Staff Sgt. David Kechter surprises people when he describes his deployment to Iraq. After all, conducting patrols in Humvees isn’t typically a job people associate with the Air Force.

“Nobody expects Air Force to be the ground guys,” said Kechter, assigned to McChord Air Force Base. “Security forces do more of the – I don’t want to say Army-style stuff – but we’re doing a lot of security and law enforcement. We’re in the thick of things, just like everyone else.”

And that carries a daily dose of danger – including one attack last year that left Kechter wounded. The airman, now the noncommissioned officer in charge of the 62nd Security Forces Squadron armory, received the Purple Heart at a ceremony Monday at McChord.

On Nov. 28, 2007, Kechter was serving with the 586th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Camp Bucca, Iraq, a prison camp outside Umm Qasr.

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The dining table at Lee Henry’s home had the staples of a Thanksgiving meal: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pies.

But the Air Force reservist and his family also spent the last Thursday in November celebrating Christmas -- not by hanging stockings or drinking eggnog, but by spending priceless moments with loved ones.

Such is life in preparation for a December military deployment.

“We just had family quality time,” said Henry, a 43-year-old Clackamas, Ore., resident. “In my opinion, we got back to the true meaning of what the holidays are about -- spending that time with your family, laughing and giggling over the stupid, little things instead of getting wrapped up in the commercialized world of Christmas.”

Henry, a former Auburn resident, is senior master sergeant with the 36th Aerial Support Squadron, part of the 446th Airlift Wing at McChord Air Force Base.

He will soon join almost 200 others on a four-month deployment – the largest call-up of reservists from the base since Operation Desert Shield in the early ‘90s.

The airmen will serve at locations throughout Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany.

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Madigan Army Medical Center will unveil a new technology the Fort Lewis hospital will use to fight cancer during a ceremony Tuesday.

The Calypso 4D Localization System “utilizes proprietary electromagnetic technology in conjunction with implanted Beacon electromagnetic transponders in the prostate,” according to a press release.

“The system is designed to enable doctors to accurately and objectively position cancer patients for radiation therapy treatment, and then measure and monitor tumor motion during radiation therapy delivery,” the release continues. “Continuous knowledge of the tumor location provides greater confidence to clinicians and patients when they know that the radiation beam is always on target.”

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, will be at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Two employees at the Department of Social and Health Services will be presented the Department of Defense’s Patriot Award during a ceremony at the state Capitol in Olympia on Tuesday.

Judy O’Looney and Ron Druet, who work information system services for the agency, will receive the recognition for “extraordinary patriotic support and cooperation to their employees, who like the Minute Men before them, have answered their nation’s call to serve.”

The two were nominated by Ian Roberts, an Air National Guardsmen who was deployed to Afghanistan from January to June 2007. O’Looney, his supervisor, ensured his benefits were kept current. Druet led a campaign among co-workers to send packages to Roberts and his unit during their deployment.

The press release – with much more info – is after the jump:

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The Times-Herald of Forrest City, Ark., has a story about a former Fort Lewis-based Ranger who is walking across the country to raise money for the Pat Tillman Foundation.

Rory Fanning of Chicago is walking from Virginia Beach, Va., to Hermosa Beach, Calif., and hoping to raise $3.6 million. The money will go toward scholarships and leadership training.

He averages about 100 miles a week, walking along railways, and is keeping a blog about his progress.