DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Dr. Howard Schlossberg, Air Force Office of Scientific Research program manager. Schlossberg will recount the events from "AFOSR LaserFest" held on August 6 in Arlington, Va. This event highlighted AFOSR's numerous contributions to laser science and applications and is one of many in a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the laser. LaserFest is a collaboration of major organizations, the American Physical Society, the Optical Society, SPIE and IEEE Photonics Society, with many other contributing partners. Read Transcrpt

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Lt. Gen. Jeff Sorenson, the Army Chief Information Officer/G-6, will discuss the A4A challenge. Launched on March 1, A4A is the Army’s first internal application development challenge. In 75 days, 141 Soldiers and Army civilians registered in teams or as individuals to participate in the A4A challenge. By the May 15th deadline, 53 web and mobile applications were developed and submitted. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Mr. Alex Baird is the chief of Family Programs, National Guard Bureau. Baird will discuss issues related to families associated with the military. As families experience multiple deployments, their needs change and new challenges emerge. Only by knowing what those challenges are can we work together to address them. Additionally, Mr. Baird's participation in the roundtable will provide an opportunity for families to provide feedback on how they are doing and also to share what their needs are and how the National Guard Bureau can better serve them. Baird is looking to know what families' biggest concerns are and what support they would like to see from their family programs. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Steven Andersen, Staff Judge Advocate, Anti-Corruption Office, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/ Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. One of NTM-A/CSTC-A's top priorities is to team with and assist the Government of Afghanistan to develop and grow their leaders for today and tomorrow and to generate a professional, competent, tactically self-sufficient Afghan National Security Force. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Lernes J. Hebert, Acting Director, Officer & Enlisted Personnel Management for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness. He will be joined by U.S. Army Maj. Roy Whitley, who is the Army’s Project Manager for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay. Mr. Hebert will be providing an update on Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay. The 2009 War Supplemental Appropriations Act established Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay (RSLSP), providing $500 for each month/partial month served in stop loss status. Servicemembers, veterans, and beneficiaries of servicemembers whose service was involuntarily extended under Stop Loss between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2009 are eligible for RSLSP. There are servicemembers and veterans who are eligible for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay but have not yet submitted a claim. Those eligible must submit a claim by Oct. 21, 2010. Read the Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Dr. Jack Kem, the deputy to the commander, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan. Dr. Kem will talk about Afghan National Police Professional Education from basic literacy to senior level police educational opportunities. The creation of this Afghan National Police Professional Education system was a deliberate decision by the Afghans to assist in professionalizing the National Police Force through a career of continuous education. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Army Capt. A. Heather Coyne, NGO and International Organization liaison officer for the NATO Training Mission (NTM-A). NTM-A created the NGO/IO liaison officer position to reach out to Afghan and international NGOs and international organizations. Their goal is to ensure that civil society organizations can play a role in shaping the training and reform of the security forces. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Michael Logan. Sgt. Maj. Logan will discuss the solid results in the growth of the Afghan National Army the last seven months. Along with growth objectives being met or exceeded, they have seen a growth in the quality of the Afghan army soldier. Conversely, the Afghan National Army is focusing on the key component of any Army, the growth and development of its non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps, the Afghan Army's backbone, and the backbone of any Army. The Afghan Army training and professionalization has improved drastically. For example, two courses have been added to the Afghan National Army NCO education system to bridge the NCO gap: the four-week Team Leader Course and the 12-week "1U" Direct Entry Course. Additionally, battlefield promotions (to NCO rank) for deserving soldiers is another initiative. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Air Force Brig. Gen. Michael Boera, commander of the Combined Air Power Transition Force (CAPTF). CAPTF is the organization charged with developing military and police air power for Afghanistan. CAPTF continues to request additional mentors from NATO partners and other nations using the Combined Joint Statement of Requirements (CJSOR) process. These partners increase the NATO footprint in Afghanistan and for CAPTF in Mi-17, Mi-35, and C-27 aircrew mentorship and in the Pohantoon-e-Hawayee (Big Air School). Several countries’ advisors, including Hungary and the Czech Republic, help bridge the training gap from an old school to new school of thought. Brig. Gen. Boera will discuss the aid being offered by NATO partners and the development of air power in Afghanistan. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Dr. Mike Faughnan, chief of the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan Education Division. NTM-A/CSTC-A established the current literacy program in September 2008. The curriculum they teach was developed by the Afghan Ministry of Education. Dr. Faughnan will discuss their objective, which is to provide all illiterate members of the ANSF with a basic primary education in literacy and numeracy. They currently teach to the third grade level, and are developing a curriculum to expand their instruction to the sixth grade. They are working with the training components of NTM-A to develop skill training specific to military and police specialties, e.g. medical, signal, and field artillery. Approximately 25,000 ANSF personnel are currently enrolled in the literacy program. NTM-A/CSTC-A intend to grow the ANSF student population to 50,000 by December 2010 and 100,000 by July 2011. Their contractors currently employ more than 700 Afghans as instructors and we teach in more than 200 locations around the country. To date, nearly 4,300 ANSF personnel have completed the program to the third grade level. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Col. Michael Borrel, the task force commander of the New Horizons-Haiti 2010 exercise. Col. Borrel will be discussing the incredible humanitarian efforts of his 500 soldiers, sailors and airmen during their past month in Haiti. Joining him in the discussion will be a member of the task force's engineering team as well as a member of the medical staff, who has provided basic medical and dental care to over 20,000 Haitians. All three subject matter experts are looking forward to telling you about the great things happening in Haiti and answering any questions you may have. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Col. John Ferrari, deputy commander for programs, NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan, Combined Security Transitions Command-Afghanistan. Col. Ferrari has direct oversight of the $11.6 billion budget to grow and sustain the Afghan National Security Forces. He is personally responsible for dedicating resources to the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army to fight the counter-insurgency while building the Afghan economy. Some of these resources include developing training and housing areas and supply systems such as weapons, ammunition, vehicles, fuel and food.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Army Lt. Col. James Baker, executive officer for the Deputy to the Commander, NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan; Dr. Jack Kem. A key element to building successful Afghan National Security Forces capable of providing security and stability for the nation and people of Afghanistan is leader development. Lt. Col. Baker will discuss two of the three key components of the leader development program for the Afghan National Security Forces. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Brig. Gen. Gary Patton, Deputy Commander-Army, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (NTM-A/CSTC-A). Brig. Gen. Patton will provide a current update on the status of the growing Afghan National Army. The Afghan National Army has grown in quality and quantity, with distinct progress in the past few months. Though challenges exist - attrition and retention being a focus - meeting current and future goals is achievable. Key focus areas are professionalization and leader development. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Col. Thomas S. James, chief of staff for the Third Infantry Division and Task Force Marne. July 1 marks the one-year anniversary of U.S. forces leaving cities in Iraq. Col. James will discuss the growing capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces, downward trends in violence across the country and operations in Northern Iraq. Col. James will also discuss how the country has changed during his numerous deployments. Read Transcript