
Instead of going to Officer Candidate School for the Navy, Grados attended OCS to become an officer for the Army in January of 2009 where he also met his wife.
“We have plans to see what happens. If everything goes right and we follow the track, we’ll be OK. Sometimes you have to put the balance between your family and work,” he said.
Grados plans to join the Special Forces and make a career out of the military. He also wants to someday write a book about his experiences.
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Tags: 2nd Lt Aldo Grados, Ica Peru
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“You must show confidence in yourself at all times,” said Sgt. 1st Class Gerald Meineke, the SARC. “Walk with your head high and you will not be looked at as a victim.”
The junior-enlisted Soldiers that participated in the program were also given a very lethal weapon that would scare off any attacker, according the Lucas.
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Tags: 1st Armored Division, Forward Operating Base Warrior, kirkuk iraq, Ready First Combat Team, self-defense techniques, sexual assault
Posted in Crime and Punishment, Military • 1 Comment »

Former Pussycat Doll, Kaya Jones entertained the Soldiers assigned to Contingency Operating Station Endeavor, Iraq, Feb. 24.
Jones and her dance team danced and sang for an appreciative audience for over an hour, before signing autographs and posing for pictures with their audience.
“We love you,” said Jones. “We miss you back home. We thank you for what you are doing out here.”
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Tags: 3rd infantry division, Contingency Operating Station Endeavor, entertaining the troops, Kaya Jones, Pussycat Dolls
Posted in Military, Music and Performers • No Comments »

Tupper Lake is a small upstate New York community in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. The drive to this community proceeds through paths where the sky is blocked out by the mountains on either side of the road. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful regions of the United States.
Industry is scarce in [...]
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Tags: Bergan Arsenault, female amputee, Lt. Bergan Flannigan, purple heart, wounded in action
Posted in Military, Our Best: Military Women • No Comments »

Choosing the perfect roller derby nickname is important, the women said, because it becomes registered and is theirs forever. “Someone can call and ask to create a version of your name, but they have to get your permission,” Wahkahquah said.
Wahkahquah’s last name in Comanche means “riding death.” So, in keeping with the Native American theme, she chose “Rolling Death” as her alter ego.
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Tags: 1st Lt. Jessica duMonceau, 1st Lt. Kristin Sloan, Oklahoma Army National Guard, Oklahoma City Red Dirt Rebellion, Sgt. Karli Wahkahquah
Posted in Military, Our Best: Military Women • No Comments »

Losing the weight isn’t necessarily going to make you like what you see. There are still a lot of times I step on the scale and cringe. It has to do with hitting the perfect weight, or more accurately, “the number” that signifies that perfect weight. That number is different for everyone. I remember seeing a girl who I thought looked perfect, and I asked her how much she weighed.
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Tags: endurance athlete, Master Sgt. Sarah Frankenhoff, weight loss in the military
Posted in Military, Our Best: Military Women • No Comments »

Afghan National Army troops boarded a C-17 cargo plane at the International Security Assistance Force airport for a flight to Turkey to take part in the first of a series of extensive training opportunities in securing the development and defense of Afghanistan.
The 119 ANA troops are the first group to take part in military training for several weeks of specialized operations. It will be conducted primarily by Turkish forces with assistance from American forces and includes courses in leadership along with the skills necessary to perform in the capacity of a special operations force unit.
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Tags: Afghan national army, International Security Assistance Force, Turkey, Turkish army
Posted in Afghanistan, Our Allies, Rebuilding, War on Terror • No Comments »

Every week, military members, contractors, DA and DoD civilians, coalition members, local vendors, and people from the embassy and the State Department, come together and prepare donated items for distribution to our poverty stricken Afghan brothers and sisters. We’re used to that “miracle.”
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Tags: Afghanistan, Camp Eggers, charity in Afghanistan
Posted in Afghanistan, Charity, Humanitarian Assistance, Military, Rebuilding, War on Terror • No Comments »
While in-port training for the 2010 APS mission has concluded, international shipriders will continue at-sea training aboard the Nicholas. Shipriders from Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Mauritius deploy for extended periods of time and spend their day not only learning basic watch-standing principles, leadership skills, damage control and engineering, but also building relationships with sailors from around the globe.
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Tags: Africa Partnership Station East, APS East, high speed vessel Swift, Seychelles Coast Guard, USS Nicholas
Posted in Military, War on Terror • No Comments »