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DoD photo by Cherie Cullen
Gen. Carter F. Ham assumes command of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) this morning in a ceremony at the Stadthalle in Sindelfingen, Germany.
Africa is important to U.S. national security interests, Army General Carter F. Ham told committee members, Nov. 18, 2010, during a confirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"These interests," Ham said, "include concerns over violent extremist activities, piracy, illicit trafficking, Africa's many humanitarian crises, armed conflict, and more general challenges such as the effect of HIV/AIDS."
AFRICOM has a role in addressing each of these issues, Ham said, as the military component of a U.S. whole-of-government approach.
However, "the key remains that Africa's future is up to Africans," the general said.
U.S. AFRICOM was established in October 2007 and operated under U.S. European Command during its first year. It transitioned to independent unified command status in 2008.
AFRICOM, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, focuses on synchronizing hundreds of activities inherited from three regional commands that previously coordinated U.S. military relations in Africa.
Gen. Ham served as an enlisted Infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division before attending John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. He was commissioned in the Infantry as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1976.
His military service has included assignments in Kentucky, Ohio, California, Georgia, Italy and Germany to name a few. He has also served in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Macedonia, and Iraq.
He has held a variety of positions to include Recruiting Area Commander; Battalion Executive Officer at the National Training Center; Advisor to the Saudi Arabian National Guard Brigade; Commander, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry; Chief of Staff, 1st Infantry Division; Commander, 29th Infantry Regiment; commander, Multi-National Brigade, Mosul, Iraq; Commander, 1st Infantry Division; Director for Operations, J-3, The Joint Staff, Washington, DC.
His previous assignment was Commanding General of United States Army European Command and 7th Army.
His military education includes the Armor Officers Advanced Course, Naval College of Command and Staff, graduating with distinction, and the U. S. Air Force’s Air War College.
General Ham's awards and decorations include Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
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WHITE BEACH, Okinawa (April 6, 2017) - Marines, assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, disembark the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) while pier side at White Beach Naval Facility. Bonhomme Richard, flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group is on a patrol, operating in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to enhance warfighting readiness and posture forward as a ready-response force for any type of contingency. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeanette Mullinax/Released) 170406-N-TH560-121
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Army Cyber Command members and their families make their way through the barbecue buffet line at ARCYBER's Organization Day, at Wells Field House on Fort Belvoir, Aug. 8, 2019. For more on ARCYBER and Army Cyber, go to www.arcyber.army.mil and www.army.mil/armycyber (Photo by Bill Roche)
COMBAT TOWN, OKINAWA, Japan (Mar. 21, 2017) - U.S. Marines with Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Platoon, G-3, 3d Marine Division, protect themselves from debris caused by the MV-22 on Landing Zone Dodo, Camp Hansen, Okinawa. The CBRN Platoon conducts response drills to enhance the commander’s capabilities by exercising the operability and efficiency of the consequence management set within the 3d Marine Division CBRN response element. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by MCIPAC Combat Camera Lance Cpl. Jesus McCloud) 170321-M-NV775-0080
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U.S. Army Africa command team visit peacekeeping training sites in Rwanda, Burundi
Story and photo by Sgt. Maj. Kimberly Williams
U.S. Army Africa
ENTEBBE, Uganda – Capacity building is a top priority for U.S. Army Africa. Therefore, during a visit to Rwanda and Burundi Oct. 19-20, Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III and Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Bronson, the command team for U.S. Army Africa, seized the opportunity to see Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance sites in both countries.
“I was very impressed by the ACOTA programs in Rwanda and Burundi, where we are working closely with our partners to increase their capacity to support peacekeeping operations,” said Garrett.
Managed and funded by the Department of State, ACOTA is an initiative designed to improve African ability to respond quickly to crises by providing selected militaries with the training and equipment required to execute humanitarian or peace support operations.
At each site, civilian facilitators work closely with U.S. military noncommissioned officers, sent to the countries as mentors, in order to provide the most up-to-date and realistic learning experience possible.
Bronson, as U.S. Army Africa’s senior NCO, took the opportunity to meet with the U.S. facilitators and mentors in both countries to determine the road ahead. In the future, said Bronson, U.S. Army Africa needs to develop a process to prepare U.S. Army mentors for their role and to match up the right individuals with the skills needed.
But, Bronson said he is very impressed with what he has seen so far in both Rwanda and Burundi.
The ACOTA program is Rwanda is focused on preparing soldiers for peacekeeping operations while deployed in Darfur, Sudan. The site in Rwanda also has a computer simulation lab, which is the only simulation center for peacekeeping support operations in Africa.
“The partnership is doing great,” said Col. Aloys Muganga, commandant of the Rwanda Military Academy at Gako, which hosts the ACOTA in Rwanda. “They have trained my people so well that we can now train ourselves.”
Similar to Rwanda, the ACOTA program in Burundi focuses on preparing soldiers for peacekeeping operations, but in this case, to Mogadishu, Somalia.
This is the seventh iteration of ACOTA in Burundi.
The four-week program in Burundi includes individual skills, collective skills, lane evaluations, weapons familiarization and live fire ranges.
The 1st Battalion of the Burundi Land Forces took part in the first ACOTA rotation in 2007 and just recently returned from deployment to Mogadishu. Now, the Burundi Land Forces are bringing in these experienced soldiers to train the next rotations.
Sgt. Norberto Ramos, from the U.S. Army National Guard’s Co. B, 165th Infantry Battalion from Puerto Rice, is in Burundi along with two other NCOs to provide mentorship during the four-week program. Ramos said he believes the ACOTA program is successful.
“This has been great,” he said. “You can see the Burundi soldiers’ eagerness to learn in their eyes. “They are a beautiful people.”
“I’m happier and more satisfied with what I’m doing here than any time before,” Ramos said. “It builds me up as a leader and a person. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here.”
CAPTION: Brig. Gen. Cyprien Ndikuriyo (left), Burundi Land Forces commander, describes the outstanding efforts of Capt. Nicolas Bashizimpaka (right), who recently returned from peacekeeping operations in Mogadishu, Somalia, as Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, U.S. Army Africa commanding general, presents a coin to Bashizimpaka. Bashizimpaka attended the first Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program in Burundi and will now pass on his first-hand knowledge to train battalions before they deploy.
U.S. Army Africa photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kyle Davis
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) hosted its second annual C4ISR Senior Leaders Conference Feb. 2-4 at Caserma Ederle, headquarters of U.S. Army Africa, in Vicenza, Italy.
The communications and intelligence community event, hosted by Brig. Gen. Robert Ferrell, AFRICOM C4 director, drew approximately 80 senior leaders from diverse U.S. military and government branches and agencies, as well as representatives of African nations and the African Union.
“The conference is a combination of our U.S. AFRICOM C4 systems and intel directorate,” said Ferrell. “We come together annually to bring the team together to work on common goals to work on throughout the year. The team consists of our coalition partners as well as our inter-agency partners, as well as our components and U.S. AFRICOM staff.”
The conference focused on updates from participants, and on assessing the present state and goals of coalition partners in Africa, he said.
“The theme for our conference is ‘Delivering Capabilities to a Joint Information Environment,’ and we see it as a joint and combined team ... working together, side by side, to promote peace and stability there on the African continent,” Ferrell said.
Three goals of this year’s conference were to strengthen the team, assess priorities across the board, and get a better fix on the impact that the establishment of the U.S. Cyber Command will have on all members’ efforts in the future, he said.
“With the stand-up of U.S. Cyber Command, it brings a lot of unique challenges that we as a team need to talk through to ensure that our information is protected at all times,” Ferrell said.
African Union (AU) representatives from four broad geographic regions of Africa attended, which generated a holistic perspective on needs and requirements from across the continent, he said.
“We have members from the African Union headquarters that is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; we have members that are from Uganda; from Zambia; from Ghana; and also from the Congo. What are the gaps, what are the things that we kind of need to assist with as we move forward on our engagements on the African continent?” Ferrell said.
U.S. Army Africa Commander, Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg, welcomed participants as the conference got under way.
“We’re absolutely delighted to be the host for this conference, and we hope that this week you get a whole lot out of it,” said Hogg.
He took the opportunity to address the participants not only as their host, but from the perspective of a customer whose missions depend on the results of their efforts to support commanders in the field.
“When we’re talking about this group of folks that are here — from the joint side, from our African partners, from State, all those folks — it’s about partnership and interoperability. And every commander who’s ever had to fight in a combined environment understands that interoperability is the thing that absolutely slaps you upside the head,” Hogg said.
“We’re in the early stages of the process here of working with the African Union and the other partners, and you have an opportunity to design this from the end state, versus just building a bunch of ‘gunkulators.’ And so, the message is: think about what the end state is supposed to look like and construct the strategy to support the end state.
“Look at where we want to be at and design it that way,” Hogg said.
He also admonished participants to consider the second- and third-order effects of their choices in designing networks.
“With that said, over the next four days, I hope this conference works very well for you. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay better, please let us know,” Hogg said.
Over the following three days, participants engaged in a steady stream of briefings and presentations focused on systems, missions and updates from the field.
Col. Joseph W. Angyal, director of U.S. Army Africa G-6, gave an overview of operations and issues that focused on fundamentals, the emergence of regional accords as a way forward, and the evolution of a joint network enterprise that would serve all interested parties.
“What we’re trying to do is to work regionally. That’s frankly a challenge, but as we stand up the capability, really for the U.S. government, and work through that, we hope to become more regionally focused,” he said.
He referred to Africa Endeavor, an annual, multi-nation communications exercise, as a test bed for the current state of affairs on the continent, and an aid in itself to future development.
“In order to conduct those exercises, to conduct those security and cooperation events, and to meet contingency missions, we really, from the C4ISR perspective, have five big challenges,” Angyal said.
“You heard General Hogg this morning talk about ‘think about the customer’ — you’ve got to allow me to be able to get access to our data; I’ve got to be able to get to the data where and when I need it; you’ve got to be able to protect it; I have to be able to share it; and then finally, the systems have to be able to work together in order to build that coalition.
“One of the reasons General Ferrell is setting up this joint information enterprise, this joint network enterprise . . . it’s almost like trying to bring together disparate companies or corporations: everyone has their own system, they’ve paid for their own infrastructure, and they have their own policy, even though they support the same major company.
“Now multiply that when you bring in different services, multiply that when you bring in different U.S. government agencies, and then put a layer on top of that with the international partners, and there are lots of policies that are standing in our way.”
The main issue is not a question of technology, he said.
“The boxes are the same — a Cisco router is a Cisco router; Microsoft Exchange server is the same all over the world — but it’s the way that we employ them, and it’s the policies that we apply to it, that really stops us from interoperating, and that’s the challenge we hope to work through with the joint network enterprise.
“And I think that through things like Africa Endeavor and through the joint enterprise network, we’re looking at knocking down some of those policy walls, but at the end of the day they are ours to knock down. Bill Gates did not design a system to work only for the Army or for the Navy — it works for everyone,” Angyal said.
Brig. Gen. Joseph Searyoh, director general of Defense Information Communication Systems, General Headquarters, Ghana Armed Forces, agreed that coordinating policy is fundamental to improving communications with all its implications for a host of operations and missions.
“One would expect that in these modern times there is some kind of mutual engagement, and to build that engagement to be strong, there must be some kind of element of trust. … We have to build some kind of trust to be able to move forward,” said Searyoh.
“Some people may be living in silos of the past, but in the current engagement we need to tell people that we are there with no hidden agenda, no negative hidden agenda, but for the common good of all of us.
“We say that we are in the information age, and I’ve been saying something: that our response should not be optional, but it must be a must, because if you don’t join now, you are going to be left behind.
“So what do we do? We have to get our house in order.
“Why do I say so? We used to operate like this before the information age; now in the information age, how do we operate?
“So, we have to get our house in order and see whether we are aligning ourselves with way things should work now. So, our challenge is to come up with a strategy, see how best we can reorganize our structures, to be able to deliver communications-information systems support for the Ghana Armed Forces,” he said.
Searyoh related that his organization has already accomplished one part of erecting the necessary foundation by establishing an appropriate policy structure.
“What is required now is the implementing level. Currently we have communications on one side, and computers on one side. The lines are blurred — you cannot operate like that, you’ve got to bring them together,” he said.
Building that merged entity to support deployed forces is what he sees as the primary challenge at present.
“Once you get that done you can talk about equipment, you can talk about resources,” Searyoh said. “I look at the current collaboration between the U.S. and the coalition partners taking a new level.”
“The immediate challenges that we have is the interoperability, which I think is one of the things we are also discussing here, interoperability and integration,” said Lt. Col. Kelvin Silomba, African Union-Zambia, Information Technology expert for the Africa Stand-by Force.
“You know that we’ve got five regions in Africa. All these regions, we need to integrate them and bring them together, so the challenge of interoperability in terms of equipment, you know, different tactical equipment that we use, and also in terms of the language barrier — you know, all these regions in Africa you find that they speak different languages — so to bring them together we need to come up with one standard that will make everybody on board and make everybody able to talk to each other,” he said.
“So we have all these challenges. Other than that also, stemming from the background of these African countries, based on the colonization: some of them were French colonized, some of them were British colonized and so on, so you find that when they come up now we’ve adopted some of the procedures based on our former colonial masters, so that is another challenge that is coming on board.”
The partnership with brother African states, with the U.S. government and its military branches, and with other interested collaborators has had a positive influence, said Silomba.
“Oh, it’s great. From the time that I got engaged with U.S. AFRICOM — I started with Africa Endeavor, before I even came to the AU — it is my experience that it is something very, very good.
“I would encourage — I know that there are some member states — I would encourage that all those member states they come on board, all of these regional organizations, that they come on board and support the AFRICOM lead. It is something that is very, very good.
“As for example, the African Union has a lot of support that’s been coming in, technical as well as in terms of knowledge and equipment. So it’s great; it’s good and it’s great,” said Salimba.
Other participant responses to the conference were positive as well.
“The feedback I’ve gotten from every member is that they now know what the red carpet treatment looks like, because USARAF has gone over and above board to make sure the environment, the atmosphere and the actual engagements … are executed to perfection,” said Ferrell. “It’s been very good from a team-building aspect.
“We’ve had very good discussions from members of the African Union, who gave us a very good understanding of the operations that are taking place in the area of Somalia, the challenges with communications, and laid out the gaps and desires of where they see that the U.S. and other coalition partners can kind of improve the capacity there in that area of responsibility.
“We also talked about the AU, as they are expanding their reach to all of the five regions, of how can they have that interoperability and connectivity to each of the regions,” Ferrell said.
“(It’s been) a wealth of knowledge and experts that are here to share in terms of how we can move forward with building capacities and capabilities. Not only for U.S. interests, but more importantly from my perspective, in building capacities and capabilities for our African partners beginning with the Commission at the African Union itself,” said Kevin Warthon, U.S. State Department, peace and security adviser to the African Union.
“I think that General Ferrell has done an absolutely wonderful thing by inviting key African partners to participate in this event so they can share their personal experience from a national, regional and continental perspective,” he said.
Warthon related from his personal experience a vignette of African trust in Providence that he believed carries a pertinent metaphor and message to everyone attending the conference.
“We are not sure what we are going to do tomorrow, but the one thing that I am sure of is that we are able to do something. Don’t know when, don’t know how, but as long as our focus is on our ability to assist and to help to progress a people, that’s really what counts more than anything else,” he said.
“Don’t worry about the timetable; just focus on your ability to make a difference and that’s what that really is all about.
“I see venues such as this as opportunities to make what seems to be the impossible become possible. … This is what this kind of venue does for our African partners.
“We’re doing a wonderful job at building relationships, because that’s where it begins — we have to build relationships to establish trust. That’s why this is so important: building trust through relationships so that we can move forward in the future,” Warthon said.
Conference members took a cultural tour of Venice and visited a traditional winery in the hills above Vicenza before adjourning.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
USMA receives Colonel (P) Buzzard as the new Commandant for the Corps of Cadets at West Point New York on June 28, 2019. (US Army photo by Tarnish Pride).
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (Feb. 13. 2021) - U.S. Air Force F-15 Strike Eagles assigned to 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan, sit on the flight line for Exercise Cope North 2021 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 13, 2021. Approximately 2,200 personnel and 97 aircraft were brought together for Cope North 21 with the mission to improve combat readiness and increase interoperability between the U.S. Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, and Japan Air Self-Defense Force, or Koku-Jietai. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Katie Mueller) 210213-F-HJ106-1004
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, YAMAGUCHI, Japan (Sept. 13, 2017) - U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 lead a group of Japan Air Self-Defense Force personnel during an educational tour and class centered on the F-35B Lightning II at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. Several classes were conducted for JASDF personnel regarding maintenance, serviceability, operability and more. Afterwards, they briefly toured VMFA-121's facility, taking a peek into a few shop departments and visiting the hangar to see, touch and study the aircraft up close. This is the first time VMFA-121 has conducted an exchange like this. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Stephen Campbell) 170913-M-ON849-001
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U.S. Army Africa photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kyle Davis
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) hosted its second annual C4ISR Senior Leaders Conference Feb. 2-4 at Caserma Ederle, headquarters of U.S. Army Africa, in Vicenza, Italy.
The communications and intelligence community event, hosted by Brig. Gen. Robert Ferrell, AFRICOM C4 director, drew approximately 80 senior leaders from diverse U.S. military and government branches and agencies, as well as representatives of African nations and the African Union.
“The conference is a combination of our U.S. AFRICOM C4 systems and intel directorate,” said Ferrell. “We come together annually to bring the team together to work on common goals to work on throughout the year. The team consists of our coalition partners as well as our inter-agency partners, as well as our components and U.S. AFRICOM staff.”
The conference focused on updates from participants, and on assessing the present state and goals of coalition partners in Africa, he said.
“The theme for our conference is ‘Delivering Capabilities to a Joint Information Environment,’ and we see it as a joint and combined team ... working together, side by side, to promote peace and stability there on the African continent,” Ferrell said.
Three goals of this year’s conference were to strengthen the team, assess priorities across the board, and get a better fix on the impact that the establishment of the U.S. Cyber Command will have on all members’ efforts in the future, he said.
“With the stand-up of U.S. Cyber Command, it brings a lot of unique challenges that we as a team need to talk through to ensure that our information is protected at all times,” Ferrell said.
African Union (AU) representatives from four broad geographic regions of Africa attended, which generated a holistic perspective on needs and requirements from across the continent, he said.
“We have members from the African Union headquarters that is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; we have members that are from Uganda; from Zambia; from Ghana; and also from the Congo. What are the gaps, what are the things that we kind of need to assist with as we move forward on our engagements on the African continent?” Ferrell said.
U.S. Army Africa Commander, Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg, welcomed participants as the conference got under way.
“We’re absolutely delighted to be the host for this conference, and we hope that this week you get a whole lot out of it,” said Hogg.
He took the opportunity to address the participants not only as their host, but from the perspective of a customer whose missions depend on the results of their efforts to support commanders in the field.
“When we’re talking about this group of folks that are here — from the joint side, from our African partners, from State, all those folks — it’s about partnership and interoperability. And every commander who’s ever had to fight in a combined environment understands that interoperability is the thing that absolutely slaps you upside the head,” Hogg said.
“We’re in the early stages of the process here of working with the African Union and the other partners, and you have an opportunity to design this from the end state, versus just building a bunch of ‘gunkulators.’ And so, the message is: think about what the end state is supposed to look like and construct the strategy to support the end state.
“Look at where we want to be at and design it that way,” Hogg said.
He also admonished participants to consider the second- and third-order effects of their choices in designing networks.
“With that said, over the next four days, I hope this conference works very well for you. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay better, please let us know,” Hogg said.
Over the following three days, participants engaged in a steady stream of briefings and presentations focused on systems, missions and updates from the field.
Col. Joseph W. Angyal, director of U.S. Army Africa G-6, gave an overview of operations and issues that focused on fundamentals, the emergence of regional accords as a way forward, and the evolution of a joint network enterprise that would serve all interested parties.
“What we’re trying to do is to work regionally. That’s frankly a challenge, but as we stand up the capability, really for the U.S. government, and work through that, we hope to become more regionally focused,” he said.
He referred to Africa Endeavor, an annual, multi-nation communications exercise, as a test bed for the current state of affairs on the continent, and an aid in itself to future development.
“In order to conduct those exercises, to conduct those security and cooperation events, and to meet contingency missions, we really, from the C4ISR perspective, have five big challenges,” Angyal said.
“You heard General Hogg this morning talk about ‘think about the customer’ — you’ve got to allow me to be able to get access to our data; I’ve got to be able to get to the data where and when I need it; you’ve got to be able to protect it; I have to be able to share it; and then finally, the systems have to be able to work together in order to build that coalition.
“One of the reasons General Ferrell is setting up this joint information enterprise, this joint network enterprise . . . it’s almost like trying to bring together disparate companies or corporations: everyone has their own system, they’ve paid for their own infrastructure, and they have their own policy, even though they support the same major company.
“Now multiply that when you bring in different services, multiply that when you bring in different U.S. government agencies, and then put a layer on top of that with the international partners, and there are lots of policies that are standing in our way.”
The main issue is not a question of technology, he said.
“The boxes are the same — a Cisco router is a Cisco router; Microsoft Exchange server is the same all over the world — but it’s the way that we employ them, and it’s the policies that we apply to it, that really stops us from interoperating, and that’s the challenge we hope to work through with the joint network enterprise.
“And I think that through things like Africa Endeavor and through the joint enterprise network, we’re looking at knocking down some of those policy walls, but at the end of the day they are ours to knock down. Bill Gates did not design a system to work only for the Army or for the Navy — it works for everyone,” Angyal said.
Brig. Gen. Joseph Searyoh, director general of Defense Information Communication Systems, General Headquarters, Ghana Armed Forces, agreed that coordinating policy is fundamental to improving communications with all its implications for a host of operations and missions.
“One would expect that in these modern times there is some kind of mutual engagement, and to build that engagement to be strong, there must be some kind of element of trust. … We have to build some kind of trust to be able to move forward,” said Searyoh.
“Some people may be living in silos of the past, but in the current engagement we need to tell people that we are there with no hidden agenda, no negative hidden agenda, but for the common good of all of us.
“We say that we are in the information age, and I’ve been saying something: that our response should not be optional, but it must be a must, because if you don’t join now, you are going to be left behind.
“So what do we do? We have to get our house in order.
“Why do I say so? We used to operate like this before the information age; now in the information age, how do we operate?
“So, we have to get our house in order and see whether we are aligning ourselves with way things should work now. So, our challenge is to come up with a strategy, see how best we can reorganize our structures, to be able to deliver communications-information systems support for the Ghana Armed Forces,” he said.
Searyoh related that his organization has already accomplished one part of erecting the necessary foundation by establishing an appropriate policy structure.
“What is required now is the implementing level. Currently we have communications on one side, and computers on one side. The lines are blurred — you cannot operate like that, you’ve got to bring them together,” he said.
Building that merged entity to support deployed forces is what he sees as the primary challenge at present.
“Once you get that done you can talk about equipment, you can talk about resources,” Searyoh said. “I look at the current collaboration between the U.S. and the coalition partners taking a new level.”
“The immediate challenges that we have is the interoperability, which I think is one of the things we are also discussing here, interoperability and integration,” said Lt. Col. Kelvin Silomba, African Union-Zambia, Information Technology expert for the Africa Stand-by Force.
“You know that we’ve got five regions in Africa. All these regions, we need to integrate them and bring them together, so the challenge of interoperability in terms of equipment, you know, different tactical equipment that we use, and also in terms of the language barrier — you know, all these regions in Africa you find that they speak different languages — so to bring them together we need to come up with one standard that will make everybody on board and make everybody able to talk to each other,” he said.
“So we have all these challenges. Other than that also, stemming from the background of these African countries, based on the colonization: some of them were French colonized, some of them were British colonized and so on, so you find that when they come up now we’ve adopted some of the procedures based on our former colonial masters, so that is another challenge that is coming on board.”
The partnership with brother African states, with the U.S. government and its military branches, and with other interested collaborators has had a positive influence, said Silomba.
“Oh, it’s great. From the time that I got engaged with U.S. AFRICOM — I started with Africa Endeavor, before I even came to the AU — it is my experience that it is something very, very good.
“I would encourage — I know that there are some member states — I would encourage that all those member states they come on board, all of these regional organizations, that they come on board and support the AFRICOM lead. It is something that is very, very good.
“As for example, the African Union has a lot of support that’s been coming in, technical as well as in terms of knowledge and equipment. So it’s great; it’s good and it’s great,” said Salimba.
Other participant responses to the conference were positive as well.
“The feedback I’ve gotten from every member is that they now know what the red carpet treatment looks like, because USARAF has gone over and above board to make sure the environment, the atmosphere and the actual engagements … are executed to perfection,” said Ferrell. “It’s been very good from a team-building aspect.
“We’ve had very good discussions from members of the African Union, who gave us a very good understanding of the operations that are taking place in the area of Somalia, the challenges with communications, and laid out the gaps and desires of where they see that the U.S. and other coalition partners can kind of improve the capacity there in that area of responsibility.
“We also talked about the AU, as they are expanding their reach to all of the five regions, of how can they have that interoperability and connectivity to each of the regions,” Ferrell said.
“(It’s been) a wealth of knowledge and experts that are here to share in terms of how we can move forward with building capacities and capabilities. Not only for U.S. interests, but more importantly from my perspective, in building capacities and capabilities for our African partners beginning with the Commission at the African Union itself,” said Kevin Warthon, U.S. State Department, peace and security adviser to the African Union.
“I think that General Ferrell has done an absolutely wonderful thing by inviting key African partners to participate in this event so they can share their personal experience from a national, regional and continental perspective,” he said.
Warthon related from his personal experience a vignette of African trust in Providence that he believed carries a pertinent metaphor and message to everyone attending the conference.
“We are not sure what we are going to do tomorrow, but the one thing that I am sure of is that we are able to do something. Don’t know when, don’t know how, but as long as our focus is on our ability to assist and to help to progress a people, that’s really what counts more than anything else,” he said.
“Don’t worry about the timetable; just focus on your ability to make a difference and that’s what that really is all about.
“I see venues such as this as opportunities to make what seems to be the impossible become possible. … This is what this kind of venue does for our African partners.
“We’re doing a wonderful job at building relationships, because that’s where it begins — we have to build relationships to establish trust. That’s why this is so important: building trust through relationships so that we can move forward in the future,” Warthon said.
Conference members took a cultural tour of Venice and visited a traditional winery in the hills above Vicenza before adjourning.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA, Hawaii (July 30, 2016) - Royal New Zealand's Victor Company participates in an amphibious assault exercise on Bellows Beach during Rim of the Pacific 2016. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (Royal New Zealand Navy Photo by Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn) 160730-O-DZ829-024
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New Jersey State Police Superintendent, Colonel Patrick Callahan, and Lt. Col. Wayne Korte, lead the command staff meeting at the Log Cabin at division headquarters in West Trenton, N.J. on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. Today was Lt. Col. Korte’s last command staff meeting before he retires at the end of the month. (New Jersey State Police / Tim Larsen)
Gleetings. To you.
In Gravesend, the wheelie bins sing "The Hippy Hippy Shake" on special occasions; it is good for them and stops them exterminating, indiscriminately.
One day, they are at the Royal Command Performance and get to meet Mrs Ma'am, she is a fan of proper rock and roll and admires them greatly; indeed, were she not royal (*) she would dance with them, outrageously.
"And do you come here often ?" she asks, as she is commanded to.
"Hurrah !" cry the wheelie bins. "You have spoken the magic words !"
They perform "Shakin' All Over" and sundry other stone gold classics. They are in ecstasy, as is Mrs Ma'am, gosh, gosh.
We had better leave it there, taps nose.
Walk Tall !
* I am Royal, Mrs Ma'am is royal. She is not my Mrs. By Order.
EAST CHINA SEA (Feb. 9, 2015) - An MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 (Reinforced), takes off from the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6). Bonhomme Richard is currently deployed in the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Operations. (U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Kevin V. Cunningham) 150209-N-UF697-202
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USMA receives Colonel (P) Buzzard as the new Commandant for the Corps of Cadets at West Point New York on June 28, 2019. (US Army photo by Tarnish Pride).
The actual Apollo 17 Command Module, dubbed "America", is on display in the Starship Gallery of Space Center Houston.
Apollo 17, the final mission of NASA's Apollo program launched on December 7, 1972 with a crew made up of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt. It was a "J-type mission" which included three days on the lunar surface, extended scientific capability, and the third Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). While Evans remained in lunar orbit in this Command/Service Module (CSM), Cernan and Schmitt spent just over three days on the moon in the Taurus–Littrow valley and completed three moonwalks, taking lunar samples and deploying scientific instruments. All three astronauts returned safely to Earth in this capsule, ending an era in space history.
Space Center Houston is the official visitor center of NASA Johnson Space Center and a Smithsonian Affiliate Museum owned and operated by the nonprofit Manned Spaceflight Education Foundation. The center opened in 1992 and hosts more than 1 million visitors annually in its 250,000-square-foot educational complex with over 400 space artifacts, permanent and traveling exhibits, attractions, live shows and theaters dedicated to preserving the history of America's human spaceflight program.
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Manned Spacecraft Center, where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. Construction of the center, designed by Charles Luckman, began in 1962 and the 1,620-acre facility officially opened for business in September 1963. The center is home to NASA's astronaut corps, and is responsible for training astronauts from both the U.S. and its international partners. It has become popularly known for its flight control function, identified as "Mission Control" during the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo–Soyuz, and Space Shuttle program flights. It is also the site of the former Lunar Receiving Laboratory, where the first astronauts returning from the Moon were quarantined, and where the majority of lunar samples are stored.
A Corporal from the Royal Engineers is pictured in command of a Trojan Tank or AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) on Operation Hamkari in Afghanistan.
The bulk of British military operations in Afghanistan are concentrated in central Helmand. But Royal Engineers have spent the past two months lending their awesome capabilities to Afghan and US forces clearing a key area of Kandahar province.
Since September, 5 Armoured Engineer Squadron, part of 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault), have provided close engineering support to the 2nd Battalion of the US Army's 502nd Regiment, and their partnered Afghan National Army kandak, in Kandahar's Zharay district.
Zharay district contains the Horn of Panjwai, an insurgent stronghold from where attacks on Kandahar City have been enabled and supported, and Sangsar, the Taleban's spiritual birthplace and former home of Mullah Omar. Under this effort, known as Operation HAMKARI - or as the soldiers call it "The Battle of Kandahar" - the intent has been to defeat insurgent elements and increase Afghan government influence across the area, as well as enable development west of Kandahar City.
This image is available for non-commercial, high resolution download at www.defenceimages.mod.uk subject to terms and conditions. Search for image number 45152043.jpg
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Photographer: Sgt Rupert Frere RLC
Image 45152043.jpg from www.defenceimages.mod.uk
This is a follow up to my Project365 post. I figured some people may want to see my entire set up.
Not visible in this photo is my Time Machine backup drive sitting on a 12South Backpack
Command module for "Skylab 4" -- the fourth manned mission to the Skylab space station. It occurred from November 16, 1973, to February 8, 1974. On display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA. It consisted of the second stage of a Saturn IV-B rocket. Inside this stage was a second compartment, which formed a two-story area for work. The lower level contained the "Saturn workshop," while the upper area was a wardroom where eating, sleeping, physical exercise, and recreation could occur. Two huge solar panel arrays provided power to the station. A multi-section docking ring was attached to the station's nose, which allowed a traditional Command and Service Module unit to dock. Above the docking ring was the Apollo Telescope, a solar observatory.
Disaster struck on launch day. Just 63 seconds into the flight, the micrometeoroid shield around Skylab ripped free from the space station. Just three seconds earlier, the rocket had passed Mach 1, and was passing through the "Max Q" -- the period of maximum atmospheric dynamic stress on the spacecraft.
Rivets that didn't quite fit and seals which had not been totally completed allowed air to flow behind the shield at hypersonic speed. This caused the shield to partially deploy -- moving a few inches outward from the space station.
The shield ripped almost completely free from the space station, unpeeling like the skin of a fruit. As the shield ripped away, it caused one of the solar panels to partially deploy -- and it ripped almost completely free of the space station.
When the second stage separated from the space station at 9 minutes, 52 seconds into the flight, it fired retrorockets that allowed Skylab to move forward and away. These retrorockets, however, caused the damaged solar panel to rip completely free from Skylab.
At about 21 minutes into the flight, the Apollo Telescope Mount successfully deployed. At 26 minutes into the flight, the solar panels were supposed to deploy. But the micrometeoroid shield was wrapped around the only remaining solar panel arm, and the deployment pyrotechnics shorted out trying to move too much weight.
The micrometeoroid shield was designed to also function as a thermal shield. With this thermal shield gone, temperatures inside Skylab shot up to 225 degrees F. This weakened the skin of the space station, and NASA engineers refused to pressurize the station for fear that it would simply implode in orbit.
The first manned mission to Skylab, known as Skylab-2, was due to launch for the space station on May 5, but this was pushed back to May 20 in order to give NASA time to figure out what to do.
NASA engineers devised an umbrella-like device. This could be thrust out of the scientified airlock (an 8 inch by 8 inch opening designed to allow scientific instruments to be exposed to space but manipulated from inside the space station). By inserting a pole into the interior of the device, the "parasol" extended a 22 foot by 24 foot canopy made of gold nylon backed by metallized mylar. The astronauts had tried to free the trapped solar panel before docking, but failed. Three days later, after Skylab's batteries began to fail, another attempt was made -- this time via spacewalk. It nearly failed, but at the last moment the panel sprang free and fulled extended. (Skylab-3 would later deploy another parasol -- this one extended via two long arms -- on top of the first to help cool the station even further.)
Skylab astronauts flew to the space station using the same command and service modules first developed for the lunar landings. The service modules were used to carry all the supplies the astronauts would need. At the end of the mission, the capsule (command module) would detach from the service module. The serivce module would burn up on re-entry, while the command module would splash down and return everyone to Earth safely.
Skylab 4 launched on November 16, 1973. After 84 days in space, the astronauts returned to Earth on February 8, 1974. Commander Gerald P. Carr, Pilot William R. Pogue, and Science Pilot Edward G. Gibson conducted medical experiments, solar observations, studied the Earth, and made unplanned observations of Comet Kohoutek.
Burnaby Command 1 - 1999 Freightliner FL60 / ERS
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All photos reserved by www.bcfiretrucks.com No reproduction allowed of any photos unless written permission. For licencing information contact ryan@bcfiretrucks.com
The Apollo 11 command module as seen during the exhibition, Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, at The Museum of Flight.
U.S. Army Africa photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kyle Davis
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) hosted its second annual C4ISR Senior Leaders Conference Feb. 2-4 at Caserma Ederle, headquarters of U.S. Army Africa, in Vicenza, Italy.
The communications and intelligence community event, hosted by Brig. Gen. Robert Ferrell, AFRICOM C4 director, drew approximately 80 senior leaders from diverse U.S. military and government branches and agencies, as well as representatives of African nations and the African Union.
“The conference is a combination of our U.S. AFRICOM C4 systems and intel directorate,” said Ferrell. “We come together annually to bring the team together to work on common goals to work on throughout the year. The team consists of our coalition partners as well as our inter-agency partners, as well as our components and U.S. AFRICOM staff.”
The conference focused on updates from participants, and on assessing the present state and goals of coalition partners in Africa, he said.
“The theme for our conference is ‘Delivering Capabilities to a Joint Information Environment,’ and we see it as a joint and combined team ... working together, side by side, to promote peace and stability there on the African continent,” Ferrell said.
Three goals of this year’s conference were to strengthen the team, assess priorities across the board, and get a better fix on the impact that the establishment of the U.S. Cyber Command will have on all members’ efforts in the future, he said.
“With the stand-up of U.S. Cyber Command, it brings a lot of unique challenges that we as a team need to talk through to ensure that our information is protected at all times,” Ferrell said.
African Union (AU) representatives from four broad geographic regions of Africa attended, which generated a holistic perspective on needs and requirements from across the continent, he said.
“We have members from the African Union headquarters that is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; we have members that are from Uganda; from Zambia; from Ghana; and also from the Congo. What are the gaps, what are the things that we kind of need to assist with as we move forward on our engagements on the African continent?” Ferrell said.
U.S. Army Africa Commander, Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg, welcomed participants as the conference got under way.
“We’re absolutely delighted to be the host for this conference, and we hope that this week you get a whole lot out of it,” said Hogg.
He took the opportunity to address the participants not only as their host, but from the perspective of a customer whose missions depend on the results of their efforts to support commanders in the field.
“When we’re talking about this group of folks that are here — from the joint side, from our African partners, from State, all those folks — it’s about partnership and interoperability. And every commander who’s ever had to fight in a combined environment understands that interoperability is the thing that absolutely slaps you upside the head,” Hogg said.
“We’re in the early stages of the process here of working with the African Union and the other partners, and you have an opportunity to design this from the end state, versus just building a bunch of ‘gunkulators.’ And so, the message is: think about what the end state is supposed to look like and construct the strategy to support the end state.
“Look at where we want to be at and design it that way,” Hogg said.
He also admonished participants to consider the second- and third-order effects of their choices in designing networks.
“With that said, over the next four days, I hope this conference works very well for you. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay better, please let us know,” Hogg said.
Over the following three days, participants engaged in a steady stream of briefings and presentations focused on systems, missions and updates from the field.
Col. Joseph W. Angyal, director of U.S. Army Africa G-6, gave an overview of operations and issues that focused on fundamentals, the emergence of regional accords as a way forward, and the evolution of a joint network enterprise that would serve all interested parties.
“What we’re trying to do is to work regionally. That’s frankly a challenge, but as we stand up the capability, really for the U.S. government, and work through that, we hope to become more regionally focused,” he said.
He referred to Africa Endeavor, an annual, multi-nation communications exercise, as a test bed for the current state of affairs on the continent, and an aid in itself to future development.
“In order to conduct those exercises, to conduct those security and cooperation events, and to meet contingency missions, we really, from the C4ISR perspective, have five big challenges,” Angyal said.
“You heard General Hogg this morning talk about ‘think about the customer’ — you’ve got to allow me to be able to get access to our data; I’ve got to be able to get to the data where and when I need it; you’ve got to be able to protect it; I have to be able to share it; and then finally, the systems have to be able to work together in order to build that coalition.
“One of the reasons General Ferrell is setting up this joint information enterprise, this joint network enterprise . . . it’s almost like trying to bring together disparate companies or corporations: everyone has their own system, they’ve paid for their own infrastructure, and they have their own policy, even though they support the same major company.
“Now multiply that when you bring in different services, multiply that when you bring in different U.S. government agencies, and then put a layer on top of that with the international partners, and there are lots of policies that are standing in our way.”
The main issue is not a question of technology, he said.
“The boxes are the same — a Cisco router is a Cisco router; Microsoft Exchange server is the same all over the world — but it’s the way that we employ them, and it’s the policies that we apply to it, that really stops us from interoperating, and that’s the challenge we hope to work through with the joint network enterprise.
“And I think that through things like Africa Endeavor and through the joint enterprise network, we’re looking at knocking down some of those policy walls, but at the end of the day they are ours to knock down. Bill Gates did not design a system to work only for the Army or for the Navy — it works for everyone,” Angyal said.
Brig. Gen. Joseph Searyoh, director general of Defense Information Communication Systems, General Headquarters, Ghana Armed Forces, agreed that coordinating policy is fundamental to improving communications with all its implications for a host of operations and missions.
“One would expect that in these modern times there is some kind of mutual engagement, and to build that engagement to be strong, there must be some kind of element of trust. … We have to build some kind of trust to be able to move forward,” said Searyoh.
“Some people may be living in silos of the past, but in the current engagement we need to tell people that we are there with no hidden agenda, no negative hidden agenda, but for the common good of all of us.
“We say that we are in the information age, and I’ve been saying something: that our response should not be optional, but it must be a must, because if you don’t join now, you are going to be left behind.
“So what do we do? We have to get our house in order.
“Why do I say so? We used to operate like this before the information age; now in the information age, how do we operate?
“So, we have to get our house in order and see whether we are aligning ourselves with way things should work now. So, our challenge is to come up with a strategy, see how best we can reorganize our structures, to be able to deliver communications-information systems support for the Ghana Armed Forces,” he said.
Searyoh related that his organization has already accomplished one part of erecting the necessary foundation by establishing an appropriate policy structure.
“What is required now is the implementing level. Currently we have communications on one side, and computers on one side. The lines are blurred — you cannot operate like that, you’ve got to bring them together,” he said.
Building that merged entity to support deployed forces is what he sees as the primary challenge at present.
“Once you get that done you can talk about equipment, you can talk about resources,” Searyoh said. “I look at the current collaboration between the U.S. and the coalition partners taking a new level.”
“The immediate challenges that we have is the interoperability, which I think is one of the things we are also discussing here, interoperability and integration,” said Lt. Col. Kelvin Silomba, African Union-Zambia, Information Technology expert for the Africa Stand-by Force.
“You know that we’ve got five regions in Africa. All these regions, we need to integrate them and bring them together, so the challenge of interoperability in terms of equipment, you know, different tactical equipment that we use, and also in terms of the language barrier — you know, all these regions in Africa you find that they speak different languages — so to bring them together we need to come up with one standard that will make everybody on board and make everybody able to talk to each other,” he said.
“So we have all these challenges. Other than that also, stemming from the background of these African countries, based on the colonization: some of them were French colonized, some of them were British colonized and so on, so you find that when they come up now we’ve adopted some of the procedures based on our former colonial masters, so that is another challenge that is coming on board.”
The partnership with brother African states, with the U.S. government and its military branches, and with other interested collaborators has had a positive influence, said Silomba.
“Oh, it’s great. From the time that I got engaged with U.S. AFRICOM — I started with Africa Endeavor, before I even came to the AU — it is my experience that it is something very, very good.
“I would encourage — I know that there are some member states — I would encourage that all those member states they come on board, all of these regional organizations, that they come on board and support the AFRICOM lead. It is something that is very, very good.
“As for example, the African Union has a lot of support that’s been coming in, technical as well as in terms of knowledge and equipment. So it’s great; it’s good and it’s great,” said Salimba.
Other participant responses to the conference were positive as well.
“The feedback I’ve gotten from every member is that they now know what the red carpet treatment looks like, because USARAF has gone over and above board to make sure the environment, the atmosphere and the actual engagements … are executed to perfection,” said Ferrell. “It’s been very good from a team-building aspect.
“We’ve had very good discussions from members of the African Union, who gave us a very good understanding of the operations that are taking place in the area of Somalia, the challenges with communications, and laid out the gaps and desires of where they see that the U.S. and other coalition partners can kind of improve the capacity there in that area of responsibility.
“We also talked about the AU, as they are expanding their reach to all of the five regions, of how can they have that interoperability and connectivity to each of the regions,” Ferrell said.
“(It’s been) a wealth of knowledge and experts that are here to share in terms of how we can move forward with building capacities and capabilities. Not only for U.S. interests, but more importantly from my perspective, in building capacities and capabilities for our African partners beginning with the Commission at the African Union itself,” said Kevin Warthon, U.S. State Department, peace and security adviser to the African Union.
“I think that General Ferrell has done an absolutely wonderful thing by inviting key African partners to participate in this event so they can share their personal experience from a national, regional and continental perspective,” he said.
Warthon related from his personal experience a vignette of African trust in Providence that he believed carries a pertinent metaphor and message to everyone attending the conference.
“We are not sure what we are going to do tomorrow, but the one thing that I am sure of is that we are able to do something. Don’t know when, don’t know how, but as long as our focus is on our ability to assist and to help to progress a people, that’s really what counts more than anything else,” he said.
“Don’t worry about the timetable; just focus on your ability to make a difference and that’s what that really is all about.
“I see venues such as this as opportunities to make what seems to be the impossible become possible. … This is what this kind of venue does for our African partners.
“We’re doing a wonderful job at building relationships, because that’s where it begins — we have to build relationships to establish trust. That’s why this is so important: building trust through relationships so that we can move forward in the future,” Warthon said.
Conference members took a cultural tour of Venice and visited a traditional winery in the hills above Vicenza before adjourning.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
Army ROTC Cadets stand in formation outside the U.S. Army Cadet Command headquarters building for the “Army ROTC” command photo, Fort Knox, Ky., July 14, 2022. | Photo Provided by Renee Rhodes, Fort Knox Visual Information
USMA receives Colonel (P) Buzzard as the new Commandant for the Corps of Cadets at West Point New York on June 28, 2019. (US Army photo by Tarnish Pride).
Brig. Gen. Richard D. Clarke relinquished Command of the United States Corps of Cadets, August 1. Gen. Clarke served as the Commandant of the USCC since January 2013 and will proceed to his next duty assignment.
(Photo by: Staff Sgt. Vito T. Bryant/ USMA Public Affairs)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (March 21, 2022) - Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Adm. John C. Aquilino and Indonesia Commander of the National Armed Forces (NAF) General Andika Perkasa take questions from media during a press conference. Aquilino is in Indonesia meeting with regional leaders to strengthen the U.S. Indonesia relationship and reaffirm the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Joshua Bryce Bruns) 220321-N-TB410-0563
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RODRIGUEZ LIVE FIRE COMPLEX, South Korea (Feb. 5, 2015) - A Bradley Fighting Vehicle, from B Company, 3rd Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, fires its main gun at targets at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex. Bradley and M1A2 Abrams tank crews from 3-8 Cav. conducted gunnery skills training to ensure unit readiness before rotating out this summer. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Samuel Northrup, 1ABCT)
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Joint Forces Training Base home to energy-efficient headquarters
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. -- Soldiers, family members and civilians of the 79th Sustainment Support Command will soon have a new headquarters, organizational maintenance area and acres of parking at the Joint Forces Training Base here. The work is all part of a nearly $25 million project managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District.
Andy Stevens of Retrofit Services Company from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was onsite Sept. 12 putting the finishing touches on the computerized building management system that will control the state-of-the-art energy efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning for the headquarters building. The system uses multiple condensers and is nearly 30 percent more efficient than systems of just five years ago.
"This one [building zone] is calling for one stage cool, fans on, temperature is 72 [degrees] in the zone and the set point is 72, so it's doing just fine," said Stevens. "You can change your occupancy status at any time, emergency override it, shut it down and we do have the chemical alert push-buttons that will close all dampers inside and out."
The alert buttons are located throughout the facility and once activated because of an attack or a release of hazardous chemicals, no air is allowed in or out of the building to protect the occupants, according to Maj. Phillip Oster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District's Santa Ana Resident Office deputy who oversees the project.
To reduce construction costs and increase future savings, the project is using eco-friendly features, like re-cycled material, and in the case of the covered parking lots, they will generate energy with a photovoltaic system. The contract partner's quality assurance manager for the project explained the feature.
"At peak, they produce 375 KVA [kilovolt-amps]," said Edward Desmond, Cox Construction of Vista, Calif. "In theory, it's enough power to offset the footprint of the Army Reserve Center building."
While not designated a net-zero facility, the extensive use of energy efficient materials during construction will enable the photovoltaic system to actually return power to the Los Alamitos grid, off-setting the operating costs of other buildings on the base, according to Desmond.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 mandated the use of "low flush" urinals in government facilities. This project takes it a step further with water-free urinals. The USACE Engineer Research and Development Center estimates that they pay for themselves in six-months to three years and the cost savings don't end there. All new Army construction is designed to satisfy the Silver-level standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, in accordance with the U.S. Green Building Council guidance.
According Oster, the project is in the "punch list" stage with safety officials, contractors and District project delivery teams making final inspections before furniture is installed and the customer takes possession of the ARC in October.
Brig. Gen. Greg Anderson, director of operations, U.S. Africa Command, is promoted to the rank of major general during a ceremony hosted by Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command, at Kelley Barracks, near Stuttgart, Germany, on Sept. 1, 2021.
Command Decision, by William Wister Haines
Bantam Giant A1964, 1959
Cover art by Stanley Zuckerberg
Originally published in 1947 by Little, Brown & Co.
At the Reichstag, visitors are welcome to roam about the glass dome which separates them from the members of the German Parliament in the plenary hall below.
British architect, Sir Norman Foster
USMA receives Colonel (P) Buzzard as the new Commandant for the Corps of Cadets at West Point New York on June 28, 2019. (US Army photo by Tarnish Pride).
Hendrix at his command post in his room, he is in his wheelchair all day at school, so when he gets home he wants out! Jason bought this remote as a joke out of a catalog, but it works out great for Hendrix! We are also back to sippy cups and today I bought him these no spit no rinse disposable toothbrushes. Drinking and toothbrushing when reclined are a bit challenging...Learning as we go!
The U.S. Army Garrison at West Point held its change of command at Eisenhower Hall at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, July 12, 2018. The Garrison change of command ceremony was both for COL. Andrew Hanson, the outgoing Garrison Commander and COL. Harry Marson who is the oncoming Garrison commander. The ceremony was witness by many VIP's and dignitaries from the surrounding community. (U.S. Army photo by Bryan Ilyankoff)