Raised as an army brat, Angie Ricketts though she knew what she was in for when she eloped with Darrin - then an Infantry Lieutenant - on the eve of his deployment to Somalia. Since then, Darrin, now a Colonel, has been deployed eight times, serving four of those tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Ricketts has lived every one of those deployments intimately - distant enough to survive the years apart from her husband, but close enough to share a common purpose and a lifestyle they both love.With humor, candor, and a brazen attitude, Ricketts pulls back the curtain on a subculture many readers know, but few ill ever experience Counter to the dramatized snapshot seen on Lifetime's Army Wives, Ricketts digs into the personalities and posturing that officers' wives must survive daily - whether navigating a social event at the base, suffering through a husband's prolonged deployment, or reacting to a close friend's death in combat.At its core, No Man's War is a story of sisterhood and survival. As Ricketts states: "We tread those treacherous waters together. Do we sometimes shove each other's heads underwater for a few seconds? Maybe even on purpose? Of course. Are we sometimes dragged underwater ourselves by the undertow created by all of us struggling together too closely? Without a doubt. But we never let each other drown. Our buoyancy is our survival."

A deployed parent is a hard thing for a child to endure, yet it is done everyday by the little hero's of America. This is a story of one of those little soldiers. Princess Stinkerdoodles and her magical teddy bear Mr. Fuzzy are two friends who miss their daddy very much. Currently deployed in Afghanistan, the little princess and her best friend use Mr. Fuzzy's magic to Teddy-teleport to the deserts of war to find the daddy. Yet things go wrong and the two friends end up all over the world battling trolls and other sinister monsters. Each night they will try again, hoping beyond all hope that they will find their daddy. Come snuggle in tight, get your little piggy's tucked into those blankets and join these two wonderful friends on an adventure that will make you smile, and even cry. Lets find our hero's

From 1972 to 1982, approximately 1,500-2,100 US Air Force Reserve personnel trained and worked on C-123 aircraft that had formerly been used to spray herbicides in Vietnam as part of Operation Ranch Hand. After becoming aware that some of the aircraft on which they had worked had previously served this purpose, some of these AF Reservists applied to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for compensatory coverage under the Agent Orange Act of 1991. The Act provides health care and disability coverage for health conditions that have been deemed presumptively service-related for herbicide exposure during the Vietnam War. The VA denied the applications on the basis that these veterans were ineligible because as non-Vietnam-era veterans or as Vietnam-era veterans without "boots on the ground" service in Vietnam, they were not covered. However, with the knowledge that some air and wipe samples taken between 1979 and 2009 from some of the C-123s used in Operation Ranch Hand showed the presence of agent orange residues, representatives of the C-123 Veterans Association began a concerted effort to reverse VA's position and obtain coverage. At the request of the VA, Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in Agent Orange-Contaminated C-123 Aircraft evaluates whether or not service in these C-123s could have plausibly resulted in exposures detrimental to the health of these Air Force Reservists. The Institute of Medicine assembled an expert committee to address this question qualitatively, but in a scientific and evidence-based fashion. This report evaluates the reliability of the available information for establishing exposure and addresses and places in context whether any documented residues represent potentially harmful exposure by characterizing the amounts available and the degree to which absorption might be expected. Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure rejects the idea that the dioxin residues detected on interior surfaces of the C-123s were immobile and effectively inaccessible to the Reservists as a source of exposure. Accordingly, this report states with confidence that the Air Force Reservists were exposed when working in the Operation Ranch Hand C-123s and so experienced some increase in their risk of a variety of adverse responses. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 TCDD: Physicochemical Properties and Health Guidelines 3 Air Force Use of the C-123 Provider: Background and Sampling Data 4 Evaluation of Assessments of Possible Exposure of Air Force Reservists from Service in Operation Ranch Hand C-123s 5 Summary of Findings References Appendix A: Public Agendas from Committee Meetings Appendix B: History and Sampling of C-123s in the United States After Spraying Herbicides in Vietnam Appendix C: Committee Biographies

China is modernizing her military very rapidly and as her economy strengthens, the pace of military modernization is going to touch higher trajectories. This modernization would impact and alter the existing strategic environment in the world. In the region the impact will be more profound and will force her neighbors to rework their own military modernization programs, war fighting doctrines and their present position on relations with China and other regional powers and the US. Today, in addition to issues relating to human resource development, the biggest impediment is the availability of technology to develop new modern weapon systems and equipment. Will the drivers and trends of Chinese military modernization continue to be same or will there be changes? How will the modernization impact the PLA behavior, especially in its neighborhood? How will the neighbors react to this stupendous pace of militarization in the East Asia? What will be the role of Japan, Vietnam, India, Russia and US? How will china's restive periphery and PLA respond to the spread of Islamic fundamentalism? To correctly appreciate these changes, an in-depth understanding of Chinese military modernization is essential. This book is an effort in this direction and attempts to find some answers to the questions posed. The trends of modernization of the four services of the PLA have been analyzed and a capability suggested that the PLA is likely to have by 2025.

Military logistics is a relatively new word to describe a very old practice; the supply, movement and maintenance of an armed force both in peace time and under operational conditions. Logistic considerations are generally built into battle plans at an early stage. Without logistics, tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery pieces, aircraft are just numbers on a table of organization and equipment. Through this book an endeavor has been made to understand the logistics of People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China. An introduction to the theory of supply chain management and logistics of foreign Armies is discussed. Today 'Revolution in Military Logistics' (RML) is taking place in the People's Liberation Army. An attempt has been made to study this evolution, development and rapid modernization of the People's Liberation Army logistics.

The untold tale of the first year of the Centaurs in Vietnam as told through the eyes of air cavalry helicopter pilots and grunts who built a troop from the ground up at Cu Chi based on teamwork, fighting ability, and guts. Climb aboard their Huey for an up close and personal account of the war.

Not your typical war story, this book captures an unvarnished account of how the Army formed an air cavalry troop in early 1966. "Rookies to war," the pilots were plucked out of the skies of places like Fort Rucker, Alabama, and joined by troopers from across America to fight a guerilla war in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam. There were no field manuals for this war, and air cavalry was just a glimmer in the eyes of reconnaissance, infantry, and artillery units.

This is the story of one year of the storied 25th Infantry Division, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry that left the paradise of Hawaii's shores for the heat, rain, mud, and guerilla warfare of Vietnam. The combination of helicopters, infantry, and a Long Range Reconnaissance Platoon (LRRP) makes for compelling reading as you follow the lives and battles of 30 different contributors.

There are stories of bravery and fear, ingenuity and innovation, humor and sadness, boredom and electrifying insertions and extractions of LRRP teams. In the end, you will grasp the brotherhood of war and appreciate the sacrifices of those that serve in the name of freedom.

This second volume contains seventeen cases focusing on defence procurement and logistics issues that will provide an excellent learning opportunity to a variety of readers. This wideranging audience will include military personnel, those on defence education and training programmes, employees of the defence industry, those in defence agencies and those engaged in defence and security-related research (an example being under- and postgraduate students on international politics and strategic studies courses).

Described by numerous military personnel as being "The one resource that every transitioning veteran should have" this book provides a step-by-step guide to success in landing civilian employment. The book's conversational approach and easy to follow steps will provide every reader with the tools needed to land the right job. From Rob Nielsen, former Marine Corps company commander and platoon commander "In thirty minutes of reading Deployment to Employment, I learned what took me months to gather and learn from multiple seminars, resources, business coaches, and others. This book should be required reading for all service members approaching their post-military chapter of life."

Memorializing the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 is a study of a group of memorials to soldiers who fought in a now nearly forgotten war, and deals with the many factors influencing why there was such an unprecedented number of memorials compared to those to previous conflicts like the Crimean War, fifty years earlier. One of the most important issues was the impact of changes in the organization of the British Army in the late 1800s, particularly the creation of locally-based regiments, heavily manned by volunteers drawn from local communities. The book includes a detailed commentary on the social conditions in England that also account for the unprecedented number of commemorations of this conflict. It discusses the variety of forms memorials took: informal - drinking fountains, 'Spion Kop" stands at football stadiums; formal - stained glass windows, statues, etc., and the numerous and diverse places where they were located: cathedrals, town squares, public schools and universities. The growth of the national press and the rise of literacy is dealt with in detail, as well as the telegraph, whose invention meant that news became available overnight. Space is given to discuss the expression of Victorian prosperity in public works. The part played by the established church is well documented and an insight is given into the contribution of Imperialism, patriotism and jingoism. All these factors explain the motivation for the memorials' creation. The book is illustrated with photographs and articles from newspapers of the day. Appendices cover those who are not commemorated, lost memorials, those who unveiled the memorials, colonial involvement and more. Memorializing the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 will appeal particularly to social historians and students of military and social history.

Two yellowing envelopes in a long-untouched file, unmistakably of U.S. Army origin but addressed to a North Carolina housewife, caught the attention of her son as he sorted her papers after her death. The postmarks, Virginia Beach, VA., and dated in 1942, were puzzling, as was the official return address: 111th Infantry C.T., Mobile Defense Force. While the 111th regimental combat team could be deciphered, the Mobile Defense Force was not a recognizable term. The letters inside instructed her on the duties of a coast watcher, and evoked memories stored since childhood: The sickening thump of torpedoes striking U.S. ships just off the Currituck Outer Banks and the flare of flames, particularly when a tanker was hit, that were clear even to a youngster on his front porch 8 miles inland. Each boom and pillar of fire revealed that more men were dying in the freezing waters off North Carolina's barrier islands that winter. How did the United States get into such straits that its life was threatened as the Axis juggernauts rolled across Western Europe and Asia? What transpired during the crucial years when the outcome of the war could go against the United States as Axis aggression flooded the Atlantic with U-boats striving to cut the stream of ships laden with weapons, troops, and food flowing to the beleaguered British Isles - the last Allied outpost near the Continent? How did the Allies achieve victory first against the U-boats, then the war, for as Napoleon observed: "It is only a step from victory to disaster. "

The Marine Corps characterises itself as a crisis response expeditionary force which is task organised and able to conduct operations across the entire spectrum of military operations. The Corps is a "middleweight force" that is designed to fill the void in our Nation's defence structure between light Special Operations Forces (SOF) and heavier conventional units. A number of decisions pertaining to national security strategy, force structure, and declining defence budgets have resulted in a draw-down of the active Marine Corps. This book examines the draw-down of the Marine Corps, as well as the force structure initiatives, roles and missions, and the restructuring of the Marine Corps.

Were you "Daddy's Little Girl"? Did you share that special relationship with your Dad? Did your Dad serve in the military and not talk much about it, or perhaps not at all? You need to read these personal stories from women who grew up sometimes never hearing or knowing about their dad's service in the military/war. Never hearing names of their buddies or even knowing where they fought til after they have died. Perhaps they saw their buddy die by their side or fought in bloody battles that they wanted to forget. These are all very special stories of ordinary Dads that served and were extraordinary Dads and Soldiers. Share these women's photographs, read their own words, their own versions, no structure, just words from their own hearts and memories.