Marines from 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit , International Security Assistance Force , NATO, conduct a training exercise that requires them to meet and earn the trust of the local population. This exercise will better prepare the Marines while they conduct operations in support of NATO. Photo by Cpl. Andrea J. Carlson, April 15, 2008

Labels: 24th MEU, Afghanistan, International Security Assistance Force, NATO, photos, USMC

From Army.mil:

FORT BENNING, Ga. (Army News Service, April 22, 2008) -- Gen. George W. Casey Jr. applauds Staff Sgts. Michael Broussard (left) and Shayne Cherry for capturing the top spot in the 2008 David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition held April 18-20 at Fort Benning, Ga. Broussard and Cherry, who represented the 75th Ranger Regiment, competed with other Soldier-Ranger-athlete teams in 22 around-the-clock Ranger Olympic events that tested to the extreme their physical, mental and technical abilities as Rangers. Photo by J.D. Leipold


Apr 22, 2008
BY Fort Benning PAO

FORT BENNING, Ga. (Army News Service, April 22, 2008) --- A team representing the 75th Ranger Regiment won the 2008 Best Ranger Competition which ended Sunday at Fort Benning after 60 hours of competition.

Staff Sgt. Shayne Cherry, of Monroe Neb., and Staff Sgt. Michael Broussard, of Brentwood, Calif., bested a field of 29 teams which started the competition Friday.

Brothers Maj. Gregory Soule, a Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor at James Madison University, and Capt. Jeff Soule, who is assigned to Fort Benning’s Ranger Training Brigade, took second place. The Soules are natives of Baldwin, Maryland.

In third place was another team representing the 75th Ranger Regiment, Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Beck, of Fort Collins, Colo., and Sgt. Jeremy Billings, of Fairmount, Ind.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. presided at the Best Ranger Competition award ceremony at 1 p.m. Monday at the Ranger Memorial on main post.

Of the 28 teams which started the 2008 Best Ranger Competition, only 16 finished. The three-day Best Ranger Competition was established in 1982 and has been compared to Ironman and Eco-Challenge competitions.

The competition challenges two-man Ranger teams in events that test their physical conditioning, Ranger skills and team strategies. The events are purposely scheduled back-to-back and around the clock for 60 hours, allowing little time for rest and meals.

All competitors are Ranger-qualified, successful graduates of Fort Benning’s Ranger School.

For more information and photos on the Best Ranger Competition, see Best Rangers Finish Weekend of Competition

Related Links:
See video
Best Ranger Competition

Labels: Army Rangers, Best Ranger, Fort Benning, Good News, US Army

Close Air Support
First Lt. Peter Cacossa directs an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter from a rooftop toward the sound of small-arms fire heard during a raid in Mosul, Iraq, April 17, 2008. Kiowas support troops on the ground in contact. Cacossa is a platoon leader in Heavy Company, 3rd Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Hood, Texas. Photo by Spc. John Crosby, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

Labels: 3-3 Armored Cavalry Regiment, helicopter, Iraq, Kiowa, Mosul, OH-58, photos, US Army

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Al-Sadr may restart full-scale fight against US in Iraq

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Bush Meets Palestinian Leader as Mideast Talks Falter
Palestinians: Carter Achieved Nothing
Bush assures Abbas on statehood

Fallen Heroes
Soldier's Parents Sue Over Anti-War Shirt - VIDEO

Other Military News
Air Force Ends Search for Missing Balloon Priest - VIDEO

Worldwide Wackos
White House Calls N. Korea Nuke Aid 'Dangerous,' Says Syria 'Must Come Clean' - VIDEO
Official: Syrian Nuclear Reactor Was Weeks From Functioning
Iran nuclear ambitions are major Gulf threat: NATO

Homegrown Moonbats
Bush Heckler Busted After Punching Girl in WheelChair
Bush assures Abbas on statehood
Obama's pastor says he unfairly painted a fanatic

Politics / Government
McCain in Attack Ad Fight
McCain: I can't 'dictate' to N. Carolina GOP
Obama Ready to 'Beat the Clock' on 'FOX News Sunday'
McCain: Katrina Response was Abysmal - VIDEO
Obama Courts Union Vote; Clinton Targets Veterans
Mexican Official Fired Over W.H. BlackBerry Theft
South Carolina Senate Passes Public Prayer Bill
McCain hits Obama on diplomacy over North Korea - Video
McCain sharply critical of Bush response to Katrina
House speaker asks Bush to stop stockpiling oil
U.S. says North Korea gave Syria nuclear assistance
Video: McCain focuses on November
McCain hits Obama on diplomacy over North Korea
Clinton raises $10 million, helped by 80,000 new donors
Bush administration opposes Democrats' housing rescue plan
Lobbyist Lott takes advantage of old Senate campaign cash
Calif. gov sees wider deficit amid "tough year"
Senate OKs bill barring genetic discrimination
Florida lawmakers debate offering a Christian license plate
U.S. says Mugabe lost vote and backs arms embargo - Video

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
U.S. to step up prosecution of Mexico border crime
Study: Illegal worker crackdown would cost employers $1B

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Cops: Child Moms Taken from Sect
Cops: Michigan Woman Lived With Partially Mummified Body of Sister
Georgia Mother and Daughter Charged in Teacher Attack
Couple Found Dead Minutes After Wife's Frantic 911 Call
Cops: Woman's Beer-Can Toss Led to Fatal Crash
Snipes Gets 3-Year Jail Term on Tax Charges
Justice Scalia: Abortion Not Prohibited in Constitution
Prosecutors: Ind. student planned Columbine-like attack
Legally blind man teaches alleged intruder a lesson

U.N. News
U.N. says Bush climate plan just a "first offer"
Iraqi-American sentenced in oil-for-food case

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
CNN Sued for More Than $1.3B for Chinese 'Goons' Comment
Microsoft issues final threat to scotch Yahoo deal
Yahoo to harmonize user profiles
NBC says no way to O.J. Simpson on "Apprentice"
Singapore TV fined $11,000 for "pro-gay" scene: paper
Judge reserves judgment in Clear Channel case
Blog: Have you been hoarding rice

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Woman, Baby Die After Doctors Refuse to Treat Them
When Galaxies Collide: A Whole New Kind of Star Wars - PHOTO ESSAY: Dramatic, Out-of-This-World Images
Study: Humans Almost Died Out 70,000 Years Ago
Plan to reverse global warming could backfire
Environment groups target Senate races on climate
Salt removal could help U.S. water supply
Protein scraps help fill in dino family tree
Hold the marbles: Abstract approach best for math
Papaya genome bares evolution's secrets
Obesity and low birthweight mar health of kids
Asian history inspires new online games
Spike Lee teams with Nokia on cell phone movie
Sony off to races with "Gran Turismo"
U.S. may cut support for ag research
Microsoft not ruling out Windows XP extension
Scientists study evidence modern birds came from dinosaurs

Mother Nature
Brazil to rein in foreign groups in Amazon
Video: Three Little Lions
Penguin's wetsuit puts him back in the swim of things

Oddities
Sex, Betrayal and Liturgical Singing
Japanese Girl Commits Suicide With Detergent, Sickens 90 Neighbors
Fellow Flyers Duct-Tape Disorderly Drunk to His Seat
Getting paid to drink
Thousands flock to exhumed body of saint - Video
Nose-picking lawmaker to shout his last good-bye
Video: And Finally... Beauty Secrets

Other News of Note
Torch arrives in Japan under tense security - Video

Fox News
FOXBusiness: Microsoft Earnings Disappoint Wall Street
Mexican Embassy: Official Fired After Getting Caught With White House BlackBerries
Megan Fox Tops FHM's Sexiest Women List
Reality Check: Hairy Times on 'Idol'
Faithful Gather to View Mystic Italian Saint Padre Pio's Remains
Jenna Bush and Fiance to Call Baltimore Home

Reuters
Rice hits record highs - Video - Slideshow
World food fears mount
Full Coverage: Rising cost of food
Banks, insurers lift Wall St.; Microsoft down late - Video
USDA's Schafer reassures no rice shortage
Ready for battle
Learning your financial ABCs
Suddenly sinkable
In a tight fix
Microsoft results disappoint
Paulson cites progress in calming markets
American Express 1st-qtr profit declines
Big borrowing shows Fed is still dealers' last resort
SEC settles false rumor charge with trader
Arby's owner to buy Wendy's for $2.4 billion
Delta and Northwest try to reassure Congress on merger
World Food Program launches emergency call for Haiti
Madonna shines light on Malawi with documentary
Spike Lee teams with Nokia on cell phone movie
"I am cool" says "Idol" reject Carly Smithson
Video: Talk of the Town: Madonna's movie
Lying? Your face will give you away: study
Top 10 restaurants for sightseers
Life and Style reports Lindsay Lohan relapses
Video: Swap shop - for designer clothes
Draft spotlight falls on character in wake of Vick scandal
Dodgers plan $500 million stadium facelift
Rejuvenated Kobe Bryant revels in Lakers role
Brown eyes coaching return after quitting 76ers
Designated hitter Thomas back with Oakland

AP World News
Cook and Rockies beat Cubs 4-2 to end four-game slide
Smithsonian to open massive new 'Ocean Hall' in September
Jennifer Lopez to star in a TLC reality series
Wall Street rises after drop in jobless claims, Ford results
Ordonez homers twice to lead Tigers over Rangers 8-2
Keys cancels Cleveland concert with swollen vocal chords
New home sales plunge to lowest level in 16 1/2 years
Ford posts surprise 1Q profit, still expects full-year loss

News Blaze
Support Our Troops, Read Their Stories
Award-Winning Shops Keep Army Rolling Along
Prominent Sheik Meets With Raider Commander, Discusses Future of Doura
Soldiers' Angels and Patriot Guard
Iraq News
Read about Operations in Iraq
FOB Warhorse Memorial Photos
Videos

CENTCOM
Warij residents become Sons of Iraq
Reward program leads to more insurgent weapons finds
School renovation under way in Mahmudiyah
Microgrants keep Arab Jabour clinic open
Soldiers create 'Daughters of Iraq' program
Calm descends on Bayji during medical engagement
Warij residents become Sons of Iraq
White House nominates Petraeus for top CENTCOM job
Afghan veterinarians come to ranchers' aid
Displaced Iraqis returning home in droves

USJFCOM
Joint Knowledge Online earns prestigious award for distance learning
Learn more about Joint Knowledge Online
Joint Knowledge Development and Distribution
Follow USJFCOM news on Twitter
Interoperability assessment begins - podcast
Learn more about JSIC
Provincial reconstruction team supports Iraqi farmers
Task Force Ramadi gets fuel flowing
DoD honors USJFCOM efforts to improve command and control linkages - podcast

Multi-National Force - Iraq
Petraeus-Odierno Team Nominated to Lead in CentCom, Iraq
Iraqi Students Enhance English Skills
Warij Residents Become Sons of Iraq
Soldiers Help Iraqi Child With Medical Care
New academy helps Diyala IPs meet training requirements
Iraqi Security Forces clear Hyyaniyah, Basra
Iraqi children help clean the streets (Basrah)
Coalition forces target al-Qaeda in Iraq: three terrorists killed, 14 suspects detained (Mosul)
IED detonates outside Iraqi shop (Baghdad)
Gulf Region South Coast Corps of Engineers surveys reconstruction efforts in northern Basra

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Wounded Warriors Get White House Send Off - Photos
Gates Speeds Delivery of ISR Assets
Petraeus to Head Central Command

IRAQ NEWS
Government Expands Biometrics
Troops Kill Iranian-Trained Fighters
Bank Reopens After Security Boost

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Attendance Doubles for 'Work Day' - Photos
Pentagon Kids Enjoy 'Work Day' Fun - Photos

MILITARY NEWS
Distributed Learning Delivers Training Anywhere
Outreach Participant Revisits Past in Colombia - Special
DoD, VA Leaders Chart New Ways to Help Wounded

FACE OF DEFENSE
Soldier Lives New Dream

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Today in History
0858 - Nicolas I succeeds Benedict III as Catholic Pope
1061 - Halley's Comet sparks English monk to predict country'll be destroyed
1185 - Battle at Danoura - Yoshitsune Minamoto's fleet beats imperial fleet
1288 - Jews of Yroyes France are accused of ritual murder
1311 - General Malik Kafur returns to Delhi after campaign in South India
1364 - Pope Urbabus V names John V van Virneburg as bishop of Utrecht
1524 - Duke of Bourbon drives Admiral Bonnivet out of Milan
1547 - Battle of Mühlberg Emperor Karel V vs ruler Johan F. the Brave
1570 - Battles between Spanish troops & followers of sultan Suleiman
1596 - Pacificatie of Ireland drawn
1704 - "Boston News-Letter", 1st successful newspaper in US, is established
1762 - Russia & Prussia sign peace treaty
1792 - "La Marseillaise" (French national anthem) composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle
1800 - Library of Congress is established with $5,000 allocation
1863 - Skirmish at Okolona/Birmingham, MS (Grierson's Raid)
1865 - Fire alarm & police telegraph system put into operation (San Francisco)
1867 - Black demonstrators stage ride-ins on Richmond, VA streetcars
1872 - Volcano Vesuvius erupts
1877 - Last federal occupying troops withdraw from south (New Orleans); Russia declares war on Turkey through Romania
1884 - National Medical Association of Black physicians organizes (Atlanta GA)
1888 - Eastman Kodak forms
1897 - 1st reporter, William Price (Washington Star), is assigned to White House
1898 - Spain declares war on US, rejecting ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba
1898 - US fleet under commodore Dewey sails from Hong Kong to Philippines
1899 - Transvaal British Uitlanders ask Queen Victoria for aid
1901 - 1st American League game, Chicago White Sox beat Cleveland Indians 8-2, 3 other games rained out
1908 - Mr & Mrs Jacob Murdock become the 1st to travel across the US by car, they leave Los Angeles in a Packard & arrive in NYC in 32 days-5 hours-25 minutes
1915 - Massacre of Armenians by Turks (Armenian Martyrs Day); German army fires chloroform gas in Ieper
1916 - Easter rebellion of Irish against British occupation begins
1920 - British Mandate over Palestine goes into effect (lasts 28 years); Polish troops attack Ukraine
1921 - 1st municipal elections for men & women in Belgium
1923 - Colonel Jacob Schick patents Schick shavers
1928 - Fathometer, which measures underwater depth, patented
1929 - 1st non-stop England to India flight takes-off; Thorvald Stauning becomes premier of Denmark
1941 - British army begins evacuation of Greece; Dutch Prince Bernhard becomes an RAF pilot
1942 - Luftwaffe bombs Exeter
1944 - 1st Boeing B-29 arrives in China "over the Hump"
1944 - RAF bombs Munich
1950 - Independent republic of South Molukkas declared; President Harry Truman denies there are communists in US government
1953 - Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
1954 - 1st American, civilian pilot, P.R. Holden, wounded in Indochina; Australia & USSR break diplomatic relations
1955 - Conference of Bandung against colonialism/for self determination ends; Gaullists lose elections in France
1960 - Heavy earthquake strikes South Persia, 500 killed
1961 - JFK accepts "sole responsibility" following Bay of Pigs; The Vasa, which sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628, is raised
1962 - 1st Lockheed A-12 is taxi tested; MIT sends TV signal by satellite for 1st time California to Massachusetts
1965 - Military coup under Donald Reid Cabral in Dominican Republic
1968 - Leftist students take over Columbia University in NYC
1969 - General Lin Piao succeeds Mao, is seriously wounded; Lebanese army in battle with Palestinians; US B-52's drop 3,000 ton bombs at Cambodian boundary
1970 - Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth; People's Rebublic of China launches its 1st satellite transmitting song "East is Red"; Senegal adopts constitution
1971 - Soyuz 10 returns to Earth
1980 - US military operation to save 52 hostages in Iran, fails, 8 die
1981 - IBM-PC computer introduced; US ends grain embargo against USSR
1982 - 150 Khomeini followers assault student dormitory in West Germany
1983 - Austrian socialist party loses parliamentary election
1987 - Howard Stern holds a free speech rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, NYC
1989 - Tens of thousands of students strike in Beijing China
1990 - US 66th manned space mission STS 31 (Discovery 10) launches into orbit; West & East Germany agree to merge currency & economies on July 1st
1993 - 1000 kg heavy IRA car bomb explodes in London, killing 1
1994 - Armando Calderón Sol wins El Salvador presidential election; Bomb attack in center of Johannesburg kills 9
1995 - Court orders Darryl Strawberry to pay back $350,000 in taxes

Birthdays
1576 - San Vicente de Paúl
1620 - John Graunt, statistician, founder of science of demography
1743 - Edmund Cartwright, cleric, inventor (power loom)
1766 - Robert Bailey Thomas, founded Farmer's Almanac
1769 - Arthur Wellesley, General/Duke of Wellington
1773 - Harman W. Muntinghe, lawyer/Dutch colonial director
1804 - Thomas Oliver Selfridge, Union Naval Commander
1807 - Charles Ferguson Smith, Union Major General
1815 - James Edward Harrison, Confederate Brigadier General
1822 - Erastus Barnard Tyler, Union Brevet Major General
1828 - Robert Brank Vance, Confederate Brigadier General
1829 - George Peabody Estey, Union Brigadier General
1837 - Friedrich von Holstein, German diplomat (die graue Eminenz)
1849 - Joseph S. Galliéni, General (Battle of Marne)/military governor (Paris)
1856 - Henri POBJ Pétain, French marshal (Verdun/Vichy regime)
1864 - George Alting van Geusau, Director-General (PTT)/Dutch Minister of War (1918-20)
1873 - Theodor Körner von Siegringen, Austrian General/President
1874 - John Russell Pope, architect (Jefferson Memorial)
1889 - [Richard] Stafford Cripps, English Minister of Plane-manufacturing (1942-45)
1895 - S. Constantine Timoshenko, Russian marshal/people's commissioner
1905 - Robert Penn Warren, 1st US poet laureate (All the King's Men)
1911 - Karl O. Schiller, German economist (Minister of Economics); Robert Joseph Kane, President of US Olympic Committee (1976)
1942 - Richard M. Daley (mayor-Democrat-Chicago); Valeri Abramovich Voloshin, Russian cosmonaut
1953 - John P. Hiler (Representative-Republican-IN, 1981- )
1955 - Jack Kingston (Representative-Republican-GA)
1959 - Yvonne D. Cagle, MD/astronaut

Passings
0709 - Wilfried, bishop of York, at about 76
0729 - Egbert[us] English bishop/saint, in Iona at 89
1077 - Geza I, King of Hungary (1074-7)
1185 - Antoku Taira, Emperor of Japan (1180-85), drowned
1617 - Carlo Concino, French marquis of Ancre/state advisor, murdered
1891 - Count Helmuth K.B. von Moltke, Prussian General/fieldmarshal
1900 - George J.D. Campbell, British minister of Indies (1868-74, 80-85), at 76; Andrew Halliday, cable car pioneer
1945 - Anton de Kom, Suriname resistance fighter, at 47
1952 - Jules Poncelet, Belgian minister of State, at 82
1957 - Andries CD de Graeff, Governor-General of Netherlands Indies (1926-31), at 84
1967 - Vladimir M. Komarov cosmonaut (Voshkod I), is 1st to die in space (aboard Soyuz 1), at 40
1986 - Wallis Warfield Simpson (Duchess of Windsor)
1993 - Oliver R. Tambo, chairman (African National Congress), at 75

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Cooper, William E., USAF (GA); F105D shot down (same flight as Driscoll)

Driscoll, Jerry D., USAF (IL); F105D shot down (same flight as Cooper), released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1967
Christian, Michael D., USN (AL); A6A shot down (w/Williams), released by DRV March, 1973 - died in a fire, September, 1983

Knapp, Herman L., USAF (NJ); F4C shot down, likely KIA

Tucker, Edwin B., USN (MA); F8C shot down, DIC - remains returned November, 1987 / ID'd February, 1988

Williams, Lewis I., USN (FL); A6A shot down (w/Christian) - released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

1968
Helle, Robert R., USMC (OH); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Johnson, Buford Gerald, US Army (FL); UH1H crashed - remains recovered September, 1968

Kavanaugh, Abel L., USMC (CO); released by PRG March, 1973 - deceased, suicide

Parker, Woodrow W., USAF (FL); F4D crashed (w/Vinson) - remains returned / ID'd October, 1998

Sparks, John G., US Army (TN); OV1A shot down - released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Vinson, Bobby G., USAF (TX); F4D crashed (w/Parker) - remains ID'd October 1998

1969
Shriver, Jerry M., US Army SF (CA)

1970
Cross, James E., USAF (OH); U-17B shot down (w/Reese)

Reese, Gomer D. III, USAF (NY); U-17B shot down (w/Cross)

1971
The following US Army personnel reported Missing after their unit came under heavy fire:
Champion, James A. (TX); believed KIA

Malo, Issako F. (CA); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1999

1972
The following US Army personnel reported Missing when the Viet Cong attacked the Tanh Canh base camp:
Carter, George W. (FL); KIA/BNR

Ellen, Wade L. (VA); KIA/BNR

Hunsicker, James E. (PA); KIA/BNR

Jones, Johnny M., (AL); KIA/BNR

Yonan, Kenneth (IL); remains returned April, 1988

Zollicoffer, Franklin (MS); KIA/BNR

Labels: Headlines, History