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WASHINGTON, May 10, 2006 – The largest of the services, the Army is also the most heavily deployed, and with its one-year "boots-on-the-ground" deployment policy, it keeps its members away from home for the longest duration. Yet so far this year, more than 160,000 people have enlisted or re-enlisted in the Army - the equivalent to every man, woman and child in Chattanooga, Tenn., noted Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, Army personnel spokesman. April proved to be another strong month, with almost 5,700 soldiers joining the active Army and almost 5,900 joining the Army National Guard, he noted. The Army...

3rd Armored Cav. troopers continue to serve By Sgt. 1st Class Donald Sparks Cavalry troopers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment raise their right hand to repeat the Oath of Reenlistment during the unit's mass reenlistment ceremony recently held at Fort Carson, Colo. A total of 640 Soldiers participated in the event.Sgt. 1st Class Donald Sparks FORT CARSON, Colo. (Army News Service, May 8, 2006) – Soon after his arrival back home from Operation Iraqi Freedom, Spc. Aaron Ziegler knew exactly what he wanted to do – stay in the Army and continue to serve. A food service specialist...

5/5/2006 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AFPN) -- One month after a C-5 Galaxy crash-landed less than a mile short of the runway here, recovery operations are proceeding on schedule, officials said. All 17 people on board survived the April 3 crash. “We started the recovery effort the same day of the mishap and have been working every day since,” said Maj. Rob Triplett, the 436th Maintenance Squadron commander and director of the mishap recovery effort. “Safety has been our number-one priority. Our team’s primary focus, besides safety, was to preserve vital evidence for the safety investigation board.” An...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2006 – When the premier medical centers from the Army and Navy merge into one joint facility in Bethesda, Md., in 2011, the rich heritage and world-class treatment reputation of Walter Reed Army Medical Center will continue under the same name at a different location, the hospital's commander said here April 30. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission announced the Defense Department initiative to close Walter Reed on May 13, 2005. The famed military medical facility, which is a monument to a long tradition of patient care, medical research and educational development, will continue its legacy...

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2006 – Iraqi security forces continue to play an increasingly larger role in the fight against terrorism, with many units taking responsibility for their own areas and making connections with citizens, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said today. In a marked improvement over last year's three battalions, the Iraqi army now has two divisions, 16 brigades and 58 battalions that have the lead in counterinsurgency operations in their areas, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said at a news conference. Also, at least 25 percent of daily company-level and above operations are independent...

Following ten Kassam rockets since Wednesday, the IDF barraged the Gaza Strip with shells and leaflets warning Gaza residents to stay away from Kassam launchers. Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired two Kassams at the Negev last night (Thursday), following eight other rockets in the previous 24 hours. One Kassam hit the city of Sderot, causing no damage. Rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel has continually increased ever since Israel withdrew from Gaza last summer. The IDF reports that 430 Kassams have been fired since last summer, including 85 in March and 50 so far this month. Other reports have cited...

HUNTINGTON PARK - Waving Mexico flags and wearing white T-shirts denoting peace, several hundred high school students walked out of class Monday as protests against an immigration crackdown continued on California's Cesar Chavez Day. Students climbed over a chain-link fence at Huntington Park High School to join marchers in this Hispanic and heavily immigrant community south of downtown Los Angeles. The school had locked the gates after classes started. At least 800 students walked out from at least eight schools ranging from the San Fernando Valley to the wealthy coastal enclave of Pacific Palisades, said Monica Carazo, spokeswoman for the...

U.S. Army Capt. James Watt, an occupational therapist, (right) helps Senior Airman Dan Acosta through some prosthetic arm warm-up drills Feb. 23 in the amputee rehabilitation clinic at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. U.S. Air Force photo by Steve White U.S. Air ForceSenior Airman Dan Acosta Airman Recovers from Bomb Blast, Hopes to Continue to Serve By Michael Briggs 12th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, March 1, 2006 — He stirs every few minutes as he sits talking in the living room of his base housing unit. He doesn't show it with...

Nigerian religious riots continue About 10,000 are still sheltering in an army barracks in Onitsha Violence is continuing across Nigeria where religious riots have claimed more than 100 lives this week. A number of deaths were reported and churches and shops burned on Friday in the towns of Kontagora and Potiskum in the north and Enugu in the south-east. Some 10,000 people are still sheltering in barracks in the south-east town of Onitsha after violence there killed 80. Nigeria's 120m people are about equally divided between northern Muslims, and Christians and animists in the south. The violence began last weekend...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2006 – Iraq now has 123,000 trained and equipped police officers, but numbers don't tell the whole story, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said during a briefing from Baghdad today. "What we're seeing across Iraq is that the police forces are indeed gaining capability and gaining public confidence," Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters, adding that police forces are the coalition's focus this year. "They continue to grow in not just quantity, but in quality and capability." The capability of all 232,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces -- including soldiers, border guards and police --...

An AH-1W Super Cobra with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261 (Reinforced) stays close to his wingman, a UH-1N Huey also from HMM-261 (Rein.) during a recent mission near Hit, Iraq. The squadron is the aviation combat element for the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit SOC (Special Operations Capable) which is conducting counterinsurgency operations with the 2nd Marine Division in Iraq’s Al Anbar province. Photo by: Sgt. Richard D. StephensAL ASAD AIR FIELD, Iraq (Feb. 15, 2006) -- In the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Marine AH-1W Super Cobra attack and UH-1N Huey utility helicopters prowled the skies of the Iraq...

TAORMINA, Italy, Feb. 10, 2006 – Terrorists have racked up failure after failure in their efforts to keep democracy from taking root in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. The secretary spoke at a news conference wrapping up two days of informal meetings among NATO defense ministers. "The terrorists tried to stop them from having an election in January (2005), and they failed," Rumsfeld said. "They tried to stop them from drafting a constitution, and they failed. They tried to stop them from having a referendum on the constitution, and they failed. They tried to stop them...

AL ASAD AIRFIELD, Iraq (Feb. 9, 2006) -- By the time Lance Cpl. Blake Rowe was born in 1983, the aircraft on which he today so carefully labors had already been flying for nearly two decades, and shows no sign of touching the ground. Like the Colt .45 pistol (introduced in 1911) and the M-2 .50-caliber machine gun (around since 1919), the venerable CH-46E Sea Knight medium lift assault helicopter has become one of those tools of war whose dependability and utility has ensured its lifespan exceeds the careers of those who use it. Used primarily in the assault support...

SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 3, 2006 – Changes that have taken place in the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance are meant to find a "better balance" in the very successful pact, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. The balance between U.S. and Korean capacity allows each country to focus on those things that each country can contribute best to the alliance, Marine Gen. Peter Pace said. Pace spoke to reporters about the U.S.-Korean Alliance and regional matters following a ceremony in which Army Gen. B.B. Bell took the reins of Combined Forces Command Korea and U.S....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HIT, Iraq, Jan. 23, 2006 – Eight days of back-breaking searches through villages and fields along the western Euphrates River Valley have yielded thousands of pieces of ordnance as Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines continue Operation Koa Canyon in Iraq's Anbar province. Aimed at isolating insurgents and their weapons, the combined Iraqi and U.S. force began the latest sweep Jan. 15 and have uncovered a staggering amount of weaponry. The soldiers and Marines are making their way inch by inch through caves, fields, wadis and islands in an attempt to disrupt the insurgents. So far, the combined...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan. 9, 2006) -- Continuing with the tradition of Marines taking care of business no matter the climate, the Moonlighters of Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 332 are working through Iraq's cold nights. The Moonlighters said although everything might be difficult in the dark, nothing will stop them from having their F/A-18D Hornets ready to fly out of their base at Al Asad, Iraq, to ensure Marines on the ground receive their support. “No matter what the conditions, the Marines don’t complain,” said Maj. Lance Muniz, the maintenance officer with VMFA(AW)-332 and a Centreville, Md., native. “They’re...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2006 – The war on terror has been a fight unlike any the United States ever has experienced, but the country has proven its resolve and will continue to do so as it faces the challenges that lie ahead, Vice President Dick Cheney said today at the Heritage Foundation here. "The United States will keep our commitment," Cheney said. "We will continue the work of reconstruction; our forces will keep going after the terrorists; we will continue training the Iraqi military so that Iraqis can eventually take the lead in their country's security and our men and...

12/16/2005 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Moving supplies across Iraq can be a daunting task, but it is one more than 150 Airmen of Detachment 2632 have come together to do each day. These 732nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron “in-lieu-of” forces assist the Army's 181st Transportation Battalion run convoy missions primarily to forward operating locations throughout Iraq. Det. 2632 is not their official Air Force name. They inherited it from the 2632nd Transportation Company, a California Army National Guard unit from which the Air Force picked up the mission. The Airmen, representing nine specialty codes, have varying experience...

ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (NNS) -- Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 stationed aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) continued support of Operation Steel Curtain (OSC) throughout the second week of November, conducting five consecutive days of strikes against terrorist targets in support of coalition troops in Iraq. The missions flown during OSC demonstrate the quickness and flexibility of CVW 8 and the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) to provide continuous support on both land and sea. “Carrier Air Wing 8 continues to demonstrate that we can deliver a knock-out punch in support of coalition troops on...

KEY WEST, Fla. (NNS) -- Key West service members and their families returned to the island Oct. 30 after a weeklong evacuation from Hurricane Wilma. Upon their return, they discovered an air station invaded not only by the sea, but a surge of Navy support hard at work to bring Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West air operations and family life back to full mission capability. “Military careers are full of challenges but no challenge is greater than the one Mother Nature threw our way with Hurricane Wilma,” said NAS Key West Commanding Officer Capt. James Scholl. “It’s going to...