MARINE CORPS LT. DEDICATES FLAG TO HIS YET UNBORN SON

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Face of Defense: Marine Dedicates U.S. Flag to Son
Marine Corps 1st Lt. Phillip M. Downey salutes as the American flag is lowered during sunset at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, April 28, 2012. Downey is sending the flag home for his soon-to-be-born son. U.S. Marine Corps photo.  

By Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Cifuentes
1st Marine Division Public Affairs
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan , May 16, 2012 - Marine Corps 1st Lt. Phillip M. Downey has a unique gift for his soon-to-be-born son at home. He is sending his upcoming baby boy the American flag, which flew 50 feet above the Task Force Leatherneck compound here on April 28.

Downey is serving a year-long deployment in Helmand province with the 1st Marine Division. He said he doesn't think he'll be able to make it home in time to see the birth of his son, so he dedicated a flag to him instead.

"One day, I want him to understand that there was a reason why I wasn't there," said Downey, a 25-year-old St. Louis native.

Downey works in the combat operations center at the Task Force Leatherneck compound, the ground combat element command and control cell for Marine Corps operations here.
He deployed to Afghanistan in February, a few weeks after his girlfriend, Megan Black, announced she was pregnant. Although he was excited by the news, Downey said, the days leading up to the deployment "were interesting to say the least." Black moved in with her parents, who live near Downey's home station at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Downey's job involves tracking and coordinating mission orders from the command element of the Marine air-ground task force in Afghanistan. One of the biggest problems he faces in keeping in touch with Black is the time difference with California. On a typical day, when Downey's shift ends at 9 p.m., it's 9:30 a.m. at home. "She only answers my emails late at night or early in the morning," he said.
Downey's son is due in September, the seven-month mark of his scheduled one-year Afghanistan deployment.

Downey said the flag he's sending to his son will become a family heirloom.
"A lot of Marines dedicate their flags to their parents or family members who were former Marines," said Staff Sgt. Anthony B. Triplett, the administration chief for the commanding staff of Task Force Leatherneck and manager of the flag program. "To receive a flag that has flown over a Marine base in Afghanistan for a day means a lot to those people."
Downey's lineage includes two grandfathers who were soldiers during World War II, and two uncles who were soldiers in Vietnam. He said he hopes his wartime souvenir to his son will be passed on for generations.

Downey plans to frame the folded flag in a shadow box and hang it in his son's room after he is born.

He said an American flag that was flown from sunup to sundown in Afghanistan should be a priceless gift at Black's upcoming baby shower.

CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF TALKS ABOUT MILITARILY'S BOND OF TRUST

FROM: AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Dempsey: Military Must Keep 'Bond of Trust' With Troops, Families

By Elaine Sanchez
WASHINGTON, March 30, 2012 - The military is defined by a bond of trust -- between service members, their families and their communities -- that must remain unbroken, the military's top officer said here today.

"If we do that one thing, think about our profession as united with a common bond of trust, and commit ... to earning it every day. I don't care what happens to the budget ... I don't care what happens to the other countries in the world that might want ill to come to us, we'll be fine," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

Taking care of troops is a matter of trust, he added. "If we lose that [trust], it won't matter how much money we throw at ourselves. That's a fact."

After months of discussing budgetary and equipment concerns and fresh off a trip to South America, Dempsey turned his attention to what he called the military's "human dimension" at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury's Warrior Resilience Conference. This conference, in its fourth year, is intended to equip service members, units, families and communities with resilience-building techniques and tools.

As he spoke to an audience of nearly 750 behavioral health experts and military leaders, the chairman referred to an image of a squad leader in Afghanistan on the screen behind him. The soldier, his face contorted in a mix of fear and courage, was speaking on his radio with an evident sense of urgency.

Whatever it is the soldier is asking for, he'll get, the chairman said. "That's what sets us apart [as a nation]. He's going to get it -- whether it's kinetic ordnance, whether it's supplies, or whether it's what you're here to talk about today.

"We're going to get them the life skills, the confidence, the hope, which equals on some level ... the resilience you're here to talk about in our force, in our families," he pledged.

It took about a decade for the force to regain its sense of pride and clarity after the Vietnam War. That time lapse can't occur again, the chairman said.

"The world is changing so fast around us," Dempsey said. "If we wait until 2020 to build the kind of strength you're working to build into our formation, it will be too late.

"I fear if we wait and don't address this now, we not only won't be doing ourselves any favors, we won't be doing our nation any favors," he added.

The people gathered for this conference are taking steps on this front, Dempsey noted, "by seeking a deeper, richer understanding of what has happened to us as a force over the last 10 years.

"More importantly," he added, "what are you going to do about that? What are you going to do about the fact that 10 years of war has put enormous pressure on the force?"

They will be tackling these issues in an environment of challenged resources, the chairman acknowledged, and while ensuring they build and earn trust with their subordinates and coworkers each day. "Keeping faith with ourselves, our communities, our families ... that's what it's all about," he said.

Dempsey again referred to the squad leader's picture, this time pointing out the soldier's wedding ring. "If you think about this bond of trust, it doesn't stop in the forward edge or the rear edge of the battle area," he said. "It's got to run all the way back to hometown USA where he has a family."

Dempsey stressed the importance of turning to others for help when needed, calling resilience a "team sport." The chairman drove this point home with a story about a prior bout with throat cancer. It hit him hard, he said, since he'd always tackled obstacles on his own.

Instead, he said, he relied on his medical team, his family and his friends for help. "I realized for the first time in my life, I can't do this alone," he said. "It took cancer for me to figure that out. We can't let our young men and women figure that out the hard way."

Dempsey thanked the audience for their unwavering commitment to troop and family wellness. "What you're doing here has an absolute direct correlation with who we are today, but more importantly, has an even greater correlation to who we will be in the future," he said.