[army] Digest (08/13 15:00) (#1998-26)
Christian Wilson
(#1998-26) - Topics This Issue:
1) Deadline looms to take surgical technology exam
2) Missile center wins Army quality research award
3) Installation restores Black artist's building mural
4) Food service competition evaluators receive orientation
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Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 14:33:11 -0700
From: VNIS List Manager
Subject: Deadline looms to take surgical technology exam
Deadline looms to take surgical technology exam
FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, (Army News Service, Aug. 12, 1998) --
If you are a graduate of the U.S. Army Operating Room Specialist course,
you will not be eligible to take the surgical technology certification
exam after March 1, 2000. After that date, only graduates of accredited
surgical technology programs will be eligible to take the exam.
If the Army program is granted accreditation in 1999, only those
individuals who graduate after the date the program is officially
accredited will be eligible to take the certification exam after March 1.
For information about the exam, contact the Liaison Council on
Certification for the Surgical Technologist at 1-800-707-0057. You may
also contact the Association of Surgical Technologists at 1-800-637-7433
or on the Web at http://www.ast.org.
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Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 14:33:11 -0700
From: VNIS List Manager
Subject: Missile center wins Army quality research award
Missile center wins Army quality research award
by Skip Vaughn
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., (Army News Service, Aug. 12, 1998) --
The Missile Research Development and Engineering Center here has won the
Quality Awards for Small Business Innovation Research award for the third
time in the last five years.
"Since the Army only gives five of these a year, I'm real tickled that the
Missile RDEC was picked to receive one of these awards," Buddy Thomas,
SBIR program coordinator in the center's Technology Integration Office,
said. The center's winning project was associated with smart sensor suite.
The Army began giving the research awards in 1994 to recognize top quality
Army SBIR Phase II projects for their technical achievement, contribution
to the Army and dual-use commercialization potential. The research center
won in 1995, 1997 and the 1998 award presented July 13 in Washington, D.C.
For the future battlefield, new sensor fusion algorithms are needed which
can adapt in real-time to battlefield situations -- such as smoke, dust
and jamming -- when one or more sensors malfunction. Physical Optics
Corporation has integrated fuzzy logic and neural networks in a way that
dynamically change network structures to weed out the effects of
battlefield sensors which are malfunctioning due to external factors.
"There are a number of places where we can use it currently," B.H.
Roberts, SBIR Phase II technical monitor in the Software Engineering
Directorate, said of this technology. "When we've gone out to the current
seminars, we found that this methodology is being accepted more and more."
Honorees for the quality award included Thomas, Roberts, Dr. William
McCorkle, Dr. Tomasz Jannson and T. Albert DeBacker. McCorkle is
director of the Missile RDEC. Jannson and DeBacker work for Physical
Optics Corporation, the project contractor.
Congress started the Small Business Innovation Research program in 1982 to
increase small business innovation in federal research and development.
Successful Army SBIR research efforts move through three phases: Phase I,
feasibility study, which lasts up to six months with funding up to $70,000
with a $50,000 option available; Phase II, research and development, lasts
up to two years with funding up to $730,000; Phase III, commercialization,
funding from private sector or non-SBIR government sources; there is no
SBIR funding for this phase.
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Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 14:33:11 -0700
From: VNIS List Manager
Subject: Installation restores Black artist's building mural
Installation restores Black artist's building mural
by Jason Baldwin
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo., (Army News Service, Aug. 12, 1998) --
For nearly 60 years, the identity of the artist responsible for a mural on
a building here has remained a mystery. The wooden frame building, a relic
from Fort Leonard Wood's earliest days, served as the black officers' club
when segregation was still the norm in the Army.
Ever since that time it has housed a mural depicting a black couple having
a picnic in an idyllic setting. The two are seated under a tree, enjoying
a basket of fruit while the man plays a banjo.
A new piece to the puzzle came with the mural's restoration in 1995, as
most of the signature and the date were blurred. Only the last few letters
of the artist's name ("ntee") as well as his rank -- Staff Sgt. -- were
legible.
"We had no idea who this was," Dr. Richard Edging, post cultural resources
manager for the natural resource branch of the Department of Public Works
said. Edging has worked intensively with Dr. Steve Smith, a University of
South Carolina-Columbia research archaeologist charged with assembling a
report on the historic nature of the building.
"In the lower right corner, it looks like people had been trying to find
the name and smudged it," Smith said.
Smith began exhaustive research, scouring military records to no avail.
However, he said, the real break came when he checked an index of black
artists, discovering an artist named Samuel A. Countee, who was known for
his art in the Northeast.
"I was pounding my head against the wall, saying `How do I figure out who
this artist is?' And then I found the painting," Smith said. He continued,
saying a reproduction of one of Countee's paintings, "Little Brown Boy"
had been published in an art book.
"The excitement built when I saw the signature on that painting," Smith
said. He was fairly certain at that point that Countee was his man.
"Steve called me on the phone and said `I think we have our guy,'" Edging
said. From that point, Smith began what Edging called "a wonderful example
of research," finding Countee's obituary in the New York Times' index.
Smith said the piece mentioned that Countee had been married. That clue
led him to a phone listing for a "Mary Countee." He called the number,
only to find that she had remarried and died. Smith said her husband was
more than helpful, directing him to Countee's brother and sister, as well
as his niece, who are all still living.
"His brother confirmed that he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood. It was
really exciting," Smith said.
Smith said Countee was a Harmon Foundation Scholar in the 1930s, and
through scholarships, attended Bishop College in Texas. He graduated with
an associate's degree and then went on to study at the Fine Arts School of
Boston. Countee was also an artist-in-residence at the Boston Museum.
Smith said that while Countee has a large body of work, he has never
really received any sort of recognition for it.
"This [find] makes it [the research] worthwhile. He has not been
recognized and he could finally get the recognition he deserves because of
it," Smith said.
Edging agreed, saying Countee's name adds more to the painting than just a
signature.
"It puts more to the painting and the history connected to it. It gives
everyone the idea that it wasn't just some staff sergeant that just blew
through here and took a couple of art courses," he said.
Edging added that the building has been added to the National Register of
Historic Places, not only because of the painting and the historic
relevance of the building, but because of the stonework around it. He said
that he plans to re-register the building, as Countee's name allows
another mention -- one for historic black artists and art history itself.
"There weren't a lot of them around, and this is the finishing touch."
Edging said. Smith is currently adding a chapter on Countee's life to his
report on the building, which he said should be published by the end of
August.
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Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 14:33:11 -0700
From: VNIS List Manager
Subject: Food service competition evaluators receive orientation
Food service competition evaluators receive orientation
by Jim Bolton
FORT LEE, Va., (Army News Service Aug. 13, 1998) -- The quest for
excellence begins now. Fifteen evaluators were at Fort Lee in mid-July for
orientation preparing them in finding dining facilities worldwide
deserving the distinction of being winners of the Philip A. Connelly Award
for Excellence in Food Service.
Evaluators will be traveling to 40 active Army, Reserve and National Guard
installation dining facilities beginning in September. They will be
judging five different categories -- Active Army Small Dining Facilities
(serving 200 or less soldiers per meal), Active Army Large Dining
Facilities (serving more than 200 soldiers per meal), Active Army Field
Kitchen (food service operations in field environments), Army Reserve, and
National Guard.
The evaluators will be taking a close look at overall dining facility
operations, food preparation and presentation, and sanitation, among other
concentrations.
Of the 40 dining facility finalists under the microscope, only 10 will
receive honors -- winners and runners-up. Evaluations will be complete in
December. Department of the Army officials are slated to officially
announce the winners in February 1999.
The competition culminates in a prestigious awards ceremony, in which
winners receive a silver bowl and runners-up a plaque signifying their
accomplishments. The ceremony will take place in San Diego, Calif., in
March 1999.
Korean Conflict veteran John Breslin is anxiously looking forward to
making his whirlwind journey evaluating the Army's finest dining
facilities. For Breslin, a food service consultant for restaurants and
hospitals and International Food Service Executives Association member,
this is his second tour as a Connelly evaluator.
Drawing on his 28 years of experience in hospital food service, Breslin
will be evaluating active Army field dining operations. On one leg of his
journey he will witness first hand how Army cooks are taking care of
soldiers in Bosnia.
Aside from his tenure in Korea from 1952 - 1953, this will be Breslin's
first opportunity to see how soldiers work under extreme field conditions.
"I'm excited about going," he said. "I like to make myself available to be
of service to soldiers. It's very enjoyable meeting young soldiers; I like
to inspire them."
He hopes, while traveling, to stress continuing individual education
because "not everyone will make the military a career," Breslin said.
Five of the evaluators are with the IFSEA, the organization which
co-sponsors the Department of the Army competition with the Army Center of
Excellence-Subsistence headquartered at Fort Lee. IFSEA is a professional
civilian organization comprised of management executives from all aspects
of food service, to include certified chefs, hotel and restaurant managers
and administrators.
IFSEA, founded in 1901, is the food service industry's oldest trade
association. The IFSEA representatives are selected to chair each of the
five evaluation committees.
Education in food service occupations is an integral part of IFSEA. Within
IFSEA the organization strives to provide opportunities for its
membership, and in the past has awarded scholarships for selected soldiers
of winning units to attend the prestigious Johnson and Wales University of
Charleston, S.C., a leading food service academic institution.
The evaluations are critical to the success of the program, said George
Herb, officer-in-charge of the Connelly program. "The success of the
program lies on the expertise, professionalism, training and credibility
of the evaluators," he said. "The evaluations bring recognized civilian
experts who volunteer their time and considerable personal knowledge and
expense to serve the Army."
Herb explained the Connelly program focuses command attention at all
levels on the Army's food programs, and improves the food on the soldier's
plate in both garrison and field environments. This improvement stems from
better kitchen equipment, dining areas and local training programs, he
said.
The end result, officials hope, is the improved health and morale of
individual soldiers.
Based on program success, soldier morale is increased dramatically,
according to Sgt. 1st Class Terence Smith, a Connelly program staffer.
"The Connelly competition represents a personal challenge to individuals,"
he said. "An individual develops immense pride in his unit and workplace.
He knows that he is part of a winning team."
The relationship between the Army and IFSEA is advantageous to both
organizations, Smith explained. "Army food service personnel are exposed
to the highest level of expertise in the civilian industry," he said.
"This relationship has led the Army to conduct innovative studies in both
planning and training. IFSEA has also sparked public interest with its
sponsorship and has helped the command become more involved in their food
service programs."
The Connelly competition is named in honor of the late Philip A. Connelly,
past president of IFSEA and staunch supporter of military food service.
Connelly is credited with founding the current Army food service
recognition program. The Connelly program was established in 1968, and the
1999 competition marks its 31st year.
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End army Digest (08/13 15:00)
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