Lone Survivor Giveaway!

As you all know, we are dedicated to honoring and remembering those who serve as part of the U.S. Military. What better way to honor you (or your loved one) than allowing you to submit your favorite military story or experience for everyone to share. Once you submit your story, you will be instantly entered to win the AMAZING book by Marcus Luttrell, Lone Survivor: An Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10. Lone Survivor is a MUST read book as it takes you through a detailed description of real Navy SEAL training and the true story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains of Afghanistan that led to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history.

How to Play:

Simply submit your favorite personal Military experience in the comment section (just below this post) by Friday, April 3rd. We will read all the submissions and pick the top 3 winners who will all receive a FREE copy of Lone Survivor. Please provide your email address in your comment in case you are one of the WINNERS!

Meeting with MAG-39 at Camp Pendleton

It's always a great day in San Diego, isn't it? I love having a reason to get there, so to be able to meet with both Navy and the Marines was a wonderful excuse. I've never been to Camp Pendleton before--it's huge! I had the privilege of meeting with all the representatives from each of the Squadrons of the Marine Aircraft Group 39. I spent a little extra time afterwards talking with these great Marines below:
From L to R: Captain Joe Troyan, Major Khieem Jackson, Sharlene Hawkes, Captain Chad Tyler, and Captain Brian Riva

You know, everytime I get to see our American defense personnel and capabilities up close...I'm in awe. Seriously. When I lived abroad as a teenager, anyone in uniform (I'd see the Marines at the US Embassy for instance) represented home to me. I am so proud of the great job you all do representing and defending us. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say this since I'm not a Marine...but....hooooah!


By the way, here's a link to our latest press release .

Aboard the USS Cape St. George in sunny San Diego

On Monday, I got my first peek at a Navy cruiser when I met with the very capable Captain Rabun and LT Grant Greenwell--true "Dragonslayers"! The rest of their team was just as sharp and I came away learning a lot about what they do to preserve their history. The biggest thing that surprised me was that I found out their PAO (right now it's ENS Cummings) has to do all the page layouts himself for their cruisebooks...wow that's a ton of work. I'm so used to RMS doing all that for the Units that I didn't think others were still doing it themselves. Anyway, it was a treat to spend some time with this great warship crew! America is in great hands!

Ohio Guard Completes Military Yearbook on DVD-ROM

We would like to send out a HUGE thank you and congratulations to the Ohio Army National Guard for completing the largest Remember My Service project to-date with over 8,000 military yearbooks being distributed to Guardsmen who have served since 9/11. As you can imagine, a project of this size was no easy task and we would like to recognize LTC Greg Rogers and SSG Joshua Mann for their continuous hard work and dedication in making sure that every Unit and every Soldier is both honored and remembered.

The BEST just got BETTER!

OK, we're bragging a little, but I think it's warranted. We're already the leading provider of interactive unit-specific historical records in the Military, but now we can take that content you send us...and create full color beautifully bound books for you as well. Until now, our main focus as been creating Unit Interactive Historical Records (UIHRs) on DVD-ROM, but due to the numerous requests from various Guard commands in particular, we have decided to include something else that our parent company StoryRock excels in, and offer a full color and text book option as either a supplement or replacement to our UIHRs (which already comes with a 6 x 8 hardbound journal). By providing a "yearbook" option, we have opened the door for all those smaller Units returning home from deployment who previously couldn't complete a UIHR as the minimum order was 500 Servicemembers (they can complete an RMS "yearbook" with a minimum order of 100). The ultimate historical record then is this book, together with the DVD-ROM that allows for everything from video interviews, to your complete archived newsletters, to every name in your Unit with a link to each individual bio page...and tons more! We really recommend a live demo of this so email me directly at jsolomon@remembermyservice.com and I'll set you up. Jake

Visiting the set of NCIS with the real NCIS!

For the last six years I've been an avid fan of the hit TV series NCIS (for those of you a little out of the loop, that's Naval Criminal Investigative Service). A couple of years ago, I first met Ralph Blincoe, the Deputy Director of the real NCIS, as part of my work with my company, and I joked with him about being the "original" Mark Harmon (he'd actually be closer to being Mark's boss on the show). Ralph is the ultimate friend...when he found out that I was going to be in LA to hang out with my sisters for a weekend, he coordinated a visit to the NCIS set--WOW, I could hardly contain myself. I'm a big fan of Mark Harmon too--he was the main reason I started watching in the first place (ah, confessions). Mark is not only a true professional, but a really great guy in person (what a relief! You just never know...) He spent quite a bit of time with all of us, and gave us the update on the new NCIS spinoff that will be starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J--should be really good. I offered my humble opinion that I think Mark and Chris should continually cross-promote their characters not just in the first two episodes, but throughout the whole season. Maybe cross-promote all the characters...it keeps us viewers guessing and tuned in to BOTH. Just my two cents.

As a note, I've been invited to speak to NCIS staff and agents on Mar. 31st...I'm really looking forward to it! Sharlene

PHOTO: On location in CA. From left to right, NCIS Assistant Director Jeff Edwards, NCIS Deputy Director Ralph Blincoe, RMS President Sharlene Hawkes, THE Mark Harmon (Special Agent Gibbs on the TV version of NCIS) and Special Agent Mike Browning.

Four books I'm getting ready to read

A good friend of mine lent me 4 books a couple of weeks ago, 3 of them are about the Doolittle Raiders from WWII. I decided to start with "Four Came Home" (it was gripping right from the start),then "Destination: Tokyo" to give me a straightforward historical background of the Raid, and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" written by one of the Raiders himself, Captain Ted Lawson. And the last book is "Hell Hawks!" --great title! So I have a lot of reading ahead. So which one will make it into our Top 10 list of books (see the sidebars on this blog below)? Right now it's Top 5 while I do a lot of reading. Would love to hear about your favorites! Sharlene

Washington DC Reserve Officers Association in January

I tell anyone I can how absolutely critical it is that we, the public, recognize the Reserve as the key operational force it is, the backbone of our country's defense, and the reason why America's defense can remain an all-volunteer force. That's why, at the mid-winter ROA conference in DC, I really enjoyed getting to meet so many Reservists who do an amazing job juggling their Civilian with Military lives. I got to catch up with my friend LTG (ret) John Bradley who recently retired as Chief of the Air Reserve and is now working on an important foundation with his wife Jan... it's called the Lamia Afghan Foundation ...they're doing a great work. I'd love to hear from any of you who are Reservists! Hey, and send me a picture I can publish. Thanks!