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Eliot Ness is running for vice president of the United States. When Chicago gangs were running roughshod over cities and towns across the nation and all hope was seemingly lost, the FBI brought in the "G Men," led by Eliot Ness. Ness was good, righteous, and uncompromised. Ness could not be bought. And Ness brought the forces of evil to its knees. He wasn't glam, and his arrest of Al Capone, the kingpin of the outlaws, wasn't sexy (tax evasion), but it worked. Why do I bring this up? Because I can't help but see the ghost of Eliot Ness...

TWO people have been charged over an assault on a group of US sailors in which one was allegedly stabbed and slashed in the face with a pair of scissors. West Australian police allege a 17-year-old boy and a 19-year-old woman approached the group, who were on shore leave, outside the Perth train station at about 1am on July 5. A fight erupted and a female sailor was left with facial injuries, while a male sailor required surgery for the wounds he received when he was attacked with the scissors. Police said a 17-year-old boy from the Perth suburb of...

FOUR US sailors have been assaulted while on shore leave in Perth - with one slashed across the face with scissors. WA police said a group of sailors were walking through Perth train station about 1am (WST) this morning when they were confronted by six people. ` "Three males and three females have yelled abuse at the sailors and as they tried to walk past them, one sailor was punched in the face,'' said police spokeswoman Ros Weatherall ``An altercation occurred and four sailors were assaulted, with one male struck in the face with a pair of scissors.''

PERTH brothels are increasing staff to contend with the arrival of two US warships carrying more than 5400 sailors. Nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington and guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens docked off Fremantle yesterday. Prevalent in groups of five or six on the streets of Perth today, some sailors were asking locals: "Where do you go to party?". Business groups estimate the sailors' arrival will boost the local economy to the tune of $5 million during the ships' five-day stay. The owner of Perth brothel Langtrees, Beverly Clarke, said today she had put on five extra staff for...

PERTH brothels are increasing staff to contend with the arrival of two US warships carrying more than 5400 sailors. Nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington and guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens docked off Fremantle yesterday. Prevalent in groups of five or six on the streets of Perth today, some sailors were asking locals: "Where do you go to party?". Business groups estimate the sailors' arrival will boost the local economy to the tune of $5 million during the ships' five-day stay. The owner of Perth brothel Langtrees, Beverly Clarke, said today she had put on five extra staff for...

TOWNSVILLE has been forced to turn away a US warship and its 3600-strong crew, which would have brought more than $1 million a day to the port city. The USS Essex, a 258m-long amphibious assault vessel, has been diverted to Cairns for an eight-day shore leave, including the popular Fourth of July celebrations. Outraged Townsville tour operators are facing millions in losses, empty hotel rooms, cancelled tours and more than 400 seats booked for the North Queensland Cowboys home game as a result of the embarrassing backdown. Cairns officials yesterday welcomed the big-spending US seamen and the predicted $10 million...

THE 7000 sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk have farewelled Sydney – and about $10 million of their money during their five day stay. Escorted by a flotilla of small boats, the Kitty Hawk left Sydney Harbour after five days docked at the Garden Island Naval Base. It is estimated the 7000 sailors spent $2 million a day during their visit to Sydney – or around $280 a crew member, a day. The sailors also engaged in various charitable works around the city, including a visit to sick children at the Children's Hospital at Westmead. This was probably...

AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar, April 17, 2006 – People use the term "decompress" a lot at U.S. Central Command's Rest and Recuperation Center here. Servicemembers enjoy video games in the USO lounge at the As Sayliyah Rest and Recuperation Center in Qatar. Personnel from Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa can get four-day passes to the facility. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The center allows servicemembers and Defense Department civilians to leave the stress of service in Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa behind, said Army Capt. Pernita Duggal, in charge of the...

A BLACK-CLAD figure amid a sea of brilliant white uniforms, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was given a hero's welcome aboard two US warships in Sydney Harbour yesterday. The crews of USS Port Royal and USS Ruben James greeted Dr Rice with cheers and whistles. She told the sailors they were owed a great debt of thanks by the American people, the President and all who desired freedom. "Because you are stalwart, because you have volunteered for this fight (in the global war on terror), we are going to win this great struggle," she said. "We are going...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2006 – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal today during the ship's regularly scheduled port visit here. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks to the crew of the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal during a visit to the ship March 16. Port Royal was in Sydney for a regularly scheduled port visit. The secretary made brief but encouraging comments to the crew and visiting media on the ship's main deck before going below decks for a special lunch with the sailors. "This group of wonderful young men and women who represent...

Dozens of donated plastic models are available for deployed service members to assemble in their free time. U.S. Army photo U.S. Soldier Starts Tikrit Chapter of Hobby Club The Tikrit chapter of the International Plastic Models Society has fifty members and that number is growing. By U.S. Army Spc. William Jones 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment TIKRIT, Iraq, March 2, 2006 — Some U.S. soldiers assigned to the 101st Airborne Division are passing the time during their deployment by doing something they enjoyed doing as kids – building plastic models. “It is something that totally immerses you in to...

Reporter: Lisa Millar PETER CAVE: Brisbane is bracing for an American onslaught today after the arrival late yesterday of the USS Ronald Reagan - the biggest and newest aircraft carrier in the world. It's on its maiden voyage and Brisbane is the first port of call. Lisa Millar reports. LISA MILLAR: Queensland's newest tourism attraction is a mammoth aircraft carrier docked in Brisbane for the next five days. The nuclear powered ship has sailed from San Diego - Brisbane is its first port of call. Larger than three football fields and higher than a 20-story building, it has firepower too....

060123-N-0610T-139 Brisbane, Australia (Jan. 23, 2006) - The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), arrives in Brisbane, Australia, for a scheduled port visit. While in port, Reagan's crew will have a chance to participate in friendship-building and goodwill-generating activities. Reagan is currently on its maiden deployment in support of global war on terrorism and maritime security operations. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class James Thierry (RELEASED) 060123-N-0610T-088 Brisbane, Australia (Jan. 23, 2006) – The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), arrives in Brisbane, Australia, for a scheduled port visit. Reagan While in port, Reagan...

MORE than 5300 sailors, airmen and soldiers from the USS Kitty Hawk carrier group descended on Sydney last night, determined to bleed up to $30million in back-pay over the next four days in "the most sought-after port". "They haven't been paid for 40 days, so they'll be enjoying some great liberty," said Lieutenant Commander Terrence Dudley, the ship's media liaison boss. Rear Admiral Jamie Kelly, the commander of carrier strike group five - which the Kitty Hawk or "Battle Cat" heads - said his people were "eager to take advantage of the local attractions". "The strike group's visit is expected...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - One young man cannonballed into the cool blue pool, another applied suntan lotion to his girlfriend's shoulders - and a third swung his machine gun onto a lawn chair. A pair of Black Hawk helicopters hovered above. The men and women could have passed for American college students, but they were U.S. soldiers at Camp Liberty in western Baghdad, seeking a break from the war raging just beyond the blast walls. Hours later, some would don helmets and flak jackets, jump into armored vehicles and patrol through violent Baghdad neighborhoods. "When I come here I don't...

A week ago, Noel Borden was sleeping in a bunker in Baghdad. On Sunday night, he and his fiancée, Sarah Harmon, slept on a pillow-top bed in a luxurious third-floor suite at the Ann Bean Mansion Bed and Breakfast in Stillwater. They lit a fire, tried out the hot tub and ate a gourmet meal — poached pears with a berry compote and vegetable quiche — for breakfast. Borden, a radio operator in the Minnesota National Guard's Delta 216 unit, is home on a two-week leave, and his St. Croix River Valley getaway was free, compliments of the innkeepers. "It's...

CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — The 2nd Brigade soldier who created www.beerforsoldiers.com, a Web site that lets people buy a beer online for a U.S. soldier, has been ordered to stop running his site. Sgt. Dale Rogers, in Iraq with Company C, 1st Battalion (air assault), 503rd Infantry Regiment, posted a notice on the site last week informing readers that he is turning it over to his brother. A spokesman for the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which includes 1-503, said in an e-mail that lawyers from the unit rendered a legal opinion that the Web site...

CAMP HABBANIYAH, Iraq — To Sgt. Dale Rogers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, the near beer that soldiers sometimes get in Kuwait and Iraq tastes like something drained through a wet sock. But that’s the closest the beer-loving Strike Force (2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team) soldier will get to his favorite drink during the next few months of his deployment in Iraq. The cyber-savvy soldier, though, has plans to make up for the lost consumption during mid-tour leave to Qatar and when he and his mates return to the States next year. And it won’t...

Sunday, September 19, 2004 Oktoberfest offers ultimate R&R for troops who’ve served in Iraq By Charlie Coon, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Sunday, September 19, 2004 Charlie Coon / S&S The Lowenbrau float rolls by during Saturday's parade to open the 2004 Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Charlie Coon / S&S Front row from left, Pfc. Jason Cain of Roanoke, Va., Sgt. Sylvia Hughes of Clarksville, Tenn., and Pfc. Kyra Sisco of Fremont, Calif.; back row from left, Pfc. Chase Wilson of Missouri City, Texas, Pfc. Cassandra Sisco, who is Kyra's sister, and Spc. Eric Lauberstein of San Diego, on Saturday at...

  CENTCOM R&R program sends 100,000th Soldier home on leave By Cpl. Matt Millham KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (Army News Service, Aug. 26, 2004) -- Almost a year after its inception, the rest and recuperation program for American troops engaged in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom reached a milestone when the 100,000th troop in the program flew out of the Central Command theater of operations Aug. 26. The 100,000 R&R Soldier is Sgt. Charles Petty, who has been stationed at Camp Steel Dragon in Baghdad and attached to the 89th Military Police Brigade. Army Col. Louis Yuengert, who formally...