Michelle Obama Visits Fort Bragg, Marines 'Cover' Each Other, Yellow Ribbon Program Implemented

• US Army | First Lady visits Fort Bragg, vows support for military families - "First Lady Michelle Obama paid a visit to Soldiers and family members at Fort Bragg in what was her first tour outside the White House. During her visit, Obama said she was inspired by the spirit of the Fort Bragg community and said she was fully committed to improving support to all military families."


• MSNBC | Army program helps ease stress of deployment - "Army Reserve's Chattanooga-based 591st Transportation Detachment prepares to implement the new Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. All branches of the service have some form of the program, according to Lt. Col. Robin Smith Sr., chief well-being officer for the Army Reserve. The...program was launched "to prepare soldiers and their families for mobilization, sustain the families during mobilization and to help with reintegration with their families, communities and employers upon redeployment," he said. The program began as part of a requirement outlined in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2008 and became even more important as the steep suicide rates were recorded in recent months."


• Marine Corps News | 'Cover Me' Leaves No Marine Behind - "The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, hosted by Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, screened the film, “Cover Me,” at the South Mesa Club...March 5, to help raise awareness and educate Marine leadership about combat operational stress. The film’s conception was centered on the Corps’ need to let Marines know it is all right to seek medical help for combat operational stress and in doing so, their careers will not be adversely affected."
  
  
• Richmond Times-Dispatch | For these airmen, it’s about surviving, not flying - "The realistic training exercise, staged in a mock village at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Fort Dix in New Jersey, is part of new combat preparedness received by airmen who perform the ground duties that keep planes flying. The convoy's 25 members passed...They learned to "shoot and scoot." They were among 187 airmen at the center to receive advanced training before deployment overseas. The role of the Air Force in Afghanistan is crucial, especially as Taliban forces try to close a supply route through Pakistan's Khyber Pass and Kyrgyzstan seeks to shut a U.S. air base in that country. Nearly 600 airmen have been killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks - and 96 percent of them have been on the ground, according to Air Force officials. Their mounting losses - partly due to expanded duties off base - prompted intensive training, begun three years ago, to help the ground airmen survive combat."

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