Obama Spokesman Applauds ROTC Return to HarvardAmerican Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, March 4, 2011 – Harvard University’s decision to formally welcome the return of the Reserve Officer Training Corps to its campus honors the contributions of service members, the White House press secretary said today.Jay Carney issued a statement in support of Harvard’s announcement today that the Naval ROTC will return to Harvard.“It’s an important step in moving past the old divisions that often kept many Americans from seeing what we share with one another, including love of country and a profound respect for our brave men and women in uniform,” Carney said in the news release.After signing legislation last year ending the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that prevented gays from serving openly in the military, President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to call on all college campuses to open their doors to military recruiters and the ROTC, Carney said.“With our nation at war, this sends a powerful message that Americans stand united and that our colleges, society and armed forces are stronger when we honor the contributions of all our citizens, especially our troops and military families who sacrifice for our freedoms,” the statement says. “As the president said in the State of the Union [address], it is time to move forward as one nation.”

U.S. Military Aircraft Fly Egyptians HomeBy Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, March 5, 2011 - Four U.S. military aircraft flew 312 Egyptians home today from the Tunisia-Libya border where they fled to escape the violence that continues between government forces and rebels in Libya. U.S. Airmen with the 435th Air Mobility Squadron, from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, unload blankets, tarps and water containers provided by U.S. AID at Djerba Zarzis Airport in Tunisia. The U.S. government is working with the international community to meet the humanitarian needs of the Lybian people and others in the country who fled across the borders in recent political unrest. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brendan Stephens (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Two Marine Corps KC-130s and two Air Force C-130s supported the effort.U.S. Air Forces Africa, also known as 17th Air Force, based at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, flew the C-130s in the first rotation of U.S. military flights from Tunisia to Egypt, Navy Cmdr. Wendy Snyder, a Defense Department spokeswoman, told American Forces Press Service. Also, U.S. Africa Command, which oversees the effort and is based in Stuttgart, Germany, announced today on the social networking site, Twitter, "Two USMC KC-130s arrived safely in Cairo, flying 132 Egyptian nationals to Egypt from Tunisia."Two of the aircraft flew to Pisa, Italy, yesterday to pick up humanitarian aid supplies from the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance warehouse at Leghorn Army Depot. Donations included 2,000 blankets, 40 rolls of plastic sheeting and 9,600 10-liter plastic water containers.The aircraft landed with the supplies at Tunisia's Zarzis Airport in Djerba near sunset as aircraft from around the world participated in evacuation and humanitarian missions.Also yesterday, Naval Forces Europe Africa, which coordinates U.S. Navy support to Africom, established the joint task for Odyssey Dawn to provide tactical command and control for emergency evacuations, humanitarian relief, and future Africom missions in support of the U.S. government response to unrest in Libya.So far, six U.S. military aircraft are assigned to support humanitarian operations, using U.S. bases in Greece and Italy as hubs.The effort is part of a larger U.S. government emergency response directed by President Barack Obama."The United States, and the entire world, continues to be outraged by the appalling violence against the Libyan people," Obama said during a March 3 news conference."The United States is helping to lead an international effort to deter further violence, put in place unprecedented sanctions to hold the [Col. Moammar] Gadhafi government accountable, and support the aspirations of the Libyan people. We are also responding quickly to the urgent humanitarian needs that are developing," the president said.On the same day, Obama approved the use of U.S. military aircraft to help Egyptians who fled to the Tunisian border to get back home to Egypt, and other humanitarian efforts.

Family Matters Blog: Soldier Shares Brain Injury ExperienceBy Elaine Wilson American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, March 5, 2011 - I'd like to introduce guest blogger Army Staff Sgt. Victor Medina, who sustained a moderate traumatic brain injury during his third deployment in Iraq in 2009. Several months later, Medina started a blog titled "TBI Warrior" to help educate other survivors and caregivers affected by a brain injury through his own experiences — before and after TBI. He shared his story in a Defense Centers of Excellence blog on March 2. – Elaine WilsonTBI Stands for: To Be Improved By Army Staff Sgt. Victor MedinaLet me take you back to the first day of my new life. The day was June 29, 2009. The mission was a mounted patrol to escort supplies and route reconnaissance from a main contingency operating base to a joint security station. The route would take about three hours. We maneuvered through one of the largest cities in Iraq during the three-hour mission.As we exited the city limits, the event occurred that changed my life forever. An explosively formed projectile impacted our vehicle.The next 48-plus hours are a blur in my mind, still. Most of what I can remember about the event is because of the stories others have told to me. I do remember the smoke and the confusion that followed the accident, but I don't remember fainting. I remember waking up in an aid station feeling very confused and overwhelmed. I learned I had sustained a moderate TBI.Today, after 16 months of rehabilitation, I look back and think: "It has been a long recovery." Life is not the same; I have changed. The people who knew me pre-injury can clearly see the difference. I still cope with lingering side effects. Problems with my vision, hearing, balance, headaches, speech disfluency, including the obvious cognitive impairments, are all there. I am not the same as I was before the injury. The truth is that I've tried to be the old me but just haven't been able to succeed at it.My new philosophy in life and with the injury is: "If this is the hand life dealt me, I will play the best game possible." Is it frustrating? Yes. I encourage others not to focus on the negative things of the past or present, but rather set eyes on a bright future. I believe survivors of mild or moderate TBI have the power to be as independent as they want to be, regardless of the symptoms. I always ask survivors to stop and ask themselves: "Are you a victim?" or "Are you a warrior?"With or without injury we are responsible for our actions and our future. Life is about decisions, and you can choose to stand up and make the best out of your life. I decided to stand up and help others. I decided to be an example; and that's how TBI Warrior started.It humbles me when others feel empowered and motivated by my experiences. The Army taught me the value in "selfless service." That is the value I choose to carry with me to help others. I always say that my mission is not about me but about all those who come behind me. TBI is not the end; it can be a new beginning. The effects may not go away, but "it will get better."March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. For resources, check out the Defense Centers of Excellence Brain Injury Awareness month website.To comment on this blog, or read other posts, visit the Family Matters website.

Winter Storm Watch

Winter Storm WatchURGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGENATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY312 PM EST SAT MAR 5 2011NYZ003>008-013-014-021-060415-/O.CON.KBUF.WS.A.0004.110306T1300Z-110307T0900Z/MONROE-WAYNE-NORTHERN CAYUGA-OSWEGO-JEFFERSON-LEWIS-LIVINGSTON-ONTARIO-ALLEGANY-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ROCHESTER...NEWARK...FAIR HAVEN...OSWEGO...WATERTOWN...LOWVILLE...GENESEO...CANANDAIGUA...WELLSVILLE312 PM EST SAT MAR 5 2011...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNINGTHROUGH LATE SUNDAY NIGHT...A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNINGTHROUGH LATE SUNDAY NIGHT.* LOCATIONS...GENESEE VALLEY... FINGER LAKES AND CENTRAL NEW YORK.* TIMING...SUNDAY LATE MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING.* HAZARDS...HEAVY SNOW.* ACCUMULATIONS...POTENTIAL FOR 8 INCHES OR MORE.* WINDS...NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH.* IMPACTS...HEAVY WET SNOW.* FORECASTER CONFIDENCE...HIGH.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THAT HEAVY SNOW AND/OR ICEACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE. IF YOU ARE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...REMAIN ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE SOURCE OFWEATHER INFORMATION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES. ADDITIONAL DETAILSCAN ALSO BE FOUND AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BUFFALO.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE WYOMING-LIVINGSTON-ONTARIO-CHAUTAUQUA-CATTARAUGUS-ALLEGANY

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGENATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY903 PM EST THU MAR 3 2011NYZ012>014-019>021-085-041100-/O.CON.KBUF.WW.Y.0011.110304T0900Z-110304T1700Z/WYOMING-LIVINGSTON-ONTARIO-CHAUTAUQUA-CATTARAUGUS-ALLEGANY-SOUTHERN ERIE-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WARSAW...GENESEO...CANANDAIGUA...JAMESTOWN...OLEAN...WELLSVILLE...ORCHARD PARK...SPRINGVILLE903 PM EST THU MAR 3 2011...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO NOONEST FRIDAY...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO NOON ESTFRIDAY.* LOCATIONS...SOUTHERN ERIE AND WYOMING COUNTIES...THE WESTERNSOUTHERN TIER...AND INTERIOR SECTIONS OF THE FINGER LAKES.* TIMING...AROUND DAYBREAK THROUGH NOON FRIDAY.* HAZARDS...SOME LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET.* ACCUMULATIONS...ICE POSSIBLY ACCUMULATING A FEW HUNDREDTHS OFAN INCH.* TEMPERATURES...IN THE 20S LATE TONIGHT...BEFORE CLIMBING TOAROUND 40 FRIDAY.* IMPACTS...ANY UNTREATED ROADS COULD BECOME SLICK.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NORMALLY ISSUED FOR A VARIETY OFWINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS SUCH AS LIGHT SNOW... BLOWING SNOW...SLEET... FREEZING RAIN AND WIND CHILLS. WHILE THE WEATHER WILL BESIGNIFICANT... THE WORD ADVISORY IMPLIES THAT SEVERE WINTERWEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED.STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE SOURCE OFWEATHER INFORMATION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES. ADDITIONAL DETAILSCAN ALSO BE FOUND AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BUFFALO.&&$$APFFEL

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGENATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY903 PM EST THU MAR 3 2011WYOMING-LIVINGSTON-ONTARIO-CHAUTAUQUA-CATTARAUGUS-ALLEGANY-SOUTHERN ERIE-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WARSAW...GENESEO...CANANDAIGUA...JAMESTOWN...OLEAN...WELLSVILLE...ORCHARD PARK...SPRINGVILLE903 PM EST THU MAR 3 2011...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO NOONEST FRIDAY...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO NOON ESTFRIDAY.* LOCATIONS...SOUTHERN ERIE AND WYOMING COUNTIES...THE WESTERNSOUTHERN TIER...AND INTERIOR SECTIONS OF THE FINGER LAKES.* TIMING...AROUND DAYBREAK THROUGH NOON FRIDAY.* HAZARDS...SOME LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET.* ACCUMULATIONS...ICE POSSIBLY ACCUMULATING A FEW HUNDREDTHS OFAN INCH.* TEMPERATURES...IN THE 20S LATE TONIGHT...BEFORE CLIMBING TOAROUND 40 FRIDAY.* IMPACTS...ANY UNTREATED ROADS COULD BECOME SLICK.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NORMALLY ISSUED FOR A VARIETY OFWINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS SUCH AS LIGHT SNOW... BLOWING SNOW...SLEET... FREEZING RAIN AND WIND CHILLS. WHILE THE WEATHER WILL BESIGNIFICANT... THE WORD ADVISORY IMPLIES THAT SEVERE WINTERWEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED.STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE SOURCE OFWEATHER INFORMATION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES. ADDITIONAL DETAILSCAN ALSO BE FOUND AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BUFFALO.

Flournoy Hails Pioneering Military, Civilian Women

By Terri Moon Cronk American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 3, 2011 - The Pentagon's top civilian policy official said she wouldn't be in her current position if it weren't for the many women before her, whom she hailed as "true pioneers." That was the message delivered today by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy, who spoke at the Joint Services Women's History Month luncheon held at the Kennedy Caucus Room of the U.S. Senate's Russell Office Building. "These women -- uniformed and civilian alike -- have showed the others who followed that it's possible to be a woman and serve your country with great distinction," Flournoy said. "And often, they had to overcome great obstacles to do so." The luncheon event follows President Barack Obama's Feb. 28 proclamation designating March as Women's History Month. In his proclamation, Obama noted that American women "scale the skies as astronauts, expand our economy as entrepreneurs and business leaders, and serve our country at the highest levels of government and our Armed Forces." On Feb. 28, the U.S. Senate approved Concurrent Resolution 8, which recognizes "the importance of women to national defense throughout the history of the United States; and encourages the people of the United States to honor women who have served and who continue to serve the United States in the U.S. Armed Forces." Attending today's luncheon with Flournoy was Undersecretary of the Army Joseph W. Westphal, who as the then-acting Army secretary oversaw the May 11, 2001, dedication of the Women's Army Museum at Fort Lee, Va. Westphal thanked today's women serving in the nation's military services who've "given so much of themselves to support and defend our nation and our way of life." Flournoy highlighted some of the women who were responsible for significant accomplishments in defense of the United States. Jeanne M. Holm, who recently passed away at age 88, was a "true pioneer," Flournoy said, who joined the Army and worked as a silversmith and a truck driver during World War II. In 1949, Holm joined the U.S. Air Force and went on to become its first female one-star general, and later, the first female two-star in any branch of the armed forces, Flournoy said. Holm accomplished many things in her life, Flournoy said, noting she'd worked tirelessly to expand opportunities for military women. During her military career Holm had fought promotion 'glass ceilings' and quotas that limited women, Flournoy noted. Holm, she added, had called for women to be admitted to the service academies, to be able to fly as pilots, and claim the same housing and medical and benefits as men did. "All these things eventually came to pass, and it's easy for all of us to sit here and take them for granted," Flournoy said. "But these advances took a lot of hard work and General Holm worked hard to achieve them." Another pioneer and role model for military women, she said, is the late retired Navy Rear Adm. [lower half] Grace Marie Hopper. A Naval officer, Hopper became the first woman to receive a restricted line promotion to flag officer in 1983. Known as "Amazing Grace," Hopper had a doctorate in mathematics from Yale and joined the Navy reserve as an ordnance officer during World War II. Hopper was involved in early efforts to develop an electronic computer, Flournoy said. Hopper later developed the prototype of the COBOL software programming, which Flournoy described as "a breakthrough that was credited with making computer programming far more accessible than it had been before." Civilian women like Sheila E. Widnall also have made great strides serving in leading roles in the defense department, the undersecretary said. "High on this list was Sheila Widnall -- the only woman yet to receive a full appointment as a service secretary," Flournoy said, noting that Widnall also had served as a professor and an associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Widnall had served as Secretary of the Air Force between 1993 and 1997 –- the first woman appointed as the Air Force's senior civilian. As Air Force secretary, Widnall "oversaw a modernization program during ... budgetary constraints, and helped create a more effective acquisition process to ensure America's continued air superiority," Flournoy said. Widnall also paved the way for "more and more" women to serve in leadership roles in the Pentagon, the undersecretary said. "In today's Pentagon," Flournoy said, "women are the secretary of defense's chief advisers on everything from legislative affairs, to issues and portfolios from Africa to Eurasia, from homeland defense to the global campaign against weapons of mass destruction." Talented, courageous women of the past have paved the way for the opportunities, responsibilities and accomplishments available to today's women leaders, Flournoy said. "And all of us in turn, I'm sure, will do everything within our power to open doors for the next generation," she said. "And that next generation will make contributions to our nation's defense that we cannot even imagine here today."