Dustin M. Branch
Army Reserve Spec. Dustin M. Branch has been mobilized and activated for a future deployment to an undisclosed overseas location in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Operation Iraqi Freedom is the official name given to military operations involving members of the U.S. armed forces and coalition forces participating in efforts to free and secure Iraq. Mission objectives focus on force protection, peacekeeping, stabilization, security and counter-insurgency operations as the Iraqi transitional governing bodies assume full sovereign powers to govern the peoples of Iraq.

Members from all branches of the U.S. military and multinational ­forces are also assisting in rebuilding Iraq’s economic and governmental infrastructure, and training and preparing Iraqi military and security forces to assume full authority and responsibility in defending and preserving Iraq’s sovereignty and independence as a democracy.

Branch, a military policeman with three years of military service, is normally assigned to the 320th Military Police Company, St. Petersburg.    He is the son of Frank M. and Daneille R. Branch of Riverview. The specialist is a 2002 graduate of Riverview High School.

Stephanie Kroen
Air Force Airman Stephanie Kroen has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, TX.

During the six weeks of training, the airman studied the Air Force mission, organization, and ­military customs and courtesies; performed drill and ceremony marches, and received physical training, rifle marksmanship, field training ­exercises, and special training in human relations.

In addition, airmen who complete basic training earn credits ­toward an associate degree through the Community College of the Air Force.

She is the daughter of Tracy Rose of Riverview, and granddaughter of Joan Rose of Raleigh, NC.

Kroen is a 2006 graduate of Riverview High School.

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