DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable

U.S. Army Col. Ronald L. Green, CJ-4 for the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, will discuss the overall problem and the challenges NTM-A has faced to get rid of ammunition stockpiles and the dangers surrounding them. Over the past three years, 6,325 metric tons of unsafe and surplus ammunition has been identified by NTM-A/CSTC-A. All of this ammunition is categorized as unsafe and surplus to current requirements and requires inspection, segregation, and destruction. The removal and destruction of the ammunition requires a Presidential Decree as highlighted to NTM-A/CSTC-A by Minister Wardak.

The Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) Program Manager, Col. Keith Moore will join a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable to discuss the testing process the vehicles will undergo later this year. He will also provide an update on the recent rollout of its newest prototype and discuss the upcoming reliability growth testing. Read transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Col. Rick Rousseau, with the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (OSJA), NATO Training Mission Afghanistan & Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan (NTM-A/CSTC-A) to discuss their role in providing relevant, accurate, and proactive legal advice on all issues affecting NTM-A/CSTC-A commanders and staff. Read Transcript

Maj. Gen. A.C. Blalock, Adjutant General of Alabama National Guard will discuss the ongoing response of the Alabama National Guard to the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command in Alabama. Currently the Alabama National Guard has more than 300 soldiers working to protect the coast line of Alabama and minimize the impact on the environment and the local economy. Read Transcript

David M. Wennergren, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, who was recently named "TechAmerica Foundation Government Executive of the Year" will discuss Net Generation guide, a 128-page report by the Federal Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council that focuses on preparing for change in the Federal Information Technology (IT) workforce http://www.cio.gov/Documents/NetGen.pdf The report identifies the challenges agencies currently face to back fill IT positions with the shrinking workforce, as 957,000 federal workers will become eligible to retire in the next few years. It also discusses how to attract workers between 17 and 31 years old, known as the Net Generation. The Net Generation is a cohort that has grown up with the Internet and expects to work with cutting-edge technologies. For more information, read the following news release: Read Transcript

The Chief of the General Staff, the ranking officer in uniform within the ANA, supervises the ANA General Staff as well as commands the operational Army. In essence, he fulfills the role of the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army along with the role of a U.S. Combatant Commander, employing the forces in combat. The role of the advisor to the Chief of the General staff is to develop the capacity of this key official to grow, improve, and sustain his organization during this complex and challenging time. He serves as a strategic advisor on issues of concern to the coalition as well as the ANA, acts as a liaison officer between the CoGS and the various major commands of ISAF, and assists the CoGS in performing his duties by providing feedback and insights into challenges within ANA systems and policies. Read Transcript

DODLive Bloggers Roundtable to discuss the signs, symptoms and treatment of psychological health concerns, such as PTSD, and traumatic brain injury. Joining the call will be Staff Sgt. Meg Krause, Retired Cmdr. René A. Campos, and Lt. Col. Christopher Robinson, who will discuss the signs, symptoms and treatment of psychological health concerns, such as PTSD, and traumatic brain injury. From the Military Officers Association of America's perspective, the organization can discuss what officers can do to promote the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration of returning service members, veterans and their families.

Lt. Col. Mike Marti, G2 and top intelligence officer for Task Force Marine and the Third Infantry Division will participate in an Army Bloggers Roundtable to discuss recent successful intelligence operations in Iraq, specifically three missions which took place in mid/late April 2010 and were designated Operation Chelan I, II and III, epitomizing the evolving relationship of Iraqi, Kurdish and USF. Read Transcript

Richard Lehner, spokesman for the Department of Defense missile defense agency, will be available to address and correct inaccurate information previously reported in the New York Times article published yesterday titled "Review Cites Flaws in U.S. Antimissile Program". Lehner also wrote a response blog to correct the record which he will expand on during today's discussion. To read the transcript, click here.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry, Federal On-Scene Coordinator for Unified Area Command, Deepwater Horizon Response. The admiral will discuss the on-going response efforts of Unified Area Command and provide an operational update on the status of work to secure the well, fight the spill offshore, protect the coast and minimize impacts on the environment and local economy. She will also talk about the make-up of Unified Area Command and its work with federal, state, and local agencies as well as industry. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with U.S. Army Col. Thomas J. Umberg, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, Chief of Anti-Corruption. 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 (ANSF). One challenge to this mission is the corruption that exists in Afghanistan and within the ANSF. NTM-A is partnering with the ANSF to develop systems and processes to confront this challenge and reduce opportunities for corruption through advising, training, mentoring and resource support. These processes include paying the soldiers and patrolmen electronically, inventorying the equipment and personnel within the ANSF, increasing fuel, ammunition and weapon accountability, as well as identifying those who engage in corruption. NTM-A is also working with the international community and the US Embassy to meet this challenge. Read Transcript.

U.S. Army Accessions Commander Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley will participate in an Army Bloggers Roundtable to discuss how the U.S. Army is using social media to reach out to future soldiers. Lt. Gen. Freakley will also iscuss the social media outreach Accessions Command uses in its recruiting and ROTC missions. One of those programs, Armystrongstories.com, debuted their website last week. Now anyone with an Army story can blog at the site. U.S. Army Accessions Command SM is engaging on a variety of platforms, from its goarmy.com site to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube channel, Yahoo! Instant Messaging, and the Straight From Iraq series. Read Transcript

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Simeon G. Trombitas, commanding general, Joint Task Force-Haiti. As JTF-Haiti service members continue to redeploy to their home stations, the time is nearing for JTF-Haiti to stand down and transition its mission to a more traditional U.S. Southern Command Theatre Security Cooperation. As such, this Bloggers Roundtable will represent a final opportunity to interact with JTF-Haiti leadership. Maj. Gen. Simeon Trombitas, commanding general, JTF-Haiti, will discuss the operations and contributions of JTF-Haiti over the past four months but will focus primarily on the way ahead, as elements of Louisiana National Guard will begin arriving in Haiti within the next 30 days to oversee various Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Preparedness Programs, Medical Readiness Training Exercises and Humanitarian and Civic Assistance projects taking place throughout the summer." Read Transcript

We have scheduled a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable for Thursday, May 6 at 10:30 EDT with Robert E. Moore Jr., chief, Strategic Communication Division, U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command (MCWT-STR). Moore will discuss the Army's use of adaptive sports activities in the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers. Moore will also discuss the upcoming Warrior Games 2010 to be held May 10-14 at the U.S. Olympics Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Warrior Games brings together 200 injured servicemembers to compete in paralympic style events with individual athletes and teams vying for gold, silver, and bronze medals in their particular events, and/or participating in a pentathlon style competition for the title of Ultimate Warrior.

We are hosting an Army Bloggers Roundtable with students from the Command and General Staff College. They include seven Army Majors with conventional logistics force experience and a Navy Lieutenant Commander with Special Operations Forces logistics experience. They will discuss logistical challenges and their effect on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Topics include the role of logistics in both theaters of operations, the current challenges faced and the impact of those challenges on operations.