DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable

Rear Adm. O'Bryan, director of U.S. Navy's Maritime Domain Awareness. Rear Adm. O’Bryan will discuss the U.S. Navy's role in the U.S. government's MDA efforts, including Maritime Domain Awareness in practice and the benefits of open maritime data sharing and regional and global networks. Read Transcript.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Brig. Gen. Ed Cardon, Deputy Commandant U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and Dr. Ralph Doughty, Interagency Chair, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Brig. Gen. Cardon and Dr. Doughty will discuss how military and interagency cooperation in training and education becomes more vital as future deployments involve stability operations. Read Transcript

Cmdr. Ovios, commanding officer of the USS Ingraham who will discuss the USS Ingraham’s support to American Samoa to assist with rescue and humanitarian relief there following a massive earthquake and tsunami. Read Transcript.

The roundtable discussion is being held for the winners of the Army-wide Best Warrior competition, often referred to as the “Super Bowl” of Army competitions. Sergeant Major of the Army, Kenneth O. Preston will announce this year’s Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year during the Association of the United States Army annual meeting on Monday, Oct. 5, in Washington, D.C. Read Transcript.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Joseph Sikes, director for Housing and Competitive Sourcing in the office of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment. Sikes will discuss the Department of Defense recent announcement, Sept. 30, for the temporary expansion of the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP). Using $555 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), this program is designed to partially reimburse eligible military personnel, surviving spouses, and federal civilian employees whose service to the nation has required them to relocate and sell their primary residence at a loss. Read Transcript.

Army Blogger's Roundtable with Staff Sgt. John Rosado of the 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command who serves as the Mortuary Affairs non-commissioned officer in charge for the Joint Sustainment Command-Afghanistan. The roundtable discussion is in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, a month-long observance, to celebrate the culture and traditions of the Hispanic community. The Hispanic Heritage observation began as just a week in 1968, but was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 into a 30-day period. Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 - October 15. Staff Sgt. John Rosado of the 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, currently in Afghanistan, will speak about what Hispanic Heritage Month means to him as a Hispanic in the Army, what the Army has done for him, any challenges he has faced and any cultural barriers he has had to overcome. Rosado serves at the Mortuary Affairs Noncommissioned Officer-in-Charge for the Joint Sustainment Command-Afghanistan. He is in the Army Reserves and has served in the Army for 16 years. Read Transcript

Maj. Gen. Garrett, commander of U.S. Army Africa, will discuss the U.S. Army's newest component command and its upcoming exercise in Uganda. Natural Fire '10 is a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise that seeks to build partnerships with military personnel from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States. Read Transcript

We have a scheduled Bloggers Roundtable at 1000 EDT, with Col. Roper, director, U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, will discuss the U.S. Army approach toward preparing for counterinsurgency challenges in current operational theaters. He will address efforts to prepare leaders and units to conduct stability operations and efforts to enable Iraqi and Afghan security forces to generate, employ, and sustain security forces that are capable of dealing with their operational challenges. He also will address ongoing initiatives with respect to Irregular Challenges and threats. Additionally, he will provide insights obtained from recent engagements with multi-national partners including UK, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Germany, Canada, India, and Australia as well as upcoming events with Italy, UK, Egypt, France, and Germany. Read Transcript

Brig. Gen. Walsh, commander of the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing, Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, will be discussing what a day is like in the life of a combat wing commander at Kandahar Airfield. Brig. Gen. Walsh comes to the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing in Afghanistan from the 175th Air National Guard in Baltimore, Maryland and is one of the first wing commanders to lead an expeditionary wing in a combat zone from the Air National Guard.

Rear Adm. Sanders, Vice Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, and Capt. Blount, chief of staff of Combined Task Force 151, will be discussing current Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151) counter piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden (GOA) and the Internationally Recognized Transit Corridor (IRTC) as well as international cooperation and teamwork required to provide safe navigation through the GOA for commercial shipping.

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Maj. Gen. Donald Alston, Assistant Chief of Staff, Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. Maj. Gen. Alston will discuss the U.S. Air Force's look forward at modernization, sustainment, and stewardship of the Air Force's Nuclear Enterprise and its role in strategic deterrence.

Lt. Col. Morris is currently serving as the Division Chaplin for Multi-National Division-South in Basra, Iraq. He has previously served on active duty from 1994-1997 and 2003-present. He will discuss Soldier spirituality and morale during deployment; engaging diverse religious groups in Southern Iraq; US Army suicide prevention programs and the reintegration of Soldiers after deployment. MND-S is comprised of over 13,000 US Soldiers and is made up of the southernmost nine of Iraq's 18 provinces.

Adm. Allen will discuss how the increasingly accessible and active Arctic region has significant security, environmental, scientific, and economic impacts with broad implications for the nation. Several White House and federal agency officials participating in the new Ocean Policy Task Force (OPTF) traveled throughout Alaska and the Arctic from Aug. 17 to 21, to observe ongoing activities in the region and meet with local and indigenous leaders and industry representatives.

Master Sgt. Harrison, Assistant Chief of Operations assigned to the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, Fire Protection Flight, Ali Base, Iraq, and Tech. Sgt. Glosson, Assistant Chief of Operations, will describe life being deployed to Ali Base Iraq. The team of 40 provides fire response for airfield operations and all coalition forces assigned to the base, which amounts to roughly 13,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. The team also trains Iraqis in basic firefighting and lifesaving skills.

Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott, tandem team leader of the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights Parachute Team, recently joined former President George H.W. Bush when he took his celebratory 85th birthday jump in June, will speak with us about the history of the Golden Knights and the more than 8,000 freefall parachute and 2,000 tandem jumps he’s completed as an airborne infantryman. The Golden Knights are the U.S. Army’s official parachute demonstration team. This year they celebrate a half-century of serving the country as Army ambassadors. Formed half a century ago as a Strategic Army Corps Sport Parachute Team, the Golden Knights’ initial purpose was to compete in the then communist-dominated sport of free-fall parachuting. Since then, the Golden Knights have awed audiences across the country and the globe at air shows and competitions. Year after year, the Golden Knights continuously bring home honors and are the most successful U.S. Department of Defense sports team.