Pvt. Timothy E. Bennitt, the Fort Lewis soldier whose 16-year-old girlfriend died after an overdose of prescription pills in his barracks room, will face involuntary manslaughter and drug-related charges in a general court martial, the post announced Friday.

Bennitt faces a maximum of 82 years in prison, reduction in rank, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge from the Army if convicted. A date for his court martial has not been set.

The charges stem from the death of Leah King, a student at Lakes High School, in Bennitt’s barracks room Feb. 15 on North Fort Lewis. King and a friend, Trashauna Yoacham, overdosed on a combination of the painkiller oxymorphone and the anxiety pill Xanax.

Bennitt, a 19-year-old Indiana native, is facing two specifications of involuntary manslaughter. The government alleges Bennitt purchased oxymorphone and gave it to King, whom he knew had a history of substance abuse, and allowed her to mix the painkiller with Xanax.

Bennitt also faces charges he distributed oxymorphome, oxycodone, marijuana, Xanax. He is also charged with the use of oxycodone, oxymorphone, marijuana and cocaine.

And he faces a charge of conspiracy to use a controlled substance, in which prosecutors say he asked King to arrange a meeting with the drug dealer that sold him the lethal dose of Xanax and oxymorphone.

Bennitt, a heavy equipment operator with the 617th Engineer Company, 864th Engineer Battalion, is in confinement at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.

Government attorneys say Bennitt purchased drugs from Lakewood and sold them to fellow soldiers.

Investigators testified in May and June during Bennitt's Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand-jury proceeding, that the soldier purchased the prescription pills the night of Feb. 14 and returned to North Fort Lewis with the two teenagers. Shortly after they arrived, Bennitt crushed and snorted a prescription pill. The girls, who were in his bathroom styling their hair, crushed and snorted a pill of oxymorpohone.

He left his room at about midnight to talk to a friend. The girls were asleep when he returned, so he slept next to them when he returned, according to the investigation. He awoke at 3 a.m. and discovered King with froth around her mouth, pale skin and blue lips.

King was pronounced dead at the scene. Yoacham was rushed to Madigan Army Medical Center, where she later recovered.

Bennitt’s Article 32 hearing closed in May but was reopened almost a month later when Yoacham agreed to testify. She told the court the teens snorted the pills hours before they went to the barracks and later inhaled more without his knowledge.

"Those drugs were carried in by Leah," Yoacham’s attorney, Bradley Johnson, said at the time. "Pvt. Bennitt did not give her drugs."

Prosecutors said Yoacham’s story had holes and that she wasn’t in the right state of mind to remember everything from that night.

Maj. Rebecca Connally, the investigating officer, apparently didn’t believe all of Yoacham’s testimony, according to a redacted version of her report released by the Fort Lewis public affairs office.

"I considered Ms. (redacted)'s entire testimony and weighed it against other witnesses or evidence that contradicted her recollection and accounts," Connally wrote. "I found the weight of the evidence that contradicted her testimony to be more credible and believable."

Connally’s role as investigating officer was to review the evidence and testimony and made a recommendation on what charges Bennitt would face. Brig. Gen. Jeff Mathis, the I Corps rear detachment commander, reviewed Connally’s report and had the final say.

Officials at Madigan Army Medical Center hope to break ground soon on a center specializing in women’s and children’s medicine, the largest expansion of the Fort Lewis hospital since 1992.

The $205 million facility would be the first of its kind in the military and one of just a few such centers that would focus on care for both women and children anywhere in the United States, the chairman of Madigan's obstetrics and gynecology department said this week.

"The No. 1 business at (Department of Defense) hospitals is deliveries and all the care related to that," Col. Peter Nielsen said. "So the idea of putting in what place what women need and what children need – I thought it just made sense."

The new facility would measure about 140,000 square feet cost $205 million. It would provide an array of services, including obstetrics, women’s oncology, gynecology, breast disease, infertility, endocrinology, a neonatal intensive care unit and child psychiatry.

And by moving some services to the new building, it would create about 70,000 square feet of floor space in the main hospital, said Michael Carico, Madigan’s chief of operation and maintenance.

The new building – the largest addition to Madigan since the new hospital building opened in 1992 – is still several years away. Pentagon officials are still finalizing the 2010 fiscal year budget; included in it is a $2 million earmark U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., added to fund the planning and design.

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Alyson McWherter walked back to her barracks room and sank into her bed. She was physically, mentally and emotionally spent. Her feet throbbed. Her shoulders ached. She hadn't slept well in days.

Three days earlier, a fellow ROTC cadet died during night training; she was part of the search team sent into the forests of Fort Lewis early in the morning to search for him.

Two days of land-navigation exercises followed, one at day at one at night. She and other cadets were sent into the forest with a map and compass and told to find a series of checkpoints. The pressure was omnipresent: How a cadet performs can determine if he or she will receive the job they want, or even if a spot on active duty awaits them.

The three grueling days earlier this month had pushed the 21-year-old to her limits.

"That's when I was like, 'It's either buck up now or go home,'" said McWherter, who graduated from the Operation Warrior Forge annual ROTC assessment course Friday at Fort Lewis.

One month earlier, life was good. McWherter and her University of Washington softball teammates were partying in Oklahoma City, soaking up every ounce of glory that comes with a national title. McWherter was a junior, and her teammates were already talking about a repeat next season.

But all that mattered little when Warrior Forge began. Her instructors didn't care about her softball success and her history with Fort Lewis – she was born on post and her father later commanded an infantry battalion there. She was another cadet, running on too little sleep and learning how to administer first aid, protect herself from nerve gas or planning and executing an assault on a mock city – all part of the 29-day course that produces 70 percent of the Army's second lieutenants. (The remainder graduate from West Point or are commissioned through Officer Candidate School.)

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I’ve received a few e-mails about what units of the 81st Brigade Combat Team will arrive Saturday afternoon. Here’s the list, conveniently ripped off from the Washington National Guard’s Web site:

Alpha and Bravo companies, 181st Brigade Support Battalion
Headquarters company, 81st Brigade Combat Team
Headquarters company, 81st Brigade Special Troops Battalion
Charlie and Echo companies, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment

Hotel Company of 1-161 is also returning home Saturday, but those soldiers will land at Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane.

(Photo by Scott Fontaine/The News Tribune)

The battle of Wanat, Afghanistan, has been receiving some critical attention lately. The Pentagon's Inspector General has opened an investigation into whether troops had proper supplies, equipment and aerial surveillance.

Today, the Seattle Times wades into the issue with a well-researched, well-written report. (The Times presumably gave it a second look because one of the casualties that day was Cpl. Jason Bogar of Seattle.)

(Photo by Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

An Army Special Forces soldier from Skagit County was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday when insurgents attacked his unit using small-arms fire.

Chief Warrant Officer Douglas M. Vose III of Concrete was serving in Kabul province with 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group. He is the 316th service member with Washington ties – either stationed in the state, a resident or a native – to die in war since the 2001, and the eighth this year.

The 38-year-old Roseburg, Ore., native served in the Army since April 1989. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

Another 250 members of the 81st Brigade Combat Team are coming home Saturday.

The homecoming ceremony will follow the routine of Wednesday’s homecoming, the first for the 3,500 Washington National Guard unit. A charter plane will land at McChord Air Force Base, and a homecoming ceremony in Wilson Gym at North Fort Lewis will follow.

Additional arrivals to McChord and Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane continue over the next two weeks.

"I am honored to welcome the soldiers home after their long sacrifice and time away from their families," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement. "These courageous men and women of the 81st deserve our utmost gratitude for their commitment and service to our state and our country."

The man who will run daily operations of Fort Lewis is no stranger to the area: Col. Thomas Brittain’s first assignment as a second lieutenant in 1987-90 was at the Army post.

"It seems like familiar ground, but it really has changed a lot since then," Brittain said minutes after he replaced Col. Cynthia Murphy as Fort Lewis garrison commander Tuesday.

The garrison commander manages the maintenance and construction of Fort Lewis and the Yakima Training Center, overseeing an array of responsibilities like public works, maintenance of community facilities and emergency services.

It’s a busy time to take the job: Current construction projects total about $290 million, and another $1.7 billion in construction is planned. Early next year the post will merge with McChord Air Force Base, part of a military-wide joint basing effort – the topic of his thesis at his most recent assignment, as a student at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.

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The Washington Post today reports on a Quaker from Indianola (that's across Puget Sound from Shoreline) who is suing the federal government over its Selective Service forms

Tobin D. Jacobrown, 21, wants to be recognized as a conscientious objector. But the forms -- required signing by every American male when they turn 18 in the event of a draft -- don't provide that option.

"A big part of my religion is not submitting to any system that you feel is unjust," Jacobrown told the Post. "And I think this is unjust."

Those are some of the questions swirling around about allegations an employee of the Fort Lewis force protection division passed himself off as an anarchist and spied on an Olympia anti-war group.

Jeremy Pawloski, my colleague at the Olympian, wrote a nice follow-up today examining the legal questions the case raises.

From the article:

Eugene R. Fidell, a former judge advocate for the Coast Guard and the president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said such a practice appeared to violate the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law that prohibits the use of the Army for conventional law enforcement activities against civilians.

...

Fidell said he would like to know more about what Towery’s superiors authorized him to do.

"What you’ve told me is enough to think that there’s a domestic spying program at Fort Lewis,” he said. “And if there is, that’s a big deal."

Staff Sgt. Derrick Grasty squinted against the blinding light, walked down the metal steps from the passenger jet and shook hands with dignitaries at McChord Air Force Base to greet his flight.

About 15 seconds later, reality sunk in.

The Lacey resident threw his arms skyward and let out an ear-splitting yell. A colleague from the 81st Brigade Combat Team smiled and patted Gratsy on the back. Another pumped his fist into the air.

"I just couldn’t help myself," Gratsy said later. "It just felt too good."

He and hundreds of others had good reason to celebrate Wednesday: The first group of the 81st Brigade, about 150 Washington National Guard soldiers, returned home from an 11-month mobilization that sent them to Iraq.

The brigade of 3,500 soldiers – about 2,400 of whom are from Washington – served across Iraq, and most of the soldiers guarded contractor-driven supply convoys that delivered water, fuel and other supplies to American military bases.

Other units of the 81st Brigade were tasked with running daily operations of bases, performing base-defense patrols and providing personal security detail.

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Tom Ricks, who has been digging into what really happened during the battle of Wanat, Afghanistan, posted a letter he received from the mother of Cpl. Jason Bogar, a Seattle soldier killed last July. He was among nine Americans killed in the attack.

Check out Ricks' work when you get a chance. It's a good read.

Family members of deployed or deploying service members would be guaranteed two weeks of unpaid leave under legislation introduced Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Adam Smith.

The bill, named the Military Family Leave Act of 2009, provides two weeks for the spouse, children or parents of a service member who received notification of a deployment or is currently deployed.

Current law allows military families similar time off for various reasons connected with a deployment, but not all employees are eligible. The proposed legislation, also pending in the Senate, would close that loophole.

"As a member of Congress who represents thousands of military personnel and their families, I see the stress deployment can put on a family," Smith, D-Tacoma, said in a statement. "Military families make a tremendous sacrifice for our country and they should not have to be concerned about how their employer will respond if a loved one is deployed. This bill relieves some of that stress by ensuring family members have adequate time away from work to spend time with their deployed or deploying loved one, allowing them ample time to handle issues that arise over the course of a deployment."

Three state agencies are teaming with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans organizations to help members of the 81st Brigade Combat Team transition back into civilian life.

Three agencies – the Washington National Guard, the State Department of Veterans Affairs and the Employment Security Department – are delivering a series of briefings at Fort McCoy, Wis., to the 2,400 Washington citizens who are returning from a yearlong deployment to Iraq.

The sessions include information on pay, benefits and transitioning back into civilian life. Topics include VA claim, finding employment and career training. Four women service officers are at the post in a private area to provide assistance to unit’s female soldiers, and mental health counselors are available to all.

The process should take about six days, according a Camp Murray spokesman.

"We know these brave men and women just want to get back to their families," Gregoire said in a release. "But we also know what can happen if veterans don’t take care of any combat-related issues they may come home with. Just look at my generation, Vietnam veterans, who are only now contacting the VA for help. This Washington state team is going to welcome our National Guard members home the right way by bringing the services to them before they get home."

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars are also sending representatives to help the homecoming effort.

Fort Lewis will receive its new garrison commander Thursday.

Col. Thomas H. Brittain will assume the post, tasked largely with running day-to-day operation and supervising growth and construction on post. He takes over for Col. Cynthia Murphy, who has commanded since Aug. 15, 2006. She will take a staff position at I Corps.

The ceremony is 10 a.m. Thursday at Memorial Stadium.

Brittain, an infantry officer and West Point graduate, comes to Lewis after studying at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

Murphy won’t be at the ceremony; she relinquished command on July 17 and left early for treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The Olympian has an interesting story today about claims from an Olympia antiwar group that a civilian employee of Fort Lewis' force protection fusion cell spied on their meetings for nearly two years.

The group says the employee, John Towery, passed himself off as a fellow anarchist and became an administrator on the group's e-mail listserv.

Fort Lewis, meanwhile, said an officer has been appointed to conduct an inquiry into the allegation. And here's what Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek had to say about it: "Mr. John Towery performs sensitive work within the installation law enforcement community, and it would not be appropriate for him to discuss his duties with the media," he wrote in an e-mail to The Olympian.

The 81st Brigade Combat Team is coming home.

The first 150 soldiers from the Washington National Guard’s largest unit arrive at McChord Air Force Base tomorrow morning, 11 months after the brigade was mobilized for its second deployment to Iraq.

The plane is expected to touch down at 11:45 a.m. A welcome reception at Wilson Gym on North Fort Lewis will follow; Gov. Chris Gregoire and Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, the state’s adjutant general, will attend.

About 3,500 soldiers, including 2,400 from Washington, serve in the 81st Brigade. After mobilization, the unit trained at Fort McCoy, Wis., and Camp Buehring, Kuwait, before arriving in Iraq in October and November. The soldiers served throughout the country, mainly providing security for supply convoys and running daily operations on American military bases.

The rest of the brigade is expected to return over the next two weeks. The soldiers are returning from Fort McCoy, where they received health checkups and briefings on pay, benefits and transitioning back into civilian life.

The 81st lost one soldier on its deployment: Spc. Samuel D. Stone of Port Orchard was killed May 30 when his M1117 Armored Security Vehicle rolled during a convoy mission outside Tallil. The accident occurred less than two weeks before Stone's 21st birthday.

Fort Lewis will break ground next year on a $110 million complex for the Warrior Transition Battalion as part of the Army’s push to better healthcare for soldiers recovering from injuries.

The facility, which includes barracks, a headquarters building and a soldier and family assistance center, should open in about three years. The building will be erected on an eight-acre site near Madigan Army Medical Center; the battalion’s executive officer said the goal of the new complex is to put everything a wounded soldier needs within walking distance.

"We want to make it a bit of a one-stop shop," Maj. Edward Ekstrom said last week. "A soldier can wake up in the barracks, go to formation nearby, head to Madigan for treatment and go to the (assistance center) to take care of whatever they need, all a few minutes from each other."

Lawmakers provided $488 million for nine warrior transition unit complexes in last month’s supplemental war funding bill. Defense officials project Fort Lewis will be home to the largest warrior transition unit in the military, Ekstrom said.

The Army-wide Warrior Transition initiative was born from the poor medical conditions revealed at Walter Reed Medical Center in early 2007. As the scandal rippled across the country, soldiers at the old "medical hold" companies at Madigan Army Medical Center complained of mistreatment, confusion and delays.

In the newly created units, soldiers moved into refurbished barracks and were assigned a primary care specialist, a nurse case-manager and a squad leader to make sure they get proper treatment. The soldier and family assistance center helps soldiers with an array of military- and civilian-related issues, ranging from veterans claims to day care to online college courses.

The construction plans call for 408 beds inside the complex barracks, about equal to the number of troops in the unit today. That number tends to fluctuate and is almost certain to rise with three Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigades deploying this year to Iraq or Afghanistan.

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About 160 Fort Lewis soldiers from the 571st Military Police Company marked their upcoming yearlong deployment to Iraq with a colors-casing ceremony Monday morning.

The company, part of a 504th Military Police Battalion, will conduct personnel security missions and escort operations throughout the country. It’s the fourth time the 571st has served in Iraq.

On its last deployment, a 15-month tour that began in October 2006, the company trained more than 6,100 Iraqi policemen, supported nine combat operations and managed more than $10.2 million in contracts to construct and improve police stations in Diyala province.

The 62nd Airlift Wing won the top award at this year’s Air Mobility Rodeo skills competition at McChord Air Force Base.

The wing, the largest active-duty unit at McChord, received the award for best air mobility team during the closing ceremonies Friday evening. The Rodeo is a biennial competition drawing more than 100 teams from the U.S. Air Force and foreign militaries, which compete in more than 50 on-the-ground and in-the-air events.

Judges also honored the 62nd Airlift Wing for having the best C-17 Globemaster III team and the best airdrop team. It also won the aerial port challenge team course, joint inspection team, low-level airdrop crew, overall C-17 aircrew and C-17 post-flight team competitions.

The security forces team from the 446th Airlift Wing, the main Reserve unit at McChord, also won first place. The wing was finished first in the fit-to-fight and C-17 maintenance competitions.

And the 92nd Air Refueling Wing from Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane won the best security forces combat weapons team competition.

Staff Sgt. Justin Hill spent two tough tours in Iraq. The first deployment felt like a year serving in the Wild West. The insurgency was at a full boil when he returned two years later.

And as 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division prepares for its third Iraq tour, and the 26-year-old Fort Lewis soldier wants to find out if all the hard work, the time away from family and the buddies lost on the battlefield were worth it.

"Everything you do takes time, and I want to see all the hard work we put in pay off," said Hill, a platoon sergeant from Texas. "The Iraqis want to take over their own situation. That’s cool. That’s understandable. We’ve come this far, but we need to help them get all the way there."

The brigade of about 4,000 soldiers is heading back for its third Iraq tour and cased its colors during a departure ceremony Friday at Watkins Field. Hill, who has served with the same company since the first deployment, will serve as a platoon sergeant in Diyala province, an area in the country’s east where his brigade has history.

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For a bit more about both the victim and the gunman in Wednesday's apparent murder-suicide at the Fort Lewis post exchange, check out my colleague Brian Everstine's article in today's paper.

In the woods outside McChord Air Force Base, a four-man security forces team critiqued their response to a mock sniper attack. High overhead, cargo jets airdropped pallets onto a target.

And on a grassy field packed with tents dubbed Rainier Ranch, airmen from Turkey and the United States struck up an impromptu push-up contest. Members of the Israeli air force presented a McChord reservist with gifts Wednesday, six days after he had 18 of them to his Mercer Island home for a Sabbath dinner. A South Korean soldier bummed a cigarette from a Malaysian colleague.

It’s all part of the Air Mobility Rodeo, a biennial competition, training session and party at McChord this week that drew more than 2,500 airmen from around the world.

The Rodeo, which holds more than 50 events like aerial refueling, fitness competitions and medical evacuation drills, concludes today.

The competitions get serious; the margin of victory can be as little as a few seconds or a few feet, and teams practice for weeks before. But have no doubt: Rainier Ranch is party central.

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The Air Force’s acquisition strategy to replace its aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers will be "bulletproof" from contractor protests, its secretary said Wednesday.

Michael B. Donley told several hundred airmen gathered at the Air Mobility Command Rodeo competition at McChord Air Force Base that the service wants to avoid the turmoil that derailed last year’s selection process, when the military awarded the $35 billion contract to Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.

The Boeing Co. protested the decision, and the issue quickly turned political. The contract was thrown out, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates put off a final decision so the new administration could make the final choice.

Donley, who has been in the Air Force’s top civilian job since October 2008, said the service remains committed to replacing the Eisenhower-era KC-135 Stratotanker.

"We had lots of opportunities to bypass the tanker program, to skip over it, to say, ‘Too hard to get it done,’" he said at a town-hall-style meeting. "We’ve tried over the past five or six years to get that program done. And we have failed in that mission, and we still have work to do."

"We’re going to get the United States Air Force a new tanker," he said over the sound of cheers. "We’re going to get it done."

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The Air Force's controversial plan to cut 98 positions in a Washington Air National Guard unit that handles highly classified cybersecurity missions could be reversed after U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks inserted an amendment to a defense spending bill that protects the positions.

And Sen. Patty Murray is considering options to add the same protection for the 194th Regional Support Wing to the Senate version of the bill, the Democrat’s spokesman said.

"This unit does important work," Dicks, D-Belfair, told The News Tribune on Thursday. "We’re gonna fight this issue."

The Air Force announced earlier this month it would eliminate the jobs by Oct. 1 as part of its annual budgeting process. That provoked Dicks, Rep. Adam Smith and Murray to issue a joint letter last month to Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, the head of the Air National Guard, asking him to reconsider.

The cuts targeted the wing’s command structure, training, recruiting, retention and equipment positions.

The Camp Murray-based unit – which specializes in cybersecurity missions, intelligence, joint terminal attack control and combat communications – has more than 1,000 airmen, but the lawmakers believed the changes would have crippled the unit's ability to perform its mission.

"We think this was a terrible mistake," Dicks said. "Cybersecurity is one of the most important issues we face."

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Fort Lewis will bid farewell to 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at an on-post ceremony tomorrow morning.

The brigade of about 4,000 soldiers is preparing for its third deployment to Iraq. It served in 2003-04 in Samarra and Mosul. Its 2006-07 deployment saw it spread across the country, with missions in Mosul, Ninevah Province, Baghdad, Najaf and Baqubah.

We’ll be there tomorrow and should have a story up here at noontime.

The London Free Press in Ontario has an interesting story: Its General Dynamics plant there -- which produces the Stryker vehicle, including ones headed to Fort Lewis -- is making London into a boomtown.

Check out my colleague Kelly Kearsley's report on the state helping employers of deployed reservists and National Guardsmen.

From the story:

The new law allows employers to request relief from benefit charges for temporary employees whom they must then lay off when the permanent employee comes back from active military service, according to a news release from the state's Employment Security Department.

The measure goes into effect on July 26. The legislature passed the law this past session.

To avoid being charged for these benefits, employers must contact Employment Security and specify which layoffs are due to military members returning to work.

"We corrected a clear wrong," said Sen. Chris Marr, a Spokane Democrat who sponsored the legislation. "We should be encouraging employers to do what they can to support our servicemen and women, not saddling them with higher unemployment insurance costs for doing so. This new law removes that very obstacle and gets the state out of the way."

A retired soldier from Lakewood shot and killed a woman working at Fort Lewis’ main post exchange Wednesday and then fatally wounded himself.

The woman, a civilian vendor working inside the PX, was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Madigan Army Medical Center. The gunman, a 59-year-old former sergeant first class, died hours later.

The identities of both are being withheld, pending family notification. Post officials would not say what the relationship between the gunman and victim was or speculate on a motive.

A family friend – and employee of The News Tribune – told the newspaper the victim was Sharlona White.

White’s mother, Rose Braggs, said she learned through news reports that her daughter, who was in her 30s, had died after being shot about 11:30 a.m. while working at her kiosk at the PX.

“He killed my baby,” Braggs said in a telephone interview from her Tacoma home Wednesday afternoon. “My baby’s gone.”

Braggs said believed the man who shot her daughter was a former boyfriend who White had left seven months ago. “She didn’t want him,” Braggs said. “She was trying hard to get away from him. He just wouldn’t give her up.”

Braggs said the ex-boyfriend had ­threatened her daughter before and had told her he was going to kill himself.

“We called the police and everything,” she said. “We kept on saying (to her) get a restraining order.”

Braggs said her daughter, a Foss High School graduate, worked “all the time, seven days a week” to support herself and her two children, ages 10 and 14.

“She was a wonderful person,” Braggs said.

White was working in her kiosk Wednesday when she was killed.

The shots, as many as five fired from a single weapon, sparked panic in the Wal-Mart-size shopping center, whose shops and fast-food restaurants were jammed for the daily lunch rush.

Kathy Johnson and her mother, Kazui Miller, were shopping on opposite sides of the PX when the shooting started.

“Everyone ran in every direction,” said Johnson, a 44-year-old Tacoma native who now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. “Everyone was yelling, ‘Call 9-1-1!’ ”

Johnson dived under a rack of women’s clothes and tried calling the police. The line was busy. She tried again.

“It just rang and rang and rang,” she said. “So I called my husband back home, and he called 9-1-1 and was patched through to the Fort Lewis operator.”

A woman sat beside her under the rack, screaming and sobbing uncontrollably, Johnson said.

“Everyone in the store thought it was a mass shooting because of the number of gunshots,” she said. “My heart was racing. We weren’t sure if a gunman was coming for us.”

Military policemen arrived at the kiosk about five minutes after the shooting, Garcia said. The man had already shot himself when the MPs arrived.

Around them the store soon fell quiet, the silence broken only by the woman’s screams and the music over the intercom, Johnson said. Minutes later a voice came over a loudspeaker and told everyone to evacuate to the back of the store.

The woman next to Johnson was still in hysterics.

“She kept saying, ‘Oh, my God, I’m about to die,’ ” Johnson said, adding she shook her enough to run out of the store with her.

Chaplains soon arrived to provide counseling. Police evacuated the scene, closed the PX and cordoned off the area. Gus Tarantino was going to meet his wife, an Army psychologist, for lunch at 11:30 a.m. By the time he got to the PX the MPs were diverting traffic.

“We saw the fire trucks and ambulances and they were escorting everybody out of the building,” said Tarantino, a 31-year-old Puyallup resident.

Though most civilians are not allowed to use the PX, the gunman would have had access because he was a retired soldier.

The FBI took over jurisdiction of the case and will investigate with help from Fort Lewis law enforcement and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. The FBI is spearheading the case because both the victim and gunman were civilians, I Corps spokesman Maj. Mike Garcia said.

Concealed firearms are not allowed on Fort Lewis, Garcia said. Any firearm on post must be registered and, when in a car, unloaded with the ammunition stored separately.

“There is no reason to bring a loaded firearm onto this installation, nor is it authorized,” he said.

In addition to her running her kiosk at Fort Lewis, White sold fashion accessories and jewelry at McChord Air Force Base, Braggs said.

She opened a retail custom fashion store in Fife in November 2006 and closed it last year. The store, ZnZ Wear, was named for her two children, whose first names begin with the letter Z.

P.K. MacLean, executive director of the Fife Regional Chamber of Commerce, remembered White being “really enthusiastic” about her business.

“She was very passionate about it,” ­MacLean said.

A 2007 story in the Fife Free Press about White and her business noted she used her fashion talents to aid others. He helped with a Boys & Girls Clubs fashion show every year. She also assisted a family from Uganda by selling their handmade necklaces.

White said her goal was to have several stores as well be a manufacturer.

She said what inspired her most was her faith and her mother.

“I love my mom,” White said. “She’s my best friend. ... Friends come and go but nobody’s like a mom.”

The mini-surge of troops into Afghanistan -- including more Marines and Fort Lewis' 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division -- comes at a crucial time during the war effort, most agree.

But the Pakistani government is not happy about the buildup, the New York Times reports:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan is objecting to expanded American combat operations in neighboring Afghanistan, creating new fissures in the alliance with Washington at a critical juncture when thousands of new American forces are arriving in the region.

Pakistani officials have told the Obama administration that the Marines fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan will force militants across the border into Pakistan, with the potential to further inflame the troubled province of Baluchistan, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.

Pakistan does not have enough troops to deploy to Baluchistan to take on the Taliban without denuding its border with its archenemy, India, the officials said. Dialogue with the Taliban, not more fighting, is in Pakistan’s national interest, they said.

The cooperation of the Pakistani government is crucial if the United States wants to succeed in Afghanistan. The extra troops on the ground, it seems, is also critically important. Should be interesting to how it all shakes out.

I Corps/Multi-National Corps-Iraq
Colonel Overcomes Heart Attack (DVIDS)

5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division
Snipers Take Aim (DVIDS)

Pvt. Jessica Equihua slipped on a pair of oversized gloves, dropped a mask over her face, fired up a welding torch and let the sparks fly.

While others in her Fort Lewis-based platoon watched, she slowly welded two small metal plates together at a 90-degree angle.

In a few months, she could be asked to use her new skills on a Humvee or other military vehicles in Iraq.

"It's good to learn this stuff now instead of getting over there and not know when we need it," the 20-year-old automated logistical specialist said. "Plus it's fun. And maybe with some practice, you know, I could be good at it."

Equihua is one of about 75 members of Fort Lewis' 602nd Forward Support Company receiving a crash course in welding this week at Pacific Welding Supplies' Auburn location. The Tacoma-based company agreed to train the soldiers at no cost after a noncommissioned officer from the unit contacted them, saying more of his company's members needed basic welding skills ahead of their deployment to Iraq in September.

Only four members of the company's maintenance platoon knew how to weld, and two were expected to be assigned to a different location in Iraq when the company deploys, said Sgt. Chris Anderson, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the company's welding shop.

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A few readers called and e-mailed over the weekend saying they saw a bunch of law enforcement vehicles near the east gate of Fort Lewis.

From my colleague Brian Everstine:

A Spanaway man was arrested Tuesday afternoon for allegedly molesting and taking pornographic pictures of children on Fort Lewis grounds.

Jeffrey R. Smiley, 36, was charged in U.S. District Court in Tacoma with aggravated sexual abuse. He was also wanted on a warrant in Pierce County Superior Court for two counts of first-degree child molestation.

Smiley is not connected to the Army or Fort Lewis.

Investigators reportedly found mattresses, toys and cameras at two locations in a wooded area near Fort Lewis. They also found his car, which contained a computer and child porn image.

The FBI said there could be more victims. Anyone with information about additional victims should call the FBI at 206-622-0460.

The 56th anniversary of the ceasefire ending the Korean War will be marked Saturday with a wreathlaying at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the Capitol Campus in Olympia.

The 16th annual ceremony will begin 11 a.m. The name of Cpl. William B. Morse of Keyport will be added to the memorial. All organizations and individuals are welcome to bring flowers or wreaths to place during the ceremony, the State Department of Veterans Affairs said in a press release.

The medium-security detention center on Fort Lewis will re-open Tuesday after a yearlong renovation.

The Northwestern Joint Regional Correctional Facility – that’s the new name for the Fort Lewis Regional Correction Facility – closed last year. The new building sports improved air circulation, ventilation, outdoor lighting, emergency lighting, plumbing and fixtures and painting. The physical security system and fire control system were also upgraded, and a running track has been built around the exercise yard.

The facility can hold up to 190 prisoners who are either awaiting trial or who have been sentenced to up to 7 years. Such prisoners had been held at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor during the renovation.

The Northwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility now manages corrections at both installations, part of a Base Realignment and Closure Commission mandate.

The director of the primary care clinic at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System was elected to the Royal College of Physicians earlier this week during a ceremony in London, the veterans health care agency announced.

Dr. Benjamin A. Lipsky is one of 20 doctors around the world to receive the appointment. He was inducted July 15.

The Royal College of Physicians is one of the most prestigious medical societies in the world. King Henry VIII founded the organization in 1518.

It’s a lifetime appointment, and Lipsky will spend the next year on sabbatical in Oxford, where he will study foot infections in diabetics.

More than 2,500 airmen from 25 countries and almost every airlift unit in the Air Force are at McChord Air Force Base this week for the Air Mobility Command Rodeo.

The event offers 52 competitions, ranging from security-forces scenario drills to airdrop competitions. McChord also played host in 2007 to the most recent Rodeo.

"The coordination for Rodeo 2009 really started almost the day after Rodeo 2007 was completed," said Maj. Gen. Brooks Bash, the Rodeo commander, in a press release. "McChord Air Force Base, with the 62nd Airlift Wing and the 446th Airlift Wing as well as the local community, have been planning this event for that long."

It can be a pretty cool experience. The teams all set up hospitality tents in a grassy field not too far from one of the flight lines. Each tent has its own feel to it, often playing up the regional specialties. In 2007, the United Arab Emirates tent had big cushions on which to sit, and the hosts handed out dates. The guys from Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii were whipping up mai-tais, and the airmen from Altus Air Force Base in Okalahoma had barbecue and beer.

The Rodeo is considered a training exercise and isn’t open to the public, but we’ll be there this week for at least one story.

The soldiers of the 81st Brigade Combat Team are one step closer to home.

The advance party of the Washington National Guard’s largest unit returned to the United States early Monday morning, nine months after they deployed to Iraq. The soldiers’ first stop stateside is at Fort McCoy, Wis., where they will begin a de-mobilization process in which they visit medical officials and receive briefings on transition to civilian life, pay and benefits. The process can take up to six days.

National Guard officials haven’t yet announced when the soldiers will return to Washington. A series of homecoming ceremonies at McChord Air Force Base and Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane are being planned.

The entire brigade is expected home by the first week of August.

"We are all delighted to have the 81st back home and honor them," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement. "Their service and dedication as soldiers is a shining example to our state and nation. Visiting the 81st in Iraq was a life changing experience for me and I've been working diligently to ensure they have access to the programs and support they need upon their return."

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Madigan Army Medical Center was named one of the top 100 “most-wired” hospitals in the country. It’s the fifth time in six years the hospital has received the honor.

Press release below:

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The sight of their son’s name etched in granite always brings a wave of emotion to Dan and Elfriede Plumondore. Thursday was no different.

At a somber ceremony dedicating Fort Lewis’ Memorial Park, the Gresham, Ore., couple saw old friends and discussed old memories. It’s been like that every time they’ve visited Fort Lewis since their son, Sgt. Adam J. Plumondore, was killed in a car bomb explosion in Mosul, Iraq, in 2005.

But Thursday’s ceremony reminded the Plumondores of one the military’s most sacred vows.

"It just a reminder that they never forget about their fallen," Elfriede said. "This park, this setting – it’s absolutely beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. It’s an honor."

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Sometimes a worthy story slips through the cracks at any media outlet. That’s especially true when a beat writer heads on vacation – like I have been for the past three weeks.

My coworkers did a really nice job hitting all the big stories while I was gone, but there’s something a couple weeks old now that I still want to get on the blog: A McChord reservist was named Air Force Outstanding Airman of the Year Award earlier this month.

Staff Sgt. Channel Bolton-School, a crew chief with the 446th Maintenance Squadron, becomes the first member of the 446th Airlift Wing to win the award. But the Eugene, Ore., native must wait to celebrate with friends and family – she’s deployed to Kuwait right now.

Here’s the press release:

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TriWest Healthcare Alliance, which oversees the military healthcare for the Western United States, will continue offering services for Washington and 20 other states.

The contract, which was announced Monday, goes into effect immediately. The Department of Defense estimates the total potential value of the deal, which includes a 10-month base period and five one-year option periods, at almost $17 billion.

It’s the third such contract for TriWest, which has been offering services for 13 years.

"It has been our great honor and privilege to serve the healthcare needs for those who sacrifice so much in defense of freedom, and we are pleased that the Department of Defense has selected us again for this critical work," said David J. McIntyre, Jr., TriWest’s president and CEO, in a press release.

TriWest provides services to 2.7 million active-duty personnel, their families and retirees. The Phoenix-based holding company is owned by 15 nonprofit health care organizations and two university hospital systems. It employs about 1,900 people and has a regional hub in Tacoma.

The 81st Brigade Combat Team cased its colors in Ramadi, Iraq, on Monday as the Washington National Guard unit prepares to return home.

The brigade of about 3,500 soldiers – about 2,400 of whom are from Washington – served at bases throughout Iraq since November. Most of the unit was tasked with providing security for contractor convoys that keep the American military supplied. The convoys logged more than three million miles on the road.

Other subordinate units were tasked with running day-to-day operations or providing defense for bases. The colors-casing ceremony took place at Camp Ramadi in Anbar province, where the headquarters was running the base's mayor cell.

"I am in awe of these soldiers," brigade commander Col. Ronald Kapral said in a press release. "They come from all walks of life, many different professions, and yet when our nation and state called, they answered and performed their duty. We have taken them away from their families, friends and jobs and they did not complain or question.

"We trained at Yakima, Fort McCoy and Kuwait before deploying to Iraq. They have lived in tents, barracks and containerized housing units, trained in temps below freezing to over 130 degrees and still they perform their tasks without question. I will never know why they do this, but I thank God every day we have young Soldiers who volunteer and step up to serve."

The brigade mobilized in August for its second tour of Iraq; it previously deployed in 2004-05. It trained at Fort McCoy, Wis., and in Kuwait before arriving in Iraq.

One soldier was killed during the tour. Spc. Samuel Stone of Port Orchard died May 30 when his M1117 Armored Security Vehicle rolled over near Tallil.

The soldiers will begin returning home later this month after a de-mobilization process in Wisconsin.

Below is part of the press release that gives a better idea of what each battalion was doing in Iraq:

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Army Rangers from Fort Lewis, along with military aviators from Kentucky and Florida, will join forces for two weeks of training exercises starting Monday. And their spokespeople warn neighbors that they might notice increased noise, low-flying aircraft, and more air traffic coming and going during that time.

The training is scheduled from July 13 to July 27 and involves fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. The public may report any concerns to the Fort Lewis Community Relations hotline at 253-967-0852.

But in general, the Army has asked the surrounding community to understand the importance of this training for the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. A statement from Fort Lewis public affairs says, in part:

Tough, realistic training is critical to prepare Army Rangers for their mission to stand ready to deploy anywhere in the world and conduct high-intensity military operations at a moment's notice. This is scheduled training, conducted at regular intervals, to maintain individual soldier and unit readiness. ... Every measure to reduce the amount of noise associated with the training will be taken, and we appreciate the support of the local community.

We at The News Tribune wish we could check out the training and tell you more about it, but Fort Lewis officials say it won't be open for media coverage because of "operational security and safety reasons."

Some of the training will be held at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane.

U.S. flags have been lowered today at all state agency buildings in honor of an Aberdeen soldier who was killed last weekend in Afghanistan.

Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered the flags to be flown at half-staff for Pvt. Aaron Fairbairn, 21. He died in a bombing Saturday, which was the Fourth of July. He was assigned to an Army unit out of Fort Richardson, Alaska.

The flags will be at half-staff until sunset today or first thing Friday morning. The governor encourages others with flags to join in the recognition.

Anyone who has deployed to Balad, Iraq, with the Washington National Guard or other units should check out this recent Newsweek story.

We've been chasing leads on this story for the last several months. TNT reporter Scott Fontaine tried to get near the burn pit when he was embedded with the 81st Brigade earlier this year.

We'd love to talk to you if you have information or believe you have been personally affected by exposure to the Balad burn pit.

The 7th Airlift Squadron will return to McChord Air Force Base tonight after one day delay due to a "change in charter aircraft availability."

The 150 airmen be on hand for the 9:45 p.m. homecoming ceremony.

From the folks at McChord:

The 7th AS Airmen deployed as the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron flying missions throughout the combat zone and Europe. While deployed, Airmen flew more than 3,200 sorties transporting more than 131,000 passengers and 112 million pounds of cargo to sustain U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also transported 10 critical patients from theater to advanced medical care in Germany on two emergency aeromedical evacuation missions.

The Airmen flew combat airdrop missions delivering more than 1,587 bundles of resupply material to 67 remote forward operating bases in Afghanistan. Combat airdrops improve force protection by eliminating some resupply convoys to forward locations.

A Puyallup native recently recently became commander of one the U.S.'s four naval shipyards.

Capt. William C. Kiestler took control of Norfolk Naval Shipyard, located in Portsmouth, Va. It is the oldest continuously operating naval shipyard, having opened in 1767.

Kiestler is a 1981 graduate of Puyallup’s Rogers High School. Married with four children, he is the son of Patricia Mashburn of Puyallup.

According to a Navy news release, Kiestler supervises approximately 1,000 Navy personnel and 8,000 civil servants who repair, or support the repair, of aircraft carriers and submarines in Virginia, and throughout the world.

The other three American naval shipyards are Pearl Harbor, Portsmouth and, of course, our own Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.