Free Republic

8/16/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The faces on posters that call attention to a number of worthwhile volunteer causes are often lost in the hustle of accomplishing the daily mission. However, the association of one poster to a deployed Airman at a recent drive in Southwest Asia put a face on the critical need for all to register as bone marrow donors. The base-wide campaign drew 685 new registrants to the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program. It was held in memory of Cavion Holloway, the son of Staff Sgt. Danielle and Billy Holloway, who passed...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2006 – Three hundred one soldiers with an Alaska-based unit extended in Iraq will return to the combat zone to serve with their comrades in arms, Army officials announced yesterday. A total of 378 soldiers with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team had returned to Alaska in June and July at the end of their scheduled 12-month tour in Iraq. But before the rest of the 4,000-soldier unit could redeploy, officials halted their return to bolster Iraqi and coalition forces in Baghdad. Now, 301 of those soldiers who made it back to Alaska will return to their...

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Army News Service, Aug. 8, 2006) – The Army’s Rapid Equipping Force (REF) delivered 500 Body Ventilation Systems to heat-stressed Soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait last month. The portable, lightweight ventilation system will help reduce heat-related injuries, and will undergo one of year assessments by such Soldiers as drivers, military police and machine gunners. Another 1,700 vests will be shipped and issued to Soldiers in similar units and duty positions in upcoming months. “The BVS project is another example of how the Army culture is changing in order to provide warfighter solutions in a timely manner,” said...

Pfc. Kenneth Dickerson, a 19-year-old Marine from Clive, Iowa, assigned to the Hawaii-based Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, hands out candy to two girls in Barwanah, Iraq, July 29, 2006. The 19-year-old U.S. Marine from Clive, Iowa, has spent the past four months of his deployment in Iraq teaching himself Arabic, and uses it to help his fellow Marines by serving as a translator during the unitÂ’s daily patrols through Barwanah, Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Roe F. Seigle U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Kenneth Dickerson Deployed Marine Teaches Himself Arabic By U.S. Marine Sgt. Roe...

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2006 – More than 115,000 kids have at least one parent deployed in the war on terrorism, and that doesn't include those children affected by routine deployments, according to an organization that supports military children. "War takes its toll on the servicemembers who fight in the field and on the families who wait and worry at home," according to a news release from "Salute Our Services." "In the course of their parents' service to our nation, these children also make many sacrifices." Missed birthdays, holidays and special events top that list of sacrifices, the release said....

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (Army News Service, July 10, 2006) – Having volunteered with the Red Cross, Cindra Smith knew there was something wrong when she arrived home from work late one night and had a Red Cross message on her machine. “When I called them back I was told to wait by the phone and expect a call,” she said. “When I got the phone call they said my daughter had been shot in the back during an IED attack in Iraq.” Pvt. Tracy Branton, Smith’s oldest daughter, was a heavy wheel mechanic on a convoy in Iraq when it...

WHEELING — Friends and loved ones shared tearful goodbyes Sunday with members of a local National Guard unit expected to soon be deployed to Iraq. Members of the 150th Army Aviation Battalion of the West Virginia National Guard took off in a C-130 transport aircraft from the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport Sunday evening. They were headed back to their training base, Fort Sill, Okla., to await their final deployment date to Kuwait. While in Kuwait, the soldiers will then assemble their Blackhawk helicopters and wait to join the war in Iraq. The soldiers had been training for their mission since March...

Belleville Soldiers Deployed To Iraq created: 7/8/2006 6:51:32 PM updated: 7/8/2006 7:02:56 PM Saturday was the second time local family and friends said goodbye to Army reservists. In 2002, the group deployed to Afghanistan, and now they are preparing to spend 18 months in Iraq. There were numerous, poignant moments as loved ones said goodbye and good luck to the men and women of the 657th transportation detachment. The reservists are preparing to spend the next year and half overseas. One of the groups main responsibilities is to coordinate transportation activities in Iraq. Roland Cruz is leaving behind his...

AL ASAD, Iraq (June 6, 2006) -- Sipping on bottled water, rifle in hand and wearing a good 60 pounds of body armor on this sprawling U.S. military airbase, Lance Cpl. Emanuel Cantu says he doesn’t mind training for combat in Iraq’s blistering 110-plus degree temperature. In fact, he says he loves it. After all, four months of serving in Iraq as part of a quick reaction force has helped the 31-year-old Marine lose more than 20 pounds, but more importantly, he says he’s found his niche in the Marine Corps – training to save lives. “I feel like I’m...

The USS Cole is heading to the Middle East for the first time since a terrorist bomb killed 17 sailors aboard the Navy ship in Yemen's port of Aden nearly six years ago. The Norfolk-based guided missile destroyer is one of seven ships with 6,000 sailors and Marines leaving the East Coast next week to conduct security operations in support of the war on terrorism, the Navy announced Friday. They'll be gone six months. Some ships will leave Tuesday, while others, including the Cole, will depart Thursday, said Lt. Mike Kafka, a spokesman for the Navy's Second Fleet, in...

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2006 – Staff Sgt. Aeyne Anne M. Dizicksa's cats are her family, so their welfare was her top priority when she faced deployment. Sweet Magnolia rests on the dryer in the home of Susan Hagrelius, her foster owner of more than a year. The 8-year-old cat will soon reunite with her owner, Staff Sgt. Aeyne Anne M. Dizicksa, a deployed Army reservist in the 719th Veterinary Medical Detachment who will return later this month. Courtesy photo   "I knew that if I had them to return to, everything else was irrelevant - just another passing episode in...

CAMP AL QA'IM, Iraq (May 25, 2006) -- On his second deployment to Iraq, Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Lamb admits that communicating with friends and family back home is easier thanks to a relatively new program: Moto Mail. ‘Moto’ is short for ‘motivation,’ and it’s what U.S. service members like Lamb use as a means to keep contact with his friends and family back home. This roughly two-year-old program allows U.S. service members deployed overseas to receive letters via an electronic system. The letters are printed and enveloped at the military post office, and in the hands of the service...

AL ASAD, Iraq (May 17, 2006) -- Content in the solitude of a miniature half wood, half vinyl tent fortress and wrapped up in numerous '80s one hit wonders, a Marine deployed to Iraq finds peace in life working with lumber and power tools. Although riddled with an extensive workload, Lance Cpl. Thomas R. Hunter, a native of Tacoma, Wash., finds time to make it out to his 'Guru's' work shed to pass the time. This combat engineer by trade is augmented to Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, from his home unit, Marine Wing Support Squadron...

Failure to screen U.S. troops for mental health problems may be the cause of an increasing suicide rate among soldiers serving in Iraq, a report says. According to an investigation by the Hartford (Conn.) Courant, fewer than one in 300 service members see a mental health professional before shipping out, despite a congressional order that all deploying troops by screened, the newspaper reported Sunday. The report uncovered evidence of soldiers suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome being sent back to the war zone and unstable troops being kept on the front lines while taking potent anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs. In addition, the...

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2006 – Spending Mother's Day thousands of miles away from their kids is going to be no picnic for more than 7,400 military moms deployed in support of the war on terror. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Christine Buckley, deployed to Djibouti with Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, has been home only twice to celebrate Mother's Day with her sons, ages 8 and 6. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert S. Taylor, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Many say they're planning their own celebrations thinking of their children and calling home,...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2006 – Continuing America's longstanding tradition of helping those in need, the U.S. Navy recently deployed the hospital ship USNS Mercy on a proactive humanitarian mission to Southeast Asia, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said here yesterday. "The Mercy deployment (is) an exciting and important opportunity to assist friends and neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region, and to facilitate the security and stability and the prosperity, particularly in the maritime domain, in this region, in which we all share common interests," U.S. Navy Adm. Gary Roughead said during a State Department Foreign Press Center briefing. The...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (May 8, 2006) -- With the help of a little technology, deployed parents and their young children can share the joy of reading a book together even while thousands of miles apart. By taking a few moments out of their busy schedules service members here can send video recordings of themselves to their children and families back home thanks to the United Through Reading program. Organizers of the program say the videos help provide a more intimate connection to the stateside families than a phone call or letter can because they can see their deployed loved ones...

UDAIRI RANGE, Kuwait, May 4, 2006 – For 20-year-old Army Pfc. Michael Torres, deployed here from Baumholder, Germany, a constant reminder that the American people are behind him comes in the form of a tiny folded U.S. flag he keeps in his pocket wherever he goes. Army Pfc. Michael Torres, deployed from Germany to Kuwait in support of the global war on terror, displays a tiny folded flag sent by VFW Ladies Auxiliary 7581, in Wayland, Mich., that he said gives him daily inspiration that the American people are behind him. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

Prince Harry Would Be Deployed in Iraq LONDON - Prince Harry would be involved in "the fullest range of deployments" if his unit is sent to Iraq, but he might be kept out of situations where his presence would jeopardize his comrades, the Ministry of Defense said Monday. Harry, the 21-year-old second son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, recently completed his training at Sandhurst military academy and is a second lieutenant in the Household Cavalry. The Mail on Sunday newspaper, quoting unidentified sources, reported that Harry had threatened to resign from the army if he is held...

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (NNS) -- Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 7, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 21 and Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 joined together in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, in March to celebrate 64 years of Seabee history. For many, it afforded them the chance to catch up with friends that they had served with before. “It was good to see several different commands in attendance,” said Utilitiesman 1st Class Dennis Maine, of NMCB 7. "When you’re deployed you don’t normally run into personnel from other battalions. I ran into a friend of mine who’s with ACB 2....