us army: newsletter 15dec06

8/14/2019 US Army: newsletter 15dec06

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/us-army-newsletter-15dec06 1/12

The Siren; for that privilege

I say “thanks.”Since my arrival to Fort

Lewis and assumption of theposition of Command Ser-geant Major for the TaskForce in April of this year, Ihave seen nothing but greatthings come out of our or-ganization. That is totallydue to the quality, dedica-tion, and professionalism ofour Soldiers, civilians, andtheir families. For that I alsosay “thanks, and well done!”

While most of the other

organizations on this postcontribute little to the in-stallation on a daily basis, TFProtector is solely designedto provide excellent serviceto every Soldier, civilian,family member and visitor toFort Lewis. We exist to pro-vide unselfish and continuous24-7-365 force protection—a sometimes thankless andlonely job. No matter if youare Firefighter, DA or Mili-tary Police patrolman, a

Greetings DES Team!

Our Task Force ProtectorCommander, Col Miller, hasgraciously allowed me to posta few notes in this edition of

MAJ Slemp aims for the targetat the 2006 Turkey Shoot Com-petition

The SirenA publication of the Fort Lewis Direc- torate of Emergency

Services

The SirenA publication of the Fort LewisDirectorate of Emergency

Services

Director’s Corner

DES Director

COL Katherine N. Miller

DES Deputy and Managing Editor

Rickey L. Sanders

(253) [email protected]

Writer and Publisher

PFC Amie J. McMillan

42nd MP BDE and DES PAO

(253) 966-0323

[email protected]

Inside this issue:

15 De ce mb er 2 0 0 6

Volume 1 , I s sue 4

A Firefighter’sThanksgiving

Welcome andFarewells

DES DeputyTidbits

Christmas FireSafety Tips

Flag Football

CPT Safety

Upcoming Events

The Reason forthe Season

Poem

Team BuildingEvent

Employee Spot-lights

Employee Spot-lights Continued

Holiday Cele-bration Trivia

Holiday Cele-bration Triviacontinued

Holiday FireSafety Checklist

2

2

3

4

55

6

6

7

8

9

10

Mr. Bill Crane, DeputyGarrison Commander washonored on 6 Decemberat a retirement luncheonheld at the AmericanLake Club.

The Army StrongCampaign music playedproudly in the backgroundas an excellent slideshowwas shown to the audi-ence displaying Mr.

Crane’s 40 years with themilitary both as a soldierand as a civilian.

12

Crane Retires

7

11



Thanksgiving meal for thehard working firefighters,DA Police and MPs on FortLewis who had to work onThanksgiving day.

To all that helped preparethe food: The firefighterswould like to say thank youand they appreciate yourefforts and hard work thatwent into the feast you pre-pared.

Thanksgiving is a time togive thanks to the manytreasures we have in life.Unfortunately, some peopleare not able to celebratewith the ones they love be-cause of their jobs.

Ltc. Valrica Dunmyer,Maj. Niave Knell, Ltc. Jef-frey Bryan, Maj. Anna-MarieSlemp and Kathi Picanco de-cided they would cook a

A Firefighter’s Thanksgiving

mings were very great ac-cording to my feedback fromthe personnel that stoppedby,” said Cpt. Dana Wallace.

season becauseas always some of

you will be stand-ing your post sothat others canenjoy their time

off duringChristmas andNew Year’s.

PROTECTORS!

Written by: CSMDahl

guard standing your post, orone of the countless supportpersonnel who make theirduty easier—your contribu-tions matter and you can beproud of them. TF Protector

does more for Fort Lewisthan any other group on thispost and you are at the heartof it.

Be safe as you take timeto reflect on all that hasoccurred this past year andplease make time for yourloved ones during this holiday

Welcomes andFarewells

Farewell to D.A. PoliceOfficer, Jeffrey Robertsonas he fulfills his duty as anairman with his unit in Iraq.

Good luck to MSG Thorpeas he joins the AsymmetricWarfare Group on the East

Coast.DES would like to extend a

big welcome to the new Pro-vost Marshal Sergeant Ma-

jor, MSG Johnson as he stepsup to replace MSG Thorpe.

Farwell to CPT MarkReaves, our senior D.A. PoliceSupervisor as he makes hisway to become the Directorof Emergency Services atYakima Training Center.

SSG Edwin Cramer MPI,retired and is going to be aGS-12 Detective in New Mex-ico. Good luck!

D.A. Police Officer, BillyClimer deployed with his unitto help the border patrol atthe Mexican border.

Welcome, 1LT Ian Nunn tothe DES staff! He will bereplacing CPT Mott, our PMoperations officer.

Also, a big welcome toSSG William Burger, desksergeant and Joseph Case,D.A. Police as they begintheir jobs with the DESstaff.



Deputy DES Tidbits

Howdy Team DES. It seems like I just got done drafting an article forThe Siren and now here I am doinganother one - time sure flies by fastwhen you’re having fun. What I want totalk about this time is something near& dear to my heart: Teamwork. Onesmall word - but SO important to aDirectorate such as ours that has sucha diverse work force (active duty Sol-dier MP's; Firefighters; Fire Inspec-tors; DA Police; DA Guards; ContractGuards; Admin Support Staff; etc.).During my 30+ years of active duty asa Soldier and my 4 years as a Govern-ment civilian, I have found that Team-work will overcome a LOT of obstacles- in fact, I found that a small group ofindividuals who work together towardsa common goal (and who help eachother get there) WILL outperform amuch larger group who have their ownpersonal agendas and don't work to-gether as a team. What do I mean by

this? Well, let me give you some exam-ples to explain what I mean.

A section has 9 members, each ofwhom work on similar actions but havetheir own personal workload. The"norm" for this team is that when onemember is done/caught up on his ownworkload, that's it for the day - theworker(s) don't seek out other work tocomplete, but instead go home or dosomething of a personal nature (read abook/go "hide out" so their supervisor

won't see them sitting around doingnothing/play a video game/etc.). Themembers of this team are only inter-ested in their own workload & are notinterested in the overall team missionor in helping their co-workers.

Another section with a similar mis-

sion, but having only 5 members, has asimilar workload but all five of theseindividuals ARE a team that works to-

wards a common goal. When one is donewith his own workload, he seeks out afellow team member to assist him onhis work - working "together" insteadof as an individual.

I don't think it takes a rocket sci-entist to figure out which of these twoteams is the more productive team orwhich team has better morale - youguessed it - the smaller team thatworks together towards a common goal.For the most part, I think it's true

that many/most people who enter oneof the emergency support services as acareer field do so to become part of ateam. As a Police Officer or Fire-fighter you MUST have the confidenceof knowing that your partner has "got

you covered" - but I think the samething holds true for the Admin Sup-port personnel in DES. If no one hastold you lately folks (this is addressedto the support personnel), the DES asan organization would NOT be as suc-cessful as we have been (and are) with-out the superb work that you do on adaily basis. If DES is a tree, the sup-port personnel are the roots that keepthe tree upright, standing tall andgrowing. Just as the Police Officer/Firefighter knows that their partnerhas got them covered, so should you. If

you are falling behind in your workload,hopefully you've got a fellow co-workerin the office who asks if you need somehelp - and then proceeds to help you.If you are sick for a couple of days,

hopefully you've got a fellow co-workerwho can/will handle your workload dur-ing your absence.

This is the type of TEAM conceptwe seek to achieve - and I'd like tothink that all of you will help us getthere. And by the way, we've had a

couple of recent events that show methat we're "getting there" in buildingour DES "teamwork": On 22 November

at Cowan Stadium there was a ladiesfootball game where the DES Teamconsisted of active duty female Sol-diers/MP's/some support personnel/Command personnel/and our sole fe-male firefighter (who was one of thestars by the way). The DES Team wasmuch older than their opponents - theopposing team had much younger &faster ladies on their team - BUT theDES experience & teamwork paid offand our DES ladies trounced their op-ponents soundly on the field of battle.A 2nd example of teamwork was evi-denced this past Thursday(Thanksgiving) at Fire Station #1 whencertain DES ladies (Kathy Picanco,MAJ Slemp, & others) put on a TurkeyDay food-fest for our on duty Fire-fighters and MP's/Police Officers/Guards. People giving up their own fam-ily time to help other members of theteam - now THAT is Teamwork.

I have been the Acting Deputy Di-rector for DES for quite some timenow, and was just recently selected tofill the permanent full time position.Let me say that I am proud to be COLMiller's (and your) Deputy and I pledgemy continued loyalty to all of you. IWILL be your strongest supporter andcheerleader.

Lastly, as we approach the Holidays,please take the time to be with yourfamily and friends and enjoy all thatthe Holiday season has to offer. If youare traveling during the holidays, BESAFE and come back to work in goodspirits and energized for another great

year. I wish you all the very best. As Ilearned in Hawaii, “Aloha & Mele Kalikmaka”.

By Mr. Rick Sanders,

Deputy Director



HHC/DES VS 504th MP Battalion Women’s Flag Football

The chilly, winter wind filled the airon 22 November at Cowan Stadium

where female soldiers and civilians gath-ered for a Brigade versus Battalion flagfootball game.

The 504th MP Battalion scored thefirst touchdown, but HHC and DESstepped up to the plate and showedthem who was boss.

Final score...HHC/DES-21: 504th-8.504th asked for a re-match, so lookforward to one next year.

However, this year, the trophyproudly displays in the office of COL

Miller where the 2006 champions work.

FLFD in the back showing support.

Christmas is coming up fast? Are youready?

Indoor and Outdoor lighting: Only

use indoor lights indoors (and outdoorlights only outdoors). Look for the ULlabel. Check lights for broken orcracked sockets, frayed or bare wires,or loose connections. Examine lightstrings each year, discard worn ones.

Also, use no more than three lightsets on any one extension cord. Exten-sion cords should be placed against thewall to avoid tripping hazards, but donot run cords under rugs. Never useindoor extension cords outside.

Turn off all lights on trees and deco-rations when you go to bed or leave thehouse.

Home Safety: Never leave small chil-dren unsupervised near the tree. Thereare many small things that they canswallow or choke on.

- Always use the proper step stool orladder to reach high places.

- Read labels before you use materialsthat come in jars, cans and spray cans

- Never place lighted candles on a treeor near any flammable materials.

- Avoid placing breakable tree orna-ments or ones with small, detachableparts on lower branches where smallchildren or pets can reach them.

- Do not hang popcorn chains and candycanes on the tree when small childrenare present. They may think that othertree ornaments are also edible.

- Install a smoke detector or new bat-teries in the one(s) you have and TEST it.

Pet Safety: Let us not forget aboutour four legged friends!!

You should avoid using tensile as yourpet may think it is a toy to play with andmay accidentally swallow or choke on thetiny strings. In addition, do not decorate

your tree with food items like popcorn

of candy canes. Your pet might knockover your tree in order to get a snack.Do not place chemicals in your tree wa-ter. It may keep your tree alive longerbut can be very harmful if your petdrinks the water. You can avoid this if

you place a tight fitting tree skirtaround the base of the tree.

Holiday plants might be nice for theholidays but can be poisonous to yourpets. Plants such as, poinsettias, amaryl-lis, mistletoe and holly can cause yourpet to experience vomiting, diarrhea oreven more serious problems.

Ensure your pet has proper identifi-cation tags in case they get lost. Thiswill make it easier for authorities tolocate the missing animal.

If your pet becomes lost you can callthe Fort Lewis Military Police Desk at967-3107/3108/3109. If off the instal-lation you can call Tacoma/Peirce CountyHumane Society (253)383-2733 orThurston County Humane Society at(360) 352-2510.

By CPT Mark Reaves,

Operations Officer

Captain Safety Section



• Now-20 December: Christmas atMeeker Mansion in Puyallup from 10a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The cost is $5

for adults; $4 for Seniors and Stu-dents; and $3 for children. Formore information, please call (253)848-1770.

• Now-31 December: 11th Annual Fan-tasy Lights at Spanaway Park from5:30-9:30 p.m. The cost is $13 pervehicle and $45 per bus. For moreinformation, please call (253) 798-3330.

• Now-01 January: Zoolights nightlyat Point Defiance Zoo. For more

information, please call (253) 591-5337.• 15-17 December: Fort Lewis pre-

sents, “Scrooge the Musical”. Castmembers include soldiers and familymembers. 15th & 16th at 7 p.m. and

17th at 2 p.m. at the Nelson Rec-reation Center on 2nd Division Road.The price is $5 for adults and $3

for children under 12.• 01-23 December: Agosy Christmas

Ship Festival. Times and locationvary. Please call (206) 623-1445 formore information.

• 23 December: Come out and meet jolly ole’ Santa Clause at the PXfrom 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Don’t forget

your cameras!• 26 December-01 January: 11th An-

nual Model Train Festival at theWashington State History Museum

• 1 January: 4th Annual MidnightExpress 8k Benefit Challenge atFort Steilacoom Park. Call (253)284-3260 for more information.

• 13-14 January: Tacoma Wedding

Expo at the Tacoma Dome. Cost-$12. Call (253) 572-3663 for moreinformation.

• 15 January: 2007 Martin LutherKing, Jr. City Celebration at theTacoma Dome from 11 a.m.– 1 p.m.Free admission and parking. Call(253) 572-3663 for more informa-tion.

• 24-28 January: Washington’sSportsmen Show at the PuyallupFairgrounds. Cost– adults/$9; jun-iors/$5; children under 6 are free.

• 4 February: Come out and meet NewYork Best Selling Times thrillerauthor, Gayle Lynds who will beautographing copies of her latestbook “The Last Week” and “BeachRead of the Week” at the PX from2-3 p.m.

Upcoming Events

Volume 1, I ssue 4

How do you celebrate this season?Do you make special plans? Are yougoing to spend extra time with familyand friends? How are you focusing on

your faith during this season? Do youknow the reason for all you do in thisseason?

However you celebrate this season itis good to know the reason. Considerthe theme of giving. Many will make anextra effort to give gifts to specialpeople in their lives. Some will give to aperson in need that they do not knowbecause they have compassion for them.Several will give more time into practic-ing their religious beliefs. How can allthis giving be possible?

This is a true statement, “You cannot

give what you do not have.” Before youcan give anything you must first receive.What do you have that was not given to

you? Even if you make something youmust first have the ability, opportunity,and raw materials. It may be helpful tolook at the very basics of life itself andacknowledge where it comes from. Ibelieve the ultimate source for all youhave is God.

It is because God first gave to youthat you can give to God or others. Goddid not give us life and all that goes withit to see how much we can keep for our-selves. In God’s wisdom the only thingwe get to keep is the responsibility forwhat we do with all that is given to us.In the end everything we have is givento someone else to use. So ask yourself,“What am I doing with all that God isgiving me?”

When we give we make it possible forsomeone else to give. In this way theneeds and prayers of others are an-swered. If we give a kind word, a caringear, or meet some material need, we givethe opportunity for someone to givethanks to God for what we are able togive them. God gives us the freedom ofchoice. We can choose to participate inthe giving or we can cut ourselves offfrom the cycle of giving. Either way weonly get to keep the responsibility forour choices.

I thank God that we are blessed inthis season. I pray that you will receivethe blessings that are the reason forthis season and look for ways to give toothers. May we hear the wisdom in aprayer by Saint Francis, “…for it is inthe giving that we receive.”

The Reason for the Season

By CH (LTC) Bellinger,

Brigade Chaplain



The Night Before A Fire-Safe Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, whenall through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, not even amouse.When down through the chimney, allcovered with soot,

Came the “Spirit of Fire”, an ugly galoot.

His eyes glowed like embers, his fea-tures were stern,

As he looked all around for something toburn.

What he saw made him grumble, his an-ger grew higher,

For there wasn’t a thing that wouldstart a good fire.

No doors had been blocked by the highChristmas tree,

It stood in the corner leaving passage-

ways free.

The lights that glowed brightly forBetty and Tim,

Had been hung with precaution so nonetouched a limb.

All wiring was new, not a break could beseen,

And wet sand at its base, kept the treenice and green.

The tree had been trimmed by a motherinsistent,

That the ornaments used must be fire-resistant.

And the mother had known the things toavoid,

Like cotton, and paper, and plain cellu-loid.

Rock wool, metal icicles, trinkets of

glass,

Gave life to the tree; it really had class.

And would you believe it, right next tothe tree,

Was a suitable box for holding debris.

A place to throw wrappings of paper andstring,

From all the gifts that Santa mightbring.

The ugly galoot was so mad he could“bust”,

And he climbed up the chimney in utterdisgust,

For the folks in this home had paid closeattention,

To all the rules of good “FIRE PREVEN-TION.”

On 1 Sep 06, several battle-hardenedand grizzly police veterans from theTraining and Plans Division (TAPD) vis-ited Leschi Town. The visit allowed theinstructors of TAPD to determine thesuitability of the training site for LawEnforcement Certification, In-Service,Field Training Program, and other lawenforcement training events. As a re-sult of the visit, DA Police and DAGuards can expect to spend some timeduring their careers with the Fort LewisDES at the facility, engaging in dynamic,hands-on and "real-life" type training.The training these personnel will com-plete at the facility will dramaticallyincrease Officer safety, enhance thesafety posture of the supported commu-nity, and raise the morale of all involved.

Team Building Event– Leschi Town

By CPT Michael Bosse,

Chief of Training and Plans Division



The “newbie”, as the Fort Lewis FireDepartment calls him, arrived here on27 November from the McChord AirForce Base Fire Department.

Jeremy Housley, Firefighter andEMT is from Roseburg, Ore.

Housley enjoys riding four wheelers,mountain bikes, street bikes, ATVs andworking out.

He began working as a fire protec-tion flight crew member in the AirForce in 1996. In 2004, he joined theAir Force Reserve as an E-6 and beganworking as a civilian firefighter onMcChord Air Force Base. Now, Housleyis part of the Fort Lewis DES team ashe continues his career as a firefighter.

To be a firefighter means you have

to sacrifice many things forthe lives of others. For exam-ple, hours to days of your dailylife. However, he says thehours are also a perk and helikes it much more than a Mon-day through Friday gig.

A typical day for Housleybegins with crew assignments,command expectations andequipment checks to ensureeverything works properly. Theday continues with meetings,training, a workout hour and ofcourse, any calls they may re-ceive.

According to Housely, the most im-portant skills to possess as a firefighterare to keep an open mind, be versatile,

be prepared to learn and beable to rapidly and proficientlytransition from one task to thenext.

“I’m happy to be in the jobI am and I definitely made theright choice,” Housely said.

“There isn’t any other job Ireally want to do or even seemyself doing, other than beinga firefighter,” he added.

“ Jeremy is a highly quali-fied firefighter, he’s a hazard-

ous materials technician and incidentcommander certified. He owns a home inthe area and is excited about being partof a large federal fire department. Wel-come Jeremy!” said Chief Dixon.

Talented, hard working and greatpeople skills—all highlights of DanHodgson, D.A. Guard for Fort Lewis.

Devoted husband and loving fatherof three daughters, Hodgson calls Lake-wood, Wash. home.

He enjoys building, repairing, cus-tomizing and riding Harley Davidson

motorcycles, attending church and min-istering to people.

Hodgson joined the Navy as an activesailor in 1994. In 2003, he enlisted tothe Army Reserves. He recently got outof the military and is looking into joiningthe Navy Reserves.

Hodgson signed on as anAKAL guard in November2001 and switched to becomea D.A. Guard in 2004.

Through both his militaryand DES career, he has re-ceived an award on two occa-sions for saving the life ofanother human being.

While in the Navy, Hodg-son received the Navy AchievementMedal, for fighting a fire and saving thelife of another.

While working as a Guard, Hodgsonsaved a man’s life in housing who had slit

his wrists.

Hodgson said the tough-est part of his job is workingoutside and having to copewith the constant weatherchanges.

According to Hodgson,the perk of his job is the

peacefulness.“It’s the least stressful job I’ve ever

had—very, very relaxing,” he said.

If you are interested in becoming aGuard, you might want to study andlearn the Army, DOD and OPM regula-tions.

Jeremy Housley, Fort Lewis Firefighter

Dan Hodgson, D.A. Guard

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTS



If you find yourself visiting her of-fice, be prepared for an eccentric, crea-tive, hard worker.

Beth Pettit, Administrative Officerfor DES, enjoys sewing, quilting, cross-stitching and spending quality time withher family.

A devoted mother of three daugh-

ters and grandmother of two grand-daughters, Pettit, native of Corvallis,Ore., began working on Fort Lewis in1999 as a Budget Technician for Re-serve Officer Training Corps or ROTC.

Pettit celebrated her 18th year ofgovernment service in July 2006 and is

more than happy to continuefor the benefit of the Sol-diers.

“The [Soldiers] are theonly reason I do this job,” shesaid.

“I don’t do this for therewards, I do what I feel is

my piece to help them along,”she added.

Pettit said the toughest part of her job is trying to meet all the deadlines.

The exciting portion of her job is thefact that she is helping the Soldiers bytaking away a job they might otherwise

have to do.

On a typical day, well ac-cording to Pettit, there isnever a “typical” day, she justrolls with the punches, handleseverything as it comes to her.To include, travel orders, sus-pense's and meetings.

“No matter what I plan, itnever goes that way,” she said.

“Experience helped me along the way,but education always helps out.”

“I’m here and always willing to helpout if need be and if I don’t know, I’llpoint you in the right direction.”

Brand new to the DES staff, but donot let that fool you. 1LT Ian Nunn, As-sistant Operations Officer has a one ofa kind personality.

Nunn, native of Des Moines, Iowaenjoys Fantasy Football, riding HarleyDavidson’s, revising SOPs and watchingthe Chicago Bears play football.

As a graduate of Marquette Univer-sity, he is a faithful follower of Mar-quette basketball, even when they lose.

Nunn began working on Fort Lewis inDecember 2004 as a platoon leader withthe 170th Military Police Company. InOctober 2006, he began his currentwork as an assistant operations officer.

He said the toughest part of his jobis learning the relationship between

civilian and military per-sonnel and how they worktogether as a team.

According to Nunn, themost enjoyable part of his

job is interacting withpeople from various back-grounds. Also, the abilityto still be able to interactwith soldiers.

A typical day for the young, assistantoperations officer involves reviewing theBlotter, attending the Blotter brief,reading and responding to e-mails, read-ing and editing SOPs, while, at the sametime trying to learn about Provost Mar-shal Operations.

“Also, supervising Lt. Ciota,” he jok-

ingly adds.

Nunn had this advice tooffer anyone interested inpursuing the same career.You must be open to thefact there are people whowork here who know morethan you, regardless ofrank or position and youshould seek their help if

you have any questions.In order to accomplish the required

tasks as an assistant operations officer,a person must be able to communicateeffectively with others, accept newideas for improvement, be able to for-mulate a plan and listen.

“Go Bears!” he added.

Beth Pettit, Administrative Officer

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTS

1LT Ian Nunn, Assistant Operations Officer

Volume 1, I ssue 4



Volume 1, I ssue 4



1.

All decorations and displays areFlameproof or fire retardant .

Decorations do not obstructsprinkler systems or access tofire extinguishers or fire alarmpull stations .

Decorations do not intrude intoor block the minimum width of exit ways .

Exit doors are kept unlocked whenthe building is occupied.

Occupant load limitations arestrictly observed in publicassembly occupancies.

All electrical cords and lightscarry the labe l of Underwriters

Laboratory.

Internally lit exit signs areilluminated at all times when thebuilding is occupied.

*Candles are not authorizedexcept in approved places *

Make sure you can mark "yes' to all of these

Electrical cords and lights arecarefully inspected before usefor cracks, areas of wear, orelectrical shorts.

Decorative lighting is turnedoff when the premises areunoccupied.

Only heavy-duty extensioncords are used for holiday

lighting, and they are notoverloaded .

Packaging debris and othercombustible material isconfined to approved, coveredcontainers.

Materials that will burn arekept at least 36 inches fromany heat source.

Are cut Christmas trees keptwatered throughout the holidayseason. Do not let dry out.

Cut trees, wreaths, andgarlands are removed as soonas possible after the holidayobservance.

H O L I D A Y F

I R E S A F E T Y C H E C K L I S T Checklist for Decorations

FORT LEWIS FIREPREVENTION OFFICE

966-7154

“HAPPY HOLIDAYS”

Stairways and stairwaylandings are free from storageof any type.

Volume 1, I ssue 4

us army: newsletter 15dec06

Documents