Senior Defense Leaders Meet in Chile

U.S. Southern Command News Release SANTIAGO, Chile, Sept. 2, 2011 - Military and civilian defense leaders from a dozen Western Hemisphere nations met here from Aug. 31 until yesterday to discuss future military support for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in the region. From left, U.S. Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, commander of U.S. Southern Command, Chilean Defense Minister Andr�Allamand, Chilean President Sebastian Pi� and Chilean Army Lt. Gen. Hern�Mardones, chief of the Chilean Armed Forces' Joint Staff, join senior military and civilian defense leaders from 10 nations during a meeting hosted by the president at his executive office in Santiago, Chile, Aug. 31, 2011. The leaders were in Chile to attend the 3rd Annual South American Defense Chiefs Conference, held Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, 2011. Photo courtesy of the Chilean Joint Staff of the Armed Forces  The leaders gathered during the 3rd Annual South American Defense Chiefs Conference, co-hosted by the Joint Staff of the Chilean Armed Forces and U.S. Southern Command.U.S. and Chilean representatives were joined by counterparts from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, as well as observers from U.S. Northern Command, the Inter-American Defense Board and Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. Chilean Defense Minister Andr�Allamand joined Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, Southcom's commander, and Lt. Gen. Hern�Mardones, chief of the Chilean Armed Forces, in delivering opening remarks during the event commencement. This year's conference included briefings, roundtable discussions and meetings focused on improving collaboration and coordination among regional defense forces assisting civilian agencies during international relief missions. The focus of this year's conference supports an initiative announced by senior civilian defense leaders in November 2010 during the IX Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The initiative calls for the development of a common-technology platform to facilitate information sharing and a military assistance collaboration cell to enhance the interoperability of regional armed forces supporting civilian emergency response agencies in future humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions. In response to the ministerial announcement, regional defense leaders and experts conducted working groups in Lima, Peru, and San Jose, Costa Rica, to develop a framework and explore implementation options for the initiative. "This conference will allow us to support the multinational military coordination efforts of the working groups," Fraser told attendees prior to the start of the conference. With that aim, participants also examined lessons learned during prior missions, explored improvement opportunities, and considered recommendations to further the goals of the Santa Cruz conference initiative. Air Force Brig. Gen. Steven Shepro, director of Southcom's strategy, policy and plans directorate, briefed attendees on U.S. humanitarian assistance and disaster relief collaboration efforts and described the varying levels of interagency and multinational integration observed during past operations. "The folks in the field naturally jump into coordination and collaboration," Shepro explained, adding that similar cooperation and coordination at the operational and strategic levels -- where interagency and multinational planners are often geographically separated -- is more challenging to jumpstart. Because a common technology platform would facilitate greater information sharing and potentially improve coordination and collaboration at all levels, many conference participants expressed their support for further developing the concept and implementing it during future exercises and operations. Though exactly what the platform will look like and how it will be managed has yet to be determined, the working groups have identified what users will want, Shepro said. "I think the consensus of the [working] groups ... is that it be participant based ... and meet their level of comfort to report what assets they can provide and to provide their understanding of the situation," he said. Speaking to his counterparts about the Santa Cruz meeting's agreement to establish a military assistance coordination cell, Fraser shared his perspective about the cell's potential role in future multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. Fraser proposed that the cell not be permanent, but have protocols allowing for its activation and deployment to support militaries in countries impacted by disasters when their government's request for international assistance includes military components. "Dealing with a disaster within a country is a full-time job for each of us," Fraser said. "And to have a cell that can take some of the load off, but provide capacity as required, is very beneficial." Ideas and recommendations proposed in this year's South American Defense Chiefs Conference will be shared with future working groups, who will use the input to formulate proposals for regional defense ministers to consider during the next conference in 2012. The South American Defense Chiefs Conference is one of three regional security conferences sponsored by Southcom each year to provide forums for dialogue and exchanges among defense and security leaders from the Caribbean, Central America and South America. This year's conference in Santiago follows previous conferences with defense and security leaders from Central America and the Caribbean in San Pedro, Belize and Port of Spain, Trinidad. �

Biographies: Air Force Gen. Douglas E. Fraser  Related Sites: U.S. Southern Command  News Release

Airman Honors Vets Via Baseball

By Jose T. Garza III
502nd Air Base Wing
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, Aug. 24, 2011 - Air Force Staff Sgt. Craig LeBlanc said the opportunity to honor U.S. veterans and meet with baseball heroes during a near month-long journey from New Orleans to ground zero in New York City earlier this year was an experience he'll never forget.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Craig LeBlanc, who was a member of the "Heroes of the Diamond" baseball club earlier this year, stands alongside U.S. Navy veteran Everett Swanson, a survivor of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor that caused America to enter World War II. LeBlanc is a military training instructor assigned to the 331st Training Squadron at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Courtesy photo

LeBlanc, an instructor assigned to the 331st Training Squadron here, was selected as one of several military ambassadors for the "Heroes of the Diamond" club, a national team chartered with promoting goodwill and military awareness through the sport of baseball."It was truly a privilege," LeBlanc said about playing on the HOD team. "I was given the freedom to play baseball, and it was an honor to represent the Air Force. I know what the flag means to me and what it represents. I'm proud to be wearing the red, white and blue."
Team members began their tour Jan. 1 from New Orleans. They traveled to Philadelphia and several other cities, where they displayed the ground zero flag to thousands of Americans, including service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Though LeBlanc since has returned to his instructor duty, the team continues its journey across the United States. It's scheduled to arrive at its final destination in New York on Sept. 11, officials said. There, at the site of the former World Trade Center towers, the flag will be presented and permanently displayed.
As a military ambassador for the HOD, LeBlanc met several baseball legends at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., including Pete Rose, Ozzie Smith and Yogi Berra.
"Meeting Yogi Berra was one of the coolest times ever," LeBlanc said. "He is a baseball legend, and it is not every day you get to shake the hand of a baseball legend."
The tour also provided opportunities to meet with military veterans, and families of the fallen from the 9/11 attacks, LeBlanc said. Hearing their stories, he said, made him realize how fortunate he is.
"I always tell my wife and kids that I love them," LeBlanc said. "Life is too precious to let it go to waste."
LeBlanc said he was proud to be wearing the red, white and blue on his chest as part of his HOD baseball uniform. Every player on the team, he added, wears a number that represents a historic day or figure in American history.
"I wear No. 21, which represents the Tomb of the Unknowns [at Arlington National Cemetery]," LeBlanc said.
Cutting the trip short and returning home before this year's 9/11 observance in New York City was difficult, he said, but duty called and airmen must place service before self, he added.
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