ARMED FORCES

ARMED FORCES

VETERANS

Free dinner for vets

Veterans and active-duty military personnel are invited to a complimentary meal, up to a $15 value, at all participating TravelCenters of America or Petro Shopping Centers full- service restaurants July 4 to recognize their service and sacrifice to the nation.

All that is needed, before ordering the meal, is proof of service such as a U.S. Uniform Services ID Card, U.S. Uniform Services Retired ID Card, current leave and earnings statement, veterans organization card, photograph in uniform or wearing uniform, DD214 Form, or citation of commendation.

Hospital wins award

CLEVELAND

The Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center is the only hospital in Cleveland to receive the Get With The Guidelines—Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.

The recognition signifies the Cleveland VAMC has reached an exceptional goal of treating heart failure patients according to the guidelines of care recommended by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology.

Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure provides hospitals with a Web-based, patient-management tool, best-practice discharge protocols and standing orders, along with a registry and real-time benchmarking capabilities to track performance.

The quick and efficient use of guideline procedures can improve the quality of care for heart failure patients, save lives, and ultimately reduce health-care costs by lowering the recurrence of heart attacks, said Ashley Trimble, Cleveland VAMC spokeswoman.

PROMOTIONS

Maj. Kay

LIBERTY

Army Maj. Christine Kay was promoted to her current rank while serving as operations officer for the 3rd Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

Kay, the daughter of Peg and Gary Kay of Liberty, graduated from Liberty High School in 1999. She received a bachelor of business administration degree from Kent State University and was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps at KSU in 2003.

In her current assignment, she manages and coordinates training for five battalions and five directorates, which are smaller groups that concentrate on special missions.

Kay’s assignments include Headquarters and Headquarters Co. executive officer for the 18th Aviation Brigade at Fort Bragg, N.C., from which she was deployed to Iraq in 2004-05.

She has also served as chemical officer for the 44th Medical Command at Fort Bragg; a biological instructor for the Joint Biological Point Detections System at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; and Headquarters and Headquarters commander for 26 months at Fort Hood, Texas.

Among her educational achievements, military and civilian, are the CBRN Captains Career Course, during which she took night classes to earn a master’s degree in environmental management from Webster University; and the Training with Industry course at the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus. She is studying for a doctoral degree in public safety leadership, with a major in emergency management and a concentration in homeland security from Capella University.

OPEN HOUSE

Christy Armory

AUSTINTOWN

Ohio Army National Guard, B Co., 237th Brigade Support Battalion, is having its annual open house from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. next Sunday at the Christy Armory, 475 Victoria Road.

Visitors will be able to see the unit’s vehicles, weapons and training equipment, and get hands-on training on several training devices, including pop-up targets, laser marksmanship, convoy simulation and military truck-driving simulation.

BASIC TRAINING GRADS

Navy: Seaman Apprentice Jonathan R. Parker (Howland High School, ’12), son of Melissa A. and stepson of John M. Jerina of Warren.

ACADEMY NEWS

Sniper course

MERCER, PA.

Colton Price, son of Mike and Shelly Price of Mercer, Pa., recently completed a one-week SEAL (sea-air-land) Advanced Operators Training and Sniper course in Chesapeake, Va.

Price, a senior at Mercer High School, has been selected as a candidate for the Naval Academy and is the Leading Petty Officer of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps’ Knighthawk Squadron in Vienna.

His goal is to obtain a nomination to the Naval Academy this year and keep himself immersed in programs and activities to make himself competitive for nomination.

Price will attend the Naval Academy’s football camp and then go to Pennsylvania’s Boys State in Shippensburg, Pa., for a week of governmental leadership training.

The SEAL course, taught by former Navy SEAL Don Shipley, included military topics taught by Navy SEALs such as room clearing and close-quarters combat; tactical weapons training that included firing weapons from pistols to sniper rifles to foreign-assault weapons; rappeling, fast-roping and helicopter cast assaults; combat raiding by watercraft that consisted of a 10-point maritime nighttime compass mission; and a 60-mile daytime zodiac boat reconnaissance mission under adverse conditions.

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.