“The mission of the medical ETT (embedded transition team) is to train, coach, and mentor

the ANA (Afghan national army) medical personnel in order for them to develop a self-sustaining medical system in order for the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to achieve security and stability,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ed Fieg, Deputy Team Leader and senior physician mentor of the 205th Corps, Afghan Regional Security Integration Command – South said Dec. 30th. Fieg said, while less than perfect, the ANA medical system are functional and have made remarkable strides over the past year.

Lt. Col. Fieg joined David Tate with the A Battlefield Tourist and Christian Lowe of Military.com for the DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable.

Happy Holidays from the 26th MEU

Twas the night before Christmas

"Before 2003, the police were one of several security agencies here in Iraq whose sole purpose was to keep Sadaam Hussein in power ...

Today we're trying to flip that around and elevate the police to a postion of primacy here in the country; where the populace has confidence in them, they trust them. And we're seeing positive trends in that regard in terms of the public's perception of its police," said Maj. Gen. James M. Milano, Deputy Commanding General, Directorate of Interior Affairs, Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq. Maj. Gen. Milano talked with Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent, Bill Roggio from The Long War Journal, Chuck Simmons with America's North Shore Journal, Marisa Cochrane from the Institute for the Study of War, Christian Lowe with Military.com, Andrew Lubin of Proceedings, Jarred Fishman with The Air Force Pundit, and Paul McLeary from DTI on a MNSTC-I Bloggers Roundtable.

"We've learned a lot about how to train forces to be full spectrum," said Brig. Gen. Robert A. Abrams, Deputy commanding general,

U.S. Combined Arms Center. "This manual captures a lot of the lessons learned as to the how or the what of training units for full-spectrum operations and codified it in doctrine."

Brig. Gen. Abrams participated in an Army Bloggers Roundtable on Dec. 17 to discuss the release of FM 7-0, "Training for Full Spectrum Operations." FM 7-0 will help to train the force in offensive, defensive and stability operations anywhere along the spectrum of conflict.

Joining us on the call were Andrew Lubin, Naval Institute's Proceedings, Beth Wilson, Spencer Ackerman, Greg Grant, and military.com.

Coming up on the Pentagon Channel

1000 Eastern - Farewell to the Troops: The Commander in Chief Reflects: Commander in Chief George W. Bush discusses his 8 years in office in an exclusive one-on-one interview with The Pentagon Channel's MSgt Rusty Barfield. The President discusses Iraq, Afghanistan and his special moments serving as Commander in Chief. (VoD, 20 min) Encore presentation at 1300hrs.

Things you need to read:

Silver Star record for unit in Afghan cliff clash
Green Berets earn Silver Stars for Afghan battle

“There’s a growing confidence that this democracy is going to work,"

said U.S. Army Col. Larry Saunders, senior advisor to the Vice Deputy of Training for the Iraq Ministry of Interior. "There’s a great appreciation amongst those whom actually make the decisions for what the west brings them in terms of furthering democracy,” Saunders told the DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Chuck Simmins of America's North Shore Journal and Jarred Fishman of the Air Force Pundit.

"The region is very important to us; we share so many things

with the region. Whether we're sharing cultures, common interests, values; all of those things are important," said Rear Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. Rear Adm. Kernan joined the DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Jim Dolbow of the U.S. Naval Institue, Boston Maggie, Andrew Lubin with Proceedings, Chuck Simmins from America's North Shore Journal and Paul McLeary with Defense Technology International to speak about the 4th Fleet, U.S. Navy South, U.S. Southern Command and Continuing Promise '08.

Check this out

In case you missed it, the U.S. Naval Institute is now blogging. Welcome to the Blogosphere.

"And at the end-of-the-day, if we could transform strategically chosen valleys

... I think we could start to transform the environment and turn this fight around," said Col. Jeffrey M. Haynes, USMC, former commanding officer for the Regional Corps Advisory Command - Central, Afghanistan. Col. Haynes joined us today for the DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Andrew Lubin of the USNI Proceedings, Chuck Simmins from America's North Shore Journal, Troy Stewart of Bohammer, and Greg Grant with Nextgov.

Today from Iraq

Heads up on a briefing this morning:

1000 - Iraq Briefing: MG Mark Hertling, Commander of Multinational Division-North and the 1st Armored Division, speaks to reporters at the Pentagon via satellite, providing an update on ongoing security operations in Iraq. (Live, VoD, Podcast)