ATLANTIC OCEAN – Retail Services Specialist Seaman Ty’Kera Rich, a Columbia, South Carolina, native, is serving aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). On October 24, Rich was photographed making coffee for a customer in the ship’s coffee shop, showcasing her role in theContinue Reading

Historic military organization traces its lineage to Francis Marion and a century prior By W. Thomas Smith Jr. THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE GUARD, the Palmetto State’s all-volunteer state defense force (organized state militia) celebrated its 350-plus-year heritage during a Veterans Day “Salute to Veterans” ceremony paying tribute to one ofContinue Reading

PACIFIC OCEAN (July 23) Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Christopher Bassett, from San Francisco, right, conducts helmsman training with Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Apprentice Henry Cortez, from Columbia, aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG 77). O’Kane, assigned to the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, is underway conducting routine operationsContinue Reading

PACIFIC OCEAN – On June 24, 2024, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Airman (Launch/Recovery Equipment) Carnell Hill, from Lexington, expertly signaled the retraction of the arresting gear wire after an F/A-18E Super Hornet, part of the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 195 “Dambusters,” successfully landed on the flight deck of the USS RonaldContinue Reading

By Thomas Grant, Jr. During Fort Jackson Night this past Saturday, the Lexington County Blowfish with Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott presented a check of $3,660 to USO South Carolina in support of the non-profit organization’s efforts to assist troops by providing them morale, welfare and recreation-type services. Portions ofContinue Reading

Legionnaires from American Legion Post 193 in Chapin will lay to rest the cremated remains of six previously unclaimed veterans at the Fort Jackson National Cemetery on Friday, May 10. US Army Veteran SSG Howard Weitzell, SSG Weitzell served in the US Army from November 24, 1975 – September 1,Continue Reading

Fort Jackson, SC – The Columbia Recruiting Battalion, stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, recently concluded its highly successful “STEM Roadshow,” held from March 11th to 15th. This innovative event, spotlighting careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), spanned three states and made stops at five prestigious high schools.Continue Reading