Challenges many American military children face

The emotional health challenges many American military children face

NBC
May 14, 2019

We first met 9-year-old Luca Cesternino in a powerful video of him reuniting with his dad after a long deployment.

Peter Alexander visited him and his family to learn more about the emotional toll of all the time apart -- and to hear the powerful message they’ve got for other military families.

Body armor plates improperly tested

Pentagon: Body armor plates improperly tested
By Donna Cassata - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 17, 2011 9:05:55 EDT
WASHINGTON — The Army improperly tested new bullet-blocking plates for body armor and cannot be certain that 5 million pieces of the critical battlefield equipment meet the standards to protect troops, the Defense Department's inspector general found.

The Pentagon report focused on seven Army contracts for the plates, known as ballistic inserts, awarded between 2004 and 2006 and totaling $2.5 billion. The inspector general's audit, carried out over a two-year period ending in March, found the tests were incomplete, conducted with the wrong size plates or relied on ballistic test rounds that were inconsistent. Due to the demands of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tests under certain temperatures and altitudes were scrapped altogether.

"Consequently, the Army cannot be sure that ballistic inserts meet ... requirements," the report said. "As a result, the Army lacks assurance that 5.1 million ballistic inserts acquired through the seven contracts provide appropriate protection."
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Solider ready to die for country told by JP Morgan Chase lose home

Homeless homecoming: Bank refuses to delay foreclosure on home of soldier returning from Iraq
By DANIEL BATES
Last updated at 9:33 PM on 10th June 2011

When Tim Collette’s son Aaron comes home from serving in Iraq, he wants nothing more than to welcome him into their home with open arms.

There is just one problem - they won’t have a home.

Mr Collette’s bank has decided to foreclose on the property in Bend, Oregon, even though it means Aaron, 20, will have nowhere to go.

After being made to jump through hoops for a year, the bank will now force him out later this month, weeks before his son is due to return home for two weeks’ leave.

The eviction will be in breach of the law which bans banks from foreclosing on the families of serving soldiers, but JPMorgan Chase will carry on regardless.

‘I just want him to come home and know he can be safe for 15 days,’ Mr Collette said.

‘I don't want him thinking about coming home and having it not be there.’

The nightmare with JPMorgan Chase bank began back in 2008 when Mr Collette, who had been making regular payments on his mortgage, asked for financial help.

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Bank refuses to delay foreclosure on home of soldier

Skype closes the gap between Iraq and home

Skype closes the gap between Iraq and home
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
NEIGHBOR NEWS (DENVILLE EDITION)
STAFF WRITER
First grader, Nicolas Miozzi and his mother, Meredith, along with his classmates, "skyped" with his father, Major Joseph Miozzi, who is stationed in Iraq. The Skype session took place at the Dennis O’Brien School in Rockaway Township on Nov. 23. Skype is a free Internet service that allows users to make calls with people all over the world.

The miles between Rockaway Township and Iraq, between a father and son, disappeared for a brief time as Major Joseph Miozzi appeared to his son Nicolas' first-grade class at Dennis B. O'Brien School via Skype.

Miozzi is with the Army Corps of Engineers and was deployed to Iraq on July 11 of this year, four days after the birth of his third child, Olivia. Daughter Ella is 2 years old.

In the nearly five months since leaving, Miozzi has missed a lot — his son's birthday, his first day of school, and first football game. With the Skype visit, Miozzi was able to do what most fathers take for granted, meet his son's teacher and classmates.
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Skype closes the gap between Iraq and homel

Facebook contest helps Fort Bliss soldier fly home

Facebook contest helps soldier, family reunite

The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 11, 2010 17:55:27 EDT

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — An Army sergeant was able to surprise his four daughters after his wife won a contest on Facebook and flew him home.

Casey Boyette, a combat engineer, is stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, and had been separated from his family since March. He met his daugthers, Destiny 9, Aaliyah, 7, Adriana, 2, and Ava, 1, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville.
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Facebook contest helps soldier

Soldier's home foreclosed while she was serving abroad

Soldier's home foreclosed while she was serving abroad
"I couldn't believe it," Capt. Tania Garcia said. "I was in shock."
By Jeff Weiner and Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel

10:47 p.m. EDT, September 3, 2010
Army Capt. Tania Garcia said she was on active duty in South Korea when she got the news.

Garcia's Realtor informed her that her south Orange condominium had been foreclosed upon. Suddenly, a soldier serving abroad had no home to return to.

"I couldn't believe it," Garcia said. "I was in shock."

More shocking news was ahead. Court files from the foreclosure showed an affidavit had been filed that stated Garcia was not in the active military and that the notice of foreclosure was served on her husband.

Two problems: Garcia said this week she was on active duty — and she is not married. Now, Garcia is fighting to win back the home she thinks was taken from her unfairly.

Garcia fell victim to a foreclosure process in which the most important element is the time it takes from start to finish, said Jeff Kaufman, senior partner with KEL Attorneys.

Garcia's condo initially was bought back by Flagstar Bank and then resold, Kaufman said. But because of errors in serving notice in the case, his law firm was able to persuade a judge to throw out the sale, he said.
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Soldier home foreclosed while she was serving abroad

Thousands swindled using soldier-in-need ruse

Thousands swindled using soldier-in-need ruse

By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Mar 28, 2010 12:41:28 EDT

Whoever said all’s fair in love and war never met these Internet hucksters.

Con men impersonating deployed U.S. servicemen are hooking civilian women on dating Web sites and swindling them into spending money on fictitious laptops, international telephones, “leave papers” and plane tickets, said Chris Grey, a spokesman for Army Criminal Investigation Command.

The scheme appears to be a sophisticated twist on the ubiquitous lottery letter scam, but it uniquely exploits the victims’ patriotism and emotions while misrepresenting the Army and soldier-support programs, Grey said.

“These are not soldiers, they are thieves,” he said.

Officials say the phony American soldiers are often in reality African con men who seduce women online by creating profiles on dating and social media sites that appropriate the names, ranks and photos of actual soldiers, typically those serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/army_romance_scam_032810w/

Sgt 1st Class Miguel A. Wilson died while trying to save another soldier

DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt 1st Class Miguel A. Wilson, 36, of Bonham, Texas, died Nov. 21 in Abu Sayf, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a rescue attempt of another soldier while their unit was conducting a dismounted reconnaissance mission. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.

The incident remains under investigation.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

22 percent of military members voted in the 2006 election

Former Marine: DOD voting system ‘broken’
By Charlie Coon, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, September 11, 2008



WASHINGTON — A former Marine who was a voting assistance officer told a Senate committee on Tuesday that he recommends troops living overseas look at online voting alternatives rather than use their military-organized programs.

Bryan O’Leary, a former F-18 pilot who works for a Washington law firm, noted that many servicemembers are on the move or based in remote areas. Those troops, O’Leary said, would be better off using an online registration site — www.overseasvotefoundation.org — rather than the "broken" system devised by the Department of Defense for its members.

"This is your best recourse if you haven’t gotten a ballot yet," O’Leary told the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing on ways the Justice Department is trying to ensure voting access.

O’Leary, citing statistics from the Defense Manpower Data Center, said that only 22 percent of military members voted in the 2006 election, including only 17 percent of those stationed overseas, compared with 40 percent of eligible voters in the general population.

He also told the committee that more than 48,000 ballots from overseas were rejected after being challenged by various candidates from both major political parties.
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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57336