BASIC GRADS

BASIC GRADS
Air Force: Airman Robert L. Dixie Jr. (Youngstown Woodrow Wilson High School, '99), son of Robert Dixie Sr. of Youngstown.
Army: National Guard Pvt. Harry J. Nidel (John F. Kennedy High School, Warren, '02), son of Lori and Harry Nidel of Warren.
Navy: Seaman Recruit Todd A. Garland (Youngstown Chaney High School, '03), son of Robert and Jeannette Garland of Youngstown.
Marine Corps: Pvt. Michael H. Price (Grandville, Mich., High School, '03), son of Janice D. and Sydney W. Price of Youngstown; Pvt. Raymond K. Richards (Greenville, Pa., High School, 2003), son of Thelma I. Brown and James L. Richards, both of Greenville; Pvt. Roger L. Dillon, son of Sharon L. Gregory of Salem; Pfc. Megan M. Polite (Beaver Local High School, Lisbon, '03), daughter of Patricia A. and Ralph A. Polite of Lisbon.
ADVANCED TRAINING
Traffic management
Air Force Reserve Airman Ana Smith (Maplewood High School, Johnston, '02), daughter of Thomas Smith of Cortland, has graduated from basic training and the traffic management apprentice course at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Smith is a 2002 graduate of Maplewood High School, Cortland.
Equipment repairer
Army National Guard Spec. Amanda J. Fraser has graduated from the utilities equipment repairer advanced individual training course at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Fraser, a daughter of Peter C. and Brenda L. Fraser of Austintown, is a 1995 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School and a 1999 graduate of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.
PROMOTIONS
Lieutenant colonel
Scott D. Weber has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He is an assistant deputy operations group commander assigned to the 436th Operations Group at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
Weber is the son of Dennis P. and Ruthann M. Weber of Centertown Road, Grove City, Pa., and the son-in-law of Donald F. and Betty H. McConnell of Slippery Rock, Pa.
He graduated in 1983 from Seneca Valley High School, Harmony, Pa., and received a bachelor's degree in 1987 from Slippery Rock University.
Army captain in Germany
Kristie L. Prater Miller has been promoted to the rank of captain in the Army, and is stationed in Kitzingen, Germany, with the 121 Signal Battalion Headquarters. She and her husband, Army Capt. Roy N. Miller, expect to be deployed in January for six months in Iraq. She is a 1996 graduate of Berlin Western Reserve High School, and holds a bachelor of science degree in computer information systems from Morehead State University and a master's degree from the University of Maryland. She is the daughter of Roy and Jacquelyn Prater of Berlin Center.
DEPLOYED
USS Nashville
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Thomas L. Mills Jr., son of Charlotte McLaughlin of Andover, and Thomas L. Mills Sr. of West Leechburg, Pa., recently returned from an eight-month deployment while assigned to the amphibious transport dock ship USS Nashville, homeported in Norfolk, Va.
Mills' ship, the USS Nashville, an amphibious transport dock ship, participated in the insertion of Marines and Sailors into Iraq as well as Monrovia, Liberia, to provide support to West African forces.
USS Ogden in Arabian Gulf
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Marcel D. Lewis, son of Romana Wells of Las Vegas, Nev., and Jimmy T. Woods of Warren, was recently deployed aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS Ogden, part of Expeditionary Strike Group One in the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Lewis is a 1999 graduate of Great Basin High School of Clearfield, Utah.
Return from USS Iwo Jima
Several area residents have returned from an eight-month deployment aboard the USS Iwo Jima, while assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, as part of the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group. The deployment included training and real-world operations in Iraq and Liberia. The residents include:
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Michael J. Yarina Jr., son of Michael J. Yarina of Canfield.
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. James E. Mertzweiller, a 2000 graduate of Salem, Ohio, Academy.
Marine Corps Pfc. M.S. Fleming, son of Debbie L. and John E. Fleming of Canfield, and a 2001 graduate of Canfield High School.
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kristopher J. Conaway, son of Alice Ann Conaway of Niles, Ohio, and John Conaway of Mineral Ridge, and a 2000 graduate of Mineral Ridge High School.
Advanced Captain's class
Army Capt. Marc Angle of Youngstown has returned from deployment in Baghdad, Iraq, where he was part of the 2-501st Aviation Regiment. Angle, a 1999 graduate of the Military Academy at West Point, will attend the Advanced Captain's Course at Fort Lee, Va.
XItems of note for the Military Roundup can be sent to The Vindicator, Regional Desk, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown 44501-0780, or e-mailed to alcorn@vindy.com.