Last week we announced a new club store format was to open at McChord Field. As reporter Melissa Renahan wrote, "The new format will feature a huge, new section of the store entirely dedicated to club packs and other oversized packaged products commonly found in commercial warehouse club stores, such as Costco or Sam's Club. DeCA called the new store format a "Commissary Club."  

The Joint Base Lewis-McChord Public Affair Office forwarded a statement today confirming the official opening date of the Commissary Club at the McChord Field Commissary will be Friday, March 7.

Read our full story on the new Commissary Club here.

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After more than four decades, Vietnam War hero to receive Medal of Honor.

Congress and others in the defense community pushed back on Pentagon plans to cut 120,000 personnel from the active and reserve Army ranks, retire entire fleets of Air Force aircraft and sideline Navy ships.

The Pentagon's proposed 2015 budget includes a surprise proposal to raise health care fees for active-duty family members which, if approved, would mark the first increases in health care costs for those beneficiaries since Tricare was established nearly 20 years ago.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the Pentagon cuts send the wrong signal to the world.

Calling the Air Force's decision to retire the A-10 combat jet a "serious mistake," Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., is pledging to fight the retirement in Congress.

The U.S. Defense Department is proposing limiting troop pay raises, reducing housing allowances and cutting funding for commissary stores because of automatic budget cuts.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey wants feedback from servicemembers on the fiscal year 2015 defense budget request that he and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel outlined to reporters at the Pentagon yesterday.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel made a clear statement that the Air Force plans to invest heavily in new engine technology.

After her second month in office, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James laid out her top three priorities as part of a "state of the Air Force" address.

Lump-sum payouts set for Korea tour extensions.

Army researchers, scientists and engineers are collaborating and sharing to leverage limited resources and discover leap-ahead technologies.?

Navy vet invents the BakBone, a better way to hold an iPad.

What military food ration packs look like around the world.

In memory of Harold Ramis, New Yorkers are leaving Twinkies and flowers in front of the Ghostbusters firehouse.

Good News: Taco Bell is about to start serving breakfast.

Here's a recap of what happened on Seth Meyers' first Late Night.

Fred Armisen's Late Night playlist (on Spotify) is pretty fantastic.

List: Board games that could make great movies.

List: Tech figures portrayed on film versus how they look in real life.

Toy Story: The true identity of Andy's mom makes the movie more epic.

Silicon Valley is gonna be BOSS. Watch        

Marcus Luttrell, the former Navy SEAL whose story is presented in the movie Lone Survivor, is recruiting singers to perform the "National Anthem" at each of the 11 stops on his 2014 Patriot Tour. Contestants are encouraged to submit a video using the entry form on the Patriot Tour Facebook Page using the hashtag #PATRIOTTOUR. The Patriot Tour 2014 schedule includes stops in 11 cities across Arizona, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina. Marcus and his Patriot Tour team will select winners in each of the eleven cities on the tour.

Read more...

Exercise Cobra Gold 2014 - the largest multinational and multiservice exercise in Southeast Asia, which takes places annually throughout the Kingdom of Thailand - concluded Friday. This year's iteration included forces from the U.S., Kingdom of Thailand, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, and several other observer countries.

According to Rech Sgt. Sean Tobin from the 62nd Airlift Wing, aircrews from Joint Base Lewis-McChord participated in the exercise.

The 18-hour flight across the Pacific not only provided an opportunity for C-17 crews to gain experience conducting combined airdrop operations, but also gave them experience executing large-formation air refueling operations.

Read Tobin's full report here.

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The U.S. Defense Department on March 4 will propose a five-year plan that boosts Pentagon spending by a total of $115 billion over sequestration spending caps.

The U.S. Defense Department's latest military strategy review will stress the Pentagon's commitment to the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest force since before World War II.

Obama will announce a new Pentagon and private-sector partnership aimed at beefing up advanced manufacturing technology in the U.S.

Navy develops "world's smallest guided missile."

Army Future: Gen. Robert Cone, commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command says leaner but still mean - if not meaner - is the future of the Army in 2025, and the time to prepare for that future force is now.

Army Future II: Heidi Shyu, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, says to prepare the Army for tomorrow, the seeds must be planted today.

Air Force Future: Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe, as well as U.S. Air Forces Africa, says growing airmen, dealing with organizational change and modernizing the force are key points to preserve airpower advantage.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno visited the Camp Humphreys Military Community today, where he got a firsthand look at many of the transformation initiatives and construction projects currently underway there.

The initiative to ban or bury the independent newspaper Marine Corps Times originated in May 'on a rather tight timeline' at the behest of Gen. Jim Amos, the service's commandant.

Defense Department wants servicemembers to "set a goal, make a plan and save automatically" in the Military Saves Week campaign that starts today.

Medal of Honor winner Staff Sgt. Ty Carter has two words for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder: "Get help."

Let's watch an NFL stadium be destroyed.

Why Apple's recent security flaw is so scary

Sub Pop Records is opening a store at SeaTac International Airport.

Amtrak is offering "residencies" to writers.

Let's watch an NFL stadium be destroyed.

Alec Baldwin wrote a long essay in New York magazine explaining why he's had enough of public life.

Kiss won't play at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

You may think you like beer, but have you spent hours on end discussing the qualities of hops while sampling more than 160 home and commercial microbrews? That's exactly what went down last night when the 2014 JBLM Brewfest consumed the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Club.

Read more...

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A U.S. Army soldier was killed and seven were injured during a training exercise involving a large gun at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Ukraine parliament removes President Viktor Yanukovich, who flees Kiev in “coup.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has signaled that he will seek to protect cyber warfare funding and Special Operations in the Pentagon's 2015 budget.  At the same time his aides are pushing cutbacks in pay and benefits.

U.S. Air Force revealed today the existence of a new set of classified electro-optical satellites - the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program - designed to spot other satellites and space debris.

The requests, known in military parlance as unfunded priority lists, were standard practice until former Defense Secretary Robert Gates began intercepting them from the top brass.

President Barack Obama will award 24 Army veterans the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry during a White House ceremony March 18.

The Department of Defense recently expanded its zero tolerance policy for the use of illicit drugs to include synthetic marijuana, commonly known as "spice."

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Friday afternoon that he will not reopen the Medal of Honor nomination for U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Rafael Peralta. 

There are increasing fears that the F/A-18 Super Hornet's assembly line may be shut down because of dwindling orders, as the Navy prepares for a new generation of warplane - the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Personnel from the U.S. military and Japan Self Defense Forces engaged in the week-long Integrated Air and Missile Defense Wargame V.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his government and U.S. helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft had signed a long-dormant contract to co-produce an initial batch of 109 utility helicopters.

The Obama administration is poised to scale back funding for the U.S. military's most elite forces, which spearheaded the fight against al-Qaida and embodied the Pentagon's rapid post-9/11 budget growth.

Will Cambodia's Phnom Penh be the greeting point for interplanetary visitors to Earth?

How your car is tracking you.

10 musicians you need to know right now.

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon roll out History of Rap Vol. 5.

Trippy ice crystals.

Here's a fun trick for pyros (which is pretty much every human ever).

Are you ready?

It wasn't the big show - the TV telecast of the Winter Olympics hockey match between Canada and the United States. But this version - the Royal Canadian Air Force hockey team versus the NORAD Western Air Defense Sector - had the same opponents. And this Canadian-U.S. hockey match was just as important to the guys skating on the ice.

"It's all about bragging rights," said John Austin, a master sergeant with NORAD. "It's a pretty big deal."

Friday, about the same time the Olympic version was occurring, the local rendition had a similar result. Canada won. In the 20th edition of this annual Joint Base Lewis-McChord hockey shootout, Canada -  home of hockey and winter sports - has dominated the series.

The overlap of the Olympic and JBLM hockey matches was significant to the players.

Read more...

Congratulations to the following airmen who graduated Julius A. Kolb Airman Leadership School last week at McChord Field.

Staff Sgt. Ryan Abel, 627th Civil Engineer Squadron

Staff Sgt. Ramsey Tesch, 62nd Aerial Port Squadron

Senior Airman Manuel Bowden, 62nd Operations Support Squadron

Senior Airman Cleat Cooley, 62nd Aerial Port Squadron

Read more...

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You wake up, tired and groggy, and you can think of only one thing: coffee. But in reality, first thing in the morning isn't the best time to hit the caffeine - and it's science that says so.

The Ukraine peace deal calls for the creation of a national unity government and an early presidential election.

A top spy agency is launching a challenge contest "to advance understanding of human interactions that involve trust and trustworthiness."

Proposals to front-load military compensation with more cash now rather than back-loading it with deferred, in-kind benefits later on are gaining traction with the commission tasked with recommending reforms to the current system.

Wage hike's impact on Department of Defense is far from clear.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the undersecretary of defense for policy to develop a plan to reorganize the department's POW/MIA accounting effort.

The DoD announced the release of its Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy to increase available spectrum in order to meet growing demand from the commercial wireless industry while maintaining critical military capabilities.

Study: Current plans for Afghan security forces risk failure.

The Air Force needs its new long-range strike bomber, even if it can't give details.

Despite being canceled in 2009 by then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, bits and pieces of the U.S. Army's $20 billion Future Combat Systems program keep hanging around.

Germany's defense ministry is planning to reduce its order for Eurofighter jets from 180 to 143.

The new head of the British Army is to be Lt. Gen. Sir Nick Carter.

The "Strategic Broadening Seminars" and the "Army Special Operations Forces Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies Fellowship," begin this summer.

If the U.S. Congress could be symbolized and encapsulated as a single human face, it would be the bland, smudgy, vaguely terrifying visage here.

Check out Eminem, Ice Cube, Korn and Anonymous aligning forces to BLOW YOUR MIND and set off the #WaveOfAction scheduled for 4/4/14.

Dave Holmes rounds up the modern rock hits of 1994.

See Neil Patrick Harris sing in silk pajamas in this new ad/music video.

A breakdown of all the TV pilots that have been ordered for next season.

It was a wise move to sell Girl Scout cookies outside a medical marijuana clinic.

The multi-billion-dollar deals transforming tech, visualized.