Posted today over at The Birmingham News:

An Alabama Army National Guard training team now in Afghanistan is in the home stretch of its tour, and another team will be deploying in June.

Staff Sgt. Katrina Timmons, a state Army Guard spokesperson, said the team to deploy later this year will have 16 members. It will be the sixth team the Alabama Army Guard has sent to Afghanistan to help train soldiers and police officers.

Timmons said the team members will have a send-off ceremony in late March, go to Fort Riley, Kan., for pre-deployment training and deploy to Afghanistan in June. The team’s time in Afghanistan should be about nine months, Timmons said.

An Army Guard team now in place in Afghanistan should be back in about two months, Timmons said.

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Courtesy of the Tuscaloosa News:

Army National Guard Pfc. Teri L. Willis has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. Willis is the daughter of Linda Bender of Northport. She graduated in 1997 from Hillcrest High School and received an associate degree in 1999 from Faulkner State Community College in Bay Minette.

Congratulations, Teri!

The Birmingham News featured a piece this morning about an Alabama Guard unit that left yesterday to go back to Afghanistan:

The training team is the fifth that the state Army Guard has sent to Afghanistan since 9/11. It recently completed two months of pre-deployment training at Fort Riley.

Lt. Col. Jeff Thrower of Alabaster, a member of the team, said recently that the mission had not been fully defined.

“Right now, I know that one of our biggest pushes over there has been to get the Afghanistan police up to where they can do their jobs,” he said. “The Afghan army is in a lot better situation than they were three or four years ago, but the police have still got some issues out there. So we’re doing our best to help out across the board in both areas.”

Read the full article here.

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In yesterday’s edition of The Birmingham News, there was an article about an Alabama Army Guard unit which is slated for a second tour in Iraq:

Another Alabama Army National Guard unit is slated for a second tour in the Iraq war.

The 128th Medical Company, based in Gov. Bob Riley’s hometown of Ashland, will deploy to Iraq in October following several weeks of training at Fort Lewis, Wash., state Guard spokesman Norman Arnold said Friday.

The 128th was in Iraq from December 2004 to November 2005, providing medical care to Iraqi and U.S. soldiers and civilians in and around Baghdad and beyond.

If it deploys as expected, the 128th will be the second Guard unit to have a second deployment in and around Iraq. The 226th Area Support Group from Mobile has already done two tours.

At full strength, the 128th has 75 soldiers. Maj. Cynthia Bachus, a state Guard spokeswoman, said 25 soldiers from two Mobile-based Army Guard units - the 127th Medical Company and the 161st Medical Battalion - “have been assigned to the 128th to put the unit at full strength for mobilization.”

At present, the Alabama Guard’s presence in Iraq consists of 20 members of the 1207th Quartermaster Detachment (Water Distribution) from Goodwater. The 1207th, which is commanded by Lt. Jessica Moore, is at Al-Asad, the second-largest airfield in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the 158th Maintenance Company, a unit of about 190 members with headquarters in Tallassee and a detachment in Dadeville, has been training for a fall deployment to Iraq. A 16-man team of Guard soldiers from around the state will be heading to Afghanistan later this month to help train members of that country’s army.

More Guard units are expected to deploy in 2009. Among them will be the 877th Engineer Battalion, based in Hamilton, which is scheduled for a tour in Afghanistan. The 877th did a tour in northern Iraq from summer 2003 to spring 2004.

According to recent Pentagon data, Alabamians make up the fifth highest number of Army Guard soldiers and the 12th highest number of Air Guard and Army Reserve members deployed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

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I’m so thrilled that The Auburn Plainsman, the student newspaper of Auburn University, published a great story about Guardian Angels for Soldiers Pet!

Organization places deployed troops’ animals in foster homes

Many deployed soldiers are forced to give up their beloved pets because they have no one to take care of the animals. Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet is an organization that sets up foster homes for the soldiers’ pets.

Linda Spurlin-Dominik, National President of Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet, said the organization was formed after they became aware of the problems military service members were having finding homes for their pets during their deployment. Soldiers often had to give their pets to a humane society or shelter.

“An individual signs up with our organization with an interest to open their home to a pet while the pet owner is deployed,” Spurlin-Dominik said.

There are three requirements to qualify as a pet foster home. Foster pet owners must open their homes to the pet or pets, ensuring the pets remain in a caring, loving, healthy and safe environment and relinquish the pet back to its owner when he or she returns safely from deployment.

“We are not only helping our military people, but we also help the shelters so that there are less animals surrendered to them,” Spurlin-Dominik said…

Read the rest of the story here!

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It’s no secret I’m a huge PostSecret fan. One of the postcards listed in today’s edition broke my heart:

From hearing from my own adopted soldiers, and friends and family who’ve served or are still serving, I can only imagine how that soldier feels. It’s got to be one of the worst things in the world — feeling forgotten, unloved.

I hope whoever that card was meant to reach got the message. But how many others are out there feeling the same way?

At the Magnolia Festival yesterday, something struck me as I explained to those who came by the booth about Soldiers’ Angels and what we do — there are so many here who want to help, but have no idea where to go or how to get started. I had a large stack of cards with the Soldiers’ Angels web address and our mission statement on them, and gave out every single one.

A few stopped to look at the binder of pictures and testimonials I had. One that the binder contained was this:

“Mail is more important than even hot showers or hot food. When I was in Fallujah, the mail center received about eight shipping containers every two days; three were filled with letters. People at home probably have no idea how much their little cards, letter and goodie bags boost morale. Countless walls around Iraq are wallpapered with cards and letters. Soldiers and marines especially love the cards from kids. There is nothing better over here than reading two-dozen cards from kids who can barely hold a crayon. If a kid sends a card, rest assured that card will be stuck in a wall somewhere, and it will bring a smile to many a soldiers and marine.”

- author Michael Yon, Moment of Truth in Iraq

It’s such a simple thing and yet it means the world to someone a thousand miles away. If you are interested, please visit www.soldiersangels.org and help us support those who are deployed throughout the world defending and protecting the freedoms we cherish.

(x-posted to my personal blog)

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Via Shelle Michaels at Wingtip 2 Wingtip, Recordable Cards with Music from Hallmark are being released in time for Mother’s Day. These cards allow the sender to add a personalized voice message, which is followed by a prerecorded song. You can tell Mom exactly how you feel with the sound of your voice and a song.

Per Jon Gray:

Hallmark has launched for military moms overseas. They’re partnering with the military to help children at four military installations mail their recorded messages of love and support this Mother’s Day through the donation of the new Hallmark Recordable Cards With Music. Many of these women have been away for as long as 15 months at a time. Events will be held at four installations experiencing high rates of deployment — Ft. Bliss, Ft. Riley, Ft. Campbell, and Ft. Stewart. Hallmark is hosting the events to give children a chance to personalize and mail their cards in time for them to arrive on Mother’s Day, May 11. Of course, these cards can’t replace the joy of seeing their child face-to-face, but hopefully they will be away for them to connect across the miles.

It’s a great idea! Visit the Hallmark site for a demo: www.hallmark.com/addyourvoice

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A large Alabama Army National Guard unit will be deploying to Afghanistan next year. The 877th Engineer Battalion spent nearly a year in Iraq from 2003-2004, and with several hundred members, was one of the largest state National Guard units to deploy to Iraq. It will be the largest Alabama Guard unit to serve in Afghanistan, and will be the second Army Guard unit from Alabama to have a second tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Courtesy of The Birmingham News:

While in Iraq, the 877th was based in the northern city of Mosul, and its mission included building military facilities, repairing schools and improving roads in Mosul and outlying areas.

Lt. Col. David Ward, the battalion commander, said the 877th should have similar tasks in Afghanistan.

“We’ve got a challenging mission,” said Ward, who added that soldiers from other state Guard units will be working with his battalion.

In contrast to Iraq, where thousands of Alabama Army Guard soldiers have served in more than 40 units, far fewer Alabama Guard soldiers in a handful of units have served in Afghanistan since 9/11.

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Per The Birmingham News:

An Alabama Army National Guard quartermaster unit is now training for an upcoming tour in Iraq. Army Guard spokesman Norman Arnold said about 15 members of the 1207th Quartermaster Detachment (Water Distribution) from Goodwater have been training at a military post for several weeks and should deploy by late spring or early summer.

“They can literally push water 10 to 15 miles out from a central point,” Arnold said.

Meanwhile, members of the 158th Maintenance Company, with headquarters in Tallassee and a detachment in Dadeville, also are preparing for an Iraq deployment and should begin intensive training at an out-of-state military post in the near future, Arnold said.

About 650 Alabama Army Guard members are currently on duty in and around Iraq and are slated to return home in the next two to three months.

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