Monthly Archives: April 2010

“Month of the Military Child” TRICARE Prize Giveaway

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Claire| Leave a comment

The Tricare Dental program has a prize giveaway sponsored by Accordia for the Month of the Military Child. See details below:

United Concordia is proud to once again recognize and support the “Month of the Military Child” in April by sponsoring a Web-based random drawing. Children of active duty and National Guard and Reserve sponsors who are enrolled in the TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) are eligible for this drawing. Entries must be submitted by a parent or legal guardian. Entries submitted by individuals other than the parent or legal guardian will not be accepted.

To enter, simply click here and complete the contest entry form between 8 a.m. April 1, 2010, and midnight April 28, 2010, Eastern Time. Entries will be accepted via online submission only. Winners will be selected at random..

Prizes will be awarded to military children of varying ages. Within each age category, first, second and third place prizes will be awarded for:

  • First Place: $300 All Services Exchange gift certificate
  • Second Place: $150 All Services Exchange gift certificate
  • Third Place: $50 All Services Exchange gift certificate

    Winners will be selected for children ages 0-4, ages 5-9, ages10-14, and ages 15-17 in the following regions:

  • TRICARE North Region
  • TRICARE South Region
  • TRICARE West Region
  • TRICARE Eurasia-Africa
  • TRICARE Latin America and Canada

    Remember …

    Only one entry per child is permitted. Mailed or faxed entries will not be considered. The entry deadline is midnight April 28, 2010, Eastern Time, and only parents or legal guardians may enter their children.

    Winners will be announced on the TDP Web site on May 27, 2010.

    Best of luck to all who enter!

    • SOURCE

     

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    Posted in Charities/Contests, Spouse and Family

    The Littlest Patriot Strikes again

    Posted on April 8, 2010 by Troy| 2 Comments

    A few weeks back we had little Conner here on You Served Radio as our youngest guest ever…he is six years old.

    Several days ago I put out a call(http://www.bouhammer.com/2010/04/remote-special-forces-team-needs-your-help/) on my blog, www.bouhammer.com, for anyone willing to support some Special Forces teams in southern Afghanistan that are in need of some comfort items from home.

    Well, The Littlest Patriot and his grandpa have stepped up again and the evidence is right here. Not only is he packing some boxes for these SF teams, his grandpa tells me that Conner is so excited to know these are going to Special Forces soldiers. You also can’t miss that he is sporting his new You Served Blog and Radio T-shirt while doing it. As I said in my original blog posting, one special little guy with a ton of patriotism.


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    Posted in Patriotism, Wall of Honor, Why We Serve, You Served Radio

    Night Landing in Baghdad

    Posted on April 8, 2010 by Troy| Leave a comment

    U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Archie Brawton prepares to place chalks under a C-130 Hercules aircraft after its arrival at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on March 26, 2010. Brawton is a loadmaster deployed from the 758th Airlift Squadron out of Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, Pa. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Quinton Russ, U.S. Air Force.


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    Posted in Patriotism, Why We Serve

    Mean old Marine 1SG

    Posted on April 8, 2010 by Troy| Leave a comment

    U.S. Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Raqual Painter gives candy to an Afghan girl while the girl’s mother receives medical attention from U.S. Navy Lt. Michelle Lynch as part of a medical outreach program in the village of Now Abad in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on March 15, 2010. The clinic is being conducted by the Female Engagement Team with Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan.   DoD photo by Cpl. Mary E. Carlin, U.S. Marine Corps.

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    Posted in Military Life, Why We Serve

    Treatment Study for Severe, Debilitating PTSD

    Posted on April 7, 2010 by LL| Leave a comment

    A Chicago area doctor will be conducting a study on how bupivacaine injected near the “fight or flight” response area can affect severe anxiety when exacerbated by PTSD. He has had limited success with this and needs to complete the study to get DOD funding/approval. Information on how the anesthetic might work is in the article. If you are not having success with traditional PTSD treatment and are willing to take the risk of the study, you can reach the doctor at the 1-800 number at the end of the article. I am not advocating this treatment. I am just putting this information out there if you feel like you have reached an impasse and want to seek out alternative treatment–here is an option. It may be good, it may be bad. From the article, it appears it worked for one soldier but not another.

    Anyway, the article is there for you to read.

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    Posted in Uncategorized

    COB Adder JDC to be last JDC in Iraq

    Posted on April 7, 2010 by Troy| Leave a comment

    From 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Public Affairs

    CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq – The Joint Distribution Center at Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, distributes supplies and equipment coming into and leaving the Iraq Joint Operations Area.
    First Lt. Christopher G. Kee, the officer in charge of the JDC with the 40th Quartermaster Company, 732nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 36th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and an Urbana, Ill., native, said the JDC handles all forms of supplies except food, ammunition and medical supplies.

    “The main mission here at the JDC is to redistribute class two (organizational clothing and individual equipment), three (petroleum, oil, lubricants), four (construction materials), six (demand items), seven (major end items, such as Humvees, and Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles), and nine (repair items) classes of supply throughout (United States Division – South),” he said.

    Kee said the JDC at COB Adder will be the last functioning JDC in Iraq, and all of the equipment will funnel through Adder and into Kuwait during the drawdown.
    “We have a major retrograde yard on the south side of COB Adder, and that is where we house the majority of our class seven and class nine items to be retrograded to Kuwait, or to be sent to Afghanistan,” he said.

    Sgt. 1st Class Dawadrain Clark, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the JDC with the 40th QM Co. out of Schoffield Barracks, Hawaii, and an Ocala, Fla., native, said 20 Soldiers and 18 KBR, Inc. contractors work in the JDC, with the Soldiers primarily focusing on class seven items.
    “The Soldiers are responsible for uploading and downloading class seven supplies that come in,” he said. “They also store and keep accountability of those supplies.” Clark said the unit has moved more than 65,000 tons of class three, four and nine supply, and about 5,000 pieces of class seven equipment in the last four months.

    Kee said accountability of incoming and outgoing equipment is a high priority for his unit. “Our goal is maintaining full accountability of every piece of commodity that comes through the JDC, to ensure that it gets … from the sender to the customer, and to do that as fast as possible,” he said. “We try to turn items around within 72 hours, pushing onward to our next customer.”

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    Posted in Military Life, Military Strategy

    Missing Him… Happy Birthday Son!

    Posted on April 7, 2010 by Claire| 5 Comments

    This has been a very emotional morning for me. My son turns 25-years old today. I can’t call him. I sent him some gifts but I’m not sure if they made it to him yet. It’s another year where our family tradition of celebrating a birthday with family all around you, dinner built to your specifications with a cake (pie or cheesecake… name your poison) to top it all off. I just miss him. Actually I miss him a lot.

    I haven’t spent a birthday with him since he turned 20.

    I started a blog on his 22 birthday. It was the day he landed in Germany headed for his first tour in Iraq. My first post on Knee Deep in the Hooah! is aptly titled “It’s all fun and games until someone gets deployed.” I was heading into a year-and a-half long ordeal of my son fighting in the surge, and of reading too many notices of his friends who were KIA. At home it’s just not a relief when you get the news and it’s not your son… because in your heart the fallen is still “your soldier.” I still think of the men they lost on a daily basis. I think of their families and wonder…

    The day Mike turned 21 he was in the field for his AIT (Infantry). He did not have a wonderful birthday bash with all of his friends. He did not get to order his first beer. He did not get cake, presents and goodies. He got an MRE, a rainy day, and no sleep before a very long ruck march. The day he turned 22 he landed in Germany on his way to Kuwait. He turned 23 during the same deployment. At least his 24th was in the states (although in the field of course) I am proud of him, and I very proud of his attitude while making these sacrifices. It’s his job, and he does it well.

    So, here’s to you son! I love you. Stay safe. We are here and eagerly anticipating your safe return home to us.

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    Posted in Spouse and Family

    Summer Employment Opportunities for Family Members (ages 14-22)

    Posted on April 7, 2010 by Claire| Leave a comment

    The summer job always caused a bustle in our home. Applications being sent in for every position from janitorial work at the airport to fast food service. The goal was always to earn enough money to blow on some fun things and then some to save toward the coveted computer or car.

    If you have a younger teen (14 years or older) or a college student (up to age 22) they qualify to apply. I found the following information HERE.

    Summer hire program now accepting applications
    Apr 7, 2010
    By Margaret Banish-Donaldson

    RED CLOUD GARRISON – The Civilian Personnel Advisory Center will accept summer employment applications until May 3 for family members, ages 14 – 22.

    CPAC officials said the 2010 Summer Hire program, which provides jobs from May 17 for college students and June 21 for high school students is designed to provide young people an opportunity to gain and prepare for future education and career goals, while supporting the Army mission.
    Jobs are available in clerical, labor, and non-hazardous work.

    Salary for these positions is $5.50 per hour; however, subject to change.

    “Federal Law requires all students to have a valid social security number,” said Geraldine Jones, CPAC director. “Students are required to have their paychecks electronically submitted to a U.S. bank of their choice. And, no changes to student assignments will be permitted.”

    Students will be responsible for arranging their own transportation and only will be placed with the commuting distance of the sponsor’s duty location, Jones said. Duty locations are Uijeongbu and Dongducheon, which includes USAG-Red Cloud, Camp Jackson, Camp Stanley and USAG-Casey.

    Applicants for summer hire positions must be unmarried family members of active duty service members, Department of Defense civilian employees or non-appropriated fund (Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation or Army and Air Force Exchange Service) civilian.

    Priority 1: all students ages 16 – 22.
    Priority 2: students ages 14-15.

    Applicants must submit an online application form, Jones said. Forms must be completed and submitted to the CPAC as soon as possible, but not later than June 15. Persons under the age of 18 will not be employed as caregiving personnel at child care, school-age, or youth centers. Persons aged 16 years and older may be assigned to these programs to perform clerical or labor duties. Supervisors will provide line-of-sight supervision according to DOD Instruction 1402.5 and AR 608-10.

    The Summer Hire Program is designed to provide young people an opportunity to gain meaningful job experience, prepare for future educational and career goals, and support the Army mission.
    For more information, call 732-7766.  SOURCE

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    Posted in Spouse and Family

    Letters From Home

    Posted on April 7, 2010 by LL| Leave a comment

    One of my first posts here was about women in the military and I included a picture of my grandmother. She holds a dear place in my heart because my younger sister and I lived with her and my Papaw for 18 months while my dad was stationed in Korea way back in 1975-1976.

    My aunt is in the process of cleaning out stuff and she forwarded a letter from my dad that he wrote my aunt. The majority of the hand written letter is about how she and my Mamaw got the mailing address wrong and he had not gotten any mail. My aunt’s letter to him that he finally received was only the 2nd one, my grandmother’s arriving just the day before. Dad’s response was 2 pages long and it was a plea for more mail, ending, “WRITE!!”

    In this modern age of texts, emails, skype, there is still something wonderful about a tangible piece of paper with words hand written, stamped, and addressed to a deployed soldier. I have heard many a time how wonderful it is to get a letter in the mail. Care packages are always welcome but I know just a personal note is as much or more welcome because it can be dashed off in a minute, a reminder that the soldier is not far from friends and family’s thoughts, and letters can be done often.

    Please take the time to write a letter. If you don’t have an address, you can find them either on Anysoldier.com or you can sign up to adopt a soldier on Soldiers Angels or Adopt a Platoon. Different organizations have different requirements, so make sure you understand what you’re getting into, but if you just want a penpal, I suggest Anysoldier. It will only cost you the price of a stamp for as often as you like. Less than 50 cents (the stamp on my dad’s letter is for 13 cents and has the liberty bell on it, from 1976, the Bicentennial year) will give a deployed military member a smile and something he or she can tuck into his or her pocket to pull out and look at and read again. It could even be passed down 24 34 [edit: well crap, we women shave off 10 years to make ourselves younger] years later to a son or daughter as evidence of love and caring for our fighting forces.

    Make a soldier’s day. Write a letter!

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    Posted in Uncategorized

    Marines Relieve Some Tension

    Posted on April 6, 2010 by CJ| Leave a comment

    I saw this video on YouTube and was mesmerized. Some of these Marines can actually dance. And some are just your typical white boy with no rhythm (Disclaimer: I’m a typical white boy that can’t dance.)

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    Posted in Military Life