Ryan Pitts is a former United States Army soldier, is the ninth living recipient of the Medal of Honor from the War in Afghanistan. Pitts grew up in Mont Vernon,NH; as a child, in kindergarten, Pitts wanted to join the Army. In 2003, he graduated from Souhegan High School. Pitts joined the United States Army in 2003, attended One Station Unit Training at Fort Sill. After completing training Pitt was assigned to 319th Field Artillery Regiment until 2005. During his time in the Army, Pitt deployed twice. Pitts was recommended to receive a Distinguished Service Cross. Pitts was awarded the medal on July 21, 2014, for actions on July 13, 2008, during the Battle of Wanat; as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, Sgt. Pitts served as a Forward Observer. Along with Salvatore Giunta and Kyle J. White, Pitts is the third recipient of the Medal of Honor from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment. Pitts was medically discharged in 2009. Pitts lives in New Hampshire, with his wife Amy and son, Lucas. Pitts graduated from the University of New Hampshire at Manchester with a bachelor's degree in Business.
He works in business development for Oracle. In 2015, Pitts was proclaimed as "New Englander of the Year" by his alma mater. Pitts describes himself as a "private" individual. Staff Sergeant Pitts' awards and decorations include the Medal of Honor, Bronze Star Medal w/ "V" Device, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal w/ three Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal with Bronze Clasp and two Loops, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Two Campaign Stars, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon with Numeral "4", NATO Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, Combat Action Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Parachutist Badge as well as 2 service stripes and 4 Overseas Service Bars; the President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to SERGEANT RYAN M. PITTS UNITED STATES ARMY For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Forward Observer in 2d Platoon, Chosen Company, 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade, during combat operations against an armed enemy at Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler vicinity of Wanat Village, Kunar Province, Afghanistan on July 13, 2008.
Early that morning, while Sergeant Pitts was providing perimeter security at Observation Post Topside, a well-organized Anti-Afghan Force consisting of over 200 members initiated a close proximity sustained and complex assault using accurate and intense rocket-propelled grenade, machine gun and small arms fire on Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. An immediate wave of rocket-propelled grenade rounds engulfed the Observation Post wounding Sergeant Pitts and inflicting heavy casualties. Sergeant Pitts had been knocked to the ground and was bleeding from shrapnel wounds to his arm and legs, but with incredible toughness and resolve, he subsequently took control of the observation post and returned fire on the enemy; as the enemy drew nearer, Sergeant Pitts threw grenades, holding them after the pin was pulled and the safety lever was released to allow a nearly immediate detonation on the hostile forces. Unable to stand on his own and near death because of the severity of his wounds and blood loss, Sergeant Pitts continued to lay suppressive fire until a two-man reinforcement team arrived.
Sergeant Pitts assisted them by giving up his main weapon and gathering ammunition all while continually lobbing fragmentary grenades until these were expended. At this point, Sergeant Pitts crawled to the northern position radio and described the situation to the command post as the enemy continued to try and isolate the Observation Post from the main Patrol Base. With the enemy close enough for him to hear their voices and with total disregard for his own life, Sergeant Pitts whispered in radio situation reports and conveyed information that the Command Post used to provide indirect fire support. Sergeant Pitts' courage, steadfast commitment to the defense of his unit and ability to fight while wounded prevented the enemy from overrunning the observation post and capturing fallen American soldiers, prevented the enemy from gaining fortified positions on higher ground from which to attack Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts' extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Company C, 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade and the United States Army.
List of Afghanistan Medal of Honor recipients List of living Medal of Honor recipients Staff Sergeant Ryan Pitts Medal of Honor President Obama Presents the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts Ryan Pitts Interview at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The PZL.49 Miś was a Polish twin-engined medium bomber design that remained only a project due to the outbreak of World War II. The PZL.49 was based on the contemporary PZL.37 Łoś and was to replace it at production lines at the PZL works. The PZL.49 was a development of the advanced, "state-of-the-art" medium bomber PZL.37 Łoś, designed by Jerzy Dąbrowski, Stanisław Kot and Piotr Kubicki. About 50% of its design elements were taken from PZL.37 Łoś bomber to simplify the design process. The main target for the design team was to increase performance flight speed, by means of installing more powerful engines and improving aerodynamics, its standard 2,200 kg bomb load could be increased to 3,000 kg by decreasing its fuel load. Its standard 2,200 km range could be increased to 3,000 km with additional fuel tanks. Detailed project was ready in mid-1938 and a report by General Józef Zając from 28 November 1938 stated that all drawings were complete. Design process was slow due to the simultaneous involvement of PZL construction bureau in development of the PZL.50 Jastrząb fighter.
During the summer of 1939, a mock-up of the PZL.49 was approved by the Air Force and project could be continued. Due to the engagement of Jerzy Dąbrowski in PZL.62 development, Piotr Kubicki became the leader of the PZL.49 design team. In late 1938 or early 1939 production of parts for two prototypes begun in Wytwórnia Płatowców nr 1 of PZL factory. In early 1939 a full-scale mock-up of fuselage with part of the left wing was built for testing placement of cockpit and fuselage equipment. Serial production was planned to take place in the PZL WP-2 factory in Mielec as well as construction bureau HQ. A development schedule from August 1939 set the first flight of PZL.49/I in the summer of 1940, with the first serial built aircraft being delivered to combat units in late 1941 or early 1942. However, due to the German invasion on 1 September 1939, all plans were canceled. All documentation of the PZL.49 project was moved to Jerzy Dąbrowski's apartment in Warsaw early September 1939 and in late September, during siege of Warsaw, was burned in a nearby bakery to avoid German capture.
Little of the documentation has been recovered since the war. The aircraft was conventional in layout, all metal, with a twin tail. In terms of size, it was larger than the Lockheed Model 10 Electra that Amelia Earhart used and was comparable to its predecessor, the PZL.37 Łoś. The crew consisted of four: pilot, commander/bombardier, radio operator and a rear gunner; the bombardier was accommodated in the glazed nose, with two forward-firing 7.92 mm PWU wz.37 machine guns. The radio operator sat above the bomb bay; the radio operator operated two rear-firing 7.92 mm PWU wz.37 machine guns fitted in a kołyska. The rear gunner sat in a fuselage turret with four 7.92 mm PWU wz.37 machine guns. The main undercarriage retracted into the engine nacelles; the undercarriage was double-wheeled, with an independent suspension for each wheel and retractable rear wheel. The plane was powered by two Bristol Hercules radial engines with NACA covers; the bombs were carried in a two-section bomb bay in the fuselage, as well as bomb bays in the central section of the wings.
The maximum load was 3,000 kg. Wings were fitted with split flaps. PZL.49/I First prototype for flight and static trials. PZL.49/II Second prototype, pattern aircraft for PZL.49A version. PZL.49A Version powered by PZL-Bristol Hercules III engines. PZL.49B Export version with French Gnome-Rhône 14N-50/51 engines. PolandPolish Air Force Brygada Bombowa Data from Samoloty: PZL-49 "Bear"General characteristics Crew: 4 Length: 14.5 m Wingspan: 18 m Height: 4.8 m Wing area: 55 m2 Empty weight: 6,500 kg Max takeoff weight: 11,500 kg Powerplant: 2 × PZL-Bristol Hercules III 14-cylinder air-cooled sleeve-valve radial piston engines to 1,050 kW for take-off829–862 kW nominal ratingPropellers: 3-bladed de Havilland or PZL-Hamilton-Standard adjustable / variable pitch propellersPerformance Maximum speed: 520 km/h Range: 2,000 km Ferry range: 3,000 km Wing loading: 209.9 kg/m2 Power/mass: 0.1825 kW/kg Armament Guns: 2 × 7.92 mm PWU wz.37 machine guns]] in nose 2 × 7.92 mm PWU wz.37 machine guns mounted in ventral position 1 × 20 mm Oerlikon FF S or FK wz.38D cannon, or 4 × 7.92 mm PWU wz.37 machine guns in dorsal turret Bombs: 3,000 kg of bombs Related development PZL.37 ŁośAircraft of comparable role and era Handley Page Hampden Heinkel He 111 Dornier Do 17 Ilyushin DB-3 Ilyushin Il-4 Mitsubishi G4M Nakajima Ki-49 Glass, Andrzej.
Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939". Warsaw: WKiŁ
OnRamp Systems is a legal technology company that specializes in applying people and technology in support of corporate legal departments. OnRamp System’s collaborative platform, Legal OnRamp, has been cited by Harvard Law School as one of the first to combine law and technology. In 2007, OnRamp Systems founded a free collaboration platform called Legal OnRamp, for in-house counsel and private practitioners to connect and share information virtually. Legal OnRamp featured many elements common to social networking websites, including message boards, databases and closed groups, calendars of professional events, open forums for discussion and document sharing. Membership was by invitation and limited to third-party legal service providers. In 2014, Legal OnRamp re-launched its online platform updating some elements of the earlier site and incorporating more developed collaborative tools. Led by its CEO Paul Lippe, Legal OnRamp is identified with innovation in the legal industry. Legal OnRamp has been noted for unconventional approaches to large-scale legal projects, attorney training, legal work product.
In addition, Lippe writes for the American Bar Association Legal Rebels blog “the New Normal,” which discusses “how the practice of law is being remade.” Mark Chandler, General Counsel for CISCO Systems, encouraged Lippe to build the collaborative platform aimed at negotiating proper value for work. OnRamp has garnered support from Allen & Overy, one of the UK’s “Magic Circle” firms. In 2009, The Corporate Executive Board Company began a strategic collaboration with OnRamp as part of an initiative to bring new resources to law department members of the General Counsel Roundtable. In 2010, the global law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP increased its investment in Legal OnRamp. Following the success of the Legal OnRamp collaboration platform, OnRamp Systems launched a number of private, enterprise-scale, collaboration platform projects; the OnRamp Exchange system allows attorneys to collaborate with large teams as well as store and manage documents. The focus of these projects is on managing legal complexity at the systems and data level, instead of relying on complex reasoning.
On April 28, 2016, Elevate announced. OnRamp Systems Inc. offers solutions that include large-scale legal analysis, hosted systems and applications, planning and consulting services. Applications include Resolution Planning under the Dodd-Frank Act, contract analysis for revenue recognition, other large-scale legal functions in compliance, vendor management, contract system improvements, transactional legal projects; these projects may combine scaled services, process consulting, technology elements. OnRamp employs a “Massive Online Legal Analysis” approach to legal projects; the term “MOLA” refers to a methodology that systematizes legal tasks to allow limited expert resources to be applied to maximum legal work product. It is characterized by large numbers of defined “data points” being analyzed by a large, distributed team of attorneys working together through a server-based workflow platform. MOLA systems are designed to allow data to be and independently verifiable, allowing quality to be monitored and corrected at scale.
OnRamp exchange is a web-scale, hosted technology platform that can be deployed as a stand-alone application or in support of MOLA services. It supports document management, collaboration features, productivity features, reporting and alerts, permission controls. Riverview Law, a fixed-priced legal services business, provides Legal Advisory Outsourcing services for OnRamp in the UK and partners with OnRamp Systems to provide services for global enterprises. Riverview and OnRamp have partnered on projects relating to the regulatory requirements of Dodd-Frank related Recovery and Resolution Plans; as IBM brings the Jeopardy-winning Watson system to market, Legal OnRamp is one of the first Ecosystem partners in law, assisting large banking institutions in complying with Dodd-Frank’s mandate for RRPs. OnRamp's goal is to help harness Watson's cognitive computing capabilities much in the way Watson has assisted Memorial Sloan Kettering in using its capacity to assist doctors in patient treatment plans.
OnRamp’s model includes services, some are supported by their "Bridge to Practice" for new lawyers. Partnering directly with law schools, OnRamp offers an alternative to traditional legal career development paths by using large-scale legal projects as a legal training ground. Twelve law schools were part of the OnRamp partnership. Law schools with which OnRamp has partnered include: Boston College Boston University Emory University Georgetown University Harvard University Michigan State University New York University Northeastern University Northwestern University Ohio State University UC Hastings College of the Law University of Colorado University of Denver University of Southern California University of the Pacific Vanderbilt University Legal OnRamp website - appears to be broken "A Partial List of Law Firms Participating in Legal OnRamp" ABAJournal.com
José María de Echeandía was twice Mexican governor of Alta California from 1825 to 1831 and again from 1832 to 1833. He was the only governor of California. At the college of engineers in Mexico City, he was a Lieutenant-Colonel, he move to Mexico at appointment, leaving his wife and four daughters in Mexico with an olive oil mill he owned. He asked Mexico to give half of his government pay to his Wife. In 1855 he returned to Mexico to find his wife was paid no money and his mill not doing well, with his fortunes turned and he found himself poor. In 1835 there was an earthquake. Being an engineer he was in demand to repair the many damaged buildings and was able to get out of poverty. Antonio López de Santa Anna arrested him in 1855 for a political reasons on something Echeandía negatively said about him, but he was released, he returned to California and lived there with his daughters after the U. S. takeover in 1847 he continued in California until his death in 1871. He had step-daughters to care for him in his old age.
In 1825 Echeandía was appointed Governor of upper Alta California. He moved to California as this was the current capital. Not liking the cold fog and that he felt too far away from Baja, he moved to San Diego. Most of the administrative office stayed in Monterey. Much of the north Californio were not happy with this absent leader, he appointed Military officer José María Padré as a Lit. Governor of Baja California. Padré was elected to Mexico's congress in 1828. Padré appointed a lower level office in his place. In 1829 Manuel Victoria was sent to be the governor Baja California. Victoria was more on the side of the missions over Californio. In 1826 Governor Echeandía had Jedediah Smith and his men "arrested", interviewed and ordered to depart California; as he was fearful that Smith's reports would open the area to Americans. Echeandía reduced the area and time span of Russians sea otter hunting off the coast of California, that his predecessor Luis Antonio Argüello had licensed to the Russians. In 1827 Echeandía did not deport Father José Barona a priest of the Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Barona supported Independence of Mexico. The Mexican government passed legislation on December 20, 1827, that mandated the expulsion of all Spaniards younger than sixty years of age from Mexican territories. In 1828 Echeandía issued the first truancy law of California, it ordered the commanding officers to compel parents to send their children to the schools which he had established. In 1829, throughout Alta California, there were 339 students in 11 primary schools. During this time a noted educator in San Diego was his 18 pupils. Private schools operated throughout this time in California also. After Victoria's removal Echeandía started serving as provisional governor of the south part of California from 1832 to 1833. Agustin V. Zamorano from 1832 to 1833 was provisional governor of north part of California; this was due to the removal of Victoria. The removal was in part due the a military uprising revolt and the Battle of Cahuenga Pass and Victoria was not liked by the rich. In 1829 soldiers who had not been paid for years marched south starting in Monterey.
Echeandía had his troops stop them just before Santa Barbara. In 1829 Estanislao, an indigenous alcalde, of Mission San José and a member and leader of the Lakisamni tribe of the Yokut people of northern California lead a bands of armed Native Americans in revolt against the California Mexican government. Estanislao led many raids against Mexican settlers. Echeandía send troops led by Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo to battle him in the San Joaquin Valley but did not win. In 1833, malaria was introduced into the San Joaquin Valley by Canadian beaver trappers from the Hudson's Bay Company. More than 20,000 California natives died from malaria in 1833 including many Yokuts, Chumash and others, thus ending the revolts. Governor José Figueroa arrived from Mexico in 1833, resolving the north-south political struggle and replaced Echeandía on January 14, 1833. Figueroa continued the secularization of missions and giving out of Mexican land grants. Echeandía as the first native Mexican elected Governor of Alta California issued a "Proclamation of Emancipation" on July 25, 1826.
All Indians within the military districts of San Diego Mission, Santa Barbara, Monterey who were found qualified were freed from missionary rule and made eligible to become Mexican citizens. Those who wished to remain under mission tutelage were exempted from most forms of corporal punishment. By 1830 those new to California appeared confident in their own abilities to operate the mission ranches and farms independently. In 1831, the number of Indians under missionary control in all of Upper-Alta California was about 18,683 and about 4,342 of garrison soldiers, free settlers, "other classes" totaled 4,342. New immigration of both Mexican and foreigners, increased pressure on the Alta California government to seize the mission properties and dispossess the natives in accordance with Echeandía's directive. Despite the fact that Echeandía's emancipation plan was met with little encouragement from the newcomers who populated the southern missions, he was nonetheless determined to test the scheme on a large scale at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
To that end, he appointed a number of comisionados to oversee the emancipatio
Brigadier-General William Thomas Clifford Beckett CBE DSO VD was a British railway engineer in India and a British Army officer. Beckett was the eldest son of William Henry Beckett, a colonel in the Indian Army and his wife Sarah Philadelphia Beckett, he was educated at Crystal Palace School of Engineering. His uncle, Frederick Thomas Granville Walton, was an acclaimed bridge engineer in India, in charge of the construction of the Dufferin Bridge over the Ganges at Benares between 1881 and 1887, who served from 1900 as the engineer-in-chief for the construction of the iconic Havelock Bridge, a 2700-metre crossing of the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh. In 1887, Beckett was appointed a district engineer with the Bengal-Nagpur Railway in India, he became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1889 and a member in 1895. He was promoted to superintending engineer in 1900 and chief engineer and acting general manager in 1901, he was noted for his bridging of the rivers in Orissa, for which he was awarded the Stephenson Gold Medal and the Telford Premium.
The largest and most challenging bridge completed as part of these works was the construction of the first rail bridge over the Mahanadi River at Cuttack, completed in 1900. From 1900 to 1904 he was government representative on both the Calcutta Port Trust and the Calcutta Corporation. For many years, Beckett was an officer in the Bengal-Nagpur Railway Rifles, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel commanding the battalion. On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 he joined the British Army and in 1915 was given command of the 1st/12th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, a pioneer battalion which he commanded for the rest of the war, being awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1918. In 1919 he was given command of the British Military Railway Mission in Siberia and Manchuria during the Russian Civil War and was given the rank of brigadier-general, he was mentioned in dispatches four times and appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Siberian War Honours of January 1920.
From 1921 to 1923, when he retired, he was British member of the Inter-Allied Technical Board for the Trans-Siberian Railway at Harbin. He was awarded the Chinese Order of the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun. In December 1889 William Beckett married Bessie Drummond Thomason, fourth daughter of Major-General Charles Simeon Thomason and granddaughter of James Thomason, lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces from 1843 to 1853 and founder of the College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee. Major-General Clifford Thomason Beckett and Captain W. N. T. Beckett RN were his sons. Obituary, The Times, 11 February 1939 The Bridges over the Orissa Rivers on the East Coast Extension of the Bengal – Nagpur Railway, W. T. C. Beckett, M. Inst. C. E. Paper No. 3250, 1901 Who Was Who