New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

1. GOVERNOR JAMES E. McGREEVEY MET WITH NJ ARMY & AIR NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS AT FORT DIX AND MCGUIRE AIR BASE TO OFFER HIS SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT. On Thursday, 27 February, Governor McGreevey and BG Rieth visited Fort Dix and the soldiers of the 253rd Transportation Company, NJ Army National Guard, who have been mobilized in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. On Tuesday, 4 March, the Governor and BG Rieth traveled to McGuire Air Base and met with the Army National Guard soldiers of the 5-117th Cavalry assigned to the 305th Security Forces Squadron, members of the Air National Guard's 108th Security Forces Squadron, and the aircraft mechanics of the 108th Air Refueling Wing's Logistics Group. The Governor expressed the State's gratitude to the soldiers and airmen for their dedication to safeguarding our freedoms.

2. NEW JERSEY NATIONAL GUARD'S CHALLENGE YOUTH PROGRAM GRADUATED 89 YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ON SATURDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2003, at the Trenton War Memorial. With the five-month long residential phase of the program behind them, the corps members will now begin a 12-month post-residential phase in which they will work with a mentor to sustain the lifestyle changes they have made. During those 12 months, the corps members will be given the opportunity to join the military, enter a work environment, or continue their education. The choice of direction is theirs, and the program and mentors will assist them in their pursuit. Funded by state and federal dollars, the Challenge Youth Program is the second largest mentoring program in the country, behind Big Brother/Big Sister. The New Jersey National Guard Challenge Youth Program distinguished itself in 2002 when President Bush presented it with the National Mentoring Award.

3. INFORMATION & ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIVISION (IASD) AND FISCAL DIVISION (FD) TO CONSOLIDATE. IASD and FD will be consolidating into a new division beginning 1 July 2003. BG Rieth approved this measure as part of the department's cost cutting measures to support Governor McGreevey's requirement to economize because of budget issues. Some reassignments will be taking effect in the next two weeks as CPT Tracey Phillips moves to the Federal Accounts Manager position in the current Fiscal Division to support the Cooperative Funding Agreement requirements. Mrs. Barbara Dearden will no longer handle telephone support as she moves to the Administrative Services Bureau to become its manager. This consolidation also moves the federal Information Technology staff, now known as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Information Management (DCSIM), to Fort Dix to serve the Army Chief of Staff as a G6 operation. This move will provide greater direct support to Ft. Dix and the soldiers in the field.

4. THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE NEW JERSEY VETERANS MEMORIAL HOME AT PARAMUS ATTENDED THE ANNUAL NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE VETERANS HOMES (NASVH) MID-WINTER CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON, DC. The conference provided the opportunity for states to interact with their legislators and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. New Jersey's Congressman Christopher Smith, Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, was honored by the NASVH.

5. GOVERNOR McGREEVEY SIGNED EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 50 ON 27 FEBRUARY 2003. This document orders and directs that State employees who are called to active duty in response to the continuing Global War on Terrorism, potential armed conflict with Iraq, and heightened tensions with North Korea shall be entitled upon termination of active duty to return to State employment with full seniority and benefits consistent with State and federal military reemployment and seniority rights. For complete details, you can view Executive Order No. 50 in its entirety at http://www.state.nj.us/infobank/circular/eom50.htm.

6. STATE NETWORK MIGRATED TO NEW SERVERS. The state servers, originally located in the basement of DMVA, have been relocated to a room built in the USPFO, which will house the Department's Network Control Center. The State of New Jersey purchased and installed new Dell rack-mounted servers, and EMTEC Systems performed the migration of data from the old servers in the basement to the new ones. During this four-week period Windows 2000 server software was loaded on the computers and Exchange 2000 for our email system. EMTEC performed this difficult network upgrade on schedule and with minimal impact to our users.

7. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE, VIETNAM SERVICE, AND MERITORIOUS SERVICE MEDAL PRESENTATION CEREMONIES ARE SCHEDULED.

11 Mar - 1100 & 1300 hrs.	Vietnam Service Medal	Hall of Heroes Law & Safety Institute 281 Campgaw Rd Mahwah, NJ
20 Mar - 1100 hrs	Distinguished Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal	Athenia Veterans Post 147 Huron Avenue Clifton, NJ
27 Mar -- 1100 hrs	Distinguished Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal	Strawbridge's Court Echelon Mall Burnt Mill Road Voorhees, NJ

8. TIME IS RUNNING OUT! EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY (NGANJ) CONFERENCE ENDS MARCH 15, 2003. Just one week remains to take advantage of the early bird registration special for the NGANJ's 45th Annual Conference that will be held in Wildwood, New Jersey, 25-27 April 2003. If you haven't registered yet, make sure to check out the conference information on the web at http://www.nganj.org/conference.html and register early to save money.

9. STATE DESKTOPS MOVE TO WINDOWS 2000 with the assistance of the Office of Information Technology. DMVA acquired enough licenses to place all of the state desktop computers on Windows 2000 and Office 2000. This project began two weeks ago and will be completed by the end of the month. This project was tied to the new state network relocation and migration to Windows 2000. The most important issue is that all DMVA state equipment has the correct software and licenses for operation. Thanks to our friends at the Office of Information Technology.

10. THE SOLDIERS OF HHC 42D DISCOM SHARE ROSE BOUQUETS WITH THE RESIDENTS AND STAFF OF THE VETERANS MEMORIAL HOMES. Soldiers delivered assorted roses to the Menlo Park and Paramus Veterans Memorial Homes on Sunday as a small token of thanks to the veterans who are residents and the staff that provides such great care. DISCOM is in a partnership program with the Paramus Home, but is very close to Menlo Park as well. Plans had been made to visit the Homes during Hospitalized Veterans Week, which was held in February, but the blizzard forced a change in scheduling. With all of the bad weather keeping staff and residents indoors, it was hoped that the bouquets would brighten everyone's spirits and bring a little taste of spring to the facilities. In addition to Menlo Park and Paramus, the soldiers donated flowers to the residents of three nursing homes in the Somerset area.

11. ARMORY HAPPENINGS - CHECK TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING AT AN ARMORY NEAR YOU.

10 Mar	Circus	Jersey City Armory
15 Mar	Fashion Show	Lawrenceville Armory
16 Mar	Circus	Mt. Holly Armory
18 Mar	Circus	Vineland Armory
19 March	Circus	Cape May Armory
19-24 Mar	Home & Landscape Show	Westfield Armory
20 Mar	Circus	Atlantic City Armory
21 Mar	Circus	Cherry Hill Armory
21-23 Mar	Craft Show & Sale	Morristown Armory
	Home Design & Landscape Show	Westfield Armory
22 Mar	Fundraiser & Cultural Event	Lawrenceville Armory
	Circus	Woodstown Armory
23 Mar	Emcee Sports Cards & Comics Show	Bordentown Armory
	Circus	Bordentown Armory
24 Mar	Circus	Bordentown Armory
25 Mar	Circus	Flemington Armory
28 Mar	Circus	Washington Armory
30 Mar	NASCAR Collectibles Show	Bordentown Armory
2 Apr	Circus	Woodbridge Armory
2-6 Apr	Antique Show & Sale	Morristown Armory
12 Apr	Medieval Festival	Washington Armory
19 Apr	Wrestling	Cherry Hill Armory
23-27 Apr	Ball & Dinner Dance	Morristown Armory
28 Apr - 7 May	Carpet & Furniture Show	Morristown Armory

12. THE NATIONAL GUARD ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY (NGANJ) CONVENED AN AWARDS SELECTION BOARD AT HQ STARC, FORT DIX, ON SUNDAY, 2 MARCH 2003, to select this year's recipients of the Major General Donald J. Strait Outstanding Soldier and Airman Award. This award is given annually to recognize the most outstanding soldier from the New Jersey Army National Guard and the most outstanding airman from the New Jersey Air National Guard. Nominated soldiers and airmen were:

Outstanding Soldier
Sgt Frederick Derry	1st BN 150th AVN
SSG Steven Katkics	50th Brigade
SFC Harold Homan	T3BL
Outstanding Airman
MSgt Dan Cassidy	177th FW
SSgt Clifford Giampietro	108th ARW/CC

SGT Frederick Derry from the 1st BN 150th AVN was named the recipient of the Association's Outstanding Soldier Award and SSgt Clifford Giampietro from the 108th ARW/CC was chosen as the Association's Outstanding Airmen. Congratulations to all of the nominees.

13. INTERESTING WILDLIFE TRIVIA -

Butterflies taste with their feet.
A duck's quack doesn't echo and no one knows why.
A snail can sleep for three years.
All polar bears are left-handed.
A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue.
On average, people fear spiders more than they fear death.

14. WORDS OF WISDOM…

"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else."
~ Benjamin Franklin ~

"Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves to be great."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

"There are no uninteresting things, there are only uninterested people."
~ Gilbert Keith Chesterson ~

"Tell me what company thou keepest, and I'll tell thee what thou art."
~ Cervantes ~