Air Force Lt. Col. Brian P. McLaughlin has been selected for promotion to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force.
McLaughlin, a command and control directorate deputy director with 25 years of military service, is assigned to the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center, Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Ill.
He is the brother of Michele Prybella of Philadelphia, Pat McLaughlin of New Hope and Denny McLaughlin of Bensalem. His wife Amy is the daughter of Fran Tucker of Grant, Fl.
McLaughlin, a 1981 graduate of Bensalem High School, received a master’s degree from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 2004.
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Army Reserve Capt. Vincent C. Cooper and Army Reserve Sgt. Scott M. Magro are returning to the U.S. after deployments to Iraq serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn, or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations.
The soldiers return to Joint Base Dix-McGuire-Lakehurst, N.J., for debriefing, evaluations and out-processing procedures before returning to their regularly assigned Army Reserve or National Guard units.
Operation New Dawn transitions and signifies a formal end to U.S. military combat operations in Iraq.
The transition shifts the U.S. emphasis from predominantly military to predominately civilian as the U.S. officials assist Iraqis in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement.
The three primary missions of U.S. Forces include advising, assisting, and training the Iraqi Security Forces; conducting partnered counterterrorism operations; and providing support to provincial reconstruction teams and civilian partners as they help build Iraq’s civil capacity.
Operation Enduring Freedom is the official name given to anti-terrorism military operations involving U.S. troops and allied coalition partners.
Active duty and reserve component members from all branches of the U.S. armed forces have been deployed to support the war against global terrorism outside the borders of the United States.
U.S. troops serve in South, Southwest and Central Asia, the Arabian peninsula, the Horn of Africa, islands in the Pacific, and Europe.
Cooper and Magro served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Cooper, a resource management officer with 14 years of military service, is assigned to the 359th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, based in Fort Gordon, Ga.
He is the son of Walt Cooper of Allentown, Pa., and brother of Walt F. Cooper of Philadelphia.
In 1992, the captain graduated from Bethlehem Catholic High School, Pa. and received a bachelor’s degree in 1999 from Kutztown University.
Magro, a military police member with nine years of military service, is regularly assigned to the 372nd Military Police Company, based out of Cumberland, Md.
He is the son of Barbara A. Magro of Philadelphia. His wife Christine is the daughter of Michael J. and Betty M. Linko of Harleysville, Pa.
Magro is a 1991 graduate of North Penn High School, Lansdale, Pa.
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Air Force Airman Russell W. Chapin, Air Force Reserve Airman Anthony Rettano, Air Force Reserve Airmen 1st Class Jessica Valdez and Luis A. Pena III, and Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Tyler A. Dewey graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
The airmen completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Chapin, the son of Russell Chapin of Philadelphia, is a 2010 graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School.
Rettano, the son of Anthony Rettano Sr. of Philadelphia, is a 2008 graduate of Northeast High School.
Valdez is the daughter of Alberto Valdez of Philadelphia and Janette Brandon of Decatur, Ga.
Pena is the son of Elizabeth Torres of Philadelphia and Luis Pena of Bridgeport, Conn.
Dewey, the son of Stephen and Sara Dewey of Philadelphia, is a 2010 Father Judge High School graduate. ••
