Springs Military Life | Colorado Springs Gazette

Other than Honorable A Gazette special report

A Gazette investigation shows an increasing number of soldiers, including wounded combat veterans, are being kicked out of the service for misconduct, often with no benefits, as the Army downsizes after a decade of war.

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Colorado World War II veteran to receive POW Medal

LAKEWOOD — An Arvada man held captive by the Nazis during World War II is being awarded a Prisoner of War Medal. Ninety-one-year-old Frank Dechant will receive the medal from congressman Ed Perlmutter during a ceremony in Lakewood Monday. Perlmutter's office says Dechant and his unit were captured in December 1944 during the Battle of the...
The Gazette and reporter Dave Philipps win Pulitzer Prize

The Gazette’s Dave Philipps has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize in the category of national reporting for “Other than Honorable,” a three-day series that examined how soldiers injured during war were being discharged with no benefits. The award was announced Monday by Pulitzer judges; Philipps’ series was published in The Gazette and...
Veteran with no left leg to run in Boston Marathon

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The first six times Edward Lychik told his physical therapist he wanted to run again, she was noncommittal, and with good reason. The combat veteran's left leg had been amputated at the hip socket, and doctors had told him if he walked again, it would be on crutches. Lychik ignored that diagnosis and kept talking to...
Obama offers solace to nation at Fort Hood

FORT HOOD, Texas — President Barack Obama returned to the grieving Army post Wednesday where he first took on the job as the nation's comforter five years ago, mourning at Fort Hood with families and uniformed comrades of those killed during last week's shooting spree. "We somehow bear what seems unbearable," he declared. It was yet another...
New deputy commander at Fort Carson has familiar face

Brig. Gen Randy George has been announced as a new deputy commanding general of Fort Carson’s 4th Infantry Division. He’ll likely start the job after the division’s headquarters returned home from Afghanistan this spring. Locals may remember George as the commander of Fort Carson’s 4th Brigade Combat Team. He led the unit on a...
Petition: Army appearance regs discriminate against black women

A petition that’s gathered more than 5,700 signatures on the White House website is asking President Barack Obama to overrule portions of the Army’s new appearance regulations as discriminatory against black women. The newest version of Army regulation 670-1, released Monday, cracks down on excessive tattoos and allows troops to pack...
Free concert Tuesday kicks off Air Force Academy anniversary rites

A concert at the Air Force Academy on Tuesday will mark the 60th anniversary of the school in the first of three events to celebrate its founding. The academy calls April 1 its birthday because that's the day in 1954 that President Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation authorizing the school. The Air Force Academy Band will perform at 7 p.m....
Army: New limits for tattooed troops

The Army issued its new appearance regulations for soldiers Monday, including a new rule that limits soldiers to four visible tattoos below the elbow or knee. The long-anticipated updates to Army Regulation 670-1 stopped short of a visible tattoo ban, but forbid facial art and other ink that can be seen above the T-shirt line. Here’s the...
Kansas military families also affected by PTSD

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Two Hutchinson sisters want people to know that post-traumatic stress disorder can also affect the children in military families. Kristin Stowers, 12, and her sister, Kaili Stowers, 14, who attend Prairie Hills Middle School in Hutchinson, have learned firsthand about PTSD. Their father, Steve Stowers, 43, is a U.S....
Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson: Air Force Academy built on a foundation of integrity, service

As we celebrate the Air Force Academy's 60th anniversary, I salute all of the proud servicemen and women who have devoted themselves to producing leaders of character for our Air Force and our nation. As the United States' youngest service academy, our Air Force Academy continues a proud heritage built on the foundations of integrity, service...
Lengyel: Initiatives putting more responsibility on cadets

This month, we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Air Force Academy. As we look forward to another 60 years of producing lieutenants for our Air Force and leaders for our nation, we do so founded in our culture of commitment - commitment to the nation, to our Air Force and its core values, to our academy and to our fellow airmen. The...
Troops, spouses fill job fair amid looming cutbacks

Military spouses who follow troops on the Defense Department's Bedouin path through bases around the globe have traditionally had difficulty securing work. And with military job security plunging along with Pentagon spending, the pressure to get jobs has never been higher. "It was a bombshell in January when we found out they were cutting...
Hometown Heroes: Combat Aviation Brigade soldiers jumped in to help fire, flood victims

Last summer, after disaster struck twice in the form of fire and floods, newly stationed members of Fort Carson's 4th Combat Aviation Brigade showed how invested they had become in a community they were just learning to call home. Many of the soldiers from the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade had been in the city for just a couple months when the...
Cadet informant at AFA 'failed' his mission, Air Force report says

An Air Force Inspector General report released Thursday defends the use of secret cadet informants at the Air Force Academy and sharply criticizes an expelled cadet named Eric Thomas who broke academy rules while working as one of those informants, saying Thomas "failed" his mission. The report says Thomas "did a tremendous amount of good in...
Hometown Heroes: Dog credited with saving the life of ex-soldier who adopted it

Nearly a decade of military service, including back-to-back deployments spanning 32 months, had left Fort Carson Sgt. Justin Bryant mentally fatigued, physically broken and at times, without a will to live. That all changed when he adopted 2-year-old Duke from the Paws for Life animal adoption center in Pueblo in April 2012. Bryant's wife,...