
Since arriving in Iraq, Bleuel has become a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle driver and has been a convoy commander more than once. She has been in the Army Reserve for eight years now as an MP and became a drill sergeant in 2004, which she does during her summer breaks from teaching.
“I sometimes think about what would my life have been like if I had joined when I was 18. Then I think, I wouldn’t trade my life. I have a wonderful husband and three wonderful kids,” she said. “My girls are my biggest cheerleaders!”
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Tags: 167th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, army reserve, Contingency Operating Base Adder, female MP, mother joins the Army, Staff Sgt. Pamela Bleuel
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“I didn’t go to college right away because I was undecided on what I was going to do,” Torres said. “Joining the Army [Reserve] gave me an option on both and enabled me to feel like I was doing something more with my life.”
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Tags: 304th Civil Affairs Brigade headquarters company, army reserve, convoy security team, Sgt. Danielle Torres
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Maj. Larissa G. Coon, Patriot Clinic occupational therapist officer describes combat stress as “dealing with one of the top life stressors while in a combat or deployed environment.”
“This combat stress can be identified through dramatic changes in habits or routines,” Coon said.
Coon, a resident of Goodland, Kan., designed and implemented many of the stress coping programs available here.
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Tags: 1835th Medical Detachment, army reserve, buddy check, combat stress, Combat Stress Control, combat stress treatment, Fitzsimmons Reserve Center, Maj. Larissa G. Coon, Patriot Clinic, post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, stress coping programs, top stressors
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Altoon, like many parents, was concerned about the possibility of Megan deploying to a combat zone. That is, until she met her daughter’s recruiter, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jessica Dean of the Fremont, Calif., recruiting station. Dean proved to be a persuasive recruiter.
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Tags: 351st Civil Affairs Command, army reserve, babe, Lisa Altoon, Megan Schlotthauer
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“Seeing that dirt kick up no more than six inches from his head, I said, ‘Man, this is jacked up,’” Ruske recalled thinking. “They are still shooting at this guy. He is still bleeding and shot. And I said, ‘We have to go get him.’”
Ruske said he didn’t take time to think about his own safety, but simply reacted to the training the Army had used to prepare him for combat.
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Tags: Afghanistan, army reserve, hero, Kapisa province, ordinary guy, purple heart, Sgt. Gregory S. Ruske, silver star, taliban
Posted in Afghanistan, Heroes, WOT Heroes, War on Terror • 2 Comments »

Army Reservist Sgt. Zsuzsanna Lee provides security while waiting to extract a casualty Tuesday, Jan. 29, during a simulated insurgent attack at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, Ind. Lee is a member of the 55th Sustainment Brigade, Fort Belvoir, Va., which is currently training at Camp Atterbury prior to their scheduled deployment to Iraq [...]
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Tags: army reserve, operation iraqi freedom
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Church is humble about receiving the medal, among the nation’s highest awards, given for gallantry against enemy action. ‘I’m honored to have received it,’ Church said today in a Pentagon interview. ‘But honestly, I was just doing my duty.’
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Tags: army reserve, Jeremy Church, silver star
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Church earned the medal when his convoy was attacked April 9 by more than 150 insurgents in an ambush during which Spc. Keith ‘Matt’ Maupin was captured.
Church was the convoy commander’s driver in the lead vehicle. The convoy was taking fuel to Baghdad International Airport when the Madr Militia struck. Church’s actions are attributed with saving the lives of at least five Soldiers and four civilians.
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Tags: army reserve, Jeremy Church, silver star
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