Woods’ speech at Obama inauguration festivities

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Tiger Woods gives a speech at the Lincoln Memorial during festivities for the presidential inauguration on Sunday.

Jan. 19, 2009
By Tiger Woods

Editor’s note: Below is the speech Tiger Woods gave on Sunday, Jan. 18, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. during the festivities for the presidential inauguration. It was originally printed on www.tigerwoods.com.

I grew up in a military family — and my role models in life were my Mom and Dad, Lt. Colonel Earl Woods.

My dad was a Special Forces operator and many nights friends would visit our home. They represented every branch of service, and every rank. In my Dad, and in those guests, I saw first hand the dedication and commitment of those who serve. They come from every walk of life. From every part of our country. Time and again, across generations, they have defended our safety in the dark of night and far from home.

Each day — and particularly on this historic day — we honor the men and women in uniform who serve our country and protect our freedom. They travel to the dangerous corners of the world, and we must remember that for every person who is in uniform, there are families who wait for them to come home safely.

I am honored that the military is such an important part, not just of my personal life, but of my professional life as well. The golf tournament we do each year here in Washington is a testament to those unsung heroes. I am the son of a man who dedicated his life to his country, family and the military, and I am a better person for it.

In the summer of 1864, Abraham Lincoln, the man whose memorial we stand, spoke to the 164th Ohio Regiment and said:

“I am greatly obliged to you, and to all who have come forward at the call of their country.”

Just as they have stood tall for our country — we must always stand by and support the men and women in uniform and their families.

Thank you, and it is now my pleasure to introduce the U.S. Naval Glee Club.

Robots Take Center Stage in U.S. War in Afghanistan

Monday, March 23, 2009
By Matt Sanchez

 Boston Dynamics

A BigDog robot climbs a hill in a test of its versatility. The U.S. military is deploying the robots to Afghanistan to navigate the country’s treacherous terrain.

A BigDog robot climbs a hill in a test of its versatility. The U.S. military is deploying the robots to Afghanistan to navigate the country’s treacherous terrain.

The U.S. military is calling out the “BigDogs” in addition to its big guns as it deploys more troops to fight terrorists in Afghanistan.

The BigDogs — four-legged robots that can navigate the country’s treacherous terrain — and pilotless helicopters than can transport tons of supplies to very remote bases are just two of the new weapons being tested in Afghanistan.

The war zone is increasingly becoming a development laboratory for machines that don’t eat, sleep, polish their boots or suffer casualties. But can they succeed where man struggles?

It takes a moment for the senses even to comprehend BigDog, a four-legged robot that vaguely resembles a headless pack animal.

• Click here for photos.

The machine’s creator, Boston Dynamics, has a motto — “dedicated to the way things move” — and that’s precisely what is both jarring and fascinating about its invention. Using a gasoline engine that emits an eerie lawnmower buzz, BigDog has animal-inspired articulated legs that absorb shock and recycle kinetic energy from one step to the next.

Its robot brain, a sophisticated computer, controls locomotion sensors that adapt rapidly to the environment. The entire control system regulates, steers and navigates ground contact. A laser gyroscope keeps BigDog on his metal paws — even when the robot slips, stumbles or is kicked over.

Boston Dynamics says BigDog can run as fast as 4 miles per hour, walk slowly, lie down and climb slopes up to 35 degrees. BigDog’s heightened sense can also survey the surrounding terrain and become alert to potential danger.

All told, the BigDog bears an uncanny resemblance to a living organic animal and not what it really is: A metal exo-skeleton moved by a hydraulic actuation system designed to carry over 300 pounds of equipment over ice, sand and rocky mountainsides.

So much for the ground war. With IED attacks in Afghanistan increasing on land, air transportation has become a major focus for the military.

Routine helicopter flights operating 24 hours a day, year round, are crucial for the American mission. The Marine Corps has recently called for unmanned cargo flights to carry essentials to isolated areas that can be reached only by air.

Enter the K-MAX, a remote-controlled helicopter designed to transport heavy loads — even in Afghanistan’s high altitudes.

The K-MAX’s unique rotor design — two intermeshed rotors turning in opposite directions and slightly angled to prevent the blades from colliding — give this unmanned aircraft a distinct advantage.

“All the energy goes into the lift and eliminates the need for the tail rotor,” said Frans Jurgens, spokesman for Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, which has partnered with Kaman Aerospace Corp. to manufacture the unmanned K-MAX aircraft.
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The design enables the relatively small chopper to tow up to 6,000 pounds. “The K-MAX is basically an aerial truck,” Jurgens said.

A ground controller “pilots” the unmanned aircraft using a “digital tablet” — a portable device the size of a clipboard attached to a backpack. The controller has visual contact with the aircraft during takeoff and can see where the K-MAX is going through a camera attached to the unmanned helicopter.

Unlike other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the K-MAX currently requires some visual contact — ground controllers to launch and retrieve the aircraft.

During a flight, K-MAX’s “autonomous flight brain” calculates the best route to its destination and can automatically re-route itself should an area be designated a “no-fly” zone.

After launch, control transfers to a second ground controller waiting at the point of capture. Once the K-MAX has been sighted, the destination controller discharges the cargo by remote command.

But some in the military remain skeptical that a robot and a distant operator can replace a skilled pilot.

“When you’re dealing with a small area and a very small margin of error, mountains, temperatures, and other factors like heavy unpredictable winds, it’s hard to believe unmanned flights could account for all the variables,” Chief Warrant Officer Timothy Smail, a pilot from Eagle Lift, the 7th battallion 101st Aviation Regiment, told FOXNews.com in a phone interview from Afghanistan.

“Everything those troops have we’re responsible for bringing,” Smail said. “Not saying it can’t be done, I would just be skeptical.”

After two tours in Iraq, Smail is serving a second tour in Afghanistan, which he says is the “most difficult place to pilot in the world.”

But, Jurgens is not concerned.

“The K-MAX will fly repetitive flights that can be predictably programmed,” he said. “Given the fact that traveling by ground convoy is not the preferred transportation, unmanned cargo flights can save pilots from routine unnecessary exposure.”

KMAX has never been deployed to a war zone, but the unmanned aircraft has been a robotic workhorse in the logging industry, where it transfers heavy loads at high altitudes. It has also been used to transport water to fight forest fires.

They’ll never fully replace actual people, but robots and unmanned vehicles will spare soldiers from routine tasks and enable them to focus their experience and skills on missions that require the human touch.

Obama to dispatch more troops to Afghanistan

4,000 troops will be devoted to training, advising the Afghan armed forces

updated 43 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama plans to dispatch additional U.S. troops plus hundreds of civilian advisers in hopes of turning around a faltering war in Afghanistan and will recommend increasing aid to neighboring Pakistan so long as leaders there confront militancy, people familiar with the forthcoming plan said Thursday.

Obama plans to lay out his revamped strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday. Several sources told The Associated Press it includes 20 recommendations for countering a persistent insurgency that spans the two countries’ border.

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White House press secretary Robert Gibbs would not discuss specifics of the plan, but said Obama is beginning to discuss its findings with members of Congress and others. Obama’s top military advisers briefed key lawmakers Thursday.

In broad terms, Obama will define U.S. objectives as eliminating the threat from al-Qaida to undermine or topple U.S.-backed elected governments or to launch attacks on the United States, its interests and allies, the sources said.

Sources described the recommendations on condition of anonymity because the final wording was not complete. The new plan identified al-Qaida as the target in a larger network of insurgents who threaten U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, often from sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan.

Additional troops
The additional 4,000 troops will be devoted to training and advising the Afghan armed forces, defense officials said. The latest additions would head to Afghanistan this spring and summer. They come on top of about 17,000 combat and support troops Obama wants in place by the end of the summer.

The forthcoming White House review also says the U.S. will add hundreds of civilian advisers to those already in Afghanistan. The so-called civilian surge would concentrate on improving life for ordinary Afghans, and would include experts in agriculture in a country where subsistence farming is the norm. The civilians are also meant to help extend government services and the administration of justice.

The plan notes that the top U.S. general in Afghanistan still wants some 10,000 or 11,000 additional U.S. forces next year, but does not say whether Obama intends to fulfill that request now, sources said. That decision would come by the end of this year.

The plan also strongly backs a recommendation to increase aid to Pakistan, conditioned on improvements in that government’s handling of militants in the border region, officials said. The plan would triple humanitarian aid to $1.5 billion a year for five years. It would tie military aid to performance, with a specific caution that Pakistan must cut government ties with insurgents.

Humanitarian aid to Pakistan
Last year, then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., proposed legislation that would triple humanitarian spending in Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year, but threaten to cut military aid unless Islamabad does more to fight terrorists.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who took over from now-Vice President Biden as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he planned to introduce an updated version of the measure.

The legislation would specifically authorize $7.5 billion to be spent in the next five years for development, such as building schools, roads and clinics. At the same time, the bill would withhold military assistance unless the State Department certifies Pakistan’s security forces were making “concerted efforts” to go after al-Qaida and Taliban forces and not interfering in political or judicial matters.

In U.S., More Optimism About Iraq, Less About Afghanistan

New high of 42% say war in Afghanistan a mistake

by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ — A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds growing concern about the war in Afghanistan at the same time that Americans’ optimism about Iraq is growing or holding steady.

Forty-two percent of Americans now say the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Afghanistan, up from 30% earlier this year and establishing a new high. Meanwhile, the 53% who say the Iraq war is a mistake is down slightly from 56% in January, and 60% last summer.

These results are based on a March 14-15 USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted just before the six-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As the United States is reducing the size of its military force in Iraq and increasing its troop strength in Afghanistan, the public’s opinions about the two wars seem to be adjusting accordingly.

Now, just 38% of Americans say things are going well for the United States in Afghanistan. That is down from 44% in January and is the lowest Gallup has found since it first asked this question in September 2006.

Still, the new low in assessments of U.S. progress in Afghanistan compares favorably to the low point for the Iraq war from January 2007, when only 28% thought things were going well for the United States in Iraq. But perceptions have shifted rather dramatically since then, and now 51% of Americans give a positive assessment of the Iraq war.

That increasingly optimistic view about Iraq extends to Americans’ perceptions of the United States’ chances for ultimate success in that war. Sixty-four percent now believe the United States can win the war, and 42% believe it will do so. Both are the best assessments Gallup has measured since June 2006.

Politicized and Non-Politicized Wars

It is important to point out that even as American support for the Afghanistan war is declining, and even as Americans perceive greater progress in Iraq than in Afghanistan, public support for the war in Afghanistan is still higher than for the Iraq war.

Americans have been supportive of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan since they were launched in October 2001 in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In contrast, the Iraq war began with limited international backing and with most Democratic members of Congress — including many who authorized military action in Iraq — quickly coming to oppose the war.

The political nature of the Iraq war and the significantly less political nature of the Afghanistan war are evident in support for the two wars by political party, particularly with regard to Democrats’ opinions. Even as opposition to the Iraq war has declined slightly, the overwhelming majority of Democrats (83%) still say it was a mistake to send troops there. Only 53% of Democrats say this about the war in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, independents’ and Republicans’ views on each of the wars are similar.

Since the Afghanistan war has not been politicized to the extent the Iraq war has been, majority support for it continues more than seven years after the Afghanistan conflict began. In the case of Iraq, support dipped below the majority level a little over a year into the war (June 2004), and has consistently remained below that level since August 2005.

Implications

With reports of increased difficulty in achieving U.S. objectives in Afghanistan, and with the Obama administration’s committing greater resources to the mission, it is unclear whether majority support for the war will continue without tangible signs of progress. But signs of progress can quickly turn around Americans’ perceptions of the conflict (if not their basic support), as has occurred with regard to the Iraq war in recent years, essentially since the “surge” of troops in Iraq was implemented.

It is possible that Republicans may seek to pin a continued lack of progress in Afghanistan on President Obama, and thus their generally high level of support for the effort could dwindle. But that is far from a sure bet given Republicans’ generally greater concern about terrorism and typical support for government steps designed to prevent it.

Traveling Brass Band Lightens Lunch for Q-West Soldiers

16th Sustainment Brigade

Courtesy Story
Date: 03.20.2009
Posted: 03.20.2009 02:18

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE Q-WEST, Iraq — Seven members of the traveling 25th Infantry Division brass band, based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, played a variety of big band, jazz, pop music and even movie themes, at the Knight’s Feasting Hall dining facility here from March 11-14.

“They were so good I didn’t want to leave, but I had a meeting at brigade,” said Sgt. Jolonda Terry, assistant non-commissioned officer in charge, Knight’s Feasting Hall, after listening to the band during a lunch show.

Along with several shows at the main dining facility, the band also fit in a performance at the convoy support center dining facility.

Soldiers couldn’t get the catchy tunes off their minds.

“I still have that Jackson Five song stuck in my head; everyone was walking out of the DFAC humming that,” said Spc. Phillip Stosser, cable technician, 181st Brigade Support Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade.

The band, part of Task Force Lightning, Multi-National Division – North, at Contingency Operation Base Speicher, kicked off a tour of bases in northern Iraq with the first performance at Q-West.

Bandmembers enjoyed performing at Q-West, said Sgt. 1st Class Shawna Snodgrass, events coordinator, 181st BSB and Q-West Mayor’s Cell.

“They were very appreciative of the support they felt during performances, as well as the accommodating arrangements for transportation and billeting,” Snodgrass said. “They definitely want to come back to Q-West during their tour.”