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PALOMINAS — The Naco Border Patrol Explorer post added four new members Wednesday with a ceremony at Valley View School honoring the newest graduates of its training class. “You came in as individuals and now you graduate as a team,” Darcy Olmos, Patrol Agent in Charge at the Naco Border Patrol station, told the graduates. The new Explorers are Alexalyn Hardgrave, 15, of Sierra Vista; Sammy Collins, 16, of Sierra Vista; Devin Humphries, 16, of Hereford; and Christopher Tillman, 15, of Sierra Vista. Humphries was honored for having the group’s highest test score average at 91 percent. Hardgrave also was...

WASHINGTON (ARMY NEWS SERVICE, March 23, 2006) – Army and Air Force officials announced March 17 that a new Joint Cargo Aircraft, designed to enhance the combat readiness of both services, will be developed by a combined team. Fielding of the new aircraft is expected within two years. The Request for Proposals was released March 17 after the Acquisition Strategy Report was signed that morning, according to Pentagon officials. A Joint Program Office, comprised of personnel from both branches of service, will open Oct. 1 in Huntsville, Ala., with the Army taking the lead. “This is a big day for...

BATON ROUGE, La. (Army News Service, March 17, 2006) – Another chapter in what has become one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history came to a close as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency closed its Blue Roof program for victims of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A team of more than 700 engineers and other volunteers from throughout 41 Army Corps of Engineers districts worldwide wrapped up a seven-month mission to provide temporary repairs to both residential and public building roofs damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,...

WASHINGTON - The Senate committee delegated to come up with immigration reform legislation proceeded at a glacial pace Wednesday, with senators still far apart on such issues as a guest worker program and a policy toward the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. "We are quite a ways from having a bill," said Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., as the panel waded through a host of amendments on how to improve border enforcement. Even with farmers and businesses depending on illegal immigrants to fill low-wage jobs and President Bush in support of a temporary worker program, advocates...

USS RONALD REAGAN, At Sea (NNS) -- Even though they are deployed thousands of miles away from home, hundreds of Sailors assigned to USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) are keeping in touch with their children through the “United for Reading” (UTR) program. More than 700 Sailors have taken part in the program since Reagan departed San Diego Jan. 4 on its maiden deployment. “We’re coming up on two months of operation and have hundreds of smiling children that are the recipients of over 750 video recordings,” said Lt. Chris Anderson, Reagan’s program coordinator. Sponsored by the Family Literacy Foundation, the...

3/7/2006 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) -- Air Mobility Command added a new twist to the High Flight program here when Air Force civilians were added to the professional development and orientation course. Forty-seven captains from across the Air Force and six civilians from the command recently participated in the twice-a-year program. Patricia Dorsey, director of the family support center here and one of the first civilians to attend the course, found it extremely beneficial. "It is not often that civilians have the opportunity to attend leadership training with their military counterparts," Ms. Dorsey said. "The AMC mission...

VAIL, Colo., March 6, 2006 – Amputees being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., wrapped up the third annual Vail Veterans Program here yesterday, having taken another step ahead in their rehabilitation and more convinced than ever that they have the support of the American people. Army Sgt. Tim Gustafson, a Tennessee National Guardsman participating in the Vail Veterans Program at Vail, Colo., gets instruction on how to traverse the slopes on a "bi-ski" from Carl Desrosiers, of the Vail Adaptive Ski Program. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The 24...

Ship operators who reduce pollution by observing a speed limit while entering the Port of Long Beach will be rewarded with lower dockage rates. The reduced dockage rates are part of the port's Green Flag Incentive Program, an annual $2.2 million clean air initiative that provides financial incentives and recognition to those who voluntarily reduce their speeds. The tariff reduction plan was approved Monday by the Board of Harbor Commissioners. Under the program, carriers will qualify for a 15 percent discounted Green Flag dockage rate during the following year if 90 percent of their vessels comply with a 12-knot speed...

TAJI, Iraq – During the recent, and highly publicized, sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shiite factions, a group of Iraqi and American Soldiers pushed aside the apprehension Feb. 23 to conduct a community health outreach program north of Baghdad. Soldiers from 1st Mechanized Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division, along with Soldiers from elements of 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment and 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conducted a combined operation to provide much needed medical care to a local Iraqi Sunni community, relieving tensions in the area while simultaneously fostering hope in a unified Iraq. Approximately...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2006 – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged about 60 members of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program here today to dream big and reach for the stars as they seek ways to serve their country and its ideals. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld poses with members of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program during the group's visit to the Pentagon Feb. 28. Photo by Helene C. Stikkel  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Rumsfeld reminded the group -- high school dropouts at risk for substance abuse, teen pregnancy, delinquency and criminal activity who are turning their lives...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2006 – A "tremendous" coalition of countries remains united in its stance against nuclear weapon development in Iran, a situation sparking increasing international concern, said the nation's senior diplomat today. "The Iranians now need step back, look at where they are, see that they're isolated on this issue, and return to a state in which they go back and seal the activities that they have begun, ... and get back into negotiations with those who are prepared to offer them a course for civil nuclear power," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on ABC's "This Week." Rice...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2006 – The president's terrorist surveillance program serves the purpose of gathering intelligence against terrorists wishing to attack the United States, the nation's No. 2 intelligence officer said in appearances on Sunday morning talk shows. "This is focused on al Qaeda," said Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, principal deputy director of national intelligence and former director of the National Security Agency, during a "Fox News Sunday" interview. "The only justification we have to undertake this program is to detect and prevent attacks against the United States." Through the president's authorization of the program, the NSA can...

(AP) -- After more than a year of delays, the Department of Homeland Security says it plans to launch a preparedness program next month aimed at alerting and preparing children for terror attacks and natural disasters. The program, called Ready Kids, is scheduled to roll out with TV ads, school programs and other events. "Ready Kids is a tool for parents and teachers to use to be able to speak to their students and children about how to be prepared for any type of disaster," said DHS spokeswoman Joanna Gonzalez.

Montana-Based Program Supports Troops By Christopher J. Moore Each “Giving Tree” ornament had a soldier’s name written on it. Supporters were asked to purchase suggested items for one of the soldiers and place them in a gift bag beneath the tree. Courtesy Photo Montana Supporting Soldiers group members box care packages to send to deployed soldiers. Courtesy Photo WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2006 - Liann Meyer, an America Supports You team member based in Helena, Mont., sent some cheer to deployed troops this holiday season. Meyer’s organization, Montana Supporting Soldiers, sent care packages full of cookies, candy, cards and decorations to more...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30, 2005 – A family reading program and a retail giant have joined forces to help deployed military parents stay connected with their children. Thanks to a partnership by United Through Reading and the Minneapolis-based Target retail chain, the Family Literacy Foundation's read-aloud-by-videotape program -- previously available only to the Navy and Marines -- is opening to all branches of the armed forces. "United Through Reading enables military parents and their children to continue to share bonds of love," said Betty Mohlenbrock, program founder. "The program touches children's lives in ways a handwritten letter cannot," she said. "Hearing...

HABBANIYAH, Iraq, Dec. 29, 2005 – While western Iraq's Anbar province was making headlines with its voter turnout this month, a quieter turnout of its young men was making headway graduating from school. In Habbaniyah, a volatile city where rockets and mortars destroy buildings and lives all too suddenly and frequently, the Iraq Construction Apprentice Program is facilitating Iraqi rebuilding efforts, one brick and one life at a time. The apprentice course began in September at the military base here, an old British base that the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence contracted ECC International to renovate so the Iraqi...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2005 – The World Wrestling Entertainment RAW TV show will feature a special "Tribute to the Troops" program tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time on the USA Network. WWE chairman Vince McMahon and WWE RAW superstars recently returned from their "Tribute to the Troops" tour of Afghanistan, where they met with thousands of men and women in the U.S. military carrying the message "America Supports You," according to a WWE news release. "Monday Night RAW: Tribute to the Troops" will feature matches between WWE superstars held at a special RAW taped on Dec. 9 at Bagram Air...

PARIS - An anti-bribery panel urged governments Friday to do more to investigate evidence of kickbacks and corruption in the U.N.-commissioned report on Iraq's oil-for-food program. Only 11 of some 40 countries whose citizens or companies were implicated by the inquiry have requested the evidence unearthed with a view to possible prosecutions, said Mark Pieth, panel chairman at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. "The working group encourages its members to follow up by obtaining this information," said Pieth, who also was a member of the independent inquiry headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. The United...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2005 – A program designed to help wounded veterans find meaningful civilian jobs is paying off by enabling some to use their military expertise to ensure their former comrades are getting the quality weaponry they need in combat. Since becoming a partner in the Defense Department's "Hire a Hero" program last summer, the Defense Contract Management Agency has hired five permanent employees as well as two volunteers who lend their talents while undergoing rehabilitation, Nancy Adams, the agency's program director, told the American Forces Press Service. DoD established the program last December to encourage agencies to develop...

PATUXENT RIVER , Md., Dec. 6, 2005 – For a people who first heard of it while they lived under Soviet influence, this U.S. Navy fighter aircraft is of great public interest. Polish citizens invariably know it by name. Employees of PZL-Swidnik even refer to it with a hint of ownership – the F-14 Tomcat. " The recent agreement paves the way for the eventual creation of long-term technical and economic benefits that will produce dividends for both the U.S. and Poland." Czes Covington A business bridge between the U.S. Navy’s F-14 program and a Polish aerospace company is in...