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Oklahoma is OK as far as MOAA is concerned! Check out the good work our chapters are doing in Lawton:

The MOAA auxiliary group in Oklahoma is working with the Armed Services YMCA to open a welcome center at the Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport. After much organizing and fundraising they are just about at their $70,000 goal, and an official opening ceremony is scheduled for next week.

The welcome center is a partnership between Armed Services YMCA and the Military Officers Association of America auxiliary and for one member of the MOAA it is a dream come true.

“For me, it means everything to see this come to fruition,” Rutti Cramer said.

Most of the time when you hear the words “dream come true” it’s about a personal achievement. The Military Welcome Center at the airport didn’t become a reality just because Rutti wanted it too, a lot of people have helped, but maybe this is personal, her husband Robert who has since passed, was a Vietnam War veteran.

Find a local MOAA chapter near you and get involved in your community!

As part of the Applebee’s Thank You Movement, Applebee’s team members kicked off Military Appreciation Month yesterday with the delivery of 101,000 Thank You cards – 1,200 pounds of thanks – to the nation’s military.

Applebee’s guests and team members personalized the cards at nearly 1,900 U.S. restaurants. Applebee’s team members then delivered the cards in person to veterans at the headquarters of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) in Cold Spring, Ky.

DAV, a non-profit partner of Applebee’s, will distribute the cards to veterans and troops to ensure that each heartfelt expression of thanks is presented to a real American hero. DAV has worked to improve the lives of veterans and their families for more than 90 years and will deliver these messages of thanks through its range of programs, services and publications.

The card delivery is part of the Applebee’s Thank You Movement, an ongoing initiative to collect millions of thanks for U.S. veterans and active duty military. So far, the movement has collected more than 2.6 million thank you texts, posts and videos. Military personnel can visit www.thankyoumovement.com to see and hear the genuine thanks from the grateful nation they serve.

For more information, visit www.applebees.com and www.thankyoumovement.com.

In a Justice Department settlement, damages and credit repair were offered to servicemembers whose cars had been towed and sold while they were deployed without first obtaining a court order. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) requires the court order for certain civil obligations to protect the rights of servicemembers while on active duty.

From the press release from DOJ:

“No member of the military should come home from deployment to find their car has been towed and sold,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride. “Businesses should be aware of the many rights that SCRA gives to servicemembers and their families, and businesses should also be certain that we’ll work tirelessly to ensure that those rights are protected.”

This lawsuit, filed in 2008, was the first filed by the Civil Rights Division under the SCRA. The Civil Rights Division received enforcement authority under the SCRA in 2006, and has since filed suit and entered into a number of settlements with defendants ranging from local landlords to the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers.

Read the full release, “Justice Department Settles Towing Company Case Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.”

Capt. Donald R. Freese, USN-Ret., President of the Florida Council of MOAA Chapters, discussed the stresses put on the current military through ten years of war, and highlighted the need for advocacy on behalf of servicemembers and their families.

Until the draft ended in 1973, most American families had some connection with someone in the military. Now, it’s only about one family in 30, he said.

The association has also advocated against making extreme changes to the military pension system and against large increases to Tricare, the health-care system for military retirees.

The Bradenton MOAA Chapter then awarded $1,000 scholarships to seven JROTC cadets from Manatee County high schools and $500 to four others at the ceremony in front of parents, friends, and JROTC instructors.

Read the full story, “Official defends armed services budget at Bradenton awards luncheon.”

Jane Watrel, a news reporter and military spouse with NBC4, covered the MOAA Military Career Fair, was a panelist on the military spouse networking panel during lunch. She advised attendees on knowing the value of effectively marketing oneself  as the key to finding the right job in this tough economy.

Career fair attendees learned how to do just that, met with military-friendly employers, received résumé critiques by MOAA transition specialists, and more!

Even for those not used to the new, online networking techniques, MOAA’s Director of Transition Services, Capt. Jim Carman, USN-Ret., had some good news, “We can educate job seekers on the fundamentals of self-promoting!”

For more information on this and other MOAA transition events visit moaa.org/careerfair.

Dismounted infantry on foot patrols often are confronted with threats from pressure-plate explosives buried along their intended routes. To counter such threats, a Fredericksburg, Va., company has developed a robot with a mini-flail attachment that can clear a safe walking path for soldiers.

The Protector, made by HDT Robotics, clears a trail at a 3 mph speed. It is powered by diesel, or JP-8, can run for three days on internal fuel. The flail head weighs 212 pounds and clears a 22-inch wide path.

The prime mover in the Protector is 36 inches wide, 30 inches high and 60 inches long, weighs 470 pounds, and can carry a 1,000 pound payload at a maximum speed of 10 mph. It has the ability to climb 40-degree slopes, is operated by a hand-held controller, and can function up to 1,300 feet away from the operator.

Tom Van Doren, chief operating officer of HDT Robotics division, calls trail-clearing a difficult operation and says that robotic technology is the best application for the job “so you have reasonable standoff during an explosive event.”

However, he notes, existing robotic technology has been insufficient for the job in terms of endurance, range, and capability, which led HDT Robotics to develop the Protector mini-flail application.

“Existing Pakbots or Talons that have been deployed have a couple of hours of endurance and don’t have a lot of terrain handling capabilities,” Van Doren says. “They aren’t sufficient platforms to interrupt IEDs. The military needs something that can go down the trail with dismounted troops and disrupt devices.”

The technology HDT Robotics developed was a hammer flail, a proven technology already in use by the U.S. Army.

“The Army already procures the M160 [Anti-personnel Mine Clearing System],” Van Doren observes, “It’s 6-feet wide, weighs more than 10,000 pounds, and can clear a small minefield, but you can’t take it down a path.”

Van Doren says the first operational prototype of the Protector has proven capable in testing and that HDT Robotics was close to entering an agreement with a U.S. governmental agency for further testing and operational assessment.

“Because it can carry 500 pounds on the robot and another 500 pounds on a tow trailer, we think it also has a role as a logistics robot,” Van Doren says. “It’s built to be modular, with the flail as one module and the hydraulic power takeoff as another. The chassis, engine, fuel, and electronics modules all come apart and were designed for mobility so if the troops encounter an obstacle they can’t get across, they can break down the Protector and make it man portable.”

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.

Yup, this is pure awesome. You’re welcome:

This channel is definitely worth a follow or “heart” in Pinterest!

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense agency, announced that 133 employers have been selected as semifinalists for the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The Freedom Award is the highest recognition given by the DoD to employers for exceptional support of their Guard and Reserve employees. This year’s semifinalists stood out among an impressive pool of 3,236 nominees.

Freedom Award nominations come directly from Guard and Reserve members, or family members acting on their behalf. The Freedom Award provides service members with an opportunity to recognize employers for going above and beyond what is required by law. Employers chosen as semifinalists support their Guard and Reserve employees through a variety of formal and informal initiatives, including developing internal military support networks, providing full benefits to employees fulfilling their military obligations, caring for the families of deployed employees, and granting additional leave to Guard and Reserve employees preparing to leave for or return from deployments.

ESGR will announce the 2012 Freedom Award finalists next month after a review board comprised of military and civilian leaders selects the 30 most supportive employers from among the 133 semifinalists. The 15 award recipients will be announced early this summer and honored in Washington, D.C. at the 17th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Ceremony on September 20, 2012.

A complete list of Freedom Award semifinalists from each state is available at www.FreedomAward.mil under the Media Tab in the Press Releases section.

Support the base near you by “demanding” Battleship the movie – the top ten bases with the most demands will get a free screening at a nearby theater!

*We might be biased, but Fort Belvoir is near MOAA Headquarters if you’re looking for a base to support.

Army psychologist CPT Katie Kopp has an unusual tool to help soldiers deployed to eastern Afghanistan deal with combat stress. His name is Hank and he’s a spirited 3-year-old Boston terrier.

Check out the great interviews with CPT Kopp and Sgt. Nahum Campos on how therapy dogs help deployed servicemembers cope with stress, and what it’s like working with a canine on the battlefield:

Read more: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/141749/therapy-dog-b-roll#.T5b9WdX0U7w#ixzz1szHWQVsP