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Coffee Strong drops the java as it reopens to focus solely on helping soldiers
Coffee Strong is out of its namesake business. The Lakewood veterans advocacy project is keeping its name but slimming down its mission to focus on connecting service members with behavioral health...
View ArticleRetired Special Ops leader Eric Olson returning to Tacoma for his first talk...
The Tacoma native son who went on to lead the U.S. Special Operations Command through its final stretch to find and kill Osama bin Laden is returning to his hometown this week for his first public...
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Pentagon budget steers $5.5 billion to Evergreen State for military...
Spending on military construction in Washington State would slow under the Defense Department’s 2014 budget request, but continue to steer hundreds of millions of dollars toward projects around the...
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Armed Services ranking Democrat Smith favors Obama’s approach to defense cuts
The Washington Democrat with the state’s biggest voice on defense issues in Congress endorsed cuts to Pentagon spending in President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal, a contrast to Republican leaders who...
View ArticleMadigan reaching out to Thurston County military families with new clinic in...
A new Madigan Army Medical Center clinic is opening this week in Olympia to give military families in Thurston County easier access to their health care. The clinic is intended to serve about 8,000...
View ArticleEvergreen State lawmakers lobby Air Force to place new refueling tankers at...
The Evergreen State’s congressional delegation today renewed its push to secure the future of Fairchild Air Force Base by asking the Air Force to place its newest refueling tankers at the Eastern...
View ArticleNo definite plans to cut ranks at JBLM, but losing a Stryker brigade might...
It’s true that “no decisions have been made” with respect to Army downsizing at any particular stateside post. But … business and civic leaders around the South Sound are bracing for cuts to the 36,000...
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Attorneys for Kandahar massacre suspect Staff Sgt. Robert Bales must declare...
Attorneys for the Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians last spring are approaching a deadline at the end of May to declare whether they intend to use a mental...
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“Six months is long enough:” Accelerating drawdown has Stryker soldiers...
Sgt. Ryan Ellenberger’s 2-month-old son left him speechless. He held the baby for the first time Thursday in a Joint Base Lewis-McChord gymnasium when the soldier came home from his Stryker unit’s...
View ArticleSouth Sound DOD employees still facing furloughs, but new plan calls for...
Thousands of Defense Department employees in Pierce and Thurston counties are still facing the likelihood of unpaid time off this summer, but not as much as the Pentagon initially proposed. Defense...
View ArticleJBLM’s wartime growth was fifth fastest across entire military, new GAO...
A new report from the Government Accountability Office shows that the number of civilian and military employees at Joint Base Lewis-McChord has increased by almost 64 percent since 2006, a pace that...
View ArticlePlan your Memorial Day observances with this look at the weekend’s events
A busy weekend of Memorial Day events is just around the corner in Pierce and Thurston counties. Here’s a look at the weekend’s ceremonies culled from community groups, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the...
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Soldier from Olympia recovering at Walter Reed from critical wounds in...
Sgt. Luke Cifka left for Afghanistan this past spring determined to return home to his wife and infant son. He’s back in the states with family, but not in the way he wanted. The 26-year-old soldier...
View ArticleClover Park schools on JBLM safe from defense furloughs but bracing for cuts...
Joint Base Lewis-McChord is getting one break that most other military installations are not receiving this year in the Pentagon’s plan to furlough its civilian workforce for 11 days this summer...
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DOD IG wants more tests on Boeing-made sub-hunting jets before Navy pays for...
A new Defense Department Inspector General report urges the Navy to slow down on its purchases of a submarine-hunting jet that Boeing manufactures in the Puget Sound. The Inspector General wants the...
View ArticleAfter mothballing armory, National Guard returning to Pierce County with new...
4:10 p.m. update: Wait, wait there’s more. The state Military Department is budgeting $33.6 million for this project, with the Army setting aside about $27 million and the state contributing $6.6...
View ArticleJBLM to lose a Stryker brigade and more soldiers in coming years
Joint Base Lewis-McChord will lose about 4,500 positions for active-duty soldiers over the next few years as the Army reduces its overall strength coming out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,...
View ArticleMadigan furlough schedule closing medical services on different days of the week
“Friday furloughs” are the norm at Joint Base Lewis-McChord this summer, but the calendar is more complicated for the 120,000 people who rely on Madigan Army Medical Center for care. The hospital plans...
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Budget cuts won’t crimp fireworks or annual Freedom Fest at JBLM
Forced federal budget cuts won’t hurt the show at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Independence Day. Other Army posts all over the country are cancelling annual fireworks displays because of Pentagon...
View ArticleMore than 800 workers at Washington National Guard facing furloughs
Mandatory furloughs for Defense Department civilian employees are taking a bite out of paychecks on both sides of Interstate 5. About 850 employees of the Washington National Guard – headquartered at...
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