PENTAGON PROVIDES STORM RESPONSE UPDATE

Photo Credit:  Wikimedia Commons.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Pentagon Officials Provide Storm Response Update
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2012 - The Department of Defense is a fully integrated partner in the federal, state, and local response to Hurricane Sandy and is appropriately postured to provide additional assistance to civilian authorities as a result of the northeaster currently sweeping through the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, defense officials reported today.

To address potential issues that may result from the northeaster, DOD has kept significant capacity in the region to provide emergency, temporary power and pumping capability and to distribute fuel, food, cold-weather clothing and other comfort items as requested by civil authorities, officials said.

DOD's response to Hurricane Sandy continues, officials said. Significant updates over the past 24 hours, as of 11 a.m. EST, include:

-- U.S. Transportation Command has delivered 354 power restoration vehicles and 449 technical personnel on 64 missions from California, Arizona, Nevada, and Washington to Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y.; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; and John F. Kennedy International Airport, N.Y. Seven more flights are scheduled today from McChord Air Force Base, Wash., to McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

-- Since Hurricane Sandy struck the east coast, Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster IIIs, C-5 Galaxies, C-27J Spartans and C-130 Hercules have flown nearly 200 sorties, moving more than 700 passengers and approximately 3,000 tons of cargo. The Air Force delivered equipment, supplies and crews ranging from teams of power company employees and blankets to generators, water pumps and utility trucks being used to restore power to areas devastated by the disaster.

-- Marine Corps pump teams assigned to the 19th Engineering Battalion, Fort Knox, Ky., pumped 256,000 gallons from basement areas at three apartment complexes in Queens, N.Y., and are continuing operations in the same neighborhoods. Air Force teams provided pump support to the New York City Fire Department in Brooklyn and at the Rockaway Waste Water Treatment Plant. A Navy dive detachment is providing pump support at the World Trade Center. Army divers are assisting with assessments at Craven Point, and Amtrak Substation in Kearney, N.J.

-- The USS San Antonio and the USS Carter Hall repositioned from Breezy Point, N.Y., due to storm warnings. The USS Wasp will weather the storm at anchor.

-- Navy and Marine Corps teams have begun pumping operations in Breezy Point, N.Y.

-- Navy divers assisted with surface and underwater infrastructure assessments, evaluating storm damage to Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook. Navy personnel also assisted with debris cleanup operations at the station.

-- Marine teams are removing debris from locations and routes in Staten Island and at the Hoboken Ferry Terminal.

-- The secretary of defense approved the use of a fourth vessel, the Maine Maritime Training Ship, State of Maine, to provide accommodations and meals to first responders in New York City. The TS State of Maine will join the TS Empire State, TS Kennedy, and Ready Reserve Fleet Vessel SS Wright already at anchor in New York City.

-- Over the past 24 hours, the Defense Logistics Agency delivered one million meals to JBMDL and Floyd Bennett Field, N.Y., and 850,000 gallons of fuel to Federal Emergency Management Agency-supported sites s throughout the affected region. DLA is providing 600,000 meals, 600,000 bottles of water, propane, and diesel fuel to support 11 American Red Cross sites in New York and New Jersey.

-- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for water drainage operations at 14 sites. To date, seven sites have been completed, seven sites are being pumped and engineers expect to complete operations at two sites in the next 24 hours. The Corps of Engineers has processed more than 470 requests for power restoration services to date.

-- More than 7,100 National Guard members are supporting the governors of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia. These National Guard troops continue to provide critical assistance to local first-responders and FEMA with damage assessments, route clearance, power generation, fuel distribution, debris reduction and removal, search and rescue, delivery of essential equipment and supplies, support at evacuation shelters and first-responder bed-down locations, and the employment of unique engineering capabilities.

-- The New York National Guard has 4,248 people and more than 600 vehicles on state active duty supporting relief efforts. The New York National Guard is conducting 20 point-of-distribution missions, which have provided 115,000 cases of meals, 62,283 cases of bottled water and 31,558 blankets to date.

-- The New Jersey National Guard has 2,011 people on state active duty supporting relief efforts. New Jersey National Guard members are assisting emergency responders with fuel distribution, with over 170,232 gallons distributed since Nov. 2. Guard members also distributed 6,618 blankets, 1,740 cots and 3,648 towels throughout the state. The New Jersey National Guard is assisting law enforcement agencies with security support in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

DOD OFFICIALS MONITOR EVENTS IN SYRIA

Photo Credit:  U.S. Department of Defense
FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
DOD Official: Assad Regime Must End 'Wanton Murder'
By Karen Parrish
WASHINGTON, July 9, 2012 - Defense Department officials are closely monitoring events in Syria, including the military exercises that began yesterday, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

Media reports characterize the exercises as large-scale and simulating responses to external attacks on the nation's forces.

"I don't know that this military exercise suggests anything new about the conflict, or if it may simply be visual bravado on the part of the [Bashar] Assad regime," Little said, responding to reporters' questions during a regularly scheduled media briefing. Assad has ruled Syria since his father, Hafez al-Assad, died in 2000. The elder Assad had ruled for 29 years.

Little strongly repeated the department's position on Syria, where the military has used lethal force in an effort to crush popular uprisings that began in January 2011. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon estimates that as many as 17,000 people have been killed in the violence.

"This regime continues to mount despicable attacks against Syrian civilians, and the violence that the regime is perpetrating must end," Little said. Defense officials have not yet classed the exercise as "provocative," he noted, but he added that judgment could change based on events.

"What we view as much more serious, at this stage, is the continued wanton murder of Syrian civilians," he said.

Little responded to a question on reports that Russia will halt arms sales to Syria, saying he can't confirm that information. "We welcome any move by any nation to stop supplying the Assad regime," he said.

The press secretary noted defense officials also are closely monitoring events on the Turkish-Syrian border. Tensions between the two countries have escalated following Turkey's June 22 report that Syrian forces shot down a Turkish F-4 fighter jet and its two-member crew.

"We hope that this terrible violence in Syria doesn't spread," Little said. "We understand Turkey's concerns, and we'll continue to work closely with our Turkish allies."

PENTAGON SAYS AFGHAN TRANSITION ROCEEDS

Photo:  U.S. Pentagon Under Construction.  Credit:  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE 

Afghan Transition Remains On Track, Officials Say

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2012 - Despite the threat of insider attacks in Afghanistan, coalition forces continue to apply pressure against insurgents in the country, Defense Department spokesmen said today.


During a Pentagon press conference, Navy Capt. John Kirby acknowledged multiple attacks by those in Afghan uniform in Kandahar, which left nearly 10 International Security Assistance Force troops wounded.


"[It was] clearly a tough day in Kandahar, or [the] last couple of days. There's no question about that," Kirby said. "We still believe, and it still appears to be, what we consider a green-on-blue, an insider threat attack ... three attackers that were dressed in Afghan national security force uniforms."


Kirby said it was unclear if the attackers wore Afghan police or army uniforms, but all three are still at large. Two other attacks were also reported in the area.


"In one of them, we do believe that it was at least facilitated -- potentially facilitated by an individual dressed in an Afghan National Police uniform," the Navy captain said. "But again, details are very sketchy right now. ISAF is certainly looking into this."


Kirby also provided details about a recent attack on Forward Operating Base Frontenac, in Kandahar's Arghandab Valley.


"It does appear that some insurgents dressed in [Afghan security force] uniforms were able to breach the perimeter of the operating base and were engaged very quickly by friendly forces inside," he said.


"There was a quick response force from a nearby combat outpost that responded almost immediately, and of course, all the casualties were evacuated to Kandahar Airfield," Kirby said.

Although there were no U.S. forces reported killed, Kirby said several were wounded in the course of killing at least seven insurgents.


Kirby noted it's too early to say with certainty whether these attacks are connected beyond the fact that all occurred in or around Kandahar.


"It's not uncommon that in the warm months of the year, violence will increase," he said. "Part of that is because of the weather. Part of it is because ISAF and coalition forces are being more aggressive."


"They're out and about much more, particularly in the south," Kirby said. "So they have occasion to be in more contact with or more of a problem for the enemy, and therefore, eliciting some of these attacks."


Even so, the withdrawal of 23,000 surge forces remains on track and will be complete by the end of September, Kirby said.


Pentagon Press Secretary George Little stated ISAF will continue to overcome threats from al-Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan, even during the transition phase from ISAF to Afghan security forces.


"As we transition to a new phase in our relationship with Afghanistan, we believe that the Afghans themselves, working with ISAF countries that could maintain a presence beyond 2014, are going to be able to effectively suppress this threat," Little said.


"Al-Qaida should take no comfort in 2014 as an end date for the Lisbon transition," he said. "[This] will be a continuing priority and focus of the United States and our allies, to include Afghanistan. They will continue to see pressure brought to bear against them ... pressure [that] is happening now, and it will continue in the future."

PENTAGON FORCE PROTECTION AGENCY TURNS TEN YEARS OLD

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE 
Photo:  U.S. Navy
Agency Marks Decade of Protecting Pentagon
By Jim Garamone
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2012 - The Pentagon is a symbol of American military might, and that makes it a target that must be protected, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said here today during a 10th anniversary celebration of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.

The organization grew from the ashes of Sept. 11, 2001, when 184 people died in the terror attack on the building.

The agency secures the Pentagon and 116 other properties that make up the Pentagon reservation. "We cannot do what we do without you," Panetta told the organization's men and women at today's observance.

"I see a lot of you every day, and I know that wherever you're stationed, I always feel a lot better knowing that you are there protecting this building," he said.

Panetta noted that the observance was taking place a year and a day after 9/11's architect was killed. "Just yesterday, the nation marked one year since the operation that successfully took down Osama bin Laden," he said. "It was a day that I hope Americans take the time to thank the very dedicated intelligence and military professionals who planned and executed that raid that delivered justice to al-Qaida's leader."

Panetta was CIA director during the operation. "I have to tell you, to this day that it was a remarkable experience and one of the greatest memories in 40 years that I've been in Washington," he said. "Having the opportunity to work with the intelligence professionals, to work with Adm. Bill McRaven (then chief of the Joint Special Operations Command), to work with the SEALs in that operation was incredible. This was because of the professionalism and great dedication involved with that mission. It was the kind of stuff that makes you proud to be an American."

The men and women of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency play a vital role in ensuring the people who work at the Pentagon can accomplish their mission, Panetta said. "Your mission of protecting those that protect America is critical," he said. "Frankly, we could not do our jobs without you. It allows the roughly 23,000 employees here at the Pentagon to focus on their jobs, because they all know that there are dedicated men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect us."

The agency grew from the Federal Protective Service and the Defense Protective Service, said Agency Director Steven Calvery. Following 9/11, the agency took a different turn, and its ranks now include law enforcement officers, physical security personnel, investigators and technicians trained to handle terrorist attacks, explosives or weapons of mass destruction. The agency provides vital protection across the board for the Pentagon.

And the building needs that protection, "because the Pentagon is much more than just an extremely large, odd-shaped building," Panetta said. "The Pentagon is a symbol. It is an unmistakable symbol of United States military power."

In the 10 years since its founding, the agency has faced down many challenges. In 2010, two officers, Jeffrey Amos and Marvin Carraway, were wounded as they shot a lone gunman who tried to break into the building. "Who knows how many casualties would have resulted if he had gained entry?" Panetta said. "Thankfully, he was stopped by the swift reaction of our brave police officers."

Officer James Feltis was another agency officer who displayed selfless service. In January 2005, he spotted a car coming the wrong way up an exit ramp, and without considering the risks, stepped out of his booth to try to stop the car. The vehicle, which had been carjacked by an armed robber, gained speed and struck Feltis, who died a month later of his injuries. He is the lone agency officer to die in the line of duty. His widow, Mary, attended the 10th anniversary celebration.

"You and your family will always be part of our defense family," Panetta told her.
Panetta thanked all members of the agency for their support and professionalism. Jonathan H. Cofer, the agency's deputy director, joined Officer Michael Marker and K-9 Officer Duke in surprising Panetta by making the secretary's dog Bravo an honorary member of the Pentagon's K-9 corps.