FOB Tacoma » 17th fires

Local links, April 9

Scott Fontaine — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:03:37 +0000

A lacrosse team in Alpharetta, Ga., recently raised more than $2,750 in memory of Capt. John L. Hallett III, a member of 5th Brigade, 2nd Infanty Division killed in Afghanistan last year.

“The Junior Raider team, composed of students in middle school, conducted a 12-hour “lacrosse-athon” Feb. 6, playing non-stop lacrosse through sleet, rain and snow from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.,” the article reads. “Players solicited donations from neighbors, friends and family for the Wounded Warrior Project after learning of the connection between (varsity player Cal Swanson and his cousin) Hallett.”

Other local links:

2nd Battalion, 75th …

Local links, April 8

Scott Fontaine — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:58:10 +0000

The Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers of the 24th Quartermaster Company received a heroes’ welcome when their plane landed for a layover in New Hampshire, seacoastonline.com reports.

Other local links:

17th Fires Brigade
Handling Stress While Deployed [DVIDS]
Radiation Assessment [DVIDS]

42nd Military Police Brigade
New Soldiers Link Up, Prepare With Military Police [DVIDS]

Naval Base Kitsap
Bremerton’s Youngest Sailors Ready to Move Into Fancy New Digs [Kitsap Sun]
Stennis Getting $137 Million Tune-Up for Next Deployment [Kitsap Sun]

5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
Daisy Scouts help troops …

Local links, April 7

Scott Fontaine — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:36:10 +0000

Plenty of links this morning:

Madigan Army Medical Center
Thurston County home sales up [The News Tribune]

17th Fires Brigade
Responsible Drawdown, Speaking Logistically [DVIDS]

42nd Military Police Brigade
<a href="Military Police Partner With Iraqi Security Forces to Protect Iraq's Center [DVIDS]

3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
Arrowhead Best Squad Competition [DVIDS]

Fairchild Air Force Base
Fairchild Senior Airman, Larose Native, Manages Communications Support for Southwest Asia Wing [DVIDS]
Combat Stress Team Strives to Connect With Servicemembers [DVIDS]

5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
Yakima police to escort …

Local links, April 6

Scott Fontaine — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:02:55 +0000

Forward Operating Base Cobra, the bare-bones outpost in northern Diyala province that soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division’s cavalry squadron moved into last year, has been receiving some upgrades lately. Among one of them is a new dining facility with contracted cooks (when Joe Barrentine and I were there, food was a major complaint among the joes). The soldiers named the new DFAC after Pfc. Erin McLyman, the Oregon native who was killed last month from indirect fire.

“I didn’t get a chance to know Pfc. McLyman, but I knew about her,” squadron commander Lt. Col. Joseph …

Local links, April 5

Scott Fontaine — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:54:14 +0000

If you haven’t had a chance, check out my colleague Steve Maynard’s excellent report about families coping with the loss of a loved one during combat.

He profiles the parents of Parkland’s Sgt. Thomas F. Allison, killed in 2002 when his helicopter crashed in the Philippines; the widow of Sgt. Gabriel DeRoo, who was killed by small-arms fire in Mosul in 2006; and the mother of Sgt. Michael T. Washington, the Tacoma Marine killed in 2008 from an IED strike in Afghanistan.

Other local links:

62nd Medical Brigade
Soldiers ‘eager’ to lend hand in Haiti [The News …

Local links, March 31

Scott Fontaine — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:42:45 +0000

I’m back from a few days off. If you haven’t read it, check out my Sunday stories about the Stryker vehicle. In the main story, I covered a bit of the history and what folks across the military (from joes to generals) and Congress think about the vehicle today. In a sidebar, I wrote about future modifications to the vehicles. And you should check out the print edition: It’s got plenty of cool graphics, a box descrbing the 10 variants and a timeline of the Strykers vis-à-vis Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Other local links:

Military spouses
Abrupt …

Local links, March 22

Scott Fontaine — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:52:13 +0000

If you haven’t had a chance — and the news of the health-care reform bill passing the House has pushed it down our homepage — check out the story of some local Women Airforce Service Pilots. I got a chance to interview two of them, and I had more fun during those two sit-downs than with almost any other interview in a long time.

Other local links:

Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Fort Lewis unit detonates 1930s-era mortar shell near Kelso airport [The Daily News]
City of Olympia, port focus on military cargo [The Olympian]

2nd Battalion, …

Local links, March 18

Scott Fontaine — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:50:18 +0000

Agence France-Presse reports the upcoming big offensive in Kandahar has already begun. The article also makes a minor reference to the work of 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which is tasked with clearing the highways around Afghanistan’s second city.

Other local links:

Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Brothers found safe after Amber Alert [The News Tribune]
Salem police arrest father in child abduction case [Statesman-Journal]
Amber Alert called off after boys turned over to police [The Columbian]

5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
Sergeant’s father notes ‘time to cry’ [The News Tribune]

3rd Brigade, …

Local links, March 17

Scott Fontaine — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:10:30 +0000

The death of a 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division soldier seems to have generated a lot of buzz around Northwest news outlets, likely because of the personal demons she overcame during her teenage years.

Other local links:

3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
‘Lost child’ grew up to be a decorated soldier [Seattle Times]
Sheldon grad killed in Iraq ‘inspired people to be better’ [KVAL-TV]
‘She was somebody I wanted my daughter to look up to’ [KOMO-TV]
Sheldon High Grad Killed in Iraq [KEZI-TV]
Remembering Army Spc. Erin McLyman[KMTR-TV]
…

Local links, March 15

Scott Fontaine — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:56:39 +0000

This weekend’s top story? The return of I Corps, of course.

Other local links:

I Corps
Star power returns to Joint Base Lewis-McChord [KING-TV]
50 local soldiers return from Iraq [KOMO-TV]
III Corps Uncases Colors, Begins Mission As Nucleus of U.S. Forces – Iraq [DVIDS]
Communication Wins Wars [DVIDS]

Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Stimulus spending? Next year will be big [The News Tribune]

McChord Field
Iraqi Children to Receive Refurbished Desks [DVIDS]

5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
U.S. soldier in Afghanistan has a dream [Associated Press]
…