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4/10/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNEWS) -- A South Carolina senator toured Iraq for two days, and then put on an Air Force desert camouflage uniform for a week and worked as a judge advocate for the Multinational Forces, Iraq. Sen. Lindsey Graham, also a Reserve colonel, visited the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing April 9 after getting a firsthand look at the 586th and 886th Expeditionary Security Forces in action at Camp Bucca with Sen. John McCain April 1 and 2. "The security detail at Camp Bucca is the most joint operation I've seen," Senator Graham said. "The challenges the Airmen...

AP Military Writer The Pentagon has abandoned its limit on the time a citizen-soldier can be required to serve on active duty, officials said Thursday, a major change that reflects an Army stretched thin by longer-than-expected combat in Iraq. The day after President Bush announced his plan for a deeper U.S. military commitment in Iraq, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the change in reserve policy would have been made anyway because active-duty troops already were getting too little time between their combat tours. The Pentagon also announced it is proposing to Congress that...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2006 – Some 550 active-duty soldiers from Fort Lewis, Wash., will be conducting a different kind of firefight in the days ahead: helping control wildfires that have burned more than 83,000 acres in Washington’s Okanogan and Wenatchee national forests. Task Force Blaze, made up of many Fort Lewis units, boarded buses today after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld gave the green light to the mission, which is expected to last about two months, according to Army Maj. Cathy Wilkinson, a 1st Corps plans and operations officer. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, requested the deployment...

LEBANON — An Army reservist who served two tours in Afghanistan is suing the Wilson County school district, claiming it ended his contract to teach high school classes because of his extended service. Capt. John Parker taught criminal justice and coached wrestling at Wilson Central High School and said he was recently told less than a month after returning from deployment that his contract would not be renewed for the coming school year. "It just made me feel that the people I was fighting for were the exact people that were taking my job from me," Parker told WTVF-TV in...

RAMADI, Iraq (June 28, 2006) -- New York City Police Department Detective Evan L. Schwerner had nearly 21 years off active duty in the Marine Corps when in the four-year wake of Sept. 11, 2001, he decided he could better serve his family and country in the global war on terror as a Marine in Iraq. Cpl. Schwerner joined the Marine Corps Reserve in May 2005 as a hazardous material and waste Marine then volunteered to deploy with the 3rd Civil Affairs Group. He was subsequently assigned to the CAG’s Detachment 4, currently based at the Provincial Civil Military Operations...

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2006 – All the military services achieved or exceeded their active-duty recruiting goals in the month of May, which marks the 12th consecutive month they've done so, according to information released by DoD June 9. Jacob Cristina, of Metairie, La., recites the Navy's oath of enlistment, given by Cmdr. Charles Schug, commanding officer of Navy Recruiting District New Orleans, during enlistment ceremony at the command's headquarters earlier this year. Cristina was NRD New Orleans' first applicant to be sworn in at the headquarters since Hurricane Katrina caused it to be moved. Cristina signed up to become...

WASHINGTON - Personal data on more than 2.2 million active-duty military personnel — not just 50,000 as initially believed — were among those stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee last month, the government said Tuesday. VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said the agency was mistaken when it said over the weekend that up to 50,000 Navy and National Guard personnel — and no other active-duty personnel — were affected by the May 3 burglary. In fact, names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of as many as 1.1 million active-duty personnel from all the armed forces, along with 430,000 members of...

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2006 – All four services exceeded their active-duty recruiting goals in April for the 11th consecutive month and remain ahead of their year-to-date goals, defense officials announced today. And although four of the six reserve components slipped below their April recruiting goals, their year-to-date progress, particularly for the Army National Guard and Army Reserve, shows promise, Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told American Forces Press Service. During what has historically been a slow recruiting period, the active Army recruited almost 5,700 members, 105 percent of its goal, for April. The Air Force signed...

PORT HUENEME, Calif. (NNS) -- For the first time in the global war on terrorism, a reserve Seabee regiment is scheduled to relieve its active-duty counterpart in Iraq about mid-spring. Following the completion of Seabee readiness training at Naval Base Ventura County, the 9th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) is slated to take the job of providing construction engineering support to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Forward (MEF) from the 30th NCR in Western Iraq. Cmdr. Mark Bellis, operations officer for the 9th NCR, said the reserve regiment is preparing to manage joint coalition construction assets over an area about the...

Well, this is not what I expected, but at National Guard Drill this weekend, I expected to receive orders to deploy to New Orleans, LA in support of Operation Katrina relief (yes, Arkansas National Guard is still there), or to Iraq/Afghanistan since I didn't go with the 142nd FA this month. But instead, I received orders to active duty for many months to Fort Huachuca, Arizona.I was needing advice on the SE area of Arizona, specifically, Sierra Vista, Tuscon, Bigsby, etc.I spent all day with ATF getting my Class III firearms ready to go to be stored at the company...

11/29/2005 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- It’s evening, and the Pitman family is playing Candyland in their living room. Devin, 5, bounces from the sofa to the gameboard and pulls a card. “Ice cream!” the blue-eyed boy shouts, and moves his yellow pawn toward the end of the trail. “My turn,” his father says, leaning over the board to pull a card. In two moves, he catches up with Devin, placing his pawn side by side with his son’s. They share the same purple square. But that’s not all they share. Devin and his father, Tech. Sgt....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Sept. 7, 2005 — Army Maj. Harlie R. Treat came back to active duty to contribute to his country, help his fellow soldiers, and “keep a younger major with young children at home.” “I felt like I could contribute to the mission,” said Treat. And he is contributing to the mission here with Combined Joint Task Force 76 as the assistant inspector general to Army Lt. Col. Brian Williams. Treat returned to active duty after a 12-year hiatus following his retirement in 1983. He first enlisted with the Arkansas National Guard in 1960 as a...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- A total force unit here supports joint missions to help save the lives of the coalition forces on the frontlines. The Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and active-duty nurses, medical technicians and others who make up the 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron are on a mission: To transport injured and ill U.S. and coalition forces to locations where they can get the medical care they need. “We do everything that we can do to make sure that the people we treat have every chance at recovering from their injuries and being reunited with...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. (August 19, 2005) -- Harley Davidson motorcycles roared through the hallways of Pendleton Hall and bellowed down the streets of the depot while Marine veterans cruised down memory lane Aug. 12. Seventeen former Marines from the Leatherneck Motorcycle Club, California Chapter, came from all over the state to witness recruit graduation and walk around the base where many of them trained decades before. To be a part of the Leatherneck Motorcycle Club, one must first be an active duty, reserve, or honorably discharged U.S. Marine or Navy corpsman who has served with a...

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) -- The first Future Total Force wing, the 116th Air Control Wing, is nearing its third birthday since merging active-duty Air Force, Army and Air National Guard units to form a “blended wing.” In October 2002, America’s first total force wing took flight as the 116th ACW and made history by combining active-duty Airmen and Soldiers from the 93rd ACW, along with Georgia Air National Guardsmen from the 116th Bomb Wing. The two wings formed one cohesive unit, flying the E-8C -- the world’s only Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System. The merger combined...

The War on Terrorism and deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq have caused concern over the availability of combat and combat support forces. The Department of Defense is searching for new strategies to recruit and retain forces to maintain current authorized levels, while at the same time trying to grow Army forces by about 30,000 troops. One answer to these shortages is to permit retired active duty service members to join a reserve component for the remainder of their service period at least up to their Mandatory Removal Date. Currently, that is not permitted. The reserve components have been stretched thin,...

Eagle Awards 2004 This is the last day to submit nominations for our very popular Eagle Awards. We have received many, excellent nominations – so clear the Christmas over-indulgence cobwebs from your brain and keep the nominations coming! Remember that excerpts from some of the nominations will be used in the Voter Guide so please take a moment to elaborate on why your candidate(s) should be considered for the particular category you have selected. Please read the following guidelines before submitting a name to Eagle Awards 2004. All nominations are private and must be submitted via FReepmail to Eagle Awards...

THESE IS HOW OUR MILITARY WAS DECIMATED UNDER (COMMANDER IN CHIEF)CLINTON, SUPPORTED 100% BY JOHN KERRY (THESE VOTES HE DID SHOW UP FOR). THEIR TERRIBLE JUDGMENT IS WHY OUR MILITARY IS STRETCHED NOW...ALL DUE TO THE DEMOCRAT PARTY LEADERSHIP (I USE THE TERM LOOSELY). Send to all...people need to know what they're voting for. 709,000 REGULAR (ACTIVE DUTY) PERSONNEL. 293,000 RESERVE TROOPS. EIGHT STANDING ARMY DIVISIONS! 20 AIR FORCE AND NAVY AIR WINGS WITH 2,000 COMBAT AIRCRAFT 232 STRATEGIC BOMBERS. 9 STRATEGIC BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES WITH 3,114 NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON 232 MISSILES. 500 ICBMs WITH 1,950 WARHEADS. FOUR AIRCRAFT CARRIERS...

...............Lt. John Forbes Kerry was released from active Duty and transferred to the Naval Reserve on 3 January 1970. He wasn't transferred to inactive standby status until 1 July 1972, then Honorably Discharged on 16 February 1978. Where was Lt. Kerry during the 18 months from 1970 to 1972? Did he attend the required drills and active duty that he agreed to? Was he AWOL or did he violate his agreed commitment on accepting a commission as an officer in the service of the United States. We do know that he made an unauthorized trip to Paris in June of...

Dr. John Wicks figures he deserves a one-of-a-kind badge the moment he arrives in Iraq next week. That's if the Army recognizes him as the oldest soldier in the war. Though he doesn't know for certain, the odds are favorable that the 68-year-old psychiatrist has blown out more birthday candles than any other serviceman deployed in the Middle East; at least, anyone who doesn't wear a general's star. "It's really not that big a deal," he said of his age, because he stays in shape by routinely riding his bicycle and working out at a gym three days a week....