Fort Pickett, Va. (Jan. 23, 2007) – Sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron One (RIVRON-1), based at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, train aboard Small Unit River Craft (SURC), during a unit-level training exercise. RIVRON-1 is part of the newly formed Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC). NECC integrates all warfighting requirements for expeditionary combat and combat support elements. This transformation allows for standardized training, manning and equipping of Sailors who will participate in the global war on terrorism as part of the joint force. It also results in more capable, responsive and effective expeditionary Sailors. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication 3rd Class Kenneth R. Hendrix

Most of you will remember Jessica, from Mrs. P's class, whose wonderful poem, honoring our troops, was posted here.

Another of Mrs. P's students, Heather K., has also sent along a poem:





Heather, well said! Thanks for letting me post this, and thank you for supporting our Heroes!

Mrs. P, there should be more teachers like you out there...and more kids like your students!



** Heather's poem posted by permission - please do not repost without same **

FLEX TEAM — An army Humvee turret gunner guards a P-19 airport rescue firefighting vehicle during an operation in Southwest Asia. Flex Team deploys at a moment's notice to forward-operating bases to provide aircraft rescue, emergency medical and firefighting support. U.S. Air Force courtesy photo

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Bush Gets His Answer - Senate panel OKs resolution critical of Iraq policy
4 Americans in Iraq Crash Shot in Head
Bush Pursues Energy Initiatives While Congress Debates Iraq
U.S. helicopters strike high-rises in Baghdad - Video
U.S., Iraqi troops clash in Baghdad (Gotta love this headline. Should have read "U.S., Iraqi troops clash with insurgents in Baghdad...)

Operation Enduring Freedom
U.S. to urge allies to boost Afghan support

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
U.S.: Second Airstrike in Somalia - VIDEO
U.S. confirms air strike in Somalia - Video
Nigeria to send peacekeepers to Somalia
Saudis and Iranians working on Lebanon deal - Video

Supporting Our Heroes (Or Not...)
GIs in Iraq Get Their Mats After Enduring Insult From Web-Based Company

Religion of Peace??
Rights group urges Saudis to stop Ahmadi arrests

Worldwide Wackos
Report: N. Korea Helping Iran Plan Nuke Test

Homegrown Moonbats
Wisconsin School Bans 'USA' Chant

Politics / Government
Bush Takes State of the Union Message on the Road - VIDEO
Flat State of the Union Address Still Earns Requisite Applause
Bush address draws 45.5 million U.S. TV viewers
Bush enters final two years with subdued tone
Sen. Kerry to Skip 2008 Presidential Race
IRS Pushes Tax Filing Deadline Back 2 Days
Israeli PM Calls for President to Resign
Israeli president taking leave of absence
Senate Republicans block minimum wage hike
Bush plan won't end foreign oil dependence

Immigration / Border Control
24 Illegal Immigrants Arrested After Asking ICE Officers for Work
Bush's words on immigration split Hispanics

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment
Principal Offender?
Sex, booze cheerleader scandal rocks high school
Passer-By Stops Mom's Knife Attack on Boy
Sex Offender, 29, Attended 2 Schools - VIDEO
Charges Added Against Duke DA - VIDEO
Ex-Deputy Charged in '64 Racial Slayings
Cops Find Van Used by Pregnant Women Accused of Frying Pan Attack
Police Search for Clues in Brutal Murder of 3 Kids, Mom & Dad in Upstate New York Home
Indiana Mom, 4 Kids Found Alive After Amber Alert; Suspect Arrested
Three College Football Players Face Assault Charges for Alleged Attack on Palestinian Students
Long Island Boys Find Parents Shot Dead After School

Science / Nature
Test-Tube Rhino Born at Budapest Zoo - PICS
Australian Diver Recounts How Shark Nearly Ate Him

Oddities
When's a Canadian Not a Canadian?
Microsoft in Hot Water Over Wikipedia Edits
Five Komodo Dragons Born of Virgin Mother in England
Shock over disfigurement dating show
Talk about high heels..
UK Schools "must tell parents" if children are obese

Other News of Note
Texas Mayor Singles Out N-Word for Ban
Georgian sting seizes bomb grade uranium

Fox News
Pig Farmer Denies Murdering 26 Women
Bikini-Slay Apartment Sign Draws Criticism
Expert: Beyonce's Red Carpet Posing Is the Pits
Report: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Will Kiss on FX's 'Dirt'
Sundance Sales Go Wild; First Review of Dakota Fanning Movie 'Hounddog'

Reuters: Top News
U.S. not scared enough of bird flu, Senate told
Suspected stomach flu hits QE 2
Accused Canadian serial killer says he was set up
Brandy involved in fatal car crash
"Grey's Anatomy" star in counseling after gay slur
Dow at record after tech rally
EBay shares rise after earnings
Qualcomm, Netflix rise after results
APN News shares rise after fresh Independent bid
Oil rises over $55, dealers eye U.S. cold
Now or later?
On the defense
EBay profit up 24 percent
Siemens to buy UGS for $3.5 billion
BA says union plans 48-hour strike as talks fail
Ricoh to buy IBM digital printer business
Qualcomm posts higher Q1 net
Derivatives risks loom large for leaders at Davos

AP World News
New Orleans struggles to find teachers
Garner tells how ring fell into a drain
Manning plays coy about injured thumb
Yahoo, Sun lift Nasdaq over 1 percent
NFL, players union agree to drug testing
Restaurant group objects to K-Fed ad
Gonzalez upsets Nadal at Australian Open
Advisers nix new birth control rules
Jimi Hendrix energy drink in works
McDonald's 4Q profit doubles
Abducted woman used code to alert family
Obituaries in the news
LA mayor calls for plans to cut poverty
First OK passes on casino smoking ban
Mother of runaway proud of son's moxie

Military.com
DT: President Stole My Idea
Op-ed: Father vs. Son
Blog: The Perils of Wimpdom
Advisors: Psychological Kevlar
Kit Up! The Stuff Beyond Standard Issue
Podcast: Sailor Playmate Speaks!

CENTCOM: News Releases
EXPLOSION KILLS 12 IN KHALIS
COMBINED OPERATION KICKS OFF ON HAIFA STREET

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
U.S. Works With Horn of Africa Countries to Go After al Qaeda - Story
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Airmen Depart Mildenhall for Southwest Asia - Story
Operation Tomahawk Nets Insurgents, Weapons - Story
Army Engineers Help Develop Port Capacity - Story
Camp Lemonier Expansion Creates New Jobs - Story
Marines Provide Combat Roadside Service - Story

IN IRAQ
U.S. Soldiers Help Open Schools in Mushahidah
Iraqi Soldiers Receive Leadership Training
Dark Horse Keeps Watchful Eye Over Base
Stryker Force Ready to Respond to Threa
Mobile Surgical Unit Exercises Muscles
School Supplies Bring Smiles to Children
82nd Airborne Steps Up Security in Baghdad
Transition Team Braves Attacks to Train Police

IN AFGHANISTAN
Volunteers Spark Warmth at Burn Center
U.S. Air Assets Support Strike in Afghanistan

IN DJIBOUTI
Marine Trains U.S. Embassy Troops in Djibouti

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualties - Story

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

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o
Osan Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar Site Ulsan Yosu

* If you're deployed, and want to see your location's weather listed here, please email me!

0844 - Gregory IV begins & ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1139 - Godfried II the Young becomes duke of Brabant
1327 - King Edward III accends to British throne
1348 - Earthquake destroys Villach, killing 5,000
1494 - Alfonso II replaces his father as king of Naples
1533 - England's King Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn (approximate date)
1554 - Sir Thomas Wyatt gathers an army in Kent, rebels against Queen Mary
1565 - Battle at Talikota India Moslems destroy Vijayanagar's army
1579 - Treaty of Utrecht signed, marks beginning of Dutch Republic
1721 - Czar Peter the Great ends Russian-orthodox patriarchy
1775 - Americans drag cannon up hill to fight British (Gun Hill Road, Bronx)
1787 - Shays' Rebellion suffers a setback when debt-ridden farmers, led by Captain Daniel Shays, fail to capture an arsenal at Springfield MA
1799 - 1st US patent for a seeding machine, Eliakim Spooner, Vermont
1802 - Napoleon elected President of the Italian (Cisalpine) Republic
1825 - 1st US engineering college opens, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Troy NY
1844 - Recontre between Representatives Weller & Shriver, US House of Representatives
1851 - Sojourner Truth addresses 1st Black Women's Rights Convention (Akron)
1856 - Battle of Seattle; skirmish between settlers & Indians
1858 - Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" 1st played, at wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Victoria, to crown prince of Prussia
1863 - Battle of Kinston, NC; General Joseph Hooker replaces Burnside as head of Army of Potomac
1865 - The CSS Shenandoah arrives in Melbourne, Australia
1870 - Soda fountain patented by Gustavus Dows
1875 - Anti-slavery society formed in NY
1877 - Congress determines presidential election between Hayes-Tilden
1890 - Nellie Bly beats Phileas Fogg's time around world by 8 days (72 days)
1904 - 179 die in coal mine explosion at Cheswick PA
1915 - Transcontinental telephone service inaugurated (New York to San Francisco)
1916 - Montenegro surrenders to Austria-Hungary
1918 - Russia declared a republic of Soviets
1919 - Founding of League of Nations, 1st meeting 1 year later
1924 - 1st Winter Olympic games open in Chamonix, France
1937 - Miami-to-Tampa bus overturned in a canal, kills 13
1940 - Nazi decrees the establishment of Jewish ghetto in Lodz Poland
1945 - Grand Rapids, MI becomes 1st US city to fluoridate its water; Japanese occupiers of Batavia arrest Indo-European youths; West Africa 82nd division occupies Myohaung, Burma
1949 - 1st Israeli election - Ben-Gurion's Mapai party wins
1951 - UN begins counter offensive in Korea
1955 - Russia ends state of war with Germany; US & Panamá sign canal treaty
1957 - FBI arrests Jack & Myra Sobel, charged with spying for the USSR
1959 - 1st transcontinental commercial jet flight (American) (Los Angeles to New York for $301)
1961 - 1st live, nationally televised Presidential news conference (JFK); Walt Disney's "101 Dalmations" released; Military coup in El Salvador
1964 - Echo 2, US communications satellite launched
1969 - US-North Vietnamese peace talks begin in Paris
1970 - Robert Altman's "M*AS*H" premieres
1971 - Charles Manson & 3 women followers convicted of Tate-LaBianca murders; Himachal Pradesh becomes 18th Indian state; Philadelphia mint's 1st trial strike of the Eisenhower dollar; Military coup in Uganda under General Idi Amin Dada
1974 - Bülent Ecevit forms government in Turkey
1974 - South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard transplanted the first human heart without removal of the old one
1975 - Parliament disposes of premier sheik Mujib ur-Rahman
1978 - Muriel Humphrey (D-MN) appointed to fill late husband's Senate seat
1979 - Pope John Paul II's 1st overseas trip as supreme pontiff
1980 - Highest speed attained by a warship, 167 kph, USN hovercraft; Bani Sadr elected President of Iran; Dutch Government demands boycott of Olympics; 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived back in US
1981 - Mao's widow Jiang Qing sentenced to death
1983 - China's supreme court commutes Chiang Ch'ing's death sentence to life; Infrared telescope satellite launched into polar orbit; Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie arrested in Bolivia
1986 - General Tito Okello's government flees Kampala Uganda
1988 - Vice President Bush & Dan Rather clash on "CBS Evening News" as Rather attempts to question Bush about his role in the Iran-Contra affair; Ramsewak Shankar sworn in as President of Suriname
1990 - Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is transferred to a Miami jail
1991 - Manuel Noriega is given access to assets frozen by US government
1992 - Hubble space telescope optics finds NGC3862/3C264
1993 - Puerto Rico adds English as its 2nd official language; Sears announces it is closing its catalog sales department after 97 years
1994 - Accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy, Michael Jackson settles a civil lawsuit out of court; US space probe Clementine launched
1995 - Jacques Santer succeeds Jacques Delors as chairman of European Committee

Birthdays
0749 - Leo IV (the Khazar), Byzantine emperor (775-80)
1540 - Edmund Campion London, saint/Jesuit martyr (December Rationes)
1634 - Gaspar Fagel, lawyer/pension advisor of Holland (1672-88)
1693 - Anna Ivanova Romanova, daughter of Ivan V/empress of Russia (1730-40)
1741 - Benedict Arnold, General /traitor (US revolution)
1766 - Hans Freiherr von Gagern, German advisor to Dutch king Willem I
1770 - Francis Burdett, British politician
1777 - Elias Canneman, Dutch liberal minister of Finance (1813-14)
1814 - Francis Harrison Pierpont, Governor (Union)
1826 - Rembt van Boneval Faure, Dutch MP
1839 - Seldon Connor, Union Brigadier General
1841 - John Arbuthnot Fisher Ceylon, 1st Baron Fisher/admiral of the fleet
1860 - Charles Curtis, (R) 31st US VP (1929-33)
1866 - Emile Vandervelde, leader of Belgian BWP party
1891 - William C. Bullitt, 1st US ambassador to USSR
1912 - Lucius E. Burch Jr., US lawyer/civil rights leader
1928 - Eduard Shevardnadze, Soviet Georgia, foreign minister of USSR (1985-91)
1936 - Dan Schaefer (Representative-CO)
1946 - Josephine M. Verspaget, sociologist/Dutch MP (PvdA)

Passings
1138 - Anacletus II [Pietro Pierleone], Jewish anti-pope (1130-38)
1139 - Godfried I with the Beard, duke of Brabant/Earl of Leuven
1494 - Ferdinand I cruel king of Naples
1733 - Reinier V. van Hompech, Dutch General-Major cavalry
1821 - Johan Valckenier, Dutch politician/patriot, dies at 62
1906 - Joseph Wheeler, Confederate General, dies at 70
1947 - Al Capone Chicago gangster, dies of syphilis at 48
1952 - Sveinn Bjørnsson, Danish 1st President of Iceland (1944-52), dies at 70
1969 - John Zajíc, Czech student, self incinerates
1970 - Eunice Hunton Carter, 1st Black female District Attorney in NY, dies at 70
1978 - Tango Duke dies in Australia at 42; oldest known thoroughbred horse
1982 - Mihail A. Suslov, Soviet party ideologist, dies at 79
1992 - Mahmoud Riad, Secretary-General of Arab League (1972-79)
1998 - Mohammad Yusuf Khan, prime minister of Afghanistan in (1963-65)

Reported Missing in Action
1967
Wallace, Arnold B., US Army (CA); Killed, body not recovered