WIESBADEN, Germany – While much news has been made of the transformation occurring in today’s military, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is ensuring buildings and people that aren’t undergoing front-page makeovers don’t get left behind.

HEIDELBERG, Germany – The Installation Management Command-Europe Library Program is presenting critically acclaimed author Andrew Carroll as part of his What’s Your Story? tour, a series of discussions and readings planned at nine locations throughout Germany.

CHIÈVRES, Belgium - U.S. Army Garrison Benelux Soldiers partnered with Belgian Soldiers from the 1st Artillery from Bastogne during weapons qualification training. U.S. Soldiers use Belgian training facilities, located at Camp Albert Roi, for their field training needs, allowing Benelux troops to hone their warfighter skillsets while saving the Army time and money.

The Exceptional Family Member Program Summer Activity, commonly referred to by participants as EFMP Camp, was held July 14-18 in Heidelberg, Germany.

A commentary from a parent of an exceptional family member in Heidelberg, Germany.

SGT Catherine Olivarez looks over a toddler during a medical civil action program at a village school in Goubetto, Djibouti. Olivarez is a medic with the 345th Civil Affairs Brigade working with Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Navy and Marine Corps medical teams from the USS Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group joined with their Army counterparts during the six-day project.

GARMSICH, Germany – Continuing a tradition of excellence from U.S. Army Garrison Garmisch Military Police, Sgt. Marco Garced was named the 2008 Installation Management Command Soldier of the Year during competition held July 14-17 at Fort AP Hill, Va.

VICENZA, Italy (July 24, 2008) -- July has been a month of homecomings for Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team as they return here from a 15-month deployment in Afghanistan. Spc. Jesse A. Murphree of Destined Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), reversed that Afghanistan to Italy airflow July 22 when he traveled from the United States to rejoin his unit as they arrived at Aviano Air Base, Italy.

ILLESHEIM, Germany (July 24, 2008) -- The 3rd Battalion, 159th Aviation conducted a ceremony at the airfield on Storck Barracks here July 11 signifying its impending deployment to Iraq. The ceremony marked the end of six months of intensive pre-deployment training, which included logging thousands of flight hours, driving tens of thousands of miles, qualifying in every weapons system in the battalion’s inventory, and completing convoy live-fire and helicopter gunnery training and a Mission Rehearsal Exercise.

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany (July 24, 2008) -- A military police NCO and a transportation management Soldier have been named the best Soldiers in U.S. Army Europe's 21st Theater Sustainment Command for 2008. Maj. Gen. Yves J. Fontaine, commander of the 21st TSC, announced the top troops during an award ceremony and dinner at Armstrong's Club here, July 18. The command’s NCO of the Year honors went to Staff Sgt. Mark Lewis, a military police squad leader and shift supervisor for the 630th Military Police Company. Pfc. Jason Hancock, a transportation management leader for the 1st Cargo Transport Company was named Soldier of the Year.

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR BASE, Romania (July 24, 2008) -- Joint Task Force-East hosted 32 Romanian and U.S. sergeants major during the task force's Noncommissioned Officer Day July 15. “It was a great opportunity to share training (and) military knowledge, and for camaraderie,” said JTF-E Command Sgt. Maj. Angel Clark-Davis. For many of the senior NCOs it was more than just a learning experience. It was a class reunion. Romanian and American members of four graduating classes of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy were reunited at the event here.

HOHENFELS, Germany – With the Army emphasizing family support, single Soldiers understandably might believe they are being overlooked.

BABADAG TRAINING AREA, Romania (July 24, 2008) -- Authentic terrain, nerve-wracking injections and rigorous carries set a realistic tone for Romanian and American Soldiers training here July 14. “I can’t recreate the conditions they face downrange, but I can certainly replicate them,” said Lt. Col. Michael Borg, commander of Task Force Vampire, when explaining that combat lifesaver-trained Soldiers are actually required to give their colleagues role-playing as “wounded Soldiers” an intravenous line if their mock injuries call for it.

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR BASE, Romania (July 24, 2008) -- A team of U.S. Airmen and Soldiers spent a day at Joint Task Force-East here training Romanian troops in airborne operations skills July 15. Airmen from the 786th Security Forces Squadron and Soldiers from their partner unit, the 5th Quartermaster Company, trained troops of the Romanian Special Operations Battalion as part of Carpathian Summer 2008, an annual air force training rotation.

HEIDELBERG, Germany (July 24, 2008) -- As the United States military celebrates the 35th anniversary of America’s all-volunteer force this year, there are signs that U.S. Army Europe Soldiers are helping to keep alive the spirit that makes a volunteer force possible. In the years since the last draft at the end of the Vietnam War, Americans have continued to volunteer for the armed forces to support and defend the Constitution, and the Army has kept its ranks filled in spite of numerous conflicts, long deployments, separation from home, and hazardous duty.