Setting a withdrawal timetable from Iraq might be a shaky strategic move, but it would provide a morale boost for service members and their families, a former Army War College commandant said Wednesday.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales Jr., testifying before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee about U.S. military strategy in Iraq, said he has no doubt that a major withdrawal of combat forces is coming because the U.S. has “run out of military options” and cannot indefinitely sustain troop levels.

When Staff Sgt. Jason Kimberling’s unit was ambushed, he fought back with everything he had: courage, leadership and prepaid cell phone minutes.

And for his leadership in battle, Kimberling was chosen the winner of this year’s Colonel Billy Jack Carter Award, the highest individual honor bestowed by the Security Forces community on one of its own.

In April 2006, Kimberling was supporting Afghan National Army and police units battling Taliban strike groups, while deployed with other Security Forces airmen to protect the Qalat Provincial Reconstruction Team in southern Afghanistan.

From AF times 

Despite continuing uncertainty about the proper size of the force, promotions should remain steady in the coming year.

Neither the Air Force’s stated intention to cut 12,600 positions in 2009, nor the service’s more recent attempt to win congressional backing for its plan to push end strength back up to 330,000, will affect promotion rates this year, which likely will be close to 2007’s numbers.

While the debate continues over the right size of the force, two factors are keeping promotion levels steady. First, the ongoing drawdown hasbeen spread across all paygrades, preventing a glut or shortage of airmen in any of the ranks that would lead to a large shift in promotion rates, said Lt. Col. Scott Brady, who oversees promotion and evaluation policies at the Air Staff.

A new edition of the “Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents” handbook, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs, updates the rates for certain federal payments and outlines a variety of programs and benefits for American veterans.

Most of the nation’s 24 million veterans qualify for some VA benefits, which range from health care to burial in national cemeteries. In addition to describing benefits provided by VA, the 2008 edition of the 153-page booklet offers an overview of programs and services for veterans provided by other federal agencies.