Household6

Ok I mentioned yesterday about my husband’s sunburn. The top of his head is far worse but his back looks pretty bad too. I was finally able to get a picture to share…

I was reading over at SpouseBuzz about how they recently had Katherine Fugate, creator of Army Wives, and they opened a thread to create your own storyline for Army Wives.

So I got to thinking about this…. what would I want to see? Full disclosure - I’m not a big fan of Army Wives but I’ve only watched a couple of episodes. I think if they made it “more real” and less Hollywood it would be a better show.

I think that a good story line would be a wife who is thrown into Army life when her husband decides to enlist in his early 30’s. She’s been a civilian wife/mom for almost 8 years at this point.

Another one would be a wife who has a child with special needs and they could show all the trials and tribulations of Tricare and the health care system.

And my final idea, feature a woman who met a solider while deployed due to a picture and an introduction. They soon became romantically involved and she was thrown head first into Army life. (this is my friend’s story)

In case you’re wondering I’m living #1 and #2. : )

So what’s your thoughts, ideas on creating your own story line? I’ll be sure to pass them along to the powers that be at Lifetime.

This story is about Brenda, a military wife and mother who was 100% committed to her military husband and extended military family.

Brenda and Tim married in June and 48 hours after saying, “I do”, he loaded up his canvas bag and left for Korea. A year later, he returned for two weeks and then was on a plane to Germany. This time Brenda was to have gone with him, but the paperwork (everyone in the military can groan together on this one) somehow didn’t get processed.

Once in Germany Tim did not give in until his bride was able to join him. During the next year in Germany Tim was in the field many times. Of course, everyone in the military can relate to the fact that this young couple spent more time apart than together.

I give Brenda a lot of credit for sticking with it and embracing military life; for standing by her man and by her country. Yes, they were young, but they believed in the old-fashioned ideals of the constitution. They were united in their convictions of protecting our land of the free. Then the call came that all young spouses of military personnel dread. Tim was getting deployed. (more…)

Can you believe I’ve been blogging here at Household6 for 2 years now? Well actually it was February 23 2006 but I was very sick that day so no blogging occured.

So much has changed since then… our kids, us, Dan’s rank, our duty station,etc. Even the blog has changed.. from Blogger now here on Wordpress! I wonder what holds for us and the blog over the next 2 years and beyond… only time will tell. For we all know the saying, Expect the Unexpected!

It’s funny to go back and read some of my original posts and how little I knew about the Army back then. I was the one seeking out advice from those “more experienced” Army wives and now I’m giving out the advice. The Army has certainly given us an education over the last couple of years. Although, Dan has been in only since 2005, it still seems like yesterday I was seeking answers to PCS moves, Tricare, EFMP Resources, etc.

Our audience has also grown quite a bit over the last few years and I’ve met some wonderful friends, online and offline. I started out with 1 reader (me!) and now we’ve grown to over 150 readers including my hubby! Thank you!

So before I get too mushy and get my keyboard all wet… Happy Birthday Household 6!

Tammy

USA WEEKEND, the nation’s second-largest magazine as carried in 600 US newspapers, is looking to continue its cover-story coverage of the great things that our deployed troops are doing overseas with a Father’s Day themed cover story for its 6/15/08 issue: Great Dads Serving This Nation.

We’re interested in getting e-mail responses from dads serving overseas who are also fully involved with their families at home: Whether it’s helping out a child with homework, a schoolyard bully situation, puppy love, a Boy or Girl Scout project, a teacher conflict, etc., we’re interested in how our deployed dads are doing whatever it takes to ‘be there’ for their kids. Is there a Dad who helped ‘coach’ his kid on a new swim stroke thousands of miles away? Or one who ‘took part’ in a longtime
family tradition via today’s techno-tools somehow? We’re interested in these kinds of stories, or any others that come to mind that play into this theme.

Please send your summaries no later than March 10 direct to Dennis McCafferty, the senior writer at USA WEEKEND who overseas all military coverage for the magazine

The official list was released today! Dan will be promoted to SGT (E-5) effective Feb 1st. His official promotion ceremony will be sometime that week.

Congratulations DannyBoy! You definitely worked hard to acheive that!

Hi all! Well I made it safe and sound last night and we had an awesome event today. Like I said in my previous post, my laptop died so I couldn’t blog during SBL3 (currently I’m using the hotel’s guest computer) but I do have a lot to comment about. (which I’ll do when I get back)

Have a great weekend!

Way to go Belvoir! Also congrats to newly-promoted SGT Persina and his wife Robyn… they are my neighbors! Yesterday, Tony’s SGT stripes when pinned on by none other than Secretary Geren. How cool is that?!

BY Melina Rodriguez/Ft. Belvoir Eagle

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 4, 2007) - Secretary of the Army Pete Geren visited Fort Belvoir yesterday to tour homes and talked with Army Families about the privatized housing initiative.

Sec. Geren asked George Washington Village residents how they felt about their new homes as he toured bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens.

“In order to have a healthy Army, we’ve got to have healthy Soldiers and we have to have a healthy Army Family, as well,” said Sec. Geren. “If you ask a Soldier, ask anyone, about what goes into their thinking about what makes a good quality of life … it would be housing, the home they live in, the neighborhood they live in. It’s no different if you’re a Soldier, a spouse or if you’re a private citizen.”

In December 2003, the Residential Communities Initiative’s initial development period began at Fort Belvoir as existing homes on post were turned over to a private housing-development company.

That company, Clark Pinnacle Family Communities LLC, which is a partnership between Clark Realty and Pinnacle, will eventually demolish and replace 1,630 homes and renovate 170 homes. When construction is complete, Clark Pinnacle will manage 2,070 Fort Belvoir homes.

So far, 36 military installations have transferred to privatized housing, with 78,000 homes under private management. RCI projects have built 11,000 new homes and renovated 10,000 homes with a goal of eventually managing nearly 90,000 homes, said Sec. Geren.

The Army has spent more than $1 billion on the initiative.

“Through this RCI initiative, we’ve been helping to leverage government assets, $1 billion worth of government assets, and invest $10 billion in quality of life for our Soldiers and our Families,” he said.

Sgt. 1st Class Mark and Coretta Wiggins attended the event and discussed their home in Lewis Village, where they’ve lived for more than a year.

They have a detached three-bedroom home with a two-car garage.

“This is more of a community, not Army housing,” said Coretta, who also grew up as an Army child. “You can see the difference.”

“As long as my Family is happy, it makes it easier for me to go to work,” said Sgt. 1st Class Mark, a chaplain’s assistant for the Military Intelligence Readiness Command Army Reserve.

Sgt. Tony and Robyn Persina came to Belvoir on a compassionate reassignment for one of their two children. They have lived in Herryford Village for two years in an Americans with Disabilities Act home. The single-level home has three bedrooms, with oversized doors and hallways.

“Your house isn’t just a house, it’s a home,” said Sgt. Persina. “It’s a lot more comfortable; our Families visit all the time.”

Five percent of the new homes built at Belvoir are ADA approved.

The secretary went on to discuss upcoming initiatives and the recently approved $100 million in funding for more than 50 existing Morale Welfare and Recreation programs and services affected by the Army’s current deployment cycles.

“RCI, and more importantly the privatized housing initiative, where you’re standing now, and the houses around you are what right looks like and a very important aspect of our military to continue to improve the quality of life for Soldiers and Families,” said Installation Commander Col. Brian Lauritzen. “But, it is one of many initiatives.”

Fort Belvoir MWR will receive $135,000 of the recently approved funding for two new full-time positions at Army Community Service.

Over the next five years, more funds will be designated for Family and Soldier support programs and services. RCI will soon complete it’s 1,000th home on Fort Belvoir.

By CPT Thurman J. Saunders

As an Army nurse, my job is taking care of patients. Throughout my career I have done that in a variety of settings, from inpatient medical-surgical nursing to emergency room nursing, even in outpatient clinics.

While I always wondered, I never knew what happened to patients after they left my emergency room. I assume some returned to duty after their recovery, some decided to leave the Army after their commitments and some were medically retired.

I never took care of Maj. David Rozelle, and frankly, never knew he existed until recently. Spending six hours with a true American hero, listening to his story, made me realize how important my job is as an Army nurse and a health-care recruiter.

I met Maj. Rozelle at Boston Logan Airport. He was easy to pick out amongst the group of weary travelers that were coming out of the terminal - he had a missing right foot and lower leg.

Combat casualty

Maj. Rozelle was injured in Iraq in June 2003. He returned to combat duty in Iraq as an amputee in 2005.

We had quite a walk back to where I parked the vehicle. I almost felt bad about him having to walk that far, but I remembered that Maj. Rozelle had completed the Ironman Triathlon 70.3 at Walt Disney World. I haven’t done that and I have both legs, so I figured he would be fine.

On the drive to his hotel, I didn’t ask about his leg because I read his bio and knew what happened to it and I figured that he gets that question all the time.

The next morning, I met him in the lobby and we walked across the street to Tufts-New England Medical Center. He wasn’t there to receive care. He was there to talk during grand rounds about the amputee care center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. There were approximately 30 surgeons and medical students there just to listen to him speak.

I learned that about 650 amputees from the war theater have been treated in Army medical facilities. Maj. Rozelle spoke about the intensive physical therapy that begins right after surgery, the physiological and psychological aspects of care, and the developments made in prosthetic care as a result.

I also learned that the goal is not to medically retire a Soldier who still wants to serve and is able to serve. Great strides are being made in helping Soldiers with amputations return to full functional ability. Not just eating a meal or brushing their teeth, but to do the jobs they could do before - such as a medic starting an IV with his prosthesis or a mechanic repairing a vehicle.

I also learned that Soldiers with amputations are getting the best medical and prosthetic care, even prostheses that regular insurance can’t buy. Our nation’s dedication to our wounded warriors is costly, including building the Center For The Intrepid at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and the new amputee care center at Walter Reed. Both facilities have state-of-the-art technology-the future of prosthetic care today. Our wounded warriors not only deserve that, they earned it.

Helping Soldiers

Maj. Rozelle’s job at Walter Reed is to help design the new amputee care center. His goal is to help Soldiers return to “normal,” then help them go beyond that.

After his presentation, he spent 30 minutes with surgeons and students approaching him with questions and offers of praise and thanks. We left the medical center and headed toward WGBH, a national public radio station.

We arrived early and met with Lisa and Chris at the station. I listened to the interview in the technician’s booth and heard Rozelle tell his Army Story.

His vehicle ran over a land mine in June 2003 and he was the most severely injured of those in his vehicle. Doctors at a military hospital in Baghdad had told him two things that day. The first thing he was told was he was losing his foot. He signed a consent that allowed the doctors to remove what was left of his right foot.

The next thing they told him was worse. He would have to leave Iraq. I listened to Maj. Rozelle tell how leaving was worse than losing his foot. He had Soldiers that depended on him and families he had promised he would take care of their Soldiers. Now they would finish the tour without him.

He talked about the care he received and how military hospitals weren’t prepared for the number of amputees as a result of this war. He made up his mind then to do what he needed to do to stay in the Army on full duty, even returning to Iraq as an amputee. During his second tour in 2005, he had 10 different prostheses that he was testing in the field to further advance amputee care. He did everything his Soldiers did and without assistance. He led by example.

I learned much about Maj. David Rozelle in just six short hours. He is an example of the Army Medical Department’s motto, “To Conserve Fighting Strength.”

My job as an Army nurse and a health-care recruiter has always been important, but after meeting a real American hero, it has added value.

(From the September 2007 Mercury, an Army Medical Department publication.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Army News Service, Sept. 24, 2007) - For the last few months, 37 wives from Georgia’s Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield have been training to run the 23rd annual Army Ten-Miler next month.

The women will run in honor of their husbands, who are assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division and deployed to Iraq - some of them for their third tour.

Camaraderie and the chance to positively represent Army wives have attracted most of the spouses to the Ten-Miler, according to group member Gabrielle Winton. Others want to prove to their husbands that they can run the distance.

“I believe we represent the Families of deployed Soldiers and the spirit of Army Families everywhere in that our running is one of the many ways we carry on and don’t quit while our loved ones are gone,” Mrs. Winton said. “Running the Army Ten-Miler as a group shows solidarity and a desire to keep physically healthy.”

The women appreciate the physical benefits of running, but especially enjoy the emotional benefits.

“When we’re running with friends, laughing and talking through problems, things just seem better. We have a saying that ‘the longer I run, the smaller my problems become.’ It is so true!” said Mrs. Winton, whose husband, Lt. Col. Doug Winton, is deployed in Iraq for the second time.

“I think it’s important to have groups like ours out there so that people don’t forget that for every Soldier serving, there is a Family he or she left behind. Those Families are making a huge sacrifice, too, and we’re just as proud to do it.”

This year’s Ten-Miler will take place Oct. 7 in Washington, D.C., with the start and finish at the Pentagon. The route passes such national landmarks as the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol. Sponsored by the Association of the United States Army and Kellogg, Brown and Root, the event attracts more than 26,000 runners.

For more information on the race, go to www.armytenmiler.com.

(Roxana Hoveyda works for U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Force Headquarters, National Capital Region.)