Three Soldiers Hurt in Explosion

Three Fort Stewart soldiers are being treated for injuries from an explosion inside an armored vehicle on the southeast Georgia Army post. Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said Wednesday none of the injuries are life-threatening. One soldier was taken to the Augusta burn center with second-degree burns. The others were treated at Fort Stewart for minor burns and dehydration. Larson said the soldiers were driving an M-88 armored vehicle on a tank trail when they heard a hissing sound, followed by an explosion inside the crew compartment. The blast threw one of the soldiers out of the vehicle. The M-88 is an armored tow truck used to move tanks and other heavy vehicles. The Army is investigating what caused the blast. The soldiers'
identities were not immediately released.

(Associated Press)

Fort Stewart Hosting First-Ever Army Celebration

A longtime military tradition comes to southeast Georgia tonight for the first time ever. Fort Stewart will host a Twilight Tattoo, an event that celebrates the Army’s Third Infantry Division and its soldiers who have served through the years. The celebration is held several times a year in Washington D.C.

Major Jeff Allen with Fort Stewart says the base scheduled its first Tattoo to coincide with the U.S. Army’s 234th birthday this weekend:

"The Tattoo is going to have music...soldiers on the field, some will be in period costumes to recognize the different eras that our soldiers have served our country. There’s going to be packed Howitzers out doing a gun salute to the nation. There’s a lot of elements to it."

The event begins at 7 tonight on Cottrell Field at Fort Stewart in Hinesville.

Fort Stewart Celebrates Army Birthday

More than 100 soldiers at Fort Stewart will be part of a big celebration to mark the Army's 234th birthday. The troops at the southeast Georgia post will take part in the ceremony tonight to re-enact key events in the Army's history from the Revolutionary War to the present. The American Army was founded on June 14, 1775, more than a year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Dead Soldier Identified

Fort Stewart officials are releasing the identity of a soldier who was found dead in his barracks while assigned to the Georgia Army post's special unit for wounded and injured troops. The Army is still investigating the death of 27-year-old Spc. William M. Smith of Statenville. His body was found Friday morning. Smith was an ammunition handler in the Georgia National Guard's 1st Battalion, 214th Field Artillery based in Waynesboro. He had been assigned to Fort Stewart's Warrior Transition Unit since July. A planned autopsy has yet to determine the cause of Smith's death.

(Associated Press)

Soldiers return from Iraq

Soldiers assigned to a Fort Stewart-based unit are back home after serving a year in Iraq. 139 Members of the 416th Transportation Co. were honored by families and friends last night at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. The 416th deployed in July 2007 to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Army said the unit was responsible for moving and transporting heavy equipment.

Soldier faces arrest

A Fort Stewart-based soldier will be arrested when he returns to the southeast Georgia base in the next week. The Army says the unidentified soldier could face charges of killing two fellow soldiers in Baghdad. Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson and Sgt. Wesley Durbin were shot Sept. 14 at a small patrol base south of Baghdad.

(Associated Press)

Fort Stewart soldier in custody

Fort Stewart's commanding general says one of his soldiers has been taken into custody in Iraq in the fatal shooting of two U.S. troops in the soldier's unit. Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo said in a statement released Wednesday the shooting is under investigation and many details remain unknown. The shooting happened Sunday in Tunnis, Iraq. The slain soldiers are identified as 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson of Pensacola, Fla., and 26-year-old Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin of Hurst, Texas. They belonged to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division. The name of the alleged shooter has not been released. Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said he is unsure whether the soldier has been charged.

(Associated Press)

Federal agency sues for pregnant women

A federal agency has sued a New Mexico company, alleging it discriminated against pregnant employees it had hired as security guards on Army bases, including Georgia's Fort Stewart. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the victims included two female employees each at Fort Stewart, and forts in Kansas, Kentucky and Texas. The EEOC alleges that the company forced the women to take leaves of absence when they became pregnant, then terminated them, violating federal law.

Fort Benning, Stewart in biofuels pilot program

Fort Benning, Fort Stewart and four other bases across the United States, have been selected to take part in a national pilot program to convert wood chips and cardboard into diesel fuel.

The military installations will take part in a two-year program sponsored by the Department of Defense Energy Security Command.

The project will install truck-sized converters that turn the post's waste products into fuel for combat vehicles.

Other posts participating in the pilot are Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort AP Hill, Va.; and Fort Lewis, Wash.

(The Associated Press)

3rd ID soldiers trickle home

About 550 Georgia-based soldiers are back home. They are Army helicopter crews who deployed to Iraq last year with the 3rd Infantry Division. About 1,150 more troops are scheduled to return to Hunter Army Airfield at Savannah between tomorrow and Saturday. It's the third time the Fort Stewart-based 3rd ID has deployed to Iraq since its troops helped lead the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

New general at Fort Stewart

A new general takes the reigns at Fort Stewart today. Army Major General Anthony Cucolo will take charge of the Third Infantry Division in a Monday morning ceremony. Cucolo previously served as the Army’s chief of public affairs at the Pentagon. Cucolo replaces Major General Rick Lynch, who recently returned from guiding the Third Infantry during its third tour of duty in Iraq.

Fort Stewart to honor fallen

Fort Stewart soldiers recently back from Iraq will gather this morning for a special ceremony to honor their fallen comrades. Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team will get together to honor 29 fellow soldiers who died in the most recent deployment. The Brigade's 4,000 troops returned home to Georgia in March from a 15-month combat tour in Iraq.

Belated memorial at Fort Stewart

Today Fort Stewart near Savannah unveiled a granite marker to honor a soldier who died of an illness contracted more than two years ago in Iraq. Private First Class Ryan D. Christensen on New Jersey died in November 2005. He was initially denied a memorial tree at Warriors Walk, where the Army's 3rd Infantry Division has honored its dead from Iraq since 2003. The Army at first denied him entry because the 24-year-old died from an infection rather than in combat. His mother lobbied the Army for nearly a year until Fort Stewart commanders changed their minds. Since the first trees were planted at Warriors Walk in April 2003, the memorial grove has grown to include 381 trees -- one for each soldier from the 3rd Infantry and affiliated units killed in Iraq.

Two Georgia-based soldiers killed in Iraq

The Department of Defense on Tuesday announced the deaths of two soldiers in fighting in Iraq:

• Pfc. Timothy R. Hanson, 23, of Kenosha, Wis., died Jan. 7 in Salmon Pak, Iraq, of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Benning.
  
  
• Spc. James D. Gudridge, 20, of Carthage, N.Y., died Jan. 6 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart.

More soldiers headed to Fort Stewart

Fort Stewart near Savannah is set to receive roughly 7,000 more soldiers and their families. The new Army plan assigns two more combat brigades to the Fort. The Army says it’s part of the move to grow by 74,000 soldiers by 2010. Every Army installation across the country will see more soldiers -- anywhere from a few to thousands.

Finishing touches for veterans cemetary

A southeast Georgia farm soon will become the state’s newest veterans cemetery. The Glennville cemetery is next to the far southwestern corner of Fort Stewart near Savannah. About 770,000 veterans live in Georgia and more are expected as the state's coastline continues to attract retirees from the North. The dedication ceremony is scheduled for November 28th.

Chattahoochee Trace vying as nat'l site

Click on the map for more
information on each county.

The Historic Chattahoochee Commission is trying to convince Congress to declare the Chattahoochee Trace a national heritage site.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we will qualify," said Doug Purcell, executive director of the group, which formed in 1970:

"Our region fits (the program) to a tee."

Georgia and Alabama lawmakers are reportedly supportive of the commission's goals, according to an Associated Press report. The bill passed a Senate committee last month. Sen. Jeff Sessions said after the committee passed the measure:

"The region is rich in history and culture and deserves
recognition..."

The Bush administration also has expressed support for the effort.

Georgia counties along the Chattahoochee Trace are: Chattahoochee, Clay, Decatur, Early, Harris, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Seminole, Stewart and Troup.

The National Park Service is putting a $200,000 to $300,000 tab on the cost of the study to determine whether the Chattahoochee Trace meets the program's criteria.

More information on the Chattahoochee Trace is here.

Divers search for buried rockets

Navy divers combing a stretch of the Ogeechee River near Savannah came up with nothing in a search for Vietnam-era military rockets on the riverbed.

Divers on Wednesday examined a 100-foot stretch of the Ogeechee that lines the boundary between Chatham and Bryan counties--25 miles west of Savannah near Fort Stewart. Navy divers were summoned by base officials after civilians came across three rockets within the past week, all unfired and with live warheads. A dive team official said he's convinced no rockets are on the riverbed, but he can't rule out that some could be buried in mud and silt.

Suspicious dust in classroom deemed harmless

A suspicious dust that prompted an evacuation after it was discovered in a Fort Stewart classroom building turned out to be harmless, lab tests have determined.

Fort Stewart officials on Friday described it as a "small amount of gritty dust."

The southeast Georgia Army post would not release further details, citing a criminal investigation still under way.

Another Georgia soldier killed in Iraq

The latest combat fatalities in Iraq include three soldiers from Fort Stewart--one is a man from Georgia. The military says 25-year-old Sergeant Gene Lamie of Homerville was killed Friday in Baghdad when his vehicle hit an explosive. Lamie was a member of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart.