By Debbie Gregory.

Three World War II heroes, Pvt. 1st Class Joseph Reilly, Staff Sergeant Irving Locker, and Sergeant Herman Zeitchik were recognized at the State of the Union address. All three fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

Like most from the Greatest Generation, 97-year-old Joseph Reilly was one was of 16 million Americans to serve his nation during World War II.  Born in Janesville, Wisconsin, Reilly enlisted into the Army as a paratrooper. He served with the 101st Airborne while parachuting into France as part of the June 1944 D-Day invasion. He then went on to fight at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge.

Today, Reilly continues to mentor thousands of youth through a significant number of annual speaking engagements, school appointments and business meetings providing his insight into the human element of WWII.  

Locker, from Passaic, New Jersey, said the hard part about D-Day was simply getting ashore. He was in charge of a gun in an anti-aircraft artillery battery, and all members of his unit were weighed down with heavy equipment and ammunition.

Zeitchik was knighted a Chevalier with the French Legion of Honor for aiding in the liberation of Paris. He was among the first U.S. troops to enter Paris. He said they pulled in at night and slept in the streets. The next morning, the Parisians saw them and the celebration began.

Both Locker and Zeitchik were present when the Nazi extermination camps were liberated by U.S. forces.

Seated next to Zeitchik was 90-year-old Joshua Kaufman, a survivor of Dachau who was liberated by Zeitchik and other Americans.

Illustrating the the widespread helplessness at the time; Locker, who knew Yiddish and some German, said he spoke to German civilians in the nearby towns. They stated that they did not know about the camps existence or if they did they had no knowledge of what went on there. He said he would ask in an attempt to better understand the lack of involvement, “How come you never stopped it? How come you never said anything?” Unfortunately their answers reflected the self-preservation that was prevalent for that time and situation, for if they felt that if they spoke up, they would have found themselves in the camps as well.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, less than 497,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II were still alive in 2018. It is wise for us as a Nation to actively engage with those that remain so that we can hear their first hand accounts of what they lived through as they protected our country and the rest of the world.

By embracing and remembering the courage, bravery, and patriotism shown by all of our country’s veterans, hopefully we can learn from these experiences and find a more common ground; as we work towards continual improvements and enduring peace.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

Chances are you would never leave for a road trip without your GPS device, or if you’re old school, your map is in the glove compartment. The same holds true for starting a business; your business plan is the road map that will guide you through each stage of starting and managing your business.

Your business plan determines how you will structure, run, and grow your business.

Business plans are essential if you are trying to secure funding or investors. Your business plan is the tool you’ll use to convince people that investing in your company is a smart choice.

So how do you write a business plan? First you will need to determine the format by choosing either a traditional business plan format or a lean startup business plan.

The traditional business plan is very detailed and very comprehensive. You will want to include a description of your company, your service or products, an executive summary, your organization’s structure, key personnel, your future projections and if you are requesting funding, how much you are asking for and how you will use it.

The lean startup format is less detailed and advantageous over the traditional business plan if you want to explain or start your business quickly. This works best if your business is relatively simple, or you plan to refine your business plan at a later date.  Be sure to describe your company’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances.

The good news about writing a business plan? It isn’t carved in stone. If you’re not satisfied with the format or need to make changes, you can always revise your plan as needed.

Regardless of which format you choose, the important thing to remember is to be concise. Your business plan works as a guide for you and your team, making it easier to identify goals and allowing you to work towards a common vision for your company. Having this kind of document contributes to the success of the business; all while enabling you as the CEO to have more confidence in your overall business goals.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

A. Ernest Fitzgerald, called the “patron saint of government whistleblowers” has died at the age of 92.

Fitzgerald was a member of the Senior Executive Service, a management systems deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. Fitzgerald was responsible for the development of improved management controls, including cost estimating and analysis, and productivity enhancement and measurement.

In November In 1968, Fitzgerald reported a $2.3 billion cost overrun in the Lockheed C-5 aircraft program. As a congressional witness before the Joint Economic Committee, he rejected the advice of Air Force officials and testified with candor and transparency about billions of dollars in avionics program cost overruns and other technical problems.

Less than a year later, the Air Force said Fitzgerald would be losing his job in January 1970 as part of a wholesale trimming of civilian personnel that had nothing to do with his testimony.

But it was in response to Fitzgerald’s testimony that President Richard M. Nixon directed he be fired, and Fitzgerald was ultimately terminated.

Fitzgerald fought his dismissal, and in 1973 won his case before the Civil Service Commission, which ordered him reinstated with $80,000 in back pay.

Believing that the Air Force assigned him to matters beneath his pay grade, in 1974 Fitzgerald once again sued the U.S. government, this time to regain his original responsibilities. He won again.

Fitzgerald continued to fight a four-decade-long campaign against fraud, waste, and abuse within the department. Consequently, he was instrumental in the enactment of the Civil Reform Act of 1978, a precursor to the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989.

Ernie Fitzgerald’s true legacy will be the trail he blazed for those willing to challenge those in power who have abused the system.

“Mr. Fitzgerald’s fight to retain his job after blowing the whistle on cost overruns on the C-5 aircraft program was a landmark moment in the effort to protect the rights of whistleblowers,” then-acting Pentagon Inspector General Thomas Gimble said as he presented him with the IG’s Distinguished Civilian Service Medal when Fitzgerald stepped down from his Pentagon job 13 years ago.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen

Spotlight Labs, a veteran-owned technology company, has announced the availability of its SPYDR hypoxia sensor device. The helmet insert gathers human biometric and aircraft condition data, detects and warns pilots of their imminent incapacitation and records high fidelity flight data for post-flight analysis and improved flight outcomes.

The SPYDR was developed by a team of former fighter pilots and engineers at Spotlight Labs, and has been U.S. Air Force flight proven. The device can be fielded immediately to prevent loss of life and improve pilot performance and training.in aircraft that have had a history of pilots reporting hypoxia-like symptoms, such as the T-6 Texan II trainer.

The device replaces existing ear cups in a flight helmet. It also includes three sensors and a bone-conducting transducer that collects data at relevant physiological points on the neck and head. It does not require any manipulation within the cockpit for the device to work, according to Spotlight Labs.

“Everything in tactical aviation is instrumented — except the pilot,” Brian Bradke, the lead biomedical engineer at Spotlight Labs as well as an experienced F-16 Fighting Falcon instructor pilot, said in the release.

In a press release dated January 20th, Dr. Brian Bradke, a biomedical engineer, F-16 pilot and lead engineer for biometrics at Spotlight Labs said, “The SPYDR instruments the operator, giving individual pilots tools for safety and performance in flight, while collecting valuable data that will fuel improved performance and increased risk mitigation for the pilot community as a whole.”

Once the device’s flight and human data are combined, it can be analyzed “using machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques that demonstrate increases or decreases in individual performance, workload and stress factors,” the release said.

“This data can be incorporated to quantify spikes in risk for specific aircraft, units, mission types, geography or other flight elements,” it added.

Spotlight Labs was founded by fighter pilots in 2005 as a training and operations company. The company  built a tactical training staff comprised of Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Air Force Combat Controllers and other Department of Defense special operations forces elements. In 2009, Spotlight Labs expanded into software development for the war fighter. The company has produced cutting edge software in the areas of tactical data links, airfield surveys, sensor integration, cryptology and mobile devices.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

It’s the world’s most used missile defense system, intercepting more than 1,500 targets with a greater than 90 percent success rate since being fielded in 2011. Now the U.S. Army has announced its intent to buy a limited number of Iron Dome weapon systems from Israel to protect its soldiers on the battlefield.

Iron Dome is an effective, truck-towed mobile air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.  Rafael teamed with Raytheon on the production of Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptor missiles to engage incoming threats launched from up to 40 miles away. It can be operated in all weather conditions including fog, dust storm, low clouds and rain. It features a first-of-its-kind multi-mission launcher, which is designed to fire a variety of interceptor missiles, depending on the threat.

“It’s the world’s most used missile defense system, intercepting more than 1,500 targets with a greater than 90 percent success rate since being fielded in 2011,” according to Raytheon’s website.

Air and missile defense is one of the Army’s top modernization priorities in an effort to replace its Big Five weapons platforms — which include the Patriot air defense system — by 2028.

“The Iron Dome will be assessed and experimented as a system that is currently available to protect deployed U.S. military service members against a wide variety of indirect-fire threats and aerial threats,” said Col. Patrick Seiber, spokesman for Army Futures Command. “Protection of our soldiers is paramount; they deserve the tools needed to fight, win and return home safely,” Seiber added.

“While Iron Dome has been in operational use by the Israeli Air Force since 2011 and proven effective in combat, it should be noted that the U.S. Army will assess a variety of options for its long-term IFPC solution,” Seiber said in a statement.

Raytheon is working toward production of a U.S. version of Iron Dome called the “SkyHunter missile” that could someday defend forward-deployed American forces.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,