Best Wishes for the Season From All of Us
at Together We Served!

A NOTE FROM OUR CO-FOUNDER:

It's appropriate during this season to take a pause from our busy lives and consider those who are serving to benefit all of us, and those who are less fortunate.  It's true that times are tough all over right now, especially for the kids.  If you can find the time or the resources, please consider supporting a charitable organization in your community this holiday season.  Toys For Tots is an outstanding Marine Corps program that most definitely needs your support this year. 

You have all contributed to make 2009 a great year for TWS and we are proud to have you aboard and to continue being of service to you in the years to come.  So from all of us here at TWS to all you, Thank You!  Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a most enjoyable Holiday Season! 

Semper Fidelis,

Major Wes Prater, USMC (Ret.)

Co-Founder/Administrator

TogetherWeServed.com

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS FOR 2009:
Keep in your thoughts a prayer for peace for those who stand at the spear tip and away from their loved ones, and prayer for those families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice for the Nation.

We all have so many gifts to give throughout the year. And they don't need a hefty price tag, fancy wrapping paper or ribbons and bows to make them valuable.

For those of you fortunate to be home for the Holidays, make your time count. Spend time with family and close friends.

Reach out to those less fortunate than you: Clean out your closet and donate your unwanted, but good, warm, serviceable clothes and shoes to a homeless vets center or women's shelter. Serve meals to the local needy at a rescue mission. Invite local single servicemembers into your home to share Christmas Day. Visit a veterans hospital or nursing home to listen and chat with a vet who has no family to visit them. Volunteer to run errands or do chores for a shut-in. Help prepare hot meals or sack lunches for the elderly. Teach a child -- or an adult -- to read.

The list is endless. In my view, a strong NATION starts with strong COMMUNITIES -- right down to the block and street you live on.

And most of all, this Christmas and New Years, please use your head and DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE. I can't stress it enough.

Over the years I've seen many a good life and military career ruined because a someone didn't have the presence of mind to call a cab, offer their friend a place to sleep it off, or take-away their keys.

When you're sober, your vehicle is a CONVEYANCE. When you're drunk, it becomes a LOADED WEAPON. Save the weapons for the enemy -- not our roadways.

Until next time...and next year...be safe...

Jon Yim
Editor

Bearing Gifts SGT Jacob J. Friday, of 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 377th Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Fires Brigade carries a sackful of stuffed animals and toys for pupils that attend school at the Chaldean Catholic church headed by Bishop Imad Albabba, in downtown Basra, Iraq. - Photo by SPC Maurice Galloway

$128.3B FOR IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN OPERATIONS
President signs 2010 defense budget into law

Story by Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- Defense officials are hailing passage of the fiscal 2010 budget that funds military programs and wartime operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and provides a military pay raise.

President Barack Obama signed the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act into law Dec. 19 after the Senate approved it during a rare early Saturday session. The Senate passed the measure by an 88-to-10 vote.

The $636.3 billion legislation provides $128.3 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a 3.4 percent military pay raise.

The law also extends various authorities and other non-defense fiscal 2010 appropriations, White House officials announced. Most of those provisions involved temporary extensions of emergency unemployment and health-care benefits that had been set to expire.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates issued a joint statement Dec. 18, pressing the Senate for action.

"We strongly urge Senate passage of the Defense Appropriations Bill today, prior to expiration of the current continuing resolution," the statement said. "Passage today will provide important support for our foreign policy and national security priorities and ensure continuity of funding for our troops in combat and for all of the Department of Defense."

The House passed the legislation Dec. 16.

A huge success...
TWS Persons Locator Service

Last month, we announced and launched the TWS Persons Locator Service and we're happy to report that it's been a resounding success in a very short time! 

There have already been dozens of "buddy finds" over the last few weeks, from all services, so we thought it useful to repeat the announcement this month to ensure maximum exposure.

This service is free for all Full TWS Members.  Regardless if the person you're looking for is registered on TWS or not, odds are we can help you find them!  Our TWS PLS Team is headed by retired USAF SMSgt. Jim Franklin and former USMC Cpl. George Reilly.  TWS' PLS uses only publicly available information sources. 

A special PLS form will be installed on the left hand Home Page shortly; however, you can submit your request to personlocator@togetherweserved.com. Please limit your request to only one submission at a time.

Please supply the following information on the person you are seeking as accurately as you can. Your submission will be acknowledged along with an approximate turnaround time to respond. Your search will be conducted as thoroughly as possible and chances of a successful find depends on the accuracy of information you supply.

REQUIRED INFORMATION:
First Name
Middle Name
Last Name
Approximate Year of Birth
City/State Born or Raised
Single or Married
Name of Spouse
Year Last of Contact
Last Known Address
Service Branch
Last Known Rank/Paygrade
MOS/AFSC/NEC/NOC
Home of Record (if known)

And if you've used PLS, please let us know how you liked this service!

CJCS sends Holiday message to troops, families

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued the following Holiday message:

As America celebrates this holiday season, our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Coast Guardsmen are serving around the world. Families and friends at home can enjoy the holidays in peace thanks to your sacrifice. In the midst of glad tidings, we honor your service and that of your families who serve along with you.

Our thoughts and prayers are especially with our wounded warriors, their families, and the families of the fallen. They bear solemn burdens often made heavier by absence. We all must do our part to honor them and ensure they do not shoulder their cares in solitude this holiday season. America’s finest families richly deserve the love and thanks of a grateful Nation, and we will never forget their sacrifice.

On behalf of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and our families, I thank you for all you do for our country. We wish you and your families a joyful holiday season, and all of the blessings of a very happy New Year.

Sincerely,

M.G. MULLEN
Admiral, US Navy

FASTER THAN SNAIL MAIL
HooahMail continues to grow in popularity

Story by J.D. Leipold
Army News Service

WASHINGTON -- Since the start of HooahMail some 21 days ago, more than 3,540 accounts have been set up by families and friends of Soldiers in Afghanistan, and some 1,690 letters delivered.

The letters, many accompanied by photos, have been delivered to those Soldiers often in less than 24 hours.

HooahMail, a one-year pilot program that began Dec. 1, allows Soldiers in Afghanistan to keep a physical reminder of their loved ones with them to be read and re-read whether in the field or at their operating base.

The way the hybrid mail system works is family and friends establish free accounts at www.HooahMail.us where they create and send their letters which can include black and white photos not to exceed 4 inches by 7 inches. Those letters are then transmitted through the HooahMail secure server in Bagram and Kandahar, Afghanistan. From there, the Army postal office downloads the letters to a special machine which prints, folds and seals the letters. The final stop is delivery to Soldiers through unit mail call.

Brig. Gen. Richard P. Mustion, the Army's adjutant general, said the HooahMail system will be expanding.

"We will expand that, in fact we're expanding this week to about eight other FOBs, principally on the eastern side of Afghanistan," Mustion said. "They'll be able to directly receive the mail and it won't have to go through Bagram or Kandahar, and that will potentially make it much quicker than it is today."

The HooahMail system combines the modern technology that's available to the Army through the Internet with traditional mail, he said, but cuts delivery time from 14 days down to as little as one day.

While the Army has established Internet cafes and phone call banks, Mustion said the Army also found in some outlying areas access to those systems is sometimes restricted and not readily available in Afghanistan, which is how the concept of HooahMail came to light.

"This was an item that was brought up to us by family members as well as by Soldiers," he said. "We looked at available technology and found this system works. We're seeing the number of users and the number of letters continuing to increase."

NC Guardsmen give gift of sight to Iraqi infant    

Story & photo by SPC Ruth McClary
30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
North Carolina National Guard

BAGHDAD -- US soldiers, family members and friends have brought the gift of sight to an Iraqi baby born blind with congenital cataracts.

North Carolina National Guard soldiers of Troop C, 150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, were invited to a small celebration Dec. 9, hosted by the family of Noor Hassam Oudah – known as “Baby Nourah” -- in appreciation for setting up and covering expenses for the baby’s Nov. 15 eye surgery, three days after her first birthday.

Though Nourah’s condition is reversible with surgery, the operation is out of reach for a family living in Baghdad. The city’s hospitals lack the facilities and physicians to perform the procedure.

“I was very pleased to be able to do something for this family,” said 1st Lt. Jason Hickman, a platoon leader. “They have been very hospitable. It has truly been a pleasure to be able to help Nourah. I was relieved and very pleased that everything fell into place, considering all the obstacles that we faced.”

Hickman said that if ever there were a more perfect example of divine intervention, it happened on a dark road about five months ago when a convoy made a wrong turn and ended up in Zwaynat, a small village southwest of Baghdad. Nourah was there visiting with her uncle, Muhameed Gharbi Sultan, who informed him of the baby’s plight.

1LT Jason Hickman holds Noor Hassam Oudah during a celebration in her honor. The 1-year-old known as “Baby Nourah” was born blind with congenital cataracts. With help from their families and friends, North Carolina National Guard soldiers raised money for the operation she needed to gain her sight.

“So there we were at a place we hand't intended on being,” said Hickman. “Wrong turn, perhaps, but that's not how I see it. My interest and contacts with the Order of Saint John, the wrong turn, her being there with her uncle instead of with her parents in Baghdad -- no, not a coincidence.”

The Order of St. John, accredited by the United Nations, provides first aid, health care and support services in more than 40 countries.

“I don't believe in the traditional sense of the word ‘destiny,’ but I do believe that God puts people in certain places at certain times,” Hickman said. “Things don't happen solely by coincidence. All you have to do is look for the road signs. The signs were clear, so I sent some e-mails, and that's how we arrived here.”

Once Nourah was diagnosed, Hickman e-mailed St. John’s Jerusalem Eye Hospital, the main provider of eye care in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and a cause he has contributed to in the past.

Through contact with Ruth Ann Skaff, the US executive director of the Priory of St John’s, Hickman was referred to Dr. Mehyar of the Khalidi Medical Center in Amman, Jordan, where the procedure was performed.

Hickman asked for donations from his fellow brigade soldiers, and e-mailed his family about the baby. Family members and friends from the West Virginia communities of Greenville, Belmont and St. Marys were the main contributors of the $5,000 needed to help Nourah.

From that point on, Hickman said, he was determined to help Nourah, and even in his darkest hour, he thought of her.

“Lieutenant Hickman’s father passed away as we were working out all the details for Nourah,” said Staff Sgt. Travers Brake of Elkins, WV, who took over the campaign while Hickman was on emergency leave. “He asked for the guys in the platoon to give donations to Nourah in lieu of sending flowers. Now that’s special.”

Many e-mails and meetings followed, and led to the celebration where Hickman, who didn’t get a good look at Nourah that first night, finally was able to hold her. Dressed in a plush, pink, puppy snowsuit with a yellow-and-pink hat and yellow-rimmed glasses, Nourah made her rounds at the celebration; oblivious to her stardom. She looked around, waved and stared at some of the people instrumental in giving her such a special gift.

Nourah’s paternal grandfather, Oudah Ghardi Sultan al-Jubori, said she has to go back for a check-up in a month and will have to wear glasses for five years -- a small sacrifice for a lifetime of vision.

“We are very grateful to you,” Jubori said to Hickman and the other soldiers. He recalled a time when Iraqis and Soldiers couldn’t sit and talk without wearing armored vest and helmets. “Now we are very close,” he said. “You should visit more. Please come back and visit before you go back to the states.”

Hickman, Brake and the elders of Nourah’s family shared a traditional Iraqi meal together, drank chai tea and talked late into the evening; laughing and joking like old-time acquaintances.

Since the operation, family members said, Nourah crawls, grabs for things and follows hands, fingers and objects placed in front of her. With her big, pouty cheeks and little cherry lips, she quietly absorbs her surroundings and responds at will.

“The Lord may not push you around the board like a pawn, but every now and again he puts you where he wants you,” Hickman said. “We were supposed to end up in Zwaynat that night. It was just up to us what we were going to do when we got there.”

REPORT CARD RELEASED
Transparent look at quality & safety gives VA high marks

WASHINGTON -- For the second consecutive year, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released a “hospital report card” as part of VA’s effort to provide the public with a transparent accounting of the quality and safety of its care.

“This report demonstrates VA’s determination to be open and accountable,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “As a health care organization, transparency of information is essential to providing quality care for our Veterans.”

In addition, for the first time, data from both the 2008 and 2009 reports will be available to the public in machine-readable format on Data.gov.  To empower Veterans and the public at large to track quality, safety and access to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities, VA’s hospital report cards include raw data on care provided in outpatient and hospital settings, quality of care within given patient populations, and patient satisfaction and outcomes.

VA issued its first facility-level report on quality and safety in May 2008.  As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to open government and accountability, VA highlights its rigorous quality programs and actions taken to address the issues VA identified from the last report.

The report gives the health care system high marks, with VA facilities often outscoring private-sector health plans in standards commonly accepted by the health care industry.

“Patient-centric care is our mission,” said Shinseki. “As Secretary, I am committed to continuing to meet and surpass our high standards of care each and every day.”

In addition to allowing VA to demonstrate the quality and safety of its care, the report card provides opportunities to enhance health services.

Some of the marked improvements that VA showed in 2009 include:

• Smoking cessation counseling provided to 89 percent of Veteran patients, a 6 percent improvement from 2008; and

• Among all ages at risk, 94 percent of Veterans received a pneumonia immunization, a 4 percent improvement.

The report notes there is more to be done for women Veterans.  To address this priority and provide women Veterans with the highest quality care VA has implemented several initiatives, such as placement of women advocates in every outpatient clinic and medical center, and creating a “mini-residency” program on women’s health for primary care physicians. 

The report also found minority Veterans are generally less satisfied with inpatient and outpatient care than other Veterans.  In addition to targeting outreach efforts to these Veterans, a minority Veteran program coordinator has been placed in every medical center. 

“VA’s hospital report card will become a valuable resource of information for Veterans, stakeholders and the department.” said Shinseki.  “It will allow VA’s health care system to be forward looking and focused on advancement.”

VA’s 2008 and 2009 hospital report cards can be found at http://www.va.gov/health/HospitalReportCard.asp.

Deck the Halls...and Bunker, Too... Christmas carolers from the US Army, US Air Force, UK Royal Air Force and DoD civilians serenade passers-by at the Kandahar Airfield boardwalk, Afghanistan. The carolers are church members and supporters of the traditional Protestant service held at the airfield's Fraise Chapel. - USAF photo by SSgt. Christine Jones

New Discounts added this month to our new links section on the TWS Home page highlighting Free and Deeply Discounted services for Soldiers.

The providers listed below have agreed to offer their services for free or at deep discounts to members of Army TWS - please take a look at what they have to offer.

If you or someone you know provide a product or service that you are willing to offer for free or at a deep discount to fellow Soldiers on TWS, please us know so that we can add your link to the TWS home page and possibly feature it in a future newsletter.  Please email the link(s) to  wtprater@togetherweserved.com

These are Free listings and not paid advertisements.

TWS is proud to announce the addition of AFLAC benefit eligibility for TWS Members at a discounted rate not available to the general public. This is the same coverage available from employers nationwide, offered to you by virtue of your TWS Membership!

Do you have a Plan B? No one likes to think about getting seriously ill or injured. That’s why it’s so crucial to have a Plan B. Your Plan B has a name:  AFLAC.

Click the banner above to find out how AFLAC can protect you and your family.

Among others...
If you or someone you know provide a product or service that you are willing to offer for Free or at a deep discount to the Sailors of TWS please let me know so that I can add you link on the TWS Home page and possibly feature it in a future Newsletter.

IN WAR, THERE ARE NO HOLIDAYS
Remaining Vigilant For Freedom

Commentary by SGT Jon E. Dougherty
203rd Engineer Battalion
Missouri National Guard

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, AFGHANISTAN -- As our families and friends back home celebrate the holidays, those of us on the ground in Afghanistan are continuing the fight against extremism. Because our enemy is relentless, we must also be as relentless. We know that in war, there are no holidays.

PFC Christian Leach and fellow soldiers cross a river as they approach the village of Lachey in the Shigal district of Kunar province, Afghanistan. - Photo by SGT Teddy Wade

For the “Houn’ Dawgs” of the Missouri National Guard’s 203rd Engineer Battalion, to which I am attached, our operational tempo will remain high. Our combat logistics personnel will still be out on Afghanistan’s dangerous roads, delivering critically needed fuel and other supplies to regional forward and combat operating bases.

They will be accompanied by their brothers and sisters in arms who will be manning the route-clearance packages, whose mission is to clear those same dangerous roads of improvised explosive devices and defend against ambushes and small-arms fire. Their schedule will carry them through Christmas and, most likely, New Year’s Day as well.

But the combat engineers of the 203rd won’t be the only unit still in action. So many others – military and civilian alike – still have responsibilities that don’t end because of a date on the calendar.

Guard towers must still be manned, and medical care still provided. Mail delivery – so important, especially during this time of year – must go on.

Troops must be fed, and latrines, showers and common areas will still need to be kept clean and functioning. Laundry facilities must remain operational, and other basic base services such as security and flight operations continue. Also, training – which is so important to overall readiness – will continue unabated.

When troops are fortunate enough to have a few hours of leisure time, they will use it in various ways. Some will celebrate the holidays in small groups, opening presents and packages sent thousands of miles to them by friends and family back home who are trying their best to give us a taste of the holiday season and some semblance of normalcy in this foreign land. Others will simply spend time alone, in solace and reflection, thankful to get a few moments’ peace. Still others will catch up on sleep, on laundry, on writing letters and e-mails, and other personal business. Some will be preparing for their inevitable next mission.

Not all is lost in the foggy pace of war. Soldiers are doing what they can to add their own touch of home to the season.

Soldiers provide security before loading a CH-47 Chinook during an air assault mission near, Parwan, Afghanistan. - Photo by SSG Christopher Allison

In the chow halls and tactical operations centers, in the office hallways and post exchanges, in the mine-resistant, armor-protected vehicles and on the doors of living quarters there are signs of the season and expressions of faith. Strings of lights – even on blacked-out bases – have popped up, and sparkling trees, tinsel, bulbs and streamers can be seen wherever I go.

In the morale, welfare and recreation centers, personnel wait patiently for a telephone or computer so they can communicate with wives, husbands, children, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters a world away. Seasonal programming, along with the customary sporting events for this time of year, filters through televisions via the American Forces Network. There is foosball and pingpong, popcorn and card games.

And though we worry about how our loved ones are managing back home – even as they worry about us – we are strengthened in the knowledge that while this may be our lives right now, it will not be our lives forever. Someday – sooner for some, longer for others – we are secure in the knowledge that we will return to that “other world” thousands of miles away to embrace our families and friends and resume our lives in peace.

Still, there are sacrifices. For me, personally, I will miss the tradition of going to Mass prior to getting together with my family on Christmas Eve to share stories, laughs and memories. I will miss the dinner Christmas Day with my extended family. And I will miss, especially, spending time with my small grandchildren, who I am sure do not fully understand why Grandpa isn’t able to be with them this year.

I will miss counting down the moments until the New Year with friends, and I will miss the sense of community I always get this time of year from the people of my hometown of Jefferson City, Mo.

I will miss things that, I am sure, many other serving military personnel also are going to miss. But that’s what is good about traditions -- they don’t vanish when there are loved ones who remain behind to carry them on in our absence.

Despite our temporary hardships, for now our families and friends continue to depend on us to keep them safe and to do our part to protect our country against hate, extremism and terror. We know they understand, as we do, that while we would prefer to be back home sharing gifts and smiles, our presence here and throughout the world is necessary as a bulwark against violence and terror, in order to maintain the freedom and security all of them have come to expect.

That we could possibly bring such freedom and security to a people who have never known it makes this journey – and those who support us in it – that much more special this holiday season.

AN UNOFFICIAL TRADITION CONTINUES
Volunteers place 16,000 wreaths at Arlington

Story by Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Photos by Bill Auth, USO

WASHINGTON -- The Arlington Wreath Project, an unofficial national tradition, prompted about 6,000 volunteers to wake up extra early this morning to help place 16,000 wreaths on graves at Arlington National Cemetery.

An army of volunteers prepare to lay wreaths on graves at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA. The volunteers placed more than 16,000 wreaths in honor of the nation's fallen heroes

"It's really nice that America still remembers our troops," said Nikki Bunting, the widow of Army Capt. Brian Bunting, who died in Afghanistan in February 2009. She visited her husband's grave with their children, 2-year-old Connor and 5-week-old Cooper.

“It's a sad sight, but it's really beautiful. It reminds us that people care,” she said.

Morrill Worcester, president of Maine-based Worcester Wreath Company, started the tradition in 1992, although the seeds for the idea had been planted 30 years earlier. The cemetery’s hallowed ground first impressed Worcester in 1962, when the 12-year-old Bangor [Maine] Daily News paper boy had won a paper-sponsored contest and a trip to Washington.

“It struck me and I just never forgot it,” Worcester recently said about the cemetery. “It was just such a big place and the stones are all nice and straight. I saw the Tomb of the Unknown [Soldier] and the changing of the guard.”

Fast forward to 1992, when Worcester discovered his company had 5,000 surplus wreaths near the end of the season. He made arrangements to place the wreaths on graves at Arlington National Cemetery.

“The first 13 or 14 years of the Arlington Wreath Project I just did it because I wanted to do it and it was kind of a private thing,” Worcester said. “We didn’t want any publicity or anything else. We just did it.”

For more than a decade, he sponsored the Arlington Wreath Project, with the mission to “Remember, Honor, and Teach,” and managed to keep it small and relatively anonymous.

That is until 2005 when an Air Force photographer happened to capture an image of the annual honor. “Things just totally changed,” Worcester said.

After the photo hit the Internet and made its way around the world, the tradition grew exponentially. This year 151,000 wreaths were placed in more than 400 cemeteries across the country by 60,000 volunteers as part of Wreaths Across America Day. Individuals and companies sponsored all but 25,000 of the 151,000 wreaths, Worcester said.

“I love seeing the participation,” he said. “I’m very proud of the fact that I started it, but it’s certainly not me anymore.”

Worcester may love seeing the huge numbers of volunteers, but it presents interesting challenges for Wayne Hanson, who volunteers through the Maine State Society of Washington, D.C., to coordinate the Arlington Wreath Project. The Vietnam veteran also sits on the board of Wreaths Across America.

“We started off with just a handful of people helping Mr. Worcester put the wreaths down. It would take us the better part of a good day,” Hanson said. “People would hear about it and want to help, so we would end up with 2[00] or 300 volunteers as the years progressed.”

Though the mercury started out below 20 degrees and only climbed to the low 40s this year, it didn’t deter those wanting to honor the nation’s fallen heroes at the holidays.

"The community of surviving families and TAPS [Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors] are very grateful to Wreaths Across America, the USO, and other organizations for their support,” said Ami Neiberger-Miller, public affairs officer for TAPS. Her brother, Army Spc. Christopher Neiberger, was killed in action in Iraq in August 2007. “Our families know that their loved ones are not forgotten.

A mother speaks to her daughters about the value of freedom after placing a wreath on a grave during Wreaths Across America at Arlington National Cemetery. This was the 18th year that the Maine-based Worcester Wreath Company has donated wreaths to honor our country’s fallen servicemembers.

“Many families who bury their loved ones at Arlington National Cemetery do not live nearby, and so it means a great deal to them to know that America cares and is honoring the resting place of their loved ones," she added.

Though Hanson asks for a moment of silence for those who died in recent conflicts and are buried in Section 60, wreaths are not typically placed on those graves. This year, however, the USO asked to sponsor 1,000 wreaths specifically for that section, which is set aside for U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 300 volunteers, including 125 military family members, helped place the wreaths in less than an hour.

The organization’s president noted that the gesture is meant to highlight the sacrifices made by all servicemembers, however.

"This effort is not about just Arlington National Cemetery," said Sloan Gibson, president of the USO. "The USO hopes to encourage Americans to recognize the service and sacrifice of veterans who are interred at veterans cemeteries across the country."

While the day concluded with 16,000 wreaths placed in under two hours, it actually began yesterday at the Pentagon, when Wreaths Across America expanded its mission again.

“We’re doing something, which is in addition to what we’ve done in the past,” Worcester said in an earlier interview. “We’re placing a wreath for every victim of 9/11 for the first time.

“There’s going to be a big decorated area at Battery Park in Lower Manhattan, and there’s going to be a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon and another one at the field in Pennsylvania,” he added.

Stop-in to our online TWS Army Store for all your Army-themed needs -- Shirts, Jackets, Hats, Jewelry, Footwear, Medals, Patches and much, much more!

Thank you for your support of the TWS Army Store. All Store proceeds go towards advertising the TWS website, bringing more Soldiers to the TWS Community.

REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR DECEMBER 7, 1941 The forward magazine of USS Shaw (DD-373) explodes during the second Japanese attack wave. To the left of the explosion, Shaw's stern is visible, at the end of floating drydock YFD-2. At right is the bow of USS Nevada (BB-36), with a tug alongside fighting fires. - US Navy photo, courtesy National Archives

'A BLAST OF BAD NEWS'
Pearl Harbor veteran recalls 'Day of Infamy'

Story & photo by Emily Brainard
Special to TWS Newsletters

FORT RUCKER, AL -- Curt Head remembers Dec. 7, 1941 vividly. The then-20-year-old Navy petty officer second class and his shipmates had just finished breakfast around 8 a.m. and were considering attending a local football game when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

The young boatswain's mate, aboard the cruiser USS San Francisco (CA-38), said he and his crew joined Sailors from a neighboring battle cruiser, USS New Orleans (CA-32), in firing at Japanese planes.

Head recalls slicing his deck knife through canvas canopies to free stored guns to use against the incoming enemy aircraft. He assisted in clearing the gangway of a broken-down milk truck blocking passage.

Though listening to the first bomb drop "was a blast of bad news," Head said living through the war taught him "to see the good in life" since.

Curt and Louetta Head look over memorabilia of Curt's Navy service at their home near Fort Rucker, AL. Curt served as a boatswain's mate petty officer aboard the cruiser USS San Francisco (CA-38) on the morning of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Head believes honoring Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on December 7 is important because of the sacrifices military members made during the "day that shall live in infamy." Many World War II veterans are no longer living, leaving the few remaining men and women, like him, to carry on their legacies.

Head continued his service to the nation in the 1942 Guadalcanal campaign. He sustained severe injuries during a battle that November and was later awarded the Purple Heart.

After his military stint, he made contributions to local Army efforts aiding Fort Rucker, AL, Soldiers. His Ozark home is surrounded by many open acres, and in the 1960s, he allowed student-pilots to land in his fields for training.

Head said he was paid $21 a year for his hospitality, but he didn't do it for the money. After noise complaints from neighbors; however, Head shut down his makeshift landing pads several years later.

Now 88, Head spends his days with his wife of 66 years, Louetta, and their daughters, Barbara Nafzigger and Carolyn Buchanan, visiting from Oregon and Mississippi, respectively.

Louetta said his Pearl Harbor experiences helped shape her husband into the man he is today - an extremely proud American.

Her father is a stellar example not only to his family, but to all military members past and present, Nafzigger said.

"He's the perfect example of patriotism and support for his country," she said. Buchanan believes her father's combat adventures formed his character, morals and role as "a perfect father."

Even though rotary aircraft no longer land or take off in his backyard, Head supports today's troops. His advice to Soldiers is to "carry on" and perform their jobs to the best of their abilities. It's the same effort he put in many decades ago during the Pearl Harbor bombing.

- What was your best duty station or assignment and why?
- What is the recipe for that good chow you know how to make out of an MRE?
- Where's the coldest beer in Korea?
- Do you have any tips about keeping healthy, or things to watch out for if you have a disease?

These are just a few of the topics that are covered by the many Forums on Army TWS. Our forums provide you, the members, a variety of places to discuss with other members the many topics we have in common. Those members still on active duty would probably like to know about good assignments when they make out their "dream sheets" or talk to their Retention NCOs.

Those who have worked as Retention NCOs or served on a selection board might want to provide a few tips for members in preparing to talk about their next assignment.

If you have a disease like diabetes, what tips can you give others about the disease and things to watch out for with diabetes? Encourage a fellow Soldier to keep on top of a health problem so he stays with us for a long time.

These are but a couple of topics that are available for you to offer advice, warn others about, discuss with other Soldiers...or just vent your frustrations.

So pull up a foot-locker and start shooting the breeze, the forums are for YOU!

WASHINGTON -- Military members will see an average raise of 2.5 percent in housing allowance rates in 2010, a BAH program analyst for the Defense Department said recently.

The increase comes to average of around $37 per month for the more than 900,000 servicemembers expected to draw the basic allowance for housing in 2010. Some areas will see a higher increase, while others will see less, Cheryl Anne Woehr said.

The 2010 raise is down from 2009’s 6.5 percent average, and is the smallest percentage increase since the inception of the BAH program in 2000. This is due the past year’s recession and declining housing market, she said.

“Rates are set based on actual housing data, so as the economy has declined, vacancy rates have increased [and] rental prices have declined, which results directly to lower BAH rates in various areas,” Woehr said.

Those who do notice the BAH rates lower in their area than last year shouldn’t worry, she said, because an individual rate protection law is in place. The policy protects those who already are under a rental agreement. So if BAH rates in their area are lower Jan. 1 than on Dec. 31, the previous, higher rate applies.

“Servicemembers are able to take advantage of the increase in rates, but are not affected by decreasing rates,” she said. But servicemembers who change duty stations, change dependency status or get promoted on or after Jan. 1 will be affected by the new rates, she added.

Woehr stressed that it isn’t necessarily bad news for the servicemember in areas that see a decrease in rates. “Servicemembers who are newly reporting to an area get to take advantage of the lower market when they arrive,” she said.

The BAH program is designed to benefit the servicemember, but it’s not designed to pay 100 percent of housing expenses, Woehr said. The rate is intended to cover rent, renter’s insurance and utilities based on pay grade and dependency status.

The local market economy determines annual BAH changes and sets the next year’s BAH rates. Military housing offices from each installation begin collecting data on the local rental market as early as January each year. The offices research the current rates for two-bedroom houses, townhouses, single-family homes and the different standards and profiles for homes, Woehr explained.

Typically, rates are higher in larger, more heavily populated metropolitan areas, such as New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Rates in rural areas usually are more stable, and although they may increase to some degree, the rise doesn’t have the same impact as in larger cities, she said.

An estimated $19 billion in BAH will be paid to nearly 1 million servicemembers in 2010, Woehr said.

ALLOWING FOR LOVED ONES
Families can see off, greet troops at airport gate     

Story by Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- It’s a scene that’s played out in airports across the country numerous times in the past eight years: Families and servicemembers clinging to each other, either sad to leave or happy and vowing to never let go again.

The emotion always is appropriate, but the location of the scene -- just beyond the airline ticket counters and before the security checkpoint -- robs the actors of precious minutes with loved ones. Those lost minutes are unnecessary, at least as far as the Transportation Security Administration is concerned, a TSA spokesman said.

“TSA permits the airlines to offer a gate pass to family members of arriving or departing US servicemembers,” Greg Soule said. “So, family members who want to accompany a...servicemember being deployed to the boarding gate, or greet them [as they return] from deployment at the arrival gate may receive passes to enter the secure area of the airport.”

Though TSA allows this practice, the final decision rests with the airlines, from which family members must request the passes. Each airline, and possibly even airport, has its own rules and procedures, Soule said.

Families interested in obtaining a gate pass need to check with the airline before arriving at the airport to determine the exact rules and procedures.

“It’s an airline procedure,” Soule said. “It is something that TSA has permitted the airlines to do, though we have security regulations that we provide to the airlines.

“Typically, only passengers who are flying and have a boarding pass are allowed to pass through security,” he added.

TSA makes this allowance out of support for the armed forces, Soule said.

Though military family members with gate passes can pass through security, they must adhere to all security regulations. This includes removing coats, jackets and shoes, and the liquids regulation. Anything of a liquid or gel consistency must be 3.4 ounces or less and be sealed in a quart-sized storage bag to pass through security, Soule said.

Each family member would have to present the gate pass as well as a valid government-issued identification card, Soule added.

TSA doesn’t keep statistics on how frequently military families take advantage of this opportunity. Volunteers at Washington-Dulles International Airport’s USO lounge said they are not frequently asked about the program or for assistance in obtaining the passes.

Separations and reunions are emotional enough in normal situations, but with the holidays in full swing, they’re even more poignant. And thanks to the TSA and cooperating airlines, they can be more positive.

“We’re happy to do this and make this small exemption,” he added, noting that TSA officials recognize that military families, as well as servicemembers, make sacrifices for the country.

The TSA has no jurisdiction overseas, so US military family members wishing to see off or meet their servicemember at a foreign airport are encouraged to check with the airline for local policy.

The policy on gate passes is available on the Transportation Security Administration’s Web site under the heading “Accommodations for US Military Personnel.”

Click the highlighted text for maps of Iraq and Afghanistan in Adobe PDF format.

 

- Mark Baker

Sincerely,
The ATWS Administration Team
http://army.togetherweserved.com