1.
Kirksville, Missouri
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Kirksville is a city in and the county seat of Adair County, Missouri, United States. Located in the Benton Township, its population was 17,505 at the 2010 census, Kirksville is home to two colleges, Truman State University and A. T. Kirksville was laid out in 1841 on a 40-acre site, and was first incorporated in 1857. According to tradition, Jesse Kirk, Kirksvilles first postmaster, shared a dinner of turkey and whiskey with surveyors working in the area on the condition that they would name the town after him. Not only the first postmaster, Kirk was also the first to own a hotel, contrary to popular belief, the name of the city has no connection to John Kirk, onetime president of Truman State University from 1899 to 1925. However, the grandson of Jesse Kirk reported that the town was named for Kirk’s son John, the Battle of Kirksville was fought August 6–9,1862, during the American Civil War. Union troops led by John McNeil forced Confederate volunteers under Joseph Porter to vacate the city, casualty estimates range from 150-200 dead and up to 400 wounded. According to the August 12,1862, Quincy Herald there were 8 Federal dead and 25 wounded, the victorious Union commander, Colonel McNeil, gained brief national attention for his post-battle execution of a small number of Confederate prisoners. These prisoners had previously captured in battle and then paroled with the understanding they would no longer take up arms against the Union, upon penalty of death if recaptured. Nonetheless, Confederate government officials were outraged, and it is said that Confederate president Jefferson Davis even called for the execution of Colonel McNeil if he were to be captured. On the evening of April 27,1899, a passing through Adair County cut a path of destruction three blocks wide, killed 32 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings. On May 13,2009, Kirksville was again the victim of a large tornado, two residents living just outside the city limits were killed by the tornado, and as many as a dozen other area residents were injured. The story and extensive video of the 2009 twister was featured in season 2 of Storm Chasers on the Discovery Channel as well as a 2010 episode of Storm Stories on The Weather Channel. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 14.43 square miles. Kirksville anchors a micropolitan area that comprises Adair and Schuyler counties, as of the census of 2010, there were 17,505 people,6,714 households, and 3,066 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,216.5 inhabitants per square mile, there were 7,434 housing units at an average density of 516.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 92. 3% White,2. 2% African American,0. 2% Native American,2. 4% Asian,0. 1% Pacific Islander,0. 8% from other races, and 2. 0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2. 7% of the population,37. 8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
4.
Lieutenant general (United States)
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In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and the United States Air Force, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general, Lieutenant general is equivalent to the rank of vice admiral in the other uniformed services. The United States Code explicitly limits the number of generals that may be concurrently active to 230 for the Army,60 for the Marine Corps. For the Army and Air Force, no more than about 25% of the active duty general officers may have more than two stars. Some of these slots can be reserved by statute, officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against either limit, including the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The President may also add three-star slots to one if they are offset by removing an equivalent number from other services. Finally, all statutory limits may be waived at the presidents discretion during time of war or national emergency, the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy is almost always a U. S. Army lieutenant general, either upon appointment or shortly thereafter. The three-star grade goes hand-in-hand with the position of office to which it is linked, officers may only achieve three-star grade if they are appointed to positions that require the officer to hold such a rank. Their rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, the nominee must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank. The standard tour length for most lieutenant general positions is three years but some are set four or more years by statute, some statutory limits under the U. S. Code can be waived in times of national emergency or war. Three-star ranks may also be given by act of Congress but this is extremely rare, other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement. Lieutenant generals must retire after 38 years of service unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer, otherwise all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday. However, the Secretary of Defense can defer a three-star officers retirement until the officers 66th birthday, General officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors. Since there is a number of three-star slots available to each service. Additionally, lieutenant generals of all services serve as staff officers at various major command headquarters and The Pentagon. Currently, five women serve as lieutenant generals in the US Army, in theory, a general vacates their three or four-star rank at termination of their assignment unless placed in an equal ranking billet. Douglas MacArthur, who served as general and Army Chief of Staff. Even with the status, such officers are also almost always granted permanent retirement in the last grade they held with the satisfactory completion of at least two or three years in grade
5.
Surgeon General of the United States Army
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The Surgeon General of the United States Army is the senior-most officer of the U. S. Army Medical Department. By policy, the Surgeon General serves as Commanding General, U. S. Army Medical Command as well as head of the AMEDD, the surgeon generals office and staff are known as the Office of the Surgeon General and are located in Falls Church, Virginia. Since 1959, TSG has been appointed in the grade of lieutenant general, by law, TSG may be appointed from any of the six officer branches of the AMEDD. However, prior to the 43rd Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, the incumbent Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Nadja West, is a military physician. He or she is responsible for development, policy direction, organization and these duties include formulating policy regulations on health service support, health hazard assessment and the establishment of health standards. TSG is assisted by a Deputy Surgeon General, congress established the Medical Service of the Continental Army on July 27,1775 and placed a Chief physician & director general of the Continental Army as its head at that time. The first five surgeons general of the U. S. Army served under this title, an Act of May 28,1789 established a Physician general of the U. S. Army. An Act of March 13,1813 cited the Physician & surgeon general of the U. S. Army and this nomenclature remained in place until the Medical Department was established by the Reorganization Act of April 14,1818. Note, The AMEDD Museum at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, military Vaccine Agency Borden Institute U. S. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, from Its Organization, September 29,1789, to March 2,1903, Washington, DC, OTSG Portal Surgeon General Consultant Program The Surgeons General of the U. S
6.
U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal
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The performance must be such as to merit recognition for service that is clearly exceptional. Exceptional performance of duty will not alone justify an award of this decoration. Separate Distinguished Service Medals exist for the different branches of the military as well as a version of the medal which is a senior award of the United States Department of Defense. The Army version of the Distinguished Service Medal is typically referred to simply as the Distinguished Service Medal while the branches of service use the service name as a prefix. However, justification of the award may accrue by virtue of exceptionally meritorious service in a succession of positions of great importance. The Coat of Arms of the United States in Gold surrounded by a circle of Dark Blue enamel,1 ½ inches in diameter, on the reverse is a scroll for the name of the recipient upon a trophy of flags and weapons. The medal is suspended by a bar attached to the ribbon, the ribbon is 1 3/8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes, 5/16 inch Scarlet 67111, 1/16 inch Ultramarine Blue 67118, 5/8 inch White 67101, 1/16 inch Ultramarine Blue, 5/16 inch Scarlet. Additional awards of the Distinguished Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters, the performance must be such as to merit recognition for service which is clearly exceptional. Exceptional performance of duty will not alone justify an award of this decoration. However, justification of the award may accrue by virtue of exceptionally meritorious service in a succession of positions of great importance. The following are authorized components of the Distinguished Service Medal and applicable specifications, Decoration, NSN for replacement medal is 8455-00-246-3830. The Distinguished Service Medal was authorized by Presidential Order dated 01-02-1918 and it was announced by War Department General Order No. The Act of Congress on 07-09-1918, recognized the need for different types and degrees of heroism and meritorious service, the current statutory authorization for the Distinguished Service Medal is Title 10, United States Code, Section 3743. From July 1,1941 to June 6,1969, when the Army stopped publishing awards of the DSM in Department of the Army General Orders, General Martin Dempsey has the record for the greatest number of awards received of the Army Distinguished Service Medal at six. He also received a Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, generals of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhower are tied with five awards received of the Army Distinguished Service Medal. They also each received one award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, davison, who led the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor during their imprisonment by the Japanese, and Colonel William S. Taylor, Program Manager Multiple Launch Rocket System. Among notable civilian recipients are Harry L. Hopkins, Robert S. McNamara, bliss - US Army Chief of Staff General Peyton C. Ridgeway - US Army Chief of Staff General Maxwell D, Colonel Herbert H. Lehman - Governor of New York and United States Senator
7.
Louisiana State University
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Louisiana State University is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, LSU is the flagship institution of the Louisiana State University System. In 2015, the university enrolled over 26,000 undergraduate and over 5,000 graduate students in 14 schools, several of LSUs graduate schools, such as the E. J. Ourso College of Business and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, have received recognition in their respective fields of study. LSUs athletics department fields teams in 21 varsity sports, and is a member of the NCAA, the university is represented by its mascot, Mike the Tiger. Louisiana State University Agricultural & Mechanical College had its origin in land grants made by the United States government in 1806,1811. It was founded as an academy and is still today steeped in military tradition. In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana near Pineville in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana. Modeled initially after Virginia Military Institute, the institution opened with five professors and nineteen cadets on January 2,1860, the original location of the Old LSU Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On January 26,1861, after only a year at the helm, the school closed on June 30,1861, with the start of the American Civil War. During the course of the war, the university reopened briefly in April 1863, the losses sustained by the institution during the Union occupation were heavy, and after 1863 the seminary remained closed for the remainder of the Civil War. Following the surrender of the Confederates at Appomattox Court House on April 9,1865 and these cannons had been captured from Confederate forces after the close of the war and had been used during the initial firing upon Fort Sumter in April 1861. The cannons are still displayed in front of LSUs Military Science/Aerospace Studies Building, the seminary officially reopened its doors on October 2,1865, only to be burned October 15,1869. On November 1,1869, the institution resumed its exercises in Baton Rouge, in 1870, the name of the institution was officially changed to Louisiana State University. It temporarily opened in New Orleans, June 1,1874 and this prompted the final name change for the university to the Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College. On June 7,1925, Oscar B, turner, a professor of agronomy, was murdered by an axe-wielding assailant on campus. On April 30,1926, the present LSU campus was formally dedicated, prior to this, LSU utilized the quarters of the Institute for the Deaf, Mute, and Blind. Land for the present campus was purchased in 1918, construction started in 1922, the campus was originally designed for 3000 students, but was cut back due to budget problems
8.
U.S. European Command
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The United States European Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers 21,000,000 square miles and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russia, Greenland, the Commander of the United States military EUCOM simultaneously serves as the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe within NATO—an intergovernmental military alliance. During the Gulf War and Operation Northern Watch, EUCOM controlled the forces flying from Incirlik Air Base, prior to 1952, the title European Command referred to a single-service, United States Army command. The first unified command in the European area was established by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 1 August 1952, European Command, it was established to provide unified command and authority over all U. S. forces in Europe. Prior to 1 August 1952, the U. S. Air Force, U. S. Navy, in line with the creation of the joint-service European Command, the Army command in Europe was redesignated U. S. Army Europe on 1 August 1952. The unified command structure was born of the need to address changes wrought not only by Americas rapid post-war demobilization, questions arose over the U. S. commitment to the defense of Western Europe against the Soviet Union. In 1949 the allies established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in 1952 the area of responsibility included continental Europe, the United Kingdom, North Africa and Turkey. The AOR was subsequently expanded to include Southwest Asia as far east as Iran, in early 1951, NATO established Allied Command Europe and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was called from retirement to become the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the United States sent massive reinforcements to Europe designed to deter the Soviet Union. From 1950 to 1953 United States military personnel in Europe grew from 120,000 to over 400,000, United States Air Forces in Europe grew from three groups with 35,000 personnel to eleven wings with 136,000 personnel. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean doubled to more than 40 warships, the Army activated the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg in 1952 and deployed it to Bad Tölz in November 1953 for unconventional warfare missions in the Soviet Bloc countries. To provide for national command within NATO and to control this build-up of forces. Because the senior United States commander would continue as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Eisenhower returned to the United States just as the new command was established. The first United States Commander-in-Chief Europe was General Matthew Ridgway, former commander of Eighth Army and his deputy was General Thomas T. Handy, commander of United States Army, Europe. Headquarters EUCOM initially shared the I. G, farben Building in Frankfurt, Germany, with Headquarters United States Army, Europe. By 1953 over 400,000 U. S. troops were stationed in Europe, in 1954, the headquarters moved to Camp des Loges, a French Army base west of Paris and a short distance from SHAPE. There, EUCOM prepared plans for the defense of Western Europe within the NATO framework against the Soviet Union, EUCOM used the Military Assistance Program to help its NATO partners build their military capabilities, including after 1955 the German Bundeswehr. In 1955, EUCOM established a Support Operations Command Europe, soon renamed Support Operations Task Force Europe for special operations missions, in 1961, EUCOM began operating an airborne command post, Operation Silk Purse
United States
