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ARMY
Anti-drug effort wins award
The 9th Regional Support Command, whose headquarters is on O'ahu, has been selected to receive the 11th annual Secretary of Defense Military Services Community Drug Awareness Award. The competition was among all active U.S. Army and Reserve units.
The award ceremony will be held at the Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs, Alexandria, Va., on Oct. 23, said Bill Castro, U.S. Army Pacific Alcohol and Drug Program Manager.
The letter of selection from the Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs credited the command's "outstanding success" in creating soldier and family member awareness of the hazards of drug abuse and implementing a substance abuse identification program.
DEFENSE
Duty tours may be extended
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has given heads of military departments the authority to keep service members on active duty beyond their dates of separation.
"Stop-loss" orders prevent those affected from retiring or leaving the service as long as reserves are called to active duty or until the president relieves them. The orders are generally issued for service members with critical military specialties.
Stop-loss was last used during Operation Allied Force, over Kosovo.
The Army had no immediate plans to implement stop-loss orders, the Department of Defense said, while the Navy plans a limited stop-loss order affecting approximately 10,500 people in 11 critical specialties, servicewide. Stop-loss plans were in preparation for the Marines.
Scholarship forms available
Applications for the second annual Defense Commissary Agency/Fisher House Foundation Scholarships for Military Children will be available Nov. 1 at commissaries and online, at www.commissaries.com.
Qualified sons and daughters of U.S. military ID card-holders, including active-duty personnel, retirees and members of the National Guard and Reserves, may apply for the $1,500 scholarships. The deadline for filing applications is Feb. 5.
Student eligibility will be verified through the Department of Defense Enrollment and the Eligibility Reporting System. Military personnel should enroll their dependents in the system before applying for the scholarships.
