DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable

Capt. Richard Stoltz discussed how concerns affecting the functioning, readiness and optimal health of our nation’s returning service members and their families have led military leadership to search for answers to improve understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder and TBIs. He also talked about DCoE’s crowdsourcing challenge, the DCoE Mental Health & TBI Care Challenge.

Ms. Rosemary Freitas Williams, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy, Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan Battaglia, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his wife, Mrs. Lisa Battaglia, and Navy Command Master Chief Petty Officer Terry Prince, National Institute of Health, joined us on Friday, Nov. 21, to discuss strengthening the heart and soul of our military, which is our military families.

Rosemary Freitas Williams, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Military Community and Family Policy, joined us Nov. 5 to discuss Military Family Month and support available to military families who provide service members with invaluable support through encouragement and love during long deployments, frequent moves and some very early mornings.

Early systems engineering is important as the Army’s tactical networks become more complex. Leveraging Modeling and Simulation provides the most cost-effective measure to do this. Josh Fisher and Noah Weston of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s communications-electronics RD&E center (RDECOM CERDEC) joined us on Oct. 21, to discuss MODESTA, an M&S tool designed to not only allow early SoS engineering, but will also streamline M&S across the Acquisition and S&T communities in order to improve cross organizational collaboration and reduce overall costs and redundancy.

On Oct. 9, Lt. Col. Michael Baker, military deputy for CERDEC's Command, Power and Integration Directorate, the Army's science and technology center for research into advanced mission command applications and computing platforms, discussed CERDEC's direction for developing mission command capabilities under its data to decisions initiative. He also discussed key programs and how the center is seeking advanced modeling and simulation capabilities to understand how to leverage mobile computing resources at the company level.

On Thursday, Sept. 25, DoDLive hosted a bloggers roundtable with Lt. Cmdr. Dana Lee, United States Public Health Service Chief, Early Intervention Psychological Health Promotion at the Deployment Health Clinical Center Defense Centers of Excellence for PH and TBI, who introduced and highlighted the campaign’s new Real Warriors app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Joining Lt. Cmdr. Lee was 1st Sgt. Simon Sandoval who will shared his story of coping with invisible wounds and reaching out for care and support.

In honor of PTSD Awareness Month, DoDLive, in coordination with the Real Warriors Campaign, hosted a bloggers roundtable on June 24. Real Warriors Campaign profilee 1st Sgt. Aaron Tippett shared his story of reaching out for help and how it positively impacted his career and family life. Joining Tippett was Nancy St. Claire, Chief Operating Officer from our campaign partner Give an Hour. Nancy discussed the resources available for service members and their families.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Defense Department’s healthy living initiative – Operation Live Well – we hosted a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable at 11 a.m. EDT, on Friday, May 23. Joining the roundtable were Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. William Mahoney, senior enlisted advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, and Navy Command Master Chief Terry Prince, senior enlisted advisor for the Defense Health Agency.

Meg O'Grady, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy) and Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) senior program manager, joined us from the Pentagon to discuss the most up-to-date information on how to connect military spouses to career and education resources online and in their communities.

As we gear up to begin our 31 days of celebrating the Military Spouse, a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable to discuss spouse education and employment resources will be held Wednesday, April 23, at 2 p.m. Meg O’Grady, from the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy) and manager of the Spouse Education and Career Opportunities program will join us from Ft. Campbell, KY where she will take part in the Hiring Our Heroes Summit and Career Forum. Ms. O’Grady will have the most up to date information on military spouse initiatives and will be able to discuss the relationship between the DoD and the White House’s Joining Forces Initiative as well as other federal and corporate partners as part of the Military Spouse Employment Program (MSEP).

In honor of Month of the Military Child, the Real Warriors Campaign, in coordination with Defense Media Activity, will host a bloggers roundtable on April 22 from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. EDT. Real Warriors Campaign representative Capt. Wanda Finch, a Division Chief and Program Manager for Access to Care issues for the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, will share tools and resources for helping military families and children cope with all stages of the deployment cycle. Joining Finch will be Lynn Chwatsky, Vice President of Initiatives and Partnerships, Community Engagement from our campaign partner Sesame Workshop. Lynn will discuss the resources available for military families and children.

On Thursday, April 10, we held a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Dempsey answered questions about combating sexual assault in the U.S. military.

On Thursday, April 10, we held a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dempsey answered questions about combating sexual assault in the U.S. military. Dempsey recently spoke to cadets and midshipmen at the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy where he discussed, among many topics, leadership, sexual assault prevention and sexual assault's impact on the profession of arms.

Military Saves provides information within a saving community to help service members and their families achieve their financial goals. The financial readiness of service members and their families is a priority for the Department of Defense. On Tuesday, Feb. 25, Barbara Thompson, Office of Family Policy, Children and Youth director, discussed those resources and how the Defense Department is helping service members with their finances.

The Defense Department Spouse Education and Career Opportunities program just launched a new self-service career planning tool on myseco.militaryonesource.mil. The My Individual Career Plan (MyICP) is a virtual career roadmap. Virtual Career Counselor “Jane” walks spouses through the development of a career plan based on their goals, occupational interests, challenges and growth opportunities. As a result, the plan offers activities for spouses to complete along a specific path for each individual goal.

The Real Warriors Campaign is a multimedia public awareness initiative sponsored by the Department of Defense. The campaign encourages help-seeking behavior among service members, veterans and military families coping with psychological health concerns. At the heart of the campaign are the stories of real service members who reached out for support or care with successful outcomes, including learning coping skills, maintaining their security clearance and continuing to succeed in their military or civilian careers. To close out Veterans Day this month, the Real Warriors Campaign, in coordination with Defense Media Activity, will host a bloggers roundtable on Tuesday, November 26, at 10 a.m. EST. Real Warriors Campaign profilee, retired U.S. Army Maj. Ed Pulido will share his story of seeking care for invisible wounds and the tools and resources that have helped him most. Joining Pulido will be Ken MacGarrigle from the VA Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Outreach Team to discuss the resources and benefits available for veterans.

The Real Warriors Campaign is a multimedia public awareness initiative sponsored by the Department of Defense. The campaign encourages help-seeking behavior among service members, veterans and military families coping with psychological health concerns. At the heart of the campaign are the stories of real service members who reached out for support or care with successful outcomes, including learning coping skills, maintaining their security clearance and continuing to succeed in their military or civilian careers. In observance of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, Real Warriors Campaign profilee retired U.S. Army Maj. Ed Pulido shared his story of seeking care for invisible wounds and suicidal ideation and the tools and resources that have helped him most. Joining Pulido was Dr. Dan Reidenberg, executive director of SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education). Maj. Pulido and Dr. Reidenberg discussed the resources available for service members and veterans coping with suicidal ideation.

On Aug. 26, Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter (http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/carter/) will become the fifth living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War for his actions at Combat Outpost Keating, Afghanistan, Oct. 3, 2009. Vanessa Adelson, mother of Pfc. Stephan Mace, the soldier Carter is credited with carrying to safety after Mace was critically wounded, wants to share with the world how Carter's actions affected her family.

Army National Guard recently launched guardyourhealth, a website developed to be a central place for Army National Guard soldiers and family members to find information and resources on health topics and medical readiness. Army Guard soldiers and their families face unique challenges because of their dual responsibilities as citizens and soldiers, and have limited access to Army and National Guard programs, facilities and support networks. Guard Your Health provides them with the information, motivation and support to overcome these challenges and make healthy decisions for the rest of their lives. On Thursday, July 18, we held a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Col. Anne L. Naclerio, Chief Surgeon, Army National Guard Directorate, and Chair, Women’s Health Task Force, Office of the Surgeon General, who discussed www.guardyourhealth.com. Col. Naclerio discussed the resources available on Guard Your Health, as well as how the site supports the Army National Guard Chief Surgeon’s efforts to build and sustain a resilient, adaptable and medically ready Citizen-Soldier force.

A DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable was held on Thursday June 13, 2013, with Brig. Gen. John Broadmeadow, currently dual hatted as both the commanding general, 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade, and commanding general, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, and leading the Marine effort during Dawn Blitz 2013. Dawn Blitz 2013 is a multinational amphibious exercise in Southern California involving the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Expeditionary Strike Group-3 and coalition partners: Canada, Japan and New Zealand and observers from seven countries.