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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa., July 18, 2008 – Medical students at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences are getting a healthy dose of the challenges in providing battlefield medicine during two concurrent field exercises under way here. Air Force Staff Sgt. Lacy Johnson, a staff member at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, applies “moulage” to simulate a combat wound on Army 2nd Lt. Dan Coughlin, a first-year medical student. Photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andre Nicholson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. About 360 medical, public health and graduate-level nursing students from the...

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 14, 2008 – Afghan National Army soldiers at the Afghan National Detention Facility here showcased their skills during an emergency action plan exercise May 11. Members of the Afghan National Army at the Afghan National Detention Facility detain a simulated escaped detainee during an emergency action plan exercise May 11, 2008, while Army Master Sgt. Gary Byers, of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan Military Police Operations, observes. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio, Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The exercise validated the detention facility’s brigade and...

'Shameless' parents not teaching skills By James Kirkup Political Correspondent Last Updated: 4:04AM BST 14/05/2008 A generation of young Britons are growing up in "shameless" families where parents lack the basic skills to raise their children, the Conservatives will warn today. Chris Grayling, the shadow work and pensions secretary, will claim that in some parts of the country there is no culture of parents instilling discipline and respect in their offspring. He will tell a London think tank that multiple generations of teenage parents mean that some of today's children have no exposure to elder relatives with traditional experience of...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — A Military Transition Team stationed at FOB Falcon, about eight kilometers south of Baghdad, plays a rigorous and important role in rebuilding the capacity of Iraq. The MiTT helps the Iraqi Army to operate in an optimal manner, said Sgt. Chad Highland, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Soldiers from the MiTT, assigned to 1-33rd Cav. Regt., teaches a five-day Iraqi basic training course using U.S. Army knowledge converted into something Iraqi Army Soldiers can execute. “It’s basically a course to teach basic...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA — Military doctors here are conducting a series of lectures for Iraqi doctors in Wasit province. This is the second eight-week course conducted by doctors from the 948th Forward Surgical Team and Company C, 26th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, both attached to 214th Fires Brigade. The training has proved valuable for the Iraqi doctors, particularly this second course, which held many of the same attendees as the first one. The lectures emphasized how under the rule of Saddam Hussein, the medical community in Iraq became isolated from the outside world,...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KUSHAMOND, Afghanistan, April 21, 2008 – Soldiers of the 864th Engineer Combat Battalion provided basic carpentry and masonry skill training to citizens of Kushamond and surrounding villages. U.S. Army Pfc. Ranen E. Casto, of 864th Engineer Combat Battalion, instructs students at the Kushamond skilled-labor workshop on correct saw techniques and safety precautions at Forward Operating Base Kushamond, Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. David E. Roscoe  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Fort Lewis soldiers worked to provide Afghans with skills and construction leadership to find steady employment. The workshop, held in late March, also...

MA: What is your position on H1B visas in general? Do you believe the number of H1B visas should be increased? BO: Highly skilled immigrants have contributed significantly to our domestic technology industry. But we have a skills shortage, not a worker shortage. There are plenty of Americans who could be filling tech jobs given the proper training. I am committed to investing in communities and people who have not had an opportunity to work and participate in the Internet economy as anything other than consumers. Most H-1B new arrivals, for example, have earned a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent...

3/13/2008 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- When it comes to rescuing someone trapped in a vehicle, using the "jaws of life" can mean the difference between life and death -- but only if the tool is used properly. Members of the Balad Air Base Fire Department recently led refresher training sessions for U.S. government contracted personnel who routinely recover military vehicles throughout Iraq on how to use potentially lifesaving hydraulic tools. Seventeen senior mechanic contractors who work for KBR Theater Transportation Mission Recovery, the lead contractor for vehicle recovery, attended the class. Most had worked as vehicle operators...

FOB RUSTAMIYAH — In continuing efforts to increase proficiency, self-sufficiency and survivability of Iraqi security forces, National Police Transition Team (NPTT) Soldiers conducted a Combat Life Savers Course (CLSC) for Iraqi National Police (NP) officers Feb. 25-27, at Combat Outpost 799. NPTT Soldiers for 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st National Police Division, who are attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Multi-National Division – Baghdad, conducted the course for policemen from the NP’s 2nd Bn., 4th Bde. The CLSC encompassed teaching NPs self aid and buddy aid, including administering an IV, proper procedures in treating a penetrating...

"Scooby came up with the idea in a recent blog post to make a list of 'obsolete skills.' He describes these skills as things we used to know that no longer are very useful to us, and provided few examples including: * Dialing a rotary phone * Putting a needle on a vinyl record * Changing tracks on an eight-track tape * Shorthand? * Using a slide rule * Optimizing 640K-worth of memory * .... The community has started to create a much larger list of these obsolete skills, check out the full A-Z list (link below). Feel free to...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan, Feb. 4, 2008 – Afghan workers recently learned skills that will make them more marketable in their country’s expanding construction industry, thanks to U.S. Army engineers from Task Force Pacemaker. Fifty citizens of Afghanistan’s Paktika province learn how to use tools and safety equipment issued to them at a labor workshop at Forward Operating Base Sharana. Photo by 1st Lt. Kenya Virginia Saenz, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army 1st Lt. Grayson Pranin and Sgt. 1st Class Clay Wait, Support Platoon, 585th Engineer Company, from Fort Lewis, Wash., led a workshop Jan....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FENTY, Afghanistan, Jan. 16, 2008 – U.S. Army engineers of Task Force Rugged concluded the first of three winter skilled-labor workshops to train local Afghans on construction skills Jan. 13. Army Staff Sgt. Windle Morgan, of Task Force Pacemaker, instructs 50 Afghans students attending a skilled-labor workshop in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The workshop is hosted by Task Force Rugged, 36th Engineer Brigade, stationed out of Fort Hood, Texas, and 864th Engineer Battalion, of Fort Lewis, Wash. The aim of the workshop, funded by the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, is to develop construction skills among local Afghan residents,...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2008 – Frequent military relocations can take a toll on spouses’ careers unless they have a portable skill, which is exactly what one foundation has set out to provide them. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation has partnered with the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education to offer military spouses a chance to earn the “accredited financial counselor” credential. The credential gives spouses the ability to work in financial counseling, nationwide, either on or off military installations, said Gerri Walsh, associate vice president of authority’s office of investor education. “It is a well...

SIERRA VISTA — Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from the Sierra Vista area, Cochise District, held an aquatic advancement event at The Cove last Saturday. More than 100 Scouts gathered at The Cove to complete requirements for various rank advancements, badges and belt loops. The Webelos Scouts earned their swimming belt loop and the aquanaut badge. Tiger, Wolf and Bear Cub Scouts completed the requirements for advancement or electives. They also earned the swimming belt loop. Boy Scouts had the opportunity to earn partial credit or to complete the requirements for the swimming merit badge or the lifesaving merit badge....

Petroleum supply specialist, Sgt. Kelvin Dedrick, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, searches a car with an Iraqi policeman during a recent raid outside Qayarrah. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Bradley Clarks Army: Iraqi Police Skills Improving Daily The capabilities of Iraqi police to work independently of U.S. and coalition forces have grown in the past 10 months, U.S. Army soldiers say. By Pfc. Bradley J. Clark4th Brigade Combat Team,1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs FORWARD OPERATING BASE Q-WEST, Iraq, Sept. 19, 2007 — Iraqi police in southern Ninevah...

Science Daily — Apes bite and try to break a tube to retrieve the food inside while children follow the experimenter's example to get inside the tube to retrieve the prize, showing that even before preschool, toddlers are more sophisticated in their social learning skills than their closest primate relatives, according to a report published in the 7 September issue of the journal Science. Chimpanzees participated in a comprehensive battery of tasks comparing their physical and social cognitive abilities to those of 2-year-old human children. (Credit: Image courtesy of MPI EVAN/JGI-USA) This innate proficiency allows them to excel in...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2007 – A new U.S. command in southern Afghanistan is working to improve the martial capabilities of local police who confront battle-hardened Taliban insurgents, a senior U.S. officer said today. “We have to teach the police how to act militarily,” Army Col. Thomas J. McGrath, commander of Afghan Regional Security Integration Command South, told Internet reporters and “bloggers” during a conference call from Afghanistan. Afghan police are the first responders to incursions by heavily armed Taliban militants, McGrath explained. Therefore, the police need infantry skills, appropriate weaponry and other resources, he said, so they can effectively engage...

Staff Sgt. Chuck Shuck and his K9 partner, Sgt. 1st Class Gabe, both with 178th Military Police Detachment, 20th Military Police Battalion, take a break to hydrate during a cordon and search operation in the village of Shukran, near Forward Operating Base Q-West. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Amanda Morrissey  More Photos K9 Team Brings Special Skills to the Fight Dogs also keep morale high for combat soldiers in Iraq. By Spc. Amanda Morrissey5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment SHUKRAN, Iraq, June 4, 2007 — For just about every cordon and search operation in Iraq, there is a special two-soldier...

Spc. Roland Brown (left), a native of San Diego, Calif., who serves on the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) personal security detachment, and Spc. Tung Nguyen, a native of Los Angeles, Calif., and a medic with the PSD, paint exterior trim on the brigade's tactical operations center on Camp Striker, Iraq, March 15. U.S. Army photo. CAMP STRIKER -- When people think of a deployment to Iraq, they may imagine sand-filled tents and crude buildings on American posts. Sometimes, that mental image is right, but sometimes it isn’t. The soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team,...

More than 20,000 high school graduates annually enter the California State University system needing remedial work in English or math, according to the Annual Report on College Readiness presented today to the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach. The number of unprepared students entering CSU remained constant this academic year, not budging from previous levels. In fall 2006, 37 percent of entering freshmen were not proficient in mathematics, reflecting a decline of 1 percent from 2005. The report found that 45 percent were not proficient in English, the same level as the previous year. CSU officials say there...

FOB QWEST — Many Iraqi troops can expect to close with the enemy in an urban environment or other close-quarters situations. Realizing this, U.S. Soldiers have joined Iraqi troops to conduct joint training that also includes marksmanship and other war-fighting skills. The 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, assisted the 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division in the joint training effort starting Feb.1. The two elements came together for a three-day BRM course and close-quarter battle drills training, said 1st Sgt. Jon Rettmann, top enlisted member of A Battery, 5-82 FA....

Alaska faces skilled-worker shortage The state's pay premium, which drew outsiders in the 1970s, has dwindled to almost nothing. ANCHORAGE, ALASKA Union apprentices training to build their carpentry skills in this part of Alaska have a nickname for more seasoned co-workers they meet on job sites. "We call them the 'Geriatric Crew,' " says Clint Meyer, one of the 20- and 30-somethings working out of a union- operated training center in south Anchorage. It's an apt description. While Alaska's economy has grown – and its construction business has blossomed – over the last two decades, the pool of skilled construction...

Capt. Dave Lin discusses details regarding the camp's new conference center with site engineer Renato, Jan. 11, in Afghanistan. Lin is an engineer with the International Security Assistance Force headquarters. U.S. Air Force photo U.S. Air Force Capt. Dave Lin Engineer Helps Give Afghans Skills to Rebuild By Capt. Stacie N. Shafran International Security Assistance Force Headquarters KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 12, 2007 -- A day in the life of a project engineer fills up pretty quickly. Between meetings and constant walks around the base to survey projects, there's concrete to be poured, gravel to be delivered and contractors needing...

What's Hot, What's Not: IT Skills You'll Need in 2010 The IT worker of 2010 won't be a technology guru but rather a 'versatilist.' Stacy Collett July 17, 2006 (Computerworld) -- The most sought-after corporate IT workers in 2010 may be those with no deep-seated technical skills at all. The nuts-and-bolts programming and easy-to-document support jobs will have all gone to third-party providers in the U.S. or abroad. Instead, IT departments will be populated with "versatilists" -- those with a technology background who also know the business sector inside and out, can architect and carry out IT plans that will...

U.S.  Army Staff Sgt. Becker of the 101st Airborne Division drags a sandbag-laden stretcher during the Patrol Competition held at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, June 17, 2006.  U.S. Army photo by Capt. Lyn Graves Competition Tests Troops’ Skills Soldiers, airmen climb ladders, run across desert, fire weapons during patrol competition. By  Capt. Lyn Graves 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment TIKRIT, Iraq, July 6, 2006 -- Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division ran across the Iraqi desert, dropped their rucksacks and disassembled and reassembled their weapons behind their backs. They were not suffering from the heat, but competing to...

FORT HUACHUCA — Two medical soldiers from this southern Arizona Army post returned home after performing their life-saving skills in Iraq. Capt. Douglas Simmons used his nursing skills at the 228th Combat Support Hospital in Mosul. Staff Sgt. Robert Hatch was called upon to teach combat first aid to members of the Iraqi police force. Monday, the two Raymond W. Bliss Army Community Health Center soldiers were part of 22 post GIs who were honored with a welcome home ceremony at the gazebo area of Brown Parade Field. Unlike many soldiers who deploy as part of a unit, some of...

Mother tongue may determine maths skills 17:55 27 June 2006 NewScientist.com news service Roxanne Khamsi The native language you speak may determine how your brain solves mathematical puzzles, according to a new study. Brain scans have revealed that Chinese speakers rely more on visual regions than English speakers when comparing numbers and doing sums. Our mother tongue may influence the way problem-solving circuits in our brains develop, suggest the researchers. But they add that different teaching methods across cultures, or genes, may also have primed the brains of Chinese and English speakers to solve equations differently. The findings may help...

It used to be, well, perhaps it still is, that Indian students did their darndest to come to the US to go to grad school, learn business, or master the technology of the computer. Now, there has been a turn. American college grads are opting to go to India. A stint working in India can be quite an addition to a young worker's resume. India's high-tech and banking companies need skilled workers. A company like Infosys, which has grown from 500 workers to 50,000 workers in the past dozen years, has hired many young Americans. Of course, the biggest obstacle...

Online learning will continue to grow for several reasons. The first reason is because of the advent of high-speed Internet. Anybody with a home PC can now take a course online. If you have a laptop, you can take your course online and take it with you to the coffice (coffee house/office). That is where I am writing this. PCs and Macs are also becoming more affordable. For the price of one credit hour at some schools, a student can now buy a good desktop Dell or Gateway PC. There is no more driving to school, finding a parking place,...

U.S. soldiers from Company D, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, supervise Iraqi police officers as they plot grid coordinates on a map at the Mussayyib Iraqi police headquarters, June 12, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Edgar Reyes U.S. Troops Help Iraqi Police Improve Map Skills The block of instruction was used as refresher training to supplement the map reading course taken by the Iraqi police during their initial training at the Iraqi police Academy. By U.S. Army Spc. Edgar Reyes 2nd Brigade Combat Team 4th Infantry Division FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU,...

Iraqi Soldiers Stockpile Medical Logistics Skills Coalition advisors work to overcome the mindset of some Iraqi soldiers, who remember procedures under the old regime. By U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Rick Brown Multi-National Security Transition Command—Iraq TAJI, Iraq, June 8, 2006 — One of the biggest hurdles facing the Iraqi army is its requirement to logistically support itself. The Iraqi Army Services and Support Institute at Taji Military Training Base has acknowledged this need and, on May 25, finished another training cycle with the graduation of 22 Iraqi soldiers from the institute's Medical Logistics Course.The three-week module was designed...

CAMP AL QA’IM, Iraq (June 6, 2006) -- When he joined the Marine Corps in 2002, Cpl. Joshua W. Dale never thought he would be using his welding experience to defeat insurgents in western Iraq. The 23-year-old section leader with A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, brought his ideas to life by inventing a breaching bumper for a humvee in his mobile assault platoon. The breaching bumper is mounted on the front of the humvee and resembles a large arrowhead made of thick steel. The bumper is used to do one thing – tear through anything that gets in...

UDAIRI RANGE, Kuwait, May 3, 2006 – Training never stops in the push to ensure American soldiers and Marines are ready for duty in Iraq. As part of a training scenario at Udairi Range, Kuwait, actors playing an Iraqi policeman and drivers argue at a traffic accident while an American convoy waits to enter the village. The scenario gives a realistic look at what challenges lie ahead for the soldiers when they move north into Iraq. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Servicemembers polish their skills here just prior to deployment "up north." Earlier this...

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2006 – Elmo and his red, fuzzy father will star this summer in an effort to teach young military children and their caregivers how best to handle a parent's deployment in a program called "Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families Cope with Military Deployment." Sesame Street's Elmo and his dad tape a segment for "Talk, Listen, Connect," an outreach program for military families created by Sesame Workshop in New York, April 20. The bilingual DVD is part of a package of complimentary materials that will be made available to military families beginning July 2006. Photo by Richard...

Just as they have for 60 years, baby boomers are throwing their weight around again. This time, though, it's not a matter of how to educate, house and employ the mass of 78 million Americans in that generation, but rather how to replace their skills and knowledge in the workplace as they begin to retire. The oldest of the baby boomers turn 60 this year, on the verge of traditional retirement age. The percentage of workers older than 65 will increase from 14.4 percent of the work force in 2004 to 19.7 percent by 2014, meaning the fastest-growing part of...

CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq (March 21, 2006) -- Tucked neatly inside the Marines’ base here is an Iraqi Army camp, where Iraqi soldiers are training day and night to learn the skills they’ll need to eventually relieve Coalition Forces of security operations in Iraq. The Iraqi soldiers here – part of the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division – have spent months learning everything from basic marksmanship to administration and now, medical evacuation and treatment. Most recently, the soldiers here received arguably some of the most crucial training they’ll need to survive in western Al Anbar Province – how to...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (March 15, 2006) -- Most businesses have no need for policemen and radio technicians to get the same job done. Nor would one expect to see a gunsmith's work compliment a truck driver's long journey. In the Marine Corps, cooperation among various job fields like these is crucial to keeping Marines on the frontlines supplied. Every day in Iraq, the 1st Marine Logistics Group sends out combat logistics patrols that leave the relative safety of the base to deliver supplies to Marines throughout the Al Anbar Province. From the Marines who order and load the supplies onto...

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz.---The Provost Marshal’s Office K-9 Marines and their dogs visited Yuma’s Centennial Middle School Feb. 8 to provide law enforcement education for students in the eighth graders. The Marines started the demonstration with an example of a hot stop. A hot stop consists of the K-9 handler finding himself in potential danger, then using a remote control device to release the dog from the vehicle, allowing the dog to come to his aid. The K-9 handlers also performed the aggression-type training, in which the dog bites a would-be suspect in a controlled environment, as well...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Feb. 13, 2006 — U.S. Army engineers with the 864th Engineer Combat Battalion worked with Afghan military and civilian engineers to sharpen their construction skills this week. "The attendees at this workshop were selected by 15 local contractors who each selected four of their workers based on experience and skill." U.S. Army Col. Mike Flanagan The training, conducted at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost Province, covered a variety of engineering skills, such as vertical construction, carpentry, masonry and basic job-site safety. "The attendees at this workshop were selected by 15 local contractors who each selected four...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryFebruary 4, 2006 President's Radio Address      Audio      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week in the State of the Union address, I set forth my American Competitiveness Initiative. This plan will help our Nation to compete with confidence, raise the standard of living for our families, and generate new jobs for our citizens. Generations of risk-takers, inventors, and visionaries have made America the world's most prosperous and innovative nation. Just 25 years ago, most Americans used typewriters instead of computers, rotary phones instead of cell phones, and bank tellers instead of ATMs. Today America...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2006 – Military amputee patients are taking their desire to return to active duty to the mats. Jason Keaton, a civilian instructor with the Modern Army Combatives Program from Fort Knox, Ky., watches as Army Staff Sgt. Orlando Gill (top), patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, practices taking control of an opponent. In this case, the opponent is Army Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Greenlee, another program instructor. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Members of the Modern Army Combatives Program from Fort Knox, Ky., have taken their program to Walter...

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...

12/16/2005 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Thirty people from the military security forces of five countries gathered for a coalition weapons training exercise at a desert air base Dec. 15. The training was a cooperative training program to enhance international understanding within the security forces, said Master Sgt. Kevin Follis of the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. The sergeant works with the squadron’s combat arms training and maintenance section. “We wanted to build a better working relationship between all defense forces on base,” he said. Participants chose from nine types of firearms using 9 mm or 5.56 mm ammunition or...

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Gaytangarner, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment (Airborne), shows a group of Afghan National Army soldiers a paper target that was fired at with an AK-47 set on automatic Nov. 18, 2005 at Kandahar Airfield. Only one round made it to the paper, none were on the target. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwell Sky Soldiers Teach Marksmanship Skills U.S. Army soldiers, along with Romanian and other coalition soldiers took the lead in teaching Afghan soldiers basic rifle marksmanship. By Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwell TF Bayonet Public Affairs KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov....

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2005 – Employers anxious to tap into the skills and discipline military service instills in its members converged with thousands of job-seeking veterans here at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Nov. 3 during the first Salute Our Heroes Veterans Job Fair and Career Expo. The fair brought together an estimated 7,000 veterans, many recently returned from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 87 private-sector, government and union employers hoping to entice current and former servicemembers into their workforces. Guy "Doc" Holliday, vice president for advertising for The New York Times, which hosted the event, said...

Troops' Repair Skills Critical to Mission, Lives Bravo Company soldiers are masters of all trades as they repair equipment rangingfrom air conditioning units to night vision goggles to weapons to vehicles. By U.S. Army Spc. Jon H. Arguello KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Nov. 2, 2005 — Few units in the United States Army are as diverse in their skill set as support battalions. The 173rd Support Battalion (Airborne), 173rd Brigade (Airborne) is no exception, especially Bravo Company. The company's best description would be general or miscellaneous support, but don't get the wrong impression. Bravo Company soldiers don't have a lot...

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Does U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice want to be president? Even a young girl at a photo opportunity with Rice in her former elementary school wanted the United States' most prominent black Republican to answer the question. Rice, whose wide smile had been fixed on her face as the 10- and 11-year-olds asked her about growing up in the segregated South and playing the piano, furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes for an uncomfortable moment. Sitting on a knee-high chair in front of shelves of books and teddy bears -- and next to the...

U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Nathan Guidry (standing, left) and retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. David Moose (standing, right) train 16 Republic of Georgia soldiers at Krtsanisi, Georgia, to be communications trainers, Sept. 26, 2005, as part of the Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jonathan Moor Marines Teach Radio Skills to Georgian Soldiers The extensive, four-month training is preparing the Georgian battalion to accomplish their mission in Iraq. By U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jonathan Moor U.S. Marine Forces, Europe KRTSANISI, Georgia, Oct. 11, 2005 --- U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery...

Two Afghan National Army engineer soldiers demonstrate their new skills as one operates an Italian-made bulldozer and the other gives hand signals. The demonstration was a part of the Afghan National Army engineer training course graduation ceremony. Office of Security Cooperation-Afghanistan photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Victoria Meyer Afghan Army Builds on Engineering Skills The training covered heavy engineer machinery operation, force protection, and natural disaster and relief operations. By Army Capt. Cenethea Harraway Office of Security Cooperation-Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 29, 2005 -- The Afghan National Army recently graduated 26 engineers from a six-week training course...

HIT, Iraq (Sept. 21, 2005) -- When Sgt. Keith M. Wagner, a squad leader with 3rd Platoon, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, learned he would be deploying to Iraq last year, he enrolled in the Survival Level Arabic Course to communicate with the people. He became so interested in the language and the people that he began studying independently in his spare time and after classes with his teacher who is from Baghdad. A year later, as he walks the streets of Hit, one would think he was a linguist because of his proficiency in the language. But...