"People come in here five or six times a day wanting to know what the weather's going to be like," said Poulson, a weatherman for the nightly news on KUTV Channel 2 here and the public affairs noncommissioned officer in charge for the Utah Air National Guard state headquarters.When prompted, Poulson made a few taps on his keyboard, looked at a bunch of multi-colored dotted lines on a map of the United States, and then presented a full weather report with the fervor of a veteran forecaster. "Looks like snow Monday night and Tuesday morning, with another storm rolling in here on Wednesday,” he said. “It's going to get cold, cold, cold with temperatures in the 40s. Friday will be partly cloudy and a little warmer, with a high of 48. Looks like snow on Saturday, and temperatures probably won't climb out of the 30s this weekend. "Summer is pretty much over," Poulson added with a chuckle. "There's going to be a storm about every four days, and it just keeps getting colder and colder." That’s not what Air Force Lt. Col. Cecilia Nackowski, the chief of plans and programs, whose desk sits directly across from Poulson’s, wanted to hear. "Can you delay that?" she asked. "For how long?" Poulson asked after only a short pause. "Three weeks!" the colonel replied. Poulson laughed. "In three weeks, you will have shoveled your driveway three more times," he said. Poulson's roles as a TV weatherman in civilian life and a public affairs specialist with the Air Guard are complementary and have proven mutually beneficial, he said. "Everything I learned about weather, I learned in the military," he said. "When I first went to Offutt Air Force Base [in Nebraska], I worked under Col. Robert Miller. He's the one who wrote 'the book' on severe weather forecasting, and I got to learn a lot from him. I soaked it up like a sponge. It was like going to a seminar every day." Poulson began his Air Force career right out of high school in 1969 as an aerospace ground equipment operator. He served in that capacity during a deployment to Vietnam for 13 months in 1970 and 1971. In 1975, Poulson decided to retrain into weather forecasting in pursuit of a childhood fascination he gained after observing eight inches of rainfall within 24 hours. After training, he served as a severe storms forecaster in support of the Air Force Global Weather Center. After 10 years of active-duty service, Poulson transitioned to reserve status in 1980 and was assigned to the weather detachment at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. He attended college at the University of Utah. In 1984, he became a weather producer for KSL-TV. He started his long-running career as an anchorman, weather producer and meteorologist at KUTV in 1989. Poulson has been a public affairs specialist with the Utah Air Guard since 2000. He writes his own scripts and acts as the master of ceremonies for most of the Utah Guard's major annual events, such as the Governor's Day parade and the Armed Forces Day and Veterans Day concerts. He has hosted several Minuteman and Hometown Hero Award ceremonies and narrated the history of the Utah Air National Guard in a DVD production titled "60 Years of Distinction." "They call me the voice of the Guard," Poulson said with a smile. He attributes his ease at public speaking to his 21 years of experience being on camera at KUTV. His employer is very supportive of the military and his role in the Guard, he said. "The cool thing about my employment at 2News is I can give the Guard a little visibility," he said. "I can do live shots at the VA concert in uniform, and make sure we talk about the concert on TV. I can do public affairs spots and place public service announcements that let people know about the event." Since his college days, Poulson has had a strong interest in music, and he founded Choral Arts Society of Utah in 1987. As the music director of this 100-voice choir, he has collaborated several times with the Utah Guard's 23rd Army Band for events such as the Armed Forces Day concert. Poulson has been recognized in both his military and media careers. In 2008, he won a silver Utah Broadcaster Award for a television news story he covered in Morocco in support of the African Lion medical mission with the 151st Medical Group. He also received the 2010 Senior NCO of the Year award for the Utah Air National Guard. He’s scheduled to retire from the Guard in September. Dec. 16, 2010: By Air Force Airman 1st Class Lillian Chatwin- American Forces Press Service

 

 Redistributed by www.SupportOurTroops.org

Army 1st Sgt. Mark D. Heyliger, first sergeant of Company B, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, often is asked by young soldiers who "put 2 and 2 together"whether he knows "that guy in that movie,"and he says he does. Heyliger, a veteran of five deployments, learned of his grandfather's World War II exploits as a first lieutenant with Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles"the same way the rest of America did"- by reading the book and seeing the HBO mini-series, "Band of Brothers."The grandfather Heylinger knew had earned a degree in ornamental horticulture and he sold fertilizer, among other jobs. He was a bit of a wanderer, with a grand plan to own an acre of land in every state so he could travel and camp all the time. "I'd always known my grandfather served in the Army, and I knew that he had loved it, but he never talked about what he did during the war,"he said. "My dad mailed me a book while I was on recruiting duty. He said, "If you ever want to know what your grandfather did, you need to read the book."That was nine years into the South Bend, Ind., native's Army career. When he enlisted in 1992, he became the first Heyliger in two generations to serve. "[My father] was always worried about having another fighting man in the family,"he said. After serving in Hawaii with the 25th Infantry Division, with the 101st, and as a recruiter, Heyliger came to the All-American Division in 2002. Since then, he has served three deployments to Iraq and two to Afghanistan. Though Moose Heyliger never lived to see his grandson become a paratrooper, his jump wings were pinned on Mark when he graduated from Airborne School. "I looked pretty silly, because I was the only novice paratrooper running around with two combat jump stars on his wings,"the first sergeant said. In 2004, wearing his grandfather's wings, Mark jumped into St. Mere Eglise, France, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion. Now, those wings sit in a box waiting to see what the youngest Heyliger, 11-year-old Kiefer, will do. "I'm glad to serve and to carry on, to find what my grandfather enjoyed so much about the Army,"the first sergeant said. "When I jump, I like to think of him. What keeps me in the Army, though, is the people. The next generation of young guys is what keeps me going."Heyliger will spend the next three years at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La. After that, he said, he would like to finish his career either back at 82nd or with the 101st in his grandfather's regiment, the 506th "Band of Brothers.""I always wanted to be airborne,"he said. Dec. 14, 2010: By Army Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod- 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division

Calway’s commitment paid off when she earned a berth in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials with a fifth-place finish at the California International Marathon Dec. 5 in Sacramento, as part of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program.Calway's time of 2 hours, 42 minutes, 19 seconds met the "B" qualification standard for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Marathon, scheduled for Jan. 14, 2012, in Houston, the first U.S. city scheduled to host both the men's and women's Olympic Trials for Marathon.Calway, 26, of Fort Carson, Colo., began training with Army WCAP distance runners in August with her sights set on competing at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. "It's everything I dreamed of and more," she said of joining WCAP. "It's awesome. It gives me time to train, get coached, and do everything right." Calway, a former cross country and 1,500-meter runner on the track for North Carolina State University, finished second among women at the 2010 Army Ten-Miler with a personal-best time of 57:20 on Oct. 24. That was nearly three minutes faster than her Army Ten-Miler time of the previous year -- just after returning from a six-month deployment in Iraq. "Every time I'm out here running, especially with Army on my chest, I'm running for way more than myself," Calway said. "I'm running for all those soldiers overseas and all of the wounded guys who are coming home. To be out here representing the Army is awesome." Her mission now is to concentrate on marathon training. "I love the marathon," Calway said. "It's an evil, evil race. You really have to reach down into your guts and find what you're out there for." At the California International Marathon, Calway reached down and knocked 17 minutes off her previous best time for 26.2 miles -- a 2:59 clocking at Boston in 2009. At the Pentagon, she dedicated her Army Ten-Miler runner-up finish to Marine Corps 1st Lt. James Byler, who was wounded a week earlier by an improvised explosive device in Iraq. With her husband, Capt. Chris Calway, still deployed in Afghanistan, and 3-year-old daughter, Hazel, to care for, Kelly feels fortunate to find time to run. "Juggling being a soldier in the Army, a mom, a wife and all that, it's hard to get my training in," she said. "But I'm able to do everything that I need to do and do everything right. I'm able to eat right, sleep right, get my training in, and rest when I need to. Go Army!" Dec. 10, 2010: By Tim Hipps- Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command Public Affairs

"Really, I was honored to be a part of the team,â€Â said Capt. Timothy J. Halls, 28, of Chesterton, Ind. Halls played striker and midfielder for the team, which captured the championship Oct. 24 in Destin, Fla."It was a great win for the Army, and I hope to be in a place next year where I can come back to defend the gold," Halls said.If Halls is selected next year and Army wins gold again, that will be three years in a row. The Army team also earned silver in 2008. The Armed Forces Soccer Championship consists of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps teams. The weeklong, round-robin tournament pits the services against one another to be seeded for the finals. "It is pretty intense with games every day," Halls said. "Actually, our week started out a little rough. Day One, we beat the Navy. Day Two, we lost to the Marines, and Day Three, we lost to the Air Force. All were close games." With two losses, the Army team had an uphill battle to fight. "We were seeded fourth, and had to play the Air Force again that Saturday morning," Halls said. "We beat them Saturday, and then had to play Navy on Sunday for the gold." The final game was a low-scoring affair, he said. "It was a battle the entire time; the finals were decided by an overtime and then went to a shoot-out," Halls said. Navy scored first in overtime, the Army matched that, and then Army took the shoot-out for the win. "It's cool the Army was able to bring home the gold -- and the second year in a row," said 1st Lt. Daniel Newell, a defender for the Army team. Newell, who hails from Scottsdale, Ariz., is an active-duty soldier and a platoon leader with Company A, 508th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. "T.J. is a great guy," Newell said of Halls. "Both of us being officers became our primary connection." Newell said the team was composed primarily of enlisted soldiers. Though the team was made of soldiers of different ranks, it didn't hinder the players from bonding as a single unit, Halls said. "There were definitely cliques, but considering it was privates to captains from all backgrounds, it really was not bad at all," he said. [caption id="attachment_4315" align="alignleft" width="300"] Indiana Army National Guard Capt. Timothy J. Halls kicks a soccer ball during military tournament play. Halls played striker and midfielder for the 2010 All-Army team that won gold at the 2010 Armed Forces Soccer Championship, Oct. 24 in Destin, Fla. Courtesy photo[/caption] Halls has worked at the National Guard Bureau for two years, and he credited his supervisors for providing him the opportunity to play. "I just happened to be at a place in my career and with bosses that supported this chance I was given," he said. Halls has played soccer since he was a child. He played in youth recreation leagues, on his high school team, and on intramural teams at Indiana University. Newell also had a wealth of soccer experience. He has played since he was four, and was the captain of his team at the U.S. Military Academy. Both players said they enjoyed representing the Army. "It was a great experience. It was rewarding while being in the Army, and it's an honor to represent the unit," said Newell, who added that the Army's soccer uniforms were outfitted with each soldier’s unit patch. With this year’s tournament completed, soccer All-Stars will be selected from the different services to represent the military in upcoming international sports competition in South America. If the United States qualifies there, the team could play in the World Games the following year. Although Halls didn't make the U.S. military All-Star team, he hopes others become interested in military sports. "I hope that more soldiers and families take an interest or get a chance to look into All-Army sports; there are many out there," he said. Dec. 9, 2010: By Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Lowry- Indiana National Guard