TheState.com: SC military news

Sergeant in Marines, leader in classroom

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:34 EDT

As a member of the University of Carolina marching band for the 2011 football season, Kyle Brown has visited four stadiums in the SEC – Carolina, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Arkansas.

As a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, he has visited five continents – North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

As a member of the band, Brown played the tuba, although it isn’t his only musical talent.

“I can play every instrument,” he says nonchalantly as he strums a Gibson Les Paul. “No, literally every instrument.” He even plays the bagpipe.

After graduating as a broadcast major in May, Brown is heading to Memphis to play drums for B.B. King’s grandson’s band. He isn’t letting it get to his head, though. “I don’t even know where we’re playing,” he says.

Marine who dumped toxins felt illness was payback

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:17 EDT

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) – Ron Poirier couldn't escape the feeling that his cancer was somehow a punishment.

As a young Marine electronics technician at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts man figured he'd dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic solvents onto the ground. It would be decades before he realized that he had unknowingly contributed to the worst drinking water contamination in the country's history – and, perhaps, to his own premature death.

“It's just a terrible thing,” the 58-year-old veteran told The Associated Press shortly before succumbing to esophageal cancer at a Cape Cod nursing facility on May 3.

“Once I found out, it's like, `God! I added to the contamination.“’

The cancer that killed Poirier is one of more than a dozen diseases and conditions with recognized links to a toxic soup brewing beneath the sprawling coastal base between the 1950s and mid-1980s, when officials finally ordered tainted drinking-water wells closed. As many as a million Marines, family members and civilian employees are believed to have been exposed to several cancer-causing chemicals.

Victims: Marines failed to safeguard water supply

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:16 EDT

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) – A simple test could have alerted officials that the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated, long before authorities determined that as many as a million Marines and their families were exposed to a witch's brew of cancer-causing chemicals.

But no one responsible for the lab at the base can recall that the procedure – mandated by the Navy – was ever conducted.

The U.S. Marine Corps maintains that the carbon chloroform extract (CCE) test would not have uncovered the carcinogens that fouled the southeastern North Carolina base's water system from at least the mid-1950s until wells were capped in the mid-1980s. But experts say even this “relatively primitive” test – required by Navy health directives as early as 1963 – would have told officials that something was terribly wrong beneath Lejeune's sandy soil.

A just-released study from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry cited a February 1985 level for trichloroethylene of 18,900 parts per billion in one Lejeune drinking water well – nearly 4,000 times today's maximum allowed limit of 5 ppb. Given those kinds of numbers, environmental engineer Marco Kaltofen said even a testing method as inadequate as CCE should have raised some red flags with a “careful analyst.”

“That's knock-your-socks-off level – even back then,” said Kaltofen, who worked on the infamous Love Canal case in upstate New York, where drums of buried chemical waste leaked toxins into a local water system. “You could have smelled it.”

Blue Star Mothers laud military at Patriots Ball in Columbia

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:24 EDT

The Blue Star Mothers are honoring five current or former military men at their fifth annual Patriots Ball.

The gala is being held Saturday evening in Columbia at the Medallion Center. The event includes a reception and silent auction, dinner and dancing.

Funds from the event are being used by the military support group to benefit veterans, active duty military and their families.

The five being honored with a Palmetto Patriot Award are Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter; S.C. Army National Guard Capt. James E. Smith Jr.; S.C. National Guard veteran Bob Russell; U.S. Army Reserve (Ret.) Maj. Gen. George Goldsmith; and U.S. Air Force (Ret.) Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Olsen.

New Army officers begin military careers with Wofford graduation

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:47 EDT

A dozen new Army officers celebrated the beginnings of their military careers Friday.

Members of the Southern Guards Battalion, headquartered at Wofford College, were commissioned as 2nd lieutenants before friends and family at Leonard Auditorium on campus.

Lt. Col. Paul "Buck" Bollinger said he "couldn't say enough" about the young men and women, part of 21 new officers expected to join the military this year.

Bollinger, who commands the battalion of approximately 82 cadets from Wofford, Converse College, Limestone College and the University of South Carolina Upstate, said it was the largest class of new officers from the battalion in more than a dozen years.

He said he was anxious to see what was next for the young officers.

Navy man in the sky, scholar in classroom

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:05 EDT

On the University of South Carolina campus, Frank Jordan blends in. He is quiet and keeps to himself, and on the surface, he is indistinguishable from the 31,000 other students who weave in and out of classrooms throughout the day.

But a closer look at his straight posture, buzz haircut or the dog tag hanging from his key chain reveals something else.

Jordan is a veteran of war.

After enrolling at USC in 2005 and not finding college to his liking, Jordan decided to join the military. After a year and a half of intense training, he spent five years in the Navy as an airborne cryptologic analyst, flying in manned reconnaissance missions. Most of his time served was spent in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

“When you think Navy, you think boats and water,” the Columbia native said. “I never saw a ship.”

Marine, dog reunited in surprise ceremony

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:14 EDT

When Marine Sgt. Ross Gundlach served as a dog handler in Afghanistan, he told the yellow lab who was his constant companion that he'd look her up when he returned home.

"I promised her if we made it out of alive, I'd do whatever it took to find her," Gundlach said.

On Friday, he made good on that vow with help from some sentimental state officials in Iowa who know how to pull off a surprise.

Since leaving active duty to take classes at the University of Wisconsin this summer, Gundlach, of Madison, Wis., had been seeking to adopt 4-year-old Casey.

The 25-year-old learned Casey had finished her military service and had been sent to the Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office, where she was used to detect explosives.

Navy pilot earns degree in combat zone

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:07 EDT

Finals week was dangerous for Thomas Saenz.

The Navy lieutenant needed armed guards and an armored car to get to an exam site, in Kabul, Afghanistan. A deadly bomb attack also caused him to his miss classes - transmitted live via the Internet - but he persevered and earned a master's degree in engineering from the University of Southern California while commanding a top security team.

His class graduates on Friday, as he joins a growing number of service members earning college degrees while deployed in a war zone.

"Not only was he out there living on the edge, but he had to get his homework done," USC professor, Frank Alvidrez, told The Associated Press.

The Obama administration is pushing universities to find creative ways to help service members complete their degrees as it tracks the success of its post 9/11 GI Bill, which is designed to be the most comprehensive education benefit for veterans since World War II.

Obama, lawmakers tackle military sexual assault

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:18 EDT

In a one-two punch from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue on Thursday, lawmakers introduced a sweeping revision to military sexual-assault law and the president summoned his uniformed service chiefs. The politically popular bill and the high-profile White House meeting underscore how recent cases and reports have rapidly turned combating military sexual assault into a bipartisan high priority.

“We’re not going to stop until we fix this,” Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California said at a news conference Thursday.

At the same time, largely below the surface, the intense focus is breeding some potential legal problems.

The nation’s highest military appeals court already is reviewing several cases handled by a Marine Corps judge who, citing the priorities of the commandant, called sexual assault defendants “scumbags” who “need to be crushed.”

And this week, a military judge at Fort Bragg, N.C., ordered two generals to testify about defense allegations that top Pentagon officials had pressured them to bring sexual assault charges against Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, a former deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Soldier gets life without parole in Iraq killings

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:13 EDT

An Army sergeant was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq.

A military judge, Army Col. David Conn, found Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder on Monday and imposed the sentence Thursday morning. The only other possible penalty for Russell would have been life in prison with the possibility of release.

Russell will be transferred within the next several days to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield said late Thursday.

The 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. Under the agreement, prosecutors were allowed to try to prove to an Army judge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the killings were premeditated. A streamlined court martial ended Saturday.

The shooting was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war and raised questions about the mental health problems for soldiers caused by repeated tours of duty.

Hagel orders review of sex-abuse prevention

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:35 EDT

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday ordered the military to recertify all 25,000 people involved in programs designed to prevent and respond to sexual assault, an acknowledgement that assaults have escalated beyond the Pentagon's control.

He said this step, which also applies to the military's approximately 19,000 recruiters and must be completed by July 1, is one among many that will be taken to fix the problem of sexual abuse and sexual harassment within every branch of the military.

At a news conference with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hagel said he believes alcohol use is "a very big factor" in many sexual assault and sexual harassment cases, but there are many pieces to the problem.

He and Dempsey spoke one day after all of the military's leadership were summoned to the White House to discuss the sexual assault problem with President Barack Obama, who has expressed impatience with the Pentagon's failure to solve it.

At his Pentagon news conference, Hagel said it has become clear to him since taking office in February that holding people accountable for their actions is important, but simply firing people is not a solution. He said he gets a lot of advice on that.

U.S. commander offers security assurances after Kabul suicide bombing

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:18 EDT

Two U.S. soldiers and four American civilian security contractors died Thursday when a suicide bomber in a Toyota Corolla rammed into a military convoy in Afghanistan’s capital, security officials said.

The deadliest attack in Kabul since March, it also killed six Afghan civilians, including two children. At least 30 people were wounded.

The attack occurred at around 8 a.m. local time, security officials said. It targeted an American military convoy as it drove through the eastern part of the capital. An Afghan army base is nearby, but it wasn’t thought to have been a target.

The street was crowded with children on their way to school.

The U.S.-led coalition condemned the attack, noting that it took place “in a residential area of the most populated city in Afghanistan.”

Army general facing sex charges had porn on laptop

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:12 EDT

An expert in Afghan culture testified Wednesday that pornography found on the computer of a U.S. Army general then deployed to the Muslim country would be highly offensive to local residents.

Former Defense Intelligence Agency adviser Morwari Zafar made the comments at a pre-trial hearing for Brig. Gen. Jeffery Sinclair. A court-martial for the former deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne is set to begin June 25 on charges that include forcible sodomy, indecent acts, violating orders and adultery.

Among the orders Sinclair is accused of violating is a prohibition against U.S. troops in Afghanistan possessing pornography.

Called as a witness by prosecutors, Zafar's eyes widened when a prosecutor showed her printed photos investigators pulled from Sinclair's hard drive.

"They would be absolutely offensive to Afghans in general," said Zafar, who was born in the country and is now earning a doctorate in anthropology. "Pornography is illegal in Afghanistan."

Army chief admits failure to stop sexual abuse

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:34 EDT

The Army's top officer acknowledged on Thursday that his service is failing in its effort to stop sexual assaults, as he and the nation's other top defense leaders were summoned to the White House to discuss the militarywide problem.

Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, issued a public message to all soldiers in which he said the "bedrock of trust" between soldiers and their leaders has been violated by a recent string of misconduct cases.

He said the Army demonstrated competence and courage through nearly 12 years of war. "Today, however, the Army is failing in its efforts to combat sexual assault and sexual harassment," he wrote.

"It is time we take on the fight against sexual assault and sexual harassment as our primary mission," he said.

"We are entrusted with ensuring the health and welfare of America's sons and daughters," he added. "There are no bystanders in this effort. Our soldiers, their families and the American people are counting on us to lead the way in solving this problem within our ranks."

Afghanistan: Bomb kills 15, including 6 Americans

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:13 EDT

A suicide car bombing tore through a U.S. convoy during rush hour in the Afghan capital on Thursday, killing at least 15 people, including six U.S. military advisers and two children, officials said. U.S. soldiers rushed to the scene to help, including some wearing only T-shirts or shorts under their body armor.

An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by a new suicide unit formed in response to reports that the U.S. plans to keep permanent bases and troops in Afghanistan even after the 2014 deadline for the end of the foreign combat mission. Hezb-e-Islami said its fighters had stalked the Americans for a week to learn their routine before striking.

It was the deadliest attack to rock the Afghan capital in more than two months and followed a series of other attacks against Americans that has made May the deadliest month for international forces this year. U.S.-led forces are increasingly leaving the fighting to their Afghan counterparts and focusing more on training mission in a bid to prepare the government forces to take over their own security after the international combat mission ends by the end of 2014.

The explosion was powerful enough to rattle buildings on the other side of the city, and left body parts scattered on the street.

Cmdr. Bill Speaks, a spokesman for the U.S. Defense Secretary, confirmed that two American soldiers were killed, while international security company DynCorp International said four of its American civilian contractors were among the dead. DynCorp International said its employees were working with U.S. forces training the Afghan military when the blast occurred.

VA requiring overtime to reduce disability backlog

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:18 EDT

More than 10,000 workers who handle disability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs will be required to work at least 20 hours of overtime each month in an effort reduce a sizable backlog, the department announced Wednesday.

The overtime requirement will last through September and comes as many federal workers face furloughs because of mandatory budget cuts. The VA was exempt from those spending reductions.

"We need to surge our resources now to help those who have waited the longest and end the backlog," said Allison Hickey, undersecretary for benefits at the VA.

The VA has come under fire from veterans groups and members of Congress for the number of claims pending longer than 125 days. About 570,000 disability claims fall into that category, nearly two-thirds of all claims pending.

The advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said the VA's announcement was good to see, but it also emphasized that more was needed and renewed a call for President Barack Obama to get more directly involved.

Newsreels spur interest in Columbia WWII museum

Tue, 14 May 2013 22:01 EDT

Is Columbia the right spot for a World War II museum?

Marvin Chernoff — a former public relations executive who was a force behind the Doolittle Raiders 50th reunion here and the steel Palmettos art project, among other initiatives — thinks so.

He said the museum could be built around the Movietone News Library collection given to the University of South Carolina in 1979 by the Fox Film Corp.

“It’s a resource unlike any in the world,” he told a subcommittee of Columbia City Council on Tuesday. “I think people (traveling on the area’s interstate highways) would stop and spend half a day in Columbia to watch them.”

Fox donated 11 million feet of its massive 77 million-foot collection of raw and edited news film to USC. The reels originally were shown in movie theaters from the 1920s to the 1940s and were the pre-television equivalent of a nightly news broadcast.

Pentagon to cut civilian furlough days

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:13 EDT

After weeks of debate and number-crunching, the Defense Department announced plans Tuesday to furlough about 680,000 of its civilian employees for 11 days through the end of this fiscal year, allowing only limited exceptions for the military to avoid or reduce the unpaid days off.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, in a memo to the department, called the decision "an unpleasant set of choices" between furloughing workers or cutting training and flight operations.

And during a town hall meeting with about 6,400 department personnel in Northern Virginia, Hagel was direct: "I tried everything. We did everything we could not to get to this day this way. But that's it. That's where we are."

Telling the workers, he was sorry, Hagel said that after repeatedly going over the number, officials could not responsibly cut any deeper into training and other programs that affect the military's readiness for combat. He added, "We'll continue to search for ways to do better, but right now I can't run this institution into the ditch."

Hagel said that the department will be evaluating the budget situation over time and will try to end the furloughs early if at all possible. But he and other officials also warned that while they will do all they can to avoid furloughs in the next fiscal year, they can't promise it won't happen.

US launches drone from aircraft carrier

Tue, 14 May 2013 22:23 EDT

A drone the size of a fighter jet took off from the deck of an American aircraft carrier for the first time Tuesday in a test flight that could eventually open the way for the U.S. to launch unmanned aircraft from just about any place in the world.

The X-47B is the first drone designed to take off and land on a carrier, meaning the U.S. military would not need permission from other countries to use their bases.

"As our access to overseas ports, forward operating locations and airspace is diminished around the world, the value of the aircraft carrier and the air wing becomes more and more important," Rear Adm. Ted Branch, commander of Naval Air Forces Atlantic, said after the flight off the Virginia coast. "So today is history."

The move to expand the capabilities of the nation's drones comes amid growing criticism of America's use of Predators and Reapers to gather intelligence and carry out lethal missile attacks against terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.

Critics in the U.S. and abroad have charged that drone strikes cause widespread civilian deaths and are conducted with inadequate oversight.

Bishopville Confederate monument rededicated

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:49 EDT

On May 10, 1913, widows, wives and other women of Bishopville dedicated a monument to the Confederate veterans of the Civil War. On Saturday, 100 years and a day later, members of the Lottie Green Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy re-dedicated the monument, which is located on the front lawn of the Lee County Courthouse.

"We're very honored to be able to do this," said Retta Tindal, immediate past national historian for the UDC and past state president. "We work very hard to preserve history, including our Confederate history."

Chapter member Joyce Bigbie opened the ceremony with a prayer. Attendees then listened to Margery Jeffords read a rendition of "The Conquered Banner," a poem by Abram Joseph Ryan:

Furl that Banner, for 'tis weary; Round its staff 'tis drooping dreary; Furl it, fold it, it is best; For there's not a man to wave it, And there's not a sword to save it, And there's no one left to lave it In the blood that heroes gave it; And its foes now scorn and brave it; Furl it, hide it — let it rest!

Ray Drayton, Tyson Eckley, Jake Smith and Carl Frazier sang "Ode to Our Confederate Dead" and "Bonnie Blue Flag," accompanied by pianist Sandra Lee. Lee also accompanied Ashley Lattimer's solo of "The Jacket of Grey."

Base-closing threat spurs S.C. bills

Sat, 11 May 2013 19:56 EDT

South Carolina likes to bill itself as one of the most military-friendly states in the country. But the Palmetto State trails its neighbors when it comes to legislation to make life easier for active-duty service members and more attractive to retirees — a deficiency that could have a big impact on an industry that pumps $15.7 billion into the state’s economy each year.

The U.S. Department of Defense lists 10 pieces of legislation dealing with military quality-of-life issues that it would like states to adopt – a list that will be used by the Pentagon when the next round of base closures and realignments is considered, perhaps as soon as 2015.

Virginia leads nearby states, having passed seven of the 10 laws. Florida has adopted six of the measures; North Carolina, five; and, Georgia, four. South Carolina trails the pack with three.

But that could change soon, as three more initiatives on the list are winding their way through the State House, with seemingly enough momentum to pass.

“It’s a competition,” said state Rep. James Smith, D-Richland, a sponsor of the bills and an S.C. Army National Guard captain who has led troops in ground combat in Afghanistan. “And when we face another BRAC, we will be in competition with those other states.”

Rock Hill Guard unit finishes in Afghanistan, readies for return

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:27 EDT

The 161 soldiers of Rock Hill’s Army National Guard 178th Combat Engineers who have spent the past nine months in Afghanistan have finished their mission and are soon heading home, Army officials confirmed.

The unit has the dangerous job of clearing bombs from roads in Afghanistan, among other construction duties that included tearing down two bases as the war winds down. The unit also had a crucial role of delivering supplies and making sure convoy routes were safe.

Rock Hill and York County should be extremely proud of the 178th soldiers, said Lt. Col, Corol Dobson, the commanding officer.

“We were noted on numerous occasions for executing the standard by which the Afghan Army Engineers should develop,” Dobson said in a speech to the troops at the transfer of authority this week to another South Carolina unit, the 122nd out of Edgefield. “We took a mission that was tough, developed our own plan for accomplishing that mission, and most importantly you executed. And the execution was near flawless. All of these Prowler accomplishments will be felt in Afghanistan for years to come.”

“We were there because we were the best.”

Salute from the Shore to soar with vintage planes

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:51 EDT

Each year on the Fourth of July, a group from Columbia organizes “Salute from the Shore,” a flyover of military aircraft along the entire South Carolina coast from the North Carolina border to the Georgia state line.

The crowds on the beach are urged to display American flags, wave and cheer as a video is made of the event from both the air and ground. The video is then posted on the organization’s website as a salute and “thank you” to active military -- both deployed and stateside.

But sequestration — those across-the-board budget cuts mandated by Congress — threatened to ground this year’s event. The 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base reluctantly had to tell the group that they were forbidden from doing flyovers with their F-16s, which previously were the centerpieces of the salute.

“They were very apologetic and offered to help us in any way they can except with planes,” said Andy Folsom, president of the organization.

But the show will go on with a little help.

South Carolina Marine finds new direction after deployments

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:05 EDT

A decade ago, Robinson Moore didn't have a future, or at least not one he cared about. The Rutherfordton, N.C.-native barely graduated from R. S. Central High School in 2005 and assumed he would wind up working at a mill near his childhood home.

But then Moore found something to care about. He joined the Marine Corps and, within a few short years, Moore was patrolling the streets of western Iraq. After seven months in combat in 2007, Moore volunteered to return for seven more in 2008.

Now, living in Duncan, Moore graduated from Spartanburg Community College on Thursday alongside about 375 other students at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium. This fall, he starts classes at the University of Georgia, where he'll major in broadcast journalism.

"I never in a million years thought I would be able to graduate college," Moore said from the dining room table in his apartment as his stepdaughter watched cartoons. "I wouldn't say I was the worst student in high school, but I had the worst outlook in life. It was my world and everyone else was just living in it."

Moore's journey from the rural foothills of North Carolina to Athens, Ga., wasn't a straight path. In 2007, while serving in Al Qa'im, Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, he told a Marine Corps journalist that he planned to make a career out of the military.

Crackdown on military sex assault may have unintended consequences

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:03 EDT

The scales of military justice might tilt as the Pentagon, Congress and the White House mobilize against sexual assault among the troops.

Put another way, it will get tougher for defendants; maybe, some fear, unlawfully so.

“What we are seeing now is the complete politicization of military justice in a way that would have shocked the members of Congress who passed the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Marine Corps Reserves Maj. Babu Kaza, a prominent military attorney, said in an interview.

Largely unseen by the public, dozens of Marine Corps sexual assault cases from North Carolina to California already have been roiled by defense claims of unlawful command influence due to tough talk by military leaders. The claims, some directly reviewed by McClatchy and some described by lawyers, target the unique vulnerability of military courts to a superior officer’s will.

A McClatchy review further shows that out of the public eye, military judges are questioning an Air Force program that provides alleged victims with special legal assistance. Even the scope of the military sexual-assault problem is an issue, as it’s subject to both underreporting and overstatement.

Michelle Obama honors military mothers at tea

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:09 EDT

Michelle Obama and military mothers had high tea like the British on Thursday.

The afternoon White House affair, hosted by the first lady and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, was to recognize the women for Mother's Day.

Britain's Prince Harry, who is on a weeklong visit to the U.S. devoted to the wounded victims of war, stopped by to salute them too.

Mrs. Obama thanked the mothers for their persistence.

"You all never complain, never complain, you just keep moving it along, getting it done, and I hope that you know how much this country appreciates you," she said.

The best Mother’s Day present ever

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:42 EDT

Janice Lobaugh’s 30-year search for the baby boy she gave up for adoption ended Thursday amid tears of joy when she was reunited with Spencer “Will” Williams, an Army veteran from Pickens who as a teenager also had launched a search for his roots.

Lobaugh, who was 17 when she gave birth to Williams, traveled from her home in Wasilla, Alaska, to meet face-to-face with Williams and his wife, Michelle, who met while serving a tour in Iraq. Appropriately enough, there was plenty of sunshine when Lobaugh arrived at Finlay Park and began walking toward the young couple as they waited in anticipation and admired the splashing fountains.

“I feel like I’m looking into me,” she told Williams as she presented him with a baby book that showed his birth certificate and other memorabilia from his early months. She had named him Thurmond Randall Blair when he was born Feb. 4, 1983, in Bartlett Memorial Hospital in Juneau, clocking in at a robust 8-pounds, 9-ounces. She laughed as she gazed up into his eyes, noting, “You are still bald.”

Lobaugh, 48, tearfully recounted the path she walked as a teenage mother, working as a maid to support her young son. Her mother did not approve of her pregnancy — her younger sister had also become pregnant at 16 — and one day, as Lobaugh took the bus to pick up her paycheck, her mother called police to come get the baby.

In the weeks following, a social services agency asked Lobaugh to consider giving up the baby, then 5 months, for adoption, a decision she finally reached when considering the life she wanted for him. Lobaugh said she knew his foster family had eventually adopted him, but did not know their last name. For years, she searched for Spencer Parrish, thinking that was his last name.

Obama urges prosecution, courts-martial for sexual assaults in military

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:07 EDT

President Barack Obama delivered a blistering rebuke of sexual assaults in the military Tuesday, saying perpetrators are “betraying the uniform that they’re wearing” and that he’s told Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel the administration needs to "exponentially step up our game" to curb the abuse.

“They may consider themselves patriots, but when you engage in this kind of behavior, that’s not patriotic, it’s a crime,” Obama said. “And we have to do everything we can to root this out.”

His remarks came during a joint news conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and as the Pentagon released a report that estimates there might be more than 70 sexual assaults involving military personnel every day. It followed the arrest of the director of the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention program on a charge of groping a woman.

The military has faced sex abuse scandals for years, and Obama noted that former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had been working to improve the reporting of sexual assaults. But the president said he’d told Hagel on Tuesday that the administration needed “to go at this thing hard.”

Obama and Park pledged to stand firmly together against threats by North Korea, and Obama vowed that the U.S. would defend its allies.

Army brings old cemetery into digital era

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:36 EDT

Even in death – maybe especially in death – the Army wants to know its soldiers and their loved ones are in formation and properly accounted for.

In response to the discovery in 2008 of widespread management problems at Arlington National Cemetery, the military has launched an effort at cemeteries across all its installations to bring record-keeping into the 21st century. This week, a team arrived at Fort Bragg to photograph every grave in the Main Post Cemetery, enter the photos into a database with the GIS coordinates of each stone, and cross-reference those with paper records that date back to the first burials in 1918.

A year from now, the Army hopes its work will be available to the public through an app like the one Arlington National has developed called ANC Explorer, which allows the public to locate grave sites, view pictures of the fronts and backs of headstones or monuments and get directions to the sites.

Families move from post to post, leave the military and relocate around the country, so they may not be able to visit the grave of a soldier, veteran or dependent laid to rest in what was once a peach orchard on a far edge of the field artillery training camp that became Fort Bragg, said Peter Kendrick, a retired soldier who is overseeing the work at Bragg and other Army posts.

But they want to know that grave is well cared for, and while it’s not the same as passing beneath the two old magnolias at the gate and walking between the rows to touch the marble markers themselves, seeing them in a virtual visit offers some reassurance, Kendrick said.

Most military sexual assault cases go unreported

Wed, 08 May 2013 10:11 EDT

They are young, often low-ranking service members out on the weekend in the late night and early morning hours. Sometimes they've been drinking. Often those who sexually assault them are in the armed forces, too.

But in the vast majority of military sexual assault cases - as many as 22,000 in 2012 - the victim chooses not to report the attack or unwanted sexual contact.

Sexual assaults across the military are a growing epidemic. In releasing a massive report Tuesday, Pentagon leaders continued to struggle with how to combat the problem and give victims enough confidence in the system to come forward.

Despite a slew of new oversight and assistance programs, troubling new numbers estimate that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, according to results of a survey. Of those, fewer than 3,400 reported the incident, and nearly 800 of them simply sought help but declined to file complaints against their alleged attackers.

The statistics emerged against a backdrop of scandals, including an ongoing investigation into more than 30 Air Force instructors for assaults on trainees at a Texas base. And the report comes just days after the Air Force's head of sexual assault prevention was arrested on charges of groping a woman in a Northern Virginia parking lot.

Airman who led sex assault unit charged in groping

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:42 EDT

An Air Force officer who led the branch's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit has been charged with groping a woman in a northern Virginia parking lot, authorities said Monday.

Arlington County Police said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski of Arlington faces a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery following an alleged assault about 12:30 a.m. Sunday in the Crystal City area of the county.

A police report says that the 41-year-old Krusinski was drunk and grabbed a woman's breast and buttocks. Police say the woman fought him off and called police.

Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck says Krusinski did not know the woman involved.

Susie Doyle, a spokeswoman for the Arlington County Sheriff's Office, said Krusinski was released Sunday on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond. An arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

Big-band orchestra, handbell choir join to honor veterans

Mon, 06 May 2013 01:07 EDT

IRMO, SC A musical tribute to veterans will give Midlands residents some free entertainment May 18, Armed Forces Day.

The concert at Union United Methodist Church, 7562 Woodrow St., Irmo, includes a big band-style tribute but also the unique sound of a handbell choir.

Blue Serenade Orchestra headlines the 1940s big-band style concert, accompanied by Southern Bronze handbell ensemble,

The concert begins at 7 p.m.

From staff reports

Drone cargo helicopters prove worth in Afghanistan, leading way to civilian uses

Sun, 05 May 2013 22:15 EDT

In January a small group of US Marines at a remote base near the village of Shurakay in northern Helmand province was running low on ammunition after fighting fiercely for days. The road in was too dangerous for a resupply convoy, and there were so many Taliban fighters that a helicopter crew trying to fly in would have been at serious risk.

Still, the Marines soon heard the soft thwack of rotor blades. They looked up as a glimpse into the future of aviation eased into a hover, then gently descended until a pallet of ammunition dangling beneath it touched the ground. The cargo hook released itself and the unmanned K-MAX helicopter rose again, turned and flew off.

The K-MAX, which is the only drone cargo helicopter in the US military’s fleet, made two more runs to the embattled outpost, dropping off more supplies each time.

It wasn’t a stunt: Over the past 16 months, two K-MAX helicopters that were sent to Afghanistan as an experiment have delivered 3.2 millions of pounds of cargo across Helmand and flown more than 1,000 missions. That’s reduced the number of supply convoys needed on the province’s bomb-infested roads, eased the workload and risk for helicopter and Osprey crews, saved money and provided real-world proof that drones are practical for much more than surveillance and missile strikes.

The combat-zone test was supposed to last just six months, but in March the Marine Corps extended it indefinitely, citing the K-MAX’s success in delivering cargo and keeping Marines in trucks off dangerous roads.

Audit casts doubt on number of Afghan troops U.S. has trained

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:53 EDT

Since the United States first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, a signature goal of the war has been to increase Afghan national security forces and give their members the skills to vanquish domestic terrorist groups and other security threats on their own.

But as the Obama administration prepares to pull 34,000 U.S. troops out of the country by next February and most of the remaining troops by the end of 2014, estimates of the size of the Afghan force trained to take over this lead security role suddenly have grown fuzzy and possibly unreliable.

A new report made public this week by the government’s top watchdog over U.S. spending in Afghanistan casts doubt on whether the U.S.-led coalition and the Afghan government met a goal set in 2011 of enlisting and training a total of 352,000 Afghan security personnel by October 2012. Pentagon officials have said that target was meant to strike a balance between what was needed and what America and its allies could deliver in concert with the Afghan government. Earlier this year, in conjunction with President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, the White House declared that the goal had been met.

But on Tuesday, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John F. Sopko challenged that assessment, which White House officials said was based on data supplied by the Pentagon.

“The goal to ‘train and field’ 352,000 Afghan National Security Forces by last October was not met,” Sopko said in his latest quarterly report. Instead, as of Feb. 18, the number of personnel in the Afghan National Army, National Police and air force totaled 332,753, about 20,000 fewer, according to data Sopko said he’d collected from the coalition-led transition command in Kabul.

Missing laptop spurs lawsuit against VA’s Dorn Center

Thu, 02 May 2013 01:20 EDT

In the wake of a missing government laptop at Columbia’s Dorn VA Medical Center, a lawsuit filed in federal court seeks unspecified damages from the Department of Veterans Affairs alleging the laptop contained unencrypted sensitive personal and medical information of more than 7,000 veterans.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Columbia, says that the loss of such data subjects the veterans to possible identity theft and medical insurance abuse, and that such threats will continue to harm the veterans far into the future.

“These vets who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve better,” said Columbia attorney Michael Kelly, one of the lawyers representing the two plaintiffs in the suit.

Efforts to reach a Dorn spokesperson Wednesday were not successful.

The suit says VA officials failed to implement even the most basic computer safeguards, despite a well-known 2006 incident in which more than 17 million veterans’ and spouses’ private information was lost.

Photos from the memorial service for Pfc. Barrett Austin

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:49 EDT

Austin, 20, of Easley, died April 21 in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered when his vehicle was hit April 17 by an enemy improvised explosive device in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Pace of justice at Air Force appeals court comes under scrutiny

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:36 EDT

The nation’s top military appellate judges will scrutinize a seemingly sluggish Air Force court that’s vexed airmen from Alaska to Florida and beyond .

In a highly anticipated move, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has agreed to hear the case of a former master sergeant who waited nearly three years for the Air Force to resolve his appeal of a court-martial conviction. The delay exceeded the 18 months that judges consider reasonable for appellate decisions.

“I think it’s extremely important,” Georgia-based attorney William Cassara said an interview Wednesday. “This gives the appeals court a chance to tell the Air Force court that ‘You need to police up your shop.’ ”

Cassara represents Timothy L. Merritt Sr., a former master sergeant convicted in Germany in September 2009 on child pornography charges. Merritt’s appeal was put on the docket of the U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals in February 2010. In December 2012, the Air Force court rejected the appeal. While acknowledging the delay was “unreasonable,” the Air Force judges also deemed it “harmless.”

Under a 2006 court ruling, any military appellate delay longer than 18 months is considered unreasonable. It’s then up to the lower military appellate court to decide whether to provide some legal relief, such as a reduction in prison term.

Helmand has become almost dull for Marines, with Afghans now leading combat

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:53 EDT

One statistic about the war in Afghanistan has stood out for weeks: the single U.S. Marine killed so far in 2013.

For years, the Marines have fought and died in Helmand, a hot, dusty province in Afghanistan’s south that’s earned a bloody place in corps lore, right beside the likes of Anbar province in Iraq. It’s been by far the deadliest province for the U.S-led coalition, where more than 900 international soldiers have been killed, including more than 350 Marines.

But the days of heavy combat and casualties in Helmand are over, at least for conventional American troops. And soon that might be true across Afghanistan. In the next few weeks, Afghan security forces are expected to reach one of the biggest milestones of the 11-year-old war: They’ll officially take the lead in the last remaining pockets of the country where they haven’t already.

The changes in Helmand are the most graphic example of what that means.

Marines are no longer walking the harrowing foot patrols that once were common in much of the province. Instead, they mainly work on large bases, teaching and mentoring Afghan security forces, and simply packing up to leave.

Aircraft crashes now biggest killer of US troops in Afghanistan

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:53 EDT

With the combat roles of U.S. troops in Afghanistan tapering off, aircraft accidents emerged as the biggest killer of U.S. troops here during the first four months of the year. Since Jan. 1, 13 service members have been killed in five crashes.U.S. troop deaths remain at their lowest levels here in recent years. The number so far this year, 33 through Tuesday, is the lowest at this point since 2008.

After air accidents, the next biggest cause of death was improvised bombs, which claimed at least eight service members. Four died from causes unrelated to combat.

In all, 42 members of the international coalition have been killed in Afghanistan this year, including three of unknown nationalities, whose deaths in an explosion in southern Afghanistan were announced Tuesday night.

Commanders with the U.S.-led coalition say the obvious reason that casualties remain low is that Afghan security forces are doing the fighting now in most parts of the country, and they’re expected to take the lead completely in the next two months

Deaths and injuries among Afghan security forces, consequently, are reaching new highs. A Ministry of Defense spokesman would release only the number of Afghan National Army deaths from Feb. 21 through the end of March, which was 107, up from 97 for the same period the previous year. U.S. military officers say large numbers of Afghan police officers also are being killed.

Protection from military base cuts changes hands

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:18 EDT

The task force appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley to protect South Carolina’s military bases from cuts and closures is moving to the Commerce Department from the Comptroller General’s office.

Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will be replaced as chairman of the S.C. Military Base Task Force by former State Ports Authority chairman William L. “Bill” Bethea Jr. of Beaufort County.

Bethea, a Bluffton attorney, also is one of South Carolina’s three appointees to the Georgia-S.C. Jasper Ocean Terminal board, which is guiding the development of a future port in Jasper. His wife Paula Harper Bethea is the head of the S.C. Education Lottery.

Efforts to reach Bethea Tuesday for comment were unsuccessful. In a statement, Haley did not comment on why she switched the task force to commerce, except to say that she “is excited that Bill Bethea has agreed to carry on General Eckstrom’s exceptional legacy chairing the task force.” The military is an economic engine in South Carolina, contributing some $16 billion a year to the state’s economy.

Eckstrom was appointed by then-Gov. Mark Sanford to lead the task force prior to the 2005 round of base closings and relocations. South Carolina won big in that round, with bases like Fort Jackson being awarded the national drill sergeant school and Shaw Air Force Base landing Third Army headquarters.

Military court sidesteps ruling on whether suicide is a crime

Wed, 01 May 2013 06:47 EDT

The top military appeals court has set aside the court-martial conviction of a young Okinawa-based Marine who tried to kill himself, but it left intact the possibility that others may face similar charges of “self-injury” in the future.

In a closely watched case, amid what Pentagon officials call an epidemic of military suicides, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces threw out Lazzaric T. Caldwell’s guilty plea to charges of wrongful self-injury. The narrow ruling by a divided court cleans up a little of Caldwell’s personal record, while leaving to another day the bigger controversy that made his case so electrifying.

“I’m very pleased with the decision,” Navy Lt. Mike Hanzel, Caldwell’s Bremerton, Wash.-based attorney, said in an interview Tuesday. “Even though it was narrowly decided, it still sends the message that we should not be prosecuting attempted suicide.”

The setting aside of Caldwell’s guilty plea, because of facts specific to his case, means another military prosecution eventually could become a test case for the crime of self-injury. Congress or the Pentagon also could address the broader legal question if officials want to modify military law. The two dissenters in the 3-2 decision issued Monday believe that could be the better course.

“While I question whether punishing either bona fide suicide attempts or suicidal gestures (under the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is wise or fair, that is a determination to be made by the president and Congress, and not this court,” Judge Margaret A. Ryan wrote for the dissent.

Congressman Wilson to hold veterans fair Wednesday

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:25 EDT

US Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Springdale, is hosting a Veterans Fair Wednesday at the West Columbia Army National Guard Armory.

The fair will include representatives from the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the SC Army National Guard, and other local employers and organizations, according to a release from Wilson’s office.

The fair will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the West Columbia National Guard Armory, 3528 Platt Springs Road.

Resume writing classes will be offered at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

At noon, Wilson will present the Silver Star Award to Spc. Joseph N. Tate, a Vietnam veteran living in Elgin.

SC soldier ‘always put his friends and family first’

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:58 EDT

Those who knew Pfc. Barrett L. Austin well spoke of his love for family and friends, and Monday those same family members and friends, along with many in the community, poured out their love for him, lining the streets and giving him a hero’s welcome home.

Austin’s body returned Monday to the Upstate, and a military guard solemnly loaded his remains in a hearse at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in front of family and scores of supporters for the journey to Dillard Funerals and Cremations in Pickens.

Residents gathered along the route as Patriot Guard Riders and Pickens County sheriff’s deputies escorted his body. Fire trucks parked on overpasses along Interstate 85 in a display of sorrow and support. At least 100 people were at the funeral home to show their support.

Some who were close to the soldier from Dacusville have described him as humble, family-focused, full of life and heroic.

Myrtle Beach shows appreciation in May for military

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:48 EDT

Myrtle Beach’s “Military Appreciation Days” is more than a couple of days toward the end of May; it’s grown into a monthlong recognition.

Mark Kruea, spokesman for the city of Myrtle Beach, among a team of personnel who have helped make this celebration a Myrtle Beach signature tradition, elaborated on the extent of activities, those confirmed and in the works.

Besides events centered around Memorial Day weekend, other outings are being scheduled, Kruea said. Planning continues, for example, on a geocaching activity – one for each service branch – as well as a showing of “Back to the Battlefield,” a film produced at Coastal Carolina University about a D-Day veteran’s return to Omaha Beach, and a free, afternoon concert on May 11 in Myrtle Beach’s Plyler Park, near the SkyWheel.

Kruea said the city also will welcome contingents of 200 Indian Army personnel and 100 soldiers from Fort Bragg, N.C., on May 5.

Question | Why is it important to let everyone know that Military Appreciation Days has become a monthlong celebration, a tradition that goes beyond – and before – Memorial Day weekend, an observance to remember everyone who’s given his or her life in service for our country, and really, the world?

Korean War vets of Brookland-Cayce High ‘honored’

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:08 EDT

On May 22, about a dozen other Korean War veterans who graduated from Brookland-Cayce High School – some of whom still get together regularly for breakfast - will be on a special Honor Flight. They will join about 80 other Korean War and World War II veterans from around the Midlands who will be flown for free to see their war memorials in Washington D.C.

In 1950, Bobby Price of Cayce was living a dream, playing minor league baseball in North Carolina. A year later, he was living a nightmare.

A sergeant in the U.S. Army’s Seventh Cavalry Regiment — of Custer’s Last Stand fame — Price was leading a platoon of about 40 men up a ridge in Korea that later would be named Bloody Baldy.

The regiment charged up the hill five times over two days before they finally took it. Half of Price’s men were either killed or wounded. He was 23 years old.

A newspaper called the battle “a hand-to-hand grenade charge” and labeled it “Custer’s Revenge.” Few remember it today.

Alan Wood, who provided flag on Iwo Jima, dies at 90

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:58 EDT

Alan Wood never claimed to be a hero, but he did play a supporting role in one of World War II's most stirring moments.

It was at Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. Straining into the wind, five Marines and a Navy corpsman planted the Stars and Stripes on the rocky peak of Mount Suribachi. As the flag unfurled, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured what may have been the war's most iconic image, a shot that inspired monuments and made the Iwo Jima flag-raisers instantly famous.

Wood, a 22-year-old Navy officer, wasn't among them. But it was Wood who provided the flag — a small act that would always remind him of the epic sacrifices made by so many on that desolate island 750 miles south of Tokyo.

“The fact that there were men among us who were able to face a situation like Iwo where human life is so cheap, is something to make humble those of us who were so very fortunate not to be called upon to endure any such hell,” he wrote in a 1945 letter to a Marine general who asked for details about the flag.

Wood, who went on to spend nearly five decades as a technical artist and public information officer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge near Los Angeles, died April 18 at his Sierra Madre, Calif., home. He was 90 and had congestive heart failure, his son, Steven Wood, said.

Charleston base gets new C-17 transport

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:21 EDT

The Air Force's 437th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Charleston is getting another new C-17 Globemaster transport plane.

The aircraft is being flown in Thursday from Long Beach, Calif., by Gen. Paul J. Selva, commander of the Air Mobility Command based at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

Gen. Selva is being accompanied by Col. Albert Miller, the 437th wing's vice commander.

The delivery marks the first of the final three aircraft scheduled for delivery to the Air Force.

C-17s deliver troops and all types of cargo to bases in difficult landing zones in all types of deployment regions. C-17s also can perform airlift and airdrop missions and carry patients during medical evacuations.

Columbia police chief praised for opening up about PTSD

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:02 EDT

Fifth Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson said at a veterans rally at the State House Wednesday that Columbia police chief Randy Scott’s revelation that he suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome did not surprise him.

He praised Scott’s decision to make it public and urged state lawmakers to redouble their efforts to help veterans deal with the disorder.

Scott “resigned from an office I know he loved,” said Johnson, who was the keynote speaker at a rally calling for more benefits for military veterans. “He cited PTSD as a contributor to his situation. It takes courage to step out of the shadows and admit those issues.”

Although Johnson’s speech was aimed at the mostly Vietnam War veterans who gathered at the rally, he said that police officers like Scott “also see some of these issues.”

He said he wasn’t advocating any one piece of legislation to address better treatment of PTSD and other ailments among veterans.

Pentagon’s budget cuts could slow F-35 program, Congress told

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:53 EDT

The on-time rollout of the F-35 fighter jet for its 2017 deadline could be in jeopardy as a result of forced federal budget cuts, testified a key military official to Congress on Wednesday.

The monetary problems could lead to a loss of customers for Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas,-based program, hurting the company. Six thousand people work on the F-35 project in Fort Worth.

Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan, the Pentagon’s executive officer of the F-35 program, told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee that he has “moderate confidence” that the first two software upgrade phases needed to complete the program will be delivered on time, but is less optimistic that the final phase will be completed as scheduled because of mandated budget cuts, known as sequestration, in the current fiscal year.

President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for next fiscal year would give $6.36 billion to plan to build 29 F-35s for 2014, and would increase production to as many as 60 aircrafts a year by 2018.

The F-35 program’s eight partner countries, including the United Kingdom, are carefully watching the costs of F-35s. The United States pushed back an order of 179 planes for later, which caused Italy to reduce its jet order from 140 planes to 90. Canada and the Netherlands, too, have cut back on plane orders, Bogdan said, though Singapore is showing interest.

Photos: Rally for veterans on SC State House steps

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:15 EDT