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A lesbian wife of a Fort Bragg soldier was named the installation's military spouse of the year through a voting competition. Ashley Broadway is not recognized as a spouse under federal law, and she recently was denied official membership in a Fort Bragg officers' spouses organization. But her selection in the competition by Military Spouse magazine was praised by advocates for gays and lesbians, who say it underscores the need for the federal government to extend full benefits to same-sex couples. Broadway, the wife of Lt. Col. Heather Mack of Fort Bragg's 1st Theater Sustainment Command, will represent Fort Bragg...

THE DAY OF AUGUST 26, 2007, began like any other for the soldiers of Charlie Company, 2-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (from the 82nd Airborne Division) -- with a mission in the city. Over a year into its deployment to Samarra, Iraq, and now working on the three-month extension announced by Secretary of Defense Gates in the spring, the company knew the city like the back of its collective hands and had its operational routine down to a science, whatever the mission it might be tasked with. On this morning, that mission was to establish a defensive perimeter around a block...

A routine mission for a small unit of US troops based here turned into a fight for their lives when they came up against a group of suspected Taleban militants along the border with Pakistan. It did not make any headlines. It was just another incident among many in this volatile region. But it gives an insight into why the US-led coalition is having such difficulty defeating the insurgency that has affected much of eastern and southern Afghanistan for the past two years. It was 25 June. Second Lt Louis Fernandez had led seven members of his platoon to the...

Spc. Derrick Christianson couldn't see the enemy fighters, but he could see the blood as he launched grenade after grenade at their position in a ditch near the Afghanistan border. 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers were on patrol near a fire base about 50 miles south of Khost when the militants attacked. The battle was one of the fiercest encounters since the paratroopers took over security in the region in April. Christianson, a 20-year-old soldier from Iowa, said he could hear gunfire from a ridge line a few miles away as his patrol took up position on top of a mountain...

OTTAWA, Ohio (AP) - A soldier who grew up in northwest Ohio has been killed in Iraq. Sergeant Zachary Wobler was a 1998 graduate of Ottawa-Glandorf High School. His father says he died Sunday during a firefight with insurgents. His father says that despite being shot several times, Wobler shot and killed the car's driver and fought on even as he was being put on a stretcher. Wobler was a member of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. He leaves behind a 3-year-old daughter.

h1 class="mainHead">Soldier admits his story of Iraqi boy's death a lie By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff  |  December 10, 2004 When Army Sergeant Dennis Edwards spoke at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School last month, 100 students listened in rapt silence as he told chilling tales of battlefield horror in Iraq and criticized President Bush's motives for going to war. Edwards, 23, a Barnstable High School graduate, said he and two other soldiers shot and killed a 10-year-old boy in Iraq who pretended to be wounded and suddenly fired an AK-47 rifle. The boy was found to have explosives attached to his...

Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who commanded the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, blamed Coalition Provisional Authority bureaucracy yesterday for the slow development of an effective Iraqi security force and warned that Fallujah was still a threat to the peace in Iraq. The general also said the terrorist violence was largely being carried out by a homegrown insurgency organized into regional and perhaps national cells complemented by imported suicide bombers. "I don't know what the volume of foreign fighters is in Iraq, [but it appears] to be a very small number," he said at a gathering at the Washington...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 10, 2003Release Number: 03-12-24 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TASK FORCE “ALL AMERICAN” CAPTURES SPANISH ATTACKERS LUTAFIYAH, Iraq – At 2:00 am this morning, paratroopers from 3rd Brigade, 82d Airborne Division with the assistance of Iraqi police conducted Operation Panther Squeeze, a series of 18 raids in Lutafiyah to kill or capture individuals believed to be responsible for the attack against Spanish forces on November 29th. The cooperation efforts between the coalition forces and Iraqi police contributed to the great success...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 4, 2003Release Number: 03-12-09 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 82D AIRBORNE DIVISION RAIDS NET ENEMY, ARMS AR RAMADI, Iraq – The 82nd Airborne Division, also known as Task Force “All American,” continued to conduct operations to bring peace to Iraq and assist the reconstruction efforts. These missions continue to move Iraq toward a free and independent nation. During the past 24 hours, the 82nd Airborne Division and subordinate units have conducted 161 patrols, including 10 joint patrols with the Iraqi Border...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 November 15, 2003Release Number: 03-11-21 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CIVIL AFFAIRS, PATROLS MAKE IRAQ BETTER PLACE FOR RESIDENTS AR RAMADI, IRAQ – The 82d Airborne Division also known as Task Force “All American” continued missions directed at stopping violence and improving the quality of life for Iraqi citizens. The soldiers continue to help the people of Iraq achieve peace and stability. Task Force soldiers went on 166 patrols, 15 of which were joint patrols with members of the Iraqi Border Guard...

They didn’t get far before the team’s captain looked back. Six paratroopers from the 82d Airborne, also part of Mountain Sweep, were lined up outside the farmer’s house, preparing to force their way in. “I yelled at them to stop,” says the captain, “but they went ahead and kicked in the door.”