Our Shared Mission…to End Suicide

Our Shared Mission…to End Suicide
TIME
By Barbara Van Dahlen
May 21, 2013

I didn’t know Neil Landsberg.

But I know many of the fine veterans who work for and volunteer with the organization that Neil clearly loved, Team Rubicon.

Neil was 34 years old when he took his life May 9.

By all accounts he was a fine man who had served our country with distinction as a captain in Air Force Special Operations. Neil received the Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. According to posted information about his life, Neil completed multiple overseas combat deployments while with the Air Force, and after he came home he continued to serve his community. In addition to his work with Team Rubicon, Neil volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and at Walter Reed.

I didn’t know retired Army colonel Grant Zachary either.

But I do know and respect his wife, Brigadier General Marianne Watson, who serves with the Army National Guard.

Grant was 54 years old when he took his life—also on May 9. The pictures posted online with his obituary tell the story of a loving father, husband, and family man. Grant served our country for 20 years with the Minnesota Army National Guard as a UH-1 Huey helicopter pilot, Flight Facility Commander at Holman Field, and State Aviation Officer in St. Paul.
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Marine Clay Hunt's family fighting to keep others alive

Another member of Team Rubicon lost battle to suicide

Army's ineffective to prevent sexual assaults in Korea

Report underscores Army's ineffectiveness to prevent sexual assaults in Korea
By Ashley Rowland
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 21, 2013

SEOUL – Failed leadership, easy access to alcohol and mixed messages about questionable off-post establishments have rendered the Army’s sexual assault prevention programs in South Korea largely ineffective, according to a military study.

Stars and Stripes obtained a copy of a 28-page draft report produced by a sexual assault task force formed in spring 2011 to study the problem. For nearly two years, Eighth Army officials have refused repeated requests from Stars and Stripes for the report, instead providing a one-page summary this month.

The draft report documented the Army’s inability to respond to what it described as “special circumstances” in South Korea that might contribute to sexual assaults, including widespread underage drinking.
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Fort Jackson 1-star suspended amid misconduct allegations

Fort Jackson 1-star suspended amid misconduct allegations
Army Times
By Joe Gould
Staff Writer
May. 21, 2013

The Army announced it has suspended the commander of Fort Jackson, S.C., amid misconduct allegations that include adultery and a physical altercation, according to a spokesman for Training and Doctrine Command.

Brig. Gen. Bryan T. Roberts was suspended today as commander of the Army Training Center and Fort Jackson by TRADOC commander Gen. Robert W. Cone, based on a preliminary investigation by Army Criminal Investigation Command. The investigation pointed to a breach of good order and discipline, “which was contrary to Army values and could not be condoned,” said spokesman Harvey Perritt.

Perritt said he could not provide details of the investigation in order to protect the privacy of those involved and the investigation itself, which is expected to span several weeks to several months.

“Regardless of rank or position, soldiers will be held accountable for their actions,” Perritt told Army Times. “We have to assume Brig. Gen. Roberts is innocent until proven otherwise.”
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Oklahoma National Guard Uses New Combat Gear, Tactics From Afghanistan

National Guard Uses New Combat Gear, Tactics in Moore, Okla.
'It's still chaos,' said one soldier who patrolled with Air Force, Army veterans
US News
By PAUL D. SHINKMAN
May 21, 2013

Oklahoma National Guardsmen, many of them combat veterans, were among the first responders to the tornado that tore through Moore, Okla. Monday afternoon.

Roughly 80 soldiers and airmen from nearby bases rushed to the disaster zone early Monday evening, a spokesman says. They brought with them advanced tactical equipment, experience from the war in Afghanistan and an overarching desire to help friends and neighbors.

"It's still chaos," says Maj. Geoff Legler, a spokesman for the Oklahoma National Guard who arrived with the initial quick reaction force Monday night. He first saw victims of the EF4-rated tornado escaping on foot via major avenues, clutching photo albums and pictures, and anything else that would fit into suitcases.

Hundreds of firemen, search and rescue workers and police responded to schools and neighborhoods affected by more than 200 mph winds. Legler flew over the disaster site Tuesday morning and says every intersection was occupied by first responders or members of the National Guard. Roughly 75 percent of the guardsmen based in Norman, just south of Moore, came out last night to work with airmen from the 146th Air Support Operations Squadron stationed out of Will Rogers Air National Guard Base near Oklahoma City.
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Defense contractors gets jail time stealing from injured Marines

Man sentenced for stealing from injured troops
U-T San Diego
By Susan Shroder
MAY 20, 2013

SAN DIEGO — An Oceanside man who U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy said sought to profit at the expense of injured U.S. troops was sentenced Monday for stealing medical equipment from Camp Pendleton that was to be shipped to Marines overseas.

Michael Tuisee, 34, was one of three civilian defense contractors charged in the case. All three men worked at medical-supply warehouses on the base.

The other defendants, Henry Bonilla, 25, of Pomona, and Richard Navarro, 39, of Fallbrook, are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 30. All three pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to engage in theft of government property.

U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo sentenced Tuisee to six months in prison, then six months of house arrest and three years of supervised release. Tuisee also was ordered to pay nearly $180,000 in restitution to the Marine Corps and forfeit $8,250 in illegal proceeds.
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