The United States Navy will conduct another test of its breath testing program, prior to the fleet-wide implementation of the program.

The program aims to stem alcohol abuse among Sailors, although troops are concerned that it may be used as a form of punishment. The program was announced in February, after which fleet enlisted leaders recommended the conduct of testing.

Juan M. Garcia, assistant secretary of the Navy for personnel, shared: “The plans are still to field it fleetwide by the end of the year… But we’re going to do some more testing this summer to ensure when we field it, we do it right.”

According to Garcia, only a few commands will begin mandatory breath testing this summer. This is being done to collect initial data that will assist in writing a fleet-wide policy that is due for release in the fall.

So far, a 45 percent decrease in alcohol-related incidents has been observed in the submarine community, and similar results were found in the Naval Academy community as well. Fleet enlisted leaders, however, feel the need for more testing in a more diverse set of commands, before the adoption of a Navy-wide policy.

Fleet Master Chief (AW/SW) Mike Stevens, the top enlisted sailor in Fleet Forces Command, shared: “We believe it is important to conduct a pilot program to obtain feedback from the fleet… [The test data] can help determine the most effective approach for implementation to be included in a summary recommendation for the final policy.”

Military families will be able to enjoy free entrance into national parks, as part of an initiative to express gratitude to service members and their families for the sacrifices that they make in the service of their country.

Members of the military will be able to secure an annual pass to national parks, beginning on Saturday, May 19, as announced by the Interior Department on Tuesday. May 19 is also Armed Forces Day.

The America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Annual Pass provides access to more than 2,000 national parks, wildlife refuges, and other public lands. It ordinarily costs $80, but military service members are able to get it free of charge. The passes will allow a single private vehicle access to the sites (for those sites that charge per vehicle), or cover the pass owner and three adults aged 16 and older.

The initiative was marked by a ceremony on Tuesday at the Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Virginia. The park is the site of the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War, and is located in a region of Virginia that serves as the home of all five branches of the military, including the largest naval base in the world.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar shared the following statement with reporters: “I think when one goes into Virginia and you see all the sites, the Yorktown battlefield and the whole history of the country, it’s important that those who have fought in the tradition of making sure the nation’s democracy and freedom are protected also have access to these wonderful sites there.”

A sizable crowd gathered at a bookstore in The Woodlands in Texas for the book signing of one of Texas’ beloved sons: former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.

Luttrell was at Barnes & Noble at The Woodlands to sign copies of his new book “Service: A Navy SEAL at War.”

Hundreds of people, including old acquaintances and retired service members, lined up at the bookstore, among them Vietnam War Veteran and Montgomery resident John Kahler, who said: “I just wanted to be here to support Marcus and support the military… I just wanted to be here to support Marcus and support the military.”

Tommy Smith of Conroe, a Navy Veteran, on the other hand, shared: “Luttrell is an outstanding American – a real patriot… What he did was unbelievable; he’s somebody the nation can be proud of.” Smith, incidentally, is also working on publishing a book about snipers.

Also present at the event was Bill Briggs of spring, who went to school with Marcus and his twin brother, Morgan (an active-duty SEAL), at Sam Houston State University. A 12-year U.S. Army Veteran himself, Briggs shared the following of the Luttrell brothers: “They were highly respected on campus… highly respected on campus.”

“Service” was released on May 8, and contains a reflection of Luttrell’s difficult transition to civilian life. He has indeed come a long way since becoming the “lone survivor” and losing his comrades. He is now a husband, father, and leadership speaker. He writes about embracing life’s challenges, and finding the strength to face the future.

Young scientists and engineers who are competing at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2012, scheduled for May 13 to 18 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, stand a chance to win scholarships from the government, the industry, and the academe.

Among the agencies that will provide scholarship funding to deserving students is the Office of Naval Research (ONR), which provides $8,000 Tuition Scholarship Awards to the top 17 finishers, as well as three awards of $4,000 each to participants with original research in such critical, naval-relevant scientific areas as electrical engineering, environmental engineering and microbiology.

In addition, the ONR will give four $4,000 Tuition Scholarship Awards to three individuals and one two-member team to attend the London International Youth Science Forum in August.

More than 1,500 students, from grades 9 through 12, gathered for ISEF to present their independent research projects. Dr. Anthony Junior, director of the Department of the Navy Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions Program office, shared: “ONR is actively investing in the future by providing scholarships to these students, who represent some of the best and brightest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics… They’re exactly the type of sharp, high achievers that we’ll need to solve problems for the Navy, Marine Corps and the nation.”

Young scientists and engineers who will receive ONR scholarship funds will be given a certificate signed by Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, Chief of Naval Research, as well as a miniature Lone Sailor Statue.

ONR staff is on hand to provide information on its various educational outreach programs during the event.

It is a question that a number of young men have probably asked themselves, especially recently when Navy SEAL accomplishments have been plastered all over the news: “Do I have what it takes to be a Navy SEAL?”

Whether you are in it for the long haul or are simply curious as to what the answer to the question is, there is a way for you to find out, through the SEAL Adventure Challenge.

The SEAL Adventure Challenge is a one-day program offered by SEAL Training Adventures, which offers programs taught and handled by former Special Forces Operators, including former SEAL Team SIX officer Don Mann. The program lasts for 24 continuous hours, where participants will be challenged both physically and mentally, and where they will learn about team work and individual excellence – lessons that will prove to be valuable to anyone, regardless of whether they end up becoming one of the elite Navy SEALs or not.

Here is the typical SEAL Adventure Challenge Schedule:

• 07:00 Muster/Form Up Boat Crews, Coxians, PST Clinic Inside Damneck Main Gate
• 08:00 Pool Evolutions – Drown Proofing, CSS, Team Races, Underwater Swim, Deck PT, Tread Water, Sardine
• 11:00 Transport to Ft. Story (personal vehicle, STA provides transportation as needed)
• 12:00 Muster/ PT MRE – Run to Beach, Surf Torture, Log PT, BUD/s PST, O-course
• 17:00 MRE
• 17:30 Monster Mash
• 21:30 Patrolling Course, Cami, Cover vs. Concealment
• 22:00 Mission Brief – Patrol to bonafidies, Gather Intel of POW, Patrol to Recon POW area, Gather Intel and return to HQ for debrief
• 03:30 Meal
• 04:00 Beach PT
• 06:00 Clean Up / Graduation / Endex

The SEAL Adventure Challenge costs $179, but for a limited time, doing a good deed for our nation’s heroes will give you a chance to win a free pass to the Challenge, by participating in a fund raising raffle for the benefit of Heroes of Tomorrow.

Heroes of Tomorrow is “a nationwide army of veterans and other experts who donate their time and share their experiences to prepare Americans who have made the heroic choice to serve our country and communities.” The organization is manned by volunteers who provide group training and information for free, in order to help military hopefuls excel in such public service fields as the military, law enforcement, public safety, and firefighter training.

The organization was founded by former Navy SEAL Stew Smith, who has made a name for himself internationally as an author of fitness books and a speaker. Smith has donated more than 5,000 hours of his personal time through Heroes of Tomorrow since 2001, providing interested citizens with the training necessary to pursue careers in public service.

Heroes of Tomorrow does its work at a training facility located near Annapolis, Maryland.

Raffle tickets are available now for $2.00 each, and each ticket represents a chance at the free pass for the SEAL Adventure Challenge set for July 29 to August 4. All the proceeds for the sales of the raffle tickets will be donated to Heroes of Tomorrow; multiple tickets will increase one’s chances of winning. The winner will be chosen randomly on July 1st.

For those who are interested in taking things one step further and actually immerse themselves into the daily life of the members of an active duty Special Operations Force (SOF) Platoon, SEAL Training Adventures also offers a seven-day event called the Special Operations Forces (SOF) Academy. Participants stand to earn not just first-hand experience that will better prepare them for being part of the SEALs, Army SF, Rangers, Delta, Marine Recon, or PJs, but five formal certifications in Basic SCUBA, AFF Skydiving, Basic Shooting, Tactical Casualty Care Medical Training (TCCC), and Land Navigation.

Not everyone can be a Navy SEAL, and Stew Smith is among the chosen few who made it into the elite team and served our country well. Despite having already hung up his uniform, Smith has made it his life’s work to prepare young people who, like himself at one point, want to serve their country by being a member of Special Forces teams.

In an e-mail interview, the fitness author and former Navy SEAL shared his own story.

His journey towards becoming a Navy SEAL began at the Naval Academy, which provided him with among the best education available in America, as well as a plethora of opportunities after graduation.

He shared how meeting a few Navy SEALs ignited a desire to become part of the Navy’s elite: “First, it was the challenging workouts we did at the Naval Academy, and preparing for one of the hardest military training challenges in the world seemed like the perfect thing to test myself. Team work – after being a team-playing athlete for over a decade prior to going to the USNA, the team work of being on a SEAL Team was what I wanted to do.”

Being a SEAL also meant that there were an unlimited number of things for him to do after his service. Smith did not stray too far. In his first book, “The Complete Guide to Navy SEALs Fitness,” he still stayed true to his Navy SEAL roots. When asked about his decision to embark on a new career, Smith shared: “As the son of an English teacher and a newspaper journalist/publisher, I knew I wanted to be a writer one day, but never really knew what I could write about. Until, that is, I made it through SEAL Training and was soon helping others prepare for military PFTs as a hobby.”

“I happened to have completed a book on the training I used personally to prepare for the Navy SEAL fitness test and by chance bumped into a publisher who was starting a military fitness section in his company and a writing career was born.”

His writing career, however, is not the only thing that keeps him busy. More than ten years ago, Smith founded Heroes of Tomorrow, an organization consisting of Veterans and other experts, much like Smith himself, “who donate their time and share their experiences to prepare Americans who have made the heroic choice to serve our country and communities.”

“I started Heroes of Tomorrow… over ten years ago when I turned my personal workouts into invites to local kids seeking to prepare for military and spec ops professions,” Smith shared. “We do our training for free. I have donated over five thousand hours of training in the past ten years but these are my own workouts each day, but I just offer to teach the future military, police, fire fighters how to prepare for their jobs.”

When asked for tips to share to Navy SEAL and other Spec Ops hopefuls, Smith suggested building up on one’s strong points, while at the same time covering one’s weaknesses.

You can support Stew’s organization by participating in a fund raising raffle held by US Navy SEAL Store for the benefit of Heroes of Tomorrow. You can also win a free pass to the SEAL Adventure Challenge ($179 value). Click Here to learn the details.