In the Service

Pvt. Brandon Ernesto Badilla, who recently enlisted in the New Jersey Army National Guard, will be assigned to A Company, 250th Forward Support Battalion, located at the National Guard Armory in Sea Girt, after completing Basic Training at Fort Knox, Ky. Badilla is a resident of Brick.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class David L. Knowles, whose wife, Abby, is the daughter of Diane Paturzo of Brick, recently was promoted to his current rank and reported for duty with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 121, Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Va.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Patrick S. O’Neill, son of Mary and James O’Neill of Brick, and the marines and sailors of 2nd Force Service Support Group (Forward) are in the middle of a scheduled deployment in Western Iraq.

O’Neill’s unit deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and to provide logistical support including supplies, maintenance, transportation, landing support and health services for II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

The primary mission of the 4,000 marines and sailors is to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq and to develop a safe and representative Iraq that will contribute to the defeat of the global threat of terrorism.

O’Neill, a 2001 graduate of Brick Memorial High School, joined the Marine Corps in June 2002.

For more information and high-resolution images, visit www. usmc. mil.

Navy Lt. Dana J. Onifer, son of Jacquilene Andl-Onifer of Brick, and Francis Onifer of South Amboy, recently graduated from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Md.

Established by Congress under the Department of Defense in 1972, the University — with a worldwide reputation as a center of excellence for military medical education and research — is the nation’s only fully accredited federal school of medicine and graduate school of nursing.

Its education, research and consultation programs are unique, related directly to military medicine, military medical readiness and adaptation to extreme environments. The university prepares students for worldwide duty as career physicians in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the U.S. Public Health Service. In exchange for tuition-free education, USUHS graduates agree to a service obligation of a minimum of seven years of active duty.

Onifer joined the Navy in September 1989.

Navy Airman Daniel R. Wood, son of Lois A. and Garry Wood of Brick, and his shipmates are in the middle of a scheduled deployment, while assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, homeported in Norfolk, Va.

Wood’s ship deployed with USS Ashland, USS Ponce and USS Gonzalez as part of the USS Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group in support of the global war on terrorism and Operations Enduring/Iraqi Freedom.

The primary mission of Wood’s ship’s is to embark, deploy and land elements of a Marine landing force by helicopter, landing craft air cushion or amphibious assault vehicle.

Wood is a 2003 graduate of Brick High School and joined the Navy in December 2003.

For more information on the deployment and high-resolution photographs, visit the Navy NewsStand Web site at www.news.navy.mil.