Monthly Archives: July 2009

You Served Live Blog July 9th, 2009

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Troy| Leave a comment

7:00:49 PM: Come listen to Episode #46- Marine LtCol Mitch “Taco” Bell, Christian… on You Served on air now! http://tobtr.com/s/564249 #BlogTalkRadio

7:02:42 PM: New blog entry: You Served Live Blog July 9th, 2009 http://bit.ly/17UsjS

7:12:18 PM: Marcus recited the pledge of allegiance live tonight

7:13:19 PM: We have Marine LTC “TACO” Bell, author of the blog, http://www.thesandgram.com/ on

7:18:01 PM: LTC Bell is the OIC of the Marine for Live program in the South Central Texas Area

7:19:23 PM: Sorry that was Marine for Life, not live

7:19:57 PM: Marine for Life is a transition and job searching program that the US Marines does for all honorably discharged Marines

7:22:12 PM: Southwest Airlines is a huge employer of military and especially Marine For Life candidates

7:23:53 PM: Marines have to register on the Marine 4 Life website and through that site Marines can look for employment

7:35:48 PM: LTC Bell was in Afghanistan from March – Nov 2008

7:42:22 PM: LTC Bell was a Liason between the US Embassy and Camp Eggers

7:46:51 PM: LTC Bell just gave us an interesting tidbit about the recovered reporter from Pakistan

7:49:22 PM: LTC Bell just asked about Army safety

8:01:36 PM: We are now listening to American Storyteller

8:02:42 PM: Tonight’s American Storyteller is called Four Chaplains

8:05:40 PM: We are welcoming Christian Davenport from the Washington Post

8:06:56 PM: He is the author of ‘As You Were: To War and Back with the Black Hawk Battalion of the Virginia National Guard’ http://bit.ly/pD88Z

8:08:25 PM: CJ & I had a nice rant after LTC Bell about the lack of media coverage of the war in Iraq and how the Govt won’t say anything about winning

8:12:12 PM: Christian’s book has 9 5-star reviews on Amazon.com, http://bit.ly/pD88Z

8:17:02 PM: Christian just pointed out that less than 1% of the country serves in the military

8:23:16 PM: Christian recognizes the unique challenge of the NG serving

8:37:29 PM: Christian is very in touch with the issues going on with re-deploying NG soldiers

8:46:30 PM: RT @skipinc: Blog Talk Radio: Episode #47 – The American Widow Project, SPC David Hutchinson .. http://digg.com/u17hla #military #blog

8:57:58 PM: Christian is off the show now, we now have Dave on from patriotwatch.com

9:03:03 PM: You Served Radio is off the air

→ Leave a comment

Posted in MilBlogger Interviews

Marine Honors Fallen

Posted on July 8, 2009 by CJ| 1 Comment

Sometimes the only way our troops will be honored is if we do it ourselves. This is an awesome story from Glenn Beck:

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized, Video

Tagged , ,

What comes after AIT?

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Claire| 1 Comment

Today I will attempt to answer number four of six total question. To find all of the questions when I am finished, you can reference the original post. Please note that in these answers I refer to soldiers as “him” and “his.” I have two sons who are soldiers, so it comes naturally. The information is good (for the most part) for female soldiers too.

A couple of posts ago I discussed what AIT is and what you can expect while your soldier is going through it and we talked about what you can expect if your soldier is injured during BCT or AIT. We are going to talk today about what happens when he/she successfully finishes both BCT and AIT. What is next?

Some soldiers who finish AIT may opt to join a program in the Army called Hometown Recruiter Assistant Program (HRAP). The name says it all. If your soldier participates in HRAP he/she will work with the local recruiting station for up to 14-days before shipping off to their permanent station (and that is determined by orders they receive in AIT). Not every soldier can participate in HRAP. Soldiers have some basic requirements that they must meet to qualify.

Sometimes there are follow-on schools your soldier may attend. Jump school, air assault, sapper, Ranger, etc. may fit into your soldier’s schedule and may be training he wants/needs for his job in the Army. Sometimes these schools can come right after AIT, and other times they may come after your soldier has reported to his station and started his daily duties.

If your soldier does not participate in HRAP or a follow-on school, he will have a short time between graduation and getting to his/her receiving unit. Your soldier will know where this is while in AIT. Usually there is enough time for a short visit, but don’t count on spending a lot of time with your soldier between AIT and when he needs to check in and start his job in the Army.

The same disclaimer applies here as with other posts about what will happen. There are lots of rules and exceptions to those rules. There is no formula for you to use to figure out exactly what will happen. This is a part of military life that can be hard for parents of soldiers to get used to. The sooner you realize it and accept the smoother it will go for you as you support your soldier throughout his career in the Army.

Next week we will talk about the topic that many military parents dread – deployment.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Spouse and Family

Roush Racing Supports the Troops

Posted on July 6, 2009 by CJ| 4 Comments

I was cleaning off my camera from our vacation to Chattanooga and found some photos I took a few months back that I wanted to blog about and just got busy.

In May, Roush Racing visited Redstone Arsenal. The purpose of the visit was to talk about the meshing of racing technology with the needs of the Army. Many safety features used in NASCAR have been incorporated into Army equipment and vice versa. Roush landed on the base in his own P-51D Mustang plane.

While at the Arsenal, he set aside some time to have lunch with the troops, sign autographs and answer questions. Many of the troops are avid NASCAR fans and ecstatic about the opportunity. Mr. Roush signed over 600 autographs during his visit to Redstone for both Soldiers and civilians. He signed everything from pictures, to T-shirts, to die-cast cars, and even dashboards.

Mustang fans were so happy to hear he was there that an impromptu car show started in the parking lot with over 30 Mustangs showing up during the session. One Soldier even asked Mr. Roush to sign his brand new 2008 Ford Mustang.

Here are some photos of Mr. Roush interacting with the troops at the dining facility.

roush2

roush

roush3

I also took a moment to interview some of the Soldiers that had an opportunity to meet with him and get an autograph using my handy-dandy You Served Flip Camera. This first video is just a simple video of Jack Roush signing a Soldier’s new Mustang (how do they afford these things?)

Jack Roush Signs Soldier’s Mustang from CJ Grisham on Vimeo.

After the signing was complete, I interviewed the owner of the Mustang. I apologize that the video is unedited. I also should apologize for asking him about “Mr. Fenway”! What was that all about?! ;)

Interview with Mustang Owner from CJ Grisham on Vimeo.

Some close up shots of the autograph are located above.

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Life in the Military, Military News, News, Patriotism, Top Posts - Shared, Veteran Benefits, Video

Tagged ,

Chew On This

Posted on July 3, 2009 by CJ| Leave a comment

image0051
GumRunners LLC is proud to support our troops and their families by donating a portion of its proceeds to organizations that support them.

“We really believe everyone should understand and appreciate the sacrifices made by the individuals of the armed forces and their families. Over the years we’ve gotten a lot of emails and actual letters from servicemen and women and their families. Since we’re a gum maker, the letters are usually about gum – and to tell us how Jolt Energy Gum helped them or how much they enjoy it,” said Kevin Gass, co-founder of GumRunners, LLC. “With every letter, it humbles us to realize what they achieve and endure in support of our nation. As a small thank you, we are donating 7% of all sales from ‘Support our Troops’ Jolt Energy Gum packs to charities that assist wounded or fallen members of the military or their families, including the Wounded Warrior Project, The Intrepid Fund for Fallen Heroes and The Fisher House.

“It’s wonderful that GumRunners is donating part of their sales to those who have served their country so honorably,” said Jose Dee, event director of several benefits for the Wounded Warrior Project. “Now even people who can’t write a large check can contribute even by buying a pack of Jolt Gum.”

“The tagline for Jolt Gum is Chew More. Do More,” said Kevin Gass, co-founder of GumRunners, LLC. “And who does more for our country then the members of the armed forces?”

“Support our Troops” Jolt Energy Gum will be sold online at www.joltgum.com and in many of the supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and specialty retailers across the country that carry Jolt gum, including CVS, ampm, Sheetz, CircleK and 7-Eleven. Two pieces Jolt Energy Gum contain enough caffeine, ginseng and guarana to give the energy boost of a coffee or energy drink. The gum is available in sweet spearmint and exhilarating IcyMint flavors and has a suggested retail price of $1.59.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Charities/Contests

Tagged , ,

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS THIS JULY 4 WITH JOLT® ENERGY GUM

Posted on July 3, 2009 by Troy| Leave a comment

GumRunners LLC, makers of Jolt Energy Gum, launches limited-edition “Support our Troops” Jolt Gum benefiting wounded members of the military and their families.

JERSEY CITY, NJ – GumRunners LLC is proud to support our troops and their families by donating a portion of its proceeds to organizations that support them.

“We really believe everyone should understand and appreciate the sacrifices made by the individuals of the armed forces and their families. Over the years we’ve gotten a lot of emails and actual letters from servicemen and women and their families.  Since we’re a gum maker, the letters are usually about gum – and to tell us how Jolt Energy Gum helped them or how much they enjoy it,” said Kevin Gass, co-founder of GumRunners, LLC.  “With every letter, it humbles us to realize what they achieve and endure in support of our nation.  As a small thank you, we are donating 7% of all sales from ‘Support our Troops’ Jolt Energy Gum packs to charities that assist wounded or fallen members of the military or their families, including the Wounded Warrior Project, The Intrepid Fund for Fallen Heroes and  The Fisher House.

“It’s wonderful that GumRunners is donating part of their sales to those who have served their country so honorably,” said Jose Dee, event director of several benefits for the Wounded Warrior Project. “Now even people who can’t write a large check can contribute even by buying a pack of Jolt Gum.”

“The tagline for Jolt Gum is Chew More. Do More,” said Kevin Gass, co-founder of GumRunners, LLC.  “And who does more for our country then the members of the armed forces?”

“Support our Troops” Jolt Energy Gum will be sold online at www.joltgum.com and in many of the supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and specialty retailers across the country that carry Jolt gum, including CVS, ampm, Sheetz, CircleK and 7-Eleven. Two pieces Jolt Energy Gum contain enough caffeine, ginseng and guarana to give the energy boost of a coffee or energy drink. The gum is available in sweet spearmint and exhilarating IcyMint flavors and has a suggested retail price of $1.59.

image005

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Charities/Contests, Patriotism

070209 You Served Live Blogging

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Troy| 2 Comments

7:03:25 PM: New blog entry: 070209 You Served Live Blogging http://bit.ly/uNsrw

7:13:59 PM: CJ is talking this issue right now. http://bit.ly/AAjEp

7:22:04 PM: Talking with the owners of vision-trike-wear.com and the great things they are doing for our troops

7:24:37 PM: Todd from VSW was a Marine for four years

7:26:23 PM: Derek has a long family military history back to French-Indian War under George Washington

7:30:37 PM: VSW makes custom shirts, apparel, decals, playing cards, etc. for military units worldwide

7:32:07 PM: VSW has been in business for less than one year

7:35:42 PM: VSW has focused on the modern military soldier, the ones that have been serving over the last 20 years

7:39:49 PM: VSW specializes in custom shirts for military units worldwide

7:51:58 PM: VSW also makes custom playing cards and poker chips, http://www.custommilitaryplayingcards.com/

8:06:07 PM: VSW are now off, Next guest is Sonny Attea from http://www.jaminthevalley.com

8:10:27 PM: The Average attendance each night at Jam in the Valley is approx 15,000 people

8:20:26 PM: Sonny was the supply and motor pool sergeant for a combat field hospital

8:28:48 PM: Just finished up with Sonny from Jaminthevalley.com and we will be talking with Lyndy Kyzer next

8:29:01 PM: RT @LindyKyzer: They’re talking about the REAL meaning of the 4th of July @YouServed – listen to their July 4th Episode!

8:49:06 PM: Talking to Lyndy Kyzer about new ideas for the Army to engage new media

8:56:41 PM: Lindy says that OPSEC must always be adhered to

9:17:02 PM: Listen to Episode #45- July 4th Special on You Served anytime on BlogTalkRadio. http://tobtr.com/s/555171 #BlogTalkRadio

→ 2 Comments

Posted in MilBlogger Interviews

Biden To Oversee Iraq Withdrawal

Posted on July 1, 2009 by CJ| 8 Comments

But who will oversee the victory parade?

Yesterday, Iraq regained complete control of its cities under a policy instituted in the final months last year of the Bush administration. The Iraqi government declared it “National Sovereignty Day” and held a parade to mark the holiday.

This is good news for us that should have resulted in large banner, headlines, and news stories about VICTORY being plastered all over the country. We should be having parades in every major city at most, but our nation’s capital at LEAST. Unfortunately, our leaders in D.C. are planning no such thing that I’m aware of.

Instead of tasking the VP with overseeing the honorable return of our troops from Iraq or hailing the ones responsible for making “National Sovereignty Day” a possibility, President Obama instead tapped Vice President Biden with the task of overseeing overseeing the US departure from Iraq and Washington’s effort to promote internal political reconciliation there. Yes, the same man who so foolishly thought it would be a brilliant idea to split Iraq into three autonomous nations or zones.

The President yesterday recognized this event and praised the troops responsible for the security situation in Iraq that made this possible.

“[T]he very fact that Iraqis are celebrating this day is a testament to the courage, the capability, and commitment of every single American who has served in Iraq. (Applause.) That’s worth applause. Through tour after tour of duty, our troops have overcome every obstacle to extend this precious opportunity to the Iraqi people. These women and men are not always in the headlines, but they’re in our hearts and prayers, and we will forever honor their selfless service and sacrifice, as well as the service and sacrifice of their families. There is more work to be done, but we’ve made important progress in supporting a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq. And everyone who has served there, both in uniform as well as our civilians, deserves our thanks.”

Of course, he didn’t mention that his campaign and rhetoric in the past two years was one of the “obstacles” our troops had to overcome, but the sentiment of this statement is welcome and needed. I extend a challenge to the President to take these words and put them into action. When our troops came home in 2001, Washington, D.C. held a HUGE parade celebrating the successes of our troops in Desert Storm. Our troops deserve another victory parade and the Command in Chief who made it all possible should be invited to attend as grand marshal!

victoryparade1991
The Desert Storm Victory Parade in Washington, D.C. on June 8, 1991, included the above battalion-size formation of 3AD troops representing various units from throughout the Division. At the lead is Maj. Gen. Jerry R. Rutherford (third from right), followed by his staff. Rutherford had taken command of the 3AD from Maj. Gen. Paul E. Funk in Kuwait following Desert Storm. The above Spearhead troops had flown from Germany for the event and are shown after crossing D.C.’s Memorial Bridge (with the Lincoln Memorial in distant background). About 9,000 U.S. troops took part in the parade, which included Constitution Ave. and ended at the Pentagon.

I wanted to add a quick update. Concrete Bob, a true and patriotic American, tried hard to have a victory in Iraq day. Unfortunately, he only met with friction from EVERYONE! Trying to drum up support was impossible, even among conservatives. A lot of people should really be ashamed of themselves for crapping on this man’s efforts to recognize our troops. The excuses and naysayings were just astounding.

→ 8 Comments

Posted in Military News

Tagged