Isakson, Chambliss, Gingrey: Dobbins Clears Final Hurdle for Military Commissary

Facility Would Serve Thousands of Military Personnel, Veterans in Metro Atlanta

U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and U.S. Representative Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., today announced that Dobbins Air Reserve Base has received approval from the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to build a military commissary on the base.

Isakson, Chambliss and Gingrey have been working for more than a year to try to ensure a seamless transition between the closure of existing commissaries serving metro Atlanta and construction of the new commissary.

“This is fantastic news for Dobbins as well as for the thousands of military personnel and veterans in the metro Atlanta area,” said Isakson, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “I’m extremely pleased the Department of Defense has given final approval of the commissary at Dobbins and I will now work with my colleagues to ensure Dobbins receives the necessary funding for the commissary.”

“This approval is welcome news for the thousands of military personnel, their families, and veterans in the metro Atlanta area and it has been a long time coming. This was the final step in a five step process of getting the application for the commissary approved. I applaud the Department of Defense for recognizing that those men and women who have served our country so honorably should not be left without convenient access to these critical facilities. I look forward to continuing to work to make this become a reality,” said Gingrey.

"This new commissary will provide a much-needed service for our military men and women in the Atlanta area,” said Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure Dobbins receives the funding to move forward with this project."

On March 31, the Commissary Operating Board of the Defense Commissary Agency agreed to recommend approval of a commissary at Dobbins Air Reserve Base to the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, who ultimately made the final decision on the facility.

Fort Gillem and Fort McPherson in Atlanta, as well as the Naval Supply School in Athens, are scheduled to close in 2011. At that time, Fort Benning, which is located two hours southwest of Atlanta, will be the closest commissary serving the metro Atlanta military population.

Isakson, Chambliss and Gingrey believe it is critical to maintain a convenient commissary for the metro Atlanta military community, and Dobbins Air Reserve Base meets all the requirements outlined by the Department of Defense to build and maintain a commissary.
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EPA Approves Army's Closure of Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System

/PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) officials announced today that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has accepted the Army's closure of its former Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS). In a letter dated Aug. 18, 2009, EPA Region IX official John Beach wrote that "EPA finds that the Army has fulfilled the requirements of its JACADS Permit," and that the EPA, "accepts the Army's closure of the facility as a clean closure."

CMA Director Conrad F. Whyne said, "The official closing of JACADS has been a thorough and meticulous process. As a program, we have benefited from the lessons learned from working with the EPA." Mr. Whyne noted, "This is our first RCRA permitted lethal agent incineration facility to close and I offer my heartiest congratulations and a 'job well done' to the men and women of the JACADS team and our EPA partners. They have made the chemical weapons of Johnston Atoll history; they have made the world a safer place."

JACADS, the Army's first full-scale chemical weapons destruction facility, safely completed its mission of weapons destruction in 2000, facility demolition in 2003 and the last Army employees left Johnston Atoll by the end of 2003. This mission was accomplished while protecting the workers and the remote atoll's delicate environment.

Located on an atoll 800 miles southwest of Hawaii, JACADS represented a major milestone in CMA's history. During a 14-year period, more than four million pounds of nerve agents, GB and VX, as well as blister agent HD, were safely destroyed and the disposal facility was dismantled. Chemical agents contained in 412,798 munitions, including projectiles, rockets, bombs, and ton containers, were eliminated, reducing the overall U.S. stockpile by six percent.

The Army worked with the EPA to close the facility according to environmental standards. Closure activities involved cleaning and removing all hazardous wastes, equipment and systems used for disposal operations. Analyses were performed in all related areas to ensure that the Army met the EPA's stringent criteria.

CMA has completed destruction of the chemical weapons at Newport, Ind., Aberdeen, Md. and Johnston Island. Final chemical agent destruction operations are under way at CMA's four remaining destruction sites: Anniston, Ala., Pine Bluff, Ark., Umatilla, Ore., and Tooele, Utah. CMA's destruction sites should complete operations in time to meet the 2012 Chemical Weapons Convention treaty deadline. CMA continues to safely store chemical agent munitions near Richmond, Ky., and at Pueblo, Colo. For more information about CMA, visit http://www.cma.army.mil/ .

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VA's Suicide Prevention Program Adds Chat Service

/PRNewswire/ -- The Suicide Prevention campaign of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is expanding its outreach to all Veterans by piloting an online, one-to-one "chat service" for Veterans who prefer reaching out for assistance using the Internet.

Called "Veterans Chat," the new service enables Veterans, their families and friends to go online where they can anonymously chat with a trained VA counselor. If a "chatter" is determined to be in a crisis, the counselor can take immediate steps to transfer the person to the VA Suicide Prevention Hotline, where further counseling and referral services are provided and crisis intervention steps can be taken.

"This online feature is intended to reach out to all Veterans who may or may not be enrolled in the VA health care system and provide them with online access to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline," said Dr. Gerald Cross, VA's Acting Under Secretary for Health. "It is meant to provide Veterans with an anonymous way to access VA's suicide prevention services."

Veterans, family members or friends can access Veterans Chat through the suicide prevention Web site (www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org). There is a Veterans tab on the left-hand side of the Web site that will take them directly to Veteran resource information. On this page, they can see the Hotline number (1-800-273-TALK), and click on the Veterans Chat tab on the right side of the Web page to enter.

Veterans retain anonymity by entering whatever names they choose once they enter the one-on-one chat. They are then joined by a counselor who is trained to provide information and respond to the requests and concerns of the caller.

If the counselor decides the caller is in a crisis, the counselor will encourage the Veteran to call the Suicide Prevention Hotline, where a trained suicide prevention counselor will determine whether crisis intervention techniques are required.

The pilot program, which has been in operation since July 3, has already had positive results. In one instance, the online counselor determined that a Veteran in the chat required immediate assistance. The counselor convinced the Veteran to provide the counselor with a home telephone number and then remained in the chat room with the Veteran while the hotline staff called the number and talked to the Veteran's mother. The hotline counselor worked with the Veteran's mother to convince the Veteran to be admitted to a medical facility for further treatment.

"The chat line is not intended to be a crisis response line," said Dr. Janet Kemp, VA's National Suicide Prevention Coordinator at the VA medical center in Canandaigua, N.Y., where VA's trained counselors staff the chat line 24 hours a day, seven days a week. VA's suicide prevention hotline is also staffed continuously.

"Chat responders are trained in an intervention method specifically developed for the chat line to assist people with emotional distress and concerns," Kemp said. "We have procedures they can use to transfer chatters in crisis to the hotline for more immediate assistance."

Both Veterans Chat and the VA's Suicide Prevention Hotline have been established under the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which was established through collaboration between VA and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Since becoming operational in July 2007, VA's Suicide Prevention Hotline has received more than 150,000 calls, resulting in 4,000 rescues.

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GAEC Director Foster to Supervise MMA Event for U.S. Troops in Iraq

Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission Director Andrew Foster has been selected to serve as Official Event Supervisor for a mixed-martial arts event in Iraq. The event is sponsored by Armed Forces Entertainment, and the tour will be hosted by the Army Brigade Command and Central Command. This is the first MMA event held for members of the Armed Services in Iraq.

“I am honored to participate in this event and pleased to provide this form of popular entertainment to the men and women who serve our country,” Foster said. “I am grateful to offer my expertise to help ensure a safe environment for the fighters and our dedicated troops.”

“Andy has a respected reputation as the director of the GAEC and through his experience as an MMA fighter,” Georgia Secretary of State Handel said. “He will serve as an excellent ambassador for Georgia and the GAEC.”

Foster will travel with a group of promoters and representatives from the International Combat Sports Federation, and judges and referees to Iraq in September. The group will visit several different Iraqi bases, and hold a main event match in Mosul. In addition, troops stationed at the base will meet the fighters, have the opportunity to work out with them, and attend MMA seminars.

The promoter of the project is DD Productions, LLC, which is owned by Marine Corps spouse Monica Sanford. Most of the amateur and pro fighters participating are active duty military stationed in Iraq or the United States.

Andrew Foster started his jiu jitsu training in 1996 and his mixed martial arts training in 1998. Foster won both the Middleweight and the Light Heavyweight ISCF Mixed Martial Arts East Coast Championship Belts in 2004, after which he turned professional. Foster holds a 7-0 record in amateur MMA and a 9-2 professional record. In July 2007, Foster was named Head Referee of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission and was appointed to Executive Director in May 2008.

Armed Forces Entertainment is the lead Department of Defense agency for providing entertainment to U.S. military personnel serving overseas, with priority given to those in contingency operations and at remote and isolated locations. The Department of the Air Force is the executive agent of Armed Forces Entertainment. Founded in 1951, Armed Forces Entertainment brings a touch of home to more than 500,000 troops annually, embracing the best of Americana that stretches across all genres of entertainment. Visit www.armedforcesentertainment.com for more information.

Karen Handel was sworn in as Secretary of State in January 2007. The Secretary of State's office offers important services to our citizens and our business community. Among the office’s wide-ranging responsibilities, the Secretary of State is charged with conducting efficient and secure elections, the registration of corporations, and the regulation of securities and professional license holders. The office also oversees the Georgia Archives and the Capitol Museum.
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Shock Waves May Damage Soldiers' Brains

Finding may help develop better combat helmets

When today's soldiers enter combat, they're better protected from explosions than the military personnel of any previous war. Ultra-strong helmets shield them from the flying shrapnel of homemade bombs; high-tech cushioning cradles their skulls during sudden impacts with the ground. But because modern soldiers are surviving explosions that would have taken the lives of Vietnam-era infantrymen, army hospitals are seeing a rise in a particularly painful war wound—traumatic brain injury (TBI).

TBI can range from a simple concussion to damage with long-term effects, including impaired cognitive abilities and even anxiety and depression. New research is helping to explain how those injuries come about, potentially pointing the way to helmet designs to reduce brain damage. Using code originally designed to simulate how a detonated weapon rattles a building or tank, physicists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and the University of Rochester in New York modeled an all-too-real situation: a 5-pound bomb exploding 15 feet from a soldier's head. Their goal was to understand the effects of the high-speed shock wave that follows an explosion.

Some doctors have suggested that the wave reaches the brain through the eyes or ears; others say it causes compression of the chest and a subsequent surge of blood to the brain. The new research, soon to appear in the journal Physical Review Letters, shows that the shock wave doesn't accelerate the head enough to damage the brain. Instead, it seems to affect the skull directly.

"Your skull is not exactly rigid, so the pressure actually deforms the skull as the blast wave moves across," said Eric Blackman, who is one of the authors of the study. "That flexure drives a stress wave that propagates into the brain. It's something like an inverse earthquake."

The waves flex the skull by only about the width of a human hair. But according to coauthor William Moss, "that's enough to generate pressures in the brain comparable to [an] impact." The reason is that the brain contains a lot of water. "Push on it a little bit and you get a lot of pressure," said coauthor Michael King. Because the blast wave sweeps across the skull in just a fraction of a second, "you don't have time for the pressure to dissipate, so you get a localized region of very high pressure."

David Moore, a vascular neurologist and the deputy director of research at the Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center, headquartered in Washington, D.C., said that the skull flexure mechanism proposed by the physicists is just one hypothesis among several competing concepts of blast waves and injury. “Like all these hypotheses there’s yet work to be done in terms of validation,” he said. “There are too many unknown variables from the constitutive properties of brain and skull at high strain rates along with other associated blast phenomena.”

The team considered the performance of Kevlar helmets with two kinds of cushioning systems: a nylon web system that was retired in 2003, and the foam pads of the Advanced Combat Helmet, which is standard-issue for today's soldiers. The results were unsettling.

To protect soldiers from bullets and shrapnel, modern helmet design maintains a 1.3-cm gap between helmet and head; in the simulation, the blast wave washed into the helmet through this gap. "The helmet acts as a windscoop, so the pressure between the skull and helmet is larger than the blast wave by itself," King said. While the ACH's pads mostly prevented this underwash, they also passed on forces to the skull.

King suggested that the pads' stiffness could be optimized to "take the best of both worlds; it doesn't allow the blast in there, and it doesn't transfer [forces] from the helmet to the head." He stressed that when making changes to the helmet, preserving its ability to reduce impacts and fend off bullets was paramount. "You'd have to be careful to make sure it doesn't interfere with what the helmet does very well, which is stopping fragments and bullets," he said. "The whole idea why there was a big gap between skull and helmet in the first place, is it makes it more likely for the soldier to survive if a bullet hits the helmet."

The researchers stopped short of claiming the high-pressure regions caused by blast waves would then cause TBI. But their findings seem to clear some of the fog surrounding closed head injuries, said Brent Masel, a neurologist and the president and medical director of the Transitional Learning Center, a post acute brain injury treatment program in Galveston, TX.

"We classify brain injuries as mild, moderate, or severe based on the amount of trauma they have at that time… but the severity of injury and eventual outcome may very often be different," Masel said." Assuming their model is correct, this answers one of the questions that keeps getting raised—how do these men and women who have a minor blast injury have symptoms? It may be that the blast injury isn't so minor."

By Lauren Schenkman
Inside Science News Service
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VA Chief's Vow to The American Legion: 'We Will End Vet Homelessness.'

/PRNewswire/ -- Secretary Eric Shinseki of the Department of Veterans Affairs says he and the Obama administration are determined to end homelessness among military veterans. His promise was made as the retired four-star U.S. Army General spoke at the opening session of The American Legion's 91st national convention in Louisville, Ky.

In what he called his "seven month report," referring to his term of office thus far as VA Secretary, Shinseki pointed to the over-representation of veterans among the populations of those with mental health issues, drug abuse, alcoholism and homelessness. He said the Presidential administration and his agency in particular are working very hard to correct this discrepancy as well as enroll many more eligible veterans into VA healthcare, now serving a fraction of those who could receive its benefits, and to address the staggering backlog of benefits claims now facing VA case workers. Retraining, already underway, will help, said Secretary Shinseki.

In his remarks, Secretary Shinseki twice cited the Department of Veterans Affairs motto, inscribed on metal plaques flanking the department's front entrance in Washington, D.C. where, Shinseki said, "I go to work every day." The inscription reads, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan." The words are from President Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address.

On a more positive topic, Shinseki lauded the enactment of the new Post 9/11 GI Bill, which expands and modernizes the award of higher education benefits to military veterans. Recalling the post-World War II economic boom attributed in part to the exponential growth of college educations among veterans, the VA Secretary predicted that, because of the newly instituted benefits package, "we are on the verge of that happening again."

Secretary Shinseki joined fellow convention speakers Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General David Petraeus, Commander of the U.S. Central Command, at the Legion convention's opening ceremonies this morning.

With a current membership of 2.5-million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.

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FDA Authorizes Emergency Use of H1N1 Test for U.S. Troops Serving Overseas

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) that allows a 2009 H1N1 influenza virus test to be used to detect the virus in troops serving overseas.

The EUA allows the U.S. Department of Defense to distribute the H1N1 test to its qualified laboratories that have the required equipment and trained personnel to perform the test and interpret its results. An EUA authorizes the use of unapproved medical products or unapproved uses of approved medical products during a declared public health emergency.

“The FDA worked quickly with the Defense Department to authorize the use of this test to better protect our troops. The test will aid in more rapid diagnosis of 2009 H1N1 influenza infections so that deployed troops can quickly begin appropriate medical treatment,” said Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the test, which is called the CDC swH1N1 (swine) Influenza Real-Time RT-PCR.

Under this new EUA, the Defense Department’s Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS) can be used to run the CDC’s test. The FDA previously cleared other assays for use on the JBAIDS beginning in 2005.

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Veterans Administration Must Suspend Use of So-Called 'Death Book' on Veterans, Malley Says

/PRNewswire/ -- Paul Malley, President of the national non-profit organization Aging with Dignity, today called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to immediately suspend use of its "Your Life, Your Choices" advance care planning guide dubbed "The Death Book for Veterans." Malley also praised Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, who announced on "Fox News Sunday" yesterday that he would call for hearings into the matter.

"'Your Life, Your Choices' attempts to steer users toward its own preferred conclusions, and as such, is not an honest tool to help veterans make health care decisions," Malley said. "Sen. Specter is right to demand this be given the full attention it deserves."

Earlier on the August 23rd "Fox News Sunday" program, Aging with Dignity founder Jim Towey had outlined concerns he raised in an August 19th commentary published in the Wall Street Journal. He took issue with the document surreptitiously guiding veterans to choosing to forego care if they conclude the quality of their life makes it "not worth living" due to illness, disability or depression. Towey also pointed out the author of "Your Life, Your Choices" is a noted advocate for assisted suicide and health care rationing and that its revised version listed the Hemlock Society (now called "Compassion and Choices") as the sole reference for advance directives.

"Fox News Sunday" program host Chris Wallace later asked Sen. Specter, another guest on the program, whether he had any problems with the booklet. "I sure do," Sen. Specter replied, saying, "I think consideration ought to be given right now to suspending it pending hearings before the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Senate, where I serve. And I'm going to call for those hearings first thing tomorrow."

Malley noted "Your Life, Your Choices" includes many overt appeals to one's sense of guilt over "being a burden" to others. "Advance directives should allow you to express your wishes in your own words free of influence from others, Malley said. "After the VA takes down this misguided guide from its website, it should go back to the drawing board."

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College of Health Administrators Train with the ROTC

Clayton State University’s Dr. Sue Odom, associate dean of Nursing in the College of Health, and Dr. Katrina Barnes, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, recently went to Seattle to experience what ROTC cadets did during training.

“The Army wanted to illustrate to the faculty and staff what the ROTC cadets were learning. We were able to experience what they went through,” Odom says. “During the four days that we attended, we were able to experience cultural diversity programs, military training, critical thinking and problem solving exercises, and other such things.”

Maybe the most notable experience was artillery training.

“The experience that impacted me the most was the artillery training,” Odom says. “The Army outfitted each of us in combat gear to protect us. We were then given the opportunity to fire a M16 and other machine guns, throw a grenade, shoot a bazooka gun, and other artillery equipment. They were very patient with me.

“I also had the opportunity to repel off a 37 foot tower. Accomplishing some of the activities that the cadets did made me empathize with the feelings of pride that the cadets had when they accomplished each feat.

“The army was surprised that I was so enthusiastic about shooting the machine guns,” adds Barnes. “One of my favorite experiences was the cultural diversity training where they had a fake country called Palermo. The scenario I observed was at a check point where the cadets were required to respond to the various nationals who wanted to pass through. They had to search them and decide what the correct action would be. There were people who had guns hidden on their person, someone who was in labor and bent over screaming with pain, and a lady who had a huge gun she wanted to sell to the guards.

“It was interesting to see the critical thinking skills that were being taught during this activity.”

Both administrators say the experience was extremely rewarding.

“It was a very enlightening experience to see and appreciate what each of these cadets are learning,” Odom says. “The thing that struck me the most was the professionalism and experience that each of these cadets demonstrated. It was hard to believe that they were young adults still in college and how much they were learning. It made me feel comfortable in that these were to be our leaders in the Army for the future. They were awesome!”

“They were so excited. They felt a great sense of accomplishment and enthusiasm for their new venture,” says Barnes of the cadets. “The experience was very beneficial as I came away with a feeling of excitement for the opportunities offered by the Army ROTC. I feel that I can be an advocate for the Army and try to talk to nursing and pre-nursing students about the opportunities with the Army.”

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
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Isakson, Chambliss Announce Two New VA Vet Centers for Georgia

U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., today announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs plans to open two new “Vet Centers” in Muscogee and Richmond counties. Vet Centers provide readjustment counseling and outreach services to all veterans who served in any combat zone.

“This is outstanding news for Georgia. These new facilities will help ensure that we deliver to our veterans the level of VA care they deserve,” Isakson said. “As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, one of my top priorities is to make sure America takes care of the veterans who have dedicated their lives to serving our country.”

“Our veterans deserve access to the very best care and services,” said Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The announcement of these new facilities is great news for veterans in our state who have served our nation with honor.”

The VA said it expects the facilities will be fully operational by the end of 2010. These new facilities will be in addition to the five VA Vet Centers that already operate in Georgia.

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