"Sticks and stones may break my bones" is an old adage that has new meaning for Sgt. Kathryn Burke, 402nd Brigade Support Battalion, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. Burke was manning the gunner's hatch of a Mine Resistant Armor Protected vehicle in a resupply convoy bound for Forward Operating Base Frontenac when she gained her new insight. After a few convoy briefs and a few cigarettes, Burke climbed into the MRAP and took up her place in the hatch as gunner for the first time.

Air Department Sailors aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) are working toward carrier flight deck certification during the December underway period. The flight deck certification is a two-day process to conduct flight deck drills demonstrating Air Department can safely handle all emergency situations such as an aircraft fire or crashes on the landing area. The first day consists of day launching, day recovery and taxi drills during the night. Day two of the flight deck certification is day and night launch and recovery of the squadron aircrafts.

The Small Arms Branch of the Soldier Requirements Division rolled out more than 30 weapon systems - including pistols, rifles, sniper weapons, machine guns and grenade launchers - for a special live-fire demonstration Tuesday at Red Cloud Range. The weapons, including new sniper technology, weapons upgrades and an air burst rifle prototype, represent 60 percent of the Army's small arms strategy, said Lt. Col. Thomas Henthorn, chief of the small arms branch. The demonstration was to familiarize Maj. Gen.

Dear Proud American, “I immediately reached down – up, really, since I was upside down – for my legs.  I could tell they were gone.” An American Hero, 25-year-old Lt Dan, recalls what happened to him in August, when an IED blew up under him, in Kandahar province, near the

The future of Turkey's main Kurdish party hangs in the balance as the country's constitutional court deliberates whether to shut down the Democratic Society Party.  The government has accused the party of supporting terrorism. Turkey's highest court this week began final deliberations on a case seeking to shut down the main Kurdish party on charges of backing the militant Kurdistan Workers Party, a charge the Democratic Society Party has denied. DTP leader Ahmet Turk condemned the case. "Unfortunately this is such a wrong reasoning," he said.  "We are face-to-face with such a wrong lo

U.S. officials say a top al-Qaida leader has been killed in a drone attack in restive northwestern Pakistan. The officials did not identify the person killed, but they said it was not al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.   A U.S. television network, NBC, first reported the drone attack earlier this week.  The exact date of the attack is unclear. Earlier this week, Pakistani officials said a suspected U.S. drone attack killed at least three people in northwestern Pakistan.

Angola's president says the country's first post-war presidential election will likely be delayed for another three years. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who had previously said the vote would take place in 2009, says he wants his MPLA party to complete the mandate it won in last year's parliamentary elections.   That suggests the presidential vote would take place at the same time or after the next legislative polls in 2012. Mr.

An Afghan-international security force detained a couple of militants in Khowst province today, one of whom was a sought after Haqqani facilitator. The facilitator is responsible for the shipment and distribution of weapons to other militant elements in the area. The joint security force searched a compound near the village of Badal Kalay in the Nader Shakhot district where intelligence sources indicated the facilitator was located. The facilitator identified himself and surrendered without incident.

Iraqi Security Forces arrested three suspected leaders within their respective al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) cells, as well as three suspected criminal associates, during three joint security operations conducted today in Baghdad and Diyala Provinces.   In Baqubah, located northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi Police and U.S. advisors searched two buildings for a suspected AQI leader for the Tarmiyah area. Iraqi Police identified and arrested the suspected AQI leader, who allegedly assists in acquiring suicide vests and coordinating suicide attacks in the region.