will be getting his son’s surprise visit soon! He is now in remission! Cady was instrumental in the planning for two other spouses to visit their Soldiers this summer in the Savannah area and that was a total surprise for both.

Pink Heals Mission Statement: We drive pink fire trucks and pink police cars across America bringing the “Cares Enough to Wear Pink”• and Pink Heals Movement to a city near you! We simply provide a program for your community leaders to adopt, helping them fundraise for people rather than causes. We focus our labor of love on the women of this country and wage war on any-thing that may harm her starting with cancer!

JOINT STAFF,

GEORGIA

DEPARTMENT

OF DEFENSE

September 14, 2012 Volume 3, Issue 11

A Newsletter Production of the J-9 Joint and Family Services Directorate Special points of interest:

PINK HEALS

Are you Ready? Preparedness Month: A Year

-Round Responsibility

FOUNDING FATHERS SE-

RIES

Specially Prepared

Francis Scott Key

National POW-MIA Rec-ognition Day 2012

Organizing Email

Inside this issue:

Pink Heals: Guardians of the Ribbon by Ms Tommy Eaton

1

Are you Ready?

By CW2 B. Long

2

Preparedness:

Month from the

Air Force News

3

Founding Fathers:

William Few

3

Specially Prepared, an article

4-6

September 13th,

1814

4

National POW-

MIA Recognition 5

Organizing E-mails 5

The Savannah, Georgia, Family As-sistance Center teams up with Guardians of the Ribbon – Savan-nah, GA Chapter As the Family Assistance Center Man-ager for the Savannah Region, Ms. Tommy Eaton has a family that is dedi-cated to the support of our Service-members and their Families. So, when her daughter, Catherine (known as “Cady”), aged out of the Youth Program for the Georgia National Guard/Georgia Department of Defense, she needed to get her a new volunteer position which still engaged her in service to the men and women of the GA Guard. She found that purpose with the Pink Heals: Guardians of the Ribbon - Sa-vannah, GA, Chapter.

Catherine now volunteers countless hours as the chapter’s Secretary, while planning home visits to GA Guard spouses, other military personnel, families and others in the community. Along with the team of volunteers from the Chapter, she spends hours at events raising awareness to help those in need. This past summer, Catherine was participated in planning a blood drive for the son of LT Marcus McMullen, B Btry 1/118th FAR. He was diagnosed with AML and Thyroid can-cer at Fort Stewart, GA (FSGA) while LT McMullen was at FSGA for Annual National Guard Training (AT). Marcus

For more information about Pink Heals Guardians of the Ribbon con-tact: Catherine "Cady" Eaton at cady@pinkhealssav.com America bringing the “Cares Enough to Wear Pink”• and Pink Heals Move-ment to a city near you! We simply provide a program for your community leaders to adopt, helping them fund-raise for people rather than causes. We focus our labor of love on the women of this country and wage war on anything that may harm her starting with cancer!

By Ms Tommy Eaton,

Family Assistance Center (FAC) Specialist

<<<<<<<<<< Cady along with CPT Clay

and CSM Tyler of the HHB

1/118th Savannah and

members of Pink Heals

during the staging for the

escort of the 9/11 Memorial

Flag in Savannah.

^^^^^^^^^ Mrs. Beverely Jones, spouse of

SGT Archie Jones of HHB 1/118th FAR (in the

pink camo bandana) and Cady on the right,

during a recent home visit with Pink Heals.

Check out the Guardians of

the Ribbon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/PinkHealsSavannah

" The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. ~ John F. Kennedy

"Luck favors the mind that is prepared." ~ Louis Pasteur

"There's no disaster that can't become a blessing, and no blessing that can't become a disaster ." ~ Richard Bach

"When a man arrives at great prosperity God did it: when he falls into disaster he did it himself." ~ Mark Twain

"Those who hammer their guns into plows, will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson

"It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready." ~ Theodore Roosevelt

"Private-sector preparedness is not a luxury; it is a cost of doing business in the post-9/11 world. It is ignored at a tremendous potential cost in lives, money and national security." ~ The 9/11 Commission

Report

Page 2

Welcome to National

Preparedness Month! Since September 2001, by Presi-

dential Proclamation, September

is National Preparedness Month,

It is designated as the month to

remind Americans that disasters

happen. Whether manmade or

natural, disasters are part of

life, and we must prepare our-

selves and our neighbors for the

worst. This does not mean that

we must terrify everyone we

meet. The real point is: we

must be physically, mentally and

spiritually ready to meet the

worst that man and environ-

ment can dish out.

This month, you should plan,

pack, organize and prepare your

family, neighbors, school and

community for disaster, in all its

forms. The best way to begin, is

to start learning, start building

plans for various dangers, teach

the plans, review the plans, im-

prove the plans, and teach

again. Assemble a ready kit

that contains the various sup-

plies needed to get through a

disaster.

Some resources to get you

started are:

1. From FEMA: You can receive

monthly preparedness tips by

texting “PREPARE” to 43362

(4FEMA). (*msg/data rates

apply).

2. What is 'National Prepared-

ness Month' to the Army? http://

www.army.mil/standto/archive/

issue.php?issue=2012-09-04

3. The Ready Army website,

www.acsim.army.mil/

readyarmy, provides recom-

mended supply lists for 48-72

hour individual and family sur-

vival kits. Ready Army also of-

fers various sources of informa-

tion and resources for successful

emergency planning.

4. Also from FEMA: The Na-

tional Readiness and Prepared-

ness Website is: http://

www.ready.gov/

Here you can find tools, games,

kit lists, and ready-made family

plans.

5. Two U.S. Air Force Articles

on National Preparedness

Month may be found at: http://

www.af.mil/news/story.asp?

id=123316523 and http://

www.20af.af.mil/news/story.asp?

id=123317845 (Be sure to copy

and paste, or to enter the whole

web address). These articles

show fundamentals, bases that

are getting "into the act," and

resources for U.S. Air Force

personnel.

6. The Georgia Dept of Public

Health is in on the act, with

great disaster preparedness

links and tools, at: http://

health.state.ga.us/programs/

emerprep/

7. Are you Ready, Georgia?

Well, the Georgia Ready Website

can help you out, at: http://

ready.ga.gov/

8. GEMA (the Georgia Emer-

gency Management Agency)

provides tools, instructions, vid-

eos, and kit lists, at: http://

www.gema.state.ga.us/

All in all, we need to hone our

skills at discovering hope and

building opportunities. Survival

during a man-made or natural

disaster requires strength of

spirit, dedication to each other,

material readiness, and the abil-

ity to make much out of very

little to fill a need.

Some ideas? Try:

a. Start by listing some occur-

rences that could affect your

family or your community.

What could these be? Try:

Flooding, Tornado, Fire, Severe

Storm Damage, Break-ins, Pub-

lic Disruption (rioting, looting),

Ice Storms, etc.

b. Discuss each of these with

your family members,

neighbors, or friends. This can

help you discover more issues,

or simply begin ironing out

plans.

c. Iron out details: What do you

need? Where do you go? What

if this hallway is blocked? How

do we get water? How many

days of water do we need and

where do we store the rations?

Etc.

d. Write it all down. Yes, write

down every step.

e. Seek ideas and resources,

online sites, phone apps,

neighbors or friends with

knowledge, etc.

f. After you've learned,

planned, stored stuff, and read-

ied yourself, neighbors and

family?? Teach.

by CW2 Barry D. Long

9/6/2012 - TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- With September designated as National Preparedness Month, Air Force Emergency Management experts are em-phasizing the tools available to help Air-men and their families "Be Ready." National Preparedness Month is an annual campaign to raise awareness on the im-portance of disaster preparedness. The event was instituted by the Federal Emer-gency Management Agency and the De-partment of Homeland Security a year after the devastating events of 9/ll. With a theme of "Pledge to Prepare: Awareness to Action," the goal of this year's commemoration is to encourage all Americans to take specific steps to be pre-pared for all kinds of disasters and emer-gencies. The message of personal readiness is one that Airmen should heed year round, ac-cording to Air Force emergency managers. "National Preparedness Month is a FEMA-sponsored event," said Mike Connors, the Air Force emergency manager. "The Air Force has its 'Be Ready' initiative, which is a year-round campaign that dovetails

nicely into that. Between the two campaigns, it helps raise awareness and prompts people to take action to be prepared for whatever the threat." Air Force emergency managers are trained to support base communities by preventing, preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies. This includes educating base members on what to do if they encoun-ter a hazard, whether it's a natural disaster or man-made incident such as a major acci-dent or terrorist attack. "One of the first things Airmen should know is where their installation's emergency man-agement office is," Connors said. "The instal-lation emergency management office is the place to go for emergency information. The EM staff has the expertise to provide you the knowledge and materials you need to be prepared." Emergency managers recommend some ba-sic steps Airmen should take now that could make a big difference in the event of a disas-ter. "Three things that we constantly stress to our Airmen is (to) get a kit, make a plan and be prepared," said Master Sgt. Ernie Rude,

NCO in charge for Air Force emergency management integration. "If every Airman will take these steps, effects from disasters can be minimized and lives can be saved." Rude said there is a comprehensive set of resources available on the Air Force's "Be Ready" website. "This site is available to the public and offers checklists that can assist users in properly planning for whatever contin-gency arises. There is even a 'Be Ready Kids' section where you can download activity sheets to help educate younger family members," he said. For more information and resources to help prepare for any disaster, Air Force members should contact their installation emergency management office or visit http://www.BeReady.af.mil. From: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123316523

their safety. Despite his lack of formal education or

any legal training, Few successfully won admission

to the Georgia bar. During the Revolution he

served as a lieutenant colonel in the dragoons,

demonstrating natural leadership abilities. He gravi-

tated toward politics, serving in the Georgia pro-

vincial congress and after independence in the state

assembly. He was appointed surveyor-general and

Indian commissioner in the late 1770s. Few was

one of six men chosen as delegates to the Philadel-

phia convention, although only four ultimately at-

tended. Two of his state's delegates left before the

convention adjourned, and Few was absent during

July and much of August attending the Confedera-

tion Congress. Although he did not participate in

the convention debates, Few proved his value to

the nationalists in the end. He was influential in

persuading the Confederation Congress to approve

the Constitution.

Few was one of Georgia's first U.S. senators,

serving from 1789 to 1793. At the end of his term,

he returned to the Georgia assembly. He became a

federal judge for the Georgia circuit in 1796 but

resigned three years later when he moved to New

York City. The move to New York did not slow

Few's political career. He served four years in the

New York assembly and was appointed to a num-

ber of positions, including inspector of prisons and

William Few, Jr. Few was one of the convention's rare self-made

men whose fortune came from his own enterprise

rather than marriage. Born in Maryland into a poor

family, Few received little education. When he was

ten years old, his family moved to North Carolina,

where his father hoped to improve their economic

situation. In North Carolina Few, his father, and his

brother became members of the Regulators, the

backcountry farmers who sought more responsive

and less corrupt government in their frontier area.

Few's brother was hanged for his protest activities,

the family farm was destroyed, and Few's father

became a fugitive, moving the family to Georgia for

U.S. commissioner of loans. He became involved

in the city's financial growth, as a director of the

Manhattan Bank and president of City Bank. Until

his death in 1828, Few was also an active philan-

thropist.

Article provided by:

http://constitutioncenter.org/education/students/studying-the-constitution/founding-fathers/georgia#few

Page 3 Volume 3, Issue 11

United States Sena-

tor from Georgia

In office: March 4, 1789

– March 3, 1793

Succeeded by:

James Jackson

Born: June 8, 1748

Maryland

Died: July 16, 1828

(aged 80)

Fishkill-on-Hudson "He was one of those men, "few and far between,"

who effect more by solid weight of character than

many can by eloquent speech or restless action."

- James V. Marshall: From the "The United States manual of biography and

history: comprising lives of the presidents and vice presi-

dents of the United States, and the cabinet officers,

from the adoption of the Constitution to the present

day. Also, lives of the signers of the Declaration of inde-

pendence, and of the old Articles of confederation, of

the framers of the Constitution of the United States,

and of the chief justices of the Supreme court of the

United States. With authentic copies of the Declaration

of independence, the Articles of confederation, and the

Constitution of the United States. To which is prefixed

an introductory history of the United States," Published

January 1856

Posted 9/6/2012

Updated 9/6/2012

by John Burt Air Force Civil Engineer

Support Agency

If you have personally met either me or my husband, you have no doubt heard us speak of my grandparents. My mother and I are their caregivers now that they are in their late 80s, and they are a huge part of the lives of our family. Papa, a D-Day combat medic, has hearing loss and requires a walker for mobility. Granny has low vision and requires total assis-tance for mobility. So how do you pre-pare for emergencies when you have elderly family members or those with special needs? The first thing to remember is that you think much more clearly when you are not under stress. Make your plans now, so that they are established well before they are actually needed. Part of my job with our local school system is to plan for emergency procedures for special needs students. Each student is differ-

ent, so we talk with teachers and school administration to make sure everything is in place for severe weather emergencies or evacuations. Planning for elderly family members or those at home with special needs is handled in much the same way. Make sure to have a list of medications (including names of meds, dosage, and frequency) and physicians’ names and numbers in their wallet or purse along with their insurance information and emergency contacts. You should also in-clude on the list any medical devices they require, such as hearing aids, CPAP ma-chines, portable oxygen canisters, diabetic testing equipment, or catheter supplies. If their medical needs are complex, another suggestion is to put all important informa-tion on a USB flash drive. My grandparents have numerous prescriptions, so we keep their medicine bottles in a container that can be grabbed quickly to take along. If your elderly/special needs family mem-ber does not live with you, how would they be notified of emergency messages? A hearing impaired person would not know

the tornado sirens were going off. A per-son with visual impairments would not see the rising water in the yard or base-ment. You can assist by getting to know their neighbors, explaining to them about the special needs, and asking them to help alert your family member in the event of an emergency. In many commu-nities you can also talk with the local law enforcement or emergency personnel and ask them to place certain addresses on their Special Needs lists.

… Continued on Page 5

land. He became a successful lawyer in Mary-land and Washington, D.C., and was later ap-pointed U.S. attorney for the District of Colum-bia.

On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade dis-agreements. In August 1814, British troops invaded Wash-ington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building and Library of Congress. Their next target was Baltimore. After one of Key's friends, Dr. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British, Key

went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his re-lease. However, Key and Beanes weren't al-lowed to leave until after the British bombard-ment of Fort McHenry. Key watched the bomb-ing campaign unfold from aboard a ship lo-

From the website History.com

On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The poem, originally titled "The Defence of Fort McHenry," was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the "Star-Spangled Banner": "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family's estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Mary-

cated about eight miles away. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed. The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular Eng-lish drinking tune called "To Anacreon in Heaven" by composer John Stafford Smith. People began referring to the song as "The Star-Spangled Banner" and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931. Francis Scott Key died of pleurisy on January 11, 1843. Today, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1914 is housed at the Smith-sonian Institution’s Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Page 4 Volume 3, Issue 11

Article by

CW2 Jennifer Long Commander, A Co., 4th BN, 1st BDE,

Georgia State Defense Force

Email, like the majority of our other duties as Military Personnel and DoD Civilians, is something that must be attended to in an organized manner. In most cases, it is far more appropriate to respond properly, then file the email, or mark the email for further processing. One method of marking emails (the one I use) is to take the emails that need further action and mark them unread, give them a status "Category" color, and mark them for "Follow-up" with a reminder. Emails that no longer need any action taken may be filed in a separate folder in your personal folders. Also remember not to lose track of the common customs and courtesies owed to senior personnel (or for that matter, everyone) by forgetting to answer them. Any answer is impor-tant, even if it is: "I will get back to you tomorrow before COB," or "Can I check on that and get you an answer by COB today?" Ensuring that an answer is given, and that it is polite, thought out, appropriate, and relatively timely, is the most important part of the equation. I suggest that you: 1) Get with your key leadership when you feel that you may be overwhelmed by more tasks than you can accomplish. They may have suggestions for achieving them more effec-tively, and they may be able to re-arrange assets and get you temporary support. 2) Use your mentor/sponsor/Warrant Officer helpline if you feel that you may need some assistance in planning, managing, or organizing you tasks, as they have a great deal of training + experience in these subjects, and in teaching personnel. What is a mentor/sponsor/Warrant Officer helpline? Well, if you have to ask, you probably don't have a good one, or don't have one at all. This concept describes the leader that has always been the one that walked you through the tough problems in your career. If you don't have one...find one. You'll need a mentor one day, I promise. 3) Respond to messages, emails, and requests in a prompt manner (mentioned above for emphasis), even if you have to politely ask that the task be reassigned, delayed or given additional support. 4) Take a deep breath and attack the most pressing tasks first. Keeping suspenses is far better than getting the easy tasks completed first. 5) Remember: Tracking is everything. Whether you use the "Unread Email" method, color coding, and flagging I mentioned above, or you have another method, find a way to keep the replies tracking. GOOD LUCK!

Page 5 Volume 3, Issue 11

NATIONAL POW-MIA

RECOGNITION DAY The President issued a proclamation commemorating the observances and remind-

ing the nation of those Americans who have sacrificed so much for their country.

Observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country

on military installations, ships at sea, state capitols, schools and veterans' facilities. It

is traditionally observed on the third Friday in September each year. This obser-

vance is one of six days throughout the year that Congress has mandated the flying

of the National League of Families' POW/MIA flag. The others are Armed Forces

Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day.

The flag is to be flown at major military installations, national cemeteries, all post

offices, VA medical facilities, the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans

Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the official offices of the secretaries of

state, defense and veterans affairs, the director of the selective service system and

the White House.

A Pentagon ceremony for National POW/MIA Recognition Day was held on Friday,

Sept.16, 2011. This ceremony featured troops from each of the military services.

See the Defense Prisoner of War—Missing Personnel Officer Website at:

http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pow_day/

Article by

CW2 Barry D. Long

NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU Family Programs (NGB-FP) Mission: To establish and facilitate

ongoing communication, involvement,

support, and recognition between Na-tional Guard families and the National

Guard in a partnership that promotes

the best in both.

Family Programs Web Sites

GuardFamily.org - The National Guard

Family Program

GuardFamilyYouth.org - The National

Guard Family Youth Program

Newsletters

Air National Guard Family Guide [PDF]

Contact Information

Phone: (888)777-7731 Fax: 703-607-0762

Email: ngb.J1.fp@ng.army.mil

home health provider about backup plans for use. They can also assist you with identi-fying resources in your com-munity that can help. Family members receiving in-home support services through pro-grams such as Life Alert or Meals-On-Wheels should talk with them about what emer-gency planning options they can assist with as well.

What about Service Animals? In the case of an evacuation, emergency personnel need to know that this animal is not simply a pet and must be kept with its owner. Keep copies of the animal’s documenta-tion along with the family member’s vital info. Don’t forget to pack pet food in the family disaster kit. Not every emergency in-volves having to evacuate. What if the power simply goes out for an extended pe-riod of time? If your family member uses an oxygen con-centrator, an infusion device, an oral suction device, home dialysis, or another device dependent on a continuous power supply, talk with their

For more information,

here are some great re-

sources:

http://www.aoa.gov/

AoARoot/AoA_Programs/

HCLTC/Caregiver/docs/

Just_in_Case030706_links

.pdf

http://www.ready.gov/

sites/default/files/

FEMA_Disabilities_R-

6_web_june2012.pdf

http://

www.disastersrus.org/

MyDisasters/disability/

epips3cognitive.pdf

Serving the Georgia DoD, The U.S. Military, and our Veterans, One Family at a Time.

We are on the web:

www.georgiaguardfamilyprogram.org

J-9 JOINT AND

FAMILY SERVICES

DIRECTORATE

Georgia Department of Defense

1388 First Street, Bldg 840 (Finch Bldg)

1000 Halsey Avenue, Bldg 447,

Mailroom

Marietta, GA 30060

Point of Contact:

CW2 Barry D. Long

Human Resources/Systems/ATSO/

Safety Officer

barry.long@us.army.mil

“Military Personnel, Families, and Veterans First!”

Our directorate services the military community of Georgia, providing those

services, support and information that are vital to their care. Our staff is com-

mitted to providing the best care, in a timely manner, and followed-thru to a

successful conclusion so that Military Personnel, their families, and Veterans in

Georgia will have the resources, help, and information they need to thrive.

The J-9 Joint and Family Services Directorate and The Georgia Guard Family

Program:

...Continued from Page 4