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SAN LUIS, Ariz. -- Military bulldozers, road graders and other heavy equipment rumbled along the Mexican border early Monday as more than 50 National Guardsmen from Utah became the first unit to get to work under President Bush's crackdown on illegal immigration. The soldiers with the 116th Construction Support Equipment Company will hit their work sites by 5:30 a.m. during their two weeks of duty. They will improve a dirt road running parallel to the border, fill in gaps in fortified fencing and run wiring for new lighting to help the Border Patrol spot illegal crossers. "It's exciting to do...

FORT HUACHUCA — Soldiers of the 69th Signal Company returned home after nearly a year in Iraq where they put in a number of communication infrastructures. The 142 men and women of the unit — most of whom are cable dogs, individuals who install communication lines — stepped off the charter aircraft at 8 p.m. Thursday, concluding a trip from Kuwait to Arizona. Waiting for the ramp to be put up to the plane, soldiers of the 11th Signal Brigade, to which the 69th belongs, were as anxious to see their fellow soldiers get off the commercial airliner as probably...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 3, 2006) – The work of American Soldiers is helping countries like Afghanistan and Iraq recover from years of war and repression, according to the Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth O. Preston. Preston has visited forward operating bases across Southwest Asia and the Balkans several times during his tenure, and will visit again this summer and fall. In addition to checking on the welfare of U.S. enlisted Soldiers, Preston will look for continued progress in Iraq and Afghanistan’s emerging enlisted army structure. In spite of terrorist and insurgent attempts to unseat the stability of...

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2006 – Recent political progress in Iraq will help defeat the insurgency there, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today. "You defeat an insurgency through politics, not just through military force. The Iraqis have gone out and voted three times, and they now have a permanent government. That's a sign progress," Rice said on CBS's "Face the Nation." During last week's first-ever joint trip to Iraq with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Rice said, the country's new leaders said they wanted to take on more responsibility in the security realm. "We talked with the Iraqi leadership. ... They...

BAGHDAD, April 17, 2006 — Last week I flew to Fallujah to meet the men and women of the 5th Regimental Combat Team. As I do with all units, I shared the words of T.E. Lawrence, "Do not try to do too much with your own hands … it is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them." This powerful theme, consistent with our motto, "Iltizam Mashtarak – United Commitment", guides our joint vision for success in Iraq. Iraqis are determining their future according to their Constitution. Together the people, the government, and the...

BARWANAH, Iraq (March 29, 2006) -- When 22 year old Cpl. Jeff Globis taped a picture in his Kevlar helmet of his wife, he did so knowing it would be the only way he could see her for seven months. “I think of her all throughout the day,” said the team leader from Winthrop Harbor, Ill. “It was hard to say goodbye to her, but my Marines are my family and I can turn to them for support.” Globis is deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with hundreds of Marines and sailors from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion,...

BAQUBAH, Iraq (Army News Service, March 14, 2006) – Challenges facing quality maintenance of a water treatment plant and a primary electrical sub-station northeast of Baghdad were laid out by Iraqi engineers during a tour by Coalition leaders March 9. Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, visited the Khatoon Water Compact Unit and the Al-Abarra Electric sub-station. Both facilities were in great need of refurbishment and oversight. Chiarelli spent the day with the command group of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, and toured two of the brigade’s areas of...

Karen Durham-Aguilera takes a “hands-on” approach to inspecting a reconstruction site in Iraq last year. Last week she explained how she helped women-owned firms in Iraq win more than $250 million in reconstruction contracts. • Printer-friendly version • E-mail this article • Army helping Iraqi businesswomen win contractsBy Lt. Col. Stan Heath February 7, 2006 WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 7, 2006) -- About 250 reconstruction contracts worth more than $250 million have been awarded to women-owned businesses in Iraq over the past eight months. Opportunities for Iraqi businesswomen are increasing, with help of the U.S. Army Corps of...

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., Jan. 29, 2006 – For more than a year, Albanian army Maj. Ilirjan Balliu has served as the senior national representative for Albania with the 63-nation coalition organized to combat global terrorism. Shortly after his arrival to U.S. Central Command here, Balliu had breakfast with a U.S. military officer. As the two shared conversation and coffee, the U.S. officer revealed what was on his mind. "'If you would have told me years ago that I would have been sitting at a U.S. military base, eating and talking to an Albanian military officer, I wouldn't have...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2006 – Humanitarian efforts continue in Afghanistan as coalition forces helped remove snow from impassable roads and built "hygiene facilities" at a small school. In addition, international diplomats visited a provincial reconstruction team Jan. 21. U.S. troops from Task Force Sword have stepped in to help clear roads that are nearly impossible because of snow and ice, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials said. "It's a joint effort between the (U.S.) military, Afghan government and contractors hired by the provincial reconstruction teams," Lt. Col. Jud Cook, Task Force Sword deputy commander, said today. This joint team has successfully...

FORT DETRICK, Md. (Army News Service, Jan. 10, 2006) – Crucial equipment to help wounded Soldiers in Iraq has been fielded over the past five months, thanks to a new system of communication between medical units in theater and experts here. Anticipating what materiel the Army's medical professionals need before they deploy is one of the missions of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. Now the command has a system in place that lets Army medical units tell the command what they need even after they've deployed. By tagging along as a medical expert on the Army Materiel...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Dec. 14, 2005) -- As Operation Iraqi Freedom moves closer to 2006, the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment are working more and more with local platoons of Iraqi Army soldiers in order to prepare them for the day when coalition forces leave Iraq. While most Iraqi soldiers go through rudimentary training, nothing replaces the experience and knowledge gained by patrolling through hostile neighborhoods. To help them gain that knowledge, Marines from Company I, including Lance Cpl. Ryan Burg, routinely patrol alongside the IA to guide them through the lessons the Marines have learned during their...

U.S. Army Dorothy Ivey Alabama Grandmother Likes Helping Iraqi People By Norris JonesGulf Region Central DistrictU.S. Army Corps of Engineers AL ASAD, Iraq, Nov. 30, 2005 — Although she qualified for full retirement in October with nearly a quarter-century of government service, Dorothy Ivey opted for duty in Iraq. She serves as a construction representative at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Central’s remote Al Asad office, west of Baghdad. She arrived in September on six-month orders. “I’m just not the retiree-type person right now,” the grandmother of three says. “My husband is retired and he’s great at...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 14, 2005) -- Some might ask why the U.S. forces are refurbishing old enemy weapons, and the answer is: the AK-47s are being used to arm the Iraqi Army, police and security forces, putting the insurgents weapons to use against insurgents. When the Iraqi Police were being put together, they were short on weaponry and this program is solving the shortage problem, said Chief Warrant Officer Pedro Munoz, armament and repair technician, 3rd Forward Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. His unit’s armory was recently refurbished 88 AK-47 automatic rifles. It saved the Iraqis...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2005 – A Defense Department summit today addressed how trauma and stress impact children's well-being and what interventions work to support their healthy development and family competence. The summit, titled "When Duty Calls - Supporting Military Families Through Challenging Times," ends Nov. 5. It's being held in conjunction with the "Zero to Three" 20th National Training Institute here. More than 500 of the 1,825 conclave attendees took part in the DoD summit. John M. Molino, DoD's presiding official, said attendees came to "learn more about strategies to help our children and their families effectively cope with a...

11/2/2005 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- Airmen here gave up their free time help their neighbors during Make a Difference Day Oct. 22 and 28. Residents of Bob Hope and Theresa villages and Eglin’s Thrift Shop benefited from these Airmen’s labors. The annual event is the most encompassing national day of helping others -- a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors. In 2004, three million people cared enough about their communities to volunteer on that day, accomplishing thousands of projects in hundreds of towns. Staff Sgt. Jeff Henson, 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron’s Intelligence Directorate, said Make A Difference...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2005 – The "dewatering" of New Orleans should be complete today, the Army's top engineer said during a news conference here today. "The city is essentially dry now," Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, the Army's chief of engineers and commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said. "There may be some small pockets (of water) here and there." The recent dewatering was an effort necessitated by the Sept. 23 reflooding of the city as a storm surge created as Hurricane Rita spun through the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas topped New Orleans' already compromised levee system. With...

GULFPORT, Miss. -- The Air Force joined a unified medical command of local, state and federal agencies aiming to restore primary care services to Mississippi’s ravaged Gulf Coast. The area needs a unified response since Hurricane Katrina crippled its medical infrastructure and scattered many of its health-care providers, said Col. (Dr.) Deborah Burgess of the 81st Medical Group at nearby Keesler Air Force Base. More than two weeks after the killer storm, thousands of people still do not have the basic primary medical services they need, she said. Medical providers displaced by the storm are still recovering from the disaster,...

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (Army News Service, Sept. 8, 2005) -- More than 800 Soldiers on duty in Iraq and Kuwait have been directly impacted by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina, and the Army has sent a newly created “Tiger Team” to Camp Victory, Iraq, to help them. The Tiger Team, led by Brig. Gen. Sean Byrne, director of Military Personal Management for the U.S. Army, was established to identify Soldiers who have family and/or property in the affected regions. More than 545 Soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq were identified as having property and...

SIERRA VISTA - Drivers David Preston and John Shilling are on their way to Mississippi after answering a call for emergency help. Before setting off Friday, Preston admitted they were "apprehensive" about the journey, following media reports of growing unrest and violence in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but were willing to go nonetheless. The pair are drivers for Sierra Vista-based Curfman Emergency Services, a private firm that is contracted by the U.S. Forest Service to help in such situations. The company has been asked to supply a mobile fuel station, a water tanker and a 10-sink hand wash station....