Military dog handler killed in action
The recent death of an Army sergeant in Afghanistan marks the first time a female war-dog handler has been killed in action in any U.S. war, according to experts on military working dogs. Ron Aiello, head of the U.S. War Dogs Association and a former Vietnam War dog handler, and others who have studied the history of U.S. dogs in combat said they were not aware of any other women dog handlers who were KIA.
Sgt. Zainah Caye Creamer, 28, of Texarkana, Ark., died Jan. 12 in the Kandahar area while patrolling for explosives, one of which detonated. She was on her third war deployment, but her first tour as a dog handler. Her dog, Jofa, was not injured.
Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, military dogs have performed hundreds of tours in the war zones, where they are used to detect explosives, serve as sentries and patrol.
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have claimed the lives of at least nine other U.S. handlers and at least five military dogs.
The most recent canine casualty came Oct. 15 in Afghanistan when Cole, a black Labrador, took a fatal IED hit that would likely have killed his handler, Marine Cpl. Brian Holm.
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With a blanket repeal vote done, look for deja vu over health-care reform to continue on Capitol Hill for much of this Congress’ two-year term.
House Republicans are likely to hold dozens of oversight hearings in front of at least five committees. They are expected to aim at pointing out flaws and laying the groundwork for piecemeal changes or funding restrictions on controversial items like tax-reporting provisions, abortion funding and mandates that everyone buy insurance.
At the same time, committees in the House – and perhaps the Senate – will be looking at alternatives aimed at keeping popular provisions like extended coverage for dependents up to age 26 and guaranteed coverage of people with pre-existing medical conditions.
And Democrats, of course, will take every opportunity to portray whatever the GOP might propose as heartless. Bottom line: There’s no timetable for action, and it’s likely Congress and the courts will still be chewing on the Affordable Care Act well into 2012.
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The days are long gone when the acronym for the National Security Agency – arguably the most secret of America’s intelligence apparati – was said to stand for “No Such Agency.”
Now, the NSA is inviting you to welcome its tentacles into your smartphone by downloading an app the agency recently unveiled as a recruitment tool.
NSA human-resources official Kathy Hutson said in a statement that the NSA hopes the app, which can be downloaded via the iTunes platform, will help the agency with its “enormous” needs to hire people in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math skills for its cyber-security operations.
You’ll get real-time agency updates, including job openings and NSA news, as well as videos highlighting what it’s like to be an NSA employee. And no, the agency says it won’t use this entree to worm its way permanently into your wireless life.
For more information: www.nsa.gov/careers.
SHNS correspondent Lee Bowman contributed to this column. E-mail Lisa Hoffman at hoffmanl@shns.com and Bowman at bowmanl@shns.com.