ARMED FORCES DIGEST

VETERANS

State officeholders

Several area men and women recently were elected to state offices of the Ohio Army & Navy Union U.S.A. during the organization’s 93rd Encampment.

The 2011 auxiliary officers are: president, Nannette McMahan, Niles Garrison 252; senior vice president, Dianna Penix, Canton Garrison 150; junior vice president, Kathy Jones; secretary, Lynne Coweles, and treasurer, Patricia Murphy, all of Niles Garrison 422.

Army & Navy Union officers are: president, Ken Lissimore, Niles Garrison 422; senior vice president, Gary Gregory, Akron Garrison 102; junior vice president, Don Youngblood, New Philadelphia Garrison 1988, and paymaster, Carl McFeeders, Bolivar Garrison 1982.

Linda Weymouth and Jeff Gibson, both of Lakemore Garrison 273, were named woman and man of the year.

PROMOTIONS

Austintown grad

Army Capt. Patrick Passewitz of Austintown was promoted to his current rank while serving with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Bamberg, Germany. A 2008 graduate of Slippery Rock University and a 2004 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School, Passewitz recently completed a 13-month combat tour in Afghanistan as a platoon leader.

The son of Thomas and Darrel “Dee” Passewitz and brother of Jennifer Passewitz, he is expected to be transferred to Fort Bragg, N.C., at the end of the summer.

Commanding officer

Navy Capt. Mark Samuels, a 1985 graduate of Boardman High School, has been assigned commanding officer of the Navy Operational Support Center, Fort Worth, Texas.

The NOSC Fort Worth staff is composed of 69 full-time officers, enlisted and civil service personnel who serve and support nearly 1,900 Navy Reservists attached to 42 Reserve units.

Samuels, the son of Terry and Marilyn Samuels of Poland, received his commission from the Naval Academy in May 1989, where he graduated with merit with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

After completing flight training, he was designated a naval aviator in February 1991, and in September 1994, was assigned to Training Squadron 31 in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he was an instructor pilot.

He served in various capacities at several duty stations during his career, including as chief of Naval Operations Staff, Naval Air Warfare Division at the Pentagon. His duties there included requirements planning for Navy and Marine Corps transport aircraft. He was the Navy representative to the Air and Space Interoperability Council, a coalition committee that maintains common standards among the air forces of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Samuels assumed his current assignment in June.

His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (4), Navy Achievement Medal, and various other service medals and awards.

Samuels and his wife, the former Jennifer Dillon of Pensacola, Fla., have two daughters, Kaitlyn and Danielle, and a son, Jake. His sister, Lynn Dosky, lives in Columbus.

HONORS

Meritorious service

Army Maj. George L. Hammar IV, son of George and Lydia Hammar of Youngstown, has received the Meritorious Service Medal. Hammar, a 1989 graduate of Chaney High School and a 1995 graduate of Youngstown State University, recently completed a three-year assignment with the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo., where he was operations and executive officer for the 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment. He deployed with the battalion for one year in Afghanistan.

Hammar recently completed a year as the 4th Brigade’s deputy commanding officer. His next assignment is with the 3rd Army at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.

He and his wife, the former Joy Hawley of Dodge City, Kan., have two children.

DEPLOYED

Back to Alaska

Army 1st Lt. Allison M. Anderson has returned to Fort Richardson, Alaska, after a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Anderson is one of 100 members of the 23rd Engineer Company, 6th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.

The unit served in Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan, specializing in clearing roads of mines and improvised explosive devices. While deployed, she was awarded the NATO Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

A human-resources officer, Anderson is the daughter of Alice M. Pena of Austin, Texas, and John W. Gould of Hermitage, Pa. She graduated in 2004 from Hickory High School, Hermitage, and received a bachelor’s degree in 2008 from the Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

RETIRED

Retiring from Navy

Navy submariner Kie R. Brown Jr., son of Velma Brown of Hubbard and the late Kie R. Brown Sr., recently retired as a machinist mate master chief petty officer after a 30-year career in the Navy.

Brown joined the Navy in 1981, the year he graduated from Hubbard High School. After recruit training, he went to several schools, including Nuclear Power School and Nuclear Prototype Training, and then was assigned to the USS Phoenix (SSN-702) out of Norfolk, Va. While on board, he qualified in submarines.

During a tour on the USS Ulysses S. Grant, he qualified as engineering watch supervisor, chief of the watch and diving officer of the watch. Also, he was voted Grant Sailor of the Quarter five consecutive quarters and Grant Sailor of the Year for 1991. He was promoted to chief petty officer in 1993.

Also during the 1990s, he was promoted to senior chief petty officer, awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and served 10 years at sea. In April 2002, he was promoted to master chief petty officer.

During his final tour aboard the USS Dallas, he deployed in support of the global war on terrorism. He last duty station was at the Nuclear Regional Maintenance Detachment at Groton, Conn., the city in which he and his wife live.

Besides four Navy Commendation Medals, Brown’s personal decorations include the Navy Achievement Medal (11), Meritorious Unit Commendation (2), Navy Battle Efficiency “E” Ribbon (2), Good Conduct Medal (9), Navy Expeditionary Medal (2), National Defense Service Medal (2), Military Outstanding Volunteer Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Ribbon (8), Arctic Service Ribbon, and Expert Rifle and Pistol Marksman.

BASIC TRAINING GRADS

Navy: Seaman Recruit Mary G. Trebella, daughter of Charles A. Long of Austintown; Seaman Cimone M. Washington (Grove City High School, Grove City, Ohio, ’10), daughter of Denise N. Simon of Grove City, and Charles M. Washington of Boardman; Seaman Steven C. Floch (Jamestown Area High School, Jamestown, Pa., ’10), son of Sheryl A. and Kevin C. Floch of Jamestown.

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