ARMY RESERVE MAGAZINE VOLUME 49, NUMBER 4 Load — C= Lua Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly Army Reserve Magazine CHIEF, ARMY RESERVE CSM Michele Jones Mobilized Army Reserve Officers Now Fe COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR OF THE Competetive Ser Poamsotion ARMY RESERVE Army Reserve Soldiers Receive Col. Geoff Jones Unlimited Commissary Benefits ...... 4 Lda DIRECTOR, U.S. ARMY RESERVE PUBLIC AFFAIRS Enhanced TRICARE Coverage for Army Reserve Soldiers and their C= Editorial Services PE icisccateccdacasascuians 4 MANNING, SELVAGE & LEE ) efense Eligibility E Design Services oe oe _ a ' THE MADISON DESIGN GROUP attain et ninaaat spreeneienes >. Restricted Mail Policy Redirecting Mail = Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Benke, Tips for Avoiding Job Conflicts....... ] a Chinook pilot with A Company, 5/159 Aviation, an Army Reserve unit from Ft. Lewis, Wash., checks one of the rotors atop his CH-47 Chinook ee helicopter on the ground in Iraq. <— Army Reserve Soldiers from the 487th Engineer Detachment, Garden City, Kan. The 487th is made up of Soldiers from three separate Army Reserve units now serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. PHOTO: SGT. 1ST CLASS KELLY C S NCO, 354TH MPAD Army Reserve Magazine Army Reserve Magazine online: Volume 49, Number4 www.army.mil/usar Making Friends Through the Newspaper Going Back to School Excerpted Remarks of Lt. Gen. Helmly Before the ROA Introducing Health Care Management to the New Iraq Lt. Gen. Helmly Addresses Soldiers in Afghanistan Moving Passengers Through Army Reserve Soldiers Train Afghan National Army Delivering the Goods .............. 2 Gun-Truck Alley Provides Convoy Security Training Helping Saddam Lose Face Having a Bear of a Time Training Iraqi Police at Message from the Chief, Weapons Range Army Reserve Renovating Two Primary Schools... . 20 Delivering Supplies 78th Division History to Car Bombing Victims............ 21 The second of three Army Reserve The Miracle at Remagen Posters. SUBMISSIONS - Army CHANGE OF ADDRESS - Do not write the magazine. Tf eiRR ar VIA their Par AGR SUBSCRIPTIONS - Army Reserve Magazin ximately4 Die T News Briefs about equity and leveling the playing field for all Reserve Component officers. MOBILIZED ARMY RESERVE The new policy also allows for OFFICERS NOW COMPETITIVE deployed officers who are projected FOR PROMOTION against a current higher-grade vacancy to be able to get paid for that higher § n a memorandum dated December grade while deployed. In addition, 5 17, 2003, signed by Assistant those officers will have up to six = Secretary of the Army for Manpower months (or 180 days) after being demo- and Army Reserve Affairs Reginald J. bilized to take the new position or to Brown, mobilized Army Reserve officers find and take a position of equal rank. can now be promoted immediately Those who do not take the new position instead of waiting until they come home. card for benefits and privileges or find a position of equal rank will be administered by the Uniformed transferred into the Individual Ready This new policy applies to all Reserve Services Reserve at the higher grade. Component commissioned officers on the reserve-active status list who are According to Patrick Nixon, deputy For questions regarding this new policy, mobilized and who are on an approved director of the Defense Commissary Troop Program Unit (TPU) Soldiers mandatory selection board list. It does Agency, “Instructions have gone out to should contact their peacetime chain not apply to mobilized officers selected all continental U.S. stores informing of command and work any issues for promotion by a position vacancy them that Army Reserve Soldiers now through their supporting Regional board or to non-mobilized Reserve have unlimited shopping and telling Readiness Command G1. AGR, IMA Component officers. Also, because store managers how to welcome and IRR Soldiers should contact their current regulations allow for promotion members of the Army Reserve to the personnel management officer (PMO) of officers in the Judge Advocate full use of the commissary benefit.” at HRC-St. Louis. General’s Corps, Chaplain’s Corps, Medical Corps and Dental Corps Previously, Army Reserve members ARMY RESERVE SOLDIERS without regard to holding a position were authorized only 24 commissary of higher grade, this policy does not RECEIVE UNLIMITED shopping days per calendar year. Now, apply to these specialty branches. COMMISSARY BENEFITS Army Reserve members no longer will have to present a Commissary Privilege Previously, with the exception of a few Effective immediately under H.R. 1588, Card when they shop. For more infor- select branch officers, Army Reserve the National Defense Authorization mation about the Defense Commissary Component officers who were selected Act for Fiscal Year 2004, the following Agency, see their Web site at for promotion had to wait until a slot Army Reserve members and their http://www.commissaries.com. opened up in the next higher grade dependents are permitted unlimited before they could “pin on” that higher access to commissary stores: ENHANCED TRICARE COVERAGE grade. Under this policy, officers who Members of the Ready Reserve (which FOR ARMY RESERVE SOLDIERS had been selected by a promotion board includes members of the Selected AND THEIR FAMILIES and not mobilized had the advantage Reserve and Individual Ready because they could seek, apply for and Reserve) and members of the Retired Also effective immediately under the take higher-grade positions soon after Reserve who possess a Uniformed National Defense Authorization Act for being selected for the promotion. Services Identification Card Fiscal Year 2004, Army Reserve Soldiers Former members eligible for retired and their families will have improved Under the new policy, however, Army pay at age 60 but who have not yet access to DOD health care benefits, Reserve personnel managers may now attained the age of 60 and who possess including: project mobilized officers who have been selected for promotion into higher-grade a Department of Defense Civilian The ability to receive immediate vacancies in units near their home Identification Card medical and dental screening and care stations and then authorize those officers Dependents of the members for selected Army Reserve Soldiers to pin on their new ranks while serving described above who have a assigned to a unit that has been in their current positions. According to Uniformed Services Identification alerted or notified of mobilization one of the officials who helped formulate Card or who have a distinct identifi- the new policy, the new policy is all cation card used as an authorization Army Reserve Magaz ne TRICARE enrollment on a cost-share DEFENSE ELIGIBILITY Soldiers extended beyond the two- basis for non-mobilized Army Reserve ENROLLMENT REPORTING year partial mobilization authority Soldiers and their families where the SYSTEM (DEERS) are strictly voluntary and fall under service member is unemployed or his 10 USC 12301(d). Once the individual or her employer does not offer health Due to an extension of Army Reserve extension is approved by the insurance Soldiers on active duty in support of Secretary of the Army, the Army TRICARE coverage for mobilized Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring G-3 forwards it to the AHRC — Army Reserve Soldiers and their Freedom, the Army estimates as many St. Louis, Missouri families to begin up to 90 days prior to as 55,000 Soldiers will need new identi- the start of the Army Reserve Soldier’s fication cards while still in the theater Once the new date is posted to DEERS, active duty. Previously, such coverage of operations. Limited access to system Soldiers and family members can get a began only when the active duty period connectivity in these countries and a new ID card at any DOD ID card commenced. Extension of Soldiers’ and their families’ eligibility for transitional medical care to 180 days following the Soldiers’ separation from active duty. Previously, the limit was 60 to 120 days depending upon the Soldier’s years of service. Further, the Comptroller General has widely dispersed population that needs issuance facility. Family members do been tasked with evaluating the needs of replacement ID cards make it necessary not need the signature of the sponsor in Army Reserve Soldiers and their families to expedite issuance of these cards, order to get a new card as long as eligi- for acquiring and keeping coverage for which convey benefits and privileges, bility can be confirmed in the DEERS health care benefits. as well as act as the Soldiers’ Geneva system. Family members can locate the Conventions Card. nearest ID card issuing facility at the For more information, go to the RAPIDS Site Locator Web page, TRICARE Web site, In addition to the mobilized Soldiers http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl. http://tricare.osd.mil/reserve/index.cfm, affected by this problem, there are an or call your TRICARE regional office: estimated 95,000 family members who If DEERS fails to reflect the extension, will require new ID cards and their family members can call the Reserve Northeast 1-888-999-5195 eligibility for services and access to Component Personnel Services Support Mid-Atlantic 1-800-931-9501 facilities to be updated in the Defense Division (RC PSSD) for assistance at Southeast 1-800-444-5445 Enrollment Eligibility Reporting (703) 325-0083 or 325-1644 between the Gulf South 1-800-444-5445 System (DEERS). hours of 0800 and 2000 EST, Monday Southwest 1-800-406-2832 through Friday. For other DEERS Central 1-888-874-9378 In order to update DEERS, a Soldier’s issues, family members can call the Southern California 1-800-242-6788 tour end-date must be updated in the DEERS/RAPIDS Project Office at Golden Gate 1-800-242-6788 component personnel information (703) 325-2595 between the hours of Northwest 1-800-404-2042 system. Updating this information 0800 and 1700 EST, Monday through Alaska 1-800-242-6788 depends upon what type of extension Friday. Hawaii 1-800-242-6788 the Soldier falls under: Reserve Component Soldiers on their first or second year of mobilization fall under 10 USC 12302 (24-month partial mobilization). Extension orders, once approved, are forwarded from the Army G-3 to various Army agencies to include Army Human Resources Command (AHRC) — Alexandria, Virginia Volume 49, Number 4 RESTRICTED MAIL POLICY includes, but is not limited to, poisons, poisonous animals, diseases, germs, According to Col. Donald Kennedy, explosives, flammables, infernal commander of 3rd Personnel Command, machines, chemicals, and other items military and civilian personnel continue that may ignite or explode. to place restricted items capable of destroying life and property into Certain “war trophies,” defined as packages mailed home from Iraq. “enemy weapons, ammunition, Consequences for sending restricted explosives or items of equipment,” also items can be severe, depending upon are non-mailable. This includes live what was sent and whether damage was rounds, pistols, machine guns, weapons caused. This can include Uniform Code magazines, and anti-personnel mines. of Military Justice action that could War trophies that clearly pose no health permanently damage a military career risk, such as flags, uniforms, photos, and result in fines, a reduction in grade, and medals that were captured or or even imprisonment. found abandoned and do not dishonor the dead or result in improper or in many countries in CENTCOM’s area All parcels undergo an inspection by a illegal conduct can be mailed according of responsibility. mail clerk at the camp post office before to CENTCOM policy. being accepted for mailing. Postal “If aS oldier has something that he or she is not sure is mailable, the Soldier should ask the clerk inspecting the packages at the APO (Army Post Office),” said Lt. Col. Robert Howard, director of Postal Operations for 3rd PERSCOM. “It’s also a good idea to let folks back home know which items are prohibited. The risk of injury or worse is the same whether it’s inbound or outbound mail.” patrons also must complete customs Cigarette lighters, aerosol cans, sand forms and declarations pertaining to the and/or soil from outside the United contents of parcels being mailed. In REDIRECTING MAIL States, and pork products also are addition, parcels are subject to x-raying common examples of non-mailable 3rd Personnel Command, which at several points en route to their desti- items listed by CENTCOM. Others manages postal operations in theater, nations. include bayonets, knives, sharp objects, has issued mail guidance procedures to and U.S. military equipment, including be followed by Soldiers, mail clerks and According to U.S. Central Command, duffel/sea bags and rucksacks. commanders to ensure that mail is U.S. Postal Service and Department of properly channeled. Defense policies, “any article, composi- In addition, batteries now are discouraged tion, or material is non-mailable if it can from being sent. Last summer, several All redeploying Soldiers must complete kill or injure another, or injure the mail fires were thought to have been caused and return two change of address cards or other property.” Harmful matter by batteries that exploded spontaneously (DA Form 3955), which can be obtained in pallets of packages from unit mail clerks or through their exposed to ambient S1 shops. One card should be given to temperatures of up to the servicing mail clerk, while the other 140 degrees. Alcohol and should go to the servicing Army Post pornography also are Office (APO). prohibited in the mail as they are illegal to possess Soldiers also should notify all corre- spondents — family, friends, financial institutions, periodical mailers, etc. — Weapons and ammunition, such as to stop sending mail into theater at least these items seized by the military 15 days (and preferably 30 days) prior police during customs inspections to the Soldiers’ projected move date are examples of non-mailable “war trophies when units move from base camps to Army Reserve Magazine NEWS Mail will be forwarded for 60 days by TIPS FOR AVOIDING either the APO or a forward mail clerk. JOB CONFLICTS After 60 days, the mail either will be returned to the sender or disposed of in accordance with the DOD Postal Here is some information you should know and Manual. a summary of advice from Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) on how to keep Soldiers should mark parcels and the boss on your side. For more information, letters containing non-valuable items visit the ESGR Web site at http://www.esgr.com. “MPS” when mailing such items from theater before redeploying. However, o Talk to-your b No matter what your it is important to keep in mind that military assignment or specialty, tell: your employer there is no reimbursement for lost or about it. damaged items marked “MPS.” When Federal law. The more.you, your boss, and mailing items of value, Soldiers your personnel office know about the federal laws should insure the items and/or use and legal, precedents that spell out Army Reserve redeployment sites. Soldiers will not be reemployment rights, rules and obligations registered mail. able to receive mail at the deployment protected by the laws, the less chance there is for misunderstanding. The details of USERRA, sites. However, postal services will be The maximum size and weight for which provides that an employer must give you available to Soldiers to send mail. mailing is 70 pounds, and 138 inches time off to perform military service and reemploy in combined length and girth. When you following the service with status, seniority Unit commanders should inform and rate 6f pay as though you never left, can be mailing to an APO address, do not found at the ESGR Web site. rear home station mail rooms to stop include the country name, such as forwarding mail to the theater APO for Schedules.. Let your boss know as early as Germany or Italy. deploying Soldiers and, instead, should possible when you will be absent from work. When schedule changes occur, notify the employer hold mail until the Soldiers arrive For additional questions on mail as soon as you know about them. home. Unit mail clerks in theater will policy, Soldiers may contact any of Scheduling if you miss work while you perform provide the supporting theater APO the following: military service, your employer is not obligated to with the unit’s forwarding home reschedule you to make up the time lost. However, Their unit mail clerk address. If mail clerks receive mail for if employees who miss work for nonmilitary reasons Soldiers already redeployed, they will Their servicing APO are afforded opportunities to make up the time lost, you must be treated in the same manner. forward it to the address on the The 3rd PERSCOM, Postal Further, you cannot be required to find a replace- Soldiers’ change of address cards. Operations Directorate, DSN: ment worker for the shift(s) you will miss as a 318-825-1208 GR condition of being given the time off by your employer to perform military service Vacation andA ruals Federal law allows you the option to use earned vacation while performing military service, but you cannot be required to do so. Further, your employer is not required to provide for vacation accrual while you are absent from work performing military service unless accrual is permitted for employees on nonmilitary leaves of absence of similar length. Pay. Although some private and many government employers provide full or partial civilian pay to employees absent on military duty usually for a limited period of time the law requires only an unpaid leave of absence. Reward the B for Supporting Your >ervice. The DOD will send your boss through a unit commander a personally prepared certificate of appreciation if you just apply for it. In addition, each ESGR Committee (one in each state, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) presents plaques to their six most supportive employers each year. Applications can be obtained from your unit ESGR representative, any member of your ESGR Committee, the ESGR Web site, or by calling ESGR directly at 1-800-336-4590 Volume 49, Number 4 7 Army Reserve Excerpted Remarks of Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, Chief, Army Reserve, Before The Reserve Officers Association (ROA) Fanuary 17, 2004 et me begin, if Im ay, with a simple reminder. We meet during a time of war. And, just as all wars in the past have been M@M@idifferent, this war also is different. For many Americans, that fact can be difficult to grasp because the nature of war has a way of insulating us from the dangers and severities of war. This becomes even truer as we move further from the events of September 11. However, the fact remains that our Army is at war for a nation at war. And it is a grave moment in our history. So when we deal with issues such as recruitment, retention, training, the role and mission of the Army Reserve and whether they are ready or not, and how we can improve that readiness, we have a solemn responsibility to remember that our primary concern is with the security of our nation. It is an irrevocable responsibility that we, as officers, must accept and that we confirmed when we took our oaths of commission. Further, we don’t exist to be in reserve. We exist to serve. And we need to change our institutional processes and policies to ensure that our organization continues to serve our nation. We need to change from a force in reserve to an inactive duty force that is called to active duty. Not frequently and not forever, and not simply as a substitute for active component Soldiers, but rather as a complement to their tremendous skills in service to our nation. 8 * Army Reserve Magazine ‘ We are all part of a joint team. And the sum of our parts always will be much greater than our individual parts. That’s the power we bring to the battlefield today. And the Army Reserve is an integral part of that. Now, the facts are that, throughout much of our existence, we have set certain expectations for ourselves. Originally, one of those expectations was that we were a force in reserve, we probably would not be called and, if we were called, it would not be for that long. However, that is not the nature of the world we live in today. And one of the things we have got to start dealing with is the world as it is and not as we would like it to be. Starting back in 1996, we began mobilizing Soldiers in the Army Reserve at the rate of about 9,300 per year. We did not feel enough stress to make fundamental changes in how we organized the force, manned the force, trained the force, or prepared it for operational missions. Then September 11th arrived and everything changed. Now it is not enough to talk about our technical skills, and how we do technical training. Instead, we need to focus on learning to perform our technical skills within an environment of close combat that is lethal, dangerous and volatile, and promises to remain that way. We need to recognize that there are no secure areas. We are fighting an enemy who wishes to kill Americans, and the only way we prevent that is by killing or capturing them. MOBILIZATION Mobilization is two things — a physical process and a legal status. The physical process is under our control, and it is our responsibility as members and leaders within the Army Reserve to prepare for any legal change in status. It is our President’s and our superior’s decision when to bring us to duty. It is our responsibility not only to mobilize our forces, but to accomplish our mission. That means that, prior to any status change, we need to prepare ourselves by training, equipping, manning, sustaining and leading our force in a changed manner. Volume 49, Number 4 * 9 Mobilization was designed to produce mass over time. However, in the past, we were over-structured and under-manned. We intend to lower that force structure drastically. We’ve already announced units that will be inactivated in fiscal years 2004 and 2005, and we are going to speed up those inactivations scheduled for 2006. We will inactivate units and general officers in commands as we streamline the force, and reclassify and retrain Soldiers. We will not offer early retirement and early outs. We will organize all of our units at full authorization. And we will man them with trained and ready Soldiers at between 90-100% fill by establishing an individuals account called a Transients, Trainees, Holdees and Students (TTHS) account. Via the TTHS account, you may stay physically in the same organization, but we will account for you whether you are in school or at a training base. And we will refill your slot. It is not our intent to offer early retirement and early outs. The challenge will be to figure out what to do when Soldiers come back trained. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESERVE COMPONENTS To make the force more professionally capable, I have in mind to provide such things as advanced civil schooling for civil affairs Soldiers, creating stronger ties between civilian occupations and the reserve status of civil affairs Soldiers. In fact, our most professionally-qualified civil affairs Soldiers are those who have responsible positions in civilian life that help equip them mentally for the challenges we face. That experience also enables them to be more effective when they deal with rebuilding a society or a governmental apparatus that provides life support services to its populous. This includes judges, attorneys, physicians, sanitation experts, transportation experts, etc. We plan to more closely tie their military skills to their civilian skills. With respect to pay and entitlements, currently we do not have the discrete entitlement and pay categories to unite Reserve service. For example, we are unable to pay our skill-rich physicians force medical specialty pay unless they stay on active duty for more than 139 days. However, we try to keep our physicians on active duty for only 90 days in deference to their civilian private practices. My belief is that we should be able to pay our Soldiers, when their skill criteria are the same as an active duty Soldiers’, the same special duty pay. Linguists are another example. A Reserve linguist must pass the same test as an active duty Soldier. However, the Reserve linguist only gets language proficiency pay on the day he or she was on active duty to take the test. And it is the same with our aviator force — our parachutists. We do not provide them duty pay, but simply to maintain their skill-rich proficiency so that when we call them they will be ready. We also need to find a balance with regard to notifications. Generally, the notification process provides 15 to 30 days. However, what does that mean where there is no warning order? We need to improve our mission readiness. 10 * Army Reserve Magazine