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Iraqi, U.S. Troops Team up to Protect Pipelines Bastogne soldiers of 101st Airborne Division train Iraqi battalion to guard oil pipelines. By Capt. Lyn Graves 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment KIRKUK, Iraq, April 11, 2006 — The Iraqi Strategic Infrastructure Battalion soldier stands on top of a liquid gold mine. That is, he stands atop six percent of the world’s known oil reserve, deep beneath the sands of northern Iraq, in and around Kirkuk. "This is very different, so it will take us time to adapt and to learn this new way; but, this new way is better, more...

PHILADELPHIA, April 9, 2006 – Philadelphia's indoor soccer team kicked its support for U.S. servicemembers into high gear last night when it announced its partnership with the "America Supports You" program. Jessica Hallowell, 10, of Mertztown, Pa., donates a soccer ball at the Philadelphia KiXX's April 8 home game. The more than 1,000 soccer balls collected will be shipped to children in Iraq. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "We're glad to help the military," said Jeffrey B. Rotwitt, owner of the KiXX, a Major Indoor Soccer League team. America Supports You is a...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2006 – Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England praised the Washington Capitals ice hockey team for its support of U.S. servicemembers during team and management members' Pentagon visit today. Washington Capitals' goaltender Olaf Kolzig shakes hands with Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England as Capitals team captain Jeff Halpern (center) looks on April 6. England presented the hockey team, which was touring the Pentagon, with a commemorative plaque for its help with the "America Supports You" program. Photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. England greeted the National Hockey League icemen in his office...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Army News Service, April 5, 2006) – The U.S. Army NASCAR racing team has played host to hundreds of dignitaries, VIPs and generals over the past several years, but this past Sunday they spent some time with an army officer who has combined talent, leadership and educational pursuits to achieve success both in and out of the army. Capt.-promotable Rose Lopez-Keravuori, who also happens to be the reigning 2005 Mrs. Virginia, was a guest of the U.S. Army team at Sunday's DIRECTV 500 Nextel Cup race. It was the first NASCAR race for Keravuori, who was crowned Mrs....

Proving that he’s just as adept at stuffing an election candidate’s coffers as he is at stuffing his own socks, Sandy Berger hosted an "almost secret" Washington fund-raiser for a recently retired three-star vice admiral last night. Vice Adm. Joseph Sestak Jr, as the Village People would say, is "In the Navy". And when you want to take an Able Danger Congressman Curt Weldon down, what better way than to send in the Navy? Berger, dubbed "Sandy Burglar" by radio meister Rush Limbaugh, gained notoriety for trying to stuff classified documents into his socks and other attire. The man, who...

Several members of President Bill Clinton’s national security team are hosting a Washington fund-raiser tonight for retired Vice Adm. Joseph Sestak Jr., the Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon in November. Officials at Sestak’s campaign headquarters in Media will not comment on the event, though an invitation sent out to potential donors and obtained by the Daily Times lists Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger as a host. "As a general rule, campaigns don’t comment on fund-raisers or people who hold them," said Sestak’s campaign chairman, Myles Duffy. Berger, who served as Clinton’s second-term national security adviser, pleaded guilty last year...

FORT HOOD, Texas (Army News Service, April 5, 2006) – Despite several days of rain leading up to the dedication of the 1st Cavalry Division’s Operation Iraqi Freedom Memorial April 4, when the dedication began, even the weather cooperated. As the ceremony began, Gold Star families (families of fallen troops), community members and hundreds of current and former First Team Soldiers reverently stood on the south side of the memorial. After the memorial was officially presented to the division by the 1st Cavalry Division Association, Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, who commanded the division during its deployment to Iraq, told...

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2006 – The Ad Council has teamed with the Defense Department's "America Supports You" program to help drum up support for American servicemembers. This ad is part of the launch of a national public service advertising campaign by the Defense Department and the Ad Council to show support for America's military.  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Launched in November 2004, America Supports You is a Web-based program that highlights grassroots and corporate support for America's troops. The program's Web site, www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil, showcases ways Americans can provide support and helps put servicemembers and their families in...

DRA DIGLA, Iraq (March 27, 2006) -- Insurgents no longer have free reign in the rural farmlands north of Fallujah. A platoon of Marines from D Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, joined with a reinforced squad from Company E, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment to scour the area north of Fallujah for insurgent activity in Operation Mesopotamia II. The several-day operation took place in the Northern Regimental Security Area and disrupted insurgent activity, keeping terrorists from using the sparsely populated region as a staging area to launch attacks in Fallujah. The combined tank-infantry team is serving in Iraq with Regimental Combat...

A wounded warrior By Tim Maxwell, Tim Maxwell is stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. E-mail: woundedteam@sempermax. com. I AM A MARINE — a lieutenant colonel. I know about war. I have studied it for more than 20 years. I have been deployed overseas six times. Three times since 9/11. Recently, I learned all about another part of war. I was badly wounded during a mortar attack in Iraq in October 2004.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (March 13, 2006) -- A Twenty-nine Palms Marine participated in a United States naturalization ceremony, along with 33 other people from 20 different countries, more than 60 students here in Fort Collins and political representatives from the national, state and local levels. Corporal Artyom N. Dutchak was born in the Ukraine and moved to Sterling, Colo. in 1999 when he was 14 years old along with his sister Alyoha and his mother Nataliya Nickels. Shortly after graduating from Sterling High School, Dutchak took the oath to become a United States Marine. “I have always had the desire...

SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (Army News Service, March 13, 2006) – Iraqi and U.S. firefighters battled a five-alarm fire at a weapons training facility on the Victory Base Complex March 11, adjacent to Baghdad International Airport. Iraqi firefighters based at the training site responded to the fire after seeing thick, black smoke billowing into the clear, blue sky. Realizing the fire was too much for their two fire trucks, they called for assistance from American and Iraqi firefighters located throughout the complex. “The Army (trainers) there said they used fire extinguishers initially, but the fire got too big,” said Mario...

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2006 – U.S. soldiers discovered four weapons caches in a four-day period in areas outside of Baghdad, officials said. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, discovered a weapons cache March 8 near the Euphrates River, south of Baghdad. Army Pfc. Jason Chambers, of B Company, was occupying an observation post when he noticed something out of place in the distance. After carefully inspecting the area, he and another soldier discovered the cache, consisting of roadside bomb-making materials. Chambers and the soldier moved away a safe distance, notified their...

3/6/2006 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- After five months of negotiations between the 376th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron and Manas International Airport security leaders, two security forces Airmen took their place beside their Kyrgyz counterparts at the airport entrance gate March 1. The gate, located just north of the flightline, is the first point of entry for vehicles driving onto Manas Airport. The joint security effort will have many benefits for the base and the airport, said Lt. Col. David Abercrombie, squadron commander. It will increase force protection capabilities, giving security forces an added level of visibility on...

ABOARD USS CAPE ST. GEORGE (NNS) -- USS Cape. St. George’s (CG 71) boarding team responded to a distress call by a Panamanian-flagged motor vessel while conducting maritime security operations in the North Persian Gulf Feb. 27. The master of Motor Vessel Hader, a diesel tanker, contacted Cape St. George via bridge-to-bridge reporting it had been fired upon and illegally boarded. One of Cape’s two Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) teams boarded the vessel and conducted a security sweep of the ship to verify that it was safe for the master and his 11 crew members to stay aboard....

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., March 2, 2006 – The widespread use of Web logs, or "blogs," by online writers has proliferated information on topics as varied as the authors. Blogs, in essence, are online journals or forums for their authors, known as "bloggers." Public affairs officials here said thousands of blogs are created each day, and they estimate that more than 21 million blogs are posted on the World Wide Web today. Blogs sometimes include information -- accurate and otherwise -- about the U.S. military's global war on terror. U.S. Central Command officials here took notice and created a...

2/28/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- A couple of Airmen sat in the base food court chatting about their return to the United States the next day. Excited to be going home, they compared flight times. Meanwhile, 3 feet away, a third-country national took mental notes. He knew someone who would pay for flight information. The aircraft takeoff time happened to be the last piece of information that an Al Qaeda terrorist needed to coordinate a deadly attack, killing hundreds of servicemembers on a flight home. The scenario presented by Capt. David Quinlan, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing plans officer, isn’t...

Khost Team Brings Medical Care to Afghan Village The Khost Provincial Reconstruction Team sent doctors, a dentist and a veterinarian, as well as medical personnel and interpreters, to assist Kaskai Kalay residents and livestock. By Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan KHOST, Afghanistan, Feb. 23, 2006 — Afghan and coalition medical personnel treated hundreds of people and animals during a Medical Civil Action Program visit to the village of Kaskai Kalay Feb. 15. "[Medical Civil Action Programs] and humanitarian assistance are extremely important to the people of Afghanistan. Providing medical care to the people and their livestock ensures they’re on the right...

Last spring, after the governor all but declared war on union leaders and other Democratic interests, Republicans sat and watched as the unions led an offensive that helped drag down the governor's poll ratings, and doom his special election agenda. Under the watch of new campaign manager Steve Schmidt and communications director Katie Levinson, both fresh off the plane from the Bush White House, Team Schwarzenegger is determined not to make the same mistake again. "For California Republicans who were frustrated last year by the lack of an aggressive response out of the governor's operation, they'll be very pleasantly surprised...

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Matthew Foley works to repair a damaged engine cover on a B-52 Stratofortress, Jan. 31, 2006. The B-52s return to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam from a forward operating location after flying 300 hours. U.S Air Force photo by Bennie J. Davis III B-52 Maintenance Team Vital Part of Mission Success U.S. Air Force maintenance personnel inspect the B-52s after 300 hours flying time, a tricky task when managing a fleet of aircraft 50 years old. By U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Scott King 40th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, Feb....