9 January 2004

   Volume 3, Number 1

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NJ Dept of Military and
Veterans Affairs

BG Glenn K. Rieth
The Adjutant General

Col Maria Falca-Dodson
Deputy Adjutant General

COL (Ret) Emil H. Philibosian
Deputy Commissioner for Veterans   Affairs

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Contacting us is easy!

Office of the Joint Chief of Staff

COL (Ret) Michael B. Smith

Mrs. Laura A. Branham

Phone: (609) 530-6987

Fax:  (609) 530-7109

Email:

branham@njdmava.state.nj.us

We're on the Web!
www.state.nj.us/military

Wanted – Executive Director

The National Guard Association is looking for an individual with strong leadership, managerial, and administrative skills to serve as the Executive Director of the Association. The position is responsible for the Association’s insurance, yearbook, membership, legislative, and fund raising programs, prepares the quarterly newsletter, and supports the other committees of the Association.

This is currently a volunteer part-time position and is non-paid at this time, but has the potential to become paid depending on the energy, imagination, and entrepreneurial abilities of the selected individual. The position supports the 1000+ active and retired Officers and spouses of the New Jersey National Guard and reports directly to the President of the Association. Anyone interested in applying for this position should send a letter of interest and a resume to NGANJ, Attention: Secretary, 101 Eggert Crossing Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 no later than 30 January 2004.

Twenty-eight Non-Commissioned Officers graduate Satellite NCO Academy Program.

Technical Sergeants and Staff Sergeants from both the 108th Air Refueling Wing and the 177th Fighter Wing graduated on 19 December 2003 from the Air National Guard’s Satellite NCO Academy Program. The 17-week program utilizes the Air National Guard Warrior Network downlink to classrooms across the nation. The final two weeks of the program are in-residence at the I. G. Brown Professional Military Education Center at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, Knoxville, TN. The course curriculum prepares NCOs with leadership and management training and the skills necessary for more demanding responsibilities, particularly, as the Air National Guard stands poised for future Air Expeditionary Forces Deployments and Joint Deployments. TSgt Thomas O’Rourke from the 108th Air Refueling Wing and TSgt Daniel Mitchell Jr. and TSgt William Ericksen from the 17th Fighter Wing were distinguished graduates.

Rehabilitation Department at the Veterans Memorial Home at Paramus awarded Letter of Commendation.

The SunDance Rehabilitation Corporation has awarded the Rehabilitation Department at the Veterans Memorial Home at Paramus with its Letter of Commendation for the high quality of services they deliver to the facility’s residents. This award is based on the recent Compliance Audit, which is a thorough review of all aspects of the clinical services, documentation, and customer relationships, conducted at the facility. The Compliance Audit revealed the Paramus rehabilitation team demonstrated very good performance in many areas, especially paperwork, excellent patient care, and good interdisciplinary involvement. A great deal of effort and dedication has gone into creating the strong rehabilitation services offered at the Veterans Memorial Home at Paramus. Congratulations on this achievement!

The Institute of Medicine creates a new website regarding a variety of military-related health issues.

“The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) new website is one more tool available to veterans, health care practitioners and others interested in the well-being of our veterans,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi. The site, http://veterans.iom.edu, has separate sections for health care issues affecting the last four major military conflicts - World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War. Visitors can read electronic versions of IOM-produced reports or purchase publications. Other sections list IOM’s completed reports and reports in progress, while another area contains studies about chemical and biological agents suspected of causing health problems for military members. There is also a section with reports and information about deployment health. Part of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine is a nonprofit organization that provides advice on matters of biomedical science.

State Employee Recognition.

The state of New Jersey will be celebrating Public Employee Recognition Week from 3-9 May 2004. The New Jersey State Employee Recognition Committee includes representatives from various State departments and agencies whose mission is to acknowledge, recognize, and celebrate public employee contributions, and educate the public about the service and dedication of New Jersey’s public employees. Please take a moment to consider nominating one of your co-workers.

Nomination forms are available in your Human Resource Office or online by clicking here. All completed nomination forms must be forwarded to your Division Director/CEO for authorized signature. Once approved, the nominations are to be forwarded to Paul Serdiuk, Human Resources Division, PO Box 340, Trenton, NJ 08625. The deadline to submit nominations is January 28, 2004. All nominations will be reviewed in accordance with statewide guidelines.

Honorees will be invited to the Statewide ceremony to be held on Friday, 7 May 2004 at the War Memorial in Trenton, NJ.

Supply Excellence Award (SEA).

The NJ Army National Guard has two pending nominations for the National Guard Bureau Supply Excellence Award for 2003. The nominees are 150th GSAB, NJARNG, for Battalion Level with Property Book, and the HHC 1-114th IN, NJARNG, for Company Level without a Property Book. The 150th GASAB, NJARNG, West Trenton, NJ with SFC Ralph Floyd, S4 NCO, has won the nomination for its category every year for the past three years. HHC, 1-114th IN BN, NJARNG, Woodbury, NJ with SGT Robert Morgan, Supply Sergeant, has won the nomination for the first time in its category. National Guard Bureau is inspecting each of the nominees this week as part of the selection process for nomination to the national level competition. Congratulations to SFC Floyd and the 150th GSAB and SGT Morgan and the HHC 1-114 IN for a job well done!

National World War II Memorial Dedication

Nearly 59 years after the end of World War II, the National World War II Memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, 29 May 2004, in Washington, DC. The Second World War will be the only 20th century event commemorated on the Mall’s central axis, and this will be the first national memorial dedicated to all who served during World War II. The memorial, which was established by the American Battle Monuments Commission, will honor all military veterans of the war, the citizens on the homefront, the nation at large, and the high moral purpose and idealism that motivated the nation’s call to arms. World War II veterans or their families and friends are encouraged to enroll in the WWII registry. Details on all dedication-related events are available at the website: www.wwiimemorial.com. For those interested, you can write call or request tickets online: National World War II Memorial, 2300 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 501, Arlington, VA. The telephone number is 1-800-639-4WW2 and email address is custsvc@wwiimemorial.com.

Distinguished, Meritorious, and Vietnam Service Medal Presentation Ceremonies are scheduled.

New Jersey Army National Guard migrates test site to Microsoft XP Professional.

In preparation for the NGB directed XP migration, the J6 Logistics Support Section successfully executed an XP migration test site. The J6 Logistics technicians selected A Co, 250th Signal BN located in Cherry Hill. The XP migration on the test site was conducted in the third week of November, and there have been no reported issues with the new Windows operating system. The J6 Logistics staff will publish a schedule to migrate the rest of the NJ National Guard RCAS systems. A total of 212 systems will be replaced as part of the life-cycle replacement, while the rest of the 618 RCAS systems will be upgraded to XP professional.

NJ Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and Vietnam Era Education Center Announces its Calendar of Events.

For more information about any of these events, please call the NJ Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation office at (732) 335-0033.

Transportation Activities.

SGT Thomas Russo, J4 Traffic Management Specialist, and personnel from the J4 Transportation Section, successfully completed a Mobilization and Automated Unit Equipment Listing (AUEL) Workshop for Co E, 1-114th IN BN, Atlantic City, New Jersey on 9 December 2003. The unit was well prepared due to the dedication and professionalism of their chain of command and selected individual soldiers. SGT Russo also conducted direct coordination with Mr. Jackson, Installation Transportation Office (ITO), Fort Dix, New Jersey, to review all scheduled deployments and redeployments of Active and Reserve Component units concerning their future movement through the state of New Jersey.

The True Spirit of Christmas…

On 22 December 2003, a check in the amount of $200 was presented to Ms. Mary Veigh at the Cape May Family Support Center. In lieu of exchanging Christmas gifts, Installation Division employees, LtCol (Ret) Ed Sain, MAJ Mark Preston, Capt Dean Arrighi, Walt Parker and Lou Ciccianti chose to make a donation to the families of the deployed soldiers.

J6 News –

In a note from Army Knowledge Online (AKO) dated 18 December 2003, Army Regulation 25-2 prohibits the practice of auto-forwarding official mail to non-official accounts. To comply with AR 25-2, AKO is discontinuing the option to auto-forward email to non-official accounts. To view this regulation, please visit: http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/25_Series_Collection_1.html. Enforcement began 1 January 2004.

Today in History…

Today is Friday, 9 January 2004 and the 9th day of the year. There are 358 days left in the year. On this day…

- 1493 – First sighting of a manatee (Christopher Columbus)

- 1861 – Star of the West fired on (Sumter, SC) thus becoming the first hostile act of the Civil War.

- 1936 – Semi-automatic rifles adopted by the U.S. Army.

- 1941 – 6000 Jews exterminated in Bucharest, Romania.

- 1951 – The United Nations headquarters officially opened in New York City.

- 1969 – The supersonic jetliner, Concorde, made its first trial flight.

- 1984 – Clara Peller was first seen by TV viewers in the “Where’s the Beef?” commercial campaign for Wendy’s.

- 1995 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Poliakov, 51, completed his 366th day aboard the Mir space station, breaking the record for the longest continuous time spent in outer space.

McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey, announces NJ State Employee Discount Offer.

McCarter Theatre, in cooperation with the State of New Jersey Department of Personnel, is pleased to announce a New Jersey state employee Special Discount Offer. All tickets for the performances of Cirque Eloize on Friday and Saturday, 16 & 17 January, at 7 pm and on Sunday, 18 January, at 2 p.m. are offered to state employees for $20 (over 40% off the regular price). Cirque Eloize combines circus, theater, and dance to transport audiences to a world of fantasy and magic. Order by phone at (609) 258-2787 and mention Promo Code – NJ State Offer; Order on the web at www.mccarter.org and write Promo Code - NJ State Offer in the comments section.

*The offer is based on availability and is valid until 10 January 2004.

Armory Happenings – Check to see what’s happening at an Armory near you.

Fun Facts –

- There are only four words in the English language that end in “dous”: tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

- There is no Betty Rubble in Flintstones Chewable Vitamins.

- Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

- The sentence: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every letter of the alphabet.