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News Archives For August 2008
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Soldier Donates Money, Time
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 Whether it involves time with their families, their personal comforts or even their lives, the duty of soldiers eventually requires sacrifice. Certain soldiers, though, go beyond that call of duty and give more. 
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Search for Top Military Spouse
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 Servicemembers who think their spouses are top-notch now have the opportunity to tell the world why everyone else should agree. Military Spouse magazine is accepting nominations for its 2009 Military Spouse of the Year award.
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Terrorists with Suicide Vests Killed
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Coalition forces killed three terrorists - two of whom were wearing suicide vests - and detained six suspects, including an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq leader, during operations in Iraq’s Diyala province.
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Mayor Asks Counterparts to Support Guard
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 “Today, more than ever, we must do everything we can to support our employees who are also serving our nation through the Guard and reserve,” Mayor Mark Begich said. “It is incumbent on every employer to give all the support possible to these brave servicemen and women.
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A Letter to Veterans
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I am sorry that the storm has kept me from connecting directly with you-the courageous men and women of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Each of you has placed this Nation's security and the freedom of others before your own lives. You are, indeed, a national treasure.
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Celebration of Farmers Market
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 Agriculture leaders, provincial government officials, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces participated in the Central Euphrates Farmers Market and Agricultural Center Foundation-Stone Ceremony on Aug. 23.
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Corporal Becomes Unit’s ‘Go-To’ Guy
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 Though the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were a big factor in why Cpl. Jack Condon joined the Army, he also had another reason in mind. “I really wanted to make my family proud of me,” he said.
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New Program for Household Moves
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U.S. Transportation Command and the Army's Military Surface Distribution and Deployment Command have announced the initial rollout of a new automated system for movement of servicemembers’...
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Online Mental Health Tools
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“AfterDeployment.org provides servicemembers, their families, and veterans with online behavioral health tools,” Dr. Robert Ciulla said on the “Dot Mil Docs” program on BlogTalkRadio.com Aug. 21.
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Runners Memorial to Fallen Heroes
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 Run for the Fallen, inspired by Bellona’s best friend and college roommate, Army 1st Lt. Michael J. Cleary, began on Flag Day, June 14, just outside the gates of Fort Irwin, Calif. Cleary, 24, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on Dec. 20, 2005.
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Survivor of 9/11 Attack Honors Sister
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Fifteen minutes before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack at the Pentagon, two sisters, both Defense Department employees, sat in the building’s five-sided center courtyard to talk about their family’s newest development.
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Forces Capture al-Qaida Leaders
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Salim Abdallah Ashur al-Shujayri was captured Aug. 11. He reportedly is the al-Qaida emir of Baghdad’s Rusafa district. Ali Rash Nasir Jiyad al-Shammari was captured Aug. 17. Both men are assessed to be long-time members of al-Qaida.
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Russia Defies Calls for Withdrawal
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Russian troops continue to occupy the breakaway region of South Ossetia, and Russian troops continue to maintain troops in Gori, a Georgian city that is the gateway to South Ossetia, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
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Soldier Develops Love for Running
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 When Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Hess left Fort Campbell, Ky., for Baghdad he weighed 229 pounds. However, soon after arriving in Baghdad, Hess took it upon himself to increase his physical fitness level and lose the weight.
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Troops Capture 11 Terrorists
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In Beiji, south of Mosul, coalition forces captured four men suspected of planning attacks using poison. Forces nabbed a suspect in Sharqat, also south of Mosul, wanted for transporting weapons and explosives for al-Qaida in Iraq.
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Cyber Attacks Serve as Lesson
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Recent cyber attacks against government information systems overseas should serve as a lesson that the United States needs to continue to strengthen its defenses against those who would target the country.
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Group Helps Political Parties
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 During each party’s convention, Homes for Our Troops will present a wounded veteran from each of the communities where the Democratic and Republican conventions are being held with keys to a specially adapted home.
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Memorial Designer Reflects on Work
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Being chosen to design the Pentagon Memorial that will be dedicated here Sept. 11 is an achievement that may never be topped in an architect’s career, one of the Pentagon Memorial’s lead designers said.
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Couple Travels Army Career Paths
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 Two Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers are the logistics staff officers for their respective brigade combat teams. While they serve their country in different locations, they have worked together as a team during the last 10 years.
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Refugees Find Safe Haven
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 Recent fighting between the Taliban and Pakistani forces in Pakistan’s Bajwar Agency has forced thousands of families – many of whom fled to Pakistan after the 1979 Soviet invasion – to cross the border into Afghanistan.
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Stability After Georgia's Departure
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 Iraqi security forces and coalition forces leaders held a joint news conference to confirm the stable security situation in Iraq’s Wasit province after the Georgian government redeployed the 1st Georgian Brigade.
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Group Hosts Survivors Conference
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The conference brings together Special Forces widows at various stages of bereavement and includes an array of speakers in the fields of military widowhood, bereavement, financial planning, benefits and entitlements...
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New Army Service Uniform
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 Out with the old, in with the blue. The Army has made it official, the green service uniform, which has defined the service since the mid-1950s, is on the outs. The message defines the wear policy and the "bridging" strategy for transition to the new uniform.
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Experience Drives Panamax Exercise
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Army Lt. Col. Mike Panko knows what it’s like to operate in a joint, combined warfighting environment. Working at the corps level in Baghdad from 2003 to 2004, he interfaced closely with coalition partners...
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Company Employees Unite
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When they found out one of their own was going to deploy overseas with the Tennessee National Guard, the leadership and employees of Lochinvar Corp. didn’t waste any time. They immediately found out what they could do to help.
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America Must Stay on Offensive
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The United States must remain on the offensive to defeat global terrorism, President Bush told U.S. military veterans in Orlando, Fla. The only way to bring U.S. servicemembers home from Afghanistan and Iraq is victory.
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Group Honors State’s Fallen
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More than 100 runners are expected to participate in a 99-mile run Aug. 23-24 hosted by a Greenville, N.C.-based care package group in honor of the 117 North Carolinians who have lost their lives serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Soldiers Improve Iraq Conditions
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 When Army Staff Sgt. David Cox looks at a map of Baghdad and sees the neighborhoods that form a little block in the southern part of the city known as Abu Tshir, he realizes how tenuous a position his platoon and fellow soldiers are in.
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Exercise Builds Understanding
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 When Jason Reed scanned the horizon from the bridge of USS Tarawa during this year’s Panamax exercise, the Walt Disney Studios executive vice president wasn’t scouting out a location for an upcoming motion picture.
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Afghanistan ‘Banks’ on Its Future
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 Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, the Central Bank of Afghanistan’s governor, and officers from 101st Joint Logistics Command met at Camp Eggers on Aug. 7 to sign a memorandum that changed the banking relationship between U.S. forces and the Central Bank.
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Silver Medalist Anti Finishes Ninth
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 In his fourth and possibly final Olympics, Army World Class Athlete Program Maj. Michael Anti just missed making the final and finished ninth in the 50-meter rifle prone event Aug. 15 at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall.
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Army Coach Consoles Olympian
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 “He did it again!” someone shouted from the grandstand the instant Team USA’s Matt Emmons plummeted from surefire gold to fourth place with a shocking 4.4 on his final shot in the Olympic 50-meter rifle three-position event.
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Kids Turn Tart Drink Into Support
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 One Florida neighborhood’s younger residents recently turned a simple lemonade stand, the ages-old financial bastion of kids looking to make some pocket change, into a fundraiser to help out an area troop-support group.
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Army Marksman Wins Gold in Skeet
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U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit shotgun shooter Pfc. Vincent Hancock set two Olympic records and prevailed in a four-target shoot-off against Norway’s Tore Brovold to win the gold medal in men’s skeet on the Beijing Shooting Range.
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Kirkuk Police Train Females
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 Thirty-seven females attended the first day of training at the Kirkuk Police Academy outside of Kirkuk city, Iraq, Aug. 16. It’s been a year since the academy has seen any Iraqi females in blue and not a class of this size.
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Soldier Benefits Others
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 Having earned a Combat Action Badge during his previous deployment and being the only soldier in his platoon to have returned enemy fire, Pfc. James Quesada, uses his experience to benefit others.
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Volunteers Serve Veterans
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For more than 60 years, the 'United Voluntary Services,' which consists of California-based volunteers, has worked to ensure that no hospitalized veteran anywhere in the country making a worthwhile request gets “no” for an answer.
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Children Aim for Stars at Space Camp
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 With Joshua Mayo in the pilot seat and flight director Daniel Arvleo-Perez overseeing a mission control center hundreds of miles away, the space shuttle landed flawlessly. Not bad for a couple of teenagers.
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Overseas Troops Can Vote
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With fall general elections approaching, U.S. servicemembers and civilians living overseas should now be thinking about obtaining absentee ballots to vote, the Defense Department’s senior voting official urged today.
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'Stand With People of Georgia'
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Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. Moscow must honor its commitment to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory,” Bush declared, noting the United States is working closely with its European allies.
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Pentagon Memorial Evokes Emotion
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 When Jim Laychak looks out over the 184 benches that serve as the centerpiece for the new Pentagon Memorial, he sees life. Rays of early-afternoon sunlight reflect on pools beneath each bench, sending ripples of light dancing across the stainless-steel benches.
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Georgian Invasion Sends Message
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Georgia, a nation of 5 million in the Caucasus region, has allied itself with the West and is seeking membership in NATO. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are provinces that are seeking to break away from Georgia and ally with Russia.
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Afghan Women Show Progress
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 More than 100 local women who attended the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team Woman’s Shura in the province’s Anaba district Aug. 4 participated in discussions on the welfare of their villages and addressed ongoing issues.
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Georgian Humanitarian Mission
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The humanitarian mission under way in Georgia is intended to alleviate suffering for now and will move into longer-range help in the future, officials said at a Pentagon news conference today.
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Forces Detain Suspected Terrorists
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Coalition troops killed one man and detained five others allegedly connected to al-Qaida. The individuals are believed to be involved in assassinations, bombings and financial conspiracies for the group against Iraqi forces.
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Soldiers Unite With Families
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 As deployments have remained consistent for soldiers and family members, separation has been commonplace. To aid in strengthening the separated families’ relationships, the Reading program promotes the “read aloud” experience for separated families.
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Groups Help the Expecting
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Many of the expectant mothers helped by the two groups -- North Star Group and Operation Showers of Appreciation -- have spouses who are deployed and will not be home for the birth of their new babies.
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Oldest U.S. Woman Competitor
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 At age 56, Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Elizabeth “Libby” Callahan became the oldest U.S. woman competitor in Olympic history with a 25th-place finish in the women’s 25-meter pistol shooting event today at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall.
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Focus on Military Families
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Kim Robinson knows that when military members deploy, they face a lot of stress overseas on top of worrying about their families at home. To help alleviate that stress, Robinson has committed to do what he can to ease the burden.
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Southern Kirkuk Civil Service Corps
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 The Southern Kirkuk Civil Service Corps program is similar to the 1930’s Civilian Conservation Corps established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat unemployment during the Great Depression.
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Conference Looks to Help Vets
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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is hosting “Paving the Road Home: The National Behavioral Health Conference and Policy Academy on Returning Veterans and Their Families.”
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Soldier Wins Gold Medal, Sets OR
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 Army Spc. Glenn Eller won the gold medal in double trap shooting at the Summer Olympics, setting an Olympic record. Eller went into the final round leading by four shots and hit 45 out of 50 targets to win the first shooting gold for Team USA.
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Stress Management in Military
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The Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control is teaching sailors and Marines how to deal with everyday and combat-related stress starting at the beginning of their military careers, a senior Navy official said.
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Tigers Bring Friendship to Iraq
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 After traveling more than 7,000 miles, two Bengal tiger cubs have finally settled into their new home in Iraq. Amid much fanfare and excitement, Hope and Riley were introduced to the Baghdad Zoo on Aug. 8.
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Shooter Enters Olympic Hall of Fame
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Retired Army Lt. Col. Lones W. Wigger Jr., 70, a three-time Olympic military marksman himself, starts a new job with the beginning of the 2008 Olympics as narrator for MSNBC’s Web video coverage of marksmanship competitions.
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Packages Help Troops Finish Projects
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Whether it’s just a nail that’s needed to hang a family photo or a new saw blade for tackling bigger projects, a Dallas-based support group is playing hardware store for deployed troops.
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Wounded Warrior to Aim for Gold
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 With the world’s attention focused on the Olympic Games that open tomorrow in Beijing, a former 3rd Infantry Division soldier severely wounded in Iraq is gearing up to compete in the Paralympic Games that open there Sept. 6.
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Pentagon Protection Agency Prepares
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The Pentagon is the most obvious symbol of the world’s most powerful military. The building is the home of the National Military Command Center. And soon it will be a tourist destination.
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Truman’s Fight for Civil Rights
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 When the candidates had no pressure to act on civil rights, President Harry S. Truman sent the first civil rights message to Congress, a comprehensive 10-point proposal outlining equal opportunity for all citizens.
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Roadside Bomb Attacks Reduced
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Army Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz told Pentagon reporters that a combination of the troops surge, the work of Sunni Muslim “Sons of Iraq” citizen security groups and counter-IED programs are responsible for the reduction in roadside-bomb attacks.
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Georgia Man Starts Letter Campaign
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The idea of getting people involved in a letter-writing campaign to reach all servicemembers currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan may seem a little far-fetched for the average person, but Cody Anderson is by no means “average.”
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Vigilance in Community Gives Peace
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 On the wall of the operations cell for Task Force Vigilant it reads, “Vigilance is Excellence.” However, for Task Force Vigilant, a patrolling and quick-reaction team for Multinational Division Center, vigilance also stands for peace.
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Violence Drop-off in Iraq
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For the eleventh straight week, violence in Iraq continues at the lowest levels in four years, despite ongoing threats from al-Qaida in Iraq and Iranian-backed militants, a coalition general said today.
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Diversity Found in Communities
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Today's diversity in the Army and Air National Guard reflects the diversity of the communities its members serve and live in, the National Guard Bureau's equal opportunity and civil rights director said.
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60 Years of Integration
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As the Defense Department commemorated the 60th anniversary, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the observance is a reminder of “how far we’ve come toward living up to our founding ideals...”
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Military’s Cyber-Electronic Future
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The U.S. military is reaching out to government, academia and industry for help in developing capabilities for protecting the nation’s cyber infrastructure, an Army electronic warfare expert said yesterday.
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Vets Become Community Leaders
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“Our veterans possess incredible strength that comes from their service in combat. Some also have the strength that comes from learning to overcome and live with a disability,” said Eric Greitens, its chairman
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Soldiers Build Afghanistan’s Future
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 Wherever U.S. forces are deployed across Afghanistan -- whether conducting combat operations in the east and south or security and stability operations in the west and north -- they do so from forward operating bases.
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Iraqi Forces Kill One, Detain 21
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U.S. troops near Mosul detained two alleged al-Qaida associates and four other suspects. The two suspected associates are believed to be part of an al-Qaida network south of the city in Sharqat, officials said.
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Immunizations Key for Health
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Obtaining proper immunizations against disease is a key factor in sustaining the health of servicemembers, military retirees and their families, senior defense health officials said here today.
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Mobile Memorial Honors Fallen
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The Fueled by the Fallen Memorial Race Car Team -- a trio of cars bearing the names of Marines who died in Iraq -- makes appearances around the country to raise awareness of the sacrifices made in defense of the United States.
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Militia Soldier Was Olympic Pioneer
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 Imagine the Olympic Games without the specter of terrorists, tests for outlawed drugs or gold medals. That was the Olympics that a soldier who served in the Massachusetts militia experienced in Greece in 1896.
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‘Realize Blessing of Free Society’
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Stopping at Eielson Air Force Base ahead of his scheduled trip to Asia, Bush addressed a group of airmen and soldiers, which included one of the first Army brigades to serve an extended 15-month deployment in Iraq.
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Videos for Children Gain Popularity
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Two videos produced by Army Medical Command and the American Academy of Pediatrics to help children and adolescents cope during a parent’s deployment are gaining in popularity.
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Officials Develop Iraq’s Capabilities
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A robust national intelligence apparatus will be a key enabler for the independent operation of the Iraqi security forces, but the necessary capabilities are still being developed, a coalition advisor said Aug. 1.
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Baghdad Elementary School Reopens
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 The Harat Elementary School in southern Baghdad’s Rashid district reopened July 31 after two months of refurbishment. More than 1,000 Iraqi boys and girls from 7 to 12 years old and 60 teachers will start school in September.
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U.S. Engineers Build Iraq Facilities
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The U.S. military is building scores of new medical clinics across Iraq as part of an American-Iraqi partnership to improve health care services for the Iraqi people, U.S. and Iraqi officials said yesterday.
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Troops in Iraq Kill Enemy Fighters
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Coalition forces in Iraq killed three enemy fighters, detained dozens of terrorism suspects and seized illegal weapons caches in operations over the last few days, military officials reported.
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Soldiers Prepare for Olympic Games
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 Sixteen members of the U.S. Army Family will compete, coach or serve as training partners for Team USA at the 29th Olympic Games to be held Aug. 8-24 in Beijing. The U.S. military boasts a proud history of producing Olympians.
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Help Returning Soldiers
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 Starting today, citizen Soldiers here will now receive mental health screening thanks to a new partnership between the New York State Division of Veterans Affairs, New York State Office of Mental Health and the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.
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Bush OKs Death Sentence
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Exercising the commander in chief’s final authority to approve capital punishment for a servicemember, Bush issued the order against Pvt. Ronald A. Gray on July 28, the first time such a presidential directive has been invoked in 51 years.
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Lead Trainer Discusses Iraqi Military
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The Iraqi army increasingly is in the lead in operations from Basra to Baghdad to Mosul. The number of violent incidents has continued to drop in Iraq. The Iraqi army picked up the security slack, Salazar said.
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Iraqi Doctors Provide Medical Care
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 It is no different in Baghdad’s Iraqi Family Village, where residents suffer from a myriad of illnesses. Among other ailments, Iraqis suffer from high-blood pressure, anemia and diabetes; however, these medical conditions are treatable.
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Happy Notes Reach Troops
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 A Minnesota couple received letters thanking them for musical instruments they’ve sent to deployed troops show. Operation Happy Note sends free musical instruments to deployed servicemembers wherever they’re statione
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Web Site Thanks Troops
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A new Web site is giving the American public a nonpartisan opportunity to join entertainers, professional athletes and politicians in expressing gratitude to servicemembers defending the nation.
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