USS Bonhomme Richard and the USS Howard visits

While it was snowing in my hometown of Salt Lake City, I had the great pleasure to visit sunny San Diego where we (Elayne Harmer, our Sr. Marketing Executive for the West Coast) met the well-traveled Chief Kane on the USS Bonhomme Richard (with me at the dry dock as this gorgeous ship gets a lot of work done before heading out to Japan--notice Elayne and I doing our best to hold it up at the bow). I was so impressed with the massive amounts of documentation that Chief Kane and his team have already done on this preparation...can't wait to see the rest!

And then we got to board the USS Howard--a destroyer heading out on deployment this very week. LTJG Derr and Ensign Valanzola were great hosts and we wish them a very safe journey. By the way, we were told that 40% of the crew on board the USS Howard...are women. Very cool!

Georgia Army National Guard Kicks Off!

This morning we are thrilled to announce that the Georgia Army National Guard will be kicking off in a couple of weeks, with 12 projects covering every battalion in the state. The Georgia Army National Guard is the third largest guard in the United States, and has had extensive involvement in theater since 9/11. We at RMS look forward to working with Georgia, and are excited to see their historical service record develop under the direction of Retired COL. Dennis Brown.

Maryland Army National Guard Kicks Off New Project!

On March 3, 2011, the Maryland Army National Guard joined RMS in kicking off a new project covering the 2007 Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment of the 58th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (now organized as the 58th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade) . This single project, led by Major Daniel Collins, covers approximately 1100 Soldiers.

The Brigade traces its heritage back to some of the earliest battles of the Revolutionary War, and made headlines in 2007 when called to Iraq, where it more than quadrupled the MDARNG presence.

Major Collins has begun the process of established a very effective method of requesting, collecting, and organizing photos, video, and other documentation from those who deployed, including an RMS-dedicated email address, a Facebook page, and strong top-down leadership support. Starting with the kick-off, the Family Readiness Group leader, Jennifer, was on hand to support the project. We here at RMS are very optimistic to see what MDARNG's enthusiasm for their Historical Service Record will produce.

2011 Medal of Honor Commemorative Coins

I wanted to let you know about the release of the 2011 Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Program on February 25, 2011. I just was made aware of this, and they are only available through 2011...here are some of the facts:

Authorized by Public Law 111-91 (The Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Act of 2009), the U.S. Mint is issuing two coins in recognition and celebration of the establishment of the Medal of Honor in 1861.

Mintages for the Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Program are limited to 100,000 gold $5 coins and 500,000 silver $1 coins, and are only available during 2011. Surcharges collected from coin sales – $35 for each gold coin and $10 for each silver coin – are authorized to be paid to the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation to help finance its educational, scholarship and outreach programs. After February 25, coins may be purchased directly from www.usmint.gov.

The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to perpetuate the Medal of Honor’s legacy of courage, sacrifice, and patriotism, and to support the public service activities of Medal of Honor recipients and the exclusive Society to which they belong.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of enactment of the Medal of Honor, and we are designing a number of national events and activities to honor the enactment of our nation’s highest award for military valor, which has been awarded fewer than 3,500 times since 1861. This monumental anniversary represents 150 years of courage and sacrifice on the part of the millions of men and women who have defended our freedoms in uniform.

Also, please visit www.medalofhonorcoin.com ...thanks!

So great to see the NY National Guard in the news for their RMS project!

Yes it has been awhile since I blogged, wow since Oct?? Anyway, it's not for a lack of stuff to write about...quite the opposite. I'm going crazy in a very great way! So this note is to link you to a cool article and broadcast media that just came out of the NY National Guard on their really big RMS project--this is going to be amazing!

3-ID, OKANG, and NVANG

I'm currently working on the 3rd Infantry Division's: 26 Brigade Support Battalion. The pictures I have received for their Historical Records, truly show how hard those men and women work while on deployment.

I've also been able to meet with the Oklahoma Army National Guard. While we won't begin our projects with them until early next year, I am excited to be working with our service members from OK.

This Friday I'll be kicking off our projects with the Nevada National Guard, and once again I can't wait to get started. It will be amazing for me to share in the experiences of all the states and units that I'm scheduled to help in making their memories into a legacy that they can share for years!

-Matt, Project Coordinator

Spending a weekend with heroes!

For the last 5 weeks, I think I have been home 2 days. Washington DC twice, Idaho twice, almost two weeks exploring England and Scotland with the family, and an incredible 4 days in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana with veterans from the Army Wounded Warrior program (AW2). We navigated the rapids of the Salmon River, rode horses, ate a five star mess three times a day, and even eliminated a little over 200 pesky gophers and 3 badgers on the Shining Mountain Ranch (with a bunch of AR-15s and 8mm Magnums on hand, those critters didn’t stand a chance—the ranch owner was deeply grateful to these retired special ops and snipers). Before this group even arrived for the weekend, I emailed them and asked them to prioritize what they care about. It’s not healthcare—that was actually last. First on the list was JOBS, and second, EDUCATION/TRAINING.

So here’s my take-away from hanging out with 11 Soldiers and 7 of their wives--all heroes: We need to do more. We—the community—needs to do more to support them in the areas that matter most to them: Jobs. Careers. I’m not talking about more websites and more fundraisers, although those can be very helpful. I’m taking about bottom line, veteran-specific, veteran-priority channel to jobs. I really believe that if America’s private sector had an easy, clearly structured way to reach our veterans, they would. I just had a conference call with the President of Macy’s department stores and they eagerly committed to work with the National Center for Veterans Studies to have a place for student veterans to land into jobs. Macy’s isn’t the usual defense contractor, obviously—they’re "just" an American retail icon. And they see the huge asset that Veterans are—they were looking for a place to plug into, and get started. As of right now, it’s up to online searches, and employers have to wait for veterans to navigate through “the circle of death” (as one veteran at this Montana weekend called it) to find them. So whose job is it to link up veterans and employers? The Department of Defense can certainly cooperate, and in the Army Reserve there has been the biggest push with the Employer Partnership Initiative. What about VA? Well, their mission isn’t to help with jobs. What about Veterans Service Organizations? It’s no small task for any one group to accomplish, but it’s not a hard concept that can certainly be done within a cooperative effort of these organizations. And while this doesn’t necessarily relate to my “day job” with Remember My Service, it’s one that I’m completely engaged in as the National Center for Veterans Studies begins to coordinate, organize, structure, and execute for the sole purpose of better positioning our veterans for employment. We’ve taken it on.

Sharlene