Free Republic

EVERETT -- Eleven years ago, Sabrina M. Weiner graduated as a valedictorian at Kamiak High School near Everett. She was a National Merit Scholar, aiming for a bright future after earning a Navy ROTC scholarship to Stanford University. Two months ago, Weiner, 27, forfeited her Navy career after seven years on active and reserve duty, during which she rose to the rank of lieutenant. In a rare instance involving a commissioned officer, Weiner was arrested and given a choice between a court-martial or less-than-honorable discharge after refusing to serve in Iraq. Speaking publicly for the first time about it, Weiner...

PEORIA - This weekend figures to be a busy one for those involved with military in the Peoria area. Forty Marine reservists from Company C, 6th Engineer Support Battalion are headed home this morning after seven months in Iraq. Then, at 9 a.m. Sunday, 60 Illinois Army National Guard members will leave Peoria and head to Indiana to begin training for a yearlong deployment to Kosovo as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission known as Kosovo Force 10 (KFOR10). In both cases, the public is welcome to attend the ceremonies but should arrive at least 30 minutes before. Parking might...

Reserve search-and-rescue crews based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will begin deploying to the Middle East next week. About 80 reservists with the 943rd Rescue Group, which specializes in combat search and rescue, are scheduled to leave in the first of three deployments, said Master Sgt. Shawn McCowan, a unit spokesman. The 943rd will deploy along with members of its parent unit, the 920th Rescue Wing, for more than a year, McCowan said. He wouldn't say when the unit would leave or exactly where the reservists will be sent due to security concerns, which is standard military procedure. The unit...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2008 – The Army Reserve has evolved into an operational force that is endowed with training, leadership and skills comparable to the active-duty component, the Army Reserve’s senior enlisted soldier said. Command Sgt. Maj. Leon Caffie said he was impressed by the quality of reservists he met over the holidays in Afghanistan and Iraq, and during a massive re-enlistment ceremony in Iraq in which he participated during January. “You can go to the theater, … and you can’t distinguish between the active-duty, National Guard or Army Reserve soldiers because that skill set and that quality is so...

State Sen. Ernie Chambers sent a letter to President Bush complaining about a Nebraska police officer and Army Reserve officer who allegedly left a noose hanging in the work area of a black woman, an Army Reserve sergeant under his command. The behavior is conduct unbecoming an officer, Chambers said in the letter, providing details of the alleged mid-October incident and the victim’s response. An Army Reserve spokeswoman verified the military is investigating an equal opportunity complaint on the incident. Bellevue Police Chief John Stacey will also investigate the incident after receiving a letter from Chambers Friday, but said Detective...

A maintenance Marine with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773 makes a last-minute adjustments on a AH-1W “Super Cobra” before it lifts off, Sept. 29.(personal note he is not using the hellfire missile as a step, there is actually one on the side of the aircraft click the pic for a closer look )AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 12, 2007) -- There is a new sheriff patrolling the Iraqi skies, but service members on the ground will still see the same level of professional support from the air. The “Red Dogs” of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773 arrived in Iraq...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2007 – When Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Timothy Stoeckle deployed for Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004, he never heard a word from his employer -- not a card, note or thank you. He eventually left that job and went to work for the Wilmington Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Delaware. Since taking that job, he has again gotten the call to serve, and the difference has been like night and day, Stoeckle said. Cards, e-mails and care packages of support were constant during his most recent 120-day deployment to Afghanistan, he said. He was shown...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A Florida soldier who enlisted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks plans to sue the military, fighting his fifth order to combat, according to a Local 6 report. Twenty-six-year-old Erik Botta, who is a Port St. Lucie reservist, signed up for the service days after the Sept. 11 attacks. He did a tour in Afghanistan and three in Iraq, but he said enough is enough.

After serving in Afghanistan and three times in Iraq, an Army Reserve sergeant from Port St. Lucie recoiled at still another deployment. BY AMY DRISCOLL adriscoll@MiamiHerald.com CARL JUSTE / MIAMI HERALD STAFF Erik Botta is an Army Reservist who has done four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is now being called for a fifth tour. Audio | Interview with Erik Botta Slide show | Called to duty PORT ST. LUCIE -- Erik Botta believes he's done right by his country. Days after 9/11, as a young Army reservist, he volunteered to go to war. He was soon in...

Justin Lampert was snacking at a Nathan's hot dog stand at New York-New York early Friday when gunshots exploded inside the casino. Sixteen bullets rained down from the mezzanine onto the casino floor, striking four people. As tourists and employees scattered, Lampert dropped his hot dog and hunkered down. Moving slowly amid the stampede, one man in a cream-colored trench coat walked by clutching a gun in his hand. Lampert said he made eye contact with the man as a magazine dropped out of the Springfield XD 9mm semiautomatic handgun. The man said, "I'm going to (expletive) kill you," Lampert...

A man on a balcony over the New York-New York casino floor opened fire on the gamblers below early Friday, wounding four people before he was tackled by off-duty military reservists, police said. A fifth person was hurt in a crush of people fleeing the casino. "It was crazy, pandemonium," said Jade Jacobson, 28, a tourist from Deland, Fla., whose cousin, a dance teacher from Pennsylvania, was wounded in the leg. "People were running and jumping over slot machines and knocking over chairs," Jacobson said. "All I was thinking was that I could die right now." Police said 16...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2007 – National Guard and Reserve members now need turn no farther than their computers to get help with employment issues arising from their military service or mobilization. A new link on the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Web site leads reserve-component members to one of some 900 volunteer ESGR ombudsmen. The link is on the right side of the ESGR Web site at www.esgr.mil. Users explain the problem they’re having and provide contact information for both themselves and their employers, and the information is stored on a secure server. ESGR then assigns the...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 – The military is grateful to the civilian employers of National Guardsmen and reservists who support their employees when they’re called to duty, said Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace saluted employers during a tribute to the troops in Anchorage on Feb. 23. Just prior to leaving Washington, he signed a letter acknowledging the military’s partnership with employers of reserve-component servicemembers. “We quite simply can’t do our nation’s business without the members of our Guard and Reserve,” the chairman said. “They are incredibly valued members of the team. Because...

Greetings From Rancho Mirage By Ben Stein Tuesday Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard, Reservists, in Iraq, in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan, in the area near Afghanistan, in any base anywhere in the world, and your families: Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the backbone in the whole world right now and should be happy with yourselves and proud of whom you are. It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did small errands like going to the bank to pay my mortgage, finding a new...

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind., Oct. 23, 2006 -- When asked how it feels to return from a yearlong deployment to Iraq, soldiers of the 655th Transportation Company have a unified response: big smiles. Army Sgt. 1st Class Anazia Patterson welcomes home Birmingham resident Staff Sgt. Christopher Baker at Indianapolis International Airport. The two soldiers were deployed to Iraq with the Jasper, Ala.-based 655th Transportation Company and recently returned to Camp Atterbury, Ind., for processing before returning home. U.S. Army photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. When asked what they accomplished while deployed, the answers vary. But it quickly becomes...

Jane Flasch (Rochester, N.Y.) - Many soldiers have risked their lives serving in Iraq and Afghanistan only to return to home to find their jobs here have been filled by someone else. Infantry Captain Rob Peterson spent almost a year in Iraq guarding convoys from insurgents near the Syrian border. Peterson said, "You had bad guys from across the border trying to blow up convoys. That was their training before you got to Baghdad." When his duty was over, Peterson returned home to face a different kind of pressure. He said, "Here I am chomping at the bit to get...

        ~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ What's Your Pizza Personality?     Welcome to the FReeper Canteen! It's great to have you with all of us!! Thank you to all of our Troops, Veterans, and their families for allowing us to entertain you!          Your Opinions Please!     Main Topic:   If you visit this site, you can take the short little pizza personality quiz. (It will open in a new window!) Then come back to the thread and post what your pizza personality is for all of us to see!...

   Canteen Sports Corner     Welcome to the Canteen Sports Corner! Any stories you see below can be found online somewhere. We're just here to give a sports update of what's happening around the world of sports!! Enjoy!   ~ College Football ~ Match Of The Week Preview: (By MikeFromOhio)   Week Five was a fun week if you were a Buckeye fan. The weekend started out with Auburn getting a severe test at South Carolina in the super tough SEC. Ohio State went to Iowa and dismantled the Hawkeyes. USC was pushed by Washington State and Florida...

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron (NCWRON) 34 from Naval Coastal Warfare Group (NCWG) 1 deployed to Kuwait Aug. 22 and 24 to provide harbor and port security. They are tasked to protect ships carrying supplies for allied forces in Iraq. “This is my second time going over there, and it feels really good to help our troops get what they need to accomplish their mission,” said Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Martin Garcia of NCWRON 34. NCW squadrons use sensor platforms to provide a technical picture of the ports and harbors as they patrol the harbors for...

HEADQUARTERS MARINE CORPS, Washington (Aug. 18, 2006) -- Richard Litto does not like the term “weekend warrior.” In fact, he despises it, and the mere mention of the phrase triggers a standoffish response in a thick, South Boston accent. “I don’t like it,” said Litto, a reserve Marine on active duty at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. “We’re all Marines regardless of what status we’re in.” And Litto is a true Marine. The 46-year-old sergeant currently serves with Marine Air Support Squadron 6; however, when called up for active duty from the reserves, he wanted to be with the action....