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Will soldiers have enough time to vote?Published: Saturday, October 3, 2009 FORT DRUM (AP) — Military and election officials insist that hundreds of deployed Fort Drum soldiers will have enough time to return their absentee ballots in next month’s special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, even though they won’t be mailed out for another two weeks. Friday was the regular deadline for counties to mail out absentee ballots to military personnel for the Nov. 3 general election. But those ballots don’t have the names of the three candidates in the 23rd District because the special election wasn’t set...

FORT DRUM – The skies above the North Country will come alive June 28-29 as the nation's most modern military aircraft are joined by venerable examples of aviation history in the first air show of its kind at Fort Drum, capping a week-long celebration of Fort Drum's one hundred years as a fixture in Northern New York. The free air show will provide participants the opportunity to view the nation's military air might and meet the men and women who pilot the aircraft, many of whom have recently returned from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The annual celebration of Fort...

AL KUT — Iraqi Police (IP) and Coalition forces set up a temporary forward Tactical Operations Center (TOC) here March 31, to ensure information passes quickly between IP checkpoints and mounted military police squads. The TOC will serve as a Joint Communications Center between the 511th MP Company, from Fort Drum, N.Y., the IP in al Kut, and support elements at Forward Operating Base Delta. With IPs in the lead, MP squads have patrolled several districts of al Kut. After days of sporadic small-arms fire and clashes with rogue criminals, the IP continues operations to suppress any further violence in...

The newspaper accounts included regiment information and blood alcohol content. Silhouettes were used when photos were not available.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A soldier who served two combat tours in Iraq was arrested Wednesday for leaving the Army without permission more than a year ago to seek treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. At a news conference hours before his arrest, Sgt. Brad Gaskins said he left the base in August 2006 because the Army wasn't providing effective treatment after he was diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression. "They just don't have the resources to handle it, but that's not my fault," Gaskins said. Tod Ensign, an attorney with Citizen Soldier, a GI rights group that is representing Gaskins,...

Two soldiers from Alaska were among four killed in Iraq on Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee, the U.S. Department of Defense said today. Staff Sgt. Carletta S. Davis, 34, of Anchorage and Sgt. Derek T. Stenroos, 24, of North Pole were serving with a unit from Fort Drum, N.Y., post spokesmen said in a written statement. They died during combat operations in Tal Al-Dahab, Iraq. Davis was assigned to the 10th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). Stenroos was assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat...

The air was charged with excitement Saturday as friends and Family Members sat, stood, ran around and jumped up and down as they waited for Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team to march into Magrath Gym. Some Families arrived at the gym more than five hours early to guarantee they had good seats to welcome home their troops from a 15-month deployment to Iraq. Melissa Prater, spouse of a Soldier from 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, said she felt “butterflies” of excitement in her stomach because she could not wait to see her husband. “I’ve been waiting so long to...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2007 – About 1,000 members of 10th Mountain Division will deploy to Iraq this spring as replacements for troops due to rotate home, Defense Department officials announced today. The division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y., has been alerted of the upcoming deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed today. “It was not a surprise. It was more of a confirmation,” Benjamin Abel, the division’s media relations officer, told American Forces Press Service. Since returning from its last deployment in February and March, the unit has received new troops and conducted collective training,...

After a year and a few months, 120 Fort Drum soldiers are set to return from their mission in Iraq. Action News will keep you posted as the troops arrive and reunite with family and friends. FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) - It's welcome-home time at Fort Drum. More than 120 Soldiers from the Tenth Mountain Division's Second Brigade Combat Team make their long- awaited return tomorrow when the unit's advance party lands at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield. The returning soldiers will be re-united with their families at a ceremony at Magrath Gym at 3 pm. The troops have been in Iraq...

VICTORY BASE COMPLEX, Iraq, Aug. 27, 2007 — Since the beginning of the war Americans have provided basic medical care to Iraqis, but more and more Iraqi medics are treating their own countrymen. Members of Task Force Vigilant, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y., coordinated with Iraqi medics and doctors to conduct a combined medical engagement outside Victory Base Complex, Aug. 24 "Today is a good day to show the Iraqi people we can help them. It is my job to help them and I am glad that I am able to." Dr. Zetad...

FORT DRUM, N.Y., June 25, 2007 – Imagine being married for almost 18 months, but spending only one of those months together. That is exactly what Scott and Katie Horrigan experienced when Scott -- an Army captain who commands the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment’s Alpha Company -- deployed with the 10th Mountain Division in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Army Capt. Scott Horrigan, a company commander with the 10th Mountain Division’s 87th Infantry Regiment, is reunited with his wife, Katie, and son, Mitchell, upon returning from a deployment to Afghanistan. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

Iraq veterans discuss war opposition Michael Blake joined the U.S. Army right out of high school and trained as a unit supply specialist. He served in Iraq from April 2003 to March 2004, mostly driving Humvees. After his first tour of duty, Blake was one of 63 people that year to apply for an honorable discharge as a conscientious objector, and was one of 32 to be granted it. Blake, and two other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, spoke Saturday night to about 75 people at the Unitarian Church annex in Ithaca. The event was organized by Tompkins...

Army archaeologists discovering history at Fort Drum Source: AP (12-10-05) Building for the future at the U.S. Army's Fort Drum is helping unveil the past. The newest discovery at the northern New York Army post is a prehistoric boat-building site near what would have been the shoreline of Glacial Lake Iroquois. A team of Fort Drum archaeologists surveying a wooded hillside near where the Army is putting a new National Guard training site unearthed an unusual looking stone tool. With the help of a U.S. Marine archaeologist, the team was able to identify it as a triangular-pointed reamer, a typical...

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Building for the future at the U.S. Army's Fort Drum is helping unveil the past. The newest discovery at the northern New York Army post is a prehistoric boat-building site near what would have been the shoreline of Glacial Lake Iroquois. A team of Fort Drum archaeologists surveying a wooded hillside near where the Army is putting a new National Guard training site unearthed an unusual looking stone tool. With the help of a U.S. Marine archaeologist, the team was able to identify it as a triangular-pointed reamer, a typical prehistoric boat-building tool. They also found...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2005 – The United States has a winning strategy for Iraq that's showing steady success on the political, economic and security fronts, the president and vice president said today in separate forums. "Our strategy is one that ... will lead us to victory," President Bush said in response to a reporter's question following a meeting with Dr. Lee Jong-Wook, director of the World Health Organization. Terrorists have nothing to offer the Iraqi people, who Bush said are showing "incredible courage" in the face of violence by extremists desperate to reverse the wheels of progress. That progress continues...

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney told military troops Tuesday that terrorists can win in Iraq only ``if we lose our nerve and abandon our mission.'' He rejected calls for a speedy drawdown of troops. ``This would be unwise in the extreme,'' Cheney told the troops, some just back from Iraq.

KABUL , Afghanistan, Nov. 23, 2005 —Senior Afghan National Police officers recently returned from a trip to the United States where they met with key leaders from the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division and officers from several U.S. law enforcement agencies. "We have the policemen, now we need the systems that help police do their jobs," Afghan Brig. Gen. Sahki Baiani, Afghan National Police, Afghan Brig. Gen. Sahki Baiani, special advisor to the chief of the Afghan National Police (ANP), and Col. Wasim Azimi, chief of Operations for the Afghan Ministry of Interior, toured Fort Drum, N.Y., and local law...

SMA shares vision of Army with Soldiers at Drum By Sgt. Cain S. Claxton March 24, 2005 FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Army News Service, March 24, 2005) -- The sergeant major of the Army visited Fort Drum March 22 to explain Army changes, specifically how those changes affect the enlisted ranks. Talking to Soldiers of all ranks and job skills, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston outlined the Army’s transformation into consolidated brigade combat teams/units of action and its effect on Soldiers. The BCT/UA transformation will make the Army more adaptable to changing battlefields, Preston said, but will also...

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Army News Service, Jan. 13, 2005)― The 42nd Infantry Division has deployed to Iraq with what leaders term a powerful, yet subtle, combat-multiplier — the sniper-trained Soldiers of the division’s 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment, and their newly-issued M-14 rifles. The rifles are “part and parcel” of the changing LRS(D) mission, said the unit’s commander, Capt. Michael Manning. “This is not a detachment of snipers,” said Manning. “This is a detachment of highly trained intelligence collectors. We have sniping capability. Now we can acquire targets, identify targets, and destroy targets with organic direct fire weapons. That’s the...

Man brandishes rocket launcher during argument SYRACUSE, NY — A Syracuse, New York, man got the scare of his life when another man pointed a rocket launcher at him during an argument. Luckily, the weapon had already been used and was inoperable. Police say the two men were arguing when one of them pulled the rocket launcher out of his girlfriend's vehicle, pulled off the cap, extended the tube and pointed it at the other man. Police later seized the rocket launcher. No charges were filed. The man said the rocket launcher came from a friend who had used it...

(Fort Drum-AP) -- Afghanistan's president spoke to about a thousand troops from the Tenth Mountain Division at Fort Drum Tuesday afternoon. President Hamid Karzai told the soldiers that their deeds will be "written in golden letters" in Afghan history. He said the troops had helped reclaim the country from terror and oppression. Because of U-S military involvement, Karzai said Afghanistan now has a constitution, a functioning government, and a national army, and is about ot hold the first elections in its history. Karzai assisted Major General Lloyd Austin in presenting Purple Hearts to two soldiers for their heroism in Afghanistan. Neither the...

(1010 WINS) (FORT DRUM, N.Y.) The president of Afghanistan will visit Fort Drum next week to honor the U.S. soldiers who helped provide security to his war-torn country. Afghan President Hamid Karzai will visit the Tenth Mountain Division's northern New York base on Tuesday, during his trip to the United States to attend the Group of Eight summit next week in Georgia. Karzai will meet with President Bush at the White House on June 15th. Karzai was named leader of the transitional Afghan government in December 2001. He will run for president in September, when the nation holds its first...

<p>February 23, 2004 -- Two weeks ago, these 11 foreign-born New Yorkers weren't even citizens yet. Two weeks from now, they'll be serving their adopted country on the front lines in Iraq - as full-fledged Americans. During a Feb. 7 ceremony, with hundreds of cheering friends and family looking on, these 11 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry of the New York National Guard turned in their green cards and put the citizen into soldier.</p>

  Soldier to marry live on `Regis & Kelly' NEW YORK (Army News Service, Feb. 3, 2004) -- A 10th Mountain Division soldier recovering from injuries sustained in Iraq and his fiancée from Syracuse, N.Y., will "tie the knot" on national television Feb. 6 after a week of "courting" on Live with Regis & Kelly. Spc. Robert Fleming and fiancée April Zehr will get "the wedding of their dreams during Live's Wedding Week," said Ann Marie Williams-Gray, the segment producer. The nationally syndicated show airs weekday mornings on the ABC-TV network. With the week-long buildup to Friday's wedding, it's...

<p>She made it through her son's first deployment -- a three-month tour in Iraq last year. But when Erika Mancini learned that her son would be deployed to Afghanistan last month, she started losing sleep.</p> <p>"I kept seeing him as a little baby, holding my hand," said Mancini, 64, of Lincoln, R.I. "I didn't know he wasn't coming back, but it's that eerie feeling that you feel in your gut."</p>

It had all the makings of a Super Bowl party -- beer, pretzels and rowdy football fans. But when Beyonce Knowles sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before kickoff Sunday night, guests at Bill and Lisa Scott's Bellevue home had one person on their minds -- fallen soldier Justin Scott. "Our boy Justin, God and country," said his uncle, Brian Scott, as a dozen family members and friends toasted after the national anthem. U.S. Army Sgt. Justin Scott, 22, died Thursday afternoon in an explosion in the mountains of Afghanistan. Scott, a member of the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum,...

<p>TIKRIT, Iraq — U.S. forces captured a suspected leader of Saddam Hussein’s loyalist militia, nicknamed “The Rock,” after storming a workers’ hostel in a series of raids in Tikrit Thursday that netted four men suspected of plotting attacks, the military said. The man allegedly organized cells, paid guerrilla fighters and armed them with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles for attacks on U.S. forces in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit and surrounding areas, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 22nd Infantry Regiment’s 1st Battalion, which executed the raids.</p>

Departing Fort Drum troops expect history to happen soon Friday August 01, 2003 By WILLIAM KATES Associated Press Writer FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) As the latest group of 10th Mountain Division soldiers departed Friday for policing duty in Afghanistan, the troops were confident U.S.-led forces in Iraq would soon capture Saddam Hussein. ``The noose is closing around his neck fast. He's up against the best ... what chance does he have,'' Pfc. Joe Bergman said as he stood with his unit waiting to board a plane at the Rapid Deployment Center at Fort Drum's Wheeler-Sack Airfield. ``We need to get...

Less than a year after leaving Afghanistan, the 10th Mountain Division is heading back. In fact, more than a 1,000 troops are already on the ground and more are on the way, said Lt. Col. Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, the division’s spokesman at the home base at Fort Drum, N.Y. In a month’s time, more than 5,000 soldiers from the 10th Mountain, about half of the division, will be in Afghanistan, he said in an e-mail response. The 10th Mountain, he said, is forming the nucleus for four key task forces in Afghanistan, including: • Combined Joint Task Force-180: The...

<p>The academic/professional guests were seated on damask-upholstered chairs perched on antique rugs, their charming, well-groomed images reflected in Chinese Chippendale-framed mirrors. They were onto a favorite topic--the stupidity of W., Rumsfeld, and the war. One, a hippie academic-turned-chef, was especially virulent. "The war won't accomplish anything. It is all about money. The Bushes are in bed with the oil industry. We are fighting to protect their interests."</p>

Killed Aurora Soldier Remembered As Hero Luke Tripp Died In New York Black Hawk Crash POSTED: 6:48 a.m. MST March 13, 2003 UPDATED: 8:01 a.m. MST March 13, 2003 AURORA, Colo. -- A Colorado soldier who was killed in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in upstate New York earlier this week is being remembered as a hero by his family. Specialist Luke Tripp was one of 11 soldiers killed onboard the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter when in crashed in the rugged mountains in northern New York. Tripp's family, who are understandably very distraught, talked to 7NEWS because they wanted to...

The following are those soldiers killed in the Blackhawk crash Tuesday: Captain Christopher Britton, 27, Ohio. He was assigned to the Headquarters Company of the 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Kenneth Miller, 35, California. Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment Staff Sgt. Brian Pavlich, 25, Port Jervis, NY. Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Sgt. John Eichenlaub, 24, South Williamsport, PA. Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Sgt. Joshua Harapko, 23, Peoria, AZ. Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 31 Infantry Spc. Lucas Tripp, 23, Aurora, Colorado. Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 10 Aviation Regiment Spc. Barry Stephens,...

n Army helicopter carrying 13 soldiers on a training mission crashed in a wooded stretch of the sprawling Fort Drum in upstate New York yesterday. Only two soldiers survived the accident, the Army said.The Black Hawk helicopter went down on the western edge of Fort Drum, which covers 167 square miles near Lake Ontario and is 75 miles north of Syracuse. Maj. Daniel Bohr, an Army spokesman at Fort Drum, said one survivor walked away from the wreckage.He said those aboard the helicopter — a twin-engine aircraft that can carry up to 14 passengers — were regular soldiers on...

There was no immediate word on casualties. Army officials at the Pentagon said rescue teams were en route to the crash site, apparently near Fort Drum, home of the 10th Mountain Division. Greg Burnelle, the Jefferson County the Deputy Director of Fire and Emergency Management, said the helicopter crashed on base between Antwerp and Philadelphia. Burnelle said there were "critical injured people at this point." Jefferson County Sheriff John Burns said shortly after 3 pm is dispatchers were in touch with Fort Drum. Burns said he'd seen military jets overhead. Steve Burton, a pilot with the air taxi service Adirondack...

10th Mountain Div. Training mission.

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 12/19/02 - Amsterdam, Kabul, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Seibersdorf, Taji, Al Nassr, HMS Cardiff, Bethlehem, Denpasar, Gaza, Ramallah, Rotterdam, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum BREAKING: Amsterdam, terror against the IKEA home goods chain BREAKING: Kabul, Amir Mohammed and Gulam Saki BREAKING: Lackawanna arrests BREAKING: Lebanon - On $addam's "amnesty" Iraqi citizens head home BREAKING: Seibersdorf, Austria, laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency BREAKING: Taji, Al Nassr mechanical factories - Inspection BREAKING: Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Cardiff 10th Mountain Division train at Fort Drum, Bethlehem, Denpasar, Gaza, Ramallah, Rotterdam ========= Taji ========= In Taji,...

Accident at Fort Drum kills one, injures 14 others By WILLIAM KATES The Associated Press 3/20/02 8:21 PM FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) -- One soldier was killed and 14 were injured Wednesday when two artillery rounds fell short during a training exercise, exploding near a mess tent where the soldiers were eating breakfast. Pfc. William Hamm, 34, of Ocala, Fla. died and Staff Sgt. Eric Hall, 34, of Phoenix was in critical condition, Fort Drum officials said. The injuries suffered by the others did not appear life-threatening, according to Maj. Kenneth McDorman. McDorman said the soldiers, part of the 10th...