Commander

Col. Edward Rothstein, Fort Meade's new garrison commander, will be the featured speaker at the BWI Business Partnership's January Signature Breakfast, Wed., Jan. 18, at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve, 7795 Arundel Mills Blvd., in Hanover, near Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Advance registration is required by Monday, Jan. 16. Members attend at no charge or $30, depending on membership level. Space permitting, nonmembers may attend for $50. To register, go to http://www.bwipartner.org and click on the event registration button, or call 410-859-1000.

As the Maryland National Guard prepares for what could be its final deployment to Afghanistan, its commander sees a "pivotal point" in the nation's history. More than a decade of deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and other battlegrounds since Sept. 11, 2001, has produced a highly skilled and deeply experienced generation of warriors. But with the United States out of Iraq and planning to leave Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. James Adkins sees a new challenge. "Many of the soldiers that are serving now have known only war," he said Thursday from Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where members of the 244 t h Engineer Co. are training for a deployment starting later this year.

%HTMLsymbol; %HTMLspecial; ]> sp.digest13.ART Our Commander wins Maryland Juvenile Horse racing Laurel Park Philip Capuano's Our Commander circled rivals and outfinished Not Abroad to win the Saturday feature at Laurel Park, the...

The commander of the Navy unit that included two sailors who drowned at Aberdeen Proving Ground in February has been relieved of his duties, the Navy said Wednesday. The Navy said Cmdr. Michael Runkle, who led the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2, was relieved because of a "loss of confidence in his ability to command. " Diver 1st Class James Reyher, 28, of Caldwell, Ohio, and Diver 2nd Class Ryan Harris, 23, of Gladstone, Mo., died Feb. 26 during a training exercise at a testing facility at Aberdeen known as the Super Pond.

Baltimore Police Maj. Nathan Warfield, the former commander of the internal affairs section who was reassigned last year after pictures surfaced of him socializing with two men accused of drug dealing, is retiring, officials confirmed.  Warfield joined the department in 1990, and was the commander of the Northwest District until 2009, when Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III appointed him him to lead internal affairs.  Last year,...

The commander of the Baltimore Police Department's homicide unit will not face criminal charges or be ticketed for abandoning his unmarked cruiser on the side of Interstate 95 after he slid off a rain-slicked road Sunday, according to the Maryland State Police. Maj. Terrence P. McLarney had been suspended after the March 6 incident. A city police spokesman said the commander is now back on partial duty — allowed to run the administrative functions of his 70-detective office, but without his police powers.

Luncheon to honor former commander of Wilkens Station The Wilkens Police and Community Relations Organization invites area residents and members of the business community to the group's Nov. 16 luncheon honoring Capt. John Spiroff. Spiroff, the former commander of the Wilkens Police Station, has been reassigned to Baltimore County Police headquarters in Towson. The luncheon will provide an opportunity to recognize Spiroff for his efforts to open lines of communication and promote positive understanding of the role that law enforcement plays in the community, according to Lorna Rudnikas, the group's president.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III told a group of South Baltimore residents Wednesday night that he considers them "family" and has their best interests at heart as he looks to select a new district commander. Bealefeld spoke to about 50 residents at the Southern District police station, a meeting that came one week after popular commander Scott Bloodsworth opted to retire rather than accept a new assignment overseeing reforms in the department's sex offense unit, which Bealefeld said was in "crisis."

Baltimore County police named an interim commander of the Franklin Precinct in Reisterstown Monday, after the former captain was charged with driving while intoxicated last month. Capt. James P. Monahan will leave the county's intelligence unit and move to Precinct 3 starting next Monday, according to a department statement. Before working in intelligence, he supervised the homicide unit and has been with the department since 1988. Lt. Sam Houston, who is currently in the intelligence unit and has been with the department since 2002, will take over that unit.

Timothy J. Longo Sr. once commanded a single Baltimore police district that was larger, more populated and more dangerous than the entire Virginia city he now serves as police chief. But now, the grandson of an immigrant from Sicily, who spent nearly two decades quickly rising through the turbulent ranks of the city police department before leaving in 2000, is at the center of a crime garnering national attention. Longo has been in front of the cameras in Charlottesville, answering questions about the slaying of a University of Virginia lacrosse player from Cockeysville, a compelling story of broken romance, sports and affluence that has rocked a prestigious university near Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.

Over two years have passed since firefighter Mark Falkenhan was killed at an apartment fire on Dowling Circle in Towson. His death resulted, in part, from a collapse of the Incident Command System (ICS), when first-arriving units were faced with heavy fire and multiple rescues. ICS is a procedural policy for ensuring that command and control mechanisms are continually utilized during mitigation efforts at every incident. "Command" is assumed by the officer of the first-arriving unit and passed to the responding chief officer upon his or her arrival.

Police have taken a new step in their the battle to remove illegal dirt bikes and their freewheeling riders from the streets of Baltimore, creating an email address where residents can report the bikes anonymously. "All the way around, it's a menace, and we have to take some action," said Maj. Johnny Delgado, the commander of the Northwestern District, who launched the initiative. Riding dirt bikes in the city limits is against the law, as is storing them in a house or a shed with gasoline, police said.

Baltimore County police named an interim commander of the Franklin Precinct in Reisterstown Monday, after the former captain was charged with driving while intoxicated last month. Capt. James P. Monahan will leave the county's intelligence unit and move to Precinct 3 starting next Monday, according to a department statement. Before working in intelligence, he supervised the homicide unit and has been with the department since 1988. Lt. Sam Houston, who is currently in the intelligence unit and has been with the department since 2002, will take over that unit.

President Barack Obama awarded Navy's football team with the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy on Thursday afternoon in the East Room at the White House. Here are the president's remarks: Hello, everybody.  (Applause.)  Hello.  Please, everybody have a seat.  Well, good afternoon.  Welcome to the White House.  I want to start by recognizing Coach Ken Niumatalolo, my fellow Hawaiian, for being here once again -- where is he?  There he is right here.  (Laughter.)  Hard to miss him.  Give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

Each week, The Baltimore Sun publishes a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to help you become more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Today's guest is Navy defender Emily Mellin , who played in high school at nearby St. Mary's in Annapolis. A team captain, she leads a defense allowing just 7.22 goals per game for the No. 14 and three-time defending Patriot League champion Midshipmen (11-1). In the fall, Mellin served as commander of the 5th Company, one of 30 company commanders in the brigade overseeing 150 midshipmen.

Maryland has the highest scoring offense in Division I women's lacrosse, but the Terps ' attack needed a jump-start from its defense Saturday against James Madison. After the No. 1 Terps (11-0) fell behind early, they used a stifling midfield defense to handcuff the No. 17 Dukes and start their offense rolling toward an 18-8 victory at Maryland's Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex. The Dukes jumped out to a 2-0 lead, thanks in part to winning the first two draws and they shut out the Terps , who went into the game averaging 16.40 goals, for nearly 13 minutes.

Days after the Baltimore Police Department announced that he would oversee reforms in the beleaguered sex offense unit, a popular district commander has opted to retire. Maj. Scott Bloodsworth had been in charge of the Southern District since 2008. His new appointment last week came amid questions about police handling of sex crimes and after city officials vowed to change the way the department investigates them. The new post included the citywide robbery, check and fraud, missing persons and child abuse units.

Capt. John Spiroff, commander of the Wilkens Police Station that patrolled Precinct One that includes Arbutus, Catonsville and Lansdowne, will be leaving the station next week. Spiroff has been promoted to detective captain for the Baltimore County Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division. He will be succeeded at Wilkens by Capt. Douglas Irwin, a 20-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department. Irwin was most recently commander of the department's Internal Affairs Division, according to Cpl. Cathleen Batton, a county police spokeswoman.

President Barack Obama has named Gov. Martin O'Malley one of two co-chairmen of a panel of state and federal officials focused on defense and homeland security, the governor's office said Monday. The Maryland Democrat will co-chair the Council of Governors with Republican Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa. The panel brings together 10 governors, the secretaries of defense and homeland security, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, the commandant of the Coast Guard, the commander of U.S. Northern Command and other key officials to discuss issues related to the National Guard, homeland security and defense support to civil authorities in the event of terrorism or natural disaster.

The breakdown that led to the shooting of a University of Maryland police officer during a training exercise last week does not appear to be a matter of insufficient policies and procedures. The Baltimore City Police Department, whose officer has been identified as having shot the trainee in the head after mistakenly pulling his service weapon, has policies in place that should have prevented this from happening. The problem appears to be that they were not followed, and the department's main focus needs to be on determining who was at fault - and, most likely, dismissing them from the force.