Family and Friends of Long Knife, We have entered the third month of the Brigade’s deployment in support of Operation New Dawn. Your Soldiers have settled into their new bases throughout Northern Iraq. As you may have noted, the 4th Brigade Combat Team has undergone a name change and is now called the 4 th Advise and Assist Brigade. This name change is another sign of the progress our Troops have made and continue to make in Iraq. Their current mission is focused on training and providing support to the Iraq Security Forces. We are proud to have our Soldiers serving in this new capacity as they write the next chapter in the Brigade’s history. A top priority of this Rear Detachment team is taking care of the families. Your Family Readiness Groups are a wonderful resource for obtaining information about events and news across Fort Hood and from within the Brigade. If you haven’t received information from your FRG yet, I en- courage you to contact your Rear Detachment and provide them with your contact information. The Brigade also utilizes a Facebook page (Long Knife BDE 1CD) where information is posted about events here at Fort Hood as well as updates and photos of our Soldiers in Iraq. Last month the Brigade hosted a Spouse Spur Ride which gave families the opportunity to engage in several events designed to give them familiarity with some basic Soldier skills. To ensure you are aware of great events like these, we need your help keeping our family contact information up to date. Pass the word to all your friends to get plugged in to all that Long Knife has going on. In this month’s Long Knife Ledger, the focus is on children. There are a multitude of resources designed by the Army and the Fort Hood Installation to better the lives of Army children and their parents. Our hope is that one or more of these services can assist your family as we continue through this deployment. I hope that you all have a wonderful Holiday Season! LTC Colin Wooten Family, friends and Soldiers of the Longknife Brigade I would like to congratulate and thank you for the success of the Brigade over the first three months of deployment. The first steps in any ma- jor task are the toughest and you have taken these steps with exceptional courage and competence. From the time our Soldiers boarded the buses in September until now the families have demon- strated great resolve in their ability to manage the household and family. The Longknife Rear Detachment Team and the Country owe you a debt of gratitude for your hard work and sacrifice. As we move forward please know that the Rear Detachment Cadre see you and your family as our primary objective and are constantly looking for ways to serve you better. With the deepest Respect, SGM Ted V. Carlin COMMANDER’S MESSAGE FROM THE SERGEANT MAJOR Longknife ledger DECEMBER 2010 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Leaving for a weekend or the Holidays? Please let your FRG or FRSA know your contact info! This publication is a product of the Long Knife Rear Detachment
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Transcript
Family and Friends of Long Knife,
We have entered the third month of the Brigade’s deployment in support of
Operation New Dawn. Your Soldiers have settled into their new bases throughout Northern Iraq.
As you may have noted, the 4th Brigade Combat Team has undergone a name change and is now
called the 4th Advise and Assist Brigade. This name change is another sign of the progress our
Troops have made and continue to make in Iraq. Their current mission is focused on training and
providing support to the Iraq Security Forces. We are proud to have our Soldiers serving in this
new capacity as they write the next chapter in the Brigade’s history.
A top priority of this Rear Detachment team is taking care of the families. Your Family Readiness
Groups are a wonderful resource for obtaining information about events and news across Fort
Hood and from within the Brigade. If you haven’t received information from your FRG yet, I en-
courage you to contact your Rear Detachment and provide them with your contact information.
The Brigade also utilizes a Facebook page (Long Knife BDE 1CD) where information is posted
about events here at Fort Hood as well as updates and photos of our Soldiers in Iraq. Last month
the Brigade hosted a Spouse Spur Ride which gave families the opportunity to engage in several
events designed to give them familiarity with some basic Soldier skills. To ensure you are aware
of great events like these, we need your help keeping our family contact information up to date.
Pass the word to all your friends to get plugged in to all that Long Knife has going on.
In this month’s Long Knife Ledger, the focus is on children. There are a multitude of resources
designed by the Army and the Fort Hood Installation to better the lives of Army children and their
parents. Our hope is that one or more of these services can assist your family as we continue
through this deployment.
I hope that you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!
LTC Colin Wooten
Family, friends and Soldiers of the Longknife Brigade I would like to congratulate and thank you
for the success of the Brigade over the first three months of deployment. The first steps in any ma-
jor task are the toughest and you have taken these steps with exceptional courage and competence.
From the time our Soldiers boarded the buses in September until now the families have demon-
strated great resolve in their ability to manage the household and family. The Longknife Rear
Detachment Team and the Country owe you a debt of gratitude for your hard work and sacrifice.
As we move forward please know that the Rear Detachment Cadre see you and your family as our
primary objective and are constantly looking for ways to serve you better.
With the deepest Respect,
SGM Ted V. Carlin
COMMANDER’S MESSAGE
FROM THE SERGEANT MAJOR
Longknife ledger D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1
Leaving for a
weekend or the
Holidays? Please
let your FRG or
FRSA know your
contact info!
This publication is a product of the Long Knife Rear Detachment
P A G E 2
CHAPLAIN’S CORNER “Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings!” Many of people are familiar with the account of Christ’s birth. “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-12 What is not apparent is that the simple greeting generated mixed feelings in the recipients. The shepherds possibly experienced a little bewilderment, the father and mother (Joseph and Mary) possibly joy in spite of giving birth in a barn. Far away three magi informed King Herod, who was filled with fear. During this holiday - it may be difficult for us to receive news intended to generate feelings of closeness, joy or celebration. As difficult as it is, consider something. Greeting each other is a common event for the most part. We often greet each other with regu-lar expressions: “Hi, Hello, Hey, - possibly “Good Day, Old Chap”, if you are from England (smile). Less formal expressions are “What’s up?” “How is it going?” “Holla (Mix of Slang)” However, it may be a little difficult to greet others when a family member is missing from our presence. We tend to dwell on what is absent as opposed to revisiting pleasant memories of previous holidays. Holiday greetings are often spoken with good intentions to strangers, family, or friends, in na-tions around the world, during the months of December and January. During this season, typically a greeting consists of the word "Happy" followed by the holiday, such as "Happy Eid", "Happy Ha-nukkah", or "Happy New Year". Some greetings are more prevalent than others, depending on the cultural and religious status of any given area. The speaker intends the greetings to extend a meas-ure of mutual acknowledgement and comfort, in spite of the surrounding circumstances. Some time ago, I recalled reading a story called “A Christmas Truce.” A young man recounted what seemed like a potentially dreary Christmas day. Christmas Day, 1914: My dear sister Janet, It is 2:00 in the morning and most of our men are asleep in their dugouts—yet I could not sleep myself before writing to you of the wonderful events of Christmas Eve. In truth, what happened seems almost like a fairy tale, and if I hadn’t been through it myself, I would scarce believe it. Just imagine: While you and the family sang carols before the fire there in London, I did the same with enemy soldiers here on the battlefields of France! Although it may be difficult to celebrate in the absence of our Family members, we none the less can still celebrate on the same day. As such, I would like to encourage each of us to continue our celebration in a different way. Let us use the holidays as an opportunity to grow and acknowl-edge how much we value and love each other. The sense of absence is an indication of the fond-ness, the closeness or intimacy in your relationship as well as the hope for our future reunion with our Soldiers and Family members. Take this time to develop some creativity. If the person was here what would I say to them. Take some time to write it down, record it via a camcorder or digital media. Find a way to have others gather around a webcam and greet each other prior to opening presents or moving into the New Year. The remembrance and re-enactment of past celebration continues to embrace our feelings and signifies the presence of today’s hope in our future. St Paul wrote, “Let us hold fast the confes-sion of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23 Try to remember, HOPE is nothing more than rock-solid assurance that what God has said is true and will come to pass. Hope is not dependent on circumstances. Seeing is not believing. Hoping is believing! Hope is the confidence that wells up as a result of our beliefs in something bigger than ourselves. There's a fine line between the two, and the transition is almost imperceptible. Continue to walk confidently in your relationship with each other. Continue to support each other with words of encouragement and tokens of love.
~Chaplain Oliver Washington
L O N G K N I F E L E D G E R
There is one important step you must take in order to use these benefits—enroll your children in CYSS.! Here’s
how~
1. Gather your documentation, you will need
A. Military/DoD Civilian Identification Card
B. AKO email address for Active Duty Member
C. Child’s Social Security Number
D. Shot Records
E. Copy of your latest LES
F. Health Assessment or Well Baby Check
G. 3 Local Emergency contacts (names and phone numbers)
All forms can be downloaded at: http://www.hoodmwr.com/cys_registration.htm
2. Call 254-287-8029 to make an appointment to see an enrollment counselor. Walk-ins are also welcome:
Monday—Thursday: 7:30am—3:00pm
Friday: 7:30am—12:00pm
CYSS Enrollment office is located in room 140 in the Rivers Building (Bldg 121) on 761st Tank Battalion .
Currently pregnant? Will you be in need of full or part time daycare once your child is born? Space fills up
quickly. You can submit your name to the waitlist by downloading the form from the website above.
ARMY FAMILY COVENANT ENTITLEMENTS
P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1
The Army Family Covenant is the Army’s promise to support Soldiers and their families and to resource programs to provide
them a quality of life commensurate with their service. Child, Youth and School Services (CYSS) stays true to this promise by
providing the following:
DEPLOYED:
FREE child care during Mandatory Deployment Meetings
FREE child care during FRG meetings, not to exceed 2 hours per meeting (only 1 meeting per month)
16 FREE child care hours per month, per child (begins 30 days before deployment and ends 90 days after return)
$2.00 hourly care rate beyond the free child care hours
20% rate reduction in fees for Full/Part Day Care (begins 30 days before deployment and ends 90 days after return)
Up to $300 in SKIES* Classes per child during deployment
Up to $100 in Team or Individual Sports per child during deployment
REAR DETACHMENT or Warrior Transition Unit CADRE
FREE child care during Mandatory Deployment Meetings
FREE child care during FRG Meetings, not to exceed 2 hours per meeting (only 1 meeting per month)
5 FREE child care hours per month per child (while Solider is assigned to Rear Detachment Cadre)
$2.00 hourly care rate beyond free child care hours
Up to $150 in SKIES* classes per child (while Soldier is assigned to Rear Detachment Cadre)
Up to $50 in Team or Individual Sports per child (while Soldier is assigned to Rear Detachment Cadre)
Other benefits are available for Temporary Change of Station, Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station or TDY;
Wounded Warriors/Warriors in Transition and Survivors of Fallen Warriors.
*SKIES stands for: Schools of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration & Skills.
P A G E 4
Military Child Education Coalition “Communities In Schools (CIS) is a local, private, non-profit organization dedicated to
impacting the lives of children in a positive way, helping them achieve the success they
often find unattainable. As the only non-profit permanently housed on school campuses,
the professional staff of CIS are caring adults who make problems manageable and solu-
tions possible.”
For more information on this organization, visit: www.militarychild.org
~Backpack Buddies~ CIS Identifies students most in need and distributes food to them
and their families using donated backpacks and cash contributions.
73% of CIS students are economically disadvantaged and eligible for free/reduced lunch
55% of CIS children of Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are eligible for free/reduced lunch