Another older post from the Cafemoms group
Dislocation Allowance (DLA) Military members may be entitled to a dislocation allowance (DLA) when relocating their household due to a PCS. However, keep in mind that DLA is intended to partially reimburse relocation expenses not otherwise reimbursed and probably will not reimburse all of the relocation expenses.
DLA payment limitations are based on a fiscal year (the fiscal year runs from 1 October to 30 September). Ordinarily members are entitled to only one DLA payment per fiscal year. However, there are some exceptions.
You can find the 2007 DLA charts here... Enlisted
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/2007paycharts/a/enldla.htm Warrent Officers
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/2007paycharts/a/wardla.htm Officers
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/2007paycharts/a/offdla.htm
HOUSE HUNTING TRIP PRIOR TO MOVE.
Military members are allowed a permissive TDY (Temporary Duty) for up to 10 days in conjunction with a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move between and within the 50 states & District of Columbia. By "Permissive TDY" that means there is no transportation or per diem paid, but members are not charged for leave.
Military members may request (from their commander) this permissive TDY anytime after they receive their written re-assignment orders. However, because there is no travel entitlement, most military members elect to use this benefit, after signing out of their old base, but before signing into their new base.
In other words, they plan to arrive at their new base 10 days early, which then gives them 10 days for house-hunting, which is not charged as leave.
The "house-hunting" entitlement only applies for members who will not be living in the barracks/dormitories after arrival at the new assignment.
TEMPORARY LODGING EXPENSE (TLE).
TLE is designed to partially offset lodging and meal expenses when a member and/or dependents need to occupy temporary lodging in CONUS (Continental United States) in connection with a PCS. The member receives reimbursement (for member and family members) for temporary lodging and meal expenses, up to $180 per day.
If the member is moving from from one CONUS base to another, he/she is authorized up to 10 days TLE, either at the losing duty station or at the new duty station (or any combination, up to 10 days total).
If the member is moving from CONUS to overseas, they can only receive up to five days TLE at the losing duty station. If the member is moving from Overseas to CONUS, they can receive up to 10 days TLE at the new CONUS duty station after arrival.
TLE is not paid for lodging made during the actual travel days from one duty station to another (that's an entirely different animal, called "per diem," rather it's for temporary lodging (in the states) at the old duty station, before departure, or at the new duty station, after arrival.
The legal authority for TLE is 37 USC 404a. For more information about TLE, see the TLE FAQ Page, on the Military Per Diem, Transportation and Allowance Committee Web Site
TEMPORARY LODGING ALLOWANCE (TLA).
What TLE is to CONUS, TLA is to overseas. Up to 60 days (can be extended) may be paid for temporary lodging expenses and meal expenses after a military member (and his/her family) arrive at a new overseas location, while awaiting housing. Up to 10 days of TLA can be paid for temporary lodging expenses in the overseas location, prior to departure.
The legal authority for TLA is 37 USC 405.
For more information about TLA, see the TLA FAQ Page, on the Military Per Diem, Transportation and Allowance Committee Web Site. PER DIEM FOR PCS TRAVEL.
Military members receive a "per diem" allowance, which is designed to partially reimburse for lodging and meal expenses when traveling from one duty station to another. When traveling by Privately Owned Conveyance (POC), military members are paid a flat rate of $85.00 per day for each day of authorized travel used. When the member travels cy commercial means, they are paid the established per diem rate, (under "Lodging Plus") for the new Permanent Duty Station (PDS), or the rate for the delay point if the member stops overnight.
Per diem for dependents is 3/4 of the member's applicable rate for each dependent 12 years old or older and 1/2 of the member's rate for each dependent under 12 years.
The legal authority for PCS Per Diem is 37 USC 404.
RAVEL BY PRIVATELY OWNED CONVEYANCE (POC).
When members elect to travel to their new duty station by POC (auto), they are entitled to receive a mileage allowance, in lieu of cost of airline ticket. The reimbursement rate depends on the number of authorized travelers in the vehicle.
• One passenger -- $0.15 per mile
• Two passengers -- $0.17 per mile
• Three passengers -- $0.19 per mile
• Four or more Passengers -- $0.20 per mile
Remember, the rate is per car, not per person. So, for example, if a military member and his/her spouse traveled to a new duty station in one car, the reimbursement rate would be $0.17 per mile (total) for both of them. However, if they traveled in separate cars, the reimbursement would be $0.15 cents per mile for each car (assuming there were no additional dependents in either car). If the military member traveled in one car, and his/her spouse and child traveled in another car, the member would be reimbursed at the rate of $0.15 per mile for the car he/she is driving, and $0.17 per mile for the car that his/her dependents were traveling in.
In addition to the mileage rates, military personnel and their dependents receive a per diem for each day of travel. Generally, 1 day of travel time is allowed for each 350 miles of official distance of ordered travel. If the excess is 51 miles or more after dividing the total number of miles by 350, one additional day of travel time is allowed. When the total official distance is 400 miles or less, 1 day's travel time is allowed.
For travel by POC, per diem for the member is a flat $91 per day of travel. Per diem for the member when travel is by commercial means is computed under lodgings plus at the rate for the new permament duty station, or the rate for the delay point if the member stops overnight . Per diem for the dependents is 3/4 of the member’s applicable rate for each dependent 12 years old or older and 1/2 of the member’s rate for each dependent under 12 years.
The legal authority for POC Travel is 37 USC 404(d)
DEPENDENT TRAVEL WITHIN CONUS BY OTHER THAN POC.
Within CONUS dependents may be authorized to travel by commercial means (air, rail, bus), unless they elect to travel by POC, from the old PDS to the new PDS. The military member can be reimbursed for this travel, up to what it would have cost the military to purchase an airline ticket.
The legal authority for Commercial Travel of Dependents within the CONUS is 37 USC 406(a).
DEPENDENT TRAVEL OUTSIDE CONUS.
Dependents can travel to overseas assignment locations, either via military aircraft, or by commercial means. Warning: If one purchases their own commercial airline tickets for travel to an overseas assignment location, one may only be reimbursed if the aircraft is an American-Flag Carrier, if any AMCs fly to that location. The only time one can be reimbursed for flying on a commercial foreign carrier is if no AMC services that overseas location.
The legal authority for dependent travel outside of the CONUS is 37 USC 404.
HOUSEHOLD GOODS TRANSPORTATION.
Military members can ship Household Goods from their old duty station to their new duty station. Authorized up to 18,000 pounds, but varies by grade & whether or not the member is with or without dependents.In addition to allowing the military to arrange for movement of Household Goods, the member can elect to move it themselves, and receive reimbursement if the move is within the CONUS.
The legal authority for Household Goods Transportation is 37 USC 406.
DAMAGE CLAIMS.
A member has 2 years from the date of HHG delivery to make a claim. Claims are processed through the Personal Property Office responsible for the area where the HHG were delivered. Claims are limited to $40,000 depreciated value of the shipment regardless of weight. At his own expense, the member may purchase full replacement coverage. The additional cost is based on the weight of the HHG shipment.
LIMITED HOUSEHOLD GOODS TRANSPORTATION OVERSEAS.
If the military member's orders state that government furnishings are provided at the overseas location, the member's Household Good Weight Shipping Allowance is limited to 2,500 pounds or 25 percent of HHG weight allowance, plus nonavailable items. Additional items (up to the weight allowance) is allowed to be placed in Nontemporary Storage.
The legal authority for limited Household Goods transportation is set by various military service regulations.
NONTEMPORARY STORAGE OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS.
Military members can elect to have the military store all, or part of their Household Goods on a permanent basis during the assignment, up to their maximum weight allowance.
The legal authority for Nontemporary Storage of Household Goods is 37 USC 406(d).
ADDITIONAL CONSUMABLES ALLOWANCE.
This is a separate allowance for annual shipment of up to 1,250 pounds per year of consumable items. Weight is in addition to household goods weight limit.
The legal authority for additional consumables allowance is 37 USC 406(b)(1)(D).
WEIGHT TABLES CAN BE FOUND HERE... http://usmilitary.about.com/od/assignments/l/blpropweight.htm
MOBILE HOME TRANSPORTATION.
When moved by commercial transporter, reimbursement includes carrier charges, road fares & tolls, permits & charges for pilot car. If towed by POC, reimbursement is for actual costs. For self-propelled mobile home, reimbursement is at 36.5 cents per mile. May be transported by GBL. Reimbursement is limited to what it would have cost the Government to transport member's maximum HHG weight allowance.
Transportation of Mobile Home is in lieu of HHG transportation and is authorized only within CONUS, within Alaska, & between CONUS & Alaska. The legal authority for Mobile Home Transportation is 37 USC 409.
TRANSPORTATION OF PRIVATELY OWNED VEHICLES (POV)
Military members can ship POVs in conjunction with many overseas assignments (and, of course, can ship them back to the CONUS, upon completion of the assignment). The military services can apply restrictions on this entitlement. For example, for assignments to Korea, military members must be "command sponsored" (allowed to be accompanied by family members), or must be in the grade of E-7 or above, in order to ship a vehicle. Members may also be authorized shipment for a replacement POV during any 4-year period, while assigned overseas.
Members are also authorized mileage reimbursement when driving the vehicle to the authorized port for shipment, and when picking up the vehicle from the authorized receiving port.
There is only limited authority for POV shipment within CONUS. Shipment within the CONUS is authorized only when medically unable to drive, homeport change, or not enough time to drive.
The legal authority for POV shipment is 10 USC 2634(h), 10 USC 2634, and 37 USC 406(h).
POV STORAGE.
A member is authorized storage of a POV when (a) ordered to an overseas assignment to which POV transportation isn't permitted, or (b) sent TDY on a contingency operation, for more than 30 days. The legal authority for POV storage is 10 USC 2634
PCS FINANCIAL ENTITLEMENTSAS OF FEBRUARY 06 Advance Military PayThe purpose of advance military pay is to meet extraordinary PCS related expenses. The maximum amount payable is three (3) months base pay less deductions. The normal repayment schedule is 12 months. In cases of financial hardship, the repayment can be extended to a maximum of 24 months with commander's approval.
Payment Procedures Normal payment can be received no earlier than 30 days prior to PCS departure and no later than 60 days after arrival at new Permanent Duty Station. Exceptions to this rule are listed in Part 1, block 6 of DD Form 2560, Request to Receive Advance Pay (maintained by PAC). E-4 and below must provide 2 copies of their PCS orders and the completed DD Form 2560, to include Part II, justification, signed by their commander. E-5 and above must provide 2 copies of their PCS orders and the completed DD Form 2560. NOTE: Commander's signature is required only if you are requesting more than one month's advance pay and/or if requesting more than the normal 12 month repayment schedule. Repayment schedule cannot exceed length of tour.
LES Statements And Net Pay AdvicesThese will not be mailed after departure. Denver will not generate these statements until you, the member, have in-processed through Accounting and Finance at your next permanent duty station. To inquire about your pay, call your financial institution or the nearest Accounting and Finance Office.
Payments During PCSAll members are highly encouraged to keep Direct Deposit in effect during their PCS. However, if a Direct Deposit stoppage is planned, it must be reinstated within 60 days after arrival at the next permanent duty station.
Separate Rations (BAS)
BAS will continue through the period of your PCS for all members. For enlisted members not normally on BAS, it will be started on the day of departure. If you are a meal card holder (required to eat in the dining facility) meal deductions will start upon your arrival to your gaining.
Housing (BAQ)Without Dependent Rate BAQ:
Single soldiers E1-E5 with less than four years of service will have their BAQ/VHA stopped at 2400 on the day before departure. .
E6 and above, including officers will have their BAQ continue after arrival at next permanent duty station. Partial rate BAQ will stop at 2400 on the day before departure (entitlement will be restarted upon sign-in at new duty station.)
With Dependent Rate BAQ will continue through PCS. If your next assignment will be unaccompanied, PLEASE provide a copy of your lease or mortgage to your new duty station. VHA will stop upon arrival and documentation will be needed to restart this entitlement.
Family Separation Allowance (FSA)If you will be TDY for 31 days or more during your PCS and will be separated from your dependents, you may file for FSA at your next permanent duty station.
If you have dependents and will be unaccompanied at your next duty station, you may apply for FSA after 31 days of separation. This is only authorized if your dependents are prohibited by orders at your gaining station. Again, this entitlement is filed at your next permanent duty station.
Temporary Living ExpenseCONUS moves qualify you for up to $180 per day for a maximum of ten (10) days to cover lodging and meals in temporary quarters at your present duty station and at your destination. Entitlement can be split between both locations. Computation is based on rank, number of dependents, lodging amount, and whether you have cooking facilities or not OVERSEAS moves qualify you for only five days TLE stateside; once overseas entitlement changes to TLA. Entitlement is not authorized for separations, retirements, or when government housing is available.
Temporary Living Allowance (TLA)
Overseas moves allow members to draw TLA based upon the local rate for a maximum of 60 days after arrival overseas and 10 days prior to departure.
The allowance is 65% of local per diem for members, 35% for spouse, and 25% for each additional family member. Check into availability prior to sending the whole family, as it is sometimes cheaper to let the family remain in the United States until quarters are available.
Permissive House HuntingTen days with no monetary entitlements. Purpose is to seek lodging at the new permanent duty station without being charged leave.
Soldiers are required to report to the on post housing office prior to seeking off post housing. If this is not done, permissive TDY will be disapproved.
Travel Advances (EFT Only)Payable within ten duty days of your final out processing date for PCS/separations/retirements DLA (with dependent rate only) is paid at 80% for PCS moves. Government credit card are discouraged for usage under PCS orders. Separation: 80% mileage payable. Retirement: 100% mileage and per diem payable.
TDY EnrouteAdvance is authorized from your present duty station to your TDY point only. The TDY station can pay the entitlements from there to the new permanent duty station or port. Dependent/Spouse travel entitlements are not authorized to a TDY location. Their entitlement remains as the present duty station to the new permanent duty station via the port if applicable.
Dislocation Allowance (DLA)It is a one time payment paid on PCS to assist in offsetting the costs of moving and setting up a new household. Authorized members with dependents can request to receive this in advance. Single members will normally receive payment at new permanent duty station.
DLA is not authorized for separations, or retirements DLA is equivalent to two and a half months the table rate of BAH and is authorized for:
Members with dependents who will be making the move with the member or will be residing at a designated location. Single members making a PCS move not assigned PERMANENT government quarters at a new permanent duty station. E6 and above are given the entitlement without having to obtain written authority from the Housing Office at the new permanent duty station. Self-certification is accepted. E5s and below need to obtain written authorization and attach it to the travel voucher.
PCS Travel Entitlements
CONUS:Driving POV: Mileage One POV used:Two POVs used:Member $ .15Member (vehicle #1) .15Each authorized dependent .02Dependent Driving (vehicle #2) .15Not to exceed max of .20Each authorized dependent .02 Not to exceed per vehicle .20 Per Diem: Based on 350 miles per day for the official distance. Per diem is paid for each authorized travel day or less if the actual number of travel days is less than that authorized. Member $99.00Spouse $74.25 Dependents 12 years and older: $74.25 Dependents under 12 years of age: $49.50
Chart for Determining Number of Authorized Travel Days:
CONUSMiles# of Days
1 - 4001 day 401 - 7502 days 751 - 11003 days 1101 – 14504 days 1451 – 18005 days 1801 – 21506 days 2151 – 25007 days 2501 – 28508 days 2851 – 32009 days
Mixed modes:
Defined as driving for one leg of the PCS and flying for another leg. The payment will be your actual modes of travel not to exceed the lesser of what it would have cost the government had you driven or flown the entire distance.
Flying: If you fly straight from your present duty station to your new permanent duty station, you may bring your orders to the government Travel office and obtain a Travel Request (TR). If you are going on leave prior to going to your new permanent duty station, and still desire to fly the entire distance, Transportation will still issue a TR, if the entire cost, including travel to your leave point is the same cost or less than direct routing to your new permanent duty station. If the cost through your leave point exceeds the direct routing cost, you must purchase the ticket yourself. You will be reimbursed for the direct routing only.
Overseas:Mileage same as for CONUS Per Diem same as for CONUS Mixed Modes same as for CONUS
Flying (same rules apply except that the transoceanic portion, unless specifically authorized in the orders, must be traveled via MTA). Normally, you are only authorized travel from your present duty station to your port. If your dependents are traveling to an authorized designated location, you are authorized travel from your present duty station to the designated location and then to the port, but only after you have officially signed off the base in a PCS status. If you move your dependents prior to your final out-processing, only your dependents are authorized travel entitlements.
YOU MUST BE IN POSSESSION OF OFFICIAL PCS ORDERS PRIOR TO ANY TYPE OF MOVEMENT.
You are authorized one overnight stay at the CONUS port and the OVERSEAS port if one or both are not considered within the local area of your OLD or NEW permanent duty station.
Defense Military Pay Office final Out-processingTake 5 copies of your PCS orders, clearance papers and DA 31 to AG Bldg 3164 room 208 immediately upon receipt of your orders and clearance papers to ensure travel payment prior to your departure..
Remember, advances can only be done by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, April 21, 2008
FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, April 20
April 20 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 0930 GMT on Sunday.
MUQDADIYA - Iraqi army and police discovered 30 decomposed bodies in a mass grave near the town of Muqdadiya, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad, the Iraqi military said.
BAGHDAD - Six people were killed and 22 wounded in the Sadr City district of eastern Baghdad in clashes between gunmen and security forces, police and health officials said.
BAQUBA - Nine university students and their driver were kidnapped near Baquba when gunmen stopped their vehicle at a fake checkpoint, police said. The gunmen also grabbed another man in a truck at the same checkpoint and took all of the hostages to an unknown location, police said. The students were returning to Diyala university after a weekend break.
BAQUBA - Gunmen opened fire at a car, killing an off-duty policeman and the driver in a town near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - The body of one man was found in Baghdad on Saturday, police said.
RASHAD - The bodies of two contractors working with neighbourhood security units were found in the town of Rashad, 30 km (20 miles) south of Kirkuk, police said.
BAGHDAD - Seven people were wounded when a Katyusha rocket landed in the Abu Dsheer neighbourhood in southern Baghdad, police said.
MUQDADIYA - Iraqi army and police discovered 30 decomposed bodies in a mass grave near the town of Muqdadiya, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad, the Iraqi military said.
BAGHDAD - Six people were killed and 22 wounded in the Sadr City district of eastern Baghdad in clashes between gunmen and security forces, police and health officials said.
BAQUBA - Nine university students and their driver were kidnapped near Baquba when gunmen stopped their vehicle at a fake checkpoint, police said. The gunmen also grabbed another man in a truck at the same checkpoint and took all of the hostages to an unknown location, police said. The students were returning to Diyala university after a weekend break.
BAQUBA - Gunmen opened fire at a car, killing an off-duty policeman and the driver in a town near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - The body of one man was found in Baghdad on Saturday, police said.
RASHAD - The bodies of two contractors working with neighbourhood security units were found in the town of Rashad, 30 km (20 miles) south of Kirkuk, police said.
BAGHDAD - Seven people were wounded when a Katyusha rocket landed in the Abu Dsheer neighbourhood in southern Baghdad, police said.
Army Reserve to Mark Century of Service to Nation
Army Reserve to Mark Century of Service to Nation
By Retired Army Col. Randy Pullen
Special to American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 20, 2008 – The U.S. Army Reserve will celebrate its 100th birthday on April 23, marking a full century of service in which Army Reserve soldiers have continuously answered the nation’s call.
Army Reserve soldiers served in both world wars, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War and the ongoing global war on terrorism. They also helped respond to countless other crises, emergencies, disasters, operations and expeditions.
That busy century of service to America all began when Congress established the Army’s first federal reserve force on April 23, 1908. President Theodore Roosevelt signed Senate Bill 1424, creating the Medical Reserve Corps. The Reserve medical officers in the corps could be ordered to active duty by the secretary of war during times of emergency.
In June 1908, the first 160 medical professionals received Reserve commissions. This number grew to about 360 by 1909 and to 1,900 by 1916. The concept of bringing civilian professionals into the Army in a disciplined and quickly-accessible manner also expanded beyond the medical profession and beyond just officers.
In 1912, the Regular Army Reserve was created, a federal reserve outside of the Medical Reserve Corps. It grew much more slowly than its predecessor; by 1913, there were only eight enlisted men in it. Three years later, some 3,000 Army Reserve soldiers would be called up to serve beside their Regular Army and National Guard comrades along the southern border of the United States.
This first mobilization of the Army Reserve was due to tension between the United States and Mexico caused by the actions of the Mexican revolutionary, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, and the subsequent punitive expedition after him led by Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing. A second Mexican-American War was averted, but this mobilization provided invaluable experience for America’s Army in the greater war soon to come.
As World War I raged on it Europe, major changes were taking place in the Army’s structure. The National Defense Act of 1916 established the Officers Reserve Corps (into which the Medical Reserve Corps would be merged in 1917), the Enlisted Reserve Corps and the Reserve Officers Training Corps. When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, these organizations – as well as the entire Army – would expand dramatically. For example, by June 1917 there would be 9,223 Army Reserve doctors, dentists and veterinarians -- a huge increase from the original 160 only nine years earlier.
More than 170,000 Army Reserve soldiers served on active duty during World War I. The Reserve doughboys of the Great War served in every division of the American Expeditionary Force in France, whether those divisions were Regular Army, National Guard or National Army.
Among their ranks was President Roosevelt’s son, Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who served in the 1st Infantry Division; Maj. Charles Whittlesey, who led the 77th Infantry Division’s “Lost Battalion” during its heroic battle in the Meuse-Argonne, and Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, “America’s Ace of Aces.” All three would receive the Medal of Honor, Whittlesey and Rickenbacker for World War I heroism, Roosevelt for his courage in World War II. Their example and those of all the citizen-soldier doughboys set the standard that Army Reserve soldiers have followed ever since.
The era between the world wars was a difficult one for the Army. There were few incentives for service, active or reserve, other than dedication to duty and patriotism. In the Organized Reserve (as the Army Reserve was called at this time), which was primarily an organization of Reserve officers because few enlisted men served, there was no pay for unit drill and no retirement plan. With the national economy in tatters during the 1930s, training became even rarer. No year in that decade saw more than 30 percent of Reserve officers undergo annual training; in 1934, only 14 percent did so.
Despite these and other hardships, the Army Reserve continued to answer the call to serve in emergencies, such as the national emergency of the Great Depression. Between 1933 and 1939, more than 30,000 Organized Reserve Corps officers were involved in running some 2,700 Civilian Conservation Corps camps. The CCC was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s key New Deal programs that provided jobs to unemployed young men across the country.
With the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 and especially with the fall of France in June 1940, the United States began rearming in earnest. The nation began calling on its long-neglected Reserve as a key element in rebuilding its armed forces. There were some 2,700 Reserve officers serving on active duty in mid-1940; within a year, there were 57,000 on active duty. About 90 percent of the Army’s company grade officers in June 1941 were recently-mobilized Army Reserve officers.
The Reserve presence in World War II was considerable. In a typical Regular Army combat division during the peak war years, Reserve soldiers occupied most of the mid-grade officer positions. By the end of the war, more than 200,000 Reserve soldiers were on active duty, serving on every front. Roughly a quarter of all Army officers serving during the war were Army Reserve officers.
Most of them were in the grades of first lieutenant through lieutenant colonel. They included Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder who led Rudder's Rangers up the Pointe du Hoc cliffs on D-Day; Lt. Col. Strom Thurmond who crash-landed in a glider with the 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day; Lt. Col. Henry Cabot Lodge who resigned from the U.S. Senate to serve in North Africa, Normandy and Italy; and Capt. Ronald Reagan who used his civilian-acquired skills as a movie star to make Army Air Force training films.
A number of these officers progressed to general officer rank. In April 1942, Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle led 16 Army B-25 bombers off the aircraft carrier Hornet on the first aerial attack against Japan. For leading what was immortalized as “the Doolittle Raid,” he received the Medal of Honor and a promotion from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general. He would go on to command the Eighth Air Force and end the war as a lieutenant general.
Maj. Gen. William J. Donovan had received the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross and three Purple Hearts while leading a battalion of the 165th Infantry Regiment (the old “Fighting 69th” regiment from the Civil War), 42nd Infantry Division, in World War I. Recalled to active duty as a colonel in 1942, Donovan headed the nation’s espionage and sabotage agency, the Office of Strategic Services, known as the OSS, the World War II predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Another hero from the First World War who also fought in the Second was Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who returned to duty as a colonel in 1941 and was soon promoted to brigadier general.
After combat in North Africa and Sicily with the 1st Infantry Division, Roosevelt led the 4th Infantry Division ashore on Utah Beach, the first general officer to come ashore on a Normandy beach on D-Day. For his leadership and courage on June 6, 1944, he received the Medal of Honor. He died of a heart attack on July 12, 1944, never learning that he had been selected for promotion to major general and command of the 90th Infantry Division.
One Reserve officer reached the highest position possible: commander in chief. Harry S Truman, who commanded a Field Artillery battery in combat during World War I, joined the Organized Reserve in 1920 and rose to the rank of colonel. He was elected U.S. Senator from Missouri in 1934. When the war began, Truman requested to be called to active duty but was turned down by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall, who said Truman was more valuable to the country in the Senate than he would be in the Army.
Marshall, as usual, was correct. As head of a special sub-committee, Truman investigated wastefulness in the nation’s defense programs and saved the government billions of dollars from fraud and mismanagement. His new national prominence helped gain him a spot as President Roosevelt’s running mate in 1944. When Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Vice President (and Organized Reserve Col.) Truman became the President of the United States and led the nation to final victory in World War II.
Five years after the end of World War II, Army Reserve men and women -- women were authorized to join the Organized Reserve in 1948 -- were called to duty again, this time for war in Korea. More than 240,000 Reserve soldiers were eventually called to active duty, some as individuals, and others with the 971 Reserve units that were mobilized. Fourteen Reserve battalions and 40 separate companies actually went to Korea, and seven Reserve soldiers – men like Capt. Raymond Harvey and Cpl. Hiroshi Miyamura – received the Medal of Honor for their combat heroism.
In the 1960s, the Army Reserve stood ready to answer the Nation’s call during the Berlin Crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. Only Vietnam resulted in an armed conflict and, because of decisions made by the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, only a small Reserve mobilization was authorized, resulting in a call-up in 1968 of 42 Army Reserve units with fewer than 5,000 soldiers.
Army Reserve soldiers actively participated in Operation Just Cause, the United States’ intervention in Panama in 1989, with military police and civil affairs support.
The biggest deployment of Army Reserve soldiers overseas since the Korean War took place in 1990-1991 with Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. More than 63,000 soldiers from 647 units were activated to accomplish both continental U.S. and overseas missions. Thousands of Individual Ready Reserve soldiers, Individual Mobilization Augmentees and 1,000 retirees volunteered or were ordered to active duty as well. In all, almost 84,000 Army Reserve soldiers answered their country’s call.
In 1993, Army Reserve soldiers participated in Operation Restore Hope, the Somalia relief expedition. They included more than 100 Army Reserve volunteers who made up the 711th Adjutant General Company. Other Army Reserve civil affairs and public affairs soldiers also served in Somalia until U.S. Forces departed there in March 1994.
Since 1995, thousands of Army Reserve soldiers have conducted peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as to support those operations from Hungary, Germany, and Italy. The Kosovo conflict resulted in a stateside mission in 1999 at the Fort Dix Army Reserve Installation in New Jersey. There, Army Reserve soldiers led and were part of the Operation Provide Refuge Joint Task Force, giving relief and assistance to more than 4,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo.
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and a field in Pennsylvania. About 3,000 Americans were killed as a result of these attacks.
Army Reserve men and women were on the front lines of this first war of the 21st century from its outset, with a number of Reserve soldiers among the killed at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Army Reserve units and individual soldiers responded to the attack immediately and carried out a host of missions to support rescue and recovery operations and to secure federal facilities nation-wide.
Less than a month after the attack on America, America struck back at the base of the attackers in Afghanistan. Within a few months, Afghanistan’s repressive Taliban regime, which had supported and given sanctuary to the al Qaeda terrorists who had launched the 9-11 attacks, had been driven from power and, along with the foreign terrorists, were in hiding in the rugged south and east of Afghanistan. Army Reserve soldiers contributed significantly to this victory.
Army Reserve public affairs soldiers went into the mountains of eastern Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Anaconda. Army Reserve engineers improved facilities at Kandahar, while medical citizen-soldiers treated casualties at Bagram air base. Army Reserve civil affairs soldiers operated throughout Afghanistan to help the Afghan people recover from decades of war.
On March 20, 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom began, with Army Reserve soldiers in action right from the beginning and fighting their way to Baghdad alongside their comrades-in-arms from the other U.S. services and coalition allies. The 459th Engineer Company, for example, built bridges across the Diyala and Euphrates rivers under fire to support the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force’s advance to Baghdad.
Although major combat operations in Iraq were declared to be over on May 1, 2003, combat did not cease. A difficult guerilla campaign continued, one waged by loyalists of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters. Army Reserve soldiers in a multitude of units served, and continue to serve, in numerous capacities during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Not all of the Army Reserve’s battles in the early 21st century were against armed foes. Nature was also a tough adversary. In 2005, for example, Army Reserve soldiers kept busy providing assistance to the victims of numerous natural disasters at home and abroad. Especially valuable were the Army Reserve helicopter units that provided assistance to the people of the U.S. Gulf Coast in September following Hurricane Katrina and to the people of Pakistan following a devastating earthquake in October.
As the Army Reserve ended its first century of service, it remained heavily committed to the continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Army Reserve soldiers were decisively engaged in helping the emerging Afghan democracy. They served as part of the coalition forces building a 70,000-man strong Afghan National Army and helping the Afghans set up a modern defense establishment under the control of a democratically elected civilian government.
In Iraq, Army Reserve soldiers continued to battle Iraqi insurgents while laying the groundwork for Iraq’s security forces to take over this mission themselves. A key development in accelerating the training of the new Iraqi Army was the deployment of the 98th Division to Iraq in late 2004 to speed up the new Iraqi Army’s training. This was the first time since the U.S. military began training Iraqi security forces that an Army Reserve unit took on this important mission.
The Army Reserve’s only remaining ground combat unit served in Iraq from 2005-2006. The 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, deployed there as part of the Hawaii Army National Guard’s 29th Separate Infantry Brigade. The Army Reserve soldiers of the 100th/442nd come from Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and Saipan.
In Iraq, they proudly upheld the heritage inherited from the original 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team of World War II, the most decorated U.S. Army units of their size in American history. During its year in Iraq, four soldiers from the battalion were killed and 45 wounded.
At the beginning of 2008, the number of Army Reserve soldiers killed in both Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom had grown to 153. More than 1,250 had been wounded in action.
The Army Reserve that embarks on its second century in 2008 is one of its most battle-tested and experienced forces since its creation. More than 180,000 Army Reserve Warrior-Citizens have been called to duty since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with more than 41,000 having been mobilized more than once.
No longer a strategic reserve, the Army Reserve of 2008 is an operational reserve, with some 25,000-30,000 soldiers – from a force of about 190,000 – mobilized routinely and deployed in 18-20 countries around the world, to include the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the United States.
Not only conceptually but throughout its first 100 years, the Army Reserve changed from a force that was a smaller mirror image of the Active Army to one that complemented the Total Force with combat support, combat service support and training capabilities. Many of these capabilities were and remain either exclusively or primarily in the Army Reserve.
Though the Army Reserve has undergone many changes over the past century, one thing that hasn’t changed are the quality of citizen-soldiers who continue to distinguish themselves serving their country. Today’s Warrior-Citizens remain as dedicated, professional and courageous as their predecessors.
Spc. Jeremy Church of the 724th Transportation Company received the first Silver Star awarded to an Army Reserve soldier in Iraq for battling insurgents and rescuing other soldiers and civilians during an ambush on his convoy in April 2004. Staff Sgt. Jason Fetty, a 339th Combat Support Hospital soldier attached to the 364th Civil Affairs Brigade, received the first Silver Star awarded to an Army Reserve soldier in Afghanistan after hand-to-hand combat with a suicide bomber that foiled his attack on the Khost Hospital in February 2007.
They and their fellow Army Reserve comrades serving today show by their commitment and actions that they are worthy successors to the Organized Reserve doughboys and G.I.s who preceded them.
As the Army Reserve continues to evolve and transform throughout its next 100 years, it will do so, as it always has, in the capable hands of those men and women who choose to be “twice the citizen.”
(Retired Army Col. Randy Pullen, a former Army Reserve public affairs officer, wrote this article for the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve.)
By Retired Army Col. Randy Pullen
Special to American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 20, 2008 – The U.S. Army Reserve will celebrate its 100th birthday on April 23, marking a full century of service in which Army Reserve soldiers have continuously answered the nation’s call.
Army Reserve soldiers served in both world wars, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War and the ongoing global war on terrorism. They also helped respond to countless other crises, emergencies, disasters, operations and expeditions.
That busy century of service to America all began when Congress established the Army’s first federal reserve force on April 23, 1908. President Theodore Roosevelt signed Senate Bill 1424, creating the Medical Reserve Corps. The Reserve medical officers in the corps could be ordered to active duty by the secretary of war during times of emergency.
In June 1908, the first 160 medical professionals received Reserve commissions. This number grew to about 360 by 1909 and to 1,900 by 1916. The concept of bringing civilian professionals into the Army in a disciplined and quickly-accessible manner also expanded beyond the medical profession and beyond just officers.
In 1912, the Regular Army Reserve was created, a federal reserve outside of the Medical Reserve Corps. It grew much more slowly than its predecessor; by 1913, there were only eight enlisted men in it. Three years later, some 3,000 Army Reserve soldiers would be called up to serve beside their Regular Army and National Guard comrades along the southern border of the United States.
This first mobilization of the Army Reserve was due to tension between the United States and Mexico caused by the actions of the Mexican revolutionary, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, and the subsequent punitive expedition after him led by Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing. A second Mexican-American War was averted, but this mobilization provided invaluable experience for America’s Army in the greater war soon to come.
As World War I raged on it Europe, major changes were taking place in the Army’s structure. The National Defense Act of 1916 established the Officers Reserve Corps (into which the Medical Reserve Corps would be merged in 1917), the Enlisted Reserve Corps and the Reserve Officers Training Corps. When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, these organizations – as well as the entire Army – would expand dramatically. For example, by June 1917 there would be 9,223 Army Reserve doctors, dentists and veterinarians -- a huge increase from the original 160 only nine years earlier.
More than 170,000 Army Reserve soldiers served on active duty during World War I. The Reserve doughboys of the Great War served in every division of the American Expeditionary Force in France, whether those divisions were Regular Army, National Guard or National Army.
Among their ranks was President Roosevelt’s son, Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who served in the 1st Infantry Division; Maj. Charles Whittlesey, who led the 77th Infantry Division’s “Lost Battalion” during its heroic battle in the Meuse-Argonne, and Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, “America’s Ace of Aces.” All three would receive the Medal of Honor, Whittlesey and Rickenbacker for World War I heroism, Roosevelt for his courage in World War II. Their example and those of all the citizen-soldier doughboys set the standard that Army Reserve soldiers have followed ever since.
The era between the world wars was a difficult one for the Army. There were few incentives for service, active or reserve, other than dedication to duty and patriotism. In the Organized Reserve (as the Army Reserve was called at this time), which was primarily an organization of Reserve officers because few enlisted men served, there was no pay for unit drill and no retirement plan. With the national economy in tatters during the 1930s, training became even rarer. No year in that decade saw more than 30 percent of Reserve officers undergo annual training; in 1934, only 14 percent did so.
Despite these and other hardships, the Army Reserve continued to answer the call to serve in emergencies, such as the national emergency of the Great Depression. Between 1933 and 1939, more than 30,000 Organized Reserve Corps officers were involved in running some 2,700 Civilian Conservation Corps camps. The CCC was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s key New Deal programs that provided jobs to unemployed young men across the country.
With the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 and especially with the fall of France in June 1940, the United States began rearming in earnest. The nation began calling on its long-neglected Reserve as a key element in rebuilding its armed forces. There were some 2,700 Reserve officers serving on active duty in mid-1940; within a year, there were 57,000 on active duty. About 90 percent of the Army’s company grade officers in June 1941 were recently-mobilized Army Reserve officers.
The Reserve presence in World War II was considerable. In a typical Regular Army combat division during the peak war years, Reserve soldiers occupied most of the mid-grade officer positions. By the end of the war, more than 200,000 Reserve soldiers were on active duty, serving on every front. Roughly a quarter of all Army officers serving during the war were Army Reserve officers.
Most of them were in the grades of first lieutenant through lieutenant colonel. They included Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder who led Rudder's Rangers up the Pointe du Hoc cliffs on D-Day; Lt. Col. Strom Thurmond who crash-landed in a glider with the 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day; Lt. Col. Henry Cabot Lodge who resigned from the U.S. Senate to serve in North Africa, Normandy and Italy; and Capt. Ronald Reagan who used his civilian-acquired skills as a movie star to make Army Air Force training films.
A number of these officers progressed to general officer rank. In April 1942, Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle led 16 Army B-25 bombers off the aircraft carrier Hornet on the first aerial attack against Japan. For leading what was immortalized as “the Doolittle Raid,” he received the Medal of Honor and a promotion from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general. He would go on to command the Eighth Air Force and end the war as a lieutenant general.
Maj. Gen. William J. Donovan had received the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross and three Purple Hearts while leading a battalion of the 165th Infantry Regiment (the old “Fighting 69th” regiment from the Civil War), 42nd Infantry Division, in World War I. Recalled to active duty as a colonel in 1942, Donovan headed the nation’s espionage and sabotage agency, the Office of Strategic Services, known as the OSS, the World War II predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Another hero from the First World War who also fought in the Second was Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who returned to duty as a colonel in 1941 and was soon promoted to brigadier general.
After combat in North Africa and Sicily with the 1st Infantry Division, Roosevelt led the 4th Infantry Division ashore on Utah Beach, the first general officer to come ashore on a Normandy beach on D-Day. For his leadership and courage on June 6, 1944, he received the Medal of Honor. He died of a heart attack on July 12, 1944, never learning that he had been selected for promotion to major general and command of the 90th Infantry Division.
One Reserve officer reached the highest position possible: commander in chief. Harry S Truman, who commanded a Field Artillery battery in combat during World War I, joined the Organized Reserve in 1920 and rose to the rank of colonel. He was elected U.S. Senator from Missouri in 1934. When the war began, Truman requested to be called to active duty but was turned down by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall, who said Truman was more valuable to the country in the Senate than he would be in the Army.
Marshall, as usual, was correct. As head of a special sub-committee, Truman investigated wastefulness in the nation’s defense programs and saved the government billions of dollars from fraud and mismanagement. His new national prominence helped gain him a spot as President Roosevelt’s running mate in 1944. When Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Vice President (and Organized Reserve Col.) Truman became the President of the United States and led the nation to final victory in World War II.
Five years after the end of World War II, Army Reserve men and women -- women were authorized to join the Organized Reserve in 1948 -- were called to duty again, this time for war in Korea. More than 240,000 Reserve soldiers were eventually called to active duty, some as individuals, and others with the 971 Reserve units that were mobilized. Fourteen Reserve battalions and 40 separate companies actually went to Korea, and seven Reserve soldiers – men like Capt. Raymond Harvey and Cpl. Hiroshi Miyamura – received the Medal of Honor for their combat heroism.
In the 1960s, the Army Reserve stood ready to answer the Nation’s call during the Berlin Crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. Only Vietnam resulted in an armed conflict and, because of decisions made by the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, only a small Reserve mobilization was authorized, resulting in a call-up in 1968 of 42 Army Reserve units with fewer than 5,000 soldiers.
Army Reserve soldiers actively participated in Operation Just Cause, the United States’ intervention in Panama in 1989, with military police and civil affairs support.
The biggest deployment of Army Reserve soldiers overseas since the Korean War took place in 1990-1991 with Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. More than 63,000 soldiers from 647 units were activated to accomplish both continental U.S. and overseas missions. Thousands of Individual Ready Reserve soldiers, Individual Mobilization Augmentees and 1,000 retirees volunteered or were ordered to active duty as well. In all, almost 84,000 Army Reserve soldiers answered their country’s call.
In 1993, Army Reserve soldiers participated in Operation Restore Hope, the Somalia relief expedition. They included more than 100 Army Reserve volunteers who made up the 711th Adjutant General Company. Other Army Reserve civil affairs and public affairs soldiers also served in Somalia until U.S. Forces departed there in March 1994.
Since 1995, thousands of Army Reserve soldiers have conducted peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as to support those operations from Hungary, Germany, and Italy. The Kosovo conflict resulted in a stateside mission in 1999 at the Fort Dix Army Reserve Installation in New Jersey. There, Army Reserve soldiers led and were part of the Operation Provide Refuge Joint Task Force, giving relief and assistance to more than 4,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo.
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and a field in Pennsylvania. About 3,000 Americans were killed as a result of these attacks.
Army Reserve men and women were on the front lines of this first war of the 21st century from its outset, with a number of Reserve soldiers among the killed at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Army Reserve units and individual soldiers responded to the attack immediately and carried out a host of missions to support rescue and recovery operations and to secure federal facilities nation-wide.
Less than a month after the attack on America, America struck back at the base of the attackers in Afghanistan. Within a few months, Afghanistan’s repressive Taliban regime, which had supported and given sanctuary to the al Qaeda terrorists who had launched the 9-11 attacks, had been driven from power and, along with the foreign terrorists, were in hiding in the rugged south and east of Afghanistan. Army Reserve soldiers contributed significantly to this victory.
Army Reserve public affairs soldiers went into the mountains of eastern Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Anaconda. Army Reserve engineers improved facilities at Kandahar, while medical citizen-soldiers treated casualties at Bagram air base. Army Reserve civil affairs soldiers operated throughout Afghanistan to help the Afghan people recover from decades of war.
On March 20, 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom began, with Army Reserve soldiers in action right from the beginning and fighting their way to Baghdad alongside their comrades-in-arms from the other U.S. services and coalition allies. The 459th Engineer Company, for example, built bridges across the Diyala and Euphrates rivers under fire to support the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force’s advance to Baghdad.
Although major combat operations in Iraq were declared to be over on May 1, 2003, combat did not cease. A difficult guerilla campaign continued, one waged by loyalists of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters. Army Reserve soldiers in a multitude of units served, and continue to serve, in numerous capacities during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Not all of the Army Reserve’s battles in the early 21st century were against armed foes. Nature was also a tough adversary. In 2005, for example, Army Reserve soldiers kept busy providing assistance to the victims of numerous natural disasters at home and abroad. Especially valuable were the Army Reserve helicopter units that provided assistance to the people of the U.S. Gulf Coast in September following Hurricane Katrina and to the people of Pakistan following a devastating earthquake in October.
As the Army Reserve ended its first century of service, it remained heavily committed to the continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Army Reserve soldiers were decisively engaged in helping the emerging Afghan democracy. They served as part of the coalition forces building a 70,000-man strong Afghan National Army and helping the Afghans set up a modern defense establishment under the control of a democratically elected civilian government.
In Iraq, Army Reserve soldiers continued to battle Iraqi insurgents while laying the groundwork for Iraq’s security forces to take over this mission themselves. A key development in accelerating the training of the new Iraqi Army was the deployment of the 98th Division to Iraq in late 2004 to speed up the new Iraqi Army’s training. This was the first time since the U.S. military began training Iraqi security forces that an Army Reserve unit took on this important mission.
The Army Reserve’s only remaining ground combat unit served in Iraq from 2005-2006. The 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, deployed there as part of the Hawaii Army National Guard’s 29th Separate Infantry Brigade. The Army Reserve soldiers of the 100th/442nd come from Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and Saipan.
In Iraq, they proudly upheld the heritage inherited from the original 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team of World War II, the most decorated U.S. Army units of their size in American history. During its year in Iraq, four soldiers from the battalion were killed and 45 wounded.
At the beginning of 2008, the number of Army Reserve soldiers killed in both Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom had grown to 153. More than 1,250 had been wounded in action.
The Army Reserve that embarks on its second century in 2008 is one of its most battle-tested and experienced forces since its creation. More than 180,000 Army Reserve Warrior-Citizens have been called to duty since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with more than 41,000 having been mobilized more than once.
No longer a strategic reserve, the Army Reserve of 2008 is an operational reserve, with some 25,000-30,000 soldiers – from a force of about 190,000 – mobilized routinely and deployed in 18-20 countries around the world, to include the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the United States.
Not only conceptually but throughout its first 100 years, the Army Reserve changed from a force that was a smaller mirror image of the Active Army to one that complemented the Total Force with combat support, combat service support and training capabilities. Many of these capabilities were and remain either exclusively or primarily in the Army Reserve.
Though the Army Reserve has undergone many changes over the past century, one thing that hasn’t changed are the quality of citizen-soldiers who continue to distinguish themselves serving their country. Today’s Warrior-Citizens remain as dedicated, professional and courageous as their predecessors.
Spc. Jeremy Church of the 724th Transportation Company received the first Silver Star awarded to an Army Reserve soldier in Iraq for battling insurgents and rescuing other soldiers and civilians during an ambush on his convoy in April 2004. Staff Sgt. Jason Fetty, a 339th Combat Support Hospital soldier attached to the 364th Civil Affairs Brigade, received the first Silver Star awarded to an Army Reserve soldier in Afghanistan after hand-to-hand combat with a suicide bomber that foiled his attack on the Khost Hospital in February 2007.
They and their fellow Army Reserve comrades serving today show by their commitment and actions that they are worthy successors to the Organized Reserve doughboys and G.I.s who preceded them.
As the Army Reserve continues to evolve and transform throughout its next 100 years, it will do so, as it always has, in the capable hands of those men and women who choose to be “twice the citizen.”
(Retired Army Col. Randy Pullen, a former Army Reserve public affairs officer, wrote this article for the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve.)
WEATHER/KABUL, AFGHANISTAN FOR APRIL 21, 2008
Current conditions as of 4:20 PM AFT
Mostly Cloudy
Feels Like:
61°
Barometer:
30.03 in and steady
Humidity:
52%
Visibility:
6.21 MI
Dewpoint:
43°
Wind:
VAR 3 mph
Sunrise:
5:14 am
Sunset:
6:30 PM
Mostly Cloudy
Feels Like:
61°
Barometer:
30.03 in and steady
Humidity:
52%
Visibility:
6.21 MI
Dewpoint:
43°
Wind:
VAR 3 mph
Sunrise:
5:14 am
Sunset:
6:30 PM
WEATHER/BAGDAD, IRAQ FOR APRIL 21, 2008
Current conditions as of 2:55 PM ADT
Sunny
Feels Like:
91°
Barometer:
29.87 in and falling
Humidity:
12%
Visibility:
6.21 MI
Dewpoint:
32°
Wind:
NW 10 mph
Sunrise:
6:26 am
Sunset:
7:38 PM
Sunny
Feels Like:
91°
Barometer:
29.87 in and falling
Humidity:
12%
Visibility:
6.21 MI
Dewpoint:
32°
Wind:
NW 10 mph
Sunrise:
6:26 am
Sunset:
7:38 PM
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Police Say Marine Killed Ex-Girlfriend
Police Say Marine Killed Ex-Girlfriend
March 27, 2008
Associated Press
SAGINAW, Texas - After returning from his third tour of duty in Iraq in three years, Lance Cpl. Eric Acevedo just wasn't the same, his relatives said.
The previously athletic teen, who had enlisted in the Marines just after graduating from high school a few months after the war began in 2003, suffered from nightmares, fought with his girlfriend and gained weight. The 22-year-old, whose breaks between deployments were less than a year, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, said his father, Andres Acevedo.
Early on the morning of March 22, 13 months after returning from his last tour, he went to his ex-girlfriend's townhouse, broke through a ground-floor window and stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife, police said. A blood-covered Acevedo then paced in the parking lot as officers rushed to the tan wood-and-brick townhouse complex and arrested him, neighbors said.
Eric Acevedo, 22, is charged with capital murder, which carries the death penalty, and remained jailed Wednesday on $1 million bond. Acevedo's court-appointed attorney, Lex Johnston, said he had not spent much time talking to his client.
"I gave him to the government nice and healthy, and the government returned somebody who is capable of doing something like that," Andres Acevedo told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The ex-girlfriend, Mollieann Worden, 32, frantically called 911 during the attack but was dead when officers arrived a few minutes later, Officer Kim Allison said. Worden's 10-year-old daughter had been spending the night at a friend's house and is now staying with relatives.
Andres Acevedo said his son and Worden dated more than two years and broke up a few months ago. He said he picked up his son from Worden's house at least twice, after his son called to avoid being arrested when the couple fought.
Police in Saginaw, a working-class suburb of Fort Worth, never received any domestic disturbance calls at the townhouse where Acevedo had lived with Worden or at another home they previously shared, Allison said.
The Marine's father and an aunt, Alicia Rodriguez, told the Star-Telegram that Eric Acevedo had been a good kid who never caused problems. Andres Acevedo said that a military doctor last year diagnosed his son with post-traumatic stress disorder and placed him on medication that seemed to calm him down.
But according to Veterans Affairs records, Eric Acevedo has not enrolled in the VA North Texas Health Care System or applied for any VA benefits.
Dwayne Parker, one of Worden's neighbors, said that before the couple broke up, Eric Acevedo sometimes talked to him but rarely mentioned Iraq.
"He tried to act normal, but it seemed like he was hiding something," Parker told The Associated Press. "He was scared to go back."
Parker said Worden, a striking brunette with soft brown eyes, had moved on and had been spending time with her new friends at church. Just two days before she was killed, she proudly showed off two new star tattoos on her finger - covering another tattoo that once read "Eric," Parker said.
"I've never seen her as happy as that," Parker said. "She was such a sweet person, and she didn't deserve this."
Acevedo, who was stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif., was deployed for about seven months in 2004 and again in 2005-06, and for six months in 2006-07, said Master Sgt. Ronald J. Spencer, a spokesman with the Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City. In the war zone, Acevedo carried a machine gun as part of a patrol team, Spencer said.
"He was a good Marine," Spencer said.
Spencer said he could not release Acevedo's medical records or say if he had been disciplined, citing privacy laws.
After his last deployment, Acevedo had completed active duty and was to serve his last four years in the Marine Corps' Individual Ready Reserve, Spencer said.
March 27, 2008
Associated Press
SAGINAW, Texas - After returning from his third tour of duty in Iraq in three years, Lance Cpl. Eric Acevedo just wasn't the same, his relatives said.
The previously athletic teen, who had enlisted in the Marines just after graduating from high school a few months after the war began in 2003, suffered from nightmares, fought with his girlfriend and gained weight. The 22-year-old, whose breaks between deployments were less than a year, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, said his father, Andres Acevedo.
Early on the morning of March 22, 13 months after returning from his last tour, he went to his ex-girlfriend's townhouse, broke through a ground-floor window and stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife, police said. A blood-covered Acevedo then paced in the parking lot as officers rushed to the tan wood-and-brick townhouse complex and arrested him, neighbors said.
Eric Acevedo, 22, is charged with capital murder, which carries the death penalty, and remained jailed Wednesday on $1 million bond. Acevedo's court-appointed attorney, Lex Johnston, said he had not spent much time talking to his client.
"I gave him to the government nice and healthy, and the government returned somebody who is capable of doing something like that," Andres Acevedo told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The ex-girlfriend, Mollieann Worden, 32, frantically called 911 during the attack but was dead when officers arrived a few minutes later, Officer Kim Allison said. Worden's 10-year-old daughter had been spending the night at a friend's house and is now staying with relatives.
Andres Acevedo said his son and Worden dated more than two years and broke up a few months ago. He said he picked up his son from Worden's house at least twice, after his son called to avoid being arrested when the couple fought.
Police in Saginaw, a working-class suburb of Fort Worth, never received any domestic disturbance calls at the townhouse where Acevedo had lived with Worden or at another home they previously shared, Allison said.
The Marine's father and an aunt, Alicia Rodriguez, told the Star-Telegram that Eric Acevedo had been a good kid who never caused problems. Andres Acevedo said that a military doctor last year diagnosed his son with post-traumatic stress disorder and placed him on medication that seemed to calm him down.
But according to Veterans Affairs records, Eric Acevedo has not enrolled in the VA North Texas Health Care System or applied for any VA benefits.
Dwayne Parker, one of Worden's neighbors, said that before the couple broke up, Eric Acevedo sometimes talked to him but rarely mentioned Iraq.
"He tried to act normal, but it seemed like he was hiding something," Parker told The Associated Press. "He was scared to go back."
Parker said Worden, a striking brunette with soft brown eyes, had moved on and had been spending time with her new friends at church. Just two days before she was killed, she proudly showed off two new star tattoos on her finger - covering another tattoo that once read "Eric," Parker said.
"I've never seen her as happy as that," Parker said. "She was such a sweet person, and she didn't deserve this."
Acevedo, who was stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif., was deployed for about seven months in 2004 and again in 2005-06, and for six months in 2006-07, said Master Sgt. Ronald J. Spencer, a spokesman with the Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City. In the war zone, Acevedo carried a machine gun as part of a patrol team, Spencer said.
"He was a good Marine," Spencer said.
Spencer said he could not release Acevedo's medical records or say if he had been disciplined, citing privacy laws.
After his last deployment, Acevedo had completed active duty and was to serve his last four years in the Marine Corps' Individual Ready Reserve, Spencer said.
Face of Defense: Army Nurse Strives to Make a Difference
Face of Defense: Army Nurse Strives to Make a Difference
By Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
CAMP TAJI, Iraq, March 26, 2008 – Capt. Jody Brown’s barely 5-foot-tall stature easily is dwarfed by the sea of infantrymen. The Army nurse’s body armor and helmet make her look almost childlike, and her M4 rifle is more than half her size.
Army Capt. Jody Brown, a Kingston, N.H., native, looks for medication for a patient March 17, 2008, at a combined medical effort in Batta village, northwest of Baghdad. Brown is a registered nurse with Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
“Come here. I want a picture,” said Brown, a native of Kingston, N.H. Her fellow medic reluctantly posed with her for a picture March 17 before they loaded into Stryker vehicles on their way to Batta village, northwest of Baghdad, en route to a combined medical mission.
“She’s never been outside the wire,” a soldier said under his breath with a snicker.
He was wrong.
Brown, a registered nurse, supports the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s units with immunizations and travels to wherever the soldiers are -- even outside the wire. She is assigned to 2nd SBCT’s Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, as part of Multinational Division Baghdad.
But on this day, she was not wielding syringes or tracking down soldiers who need shots; she was joining her fellow doctors, physician assistants and medics from 225th Brigade Support Battalion and 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, to provide medical aid for the people of Batta village.
“I’m so excited,” she said. The mission marked Brown’s first combined medical effort, and she said it is a great way to help the Iraqi people and build positive relationships with them.
“This is a great thing, and I hope we can help as many people as possible,” she said.
Brown said she didn’t always want to be a nurse, but she knew it was a great way to help people, which is something she’s always wanted to do. She joined the Army 10 years ago as a transportation officer, and she credited “great leadership” with her ultimate transfer into the medical corps. Shortly after making the decision to transfer, she graduated from the University of New Hampshire’s nursing school.
“Being a nurse is great,” she said. “There are not many people who are nurses, and even less can say they serve in the Army.”
Brown said she sometimes finds her experiences to be unfathomable.
“I mean, here I am, this petite woman,” she said. “I know I can’t be infantry, and I know I will never be able to lift what those guys lift, or do what those guys do, but this is just as amazing. I am here, and I can do a lot as a nurse.”
The line at the medical exercise seemed endless, as patient after patient shoved into the overcrowded room. As in so many places in Iraq, villagers don’t get many opportunities to be seen by a medical professional. Brown worked easily with the patients, breaking the barriers of culture and language with her actions and tone of voice. Only when she was satisfied with the level of care she provided to the patient did she move on to the next.
“She’s a great nurse,” said Capt. Drew Webb, a native of Monterey, Calif., who serves as a physician assistant with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “She’s very caring, and we are happy to have her here.”
Brown said she is happy to be in Iraq. She volunteered, against the wishes of her husband, Capt. Steve Brown, to deploy by his side.
“Quite frankly, he was mad,” she said, of her husband who is the commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Camp Liberty. “He couldn’t think of his wife in a combat zone.”
Brown said the deployment has made her stronger, and she and her husband talk whenever they can. Working side by side with Iraqi army medics and the town doctor as they combine their efforts to help the people of Batta village is a satisfying opportunity, Brown said.
“I know I can’t help everyone,” she said, “but just helping these people is a start in the right direction.”
(Army Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti serves with the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)
Related Sites:
Multinational Corps Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
Army Capt. Jody Brown, a Kingston, N.H., native, takes a woman’s blood pressure March 17, 2008, while participating in a combined medical effort in Batta village, northwest of Baghdad. Brown is a registered nurse with Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
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Army Sgt. Katrina Colvin treats a child’s injured arm March 17, 2008, while participating in a combined medical effort in Batta village, northwest of Baghdad. Colvin, a native of Smithville, Texas, serves as a medic with Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
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Army Capt. Drew Webb, a native of Monterey, Calif., checks the ears of an Iraqi girl March 17, 2008, during a combined medical mission in Batta village, northwest of Baghdad. Webb serves as a physician assistant with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
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An Iraqi doctor checks a man’s blood pressure March 17, 2008, during a combined medical mission in Bata village, northwest of Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
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By Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
CAMP TAJI, Iraq, March 26, 2008 – Capt. Jody Brown’s barely 5-foot-tall stature easily is dwarfed by the sea of infantrymen. The Army nurse’s body armor and helmet make her look almost childlike, and her M4 rifle is more than half her size.
Army Capt. Jody Brown, a Kingston, N.H., native, looks for medication for a patient March 17, 2008, at a combined medical effort in Batta village, northwest of Baghdad. Brown is a registered nurse with Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
“Come here. I want a picture,” said Brown, a native of Kingston, N.H. Her fellow medic reluctantly posed with her for a picture March 17 before they loaded into Stryker vehicles on their way to Batta village, northwest of Baghdad, en route to a combined medical mission.
“She’s never been outside the wire,” a soldier said under his breath with a snicker.
He was wrong.
Brown, a registered nurse, supports the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s units with immunizations and travels to wherever the soldiers are -- even outside the wire. She is assigned to 2nd SBCT’s Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, as part of Multinational Division Baghdad.
But on this day, she was not wielding syringes or tracking down soldiers who need shots; she was joining her fellow doctors, physician assistants and medics from 225th Brigade Support Battalion and 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, to provide medical aid for the people of Batta village.
“I’m so excited,” she said. The mission marked Brown’s first combined medical effort, and she said it is a great way to help the Iraqi people and build positive relationships with them.
“This is a great thing, and I hope we can help as many people as possible,” she said.
Brown said she didn’t always want to be a nurse, but she knew it was a great way to help people, which is something she’s always wanted to do. She joined the Army 10 years ago as a transportation officer, and she credited “great leadership” with her ultimate transfer into the medical corps. Shortly after making the decision to transfer, she graduated from the University of New Hampshire’s nursing school.
“Being a nurse is great,” she said. “There are not many people who are nurses, and even less can say they serve in the Army.”
Brown said she sometimes finds her experiences to be unfathomable.
“I mean, here I am, this petite woman,” she said. “I know I can’t be infantry, and I know I will never be able to lift what those guys lift, or do what those guys do, but this is just as amazing. I am here, and I can do a lot as a nurse.”
The line at the medical exercise seemed endless, as patient after patient shoved into the overcrowded room. As in so many places in Iraq, villagers don’t get many opportunities to be seen by a medical professional. Brown worked easily with the patients, breaking the barriers of culture and language with her actions and tone of voice. Only when she was satisfied with the level of care she provided to the patient did she move on to the next.
“She’s a great nurse,” said Capt. Drew Webb, a native of Monterey, Calif., who serves as a physician assistant with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “She’s very caring, and we are happy to have her here.”
Brown said she is happy to be in Iraq. She volunteered, against the wishes of her husband, Capt. Steve Brown, to deploy by his side.
“Quite frankly, he was mad,” she said, of her husband who is the commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Camp Liberty. “He couldn’t think of his wife in a combat zone.”
Brown said the deployment has made her stronger, and she and her husband talk whenever they can. Working side by side with Iraqi army medics and the town doctor as they combine their efforts to help the people of Batta village is a satisfying opportunity, Brown said.
“I know I can’t help everyone,” she said, “but just helping these people is a start in the right direction.”
(Army Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti serves with the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)
Related Sites:
Multinational Corps Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
Army Capt. Jody Brown, a Kingston, N.H., native, takes a woman’s blood pressure March 17, 2008, while participating in a combined medical effort in Batta village, northwest of Baghdad. Brown is a registered nurse with Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
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Army Sgt. Katrina Colvin treats a child’s injured arm March 17, 2008, while participating in a combined medical effort in Batta village, northwest of Baghdad. Colvin, a native of Smithville, Texas, serves as a medic with Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
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Army Capt. Drew Webb, a native of Monterey, Calif., checks the ears of an Iraqi girl March 17, 2008, during a combined medical mission in Batta village, northwest of Baghdad. Webb serves as a physician assistant with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
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An Iraqi doctor checks a man’s blood pressure March 17, 2008, during a combined medical mission in Bata village, northwest of Baghdad. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti, USA
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