Photo By Staff Sgt. Ashley Bell | U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert “Abe” Abrams, 3rd Infantry Division and Regional...... read more read more
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KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - The Undersecretary of the U.S. Army, Dr. Joseph Westphal, visited Regional Command (South) to visit with troops and to discuss ongoing retrograde operations and base closures. Westphal was accompanied by the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. John Campbell, the 34th Army Vice Chief of Staff.
Westphal, the 30th Undersecretary of the Army and the second highest-ranking civilian official of the Department of the Army, was welcomed to Kandahar Airfield by Brig. Gen. Chris Hughes, Third Infantry Division and Regional Command (South) deputy commanding general for maneuvers. He toured the Defense Logistic Agency-Disposition Services yard and had lunch with soldiers.
During lunch, Westphal took the opportunity to discuss suicide prevention and sexual harassment/assault response and prevention. In tweets sent out by Westphal and Campbell, Westphal said sexual assault erodes the bedrock of trust that is essential to our Army.
"Leadership makes a difference. We treat sexual assaults as an Army family issue and we are committed to changing our culture,” said Campbell.
Westphal and Campbell had an open and candid sensing session with a large group of female soldiers where some of them told of their experiences with sexual assault and harrasement.
“We needed to know ways we can combat this horrific set of events,” said Westphal. “This is completely unacceptable and we should have zero tolerance. We will make no excuses.”
The next stop on the visit was to Forward Operating Base Masum Ghar, a FOB that is transitioning to allow the Afghan National Security Forces to assume full control. During his stop in Masum Ghar, Westphal received a retrograde brief and presented three soldiers with purple hearts.
His last stop was to Camp Nathan Smith, a FOB that is closing. At CNS, Westphal visited with leaders to discuss retrograde, property accountability and equipment post 2014. He also visited the CNS memorial, where he along with Campbell and a host of soldiers and civilians facilitated various media engagements to include an Army Birthday message to be aired on Armed Forces network.
“Being here in Afghanistan, I continue to be impressed with the tremendous sophistication of our soldiers and their great commitment and dedication,” said Westphal.
| Date Taken: | 05.31.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 06.07.2013 07:40 |
| Story ID: | 107940 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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