Peak. “Mount Kilimanjaro does not look capable of such intensity, but just like the people that guided us up it, you can’t judge a book by its cover,” she said. “Those men are capable of carrying not just their pack, but yours too, on their head, just as Mount Kilimanjaro is capable of keeping people off its peak. It is harder than it looks.” Reaver said if she had to take one lesson away from her trip it would be, “You don't know what you are capable of until you’re put to the test.” The trip to Africa, she said, “was a challenge on a couple of fronts, mainly fundraising, as well as the climb. I'm not an expert in either area, and was pushed out of my comfort zone to accomplish both.” Reaver added, “I learned that I can rely on my friends and family, myself and my faith. Trusting in that, I can succeed at just about anything.” Nov. 19, 2010: By Air Force Airman 1st Class Jack Sanders- 3rd Wing Public Affairs  Redistributed by www.SupportOurTroops.org

As the truck’s motor idles, a young soldier sitting in the rear seat peruses a magazine. He is alone as the vehicle’s other occupants, including its driver, are retrieving their laundry.“Where’s the driver for this vehicle?â€Â said a voice from outside the truck. “They’re all inside getting their laundry, Pete,â€Â answered the soldier inside the truck. Peter Higgins then sternly tells the soldier, “Someone needs to be in the driver’s seat if the truck is running. You guys know the rules.â€Â As Higgins walks on, the truck’s driver appears. “Who was that?â€Â asked the driver. “Just ‘Safety Pete’ getting on me about the truck running with nobody in the driver’s seat,â€Â said the soldier. The soldiers correct the problem and get moving for the day’s mission. They don’t question Higgins, they say, because he’s simply doing his job. That’s why they call him “Safety Pete.â€Â Higgins, a safety and occupational health specialist, has for the past three years worked to ensure that 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldiers operate their equipment in a safe manner. Higgins said he retired from active-Army service in 1999 as a first sergeant and then went to work as a teacher in Killeen, Texas. He said he didn’t care much for teaching, so he later went to work as a parole officer for the state of Texas. “Both were good jobs, but I found myself missing the Army and especially working with soldiers,â€Â Higgins said. After 9/11, Higgins decided he wanted to work for the military as a civilian. Shortly thereafter, the previous 3rd ACR commander contacted him and Higgins went to work for the regiment as its safety officer. “I spend a lot of my time walking or driving around looking for hazards and unsafe actions or practices the soldiers may be involved in,â€Â Higgins said. “When I see something, I typically grab another soldier and let them correct the problem so that others don’t make the same mistakes. It comes down to taking care of the soldier, period.â€Â Higgins recently detected a problem with the fire suppression system mounted on a series of trucks in the regiment’s inventory. A missed step in the system’s installation, coupled with unclear directions for inspection, posed a serious danger to the soldiers. “I never realized when I reported it how far up it would actually go,â€Â he said. “The issue has gone all the way to the Department of Defense, and corrections are now being made to the vehicle’s manual.â€Â Higgins said he endeavors “to ensure the safety of the soldiers who are out here doing the missions every day.â€Â “Accidents will happen,â€Â he acknowledged, “but they can be prevented if the right information is passed along.â€Â Nov. 18, 2010: By Army Staff Sgt. Garrett Ralston- 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment

Known as individual augmentees or IAs, these Guard members have voluntarily asked for an opportunity to serve their state and nation by filling key positions in the war fight.Having never mobilized with an activated unit, Army Col. Michael Herman of Aberdeen, S.D., said, he knew he wanted to serve in Afghanistan in some capacity. He now is helping to develop the Afghan National Army. “I hadn’t deployed yet, and got permission to deploy by the South Dakota Guard,â€Â said Herman, 47. “I worked through the National Guard Bureau to find an IA assignment, and they gave me a list to choose from in Afghanistan, because that’s where I wanted to serve.â€Â Since 2001, the South Dakota Army National Guard has mobilized more than 3,500 soldiers in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, about 50 of them in IA positions. In August 2009, Herman chose a position critical to the security climate in Afghanistan from a short list of available colonel augmentee positions. Over the next 15 months, Herman would serve as the senior advisor and coalition commander of the Consolidated Fielding Center at Kabul Military Training Center near the Afghan capital of Kabul. The CFC develops nearly all Afghan army units for the country –- manning, equipping, training, validating, and finally deploying units into the fight. “The role of the individual augmentee is very important. Units mobilizing are obviously very important, but IAs fill key positions,â€Â said Herman, who is married with three children and one grandchild. “National Guard people are especially well suited for these types of assignments, because they bring a lot of unique skill sets to this type of environment or theater.â€Â So important is the role of the CFC in developing the security forces needed for Afghanistan, it garners the attention of the top officials from the U.S. government and military, as well as coalition partner nations. Herman has briefed former International Security Assistance Force Commander Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. James Stavridis, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, as well as numerous Congress members and foreign ambassadors.

 

[caption id="attachment_4354" align="alignleft" width="300"] Army Col. Michael Herman, right, of the South Dakota Army National Guard briefs NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Navy Adm. James Stavridis, left, on the progress of training Afghan National Army units in May 2010 at the Consolidated Fielding Center near Kabul, Afghanistan. Courtesy photo[/caption] With an ISAF goal of having 134,000 trained and fielded Afghan soldiers throughout the country by last month, Herman knew he had a big task ahead of him when he arrived in September 2009. With only about 110,000 Afghan army forces trained and deployed since the war began, Herman would lead the effort to increase its size by nearly 30,000 soldiers in just over a year –- bringing the total to about 140,000. “I knew very little about the position when I selected it,â€Â said Herman, a 29-year veteran of the South Dakota Guard. “But with having an extensive training background, I thought it would be the perfect fit for me training Afghan soldiers as they stand up their national army.â€Â Prior to mobilizing, Herman had been the professor of military science at South Dakota State University in Brookings for four years. Before that, he spent more than 13 years serving in training, personnel and administrative officer positions for the 1-147th Field Artillery Battalion and 147th Field Artillery Brigade, responsible for ensuring the manning, equipping and training of soldiers. Herman would rely on this experience to help in developing the year-old CFC. Leading up to his arrival, the CFC was the only collective training center in Afghanistan ramping up Afghan army units. “It was a relatively new training center. In the past, the [Afghan army] had been standing up their units in separate areas or remote locations,â€Â Herman said. “What [ISAF and the Afghan government] found out is that they had a product that was very different from one another.â€Â Herman said some Afghan army corps would do very well at getting their soldiers the right equipment and training, while others were not doing as well, so coalition forces and the Afghan defense minister decided to have one location to have collective training. While the CFC was in its infancy, the program had very few resources and personnel to properly train the numbers of soldiers. But Herman had experience taking a struggling organization and making it successful. He revamped South Dakota State’s Army ROTC program there, and it later was was selected as the most improved battalion by the Army’s Cadet Command. With few resources and not enough personnel and training aids, Herman quickly needed to figure out how he was going to train so many forces in such a short amount of time. “I started formulating a plan with my staff and team on what we needed to complete our mission,â€Â he said. Herman’s team initially consisted of only 16 coalition soldiers and 10 contractors. Needing resources, training aids, additional equipment and personnel, Herman was about to tell the commander of all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan what he needed to be successful. “At the time, General McChrystal had come out to the CFC -– he was getting ready to visit with President Obama, and he asked some hard questions of me,â€Â Herman said. “McChrystal asked, ‘Can you do what you are assigned to do? Can you meet the throughput capability?’ At the time we had a frank discussion, and I said, ‘Yes, if we have the right resources.’â€Â By November 2009, Army Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV was assigned as the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan commander and added a lot of resources for Herman and his team. Many coalition nations started contributing personnel, and by January, Herman started getting the resources he needed. Herman’s team grew to more than 440 coalition forces –- consisting of more than 50 support teams from nations such as Great Britain, Turkey, Australia, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Jordan and Canada. “We were only putting out one or two Afghan kandaks (battalion-sized elements of about 800 soldiers) at a time,â€Â Herman said. “By the April/May time frame, we had seven, eight or nine kandaks going through the CFC at any given time.â€Â By last month, the CFC had met the quota of 134,000 Afghan soldiers fielded, but along the way, Herman and his team made a significant change in the development process: quality vs. quantity. “We are making progress in this war. It’s night and day since I got here,â€Â Herman said. “When I started, I had five training aids; now we have a battalions worth of aids. Less than 50 percent [of Afghan troops] could qualify with their weapons; now we are up to 90 percent. We are teaching the military decision-making process and troop-leading procedures. Now, staffs know how to plan for operations.â€Â Herman said the CFC is producing a better product now than it ever has before. With more training time, more training tasks and more quality training, the Afghan soldiers are better, and this translates into a better fighting force, he added. The CFC also develops combat support units, Herman noted. “These types of units are very critical to sustainability right now,â€Â he said. “There are probably enough combatant commands out there to do the job, but they are having a hard time sustaining themselves. We as coalition partners are providing the sustainment operations, but we are starting to produce more of those units, so they will soon start taking over that mission.â€Â With the pieces falling into place –- adequate resources and personnel, quality training and the support units to sustain it all -– a picture is forming of what the Afghanistan National Army should look like, Herman said. “We’ve produced 68 units and more than 29,000 Afghan soldiers at the CFC during my time here,â€Â Herman said. “Our goal was 134,000; we now have 140,000. Our new goal is 171,600 by October of 2011, and we are on track to meet that.â€Â Herman said the Afghans he has met and worked with have been gracious and supportive of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan and in helping to build their army. “Working with the Afghan Army leadership has been an outstanding experience and they are extremely supportive of the American and the coalition presence here,â€Â he said. “They know that we are here spending our resources, money and soldiers to help them take over their own security, and they understand they need to stand on their own two feet.â€Â As Herman completes his tour and heads back to South Dakota, he leaves Afghanistan knowing he has made a difference in the war effort, and will leave with a different impression of what the individual augmentee can accomplish. “I’m a huge fan of the IA, and I think they play an important role in this war,â€Â he said. “For a National Guard officer to have had the position I was in is extraordinary, because of the responsibility and tasking assigned. I would encourage any Guardsman to volunteer for an IA assignment.â€Â Nov. 17, 2010: By Army Capt. Anthony Deiss- Task Force Rushmore

“Besides giving money, there was nothing else I could do to help those that needed so much,” she said.It was the earthquake that got Colom, an English teacher with the Department of Defense Education Activity’s schools in Europe, to start thinking about ways to help others. When she received an e-mail from DoDEA headquarters a month later asking for volunteers for the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce to teach English to Afghan soldiers training with the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Colom said, she “jumped on the chance.”

 

[caption id="attachment_3279" align="alignleft" width="300"] Tom Wiglesworth, a Department of Defense Education Activity teacher, reviews a lesson plan with his students. Wiglesworth and four other DoDEA teachers are volunteering with the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce program to teach English to Afghan soldiers. Courtesy photo[/caption] Colom explained that she liked the idea of teaching and living in a different country and getting to experience another culture, and she knew this was her way of helping those who really needed it. “The classes are long, but the [students] work hard and do realize that their future and that of their family and country depends on them learning English,” she said. Tom Wiglesworth, an English teacher from DoDEA’s Guam District, also is in Afghanistan teaching English to Afghan soldiers. Wiglesworth has a history of service with the U.S. military. He joined the Marine Corps in 1973 and later served in the Army Reserve before becoming a combat medic with the National Guard. Wiglesworth said he’s always considered it his duty to serve his country when and where he could, and that teaching with DoDEA allowed him to continue his military service even after his service with the military was complete. When the opportunity to teach English arose, Wiglesworth said, he was ecstatic to teach in Afghanistan. Colom, Wiglesworth, and two other DoDEA teachers -- Judith Ryan and Steven Osborne -- went through extensive pre-deployment training. They trained for two months, had to undergo medical exams, physicals, numerous shots, and online training in addition to their two-month training. Then the teachers were sent to the Defense Language Institute English Language Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where they learned the institute’s American Language Course curriculum. From there, they attended a two-week field exercise in Indiana, where they learned military structure in a war zone. “The training was adequate and profitable in many ways,” Wiglesworth said. “I particularly appreciated the time getting to know the team I would be with while here in the country.” This DoDEA team deployed in August and will serve on military installations throughout Afghanistan for one year under the mentorship of Pamela Tucker, a teacher from DoDEA’s Japan District, who serves as mobile training team chief. Tucker is a member of the Army Reserve and has experience teaching in a war zone stemming from her deployment to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division from 2003 to 2004. “Given the opportunity, other educators should take advantage of teaching in an environment like Afghanistan,” Tucker said. “Not only does it allow one to engage in impact teaching, but it helps further the U.S. mission and vision towards global peace and prosperity. It really is a rich experience.” Each teacher teaches a class of about 30 students daily, and students range from wing commanders, pilots and senior officers to maintenance soldiers, crew chiefs and munitions officers. Though they must do without many creature comforts during their deployment, the teachers said, the sacrifices are small compared to the satisfaction they get from helping their students who need to learn English to make a career for themselves. Colom said she taught adults earlier in her career, so teaching English to the Afghan soldiers has been a smooth transition. She expressed admiration for her students’ dedication. “The respect that they have for their teachers is moving,” she said. “The classes are long, but they work hard and do realize that their future, and that of their family and country, depends on them learning English.” Wiglesworth echoed Colom’s statements. He noted that most Afghan soldiers have not had an education similar to that of most Americans. Rather, he said, they mainly were taught practical life skills. “The adults bring a richer, broader range of life experiences,” he said. “However, [having this education] greatly improves their desire to better themselves and instills a great respect for teachers. This, along with their intense integrity and considerate manners, has made working with the Afghan people a real touchstone experience.” Both Colom and Wiglesworth said their experiences in Afghanistan have been rewarding so far. Wiglesworth recalled an instance in which several Afghan soldiers were disassembling the cells from a battery and cleaning it, and he spoke with a student in a simple conversation about what they were doing. He watched an American mentor beam proudly, he said, as an Afghan airman explained in simple English what the soldiers were doing and the names of several parts of the battery and the tools involved. In another instance, Wiglesworth said, he spoke with the pilots in his classes and explained an English language miscommunication that occurred in air traffic control. “[The pilots] had already had the Dari version explained to them, but I was able to teach the simple English involved in their misunderstanding,” he said. “They greatly appreciated having an English teacher walk them through the language and practice the necessary vocabulary and grammar involved with the incident. They are some of the most faithful attendees of the classes.” As their year in Afghanistan winds down next summer, Tucker and Wiglesworth will have the option to extend their tour for another year. But for now, they said, they are content just knowing they are helping to make a difference in the lives of the Afghan soliders they teach. “I thank those in DoDEA who afforded me this opportunity, Wiglesworth said. “Risks exist, but they diminish when compared to the value of the service we are providing and the rewarding relationships we are building.” Nov. 1, 2010: By Megan Rattliff- Department of Defense Education Activity

 

 Redistributed by www.SupportOurTroops.org