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Washington (AFP) - The US Justice Department said Friday it arrested an Islamic State sympathizer who was plotting to carry out a suicide bomb attack on a US military base in Kansas. John T. Booker Jr, 20, is charged with "attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction... attempting to damage property by means of an explosive and one count of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," the Justice Department said. Booker was arrested earlier Friday near the Kansas city of Manhattan "as he made his final preparations for his planned assault"...

A group of military chaplains is calling for an about-face after a base in Kansas disinvited retired Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin from a prayer breakfast due to his religious beliefs. The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty sent a letter to Maj. Gen. Wayne Grisby, commander of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, calling on him to reinstate Gen. Boykin’s invitation. The chaplain advocacy group said the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which demanded the general be disinvited due to his religious beliefs, has no right to dictate whom the base hosts. “Maj. Gen. Grisby should reinstate the invitation to...

The arrest of two southern California men last week who were planning to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State brings the number of U.S.-based individuals involved in international terror-related cases this year to 40. (UPDATE: with the arrest of Houston-area Asher Abid Khan late Monday for supporting ISIS, the tally is now 41.)This number highlights the metastasizing Islamic terror threat in the American homeland. At the current pace, by the end of June — halfway through 2015 — the number of cases will exceed the number from the past two years combined (48). <-- PJM_300_by_250_middle --> The Islamic...

A 20-year-old Kansas man plotted to kill American soldiers with a vehicle bomb at the Fort Riley military base, an attack he planned to carry out on behalf of the ISIS terror group, prosecutors announced Friday. John T. Booker, also known as Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, was arrested as part of a lengthy FBI investigation. Federal authorities said he was arrested near the army base in Manhattan, Kansas, as he completed final preparations to detonate the bomb, which had, in fact, been rendered inert while he was under FBI surveillance. “As alleged in the complaint, John Booker attempted to attack U.S....

Via twitter - BREAKING CNN: 2 people are in custody after trying to get onto MacDill Air Force Base, the home of U.S. Central Command: Air Force spokeswoman

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006 – Fort Riley, Kan., an Army base that’s been a big player in the war on terror, will commemorate the terrorist attacks that gave rise to it during a Freedom Walk Sept. 11, the fifth anniversary of those attacks. More than 500 students at the post’s Ware Elementary School, 99 percent of them military children, and 85 staff members will participate in Freedom Walk, according to Pat Olmstead, the event organizer and family support monitor at the school. The participants will assemble for the 2 p.m. walk wearing red, white and blue clothing and carrying large...

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2006 – America is a nation that keeps its promises, and so U.S. troops deployed in Iraq are continuing to fight terrorists there as the new Iraqi government gets onto its feet, Vice President Richard B. Cheney told soldiers at Fort Riley, Kan., yesterday. Vice President Richard B. Cheney talks with U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Riley, Kan., during his visit to the post April 18. Photo by April Blackmon  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. President Bush has vowed that the United States won't quit the war against global terrorism, Cheney said during his remarks....

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. And I appreciate the warm welcome to America's War Fighting Center, Fort Riley, Kansas. (Applause.) Don't hold back. (Laughter.) I'm also glad your Congressman, Jim Ryun, is able to join us today. I want to thank General Hardy, Colonel Smith, Colonel Perkins, Command Sergeant Major Dean, and the outstanding musicians of the 77th Army Band from Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Above all, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank the soldiers of the 24th I.D. -- the "Victory Division" of the United States Army. (Applause.) This great Army post has an important...

President Bush talked about American competitiveness in Maryland and welcomed, along with Secretary of State Rice, Prime Minister Siniora of Lebanon to the WH. He nominated Rob Portman as OMB Director and Susan Schwab for USTR. Vice President Dick Cheney visited troops at Ft. Riley, Kansas. Laura Bush visited with the Lebanese PM's wife at the WH. Welcome to Sanity Island!

SALINA, Kan. - Deanna Millsap has often celebrated Father's Day without her dad around. That's life when you're a military kid - you get used to sharing your dad with the Army. A "business trip" for her sergeant dad meant he'd be spending a year behind barbed-wire fences in a war zone. "Sightseeing" meant he'd don a bulletproof vest, helmet and his weapon. "Business dinners" came in neatly wrapped brown packages called Meals Ready to Eat. When he was home in Kansas, he was a cool dad who sometimes fixed MREs for Deanna and her friends. Having a drill sergeant...

Iraqi-Americans Discuss War's Impact Two Iraqi-Americans tell about their experiences in Iraq, their reasons for coming to the United States and their views on why it is a good thing that America removed Saddam from power. By Mike Heronemus 24th Infantry Division (Mech) Fort Riley, Kansas FORT RILEY, Kan., Jan. 25, 2005 - "Saddam (Hussein) destroyed the family structure in Iraq. He turned brother against brother. He turned sons into informers against their fathers. Fathers could not trust their sons," said Dr. Mahmoud Thamer, an Iraqi-born cardiologist who is now an American citizen. "If an American asks an Iraqi...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 September 12, 2004Release Number: 04-09-31 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1ST BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM TRANSFERS AUTHORITY CAMP ARAMADI, Iraq -- The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division transferred authority to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division in a Sept. 11 ceremony here. The Soldiers of 1BCT, who have been in Iraq for more than a year, are planning to return to their home base of Fort Riley, Kansas. In the early stages of the deployment, the 1BCT was attached...

Baghdad, Iraq The 500 soldiers in the Army's 2-70th Battalion have broken through Iraqi strongholds a dozen times with their tanks and other armored assault vehicles. It's not a unit for the faint of heart. When the battles are over, officers regularly tell their soldiers they can turn to the battalion's chaplain for counseling to deal with what they have seen on the battlefield or what they have done.But what happens when it's the chaplain who says he can't deal with the horrors of war and quits the battlefield? Word of the chaplain's abrupt departure this week hit the battalion...