Soldiers Magazine - April 2009 - The Official United States Army Magazine

Soldiers April 2009 • www.army.mil

The Official U.S. Army Magazine

Life as an Army 'brat' The military through children's eyes

Army values a way of life Soldier's family survives Hurricane Katrina

Believe in tomorrow Help for families of critically ill children

'Deal or No Deal'

Soldier competes in popular game show

April: Month of the Military Child * Kids' Puzzle—Page 27 * 2009 Earth Day Poster enclosed

APRIL 2009 • VOLUME 64, NO. 4

Lacey Justinger

Soldiers

Children from various child development centers enjoy a day of water games at Kelly Park, Fort Bliss, Texas.

[ On the Cover ]

[ Coming Next Month ]

Toddlers from the Fort Bliss Main Child Development Center parade down Haan Road in a decorated wagon during the Red, White and Blue parade to honor the Army's 233rd birthday last year.

May 2009 - Honoring the Fallen

April

Feature Stories

Contents 04

Life as an Army 'brat'

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Teen driving

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2009

Children talk about what it's like growing up with parents in the Army. Simulator helps teens in Europe learn to drive.

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Defending America from space

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'Deal or No Deal'

A reason to believe

Critically ill military kids and their families relax and have a good time.

Army values

The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command protects the homeland.

A Soldier competes in a popular TV game show.

An Army mother and her son survive Hurricane Katrina. (Above photo) Military kids play a board game in Ocean City, Md., during a Believe in Tomorrow retreat weekend. The weekend was organized so military families with sick children could relax and bond with each other. Photo courtesy of Believe in Tomorrow.

Departments 03

My Army Benefits

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Operation Tribute to Freedom

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FOCUS

After being called to attention, a "squad" from 555th Engr. Bde.'s deployment camp sounds off with its company motto. Photo by Spc. Lindsey M. Bradford

Defense Media Activity-Crystal City | Soldiers Magazine | 2511 Jefferson Davis Hwy , Box 31 | Arlington, VA 22202-3900 | (703) 602-0870 | DSN 332-0870 | Fax (703) 602-8314 | http://www.army.mil/publications/soldiersmagazine

SOLDIERS MEDIA CENTER

The Official U.S. Army Magazine Secretary of the Army: Hon. Pete Geren Chief of Staff: Gen. George W. Casey Jr. Chief of Public Affairs: Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner

We Want Your Story The Army is our nation’s greatest resource in defense of our homeland. Every day Soldiers and civilians perform acts of valor. The heroic acts performed on the battlefield and the acts of kindness from humanitarian efforts demonstrate the strength of the Army. We want to tell your story. To find out how the Soldiers Media Center can tell your story, contact your unit public affairs officer or send your submissions via e-mail to:

[email protected] (703) 602-0870

Soldiers Media Center Commander: Col. Ricky R. Sims Print Communications Staff Editor in Chief: Carrie McLeroy Managing Editor: David Vergun Soldiers Magazine Writer/Editor: Elizabeth Collins Soldiers Magazine Writer/Editor: Jacqueline M. Hames ARNEWS Editor: Gary Sheftick ARNEWS Writer: J. D. Leipold ARNEWS Writer: C. Todd Lopez Visual Information Staff Art Director: Peggy Frierson Graphic Designer: LeRoy Jewell Printing: Gateway Press, Inc., Louisville, Ky. Soldiers (ISSN 0093-8440) is published monthly by the Army Chief of Public Affairs to provide information on people, policies, operations, technical developments, trends and ideas of and about the Department of the Army. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Department of the Army. Send submissions and correspondence to Editor, Soldiers magazine, Soldiers Media Center, Box 31, 2511 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA 22202-3900. Phone: (703) 602-0870, or send e-mail to [email protected]. Unless otherwise indicated (and except for “by permission” and copyright items), material may be reprinted provided credit is given to Soldiers and the author. All uncredited photographs by U.S. Army. The Secretary of the Army has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business as required by law of the department. Funds for printing this publication were approved by the secretary of the Army in accordance with the provisions of Army Regulation 25-30. Library of Congress call number: U1.A827. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Belvoir, Va., and additional mailing offices. Individual subscriptions: Subscriptions can be purchased through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, (202) 512-1800 or online at: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/collections/ subscriptions/index.jsp.

Magazine archives: http://www.army.mil/publications/soldiersmagazine

: 2009—36S/80013

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Arlington address above.

Soldiers magazine is distributed based on unit commanders’ requirements. Commanders and publications officers can order Soldiers through the Army Publishing Directorate at https://ptclick.hqda.pentagon.mil. (Requires CAC authentication). To start or change your unit subscription, enter the Initial Distribution Number (IDN) 050007.

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Recipient of Awards of Magazine Excellence

Thomas Jefferson Awards Outstanding Flagship Publication 2004 - 2006

NAGC Blue Pencil Competition 2004

Thomas Jefferson Awards Outstanding Flagship Writer 2007 Heike Hasenauer

Earth Day Letter goes here

MyArmyBenefits has your benefits – all of them. •

Personalized Benefit Calculations

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Survivor, Retirement & Deployment Planning

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Over 150 Federal & State Benefit Fact Sheets

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Benefit Counselors on Call

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Where to Change & Get Benefits, Legal Advice, Medical Appointments

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Links to All Major Military Installations

Your one stop for up-to-date benefits information

The official benefits website for the U.S. Army

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Soldiers • April 2009 • Comprehensive and up-to-date • In English and Spanish

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Campers line up for the military-style obstacle course at Operation Purple’s Camp Sandy Cove in High View, W.Va., a summer camp for military kids.

Life as an Army ‘‘brat brat’ brat’ Story & photos by Elizabeth M. Collins

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ONSTANT moving. Difficulty making and keeping friends. Parents who may leave for months at a moment’s notice. Extra responsibilities. Loneliness. Missed birthdays and holidays. Constant fear that this time mom or dad might never come home. These are the hallmarks of life as a military “brat,” said Army kids at an Operation Purple summer camp for military children. But with these drawbacks come immense pride, patriotism, maturity and strength, along with a national and often global outlook. Created in 2004 by the National Military Family Association, Operation Purple’s free camps are designed to help military brats relax and have fun, while bonding with other kids who understand the rigors of watching parents march off to war and moving every few years. “It’s really fun and I think it helps a lot of kids whose moms or dads are in the Army,” said nine-year-old Abigail Zipperer. “We talk and stuff. Sometimes at school, a lot of kids don’t know what it’s like to have your parents in the military. And you move a lot and you have to make new friends all over again. And they don’t know how you feel if something happens.” According to organizers, about 10,000 kids attended 62 camps in 37 states and territories last year, up from 4,000 kids and 37 camps in 2007. Campers participated in such activities as trapeze, archery, skateboarding, horseback riding, gymnastics, selfdefense, drama, air rifle and chess. Organizers also planned militarycentric activities to help the kids understand what their parents do for a living, said Tim Glass, program director at Camp Sandy Cove in High View, W.Va. Obstacle courses and teambuilding exercises like guiding a blindfolded friend through a second series of obstacles reflected military training and discipline. Kids practiced writing letters and postcards to help them keep in touch with deployed parents, made hero posters of their parents and got a true taste Soldiers • April 2009

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of military life with MealsReady-to-Eat, which received mixed reviews. “It makes you feel pera like that’s what (our at O View, s n o less High parents) are doing so peze Cove in kids. a r t akes Sandy military r p you can do it too,” kid t rmy le’s Cam camp fo A n A rp mmer u P said Katherine Riley, 12, tion a., a su W. V whose father had recently returned from Iraq. Army kids also said that no matter Sixte en-ye what, they know their moms and dads ar-old Jerem y Bea are real-life superheroes. le pra ctice s arc “My mom’s my hery. hero since forever, because even before the war she was always a strong person,” said 16-year-old Jeremy Beale. “She graduated when she was about my age. And knowing that this is her third time over, it’s just amazing to me that the Army would send her three times and she would just keep going.” military , and other erer (left), 13 Jeremy’s mother is currently Audrey Zipp eback riding. rs kids learn ho on her third deployment to Iraq, and his father has also deployed. Jeremy said that his parents worked hard to keep from deploying at the same time, but that he’s closer to his mother, so having her gone is particularly hard. Although she tries to call every day, and both his grandmothers live with the family, he said it isn’t the same. No amount of phone calls, emails, letters or packages can make up for a missing parent. “It was really hard because my dad doesn’t really do all of the taking care of and stuff—it was normally Mili tary kids my mom,” Jacob Gaz, 11, said. pre par e to “The hardest part was just laun ch t not having her heir kay aks there. Like when . you accomplished something something—you just couldn’t tell her.” Like Jeremy, Jacob had grandparents who 6 www.army.mil/publications

tried to fill the void when his mother was deployed to Kuwait in 2005, although Jacob said he also tried to look out for his little brother. In fact, when one parent is gone, an older sibling like Jacob or Abigail’s older sister Audrey, 13, often has to take up some of the slack. With her mother often busy as a family readiness group leader, Audrey said she became almost a second parent during her father’s two deployments. She sometimes cooked dinner, she cleaned the house with Abigail and she potty-trained her baby brother. “Being an Army kid is definitely different than being your normal, average kid,” she said. “We go through a lot tougher situations that require us to have certain things like courage and the ability to withstand pressure. And you have to be responsible, definitely.” “You have to be prepared for anything, because anything can happen and you have to be prepared for bad things and good things,” added Abigail. Audrey said that she got angry when her father left-angry at him, angry at the situation and angry in general. It just wasn’t fair, she said, but her mother would remind her that her father didn’t start this war. She should be angry, her mother said, with the people who did. “We’d cry and get sad, but we knew that we couldn’t change it. We couldn’t say, ‘You can’t do this.’ It was his job. He had to do it,” said Audrey. Most of the kids had a special, treasured momento to help them stay connected to their absent parent as they counted down the days and cried when they had to add more days as deployments were extended. Jacob has a bear with his mother’s picture that he would look at when he missed her badly. Katherine wore an anklet her grandmother had engraved with “Capt. Gerald B. Riley, be safe, come home soon.” The two Zipperer girls received stuffed animals with recordings of their father’s voice from Build-a-Bear. “I’d press the hand and the message came up. It’s dead now because I pressed it so much when I was upset

and I still sleep with it. It’s really special. That helped a lot,” said Audrey. The kids also agreed that the uncertainty and confusion of deployments was exacerbated by frequent moves and starting over in schools that might not have many other military kids. Civilian kids might try to understand what it’s like to send a parent to war, but it’s impossible, they said. “Some people think that starting over is pretty much something that they would want to do,” said Jeremy. “Starting over’s not always the greatest thing. This last move was the hardest because I moved right in the middle of middle school. Going to school off base was a little different because making friends with military kids would be easier because they have something in common. It’s a little weird because you don’t know what to say to kids or you don’t know if they have military parents. You’ve just got to wing it. “It’s just cool, having friends again who have parents who have been deployed and stuff like that,” he said of the camp. Jeremy’s mother actually deployed in order to avoid moving him in the middle of high school. Like Audrey, he said it’s useless to get mad or expect his parents to change who they are. He said that he’s grateful to have parents he can be proud of, especially when many kids don’t have parents at all. “Army kids are full of pride,” agreed Audrey. “Especially with our parents. I’m very proud of my dad. He looks to me for support and love and comfort.They can’t help their job. They can’t help what they do. We might not like them going overseas and stuff, but we have to know that that’s what they signed up to do. They signed up to help protect our country. We just have to say, ‘Okay, I love you so much. I’m so proud of you all the time.’” Families interested in 2009 Operation Purple Camps can visit: www. nmfa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=op default for more information or to apply. v

An Army kid rests on top of a Bradley at Operation Purple's Camp Sandy Cove in High View, W.Va. The front of his shirt reads: "Got Freedom?"

Elizabeth M. Collins is a former Army brat.

Soldiers • April 2009

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C. Todd Lopez

Simulator helps

teens in Europe learn to drive

Story by Christie Vanover

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EENAGERS are learning to drive in the rain, in the fog, even on narrow mountain roads at night. They’re driving while their friends talk and laugh behind them and even while their cell phones ring. But because of new technology, their lives are in no way at risk. They are the first students to use one of Installation Management Command-Europe’s new driving simulators. Ten simulators, including one here at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, were installed throughout the region to enhance Driver’s Education programs for teenagers of servicemembers and Department of Defense civilians. At first glance, students are pumped by the multi-panel monitors, which include a rearview mirror, side mirrors and a lifelike perception of peripheral vision. Once they get behind the wheel, however, they’re faced with 8 www.army.mil/publications

all the complexities of an automobile. Gavin Wainwright, the father of three teenagers, was glad to hear that U.S. Army Garrison Benelux was getting one of the simulators. “I thought it was one of the best things they brought to the community in a long time,” he said. “I know it’s a lot better than what I went through. “I was considering sending one son back to the States last year so he could go through drivers’ training and then get his license,” he said. “It would be a lot more expensive to send him there than this inaugural program, which is free.” His sons, Gavin Jr. and Justin, were among the first graduates of the Driver’s Education course. About midway through the course, Justin hopped in the simulator, buckled up and asked the teacher to challenge him on the winding mountain pass. He chose to use the simulator in

manual mode, forcing him to shift as he went up and down hills. While he completed the two-minute exercise with no faults, toward the end of the lesson, he was startled by a sudden curve with no guardrails. Had he been going too fast, he would have slid down the side of the mountain. “I think it (the simulator) makes them more aware of some of the challenges of driving,” his dad said. “They’re learning how to be defensive as well as offensive and how to balance that behind the wheel.” Kregg Kappenmon agreed. He has taught driver’s education for eight years and said this simulator adds a realism that he’s never been able to teach before. He can add weather elements, which require drivers to use their wipers and adjust their speed so they don’t

The simulator is accurate down to the instrument cluster. It displays speed, rpm, miles traveled and indicators for blinkers and high beams. It will also warn students if they are low on fuel or if they have a battery or oil problem.

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hydroplane. He can change the drive from small towns to freeways, forcing kids to merge into traffic. He can even add elements of surprise like deer and kids running into the street. “The first time they see it out there, it won’t be the first time,” he said. “It’s very, very, very realistic. It gets them to feel the car.” Caleb Crotts, another graduate of the class, happened to ace the test on the reading that day, but when he got in the simulator, he faced an element of surprise. As he was driving, someone on the side of the road opened their car door unexpectedly. “Weather is usually the big hazard talked about in the book,” he said, admitting that he didn’t know how to respond to the situation. He veered to the left and passed the car safely with an acceptable reaction time, but after finishing the drive, he immediately

asked Kappenmon if he was supposed to swerve or stop. It’s that immediate lesson that Kappenmon said is invaluable. Additionally, everything the students do in the trainer is recorded, so Kappenmon can evaluate their driving patterns, reactions and habits to help them progress throughout the course. Because of that feedback, Kappenmon said students learn early on that this isn’t a video game. “I get results,” he said, and from those results, combined with 18 tests based on his lecture and videos, students either pass or fail. “My philosophy is they must have 80 percent or better,” he said. “I don’t want anyone out there with my family, if they scored less. Do you?” The next Driver’s Education course scheduled for the spring is completely filled up. Kappenmon is working with Child and Youth Services on SHAPE to schedule summer classes and to coordinate programs for teens at USAG Schinnen and USAG Brussels. v

Christie Vanover Caleb Crotts tries a more challenging course that presents elements of surprise along the route. Through each phase, he aims at finishing with zero faults.

After teens finish a run through the driving simulator, they receive instant feedback about their perfor performance. The teacher uses the feedback to analyze a student’s performance throughout the course.

Christie Vanover works for USAG Benelux Public Affairs.

After students were quizzed on a chapter of their text, instructor Kregg Kappenman discusses the answers. Kappenman has taught driver’s education for eight years.

Christie Vanover

Christie Vanover Justin Wainright, 18, nearly slips off a mountain pass while driving in the simulator. Scenarios like these make the digital training experience invaluable to teens learning to drive in Europe.

Christie Vanover

Soldiers • April 2009

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Dominick Smith When 11-year-old Dominick Smith grows up, he wants to be a NASA engineer, or a pro basketball player, or a Soldier. This son of Soldiers lives as boldly as he dreams. Culturally adaptable and trilingual, Dominick is a model student. Highest among his commendations is the President’s Award, which honors academic excellence and exemplary citizenship. His parents, Sergeant First Class Katina Smith and Master Sergeant Eddie B. Smith, Jr., are very proud of him and would be pleased if he decided to one day join the Army. His strength of mind, spirit and character attest to the values Army life has taught him.

The Nation’s strength starts here.

David Smith On the bleak day in 2003 when David Smith learned of his father’s death, he told his mother that Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith must have lost his life to save other Soldiers. Months later, David was the one into whose hands President Bush placed SFC Smith’s Medal of Honor. As David had surmised, the first such tribute of Operation Iraqi Freedom honored his father’s extraordinary act of heroism, one that spared the lives of numerous wounded Soldiers. David continues to honor his father’s memory by reaching out to console other children who have lost their parents to war. Now a member of his high school’s JROTC unit, David is making plans to join the Army and echo his father’s legacy of service.

The Nation’s strength starts here.

www.army.mil/facesofstrength 10 www.army.mil/publications

Courtesy of Believe in Tomorrow (Above) Artist’s drawing of the Believe in Tomorrow House at Pinnacle Falls near Henderson, N.C., which will soon be completed for military families with sick children. (Below) Ninth-grader Joey Corpuz works on his homework in the apartment Believe in Tomorrow lent to his family while he recovered from a bonemarrow treatment. A tutor came several times a week to help him keep up with his classmates. The organization’s logo is also below.

Elizabeth M. Collins

Story by Elizabeth M. Collins

A reason to believe w

hen their 14-year-old son Joey was diagnosed with Stage II hodgkin’s Lymphoma last summer, Filipina Corpuz and her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Jude Corpuz, wondered what they were going to do. not only were they worried and devastated, they had another problem: the Corpuzes were stationed in Germany, far from family, friends and medical care for their son. within two days, father and son had been medevaced to walter Reed Army Medical Center in washington, traveling on the same plane as injured Soldiers, while Corpuz and her younger

son organized their emergency move to the States. After initial treatment at walter Reed, Joey was transferred to Johns hopkins hospital in Baltimore for a bone-marrow transplant. even after he was discharged, Joey had to remain within 10 minutes of the hospital. The Corpuzes’ new duty station was an hour away. They didn’t know where to turn. That’s where Believe in Tomorrow came in. Founded in 1982, the organization provides housing within walking distance of the hospital and amenities, and organizes fun, enticing activities for families of critically Soldiers • April 2009 11

HOSPITAL HOUSING • The Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore • The Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House at St. Casimir, Baltimore RESPITE FACILITIES • The Believe In Tomorrow House By The Sea, Ocean City, Md. • The Believe In Tomorrow House On the Bay, Ocean City, Md. • The Believe In Tomorrow House on Fenwick Island, Fenwick Island, Del. • The Believe In Tomorrow House on Wisp Mountain, McHenry, Md. • Coming Soon: The Believe In Tomorrow House at Pinnacle Falls, Hendersonville, N.C.

ill children, giving military families priority. It also has respite houses in the mountains and along the MarylandDelaware coastline where families with sick children can go to relax and have a good time. One house in Ocean City, Md., and one under construction in the Asheville, n.C., area, are for military families exclusively. “I have no greater admiration than for those men and women who are in the military and the hardships those families deal with,” said Brian Morrison, founder and chief-executive officer of Believe in Tomorrow. “There was a desire to provide support to those families who support us and it became apparent that this was the right thing to do. It’s not easy to see someone making all kinds of sacrifices in their lives, who, in addition, are also dealing with a child who is critically ill.” he added that in the past year, 12 www.army.mil/publications

a number of the families Believe in Tomorrow served had fathers who were deployed. “It’s hard enough for any family to have a child who’s critically ill. That produces enormous stresses on the family and is a very draining experience. On top of that, having a dad or mom who’s deployed really makes it a tremendous hardship.” According to family care manager Jackie Valderas, the hardest part of her job is deciding who gets to stay in the 32 spaces available for hospital housing. She makes the decision with the child’s doctors and social workers (who usually refer the family to Believe in Tomorrow), and factors in their family situation, distance from home, diagnosis and treatment. “we always have a long wait list and it’s a frustrating job sometimes because you want to help everyone. That’s why we’re really committed to taking

the most critical kids in the most lifethreatening situations first and why we’re constantly reevaluating families on a case-by-case basis of who really needs to be here the most and maybe which families are in the greatest crisis,” she explained. Maj. Ross Charton said he didn’t even know about the military preference. no one said anything to him, but he did wonder how they managed to get in immediately after his sevenyear-old son Luke was diagnosed with a brain tumor. “Because military people are travelling from all around the country and are frequently dislocated from the type of support other people have via being embedded in communities, for Believe in Tomorrow to give them priority is phenomenal, not only at the hospitals, but in their retreat locations as well. Families are able to meet in a place and

(Left) Military kids play a board game in Ocean City, Md., during a Believe in Tomorrow retreat weekend. The weekend was organized so military families with sick children could relax and bond with each other. (Right) Military kids relax during a game of miniature golf in Ocean City, Md., during a Believe in Tomorrow retreat weekend. (Background) The view off the back deck of the Believe in Tomorrow House On the Bay in Ocean City, Md. The house was built so military families with very sick children could take relaxing breaks from the hospital. (Photos courtesy of Believe in Tomorrow)

have some family time,” Charton said. Believe in Tomorrow provides kitchens complete with food pantries and utensils. Several times a week, community groups come by with family-style dinners. There are game and television rooms, and Believe in Tomorrow staffers frequently organize activities like movie nights and arts and crafts, or bring in massage therapists to help the patients and their parents relax. They do whatever is necessary to help the families avoid day-to-day worries and annoyances. when the power at one of the houses went out for a day in September, for example, Morrison even went to pick up ice for Corpuz so she could keep her son’s medicine cold. “I’m glad that people think about these things,” said Corpuz. “when you’re in this kind of situation, you’ve never thought about it. ‘what are we

going to do?’ I asked one of the nurses. ‘how long is this going to be?’ She said, ‘90 to 120 days.’ ‘Are you serious?’ I said. ‘I’m driving that much every day?’ Parking before, when we stayed in the hospital for a week, was like $60. And then you have your gas. That’s a lot of money that you can use somewhere else. That’s a lot of convenience.” “I like it. It’s kind of like a vacation home away from my own home. It’s better than the hospital,” said Joey, who added that the best part was that he could eat his mom’s cooking and not hospital food. A tutor even came several times a week so Joey wouldn’t fall behind in school. Believe in Tomorrow made a tough situation much easier, said Charton, because he knew that after he dropped his wife Lisa and Luke off on Monday mornings (he then returned to work for the rest of the week), they would be

taken care of until he returned. “One of the great things about the Believe house was that there were other families there who were going through the same thing. It was tremendously helpful to our family to (avoid) the outlay and expense of a hotel. It was great that they had people who came in and provided food a couple of nights a week, because that alleviated expense. It was great that we had a kitchen to go to where we could prepare our own food so we didn’t have to eat out all of the time, but the most important thing there was the support from seeing other families going through the same thing,” said Charton. Because Luke was in such bad shape, the Chartons weren’t able to visit one of the respite facilities, but Believe in Tomorrow brought a vacation to them. The organization would frequently have tickets for the Baltimore Soldiers • April 2009 13

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Elizabeth M. Collins

Orioles, and drivers to take families out to attractions like the zoo, the national Aquarium or the Maritime Museum. “The families oftentimes are so focused on hospital treatment that they don’t vary from that,” said Morrison. “But when they can, they’re encouraged to get out for those breaks. Our staff is trained to recognize stress, recognize when families are in a position where they can do things and then kind of encourage those families to do that. Many of the families we serve aren’t thinking of going to the aquarium. They aren’t thinking of going to dinner. They really need to be kind of gently encouraged to do so. It takes their minds away from pain and stress.” he added that there’s also plenty for families to do at the respite houses. Beyond just relaxing and enjoying the oceanfront or mountain scenery, families can enjoy meals at local restaurants, miniature golf, go carts, parasailing and surfing, all compliments of local businesses. From the architecture to location to furnishings and paint colors, the houses are all designed to promote relaxation and help families and kids forget about doctors and hospitals. The short vacations can give families the strength to go on and face the next stages of treatment, Morrison explained. One military family drove all the way from Texas to Maryland to visit one of the beach houses, which Morrison said highlights the need for respite housing nationwide. The organization wants to expand to other locations with large military populations such as the Texas coast, Florida panhandle, Arizona and Southern California. “So our military initiative really is to make sure that we are providing the best service possible to military families and that we’re getting them in very quickly, trying to avoid any waiting lists that occur in our facilities. And it’s working very well. Our retreat facilities are full. They constantly have families from walter Reed or from Portsmouth naval hospital or from other hospitals,” he said. For more information, visit Believe in Tomorrow’s web site at www.believeintomorrow.org. v

Courtesy of Believe in Tomorrow

The back garden at the Believe in Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. (Inset) The rent-free Believe in Tomorrow Children’s House at St. Casimir in Baltimore, where military families who have children with life-threatening illnesses have priority to stay while their children are undergoing treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

LEAVE NO SOLDIER’S STORY UNTOLD Operation Tribute to Freedom wants to tell your story.

We’re looking for Soldiers who’ve served or are currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Nominate yourself, a friend or another Soldier in your unit. Stories will be featured in Faces From the Front or OTF Soldier Story. Send an email with your nomination to [email protected]. Operation Tribute to Freedom is a program of the U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Public Affairs designed to share with the American public the stories of Soldiers who have or are currently serving in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. OTF works in partnership with PAOs throughout the Army to tell the Army story.

Faces From the Front is a weekly news product distributed to national, local and social media. OTF Soldier Story is a weekly newsletter distributed to Army communicators.

Soldiers • January 2009 15

On Point The Army in Action MANNHEIM, Germany

Spc. Jon Kruskamp, 72nd Signal Battalion, ensures his little buddies are set for a merry-go-around ride at the German-American summer fest. Traditionally, one morning of the annual fest is dedicated to children from nearby German and U.S. military communities.

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Soldiers • April 2009 17

army news Army tests cannon for FCS Mounted Combat System

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he lightweight Future Combat Systems XM-360 120mm cannon— designed to sit atop the new Mounted Combat System—was test-fired in Aberdeen, Md., Jan. 22. The XM-1202 Mounted Combat System is one of eight new vehicle types that the Army is developing through its FCS modernization program. The FCS vehicles will be lighter and more mobile than current Army combat vehicles; yet officials promise they will have greater lethality and survivability. Lighter and more survivable vehicles are required to combat a growing array of new and more sophisticated threats, officials said. Greater speed and mobility, coupled with better surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, can enhance operational effectiveness, while improving survivability, they said. Composite FCS armor, for instance, which is being developed at Aberdeen, provides better armor protection at significantly less mass and weight. Maj. Cliff Calhoun, assistant product manager for the Mounted Combat System, said the test-firing is

one of several that would occur over a few days that would bring the total number of firing trials for the cannon to 1,000. The weapon, he said, is significant because it is as powerful as the one mounted on the M1-A2 Abrams tank—also a 120mm gun—but comes in with significant savings in weight and provides automation that will help prevent the loss of lives. “The Mounted Combat System is going to feature an automatic ammunition-handling system,” Calhoun explained. “Our current force Abrams has a crew of four men—a gunner, tank commander, driver and loader. On the MCS, there’s a crew of three men—an automated loader takes care of that loading function. Coupled with other FCS technology, the MCS will also bring beyond-lineof-sight capability to the battlefield,” Calhoun said. “In the current force, a tank can engage everything it can see out to about three kilometers—if you can see it you can engage it,” he said. “With the MCS, you are going to be able to—through the network—engage targets beyond line-of-sight.” — C. Todd Lopez, ARNEWS v

The XM-360 120mm cannon for the Mounted Combat System, part of the Army’s Future Combat Systems, carries up to 27 shells that are for a mechanized loader to pull into the cannon. The automated system means Soldiers do not need to hand-load the heavy shells. Coupled with other FCS technology, the MCS will also bring beyond-line-of-sight capability to the battlefield.

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Army striving to decrease sexual assaults, increase reporting

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hrough its Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention and Response Program, the Army hopes to change command climates to make victims of sexual assault feel more comfortable reporting the crime. During a meeting with members of the press Jan. 26, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren discussed the Army’s efforts to reduce sexual assault within the ranks, a crime he said that is not just an assault on a person, but on the whole Army. “Soldier-on-Soldier violence, blue-onblue—sexual assault is a crime everywhere, but in the Army it is a crime that is more than just a crime against the victim. In the Army it is a crime against the core values that bind our Army together,” Geren said. Geren has approved funding to provide 15 special-victim prosecutors—which will be filled from within the ranks by those that have proven themselves as especially effective prosecutors and who also have experience in sexual assault prosecution. Brig. Gen. Rodney Johnson, the provost marshal general of the Army, said the service will add an additional 30 special investigators to be assigned at 22 of the Army’s largest installations to assist Criminal Investigation Command agents in investigating sexual assault crimes. An additional seven “highly qualified experts” are also coming aboard, Johnson said, to provide training and assistance to CID agents. “We in CID already have highly skilled agents investigating these crimes,” Johnson said. “But bringing the civilian expertise onboard will simply be a valuable tool to glean insight and a fresh perspective in many areas.” — C. Todd Lopez, ARNEWS v

From the Army News Service and Other Sources

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resident Barack Obama met with Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston and the senior enlisted advisors of other services to hear concerns from a boots-on-the-ground perspective in the Oval Office in January. The initial White House meeting was an opportunity for Obama to establish relationships with the most senior enlisted noncommissioned officers of the military, Preston said. This was reportedly the first time a commander in chief held an official meeting with senior enlisted leaders. Previous presidents normally met with the joint chiefs of staff. “I don’t know of any other president sitting down with the senior enlisted advisors,” Preston said. “It sends a big message of his support of the military and really shows that he wants to connect with all our servicemembers out there.” Preston told Obama his biggest concern in the Army was stress on the force. Preston also acknowledged the selfless service and sacrifice Soldiers

C. Todd Lopez

President meets with senior NCOs

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston stands behind President Barack Obama at the Commander-in-Chief’s Inaugural Ball as Obama addresses the audience of active-duty and reserve military and invited guests at the National Building Museum.

and their families make through reenlistment. “Soldiers are re-enlisting and staying with the team,” he said. “We can all be very proud of Soldiers and their supporting families as they continue to volunteer and serve our country.” Preston said it was coincidental

but good that his initial meeting with Obama happened during this “Year of the NCO” in the Army. “It speaks to what we’re trying to do in the Army to recognize the value and the contributions of our noncommissioned officers,” he said. —Lance D. Davis, ARNEWS v

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he Army has been testing a new weapon system known as the Laser Centurion at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The system combines radar and threat-detection technology with the latest in laser weapons. The new laser is designed to replace the 20mm cannon on the Navy’s Phalanx system and the Army’s Centurion system. The Phalanx is an air- and missiledefense system used on nearly every ship in the fleet. Converted to be transported and fired from a trailer, it is also used by the Army to provide defense from air and missile threats as well as defense against mortar and artillery attacks.

Initial tests with the demonstrator have been positive. The laser has proven capable of rapidly penetrating armor plating even when not at full power, and system setup has been easy. “We are excited to be testing system capabilities by shooting down mortar rounds…” said Sal Rodriguez, senior flight test engineer, White Sands Missile Range detachment. Since the laser does not use any kind of solid shot like the cannon, it can be used to better defend populated areas without the fear of the “20mm shower” that conventional air-defense guns cause when their bullets fall back to earth. —Drew Hamilton v

Drew Hamilton

White Sands testing new laser weapon system

Raytheon technicians show the Laser Centurion Demonstrator to members of White Sands Missile Range Navy and Test Center leadership. The system mounts a high-powered laser onto a Centurion weapons platform to provide area defense against artillery, missile and other aerial threats.

Soldiers • April 2009 19

Staff Sgt. Ricky A. Melton

Army values... a way of life !

Aerial views of the areas still flooded two weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck in and around New Orleans.

Story by Jacqueline M. Hames

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ERGEANT 1st Class Tara Watson and her son Xavier have survived a hurricane and braved the tribulations of show business, and throughout, Army values have helped them with both triumph and disappointment. They hope their story will encourage others to continue to reach for their dreams, come hell and high water. Currently in the Active Guard and Reserve, Watson has been in the Army for a total of 19 years. Originally from New Orleans, her two children, Xavier and Chantell, lived with their grandparents and uncle there when she was stationed in Iraq from 2004-2005. In August of 2005, Watson picked up her children and brought them to her duty station in Clarksdale, Miss. Then the unthinkable happened. Hurricane Katrina roared into 20 www.army.mil/publications

New Orleans on Aug. 29, breaching the levee four miles from Watson’s parents’ house. Her parents, Thesma and Henry Fulton and brother Kirk, who had moved to the French Quarter for safety, were forced to pile their belongings into a truck and flee. “They started throwing stuff into the truck, trying to get out—my dad fell,” Watson said. “When they got to me, he was all broken up, they were hysterical.” The Fulton family went on the road in hopes of reaching Watson’s house in Mississippi, but became lost along the way, Watson explained. She had been calling her family and trying to find out where they were, but no one was answering. “No one thought to bring the charger or charge the phones,” Watson said. So, instead of waiting around to

find out what was going on, Watson, like any good Soldier, took action. She got in her car and went to find them. “Finally, between two and three o’clock in the morning, I got a collect call from somebody at a gas station (saying) that she had my family there. And I picked them up and brought them to my house,” Watson said. Starting over The rebuilding process is always difficult, both physically and emotionally, but returning to the scene of the destruction was more devastating to Watson and her family than the actual event. She and her father returned to the Fulton house in New Orleans to see what kind of damage had been done. “A lot of what we saw, you know, was kind of worse than what we saw in Iraq, because of bodies floating (in

Staff Sgt. Ricky A. Melton

New Orleans, Louisiana

Courtesy of Sgt. 1st Class Tara Watson Sgt. 1st Class Tara Watson and her family pose after her graduation at the University of Phoenix stadium in Arizona. Pictured from left to right are mother Thesma Fulton, father Henry Fulton, brother Kirk Fulton, Watson and her two children, Chantell and Xavier Watson. Watson was taking online courses with the University of Phoenix when the hurricane hit and had to stop in order to take care of her family. Eventually, she was able to return to school and graduated with an associates degree in general studies, July 7, 2007.

the water) and stuff like that,” Watson said. Watson described the house as pitch black in the early afternoon, slime and decay covering the walls, floor and the contents of the house. They wore face masks, gloves and rubber boots in order to just go inside. Henry hesitated, unwilling to go in, and for the first time ever Watson saw her father cry. She explained that the thought of all the hard work he put into the house and the family business being washed away in the hurricane was just too much. The Henry S. Fulton Ceramic Tile Company trucks and business documentation were lost to the hurricane, Watson said, and the custom tile Henry had added to the house was ruined. Once inside, Watson pointed a

digital camera into the different rooms and, unable to see what was in the viewfinder, snapped pictures at random. She and her family finally saw the extent of the damage when the pictures were uploaded to a computer back in Clarksdale. “When I showed them to my mom, she had a big gasp for breath,” Watson said, describing her family’s reaction to the pictures. “My mom said when she saw the home she spent 35 years of her life in, the tears began to flow like a river.” The living room, which had a big-screen television and a collection of VHS tapes that were special to Thesma, was completely unsalvageable. In pictures you can see the waterline where the flood sat at 12 feet before they patched the levee, Watson explained.

Thesma and Henry’s room was in total disarray, with the television turned over, and the specially designed wallpaper and bed frame destroyed. “The king-size mattress was inflated with water and it looked like a big balloon,” Watson said. During the aftermath of the storm, the AGR helped Watson and her family. Her commander at the time sent a support team to New Orleans to help with the citywide clean-up process, and provided assistance to Watson’s family specifically, she said. He also helped in any way he could with her father’s hip surgery and medical care for her brother Kirk Fulton, who was diagnosed with pulmonary lung disease. “A lot of credit goes to my unit at the time,” Watson said. “I had good Soldiers, really good Soldiers,” she Soldiers • April 2009

21

said, explaining that her office would often tell her to go home and that they would take care of things while she was gone. “Without the Army working with me I would not have been able to leave my job and deal with the family stuff. They gave me time to take care of my family,” Watson said. In addition to physical help and basic care, Watson felt the Army prepared her emotionally as well. The leadership philosophy of “be, know, do” and other values taught by the Army gave Watson the strength to endure. The framework of “be, know, do” comprises the core Army values and outlines the physical, mental and

emotional attributes for character— what a leader must be. Interpersonal, conceptual, technical and tactical skills are what a leader knows, and the combination of the “be” and “know” form the “do” portion of the framework, according to Army Field Manual 6-22, “Army Leadership.” “I had to pass on the bag, I had the friends, I had the support of the community,” Watson added. Xavier agreed, praising his mom as the strength of the family. “I watched my mom try to hold the family together and I realized how strong-minded she is since being in the military,” he said. “I think any normal person would have just cried and cried, but not my mom; she put

Courtesy of

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“With those family values that were instilled in me with the military, you know, it gave me the strength to keep going...” (Right) The living room of the Fulton house in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. In the top right of the picture the water line is visible.

22 www.army.mil/publications

the weight of the family losing the home, family business and vehicles on her shoulders. Watson had been taking online courses at the University of Phoenix before the hurricane hit. When the storm made landfall, she had to put her schooling on hold to help her family. Happily, Watson was able to return to her studies soon after and graduated with an associate’s degree in general studies in July 2007. “I don’t know how she did it, but because the Army instills such strong values in them, they are ‘Army Strong’ at work and at home,” Xavier added. Hollywood philosophy Xavier, an aspiring actor, has taken his mother’s example to heart and

used the “be, know, do” philosophy to his advantage. A month after Katrina, Xavier and his family moved to Decatur, Ga., and there he began his acting career in local dramas and musicals, he said. He’s gone on to have parts in commercials and other professional performances. “Now I’m doing professional work, Screen Actors Guild eligible,” Xavier said, adding that Army values and philosophy helped him reach that goal. “Knowing how to adjust to a role is the biggest part,” Xavier said of acting. “It’s easier to be a character if you know how to find the similarities and differences between you and the character.”

Xavier also emphasized that acting has to be something you really want to do. Letting your personality shine through while still being integrated into the character is very important— you must be one with the role, he advised. “Once you be and know the character, then you can fulfill the role confidently. Acting can’t be absorbed; you have to just show up to the audition, become the character and just do it,” Xavier said. The young actor said that the hurricane has taught him never to take life for granted and to use his talent to influence other people to achieve their goals. “My message is ‘reach for the

dream,’” Xavier said. “That is my tagline.” Together, Watson and her son have written a book about their experiences with Hurricane Katrina and the different ways it changed their lives. The book, entitled “Weathering the Storm: A Young Actor’s Journey to Hollywood,” chronicles their family’s experiences with Katrina and beyond the storm. Xavier also gives a few pointers on acting, resumes and auditions. Throughout the chronicle, the philosophy of “be, know, do” plays an important role. “We just hope that our story will encourage other kids” who have been through Katrina, Watson said. “It’s all about reaching for the dream.” v

Courtesy of Sgt.

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Brien Aho

Soldiers ride along in a U.S. Coast Guard fan boat as it cruises the flooded streets of New Orleans looking for survivors after Hurricane Katrina swept through, submerging much of the city under more than six feet of water. Department of Defense units mobilized in support of humanitarian relief operations in the Gulf Coast region.

1st Class son

Tara Wat

New Orleans, Louisiana Soldiers • April 2009

23

Defending America Story by Heike Hasenauer

53rd Signal Battalion Defense Satellite Communication System radome in the Colorado Desert. (all satellite imagery from NASA)

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HE Colorado Springs, Colo., landscape is home to majestic blue-grey mountains dotted with deep green pines that traverse ridges, spilling down to grassy knolls and desert brush. In addition to its natural beauty, the Colorado Desert is home to critical defense assets, including elements of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, the Army service component to U.S. Strategic Command. Soldiers and Army civilians assigned to SMDC/ARSTRAT’s 1st Space Brigade and 100th Missile Defense Bde., and their joint-service counterparts, track the locations and availability of satellites that provide lifesaving imagery to commanders both at home and in combat theaters. Additionally, they monitor missile launches worldwide, operate early missile-warning systems and allow the launch of interceptor missiles that would down a ballistic missile targeting 24 www.army.mil/publications

the United States. In a high-security area of Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Soldiers assigned to the 1st Space Bde.’s 53rd Signal Battalion gain access to the Defense Satellite Communication System Certification Facility, only after entering phone-booth-like “portals” with security badges and access codes. The building is tucked behind a giant golf-ball-like radome, one of several that rise more than 30 feet from the desert floor. Security is extremely tight here because, “nobody in the government talks without these guys,” said 1st Space Bde. Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin McGovern. “They facilitate conversations from the president of the United States to Soldiers in the sandbox and from ships crossing the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.” “The Soldiers check the health and welfare of satellites to ensure there’s no break in connectivity and that communication signals traveling via the

satellites are within specified (security) parameters,” added battalion operations noncommissioned officer, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Lewis. The 1st Space Bde. also encompasses the 1st Space Bn., a unit of active Army and Reserve Soldiers, who can interpret Global-Positioning-System information “as no other group can,” said Lt. Col. Tom James, 1st Space Bn. commander. More than 100 officers are dedicated to providing information from space assets, according to James. This includes Soldiers from the 1st Space Bn., 1st Space Company’s Joint Tactical Ground Stations, which provide early missile warning. The battalion’s 2nd Space Co. includes 10 space support teams that support corps and higher headquarters around the world, added SMDC/ARSTRAT spokesman Mike Howard. Additionally, the brigade’s Commercial Exploitation Team, currently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan,

Heike Hasenauer

Heike Hasenauer

...from Space

Soldiers from the 117th Space Battalion monitor missile tests in Colorado Springs, Colo.

117th Signal Battalion satellite systems operator/maintainer Spc. David Wilde adjusts a satellite antenna atop a building in Colorado Springs, Colo.

uses the theater’s largest repository of commercial-satellite imagery to provide commanders with critical situational awareness, Howard said. Support teams that transform raw data from satellite imagery into detailed maps are also supporting commanders in the Horn of Africa, for which the newest unified combatant command, U.S. Africa Command, was recently established, James said. At an exercise at Schriever AFB, a five-member crew of active-duty Colorado Guard Soldiers from the 100th Missile Defense Bde. sat glued to computer monitors at individual fire-control stations inside the Missile Defense Agency’s Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center. “Our job is to destroy intercontinental-ballistic missiles in midcourse that target the United States or our allies,” said Maj. Martin Bortolutti, missile-defense element director for the Ground Missile Defense System trainer.

In the training scenario, a threat country in northeast Asia “launched” several ICBMs into defended areas of the continental United States and Hawaii, said Lt. Col. Mark Emmer, MDA division chief for war games and exercises. Based on the crews’ rules of engagement, they’ll destroy those threats with the help of the brigade’s 49th Missile Defense Bn. at Fort Greely, Alaska, and a joint-service network of groundand sea-based interceptors, Bortolutti explained. During the exercise, the crew simulated notifying elements of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Northern Command, to validate the “threats” and confer on the best tactics to “eliminate” the threats, said Bortolutti. Actual tests of theater-missile defenses are conducted jointly from Vandenberg AFB in California and SMDC/ARSTRAT’s missile-defense test facility at Kwajalein Atoll, one

of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, Howard said. SMDC/ARSTRAT picked up the Army’s Blue-Force Tracking mission in 2000, said Col. Todd Day, chief of plans, SMDC/ARSTRAT. “We provide the location of friendly forces and track missile launches from around the world,” said Jon Busick, operational support and readiness lead for Blue Force Tracking at Peterson AFB, in Colorado Springs. He added that most of the federal employees and contractors at the facility are military retirees who understand that operational support is critical to warfighters. Five years ago, “we tracked three device types and 155 devices,” said Busick. “Today we track 18 device types and 70,000 devices, or transmitters, on 32 monitors, versus the former six.” Why the increase? “Tracking Soldiers down to the battalion level was OK before. Now the Army wants Soldiers • April 2009 25

to take that down to the squad and platoon level,” Busick explained. The BFT crews who monitor troop positions don’t need to know who’s going to be in harm’s way, Busick said, just that the combatant commander has all the information he needs to know what could happen and make informed decisions. The information is accessible because satellites and sensors are coming into the BFT center, going out to commanders in the field and returning to the tracking center to verify what was received—thereby traveling around the world twice in a matter of seconds, Busick said. As critical as the real-time information is to commanders downrange, it was equally crucial following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. BFT crews provided imagery from satellite, ground and airborne sources that allowed responders to track such things as water depth and contaminants in the water. They were also able to provide critical infrastructure information, Day said. Among the command’s other assets are the Space and Missile Defense Future Warfare Center, Space and Missile Defense Battle Lab, Directorate of Combat Development, and the Simulation and Analysis Directorate. “Because of our Future Warfare Center and the technology research and development that takes place in Huntsville, Ala.—home of Headquarters, SMDC/ARSTRAT—we can employ incredible technologies to combat anything our adversaries are thinking about doing to us,” said McGovern. One of the command’s developing technologies is the High-AltitudeLong Loiter, added Day. Testing of the information-providing sensor, which would be located between 65,000 and 100,000 feet above ground to provide information from a nonorbiting-satellite mode, will be conducted in 2013. In addition, better launchers, interceptors and sensors are all on the horizon to protect America and its allies from threats, Day said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” echoed McGovern. Space is a wideopen frontier; “there are many capabilities yet to be exploited.” v www.army.mil/publications 26 26 www.army.mil/publications

The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command conducts a missile test over the Pacific Ocean.

Spring weather word search Spring weather is unpredictable and can be hazardous. These months can be cold and stormy with heavy rain, lightning, wind and ice. Although many experience mild spring weather, we must plan Name for the unexpected.

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NBC Photo: Trae Patton

America’s Army real action hero figure of Zedwick

Soldier competes in popular game show!

DEAL? OR NO DEAL? Story by Jacqueline M. Hames

28 www.army.mil/publications

“Deal or No Deal” host Howie Mandel gestures at the camera while contestant Staff Sgt. Matthew Zedwick looks to his on-stage guests. Zedwick said Mandel was a “pretty nice guy” and was really excited to have newlyweds Zedwick and Kristin on the show.

leader, Zedwick saw that the gunner— a good friend of five years—was dead. Other vehicles in Zedwick’s patrol laid down suppressive fire while he performed the rescue. Insurgents began firing mortars on them, but they fell short of their position. Just as the patrol was getting into a defensible position, another IED went off. The explosion injured another Soldier trying to help Zedwick. The patrol was trapped in the open, on a barren landscape that stretched “several hundred meters in both directions,” with only their vehicles for cover, Zedwick said. “There was nowhere to hide,” he said. Once Zedwick got his squad leader to safety, he ran back to the burning Humvee and retrieved some sensitive items, another radio and weapons. He and other Soldiers from the patrol loaded the wounded onto an operational vehicle and moved south of the “kill zone.” They set up security, using the Humvee for cover, where they waited until reinforcements came and neutralized the threat.

Once the immediate danger passed, the wounded were medevaced from the scene. “That’s when I found out I was injured. I had so much adrenaline going through my body I didn’t know what was going on, I just reacted,” Zedwick said. He had taken a large piece of shrapnel to the wrist. Zedwick was awarded both the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for pulling his squad leader and another Soldier from the burning Humvees. To honor his achievements further, the Army has incorporated Zedwick as a character in the America’s Army Real Heroes program—complete with his very own action figure. Zedwick said he believes his experience with the America’s Army Real Heroes program helped him become a contestant on the show. He said the action figure seemed to intrigue producers, and he soon found himself on the popular game show’s set, bumping fists with Howie Mendel.

NBC Photo: Trae Patton

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TAFF Sgt. Matt Zedwick, an Iraq veteran and the only living Silver Star recipient in the Oregon National Guard since World War II, competed in a special holiday airing of “Deal or No Deal,” in December. His appearance on the show was prompted by his impressive career as a Soldier, especially when he rescued fellow Soldiers after insurgents ambushed his patrol. Zedwick joined the Guard in 1998, straight out of high school. His decision to join was influenced by his grandfathers and several uncles, who had served previously. “It was somewhat of tradition, but it wasn’t required,” Zedwick laughed. “For me it was a way to take my own independence and do something for myself, kind of like a passage to manhood.” During a deployment in 2004, his patrol came under enemy ambush on June 13—a Friday. The patrol inspected an asphalt factory a little ways off the road they were traveling on, but something didn’t feel right. “It looked a little peculiar because the shop was actually closed,” Zedwick explained. The patrol continued on after the inspection and soon saw a vehicle parked on the side of the road. Zedwick, who was driving that day, heard the call over the radio to “steer wide,” and veered away from the vehicle. As he was making the turn, the other vehicle exploded. It was an improvised explosive device. “From what I heard from the vehicle behind me, it lifted me up like 10 feet in the air,” spinning the Humvee around so it faced the opposite direction. After the explosion, the Humvee caught fire and Zedwick was taking small-arms fire from insurgents. He checked for a response from his squad leader and received one, but the gunner was not responding. “My door was on fire, and the only way I could get out was to kick through it,” Zedwick said. Once outside, Zedwick ran to the opposite side of the vehicle and pulled his squad leader free. While rescuing the squad

Staff Sgt. Matthew Zedwick and wife Kristin enter the “Deal or No Deal” set in style. The two-hour special aired Dec. 25, 2008.

Soldiers • April 2009

29

Jim MacMillan

Sgt. Matthew Zedwick (left) and a fellow Soldier fight in the streets of Najaf, Iraq, Aug. 16, 2004. Sporadic but heavy fighting continued through the day and into the evening, with insurgents firing, rockets, mortars and small arms. U.S. forces responded with tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and helicopter air strikes.

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Zedwick appeared on the show with his wife Kristin to compete for a top prize of $1 million. In addition to his wife, Zedwick’s brother Dan and friend Ryan Tuttle joined him on stage to provide support. Several friends, family members and fellow Soldiers were in the audience cheering him on. “The show was really fun,” Zedwick said, though he was “cooped-up” in a green room with only soda and energy drinks to sustain him and his on-stage guests until filming. Zedwick thought that the show probably wanted to keep him energized for filming, which took three hours. According to the “Deal or No Deal” Web site, 26 sealed cases containing various amounts of money are presented to the contestant. The contestant picks one to keep or bargain away as he chooses, in hopes that the chosen case contains a large amount of money. After each round in which a predetermined number of cases are opened, “the Banker” makes the contestant an offer. If the amounts eliminated from the remaining 25 cases are small, the offer gets higher with each round. If 30 www.army.mil/publications

t. Matelli awards Sg n. Peter Chiar 2005, for his heroic Ge aj. M r de mman Feb. 8, lry Division co r Star Medal, Then-1st Cava of Corvallis, Ore., the Silve , ick dw Ze . thew enemy attack actions under

the amounts are high, the offer could disappear all together. Zedwick won $227,000 in prize money on the show, and believes he made a good deal. There was only $400 in the case he chose to keep at the beginning of the game. “I think I made an excellent deal. After knocking out the million bucks for the first choice, I think I did pretty well,” he laughed. A full-time student, Zedwick plans to use the winnings to help pay for college, where he is studying business and marketing with a minor in military science. “I’m not going to go out and

splurge,” he said. He also intends to save a portion of the money, and wants to donate the rest to charities that hold a special meaning for him. “I am going to donate some of it to a scholarship fund, a charity (in honor) of some of the guys who served in our battalion who lost their lives there, for their children. And also, my gunner— there is a skate park named after him as a memorial. I was going to invest a little bit in that,” Zedwick said. For more information on Zedwick’s participation in America’s Army Real Heroes, visit http://www.americasarmy. com/realheroes. v

Year of the NCo I will exercise initiative by taking appropriate action in the absence of orders.

2009

www4.army.mil/yearofthenco Soldiers • April 2009

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Focus on People

Story by Elizabeth M. Collins

Becoming Gaston M

ASTER Sgt. Lance Milsted is many things: Soldier, teacher, husband, father and actor. And in a recent production of Walt Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” in La Plata, Md., the Defense Information School instructor took on a role enhanced by his military bearing and confidence: Gaston, Belle’s egomaniacal suitor. Milsted had a presence on stage that director Joseph Stine thought came from his military bearing. Stein pointed out that several other servicemembers from the Navy and Air Force were also participating in the cast and orchestra. “You definitely have to have the air of confidence about you to have the presence that he has on stage,” added Michael Mickey, who played Beast in the production. “It’s nice to see members of the military being active outside of just serving the country. It’s nice to be able to see how they live other than what we see in the papers and on TV.” Milsted agreed that life influences his roles, but said that because Gaston was so overblown, he could just have fun with the role. He said he usually prepares for the role by walking around making up new lyrics to his title song. “For example, I would walk around and sing, ‘No one hikes like Gaston, rides bikes like Gaston.’ It allows me to think of funny things that Gaston would do, instead of focusing my attention on me and, really, it’s caught on. The only fear is that some night during the show, we’ll actually sing the wrong words,” he said. After taking to the stage in middle and high schools, Milsted was able to pursue his love of acting even after starting a career as an Army broadcaster via a theater at Fort Carson, Colo., 32 www.army.mil/publications

Master Sgt. Lance Milsted as Gaston is surrounded by admiring ladies in a production of “Beauty and the Beast.” Photo courtesy of Master Sgt. Lance Milsted and the Port Tobacco Players.

called the “Little Theater.” He said it was a great way to add some variety to his first years in the Army. “I think the big one is to combat boredom, especially as a younger Soldier,” said Milsted, who once dreamed of joining the Soldier Show. “For me, it got me out of the barracks, it kept me associated with people I liked. We shared the same passions for music and performing and being silly or being serious or putting on something that allowed people to experience something. Which is still why I enjoy it today. For a single Soldier, it’s something to do besides sit in the barracks and watch TV or play video games, not that those things are bad in and of themselves.” He said it’s a great outlet, and for Soldiers at new duty stations, the best place to find out about local theaters is

usually the Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation office. Not only did his love of performing probably influence his decision to become a broadcaster, Milsted said it also helps in his current job at DINFOS. He said it’s easier to teach when you’re already used to getting up in front of people. “I think, in theater, you get used to being in front of people and you definitely have to lose your inhibitions, especially if you’re going to walk around in tights and a black wig,” he said. “You really get comfortable with who you are. So it’s helped me be able to communicate with folks on the platform and be animated in class and hopefully present the material in a way the students will remember. I enjoy teaching because I like sharing that information.” v

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