Military Matters
Fort Riley troops speeding to Iraq
Posted Thursday, March 1, 2007
Here are recent headlines about the military in Kansas:
Fort Riley
(AP) 2 Army units will forgo desert training: Rushed by President Bush 's decision to reinforce Baghdad with thousands more U.S. troops, two Army combat brigades are skipping their usual session at the Army's premier training range in California and instead are making final preparations at their home bases. ... The two units that are skipping their National Training Center sessions are among five Army brigades that are being dispatched to Baghdad on an sped-up schedule as the centerpiece of Bush's new approach to stabilizing Iraq. The first to go, in January, was an 82nd Airborne brigade specially designated for short-notice deployments; it did no full-scale final exercise before deploying to Kuwait and then into Iraq. The next two, from Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Riley, Kan., did their final training sessions at the National Training Center. The unit from Fort Riley is entering Iraq now and the other is due to arrive in March.
(Washington Post) Crucial to the President's New Strategy for Iraq, A Commander and His Soldiers Head Into War: FORT RILEY, Kan. -- Their camouflage on, their wives carrying infants, their older children carrying flags, the soldiers of George W. Bush's surge crowded into a gymnasium for their brigade deployment ceremony, a last public viewing before they disappeared into Iraq. Baghdad, long an abstraction, was now imminent. Of the 21,500 additional troops President Bush decided to send to Iraq in the coming months, about 3,500 were coming from here. "Are you frightened?" a TV reporter called out. "I'm confident," one of those soldiers replied. An enormous American flag hung on the back wall. A military band lined up in formation. "Ready to go," another soldier said. Outside, snow was coming toward this isolated place. Inside, as the bleachers filled and the doors swung closed against the cold, a 41-year-old soldier near the middle of the floor began clapping his hands in anticipation. And now waved at his wife and children.
(49abcnews.com) Fort Riley journalists tell their side of the war: Eight members of the 19th Public Affairs Detachment just recently got back after spending a year in Afghanistan. They are journalists, but soldiers first. Many of the reports we saw on TV, they were in the middle of but they said it's what we don't see that Americans should know. "When I was over there, I saw attacks; I saw the recovery efforts after attacks," 19th PAD, Spc. David Ockuly said. Specialist David Ockuly said there's no denying bad things do happen in war. He lived it, but said in America, that's all we hear or read about. "They want to get the bang on the front page," he said. For one year the eight soldiers from Fort Riley reported from the battlefields. They covered the good and the bad in a magazine and a television show called Freedom Watch Afghanistan.
Fort Leavenworth
(Orlando Business Journal) Riptide gets $1 million military contract: Riptide Software Inc. has received a subcontract worth at least $1 million from Science Applications International Corp. to supply the U.S. Army's Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., with interactive multimedia instructional software for personnel recovery training. The software will teach soldiers what steps they need to take if they become isolated under various scenarios. The first installment, worth about $1 million, will be delivered before Sept. 30.
(PR Newswire) Four-Star Generals Join CGSC Foundation Board of Trustees: The board of trustees of the Command and General Staff College Foundation (CGSCF) recently elected four new members, all highly-regarded retired four-star generals, to their body. "The years of experience these men bring to our board is absolutely tremendous," said Lt. Gen. Robert Arter (U.S. Army, Ret.), CGSCF board chairman. "They've spent a lifetime developing leaders and training Soldiers. Having the benefit of their knowledge and commitment to the Army on our board represents a huge opportunity for the CGSC Foundation." Arter said the board members help the Foundation support and raise public awareness about the Command and General Staff College's mission to educate military leaders. He added that retired general officers who are also successful in their private lives are perfect board members because they understand the Army so well and are extremely effective communicators.
Kansas National Guard
(Kansas Adjutant General) KANSAS AIR NATIONAL GUARDSMEN RETURNING FROM IRAQ: Thirteen members of the 184th Security Forces Squadron, Kansas Air National Guard, are scheduled to return to Wichita on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007 after serving six months at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. The deployment was part of an Air Expeditionary Force Deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. "The role of the Kansas Air Guard in Operation Iraqi Freedom is a critical one," Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, Kansas adjutant general said. "I want to thank these airmen for their hard work and sacrifice and welcome them back to Kansas."
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