Military news

Bronze Star Medal

BANGOR – Army Sgt. 1st Class Sheldon Tozier has returned to Alaska after being deployed to Iraq. He is assigned to the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, a subordinate unit of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Fort Richardson, Anchorage.

As a result of that tour of duty, Tozier has been decorated with the Bronze Star Medal. The medal is awarded to an individual serving in the U.S. Armed Forces who has performed a heroic act, meritorious achievement or distinguished service not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy, or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. He also was decorated with the Combat Action Badge.

A 1985 graduate of Bangor High School, Tozier, a signal support systems superintendent, has served in the military for 14 years. He is the son of Sheldon Tozier and June Leen, both of Bangor.

Basic training

SAN ANTONIO – Air National Guard Airman Joshua Blanchard graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base. A 2007 graduate of Central High School in Corinth, he is the son of Darlene Ledet of Kaplan, La., and brother of Chad Miller of Corinth.

FORT KNOX, Ky. – Army National Guard Pvt. Michael Vernon Woods graduated from basic military training at Fort Knox. He also graduated from 169th Engineer Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Woods is the son of Rosemary Pasteris of Eddington and the grandson of Vernon L. Doak of Eddington.

SAN ANTONIO – Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Peter A. Wood has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base. Wood is the son of Jeffrey and Susan Wood of Glenburn and is a 2006 graduate of Bangor High School.

SAN ANTONIO – Air National Guard Airman Andrew T. Sinclair has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base. He is the son of Tim Sinclair of Bangor and is a 2006 graduate of Bangor High School.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Army National Guard Pvt. Heather E. Beyenberg has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. She is the daughter of William H. Beyenberg of Norway and Susan R. Manson of Eddington. She graduated from Brewer High School in 2007.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Army Pvt. Nicholas Ford graduated from basic military training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. He is the son of Theresa Bernier of Bucksport and Jonathan Ford of Deltona, Fla.

PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. – Marine Corps Pvt. Zachery Lopez, son of Heather and Thomas Lopez of Hampden, recently completed 12 weeks of basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Army Pvt. Marcus Quesinberry graduated from basic military training at Fort Jackson. Quesinberry is a 2003 graduate of Searsport High School and the son of Denise Quesinberry of Frankfort.

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Army National Guard Pvt. Philip Higgins II graduated from basic military training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. Higgins is a 2006 graduate of Hampden Academy and the son of Philip Higgins of Winterport.

Field training encampment

HAMPDEN ? Christopher J. Horn has completed a U.S. Air Force ROTC field training encampment. The training gives students their first exposure to a working Air Force environment to learn and apply skills.

Horn is a student at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. He is the son of Jo Anne Horn of Hampden.

ROTC leadership training

TACOMA, Wash. ? Tara J. Flagg has graduated from the Army ROTC Leader Development and Assessment Course. She has been commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army. A 2004 graduate of Bangor High School, Flagg is the daughter of Daniel and Sherrie Sullivan of Bangor.

Deployment

HOLDEN – Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher D. Pelkey has deployed overseas to a forward operating base to support the mission of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Pelkey, a quality assurance leading petty officer with 18 years of military service, is regularly assigned to the Patrol Squadron 26, Naval Air Station in Brunswick. He graduated in 1988 from John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor and received an associate degree in 2007 from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla. He is the son of Sally Hicks-Bolton of Holden and Terrence Pelkey of Bangor.