Message Center

No one questions the need for medical care when someone is physically injured but, when people experience emotional problems, they may feel embarrassed and afraid to seek help when the troubling signs first surface. During Mental Health Month in May, TRICARE would like to remind beneficiaries about the recently published “A TRICARE Guide: Understanding Behavioral Health.”

The 80-page resource it is available online to all TRICARE beneficiaries at the TRICARE Smart Site.

GI Film Festival co-founders Brandon Millett and Major Laura Law-Millett announced today the line-up for the Third Annual festival, which will showcase the world’s best military films and feature special appearances by luminaries from Hollywood, the military and Congress. The festival will run from May 12-18, 2009 at the prestigious Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC and other DC area venues, including the National Archives, the Canadian Embassy and the Russell Senate Caucus Room. The award-winning GI Film Festival is the first and only film festival in the nation dedicated to honoring American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines through the medium of film. (See www.gifilmfestival.com for more information.)

Highlights of the GI Film Festival include:

• 47 documentary and narrative premiere films from the nation’s top independent and studio filmmakers, including active duty GIs and military veterans;
• World Premiere of Citizens United Production’s Perfect Valor , featuring former Senator Fred Dalton Thompson; produced by David Bossie (Border Wars);
• GI Film Festival red carpet premiere of HBO’s Taking Chance , starring Kevin Bacon;
• GI Film Festival red carpet premiere for “Wounded Warriors” of MGM/UA’s Valkyrie , starring Tom Cruise;
• VIP reception featuring the launch of the new USO national publication, On Patrol;
• Presentation of the GI Film Festival’s “GI Spirit Award” to actress Karri Turner;
• Reception at the Russell Senate Caucus Room honoring military veterans in Congress. Scheduled guests include: Senator John McCain and Medal of Honor recipient Senator Daniel K. Inouye;
• VIP receptions featuring celebrities, top military leaders and warriors, and filmmakers.

In only its third year, the GI Film Festival has become the most significant venue for the screening of military films and it has achieved some notable successes. One 2007 GI Film Festival premiere, Operation Homecoming, was a finalist for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. Last year’s GI Film Festival “Best Feature Documentary,” Brothers at War earned a theatrical distribution deal from the prestigious Samuel Goldwyn Films and is now in theaters. Another award-winning offering from 2008, The Last 600 Meters, will release in theaters and air on PBS in 2010.

Tickets for GI Film Festival premiere films are available for $10. Tickets for primetime events, which include film screenings and receptions, are available for $50. Full festival passes are available for $250 and include access to all film screenings and primetime events on Thursday through Sunday.

For more information, please visit www.gifilmfestival.com. VIP passes and single event tickets now on sale.

*NOTE: All festival events, including celebrity appearances, are subject to change.

Influenza, or flu, is a viral disease affecting people, other mammals including pigs, and birds. Flu can be caused by many different, but related, viruses. Some flu viruses primarily infect people, while others infect mostly pigs (swine flus) or birds (avian flus).

Get the facts on the current swine flu outbreak from Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, USPHS-Ret.

The Air Force Association (AFA) will host a panel discussion of the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Budget at the National Press Club from 9:30 – 11 a.m., May 6, 2009.

The discussion will include analysis of the budget’s affect on Air Force strategic programs.

AFA’s expert panel includes General Richard Hawley, USAF (Ret.) and Lt. General Thomas McInerney, USAF (Ret.). Moderating and participating in the discussion will be Lt. General Michael M. Dunn, USAF (Ret.), President of AFA.

• General Richard Hawley served as Commander, Air Combat Command. He is a command pilot with 3,000 hours and 438 combat missions. He graduated the Air Force Academy in 1964 and served until 1999.
• Lt General Thomas G. McInerney served as Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, and is a command pilot with 4,100 hours and 407 combat missions. He graduated the Air Force Academy in 1959 and served until 1994.
• Lt General Michael M. Dunn is President/CEO of the Air Force Association. He served as President of National Defense University in Washington, DC, was the lead negotiator with the North Korean Army at P’anmunjom and is a command pilot with 2,500 flying hours.

AFA is a 501(C)(3), nonprofit organization promoting public understanding of aerospace power and the pivotal role it plays in the security of the nation. AFA has more than 200 chapters nationally and internationally representing 125,000 members. Visit AFA at http://www.afa.org.

As part of the new Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) and Department of Defense (DoD) Outreach Initiative, YMCA will provide military families with access to youth development, family strengthening, and health and well-being programs at community YMCAs nationwide. Membership fees will be underwritten by the DoD and administered through Military OneSource, an information and referral service for military families. YMCA of the USA, the national resource office for America’s 2,686 YMCAs, will help launch the initiative at participating YMCAs across the country.

The ASYMCA-DoD Outreach Initiative responds to a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to support military family readiness and to ensure that military family readiness programs and activities are available to all deployed National Guard and Reserve families, and some active duty families in certain special categories.

Eligible military families participating in the initiative are eligible for YMCA memberships based on participation requirements. Those eligible to participate in the new initiative include:

• All interested families of joint deployed National Guard and Reserves of all military branches;
• Families living in newly established Joint Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) bases;
• Active Duty Independent Duty station personnel and their families; and
• Relocated spouses and family members of deployed Active Duty personnel.

More information about the ASYMCA-DoD Outreach Initiative can be found by visiting www.asymca.org. For information about participating YMCAs, please visit www.ymca.net.

Military jet fuel is petroleum based, but that hasn’t stopped a military research agency from looking farther afield to determine if it can be produced through other means — by algae, for instance.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., is reviewing potential research projects under its Biofuels-Cellulosic and Algal Feedstock program to produce a JP-8 type fuel from algae.

But there’s a big catch — energy-dense biofuel oil has to be made at a cost competitive with petroleum-derived fuels, according to Jan Walker, DARPA special assistant for external relations. She points out that DARPA seeks to produce a surrogate JP-8 costing less than $3 a gallon at a production rate of 50 million gallons a year.

The algae derivative program initially will demonstrate production of algae triglyceride, a precursor to JP-8, at a projected cost of $2 a gallon. Walker expects contractors to get the algae triglyceride production cost down to $1 a gallon in phase 2 of the program.

However, there are technical challenges facing the project.

Algae typically is grown and harvested from large pools (raceways) or large tanks (photobioreactors). Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

The raceways can be expanded readily to large-scale operations, lowering the per gallon cost, but they produce a lower energy density algal oil. On the other hand, bioreactors allow for better environmental control and generally produce higher energy density oil, but are more expensive to operate.

Besides algal oils, the DARPA effort is investigating processes to convert various vegetable oils to JP-8, such as soy, palm canola, and coconut oils.

The long-term DARPA project seeks to use any newly developed fuel not only for U.S. Air Force warplanes but also as an option for U.S. Army vehicles, which would simplify the supply chain.

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the historical mystery, Full Moon.

Average Joe’s Entertainment artist Colt Ford has remained one of the Top 5 most-added MySpace country music artists for months averaging over 45,000 plays each day majorly due to Armed Forces support from both US and overseas service members.

Ford has taken notice of what his music means to those men and women serving our country and wants them to be the stars of his new music video, “Ride Through The Country.”

“These are the real people we should be celebrating, and after receiving links to footage from Iraq from one fan listening to my music in the helicopter,” says Ford, “I decided I wanted my music video to be a tribute to them. Period.”

Ford’s management, Full Scope Entertainment, is accepting footage from active and inactive Armed Forces members, friends, and family in the form of DVD or mini-DV between now and June 1st.

“We realize that many of our friends may not have the means to send their footage, so we are encouraging all interested to contact us so we can either send them shipping information or a link to upload footage,” adds Full Scope President, Ken Madson.

Our goal is to showcase these men, women, and families in a light that provides encouragement while showing gratitude for their service. What better way than to show a ‘ride through the country’?”

Videos submitted to date show service men and women listening to or singing “Ride Through The Country” in their uniforms in various parts of the world.

Any and all submissions are encouraged.

Video Submissions (DVD Format, Mini-DV, or stored on thumb drive) may be mailed to the following address: Full Scope Entertainment c/o Ken Madson 1010 17th Ave. 1st Floor Nashville, TN 37212 310-402-3809

Participants should include the following information:

• Name, Street Address, City, State, Zip
• Home Street Address (if different): Hometown, State, Zip
• Armed Forces Affiliation, Rank and Time Served, Phone Number, Email Address
• Colt Ford Song Showcased in Footage
• Brief description of footage (where it was shot; what you were doing at the time; what it means to you).

*Video footage, thumb drives, tapes, etc. will not be returned.*

To-date, Colt Ford videos have garnered over 1,000,000 plays on YouTube sites in addition to play on national outlets such as CMT.

For additional information, please visit www.coltford.com.

The 2009 National Memorial Day Concert
Live on PBS from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol
Sunday, May 24, from 8:00 to 9:30 pm ET (check local listings).

During Memorial Day weekend, PBS will unite the nation with an evening that has become an American tradition. The multi-award-winning NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT honors the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country. The 2009 event commemorates 20 years on air as the nation’s memorial service, offering viewers a time to remember, heal and bring our country together.

The program is co-hosted for the fourth year by Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise (“CSI: New York”) and Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna (“Criminal Minds”), two acclaimed actors who have dedicated themselves to veterans’ causes and supporting our troops in active service. The top-rated show will be broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol before an expected audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home and, through the American Forces Radio and Television Network, troops serving around the world. The concert features uplifting musical performances, documentary footage and dramatic readings that honor all Americans who have served or made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Joining co-hosts Sinise and Mantegna is an all-star line-up of dignitaries, actors and musical artists including distinguished American leader Colin L. Powell; renowned film, television and stage actress Katie Holmes; Emmy award-winning actor Laurence Fishburne; double Academy Award-winning actress Dianne Wiest; singer Katharine McPhee (“American Idol”); country music superstar Trace Adkins; Tony Award-winning Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell; celebrated Broadway star Colm Wilkinson (Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera); acclaimed opera star Denyce Graves; classical music superstar Lang Lang; and Grammy-nominated violin virtuoso Robert McDuffie in performance with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of maestro Erich Kunzel, recipient of the National Medal of Arts.

States are employing a host of new education strategies and initiatives to handle the significant growth in the mission of many military bases across the country, according to a new Issue Brief from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center).

The Issue Brief, State Education Activities to Support Mission Growth , highlights a number of strategies states can take to respond effectively to the educational challenges of a growing defense community, including establish collaborative approaches that coordinate education responses and represent diverse stakeholders; adjust educational programs to allow for flexibility; focus on teacher recruitment, retraining and retention strategies; and establish educational programs that support military dependent students and prepare future workforce.

“On average, mission growth could account for a population increase of 35 percent in and around affected military bases, a rate not witnessed since World War II,” said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center. “This series of Issue Briefs explores effective ways military base communities can adapt in order to efficiently and effectively manage this population change.”

While states are making considerable progress to meet the challenge of accommodating the significant growth around a number of the nation’s military bases, these efforts need to be complemented with federal action. In the Issue Brief, the NGA Center’s Mission Growth Working Group offers recommendations the federal government can take to help affected states, including but not limited to:

• Provide clear and timely military dependent student information;
• Direct federal agencies to afford priority consideration to mission growth communities;
• Create specific “mission growth” federal program assistance to ensure that adequate resources are available for planning, integrating, and implementing successful projects and strategies;
• Adjust current growth programs to be more flexible;
• Factor “block leave” into No Child Left Behind framework;
• Offer interest free bond or loan options for school construction.

The U.S. Department of Defense is in the midst of a major transformation whereby dozens of bases across the country are enhancing their missions, increasing training activities and defense operations and expanding the number of military and civilian personnel. The growth in military personnel and federal civilian employees will result in student increases in the surrounding community that may be challenging with respect to scale, timing and scope.

To learn more about states’ efforts to adapt to mission growth, please visit www.nga.org/center/eenr.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar and world-renowned “Huntington Beach bad boy” Tito Ortiz will host an exclusive meet-and-greet session for all military, firefighting, and police personnel outside the Patriot Center Ticket Office at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., Saturday, April 25 from 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

The former star of NBC’S “Celebrity Apprentice” is in town as a special guest at the Ultimate Warrior Challenge’s UWC — Capital Punishment Show — the East Coast’s biggest and best pro MMA show later that night, with doors opening at 6:00 p.m. Guests with a valid military, fire, or police ID may bring their families to the event. There is a limit of one autograph per person from the former UFC Light Heavyweight champion. The event is first-come, first-served, so guests are encouraged to arrive early. Attendees should RSVP by texting “MILITARY” to 30644.