News of the Force | Saturday, June 13, 2009 (Page 3)
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News of the Force
U.S. Army Spc. Jorge Lugo, left, begins the process of cutting a fiber optic cable so he can let Iraqi Army Sgt. 1st Class Saad Jafar Kareem demonstrate re-joining the delicate glass cables at Camp Liberty, Iraq, May 13. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jon Soles)
The Civil Air Patrol, the
official Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, will be starting its Cadet Great Start
Orientation Program on June 30.
Ron Moran, chief of the customer relations division in the Defense Logistics Agency's information operations directorate, holds a museum-quality model of a PBY Catalina seaplane, the type of plane his father flew while defending the Philippines during the outbreak of World War II. (DoD photo by Beth Reece)
Saturday, June 13, 2009 (Page 3)
Soldiers teach fiber optics to Iraqi Army
By Sgt. Jon Soles, USA, Multinational Division-Baghdad
U.S. Army Spc. Jorge Lugo, left, begins the process of cutting a fiber optic cable so he can let Iraqi Army Sgt. 1st Class Saad Jafar Kareem demonstrate re-joining the delicate glass cables at Camp Liberty, Iraq, May 13. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jon Soles)
Iraqi security forces are learning more than just
fighting skills from their Coalition forces partners. Soldiers of the 1st
Calvary Division's Company C, Division Special Troops Battalion, are passing on
their technical expertise of fiber optics cable technology to Iraqi army
leaders.
An Iraqi army officer and a senior non-commissioned
officer spent three days learning to install, service and maintain fiber optic
cables for use in military communications systems. The hands-on training will,
in turn, allow the Iraqi soldiers to pass along the knowledge of fiber optics
technology to their soldiers.
At the communications infrastructure building on Camp Liberty, in Baghdad, on May 13, the Iraqi soldiers were in their second day of instruction. Soldiers gathered around a small table with pliers, wire strippers and what looked like thin, hair-like strands of multicolored wires. But they were not wires at all; they were tiny, glass fiber optic cables designed to carry data with light signals.
U.S. Army Spc. Jorge Lugo grabbed a thick black cable and used a pair of pliers to hack away the outer covering and tether, which protects the delicate fiber optic cables bundled inside. Lugo handed one end of the half-cut cable to Iraqi Sgt. 1st Class Saad Jafar Kareem and asked him to pull in the opposite direction. In what looked like the Thanksgiving tradition of yanking apart a turkey's wishbone, Lugo and Kareem pulled the cable in opposite directions until the fiber optic cables snapped in half. The break was deliberate, intended to simulate what often happens when cables are damaged during installation, repair or during construction.
"We are basically cross-training pretty much our expertise - everything we know about fiber optic cables and making splices," U.S. Army Spc. Eugene Collado said.
Lugo used a fusion splicer to repair a broken fiber optic cable. The device uses heat to melt the glass cable, fusing the two pieces together seamlessly. "The splicer takes both ends of cable and melts the inside of the cable, like replacing a joint," Lugo said. "It makes it like a perfect joint, with no loss of glass."
Kareem carefully inserted the two ends of a broken cable into the splicer and mended them back together. A display screen on the splicer allowed Kareem to see if the mend was successful. The screen showed that the mend was perfect, and the cable was restored as if it had never been broken.
"It is a scenario of, if a fiber optic cable was cut, instead of running a new cable, you can splice them," Collado explained.
A real repair job also was part of the training. Collado and Iraqi 2nd Lt. Jassim Mohammed Walid helped to install a fiber optic line to the 1st Cavalry Division's Band Hall on Camp Liberty, Kareem said.
"We are trying to cover every aspect of fiber optics," Collado said.
Kareem said his training was thorough and was explained to him in simple terms by his American partners. "We learn so we can do the same," he said. "Watching was an easy process."
U.S. Army Sgt. Nekito Turner, cable section squad leader, oversaw the training and said he was pleased with the classes. "From what I've seen, they did a good job teaching, and the Iraqi soldiers did a good job of learning," he said.
At the communications infrastructure building on Camp Liberty, in Baghdad, on May 13, the Iraqi soldiers were in their second day of instruction. Soldiers gathered around a small table with pliers, wire strippers and what looked like thin, hair-like strands of multicolored wires. But they were not wires at all; they were tiny, glass fiber optic cables designed to carry data with light signals.
U.S. Army Spc. Jorge Lugo grabbed a thick black cable and used a pair of pliers to hack away the outer covering and tether, which protects the delicate fiber optic cables bundled inside. Lugo handed one end of the half-cut cable to Iraqi Sgt. 1st Class Saad Jafar Kareem and asked him to pull in the opposite direction. In what looked like the Thanksgiving tradition of yanking apart a turkey's wishbone, Lugo and Kareem pulled the cable in opposite directions until the fiber optic cables snapped in half. The break was deliberate, intended to simulate what often happens when cables are damaged during installation, repair or during construction.
"We are basically cross-training pretty much our expertise - everything we know about fiber optic cables and making splices," U.S. Army Spc. Eugene Collado said.
Lugo used a fusion splicer to repair a broken fiber optic cable. The device uses heat to melt the glass cable, fusing the two pieces together seamlessly. "The splicer takes both ends of cable and melts the inside of the cable, like replacing a joint," Lugo said. "It makes it like a perfect joint, with no loss of glass."
Kareem carefully inserted the two ends of a broken cable into the splicer and mended them back together. A display screen on the splicer allowed Kareem to see if the mend was successful. The screen showed that the mend was perfect, and the cable was restored as if it had never been broken.
"It is a scenario of, if a fiber optic cable was cut, instead of running a new cable, you can splice them," Collado explained.
A real repair job also was part of the training. Collado and Iraqi 2nd Lt. Jassim Mohammed Walid helped to install a fiber optic line to the 1st Cavalry Division's Band Hall on Camp Liberty, Kareem said.
"We are trying to cover every aspect of fiber optics," Collado said.
Kareem said his training was thorough and was explained to him in simple terms by his American partners. "We learn so we can do the same," he said. "Watching was an easy process."
U.S. Army Sgt. Nekito Turner, cable section squad leader, oversaw the training and said he was pleased with the classes. "From what I've seen, they did a good job teaching, and the Iraqi soldiers did a good job of learning," he said.
Civil Air Patrol to start cadet program
The 5-week program will provide young people over
the age of 12 with an introduction to the Civil Air Patrol's cadet program. The
program will include an introduction to training in leadership, physical
fitness, aerospace education, search and rescue training and character-building
activities. Participants will also get to experience a flight in a Civil Air
Patrol airplane.
The CAP's cadet program is designed to teach future
leaders in the areas of aviation, space or the military.
The orientation will start at 6:30 p.m.,
EDT, and will be held at the Civil Air Patrol Complex on Airport Road in
Charleston, W. Va. Prospective cadets will be encouraged to go to three meetings
before joining the program, and their parents are welcome to attend.
For more information, go to www.gocivilairpatrol.com or www.charlestoncadetcap.org .
Logistics agency employee finds father, war hero
By Beth Reece, Defense Logistics Agency
Ron Moran, chief of the customer relations division in the Defense Logistics Agency's information operations directorate, holds a museum-quality model of a PBY Catalina seaplane, the type of plane his father flew while defending the Philippines during the outbreak of World War II. (DoD photo by Beth Reece)
Ron Moran spent so many years pining for the truth
about his father that searching for clues became a habit. "Where's my dad? What
happened to him?" he'd ask relatives when the void felt too deep.
"It was this big secret. Even my granddad, who
helped raise me for awhile, wouldn't tell me anything about who my father was. I
didn't even know what he looked like," said Moran, customer relations division
branch chief for the Defense Logistic Agency's Information Operations
Directorate.
Moran's mother, Frances, took to silence when her son asked questions. The only answer she ever gave was a name – Raymond – and vague talk about a heart attack and time served in the Navy during World War II.
Rootless and aggravated by his mother's refusal to lead him to his father, Moran turned to Navy personnel records, genealogy and eventually the Internet for answers. The results were always the same: no Social Security number, no leads.
When a sudden, massive stroke claimed his mother at age 85 in December 2003, Moran's longing for the father he never knew was replaced by grief. At 45, he was an only son about to bury his sole parent.
Moran spent the following days making funeral arrangements and settling his mother's modest estate with the help of his wife, Roben. It was she who pulled from the bottom of a wardrobe an orange plastic bag bearing the secrets – Moran's answers.
Moran's mother, Frances, took to silence when her son asked questions. The only answer she ever gave was a name – Raymond – and vague talk about a heart attack and time served in the Navy during World War II.
Rootless and aggravated by his mother's refusal to lead him to his father, Moran turned to Navy personnel records, genealogy and eventually the Internet for answers. The results were always the same: no Social Security number, no leads.
When a sudden, massive stroke claimed his mother at age 85 in December 2003, Moran's longing for the father he never knew was replaced by grief. At 45, he was an only son about to bury his sole parent.
Moran spent the following days making funeral arrangements and settling his mother's modest estate with the help of his wife, Roben. It was she who pulled from the bottom of a wardrobe an orange plastic bag bearing the secrets – Moran's answers.
"I was getting together the clothes his mom would
be laid out in when I noticed the bag," Roben said. "All I could feel was
disbelief when I saw what was in it."
Like striking gold is how Moran described the feeling of finding that bag. Inside were wedding and honeymoon photos of his parents, pictures of a happy couple with children Moran recognized as cousins, plus Navy identification cards with Raymond Moran's service number.
"Come to find out, Mom had what I had been begging for all this time – pictures and everything I needed to finally find my dad," he said. "I just broke down looking at it all."
Moran took several "bittersweet" weeks to recover from his mother's death before resuming the search for his father. Then, in yet another letter to the National Personnel Records Center, he asked for a copy of his father's discharge papers, a "map" of the sailor's service history. With a service number, the Navy could finally answer Moran's request. "They sent me a list of the places he'd served and units he was with, as well as a list of all his medals. I also learned that he was in the Philippines during the outbreak of World War II."
Raymond Moran served aboard PBY Catalina patrol bomber seaplanes with Navy patrol squadrons 21 and 102, which fought the Japanese in the first weeks of World War II. The PBYs were designed for anti-submarine warfare and patrol bombing, but the Navy suffered such heavy losses they also were used for rescue and evacuation missions.
"Those guys were outnumbered, flying missions the planes weren't even designed for. Dad put his life on the line," said Ron Moran, who since has read much about the history of the units his father served in.
Many of Raymond Moran's fellow sailors died during intense fighting on the Philippines island of Corregidor or as prisoners of war during the Bataan Death March. "It was just Dad's plane and a couple of others that made it out safely," Ron Moran said.
Learning about the father he'd always yearned for was only half the process of reuniting with him, but it was as far as Moran would get. Raymond Moran died in 1963, when Ron was 5.
"Ron will say, 'I wonder if I ever got to see my dad. I wonder if he ever got to hold me or look into my eyes,'" Roben said. "These are the kinds of things that run through his mind, and he can only imagine."
Like striking gold is how Moran described the feeling of finding that bag. Inside were wedding and honeymoon photos of his parents, pictures of a happy couple with children Moran recognized as cousins, plus Navy identification cards with Raymond Moran's service number.
"Come to find out, Mom had what I had been begging for all this time – pictures and everything I needed to finally find my dad," he said. "I just broke down looking at it all."
Moran took several "bittersweet" weeks to recover from his mother's death before resuming the search for his father. Then, in yet another letter to the National Personnel Records Center, he asked for a copy of his father's discharge papers, a "map" of the sailor's service history. With a service number, the Navy could finally answer Moran's request. "They sent me a list of the places he'd served and units he was with, as well as a list of all his medals. I also learned that he was in the Philippines during the outbreak of World War II."
Raymond Moran served aboard PBY Catalina patrol bomber seaplanes with Navy patrol squadrons 21 and 102, which fought the Japanese in the first weeks of World War II. The PBYs were designed for anti-submarine warfare and patrol bombing, but the Navy suffered such heavy losses they also were used for rescue and evacuation missions.
"Those guys were outnumbered, flying missions the planes weren't even designed for. Dad put his life on the line," said Ron Moran, who since has read much about the history of the units his father served in.
Many of Raymond Moran's fellow sailors died during intense fighting on the Philippines island of Corregidor or as prisoners of war during the Bataan Death March. "It was just Dad's plane and a couple of others that made it out safely," Ron Moran said.
Learning about the father he'd always yearned for was only half the process of reuniting with him, but it was as far as Moran would get. Raymond Moran died in 1963, when Ron was 5.
"Ron will say, 'I wonder if I ever got to see my dad. I wonder if he ever got to hold me or look into my eyes,'" Roben said. "These are the kinds of things that run through his mind, and he can only imagine."
Today, Moran believes he is the son of a hero. His
office is like a shrine, with medals, photographs of PBY seaplanes and Navy
memorabilia filling the lamp-lit space.
Hoping to find one of his father's war buddies, Moran posted messages on the PBY Memorial Foundation's Web site last summer. The son of a deceased Navy lieutenant responded to ask if Moran realized his father qualified for the Bronze Star for defending the Philippines from December 1941 to May 1942. "Dad already had a Presidential Unit Citation for that period. But the Bronze Star – I thought that would be awesome," Moran said.
Virginia Sen. John Warner queried the Navy on Moran's behalf to learn that his father was, indeed, entitled to the Bronze Star, the U.S. military's fourth-highest award for bravery in combat. And if he wanted the medal, Moran was told, he could purchase one at any military clothing store. "That just didn't seem right, me buying the medal when – if Dad was still alive – they would have presented the Bronze Star properly in a ceremony," he said.
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Tiffany Schad took up Moran's cause. The former chief of the Defense Logistics Agency's director's staff group, Schad used personal contacts at the office of the Secretary of the Navy to gain Moran a gift he calls "the ultimate moment" of his career.
In an April 3 ceremony at the agency's headquarters at Ft. Belvoir, Va., U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Heinrich, director of the logistics operations and readiness directorate, presented Moran his father's Bronze Star. "It was beyond my imagination - the ceremony, the honor of having Admiral Heinrich present the medal, all for me and my Dad," Moran said.
Hoping to find one of his father's war buddies, Moran posted messages on the PBY Memorial Foundation's Web site last summer. The son of a deceased Navy lieutenant responded to ask if Moran realized his father qualified for the Bronze Star for defending the Philippines from December 1941 to May 1942. "Dad already had a Presidential Unit Citation for that period. But the Bronze Star – I thought that would be awesome," Moran said.
Virginia Sen. John Warner queried the Navy on Moran's behalf to learn that his father was, indeed, entitled to the Bronze Star, the U.S. military's fourth-highest award for bravery in combat. And if he wanted the medal, Moran was told, he could purchase one at any military clothing store. "That just didn't seem right, me buying the medal when – if Dad was still alive – they would have presented the Bronze Star properly in a ceremony," he said.
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Tiffany Schad took up Moran's cause. The former chief of the Defense Logistics Agency's director's staff group, Schad used personal contacts at the office of the Secretary of the Navy to gain Moran a gift he calls "the ultimate moment" of his career.
In an April 3 ceremony at the agency's headquarters at Ft. Belvoir, Va., U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Heinrich, director of the logistics operations and readiness directorate, presented Moran his father's Bronze Star. "It was beyond my imagination - the ceremony, the honor of having Admiral Heinrich present the medal, all for me and my Dad," Moran said.
World War II wasn't the end of Raymond Moran's
combat experience. He went on to fight in the Korean War and retired with 20
years of service before meeting Ron's
mother.
What happened between them, Moran isn't sure. He knows they divorced the year he was born, but not why.
"It's a very important thing for a young man to have his father. Growing up, all the kids in school had dads. I wanted to know where mine was," he said.
Roben is certain Frances Moran truly loved her son "more than life itself," but for whatever reason, just couldn't share her thoughts on Raymond. "I asked her once what happened to Ron's dad, and she shut the conversation up real quick and said, 'I don't want to talk about it. It's not up for discussion,'" Roben said.
Her mother-in-law could have had better health care – and Ron a better education – if things had been different and she'd pursued the military benefits she was entitled to, she added. "But maybe she was somehow afraid Ron would be taken from her," Roben said.
While Moran still doesn't understand the reason for his mom's secrecy, he is not bitter. Instead, he takes pleasure in the family he has today. "I have two stepsons, Eric and Brandon. They'd do anything for me, and I'd do anything for them," he boasted, passing a framed photo across his desk. "And that's my new grandson. He was born just a couple days before the Bronze Star ceremony. Now, that was amazing. I'm still flying high."
What happened between them, Moran isn't sure. He knows they divorced the year he was born, but not why.
"It's a very important thing for a young man to have his father. Growing up, all the kids in school had dads. I wanted to know where mine was," he said.
Roben is certain Frances Moran truly loved her son "more than life itself," but for whatever reason, just couldn't share her thoughts on Raymond. "I asked her once what happened to Ron's dad, and she shut the conversation up real quick and said, 'I don't want to talk about it. It's not up for discussion,'" Roben said.
Her mother-in-law could have had better health care – and Ron a better education – if things had been different and she'd pursued the military benefits she was entitled to, she added. "But maybe she was somehow afraid Ron would be taken from her," Roben said.
While Moran still doesn't understand the reason for his mom's secrecy, he is not bitter. Instead, he takes pleasure in the family he has today. "I have two stepsons, Eric and Brandon. They'd do anything for me, and I'd do anything for them," he boasted, passing a framed photo across his desk. "And that's my new grandson. He was born just a couple days before the Bronze Star ceremony. Now, that was amazing. I'm still flying high."
The parting shots
Chastity Bono, the daughter of Sonny and
Cher, is changing her gender from female to male, her publicist
says.
A fox has been unmasked as the mystery thief of
more than 100 shoes in the small western German town of Foehren, authorities
said.
Near London, an ancient burial pit containing 45
severed skulls that could be a mass war grave dating back to Roman times, has
been found under a road being built for the 2012 British Olympics.
A Tokyo district plagued with burglaries has turned
to planting flowers to beautify its streets - and help stamp out
crime.
An Australian World War II veteran who was
forced to work in a coal mine owned by the family of Japan's Prime Minister Taro
Aso will visit Tokyo next week to push his case for compensation - and an
apology for his treatment.
The Venezuelan government of U.S.-critic President
Hugo Chavez has ordered the Coca-Cola Co. to withdraw its Coke Zero
beverage from the South American nation, citing unspecified dangers to
health.
Canadian police will investigate why the Royal
Canadian Mint seems to have lost some of its gold and other precious metals, the
government has said.
The director of the Berlin Zoo made famous by the
polar bear cub Knut has had his finger bitten off by a chimpanzee called
"Pedro."
British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh is
showing solidarity with his staff in planning to work without pay next month as
part of cost cuts, but the move has not gone down so well with his
wife.
Health officials have accused an adult
film industry-supported health clinic of failing to cooperate with
California state investigations and of failing to protect industry workers
and their partners from the HIV virus.
And job-seekers are using unusual gimmicks to grab
the attention of potential employers, such as in one case sending a shoe along
with a resume to get a "foot in the door."
page three
Concise. Accurate. And always on.
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