Command Sergeant Major James Smith moves from police captain to top NCO at WTB

Trading his bars in for stripes
Smith moves from police captain to top NCO at WTB
Jan. 28, 2012

Warrior Transition Battalion Command Sergeant Major James Smith has risen quickly to the top of two demanding professions at nearly the same time. / Leaf-Chronicle/Philip Grey

Written by
Philip Grey
Leaf-Chronicle

FORT CAMPBELL, KY. — The Command Sergeant Major of the Warrior Transition Battalion on Fort Campbell should be a familiar face to many Clarksvillians.

Just a few months ago, before he traded uniforms and insignia, he was Captain James C. Smith of the Clarksville Police Department.

Now, as the top non-commissioned officer of the WTB, Command Sgt. Major Smith has taken on a job that would seem to be as different from his role at CPD as could be imagined. However, the two jobs do intersect at a few points, which is partly why Smith was chosen by WTB commander Lt. Col. William G. Howard for the important role of overseeing the daily needs of Fort Campbell’s wounded, ill and injured soldiers.
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Interstate 75 crashes kill at least 10 near Gainesville

Interstate 75 crashes kill at least 10 near Gainesville

By David Breen
5:04 p.m. EST, January 29, 2012

Interstate 75 is shut down this afternoon in Alachua County after a series of fatal crashes killed 10 people overnight.

Lt. Patrick Riordan of the Florida Highway Patrol said cars and trucks piled up amid poor visibility from fog and smoke from nearby wildfires. At least 18 people were taken to area hospitals as well.


At least 12 passenger cars and about seven semi-trucks were involved in the crashes, which happened at about 4 a.m. in both northbound and southbound lanes near Mile Marker 379, the FHP said.

FHP spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said it could take days to piece together how many separate accidents took place.
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U.S. Defense Department can't account for billions for Iraq

Where was all the talk about our deficit when all of this was happening? Will the men running for President have to answer that one?

U.S. Defense Department can't account for billions for Iraq, audit finds
By Josh Levs, CNN
January 29, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: The U.S. is keeping Iraq out of the loop on some projects, report says
NEW: The U.S. Embassy in Iraq disagrees with that complaint
The Defense Department can't account for about $2 billion in past spending, report says
The department acknowledges a "records management issue"

(CNN) -- The U.S. Defense Department cannot account for about $2 billion it was given to cover Iraq-related expenses and is not providing Iraq with a complete list of U.S.-funded reconstruction projects, according to two new government audits.

The reports come from the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

The Iraqi government in 2004 gave the Department of Defense access to about $3 billion to pay bills for certain contracts, and the department can only show what happened to about a third of that, the inspector general says in an audit published Friday.

Although the Department of Defense (DoD) had "internal processes and controls" to track payments, the "bulk of the records are missing," the report says, adding that the department is searching for them.

Other documents are missing as well, including monthly reports documenting expenses, the audit says.

"From July 2004 through December 2007, DoD should have provided 42 monthly reports. However, it can locate only the first four reports."

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Some veterans wary of GOP frontrunners’ tough talk on foreign policy

Some veterans wary of GOP frontrunners’ tough talk on foreign policy

By Zac Anderson
Tallahassee bureau
Published: Friday, January 27, 2012

JACKSONVILLE — After spending two tours in Iraq and losing two friends in combat, Army veteran John Fails listens with skepticism to the tough foreign policy talk coming from the GOP presidential frontrunners.

“Every deployment has a cost,” said the 27-year-old, who served in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 and now studies public policy at the University of North Florida.

From covert operations against Cuba to confronting Iran over nuclear weapons, the Republican candidates — with the exception of Rep. Ron Paul — are largely pushing a hawkish approach to conflicts overseas.

In the past, such bellicose talk may have been guaranteed to win over support in this generally conservative region, with a heavy concentration of retired and active duty service members.

But Fails and other veterans interviewed on the campaign trail expressed the weariness of a segment of the population asked to bear the brunt of nearly 10 years of war in two countries, conflicts that killed more than 6,000 American soldiers and cost the country at least $1 trillion.

Florida has 19 military bases — including the Central Command for Iraq and Afghanistan — and more than 1.6 million veterans, so perceptions about who would make the best commander in chief can play a big role in presidential contests. Veterans’ support helped seal Sen. John McCain’s victory in the state’s 2008 Republican primary.
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Marine from Los Angeles is found dead in La Jolla

Marine from Los Angeles is found dead in La Jolla
January 28, 2012

A 20-year-old Marine from Los Angeles has been found dead in the La Jolla section of San Diego, the Marine Corps announced Saturday.

Cpl. Cody Adler was found dead Thursday. No information was released on where his body was found or the cause of death.

He was a small-arms technician assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

Adler's death is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
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Marine robbed and shot in critical condition

Marine critically wounded in Church Hill shooting

By: TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF
Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: January 29, 2012

Richmond police are seeking the public's help in the search for a man who shot and critically wounded a Marine reserve sergeant after a robbery on Church Hill late Friday.

The victim was shot while walking with his girlfriend in the 600 block of North 33rd Street after being approached by a man who displayed a gun and demanded money, police said Saturday.

After the victims complied with the request, the man was shot.

The suspect was described by police as black, about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a skinny build and possibly in his late 20s. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored hoodie with a white-and-black or red bandana covering the lower portion of his face. The bandana possibly had a houndstooth print design, police said.
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N.J. leads the way in combating G.I. suicide

N.J. leads the way in combating G.I. suicide
Jan. 27, 2012

Written by
Gene Racz
Staff Writer

PISCATAWAY — Now that $40 million has been secured in the final 2012 federal budget to support military suicide prevention efforts, some involved in the legislative process are left wondering why it took so long to pass Congress.

Of the funds, $20 million will support suicide prevention efforts for active-duty soldiers and reservists at the Department of Defense, while the other $20 million will support veterans suicide prevention at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Activities funded may include outreach to vulnerable soldiers and veterans through TV, radio and social media, as well as direct suicide intervention efforts.

Part of the legislation, first introduced by Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., in 2010, was originally entitled the “Sergeant Coleman Bean Reserve Component Suicide Prevention Act.” It passed the House of Representatives unanimously twice but was blocked by members of the Senate minority.

The delay was attributed to criticisms regarding the necessity of special programs for part-time soldiers, in addition to a suicide hotline, Vets4Warriors, which is run out of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Piscataway.
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Colorado Springs homicide investigators look for answers after deadliest year ever

Colorado Springs homicide investigators look for answers after deadliest year ever
POSTED: 01/29/2012
By Sara Burnett
The Denver Post

COLORADO SPRINGS — The night was quickly going south.

Just after 8 p.m., a 60-year-old parolee had shot two people — killing one — in an AutoZone parking lot. Less than 20 minutes later, officers on a domestic-violence call shot a 21-year-old who threatened to kill his girlfriend and then pointed a gun at them.

Lt. Kirk Wilson, the man in charge of the Colorado Springs Police Department's homicide unit, was en route to that second shooting when the worst call of the night came in: Three teenagers, two of them brothers, had been shot, apparently victims of road rage.

Two of the young men already were dead. The third would be pronounced dead a short time later, making July 27, 2011, the deadliest night in what would turn out to be the deadliest year in Colorado Springs history.

There were 32 homicides here last year — a 33 percent increase over 2010 and four more than the previous record, set in 2007.

The other major cause for alarm were the deaths of seven children, all 2 years or younger. In each case, police arrested a parent or caregiver.

"We had way too many of those," said 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May, whose district includes Colorado Springs.

Many of those cases involved families with ties to Fort Carson, May said. And most were not families that had prior contact with county human services.

"I think a lot of these are parents who couldn't believe they did this — who never would have seen themselves doing something like this, except for in that one moment," May said.

El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark, a military wife, said many military families face the added stress of deployment or the return of a service member. Because of the transient nature of the population, they may not have the support system they need.
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Biden visits Pendleton's wounded Marines

Biden visits Pendleton's wounded Marines

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Vice President Joe Biden visited with wounded Marines and their families at the Warrior Hope and Care Center at Camp Pendleton Friday, calling this generation of warriors the finest the world has ever seen.
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JBLM: Crowded base posted highs for DUI, misdemeanor crimes in 2011

JBLM: Crowded base posted highs for DUI, misdemeanor crimes in 2011
By Associated Press
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD — With a full base for the first time in a decade and more soldiers stationed here than ever before, Joint Base Lewis-McChord last year recorded new highs for misdemeanor crimes and for offenses involving driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to statistics provided to The News Tribune.

Felonies and domestic violence crimes were up in 2011 compared with the previous year but were down significantly compared with 2008.

The statistics reflect crimes committed on and off base.

The local numbers are not dramatically different than Armywide trends, although the Army last year did see a small decline in total misdemeanor offenses after a six-year high.

Commanders are reluctant to draw conclusions from the local numbers because Lewis-McChord has more active-duty soldiers than it’s had in recent memory. Its 34,000 active-duty soldiers represent 15,000 more service members than were stationed here in 2003.

“We did not see any increase in crime that we do not normally attribute to the increase in population,” Col. Bob Taradash, Lewis-McChord’s top military police officer, said in an interview before his latest deployment to Afghanistan.

However, the consequences of those crimes appear to be increasing, as the military enters a time of reducing its forces and tightens its standards for staying in uniform.

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Recent suicides highlight chronic stress officers face on the job

As much as veterans have hold of my heart, cops come in a very close second. There is a huge difference between the level and type of PTSD military and law enforcement personnel end up with. They do not just respond after the event happens. Their jobs require them to often participate in the event itself. They use weapons. They have to use violence in response to violence. They see others wounded and at the end of the day they wonder if tomorrow will be their day. Considering both professions come with a lot of hatred from too many people, it makes everything harder on them.

Wednesday I was speaking with a Chaplain for the Orlando police. He is a minister, a veteran and ex-motorcycle cop. He said that when a firefighter shows up, everyone is happy to see them but when a cop shows up, no one is happy. It usually means they are in trouble or totally upset because a crime has been committed against them.

The number of exposures to traumatic events add to all the stress they already feel.

Recent suicides highlight chronic stress officers face on the job
BY MAUREEN FEIGHAN THE DETROIT NEWS
JANUARY 29, 2012
Greg O'Dell was a respected law enforcement official and a married father of two when he drove his car to a residential street in Scio Township two days before Christmas last month, got out, and killed himself.

O'Dell, 54, the chief of the Eastern Michigan University Police Department, never told his colleagues he suffered from depression. Now, a month after his death, the department is trying to move forward while struggling to understand why a man who seemed to have it all would take his own life.

"He never let on that he had any issue," said Bob Heighes, Eastern's interim police chief.

In the past month, three men from public safety careers have died of suicide in southeast Michigan. Some public safety officials say it highlights the chronic stress law enforcement officers face and the challenges of persuading them to get help.

On Jan. 6, Daniel Armitage, an Ann Arbor firefighter whose wife had been hospitalized with domestic abuse injuries, lay down in traffic on Interstate 696 and was killed. Three days later, a border patrol agent stationed in Gibraltar killed himself in the parking lot of a Trenton hospital.

Studies show police officers have a higher suicide rate than the public. About 140 to 150 police officers kill themselves each year, or 17 per 100,000, according to Badge of Life, a group of active and retired police officers, medical professionals and surviving families of suicides from the U.S. and Canada. The rate for the general population is 11 per 100,000.

"Police officers are human," said John Violanti, a research associate professor at the University of Buffalo who has studied the suicide rates of police, military personnel and firefighters. "They not only have to put up with life's usual struggles, they also have to put up with this job that exposes them to death, human misery, abused kids. They can't get rid of this baggage and it eats at them."
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80 Wis. soldiers still wait for service benefits for Iraq deployments

80 Wis. soldiers still wait for service benefits

Associated Press
January 28, 2012

OSHKOSH, Wis.— Dozens of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers are still waiting for thousands of dollars owed to them for their service in Iraq.

The delay is due to bureaucratic glitches and clerical errors, the Oshkosh Northwestern reported.

The soldiers, members of the Wisconsin National Guard 1157th Transportation Co., spent much of 2006 and 2007 in Iraq. When they came home they were due extra pay or days of leave for serving multiple deployments, but some never received what was owed to them because of errors in the way the Army computed and paid the benefits.

"It's frustrating," said Richard Vander Sande, one of the roughly 170 guardsmen and women in the unit. "

For some it's the issue of the money. For some it's the principle. If soldiers are owed something, they should be paid."
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Fort Benning soldiers acquitted after facing court-martial

Fort Benning soldiers acquitted after facing court-martial in beatings of ex-soldier and woman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: January 28, 2012

FORT BENNING, Ga. — Two Fort Benning soldiers have been acquitted of assault charges in the beatings of a former soldier and a woman in Columbus.

A military jury in the court-martial of Army Pvt. Nathan Smajda found him not guilty Friday of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily injury in the downtown attacks last April. A second soldier, Pvt. Dillon Fisher, was acquitted by a court-martial panel earlier this month.
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Wilder Marine killed in Afghanistan returned to Idaho

Wilder Marine killed in Afghanistan returned to Idaho
by Justin Corr

KTVB.COM
Posted on January 28, 2012 at 4:47 PM
Updated yesterday at 5:08 PM

BOISE -- After making the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, the remains of a Marine from Wilder are back in Idaho.

Lance Corporal Kenneth Cochran was killed in combat on January 15 -- he was just 20 years old.
Cochran always wanted to be a Marine.

"We grew up hearing stories about my dad, and his time in the service," said Michael Cochran, Kenneth's sister. "So, it was kind of ingrained in us to be awesome and go for your dreams. And Kenny's dream was to become a Marine."
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Arkansas Iraq War vet gets life in prison for killing girlfriend

Arkansas Iraq War vet gets life in prison for killing girlfriend
Published January 28, 2012
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Iraq War veteran who sought acquittal on a capital murder charge in the death of his girlfriend has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

A Pulaski County jury of six men and six women deliberated about 90 minutes Thursday and eight hours on Friday before finding Steven Russell Jr. guilty.

Russell called police in November 2009 and told them had had shot Joy Owen, 24, a North Little Rock High School teacher, to death after an argument at the apartment the two shared, records show. He told officers where to find the gun he used, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in a story for Saturday's editions.

At the time of Owens' death, Russell was on probation for a 2008 domestic battery conviction. Prosecutors alluded to the conviction in Russell's trial, but gave no details. The assault was included in Russell's mental health records and forensic reports submitted to the jury.

Russell's defense team admitted he killed Owens, but blamed the shooting on post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by his war service in the Middle East. Owen served in the Iraq War in 2003.
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