ARMY | James Hickman

Army Maj. James Hickman is currently deployed as a member of Task Force Marne, one of more than 20,000 soldiers from the Fort Stewart, Ga., based 3rd Infantry Division and elements of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky. The soldier is serving a 15-month tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Hickman is a company commander with the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion.

He is the son of Robert Hickman of Chimacum, Wash., and Lynn Jernigan of Raleigh, N.C. His wife, Kristan, is the daughter of Richard Jatczak, of Calumet City.

The major graduated in 1985 from Athens Drive High School, Raleigh, and received a bachelor's degree in 1993 from North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

NAVY | Mark Scahill

Chief Petty Officer Mark Scahill is completing 20 years serving in the U.S. Naval Submarine Corps. He is presently serving on the U.S.S. Springfield Submarine. Scahill is the son of Ray and Caryl Scahill, of Lansing. The 1988 graduate of Thornton Fractional South High School is married to Becky and has three daughters and one son.

ARMY | Calvin Taylor

Army Reserve Pvt. Calvin Taylor has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises. He is the son of Anna Hyde, of Chicago Heights.

AIR FORCE | Matthew Heintz

Air Force Airman Matthew Heintz, son of Alan and Renae Heintz of Munster, has graduated from the six weeks of basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. He is doing advanced training at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He is a 2005 graduate of Munster High School.

ARMY | Frank Salichs

Army Pvt. Frank Salichs has graduated from the nine-week Infantryman One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga. The training consists of Basic Infantry Training and Advanced Individual Training.

He is the son of Frank and Nidia Salichs, of Gary. The private is a 2007 graduate of City Baptist High School, Hammond.

AIR FORCE | Griffith

William Bakker, formerly of Griffith, is a captain in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida. He joined the military in 2002. This spring he helped launch a satellite that keeps the global positioning system in place for directional devices in cars, boats, airplanes and buses. Bakker is a graduate of Illiana Christian High School in Lansing and has a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue University Calumet. He lives in Melbourne, Fla., and has a 3-year-old son. His parents, Bill and Julie Bakker, live in Crown Point.

AIR FORCE | Daniel Poe

Daniel Poe, of Schererville, has enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at the recruiting station in Merrillville. After completing the six weeks of basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, he will train as a signals intelligence production apprentice.