Tag Archive: life


15e Salon international de l’industrie automobile de Shanghai

Filed Under: Car Insurance, Insurance News, Insurance Tips
Apr.26, 2012


- Innovation for a Better Life — L’Auto Shanghai 2013 se prépare pour le printemps prochain

SHANGHAI, 26 avril 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ — Événement très attendu dans l’industrie automobile internationale, le 15e Salon international de l’industrie automobile de Shanghai (Auto Shanghai 2013), se tiendra au Shanghai New International Expo Center du 21 au 29 avril 2013.

Les organisateurs de l’Auto Shanghai 2013 incluent : l’Association chinoise des constructeurs automobiles (CAAM), le Conseil chinois pour la promotion du commerce international, le Sous-conseil de Shanghai, et le Conseil chinois pour la promotion du commerce international, le Comité de l’industrie automobile ; et les co-organisateurs comprennent : Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd. et MMG-Messe Muenchen International/IMAG. L’événement est également spécialement soutenu par la Fédération chinoise de l’industrie mécanique et la Société chinoise des ingénieurs automobiles.  

D’après les analyses statistiques de CAAM, le marché automobile chinois a connu une légère croissance en 2011, avec une production et des ventes automobiles atteignant plus de 18 millions respectivement. En 2011, la production et les ventes de véhicules automobiles ont chacun atteint plus de 14 millions, ou plus précisément 14 485 300 et 14 472 400 respectivement, soit une croissance de 4,23 % et 5,19 % par rapport à il y a un an. Ces deux taux de croissance sont supérieurs à ceux de l’industrie. L’année 2012 marque le début du « 12e plan quinquennal » de même que l’amorce vers de nouveaux objectifs. La croissance de l’industrie chinoise de fabrication d’équipements est basée sur le thème du développement scientifique, qui consiste à suivre la voie de l’industrialisation nouvelle, mettre en œuvre la stratégie « ajustement et transformation, innovation et modernisation », mettre l’accent sur la promotion des industries stratégiques émergentes et parvenir à accélérer le développement. Parmi les industries stratégiques émergentes, le Conseil d’État a donné la priorité à l’automobile à énergies nouvelles tout en offrant un soutien politique au développement de l’industrie automobile. On peut s’attendre à ce que les industries automobiles nationales et internationales s’efforcent de parvenir à l’innovation technologique et d’accélérer le développement.

Le Salon Auto Shanghai est alimenté par l’énorme marché automobile chinois. Né il y a 27 ans, l’Auto Shanghai 2013 a grandi pour devenir l’un des événements automobiles les plus influents au monde, une plate-forme importante d’échanges commerciaux et d’information pour l’industrie automobile nationale et internationale, et un acteur important pour mener le développement automobile en matière d’industrie et de consommation. Premier événement automobile chinois à Shanghai en 1985, l’Auto Shanghai n’avait réuni que 73 exposants dans un espace d’exposition de 15 000 mètres carrés, et avait suscité un grand intérêt pour toutes les parties prenantes. Grâce à l’entrée de la Chine dans l’OMC, l’industrie automobile chinoise a eu la possibilité d’accélérer son développement. En 2003, après 9 éditions et 18 ans d’existence, l’Auto Shanghai a pris place au sein du Shanghai New International Expo Center et a réformé son organisation pour faire partie des salons automobiles internationaux les plus prestigieux. En 2005, les magnats de l’industrie automobile, nommés « 6+3 », ont tous participé à l’Auto Shanghai. Les principales entreprises automobiles nationales considèrent l’Auto Shanghai comme un excellent salon international de l’automobile, et travaillent avec grand soin l’exposition de leurs produits, participant ainsi à élever le niveau global de l’Auto Shanghai. En 2007, un grand nombre de nouveautés mondiales spectaculaires ont été exposées pour la première fois à l’Auto Shanghai. En 2009, les concepts « axe sur la personne » et « innovation », ainsi que la gestion du détail ont été mis en avant lors de l’événement automobile. En 2011, l’Auto Shanghai a attiré 2 000 entreprises automobiles issues de 20 pays et régions. Le nombre de véhicules exposés s’est élevé à 1 100 (900 nationaux, 200 internationaux), dont 75 nouveautés automobiles mondiales. L’Auto Shanghai 2011 s’est déroulé sur une superficie de 230 000 mètres carrés. L’événement a attiré 715 000 visiteurs et 9 872 journalistes représentant plus de 2 700 médias nationaux et internationaux. Ces résultats ont contribué à établir de nouveaux records pour l’Auto Shanghai, ainsi que pour le secteur des salons en Chine.

Au moment même où l’industrie automobile mondiale est l’objet d’une nouvelle révolution et où la Chine dévoile son plan de revitalisation pour le secteur automobile, l’Auto Shanghai 2013 organisera à nouveau un événement automobile impressionnant et traditionnel au printemps 2013, avec le soutien de tous les magnats de l’automobile. L’Auto Shanghai 2013 prévoit d’occuper les 17 salles d’exposition en intérieur (contre 13 salles utilisées en 2011) de même que plusieurs salles d’exposition temporaires en extérieur, et s’étendra sur une superficie de 280 000 mètres carrés. Dans la mesure où la plupart des constructeurs automobiles préfèrent généralement que le lancement de leur nouveau véhicule soit organisé le premier jour du Salon, l’organisateur a prévu d’organiser une seule journée pour les médias (le 20 avril) et d’étendre la durée du communiqué de presse jusqu’à 20h00. Le salon durera ainsi un jour de plus, soit du 21 au 29 avril 2013 (21 et 22 pour les visiteurs professionnels, 23 à 29 pour le public), laissant ainsi aux visiteurs davantage de temps.

L’Auto Shanghai 2013 se déroulera sur le thème : « Innovation for a Better Life » (Innovation pour une vie meilleure). L’innovation conduira au développement de l’industrie, permettant ainsi de bâtir une vie meilleure. L’Auto Shanghai témoigne non seulement en faveur du développement de l’industrie automobile chinoise, mais favorise également un meilleur style de vie proposé par les technologies vertes. Étant l’un des salons automobiles les plus importants, l’Auto Shanghai prendra en charge les rêves des grands acteurs automobiles mondiaux, et s’engage dans sa responsabilité qui consiste à promouvoir le développement sain des marques chinoises détenues, mener la culture automobile et refléter les aspirations du public à l’égard du mode de vie automobile.  

L’Auto Shanghai 2013 continue de présenter les dernières technologies automobiles tout en se concentrant sur les nouvelles tendances et les faits importants de l’industrie automobile mondiale. Adhérant aux concepts de base en gestion et services d’ « innovation continue » et « axe sur la personne », l’organisateur fera la promotion active du concept d’économie d’énergie et des technologies respectueuses de l’environnement. Diverses activités de soutien destinées à favoriser la connaissance automobile et à en explorer sa culture feront partie de l’événement. L’Auto Shanghai sera non seulement en charge de promouvoir les nouvelles technologies, de présenter les nouvelles voitures et de partager les dernières informations, mais également d’illustrer un modèle innovant en matière de gestion et services d’exposition.

Nous sommes persuadés que l’Auto Shanghai 2013 constituera un nouveau miracle, ainsi qu’une contribution énorme à l’industrie automobile et d’exposition, où le public pourra apprécier sur place les concepts novateurs de fabrication automobile, l’amélioration des technologies automobiles, des dessins automobiles étonnants, et des systèmes intelligents de contrôle auto.  

Nous convions chaleureusement les entreprises automobiles nationales et étrangères à participer à l’Auto Shanghai, pour afficher leurs forces, partager les dernières avancées et explorer le développement de l’industrie. Nous invitons également les médias nationaux et internationaux à communiquer sur le Salon ainsi que sur les derniers développements dans l’industrie automobile mondiale. Nous remercions toutes les parties prenantes pour leur attention et l’intérêt qu’elles portent à ce somptueux événement automobile.  

Pour plus d’informations, veuillez consulter le site Web officiel à l’adresse : www.autoshanghai.org ou www.china-autoshow.com

Pour la transmission des informations, veuillez soumettre un échantillon à ces adresses :

CCPIT Automotive Industry Committee

SIEC-Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd.

Mme. Zhang Jun, assistante du président
Mme. Yin Qiaoru, directrice

Mme. Wang Lei,
vice-présidente

46 San Li He Road, Beijing 100045,China

8/F, OOCL Plaza, 841 Yan An Zhong Road, Shanghai 200040, China

Tél.: +86(0)10 6857 1415

Tél.: +86(0)21 6279 2828

Fax : +86(0)10 6859 5076

Fax :+86(0)21 65455124

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The Tao of Bubba Watson

Filed Under: Insurance News
Apr.10, 2012

With a seemingly impossible shot off the pine straw, Bubba Watson set himself up to win the Masters on Sunday. After he sank the winning putt in a playoff, he stood on the green, hugged his caddy, hugged his mom and wept and wept. As has been widely reported, Watson and his wife just adopted a baby boy a few weeks before the Masters started. He’s had quite a run in 2012. As The Washington Post noted, he even bought a copy of the General Lee from his favorite TV show, “The Dukes of Hazzard,” back in January. It was the culmination of a deal he had made with his wife after winning his first tournament.

Bubba seems like a guy who enjoys and savors life. He’s a stark contrast with Tiger Woods, who as he berates himself and is kicking clubs around the course, doesn’t appear to be having much fun. What accounts for the difference in these two guys? I think an answer can be found in Watson’s post-victory press conference. It offers food for thought for leaders or anyone else who think the answer to life’s challenges is to keep grinding and grinding.

When asked how he felt about just winning the Masters, Watson said he was happy, of course, but went on to say this: “The thing is, golf is not my everything. I’m not going to go home if I would have lost today, I’m not going to go home and pout. I’m going to think about the great times I had, the chance I had to win; I won, I get to go home and think about that. But tomorrow, there’s going to be a new tournament and y’all are going to write about other people. Y’all are going to forget about me tomorrow, you know what I’m saying. I’m going to have to keep living my life and do everything.”

That sounds like the philosophy of a guy who has figured out that there’s more than life to work. There’s as much joy to be had in a new baby or driving a hot rod as there is in winning a major. It’s all about perspective. It’s the kind of perspective that’s reflected in Bubba’s on course mantra, “If I’ve got a swing, I’ve got a shot.” The Tao, or way, of Bubba Watson is to take your best shot but not get too attached to a particular outcome.

As for Tiger, I think former pro golfer and current analyst, David Feherty offered an interesting take in an interview with Dan Patrick this week. His belief is that Woods is suffering from the “classic addict’s malaise — confusing fun with happiness.” Feherty is extremely open about the fact that he himself is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. He knows something about addiction.

Work is fun when you win. But, as Feherty says, fun is not the same thing as happiness. No one wins all the time. If winning is the only thing that matters, what are you left with when you don’t? The question that Bubba Watson seems to have answered is “What do you have in your life that makes you happy when you don’t win?”

It’s a good question for pro golfers and a good question for leaders. What is it for you?

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Soldiers go unpaid thanks to Army payroll problems

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.22, 2012

Deficiencies in the Army’s payroll system have left many active-duty military members waiting months for paychecks and could hamper the Defense Department’s ability to achieve audit readiness in coming years.

A joint House and Senate Oversight committee heard testimony from Defense Department officials and an Ohio Army National Guardsman on Thursday. The guardsman, Lt. Col. Kirk Zecchini, said pay problems have become “a normal part of Army life.”

Zecchini described the pay problems he experienced during 28 years in various military capacities — as a traditional guardsman; a full-time, active-duty soldier; and a federal technician.

During his first deployment to Afghanistan in 2003, Zecchini volunteered to serve an additional six months. Although this extension was published, his military pay stopped at the end of his original order. He served for more than a month in Afghanistan without pay until the issue was resolved.

After a series of posts throughout Southeast Asia, Zecchini waited one and a half years for special allowances such as hostile fire pay and hardship duty location pay that he was entitled to because of the nature of the missions. The pay finally came after he wrote a memo to Ohio’s inspector general. Later, while deployed in Iraq in 2005-2006, Zecchini’s unit was told that tax was being withheld from their paychecks and additional paperwork would be involved to have the money refunded.

Zecchini told the panel that pay problems have continued since he received an honorable discharge from the Ohio Army National Guard.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., called Zecchini’s story striking given the anxiety that an overseas deployment placed on his family was compounded with worry about paying their mortgage on time.

“It also seems to me that this is not rocket science. The private sector somehow manages to do this every day of the week,” Connolly told the panel on Wednesday.

The problems, according to a new Government Accountability Office report, stem from Defense data systems that cannot efficiently identify and match the population of active-duty payroll accounts with personnel records.

Other military components, including the Navy and Air Force, share some of the same processes and system risk as the Army, GAO reported. The report calls the service’s active-duty military payroll — approximately $46 billion in fiscal 2010 — “significant” to both Army and Defense auditability goals.

The Defense Department is required by law to have prepared financial statements ready for audit by Sept. 30, 2017.

“Without effective processes for identifying a complete population of Army military pay records and comparing military pay accounts to personnel records, the Army will have difficulty meeting DoD’s 2014 Statement of Budgetary Resources audit readiness goal and its 2017 goal for a complete set of auditable financial statements,” the GAO report said.

Defense officials agreed payroll management systems needed improvement, and assured lawmakers efforts were in place to mend the situation in time for the Pentagon to meet its audit goals.

“For example, the Army is working with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to develop and document an effective and repeatable process for identifying the population of active-duty military payroll accounts each fiscal year,” Army Audit Director James J. Watkins told the panel. “This represents our highest priority.”

The Army and DFAS implemented a new process last year that reconciles military personnel pay statements with summary financial reporting records monthly. Watkins called this change “a significant accomplishment.” The army also is mapping personnel and business processes and reviewing how it deals with its payroll-related documents, he said.

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The Federal Workforce in 2020

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.09, 2012

Younger workers have been brought up with an always-on connection to people and information thanks to technology. What impact will this have on the future of your agency workforce?

According to a new report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and Elon University, it could mean good or bad news, depending on whom you ask.

A survey of 1,021 technology stakeholders and critics found opinions evenly split as to whether younger generations’ connectivity could yield a net positive or net negative by 2020. Researchers said young people growing up hyperconnected to each other and the mobile Web will be nimble, quick-acting multitaskers who will do well in some key respects.

At the same time, however, connectivity also will drive young people to thirst for instant gratification, settle for quick choices and lack patience, the survey found.

More specifically, respondents were asked to read two statements and select the one they believe is most likely to be true in the year 2020. The majority (55 percent) agreed that the hyper-connected, multitasking lives of teens and young adults will yield helpful results in 2020. Some 42 percent agreed with the opposite statement — that hyper-connectivity will yield “baleful results.”

“While 55 percent agreed with the statement that the future for the hyper-connected will generally be positive, many who chose that view noted that it is more their hope than their best guess, and a number of people said the true outcome will be a combination of both scenarios,” the report states.

Meanwhile, respondents were consistent in their predictions of the most desired skills for young people in 2020. The most popular skills were public problem-solving through cooperative work, or crowdsourcing; the ability to search effectively for information online and be able to discern the quality of information; synthesizing details; being strategically future-minded; the ability to concentrate; and the ability to distinguish between “noise” and the real message.

“Memories are becoming hyperlinks to information triggered by keywords and URLs,” said Amber Case, CEO of Geoloqi, in response to the survey. “We are becoming ‘persistent paleontologists’ of our own external memories, as our brains are storing the keywords to get back to those memories and not the full memories themselves.”

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The Federal Workforce in 2020

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.09, 2012

Younger workers have been brought up with an always-on connection to people and information thanks to technology. What impact will this have on the future of your agency workforce?

According to a new report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and Elon University, it could mean good or bad news, depending on whom you ask.

A survey of 1,021 technology stakeholders and critics found opinions evenly split as to whether younger generations’ connectivity could yield a net positive or net negative by 2020. Researchers said young people growing up hyperconnected to each other and the mobile Web will be nimble, quick-acting multitaskers who will do well in some key respects.

At the same time, however, connectivity also will drive young people to thirst for instant gratification, settle for quick choices and lack patience, the survey found.

More specifically, respondents were asked to read two statements and select the one they believe is most likely to be true in the year 2020. The majority (55 percent) agreed that the hyper-connected, multitasking lives of teens and young adults will yield helpful results in 2020. Some 42 percent agreed with the opposite statement — that hyper-connectivity will yield “baleful results.”

“While 55 percent agreed with the statement that the future for the hyper-connected will generally be positive, many who chose that view noted that it is more their hope than their best guess, and a number of people said the true outcome will be a combination of both scenarios,” the report states.

Meanwhile, respondents were consistent in their predictions of the most desired skills for young people in 2020. The most popular skills were public problem-solving through cooperative work, or crowdsourcing; the ability to search effectively for information online and be able to discern the quality of information; synthesizing details; being strategically future-minded; the ability to concentrate; and the ability to distinguish between “noise” and the real message.

“Memories are becoming hyperlinks to information triggered by keywords and URLs,” said Amber Case, CEO of Geoloqi, in response to the survey. “We are becoming ‘persistent paleontologists’ of our own external memories, as our brains are storing the keywords to get back to those memories and not the full memories themselves.”

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GAO recommends OPM improve group life insurance disclosures

Filed Under: Insurance News
Dec.12, 2011

The Office of Personnel Management must improve the information it provides on the group life insurance program offered to federal employees and develop a more structured process for reviewing the program, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Monday.

GAO reviewed key policy documents of OPM’s Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance program, which provides more than 4 million federal employees and annuitants with insurance in the event of their death. The watchdog evaluated FEGLI’s structure and operations, OPM’s oversight of the program, and the use of retained asset accounts in the FEGLI claims payments. Auditors concluded that OPM provides insufficient material on FEGLI to federal employees, including information on retained asset account operations and protections.

“Because life insurance is an important purchase for those seeking to protect their dependents, prospective buyers need to fully understand the details of the policy they are considering,” GAO wrote. “Although OPM provides significant information on its life insurance program, some information that could influence federal employees’ decision to buy FEGLI coverage is lacking.”

GAO concluded that some key parts of the FEGLI plan were not properly disclosed or explained to federal employees. For example, OPM does not make clear that because FEGLI offers federal employees post-retirement coverage not commonly found in private sector group plans, its premiums might be higher. In addition, OPM does not disclose FEGLI’s level-premium and composite rate structure for basic coverage, GAO wrote. FEGLI’s level-premiums make insurance rates higher earlier in life and gradually decrease in later years, differing from many private sector plans; employees pay the same average rate under the composite average rate structure, regardless of age or health.

“Because these features can make FEGLI premiums look more expensive than private individual coverage without them, especially to younger and healthier individuals, some employees might conclude that FEGLI coverage is not a beneficial choice and pass up a potentially valuable benefit,” the report stated. “Conversely, someone planning to work for the federal government for a short period of time might purchase FEGLI coverage without realizing that the coverage includes a retirement benefit they may not receive and will likely cost more than a group policy without such a benefit.”

GAO also found that OPM has omitted important information from its disclosures about the retained asset account settlement option in the FEGLI plan. Beneficiaries can choose either a lump-sum check payment or a retained asset account. Although OPM recently revised some of its disclosures and added more information on the asset accounts, “the disclosures still do not contain some important information,” GAO noted.

“While [retained asset accounts] may offer benefits that some beneficiaries appreciate, such as certain flexibilities and a guaranteed interest rate, they also have certain characteristics that need to be fully disclosed,” the report stated.

Those characteristics include the new contract between beneficiaries and MetLife that is regulated by states rather than by the federal government and is subject to state-based protections. Beneficiaries might not be aware of the new contract, according to the GAO report.

“The disclosures do not provide the information that beneficiaries need to find the proper regulator should they have questions about their accounts — a problem that is complicated by the fact that regulators themselves may disagree over which one has jurisdiction,” GAO said.

GAO recommended that OPM include more “complete and accurate” information on key FEGLI benefits such as RAAs and post-retirement coverage “to ensure federal employees have all the information they need.” Additionally, OPM should “develop and implement a more structured process for comparing FEGLI with private sector group life insurance plans,” the report stated.

OPM Director John Berry concurred with all GAO’s recommendations. In an Oct. 28 letter, Berry wrote: “We strive for transparency of our program and will provide more information about the level-premium structure, including the composite rates and post retirement coverage, to ensure federal employees have what they need to make an informed decision.”

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Life Spine Has Most Profitable Month to Date

Filed Under: Homeowners Insurance
Nov.04, 2011

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Nov. 4, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — Life Spine, a medical device company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets products for the surgical treatment of spinal disorders, announced today amidst consolidations in the industry Life Spine has had its most profitable month in its history. As a full line spine company Life Spine continues expanding solutions from the occiput to the sacrum.

Aileron™, a minimally invasive adjustable InterSpinous Fixation System and Pro-Link™, an interbody cage/screw construct are among six new product lines the company is launching in limited releases.

About Life Spine

Life Spine is dedicated to improving the quality of life for spinal patients by increasing procedural efficiency and efficacy through innovative design, uncompromising quality standards, and the most technologically advanced manufacturing platforms. Life Spine, which is privately held, is based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. For more information, please visit http://www.lifespine.com.

Life Spine is a registered trademark, and Centric is a trademark of Life Spine, Inc.

SOURCE Life Spine


http://www.lifespine.com

Life Spine Has Most Profitable Month to Date | Chicago Press Release Services – Chicago’s leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.



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U.S. soldier admits he removed fingers from Afghan corpses

Filed Under: Insurance News
Nov.01, 2011

The suspected ringleader of a group of American soldiers accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan and snapping pictures of themselves with the corpses admits to taking fingers from the bodies as war trophies, his attorney told a courtroom on Monday.

Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, 26, denies involvement in the three killings despite opening statements by his attorney confirming that Gibbs took fingers off victims and kept them or gave them to others involved, the BBC reports. Gibbs, one of five soldiers charged, faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Three platoon members pleaded guilty in exchange for reduced sentences, but they said it was Gibbs’s idea to kill civilians while making their deaths appear to have been combat-related. During the military trial in Washington state, his attorney, Phil Stackhouse, maintained that Gibbs not only feels the killings were legitimate engagements but believes “he had been conspired against by his codefendants,” BBC reported.

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As wars wind down, some forces face wearying future

Filed Under: Insurance News
Oct.25, 2011

Army Ranger Kristoffer Domeij was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday while on his 14th combat deployment, highlighting a dispiriting fact of life for some of America’s warriors: conventional forces are leaving Iraq and Afghanistan in large numbers, but the sky-high demand for special-operations troops like the Rangers won’t be changing anytime soon.

The strain on the highly trained forces will only increase as the Obama administration expands its shadow war against high-ranking militants in countries like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, all of which have been the scene of targeted raids by elite troops in recent months. Senior Pentagon officials have also made clear that Special Operations troops will be used to conduct counter-terror raids in Afghanistan even as overall U.S. troop levels there begin to decline.

Elite forces like the Navy SEALs and the Army’s Delta Force don’t deploy for as long as conventional Army and Marine units, which usually spend six to 15 months in the war zones per tour of duty. But they deploy far, far more often. Many conventional troops have done four or five deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. By contrast, Special Operations troops have done 10, 12, and even 14 tours.

“We’re getting real close to double-digit deployments across a number of different formations,” Lt. Col. Tom Bryant, a spokesman for the Army Special Operations Command, said in an interview. “Those numbers are becoming increasingly common and will be even more the norm down the road.”

The Special Operations world is the most secretive and insular component of the military. The Pentagon maintains several units and taskforces whose work – typically hunter-killer missions designed to track and eliminate militants around the globe – is so secretive that Washington won’t disclose their names or formally acknowledge their existence.

Despite that customary veil of secrecy, however, the non-stop deployments are raising alarms throughout the Pentagon. Top officials from the U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversee the elite troops, have been increasingly vocal about their concerns that the highly-trained forces are beginning to buckle under the strain of such request-deployments to war zones around the world.

In February, for instance, Adm. Eric Olson, the then-commander of SOCOM, warned that his forces were “beginning to show some fraying around the edges.”

“As we have essentially doubled our force over the last nine years [and] tripled our budget over the last nine years, we have quadrupled our overseas deployments over the last nine years,” Olson said at the time. “We are doing more with more, but the more we’re doing it with doesn’t match the more we’ve been asked to do.”

Olson, a longtime Navy SEAL, noted that the “insatiable” demand for Special Operations troops has remained constant even as overall troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan sharply declined.

“We saw 100,000 American troops come out of Iraq; we only saw about 500 special operations [members] as part of that,” he said in the February speech, noting that mid-career operators were beginning to leave the military because of the grueling pace.

Olson’s concerns have been echoed by his successor at the helm of SOCOM, Adm. William McRaven, another veteran SEAL. In the run-up to his June confirmation hearing, McRaven told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the “new normal” for elite troops is to be “persistently engaged” around the world.

“The pace of the last 10 years is indicative of what we expect for the next 10 years,” he wrote in comments submitted to the panel before the hearing.

In practice, that means there will likely be more troops whose lives mirror those of Domeij, a 29-year-old Ranger who spent virtually his entire career in the special-operations world.

Domeij enlisted in the Army in 2001 and was selected for the 75th Ranger Regiment, one of the Army’s most elite forces, the following year. Ranger units have been continuously deployed to Afghanistan since 2001, frequently taking part in ferocious, close-quarters fighting there.

The young Ranger survived 13 prior deployments, but his luck ran out on his 14th. He and two other troops – Lt. Ashley White, a 24-year-old from the North Carolina National Guard, and PFC Christopher Horns, a 20-year-old from the 75th Ranger Regiment – died in southern Afghanistan on Oct. 22 when “their assault forces triggered an improvised explosive device,” according to a military release.

Col. Mark Odom, the commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, said Domeiji was the “proto-typical Special Operations” non-commissioned officer whose tactical and technical skills “had the value of an entire strike force on the battleground.”

Homs, the other dead Ranger, was on his first overseas deployment; he is survived by his parents and sister. White, who was also on her first tour to either war zone, is survived by her parents, brother, twin sister, and husband, a fellow Army officer. Domeij, the oldest of the three fallen troops, was stationed in Washington state with his wife and two daughters. He’s also survived by his mother and brother.

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As wars wind down, some forces face wearying future

Filed Under: Insurance News
Oct.25, 2011

Army Ranger Kristoffer Domeij was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday while on his 14th combat deployment, highlighting a dispiriting fact of life for some of America’s warriors: conventional forces are leaving Iraq and Afghanistan in large numbers, but the sky-high demand for special-operations troops like the Rangers won’t be changing anytime soon.

The strain on the highly trained forces will only increase as the Obama administration expands its shadow war against high-ranking militants in countries like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, all of which have been the scene of targeted raids by elite troops in recent months. Senior Pentagon officials have also made clear that Special Operations troops will be used to conduct counter-terror raids in Afghanistan even as overall U.S. troop levels there begin to decline.

Elite forces like the Navy SEALs and the Army’s Delta Force don’t deploy for as long as conventional Army and Marine units, which usually spend six to 15 months in the war zones per tour of duty. But they deploy far, far more often. Many conventional troops have done four or five deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. By contrast, Special Operations troops have done 10, 12, and even 14 tours.

“We’re getting real close to double-digit deployments across a number of different formations,” Lt. Col. Tom Bryant, a spokesman for the Army Special Operations Command, said in an interview. “Those numbers are becoming increasingly common and will be even more the norm down the road.”

The Special Operations world is the most secretive and insular component of the military. The Pentagon maintains several units and taskforces whose work – typically hunter-killer missions designed to track and eliminate militants around the globe – is so secretive that Washington won’t disclose their names or formally acknowledge their existence.

Despite that customary veil of secrecy, however, the non-stop deployments are raising alarms throughout the Pentagon. Top officials from the U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversee the elite troops, have been increasingly vocal about their concerns that the highly-trained forces are beginning to buckle under the strain of such request-deployments to war zones around the world.

In February, for instance, Adm. Eric Olson, the then-commander of SOCOM, warned that his forces were “beginning to show some fraying around the edges.”

“As we have essentially doubled our force over the last nine years [and] tripled our budget over the last nine years, we have quadrupled our overseas deployments over the last nine years,” Olson said at the time. “We are doing more with more, but the more we’re doing it with doesn’t match the more we’ve been asked to do.”

Olson, a longtime Navy SEAL, noted that the “insatiable” demand for Special Operations troops has remained constant even as overall troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan sharply declined.

“We saw 100,000 American troops come out of Iraq; we only saw about 500 special operations [members] as part of that,” he said in the February speech, noting that mid-career operators were beginning to leave the military because of the grueling pace.

Olson’s concerns have been echoed by his successor at the helm of SOCOM, Adm. William McRaven, another veteran SEAL. In the run-up to his June confirmation hearing, McRaven told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the “new normal” for elite troops is to be “persistently engaged” around the world.

“The pace of the last 10 years is indicative of what we expect for the next 10 years,” he wrote in comments submitted to the panel before the hearing.

In practice, that means there will likely be more troops whose lives mirror those of Domeij, a 29-year-old Ranger who spent virtually his entire career in the special-operations world.

Domeij enlisted in the Army in 2001 and was selected for the 75th Ranger Regiment, one of the Army’s most elite forces, the following year. Ranger units have been continuously deployed to Afghanistan since 2001, frequently taking part in ferocious, close-quarters fighting there.

The young Ranger survived 13 prior deployments, but his luck ran out on his 14th. He and two other troops – Lt. Ashley White, a 24-year-old from the North Carolina National Guard, and PFC Christopher Horns, a 20-year-old from the 75th Ranger Regiment – died in southern Afghanistan on Oct. 22 when “their assault forces triggered an improvised explosive device,” according to a military release.

Col. Mark Odom, the commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, said Domeiji was the “proto-typical Special Operations” non-commissioned officer whose tactical and technical skills “had the value of an entire strike force on the battleground.”

Homs, the other dead Ranger, was on his first overseas deployment; he is survived by his parents and sister. White, who was also on her first tour to either war zone, is survived by her parents, brother, twin sister, and husband, a fellow Army officer. Domeij, the oldest of the three fallen troops, was stationed in Washington state with his wife and two daughters. He’s also survived by his mother and brother.

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