Scott AFB volunteers raise more than $2,000 to buy water for Flint, Mich.
This past month at Scott Air Force Base, Scott's First Four Airmen’s Council partnered with other private organizations, including Scott’s First Sergeants Council, Scott AFB Top 3 Association, and Scott's Chief's Group, to raise over $2,000 for the water crisis in Flint, Mich.
A total of 627 cases of water were delivered through the Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, as well as the Selfridge's 127th Mission Support Group, according to the air base’s Facebook page..
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Stars and Stripes is reporting that Command Sgt. Maj. Ken Wolf had a message for the families of troops killed in Afghanistan after Bowe Bergdahl walked off his post.
“Their sons did not die looking for Pfc. Bergdahl,” Wolf said on Thursday's “Serial” podcast, the 11th and final episode of the season.
The podcast investigating the Bergdahl case from seemingly all conceivable angles over the past few months, debunked the persistent rumor that six soldiers from his battalion had been killed during the 45-day, all-out search for Bergdahl. They were all killed in August and September, after the exhausting search effectively had been called off and the mission had changed to secure upcoming Afghanistan elections, according to court testimony.
“We looked and we looked and we looked and we didn't find him,” said Wolf, who was the top enlisted leader in Bergdahl's brigade. “No one in the Army is going to say, ‘We stopped looking for you', O.K? But here's the deal — it’s been 45 days and at this point we know where he's at. He's in Pakistan.”
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Iraq’s Mosul Dam lies just outside Islamic State territory, fewer than 50 miles from the Syrian border. If the dam fails, hundreds of thousands of people could die or lose their homes in flash floods along the length of the Tigris River, according to the web site War Is Boring.
In the face of this potential disaster, the U.S. State Department is hoping to keep the American embassy in Baghdad dry — at least for a short while.
On March 28, the State Department announced it was hiring MosCamp, Inc. to set up the company’s Aqua Dams around the embassy compound and at a separate site at the Iraqi capital’s international airport. Filled with water, these devices can keep out flood waters up to 10 feet high.
“An exhaustive analysis of the physical condition of the dam has been done,” the department explained in a so-called justification-and-approval document. “It has been determined that without repairs, it is a case of when not if failure will occur.”
Regulations require the U.S. government to supply one of these documents any time it awards a contract without first holding an open competition. For approximately $1.2 million, State wants MosCamp — also known as Gulf Coast Aqua Dams — to install its trademark black barriers and also teach embassy staff how to use them in an emergency.
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Key lawmakers have asked Navy leadership to name a naval vessel USS Chattanooga in honor of five service members killed in shootings there last year, according to Marine Corps Times.
The March 18 letter was sent to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and signed by Tennessee Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, and Reps. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., and Tom Graves, R-Ga. The Tennessee General Assembly and Chattanooga City Council passed separate resolutions in support of the effort.
“In the wake of this tragedy, we believe that it is appropriate for the U.S. Navy to honor the legacy of those who lost their lives,” the lawmakers, who serve on various defense and budget committees, wrote.
Mike Fitzgerald: 618-239-2533, @MikeFitz3000
This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 11:13 AM with the headline "Scott AFB volunteers raise more than $2,000 to buy water for Flint, Mich.."