Association of the United States Army members from six western states will gather Thursday through Sunday in DuPont and Lakewood for the association's Region 6 convention. The AUSA Fort Lewis chapter is the host.

They'll have work sessions Friday and Saturday and a black-tie dinner Saturday night at the Great American Casino at State Route 512 and South Tacoma Way. The guest of honor and keynote speaker is Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.

They'll also get briefings from various operations at Fort Lewis, including the 17th Fires Brigade and the Warrior Transition Battalion.

Region 6 covers Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Idaho, Nevada and Montana.

Fort Lewis says about 150 soldiers from the 170th Military Police Company got home early Monday after a 15-month tour in Iraq – the company's third tour of the war.

They deployed in May 2007 to train Iraqi police in Al Anbar Province. According to a Fort Lewis press release, they opened a police academy and trained officers at locations around the huge western province.

The 170th worked as part of the U.S. Marine Corps' Regimental Combat Team 5.

The company lost one soldier on this deployment: Pfc. Aaron J. Ward, 19, of San Jacinto, Calif., who was killed May 6 when insurgents fired on his unit during a cordon and search operation, according to the Defense Department.

The base is out with attendance numbers: 377,616 over the two days.

That's more than twice the estimate of 150,000 that base officials figure was their previous high.

They used turnstiles this time at the two entry control points to the flightline, but at times they waved people around the counters to keep the crowd moving, said Staff Sgt. Oshawn Jefferson, a base spokesman.

Event planners figured they'd get a large turnout, with good weather, the Thunderbirds headlining the event and folks opting not to make long summer road trips due to high gas prices.

But even at that, they predicted they'd likely get crowds of 200,000 to 250,000 Jefferson said. Folks with the local chambers of commerce said they could top 300,000, but base planners were skeptical.

"It blew our minds," Jefferson said of the two-day figure.

“We are extremely proud of the record number of people that attended our Air Expo,” said Col. Michael Hornitschek, 62nd Airlift Wing vice commander, said in a McChord press release. “It is inspiring to see how much support our community has for its military, especially us as Airmen. What a great weekend!”

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