I’m catching up on almost a week’s worth of links (I was out of town), but obviously the biggest story while I was gone was the memorial service for the seven fallen Fort Lewis soldiers. Vice President Joe Biden was in attendance.

Other local links:

5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division:
Injured Fort Lewis soldier back from the brink [The News Tribune]
Two more from Fort Lewis confirmed killed in Afghanistan [The News Tribune]
Fort Lewis Memorial: Going back to Louisiana [The News Tribune]
Fallen Stryker soldier: ‘Not once did he quit or complain’ [The News Tribune]
‘Faith will help us out,’ Fort Lewis soldier’s family says [Bellingham Herald]
Biden: 7 Wash. state soldiers were extraordinary [AP]
Vice President Lauds Fallen Fort Lewis Soldiers [KPLU-FM]
7 fallen Stryker Brigade soldiers honored at Fort Lewis [Seattle Times]
Roadside bomb kills two Fort Lewis soldiers [KOMO-TV]
Soldier from Ocala killed in Afghanistan [Orlando Sentinel]
West Bank soldier killed in Afghanistan mourned at service in Harvey [Times-Picayune]
Ferndale Graduate Killed In Action In Afghanistan [KGMI-AM]
Memorial for Vancouver Soldier Killed in Afghanistan [KUOW-FM]
SF units to get latest Land Warrior kit [Army Times]
Fallen soldier was to return for Thanksgiving [ocala.com]
Custer soldier killed in Afghanistan explosion [Lynden Tribune]
Biden honors fallen Fort Lewis soldiers [KOMO-TV]
Vice President Biden Honors Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan at Ceremony at Fort Lewis [ABC]
My husband is at war [San Francisco Chronicle]
On The Scene In Afghanistan: A Deadly Day For U.S. Soldiers [NPR]
Funeral Procession for Spc. Kyle A. Coumas [thepinetree.net]
Combat Advisors See Afghan Troops in Action [DVIDS]
U.S. combat injuries rise sharply [Washington Post]
Perdue visiting soldiers in Iraq [Jacksonville Times-Union]
Crossroads of Afghanistan-Contested Province Is Vital Link [DVIDS]
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About 120 members of McChord Air Force Base’s 10th Airlift Squadron return tomorrow from a four-month deployment to the Middle East.

The airmen flew 3,400 missions in their C-17 Globemaster III cargo jets, totaling more than 8,100 hours in the air from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, and Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait. They moved more than 150,000 passengers and 117 million pounds of cargo to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The squadron also transported 76 critical patients to Germany, performed 144 combat airdrop missions and delivered 3,500 bundles of material to remote forward operating bases in Afghanistan.

The airdrops helped …

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Hal Bernton, the Seattle Times reporter working in Afghanistan, talked with KUOW-FM yesterday about his experiences in South Asia, including an embed with 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Other local links:

5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division:
Bomb kills Fort Lewis soldier in Afghanistan [The News Tribune]
Fort Lewis soldier dies in Afghanistan [Seattle Times]
23-year-old soldier from Moreno Valley dies in Afghanistan battle [Valley News]
Habersham man wounded in Afghanistan [The Northeast Georgian]
Lone Medic [DVIDS]

I Corps/Multi-National Corps-Iraq:
Report Finds Lapses in Handling of G.I. Accused …

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Agence France-Presse has embedded with the cavalry soldiers of 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. They’re serving in Spin Boldak along the Pakistani border, and the story focuses on the soldiers setting up a meeting for local leaders.

Sounds like things are pretty quiet down there: “I feel like we are social workers with guns because, for the most part, the enemy threat is not very strong here so our main focus is go meet the population and build infrastructure,” Lt. Mike Stahlke told the wire service.

Another dispatch that ran today talks about the rough terrain. Mine Resistant …

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Today’s local links begin with more coverage of the two 1st Special Forces Group soldiers killed in the Philippines:

1st Special Forces Group
Slain US soldiers in Sulu were Special Forces, not Seabees [Mindanao Examiner]
Soldier with ties to Iowa dies in Philippines attack [Des Moines Register]
Bethany grad killed by roadside bomb [The Oklahoman]

McChord Air Force Base
Airmen ship first M-ATVs to Afghanistan [Air Force Times]
Local efforts to aid Samoan disaster zone [KIRO-TV]

4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
Ft. Lewis Based Soldiers Take Over …

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A C-17 Globemaster III cargo jet left McChord Air Force Base on Thursday afternoon for American Samoa, which is reeling from Tuesday’s tsunamis that killed at least 160 people.

The jet carried five pallets of relief supplies and nine officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Two other C-17s were on alert status Thursday night to fly to the South Pacific on just a few hours’ notice.

“It’s what we do,” said Col. Kevin Kilb, the 62nd Airlift Wing commander. “We’re capable of doing this anytime with very little notice.”

The flight left McChord about 2 p.m. and refueled …

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Today’s only local link:

62nd Airlift Wing:
Giants of Air Power celebrate at McChord [DVIDS]

Today’s local links start with a smart analysis in the Washington Post that leads with a troop layout of 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (even though the unit isn’t named).

Other local links:

Fort Lewis
US Army Moves Ahead with BCT Facilities Construction in CONUS [Defense Industry Daily]

4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry Regiment:
Magnificent Seven [Red Bluff Daily News]

Western Cadet Command
IUP ROTC cadet earns top honors in national competition [Indiana Gazette]

62nd and 446th Airlift Wings:
No more hibernation for Operation Deep Freeze [Air Force Times]

446th Airlift …

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