U.S. Marine Killed in Afghanistan

Dispatch from Forward Operating Base Payne in Southern Afghanistan: Marines with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (1st LAR) just assumed control of Helmand Province one week ago. Now they’ve suffered their first casualty. The 1000th U.S. Service member to die in Afghanistan (by AP’s count) was a Marine with the 1st LAR.  He was [...]

Faces of War: SEABEES

The Navy’s Construction Battalion is known as the SEABEES (C-B’s… get it?) and they are among the most appreciated troops on a base.  That’s because they make things more comfortable for the troops by building almost everything… and almost anything. They often work “outside the wire”, constructing a Forward Operating Base or Combat Outpost from [...]

Faces of War: Capt. Jason Ford

Captain Jason Ford is on his fourth tour of duty with the U.S. Marines, his first in Afghanistan.  I met him in 2003 during the buildup to the invasion of Iraq and again on the march towards Baghdad while he was serving with the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, the same unit I embedded with. [...]

The Surge is On in Afghanistan

If you’re wondering when the U.S. Military is beginning it’s surge in Afghanistan, wonder no more.  It’s on. If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard more about battles with the Taliban, it’s complicated. There are tens of thousands of Marines fresh on the ground in Afghanistan, including more than 13,000 in the Helmand River Valley, [...]

Faces of War: Female on the Front Lines

Traditionally women have been kept at a distance from the front lines, but in Afghanistan there are no front lines.  The fight is everywhere… and it’s nowhere.  The combatants may be staying in the shadows or hiding in plain sight.  And since there’s no battlefield per se in Helmand Province, women are serving in the [...]

Faces of War: The Mechanic

Even the toughest military vehicles break down in the harsh conditions of Southern Afghanistan. Temperatures are topping 110 degrees daily.  There are almost no paved roads in Helmand Province and none in the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion’s area of operation, plus the sand and grit wreaks havoc with many of the moving parts on [...]

Golfer Trades in Clubs for Rifle

Trudging around in 100+ degree heat isn’t many people’s idea of fun. Watch the latest video at FoxNews.com But Lt. Charles Murray doesn’t mind.  He says that his twice-daily foot patrols to local Afghan villages in Helmand Province remind him of his time at Arizona State University.  He transferred there from Oral Robert University where [...]

Are More Men Harassing Men at Work?

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision (or EEOC) the number of men making sexual harassment claims against male supervisors has doubled in the past twenty years, from 8% to 16% of all cases filed. In Michigan, the percentage of claims of male on male harassment in the workplace rose from 16.6% in 2007 to [...]

On The Job Hunt: Philly Works

Like many cities, Philadelphia is battling double-digit unemployment and rising poverty.  Many can only find part-time jobs which help put food on the table but may not  be enough to support families. City leaders decided to address this problem in a very specific way with a program called “Philly Works: Growing Neighborhood Jobs”, which aims [...]

Heroes in the Control Tower

Air Traffic Controllers are tested on the job almost every day, but we rarely hear about them unless something awful happens. Monday night in Orlando, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association celebrated the best of the best, presenting Archie League Medal of Safety Awards to 17 men and women who performed gracefully under pressure, almost [...]

Marines Practice for Real Thing

After pounding targets in the California desert Wednesday until almost midnight, Marines with the Marines’ 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion spent Thursday morning cleaning and reloading before heading north deeper into the Air Ground Combat Center at 29 Palms. By midday the massive 155mm Howitzer cannons were firing again, softening targets for three-companies-worth of tanks [...]

Exclusive: Marines Live Fire Training

Marines with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (1st LAR) out of Camp Pendleton, CA will soon be deploying to Afghanistan to join the surge in the fight against the Taliban (the details of their travel is classified). Before they ship out, every Marine headed to a combat zone gets 30 days of live fire [...]

NY Red Bulls Hiring Frenzy!

The seats are still being bolted into Red Bull Arena, the first “soccer specific” stadium in the New York region. With the first game just five weeks away, the team still has to fill some 500 part time positions for jobs including box office workers, security personnel, concessions & retail workers, cleaners and others. The [...]

NY Red Bulls Hiring Frenzy!

The seats are still being bolted into Red Bull Arena, the first “soccer specific” stadium in the New York region. With the first game just five weeks away, the team still has to fill some 500 part time positions for jobs including box office workers, security personnel, concessions & retail workers, cleaners and others. The [...]

Haiti Earthquake

Tuesday a man trapped in the rubble of a building during an aftershock is pulled out alive 12 days later, dehydrated with a broken leg but expected to survive.  Wednesday a teenage girl is reportedly rescued from rubble 15 days after the quake.  Each new live find gives hope to relatives that their missing loved [...]