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One cannot help but be concerned when your profession is the first one that rolls off the tongue of the "Commander In Chief" when he starts talking about who will not get paychecks. If cuts are going to be made on equipment, what will you be sent into war with to protect yourself and to succeed in your mission? Or will we cut out deployments, manpower and put national security at risk?

Well, this is not the article to get into all of that. It is the article to acknowledge that defense cuts are weighing heavily on the minds of our military men and women - many of whom need to be focused on staying alive rather than on the failing grade of our government in finance.

Fiscal Uncertainty Worries Service Members

By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss., Jan. 16, 2013 - Concern about the impact that budget cuts may have on the force emerged as a common theme as the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff met with enlisted service members from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps at several locations here today.

Marine Corps Sgt. Major Bryan B. Battaglia said Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta wants service members to know military pay will not be cut. Instead, annual pay increases likely will be decreased, Battaglia said.

The plan for dealing with upcoming defense cuts calls for belt-tightening for everyone, the sergeant major said.
"But we're not going to take it from any one source," he said.
Service members aren't going to bear the burden of defense cuts alone, Battaglia said.
"DOD civilian workers have been on their third year of a pay freeze," he said, "so they got a head start on us already."

The defense secretary has vowed to "fight for all he's worth" to mitigate any impacts on retirement by making changes applicable only to future service members, Battaglia said.
"If I can offer any consolation," he said, "it's that your best interests are at heart."

Battaglia said the question of whether fiscal uncertainty would mean a return to a single service utility uniform was one he has also heard elsewhere. He told service members that he hoped not, but that one possibility was a single uniform for operational environments.

"We've been there before," he said. However, "service identity is extremely important," he added.
"Each and every morning you need to wake up and be an airman ... that's important and I don't want to see that change," the sergeant major said.

In the 1990s "we all wore one uniform," Battaglia said. "It has been costly for the services to do all these different variations of uniforms."
The sergeant major said he thought having a single uniform for wear in operational theaters made fiscal sense and would reduce confusion for the United States' international partners.

Battaglia also addressed questions about whether programs such as tuition assistance would be able to continue in a time of fiscal austerity.
"Tuition assistance is not an entitlement," he said. "It's here because we want to help -- we want to make you better -- but it's not a disqualifier for being a good service member."

But, he said, the military is a learning organization.
"While it's here, use it," Battaglia said of tuition assistance, adding that he couldn't guarantee that it would continue indefinitely.

"We've got some fiscal challenges coming up," he said, noting the percentage of service members who use the tuition assistance benefit isn't very high.
"So when you get that metric ... it dissipates the chances of it remaining viable," Battaglia said. "So, again, use it while it's here."

Biographies:
Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia

Related Sites:
Keesler Air Force Base

Related Articles:
NCOs Crucial to Suicide Prevention, Battaglia Says

Every time that we have had the honor to interview members of the military ministry ( Chaplains and Chaplain Assistants ), it makes one acutely aware of the compassion that these members have for those with whom they serve and for their all around welfare. While one would tend to expect this from a Chaplain, it is refreshing to learn just how committed are the men and women who serve as the Assistants.

The Chaplain Assistants, as the title indicates, perform many duties for the Chaplain staff both in administrative and faith related areas. Because a Chaplain does not carry a weapon, it is up to the Chaplain's Assistant to provide protection for his/her Chaplain. Particularly on deployments, the Assistants' duties keep long hours full of activities. Just as in a parish at home, the Chapel staff offer counseling or just an ear to members who need to talk on an unofficial or confidential basis. And, not surprisingly, the Chaplain Assistant is often sought by enlisted members for their confidant.

I have yet to see a printed list of everything that these teams do on behalf of their fellow service members, but I do know that it would be a mighty long one. I have tried to catch all the items during each interview, but quickly get involved in the conversation as it is so interesting. Besides, I really doubt that there is an end to that list.

The following article highlights just how special the people are who step up to be a Chaplain's Assistant.

Face of Defense: Marine Steps Up as Chaplain's Assistant

By Marine Corps Sgt. Ned Johnson
Regimental Combat Team 7

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan, Jan. 17, 2013 - As Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Adam Henderson begins his daily assignments here, he knows that most men his age are not making the same sacrifices he makes each day on a deployment.

Even most Marines are not doing what he does. Henderson is a chaplain's assistant with Regimental Combat Team 7 and is filling a position usually reserved for a senior Navy petty officer.

As noncombatants, chaplains in Marine Corps units have a Navy religious program specialist to protect them in combat and assist with administrative and logistic duties. Henderson, a 19-year-old native of Clark, S.D., was given the opportunity to support the regimental chaplain before the deployment when he interviewed to replace the previous religious program specialist.

Navy Chaplain (Cmdr.) Michael Williams, the chaplain with Regimental Combat Team 7, chose Henderson after interviewing six other Marines for the job.

"Henderson displayed the biggest heart, the most willingness to accept the confidentiality piece, and the best customer service," said Williams, a Kodiak, Alaska, native.

Henderson said he loves protecting Williams, but his duties involve much more.

"He is responsible for funneling people to me who have religious, personal or marital needs," the chaplain said. "He is a religious person, and that helps him understand that people have all types of needs."

Henderson's other tasks include staying in the base chapel all day for one week a month to facilitate the needs of those looking for a chaplain, coordinate travel arrangements for the chaplain, and work with the other religious specialists.
"He has helped the other religious specialists to learn the Marine Corps side," Williams said. "He has taught them policies and procedures and who to talk to in order to get things done. He hasn't abused his rank, but he has helped those of a higher rank become better at their job."

His constant smile shows how much Henderson loves his job, and to him, it is about helping others.
"My favorite part of this deployment has been Christmas," Henderson said. "I got to go out to the most rugged [forward operating bases and combat outposts] and help provide religious services. We even opened up some presents. It was a very rewarding time being out there and roughing it with them."

Williams said Henderson's desire to help others comes from his personality and upbringing.
"He's really good at organization and computers," Williams said. "The other thing that makes him really good is his heart. He understands there are people who need to be cared for, and he translates that into how he interacts with people."

When he isn't helping others, Henderson said, he loves to work out and stay physically fit. He also is preparing to become a noncommissioned officer, his next step in the Marine Corps.

"Everything I do is representing Commander Williams," Henderson said. "I have to make sure I'm always saying the right things and doing the right things at the right times. It makes me a better Marine, because it makes me aware of my decision making and what I say, and I think it's going to make me a better NCO when I get to that point."

Ref: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=119029

Related Sites:
NATO International Security Assistance Force

"Air Force and Marine Corps first sergeants assigned to Keesler Air Force Base met with Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia and talked about several challenges faced by the enlisted force." ...

By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss., Jan. 16, 2013 - The senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today that he can't succeed at his job without the help of enlisted service members, and he called on noncommissioned officers to know their troops well enough to head off problems.

Air Force and Marine Corps first sergeants assigned to Keesler Air Force Base met with Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia and talked about several challenges faced by the enlisted force.

"You have a hard job," he told the noncommissioned officers. "I wish I could give you a pay raise."
Over breakfast, Battaglia answered questions about suicide prevention efforts and whether the position of senior enlisted advisor to the chairman would become an enduring one.

The fact that the military suicide rate is lower than that of the population at large shouldn't be considered a compliment or accolade, Battaglia said. "We don't use society as a bar," he noted, adding that instead, the military should stand as a model for society.

The military suicide prevention effort will succeed only if suicide is taken out of the decision-making process for service members, Battaglia said. "This is easier said than done," he acknowledged, but he told the first sergeants they are up to the challenge.
"You really have to know your folks," he said. "I just can't overemphasize this."

Battaglia said he recently came to the realization that "maybe we're studying the wrong thing" in the suicide prevention effort. Instead of studying what the military is doing wrong, he said, he is now focusing on what it's doing right.

For example, he told the NCOs, the suicide rate in U.S. Forces Korea is nearly zero. Discussions with the senior enlisted leaders there have shown him that command climate and operational focus are essential tools in battling suicide.

As to whether the job of senior enlisted advisor to the chairman continues to exist after he leaves it, Battaglia told the service members it depends on how he performs. The position is resonating well throughout the force, he said, adding that he hopes it continues.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey's first official act as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was to swear in his enlisted advisor, the sergeant major said. "That was huge," he added, because it indicated the value the chairman places on enlisted service members.

"I don't know why he selected me," Battaglia joked. "I don't plan on asking. Some things are better left unsaid."

Ref: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=119014

Biographies:
Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia

Related Sites:
Keesler Air Force Base

United We Roll World Tour Show
Stardust Radio www.stardustradio.com
Tuesday 01/15/13 1:00pm- 2:30pm Central (Live)
Wednesday 01/16/13 6:00pm- 7:30pm Central (Repeat)

Welcome Stardust Listeners -
We thank you for joining us on Tuesday, January 15th of 2013.

First of all, however did we get to the middle of January so fast?

This week, we bring you two more outstanding and very informative visits with deployed members from two of our Armed Forces (US Air Force and US Army) who are serving in Afghanistan and in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. By listening to these visits we learn information from the men and women who are making accomplishments every day that we should be seeing on our news each evening. We appreciate the time that these deployed Heroes of Freedom are able to make for us even when their duty schedules are very long and time is very precious.

United We Roll at Stardust Radio Network, Inc
www.stardustradio.com - click Listen Live button

SHOW SCHEDULE

1:00pm - Introduction / Announcements

45th MICO

Interview #1 (appr 1:10pm) - CPT Marvin A Gipson
45th Military Intelligence Company
Afghanistan

376 AEW "Liberandos"

Interview #1 (appr 1:43pm) - CH/CPT Donald R Crandell
376 Air Expeditionary Wing
Republic of Kyrgyzstan

Show ends at appr 2:30pm Central

******************************************
If you are not able to stay through the show this afternoon,
it will repeat on Wednesday 01/16 evening at 6:00pm Central.
After the repeat show has been broadcast, an MP3 copy will be posted on the
Stardust Radio Network Inc Archive site at www.stardustradio.info.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL & MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!