A Joint Base Lewis-McChord lieutenant from Wisconsin was killed in Afghanistan Wednesday while leading a foot patrol in Kandahar Province.

Lt. David Johnson, 24, is the first casualty this year in the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. The Stryker brigade deployed with about 2,500 soldiers to Afghanistan last month and took positions in Afghanistan’s southern provinces of Zabul and Kandahar.

He is a graduate of Evangel University in Springfield, Mo. who was commissioned in the Army in 2010 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. The Defense Department said he was killed by an improvised explosive.

“We are very proud of …

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Air Force Master Sgt. Steven Turner’s spoiled Christmas generated a ton of goodwill from News Tribune readers in late December when we wrote about a burglar swiping presents he bought his son and stealing a special collection of rare records from his Graham home during his last deployment to Afghanistan.

Readers wanted to replace Turner’s record collection at a minimum; some contributors to our web site were ready to lock up the burglar who targeted a deployed airman.

It turns out Rep. Troy Kelley, D-Tacoma, also was moved by Turner’s misfortune. He wrote a bill that would allow …

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One of Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s quickest tools for sharing information briefly became a seedbed for frightening rumors Thursday night when someone wrote on a garrison Facebook page that a cargo jet had crashed into a military housing community.

The Air Force has a fleet of C-17 Globemaster III at McChord Air Field. A crash at the base would have shocked members of the South Sound military community, whose emotions are still raw from a helicopter training crash that killed four Army aviators at the base last month.

No aircraft crashed at the base this week. In fact, the Air …

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Joint Base Lewis-McChord is slogging through the same slushy weather bearing down on its neighboring cities and most service members and civilian employees have been instructed to stay home today.

Madigan Army Medical Center re-opened for patient visits at 10 a.m. today. It had cancelled scheduled appointments since Wednesday.

Base spokesman J.C. Matthews said public works crews are working to restore power and clear roads. Most of the current outtages are centered in McChord-area housing communities and around McChord Air Field.

Here’s the latest from the base:

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Joint Base Lewis-McChord will continue curtailed operations on Friday, …

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Joint Base Lewis-McChord this morning announced it would “curtail operations” today because of severe weather. Only mission critical service members and essential civilian employees will be asked to go to work today. Here’s the announcement from the base:

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Joint Base Lewis-McChord will curtail operations on Wednesday, January 18, with only mission essential (Air Force Level Bravo) and critical (Air Force Level Alpha) personnel reporting for duty.

Critical personnel should report for duty on time; mission essential personnel may report up to two hours late.

Only JBLM civilian employees who are designated as mission essential or …

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4:10 p.m. update: Madigan Army  Medical Center has cancelled all appointments scheduled for tomorrow because of the threat of severe snow.

Madigan’s emergency room will remain open and its pharmacy will have limited services. If you’re planning to visit Madigan on Wednesday, call (253) 968-2999 before you head out.

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Joint Base Lewis-McChord is sending troops home early today and Madigan Army Medical Center is canceling non-surgery medial appointments because of the snow storms hitting the Puget Sound. Check out the following news release from the base for more information:

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Due to projected poor weather …

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The Special Forces soldier from Joint Base Lewis-McChord who died Sunday from combat injuries he suffered in Afghanistan was a father of three with a long military career in the South Sound.

Benjamin Wise, 34, of Puyallup leaves behind a wife, two sons and a daughter. He died Sunday in Landstuhl, Germany, six days after he was wounded in an attack in Afghanistan’s Balkh Province.

His family released the following statement today:

“The Wise family is sincerely touched by the concern and interest all have taken in Ben’s life, his career and his sacrifice for our country. Ben was proud …

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Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s senior commander today advised NATO soldiers to treat Afghan corpses with “appropriate dignity and respect” as he sought to contain the international fallout from a video that allegedly shows four Marines urinating on Taliban bodies.

CNN obtained the order from Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti on a NATO web site.

“We must treat the living and the dead with dignity and respect,” CNN quoted from the directive in which Scaparrotti advised troops to follow the rules of armed conflict and “act honorably at all times.

“In order to prevail, for the good of the coalition nations …

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