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TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., Dec. 9, 2009 – Air Force Col. Michael Stapleton has come a long way since being diagnosed with cancer in 2006 while serving as 43rd Fighter Squadron commander here. Air Force Col. Michael Stapleton, diagnosed with cancer in 2006, is back flying in F-22 Raptors and T-38 Talons at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. U.S. Air Force photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Now the 49th Fighter Wing Operations Group commander at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Stapleton recalled that he didn’t realize at first that his illness was serious. "I had what appeared...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – The Army’s chief of staff stepped back in history Thursday evening to Christmas Eve in Belgium 65 years ago by reading one of the most inspirational letters written by a commander to his troops. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., chief of staff of the Army, reads the World War II Christmas letter from Gen. Anthony McAuliffe to his troops during the 13th annual Norwegian Tree Lighting Ceremony in Union Station, Washington D.C., Dec. 3, 2009. The tree is a gift from Norway and a symbol of the friendship between the United States and Norway. DoD...

CHIÈVRES, Belgium, Dec. 1, 2009 – Sixty-five years after World War II's landmark Battle of the Bulge, U.S. and Belgian troops will again march side by side in Bastogne on Dec. 12 and 13. Veterans and servicemembers from both nations are scheduled to join thousands of well-wishers, including town officials, dignitaries and local residents, in commemorating the Allied forces' victory in the famous World War II battle. "The traditional carnival-like atmosphere in Bastogne over the weekend celebrates the historic grit and determination of our two nations' veterans 65 years ago, and the solemn ceremony at the Mardasson Memorial overlooking the...

Flying into the besieged Afghan base during a nighttime firefight this weekend was a harrowing mix of overwhelming noise, stomach dropping maneuvers and shadows hurrying through the gloom. When the chopper lifted off moments later with three wounded soldiers, it left behind others who were wounded but refused to be MEDEVACED out of the combat zone so they could return to fight with their buddies. Fighting raged at two remote U.S. outpostsnear the Pakistan border this weekend, that left eight U.S. soldiers dead and 24 wounded. The battle was fought from Friday night through Sunday as hundreds of Taliban insurgents...

Specialist Alexander Miller had been watching a mysterious Afghan standing in a cornfield for 20 minutes. But it took only a split second for the American soldier to be mortally wounded. As Miller turned his back momentarily, the Afghan picked up a weapon hidden at his feet and fired a burst. One of the rounds tore into the 21- year-old soldier’s groin. Troops rushed to apply pressure to the wound as they called in a helicopter, but he was dead on arrival at the nearest field hospital... Nuristan’s rugged landscape, dotted with stone huts encircled by farmland, formed the backdrop...

US Marines are at the vanguard of the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Our correspondent Ian Pannell has travelled to one of the Marines' most remote outposts, south of Garmisir, where he witnessed the heat of the battle. (VIDEO)

A NOAA-led research mission has located and identified the final resting place of the YP-389, a U.S. Navy patrol boat sunk approximately 20 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, by a German submarine during World War II. Six sailors died in the attack on June 19, 1942. There were 18 survivors. The wreck is located in about 300 feet of water in a region off North Carolina known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” home to U.S. and British naval vessels, merchant ships, and German U-boats sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic. NOAA and its expedition partners...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A new international naval force under American command will soon begin patrols to confront escalating attacks by Somali pirates after more than 100 ships came under siege in the past year, the U.S. Navy said Thursday. But the mission — expected to begin operations next week — appears more of an attempt to sharpen the military focus against piracy rather than a signal of expanded offensives .. The force will carry no wider authority to strike at pirate vessels at sea or specific mandates to move against havens on shore — ..

Its the 170th anniversary of a pioneer story hardly anyone ever hears anymore. One of those stories about courageous men with nothing more than a bag of seeds, a hoe, hammer and musket, a pregnant wife and a horse come to stay. They fought off wild animals, hostile natives, outlaw bandits and other hardships to make the once desolate landscape a land of flowing milk and honey. The story you are about to read is one that hardly any American ever hears. Primarily because this story is not set in the wild untamed west of North America but in the...

Army News video: Quebec reservists train to deploy with artilleryValcartier, QC – 5 RALC teaches recruits about equipment, tactics for future Afghanistan missions.

If you don't want to wake up on Wednesday morning with the most marxist, socialist, corrupt, anti-american president we have ever had, then this message is for you. Please do not spend the next 4 days in your house or at work. Please take the day off and get busy fighting for John McCain and Sarah Palin. Even if you are not in a swing state, if you are a near a swing state, then get to one and help!!! If you are in a non-swing state, get on the phone and call the numbers at JohnMcCain.com to help convince...

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported October 23 that Democratic Congressman Jack Murtha is in a statistical dead heat with Republican challenger William Russell, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who decided to run against Murtha after the congressman made disparaging remarks about Marines serving in Iraq. According to the report, Murtha holds a lead of just over 4 percentage points, which is within the polling margin of error for the poll cited by the Tribune-Review. The poll was taken immediately after Murtha's latest controversial remark about constituents in his district, so the poll may change again after the effect of Murtha's comments...

Here’s the news The Battle for Main Street, Hometown, U.S.A: Sept 29, 2008, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Dodd committed an act of domestic, economic terrorism. Don’t wait for the claim of responsibility from their organization known as ALL SPENDA. Obama Bin Phonein will not call that in, he does not want us to get a fix on his position. We should expect the release of tapes demonstrating that Bin Phonein is still alive, it’s all Bush’s fault and that all American’s will pay dearly on April 15th 2009. The follow up attack of April 15th is being conducted under the...

WHEN IS JOHN McCAIN ACTUALLY GOING TO JOIN BATTLE WITH HIS OPPONENTS IN THIS CAMPAIGN? I have grown so discouraged with John McCain's inaction; his seeming lack of commitment; his refusal to take the fight to the enemy in this Presidential Campaign, that a few moments ago I submitted the comments below to his Official Campaign Website. For all I know they may be deleted and totally disregarded by the operatives at his end. But they relect my true feelings at this juncture.

Shifting Battleground Since the polling team last surveyed likely voters in August, a lot has changed. The number of battleground states has shrunk — from 19 to 14 — as Alaska, Georgia, North Dakota and Montana returned to their Republican roots. In August, Obama led in the 14 states by 3 points. Now McCain leads in those states by 2, and the underlying political landscape has shifted a bit as well. In August, by a 7-point margin, more voters identified themselves as Democrats. Now, in the battleground states, the Democratic advantage in party identification has shrunk to 2 points.

One of the members of the crew of a ship in the Black Sea Fleet, upon his return to Sevastopol is interviewed by a reporter regarding the battle with Georgian cutters off of Abkhazia on 10 August. This is currently leading the news in the Ukraine. The story suggests he is being interviewed by a kpunews reporter. "We took up station guarding the opposed landing on the Abkhaz shore when all of a sudden four high speed targets were detected. We sent out an IFF signal and the targets didn't react. Receiving a command from the flagship, we got into...

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008 – Army and Air National Guard members from California and North Carolina are supporting firefighting efforts in Northern California today following a state active-duty call-up by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a request for airborne firefighting assets by the Interagency Fire Center. The governor's office reported yesterday that a "swarm of dry lighting cells over the last 16 hours sparked nearly 400 new fires across the state, spanning from Monterey and Fresno counties to the Oregon-California border." Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency June 22 for Monterey and Trinity counties. The governor made similar declarations for...

SACRAMENTO - Guarding against a unilateral move by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to build a revised Peripheral Canal, key lawmakers have inserted special provisions in the state budget to prevent an end-run around the Legislature and voters. Schwarzenegger's top water advisers maintain they have no intentions of independently launching a new north-to-south delivery system. But, the state has already initiated exploratory environmental studies for four different conveyance options. Even the Legislature's own attorney, in a recent opinion, concluded that the Department of Water Resources "has the authority, without further legislative or voter approval, to build a conveyance facility, commonly referred to...

KOBE, Japan - The world is losing momentum in the battle against global warming, the U.N. climate chief warned on Saturday, urging environmental ministers from wealthy nations to revive the effort by setting clear targets for reducing greenhouse gases. The ministers gathered in the western Japanese city of Kobe for a three-day meeting as evidence mounted that rising world temperatures have been taking a toll on the earth at a faster rate than previously forecast. The officials from the Group of Eight countries, joined by representatives from other countries including China and other organizations, were to lay the foundations for...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducted training with their IA counterparts at Patrol Base Red May 15 to prepare the IA Soldiers for joint patrols. The Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, are stationed at PB Red along with the Iraqi company from 6th Battalion, 25th Brigade, 6th IA Division. “We’re currently training the IA in basic soldiering skills,” said platoon leader and instructor 1st Lt. Christopher Domenico, adding the Soldiers are right out of the Iraqi basic training environment. “They do know good skills. They can...