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."