Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Bloggers Roundtable for tomorrow, Thursday 01 May

Coming up tomorrow on the DoD Bloggers Roundtable we have scheduled Colonel Steven Mains and Mr. Milton Hileman from the U.S. Army Center for Army Lessons Learned, Combined Arms Center, Ft. Leavenworth, KS. The Center for Army Lessons Learned produces a series of handbooks to assist Soldiers, commanders, and staffs prepare for the first 100 days of combat. The first handbook, CALL Soldiers' Handbook No.07-15, The First 100 Days, published in March 2007, focused on Soldier-level skills. It has been CALL's most popular publication with over 200,000 copies printed. The second, CALL Leader's Handbook No. 07-27, followed in July 2007 and provided information to leaders at the company level and below.

Handbook 08-10 The First 100 Days, Commander and Staff published in February 2008 is for brigade and battalion commanders and their staffs. The final handbook will cover military transition teams and the unique issues they face in training and advising Iraqi military units.
COL Mains and Mr. Hileman, the principle author, of these books will discuss the collection and publication of lessons learned and the responses from the Soldiers and leaders who use them.

Following Col. Mains and Mr. Hileman we'll be speaking with Dr. Don Resio, Senior Technologist, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL), Vicksburg, MS

Dr Resio will be here to speak on the research he has conducted and the role of the Corps of Engineers in studying climate variability and its potential impacts on coastal areas in the Gulf Region. He can speak to discuss climate variability and potential changes in waves and coastal surges within the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Resio was the leader of the risk analysis team for the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Program, and has conducted extensive studies into hurricane behavior and probability, and long-term risk assessment.

Pentagon Channel Highlights

0900 - Encore presentation of this morning's Iraq Briefing with MG Kevin Bergner, Spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq, and Tahseen al-Sheikhly, Civilian Spokesman for Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, speaking with reporters in Baghdad, providing an overview of the Government of Iraq’s reconstruction plans in East Baghdad and discuss security improvements around Iraq. (Live, VoD, Podcast) Encore presentation again at 0000hrs.

1545 - Joint Staff Briefing: LTG Carter Ham, Director for Operations, J-3 and LtGen John Sattler, Director for Strategic Plans and Policy, J-5, speak with reporters at the Pentagon. (Live, VoD, Podcast) Encore presentations at 1800 & 0600hrs.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Today on the Bloggers Roundtable

Wow, busy day today. Sorry for the late post but we had some technical difficulties this morning which threw the whole day into a bit of chaos.

Today we spoke with Rear Adm. James Stevenson, Commnader U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command about the stand-up of the U.S. Navy 4th Fleet. RDML Stevenson discussed with Galrahn and Greg Grant about the force structure, capabilities, infrastructure and focus of the 4th Fleet.

Also today we spoke with Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, Deputy Director of Operations and Facilities, HQ Installation Management Command along with Command Sgt. Major Debra Strickland the Command Sergeant Major for IMCOM about the recently released You Tube footage depicting problems with barracks for returning soldiers to Fort Bragg, NC. A very lively and enlightening discussion with John Donovan, C.J. Grisham, Bryant Jordan, Matt Burden, Brandon Friedman, Bruce McQuain, and Chuck Simmins. The transcripts and audio files will be posted soon.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Pentagon Channel Highlights

0900 - Iraq Briefing: Sunday's coverage of RADM Patrick Driscoll, Spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq, and Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, Spokesman for Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, speaking with reporters in Iraq, providing an operational update. (Encore, VoD, Podcast, 50 min)

Friday, April 25, 2008

Today on the Bloggers Roundtable

Today on the Bloggers Roundtable we spoke with Mr. Bill Carr, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy. Mr. Carr addressed questions on military recruiting training waivers with bloggers and online journalists Andrew Lubin, Grim, Bryant Jordan, and Marc Danziger.

PBS TV Series and Premiere of Carrier this Sunday

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be at sea living on a floating city for months at a time? If so, the American public will get that an opportunity to see firsthand what life is like aboard an aircraft carrier starting this Sunday. A 10-part series of "Carrier" will air on Public Broadcasting System (PBS) from April 27 to May 1. Carrier was filmed in 2005 while USS Nimitz was deployed for a six-month deployment in the Pacific and Persian Gulf, in support of the war on terrorism. The documentary will allow people an unfettered look at life for the 5,000+ sailors who called Nimitz their home. The chronicle of life aboard Nimitz will focus on a handful of 15 enlisted men, women and officers.

"I really enjoyed this first episode, and I definitely will recommend it to everyone that wants to know how the real Navy is," said Aerographer's Mate 2nd Class (SW) Katheryn Roe, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, San Diego.

Story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Alexia M. Riveracorrea, Fleet Public Affairs Center, Pacific

Wounded Warriors Get White House Send Off

A group of wounded warriors got a presidential send off at the White House as they launched a three-day bicycle ride to show the world and themselves what they’re still capable of accomplishing. Story Photos

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