Local individuals make military headlines

    Anderson graduates
    Army Pfc. Daniel A. Anderson has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.
       During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises.       He is the son of Gordon Anderson of Mars Hill.
      Anderson is a 2001 graduate of Windham High School.
    McLaughlin joins Marines
    PRESQUE ISLE — Marine Corps Pvt. Eugene J. McLaughlin, son of Sandra G. and Eugene J. McLaughlin, of Presque Isle, recently completed 12 weeks of basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S. C. designed to challenge new Marine recruits both physically and mentally.
     McLaughlin and fellow recruits began their training at 5 a. m., by running three miles and performing calisthenics. In addition to the physical conditioning program, McLaughlin spent numerous hours in classroom and field assignments which included learning first aid, uniform regulations, combat water survival, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat and assorted weapons training. They performed close-order drill and operated as a small infantry unit during field training.
     McLaughlin and other recruits also received instruction on the Marine Corps’ core values — honor, courage and commitment, and what the core values mean in guiding personal and professional conduct.
    McLaughlin and fellow recruits ended the training phase with The Crucible, a 54-hour, team evolution culminating in an emotional ceremony in which recruits are presented the Marine Corps Emblem and addressed as “Marines” for the first time in their careers.
Tweedie deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom
    Army Reserve Pfc. Thomas J. Tweedie has been mobilized and activated for deployment overseas to a forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
    Operation Iraqi Freedom is the official name given to military operations involving members of the U.S. armed forces and coalition forces participating in efforts to free and secure Iraq. Mission objectives focus on force protection, peacekeeping, stabilization, security and counter-insurgency operations as the Iraqi transitional governing bodies assume full sovereign powers to govern the people of Iraq.
    Members from all branches of the U.S. military and multinational forces are also assisting in rebuilding Iraq’s economic and governmental infrastructure, and training and preparing Iraqi military and security forces to assume full authority and responsibility in defending and preserving Iraq’s sovereignty and independence as a democracy.
    Tweedie, a wheeled vehicle mechanic, is normally assigned to the 619th Transportation Co. in Auburn. He has one year of military service. He is the son of Joseph and Julie Tweedie of Blaine. Tweedie is a 2006 graduate of Central Aroostook Junior-Senior High School.
Burnside promoted
    PRESQUE ISLE — Major General John W. Libby, the Adjutant General, Maine National Guard, recently announced the promotion of Maine Army National Guard soldiers from throughout the state. Making the list locally was a Presque Isle man, Spc. Jeremy Burnside, who serves with the 1136th Transportation Company, Bangor.
    Boulier earns silver wings
    Air National Guard 2nd Lt. Jacques A. Boulier has graduated from Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (SUPT) at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss. The student earned silver wings with an aeronautical rating of ‘pilot’ in the Air Force.
    Student pilots start the 52-week SUPT program by attending a three-week pre-flight phase consisting of academics and physiology training for flight preparation, followed by phase two primary training conducted in T-37 Tweet aircraft to learn flight characteristics, emergency procedures, takeoff and landing procedures, aerobatics and formation flying. Students also practice night, instrument and cross-country navigation.
  Each training phase includes extensive hours of ground events, flight simulator, day and night flying and flight-related instruction. Additional instruction is received on flight formation, navigation, low-level navigation flying, visual and instrument transition, radar cell formation, simulated refueling and airdrop missions.
    After primary training, students move on to advanced training in one of several tracks. Students selected for fighter-bomber assignments fly the T-38A aircraft; airlift-tanker students fly the T-1A aircraft; multi-engine turboprop students fly the C-130 aircraft; and helicopter students fly the UH-1 Huey at their assigned bases or stations.
    Boulier’s follow-on assignment will be with the 101st Air Refueling Wing, Bangor Air National Guard. He has nine years of military service.
    He is the son of Jerry A. Boulier and the stepson of Kathleen Carriero of Fort Fairfield.
    His wife, Tricia, is the daughter of Richard LaPointe and Monica LaPointe, both of Caribou.
    Boulier is a 1997 graduate of Fort Fairfield High School and received an associate degree in 2000 from the University of Maine at Presque Isle. In 2007, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona, Fla.