DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable

We have scheduled a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Retired U.S. Army Maj. Ed Pulido, U.S. Army Maj. Jeff Hall and Dr. Ramya Sundararaman, public health physician, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) for Thursday, Sept. 9 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. They will discuss successful suicide prevention tools, practices and resources within the Department of Defense, the services and DCoE. Pulido and Hall will also discuss their experiences with suicidal ideations and Dr. Sundararaman will discuss her experience as a public health physician with 11 years of experience in behavioral health services. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Bev Godwin, director, Center for New Media and Citizen Engagement, U.S. General Services Administration and Brandon Kessler, founder and CEO of ChallengePost. They will be joined by Tami Griffith, science and technology manager, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Simulation & Training Technology Center. They will discuss the launch of Challenge.gov, the federal government's new challenges and prizes platform that will allow agencies to post challenges and allow the public to find them in one convenient place. Griffith will be heading up the Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge, which asks the public to submit ideas for innovative and interactive training and analysis solutions in virtual worlds. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Brig. Gen. Gary Patton, Deputy Commander-Army, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/ Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. Patton will discuss improving professionalization across the Afghan National Army. The Afghan Ministry of Defense is working with NATO coalition forces from Deputy Command – Army (DCOM-A) to achieve the goal of developing a highly professionalized Afghan National Army. These issues are being addressed through leadership schools, instructor development courses and branch specific schools such as infantry and future plans for logistics, cook, transportation, engineer and maintenance schools. DCOM-A is responsible for training Afghan recruits, teaching them how to become their country’s future soldiers and leadership. This mission is the way forward so that Afghans can defend their own country, leading to coalition forces heading home. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Mr. Jack Harrison, National Guard Bureau director of communications. Harrison will discuss the latest developments in the deployment of 1,200 National Guard members to the nation's southwest border. National Guard troops are now arriving to begin their mission to support Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement while those agencies hire additional officers. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with U.S. Air Force Col. Schuyler K. Geller, command surgeon and commander, Medical Training Advisory Group at Camp Eggers, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. Col. Geller will discuss the medical mentor manual training for incoming Afghan advisors. He will also talk about how “Advising vs. Doing” is a transition in itself and how the Medical Training Advisory Group is using advising as the path to transition. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Col. Chadwick W. Clark, deputy commander, Combined Training Advisory Group – Police (CTAG-P), NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan. Col. Clark will provide an update on the progress of Afghan National Police (ANP) training and the efforts being made in developing leaders. He will also discuss the quality and quantity of the training being offered and the challenges ahead for training the ANP. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Michael P. Anthony, chief, Advanced Applications Branch, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC). Anthony will discuss CERDEC's work in developing, assessing and adapting hand-held solutions and commercial applications for the battlefield. Additionally, he will discuss the importance of edge-enabling technologies and CERDEC's role in supporting initiatives such as Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications. Read Transcript

Army Bloggers Roundtable with Brig. Gen. William T. (Tim) Crosby, Deputy Program Executive Officer, Aviation. He will be joined by Col. Gregory Gonzalez, Project Manager, Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Mr. Tim Owings, Deputy Project Manager, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Program Executive Office Aviation. They will discuss the U.S. Army's Unmanned Aircraft Systems and its value in military operations. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Brig. Gen. Carmelo Burgio, Commanding General, Combined Training Advisory Group – Police, Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan , NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan. Brig. Gen Burgio will provide an update on the progress of the Afghan National Police training and recent quality training initiatives including a focus on leadership training. He will also discuss the challenges ahead for training the Afghan National Police public affairs officer. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, IV Commander, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and CG, Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan. Lt. Gen. Caldwell will provide an update from Afghanistan on the progress of the Afghan National Security Forces – including where they were and where they are going. Additionally, he will talk about the increase in quantity and quality of Afghan National Security Forces, transition, and challenges ahead. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with members of the U.S. Navy’s Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 (HM-15) Detachment 2 who are supporting the Government of Pakistan by flying relief missions from the Ghazi Air Force Base in Pakistan. HM-15 pilots, who fly the MH-53E “Sea Dragon” will discuss their participation in the relief effort. The United States has responded immediately and generously to Pakistan’s call for assistance following the tragic and devastating floods that began July 29. To date, the U.S. has pledged to provide approximately $76 million in assistance to flood-affected populations in Pakistan. There currently are 22 U.S. military and civilian aircraft in Pakistan in support of flood relief operations. U.S. helicopters have evacuated more than 4600 people and delivered more than 500,000 pounds of relief supplies. In addition, U.S. military cargo aircraft based in Afghanistan have transported more than 194,000 pounds of international aid from the Pakistan Air Force’s Central Flood Relief Cell in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, to required locations throughout the country in support of Government of Pakistan airlift support requests. Read Transcript

Army Bloggers Roundtable with Col. Lorne Blackborne, commander of U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research (USAISR) and Dr. Pat Kochanek, University of Pittsburg. Col. Blackborne will discuss advances in pre-hospital combat care and the major advances made in saving lives after casualties arrive at surgical care (Forward Surgical Teams or Combat Support Hospitals). He will also discuss how medics are receiving much better training in pre-hospital trauma life support and the need to develop better products to help them save more lives, particularly from hemorrhage. Dr. Kochanek will discuss his current research in diagnosing and treating Traumatic Brain Injury. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Col. Mike Wehr, Combined Joint Engineer director and Lt. Col. Steven LaCasse, Infrastructure Training Advisory Group (ITAG) director, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. Col. Wehr and Lt. Col. LaCasse will discuss the majority of enduring facilities for the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police to date are scheduled for construction over the next three to four years, equating to $5.3 billion dollars budgeted in fiscal year 2010 and 2011. This reflects the accelerated growth up to 171,600 army troops and 134,000 police. As the NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan, Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan, engineer team incorporates more Afghan solutions to accomplish the construction, the team is also setting conditions for the transition of facilities and infrastructure to the Afghans. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Nagata, deputy commander, Office of the Defense Representative, Pakistan. Brig. Gen. Nagata will discuss the operational aspects of the ongoing U.S. military relief operations in Pakistan at the request of the Government of Pakistan. Additionally, he will discuss assets available on the ground and operational details of the relief efforts. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Michael R. Boera, Commanding General, Combined Air Power Transition Force, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, and Commander, 438th Air Expeditionary Wing, Kabul, Afghanistan. Brig. Gen. Boera will discuss building the education and training institutions of the Afghan Air Force. As commander of CAPTF, the organization charged with developing military and police air power for Afghanistan, they have partnered with the Afghan Air Force and national military institutions, and keeps focus on the quality of trained airmen to enhance the flying force. Brig. Gen. Boera will also discuss the current status and future education and training goals of the Afghan flying forces. Read Transcript