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Iowa soldiers remain on security duty in Puerto Rico

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Members of Sioux City’s 185th Iowa Air National Guard unit are continuing to provide security in hurricane stricken Puerto Rico. The base commander of the 185th, Colonel Larry Christensen, says the guard members are stationed at San Juan’s airport.

“Because when the hurricane came through it took down all the fencing all around the entire airport. They were having a lot of trouble with people walking on the airport. You can imagine how dangerous that would be…if they just happen to walk across the runway,” Christensen says. “Also, they are having a little bit of trouble with looting, the generators, those type of things.”

Sixteen members of Des Moines 132nd Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard are also there. Colonel Christensen says the guard members don’t have far to go when they get to work.

He says they are living inside a hanger right now and spend most of their time protecting the San Jaun Airport. Christensen says it may be awhile before the Iowans return — as it still could months before power is completely restored to the island.

He says it could be up to 60 days, but if they are done, then they will send a plane to bring them home. The Air Guardsmen were flown down to Puerto Rico in a KC-135R Stratotanker from the 185th in late September.

(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)

Ex-U.S. defense secretary says diplomacy only real solution for North Korea

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Chuck Hagel

Chuck Hagel, the former Nebraska senator who served as President Obama’s first defense secretary, today said there is “really no military solution” to the stand-off with North Korea.

“I think the wiser course of action is to continue along the diplomatic front,” Hagel said. “I think in many respects the Iranian nuclear agreement which I helped put together probably is the eventual course that we’re going to have to follow here.”

President Trump and Republicans in the senate have criticized the Iranian nuclear deal. Hagel counters that the U.S. and five other countries “got a lot out of it” by getting inspectors inside Iran to get a clear picture of the country’s nuclear capability and the same could happen with a multi-nation accord with North Korea.

“This bravado of military attacks and military action, these are almost always from people who know nothing about war,” Hagel said, “starting with the president of the United States.”

Hagel, who is a Vietnam veteran, will deliver a lecture at Simpson College this evening. This morning, he taped an appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program. Hagel repeated his criticism of President Trump’s use of Twitter and the “baiting” of North Korea’s leader by calling him “Rocket Man.”

“I think it’s irresponsible,” Hagel said. “I think it’s immature and I think, quite frankly, it’s a sign of a certain amount of insecurity.”

Hagel –who said he is “still a Republican” — argued his party is moving in a “dangerous” direction under President Trump.

“Yes, I would support somebody else other than President Trump,” Hagel said. “…There are going to be a lot of Republicans emerge and others and who knows what the world looks like next week in the Republican Party, but there’s a fundamental change going on and we need to go through it and we’ll be better when we get to the other end of it.”

According to Hagel, the Republican Party must again by “pro-trade and pro-engagement” because, Hagel said, “we need friends” around the world.

Hagel’s appearance on “Iowa Press” will air at 7:30 p.m. this Friday on Iowa Public Television.

 

Senator Ernst doesn’t agree with taking a knee, but says NFL players have the right

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Senator Joni Ernst. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says while she doesn’t agree with NFL players who are taking a knee while the Star Spangled Banner is being played, she supports their right to do so.

Ernst says if they want to do that, then it’s her right not to watch those players. Ernst says, “This is a country that has given them every opportunity to make millions of dollars playing a game they love, and for them to not stand when we have our national anthem played, I disagree with it.”

Ernst says while players have the right to make such an expression, she won’t be surprised if the public will react negatively to their efforts. “It’s my right as a citizen to not support those players that do that. Maybe more people will choose to do that,” she says. “Maybe they’ll choose not to go to those games or watch those games on TV.”

Ernst says she hopes players realize the advantages they have being Americans compared to most places in the world. “This is the best country on the face of the planet, and the opportunities that we extend to every American is beyond what many other countries will step up and do,” Ernst says. “I hope that someday they fully recognize the advantages that we have over many other fully developed nations. I hope they are proud of where they come from. I’m extremely proud to be an American.”

Ernst is the first female combat veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Repubican Governor Kim Reynolds called the protests “disrespectful.”

(By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City)

 

Iowa National Guard members to help provide security in Puerto Rico

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Some two dozen Iowa National Guard soldiers are leaving the state Tuesday for duty in Puerto Rico.

Iowa National Guard spokesman, Colonel Greg Hapgood says they are flying out on KC-135 Stratotanker from the 185th Air Refueling Wing from Sioux City.

He says the airmen are from 185th Refueling Wing and the 132nd Wing in Des Moines. “Their job as security forces members is just like a civilian law enforcement officer, but they wear a military uniform,” Hapgood says. He says they will supplement the security personnel in Puerto Rico as they work with residents recovering from Hurricane Maria.

“To keep people safe, to make sure that people have what they need. To get them to safe areas, to keep them away from hazardous areas, and just to help things smoothly and move forward in the response and recovery phase,” Hapgood explains. Puerto Rico has requested support from Iowa under an agreement between all 50 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia, to assist one another in times of crisis.

Hapgood says they plan for soldiers and airmen to be gone for two week, but they are not sure if it will take longer or take less time. This is the third recovery mission for Iowa National Guard soldiers in recent weeks.

“We had Iowa National Guard personnel who responded to Hurricane Harvey in Houston and also Hurricane Irma in Florida. All of those individuals are back and that equipment is back,” Hapgood says. “It’s been a busy six weeks for certain for the Iowa National Guard, but we are prepared for whatever it is we need to go do.”

Hapgood says electricity is out for the entire island and food and water is scarce — which raises a lot of security concerns there.

Masked Veteran completes 10-day run across Iowa

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The “Masked Veteran” has completed his 330-mile statewide journey, crossing the finish line at the Burlington riverfront on Friday night.

Joshua Jorgensen started his trek in Council Bluffs late last week as a way to call attention to veteran suicide and post-traumatic stress. Jorgensen, who is from Adel, says the toughest part of the run wasn’t the running.

“Dealing with myself for 12 to 14 hours a day out there on the road — you know your mind can play some really funny games with you, especially in the heat and rain,” Jorgensen says, “and I dealt with both.”

Jorgensen is an Iraq war veteran. He wore a gas mask as he ran, to symbolize the struggles many veterans face every day.

“I did this to show that you can step up and you can become a leader,” Jorgensen says. “You can get people to follow you in creating that awareness. Get involved in local organizations. Get involved with your fellow veterans.”

It took Jorgensen 10 days to run across the state. Jorgensen covered between 30 and 40 miles each day. Jorgensen is a member of Team Fidelis, a national organization focused on the mission of preventing suicides among veterans. A few other members of the group ran beside Jorgensen during the final miles of his journey.

(Reporting by David Hightower, KBUR, Burlington)

Air Force cadets get a look at Iowa Guard operations in Sioux City, Des Moines

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Air Force cadets in Sioux City.

Forty cadets from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs flew to Sioux City and then Des Moines this past weekend aboard an Iowa Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotanker.

The cadets toured the Air Guard Facilities as part of a partner program between the Air Force Academy and the Iowa Guard. The cadets, including Cadet Second Class Jenna Petty from Spirit Lake, crawled into the boom operators pod in the back of the KC-135 to see a midair refueling of several F-16 fighters.

She says she had been on a KC-135 on the ground but had never flown on one. “That was an awesome

Refueling an F-16 by a tanker from the 185th in Sioux City.

experience,” she says. While visiting the 132nd Wing in Des Moines the Cadets were shown the remotely piloted aircraft operations They also had dinner with Major General Tim Orr, the Adjutant General for the state of Iowa. Orr’s son attends the academy and the general says he invited the academy cadets here to give them a first-hand look at the National Guard operations.

“I really think this is the right thing to do, and having a son at the academy I inquired about when do you get your reserve component experience,” Orr says. “And I don’t believe in their curriculum without a program like this that they get a chance to see what our reserve components do for our Air Force.”

It’s the first time the Air Force Academy has partnered with the Air National Guard in this way. Most of the members of the group are second class cadets or equivalent to juniors in college. The Academy says the visit to Iowa allows the cadets to see a variety of Air Force specialties before deciding on a job at the beginning of their senior year.

(Reporting by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City/Photos courtesy of the 185th in Sioux City)

Army veteran runs across Iowa to raise awareness of PTSD

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An Army veteran from central Iowa has embarked on a journey to run across the state — from west to east — as a way of drawing attention to veteran suicide and PTSD.

Josh Jorgensen left Council Bluffs on Thursday and plans to spend ten days running the 330 miles to Burlington. Jorgenson, who’s from Adel, is a member of Team Fidelis, a national group that’s working to end the epidemic of veteran suicide.

Jorgensen says, “I found this to be a way to raise awareness for our organization and also to reach out to the veterans themselves who maybe don’t think there’s a finish line there, that are struggling at the moment.” Jorgensen, who served in Iraq as a member of the 101st Airborne, says he’s been planning the run for more than a year but was thrown a curve ball when he was told he had to have open heart surgery six months ago.

“I wasn’t going to let that be a barrier if it didn’t have to be,” he says. “When I got wheeled in to my operation, I told the doctor, ‘Hey, make sure I get off the table and I’ll do the rest.'” While he knew he could postpone the run because of the surgery, he decided to go ahead with it as the cause is so important to him. To further challenge himself, Jorgensen is making the border-to-border run across Iowa while wearing a military-issued gas mask which covers his entire face. He says the mask helps him to start conversations about veteran suicide and PTS-D.

“We can create the awareness of the help that we’re trying to get for other veterans and the struggles they’re going through,” he says. He plans to run about 33 miles a day across Iowa and should reach the Mississippi River next weekend.

 

Former Navy Seal who shot Bin-Laden speaks in Sioux City

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Robert O’Neil

The former Navy Seal most often credited with killing Osama Bin-Laden was in northwest Iowa Thursday night.

Robert O’Neill told the crowd gathered at the 32nd Annual Siouxland Chamber of Commerce Banquet that he took part in roughly 400 combat missions, but the one most people are interested in hearing about is the May 2011 shooting of the founder of al-Qaeda.

“That one sunk in right away, not because we got (Bin-Laden), but because we lived,” O’Neill said. “It’s never not interesting to go through that one.” Bin-Laden was said to be the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The 41-year-old O’Neill recalled meeting family members of 9/11 victims. “Everyone was crying, people with heads in their hands, and they told me ‘there will be no closure for 9/11, but this helps with the healing – a real face and a real name, someone who was there and saw (Bin-Laden dead), there’s no conspiracy about it.’ That’s when I started to realize if I can help this many people in this room, I could help thousands,” O’Neill said.

In his book, “The Operator,” O’Neill wrote about the Bin-Laden mission and others he was involved in – including the 2005 rescue of Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell. O’Neill told the group in Sioux City the lessons learned in his combat training can be applied to business and everyday life.

“Even if I had a decision already made when I was a team leader, I would always ask for input from others anyway, to make sure they knew they were apart it,” O’Neill said. “I talk a lot about stress management and how stress is in your mind, it’s a choice and you can drop it anytime you want. You can only get as stressed as you allow yourself.”

O’Neill joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 19, one year after graduating from high school in Butte, Montana. He left the Navy in 2012 and now works as a public speaker.

(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)

Iowa National Guard sees largest call up of soldiers since 2010

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Nearly 400 Iowa National Guard soldiers are being called up for deployment.

The 390 soldiers from the 248th Aviation Support Battalion are aircraft maintainers, test pilots, and logistical support personnel who will be part of a federal call up of approximately 500 Army National Guard Soldiers along with soldiers from Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The Iowa soldiers come from companies in Muscatine, Davenport, Waterloo and Boone and make up the largest single-unit deployment of the Iowa National Guard since 2010.

They will travel to Fort Hood, Texas, for additional training before assignment to overseas locations in the U.S. Central Command theater of operation. The Central Command includes nations in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Community send-off ceremonies for the soldiers will be held Friday, September 29th, in the following locations:

Muscatine
Detachment 1, Company A: approximately 30 Soldiers will be honored at a 10 a.m. ceremony in the Iowa National Guard Readiness Center, 5801 Grandview Ave., Muscatine, Iowa.
Davenport
Headquarters Support Company and Detachment 4, Company B: approximately 75 Soldiers will be honored at a 10 a.m. ceremony in the Davenport Army Aviation Support Facility, 9650 N. Harrison St., Davenport, Iowa.
Waterloo
Company A and Detachment 3, Company B: approximately 105 Soldiers will be honored at a 2 p.m. ceremony in the University of Northern Iowa West Gym, 2501 Minnesota St., UNI Campus, Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Boone
Detachment 1, Headquarters Support Company and Company B: approximately 180 Soldiers will be honored at a 5 p.m. ceremony in the Boone High School gym, 500 7th St., Boone, Iowa.

National Guard sending helicopters to Florida for hurricane recovery

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Iowa National Guard Chinook helicopters.

Four Iowa National Guard helicopters are heading to Florida today to help with hurricane recovery. Guard spokesman Colonel Greg Hapgood says 19 soldiers will go with the four choppers.

He says two of the helicopters are the CH-47F Chinook helicopters, which are used to lift heavy loads of supplies and people. The other two are LUH-72 Lakota helicopters and are smaller than the Chinooks.

“Which can provide capabilities to show the planners and others what is going in an areas. It’s got sophisticated optics and cameras. It can also help move a few things and people as well. But again, it is a light helicopter,” according to Hapgood.

Chinooks taking off.

Hapgood says they do not know how long the soldiers from Waterloo, Davenport, Iowa City and Boone may be on hurricane duty. “We did have two helicopters and 11 crewmembers go to Hurricane Harvey, and we expected about two weeks and they were back in 10 days,” Hapgood says. “So we’re hopeful that the situation will be quickly under control on the response part of the hurricane, and our members can come back relatively soon.”

He says each storm is different when it comes to the recovery. “Certainly there is some amount of time that we really don’t know what it till take to get this mission done,” Hapgood says. “What I can tell you from past experience is the State of Florida does a terrific job for hurricanes. They are very efficient at it, very experienced in their response. So we are hopeful that everything will got their way and we can get our crews back here in no time.”

The state of Florida has requested support from Iowa under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which is a national, mutual aid and partnership agreement that allows state-to-state assistance during governor-declared or federally-declared emergencies.

The soldiers heading to Florida are from the following units:
Company A, 1st Battalion, 376th Aviation, Security and Support (Waterloo); Company B, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion (Davenport); Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 67th Troop Command (Iowa City); Company C, 2-147th Aviation (Boone); Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division (Boone); Company D, 2-211th General Aviation Support Battalion (Davenport).

Photo courtesy of the Iowa National Guard.