In what may be the last major U.S.offensive in Afghanistan before 33,000surge troops redeploy by the end ofthis summer, U.S. soldiers in April be-gan clearing militants from provincessouth of Kabul and conducting shortassaults against insurgents in the east-ern border region with Pakistan. Their mission is to attain a high

enough level of security that Afghanforces can take responsibility by theend of 2013 and U.S. combat troops canwithdraw by the end of 2014. In addi-tion to strengthening security aroundthe capital, troops seek to ensure con-trol of the major highway linking Kabulwith the city of Kandahar, a strong-hold of the southern insurgency, andto interdict insurgent travel on easternroutes to and from Pakistan.Vital to the U.S. mission is the 1st

Brigade Combat Team (BCT) of the82nd Airborne Division, which tookcommand of Forward Operating BaseWarrior in Ghazni Province in April.The goal of the 1st BCT, which in-

cludes the 504th Parachute InfantryRegiment, is to push insurgents fromthe southern part of Ghazni.U.S. troops with other coalition

forces will conduct short, targeted as-saults in Afghan provinces borderingPakistan, such as Paktika and Paktya,where insurgents infiltrate from neigh-boring safe havens.

Eighth Army Change. In line with theU.S. shift in focus to the Asia-Pacific region delineated in the Defense Stra-tegic Guidance issued in January,Eighth Army has been designated asan operational-level field army head-quarters. Now integrated with U.S. Army Pa-

cific, it is capable of commanding mul-tiple U.S. and multinational corps injoint and combined operations and ex-ercises operational command and con-trol of U.S. Army forces on the KoreanPeninsula. Eighth Army previously served as

the U.S. Army Service Component

Command for U.S. Army forces on thepeninsula, a responsibility now as-sumed by U.S. Army Pacific.Established in 1944, Eighth Army

served as the occupational force inJapan and commanded ground forcesas the only U.S. field army in the Ko-rean War. Since then it has served as atheater army and Army service compo-nent command supporting the UnitedNations Command, Combined ForcesCommand and U.S. Forces Korea.

June 2012 � ARMY 11

News Call

U.S. Offensive Strengthens Afghan Security

U.S. Army/SSG Jason Epperson

Upcoming Deployments

The Department of Defense hasnamed an Army brigade combatteam of nearly 3,900 soldiers todeploy as part of the upcomingrotation of forces operating in Af-ghanistan. The 4th Stryker BrigadeCombat Team, 2nd Infantry Divi-sion, Joint Base Lewis-McChord,Wash., is scheduled to deploy earlythis winter.

From right, SSGTyler Rux, SGTRobert Addingtonand SPC ClarkChoate, 3rd Platoon,Apache Company,1st Battalion, 501stInfantry Regiment,Task Force BlueGeronimo, patrol afield near the villageof Gorchek in Khost Province,Afghanistan.

CAPE Releases Report. In a report re-leased in April, the Center for theArmy Profession and Ethic (CAPE) atWest Point, N.Y., listed six essentialcharacteristics of the Army Profession:trust, trustworthiness, military exper-tise, esprit de corps, honorable serviceand stewardship of the profession.The report is the Army Profession

Campaign’s first annual report. Theresult of a year-long study, the report’sfindings and recommendations arebased on the feedback of more than40,000 Army professionals throughoutthe service who commented not onlyon the state of the profession but thefuture.The report found that 98 percent of

the responders considered themselvesprofessionals. It also found that “over-whelming numbers of survey partici-pants … trust other members of theirunits and their direct leaders.” Manyjunior leaders, however, were con-vinced that one mistake could ruintheir Army career and that they wouldbe punished for offering “too candid”opinions to senior officers. Based on data gained from the study,

the report specified seven focus areasand associated initiatives designed tohelp in the development of the profes-sion.

� Institutionalized Army profes-sion concepts.

� Building and sustaining trust re-lations.

� Improving standards and disci-pline.

� Certifying Army professionals.� Investing in leader development

for the Army of 2020.� Strengthening the Army’s culture.� Integrating/synchronizing hu-

man development.For more information or to down-

load the report, visit CAPE’s websiteat http://cape.army.mil.

HQ for Lewis-McChord. The Armywill establish a two-star headquartersat Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.,on October 1. The unit will be desig-nated Headquarters, 7th Infantry Divi-sion (which was deactivated in 1994)and will report to I Corps.The reorganization is a reflection not

only of the installation’s growth since2003 but also its strategic importance inDoD’s shift in focus to the Asia-Pacificregion. The division headquarters, which

will not be deployable, will oversee thetraining and readiness of some 17,000soldiers in 2nd, 3rd and 4th StrykerBrigade Combat Teams of 2nd InfantryDivision; 16th Combat Aviation Bri-gade; and 17th Fires Brigade. The newheadquarters will also provide an inter-mediate level of management betweenthe brigades and I Corps, a level thatexists at similar large bases such as FortHood, Texas, and Fort Bragg, N.C.

1AE Expands Training. As it celebratesits fifth anniversary, First Army Divi-sion East (1AE) is expanding its train-ing for reserve component units withtwo additional missions—the SecurityForce Assistance Team and Contin-gency Expeditionary Forces training. As of early March, more than 140

First Army senior officers and NCOswere training and preparing to deployfor nine months as Security Force As-

sistance Teams to help Afghan armyand police units improve their logistics,intelligence, maintenance, administra-tion and training capabilities duringthe transition of security responsibilityto them. First Army East’s other new mis-

sion, Contingency Expeditionary Forcestraining, will help members of the op-erational reserve maintain trainingproficiency. Until recently, 1AE trainedonly units with valid deployment or-ders. The withdrawal from Iraq andcoming drawdown in Afghanistan,however, combined with the Army’splanned reduction in end strength,have created this new mission.A joint team of nearly 6,000 active

duty, Army Reserve and NationalGuard soldiers headquartered at FortMeade, Md., 1AE operates across theeastern half of the United States andterritories. Originally, 1AE was com-posed of six mobilization stations and10 brigades, but it has been trans-formed over the past five years. It nowhas three mobilization stations andconsists of eight brigades supporting 52

12 ARMY � June 2012

GENERAL OFFICER CHANGES*

Brigadier Generals: M.L. Brand from Dep. Chief, Spt./Security Assistance, ODR-P to Dep. Chief,Ops., ODR-P; S.A. Davidson from Dep. CG/Dir. of Ops., SDDC, Scott AFB, Ill., to Cmdr., DLA-Dis-tribution, DLA, New Cumberland, Pa.; F.A. Espaillat, USAR, from PM CATT (Army Guard Reserve),PEO STRI, Orlando, Fla., to Mobilization Asst. to the Dep. Dir. (IMA), DLA, Fort Belvoir, Va.

� AFB—Air Force Base; DIA—Defense Intelligence Agency; DLA—Defense Logistics Agency;DNI—Director of National Intelligence; HRC—U.S. Army Human Resources Cmd.; IMA—IndividualMobilization Augmentee; NSA—National Security Agency; ODCS—Office of the Deputy Chief ofStaff; ODNI—Office of the Director of National Intelligence; ODR-P—Office of the Defense Repre-sentative-Pakistan; PE—Partner Engagement; PEO STRI—Program Executive Office-Simulation,Training and Instrumentation; PM CATT—Project Manager, Combined Arms Tactical Trainers;SDDC—Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Cmd.; SID—Signals Intelligence Directorate;USA—U.S. Army; USACE—U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; USAR—U.S. Army Reserve; USF-A—U.S. Forces-Afghanistan.

*Assignments to general officer slots announced by the General Officer Management Office, Departmentof the Army. Some officers are listed at the grade to which they are nominated, promotable or eligible to befrocked. The reporting dates for some officers may not yet be determined.

LTG M.T. Flynnfrom Asst. DNIfor PE, ODNI,Washington,D.C., to Dir., DIA,Washington, D.C.

LTG T.C.Nicholas fromDep. Dir., SID,NSA, Fort Meade,Md., to Asst. DNIfor PE, ODNI,Washington, D.C.

MG R.P. Mustionfrom Dir., MilitaryPersonnel Mgmt.,ODCS, G-1, USA,Washington, D.C.,to CG, HRC, FortKnox, Ky.

MG B.G. Watsonfrom Dir., Jt. Engi-neering Direc-torate/Cmdr., US-ACE, TransatlanticDiv. (Forward),USF-A, to Dep.Dir. for Jt. andCoalition Warfight-ing, J-7, Jt. Staff,Suffolk, Va.

battalions located at Fort Stewart, Ga.;Fort Knox., Ky.; Camp Atterbury, Ind.;Camp Shelby, Miss.; and Joint BaseMcGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.Since it was activated in March 2007

with the task of mobilizing, training,deploying and demobilizing ArmyReserve and National Guard soldiers,sailors and airmen, 1AE has mobi-lized almost 200,000 servicemembersand demobilized more than 45,000.

3rd Cavalry Welcomes Strykers. ThirdCavalry Regiment welcomed 151Stryker vehicles to Fort Hood, Texas,in April. The arrival of the vehicles marked

the first major step in the two-yearconversion of 3rd Cavalry from an ar-mored cavalry regiment to a Strykerbrigade combat team. More than 200additional vehicles were scheduled toarrive later this spring.According to the regiment’s com-

mander, COL John D. Richardson IV,the cavalry troopers are now sched-uled to train and qualify and to beready for deployment by November2013. The unit has experienced numerous

organizational changes since it wascommissioned in 1846 as a “Regimentof Mounted Rifleman” to protect set-tlers crossing the continent on the Ore-gon Trail. At the outset of the Civil Warin 1861, it became the 3rd Cavalry Reg-

iment. In 1943 it retired its horses forarmored vehicles, and after World WarII it converted to the 3rd Armored Cav-alry Regiment, a combined arms outfit.

Screaming Eagle Received DSC. SGTFelipe Pereira, Company A, 1st Battal-ion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2ndBrigade Combat Team, 101st AirborneDivision (Air Assault), received theDistinguished Service Cross (DSC) ata ceremony at Fort Campbell, Ky., inApril. The nation’s second-highest mil-

itary honor, the DSC was awarded toSGT Pereira for “distinguished serviceand heroism” in Kandahar Province,Afghanistan, in 2010.SGT Pereira, a 28-year-old native of

Brazil who became a U.S. citizen twoyears ago, is the first Screaming Eagleto be awarded the DSC since Vietnam.He joined the Army in March 2009 anddeployed to Zhari District of KandaharProvince, Afghanistan, in May 2010.SGT Pereira was a specialist and

squad leader in November when animprovised explosive device detonatedduring a dismounted patrol, killingtwo of his soldiers. SGT Pereira suf-fered shrapnel wounds to his spleen,liver and left lung, which began to col-lapse as the enemy initiated an am-bush. SGT Pereira commandeered anall-terrain vehicle and drove into theoncoming small-arms fire to evacuatewounded comrades. He then returnedto help other casualties. “Only after allof the wounded Soldiers had beenevacuated and were receiving medicalcare,” reads the citation, “did he accepttreatment himself.”SGT Pereira said he was just doing

his job. “If you actually stop and think,that’s when you start panicking be-cause you don’t know what to do,” hesaid. “The key is to keep moving andhope the decisions you’re making are

14 ARMY � June 2012

SPC Benjamin H. Neal, 21SSG David P. Nowaczyk, 32SFC Jeffrey J. Rieck, 45CPT Nicholas J. Rozanski, 36PFC Christian R. Sannicolas, 20SPC Philip C.S. Schiller, 21SGT Dean R. Shaffer, 23SSG Tyler J. Smith, 24SPC Manuel J. Vasquez, 22CW Don C. Viray, 251LT Jonathan P. Walsh, 28SPC Jeffrey L. White Jr., 21SGT Chris J. Workman, 33

CPT Michael C. Braden, 31SSG Andrew T. Brittonmihalo, 25SSG Christopher L. Brown, 26SPC Antonio C. Burnside, 31 SPC James E. Dutton, 25SPC Jason K. Edens, 22SSG Brandon F. Eggleston, 29SPC Moises J. Gonzalez, 29SFC Shawn T. Hannon, 44SGT Tanner S. Higgins, 23CW Nicholas S. Johnson, 27SGT Dick A. Lee Jr., 31PFC Michael J. Metcalf, 22

Army Casualties in AfghanistanThe following U.S. Army soldiers were reported killed supporting Opera-tion Enduring Freedom from April 1 to April 30, 2012. All names have beenreleased through the Department of Defense; families have been notified.

The arrival of the first of 151 Strykers was celebrated with a champagne chris-tening at Fort Hood, Texas, in April. Fort Hood’s Third Cavalry Regiment was thelast scheduled unit in the Army to transform to a Stryker brigade combat team.

U.S. Army

the best decisions that can be made.”Army Chief of Staff GEN Raymond

T. Odierno, who presented the award,said, “There is a Portuguese proverbthat says, ‘Live to live, and you willlearn to live.’ … This is a man whohas lived to live and through hisheroic acts of valor inspired and al-lowed others to live as well.”

Power and Energy Lab Opens. In April,the Army opened its new Ground Sys-tems Power and Energy Laboratory(GSPEL) at the U.S. Army Tank Auto-motive Research, Development andEngineering Center in Warren, Mich. The 30,000-square-foot facility houses

eight laboratories in which the Armywill test vehicle systems and compo-nents under a variety of conditions. Research conducted there will aim

for reduced fuel consumption and in-creased fuel efficiency. The complex isequipped to test every type of mannedand unmanned wheeled vehicle in theU.S. military.At the GSPEL opening, LTG Ray-

mond V. Mason, Army deputy chief ofstaff for logistics, stressed that reduc-ing fuel consumption will also reducesoldiers’ combat risk. On average onein every 46 resupply convoys encoun-ters problems. “About 80 percent ofthe convoys that are traveling on theroads of Afghanistan right now arecarrying fuel,” he said. The Power and Energy Vehicle Envi-

ronmental Lab, the centerpiece of thenew facility, enables simulation of a va-riety of terrain from locations through-out the world and full mission testingunder a variety of environmental con-ditions, in temperatures ranging fromminus 60 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, rel-ative humidity of up to 95 percent andwind speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. The new GSPEL supports the Army’s

energy initiatives in another way: It isthe first DoD lab designed and built tomeet Leadership in Energy and Envi-ronmental Design (LEED) Silver certifi-

cation criteria. LEED helps identify ef-fective design, construction, operationand maintenance of “green” buildings.Official LEED certification awaits finalreview.

MoH Awarded to Vietnam Vet. ArmySPC 4 Leslie H. Sabo Jr., a rifleman withthe 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War, was posthumouslyawarded the Medal of Honor in Mayfor his actions in eastern Cambodia inMay 1970. His widow, Rose Mary Sabo-Brown, and his brother, George, repre-sented him at the ceremony.SPC Sabo, then 22, saved the lives of

several of his comrades when his pla-toon was ambushed from all sides by alarge North Vietnamese force near theSe San River. SPC Sabo charged the en-emy position, killing several of the sol-diers, and then assaulted an enemyflanking force, drawing fire away fromhis unit and forcing the North Viet-namese to retreat. An enemy grenadelanded nearby as the platoon secured aresupply of ammunition, but SPC Sabopicked it up, threw it and used hisbody to shield a wounded comradefrom the blast. With shrapnel embed-ded in his back, he continued to chargethe enemy emplacement through auto-matic weapons fire. He was hit severaltimes but crawled close enough tothrow a grenade into the bunker. “Theresulting explosion,” according to the

White House release, “silenced the en-emy fire, but also ended SpecialistSabo’s life. His indomitable courageand complete disregard for his ownsafety saved the lives of many of hisplatoon members.”SPC Sabo’s unit nominated him for

the Medal of Honor soon after hisdeath, but the paperwork was lost fordecades. In 1999, Tony Mabb, a Viet-nam veteran of the 101st and a writerfor the Screaming Eaglemagazine, cameacross a file on Sabo while doing re-search at the National Archives mili-tary repository in College Park, Md.He contacted his congresswoman,Corinne Brown, who recommendedDoD reconsider the Medal for Saboand pushed through a waiver of thestatute of limitation, which limits theawarding of the Medal to within threeyears of the recipient’s act of valor.

Best Rangers/Best Sappers. In Aprilthe Army announced the winners of theannual Best Rangers and Best Sapperscompetitions. MSG Kevin Foutz andSFC Thomas Payne from the U.S. ArmySpecial Operations Command won the29th Annual David E. Grange Jr. BestRanger Competition at Fort Benning,Ga. CPT Mike Kendall and SSG FrankBatts, 82nd Airborne Division, took firstplace in the Best Sapper Competition atFort Leonard Wood, Mo.The Foutz-Payne team won the cov-

June 2012 � ARMY 17

Chief of Staff of the Army GEN RaymondT. Odierno presents SGT Felipe Pereira,

101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), withthe Distinguished Service Cross in April at

Fort Campbell, Ky.

U.S. Army/Sam Shore

eted Colt 45 pistols awarded to the BestRangers over 49 other teams duringthe three-day competition. Only 34teams finished. The largest field yet—38 two-man

teams—competed in the Best SapperCompetition, a centerpiece of the ArmyEngineer School’s annual regimentalconference. They competed on a courseof 50 miles over a period of 50 hours. Inaddition to overcoming physical chal-lenges such as a gas-mask run and rap-pelling a 100-foot cliff, they dealt withday and night land navigation prob-lems and thermal breaching exercises.

FED Bravo Debut. In late April, theArmy debuted its latest concept vehi-cle, the Fuel Efficient Ground VehicleDemonstrator (Bravo Version)—FEDBravo—at the Society of AutomotiveEngineers 2012 World Congress in De-troit, Mich. The Bravo version of theconcept vehicle significantly improvesfuel economy over the Alpha versionshown to the public last fall, and, un-like the Alpha, it can generate and ex-port electric power to soldiers in severeenvironments such as Afghanistan. When plugged into a microgrid, the

FED Bravo can provide power at for-ward operating bases and other smallmilitary outposts, thus reducing powerrequirements and improving soldiers’efficiency. In addition, the engine turnsoff automatically when idling, improv-ing fuel efficiency.Funded by DoD, the FED Bravo was

developed by engineers at the Army’sTank Automotive Research, Develop-ment and Engineering Center in War-ren, Mich., along with industry partnerWorld Technical Services, Inc. �

18 ARMY � June 2012

SSG Frank Batts (left) and CPT MikeKendall display the 2012 Best Sapper

trophy. Below, MSG Kevin Foutz(right) and SFC Thomas Payne took

home 2012 Best Ranger honors.

U.S. Army

U.S. Army

U.S. Army

The Army’s latest concept vehicle, theFuel Efficient Ground Vehicle Demonstra-tor, or FED Bravo, was introduced in lateApril at the Society of Automotive Engi-neers 2012 World Congress in Detroit.