Syracuse National Guard unit trains for Afghanistan

Fort Drum (WSYR-TV) - Hundreds of Central New Yorkers are nearly finished training for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan early next year. Members of the 27th Infantry Brigade have rotated through Fort Drum over the past six weeks to prepare.

3,000 US troops of 45th Infantry deploying to Afghanistan

Over 3,000 troops with the U.S 45th Infantry Brigade will deploy to Afghanistan later this week. The brigade have completed training at Camp Shelby, Hattisburg, Mississippi.

This will be the largest single deployment of U.S troops since the Korean War.

IRAQ: Two U.S soldiers killed

BAGHDAD: The U.S. military has reported that two American soldiers were killed on Sunday 22nd May while conducting operations in central Iraq. 

The military statement released Sunday gave no further details about the deaths. The soldiers were killed on a day marked by a wave of deadly explosions around Baghdad that killed at least 16 people most of them Iraqi security forces.

The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Iraq: American soldier killed in action

A US Army soldier lost his life in Iraq on 29th April 2011 when enemy forces attacked his unit with rocket propelled grenades and small arms.

Cavalry Pfc. Robert M. Friese, aged 21, from Chesterfield, Michigan, was on patrol in Al Qadisiyah province, Iraq when the incident happened. Pfc. Friese was serving with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment which is based at Fort Hood in Texas.

Iraq: US Army Spc. Andrew Lara

The U.S Department of Defence has announced the death of Spc. Andrew E. Lara, aged 25, from Albany, Oregon, who died on 27th April 2011, in a noncombat related incident, in Babil province, Iraq.  He was assigned to F Company, 145th Brigade Support Battalion, attached to the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment.

Injured American soldier back in the U.S

US Army Specialist, Zachary Durham, has arrived in the U.S after being medically evacuated from Afghanistan where he suffered injuries while attempting to rescue to pilots in a helicopter crash last week. He will be treated at Walter Reed Medical Center, Washington DC.

Staff Sergeant James Justice was killed in the same rescue mission.

Las Vegas National Guard home from Afghanistan

To the cheers and tears of flag-waving families and friends, about 50 soldiers from a Las Vegas Valley National Guard unit returned home safely Saturday after a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan.

For 4-year-old Genevah Thomas, it was the long-awaited hug from her father, Spc. Anthony Thomas, that made her crack a grin from cheek-to-cheek with her brown eyes sparkling beneath a princess crown.

"I really missed my daughter," said the 6-foot-2 Thomas, a military policeman who joined the unit after moving to Las Vegas from Wisconsin in 2002.

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U.S Military Police welcomed home from Afghanistan

U.S Soldiers from the 190th Military Police received a heroes’ welcome in Paulding County Sunday morning. The soldiers just got back from a year serving in Afghanistan.

Family and friends gathered Sunday to welcome the soldiers home. The soldiers said the homecoming meant a lot.“It means I’m back home with my family,” one soldier said.

Those families spent the day eating and playing games, making up for time they lost while overseas.

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Soldiers accused of stealing $1M in Afghanistan

FAYETTEVILLE - Two Fort Bragg soldiers, working along with an Afghan interpreter, embezzled nearly $1.3 million while deployed in 2009, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Edwin Vando and Juan Lamboy Rivera each were charged in a criminal information filed in U.S. District Court. The document, sometimes used in lieu of a grand jury indictment, alleges that the men took $1,297,959.31 in vendor payments owed to Abdul Wasi Faquiri Co. Ltd.

According to court documents, Vando and Rivera were sergeants with the 82nd Finance Battalion who were deployed to Camp Eggers in Kabul at the time, May to June 2009.

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U.S soldier gets 24 years for Afghan murders

A U.S. soldier was sentenced to 24 years in prison Wednesday after saying "the plan was to kill people" in a conspiracy with four fellow soldiers to kill unarmed Afghan civilians.

Military judge Lt. Col. Kwasi Hawks said he initially intended to sentence Spc. Jeremy Morlock to life in prison with possibility of parole but was bound by the plea deal. Morlock will receive 352 days off of his sentence for time served.

His sentencing came after he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, and one count each of conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use at his court martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle.

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Minnesota soldiers prepare to deploy

Soldiers from the 644th Regional Support group based at Fort Snelling, Minnesota are heading to Afghanistan.

The mission is to mentor and train those serving in the Afghanistan army. The teams will work in three locations, the Religious and Cultural Affairs School, Bridmal Sergeant Major Academy and National Military Academy of Afghanistan.

Many of the 25 soldiers in this group have been deployed before. They say it is toughest on the loved ones left behind.

The group will be gone for about a year.

U.S Cavalry Officer to be buried at West Point

A 24-year-old Army officer killed in Afghanistan who had deep family ties to the U.S. Military Academy will be laid to rest at West Point's storied cemetery. 

First Lt. Daren Hidalgo of Waukesha, Wis., died 20th February in Kandahar province after insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. 

Lt. Hidalgo was a 2009 West Point graduate. His father graduated from West Point in 1981 and a brother graduated in 2006. Another brother is a captain in the Marines. 

Family members will attend a graveside service at West Point this afternoon. 

Lt. Hidalgo was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany.

US 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Div. ready to deploy to Afghanistan

The U.S Army's 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team marked the start of its year long deployment to Afghanistan with a ceremony Friday 4th March.

The unit's 3,500 soldiers will spend a year just west of Kandahar and know exactly what to expect.

"This will be a tough fight," brigade commander Col. Patrick D. Frank said. "This is the spiritual homeland of the Taliban, so our soldiers are ready for that type of fight."

The brigade will be relieving the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, based out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

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