Temperatures cresting 100 degrees and a wildfire season in full swing made last week a hot one in Arizona. For firefighters stationed temporarily at Williams Gateway Airport, the shade under the massive wings of a C-130 Hercules was the only refuge from the heat.

Temperatures cresting 100 degrees and a wildfire season in full swing made last week a hot one in Arizona. For firefighters stationed temporarily at Williams Gateway Airport, the shade under the massive wings of a C-130 Hercules was the only refuge from the heat.

PHOENIX — Most of the National Guard soldiers now along the border will be gone by the end of March.

Before the flight, the crew said we'd be close enough to the F-16 to see the pilot's teeth if he smiled. Dean Lewis didn't totally believe it until he climbed down into the back bay of the plane, lying alongside the boom operator as he guided a KC-135 Stratotanker's refueling hose into the tank of a fighter jet.

PHOENIX - Dawn was at hand, and so was the end of a nearly yearlong wait for dozens of Arizona National Guard soldiers and their families.

ALBION, Calif. - Sweat rolled down Lisa Mirander's forehead as she hacked a tangle of saplings and brush down to bare dirt to prevent a wildfire from spreading. It was a tough job, but no harder than the 13 months she served in Afghanistan.

GULFPORT, Miss. - People are starving in Hancock County, Miss.

National Guard troops will be staying on the Southwest border, at least for a while longer.

This is a special Labor Day for Vali Iancu. The Scottsdale business owner is seeing the fruits of his labor to show his native Romania that his adopted country, the United States, "is not just good at war, we are good working at peace as well.’’

A military-related motorcyclist group, whose mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen soldiers, now is morning the loss of one of its own. 

Scores of Valley families rejoiced Thursday in receiving early Christmas gifts: Wrapped in desert camouflage were their sons, husbands and fathers — all members of the Arizona Army National Guard, back from the Middle East.

Scores of Valley families rejoiced Thursday in receiving early Christmas gifts: Wrapped in desert camouflage were their sons, husbands and fathers — all members of the Arizona Army National Guard, back from the Middle East.

They risked their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and lived to tell about it. On Saturday, soldiers from the Arizona National Guard were formally thanked for their service by Gov. Janet Napolitano and Arizona Guard commander Maj. Gen. David Rataczak at the Guard’s annual conference in Carefree.

Arizona Army National Guard members are expected to return home Saturday from a deployment in Afghanistan.

The military conflicts that followed the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have created a need for part-time soldiers, said Maj. Gen. David Rataczak, commanding officer of the Arizona National Guard.

After 11 months in Iraq, Mike Godleski will sit down to a quiet turkey dinner today with his wife and stepdaughter. It will be his first homecooked meal in months.

About 70 National Guardsmen left the Papago Park Military Reservation in Phoenix on Sunday morning — not knowing their exact destination — as the question of war with Iraq shifts more to “when” than “if.”

NEW YORK - CBS apologized Monday and said it was misled about the authenticity of documents used to support a "60 Minutes" story that questioned President Bush's Vietnam War-era National Guard service, after several experts denounced them as fakes.

ST. LOUIS - National Guard members fanned out through darkened city streets, clearing debris and looking for residents who needed help evacuating their sweltering homes after storms knocked out power during a deadly heat wave.

SACRAMENTO - President Bush's planned deployment of National Guard troops to the Mexican border would last at least two years with no clear end date, according to a Pentagon memo obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

SACRAMENTO - President Bush's planned deployment of National Guard troops to the Mexican border would last at least two years with no clear end date, according to a Pentagon memo obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

WHEELING, W.Va. - In a day of piercing and personal exchanges, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on Monday sharply questioned President Bush’s National Guard duty 30 years ago, as Vice President Dick Cheney disparaged Kerry as an opportunist unfit to lead the nation in wartime.