Sad update to Memorial Day post

Word came yesterday that another Navy individual augmentee was killed on Memorial Day in Iraq. CDR Duane G. Wolfe was killed by a roadside bomb in the area of Fallujah on May 25, 2009. CDR Wolfe, an engineer, was assigned to an Army Corps of Engineers unit. He will posthumously receive the Bronze Star with 'V'. He left behind a wife and three children.

Reservist sues Newark Public Schools over lost job

George Lawton joined the Navy reserve in 1993. He worked for the Newark Public Schools from 1997 through 2005 as a substitute teacher. In July 2005, the school district offered him full time employment beginning with the 2005-2006 school year. Just a month later, his unit was called up and he notified the school district that he would have to deploy overseas, but that he wished to return to the full-time job on his return. His active duty was extended through August 2007, and he notified the Newark Public Schools that he would be able to return to work in the fall of 2007.  When he returned, the school system refused to employ him in either the full time position or the substitute position. He tried to resolve the dispute through the ESGR, but the Newark Schools still did not rehire Lawton. On Tuesday, Lawton filed a lawsuit against the Newark Public Schools with the United States Justice Department representing him.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act requires employers such as the Newark Public Schools to re-employ returning reservists in either the same job they were in when they left or a position of similar seniority, pay, and status that the reservist would have been if he or she had not been deployed. The reservist needs to inform the employer of the intent to return (which Lawton apparently did) and needs to "promptly" re-apply for work after the end of the active duty (which Lawton apparently did.) The fact that the justice department has taken his case is a good sign for him. 

Memorial Day

It's afternoon on Memorial Day where I am, and late evening where most Navy IAs are living. Although this is a day to remember all of those who gave their lives in service of our country, it seems appropriate to take time here to recall those who died on individual augmentee or GWOT support assignment service. I'm sure I don't have every name or every story, and hope that over time I can update this post to reflect the sacrifices made by our IA and GSA sailors over the years. (Note: this list does not include the many Navy casualties from this war who were killed while serving with Navy or Marine units, including: hospital corpsmen, SEALs, and SEABEEs. The number of such casualties dwarf the IAs. Please remember them all this Memorial Day.)

Update, 8/8/09: AOAN Darren E. Tate, an individual augmentee assigned to Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan, died of pneumonia on July 8, 2009, at Bagram. Airman Tate is reported to have taken the IA to Afghanistan in the place of a friend. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.

Update: 10/2/09: EOD2 Tony Michael Randolph, an individual augmentee assigned to CSTC-A was killed July 6, 2009, when his convoy was hit by an IED.

Update, 5/28/09: CDR Duane G. Wolfe, a mobilized CEC officer assigned to an Army Corps of Engineers unit in Iraq, was killed by an IED near Fallujah on Memorial Day. He left behind a wife and three children.

CDR Charles K. Springle was killed May 11, 2009, by another American at Camp Liberty in Iraq. CDR Springle was a clinical social worker whose normal duty station was Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was augmenting the 55th Medical Group, an Army Guard unit based in Indianapolis. He left behind a wife and two grown children: a son who is a Marine and a daughter who is married to a Marine.

LT Florence B. Choe was killed March 27, 2009, when an Afghan soldier opened fire on her and two other Americans while they were jogging the perimeter of FOB Shaheen in Afghanistan near Mazar-e-Sharif. The daughter of a sailor, she joined the Navy shortly after 9/11 and volunteered for IA duty in Afghanistan. She left behind her husband, also a Navy Officer, and a young daughter.

LT j.g. Francis L. Toner was killed March 27, 2009, when an Afghan soldier opened fire on him and two other Americans while they were jogging the perimeter of FOB Shaheen in Afghanistan near Mazar-e-Sharif. He was a 2006 graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy and a Civil Engineering Corps officer. He left behind a wife.

CDR Jospeh M. Salkeld died February 17, 2009, after collapsing while going through IA combat skills training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. He was a helicopter pilot who served on active duty from 1982 to 1992, and had returned to active duty for a one year mobilization.

Update, 6/7/09: HM3 Eichmann Strickland was killed September 9, 2008, by a Taliban anti-tank mine.

Update 6/7/09: HM2 Anthony M. Carbullido was killed August 8, 2008, by an IED in Afghanistan. A native of Guam, HM2 Carbullido left a wife and son.

Update 6/7/09: HN Marc A. Retmier was killed in a rocket attack on Paktika Province Afghanistan on June 18, 2008. A high school football and swimming star from Hemet, California, Retmier was reportedly providing medical treatment to Afghan civilians when the Taliban launched their attack. Retmier was reported to be both the youngest Navy IA killed in OEF/OIF, and the 500th California casualty in OEF/OIF.

Update, 6/7/09: CM1 Ross L. Toles III was killed in a rocket attack in Paktika Province, Afghanistan on June 18, 2008. After a combined 18 years of active and reserve service, MC1 Toles left behind a wife and three sons.

LT Jeffrey Ammon was killed May 20, 2008, by an IED in Afghanistan. An engineer, LT Ammon had volunteered to extend his IA tour beyond its original year. He left behind a wife and two children.

Update, 6/7/09: MC1 Victor Jeffries died December 31, 2007, at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center of injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident December 24, 2007, in Kuwait. A physical education teacher in his civilian life, MC1 Jeffries was assigned to Navy Customs Battalion Tango. He had previously served in the Coast Guard and the Army. He left a wife and two daughters.

CDR Philip A. Murphy-Sweet was killed April 7, 2007, by an IED in Iraq. CDR Murphy-Sweet was a contracting officer nearing the end of his IA tour when the attack occurred. He left behind a wife and three children.

LCDR Keith E. Taylor was killed January 29, 2005, when a rocket struck the American Embassy in Baghdad. A mobilized reserve Supply Corps officer, he left behind a wife and three children.

I do not know if this is a complete list, but any omission is purely by accident. If there are others who belong on this list, please point me toward them in the comments.

Two New IA bloggers added to the bloglist

Found a couple more Navy Individual Augmentees who have started blogging. In the NARMY Now is by a Master at Arms.  Highland Sailor is an LDO with more than 20 years in.  Should add for some diversity of viewpoints.  

Navy IA among the Camp Victory victims

One of the five victims of the shooting at Camp Victory earlier this week was a Navy Individual Augmentee. CDR Charles K. Springle, a clinical social worker, was augmenting the 55th Medical Company from his normal duties at a counseling center at Camp Lejeune. 

IAs not Going Anywhere Soon

First it was the Chief of Naval Personnel.  Admiral Ferguson sounded the alarm about the ongoing cost of IAs, freezing PCS moves for as many as 14,000 sailors to cover the costs.  And to demonstrate the permanence of the IA billets, CNP wants a plus-up in Navy personnel written into the budget.

Taking those IA billets "out of hide" took a toll on the readiness of the Navy's deploying commands over the past few years.  Though officials have started to get sailors to volunteer for these assignments as regular tours, they still need bodies to fill the billets.  That's why, Ferguson said, he went to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and then-Navy Secretary Donald Winter to halt the drawdown.

Then, Admiral Mullen concurred:

Sailors and airmen should continue to expect supplemental assignments to Iraq and Afghanistan for the next several years, even after more U.S. troops arrive to support missions in Afghanistan, the top U.S. military officer said Monday.

"As long as we have the Army and the Marine Corps dwell time below 2-to-1, the Air Force and the Navy need to provide that capability," Mullen said.

The budget follows:

The [Navy] budget calls for an end strength of 328,000 sailors, including 4,400 temporary Individual Augmentees paid out of contingency accounts....  The Navy number represents a halt to downsizing.

Afghanistan gouge

Four milbloggers with experience in Afghanistan have teamed up to launch Afghan Lessons Learned for Soldiers.  Vampire 06 sums up the purpose: "We want to make this a one stop shop for open source info on culture, equipment, COIN, FOB reviews and anything else we can think of or you might think you may need."  The title of the blog makes clear that the intended audience is the real army, but if the first few posts are any indication of where they are going, it looks to be great pre-deployment information on Afghanistan that Navy IAs would find useful as well.

And if you don't already read them: Bouhammer, War On Terror News, Bill And Bob's Excellent Afghan Adventure, and Afghanistan Shrugged.