Air Force Media Heading Home After 7th Deployment

After 7 overseas deployments, Air Force medic looks forward to going home
Herald-Times (Tribune News Service)
By Laura Lane
Published: September 27, 2015

He also served on humanitarian missions twice, to help fight wildfires in California in 2007 and to help victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Matt Scott's world is defined by 15-foot-high cement walls, steel doors, guards with assault rifles, armored Humvees, suicide bombers and vehicle-borne explosives.

It's a short distance to work every day, but he gets transported in a helicopter. It's safer than driving on sabotaged roads in the deserts of Afghanistan, where a thin layer of gray, silt-like dust covers everything in sight and danger lurks always.

When winter cold sets in, air quality deteriorates. "It gets wet and humid and dreary and snowy," the U.S. Air Force master sergeant from Ellettsville, Ind., said. "The people here burn literally everything to stay warm, and the pollution gets very bad."

Six thousand feet above sea level and 7,673 miles from home, the 38-year-old Monroe County native and flight medic is serving out the end of a two-decade military career during which he has been deployed overseas seven times.
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News coverage of unemployed multi-tour veteran ends job search

Local Buffalo Veteran Lands Job Through WGRZ Channel 2 Interview
WGRZ News
Jun 20, 2013

BUFFALO, NY - Soldiers who fight for our freedom overseas come home to a new battle - finding a job.

In fact, 19.1 percent of young veterans between the ages of 20-24 are unemployed. That was the case for Williamsville native Eric Chiazza.

The 23-year-old Marine veteran was deployed three times in four years. He did tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Haiti. Once returning home to Buffalo, Chiazza struggled to find a job that fit his unique skill set and paid enough to cover his bills.

"When you get out of the military, you're kind of on your own... It's kind of scary, and I was worried that based on the job choice I had, that my job choices were limited and that it would be difficult to find one," Chiazza said.

2 On Your Side wanted to help.

During the first week of June, Chiazza was featured in a story about veterans struggling to find work. He shared his frustrations about how he was unable to find a well paying job in Western New York.

Later that week, Chiazza attended the "Hire Our Heroes" job fair sponsored by 2 On Your Side. The event brought over 60 employers from all over Western New York together to helpveterans and military spouses find jobs. Chiazza applied at a few different places, but nothing clicked.

Meanwhile, David Jones, Regional Vice President of Executive AirShare, was watching the night that Chiazza's story aired and wanted to do help. He attended the job fair in hopes of finding Chiazza, but the two didn't connect. Jones decided to contact 2 On Your Side, and was put in touch with Chiazza to set up a job interview.
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Humanitarian Service Medal approved for Haiti

Humanitarian Service Medal approved for Haiti
The Humanitarian Service Medal has been approved for soldiers who participated in the initial phase of Operation Unified Response, the ongoing disaster relief effort in Haiti.
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Asbestos and toxic exposure risk low for troops in Haiti

Burn pits and contaminants in the water of Iraq were also not supposed to be a problem, just as Agent Orange use in Vietnam. Is this one more problem that will arise years later for the troops?

Toxic exposure risk low for troops in Haiti
Officials say samples show contaminants below hazard levels
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, April 4, 2010

Air, water and soil samples taken from places where U.S. troops have been operating in Haiti do not contain high levels of toxic substances, according to the U.S. Southern Command.

The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine tested the hundreds of samples for some 200 contaminants, including silica and asbestos.

“Everything we have been able to analyze so far has not presented a risk that is expected to be long-term, short-term or one we can’t mitigate,” said Lt. Col. Eric Milstrey, SOUTHCOM’s public health officer.

Teams from the Army, Air Force and Navy collected the samples from sites where U.S. military personnel have worked in Haiti since January’s deadly earthquake. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, who provided security for earthquake rubble removal in Port-au-Prince, have reported sore throats and coughing that they blame on dust inhaled on the job.

The Army’s preliminary results suggest that asbestos levels found in dust from the Haiti earthquake are low enough that it would have been safe for soldiers to work without masks. The only place where a significant quantity of asbestos was detected in Haiti was at an AIDS clinic used by the U.S. Public Health Service, where an asbestos ceiling tile was discovered, Milstrey said.

Furthermore, testing of 14 wells used to supply shower water to troops in Haiti turned up quite a few contaminants, including harmful bacteria, that could be a health risk if the water was untreated, Milstrey said.

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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69140

Staff Sgt. Josh Olson: A soldier's new reality

Staff Sgt. Josh Olson is an incredible young man but that is nothing new when you know the men and women serving in the military and the veterans of war. Staff Sgt. Olson lost his leg in Iraq but after that, he still wanted to serve. He wanted to help others.

He is teaching other soldiers how to shoot at Fort Benning but that was still not enough for him. Now he wants to help the people of Haiti recover from losing their limbs.

When I first heard about the Haiti earthquake I remembered what I was going through at an American hospital and I can only imagine what it's like in a country like Haiti. I'm a soldier; I was in a war zone. I knew I could get hurt. But they didn't see it coming.

Staff Sgt. John Olson was on patrol in Iraq with his Army unit on Oct. 27, 2003 when he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade that tore off his right leg.

Josh Olson: A soldier's new reality
News Type: Event — Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:35 PM EDT
By Linda Dahlstrom

About the project
When the ground shook in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 12, the magnitude-7 earthquake left behind an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 instant amputees in a land where there's little mercy for disability.

This project follows one prosthetic team's efforts to help those victims, and also explores a grim truth: In the United States and around the world, the number of amputees is rising dramatically, driven by war, disease and natural disaster.

Through stories of U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and Haiti earthquake victims, msnbc.com explores the experiences of those who've lost limbs and the struggle they say is not just to survive, but to build a life worth living.

Josh Olson became one of the first soldiers to lose his leg at the hip level in the Iraq war when he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while on patrol in 2003. He was a 23-year-old Army staff sergeant when he had to grapple with the situation so many Haitians are suddenly facing.

His story, told in his own words, continues msnbc.com's special series of essays from amputee veterans recounting what it means to rebuild your life after losing a limb.

By Josh Olson, with Linda Dahlstrom

I always thought being a soldier was a best job in the world – I still do.

Ever since I was a young kid I wanted to enlist. It's kind of what the men in my family do. My grandpa, father and uncle were all in the military. When I turned 17 I enlisted in the Army; I was 18 when I shipped out.

A few years later my unit was one of the earliest to get to Iraq. We arrived in February 2003, a few months before the U.S. invasion. When we first go there it was pretty chaotic. All the Iraqi military and police were gone and there was a lot of looting in the streets. I wouldn't really say it was anarchy but pretty close to it. Our job was to reclaim government buildings and vehicles.

The night of Oct. 27, 2003, we were patrolling town when a rocket hit the back of the vehicle. A second rocket, the one that hit me, came about 90 seconds later. At first I thought I'd just gotten shot and I tried to walk it off. I did a quick physical inventory like they teach us: I checked my arms and hands and they were OK, but when I reached down to my right leg, I realized I had a problem.

I knew I was injured but didn't realize my leg was gone, blown off at the hip. I tried to crawl back to the vehicle and then my driver saw me.

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A soldiers new reality

Connecticut Guardsmen reflect on recovery mission at Hotel Montana

Connecticut Guardsmen reflect on recovery mission at Hotel Montana
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy
National Guard Bureau
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (3/19/10) - The earthquake that rocked this city left many of its structures damaged or destroyed, including one landmark that many say represented a sense of stability within the city.

The Hotel Montana, a four-star hotel where diplomats, dignitaries and other world leaders often stayed, collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble.

A few made it out alive, and the task of finding and identifying those who didn’t fell to a variety of organizations, including search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and members of the U.S. military.

As a member of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech. Sgt. Bambi Putinas said her job encompasses not only personnel issues, food services and lodging, but also mortuary affairs.

“We all volunteered to come here, but we had no idea what we would be doing,” she said. “In the back of our minds, we all thought possibly mortuary affairs.”

When a call for volunteers to assist at the Hotel Montana site was put out, Putinas was one of many from her unit to volunteer for the mission.

“We would help with the preliminary identification of remains and make sure they got back home safely and also any articles, luggage, personal effects,” she said. “We helped to document what we found, and those also would be shipped home.”

Putinas said it was an important job to do, but also a difficult one.
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http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/03/032310-Connecticut.aspx

Vietnam vet in Haiti eager to share war experiences

Vietnam vet in Haiti eager to share war experiences

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, March 21, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — When soldiers working in Haiti see Giles Pace coming, they often do a double take.

A typical outfit for the 66-year-old father of six, who’s in Haiti working as a contractor in support of the U.S. State Department, is an Army combat uniform top, worn unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up, and a tattered green beret that marks him as a former member of the U.S. Army’s elite Special Forces.

Soldiers who get close enough might glimpse his tattoo, with the SF emblem and the numbers of the 1st, 5th and 7th SF Groups that Pace served with during the Vietnam War.

The Chicago native did two tours of duty in Vietnam after joining the Army straight out of high school in 1961 and being assigned to 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.

Some Vietnam War veterans are reluctant to talk about the war, but Pace isn’t one of them. He said he’s eager to share his experiences to inspire today’s soldiers and show them that Vietnam War veterans are still supporting them. He’s also eager to tell them how much easier they have it.

“These guys don’t know what war is,” Pace said of modern soldiers. “We didn’t look like robo-cops. All we had were soft caps and our weapons and we’d go chasing [the enemy] in the jungle.”

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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68803

Airman deployed to Haiti, died in quake

Airman deployed to Haiti, died in quake
By Laurie Ure, CNN Pentagon Producer
March 10, 2010 7:45 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Air Force Lt. Col. Ken Bourland was among those killed in January's Haiti earthquake.
Bourland died inside the quake-ravaged Hotel Montana
Bourland's wife went to Haiti to stand near where her husband was last seen alive
Peggy Bourland says she's "unsure" what the future holds
Washington (CNN) -- Air Force Lt. Col. Ken Bourland hugged his wife, Peggy, goodbye and headed out for his two-day mission.

The date was January 12, and the destination was Haiti.

Neither knew it would be the last time they'd see one another.

Upon his arrival in Port-au-Prince, Ken Bourland sent his wife an e-mail saying he had settled into his hotel room.

Ten minutes later, Peggy Bourland and the couple's three sons began watching television back in their suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home. That's when the news broke: Haiti had been struck by a major earthquake.

She describes the panic that set in.
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/10/airforce.major.haiti/index.html?hpt=C2

Soldiers use delicate touch in Haiti patrols

'Whatever works, use it'
Staff Sgt. Christopher Bartholme dances in Haiti

Soldiers use delicate touch in Haiti patrols
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Pfc. Jean-Louis Smith knows how to change frowns into smiles, even in a place where that’s not easy.
By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Mar 8, 2010 5:49:00 EST
A seemingly endless line of edgy, scowling faces awaited him at a distribution point near a tent city in Port-au-Prince, where the people were waiting for shelter tarps.

Smith, a Haitian-American soldier, flicked on a portable loudspeaker and reggae star Sean Paul’s hit “Temperature” washed over the crowd, turning part of the queue into a virtual conga line of grins, tapping feet and nodding heads. A native of Port-au-Prince and a Creole speaker, Smith spoke to the crowd in Creole, making calming announcements and helping Haitians forget their misery with music — at least for a while.
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Big Kenny plays for troops in Haiti

After suffering a personal loss, country star plays for troops in Haiti
By Seth Robson Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, March 7, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – When Big Kenny, half of the colorful country music duo Big & Rich, heard a friend was trapped beneath the rubble after last month’s earthquake in Haiti, he didn’t hesitate.

The man who co-wrote “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” flew to Port-au-Prince to search for his friend, renewable energy specialist Walt Rattman, in the ruins on the Hotel Montana. Sadly, Kenny’s friend didn’t make it, although his body was recovered from the rubble.

But rather than dwell on his loss Kenny, whose real name is William Alphin, set out to help the Haitian people and spent five days in the devastated capital distributing aid. When he traveled into a slum called Cité Soleil to buy food for hungry, elderly Haitians, he met soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division.

The country star was so moved by the U.S. military efforts to bring relief to the struggling nation that he decided to return to Haiti last Thursday and play a series of concerts for personnel that culminated in a performance for the 82nd on the waterfront at Port-au-Prince.

“I was blown away,” Kenny said of the soldiers’ relief work. “I’m so proud and my heart is just completely moved by the outpouring of hope and compassion. It’s been an amazing showing of the heart of the American armed forces.”
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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68505

Leptospirosis and malaria beign treated for soldiers after Haiti aid

Soldier who helped in Haiti gets rare bacterial disease
By RAY REYES The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 24, 2010


TAMPA - It started with a headache and a painful sensitivity to light.

Next was a 105-degree fever.

Then it got worse for U.S. Army Warrant Officer Christopher Lust, who was in Haiti three weeks ago aiding relief efforts when he contracted a rare bacterial infection that also caused him to tremble violently and vomit blood.

"Imagine having a fever and cold shakes," Lust said from his room at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa. "But it was 50 to 60 times worse. It was like shaking in minus 15-degree weather."

What happened to Lust highlights a concern shared by government, military and health officials: the spread of contagious diseases in the aftermath of natural disasters. Since the Jan. 12 quake, with thousands of survivors living in tent cities without proper sanitation, the risk of viral or bacterial infections is high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A handful of soldiers and military personnel who had deployed to Haiti are being treated for malaria, said Jose Ruiz, spokesman for U.S. Southern Command, a joint military operation based in Miami.

What struck Lust is known as leptospirosis, a bacterial disease caused by exposure to water contaminated with animal urine. It is rarely fatal, but if untreated, the infection can cause kidney damage, inflammation of the brain and liver failure.

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Soldier who helped in Haiti gets rare bacterial disease

Second school collapses in Haiti

Second school collapses in Haiti
A second school in Haiti has partially collapsed, injuring nine people. Portions of the Grace Divine School in Canape Vert came crashing down Wednesday while class was in session. -
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Two children found unhurt in Haiti school collapse

Survivors Found in Haiti School Collapse
CNN
Port AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Nov. 8) -- Rescue workers in Haiti continued sifting through piles of rubble for signs of life Saturday as night fell over the grim scene where a school collapsed Friday.

Two uninjured children were pulled from the rubble of College La Promesse Evangelique in Petionville on Saturday and reunited with their families, said Rob Drouen, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Their rescue came hours after the death toll from the collapse climbed to 82 with the discovery of 21 bodies in a classroom, President Rene Preval said, according to Clarens Renois of the Haitian Press Network.

However, Drouen said it was difficult to say exactly how many people were inside the school.

"Yesterday, there was a special event at the school, so there were not only pupils but family members and friends who were invited," he said. "It's very difficult to say how many people were in the school."

Haitians 'screaming for help' after storms

Haitians 'screaming for help' after storms
Story Highlights
Gonaives is surrounded by a lake of floodwaters

The known death toll in northern Haiti is 13

Haiti still recovering from Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay in past two weeks

Steep terrain and deforested hills make Haiti vulnerable to floods


SAINT-MARC, Haiti (AP) -- Haitian families scrambled onto rooftops and screamed for help Tuesday in a city flooded by Tropical Storm Hanna, as U.N. peacekeepers and rescue convoys tried in vain to reach them.

Iris Norsil, 20, managed to flee the western coastal city of Gonaives and told The Associated Press that people there were isolated by muddy waters as evening fell, many seeking refuge on rooftops as wind gusts drove horizontal sheets of rain that flooded roads and buildings.

"They are screaming for help," Norsil said, as a U.N. aid convoy tried unsuccessfully to drive into Gonaives, now surrounded by a virtual lake of floodwaters. A team of AP journalists accompanied the convoy.

Another convoy carrying Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis had to abandon efforts at getting into Gonaives when one of the cars was nearly swept away, said Julian Frantz, a Haitian police officer who was providing security for the group.

Floodwaters rose rapidly outside Gonaives, where Norsil and scores of other residents who abandoned the low-lying city shivered violently in soaked clothing, nervously eying the rushing, debris-clogged waters. iReport.com: Photos from Haiti
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/02/haiti.hanna.ap/index.html