Stars and Stripes 10.8.15

Volume 7, No. 42 ©SS 2015

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST STORIES & PHOTOS BY MATTHEW M. BURKE/STARS AND STRIPES

War is hell, even when you’re just training for the next contingency. Ask the Marines of 3rd Platoon, India Company, who spent six unforgiving months in Asia with killer snakes, mud, searing heat and snow during their Unit Deployment Program.

FIRST IN A THREE-PART SERIES PAGES 2-6

TODAY

Warfare training in the remote jungle on Okinawa

OCT. 16

A mock assault in chilly shadow of Mount Fuji

OCT. 23

Live-fire exercises near the DMZ in South Korea

ONLINE

Photos and videos of the 3rd Platoon’s deployment STRIPES.COM/GO/SURVIVAL

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COVER STORY

TESTS OF ENDURANCE Okinawa’s Jungle Warfare Center challenges even the strongest Marines

BY M ATTHEW M. BURKE

T

Stars and Stripes

CAMP GONSALVES, Okinawa he faded yellow sign read “Welcome to the Jungle” in large red block letters.

What was waiting beyond it was hardly welcoming — boot-sucking mud, an endless supply of water, foliage so dense you could barely see through it, poisonous snakes and lessons in running down the sides of cliffs.

India Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., arrived at the Jungle Warfare Training Center at Camp Gonsalves in February in Okinawa’s remote north for the start of their Unit Deployment Program.

The training regime, which brings stateside Marine units to Asia for six-month rotational deployments, slowed to a crawl during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but was jumpstarted again in 2012 as America plotted its exit strategy and began to shift its focus toward the Pacific.

For even the hardiest of Marines who endure and even embrace conditions that most people would find unbearable, the bush would be a worthy adversary.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the jungle,” Lance Cpl. Kyle Littell, 19, said on the eve of their arrival. “I think it’s going to be a good time.”

Learning from experience The 3-2 Marines are nicknamed the “Betio Bastards,” based on their heroism and tenacity against an entrenched Japanese enemy in the

PHOTOS

BY

M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes

Top: Lance Cpl. Khadeem Jeffers, a mortarman with India Company’s Weapons Platoon, breaks through dense jungle foliage at the end of the arduous E-Course on Okinawa in March. Above: Marines enter the murky jungle water.

Battle of Tarawa in World War II. Betio is the largest township of Kiribati’s capital city, South Tarawa, and the country’s main port.

The Marines reached the center in jungle fatigues and boonie hats, carrying heavy

packs. Before they head back to the states, they will learn how to move, fight and survive in the jungle, just as Marines did in World War II as they island-hopped the Pacific.

After the jungle, they will endure the cold, mountainous terrain of Camp Fuji in Japan and the start of summer in South Korea amid the thunder of the Rodriguez live-fire range a few miles from the world’s most militarized border.

Many in the 3-2 are relatively new to the Corps, with a handful of battlefield veterans — not much older but full of savvy — mixed in. Much as it did before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Corps relies on those experienced Marines to keep everyone around them focused and share knowledge gleaned in the desert to prepare this generation for the next contingency.

Cpl. Donald Horn — now a sergeant — is an experienced squad leader with combat deployments to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2013.

The Alabama native, who has “Expendable” tattooed on his arm, is 24.

“I guess my experience does help me out a little bit because I know what can happen,” he said.

“It’s hard to get these guys to stay in that mind-set because there’s not a big shiny thing hanging in front of them, like, ‘Hey, we’re going to Afghanistan in six months,’ but with [the Islamic State group] and everything going on, we could go anywhere at any time, so I try to keep them focused on ‘what if?’ because that way, they’ll be most prepared.

“Because it would be a really bad day to see somebody get killed or hurt knowing you could have prepared better for that situation.”

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PAGE 3

‘I have a purpose and a mission here’

BY M ATTHEW M. BURKE Stars and Stripes

When Lance Cpl. Andrew Luna put on his flak vest and Kevlar every morning at Okinawa’s Jungle Warfare Training Center, he became an emotionless man on a mission, a slave to Marine Corps doctrine.

His dream is to become an officer.

He doesn’t come from a military family. He said he joined the Corps because it looked “badass” in a TV ad — plain and simple.

He was within an arm’s length of graduating the Corps’ Officer Candidates School in 2011 when a fractured tibia sidelined him, he said. After a year of recovery, the dream did not fade; he just found a less-traveled path to achieve it.

Luna joined the Marines in 2013. Fast-forward nearly two years, and he is an enlisted grunt with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment’s India Company, 3rd Platoon, 1st Squad, with hopes of becoming a mustang — a commissioned officer who started out as an enlisted Marine.

“You can lead enlisted men a lot better knowing what they go through,” Luna said. “It’s a longer process, but you get

more respect and you rank up faster. So far, it’s been the best choice, no matter how difficult it sometimes gets.”

After shrugging off the sting of the pay cut, Luna is learning the ropes under seasoned enlisted leaders like Staff Sgt. Mark Mlachak, a former drill instructor; squad leader Sgt. Donald Horn; and team leader Cpl. Logan Hampton.

Because of his lofty goals, Luna takes things a lot more seriously than some in the platoon.

“Luna is really eager to learn,” Hampton said. “He’s constantly coming to me and asking me, like, ‘Hey, can you show me some of

this, show me some of that?’ ” When Luna and the 3-2 Marines arrived at the JWTC, there was no way to be prepared for the unforgiving terrain, with its thick undergrowth, mud and sheer rock faces, and the constant rain that plagued their weeklong training.

“The weather was awful, the terrain was horrendous, but it was pretty cool,” Luna said, flashing his Cheshire Cat smile.

“We learned a lot — survival, what to do in those environments, how to navigate. … It’s much different than what we’re used to. So this new environment training taught how different it would be to patrol,

Lance Cpl. Andrew Luna

FROM PAGE 2

In one training exercise, a squad set up security with rifles at the ready as they awaited medevac by two MH-60S helicopters. Horn was crouched over a casualty when he broke out of the training scenario to share some advice.

The Alabama native, who has “Expendable” tattooed on his arm, is 24.

“I guess my experience does help me out a little bit because I know what can happen,” he said.

“It’s hard to get these guys to stay in that mind-set because there’s not a big shiny thing hanging in front of them, like, ‘Hey, we’re going to Afghanistan in six months,’ but with [the Islamic State group] and everything going on, we could go anywhere at any time, so I try to keep them focused on ‘what if?’ because that way, they’ll be most prepared.

“Because it would be a really bad day to see somebody get killed or hurt knowing you could have prepared better for that situation.”

In one training exercise, a squad set up security with rifles at the ready as they awaited medevac by two MH-60S helicopters. Horn was

crouched over a casualty when he broke out of the training scenario to share some advice.

“Does everybody know how to do a [tracheotomy] with what you got on you?” he asked.

“Everybody get right here so you can see.

“The highest point of the Adam’s apple, go down one notch,” he said, sliding a finger down the throat of the victim, Lance Cpl. James Spooner.

“You’ll see that little gap. It’s got a thin membrane in it. Make a small incision,” he said, making a sawing motion with his finger.

“You need to leave that knife in there,” he said. “You need to have your [expletive] already ready so you’ll need some kind of tube.”

A Marine suggested a pen.

“That’s not enough air,” Horn said. “You want to breathe through an ink pen for two hours?”

Several Marines insisted it would work. That is where Horn’s experience showed.

“What’s everybody got on them?” he asked.

“Take his CamelBak hose. Cut it. Take the brown [expletive] off. Make your incision. Turn the knife. Start easing that tube in there.”

and how much you need to take into consideration of what’s around you.”

Luna found it exhilarating to take on the treacherous hasty rappels even though it was his first time barreling down the slick sides of steep cliffs without a safety harness.

“This was pretty much a new experience for us all,” he said.

Luna’s quiet determination was a boon for his team on the E-Course — the arduous final challenge at the center. His squad was one of the platoon’s top performers.

“That was mostly because everyone was completely working together, moving as fast as they can, listening to others who had a little bit more knowledge about that environment,” Luna said. vironm Lu For the getting he lance lan nce corporal, corp c po gett used ed to operating g in n th the he jjungle, ng adjusting usting his weapon to t be e ready rea ady while e laboring uphill in thick k mud, and an nd carrying a teammate homemade were on a home hom made stretcher st toughestt challenges. He said the toughe he plans to use those lesson lessons to become become a stronger leader.

“I have mission have purpose and a m n he said. here,” ”h burke.matt@stripes.com burke.matt@s tripes.com

Spooner tilted his head up, listening intently.

The New Jersey native is using this deployment to Okinawa to figure out whether he will stay in the Marine Corps along with Horn or leave in November.

“I think Cpl. Horn is probably one of the best squad leaders in the company” because of his downrange experience, he said later. “...

He knows the doctrine so well that it doesn’t matter what environment it is; it works. It’s really good having someone like that leading the squad.”

Unforgiving hell Less than a month after getting to Okinawa, the 3-2 headed a couple hours north of Camp Schwab into the remote recesses of the island.

The center and its vaunted final exam — called the E-Course, for endurance — are designed to test the wills of even the strongest of Marines. Established in 1958, it is the largest jungle training facility in the Defense Department and the only one in the Marine Corps.

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COVER STORY FROM PAGE 3

An unforgiving hell-scape of water, mud, sheer rock faces and poisonous Habu snakes, it is designed to prepare Marines and joint forces for combat in dense jungle. No showers, no electricity, a hole in the ground with a toilet seat on it, one change of uniform and one kitchenprepared meal per day.

The Marines usually sleep on the ground in bivy sacks, a snug sleeping bag that covers the face but isn’t always waterproof. Here, they felt blessed to have tents, although those hardly protected them from the rocky ground.

“I’ve heard it’s a lot of obstacles that involve crawling through mud and water,” said Littell, a skinny, baby-faced Marine who was homeschooled in New Hampshire. With a brother in the Army, he always knew he would join the military. He joined the Corps because it seemed more difficult and “better.”

As he progressed as a Marine and became more confident in his role in the squad, he let out more of his sense of humor. And no matter how difficult the training was, Littell put his head down and focused, quietly completing each task.

“I expect to learn a lot,” he said.

Here comes the rain Their first day in the jungle focused on a training class that went long into the night. The Marines learned how to call for fire, evacuate a casualty using a helicopter’s lift and read the jungle to track an enemy.

There would be no sitting on the sidelines for Horn’s squad. Littell jumped in to make sure he knew how to tie a casualty into a sled for evacuation. Others took careful notes.

Reveille followed before daybreak. Ominous droplets of rain pelted down as they moved into the lush undergrowth. Some lost their footing in the mud as they hiked downhill.

At a clearing, they learned how to set trip wires and make traps to catch prey. They also learned how to make a lean-to and build a shelter elevated off the ground.

Even though it was his first time in the Pacific, Horn didn’t shy away from his responsibilities. He began to show Littell and platoon corpsman Seaman Josh “Doc” Melancon how to tie certain knots.

“You’re like a never-ending source of knowledge,” Melancon told him. “He knows everything. Jack of all trades.”

Horn smiled.

The Marines moved to the next station, learning methods to capture rain and filter dirty or stagnant water. They moved again, learning several ways to start a fire.

Horn’s squad moved to the Habu station. An instructor pulled out a fat snake with tongs and pinned it to the ground. It bit at the blade of a machete placed by its mouth.

“The way you can tell he’s poisonous is, he’s got these little pouches on the back of his head,” an instructor shouted as the Marines crowded around.

They proceeded to cut the heads off a few snakes and passed them around. The Marines

M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes

A Marine from India Company performs a “hasty rappel” in the pouring rain at Okinawa’s Jungle Warfare Training Center in March. A hasty rappel is essentially running headlong down a steep rock face holding a single strand of rope, without a safety harness. took turns peeling the skin off and ripping out the guts.

“This right here is good,” the instructor said, holding up the wriggling mass of white meat.

“He’s got a lot of meat on him.”

The Marines were disappointed they didn’t get an early lunch.

Lightening the mood The Marines moved to a knot-tying class and were told their lives depended on their proficiency. The sky opened up and buckets of rain fell as the men were handed a rope and told to show what they had learned.

“Knot tying was a little easier than I thought,” Horn said. “You do it a few times, repetition, and it gets pretty easy to remember.”

Afterward, they were taken to a three-rope bridge and a two-rope bridge, both slick with rain. They had to go across a gorge on one, then return on the other. Their knots would be the only thing to catch them if they fell.

The heights were dizzying.

“You’re above the trees,” they shouted, laughing. “Hey, look down. It’s only 90 feet.”

The rain intensified as they arrived at their next station at the top of a rock face. Drenched, their misery was palpable. For Marines, the more miserable the situation, the crazier they act. Passing gas, belching, smoking, dip-spitting, cursing, complaining, laughing or slinging crude jokes at one another lightens the mood.

Then they snap back to business. They were ordered to the edge of the slick cliff and told to do a “hasty rappel” — lean forward and run down the side with no safety harness.

“No way this is safe,” one Marine said.

They began to hoot and holler as they strapped on Kevlar, pulled on gloves, grabbed a rope and took their turns.

The Marines taunted each other, like friends often will, when some fell and were slammed against the rock.

“Timber!” another yelled as a Marine fell.

Cold and wet The next couple of days brought more driving rain, mud-caked boots and drenched uniforms.

After classes explaining land navigation techniques, the Marines were split into small groups, taken to a starting point and told to find coordinates in the jungle.

Horn, Littell and Spooner were joined by two others. They could barely see each other as they trudged through dense foliage, stopping to refer to maps and compasses, constantly on lookout for Habu.

“I can’t imagine fighting in this,” Littell later said, referring to his Marine Corps forefathers during World War II. However, the New Hampshire native was clearly at home in the terrain. He dove in, easily traversing the peaks and valleys, disappearing into the thick undergrowth.

“Found it,” he shouted as he discovered one of the points. The others dubbed him “Ranger Rick.”

The Marines also had to navigate a water challenge and then complete a timed rope course to test their knot knowledge and prepare them for the E-Course the next day. Failure to do any of the obstacles meant running to a “pole of shame,” then re-entering the course.

Cpl. Michael Church fell from almost 5 meters from the top of a rope ladder. The sickening smack of his Kevlar hitting the ground echoed far and wide. Everyone stood up gasping, then grew quiet.

The Marine got up, then fell back down. A medic rushed to him, fearing a concussion.

Church would be fine, but they were all growing weary of the cold and wet. At night they changed into dry clothes. Their feet looked like prunes from wet boots. Their bodies were chafed raw. In the morning they put on their wet gear and headed back out.

Endurance test The JWTC E-Course is the Marines’ final test of jungle proficiency, a physical and mental challenge.

The course is 4 miles long, with more than 30 obstacles — including ropes, cargo nets and walls — strung out in the thick jungle.

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COVER STORY FROM PAGE 4

It can take hours to traverse the cliffs and hills, chest-deep mud and trenches of murky, stagnant water teeming with poisonous reptiles.

Since it was timed and scores would be compared with those of recent classes and other squads in the platoon, the jokes mostly ceased.

They rooted each other on as they tackled twoand three-strand rope bridges and steep hasty rappels.

They ran through the thick undergrowth and used a rope to scale a steep rock face.

At the next hasty, 1st Lt. Matthew Mannion took one look and laughed. It was nearly straight down. He paused for only a second before running down head first.

Nearly everyone fell, some harder than others.

Then it was back through the mud and undergrowth and another hasty rappel into a river. Littell came down with speed.

“Slow down,” Horn cautioned softly as he neared the bottom. Littell pulled back at the last second and avoided a fall. Horn patted him on the back like a proud father.

They ran 100 yards or so through the river to a tunnel that was almost completely underwater. A drop-off on the other side was meant to submerge them.

They wound farther and farther through the foliage and mud and over logs suspended from the trees by rope. Then they got to a 10foot wall. As the last man was over, they ran through mud and water to the next obstacle, whooping and hollering.

They ran up “Energizer Hill,” a winding trail through tall grass, saplings and trees, went down another hasty, up another hill. The men sucked in air.

Down another hasty; they were nearing the end. But the worst was saved for last.

The end With gunfire blaring over a loudspeaker, the Marines crawled low through trenches filled

PHOTOS

BY

M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes

Above: Lance Cpl. Eduardo Rodriguez, of India Company’s Weapons Platoon, surveys a maze of razor wire before it is his turn to dive in.

Below: Lance Cpl. James Spooner emerges from thick jungle undergrowth during a land navigation exercise at the Jungle Warfare Training Center. with mud, water and debris, their rifles at the ready.

“Come on Marines, move,” an instructor yelled from overhead. “Low profile. That means you will be on your belly the entire time.”

They got to a long concrete pool filled with murky water and covered with sheets of plywood. There was barely enough room above the water to breath. There were barriers in the water below the surface as well.

A good portion of the Marines looked at the obstacle in disbelief.

Those who tried to hold their breath and swim through didn’t fare very well. The plywood sheets bounced up and down with their panic as they nearly drowned. They came out the other side gasping. Those who used a combat glide technique of walking with their lips facing the plywood generally had more success.

The exhausted Marines filed through one by one. The sounds of coughing, choking and gagging were constant. As they got out, some

regurgitated the putrid water they had just ingested.

The next obstacle was mud- and water-filled trenches that funneled them to a pool covered in razor wire. They had to work together to get each man through, lifting the wire with their rifles. Nearly every group saw a grunt get tangled up in the wire.

At the end of that obstacle there was a box barely big enough for a Marine’s body to fit through lying down. They had to pull each man under the barbed wire and through it. If they disturbed the Plexiglas on top, they would have to start the obstacle over.

“Hold your breath and I’ll pull you out,” Lance Cpl. Romeo Sarmiento said. “Trust me.”

Next, they had to build a stretcher out of sticks and their blouses and carry one of their men up and down hills, through chest-deep slop dubbed “peanut butter mud.”

“I love being a Marine,” one said with a thick southern drawl as he neared the mud. It was infectious. “Oh yes sir, I love being a Marine,” another chimed in.

Assertive earlier in the week, Horn now took on a support role.

“Towards the end, I kind of just hung back and just let them go,” he said. “A few major friction points I had to interject myself, but it was nice to watch them just go. You watch a whole work-up and you get to see your guys go on their own. You get a feeling of satisfaction.”

When the Betio Bastards got out of the jungle, they were exhausted but jubilant.

After being blasted with a firehose, they stripped, dipped all of their clothes and gear in a water-and-bleach solution and got to take their first shower in a week. They took doxycycline pills to fight the bacteria.

There is a certain amount of pride in being a grunt and doing things that most would consider impossible or too miserable to contemplate.

They wear it like a badge of honor.

They had come, and they had conquered. burke.matt@stripes.com

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MILITARY

VA could get first permanent inspector general since 2013

BY H EATH DRUZIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — A year and a half into an ongoing veterans’ health care scandal, a Washington lawyer has been tapped to be the first permanent Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general since 2013.

On Friday, President Barack Obama nominated Michael Missal, a partner at the law firm K&L Gates who works on government enforcement, internal investigations and corporate governance. He also has participated in several highprofile government and private industry investigations.

“The president selected Missal because he has a distinguished legal background and a proven record of expertly leading prominent, sensitive and extensive investigations,” a White House official said on background.

If confirmed by the Senate, Missal, 59, would be the first permanent VA inspector general since George Opfer stepped down in December 2013.

The office has been without a permanent leader during the entire VA scandal that broke

Japan thanks US for support during tsunami Stars and Stripes

‘ The president selected Missal

because he has a distinguished legal background and a proven record of expertly leading prominent, sensitive and extensive investigations.

’

White House official

in April 2014 and cost former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki his job.

The VA Office of Inspector General has been under fire for what critics say is excessive secrecy and coziness with the VA, and for aiming investigations at whistleblowers rather than corrupt or incompetent VA officials. Acting VA Inspector General Richard Griffin resigned in July under intense pressure from members of Congress and whistleblowers.

Germaine Clarno, a social worker at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Illinois and cofounder of the whistleblower group VA Truth Tellers, said her group still gets bombarded with messages from VA employees who report wrongdoing, experience retaliation and contend they get little help

from the VA Office of Inspector General.

“It’s important that we have somebody who’s able to make some changes, including being transparent, independent and protect whistleblowers,” she said. “We have to make these changes because we’re not going to have world-class health care for veterans if the frontline employees can’t safely make disclosures.”

Missal was the lead counsel to the examiner in the WorldCom bankruptcy proceeding, led an independent review of journalistic issues at CBS and assisted in an ethics investigation of Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who resigned amid scandal.

Missal did not immediately return a message left at his office Monday.

Michael Missal Wisconsin’s senators, both of whom were angered by the VA Office of Inspector General’s failure to initially release a report related to painkillers at a Wisconsin VA medical center, where a veteran later died from an overdose, said the nomination could be a first step toward improved oversight.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, DWis., said a permanent inspector general is key to “stable leadership and oversight of the agency.”

“I now look forward to engaging in a careful review of Michael Missal’s qualifications for this important job,” Baldwin said in a released statement. “Permanent leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General is long overdue.” druzin.heath@stripes.com Twitter: @Druzin_Stripes

Japanese officials formally thanked the U.S. military for supporting survivors of the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. About 500 people from both nations attended the event Monday — which also marked the 61st anniversary of the Japan Self-Defense Forces — at the U.S. Capitol, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported Tuesday.

Kenichiro Sasae, Japan’s ambassador to the United States, presented a letter of appreciation to Capt. Thom Burke, former commander of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which served as a floating refueling station for Japanese and U.S. helicopters flying Operation Tomodachi relief missions to Japan’s battered east coast.

More than 15,000 people died in the disaster.

The Ronald Reagan — which returned to Japan last week to serve out of Yokosuka Naval Base as the centerpiece of U.S. Pacific forces — was one of the first Navy ships to respond to the disaster.

“We knew where we were going, and we knew what we were going to do and we were proud to support them,” Burke told NHK. news@stripes.com

Suicide rate among US servicemembers holds steady

BY H EATH DRUZIN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — Despite an ongoing Pentagon campaign to combat suicide, the numbers of troops who killed themselves held steady in the first half of 2015, with activeduty numbers down and reserve numbers up during the same period last year, according to the most recent Department of Defense statistics.

The Defense Department quarterly statistics released Sept. 30 show 219 troops took their lives in the first half of this year, compared to 223 in the first half of 2014. Military

suicides are down 8 percent from the first half of 2013, when there were 238.

For this year, the number of suicides breaks down to 130 among active-duty troops and 89 among the Reserves and National Guard. That represents a 9 percent drop for active-duty troops and a 10 percent rise for reserve troops over the same period last year.

Military suicide statistics often change as investigations into deaths are resolved.

These numbers reflect only “confirmed” cases.

In response to a Stars and Stripes query, the Pentagon released a statement saying

Get help in a crisis Servicemembers and families who need support can reach out to Military OneSource, which offers free, confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call 800-340-9647 or go to www.militaryonesource.mil. Veterans can call a confidential crisis line at 800-273-8255. Press 1 for immediate help.

that more troops have been seeking assistance, but it did not include statistics backing

that claim.

“DOD considers one loss to suicide too many, so we will continue our efforts,” the statement reads. “We’ve been encouraged to see increases in help-seeking behaviors. We will continue to do everything possible to prevent suicide in our military.”

The numbers have declined since 2012, when 525 troops took their lives. In 2013, 474 troops killed themselves, compared with 443 in 2014.

For several years, the military has been grappling with how to combat suicide, especially among the Guard and Reserves, whose rates

have run well above that of the general public. The Pentagon has aired public service ads, launched help lines and employed top-ranking leaders to remove the stigma of mental health disorders and asking for help.

What exactly is causing the high suicide rate is unclear.

Many troops have endured multiple combat deployments during the past 14 years of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but studies have been inconclusive about the effects of combat on the suicide rate. druzin.heath@stripes.com Twitter: @Druzin_Stripes

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MILITARY

Researchers: ‘Golden hour’ saved 359 lives Data show slight drop in Afghanistan deaths after military implemented rule

BY JENNIFER H. SVAN Stars and Stripes

An estimated 359 lives were saved in Afghanistan after the U.S. military sought to treat critically injured troops within the so-called “golden hour,” a study released Sept.

30 concluded.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the first of its kind to substantiate the effectiveness of getting critically injured servicemembers to appropriate care within 60 minutes, said lead author Russ Kotwal, a medical doctor and retired Army colonel.

Combing through years of medical records and flight data, researchers found that after implementation of the “golden hour” rule, about 6 percent fewer troops died before arriving at a military hospital. The decline occurred despite an increase in severity and complexity of battlefield wounds as the cause of injuries shifted from gunshots to explosives.

The report also found that more servicemembers returned to duty within 72 hours. After the rule was implemented, that rose from 33.5 percent to 47.3 percent.

The percentage of overall fatalities dropped from 13.7 percent to 7.6 percent.

A total of 21,089 U.S. military casualties were examined during the Afghanistan conflict from Sept. 11, 2001, to March 31, 2014, according to the report.

Given the nature of injuries in Afghanistan, early blood transfusions and initial treatment at field hospitals and by forward surgical teams also contributed to better survival rates, the study found.

The study “demonstrates the effectiveness of combining advanced trauma care capability with informed policy,” Todd Rasmussen, a doctor with the U.S. Combat Casualty Care Research Program, said in a commentary published with the study.

The U.S. military has made great strides in getting the wounded to definitive care more quickly.

Transport time shrunk from 10 hours in World War II to five hours in the Korean conflict to one hour in the Vietnam War, primarily owing to the use of helicopters, which had their operational debut in Korea.

The one-hour standard was implemented in Iraq. But Afghanistan, with its rugged terrain, posed more of a challenge to trauma crews.

On June 15, 2009, former Defense Secretary Robert

Given the nature of injuries in Afghanistan, early blood transfusions and initial treatment also contributed to better survival rates.

Stars and Stripes

An American is evacuated to a medevac helicopter after being injured in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, in 2011. A study released Sept. 30 appears to validate the effectiveness of the “golden hour.”

Gates ordered a standard of 60 minutes or less from call to arrival at a trauma center for the transport of critically injured troops in Afghanistan, cutting in half the previous goal of two hours.

Gates directed that more medical evacuation helicopters be assigned to Afghanistan and at more forward bases closer to troops in the field.

The study found that following Gates’ order, among 4,542 casualties with detailed data, the median transport time decreased from 90 minutes to 43 minutes. The number of air evacuation missions that achieved transport times under an hour jumped from 24.2 percent to 75.2 percent.

Transport times and fatality rates in Afghanistan were already beginning to fall prior to the “golden hour” standard, but the study noted a more rapid decline after its

implementation.

Using statistical modeling, they estimate 359 lives were potentially saved.

Other efforts reduced time between injury and treatment.

Medics trained in blood-transfusion protocols and critical care paramedics and nurses were assigned to flights more routinely, resulting in earlier availability of blood products and advanced care.

Small, mobile surgical teams were dispersed across the battlefield, bringing major surgical capability closer to the point of injury.

Critically injured troops who received early blood transfusions saw some of the best short-term survival rates in the study.

It found 6.8 percent of servicemembers who received a blood transfusion died while en route to care versus 51 percent who didn’t.

Hemorrhage is currently

the prevailing cause of combat death — and also one of the most survivable, Kotwal said.

“Increased availability of blood transfusions on evacuation platforms and quicker evacuation response allowed transfusions to be performed earlier en route and in the hospital, possibly enabling casualties to survive longer,” he said in an email.

But those gains came at a potential cost, Kotwal said.

One statistic that changed little after the mandate was the number of troops who later died of wounds, from 4.1 percent to 4.3 percent.

That suggests that rapid evacuation combined with earlier en route and facility-based care resulted in survival but with risk for surviving with long-term injuries or later death. svan.jennifer@stripes.com

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PACIFIC

Photos show no evidence of N. Korea launch, nuclear test

BY A SHLEY ROWLAND Stars and Stripes

SEOUL, South Korea — There is no evidence that North Korea is preparing for a rocket launch or nuclear test, despite rampant speculation that it might stage such an event to mark the birthday of its ruling party, a top official with a U.S. research institute said Monday.

Pyongyang has a history of staging provocations linked to major dates, and few are as big as the 70th anniversary of the Workers’ Party founding Saturday. South Korean President Park Geun-hye has warned the North of consequences if such tests are carried out in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

However, satellite imagery taken last month shows no preparations at key North Korean test sites, said Joel Wit, a former U.S. State Department official who manages 38 North, a North Korea-focused website maintained by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins Uni-

versity’s School of Advanced International Studies.

“I think the bottom line here is that all these reports about possible long-range rocket or nuclear tests on or before Oct. 10 are just all wrong; all speculation,” he told a news briefing in Washington that was reported Tuesday by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

“No evidence to support it whatsoever.

“I would even go as far to say that the North Koreans are probably having a lot of fun with their periodic interviews, talking about how it’s their right to launch a space-launch vehicle and explore space, and everyone runs off and writes a story about it as if it’s going to happen tomorrow and it isn’t,” he said.

There are no signs of an impending rocket or missile test, a spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday.

Satellite images taken Sept.

17 of the North’s Sohae satellite launching station showed no launch preparations or

significant activities at related facilities, including fuel and oxidizer storage buildings, that would be typical if a launch were looming, according to 38 North.

Images of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, taken a day later, showed new activity, including the presence of four large vehicles near a tunnel entrance. The purpose of that activity was unclear and could be related to anything from maintenance to nuclear test preparations, the website said.

Buildings under construction at a rocket test site are much larger than other buildings there, and could signal that the North is preparing to test a larger engine meant for bigger rockets with longer ranges, Wit said Monday, according to Yonhap. However, it would take time for the North to test such an engine, he said.

Stars and Stripes’ Yoo Kyong Chang contributed to this story. rowland.ashley@stripes.com

Courtesy of Airbus Defense & Space and 38 North

Satellite imagery of North Korea’s Sohae test site from Sept.

17 shows no evidence of preparations for an Oct. 10 launch, according to 38 North, a project of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

Wissler to lead Marine Corps Forces Command

BY M ATTHEW M. BURKE Stars and Stripes

Wissler

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Lt. Gen. John Wissler — the former top Marine official in Japan — has been tapped to take over Marine Corps Forces Command and Marine fleet operations in the Atlantic, filling the position vacated

last week by Gen. Robert Neller, the newly appointed commandant.

Wissler’s nomination to the influential post by President Barack Obama was announced Oct. 1 in a Defense Department statement. The unit is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Va.

Wissler handed over the reins of the III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces Japan to Lt. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson on Sept. 11 in front of columns of Marines and an enormous American flag unfurled on Camp Foster’s parade grounds.

Wissler, who took command of the Okinawa-based post in

July 2013, guided Marines in Japan through an uneasy period of North Korean provocations and Chinese intrusions.

He also oversaw humanitarian operations in the Philippines during Operation Damayan and Nepal during Operation Sahayogi Haat in May. burke.matt@stripes.com

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MILITARY

Mitigating factors could affect Bergdahl decision

BY NANCY MONTGOMERY Stars and Stripes

Five years of torment at the hands of what one witness called “psychopathic sadists” makes it likely that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would serve little if any jail time, military lawyers said, even if he were courtmartialed and found guilty of desertion and misconduct.

Testimony about Bergdahl’s horrific treatment by the Taliban-associated Haqqani network — as well as other evidence largely undisputed by prosecutors at his Article 32 probable-cause hearing on whether he should face court-martial — revealed significant mitigating factors, experts said. That evidence, if left unchallenged, would probably spare him confinement were he convicted, the lawyers said, and could replace court-martial with another disposition.

“It’s hard for me to imagine either a judge or a military panel sentencing him to any additional confinement with the facts of this case,” said Victor Hansen, a former Army lawyer who’s now an associate law professor at the New England School of Law. “From a fairness point, what more do we want to punish him for?”

On Monday, Lt. Col. Mark Visger, who presided over Bergdahl’s two-day hearing in San Antonio last month, provided his recommendation to Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the U.S. Forces Command. Abrams inherited convening authority in the case after Gen. Mark Milley, who in March charged Bergdahl, was promoted to Army chief of staff.

But the recommendation is just that; Abrams could disregard it. It’s also possible that prosecutors, who did not dispute evidence nor introduce aggravating evidence,

might do so if Abrams sends the case to court-martial.

Testimony at the preliminary hearing painted a sympathetic picture of Bergdahl, one at odds with public speculation on the case, including his motives for slipping away from his observation post in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009, his state of mind, his actions while in captivity and whether U.S. soldiers were killed searching for him.

The unusual charges against Bergdahl — desertion with the intent to shirk or avoid hazardous or important service, and misbehavior before the enemy that endangered troops who had to search for him — carry a maximum potential of life in prison along with dishonorable discharge. Maximum sentences under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are rarely levied, however, even in cases without the extensive mitigating circumstances of the Berdahl case.

‘Unrealistic idealist’ According to undisputed testimony, just weeks into his 2009 deployment to Afghanistan, then-Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl hatched a quixotic plan to alert the highest levels of command to what he considered serious leadership issues in his unit that were endangering troops. He would disappear from his outpost, creating a crisis reaching all the way to the Pentagon, run to the forward-operating base 19 miles away, and demand that a general officer hear him out.

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who did the “15-6” command investigation that led to the charges, described Bergdahl as an “unrealistic idealist” who often misperceived situations, including inflated views of his own abilities and the flaws of others and felt honor-

bound to bring his concerns about his command to light.

“He felt that it was his responsibility to intervene,” Dahl testified, no matter the repercussions.

Dahl testified that his investigation found no evidence that troops were killed during the search for Bergdahl and said it would be “inappropriate” to send him to jail.

Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban within hours after leaving post. For the next five years, he was beaten with hoses and chains, tied spreadeagled to a bed until his muscles atrophied, starved, humiliated and kept in a cage, according to testimony by Terrence Russell, an official with the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, a survival specialist who debriefed Bergdahl.

Russell, no stranger to harsh treatment, teared up recalling Bergdahl’s treatment.

Bergdahl, 29, sustained permanent disabilities in captivity, according to testimony of medical personnel.

“If we say Bergdahl is to blame for what happened to him — then what?” said Zachary Spilman, a former active-duty U.S. Marine lawyer who served in Afghanistan in 2010. “Any objective observer would say whatever Bergdahl did wrong, he has suffered enough.”

Army prosecutor Maj. Margaret Kurz agreed, saying at the hearing: “Indeed, he has suffered greatly.” But if someone robbed a bank, crashed the getaway vehicle and ended up an amputee, she said, he would be prosecuted for bank robbery.

“He’s not allowed to say, ‘I shouldn’t be punished,’ ” Kurz said.

Mitigating evidence Bergdahl was discharged from initial training in the

Coast Guard for depression and failure to adapt, and had required a waiver to enlist in the Army in 2008, when the service had lowered its standards, according to his defense lawyer, Eugene Fidell.

He was a stellar soldier, one of Bergdahl’s sergeants testified, but with such obvious emotional difficulties that the sergeant had asked the company first sergeant to intercede. The first sergeants’ creed vows that he or she will “dedicate my time and energy to (soldiers’) needs; their health, morale, discipline and welfare.”

But the first sergeant ignored the lower-ranking sergeant, saying that his opinions were worthless, according to testimony.

Any failures by Bergdahl’s chain of command would likely be mitigating evidence, experts said, that would reduce Bergdahl’s culpability.

“I wouldn’t want to be the prosecutor,” Spilman said. “I wouldn’t want to have to prove this case.”

Yet the charges against Bergdahl appear to be correct under the law, a retired military official said.

“If you believe this is what he did and why he did it, the charges fit the facts. Just saying, ‘He’s a screwball,’ is not good enough,” the official said. “The foreseeable consequences of his actions was putting his unit in danger.

There has to be some kind of accountability.”

Once the Army had the facts from Bergdahl’s voluntary interview with Dahl, it had little choice but to charge Bergdahl, in part for the optics, the official said.

“It’s a commander exercising the prerogative to put a label on behavior and communicate to the entire force that this is abhorrent,” the official said. “Messaging is

AP

A frame grab from a video released by the Taliban shows Bowe Bergdahl, left.

Captured in 2009, Bergdahl was released by the Taliban in May 2014. important.”

That argument was not universally accepted.

“What message do you send to the other troops? ‘Don’t be delusional?’ ” Hansen said.

“And the capture is a message in itself. The Taliban did that for us. Message received.”

Taking the case to courtmartial, Hansen said, expending the time and resources, “would be really stupid.”

Alternative endings Several military lawyers suggested that a reasonable outcome would be for Bergdahl’s defense to request a socalled Chapter 10 discharge — an other-than-honorable discharge in lieu of courtmartial — and for the Army to grant it. That would spare Bergdahl any possibility of confinement, criminal record or dishonorable discharge denying him a medical disability and other benefits.

But a Chapter 10 discharge would jeopardize VA benefits for Bergdahl, experts said. Fidell maintains that Bergdahl should be medically retired with an honorable discharge.

His client could reasonably be held responsible for, at most, being absent without leave for one day.

The minute he was taken captive, Fidell said, Bergdahl became a kidnapping victim. montgomery.nancy@stripes.com

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Friday, October 9, 2015

VETERANS

VA art targeted by criticism in Congress

BY TRAVIS J. TRITTEN Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs ran its troubled Denver hospital project $625 million into the red, but it also might have made questionable art purchases, according to one congressman.

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, went to the House floor on Sept. 30 with poster displays of a rock sculpture and other installations that account for $6.34 million in recent art and consulting expenses at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.

The massive rock at the mental health center in Palo Alto cost $483,000 and is part of a $1.3 million renovated courtyard. Cut into cubes with a laser and pieced together, the sculpture evokes “a sense of transformation, rebuilding, and self-investigation,” according to the designers.

Miller offered a different perspective, citing the rock as part of a pattern of “wanton and abusive spending practices” by the agency. He also said the agency’s spending habits continue to be a problem even as Congress was faced with cleaning up the fallout from the mismanaged hospital project in Colorado on Sept. 30, allowing the $625 million in new spending.

“These projects include an art installation on the side of a parking garage that displays quotes by Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt in, wait for it … in Morse code that cost

C-SPAN

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, challenged Department of Veterans Affairs spending by using examples of public artwork at its medical centers. Shown in this screenshot from C-SPAN is “Aggregate,” by Phillip K. Smith, a sculpture at the Palo Alto Medical Center that cost about $483,000. $285,000. It actually lights up,” Miller said.

The bill to raise the VA spending limit on the massively over budget Denver hospital, despite grumbling among lawmakers, passed easily. A House vote on Sept. 30 was nearly unanimous following a similar Senate vote last month because the legislation also authorizes continued spending on a raft of critical VA programs that few lawmakers want to see expire.

It also puts the Army Corps of Engineers in charge of any VA construction projects estimated at more than $100

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million as a way to avoid the years of mismanagement and shifting plans that plagued the Denver hospital. The project was originally conceived in the late 1990s and later estimated to cost $328 million, but has since ballooned to nearly $1.7 billion.

Miller, who voted for the bill, said the agency continues to be irresponsible with its use of money, including $33.4 million through the third quarter of this fiscal year on conferences for staff.

“For example, as I address this House this afternoon, VA

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officials from across the country have gathered 40 miles away in Leesburg (Va.) for a leadership conference that is costing the department $1 million,” he said.

The VA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Oct. 1 on the criticism from the House floor over spending on art and conferences. In a statement released after the vote, the agency said the legislation prevents a shutdown of the construction site and gives needed budget flexibility to complete the project.

“We know we made mistakes in the development of this medical center, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to complete the state-of-the-art facility for Colorado Veterans and doing so while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” spokeswoman Victoria Dillon wrote in the statement.

The VA also received a stinging rebuke for spending on staff relocation. On Sept. 28, the VA inspector general found two senior executives misused their positions to improperly reap hundreds of thousands of dollars when they moved to new positions, and that the agency used transfers to cir-

cumvent a freeze on raises.

The agency has proposed shifting about $200 million from its medical services budget and other construction to finish the hospital, now widely considered the biggest construction failure in the agency’s history.

“It is simply beyond me why VA would choose to pay to complete the Denver project by cutting medical services and medical facility dollars but not the exorbitant conference spending, or bloated relocation expenses or art,” Miller said.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said she reluctantly supported the bill but was concerned about where the VA will get the additional money for the project, despite assurances the agency would minimize any impact on veterans’ health care.

“Now, we all believe that veterans everywhere, including in Denver, should have access to the best health care possible, but the funds for the Denver project should not come at the expense of veterans in Nevada and in other parts of the country,” she said. tritten.travis@stripes.com Twitter: @Travis_Tritten

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