Gates questions combat training by contractors

Has anything not been "outsource" in Iraq to contractors?

Gates questions combat training by contractors

By Erica Werner - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 21, 2008 20:02:22 EDT

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to know why his military uses private contractors for combat and security training, and how widespread the practice is.

He’s asking for answers from the Pentagon’s top military officer, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen.

“In my mind, the fundamental question that remains unanswered is this: Why have we come to rely on private contractors to provide combat or combat-related security training for our forces?” Gates wrote in a memo to Mullen that was released Monday to The Associated Press by the office of Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

“Further, are we comfortable with this practice, and do we fully understand the implications in terms of quality, responsiveness and sustainability?”

Gates’ memo came after Webb raised concerns about the role of private contractors and specifically Blackwater Worldwide, which opened a new counterterrorism training center in San Diego last month over the opposition of city officials.

Webb had been blocking Senate consideration of four civilian Defense Department nominees while waiting for answers. On Monday, Webb told Gates he was lifting his opposition to the nominees.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/ap_contractors_gates_072108/

As for Blackwater, go here to read how they are getting out of this kind of business and then you won't have to wonder why they are.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Blackwater plans shift from security business
Blackwater plans shift from security businessBy Matt Apuzzo and Mike Baker - The Associated PressPosted : Monday Jul 21, 2008 17:54:50 EDTMOYOCK, N.C. — Blackwater Worldwide executives said Monday that they plan to shift away from the lucrative security contracting business because government scrutiny and negative media attention have made the business too costly.“The experience we’ve had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk,” company founder and CEO Erik Prince told The Associated Press during a daylong visit to the company’s North Carolina compound.go here for morehttp://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/ap_blackwater_072108/

Homeless veterans important issue to Adm. Mike Mullen

Chairman Calls Homeless Veterans ‘Hugely Important Issue’

By AmericasNewsToday.Org staff



Calling the issue "hugely important," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today said the nation must fully integrate efforts to help homeless veterans.

"How do we reach out to them, and how do we create opportunities?" Navy Adm. Mike Mullen asked an audience of about 200 members of various organizations that make up the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans in a speech at the Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C.

"I consider [homeless veterans] to be a hugely important issue," Mullen said. "We need to do everything we can, as a country, to fully integrate our efforts to understand and help those – our veterans – who have given so much."

The coalition, which is holding its annual convention this week, is dedicated to strengthening and increasing funding for homeless veteran assistance programs, ranging from employment to housing issues. It provides information about program development and administration, as well as governance and funding guidance to all of the nation’s homeless veteran service providers, according to the organization’s Web site.

Mullen shared his appreciation for the coalition and its work.

"I am incredibly grateful for what you do and keeping [homeless veteran] issues bubbling; not just based on homeless veterans of [the war on terror], but of the entire population and past wars," he said.
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Adm. Mike Mullen to speak at homeless veterans conference

National Coalition for Homeless Veterans Holds Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., June 23-25
Posted : Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:26:32 GMT
Author : National Coalition For Homeless Veterans





WASHINGTON, June 19 NCHV-conference-DC

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) will hold its annual conference June 23-25 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C. Representatives of more than 300 community service providers, government agencies and businesses will attend the three-day training event.

There has been a decrease in the number of homeless veterans each night on the streets of America, according to VA estimates, from nearly 300,000 in 2003 to 154,000 in 2007. VA officials credit much of that decrease to the agency's partnership with community-based organizations that help homeless veterans, approximately 280 of which are NCHV members.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen will address the attendees during the event's opening session Monday, June 23. During the last several years the Department of Defense has been exploring ways to improve separation counseling for service members to ease their transition back to civilian life and reduce the hardships some will encounter after exposure to combat.

Mullen will be joined by several notable speakers during the program. Representatives Bob Filner (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and Al Green (D-TX), sponsor of the Homes for Heroes Act in the House, will also speak during the opening session, as will Department of Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary Gordon Mansfield.

Peter Dougherty, VA Director of Homeless Programs, will participate in a lively public policy review Monday afternoon that will also feature Mark Johnston, Deputy Assistant Secretary for HUD's Office of Special Populations and one of the original architects of the HUD-VA Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH). Topics that will be covered include the utilization of surplus VA property for transitional and permanent housing projects; funding of services for low-income and disabled veterans in permanent housing; and possible expansion of the two federal grant programs in place to provide assistance to America's homeless veterans.

Workshops will focus on providing supportive services to families of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan); early interventions to help young combat veterans reduce their risk of homelessness; developing homeless courts to help clients overcome legal barriers to housing and employment; and providing effective employment preparation and placement services to homeless veterans.

On Tuesday evening, June 24, the Grand Hyatt will host the Annual NCHV Awards Banquet featuring keynote speaker Urban Miyaers of San Diego, a blind veteran who provides guidance and consultation for disabled veterans who are self-employed.

As recently as the mid 1980s there were no federal veteran-specific programs dedicated to serving homeless veterans. Service providers, who realized a large percentage of their homeless clients were veterans, organized the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans in 1990 to raise public awareness of the issue, and to advocate for more federal assistance to help veterans who were unable to access assistance through mainstream programs. Today, the VA and its community partners offer assistance to more than 250,000 homeless veterans and their families each year.




SOURCE National Coalition For Homeless Veterans

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/national-coalition-for-homeless-veterans,439963.shtml

Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned of the toll the Iraq war could take on the military.

Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq

By THOM SHANKER
Published: April 6, 2008
WASHINGTON — Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond.
Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.

The stress of long and multiple deployments to Iraq is just one of the concerns being voiced by senior military officers in Washington as Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior Iraq commander, prepares to tell Congress this week that he is not ready to endorse any drawdowns beyond those already scheduled through July.

President Bush has signaled that he will endorse General Petraeus’s recommendation, a decision that will leave close to 140,000 American troops in Iraq at least through the summer. But in a meeting with Mr. Bush late last month in advance of General Petraeus’s testimony, the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed deep concern about stress on the force, senior Defense Department and military officials said.
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Linked from ICasualties.org

Again redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50%.

Troops in Hawaii Tell Adm. Mullen what's on their minds

Hawaii troops grill Mullen

The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted : Thursday Feb 21, 2008 10:13:23 EST

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — The top-ranking official in the U.S. military held an "all hands call" at the Hickam officers club Wednesday to take service members' questions, and he got an earful.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is visiting commanders here and making a stop at Tripler Army Medical Center to see recovering troops before heading to Australia.

Many of the questions from the approximately 200 service members in attendance Wednesday had to do with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mullen was asked about short deployment notices for sailors who deploy as individual augmentees to other units, and regulations against Marines using after-market gear in place of items the Corps can't deliver on time.

A Hawaii Marine with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment asked why some deployed Marines are stuck with older M16 rifles, while officers are issued new M4 carbines.

"Marines are stuck with what's left over," the Marine said.

Mullen replied, "That's a great question, and I also got this question yesterday at [Camp] Pendleton. I haven't got a good answer yet, but I'll get you one, and I'll get this question, quite frankly, very quickly to the commandant."

A soldier asked about private contractors who are making six-figure salaries in a combat zone, and the disparity in pay received by U.S. service members.

Mullen said re-enlistment money available to the Army is hundreds of millions of dollars more than it was just a few years ago.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/gns_mullenhawaii_080221/

Thus proving what we talk about, they talk about.

Adm. Michael Mullen honest about deployments

Mullen: Army must return to 12-month tours

By Anne Flaherty - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 7, 2008 5:44:07 EST

WASHINGTON — The top uniformed military officer on Wednesday described a tired U.S. military force, worn thin by operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and unlikely to come home in large numbers anytime soon.

The assessment comes as President Bush decides whether to continue troop reductions in Iraq — possibly endangering fragile security gains made in recent months — or not, and risk straining ground forces further.

“The well is deep, but it is not infinite,” Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We must get Army deployments down to 12 months as soon as possible. People are tired.”

Mullen’s stern warning swiftly became political fodder for anti-war Democrats, who want legislation requiring that troops start coming home from Iraq immediately. Democrats also want legislation that would require soldiers and Marines spend more time at home between combat tours. The Pentagon objects to both proposals, contending it would tie the hands of military commanders.

The leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said Mullen’s testimony “confirms our warning that the war in Iraq has seriously undermined our nation’s military strength and readiness, and therefore our national security.”
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_mullen_080206a/