Brian Stowe, of Elkmont, Ala., joined the Army in June of 2008. He attended Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training as a human resources specialist at Fort Jackson, S.C. Since his enlistment, he has deployed twice. The first time he spent 7 months in Iraq. Now, he is deployed to Forward Operating Base Shank in Afghanistan with Task Force Knighthawk, assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s 10th Combat Aviation Brigade.

But Stowe is not your typical soldier, his musical ambitions have led him and his band to a recording contract in a Christian Contemporary genre.

“I sent my song to them, not really looking for a contract so much,” he explained. “I was really hoping for a critique and just wanting to know what they would think.”

In June 2010, Stowe received a call from a recording company and was offered a contract. “I was a bit overjoyed,” he recalled, “then a little disappointed, because we were about to deploy,” he stated. But the executives of the company said they were willing to wait. “They told me we could start recording once I returned,” Stowe said, “so it looks like [in] November or December I’ll take some leave and start recording.”

Stowe is the lead singer of his group. He sings alongside his younger bother Jonathan, on bass, and his school friend Brittany Gibson, on guitar. The band has been playing together since high school.

Anyone else out there “play and fight”?

To learn more about Stowe and his band, please visit Military.com.

Unfortunately, many deployed Marines and other service members have to spend the holiday season overseas, away from their family and friends. Luckily, they have a great support network, which continues to find new ways to make the holidays as good as they can be while they are deployed.

This year, the Marines and sailors of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) were sent hundreds of recordable storybook editions of ‘The Night Before Christmas’. It allowed them to record themselves reading the poem and send it home to their loved ones.

Master Sgt. Fred Dircksen, the officer in charge of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense for 3rd MAW (Fwd) said, “I think the book was the only thing I sent home this year, and they loved it. I think the best part, for them, was just hearing my voice. The support system out here has come a long way [in the last decade]. It really makes you realize how much everyone means to you.”

In addition, service members throughout Afghanistan received care packages from different programs such as AnyMarine. These packages contained treats, essentials, and letters of support and cheer from American citizens.

Sgt. Julianna Sharp, the training non-commissioned officer in charge for Marine Wing Support Squadron 3, 3rd MAW (Fwd) said, “During the holidays, we were able to collect around 30 boxes containing food, hand warmers, socks and things of that nature for Marines in more remote locations, who don’t have the luxury of receiving mail every few days like we do here.”

Many of the service members here will return home this spring due to the changeover between the I and II Marine Expeditionary Force, but the efforts and support received by troops overseas is still much needed to boost their morale and spirits during the time they need it the most.

For full story, please visit Military.com.

On January 8, 2011, CIGNA, a global health service company will be sponsoring the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. There, the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans, consisting of 11 members, will be competing. This race will be the first of the new year for the Freedom Team. Throughout the race, the members will be competing by either running or using a hand crank wheelchair.

This race gives the opportunity to injured service members to train and compete in mainstream races throughout the country. Mike Fradera, 33, will be the returning champion and one of the participants in this race. After serving 10 years in the army, Mike lost both legs below the knee to an IED explosion on August 17, 2007, in Baghdad.

“I was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas where I got fitted with prosthetic legs. Since then, I’ve competed in 13 marathons since my first one in Miami in January 2009,” Fradera said. In last years CIGNA Disney Half,  he won first-place hand-cyclist and trains regularly to represent Achilles in races throughout the year.

Could you compete with SSGT Fradera?

Achilles International is a non-profit organization providing mainstream athletic opportunities for people with disabilities. It was founded in 1983, and now has chapters throughout the United States and in 60 countries worldwide.

For the full story please visit Military.com.

On December 17, 2010, Michelle Obama joined with Military and civilian volunteers in D.C. to sort gifts for the Marine Corps Reserve’s “Toys for Tots” foundation. Toys for Tots is a program which collects and distributes holiday gifts for children who are underprivileged.

She noted that servicemembers’ families play a huge role in making the program work.”It is just another tribute to the hard work that our military families put into this country, after already sacrificing so much for this country,” she stated. The idea for Toys for Tots was thought of more than 60 years ago by a Marine reservist and his wife. After wrapping the gifts to be given out to the children, she said to the group, “We’re so proud of the work you do for the country and the fact that you are putting it all out for kids across this country. We couldn’t do it without your leadership.”

Obama wanted to help out as much as she could. “We’ve been collecting toys from our staff, and today we brought as many as we could fit into one [vehicle], but there’s still more to come,” she said. She encourages people to donate to this program not only for little kids, but for pre-teens and teens. She noted it is now possible to contribute online at http://www.toysfortots.org.

For more details, please visit Defense.gov.

On Friday, November 19th, heads of State of NATO member countries gathered for a two day summit in Lisbon, Portugal. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss such topics as Afghanistan and missile defense.

For the first time on Saturday, President Barack Obama said he would like to have U.S. troops out of major combat in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. At a closing news conference Obama said, “My goal is to make sure that by 2014 we have transitioned, Afghans are in the lead and it is a goal to make sure that we are not still engaged in combat operations of the sort we’re involved in now.” If Obama’s expectation about ending the U.S. combat mission in 2014 holds, it would mark a turning point in a war that has been going on for 10 years.

In 2009 when Obama entered office, he pledged to end the Iraq war, in order to shift forces, resources, and attention to Afghanistan. Obama calls the fight with Afghanistan a fight the U.S. cannot afford to lose.

The U.S. has about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan; other countries allied to the U.S. have about 40,000.

For full detail, go to Military.com.

Australia and the United States have been allies since World War I, and became even closer allies during World War II. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen says, “They fought in every war with us for a long time.” They have “contributed troops and treasure to Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan and worked side by side with American service members in trouble spots from Africa to Kosovo to East Timor.”

With the hopes of improving military-to-military relations with China, Mullen, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, recently visited Australia, to discuss how this can happen with Mullen’s Australian counterpart, someone who has had success in that area. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, Defense Minister Steven Smith and Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, were at the discussions to represent Australia.

Also discussed were Australia’s part in military operations in Afghanistan, maintaining security in cyberspace, and India. Mullen says, “India is a rising power and a global economic power.”

For more detail, go to Defense.gov.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jacob Adams and Lance Cpl. Michael Chatel are just two of the many young men and women joining the military today. Both being 20 years old, they were just kids when the terrorist attacks on 9/11 happened. Adams and Chatel are a part of the new generations of troops “inheriting” the Afghan war.

A large number of the men and women who were a part of the war since the first action against Afghanistan and Iraq have left the military to live “normal” lives. The new generation of troops show how long this war has been going on and how no one would have thought it would have lasted this long.

Adams said, “It’s kind of weird having watched it all on the news those first days. And then 10 years later, here I am, and here we are still fighting it.”

Both Adams and Chatel remember being pulled out of school early on the day of the attacks on 9/11. They were only in the 5th grade when the initial attacks happened. Now, 10 years later, these troops are fighting in the same war.

For more information, visit Military.com.

Starting next year, the Army expects to send troops to Afghanistan with the new M4A1 carbines. They’re calling it “the biggest overhaul of service rifles in nearly 50 years.”

According to the Program Executive Office Soldier, who introduced the improvements, the upgrade to the M4 includes a more resilient barrel, ambidextrous controls and a full-automatic setting. He stated that once you add better ammunition, soldiers will have a more lethal weapon to fight.

Although the M4 will be 5 more ounces heavier than the old, many soldiers in Afghanistan are happy about the upgrade. Sgt. Aaron Billington of the 10th Mountain Division at Kandahar Air Field states his excitement, and that he is not worried about the extra 5 ounces. He thinks that “the heavier barrel could improve accuracy and give the weapon better stability.”

While many are excited for the change, others aren’t quite convinced. Staff Sgt. Lincoln Dockery, a combat engineer stationed in Bamberg says, “Adding full-automatic fire mode to the M4 is a huge mistake.”

For the full details, visit Military.com.