Free Republic

    Political Director's Update 5th Edition August 14, 2008 Go Door to Door with Jim Gilmore! No summer slow-down for the Gilmore campaign this weekend!! Join us and our fellow GOP candidates as we go door to door around the Commonwealth! Details on staging locations are below. Also, for those in Fairfax County in the Braddock District, you can join Jim Gilmore for precinct walking at 10:00 am this Saturday. Information below. Join Jim Gilmore at Fairfax Republican Headquarters 4246 Chain Bridge Rd in Fairfax 10:00 am Click here for a map Albemarle CountyCharlottesville Saturday August 16th 10:00...

Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq) wait in line outside the the Furat Iraqi Police Training Facility, June 17, to start the process of becoming IP recruits. The four day recruiting drive is part of the Multi-National Division - Baghdad plan of Iraqi police expansion. Photo by Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger. CAMP VICTORY — As a sandstorm blanketed Baghdad, June 17, an estimated 2000 Iraqi citizens endured the elements to start the process of becoming Iraqi police at the Furat Iraqi Police Training Facility. Iraqi police officials and military police Soldiers with the 18th Military Police Brigade, Multi-National Division - Baghdad set...

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...

Regulating Volunteerism by Paul Weyrich Issue 104 - March 26, 2008When Alexis de Toqueville traveled through the United States in 1831 to observe American penal institutions, he wrote down his observations of American political and civil society. Four years later he published Democracy in America, one of the defining texts of early American history. He titled Section 2, Chapter 5, “Of the Use Which the Americans Make of Public Associations in Civil Life.” In it, he marveled that Americans “of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions constantly form associations. They have not only commercial and manufacturing companies, in which...

4/1/2008 - NAVAJO, N.M. (AFPN) -- Air Force Academy cadets, civil engineering professors and family members performed volunteer work during the Academy's spring break March 24 to 28 on a Navajo reservation here. Organized by the Academy's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Southwest Indian Foundation, one of this year's spring break projects took the Academy volunteers to the home of Korean War veteran Hoskie Bitsilly, Sr. Mr. Bitsilly's wife, Grace, suffered a stroke recently and is now wheelchair-bound, but their home was not wheelchair-accessible. "The cadets are trying to renovate the deck, to extend out the deck...

Two applicants at the police recruiting drive in Tameem sprint 300 meters during a physical fitness test March 23 as Soldiers from the 59th Military Police Company, from Fort Carson, Colo., currently attached to the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, look on. One hundred and seventy-five applicants attended the event. Photo by Spc. Ben Hutto. COMBAT OUTPOST CASHE — One hundred and seventy-five Iraqi men waited for their opportunity to join the police force during a recruiting drive at the 3rd Battalion, 1st National Police Brigade headquarters in Tameem, a town southeast of Baghdad, March 22. Prospective policemen went through...

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2008 – Vice President Richard B. Cheney thanked recruits and sailors at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill., today for choosing to serve a cause greater than themselves in the struggle against terrorism. Cheney talked with about 4,000 recruits and sailors at the center outside Chicago, where his own father trained for his Navy service during World War II. The vice president compared today’s military members who, like their World War II predecessors, put their own interests aside to serve “when the country needed you most.” “Your presence at Great Lakes proves that you understand the core Navy...

Americans worked a median of 52 hours last year without pay. They’re called volunteers. Many organizations can’t survive without unpaid labor, and many people are glad to provide it. Sadly, though, data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that both the number of volunteers and the volunteer rate — the percentage of the population that volunteers — declined in 2007 from 2006. Volunteering also had fallen in 2006 from 2005. About 60.8 million Americans, age 16 and up, volunteered in 2007, compared with a high of 65.3 million in 2005. The proportion of that population that...

BAGHDAD — Dispelling rumors of a rift between the Iraqi Army (IA) and the local Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) group, leaders from both groups pledged to work together to bring security to Baghdad’s Adhamiyah neighborhood at a ceremony honoring the birthday of the Iraqi Army, Jan. 6. The ceremony proved the bond between the two groups was stronger than ever, said officials at the ceremony. “We, the Iraqi Army, stand with you, our new brothers, to protect Iraq,” Iraqi Army Col. Tariq Abdul Kareem Nasser, commander of the 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division, vowed in a speech to more...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RELEASE No. 20080106-05 January 6, 2008 Iraqi Army, Iraqi Security Volunteers strengthen their unity 2nd BCT Public Affairs, 82nd Abn. Div. Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO BAGHDAD – Key leaders from the Iraqi Army and the local volunteer security force in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah neighborhood held a summit Jan. 3 to discuss the way forward. The meeting was attended by Maj. Gen. Mushir, commander of the 11th Iraqi Army Division, and Col. Riyad Al Samarrae, the contractor in charge of the local Iraqi Security Volunteers, as well as the IA and ISV leaders. At the meeting, IA and...

I've been involved with the military since 1984. I've served with the 82nd Airborn Divison, 19th Special Forces Group and 145 FA as an FO. My civilian job is quite the opposite of this life, I work around women and make them look good (a hair stylist). I have a tiny little salon called Lucky Seven and I've been fortunate to have done hair for some rather famous models. My hobbies include building custom bikes and cars,photographing the custome car world.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces recently began manning checkpoints in Saydiyah, a neighborhood in southwest Baghdad in the province of Rashid, in an effort to bring security and stability to a troubled area. “The residents of Saydiyah have said security was best when the ISV (Iraqi security volunteer) checkpoints were manned. Evidence of this was the robust market activity during that period. We hope to return to that type of activity soon, but it’s going to take some time for this effort to bear some fruit,” said Lt. Col. Johnnie Johnson, commander of 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, 4th Brigade,...

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 16, 2007 – They came from around the country, some with tears in their eyes, putting holiday demands on hold to honor veterans most never knew. In a few hours in freezing temperatures, about 3,000 volunteers yesterday placed more than 10,000 balsam fir wreaths with blazing red bows on graves at Arlington National Cemetery here. “I wish I could lay one on all of them,” said Charles Wright, a Vietnam War Marine veteran and commander of the Kansas City Composite Squadron, a civil air patrol unit. “This is a tribute I’ll remember forever.” Morrill Worcester, owner...

Watch Now USAID Scholarships – USAID’s scholarship program for Iraqis. Iraqi Nat Police Course – INP go through intense 4-day course at FOB Rustamiyah. The “Raid Report” – Daily update on Iraqi and Coalition security progress. Weather News Desk – Car Bombs Kill At Least 41 In Amarah; Police Chief Fired. 400 Billion Iraqi Dinars Pledged For Basra Reconstruction. Awakening’ Meets Resistance From Local Government. Iraqi River Patrol Graduation – Iraqis graduate from River Boat Patrol Course. From Volunteers to Police – Security volunteers make the next step to Iraqi Policemen.

Join us December 13th for a Phone for Fred Party! We get thousands of emails every week from regular folks asking how they can get involved and make a big difference even though they don't live in the early states. Next Thursday, December 13th, we are having a nationwide phone bank for Fred. Hosting a phone bank on the 13th is the best way to make a real difference in the final month going into the Iowa Caucus. Take a group picture of everyone at your party, and if your party makes the most calls we'll make it the feature...

By now I'm sure the majority of you are aware of who most of the 2008 presidential candidates are. I'm also sure that by now you may be just a little bit sick and tired of the rhetoric that some of these folks are spewing forth. Not a day goes by that we aren't bombarded with the media's biased reports of certain candidates, whether good or bad. If you are one of the people who are undecided but want to really learn about a particular candidate, I would invite you to take a look at former Sen. Fred Thompson. When...

Welcome to our Phone for Fred online phone bank! Person to person contact is the most effective way to make a difference in an election. We created the Phone for Fred program for all of you Friends of Fred who want to volunteer and do more for Fred! We need your help in the early primary states. Our Phone for Fred online phone bank makes it easy for you to make a difference! Fred only needs a small commitment of time and you will soon see that your phone calls and person to person contact will help Fred win! Pick...

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson isn't faring particularly well in polls of early voting states Iowa and New Hampshire, but his campaign has devised a novel way of using volunteers to help reach voters. Yesterday, the Thompson campaign introduced "Phone for Fred," an online phone bank that allows volunteers nationwide to download names and phone numbers of potential voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. Supporters are urged to call during evening hours -- on their own dime -- asking voters a series of questions about important issues, such as the economy and illegal immigration, and whether they...

Fred Thompson's campaign named a handful of volunteer grassroots leaders in Miami-Dade to help boost its outreach to Latino voters -- a territory rival Rudy Giuliani is putting great effort in reaching. County leadership positions announced today include co-chairs: Homestead Mayor Lynda Bell and Miami-Dade Commissioners Joe Martinez and Natacha Seijas. The latter two previously endorsed Thompson when he appeared at Miami's Urbeita Oil in October. Other's involved Lois Jones, Chris Miles and Luis Rodriguez.

The State Department expects to announce, perhaps as early as today, that volunteers have filled all 48 open jobs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for next year and that it will not order any foreign service officers to work there against their will, officials said yesterday. Volunteers for the last three or four positions are currently being vetted. Once that process is completed, a senior department official said, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will ask personnel officers to assure her that everyone selected "does in fact have the right skill sets" and meets all requirements before an announcement is...