Wounded Fort Bragg soldier receives gift of mobility

Wounded Fort Bragg soldier, Sgt. Jonathon Rivenbark, receives gift of mobility
Fay Observer
By Drew Brooks
Staff writer
October 26, 2013

Staff photo by Elizabeth Frantz
Sgt. Jonathan Rivenbark tests out his new all-terain, standing wheelchair outside the Soldier and Family Assistance Center in Fort Bragg.

Sgt. Jonathon Rivenbark grew up on the beaches near Wilmington, on hiking trails and among the outdoors.

So it was a cruel twist of fate when Rivenbark, deployed with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, was wounded in Afghanistan last year.

The injuries killed the nerves in Rivenbark's legs. To walk, he uses crutches and an implant that sends a shock through his nervous system to make his legs move. He's limited to just a few hundred yards an outing.

That changed Friday, however, thanks to a company that wanted to help a soldier.

Carco Group Inc., which has an office in Spring Lake, teamed with the nonprofit 4 Wheels 2 Heal to donate an Action Trackchair to Rivenbark.

The heavy-duty wheelchair with tank treads is meant to go on any terrain, according to officials, including steep hills and water.

Basic models cost more than $10,000 each, according to the company's website.

Rivenbark, 24, received the chair in a short, informal ceremony outside Fort Bragg's Soldier Family Assistance Center and quickly took the controls, climbing curbs and spinning around the outside of the Warrior Transition Battalion.
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Police get help helping soldiers

Police get help helping soldiers
WTU leader uses unique understanding for good of post, surrounding community
Written by
Philip Grey
Leaf-Chronicle
Jul 19, 2012

FORT CAMPBELL, KY. — It didn’t take long for Command Sgt. Major James C. Smith to realize that his unique background would come in handy for his soldiers.

Smith is also a captain in the Clarksville Police Department, currently on a military leave of absence to serve the nation in a demanding, high visibility role as the top non-commissioned officer of the Warrior Transition Battalion on Fort Campbell, where he helps to manage recovering wounded warriors.

Almost immediately upon coming into the assignment, during a WTB Christmas party at the post USO club in 2011, Smith was talking to one of his soldiers who had suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of several close calls with explosions while deployed in combat.
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Search continues for soldier feared drowned in Taylorsville lake

Search continues for soldier feared drowned in Taylorsville lake

Posted by Charles Gazaway

TAYLORSVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Search crews continued patrolling Taylorsville Lake on Friday, hoping to find a Fort Knox soldier who disappeared while swimming on May 29.

High water and debris on the lake continued to hamper the search for 23-year old Specialist Anthony Carter, who was assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion.
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http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=12597370

Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Bekaert takes charge of Fort Stewart WTB

New CSM brings experience to WTU
Soldier has served 20 years in National Guard

By Frenchi Jones
Staff writer
Updated: June 22, 2009


After more than a month of being without a command sergeant major, soldiers at Fort Stewart’s Warrior Transition Battalion recently welcomed a new leader to its chain of command.

On Wednesday, Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Bekaert assumed responsibility as the battalion’s commanding non-commissioned officer.

First Sgt. Glenn Swanson, who served as the interim CSM while the battalion courted a new one, exchanged responsibility for the troops with Bekaert in front of three companies of soldiers currently assigned to the WTB.

“We are getting a great NCO to help lead this battalion in the direction it’s headed,” Lt. Col. James Kanicki, commander of the WTU, told the warriors. “Command Sgt. Maj. Bekaert brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. He’s a combat veteran … and above all else, he is a leader that understands soldiers and understands taking care of soldiers.”

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Family waits for answers on death of Sgt. Franklin D. "J.R." Barnett Jr.

Belleville soldier's death under investigation
BY MARIA BARAN - News-Democrat

A soldier from Belleville died Sunday at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

The Army is investigating the cause of death for Sgt. Franklin D. "J.R." Barnett Jr., 29, of Belleville.

During Barnett's recent tour of Afghanistan, Barnett survived a suicide bombing attack and pulled his lieutenant to safety, despite his own injuries to his lungs.

"We don't believe he died from his war injuries, but the Army is investigating," Brooke Army Medical Center spokesman Dewey Mitchell said.

The father of three sons was found unresponsive in his Fort Sam Houston barracks room Sunday afternoon. He had been assigned to C Company of the Warrior Transition Battalion since Oct. 15 after being injured in Afghanistan, according to a news release.

"I don't exactly know what happened," said his wife, Diane Barnett.

She was not able to contact him late Saturday and into Sunday, so she called and had someone check on him. He was found in his chair with his television and video game on.
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http://www.bnd.com/179/story/806453.html

Fort Lewis wounded warriors team up with Habitat for Humanity

Over and over again we read about how our wounded troops, no matter how seriously they are wounded, end up still giving back, helping others. While these remarkable people are simply heart warming to some, others are reminded of how little they ask of us and what we fail to do. How can anyone look at these people, read the accounts of a broken system, over 900,000 claims in the VA backlog, not to mention how many still in service wait for care, and not be totally appalled?

Think of how unique they all are. Teenagers right out of high school, deciding they are willing to risk their lives for the sake of the rest of us and enter into the military to do it. Twenty year olds, trapped between being a kid and adult, willing to go wherever, whenever this country asks them to go. We had twenty-something year olds give up their jobs, careers they spent years going to college to prepare for, families, houses, friends, everything they wanted out of life, after September 11th. Many of them had no intention of joining the military but after this nation was attacked, they stepped up and said they would go to the ends of the earth and lay down their own lives.

Thinking about all of that, how many wounded and waiting for the care they thought we would honor, they still give back. Astonishing!

Fort Lewis' wounded warriors team up with Habitat for Humanity
A group of 27 soldiers who are part of the Warrior Transition Battalion out of Fort Lewis are helping build low-income houses on a Habitat for Humanity project this week.

By Erik Lacitis

Seattle Times staff reporter

Every little bit helps, when you're back home from Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever you were stationed, and know that because of your injury or illness, your Army days are likely over.

And so Wednesday, a group of 27 soldiers who are part of the Warrior Transition Battalion out of Fort Lewis were helping build low-income houses on a Habitat for Humanity project.

They said they wanted to give back to the community, as if they hadn't done enough for the country already.

"It makes them feel needed," said Staff Sgt. James Warren, who has 10 soldiers in his Alpha Company squad that's part of the battalion. He was there helping hammer and hoist materials.

He's 35 and if you're speaking from his right side, sometimes he asks you to repeat what was said.

"Gunfire battles," he explained. That would have been when he was in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004.

Now he's with the transition battalion, of which there are 37 units across the country, started back in January 2008 after searing reports of troubled medical hold units. Wounded and sick soldiers felt as though they were adrift for months, sometimes years.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009325710_warriors11m.html