With the recent tragic event at Fort Hood, I wonder if anyone will stop and consider the operational tempo our men and women in today's military are faced with. I am retired from the USAF. I have a son in the USAF who just returned from a six-month deployment to Afghanistan. Many of the young men and women at places like Fort Hood have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan four and five times for six to 18 months at a time, facing conditions and dangers that most of us can't even imagine. I hear lots of political rhetoric about how great they are and what a wonderful job they are doing. We now debate a plus-up of the number of troops we have in place. ...more

November 9, 2009

Details are sketchy, but the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, appear to be a brazen attack on the largest U.S. Army base in the world. ...more

November 6, 2009

Our troops and their generals have to contend with our president and many in Congress who have deliberately diverted billions of dollars from the defense budget. Critical funds for our defense have been siphoned off for President Obama's government stimulus packages, bailout programs and many pork-barrel projects. ...more

November 4, 2009

Girls ages 5 to 17 can sign up for Girl Scouts from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. The annual membership rally will be at the Girl Scout House at Mike Sansone Community Park, 1702 N. Park Road, south of Interstate 4. Light refreshments will be served, and girls may take part in craft-making. ...more

September 6, 2009

A new study shows female managers are more than three times as likely than their male counterparts to underrate their bosses' opinions of their job performance. ...more

August 11, 2009

A European reality show based on the travel adventures of eight men and women from Italy will film segments in the Tampa Bay area Monday and Tuesday. ...more

August 8, 2009

A European reality show based on the travel adventures of eight men and women from Italy will film segments in the Tampa Bay area Monday and Tuesday. ...more

August 7, 2009

My wife and I recently flew to Panama City for a family reunion-birthday party. The flight out of Orlando went to Atlanta, then Panama City and the same was so on the return flight. ...more

August 6, 2009

Some military men and women recently got to rub shoulders with a few sports celebrities while playing a round of golf. ...more

July 29, 2009

I am somewhat dismayed by the recent letter concerning "loud aircraft." I also hear the aircraft but instead of being bothered by it, my wife and I enjoy the sound. The sound of the aircrafts indicates that our military is being trained. Training in a safe zone helps to enable the members of our military to perform their missions and return safely from the combat zones. ...more

May 25, 2009