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Submit your photos for Welcome to the Pacific cover by Jan. 15

Have you ever dreamed about having your photo featured on the cover of a magazine?
Thomas Nielson was a Korean War veteran who spent decades fighting for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. He died before the agency ruled in his favor. (NIELSON FAMILY)
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Five years after his death, Korean War vet awarded more than $720,000 in accrued benefits from VA

Thomas Nielson joined the Air Force when he was 17 and was promptly deployed to South Korea where the war against the communist-backed North was just getting underway. He served on the peninsula from 1950-54.
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Senators demand a VA crackdown on unqualified doctors

A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday introduced a bill requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to better vet their health care providers after a report by a federal watchdog found the department has a track record of hiring unqualified doctors.
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Gilmore
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Merry Christmas Drop from Woleai

A villager smiles for the camera as he continues to disassemble one of five Low-Cost, Low-Altitude humanitarian aid bundles airdropped to the island of Woleai in the Federated States of Micronesia as part of Operation Christmas Drop 2019, Dec. 10, 2019.
Due to the increasing relevance of the drug, the Department of Defense added fentanyl and its metabolite, norfentanyl to all service Drug Demand Reduction Program drug tests. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Nicole Leidholm)
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Don’t die for the high: Fentanyl kills

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid often prescribed to help with severe pain such as during surgical recovery. While it can be very helpful to those who need it, when used outside of the context of recovery, fentanyl can lead to negative consequences to a service member’s health and career.
In a 2004 photo, smoke billows in from all sides as Sgt. Richard Ganske, 84th Combat Engineer Battalion, pushes a bulldozer deep into the flames of a burn pit at LSA Anaconda, Iraq. U.S. ARMY
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Defense bill would require DOD to map out where troops could've been exposed to toxins from burn pits

The House is set to approve a $725 billion defense bill that includes two key provisions to eliminate existing burn pits and require the Defense Department to map out where troops were exposed to toxic fumes.
“County Veteran Service Offices are on the front lines every day working to combat this tragic crisis,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., shown here in a 2015 press conference, said in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation will support their efforts to provide needed services and solutions for our veterans that will improve their health and well-being.” STARS AND STRIPES
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Bill would give $250 million to local veterans offices to fight suicide

Four senators introduced a measure Wednesday that would give $250 million in federal funding over the next five years to local government employees responsible for helping veterans process claims for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kyle Johnson
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Operation Christmas Drop day one

Tech. Sgt. Mario Montoya, and Senior Airman Lauren Shaw, 36th Airlift Squadron loadmasters out of Yokota Air Base, Japan, prepare to cut free a Low-Cost, Low-Altitude bundle during as part of Operation Christmas Drop 2019.
APRA HARBOR, Guam (Dec. 10, 2019) The Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Key West (SSN 722) is moored to the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd upon completion of a mobile logistics demonstration. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kelsey J. Hockenberger)
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Key West conducts mobile logistics demonstration

APRA HARBOR, Guam (Dec. 10, 2019) – USS Key West (SSN 722) conducted a mobile logistics demonstration with the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE-4) in Apra Harbor, Guam Dec.
A U.S. flag that survived for more than a decade after it was hidden from insurgents in Iraq is displayed during a ceremony at Fort Bliss, Texas, Sept. 11, 2019. AHMED ALSAEDI
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US flag, signed by soldiers and hidden in Iraq for years, inspires message from Trump

The story of an American flag, signed by U.S. troops and hidden from Iraqi insurgents for more than a decade, has inspired President Donald Trump to write to the soldier who brought it home.
Marines with India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, graduated from recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on March 29, 2019. India Company is the first combined company of male and female recruits to graduate from recruit training. VIVIEN ALSTAD/U.S. MARINE CORPS
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Defense budget bill would end Marine Corps’ gender-segregated recruit training

Male and female Marine Corps recruits will train together at boot camp under a provision in the new defense budget, ending the service’s practice of gender segregation.
Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell, senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks as he prepares to depart the position during a news briefing in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room on Dec. 9, 2019, in Washington. Troxell wore the new rank insignia for his position while meeting with reporters Monday ahead of his retirement Friday. JAMES K. MCCANN/DOD
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Military’s outgoing top enlisted leader unveils unique rank insignia for SEAC

The U.S. military’s top enlisted service member unveiled a new, distinctive rank insignia specifically for the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an insignia that he will wear for his last week on the job.
Fudge
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Pet of the week: Fudge

Call G.A.I.N. (Guam Animals in Need) Animal Shelter in Yigo at 653-4246 or visit for more information on adopting this pet. G.A.I.N. is a shelter-based humane society with a mission to prevent cruelty to animals, educate the public and promote good animal laws. Under Water World will donate one adult admission for every Pet of the Week adopted.
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The upside to a shorter holiday season

Ever since I realized that we have one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, I’ve been moping around feeling ripped off.
U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Richard Ebensberger
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VIDEO| Operation Christmas Drop 2019 kicks off at Andersen AFB Guam

Military and civilian leaders push an airdrop bundle onto a C-130J Super Hercules assigned to the 36th Airlift Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan, during the Operation Christmas Drop 2019 Push Ceremony Dec. 9, 2019, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
In a January, 2019 photo, recruits walk in formation wearing neck gaiters during a snowstorm at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill.. SPENCER FLING/U.S. NAVY
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Navy uniform updates include neck gaiters, two-piece swimsuits for physical test

Sailors now have the option to wear a black neck gaiter during cold weather as well as a two-piece swim suit for the physical readiness test, among some of the uniform updates announced Monday by the Navy.