Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson of the military band Sidewinder will make her debut on the NBC singing competition show “The Voice” this Sunday after the Super Bowl. Johnson is probably best known for her version of the Adele song “Rolling in the Deep,” which went viral on YouTube with more than 2.3 million views.
Sidewinder was deployed to the Middle East as the U.S. Air Forces Central Command Band this past summer when their performance of “Rolling of the Deep” was taped by an audience member, then posted on YouTube. The rest, as they say, is history.
Just because it’s so darn fun to listen to, here’s the video that started it all – Johnson and her band Sidewinder performing the heck out of “Rolling in the Deep”:
Active-duty troops who vote by absentee ballot must register to vote every year. That’s a change from the previous requirement, in which servicemembers could register every other year.
Troops serving overseas must mail in their absentee ballots a certain number of days ahead of the presidential election, which will be held on November 6. According to the Department of Defense, that timeline is as follows:
– Afghanistan (excluding air stop locations), Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Oman and Turkmenistan: 17 days before the election;
– Germany: 11 days before the election;
– Afghanistan air stop locations, Bahrain, Cuba, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates: 10 days before the election; and
– Japan, Korea and the Philippines: seven days before the election.
The Pentagon Channel has more on the new voting guidelines for servicemembers:
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson and Sidewinder perform a cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."
Remember Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson? Her version of the Adele song “Rolling in the Deep,” performed while she was deployed with the military band Sidewinder, has garnered more than 2.2 million views on YouTube. Well, Johnson will be making yet another appearance on national television, this time on the NBC singing competition show “The Voice.”
The first show Johnson appears in will debut after the Super Bowl, on February 5th. Because the show is a competition (a la American Idol), Johnson isn’t allowed to reveal how far she made it in this season of “The Voice.”
The 20-year-old Hogan had been assigned to Pendleton’s 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. He grew up in San Clemente, California – not far from Camp Pendleton.
The Marine Corps Times reports Hogan’s Navy Cross-worthy heroic deeds took place on August 26, 2009. Hogan was on foot patrol when he spotted a suspicious-looking string in the road:
Somehow sensing the string connected to an improvised explosive device, Hogan threw his body onto a nearby Marine, acting “without hesitation,” according to the Navy Cross citation. Hogan then yelled at others in their squad to take cover. But the IED detonated, killing the young man…
There are five sets of brothers in the Marine Corps 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment – also called the Lone Star Battalion. The Houston, Texas based battalion was featured last night on the CBS News program “60 Minutes.” Journalist Lara Logan interviewed the brothers of the Lone Star Battalion when they were all still deployed in Afghanistan. Here’s the segment:
Army Cpl. Jesse Thorsen appeared on CNN last night to speak on behalf of Ron Paul during the network’s Iowa Caucus results programming. The problem? Thorsen was wearing his uniform while expressing his political opinion. That’s a direct violation of military code. The Department of Defense guidelines read in part:
“…[M]embers on active duty should not engage in partisan political activity, and that members not on active duty should avoid inferences that their political activities imply or appear to imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement…”
The soldier that spoke tonight on behalf of Ron Paul is gonna be in a bit of trouble. Politics in uniform is a big no-go. And Paul and his campaign should know better.
Paul has got a lot of support among the military. As Home Post reported earlier this year, Paul gets more donations from servicemembers than any other GOP candidate.
CNN attempted to contact Paul’s campaign to get a reaction about Thorsen’s controversial appearance, but as of this writing there’s been no response.
Here’s video of Thorsen speaking on behalf of Ron Paul:
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad R. Regelin was an explosive ordnance disposal technician stationed at Naval Base San Diego. The 24-year-old grew up in the small Northern California town of Cottonwood. It was in the nearby hamlet of Anderson that Scott and Shirene Regelin were informed of their son’s death January 2nd in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Upon hearing the news, Mrs. Regelin wrote on her Facebook page:
My heart is absolutely breaking at this time!! I wish someone could tell me it is not true!!! I don’t think I will ever get the picture out of my mind of the four men standing at the door to give me the news. I just want him to come home and let me hug him. I honestly do not know how I am going to get through this!! I LOVE YOU CHAD!!!
Chad’s brother, 31-year-old Justin Regelin, told the Anderson Valley Post that his little brother had called the family just an hour before he was killed.
“He called us while he was on watch. He was really upbeat because he had just gotten his orders to come back stateside on Feb. 15. He told us that he had about a week to go (in Kandahar) before they could helicopter in the replacement team.”
The close-knit Regelin family recently celebrated the accomplishments of Petty Officer 1st Class Regelin. The USO named him its 2011 “Sailor of the Year” for his heroic actions in disposing of explosives. Justin Regelin told the Anderson Valley Post that while his parents and siblings traveled to Washington D.C. in October for the celebratory banquet, Chad did not attend. He had already been called back to Afghanistan for his second tour of duty. He died less than three months later.
A sailor looks out from a deck of the USS Carl Vinson
I remember waking up the morning after President Obama announced Navy SEAL Team 6 had killed Osama bin Laden. Like many of you, I was surprised to learn that bin Laden’s body had been almost immediately buried at sea.
Once at work, I began to scan the internet for any information on the disposal of bin Laden’s body. And then there it was, in the headline of an article on a British news organization’s website. The San Diego-based USS Carl Vinson was the ship responsible for burying bin Laden at sea.
According to the UK Telegraph:
“The deceased’s body was washed and then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag. A military officer read prepared religious remarks which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After the words were complete, the body was place on a prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased’s body eased into the sea.”
I know a lot of family members of the Vinson crew were worried there would be retaliation against the Vinson for its participation in such a momentous event. I also heard from a lot of parents who were so proud of their sons and daughters for being a part of a key moment in U.S. history.
What’s wild is just a few months later, the Vinson would be the scene of another historic event, but this time in the world of sports. The Vinson hosted the Carrier Classic on Veterans Day, the first-ever college basketball game to be played on a live flattop.
Here’s some great time-lapse video showing how the flight deck of the Vinson was turned into a basketball arena:
The mission flag is cased at the end of mission ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq December 15, 2011
Home Post put the question out to readers yesterday: Would you like to see a parade to celebrate the end of the Iraq War? The question was triggered by criticism from GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry while on the campaign trail. He slammed President Obama for not organizing a parade in honor of the troops who fought in the Iraq War.
“That’s quite a question. What did we win? The country has been at civil war since ’06 despite our presence. They’re still in turmoil. We never found WMDs. I think the veterans would appreciate improved healthcare versus a parade. At least that’s something they can use.”
The creative military family reunions just keep coming! This time, Staff Sgt. Brett Randall of Travis Air Force base surprised his wife and 4-year-old daughter at her dance recital in Fairfield, California. Randall had been deployed in Afghanistan. Sacramento TV station KCRA put together the story:
And no, that’s not me hugging Cee Lo.”
