Free Republic

An unlikely alliance of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian lawyers’ group that usually fiercely opposes the ACLU, along with several other groups, is contesting a proposed Bureau of Prisons rule that prohibits “materials that could incite, promote, or otherwise suggest the commission of violence or criminal activity” from being placed in prison chapel libraries. It would enable prison officials to remove from libraries books that they deem to be “advocating or fostering violence, vengeance or hatred toward particular religious, racial or ethnic groups” or advocating “the overthrow or destruction of the United States.”

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2007 – Care packages from one Georgia group are keeping troops in combat support hospitals cooking. “Our mission is to send support, smiles and care packages, as well as small appliances, … to our combat support hospitals,” said Meredith Kelly, chairman of “Operation Stars and Stripes.” The appliances go beyond mere coffee pots, though those have made their way from the Peach State to foreign shores as well. Operation Stars and Stripes has sent mini-refrigerators, microwave ovens and hot plates to give troops some flexibility when it comes to mealtime. In addition to the support it...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2007 – Troops serving at remote sites overseas can look forward to better connection with their loved ones at home, thanks to the success of a fundraising gala here last night by the SemperComm Foundation. Country music star Chely Wright and her band perform at the SemperComm Foundation’s annual gala to raise funds to supply morale-boosting communications and entertainment equipment, software and services troops at remote posts. Photo Cpl. Earnest J. Barnes, USMC  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The event, which included a dinner, concert by country music star Chely Wright and silent and live...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2006 -- The communication gap between military families at Fort Drum, N.Y., and their soon-to-be deployed servicemembers was bridged before it existed, thanks to Operation Homelink. Lisa Wrenn, with help from sons, Casey, 11, (center), and Cody, 8, carries a computer donated by Operation Homelink on Aug. 23 at Fort Drum, N.Y. Wrenn’s husband, Army Spec. William Wrenn, recently deployed with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Operation Homelink is a member of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which spotlights ways the American people and...

  Munitions, Weapons Airmen Keep Bombs in Flight The two shops work together to make, maintain, load bombs in B-1s. By Tech. Sgt. Jason Smith 40th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs Each day, B-1B Lancers from the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron (working from the 40th Air Expeditionary Group) conduct long hours of in-theater air coverage in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In a recent one-week period, B-1s provided close air support to Coalition forces in contact with enemy forces more than 21 times. During the same period, B-1s also destroyed various Taliban extremists’ compounds with precision weapons. The current...

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2006 – Today's Army is the best the U.S. has ever sent into combat, and initiatives under way will ensure it remains that way, the Army chief of staff said in a statement released last night. Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker said he's confident that efforts from the Army and Defense Department staffs, in Congress and the White House will ensure the Army is equipped and financed to face “the many challenges that lie ahead during these dangerous times.” Schoomaker, who came out of retirement to accept the Army's top military job, disputed recent public statements criticizing...

7/19/2006 - KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Fifty-eight Air Force engineers filling a shortage of Soldiers in Iraq have completed more than a dozen construction projects, often under fire, throughout a 10,000-square-mile zone for the Army's 1st Brigade Combat Team. After six months, the Airmen of the 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron's Detachment 10 have maintained and repaired six convoy routes and seven forward-operating bases. "It's been very strenuous, and sometimes extremely dangerous. I'm ready to get home, see my family and unwind," said Master Sgt. Ken Dunbar, Det. 10 superintendent of operations and acting first sergeant. "We have...

U.S. Army Spc. Alejandro Perez, a Longbow Apache armament specialist assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, and Sgt. Kris Woodburn, a Longbow Apache helicopter mechanic assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, remove a Hellfire missile from a Longbow Apache helicopter as Spc. Eben Gonzales, an Apache mechanic assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, observes. Ammunition that is maintained at the Combat Aviation Brigade’s Ammo Transfer Holding Point eventually finds it way onto the brigade’s attack helicopters. U.S. Army...

HADITHA, Iraq (July 7, 2006) -- In Iraq, a country where temperatures often soar above 110 degrees and terrain is mostly fine grains of sand, Cpl. Derek Metallo never thought he’d find himself patrolling Al Anbar province in a boat when he arrived three months ago. Metallo, a 27-year-old Marine reservist from Jacksonville, Fla., is part of a team of Marines who patrol the Euphrates River by boat, providing security to the Haditha Dam – one of the country’s largest sources of electrical power and home to the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment’s headquarters. The dam provides electricity to...

AL ASAD, Iraq (June 26, 2006) -- Sitting silently on a chair next to two humvees, a Marine listens to the continuous static of the radio, waiting attentively for the call that would have him and his Marines load up in the two vehicles and move outside the fences of Al Asad in a moments notice. The Perimeter Patrol Team with 2nd Platoon, E Company, 1st Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, Marine Wing Support Group 37 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, is responsible for keeping the surrounding areas around Al Asad, Iraq, secure, as well as to establish a presence with...

US 'planning to keep 50,000 troops in Iraq for many years' By Francis Harris in Washington (Filed: 12/06/2006) America plans to retain a garrison of 50,000 troops, one tenth of its entire army, in Iraq for years to come, according to US media reports. The revelation came as George W Bush summoned his top political, military and intelligence aides to a summit on Iraq's future today at the presidential retreat at Camp David. America has indicated that it may raise troop levels in Iraq in the short-term Tomorrow the Americans will talk by video link to Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime...

LEVITTOWN, Pennsylvania (June 6) - A deal is being negotiated that would allow a high school's class president to participate in Friday's graduation ceremony despite concern that he could be targeted by a gang. Tyrone Lewis, 18, had been scheduled to be one of the speakers at the Truman High School commencement ceremony, but police were worried that he could be targeted by a gang from Trenton, New Jersey, because his sister had testified in a murder trial. Lewis had been barred from the ceremony. Dave Truelove, the Bristol Township School District's solicitor, confirmed Tuesday that talks are in progress...

HIT, Iraq, June 4, 2006 – The infantry isn't going to move far without help from a bunch of oil-stained soldiers. Just 11 soldiers are responsible for keeping the vehicles of Task Force 1-36 here running. Army Pfc. Guillermo Armendariz and Pfc. James Vail work to change an engine in a Bradley fighting vehicle in Hit, Iraq, June 3. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. In this environment, it's a particularly tough job. Sand and dust clog intakes and contaminate oil. The infantrymen are driving the vehicles as much in a month as they used...

Shockwave Required ~ enjoy

Lorena Solorio remembers her younger brother teasing her as a child, telling her he was better than she was. Born in the United States, he was a citizen. Brought to the country in the trunk of a car, she was not. ``I couldn't understand why we had to sneak in,'' she said Sunday. Now an employee of Catholic Charities of San Jose and a U.S. citizen, Solorio works with many children who are in the country illegally. As the national debate over illegal immigration continues to swirl, she said, she sees in those children the same confusion she felt as...

WASHINGTON - The government has no plans to move at least half of the 10,000 emergency housing trailers sitting empty in Hope, Ark., saying they may be needed for the 2006 hurricane season. The Federal Emergency Management Agency detailed its plan to keep the trailers at the Hope municipal airport in a letter to Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record), D-S.D., who had asked that some of the trailers be used for American Indian housing. The letter did not mention Johnson's request, but FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker said Friday that federal law says the trailers must be used for...

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jorge Chavez, 447th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Vehicle Maintenance Flight mechanic, removes a roller on a loader. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Will Ackerman Airmen Keep Fleet Rolling Through Dust, Mud A team of U.S. Air Force mechanics overcome heat, mud and the challenge to obtain replacement parts, to keep more than 300 vehicles running. By U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Will Ackerman 447th Air Expeditionary Group SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq, May 16, 2006 — Working on vehicles in the desert presents challenges. Mechanics sometimes have to scrape off layers of dirt...

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2006 – The relative calm that has been seen in Iraq's northern provinces can be attributed to aggressive coalition and Iraqi leaders who understand the area and know how to diffuse problems before they happen, a U.S. commander in the area said today. "The presence of coalition forces, along with an increasingly competent and confident Iraqi army brigade and Iraqi police force inside Kirkuk, are keeping a lid on potential violence," Army Col. David R. Gray, commander of 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, said in a satellite news conference from Iraq. Kirkuk province is an ethnically diverse...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, April 21, 2006) – Working together as a cohesive team, Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, Iraqi army soldiers and private-security company employees work at entry control checkpoints to provide safety and security for Baghdad’s “Green Zone.” “Our mission is to provide safety for the local nationals (and IA and MND-B Soldiers). We try to keep terrorists out of the Green Zone. It’s pretty much a safe haven,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Matthews, infantryman, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, who works at an Entry Control Point near Forward Operating...