NEWS EXTRA

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ASSIGNMENTS / APPOINTMENTS / ANNOUNCEMENTS

SOURCE:  Office of Senator Mitch McConnell

McConnell Honors Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers

‘Sadly, the occasion of National Police Week is also the time when we pay tribute to the brave and honorable peace officers who have fallen in the line of duty over the last year.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today celebrating National Police Week 2015:

“This week we welcome thousands of law-enforcement officers for National Police Week 2015. It’s a time to pay tribute to all the men and women who serve in Federal, State, and local law enforcement across America. And it’s a good time for those of us who benefit from the shield of protection that they provide—and that’s all of us—to express our gratitude.

“Police officers are here to rededicate themselves to the pursuit of justice and to honor fallen officers. We are proud to have them here in Washington.

“I want to especially recognize the many men and women who protect and serve as peace officers in my home State of Kentucky. Today I had the pleasure of meeting with some of Kentucky’s finest. I want to personally thank them for courageously risking their lives in service of people across the Commonwealth.

“Sadly, the occasion of National Police Week is also the time when we pay tribute to the brave and honorable peace officers who have fallen in the line of duty over the last year. And so I want to remember and say a few words about Kentucky’s own Deputy Sheriff Ernest T. Franklin, of the Barren County Sheriff’s Office, who died on April 2, 2014.

“Deputy Sheriff Franklin was killed in an automobile crash on Kentucky Route 90, just west of Glasgow. He was 58 years old and had served with the sheriff’s office for seven years.

“Friends and coworkers recall him as a friendly man who always had a kind word for everybody. He worshipped at Hopewell Baptist Church, volunteered at the local community center and soup kitchen, and was, by all accounts, an excellent chef.

“Deputy Sheriff Franklin put his life on the line every day to protect his fellow Kentuckians. I want to extend my deepest condolences to his family and all who knew and loved him.

“As Deputy Sheriff Ernest T. Franklin is mourned in Barren County, in Frankfort, the Kentucky State Police have created their own unique way to memorialize their fallen fellow officers. This week they unveiled a new statue called ‘The Trooper,’ a figure of a Kentucky State Trooper cast in bronze and 10 feet tall, at the Kentucky State Police Academy.

“The statue is in tribute to members of the Kentucky State Police who have given their lives in the line of duty—that’s 27 troopers and officers. It is quite an inspirational sight: a lone figure in uniform striding forward, ready to defend the property, dignity, and lives of his fellow Kentuckians.

“I know my colleagues in the U.S. Senate join me in holding the deepest admiration and respect for the many brave law-enforcement officers across Kentucky and the Nation. Theirs is both an honorable profession and a dangerous one. It is also a necessary one, because the peace and order of a civil society that we all take for granted could not exist without them.

“Kentucky is grateful for our law-enforcement officers’ service. And we are grateful for the service of Deputy Sheriff Ernest T. Franklin.

“On a related note, I was proud to cosponsor and see to Senate passage this year of the National Blue Alert Act. The bill will establish a national Blue Alert system within the U.S. Department of Justice to help catch those criminals who kill, harm, or threaten law-enforcement officers. The Blue Alert system will be similar to what the Amber Alert system does for abducted children.

“Should law-enforcement officers be killed, seriously injured, threatened, or go missing while in the line of duty, this system would be utilized to widely disseminate information to help identify and apprehend potential suspects.

“Blue Alert will help bring to justice those who harm our police officers, and hopefully help deter future violence. I was pleased to see the House passed the bill earlier this week. And with this bill, we will help protect those who put their lives on the line to protect all of us.”

General Officer Assignments

SOURCE:  DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

PHOTO(s) OF THE DAY

SOURCE:  Department of Defense /Defense News Lead Photo

Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivers remarks during an Armed Forces Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., May 16, 2015.

U.S. Marines brace for the rotor wash of a CH-53 Super Stallion while conducting flight operations aboard the USS Kearsarge during an integrated training event in the Atlantic Ocean, May 9, 2015. The event helps prepare the Marines, assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, for deployment to the areas of responsibility for the 5th and 6th fleets later this year.

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PACIFIC OCEAN (May 12, 2015) Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) tip their caps to the crew of the MilitarySealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE-14) following a weapons onload. Ronald Reagan is underway off the coast of Southern California. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Burke/Released)

Staff Sgt. Heath Beesley, (center) weapons squad leader with 3rd platoon, Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion (Airborne) 509th Infantry Regiment waits for the command to attack during a Combined Arms Maneuver Live Fire Exercise on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 8, 2015. The exercise was part of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division exercise Spartan Phoenix. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Daniel Love)

Team leader and Woodbury, Minn., native, Staff Sgt. Josh Tobin, and his team of cavalry scouts from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division carry a log on their shoulders during the final charge portion of the Gainey Cup May 5 at Fort Benning, Georgia. The final charge, which was the final event of the three-day competition, consisted of a nearly 2-mile run along with various endurance and strength physical training events. The six 3-8 Cav Troopers represented the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at the Gainey Cup, because 3-8 Cav is currently on a rotational deployment to South Korea for nine months. Since they’ve been in Korea, these six troopers competed in a division level competition and won the opportunity to represent 2nd ID at the Gainey Cup. (U.S. Army photo by Patrick A. Albright/MCoE PAO Photographer)