Saturday, March 1, 2008

The Army chief of staff has announced several general officer assignments for commands in the Middle East.

Maj. Gen. Bernard S. Champoux, deputy chief of staff for operations, International Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan, will become the legislative liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Army.Col. Charles A. Anderson, director of force development, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8, U.S. Army, will get a star and become commanding general, Third Army/U.S. Army Central, Kuwait.Brig. Gen. James M. Milano, deputy commander of 4th Infantry Division and Multi-National Division—Baghdad, will become commander of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, Iraq.Brig. Gen. Robin P. Swan, current commander of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, will become deputy commander of 4th Infantry Division and MND—Baghdad.Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, assistant surgeon general for warrior care transition, Office of the Surgeon General, Washington, D.C., will become deputy chief of staff, operations, ISAF, Afghanistan.Heart attack sidelines airmanAdd one more to the list of potentially deadly deployment hazards: dodge ball.

No, really.

An airman at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, collapsed and suffered a heart attack during one strenuous game this week, according to an Air Force news release.

Airman 1st Class James Garrett, of the 376th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, was treated and then medically evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

“I really don’t recall what happened,” the 19-year-old was quoted as saying. “One moment, I was playing dodge ball and the next thing I knew I was [in the medical clinic] and they were sticking needles and things in me.”

Garrett’s firefighter teammates provided first aid, then helped medics give him more care, the release said.

From staff reports

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