Previously, women in the military were limited in the jobs they could do. Female servicemembers were not allowed to serve in armor, infantry, reconnaissance and a few special operations units. That left about 220,000 combat positions that were exclusively for men, according to CNN. However, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford recently announced that women would be allowed to take on these roles in service.
"Moving forward, my focus is to lead the full integration of women in a manner that maintains our joint war fighting capability, ensures the health and welfare of our people, and optimizes how we leverage talent across the Joint Force," Marine Gen. Dunford, said in his speech.
Though there has been some resistance since the chairman's announcement on Dec. 3, most are in favor of the military's new inclusion policy. USA Today reported that the Department of Defense gave all branches until Dec. 31 to incorporate the new policy.
Many of the policymakers acknowledge that full acceptance of this change will be an on-going process over the coming years, but they agree that it was the right move to bring the military into the 21st century.
Some of the most significant personnel changes in the U.S. military's history appear to be on the horizon. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, looking to enlist a generation of servicemembers for the 21st century, while also forcing the Pentagon's entrenched bureaucracy to modernize, is the driving force behind the reforms. According to the Associated Press, Carter's plans to recruit – and, just as importantly, to keep – troops in the armed services were the subject of a major speech given earlier this month in Hawaii.
Proposed changes to military benefits and retirement plans, such as the one that will automatically invest a small percentage of troops' pay beginning in 2018, are part of the effort. Other improvements include expanded sabbatical programs, which encourage service members to pursue advanced education and internships for knowledge and experience that they can then put to use at the Pentagon, as well as facilitated mobility between active duty and the reserves.
The Military Times reported back in August that major personnel reforms were under discussion, spurred on by increasing concerns within the military command structure that its personnel system was lagging far behind the ever-evolving private sector. In a memo obtained by the Military Times, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness Brad Carson wrote that "This is a moment that calls for revolutionary change in the human resources practice of DoD."
Many of Carter's modernization goals are designed to make the Pentagon more closely reflect the corporate world. To draw young people into the services, he plans to have the Pentagon embody the same kind of innovative, high-tech leadership displayed by successful companies in Silicon Valley.
More changes are expected to be announced in the next few weeks. Though some of the programs could be easily implemented, more extensive expansions require congressional approval.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday to broaden the definition of what qualifies servicemembers for veteran status. The Mankato Free Press reported that the bill, sponsored by Congressman Tim Walz, seeks to change how the federal government determines who qualifies as a veteran. Under the current law, a National Guard member who served for 20 or more years – but who was never deployed – would not officially be considered a veteran.
Congressman Walz's bill, if passed by the Senate and signed into law, would ensure that any service member who served in the Reserves or National Guard for at least 20 years would receive the veteran designation. Walz was in the National Guard for 24 years, though the bill would have no effect on his federal status, as he deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Sara Severs, the congressman's deputy chief of staff, told the Mankato Free Press that "It is purely for the title and honor. In the way the congressman described it, those servicemembers could have served for 20 years, but just by the nature of the time they served or the unit in which they served, they didn't deploy."
The newspaper found that Walz had introduced legislation calling for similar measures in each of his two-year terms. In both 2010 and 2011 the bills passed the House, but went on to run afoul of Senate concerns over the how the broader veteran status might add to federal spending. Walz has argued that his bill is strictly about honor, not extending benefits.
"I firmly believe that all those who serve our country deserve the honor and respect of being recognized as veterans," he wrote on his government site. "Guard and Reserve members make many of the same sacrifices as those in regular service, and their commitment should be commended."
In 2001, Patrick Hardison was working as a volunteer firefighter just outside Senetobia, Mississippi. He went out on a call to a house fire, and according to The Washington Post, was trapped when the roof collapsed. Some of Hardison's protective gear was knocked off and he was exposed to the flames. Though he was able to escape with his life, the accident left his face severely disfigured.
The Washington Post reported that Hardison underwent over 70 surgeries and skin grafts before he became a patient of Eduardo D. Rodriguez, chair of plastic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center.
On Aug. 14, Rodriguez began the world's "most extensive face transplant surgery," as reported by Newsweek. Hardison's procedure was covered by a grant from NYU Langone amounting to about $1 million. The team of 150 medical professionals took one year to practice for the surgery, as they only had one chance to get it right.
After 26 hours of operation, Rodriguez announced that the surgery had been a success and that Hardison was recovering. Newsweek wrote that Hardison was given new lips, ear, cheeks and eyelids. His hair had even begun to grow back.
To see Hardison's amazing transformation, click here.
When a house fire broke out in Queens in mid-November, the New York Fire Department responded promptly to assist the family. What the firefighters on scene did not realize was that they would soon be hailed as heroes for their efforts.
According to The Mirror, Lt. Adam Vilagos arrived at the fire with the rest of his crew and heard one of the family members asking for the whereabouts of a baby. Vilagos, who has been a firefighter for 18 years, quickly realized that the child was still inside the burning house. He asked the parents where the crib was located and immediately rushed to the attic. The news source wrote that the firefighter was able to locate the baby by listening for his cries through the smoke. The veteran firefighter was able to bring the 3-week-old safely from the fire and hand the baby boy off to paramedics.
The child was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for smoke inhalation.
"[The firefighters] did a heroic job. They came through. Thank God for them," the baby's grandmother told New York Daily News.
The infant is currently in New York-Presbyterian Hospital and expected to recover.
Some historic changes are coming to the military retirement system in the next two years. Pensions & Investments reported last week that the Senate approved the military retirement reforms as part of the revised defense spending bill, which passed in a 91-3 vote the day before Veterans Day. The changes come after the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission recommended in January new methods for expanding retirement coverage to the more than 80 percent of servicemembers who didn't qualify for the old veterans benefits package.
"I would argue this is the most significant reform legislation that has been passed in 30 years," Sen. John McCain of Arizona said of the Senate vote, according to Stars and Stripes. Sen. McCain was the principal force behind the $607 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which will update the 70-year-old military pension system and expand military benefits. The reforms were designed with the idea of improving the Department of Defense's financial situation and laying the foundation for future overhauls.
Retirement changes will not go into full effect until 2018. The two-year period leaves times for details to be worked out, as every new program introduced in the bill is not yet set in stone. Programs which educate servicemembers on subjects like investing and bonuses are still in for a working-through process, the Military Officers Association of America told Stars and Stripes.
Beginning with men and women recruited in October 2017, troops will have 3 percent of their pay automatically invested in a Thrift Savings Plan account. Servicemembers will be able to opt out of the program or be given control over the amount of their contributions after undergoing training in financial literacy and responsibility. Twenty-year pensions aren't going away, but their value will be reduced for future troops.
For those serving currently, but who have 12 or fewer years in uniform, a choice between the old pension system and the new hybrid program will be offered.
Timothy Marsh, a veteran of the first Gulf War, still wasn't totally at ease with his recent relocation to Oregon when he got lost and ran out of gas while driving through the state's heavily forested coast on Saturday, Nov. 7. Marsh had been on his way to a family member's home, his 12-year-old golden retriever Rusty tagging along in the passenger seat, when he began to feel disoriented. Within moments he had blacked out.
"I had some sort of medical issue. I didn't take my medicine," Marsh told Katu.com, a local news site. When Marsh woke up, his truck's fuel gauge read empty and he found himself stranded on a hillside somewhere in a forest he knew little about. There was nothing to drink, and nothing to eat besides a can of Rusty's dog food.
Marsh's family soon reported him missing, according to Reuters, and the local search and rescue teams set out looking for him. Meanwhile, Marsh was trying desperately to attract attention. He used sticks to create help signs and left notes where he could. As the days went by, he survived by drinking puddles of rain water and splitting dog food between Rusty and himself. But the situation was getting desperate. Marsh told Katu.com that he didn't expect to live through another night among the wet, frigid trees.
On the fourth day though, a man out hunting nearby heard Marsh's shouts for help. The man, also a veteran, contacted the county sheriff as quickly as he could. Within two hours, the search and rescue team had found Marsh and Rusty. They were cold and disoriented, but they were alive.
Marsh was released from the hospital on Veterans Day.
At a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Thursday, President Obama awarded Capt. Florent A. Groberg the Congressional Medal of Honor. In Afghanistan in Aug. 2012, Capt. Groberg was serving as the head of a personal security detachment in the Fourth Infantry Division when the group of senior commanders he was escorting on foot through Kunar Province was approached by an individual with his back turned to the group.
Capt. Groberg's Medal of Honor citation states that the man made a sudden turn towards their formation, a suspicious bulge visible beneath his dark clothes. Rushing the man without any regard for his own safety, the captain confirmed that the bulge was a suicide vest. He selflessly tackled the bomber down and away from the security detail. Upon hitting the ground, the bomber's dead man switch detonated the vest, killing four of Capt. Groberg's fellow soldiers and wounding him desperately. The explosion triggered a second bomber's vest nearby, but it did little damage.
The citation credits Capt. Groberg's heroism with minimizing the severity of the coordinated suicide attack. He saved the lives of many of his comrades and senior leaders. The New York Times reported that the extent of the injuries to his legs, which required 33 surgeries over three years, did not keep the captain from standing at attention while his president awarded him our country's greatest commendation.
"A day after Veterans Day, we honor this American veteran whose story – like so many of our vets and wounded warriors – speaks not only of gallantry on the battlefield, but resilience here at home," said Obama. Capt. Groberg retired from the Army earlier this year. Even in his life after military service, he has chosen to continue to serve, now as a civilian in the Department of Defense.
On the eve of Veteran's Day, the Senate passed an $80 billion spending bill which increases funds for veterans' programs and military base construction projects. The Associated Press reported that the measure, which was delayed for months by fierce negotiations over the federal budget, is the first spending bill the Senate has passed all year.
The bill received unanimous support in a 93-0 vote. It will now proceed into House-Senate negotiations and probably join 11 additional spending bills as part of a massive $1.1 trillion budget vehicle. An extra $2 billion was added to the bill as part of the bipartisan budget agreement agreed to last month by President Obama and leaders of both parties on Capitol Hill. The Veterans Administration's budget for medical services, many of them covered under veterans insurance, was increased to $51 billion.
The measure was one of two military-related bills that went through the Senate on Tuesday. A revised National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) worth $607 billion passed in a 91-3 vote, according to The Hill. President Obama had originally vetoed the bill over concerns about new war funds, but it seems unlikely that the new bill, even with its language barring the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay – a campaign promise of the President's – will meet the same fate.
As a leader of a firefighting station, few people understand the value of good working relationships better than you. You know that when lives are on the line, you need to be able to count on the person next to you to do his or her job. You should also be able to trust that person to have your back should the situation become dangerous for you. By taking the time to cultivate good working relationships in your station house, you have a better chance of building a stronger unit. Take a look at a few examples of ways to improve relationships at your station house.
1. Communication is crucial
The members of your team should feel comfortable talking to each other. If they are not, this can drastically affect team relations and may get in the way of performance. You do not have to oversee all lines of communication, but if you notice a problem between two particular members, try to iron it out before it begins to affect the rest of the crew.
2. Find the balance between friendly and professional
Even though fire squads often become so close that they are almost like family members to one another, it is important to remember that their main purpose is to complete a job. It is OK to encourage camaraderie, but make sure that your unit treats each other with a professional attitude.
3. Host team-building events
Finding time in a firefighter's busy schedule to bond can be difficult, but it is a vital part of maintaining a functional unit. Whenever there is downtime, lead a group activity. This can be as simple as preparing and sharing a meal together on shift or playing a board game in between calls.
4. Be a proponent of respect
Despite the fact that your station house may be full of close friendships, you need to promote an atmosphere of respect. Do not allow new people to feel alienated or to be hazed. Additionally, make sure all practical jokes and jesting do not compromise the respectfulness between team members.
5. Make sure everyone does their jobs
The quickest way for bad blood to develop in a station house is when someone begins to slack on his or her responsibilities. As the leader of the unit, it is your job to ensure that everyone holds their own. If you notice someone slacking, pull them aside and remind them that it takes teamwork to make the station house run efficiently.
6. Keep external issues out of the station house
As stated previously, firefighters can develop close bonds. That means that some of them may be hanging out away from work. This is great and should be encouraged. However, this can also mean that firefighters may occasionally have personal issues with each other that result from outside friendships. Make it clear that any issues from outside of work must not affect the job and should be handled off duty.
Building a strong team means taking the time to cultivate relationships in your station house. Hopefully, the advice above will help you in this endeavor.