Chief Petty Officer Justin Wilson, 36, a special amphibious reconnaissance corpsman attached to MARSOC's 1st Marine Special Operation Battalion, is set to receive the Navy Cross, the military branch's second-highest honor.
Displaying bravery in the face of danger
According to Military Times, the servicemember is being recognized for his actions on Sept. 28, 2011, during his third tour in Afghanistan. He offered to assist Nicholas Sprovtsoff, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, in the removal of an improvised explosive device. As Sprovtsoff started work on the IED, it exploded, leaving the 28-year-old gravely wounded. Wilson, knowing that there were most likely additional bombs nearby, left the safety of his post to treat his colleague's injuries.
While Wilson tended to Sprovtsoff, two other soldiers appeared to help the situation, including Staff Sgt. Christopher Diaz. Just as they started focusing on helping the wounded Marine, another IED detonated. While Wilson also sustained serious injuries, he continued to care for his teammates. Military Times reported that he refused medical treatment until the others were confirmed dead.
Team will receive high honors for actions
Wilson will not be the only one honored for his actions on this day. Both Diaz and Sprovtsoff will be symbolically awarded Bronze Stars, annotated with "V" to indicate their selflessness and courage for continuing to help even when they knew there were unexploded bombs in the area. Sprovtsoff will also be recognized for a mission he completed a week before his death, when he safely led a group of fellow soldiers through a region sprinkled with volatile, unexploded IEDs. The team was able to get rid of 40 of these bombs during the mission, noted Military Times.
Wilson will be given the award during a ceremony Nov. 25 at Camp Pendleton in California. The brave serviceman previously earned a Purple Heart, as well as a Bronze Star. Maj. Gen. Joseph Osterman, commanding general of MARSOC, will present the honor to Wilson as well as the families of the fallen.
According to the Department of Defense, the Navy Cross is given to members of the Navy or Marines who display extraordinary heroism when in a situation involving enemy forces. Wilson is only the sixth MARSOC soldier to receive the Cross and the very first MARSOC sailor to achieve the honor, reported Military Times.
As part of a 2013 initiative to fully integrate women into the military by 2016, 31 women have been chosen to participate in next spring's Ranger Course Assessment as advisers and observers.
According to the Washington Post, the chosen group includes 20 enlisted noncommissioned officers and 11 officers. They were chosen from upward of three dozen female applicants. The women started their week-long training at Fort Benning, Georgia, on Monday, Nov. 10, and underwent rigorous preparation, both physically and mentally, to give them a concept of what students in the all-male Ranger program experience on a daily basis.
The Ranger course
This 62-day long program is known for being extremely challenging, noted the Washington Post. It begins at Fort Benning, where soldiers complete a collection of rigorous challenges. They are then sent to the mountain portion of the training, which is held at Camp Frank D. Merrill in Dahlonega, Georgia. The training concludes with the swamp phase at Camp James E. Rudder at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Additionally, candidates must successfully complete the Ranger Physical Assessment. This includes a 12-mile march, the Combat Water Survival Assessment and a land navigation test.
Military Times noted that in order to earn the title of Ranger at the end of the 62 days, servicemembers must achieve a passing grade for at least one patrol leadership exercise, good peer reviews and less than three negative reports.
Working toward integration
According to the Washington Post, the women were chosen after undergoing an intense application process. They were interviewed by various Army officials and had to complete Ranger course-style challenges before being selected.
Military Times reported that they will participate in the spring training as assistants for official instructors, though they will not be able to actually grade or evaluate Ranger candidates. Nor can they participate in the program themselves, according to current Army rules. While allowing women to participate in this external capacity is certainly a step in the right direction, The Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, which facilitates the course, is working toward full integration by the end of next year, according to Military Times.
Adjustments are already being planned to accommodate gendered barracks and bathrooms, as well as to modify acceptance standards for female candidates based on medical records. Military Times noted that the service hopes the addition of these new female observers will encourage women to apply when the program is open to them.
While the decision to bring women into this historically difficult and all-male program caused some controversy, reactions from officials have been positive so far.
"I was very satisfied with both the quality and quantity of the volunteers we received. Their performance and professionalism over the course of the week was extraordinary. This group did very well for what was a very physically challenging week for any soldier," said Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, reported the Washington Post.
As part of its initiative to upgrade its hand-to-hand combat training, the Army will be introducing a brand new Master Trainer Course.
The new training program will become official procedure in the spring, noted Army Times. Because of the course's total redesign, many soldiers who are certified under the old system will need to undergo evaluation again. The new course pulls from existing training – the basic combatives instructor course and the tactical combatives instructor course. Each of these old programs was two weeks long, and the new Master Trainer Course will take four weeks to complete.
According to Army Times, there have already been pilot programs testing the new course's efficiency. A successful test run was completed at the beginning of September, with 29 of the 32 original participants passing the training. Two more trials have already been set up – one will begin Monday, Nov. 17, and the other will take place in January.
The upgrades focus mainly on the tactical application of combatives, such as fighting hand-to-hand while in full body armor and carrying a loaded rifle in a locked room. The idea is to prepare the servicemembers for whatever will come their way, so the education takes place in a variety of environments, noted Military Times.
Soldiers who will enter the course should be ready for a challenge.
"It is a more rigorous course both physically and mentally. Some [soldiers] have been waiting for a course like this because not everybody has eight weeks to come do this. Others have already gone through [the tactical instructor course] so they don't want to do it again," Staff Sgt. Colton Smith, the senior instructor for the III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas, combatives program, told Army Times.
Three servicemembers from 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, received a medal on Oct. 31 recognizing their outstanding actions during the rescue of a boater in April. The men were honored with the Soldier's Medal, an award given to those who display heroism and leadership in situations not involving enemies, reported Military Times.
Spc. Christopher L. Grant and Pvt. Trenton M. Brown were fishing in the Black River when they saw a canoe flip, sending a man and a woman crying out for help as they attempted to navigate the cold, rough waters. The two men tried to use a rope from their truck to pull the boaters in, but it fell short and they could see that the man was struggling to stay afloat, according to an Army report.
The servicemembers received backup when former lifeguard Pfc. Matthew M. Phillips arrived to help them. The Army reported that together, the three soldiers were able to secure a line strong enough to hold them as they all ventured into the almost-freezing waters. Phillips was able to secure the female victim and attach her to the line. The soldiers pulled her to the shore, got her warm clothes and waited for her to get proper medical attention. Unfortunately they were not able to save the male passenger, who perished in the accident.
"If I could have gotten to the man, I would have, but I just couldn't get to him," Phillips told the Army.
Grant currently works as a paralegal specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, while Brown is a hydraulic repair specialist with B Company, 277th Aviation Support Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, and Phillips is a cavalry Scout formerly assigned to 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
When Amy Wolfe, artistic director of the Manassas Ballet Theater in Virginia, lost her son Colin in Iraq in 2006, she knew she wanted to create a lasting tribute to him. This weekend, her full-length ballet, "Colin," opened at Hylton Performing Arts Center.
Lance Cpl. Colin Wolfe was killed at the age of 18, when a roadside bomb exploded next to him in Habbaniyah, Iraq. According to Military Times, he had been a dancer prior to joining the service. His mother knew that creating an artistic memorial in his honor would be the best way to handle her loss and recognize his immense sacrifice.
The creative process
Wolfe started by creating a 30-minute performance in collaboration with a composer friend. The project drew so much attention that she decided to extend it into a full-length piece. According to Military Times, the emotional ballet shows all aspects of Colin's relationship with the service, from Sept. 11, 2001, when, at the age of 14, he decided he would enlist when he got older, to the moment right before the bomb took his life.
The source noted that Wolfe conducted interviews with his friends and colleagues to construct a realistic yet creative portrayal of her son's experience. It was through these interviews she learned that Colin had been talking about his family and his girlfriend in the moment before his death, a comforting fact for the grieving mother.
Casting the show
CBS News reported that 27-year-old Joshua Burnham is dancing the role of Colin – Wolfe chose him for his resemblance to her son, as well as the fact that he is the exact same age Colin would be if he were alive today. When casting herself, Wolfe knew that no matter how mentally and physically difficult it would be, she would need to be the one to dance the part. Although she had not danced in four years, Wolfe realized that nobody else would be able to lend such vivid emotional realness to the character.
According to CBS News, real active-duty Marines help open the show, which starts with the night Wolfe was told about her son's passing. The source also noted that members of the Marine Corps attend every performance to pay their respects to Colin and his family.
While the process has been a difficult one for Wolfe, she hopes it will help other servicemembers and their families deal with the often devastating challenges of military life.
"Every death helps those of us who are left behind to come together, to reach out to each other, to love each other better. It is sad that sometimes we have to grieve in order to love better, but it is true," Wolfe told CBS News.
Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division's combat aviation brigade are set to receive Humanitarian Service Medals. They will be given their awards during a ceremony on Friday, Nov. 7, at Fort Carson, Colorado.
According to Military Times, the 100 servicemembers receiving the award are being honored for their actions during the 2013 Colorado floods. The natural disaster killed eight people and completely destroyed over 2,000 Colorado homes. Ultimately, it caused major damage to an area of almost 2,000 square miles. The CAB soldiers are being recognized for their actions between Sept.13-20, a week when their actions were extremely valuable to the devastated state.
During the floods, members of the CAB were an incredible help to the community, reported Military Times. They helped do the country's largest airlift since Hurricane Katrina, getting many citizens to safety. The source noted that these outstanding servicemembers also gave over 500 hours of their time volunteering to help local families affected by the disaster.
According to the USS Berkeley, the Humanitarian Service Medal is given to soldiers who distinguish themselves while contributing significantly to missions of a humanitarian nature.
The Department of Defense issued a statement on Oct. 30 declaring it would be training more medical workers to handle domestic Ebola cases.
Currently, there is one 30-person team comprised of Army, Air Force and Navy public health specialists. The group, which was hand-picked for related experience and skill level, recently received infectious disease training at the San Antonio Military Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, according to Military Times. Their role will be to arrive at medical centers treating Ebola patients no later than 72 hours after a confirmed diagnosis. They will help take care of the infected people while instructing the hospital's staff on proper protocol.
The training focused primarily on identifying and treating Ebola while containing the virus and stopping it from spreading. Since the only people to have caught the virus within the U.S. were medical workers treating an infected patient, training health professionals on the proper handling and disposal techniques is the military's top priority.
According to USA Today, the DoD is creating more Ebola-fighting teams in anticipation of requests from the Department of Health and Human Services, which wants to be prepared with plenty of qualified medical professionals in the event of increased U.S. diagnoses.
Two years ago, Staff Sgt. Ryan Frye of 1st BCT, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. He was crossing a 50-meter field with two of his colleagues when they were the targets of enemy fire.
One of Frye's fellow soldiers, Staff Sgt. Jason Hamane, was able to find cover and return fire to the opposing forces. His other teammate, Spc. Antonio Burnside, was fatally wounded by the enemy, leaving Frye as the primary target for the opponents, reported Military Times.
Eventually, Frye was struck with a round of enemy ammunition from their AK-47s. He experienced an intense ringing in his ears and a rush of pain to his head. Military Times reported that it was only when he reached up to touch his helmet that Frye realized he had been shot.
After spending only 10 days in a medical facility, Frye returned to combat. He gives credit to both his helmet and Hamane's firing at the enemy for saving his life.
In a ceremony on Oct. 30, organized by Program Executive Office Soldier, an organization that works with military uniforms and gear, Frye was recognized for his bravery and received an award featuring the life-saving helmet. He was eager to be reunited with the piece of equipment not only because of its role in saving his life, but also because it reminds him of his last moments with Burnside, his colleague killed during the ambush, noted Military Times.
While serving in Iraq in 2004, Army Capt. Stephen Machuga experienced a number of supply drops that, while sent with the best intentions, did very little to stir up excitement among his fellow troops. According to Marine Corps Times, the soldiers often received tattered old library books that would be used for little more than target practice.
After venting about the issue to a friend in the video gaming industry, Machuga and his colleagues were greeted with what seemed like far too many copies of slightly dated but good-quality games. As soon as the soldiers started playing, however, it was clear that they would need more, reported Marine Corps Times.
Six years later, Machuga founded Operation Supply Drop, an organization committed to bringing fun to servicemembers stationed all over the world. The group takes requests from units and delivers to them in order of how severe their situation is. The more rural and dangerous a deployment is, the faster those servicemembers will receive a drop from Machuga and his team. Marine Corps Times noted that these soldiers are the ones who need a fun distraction the most, and are often the last to receive special packages because of their remote locations.
OSD also started offering the service to allied troops and quickly received requests from soldiers in the Australian, New Zealand and British armed forces.
Marine Corps Times noted that a typical package sent by OSD contains one gaming console, two to four controllers, a few headsets and a selection of around 15 games. The organization reported that so far it has helped distribute over $1 million worth of video games to troops located all around the world.
"It's hard to describe just how much of a difference one box of video games can make. It was essential," Air Force F-16 pilot Maj. Brian Gerwe told Marine Corps Times after receiving a drop from the organization.
Two female South Korean soldiers have become the first women to earn the U.S. Army's Expert Infantrymen Badge.
According to USA Today, the badge is given to servicemembers who display a complete mastering of critical infantry tasks. Soldiers undergo a rigorous five-day exam where they are assessed on more than 30 elements including marching, fitness and navigation. Typically, the rigorous exam only has a pass rate of 8-10 percent due to its extreme difficulty.
The exam was open to American infantrymen in addition to members of the Republic of Korea's infantry and soldiers in the Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army, noted Army Times. While U.S. women are ineligible to join the infantry, Korean women are allowed to serve in this military occupational specialty. While in the past U.S. women soldiers have successfully completed the test, they were not able to receive the honor due to their non-infantry status.
Army Times reported that the female badge recipients, Staff Sgts. Kim Min Kyoung and Kwon Min Zy, trained since June to prepare for the test, studying both U.S. and Korean military skills. In addition to actively serving Korea, they took the time to learn U.S. Army weapon systems by watching videos. They also adopted rigorous fitness routines, noted the source.
The servicemembers earned the opportunity to compete after successfully finishing a similar evaluation implemented by the Korean armed forces. The two women encourage the U.S. to be open to the idea of female infantry members.
"Female soldiers are capable of doing the missions successfully in the ROK army, so she thinks that it's OK for the U.S. Army to allow women in the infantry. By looking at her example, women are as capable as males," a translator told Army Times on behalf of Zy.