HmrJmr1 Blog

Well Folks, 2009 is rapidly coming to a close and it is time for a seasonal pause for reflection. It’s been over eight years since the start of the War on Terrorism and we still have troops deployed around the world fighting that fight. It is a necessary duty that they all understand and while there is no peace in sight for the coming year. They, I think more than anyone, hope for peace around the world however slim the possibility. Major General Tony Cucolo, Commander 3rd Infantry Division, with elements of the division in both Iraq and Afghanistan, summed it up best in his Holiday message to the Dogface soldiers of the 3rd ID, “Peace on earth to people of good will…all others must deal with us.” God Bless these soldiers, may they will ultimately earn the peace that we all desire; and God Bless their families who stand quietly by and endure the rigors and hardships of the loneliness and fear of their loved ones deployment.
Yet we must reflect on the meaning of Christ’s birth and the message it provides. As a father I was blessed twice to bear witness to the unequivocal miracle of the birth of my boys. There is some great comfort to know that God must have felt the same way at the birth of his son (so much so that he sent choirs of angels to sing the joy and give the message). It was not by accident that his message was one of peace, understanding, and commitment to God since that is what he was born to do. His message was clear and it resonates today, if but we are strong enough to follow it, protect it, and keep it well.
I also would like to share a story with you. FOB Hammer was built in 2007, and since it was a new camp we had to order all the MWR stuff from scratch. One of the requirements of our contract was to provide seasonal decorations in our MWR facilities. So in May 2007 I ordered appropriate decorations and the requisition was approved and on it went into the logistics system. At the time stuff like this just did not have a priority in the logistics chain, as it was the surge and beans, bullets, and bodies came ahead of everything else (not a complaint just a fact). At the End of Oct my Functional Area Manger Pennie Bannister, mentioned she had an extra artificial Christmas Tree and did I need one? She mailed it to me at her own expense through the APO. But that was all she had available no decorations. So come mid November, still no Christmas decorations, Then I got a Box for the MWR Coordinator from Packages from Home. It mostly had Christmas cards to give the troops so they would have some to mail home but in it were a few decorations, I had a couple rope lights as well that I had used DJ nights, and a phone call to my son Johnny got a couple of blowup yard decorations and some garland etc in the mail. Just enough to get a little bit in each of my MWR tents, and comply with the contract.
We received the Tree and it was too tall to put in the Rec Center Tent.
The Brigade Chaplain and I had scheduled Christmas Carol Karaoke in City Center tied in to the annual Christmas Bonfire for the Brigade. Time was getting close (20 Dec) when my box from Johnnie showed up and we sprang in to action. I say we cause the secret to this tree was Sedina.
Sedina is a Bosnian gal that was one of my MWR Coordinators. She had transferred to MWR from the Laundry Services Department so was learning as she went. I walked up to her after we got the tree put up on City Center stage, I handed her two boxes of Christmas Cards, a bag of paperclips, two bits of ribbon and tinsel and some candy canes and said “decorate the Tree, make it work, it’s all we’ve got” I walked away and hoped for the best. I got a call from her on the Radio about 5 hrs later, “Hammer Jammer 1 can you come to City Center? A client need to speak to you.”

Now you should know that a client meant some one from the Command Group on the FOB, a customer meant a troop but a client meant one of the Big Wigs. Off I toddled from the relative safety of my office expecting the worse because these kind of radio calls usually turned out that way. When I got to the City Center stage, there was the Brigade Chaplain, looking at the tree. My first thought was “he’s not gonna like it, and wants us to change it”. When he turned around he looked at me and said “I was looking for you to talk about the music for tomorrow but Who did this Tree? It’s the best tree on the FOB.” I have never before or since been prouder of the work we did for the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division than that moment and later for all the Christmas Holiday. I answered him that it was Sedina and introduced her to him. When she said hello with her Bosnian accent, he stopped for a moment and asked her where she was from. She replied and then he asked said “So are you Muslim?” She smiled and said yes, and he gave her a hug and said “God Bless you”.
Christmas Carol Karaoke, the Bonfire, the Christmas Day Football “Dustbowl” match between Officers and NCO’s and more stuff that (I honestly can’t remember it all) went well and got high praise from the command but none so high to me as the Chaplains that day. We were a Christmas cheer team of 24 Christians, Muslims, and Hindis serving the best soldiers in the world. All of us hoping that one day no one would need us there.

God Bless you all and Merry Christmas….

As always, I hope this finds each and all of you in good health and cheer. Thanksgiving is a day we give pause and Thanks for the good things in our lives and I have much to be thankful for. I have been blessed to have a large extended family of friends, including you. I have been blessed to live in ‘interesting times’ though many think of it as a curse, I would not trade a minute of the history I have lived, unless by doing so those I had lost might live. I am blessed to be a part of a fraternity of servant soldiers, to the greatest nation ever devised by man. I am blessed by God with a life to give as a servant of democracy and now to those who serve.
In that light I ask for all who read this to pause, reflect and give thanks for those who serve on freedoms frontier, and pray for their safe return to home and family. Pray too, that their mission is accomplished wherever they may be. Happy Thanksgiving to all and God Bless…

Good Day Folks! As always I hope this finds you in good health and cheer. Well today is 9 November and the deadline for priority mail to Iraq or Afghanistan is only 25 days away. Parcel Pos only four days and SAM and PAL in between. So here are some shopping opportunities and I would remind you that even with doing your shopping online you need to give a couple days leeway for your on line retailer to get the products in the mail. This time of year it can take two or three days so start shopping or surfing now. You still have time to do the holidays My M&Ms but remember they don’t ship via APO so it takes ten days to get your product and then you need to turn around and get them in the mail.
Here is another idea from The Warrior Princess, once a month sleep on a fresh pillow case for one night, remove it fold it up and send it to your soldier. You can add your special perfume if you want but I can tell you that your essence will be there whether you do or not. It is a great comfort when deployed to lay your tired head on a pillow that smells of home and huny. Now this does not work in reverse as all you’ll get is a dirty dusty cover, which will probably make you sneeze all night.
So shop away and remember to pack the love with every box…..God Bless you and your Soldier

Recipe of the Day
Green Pepper Meat Loaf

PS Just a reminder I am not a paid spokesman for any products offered here. I put this stuff here because I have used it and found it useful, or I figure you will find some utility in it.
HMRJMR1

The News of the Day: I first want to extend my heartfelt sympathies to our troops killed and wounded at Fort Hood today, and their families. My prayers are with you.

The colder weather brings on some issues for your car as well as your home. Here are some tips for getting through the winter, in tip top shape.
1. If you grew up in the south and are now stationed North of the Snow Line for the first time, then at your first opportunity go practice in a large EMPTY parking lot on skid recovery.
2. If you are living North of the snow line do a maintenance check of your tire chains now before the heavy snows come. Lay them out in the driveway and practice putting them on. Remember if you have a front wheel drive car, they go on the front, Rear Wheel Drive goes on the rear. Check with a Trusted Car Care Professional on which type of chain is best for your car and the likely conditions. Another resource is your Family Resource Group (FRG), There are bound to be some members that have winter stories to share. Listen and learn.
3. Have your oil checked and changed along with your anti freeze, and filters, have your battery checked as well. If you drive a diesel engine car, check with your gas station about when they will be using winter additives.
4. If you grew up ion the North and are now stationed South of the normal Snow Line, if it snows enough to collect on the roads, STAY HOME! Much as I love living in the South these folks are dangerous when it snows and sticks! You can be a Snow driving expert but if the folks around you do not know what to do, you do not control your own destiny. Usually the roads will clear by 10-1100 AM. Be late, but be safe!

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The Cold Temperatures are starting to set in and for those of you who live North of the Snow line, it’s time to prepare both house and car for the cold weather to come. Today I’ll point out some Home Maint Tips and tomorrow some for the Car.
My good friend Susan provides the tips and story below. She has weathered over a good few winter deployments and offers a true voice of experience.
Susan’s List
#1. Have a list of trusted people to call in an emergency; a plumber, an oil burner man, a tow truck operator (car repair), to name a few. They don’t have to be professionals, just trusted people with skills.
#2. Know how to shut off the outside water supply (hose) and make sure it is off before winter sets in to avoid broken pipes.
#3. If you have a sprinkler system, make sure it’s winterized.
#4. Know how to shut down your oil burner
#5. Know where the main water supply feed comes into your house and if you have an oil burner know whether it must be shut down also while main water supply is turned off.
#6. Keep snow shovels in a ready position, especially if you have small children so you can stay close while shoveling/clearing the doors.
#7. If you have/use a snow blower, make sure it is good to go prior to deployment (This one got me good one winter and caused me to update my list of “things to have squared away”… story below, may sound silly, )*.
*My husband clears the snow from the d/way, walks and vehicles at our house and our elderly neighbor’s house. So, it becomes my job when he is away. One winter in a big blowing snow I couldn’t start the snow blower. There are very few things I don’t fix myself so when I couldn’t fix the snow blower I was surprised. After what felt like a long time and an overwhelming urge to cry I decided to call for help. I didn’t consider this an “emergency” so I wanted to call a local friend (with skills) to help. Sitting in my driveway, near tears, I realized all of the local people I would usually call for a “local” assist were deployed also. I never felt so alone before. Fortunately, I found a lump of frozen sand was prohibiting the tines from turning and was able to fix it myself, but I was l little more lonely for the rest of that deployment.

A Couple more Tips
1. If your home is in the Snow/Cold Belt, Look at the videos below and take the time to winterize, the pennies you save will be apparent when you get your electric/oil bills. If you live in a trailer home, have a professional check the heat tape/insullation around the exposed plumbing and change it if necessary.
2. In the South have a ‘Drip Plan” for when the tempos fall below freezing, a small drip on the garden hose and know where it will flow, (keep the flow in the grass since if it runs down sidewalks or driveways you’ll have a slip and fall hazard) and the kitchen sink should be adequate to keep things from freezing, Also bring the pets inside.
3. In addition to having your furnace checked make sure you are changing the Air Filter Regularly.
4. Keep an extra 4 Day stock of canned goods meals on hand in case you have a bad winter storm. I lived in Chicago Suburbs in the 60’s when we got 26 inches of snoe in less than 24 hrs, things were shut down for days and this is an area that deals with winter all the time. Further south and it would have been longer.
5. In the American South, if you live in an area that does not regularly get snow, when it does Stay Off the Roads!! You may have grown up dealing with snow etc and be an expert snow driver, but you are surrounded by people who are not and do know how to react. Stay Safe!! Wait until it melts off the roads (usually by 10-11 AM).

That about does it for today, if you live in government quarters stop by the self help shop and see what supplies they will provide. Take the time to ask them what they recommend for the quarters you live in as older quarters have different needs than newer ones. Follow their recommendations. Till next time take good care and God Bless you who are standing by those who serve….

Recipe of the Day
Ice Cream and Candy Pie