Nov. 2, 2006
By Pfc. Ethan Hoaldridge, Marine Forces Pacific

U.S. MARINE CORPS FORCES, PACIFIC, CAMP H. M. SMITH, Hawaii (Nov. 2, 2006) -- Certain insurance agencies got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, now having to pay back more than $70 million to 70,000 service members after allegedly using misleading business practices.

According to the Marine Administration Message 514/06, American Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas and its affiliates, Pioneer American Insurance Company and Pioneer Security Life Insurance Company, allegedly committed violations of insurance protection laws, while selling their Horizon Life and Wealth Builder insurance policies.

After legal claims were settled by federal and state agencies, approximately 70,000 service members who purchased these policies from Jan. 1, 2000 - July 28, 2006, are eligible for cash refunds totaling $70 million and increased policy benefits. This includes former and current customers.

Now, American Amicable companies are no longer allowed to solicit or sell any of their products on a military installation for five years.

Marines and dependents who purchased life insurance products from an American Amicable Company should call the companies’ customer service center at (800) 736 – 7311 and give their current mailing address.

The company will contact each policyholder by mail with information regarding their refund, and will send a check payable to current and former customers.

“This is why we offer legal assistance,” said retired Lt. Col. James O’Donnell, the MARFORPAC attorney advisor. “If in doubt, bring the life insurance policy in, or any contract for that matter, to the legal office, and we will interpret the document for you.”

There are many other forms of deceptive business practice out there as well.

“Out of my 24 years of service, I’ve seen almost every type of scam out there. It’s better to come to us for help, than ask the insurance agent that works off of commission,” said O’Donnell.

There are many government agencies that offer assistance as well.

“The State Department of Insurance is here to protect the consumers’ rights,” said J.P. Schmidt, the insurance commissioner of Hawaii. “Any time the consumer feels something improper is happening, dealing with a life insurance policy, it is very important to contact the insurance department in your state of residence or where the policy was sold immediately.

“Our main duty is taking policyholders’ calls and explaining the situation to them,” said Schmidt. “Then we will investigate whether or not there is a violation of insurance or consumer protection laws.”

The Hawaii State Department of Insurance and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors are two good resources to contact with questions about insurance policies, according to Schimdt.

The Hawaii State Department of Insurance can be contacted by calling (808) 586 – 2790.

On the Net:
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors:
http://www.naifa.org

U.S. Department of Justice:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pao/news/pr/2006/aug/americanamicablepress.p

Marine Administration Message 514/06:
http://www.usmc.mil/maradmins/maradmin2000.nsf

Marines from Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepare to board an air-cushioned landing craft at Kuwait Naval Base before making their way back to the USS Iwo Jima in the Arabian Gulf Oct. 26. After completing three weeks of desert training in Kuwait – the last scheduled exercise of the MEU’s deployment – the unit’s 2,200 Marines and sailors returned to their amphibious ships for the long journey home to Camp Lejeune, N.C. Photo by: Gunnery Sgt. Demetrio J. Espinosa, Submitted 10/26/2006

Forwarded by Patti of Soldiers' Angels:

AT&T El Paso will be hosting Operation Freedom Call this year, once on November 17 and a second one in December. OFC is a video conferencing call connecting our armed forces in three locations in Iraq with their loved ones in the states. I need your help in forwarding this email to anyone with loved ones in the military stationed in Al Asad, Fallujah, and Taji. This means that they can be Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Army National Guard, Naval Reservist, or anyone other armed forces. We will need to collect some information from the families and their loved ones in Iraq.

Please have all interested folks contact me at the number below. If anyone has contacts in the other armed forces, please forward this to them as well. The deadline to submit your information for the November call is 9/28/06. The deadline is to assure that we have enough time to contact our military folks serving in Iraq and give them time to schedule on their end. I do not yet have a deadline for the December call. You CAN participate in both calls. The calls will be scheduled Monday through Friday.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Carmen Rodriguez
(915) 782-3803
Fax (915) 782-3837



Although the deadline for the November call has passed, there's still time to make the December call. Please pass this info along to anyone you know with loved ones serving in the locations listed above.

by Cpl. Bertha A. Flores
November 2, 2006
A sniper from the Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team looks for enemy activity along the hilltops near Dur Baba, Afghanistan. US Army photo.

by Staff Sgt. C. Todd Lopez
Air Force Print News

11/2/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- During a media conference here Nov. 2, Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne said the 8th Air Force would become the new Air Force Cyberspace Command.

"I am announcing the steps the Air Force is taking towards establishing an Air Force Cyberspace Command," the secretary said. "The new Cyberspace Command is designated as the 8th Air Force... under the leadership of (Lt. Gen. Robert J. "Bob" Elder Jr.) He will develop the force by reaching across all Air Force commands to draw appropriate leaders and appropriate personnel."

Secretary Wynne said the 67th Network Warfare Wing, now under 8th Air Force, and other elements already within the 8th, would provide "the center of mass" for the nascent Cyberspace Command.

The secretary also said Air Combat Command, Air Force Space Command and Air Force Materiel Command are working to develop the new Cyberspace Command, while Air Force personnel specialists are working to develop educational plans and career paths for those Airmen that will work within the new command.

"The aim is to develop a major command that stands alongside Air Force Space Command and Air Combat Command as the provider of forces that the President, combatant commanders and the American people can rely on for preserving the freedom of access and commerce, in air, space and now cyberspace," Secretary Wynne said.

Air Force leaders will begin detailed planning for the new Cyberspace Command Nov. 16 at the Cyber Summit. During the summit, Air Force leaders will chart a way ahead for the Air Force's role in cyberspace, also called the cyber domain.


Related Stories
SECAF Speech: Cyberspace as a Domain In which the Air Force Flies and Fights
The Interdependent Fight Video: How We Fight
Secretary Wynne's Speech: Cyberspace as a Domain In which the Air Force Flies and Fights

Related Biographies
LIEUTENANT GENERAL ROBERT J. "BOB" ELDER JR
MICHAEL W. WYNNE

Japan Air Self Defense Force
Staff Sgt. Zach Fleming [left], 6th Aerial Refueling Squadron instructor, watches as Master Sgt. Randy Kawasaki, Japan Air Self Defense Force, attempts aerial refueling contact during a KC-10 training mission. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Army Capt. Stephen Garvin, an entomologist with the 981st Medical Detachment supporting 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central in Kuwait, was stung by a deadly scorpion. U.S. Army photo


By Sgt. Sarah Scully, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2006 – The irony stung worse than the scorpion.

A soldier dedicated to studying dangerous wildlife recently got attacked by one of the aggressive fat-tailed scorpions he spent months warning other soldiers to avoid.

Army Capt. Stephen Garvin, an entomologist with the 981st Medical Detachment supporting 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central in Kuwait, made a routine visit to a portable toilet at Camp Buehring around 5 a.m. on Oct. 5 when he felt something crawling on his right ankle. Thinking it was a fly, he smacked the offending insect with his left foot and ground it against his ankle -- and that’s when he felt the sting.

“I knew it was a scorpion as soon as it stung me,” said Garvin, a 33-year-old active-duty soldier from Stillwater, Okla. “My first thought was, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’”

After stomping on the 2-inch scorpion a few times to make sure it had died, Garvin scooped it up using toilet paper and immediately sought medical attention. He recognized the crushed arachnid as one of the top three deadliest scorpions in the world, capable of killing a person in seven hours. Within an hour and a half from the venom injection, Garvin suffered extreme nausea, headache and dizziness.

“Things happened so fast; that’s when I started getting concerned. I called the doctor over and said, ‘Something’s wrong,’” said Garvin, who passed out 10 minutes later and didn’t wake up until the next evening.

Garvin was quickly airlifted to Camp Arifjan, put on a respirator and given an antivenom shot. He has slowly recovered and endured a 10-day migraine as a result of the scorpion’s sting.

He had a “classic presentation” of symptoms, said Army Maj. Dennis Kilian, 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central force health prevention officer.

Although half of scorpion stings result in little or no venom spread to the victim, soldiers who are stung by a scorpion have a 50-percent chance of sharing Garvin’s experience, Kilian said.

But out of the six stings reported at Camp Buehring during the last year, Garvin stood out as the only one to get venom injected.

He also stood out because he normally works with the same servicemembers who treated him for the sting. “They all know him, and they were all very concerned,” said Army Maj. Brian Copeland, 981st Medical Detachment commander. Copeland also was wryly amused that an expert on scorpions was stung by one. Now recovered, Garvin has already started receiving nicknames, such as “Captain Scorpion” and “The Scorpion King.” Colleagues drop by with witty remarks such as, “There are better ways to make a name for yourself,” and “You don’t have to get stung to be able to teach soldiers about the effects of scorpion venom.”

It’s “like being something between a celebrity and a circus freak,” Garvin said with a smile.

He only had 30 days to go before finishing his first deployment, but he now has a story to tell and a souvenir to show. Garvin preserved the crushed scorpion that stung him and plans to use it in further teachings of dangers troops face in the Middle East. “We all have to take something back,” Kilian said.

(Army Sgt. Sarah Scully is assigned to the 40th Public Affairs Detachment.)


This 2-inch scorpion is one of the top three deadliest scorpions in the world, capable of killing a person in seven hours. This one stung a U.S. Army entomologist in Kuwait in October. U.S. Army photo

NORRIS VISITS TROOPS — Martial arts expert and action film star Chuck Norris signs a T-shirt for Cpl. William P. Kessler, 23 of Cedar Park, Texas, at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, Nov. 1. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Lynn Murillo - Story

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Search Continues for U.S. Soldier - Video
U.S. cites talks to secure GI's release
November off to bloody start in Iraq
Meet the Iraqi 10th Division
Violence in Iraq Claims 4 U.S. Service Members

Operation Enduring Freedom
Afghan success vs. Taliban seen hanging on reform

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Remains identified of September 11 flight victims
NYC to Hire Experts in 9/11 Search

Other Military News
Stretched UK military faces staffing shortage: report

Mid-East Ceasefire / Hamas Rising / Israel at War
Israeli Troops Kill 8 in Gaza Raids



Religion of Peace??
Malaysia probes Muslim raid on retired American couple

Worldwide Wackos
Iran Test Launches Missiles During War Games
U.S. diplomats to prepare for N.Korea talks - Video

Politics / Government
GOP: Base Energized by Kerry Flub - VIDEO
YOU DECIDE 2006: Complete coverage from FOXNews.com
Farm issues take back seat to war in elections
Kerry slip-up not seen hurting Democrats at polls
Bush making final election push - Video
Bush chides Democrats as soft on terror
Rep. paying ex-mistress about $500K
Page Scandal Report to Be Released After Midterm

U.N. News
Scores killed in new attacks on Darfur camps: U.N.

Media in the Media
Reporting from Baghdad

Mother Nature
Calif. Wildfire Arson Suspect Faces Death Penalty

Oddities
Man Dug Up 12-Year-Old Girl's Corpse to 'Have Fun'
Sheriff Indicted for Reselling Criminals' Drugs
New weapon in battle of the bulge...
Noodle-bar robber pays bill before getaway
Letters to God end up in ocean, unread

Other News of Note
Smart Cars Coming to U.S. in Early 2008
Marshals Nab Nearly 11,000 Fugitives in 24 States
France declassifies secret Rwanda reports for probe
New Jersey schools receive "Amish" threat

Fox News
Suspect Nabbed in Murders of 3 Found in Drain Pipe
U.S. Track Coach May Face Doping Case Charges
Schools Told to Have Cheerleaders for Girls' Sports
Study: Male Birth Control Pill Might Be Possible
Top Evangelical Leader Resigns Amid Allegations of Gay Affair
Police Nab 10 Ill. Hotel Workers in Identity Theft Ring
Mexican Feds Pullout From Oaxaca College Protests
Stocks to Watch: Whole Foods, Washington Post

Reuters: Top News
Ocean fish, seafood could collapse by 2048: study
Reducing body temperature extends life span of mice
Over half of U.S. phone users want music, Cingular says
Hollywood writers, studios spar over digital works
Study shows why the young may shun condoms
U.S. needs "sexual literacy", ex-surgeon generals say
Tom Cruise, MGM to revive United Artists studio
Shakira shines in 7th Latin Grammy Awards
Dow dips on Wal-Mart, economy - Video
Oil steadies below $58 as Nigeria restarts weigh
Lincare, Apria, up after Medicare trims cutbacks
Gap October same-store sales down 7 percent
Whole Foods sees slower sales growth in '07
"Top" is a 4-letter word
On the radar: Coldwater Creek
Microsoft, Novell reach agreement on Linux
CA's ex-CEO sentenced to 12 years in prison
Amazon.com sees new Web utility business
Citi still hopeful of buying into Guangdong bank
Microsoft says "Gears" demand running high
Michaels posts rise in third-quarter sales

AP World News
Conservators X-ray Roman statue of Venus
Shakira wins four Latin Grammy awards
Microsoft backs Novell's Linux platform
'SNL' star sues over bedbugs in her loft
Kenny Rogers wins 5th overall Gold Glove
Flavor Flav expecting his seventh child
Dow down 12 on flat productivity report
Cruise puts 'artist' back in UA
Clemens undecided on pitching in 2007
Productivity growth skids to standstill
Wal-Mart outlook may prompt price wars
Virginia sheriff, 12 employees indicted
Businesses may move health care overseas
Kumar sentenced, fined in fraud scandal

Military.com
DoD Makes 'Red-Teaming' a High Priority
Opinion: Surprise Killer Cancer
Blog: Roggio Back to Iraq
Podcast: Pentagon Pressures Bloggers
The Veterans' Bill of Rights and You?
Sgt. Shaft on TRICARE
Vote and Vote Smart

CENTCOM: News Releases
AIR STRIKE KILLS TERRORISTS EAST OF RAMADI

LAND MINES TRANSITING NEAR IRAQ-IRAN BORDER

COALITION FORCES KILL ASSASSINATION TEAM

AFGHAN LINGUISTS KEY TO SUCCESS

AFGHAN, COALITION FORCES KILL 3 TERRORISTS, CAPTURE 1 DURING OPERATION

AFGHAN LEADER VISITS KABUL MILITARY TRAINING CENTER

COALITION FORCES DESTROY TERRORIST IED FACTORY

ONE TERRORIST KILLED, ONE DETAINED IN BALAD

USJFCOM
USJFCOM to participate in Orlando military conference - podcast
U.S., international partners gain knowledge from conference - podcast
Cooperation key for partnerships
International conference discusses current operations
USJFCOM, ACT host 6th CD&E Conference in Greece
USJFCOM takes over Individual Augmentee Program - podcast

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Marines Ensure Iraqi Police Get Supplies - Story
Action Film Stars Kick Up Morale in Iraq - Story
Suspected Insurgents Captured in Operation - Story

IN IRAQ
U.S. Army Husband, Wife Re-enlist at Camp Taji
Critical Care Teams Work to Save Marine's Sight
Iraqi, U.S. Soldiers Work to Save Saab al Bour
Realistic Simulations Prepare Marines for Patrols
Iraqi Army Continues to Grow into Modern Force

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Interpreters Save Lives, Impart Knowledge
Afghan Leader Visits Kabul Military Training Center
Command and General Staff College Opens
Specialist Delivers Supplies, Hope to Students

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Casualties - Story

Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

National Hurricane Center

Today in History
1394 - Charles VI has Jews expelled from France.
1679 - The close approach of a comet causes panic in Europe.
1762 - Spain acquires Louisiana.
1783 - Washington orders the Continental Army disbanded.
1820 - Cuenca, Ecuador declares independence.
1839 - Two British frigates engage several Chinese junks, starting the First Opium War.
1868 - John W. Menard of Louisiana becomes the first Black elected to Congress; Ulysses S. Grant is elected President.
1885 - Tacoma vigilantes drive out the Chinese, burning their homes and businesses.
1888 - Jack the Ripper kills lhis last known victim.
1896 - William McKinley is elected President.
1903 - Colombia grants independence to Panama.
1908 - William Howard Taft is elected President.
1916 - A treaty establishes British suzerainty over Qatar.
1918 - The Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolves; Poland proclaims independence from Russia.
1927 - Tropical storm flooding kills 84 in Winooski River Valley (VT).
1928 - Turkey switches from the Arabic to the Roman alphabet.
1930 - The first vehicular tunnel to a foreign country opens (Detroit-Windsor).
1931 - The first commercially produced synthetic rubber is manufactured.
1935 - George II returns to Greece, regaining the monarchy.
1936 - FDR wins reelection in a landslide.
1952 - Clarence Birdseye first markets frozen peas.
1954 - Linus Pauling wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
1955 - The announcement is made of the first crystallization of a virus; an Alabama woman is bruised by a meteor; Australia takes control of the Cocos Islands.
1956 - The "Wizard of Oz" is televised for the first time on CBS-TV.
1957 - The U.S.S.R. launches Sputnik-2 with a dog (Laika) aboard - the first animal in orbit.
1964 - LBJ is re-elected President (assumed the position after the Kennedy assassination).
1970 - Salvador Allende is inaugurated as President of Chile.
1973 - Mariner-10 launched; it takes the first pictures of Venus, and undertakes the first mission to Mercury.
1978 - The U.K. grants grants Dominica independence.
1979 - Five people are mortally wounded during anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration in NC.
1983 - Jesse Jackson launches his first campaign for the Presidency.
1984 - 3,000 die in a three-day anti-Sikh riot in India; the body of assassinated Indian PM Indira Gandhi is cremated.
1986 - The Lebanese magazine Ash Shirra reveals secret U.S. arms sales to Iran; in Mozambique, President Machel is killed in an air crash.
1988 - Pakistan claims it has downed an Afghan warplane; President Reagan signs the credit card disclosure bill; the Soviet Union allows the teaching of Hebrew; Talk-show host Geraldo Rivera's nose is broken as Roy Innis brawls with skinheads at a TV taping.
1992 - Bill Clinton is elected President.

Birthdays
1718 - John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich, inventor (sandwich)
1793 - Stephen Fuller Austin, colonized Texas
1903 - Walker Evans, photographer (Fortune Magazine)
1908 - Bronko Nagurski, NFL fullback (Chicago Bears)
1909 - James Reston, columnist (NY Times)
1918 - Russell B. Long (Sen-LA)
1922 - Charles Bronson, actor (Death Wish, Dirty Dozen)
1930 - William H. Dana, pilot (X-15)
1933 - Ken Berry actor/dancer/TV personality (F Troop, Mayberry RFD); Louis W. Sullivan, US Secretary of Health and Human Services (1989-1993); Michael S. Dukakis (Gov-MA, 1988 Presidentidential Candidate)
1953 - Dennis Miller, comedian/TV host (SNL, Dennis Miller Show)
1954 - Kevin P. Chilton, Major USAF/astronaut (sk: STS-49)
1955 - Phil Simms, NFL quarterback (NY Giants, Superbowl 1986)

Passings
1926 - Annie Oakley
1962 - Harlow H. Curtice, President of General Motors (1953-8)
1990 - Mary Martin, actress (Peter Pan)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Bowles, Dwight Pollard, USAF (VA); F105D shot down (pilot), KIA, body not recovered

Egger, John C., Jr., USAF (OK); O2A crashed (aircrew), remains ID'd August, 1994

Grauert, Hans H., USN (NY); KA3B crashed on takeoff (co-pilot, w/Krusi), Killed, body not recovered

Krusi, Peter H., USN (UT); KA3B crashed on takeoff (pilot, w/Grauert), Killed, body not recovered

1969
Brown, William T., US Army SF (CA); disappeared when reconnaissance/interdiction patrol was ambushed

Norton, Michael R., US Army (WV); disappeared while his unit was withdrawing from a fire base

Shue, Donald M., US Army SF (NC); disappeared when reconnaissance/interdiction patrol was ambushed

Wald, Gunther H., US Army SF (NJ); disappeared when reconnaissance/interdiction patrol was ambushed

1970
Carver, Robert C., Australian Air Force (Australia); B57 likely shot down

Day, Dennis I., US Army (OK); LCU sank, no survivors observed

Dority, Richard C., US Army (ME); LCU sank, no survivors observed

Ginn, David L., US Army (SC); LCU sank, no survivors observed

Herbert, Michael P., Australian Air Force (Australia); B57 likely shot down

Kitchens, Perry C., US Army (GA); LCU sank - remains recovered March, 1974, ID'd March, 1977

Mangus, Arlie R., US Army (PA); LCU sank, no survivors observed

Martin, Jerry D., US Army (IN); LCU sank, no survivors observed

Norris, Calvin A., US Army (TN); LCU sank, no survivors observed

Pantall, James R., US Army (PA); LCU sank, no survivors observed

Shewmake, John D., Sr., US Army (AR); LCU sank, no survivors observed

Woods, David W., US Army (OH); LCU sank, no survivors observed

1971
DeCaire, Jack L., US Army (FL); fell overboard from the ship his transportation unit was stationed on