THE DROPZONE
U.S. Government Destroying Chemical Weapons pg. 6 1
Table of Contents Introducing Cadet Eberhart - Page 4-5 U.S. Destruction of Chemical Weapons‌. Page 6-9
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Table of Contents Nursing in the United States Air Force - Page 10
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Introducing Cadet Eberhart
My name is Eric Eberhart and I am a junior at the College of Charleston, majoring in chemistry. I am also apart of Air Force ROTC Detachment 772 at Charleston Southern University. I was born in 1992 in Enid, Oklahoma, and I have two brothers. My oldest brother, Nick, attends Charleston Southern and is majoring in biology. He lives with his wife Kirsten in North Charleston, South Carolina. My younger brother lives with my parents in Mascoutah, Illinois and is a senior at Mascoutah High School. He plans on joining the marines when he graduates from high school. Once I graduate from the College of Charleston I plan on being apart of the United States Air Force, hopefully as a pilot. My desire to be in the Air Force has been apart of me since I was little. My dad is in the Air Force and has been my whole life. I have grown up living the military life style and I have loved every moment of it. Even though I have had to move a lot growing up, and have had to make new friends every couple of years, it has helped me grow as a person. I am very patriotic and passionate about my country, and my inspiration comes from my dad. I believe that he and my mom have raised me and shaped me to be a man who understands the importance of defending this great
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but that I wanted to become an officer. I learned how to be a leader, how to be a better citizen, and many other things that have shaped me into who I am today. The other form of support that I have in my life comes from my girlfriend Amanda. She graduated from West Ashley High School and attends College of Charleston as well. We have been dating since January and my life has changed dramatically since I have known her. She has shown me endless love and support and I cannot thank her enough for it. Above all, I would not be who I am today if not for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am blessed beyond what words can describe, and because of Him I can have a relationship with a God who loves me. Without Him I am lost and my future and career means nothing. He has forgiven me and set me free for eternity. One day, I hope to pass on to my children what it means to live a life that honors Him.
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U.S. Taking Initiative in Order to Destroy Chemical Weapons
By: Rory Benz 6
Recently, Syria has been accused, and found guilty of using chemical weapons on its own citizens. The first instance occurred earlier this year in early March. This crime took place right outside of Aleppo, Syria in a small town called Khan al-Assal. Since this first attack there has been five more following. The man in charge of these attacks is Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria. Once these attacks became know worldwide the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met and discussed what actions should take place to ensure safety as well as discipline between Bashar and his regime. Since the attacks the UNSC has taken steps to make sure all members of the UNSC would not aid Syria. Members of the UN Security Council have attempted to pass a resolution condemning the violence against civilians in Syria; the resolution called for an end to the repression and would have laid the foundation for imposing sanctions against the Syrian regime. However, in a rare double-veto, Russia and China blocked the resolution. A few months later, Russia and China blocked another resolution by the Arab League calling for an end to v iolence and laying out a solution for the crisis. However, just because the UNSC and Arab League were unsuccessful in implementing sanctions against Syria, individual states are able to apply whatever sanctions they wished. The United States is one actor that has applied sanctions. There are currently three types of sanctions that the U.S. government has imposed against Syria. These sanctions had previously been put into action but have now been extended due to Bashar’s use of chemical weapons. The most comprehensive sanction, called the Syria Accountability Act (SAA) of 2004, prohibits the export of most goods containing more than 10% U.S.-manufactured component parts to Syria. Another sanction, resulting from the USA Patriot Act, was levied specifically against the Commercial Bank of Syria in 2006. Because the bank was known to aid in the distribution of weapons of mass destruction. The third type of sanction contains many Executive Orders f rom the President that specifically deny certain Syrian citizens and entities access to the U.S. financial system due to their participation
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participation in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, association with Al Qaida, the Taliban or Osama bin Laden; or destabilizing activities in Iraq and Lebanon. Since these sanctions took place, Syria has come a long way with their relations to the rest of the world. Syria was caught with stockpiles of chemical weapons. When this was discovered the U.S almost immediately took action. President Obama said “The solution involving the U.S., Russian and Syrian governments would put Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical arsenal under international control – and avoid a U.S. air strike.” Although not much progress has taken place to get rid of these chemical weapons, a recent proposal by the U.S seems likely that progress will be made, starting with destroying the chemical weapons. “The Obama administration is offering to destroy some of Syria’s deadliest chemical weapons in international waters aboard a nearly 700foot, U.S. government-owned ship, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.” (Baldor) This plan has still not been approved but we will likely know within the next couple of weeks if this plan is going to continue. This idea would involve destroying the weapons, likely aboard the MV Cape Ray in the Mediterranean Sea, with U.S. Navy warships patrolling
President of Syria Bashar Al- Assad in the center wearing black.
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nearby. The MV Cape Ray is a Virginia-based ship owned by the Transportation Department. “It would host the destruction of some of the deadliest of Syria’s chemical materials using a process developed by the Pentagon but never employed in an actual operation.The U.S. would use what it calls a mobile Field Deployable Hydrolysis System to neutralize the chemical material, making it unusable as weapons. The system was developed by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which is an arm of the Pentagon. The titanium reactor uses heated water and other chemicals to make the chemical warfare material inert.” (Baldor) By destroying the weapons in international water, this avoids any problems that might occur from disposing the material on another nations soil. As of Wednesday, November 27, 2013, U.S. officials are trying to determine how the chemical weapons will be transferred from Syria to the U.S. ships. The U.S. is assuming they will receive help from other foreign countries in this assignment.
The man responsible for ordering chemical weapons strikes against his own people. (President Bashar al-Assad)
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Nursing in the United States Air Force By: Cadet Hahn
“The
trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest…” a quote by William Osler greatly defines the essence of nursing. Nurses provide care to patients in a multitude of ways: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Nurses give their patients the medications they need to heal; sometimes they are the only form of support a patient has, and sometimes they are the person who advocates for the patient’s religious beliefs and moral conclusions to prevent stress from taking its toll on the patient’s body. This is true of the nurses that care for our civilian friends as well as the military nurses who care for our fellow Airmen. Air Force nurses go through slightly different training than nurses in the civilian sector do. Each nurse must complete their Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree and then once commissioned as a new graduate, they go through an 11 week course- the Nurse Transition Program. The Nurse Transition Program helps new graduate nurses to hone their skills, reorient to the clinical setting, and learn the differences between civilian hospitals and military hospitals. They then go on to their permanent duty station and are on orientation there as long as is mandated for that particular facility. The Air Force wants its nurses to be the most capable they can be!
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Opportunities for nurses in the Air Force are vast and include every opportunity the civilian sector has to offer plus more! As a new graduate, nurses have only two choices to pick from: medical-surgical or labor and delivery. This process is so that new graduates can learn and become proficient in their skills before specializing if they want to. Once the new graduate nurse has chosen their first path in nursing, they must stick with that specialty for three years. After those three years, they have the choice to continue on in that area of practice or continue on to a different specialty which may require a fellowship. The nurse would then apply for the fellowship and wait to find out if they are chosen. Fellowships are for intensive care, emergent care and operating room nurses, as well as a few other specialties. Nurses may also choose to go back to school and become a Nurse Practitioner or a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. Yet another opportunity for nurses is the Flight Nurse path. Nurses who want to go the Flight Nurse path would attend Flight Nurse School and SERE training. They are able to perform in overseas missions in transporting critical patients from violent, war-torn areas to areas that have hospitals for the higher level of care that they need. Nurses in the Air Force have two jobs- nurse and officer. As a new nurse, your job is to learn your skills and perfect them. As a new officer, your job is to take on the projects and positions given to you and learn leadership. As a nursing student myself, I have seen what nurses do. They comfort the anxious, protect those who are unable to speak for themselves, and above all serve their patients to the best of their abilities. I am not a nurse yet, but these are qualities that I too want to convey to my patients in the future. It is a humbling job and I for one am glad that nurses exist. As for my future in nursing and the Air Force see it as a blessing to get to serve those who fight for our freedom every day.
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Integrity First Service Before Self Excellence in All We Do
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