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A 78 year old financial planner in Killeen has a second job in which she receives...and gives...a lot of love. Laird, who stands 4' 11" tall, is on hand when every deployment of soldiers leaves Ft. Hood to Iraq or Afghanistan, and is there when every plane load of soldiers returns. She hugs every one of them, sometimes having to stand on her tip-toes to do it. "I'm out there because I love our soldiers and I want to support them," she told 1200 WOAI news. "This is how I can make sure they know somebody supports them." Laird, who...

CAMP VICTORY – A transfer of authority ceremony Saturday in the rotunda of Al Faw Palace saw the blue and white colors of the U.S. Army’s Third Corps unfurled as the storied Phantom Corps took its place as a member of the newly-formed U.S. Forces – Iraq.Lt. Gen. Robert Cone and Command Sgt. Maj. Arthur L. Coleman, Jr., present the Third Corps colors during a transfer of authority ceremony, March 13, at Baghdad’s Al Faw Palace aboard Camp Victory. Photo by Lee Craker, USF-I. Third Corps, based at Fort Hood, Texas, is the first corps-level unit to begin its tour...

3/11/2010 - JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. (AFNS) -- Officials from the 305th Air Mobility Wing here welcomed home Airmen from the 6th Airlift Squadron March 2 as they returned from supporting operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Throughout their four-month deployment, the C-17 Globemaster III squadron Airmen executed more than 3,000 sorties, off-loaded 101 million pounds of equipment and airlifted 146,000 passengers. "Our mission was to provide combat airlift support to operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom," said Lt. Col. John Price, the 6th Airlift Squadron commander. "Without combat airlift, operations on this scale simply are not possible. We employed...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq – The Grafenwoehr, Germany-based 1st Inland Cargo Transfer Company has taken over the Central Receiving and Shipping Point here to assist with the upcoming drawdown of U.S. troops and equipment from theater. "Our mission is to deploy and redeploy units," said Sgt. 1st Class Waldemar Paoli, the first sergeant of the 1st ICTC, 395th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). Paoli, a Yauco, Puerto Rico, native, said his unit, which took control of the CRSP yard Jan. 29, will act as the middleman between COB Q-West and bases in central...

CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, EDINBURGH, Ind., Feb. 18, 2010 – The Civilian Expeditionary Workforce, introduced in January 2009, is up and running at full speed. A range safety official shows Julia Schoenfeld her results after she fired an M-9 pistol. Schoenfeld is with the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce, which trains and equips Department of Defense civiliansto deploy oversees in support of worldwide military missions. She was among the first CEW students who graduated Feb. 3, 2010. U.S. Army photo by T.D. Jackson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. After an intense 10-day course held from Jan. 25 through Feb....

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- A single-mom soldier who says she refused to deploy to Afghanistan because she had no family able to care for her young son will be discharged from the military instead of facing a court-martial, the Army said Thursday. Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, an Army cook stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, was arrested in November after skipping her unit's deployment flight. Hutchinson, 21, said she couldn't leave her son because her mother had backed out of plans to keep the child a few days before the soldier's scheduled departure. The Army filed criminal charges last month...

<p>A single-mom soldier who says she refused to deploy to Afghanistan because she had no family able to care for her young son will be discharged from the military instead of facing a court-martial, the Army said Thursday.</p> <p>Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, an Army cook stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, was arrested in November after skipping her unit's deployment flight. Hutchinson, 21, said she couldn't leave her son because her mother had backed out of plans to keep the child a few days before the soldier's scheduled departure.</p>

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 31, 2009 – Walking off the loading ramp of a C-17 cargo plane and into vibrant sunlight, members of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment arrived at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, Dec. 15. Marines and sailors with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment disembark a C-17 cargo plane at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2009, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. For many of the junior Marines and sailors of 1/6, this is their first deployment, and in many cases their first time outside of the United States. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Marines...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 30, 2009 – Due to multiple military deployments that have occurred for nearly a decade, many Army families choose to remain in their established neighborhoods or return to a relative’s hometown when their soldier deploys. In many cases this means that family resources commonly found on a military installation aren't available for the duration of the soldier’s deployment. The Army has hired 61 community support coordinators located across the United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and Japan to help connect these geographically dispersed military personnel with community-service systems. Community support coordinators work to engage and invite...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2009 – Brandy Flotten is tackling her first holiday season without her deployed husband, but she’s still determined to keep the holiday spirit alive for her two sons, she said. Navy spouse Vivian Greentree created a holiday card to keep her deployed husband part of the family’s holiday festivities. In the card, she and her two boys hold a “Daddy on a Stick” to represent her husband. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “It has been tough,” said Flotten, whose husband, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Flotten, is deployed to Iraq. “We’re just trying to keep...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2009 – Defense Department officials today identified 6,000 servicemembers to deploy in 2010 as part of President Barack Obama’s order to increase the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan. About 3,400 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team are headed to Afghanistan in early summer, according to a statement released by the Pentagon. The soldiers are based out of Fort Campbell, Ky. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates also approved deployment orders for about 2,600 support forces who will begin deploying to various locations at staggered times in the spring. The president announced Dec. 1 that the...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Dec. 2, 2009 – A soldier who was badly wounded in a 2005 roadside-bomb explosion is serving in Iraq again, and he’s finding deployed life easier this time around. Army Spc. David Broome is back in Iraq after receiving a Purple Heart for injuries he suffered in 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Neil Gussman  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The road back to Iraq has been arduous for Spc. David Broome. In all, he was a patient in four hospitals for nearly two months before going home to begin the rehabilitation process. After...

CAMP BLANDING JOINT TRAINING CENTER, Fla., Nov. 25, 2009 – In the midst of a nondescript Middle Eastern-style village, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team soldiers interact with the local inhabitants the same as they have done day in and day out on routine patrols. A soldier from Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, secures an insurgent after finding a bomb in a vehicle during an exercise at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, Fla., Nov. 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Paul O'Leary  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Today, however, something feels different. You can describe all...

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 6, 2009 – When he joined the Navy 15 years ago, Cmdr. Trent Kalp probably expected to serve six-month deployments to the middle of the ocean during his career. But at the time, it might have come as a surprise to learn he also would one day be packing his bags at his home in Midlothian, Va., for six months in Afghanistan. Navy Cmdr. Trent Kalp served six months as commander of Defense Logistics Agency’s support team in Afghanistan. His team worked to develop an aviation hub to provide food for U.S. forces in Regional Command South....

WATERLOO --- Northeast Iowa soldiers attached to "Ironman Battalion" are facing another lengthy deployment. The Waterloo-headquarterd Iowa Army National guard 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry regiment spent nearly two years on active duty --- mostly in Iraq --- starting in 2005. It appears the Iowa National Guard unit will spend another year away from family and friends, this time in Afghanistan. The U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday the guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division, of which the 1/133rd is a part of, is on alert. The division will begin deploying in the fall of 2010 to...

With 15 miles (25km) of pristine, undeveloped beachfront property in southern California, it is difficult to imagine wanting to live anywhere else. But for many of the marines at Camp Pendleton, one place beckons above all others. "Afghanistan," says Lance Cpl Alejandra Esqueda, when asked where she would like to be deployed next. "I actually look forward to it. I'm hopefully going to Afghanistan to finish what we got to do there… I've already been to Iraq. Afghanistan is the new place to be." Thirst for action Lance Cpl Esqueda is one of hundreds of marines on the beach preparing...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2009 – An Army brigade slated to deploy to Iraq in January was relieved of its deployment orders this weekend without current plans for a new mission, Pentagon and Army officials said here today. The 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team was off-ramped by Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, because of the improved security situation there, and not to bolster forces in Afghanistan, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. “This [decision] is based on General Odierno’s assessment of the security environment in Iraq,” Whitman explained. “It reflects the continuing improvements...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2009 – The deployments of about 1,600 U.S. troops in Iraq could be extended in the weeks following the national election slated to occur in January, Pentagon officials said today. Some 1,000 soldiers from the Army’s 1st Cavalry Headquarters in Baghdad could be asked to stay up to 23 days longer and some 600 Marines from the II Marine Expeditionary Force in Anbar province could be extended up to 79 days, according to defense officials. Gen. Raymond Odierno said current military thinking is to maintain force levels between 110,000 and 120,000 troops for the two months after...

... Maj. Cook has already been joined in his lawsuit by two other soldiers, a retired Army two-star general and an active reserve Air Force lieutenant colonel. But the potential consequences of the major's revoked deployment go far beyond the number of American soldiers with doubts about the legitimacy of orders from their nominal commander in chief. The Pentagon's decision to back down rather than risk exposing Obama's birth records to the public means that every single American soldier, sailor, pilot and Marine now holds a "get out of war free" card. Not only every deployment order, but every order...

WASHINGTON — Four new Advisory and Assistance Brigades (AAB) will deploy to Iraq beginning this fall in the next regularly scheduled troop rotations, a senior defense official announced yesterday.U.S. DoD Iraqi Freedom Rotation Schedule (PDF) The brigades are specially configured Army units focused on training and mentoring Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).The new AABs are among seven brigade-size elements whose upcoming deployments were announced yesterday. One brigade is going to Kuwait and two others to Afghanistan to replace redeploying forces, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.Unlike traditional Brigade Combat Teams (BCT), the AABs will focus less on combat operations and more...