NJ Dept of Military and Veterans Affairs

BG Glenn K. Rieth

The Adjutant General

COL Maria Falca-Dodson

Deputy Adjutant General

COL (Ret) Emil H. Philibosian

Deputy Commissioner for Veterans   Affairs

Contacting us is easy!

Office of the

Joint Chief of Staff

Col (Ret) Michael B. Smith

Mrs. Laura A. Branham

Phone:

(609) 530-6987

Fax: 

(609) 530-7109

Email:

branham@njdmava.state.nj.us

We're on the Web!

www.state.nj.us/military

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value."

     .Albert Einstein

Columbus Day

Monday, 13 Oct 2003

All state offices will be closed in observance of the holiday.

National Boss Day

16 October 2003

The 177^th Fighter Wing received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (AFOUA) for exceptionally meritorious service from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2001.  In a ceremony held on October 5^th, members of the Wing watched in admiration as Senior Airman Matthew McCune, a crew chief, unveiled the AFOUA emblem on one of the Wing's aircraft.  The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, established by the Department of Defense in 1954, recognizes units that have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service or outstanding achievement that clearly sets the unit above and apart from similar units. The 177^th Fighter Wing accomplished its mission with a high degree of war readiness and combat capability.  The Wing deployed highly trained, combat ready personnel to support Aerospace Expeditionary Force 9.  The 177^th Fighter Wing was one of the first units to have its aircraft generated with live missiles and ready to fight shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center.  In addition to these accomplishments, the unit and its members have been recognized for its outstanding environmental stewardship, recruiting efforts, and community support.  "I'm honored and extremely proud of the Wing for receiving this award," said Colonel Michael Cosby, Commander, 177^th Fighter Wing, seconds after the unveiling.  "We have great people, and this award is testimony to the important role we play on the war on terrorism."  Congressman Frank LoBiondo, 2^nd District NJ, said "The efforts of the 177^th Fighter Wing have been essential to America's homeland defense and this award honors those efforts.  Congratulations to the men and women of the 177^th Fighter Wing on receiving the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for their ongoing homeland defense efforts as part of Operation Noble Eagle."

Brigadier General Eugene Chojnacki presented New Jersey Distinguished and Meritorious Service Medals to 177 veterans at a ceremony held on 7 October 2003 at the Ocean City Music Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey.  Honored guests at the ceremony included Assemblyman Nicholas Asselta and Assemblyman Jeffrey VanDrew.  Department employees, Karen Hansen, Michele Johnson, TSgt Barbara Harbison, and
Mr. John Valenta, Veterans Service Officer for Atlantic and Cape May Counties, assisted Master of Ceremonies CW5 (Ret) Robert Wimberly with the award ceremony.

Two million military and civilian users of myPay are being cautioned to use only the official myPay site (https://mypay.dfas.mil) when seeking to access pay account information.  "Personal information is valuable and should be safeguarded," said Claudia L. Bogard, Director of Corporate Communications for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.  "Don't provide your personal information to any website unless you know it can be trusted."  Look-alike sites have recently frustrated myPay customers who have been confused by accidentally finding their way to a commercial site that is in no way affiliated with DFAS or the Department of Defense.  DFAS' myPay is a secure, DFAS-operated website that lets active duty, National Guard and Reserve military members, civilian employees, and military retirees and annuitants take charge of their pay accounts online.

The USPFO Purchasing & Contracting Office, along with the Base Contracting Offices of the 108^th Air Refueling Wing and the 177^th Fighter Wing, successfully closed out Fiscal Year 2003 on 30 September 2003.  All three contracting officers were able to support their customers with a multitude of end-year purchases.  Procurements included information technology equipment, commodities for use by NJ National Guard soldiers and airmen, and construction projects at both the 108^th ARW and 177^th FW.

For more information about any of these events, please call the NJ Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation office at (732) 335-0033.

Offering help and hope through difficult times is not only the Atlantic City Rescue Mission's goal, but also the 177^th Fighter Wing's Airmen's Council.  The Airmen's Council collected an array of clothing and much needed items for The Mission during this year's donation drive.  The Wing's donations of used clothing, shoes, and household linens in good condition were collected at designated sites located throughout the base.  At the end of the drive, council members loaded their vehicles with the donations and dropped them off at The Mission where the items were sorted and distributed to the poor and homeless in the greater Atlantic County region.  Senior Airman Anna Ayars, Airmen's Council Secretary, stated, "We would like to thank all the Wing members and their families for supporting this year's drive, our first, it was a huge success.  The Airmen's Council is proud of this "Wing for rising yet again to serve the needs of this area."

As many of our full-time support personnel are reaching retirement age, we thought you would like to hear the TOP 5 WORST MISTAKES when retiring.

1.      Failing to elect survivor benefits for a spouse who may have their own income or retirement package.  Just because you die doesn't mean your expenses die with you.

2.      Heading for warmer climate after picking up your first retirement check.  Make sure you do serious soul searching prior to picking up and leaving.consider financial, emotional, cultural, medical, and other realities of leaving your home, family, and friends.

3.      Failing to consider a spouse's routine when retiring.  After 25, 30, or more years, do they want you around an additional 10 hours a day?

4.      Failing to realistically review life insurance needs at retirement.  Monthly premiums for FEGLI increase by nearly 50% at age 55 and again at age 60.  Do you still need the same coverage you have had, now that the mortgage is paid off, and the children are independent?

5.      Enrolling in the High Option health plan.  Look at the Low or Standard plans.they may provide good benefits at a substantially lower premium.change to a less expensive plan at age 65. 

We will try to provide thought provoking information each week to better support the full-time personnel.  If you have questions or concerns, call MAJ Mahon at 609-562-0853 and we will answer them.because it is a good bet other people are thinking about the same thing.

Today is Friday, October 10th, the 269^th day of 2003. There are 82 days left in the year.

◊         In 1845, the United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, MD.

◊         In 1959, Pan American World Airways announced the beginning of the first global airline service.

◊         In 1973, U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with federal income tax evasion.

◊         In 1977, Joe Namath played the last game of his National Football League (NFL) career.

◊         In 1987, Tom McClean finished rowing across the Atlantic Ocean.  It set the record at 54 days and 18 hours.

◊         In 2001, President George W. Bush presented a list of the 22 most wanted terrorists.

A Women Veterans luncheon sponsored by the NJ Advisory Committee for Women Veterans will be held on 25 October 2003 at 11:30 a.m. at McAteers, Easton Avenue, Franklin Township, NJ.  The luncheon will honor the Minutewoman, who was designed by Dorothy Dempsey, a veteran SPAR (Coast Guard) from World War II.  Ms. Dempsey will also be the guest speaker.  All women who have served or are serving in the military and their guests are invited to attend.  Cost is $25 per person.  Contact COL (Ret) Kathleen Morrissey at 609-530-6967 or Anna Hoffman at 908-534-4617 to make reservations.  A silent auction will be held at the conclusion of the luncheon.

There is no egg in eggplant, no ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.  English muffins weren't invented in England, nor French fries in France.  Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't even sweet, are meat. 

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and guinea pig is neither Guinea nor is it a pig.  And, why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fig, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham?  Why doesn't Buick rhyme with quick?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?  One goose, two geese; so one moose, two meese?  One index, two indices?  If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?  If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.  In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?  Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?  Have notes that run and that smell?  How van a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, but a wise man and a wise guy be opposites?  Is there a logical reason that we drive on the parkway and park in the driveway? 

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.  People not computers invented English, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which of course, is no race at all.

Author(s) are anonymous.

Ø       The largest ball of twine in the United States weighs over 17,000 pounds.

Ø       1.3 billion pounds of peanuts are produced in Georgia every year.

Ø       Galapagos turtles can take up to three weeks to digest a meal.

Ø       The average koala sleeps 22 hours each day.