STORIES

Guard leaders laud Army’s Olympic athletes

ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service) – National Guard leaders are bidding good luck to five Army National Guard Soldiers who will help represent the U.S. during the XX Winter Olympics that begin in Torino, Italy.

Spc. Jeremy Teela from Vermont will compete as an Olympic biathlete in his second straight Winter Games. Specialist Steve Holcomb and Spc. Shauna Rohbock from the Utah Army Guard have qualified for the men’s and women’s bobsled teams for the first time. Both of them are drivers.

The head coaches for the men’s and women’s bobsled teams are also National Guard Soldiers. They are Spc. Tuffy Latour from Vermont and Spc. Bill Tavares from New York.

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. (Army News Service)-- With little more than two months remaining until the start of the 2006 Winter Olympics, Army World Class Athlete Spc. Ryan McDonald has some ground to make up to become a member of the U.S. Olympic snowboard team.

McDonald had hoped to capture a spot on the U.S. World Cup team – a precursor for the Olympic team – during the Continental Cup at Copper Mountain ski resort in Colorado. Instead, he found himself in need of a top-three finish in one of two remaining competitions to keep his dreams of representing the United States alive.

“I need to podium to have enough points to make the team,” the 25-year-old WCAP athlete said about his upcoming competitions.

Army bobsledders make Team USA

By Jack L. Gillund

CALGARY, Canada (Army News Service) – Spc. Steve Holcomb and Spc. Michael Kohn moved one step closer to qualifying for the 2006 Winter Olympics during the U.S. National Bobsled Team Trials in October.

Holcomb, a combat engineer with the Utah National Guard, won the 2005 U.S. National four-man bobsled championship at Canada Olympic Park. 2002 Olympic silver medalist Todd Hayes was his closest competitor during the two days of competitions that featured eight sleds.

“It was a little bit of a surprise,” said U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team Head Coach Sgt. Tuffield “Tuffy” Latour. “Holcomb was just on fire this week and Todd [Hayes] was playing catch-up.”

U.S. Air Force personnel inventory wounded American soldiers lying in a bus before loading them onto a cargo plane in Balad, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq. The soldiers flew with other wounded to Germany for further treatment. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg)

A U.S. helicopter hovers as a plume of black smoke rises from the edge of the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq following an explosion.

A US Army soldier treats a wounded Iraqi man after a roadside blast in a shopping area of Baghdad on Tuesday. A roadside bomb exploded in a central Baghdad street as a US convoy drove past, killing at least one Iraqi civilian, witnesses said. — Reuters

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. "I just want to be successful at anything I do and I want to always be able to support myself," explained Pfc. Timothy A. Spreder. "That's why I joined the Marine Corps so early in life."

Marine Pfc. Timothy A. Spreder applies an arm bar on a fellow Marine during martial art training. Photo by Lance Cpl. Lucian Friel

The Boone County, Ky., native became a Marine at age 17 with his parents' permission.

As a young man attending Simon Kenton High School, Spreder wasn't involved in many activities. As a 16-year-old without any direction in his life, he joined the Army National Guard's Bluegrass Challenge at Fort Knox, Ky. The challenge, which is a six-month boot camp-like program, helped Spreder receive his General Educational Development diploma.

"I knew the military was my only option, because high school wasn't working out for me, and I wanted the discipline the challenge offered," Spreder explained. "It put me on the path to success, because you can't go anywhere without a high school diploma."

Upon completing the challenge program, Spreder's parents signed his four-year contract with the Marines. He said his parents, Monica and Dale Spreder, provided him with the support he needed to accomplish the goals he wanted to reach.

US Marines carry an injured colleague from the fighting. Some soldiers are frustrated over a war that seems unwinnable.

U.S. Army personnel receive an American soldier with shrapnel wounds to the head at the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq.

In this picture Albany, N.Y., native Lance Corporal Paul J. Kolkhorst, an antitank assault men, left, stands ready to advance with the Marines of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team - 2 during Steel Curtain operation, in Qaim, Iraq. (AP Photo/ U.S. Marine Corps, Sgt. Jerad W. Alexander)

US soldiers block a highway after a road side bomb exploded in Al-Baladyaat district, targeting a patrol of the Iraqi army, in Baghdad, Iraq. According to Iraqi police four people were injured by the blast. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)