Editor's note: The Source newspapers publish available information about Virgin Islanders who are serving their country in the military. For earlier notices, see separate files in this section.
Please e-mail information about yourself or any family member serving in these regards to source@viaccess.net. Provide the individual's full name, age, rank, service branch or organization, home island, immediate family members in the Virgin Islands, brief description of education and training, and, if possible, a description of where the person is based or has been deployed. Please limit the information to about 200 words. We welcome photos.
Navy Fireman Luis A. Perez / St. Croix
Sept. 30, 2004 (Fleet Hometown News) – Navy Fireman Luis A. Perez, son of Lorilei A. Plaskett of Frederiksted, , recently returned from a seven-month deployment to the Arabian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea while assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, homeported in Norfolk, Va.
Perez's ship was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism as the flagship of the Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group. While on deployment, Perez participated in joint-service, multinational maritime operations and visited foreign ports.
USS Wasp supports amphibious operations using Landing Craft Air Cushions, which are specially-designed hovercraft that travel above land and sea surfaces and deliver vehicles and equipment. The ship also has conventional landing craft and helicopters embarked, and is equipped with medical facilities staffed by Navy doctors, dentists, nurses and corpsmen.
Perez joined the Navy in September 2003.
Navy Seaman Sulieman Demund / St. Croix
Sept. 27, 2004 (Fleet Hometown News) – Navy Seaman Sulieman O. Demund, son of Christopher H. Demund of Christiansted, recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill.
Demund is a 1994 graduate of St. Croix Central High School and a 2003 graduate of Alabama A & M University, Huntsville, Ala. with a bachelor's degree.
During the eight-week program, Demund completed a variety of training that included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and survival, and shipboard and aircraft safety. An emphasis was also placed on physical fitness. The capstone event of boot camp is "Battle Stations". This exercise gives recruits the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the fleet. "Battle Stations" is designed to galvanize the basic warrior attributes of sacrifice, dedication, teamwork and endurance in each recruit through the practical application of basic Navy skills and the core values of honor, courage and commitment. Its distinctly "Navy" flavor was designed to take into account what it means to be a Sailor.
Coast Guard Reserve Seaman Kia Clarke / St. Thomas
Sept. 13, 2004 (Fleet Hometown News Center) – Coast Guard Reserve Seaman Kia K. Clarke, a 2002 graduate of Charlotte Amalie High School, recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, N.J.
During the eight-week training program, Clarke completed a vigorous training curriculum consisting of academics and practical instruction in water safety and survival, military customs and courtesies, seamanship skills, first aid, fire fighting and marksmanship. A major emphasis is also placed on physical fitness, health and wellness.
Clarke and other recruits also received instruction on the Coast Guard's core values — honor, respect and devotion to duty — and how to apply them in their military performance and personal conduct.
Clarke will join 36,000 other men and women who comprise Coast Guard's force. Men and women train together from the first day in the Coast Guard just as they do aboard ships and shore units throughout the world. To reinforce the team concept, Clarke and other recruits were trained in preventing sexual harassment, drug and alcohol awareness, civil rights training, and the basics of the work-life balance, as well as total quality management.
Army Spc. Carol J. Errilienne / St. Croix
Sept. 15, 2004 (Army & Air Force Hometown News) – Army Specialist Carol J. Errilienne participated in an exercise termed Determined Promise '04 directed by the U.S. Northern Command headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colo.
A 2000 graduate of St. Croix Educational Complex, Errilienne's parents are Camela and Emmanuel Errilienne of St. Croix.
Determined Promise is a civil support exercise designed to test the command's responses to terrorist attacks on national, state and local levels. The exercise also tested the U.S. Northern Command units' abilities to assist civil and federal authorities in a coordinated response to simulated chemical, radiological, and explosive hazards that were conducted in Virginia and California.
In Virginia, the exercise involved federal, state and local teams as well as those in the private sector. The exercise tested Virginia's emergency managers' and first responders' ability to handle more than 12,000 deaths and 62,000 serious injuries arising from simultaneous simulated "terrorist" attacks.
Errilienne is a communication specialist assigned to the 544th Maintenance Battalion, Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas.
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