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“Shoulder to Shoulder” with the Afghan Legal System – DoD Roundtable
Are you ready to give your life for your country? For the privilege of voting? To defend your people from those who intimidate and would establish an autocratic legal system depriving many of basic human rights? When I started the DoD Blogger’s Roundtable this morning it was an add on to a very busy schedule and I was not sure how to talk about the Afghan legal system and its relevance to our readers! Then Colonel Rick Rousseau, with the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (OSJA), NATO Training Mission Afghanistan & Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan (NTM-A/CSTC-A) told me about First Lieutenant (1LT) Lutfallah Abrihimi, an Afghan soldier, legal…
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The “Smiles of the Children” in Haiti – An Exclusive MilitaryAvenue Interview with Lt General Ken Keen, Commander, Joint Task Force Haiti
When I asked Lieutenant General Ken Keen, Commander Joint Task Force Haiti, what he would leave behind in Haiti he said, “the smiles of the Haitian children”! General Keen gave me a wonderful glimpse of his experiences and those of 22,000 other American service members serving in Haiti following the earthquake on January 12th in an exclusive MilitaryAvenue, Our Letters to You, interview this morning. The general felt strongly about sharing this story with me! He wants our military families and other Americans to know what we did in Haiti and how successful our Soldiers, Airmen, Coasties, Sailors and Marines have been while saving lives and alleviating the unimaginable pain…
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Are You a Service Ambassador?
I still have very strong memories of a day in July many years ago as I started down the road to Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana enroute to my first military flight physical. I had not enlisted yet as I needed to pass the flight physical to enter pilot training which is what the recruiter had worked for me. I remember the absolute loneliness I felt on the highway that day and fears of what I was getting into and where was I going? I had no one with a similar experience to talk to about my decision to join the Air Force. There were many unhappy veterans (it…
