DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable

U.S. Army Maj. Elba D’asaro, Multi-National Forces–Iraq, Chief of Women's Initiatives Programs will discuss the remarkable social progress of women in Iraq. Women in Iraq are still striving to be fully empowered and respected here and they are making their voices heard.

U.S. Army Maj. Roy Whitley, the Army's Project Manager for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay, will provide a status update on the Army's first month of processing claims for this new benefit. The Department of Defense introduced Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay last month when it announced that service members, veterans and survivors are eligible to receive $500 for every month they served under Stop Loss between September 11, 2001 and September 30, 2008. Maj. Whitley will explain the Army's system for processing the estimated 120,000 eligible claims, as well as answer questions about receiving the pay. Read Transcript

Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, director of the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, will discuss how the Army is training its soldiers mentally as well as physically. CSF is the Army's effort to increase its ability to prevent problems before they occur. The intent of the program is to ensure that a Soldier’s mental and emotional health is addressed equally to his or her physical health. The Army’s goal is to improve Soldier performance and readiness. CSF exists to ensure all Soldiers have the skills necessary to grow personally, succeed in their job, thrive in their community, and grow within their family. Read Transcript

The Army knows it needs to do more to focus on the holistic health and strength of its Soldiers. That's what Comprehensive Soldier Fitness is designed to do, and it's not like any other Army training program. Soldiers are attending classes from Nov. 9 thru 19 to learn how to lead others, train resilience and teach life skills to others. At the end of the course these Soldiers will be certified Master Resilience Trainers. The Army got to this point through collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania - customizing its positive psychology program for use within the Army. Participants learn real-time resilience and problem solving, as well as how to identify strengths in self and others, and assertive communication. Classes are taught in different learning environments such as large groups, breakouts and role-play that help participants learn how to apply their knowledge to train others. This new training course emphasizes that the Army is focused on a true prevention model, aimed at the entire force, not just people in the throes of crisis.

The Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission-Police is responsible for a wide variety of training courses that are taught to the Iraqi Security Forces. In addition to the training of the ISF, ITAM- Police is also advising, manning, training and equipping the Iraqi Police forces to better assist them in providing for the internal security of Iraq and the protection of the Iraqi people. The U.S.-Iraq partnership is made stronger by the training that is being conducted. Everything from Internal affairs, rule of law, police recruit training, forensics, DNA, K-9, EOD and others have enabled Iraq to be better prepared for this important security responsibility. Read Transcript

Col. Knight, commander of the 10th Medical Group, and Lt. Col. Witkop, a Preventive Medicine physician from the 10th MDG helped investigate H1N1 cases at the Air Force Academy earlier this year, and will discuss what they learned about the H1N1 virus among the cadets, what the Academy did to mitigate the spread of H1N1 among cadets, and what other institutions may be able to do to manage the spread of the disease. Read Transcript

Mr. Retherford, Director of Officer and Enlisted Personnel Management, will discuss the retroactive pay policy and its implementation. The Defense Department recently announced the services' implementation plans to provide retroactive stop loss special pay. Active, reserve and former servicemembers who had their enlistment extended or retirement suspended due to stop loss are eligible for this special pay, if they served on active duty between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2009. Service members began submitting their claim for retroactive stop loss special pay on Oct. 21, 2009. In accordance with the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act, all applications must be submitted to the respective services no later than Oct. 21, 2010. Eligible personnel will receive a payment of $500 per month for each month (or any portion of a month) that a member was retained on active duty due to stop loss. Read Transcript

Cmdr. Shiau, division chief, Force Health Protection, Bureau of Navy Medicine & Surgery, will provide an update on seasonal flu and H1N1 preparedness efforts. Read Transcript

Rear Adm. Richard Landolt discussed the U.S. Navy's humanitarian relief and disaster response operations in Sumatra, Indonesia following the September 30th earthquakes. Landolt led a humanitarian assistance survey team in Padang, Indonesia and coordinated the Navy's efforts in providing a variety of assistance and relief to those affected by a devastating earthquake Sept. 30. Working closely with the Indonesian Government, the U.S. Embassy and international relief organizations. The U.S. military delivered relief supplies to stricken areas by air and ground utilizing helicopters from USS Denver and USS McCampbell; provided limited medical care via a U.S. Air Force Humanitarian Assistance Rapid Response Team field hospital, and provided communications support for relief efforts. Read Transcript

Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Cowie was preparing for her upcoming deployment to Iraq in the spring of 2007 when an Army-mandated mammogram revealed a tumor. That tumor was found to be cancerous; Cowie was diagnosed with breast cancer. With a year-long deployment right around the corner, Cowie opted for an aggressive treatment plan. It included a lumpectomy followed by a surgery a week later along with a five-day targeted radiation treatment -- a plan that would allow her to deploy to Iraq with the rest of her unit that summer. For Cowie, a 42 year old mother of two, staying behind was not an option. Cowie, now back from her Iraq deployment, will talk about how she is doing today, why she chose the treatment option she did, and why it was so important for her to deploy with her unit. Read Transcript

U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Finn, commanding officer of Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, will discuss Camp Lemonnier, which is now a Navy base, falling under the administrative chain of Commander, Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia and Commander, Navy Installations Command. Camp Lemonnier currently provides base operations and facilities services to support over 20 tenant commands, including Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. There are a number of projects underway today or being planned to continue improving the level of support for those who use Camp Lemonnier, including taxiway, apron and hangar upgrades. In addition, there are many quality of life improvement projects, such as a new galley and chapel, which are designed to improve the living conditions for service members deployed to the camp. Read Transcript

The U.S. Army Command and General Staff College is the heart of Fort Leavenworth and the Combined Arms Center. At CGSC mid-career field grade officers learn about operational art, leadership, history and a myriad of other subjects. This experience helps develop them into competent, capable staff officers who are poised to become tomorrow's senior Army leaders. Staff group 19 Alpha is making themselves available as a group to answer any questions you might have about any topic pertaining to the military. Virtually all of them are OIF or OEF veterans, with more than half counting more than two combat tours. Their experiences are diverse, representing all branches of the Army. The staff group consists of an Air Force and Marine Corps element with a Danish officer who has supported both OIF and ISAF. Feel free to pose questions about Gen. McChrystal's assessment, the COIN struggle in Afghanistan, the differences in the operational environment between Iraq and Afghanistan or any other topic you are interested in. These field grade officers provide ground truth about the large issues in today's military. Read Transcript

Staff Sgt. Robles and Airman 1st Class Woodward will be on the line to discuss Improvised Explosive Devices and other threats in Afghanistan. Airmen on the ground in Explosive Ordnance Disposal units are scattered across Afghanistan in teams searching for and dismantling explosive devices before they hit our men and women, or the Afghan civilians the Coalition is trying to protect. These Airmen use unique tools, from multi-million dollar robots and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to water and plastic bottles -- anything that can be used is being used to defeat these threats. The Airmen are Joint Expeditionary Tasked Airmen assigned to the 755th Air Expeditionary Group at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Read Transcript

Rose Marie Tinker, Career Coordinator with the U.S. Army Wounded Warrior (AW2) Program and Col. Jim Rice, Director of AW2, will discuss what the Army is doing to help transition disabled Veterans to civilian jobs in the private and public sector. The nation recognizes Disability Employment Awareness Month annually to acknowledge all workers with disabilities. This year's theme "Expectation + Opportunity = Full Participation" is intended to showcase the talents of workers with disabilities and a vision of a world in which people with disabilities have unlimited employment opportunities. Read Transcript

Cmdr. Bauby will be discussing the Legare's role in Africa Partnership Station while working with African coastal nations in real-time law enforcement missions under the direction of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/ Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet. During the mission, the Legare visited four countries and supported improving regional maritime safety and security and strengthening maritime partnerships through the Africa Maritime Law Enforcement Program. Read Transcript.