Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has called on every member of the Defense Department to play a personal role in creating a secure environment that will help to prevent more tragedies like the Nov. 5 shooting rampage that left 13 people dead at Fort Hood, Texas, reports AFPS’ Donna Miles.

Gates issued a memo yesterday after reflecting on results of the independent review he directed after the incident to ensure the safety and health of servicemembers, civilian defense employees, and their families.

“I ask all commanders, supervisors, noncommissioned leaders and other personnel in the department to reinforce the fabric of trust with one another,” Gates wrote. “From simple everyday expressions of concern, to supervising, mentoring and counseling, we, and every servicemember, need to be more attuned to one another’s mental, emotional and spiritual balance and be willing to take responsible action.”

Gates urged department members to look beyond their day-to-day tasks and challenges and take action if their colleagues appear to be at risk.

He also called for leaders to be honest in their assessments of their subordinates – particularly when they identify red flags – and to document what they identify.

“Leadership at every level depends on the integrity to assess the performance of our people honestly and openly,” Gates wrote. “We can only deal with internal threats if we can rely on the quality of the information in our official records. There are serious effects of failure to reflect fully, accurately and completely on all aspects of professional ethical and personal career development in performance appraisals.”

Gates called on leaders to instill and preserve “the core traits that sustain our profession and keep our forces strong, effective and safe.”

“With responsibility comes accountability,” he wrote. “My expectation is that our leaders will set the standards for leadership, management and mentoring, and will be accountable for the health and performance of the force.”

Gates concluded his memo recognizing how much the country has asked of its servicemembers and Defense Department civilians over the past two decades, and how they have repeatedly risen to the occasion.

“Each of you has an important role in adapting to the changing security environment,” he wrote. “Together, we will make the force and our nation safer, stronger and more secure to face the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

Gates issued the memo based on findings of the Department of Defense Independent Review Related to Fort Hood. He directed the review and appointed former Army Secretary Togo D. West Jr. and retired Navy Adm. Vernon E. Clark, a former chief of naval operations, to lead it. The panel provided its report to Gates on Jan. 15.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is charged with killing 13 people, 12 military and one civilian, and wounding 43 others during a Nov. 5 shooting rampage at Fort Hood. He has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 specifications of attempted premeditated murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The UCMJ is the U.S. military’s legal system for servicemembers.

Hasan, a Muslim, allegedly became radicalized and complained to colleagues about his role as a U.S. military officer when he was posted at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here before being assigned to Fort Hood in July.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today released the guidelines and parameters of a Defense Department review of the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law in preparation for its potential repeal.

According to AFPS’ Lisa Daniel, the 10-month review should include input from service chiefs and all levels of the force and their families, Gates said in a memo to Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe, who was chosen to head the effort along with Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s top lawyer.

Gates established the review Feb. 2, saying it would be critical to ensuring a smooth transition if the law that bans gays from serving openly in the military is repealed, as President Barack Obama has proposed. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have stated their support for the repeal.

The review also should engage Congress members, Gates said, as well as “key influencers of potential servicemembers and other stakeholder groups.” It should also take into account the experiences of foreign militaries, he added.

“To be successful,” Gates said in the memo, “we must understand all issues and potential impacts associated with repeal of the law and how to manage implementation in a way that minimizes disruption to a force engaged in combat operations and other demanding military activities around the globe.

“Should Congress take this action,” he continued, “strong, engaged and informed leadership will be required at every level to properly and effectively implement a legislative change.”

Gates directed that the review should:

– Determine how repeal of the law would affect military readiness, effectiveness, cohesion, recruiting and retention, and family readiness;

– Determine leadership, guidance and training on standards of conduct and new training, as well as appropriate changes to policies and regulations, including management, leadership, training and benefits;

– Recommend appropriate changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice;

– Monitor and evaluate congressional proposals related to the repeal;

– Monitor the work force climate and military effectiveness that support follow-through of a repeal; and,

– Evaluate issues raised in ongoing litigation related to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Gates said the review is necessary to “minimize disruption and polarization within the ranks, with special attention paid to those serving on the front lines.” It is due back to him by Dec. 1.

The review is to include input throughout the department and across services.

“To effectively accomplish this assessment, I believe it essential that the working group systematically engage the force,” Gates wrote. “The participation of a range of age, rank and warfare communities in this study including families, in addition to active outreach across the force, is a critical aspect that will undoubtedly lead to insights and recommendations essential to the department’s implementation of any change.”

Noting the political nature of the law, Gates said it is “critical” that the review be conducted “in a professional, thorough and dispassionate manner.”

“It is equally critical that in carrying out this review, every effort be made to shield our men and women in uniform and their families from those aspects of this debate,” he added.

Defense Department officials today identified 6,000 servicemembers to deploy in 2010 as part of President Barack Obama’s order to increase the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan, according to AFPS’ Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden.

About 3,400 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team are headed to Afghanistan in early summer, according to a statement released by the Pentagon. The soldiers are based out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates also approved deployment orders for about 2,600 support forces who will begin deploying to various locations at staggered times in the spring.

The president announced Dec. 1 that the United States would send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Some already have arrived. The majority of the surge forces will operate in southern Afghanistan, and are expected to arrive by summer’s end. Some 3,000 to 4,000 troops will arrive sometime in the fall to complete the plus-up, Pentagon officials said.

The surge augments the international mission to train Afghan security forces and expel insurgent strongholds. White House and Pentagon officials anticipate the Afghan troop surge to last until July 2011, when U.S. and NATO forces are expected to begin handing over security responsibility to the Afghans.

As of Dec. 12, 68,000 U.S. troops and 42,000 NATO and allied forces are serving in Afghanistan.

Members of the armed forces are strong, healthy and ready to accomplish their mission, a survey of their health-related behaviors has revealed.

Defense Department officials today announced the final results of 2008’s survey of health-related behaviors among active duty military personnel. Active duty Coast Guard personnel were included in the survey’s cohort for the first time since the series of surveys began in 1980, officials said, providing the first comprehensive look at all active military services.

“The 2008 survey indicates that the U.S. armed forces are generally strong, healthy, and ready to accomplish their mission,” said Dr. Jack Smith, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for clinical policy and program policy. “We are pleased with the continued increase of healthy behaviors and preventive health practices reported by our servicemembers.”

The study shows notable decreases over the past 28 years in the use of cigarettes and illegal drugs, and also reveals encouraging indicators of mental well-being. Improvements in certain self-reported preventive health measures since 2005 include increases in moderate or vigorous exercise and a decline in overweight personnel under age 20.

When compared to civilian data adjusted to mirror military demographic characteristics, the 2008 survey showed that military rates of heavy drinking were lower than the civilian average among people 46 to 64 years old. For cigarette use, military rates were slightly higher than civilian rates among people 18 to 35, but military rates were significantly lower for people 36 and older.

The 2008 rate for illicit drug use, including prescription drugs, was 12 percent, up from 5 percent in 2005. Officials attributed the increase primarily to the addition of questions that ask for usage of prescription medication for nonmedical reasons. Rates of use of nonprescription illicit drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines have remained low and stable at about 2 percent.

This survey is the tenth in a series of confidential, anonymous standardized surveys that ask active-duty servicemembers about various health-related behaviors. In addition to substance use, the survey also assesses mental well-being, deployment issues, fitness, nutrition and weight management and selected national health status goals from the Department of Health and Human Services “Healthy People 2010” objectives.

More than 28,500 servicemembers from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard — randomly selected to represent men and women in all pay grades of the active force throughout the world — completed the survey.

A father and son team fight post traumatic stress syndrome. Plus, the men appointed to lead the Defense Department’s investigation into the Ft. Hood shootings return to the scene.

The DoD is making sure servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan get a taste of home this Thanksgiving.

The two men tasked to lead the Defense Department’s review of the shootings at Fort Hood visited the scene of the attack on Tuesday.

One part of the impending Defense Department review of the November 5th shootings at Fort Hood will include the performance of the first responders.

The Defense Department expects U.S. forces in Afghanistan to continue to be targeted by improvised explosive devices — which have claimed more lives there than any other weapon — while it seeks ways to counter the threat, officials said.

As President Barack Obama and his advisors weigh decisions on the next phase of the Afghan war, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is working to protect against and defeat the growing threat from IEDs, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today, noting that October has been the deadliest month for U.S. forces in the eight-year war.

“Secretary Gates is working to ensure that this department continues to do everything possible to provide our men and women in uniform with the very best protection and capabilities to defeat the growing IED threat,” Morrell said in a news conference at the Pentagon.

More intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, including the most advanced drones and other equipment, are among the supplies the department is working to field to troops in Afghanistan, where one defense official today said the IED has emerged as the enemy’s preferred means of attack.

Gates last month ordered nearly 3,000 extra route clearance and explosive ordnance disposal teams and other key personnel downrange, in addition to a parcel of the more than 6,600 mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles designed specifically for Afghanistan’s rugged terrain that the department plans to field.

Morrell has said previously the department would like the M-ATVs, as the vehicles are known, to have an effect in Afghanistan similar to the one that the original MRAP vehicles had when they were delivered en masse to Iraq, leading to a reduction in casualties resulting from roadside bombs.

“Even with all these additional counter-IED resources, there will no doubt be many difficult and dangerous days ahead for our forces,” Morrell cautioned.

A Defense Department component dedicated to countering the IED threat, meanwhile, indicated that use of the makeshift bombs has gained widespread appeal among insurgents in Afghanistan.

“Although initially slower to develop in Afghanistan [than in Iraq], the IED has now replaced direct-fire weapons as the enemy’s weapon of choice,” Army Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, director of the department’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, said today.

“Furthermore, Afghanistan’s local insurgents, tribal factions and the Taliban enjoy a greater freedom of action to emplace large numbers of IEDs in movement corridors, such as the ring road, which are so vital to our success,” Metz told the House Armed Services Committee.

The organization, known as JIEDDO, formed as a means to aid combatant commands in addressing IED attacks. Metz said he is pleased with the organization’s efforts in Iraq, and that it will remain focused on the country as U.S. forces draw down in accordance with an agreement between Washington and Baghdad.

But lessons gleaned in Iraq are not always applicable to Afghanistan, Metz added.

“In addition, while we have an enormous amount from our experience in Iraq, not all of these efforts translate to our efforts in Afghanistan,” he said. “The environment and the enemy in Afghanistan pose many different and difficult challenges.”

Though it’s impossible to chase IEDs off the battlefield, Metz said, the United States must continue to eliminate their ability to affect its forces strategically.

“We must be willing to invest the money, the time, the energy, and the talent to make sure we win,” he said. “This is not an easy task, but I believe that it is necessary.”