Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. - Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, who served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997, passed away Saturday morning at Madigan Healthcare System, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He was 75.
"The entire Joint Base Lewis-McChord community is saddened at the news of Gen. Shalikashvili's passing," JBLM officials said in a statement. "Throughout his career, Gen. Shalikashvili was a tremendous leader and mentor to thousands of servicemen and women, and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff he represented our nation and its military with great dignity and success. Locally, he has been a stalwart supporter to our military community, a trusted adviser to military leaders at the base and a friend to the entire region. He will be missed, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones."
According to The News Tribune, A public memorial service is scheduled for Aug. 6 at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center downtown. Details of the event will be released this week, a family spokeswoman said, and a funeral service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Gritty City Sirens, a burlesque troupe from Tacoma, will host an "evening of panties and scanties" with a performance on Thursday, July 21, at The Swiss, 1904 Jefferson St., in Tacoma.

The lusty ladies of burlesque will be bumping and grinding to an array of American classics spun by DJ Broam with special guests Lusty Zins of Poledello, Hard Money Saints and Dessi De Vine.

At the end of the night, three lucky guys will have a chance to win a date with three of the Sirens. There will also be a raffle, bake sale and auction. A portion of the evening's proceeds will go to support post-traumatic stress disorder treatment for local Servicemembers. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are $12 at the door.

RecruitMilitary, a military-to-civilian recruiting firm, will present a free civilian employment, business-opportunity, and education event for job seekers who have military backgrounds at Hotel Murano in Tacoma on Thursday, May 5.

U.S. Bank will sponsor the event. RecruitMilitary is inviting veterans who already have civilian work experience, men and women who are transitioning from active duty to civilian life, members of the National Guard and reserves, military spouses, and other military family members. The event, called the RecruitMilitary Veteran Opportunity Expo, will take place from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

RecruitMilitary and U.S. Bank expect more than 35 employers, franchisors, and educational institutions to reserve exhibitor booths at the Expo. Already signed up are Argosy University, the Army National Guard, Army ROTC-Pacific Lutheran University, AutoNation, CruiseOne/Cruises Inc., DeVry University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, First Command Financial Planning, G4S Secure Solutions (USA), General Dynamics Information Technology, Grand Canyon University, ICDC College, ITTTechnical Institute, Kaplan University, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Military Sealift Command, MultiCare Health System, the National Veterans Employment Program (NVEP) of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, New York Life, Northrop Grumman, Schnitzer Steel, The Art Institutes, The Home Depot, 20/20 Companies,USAA, VA Puget Sound Health Care Systems, Verizon Wireless, the Washington Army National Guard, Waste Management Inc., and Zones.

RecruitMilitary (http://www.recruitmilitary.com) will produce the Expo in cooperation with The American Legion (http://www.legion.org), an association of veterans who served during times of war. The Legion has about 2.4 million members in 14,000 posts throughout the world. Congress chartered and incorporated the association in 1919.

This from the Washington National Guard Public Affairs: CAMP MURRAY, WA - The Washington National Guard is taking steps to ensure critical operations dedicated to serving our state and federal mission continue in the event of a funding gap caused by a government shutdown.   

Our citizen-soldiers and airmen are paid, trained and equipped through
federal appropriations.  A funding gap occurs when neither an appropriations
act, or a Continuing Resolution has been enacted.  

In preparation for this scenario, Guard personnel essential to the
war-fight, and the protection of lives and property here in the state are
being identified.  Those full-time employees critical to the execution of
these missions will be exempt.  Non-exempt employees will be furloughed
until federal appropriations allow them to return to work.  Personnel who
are on Additional Duty Operational Support (ADOS) orders, and full-time
general schedule federal employees of the Guard will report to work for
their next scheduled work day.  At that time, non-exempt employees will be
furloughed.

Drill weekends for all Washington National Guard units scheduled for this
weekend (April 8-10) have been canceled, and will be re-scheduled at a
future date.  Guard members who performed their drill last weekend will be
paid on time.  Soldiers and Airmen currently conducting their two-week
Annual Training period will end their training on Saturday; Annual Training
will be rescheduled at a later time.  Citizen-soldiers currently attending
certain Army schools may be sent home.  The State Family Programs conference
scheduled April 8-10 in Cle Elum has been abbreviated to April 8-9.  We are
working to contact all of our impacted personnel by the close of business
today in order to give them and their families an accurate assessment of the
situation and how it will affect them.

We currently have approximately 400 citizen-soldiers and airmen on Title X
federal active duty preparing for deployment and serving in locations around
the world.  The pay of these service members will be affected in the same
way that other active duty service members will be impacted.  If this causes
a significant hardship for any of the families of our deployed Guardsmen,
please call our Veterans and Families (J9) Directorate at 1-877-585-5655.

Operations continuing through next week will include the staffing of our
Joint Operations Center, Counter Drug Task Force training with Drug
Enforcement Agency and Military Funeral Honors support to funeral services
of veterans.

State employees of the Washington Military Department will continue to work
per their normal schedules.

Public safety and security through our state and federal mission are the
priority of the Washington National Guard.  Plans and personnel are, and
will be in place to ensure these priorities are met.    

This from KING-5 TV: JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- Did the U.S. military break federal laws by planting an undercover spy among Western Washington anti-war groups? Did local law enforcement accept the volunteer undercover efforts of somebody who just happened to be a civilian employee working in Force Protection at Joint Base Lewis McChord?

Those are two big questions that you may hear asked more often and more loudly in the future as public information requests turn up documents about what that undercover operative reported.
 
Timothy Smith, Chairman of the Tacoma chapter of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, has obtained documentation from the Tacoma Police Department about the activities of John Towery, the undercover plant who was working under the supervision of a Pierce County Sheriff's detective. Those documents show Towery spent several years infiltrating a variety of local anti-war and anarchist groups, focusing mostly on efforts to prevent U.S. military equipment and convoys from moving through ports in Washington, often Olympia and Aberdeen.

Smith says the fact that he has received the detailed information about the undercover operation shows that personal information about protestors, information about individual relationships and the relationships between various anti-war and anti-government groups has been kept and shared by law enforcement agencies.  

To read more, click here. 

Washington, D.C.- The Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee visit Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Saturday.
The bipartisan Congressional Delegation, led by Committee Chairman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.) and Ranking Member Adam Smith(D-Wash.), will meet with I Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, 62nd Airlift Wing Commander Col. Kevin Kilb, and Soldiers and Airmen while on base.
The purpose of the visit is to better understand how the Soldiers and Airmen stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord support the war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as counter current or future threats to America's national security. In addition to visiting Joint BaseLewis-McChord, the delegation intends to travel to the Bangor Naval Submarine Base before returning to Washington, D.C.

Prior to arriving in Washington, the delegation of six Armed Services Committee Members is scheduled to visit several military installations in Chairman McKeon's congressional district, including the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Air Force Plant 42 and the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center.    

This from The News Tribune: A bit of good news for commuters: The morning trip through Joint Base Lewis-McChord has gotten a little easier, at least in one direction.

Anecdotal evidence suggests northbound traffic has stabilized during the mornings since the latter half of 2010, when a crush of traffic caused miles-long backups for residents heading into Pierce County, said Lisa Copeland, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Transportation.

While she was unable to provide detailed traffic counts because of equipment problems, several commuters told The News Tribune they, too, have seen improvements during that period.

A bit more relief is on the way. Ramp meters that DOT is scheduled to have running by Labor Day should further relieve northbound traffic during busy times. And Lewis-McChord started a construction project on one of its secondary gates last week so that drivers have an easier time leaving the base.

Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed 2011-13 budget, however, doesn't include an estimated $6 million needed to pay for a study of long-term improvements on the key 11-mile stretch from the Thurston-Pierce county line to the state Route 512 junction.

To read more from the story, click here.

This from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Her treatments are the main reason Bill Caudle signed up to join the Army on May 13, 2009, his 39th birthday. That decision is the reason he won't be there the next morning when she asks the doctor what comes next.

Still, Michelle is glad to have him home, if only on a four-day pass from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. It is a comfort to have him beside her when the bad news lands.

Another comfort rests in the crook of her arm: her first grandchild, 3-month-old Trevor, son of her oldest daughter, Alysha, 22.

To read the entire story, click here.

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 in a relationship with a civilian woman. She sued, and in September U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton in Tacoma found that her dismissal was unconstitutional because it advanced no legitimate military interest.

He ordered that she be reinstated as soon as possible.

The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Witt, says she flew to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and will attend the ceremony on Wednesday.

Witt says she's excited to be there for all of those who can't be.

She expects to rejoin the Air Force Reserve early next year.

VetsMeetVets is uniting the communities around Tacoma to assist our homeless Veterans survive a rough winter with its 1st annual Homeless Veteran Clothing Drive on Dec. 10 and 11.

Rod Wittmier, an Army Veteran, created VetsMeetVets in 2009 with the mission to end veteran suicide in the nation (currently at 1 every 80 minutes or 18 / day or 6,570 per year).

"We have studied the disconnect that happens to our veterans on the spiral that ends in suicide and are working proactively to stop that spiral," Wittmier said in release. "Recently we joined forces with the VA in its mission to end Veteran Homelessness within five years. VMV Homeless Veteran Liaisons do the outreach to bring our homeless Veterans to the services of shelters and the VA itself."

VetsMeetVets has joined forces with a local movement called "Blankets for Hope" which is an alliance with Insight School of WA, IQ Academy of WA and the Council for the Homeless to create events on Dec 11 to gather items such as blankets, sleeping bags, coats, hats, gloves/mittens, NEW socks and NEW undergarments, small tarps and single-use hand warmers for our homeless.  Alliance partners are working from Bellevue to Vancouver with VetsMeetVets adding a Veteran focus and covering the Tacoma area with two events; Friday Dec 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Tacoma Dome parking area (with the 'Toys for Tots' team) and Saturday Dec 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Tacoma Mall parking area (near Krispy Kreme).

VetsMeetVets welcomes individuals, organizations and community leaders to join them in this great cause.  Together we can be proactive in the lives of our returning heroes to prevent them from disconnecting from their families, communities and life itself.

For more information on events or how to get involved, call (253) 861-7100 or visit www.VetsMeetVets.org.