Toby Keith at FOB Bermel

Bouhammer says he's the man, and boy is he right. FOB Bermel is only 11 kilometers from the Pakistan border.

Let that sink in for a minute, and then head over to Bouhammer's to see a photo of Toby with our friends of the Vampire Team.

Ooohh!!! More pics at Vampire 6's blog.

Photo of the Day

Do something nice for a Soldier today :-)

DJ Emery and Homes for Our Troops

Remember our Hero DJ Emery?

Here's the latest from his friends Jamie and Terra:

I hope that you are all doing well. I know it’s been a while since we’ve asked for help or support for our hero, but there has been a new flurry of activity in the Emery camp recently!

An incredible organization, “Homes for our Troops” is building an ADAPTIVE home for DJ! This is a wonderful organization and an incredible opportunity for DJ and Carlee! Since 2004 this nonprofit organization has built 40 specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans who have returned from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. These homes, and DJ’s home, will be built at NO COST to the veteran, but only with our help!!!! Homes for our Troops is looking for foundation grants, corporate sponsors and volunteers to make this project possible! Fundraisers are also needed!

DJ’s dream has been to build a home for himself and Carlee that includes a therapy room and is fully accessible to him, I am so excited that this dream of his is coming true! Below is the link to DJ’s page on the Homes for our Troops website where you can donate or sign up to volunteer.

There will also be a registration day for interested trades-people and volunteers to sign up to help build the home for DJ from 1-8 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday 5/7/09) at the Ramada Conference Center at 1450 S. Atherton St. in State College. There will also be a presentation given at 6:30 by project manager Rick Goyette. DJ will be participating in the presentation!

Please, please, PLEASE pass this email along to anyone and EVERYONE you know. It is going to take A LOT of wonderful people stepping forward to make this the success that DJ deserves!!!!

As always, thank you all so much for all of your help and support!!!!

Jamie

DJ's page at Homes for Our Troops is here.

Help a real Hero build his dream home!

A new beginning in Wardak province?

A U.S. soldier kept watch from an outpost in the Jalrez Valley. American commanders think insurgents may try to reassert themselves in the area once the snows melt in the mountain passes. Photo: Michael M. Phillips/The Wall Street Journal.

About a year ago, a handful of US soldiers were tasked with holding down the entire Wardak province. (To understand the impossibility of that task, read this.) Now, thousands of troops led by the 10th Mountain's TF Spartan have a chance of making real progress.

Michael Phillips of The Wall Street Journal has written a good, solid article about the challenges facing the Task Force and what they've achieved so far.

"I'm optimistic, but I have to look at the worst-case scenarios," said Col. David Haight, commander of the Third Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, whose 3,500 troops were sent in the closing months of the Bush administration to bolster the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

U.S. officers here believe the surge forces will provide enough troops to pursue aggressive counterinsurgency tactics in the country's most volatile areas. That means not only clearing contested villages and valleys, but also leaving troops in place to keep insurgents at bay. Previously, U.S. troops left swaths of the country untouched and would fight their way in to others, but couldn't stay long enough to prevent the Taliban and other insurgent groups from returning. ...

When Col. Haight arrived in February, he split his forces between Logar and Wardak provinces. To the latter, he dispatched the Second Battalion of the 87th Infantry Regiment and a smaller artillery battalion, bringing the total U.S. force there to some 1,400 soldiers, on top of two Afghan National Army battalions totaling about 800 men.

The 2-87 commander, Lt. Col. Kimo Gallahue, a 43-year-old from Frankfurt, Ky., dedicated his entire force to taking eastern Wardak. The west of the province is populated largely by members of the Hazara ethnic group, who are generally friendly to the government and its coalition allies. Its east is heavily peopled by Pashtun, who form the foundation of the insurgency.

Lt. Col. Gallahue decided to take one valley at a time, prying the insurgents away from the villages and leaving a company of soldiers in each major valley to keep the peace. The Afghan government suggested he start with the Jalrez, which has 75,000 people and sits astride an important if heavily decayed stretch of road that runs west to Herat and eventually Iran. ...

Taking advantage of the calm, construction crews funded by the Italian government are preparing to pave the valley's pitted dirt road. Afghan and U.S. officials hope this will allow locals to more easily send apples to market in Kabul or Pakistan, and remind them that their interests lie with the government. ...

"I ask everybody to take a look at how things are going in the Jalrez," Lt. Col. Gallahue told Nerkh villagers over a hot cup of tea a couple of weeks ago. "Nerkh is next."

One middle-aged man complained about the lack of jobs. "Take a trip to Jalrez," the colonel responded. "We have a project to cobblestone the bazaar."

Two weeks ago, troops from Lt. Col. Gallahue's battalion helicoptered into the Tangi Valley, a dangerous stretch connecting Wardak and Logar provinces. His men encountered only light resistance and began providing food and supplies to the locals. Soon they expect to build an outpost to be jointly manned by U.S. and Afghan troops.

"We're in there to stay," the colonel said.

That speaks to locals' fears. "If the coalition left, the Taliban would come back and kill me and everyone else who worked with the U.S. government," Sayed Ali Abas, the 40-year-old commander of a new U.S.-backed neighborhood-watch brigade in Jalrez, said recently.

There's much more at the link, including a photo gallery.

See also:
U.S. Takes Afghan Strategy to Villages
The War Through the Taliban's Eyes

Jet Blue offers $1 flights during National Military Appreciation Month

For active duty military personnel, departing from 2 DC airports only, during the month of May.

Details at You Served.

Thank you JetBlue!

Separating the people from the Taliban

Key to successful counterinsurgency operations but "easier said than done", observes John McHugh in his latest video report from Dewegal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. John's spent a good part of the past 3 years in eastern Afghanistan, starting back in the fall of 2006 when the 10th Mountain Division was deployed to the area. (Since then, the 173rd spent a year there, followed by the current troops of the 26th Infantry, 1st ID.)

John's latest report is an excellent illustration of the difficulties and frustrations faced by both US forces and the local population. The root of the problem is that the villagers don't feel safe enough to take sides, which is essential to making real progress.

Related: Major fighting in Afghanistan's east and west at The Long War Journal

Godspeed PO2 Tyler J. Trahan

Petty Officer Second Class Tyler J. Trahan. Photo and story: Boston.com

Tyler Trahan, a 22-year-old Navy petty officer 2d class, was with two Marines when the three of them were killed [last Thursday], according to the Navy. Military officials would not provide further details, only saying the three were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, but Trahan's family has said that a roadside bomb exploded. It was not clear whether the device detonated on its own or was activated.

Trahan was a member of the Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Twelve, based in Virginia, and was temporarily assigned to a Navy SEAL team in Iraq. He was deployed last month.

His family said yesterday that Trahan's goal when joining the Navy was to work in an elite ordnance disposal unit.

"It's something he always wanted to do and strongly believed in," his sister, Molly Trahan, said yesterday. He would always tell her, "Tough times don't last, but tough people do," she said.

Trahan was a 2004 graduate of Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical School in Rochester, where he excelled academically and in sports. He was in the top of his graduating class, a member of the National Honor Society, and a star quarterback on the football team.

After studying at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy for a year, he enlisted in the Navy and graduated from boot camp in 2006. He underwent naval dive and salvage training, and naval engineering training, before he was assigned to the ordnance disposal unit.

The Navy has honored him with several decorations including the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Action ribbon, National Defense Service medal, the Iraq Campaign medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary medal.

"Petty Officer Tyler Trahan was an exemplary leader and exceptional EOD technician," Commander Joseph Polanin, commanding officer of Trahan's unit, said in a statement. "He was a great warrior, teammate, and friend to so many. His patriotic spirit will live on in each of us."

Trahan comes from a family of servicemen. His father, Jean P., served in the Army during the Vietnam era. His grandfather, John J. O'Malley Jr., served in the Navy during World War II. And, his sister said last night he also admired a great-uncle, Colonel Donald Allain, who served in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars and was a veteran of the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945.

Jean-Pierre Trahan said his son Tyler recently told the family he "would much rather risk his life deactivating a bomb overseas than witnessing a bomb detonate on U.S. soil."

John Donovan has written about Staff Sergeant Mark A. Wojciechowski, one of the two Marines killed along with PO2 Tyler Trahan. The other Marine was Sgt. James R. McIlvaine.

Major Pain of One Marine's View has more.

Fair winds and following seas, young warriors. Our prayers are with your families, and with your brothers.

University of Arizona hosts the "Ultimate Athletic Experience" for wounded OEF/OIF Veterans

GPS: Guide to your Personal Success, The Ultimate Athletic Experience

Are you a physically disabled OIF / OEF veteran?

Have you ever had an interest in athletics? In attending college?

You may be eligible for a free, fully grant-funded athletics experience taking place on The University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona May 27-31, 2009.

Tentative schedule:
• Information specific to veterans about higher education (i.e. Post-9/11 GI Bill, Admissions, Financial Aid)
• Veterans Education and Transition Services Program: learn about the community of student veterans on campus and how to connect with one another on campus and in the community
• Hands-on introductions to the following sports:
• Wheelchair tennis
• Quad rugby
• Over the Line
• Wheelchair Football
• Handcycling
• Wheelchair track
• Survey of alternative health techniques such as Qigong, Acupuncture and Meditation
• Introduction to the concept of Mindfulness
• Opportunity to work out in an adaptive gym and develop personalized fitness plan, including nutrition goals
• Swimming
• Stress management
• Sleep health
• Go-Karts
• Tucson destinations such as the Arizona Desert Museum and favorite local restaurants

Questions? Contact Amanda Kraus, Ph.D., Program Coordinator
Tel (520)626-0940 or email akraus@email.arizona.edu

More information and online application form.

A friend of Chuck's is a friend of mine

Which means he's a friend of yours, too.

Chris was always a welcome guest in our room, either in the Malone House or in the hospital ward. He was a laugh riot. His humor and wit were infectious, and provided me and Carren with MANY much needed chuckles.

The funny thing is, I (or I should say, WE) had as much impact on him as he did on us.

A few months after leaving WRAMC, Chris up and joined the army, went to OCS, and is now a serving officer in Iraq. He claims it was because of his contact with me that he was driven to join the fight. Although humbled, I think it has more to do with him being a stellar human being than anything I said or did (I was stoned 24/7, after all.)

I couldn't be more proud.

For your part, I wan't y'all to send him a note, a card, a care package--anything you can, to tell him that you appreciate his service.

Find out how to send Chuck's friend that card or package here.

Spartans in Wardak

A U.S. Soldier of the 10th Mountain Division tries to cross an irrigation channel in Wardak province on April 28, 2009. Photo and story BBC News.