U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians are helping the Army improve state-of-the-art combat helmets to better protect them on high-stakes missions. EOD technicians from the 55th Ordnance Company (EOD) are working with Program Executive Office Soldier and Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory to develop the Vertical Load Offset System (VLOS) for the newest combat helmet called the Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS). The 55th EOD Company “VIPpers” are part of the 192nd EOD Battalion, 52nd EOD Group and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. military’s premier all hazards formation.

On Friday, at the celebration of ACS’ 58th birthday, Garrison Commander COL Joseph Messina helped Braddye and her team open the first-ever Army food pantry. “It’s kind of a big deal,” Braddye explained, “This will go a long way toward reducing food insecurity, which fits with the ACS mission of prevention and education. This is an opportunity for us to ensure our Soldiers and families remain food secure.” Citing a recent survey of Exceptional Family Member Program participants across the armed forces this year, Braddye said the survey revealed that 35 percent of respondents stated they have faced food insecurity in the past year.

In honor of the 75th anniversary of a presidential executive order prohibiting segregation in the military, Fort Belvoir held a ceremony this week to announce the renaming of Lee Road to EO 9981 Road. Executive Order 9981, signed by President Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1948, declared it essential that U.S. armed forces maintain the highest standards of democracy, with equality of treatment and opportunity for all those who serve. Lee Road’s name change came from a decision made by the congressional naming commission created in 2021 to study and make recommendations on renaming military assets with names linked to the Confederate Army in the Civil War.

Retired Col. Bruce Crandall, who repeatedly flew his helicopter under intense enemy fire to save dozens of wounded troops, is the subject of the latest graphic novel in the Association of the U.S. Army’s series on recipients of the nation’s highest award for valor. Medal of Honor: Bruce Crandall tells of the Olympia, Washington, native’s actions on Nov. 14, 1965, when he flew 22 flights into Vietnam’s Ia Drang Valley, ignoring heavy enemy fire to deliver ammunition and evacuate as many as 70 wounded soldiers. The pivotal battle would later be made famous by the book We Were Soldiers Once … and Young: Ia Drang–The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam and a subsequent movie.