Trio of locals working their way up the ranks

Click to Enlarge U. S. Army Specialist Josh Bales speaks last week at the Incline K-2 Elementary School, telling students about his experiences overseas. Courtesy Photo Browse and Buy Tahoe Bonanza Photos

STAFF REPORTS
April 30, 2008

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U.S. Army Specialist Josh Bales
Last week, U.S. Army Specialist Josh Bales, an Incline Village native, spoke at the Incline K-2 Elementary School. He was on hand to answer letters the children in the class, in which his little sister is a classmate, wrote him during his tour in Iraq.
Bales is on leave until May 7, when he heads back to Iraq for another 10-month tour with his battalion.
He started One Station Unit Training in Fort Benning, Ga., on July 14, 2005. Upon graduation at the Infantry Training Center in December 2005, Bales was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.
In December of 2006, Bales’ battalion deployed to Iraq for 15 months. He is currently on leave from April 18th to May 7th.
Bales graduated from Incline High School in 2004.

1st. Lt. Joseph P. Vaeth
Air Force 1st Lt. Joseph P. Vaeth has deployed overseas to a forward operating base to support the mission of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Vaeth is the son of Joseph T. and Lenora Vaeth, who live in Incline Village. His wife, Annie, is the daughter of Dave Cooley of Auburn, Wash.
The lieutenant graduated in 1999 from Incline High School, Incline Village, and received a bachelor's degree in 2004 from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Operation Enduring Freedom is the official name given to anti-terrorism military operations involving U.S. troops and allied coalition partners. Active duty and reserve component members from all branches of the U.S. armed forces have been deployed to support the war against global terrorism outside the borders of the United States. U.S. troops serve in South, Southwest and Central Asia, the Arabian peninsula, the Horn of Africa, islands in the Pacific, and Europe.
Vaeth will be promoted to captain in June of 2008.
Vaeth, a C130E Aircraft co-pilot, mission planning officer with three years of military service, is regularly assigned to the 2nd Airlift Squadron, Pope Air Force Base, Fayetteville, N.C.

Ensign Daniel Erwin
Ensign Daniel Erwin recently received his commission in the U.S. Navy after completing Officer Candidate School in Newport R.I. During the 12-week course Erwin studied military indoctrination, naval history, naval leadership, military law, naval warfare, navigation, engineering and physical training.
Erwin and his family lived in Incline Village from 1973 until 1987; then the family moved to Dayton. He enlisted in the Navy in 1997 and has been stationed in Virginia for the past 11 years.
He is a 1995 graduate of Dayton High School and graduated from St. Leo’s College in Norfolk, Virginia in 2005. Erwin is the son of Ed and Sandy Erwin of Las Vegas, formerly of Dayton; and the grandson of Anne Parks and the late Frank Parks of Carson City.
Erwin’s first assignment as an officer will be the Na