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News Archives For November 2008
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Thanksgiving Day, 2008
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 A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America. Thanksgiving is a time for families and friends to gather together and express gratitude for all that we have been given, the freedoms we enjoy, and the loved ones who enrich our lives. 
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Cooperation Between Afghan, U.S.
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 Whether it is a routine patrol or a weapons search, U.S. and Afghan forces increasingly are working together to halt the violence that has haunted Afghanistan for more than 30 years.
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Bush Awards Wounded Warrior
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 President George W. Bush presented a prestigious award today to a severely wounded warrior at Fort Campbell, Ky., who mentors other wounded troops and their families and volunteers at the post’s Fisher House.
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DoD Plans Charge Card Switchover
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 The government-issued Bank of America official travel charge card that’s been used for years by Defense Department military and civilian employees will be deactivated effective Nov. 30, Defense Travel Management Office officials said.
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Gates' Thanksgiving Message
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WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates expressed his gratitude to the nation’s servicemembers and their families in his annual Thanksgiving Day message.
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Major Returns After Escaping Death
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 The Conlans' life, for the most part, appears to be normal. But like some 440 other airmen seriously wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Conlan and his family have struggled for normalcy.
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Thanksgiving Day Message 2008
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In his 2008 Thanksgiving Day message released today, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted the wartime similarities between today and the proclamation of the national holiday 140 years ago.
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Post-Combat Coping Methods Vary
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WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – Methods of coping with combat and its after effects vary as greatly as the effects themselves, six warriors participating in a conference panel here said.
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Army Beefs Up Non-lethal Force
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 U.S. soldiers are trained to use non-lethal force as much as possible. But until recently, not every soldier had “the right mix” of tools and capabilities to meet those goals, an officer said during exercises here last week.
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‘Guard Farmers’ Join Fight
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The National Guard is taking a biblical verse to heart: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” An agri-business development team from Texas already is working in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province.
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Warrior Shares His Experiences
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 Education was the goal of Wounded Warrior Awareness Day held here at the Army National Guard Readiness Center yesterday. “It can be something as simple as sitting down and talking with them and asking if they need help and how you can assist,” he said.
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Soldiers Truly Are ‘Brothers in Arms’
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 Serving in the Army can be a long, difficult road. For many, the best way to survive is to embrace friends and coworkers along the way, and soldiers often consider their comrades as brothers and sisters. But two soldiers are brothers in the literal sense.
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Holiday Meals to Troops
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 Army Spc. Christina Beerman favors her dad’s pies and mom’s stuffing, but the Christmas spread she ate at a dining facility in Iraq three years ago was enough to earn her praise for being “phenomenal.”
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Military Family Appreciation Week
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WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – Military Family Appreciation Week begins today, and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued a message today noting the observance.
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Work Together to Deter Pirates
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Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell defended the military effort to deter piracy in the Gulf of Aden and called on commercial ships to do more. More than 20 nations are coordinating their efforts in the region.
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Best for Defense Acquisition
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When a shopper goes online to make a purchase, a click of the mouse will identify which retailers offer the product and at what price, and how much they’ll charge to deliver it to the buyer’s doorstep.
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Conference Focuses on Solutions
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WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – Representatives of the United States and its allies are meeting in Oslo, Norway, this week in an effort to develop joint solutions to common defense challenges.
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Soldier, Family Find Helpful ‘Source’
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 CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq (American Forces Press Service) – Being separated from family can trigger stress and anxiety for deployed servicemembers, especially when children are involved. But one military family has found a valuable source of help online.
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‘My Life’ Day of Recovery
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 Some people join the military for the educational opportunities, or for the travel benefits. Others join for the challenge. Seeking that challenge was the main motivator for one young Marine who joined the Corps in January 2002.
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Battling Injuries to Return to Duty
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 WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – Despite losing a leg in combat, Army Sgt. Chris Alvin Burrell is focusing on his rehabilitation to one day return to what he calls his “normal day of work.”
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Army Wife Enlists, Escapes Death
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 Many wounded warriors who have served in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom have paid the price for their participation in combat. Depending on that price, many view not only themselves as a hero, but those who were lost.
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Dedication to Veterans
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No one has to tell Dawn Halfaker the value of hiring veterans, especially those disabled in combat. She is one. Halfaker was serving in Iraq in 2004 when a rocket-propelled grenade struck her convoy.
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Terror Groups Feel Pressure
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With U.S., Afghan and Pakistani forces applying pressure on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the enemy “is running out of options for places to go,” a senior U.S. officer in the region said today.
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Marine Returns to Help Others
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 When Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Kachmar extends his right hand to greet combat wounded Marines, there is an instant rapport. A combat veteran himself, he can trade stories of blood and war; of buddies lost and battles fought.
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First Four-Star General Takes Office
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Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley pinned on his fourth star and became chief of the National Guard Bureau in a ceremony at the Pentagon yesterday. More than 300 people from all ranks watched Gates swear in McKinley.
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Pro Football Dream Traded for Army
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 Army Sgt. 1st Class Twillie Curry had long since traded his aspirations of becoming a professional football player to follow another dream – becoming a soldier. But when a special visitor stopped by, Curry couldn’t help but recall his high school glory days.
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Soldiers Dedicate to Fallen Comrade
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 A Military Transition Team from 1st Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, attached to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Multi-National Division - Baghdad, continues its ongoing sponsorship of an Iraqi youth.
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Wounded Troops Enjoy Dinner
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 As ghostlike Capitol Hill workers scurried through a cold, misty fog early Friday evening, a nearby group of wounded and injured warriors cosseted in a warm room broke bread and shared stories about far-away lands and future hopes.
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'Fly Girls' Honors Military Women
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 On the same day the first woman was promoted to the rank of four-star general, the “Fly Girls of World War II” exhibit opened in honor of the first U.S. military-trained women aviators. “Women have contributed to all of America’s Wars since the Revolutionary War,”
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Extreme Makeover: Fort Riley Family
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 "Good morning Tutwiler Family!" Those words along with cheers echoed throughout the Burnside Heights neighborhood Nov. 11 on Fort Riley. But the announcement wasn't just a wake up call for Patrick Tutwiler...
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Welcome Back Task Force Ramadi
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Friends and family members gathered at the Navy Air Mobility Command terminal here today anxiously awaiting the return of their loved ones after a nine-month deployment to Iraq as part of Task Force (TF) Ramadi.
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First Woman to Four-Star General
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 "History will no doubt take note of [Dunwoody's] achievement in breaking through this final 'brass ceiling' to pin on this fourth star," "But she would rather be known and remembered first and foremost as a U.S. Army Soldier."
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‘Green Energy’ Helps Afghanistan
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 Soldiers, government officials and journalists descended on Afghanistan’s Panjshir province yesterday for the grand opening of several developmental projects, including a “green energy” wind farm.
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Acid Attack Shows Nature of Taliban
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It’s a measure of the enemy in Afghanistan that Taliban terrorists attacked girls walking to school in Afghanistan on Nov. 12 by throwing acid in their faces, a senior Defense Department official said today.
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Troops on ‘The Price is Right’
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WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – Comedian and former Marine Drew Carey will welcome servicemembers to the stage of ”The Price is Right” during a prime-time airing of a special episode dedicated to the troops.
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Walter Reed inspires to Rejoin Army
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 WASHINGTON (Army News Service) - A former Soldier and hospital administrator from Texas watched the unfolding news reports about Soldiers and Walter Reed Army Medical Center last year with excitement and optimism.
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Soldier, 19, Tracks Afghan Airspace
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 While many young men his age are just thinking about their next step in life, 19-year-old Army Pvt. Ryan Masterson is keeping an eye on the airspace in a combat zone. Masterson, from McHenry, Ill., is an aviation operations specialist for the Air Defense and Airspace Management Cell here.
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Support Group Launches Web Site
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“Our Web site is completely redesigned to power our mission of providing the best education, training and resources for supporting strength and resilience in all areas of military life,” said Elizabeth Hawkins, executive director of “One Freedom.”
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Camp Honors Cancer Victims
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 Rows of illuminated paper bags glowed as servicemembers honored cancer victims and survivors with a moment of silence. “Cancer touches almost everybody in a certain way,” said Army Staff Sgt. Kelly Greene.
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Amputee Wants to Help Others
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 The bomb, hidden under a pipe, cost Bradford his left leg above the knee and his right one below the knee. He lost his left eye when a piece of shrapnel went through it and lodged in his brain, and retina damage cost him sight in his right eye.
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Soldier Advocate Finds His Calling
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 Doug Miller never really knew what he wanted to do when he grew up – that was, until after he retired this year. The 65-year-old combat veteran and former technology businessman finally found his calling, he said, taking care of Army wounded warriors.
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Wounded Corpsman Fights PTSD
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Navy Corpsman Daniel “Doc” Jacobs didn’t know he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. But he knew he had a problem. “I actually almost ended up killing myself because of it,” Jacobs said.
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Cheney Thanks Veterans
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 Vice President Richard B. Cheney thanked U.S. veterans of all wars during an annual Veterans Day ceremony, and said the men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan carry on their legacy of service.
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Women Who Served are Honored
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 Each of the 58,000 names of fallen troops etched into the granite Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall here tells a story. Many of these tales end in the arms of a female nurse. These Vietnam Veteran military women received special recognition.
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2008 Veterans Day
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 This Veterans Day, we pay tribute to those men and women who have defended our Constitution on the fields of battle, both near and far. Since our Nation's founding, every generation has stepped forth - brave patriots willing to place the freedom of others before their own lives.
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2008 Veterans Day Message
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In his 2008 Veterans Day message, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates underscores the Defense Department’s commitment to the nation’s wounded warriors and their families. Here is the secretary’s message...
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Troops Become Citizens Today
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 BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (American Forces Press Service) – This Veterans Day was like no other for 77 service members who took the oath of allegiance and officially became U.S. citizens while deployed to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan.
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Volunteer Greeters Offer Hugs
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 Karen Walker has shaken half a million hands in the last few years. She and the other 40 or so members of the Maine Troop Greeters have made it their mission to welcome every incoming and outbound flight of soldiers.
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Lincoln's Promise to Veterans
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 As he prepares to observe his first Veterans Day as Veterans Affairs secretary, Dr. James B. Peake said he believes the United States is living up to Abraham Lincoln’s pledge to care for “him who has borne the battle, and his widow and his orphan.”
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Veterans Secretary Notes Progress
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In his 2008 Veterans Day message, Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. James B. Peake noted that the nation has boosted its commitment in recent years to the men and women who have served their country in uniform.
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‘Phantom Thunder’ Honors Veterans
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 The roar of nearly 1,200 motorcycle engines split the morning air at Hood Stadium here Nov. 7 as soldiers and civilians in the “Phantom Thunder” motorcycle safety event started their ride to Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen.
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Veterans Cemetery
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 A Military Transition Team from 1st Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, attached to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Multi-National Division - Baghdad, continues its ongoing sponsorship of an Iraqi youth.
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Troops Like Their ‘Green Beans’
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 Military leaders work to ensure the deployed environment isn’t void of these comforts. One relaxing place on the majority of military bases in Iraq is the Green Beans Coffeehouse. The drinks are nonalcoholic, but the caffeine is enough to recharge the spirit of servicemembers.
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Disability Evaluation Pilot Program
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The pilot program applies to military members who’ve been identified for separation under honorable conditions for service-related injuries, Samuel B. Retherford, director of DoD’s officer and enlisted personnel management office, said during a recent Pentagon Channel interview.
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Soldier Defies Death Three Times
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 Bartlett was providing route security with 1st Battalion, 64th Armor in the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team near Baghdad when an armor-piercing bomb behind a road barrier was remotely detonated.
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Terrorists During Transition Period
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President Bush warned today that terrorists could use the government transition under way as an opportunity to attack, and urged his staff to give the incoming administration the support it needs to “hit the ground running.”
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‘Screaming Eagles’ to Go Home Early
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Improved security and decreased violence across the unit’s area of operations in northwestern Baghdad is enabling the early redeployment of the soldiers back to Fort Campbell, Ky., Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters today.
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History in Veterans Day Message
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Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has issued a Veterans Day message to those who now serve or have served in the armed forces. Here is the text of the chairman’s message:
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Warriors’ Psychological Care
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The Defense Department is investigating new treatments as part of a focused, sustained campaign to assist wounded warriors suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, a senior U.S. military official told Pentagon journalists recently.
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Sergeant Loses Leg in Iraq
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A bomb disguised as a cigarette stand on the side of an Iraqi highway ended up claiming Army Sgt. Robert M. Price III’s right leg below the knee Jan. 14, 2007, but it didn’t take away his will to succeed.
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Recovery Coordinators, Joint Care
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The Defense Department is hiring about 30 specialists who will map out a path to recovery for seriously injured servicemembers and their families. The plan will be consistent across the services, officials said.
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Nov. 11 Veterans Day
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President Bush issued a proclamation to honor all who are serving or have served. “On Veterans Day, we pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the men and women who in defense of our freedom have bravely worn the uniform of the United States.
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Forces Welcomes New President
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 Members of the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee are preparing to welcome President-elect Barack Obama when the nation’s 44th chief executive takes the oath of office Jan. 20.
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Giving Wounded What They Need
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Navy Adm. Mike Mullen didn’t like the way wounded Vietnam veterans were treated when he first entered the service in 1968, and he is working to ensure that America’s wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan get the care and help they need and deserve.
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Soldier’s Recovery
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 Spend the day with Army Capt. D.J. Skelton and you may just get a little jealous. Skelton lives near the beach in northern California and spends his off-duty time camping, rock climbing and learning to surf.
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Maintains SEALs’ Fighting Edge
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 As Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter last week praised Navy SEALS as “the ultimate warriors,” officials at the Naval Special Warfare Center here said they’re holding fiercely to stringent training standards as they strive to produce more of the elite special operators.
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Money for Injured Servicemembers
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A military compensation policy change provides more money for servicemembers injured during service in the global war on terrorism, a senior Defense Department official said here today.
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Care Package Drive on Target
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With mailing deadlines rapidly approaching, a “targeted” effort at the Van Nuys National Guard Armory on Nov. 1 and 2 ensured that 70,000 servicemembers would receive goodies from California this holiday season.
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Troops in Iraq on Election Day
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 On a day when Americans exercised their right to vote, 186 servicemembers deployed across Iraq became U.S. citizens today at Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory here. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, presided over the ceremony.
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Survey Deadline for Warriors
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As the Defense Department observes November as Warrior Care Month, officials have extended to Nov. 28 the deadline for wounded, ill and injured servicemembers and their families to respond to a survey designed to assess the programs and services they receive.
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Helping Families of Fallen Warriors
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 Helping Unite Gold Star Survivors, or HUGSS, will host its fourth “Camp Life” at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 15- 16. The camp combines grief counseling with physical activities such as water sports, skiing, sailing, archery...
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Army Parachute Team Graduates
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 The U.S. Army Parachute Team, the "Golden Kinght's" 2008 Assessment and Selection program graduated 12 Soldiers earning the prestigious honor of wearing the black and gold uniform -- representing the Army's official ambassadors.
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‘Quiet Professionals’ in Terror War
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. (American Forces Press Service) - They’re called “the quiet professionals” – the elite force that navigated the Afghan mountains on horseback in the opening days of the terror war.
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Iraqi Military Builds Up Power
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The number of attacks in Iraq is at its lowest level since January 2004, and this is proof of the growing capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, the vice chief of staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces said yesterday.
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Postal Service Sets Holiday Rules
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As the holidays approach and military families start thinking about what they’re going to send loved ones serving overseas, there are a few dates to keep in mind. Holiday mail going to military bases in other parts of the world should be shipped by Dec. 11.
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Soldiers Help Iraqi Neighborhood
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 The soldiers of Company C, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, a mix of armor and infantry, assumed responsibility for the majority of southern Baghdad’s Risalah community, an area made up of 12 neighborhoods and home to about 250,000 people.
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Captain Leads Missions
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 FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – The logistics world in the Army can seem overwhelming to many soldiers, with different sections and platoons operating independently and in conjunction with multiple units on the ground.
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