Military news
Marine Corps Pfc. Edward L. Jacobs, son of Robin A. Kessler of 417 N. Pittsburgh St., Connellsville, and Edward C. Jacobs of 715 Snyder St., Connellsville, recently was deployed to a combined arms exercise at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif. During the annual eight-week exercise, Jacobs and his fellow Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C., conducted tactical training and operations with other units, using various weapons, tactical vehicles and artillery to improve combat readiness.
Jacobs is a 2001 graduate of Connellsville Area High School and joined the Marine Corps in June 2001.
Craig A. Pavelko has joined the U.S. Army under the Delayed Entry Program, which gives young men and women the opportunity to delay entering active duty for up to one year.
The enlistment gives Pavelko the option to learn a new skill, travel and become eligible to receive as much as $50,000 toward a college education. After completion of basic military training, soldiers receive advanced individual training in their career job specialty.
Pavelko qualifies for a $4,000 enlistment bonus.
A 2001 graduate of Belle Vernon Area High School, he will report to Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville, Mo., for basic training.
Pavelko is the son of Jackie L. Smelser of 4992 Meadow Glen Drive, Grizzly Flats, Calif., and Thomas A. Pavelko of 1115 Henry St., Belle Vernon.
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher L. Walters, son of Mary E. and Gary W. Walters of 57 E. Highland Ave., Uniontown, recently reported for duty aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, home-ported in Norfolk, Va.
Walters is a 1999 graduate of Geibel Catholic High School and joined the Navy in February 2000.
Air Force Airman Shaun E. Williams has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
During the six weeks of training, he studied the Air Force mission, organization, and customs, performed drill and ceremony marches and received physical training and special training in human relations.
In addition, he earned credits toward an associate degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Williams is the son of Helen Orbradovich of 37 W. Glennis Drive, Greensburg. His grandmother, Jane Quarrick, resides at 10 Burlington Ave., Uniontown.
He is a 2001 graduate of Hempfield High School.
James A. Murray has joined the U.S. Army under the Delayed Entry Program, which gives young men and women the opportunity to delay entering active duty for up to one year.
The enlistment gives Murray the option to learn a new skill, travel and become eligible to receive as much as $50,000 toward a college education. After completion of basic military training, soldiers receive advanced individual training in their career job specialty.
Murray, a 2001 graduate of Belle Vernon Area High School, will report to Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville, Mo., for basic training.
He is the son of Janice L. and grandson of Jean Ferguson of 2 Tudor Drive, Belle Vernon.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Greg G. Metro has been named airman of the quarter for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service office in San Antonio, Texas.
Selection was based on his exemplary duty performance, job knowledge, leadership qualities, significant self-improvement and other specific achievements and notable accomplishments.
Metro is a finance and accounting technician with 16 years of military service.
He is the son of Arlene L. Metro of 580 Walnut Hill Road, Uniontown.
A 1985 graduate of Fairchance-Georges High School, Metro received a bachelor’s degree in 1994 from Wayland Baptist University, Plainview, Texas. In 1999, he earned an additional bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University.
Wendy L. Courser has joined the U.S. Army under the Delayed Entry Program, which gives young men and women the opportunity to delay entering active duty for up to one year.
The enlistment gives Courser the option to learn a new skill, travel and become eligible to receive as much as $50,000 toward a college education. After completion of basic military training, soldiers receive advanced individual training in their career job specialty.
Courser qualifies for a $3,000 enlistment bonus.
A 2001 graduate of Connellsville Area High School, she will report to Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville, Mo., for basic training. She is the daughter of Margaret and Kenneth G. Courser of 537 High St., Dunbar.Army 1st Lt. Donald E. Shawley Jr. has returned to Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga., from a six-month deployment to Kosovo.
Shawley, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry, participated in Operation Joint Guardian, a multinational peacekeeping mission designed to provide a safe environment for the people of Kosovo.
Each of the returning soldiers was awarded the Kosovo Campaign Medal and the NATO Medal. The medals are awarded to individuals who have participated or served in support of one or more of the eight military operations and task forces in Kosovo and bordering and surrounding Balkan countries. They also must have served under NATO command of operational control in direct support of NATO operations in the former republic of Yugoslavia or Adriatic Sea since 1992.
During Operation Joint Guardian, the soldiers’ mission was to conduct patrols along the Macedonian and Serbian borders to prevent illegal crossings and smuggling activities into Kosovo. They also patrolled towns and villages to observe and prevent ethnic violence between Kosovar Serbs and Albanians, and conduct checkpoint and cordon searches to seize illegal weapons caches.
Shawley is an infantry officer assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry.
The son of Marie F. Moffit of Dawson R.D. 1 and Donald E. Shawley Sr. of Donegal, he is a 1992 graduate of Frazier High School and a 1999 graduate of California University of Pennsylvania.
U.S. Army Pvt. Mark Budinsky recently completed nine weeks of basic combat training at Fort Sill, Okla.
He has remained at Fort Sill to continue his advanced individual training. His military occupational specialty is field artillery meteorological crewman.
Budinsky is the son of Tony and Nell Budinsky of Fairchance and the grandson of Marie Budinsky of Uniontown and John and Sara Sweeney of Fairchance.
Air Force Airman 1st Class Chad R. Kime has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
During the six weeks of training, he studied the Air Force mission, organization and customs, performed drill and ceremony marches and received physical training and special training in human relations. In addition, airmen who complete basic training earn credits toward an associate degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
The son of Randy and Marylou Kime of Beach St., Richeyville, he is a 1993 graduate of Bethlehem-Center Senior High School and a 1999 graduate of Lock Haven University.