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He has no legs and no eyesight, but Marine Cpl. Matthew Bradford has four more years of military service ahead of him after becoming the first blind double-amputee to re-enlist. The rifleman was injured in January 2007 in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded right under him, the San Antonio Express-News reported. But after years at the Center for the Intrepid, a privately funded, cutting-edge rehabilitation center, Bradford, 23, has learned to walk with prosthetic limbs and navigate without his vision, and he only regrets that he can’t return to combat duty in Iraq, the paper reported. Instead the Kentucky...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 26, 2009 – Few people could fault Army Spc. Bobby Gladney when he did not immediately re-enlist after seven years of service in the National Guard, which included a deployment here in 2003. Army Spc. Bobby Gladney, a construction equipment repairman, replaces a battery in a forklift on Camp Liberty, Iraq. Gladney, from D’Iberville, Miss., is in the maintenance section of the 926th Engineer Brigade’s Forward Support Company, 890th Engineer Battalion. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Catherine Graham   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gladney had family back home in Mississippi, including two small children he...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10, 2008 – Two deployed soldiers decided to make their re-enlistment a family affair. Siblings Army Pfc. Marlene Banuelos and Army Staff Sgt. Normando Gallardo, natives of El Paso, Texas, swear the oath of enlistment administered by Army Col. Pat White during a Dec. 7, 2008, re-enlistment ceremony at Camp Striker, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Wolfe   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Staff Sgt. Normando Gallardo and his sister, Army Pfc. Marlene Banuelos, both Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers, made a six-year commitment to the Army together during a Dec. 7 re-enlistment...

AMARAH, Iraq, Aug. 19, 2008 – Forget money. Forget choice of duty station. Forget everything but the T-shirt. Army Pfc. Jacob McHenry, a forward observer assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division’s Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, guides a Humvee to a tactical parking position off the road in Amarah, Iraq, July 31, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Creighton Holub, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Believe it or not, the T-shirt for re-enlisting on the front lines was the only incentive Pfc. Jacob McHenry wanted...

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2008 – More than 1,100 servicemembers stationed in Iraq will celebrate the nation’s birthday tomorrow by re-enlisting, the senior enlisted leader for Multinational Force Iraq said today. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin L. Hill said 1,157 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will re-enlist at the Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory, in Baghdad. This may be the largest re-enlistment ceremony since the all-volunteer force began in 1973, Hill said via phone from Baghdad. This is becoming an annual blockbuster event for the command. Last year, 588 servicemembers re-enlisted. “We are extremely proud of the accomplishments we have...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, July 3, 2008 – As soldiers’ enlistments near their end, they must decide whether they want to leave the service or stay on for another term. Some soldiers in Iraq who decide to stay in the Army face another choice: whether to re-enlist here or wait until they’re back in the United States. Some may want to re-enlist while in Iraq for the chance at their pick of duty station or for the tax-free bonus. Others do it for more personal reasons. “I knew I was going to stay. I had already made up my mind about...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2008 – More than 100 mobilized Army Reserve soldiers deployed in Iraq and Kuwait raised their right hands and recited the oath of enlistment in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Army Reserve, in a ceremony here today. More than 100 Army Reserve soldiers gather at the Al Faw palace at Camp Victory, Iraq, Jan. 18, 2008, to reenlist during a ceremony marking the 100th Anniversary of the Army Reserve. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Anthony Martinez  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. In the grand rotunda of Al Faw Palace here, Army Gen....

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Dec. 21, 2007) - Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. re-enlisted 267 Soldiers in a ceremony at Camp Victory's Al Faw Palace Dec. 19. The Soldiers, who had come from throughout Multi-National Division - Center's area of operations, raised their right hands and pledged to continue risking their lives. "Thank you all for what you're doing, and for the difference you're making in Iraq," Gen. Casey said. "I think it's important, every once in a while, to take a step back and think about the big picture and remind ourselves what's at stake...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 27, 2007 – Two hundred eighty soldiers and one sailor re-enlisted earlier this month in the Al Faw palace, one of Saddam Hussein’s former homes. The palace was seized by 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Ga., in 2003. On the division’s 90th birthday Nov. 21, soldiers under its command renewed their commitment to the Army and the war on terror. When Sgt. Patricia Daniels, of Headquarters and Headquarters Support Company, Support Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, re-enlisted during Operation Iraqi Freedom III, she didn’t know the significance of the date at first. “Last time I was...

CAMP VICTORY — Everybody has one. It may be a family member, a teacher, or a coach – an extraordinary person who makes such an impact that one’s life is forever changed. For Staff Sgt. Steven A. Holloway that one person was a friend, mentor and leader. The story of Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith is known to the nation. His actions in combat on April 4, 2003, above and beyond the call of duty, led to him being posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. On Aug. 10, Holloway, on his third combat tour to Iraq, raised his right...

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Derek Scott and Sgt. Dawana Lynch-Scott Husband, Wife Re-enlist at Taji By Sgt. 1st Class Reginald Rogers Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Nov. 1, 2006 -- Two 4th Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade soldiers serving together here as both comrades in arms and husband and wife, had a decision to make - re-enlist together and move the family to enjoy the palm trees and beautiful beaches of Hawaii or turn down the opportunity to re-enlist and return to Fort Hood. Staff Sgt. Derek Scott and Sgt. Dawana Lynch-Scott stood side-by-side just...

The mass re-enlistment of 640 GIs of the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment is considered invaluable to the Army's future. A year ago, as Iraqi fighters detonated a bomb that shattered his convoy, Army Sgt. Gene Braxton led survivors scrambling out of their Humvees in the hot dusty haze to hunt for the triggermen. Five months later, a bigger roadside bomb rocked the armored vehicle Braxton was in. Reeling from a concussion, he dragged a wounded buddy to safety. Back in Colorado, Braxton has re-enlisted and will undergo parachute jump training in preparation for a possible third stint of combat duty...

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2006 – Swearing to defend the U. S. Constitution, 40 Army Reservists re-enlisted yesterday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building here. Army Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, chief of the Army Reserve, speaks at a re-enlistment ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, April 6. Photo by Steven Donald Smith  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "These great American heroes swear and affirm that they will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic," Army Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, chief of the...

Brothers, Brandon and Jeff Lloyd, both staff sergeants in the U.S. Army, re-enlist on their mother’s birthday in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 28. U.S. Army photo U.S. Army Staff Sgts. Brandon and Jeff Lloyd Brothers Re-enlist on Mom’s Birthday By Capt. James Lowe 506th Public Affairs Office BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 2, 2006 — On a bright winter’s day in eastern Baghdad, two brothers re-enlisted for love of country, love of the Army … and love of their mom back home in Alabama. Staff Sgt. Brandon Lloyd, two years older than Staff Sgt. Jeff Lloyd, hosted his brother at Forward Operating...

6 Heroic Paratroopers just reenlisted on Fox and Friends. They took the oath and told why they were reenlisting. It warmed my heart to hear it.

Hero. Wounded soldier eager to re-enlist June 7, 2005 — He survived a bombing in Iraq and lost his leg. But a local soldier says he wants to re-enlist. Sergeant Jerrod Fields from south Chicago returned home Tuesday from Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Fields now uses a prosthetic leg to get around. "It's something I knew I had to do and get over with," said Sgt. Jerrod fields, 3rd Infantry Division. His sister, cousin and grandmother all call him a hero. "I'm very proud of my brother. He did what a lot of people wouldn't have done. He went...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq - One hundred seventy-seven right hands were raised together April 3 at the airfield in Taji, Iraq, as Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's Aviation Brigade re-enlisted in a mass ceremony. Gen. Dan K. McNeill, commander of U.S. Army Forces Command, administered the Oath of Enlistment. Maj. Gen. William G. Webster, 3rd Infantry Division commanding general, accompanied McNeill. Division officials said the mass re-enlistment was the largest for the active-component in the Iraqi theater of operations. The 101st Airborne Division, which re-enlisted 158 Soldiers on July 4, 2003, held the previous record. A total of 256 National...

American service men and women are stepping forward to re-enlist, "as I would expect," said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers. "We are a nation at war. This is the time for our military to rise to the occasion and serve the nation at a time like no other." Myers said in an interview with the Pacific Stars and Stripes newspaper that all services are making their retention and recruiting goals. The chairman said service members realize that if the United States loses the war on terrorism, the results would be catastrophic. The...

The 101st Airborne has a reply for all the press, pundits and FReepers who continually allege Iraq is a quagmire: