Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg infant Jaxson Garza died for unknown reasons on February 24, 2011. His death, coupled with the loss of eleven other military-housed babies, is a statistical aberration.

Cross-posted from a Facing South article by Sue Sturgis

A 5-month-old baby who had been living in on-base housing at Fort Bragg died over the weekend, bringing to 11 the number of infants who have passed away suddenly of unknown causes at the North Carolina military installation since 2007.

The Army Investigation Command and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are probing the mysterious deaths -- and there are concerns that drywall made from a coal ash byproduct could be a factor.

Veterans for America applauds General David H. Petraeus for stating today in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he will probably recommend this fall that the U.S. military reduce its troop presence in Iraq by an additional Army Brigade Combat Team

Veterans for America is deeply concerned about the stress placed on our Army's frontline units, and we urge General Petraeus not to again deploy the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division, which is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Here are the top stories this week related to our soldiers here and abroad, taken from the Our Troops Newsladder.

The good people of Fort Bragg live in my District, and I just want to say THANK YOU to our military no matter where you serve, with a special prayer for the 29,395 wounded in Iraq and the families of those 3,983 lost lives.

All rhetoric and politics aside on this solemn anniversary, we as Democrats must never forget the troops and their families sacrificing so much for us all.

Whether you, or even they, agree or disagree with our elected leaders' decisions is irrelevant on a day we should all recognize each and every man, woman and child in our military families, heroes one and all.

On Thursday February 28th, the Fayetteville Observer published an opinion article entitled "On point: Congressional vigilance is needed to ensure educational excellence." The article discussed the need for members of Congress, in particular those that represent the areas around Fort Bragg, to appropriate additional impact aid to support the burden that Fort Bragg's future growth will put on the communities around it. Although members of Congress are responsible for federal education appropriations, there must be accountability and sound policy from state and local officials as well. State and local officials decide how those appropriations are used. It is up to the constituents of these officials to hold them accountable for their education policies. If there is a valid documented fear that the entrance of new students from Fort Bragg families will harm the education system, then local and state officials need to prepare for such a situation. Setting aside funds, cutting programs, and submitting requests for additional funding are some steps that can be taken before it becomes a real problem.

From Henry Cuningham of the Fayetteville Observer:

Everything appears to be on track for two Army headquarters to move to Fort Bragg from Atlanta by 2011, and local civilian hiring probably will begin in 2010...

The 2005 BRAC law mandates that Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command move to Fort Bragg by September 2011.

Frontpaged by A.

Military families at heavily deployed bases like Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune are communities at war without their country. Never in our history have so few been asked to sacrifice so much while so many are asked to do nothing at all. Too many Americans hear about the war in Iraq on the evening news, switch off their TV's and sleep well at night confident that the yellow ribbon magnet they bought for their car last week is a sufficient sacrifice. My two military children have sacrificed more before age 10 than the grown men in Washington four times their age who beat the loudest drums to send their Daddy off to war...