Free Republic

FORT HUACHUCA — Lena Cowboy, her daughter Christina and grandson Ethan drove Wednesday from the northern Four Corners-area community of Kayenta to this part of Southern Arizona. The hours on the road were worth it. Her daughter, Staff Sgt. Lisa Cowboy, was returning from a year assignment in Iraq. Lisa also traveled by road from Fort Bliss, Texas, for the reunion. Sitting in the Eifler Gym, Lena waited for the buses carrying her daughter and 25 other returning soldiers to arrive. The two buses were escorted on post by American Legion Riders, a group of local motorcyclists. The arrival time...

FORT HUACHUCA — America’s history has been defined and shaped by what happened in the Old West. Part of that record was due to the achievement of black soldiers who help protect settlements in places such as Southern Arizona, Tom Stoney said Wednesday during the monthly luncheon hosted by the Greater Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Committee. And part of the story of the Buffalo Soldiers legacy needs to be saved, Stoney said to nearly 90 people. That can be done by ensuring the World War II black officers club on the post remains, he told nearly...

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. (Army News Service, June 7, 2006) – The Army’s first $1,000 recruiting referral bonus will go to a Fort Huachuca, Ariz., Soldier tomorrow in a ceremony at the Gazebo on historic Brown Parade Field. Staff Sgt. Consuelo Spears of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center referred Pvt. Bartolomeij Rdes. As Spears receives the bonus, Rdes will finish simultaneously finish advanced individual training at Fort Sill, Okla. Rdes is the first referral candidate to finish his training. The $1,000 isn't payable until the referral candidate enlists, completes basic training and then graduates from advanced individual training. “Soldiers continue to...

FORT HUACHUCA — The side door of the Barnes Field House was about to be opened by two soldiers when “Who Let the Dogs Out” began to play over a loudspeaker in the gym. For those sitting in the bleachers, it was a sign that the cable dogs of the 69th Signal Company were about to enter. Family and friends of the 142 men and women of the unit would soon reunite, ending a yearlong deployment of the soldiers. As the GIs entered the gym to some of the song’s “woof, woof, woof” words, those in the bleachers were on...

SIERRA VISTA — For the second year in a row, Fort Huachuca will be the site of a protest by demonstrators who say the Intelligence Center on the post educates soldiers in torture procedures. According to an e-mail received by the Herald/Review, “The United States is responsible for using torture and training other governments in the most modern methods of torture.” That comment was part of the nexus organizers of this year’s protest outside the fort’s Main Gate implying torture is part of training at the Intelligence Center. Post officials have continually denied any torture procedures are taught at the...

SIERRA VISTA - When Fort Huachuca military police recognized a local man in a suspect photo, Wednesday's bank robbery investigation came together, according to Sierra Vista police. "Military police recognized the subject as someone who delivers pizzas on post," Sierra Vista police Sgt. Glenn Hillig said Thursday. The MPs then contacted city police detectives. James A. Vigg, 22, was arrested on a robbery charge shortly after midnight Thursday in connection to a silent robbery at Compass Bank, 211 S. Carmichael Ave. The alleged robber passed a note to a female teller at about 1:50 p.m. Wednesday and left with an...

FORT HUACHUCA - It's a small unit with a big job. That's what an Army colonel said about the Intelligence Electronic Warfare Test Directorate. As the war on terrorism continues, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers are being provided new systems, some of which have not been through he normal vetting process prior to being sent to the field. That is when the directorate's soldiers and civilians are called upon to team with others from the Operational Test Command to deploy and evaluate how well equipment is doing in actual field environments. "We do operational testing of all intelligence-related systems...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 2, 2005) – Thousands of National Guard and active-duty Soldiers from across the nation are deploying to the Gulf coast to help with Hurricane Katrina recovery operations. Troops from the 1st Cavalry Division and 4th Infantry Division based out of Fort Hood, Texas, are now part of Joint Task Force Katrina, headquartered at Camp Shelby, Miss. Helicopters and crews from Hood’s 1st Air Cavalry Brigade are the lead air element of the task force. More than 19,500 National Guard Soldiers were on duty to assist with the hurricane recovery in Louisiana and Mississippi as of...

SIERRA VISTA - The president of the Fort Huachuca 50 handed over six checks totaling $2,100 to the organizer of an effort providing water misters to Fort Huachuca soldiers heading to Iraq. Jana Proctor accepted the checks - one for $1,600 from the organization and five other personal checks of $100 each from the group's board members. With temperatures in Iraq still in the 110-degree and above range, soldiers seek ways to keep cool in what is physically and emotionally hot conditions. In presenting the checks, Fort Huachuca 50 President Tom Finnegan said that when he served in the Army...

SIERRA VISTA - It's déjà vu - again. Some civilian community leaders are again looking to bring the military's Defense Language Institute to Fort Huachuca or to build a campus for the school in Sierra Vista. The Defense Language Institute - DLI - was added to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission list last week, which could lead to transferring the school to another area. DLI is now located at the Army's Presidio of Monterey in California. In 1993, Sierra Vista leaders suggested DLI be moved from California to Arizona because of the importance language training had to the...

FORT HUACHUCA - The Army's intelligence community is a major player in today's war on terrorism, and the reason for intelligence successes is in part because of the community's past, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast said Friday. As changes are made in the intelligence arena, more appreciation is due to those who served in the past, she said before five retired soldiers were inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. "For many of you it's like coming home. We are a product of the past," said Fast as she looked at the audience. The intelligence community is going through major...

Say post's growth threatens San Pedro Environmentalists worried about the fate of the San Pedro River filed papers Thursday in anticipation of another lawsuit against Fort Huachuca. The fort's "incremental, piecemeal expansion" - and Sierra Vista's accompanying growth - are threatening one of the continent's hot spots for species diversity, according to activists' notice of intent to sue the military and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. If the fort doesn't do something about the area's declining water table, the post must downsize so the river and its endangered species can survive, says the 83-page notice filed by the Tucson-based...

FORT HUACHUCA - Out of breath, Sgt. David Reilly quickly moved about three miles to intercept a group of illegal immigrants who were using this Southern Arizona Army post early Saturday morning as an avenue into the United States."They're using a different trail," a somewhat frustrated Reilly reported over a military radio channel.'snip'Although not many illegal immigrants are detained on the post and turned over to the Border Patrol, the fact that such people use the fort as one of many northbound trails concerns installation officials.In the past nine months, Reilly said he has detained more than 2,000 illegal immigrants...

TUCSON - The after-holiday traffic of illegal immigrants crossing the border is going up, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector. From Dec. 31 through Sunday, 5,967 illegal immigrants were taken into custody in the sector, which includes all of Arizona except for the far western region near Yuma, Andrea Zortman said Monday. Slightly more than 42 percent of those taken into custody in the 10-day period - 2,531 - were apprehended in Cochise County, she added. There are different types of illegal immigrants crossing the line at this time of year, Zortman said. One group...

FORT HUACHUCA - Spc. Robert Unruh, who was killed in Iraq this week, will be interred at the Southern Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery at 10 a.m. on Friday, his family announced Friday. Unruh will be the first soldier killed in action to be interred at the cemetery, which was established in 2001 on approximately 145 acres of land transferred from Fort Huachuca. Unruh, 25, died Sept. 25 in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, when enemy forces using small arms fire attacked his unit. He was assigned to the 44th Engineer Battalion, Camp Howze, Korea. The incident is under investigation.

Tucson, Ariz. - The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Arizona announced that on Sept. 23, 2004 Osama Musa Alferahin, a naturalized citizen of the United States, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after being convicted by a jury of Knowingly Procuring or Attempting to Procure Naturalization Contrary to Law, in violation of 18 U.S. Code 1425(a) by the Honorable Judge John M. Roll in federal court in Tucson.Based on information presented at trial, Alferahin was previously a citizen of Jordan. He had been married to a Spanish citizen and divorced in September 1997. On December 31, 1997,...

U.S. Border Patrol agents busted three large groups of illegal entrants over the weekend, apprehending 484 people.A group of 190 illegal border crossers was apprehended about 9 p.m. Sunday close to Tres Bellotas Ranch Road near Arivaca.That bust came one day after agents apprehended 174 illegal entrants Saturday near Elephant Head Road in Green Valley. In that incident, agents said members of the group said they each paid $1,600 to be smuggled to locations across the United States.And about 9 a.m. Saturday a group of 120 illegal border crossers was caught in the Fort Huachuca area, said Tucson sector spokesman...

For the Soldier ... anytime, anywhere Soldiers converge for ‘crash’ intel courses Story by Sgt. Kristi T. JaegerPhotos by Pfc. Joy ParianteScout staffFORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. (Feb. 5, 2004) -- More than 100 U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard enlisted Soldiers arrived Jan. 31 to take part in training for military occupation specialty 97B, counterintelligence agent, and 97E, human intelligence collector. (Click on thumbnail for higher-resolution photo)Sgt. Samuel G. Lockhart, 141st Military Intelligence Battalion, Logan, Utah, spent part of Saturday afternoon stacking duffel bags in front of Riley Barracks, where the Reserve and National Guard Soldiers will be residing throughout...

We all probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the opening of the Electronic Proving Ground and the re-activation of Fort Huachuca this month in 1954. The EPG was the beginning of a synergy that has since evolved into the U.S. Army's premier proving, training and testing installation, otherwise known as Fort Huachuca. From its humble beginnings, EPG came about because of the pristine electromagnetic environment in the San Pedro Valley. And as technology advanced, the need for testing this equipment came hand in hand. Nowadays, EPG staff test everything from Tomahawk missiles to radio transmissions emitted from an...

FORT HUACHUCA - A new high-technology life began for this Southeastern Arizona Army post when the Electronic Proving Ground came here and re-activated the fort on Feb. 1, 1954. A half-century later, much of the post's missions are in the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, the military's C4ISR arena. EPG is still the major leader in the testing and developing of critical systems for the Army and all of the nation's armed services. Col. Jerome Payne sits at the EPG's helm. And he is the only soldier now with the organization, that includes 130 civil service employees...