Author: Kat Lehman

Communicator, designer, artist, photographer, friend.

VA announces new Veterans ID card

[Editor’s note: This is a press release from the VA regarding a new Veterans ID card]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nov. 29, 2017

VA Announces Rollout and Application Process for New Veterans ID Card

WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that the application process for the national Veterans Identification Card (VIC) is now available for Veterans, yet another action honoring their service

This has been sought to honor our Veterans, fulfilling a promise that has been unfulfilled since 2015.

Only those Veterans with honorable service will be able to apply for the ID card, which will provide proof of military service, and may be accepted by retailers in lieu of the standard DD-214 form to obtain promotional discounts and services.

“The new Veterans Identification Card provides a safer and more convenient and efficient way for most Veterans to show proof of service,” said VA Secretary David J. Shulkin. “With the card, Veterans with honorable service to our nation will no longer need to carry around their paper DD-214s to obtain Veteran discounts and other services.”

The VIC provides a more portable and secure alternative for those who served the minimum obligated time in service, but did not meet the retirement or medical discharge threshold. Veterans who served in the armed forces, including the reserve components, and have a character of discharge of honorable or general (under honorable conditions) can request a VIC.

To request a VIC, Veterans must visit vets.gov, click on “Apply for Printed Veteran ID Card” on the bottom left of the page sign in or create an account.

Veterans who apply for a card should receive it within 60 days and can check delivery status of their cards at vets.gov. A digital version of the VIC will be available online by mid-December.

Service Academies and ROTC Presentations at Widener

What: 2017 All Service Academies and ROTC Information event.

When: Tuesday, 24 October 2017 – Doors open 6:30 PM. Presentations and Welcome at 7:00 PM. Followed by individual Service Academies and ROTC presentations in breakout rooms.

Where: Alumni Auditorium, Widener University, One University Place, Chester, PA 19013.

Why: This event is in support of candidates and interested students of high school age throughout the Delaware Valley, SE Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Southern New Jersey.

Advanced registration is requested.

Who: Primary Point of Contact- Stephan G. Murphy (USMA FF). 302.388.3552 stephan.g.murphy@gmail.com for any questions.

Defense Secretary Mattis appearing at AUSA 2017

[From AUSA National, Wednesday, August 23, 2017]

Photo by: Department of Defense

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, a retired Marine general who spent four decades in uniform, will be the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition on Monday, Oct. 9.

The nation’s 26th defense secretary, Mattis is a former U.S. Central Command commander who led an infantry battalion in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, commanded the 7th Marine Regiment and later the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Afghanistan, and commanded the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 Iraq invasion.

He was easily confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become defense secretary, receiving a waiver to take the job because he had not been out of uniform for the seven years required by law.

Mattis’ priorities are much like the Army’s. Improving readiness is his top goal, followed by increasing military capabilities, reforming Pentagon business practices, keeping faith with service members and supporting ongoing overseas contingency operations.

Army leaders who traditionally speak at the opening ceremony of AUSA’s annual meeting will speak on Tuesday, Oct. 10, during the Dwight David Eisenhower Luncheon.

The Monday opening ceremony is open to anyone registered to attend the meeting. Tickets are required for the Eisenhower luncheon.

Details about the meeting, registration, the schedule and ticketing are available here:http://ausameetings.org/2017annualmeeting/

3-D Printing helping wounded warriors

When we think of 3-D printing, we often think of either those Mattel children’s toy printers, the goopy pen thing that allows you to “draw” in the air, or some sort of high-tech printing used in building components and manufacturing. What if we told you that it’s also making its way into veteran’s lives in a tangible way; making life easier with new prosthetics?

Walter Reed Hospital’s 3-D Medical Applications Center is providing wounded soldiers with custom printed implants and prosthetics. In fact, the five person team can print almost anything and is providing their services to other Department of Defense or Department of Veterans Affairs medical providers. DoD’s Armed with Science recently did an article about the team which you can check out here: Walter Reed’s 3-D Printing Innovations Help Warfighters Get Back to Life

Best Chapter for Category 5

Thank you to everyone who has supported us, contributed, and participated. We were recently notified that our chapter was selected for earning the Association of the United States Army’s Best Chapter for Operating Year 2016-2017 in our respective category.

If you are attending the AUSA Annual Meeting, please join us for the awards ceremony as we will be receiving the banner then. Again, thank you, everyone, for your support this past year. We couldn’t have done it without everyone’s teamwork.

World War I Remembered

[From AUSA National]

On April 17, 1917, with Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Hugh Scott overseas trying to get the Russians to stay in the war, U.S. Secretary of War Newton Baker has his staff flushing out one of Scott’s ideas for universal conscription to grow the Army rather than solely depending on volunteers. They’ll have to sell Congress on the idea.

COL. GREGORY FONTENOT, U.S. ARMY RETIRED
Thursday, March 16, 2017

World War I did not make the world safe for democracy, as President Woodrow Wilson hoped when he asked Congress to declare war in 1917. As we now know, the war with Germany that started for the United States on April 6, 1917, did not end all wars. However, it made the U.S. a leading world power and created five important legacies that continue to shape our Army.

Among the war’s lasting legacies:

  • Compulsory military service and organization of state militias into an organized federal army deployable beyond the nation’s borders happened because of the Selective Service Act of 1917.
  • The concept of a planning staff, first introduced in the early 1900s by then-Secretary of War Elihu Root, matured under the leadership of Wilson’s brilliant secretary of war, Newton D. Baker.
  • Professional education and a systematic approach to training took root during World War I.
  • Divisions became the module for deployment and employment.
  • Three generations of officers gained important experience during World War I, managing mobilization or fighting in France. Their experience, informed by education and reflection during the interwar period, enabled them to raise, train and lead the enormous Army that fought and won World War II.

Read the full article here.

Col. Gregory Fontenot, U.S. Army retired

Col. Gregory Fontenot, USA Ret., commanded a tank battalion in Operation Desert Storm and an armor brigade in Bosnia. A former director of the School of Advanced Military Studies and the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies, he is co-author of On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

 

World War I Centennial Celebration

The featured first exhibit of the Delaware Military Museum will honor the centennial of the First World War. Delaware played an outsize role before the United States had even entered the war, with Powder mills, shipyards and armament manufacture.

Delaware_Military_Museum_Logo

[Editor’s Note: As we remember the 100th anniversary of the “War to End All Wars,” we should all be mindful of the contributions of first state Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen. There is an excellent online exhibit on Delaware’s contribution to World War I called “Drawing America To Victory: The Persuasive Power of the Arts” | An online exhibit by the Delaware Division of Historical & Cultural Affairs.]

[News Release from the Delaware Military Museum]

WILMINGTON DE. – April 1, 2017: The featured first exhibit of the Delaware Military Museum will honor the centennial of the First World War. Delaware played an outsize role before the United States had even entered the war, with Powder mills, shipyards and armament manufacture.

On display in the museum visitors will re-live the era on the home front and overseas with uniforms, maps, images, and artifacts of the “Great War”. Reproductions of images in the collection of the Delaware National Guard by Delaware artists such as Gayle Hoskins and Frank Schoonover of the Brandywine School will be on view.

The collection highlights the experience of Lieutenant S.B.I. Duncan, a Delaware National Guardsman from New Castle with the 59th Infantry Pioneers who served in France. His photos, uniform, helmet, and documentation will be on view to tell his unique story.

Kennard Wiggins author of Delaware in World War I, will give a talk on his book at 2 PM.

Delaware’s first museum dedicated to its military will open Saturday April 15, at 10 AM. The museum includes Delaware’s most extensive military library and archive.

The new museum is co-located with the Delaware National Guard Wilmington Readiness Center and the Mid County Senior Center on First Regiment Road, just off McKennan’s Church Road. It will be open on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 10 AM to 4 PM.

The Delaware Military Heritage and Education Foundation, Inc.
First Regiment Road, Wilmington, Delaware 19808-2191
302-332-2485 https://demilitaryheritage.wordpress.com/

About us: The Delaware Military Heritage and Education Foundation has preserved and restored military artwork throughout the State of Delaware. The Foundation has compiled an extensive collection of military artifacts and archival materials. The DMHEF library and archives are a rich source for Delaware history educators and researchers.

Contact: Kennard Wiggins, Curator. kennard.wiggins@gmail.com, 443-553-6314