APRIL 29th 2014 - A Great Day In Albany for Veterans

Thanks to Don Nance for the photos of some highlights of a great  day at the capital in support of A6974 and S4714 (Military Service Credit to ALL Veterans)

Morning meeting with fellow vets and union officers just prior to deploying to the Capital building.

Successful committee vote moving A6974 out of Governmental Affairs into Ways and Means

Assemblywoman Paulin (Original Sponsor, A6974) makes an impassioned speech to the press and others following the successful vote moving A6974 out of the Governmental Employees Committee  to Ways and Means. She repeatedly and eloquently made the points that current military service credit statutes are both arbitrary and out-of-date...and that military service people do not choose where they serve. She is a great! By the end of the day 77Assemblypersons were signed on as co-sponsors.  She was joined by several of A6974's co-sponsors who spoke out strongly in support also! Thanks to all.

This photo is from Assemblywoman Paulin's own website and the following is the accompanying writeup:

Albany – Assemblywoman Amy Paulin [D-88] hosted a press conference Tuesday afternoon in the Capitol to discuss her bill that would amend the veteran’s pension buyback program [A6974/S4714].

The bill would remove the dates of service requirements from the military pension buyback program. The program allows State employees to buy back up to three years of pension credit after five years of employment if they served in the military and received an honorable discharge.

The law currently lists specific dates targeting those who were in combat but does not limit the buyback to combat veterans. While better than 90 percent of veterans of declared wartime do not see active combat, they still benefit from the law as it is currently structured. However, under the current law, no vets that served after February 28, 1991 are eligible for the buy back. This includes those who served in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

“This is about the equal and fair treatment that all veterans deserve,” Paulin said. “If you are in the armed services, you are called upon to put your life on the line at a moment’s notice. That, above all else, entitles you to certain things. The pension buyback is one such program. To put restrictions on when you can participate in the pension buyback program is not acceptable.

“The people who serve do so voluntarily and we need to do everything we can to show our appreciation for their service to this country. They are the ones who are called upon to protect us. It is up to us to protect them as well whenever possible.”

The bill currently has 75 Assembly cosponsors and 37 Senate sponsors. Senator William Larkin [R-39] is the primary Senate sponsor. The bill has drawn the support of Jewish War Veterans, The Transit Workers Union, the AFL-CIO, New York State Council of Vietnam War Veterans of America, The Public Employees Federation and the NYS Association of PBAs.


Note from the Veteran State Employee: The American Legion is fully on board too (see below post).

AMERICAN LEGION ON BOARD FOR REAL MILITARY SERVICE CREDIT FOR NY VETERANS

Excerpted from the American Legion's bi-weekly Legislative Update (27 April 2014). Find the most current at: "Legislation the American Legion Urges NY State to Act On"

The American Legion: The world's largest veterans organization
Latest News

FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2014

• Vets to Show Support for Military Buyback Bill

  ALBANY — Veterans groups will join Assembly Member Amy Paulin for a press conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, on the Million Dollar Staircase in the Capitol Building to demonstrate support for the Military Buyback Bill (A6974/S4714), reports Greenlawn American Legion Post 1244 mermber Bob Browne.
  A press release from Paulin explains that the legislation would amend the New York State Retirement and Social Security Law to allow public sector workers who were honorably discharged from the military to purchase up to three years of credit towards their pension. Currently, Article 20 of the Retirement and Social Security Law excludes all peacetime veterans and even some who served during designated periods of conflict from Desert Storm to the present day.
  Paulin, the Assembly’s lead sponsor, notes: “All of the men and women who served in our military should be able to take advantage of the veteran’s service credit buy back. The current law, which makes this opportunity dependent on the dates served, is unfair. Everyone who joins the armed forces takes a risk that they will see combat. Luckily most of our soldiers never see that risk realized including those who get the buy back now. Moreover, this legislation will encourage more young people to serve our country – both in the military and as public employees. “

APRIL 29 2014: RALLY IN ALBANY FOR REAL MILITARY SERVICE CREDIT

The day is here...the cause is just...fight for equity and honor for all NY's Veterans! Get in touch with your NYS union and/or call the contacts on the below flyers! Go to Albany April 29th 2014 and MAKE IT HAPPEN.



SEE YOU THERE!

Amend the New York Law - Honor ALL our Veterans

Introduction and Call To Action 

Now, the January -June 2014 Legislative Year, is the time to amend the  well-intentioned but  inequitable, arbitrary, inadequate, and discriminatory  law (Article 20 of the Retirement and Social Security Law / Chapter 548 of the Laws of 2000) that allows  only a limited   portion of our honorably discharged veterans to purchase military service credit for New York state pensions.  Take the quiz and see if you agree...then support the pending bills shown:

Quiz

1. You enlist in the army on May 7, 1975, spend your entire three year enlistment as a cook at Fort Dix, New Jersey and are honorably discharged. You now work for New York State. Do you qualify to purchase up to 3 years of military service for pension credit under current New York State law?  
Answer: Yes
Explanation: New York honors some of its military veterans with the law, below.        

2. You enlist as a military policeman on May 8, 1975 and spend your entire three year enlistment in the 2nd Infantry Division  on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in South Korea  and are honorably discharged. You now work for New York State. Do you qualify to purchase up to 3 years of military service for pension credit under current New York State law?
Answer: No
Explanation: New York honors some of its military veterans with the law, below

3. You enlist in 1983 and serve 10 years in field artillery including Cold War  service in Fulda, West Germany and   TASK FORCE EAGLE during OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR (Bosnia). You receive a Purple Heart,  Bronze Star, and  the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for your  service in Bosnia and are honorably discharged. You now work for New York State. Do you qualify to purchase up to 3 years of military service for pension credit under current New York State law?
Answer: No. Combat service in Bosnia is not honored in New York.
Explanation: New York honors some of its military veterans with the law, below.

4. You enlist in the infantry in 1990 and serve four years. In your only overseas deployment  you are awarded the coveted Combat Infantryman's Badge following heavy combat in Somalia including the "Backhawk Down" battle and you are honorably discharged. You now work for New York State. Do you qualify to purchase up to 3 years of military service for pension credit under current New York State law?
Answer: No. Somalia combat veterans are not honored in New York.
Explanation: New York honors some of its military veterans with the law, below.

5. You are a male and you enlist with your female twin in 1989 as a finance clerk and you both serve three years at Fort Bliss, Texas.  You are  temporarily reassigned to a departing Fort Bliss Cavalry unit  for 20 days in September of 1990 and travel with them to help unload and guard their ground radar equipment at an undisclosed airport in Saudi Arabia.  You return to Fort Bliss. Your  female twin  is rejected for the temporary reassignment as she is a female and therefore legally excluded from the Cavalry assignment.  You are both discharged honorably.You now both work for New York State. Do you qualify to purchase up to 3 years of military service for pension credit under current New York State law?
Answer: Yes  Does your female twin? No. Women are routinely discriminated against for military service credit in New York.
Explanation: New York honors some of its military veterans with the law, below

6. You are a New Yorker outraged after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, you enlist in the Navy two weeks later and you ultimately qualify as a Navy Seal. While part of Seal Team Six stationed in Afghanistan you (and your team) fly to Pakistan and shoot Osama Bin Laden in one of the most daring missions of war. You now work for New York State. Do you qualify to purchase up to 3 years of military service for pension credit under current New York State law?
Answer: No. Afghanistan and Pakistan combat service are not honored in New York.
Explanation: New York honors some of its military veterans with the law, below.


7. You and your identical twin enlist in the army in 1988 as Patriot missile crewmen. During Desert Storm you and your unit fly to Israel,  set up missiles,  and shoot down 3 incoming SCUDS over Tel Aviv. You receive a hero's welcome in Israel and a hero's welcome back home to Fort Bliss after the war. Your twin departs the same day as you depart the US but arrives in Qatar where his unit does not engage any missiles at all because no SCUDS are fired in that direction.  He receives the same welcome as you when he returns to Fort Bliss. Do you qualify to purchase up to 3 years of military service for pension credit under current New York State law?
Answer: No...combat service in Israel during the war is not honored! Does your identical  twin? Yes
Explanation: New York honors some of its military veterans with the law, below.

8.  You and your identical twin enlist in the army in 2002 and serve  four years. Your service includes two combat tours in Afghanistan and you are awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, Purple Heart, Bronze Star and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal.  Your twin's service does not include any tours in Afghanistan but does include one  3-month noncombat tour at a logistics base in peaceful Bahrain  You are both honorably discharged. You both now work for New York State. Do you qualify to purchase up to 3 years of military service for pension credit under current New York State law?
Answer: No. Combat service in Afghanistan is not honored. Does your twin? Yes
Explanation: New York honors some of its military veterans with the law, below.

Present law is inequitable, arbitrary, inadequate, and outdated:

Article 20 of the Retirement and Social Security Law

Eligibility

Veterans must:

• Have been honorably discharged;
• Have at least five years of credited service in the Retirement System;
• Not have credit for this service in any other public retirement system in New York State.

In addition, some or all of the military service must have been during one or more of the following periods:

• World War II (12/7/41 – 12/31/46)
• Korean War (6/27/50 – 1/31/55)
• Vietnam Era (2/28/61 – 5/7/75)
• Theater of operations including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, Red Sea and airspace above these locations (8/2/90 – present)
• Service in one or more of the following military conflicts provided an Armed Forces, Navy or Marine Corps Expeditionary medal was received in connection with this service:
  • Lebanon (6/1/83 – 12/1/87)
  • Grenada (10/23/83 – 11/21/83)
  • Panama (12/20/89 – 1/31/90)

This shorthand of the law can be found at The New York State Comptroller's Site 
See  Chapter 548 of the Laws of 2000 for the full language of the law.

 Pending Bills to Amend the Law...Linked and Updated

SO4714 (Credit to ALL Veterans)  (46 Sponsors, as of 10 June 2014)

Date          Chamber Action
06/10/2014 ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1247
06/10/2014 COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO RULES
2014-02-26 Senate PRINT NUMBER 4714A
2014-02-26 Senate AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO FINANCE
2014-01-08 Senate REFERRED TO FINANCE
2013-04-19 Senate REFERRED TO FINANCE

A06974 (Credit to All Veterans)  (87  Sponsors, as of 10 June 2014 ) (COMPANION BILL TO S04714)

Date                   Chamber Action

06/11/2014 print number 6974b

06/11/2014 amend (t) and recommit to ways and means

2014-04-29

Assembly

reported referred to ways and means

2014-02-26 Assembly print number 6974a
2014-02-26 Assembly amend and recommit to governmental employees
2014-01-08 Assembly referred to governmental employees
2013-04-29 Assembly referred to governmental employees


S06400 (Credit to All Veterans)  (7 Sponsors)

Date              Chamber Action
2014-01-21 Senate     Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs

S05807 (Additional 18 Months Service Credit for those Already Qualifying Who Have a Disability)


Date            Chamber     Action
2014-02-04 Senate PRINT NUMBER 5807A
2014-02-04 Senate AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO FINANCE
2014-02-04 Senate REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
2014-01-08 Senate REFERRED TO VETERANS, HOMELAND SECURITY AND MILITARY AFFAIRS
2014-01-08 Assembly returned to senate
2014-01-08 Assembly died in assembly
2013-06-20 Assembly referred to ways and means
2013-06-20 Senate DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
2013-06-20 Senate PASSED SENATE
2013-06-20 Senate ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1546
2013-06-17 Senate REFERRED TO RULES


A07942 (Additional 18 Months Service Credit for those Already Qualifying Who Have a Disability)

Date Chamber Action

2014-04-29

Assembly

reported referred to ways and means

2014-02-10 Assembly print number 7942a
2014-02-10 Assembly amend and recommit to governmental employees
2014-01-08 Assembly referred to governmental employees
2013-06-13 Assembly reported referred to ways and means
2013-06-11 Assembly referred to governmental employees

You Can Make a Difference

1. Email your NYS Assemblyman or Senator to cosponsor or support all of the above bills...it is easy:

• Find and email or call  your NYS Assemblyman here: (Note, assembly bills start with 'A' - urge support of those bills)

• Find and email or call  your NYS Senator here: (Note, Senate bills start with 'S' - urge support of those bills)

2. Call/email your local's legislative affairs officer and/or political action officer to put military service credit as a priority. And follow up. There is a process for this that varies from union to union but all our unions lobby Albany for legislative action. This is precisely why we pay our union/association dues.

• Here is one great example from The Transport Workers Union - lobbying hard for real Military Service Credit in Albany (Thanks to one of this blog's readers [and outstanding military service credit activist] for this link)

 

My Story

   I enlisted in the army in 1986 and I served with the 3rd Armored Division (Spearhead!) in West Germany for three Cold War years (1987-1990).  
        
    Following this 3-year tour I was retained at Fort Bliss Texas on 'Stop Loss' for an additional eight  months as an Air Defense trainer (during Desert Shield/Storm). I was honorably discharged after a full 4 years  and 10 months of active  military service. I did not qualify under Chapter 548 of the Laws of 2000 because I served during (but not in theatre) a period of war.

Later and while still working as a state employee, I was  mobilized out of the Reserves in 2004 and sent for an individual  6-month active duty tour to Afghanistan that also included two weeks in Camp Doha, Kuwait. I served in the  CJTF180/76 Headquarters  for both the 10th Mountain Division and then  the 25th Infantry Division at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. I was honorably released from active duty after 185 days of service and returned to my state job.

Knowing  I now had over five well-documented years of active and honorable military service and  service in theatre according to Chapter 548 of the Laws of 2000 (see law above,  peaceful Kuwait was the key ), I applied  to purchase  three years of military service in 2005. 

My application was denied. According to my retirement system,Chapter 548 of the Law only permits my purchase of 6 months and not 3 years. My service in West Germany during the Cold War and my service at Fort Bliss during Desert Storm are not covered under the current law. And connecting  periods of service is inexplicably not permitted.This is not a coherent law, it is a  BINGO game and I lost.

 I then studied the law and came to a realization that we have real military service credit (as we should) for those who served at least one day prior to May 8, 1975 but an inequitable, arbitrary, inadequate, and outdated law covering those who served only after that date.

Over the last fourteen years, several bills to actually honor ALL of our military veterans have been proposed in the NY House and Senate - only to die in committee.

And now, in a state that honors its vets, it is time to amend and repair the law.

YOUR MODERATED COMMENTS AND IDEAS ARE WELCOME - YOU CAN COMMENT ANONYMOUSLY AND EASILY. CLICK THE ORANGE 'COMMENT' BELOW:

NEW YORK STATE VETERANS: MOBILIZE AND FIGHT FOR EQUITY AND HONOR!

This should not be another battle ...but it is...mobilize (again) to join the fight for
equity and honor!
Scroll down to previous posts for the flagrant inequities with current law, details on pending
bills, and contact information for your legislators.

No More Political Football: Real Military Service Credit for New York Veterans Now!

Not Good Enough For Equity and Honor in New York under Current Law!

Insane as it sounds, the pilots who bombed Libya in 1986 in response to the Lockerbie airplane terrorism, a soldier who received the Silver Star in El Salvador in 1987, soldiers killed and wounded during the Cold War in West Germany, a Sergeant awarded the Medal of Honor in Somalia, the 12 Airmen who received Silver Stars in Kosovo/Bosnia, the Long Islander who received a Purple Heart and Silver Star in Afghanistan, and the 700 soldiers on the present Sinai 'peacekeeping' mission would NOT be eligible to purchase military service credit in NY ! 

Just in case someone in New York thinks New York honors its veterans in an equitable manner, and one suspects no reader of this site would think that, here are the details of some events that occurred outside of the current law's arbitrarily favored times and places for military service credit!

Demand an answer from your legislator!


Apr 14, 1986: 

U.S. Pilots Bomb Libya

April 14, 1986, the United States launches air strikes against Libya in retaliation for the Libyan sponsorship of terrorism against American troops and citizens. The raid, which began shortly before 7 p.m. EST (2 a.m., April 15 in Libya), involved more than 100 U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft, and was over within an hour. Five military targets and "terrorism centers" were hit, including the headquarters of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.

During the 1970s and '80s, Qaddafi's government financed a wide variety of Muslim and anti-U.S. and anti-British terrorist groups worldwide, from Palestinian guerrillas and Philippine Muslim rebels to the Irish Republican Army and the Black Panthers. In response, the U.S. imposed sanctions against Libya, and relations between the two nations steadily deteriorated. In 1981, Libya fired at a U.S. aircraft that passed into the Gulf of Sidra, which Qaddafi had claimed in 1973 as Libyan territorial waters. That year, the U.S. uncovered evidence of Libyan-sponsored terrorist plots against the United States, including planned assassination attempts against U.S. officials and the bombing of a U.S. embassy-sponsored dance in Khartoum, Sudan.

In December 1985, five American citizens were killed in simultaneous terrorist attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports. Libya was blamed, and U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered expanded sanctions and froze Libyan assets in the United States. On March 24, 1986, U.S. and Libyan forces clashed in the Gulf of Sidra, and four Libyan attack boats were sunk. Then, on April 5, terrorists bombed a West Berlin dance hall known to be frequented by U.S. servicemen. One U.S. serviceman and a Turkish woman were killed, and more than 200 people were wounded, including 50 other U.S. servicemen. U.S. intelligence reportedly intercepted radio messages sent from Libya to its diplomats in East Berlin ordering the April 5 attack on the LaBelle discotheque.

_______________________________

*FRONIUS, GREGORY A. (KIA)Citation:
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal (Posthumously) to Gregory A. Fronius, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with the 3d Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), in El Salvadore, on 31 March 1987. On that date, pro-Cuban guerrillas of the Marxist group Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front launched a well-planned, early morning attack on the base camp at El Paraiso, El Salvador. Staff Sergeant Frontius, an advisor serving at that base camp, rallied the defense in action that resulted in many casualties among the attacking forces, before he was himself mortally wounded. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.

Home Town: Greensburg, Pennsylvania

______________________________

THREE U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED, AT LEAST 12 INJURED IN EXPLOSION

AP, Associated Press

Jun. 29, 1987 12:47 PM ET

HOHENFELS, WEST GERMANY HOHENFELS, West Germany (AP) _ An 18-member team of U.S. military experts arrived in West Germany today to investigate an explosion the Army said killed three American soldiers and injured 12 others.

The investigators from the Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Ala., were examining evidence at the site of Sunday's explosion in Hohenfels, said Maj. Kim Hunt, a spokeswoman for the Army's 5th Corps in Frankfurt.

The Army said the cause of the blast was not known, but that it occurred during a training exercise at the Army's largest maneuver area in West Germany. The site is 35 miles southeast of Nuremberg.

The Army today identified the three soldiers killed as Sgt. Joseph M. Renaldi, 25, of Springdale, Pa.; Spec. 4 Keith Lavoie, 21, of Burton, Mich.; and Staff Sgt. Joseph L. Dewease, 27, of Khewsville, Md.

U.S. military authorities said 12 soldiers were hospitalized. West German police said up to 30 servicemen were injured, some seriously, in the explosion.

________________________________________________

Sergeant First Class Randall D. Shughart

• Organization: U.S. Army
• Place and Date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia

Citation: Sergeant First Class Shughart, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sergeant First Class Shughart provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Sergeant First Class Shughart's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

______________________________________________________

June 2000

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Silver Stars

By Richard J. Newman

Ten airmen were awarded the Silver Star for their heroic efforts in the Kosovo campaign.

In Operation Allied Force, NATO forces flew more than 38,000 sorties, and the Serbs shot down just two aircraft. No airman lost his life in combat. To outsiders, the air operation seemed effortless. In fact, so-called human-rights experts and others criticized NATO for not running greater risks with the lives of its pilots to try to protect civilians on the ground.
Throughout the 78-day war, however, the skies over Yugoslavia were much more dangerous than they appeared to be on the evening news. Unlike the Iraqis during the 1991 Persian Gulf War-who fired and promptly lost most of their air defenses in the first days of bombing-the Serbs used their anti-aircraft weapons sparingly. That left much of the Serb air defense system intact through the end of the war. The Serbs' sporadic efforts to shoot down NATO aircraft meant that for some pilots, routine flights suddenly became high-intensity combat. The courage of airmen was severely tested, and there were moments of selfless heroism.
On the night of May 2, 1999, for instance, with a full moon glinting off scattered clouds, Capt. Adam B. Kavlick was flying one of four F-16s on a mission to find and destroy Surface-to-Air Missile sites near Novi Sad, in northern Serbia. They found some. The Serbs launched three SA-3 missiles from two separate sites at the four-ship formation. One of the missiles caught Kavlick's wingman, knocking his airplane out of the sky near Belgrade. The pilot ejected safely but spent the next two hours fleeing from Serb forces trying to hunt him down.
Kavlick remained overhead and hastily arranged a rescue effort. First, he made contact with his downed colleague. Then he organized a flow plan for tanker aircraft to keep a constant stream of fighters over the crash site. He coordinated the fighter orbits so that aircraft would be available to knock out any SAMs that popped up. The Serbs still managed to get off a few shots, at one point forcing Kavlick's new wingman to jettison his weapons to outmaneuver a missile.
Against the Sun
Meanwhile, NATO had launched rescue helicopters from Bosnia in a desperate push to reach the pilot before sunrise, which was to arrive in less than two hours. There was no time to wait for the A-10 gunships that typically accompany such a rescue package, so the helicopters flew without them. For more than an hour, Capt. Kent A. Landreth, as flight leader in an MH-53 Pave Low, led the three special operations helicopters through sporadic barrages of SAMs, anti-aircraft fire, and small arms fire. One MH-60 Pave Hawk, flown by Capt. William F. Denehan, was targeted by an SA-9 missile, which missed by only 100 feet. Later on, the same helicopter took rounds in the fuselage and left engine cowling from small arms fire.
The rescue aircraft went to the initial coordinates, which proved to be 17 miles from the pilot's actual location. From overhead, Kavlick finally directed them to the pilot's true position. With sunrise moments away, Denehan's helicopter touched down, and the pilot clambered aboard. As the rescue aircraft streaked away, the sun winked over the horizon, giving Serb gunners one last chance to claim an American victim. They missed.
For their performance during Allied Force, Kavlick, Landreth, and Denehan each received the Silver Star, the Air Force's third highest award for valor in combat-after the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross.

In total, only 10 pilots who flew during Allied Force received the Silver Star. Three of them earned the award during the rescue of the F-16 pilot, and three others earned theirs during the rescue of an F-117 pilot who was shot down March 27, 1999. The four remaining Silver Star recipients were recognized for heroic efforts to protect their comrades or for attacks on the Serbs. Nearly 20 other aviators received the Distinguished Flying Cross-the next highest award for valor-and the Air Force is considering other nominees.

______________________________________

Long Island soldier wounded in Afghanistan receives Silver Star for heroism

Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Loheide of Patchogue, L.I., was praised for his work in getting injured soldiers safely to helicopters after a bomb exploded — even though he was among those who were badly hurt.

BY CORINNE LESTCH  

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, April 6, 2013, 6:06 PM

New York soldier who suffered a traumatic brain injury said he was “humbled” to receive the Silver Star for helping to evacuate wounded troops during his first big mission in Afghanistan.

Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Loheide of Patchogue, L.I., told the Daily News his platoon as a whole deserved the credit for delivering the injured soldiers safely to helicopters in June 2010 after a bomb was dropped — even though he was among the badly hurt as he marked a landing zone for the aircraft.

“It was a team effort,” said the modest military man, who was treated at an Afghanistan hospital for 10 days. “It was a culmination of training and bravery of the men of the platoon.”

While battling enemy fire on rocky terrain in the Kunar Valley, an Air Force jet dropped a bomb about 15 feet away from Loheide and the other soldiers in what appeared to be friendly fire. The 31-year-old recalled the blur of events that forced him to think on his feet.

“I remember, due to the enemy contact that we were making, it was a very limited time frame where we could actually get the helicopters in and get casualties on the helicopters and out of the area,” he said.

The dramatic series of events unfolded on the first of three days of the mission, Operation Strong Eagle I.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/long-island-soldier-receives-award-heroism-article-1.1309708#ixzz2zRMSh2X3

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Sinai peacekeepers under siege as Egypt battles Islamists

American-led peace-keeping troops in the Sinai are living in a state of siege as fighting between the Egyptian army and militant Islamists groups threatens the viability of the mission.

By Inna Lazareva

7:15PM BST 17 Sep 2013

Conditions for the 1,660-strong team, who were put in place under the 1979 Camp David peace accord but keep a low profile, have become "very tense and very dangerous", according to Egyptian sources.

Multi-national Force of Observers (MFO) soldiers, of whom almost 700 are American and others come from countries including France, Italy, Australia and Canada, cannot leave their bases without wearing body armour, while those in Al Gora, the biggest camp, are starting to dig their own wells for water so as not to have to rely on local supplies.

They have also started bringing in food from Israel, rather than from Egypt, which was a considerably cheaper option, say the Egypt-based analysts.

Conditions in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula have been unstable for some years, but deteriorated sharply since the removal by the army of President Morsi in July unleashed further violence.

Operations of the MFO have also become more restricted and time-consuming with each task exposing soldiers to danger for extended periods.

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