F r i d a y , M a r c h 1 , 2 0 1 3 T H E R E D 7 . n E T

Craig Born says his son decide to be Soldier

despite varied interestsPage 5

aLSO INSIDe

Briefs............................. xx

Classifieds....................... xx

Philpott.......................... xx

Sports Briefs .................... xx

The invisible enemy of the Afghanistan

mountainsPage 3

Welcome Home

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Page 2 | THE ReD 7 | Friday, March 1, 2013

Year No. 3 edition No. 7

The Red 7 is published by the Northwest Florida Daily News, a pri-vate firm in no way connected with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) or the U.S. Army.

This publication’s content is not necessarily the official view of, or endorsed by, the U.S. govern-ment, the Department of Defense, the Depart-ment of the Army or 7th Special Forc-es Group (Airborne). The official news source for 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is http://www.soc.mil/.

The appearance of advertising in this publication does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. govern-ment, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) or the Northwest Florida Daily News for products or services advertised. Ev-erything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national ori-gin, age, marital status, physical handi-cap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the North-west Florida Daily News.

Mail2 Eglin Parkway nE,

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Fax: (850) 863-7834e-mail:

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Staff.Sgt..Ramon.m..maRReRo.| U.S. Army

Soldiers from the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) receive warm hugs upon redeploying from a rotation to Afghanistan, on Eglin AFB, on Feb. 23. More than 100 Soldiers from 7th Group returned to a welcome back ceremony.

Staff.Sgt..Ramon.m..maRReRo.| U.S. Army

Welcome homeabove,.a child waits for the buses to bring 7th Group Soldiers home upon redeploying from a rotation to Afghanistan Feb. 23. at.top.right,.a Soldier holds her son after returning home. at.right, a Soldier holds his daughter upon returning home.

Friday, March 1, 2013 | THE ReD 7 | Page 3

By.BoB.ReineRt

USAG-Natick Public Affairs

natiCK,.mass..— When they deploy rapidly to the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, U.S. Soldiers confront more than the enemy.

At heights exceed-ing 8,200 feet, they must worry about the effects of altitude on their mental performance and about their susceptibilities to Acute Mountain Sickness, or AMS. As acting chief of the Thermal and Moun-tain Medicine Division at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick Soldier Systems Center, Stephen R. Muza, Ph.D., devotes a great deal of time to study-ing those problems.

“We need to know the actual, physiological ba-sis for the development of these altitude illnesses,” said Muza, “and specifical-ly in this case, Acute Moun-tain Sickness, in order to target new pharmaceutical products.”

Working toward that goal, Muza and his col-leagues at USARIEM are collaborating with the Neu-ral Systems Group, Massa-chusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School on “Neuroimaging of Acute Mountain Sickness,” a re-search study sponsored by the Department of De-fense Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Re-search Center. The study is using near-infrared neuroimaging, or NIN, to non-invasively measure changes in the brains of test subjects at sea level and 14,500 feet while doing cognitive tests and either light or heavy exercise.

Neuroscientist Gary Strangman, Ph.D., of MGH has been bringing his NIN equipment to Natick,

where it is used on subjects in USARIEM’s hypobaric chamber, which can simu-late altitudes up to 30,000 feet. The NIN is a portable alternative to magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.

“He can specifically look at what’s going on in this brain tissue between the transmitter and the receiver,” said Muza of Strangman. “We’re not looking at the whole brain, but we’re looking at the cortex, where most of the neurons are found. That’s where really where all of the action is.”

The collaborative study is focusing on 36 healthy civilian subjects from the Boston metro area, who have baseline measure-ments done at MGH and then spend two eight-hour sessions each in USARIEM’s chamber. Light is beamed through their brain tissues and then analyzed for changes in blood volume, oxygenation, and fluid distribution.

“He was looking for an opportunity to use his equipment,” said Muza of Strangman. “I was looking for an opportunity to use cutting-edge (equipment), basically what nobody else has in this world — new portable imaging devices — to study the changes in the brain at altitude in our hypobaric chamber, be-cause you cannot bring an MRI (in there).”

As Muza pointed out, Soldiers’ thought pro-cesses slow at altitude. So Strangman designed cognitive tests on a com-puter screen to measure subjects.

“We want to cause the brain to have to work, and to make the brain work, we do cognitive tasks,” said Muza, “things that are very comparable to what a Soldier does.”

Muza and Strangman also want to know what the brain is doing when a subject is experiencing headaches, lightheaded-ness, nausea and other symptoms associated with AMS.

“When you get above 14,000 feet, there’s better than an 80 percent chance that you’ll develop some degree of severity of Acute Mountain Sickness,” Muza said. “We’re interested in knowing what’s going on in the brain in the hours that lead up to the devel-

opment of Acute Mountain Sickness.”

The study has been ongoing for a year and should be completed in

May. The early data are encouraging.

“In the individuals re-porting Acute Mountain Sickness versus those who

do not report having symp-toms of Acute Mountain Sickness, we see that there is a reduction in blood flow to the brain and, therefore, oxygen delivery to the brain in the individuals who are sick versus the individu-als who are not sick at al-titude,” Muza said. “We do see, with 60 minutes of ex-ercise, more Acute Moun-tain Sickness than we see with the 10 minutes of ex-ercise. We expected that, and that’s happening.”

The only available phar-maceutical treatment, said Muza, improves breathing, not brain function. This study could help change that one day.

“Finding an alternative drug therapy is a long-term goal of our research program,” said Muza, who added that the collabora-tive study has offered “the opportunity to bring what I think nobody else has in the world into our hypo-baric chamber and use it to study these effects.”

The invisible enemy of the Afghanistan mountains

U.S..aRmy

Stephen R. Muza, Ph.D., of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medi-cine’s Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division, is studying the effects of altitude on Soldiers’ mental performance and their susceptibility to Acute Mountain Sickness.

Page 4 | THE ReD 7 | Friday, March 1, 2013

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Teen Spring Break Camp

Teens ages 12-17 looking for some high-energy fun are invited to sign up for a full week of Spring Break Camp activities March 25-29 at the Eglin Youth Center. Camp will open at 7 a.m. with daily activities beginning at 7:30 a.m. Activities include rock climbing, paintball, zip lines, high and low ropes course and a trip to Wild Adven-tures. Cost is $200 per week for Youth Center members and $225 per week for non-members. Cost of lunch is included in fees. Members are invited to participate in other Youth Center activities after daily camp activities are over. Space is limited; sign up early at the Youth Center. 850-882-8212

get Into golf for singles

The Eglin Golf Course presents “Get Into Golf,” a new introductory golfing

promotion for single military members. In just five fun les-sons, participants can get acquainted with the game, then stay connected with five more refresher rounds. Value of this package is $200 per person and includes free rental clubs for one year. Cart fee is not included. Single military members, all branches, may register free of charge as part of the Sin-gle Airman Initiative. Clinic is scheduled for March 12-15 from 5-7 p.m. Participation is limited to 8 golfers per ses-sion. Registration will open the month prior to sched-uled clinics. If sessions fill, classes will be formed for personnel on the waiting list. Call 850-882-2949.

St. Patrick’s Day tourney

St. Patrick’s event is scheduled for a 12 p.m. shot-gun start on Eglin’s Eagle course. Format is a 2-Per-son Scramble with flights based on handicap and par-ticipation. One flight will be formed for participant with-out a GHIN handicap using

Callaway handicapping sys-tem. Both gross and net win-ners will be awarded. Cost is $20 per player and includes a corned beef and cabbage dinner with prizes for win-ners. Traditional green beer will be available. Cost of green fee and cart fee is not included. Registration closes Tuesday, March 12. Be sure and take advantage of the St. Patrick’s Day Pro Shop Sale March 16-17. 850-882-2949

Disc golf Tournament

The first annual Eglin Disc Golf Tournament will be held at 8:30 a.m. March 16 at the new Post’l Point Disc Golf Course. Awards will be presented in all divisions - advanced, intermediate, beginner and youth. Cost for tournament is $25 and includes registration and t-shirt. To register, call Outdoor Recreation at 850-882-5058.

5th annual aSMC golf Tournament5th Annual ASMC Golf

Tournament will be held March 8 at the Eglin Golf Course. 4-Man Scramble 1030 sign-in/lunch, 1230 Shotgun start, $45 per player. Cost includes lunch, tournament entry, cart and greens fee. RSVP NLT March 1. Registration POC is Eric Alber (318) 540-5427

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Friday, March 1, 2013 | THE ReD 7 | Page 5

.By.LaURen.Sage.ReinLie

Northwest Florida Daily News

BLUeWateR.Bay — One year ago when Craig Born learned his son, Niceville native Army Sgt. Joshua Born, had been shot and killed in Afghanistan at age 25, he said he went com-pletely blank.

“I didn’t have any emo-tion,” Craig Born said. “I didn’t cry. I didn’t say anything,”

Josh, his only son, his friend and companion, was gone. All that was left were the memories of who he’d been.

Josh was his baby who slept through the night when he was 6 weeks old. He was his precocious child who read thick novels and the newspaper and liked to take part in adult conversa-tions, his young traveling companion on tractor-trail-er runs and cross-country camping trips. He was a teenage actor in local plays, a soccer player who was fast on his feet.

And he was the over 6-foot-tall 19-year-old who rolled off the couch one day and announced he was join-ing the Army and then went

on to become a military po-lice officer.

On Feb. 23, 2012, Josh was on his first deployment with the 385th Military Police Battalion when a U.S.-trained Afghan soldier started firing at them dur-ing a riot.

He and a fellow soldier, 22-year-old Cpl. Timothy J. Conrad, were killed out-side their base in the Khog-yani District of Nangarhar Province.

Josh had been in Af-ghanistan a little more than a month.

“I never expected to be the father of a fallen sol-dier, never in my wildest dreams,” said Craig Born, who is 55. “I don’t know why I didn’t worry. I knew he was in a dangerous place.”

He said it wasn’t until the last few months that he has been able to come to terms with his son’s death.

That may be in part be-cause he is facing his own challenges.

Just days after his son’s death, he suffered another stroke. He’s been diag-nosed with liver disease that will eventually kill him and now is staying in an as-sisted living facility in Blue-water Bay.

The means of Josh Born’s death also were dif-ficult to process.

The Afghan soldier who shot him was trained by the Army. The military trained thousands of soldiers and worked with them side-by-side, but some used the opportunity to attack from within.

From January to August 2012, more than 40 coali-tion service members were killed in “insider” attacks, most of them Americans. In September, the United States temporarily halted Afghan training to further vet the potential soldiers

and make other changes to make the program safer.

Craig Born said he feels the attention his son’s death received helped spur those changes. He knows his death was not in vain.

“The lives saved since then because of policy changes, we don’t know how many it could have been — could be another 40 or another 200,” he said.

He and his son were close. When Josh was about 12 they went on a mean-dering eight-week camp-ing trip, eventually winding up at the Grand Canyon. His father didn’t want to go more than 350 miles a day. He handed the road map to Josh, who mapped out their daily trips.

Josh also was in almost every play when he was in school.

Eventually, he said he wanted to try acting in a real production, so his dad drove him to a local theater company. Before they got out of the car Josh said the only way he would try out

was if his dad did, too. They both landed rolls in

“Oklahoma!”Craig Born said he felt

guilty after his son died. Josh was the fifth genera-tion of his family to join the military, but Craig won-dered if he shouldn’t have tried to push him to do something else. Josh had so many interests.

But in the end, being a soldier was what Josh wanted, and he spent his short life doing what he thought was right, his fa-ther said.

“He did on this earth what he was supposed to do and he was a wonderful, wonderful human being,” Craig Born said. “I always made sure I told him how much I loved him and how much I respected him for what he was doing.”

Craig Born says his son decide to be Soldier despite varied interests

DeVon.RaVine.| Daily News

Craig Born talks about his son, Army Sgt. Joshua Born, who was killed one year ago in Afghanistan.

Most of the 800,000 Department of Defense civilian employees will see their work weeks short-ened and their pay cut by 20 percent from late April through September if Con-gress, as now expected, fails to stop $46 billion in indiscriminate defense budget cuts set to take ef-fect March 1.

With lawmakers on a nine-day President’s Day recess, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta officially no-tified Congress on Feb. 20 of the department’s intent to furlough the “vast ma-jority” of its civilian work-ers. This, he said, will be necessary if Republicans and Democrats continue to refuse to negotiate a “balanced” debt-reduction deal to defuse or delay the “sequestration” budget bomb built into the 2011

Budget Control Act.

The furloughs would cap-ture about $5 billion of needed savings but would hit overall

readiness along with other plans to cut stateside base operations, reduce military training except for next-to-deploy units, de-lay maintenance of ships, aircraft, vehicles and facil-ities, suspend many sched-uled ship deployments and make deep cuts in aircraft flying hours.

Panetta’s letter starts a 45-day clock required by law to begin the mas-sive furlough. It gives the services and defense agen-

cies time to recommend individuals or categories of employees for exemption from the furlough, which can mean a total of 22 days’ unpaid leave through Sept. 30

Civilians working in combat zones will be ex-empt, as will employees needed to maintain safety of life and property at defense facilities. Exemp-tions are expected for some civilians working intelligence, too.

Also to be exempt are be 50,000 foreign nationals who work on U.S. bases overseas under status of forces agreements with host countries. Exempt by law are all non-appropri-ated fund employees who work in base exchanges or who run military morale, welfare and recreation activities.

However, most com-missary employees would not be exempt because their wages are paid with tax dollars. So base grocery store hours and some other family support programs could be cut if sequestration occurs.

By mid-March, employ-ees not exempt will get individual notices of likely furlough to start in 30 days. They will have one week to appeal that decision to the federal Merit Systems Pro-tection Board, so the first Defense civilians won’t see their work hours cut until late April.

“The effects of seques-tration and the continuing (budget) resolution on our military personnel will be devastating. But on our civilians, it will be cata-strophic,” warned Jessica Lynn Wright, acting under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

“These critical mem-bers of our workforce,” added Wright, maintain and repair tanks, aircraft and ships, teach in military

schools, operate day-care centers and make up 40 percent of the staff at base hospitals and clinics.

“They take care of our wounded warriors. They provide services and programs such as sexual assault prevention and suicide prevention, just to name a few,” she said.

A 20 percent pay cut for five months “won’t only be felt by each employee” but also by nearby communi-ties, Wright added.

“While civilians will experience the impact di-rectly to their wallets, our service members, retirees and families will clearly feel the effect of these ac-tions. If sequestration is not averted, the associated furloughs will impact our war fighters, our veterans and our family members in untold ways.”

At the same Pentagon press conference Wednes-day, Robert F. Hale, the de-partment’s chief financial officer, urged Congress to pass a “balanced” deficit reduction package to “de-

trigger sequestration,” and also to pass a fiscal 2013 defense appropriation bill to replace a continuing budget resolution that has frozen defense spending below fiscal 2012 levels.

Hale dismissed the idea that Congress only needs to give Defense officials flexibility to rebalance bil-lions of dollars between budget accounts.

“I don’t think it would help that much this far into the fiscal year,” Hale said. “And if it makes se-questration more likely, to either occur or persist, I think it’s a bad deal, the flexibility.”

Hale warned that if sequestration is triggered and stays in effect into fiscal 2014 and beyond, furloughs this year would turn into job losses and deeper military personnel cuts, forcing leaders to draft a new defense strat-egy that would recognize reduced capabilities and a smaller force.

tRiCaRe.Prime.rollback — TRICARE Management Activity has a new online tool for retirees under age 65 and surviving spouses to verify if their Prime network will end Oct. 1 and force them to use TRI-CARE Standard.

With the new fiscal year, managed care networks operating beyond 40 miles of military treatment facilities or base closure sites will be halted under next-generation TRICARE support contracts. The change, to affect 171,000 beneficiaries, is intended to cut TRICARE costs for taxpayers.

At the website http://www.tricare.mil/psazip, TRICARE users can type in their zip code and learn whether their Prime ser-vice area will exist after Sept. 30. They also can

Civilian furloughs to hit hard; also, check if you lose ‘Prime’

Tom Philpott

Page 6 | THE ReD 7 | Friday, March 1, 2013

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find contact information for contractors and can sign up for email alerts on additional changes planned to Prime service areas.

Of the three TRICARE regions in the United States, the South will be most heavily impacted by rollback of managed care networks. The contrac-tor there, Humana, now offers Prime everywhere across Alabama, Arkan-sas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky (Fort Campbell area only), Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennes-see and Texas (excluding the El Paso area). Ef-fective Oct. 1, Humana’s networks will shrink to those within 40 miles of a military treatment facility or of a base-closing site.

In the North Region, military managed care for under-65 retirees and survivors will end in these areas: Springfield, Mass. (into Connecticut); Kankakee, Ill.; Gary, Ind.; Auburn, Mich.; St Louis; Charlotte, Greenville, Raleigh/Durham, Wilm-ington and Winston-Sa-

lem-Greensboro, N.C; Akron and Cincinnati, Ohio; Pittsburgh; and Mil-waukee, Wis.

In the West Region, Prime networks will end in Des Moines, Iowa; Minneapolis; Springfield, Mo.; Eugene, Medford, Portland and Salem, Ore.;

Portland and Yakima, Wash, and the Outer Is-lands of Hawaii.

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tents or primitive AT shel-ters. Cost is $80 per person for two days of hiking and camping with packs, sleep-ing bags and pads, tents, and all cooking equipment pro-vided by Outdoor Rec. Sign up at ODR. 850-882-5058.

St. Patrick’s Day event benefit

Corned beef and cab-bage will be on the menu at the Magnolia Grill on Sun-day, March 17, when the restaurant hosts a special St. Patrick’s Day event ben-efitting Catholic Charities and the Fisher House of the Emerald Coast.

The “Raisin’ of the Green” fundraiser will take

place from noon to 4 p.m., and will feature the tra-ditional St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef, cab-bage and potatoes. Attend-ees will enjoy lively Irish music, and those who are feeling lucky can take part in a 50/50 donation draw-ing. The Magnolia Grill is located at 157 Brooks Street in Fort Walton Beach.

The cost is $8 per person in advance and $10 at the door. 50/50 tickets may be purchased in advance or at the event, and you need not be present to win.

For more information or to purchase tickets in ad-vance, contact Kelly at 737-0864 or Evelyn at Catholic Charities at 244-2825 or Kim at Fisher House at 259-4956.

aFa Fisher House 5K

The Air Force Associa-tion Eglin Chapter is host-ing the third annual Eglin AFA Fisher House 5K. The run starts at 8:30 a.m. March 2 at The Landing in Fort Walton Beach. There will be 5K run/walk/wheel-chair categories, as well as a 1-mile fun run for the kids. Register for the run, or sign up to donate or become a fundraiser at www.imathlete.com/events/eglinafafish-erHouse5K. Late registra-tion will be 6:30-7:45 a.m. the morning of the race. Join us for the after party and awards ceremony at the his-toric Magnolia Grill.

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Page 8 | THE ReD 7 | Friday, March 1, 2013

By.niCK.Simeone

American Forces Press Service

WaSHington.– De-fense Department officials have designated this week as “Military Saves Week” to highlight the need for military families to reduce debt and save for the fu-ture, something Pentagon officials emphasize is key to force readiness.

The event is part of the yearlong Military Saves campaign, an opportunity for leaders to stress the importance of good finan-cial habits to all members of the force and their fam-ilies to encourage saving, reducing debt and build-ing wealth, officials said.

“Military Saves is an ongoing campaign in partnership with America Saves to really hone in on the habits for good savings for our military members,” Barbara Thompson, director of the Pentagon’s office of family policy and children and youth, told American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel. The personal finances of military families are important to the Defense Department, she said, because money problems can affect force readiness.

“When service mem-bers and their families can focus on the mission because they’re not wor-ried about their financial situation, we have a much better prepared force,” she added.

Financial health also is key to force readiness because accumulating debt can jeopardize a ser-vice member’s security clearance. DOD officials have found that junior enlisted service members

and their families are more vulnerable to finan-cial problems than other members of the force. Data obtained through surveys and supplied by Thompson’s office sug-gests an increase last year among those who experienced one or more problems in paying bills, despite an overall drop in those who said they were not comfortable with their financial situation.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has encouraged each military branch to sponsor finan-cial awareness events, with a particular focus on young people, includ-ing children of service members. In a memo to the chiefs of the military services and senior en-listed advisors, Dempsey emphasized that by “learning good financial habits early in life, our children will strengthen their financial fitness for the future.”

Thompson said many services are available to members of the military who seek financial advice.

“Each of the services has contracted with peo-ple who have an expertise in financial readiness,” she said. In addition to taking advantage of counseling available on

military bases and taking part in upcoming finan-cial awareness events, Thompson said, military families have other op-portunities to learn more about personal finance.

For example, she said, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Investor Education Foun-dation has a website — http://Saveandinvest.org.— that includes a finan-cial management readi-ness program designed for service members.

Thompson also recom-mended visiting http://www.militarysaves.org.for more information about Military Saves and to read about success stories related by people who have used the program to achieve their financial goals.

‘Military Saves Week’ highlights personal finance issues

Financial health also is key to force readiness because accumulating debt can jeopardize

a service member’s security clearance. DoD officials have found that junior enlisted service members and their families are more vulnerable to financial problems than other

members of the force.