MIGHTY CULTURE
Sgt. 1st Class Shaiyla Hakeem

How the Army keeps one of its most lethal enemies from striking again

Soldiers must be ready and capable to conduct the full range of military operations to defeat all enemies regardless of the threats they pose. But bad sanitation can keep them from the mission.

According to a 2010 public health report from the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health, "Influenza and pneumonia killed more American soldiers and sailors during the war [World War I] than did enemy weapons." The pandemic traveled with military personnel from camp to camp and across the Atlantic in 1918, infecting up to 40 percent of soldiers and sailors. In this instance, the enemy came in the form of a communicable disease.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Sgt. Brian Calhoun

Meet the first enlisted female Guard soldiers to graduate Ranger School

Two soldiers from the South Carolina and Pennsylvania National Guard are the first enlisted National Guard females to graduate from U.S. Army Ranger School.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jessica Smiley, a South Carolina National Guard military police non-commissioned officer serving with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, and U.S. Army Sgt. Danielle Farber, Pennsylvania National Guard 166th Regional Training Institute Medical Battalion Training Site instructor, completed the mentally and physically challenging school at Fort Benning Dec. 13, 2019. The school prepares soldiers to be better trained, more capable and more resilient leaders.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Keith Pannell

Shoplifting and arrests traditionally increase during the holidays

The holiday season can bring out the best...and worst in people. Unfortunately, Jeffrey Gunn, Army and Air Force Exchange Service Loss Prevention Manager for the Kaiserslautern Military Community sees the bad decisions made by some people up close.

More than 20 screens fill a small room where Gunn and his loss prevention employees watch for shoplifters in the AAFES stores across the KMC.

"Just like off-base retailers, we definitely see an increase in shoplifting during the holiday season," Gunn said. "Our stats bear that out. Besides actually detaining shoplifters, we find more empty packages on the sales floor this time of year."

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MIGHTY TACTICAL
Richard Bumgardner

The Army's venerable Kiowa helicopter is taking flight again

The distinctive and venerable OH-58 Kiowa helicopter, mothballed and grounded in the dry desert of Arizona, after being retired from US Army service with almost 50 years of service, is finding its wings again in Greece.

For an Army aviator, this was also a chance to get back into the seat of a historic platform and to share his knowledge and flying skills to a new generation of Hellenic pilots.

"I lucked out with this (foreign military sales) case as I was an instructor pilot in the Kiowa prior to switching to the Apache," Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Meadows, a military aviation trainer from the US Army Security Assistance Command, said of his selection.

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MIGHTY HISTORY
Sgt. Erica Earl

After 75 years, members of 101st Airborne share ties to Battle of the Bulge

Seventy-five years ago in Bastogne, Belgium, German soldiers captured American Pfc. Marold Peterson of the 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division. Peterson escaped from the work camp where we was held prisoner, only to be captured again and killed by Hitler Youth.

Sgt. Travis Paice, the great-grandson of Peterson, said it is surreal to be in Bastogne where Peterson lived his last moments.

"Maybe he was standing right where I stood," Paice, a soldier with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, said.

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MIGHTY SPORTS
Fort Sill Tribune staff

Why former NFL player decided to join the Army

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.

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MIGHTY SPORTS
Joe Lacdan

Army hopes to complete 4-year sweep of Navy in rivalry game

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.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
David Vergun

Military leaders talk about diversity in the armed forces

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.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Eric Durr and Sgt. Jonathan Pietrantoni

Honor Guard makes paratrooper's final request come true

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.

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