VETERANS

VETERANS

Commission’s new location

YOUNGSTOWN — Effective Monday, the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission will be in its new location at the Renaissance Center, 345 Oak Hill Ave., Building A, Room 100. The office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Also, the commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday has been canceled. The commission’s meeting scheduled for Dec. 31 has been rescheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 29 at the Renaissance Center.

Memorial officers elected

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Veterans Memorial, located on the Canfield Fairgrounds, has elected 2009 officers. They are: Harry Dampf, commander; Janette Brown, 1st vice commander; Joseph Caruso, treasurer; Barry Landgraver, adjutant; Robert Brienik, three-year trustee; John Brown III, two-year trustee; and Richard Mitchell, one-year trustee. Veterans organizations interested in using the memorial for events should call (330) 533-1522.

RETIREMENT

Served 20 years in Navy

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Robert Supko, a 1988 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School, has retired from the military after 20 years’ service. His retirement ceremony was at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, Willow Grove, Pa.

Supko is the son of Barbara Ambrose of Youngstown and grandson of Margaret Boomhower of Marietta, Ga., formerly of Youngstown. He and his wife, the former Kimberly Faust, live in Blue Bell, Pa., and have a son, Kyle Joseph Supko, and a stepson, Alexander Smith.

After graduating from basic training at Great Lakes, Ill., in 1988, Supko served at several other duty stations, including the Naval Air Technical Training Center (NASJRB), Millington, Tenn., Aviation Electronic Technician School; HM-18 Helicopter Mine Countermeasure Squadron, Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Va.; he cross-rated to aviation support equipment technician and reported to Andrews Air Force Base, Md.; and NASJRB, Willow Grove, Pa., serving in several capacities from 1999 until he retired.

Supko’s awards and decorations include: Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal; Navy Battle “E” Award; Navy Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, and Armed Forces Reserve Medal (Silver Hourglass).

The Supkos plan to remain in the Blue Bell area.

HONORS

Awarded pilot wings

Air Force 1st. Lt. Craig H. Neuman was awarded his pilot wings at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Texas, and will be flying the AC-130 gunship for the 16th Air Force Special Operations Squadron with headquarters at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. The AC-130 is a close air support aircraft, armed with a 40 mm cannon and 105 mm howitzer, to protect ground troops in combat.

Neuman, son of Sheryl and Craig Neuman of Liberty, was awarded his wings with Distinction and Excellence awards, indicating superior performance during pilot training in the T-37 jet and the T-44 multiengine trainer planes. He will be deployed to Afghanistan and other special operations missions.

Neuman, 2001 valedictorian at Liberty High School, is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and a 2007 graduate of Harvard University, where he earned a master’s degree in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government.

His wife, Trisha, is scheduled to graduate in July 2009 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in Baltimore.

DEPLOYED

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Three area members of the Air Force Reserve, normally assigned to the 910th Airlift Wing’s Security Forces Squadron at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna, have been deployed overseas to a forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They are Senior Airmen Joshua J. Moffie, Kyle R. Rhodes and Jared L. Thompson.

Moffie, the son of Samuel M. and Helen M. Moffie of Boardman, is a 2005 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School.

Rhodes, the son of Bill A. and Kelly L. Rhodes of Leetonia, is a 2005 graduate of Crestview High School, Columbiana.

Thompson is a 2005 graduate of Crestview High School, Columbiana.

Marine corporal returns

Marine Corps Cpl. Nathan G. Zimmet, a 2004 graduate of Joseph Badger High School, Kinsman, and fellow Marines and sailors of Marine Wing Support Squadron 172 (MWSS-172), Marine Wing Support Group (MWSG-17), 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, recently returned from a seven-month deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism. MWSS-172 supplied support to the forward element of Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd MAW (Forward), including tenant and visiting squadrons at Al Asad Air Base, Anbar Province, Iraq, and combat service support throughout the province.

Back after six months

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Robert B. Culp, son of Kathy L. Culp of East Liverpool, along with fellow sailors and Marines aboard the USS Cape St. George, Peleliu Expeditionary Strike Group (PELSEG), home ported in San Diego, recently returned from a six-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation. During the deployment, the PELSEG conducted maritime security operations, theater security cooperation, community relations projects, and participated with coalition nations in training exercises. The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit participated in training exercises Eager Mace and Infinite Moonlight. Culp is a 1990 graduate of East Liverpool High School and a 2006 graduate of Excelsior College, Albany, N.Y.

Brothers in military

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Alex J. Prokop, a 2006 graduate of McDonald High School, is serving in Mosul, Iraq.

His brother, Army Pvt. Andrew J. Prokop, a 2008 graduate of McDonald High School, is stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., as a Hummer mechanic, and will be sent to Fort Benning, Ga., for jump training.

Their parents are Marie and George Burton and Ron and Kelly Prokop, all of McDonald.

BASIC TRAINING

Air Force: Airman Anthony J. Leone (Crestview High School, Columbiana, ’08), son of Anna Jane Peters of Columbiana and Joe Leone of Leetonia; Airman Christopher S. Skidmore (United Local High School, Hanoverton, ’08), son of Elizabeth Eshenbaugh of Lisbon; Airman Brandon A. Herndon (Mercer High School, Mercer, Pa., ’08), son of Susan Herndon of Mercer.

Army: Pvt. Michael Alcorn (McDowell High School, Mill Creek, Pa., ’06), son of Steven and Barbara Aiken Alcorn of Mill Creek, formerly of Warren and Champion, and grandson of Dawna Aiken of New Castle, Pa., formerly of Champion, and William and Donna Alcorn of Vienna, formerly of Warren; Pvt. Edward L. Savage (Sharpsville Area High School, Pa., ’05), son of Iris Robinson of Sharpsville; National Guard Pfc. Tracey A. Tate (Dothan, Ala., High School, ’08), niece of Helen Garner of Dothan, and sister of Demetria Tate of Youngstown; Reserve Pvt. Dakota L. Knechtel, son of Faith Eckard of West Middlesex, Pa.

Navy: Seaman Recruit John P. Barlett (New Wilmington, Pa., High School, ’08), son of Sheila A. Foster and stepson of James Shroyer of Pulaski, Pa.; Seaman Recruit Paul M. Hoffman (Lawrence County Vocational Technical High School, New Castle, Pa., ’07), son of Roxanne M. Hoffman and Jeffre C. Hoffman, both of Ellwood City, Pa.; Seaman Apprentice Shane M. Robinson (Keystone High School, Lagrange, Ohio, ’08), grandson of Anthony Spagnola of New Castle, Pa.; Seaman Apprentice Michael A. Vrable (Canfield High School, ’05), son of Annette R. and Alexander J. Vrable of Canfield; Reserve Seaman Recruit Rickey L. Blake (West Branch High School, Beloit, ’07; Seaman Recruit Matthew J. Ade (Salem High School, ’08); Seaman Recruit James R. Watson, son of Richard J. Karpinski of Youngstown.

XItems of note for the Armed Forces Digest can be sent to The Vindicator, Regional Desk, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown 44501-0780, or e-mailed to alcorn@vindy.com.