May 2022 — MHCE Newsletter

News from MHCE
MAY 2022 EDITION
Russian Soldier Pleads Guilty
at Ukraine War Crimes Trial
See page 22
Monthly Newsletter
Military Throwing Cash at
Recruiting Crisis as Troops
Head for the Exits
Hints that the armed services might
soon face a problem keeping their
ranks full began quietly, with
officials spending the last decade
warning that a dwindling slice of
the American public could serve.
Only about one-quarter of young
Americans are even eligible for
service these days, a shrinking
pool limited by an increasing
number of potential recruits who
are overweight or are screened out
due to minor criminal infractions,
including the use of recreational
drugs such as marijuana.
But what had been a slowmoving
trend is reaching crisis
levels, as a highly competitive job
market converges with a mass of
troops leaving as the coronavirus
pandemic subsides, alarming
military planners.
"Not two years into a pandemic,
and we have warning lights
flashing," Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas,
the Air Force Recruiting Service
commander, wrote in a memo
-- leaked in January -- about the
headwinds his team faces.
For now, the services are leaning
on record-level enlistment and
retention bonuses meant to attract
and keep America's military staffed
and ready -- bonuses that continue
to climb.
In an interview with Military.com
last month, Thomas didn't mince
words. He knows he is competing
against the private sector to hire
people, from technology giants to
regional gas stations.
"If you want to work at Buc-ee's
along I-35 in Texas, you can do
it for [a] $25-an-hour starting
salary," Thomas said. "You can
start at Target for $29 an hour
with educational benefits. So you
start looking at the competition:
Starbucks, Google, Amazon. The
battle for talent amidst this current
labor shortage is intense."
Paired with those competitive offers
for workers are a large number of
service members retiring, some
having delayed leaving the ranks
during a pandemic that saw huge
instability in the job market.
Since fiscal 2020, the U.S.
Department of Labor's Veterans'
Employment and Training Service
-- known as VETS -- has anticipated
that around 150,000 service
members would transition out of
the military annually as part of its
budget justification documents.
But in 2020, the Transition
Assistance Program, or TAP,
the congressionally mandated
classes that prepare troops for
life outside the military, helped
counsel 193,968 service members
on their way out of the military,
said Lisa Lawrence, a Pentagon
spokesperson. That's nearly onethird
more newly minted veterans
than the Labor Department had
planned for.
In 2021, that number grew to
196,413. Prior to 2020, the
Department of Defense did
not report the total number of
TAP-eligible service members
transitioning, although Lawrence
said the number has been
somewhere between 190,000 and
200,000 annually in recent years.
Payouts aimed at attracting new
service members to replace those
outgoing veterans are at all-time
highs. The Army started offering
recruiting bonuses of up to $50,000
in January, and last month the
Air Force began promoting up to
$50,000 -- the most it can legally
offer -- for certain career fields.
The Navy followed with its offer
of $25,000 to those willing to ship
out in a matter of weeks. It says
the bonuses are the result of an
WWW.MHCE.US
"unprecedentedly competitive job
market."
Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman
for the sea service's recruiting
command, told Military.com in a
recent phone interview that "the
private sector is doing things we
haven't seen them do before to try
and attract talent, so we have to
stay competitive."
Benham said the scope of the
Navy's offer -- a minimum of
$25,000 to ship out before June
-- has "never happened before to
anybody's collective knowledge
around here."
Courting and Paying for Talent
The pandemic economy has placed
private-sector workers in the
driver's seat, pushing employers
to offer more lucrative incentives
such as better benefits, flexible
work-from-home schedules or
massive signing bonuses to make
hires. That is putting major pressure
on the military as it tries to attract
recruits who may be considering
the civilian job market.
It's all been complicated by
the military's myriad of other
difficulties getting new troops
in the door, such as recruiting
efforts quashed by the pandemic, a
shrinking pool of eligible recruits,
and social media silos complicating
advertising. And amid public
scandals, such as the 2020 murder
of Vanessa Guillén and suicides
on the aircraft carrier USS George
Washington, military service may
seem like a less attractive choice
for young Americans.
Continued on page 13

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Focus on Oversight a Key for Success at
CoreCivic
In the corrections industry, maintaining high standards of
operation is imperative to meeting the needs of the individuals
in our care. That's why CoreCivic adheres to a stringent set of
guidelines set forth by our own standards, as well as those of our
government partners and the American Correctional Association
(ACA).
Founded in 1870, the ACA is considered the national benchmark
for the effective operation of correctional systems throughout
the United States. To become accredited, a facility must achieve
compliance with ACA mandatory standards and a minimum of
90 percent non-mandatory standards. CoreCivic facilities adhere
to ACA standards, and in 2020, CoreCivic earned an average
ACA audit score of 99.6 percent across all facilities.
Key ACA audit areas include facility personnel, resident reentry
programs, resident safety, health care, and more.
holds our facilities and staff to a high standard. To be able to
represent our facility and receive reaccreditation in person is an
honor."
Adhering to ACA standards is only one part of CoreCivic's
commitment to robust oversight. When government partners
utilize CoreCivic's services, we are held not only to our own
high standards and those of the ACA, but we are often held to
the same or higher accountability of our public counterparts
through stringent government contracts, unfettered access to
our facilities for our partners, and hundreds of on-site quality
assurance monitors.
We provide access to our government partners, with most of
our facilities having government agency employees known as
contract monitors who are physically on-site to ensure we are
operating in line with partner guidelines.
Recently, the ACA held in Nashville, Tennessee, its 151st
Congress of Corrections, an annual convention that brings
together corrections professionals from across the country. In
addition to various workshops and events at the convention, the
ACA Commission on Accreditation also held panel hearings to
award accreditation to correctional facilities that meet the ACA's
rigorous requirements. Listed below are the seven CoreCivic
facilities that earned reaccreditation this year, with mandatory/
non-mandatory scores:
• Bent County Correctional Facility - 100/99.0
• Citrus County Detention Facility - 100/100
• Eloy Detention Center - 100/100
• Lake Erie Correctional Institution - 100/99.3
• Saguaro Correctional Center - 100/99.8
• Stewart Detention Center - 100/100
• Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility - 100/100
"The accreditation process is very important," said Warden
Fred Figueroa from Eloy Detention Center, one of the seven
CoreCivic facilities that was awarded reaccreditation. "ACA
To maintain our own high standards, annual on-site audits covering
all operational areas are administered to ensure compliance with
contractual and regulatory obligations and corporate-mandated
requirements. Each CoreCivic Safety facility is audited by our
internal quality assurance division, which is independent from
our operations division. Facilities are expected to be audit-ready
year-round, maintaining continuous compliance with numerous
applicable standards.
CoreCivic employs 75 staff members dedicated to quality
assurance, including several subject matter experts with extensive
experience from all major disciplines within our institutional
operations.
"A lot of hard work goes into preparing for these audits,"
Figueroa said. "Once they're complete, the staff can see their
accomplishments and feel proud."
Having multiple levels of oversight helps CoreCivic maintain
a safe environment for those in our care. By holding ourselves
accountable to our own high standards, along with our
government partners' and ACA's standards, CoreCivic continues
to be a trusted partner working to better the public good.

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Major Cuts to Cost-of-Living Allowances for
Thousands of Military Families in Germany
Coming This Summer
Thousands of service members and their families stationed in
Germany will see a major hit to their cost-of-living allowances
starting next month, despite continued struggles for Americans
living overseas with heightened utility costs and economic
strain caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Pentagon announced Wednesday that there will be a
reduction in the overseas cost-of-living allowance -- otherwise
known as COLA -- for families in the Kaiserslautern Military
Community starting June 1 because prices in the continental
United States are now more expensive than those in Germany.
Senior leaders are aware that this is poor timing for a reduction
in rate, and are working to determine a way forward," Lt. Col.
Micah Neece, the 86th Comptroller Squadron commander at
Ramstein Air Base, said in a statement.
With approximately 50,000 service members and families,
Kaiserslautern is the largest military community outside the
continental United States
The decrease in the monthly allowance depends on rank, years
of service and number of dependents. But an unverified email
circulating online that appears to be from the 86th Airlift Wing
out of Ramstein explaining the decrease to base commanders
describes a cut in the COLA between "$200 and $500" for
some service members.
Spokesmen for the Air Force, Army and Pentagon did not
immediately return a request for comment asking about the
email and the cost-of-living decrease.
The Kaiserslautern Military Community is made up of Air
Force facilities located at Ramstein, Einsiedlerhof, Pirmasens,
Vogelweh and Kapaun Air Station, along with Army facilities
at Sembach, Kleber, Panzer and Daenner Kasernen; Landstuhl;
Kirchberg; Miesau Depot; Kaiserslautern Industrial Center;
Rhine Ordnance; and Pulaski Barracks.
The non-taxable COLA allowance exists to make living in
these areas more affordable for service members by offsetting
the cost of daily expenses to make them comparable to costs
stateside. With rising prices in the United States, the gap has
diminished, leading to the cuts.
"When the strength of the dollar increases against the euro,
and as the cost of goods in the U.S. rise compared to the cost
of goods in the Kaiserslautern Military Community, service
members can expect COLA payments to decrease," the release
said.
Cost-of-living rates are also determined by input from service
members and their families. The most recent increase in the
Kaiserslautern Military Community was based on a survey
from the fall of 2021, well before Russia's invasion of Ukraine
and widespread inflation in the U.S.
Two surveys determine the relative cost of living overseas: the
Living Pattern Survey, which happens every three years and
asks where and how families purchase goods, and the Retail
Price Schedule, which is conducted every year and collects
prices for groceries, car insurance, gasoline, and day care.

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Fears are also growing that Russia may cut off the gas supply to
Europe. Germany depends on Russia for 40% of its gas supplies,
according to Bloomberg, and utility hikes in the country, as
well as across Europe, have spiked since the invasion.
The Pentagon, however, said service members should rely on
their utility allowances instead of their cost-of-living funds to
address the price hikes.
"Although we have seen [a] significant increase in utility costs
as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, COLA surveys also do not
account for utility costs. Members receive a utility allowance
to address utility costs," the Pentagon said in a press release.
Backlash to news about COLA decrease was swift online,
especially on the popular Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook
page.
"It blows my mind how they can just change how much money
we get at the drop of a hat," one commenter wrote. "If it was
$50 I wouldn't complain. But I am talking HUNDREDS of
dollars a month."
The Pentagon, however, said in its press release that service
members and their families shouldn't count on COLA being
consistent each month.
"Since COLA is not a fixed amount and fluctuates annually as
well pay period to pay period, Defense Department officials
continually stress that fixed expenses such as rent and car
payments should be based on what a service member can afford
without COLA," the Pentagon wrote.
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"This is arguably the most challenging recruiting year since the inception
of the all-volunteer force," Lt. Gen. David Ottignon, the Marine Corps
officer in charge of manpower, told the Senate during a public hearing
April 27.
All of the military's service branches are scrambling to find ways to
compete for a younger generation of talent that has plenty of employment
opportunities.
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"The military provides a wonderful option for young people, but it's
not the only option and so recruiters, I think just like other employers,
are trying to understand what the different options are for young people
and to address those effectively," said Joey Von Nessen, an economics
professor at the University of South Carolina.
The bonuses that serve as one of the most immediately tangible lures for
new recruits, while escalating, aren't uniform across or even within the
services.
Most of the bonuses offered for new Air Force recruits range around
$8,000 for certain career fields. But for two of the most dangerous jobs,
Special Warfare operations and explosive ordnance disposal, the service
is making its maximum allowed offer of $50,000 for people to join.
"It is necessary. I think these are two of our hardest career fields to
recruit toward," said Col. Jason Scott, chief of operations for the Air
Force Recruiting Service. "It is absolutely necessary to do $50,000 for
each of those, and actually $50,000 is the highest initial enlistment bonus
amount that we can give."
Overall, the Air Force is dedicating $31 million to recruiting bonuses in
2022, nearly double what was originally planned for.
The Army faces the same problem -- and is putting up the same big offers.
"We're in a search for talent just like corporate America and other
businesses; almost everyone has the same issue the military does right
now," Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of U.S. Army Recruiting Command,
told Military.com. "We're trying to match incentives for what resonates.
For example, financial incentives. Nobody wants to be in debt, so we're
offering sign-up bonuses at a historic rate.
"We've never offered $50,000 to join the Army," he added.
In addition to the sign-on bonuses, the Army is also offering new recruits
their first duty station of choice -- an unprecedented move as new
soldiers are typically placed at random around the world. New recruits
can choose locations such as Alaska, Fort Drum in New York, and Fort
Carson in Colorado.
"Youth today want to make their own decisions. We're letting them do
that," Vereen said.
The services are also trying to keep troops from leaving, knowing that a
raft of employment opportunities are available for them if they get fed
up with military life.
The Army, Air Force and Navy have all announced reenlistment bonuses
for certain career fields and specialties, some of them in the six-figure
range.
The Air Force is offering up to $100,000 reenlistment bonuses based on
experience and career field. The Navy is also offering those incentives,
with fields such as network cryptologists and nuclear technicians making
anywhere from $90,000 to $100,000. The Army is offering a more modest
cap of $81,000 to reenlist for some jobs.
Anecdotally, military families are describing on social media an inability
to find open slots for TAP's sessions. Each in-person class is generally
limited to 50 people, but Lawrence, the Pentagon spokesperson, denied

14 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us MAY 2022 EDITION
the program is being overwhelmed since classes are also available in live
online, on-demand or hybrid formats.
The urgency described by leaders who are putting their money toward
keeping skilled service members is a sign of the worry about a brain
drain.
Unlike the broader enlistment bonuses, many military career fields don't
offer cash for reenlistment, and some of these incentives existed prior to
the pandemic. But the job market has put pressure on the services to pay
up to keep service members in the force.
Overweight and Hard to Reach
The military's difficulties attracting recruits go far beyond making the
right bonus offer. The forces working against recruiting increased during
the grinding global pandemic -- lockdowns kept recruiters home and
young Americans are refusing vaccines, for example -- and are also rooted
in longer-term societal shifts in physical fitness and communication.
"The aggregate effects of two years of COVID is that is two years of
not being in high school classrooms, two years of not having air shows
and major public events like being in those public spaces, where our
potential applicants or potential recruits are getting personal exposure,
face-to-face relationships with military recruiters," Thomas said.
Only about 40% of Americans who are of prime recruiting age are
vaccinated against the virus. Outright refusal to get the shot immediately
precludes joining the force and short-circuits any pitch from recruiters.
COVID vaccines are among at least a dozen inoculations mandated by
the Defense Department.
"Seventeen-to-24-year-olds are not getting vaccinated, and those [are]
people we aren't having a conversation with," Vereen said.
Even when potential recruits are interested and big bonuses motivate
them to sign on the dotted line, only about 23% of young Americans are
even eligible for service.
Past legal run-ins or a drug history prevent potential recruits from
joining, and more and more Americans are overweight. According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40% of adults aged 20 to
39 are obese. That problem has been deemed a national security risk by
somebecause it causes an increasingly shallow pool of potential recruits.
The confluence of challenges has others loudly alerting the public that
there's a problem.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., the ranking member of the Senate Armed
Services Committee personnel panel, says the military is on the cusp of
a recruiting crisis.
"To put it bluntly, I am worried we are now in the early days of a longterm
threat to the all-volunteer force. [There is] a small and declining
number of Americans who are eligible and interested in military service,"
Tillis said during an April 27 hearing.
He added that "every single metric tracking the military recruiting
environment is going in the wrong direction." Just 8% of young
Americans have seriously considered joining the military, while only
23% are eligible to enlist, according to Tillis.
Meanwhile, the prime demographic for recruiting -- 17-to-24-year-olds
-- is getting harder to reach. The military is running high production
value recruiting ads on TV, but most younger Americans are watching
YouTube, Twitch and other streaming services. On those platforms,
ads are dictated by algorithms based on a person's search history, and
prime-age viewers may never be exposed to recruiting spots if they don't
already have a general interest in the military.
The military has relied on Facebook, with its user base that skews
much older, and Instagram pointing users to ads based on their existing
interests. The Defense Department banned TikTok from governmentissued
phones in 2019, shutting out Generation Z's social media platform
of choice. However, some recruiters have ignored the ban on the Chineseowned
platform, which is seen by some as a security risk.
"I know a lot of young people are on TikTok and we're not," Vereen said.
When the military does get widespread exposure and makes the news, it
can be due to scandals such as the slaying of Guillén at Fort Hood, Texas,
or other problems that raise questions about safety and the quality of life
in the services.
Following a wave of suicides and disclosure of a lack of basic ameneties
such as hot water and ventilation aboard the George Washington, Master
Chief Petty Officer Russell Smith, the Navy's top enlisted leader, was
asked by a sailor why the service was spending so much on new recruits,
specifically mentioning the hefty $25,000 bonus.
"I gotta use those bonuses to compel something. ... A post-COVID
workforce doesn't love the idea that they have to, they actually have to
go to work, talk to people, see them face-to-face, exchange ideas and
do work," Smith told the crew, according to a Navy-provided transcript.
"They would rather phone it in or work from home somehow and, with
the military, you just can't do that."
Some sailors said it didn't seem like the service was prioritizing making
its current ranks happy or financially incentivizing them to stick around.
Smith said the Navy already offers some bonuses to in-demand specialties
and that if a particular job doesn't offer one it's because enough of those
sailors "love the work that they do ... and when they do, I don't have to
use money as leverage."
Smith also told the sailor that he "can compel [them] to stay right here for
eight years." Most contracts have an inactive period of reserve service
built in following the end of active duty that the Navy can tap into.
"So, you want me finding sailors to come in and relieve you on time,"
Smith added.
The military services hope the new bonuses will overcome all the
difficulties and that they will meet recruiting goals for the year. But the
numbers are not encouraging so far.
The Army has an uphill climb for the rest of the year, having recruited
just 23% of its target in the first five months of the fiscal year.
The Navy said that, in order to reach its recruiting goal this year, it will
have to reduce the delayed-entry program -- allowing someone to enlist
before they plan on actually shipping out -- to below "historic norms,"
which could in turn cause recruiting issues in future years.
There's likely no relief in sight, according to experts.
U.S. population demographics are going in the wrong direction and will
make the recruiting job increasingly hard. The millennial and Gen-Z
generations are smaller than previous generations, meaning there is a
dwindling workforce to pull from. And only a small percentage of those
youths appear likely to meet the physical qualifications to join in the first
place.
"I think it's likely that the labor shortage is going to be long-lasting," Von
Nessen said. "This is not a short-term phenomenon. It was exacerbated
by the pandemic, but it wasn't created by the pandemic exclusively."

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Space Force Offering Bonuses Up to $20,000 for
New Guardians with Tech Backgrounds
The Space Force has unveiled a wave of bonuses to lure recruits
with highly specialized tech backgrounds to become Guardians.
Bonuses range from $12,000 to $20,000 for certain technology
certifications that could be used for the Space Force's cyber
career fields, according to a press release from the Department
of the Air Force's Recruiting Service.
Earlier this month, the Department of the Air Force unveiled
more than a dozen bonuses as a way to entice new recruits amid
a national labor shortage and a pandemic economy.
But while the Air Force said it's facing headwinds to fill its ranks,
the Space Force is having no problem getting recruits into the
small number of spots it has, as interest continues to grow in the
newest military service branch.
Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas, the Air Force Recruiting Service
commander, told Military.com that last year they had more than
42,000 leads on people interested in joining to fill just 500 spots.
is floating a proposal to have Guardians either be part-time or
full-time instead.
Gen. John Raymond, the chief of space operations, has spoken
publicly about the full-time and part-time concept as a possible
way to recruit talent from the private sector to fill the highly
specialized roles in the Space Force's ranks.
"We would be giving opportunities for people to go to the
commercial industry, to go to NASA, and then come back,"
Raymond told Space News earlier this month. "Maybe at certain
times in their life, if they want to have children, they can go parttime
for a while and then come back without having to get out of
active duty and then go into the reserves."
The Space Force will make history next month when 72 men
and women start the first Guardians-only boot camp at Joint
Base San Antonio, Texas.
"Space Force recruiting is on very solid ground right now,"
Thomas said.
The Space Force is the smallest of the military service branches.
It has grown to 8,400 Guardians since being created at the behest
of former President Donald Trump in 2019 and is expected to
grow by 200 new recruits in 2023.
For Space Force Guardians who have already joined the ranks,
the Department of the Air Force is also offering reenlistment
bonuses for a dozen careers, such as cyber intelligence analysts
and communications specialists, to retain their specialized
knowledge and skills.
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Unlike other services, the Space Force does not have a reserve or
National Guard component; Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall

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Business Is Global. Your Education Can Be, Too.
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By taking the five courses offered in this 12-week program, you
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By taking the five courses offered in this 12-week program, you
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semesters
2022 Program Update
In these uncertain times, the Harbert College of Business is
taking extraordinary steps to ensure the health and welfare of its
students. As such, only two study abroad trips will be offered for
this summer.
Please be on the lookout for details on offerings of a range of
Study Abroad Programs in Summer 2023. We appreciate your
interest and will be global again as soon as possible.
Study Abroad
At the Harbert College of Business, we offer the opportunity to
experience different business cultures, practices and standards
around the world. Round out your undergraduate experience with
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perspective.
Undergraduate study abroad opportunities will allow you to gain
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Thomas Walter Professor
334-844-2464
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WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 19
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Vice President Tells Coast Guard Grads Rule of Law
Is Under Attack
WASHINGTON — Vice President
Kamala Harris told the U.S. Coast
Guard Academy's graduating cadets
that they are starting their service at a
crucial moment for the world, a period
in history when the “rule of law is
strained” and “fundamental principles
are under threat.”
Harris, in the commencement speech
Wednesday at the academy in New
London, Connecticut, reflected on
the state of the world in which longstanding
rules and norms are more
frequently coming under attack, noting
the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“And the challenges we face are broader
than Russia,” Harris said. “Around
the world, we see additional attempts
to undermine the rules-based order:
Nations that threaten the freedom of the
seas; criminal gangs and traffickers who
skirt the rule of law, and fuel corruption
and violence; those that manipulate
and undermine the foundations of
international commerce."
The Democratic vice president also
made the case that as Coast Guard
members the graduates will play an
important role in helping the United
States uphold the international rulesbased
order, calling it one of the United
States’ “defining missions.”
“Over time, this order has been tried.
This order has been tested. And far
too often, this order has been taken
for granted,” Harris said. “Frankly,
sometimes we forget how rare it is
in human history to have a period of
relative peace and stability among
nations.”
Earlier this month, Harris used the
commencement address at Tennessee
State University in Nashville to urge
graduates to apply their leadership
skills to help tackle the multitude of
challenges posed by an unsettled world.
In her speech at the historically Black
university, Harris said the Class of
2022 stands “on the brink of a new
frontier,” pointing to the prospects of
more breakthroughs in technology and
medical research.
But with war raging in Ukraine, the
risks from climate change and basic
freedoms under threat in the United
States, graduates are stepping off into an
uncertain future, she said at Tennessee
State.
Last year, Harris delivered a
commencement speech at the U.S.
Naval Academy. President Joe Biden is
scheduled to deliver the commencement
address at this year’s Naval Academy
graduation.
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22 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us MAY 2022 EDITION
Russian Soldier Pleads Guilty at Ukraine War Crimes
Trial
KYIV, Ukraine — A 21-year-old Russian
soldier facing the first war crimes trial
since Moscow invaded Ukraine pleaded
guilty Wednesday to killing an unarmed
civilian.
Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin could get life
in prison for shooting a a 62-year-old
Ukrainian man in the head through an
open car window in the northeastern
Sumy region on Feb. 28, four days into the
invasion.
Shishimarin, a captured member of a
Russian tank unit, was prosecuted under a
section of the Ukrainian criminal code that
addresses the laws and customs of war.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna
Venediktova previously said her office
was readying war crimes cases against 41
Russian soldiers for offenses that included
bombing civilian infrastructure, killing
civilians, rape and looting.

WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 23
It was not immediately clear how many of the suspects
are in Ukrainian hands and how many would be tried
in absentia.
Prosecutors plan to continue presenting evidence
against Shishimarin following his guilty plea,
although the trial is like to be shorter.
As the inaugural war-crimes case in Ukraine,
Shishimarin’s prosecution was being watched closely.
Investigators have been collecting evidence of
possible war crimes to bring before the International
Criminal Court in The Hague.
Venediktova’s office has said it was looking into
more than 10,700 potential war crimes involving
more than 600 suspects, including Russian soldiers
and government officials.
With help from foreign experts, prosecutors are
investigating allegations that Russian troops violated
Ukrainian and international law by killing, torturing
and abusing possibly thousands of Ukrainian
civilians.
Shishimarin's trial opened Friday, when he made a
brief court appearance while lawyers and judges
discussed prosecedural matters. After his plea on
Wednesday, the proceedings were continued until
Thursday, when the trial is expecgted to resume in a
large courtroom to accomodate more journalists.
Ukrainian authorities posted a few details on social
media last week from their investigation in his case.
Shishimarin was among a group of Russian troops
that fled Ukrainian forces on Feb. 28, according to
Venediktova’s Facebook account. The Russians
allegedly fired at a private car and seized the vehicle,
then drove to Chupakhivka, a village about 200 miles
east of Kyiv.
On the way, the prosecutor-general alleged, the
Russian soldiers saw a man walking on the sidewalk
and talking on his phone. Shyshimarin was ordered
to kill the man so he wouldn’t be able to report them
to Ukrainian military authorities. Venediktova did
not identify who gave the order.
Shyshimarin fired his Kalashnikov rifle through
the open window and hit the victim in the head,
Venediktova wrote.
The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, posted a short video
on May 4 of Shyshimarin speaking in front of camera and briefly describing
how he shot the man. The SBU described the video as “one of the first
confessions of the enemy invaders.”
“I was ordered to shoot,” Shyshimarin said. “I shot one (round) at him. He
falls. And we kept on going.”
Russia is believed to be preparing war crime trials for Ukrainian soldiers.
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“The man died on the spot just a few dozen meters
from his house,” she said.

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Navy Christens Destroyer Named for
First Black Marine General Officer
CHARLESTON, South Carolina —
With Secretary of the Navy Carlos
Del Toro calling it “the very best
ship that our nation has to offer,” the
U.S. Navy christened Aegis-class
destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr.
(DDG 121) during ceremonies in
Charleston, S.C., Saturday.
The Petersen, built by Ingalls
Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, is named
in honor of U.S. Marine Corps Lt.
Gen. Frank E. Petersen Jr., the first
black Marine Corps aviator and the
first black Marine to rise to the rank
of three-star general.
Serving two combat tours — Korea
in 1953 and Vietnam in 1968 —
Petersen flew more than 350 combat
missions and had over 4,000 hours in
multiple fighter and attack aircraft.
In 1979, Petersen was promoted
to brigadier general, becoming the
first Black general officer in the
Marine Corps. He retired in 1988,
with awards and honors including
the Defense Superior Service Medal,
Legion of Merit with Combat “V”,
Distinguished Flying Cross; Purple
Heart; Meritorious Service Medal,
Air Medal, Navy Commendation
Medal with Combat “V”, and the Air
Force Commendation Medal.
Petersen died in August 2015 at the
age of 83. He is buried in Arlington
National Cemetery.
Saturday’s keynote speaker was
Carlos Campbell, former Navy
aviator and assistant Secretary
of Commercie for Economic
Development, who served alongside
Petersen and spoke of Petersen’s
courage and dedication.
American warship,” said Chief of
Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday.
“Sailors aboard this mighty warship
will deploy wherever, whenever
needed, with General Petersen’s
fighting spirit and tenacity, for
generations to come.”
Marine Corps Commandant Gen.
David Berger, was also among the
dignitaries on hand.
“General Petersen was a man of many
firsts,” Berger said. “There’s a saying
that ships take on the characteristics
of their namesakes, and if that’s true,
then God help any adversary to ever
confronts the Frank E. Petersen Jr.”
Members of Petersen’s family were
on hand for the christening, with his
daughter, Gayle Petersen, speaking
for the family and paying tribute to
one special person in her father’s life.
“We would not be having this
ceremony today if not for a
gentleman named Robert Adams,”
Gayle Petersen said. “When my dad
was shot down in Vietnam, he was
rescued by Robert Adams.”
She also paid tribute to the Ingalls
shipbuilders who brought DDG 121
to life.
“I would like to thank all who had a
hand in building this ship, from stem
to stern.”
The Petersen’s commanding officer,
Cmdr. Daniel Hancock, reported the
ship ready, and — assisted by Gen.
Petersen’s daughters Gayle Petersen,
Dana Petersen Moore, Lindsay
Pulliam and Monique Petersen —
ship sponsor D’Arcy Ann Neller gave
the traditional order to “man our ship
and bring her to life.”
Neller is the wife of former Marine
Corps Commandant Gen. Robert
Neller. Co-sponsor Alicia J. Petersen,
Gen. Petersen’s widow, died last
September.
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“He received a (fragment) wound, he
was treated in the field, and returned
to combat,” Campbell recalled of
Petersen.
“It is fitting that a name synonymous
with service and sacrifice be
emblazoned on the steel of this
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WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 29
Veterans to Get Improved
Access to Mammograms
Through Bills Headed to
Biden's Desk
Veterans, including those who
may be at increased risk for
breast cancer because of their
service near burn pits, could
have better access to breast
cancer screenings under a pair
of bills that cleared Congress
this week.
The House on Wednesday
night voted 418-0 to approve
the Dr. Kate Hendricks
Thomas Supporting Expanded
Review for Veterans in
Combat Environments, or
SERVICE, Act, which would
require the Department of
Veterans Affairsto conduct
mammograms for all women
who served near burn pits
or other toxic exposures,
regardless of symptoms, age
or family history.
The chamber also voted 419-0
to pass the Making Advances
in Mammography and Medical
Options, or MAMMO, for
Veterans Act, which would
require the VA to craft a
strategic plan to improve
breast imaging services within
a year, create a three-year pilot
program of telemammography
for veterans in areas where the
VA does not offer in-house
mammograms, and expand
veterans' access to clinical
trials through partnerships
with the National Cancer
Institute.
Both bills passed the Senate
unanimously in March,
meaning they now only await
President Joe Biden's signature
before becoming law.
The Dr. Kate Hendricks
Thomas SERVICE Act is
named after a Marine Corps
veteran who died in April after
being diagnosed with stage
4 breast cancer at age 38.
Thomas served near a burn pit
in Iraq and was unaware she
faced an elevated risk of breast
cancer, but was advised to get
a mammogram in 2018 during
a routine medical exam.
In written testimony last year,
Thomas told senators that she
"needed that mammogram
sooner."
"Early detection and treatment
are key in the fight against
breast cancer," Sen. John
Boozman, R-Ark., the lead
sponsor of the bill, said in
a statement when the bill
passed the Senate. "Given
the additional risk factors
associated with toxic exposure,
which we know has occurred
in recent combat settings, the
VA must update its policies
so vulnerable veterans can
receive mammograms."
Passage of the bill came the
same day senators announced
a bipartisan deal to greatly
expand health care and
benefits for veterans suffering
from illnesses related to toxic
exposure. While the full text of
the agreement has not yet been
released, the House-passed
bill upon which the deal is
based did not include breast
cancer as one of the ailments
for which benefits would
automatically be extended.
The two mammogram
bills were among a slate of
19 veterans-related bills,
including several others that
also focus on issues primarily
affecting female veterans, the
House passed this week, its
last before it goes on a twoweek
Memorial Day recess.
Bills approved Wednesday
included four meant to
improve support for survivors
of military sexual trauma.
One bill, approved 417-0,
seeks to improve coordination
between the Veterans Benefits
Administration and Veterans
Health Administration when
helping veterans file claims
related to sexual trauma.
Another, passed 405-12, would
add annual training on sexual
trauma for members of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals,
which hears veterans' benefits
claims after they've been
denied. The opposition came
entirely from Republicans.
The House also advanced a
bill in a 414-2 vote to require
the VA to have the National
Academies of Sciences,
Engineering and Medicine
conduct a comprehensive
review of VA medical
examinations for people who
submit claims for mental and
physical conditions related to
sexual trauma. The "no" votes
came from Reps. Sean Casten,
D-Ill., and Diana Harshbarger,
R-Tenn.
And the chamber passed a
bill in a 420-0 vote to create
a peer support program
at the Veterans Benefits
Administration for sexual
trauma survivors.
The House also voted 420-0
to require the VA to provide
lactation rooms for veteran
moms in all of its medical
centers. An estimated 90 VA
facilities across the country
already have nursing rooms,
but only VA employees can
access them.
"The bills passed today
address the unique needs of
women veterans, including
ensuring safe and discreet
lactation spaces for veteran
mothers who seek care at
VA facilities and providing
dignity to survivors of MST
as they go through the claims
process," House Veterans
Affairs Committee Chairman
Mark Takano, D-Calif., said
in a statement.
The MST bills and the lactation
room bill still need to be voted
on by the Senate before they
could be signed into law by
Biden.

30 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us MAY 2022 EDITION
Britain: Russian Troops Likely to Redeploy from
Mariupol
KYIV, Ukraine — With the number of defenders left holed up in
a Mariupol steel factory dwindling, Russian commanders will be
coming under increasing pressure to reallocate troops from the
strategic southern port city to bolster their offensive in eastern
Ukraine, Britain's Defense Ministry said Friday.
More than 1,700 defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol
have surrendered since Monday, Russian authorities said, in what
appeared to be the final stage in the nearly three-month siege of the
now-pulverized port city.
In fighting in the eastern Donbas region, 12 people were killed and
60 houses destroyed when Russia shelled the neighboring cities of
Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, northwest of Luhansk, regional
governor Serhiy Haidai said in a Telegram post Friday.
In addition to Thursday's artillery attack, Russian ground troops
attempted to assault Severodonetsk but took losses and retreated,
Ukraine's General Staff said in its morning update.
In Mariupol, an unknown number of defenders remain in the
sprawling Azovstal complex, which is the last bastion of Ukrainian
resistance in the city — a target from the start of the invasion that
has been under effective Russian control for some time.
maneuver, Britain's Ministry of Defense said in a daily intelligence
report.
“Staunch Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol since the start of the
war means Russian forces in the area must be re-equipped and
refurbished before they can be redeployed effectively," the ministry
wrote on Twitter.
“Russian commanders, however, are under pressure to demonstrably
achieve operational objectives. That means that Russia will probably
redistribute their forces swiftly without adequate preparation, which
risks further force attrition.”
Analysts have said it is likely that most of the Russian forces that
were tied down by the battle there have already left.
How long the remaining troops in the Azovstal factory can still hold
out, however, is not clear.
In a brief video message Thursday, the deputy commander of the
Azov Regiment, which led the defense of the steel mill, said he and
other fighters were still inside.
“An operation is underway, the details of which I will not announce,”
Svyatoslav Palamar said.
If the factory falls, Russia will likely use troops from the city to
reinforce operations elsewhere in the industrial Donbas region, but
the duration of the stiff resistance will complicate or prolong that
Ukrainian troops, bolstered by Western weapons, thwarted Russia’s
initial goal of storming the capital, Kyiv, and have put up stiff

WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 31
resistance against Moscow’s forces in the Donbas, which President
Vladimir Putin now has set his sights on capturing.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that
it had gathered personal information from hundreds of the soldiers
who had surrendered — name, date of birth, closest relative — and
registered them as prisoners as part of its role in ensuring the humane
treatment of POWs under the Geneva Conventions.
Amnesty International said in a tweet that the POW status means
that the soldiers “must not be subjected to any form of torture or illtreatment.”
At least some of the fighters were taken by the Russians to a former
penal colony in territory controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.
Others were hospitalized, according to a separatist official.
Russian state television distributed a video showing what it said was
wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the Azovstal plant in a hospital in
the Donetsk region.
The disheveled men, three to a room, lay in beds as they were fed and
seen to by doctors and nurses. A doctor, identified only as Natalya,
said most were in serious condition with multiple fractures and that
many would need prosthetic limbs.
One unidentified Ukrainian patient winced and groaned as a nurse
changed a bandage on his leg.
“The most important thing is that the leg was saved,” he said in
Russian. “The pain can be endured.”
While Ukraine expressed hope for a prisoner exchange, Russian
authorities have threatened to investigate some of the Azovstal
fighters for war crimes and put them on trial, branding them “Nazis”
and criminals.
The Azov Regiment's far-right origins have been seized on by the
Kremlin as part of an effort to cast Russia's invasion as a battle
against Nazi influence in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in the first war crimes trial held by Ukraine, Sgt. Vadim
Shishimarin, a 21-year-old member of a Russian tank unit, told
a court in Kyiv on Thursday that he shot Oleksandr Shelipov, a
62-year-old Ukrainian civilian, in the head on orders from an officer.
Shishimarin apologized to the victim’s widow, Kateryna Shelipova,
who described seeing her husband being shot just outside their home
in the early days of Russia’s invasion.
She told the court that she believes Shishimarin deserves a life
sentence, the maximum possible, but that she wouldn’t mind if he
were exchanged as part of a swap for the Azovstal defenders.
Also, more U.S. aid appeared to be on its way to Ukraine when the
Senate overwhelmingly approved a $40 billion package of military
and economic aid for the country and its allies. The House voted for
it last week. President Joe Biden’s quick signature was certain.
“Help is on the way, really significant help. Help that could make
sure that the Ukrainians are victorious,” Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer said.
In other developments, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke by phone on Thursday with his Russian
counterpart for the first time since the war began, and they agreed to
keep the lines of communications open, the Pentagon said.

32 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us MAY 2022 EDITION
Air Force Academy Cadet
Submits Resignation
After Refusing Vaccine
on Religious Grounds
A senior Air Force Academy cadet
who faces the possibility of being
kept from graduating with his
classmates after refusing to take
the COVID-19 vaccine on religious
grounds has begun proceedings to
resign from the school, according
to an academy official.
The cadet, whose name was not
released, has submitted paperwork
but his resignation has not been
finalized and is not yet official, said
academy spokesman Lt. Col. Brian
Maguire.
If the resignation goes through,
it will leave two senior cadets,
or "firsties," who have refused
the vaccine and will not be
allowed to participate in next
Wednesday's commencement
ceremony, according to Gordon
Klingenschmitt, a former Navy
chaplain who has been advocating
for the religious rights of 13 cadets
who raised faith-based objections
to taking the vaccine.
Dean Miller, academy chief of
media relations, told The Gazette
on Saturday that the three senior
cadets still could graduate and
receive their commissions if they
commit to receiving the COVID
vaccine according to the FDA's
schedule.
One senior cadet has reversed
course and taken the vaccine,
Klingenschmitt said, but only
because he is being treated for
cancer and refusal would have
made him ineligible for military
health care benefits.
"He basically was pressured to
violate his conscience and religious
freedom," said Klingenschmitt, a
1991 academy graduate. "He gave
in and took the vaccine only in
order to save his life."
Klingenschmitt said he did not
know a cadet had begun the
resignation process, but said he
would have advised against it.
"Strategically, it's a bad idea to
resign because they might lose
their legal standing, and they may
be forced to repay their tuition,"
he said. "If they resign, they still
owe."
Several of the cadets who refused
the vaccine are hoping to add
their names to the more than 200
"intervening plaintiffs" in a lawsuit
filed in Ohio earlier this year,
Klingenschmitt said. The lawsuit,
Doster v. Kendall, claims that Air
Force commanders were under
orders to deny religious waivers to
any airmen who wished to remain
in the service.
A copy of the lawsuit, obtained by
The Gazette, details a whistleblower
account alleging that in October
2021 Air Force Secretary Frank
Kendall held a closed-door meeting
with commanders "responsible
for adjudicating accommodation
requests to the Air Force's vaccine
mandate" and told them "no
religious accommodations could
or should be approved for anyone
who would be remaining in the
Department of the Air Force."
The lawsuit is requesting a
preliminary injunction that would
temporarily keep the Department
of the Air Force from taking any
administrative or punitive action
against the plaintiffs.
According to the lawsuit, the Air
Force has granted, to date, nearly
2,300 medical and administrative
vaccination exemptions, but only
42 out of more than 5,000 initial
requests for religious exemption.
All 42 service members who
received the religious waivers were
nearing the end of their careers.
"To be clear, the Department of
the Air Force has accommodated
thousands of airmen, at least
from a medical or administrative
perspective, thus belying any
claim that vaccination is a must
for mission accomplishment," the
lawsuit states.
On Wednesday, academy Director
of Public Affairs Brian Maguire
told The Gazette that "we provided
resources and information to the
cadets in order to make a decision
and graduate with the Class of
2022.
"The majority of our religious
accommodation requests centered
on the use of stem cells in the
development and/or production of
the currently available vaccines.
There are vaccines available
that did not use stem cells in the
development, testing or production,
which was presented as an option.
The cadets refused to commit to
this vaccine."
Klingenschmitt said several Air
Force Academy cadets have
received an official letter of
reprimand for not taking the
vaccine. A redacted copy of the letter
states the cadets are in violation of
Article 90 of the Uniform Code
of Military Justice for disobeying
an order from a superior officer.
A prospective military officer is
expected to follow orders from the
officers appointed over them even
if they disagree with the orders, the
letter states.
"Your failure to follow this order
calls into question your suitability
for military service," the letter
reads, in part. "In addition, your
failure to follow the vaccination
order jeopardizes the health, safety
and readiness of yourself and of
your fellow military members and
compromises our mission."
Klingenschmitt said he believes the
academy has violated the spirit, if
not the letter, of the vaccine policy
by denying religious exemptions
across the board.
"The vaccine policy says
exemptions will be granted on a
case-by-case basis," he said. "Well,
if they've granted zero out of 13,
then it's no longer a case-by-case
basis. It is a blanket denial."
About 80 people attended a rally on
Saturday in support of the senior
vaccine refusers, Klingenschmitt
said. Another protest will take
place near the north and south
Academy gates on graduation day,
May 25, he said.
"Our protest signs will be directed
at (academy Superintendent) Gen.
Richard Clark," he said. "They say,
'Keep your oath. Defend religious
freedom. Let them graduate.'"