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WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2007 – A former Army sergeant and his family are settling into a brand new house this month in New Bern, N.C., custom-built to insure his war injuries will not keep him from independent living. Enjoying the first moments in their new home, Eric and Stephanie Edmundson, front, are joined by Donna and Bill Russell of Kit Corp., left, and John Gonsalves, far right, president and Founder of Homes for Our Troops. Photo courtesy Homes for Our Troops  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Well, we need the house because Eric is in a wheelchair all the...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2007 – The Army is working quickly to field and fully staff new warrior transition units, which provide critical support to wounded soldiers and their families, the general in charge of the Army Medical Action Plan said. The Army has created 35 warrior transition units, which consist of 58 companies of about 200 soldiers each, Army Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, deputy commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, said at a media roundtable Oct. 19. These units are designed to fill a gap in support personnel for wounded troops that the Army identified...

My Stepson Adam is getting deployed shortly. Godspeed sir. May the Lord of Hosts be round you as a wall of fire, and shield you in the day of battle.

Pfc. Yevgeniy Kulgeko executes a pull up during a daily physical training session. Kulgeko, a native of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, holds Company M's pull up record with 58 repetitions. MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (Oct. 18, 2007) -- Private First Class Yevgeniy Kulgeko's first memories of the military take him back to his hometown of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where his grandfather, an officer in the Soviet Army, would give him rides around the neighborhood in an armored vehicle. During this time, Uzbekistan was living under the shadow of the Cold War and was an enemy of the United States. On...

The area around Forward Operating Base Arnhem has seen continual fighting over the last 12 months and until recently was a Taliban stronghold. That was, until a new type of Warrior arrived in the neighbourhood, and one that is giving confidence to the local villagers to come home. Right Flank 1st Battalion Scots Guards, an armoured infantry company commanded by Major Chris Bell is the first unit in Afghanistan to be using the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicles on a major deployment. The Guards have been at FOB Arnhem, the front line of the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) operations against...

A Freeper Warrior Cat.

8/14/2007 - FORT DIX, N.J. (AFPN) -- As a Blackhawk helicopter lowers itself to the ground, voices are drowned out by the turning rotors. Some of the soon-to-be passengers are muzzled. Waiting patiently, they are in a staggered formation to board the helicopter that will take them on a training flight over Fort Dix, N.J. No ordinary Airmen are about to board. These Airmen are military working dogs and their security forces handlers, who are students in the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center's Phoenix Warrior Course at Fort Dix, N.J. The Phoenix Warrior class included its first canine training track...

Military Appreciation Day is an event organized by volunteers to provide a day of fishing for our Active Duty Military, Guard and Reservists. The event also includes activities for their families and a southern style cookout.

TAMPA, Fla., July 10, 2007 – The military paid tribute to a special operations leader at a retirement ceremony for Army Gen. Bryan “Doug” Brown here yesterday. U.S. Army Gen. Doug Brown, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, salutes during the singing of the national anthem during a change of command ceremony presided over by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla., July 9, 2007. Brown, who has commanded USSOCOM since September 2003, is retiring from active duty after 40 years of service to the nation. Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson, who...

WASHINGTON, June 26, 2007 – The Army’s three-month-old “Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline,” established March 19, has already fielded thousands of calls from soldiers and concerned family members, officials said here yesterday. Vanessa Bradchulis, a customer care representative at the “Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline” center in Alexandria, Va., often receives calls from fathers or mothers inquiring about the medical status of their wounded sons or daughters. Defense Dept. photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The hotline was created by the Army’s senior leadership in the wake of a series of news reports in...

Half a world away from Denver, Army Capt. Joel Parker sat in a military camp outside Baghdad on Saturday and watched his graduation ceremony from Regis University via the Internet. A virtual graduation was fitting for Parker, since he has been completing his master's of business administration degree online while fighting on the front lines. "It's a great feeling," said Parker in a telephone interview from Iraq. "It feels like a mission accomplished." His father, Leedell Parker of Denver, stood in his 36-year-old son's place Saturday, donning a black cap and gown and striding across the Regis stage to accept...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2007 – Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffery Hartless, an airborne ranger and master parachutist, served nearly his entire 24-year career jumping out of planes. He earned parachute badges from Italy, Jordan, Norway, Korea, Germany and Honduras. His airborne career ended, though, when he was crushed under a 10-ton front loader in Afghanistan in 2005. Once stable, Hartless was taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. He has since recovered, but in an ironic and unlikely career twist for an infantryman, Hartless’ injuries have brought him back again to Walter Reed -- this time to apply...

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2007 – Army officials this morning launched a new hotline to help wounded warriors and their family members to get information or assistance with medical or other issues. The “Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline,” 1-800-984-8523, also will help Army leaders improve services to wounded soldiers and their families, officials said. "We have designed this call center to be able to collectively hear what the soldiers say about their health care issues, so as issues are raised, we can identify systemic faults or problematic areas and senior leaders can better allocate resources," said Maj. Gen. Sean J....

Soldiers train for IED and other situations they may encounter in Iraq on convoys and maneuvers. In the most recent training, an extra training aid was introduced to create a realistic setting for the soldiers. Paintball gun AK-47s, M-4s, M-16s and IED's were used instead of the MILES (A laser system used to detect hits) gear. Photo by TRADOCFORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. (TRADOC News Service, Feb. 15, 2007) -- Cadre of Company B, 305th Military Intelligence Battalion completed the evaluation part of two weeks of training, Saturday. The cadre had trained during hours outside of teaching classes. "We've organized the permanent...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2007 – With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan underway, the San Diego-area community was looking for ways to help wounded servicemembers returning to the area. So in 2004, community members started the Warrior Foundation, an organization that reaches out to wounded troops and their families. The Warrior Foundation, a subset of the San Diego Council, Navy League of the United States, began as an effort to get touch-activated electric razors to those with shoulder, arm, and hand injuries to make shaving easier, Jim Bedinger, the foundation’s treasurer, said. San Diego radio talk-show personality Rick Roberts...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2007 – Jorge DeLeon may have lost a leg in the war, but he never lost a desire to serve his country. Two years after his military aspirations were crushed by an anti-tank mine, DeLeon is back in Army service – this time as a Department of Defense civilian. Jorge DeLeon operates a radio at the Fort Sam Houston Police Department. DeLeon is the second Department of Defense employee hired at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, under the Army Wounded Warrior Program, and the first amputee. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The former sergeant...

Ancient 'warrior' found in permafrostFrom correspondents in Moscow January 10, 2007 11:48pm RUSSIAN archaeologists have uncovered the 2000-year-old remains of a warrior preserved intact in permafrost in the Altai mountains region, the official Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily says. The warrior was blond had tattoos on his body. He was wearing a felt coat with sable fur trimmings and was buried in a wooden frame containing drawings of mythological creatures with an icepick beside him, the paper said. Local archaeologists believe the man was part of the ruling elite of a local nomadic tribe known as the Pazyryk. Numerous other Pazyryk tombs...

The Democrats have a problem with America’s warrior culture, and consequently, with our military. And yet, honesty compels me to say that such hostility and scorn does not explain all of the Democratic left’s attitude to our troops, present and veterans. There are some with outright contempt, who loathe the military, but there are many Democrats who are better than this. Watching a wide range of talking heads the last few days on the various news shows, it became clear that some Democrats at least were genuinely hurt and confused by the implications drawn and accusations made that they did...

JACKSON'S GAP, Ala. — Army Pfc. Joshua Stein grew up in the water, swimming, diving and spearfishing at his native island of Saipan in the Pacific Ocean. Now, however, Stein is learning to water-ski without his legs, which were blown off when a roadside bomb hit the Bradley fighting vehicle he was driving. With help, Stein straps his scarred body into a cradle fitted on a single, wide ski. Then, he grasps the tow rope with a right arm covered with skin grafts and rises out of the water, grinning and giving a thumbs-up with his mangled left arm, as...

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Archeologists have uncovered a 600-year-old, large underground cemetery belonging to a Peruvian warrior culture, thought to be the first discovery of its kind, an official said on Thursday. After a tip-off from a farmer in Peru's northern Amazon jungle, archeologists from Peru's National Culture Institute last week found the 820-feet-(250-meter)deep cave that was used for burial and worship by the Chachapoyas tribe. So far archeologists have found five mummies, two of which are intact with skin and hair, as well as ceramics, textiles and wall paintings, the expedition's leader and regional cultural director Herman Corbera told...

TUCSON — Case is home. The body of Army Cpl. Casey Lee “Case” Mellen came back to Arizona around 2 p.m. Monday as a Navy cargo aircraft landed at Tucson International Airport and taxied to the executive terminal. Although it was a sad day, the soldier’s father, Casey Edward Mellen, said, “I’m happy my son’s home.” The war is claiming many American men and women, he said. Case is just one of the dead and is part “of all the future dead soldiers,” Mellen said. It was not a political statement against the war, just a reality as GIs remain...

Film Shows Youths Training to Fight for Jesus New Documentary Features Controversial Bible Camp, Evangelical Movement An in-your-face documentary out this weekend is raising eyebrows, raising hackles and raising questions about evangelizing to young people. Speaking in tongues, weeping for salvation, praying for an end to abortion and worshipping a picture of President Bush -- these are some of the activities at Pastor Becky Fischer's Bible camp in North Dakota, "Kids on Fire," subject of the provocative new documentary, "Jesus Camp." "I want to see them as radically laying down their lives for the gospel as they are in Palestine,...

Gristhorpe Man 'was Bronze Age warrior chieftain' Reports by Roger Highfield and Nic Fleming (Filed: 07/09/2006) Gristhorpe Man, who was found buried in a tree trunk in the 19th century, has been identified as a Bronze Age warrior chieftain by archaeologists. The skeleton of Gristhorpe Man, excavated near Scarborough in 1834 Although a few examples of burial in a scooped-out oak tree have been found in Scotland and East Anglia, it was an unusual method and the example found near Scarborough, North Yorks, was the best preserved. The remains were discovered in 1834 by William Beswick, a local landowner, in...

Though I have never tasted the horror and incomprehensible sadness of sitting beside a dying teammate; I have experienced the bond formed by self-sacrificing teammates while an active duty SEAL in the 1990’s. It has not only defined me as a man. But it has given me a sincere appreciation for what it means to be a warrior: An understanding that not all men are warriors. And why America owes so much to its cardinal warriors like Marc Lee and the men who served – and continue to serve – on his left and his right.

Mounted Archers Training in a Mongol plateau Some S. Koreans dug up old military training manuals from 18th century and are trying to restore the art of ancient warriors.Here, they are practicing once-lost art of mounted archery. They went to Mongol steppe to do their summer training.It was done this August on Arkhangel Aimac, a plateau which is 1,000 km from its capital Ulan Bator and 1,700 m (5660 feet) above sea-level .The uniform they are wearing is from Chosun(1392~1910) era.A trainee practicing so-called 'Parthian Parting Shot'This is a favorite technique of Northen steppe warriors in the past. Koreans also used to use it....

HEADQUARTERS MARINE CORPS, Washington (Aug. 18, 2006) -- Richard Litto does not like the term “weekend warrior.” In fact, he despises it, and the mere mention of the phrase triggers a standoffish response in a thick, South Boston accent. “I don’t like it,” said Litto, a reserve Marine on active duty at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. “We’re all Marines regardless of what status we’re in.” And Litto is a true Marine. The 46-year-old sergeant currently serves with Marine Air Support Squadron 6; however, when called up for active duty from the reserves, he wanted to be with the action....

For those who may never have served in an elite unit, laughing and singing in the face of death, boasting about wanting to fight and welcoming the sting of battle, might seem like the behavior of disturbed, socially disconnected people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Marine Corps on Thursday unveiled the first West Coast barracks for Marines and sailors who are wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, an alternative to the often-empty quarters that house many injured troops while their units remain overseas. The Wounded Warrior Center is the second Marine barracks for the wartime wounded. The first opened last year at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and is run by a Marine colonel who was himself injured in Iraq. The newest barracks at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, look like a moderate hotel, with TVs, carpeted hallways, separate bedrooms and sitting areas. Donated handmade quilts...

Violence is blamed on 'warrior gene' in the Maoris By Paul Chapman in Wellington (Filed: 10/08/2006) Maori leaders reacted furiously yesterday after a scientist said their race carried a "warrior gene" that predisposed them to violence and criminal behaviour. Dr Rod Lea, a genetic epidemiologist, told the International Conference of Human Genetics in Brisbane that Maori men were twice as likely as Europeans to bear monoamine oxidase, a gene that is also connected with risk-taking behaviour such as smoking and gambling. Performing arts group Pounamu Kai Tahu perform the haka He was reported as saying the discovery went "a long...

Salem - A jury deliberated just two hours on Thursday before finding an Iraqi war veteran and former Marine of the Year acted in self-defence when he fired a shotgun into a group of club-goers outside his home, injuring two people. The jury acquitted marine sergeant Daniel Cotnoir, a 34-year-old reservist, of two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the shooting last August. Cotnoir had rejected an earlier plea deal. He could have faced up to 20 years in prison. He stood stoically and showed no emotions as the verdicts were read. Prosecutor John Dawley urged...

SAN ANTONIO, July 5, 2006 – As the city celebrated July 4 with colorful parades and family barbecues, a small group of cyclists rode into Fort Sam Houston marking an independence day of their own. Steve Nardizzi (far right), executive director of Soldier Ride, introduces a few of the wounded warriors participating in the Soldier Ride National Tour 2006 at Fort Sam Houston's Fourth of July ceremony. The cyclists stopped by after a nine-day trip from Dallas to help the San Antonio community pay tribute to the nation. Photo by Elaine Wilson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The...

This “sense” is bred in a uniquely American warrior culture, which is every bit as stalwart and recognizable as what we’ve come to know in history as the old Prussian military tradition, the culture that led to the great Roman Legions, Japan’s Bushido Code and the Samurai, and Scotland’s famous Highland warriors (from which we’ve drawn much of our own warrior culture), among others. So the logical two questions would be – in a nation founded with an institutional aversion to militarism and large standing armies – how have we come to this American warrior culture and a warrior class?...

'"No Southern man is complete without a tenure under military rule." That one sentence penned by author Pat Conroy in his best-selling novel The Lords of Discipline , is utter truth spoken to the heart of any Southern boy or man. It does not mean all Southern men serve, have served, or will serve their country. But it does mean that deep down in the well of the soul of the Southern American male there is a sense of duty and martial responsibility that cries out to be acted upon. I’ve chosen Southerners as an example, because I am Southern....

The Warrior Fund http://www.warrior-fund.org With the recent news regarding the incident in Haditha, and Hamdania Iraq, a group of former and retired Marines decided to take action to ensure that our military men are treated like American citizens and considered innocent until proven guilty. We have formed the "Warrior Fund" as a designated mission of United American Patriots (an IRS 501 ( c ) 3 organization) which is run by Major Bill Donahue USMC (RET). Our goal is to raise funds to defray legal fees incurred by members of our armed forces as a direct result of their service in...

As America's soldiers fight overseas, they are maligned back at home. Our wars, critics contend, are being fought on the backs of the poor, the non-white and the unqualified. They're wrong. Many Americans believe that we have a mercenary Army made up of poor, ignorant farm boys, slum dwellers, school rejects and kids who can't find a decent job. They hear this in the media all the time. It is a subtle, constant campaign propagating the myth of the underprivileged soldier. In the New York Times, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) published an opinion piece on Dec. 31, 2002, claiming that...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 2, 2006) – Staff Sgt. Jarod Behee was patrolling in Iraq last spring when his life forever changed, courtesy of a sniper shot to the head. The bullet left the California National Guardman critically wounded, and he’s since endured numerous surgeries to decrease the swelling of his brain and repair damaged blood vessels. Enter the Army Wounded Warrior Program, which has assisted Soldiers who’ve been severely injured while supporting the Global War on Terror since April 2004. Their injuries range from loss of limbs and sight to extreme burns and brain injuries. “We want them...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The man who led Canadian troops into one of the biggest battles they've faced yet described Friday how hundreds of coalition and Afghan troops foiled insurgent fighters massing for an assault on the governor of Kandahar province, and how Capt. Nichola Goddard met her death in a Taliban ambush. "We were in the process of doing final searches in the village when one of our call signs came in 'ambush,' " said Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of Task Force Orion's battle group. "A well co-ordinated Taliban ambush which unfortunately resulted in the death of one of...

Tribute to a Hopi Warrior By David Yeagley “Hoka hey!” cried the Sioux in 1876, “It’s a good day to die.” Maybe the Hopi Indians can say the same thing today, in 2003. PFC Lori Piestewa, a Hopi Indian woman from Tuba City, Arizona, was killed in action in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Many reports call attention to the fact that she was the first woman soldier killed in the Iraqi conflict, and that she was one of the few Indian women in United States military service. And for whom was 22-year-old Pfc. Piestewa fighting? The people of Iraq, the people...

HADITHA, Iraq (April 27, 2006) -- Staff Sgt. Jason C. Ramseyer will be remembered for the countless sacrifices he made for his brethren Marines. His final sacrifice came when he was killed April 21, 2006, by an improvised explosive device while on a convoy in Haditha in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province. Ramseyer, 28, was honored by his fellow Marines during a memorial service at the Haditha Dam here April 23, 2006. The Lenoir, N.C., native was remembered as a committed leader and devout family man by those who served with him. “He was by far the greatest leader of Marines...

A vision system that helps soldiers plan a route through the chaos of the battlefield will undergo tests on both sides of the Atlantic. The system, called Primordial Soldier, will provide soldiers with a real-time picture of where troops are in relation to each other and a digital rendering of the route they should follow. It is about to undergo trials with US special forces and has been bought by the UK arm of MBDA Missiles. MBDA plans to carry out conceptual research on the system to learn how using such technology affects a soldier's decision-making capability in the field....

ADELANTO - General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will begin work on its latest unmanned aircraft system under the first $6 million installment of a development contract for the Army. The Warrior is based on the company's Predator unmanned vehicle, a system already proven successful in combat over Afghanistan and Iraq. The entire program, including eventual follow-on production, is worth just under $1 billion, said Kimberly Kasitz , General Atomics spokeswoman. "It's a major contract for us," she said. The new system is expected to replace the Army's existing unmanned reconnaissance system, the Northrop Grumman Co.-built Hunter, which entered service in 1996....

FASLANE, Scotland (NNS) -- Three ships led by Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 24 departed Faslane, Scotland, March 11, having completed Neptune Warrior, a coalition course off the coast of Scotland with ships from the United Kingdom and Germany and aircraft from France. Capt. Carl W. Cramb, commander, DESRON 24, led the three ships, USS Ross (DDG 71), USS Barry (DDG 52), and USS Elrod (FFG 55), during their transit to Scotland and then commanded one of the international Task Groups during Neptune Warrior. Joint Maritime Operational Training Staff (JMOTS) Northwood in the United Kingdom led the Neptune Warrior course. The...

FASLANE, Scotland (NNS) -- Three U.S. ships, led by Commander, Destroyer Squadron (COMDESRON) 24 arrived in Faslane, Scotland, to participate in a coalition course with ships from the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark, Feb. 23. Capt. Carl W. Cramb, commander, DESRON 24, embarked on USS Ross (DDG 71), will lead one side’s maritime component during the course, including ships from Germany, the United Kingdom and USS Elrod (FFG 55). The second maritime component will be led by the commanding officer of HMS Edinburgh (D97), a destroyer from the United Kingdom, and will also include USS Barry (DDG 52). “The staff...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Feb. 6, 2006) -- “To anyone who has lost a loved one or has experienced the wounds of war I extend my deepest sympathy. Casualties of war are not only those lost, but also those left behind. For the departed, the family feels the loss most. For the wounded, it is both the Marine and those who love them who experience the void of a past life free from disabilities. But, in each case the sacrifice of the Marine was freely given, an outward sign of his or her faithful sense of duty to...

'Warrior princess' to White House? By Jonathan Beale BBC News, Washington It has been an amazing transformation. In the first Bush administration, Condoleezza Rice was known as the "warrior princess". From "warrior princess" to smiling face of US diplomacy As national security adviser, she was seen as a leading hawk and architect of the Iraq war. But Ms Rice has now become the smiling face of American diplomacy. She is the stylish pin-up of the Republican Party and the poster child of African-American success. Opinion polls suggest a majority of Americans think that she is doing a good job as...

An Army Special Forces soldier who lost most of his family to the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia has been awarded the Silver Star for heroism yesterday for saving his men during a firefight in Afghanistan. But despite attempts by his superiors and fellow soldiers to tag him as a hero at a Camp Smith ceremony yesterday, Master Sgt. Suran Sar expressed concerns about receiving the medal for only doing his job, and praised a fellow soldier who was also an immigrant to America and was killed doing his job. "I feel kind of shame to receive this prestigious award. All...

"Basically, the goal is to establish a warrior ethos in the airmen," Sargent said. "We send a message that, regardless of the reason they joined, whether it's educational opportunities or technical training, they're warriors first and foremost." In the past, recruits spent their first week in classrooms, learning about noncombat topics. Now they're being prepared for a combat environment and warned about the psychological stresses of war early on in training. They're taught weapons training, security, first aid and other war skills and go through a mock predeployment briefing early in the course. Col. Gina Grosso, commander of Lackland's 737th...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 10, 2005) – The Army announced that it is changing the name of the Disabled Soldier Support System, or DS3 – a program that assists severely wounded Soldiers – to the U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program. "The name change of this program is indicative of the Warrior spirit that today’s Soldiers so proudly display,” said Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, Army Chief of Staff. “Medical technology has advanced to the point where Soldiers injured today on the battlefield are much more likely to survive than those injured in previous wars," said Schoomaker. "Soldiers enrolled in the...

Tehran: 19:39 , 2005/10/30 3000-year-old warrior still fighting at Gohar-Tappeh TEHRAN, Oct. 30 (MNA) -- A team of archaeologists working at the 3000-year-old site of Gohar-Tappeh in Iran’s northern province of Mazandaran have recently unearthed a skeleton of a warrior buried in an attacking pose with a dagger in his hands, the Persian service of the Cultural Heritage News (CHN) agency reported on Saturday. “He is holding a 26-centimeter dagger and appears to be making a forward thrust. The evidence shows that he was originally buried in this pose,” the director of the team, Ali Mahforuzi, said. This is the...

Specifics have yet to be finalized regarding the Marine detachment, but the prototype unit has been fighting in Iraq, performing raids against insurgent strongholds and conducting special operations missions. Fighting is how they train to fight.