Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, also explicitly rejected the idea of sharply boosting the Army, as some in Congress have recommended, saying at a Pentagon news conference that "we are currently growing the Army as fast as we can." Congress recently authorized a short-term addition of 30,000 troops, bringing the active-duty Army to about 512,000, and Schoomaker said the Army will consider in 2006 whether to support making the increase permanent.

He also said that the fighting in Iraq, far from hurting the Army's modernization efforts, actually has had "very positive" effects on the effort to adjust the service to the new demands of the 21st century. "We are changing and we are making great progress in this regard," Schoomaker said. "We're making some of the most significant changes in our Army that we have made since World War II."

Schoomaker's comments focused almost exclusively on the question of how Iraq and other deployments are affecting Army personnel and modernization. He said he was speaking in part because some news stories "have been inaccurate or misleading." He did not elaborate.

In recent months the Army has taken a series of unusual steps to cope with the strain of meeting its deployment needs in Iraq. The number of U.S. troops there has risen to about 141,000 in recent months to confront the insurgency, instead of declining as planned earlier.

That has prompted the Army to keep thousands of soldiers in Iraq beyond their planned tours of 12 months, to impose "stop-loss" orders requiring some soldiers to stay in the Army even after their scheduled exit dates and to plan to send to the Middle East two units that specialize in training troops at home.

More recently, the Army has recalled several thousand soldiers who left active duty but are still contractually obligated to serve if called upon. The troops, part of the Individual Ready Reserve, will fill empty positions in units scheduled for deployment overseas, including combat support roles such as mechanics, logistics and civil affairs. It was the first time since the Persian Gulf War that the Pentagon has drawn on the Individual Ready Reserve.

Schoomaker and other generals at the news conference conceded that there are some worrisome signs, including that the number of recruits in the delayed entry program -- those waiting to ship out -- has shrunk to its lowest level in three years. "We will be working very hard over the fall to increase that," Schoomaker said.

He also noted that while the active-duty Army and Army Reserve are meeting their recruiting goals, the Army National Guard currently is at only 88 percent of its target. He said he is "cautiously optimistic that we will make our goal."

Some state officials recently have expressed concern that deployments of Guard units to Iraq are making them less able to respond to fires, hurricanes and other natural disasters. Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, the head of the National Guard Bureau, who was also at the news conference, conceded that four states -- Idaho, Montana, Vermont and New Hampshire -- have half their Army Guard contingents deployed. But he said that any situation can be handled by using those states' Air Guard troops or nearby states' Army Guard troops. So, Blum concluded, "they are well prepared to handle forest fires or acts of Mother Nature or acts of a terrorist."

Discussing Iraq, Schoomaker said the sustained combat there has been a "forcing function" for change. "This war . . . provides momentum and focus and resources to transform," he said.

Under Schoomaker, the Army has accelerated a reorganization aimed at making troops more easily deployable, better able to fight once they get to a war zone and better able to withstand the strain of long missions, such as Iraq, which Army officers expect will be the rule for decades to come.

The continuing combat in Iraq has focused the Army on what it needs to do, and made it easier to remove some barriers to change, Schoomaker indicated. "It is a tough management challenge, but it's a unique strategic opportunity for us to take advantage of, and that's what we're doing."

US vulnerable to EMP attack

By Michael Sirak JDW Staff Reporter
Washington, DC

The US armed forces infrastructure, and American society at large, remain vulnerable to a debilitating attack by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by a high-altitude nuclear blast, a senior-level, congressionally appointed panel has warned.

Several potential adversaries, such as China, are capable of launching a crippling EMP strike against the US with a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile, and others, such as North Korea or even terrorist groups, could have the capability by 2015, the panel said in its findings that it unveiled to US legislators at a hearing on 22 July.

Panel members said this type of attack may be an appealing option, especially for an unsophisticated opponent. One possible scenario is a 'Scud' missile, with a modified nuclear warhead to maximise the EMP effect, launched from a barge off the US coast.

While the US military has grown increasingly dependent on computers, electronics and information systems, it has relaxed requirements for EMP-hardened systems since the end of the Cold War and its overall record of adherence to its guidelines for such robust equipment "has been spotty", they said. This trend continues "in the wrong direction", the panel noted.

Similarly, the US civilian critical infrastructure is not adequately prepared to deal with the effects of an EMP attack, according to the panel, which is known formally as the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack. Congress created the panel in 2000 out of concern that this issue was not receiving enough attention.

An EMP attack, for example, could place the nation's electrical grid "in danger of fundamental collapse", said commission chairman William Graham, who served as scientific advisor to US President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. The overall effects could be long lasting and difficult to recover from, he added. An EMP strike would also be likely to knock out non-hardened satellites in low-Earth orbit "within days or weeks", he said, noting that commercial satellites are especially vulnerable. Interest in a big penetrating bomb is growing in some US defence circles, including the Defense Science Board (DSB), the senior policy advisory panel to the Secretary of Defense. It recommended in its February 2004 report on 'Future Strategic Strike Forces' that the Department of Defense "immediately undertake" a demonstration of a "bomber-delivered massive penetrator" weapon as part of a family of ultra-large bombs that would "improve conventional attack effectiveness against deep, expansive, underground tunnel facilities".
China Militia Hold Exercises Opposite Taiwan-Media
By Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese militia staged a two-day weekend exercise off the southeastern coast, following up on drills by the People's Liberation Army this month amid simmering tensions with arch-foe Taiwan, state media said on Monday.

About 3,000 Chinese officers, men, militia and paramilitary police took part in the two-day exercises off Fujian province that ended on Sunday and which involved militia boats providing front-line support at sea, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said.

China suspects Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian will push for formal statehood after winning a second four-year term in March and it is preparing for a possible showdown with the self-ruled, democratic island, which Beijing has claimed as its own since their split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

Xinhua did not say whom the exercises were aimed at but they came on the heels of week-long land, sea and air drills that simulated an invasion of Taiwan. About 18,000 troops took part in those war games on Fujian's Dongshan island.

The exercises come not only when China is putting on a show of force opposite Taiwan but amid signs top leaders in Beijing are jostling over how best to deal with the island.

China's Communist Party chief Hu Jintao edged away from his usual practice of deferring on military issues to his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, who is still chairman of the decision-making Central Military Commission.

In widely publicized comments, Hu told a study session of the party's elite Politburo last week that China should "promote the coordinated development of national defense building and economic construction."

Analysts said Hu's comments signaled he was becoming increasingly assertive vis-a-vis Jiang and did not want an arms race with Taiwan to weigh down the Chinese economy.

Hu, who is also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, said China "must unwaveringly walk the path of peaceful development," the overseas edition of the official People's Daily said on Monday.

Analysts saw the mention of "peaceful development" by Hu as a swipe at Jiang. In a bid to retain his stamp on foreign policy, Jiang has barred Hu from publicly using such phrases that refer to China's peaceful rise, the New York Times has reported.

The simmering rivalry between the two leaders was underscored by the front-page publication of Hu's remarks -- accompanied on the same page by a report on Jiang's latest military edict.

Taiwan, seen by many security analysts as the most dangerous flashpoint in the Asia-Pacific region, topped the agenda when U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Adm. Thomas Fargo, the top U.S. military officer in Asia, visited Beijing this month.

Chinese leaders warned the United States against selling advanced weapons to the island.
U.S. decision-makers played out this month a crisis-simulation drill, dubbed Dragon's Thunder, based on a growing Chinese military threat to Taiwan.

Western military analysts have said China wants to avoid conflict with Taiwan if possible, but the People's Liberation Army is preparing for worst-case scenarios.

Taiwan's leaders are betting China will not attack and jeopardize surging economic growth, seen as necessary to create jobs, avert social unrest and perpetuate Communist Party rule.

The island's leaders also believe the United States would rush to their rescue in the event of conflict. Western analysts said Taipei may be miscalculating Beijing's resolve and that Washington has no desire to be dragged into any conflict.

China's resolve was shown in the weekend exercises involving militia boats firing ground-to-air guided missiles and providing first aid and ship repair services, state media said.

Last week, two Mirage fighter jets touched down on a usually busy Taiwan highway in the first such drill in 26 years to test the island's combat readiness against Chinese attack.

THE U.S. ARMY NEEDS A FEW GOOD IDEAS
$200 Million Ad Campaign Must Lure Recruits in Wartime
July 26, 2004
QwikFIND ID: AAP83K
By Richard Linnett
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The U.S. Army needs a few good ideas.
Its advertising account, worth about $200 million, is in review, and an online request for proposals briefs agencies that: "The Army is busier than ever and at war." Therein lies the problem. For five years, the army has used the tagline "Army of One," but now observers say the slogan and the current TV campaign that pushes job skills and war gadgetry is out of touch with the reality of war and should be scrapped.

80,000 new recruits
The Army needs to recruit 80,000 new soldiers next year, and the next ad campaign will be its most public tool.
"The Army has to be careful, because it really damages morale if they do a bait and switch," said Evan Wright, a Rolling Stone journalist and author of Generation Kill. Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American War, a harrowing account of being embedded with the Marine's First Reconnaissance Battalion in Iraq.

The Army sells "kids on this idea of playing with really cool guns, machines, tanks, radios and computers, that they will have so much high technology they'll be an 'Army of One.'" But the dominant images of the war, Mr. Wright said, "are burning Army Humvees. In the field, the technology doesn't seem so cool." The Army unit Mr. Wright followed in Afghanistan as a Rolling Stone reporter "hated the 'Army of One.' They were embarrassed by it."

Metaphysical certitude
A spokesman for the Army said it will keep "Army of One," created by current agency Leo Burnett, part of Publicis Groupe. "We will obviously be looking at a new contractor but there is no plan at this time, with metaphysical certitude, to do anything to change the logo, the theme of our advertising," said Army spokesman Paul Boyce.

But the Army campaign may be in danger of breaking the brand promise, one of the mortal sins of advertising. Last year, the Army broke away from the slick video-game-like "Army of One" ads and began a series of spots, referred to as the "2400/7" series, that depict real-life potential recruits and soldiers. The ads drove viewers to the goarmy.com site where more reality Webisodes about real-life soldiering could be found. In 2001, a "Basic Training" TV campaign followed six recruits through boot camp.

'It's reality TV
"All of our advertising is based on real-life stories," said Colonel Thomas Nickerson, director of strategic outreach, U.S. Army accessions command. "If you look at our '2400/7' series, it demonstrates what soldiers are doing in their jobs. It's reality TV. We don't use actors. Our research tells us that these kids want to know what the deal is. They want to know what the experience is before they purchase it. They know there is a global war on terrorism and they know and expect that they may be called on to deploy. It's very hard not to know that if you are watching the news."

The Army is in the process of increasing its active duty population by another 30,000 soldiers, up from 482,400, according to the Army Times. To reach that goal, it will use a combination of recruiting and retention. Already the 2004 goal of 71,000 has been increased to 77,000, a mark the Army is on track to hit by Sept. 30. The goal for next year is 80,000. The Army currently has about 503,000 people on active duty.

"Whoever picks up the Army's new account will have their work cut out for them," said Jim Tice, senior reporter for Gannett Co.'s Army Times. "Not only will they have to sell the service during a time of war, but also a time in which the Army is significantly increasing its size. So there are a lot of question marks and people are very antsy about this."

Conventional wisdom suggests it's easier to recruit for the armed forces during peacetime, when young men and women sign up for a few years of harmless duty to help pay for school tuition and to learn skills -- and the "Army of One" played on that.

The appeal of war
But war has its own appeal. "What is happening right now is that a lot of people who are coming into military service are thrilled by the idea of war," Mr. Tice said. "It's an adventure thing. The advertising is beginning to subtly reflect that. Certainly, going after college money is important. But less so over the past several years. They are still using the 'Army of One' slogan and imagery, but people in the military don't talk about it much."

Mr. Wright's book describes a new breed of American youth raised on violent video games that now seek the great adrenaline rush of real life combat.

The Army has started to make use of video games in its promotional efforts, and is now selling a game called "America's Army."

"The fact that the Army is now selling a video game is perfect," Mr. Wright said. "Since video games are all about killing, it is basically saying, 'Play the ultimate video game, join the Army.'"

Tuesday, July 27, 2004         
Marine offensive in Afghanistan called unprecedented, a shock to Taliban

By Jon R. Anderson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, July 27, 2004

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Top military leaders in Afghanistan are hailing a Marine offensive deep inside southern Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province as the most successful operation here since the 2001 invasion.

Tucked away in southern Afghanistan's rugged mountains, the province has provided a sanctuary for Taliban holdouts and their al-Qaida supporters, say officials. But not anymore.

The Marine offensive, which began in March and is just now wrapping up, was the first incursion into the area by conventional forces.

The Marines are credited with killing more than 100 Taliban and al-Qaida fighters during weeks of running gunbattles in an area completely avoided by conventional U.S. forces until their arrival.

"You're the best this place has ever seen," Army Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, the top field commander in Afghanistan, told a gathering Marines at Kandahar Airfield this weekend.

The Marines' offensive, he said, put the Taliban on the run in their own back yard.
"Never again can they use that place as a sanctuary," said Olson. "You proved to the world the United States of America is going to take this fight to the most dangerous part of Afghanistan unafraid and absolutely determined."

Olson said the Marine offensive also caught the Taliban off guard.
"You rocked him back on his heels. You knocked him on his ass.
"You went places that has never seen an American.
"You went to find him on his turf, on his terms, on his ground and kicked him in the ass.
"And that surprised him."
Olson said the MEU's performance had also "made an impression on the most senior leaders."
Quoting Lt. Gen. David Barno, the overall commander of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, Olson said,
"Never in the history of Operation Enduring Freedom has there been an offensive operation like the one the 22nd MEU conducted. Never have we been this successful. You have made history here."

WASHINGTON, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi today announced his decision to phase out a pilot program designed to test a new computerized financial management system at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

    "This pilot program was designed to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of certain commercial, off-the-shelf, technology programs in a complex medical environment," Principi said.

    The secretary's announcement called for a targeted phase-out date of Oct. 1 for the pilot program currently at Bay Pines.  The Bay Pines facility began piloting the program, known as CoreFLS, an integrated system combining logistical, billing and other management functions, in October 2003.

    The medical center will soon return to its previous financial management
software.
    A board of directors, chaired by Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology Robert N. McFarland and made up of the senior leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is examining the results of the CoreFLS pilot program at Bay Pines and will make recommendations to Secretary Principi regarding the program's future.

    CoreFLS was intended to comply with a 1996 federal law that required all governmental agencies to integrate their financial management systems based on commercially available, off-the-shelf programs.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
War on Terror Gives Impetus to Army Transformation
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2004 - With the nation at war, it is more crucial than ever for the U.S. Army to restructure. And the pressure of war is giving the service the means and -- more importantly -- the will to transform, said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker.

The general spoke at a press conference in the Pentagon today. He said that "as unfortunate as war always is," the global war on terror is giving the service and DoD the "momentum and focus and resources to transform that you might not have outside of this."

Schoomaker said the changes the Army is going through are the greatest since during World War II. Then the Army transformed itself from one ranked 17th in the world - below Yugoslavia - to the greatest fighting force on Earth.

The chief said there are currently more than a million soldiers in the Army, with more then 276,000 of them deployed around the world. "Our soldiers are performing their duties with honor, dignity and courage and respect," he said. "They are the heart of our Army, and I'm proud to serve with them."

But while the soldiers are fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and remaining on alert in many other areas, the service is still transforming. "I've often compared this to tuning a car engine while the engine is running, which is not only a complex task, but as you know, it could be dangerous as well," he said.

He said transformation is moving ahead based on three basic principles. "The first is that we are restructuring the force into modular formations," he said. "We're calling these the combat forces, brigade combat teams, units of action." The Army will go from a force of 48 brigades across the active Army and the Army National Guard to one that has somewhere between 77 and 82 brigades available, he said.

A force structured this way would have about 3-year active duty rotation. The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve would be on a five- to six-year rotation, the chief said.

The second principle is rebalancing the mix among the components of the Army - active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve.

Finally, the Army is working to stabilize the force.
Schoomaker said the Army will grow by 30,000, which will give the service the cushion it needs to make the changes. He said that as the service rotates forces in and out of combat zones, they are "reset" for the future.

He said this is a huge management challenge both in fighting the war on terror and to implement transformation. "But in fact, this convergence is very fortuitous," he said. The service is taking advantage of supplemental funding to maintain the Army transformation and modernization programs. The war is also giving the service "the head room that we need to do these changes and maintain the force."

The Army plan will mean "more cohesive and combat-ready formations, more stability, and a more predictable lifestyle for our soldiers and their families," he said. The changes will mean "more agile and tailored units, more high-demand units and skills, and more commonality across the entire Army."

Reserve, Guard Can Seek Reimbursement of Medical, Dental Claims
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2004 -- National Guard and reserve members who paid their medical and dental bills and saved their receipts may now seek reimbursement from Tricare, officials of the military health care system announced July 23.

Officials said the system will begin processing medical and dental claims for Guard and Reserve members who meet certain eligibility requirements.

Only guardsmen and reservists issued "delayed-effective-date active-duty orders" for more than 30 days in support of a contingency operation, and their families, may be eligible to have medical claims reimbursed.

And according to Tricare, only those medical expenses incurred during the military member's "early eligibility" period -- up to 60 days prior to reporting to active duty -- from Nov. 6, 2003, to the present are eligible for reimbursement.

This temporary entitlement is part of the Defense Department's 2004 Temporary Reserve Health Benefit Program, which sought to enhance benefits for Guard and reserve members called to active duty.

Normally, under Tricare guidelines, Reserve and Guard members cannot be enrolled into Tricare until they reach their final duty location. The temporary entitlement gives them access upon receipt of activation orders, up to 60 days in advance.

Last year, President Bush signed legislation authorizing three new temporary provisions for guardsmen and reservists and their families that provided enhanced access to for a limited time during contingency activation. The provisions were made retroactive to Nov. 6, 2003.

A second provision temporarily extended eligibility for Tricare benefits to 180 days for those guardsmen and reservists who separated from active duty status during the period Nov. 6, 2003, through Dec. 31, 2004.

The third provision extends Tricare medical benefits to reserve-component sponsors and family members who are either unemployed or employed but not eligible for employer-provided health coverage.

All temporary provisions will end on Dec. 31, 2004.
However, the measure did include three provisions for permanent health benefits: making benefit counselors available for Guard and Reserve members in each Tricare region, authorizing medical and dental screening and care for members alerted for mobilization, and providing Tricare eligibility for reserve officers pending orders to active duty following commissioning.

Guardsmen, reservists and their family members must be registered in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System and be Tricare eligible to qualify for the temporary benefit.

In order to apply for reimbursement, eligible members must submit a Tricare (CHAMPUS) claim form, a copy of their itemized bill, an explanation of benefits, and proof of payment (if the bill was already paid) to their regional Tricare claims processor.

Claims processing instructions and a downloadable Tricare claims form, DD Form 2642, are available at local Tricare service centers or from Tricare regional contractors, or may be downloaded from the Tricare Web site.

Joe March
Director, Public Relations
The American Legion National Headquarters
700 N. Pennsylvania St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Tel: 317-630-1253
Cell: 317-748-1926
Fax: 317-630-1368