A former NFL Arizona Cardinals cornerback is training for his new team — the Army.
Spc. Jimmy Legree is in his second week of Basic Combat Training; after he graduates he'll continue training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, to become a communications specialist.
Serving in the military was one of his childhood goals, said Legree, who is assigned to D Battery, 1st Battalion, 19th Field Artillery.
Since his fellow cadets stormed Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium three years ago after Army ended Navy's 14-game winning streak, Ryan Velez had waited for his chance to play in the storied Army-Navy game.
Velez, now a senior safety from Fountain Hills, Arizona, finally saw action on special teams during last year's 17-10 Army triumph in Philadelphia.
On Dec. 14, 2019, Velez can help the 5-7 Black Knights defeat Navy for the fourth straight time, and cement the 2020 senior class as one of the greatest in West Point's history. Army takes on the No. 23 Midshipmen (9-2) at the Philadelphia Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field at 3 p.m. EST.
The House Armed Services Committee's military personnel subcommittee heard testimony from Defense Department personnel chiefs on diversity in recruiting and retention.
Testifying were: Army Lt. Gen. Thomas C. Seamands, deputy chief of staff for personnel; Navy Vice Adm. John B. Nowell Jr., chief of naval personnel; Air Force Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services; and Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael A. Rocco, deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs.
A former Army paratrooper's final request to be buried with military honors alongside other veterans was carried out by a New York Army National Guard honor guard on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019, at Calverton National Cemetery.
Needham Mayes, the New York City resident who was buried, was one of the first African-American soldiers to join the 82nd Airborne Division in 1953. But he left the Army with a dishonorable discharge in 1956 after a fight in a Non-Commissioned Officers Club.
In 2016 — after a lifetime of accomplishment and community service — he began the process of having that dishonorable discharge changed. His lawyers argued that in a Southern Army post, just a few years after the Army had integrated, black soldiers were often treated unfairly.
When the players on the Army West Point football team take the field, they do so for more than themselves.
They represent the U.S. Military Academy and the generations of graduates who make up the Long Gray Line. They play for the U.S. Army and those who have fought and died protecting America. And each week during the season, they play for a particular division of the Army and the soldiers currently serving and who have served in it.
For most of the regular season, the division is honored by a patch on the back of the players' helmets. But for the past three years during the Army-Navy Game, the Black Knights have honored one of the Army's divisions by wearing an entire uniform telling the division's story.
The upcoming Army Combat Fitness Test is intended to improve soldier readiness, transform the Army's fitness culture, reduce preventable injuries, and enhance mental toughness and stamina.
But the new test leaves one question: How do soldiers train safely?
First Sgt. Daniel Ramirez, the first sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, First Army, answered this question for his soldiers by partnering with a local functional fitness gym. He and fifteen other soldiers of the Detachment recently attended a four-day, in-depth class at Foundation in East Moline, Illinois on proper techniques for lifting, squatting, and other exercises essential to safe completion of the ACFT. The goal of the workshop was to "Train the Trainer," enabling First Army personnel to be subject-matter experts in advising their teammates on safe and efficient methods of exercise.
Just a year ago, Christian Montijo was a different man. In fact, he was almost twice the man he is today.
He figured he weighed a little more than 350 pounds. But it was more of a guess, since his scale only went up to that number.
Overweight and realizing his unhealthy habits, the 28-year-old banker from Kissimmee, Florida, set a goal to transform himself. And, if he could, revive his dream of joining the Army.
"I would wake up tired," he said Tuesday. "I'd be sitting down watching TV and my wife would be, 'are you OK because you're breathing really heavy?' So I decided that I had to make a change."
Company D, 31st Engineer Battalion, at Fort Leonard Wood is one of a small handful of training units piloting a new concept in physical readiness mirrored on characteristics of the new Army Combat Fitness Test.
The Strength Training Program was developed by the Maneuver Center of Excellence Directorate of Training and Doctrine's Training and Education Development Division at Fort Benning, Georgia, who looked at an assessment of Soldier physical fitness in relation to the Army Physical Fitness Test.
"The APFT does not adequately assess the domains of muscular strength, explosive power, speed, agility, flexibility and balance," said Capt. Jeffry O'Loughlin, Company D commander. "This new physical training program was developed to better prepare a Soldier's readiness for the demands of the modern battlefield by focusing on all aspects of combat fitness -- similar to the aim of the ACFT."
When people think of traveling 1,000 miles it often conjures thoughts of long, uncomfortable drives with kids shouting "are we there yet?" or perhaps of long lines waiting to get through airport security.
But what it almost certainly does not evoke is the thought of running those 1,000 miles.
The mere idea of running such a distance would seem crazy to most people. But it seemed like a great idea to Lt. Col. Daniel R. Hanson, Task Force Guardian Arizona Joint Staff, Arizona Army National Guard, and he decided to set out to accomplish it in one year.
For Hanson running 1,000 miles in a year was a chance to strive for a goal that would stretch his physical and mental limits.
