Use Caution When Donating to Relief Efforts, Expert Says

     In response to the devastation caused by the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, there’s been an outpouring of goodwill and a desire to help victims.

     But not all urgent appeals for aid being broadcast on radio and television, online and at social networking sites are legitimate, a consumer expert with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission warned in an interview for the Jan. 21 American Forces Press Service weekly news podcast. 

     Carol Kando-Pinedo said the best way to provide immediate help is to donate money directly to established national relief organizations that have the experience and means to deliver aid.   More

Commissary Connection

'Game On!' Alerts Commissary Patrons to Savings Blitz       

Consultants Offer Support to Off-base Schools     

     Most military children attend non-Defense Department schools, but military officials are determined not to allow their unique needs to slip through the cracks.

     The Office of Military Community and Family Policy has expanded its Military and Family Life Consultant program to encompass non-Defense Department schools. More than 90 percent of military children attend public, private and charter schools, officials said.

     “Many schools have guidance counselors and school counselors with behavioral health backgrounds,” said Barbara Thompson, director of the Defense Department’s Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth.  More

 Team Offers Medical Care to Afghan Children         

     Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team’s female engagement team visited a remote village in the eastern part of the province here to provide medical care and personal hygiene training to children Jan. 16 and 17.

     Navy Lt. (Dr.) Jennifer Dreiling, the team’s senior medical officer, provided medical treatment to more than 50 children. Most children had common cold symptoms, body aches, skin rashes and gastrointestinal complaints.

     “I think it was very successful,” the McClean, Va., native, said. “It was nice to treat children for once; we don’t see that population very often.”  More

Laws Change for Military, Overseas Voters        

     Servicemembers and overseas voters shouldn’t assume they automatically will receive ballots for the 2010 elections just because they have in the past.

     Previously, voters would receive absentee ballots for up to two cycles following their request, Bob Carey, Federal Voting Assistance Program director, said yesterday during the 2010 election year kick-off. He said new laws require voters to submit federal postcard applications for absentee ballots on a yearly basis.

     In the coming months, Carey and his team will travel worldwide to train voting assistance officers at embassies, consulates and overseas military facilities to ensure voters understand the process and can exercise their right to vote.  More

Airman Leads Security Forces Team

Chief of Staff Notes Keys to Air Force’s Future

     The Air Force must be able to operate across a spectrum of conflicts, using a myriad of warfare tools and tactics, while keeping up with advancing technologies and the ways the nation’s adversaries use them, the service’s top officer said here this week.

    "This demands that the United States Air Force set a clear vision of how it will move to meet emerging threats and fulfill evolving requirements," Gen. Norton A. Schwartz said Jan. 20 at the 38th Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis-Fletcher Conference on National Security, Strategy and Policy.    More

Iraqi Border Guards Reach Out to School Children       

     Members of the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement’s 2nd Battalion, 11th Brigade, make a point of visiting local schools to hand out gifts to students as part of their efforts to develop relationships with the remote villages of the southern Maysan province.

     “It’s important to stay connected with the villages around us,” said Lt. Col. Abdul Hasan. “The locals can help us report smugglers and make the area safer for everyone.”  More

Gates Will Remain as Secretary at Least Another Year        

     Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will stay in office for at least another year, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed yesterday.

     Gates met with President Barack Obama before Christmas and committed to another year on the job, Morrell said.

     Then-President George W. Bush nominated Gates for the job in December 2006, and Obama asked the secretary to remain as defense secretary when his administration began in January 2009.   More    

Air Force Dedicates Center for Families of Fallen        

     Air Force officials dedicated the new Center for Families of the Fallen at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center.

      Since its activation Jan. 6, 2009, the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center has provided dignity, honor and respect for fallen warriors and care, service and support for their families. And on the center’s one-year anniversary, officials said the new facility would carry that family support even further.

    “For many of us, this dedication is a bittersweet event,” said Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff. More

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