In the Service

Army Staff Sgt. Kevin J.Mestey, the brother of Erina Mestey of Lakewood, has returned to Alaska after being deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The soldier is assigned to the 725th Brigade Support Battalion, a subordinate unit of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Fort Richardson, Anchorage. Operation Iraqi Freedomis the official name given to military operations involvingmembers of theU.S. armed forces and coalition forces participating in efforts to free and secure Iraq. Mission objectives focus on force protection, peacekeeping, stabilization, security and counter-insurgency operations as the Iraqi transitional governing bodies assume full sovereign powers to govern the peoples of Iraq.Mestey is a senior first cook specialist with 16 years ofmilitary service.