Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: 'Veterans' (101) Currently Viewing: 51 - 60 of 101

June 21, 2014 at 7:48am

Saturday Morning Joe: House OKs defense dollars, inside ISIS, when drones crash, tobacco ban, lego firewalk ...

Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, throw coffees during the Urban Operations portion of the 2010 Best Warrior Competition at Fort Benning, Ga. Original photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.21.14 >>>

The House approved a $570 billion defense spending proposal on Friday that would save the A-10 aircraft fleet, prohibit another base closure round and reject most of the Pentagon's planned pay and benefits trims.

Sunni fighters seized a border post on the Iraq-Syria frontier, smashing a line drawn by colonial powers almost a century ago and potentially creating an Islamic Caliphate from the Mediterranean Sea to Iran.

Jihadists in Iraq captured a key Hussein-era factory for chemical weapons, but Washington downplayed the site's significance.

Behind the image of savagery that the extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria present lies a sophisticated organization that deftly employs social media and financial strategies.

How Iran and America can beat ISIS together.

Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky has announced the Czech Republic is in talks to sell Russian-built Mil Mi-24 helicopters to the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

The Iraqi security forces were always America'sticket out of Iraq, so after many early disappointments, U.S. military leaders built the forces in their own image.

Pro-Russian separatists attacked Ukrainian posts on the border with Russia and a military base, and tried to storm an air force base overnight, putting a Ukrainian unilateral ceasefire under pressure.

Troops, vets campaign to award the Medal of Honor to fallen Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe.

More than 400 large U.S. military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world since 2001, a record of calamity that exposes the potential dangers of throwing open American skies to drone traffic, according to a year-long Washington Post investigation.

Obama: Post-9/11 GI Bill keeps promise to newest vets.

A forcewide review of tobacco that could result in new restrictions on the sale and use of cigarettes is drawing some skepticism from the Defense Department's top officer.

27 high-tension photos of NATO jets intercepting Russian warplanes.

Facebook Pokes: Creepy or funny?

How the hell did Lady Gaga think her "Do Want U Want" video was OK?

America's Euro boyfriend, Benedict Cumberbatch, will teach us foolish colonists all about soccer.

LucasFilm is in talks with Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick, Breaking Bad) to write and direct Star Wars" Episode VIII and IX.

Can you survive the Lego firewalk?

It's Saturday!

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy

June 14, 2014 at 7:56am

Saturday Morning Joe: Army 239th birthday, troop plane down, US vs. Sunni Islamists, web series, Led Zepp doc ...

Navy Embedded Training Team 3-205th Garrison throws coffee during weapons familiarization training. Original photo by Chief Petty officer David Votroubek

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.14.14 >>>

Kicking off observances for the Army 239th birthday, Army leaders paid tribute to the service's first commander-in-chief, and presented Purple Hearts to two Soldiers.

Pro-Russian separatists shot down an army transport plane in east Ukraine, killing 49 servicemen and dealing a blow to a military campaign to defeat the rebels and hold the country together. 

A Sunni Islamist offensive threatening to dismember Iraq seemed to slow today after days of lightning advances as government forces reported regaining territory in counter-attacks, easing pressure on Baghdad's Shi'ite-led government.

Iraqis answering top Shiite cleric's rare call to arms.

President Obama said Friday he is considering military action in Iraq, but will not deploy U.S. troops there.

On Iraq, President Obama has chosen the tough-love option. Here is a list of other options he can use.

Pros and cons of drone strikes in Iraq.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl "looked good" after arriving back in the United States and is working daily with health professionals after being held by the Taliban for five years in Afghanistan.

Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson promised VA employees that whistleblowers will not face harassment or punishment for reporting misbehavior in the department.

Sen. Tom Coburn will release an oversight report next week exposing shortcomings at the VA.

Navy test pilots are conducting shore landings of the carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter to get ready for an at-sea landing later this year.

The request for proposal on the US Air Force's long range strike-bomber program will be issued soon.

The entrance to hell is in the center of Asia and it's terrifying.

How to stop Facebook from using your browsing history.

Bill Murray's hilarious costumes in Late Show with David Letterman.

Steve Buscemi's Park Bench Web series features Fred Armisen, Dick Cavett, Debbie Harry and others this week.

Chef Mario Batali delivers another delicious Web series (this time, for Hulu) featuring George Stephanopoulos, and look for Jimmy Fallon and Anthony Bourdain on upcoming installments.

Jeff Krulik's doc Led Zeppelin Played Here, which tries to find out if the rock legends really played a school gymnasium in 1969.

Here's Ice Cube saying "nice things" in an extremely angry way. ...

LINK: Original photo by Chief Petty officer David Votroubek

June 13, 2014 at 7:09am

Friday Morning Joe: New Iraq War, NORAD scrambles jets, Bergdahl in US, Amazon streams music ...

Ensign David Gayle fires a coffee from a M203 launcher while Chief Master-at-Arms Lawrence Klein supervises on the fantail aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) during a small coffee qualification. Original photo by Mass Communication Spe

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.13.14 >>>

NORAD scrambled two F-22 Raptor and two F-15 Eagle fighters against a fleet of Russian bombers.

Al-Qaida-inspired militants who seized large swaths of Iraq's Sunni heartland this week have pushed into an ethnically mixed province northeast of Baghdad, capturing two towns there.

The Iraq government reportedly requested U.S. air strikes to target some regions housing extremists last month, but the Obama administration has so far declined.

Welcome to the New Iraq War: A few good options for the US.

The Big Burn: The Sunni-Shiite conflict explodes in Iraq.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl touched down in the United States this morning in San Antonio, Texas, five years after being captured by Taliban forces. 

From Afghan sell-off to Pacific build-up: The strategy of logistics.

A new bill has been introduced in Congress that aims to offer relief to veterans that have had to pay for emergency health services.

Should the GOP win control of the US Senate, a window will open for lawmakers and the Obama White House to take one more shot at a sequester-killing fiscal deal.

The real five best fighter aircraft of all time.

The 600,000 asteroids we've discovered so far in one scary view.

Scientists have discovered evidence that all Earth may be hiding huge amounts of water - three times the volume of all our oceans combined.

In very bad news, a superbug resistant to last-resort antibiotics was found in imported squid.

Amazon has launched a streaming music service.

Harrison Ford was injured on the set of Star Wars.

Watch the trailer for the new Seth Rogen/James Franco movie, The Interview.

Really? A Cameron Crowe TV series?

Genius!

LINK: Original photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Billy Ho

June 12, 2014 at 12:03pm

Veterans Resource Fair coming to the Tacoma Dome

Pointing the way to the Tacoma Dome ... Photo courtesy of Facebook

The first annual Veterans Resource Fair at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, June 21. The day will offer services, resources and varying employment and education opportunities to area veterans and their families.

"I knew there was plenty of resources but it was a matter of publicizing them and gathering them at one time, in one place," said event organizer Alfredo "Tito" Medina, a Navy veteran who has spent decades working with fellow veterans.

The Veteran Resource Fair is a community partnership between various veteran-owned agencies, individuals, nonprofits, federal, state and local county agencies whose aim is to provide a reliable event where Pierce, King, Kitsap and Thurston County veterans and their families can obtain information on various programs and resources.

Read more...

June 12, 2014 at 7:13am

Thursday Morning Joe: Fixing the VA, al-Qaeda returns, drones hit Taliban, Army laser, exercises at JBLM, world's biggest TV ...

Company G, 427th Brigade Support Battalion tosses a coffee during pre-mobilization. Original photo courtesy of the New York National Guard

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 5.12.14 >>>

U.S. drones fired missiles at Taliban hideouts in Pakistan killing at least 10 militants in response to a deadly attack on Karachi airport in the first such raids by unmanned CIA aircraft in six months.

On brink of disintegration: Another city falls in Iraq.

The al-Qaida-inspired group that led the charge in capturing two key Sunni-dominated cities in Iraq this week vowed to march on to Baghdad.

The return of al-Qaeda.

The Senate passed a bill Wednesday night that would allow appropriators to begin work on the 2015 Intelligence Appropriations bill.

The Veterans Affairs Department is, by many accounts, broken, and Congress has a lot of ideas to fix it.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed emergency legislation on Veterans Affairs Department health visits and administrator accountability, paving the way for the reforms to become law in a matter of days.

The House adopted an amendment to allow veterans to apply for food stamps while their disability claims are pending with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

After two overwhelming votes in two days, members of Congress say they are confident they can agree on a bill to improve veterans' health care and send it to the president's desk by the end of the month.

US House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor's stunning primary defeat is a huge blow to the US defense sector, and could allow an up-and-coming GOP deficit hawk to replace Cantor, or even become House speaker.

Hagel testified before lawmakers, answering anger-laced questions about the negotiated release of Bowe Bergdahl.

The House Appropriations Committee approved funding for 38 of the fifth-generation fighters - four more than the Defense Department requested.

How the Army should pivot to Asia.

The Air Force just copped to its secret stealth drone.

Program offers partially paid break from Army.

Army develops first-of-its-kind phase-coherent fiber laser array system.

Networking brings international training to JBLM.

A 3,000 gallons per minute reverse osmosis water purification unit and two 3,000 gallon water bags were used in support of the Quartermaster Liquid Logistic Exercise at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

NASA's real life Enterprise may take us to other star systems one day.

How a 3,000-car race would look if the Earth was the Moon.

The world's biggest TV can be yours for $1.7 million.

A new documentary tells the story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Finally: Puff Daddy/Diddy/Sean Combs released a music video inspired by Game of Thrones.

Be careful when you fry a drone over a beach in Connecticut. ...

LINK: Original photo courtesy of the New York National Guard

June 10, 2014 at 11:11am

Olympia VFW Post 318 hosts Flag Day dinner

On Flag Day the Olympia VFW Post 318 will host a fundraising dinner to raise money for building repairs.

On Flag Day the Olympia VFW Post 318 will host a fundraising dinner and also offer a patriotic service to the surrounding community.

The dinner will start at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 14 and conclude around 7 p.m. The menu that afternoon will feature steamer clams and spaghetti, not to mention oyster stew and oysters on the half shell for just $13 per person. There will be bottled non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase and a full cash bar will also be open.

All of the proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward building repairs at the post and then any additional funds will be part of the veteran service organization's monthly donations to the USO.

In honor of Flag Day, Post 318 will also be taking in any damaged flags, which are considered no longer fit to serve as a symbol of the country, so that they can be properly disposed by burning in a dignified ceremony.

Read more...

June 10, 2014 at 7:08am

Tuesday Morning Joe: U.S. Special Ops soldiers killed, Taliban vows war, Islamic militants push, VA investigates, Goodnight Darth Vader ...

Spouses of U.S. Army soldiers with the 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, throw coffees at Rose Barracks, Grafenwoehr, Bavaria, Germany. Original photo by Spc. Joshua Edwards

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.10.2014 >>>

Five American Special Operations service members were killed in southern Afghanistan.

More violence erupts near Pakistan's busiest airport, Taliban vows full-out war.

Islamic militants overran parts of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, today, driving security forces from their posts and seizing the provincial government headquarters, security bases and other key buildings.

A Navy ship with Marines aboard became a rescue craft in the Mediterranean, coming to the aid of passengers aboard a sinking boat.

The Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general is investigating 69 medical facilities for manipulation of appointment wait times and has contacted the Justice Department in cases where staff has found evidence of potential criminal or civil wrongdoing.

Developments over the past couple of weeks have led analysts to expect "a wave of attacks" by the Pakistani Taliban, of which the assault on the airport in Karachi from Sunday night into Monday appears to be the first.

The House Armed Services Committee will investigate the Obama administration's swap of an American prisoner held for five years for five Taliban leaders that caused a political firestorm over the lack of congressional notification and fears the high-level Taliban could return to the Afghanistan battlefield.

NATO launched one of its largest military maneuvers in the Baltic states since tensions spiked with neighboring Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

America's ultimate strategy in a clash with China.

Chinese weapons that worry the Pentagon.

Army kicks off first-of-many 239th birthday events.

Army-licensed action figures, minus the firepower, target preschoolers.

The interior of the VG-22 Osprey could have been used in Aliens.

Guy jumps from speeding truck into 328-foot-deep gorge.

The masterful 360-degree long shot in Sunday's Game of Thrones.

Watch the trailer for Jeffrey Brown's new book, Goodnight Darth Vader.

Watch Arcade Fire cover Echo and the Bunnymen's The Cutter - with Ian McCulloch.

What?: Will The Kinks reunite?

Hear Morrissey perform a new song.

List: Movies that were shelved for years before they were released.

Finally: Ghostbusters infographic.

Getting excited for the World Cup? The whole world is! So much so that they're doing ridiculous things like playing soccer with flaming coconuts that basically shoot out flames whenever they kick it around. Oh and they're doing all that kicking barefoot.

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Joshua Edwards

June 9, 2014 at 7:07am

Monday Morning Joe: Pakistani Taliban attack, 10 VA conclusions, Clinton vs Benghazi, "Baby Got Back" symphony ...

An Afghan soldier throws a coffee during a react-to-fire training exercise in Kabul province. The coffee will provide concealment while his squad moves forward to the objective. Original photo by Spc. Ryan DeBooy

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.9.14 >>>

Pakistani Taliban Attacks Karachi Airport: Militants armed with grenades and assault weapons dressed as security guards, killing 18 people in a retaliatory siege that lasted more than five hours.

Top 10 conclusions about the VA crisis.

U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told people treating him at an American military medical facility in Germany that he was tortured, beaten and held in a cage by his Taliban captors in Afghanistan after he tried to escape.

Hillary Clinton says she gave "very direct instructions" to security experts during the 2012 Benghazi attack in an effort to secure the U.S. mission.

U.S. sends stealth bombers to Europe.

House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) said acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson is "doing a great job."

Supporting the troops does not start when they return from war.

Army continues the rapid development of the cutting-edge boost-glide Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) missile program.

The Chinese engineer who helped Tehran develop its ballistic missiles is one of America's most wanted, with a $5 million reward on his head.

Why no female Blue Angels pilots?

Unmanned intel app could keep small units informed.

A computer has successfully managed to fool a bunch of researchers into thinking that it was a 13-year-old boy named Eugene Goostman.

Amazon has a new best-selling author list that's updated hourly.

Another day, another Ant-Man director ...

List: Best '90s soundtrack albums

List: Twenty-one Things You Might Not Know About Gremlins

Watch Sir Mix-A-Lot perform Baby Got Back with the Seattle symphony.

George Strait has broken the Rolling Stones' record for concert attendance.

Nice: The drummer for Weezercaught a Frisbee during a show - and never stopped playing!

Teen invents footwear that will charge your phone as you walk.

In our thoughts ...


Astronaut Jones by djgreenuts

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Ryan DeBooy

June 6, 2014 at 7:20am

Friday Morning Joe: Remembering D-Day, N. Korea jails Americans, war's elite tough guys, chocolate drones ...

Task Force Raptor (3-124) launches a coffee from the kneeling position. The task force polishes its basic skills as part of its premobilization training at Camp Swift. Original photo by Staff Sgt. Malcolm McClendon

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.6.14 >>>

Hero student tackle gunman, saves Seattle Pacific University students.

Department of Defense observes the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Veterans from the 29th Infantry Division returned to the shores of Omaha Beach at dawn today after 70 years - this time the storms replaced by a bright sun and their mission of war giving way to a desire to remember their fallen comrades.

Congress appears poised to adopt new legislation making it easier for veterans to get private medical care and harder for underperforming administrators to keep their jobs.

North Korea said it had detained an American tourist for violating its laws after entering the secretive state in April, bringing the number of U.S. citizens held by Pyongyang to three.

A small team of American military advisers will soon head to Ukraine to assess that embattled nation's "mid- and long-term needs for defense reform."

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers wants French President François Hollande to halt the sale of two warships to Moscow, warning the vessels could be used to invade other European nations.

The Pentagon released its annual assessment of Chinese military power, and the 96-page report paints a picture of China's broad-based efforts to modernize and expand its military forces.

War's elite tough guys, hesitant to seek healing.

Why turbulence happens, and why it's not so scary after all.

Yes, it's a chocolate drone.

Top Gun is actually dumb.

Coca-Cola has created 16 caps that turn its bottles into useful objects.

Watch the Afghan Whigs perform on Letterman after an 18-year gap.

Courtney Love wants her own breed of roses.

Watch the trailer for You Are Here, which stars Zach Galifianakis, Amy Poehler and Owen Wilson.

More live than you'll ever be ...

LINK: Original photo by Staff Sgt. Malcolm McClendon

June 5, 2014 at 7:13am

Thursday Morning Joe: US jets crash, Afghanistan withdrawal, war zone deserters club, Tom Cruise hair quiz ...

2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, throws a coffee during the Traffic Control Point Lane of Expert Infantry Badge testing at Fort Irwin, Calif. Original photo by Sgt. Giancario Casem

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.5.14 >>>

A Navy jet crashed into the sea as it prepared to make a late-night landing on an aircraft carrier, but the pilot ejected and was listed in stable condition.

A Marine jet crashed into a residential area and destroyed two homes in a Southern California desert community Wednesday, but no one was injured.

Criticism over troop withdrawal emerges from beyond G.O.P.

The top Afghanistan war commander, Gen. Joseph Dunford, said he is confident that NATO members will contribute at least 4,000 additional conventional military forces to the post-war mission in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military said about 1,800 of the nearly 10,000 U.S. troops the U.S. plans to leave in Afghanistan at the end of the year would be conducting counterterror operations.

The top man reportedly being considered to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs was recently quoted criticizing the administration's signature healthcare law.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has introduced a bill that would allow veterans to sue Department of Veterans Affairs employees who have falsified medical records.

The top U.S. military official in South Korea said a hacking incident might have compromised the personal information of thousands of South Koreans employed by the American command.

The bizarre club of war zone deserters.

A rare look inside the Air Force's drone training classroom.

The End of An era: 376th Air Expeditionary Wing inactivation ceremony.

The small Idaho hometown of released captive Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has canceled plans for a celebration later this month.

Sgt. Bergdahl could be entitled to about $300,000 in back pay and special compensation following his release as a prisoner.

The last of the 29 Navajos who developed an unbreakable code that helped win World War II has died.

Hidden tricks and features that are going to make iOS 8 a powerhouse.

The most amazing infinity pool ever seen.

Watch Jack White's new music video.

Vanity Fair has a piece about the making of Ghostbusters.

The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting roundtable with Chuck Lorre, Mike Judge, Jenni Konner, Mike Schur, Armando Ianucci and Marc Maron about what it's like to run a TV comedy.

Finally: Tom Cruise hair quiz.

Are you better than Don Draper from Mad Men?

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. Giancario Casem

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News and entertainment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s most awesome weekly newspapers - The Ranger, Northwest Airlifter and Weekly Volcano.

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