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Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl contends President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. John McCain made comments that interfered with his right to a fair trial at Fort Bragg. A military court has agreed to hear the appeal of Bowe Bergdahl, the Army soldier who left his post during a deployment in Afghanistan in 2009 to walk to another American base but got captured by the Taliban and held prisoner for five years. At a court-martial at Fort Bragg in 2017, Bergdahl pleaded guilty to desertion to shirk hazardous duty and to misbehavior before the enemy. He was sentenced to a $10,000...

Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, November 13, 2019 Former U.S. Army Range Director Pleads Guilty in Bribery Scheme A former senior U.S. Army civilian employee pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to accept over $100,000 in bribes while serving as the director of the range at Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks and to a related firearms offense. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenji M. Price for the District of Hawaii, Special Agent in Charge Ray Park of the Pacific Field Office for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command...

The Army deployed 65 infantry divisions for the Second World War. Each was a small town with its own equivalents for community services within eight categories of combat arms. Units such as artillery, engineering, and heavy weapons engaged the enemy directly. Yet of all categories, the foot soldier faced the greatest hazard with the least chance of reward. These civilians become warriors confronted the most dismal fate of all whose duty was uninterrupted by missions completed or a fixed deployment time. The infantryman was enveloped within a most deranged, barbaric, and brittle existence against a resolute enemy where victory often...

Hasan has remained on death row for seven years and counting. Manning said he hopes "justice gets served" but realizes Hasan may never be executed. ... When it came to Hasan, Manning said, there was a double standard. Hasan wrote emails to radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki seeking advice on reconciling his Muslim faith with serving in the Army. This fact was known to the FBI. “You could lose your security clearance in the Army for having bad credit and be kicked out of the Army. But you can't lose your security clearance for talking to a member of Al...

Back in 2017, the Army approved a requirement for more than 1,100 M3E1 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon Systems, the latest version of the potent weapon special operations forces have been using since the early 1990s. Army light infantry units first began using the older M3 version in Afghanistan in 2011 when the AT4 proved ineffective. "When we did the third and final demo, and it was spectacular ... we used a moving target at a range of about 1,800 meters, and we shot it from within a confined space as well and it was a perfect hit," said Höglund, adding...

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs (IAAF) says other events played in to the decision to release County Fair Queen Alexi Bladel of her duties, not her decision to enlist in the U.S. Army Reserve. Bladel, who is from Rockford and served as Miss Winnebago County in 2018, was crowned the 60th Miss Illinois County Fair Queen in January 2019. Now, the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs (IAAF) has relieved her of her duties. State Rep. Joe Sosnowski released a statement Friday afternoon, criticizing the IAAF for doing so after Bladel’s decision to join the U.S....

Remarks by Vice President Pence to Service Members and Veterans at U.S. Army Fort Hood | Fort Hood, TX U.S. Army Fort Hood Fort Hood, Texas 10:27 A.M. CDT THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, hello, Fort Hood! AUDIENCE: Hooah! (Applause.) THE VICE PRESIDENT: It is great to be back in Texas and it’s great to be at the Great Place. (Applause.) And thank you all. And especially to all of those troopers behind me: At ease. Congressman Carter, Congressman Williams, Deputy Secretary of the VA Jim Byrne, General Ken Kamper, General Jeff Broadwater, Command Sergeant Major Adam Nash, but especially to...

President Donald Trump will award the nation's highest military honor to an active duty Green Beret on Wednesday for his heroic actions while serving in Afghanistan's Shok Valley in 2008, according to the White House. Army Master Sgt. Matthew Williams, of Boerne, Texas, was critical in ensuring the evacuation of his wounded teammates from a mountain as the unit took fire from insurgents. “Sergeant Williams’ actions helped save the lives of four critically wounded soldiers and prevented the lead element of the assault force from being overrun by the enemy,” the Oct. 10 White House statement said.

The U.S. Army is pushing ahead with plans to field a cannon with an astounding 1,000-mile+ range. The cannon, along with hypersonic weapons, will allow the service to attack long range, strategic-level targets far beyond the reach of existing Army systems. According to Defense News, the Army’s program manager for long range fires, Col. John Rafferty, the service expects the gun to have a range of 1,000 nautical miles—or 1,150 statute miles. The technology behind the cannon is described as “cutting edge" that's so advanced that the service is not sure if the gun would be affordable. The Army is...

A new reserve group, inspired by the Monuments Men of the World War II era, will aim to protect antiquities and important cultural sites in war zones. It’s no secret that the war-ravaged nations where American soldiers have been enmeshed in conflict for nearly two decades are home to many of civilization’s oldest and most prized antiquities and cultural treasures. But in the heat of battle in Afghanistan or Iraq, how are troops to know whether they are taking their positions behind mounds of insignificant rubble or inside the precious remains of a 3,000-year-old temple complex? The Pentagon’s answer, announced...

“My country needs me. My army has given me an opportunity to serve" After a great deal of contemplation, soul-searching and consultation with area political leaders, David Bellavia will sit out running for Congress in NY27. Bellavia has long been considered to be the frontrunner if he were to run and has been the subject of intense speculation by the candidates who are already declared and some who are contemplating a run for the seat vacated recently by Chris Collins. The decision, now that it is known, will likely again unleash another political tidal wave as both declared and undeclared...

Army Master Sgt. Matthew O. Williams will receive the Medal of Honor this month for his lifesaving actions in the frozen mountains of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province during a 2008 mission to kill or capture a high-value target, the White House announced Thursday. President Donald Trump will award the nation’s highest military honor to the Green Beret in a White House ceremony Oct. 30, the administration said in a statement. The award will be an upgrade of the Silver Star that Williams initially received for his role in the fight that would become known as the Battle of Shok Valley....

The moment may come when soldiers have to choose between the Constitution and Donald Trump. No doubt most will embrace the Constitution. But some will see that as a tough call. Earlier this week Donald Trump, commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, tweeted that his impeachment “will cause a Civil War” from which the country might never recover. Picking up on remarks made by an evangelical pastor on Fox News, Trump did not just say his removal would lead to a huge electoral defeat for the Democrats, or even mass demonstrations. He said “civil war”. Americans taking up...

It blended in well with grandma's couch, but had its drawbacks in the combat zone. After an extended wear-out period, the Army's pixelated Universal Camouflage Pattern uniform, or UCP, is officially a thing of the past. As of Oct. 1, all soldiers are required to possess and wear the green-and-brown Operational Camouflage Pattern uniform, or OCP.

A reader who, in this day of blacklists, must remain anonymous, sends this observation about our soldiers in Afghanistan: It's not unusual for the French to comment on anything American and normally in the negative. What is rare is a Frenchman saying something positive about Americans; in this case heaping praise on our soldiers in Afghanistan. Blogger and veteran Wes O'Donnell has translated an editorial in a French newspaper from a French soldier serving with a prestigious U.S. infantry battalion. I recommend reading the whole thing. Here are some excerpts: US soldiers are in top physical shape compared to the...

On learning that the U.S. Army War College capitulated to the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (“CAIR”) hysterical demands, Lt Col. Allen West wrote: “This is embarrassing, disgusting, appalling, and highly disconcerting. My Army has just emboldened and encouraged the enemy, and they are laughing at us.” Recent events validate his prediction: having cowed the Army War College into obedience, an “emboldened and encouraged” CAIR replicated its demands with Congress. ... after inviting me to lecture on my recent book on the military history between Islam and the West, the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) reneged once CAIR cried “Islamophobia” and...

"Military family" takes on new meaning for a set of sisters who made history as the first to both attain the general's rank in U.S. Army. Parents and their children, relatives, spouses and even identical siblings have previously risen through various ranks of the U.S. Army together, according to the military service; but this is the first time in 244 years that a pair of sisters -- Maj. Gen. Maria Lodi Barrett and her younger sister Brig. Gen. Paula Lodi -- is pulling rank in tandem. On July 12, history was made as Lodi was promoted to the one-star rank...

A young man in Las Vegas has lost more than 100 pounds since the beginning of the year, intent on gaining entry into the Army. Luis Enrique Pinto Jr., 18, lost 113 pounds over a seven-month period in order to meet the branch's weight requirement, dropping from 317 pounds to 204. "That's a human -- he lost the equivalent of a human in seven months," said his recruiter, Staff Sgt. Philip Long.

The Roman Ninth Legion's mysterious loss 16 March 2011 The disappearance of Rome's Ninth Legion has long baffled historians, but could a brutal ambush have been the event that forged the England-Scotland border, asks archaeologist Dr Miles Russell, of Bournemouth University. One of the most enduring legends of Roman Britain concerns the disappearance of the Ninth Legion. The theory that 5,000 of Rome's finest soldiers were lost in the swirling mists of Caledonia, as they marched north to put down a rebellion, forms the basis of a new film, The Eagle, but how much of it is true? It is...

Electronic warfare, known as the battle in the electromagnetic spectrum, relies on data and signals to survey, fight and defend and the complex mission executed by the Army’s electronic warfare Soldiers – which includes detecting and responding to enemy jamming attempts and other electronic interference – is intensifying. Currently, the Army is developing an Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool, or EWPMT, to manage and control electronic warfare assets in support of unified land operations. According to Army News Service, through the EWPMT, the Army can now visually synergize its EW attack, targeting, and surveillance capabilities to enable the maneuverability...