Free Republic

DOVER, Del., Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden bid a safe farewell on Friday to 112 "citizen soldiers" headed to Iraq, including his son, and told them "thank you for answering the call of your country." "God bless you and may He protect you," Biden said a day after his debate with his Republican rival Sarah Palin, who as Alaska's governor saluted her 20-year-old son off to war last month. In brief remarks at a departure ceremony outside the Delaware state capitol, Biden made no mention of his showdown in St. Louis with Palin.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2008 – The Defense Department today announced replacement units scheduled to deploy next year to Iraq. About 26,000 troops from an Army corps headquarters, an Army division headquarters, a Marine expeditionary force headquarters, an Army fires brigade and six Army brigade combat teams are scheduled to rotate into Iraq between this winter and next summer, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Units receiving deployment orders are: -- 1st Corps Headquarters, Fort Lewis, Wash.; -- 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; -- 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; -- 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort...

Iraqi legislators said Sunday that parliament had voted to lift the immunity of a Sunni Arab lawmaker who visited Israel. The parliament has also banned Mithal al-Alusi from traveling outside Iraq or attending parliamentary sessions, they said. Sunday's punishment was confirmed by Osama al-Nujeif, a Sunni Arab lawmaker, and Haider al-Ibadi, a Shi'ite lawmaker. The two men said Alusi's trip was illegal and a humiliation for Iraqis who see Israel as a historical enemy. Without parliamentary immunity, Alusi could be subject to prosecution. Alusi, chairman of Iraq's Democratic Party, Mithal al-Alusi, surprisingly arrived at a conference on terror in Herzliya...

Sarah Palin formally sent her 19-year-old son Track off to Iraq with a speech before his unit in Fairbanks, Alaska. "As you depart us, your parents, your friends and family, if you allow for a few tears and (allow us) to hold you closer before you're gone," she told the troops of the Army's 1st Stryker Brigade, Delta company, on Thursday. The Republican vice presidential candidate didn't mention her son by name in her remarks during the deployment ceremony that coincided with the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Members of Track's unit are expected to begin arriving in...

Sarah Palin was back in Alaska Thursday to see her son off to war. A homecoming rally late Wednesday marked the first time the governor had been in the state since Republican presidential hopeful John McCain asked her to be his running mate on August 28. And there was no hiding her joy at being back after the madness of the past two weeks in which the little-known governor and self-proclaimed "hockey mom" was transformed into a political rock star. Palin's laughter filled the cabin as the freshly painted McCain-Palin campaign plane pulled up to an airport hanger in Fairbanks...

The phones have been ringing of the hooks this morning in the UT1992 family (across the US and around the world). It is official that my nephew (oldest brother's son) is being shipped out to Afganistan. My nephew called us this morning to break the news. Although we are all a solid military family, with family members having served in the military and/or seen action in every war/conflict since the civil war, it is still difficult news to hear. He told me told he was scared, but knows that it is his duty and that he is proud to serve....

These aren't the 300 Spartans you heard about from Greek myth or the movies. They are the nearly 300 Spartan combat support truckers of the National Guard who are on their way back to Iraq. The 1498th Transportation Co., nicknamed "The Spartans," departs today from March Air Reserve Base for its ultimate destination, a staging area in Kuwait designed for supporting missions into Iraq. ... On Tuesday the largest California Guard unit to deploy during the initial phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom got ready to redeploy to the Middle East, with 18 or so of its original members making the...

Last week my wife and I traveled to Fort Hood, Texas to see our youngest son, 1st Lt. Christopher B. Lee, leave with his unit for a 15-month combat tour to Afghanistan. We visited him and his wife, Katie, and our eight-month-old granddaughter Avary, at their military-provided duplex housing on the fort located in Central Texas. Chris’s unit, 1st Battalion of the 26 Infantry Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One), just missed the Pentagon’s policy change of combat tours from 15 to 12 months, by two weeks. If he had been deployed on or after August...

On Tuesday, 100 soldiers of Bravo Company, 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion got into a civilian airliner and headed for Kuwait for additional training before they cross into Iraq. In a short ceremony in one of the hangars at Libby Army Airfield, the soldiers heard Brig. Gen. Susan Lawrence tell them to take care of each other in the combat zone. “Take care of yourself, take care of your battle buddy,” said Lawrence, who commands the Network Enterprise Technology Command, the higher headquarters of the Signal Corps unit. The general said many of them will be traveling on the dangerous roads...

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...

Specialist Robert Terrio and his wife, Kary, thought they had avoided a dangerous deployment a few months ago when he learned that his Missouri National Guard unit would do a tour in Kosovo instead of Iraq or Afghanistan. "There's a certain amount of relief that we weren't being deployed to an active war zone,'' Robert Terrio said. Then, last month, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, a move Serbia refused to recognize. Suddenly, Kosovo started to look a little more dicey. Demonstrators torched the U.S. Embassy in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, mobs attacked several United Nations border posts, and gun...

A baby's cries were the only sound that broke the hush when the soldiers of the 257th Transportation Company marched out Saturday before an overflow crowd of hundreds of relatives and friends who had come to say farewell. For many of the more than 200 men and women who make up the Army Reserve unit, that sound will be one of the things they miss the most when they deploy, first for two months of training in Indiana, then for the Middle East. They have deployed before, but they have become parents since that last deployment, or added new children...

FORT HUACHUCA — The shadows of snow clouds steadily built and enveloped the Huachucas, but never quite managed to engulf hangar No. 3 at Libby Army Airfield late Monday afternoon. There was already enough precipitation flowing as the families, friends, a few pets, and comrades-in-arms gathered for two all-too-brief hours to say a goodbye with a kiss, hug or gentle touch that must last 15 months. “I gave him a present on his birthday,” said Chief Warrant Officer Ramona Hill, indicating little Wilson Hill, born on Oct. 25, held by his daddy with whom he will always share a birthday,...

NORFOLK (NNS) -- More than 7,300 Sailors from 17 commands and three staffs left their homeports Nov. 5 as Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) deployed to the Central Command Area of Operations as part of the ongoing rotation to support Maritime Security Operations in the region. According to Rear Adm. Bill Gortney, commander, Carrier Strike Group (CCSG) 10, the mission of the HSTCSG is to be ready, when called upon, to support theater commanders. He emphasized that throughout all operations, safety will remain a primary focus. "We are a robust strike group able to support the needs of...

NORFOLK--The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group will deploy Monday with nearly 7,500 sailors in support of maritime security operations. The strike group is commanded by Rear Adm. William E. Gortney, according to a Navy news release. Leaving from Norfolk will be the carrier Harry S. Truman, Carrier Air Wing Three, the guided missile destroyers Oscar Austin and Winston S. Churchill, the guided missile cruiser San Jacinto and the submarine Montpelier, the release said. The guided missile cruiser Hue City and the guided missile destroyer Carney will leave from Mayport, Fla. Also, the fast combat support ship Arctic will deploy...

My Stepson Adam is getting deployed shortly. Godspeed sir. May the Lord of Hosts be round you as a wall of fire, and shield you in the day of battle.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2007 – Defense Department officials announced today that 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, will deploy to Iraq in summer 2008. The deployment of the Fort Hood, Texas, unit is part of the normal rotation of forces, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. There are about 3,500 soldiers in the brigade. Before deploying to Iraq, the unit will re-flag and become 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. “This could cause some confusion, because the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry, is already in Iraq,” Whitman said. That unit, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, is due to redeploy back to the United States...

SIERRA VISTA — Army Chief Warrant Officer Lisa Stansbury's family has plenty of work to do while she's in Iraq for the next 15 months. There's the horse to take care of and ride, plenty of homework to finish and weekly letters to write — not to mention building a house. "We've got to have it done before she gets done," said her husband, Doug, who along with 11-year-old daughter Sarah saw Stansbury off Thursday morning during a departure ceremony for the 11th Signal Brigade. Stansbury, along with more than 100 other soldiers from the unit, departed from Fort Huachuca's...

101st Airborne prepares for deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan

Nine weeks have passed since Jason Scowden boarded a bus in Tampa for basic training, nine hellish weeks of hikes and pushups, blisters and blood in the Georgia hills. The kid who grew up playing PlayStation and watching Jackass learned to kick down doors and roll grenades, to fire antitank missiles and sniper rifles. The man marching past his mother now, marching closer to war, is not the kid who got on that bus.

Army News video: The Van Doos are on their way to theatreVALCARTIER, Quebec - The commanders send off their troops with a few words of encouragement.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is preparing for deployment to Iraq next year. Captain Beau Biden is part of the 261st Signal Brigade that has been told to prepare for duty in Iraq in 2008. They have not been given a date of deployment yet. Biden -- according to a report on Radio Iowa -- says he doesn't want his son to go to Iraq, but says he doesn't want his grandchildren having to "go back in 15 years." Biden continues to criticize Democratic rivals such as Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2007 – New York National Guardsmen will start deploying to Afghanistan late this year, Defense Department officials said today. About 1,700 Guardsmen of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will relieve South Carolina National Guardsmen of the 218th Brigade Combat Team as the primary trainers of the Afghan National Army. The New York brigade is based in Syracuse. “Thousands of New York Guardsmen have answered the call from serving at Ground Zero when the Twin Towers fell to commanding combat troops in Central Iraq and now to the mountains of Afghanistan,” said Army Lt. Col. Paul Fanning,...

I’m extremely excited,” Ruoff said. “The anticipation is absolutely killing me.”

QUEBEC (CP) - For 200 Quebec-based soldiers, the prospect of leaving their families behind for the uncertainty and dangers of Afghanistan weighed heavily as they bid farewell to their loved ones while trying their very best to hide their anxiety and trepidation. Tears flowed and hugs were plentiful as the first wave of troops from the Royal 22nd Regiment boarded a plane bound for Kandahar under a light rain on Sunday at Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec City. In total, more than 2,000 soldiers, known as the Van Doos, will make their way to Afghanistan from their home base...

Tony Blair has left Downing Street and travelled to Buckingham Palace, where he will hand in his resignation as prime minister to the Queen. Earlier, he received a standing ovation from MPs in the House of Commons in unprecedented scenes at the end of his final prime minister's questions. Politicians from all sides dropped their usual jibes to pay tribute to Mr Blair during the half hour session. His long-serving chancellor, Gordon Brown, succeeds him as PM later. Mr Blair and his wife Cherie made the short journey from Downing Street to the Palace by ministerial Jaguar - a car...

In an emotional day for soldiers and their families, National Guard unit here gets sendoff before deployment to Middle East See related video (at link) Yesterday, the war in Iraq came home to Fredericksburg. Under giant oak trees and among the stately buildings at the University of Mary Washington, soldiers in the Virginia Army National Guard and their families gathered. The men and women in camouflage fatigues came to load up their gear and get final instructions; the families, the wives, toddlers and grandparents, to say their goodbyes. After getting orders in April, Delta Company, 3rd Battalion 116th Infantry and...

<p>IT was supposed to be a routine launch pad test.</p> <p>But from the Apollo 1 command module at Pad 34 came a panicked voice saying, "Fire in the cockpit."</p>

FORT HOOD — With a rousing refrain of Garryowen and an old-fashioned cavalry charge on horseback, the 1st Cavalry Division sent its aviation brigade into the war zone of Iraq on Thursday. The 3,000 soldiers of the 1st Cavalry’s air brigade cased their unit flags and streamers during the hourlong ceremony on a Fort Hood parade ground, the last time the unit will muster until it arrives in Iraq in a few weeks. Portions of the 1st Cavalry Division are already in Iraq, and the rest of the 19,000-strong division will join them in Baghdad in the coming months, replacing...

TUCSON, Aug. 31 — Jonathan L. Paton is preparing to go to war in Iraq. Mr. Paton has told his 77-year-old father, in a telephone conversation punctuated with sobs and pauses, how he wishes to be buried, if it comes to that. He has shot endless rounds at a police firing range, courtesy of the president of the National Rifle Association, who lives here. He has endured hugs, sometimes uncomfortably long, from well-wishers who offer prayers, concerned looks and forced smiles. And, of course, he has been to send-offs, like the one the other night at Pima County Republican Party...

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...

FORT HUACHUCA — Dominic Inchausti was oblivious to the noise around him. The sobbing, the talking and other noises echoing in Hangar 3 at Libby Army Airfield did not bother him. Dominic was sound asleep, safe in the arms of his father, Sgt. Michael Inchausti. Dad caressed and kissed the precious bundle. It was his and his wife Sierra’s first born. Both mom and dad are from Phoenix. Throughout the hangar similar scenes could be seen as GIs — men and women — hugged their children, their spouses and other family members. As families gathered in groups, single soldiers talked...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2006 – Three hundred one soldiers with an Alaska-based unit extended in Iraq will return to the combat zone to serve with their comrades in arms, Army officials announced yesterday. A total of 378 soldiers with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team had returned to Alaska in June and July at the end of their scheduled 12-month tour in Iraq. But before the rest of the 4,000-soldier unit could redeploy, officials halted their return to bolster Iraqi and coalition forces in Baghdad. Now, 301 of those soldiers who made it back to Alaska will return to their...

Just a quick chat to say to goodbye for now. I have been reactivated reserve duty an all that. LOL thought I was too old, but with increased commitments I decided to find out if I could still do my bit seems. It seems I can. I have enjoyed debating with you, I know I have had many interesting debates on the state of my country, on the War on Terror and the best tactics to use.Most of you will know I put more faith in hearts and minds ops as opposed to using terror tactics.And also I believe in...

WHEELING — Friends and loved ones shared tearful goodbyes Sunday with members of a local National Guard unit expected to soon be deployed to Iraq. Members of the 150th Army Aviation Battalion of the West Virginia National Guard took off in a C-130 transport aircraft from the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport Sunday evening. They were headed back to their training base, Fort Sill, Okla., to await their final deployment date to Kuwait. While in Kuwait, the soldiers will then assemble their Blackhawk helicopters and wait to join the war in Iraq. The soldiers had been training for their mission since March...

Belleville Soldiers Deployed To Iraq created: 7/8/2006 6:51:32 PM updated: 7/8/2006 7:02:56 PM Saturday was the second time local family and friends said goodbye to Army reservists. In 2002, the group deployed to Afghanistan, and now they are preparing to spend 18 months in Iraq. There were numerous, poignant moments as loved ones said goodbye and good luck to the men and women of the 657th transportation detachment. The reservists are preparing to spend the next year and half overseas. One of the groups main responsibilities is to coordinate transportation activities in Iraq. Roland Cruz is leaving behind his...

Looks like a good start to for the 4th of July Weekend....

The USS Cole is heading to the Middle East for the first time since a terrorist bomb killed 17 sailors aboard the Navy ship in Yemen's port of Aden nearly six years ago. The Norfolk-based guided missile destroyer is one of seven ships with 6,000 sailors and Marines leaving the East Coast next week to conduct security operations in support of the war on terrorism, the Navy announced Friday. They'll be gone six months. Some ships will leave Tuesday, while others, including the Cole, will depart Thursday, said Lt. Mike Kafka, a spokesman for the Navy's Second Fleet, in...

for time number three (and my last, I assure you). Thank you so much for all the generosity I have been shown the last week or so. It is people on this forum that are what make this country great. I will try to stop by time and again but where I will be going I don't think there will be much in the way of internet God Bless you all STM

A very sincere thanks to all the Freepers for the prayers and good wishes for me and my family, both personal and soldiers. With any luck I will be back in less than 18 months. Hopefully in one piece!

USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea (NNS) -- The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW)1 departed Naval Station Norfolk, Va., May 2 for a regularly scheduled six-month deployment. Enterprise is the flagship for the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, which includes the USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), USS McFaul (DDG 74), USS Nicholas (FFG 47), all based in Norfolk, the USS Alexandria (SSN 757), homeported in Groton, Conn., and USNS Supply (T-AOE-6), homeported in Earle, N.J. The nearly 7,500 Sailors in the strike group will conduct operations in the Middle East in support of the global...

MIRAMAR ---- Gunnery Sgt. Gail Saylor returned home from a Middle East deployment 10 days ago. On Thursday, she and 10-year-old daughter were saying goodbye to her husband, Gunnery Sgt. Stuart Saylor, who left Miramar Marine Corps Air Station for Iraq, his seventh deployment since 9/11. "The life of a Marine," Gail Saylor said. "This is my last trip," Stuart Saylor said as he and about 300 other troops attached to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station queued up outside a base armory to retrieve their sidearms and rifles, do a final check on their...

EDMONTON -- It is the life of a soldier to bid farewell to loved ones and face the dangers ahead. And it is the lot of military families to let them go. The tightly knit Edmonton Garrison played out this age-old ritual during an emotional farewell Saturday morning as about 80 soldiers departed for conflict-ridden Afghanistan -- the first wave of a major new deployment of Canadian troops to the danger zone. The planes carrying the soldiers eastward landed at Canadian Forces Base Shilo in Manitoba later Saturday to pick up another 60 soldiers, en route to Germany at first....

NEW HAVEN (AP) -- The largest troop deployment from Connecticut is scheduled for this weekend as 500 Connecticut National Guardsmen head out. On Saturday, they will be bused to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where they will spend three to five weeks in training. From there, they will be deployed to help rebuild Afghanistan. The 500 soldiers and members of their families were given a send-off last night at Yale University's Payne-Whitney Gymnasium. The Connecticut National Guard says it's represents the largest deployment of Connecticut guardsmen since the start of the war on terrorism in 2001.

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) departed San Diego Jan. 4 on a deployment to conduct naval operations in support of the global war on terrorism, as well as national and theater cooperative security commitments in the western Pacific. This will be the maiden deployment for the Navy’s newest Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. “During both COMPTUEX (Composite Unit Training Exercise) and JTFEX (Joint Task Force Exercise), Ronald Reagan and CVW (Carrier Air Wing) 14 proved to be a formidable fighting force,” said Rear Adm. Michael H. Miller, Ronald Reagan Strike Group commander. “Both of these major exercise,...

This time it will be the Vermont Air Guard that draws the duty in Iraq. Several hundred airmen will be stationed there when the next deployment is complete Gov. Jim Douglas quipped, "One of your colleagues said to me recently, 'I'm just telling my friends I'm going somewhere warm for the winter." It was a joke that many Vermonters in uniform could understand and relate to. The Air Guard, with nearly 1000 members, can expect significant call ups every eighteen months, in which elements of the 158th Fighter Wing are integrated into the active service. A year-and-a-half ago, 350 Vermont...

More Fort Hood Soldiers Leave For Iraq Wednesday Fort Hood Troops Board Planes For Iraq Tuesday Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s Fires Brigade and 2nd Brigade Combat Team will leave Fort Hood Wednesday for a yearlong deployment to Iraq. Hundreds of 4th ID soldiers said goodbye to loved ones and boarded planes Monday for the trip to Iraq. Baskets were laid out on tables for soldiers to pick up writing paper, packets of sunscreen, American flags and decks of playing cards as parting gifts. Other volunteers offered rosary beads and Bibles with camouflage covers. By the end of December,...

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- More than 600 Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) and the frigate USS Carr (FFG 52), homeported in Norfolk, deployed Nov. 28 in support of the global war on terrorism. Porter and Carr will participate in regional exercises with allies as a Surface Strike Group (SSG). The SSG will make diplomatic port calls and respond to any contingency operations, including those associated with the war on terrorism. “The primary focus is going to be enhancing the U.S. diplomatic missions by interacting with foreign countries,” said Cmdr. Douglas Nashold, commanding officer of Porter. Nashold...

WACO, Texas (Army News Service, Nov. 28, 2005) — A day after Thanksgiving, more than 1,500 Soldiers bound for a 14-month deployment to Kosovo and Bosnia were honored in a ceremony Nov. 25 at Baylor University’s Ferrell Center. A circular sea of green seats was filled by excited and emotional family members and friends at Baylor’s indoor arena in Waco, Texas. They were there to say goodbye to their Soldiers one last time before they departed for the Balkans. It was the first time 36th Infantry Division Soldiers were deploying to Europe since World War II. During the ceremony, guest...

The last few days have gone by maddeningly fast. But I knew they would, and kept telling myself to expect it. Tomorrow will be my last day with my family prior to reporting for active duty and deployment to Iraq. We've been told that there will be a few days leave at Christmas to return home from our pre-deployment work-ups, but as with most things military, I believe nothing I hear and only half of what I see. I'm preparing myself for tomorrow to be it. It's time to put my money where my mouth is. Last Sunday I went...