POW/MIA TRIBUTE, Page Two...

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P.O.W.s and M.I.A.s, We Salute You!

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Your Loss or Missing Status is felt throughout the world, even today, and
We all wish you Safe Return to your Loved Ones in the Future.

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Military POWs and MIAs

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Congress passed a Law called, "Check 21". This Law will take full effect on October 28th, 2004...Some Creditors have said October 1st, 2004. What it means is that any Checks written will clear Banks faster, because Creditors now have a way to send it through for payment (By Law) to get thier money faster. GEICO already does this. Careful when writing those checks, People...Please make sure you have the funds before doing so. Some Creditors are changing to ACH (Automatic Clearing House)...For Example: Texaco/Shell, Capital One (already took place), and Sam's Club...Credit Card Accounts, to name a few.

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Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Conference Is Open to Media To: DODADVISORIES-L@DTIC.MIL     PRESS ADVISORY from the United States Department of Defense

No. 036-05
PRESS ADVISORY Jun 17, 2005

Friday, June 17, 2005

The Department of Defense Office of Small and Disadvantaged 
Business
Utilization, in cooperation with its Army counterpart, is holding the 
first
National Veterans Small Business Conference June 20-22, at Caesar�s 
Palace Resort
Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.

The meeting, which is open for media coverage, is a result 
of a
Presidential Executive Order signed Oct. 21, 2004, that requires the 
federal
government to significantly increase contracting and subcontracting 
opportunities
for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.  More than 700 
service-disabled
veteran-owned small businesses, federal agency representatives, large 
DoD prime
contractors and acquisition officials will be present.
             The point of contact for this event is John Thompson, 
(301) 792-8680.
Information on the conference is available at the following Web site:
http://216.200.89.135/conference/veteran04/index.asp.

NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

No. 381-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Apr 20, 2005
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

U.S. MIA Team Visit to North Korea Announced

The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that 
for the 10th
consecutive year, teams of U.S. specialists have begun recovery 
missions of missing
in action (MIA) servicemen in North Korea.

The 27-man team entered North Korea April 16 and deployed 
to two base
camps from which the remains recovery work will be done.  One of the 
primary areas
of operations will be in Unsan County, about 60 miles north of 
Pyongyang.  The
other will be near the Chosin Reservoir in the northeast part of the 
country.

In Unsan County, U.S. forces battled Chinese units in the 
battles of
Unsan and the Chong Chon River November-December 1950.  About 300 U.S. 
soldiers are
believed to be missing in Unsan County from those battles.  During the 
Chosin
Campaign, also November-December 1950, more than 1,000 Americans are 
missing from
combat against Chinese forces.

Specialists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command 
(JPAC) are
scheduled to carry out their work during five month-long periods 
between April and
late October.  The current operation will end mid-May.  Since 1996, 
these teams
have recovered remains believed to be those of more than 200 Americans.  
Twenty
have been identified and returned to their families.

Operations for 2005 were set in DPMO-led negotiations with 
North Korea
last November.  U.S. teams in the field number up to 13 men each, with 
two
additional personnel in Pyongyang to provide logistical and 
communications
support.  The teams are comprised of both civilian and military 
specialists.  The
lead scientific officer at each site is a forensic anthropologist or 
archeologist
from JPAC, with support from specialists in mortuary affairs, explosive 
ordnance
disposal, medicine, vehicle maintenance and linguistics.

Of the 88,000 Americans missing from all conflicts since 
the beginning
of World War II, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War.

For additional information on the Defense Department�s 
mission to
account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://
www.dtic.mil/dpmo, or call (703) 699-1169.

General Promises Families DoD Will Continue Searching for MIAs 
To: DEFENSE-PRESS-SERVICE-L@DTIC.MIL     By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

ARLINGTON, Va., June 17, 2005  - A top Army general this week thanked 
more than 270 family members of servicemen still missing in Southeast 
Asia for their service and sacrifice during the Defense Department's 2005 
annual government briefings for Vietnam War-era families.

"You're the ones who woke the nation to the plight of our POWs and MIAs 
in Vietnam," Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, assistant to the chairman of 
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the families.

Odierno was the keynote speaker during opening ceremonies for the 
three-day series of government briefings that ends here today. The briefings 
give families of missing servicemen an opportunity to meet with 
numerous civilian and military government representatives whose expertise 
includes foreign government negotiation, policy, remains recovery and 
identification, DNA science, archival research, and intelligence analysis.

He said family members should be proud of their service and their 
contributions to preserving the freedoms Americans enjoy and for raising the 
consciousness of the nation and the world on prisoner-of-war and 
missing-in-action issues.

"I hope that those loved ones and comrades in arms who are still 
missing might one day be returned home," said Odierno.

Odierno said not everyone understands what "the sharing of sacrifice" 
means like military people do. But, he noted, events that occurred over 
the last few years have created a new generation of servicemembers who 
understand sacrifice and what sacrifices were made by past generations, 
whether it be in Vietnam, Korea or World War II.

"If any of you have loved ones who gave their last full measure of 
devotion to duty, I thank you personally for their sacrifice and for your 
sacrifice," the general told the families.

When a servicemember becomes a POW or is missing, "their family endures 
the harshest cruelty that can be -- the pain of the unknown," he said. 
"I believe today we receive undying support from all people in the 
United States. I believe we get this support because of the regrets of the 
treatment of Vietnam veterans and their families and that we've learned 
a lesson over time.

"It's with the immediate family and the larger military family that 
these meetings carry such importance," Odierno said. "We know that it was 
your generation that truly opened the eyes to the plight of POWs."

He said Vietnam War-era families helped improve the treatment of POWs, 
swaying U.S. and world opinion and aiding in the release of 600 POWs 
during Operation Homecoming in 1973.

"A lot of your efforts and efforts of people before you made a 
difference," the general noted. "You bore witness to the atrocities and showed 
the world that our enemy was treating members of the entire American 
family, both military and civilian POWs, inhumanly.

"We'll always bear witness to our loved ones and remember their service 
and sacrifice," he continued. "We'll renew our determination that we 
will never forget that. Our commitment to account for those still missing 
is rooted in values like freedom, honor, duty, service to country, 
support for those in need and in the personal lives of those who served 
together in combat."

He said this includes one of the key warrior's ethos -- "never leave a 
comrade behind."

"In your case -- never forget the plight of those you love," Odierno 
said. "Just like taking care of family, America's fighting men and women 
take care of each other. This promise is woven into the great fabric of 
our being as soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen, as 
well those civilians who also sacrificed.

"That legacy of honor has been proven time and again in our country's 
history," he said. "In Iraq today, men and women would risk their lives 
to retrieve a fallen comrade. On a national level, we're committed to 
the same ideal. We're devoted to obtain the fullest possible accounting 
for all Americans still missing."

The general assured the families that the government is exploring every 
possible avenue and every means of influence to achieve a full possible 
accounting for all fallen and missing heroes.

"This is a quest that we must pursue relentlessly wherever it takes us 
for as long as it takes us until all are accounted for," Odierno said. 
"The most senior levels of our government are dedicated to this quest."

He pointed out that the Defense Department has joint field activities 
in Vietnam and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force 
Base, Hawaii, that are dedicated to accounting for America's missing. 
"And in particular, to bring home every possible hero of the more than 
1, 830 Americans missing from the Vietnam War," he said.

The nation found itself engaged in another war on Sept. 11 that wasn't 
of America's choosing, Odierno said. "Thousands of Americans were 
killed on that fateful day," he noted. "They came from all across America, 
and they all left families behind. Across the street at the Pentagon, we 
were lucky. We were able to identify the remains of everyone who died. 
But in New York, over 1,100 individuals have not been accounted for.

"If the terrorists thought that inflicting this kind of pain would 
cause us to cower, I think they know now that they were wrong," Odierno 
said. "We will continue to take the fight to them. We will not allow them 
to take away what's most important to us -- our freedom. Failure is 
simply not an option. We will not sacrifice the future of our children. We 
cannot allow these extremists to dictate our future and our children's 
future."

A photo of the three-star general and his son, Army Capt. Anthony K. 
Odierno, who lost his left arm in a battle in Iraq, graces the cover of 
the June 20 edition of Newsweek magazine. The magazine features a story 
called, "The Family Business," about the military's special father-son 
bond.

Odierno was commander of the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), from 
Fort Hood, Texas, during that unit's deployment to Iraq from March 2003 
to April 2004. He said 4th Infantry Division soldiers formed a bond of 
brotherhood that will last forever with those who had sacrificed before 
them.

"The events of Sept. 11 and our ongoing combat operations against 
extremists serve as a reminder that service and sacrifice are continuous 
parts of our lives," he said.

Biography:

Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno 
[http://www.dtic.mil/jcs/core/odierno_bio.html]

Related Sites:

Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office  [http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/]

2005 POW/MIA Recognition Day 
[http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/powday/index.htm]

Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command  [http://www.jpac.pacom.mil/]

Related Articles:

2005 POW/MIA Recognition Day Poster Unveiled 
[http://www.dod.mil/news/Jun2005/20050616_1750.html]

Vietnam Vets Impressed by Scope of POW/MIA Efforts [Vietnam 
http://www.dod.mil/news/Jun2005/20050616_1740.html]

Vietnam War Disc Jockey Cronauer Praises Families of MIAs 
[http://www.dod.mil/news/Jun2005/20050615_1737.html]

Contributions are needed to build a Fisher House at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif. The Fisher House will serve as an affordable "home away from home" for family members visiting their relatives at the hospital. Fisher Houses charge an average of $10 per family per day, enabling family members an affordable way to be close to a loved one who has been hospitalized for an injury, illness or disease. For more information on how to make a contribution, go to this address: http://www.fisherhouse.org/contribute/contribute.shtml. Be sure to indicate you want your contribution to be designated to the Palo Alto VA-MC, California.

WWII Missing in Action Soldiers Identified 
To: DODNEWS-L@DTIC.MIL     
NEWS RELEASE from the United States
 Department of Defense

No. 617-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jun 17, 2005
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

WWII Missing in Action Soldiers Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced 
today that
the remains of two Army soldiers missing in action from World War II 
have been
identified and returned to their families for burial.

They are Sgt. John T. Puckett, Wichita, Kan., and Pvt. 
Earnest E.
Brown, Bristol, Va. Puckett will be buried tomorrow at the Ardennes 
American
Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium.  Brown was buried last week near Bristol, 
Va.

On Jan. 15, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge, Puckett 
and Brown
were searching for German soldiers in a wooded area near Elsenborn, 
Belgium.  They
were ambushed and came under intense enemy machine gun and mortar fire.
Eyewitnesses indicated they were killed, but their bodies could not be 
recovered
due to enemy activity.

Following the war, remains of American soldiers were 
recovered and
identified, but not those of Puckett and Brown.  Then in 1992, two 
Belgian
nationals located and excavated an abandoned fighting position in the 
forest east
of Elsenborn.  They recovered remains and other evidence and turned 
them over to
U.S. authorities in Europe.

Scientists of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the 
Armed Forces
DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA as one of the 
forensic tools
to identify the remains as those of Puckett and Brown.

Of the 88,000 Americans missing in action from all 
conflicts, 78,000
are from World War II.

For additional information on the Defense Department's 
mission to
account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at 
http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/
or call (703) 699-1169 .

[Web Version: 
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050617-3707.html]

NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

No. 499-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2005
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

Vietnam War Missing in Action Serviceman Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office 
(DPMO) announced
today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the 
Vietnam
War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with 
full military
honors.

He is Air Force Maj. Robert Harry Schuler, Jr., of 
Wellsburg, N.Y.  His
internment is scheduled for Saturday in Franklindale, Penn.

On Oct. 15, 1965, Shuler was flying his F-105 
*Thunderchief* as part of
a four-ship flight north of Hanoi when the lead aircraft was hit by 
enemy fire.
Shuler remained in the area to provide support to the downed pilot 
while the two
other aircraft departed for aerial refueling.  When they returned, 
Shuler was no
longer in the area and they could not establish radio contact with him.  
An
extensive aerial search of the entire flight route met with negative 
results.

Between 1993 and 1998, joint U.S. and Vietnamese teams 
conducted seven
investigations, including unilateral archival research by Vietnamese 
officials.
The final investigation in Nov. 1998 led the teams to a Vietnamese army 
officer who
recounted his unit shooting down an F-105 on the date and in the area 
where Schuler
went down.  That team surveyed the crash area, found fragments of an 
F-105, and
recommended the area for excavation.

Teams led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) 
excavated the
site on four occasions between Sept. 1999 and Mar. 2001, recovering 
more wreckage
as well as human remains.  In addition to other forensic tools, JPAC 
scientists
used mitochondrial DNA comparisons to confirm the identification of 
Schuler's
remains.

Of the 88,000 Americans missing in action from WWII, the 
Korean War,
the Cold War, the Vietnam War and Desert Storm, 1,833 are from the 
Vietnam War,
with 1,397 of those within the country of Vietnam.  Another 750 
Americans have been
accounted for since the end of the Vietnam War, with 524 of those from 
the country
of Vietnam.

For additional information on the Defense Department's 
mission to
account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at 
www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call
703-699-1169.

[Web Version: 
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050520-3241.html]

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National Veterans Wheelchair Games Come to Minneapolis

More than 500 disabled veterans will compete in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games from June 27 to July 1, 2005, in Minneapolis. This year marks the 25th year of the event, which has grown to become the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world. The Wheelchair Games, presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), are open to all U.S. military veterans who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, certain neurological conditions, amputations or other mobility impairments. The Minneapolis VA Medical Center and the PVA Minnesota Chapter are hosting the 2005 games. For more information about the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, or to follow events as they happen, visit the Games website at www.wheelchairgames.org.

Family of Missing Serviceman Copes With Lack of Closure 
To: DEFENSE-PRESS-SERVICE-L@DTIC.MIL 
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

ARLINGTON, Va., June 20, 2005  - The Defense Department annually briefs 
families of servicemen still missing in Southeast Asia, and in their 
quest for closure, mother and daughter Jeanette Lilly, 79, and Susan J. 
Harvey, 58, haven't missed a meeting in more than 15 years.

Every time they come to Washington for the latest information, they 
learn something new, which inches them a little closer to closure toward 
accounting for Lilly's son and Harvey's brother, Army 1st Lt. Lawrence 
E. Lilly.

When he was shot down on March 17, 1971, Lilly was a member of Troop A, 
1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), flying as 
co-pilot of a Cobra helicopter gunship on a secret 
visual-reconnaissance mission over Cambodia.

The military report of the incident states that as the aircraft was 
near a landing zone, it was hit by enemy fire and forced to the ground 
deep inside Cambodia in the Snuol District of Kracheh province, near Seang 
village. The pilot, Capt. David P. Schweitzer, was rescued, but heavy 
enemy fire forced the rescue helicopter to leave the area before Lilly 
could be extracted.

Lilly, who was 26 years old, was last seen by U.S. personnel lying on 
his back with his shirt partially open and blood on his chest and neck. 
He was being fired on by Viet Cong forces, according to the report.

Harvey said that initially the military reported her brother missing 
but didn't say anything about him being shot down and wounded.

"He was just missing," Harvey noted. "My mom and dad lived in Ventura, 
Calif., then, and the newspaper there published a three-line notice 
saying he was missing -- that's all we knew.

"About five months later, in August, we found out that he had been shot 
down, wounded and a rescue helicopter came in and managed to save the 
pilot," said Harvey, a civilian employee in the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs in Arlington. 
"But enemy fire was so heavy that my brother wasn't able to reach the 
helicopter. The helicopter had to pull out because two or three of the 
rescuers had been hit by enemy fire.

"My initial reaction was a tremendous amount of hope," said Harvey, the 
daughter of a retired Air Force colonel and pilot who flew missions 
during World War II, the Berlin Airlift, Korean War and Vietnam War. Her 
father, Bobby Lilly, 80, hasn't attended the briefings for the past five 
years because of health problems.

"We managed to always live with the hope that we would hear something 
more, receive the remains or something. We were eventually told that he 
died of his wounds. The South Vietnamese troops reached him and cared 
for him until they had another tremendous battle and most of them and 
our son were wiped out by the Viet Cong," Jeanette Lilly, of Gambrills, 
Md., said.

Before her brother was killed, he was trying to evade a group of 
soldiers he thought were the enemy, Harvey said. "South Vietnamese soldiers 
were trying to reach him, but he didn't know that they were our allies," 
Susan said. "An American captain in a helicopter radioed down my 
brother's name to the South Vietnamese soldiers so they could call out his 
name so he would stop evading. They administered medical care, but he 
still didn't make it."

A resident of Alexandria, Va., Harvey said she and her mother attend 
the government briefings every year to listen to the stories of others 
and to stay close to people in the same situation.

"For example," she said, "last May, a joint recovery team went back to 
that site in Cambodia and talked to a farmer who possibility may have 
seen something during the episode. To us, that's a reach back where they 
can actually talk to someone who might not have been present during the 
battle, but saw things afterwards. So, by those interviews, it brings 
us closer to closure. And we know that he isn't forgotten and people are 
still working to find something.

"Every year we come, and we learn more by reviewing the records," said 
Harvey. "Initially, my mom and dad received a small piece of paper 
stating that he was missing. They didn't know anything else until about 15 
years ago when we came across an Army office and was invited to come in 
and look at records. We said, no, we have our little record, the 
newspaper clipping and a document that the casualty office provided my mom 
and dad."

They kept declining the offer, but the casualty officers finally 
convinced them to take a look at the records. "We went in and were absolutely 
appalled that there were actual eyewitness accounts -- the South 
Vietnamese commander's account, the pilot's account, the rescue helicopter's 
account of what they saw," Harvey said. "The record was shocking, 
pretty rough to look at because it had everything, his dental records, 
medical history and even his awards.

"After years and years and years of just a void, we were just shocked," 
she said. "So since that time, for the last 15 years, we've come back 
and they've added to his record every time."

Lilly touched the large case file on the table and said, "That record 
was about an inch high the first time. Now, it's like four inches high. 
All the information they've gathered is unreal. So we're now getting 
the story and the facts of what happened to him. We had nothing in the 
beginning."

Harvey interjected, "It's really compelling because it's real. What's 
significant is the military is still looking."

She said another compelling thing happened to her and her mother 
because of their attendance at these briefings. "My mom didn't talk to any of 
the soldiers my brother served with in Vietnam," Harvey noted "That, 
too, had been a void. It wasn't convenient, we were at war and there 
wasn't really any communications. So we were not in communications with the 
people he served with."

That was until about two years ago, when a soldier from her brother's 
unit in Vietnam tracked his name on the Internet and called her parents.

"The soldiers invited my parents to a reunion at a camp in White Fish, 
Mont.," Harvey noted. "These were guys who knew my brother's story and 
told accounts of the story. They even had a video of him smiling, 
laughing; it was really something."

"They gave me a group picture consisting of a bunch of small pictures 
of all the things they were doing over there," Lilly said.

The aging Vietnam veterans also showed her their Stetson cavalry hat 
and explained its symbolism.

"There was a lot of camaraderie in their unit, so when something 
happened to one of them, they never forgot," Harvey said. "These grown men in 
their 50s and 60s got together and it was quite something."

"I accepted it as a memorial to Larry because all of the events were 
about him," Lilly noted. "They called him the kid; we didn't know that. 
And everybody there knew him quite well and they mourned him, just as we 
have. Even on Memorial Day and March 17, the day he was killed, they 
call. They each had their own separate account of what occurred."

Harvey didn't attend the reunion, but her sister, Donna Gargas, of 
Severna, Md., was there. "These people were so respectful," Harvey said. 
"But my mom helped console them because they'd grieved -- a total private 
grief. They never got together to discuss this, but their recollections 
were so crystal clear of what he was like, what he liked."

"For me, it's a closing, in a sense," Lilly said. "For instance, this 
morning, we were talking to a lady who said a search team went into 
Vietnam on May 4 and found remains of three missing servicemen. They also 
found information about another site near there with remains of two more 
people. Her son is supposed to be in this group. She is so excited 
because she's expecting information any day. This is what we've had over 
the years. We've come, and we'll hear this constantly. This is good 
information and gives you a very good feeling for these people."

Lilly said it's heartening to meet other families to share stories with 
every year during the briefings. "It was like the vets reunion in 
Montana, they were sharing all the things that happened with them and with 
Larry," she said.

Harvey said that after 35 years her brother doesn't have any presence 
in her everyday life. "So you come here and talk to people and they 
don't have the presence either. But it's an opportunity to talk to them and 
bring it into the moment with people who are interested, including the 
government folks," she said. "It just gives a forum to learn, share and 
to listen."

Related Site:

DoD Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office 
[http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/]

Related Articles:

Vietnam War Disc Jockey Cronauer Praises Families of MIAs 
[http://www.dod.mil/news/Jun2005/20050615_1737.html]

General Promises Families DoD Will Continue Searching for MIAs 
[http://www.dod.mil/news/Jun2005/20050617_1755.html]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2005/20050620_1774.html.

====================================================

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====================================================
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"Defend America" at http://www.DefendAmerica.mil.

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New Help for Severely Injured Vets

The Department of Defense has opened the Military Severely Injured Joint Support Operations (MSIJSO) Center, a 24/7 service to help severely injured servicemembers find jobs and answer questions they and their families might have. The MSIJSO Center offers help through a 24/7 toll-free number, 1-888-774-1361. In addition the DoD has partnered with Military.com to provide an online Career Center designed to connect Severely Injured Servicemembers with benefits, resources, and employment opportunities to help ease their transition. The Career Center can be found at www.military.com/support.

General Cites Influencers as Part of Recruiting Challenge
To: DEFENSE-PRESS-SERVICE-L@DTIC.MIL     
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md., June 17, 2005  - The greatest challenge 
facing recruiters is the people who influence young men and women of the 
"Millennium Generation" not to serve, the commander of the Army 
Recruiting Command said here today.

"Influencers are clearly having an impact right now on our ability to 
successfully recruit -- unquestionably so," said Maj. Gen. Michael D. 
Rochelle, who was here to take part in a change-of-command ceremony for 
the 1st Recruiting Brigade.

At a news conference following the ceremony, the general pointed out 
that recruiting is getter harder because parents don't want recruiters, 
"who simply want to tell the Army story, who we are and what it is we do 
for this great nation," to sit down and talk with their children.

"The one characteristic that is very honorable and respectable about 
'millennials' is that they listen and they generally heed the advice of 
their advisers," Rochelle said.

"Whether we're talking parents, coaches, teachers, guidance counselors, 
it matters not. They take all of that on board, then they filter it and 
process it," the general explained.

Rochelle's comments come as the Army, for the fourth consecutive month, 
failed to reach its recruiting goal. He said recruiters today have to 
contact as many as 100 people before getting one person to sit down to 
listen to the Army's story, and "that number is rising."

The general said his message to influencers and parents is that 
"serving in America's Army is perhaps one of the most noble things that a 
young man or woman can do today."

"Every soldier who serves does so with the pride of all of America," he 
noted. "It is tremendously noble. Does it come with some sacrifice and 
danger? Absolutely."

But, he added, "that nobility is something that they should recognize 
and encourage."

Despite the challenges, the general said, the recruiting command will 
give "everything it has" to meet the goal of 80,000 new recruits in 
fiscal 2005, which ends Sept. 30. "We're still focused very much on 100 
percent success," he said.

Rochelle expressed hope that recruiting numbers will get better soon, 
especially during the upcoming summer, when high school graduates will 
be faced with the question of what to do next.

"Typically, we get a lift in the summer months," he said. "The question 
will be how much of a lift. I'm hoping for a very good lift."

The general said the Army hopes to bring in new recruits by increasing 
signing bonuses to up to $40,000, a move that will require 
congressional authorization. Programs also are in place to give soldiers tours of 
military installations to give them a feel for Army life, and another 
program partners with business to guarantee new recruits priority 
interviews right when they complete training or military service.

He said about 100 companies have signed on with the Army in the 
"Partnership for Youth Success," including the Dell Corp., Southwest Airlines 
and Sears Logistics.

"What these companies realize is that these young soldiers, after 
completion of military service, bring a quality that's frankly 
irreplaceable," Rochelle said.

The general said his order to "stand down" recruiters in March was a 
result of reports in the media that recruiters were using forceful and 
unfair tactics to enlist new soldiers. He said the move was intended to 
"refocus recruiters on Army values."

"We represent one of the most respected organizations in our society 
and a values-based organization," he said. "Therefore, the focus was 
exactly on that -- our Army values."

The general said the standdown did not result in any policy changes in 
how the Army governs its recruiting. "We've not changed anything in how 
we recruit tactically," he said, "nor policywise, which governs the 
how."

Meanwhile, Rochelle brushed off questions about the quality of recruits 
joining the military. "Are we looking at lowering quality? Absolutely 
not," he asserted. He said he is very pleased with the "magnificent 
young men and women" joining today's Army.

"You cannot help to be impressed by the fact that they are very much 
like a throwback to the World War II great generation," he said. "They 
really are inclined to serve."

Biography:

Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, USA  [http://www.usarec.army.mil/]

Related Site:

Army Recruiting Command  [http://www.usarec.army.mil/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2005/20050617_1759.html.

Funding for HealtheVet Withheld

As part of its annual budget review, the House Committee on Veteran's Affairs has recommended withholding $311 million for the HealtheVet healthcare processing system from the Department of Veterans Affairs proposed 2006 budget. The funds are being withheld until questions about potentially serious interoperability problems between it and the legacy VistA system are resolved. Although HealtheVet has great potential, the application was developed and is being used on the legacy medical information system called VistA. The VistA program is more than 20 years old and runs on antiquated software, which is being updated. There is concern that HealtheVet might not function well after this update.

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