posted by admin on May 12
TEANECK, N.J. - A 46-year-old combat medic and a 29-year-old man will be serving together in the same National Guard unit in Iraq. Nothing unusual - except they’re mother and son.
Sgt. Carmen Villegas, a 46-year-old combat medic, was transferred two weeks ago to the same Teaneck-based unit as her son, Sgt. Felipe Diaz.
Diaz, a Paterson police officer, said he was given the task of introducing the newest sergeant at the 250th Brigade Support Battalion’s Foxtrot Company.
The two will be among more than 2,800 soldiers of the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team who are heading to Iraq in September.
Villegas worked for eight years as an oncology nurse at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson. She said she had planned to retire from the Guard in June but changed her mind when she heard about the Iraq deployment.
Read the full story here.
posted by admin on Feb 1
Soldiers, who had worked so much in securing peace in the Fahama region in Iraq, had made a great impact as they focused on rebuilding and helping local citizens with several projects. Soldiers from Company D, 1st Platoon, 4th Infantry Division assisted the local school as they brought many supplies for the schoolchildren as well as their families. Soldiers give out pencils, pens, paper, schoolbags and even stuffed toys and snacks.
Not only the local citizens were delighted about the goodwill, but also, soldiers themselves were just as happy. In fact, the scenes remind them of children back home in the United States.
Such small projects are small steps that gain and build trust as well as promote goodwill between the locals and the coalitions.
posted by admin on Jan 23
US Navy Reserve is a good option for just anybody who are interested in military experience. The great thing about it is that it is a part-time commitment, allowing sailors to pursue or continue with a civilian career at the same time receive a military training. Being in the US Navy Reserve does not mean being lesser than an active sailor. Reservists are still at par with Active Duty Sailors.
One of the benefits while being in the US Navy and Navy Reserve is education. Sailors could pursue education either on base or on a campus.
Generally, US Navy promotes its core values which are honor, courage, and commitment.
posted by admin on Jan 3
Getting into the service has certain requirements. Interested patrons should be at least 17 to 34 years old. They should have a high school diploma or equivalent. If married, they should only have less than 2 children. The should have a US citizenship. Resident alien could also qualify under I-551. Applicants also need to pass the ASVAB test or the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. The US Army and Army Reserve also provide many ways to guide or help soldiers who are interested in college education. Thus, some of the applicants qualify for a full tuition coverage.
posted by admin on Dec 30
It an undeniable fact that the US Army and Army Reserve have the best soldiers on the planet. Since 1700, the US Army has been into several missions throughout the world. Army soldiers have defeated America’s opponents, settled foreign issues, and brought relief to third-world countries. The Army together with the Army Reserve is mainly composed of infantry, which also has several support roles. For instance, they are in charge with support vehicles, medical teams, pilots, tanks, artillery, indirect-fire support and other array of specialties that make use of the highest level of technology.
Generally, the US Army offers every soldier with two primary choices: Army Reserve or Active Duty. The Army Reserve is a part-time commitment that enables soldiers to work in the community, and only serve full-time when the service is needed. Thus, it allows soldiers to have a civilian and a military career at the same time. On the other hand, Active Duty is the traditional US Army career basically for full-time commitment.
posted by admin on Nov 18
The US Army as well as the Army Reserve has three major parts: enlisted, warrant officer, and commissioned officer. Generally, US Army are enlisted personnel. They mostly consist of the ranks of Private to Sergeant Major of the US Army. Enlisted soldiers has specialization in a specific department or area of knowledge, and eventually follow the orders of their officers. Warrant officers are the same with commissioned officers, except that warrant officers are knowledgeable in a specific area of expertise. Hence, officers offer leadership to enlisted personnel. Their ranking mostly depend on the unit they are commanding. In becoming a commissioned officer in the US Army: taking ROTC in college or being in the Officer Candidate School.
posted by admin on Oct 31
A research study of Harvard Medical School shows that 1.8 million U.S. Military Veterans are uninsured or do not have health care coverage. The figure defines an increase of 290,000 since 2000. Researchers also said that most of veterans are coming from the middle class. Hence, they cannot qualify for any VA care because of their incomes. Some of them can’t even afford copayments. Also, some places lack VA centers.
One of every eight veterans who are under 65 years old is not insured. This opposes the idea that all veterans are qualified for free health care. The said research is based on the analysis of government surveys in 1988-2005. The study has also noted that VA in January 2003 put a stop on the enrollment of most veterans. The action was to decrease the backlog of patients waiting for health care. In turn, this has caused problems to millions of veterans. Thus, the recommendation of the researchers is to come up with a universal health coverage in the United States.
posted by admin on Oct 31
In New Brunswick, New Jersey, a new treatment facility is scheduled to support female veterans who are victims of sexual assaults. Veterans Administration officials disclosed that sexual assault and harassment cases of female soldiers have increased overtime. The new center will offer treatment to military women who suffer “military sexual trauma.”
The said treatment center is expected to open this coming December. It will be the first of its kind – a residential Veteran Administration center which concentrates on such sexual cases. The establishment of the facility is based on the findings that 20% of female soldiers leaving the military experienced sexual trauma during their service, especially those who served overseas.