Maryland National Guard

For Capt. Martin Noorsalu, deploying to Afghanistan with the Maryland National Guard last year was an unusual opportunity. Noorsalu is one of only a dozen helicopter pilots in the Estonian Air Force. The sole air defense service of the former Soviet republic numbers some 400 personnel. They fly four helicopters. But from September to December, Noorsalu and fellow Estonian Air Force Capt. Rene Kallis flew medical evacuation missions in Afghanistan with Maryland National Guard members in the 1st General Support Aviation Battalion of the 169th Aviation Regiment.

According to Maj. Gen. James Adkins, as quoted in "Md. Guard preparing for Afghanistan, and after" (May 10), "Many of the soldiers that are serving now have known only war. " And four members of the Maryland Guard have been killed in Afghanistan. It is astonishing that the U.S. is still mired in the Afghanistan quicksand. And while democracy is quite elusive, corruption among Afghan government officials is rife. Trillions of tax dollars have been wasted there. Imagine if that money had been invested instead in infrastructure in cities across the country.

Kayden Hoskins can say "Daddy" now, but she could not when her father, Spc. Tom Hoskins of the Maryland National Guard, left for Iraq in February. The 15-month-old from Havre de Grace has known Daddy mostly as a voice on the phone, a man reading her a book on a DVD sent from far away, a face in a framed photograph that on occasion she kisses. Dressed in a pink winter jacket, brown knitted hat and pink wool gloves, Kayden turned up Saturday morning with her mother, Nicole, and her paternal grandparents to join the crowd of several hundred family members and friends welcoming home troops of the 1729th Forward Support Maintenance Company.

I wish to express how delighted I am that the Maryland National Guard is seeing its final deployment to Afghanistan ("Md. Guard preparing for Afghanistan, and after," May 10). Now, let's bring all of them home from the all the other hellholes. (Kosovo, perhaps?) Along with many others, I believe the Maryland Guard is a state resource, and from the beginning of America's ill-advised adventures into Afghanistan and Iraq, I've resented these members of our state's preparedness team being poached for wars halfway around the planet.

CHECKPOINT 3-C, Sinai Desert -- Spc. Alexander Epps is jealous. Just around the bend, Italian tourists sunbathe and snorkel at a Red Sea resort.Specialist Epps, in jungle boots and green fatigues, must stare through binoculars at empty sand."

Maj. Robert J. Marchanti II, 48, was buried Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery. Marchanti, a 25-year member of the Maryland National Guard, was one of two officers killed last month in Afghanistan. Violence erupted in Kabul, where Marchanti was stationed, when it was revealed that copies of the Quran had been burned at a NATO base in Bagram. The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the deaths were punishment for burning the Muslim holy book. Gov. Martin O'Malley ordered U.S. and Maryland flags flown at half-staff Tuesday in Marchanti's memory.

While American military bases are being cut and eliminated, business is booming at the Maryland National Guard's Camp Fretterd -- once the site of a reform school for girls."

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.

The collection and preservation of war relics from the 18th century to the Persian Gulf war -- specifically conflicts that engaged the Maryland National Guard -- was the lifelong passion of retired Brig. Gen. Bernard Feingold of the Guard.General Feingold, who created the Maryland National Guard Museum at Baltimore's 5th Regiment Armory and later was its director and curator, died Thursday of cancer at Sinai Hospital. The Northwest Baltimore resident was 76.A former soldier with an insatiable curiosity and appreciation for the minutiae as well as the grand sweep of war, General Feingold possessed vast knowledge of military history, tactics, battles and personalities.

Col. William C. Bilo, who has been with the Maryland National Guard for almost 20 years, has been appointed deputy director of the Army National Guard Bureau in the Pentagon."

For Capt. Martin Noorsalu, deploying to Afghanistan with the Maryland National Guard last year was an unusual opportunity. Noorsalu is one of only a dozen helicopter pilots in the Estonian Air Force. The sole air defense service of the former Soviet republic numbers some 400 personnel. They fly four helicopters. But from September to December, Noorsalu and fellow Estonian Air Force Capt. Rene Kallis flew medical evacuation missions in Afghanistan with Maryland National Guard members in the 1st General Support Aviation Battalion of the 169th Aviation Regiment.

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.

Regarding your recent report that more than 250 members of the Maryland National Guard are being deployed to Afghanistan ("More Md. Guard units headed to Afghanistan," Aug. 15): Over the past 10 years hundreds of American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, including 34 this year alone. Yet neither presidential candidate says a word about this lunacy. The presidential dialogue does include charges that Mitt Romney is "deranged" and President Barack Obama is a "liar. " That's hardly the talk of serious statesmen.

The Town of Bel Air will be celebrating Flag Day on Saturday, June 2, at 8 a.m. at the William A. Humbert Amphitheater in Shamrock Park. Traditionally, Flag Day is recognized on June 14; however, the town coordinates the scheduling of this ceremony with Bel Air High School's band and chorus to ensure the event does not interfere with their end of year studies and final exams. Retired Army Col. John F. Kutcher will be the featured speaker and County Councilman Jim McMahan will be the master of ceremonies.

Chief Warrant Officer Joshua Chason held his 3-week-old daughter, Kuiper, as long as he could as she slept peacefully. The next time he picks her up, she will be a year older. Chason is part of a 60-member Maryland Army National Guard unit that deployed Friday from Aberdeen Proving Ground for a yearlong mission in Afghanistan. He and his wife, Andrea, had planned the birth of their second child after Chason's planned deployment to Iraq was canceled, but his unit was quickly rescheduled for a stint in Afghanistan.

Maj. Robert J. Marchanti II, 48, was buried Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery. Marchanti, a 25-year member of the Maryland National Guard, was one of two officers killed last month in Afghanistan. Violence erupted in Kabul, where Marchanti was stationed, when it was revealed that copies of the Quran had been burned at a NATO base in Bagram. The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the deaths were punishment for burning the Muslim holy book. Gov. Martin O'Malley ordered U.S. and Maryland flags flown at half-staff Tuesday in Marchanti's memory.

I wish to express how delighted I am that the Maryland National Guard is seeing its final deployment to Afghanistan ("Md. Guard preparing for Afghanistan, and after," May 10). Now, let's bring all of them home from the all the other hellholes. (Kosovo, perhaps?) Along with many others, I believe the Maryland Guard is a state resource, and from the beginning of America's ill-advised adventures into Afghanistan and Iraq, I've resented these members of our state's preparedness team being poached for wars halfway around the planet.

Carroll Community College and the Maryland National Guard entered into an agreement last night to cut tuition in half for guardsmen who attend the school.College and Guard officials said it was the beginning of a partnership that will combine the resources of the two institutions."By developing these partnerships with colleges, there's a lot of things we can do besides the tuition waiver," said Lt. Col. Milton P. Davis, an education officer with the Maryland National Guard."We can develop our armories as community centers and use them for classrooms for colleges to have off-campus locations," Davis said.

For months, the men and women of the 135th Airlift Group have been training on their new C27J Spartan turboprops for their deployment this spring to Afghanistan. Their job: carrying soldiers, equipment and supplies around the war zone as the fighting season resumes. It's a mission for which the Maryland Air National Guard unit has deep experience. In the last decade alone, members have deployed several times to Iraq and Afghanistan, while also responding to the Haiti earthquake, California wildfires and Hurricane Katrina.

I found the recent headline regarding to Maryland National Guard ("Maryland Guard fights on in hope of Afghan peace," Jan. 29) to be Orwellian. It is a simple dictum that you can't wage war for peace. There are no winners in a war, only losers. One side may kill more than the other or capture more territory, but a cessation of warfare is not peace. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana helping to set up small business. It would have been ludicrous for me to use force on the entrepreneurs to get them to do what I wanted.