The White House announced Monday that Sgt. Ryan Pitts will receive the Medal of Honor for his participation in the Battle of Wanat in Afghanistan, the highest award honor that a soldier can receive. Pitts will be the ninth living soldier from the Iraqi and Afghan wars, according to the Army Times, to be given the Medal of Honor. Seven other soldiers had received the award posthumously.
The Battle of Wanat occurred on July 13, 2008, when 200 enemy fighters attacked Pitts' post around 4 a.m. The Wall Street Journal reported that all of the paratroopers were injured at the scene and two died. Pitts was hit with shrapnel in his arm and leg. Despite suffering from a large wound on his thigh, he continued to fight, throwing grenades to hold back the insurgents. He soon found himself to be one of the only troops still able to fight. Staff Sgt. Sean Samaroo, Sgt. Israel Garcia, Spc. Michael Denton and Spc. Jacob Sones protected the post while Pitts fought and they only were able to find relief when backup helicopters arrived. Pitts was evacuated from the area due to medical reasons, along with Sgt. Samaroo, and Spcs. Sones and Denton.
According to the defense department's report of the battle, Pitts "allowed U.S. forces time to reinforce the [observation post] and bring-in airstrikes which turned the tide of the battle."
Col. Bill Ostlund, who served with Pitts at the time, gave Pitts credit for saving many of his fellow soldiers' lives and for preventing them all from being overrun by the enemy.
Pitts left the Army in 2009 for medical reasons. He currently is spending his life after service in Nashua, New Hampshire with his wife, Amy, and son, Lucas, working for a computer software company helping with business development.
"Everybody sacrificed a lot that day," Pitts said to the Army Times, describing how he felt about receiving the Medal of Honor. "I try to think about the guys we lost and try to do my best to honor them and the gift they gave me. I hate the word 'hero.' But I feel very fortunate when I look at the guys I served with. They're my heroes. It was the honor of my lifetime to serve with them."
The idea of a soldier climbing up on a horse and riding into battle may seem like a scene out of the Old West, but the Marines have recently begun to reconsider how horses are used in the military. According to USA Today, a program is being run in the Sierra dessert that will train Marines and Special Forces to ride and care for their new mounts.
Tony Parkhurst is the director of the horsemanship and mule packing course. A retired Marine himself, Parkhurst has spent his life after service continuing to help his fellow soldiers. He created the program based on old training manuals from the time of the U.S. Cavalry and has been studying the fighting tactics of the Native Americans.
"The Indians were actually better than our cavalry," Parkhurst told USA Today. "They were phenomenal guerrilla fighters."
The use of horses in warfare is an age-old tradition that died out when tanks and other technology became available in the first half of the 20th century.
Horses in modern warfare
In today's combat zones, such as Afghanistan, horses can be an invaluable resource that soldiers taking the horsemanship course will be able to utilize. With its mountainous and rocky terrain, a tank or military vehicle can only go so far. Instead of having to travel ahead on foot, the horses give the soldiers better mobility. They also are able to cover much greater distances than a soldier on foot, cutting down on travel time. Horses provide a quieter and more covert method of transportation compared to vehicles, allowing troops to travel undetected. The unconventional battle situations that the Marines face in such areas requires unconventional methods.
The program is being operated through the Mountain Warfare Training Center in California, according to a release issued by the Marine Corps. On top of learning to ride horses and mules, the Marines here learn how to utilize pack animals, which help greatly when it comes to transporting gear over large distances.
"We teach Marines how to use pack animals and riding animals as a means to transport people and supplies when ground vehicles or air support isn't possible," Parkhurst was quoted saying in the release. The Marine Corps stopped using pack animals in 1953, but the Department of Defense began to re-explore their usefulness in 1983.
Benefits of animal knowledge
The Marines are also taught the basic veterinary skills needed to maintain their horses in the field and how to manage a herd. This knowledge comes in handy when they are interacting with the nomadic tribes of areas such as the Middle East, providing a basic connection. The soldiers are able to help locals with their herds if necessary, which can help build trust between the two groups.
Mark Rossignol, former business manager for Smith Lake Stables, helped run a now-closed program similar to the MWTC that was run out of Fort Bragg. He explained the importance of this to Horse Channel.
"We teach them about anatomy and basic vet care," he said. "That's because many times these troops are working with the local people."
The U.S. Army is in the process of creating a new parachute for its soldiers, one that is easier to maneuver, allows for higher drops and may make missions safer.
The new long-range infiltration parachute will allow members of the Special Forces to jump from up to 35,000 feet, according to Major Ernesto Perez, the Army's assistant product manager for Airdrop Systems. From this height, soldiers will be able to drop on their target with greater stealth.
"This parachute allows you to land everybody within a 25 to 30 meter circle, instead of having all your guys spread out wherever the wind carried them along the drop zone," Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Ford explained in a recently released Army video. In addition to giving troops the ability to jump from a higher altitude, they will also be able to steer and direct their parachute, allowing them greater control over their landing zone.
The chute is known as the RA-1 and has the ability to carry up to 450 pounds, allowing troops to carry more gear during a drop and therefore be more prepared at the landing site. With the current model, troops are sometimes unable to wear their armor when dropping into unknown situations.
In May, the parachutes were tested by 30 paratroopers and 50 military free fall paratroopers at drop zones at Laurinburg, Clinton, and Raeford, North Carolina. In a recent Army news release, test plan analyst Rodrick Manke explained that they were testing the chutes for safety and effectiveness.
"The RA-1 is an individual soldier's parachute system consisting of a main parachute, reserve parachute, harness and container," said Manke. "It is designed to allow insertion by both Military Free Fall and Double Bag Static Line techniques depending on mission deployment requirements."
The new parachute design was created with both the soldiers' safety and comfort in mind. Perez explained to the Army Times that, with the current parachute model, the harness will make a soldier's legs go numb during a fall and make it hard for them to land smoothly. The new harness will put pressure on the soldier's back, protecting their legs from falling asleep and allowing a safer landing.
This new design will soon replace the current MC-4. The Army benefits greatly from new innovations such as the RA-1 and will continue improving on its current designs. The RA-1 is reportedly going to be fielded to special ops forces during the third quarter of this year, according to the Fort Hood Sentinel.
For military families, video chat technology such as FaceTime and Skype have helped them through months or even years of a loved one's tour abroad. It can be difficult for families to adjust to a family member's deployment, especially when they may have young children at home. Being able to communicate "in person" on camera and more often has improved the quality of life for servicemembers and their families back home until they retire during life after service.
Keeping in touch
For the Danneker family, FaceTime is a daily ritual that helps keep JBER Technical Sgt. Shawn in touch with the home front. A member of the Air Force, Shawn is currently serving in Qatar as a station chief and lead firefighter at Al Udeid Air Base. With two young children at home, a toddler and newborn, Shawn's wife Britney believes that her husband isn't the only one serving his country.
"Because he's in the military, I'm almost in the military too," she told KTUU news, "I know he's serving and everything but we do our part at home. We may not be in a combat zone but we are holding down the fort here."
She looks forward to the day that he returns and can once again be a part of their children's lives. Until then, the family maintains a morning routine of video chatting Shawn to keep connected and involved in each other's lives, even when apart. These modern technologies have helped keep other military families sane until they can be reunited once again after a long tour.
Frequent communication is key
According to Foster's Daily Democrat, the physical separation that is frequent with military members has to be offset by a deep emotional connection with children while a parent is abroad. When families communicate frequently, it boosts the morale of the children and also the deployed family member. With this research in mind, Foster's recommends creating a communication plan before deployment to make sure that families stay involved in each other's lives.
When Ginger Munson and her children planned to contact her husband, Chief Warrant Officer 4 George Q. Munson, this past Father's Day, she began to recall the communication methods of the past, when she had to mail audiocassette tapes just so her husband could hear her voice during Desert Storm.
Nowadays, video chatting has made the distance between family members seem a lot shorter. Though emerging video chat technologies have helped families seem closer than ever, there are certain downsides of being so connected to the war zone. Munson reflects on a time that she overheard an exploding mortar during one phone call with her husband, followed by an abrupt goodbye, leaving her uncertain and worried.
However, the Democrat believes that frequent communication can strengthen families during deployment and keep them thriving when apart. Like anything, deployment is an adjustment before, during and after, but keeping communication open and constant will help to ease families back into the routine of having their loved ones around physically instead of just on the computer.
Traumatic Brain Injuries affect millions of people in the U.S. every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these injuries caused by head trauma – anything from a jolt to the head to a severe head injury – can disrupt functioning of the brain. This disruption can mean anything from a brief change in consciousness or mental state to an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia. In the case of severe TBI, where the patient may be unconscious for a period after the accident, there are long-term symptoms that affect not only the victim but his or her family. Different areas of the brain may be severely affected by the trauma, including areas responsible for cognitive function, motor function, sensation or emotion.
For one military family, a husband returning from Iraq had severe personality changes for years after his accident. Sarah Jenkins, his wife, noticed that he acted irrationally and irritably, though no one quite knew what was wrong.
"Everyone's like, 'Oh, he just got back. It's OK,'" she told the Chronicle. "And then it just kept going and going and going, and you know that something's wrong but you just can't put your finger on it."
For eight years after he returned, Jenkins was not aware that his condition was the result of a mortar blast during his tour abroad. In July 2004, a mortar blast went off 30 feet from Jenkins' husband, an event that changed his behavior afterwards. She remembered telling him about a car she purchased shortly after the accident, and how his response was uncharacteristic of his normal behavior. He left several voicemails for her, the last one of which was "not very nice," she said.
Her husband never told her his diagnosis, though he received it three years after the mortar blast. It wasn't until five years later that Jenkins noticed the record and finally understood that the behavioral changes in her husband were not just the result of post-traumatic stress disorder and a part of his transition to life at home. Once the family knew what had happened and how it affected their father, they made changes to their lifestyle in order to lessen the triggers he was experiencing.
Now, in his life after service, Jenkins and his family are living in the quiet countryside. After finding his medical records, his wife started Project DownRange, which she hopes will improve family member's' access to veterans' medical records. She did not blame her husband for concealing his diagnosis, but having an explanation for his behavior earlier on may have eased the tension and confusion that were prompted by his personality changes. She then wrote a story about her experience with TBI for a Facebook support group. Unknowingly, Chicken Soup for the Soul picked up on her story and decided to publish it in a new edition focusing on recovering from TBIs. Sarah and her family's experience will hopefully bring solace to other families who may be experiencing similar personality changes in their loved ones after a trauma abroad.
When traveling through the treacherous terrain of battlegrounds, such as those in Afghanistan, it can be hard for soldiers to track their fellow service members. However, the military is testing a new blue force tracking system that will aid soldiers during combat and allow greater communication between units, something the army benefits from greatly.
JBC-P
The new system, known as the Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P) was jointly tested with the Marines and army soldiers. The monitor is mounted in military vehicles and gives users a full view of the battlefield and surrounding terrain, similar to a GPS. Soldiers in the vehicle are able to locate friendly forces and their fellow military units. In addition, it allows users to plot the locations of known enemy locations and shares the information with other units in the area. The JBC-P was created to be user-friendly and easy for first time users. Although similar devices have existed, this brings a new level of technology to the field and introduces faster satellite connection and secure data encryption. It even allows the units to chat message each other during exercises and battles.
"When I'm in the middle of a fight, and I'm trying to move my platoon and talk to my platoon, instead of calling them up, right away I can pop the icon up and type a quick message and it's already on there and my TOC (tactical operations center) is tracking," said First Lt. Adam E. Martin, according to a U.S. Army press release. "The maps are a lot more detailed and it's more intuitive. You can color code your platoons or your trucks, so when you have 100 dots on a map, you can easily pick out who's who."
The system was tested in May at Fort Bliss, Texas by 900 Marines and the Army's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division during one of the Army's semi-annual field exercises, called NIE 14.1. These field exercises are known as Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) events and are meant to keep military practices modern and effective. They are the most efficient way to identify gaps in current practices, giving leaders a chance to improve their battlefield plans. Feedback from the exercise will help to further improve the JBC-P technology, but the overall response from soldiers has been positive.
"This allows us to know where the enemies are, so I can make sure our guys aren't going too far into a danger zone," said Lance Cpl. John Allen Sergeant with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. "Everyone should have this."
JBC-P was designed by the Army's Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications. Before its testing at Fort Bliss, it underwent previous testing focusing on JBC-P's ability to reduce the amount of risk involved in military operations.
Soldiers on the ground
Defense Systems reported that the JBC-P also connects to a handheld Nett Warrior system, which is used for military members traveling on foot rather than in vehicles. Soldiers are able to use specialized Android phones that allow them to get a good overview of their surroundings and connect to their fellow soldiers. Such technology can be invaluable during battle. The Marines are currently looking into creating their own handheld technology system, similar to the Nett Warrior.
The U.S. Army recognized Vietnam veteran Patrick A. Tiessonniere June 11, during a historical presentation put on by the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as the Twilight Tattoo. The event took place at Fort Myer in Virginia.
Tiessonniere was a Silver Star medal recipient, which is the nation's third-highest military decoration for valor. The Silver Star can be gained by engaging the enemy and fighting in support of a friendly foreign force. During the Twilight Tattoo, he recounted stories of his deployment for the audience, which was mostly made up of local schoolchildren. In one story, he remembered a time when his commander, Col. John A. Hemphill, came face to face with a member of the Viet Cong.
"[Hemphill] told me his life flashed before him. He thought he was dead. But as he was looking at him, the enemy soldier keeled over. He had been shot," Tiessonniere said, according to the Army News Service . "My platoon saved [Hemphill's] life that day."
During his life after service, Tiessonniere is currently working for the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, at Fort Lesley J. McNair. Tiessonniere has kept his memories alive and is writing a book based on his life during the Vietnam War.
This week's Twilight Tattoo was dedicated to veterans of the Vietnam War. Tiessonniere was serving as a representative of the Vietnam veterans. The event is a live-action military pageant that seeks to explore military history and highlight those who have served their country. The Twilight Tattoo is a weekly event that runs about an hour and is free to the public. It is held every Wednesday in the summer and begins at 6:45. Some performers involved include The U.S. Army Blues, vocalists from The U.S. Army Band Downrange and U.S. Army Voices, The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps and The U.S. Army Drill Team, according to the events website.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst, Draper Laboratories and DARPA have been working together to develop paddles for military use inspired by gecko's sticky digits. On DARPA's website, they explain that the Z-Man program aims to synthesize the biological capabilities of spiders and small animals in wearable gloves for humans. These gloves would allow military members to better respond to urban environments, eliminating the use for ropes, ladders or other climbing tools to escape potentially dangerous situations.
Geckskin™ development
The first product developed for the Z-Man program was Geckskin™, an adhesive surface designed and created by professors at UMass Amherst. For years, researchers have been fascinated by geckos' abilities to climb up vertical surfaces, even smooth surfaces such as glass. They discovered that these animals have stiff tendons in their toepads and tiny hairs covering their feet called setae that conform and grip different types of surfaces. Geckos are also able to disengage their foot from any surface without leaving a residue behind.
According to UMass Amherst's website, professors Al Crosby and Duncan J. Irschick successfully mimicked the properties of geckos' feet and developed a synthetic "skin" using inexpensive materials. An index sized piece of their synthetic foot pad can hold up to 700 pounds on a smooth surface once the van der Waals force is strong, which is responsible for the molecule-to-molecule attraction that allows geckos to hang from smooth surfaces by only one toe.
Current research
UMass Amherst developed Gecksin in 2012, but the technology is now being applied specifically with military benefits in mind by DARPA. They have enlisted Draper Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to research the "Gecko Nanoadhesive" further.
In early June, DARPA showcased the latest Z-Man research that led to the development of hand-held paddles with polymer microstructure technology. A 218-pound man was able to ascend and descend 25 feet of vertical glass with 50 additional pounds attached to his body in one trial. This successful technology will hopefully make it easier for military members to overcome limitations of tight urban environments. The paddles would allow military members with full gear and additional loads to climb vertical surfaces, reducing the potential hazard that comes with using ropes and other materials that were previously used to scale the side of buildings.
"The gecko is one of the champion climbers in the Animal Kingdom, so it was natural for DARPA to look to it for inspiration in overcoming some of the maneuver challenges that U.S. forces face in urban environments," said Dr. Matt Goodman, the DARPA program manager for Z-Man, in a press release. "Like many of the capabilities that the Department of Defense pursues, we saw with vertical climbing that nature had long since evolved the means to efficiently achieve it."
Additional tests of the technology are ongoing, but the research shows that this technology could be revolutionary for urban combat environments when military members need to quickly escape dangerous situations.
Behind each serviceman and servicewoman is a support network of friends and family who play an important role in military life. One part of that support network is the sons and daughters that some soldiers have. As the Army celebrated its 239th birthday, children in military families were a part of the observation. The Army announced on Saturday that it would be releasing a children's eBook entitled, "Happy Birthday U.S. Army!"
The bright and whimsical book was written by Mary Ellen Pratt and co-written by Donna M. McGrath, both employees of Army Child, Youth and School Services. The book was written to help children understand the important job that their parents have and to encourage the idea of the Army family. It also gives kids a brief history of the army that is easy for them to understand. It touches upon veterans that are living their life after service, explaining to kids who have grandparents or other veteran relatives what army life was like for them.
Child, Youth and School Services, a division of the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, developed the first version of the book in 2008, when the Secretary of the Army wanted to involve children in the Army's birthday, according to U.S. Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation. The creation of the eBook this year was a step toward making the book more available to families spread out across the globe. As military families live both across the United States and bases in other countries, the eBook allows the Army to reach out domestically and internationally.
The book is also a great tool for families to use as a guide. It provides suggested discussion points and could help parents talk to their kids about what it means to be in the Army.
The eBook is free to download at the Army Family and Morale website.
This fall Park University in Missouri will kick off the Bachelor of Science in Military History degree program, focusing on "cultural, theoretical, historical, economic and scientific" perspectives of military history. The university recently announced that the degree will be available on-campus or online for veterans and military members stationed domestically or abroad. A combination of liberal arts education and an in-depth history of military events will round out the program's offerings and requirements.
The University hopes that this degree will enhance the career path of existing military members.
"Park University has endeavored to serve its military students, both active military and veterans, by providing degree programs that fit their goals and needs regardless of the students' location," Debra Sheffer, Ph.D., associate professor and program coordinator of history, noted in a news release.
Topics that the major may cover include the history of warfare, philosophy and theory, major wars and battles, science and technology, and the relationship between war and culture. Park University has been ranked one of the top 20 military-friendly schools in the nation, with multiple locations – including some on military bases – and flexible scheduling and start dates. These factors are key for those hoping to pursue additional education in their life after service.
Courses slated be offered while pursuing this degree include separate classes on each of the World Wars, as well seminars on U.S. military history and foreign policy. There is also the potential to choose different modules that would specialize the degree to a student's specific interests. The modules may include naval, air or land warfare. By the end of the program, successful students are meant to build a solid foundation in research, communication and writing skills.