DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable

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  President Barack Obama will award the nation's highest award for valor in combat, the Medal of Honor, to Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry on Tuesday, July 12 at 2 p.m. EST. Petry is being awarded the medal for his conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in the Paktia Province, Afghanistan, in May 2008. Petry will be the second living Medal of Honor recipient from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan (see attachment for official Medal of Honor poster). Wednesday July 13, at 12:30 p.m. EDT, please join us for a Bloggers Roundtable with  team members of the newest Medal of Honor awardee, Sgt. 1st Class Petry.

We have scheduled a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with British Maj. Gen. Phil Jones, director of the Force Reintegration Cell for the International Security Assistance Force. He will discuss the state of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration. According to Maj. Gen. Jones, more than 500 Afghans have come forward during the past 60 days to join, which brings the total number of reintegration candidates to nearly 1,200 former fighters from 13 provinces.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Col. Jack H. "Jay" Pittman, commander of 302nd Air Wing. For the past two weeks, at the request of the USDA Forest Service, and under the direction of the Joint Forces Air Component Commander, members of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with numerous active duty counterparts and other federal agencies have responded to the wildfires that have been plaguing Texas and the southwest border region.  Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) has been deployed to aid in this effort.  MAFFS is a self-contained platform aboard Air Force C-130s, and to date, the C-130s have discharged nearly 200,000 gallons of retardant to help contain the massive fires.

We have scheduled a U.S. Army Bloggers Roundtable with Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, Director of Strategic Effects and United States Forces - Iraq Spokesman. Buchanan will speak with bloggers interested in discussing Operation New Day, the long term strategic partnership between the U.S. and Iraq, transition to civilian authority, and current events in Iraq.

The Air Force is making final preparations for the second hypersonic flight test by the X-51A Waverider slated to launch this spring from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The X-51A team made some slight vehicle modifications following the May 26, 2010 longest-ever hypersonic flight powered by a supersonic combustion ramjet engine. Charlie Brink, Air Force Research Laboratory's X-51A technology demonstrator program manager; Joseph Vogel, Boeing Phantom Works/Defense, Space and Security Director of Hypersonics X-51A program manager; and George Thum, X-51A Program Manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, will participate in a roundtable to discuss the upcoming X-51A test flight. We sincerely hope you can join us for this important update on the program.

Join the U.S. Army’s Online and Social Media Division for a Bloggers Roundtable in conjunction with the public reveal of the new Army Physical Readiness Test (APRT) and the Army Combat Readiness Test (ACRT). U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s, deputy commanding general for Initial Military Training, Lt. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, will present the APRT and ACRT at Fort Jackson, S.C. Pilot programs for the new tests are scheduled to begin next month in various locations throughout the Army and are slated to replace the current Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) Army-wide later this year. The U.S. Army Physical Fitness School (USAPFS), led by director, Frank Palkoska, will provide a live demonstration of both tests, marking the first public revealing. Preceding the live demonstration at Fort Jackson, bloggers participating in the roundtable will be provided a brief background and overview of changes, addressing how the tests correlate with the Army’s Physical Readiness Training and how they better assess a soldier’s physical ability. The current PT test, which consists of two minutes of pushups, two minutes of sit-ups and a two-mile run, has remained unchanged since 1980.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Melvin G. Spiese, I Marine Expeditionary Force deputy commanding general and I Marine Expeditionary Brigade's commanding general, will be participating in a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable to discuss Pacific Horizon 2011. Pacific Horizon 2011 training involves Marines and sailors quickly gaining access to the beach then conducting operations ranging from humanitarian assistance to contested assaults. Expeditionary Strike Group 3 and I MEB will work together to provide a sea-based approach for America's armed forces to operate across the range of military operations.

We have scheduled a U.S. Army Bloggers Roundtable with Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, Director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center. Vane will be discussing the latest developments in how the Army is evaluating smartphone technologies and software applications to provide soldiers the ability to learn anytime/anywhere.

Join us for the final bloggers roundtable with Sgt. Maj. of the Army, Kenneth O. Preston, as he discusses his tenure in the Army and as the 13th Sergeant Major. He will also talk about his successor and answer any questions you may have. While serving as the longest-standing Sgt. Maj. of the Army, Preston serves as the Army Chief of Staff's personal adviser on all enlisted-related matters, particularly in areas affecting soldier training and quality of life. He devotes the majority of his time to traveling throughout the Army observing training, and talking to soldiers and their families. Preston was sworn in as the 13th Sergeant Major of the Army on January15, 2004. Preston has held a variety of leadership positions throughout his career ranging from cavalry scout to command sergeant major. Throughout his 35-year career, he has served in every enlisted leadership position from cavalry scout and tank commander to his current position as Sergeant Major of the Army. Other assignments he held as command sergeant major were 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, 3rd "Grey Wolf" Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 1st Armored Division in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, and V Corps in Heidelberg, Germany. His most recent assignment was as the command sergeant major for Combined Joint Task Force 7 serving in Baghdad, Iraq.

We have scheduled a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with The Honorable Robert F. Hale, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of Defense. Hale will be discussing the FY12 DoD budget proposal, which will be rolled out in a series of briefings at the Pentagon on Monday, Feb. 14.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Navy Capt. Dale Fuller, the former Amphibious Squadron 3 commander of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, and Marine Corps Col. Roy Osborn, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, led a Navy-Marine Corps team that completed a wide range of missions across the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Fuller and Osborn will discuss value of forward-deployed Navy-Marine Corps forces, challenges they faced, and how their team accomplished a wide range of missions, including pirate takedown in Gulf of Aden that generated so many headlines last fall.

Jack Kem, Ph.D., deputy to the commander, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, will participate in a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable on Wednesday, February 9. Kem will discuss gender initiatives within the Afghan National Security Force and how NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan is working with the Afghan Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Defense on these initiatives.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Ms. Barbara Thompson, Director of the Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth. Ms. Thompson will be talking about President Obama's announcement this week of new efforts to better coordinate and strengthen the Federal government’s support for military families. She will be discussing some of the specific programs already in effect as well as what military families can expect in the future.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Mr. Tom Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy. Mr. Hicks will be discussing the recent RAND Report on Alternative Fuels for Military Applications submitted to Congress yesterday.