What does it mean for U.S. strategies in Afghanistan, now that Gen. Stanley McChrystal has been replaced by David Petraeus? Who better to ask than a counterinsurgency expert who has served as an adviser to both generals?

David Kilcullen will speak at the World Affairs Council in Seattle Thursday.
A former Australian infantry officer with 22 years’ service, Kilcullen went to work at the Pentagon in 2004, the State Department in 2006, served as senior counter-insurgency adviser to Petraeus in 2007, special adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008 and most recently as an aide to …

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Over 900 ROTC Army cadets finished a month-long leadership course at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Out of the group, 46 newly minted officers will emerge in a Monday ceremony.

Read the press release issued on Saturday:

JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, Wash. – More than 900 Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets will complete the 29-day Leader Development and Assessment Course here this week. Among them are 46 cadets who will have completed all Army requirements for becoming an officer.

The one-hour graduation and commissioning ceremony takes place Monday, July 12, at 9 a.m. on Watkins Field.

Lt.

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A memorial ceremony will be held today to remember two 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division soldiers today at 3 p.m.

Read the complete press release:

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Family, friends, Service members and the Joint Base community will remember Soldiers who died while in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with a ceremony to be conducted Wednesday, July 7, at 3 p.m. in the JBLM Main Chapel.

Sgt. Israel P. O’Bryan, 24, of Newbern, Tenn., and Cpl. William C. Yauch, 23, of Batesville, Ark. died June 11 in Jalula, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their

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We’ve been writing a lot about mass homecomings at Joint Base Lewis-McChord lately, and will continue to do so. Much of the attention is showered on the three returning Stryker brigades – with about 4,000 soldiers each, there’s no way to ignore them, even if you wanted to.

But the long holiday weekend saw the return of another brigade, albeit a smaller one: the 17th Fires Brigade.

The unit’s more than 1,000 soldiers are now back from Iraq. Nearly 320 returned early Thursday evening, another 100 on Saturday, and more than 360 early Tuesday morning. Before that, the brigade’s …

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Local veterans groups will dedicate their third memorial wall at Tacoma’s War Memorial Park on Sunday, using the holiday to draw attention to the granite tiles filled with the names of Pierce County residents who have served in the U.S. military.

The dedication event will start at 1 p.m. on the east end of the park, at Sixth Avenue and MacArthur Street, near the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

The speaker will be John Lee, director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, with music by the Tacoma Elks Lodge 174 band and honor guard duties performed by the …

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