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CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, May 5, 2008 – The daily stresses of being a mother can make it a difficult, full-time job. Factor in the burdens of serving multiple deployments to a combat zone, and “Army Strong” takes on a new meaning for many military mothers. Army Spc. Ocie Terry, an administration specialist serving in Multinational Division Baghdad and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s Company B, Special Troops Battalion, is a single mother of three girls. Her children -- Samantha, 6, Amari, 4, and Sunnieday, 2 -- are living with her mother in Jacksonville, Texas, during her deployment. Terry,...

ARLINGTON, Va., April 29, 2008 – Following a workshop that helped children cope with a military parent’s deployment, the familiar, furry denizens of Sesame Street are starring in a new program focusing on multiple deployments and family adjustments upon a parent’s return. Sesame Workshop, the makers of Sesame Street, today released “Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployment, Homecoming, Changes,” a video workshop that aims to aid children in understanding and unbundling the tangle of complex emotions many feel in the midst of a mother’s or father’s tours of duty away from home, and even broaches the difficult subject of dealing with...

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, April 7, 2008 – Dealing with a loved one’s deployment can be difficult. But for Marine families based thousands of miles from home, the challenges might seem even more daunting if not for an active family support network in place to help them. Carrie Heironimus, wife of Navy Lt. Brandon Heironimus, right, gets information about family-support programs at a table set up in Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s base exchange from Brenda Hawkins, left, administrative assistant for the Marine Corps Family Team Building program, and Cheryl Roy, center, the base’s readiness and deployment support trainer. Photo...

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2008 – The former commander of Multinational Corps Iraq emphasized the need yesterday for longer “dwell time” between Army deployments to reduce the strain on the force and give soldiers more time for training. Video Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who left the No. 2 coalition post in Iraq in mid-February, told Pentagon reporters he supports plans to shorten Army deployments from 15 to 12 months to reduce wear and tear on the force. “What we’re trying to do is get more time back between deployments,” Odierno said. Troops now typically get a 1-to-1 balance...

Air Force Maj. Don Treanor, commander of Detachment 3, 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, and his brother Maj. Stephen Treanor, executive officer for 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), are serving simultaneously in Iraq for the second time. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs. CAMP STRIKER — Deployments aren’t generally regarded by families as happy occasions – unless you’re one of the Treanor brothers. For the second time, Army Maj. Stephen Treanor, executive officer of 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2007 – Army Sgt. Janeice Capers, said the Army changed practically overnight while she was in advanced individual training. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred two days before she graduated. Army Sgt. Janeice Capers, a Property Book Office clerk for 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, is serving her third tour at Camp Taji, Iraq. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert, USA   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “I was in the (post exchange) getting my uniform done for graduation when I heard the news,” said Capers, a clerk in the 1st...

FORT RICHARDSON, Alaska, Aug. 23, 2007 – Pvt. Elias Kvasnikoff is traveling down a dusty road through a small Iraqi village when suddenly his Humvee lurches, the windows shatter and the convoy comes to a screeching halt. He has taken a direct hit by an insurgent’s rocket-propelled grenade. If he’s not dead, he’s lucky. Army National Guard Sgt. Rebecca Pilmore talks to her team as driver Pfc. Lucas Graham (right) maneuvers through simulated convoy training Aug. 9. In the back of the “Humvee” are Spc. John Maddox, Pfc. Edward Seddon, and Staff Sgt. Jason Keirn (far back). The simulator...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (July 14) - Army Reserve Sgt. Erik Botta has been sent to Iraq three times and to Afghanistan once. He thinks that's enough. Botta wants a court to block the military's plan to deploy him for a fifth time Sunday, most likely to Iraq. He isn't against the war - but he thinks he can serve his country better now by working for a defense contractor and pursuing his education.Army Reserve Sgt. Erik Botta, here with his wife, Jennifer, has served in Iraq three times and in Afghanistan once. He is scheduled for a fifth deployment...

FORT DRUM, N.Y., April 30, 2007 – Being an Army wife can be difficult. Being an Army wife at the 10th Mountain Division’s Fort Drum can be even more challenging, since the 10th is one of the Army’s most deployed divisions. Carrie Murray, with her daughter Ellie, 9, and son Austin, 7. Murray's husband, a soldier with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, at Fort Drum, N.Y., has been deployed five times in their 14 years of marriage. Courtesy Photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Of the three brigades at Fort Drum, one can usually assume that two...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 – The Defense Department is committed to implementing changes in policy that will mean fewer, shorter and more predictable deployments for reserve-component troops, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told the National Guard’s 54 adjutants general today. Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, left, chief of the National Guard Bureau, speaks with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates during the National Guard Bureau's Senior Leadership Meeting in Washington, D.C., Feb. 27. Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Speaking to the Adjutants General Association of the United States mid-winter conference, Gates said his...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2007 – The Defense Department will soon begin compensating troops who are required to mobilize or deploy early or extend their deployments, and will reduce the time reserve-component members are mobilized involuntarily to 12 months, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced here today. Gates, speaking at a joint news conference with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said he will put in place a program to “compensate individuals in both active and reserve components that are required to mobilize or deploy early or extend beyond the established rotation policy goals.” Pentagon officials have drafted a proposal for...

12/21/2006 - SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFPN) -- Approximately 46 Airmen returned to Shaw AFB in mid December after being deployed to Southwest Asia fighting the war on terrorism. The Airmen returned in two groups, one returning from supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, while the second group was mainly supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The first group, about 20 Airmen from the 20th Civil Engineer Squadron and one from the 20th Medical Operations Squadron, returned from six months in Iraq. During their deployment, the 20th CES and 20th MDOS members supported the 823rd Red Horse Squadron based at Hurlburt...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2006 -- Elmo and the characters of Sesame Street are going to give Americans a chance to see what military families go through when their loved ones deploy to war zones. Sesame Street will air “When Parents Are Deployed” on most Public Broadcasting System stations Dec. 27. Armed Forces Network stations will air the special in January. “The special focuses on giving people an understanding of the sacrifices servicemembers’ families make in a deployment,” said Barbara Goodno, a senior program analyst with the Pentagon’s Office of Family Policy. Elmo, the fuzzy red puppet who is perpetually...

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo, Nov. 14, 2006 -- Changes being made in the way the force is structured, trains and deploys ultimately will mean fewer deployments and more predictability for individual troops, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told National Guardsmen today during a town hall meeting here. Marine Gen. Peter Pace told about 500 National Guard troops wrapping up a year-long deployment with Kosovo Force 7 the most important thing the military can offer them is a basic idea of when and how frequently they’ll be called up for duty. Questions from the group focused on the...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Aug. 28, 2006 -- As members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit here make last-minute preparations for their upcoming deployment, Staff Sgt. Danny Sava and his family are getting their own affairs in order so they’re ready for another long separation. Marine Staff Sgt. Danny Sava, his wife, Julia, son, Anthony, and daughter, Alyssa, stroll past a sign at the top of a stairwell in the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s command headquarters that marks the days until Sava’s upcoming deployment. “E-22” marks “Embarkation minus 22,” or 22 days until Sava and 2,300 fellow...

5/1/2006 - HUNT, Texas (AFPN) -- On the banks of the Guadalupe River, a veterans group hosts a retreat that helps couples reconnect so they can better cope with life after deployments. Six couples attended the retreat hosted by the Military, Veteran and Family Assistance Foundation at the Heart of the Hills Camp here from April 20 to 27. “I thought this was going to be very structured -- a mandatory fun kind of thing,” said Senior Airman Aaron Childs, who attended with his wife, Mellissa. “But it’s nothing like that. It’s laid back. Everyone is here to help you.”...

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, April 4, 2006 – Deployed to Afghanistan for a year, Army Lt. Col. Timothy Newcomer will miss his son's prom, high school graduation and, a few months later, his departure to college. Army Sgt. 1st Class Eddie Mitchell shares a few minutes with his 6-year-old son, Desmond, April 4 at Desmond's school. Photo by Elaine Wilson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But his son, Matt, is not upset in the least. "He loves to be a soldier, and if it makes him happy, it makes me happy," said Matt, a high school senior. "How...

FORT LEE, Va., (Army News Service, March 24, 2006.) – Napoleon Bonaparte once said that “an army fights on its stomach.” On today’s battlefields, Soldier-chefs deploy a mobile food service system that meet the challenge presented by Soldier’s stomachs in a matter of hours. Unlike the singular movements of large armies of Napoleon’s early 19th-century Europe, many of today’s U.S. troops are deployed as modular units in a fast-moving, world-wide environment. This creates a challenge to get hot, quality chow to Soldiers on the move. The Army’s Field Operations Training Branch has answered the call to serve rapidly-deployed troops with...

Every Memorial Day, when we honor the soldiers who have sacrificed so much for the greater cause of liberty, I think about Uncle B. My grandmother’s brother served in Europe during World War II. I remember him playing Chinese checkers with us kids in the 1970s, not knowing then that he was almost incapable of relating to anyone older. Physically whole, Uncle B suffered from the quiet disease we used to call “shell shock.” The military today makes great efforts to help veteran troops deal with the transition away from the heavy psychological burden of combat. Sadly, not all vets...

Increasingly, National Guardsmen are being deployed By Anita Powell AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Saturday, June 12, 2004 FORT HOOD -- Spc. Ryan Duffee motioned to his nine-member squad to fall into single file in the muddy thicket, as the soldiers prepared for their entry into the small town. "Weapons at the ready, guys!" said the 21-year-old, gesturing with his standard-issue M-16A2 assault rifle. "On your shoulders. You're scanning the windows, you're scanning the rooftops." At T-minus one minute, silence fell over the 10 men and women. These members of the 36th Infantry Division of the Texas Army National Guard were part of...