26 I never thought I’d be back in Africa,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Issaka Guebre, a Burkina Faso native. “Having the opportunity to do this course in Africa means a lot.”
Guebre, a combat medic with Civil Affairs East Africa Southern European Task Force Africa (CA-EA SETAF-AF), in support of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, is one of about 40 U.S. Servicemembers who participated in this month’s iteration of the French Desert Commando Course (FDCC).
The multi-day course consisted of various land and water obstacles, combative training, and extreme endurance exercises in order to challenge participants both physically and mentally. Those that completed each obstacle successfully in the allotted time, received the coveted FDCC badge at the end of the course.
MANILA, May 11 On April 22, U.S. military service members in Mindanao and Luzon began the delivery of nearly Php5.7 million ($118,700) worth of personal protective equipment and medical supplies to local partners battling COVID-19 in provinces across the Philippines.
The supplies include protective equipment such as disposable gloves, goggles, face shields, disinfectant spray, and other items to support frontline workers.
“As longstanding allies, we are proud to support the Philippine first responders and medical professionals who are on the frontlines battling COVID-19 with this PPE donation,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Duede, Civil Military Support Element – Philippines. “This donation is part of our continued commitment to supporting the Philippines COVID-19 response. It is an honor to be able to work with such great partners and provide assistance in any way that we can.”
13 NEWARK, New Jersey Team 4 of Joint Task Force Civil Support has finished their 8-week deployment in support of the federal vaccine response. They arrived to support the federal pilot Type 4 Community Vaccination Center (CVC) at St. Matthew AME Church in City of Orange and the federal pilot Type 4 CVCs at Raphael Hernandez Elementary School and Jehovah Jireh Praise & Worship Church Center, both in Newark, New Jersey on March 11 and since then have spent their time serving the local communities.
The team of 23 service members was comprised primarily of Soldiers from various duty stations as well as six Sailors. In two months, they were able to administer approximately 16,500 COVID-19 vaccines to community members.
13 PUEBLO, Colo. – Nestled at the junction of the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek in southern Colorado is the city of Pueblo, home to just over 110,000 residents. With more Medal of Honor recipients per capita than any city in the world, Pueblo was appropriately coined “The Home of Heroes”.
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower once joked, “What is it… something in the water out there in Pueblo? All you guys turn out to be heroes!” While he may not be receiving the Medal of Honor on this mission, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Montelongo, a current resident of Pueblo and combat medic assigned to 52nd Brigade Engineer Battalion on Fort Carson, Colorado, has become a hometown hero in another way.
18 COLUMBIA, S.C. The South Carolina National Guard prepares its Basic Leader Course (BLC) at the 218th Regional Training Institute (RTI) at McCrady Training Center in Eastover, South Carolina, to transition from virtual classes back to residential courses in the upcoming fiscal year.
“We are planning for a phased approach to returning [back] to resident because it has been a year since we conducted a resident class,” states U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Gabriel Brown, 218th RTI, 3rd Battalion Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Academy commandant.
In June 2020, the 218th RTI developed a virtual instructional platform to safely continue the mission of training Soldiers to become NCOs during the COVID-19 pandemic.