The leading killer of American Troops – The IED

Background

The term Improvised Explosive Device comes from the British Army in the 1970s, after the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) used bombs made from agricultural fertilizer and semtex smuggled from Libya to make highly effective boobytrap devices or remote-controlled bombs. An IED is a bomb fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals and designed to destroy or incapacitate personnel or vehicles. In some cases, IEDs are used to distract, disrupt, or delay an opposing force, facilitating another type of attack. IEDs may incorporate military or commercially-sourced explosives, and often combine both types, or they may otherwise be made with homemade explosives(HME).

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An IED has five components; a switch (activator), an initiator (fuse), container (body), charge (explosive) and a power source (battery). An IED designed for use against armored targets such as personnel carriers or tanks will be designed for armour penetration, by using either a shaped charge or an explosively formed penetrator. IEDs are extremely diverse in design, and may contain many types of initiators, detonators, penetrators, and explosive loads. Antipersonnel IEDs typically also contain shrapnel-generating objects such as nails or ball bearings (known as shipyard confetti after the metal waste found in the shipyards of Belfast). IEDs are triggered by various methods, including remote control, infra-red or magnetic triggers, pressure-sensitive bars or trip wires (victim operated). In some cases, multiple IEDs are wired together in a daisy-chain, to attack a convoy of vehicles spread out along a roadway.

IEDs made by inexperienced designers or with substandard materials may fail to detonate, and in some cases actually detonate on either the maker or the emplacer of the device (these unintended early detonations are known as pre-detonations, “own goals,” or “self-resolving bomb-tech removal” if the placer is killed in the detonation). Some groups, however, have been known to produce sophisticated devices that are constructed with components scavenged from conventional munitions and standard consumer electronics components, such as mobile phones, washing machine timers, pagers, or garage door openers. The sophistication of an IED depends on the training of the designer and the tools and materials available.

IEDs may use artillery shells or conventional high-explosive charges as their explosive load as well as homemade explosives. However, the threat exists that toxic chemical, biological, or radioactive (dirty bomb) material may be added to a device, thereby creating other life-threatening effects beyond the shrapnel, concussive blasts and fire normally associated with bombs. Chlorine liquid has been added to IEDs in Iraq, producing clouds of chlorine gas.

A vehicle borne IED, or VBIED, is a military term for a car bomb or truck bomb. These are typically employed by insurgents, and can carry a relatively large payload. They can also be detonated from a remote location. VBIEDs can create additional shrapnel through the destruction of the vehicle itself, as well as using vehicle fuel as an incendiary weapon. When a person is in this vehicle and detonates it this is known as an SVBIED suicide.

Of increasing popularity among insurgent forces in Iraq is the HBIED or House Borne IED, coming out of the common military practice of clearing houses, insurgents will rig an entire house to detonate and collapse shortly after a clearing squad has entered.

History

One of the first examples of coordinated large-scale use of IEDs was the Belarussian Rail War launched by Belarussian guerrillas against the Germans during World War II.^[5][6] Both command-detonated and delayed-fuse IEDs were used to derail thousands of German trains during 1943–1944.^[7]

Vietnam

IEDs were used during the Vietnam War by the Viet Cong against land- and river-borne vehicles as well as personnel.^[8] They were commonly constructed using materials from unexploded American ordnance.^[9] Thirty-three percent of U.S. casualties in Vietnam and twenty-eight percent of deaths were officially attributed to mines; these figures include losses caused by both IEDs and commercially manufactured mines.^[10]

The Grenade in a Can was a simple and effective booby trap. A hand grenade with the safety pin removed and safety lever compressed was placed into a container such as a tin can, with a length of string or tripwire attached to the grenade. The can was fixed in place and the string was stretched across a path or doorway opening and firmly tied down. Alternatively, the string could be attached to the moving portion of a door or gate. When the grenade was pulled out of the can by a person or vehicle placing tension on the string, the spring-loaded safety lever would release and the grenade would explode.

The rubber band grenade was another booby trap. To make this device, a Viet Cong guerrilla would wrap a strong rubber band around the spring-loaded safety lever of a hand grenade and remove the pin. The grenade was then hidden in a hut. American and South Vietnamese soldiers would burn huts regularly to prevent them from being inhabited again, or to expose foxholes and tunnel entrances, which were frequently concealed within these structures. When a hut with the booby trap was torched, the rubber band on the grenade would melt, releasing the safety lever and blowing up the hut. This would often wound the soldiers with burning bamboo and metal fragments. This booby trap was also used to destroy vehicles when the modified grenade was placed in the fuel tank. The rubber band would be eaten away by the chemical action of the fuel, releasing the safety lever and detonating the grenade.

Another variant was the Mason jar grenade. The safety pin of hand grenades would be pulled and the grenades would be placed in glass Ball Mason jars which would hold back the safety lever. The safety lever would release upon the shattering of the jar and the grenade would detonate. This particular variant was popular with helicopter warfare, who would use them as improvised anti-personnel cluster bombs during air raids. They were easy to dump out of the flight door over a target, and the thick Ball Mason glass was resistant to premature shattering.

Northern Ireland

Throughout The Troubles, the Provisional IRA made extensive use of IEDs in their 1969-1997 campaign. They used barrack buster mortars and remote controlled IEDs. Members of the PIRA developed and counter-developed devices and tactics. PIRA bombs became highly sophisticated, featuring anti-handling devices such as a mercury tilt switch or microswitches. These devices would detonate the bomb if it was moved in any way. Typically, the safety-arming device used was a clockwork Memopark timer, which armed the bomb five minutes after it was placed by completing an electrical circuit supplying power to the anti-handling device. Depending on the particular design (e.g. boobytrapped briefcase or car bomb) an independent electrical circuit supplied power to a conventional timer set for the intended time delay, e.g. 40 minutes. However, some electronic delays developed by PIRA technicians could be set to accurately detonate a bomb weeks after it was hidden, which is what happened in the Brighton hotel bomb attack of 1984. Initially, bombs were detonated either by timer or by simple command wire. Later bombs could be detonated by radio control. Initially, simple servos from radio-controlled aircraft were used to close the electrical circuit and supply power to the detonator. After the British developed jammers, PIRA technicians introduced devices which required a sequence of pulsed radio codes to arm and detonate them. These were harder to jam.

Roadside bombs were extensively used by the Provisional IRA. Typically, a roadside bomb was placed in a drain or culvert along a rural road and exploded by remote control when British Army or other security forces vehicles were passing. As a result of the use of these bombs, the British military had to stop transport by road in areas such as South Armagh, and use helicopter transport instead. In the 1980s and 1990s, all culverts were welded and concreted shut,^{[citation needed]} so that explosives could not be placed in them.

Most IEDs used commercial or homemade explosives, although the use of Semtex-H smuggled in from Libya in the 1980s was also common from the mid 1980s onwards. Bomb Disposal teams from 321 EOD manned by Ammunition Technicians were deployed in those areas to deal with the IED threat.

In the early 1970s, at the height of the PIRA campaign, the British Army unit tasked with rendering safe IEDs, 321 EOD, sustained significant casualties while engaged in bomb disposal operations. This mortality rate was far higher than other high risk occupations such as deep sea diving, and a careful review was made of how men were selected for EOD operations. The review recommended bringing in psychometric testing of soldiers to ensure those chosen had the correct mental preparation for high risk bomb disposal duties.

The IRA came up with ever more sophisticated designs and deployments of IEDs. Booby Trap or Victim Operated IEDs (VOIEDs), were commonplace. The IRA engaged in an ongoing battle to gain the upper hand in electronic warfare with remote controlled devices. The rapid changes in development led 321 EOD to employ specialists from DERA (now privatised into QinetiQ), the Royal Signals, and Military Intelligence. This multi-unit approach led to the development and use of most of the modern weapons, equipment and techniques now used by EOD Operators throughout the rest of the world.

The bomb disposal operations were led by Ammunition Technicians and Ammunition Technical Officers from 321 EOD, and were trained at the Felix Centre at the Army School of Ammunition.

Afghanistan

U.S. Marines with Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) destroy an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) cache in southern Afghanistan in June 2010.

Starting six months before the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR on 27 December 1979, the Afghan Mujahideen were supplied with large quantities of military supplies from the United States. Among those supplies were many types of anti-tank mines. The insurgents often removed the explosives from several foreign anti-tank mines, and combined the explosives in tin cooking-oil cans for a more powerful blast. By combining the explosives from several mines and placing them in tin cans, the insurgents made them more powerful, but sometimes also easier to detect by Soviet sappers using mine detectors. After an IED was detonated, the insurgents often used direct-fire weapons such as machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to continue the attack.

Afghan insurgents operating far from the border with Pakistan did not have a ready supply of foreign anti-tank mines. They preferred to make IEDs from Soviet unexploded ordnance. The devices were rarely triggered by pressure fuses. They were almost always remotely detonated. Since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban and its supporters have used IEDs against NATO and Afghan military and civilian vehicles. This has become the most common method of attack against NATO forces, with IED attacks increasing consistently year on year.

In January 2010, it was reported by military experts that Taliban fighters had developed a new generation IED, that would be almost undetectable, because it had no metal or electronic parts. The expertise for this new generation came likely from foreign fighters and the devices were being mass produced in Pakistan on an industrial level. Before this new development, IEDs would be mostly triggered by two hacksaw blades separated using a spacer. Stepping on or driving over these blades would close an electronic circuit which so detonated the explosive – often an artillery shell.

In the new model, these metal saw blades have been replaced with graphite blades and the artillery shells with ammonium nitrate. The damage then is caused by the power of the blast rather than by metal fragments, or shrapnel.

According to a report by Homeland Security Market Research in the USA, the number of IEDs used in Afghanistan had increased by 400 percent since 2007 and the number of troops killed by them by 400 percent, and those wounded by 700 percent. It has been reported that IEDs are the number one cause of death among NATO troops in Afghanistan.^[11]

A brigade commander said that sniffer dogs are the most reliable way of detecting IEDs. ^[12]Nevertheless, statistical evidence gathered by the US Army Maneuver Support Center at Fort Leonard Wood, MO shows that the dogs are not the most effective means of detecting IEDs.

Lebanon

Hezbollah made extensive use of IEDs to attack Israeli forces after Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1985 but still kept troops stationed in a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah frequently used IEDs to attack Israeli vehicles in this area up until the Israeli withdrawal in May 2000.

One such bomb killed Israeli Brigadier General Erez Gerstein^[13] on February 28, 1999, the highest-ranking Israeli to die in Lebanon since Yekutiel Adam‘s death in 1982.

Also in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, a Merkava Mark II tank was hit by a pre-positioned Hezbollah IED, killing all 4 IDF servicemen on board,^[14] the first of two IEDs to damage a Merkava tank.

Chechnya

IEDs have also been popular in Chechnya, where Russian forces were engaged in fighting with rebel elements. While no concrete statistics are available on this matter, bombs have accounted for many Russian deaths in both the First Chechen War (1994–1996) and the Second (1999–2008).

Iraq

A Stryker lies on its side following a buried IED blast in Iraq. (2007)

Controlled explosion of IED, US Army in Iraq

In the 2003–Present Iraq War, IEDs have been used extensively against coalition forces and by the end of 2007 they have been responsible for at least 64% of coalition deaths in Iraq.^[1]

Beginning in July 2003, the Iraqi insurgency used IEDs to target coalition vehicles. According to iCasualties.org, as of April 21, 2011 at least (missing data)% of Coalition fatalities in the Iraq War are caused by IEDs.^[1] According to the Washington Post, 64% of U.S deaths in Iraq occurred due to IEDs.^[15] A French study^[16] showed that in Iraq, from March 2003 to November 2006, on a global 3,070 deaths in the US-led Coalition soldiers, 1,257 were caused by IEDs, i.e. 41%. That is to say more than in the “normal fights” (1027 dead, 34%). Insurgents now use the bombs to target not only Coalition vehicles, but Iraqi police and civilian transportation as well.

Common locations for placing these bombs on the ground include animal carcasses, soft drink cans, and boxes. Typically they explode underneath or to the side of the vehicle to cause the maximum amount of damage; however, as vehicle armor was improved on military vehicles, insurgents began placing IEDs in elevated positions such as on road signs, utility poles, or trees, in order to hit less protected areas.

IEDs in Iraq may be made with artillery or mortar shells or with varying amounts of bulk or homemade explosives. Early during the Iraq war, the bulk explosives were often obtained from stored munitions bunkers to include stripping landmines of their explosives.

Despite the increased armor, IEDs have been killing military personnel and civilians with greater frequency. May 2007 was the deadliest month for IED attacks thus far, with a reported 89 of the 129 Coalition casualties coming from an IED attack.^[1] According to the Pentagon, 250,000 tons (of 650,000 tons total) of Iraqi ordnance were looted, providing a large supply of ammunition for the insurgents.

In October 2005, The UK government charged that Iran was supplying insurgents with the technological know-how to make shaped charge IED’s.^[17] Both Iranian and Iraqi government officials deny the allegations.^[18][19]

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United States

In 1995 Timothy McVeigh created an IED-truck bomb to destroy a federal government building in Oklahoma City killing 168 US citizens.

In January 2011, a shaped pipe bomb was discovered and defused at a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial march in Spokane, Washington. The FBI said that the bomb was specifically designed to cause maximum harm and may have been racially motivated. No one was injured during the event.

India

IEDs are increasingly being used by maoists in India.^[20]

On 13th of July 2011, three IEDs were used by the Indian Mujahideen terrorist group to carry out a coordinated attack on the city of Mumbai, killing 19 people and injuring 130 more.^[21][22]

Nepal

IEDs were also widely used in the 10-years long civil war of the Maoists in Nepal, ranging from those bought from illicit groups in India and China, to self-made devices. Typically used devices were pressure-cooker bombs, socket bombs, pipe bombs, bucket bombs, etc. The devices were used more for the act of terrorizing the urban population rather than for fatal causes, placed in front of governmental offices, street corners or road sides. Mainly, the home-made IEDs were responsible for destruction of majority of structures targeted by the Maoists and assisted greatly in spreading terror among the public.

Types of devices

By warhead

The Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (JCS Pub 1-02) includes two definitions for improvised devices: improvised explosive devices (IED) and improvised nuclear device (IND).^[23] These definitions address the Nuclear and Explosive in CBRNE. That leaves chemical, biological and radiological undefined. Four definitions have been created to build on the structure of the JCS definition. Terms have been created to standardize the language of first responders and members of the military and to correlate the operational picture.^[24]

Explosive

A device placed or fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals and designed to destroy, incapacitate, harass, or distract. It may incorporate military stores, but is normally devised from non-military components.

Nuclear

A device incorporating radioactive materials designed to result in the dispersal of radioactive material (a dirty bomb) or in the formation of nuclear-yield reaction. Such devices may be fabricated in a completely improvised manner or may be an improvised modification to a nuclear weapon.

Chemical

A device incorporating the toxic attributes of chemical materials designed to result in the dispersal of these toxic chemical materials for the purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological toxic effect (morbidity and mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior modification) on a larger population. Such devices may be fabricated in a completely improvised manner or may be an improvised modification to an existing weapon.

Biological

A device incorporating biological materials designed to result in the dispersal of vector borne biological material for the purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological toxic effect (morbidity and mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior modification) on a larger population. Such devices are fabricated in a completely improvised manner.

Radioactive

A device incorporating radioactive materials designed to result in the dispersal of radioactive material for the purpose of area denial and economic damage, and/or for the purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological toxic effect (morbidity and mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior modification) on a larger population. Such devices may be fabricated in a completely improvised manner or may be an improvised modification to an existing nuclear weapon. Also called a Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD) or “dirty bomb”.

Incendiary

A device making use of exothermic chemical reactions designed to result in the rapid spread of fire for the purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological effect (morbidity and mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior modification) on a larger population or it may be used with the intent of gaining a tactical advantage. Such devices may be fabricated in a completely improvised manner or may be an improvised modification to an existing weapon. A common type of this is the molotov cocktail.

By delivery mechanism

Car

Artillery shells and gasoline cans discovered in the back of a pick-up truck in Iraq

Vehicles may be laden with explosives, set to explode by remote control or by a passenger/driver, commonly known as a car bomb or vehicle-based IED (VBIED, pronounced vee-bid). On occasion the driver of the car bomb may have been coerced into delivery of the vehicle under duress, a situation known as a proxy bomb. Distinguishing features are low-riding vehicles with excessive weight, vehicles with only one passenger, and ones where the interior of the vehicles look like they have been stripped down and built back up. Car bombs can carry thousands of pounds of explosives and may be augmented with shrapnel to increase fragmentation. The U.S. State Department has published a guide on car bomb awareness.^[25]

Boat

Boats laden with explosives can be used against ships and areas connected to water. An early example of this type was the Japanese Shinyo suicide boats during World War II. The boats were laden with explosives and attempted to ram Allied ships, sometimes successfully, having sunk or severely damaged several American ships by war’s end. Suicide bombers used a boat-borne IED to attack the USS Cole, US and UK troops have also been killed by boat-borne IEDs in Iraq.^[16][26]

Animal

Main article: Animal-borne bomb attacks

Monkeys and war pigs were used as incendiaries around 1000 AD. More famously the “anti-tank dog” and “bat bomb” were developed during WW2. In recent times, a two-year old child and seven other people were killed by explosives strapped to a horse in the town of Chita in Colombia^[27] The carcasses of certain animals were also used to conceal explosive devices by the Iraqi insurgency.^[28]

Collar

IEDs strapped to the necks of farmers have been used on at least three occasions by guerrillas in Colombia, as a way of extortion.^[29][30] American pizza delivery man Brian Douglas Wells was killed in 2003 by an explosive fastened to his neck, purportedly under duress from the maker of the bomb.^[31] In 2011 a schoolgirl in Sydney, Australia had a suspected collar bomb attached to her by an attacker in her home. The device was removed by police after a ten-hour operation and proved to be a hoax.^[32]

Suicide

Suicide bombing usually refers to an individual wearing explosives and detonating them in order to kill others including themselves, a technique pioneered by LTTE (Tamil Tigers).^[33] The bomber will conceal explosives on and around their person, commonly using a vest and will use a timer or some other trigger to detonate the explosives. The logic behind such attacks is the belief that an IED delivered by a human has a greater chance of achieving success than any other method of attack. In addition, there is the psychological impact of terrorists prepared to deliberately sacrifice themselves for their cause.^[34]

Platter charge

propel the platter into the target with an approximate velocity of 6,000 feet per second (1,800 m/s).^[35] The effective range can be as far as 50 meters, limited by the  Explosively formed penetrators

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Improvised explosive device in Iraq. The concave copper shape on top is an explosively formed penetrator.

IEDs have been deployed in the form of explosively formed penetrators, a special type of shaped charge that is effective at long standoffs from the target (50 meters or more). These are especially problematic to counter because they can be placed far from their intended targets.^[36] An EFP is essentially a cylindrical shaped charge with a concave metal disc (often copper) in front, pointed inwards. The force of the shaped charge turns the disc into a high velocity slug, capable of penetrating the armor of most vehicles in Iraq.

Rocket

Main article: Lob bomb

In 2008, rocket-propelled IEDs, dubbed Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortars (IRAM) by the military, came to be employed in numbers against U.S. forces in Iraq. They have been described as propane tanks packed with explosives and powered by 107 mm rockets.^[37] They are similar to some Provisional IRA barrack buster mortars.

By trigger mechanisms

Wire

Command wire improvised explosive device (CWIED) utilize an electrical firing cable which affords the user complete control over the device right up until the moment of initiation.^[34]

Radio

The trigger for a radio-controlled improvised explosive device (RCIED) is controlled by radio link. The device is constructed so that the receiver is connected to an electrical firing circuit and the transmitter operated by the perpetrator at a distance, A signal from the transmitter causes the receiver to trigger a firing pulse which operates the switch. Usually the switch fires an initiator; however, the output may also be used to remotely arm an explosive circuit. Often the transmitter and receiver operate on a matched coding system which prevents the RCIED from being initiated by spurious radio frequency signals.^[34] An RCIED can be triggered from any number of different mechanisms including car alarms, wireless door bells, cell phones, pagers and encrypted GMRS radios.^[34]

Cell phone

A radio-controlled IED (RCIED) incorporating a cell phone which is modified and connected to an electrical firing circuit. Cell phones operate in the UHF band in line of sight with base transceiver station (BTS) antennae sites. Commonly, receipt of a paging signal by phone is sufficient to initiate the IED firing circuit.^[34]

Victim-operated

Victim-operated improvised explosive devices (VOIED) are designed to function upon contact with a victim; also known as booby traps. VOIED switches are often well hidden from the victim or disguised as innocuous everyday objects. They are operated by means of movement. Switching methods include tripwire, pressure mats, spring-loaded release, push, pull or tilt. Common forms of VOIED include the under-vehicle IED (UVIED) and improvised landmines.^[34]

Infrared

The British accused Iran and Hezbollah of teaching Iraqi fighters to use infrared light beams to trigger IEDs. As the occupation forces became more sophisticated in interrupting radio signals around their convoys, the insurgents adapted their triggering methods.^[38] In some cases, when a more advanced method was disrupted, the insurgents regressed to using interruptible means, such as hard wires from the IED to detonator; however, this method is much harder to effectively conceal. It later emerged however, that these so-called “advanced” IEDs were actually old IRA technology. The infrared beam method was perfected by the IRA in the early ’90s after it acquired the technology from a botched undercover British Army operation. Many of the IEDs being used against coalition forces in Iraq were originally developed by the British Army who unintentionally passed the information on to the IRA.^[39] The IRA taught their techniques to the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the knowledge spread to Iraq.^[40]

Detection and disarmament

A U.S. Marine in Iraq shown with a robot used for disposal of buried devices

Israeli armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozer, which is used by the IDF Engineering Corps for clearing heavy belly charges and booby-trapped buildings.

Since these devices are improvised, there are no specific guidelines for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) personnel to use to positively identify or categorize them. EOD personnel are trained in the rendering safe and disposal of IEDs. The presence of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) material in an IED requires additional precautions. As with other missions, the EOD operator provides the area commander with an assessment of the situation and of support needed to complete the mission.

Military forces and law enforcement personnel from around the world have developed a number of render safe procedures (RSP) to deal with IEDs. RSPs may be developed as a result of direct experience with devices or by applied research designed to counter the threat. The supposed effectiveness of IED jamming systems, proven or otherwise, has caused IED technology to essentially regress to command-wire detonation methods.^[41] These are physical connections between the detonator and explosive device and cannot be jammed. However, these types of IEDs are more difficult to emplace quickly, and are more readily detected.

Military forces from India, Canada, United Kingdom, Israel, Spain and the United States are at the forefront of counter-IED efforts, as all have direct experience in dealing with IEDs used against them in conflict or terrorist attacks. From the research and development side, programs such as the new Canadian Unmanned Systems Challenge, will bring students groups together to invent an unmanned device to both locate IEDs and pinpoint the insurgents.^[42]

Technological countermeasures are only part of the solution in the effort to defeat IEDs; experience, training and awareness remain key factors in combating them. For example, there are visual signs that may suggest the presence of an IED, such as recently turned-over soil or sand by a road, or an abandoned vehicle beside a road. Recognizing these telltale signs may be as valuable as having sophisticated detection equipment.

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Fallen But Not Forgotten – Sgt. 1st Class Johnathan B. McCain, 38

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DOD Identifies Army Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. 1st Class Johnathan B. McCain, 38, of Apache Junction, Ariz., died Nov.13, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered after encountering an improvised explosive device while on mounted patrol.  He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

For more information related to this release, the media may contact U.S. Army Alaska public affairs office at 907-384-2072/1542.

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Your tax dollars for the rich and famous? (CBS News)

Image via WikipediaBy Sharyl AttkissonFrom tax write-offs for gambling losses, vacation homes, and luxury yachts; to subsidies for ranches and estates, billions of your tax dollars are supporting the lifestyles of the rich and famous. And a new report from fiscal conservative Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) counts the ways.Entitled "Subsidies of the Rich and Famous," Coburn outlines billions for millionaires: $74 million in unemployment checks, $316 million in farm subsidies, $9 billion in retirement checks and more. Overall, Coburn says millionaires have received $9.5 billion in government benefits since 2003, and borrowed $16 million in government-backed education loans for college.Some big stars are among the beneficiaries. The Coburn report says that millionaires who have collected taxpayer-funded farm subsidies include former NBA star Scottie Pippen and billionaire media titan Ted Turner. The report cites General Accountability Office findings that highlight the need to prevent USDA farm subsidies from going to the rich.Image via Wikipedia

Also in the report: superstar singer Jon Bon Jovi paid only $100 in property
taxes last year on his extensive NJ real estate holdings because he “raises
bees” on it; “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen gets subsidies for leasing property to
an organic farmer. Quincy Jones, who produced the top selling record of all
time, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” got a $25,000 award from the taxpayer-funded
National Endowment for the Arts for his contribution to music.

Coburn says an award of “prestige” can be given to honor and recognize such
megastars; but insists monetary payment is unnecessary — and now
unaffordable.

And believe it or not, some millionaires have been collecting unemployment on
the shoulder of taxpayers. The IRS reports that in 2009, 2,362 millionaires
collected a total of $20,799,000 in jobless benefits.

Eighteen individuals with adjusted gross incomes of ten million dollars or more received a total of $220,000 in unemployment payments that year.

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• Welfare for Millionaires (thedailybeast.com)
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• Senate votes to end millionaire farm subsidies (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Senate fails to halt ethanol tax breaks (money.cnn.com)
• Sen. Tom Coburn releases plan, attacked by Norquist (sfgate.com)
• Grover Norquist Rebuked By GOP (huffingtonpost.com)
• Ethanol subsidy survives Senate vote – Houston Chronicle (news.google.com)
• Coburn Takes On Ethanol Hypocrisy (swampland.time.com)
• Coburn Gets Serious: $9 TRILLION in Proposed Cuts (dakotavoice.com)
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• Tom Coburn: Feds Pay Out Billions In ‘Welfare For Well-Off’ (huffingtonpost.com)
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• Coburn’s $9 trillion debt plan (hotair.com)
• Senate votes to end millionaire farm subsidies (sfgate.com)
• Your tax dollars for the rich and famous? (CBS News) (thecommunicatorwv.wordpress.com)
• Who Knew Bruce Springsteen Was A Farmer? (He’s Not, But He Gets Farm Subsidies) (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Welfare for the rich: Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Ted Turner get over $30billion in tax subsidies every year (talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
• One Conservative at Least is Hearing the Complaints Coming From the OWS Protests. (woodgatesview.com)
• Tom Coburn: $30 Billion In Millionaires Aid Is ‘Sheer Washington Stupidity’ (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
• Is Jon Bon Jovi the Key to the Supercommittee Tax Compromise? (This Is Not the FarmAid You’re Looking For) (chriscocca.com)
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CDC now tracking antibiotic use in hospitals

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Get Smart About Antibiotics Week 2011 spotlights importance of appropriate antibiotic use

The Centers for  Disease Control and Prevention is launching  a new antibiotic tracking system allowing hospitals to monitor antibiotic use  electronically, make better decisions about how to improve use, and compare themselves to other hospitals. Before now, CDC was only able to track  antibiotic use in doctors′ offices.

Each  year, millions of Americans take antibiotics to fight infections. But overuse and misuse of antibiotics can change germs, allowing them to evolve resistance  to antibiotics, which increases the risk of an infection for which there are limited or no treatment options. Patients who receive antibiotics can experience side  effects, including allergic reactions and may be at increased risk for Clostridium difficile infection, a  potentially deadly diarrheal infection.

“Antibiotic  use leads to antibiotic resistance, which is a major public health problem,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Hospitals and other health care facilities should  monitor the antibiotics used in their facilities. This new system is a powerful tool that will enhance providers′ ability to monitor and improve patterns of  antibiotic use so that these essential drugs will still be effective in the  years to come.”

The antibiotic use tracking system is part of CDC′s National Healthcare Safety Network, the nation′s premier tool for monitoring infections in health care facilities, which includes over 4,800 hospitals. CDC has funded four health departments and their academic partners to implement the tracking system in 70 hospitals. In addition, any hospital that participates in the National Healthcare Safety Network can utilize this tool by working directly with its  pharmacy software vendor to transmit data electronically from drug  administration or barcoding records. There is no manual entry of data, thus  saving a facility time and money.

“The threat of untreatable infections is real,” says Arjun Srinivasan, M.D., who heads CDC′s Get Smart for Healthcare program.  “Although previously unthinkable, the day when antibiotics don′t work in all  situations is upon us. We are already seeing germs that are stronger than any  antibiotics we have to treat them, including some infections in health care  settings.”

CDC implements multiple strategies to address antibiotic use, including Get Smart  About Antibiotics Week (Nov. 14—20, 2011). This year, CDC and  its partners are teaming up to promote appropriate antibiotic use among the  nation′s health care facilities and doctors′ offices to preserve the strength  of existing antibiotics and prevent resistant infections. While success of  these strategies has been documented over the last decade with less unnecessary prescribing for colds and sore  throats, there is still room for improvement as up to half of antibiotic  prescriptions are unnecessary.

The  2011 observance of Get Smart About Antibiotics Week is an international  collaboration, coinciding with European Antibiotic Awareness Day and Canada′s  Antibiotic Awareness Week. CDC′s Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Workand Get  Smart for Healthcare programs are  designed to educate consumers and health care providers about appropriate use  of antibiotics. In conjunction with Get Smart About Antibiotics Week, CDC is  announcing a partnership with the Institute  for Healthcare Improvement to pilot  test a tool to help hospitals implement practical strategies to improve  antibiotic use. The pilot testing is currently under way in eight U.S.  hospitals.

Additionally,  CDC is part of the Federal Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance. During the observance  week, this task force will meet in Washington, D.C., to discuss next steps toward meeting goals of the recently revised A Public Health Action Plan to Combat Antimicrobial  Resistance. Patients, health care providers, hospital administrators, and policy makers must work together to employ safe and effective strategies for improving antibiotic use.

To access a list of pharmacy  software vendors who are working with CDC′s new antibiotic use tracking system, see  the Society for Infectious Disease Pharmacists website at www.sidp.org.

CDC works 24/7 saving lives, protecting people from health threats, and saving money to have a more secure nation. Whether these threats are chronic or acute, manmade or natural, human error or deliberate attack, global or domestic, CDC is the  U.S. health protection agency.

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• Antibiotic Resistance: Expert Q&A With the CDC (webmd.com)
• Drug-resistant infections: A new epidemic, and what you can do to help (medicalxpress.com)
• CDC: Doctors prescribing fewer antibiotics to kids (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• CDC says fewer antibiotics being prescribed for kids (cbsnews.com)
• Restaurant Equipment and Supplies (foodservicewarehouse.com)
• Fewer antibiotics prescribed to kids (cbc.ca)
• Antibiotic usage decreasing… but not enough (writehealthy.com)
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CNN Breaking News: Here comes Newt…

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

A new national poll released today shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
vaulting into a virtual tie with front-runner Mitt Romney over the last month
in the Republican presidential race.

The same survey indicates businessman and former talk show host Herman
Cain’s numbers falling during the same period. Cain has been mired in
controversy for the past two weeks over allegations from four women that he
sexually harassed them in the late 1990s them when he was head of the National
Restaurant Association.

According the the CNN/ORC International poll, 24% of Republicans or
GOP-leaning independents say Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is
making his second presidential run, is their most likely choice for the party’s
nomination. While Romney’s numbers have remained fairly steady, Gingrich surged
14 percentage points in popularity, up to 22%, since October. That 2-point
difference is well within the poll’s sampling error of plus or minus 4.5
percent.

At the same time, Cain has fallen 11 percentage points from 25% in October
to 14% now. The poll was conducted from Friday through Sunday, well after the
news of the Cain controversy broke.

Related articles

• CNN: Newt Gingrich closes in on Mitt Romney, Herman Cain drops hard (dailykos.com)
• POLL SHOCK: Romney And Gingrich Lead, Cain Collapses (businessinsider.com)
• Romney, Gingrich Get a Bump in Poll (online.wsj.com)
• Poll: Romney takes top spot in 2012 race (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• Poll: Three-way battle for GOP nomination (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• Gingrich Soars as Cain Drops (politicalwire.com)
• Cain slips, but still beats Romney and Gingrich in latest CBS poll (boston.com)
• Poll: Cain, Romney and ‘undecided’ tied atop GOP poll (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• Cain ‘totally respects women,’ wife says – CNN (edition.cnn.com)
• Poll Shows Romney with Sizeable Lead Among Republicans (usnews.com)
• Brit Hume: Gingrich’s Debate Performances & ‘Uncle Newt’ Persona Helping Him In Polls (mediaite.com)
• Cain leads GOP field in Battleground poll (politico.com)
• Romney, Gingrich Move Up Nationally (politicalwire.com)
• Newt Gingrich barges into the lead Flavor of the Week: It looks… (shortformblog.tumblr.com)
• And now Newt’s turn (geneveith.com)
• Poll: Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich lead among Iowa Republicans (dailykos.com)

Affordable Care Act heads to the Supreme Court

By  Robert Barnes, (Washington Post) Reprint

Updated: Monday, November 14, 10:38 AM

The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a challenge to the health-care overhaul act  passed in 2010, with a decision on President Obama’s most controversial domestic achievement likely to come  in the summer of his reelection campaign.

The court said it will decide whether the Affordable Care Act exceeded Congress’s power by requiring almost all Americans to have health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty; whether the massive law can survive without the so-called individual mandate; and whether it is premature for the court to pass judgment on the act.

The question of whether it is premature hinges on whether the court decides that the penalty for failing to secure health insurance constitutes a tax. If such a penalty is equivalent to a tax, then–according to an earlier ruling by a lower court–any decision on the law’s constitutionality must wait until the tax is actually levied.

Opponents say the massive new law is an unprecedented expansion of the national government. Challengers went to court within minutes of Obama signing the bill in March 2011, and more than 25 lawsuits eventually were filed. More than half the states have objected to the act, which was passed by a Democratic-controlled Congress.

On Monday, the court accepted the case brought by Florida and 25 other states, as well as the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

The case comes from the one appeals court–the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit–that has struck down the law. Three other appeals courts have either said the law is constitutional or that it is premature to hear challenges to it.

Both the challengers and the administration have urged the court to take the case, saying uncertainty about the law’s constitutionality needed to be resolved as quickly as possible.  The administration has said the act should be upheld as a valid exercise of federal power, just as Social Security and the Civil Rights Act were found to be constitutional.

“We know the Affordable Care Act is constitutional and are confident the Supreme Court will agree,” White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement Monday.

It could be the court’s most high-profile decision since Bush v. Gore in 2000. And it puts the court in position to weigh in on the question that has roiled the political landscape since Obama’s election: the scope of the federal government’s power.

While the court did not say when it will hold oral arguments in the case, they likely will come in March. The justices normally finish their work by late June, then leave for summer recess.

The court granted extensive oral argument time–5 1/2 hours –to hear the complicated constitutional questions. And it appears that all justices will take part in the decision.

Conservative groups had called on Justice Elena Kagan to recuse herself because she worked for the Obama administration as solicitor general. Liberal groups had said Justice Clarence Thomas faced a conflict because of the political activities of his wife.

Justices make their own decisions about whether they should recuse themselves.

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APEC USA 2011: Fact Sheet on 19th Annual Leaders Meeting Outcomes

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Under the chairmanship of President Obama, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum agreed today in Honolulu on a comprehensive set of measures to increase economic growth and job creation by expanding trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.  Leaders agreed to adopt market-driven innovation policies, reduce tariffs and eliminate other barriers to trade in environmental goods and services, and improve regulatory environments to reduce unnecessary burdens on businesses.  These steps will help U.S. growth and jobs by expanding export opportunities in the world’s fastest growing region.

Since its first meeting at Blake Island near Seattle in 1993, APEC has served as the premier forum for U.S. engagement with the Asia-Pacific region.  APEC’s 21 member economies comprise a market of 2.7 billion consumers, account for 44 percent of world trade, and represent 55 percent of global economic output (more than $35 trillion in 2010).  Six of America’s 10 largest trading partners are in APEC.

The APEC Agenda: Creating Jobs and Growth

At a time of global economic uncertainty, continued focus on creating jobs and growth is vital. Strengthening regional economic integration will help U.S. businesses and workers compete more effectively in the Asia-Pacific.  Strong, balanced growth in the APEC region helps keep U.S. businesses growing, innovating, and hiring.  APEC plays a central role by removing barriers to trade and investment that U.S. companies face in the region, creating new business opportunities, jobs, and buying power for Americans.  Since APEC was created, average tariffs in the region have fallen from 16 percent to 5 percent – on a volume of $2.3 trillion of trade between the United States and the Asia-Pacific economies.  Since 1993, U.S. exports to other APEC member economies have nearly tripled.

In 2010, APEC economies purchased 61 percent of total U.S. goods exports ($774 billion in 2010), and over 37 percent of U.S. private services exports (over $205 billion in 2010), supporting five million American jobs. In Honolulu, the United States and other APEC economies took a number of concrete steps towards building a “seamless regional economy” by agreeing to take action in three priority areas:

1. Increasing Trade and Strengthening Regional Economic
Integration

Supporting the President’s goal of doubling exports in five years, APEC leaders agreed to reduce barriers to trade and investment by:

• Setting a model for innovation that is market-driven and non-discriminatory,
  not government-directed and protectionist, in recognition of the key role
  entrepreneurship plays in increasing productivity and ensuring economic
  growth;
• Showing leadership to launch negotiations to expand the product scope and
  membership of the WTO Information Technology Agreement, which could create
  significant market-enhancing opportunities for U.S. high-tech companies;
• Making it cheaper, easier, and faster for businesses – particularly small
  and medium-sized businesses – to trade in the region by exempting more low-value
  shipments from customs duties and simplifying customs requirements and
  documentation;
• Launching an APEC Travel Facilitation Initiative to make travel in the
  region easier, faster, and more secure;
• Promoting domestic structural reforms in APEC economies to minimize barriers
  to market-based incentives and to facilitate competition and opportunities for
  U.S. exporters;
• Improving food security by extending an APEC-wide standstill on agricultural
  export restrictions; and
• Promoting growth by taking concrete actions to expand economic opportunities
  for women in the Asia-Pacific region.

2. Supporting Green Growth and Green Jobs

As part of our larger commitment to promoting a green economy, APEC leaders
agreed to support sustainable growth and create green jobs by:

• Developing a list in 2012 of environmental goods on which APEC economies
  will reduce applied tariffs to 5% or less by 2015, and eliminating non-tariff
  barriers to environmental goods and services, including local content
  requirements, which will help lower their costs, increase the dissemination of
  clean technologies, and create more green jobs;
• Pursuing a more aggressive target for reducing energy intensity across APEC
  economies by promoting technology and best practices in energy-smart buildings,
  transportation, and infrastructure;
• Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, which encourage wasteful
  consumption, and reporting on progress annually; and
• Incorporating low-emissions development strategies into APEC economies’
  growth plans.

3. Promoting Regulatory Practices that Facilitate Trade and
Investment

Building on efforts at home to boost productivity and job creation while also
protecting the environment and ensuring public health and safety, APEC leaders
agreed on steps that will improve the quality of the regulatory environment for
U.S. exporters in the Asia-Pacific region by:

• Implementing a set of good regulatory practices, including ensuring internal
  coordination of rulemaking, assessing impacts of regulations, and conducting
  public consultation, in order to reduce unnecessary burdens on businesses,
  costing time and money;
• Improving the quality of regulations and standards for emerging green
  technologies like smart grid, green buildings, and solar technologies to reduce
  technical barriers to trade in those products; and
• Establishing a fund with USAID support at the World Bank to strengthen food
  safety collaboration in the Asia-Pacific, accounting for nearly half of global
  food production.

APEC Economies – The Basic Facts

APEC’s member economies include: The United States, Australia, Brunei
Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia,
Singapore, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Thailand, and Vietnam.

Number of Economies:         21 (6 of them among the top 10 U.S. goods export
markets: Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore)

Market Size:                              2.7 billion consumers

Combined APEC GDP:          $35.2 trillion in 2010 (56 percent of world
economic output)

U.S. Benefits from Trade with APEC Economies

Total U.S.-APEC Trade:          At least $2.3 trillion in goods and services
in 2010 (56 percent of total)

U.S.-APEC Trade Increase:   Goods and services trade up 150 percent from $1
trillion in 1994

U.S. Jobs Supported:              5 million jobs

Existing U.S.-APEC FTAs:      7 (Australia, Canada, Chile, Korea, Mexico,
Peru, Singapore)

Top U.S. Markets in APEC:    Canada ($249.1 billion)
(Goods Exports
2010)            Mexico ($163.5 billion)

China ($91.9 billion)

Japan ($60.5 billion)

Korea ($38.8 billion)

Goods Exports to APEC:      $775 billion in 2010 (61 percent of total U.S.
goods exports)
Up 26
percent from 2009
Up 53
percent from 2000
Up 139
percent from 1994

Key Export Categories:        Machinery ($116.2 billion)
(Goods
2010)                        Electrical machinery ($110.8
billion)
Vehicles ($69.7
billion)
Mineral fuel (oil)
($39.7 billion)
Optic and
medical instruments ($37.9 billion)

Manufacturing Exports:       $665.3
billion

Up 25 percent from 2009

Agricultural Exports:            $83.3 billion in
2010
Up 17 percent from
2009

Top Agricultural Exports:    Soybeans ($15.8
billion)
Coarse grains ($7.9
billion)
Red meats ($7.3
billion)
Cotton ($4.3
billion)
Fresh fruit ($3.4
billion)

Services Exports to APEC: At least $204.9 billion in
2010
(Private)                                 Over 37 percent of total U.S.
services exports
Up 16
percent from 2009
Up 82
percent from 2000
Up 146
percent from 1994

Related articles

• Pacific Trade Pact Boosted By U.S. Neighbors (time.com)
• Apec members promise trade push (bbc.co.uk)
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Other Nuclear News (IAEA)

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Iran Says has Detected Duqu Computer Virus

Iran said on Sunday it had detected the Duqu computer virus that experts say is based on Stuxnet, the so-called “cyber-weapon” discovered last year and believed to be aimed at sabotaging the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites. Reuters

Wary about Iran, Obama Lobbies Russia and China

Searching for help, President Barack Obama lobbied the skeptical leaders of Russia and China on Saturday for support in keeping Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed menace to the world, hoping to yield a “common response” to a crisis that is testing international unity. AP / DPA

Russian Scientist Vyacheslav Danilenko’s Aid to Iran Offers Peek at Nuclear Program

When the Cold War abruptly ended in 1991, Vyacheslav Danilenko was a Soviet
weapons scientist in need of a new line of work. WP / AP

S.Korea Nuclear Envoy to Meet US Official in Vienna

South Korea’s nuclear envoy Lim Sung-Nam left Sunday for Vienna for talks on ways to revive stalled negotiations on North Korea‘s nuclear disarmament. AFP

Germany: Low Nuclear Iodine Levels Not from Power Plant

Germany’s environment ministry said on Friday that slightly higher radioactive iodine levels had been registered in northern Germany but at such low levels that it was barely detected, and ruled out that it could have come from any nuclear power plant. Reuters

Nuclear Security Center Planned

In an effort to promote effective nuclear security and safeguards, the Chinese government is planning to build a center in the suburb of Beijing where personnel from China and other Asian countries would be trained, said a nuclear official. China Daily

Pak Planning to Purchase 2 N-Power Plants from China

Pakistan plans to purchase two atomic power plants with a combined capacity of 2,000 MW from China despite concerns expressed by the West over nuclear cooperation between the two countries. Times of India

Opinion and Analysis

India-Pakistan-Iran: The Troubled Triangle Deutsche Welle

Japan: Local govts must cooperate in debris disposal Daily Yomiuri

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Iran Nuclear Update (IAEA)

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IAEA Shows Iran Nuke Program Intel to 35 Nations

In a show-and-tell based on secret intelligence, the U.N. atomic agency shared satellite images, letters and diagrams with 35 nations Friday as it sought to underpin its case that Iran apparently worked secretly on developing a nuclear weapon. AP / Reuters

Iran to Start Efforts to Reform IAEA’s Management System

Vice-Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Hassan Aboutorabi Fard lashed out at IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano for his biased attitude towards Iran, and said Tehran has decided to launch efforts to change the management system of the UN nuclear watchdog agency. Fars News / Xinhua / DPA

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Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update (IAEA)

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Devastation at Japan Site, Seen Up Close

The most striking feature at this crippled plant on Saturday was not the blasted-out reactor buildings, or the makeshift tsunami walls, but the chaotic mess. NY Times / AP / BBC

Gov’t Aims for ‘Cold Shutdown’ of Fukushima Reactors, but Bemoans Lack of Data

The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are trying to achieve a stable condition called a “cold shutdown” of crippled reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant by the end of this year, but they have yet to come to grips with exactly what is happening inside the reactors crippled by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Mainichi

MHI Begins Installation of Radioactive Waste Storage Facility Equipment at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd has begun installation work of a radioactive waste storage facility equipment, which will temporarily store radioactive waste generated in the processing of radiation-tainted water, at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company Inc. JCN Newswire

Fukushima’s No. 3 Reactor Likely Triggered Hydrogen Blast

The hydrogen explosion that spewed radioactive materials from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant’s No. 4 reactor building on March 15 was likely caused by gas leaking from the neighboring No. 3 reactor. Asahi

APEC USA 2011

Image via WikipediaImage by wertheim via Flickr

National Guard (in Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of November 8, 2011 (Army down by 144)

Image via Wikipedia

This week the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard announced an increase in activated reservists, while the Army announced a decrease. The net collective result is 144 fewer reservists activated than last week.

At any given time, services may activate some units and individuals while deactivating others, making it possible for these figures to either increase or decrease.  The total number currently on active duty from the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is 69,910; Navy Reserve, 4,609; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 10,895; Marine Corps Reserve, 5,936, and the Coast Guard Reserve, 792.  This brings the total National Guard and Reserve personnel who have been activated to 92,142, including both units and individual augmentees.

A cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve personnel who are currently activated may be found on line at http://www.defense.gov/news/d20111108ngr.pdf .

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• National Guard (In Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of August 16, 2011 (thecommunicatorwv.wordpress.com)
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• National Guard (in Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of September 20, 2011 (thecommunicatorwv.wordpress.com)
• National Guard (in Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of (thecommunicatorwv.wordpress.com)
• National Guard (In Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of July (thecommunicatorwv.wordpress.com)