Scholarships for children of Navy enlisted medics
March 6th, 2012 | Afghanistan children College scholarship Hospital corpsman Marine Corps Medical Navy Photos | Posted by Bill McMichael
The Fleet Reserve Association today announced that it has established scholarships for the children of enlisted Navy medics. The Colonel Hazel Elizabeth Benn Scholarship Fund provides a $2,000 scholarship “to an unmarried, dependent child of those who have served or are now serving” in the Navy “as enlisted medical personnel with the U.S. Marine Corps. ”
The Benn Scholarship is available to “qualified applicants” entering their freshman or sophomore year of college. The Benn Scholarship is open to all such children regardless of their parents’ affiliation with FRA, according to a press release.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Richard Erfurth treats a casualty at Forward Operating Base Jackson, Sangin, Afghanistan, on Sept. 8, 2011. Erfurth was assigned to Jump Platoon, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 8. The Marines and Afghan uniformed policemen had been struck by a suicide bomber using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while on a patrol. // U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Logan W. Pierce
Other FRA Education Foundation scholarships are available to anyone affiliated with the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, either through their own service or that of a spouse, parent or grandparent, FRA says. They’re funded through private donations, established trusts and corporate sponsorships; recipients are selected based on financial need, academic standing, character and leadership qualities.
The deadline to apply for the Benn Scholarship or any other Foundation scholarships is April 15.
Go here for more information. Or, call 703-683-1400.
Deployed sailor: It’s OK to be gay
January 23rd, 2012 | Afghanistan Don't ask Navy Video | Posted by Sam Fellman
With the end of the ban on gays serving openly last year, sailors have been coming forward about their sexual identity in ways large and small to their shipmates. Now, deployed soldiers — and one sailor — at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan have filmed a message that it’s OK to be gay.
“It’s hard being different when you’re young and even when you’re old,” says Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Erin Jones in the video posted Friday. “But it won’t get better until you accept yourself for who you are.”
The video — uploaded to YouTube by the account intheNarmynow — joins a host of others on the website It Gets Better, which collects video messages of hope for gay and lesbian teens struggling with their identity.
“Bravo!!!” one reviewer wrote.
Mentoring Afghan lawyers … and future leaders
January 9th, 2012 | Afghanistan Law Mentoring Navy State Department | Posted by Bill McMichael
A Navy lawyer has been helping mentor five young Afghan law students from Balkh University while preparing to take part in the prestigious Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition.
Lt. Megan Romigh and Department of State Foreign Service Officer Jeff Arnold joined a USAID team that provided “support and mentoring” to the team in late 2011, according to Arnold.
“I’m a New Yorker,” Romigh says on the tape. “I lived in Manhattan on 9/11. So it was very important for me to come here and especially with this team in particular, to actually work so closely with these Afghan citizens who are the future of this country.”
Students from more than 500 law schools in 80 countries are taking part in the competition, now in its 53rd year. It’s a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. One team is allowed to participate from every eligible school. Teams prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case.
This season’s Jessup Problem will address the legality of the destruction of a cultural site.
The regional and national rounds are being held this month and next; participants compete to advance to the international round in Washington, D.C. in late March.
“They’re going to be the next generation of leaders for their country,” Arnold says on the tape. “They’re going to be the judges, the prosecutors and, perhaps in some cases, the governors or members of Parliament for their country.”
“It’s an investment that we know is going to pay off.”
Recognition for “above and beyond” IAs
August 9th, 2011 | Afghanistan Awards Fleet Forces Command individual augmentees Iraq Navy Personnel | Posted by Bill McMichael
More than 90,000 sailors have served in individual augmentee assignments — largely in Iraq, Afghanistan and environs — and Tuesday, Fleet Forces Command launched a web site honoring those who’ve “performed above and beyond the call of duty.”
The site pays tribute to the 1,416 IAs awarded the Bronze Star, the 10 given the Bronze Star with Combat “V” device, the 48 awarded Purple Hearts, the one sailor awarded the Silver Star and the 14 killed in the line of duty as of Aug. 9. The page also lists the totals, but not the IA recipients, for every meritorious service medal awarded.
“We are proud to launch this webpage to collectively thank our IA Sailors for their distinguished service,” said Adm. John Harvey, Fleet Forces commander. “And it is fitting that we honor the service members who paid the ultimate price during overseas contingency operations. Their service and sacrifice will not be forgotten.”
Navy IAs have worked in a wide variety of combat service and combat service support roles in the fields of logistics and contracting, engineering, security assistance, detainee operations, headquarters staff, medical support, military training, Provincial Reconstruction Teams and many other roles.
Names in the Navy IA Hall of Honor were pulled from the official Navy Awards database, Defense.gov and the Defense Manpower Data Center. Unintended omissions from the site may be addressed via the “contact us” link on the webpage, Fleet Forces says.
(WORK SPACE AMBIENCE WARNING: If you haven’t gone to the site already, turn your speakers down first unless you want to stir your co-workers with a loud, brassy patriotic fanfare, the old bugle call “To the Color.”) Clicking on any of the links on the left mutes the music in mid-riff.