PANDAS, is an abbreviation for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, there are five diagnostic criteria that must be met for this to be a valid diagnosis.

1. Presence of Obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or a tic disorder
2. Pediatric onset of symptoms (age 3 years to puberty)
3. Episodic course of symptom severity
4. Association with group A Beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection (a positive throat culture for strep. or history of Scarlet Fever.)
5. Association with neurological abnormalities (motoric hyperactivity, or adventitious movements, such as choreiform movements)

By definition, PANDAS is a pediatric disorder. It is possible that adolescents and adults may have immune mediated OCD, but this is not known. The research studies at the NIMH are restricted to children.

Case discussion from the American Journal of Psychiatry Am J Psychiatry 1998;155:1592-1598

PANDAS is not a diagnostic label, but an acronym designating a subgroup of children with OCD and tic disorders whose symptoms appear to be triggered by streptococcal infections.

The fourth criterion, temporal association between GABHS infections and symptom exacerbations, is the most important one for determining whether or not a child should be included in the PANDAS subgroup. The relationship between symptom exacerbations and GABHS infections must be established by demonstrating that the symptoms worsen in association with streptococcal pharyngitis and remit when the child is free of GABHS.

From Pediatrics Vol. 113 No. 4 April 1, 2004 pp. 883 -886

Therapy
What treatment should be considered for patients who present with the manifestations associated with the PANDAS constellation of symptoms?

Neuropsychiatric Drugs
Children with disabling tics or OCD should receive appropriate treatment for their symptoms, including medications (eg, tic suppressants such as ?-agonists, classical or atypical antipsychotics, or antiobsessional drugs such as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors) or nonpharmacologic approaches (eg, cognitive behavioral therapy for OCD).24

Antibiotics to Prevent Strep Infections
The only published clinical trial of prophylactic penicillin in children with this syndrome revealed no conclusive evidence that the antibiotic reduced clinical exacerbations.25 Admittedly, the duration of that study was too short to allow definite conclusions. A later report suggesting improvement of new-onset or acute exacerbations of symptoms in such children with antibiotics provides inadequate support for such an approach, because treatment was not placebo-controlled and was unblinded.26 It is well known in treatment studies of TS that there is a substantial placebo effect; the natural course of TS and OCD is such that exacerbations are followed by remissions. This latter phenomenon of “reversion to the mean” implies that virtually any intervention at the time of peak symptoms may seem successful. Only a double-blind, placebo-controlled study can identify a true therapeutic effect.

Another reason to feel comfortable with avoiding antibiotic treatment for these patients is that, to date, no cases have been reported to develop any rheumatic carditis as occurs in patients with Sydenham’s chorea. This is a very important point to remember, because some have attempted to relate this syndrome to rheumatic fever. It is recognized that as many as one third of patients with Sydenham’s chorea ultimately will have evidence of rheumatic valvular heart disease.27 This issue requires additional investigation, because the lack of heart disease strongly argues against a relationship between PANDAS and Sydenham’s chorea or other forms of rheumatic fever.

PANDAS references:
National Institute of Mental Health
NYS Department of Health report released February 3, 2012
Peter D. Springberg, M.D., FACP
International OCD Foundation PANDAS Fact Sheet
What every psychiatrist should know about PANDAS: a review Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health 2008, 4:13
PANDAS – PITAND Awareness & Research Support
International PANDAS Foundation
PANDAS Resource Network

The New York State Department of Health has released an interim report titled Investigation of Neurologic Symptoms among Le Roy Jr/Sr High School Students, October 2011 – January 2012. The report details the investigation of this illness outbreak to date and discusses the various diagnoses which have been talked about in the media. This report represents the clearest and most detailed public look at the medical, social and cultural demographics of the twelve young women involved.

* 12 female patients ages 13 to 19
* Patient symptoms began at various times in the period May through October 2011.
* All attend LeRoy Central Junior/Senior High School. 10 in grades 10-12, 1 ninth grader, 1 eighth grader.
* Four cheerleaders, two soccer players.
* 1 patient with a pre-existing diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome and 2 patients with pre-existing medical conditions associated with tic disorders.
* 7 patients were tested and passed a drug test.
* 5 patients were tested and were negative in testing for heavy metals.
* 7 of the patients had received the vaccine Gardisil. 5 had not.
* 11 patients were found to have significant life stressors.
* 8 patients have been diagnosed with conversion disorder.
* None of the patients meet the diagnostic criteria for PANDAS, Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococci.
* Tests for mold, air quality, water quality and trichloroethene indicate no exposure risk for the patients.

The report concludes:

The wide dispersion of cases over time, lack of affected faculty/staff, and the involvement of only female students argue heavily against a common environmental or infectious source for the cases.

Review of clinical history, medical diagnoses, epidemiologic and environmental exposure information on the cases, as well as information from environmental assessments and case interviews revealed no common infectious etiology or environmental exposure.

The investigation continues by a number of public health agencies. The environmental activist Erin Brockovich has sent investigators to LeRoy. Eight of the girls were seen at the Dent Institute in Buffalo. Some of the girls have been examined at the University of Rochester Medical Center and by physicians in other cities.

NOAA photo of tornado damage to St. John's Mercy Hospital in Joplin

The heart of Joplin Missouri was, in many respects, St. John’s Mercy Hospital. The city’s residents were born there, healed there and often spent their final days there. On May 22, 2011, an F5 tornado tore its way through downtown Joplin and left the hospital in ruins. That ended an era but yesterday a new era was begun with the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Mercy Hospital Joplin.

NOAA photo of damage to St. John's Mercy Hospital in Joplin after the tornado.

The entire St. John’s campus will be leveled as the work begins on a new hospital on donated land at the intersection of I44 and Main Street. A farewell service was held in Joplin on Sunday for the old hospital and a groundbreaking ceremony for the new one.

St. John’s Mercy sits over abandoned lead mines that date to the mid 1800′s. Engineers were uncertain if a controlled demolition would be safe so the site will be cleared using conventional methods. During the six weeks of demolition, as much of the existing structure as possible will be salvaged. The buildings will be stripped of wiring and pipes that will go to the scrap yard. The concrete and asphalt will be ground up and used for fill on the site.

Science will also be served during the demolition. Some parts of the building will be sent to various labs for study of the effects of the tornado on the building and its components.

The hospital has donated about 12 acres of the old site to the Joplin schools. An elementary school will be built there to replace two schools destroyed by the tornado.

At the new site, an innovative project is rescuing about 400 trees from the bulldozers. The site was scoured by certified arborists for the best saplings. They were tagged and have been transplanted to a local nursery where they will be cared for. In 2014, in preparation for the opening of the new Mercy Hospital Joplin, they will be replanted as part of the final landscaping. The trees selected are the ones best suited for Joplin’s climate and soil.

The FEMA blog describes the recovery efforts in Joplin.

• 1.2 million cubic yards of debris removed
• 3,600 building permits issued
• 167 temporary classrooms and 67 temporary safe rooms
• 337 families in temporary housing
• 50 percent of the homes destroyed are being rebuilt
• 90 percent of the businesses damaged have reopened

The National Weather Service has released a report titled Joplin, Missouri, Tornado – May 22, 2011.

The tornado was rated EF-5 on the Enhanced-Fujita Scale, with its maximum winds estimated at more than 200 mph. The path of the entire tornado was 22.1 miles long and was up to 1 mile in width. The EF-4/EF-5 damage path was roughly 6 miles long from near Schifferdecker Avenue along the western portions of Joplin to near Interstate 44 east of Joplin, and generally ½ to ¾ of a mile wide along the path. NOAA map.

Whip inflation now - Gerald Ford

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) keeps track of the average retail price for a number of common items as a U.S. city average. Let’s take a look at a few. We used the price for the month President Obmam was inaugurated, January 2009, and the last month of data available, December 2011. The items are sorted in descending order by the percentage increase of the price during the Obama administration.

Graph of BLS data on average gasoline prices from January 2001 to December 2011

Graph of BLS data on average fuel oil prices from January 2001 to December 2011

Now, we are told repeatedly that inflation is low. We looked at the Consumer Price Index data at the BLS.

The increase for all items works out to be 6.9 percent for the period.

BLS graph of the Consumer Price Index CPI-U for 2009 to 2011. 1984 is base of 100.

The increase for food prices during the period works out to be 4.7 percent.

BLS graph of the CPI-U for food from 2009 to 2011

Something just doesn’t seem right here. How can the CPI show so little increase when compared to some individual items?

Really? OK, so we went to the BLS page with the item data, copied it to a spreadsheet, and deleted unnecessary columns. Here is the BLS list of price changes from December 2010 to December 2011, sorted by percentage change. Two pages of items with price increases year over year and about a half page of price decreases. Take a look and use the comments to comment.

Last Friday, January 20, marked the tenth anniversary of blogging for me. It all began on Live Journal and progressed to the on-line magazine you now read.

I began blogging after reading a number of others. Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds, was and is the premier blogger for the material I enjoyed reading. But the writings of a Long Island mom with close ties to the New York City Fire Department struck a chord in my heart and provoked my brain. Michele Catalano was writing about the things I wanted to write about, and she was good. Really good.

The aftermath of the murders committed on September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed, turned me into a blogger. Michele, my “blogmother”, gave me the courage to write. Her pain and anger, and the terrible loss she felt, came through in her work and it pushed me to express myself.

Michele’s blogging has evolved. Her children have grown. Her written work these days is about the things she loves, music, sports and cars. Sites like A Small Victory and Command Post have come and gone, but they affected their times in many ways. Michele is a hero from an era where we badly needed heroes.

As my on-line writing is seen in more venues, this magazine, this blog, will be the core. I hope I can continue to be honest, trustworthy and, most of all, write about what I care about for a long time.

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords has announced that she will resign her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives this week. Her recovery from a gunshot a year ago has caused her to miss 98 percent of the 814 votes in the 112th Congress, according to the New York Times. Few members of the House or Senate make such a decision. In fact, history demonstrates that they will remain in Congress despite being physically incapable of attending or running for another office.

While Gabby Giffords tops the Times’s list of most frequent House absentees, two members running for President are second and third. Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul have each missed over 30 percent of the votes while campaigning.

Examining the Times’s House absenteeism list from October, eighteen members of Congress missed 10 percent or more of the votes. Six were due to the illness of the member. Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois missed 10.7 percent of the votes for “Constituent work”. NY congresswoman Louise Slaughter missed 10.2 percent of the voters for “Family events”. A spokesman for Don Young of Alaska told the Times that Washington, D,C. is a ten thousand mile round trip. Young has missed 16.2 percent of the votes.

The law is very specific when it comes to absences from the House. Only the illness of a member or in the member’s family is an allowable excuse. Tile 2, chapter 3, section 39 of the U.S. Code permits the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House to deduct pay from members for having been absent other than for the two illness exceptions. The law is not enforced and no member of Congress in recent memory has had their pay reduced for being absent.

Congresswoman Giffords’s resignation will allow the people of her Arizona district to elect someone who can attend the sessions of the House and House committee meetings. Her action is laudatory. It is fair to her constituents who need a representative in Washington and fair to the American taxpayers who pay the salary of every member of Congress.

Maj. Josh Neilson and Tech Sgt. Randy Powell played a role in the evacuation of fishermen badly injured off the Antarctic coast on Jan. 11, 2012. Photo by Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo

An LC-130 Hercules “Ski Bird” belonging to the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing evacuated seven badly burned crew members of a South Korean ship from the United States McMurdo Station in Antarctica to Christchurch, New Zealand, on Jan. 13.

The seven crew members–four Vietnamese and three Indonesians–were injured when the crew compartment of the 167–foot long fishing vessel Jeong Woo 2 caught fire in the Ross Sea, 372 miles from McMurdo Station and 2,301 miles from New Zealand on Jan. 11.

“Most days we transport cargo and passengers to a variety of outposts. On this day, we were the ambulance driver,” said Major Josh Neilson, the plane’s pilot.

Neilson and Tech Sgt. Randy Powell, the loadmaster on the flight, spoke to Albany, N.Y.-area reporters about the incident during a press conference on Jan. 20. They outlined the wing’s role in the rescue.

The wing provides logistic support to National Science Foundation research efforts in Antarctica and Greenland.

Nearby vessels rescued 37 of the 40 crew members from South Korea, Vietnam, Russia and Indonesia. Three crew members died.

Responding to a request by the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Center, the National Science Foundation research vessel, the Nathaniel B. Palmer, transported the injured crewmen from the Jeong Woo 2, to McMurdo Station, the United States Antarctic Program’s main research and logistical hub. Medical personnel at McMurdo then prepared the individuals for transport to Christchurch.

“When we loaded the patients, you could see the apprehension on their faces, knowing they had been rescued from a burning ship, flown by helicopter to the ice cap and loaded onto a C-130 with skis was way out of their routine,” Tech Sgt. Randy Powell, the crew’s loadmaster said.

“They didn’t speak English so our only way to communicate was with hand signals. The thumbs up and smiles we received after the 2,300 mile, eight and a half hour flight was a clear sign they were grateful and relieved to be rescued,” Powell said.

The New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing, based here, flies the only ski-equipped aircraft in the United States military.

This is not the first time the 109th Airlift Wing has been involved in rescue missions.

In November 2008 a crew from the 109th Airlift Wing transported an Australian Antarctic Division employee from Antarctica to Hobart, Australia after the Australian researcher suffered multiple fractures to his leg.

And in 1999 a crew from the 109th landed an LC-130 at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station to pick up Dr. Jerri Nielsen who was treating herself for breast cancer. The crew landed earlier in the Arctic spring than had ever been done in the past.

DVIDS

An aerial view of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort, shows the devastation of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12, 2010. Approximately 230,000 Haitians are reported to have died as a result of the earthquake. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Chelsea Kennedy. Click for a larger image.

January 12, 2010: The United Nations reports

The earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 January 2010 affected almost 3.5 million people, including the entire population of 2.8 million people living in Port-au-Prince. The Government of Haiti estimates that the earthquake killed 222,570 and injured another 300,572 people. Displacement peaked at close to 2.3 million people, including 302,000 children. At least 188,383 houses were badly damaged and 105,000 were destroyed by the earthquake. Sixty per cent of Government and administrative buildings, 80 per cent of schools in Port-au-Prince and 60 per cent of schools in the South and West Departments were destroyed or damaged. Total earthquake-related loss is estimated at $7.8 billion, equivalent to more than 120 per cent of Haiti’s 2009 gross domestic product.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jay Wamsley holds a Haitian toddler during a humanitarian visit to one of many small villages outside Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, Feb. 2, 2010. Wamsley, an environmental health and safety officer, is temporarily assigned to Port Security Unit 307. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Adam Eggers.

In October 2010, cases of cholera began to appear in Haiti. The illness had not been seen for generations and it spread rapidly. As of December 26, 2011, the Haitian Ministry of Health reports 522,946 cases of cholera since then, and a total of at least 7,011 deaths.

The situation two years after the earthquake remains grim. Over 500,000 Haitians remain in nearly 1,000 refugee camps. The deaths and illnesses from cholera continue, though improvements in sanitation and availability of treatment have cut the death rate nearly in half.

The World Food Program states

Haiti is a food deficit country. It relies heavily on imported food – 50 percent of national requirements are imported. Food prices have been rising since the end of 2010. In a country where approximately half of the population lives with less than $1 a day and three quarters have less than $2 per day, this increase has led to an overall loss of purchasing power for the majority of Haitians. WFP is using its three main programmes – school meals, nutrition and cash and food for work- to alleviate the impact of rising food prices on the most vulnerable.

Still, for the first time in 25 years, the Haitian government has all three branches functioning. The Caracol Industrial Park will open in March and its first tenant, Korean textile firm Sae-A, has committed to creating 20,000 new jobs. About half of the rubble created by the earthquake has been removed with 30-40 percent having been recycled into new construction. Much of the remaining “rubble” consists of buildings that have been condemned but the owners believe they can be salvaged.

U.S. Southern Command has conveyed a supply of disaster response equipment to the Haitian government. The United States has donated 12 boats, four sport utility vehicles, and 11,000 hand-crank radios to Haiti’s Direction de la Protection Civile (DPC).

The still curiously named SyFy channel has imported a Canadian series titled Lost Girl and it is showing Mondays at 10 pm EST. Similar to the import of the first season of Sanctuary, the channel has snagged an existing quirky show that is a modest hit for its ever changing lineup.

Lost Girl is the very sexy tale of a mysterious woman named Bo. For the last decade, Bo has roamed the country feeding her hunger for human energy but not understanding it. It’s a hunger that is fatal to the human involved.

Bo is discovered by the two factions of the Fae, the show’s amalgam of mythic creatures from a number of different cultures. She learns that she is a succubus, a supernatural being that feeds of the life force of humans. The Light and Dark factions of the Fae put her to a test, which she survives with the assistance of a new found human friend, a teen named Kenzi. In an act of defiance, Bo chooses neither side and thus begins the series.

The Light and the Dark war with each other. They also intend to keep their secret hold over humanity, no matter what. Dyson, a Fae working in the police force, acts as a guide and mentor for Bo, and his true motivation remains to be seen.

The show carries a TV M rating, and it was well deserved in the first episode. Bo feeds in manner that feels sexual and gratifying to the human, whether clothing is on or off. There is a lot of very attractive skin shown, and Bo appears willing to feed of men and women, to add a bi-sexual kink to the process.

Anna Silk as Bo in Lost Girl

Street urchin sidekick Kenzi is played by Latvian Ksenia Solo. At age 24, she has been working for over a decade. She portrays Kenzi, a somewhat street smart and tech savvy teen, with gusto.

Providing the eye candy for female viewers is Kris Holden-Ried, who plays Dyson. A year older than Silk, he has had been a model and had a nearly twenty year career in show business. He was also a world-class athlete, competing for Canada on the Canadian National Pentathlon Team (riding and fencing).

This is going to be a must watch for fans of supernatural tales. The beasties will be drawn from a variety of cultures so there will be some the viewer will recognize and other will be new. The drama will take Bo into the world of Fae and into her own background as she learns to control her power and discover herself.

The Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks ice near the city of Nome Alaska Jan. 14, 2012. The Healy is breaking ice near Nome to assist the Russian tanker Renda move into final position for offloading nearly 1.3 million gallons of petroleum products to the city. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow.

Reporter Ben Matheson, on scene in Nome, reports that TV Renda began pumping fuel to Nome just before sunset today. With five hours of daylight available to workers, yesterday and today were spent preparing for this moment.

The Coast Guard Cutter Healy guides the Russian tanker Renda closer to the fuel transfer mooring point Jan. 14, 2012. Fuel transfer preparations are in full swing as the vessels maneuver into fuel transfer position. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen.

The Renda is about 700 yards from the Nome causeway and the fuel header on the causeway. A path through the ice had to be made, the segments of the hoses involved laid out and then joined, and the hoses had to be pressure tested.

Stacey Smith, speaking for the fuel contractor Vitus Marine by telephone, provided some important details.

The Russian tanker, TV Renda, is carrying about 1.4 million gallons of ultra low sulfur arctic grade diesel and gasoline. The majority of the cargo, around 1 million gallons, is the diesel. It can be used for vehicles, generators and even for heating. It is designed to reduce emissions and to remain fluid under most arctic conditions. Ordinary diesel will turn to gel at the temperatures seen in Nome in the last week.

Smith indicated that two four inch diameter hoses will be used. One product will be unloaded and then the other. The state of Alaska and other authorities mandated that pumping begin in daylight, but it can continue around the clock after that point. Vitus Marine employees will be patrolling the 2,100 feet of house every thirty minutes on foot to search for leaks or other issues. Each segment joint is in a prepared containment area.

Unloading the Renda may take as much as forty-eight hours. There are about six Vitus employees on scene in Nome and another six elsewhere actively involved in this operation. Vitus supplies fuel by sea throughout Alaska and has ongoing operations in southern Alaska which is free of pack ice. The firm did not have the contract for the last fuel barge, which was unable to reach Nome due to the early development of the ice pack. They were successful in developing the solution now being used, using a chartered Russian ice tanker to supply the beleaguered city.

Receiving the fuel is Bonanza Fuel, Inc., a company owned and operated by the Sitnasuak Native Corporation (SNC). Bonanza is just one of several fuel companies that utilize the shared header on Nome’s causeway.

The first fuel sample of gasoline taken at the City of Nome marine header this evening just before sundown. Mark Smith -Vitus Marine, LLC-, Scot Henderson -Bonanza Fuel-, David Gains -Intertek-, Joy Baker -Nome Harbor Master-. Photo from Vitus Marine.

Previous reporting:
January 2, 2012: Russians Sail to Rescue of Ice Bound Alaska Community
January 9, 2012: Relief Nears Nome as U.S. Icebreaker Opens Sea Lane
January 13, 2012: Fuel Convoy Reaches Nome
January 15, 2012: Fuel Supplies Reach Nome

Coast Guard Forces Valdez personnel stand next to snow machines at the Nome harbor Jan. 12, 2012. The Forces Valdez personnel are preparing to enforce the safety zone during the fuel transfer from the Russian tanker Renda. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen.

Fresh reporting at Yahoo! Voices

Fuel Convoy Reaches Nome

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow briefed by telephone a short time ago. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy and the Russian tanker TV Renda have arrived off the city of Nome, Alaska. Their 300-mile journey through the polar icepack took six days longer than originally anticipated.

Wadlow described the primary issue at this time as safety. The depth of the water offshore requires that the Healy and the Renda move very slowly towards the harbor at Nome. The two ships’ captains will determine where to anchor. The Chief pointed out that the Healy and the Renda have to be able to leave after the fuel is offloaded so the Anchorage may be further out than first planned.

More at the link

A Spanish SEA HARRIER overflies SPS PATINO. NATO photo by Jens Grypstrom, RNN

Update 1-14-2012: Six pirates were detained, all with injuries. Two of the six will require additional medical treatment. A report that a seventh pirate was killed in the firefight and tossed overboard by his mates has not been confirmed.

About 3:30 a.m. local time on January 12, a skiff with six pirates on board opened fire on the SPS Patino. The Spanish auxiliary oiler and replenishment ship, the SPS Patino, is currently the Flagship of the European Union Naval Force Somalia. It carries Spanish Marines and helicopters, as well as housing the command staff for the EUNavFor. The ship resembles a merchant vessel in many respects and the pirates may not have realized in the darkness that it was not a civilian ship.

The press release from the Ministry of Defense reports that the gunfire was returned by Patino. The skiff fled and was pursued by a helicopter. The crew of the helicopter observed several weapons on board the skiff. When hailed, the crew of the skiff surrendered. The Spanish have five pirates in custody. One additional pirate was killed in the action and tossed overboard by his crewmates. No injuries were sustained by Spanish personnel.

Press release in Spanish

The SPS Patino escorted a convoy of three merchant ships to Somalia in mid December, carrying humanitarian assistance. The ships were under charter to the World Food Program. This was a first for Patino, and unusual in that three ships were involved. Normally only one civilian vessel is escorted at a time.

A Marine from 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, uses a metal detector to sweep a culvert during a route reconnaissance mission of Route Red, which extends from Highway 1 to Shir Ghazay, Jan. 2. The purpose of the mission was to document inclines and declines in the route, sharpness of curves, the shortest width during the route, and where culverts were located or needed to be placed on the route to prevent wash out. Photo by Cpl. Meredith Brown

Marine engineers with 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) have nearly completed two major route construction and improvement projects in Helmand province.

As of Jan. 3, elements of the Okinawa, Japan-based 9th Engineer Support Battalion completed the road surfacing phases of Routes Red and 611, which each provide north and south passage on their respective sides of the Helmand River. Additional measures are now being put into place over the course of the next month to ensure their permanence, while also marking total project completion.

“We’ll continue minor improvements along both routes, including culvert emplacements,” said Capt. Christopher Kaprielian, a native of San Mateo, Calif., and operations officer for 9th ESB.

The installation of culverts, Kaprielian explained, will allow for proper drainage of rain water, thus preventing the roadways from simply washing away.

Two Marines from 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, use a metal detector to sweep a culvert during a route reconnaissance mission of Route Red, which extends from Highway 1 to Shir Ghazay, Jan. 3. The purpose of the mission was to document inclines and declines in the route, sharpness of curves, the shortest width during the route, and where culverts were located or needed to be placed on the route to prevent wash out. Photo by Cpl. Meredith Brown

Work on the routes began last year with 9th ESB’s predecessors, the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 7th ESB, which completed nearly half of the work before going home in late November.

“A lot of cross coordination was involved,” said Kaprielian. “The combined effort was truly unique.”

In terms of Route Red alone, he noted expert integration across the Marine Air-Ground Task Force to secure the volatile region through which Route Red intersects. Support from Regimental Combat Teams 6 and 8 was especially critical in allowing the engineers to continue construction efforts.

The enhanced roads are essential to International Security Assistance Force operations, and perhaps most importantly, the livelihoods of Afghan locals in the region due to the proximity of the routes to several major population centers. Safe roadways will present a viable means of transportation and facilitate economic expansion well into the future.

Route Red connects Gereshk and Shir Ghazay, while Route 611 serves as the main thoroughfare through the Sangin and Kajaki Districts.

Not unlike Route Red, the region through which 611 traces was also a hotbed for insurgent activity. Operation Eastern Storm, a major offensive spearheaded by the Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, launched last October to secure the Upper Sangin Valley from the Taliban-led insurgency. The secured and improved route will now allow ground convoys to deliver equipment and parts required to install a third turbine at the Kajaki Dam, located northeast of the village of Kajaki.

The dam was built in 1953, and according to the United States Agency for International Development, the additional turbine is part of an ongoing project to bring more reliable power and irrigation to the region. Once operational, this enhancement will improve energy distribution through Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

Story by Sgt. Justin Shemanski
DVIDS

The USCG Healy breaks ice around the Russian-flagged tanker Renda 250 miles south of Nome, Alaska, Jan. 6, 2012. The Healy is the Coast Guard's only currently operating polar icebreaker. January 6 2012. DoD photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis, U.S. Coast Guard

The convoy consisting of the USCGC Healy, a polar icebreaker, and the tanker Renda is making slow and uneven progress as it approaches the ice bound community of Nome Alaska. Wind, currents and heavy ice conditions have created conditions that have prevented the ships from sailing with any speed. The convoy is now two day beyond its original arrival date at Nome.

Latest Coast Guard report on USCGC Healy and TV Renda

The Coast Guard Cutter Healy and Russian tanker Renda are experiencing dynamic ice conditions and the transit to Nome is slow but continuous. The vessels are approximately 100 miles from Nome as of Wednesday evening.

Fairbanks Daily News reports on Tuesday’s struggles

Jason Evans, chairman of Sitnasuak Native Corp., the company arranging the delivery, said the mission remains challenging.

“I think there continues to be a lot of pressure on the ice, so when they break the ice it wants to immediately squeeze together, or the broken ice wants to shoot back into the hole they just made,” he said Tuesday.

Shifting ice, described as dynamic ice, has slowed the progress of the paired vessels. The ice tends to close in, cutting off the path between the two ships. When that happens, the icebreaker doubles back and makes a relief cut to take pressure off the tanker and open a pathway.

“I think they continue to do well with the circumstances,” Evans said.

He said the tanker and the icebreaker were expected to go through a large section of thinner ice and then encounter thicker ice again near Nome.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has researchers in Nome evaluating the ice conditions. The Daily News reports that they are using a small drone (UAV). A pressure ridge of ice about 25 feet thick is closing the harbor.

Coast Guard Lt. William Albright and Lt. Nicole Auth prepare to mark the planned fuel transfer safety zone in the Nome Harbor Jan. 11, 2012. The safety zone will be established to ensure Nome residents are safe while the Russian tanker Renda offloads fuel to storage facilities in Nome. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen

Coast Guard track map for the Healy

Sailwx.info track map for the Healy

Tanker Renda Twitter account for this mission

Testimony of Jeffrey M. Garrett, Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired) December 1, 2011

With only USCGC Healy in operational condition during the upcoming year, consequences of icebreaker disinvestment are beginning to emerge. The Coast Guard has been unable to deploy an icebreaker for Arctic multi-mission purposes for over two years, and planned science missions for USCGC Polar Sea have had to be cancelled. Perhaps most ominously, a Coast Guard icebreaker will not be available for critical U.S. Antarctic Program support two months from now, after the unexpected withdrawal of foreign contracted icebreaking services. When Healy is engaged in dedicated science support, or undergoing maintenance, the Coast Guard has no polar icebreakers for other Arctic or Antarctic missions or contingencies.

Nick Dowling was in several policy making positions during the two Bill Clinton administrations. He was Director for European Affairs, National Security Council, for three years. He was the Executive Director of the Navy Globalization Study in 1999. He saw the last draw down of American military forces, both the cuts in personnel and procurement as well as the cuts in funding. In an interview by telephone on January 6, he talked about the Obama Administration’s Defense Strategic Guidance. Dowling believes that there are cuts to be made in the defense budget but the Guidance document fails to correctly anticipate military realities in the next decade.

Force Size
Dowling feels that the anticipated cuts to Army and Marine force levels are wrong. He points out that every conflict since World War II has required troops on the ground. He worries that the Army will become too small for the missions that it will be given. Underinvestment in land warfare is a mistake he sees being made in the Guidance.

Technology
The United States currently has eleven carrier battle groups and is the the process of developing a fifth generation stealth fighter. Mr. Dowling thinks that both these investments ought to be questioned. The carrier battle group was originally intended to keep the sea lanes open for supply convoys during a war with the Soviet Union. He asks “Why do we need eleven carriers?” He sees future combat in the littorals, along the coasts and in shallow waters where carriers cannot risk sailing.

Looking at fighter planes, Dowling points out that the United States is far ahead of any other nation in technology. The dogfight is the type of fight no one does anymore. Missiles have replaced aerial combat between planes. Investments in new fighter aircraft designs are misplaced, in his view.

Asia-Pacific
Dowling believes that it may have been a mistake to publicly announce that the U.S. is shifting forces to the Pacific. “I don’t see a compelling case that Asia-Pacific needs more attention than it is already receiving. We’re not good at predicting where the next war will be.” He tosses out scenarios such as intervention in a chaotic Mexico or engaging Chinese client states in Africa.