1 LEMONNIER POST Nov - DEC 2012

Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) accompanied by his wife Darleen, toured the base, performed a reenlistment ceremony, spoke with Sailors at an All Hands Call, and answered Sailors’ questions.

The CNO spoke about his Sailing Directions, the current challenges the Navy faces today, and how he sees the Navy combating those

challenges now and in the years to come. Progress is being tracked by three tenets: Warfighting First, Operate Forward, and Be Ready.

“You’re here for a very important part of our Navy’s future. Take care of each other. Your stress level is different; you’re in a different environment. Look out for one another”, said Greenert.

Admiral Greenert referenced his position report as a means to assess the effects of “set and drift” on the status of the U.S. Navy.

“Things have come up that need our attention now. We have got work to do on sexual assault. The numbers are not going down.” Greenert stated training programs and strategies are being implemented to train members how to submit reports correctly and to encourage people to make the reports. “It’s a safety issue. Everybody needs to have a safe environment to work in. When we buckle down and understand that something’s a safety problem, we can get this right.”

Other effects of set and drift include higher suicide rates, increased OPTEMPO, and manning at sea. “For the last two years, we’ve been raising manning in Navy billets, raising billets at sea, and now we have to tweak this so we have the right billets at sea-predominately leadership billets.”

He praised the work being performed in Djibouti by military forces. “What you do is incredibly important. You’re at one of the most important areas of the world; a strategic location and you’re making headway. Thanks for what you’re doing here and thanks for your families’ support.”

Admiral Greenert concluded his tour with a visit to the Japanese Self-Defense Force Base.

Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti is located in the Horn of Africa and is the only U.S military base in Africa providing a platform for operations by U.S. and coalition forces. The camp is the primary base of operations for U.S. Africa Command in the Horn of Africa and supports 27 tenant commands.

Camp Lemonnier Receives A Visit From the Chief of Naval Operations

2 LEMONNIER POST Nov - DEC 2012

Chaplain’s Corner

Lemonnier Post

Nov - Dec 2012, Issue: 2

The Lemonnier Post is an authorized publication for servicemembers serving at Camp Lemonnier. Contents herein are not the visions or endorsed by the U.S. government, the

Department of Defense, or the commanding officer of Camp Lemonnier.

Commander Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia Deputy Public Affairs Officer

Mr. Scott Campbell

Commanding OfficerCapt. Kevin Bertelsen

Camp Lemonnier Public Affairs OfficerLT. Crystal Brooks

EditorITC Patti EvansMC2 Eric Garst

FeedbackIf you have any questions, comments, concerns

or suggestions, we want to hear from you. Please send an e-mail to the Lemmonier Post

editor at: eric.garst@usafricom.mil

It’s not exactly the same kind of Christmas that we experience at home. The weather is much warmer, we haven’t been to the mall to go shopping, we haven’t had to fight the traffic, and there aren’t as many decorations around us. Since these external cues are largely absent, it is easy to not be in the “Christmas Spirit” this year. But the absence of these external cues helps us remember some of the less visual reasons why this is an important time of the year.

There’s no question that there are a lot of problems in our world. The ongoing global

security threats, the unrest in Syria, the shootings in Oregon and Connecticut, and the recent typhoon in the Philippines remind us that there is a lot of pain and suffering in our world. There is a lot of reason to be hopeless, conflicted, sad, and angry. And if we allow these emotions to have the final word, there will be increasing pain and suffering in our world.

The Christian perspective on Christmas is that pain and suffering don’t have the last word. It is possible to challenge the impact of evil in our world. And that is done through hope, peace, joy, and love. Hope conquers the destructive force of meaninglessness. Peace pulls back together the pieces of shattered lives. Joy contradicts the sadness that is caused by circumstances. And love is an intentional act to promote overall well-being, challenging all the actions in our world that seek to cause pain and suffering.

Is there any doubt that an increasing presence of hope, peace, joy, and love would have a positive impact in our world, in our community, in our workspace, or in our family? Think of all the times that hopelessness, shattered dreams and relationships, sadness, and hurtful actions have impacted your life. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was something or someone who could challenge all of that?

During this Christmas Season we may not

have all the visual cues that prompt the Holiday Spirit. But we can choose to be persons who go against the flow of the pain and suffering in our world. Your beliefs provide the strength you need to do so. Let’s choose to give the gift of hope, peace, joy, and love this year. And let’s see what a difference that makes in our sphere of influence.

Chaplain Weigelt

Operation Care Package

Special thanks to the 25 Officers and Chiefs who delivered the Care Packages. This is the second year USO Metro has donated the Care Packages to Camp Lemonnier. With these great voulenteers we were able to deliver 3,000+ Care Packages in 90 minutes.

3 LEMONNIER POST Nov - DEC 2012

People rarely realize how much impact a Department of Public Works has until they live in a country that doesn’t have one. Such is the case in Djibouti, Africa, where Soldiers from Task Force Longrifles, Camp Lemonnier staff, Romania, South Korea, Djibouti, and Ja-pan partnered to do some cleaning of the main road which runs in front of Camp Lemonnier and several foreign military compounds.

The idea originated with Lt. Col. Robert Larkin, Task Force Longrifles Battalion Com-mander, when he first visited Camp Lemonni-er on the Pre-Deployment Site Survey (PDSS) in July of 2012.

“Right away I noticed the trash lining the road and thought how easy it would be to hide an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) along this route. Cleaning it would add a higher level of security for Camp Lemonnier and be a great opportunity to partner with numerous countries that utilize the road,” said Larkin.

The area was approximately one hundred meters wide by a quarter mile long and was littered with hundreds of empty plastic bottles, scrap metal, paper bags, and pieces of card-board. As word spread around camp about the project more and more units began volunteer-ing and it became clear that some major plan-ning would be needed to coordinate all the moving parts. That job fell to Maj. Michael Woodson, Task Force Longrifles Plans and Military to Military Officer in Charge (OIC).

Woodson contacted the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Japanese liaison officer, Capt. Chrystopher Kim, who informed the Japanese Self Defense Force about the proposed plan. To his surprise the Japanese informed him that they had had a similar idea

a few days before but would love to combine the ideas into one joint project.

The Japanese agreed to coordinate approval and security with the embassy while Woodson resourced the equipment, coordinated unit vol-unteers, and conducted site reconnaissance.

On the morning of Dec. 11th, 2012, the project began with volunteers from Camp Lemonnier starting at one end and all other volunteers starting at the other. By noon both groups linked up for a joint picture that show-

cased the camaraderie and teamwork created by the event.

A sense of accomplishment was felt by all after seeing the results of the joint effort.

“The project seemed daunting at first but by the end of the day you could really see a dif-ference!” Woodson commented looking back at the freshly cleaned area.

All the volunteers who participated in the project said they look forward to working togther again in the future.

Trash Cleanup

4 LEMONNIER POST Nov - DEC 2012

Congratulations to all who advanced Active and Reservist

IT3 Myles CTR2 Cooley

GM2 Mullins

IT3 Robinson

LS2 Fields AC2 Taggart

ET2 Chapman

PS2 Infante

AC2 Wolverton

PS2 Gerber

BM3 Crawford

MA2 Coolahan

IT2 Middleton

AC1 Anderson

PS2 Lopez

EN3 Juhl

ET1 Moore

GM3 Baker

GM2 Wright

AC1 Hughley

LS1 Henry

GM2 Woods

EN1 Youngers

BM3 Cadengo

5 LEMONNIER POST Nov - DEC 2012

Infantry Evaluates Maneuver Capabilities ofMotorcycles, ATVs During NIE 13.1

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, are evaluating how motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles can help the maneuverability of Soldiers during reconnaissance missions conducted in scenarios during Network Integration Evaluation 13.1.

Soldiers from 2-1 AD provide immediate feedback that allows U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, or TRADOC, to assess concepts, identify implications, and enables Army Test and Evaluation Command to assess the technical performance of materiel technologies.

Capt. William Branch, a commander for C Company, 1-6 Inf., said asfar as warfighting functions are concerned, the use of motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, or ATVs, addresses the maneuver side of the house because they allowthe dismounted Soldier to get from point A to point B without any kind of fatigue.

“It leaves him ready to take the fight to the enemy when he finally getsto his location,” said Branch. “It also allows for him to move stealthily through the battlefield in the event that he is establishing an [observation post] as maybe a scout -- he can infiltrate insideand outside enemy lines using his motorcycle and not be very visible audibly to the enemy.”

Soldiers said the motorcycles and ATVs are an integrated base defense mobility package that allows them to conduct reconnaissance and patrols around their perimeter to make sure it is safe.“Once we have identified targets and have collaborated those with the systems that we have, we’re able to use

the motorcycles and ATVs to go out and make contact with that enemy,” said Branch.

Pfc. Joshua Doster, a tanker with 1-6 Inf, who is one of the Soldiers testing

the motor vehicles, said he feels the motorcycles and ATVs will increase the range of tasks Soldiers can perform in the area of scouting missions and area reconnaissance.

“Just being a smaller vehicle [it is] able to move under cover without the noise and the profile of a lot of these larger vehicles that we’ve been using,” said Doster.

Branch said the integrated base defense system is in Afghanistan but it’s not integrated with motorcycles and ATVs.

“The work that we’re doing here at the NIE is allowing for us to aid the Soldiers that are in Afghanistan,” said Branch. “This is allowing us to establish a baseline for our tactics, techniques and standard operating procedures for how we employ these systems in a testing environment such as this one so that we can forward it to Soldiers that are in Afghanistan and allow them to be successful in their operations.”

So Long Flexed Arm HangEffective Jan. 1, 2014, pull-ups will replace

the flexed arm hang for female Marines during the physical fitness test.

An All Marine Corps Activities was re-leased Nov. 27, stating that the Marine Corps will phase out the flexed arm hang starting Jan. 1, 2013. The first phase will serve as a transi-tion period, allowing the Marines to choose to either complete the pull-ups or opt to do the flexed arm hang.

“It’s something we have been looking at for a number of years,” said Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, deputy commandant, Combat De-velopment and Integration. “We’ve done the studies. It’s popped up a number of times and when it was discussed this time, we decided it was the right time to do it. We decided to execute because there is no reason why we shouldn’t do this.”

Phase 2 will commence Jan. 1, 2014. Pull ups will replace the FAH, but will remain as part of the initial strength test before attending recruit training or Officer Candidates School, but passing a PFT with pull ups will be a re-quirement for graduation from both recruit training and OCS.

Mills said the change in the PFT is part of the Corps’ attempt to standardize requirements across the Marine Corps.

“Women are fully capable of accomplish-

ing it,” said Mills. “It’s more recognition of the changing role of women, the changing ca-pabilities and the changing demands that we place on them.”

Males and females will both do pull-ups for the PFT. However, the scoring will differ be-tween the sexes.

“The events are gender neutral,” said Mills. “The scoring is gender norm because there are physical differences between males and females.”

The scoring table that has been published is experimental and will be adjusted if need be before Phase 2. Scores from practice PFT will be reviewed and feedback will be gathered to determine whether to adjust the table or keep it the way it is.

“We wanted to arrive at a number that was fair but challenging,” said Mills. “So we took the studies under consideration and senior leadership both officers and enlisted decided that eight was where we wanted to start and then we will raise or lower that after we see how our female Marines do in the year.”

The change to pull-ups isn’t a surprise to most female Marines.

“Initially we all thought it was going to come sooner than it has,” said 1st Sgt.Matina D. Spaulding, company first sergeant,Headquarters Company, Headquarters and

Service Battalion. “I started hitting thepull-up bars and started preparing a long time ago.”

In the coming year, Mills would like to see female Marines do their best to rise to the challenge.

“If you look at the female PFT through his-tory, you can see all the changes,” said Mills. “We have adjusted it as the role of the Marine Corps has changed and people have recog-nized their capabilities and what we can chal-lenge them with.”

To help Marines prepare for pull-ups there has a been a website set up to help them go from zero pull ups to their max at fitness.usmc.mil/fpft.

“In my 18 years of experience,” said Spaulding. “Females have seen more change in the Marine Corps than the males have and it’s stuff that we just have to adapt and over-come, and continue to march forward and rise above.”

Mills, who has struggled with pull-ups his whole career understands the challenge Ma-rines are facing.

“I have never maxed out on pull-ups,”said Mills. “It’s a challenge, but it’s achallenge that we are confident our female Marines will grab onto and do extraordinarily well.

6 LEMONNIER POST Nov - DEC 2012

USS Enterprise Retires From Active ServiceThe world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft

carrier was retired from active service on Sat-urday, temporarily reducing the number of carriers in the U.S. fleet to 10 until 2015.

The USS Enterprise ended its notable 51-year career during a ceremony at its home port at Naval Station Norfolk, where thousands of former crew members, ship builders and their families lined a pier to bid farewell to one of the most decorated ships in the Navy.

“It’ll be a special memory. The tour yester-day was a highlight of the last 20 years of my life. I’ve missed the Enterprise since every day I walked off of it,” said Kirk McDonnell, a former interior communications electrician aboard the ship from 1983 to 1987 who now lives in Highmore, S.D.

The Enterprise was the largest ship in the world at the time it was built, inheriting the nickname “Big E” from a famed World War II aircraft carrier. It didn’t have to carryconventional fuel tanks for propulsion, al-lowing it to carry twice as much aircraft fuel and ordnance than conventional carriers at the time. Using nuclear reactors also allowed the ship to set speed records and stay out to sea during a deployment without ever having to refuel, one of the times ships are most vulner-able to attack.

“Nuclear propulsion changed everything,” said Adm. John Richardson, director of Naval Reactors.

Every other aircraft carrier in the U.S. fleet is now nuclear-powered, although they only have two nuclear reactors each compared to the Enterprise’s eight. The Enterprise was the only carrier of its class ever built.

It was only designed to last 25 years, but underwent a series of upgrades to extend its

life, making it the oldest active combat vessel in the fleet

The ship served in every major conflict since participating in a blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis, helping earn its motto of “We are Legend.”

Enterprise was headed back to Virginia following a regularly scheduled deployment when the Sept. 11 attacks happened. As soon as the ship’s captain saw the attacks he turned around without orders to steam toward south-west Asia, where it later launched some of the first attacks against Afghanistan. The ship’s captain was Adm. James A. Winnefeld, who now serves as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

It has been returning to that region of the world ever since then, including during its 25th and final deployment that ended last month.

“She just served on the cutting edge at the tip of the spear when she returned here in No-vember,” Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert said. “It’s shown that the aircraft car-rier can evolve as a platform with many pay-loads relevant for five decades and will be part of our national security for the foreseeable fu-ture as we bring on the Gerald Ford to replace the Enterprise.”

The Gerald R. Ford will be the first of a new class of aircraft carriers, but it will be several more years before it joins the fleet. Temporar-ily reducing the number of aircraft carriers to 10 required special congressional approval. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said the Navy would closely watch how the increased operational tempo will affect sailors. In February, the USS Abra-ham Lincoln will begin a four-year refueling

complex overhaul in Newport News, Va., which will also take it out of rotation.

Greenert said the Navy wants to continue having two aircraft carriers operating simulta-neously in the Middle East through March, but he said he wasn’t sure if that would continue past then.

While the Enterprise was inactivated Satur-day, it will be several more years before it is fully decommissioned. Its nuclear fuel must first be removed by punching gigantic holes in the ship, rendering it unfit for service or turning it into a museum. It will eventually be towed to Washington state for scrapping.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was the eighth U.S. ship to bear the name Enter-prise, but it won’t be the last. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a video message that afuture aircraft carrier would be named USS Enterprise, after the delivery of the USSGerald R. Ford and the USS John F. Kennedy.

Mabus’ announcement drew a standingovation from those on hand at Saturday’s cere-mony. Current and former crew members have lobbied heavily to preserve Enterprise’s name so its legacy will live on.

“It just seems to be a neat name for a ship. It’s better than being named for a politician,” said Larry Kosnopfal, one of the ship’s origi-nal crew members, who now lives in Chad-field, Minn.

When the future USS Enterprise joins the fleet, its commanding officer will be handed a 200-pound time capsule filled with Enterprise memorabilia that includes notes from sailors, insignia and small pieces of the ship. The time capsule was delivered to Greenert for safe-keeping until that future commanding officer is chosen.

The Air Mobility Command Electronic Flight Bag Team from Scott Air Force Base, Ill., won the 2012 Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award awarded by the Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III Nov. 28 at the Pentagon.

Each year, since its inception in 1992, the Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award has been presented by the chief of staff to a team that uses a systematic approach to enhance mission capability, improve operational performance and create sustained results.

Twelve teams competed for the award and their combined process improvements resulted in more than $1 billion potential savings and cost avoidance for the Air Force.

The runners-up were the Base Realignment and Closure Air Force Research Laboratory Radar Relocation Project Management Team, Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y. and the B-2 Window Change Continuous Process

AMC Team Wins Top CSAF ‘Team of Excellence’ AwardImprovement Team, 509th Maintenance Group, Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

The 21-member, AMC Electronic Flight Bag Team worked to deliver a single, automated platform to consolidate paper flight references for 16,000 aircrew members, 100 units and 5 major commands. The team developed requirements, established a communications plan, managed delivery logistics, and gained approval “against the grain of a Microsoft culture and outdated security policies,” according to the award. Their team successfully delivered the iPad as the mobility air forces first electronic flight bag in June 2012.

The first runner up was the BRAC AFRL Radar Relocation Project Management Team, who executed resources to provide technical, logistical and systems modifications for therelocation of four radar systems at Rome, N.Y. to a modernized facility at Wright-

Patterson AFB, Ohio. They provided a total organic solution, eliminating costly contract services, while the Air Force gained a world-class sensors research facility at a savings of $20-30 million.

The second runner up was the B-2 Window Change Continuous Process Improvement Team, 509th Maintenance Group, Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. The team is comprised of 16 active duty, guard and civilian personnel, who worked togetherto streamline the complex, 40-day, multi-AFSC B-2 Spirit window change task . They reduced overall aircraft downtime by 33 percent. They also assembled a stand-alone, deployable toolkit for the job, enabling the 509th Maintenance Group at Whiteman AFB to cut 617 miles of travel, save $80,000 per event and increase the overall availability of the base’s B-2 Spirit fleet

7 LEMONNIER POST Nov - DEC 2012

Tax season is coming! Are you prepared? Subway T-Shirt design

Guest Speaker

Don’t wait until the deadline.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Center opening will be Monday, 4 February.

We encourage all Servicemembers to take advantage of VITA service provide by Camp Lemonnier and CJTF-HOA Legal offices.

For further information you can contact:

LN2 Andrea Howard 824-3239

LN1 Larry Frelow Jr. 824-4286

Congratulations to SGT Carrie Elwell, C-12 Operations NCO. Her Subway T-Shirt design (attached) was chosen from a formidable pool of entries.

Tree Lighting Ceremony

Sister Michelle, of the Missionaries of Charity, shared her story as a survivor of the Rwandan genocide on December 14. She recalled seeing President Habyarimana’s plane being shot from the sky on April 6, 1994. What followed was the Rwandan genocide in which nearly a million people were murdered over the course of about 100 days.

8 LEMONNIER POST Nov - DEC 2012

AFRICAN BAZAAR

Harlem Globetrotters