IRAQI WAR UPDATE FROM LOCAL MILITARY EXPERT HIGHLIGHTS VISIT BY VETERANS GROUPS

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Pat Frew, Director of Communications
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IRAQI WAR UPDATE FROM LOCAL MILITARY EXPERT HIGHLIGHTS VISIT BY VETERANS GROUPS

Covington, KY/May 11, 2007—Local military analyst Colonel Dean Smittle will provide an update on the War in Iraq Tuesday,  May 15, at 6:30 p.m. before representatives of veteran military reunion groups who are meeting in Northern Kentucky.

Colonel Smittle, who provides commentary on the Jim Scott Morning Show on WLW-AM, stet WNKU-FM and WCPO-TV, will speak on the theme, Thumbs Up America:  Americans At War, when he speaks at the Radisson Riverfront Hotel, Covington.  Smittle will help launch the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau 2007 Military Reunion Familiarization Tour.  The tour is an annual event where military reunion planners visit to determine if they might want to hold future reunions in Northern Kentucky.

The 30-minute talk will also provide progress on the U.S. troop Surge strategy, implemented in February which calls for a surge of more than 21,000 troops into Bagdad  in order to secure neighborhoods by placing U.S. troops among the Iraqi people in small bases known as Joint Security Stations.  Smittle will also touch on the military technology of Net Centric Warfare, which integrates information gathered from satellites above and from battle commanders on the ground.

Colonel Smittle’s military career spanned several decades in the Army and Air Force where he received numerous decorations including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army and Air Force Commendation Medals, the Army Combat Infantry Badge and is Range Airborne qualified.  He is also the local representative and spokesperson for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.  His last assignment was, Commander, Engineering Installations Division, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

While in Northern Kentucky Tuesday through Thursday, May 17, military reunion planners will be visiting local hotels and attractions, which could host them should they choose to have their reunions here.  Sites include the World Peace Bell, BB Riverboats and Newport Aquarium.

The mission of the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau is that of an aggressive sales, marketing, service and informational organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings and visitor expenditures.  The direct economic impact of visitors’ spending in Campbell, Kenton and Boone counties in 2006 was $263 million.