Archive for the ‘armed forces prayer focus’ Category
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Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Thomas A. Ferguson, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
Thomas Ferguson earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He did graduate study in public administration at the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio, and at Florida Institute of Technology.
He began his intelligence career in the U.S. Air Force, and among his assignments, served at the Foreign Technology Division and the Air Force Intelligence Staff at the Air Force Offices in the Pentagon. After completing his military service, Mr. Ferguson joined the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he held a wide range of analytic and supervisory positions. Ferguson has served as the Director, Office of Geospatial Intelligence Management. He was responsible for strategic planning, functional and program guidance, and assessments.
In 2007 he was appointed as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, and is responsible for exercise planning policy and strategic oversight over the Department of Defense intelligence and counterintelligence and security policy, as well as plans and programs delegated by the Department.
IN THE NEWS: The Pentagon has announced that it is launching a criminal probe, to be led by the Army, to discover the source of the leak of more than 91,000 documents. President Obama said that the Afghanistan war documents that were leaked raise no fundamentally new issues about the conflict, but added that their disclosure “could potentially jeopardize individuals or operations.”
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Robert Scher, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia
Robert Scher has received a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College, and a Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he was awarded a DuPont International Affairs Fellowship.
Scher entered government service through the Presidential Management Fellowship Program. He worked 15 years in the Departments of Defense and State, and held numerous posts covering Asian security and defense policy issues. He served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs, and helped develop the strategic basis for U.S. defense strategy, including participation in the oversight of the Bottom Up Review in 1997.
Prior to his current appointment, Scher was an associate of a consulting firm where he led efforts to provide assistance to Asian nations improving their defense and national security decision-making processes.
In his current capacity, he serves as the principal advisor to senior leadership within the Department of Defense for all policy matters pertaining to strategies and plans. His responsibility includes bilateral security relations with Indian and other South Asian countries, except Afghanistan and Pakistan; the nations of Southeast Asia, plus Australia, East Timor, New Zealand and the Pacific Island States.
IN THE NEWS: U.S. national security advisors have met with India’s Prime Minister and others to discuss counterterrorism, defense cooperation and regional security. They had the opportunity to lay the groundwork for a visit by President Obama to India in November. Washington considers India crucial to the U.S.-led fight against extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They see New Delhi as a counterweight to China in the region.
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
General Ray Odierno, United States Military Commander in Iraq
Raymond T. Odierno was born in 1954. He grew up in Rockaway, New Jersey, where he attended Morris Hills High School, followed by the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree. He also attended North Carolina State University and the Naval War College, receiving masters degrees in Nuclear Effects Engineering and National Security and Strategy, respectively. He is also a graduate of the Army War College.
Odierno’s initial tours took him to Germany for a period and then back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He served during Operation Desert Storm. Odierno commanded the U.S. 4th Infantry Division during which he deployed the division to Operation Iraqi Freedom, entering Iraq through Kuwait. In his second Iraq deployment, Odierno was the commander of a multi-national group and was one of the primary architects of the troop “surge” into Baghdad.
He has also held responsibility for the strategy that included the Sunni Awakening militia movement, leading to dramatic decreases in violence in Iraq from late 2006 to 2008.
He served as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, where he was the primary military advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. General Odierno is the current Commanding General, United States Forces – Iraq, a post he has held since its creation on January 1, 2010.
IN THE NEWS: Shiite Iraqi militants have been trained in Iran in preparation for attacks against U.S. military bases as American combat forces prepare to withdraw by September, according to Gen. Ray Odierno. “For years these groups have been [saying] that they are forcing the US to leave,” Odierno told reporters in Baghdad. “A significant strike could be a huge propaganda tool for them in the future,” he said.
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Conrad Whyne, Director, U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency
Conrad Whyne is a native of Pennsylvania, and holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the Pennsylvania State University at University Park, and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Rutgers in Piscataway, New Jersey. He served active duty as a United States Army chemical officer.
Mr. Whyne joined the Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) while still a captain in the U.S. Army. Initially he served as a project engineer for the incapacitating agent BZ project at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas. When he resigned his Army commission he became a federal civilian employee, and later became the lead engineer for the Pine Bluff chemical agent stockpile disposal facility.
He has consistently advanced through the Agency and is now responsible for ensuring the secure storage and safe destruction of chemical weapons materiel, closure of demilitarization facilities, and planning for base realignment and closure requirements.
IN THE NEWS: The United States Army announced this week that it has achieved the destruction of 75 percent of its chemical agent stockpile as defined under international treaty obligations. “This accomplishment marks another extraordinary team effort between our storage and destruction staffs consisting of both government and contractor personnel,” said CMA Director Conrad Whyne.
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
LT. GEN. JOHN R. ALLEN, U. S. Marine Corps, Deputy Commander CENTCOM
John R. Allen attended the Flint High School in Dakton, Virginia. He graduated with military honors from the United States Naval Academy, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Analysis. He is also a distinguished graduate of the National War College and holds a Master of Arts in National Security Studies from Georgetown University, a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College, and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College.
In the Marine Corps, he served at the Marine Corps Institute as a ceremonial officer. After completion of his post-graduate studies, he served as a Marine Corps Fellow to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He was the first Marine Corps officer inducted as a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His teaching and service record is extensive.
In 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced Allen’s nomination for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General. He assumed the post of Deputy Commander of the U.S. Central Command in July 2008, and is considered the logical replacement for General David Petraeus as Commander of CENTCOM.
IN THE NEWS: With the nomination of Gen. David Petraeus as the new theater commander in Afghanistan, speculation about his permanent replacement at U. S. Central Command began to focus on his deputy. He is far from a shoe-in, however, as his appointment to deputy commander was when George W. Bush was Commander in Chief. Whoever the successor is, he must be confirmed by the U. S. Senate.
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
General David Petraeus, Commander, U.S. Central Command, nominated to head War Effort in Afghanistan
David Howell Petraeus was born in November, 1952, at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, New York. After graduating from the Cornwall Central High School, Petraeus went on to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He earned the General George C. Marshall Award as the top graduate of the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College Class at Leavenworth, Kansas. He subsequently earned an M.P.A. and a Ph.D. in international relations from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
He completed Ranger School as a Distinguished Honor graduate, and was assigned to the 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team serving in Vicenza, Italy. He has held many posts in numerous bases, and was part of Operation Desert Spring where he deployed to Kuwait. He first saw combat in 2003 when he commanded the 101st Airborne Division during V Corp’s drive to Baghdad. He was promoted to Lieutenant General and became the first commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq in 2004.
In October 2008, Petraeus assumed command of the United States Central Command headquartered in Tampa, Florida. And on June 23, 2010, Petraeus was announced to succeed General McChrystal as Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan. He currently holds the rank of Five-Star General, United States Army.
Petraeus is married to Holly Knowlton, and they have two children.
IN THE NEWS: In a decision he said was “necessary to sustain unity of effort” and meet the objectives in a country where American troops have been battling for nine years, President Obama nominated Gen. David Petraeus to lead the war effort in Afghanistan, replacing Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
General James Amos, recommended as next commandant for the Marine Corps
General James F. Amos graduated from the University of Idaho in 1970. A year later he was designated a Naval Aviator. He graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, and the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He has held commands at all levels, most notably with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He previously served as Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and Deputy Commandant, Combat Development and Interrogation. He has held his present command assignment for two years.
He holds the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legion of Merits and a Bronze Star.
IN THE NEWS: Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended that Gen. James Amos be the next commandant of the United States Marine Corps. Amos is already the Corps number two officer, and would be the first aviator to lead the service. President Obama has not yet made the nomination.
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
General Keith B. Alexander, Director of NSA, Commander CYBERCOM
Keith B. Alexander was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1952. He entered military service at the United States Military Academy at West Point. In addition to the Bachelor of Science degree he obtained there, he has an M.S.B.A. from the Boston University Graduate School of Management, and dual Master of Science degrees in systems technology (electronic warfare) and physics from the Naval Postgraduate School. He also holds a Master of Science degree in national security from the National Defense University.
Alexander has held key appointments in the intelligence area, and was part of Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia. He has also served in Germany, and attended the Bildenberg meeting in 2009.
He was named the 16th Director of the National Security Agency by President George W. Bush and reappointed by President Obama. He holds many awards and distinguished service medals. He lists his faith as Roman Catholic.
IN THE NEWS: Discussing the current cyber environment at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, General Alexander said that spam senders are 47% located in Asia, 25% in Europe, 16% from other points of the globe and only 14% actually originate in North America. With the 7 million machines to protect the Department of Defense, the military is at the greatest risk when it comes to cyber attack.
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Major General Richard Mills, United States Marine Corps, Afghanistan
Major General Richard Mills is a native of Huntington, New York. He currently serves as commanding general of the 1st Marine Division.
Commissioned in 1975, his early assignments have included Rifle and Weapons Platoon Commander in Camp Pendleton, CA, the Marine Recruiting service, and a tour in Okinawa, He had a tour as a Military observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine, and served as the Air/Ground Liaison Officer with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in New River, NC.
Mills studied at the Royal College of Defense Studies in London, and later served in Kosovo with the Enduring Freedom operations, and was involved in combat operations ashore during Iraqi Freedom. He was the ground combat commander in West Al Anbar Province, Iraq, and has been involved with multinational commands since that time.
IN THE NEWS: Major General Richard Mills of the United States Marine Corps, assumed control of NATO forces in Helmand province as part of a reorganization of military command structures in Afghanistan. The bulk of Britain’s 10,000 servicemen and women in Afghanistan are in this area, a major center of Taliban insurgency. British commanders aid the move reflected recent changes in the NATO mission and would have minimal impact on troops.
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Featured Member of the Armed Forces for Prayer
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Lieutenant General Robert L. Van Antwerp, Jr., Army Corps of Engineers
Robert L. “Van” Van Antwerp, Jr., is the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army, which is the title for the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
He graduated from the United States Military Academy, completed Ranger Airborne and Air Assault training and the engineer officer courses. He holds a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration from Long Island University, New York. He is a registered professional engineer.
He was with an air assault group during the Gulf War, and has been engaged in the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles.
Van Antwerp served a number of years as President of the Officer’s Christian Fellowship.
IN THE NEWS: Louisiana’s attorney general has advised Chief Engineer Antwerp of the Army Corps of Engineers that the state is within its right to dredge and build sand barrier islands in order to combat the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. There remains considerable dispute between the Corps of Engineers, EPA and other regulatory bodies.
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