Returning home
Army Reserve Spec. Shawn A. Kripplebauer is returning to the U.S. after a deployment to Iraq serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations.
Kripplebauer served in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.
The specialist, a military police member with four years of military service, is regularly assigned to the 362nd Military Police Detachment at Ashley.
He is the son of Joe and Judy Kripplebauer, of East Seventh Street, Mount Carmel. He is a 2008 graduate of Mount Carmel Area High School.
The soldiers return to Joint Base Dix-McGuire-Lakehurst, N.J., for debriefing, evaluations and outprocessing procedures before returning to their regularly assigned Army Reserve or National Guard units.
Best Warrior
Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Janine M. Smeltz is one of only 43 soldiers from among more than 200,000 reservists worldwide who competed in the Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition at Fort McCoy, Wis. The soldiers began the competition with a physical fitness test that included a timed series of push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run. The week-long series of events included firing the M-4 rifle on a night qualification course, day and night land navigation, and combat-related tasks such as hand-to-hand combat, first aid, and weapons assembly. The winners in the soldier of the year and non-commissioned officer of the year categories will move on to Fort Lee, Va., later in the year to compete in the Army-wide competition.
Smeltz is a material management non-commissioned officer assigned to the 377th Theater Sustainment Command, Fort Indiantown Gap. The sergeant has served in the military for nine years.
The sergeant resides in Lykens.
Smeltz is a 2001 graduate of Line Mountain High School. She earned a bachelor degree in accounting from Elizabethtown College.