The Army’s Kiowa helicopters, which departed Fort Bragg after a patriotic sendoff, are on station in the Republic of Korea. The First Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment of the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade arrived in Korea to complete the Kiowa’s final deployment. When Task Force Sabre returns to Fort Bragg next Spring its OH-58Ds helicopters will be retired and replaced by AH-64D Apaches. Soldiers of the 17th Cavalry Regiment are the last squadron in the Army to make the conversion to Apaches. The addition of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, is a force multiplier. “Teaming Apaches and unmanned aerial vehicles essentially changes the face of the battlefield,” said Captain Adan Cazarez, spokesman for the 82nd CAB. The Apache will play a supporting role for the RQ-7 Shadow UAV.
An Apache crewman operating a UAV can survey enemy movements and relay information back to ground forces.
More on Opioid Abuse
Governments at every level have joined the war on prescription opioid and heroin abuse in America. “I think the public doesn’t fully appreciate yet the scope of the problem,” President Barack Obama told people attending the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this year. New initiatives include making funding available to states to purchase and distribute the overdose reversal drug, naloxone, and to train first responders and others in its use.
Fayetteville Police have been saving lives administering emergency naloxone for nearly a year now. Opioids such as Percocet, Vicodin, Lortab and heroin are highly addictive drugs. Deaths linked to opiates soared to more than 29,000 in 2014, the highest number on record, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued its first-ever recommendations to clinicians on prescribing opioids. The CDC developed materials to assist clinicians with implementing the recommendations, including a decision checklist. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced safety labeling changes for all immediate-release opioid pain medications, including requiring a new box warning about the serious risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death associated with these drugs.
SFC Earl Plumlee’s Mixed Emotions
“It seems kind of odd” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Earl D. Plumlee as to why he was denied the Medal of Honor for his heroics in Afghanistan three years ago. Plumlee’s comment came in a Stars and Stripes interview. He said he does not “lie awake every night burning up with anger” about it. His concern is the subjective nature of the honors decision-making process. In August, 2013, Plumlee’s Special Forces unit was attacked by Taliban fighters. The battle that followed resulted in the death of one Green Beret and the wounding of several others. Plumlee was recommended for the Medal of Honor, but he received the Silver Star Medal, two levels below the nation’s highest award for valor in combat. “I kind of have mixed emotions about it,” Plumlee told Stars and Stripes. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. asked for a Defense Department inspector general investigation to determine what happened. After all, Plumlee is credited with leading his men in a fierce battle that fought off the insurgents. Several service members were decorated for valor with one receiving the Silver Star Medal posthumously. Senior commanders in Afghanistan at the time, including Marine Gen. Joseph , now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Mark Milley, now the Army Chief of Staff, had recommended that Plumlee receive the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty. But Plumlee’s nomination was denied once it reached the Pentagon. Army Secretary John McHugh instead signed off on a Silver Star Medal after a panel known as the Senior Decorations Board recommended that the higher award not be approved.
Fayetteville Chamber Revitalizes Membership
The Greater Fayetteville Chamber hopes to grow its membership by revitalizing its popular Ambassadors program. Beasley Media Sales Representative Gary Rogers chairs the program in the fiscal year ahead. He’s currently serving as the Ambassador of the Year. “He acts as the chamber’s liaison for support and services to members,” said Kelly Moore, Chamber Membership Engagement Specialist. She calls it a goodwill outreach to get business owners more involved in the organization in order to improve branding and grow the membership. The Chamber currently has 708 members according
to Moore.
Judge Lou Olivera Elected 2016-2017 Vice President of the N.C. Bar Association
At the June, 2016, membership meeting and annual conference, the members of the North Carolina Bar Association, endorsed and confirmed by the NCBA Board of Governors, voted Judge Lou Olivera as vice president for the Association. The organization consists of more than 15,000 active members.
Other Fayetteville residents who have served as Vice President of the NCBA from its inception in 1899 are Judge Maurice Braswell, Justice Cheri Beasley, Judge Elizabeth Keever and Judge Lynn Johnson.
Judge Olivera is a graduate of the Campbell University School of Law and is a Veteran of the United States Army. He is a District Court Judge in Cumberland County, North Carolina.
The North Carolina Bar Association is a voluntary organization of lawyers, paralegals and law students dedicated to serving the public and the legal profession.