Captain Bruce Barry Retirement Ceremony

The Chief of Staff, Special Operations Command Europe, Colonel Leonard C. Smales, requests the pleasure of your company at a Retirement Ceremony in honor of Captain Bruce D. Barry on Thursday, the seventh of April at 1500 hours at The Patch Barracks, Community Center Stuttgart, Germany.

Ceremony Honoring CMSgt (Ret) Al Hooper

The Hooper family and the Airmen of the 720th Special Tactics Group cordially invite you to a ceremony honoring the life and service of

CMSgt Allen L. Hooper, USAF, Ret.

Thursday, March 31st 2011 at 2 PM Conducted at the Special Tactics Training Squadron

Building 90531

100 Servais Way, Hurlburt Field, FL 32544

Military: UOD, Civilian: Business Casual

A Reception will follow at 5 PM

Gus’ Corona Café

4 Lane DriveMary Esther, FL 32569

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the

Disabled American Veterans

or

Special Operations Warrior Foundation

Please RSVP: 720STG.CCE@hurlburt.af.mil; Rebecca.Christmas@hurlburt.af.mil

To request a visitor’s pass to Hurlburt Field, please call 850-884-3713

TSgt. William H. Jefferson memorial Push Ups

TSgt. William H. Jefferson Jr., 34, of Norfolk, Va., died 22 March 2008 from wounds received when his vehicle struck an IED near Sperwan Ghar, Afghanistan. Jefferson was from Air Force Special Operations Command’s 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope AFB, N.C.

Master Sergeant Ty D. Clark's Retirement Invite

The Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph K. Michalek 6th Special Operations Squadron

requests the pleasure of your companyat a retirement ceremony in honor of

Master Sergeant Ty D. Clark's

25 years of dedicated service

on Tuesday, the twenty-second of March at two thirty in the afternoon

STTS Auditorium

Hurlburt Field, Florida

5th Annual NW Loop

Come and participate in one of the best rides in the Great Northwest, The 5th annual Great Northwest Loop to help raise money for the SOWF. We will be meeting near Portland, OR and then riding down the Oregon Coast, across the Cascades to Crater Lake, and then North through the high desert to Ellensburg, WA. The dates are 11 August to 14 August, 2011.

You can contact Rob Pittman at NWLoop@live.com if you have any questions.

More information to follow in the near future.

Mark Forester Story on Lifetime Channel

Lifetime Channel's new series Coming Home will feature a reunion with Mark's Foresters family, SSgt Bonello (CCT), SrA Yellock (CCT), and LtCol Latt (USMC F/A-18 pilot).


Lifetime TV has started a new series called Coming Home on Sunday nights at 9:00. The show about Mark will be about Pilot Frank Latt coming to see us and talking to us about his experiences with Mark. It will be shown on March 27th.

Check out Mark's
website: http://www.markaforester.com/

Seeking Wounded Warrior Candidates

Congressman Miller's office is seeking "Wounded Warriors" from the local community to apply for the positions, as shown in the memorandum below. Please forward this message to all the members on your contact sheet, as the word needs to get out that this program exists. They are seeking veteran's that served less than 20 years & have a minimum of a 30% disability rating. The vet would have had to serve on active duty on and after September 11,
2001.

Mark D. Brooks

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

WOUNDED WARRIOR PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Wounded Warrior Program was established to create fellowships that will provide employment opportunities for wounded or disabled veterans within the U.S. House of Representatives.

Positions may become available in Member, Committee and Leadership offices in Washington, D.C. and in district offices nationwide. Those selected for the program will be given the opportunity to rotate into various positions and, if a fit is found, transition into full-time employment.

The positions will be filled by veterans who have served on active duty since September 11, 2001, had less than 20 years of service and have a minimum 30 percent service-connected disability rating from either a military Physical Evaluation Board or the Department of Veterans Affairs. The 30 percent threshold was established to target those injured veterans who are more likely to need this type of employment opportunity. If a fellowship is located within a Member's district, the appointment is contingent on the Representative's continuous representation of that district.

Wounded Warrior Fellows are hired to fill specific vacancies in the offices of participating Members. Their salaries are paid for by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), and the fellows do not count against the personnel ceilings of the participating Member offices. Although full time employment is not guaranteed at the conclusion of the two year fellowship, Members or Officers assigned a fellow are reminded the purpose of the program is to facilitate long-term employment with the House of Representatives. Consideration should be given to reaching that goal sometime before the expiration of the two year fellowship.

The performance and progress of each fellow will be tracked closely by the Director of the Wounded Warrior Program. Workspace modifications will be accommodated, when possible, to provide maximum opportunities to those veterans who meet the job qualifications and have the desired skill sets to fill a position, notwithstanding their physical limitations. All wounded warriors hired to the fellowship program will appear on the rolls of the CAO and will be entitled to the same benefits as other House employees.

All interested applicants can see vacancies and application instructions on the CAO webpage: www.cao.house.gov.


Mark D. Brooks

Veterans Claims Examiner Supervisor
Florida Department of Veterans Affairs
Division of Benefits and Assistance
Pensacola VA Medical Center

Nashville Mini-Reunion BNA Information

ALCON,
Here is the info on the Nashville get together: Dates are May 12, 13, and 14, departing on the 15th. We'll be staying at the Wingate hotel in Franklin. This is the same hotel as last year. Their email address is www.wingatehotels.com Phone # is 615-277-8700. Mention CCA or Billie’s name when making reservations. Any problems ask for Donna.

The room cost is $ 89.00 plus tax for a double or a king suite

Again, golf will be at the Nashboro village golf course. Bill Covington is taking care of this. Please let Billie S. know in advance if you intend to play golf so Bill Covington can arrange for the required number of tee times.

Schedule of events.
May 12 - Hospitality suite opens when we need it.
May 13 - golf, first tee time is @ 0900 hrs.
May 14 - golf, first tee time is @ 1100 hrs.

As of this date the specifics for the Saturday evening Social is still in the planning stage. Tentatively we plan to gather at 1800 and dinner at 1900. Billie is exploring a catered Bar-B-Q by the pool or in the hospitality room if weather does not allow a pool side event.
May 16 depart for home

As with past years the Nashville mini reunion will be extremely informal. There is plenty of time for shopping or visiting the local attractions. Come on out and visit with some of your old buddies; none of us are getting any younger

Directions:
From North: I-65 South to Exit 69 Moores Lane/Galleria Boulevard. After exiting, stay under the sign that reads Galleriea Boulevard *Mall Traffic*. At the third traffic light, turn left onto Baker's Bridge Avenue. At the second traffic light, turn left onto Carothers Parkway. The hotel will be on the right side.

From South: I-65 North to exit 68 Cool Springs Boulevard East. At the first traffic light, turn left onto Carothers Parkway. The hotel will be approximately a half mile on the right side.

Potential Consultant Position

I may have a consulting opportunity for a Combat Controller w/ recent deployed JTAC experience (prefer an instructor/evaluator). The job will entail advising engineers and business development folks from our Sensor and Optics and C4I business units on product improvement/evolution. It will also required some travel to participate on color teams IOT advise our proposal writers the best way to represent our products to USSOCOM, AFSOC and ACC.



The potential candidate must be well versed in the BAO Kit, aware of deficiencies in BA equipment, and knowledgeable on the myriad of industry solutions.

The part time consultant will work out of their home or travel to the different sites when needed, 5-7 days/ month.

Thanks,

Ray



Raymond Chapman

Elbit Systems of America

Director, Special Operations Solutions

124 W. Miracle Strip Parkway, #20, Suite 201

Mary Esther, FL 32569

Mobile: 850-461-6993

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Combat Control Senior Master Sergeant Selectee’s

Dryer, Jason P.

Terrando, Anthony V.

West, Michael R.

TSgt John Chapman Memorial Push Ups

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, U.S.C., awards the Air Force Cross to TSgt John Chapman for extraordinary heroism in military operation against an armed enemy of the United States as a 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Combat Controller in the vicinity of Gardez, in the eastern highlands of Afghanistan, on 4 March 2002.

On this date, during his helicopter insertion for a reconnaissance and time sensitive targeting close air support mission, Sergeant Chapman's aircraft came under heavy machine gun fire and received a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade which caused a United States Navy sea-air-land team member to fall from the aircraft. Though heavily damaged, the aircraft egressed the area and made an emergency landing seven kilometers away.

Once on the ground Sergeant Chapman established communication with an AC-130 gunship to insure the area was secure while providing close air support coverage for the entire team. He then directed the gunship to begin the search for the missing team member. He requested, coordinated, and controlled the helicopter that extracted the stranded team and aircrew members. These actions limited the exposure of the aircrew and team to hostile fire.

Without regard for his own life Sergeant Chapman volunteered to rescue his missing team member from an enemy strong hold. Shortly after insertion, the team made contact with the enemy. Sergeant Chapman engaged and killed two enemy personnel. He continued to advance reaching the enemy position then engaged a second enemy position, a dug-in machine gun nest. At this time the rescue team came under effective enemy fire from three directions.

From close range he exchanged fire with the enemy from minimum personal cover until he succumbed to multiple wounds. His engagement and destruction of the first enemy position and advancement on the second position enabled his team to move to cover and break enemy contact. In his own words, his Navy sea-air-land team leader credits Sergeant Chapman unequivocally with saving the lives of the entire rescue team.

Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, aggressiveness in the face of the enemy and the dedication to the service of his country, Sergeant Chapman reflects the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.