USACAPOC Teen Council

Teens!!!! Sign up now for the USACAPOC (A) Teen Council website !!!!!
Here is the link to the USACAPOC (A) Teen Council website registration page. The USACAPOC (A) Teen Council offers Teens an opportunity to develop and implement solutions for issues they face as military youth and connect with each other to share ideas. Information on this website includes scholarships, benefits, and activities for military Teen dependents. One of the goals of the Teen Council is to increase and improve communication between USACAPOC (A) teens and USACAPOC (A) leadership.

http://z10.invisionfree.com/Teen_Council/index.php?act=Reg&CODE=00

Sign up now!!!
Anthony Albanese, USACAPOC (A) Teen Council Chair

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a cold and grey day in the Washington D.C. area, but those of us who came home are happy to be back in our own beds and at our own tables. While the mess hall provides for us, it sure isn't the same as eating our own food. Several of our soldiers remained behind and there are planned activities for them as well, so they will not be alone. A local firehouse is throwing a big Thanksgiving cookout for the soldiers to show their appreciation for all we do. It is an amazing feeling to receive the thanks and appreciation from people we don't even know. I give thanks to my nation, in return, by my service. I appreciate serving with the soldiers and sailors of the 354--they are truly some of the finest people I know-- and for this I am also thankful.

SSG Keith Kravitz

Staff Sergeant (SSG) Keith Kravitz is the 354 CA Brigade's Operations and Training Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). That sounds like he's busy, and sure enough he is. Without SSG Kravitz, we would not find our way through the confusion of the required training. Not only does SSG Kravitz figure out which of us are required to take what training, but he keeps track of myriad forms that document that training, and coordinates with the organization that is training us, First Army. It's hard to express how completely lost we would be without him, though "nerve center" of the unit comes close. We all appreciate his efforts (except when it's cold and raining and we are standing outside on the range....).

SSG Kravitz is from Pennsylvania, and is a site foreman for an excavation construction company. He has two previous deployments and is going to Afghanistan. He wants to say "HI!!" to his kids Kody and Shaiyann. He thinks he has a motorcycle in his future.

Family Member event coming up soon!

The 354 Civil Affairs Brigade Family Support Group will be holding an event for family members in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore metro area. The agenda includes some really important topics:

TIME EVENT
0800-0845 Breakfast/ Registration
0845-0900 Administration
0900-0940 Legal Matters
0940-1030 TRICARE Issues
1030-1045 BREAK
1045-1130 Financial Readiness Issues
1130-1200 Child and Youth Services
1200-1330 LUNCH
1330-1400 Dealing with Media
1400-1430 American Legion Post 217
1430-1500 Community Partnerships
1500-1515 BREAK
1515-1600 Coping Tips for Families
Identify/Discuss Family Issues
Communicating with Soldier
1600-1615 BREAK
1615-1645 Family Member employment
1645-1700 After Action Review
1700-1730 FRG Structuring
1730-1750 Filling Travel Voucher
1750-1800 Administration
1800 CLOSING

For more information on the location date and time, please contact your service member, or email me at: 354civilaffairs@gmail.com .

Civil Affairs, Military Interventions and Cultural Considerations

Civil Affairs. What does that mean? I will be blogging about what civil affairs operators do, how they do it and importantly, the impact of their work. To put it in the most vague and general terms, civil affairs units work with a foreign nation to build their civil structures. The idea is that in order to create a more stable world, other governments must be able to govern their territories. Many governments are 'failed states' and cannot manage this. Civil affairs operators concern themselves with local cultures, and strive to understand who is important in those cultures, what makes those important people tick, and how how we can assist them. The U.S. military has recently hired anthropologists to further help with these considerations.

I am a member of an online group of anthropologists who study military affairs. The following post struck me as important:

On 20 Nov 09, the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities,
Jim Leach, gave a speech entitled “Bridging Cultures” to the National Press Club
in Washington, D.C. One excerpt from the transcript jumped out at me and seemed
particularly relevant to the members of Mil_Ant_Net: "Military strategy in the
last generation has become increasingly sophisticated with considerations of
questions ranging from overwhelming force doctrine to end-game strategies to
concern for the sustainability of American public support for policy
initiatives. But left out of in-depth consideration have been cultural
ramifications: Cultural Factors that go far beyond protection of heritage sites
and respect for 'mannerly' traditions. The lesson of our times is that military
strategy must include consideration of unintended consequences, particularly the
after-affects of intervention from the perspective of the society most affected
and those in the world that share similar cultural traditions. At issue is not
simply whether democracy is better than other methodologies of social
organization and whether it can be readily imposed from the outside, or whether
it is justifiable to seek to advance an individual rights ethic that increases
opportunity for women and minority groups. At issue also is the sobering
question of whether good intentions can be counter-productive and lead to
greater internal conflict, social disruption, and potentially increased
radicalization, and whether progressive transformation of any society is more
likely to be achieved through other means than military intervention. Culture is
more powerful than politics and surprisingly capable of withstanding change
wrought disproportionately by force of arms. So there is no misunderstanding,
what I’m suggesting is that strategic thinking that lacks a cultural component
is inadequate for the times. "You can read the rest of the transcript on-line at http://neh.gov/whoweare/speeches/11202009.html.

Military Family Life Consultant Program

It's a cold Monday, grey skies, though not raining which is good for the soldiers and sailors (yes, we also have sailors in our unit) out on the range. Thanksgiving is coming up and all of our thoughts are turning toward our families and friends at home. The military has always had family programs, but as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have evolved, the military contract with families has grown stronger. I will address some of the programs available for families and add links to the right hand side of the page as time goes on.

The Military and Family Life Consultant Program is a relatively new and well-designed program available to families throughout the deployment cycle. Staffed by licensed clinical counselors, the program works with families, individuals, couples and children to appropriately address relationships, stress management, grief after loss, occupational and other individual family issues. Services can be provided on or off military installations, and everything is confidential and private and does not go on the service member's record.

Here is an article about the program: http://www.militaryinfo.com/news_story.cfm?textnewsid=2940.

Consultants are available by calling 609-864-5505 or 609 784-5199.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Cythia Hassan

In order to understand the nature of an Army Reserve unit you have to get to know the diverse personalities and talents of its members. As time allows, unit members from the 354 Civil Affairs Brigade will profiled on the blog.

To start, I tagged my room mate, Chief Hassan. (We call warrant officers "Chief"). Chief Hassan is originally from Pensacola, Fl, but lives in Northern Virginia now. She has three daughters whom she calls "Charlie's Angels" --she says "hi" to her girls. Chief is going to Afghanistan on her first deployment and is pretty excited. Chief Hassan has one of those "background" type of positions in the unit--human resources. By that I mean that the primary function of the unit is to work with civilian populations to build their civil structures (both physical structures as well as bureaucratic skills). But in order to do this work, the unit members need someone like Chief Hassan to ensure that our pay and administrative paperwork is correct. The Army couldn't do what it does without getting paid and having accurate accounting of our insurance and health benefits and entitlements. It's really kind of thankless work, but we really appreciate it when it's done well so we don't have to worry about our families back home.

Once she comes back from deployment Ms. Hassan plans to start an adult day-care business. She ran two day care centers (for children) for 15 years. I can attest to her superior organization, her caring for all the soldiers in the 354 and her wonderful cheerful attitude since she is one of my room mates. Thanks very much Chief!

Gear and the barracks

It's a gorgeous Sunday, and the 354 is busy getting ready for deployment. A portion of the unit is on the weapons range, firing their M4s, and a portion of the unit is busy doing administrative actions, supply work and getting their gear packed for shipment. We are living in tight quarters- up to 12 people to a room-and it actually takes a great deal of time to maintain, track and store all our gear. The Army has issued us an amazing amount of high-quality gear. We have a terrific cold weather clothing system that involves high-tech layers of polypro, goretex and insulated outerwear. Our sleeping bag system is also really versatile and involves a couple of layers. Then there is the individual body armor and helmet, which are heavy and immensely bulky and take up gobs of space, but which are arguably the most critical pieces of equipment we have. There are weapons cleaning kits, camelback cleaning kits, and other miscellaneous little pieces of kit which are easy to lose or misplace. The American Army is probably the best-equipped military in history. And we are thankful for it. Here are some photos of our barracks rooms:

MAJ Jon Culberson

Outside view of barracks and chow hall

The 354 Civil Affairs Brigade

This is the first post for the 354 Civil Affairs Brigade blog. In the upcoming days, I will be posting links for photos, short snippets about what we are doing, and links and information related to the unit and its activities. For more information on the 354 CA Brigade, please see the side bar. Please click the email link to contact me and I will do my best to reply. The connections are currently very VERY slow at best, right now, so it might take several days.