Military Notes

James Tash promoted to Command Sergeant Major
    HOGDON — James Tash of Hodgdon was promoted to Command Sergeant Major of the 133d Engineer Battalion, Maine Army National Guard.  The 133rd operates armories from Portland to Ft. Kent and with 600 soldiers, it resembles a large construction company.    
    Tash deployed with the 152nd Field Artillery Forward to Abu Ghraib Prison, Iraq in 2004.  He deployed a second time in 2006 as part of the Maine National Guard’s Security Force II. This unit conducted extensive force protection operations, convoy security and route clearance in Iraq.
    He is a graduate of Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln, and now lives with his wife Lori in Hodgdon.
Pvt. Benjamin Figuried graduates from basic
Army Pvt. Benjamin Figuried has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.
    During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises.
    Figuried is a 1999 graduate of Hodgdon High School.