Rachael Kalinyak, Author at Army Times

Maryland cemetery to offer burial of military working dogs, service dogs alongside owners

Rachael Kalinyak — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 15:33:01 +0000

A new section in a Maryland cemetery will be open to veterans who wish to be buried alongside their service animals or military working dogs.

Resthaven Memorial Gardens, on the northern edge of Frederick along the Monocacy River, has opened the Faithful Companions Honor Garden, which features larger burial spaces designed to accommodate such final requests.

“Resthaven has been doing pet burials since 1970,” said Jon Cody, the cemetery’s vice president of operations. “We were already doing it for all families and their pets,” but the new honor garden is a first for the cemetery.

The cemetery provides what it calls “courtesy space” to veterans, and will make the same offer to their animals. Maryland law requires money to be set aside for the care and maintenance of each plot, Cody said, so Resthaven asks for a $239.50 contribution for any space in the Faithful Companions Honor Garden. The money goes into a trust fund that has been set up for the future care and maintenance of the cemetery, Cody said.

The “courtesy space” offer will apply to military working dogs and service animals that are adopted by nonmilitary caregivers, he said.

“Our idea was to provide a courtesy space for those combat dogs, giving them the same honor that we would a human veteran,” Cody told the Frederick News-Post.

“It’s an extension of what we do — to memorialize with honor, commitment and dignity,” he added. “We want to make sure the dogs themselves are being honored, and the soldiers, and the bond between them.”

The memorial garden sits empty between the cemetery’s third veterans’ section, called the Veterans Garden of Valor, and its section reserved for pets, called the Garden of Faithful Friends. Commemorative bronze artwork planned for the garden is a “work in progress,” Cody said.

A rendering of the proposed dedication plaque for the Faithful Companions Memorial Gardens at Resthaven Memorial Gardens in Frederick, Maryland.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Resthaven

U.S. combat veterans in Africa turn skills to protecting rhinos, fighting PTSD

Rachael Kalinyak — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 18:50:33 +0000

A group of combat veterans has formed a non-profit organization that helps combat both poaching and post traumatic stress, according to The Guardian.

Ryan Tate, 32, a former U.S. Marine, founded the organization called Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife, or Vetpaw. They are trying to protect rhinos and other game in the bush around their base in South Africa.

The former service members have gone through extensive training and are experienced enough to “resist the temptation” of using lethal force against poachers, The Guardian reported.

Rather, the veterans are using “textbook counterinsurgency” according to the British-born former U.S. Special Forces member, Kevin, a former Green Beret who did not want his full name used.

The organization seeks to employ combat veterans and giving them a similar level of brotherhood, intensity and purpose they knew during deployments. That also may help offset the PTSD that Tate told The Guardian “everyone gets” after returning from war.

“[There are] all these veterans with billions of dollars of training and the government doesn’t use them. I saw a need in two places and just put them together,” Tate said.

Soldiers deter simulated tank assault with cyber, electronic warfare

Rachael Kalinyak — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 15:43:40 +0000

A simulated tank assault was deterred using cyber weapons and electronic warfare technology during a training exercise, according to Defense Systems.

Trainers stopped a simulated assault by targeting the tank crew’s radio and communication systems during the exercise at the Army’s National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California.

“These tanks had to stop, dismount, get out of their protection, reduce their mobility,” Capt. George Puryear, an Irregular Operations Officer at Fort Irwin told Defense Systems in the report. The vulnerability allowed the tanks to be easily defeated.

The Army Rapid Capabilities Office and U.S. Cyber Command are working on technology to protect against cyber and electronic warfare attacks.

The broad category of cyber warfare includes jamming communication signals and infiltrating networks, both of which were demonstrated during the exercise. If a network is successfully infiltrated, it can be disabled or manipulated, allowing enemies to halt communication or relay false information to troops.

The demonstration allowed the Army to explore the possibilities of infiltrating civilian networks to subdue the populace and invade territories, an official told Defense Systems.

These exercises help the Army determine the technology that is needed in the field, and the Army RCO helps to develop and distribute the needed technology. The technology is not only focused on offensive and defensive strategies, but also part of an effort to obtain protection capabilities using EW and cyber, as well as having GPS alternatives, which are being explored.

Fort Irwin and Europe will continue to test and train cyber offensive and defensive weapons because “if we don’t win the cyber and EW fight, then the [next] maneuver may not matter, because we may not get it,” Maj. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, director of operations at the Army RCO, told Defense Systems.

Jordanian guard charged with murder in deaths of 3 Green Berets

Rachael Kalinyak — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 20:28:15 +0000

The Jordanian government has formally charged one of its service members with murder for the deaths of three U.S. Special Forces soldiers, according to CNN.

The Jordanian, who was unnamed in the CNN report, is allegedly involved in the November attack on a military convoy at the King Faisal Air Base in Jordan.

“He is being officially charged with murder with intent to kill,” a Jordanian government official told CNN.

On Nov. 4, a Jordanian air force guard opened fire on the U.S. forces, who were in the country as part of a training mission. A military investigation identified the Jordanian guard as Cpl. Ma’arik Al-Tawayha, who also has been referred to as Staff Sgt. M’aarek Abu Tayeh.

Due to the current allied status of Jordan and the United States, the service members traveled in unarmored vehicles, did not wear body armor, and only carried handguns. The guard was wearing body armor and carrying an M-16 rifle.

The attack resulted in the deaths of Staff Sgt. Kevin McEnroe, Staff Sgt. James Moriarty and Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Lewellen. The soldiers belonged to 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

In March, the fathers of the three soldiers publicly called for murder charges against the man accused of shooting their sons.

Initially, Jordanian media blamed the U.S. troops for not properly adhering to base procedures. However, an investigation into the incident found that the U.S. troops “demonstrated valorous conduct and extraordinary heroism,” according to a redacted investigation report that CNN obtained.

“There is no evidence that US forces failed to fully comply with Jordanian Base entrance procedures,” the investigation report read according to CNN.

According to CNN, the report recommends U.S. forces use armored vehicles and have at least one rifle with them in the future.

7,000 letters in 6 years, one woman gives deployed troops a connection to home

Rachael Kalinyak — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 17:54:07 +0000

A 98-year-old woman has written 7,000 letters to troops overseas in the past six years, WGN Chicago reports.

Alleen Cooper of California first started writing letters to troops during World War II. She sent her son letters when he served in Vietnam and hasn’t stopped since, sending letters to troops serving overseas and to those who have been injured.

“One in Florida, he had to have a new ear. And I’m sure he was very, very depressed,” she told WGN Chicago.

She decided to start counting her letters six years ago and has officially sent 7,000 letters since then. The letters are all hand-written, about four pages in length and each is unique.

WGN Chicago set up a meeting for Cooper to meet one of her correspondents over Skype, Chris Cantos. Cantos is a Marine she began writing to years ago. When he first received her letters, Cantos was deployed to a remote area of Afghanistan where the only method of communication available to him written letters.

During the Skype meeting, Cantos told Cooper and WGN Chicago that he would look forward to her letters. “She would always send us clippings and jokes. She would tell us about her day.”

Although her hands are getting tired, she said her letters will continue. “I decided I’m going to write as long as I can,” she told WGN Chicago.

Suspect accused of punching man with cerebral palsy was convicted of stealing from veterans cemetery

Rachael Kalinyak — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 20:18:44 +0000

A man previously arrested for an unprovoked attack outside a 7-Eleven in West Chester, Pennsylvania, has also stolen from veteran cemeteries, according to The Smoking Gun.

Barry Baker, 29, was charged with battery for attacking a 22-year-old man with cerebral palsy on May 10. The incident was caught on surveillance video and shows Baker mocking the victim before punching him.

Baker’s criminal records, obtained by The Smoking Gun, reveal that he was placed on probation for three years after violating a previous probation sentence for theft of a vehicle. In addition, Baker was convicted of theft in 2007 when he confessed to stealing nearly 250 bronze flag holders from the marked graves of veterans. The holders, estimated to be worth $10,000 total, were taken from two cemeteries in Pennsylvania. Baker sold them to a state scrap company as scrap metal, Smoking Gun reports.

For the 2007 crime, Baker received a sentence with a minimum of eleven and a half months in jail to a maximum of 23 months in custody. He was also ordered to take part in a treatment program for alcohol or drugs and get a mental health evaluation. For his most recent crime, he was charged with assault, harassment, and disorderly conduct, but made the $25,000 bail.

Veterans group condemns Kathy Griffin’s photo depicting Trump’s decapitated head

Rachael Kalinyak — Wed, 31 May 2017 18:35:43 +0000

The group Veterans of Foreign Wars has condemned comedian Kathy Griffin’s photograph, widely shared on social media, depicting her holding a bloody, decapitated head of President Donald Trump.

“The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. strongly condemns comedian Kathy Griffin’s incredibly revolting attack on the president of the United States. Her apology is not accepted. What she did was not humorous nor should it be protected speech or expression. Playing to an audience with a severed head is what our enemies do. The USO should immediately end its relationship with her,” VFW National Commander Brian Duffy said in a statement.

Griffin issued an apology, posting on her Instagram account: “I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong.” But the backlash has been swift and serious. CNN announced that it would no longer feature Griffin on its New Year’s Eve coverage with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who posted to Twitter that he was “appalled by the photo.”

“It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate,” Cooper said.

Trump tweetedabout the photograph on Wednesday: “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!”

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton,

also weighed in on Twitter

: “This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president.”

Army creates crash test dummy to improve vehicle safety for soldiers

Rachael Kalinyak — Wed, 31 May 2017 15:52:10 +0000

The Army is developing a mannequin that researchers call the world’s first crash test dummy for under-body vehicle blast testing.

A prototype of the Warrior Injury Assessment Mannequin, or WIAMan, is expected to be delivered in 2018 and accurately show the affect of a blast on soldiers in new vehicle systems, according to a release from Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.

WIAMan will be used to evaluate the effects of under-body blasts involving vehicles, and assess the risk to soldiers in ground vehicle systems. The goal is to help design vehicles and personal protective equipment that may better protect soldiers and save their lives.

Army Materiel Command is sponsoring the project.

WIAMan and the platform created to simulate an IED explosion are undergoing testing, putting the project closer to its goal, according to a report from WHNT News 19.

A challenge for the Army has been to develop a crash test dummy that moves enough like a human body to get an accurate result.

The Army is working to make the mannequin “bio-fedelic,” meaning it can match human movement, Frederick Hughes, director of the WIAMan Engineering Office, said in the report.

“It’s difficult, it takes some time in trying to characterize a human being’s bones in battle,” Mark Angelos of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, told WHNT.

WIAMan will be 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weigh 185 pounds, based on the size of an average soldier.

Stranger buys plane ticket to reunite soldier with his family

Rachael Kalinyak — Tue, 30 May 2017 18:34:51 +0000

A 19-year-old soldier was reunited with his family for Memorial Day weekend thanks to a good Samaritan, according to Good Morning America.

Keaton Tilson had not been home since Christmas. He received approval on Thursday to go home for the Memorial Day weekend, but because of the short notice, he was put on standby for a flight home to Granite City, Illinois.

KTVI, the local Fox channel near Tilson’s hometown, reported that the soldier is a mechanic stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.

The TV station reported Tilson was stuck at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport for two days and missed a few flights because they were full, at which point a good Samaritan noticed and jumped into action.

“I didn’t go over there thinking I was going to buy a ticket,” Josh Rainey, of St. Louis, Missouri, told Good Morning America.

Originally, Rainey simply intended to trade tickets with the soldier. But when staff notified him that Tilson was not next on the standby list, he decided to simply buy him a one-way ticket instead.

“It didn’t look like he just wanted to go home, it looked like it was for a reason,” 35-year-old Rainey told Good Morning America. “This is so much more about him. He has chosen to give up at least the next four years of his life. He got the week off. Instead of choosing to travel or see another country, he had to get home to his family.”

Jennifer TIlson, the soldier’s mother, expressed her thanks to Good Morning America, saying, “You don’t hear of that all the time of a complete stranger willing to spend all that money.”

“We are super appreciative that Josh did this so Keaton could come home,” she added. “I know it was short, but it was better than nothing.”

America’s heroes honored at events around the country for Memorial Day weekend

Rachael Kalinyak — Fri, 26 May 2017 15:14:42 +0000

Every year on the last Monday of May, America honors those who have fallen while serving in the armed forces of the United States. Memorial Day events will be held around the country throughout the long weekend as a tribute those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving their country.

U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers march along Constitution Avenue in the 2016 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C., May 30. The Soldiers in formation were from the 200th Military Police Command, from Fort Meade, Maryland; the 55th Sustainment Brigade, from Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and the Military Intelligence Readiness Command, from Fort Belvoir.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army/Master Sgt. Michel Sauret

The National Memorial Day Parade will be held in Washington, D.C., at 2 p.m. on Monday. Traveling down Constitution Ave., the annual parade features a moving timeline, mapping America’s military history, from the American Revolution to the conflicts of today. The parade is the largest Memorial Day celebration in the country, anticipating an audience in the hundreds of thousands. It will also feature Memorial Day parade traditions that date back to the holiday’s earliest parades, which we held just after the Civil War. The parade route begins on Constitution Ave. at 7th St. N.W. where it then travels west to its endpoint at 17th St. N.W., just past the White House Ellipse and the Washington Monument. The event is free and open to the public.

An up-armored Humvee belonging to the 416th Theater Engineer Command leads a small convoy during the 2014 Chicago Memorial Day Parade.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army/Master Sgt. Michel Sauret

Chicago will host its Memorial Day Parade and Wreath Laying Ceremony on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. at Daley Plaza. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Robert S. Walsh will serve as the parade’s grand marshal. Walsh is the commander of Marine Corps Combat Development Command and Deputy Commandant, Combat Development and Integration. The parade will follow the wreath laying ceremony, stepping off at noon and proceeding south on State St., from Lake St. to Van Buren St. Chicago will also host its 21st Annual Ceremony and Dedication of the Gen. John A. Logan Monument. The Memorial Day ceremony will feature wreath laying and monument rededication, commemorating those who died serving the country. Music will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, with the wreath laying ceremony starting at 11. The monument is located at S. Michigan Ave. and E. 9th St., and the ceremony is free and open to the public. The Chicago Cultural Mile Association will host a Memorial Day luncheon following the ceremony at the Crystal Ballroom at the Blackstone Hotel.

Sailors and Marines man the rails of the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) as it passes the Statue of Liberty during the 29th annual Fleet Week New York’s Parade of Ships on May 24. Fleet week will continue throughout the Memorial Day weekend in New York City.

Photo Credit: U.S. Navy/Chief Mass Communication Specialist Travis Simmons

The Big Apple hosts multiple annual Memorial Day parades in each of the city’s five boroughs. In Queens, the 90th Annual Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade is known to be the largest in New York. The parade begins at 2 p.m. at Jayson Ave. and Northern Blvd., ending at Divine Wisdom Catholic Academy parking lot at Alameda Ave. and Northern Blvd. Following the parade, the U.S. Air Force Band and The Blue Aces will perform at the closing ceremony. In Brooklyn, the 150th Annual King’s County Memorial Day Parade will be held at 11:00 a.m.. The parade route stetches from 78th St. and Third Ave., along Third Ave. to Marine Ave., up to Fourth Ave. and over to John Paul Jones Park on 101st St. and Fourth Ave. Both events, in addition to several others in the city, are free and open to the public. The Navy’s Fleet Week is also underway in New York, continuing throughout Memorial Day weekend, ending on Tuesday.

On the West Coast, the Mount Soledad’s Memorial Day Ceremony near San Diego is a unique service that honors veterans and Gold Star families. There will be a variety of performances including the United States Marine Corps Band and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Color Guard. The San Diego Performance Formation Team, led by John “Flipper” Flippen, will perform a flyover at the ceremony, executing the traditional missing man formation. The keynote speaker this year will be Cpt. Howard C. Warner III, the commanding officer of Naval Base Point Loma, and the master of ceremonies will be radio and television personality Brett Winterble. The ceremony will run from 2 to 3 p.m. Monday and will be held at the Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial in La Jolla, California.