Vietnam Veteran Brothers Bond in Heart Now By Body Too

VIETNAM VETERAN PUTS LIFE ON THE LINE FOR ARMY BROTHER
Associated Press
Jennifer Peltz
November 11, 2015

Their connection goes back to March 1968 in Fort Carson, Colorado, where C Company, 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, was training to go to war.

Henry "Bill" Warner, left, and John Middaugh clasp hands prior to their surgeries at
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. (Mark Lennihan)

NEW YORK -- Serving together in Vietnam, John Middaugh and Henry "Bill" Warner forged an Army-brothers bond they knew was profound and lasting.

A world and nearly a half a century away from the war zone where they'd counted on each other, Middaugh put himself on the line for Warner this month in a new way: by giving one of his kidneys.

"He had my back many times," Middaugh said as they awaited surgery last week at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, across the country from his home in Port Orchard, Washington. "So this is payback time."

Both are now 73. Warner, of Brightwaters, New York, had been through a health wringer since his kidneys failed after heart bypass surgery in June 2014, abruptly thrusting him into dialysis.

But "we got through Vietnam. We'll get through this," Warner said.
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Fort Carson Soldiers Among Betrayed

Soldiers with mental health issues dismissed for 'misconduct'
Colorado Public Radio · NPR
Daniel Zwerdling , Michael De Yoanna
Oct 28, 2015

Staff Sgt. Eric James, an Army sniper who served two tours in Iraq, paused before he walked into a psychiatrist's office at Fort Carson, Colo. It was April 3, 2014. James clicked record on his smartphone, and then tucked the phone and his car keys inside his cap as he walked through the door to the chair by the therapist's desk.

As he sat there sharing his fears and telling the therapist he'd been thinking about suicide — all while secretly recording the entire session — James was inadvertently helping to bring a problem within the Army to light: As it tries to deal with thousands of soldiers who misbehave after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and then being diagnosed with mental health disorders and traumatic brain injuries, the military sometimes moves to kick them out of the service rather than provide the treatment they need.

The Army tried to dismiss James in 2013, because he had been stopped for drunken driving two years earlier. This despite pledges by Army commanders and a 2009 congressional edict to make sure such misconduct is not the result of mental issues brought home from the wars.

Saying he wanted evidence to protect himself, James made secret recordings of more than 20 hours of sessions with therapists and officers at Fort Carson. In the recordings, counselors can be heard berating him for suggesting he has serious mental health problems. They try to convince him his experiences in Iraq were not too traumatic — and even seem to ignore him when he talks about wanting to commit suicide.

When Army leaders heard about the recordings, they ordered an investigation. It concluded that James had been mistreated, and two of his therapists were subsequently reprimanded.
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If you doubt this, then read about the reporting done out of Dallas on Warrior Transition Units.

Fort Carson Soldiers Treated Other Than Honorable

Fort Carson soldiers facing other than honorable discharges struggling
The Associated Press
October 25, 2015

Jerrald Jensen breaks down in the garage of his Central City, Colo., home on Sept. 1 while talking about his struggles since he was discharged from the Army two years ago. He is still toothless from a roadside bomb that blew off parts of his face in 2007.
(Photo: Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Two of three Fort Carson soldiers who faced other-than-honorable discharges over the past few years say they still struggle, despite getting federal benefits to help cover medical costs, because the discharge also affects pensions and other benefits earned for service.

Joe Moore, a Maryland lawyer who argues veterans claims cases, said the agency can't change a soldier's military discharge status, but it can go ahead and award benefits.

"(The) VA doesn't like to re-characterize discharges," he said.

Jerrald Jensen and Kash Alvaro said they still struggle despite getting federal benefits to help cover medical costs. Sgt. Paul Sasse, whose case was also reviewed, moved to Washington state and declined to talk.

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, says he is concerned that the Army improperly punished troops suffering from war wounds and is considering legislation that would force the Army to review past discharges for misconduct to determine if the behavior was triggered by their wounds.

"No doubt, there is a disconnect about the nature of the discharge and the ramifications relative to veterans benefits..." Coffman told the Colorado Springs Gazette.
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Fort Carson MOH Says Medal Opportunity to Talk of Lives Lost

Fort Carson Medal of Honor recipient: Medal belongs to those who died
The Gazette
By: Tom Roeder
Updated: October 23, 2015

Capt. Florent "Flo" Groberg says the Medal of Honor that President Barack Obama will hang around his neck Nov. 12 will never truly be his own.

Capt. Florent Groberg watches the Change of Command ceremony for the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team
Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, at the Fort Carson Special Events Center. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)

The retired Fort Carson officer says the medal is really for the four men who died Aug. 8, 2012, after Groberg tackled a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

The Army says Groberg's actions, which left him with severe wounds to his legs, saved the lives of other soldiers and set an example of valor and gallantry that will be honored through history. Groberg, in a telephone interview from the Pentagon, says he was just doing his job for Fort Carson's 4th Brigade Combat Team.

"I don't feel really comfortable with it," he said of America's highest decoration for combat valor. "But it gives me a chance to talk about the four guys that were lost and their families."

Those four are Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, 38, of Conyers, Ga.; Army Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, 35, of West Point, N.Y.; Army Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, 45, of Laramie, Wyo. and State Department worker Ragaei Abdelfattah, 43, of Annapolis, Md.
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Fort Carson Welcomes Home 300 Soliders

Hugs mark happy homecoming for Fort Carson GIs 
The Gazette
By: Tom Roeder
Published: October 21, 2015

U.S. Army Sgt. Ross Graziano is greeted by his wife, Nicole Graziano, after returning home from Kuwait with soldiers from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at the William Reed Special Events Center on Tuesday, October 20, 2015 in Fort Carson, Colorado. Graziano and the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat team were deployed in February 2015 to Kuwait and Iraq to support local operations and multilateral military exercises that extended over thirteen countries in the Southwest Asia region. Photo by Daniel Owen.

Nearly 300 soldiers kicked off a week of homecoming hugs as troops from Fort Carson's 3rd Brigade Combat Team reunited with jubilant family members in a ceremony at the post.

Hundreds more from the 4,400-soldier brigade are due back in Colorado this week as the unit wraps up a nine-month deployment to Kuwait. Since February, the soldiers have trained with troops from 13 Middle East nations.

Many of the soldiers will be busy at home, too.

Sgt. Ross Graziano found himself with his arms full of boys as he greeted his growing family. Hagan is 3, Easton is 2 and Caden is coming up on 2 months.
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Fort Carson On Roster of Contaminated Army Bases

Hundreds of pounds of depleted uranium likely buried at Fort Carson, Army says
The Gazette
By: Tom Roeder
Published: October 18, 2015

The Army says 12,405 acres may have been contaminated during the Davy Crockett days. Fort Carson is joined on the roster by installations in Hawaii, Washington state, Georgia, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and California.

The Davy Crockett weapon in this undated Army photo featured a 51-pound warhead that packed a nuclear punch. To train with the weapon and aim it in combat, troops used a 1-pound spotting round made from depleted uranium. An estimated 1,400 depleted uranium rounds were fired at Fort Carson.

The Cold War legacy of nuclear waste at Fort Carson was quietly exposed in a routine application by the Army for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission permit to leave uranium buried on the post.

Depleted uranium, as much as 600 pounds, is thought to be in the ground at several sites from training shells fired in a 1960s classified program to give soldiers a nuclear- tipped bazooka called the Davy Crockett, according to Army documents. The training rounds were smaller spotting shells to train crews on the use of the atomic weapon without the big boom and a mushroom cloud. The Davy Crockett was never fired in combat.

Since discovering the uranium munitions in Hawaii in 2005, the service has done 10 years of detective work to figure out which bases participated in the testing program.
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Fort Carson 4th Brigade Combat Team Produced 3 Medal of Honor Recipients

3 Medal of Honor recipients from same Fort Carson brigade
The Gazette
By: Ryan Maye Handy
Updated: October 14, 2015

The White House announced on Wednesday that Florent Groberg, formerly of the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, is the third Fort Carson soldier from the unit to receive the Army's highest award, the Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor recipient Clint Romesha pulls his medal out of his jeans pocket before meeting with soldiers Wednesday, January 28, 2015 at Fort Carson. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette

Former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha and former Staff Sgt. Ty Carter received the award in 2013 in recognition for their bravery during a deadly fight in a remote area Afghanistan in 2009. Groberg was honored for his actions in a August 2012 suicide bombing attack.
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Daughter Couldn't Wait to Hug Fort Carson Dad

Video Of Girl Hugging Military Dad Goes Viral 
ABC News 9
October 8, 2015

Fort Carson, Colorado (KKTV) -- 'She was excited. She spotted me from a couple rows back and she couldn’t contain herself. I wasn’t gonna tell her no."

In a day filled with joy and emotion, Daniel Oglesby's little girl stole the show when she broke away from the crowd and raced towards her daddy.

It was the first time father and daughter had seen each other in eight months, and despite still being in formation, Oglesby didn't hesitate to give her a hug.

The crowd gave the pair applause while they waited to reunite with their returning soldiers.

Three hundred soldiers from Fort Carson's 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division returned home Tuesday from southwest Asia. The first group returned home at 6 a.m., and the other Tuesday afternoon.
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Fort Carson Soldier Died in Training Accident

Fort Carson soldier dies after California Stryker training crash 
The soldier was a member of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team
The Denver Post
By Jesse Paul
09/30/2015

A Fort Carson soldier died Wednesday after a California training accident last week, Army officials said, becoming the second GI from the Mountain Post to die in a Stryker armored-vehicle crash this year.

The soldier, a member of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, was injured Sept. 24 in a Stryker rollover crash at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif.

Fort Carson officials say the soldier was taken to Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, Calif., for treatment before his death.
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UPDATE
Fort Carson ID's soldier killed in California Stryker training crash
Staff Sgt. Christopher Popham was assigned to the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and was injured in a Stryker rollover during training Sept. 24.

Fatal Motorcycle Crash Claims Life of Fort Carson Soldier

Fort Carson soldier ID'd as victim of fatal motorcycle crash
The Gazette
By: Chhun Sun
September 30, 2015

The man who died in a weekend motorcycle crash in Fremont County was identified Wednesday as a Fort Carson soldier, officials said.

Spc. Rafael Munoz Baez, 44, was traveling north on Colorado Highway 9 when he lost control of his 2005 Buell XB12S motorcycle while going around a curve near mile marker 5, Colorado State Patrol said. The motorcycle went down an embankment, where Munoz-Baez was thrown from the bike and suffered fatal injuries. He was wearing a helmet, State Patrol said. read more here

Veteran MP Receives Soldier's Medal 42 Years After Heroic Act

Former staff sergeant receives Soldier’s Medal 
Fort Carson Mountanieer
By Staff Sgt. Diandra J. Harrell
4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

DENVER — Family, friends, police officers and Service members gathered Sept. 22, 2015, in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1 to watch former Staff Sgt. Joseph Gilmore Jr. formally receive the Soldier’s Medal, the highest honor a Soldier can receive for an act of valor in a noncombat event.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette, 1st Congressional District of Colorado, presents former Staff Sgt. Joseph Gilmore Jr. the Soldier’s Medal at the Denver Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1 Sept. 22, 2015.
(Photo by Staff Sgt. Diandra J. Harrell)

Congresswoman Diana DeGette, 1st Congressional District of Colorado, and Retired Col. Aaron Tucker presented the former 4th Infantry Division military policeman with the medal for his actions during a fire on Fort Carson 42 years ago.

Gilmore, an Aurora native, now retired attorney, repeatedly entered a burning building Feb. 20, 1973, to save its contents.

“I knew what was in the building, which were artillery weapons,” Gilmore explained. “I did not know if they were loaded with ammunition, but I did know that they were loaded with fuel. If that fire would have torched off one of those weapons systems, it would have been catastrophic.”
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2 Fort Carson Soldiers Injured After Black Hawk Helicopter Hard Landing

2 Soldiers Injured after Black Hawk Helicopter Hard Landing 
Associated Press
Sep 03, 2015

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Fort Carson says a Black Hawk helicopter landed hard in a suburban Denver forest in Douglas County, injuring two soldiers onboard.

The military says it's investigating how the accident happened about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on U.S. Forest Service land. Officials say four soldiers were in the helicopter during a routine training mission. Fort Carson spokeswoman Danny Johnson described the incident as a hard landing.

The military said in a news conference that the injuries are not life-threatening. read more here

Hidden Recorder Reveals Soldier's Special Needs Child Mistreated At School

"Shocking’ discovery"
KILLEEN DAILY HERALD
BY LAUREN DODD AND CLAY THORP
August 16, 2015

Editor's Note In the wake of a critical report by the Texas Education Agency, the Herald is looking into practices and procedures of the Killeen Independent School District’s Special Education Department. This is the first part of the investigative series.

A Killeen mother is calling for transparency in special-needs classrooms after a case of mother’s intuition led her to uncover “shocking” treatment of special-needs children in her son’s life skills classroom at Iduma Elementary School in the spring.

After witnessing one life skills teacher lose her temper with a child during a field trip, Laura Thomas said she was left with an awful feeling.

“I saw this teacher and aides act terribly to these children. After seeing her yell at a kid who spilled popcorn, I thought this isn’t right and had a really bad feeling.

“That’s when my friend suggested I send a recorder (to school), because you never know how bad it is when you’re not around,” Thomas said. “I’m so glad I did, because I was mortified.”

In March 2014, Thomas and her family moved to Killeen from Colorado Springs, Colo., where they were stationed at Fort Carson. Thomas’ son, a now 6-year-old special-needs student at Iduma Elementary, suffers from a rare condition, schizencephaly, in which he is missing a large portion of the right side of his brain. He is nonverbal but typically has a very pleasant demeanor, Thomas said.
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Fort Carson Colonel Faces Trial in Child Porn Case

Is disobeying orders the same as committing a crime?

Any violation of federal child pornography law is a serious crime, and convicted offenders face severe statutory penalties. For example, a first time offender convicted of producing child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2251, face fines and a statutory minimum of 15 years to 30 years maximum in prison. A first time offender convicted of transporting child pornography in interstate or foreign commerce under 18 U.S.C. § 2252, faces fines and a statutory minimum of 5 years to 20 years maximum in prison. Convicted offenders may face harsher penalties if the offender has prior convictions or if the child pornography offense occurred in aggravated situations defined as (i) the images are violent, sadistic, or masochistic in nature, (ii) the minor was sexually abused, or (iii) the offender has prior convictions for child sexual exploitation. In these circumstances, a convicted offender may face up to life imprisonment.

Fort Carson colonel face trial in child porn case has long military history
The Gazette
By Tom Roeder
August 14, 2015

Court papers say during a three-week period starting in September 2013, O'Mahoney used a computer at an airbase in southwestern Afghanistan for a number of Internet searches, including some querying Russian websites, that raised red flags.

A Fort Carson colonel will face court-martial next month on allegations that he viewed child pornography on his computer while serving in Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Patrick O'Mahoney, assigned to the 4th Infantry Division's headquarters battalion, is also charged with failing to obey orders for the 2013 incident in Afghanistan. An Army reservist who has spent 30 years in uniform, O'Mahoney was recalled to active duty to face the charges, Fort Carson said.

O'Mahoney is accused of attempting to view child pornography, viewing pornography on a government computer and using a computer to search and view child erotica and child pornography, Fort Carson said Thursday. read more here

Soldiers and Families Warned to Be Careful Online

FBI issues alert about 'Middle-Eastern males' approaching military families in Colorado, Wyoming
KRDO News
Chris Loveless, Digital Content Director
Aug 05, 2015

FORT CARSON, Colo.
Fort Carson responded Wednesday to an alert the FBI sent to law enforcement about Middle-Eastern men approaching and questioning military families in northern Colorado and Wyoming.

The alert, which you can read here, says that in May of this year, the wife of a US military member was approached in front of her home in Greeley by two Middle-Eastern men. It says the men said she was the wife of a US interrogator, which she denied. It says the men laughed and then got into a dark-colored sedan with two other Middle-Eastern men inside. The alert says the woman had seen the car in the neighborhood before.

The report also says that several similar incidents have been reported in Wyoming. It says the men in those cases tried to obtain personal information about military members through intimidation and that some family members have reported feeling scared. The FBI declined to comment on the alert when contacted by KRDO NewsChannel 13.

Fort Carson released the following statement in response to media requests for information about the alert:

"We are not aware of any specific threats to Fort Carson Soldiers, Family members or civilians.

However, we take seriously the protection of our community and ask that individuals be extra vigilant for any signs of suspicious activities. Fort Carson does not discuss its specific security measures; however, Soldiers and their families are continually reminded through various means to always keep security in mind and be careful about what they talk about in public and online through email and social media sites. To report suspicious activity at Fort Carson, you can call the military police desk at 719-526-2333 or 911."
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Colorado Retailer Charged With Scamming Military Families

Colorado Says Retailer Scams Military Families 
Courthouse News Service
By EMMA GANNON
July 20, 2015

DENVER (CN) - USA Discounters Ltd. preys on servicemembers and their families, charging them excessive interest and inappropriate fees on credit transactions, Colorado's attorney general says.

Attorney General Cynthia Coffman sued the company, which is also known as USA Living and Fletcher's Jewelers, last week in Denver District Court.

In her complaint, Coffman says the defendants often locate their stores near large military bases, like Peterson Air Force Base and Fort Carson Army Base, both of which are in Colorado Springs and extend credit to military families. However, once the families begin to rely on that credit to make purchases, they are charged exorbitant fees and abnormally high late penalties, and offered extensions on credit accounts that have been closed.
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Missing Fort Carson Soldier Found Safe

OHS Grad Missing from Army Found Safe 
Only Oswego
Steven Jack
Jun 29, 2015

SPC Danny Domres, the Oswego High School graduate, who was reported AWOL in May from Fort Carson, Colorado, has been found.

According to the Missing Warrior Alert Facebook page, Domres turned himself into Fort Carson officials late Sunday evening.

"We have worked hard to find him: the volunteers, the private Investigators, our family. We will NEVER give up on him," Danny's father Tom Domres said in a Facebook post from early Monday morning.

Danny, a 2012 graduate of Oswego High School, had been considered AWOL from Fort Carson, since Monday, May 11, when he apparently walked off the base after an alcohol test. Danny may be suffering from post traumatic stress disordered after serving for nine months in Afghanistan in late 2012 and early 2013. read more here

Fort Carson Soldier From Georgia Died in Kuwait

Department of Defense 
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No: NR-236-15
June 14, 2015
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. Pfc. Monterrious T. Daniel, 19, of Griffin, Georgia, died June 12 in Camp Buehring, Kuwait, in a non-combat related incident.

He was assigned to 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 43rd Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

Fort Carson Soldier To Stand Trial For Death of Spc. Adrian Perkins

Soldier faces court-martial in soldier's shooting death 
Associated Press
June 15, 2015

FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) - A Fort Carson soldier faces a military trial on charges of killing another soldier while they were deployed in Jordan.

The court-martial for Spc. Jeffery T. Page is scheduled to start Monday.

Page faces three counts of murder in the May 2014 shooting death of 19-year-old Spc. Adrian M. Perkins. If convicted, he could face life in prison. read more here

Family Searching for Missing Fort Carson Soldier

Family asks for help in search for AWOL soldier 
KRDO News
Greg Miller, Multimedia Journalist
May 22, 2015

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
A Chicago-area father is in Colorado Springs, desperately searching for his son.

Pvt. Daniel Domres is listed as AWOL from Fort Carson. His family is afraid his disappearance may be the result of a form of PTSD. And they're not the only ones with that concern.

“Just something happened, I don't know what it is” said Tom Domres, Daniel’s father. “I made a promise, said if something bad happens, I'd find him... that's why I'm here.”

Domres was stationed at Fort Carson after his nine-month tour in Afghanistan ended last year.

During his training and initial tour, he had a spotless record.

“He got along with leadership extremely well. They asked him to go Ranger 12 times asked him to go sniper scout,” Tom Domres said.

But then he deployed and the 20-year-old started acting differently.

“He withdrew from the guys in the unit,” he said. “He spent some time alone, there were a couple of incidents and I think he made some bad choices.”
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