The Griffon
13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) | 02/19/2010

CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Members of the 96th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), helped give back to the children of Iraq when they visited a local Taji school to distribute supply kits as part of Operation: Back to School. More than 40 members of the brigade, including Col. C.J. Read, commander of the 96th SBDE, and a resident of Layton, Utah, and Command Sgt. Maj. Vicki Briggs, senior enlisted advisor to the 96th, from Roy, Utah, helped distribute the supplies to nearly 300 children.

Soldiers at Camp Taji have distributed almost 5,000 kits to local children as part of the program. The kits are assembled using donations from churches, civic organizations, and private citizens. “Basically ever since the war started, Soldiers saw a need out there in the civilian populace with the Iraqis, to be able to give back,” said Read. “They realized that we have so much, and we come from a great nation that does have a lot.”

Read said he sees the heavy involvement of the Iraqi army as a positive sign in the road towards turning the country back over to the people of Iraq. Iraqi army soldiers not only provided security for the event, but were also the people handing over supply kits to the schoolchildren.

in briefs…
| 02/19/2010

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Jan. 6, 2009) — Secretary of the Army John McHugh gave Pentagon staffers a “preliminary report” today after his first three months in office, asking them to continue supporting Soldier and Family programs, focus more on Congressional outreach and continue acquisition reform.

TRAVEL USA
| 12/07/2009

As a homeschool parent, you understand the importance of stringent education. Language learning can play a significant part of that comprehensive curriculum. Second-language study improves scores on entrance exams and strengthens applications for colleges and jobs, as well as growing every student’s intellectual potential. As a result, students need their education to be well rounded and completed with language learning, but with so many different curriculums and learning tools out there, choosing the right materials for second-language study at home can be a challenge.

Timothy L. Hale | 12/07/2009

FORT HOOD, Texas — Thousands turned out for a memorial service today to honor the 12 Soldiers and one Department of the Army civilian gunned down last week at this U.S. Army post in Central Texas.

Of those 13, five were Army Reserve Soldiers. Lt. Col. Juanita L. Warman, 55, Harve de Grace, Md.; Maj. Libardo Caraveo, 52, Woodbridge, Va.; Capt. John P. Gaffaney, 54, San Diego, Calif., Capt. Russell Seager, 51, Racine, Wis., and Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, Kiel, Wis.; were among those slain at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood on Thursday, Nov. 5., 2009.

TRAVEL USA
| 02/19/2010

Who doesn’t want to live the pirate’s life — if only for one night? At every show at Pirate’s Dinner Adventure in Orlando, more than 100 guests are invited to don costumes and participate in the piratical fun. Renowned as “the world’s most interactive dinner show experience,” Pirate’s Dinner Adventure is a place where life-long memories are made.

From the Office of G-6...
Maj. Mark Goodman | 12/07/2009

Most people know Army Knowledge Online (AKO) as the place for checking their e-mail and storing files. But, did you know AKO is also a Business Process Management (BPM) platform? It’s completely integrated with a process improvement system called Appian and is ideal for units that want to build their own process management applications. In fact, the AKO BPM Team (ako.bpm@us.army.mil)  has built some basic process management tools and made them available to all AKO users at https://www.us.army.mil/suite/page/600703. Units can use the tools to route documents for review or action to a series of people. There are also other tools for doing things such as posting e-mails to a forum or blog.

The Griffon
Maj. James Martin Sessoms | 02/19/2010

Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, Chief of the U.S. Army Reserve, visited Soldiers at Camp Taji, Iraq on Christmas day where he held an informal town hall meeting to discuss his insight and vision for the future direction of the Reserve along with proposed legislation for Reservist benefits. 

Stultz, who served in the 108th Training Command (IET), covered topics such as professional development and the need to recruit the right Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) in the right geographical areas.  “The Army Reserve will not return to a force that just performs battle assemblies one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer,” he said, adding  that reforms to the personnel management system and retaining quality Soldiers are crucial goals for the Army Reserve. 

Stultz discussed improving retirement benefits for Army Reserve Soldiers who perform increased and frequent deployments that result in long family separations just as active duty counterparts do.  “Retirement benefits should be increased for both Reserve and Guard members,” Stultz told an enthusiastic crowd.

| 12/07/2009

Take time to enjoy the winter this year and unite with family and friends in Front Royal, Virginia. Winter is a special time of year in Front Royal, because its attractions know no “off-season.” Even in the cooler months, a short, scenic drive from our Nation’s Capital will bring you back to a place where you can relax and unwind with family and friends.

| 06/07/2010

Alcohol dependence (defined as five or more drinks in the same sitting) is a powerful disorder with enormous health consequences. Alcohol dependence and chronic, excessive alcohol consumption are associated with a high risk of developing various types of chronic diseases, including psychiatric conditions, neurologic impairment and cardiovascular disease, some of which are fatal. It is estimated that in the year 2000, alcohol-consumption was responsible for 85,000 deaths, or 3.5% of all deaths, in the United States, making alcohol consumption the third leading behavioral cause of death after tobacco use, poor diet and physical inactivity.  More than 55,000 veterans were admitted into addiction treatment facilities in 2000 .

Commentary
Spc. Christina Dion | 12/07/2009

One of the worst states of mind we can find ourselves in is one caused by stress. We may be worried or concerned about a situation in our life or in the lives of our loved ones. For many of us, this is a daily reality as we fret about the economy, our children and their choices, too much work with a paycheck that buys less and less, or whether or not the Panthers will make it to the playoffs. Alright, that last one is a stretch (at least for most of us).