JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Family, friends, Service members and the Joint Base community will remember a Soldier who died while in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with a ceremony to be conducted Tuesday, at 3 p.m. in the JBLM Lewis Main Chapel.

Sgt. Faith R. Hinkley, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colo., died Aug. 7 in Baghdad, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked her unit in Iskandariya, Iraq. 

She was assigned to the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The battalion deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in September, 2009.

Spc. Brandon S. Barrett, 28, was killed Friday after he wounded a police officer in one of the busiest intersections in downtown Salt Lake City, according to published reports.

For more on the story, click here.

A new first-person shooter video game has some up in arms about some of the game's features.

By allowing players to assume the role of Taliban fighters killing U.S. troops, Redwood City-based (Calif.) Electronic Arts may have crossed the line with its latest first-person shooter game, a line that Mountain View resident Karen Meredith says was drawn with the blood of soldiers like her only son, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

For more on the story, click here.

The JBLM soldier accused of torturing his child under a sink plead guilty to the crime.  See the story here.

The Department of Defense announced

today the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Brandon E. Maggart, 24, of Kirksville, Mo., died August 22 at

Basrah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit

using indirect fire.  He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 5th Air

Defense Artillery Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

According to unit records, Maggart enlisted June 8, 2006 and reported to

Fort Bliss, Texas, for basic training and advanced training in his

military occupational specialty, 14S - Avenger crewmember. He reported

to Fort Lewis, Wash., (now Joint Base Lewis-McChord) on November 9,

2006, and was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery

Regiment. The battalion was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation

Iraqi Freedom in January 2010. This was his second deployment with the

unit to Iraq. He previously deployed from March 2007 to May 2008.

His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army

Achievement Medal (2 awards), Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense

Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal (2 awards), Global War on Terrorism

Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon,

and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

On behalf of the entire Joint Base Lewis-McChord military and civilian

community, we extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends

of Sgt. Maggart.

This from The Wall Street Journal: Rabbi Menachem Stern's stringy brown beard is hardly an unusual sight in his Brooklyn neighborhood. But in trying to become a chaplain in the U.S. Army, Mr. Stern has gotten tangled in a military bureaucracy that has made exceptions for other beards, but not his.

The 28-year-old rabbi was notified last year that he had been accepted as a chaplain in the Army Reserve.

To read the entire story, click here.

The final convoy of the Army's 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., began entering Kuwait about 1:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. Wednesday ET), carrying the last of the 14,000 U.S. combat forces in Iraq, said NBC's Richard Engel, who has been traveling with the brigade as it moved out this week.

For more on the NBC story, click here.   

B Company of the 51st Signal Battalion (Expeditionary) will case its colors in preparation for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan during a ceremony Friday at 10 a.m. at the battalion headquarters on JBLM-Lewis North.

Approximately 130 Soldiers will deploy with B Company. Upon arrival in Afghanistan, the company will provide communication support to United States Central Command forces in theater.

This is B Company's first deployment to Afghanistan. The unit has three previous deployments to Iraq; once under 51st Signal Battalion and twice under 29th Signal Battalion (before it was reconstituted 51st).

Champions Centre church, 1819 East 72nd St., Tacoma, hosts a free barbecue for military families from 5 to 10 p.m. Aug. 24.

Activities include live music, basketball, sand volleyball, pool tables, a giant bounce around, face painting and dinner.

There will also be prize giveaways.

For more information, visit www.championsfoundation.com.