Posted on 09/08/2006 3:07:09 PM PDT by show me state
Edited on 09/08/2006 3:58:09 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2006 Air Force Maj. Jill Metzger, who vanished Monday in Kyrgyzstan, has been found and now is back in Air Force control, ABC News has learned.
"We are elated to have Jill back with us," said Air Force spokesman Col. Scott Reese. Local police notified U.S. officials that she had been found at 1:15 a.m. local time in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Air Force officials say she was found alone and appears to have been beaten. Officials say she is "coherent," in "relatively good condition" and is talking to investigators. She is also undergoing medical evaluation.
Officials would not comment on the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and said the investigation is ongoing
The news brought elation to Metzger's family.
"It's a dream come true. The most significant event of our lives," said Kelly Mayo, Metzger's father-in-law. Mayo said he has not spoken to Metzger yet, but believes she had been kidnapped and "whoever had her dropped her off on the side of the road."
Metzger vanished on Monday afternoon in Kyrgyzstan a poor, predominantly Muslim country in Central Asia. Since shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Kyrgyzstan has been home to a strategically important U.S. military base that supports operations in Afghanistan. The government is generally pro-American, and in recent years has experienced sporadic clashes with Islamic fundamentalists.
Just 10 days before deploying to Kyrgyzstan in April, Metzger married Air Force Capt. Josh Mayo. They had already bought tickets for a honeymoon in Jamaica later this month, he said.
"We were going to take Jet Skis out, have a couple of romantic dinners. It is very disappointing," said Mayo
Before her disappearance, Metzger was last seen out shopping with five others from the base. The group briefly separated inside a department store in the center of Bishkek, several miles from the base. They had agreed to meet a short time later, but Metzger never showed up.
"Air Force officials say she was found alone and appears to have been beaten."
The media reports seem to differ with each other.
I haven't posted anything about her having an affair, or mentioned Islamists.
Those weren't my posts.
You're unstable. Why assume she was AWOL, when she's a major, in a Muslim Country, Female, blond, etc? Kidnapping is the FIRST thing I'd think of. And yes, I answered you before...I'm still ticked.
You answered me before...on some other thread not this one. But given the article that's at the top of the thread now that comment was way off the mark.
Once you've been a few times, such places can feel safe, and often are, but you never know who the guy is who offers you a deal on whatever you're looking for, smiling and saying "just over here" and so on.
No you didn't, but you did set a tone to this thread that allowed others to wildly speculate as to why she might have reasons be AWOL and you did suggest that she was AWOL.
She wasn't in a country where she could grab the first available train or plane out of there, therefore to even suggest that she would go AWOL begs the question where could she go.
Why don't you make some more stupid statements and take the abuse you seem to be craving.
That's not a personal attack that's an observation, a reasonable person who had stuck their foot in their mouth the way you have would have bailed long ago.
You need to get a life.
Captains don't "re-up."
The Army promotes officers quicker than the USAF...
30 is about right for a new USAF Major.
I just finished reading "The Haj," by Leon Uris. In that book, the Islamic father shaved off his daughter's hair to humble her and to insure that she would wear a veil in public. Does anyone know if this is a common Islamic practice?
Thank you. You're a breath of fresh air.
A little grunt lingo there.
They do if they have asked to resign their commission and the colonel says, "You'll be a major if you stay in." Though I was a lowly grunt, my dad was capt., combat engineer '41 duration and reserve to '52. He was offered major if he stayed in. Brother in law was air force major, medical corp., he was offered colonel if he did not offer resignation.
yitbos
We don't. Folks here are talking smack. It takes 9-10 years to make Major. If you are commissioned at 22...your are talking 31 at the earliest. There may be some fluke where you are 30.
probably from my brother.
FROM Air Force Link
9/8/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Police in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, found Maj. Jill Metzger alive Sept. 8, four days after she disappeared during a shopping trip there.
Bishkek police notified the U.S. embassy in the capital city at 3:15 p.m. EDT that they had found the officer.
In Southwest Asia, U.S. Central Command Air Forces spokesperson Col. Alvina Mitchell said, "We're just extremely elated" when the news came that the major was found.
"You work a lot of issues and it's very gratifying when you get such a good result -- when a fellow servicemember who was missing and has been found," she said.
Major Metzger deployed to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, where she was the chief of personnel for the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing. The wing is part of the Air Force Air Expeditionary Task Force. She was just a few days from returning to her home base at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., when she went missing Sept. 5.
Col. Scott Reese, the expeditionary wing commander at Manas, said there was great cooperation between Air Force and local civil and police agencies during the search for the missing major.
"We are elated to have Jill back with us," the colonel said. "I want to praise the Kyrgyzstan government, Bishkek law enforcement officials and the cooperation of the U.S. embassy team for the rapid and thorough investigation resulting in the successful recovery of Major Metzger."
Lt. Gen. Gary North, commander of U.S. Central Command Air Forces, was visiting Manas at the time of the recovery. He, too, praises the integration between the base and local officials.
"The cooperation with our Air Force military investigative team was outstanding," the general said. "Her recovery is fantastic news for her family and our military community." Colonel Mitchell said a team of medical professionals is interviewing the major to determine her condition. The investigation into the major's disappearance is ongoing.
Major Metzger deployed to Manas from the 347th Mission Support Squadron at Moody where she is a personnel officer. Throughout her mysterious disappearance, the main goal of Air Force officials was to find the major. At U.S. Central Command, Maj. Mike Young said the Air Force would leave "no stone unturned," until they found the major.
The major is also one of the Air Force's top female athletes in marathon running. While stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, she won the 2003 and 2004 women's division of the Air Force Marathon, held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
I was not advocating all women should be drafted. I believe women should be cherished and allowed to remain at home and nurture children as they desire according to their beliefs.
I also believe that if a woman has the desire and inclination to fight she should not be prevented. If a woman proves herself not able to do the job she will be relieved or even prosecuted as required just as a man that can't do his job. It is wrong for women to be treated any differently.
I think we will see a time where we will not survive if we don't utilize all resources we have available, including women, to fight this war.
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