Military Newsmakers

Training Graduates

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Army Reserve Pfc. Cara L. Crawford has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia. Crawford is the daughter of Melissa Spicer of Robertsdale, Ala., and granddaughter of Richard and Linda Crawford of Martinez.

U.S. Army Col. Kenneth L. Gainous, deputy chief of staff of the 335th Signal Command, has graduated from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. He is the son of SGM (retired) Willie Gainous Jr. and Dr. Elizabeth C. Gainous, of Grovetown.

Coast Guard Fireman Todd R. Lamb , son of Deidre L. Greiner of Grovetown, recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, N. J. Lamb is a 2004 graduate of Greenbrier High School.

Army Pvt. Damekas A. Eubanks has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia. He is the son of Stephanie Walker of Harlem, and Daniel Eubanks of Aberdeen, Md. Eubanks is a 2003 graduate of Thomson High School.

Army Reserve Pfc. William Darnell has graduated from Basic Combat training at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla. Darnell is the son of Karen Swasey of Gardnerville, Nev., and nephew of Linda Hoehle of Martinez. Darnell is a 2007 graduate of Evans High School.

Deployments

Marine Corps Pfc. Ricardo Chavez , a 2003 graduate of Evans High School, and 140 fellow Marines of Fox Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, McCrady National Guard Training Center, Fort Jackson, recently began a seven-month deployment to Al Anbar province, Iraq, in support of the global war on terrorism.

Prior to the deployment, the Marines completed Exercise Mojave Viper, a 30-day course in urban combat and cultural awareness. The course is conducted at the Marine Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., in an environment similar to Iraq. The training allows commanders to tailor training to individual unit requirements and prepares Marines for conducting combat and humanitarian operations to assist the Iraqi people.

Chavez joined the Marine Corps in January 2007.

Army Lt. Col. Brian C. Griffith is deployed in Iraq to support the mission of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Griffith, a urologist with 13 years of military service, is normally assigned to Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon. He is the son of Helen Griffith of Cartersville, Ga. His wife, Mary Beth, is the daughter of Michael T. and M. Kay McCord of Martinez, Ga. In 1987, he graduated from Adairsville High School and received a bachelor's degree in 1992 from Georgia Tech. He earned a master's degree in 1996 from Medical College of Georgia.