DEFENSE SECRETARY PANETTA SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta speaks at an annual reception for the Environmental Defense Fund at the Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C., May 2, 2012. Panetta thanked the organization for recognizing Defense Department efforts to make military bases and equipment more efficient and environmentally friendly. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo  



Panetta: Environment Emerges as National Security Concern
By Nick Simeone
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2012 - Climate and environmental change are emerging as national security threats that weigh heavily in the Pentagon's new strategy, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told an environmental group last night.

"The area of climate change has a dramatic impact on national security," Panetta said here at a reception hosted by the Environmental Defense Fund to honor the Defense Department in advancing clean energy initiatives. "Rising sea levels, severe droughts, the melting of the polar caps, the more frequent and devastating natural disasters all raise demand for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief," Panetta said.

Panetta cited the melting of Arctic ice in renewing a longstanding call for the Senate to ratify the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea. More than 150 nations have accepted the treaty, which has been in force since the early 1990s, and a succession of U.S. government administrations have urged ratification.

Among other things, the convention would guarantee various aspects of passage and overflight for the U.S. military. Panetta urged his audience to use their influence to push for treaty ratification. "We are the only industrialized nation that has not approved that treaty," he said.

The secretary also said he has great concern about energy-related threats to homeland security that are not driven by climate change.

"I have a deep interest in working to try to ensure from a security perspective that we take measures that will help facilitate and maintain power in the event of an interruption of the commercial grid that could be caused, for example, by a cyber attack which is a reality that we have to confront," he said.

Budget considerations compound the issue, the secretary said. The Defense Department spent about $15 billion on fuel for military operations last year. In Afghanistan alone, the Pentagon uses more than 50 million gallons of fuel each month on average. Combined with rising gas prices, this creates new budget issues for the department, Panetta said.
"We now face a budget shortfall exceeding $3 billion because of higher-than-expected fuel costs this year," he told the audience.

Having grown up in pristine Monterey, Calif., Panetta said, he has a lifelong interest in protecting the nation's resources. He pledged to continue to keep the Defense Department on the cutting edge in the push for clean energy and environmental friendly initiatives, a chief reason why the Environmental Defense Fund honored the department.
"In the next fiscal year, we are going to be investing more than a billion dollars in more efficient aircraft and aircraft engines, in hybrid electric drives for our ships, in improved generators, in microgrids for combat bases and combat vehicle energy-efficient programs," he said. "We are investing another billion dollars to make our installations here at home more energy-efficient, and we are using them as the test bed to demonstrate next-generation energy technologies."

CFTC CHARGES 2 INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANY WITH FRAUD AND MISAPPROPRIATION

FROM:  COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
CFTC Charges Utah Residents Christopher Hales, Eric Richardson and their Company, Bentley Equities, LLC, with Fraud and Misappropriation
CFTC seeks an emergency restraining order freezing defendants’ assets
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced the filing of a federal court action in Utah charging Bentley Equities, LLC (Bentley), a Delaware corporation, and its principals, Christopher D. Hales and Eric A. Richardson, with fraud and misappropriation in connection with commodity futures trading. Richardson resides in Cedar Hills, Utah, and Hales is currently an inmate at the Florence, Colo., Federal Correction Complex. None of the defendants has ever been registered with the CFTC.

The CFTC’s complaint, filed May 2, 2012, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, alleges that from at least April 2009 through August 2010, the defendants fraudulently solicited and accepted more than $1.1 million from approximately 38 pool participants and clients to trade commodity futures in a commodity pool account and in individual managed accounts.

The CFTC seeks an emergency restraining order freezing the defendants’ assets and prohibiting the destruction or alteration of the defendants’ books and records.

Specifically, according to the CFTC’s complaint, Bentley, Hales, and Richardson misrepresented to customers that their trading was profitable, and that they actively managed more than $1 million in commodity futures accounts. In reality, the complaint charges, the defendants were not successful commodity futures traders and never managed more than $480,000 in commodity futures trading accounts at one time. In fact, the defendants lost approximately $1,296,600 of the Bentley participants’ and managed clients’ funds trading commodity futures contracts, according to the complaint.

The complaint further charges that the defendants misappropriated at least $628,000 of customer funds for personal use, including food, clothing, auto expenses, and utility and credit card payments. The defendants also allegedly used misappropriated funds to make payments to existing participants and clients, as is typical of a Ponzi scheme.

To conceal their trading losses and misappropriation, defendants allegedly issued false account statements to participants and clients by altering trading statements that they received from the futures commission merchant carrying the Bentley pool account. These doctored statements falsely showed inflated account balances and profitable commodity futures trading returns, when, in fact, the defendants’ futures trading for their participants and clients “consistently lost money,” according to the complaint.

In its continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks civil monetary penalties, restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, trading and registration bans, and preliminary and permanent injunctions against further violations of the federal commodities laws, as charged.

In November 2011, Hales was sentenced to more than seven years imprisonment and ordered to pay $12,719,236 in criminal restitution in connection with a judgment entered against him in a related criminal matter for the conduct alleged in the CFTC’s case, as well as mortgage fraud. United States v. Christopher D. Hales,No. 2:10-CR-183-TS-SA-1 (D. Utah, Sept. 2, 2010).

The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development —Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

USNS MERCY BEGINS MISSION TO INDONESIA

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
USNS Mercy Departs for Humanitarian Mission
From a Military Sealift Command News Release

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2012 - Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy left Naval Station San Diego today to begin its part in Pacific Partnership 2012, a four-and-a-half-month humanitarian and civic assistance mission to Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Mercy is crewed by 70 civil service mariners working for Military Sealift Command who operate and navigate the ship while Navy planners and medical personnel plan and execute the mission.
The ship was scheduled to depart May 1, but a mechanical problem delayed the ship's departure for two days.

Pacific Partnership 2012 will take medical, dental, veterinary, engineering and civic assistance projects to Southeast Asia and Oceania. It builds on relationships developed during previous missions, officials said, noting Mercy's participation in international relief efforts following the December 2004 tsunami that struck Southeast Asia and its 2006, 2008 and 2010 humanitarian and civic assistance deployments to the region.
Pacific Partnership 2012 is led by three element commanders: Navy Capt. James Morgan, mission commander for Pacific Partnership 2012 and commander of San Diego-based Destroyer Squadron 7; Navy Capt. Timothy Hinman, commander of the medical treatment facility, who is responsible for the hospital and providing medical care aboard Mercy and ashore; and Capt. Jonathan Olmsted, Mercy's civil service master who has overall responsibility for the ship and the safety of its nearly 1,000 passengers.

"Having participated in Pacific Partnership 2009, I know firsthand what an impact we have on the local populations we visit," Olmsted said. "In building these relationships, we'll have a better understanding of how multiple militaries and civilian organizations can work together to overcome the adversity of a natural disaster."

Throughout the 2012 Pacific Partnership mission, the 894-foot Mercy will serve as a platform from which U.S. and partner nation militaries and nongovernmental organizations will coordinate and carry out humanitarian and civic activities in each country. Japanese landing ship tank Oosumi, carrying a complete medical team, helicopters and representatives from Japanese volunteer organizations, will join Mercy during its stops in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Military Sealift Command's civil service mariners are vital to the mission's success. They navigate the ship to each mission stop and provide the fresh water and electricity needed to run the shipboard hospital and to support the mission personnel living and working aboard.

In addition, the civil service mariners play a critical role in mission success by operating two 33-foot utility boats to transport patients and mission personnel between ship's anchorage and shore. Mercy is too large to pull pierside at any of the mission stops, officials explained, so the operation of these small boats, which can carry more than twice as many passengers as Mercy's two embarked helicopters, will greatly increase the number of people who will benefit from the mission.

"This is the biggest thing I've ever been involved in my life," said Second Officer Casey Bell, a Military Sealift Command civil service mariner working aboard Mercy as the cargo mate. "I'm really excited to get going. I've spent my career moving ammunition or fuel. Now, a better name for me is 'patient mate,' because I'll be working to safely move patients and personnel to and from the ship."

The deployment also will foster new relationships when Mercy stops in three Indonesian islands for the first time in early June.

"I am really looking forward to going beyond what we have done in the past as part of our exchanges," said Hinman about the medical capabilities of the mission. For previous missions, he said, surgeries were traditionally performed by U.S. and partner nation providers aboard Mercy.

"This year's mission provides opportunities to integrate host nation providers into performing surgeries, both on the ship and ashore, as a true exchange of expertise and practice that will greatly increase medical capacity and build relationships," he added.
The mission will include personnel from all branches of the U.S. military, the State and Justice departments, the Agency for International Development, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, 12 partner nations, 11 nongovernmental organizations and numerous in-country organizations.

Military Sealift Command operates about 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world, move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces, conduct specialized missions and replenish U.S. Navy ships at sea.

18 YEAR OLD PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO AID TERRORISTS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Friday, May 4, 2012
Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Terrorists
WASHINGTON – Mohammad Hassan Khalid, 18, a Pakistani citizen and U.S. lawful permanent resident who resided in Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, stemming from his participation in a scheme to support, recruit and coordinate members of a conspiracy in their plan to wage violent jihad in and around Europe.

The guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was announced by Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Zane David Memeger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and George C. Venizelos, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI.

Khalid, aka “Abdul Ba’aree ‘Abd Al-Rahman Al-Hassan Al-Afghani Al-Junoobi W’at-Emiratee,” was charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in a superseding indictment returned on Oct. 20, 2011.  Khalid faces a potential sentence of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing.

Khalid’s co-defendant, Ali Charaf Damache, aka “Theblackflag,” 46, an Algerian man who resided in Ireland, was charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and one count of attempted identity theft to facilitate an act of international terrorism.  Damache is in custody in Ireland and is being prosecuted there on an unrelated criminal charge.

“Today’s plea, which involved a radicalized teen in Maryland who connected with like-minded individuals around the globe via the Internet, underscores the evolving nature of violent extremism today,” said Assistant Attorney General Monaco.  “I thank the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about this case.”
“This case has demonstrated that age is not a limiter to threats to our nation’s security,” said U.S. Attorney Memeger.  “Regardless of a defendant's age or background, we are committed to keeping our communities and our country safe through the investigation and prosecution of violent extremist activity.”

“This investigation and the guilty plea announced today underscores the continuing threat we face from violent extremism and radicalism, both from within our country and from across the world,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Venizelos.  “These threats can emerge from anywhere and from anyone, from individuals and groups in the farthest reaches of the globe or from those in the United States sitting in the perceived safety of their own homes.”

According to the plea memorandum, indictment and other court documents filed in the case, from about 2008 through July 2011, Khalid and Damache conspired with Colleen R. LaRose, Jamie Paulin Ramirez and others to provide material support and resources, including logistical support, recruitment services, financial support, identification documents and personnel, to a conspiracy to kill overseas.

LaRose, aka “Fatima LaRose,” aka “JihadJane,” pleaded guilty in February 2011 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, false statements and attempted identity theft.  Ramirez pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in March 2011 to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

Khalid, Damache and others devised and coordinated a violent jihad organization consisting of men and women from Europe and the United States divided into a planning team, a research team, an action team, a recruitment team and a finance team; some of whom would travel to South Asia for explosives training and return to Europe to wage violent jihad.

As part of the conspiracy, Khalid, Damache, LaRose and others recruited men online to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe.  In addition, Khalid, Damache, LaRose and others allegedly recruited women who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.  LaRose, Paulin-Ramirez and others traveled to and around Europe to participate in and support violent jihad.  In addition, Khalid, LaRose and others also solicited funds online for terrorists.

For example, in July 2009, Khalid posted or caused to be posted an online solicitation for funds to support terrorism on behalf of LaRose and later sent electronic communications to multiple online forums requesting the deletion of all posts by LaRose after she was questioned by the FBI.  In August 2009, Khalid sent a questionnaire to LaRose in which he asked another potential female recruit about her beliefs and intentions with regard to violent jihad.  In addition, Khalid received from LaRose and concealed the location of a U.S. passport that she had stolen from another individual.

The Khalid case was investigated by the FBI Field Division in Baltimore, in conjunction with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Philadelphia and the FBI Field Divisions in New York and Washington, D.C.  Authorities in Ireland also provided assistance in this matter.

CHINA JOINS ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN COOKSTOVES

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

China Joins the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC

May 3, 2012 

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo announced that China has joined the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves during a tour of a clean cookstove exhibit with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Beijing today. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a public-private partnership that seeks to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. By joining the Alliance, China will help meet the Alliance’s goal to ensure 100 million homes adopt clean and efficient stoves and fuels by 2020.

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, which was launched by Secretary Clinton in 2010, represents the first time that world leaders have come together to develop and implement a sustainable strategy to bring clean and efficient cooking solutions to families across the globe.

In China, approximately 80 percent of households rely on solid fuels like wood or dung to meet their energy needs. According to World Health Organization estimates, this exposure accounts for more than 540,000 premature deaths in China each year, and significant chronic and acute illnesses. By joining the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, China is taking an important step towards reducing the enormous health, gender, economic and environmental risks associated with inefficient and polluting cookstoves both in China and in developing markets around the world.

China’s domestic cookstove industry is one of the world’s largest with over 100 manufacturers. As part of the Alliance, China will support efforts to establish global performance standards for cookstoves and work with domestic manufacturers to meet these standards. China will consider multiple options for work under the Alliance, including support for research and development to accelerate advancements around technology, agriculture and fuels, health and climate, the development of an international stoves research center, efforts to adapt high-performing domestic stoves for global markets, and efforts to bring clean cooking solutions to homes in China.

To date, more than 300 public and private partners and 35 countries have joined the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves by making commitments to overcome market barriers and achieve large-scale production, deployment, and adoption of clean stoves and fuels in the developing world.

STATE DEPARTMENT ON CHEN GUANGCHEN

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Chen Guangcheng
Press Statement Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
May 4, 2012 
The Chinese Government stated today that Mr. Chen Guangcheng has the same right to travel abroad as any other citizen of China. Mr. Chen has been offered a fellowship from an American university, where he can be accompanied by his wife and two children.


The Chinese Government has indicated that it will accept Mr. Chen's applications for appropriate travel documents. The United States Government expects that the Chinese Government will expeditiously process his applications for these documents and make accommodations for his current medical condition. The United States Government would then give visa requests for him and his immediate family priority attention.
This matter has been handled in the spirit of a cooperative U.S.-China partnership.

FIREFIGHTERS CONDUCT CONFINED-SPACE TRAINING

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
Firefighters with Schriever and Colorado Springs Fire Departments lift a “victim” during confined-space training May 1 at Schriever Air Force Base. The training is just one of the many events that Schriever and Colorado Springs Fire Departments have planned to perform. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Julius Delos Reyes) 


Schriever, Colorado Springs firefighters conduct training 

by Staff Sgt. Julius Delos Reyes
50th Space Wing Public Affairs
5/2/2012 - SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Firefighters with Schriever and Colorado Springs Fire Departments teamed up May 1 to conduct confined-space training at Schriever Air Force Base.

During the training, the firefighters learned how to integrate equipment and personnel, as well as plan for tactics and strategies to remove a victim from a confined space.

"The training consisted of equipment orientation and removal of victims from a controlled environment," said Rob Finley, Schriever Fire Department assistant chief of training. "Staying proficient at confined space entries, rescues and recoveries is a federal and Air Force requirement."

Finley said training with CSFD is important because it provides face time with mutual aid partners and ensures consistency across the profession.

"Meeting responders on the day we have an incident surely is not a show stopper, but the little things can and should be worked out beforehand," he said. "Plus, the city does not have a confined-space trainer, so this was really beneficial for the CSFD firefighters."

Aaron McConnellogue, CSFD lieutenant, said training with Schriever firefighters is a good learning experience for him and his fellow firefighters.

"It's a great interagency training, and it's huge for us," McConnellogue said. "We can't get enough of this type of training. We learned a lot from our Schriever counterparts."

The confined-space training is just one of the many events Schriever and Colorado Springs Fire Departments have planned to perform in the coming months.

"This training event was a success and it will help toward a better response effort when either department requests support," Finley said.

PLANT DIVERSITY KEY IN MAINTAINING PRODUCTIVE VEGETATION

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Plant Diversity Is Key to Maintaining Productive Vegetation 
Long-term study finds that each species plays a role in maintaining a productive ecosystem
May 3, 2012
Vegetation, such as a patch of prairie or a forest stand, is more productive in the long run when more plant species are present, results of a new study show.

The long-term study of plant biodiversity found that each species plays a role in maintaining a productive ecosystem, especially when a long time horizon is considered.

The research found that every additional species in a plot contributed to a gradual increase in both soil fertility and biomass production over a 14-year period.

This week's issue of the journal Science publishes the results. They highlight the importance of managing for diversity in prairies, forests and crops, according to Peter Reich, lead author of the paper and a forest ecologist at the University of Minnesota.

Reich and colleagues looked at how the effect of diversity on productivity of plants changed over the long-term.

Two large field experiments were conducted at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Cedar Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Minnesota, one of 26 such NSF LTER sites around the globe in ecosystems from forests to grasslands, tundra to coral reefs.

"This study reveals what short-term experiments have missed: that the effects of biodiversity loss on ecosystems are more complex, severe and unpredictable than previously thought," says Matt Kane, an NSF LTER program director.

"The work shows the importance of doing long-term research," says Kane, "in this case documenting for the first time the critical importance of biodiversity for ecosystem health and sustainability."

The biodiversity experiments at Cedar Creek are the longest-running such experiments in the world, says Reich.

They contain plots with one, four, nine or 16 different species of plants.
The research used long-lived prairie plants, but serves as a model system for all vegetation, whether prairie, forest or row crop.

The study also showed how diversity works by demonstrating that different species have different ways of acquiring water, nutrients and carbon--and maintaining them in an ecosystem.

"Prior shorter-term studies, most about two years long, found that diversity increased productivity, but that having more than six or eight species in a plot gave no additional benefit," Reich says.

The scientists found that over a 14-year time span, all 16 species in the most diverse plots contributed more and more each year to higher soil fertility and biomass production.

"The take-home message," says Reich, "is that when we reduce diversity in the landscape--think of a cornfield or a pine plantation or a suburban lawn--we are failing to capitalize on the valuable natural services that biodiversity provides."

Co-authors of the paper are David Tilman, Forest Isbell, Kevin Mueller, Sarah Hobbie and Nico Eisenhauer of the University of Minnesota, and Dan Flynn of the University of Zurich.

PLANTING A TREE FOR ARBOR DAY

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE 
Lt. Col. Mark Donnithorne, 21st Civil Engineer Squadron commander, helps plant a tree during the National Arbor Day observance April 26 at the R.P. Youth Center. (U.S. Air Force photo/Dennis Howk)

Tree-rific trees
by Lea Johnson
21st Space Wing Public Affairs

5/1/2012 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.  -- Planting a tree is a gift you give to your children and grandchildren, and Peterson Air Force Base has left many gifts for future generations.

In a ceremony outside the R.P. Lee Youth Center April 26, Peterson AFB was presented the Tree City U.S.A. award for the 18th consecutive year by Andy Schlosberg from the Colorado State Forest Service. In addition, the Growth Award was presented for going above and beyond the Tree City U.S.A. requirements.

To be recognized as a Tree City U.S.A., a community must have a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a community forestry program with a budget of at least $2 per capita, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

"Peterson Air Force Base has shown a commitment to maintaining and improving the trees that make up its community forest," Schlosberg said.

Col. Chris Crawford, 21st Space Wing commander proclaimed April 26 to be the Arbor Day observance on the installation.

The award was accepted by Lt. Col. Kathy Craver, 21st Mission Support Group deputy commander. Craver recognized Lt. Col. Mark Donnithorne, 21st Civil Engineer Squadron commander, as one of the driving forces behind Peterson's outstanding forestry program.

"This award is a direct result of the hard work by the staff in the civil engineer squadron. Your ongoing efforts to design, plant and maintain the trees on this base bring daily improvements to the quality of life," Craver said. "We are very aware of how much better our environment is because of the hundreds of trees and landscaping areas your staff has created."

Following the award presentation, kids from the child development center helped plant new trees outside the youth center.

Arbor Day was founded in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City, Neb. "Most folks in most towns didn't see trees back then," Schlosberg said. "The special thing about Mr. Sterling is that even though he didn't see trees, he saw where trees could be."

An estimated one million trees were planted in Nebraska during the first observance of Arbor Day.

Arbor Day is now celebrated nationwide on various days depending on growing season.

Trees can reduce erosion of precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife. Furthermore, trees are a renewable resource providing paper, wood for homes, fuel for fires, and countless other wood products.

LAST DAY IN THE MARINE CORP

FROM:  VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
“How am I Going to Top That?”April 30, 2012 by Bryan Escobedo
I remember the feeling of sadness as I drove out of the front gate of Camp Lejune on my last day in the Marine Corps. I thought to myself, “How am I going to top that?” I was a Sergeant, a squad leader, and I had a memory full of epic adventures.

Leading Marines and working together for the common good is what I would miss most, along with the unlimited access to explosives. Luckily, that inner fire found a new home in The Mission Continues. It gave me an opportunity to direct all my passion, military leadership, along with every residual ounce of ‘Oorah,’ and redirect it into a new mission: inspiring positive change in my community through service as a Mission Continues fellow.
My personal mission was to tackle unemployment in the Greater Houston Area among my fellow veterans, which I have been very successful with so far. Then I got a phone call. The staff asked me if I would like to be on the Colbert Report, to which I replied…”yyAAAiiyah..” along with other indistinguishable sounds of excitement.

Turns out, the Colbert Report was doing a piece on the focus of my fellowship: veteran unemployment. What ensued was an experience of a lifetime! I remember waking up to an anxiety attack from utter excitement! I felt like I won the lottery, and it was thanks to The Mission Continues.

My wife and I got to meet Stephen Colbert, all of his wonderful staff, and First Lady Michelle Obama! They flew us out to New York, put us up in a nice hotel in Time Square, and paid us for our time on the show. We were overwhelmed by bountiful generosity. My wife and I are both fans of the show, so it really was a dream come true.
Walking into the studio was surreal. It was decorated with all sorts of funky art and hilarious pictures. Everyone who worked there was jovial, amicable and genuinely enthusiastic. Stephen was the nicest guy on and off camera, and he really loves the troops. He even went to Iraq in 2009 to entertain the troops. He just oozed funny constantly. Stephen Colbert is a guy I’d have a beer with any time….or a glass of wine with Michelle Obama, who we also got to meet.

She had a presence of elegance and kindness, as well as a warm motherly hug. I was at a loss for words when I met the First Lady. I didn’t know whether or not to call her First, Firsty, Michelle, Mrs. Obama, or Mi’lady, so I just reverted back to my military training and just called her ma’am. Nevertheless, I thanked her wholeheartedly for her veteran hiring initiative. She makes my job of getting vets back to work easy.

All I planned on doing was working for my veteran community, but I have gotten much more out of my fellowship than that. The rewards of working with my community show in the number of veterans hired, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Doing good for my fellow man, and my brothers and sisters in arms is the most potent sense of satisfaction I have ever felt. My fellowship with The Mission Continues has reawakened my passion for leadership through service, and a love for my community. I’ll never be the same, and I’m just getting started.

Bryan Escobedo served in the United States Marine Corps and is currently completing a Mission Continues Fellowship at Lonestar Veterans Association in Houston, Texas.

NEW CONSULATE GENERAL COMPOUND IN SURABAYA, INDONESIA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
United States Dedicates New Consulate General Compound in Surabaya, Indonesia
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
May 3, 2012
U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Scot Marciel dedicated the new Consulate General facility in Surabaya today, celebrating our deepening commitment to the comprehensive partnership between the United States and Indonesia. Governor of East Java, Dr. H. Soekarwo; Acting Director General of America and Europe Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. M.Wahid Supriyadi; Consul General, Kristen Bauer; and Director of the Office of Design and Engineering of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), William Miner participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Occupying a six-acre site in the Citra Raya development, the new facility serves as an important platform for U.S. diplomacy in Indonesia and throughout the region and creates a secure, state-of-the-art, environmentally-sustainable workplace for approximately 200 employees.

The Consulate General provides improved facilities to serve both U.S. and Indonesian citizens, such as a more comfortable consular area for visa services and American citizen services and an Information Resources Center where information and programs on the United States will be available.

The compound incorporates numerous sustainable features, most notably a storm water management system designed to capture downpours and slowly discharge the water to the city so that flooding is minimized; the use of drip irrigation and recycled wastewater; and a wastewater treatment plant.

Aurora, LLC of Rockville, MD constructed the new Consulate General and Sorg Architects of Washington, D.C. is the architect of record. The $64 million project generated hundreds of jobs in both the United States and Indonesia.
Since 1999, as part of the Department’s Capital Security Construction Program, OBO has completed 89 new diplomatic facilities and has moved more than 27,000 people into safe, secure, and functional facilities. OBO has an additional 43 projects in design or construction.

SEC CHARGES MAN AND COHORTS WITH SELLING BOGUS STOCKS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C., May 2, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Florida man and 10 cohorts involved in two separate schemes to illegally sell stock, including one that sought to capitalize on circumstances in Haiti following the earthquake that destroyed much of the country's infrastructure in January 2010.

The SEC alleges that Kevin Sepe of Miami masterminded the schemes involving two microcap companies — Recycle Tech and HydroGenetics — with the help of three licensed attorneys and several others who collectively reaped illegal profits of more than $3.5 million. Aventura, Fla.-based attorneyRonny Halperin assisted Sepe in both schemes. The Recycle Tech scheme involved a promotional campaign to pump the price and volume of the purported home container building company's stock in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. The HydroGenetics scheme took millions of unregistered shares of the company — purportedly in the business of acquiring emerging alternative energy companies — and improperly converted its debt into free-trading shares that were dumped on the investing public.

Six of the 11 individuals involved have agreed to settlements ordering them and companies they own to collectively pay more than $3.2 million.

"Sepe, Halperin, and others chose to ignore the laws governing stock sales and play by their own set of rules," said Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC's Miami Regional Office. "Some of these individuals were attorneys and corporate officers who should have known better, and we will continue to crack down on any such gatekeepers who put investors at risk with their harmful activities to manipulate the markets."

According to the SEC's complaint filed in federal court in Miami, Sepe and Halperin evaded registration requirements by converting backdated and fabricated promissory notes into unrestricted stock of Recycle Tech, quoted on the Pink Sheets. With help from Recycle Tech's CEO and president Ryan Gonzalez, they conducted a pump-and-dump scheme from January to March 2010 by enlisting the help of two promoters — Anthony Thompson andJay Fung — who touted Recycle Tech in their newsletters. David Rees, a Utah-based attorney, became involved in the scheme when he drafted an improper legal opinion letter authorizing the issuance of unrestricted Recycle Tech shares.

The SEC alleges that the participants collectively made more than $1 million in illegal profits through the scheme, which touted that Recycle Tech signed a binding letter of intent to build up to 50 container homes in Haiti following the earthquake. However, Recycle Tech failed to disclose to investors that it had no funds, no finished container homes, and minimal operations. Sepe orchestrated, coordinated, and funded the scheme and sold Recycle Tech stock along with Halperin and Rees without any exemption from registering those securities with the SEC. Gonzalez, who lives in Miami, made the scheme possible by incorporating a sham private company, turning the public shell of that company into Recycle Tech through a reverse merger, and signing various fraudulent documents to authorize the issuance of Recycle Tech securities. Gonzalez also drafted and issued false press releases used to hype Recycle Tech stock. Thompson and Fung — through their firms OTC Solutions LLC and Pudong LLC — touted Recycle Tech in their newsletters without disclosing that they were selling shares or adequately disclosing the compensation they received for their touts.

According to the SEC's other complaint filed in Miami, Sepe and Halperin schemed with Miami-based attorney Melissa Rice and others to illegally issue and liquidate 90 million unregistered shares of HydroGenetics from April 2008 until at least June 2009. Sepe headed a group that purchased convertible debt of a South Florida publicly-held company. He then formed HydroGenetics and parsed out portions of the convertible debt to friends, family, and others who converted the debt to stock that they then sold publicly. Sepe sold HydroGenetics stock without any exemption from registration the securities with the SEC. Halperin was the HydroGenetics CEO and a director. He executed corporate resolutions to help issue millions of shares of HydroGenetics stock, including 11 million shares to his daughter who he told to sell it and funnel a portion of the illegal proceeds back to him. Rice assisted Sepe in converting convertible debt to unrestricted HydroGenetics shares, and wrote four opinion letters improperly opining that the Rule 144 safe harbor was applicable and the debt could be converted to unrestricted HydroGenetics shares. Rice also sold her shares of HydroGenetics stock.

The SEC alleges that three other Miami residents also received illegal profits in the HydroGenetics scheme: Luz Rodriguez, who worked as an office administrator and assistant to Sepe; Howard Ettelman, a provider of accounting services to various companies owned by Sepe and Rice; and Seth Eber, a self-employed jeweler who was on the list of individuals that Sepe provided Rice to assign shares.

The SEC further alleges that Charles Hansen III of Lighthouse Point, Fla., succeeded Halperin as HydroGenetics CEO in April 2009 and signed five corporate resolutions authorizing HydroGenetics to illegally issue stock that Rice then used along with her opinion letter to facilitate the scheme.

The individuals agreeing to settle the SEC's charges in the complaints without admitting or denying the allegations are Sepe, Halperin, Rees, Rice, Ettelman, and Hansen.

Sepe agreed to disgorgement of $1,416,466.16, prejudgment interest of $126,761.86, and penalties of $185,000 as well as a permanent bar from participating in an offer or sale of penny stocks.
Halperin agreed to disgorgement of $427,609.95, prejudgment interest of $33,595.33, and a penalty of $100,000 as well as a permanent penny stock bar and a five-year officer and director bar. He also agreed to surrender 1.97 million shares of HydroGenetics stock.

Rees agreed to disgorgement of $5,982, prejudgment interest of $406.25, and a penalty of $7,500 as well as a one-year prohibition from providing professional legal services connected to the offer or sale of securities.

Rice agreed to disgorgement of $422,445, prejudgment interest of $39,239.18, and a penalty of $60,000 as well as a five-year penny stock bar and three-year prohibition from providing professional legal services connected to the offer or sale of securities.

Ettelman agreed to disgorgement of $32,667, prejudgment interest of $3,093.27, and a penalty of $25,000 as well as a five-year penny stock bar and the surrender of 300,000 shares of HydroGenetics stock.
Hansen agreed to a $37,500 penalty.

Two companies — Charter Consulting Group (owned and controlled by Sepe) and West Coast Investments Enterprises (owned by Rice) — were named as relief defendants in the SEC's complaints because they received a portion of the illegal trading profits in the schemes. They each settled the case, with Charter agreeing to disgorgement of $150,000 and prejudgment interest of $9,125 and West Coast agreeing to disgorgement of $125,000 and prejudgment interest of $11,262.71.

Separately, the SEC issued orders to suspend trading in the securities of Recycle Tech and HydroGenetics and to institute administrative proceedings against each company to determine whether the registration of their securities should be revoked or suspended based on their failure to file required periodic reports.

The SEC also instituted separate settled administrative proceedings against HydroGenetics in which the company, without admitting or denying the findings, consented to an order requiring it to cease and desist from committing or causing violations of the registration provisions of the federal securities laws.

The SEC's investigations were conducted by staff in its Miami Regional Office. Accountant Kathleen Strandell was involved in the Recycle Tech investigation under the supervision of Thierry Olivier Desmet, and James Carlson is leading the litigation. Special Investigations Counsel Gary Miller and accountants Karaz Zaki and Timothy Galdencio were involved in the HydroGenetics investigation under the supervision of Elisha Frank, and Amie Riggle Berlin is leading the litigation.

The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in these cases.

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF PRAISES "HEROES OF MILITARY MEDICINE"

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Chairman Praises 'Heroes of Military Medicine'
By Karen Parrish
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2012 - The network of people, government and private organizations that tends to America's wounded, injured and ill service members has achieved results over the last decade that are "absolutely remarkable," the nation's top military officer told an audience here yesterday.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke last night at a "Heroes of Military Medicine" event hosted by the Center for Public-Private Partnerships at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.

"I do find heroes and military medicine to be a little redundant, actually. ... Every time we think they can't do more for us, they step up and find it," the general said.
Earlier this week, Dempsey noted, he attended the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo. The games, which continue through May 5, are a series of Olympic-style events in which wounded, ill and injured service members of all services, along with veterans, compete in archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field and wheelchair basketball.

The Warrior Games, created in 2010, are a combined effort of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Defense Department. The games are notable because of the courage of the competitors, who Dempsey said are "young men and women putting ability over disability."

The chairman said attending both the games and the "heroes of medicine" gathering in the same week highlighted for him the connection between today's service members, who survive combat injuries at rates never before seen, and the medical establishment that makes their survival possible.

"What I want you to know tonight is how much we, who wear the uniform today, appreciate what everyone is doing to pull together in the common cause of making sure that the young men and women who put themselves in harm's way are cared for," Dempsey said.

ECOSYSTEM EFFECTS OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Photo:  Wikimedia
Ecosystem Effects of Biodiversity Loss Rival Climate Change and Pollution
First comprehensive effort to compare biodiversity loss to other human-caused environmental changes
May 2, 2012
Loss of biodiversity appears to affect ecosystems as much as climate change, pollution and other major forms of environmental stress, according to results of a new study by an international research team.

The study is the first comprehensive effort to directly compare the effects of biological diversity loss to the anticipated effects of a host of other human-caused environmental changes.

The results, published in this week's issue of the journal Nature, highlight the need for stronger local, national and international efforts to protect biodiversity and the benefits it provides, according to the researchers, who are based at nine institutions in the United States, Canada and Sweden.

"This analysis establishes that reduced biodiversity affects ecosystems at levels comparable to those of global warming and air pollution," said Henry Gholz, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research directly and through the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.

"Some people have assumed that biodiversity effects are relatively minor compared to other environmental stressors," said biologist David Hooper of Western Washington University, the lead author of the paper.

"Our results show that future loss of species has the potential to reduce plant production just as much as global warming and pollution."

Studies over the last two decades demonstrated that more biologically diverse ecosystems are more productive.

As a result, there has been growing concern that the very high rates of modern extinctions--due to habitat loss, overharvesting and other human-caused environmental changes--could reduce nature's ability to provide goods and services such as food, clean water and a stable climate.

Until now, it's been unclear how biodiversity losses stack up against other human-caused environmental changes that affect ecosystem health and productivity.
"Loss of biological diversity due to species extinctions is going to have major effects on our planet, and we need to prepare ourselves to deal with them," said ecologist Bradley Cardinale of the University of Michigan, one of the paper's co-authors. "These extinctions may well rank as one of the top five drivers of global change."

In the study, Hooper, Cardinale and colleagues combined data from a large number of published studies to compare how various global environmental stressors affect two processes important in ecosystems: plant growth and the decomposition of dead plants by bacteria and fungi.

The study involved the construction of a database drawn from 192 peer-reviewed publications about experiments that manipulated species richness and examined their effect on ecosystem processes.

This global synthesis found that in areas where local species loss during this century falls within the lower range of projections (losses of 1 to 20 percent of plant species), negligible effects on ecosystem plant growth will result, and changes in species richness will rank low relative to the effects projected for other environmental changes.
In ecosystems where species losses fall within intermediate projections of 21 to 40 percent of species, however, species loss is expected to reduce plant growth by 5 to 10 percent.
The effect is comparable to the expected effects of climate warming and increased ultraviolet radiation due to stratospheric ozone loss.

At higher levels of extinction (41 to 60 percent of species), the effects of species loss ranked with those of many other major drivers of environmental change, such as ozone pollution, acid deposition on forests and nutrient pollution.

"Within the range of expected species losses, we saw average declines in plant growth that were as large as changes in experiments simulating several other major environmental changes caused by humans," Hooper said.

"Several of us working on this study were surprised by the comparative strength of those effects."

The strength of the observed biodiversity effects suggests that policymakers searching for solutions to other pressing environmental problems should be aware of potential adverse effects on biodiversity as well.

Still to be determined is how diversity loss and other large-scale environmental changes will interact to alter ecosystems.

"The biggest challenge looking forward is to predict the combined effects of these environmental challenges to natural ecosystems and to society," said J. Emmett Duffy of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, a co-author of the paper.

JUSTICE AND MORTGAGE INSURANCE PROVIDER RESOLVE WOMEN ON MATERNITY LEAVE DISCRIMINATION ALLEGATIONS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, April 30, 2012
Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Nation’s Largest Mortgage Insurance Provider to Resolve Allegations of Discrimination Against Women on Maternity Leave Settlement Provides Compensation to 70 Victims Identified by the Department of Justice and Establishes Fair Procedures for Treating Borrowers Taking Leave to Care for a New Child

The Department of Justice announced today that it has settled its lawsuit against the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) for discriminating against women on maternity leave in violation of the Fair Housing Act.   This settlement is the department’s first involving discrimination against women and families in mortgage insurance.

The lawsuit, filed on July 5, 2011, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleged that MGIC required women on maternity leave to return to work before the company would insure their mortgages even for women who had a guaranteed right to return to work after the leave.   Most mortgage lenders require applicants seeking to borrow more than 80 percent of their home’s value to obtain mortgage insurance.

The settlement, which was approved by the  court today, establishes a $511,250 fund to compensate 70 individuals whom the United States identified as aggrieved by the alleged discriminatory treatment between 2007 and 2010.   The settlement also requires MGIC to pay a $38,750 civil penalty to the United States.   The Department of Justice identified the aggrieved individuals based on its extensive review of MGIC’s mortgage application records.   MGIC cooperated with the United States in turning over records during the course of settlement negotiations.

The settlement also requires MGIC to follow a number of detailed nondiscriminatory provisions in its future review of mortgage insurance applications involving women or men who are on, or have returned from, paid or unpaid leave related to the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child.   The settlement also requires MGIC to monitor its treatment of applicants on leave to care for a new child, to train its employees on the requirements of the fair housing laws, and to provide nondiscrimination notices to mortgage applicants.

“No company involved in lending should force a parent to give up her or his legal right to take time off from work to care for a new child in order to obtain a mortgage loan,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.   “Today’s settlement, coming at the close of fair housing month, protects that important right and clearly demonstrates the department will not hesitate to take action against companies who discriminate against women and families.”

“In bringing justice to these 70 victims, this office confirms our resolve to protect the civil rights of citizens of the Western District of Pennsylvania from illegal discriminatory practices,” said David J. Hickton, U.S. Attorney of the Western District of Pennsylvania.   “Discrimination in lending has profound and widespread consequences that will not be tolerated.”

“Mortgage insurance is essential in order for many people to buy a home,” said John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “Borrowers should not be denied mortgage insurance for the very reason they often buy a home: to provide a decent home for an expanding family. HUD will continue to work with the Justice Department to take appropriate action against insurers and lenders who violate the Fair Housing Act.”

This lawsuit arose as a result of a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by a Wexford, Penn., loan applicant.   After investigating the complaint, HUD issued a charge of discrimination and referred the case to the Department of Justice after the parties were unable to settle their dispute and the complainant elected to have the case heard in federal court.   The Department of Justice also filed the case under the attorney general’s authority to seek redress for housing discrimination that raises an issue of general public importance.   The HUD complainant will receive $42,500 from the settlement fund, to address her specific pain and suffering and compensate her for leave that she forfeited in response to MGIC’s requirement that she return to work.

Individuals compensated as part of the settlement will remain eligible to receive compensation from the separate private class action lawsuit brought by the HUD complainant.   MGIC has entered into a preliminary settlement of the class action lawsuit, which remains subject to court approval, allowing victims of MGIC’s alleged maternity leave discrimination to submit claims for extraordinary damages above the amount covered by the compensation provided through MGIC’s settlement with the United States.

REACTIVE MATERIALS WARHEADS UNDER DEVELOPMENT

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ARMED WITH SCIENCE
Photo:  U.S. Army
Written on MAY 1, 2012 AT 7:36 AM by JTOZER
Lethal Technology
Imagine a warhead with fragments that flare and burn when the warhead detonates.
Now imagine the potential destruction of anartillery shell made almost entirely of that stuff.

Such a theoretical weapon is one of the goals behind the research being conducted by Picatinny Arsenal engineers working at the Advanced Materials Lab.

In conventional artillery shells, the explosive force generated upon detonation causes the warhead to break apart. The resulting fragments flung out in all directions are great speed explains how these weapons cause their damage.

But the potential destructive force is increased dramatically with capabilities of reactive materials that can be formed and strengthened to replace the inert materials that make up the rest of the warhead.

The reactive materials form the structure of the warhead rather than simply being loaded into the warhead.

“Structured reactive materials, or SRM, will enhance the lethality of current and future weapons while maintaining or reducing the payload,” said Paul Redner, a materials engineer with the Advanced Materials Lab.

“Unlike with more traditional (reactive materials), SRM will be a direct one-to-one replacement of inert components.”

The engineers have already made progress in the research, yet challenges remain.
“Despite all of the positive results and lofty goals mentioned above, nothing is ever that simple,” said Redner. Among the challenges that researchers are working to overcome, the greatest is how to process components to form more complex shapes.

Through collaboration with other labs, including the Office of Naval Research, researchers are seeking solutions to these technical challenges.

Advances in structured reactive materials are made possible through the continued development of nanomaterials at Picatinny’s state-of-the-art lab, which was established to make viable technologies ready for transition to development programs.

“We wish that people would ask to see how we fabricate nanoscaled and nanostructured powders, and how we establish the pedigree for our materials,” Redner said.
“We have a wide variety of capabilities and we are open to talk to the ARDEC, PEO Ammunition and the project management communities any time.”

ATF's Top 10 Frequently Asked Firearms Questions and Answers

ATF's Top 10 Frequently Asked Firearms Questions and Answers

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT PRESS STATEMENT ON SOMALI TRANSITION

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Somalia Political Process
Press Statement Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
May 3, 2012
Less than four months remain for Somali leaders to complete the steps they agreed to in the Roadmap to End the Transition, which lays out the steps for replacing Somalia’s transitional government with a more representative governance structure that will bring Somalia closer to the security and political stability for which Somalis have waited for too long. The United States is encouraged by the progress made so far, however, several steps remain to be completed: selection of delegates to a constituent assembly; approval of a new constitution, selection of a new and smaller parliament, and the indirect election of a new speaker and president.

Secretary Clinton made clear the position of the United States during her remarks at the London Conference on Somalia in February when she stated, "Attempts to obstruct progress and maintain the broken status quo will not be tolerated. We will encourage the international community to impose further sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on people inside and outside [Somalia’s] Transitional Federal Government who seek to undermine Somalia’s peace and security or to delay or even prevent the political transition."

The United States supports the open letter issued on May 1 by the special representatives of the United Nations, African Union, and Intergovernmental Authority on Development that puts on notice all individuals and entities who seek to undermine Somalia's political transition that the international community will not tolerate such action. The United States is following the lead of its African partners and working to help Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and other Somali leaders seize the current opportunity to make progress toward greater security and political stability.

THE LITTORAL COMBAT SHIPS

FROM:  U.S. NAVY
The first of class littoral combat ships USS Freedom (LCS 1), left, and USS Independence (LCS 2), maneuver together during an exercise off the coast of Southern California. The littoral combat ship is a fast, agile, networked surface combatant designed to operate in the near-shore environment, while capable of open-ocean tasking, and win against 21st-century coastal threats such as submarines, mines, and swarming small craft. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Jan Shultis

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A MILITARY DOG HANDLER

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Face of Defense: Dog Handler Enjoys Responsibilities
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeffery Rodriguez stands with his dog, Dharma, April 26, 2012. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Timothy Lenzo
By Marine Corps Cpl. Timothy Lenzo
1st Marine Division Public Affairs

TREK NAWA, Afghanistan, May 2, 2012 - Many children beg their parents for a dog. The floppy ears and wagging tail seem to attract children to man's best friend. But many parents know that caring for a dog means a lot of responsibility, training and effort.
Dog handlers in the Marine Corps not only shoulder that same responsibility — they volunteer for it on top of the responsibilities of being deployed to Afghanistan.
For Marine Corps Cpl. Jeffery Rodriguez, a dog handler with Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, those responsibilities are more like a privilege.
Rodriguez said he loves being a dog handler. He knows he's helping his squad, and the added responsibilities far outweigh the added attention of caring for a dog.
What sets Rodriguez apart from other dog handlers is the personal effort he puts into Dharma, a 4-year-old Labrador retriever.

"He's the best dog handler I've ever seen," said Marine Corps Sgt. Edward Welsh, Rodriguez's squad leader. "He's constantly taking care of the dog and working to make himself and Dharma better."

Rodriguez, a native of Fayetteville, Ga., knows that a dog handler's job is more than just patrolling with and feeding the dog. The most important job is ensuring the dog is well prepared for the deployment ahead.

Shortly after he arrived in Afghanistan he built Dharma a new kennel. The kennel, made from discarded pieces of Hesko wall, has a door and a crate for Dharma to sleep in. He used excess cargo netting to cover half of the kennel to shield Dharma from the harsh wind and heat of Afghanistan. Keeping the dogs in shape is vital in an area where temperatures will reach more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

"If a dog gets out of breath in 20 to 30 minutes, they actually become a hindrance to the unit," explained Marine Corps 1st Lt. Joseph Hoeksema, Rodriguez's platoon commander. "Dharma is in shape, and [Rodriguez] works her out two to three times a day."
The bond between a dog handler and his dog is based on trust. If a dog doesn't trust the handler, it won't obey commands.

"He tells her to sit there and stay there, [and] she does it," said Hoeksema, a native of Davenport, Iowa. "It doesn't matter if we are getting shot at -- she's obeying [Rodriguez]."
Dharma helps Rodriguez to find improvised explosive devices and weapons caches. "I use Dharma to search compounds, or to verify potentially dangerous objects," Rodriguez said. "She's like my little guardian angel running around."

The Marines patrol with Dharma daily, clearing compounds and routes. "Just trusting [Dharma] helps the Marines," Hoeksema said. "When she goes into a compound and doesn't find an IED, the Marines are able to walk in confident that there aren't any IEDs."
Dharma confirmed two IEDs and some hidden-away weapons while deployed; but beyond her keen nose, she's made more of an impact on the Marines she protects. Dharma also helps with morale of Marines who are away from their families for several months.
After patrolling, the Marines regularly pet and play with Dharma. They also laugh as she interacts with the local animals; goats and turkeys make an interesting find for a curious dog. The sound of wings flapping and a loud gobble lets the squad know Dharma is up to some good-natured mischief. Rodriguez lets it go for a little bit before calling Dharma back.

"It has been a great experience being a dog handler," he said. "It's a great job to have with a lot of responsibility."

In a couple of weeks, Rodriguez and Dharma will return home from their deployment to Afghanistan. This is Dharma's first deployment, and it could be Rodriguez's last. They'll return on the same flight, but then will be separated. Dharma will be assigned a new dog handler, and Rodriguez will return to his squad.

Though the goodbye will be hard, Rodriguez said, he has loved every minute of being a dog handler. The bond he built with Dharma and the experience was well worth the extra responsibility, he added.