Fort Lewis Blog
This from the Associated Press: IOWA CITY, Iowa - A soldier who went on national television in his military fatigues to endorse Ron Paul's presidential campaign after the Iowa caucuses has been reprimanded but not dismissed from the Army Reserve, a spokeswoman said Friday. The Army determined that Jesse D. Thorsen violated
Fort Lewis Blog
SEATTLE - Two doctors on a Madigan Army Medical Center team have been temporarily removed from clinical duties as the Army reviews the team's handling of post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses of more than a dozen soldiers. Army officials did not name the doctors but confirmed they had
Fort Lewis Blog
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Despite pleas for leniency, a former Army Ranger has been sentenced to a decade in prison for a bar brawl stabbing that left a man injured. Family and friends of 22-year-old Alfred Joseph Sanchez pleaded with Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy to
Fort Lewis Blog
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. - Joint Base Lewis-McChord saw more suicides in 2011 than any previous year. Twelve suicides were recorded at the base this past year. That's up from nine in 2010 and nine in 2009, The Tacoma News Tribune reported. Army I Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield says
Airlifter Blog
SEATTLE - The Museum of Flight won't get to display one of the retiring space shuttles, but Seattle's air and space museum will get a consolation prize of a full-scale training mock-up that looks like the space shuttle without wings. The museum near Boeing Field was one of 21 museum and science
Airlifter Blog
SPOKANE, Wash. - Nearby Fairchild Air Force Base is sending KC-135 refueling tankers to assist in aerial refueling for U.S. and allied fighter jets enforcing the Libya no-fly zone. The 92nd Air Refueling Wing said five of the base's tankers left Saturday for North Africa, and another is due to leave
Fort Lewis Blog
FT. CARSON, Colo. -- An Army environmental study says Colorado's Fort Carson is the best location for a new combat aviation brigade. Members of Colorado's congressional delegation announced the findings Friday. The Army concluded that it favors consolidating aircraft of up to one combat aviation brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington and
Fort Lewis Blog
NEW YORK (AP) - Joseph Rocha reported being cruelly hazed by Navy colleagues. Katherine Miller resigned from West Point halfway through, weary of concealing her sexual orientation. David Hall was outed by a fellow Air Force cadet and booted from the career he loved. The exits from military service were wrenching consequences
Fort Lewis Blog
SEATTLE - A Washington state flight nurse who sued to win reinstatement to the Air Force is planning to be there when President Obama signs a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Maj. Margaret Witt, of Spokane, was discharged just short of retirement after the Air Force learned she had been
Fort Lewis Blog
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT - It's a long flight home from the battlefields of Afghanistan. But four soldiers traveling to see family for the holidays got an upgrade, courtesy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Normally, their leave would have started with a wait at the airport for the next available seat on
Airlifter Blog
SEATTLE -- A lesbian flight nurse who was discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy says she expects to be reinstated to the U.S. Air Force reserve by next month at the latest. Maj. Margaret Witt and her attorneys held a news conference Tuesday at the American Civil Liberties Union
Fort Lewis Blog
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Joint Base Lewis-McChord is holding a preliminary hearing Monday for another soldier accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan. The hearing for Spc. Michael S. Wagnon, 29, will determine whether he'll face a court-martial. Wagnon is one of five soldiers charged with deliberately killing three innocent Afghan civilians
Fort Lewis Blog
TORONTO - The Canadian military says it has taken what may be an unprecedented step by burning the uniforms of former colonel Russell Williams who was convicted of murder and sexual assault. Cmdr. Hubert Genest said Friday that Williams's clothes were burned the previous day at CFB Trenton - Canada's largest military
Airlifter Blog
This from the AP: JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Search and rescue aircraft discovered what military officials believed to be the wreckage of a missing Air Force F-22 jet on Wednesday south of Denali National Park in Alaska. The wreckage was spotted at 10:15 a.m. about 100 miles north of Anchorage,
Fort Lewis Blog
TACOMA, Wash. -- What started out as a homecoming celebration for a young Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier and his wife ended up with both of them arrested for investigation of drunken driving. Washington State Patrol Trooper Brandy Kessler says a military police officer spotted an erratic driver early Sunday on
Fort Lewis Blog
JOIN BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Most of the soldiers charged along with an Army sergeant accused of masterminding a plan to kill Afghan civilians are declining to testify at a military hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to court-martial him. The hearing began today at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for Staff
Fort Lewis Blog
DENVER -- A draft report from the Army says stationing new aviation units in Colorado and Washington state would have some significant environmental or social impacts. The report, made public Friday, says the Army's preferred alternative is to place one combat aviation brigade each at Colorado's Fort Carson and Joint Base
Fort Lewis Blog
This from The Associated Press: The soldier who tried to blow the whistle on an alleged plot to kill Afghan civilians for sport has been put in solitary confinement in a windowless cell for 23 hours a day, his family said. The father of Spc. Adam Winfield is objecting to the
Fort Lewis Blog
SALT LAKE CITY - Army officials knew a distraught and AWOL soldier recently back from Afghanistan was headed to Utah with ammunition, weapons and a grudge but didn't warn local authorities, a newspaper reported. The Salt Lake Tribune reported Tuesday that Army Spc. Brandon Barrett sent text messages to fellow soldiers
Fort Lewis Blog
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A federal judge issued a worldwide injunction Tuesday stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' landmark ruling was widely cheered by gay rights organizations that credited her with getting accomplished what
