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Saturday, that connection — past and present — came together as a group of former military working dog handlers visited the fort to say thanks to the handlers and their families as well as members of the fort’s veterinarian clinic. For Sgt. 1st Class Charlotte Banks, the fort’s kennel master and only one of two women in the Army with that job, being a military working dog handler means a lot of deployments away from family. In March, Banks will be leaving the post and heading for a year deployment to Iraq, where she will be the program manager for...

FORT HUACHUCA — The downturn in the economy led one man to find a better path to financial security for his family. For 36-year-old Angel Ruiz, that avenue was to enlist in the Army. Now a private first class assigned as a cook to Company B, 40th Signal Battalion, Ruiz said becoming a soldier has provided him “security and peace of mind” when it comes to ensuring his wife and two children will continue to have support. He used to provide that support by working as a lead cook at a number of resorts. Taking a break from preparing deep-fried...

FORT HUACHUCA — It’s not likely that one fan will be washing his right hand anytime soon. Not after Charlie Daniels shook it. “He just strolled off that burgundy bus wearing a Hawaiian shirt, walked right over to me and shook my hand,” Rick Hawkins said, holding it up for all to see. “I was completely shocked.” The Charlie Daniels Band performed Wednesday evening on Fort Huachuca, delivering an energized concert that opened with a string of hits, kicking off with, “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye” (Sitting on a bar stool, actin’ like a dern fool), then rolling into “The South’s...

FORT HUACHUCA — One of the first things a group of post Brownies did with a solar oven was bake brownies. Members of Brownie Troop 2181 have decided their community service project will involve solar ovens. The girls’ goal is to buy five of the ovens for needy families. “We want to help people who don’t have a lot,” 6-year-old troop member K.J. Engasser said. The recently formed troop is working with Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture, a nonprofit education organization in Sierra Vista that promotes sustainable food production and sustainable methods of cooking, such as solar ovens That the Brownies...

FORT HUACHUCA — For years, Building 66050 has been vacant. It is deteriorating, but members of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers are determined to save the structure, which during World War II housed the Colored Officers Club. The building, its paint now peeling, windows broken and interior unsafe, is where black entertainers such as Lena Horne would come to the post to perform for black soldiers when the Army was segregated. The fort is where two black divisions, the 92nd and 93rd, trained before heading off to combat in World War II. One division went to Italy and the...

FORT HUACHUCA — Although a Thursday ceremony was short and simple, it was full of symbolism. Members of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion stood on Thunderbird Field. As a brisk, cool wind blew through the formation, Team 40th’s battalion commander Lt. Col. Linda Jantzen reminded the soldiers that their 15-month deployment was over. She praised them for their accomplishments while in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Afghanistan. The first symbolic act was having the rear detachment’s guidon furled and cased and marched off the field. The rear detachment’s mission was completed. Then Jantzen and battalion Command Sgt. Maj. John Womble marched...

U.S. ARMY GARRISON HUMPHREYS, South Korea, April 3, 2009 – Some people just can’t get the military out of their system – nor do they want to. Army Staff Sgt. Dianne Smith, right, an administrative soldier in the 3rd Military Intelligence Battlion, talks about her return to the Army noncommissioned officer corps after a 15-year break in service with Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston and 8th U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Winzenried at Humphreys Garrison, South Korea, Nov. 25, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Ken Hall  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. That is the...

FORT HUACHUCA — Starting Monday, people using a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving a motor vehicle on Fort Huachuca will receive a fine. The fine for this violation is $50 plus court administrative fees, which are currently $25, according to the Fort Huachuca Public Affairs Office. The use of a non-hands-free cell phone or Blackberry device while operating a motor vehicle on Fort Huachuca is prohibited for military personnel and civilians. This prohibition is extended to all soldiers operating any motor vehicle, whether on post or off post. Personnel not affiliated with the fort, including visitors, must...

FORT HUACHUCA — One of the legends in the enlisted military intelligence community honored a young soldier on Tuesday afternoon. Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Douglass S. Russell presented the award named after him to 23-year-old Sgt. Julian M. Jones at a ceremony in Fitch Auditorium, where a worldwide conference of senior intelligence noncommissioned officers is being held this week. Deciding who would receive the 2009 Command Sgt. Maj. Doug Russell Award was difficult, said Command Sgt. Maj. Gerardus Wykoff, who is the Military Intelligence Corps, Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca senior NCO. There were eight candidates for the honor, which...

FORT HUACHUCA — A soldier returning from a 15-month deployment was hurried off a civilian contract plane Tuesday morning and immediately taken to the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center. It wasn’t that Sgt. Jamal Smith was ailing. He wasn’t. His wife, Cherrelle, also an Army sergeant, was in the hospital in labor to deliver the couple’s first child. Smith was one of more than 225 soldiers of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion returning to the post after most served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Qatar for 15 months. The first group of 314 battalion soldiers arrived on the fort Monday...

The one who was waiting for his father was 7-month-old Jace, conceived when the noncommissioned officer was on two weeks leave during a 15-month deployment with the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion. “He’s never held his new son,” said wife Jen, who was in Barnes Field House on the post. Hundreds of other family members and friends welcomed back the first of two contingents of the battalion returning from deployment in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Qatar. The first group of 314 soldiers of the battalion arrived at Libby Army Airfield at 5:07 p.m. when the tires of the World DC-10 landed...

FORT HUACHUCA — There’s some graffiti on the wall, the ceiling has been torn down and the only inhabitants seem to be rodents since the fate of a historic black officers club was to be torn down. Dave Perryman, left, restoration coordinator for the Mountain View Colored Officers Club project, talks Friday with contractors and engineers inside the club on Fort Huachuca. (Beatrice Richardson-Herald/Review) “At one time, it must have been marvelous,” Jan Sheller said after walking through the building and its many rooms on Friday afternoon. Contractors and members of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers walk in front...

FORT HUACHUCA — Nearly 600 soldiers of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Brigade will be returning next week after completing a 15-month deployment to the Middle East and other areas. Most of the battalion, which is part of the 11th Signal Brigade, left the fort in early December to provide communications network support in Iraq. Soldiers of the battalion also served in Kuwait, Qatar and Afghanistan, providing communication support for America’s war on terrorism. It is expected the soldiers will return in two groups over a period of two days, said Eric Hortin, a spokesman for the Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th...

FORT HUACHUCA — The breakup of Yugoslavia led to the creation of many smaller countries and a time of turmoil. Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was founded in 1992, was one of those nations. Capt. Nedim Kaljanac, a Bosnian army officer attending a course for foreign officers at the Intelligence Center, said his nation was born when politicians used ethnic and religious differences in the region. The death of many people, mostly Muslims, in what has been called an ethnic cleansing led by people such as Bosnian Serb Radovan Karadzic, who hid for a dozen years before being uncovered acting as...

FORT HUACHUCA — It was a short ceremony Monday morning — well under a half hour. But, in that short period, the Army tradition of uncasing a unit’s flag signified the 11th Signal Brigade headquarters’ official return to its home post. Although the 11th Signal Brigade headquarters returned from Iraq and other places in the Middle East on Christmas Eve after a nearly 15-month deployment, the uncasing and unfurling of the flag is a symbol of the unit’s successful mission. “This uncasing ceremony lacks the electricity of a departure ceremony or the emotion and celebration of a coming-home ceremony, but...

FORT HUACHUCA — Britt was a special soldier. And although his last days were painful, Sgt. Megan Hobson wanted to make sure the military working dog enjoyed what little time he had left. “I just wanted him to feel free,” Hobson said. He ate some treats, such as steak and potatoes, that he would never have had with his regular diet. “I wanted to spoil him,” she said. When the time came, it was just two Army noncommissioned officers, Britt looking at a junior soldier through deep brown eyes knowing there was a bond and a love between them as...

FORT HUACHUCA — The first class of a three-year pilot Arabic immersion language program at the Intelligence Center graduated Wednesday, and early Thursday morning the soldier students headed for a Middle Eastern country for an additional month-long in-depth immersion where no English is to be spoken. “You are trailblazers,” Col. Jasey Briley told the soldiers at the graduation ceremony. Arabic language skills will not only be important on the battlefield, but in other roles the Army may find itself in such as peacekeeping operations, the chief of staff for the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca told the soldiers. Noting that...

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq, Nov. 21, 2008 – Navy Cmdr. Ed Fischer and Air Force 1st Lt. E.J. Wong would seem to be out of place in an Army heavy brigade combat team conducting operations in Iraq. Navy Cmdr. Ed Fischer, left, and Air Force 1st Lt. E.J. Wong inspect a Warlock-equipped Humvee. The Warlock system is a countermeasure against roadside bombs. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Evan Loyd  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Fischer, whose career field is nuclear engineering, and Wong, an air battle manager, are electronic warfare officers for the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat...

Dateline Sunday 16 November 2008 Sierra Vista, AZ., Fort Huachuca. Today was the day the “Say No to Torture” Protest by the southwest weekend of protest group also sponsored by code pink. The day for my wife and I, started at 9 am as we headed to town to pick up a new Flag, a quick stop at the local “Evil Wal-Mart” and we were on our way to the park to counter protest. The park they chose to begin their protest is named “Veterans Memorial Park” and I am saddened by the fact that they chose this park to...

Just got back from the FREEP of the proteters outside Ft Huachuca. There were about 100 or so Freak-A-Zoids with the requisite (in their miniscule mine minds) Abu-Gharib jumpsuits and the leftover '60s hippies. There were close to 100 patriots on our side with American flags, Service Flags, loud speakers playing patriotic music, a highland bag piper. The patriots brought their children and they jooined in loudly FREEPing the protesters (bless their little hearts). When I left the Freak-A-Zoids had yet to try to tresspass onto post. Lots and lots of local police presence as well as military police present...

FORT HUACHUCA — The Main Gate will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday to all traffic including foot traffic, due to a planned demonstration. The event is part of the Southwest Weekend of Witness, which is sponsored by Southwest Witness, Tucson SOA Watch and Torture on Trial. The events will have a “No to Torture” rally at Veterans’ Memorial Park, followed by a procession and presence at the Main Gate. These events occur between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

FORT HUACHUCA — In late August and early September, Sgt. 1st Class Charlotte Banks found herself in charge of 62 military working dog teams providing part of the security coverage at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Today, the 34-year-old is the kennel master for the 18th Military Police Detachment on Fort Huachuca, where there are a dozen teams of four-footed and two-footed soldiers providing security on the Army post. Banks is one of two female kennel masters in the Army. One can tell she would like to be in the midst of handling dogs, but her current job is more...

SIERRA VISTA — A Vietnam War hero whose father served with a black division during World War II will be honored at this year’s Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers gala and fundraiser. Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, known as the “Drug Czar” during the Clinton administration, also will be the guest speaker at the annual event on Sept. 27. The association is presenting McCaffrey its annual “Spirit of the Buffalo Soldier Award” to honor both his military career and that of his father, the late Lt. Gen. William J. McCaffrey who served as the chief of staff with 92nd Infantry...

FORT HUACHUCA — For more than two centuries, the U.S. Army has fought and won the nation’s wars. But during the 233 years, America’s senior service also has saved lives, delivered clean food and water to refugees, and upheld “democracy in Iraq and ensuring peace in Afghanistan,” the fort’s senior officer said on Friday. “Whatever the mission, America turns to her Army for help during times of crises, and the Army always delivers success,” said Maj. Gen. John Custer, looking across Chaffee Parade Field with a large representation of soldiers from a number of units in front of him. Those...

FORT HUACHUCA — What could be the ultimate yard sale has led Army criminal investigators to look into a turf theft on this Southern Arizona Army post. Thursday a report was made of a “substantial amount of artificial turf” taken from an athletic field work site, said fort spokesman Ken Robinson. Allegedly the material was taken to be placed in a “private yard in the greater Sierra Vista area,” he said Wednesday. Because the reported theft is under investigation by the Army Criminal Investigation Detachment on the fort, Robinson he can provide no further information, to include the name of...

FORT HUACHUCA — With Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano’s signature on Senate Bill 1387 additional protection for critical electronic ranges on Fort Huachuca now requires notification of any potential impact to the fort by any building or developing property proposal close to those military facilities and allows the military the right to object. With her signature on the bill on May 12, Napolitano set into motion amendments to existing state law specifically providing an additional level of protection to military installations in Arizona. The main sponsor of the bill was State Senate President Tim Bee, whose district includes the post. Because...

FORT HUACHUCA — A car dealership with branches in Sierra Vista, Huachuca City and Tucson has been placed off-limits to thousands of active-duty service members assigned to this Southern Arizona Army post. Ideal Automotive Group, including the company's business in Tucson known as Wildcat Mitsubishi, was informed in a May 20 letter by the fort's leadership that it is being placed off-limits. Fort Huachuca spokeswoman Tanja Linton said, “Today (Wednesday) we got notification that Ideal Automotive Group received the letter from the garrison commander (Col. Melissa Sturgeon) notifying them they had been placed off-limits to military service members.” Making the...

FORT HUACHUCA — B Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Memorial) hosts a Cavalry Riding School Graduation Ceremony at 3 p.m. Friday on historic Brown Parade Field. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, which highlights Fort Huachuca’s Old West cavalry heritage. Graduates of the cavalry riding school will be presented brass spurs. Graduates are: • Capt. John Mark, Staff Judge Advocate’s Office • Capt. Franklin Kessler, 309th Military Intelligence Battalion • Spc. Andrew Tehvand, U.S. Army Medical Activity • Pfc. Kenneth Burcaw, 111th Military Intelligence Brigade Following the presentation of spurs, the graduates will conduct their first open field...

FORT HUACHUCA — On July 20, 1968, 2nd Lt. James Leland Weeks was leading his first patrol when he was killed. Weeks had not reached his 22nd birthday. He hadn’t been in the Army for too long — less than six months. And, no it wasn’t in South Vietnam — for Weeks was killed while on patrol in the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea in a time when the communist regime in the north were flexing their disdain for the United States — 1968 was the time North Korea captured the U.S. Navy’s spy ship Pueblo. Weeks, an...

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...

CAMP VICTORY — Multi-National Corps - Iraq recently celebrated "Women's Art, Women’s Vision" at Al Faw Palace, during a Women's History Month presentation sponsored by the 11th Signal Brigade, Task Force Thunderbirds.The observance honored accomplishments of influential female artists by showing their art and telling their stories. The guest speaker was Lt. Col. Kris Kramarich, commander, 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion."In Violet Oakley's visionary murals she poetically sought to express her desire and hope for world peace, equal rights and the unification of the people of the earth," Kramarich said. "She passed away in 1961, but her vision doesn't differ...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — “I need to train about 4,000 soldiers and officers and with only about 400 graduating each year it will take me 10 years to teach just the basic course at the school,” Maj. Gen Ahmed Sa’ad Abdul Mohsin said. His blunt remarks about the Iraqi Signal School summarized one of the many challenges he faces. Maj. Gen. Ahmed Sa’ad Abdul Mohsin, Iraqi M6, a top official in the Iraqi Ministry of Defense visited Camp Victory, Iraq, March 11. Maj. Gen. Sa’ad currently has oversight of the Iraqi Signal School in Taji, Iraq. His visit with his staff...

FORT HUACHUCA — It’s a small kingdom, surrounded by a powerful country, but Lesotho is again heading for democracy, an Army officer from the African nation said Friday. Political turmoil in the past is only exceeded today in the Kingdom of Lesotho by disease, as the country has one of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the world, said Capt. Ntele Ntoi, who is attending the center’s foreign officers military intelligence course on the post. One of the charts he showed to the more than 100 people at a lunch briefing stated Lesotho’s life expectancy has dropped from...

FORT HUACHUCA — Landing on Omaha Beach 10 days after D-Day in 1944, Hans Spear found himself moving through France, Belgium, Holland and finally into Germany as Nazi forces fell back from areas they had conquered. Although Spear wore the uniform of an American soldier, he was considered an “enemy alien” by the U.S. government. His ability to speak German fluently was badly needed as Nazi functionaries and members of the German military were captured in the waning days of World War II. Spear’s capability to speak German like a native was easy — he was German born and raised...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — For now, Spc. John Martinez’s sense of community is this bustling military installation, which is actually a network of a number of camps between the Baghdad International Airport and the International — sometimes called the Green — Zone. Martinez is one of slightly more than 100 11th Signal Brigade headquarters soldiers from Fort Huachuca who pulled up stakes, trading one desert climate for another for 15 months. Besides the 11th, more than 400 soldiers of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion from Fort Huachuca, as well as other GIs from the fort, are now serving away from...

FORT HUACHUCA — The commanding general of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca will present the Bronze Star Medal to World War II veteran Hans Spear on Wednesday. The event for the 89-year-old Tucson resident will be at 10:30 a.m. at Alvarado Hall. Maj. Gen. John Custer will make the presentation. Every member of Spear’s unit, with the exception of him and another German-born Jewish soldier, received the Bronze Star for supervising interrogation under fire. He was denied the medal due to anti-Semitism and discrimination because Spear was categorized an enemy alien. The Army awards regulation, in effect...

FORT HUACHUCA — It was only a few days before students at the Intelligence Center would leave the post for home. The annual holiday break, known as “Exodus,” was coming. Pfc. Paul Cardenas and Pvt. Benjamin Gaines stood in line at Popeyes, an eatery at the post Exchange’s Mini Mall near Prosser Village, where students live. Both soldiers had just finished a combat lifesaver course and were waiting to order chicken for lunch when a man collapsed. “I was really paying attention to what I was going to order, when he fell down,” said 30-year-old Cardenas. People began to scatter,...

FORT HUACHUCA — A trio who trespassed on this Southern Arizona Army post in November were sentenced to two years probation by a federal magistrate in Tucson on Monday. The motion hearings on Monday were initially scheduled with a trial to be started Tuesday, but ended up with the Rev. Jerome Zawada of Las Vegas, Frances Elizabeth Lamb of Bend, Ore., and Mary Burton Riseley of Cliff, N.M., each being given the probation sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Marshall. The three also were ordered to pay a $5,000 fine or serve 500 hours of community service. Prosecutor Army Capt....

FORT HUACHUCA — For more than two decades, drill sergeants have had a major hand in developing soldiers going through military intelligence training on this Southern Arizona Army post. That ended Friday. It doesn’t mean noncommissioned officers will no longer be standing in front of students, they just have a new name and will wear the hats of all soldiers. Instead of hearing student soldiers say, “Yes, drill sergeant,” now sergeants will hear, “Yes, platoon sergeant.” The de-hatting ceremony took place in the gym of the Eifler Physical Fitness Center, where soldiers in training sat in company formations in the...

FORT HUACHUCA — Forty-three soldiers making up the 518th Signal Company returned to Fort Huachuca arriving at Libby Army Airfield at 7:15 a.m. Monday and then they were bused to a ceremony at Murr Recreation Center, where they were reunited with their families and friends. During their 15-month deployment, they performed missions in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. The 518th is a Tactical Installation Network company, which essentially means they install the critical infrastructure for tactical networks where none existed before. This platoon element is stationed in Fort Huachuca. Its parent unit is located in Fort Gordon, Ga. The guest speaker...

SIERRA VISTA — Police Friday arrested 80 protesters outside the U.S. Supreme Court, but there were no such arrests or incidents near the Fort Huachuca Main Gate, though the content of the protest was the same. In observance of an “International Day of Action,” organizers from the Tucson-based Torture on Trial were in Sierra Vista, protesting for about an hour against the mere existence of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, as well as allegations of human rights violations, said Jack Cohen-Joppa of Torture on Trial. The fort is the home to the 309th Military Intelligence Battalion, which trains...

Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Fort Huachuca Old Post Barracks and Historical Museum Last of the Indian Scouts, Fort Huachuca, Arizona Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

FORT HUACHUCA — Cub Scouts braved the cold weather Thursday and Friday at the lower Garden Canyon picnic area for winter day camp. Eleven packs of Cub Scouts from throughout the Catalina Council’s Cochise District participated. Activities and workshops included first aid training, color guard/flag-handling training, astronomy, sports, crafts, hiking, outdoor lore and a BB-gun shooting range. A first aid station staffed by a U.S. Army medic was available, just in case. “We’re very fortunate to have this facility,” said day camp director Ken Robinson. “We use this area quite a bit in Scouting. It’s really a good place to...

DUE TO operational security issues, specifics of some tactics, techniques and procedures involved in protective services detail training are not discussed. CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — The 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion doesn’t have an 0-6 — that’s a colonel. But protecting the commander and command sergeant major is important enough for the unit to have a 16-soldier protective services detail. Being a member of the detail entails more than just acting as a stationary or walking escort, carrying a weapon and looking around. If for some reason the commander — Lt. Col. Linda Jantzen — or Command Sgt. Maj. John Womble...

SIERRA VISTA — Wreaths to remember the fallen, honor those serving and teach the value of freedom were placed at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery Saturday. Those present joined more then 200 other locations across the United States, 24 veterans cemeteries in foreign countries and on U.S. ships in the seven seas for the Wreaths Across America ceremony. Civil Air Patrol Airman 1st Class Anthony Petonic, 14, right, stands with fellow patrolmen holding wreaths to be laid during Saturday’s ceremony at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The event is one of many done nationwide in an effort to...

FORT HUACHUCA — Children’s eager voices escaped from the giant hangar into the dark night. Inside the huge aircraft building Tuesday night, the 305th Military Intelligence Battalion was throwing a family holiday party. The Libby Army Airfield hangar was an appropriate place for the celebration because Santa Claus was expected to arrive on an RC-12 Guardrail Common Sensor aircraft. “He sent me an e-mail and said he wanted to join our holiday party,” said the battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. Ihor Petrenko, who checked with the chain of command and received an affirmative. “So we sent out an airplane and picked...

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,...

FORT HUACHUCA — Christmas and the holidays are a family affair, Maj. Gen. John Custer said Thursday night. As he spoke outside the main chapel on the fort, the commander of the fort and the Intelligence Center said this time of the year “is a time of renewal.” With Christmas dedicated to the celebration of the birth of Christ and his message of peace, the holiday is bittersweet for many families, as soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines “are deployed in harm’s way.” It hurts that fathers and mothers cannot be with their loved ones this time of year, Custer said....

SIERRA VISTA — More than 1,000 snickerdoodles and other cookies are on their way to troops in Saudi Arabia, a holiday treat inspired by a Andrea Fisher’s recent trip. When Fisher was asked to visit Saudi Arabia in October by her husband, who was stationed there with the military, she was nervous to make the journey. She never expected to travel to the Middle East, especially during a war. “My initial reaction was a simple ‘No thank you, I am not the one who signed my name on Uncle Sam’s dotted line,’ ” the Sierra Vistan wrote about the experience....

TUCSON — Two of three protesters arrested for trespassing on Fort Huachuca last month will have a detention hearing today. The Rev. Jerome Zawada, 70, and Frances Elizabeth Lamb, 69, were jailed Tuesday when a federal magistrate expressed concerns of their past histories of arrests during protests. The Franciscan from Las Vegas and the woman from Bend, Ore., were arrested Nov. 18 after they tried to enter the post, contending the Intelligence Center on the fort is the center of torture training. Mary Burton Riseley, 65, of Cliff, N.M., also was arrested on Nov. 18. However, she was not put...