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CYSS TODAY Special pull-out highlights child, youth services INSIDE UPCOMING EVENTS TODAY, 7:30 A.M.-4 P.M.: “A Day of Financial Fitness” - Comm. Readiness Center FRIDAY, 5 & 7 P.M.: High School Boys & Girls Basketball Playoffs - Meade High School MARCH 3-7: Telework Awareness Week MARCH 6, 7 A.M.: Monthly Prayer Breakfast - Club Meade MARCH 19, 9 A.M.-2 P.M.: Technical Job Fair - Club Meade CIVIL RIGHTS Black History Month celebrates race relations progress PAGE 10 Sound off ! ´ VOL. 66 NO. 8 Published in the interest of the Fort Meade community February 27, 2014 PHOTO BY NOAH SCIALOM Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Doty, a master instructor at the Defense Information School, is awarded The Soldier’s Medal by his father, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Timothy Doty, in a ceremony Friday at DINFOS. The sergeant was recognized for his bravery and heroism in helping to save the crew of a downed helicopter in Northeasten Afghanistan in 2010. For the story, see Page 4. HONORING A HERO
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Page 1: Soundoff feb. 27, 2014

cYSS TODAYSpecial pull-out highlights child, youth services

INSIDE

UPcOMING EVENTSTODAY, 7:30 A.M.-4 P.M.: “A Day of Financial Fitness” - Comm. Readiness CenterFrIDAY, 5 & 7 P.M.: High School Boys & Girls Basketball Playoffs - Meade High SchoolMArch 3-7: Telework Awareness WeekMArch 6, 7 A.M.: Monthly Prayer Breakfast - Club MeadeMArch 19, 9 A.M.-2 P.M.: Technical Job Fair - Club Meade

cIVIl rIGhTSBlack History Month celebrates race relations progress

PagE 10

Soundoff!́vol. 66 no. 8 Published in the interest of the Fort Meade community February 27, 2014

photo by noah scialom

Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Doty, a master instructor at the Defense Information School, is awarded The Soldier’s Medal by his father, retired Air Force lt. Col. Timothy Doty, in a ceremony Friday at DInFoS. The sergeant was recognized for his bravery and heroism in helping to save the crew of a downed helicopter in northeasten Afghanistan in 2010. For the story, see Page 4.

hoNorINg a hEro

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http://www.ftmeade.army.mil� SOUNDOFF! February 27, 2014

Commander’s Column

Cont ent sNews............................. 3 Sports..................................16

Religion........................ 20 Movies.................................15

Community................. 14 Classified.............................21

Editorial StaffGarrison Commander Col. Brian P. foleyGarrison Command Sgt. Maj. thomas J. latterPublic affairs officerChad t. Jones [email protected], Command informationPhilip H. Jones [email protected] Editor & Senior Writer rona S. Hirsch Staff Writer lisa r. rhodesStaff Writer Brandon Bieltzdesign Coordinator timothy davis Supplemental photography provided by the Baltimore Sun Media Group

advErtiSinGGeneral inquiries 410-332-6300or email [email protected]

If you would like information about receiving Soundoff! on Fort Meade or are experiencing distribution issues, call 877-886-1206 or e-mail [email protected]. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Printed by offset method of reproduction as a civilian enterprise in the interest of the personnel at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, by The Baltimore Sun Media Group, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21278, every Thursday except the last Thursday of the year in conjunction with the Fort Meade Public Affairs Office. Requests for publication must reach the Public Affairs Office no later than Friday before the desired publication date. Mailing address: Post Public Affairs Office, Soundoff! IMME-MEA-PA, Bldg. 4409, Fort Meade, MD 20755-5025. Telephone: 301-677-5602; DSN: 622-5602.

Everything advertised in this publication must be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, marital status, handicap or sex of purchaser, user or patron. A confirmed violation or rejection of this policy of equal opportunity by an advertiser will result in the refusal to print advertising from that source.

Printed by The Baltimore Sun Co., LLC, a private firm, in no way connected with the Department of the Army. Opinions expressed by the publisher and writers herein are their own and are not to be considered an official expression by the Department of the Army. The appearance of advertisers in the publication does not constitute an endorsement by the Department of the Army of the products or services advertised.

www.ftmeade.army.milYou can also keep track of Fort Meade on Twitter at twitter.com/ftmeademd

and view the Fort Meade Live Blog at ftmeade.armylive.dodlive.mil.

Soundoff!́Guaranteed circulation:

11,285

This has been a harsh winter.There has been a lot of snow, subfreezing tem-

peratures and exceptionally high rates of colds, upper respiratory infections and influenza.

Unlike the common cold, the flu can cause severe illness and life-threatening complica-tions, especially in older people, young children, pregnant women, and people with certain health conditions.

The best ways to prevent seasonal cold and flu are:

• Getting an annual flu shot• Maximizing your resistance to the virus by

washing your hands at least 11 times daily• Eating high-potency foods with immunity

protective propertiesIn eating better to increase your immunity,

practice these six simple dietary habits:1. Eat seven to 10 servings of fruits and veg-

etables.The vibrant colors in fruits and vegetables

contain agents called phytochemicals that fight illness, decrease inflammation and slow down free radical production.

Free radicals are rogue, cell-attacking mol-ecules that cause oxidative damage by colliding into each cell of your body in excess of 10,000 times a day. This stress on cells can weaken your immune system and make you more vulnerable to seasonal viruses and even worse, debilitating chronic illnesses.

There are more than 6,000 phytochemicals identified in foods that break this cycle and help fight diseases like cancer and heart disease.

There are two main categories of phytochemi-cals: carotenoids and flavonoids.

Carotenoids are the chemicals responsible for the yellow, orange and red in plants. Some green vegetables like spinach and kale are also full of carotenoids.

Flavonoids are the blue, blue-red and violet pigments in fruits and vegetables. Other flavo-noids are found in cocoa.

2. Decrease sugar intake.Sugar has a damaging impact on our immune

functions.One study shows that the ingestions of just

100 grams or 3.5 ounces (7 tablespoons, the amount of sugar in a 28 oz. Big Gulp soda) of simple sugar in the form of glucose, fructose, sucrose or honey significantly reduced the ability of white blood cells (neutrophils) to attack and destroy bacteria.

This effect started within less than 30 minutes after ingestion and lasted more than five hours, with a 50 percent reduction in neutrophil pro-

duction.Other high-

fiber carbo-hydrates and starches did not have this effect.

3. Eat more garlic.

Garlic is an edible antibi-otic with strong ant ibac te r ia l properties that fights viruses.

Fresh garlic contains sulfur compounds rich in antioxidants that have heart-protective prop-erties and help build the body’s immune sys-tem.

Eating two to four cloves a day is recommend-ed. Cooking deactivates these antioxidants, so it is suggested to crush the garlic and let it stand for 10-15 minutes before cooking to preserve the therapeutic effects of garlic when cooked.

4. Drink more green and black tea.These both contain immunity-boosting anti-

oxidants.A study conducted at Harvard University

examined the immune function in coffee drink-ers compared to tea drinkers. When the blood of both groups were exposed to the E. coli bacteria, the tea drinkers’ immune cells responded five times faster than the coffee drinkers’.

It is best to drink one to four cups of tea a day.

5. Take a multivitamin with B complex vita-mins.

Stress weakens our immune system. B vita-mins are responsible for many immune processes that counteract this by strengthening our cellu-lar DNA, and producing white blood cells and antibodies.

The B vitamins complement each other and should be taken as indicated on most high-potency multivitamins.

6. Take a multivitamin with Vitamins A, C and E.

These vitamins work together to keep the immune cell count high and the immune system strong. The recommended daily dosage is 200 IU of Vitamin E; 5,000 to 10,000 IU of Vitamin A; and 250-1,000 mg. of Vitamin C.

By practicing these habits daily, you will strengthen your immune system, and avoid colds, upper respiratory infections and the flu.

Remember, these habits should be followed this winter and in every season.

Strengthen your immune system with good nutrition

COL. danny b.n. Jaghab MEddaC Commander

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http://www.ftmeade.army.mil February 27, 2014 SOUNDOFF! �

News

By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service

The Defense Department can no longer put off slowing the growth of military personnel costs, and the fiscal year 2015 budget request DoD is recommending to the president begins that process, defense leaders said Monday.

Saying they are ready to take on the hard task of curbing growth in compen-sation, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, previewed the fiscal 2015 budget request for reporters.

Hagel said all defense leaders agreed to a holistic and comprehensive approach to compensation changes.

“Continuous piecemeal changes will only magnify uncertainty and doubts among our service members about wheth-er promised benefits will be there in the future,” he said.

Dempsey also stressed this in his remarks.

“I know this weighs heavily on the minds of our men and women in uniform and on their families,” he said. “Our force is extraordinarily accepting of change. They are less understanding of piece-meal approaches. They want — and they deserve — predictability.”

Military and civilian compensation accounts for 50 percent of the DoD budget. This has put the department out of balance, the defense leaders said, and the department must invest to ensure ser-vice members are well equipped and well trained to handle future challenges.

All savings from compensation reforms will help keep service members prop-erly trained and equipped, they said. The budget request recommends a 1 percent increase in military pay, and it freezes pay for general and flag officers.

Hagel and Dempsey stressed that no one in uniform will see a pay cut. Rather, they explained, the push is to slow growth to put pay and benefits on a more sustain-able path.

“Total pay and benefits increased 40 percent faster than the private sector between 2001 and 2012, and while that was the right thing to do at the time, we can’t continue at that rate over the long term,” Hagel said.

In addition to pay, the budget request begins the process to slow the growth rate of tax-free basic housing allowances. This will continue for five years until the allow-ances cover about 95 percent of the aver-age service member’s housing expenses.

Again, no one will see a decrease in their basic house allowance, Hagel said.

DoD also would no longer reimburse service members for renter’s insurance.

This change will happen slowly so that no one’s housing allowances will actually go down, Hagel said, noting that the pro-cess also will consider differences in the relative cost of living, so service members in high-rent areas won’t be adversely affected.

Under the request, the department will not shut down any commissaries, but will cut subsidies for some of them, the secretary said.

“Over three years, we will reduce by $1

billion the annual direct subsidy provided to military commissaries, which now totals $1.4 billion,” he said. “We are not shutting down commissaries. All commissaries will still get free rent and pay no taxes.

“They will be able to continue to pro-vide a very good deal to service mem-bers and retirees — much like our Post Exchanges, which do not receive direct subsidies. Overseas commissaries and those in remote locations will continue receiving direct subsidies.”

DoD will simplify and modernize the TRICARE health insurance program by consolidating plans and adjusting deduct-ibles and co-pays in ways that encourage members to use the most affordable means of care. That includes military treatment facilities, preferred providers and generic prescriptions, the secretary said.

“We will ask retirees and some active-duty family members to pay a little more in their deductibles and co-pays, but their benefits will remain affordable, as they should be,” he said.

“To protect the most vulnerable, under this plan medically retired service mem-bers, their families, and the survivors of service members who die on active duty would not pay the annual participation fees charged to other retirees, and would pay a smaller share of the costs for health care than other retirees.”

Under the budget recommendation, the average military retiree would go from paying 8 percent of health care costs out of pocket to paying 11 percent.

Retirees old enough to use Medicare and who choose to have TRICARE as

well, eventually would be asked to pay a little bit more to enroll in TRICARE, Hagel said.

The approach encourages retirees to use free military facilities if they are close to home, which provide outstanding care and are often underused, the secretary said.

The compensation proposals do not recommend any changes to the military retirement benefits for those now in the services, Hagel said.

“We are awaiting the results of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission, which is expected to present its report in Febru-ary 2015, before pursuing reforms in this area,” he said. “But DoD continues to support the principle of ‘grandfathering’ for any future changes to military retire-ment plans.”

Hagel said the proposals were carefully crafted to reform military compensation in a fair, responsible and sustainable way.

“We recognize that no one serving our nation in uniform is overpaid for what they do for our country,” he said. “But if we continue on the current course without making these modest adjustments now, the choices will only grow more difficult and painful down the road.

“We will inevitably have to either cut into compensation even more deeply and abruptly, or we will have to deprive our men and women of the training and equipment they need to succeed in battle.

“Either way, we would be breaking faith with our people,” he said. “And the president and I will not allow that to happen.”

DoD 2015 budget aims to reform compensation

Fort Meade environmental team honoredBy Brandon BieltzStaff Writer

Fort Meade’s environmental team is doing its part to protect and preserve the environment.

For its work done in 2012 and 2013, the Installation Reservation and Military Munitions Response Program team was recently honored with the Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for Environ-mental Restorations.

The team competed against installations throughout the world and was recognized for outstanding performance and excel-lence in environmental stewardship and sustainability.

The Fort Meade team consists of Paul Fluck, program manager, and George Knight, project manager, as well as con-tractors Denise Tegtmeyer and Erin McKinley of Osage Inc.

“We know we have a dedicated and hardworking team,” Garrison Commander Col. Brian P. Foley said. “To have official recognition that our environmental resto-ration program is the best in the Army by a panel of experts is particularly gratifying.

“This recognition also goes to assure our community that when we talk about environmental stewardship, we’re not just

using buzz words. We believe in what we are doing and hope to leave a legacy of a healthy and sustainable environment for the decades that follow.”

Fort Meade’s Installation Restoration and Military Munitions Response Pro-gram team is tasked with protecting the post and surrounding communities from potential human health and environmental hazards caused by historical operational activities.

The team’s work includes projects such as removing contaminated soil at a former pesticide shop adjacent to the Directorate of Emergency Services and excavating methane-generating buried trash at the Manor View dump site.

“While the issues we are remediating stem from historic operations, the correc-

tion of those problems will benefit genera-tions to come, and we’re all proud of that,” Fluck said.

Over the last two years, the team inves-tigated more than 130 acres of land that was previously suspected of being con-taminated, and determined it was avail-able for reuse. The team also was credited for saving the Army millions of dollars using innovative scientific and manage-ment techniques.

“We’re all most proud of our efforts in reducing risk from exposure to harmful chemicals in soil or groundwater and still save the Army approximately $17.5 mil-lion,” Fluck said. “I think it’s a true dem-onstration of Fort Meade’s commitment to the environment and the people who live, work and recreate here.”

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http://www.ftmeade.army.mil� SOUNDOFF! February 27, 2014

By Lisa R. RhodesStaff Writer

On May 3, 2010 Air Force Staff Sgt. Ste-ven Doty was the first to rush to the scene of a crashed helicopter in Northeastern Afghanistan and helped to rescue its three crewmen.

For his bravery and heroism, Doty was awarded The Soldier’s Medal in a ceremony Friday at the Defense Information School.

The Soldier’s Medal is an individual decoration of the Army awarded to any member of the U.S. Armed Forces or of a friendly foreign nation who, while serving in any capacity with the U.S. Army, distin-guishes himself or herself by a heroic act not involving conflict with an enemy.

Doty is a master instructor in the Visual Communications Department at DINFOS and teaches the basic still photography course. At the time of the incident, he was a combat photographer.

In his remarks, DINFOS Commandant Col. Jeremy Martin called the ceremony a “most auspicious occasion.”

“It’s not every day that an Airman receives a Soldier’s Medal on an Army base by a Navy captain,” Martin said. “So this is a really big deal.”

Doty was nominated for the award by Navy Capt. Raymond J. Benedict, who saw the crash. At the time, Benedict was commanding officer of the provincial recon-struction team at the Forward Operating Base, Kala Gush, in the Nuristan province in Afghanistan.

Benedict, who is now the commanding officer for the Center for Security Forces in Little Creek, Va., was the ceremony’s guest speaker.

“We’re here to witness a long overdue award to Sergeant Doty,” he said.

It took almost four years. The office of Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski began work-ing late last summer to help expedite the award.

During the ceremony, Benedict recalled the crash of the helicopter, which landed on its side. It was later determined that the aircraft crashed due to mechanical failure.

The rotorhead, with broken rotor blades that had scattered, was still turning and caused the aircraft to shake. The running engines caused fuel to pool on the ground.

To make matters worse, the helicopter was carrying ammunition and high-explo-sive mortars rounds, which were strewn on the ground.

There was no firefighting team at the FOB.

“But that didn’t stop the rescue party,”

The Soldier’s Medal awarded to Airman for heroism

photo by noah scialom

Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Doty, a master instructor at the Defense Information School, laughs before being awarded The Soldier’s Medal on Friday at the school. Among the speakers was DINFOS Commandant Col. Jeremy Martin (left).

Benedict said.Within 35 seconds of the crash, Doty ran

to the scene.“Doty led the rescue effort. He was the

first person to the helo,” Benedict said. “He kicked in the window and climbed into the cockpit.”

According to the award citation, Doty helped pull the first two crewmen out of the wreckage and then tried to shut the helicop-ter down while other service members pulled out the last crewman.

Doty reached several controls but couldn’t turn off the engines or the rotorhead. He then climbed completely inside the wreck-age to reach the throttles and fuel controls located on the helicopter’s ceiling.

Soon after, 1st. Lt. Joseph Wingard, who had followed Doty to the scene, told him that all the crew had been rescued and that it wasn’t safe to try to shut down the aircraft.

Doty exited the helicopter, then grabbed

his camera to document the crash. Benedict said it took the team of service

members less than three minutes to rescue the crewmen.

“Without any training, guidance or direc-tion, they responded magnificently that day,” he said.

They responded with “complete disre-gard for their own safety and performed at great personal risk. ... They did not hesitate a second to risk their own lives to rescue those three crew members,” Benedict said.

A short video clip of the crash was played at the ceremony.

Afterward, Doty’s father, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Timothy Doty, pinned The Soldier’s Medal on his son’s uniform.

“This is almost embarrassing to stand here as the sole individual for an action that was completed by a team,” the sergeant said in his remarks. “It’s an upbringing that I’ve had since I was a kid — to serve others

before I serve myself.“It’s a trait that the Air Force instilled in

me. Really, what happened was instinctive.”Doty’s wife, Thalia, was an Air Force

staff sergeant on the same deployment. She witnessed the crash and her husband’s rescue efforts.

“I’m very proud of him,” she said after the ceremony. “It’s a great accomplish-ment.”

The couple and their young daughter are relocating in March to Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas. He will serve as the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs Office.

“The military is in our blood,” said Doty, whose two brothers also have served in the armed forces. “From Day 1, [we learned] it was not about us, it was about everybody else. We love our service and we love our country.”

Cover Story

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News

By Philip H. JonesChief, Command Information

The regional director of Installation Management Command for the U.S. Army’s Central Region made a one-day trip to Fort Meade on Friday.

The visit provided Thomas J. Schoen-beck an opportunity to talk with garrison leaders, get a firsthand look at ongoing construction projects and discuss ways that IMCOM can support the garrison’s infrastructure challenges.

As director for the IMCOM’s Cen-tral Region, Schoenbeck is responsible for management and execution of all installa-tion management programs of active and Reserve components at 26 installations.

Increased traffic and the challenges associated with more commuters on the installation have been an ongoing issue at Fort Meade, due in part to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act.

Since 2005, the workforce at Fort Meade has increased from about 34,000 employees to approximately 50,000 employees.

The influx of commuters has been man-aged in a variety of ways including the use of car and van pools, bus shuttles and other transportation options. However, traffic congestion and clogged local roads continue to be a challenge.

“I’m concerned about the traffic and roadways here,” Schoenbeck said. “We have to figure out a way to develop a funding

line to help improve the road arteries on the base. From an IMCOM perspective, we have to make sure that we have the garrison set to support the increased populations.”

With regard to construction, Schoen-beck said he is impressed with the way Fort Meade continues to grow.

“I’ve seen improvements across the board,” he said. “Not that Fort Meade was in a bad place, but I’m just seeing constant improvements like construction. Last time I was here, we saw the concept of the single Soldier apartment complex. Now, as we drove by, it’s come a long way. So we’re seeing things come to completion here, which is neat to see.”

In addition to discussions about Fort Meade’s infrastructure, Schoenbeck said trips to garrison installations provide him with an opportunity to see what’s going on at an installation such as Fort Meade and get a chance to talk to garrison personnel.

“It’s a joy to get here and talk to some of the workers and the directors and hear their concerns, and [for me to] be able to address those [concerns] with them,” he said. “Every time I come to a place like this I get takeaways.

“We have some work to do on some projects and some funding lines to see through. For me, it’s all about getting eyes on the ground.”

Stops at the Freedom Inn Dining Facil-ity, Club Meade and the Youth Center pro-

IMCOM central region director visits Meade

Photo by SPC. JoShua Kruger, 55th Signal ComPany (Combat Camera)

Thomas J. Schoenbeck, regional director of Installation Management Command for the U.S. Army’s Central Region, talks with Keshia Gray, assistant director of the Fort Meade Youth Center, and Emmy Niemczyk, the center’s facility director, as Lida-M H Payne, chief of Child, Youth and School Services, and Francisco Jamison, CYSS administrator, look on. Schoenbeck toured Fort Meade on Friday morning, and spoke with garrison personnel about ways that IMCOM can support Fort Meade.

vided Schoenbeck with an opportunity to thank garrison personnel for the work they do. He emphasized that he is impressed with the garrison personnel’s professional-ism and hard work.

“Thank you for what you’re doing.” Schoenbeck said. “From place to place I go and staffs I see like this, [reminds me of what] Lieutenant General Michael Ferriter [commander, U.S. Army IMCOM, and assistant chief of staff for IMCOM] says: ‘You’ve got people fighting above their weight class. They’re doing more and more than one would expect them to do.’

“I see people with great attitudes, people making a heck of a difference. Thank you.”

Schoenbeck also had a message for the many partner commands at Fort Meade.

“We want to hear from partner com-mands on where we are hitting the mark, where we are falling short in their eyes so we can make those adjustments,” he said.

“IMCOM exists for one reason and the garrisons exist for one reason — that is to support Soldiers and their families, the civilians who work here and the contrac-tors.”

By A.J. ColkittLegal Assistance Intern

“Congratulations! You’ve won a $1,000 gift card! Click on this link to claim your prize!”

Have you gotten a text like this? Mil-lions of Americans have.

In fact, there are multiple offers involv-ing gift cards from big-name companies like Best Buy, Target and Walmart. Time for a little shopping spree, right? As nice as that would be, the sad truth is, all texts like this are scams.

Let’s take a look at this scam beyond face value. After you get the text, you are prompted to click on the link provided in the message.

Sometimes the webpage prompts you

to enter a code that is included in the original message to gain access to the website. Once you have logged on to the website, it asks for some basic informa-tion for the prize to be claimed.

This sounds pretty harmless. But these scams are only in the business to get any information you are willing to offer and sell that information to com-panies out to scam people out of house and home.

By falling for this one scam, you begin to slide down the slippery slope to even worse cons.

On top of selling information, some-times these scams offering free gift cards require you to accept other offers in order to claim your prize. These include

the requirement to pay for a subscrip-tion to a magazine or service, or to apply for credit.

Of course, these are also scams.So in light of all of this, the question

arises: “How can I recognize scams like this?”

You need to ask yourself these two questions:

1. “Did I sign up for this?”Most likely, you haven’t asked for any

gift card, and this just came out of the blue. That is a major red flag.

2. “What’s the catch?”Unfortunately, nothing is free. There

is always a catch. If they aren’t telling you what it is, run. Fast.

The last question is, what do you do

with these texts? • Report these texts.Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM)

for free to AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint (depending on who your car-rier is.)

• Delete the text.Do not respond. Do not click the link.

Just hit the delete button.For more information about these

texting tricks, go to the Federal Trade Commission website at ftc.gov.

If you are a victim of a scam, you can report your encounter at the same web-site or call the Fort Meade Legal Assis-tance Office to schedule an appointment with an attorney at 301-677-9504 or 301-677-9536.

Tricky texts may be a link to a scam

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News

By Lisa R. RhodesStaff Writer

During her years in high school and at the University of Maryland, Col-lege Park, Lida-M H Payne worked and interned at Fort Meade.

Today, Payne is chief of Child, Youth and School Services.

After a nearly lifelong career that started in 1975 and was dedicated to Fort Meade youth and their families, Payne retires Friday.

“Rewarding is when a patron tells you how much they appreciate your staff and how much their children have learned and grown,” Payne said. “Rewarding is plan-ning an activity, like the Family Fun Fair, and to watch and improve it every year.

“Rewarding is seeing a staff member truly enjoy what they are doing in their jobs. ... Who could complain about hav-ing all of those positives in your life?”

Sarah Bonise, CYSS child administra-tor, will be the acting CYSS chief until a replacement is hired.

“Lida’s strengths are many — strong organizational skills, a wonderful men-tor and coach to staff,” said Martha McClary, director of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, who has worked with Payne since 1985. “[She] possesses sound judgment, unquestionable loyalty and dedication to the organization, and [is] an expert in her field, and her creativ-ity, to name a few.”

Payne’s most recent accomplishments include coordinating the requirements for the approval of two new Child Develop-ment Center modulars to be constructed this year.

Last year, she was selected with more than 20 other CYSS leaders to participate in the Department of the Army Inspec-tor General background checks team to review the practices and processes for background checks at CYSS facilities.

“I learned so much and I feel that I contributed positively to this exercise,” she said.

Payne was born into a military family. Her father Col. Carl George Witte served in the Army for 30 years before retiring from Fort Meade in 1963. The family lived on post and in Odenton.

Payne attended Pershing Hill Elemen-tary and MacArthur Middle schools, and graduated from Anne Arundel High School in Gambrills.

As a high school junior, Payne worked as a lifeguard and water safety instructor at what was then the Fort Meade Officers Pool.

In the spring of her senior year in col-lege, Payne interned in what was then the installation’s Dependent Youth Activities division.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in health and recreation, with a minor in business administration, Payne was hired as the teen director at Fort Meade in 1975. She earned $2.47 an hour.

“I was pretty happy with that!” Payne said. “Even though I made more money working as a substitute teacher [for the Anne Arundel County Public Schools], I knew this is what I wanted to do — work for a military community and families.”

Payne went on to serve as the Youth Center director, sports director, School Age Services director and youth admin-istrator. During this time she was the project officer for several construction initiatives, including the Youth Center, the Youth Sports Complex and the reno-vation of the School Age Services build-ing.

McClary said these projects are among Payne’s most important achievements.

Payne received professional training through classes at the Morale and Wel-fare Academy, which was formerly locat-ed in Virginia.

“I grew up with the changes and grow-ing pains of CYSS,” Payne said. “It was an exciting time for CYSS, and I was fortunate to be a part of this era.”

In 1998, she was awarded the Order of the White Plume Award, the highest civil-ian award in the Army FMWR.

DeAnna Knox, CYSS Outreach Ser-vices director, has known Payne for 14 years. She began her career as a CYSS administrative assistant when Payne was the Youth Center director.

“Ms. Payne’s hands-on approach is very appreciated,” Knox said. “I owe her a debt of gratitude. ... I cannot imagine not having her as my mentor and being at this point in my career. Her knowl-edge and wisdom are something that will always stay with me.”

Payne said she has many fond memo-ries of her years at Fort Meade, but the celebration of the nation’s bicentennial held at Burba Lake stands out.

CYSS chief retires after 39 years on Fort Meade

“Imagine a Fourth of July with the Statue of Liberty and a stage with chil-dren singing and signing Neil Diamond’s ‘Coming to America,’ ” Payne said.

The event included a large red, white and blue train built by the Directorate of Public Works, and a 100-foot ice cream sundae eaten by the community.

The event drew more than 25,000 people.

“We received many accolades and com-pliments,” Payne said. “This event took months of planning and coordination, but the bright faces and pure enjoyment of our families was so well worth it.”

Payne said the most challenging times in her career have been adapting to the changes in CYSS.

“We have changed so much from when I first started,” Payne said. “We have so many more regulations, reports, stan-dards, inspections and different processes to follow. We have been in a world of change. Fortunately, I have embraced change.”

Payne said that sometimes, the changes in the field have been accepted by staff members, and sometimes not.

“The challenge is keeping morale up and moving on,” Payne said. “Normally, change is good for the organization and patrons. Sometimes we meet resistance. ... It’s not always easy, but I have always had a great staff.”

Bonise, who met Payne five years ago when she was hired as Fort Meade’s school liaison officer, said Payne is a true advocate for children and youth, and praised her kindness and compassion.

“If I can adopt that strength of dedi-cating time and focus to each person and issues through each day, then I feel confident that I will be able to maintain at least a level of consistency and help our staff feel secure,” Bonise said.

Payne and her husband Roy, a retired high school teacher and department head for guidance counseling at AACPS, have two adult children, twin grandsons and another grandchild on the way.

In retirement, Payne will enjoy her new home on the Eastern Shore. The couple plan to decorate the house and travel.

“Life has always been good to me,” Payne said. “I am looking forward to writing the next chapter of my life.”

photo by philip h. jones

Lida-M H Payne, chief of Fort Meade’s Child, Youth and School Services, retires Friday after 39 years of service to the garrison. Payne, who was born into a military family and attended Fort Meade schools, worked and interned on post in high school and college. In 1975, she was hired to work as teen director.

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News

By Lisa R. RhodesStaff Writer

The country’s advancements in race relations since the civil rights move-ment mark only the beginning in the ongoing struggle for equality for black Americans.

This is the message Clairborne Dou-glass Haughton Jr. shared during his guest speech for Fort Meade’s annual Black History Month observance on Feb. 20.

“Tremendous progress has been made since the civil rights movement, thanks to the countless dedicated men and women of all races who made it possible,” Haughton said. “But despite this progress, we cannot rest on our successes. We cannot rest.”

The 2014 theme for the annual obser-vance is “Civil Rights in America.” This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The 90-minute event, hosted by Army Cyber Command and Fort Meade’s Equal Opportunity Office, was held at McGill Training Center.

Haughton is a retired acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for equal opportunity in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. He served 35 years with DoD and was a charter member of the DoD Senior Executive Service at the Pentagon for 23 years.

Acting Garrison Chaplain (Lt. Col.) David Cooper delivered the invocation.

The Army Field Band Jazztet, an ensemble of the U.S. Army Field Band led by Master Sgt. Marva Lewis, lead vocalist for the Field Band’s Jazz Ambassadors, performed the National Anthem and music by Stevie Wonder.

In addition to Haughton’s presenta-tion, the observance included a video featuring prominent civil rights activists and drawings of the civil rights move-ment by fifth-grade students at Persh-ing Hill Elementary School.

The event also featured a display of the text of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and several books about the civil rights movement.

“It is very important for all of us, specifically for our young people, to know who we are, whose we are and where we came from to progress in this society,” said Haughton as he began his speech. “As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free.

“But if you know your history, it

Black History Month celebrates Civil Rights Act of 1964

instills a firm sense of self-esteem. That is one of the most important, power-ful weapons that you can have against oppression and discrimination.”

Haughton said the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, is a piece of legisla-tion that “still reverberates in American history today.”

The legislation prohibits discrimina-tion on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Haughton said that when the act was signed, it was a time when “Americans found a clear choice between supporting civil rights or opposing civil rights.”

The legislation was the fruition of years of nonviolent protest led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., then president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Haughton noted that by 1964, King has already delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech and was named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year.” In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel

Peace Prize.Despite the public acclaim, King and

his supporters knew that “what they were doing would lead to violence,” Haughton said.

King’s home had been bombed and he had been imprisoned more than 30 times by the time the Civil Rights Act was signed.

Haughton said the civil rights pro-testers faced “the hate and scorn of those who opposed them.” This includ-ed African-American veterans “who were beaten and even lynched in the uniform of their country.”

Yet, Haughton said, King had “faith in America” — a faith that the injus-tices against African-Americans would end.

“Change really has come to Ameri-ca,” he said.

Statistics on the black community show that progress has been made, he said.

For example, 50 years ago, blacks were denied the right to vote. In the

presidential election of 2012, a higher percentage of blacks voted than whites, Haughton said.

In 1964, there were only 1,400 black elected office holders. Today, there are more than 10,000 elected black officials. Most are mayors of cities.

The election of President Barack Obama “is a clear signal that progress has been made.”

Haughton noted that the first family resides in a White House that was built, in part, by slaves.

But the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the White House is not the end of the journey, he said.

“We can’t look at this election as a panacea, nor as a fulfillment of Dr. King’s dream,” Haughton said. “We just have to look at is as a down pay-ment on the dream.”

Haughton said that current efforts to curtail voting rights, the unaccept-able number of black men in prison, and the low number of blacks in the military’s officer ranks are proof that more work has to be done to ensure equity and equal opportunity for black Americans.

“Sung and unsung giants upon whose shoulders we stand, they have left us a legacy of hope,” Haughton said. “They never ceased to believe that we would be all right as a nation, that we would be all right as a people if we would contin-ue to fight the good fight — continue the course, and keep the faith.”

After his speech, Haughton was pre-sented with a plaque of appreciation by Garrison Commander Col. Brian P. Foley. Col. Mark Schonberg, deputy chief of staff for Army Cyber Com-mand, presented Haughton with a coin of excellence.

After the presentations, the audience dined on a buffet of fried chicken, col-lard greens, macaroni and cheese, corn-bread, sweet tea and cobbler provided by Black Tie Caterers of Baltimore.

“I thought he was right on target,” said Gloria Criss, a Severn resident, of Haugton’s speech. “For those of us who lived through the struggle, he was clear and concise — a very good presentation.”

Spc. Jessica Myers, 24, of the 781st Military Intelligence Battalion, said she was inspired by the speech.

“To hear an older African-American share the history, you can get more than you would be able to if it was in a book,” she said.

photo by nate pesce

Clairborne Douglass Haughton Jr., the guest speaker for Fort Meade’s annual Black History Month observance on Feb. 20 at McGill Training Center, shakes a Soldier’s hand. The 90-minute event, hosted by Army Cyber Command and the Fort Meade Equal Opportunity Office, also featured books about the civil rights movement and a catered buffet of Southern cooking.

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News

By Brandon BieltzStaff Writer

On July 26, 1969, a phosphorus grenade exploded inches from Dave Roever’s face, causing the Sailor to lose 90 percent of the skin on his body.

But with the help of friendship, family and faith, the Vietnam veteran was able to overcome his injuries and become a motivational speaker and resiliency coach.

Roever’s resiliency journey was the focal point of the installation’s annual National Prayer Luncheon on Feb. 19 at Club Meade. Roever served as the guest speaker of the 90-minute event, which featured lunch, live music and Scripture reading.

“There’s not a tragedy in our lives that can’t be turned into a triumph,” Roever said. “It starts in the hearts and minds of people who have had a diffi-cult time in life, and who doesn’t?

“Life’s not fair. If you think it’s going to be fair, you’re about to find out you made an ‘F’ on that test. The question in life isn’t, ‘Am I going to get hurt?’ The question in life is, ‘When I get hurt, how am I going to deal with it?’ ”

The event began with a musical pre-lude performed by the U.S. Army Field Band and a reading of Joshua 1:5.

In the introduction of the guest speaker, Chaplain (Maj.) George Okoth referred to Roever as “an American hero.”

Roever served as a river boat gun-ner in the elite Brown Water Black Beret, which was assigned to the SEAL Team 1. The Vietnam veteran’s total military service lasted two years and six months, including “a year and six months getting over the first year and four months,” he said.

While on a mission, a phosphorus grenade went off near Roever’s face, throwing him into the water and requir-ing him to swim to the river bank.

The explosion left Roever with severe burns and the loss of a majority of the skin on his body. Phosphorus deep inside his body continued to start fires even after he arrived at the hospital.

Roever was transported to a hospital in Japan, where he was given a mirror to see the damage done. He called it his worst day.

“I could see inside me — pieces of me moving with the beat of my heart,” he said.

Vietnam War veteran speaks at prayer luncheon

The thought of his wife seeing him with the extensive injuries drove Roever to attempt suicide by unplugging cords attached to him. His attempt failed when he only pulled out the feeding tube.

That day, he said, served as a starting point for the rest of this life.

“Suffering is not evil, difficulty is not evil,” he said. “It can be the thing that motivates you, it can be the thing that shapes you and brings you back to square 1 and centers you in reality.

“That day when I pulled that tube was the beginning of the realization that there is something worth living for. If there’s nothing worth dying for, there’s nothing worth living for.”

Through what he referred to as the

“cauldron of suffering,” Roever said he saw the significance of friendship, family and faith.

“There’s something about all this story,” he said. “It’s called resiliency. How do you fight back? ...There’s something about resiliency that needs to be born deep in your soul — some-thing that says that there’s something in life worth dying for, bigger and greater than ourselves.”

After the event, several audience members said they enjoyed his speech, which often employed humor.

“He was great,” said Sgt. William McIver of the 781st Military Intel-ligence Battalion. “The storyline was very captivating. His storytelling was really good.”

‘There’s something about resiliency that needs to be born deep in your soul.’

Dave Roever Vietnam veteran

photos by nate pesce

Air Force Staff Sgt. Tim Navarro of the 94th Intelligence Squadron greets Vietnam veteran Dave Roever during the installation’s annual National Prayer Luncheon on Feb. 19 at Club Meade. The 90-minute event featured lunch, music and Scripture reading. Roever, who was severely burned during the war, discussed his resiliency journey of recovery.

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News

By Rona S. HirschAssistant Editor

Garrison Chaplain (Col.) Carl R. Rau is adept at zeroing in on what is needed and obtaining the necessary resources.

In the desolate regions of Afghanistan in 2002, Rau pieced together a string of min-istries, placing priests, ministers and rabbis as part of a joint coalition with chaplains from other countries and other branches of service.

Since arriving on Fort Meade 10 years later, Rau has worked with 14 staffers to provide support to the nine worship ser-vices on post and the chaplain staffs of the partner commands.

“I’m the one that goes to the command and says, ‘This is what’s needed,’ while working with constraints,” he said.

Now, after nearly three decades of ser-vice, including a stint as a Marine, Rau is retiring March 6. A retirement ceremony and reception will be held today at the Main Post Chapel.

Chaplain (Lt. Col.) David Cooper is serving as acting garrison chaplain.

“Chaplain Rau has been such a team builder among the chaplains at Fort Meade, and has been intimately involved in all the congregations,” Cooper said. “He took the time with everyone on the staff to train and to teach, and then allowed us to do our jobs. He is definitely a mentor and an enabler. It is not possible for me to fill his shoes.”

Though he planned to retire on Jan. 1, 2015, Rau decided to retire earlier after his wife, Kathy, was diagnosed last November with terminal cancer.

“I cried a week for Kathy,” Rau said. “I have gone through so many different emotions. My head clouds over. But I’m coming to grips.”

After his retirement ceremony, Rau will join his wife at their new home in Texas.

Their daughter Janell, a registered nurse and mother of three young sons, resides nearby. Their son Andrew is a Verizon manager in Atlanta.

To care for his wife, an artist whom he married in 1978, Rau plans to take courses in cooking and baking, as well as learn massage therapy.

“Just being with Kathy, that’s my retire-ment,” Rau said. “I will spend every day with her. I am very blessed that I have the means and the time.”

Rau is also grappling with another medi-

cal crisis. His older brother and only sibling Paul, a retired comptroller, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease just one month after Kathy’s diagnosis.

“I can’t stop Kathy from dying or Paul from not recognizing me in two years,” he said. “But there are things I can do. I embrace the five legs of resiliency [health, family, social, emotional and spiritual]. I am there, healthy enough, to give her hope.”

Raised Lutheran, Rau attributes his faith to the influence of both his beloved grandmother “Maggie,” whom he walked to church with every Sunday as a child in his native Michigan, and to his father, a former World War II prisoner of war and survivor of the Bataan Death March.

His late father Sgt. Raymond Rau, who enlisted at age 27, was in the Army just six months when the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines was captured by the Japanese. He endured 42 months as a POW.

“His faith kept him going,” Rau said of his father. “He said the captors can take everything from us but our spirit.”

During captivity, Rau’s father volun-teered for burial detail.

“He said it ‘kept my sanity’ and that he did not want to deprive his comrades of a decent burial,” Rau said.

Though the elder Rau weighed 163 pounds when he entered the military, his weight dropped to 97 pounds by the time the Russians liberated the prison camp.

After the war, Rau’s father did not talk about his captivity unless asked specific questions.

“He wanted to protect us,” Rau said. “My brother and I had to do research first and then he would talk.”

Rau was born in Frankenmuth, Mich., where his father was an electrician and his mother Anita was a homemaker.

One month after graduating high school in 1971, Rau joined the Marine Corps. After training on Parris Island, S.C., Rau was assigned to security operations at the National Security Agency. On July 11, 1974, he was discharged by President Richard Nixon.

With plans of becoming a foreign mis-sionary, Rau earned a bachelor’s degree in religion and psychology from Michigan State University and a Master of Divinity degree in theology and counseling from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind.

“I wanted to build churches, schools, hospitals,” he said.

Rau ministered two congregations in Lexington and Winchester, Ky., before entering the Army chaplaincy in 1988.

Throughout his career, Rau has served in military operations and exercises in 19 countries. That includes Honduras in 1989 and 1990; Haiti in 1994 for six months; and Afghanistan in 2002 for one year with the 18th Airborne Corps in Bagram.

From December 1992 to January 1996, Rau served as a Ranger chaplain with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry.

In Afghanistan, Rau’s role as part of higher headquarters was to help chaplains establish ministries.

“Operationally, we were trying to put together the religious support plan,” he said. “My job was to put a plan together and find out who is out there — an Aus-tralian minister or a Polish priest. We’re all one big unified command. But I didn’t know what was there, and they didn’t know I was there.”

The joint area of operations included all countries in that region that were friendly

‘A very special person’Garrison chaplain retires after decades of service

‘I was blessed with chaplains who put their arm around me, and I wouldn’t be here if not for them. So my door is always open.’

Col. Carl. R. Rau Garrison Chaplain

nations.“We had to figure out what assets we

have and what we need,” Rau recalled. “I had to know what was out there — who was coming and who was leaving.”

When the head chaplain in Kandahar was leaving unexpectedly, Rau met with chaplain assistants to ask who could fill in as the leader to guide and mentor.

“We had sheep without a shepherd,” Rau said. “We found the one with the gift for leadership, even though he was junior to some of the others.”

Religious services also were arranged. “I went to see what they had and what they needed,” Rau said. “I’m the one to get them resources.”

Rau applied those skills at Fort Meade after arriving in 2012 as garrison chap-lain.

“It’s such a beautiful area,” he said. “The people are wonderful. The people I work with and for are wonderful.”

His supervisory role included develop-

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ing, mentoring and coaching“I came in [the Army] as a lieutenant,”

he said. “I was blessed with chaplains who put their arm around me, and I wouldn’t be here if not for them. So my door is always open. I have been assigned to a garrison chaplain where the door was never open, or the door was open but you better have made an appointment. So I said, ‘I’m here for all these people.’ ”

As garrison chaplain, Rau supported the 73 chaplains, chaplain assistants and DoD civilian religious support staff working on Fort Meade, including the NSA. He also negotiated for resources for the three post chapels: Argonne Hills Chapel Center, Cal-vary Chapel and the Main Post Chapel.

“He is a pleasure to work with — a leader, a mentor and most of all, a friend,” said Diana L. Durner, garrison chaplain secretary. “Everybody respects him, and he is involved in all the congregations. He is very kind-hearted and caring. And most important, he is a pastor. That is his first

priority, that is his mission.“He really cares for the Soldiers and

their families. He is a joy, a very special person. His high energy is his trademark. His faith and integrity inspire all who know him. He has blessed the Fort Meade community with his loving example as a chaplain, husband and father.”

Before Christmas, the staff obtained new pew cushions for all three chapels; financed the Passover model seder; and provided $50,000 in funds for NSA retreats.

“The last thing I want to do is hold them back,” Rau said of the chapel staff. “I don’t want to restrain them. ... They want to do their best — but only if you let them.”

As Rau prepares for retirement, he is periodically reminded of the impact he has made on the community.

“I run into someone who says, ‘You married us’ or ‘You counseled us.’ It’s so doggone rewarding,” Rau said. “I think I’d do it all over again. It’s worth it just for that.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF GARRISON CHAPLAIN CARL R. RAU

Garrison Chaplain Carl R. Rau, dressed in cowboy hat and boots, relaxes on a ranch north of Dallas in August 2013. Rau is retiring March 6 with his wife, Kathy, to their new home in Texas.

LEFT: Garrison Chaplain Carl R. Rau speaks at last year’s annual prayer luncheon on Fort Meade. Throughout his 30-year career, Rau has served in military operations and exercises in 19 countries. A retirement ceremony and reception will be held today at the Main Post Chapel.

Chaplain’s WordCONTAGIOUS ATTITUDES

“A positive attitude will have positive resultsbecause attitudes are contagious.”

— Zig ZiglarMotivational Speaker

FILE PHOTO

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Community news & notes

The deadline for Soundoff! community “News and Notes” is Friday at noon. All submissions are posted at the editor’s discretion and may be edited for space and grammar. Look for additional community events on the Fort Meade website at www.ftmeade.army.mil and the Fort Meade Facebook page at facebook.com/ftmeade.

For more information or to submit an announcement, email Philip Jones at [email protected] or call 301-677-5602.

LTS change of hoursDue to limited staffing, the Leisure

Travel Services office must temporarily adjust its operating hours.

Hours will be Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The office will be closed Saturdays and Sundays.

The community will be notified when normal operating hours resume.

For more information, call 301-677-7354.

Spring Quarter AuctionThe Enlisted Spouses Club is hosting

its Spring Quarter Auction on Monday at Jessup Community Hall, 2920 Jessup Road, Jessup.

Doors open at 5 p.m. Play begins at 6 p.m.

Admission is $6 and includes two paddles, or $20 for a group of four and includes eight paddles. Cost for additional paddles is $2.

Register at ftmeadeesc.org.For more information, email

[email protected].

Jummah prayers Individuals interested in participating

in Jummah prayers on Fort Meade should call 301-677-1301.

Fort Meade has a room available at Argonne Hills Chapel Center, 7100 Rockenbach Road.

The community also is seeking individuals to join in a morning prayer on Fridays.

HRC evaluation trainingThe U.S. Army Human Resources

Command (Fort Knox, Ky.), Officer Evaluation Report (Revised) Mobile

Training Team will provide an executive briefing for all field grade and company grade officers, and civilians who rate officers.

The briefing will be held Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Post Theater.

OER Processing Hands-on Computer Base Training for HR professionals will be conducted March 6-7.

For more information, call Richard Lee at 301-677-4209 or email [email protected] or call Jannette Bolling at 301-677-2903 or email [email protected].

Lunch and Learn SeriesKimbrough Ambulatory Care

Center hosts a monthly brown bag Lunch and Learn Series on the second Tuesday of the month on the first floor of the Rascon Building, adjacent to Kimbrough.

The next lunch will be March 11 at noon. The topic is “Healthy Fast Foods.”

The sessions, which are open to the public, are an opportunity to review a presentation and discuss new health topics.

For more information, call Capt. Alyson Rhodes at 301-677-8949.

ESC scholarshipsThe Fort Meade Enlisted Spouses Club

has posted its 2014 scholarship applications on its website at FtMeadeesc.org.

High school seniors and students currently enrolled in college who are dependents of a military member of any rank or branch who is on active duty, deceased, a Reservist or in the National Guard can apply for the scholarships.

High school seniors with an outstanding academic record and volunteer service to the community will be considered for the Evelyn J. Silva Scholarship of Excellence.

Sponsors for all scholarships must reside in the Fort Meade area.

Applications and all required documentation must be received by March 28 at the ESC, PO Box 105, Fort Meade, MD 20755, attn: Scholarship Director Gerry Humphrey.

‘Military Saves’Army Community Service is offering

“Military Saves: A Day of Financial Fitness” today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Community Readiness Center, 830 Chisholm Ave.

The free classes are open to DoD ID cardholders including active-duty service members, retirees and their family members,

DoD civilian employees and contractors.Registration is required.To register or for more information, call

301-677-5590.

“Godspell” at Meade High

Meade High School will present the musical “Godspell” March 6-8 at 7 p.m. in the Meade High auditorium.

Tickets cost $8 ($6 with a canned food donation). Tickets are available at the door.

For information, email Caitlin Lucia at [email protected].

Grillin’ & Chillin’The Youth Center is offering Grillin’

& Chillin’ for grades six to eight on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.

Menu includes hamburgers, hot dogs and sides.

Cost is $5. Sign-up ends today.For more information, call 301-677-

1437 or 301-677-1847.

Chess tournamentA chess tournament for grades nine to

12 will be held Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Fort Meade Teen Center.

All skill levels are welcome.For more information, call 301-677-

6054

Kids Craft ClubThe Kids Craft Club for toddlers and

preschoolers will meet March 11 at 9:30 a.m. at the Arts and Crafts Center.

Remaining sessions are: April 15 and May 6.

Fee is $5 per session. Cost includes a craft, snack and juice.

Space is limited. Registration is required.To register or for more information, call

301-677-7809.

Romp ‘n StompRomp ‘n Stomp playgroup for children

age 5 and younger and their parents meets Tuesdays from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. from September to June at the Youth Center gym at 909 Ernie Pyle St. and from June to August at the Boundless playground on Llewellyn Avenue.

For more information, call 301-677-5590 or email [email protected].

Out & About• The Naval Academy Band’s Crabtowne

Stompers will perform today at 6 p.m. at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Church Circle in Annapolis.

Rooted in the original New Orleans jazz music of the early 1900s, the Crabtowne Stompers fuses its music with modern funk and jazz elements.

Naval Academy Band Concerts are free and open to the public with no tickets required.

For more information, visit the Naval Academy Band website at navyband.navy.mil or Facebook page, or call 410-293-1262.

• The U.S. Army Field Band Woodwind Quintet will perform a chamber concert on Sunday at 3 p.m. at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3604 Chatham Road, Ellicott City.

The Woodwind Quintet regularly performs recitals, clinics and master classes in schools and colleges.

The program will feature Carl Nielsen’s Quintet, Vincent Persichetti’s Pastoral, and John Harbison’s Wind Quintet.

For more information, go to armyfieldband.com.

• Leisure Travel Services is offering its next monthly bus trip to New York City on March 22, with discounts to attractions. Bus cost is $60. For more information, call 301-677-7354 or visit ftmeademwr.com.

• Families Dealing with Deployment meets the first and third Monday of every month from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Meuse Forest Neighborhood Center. Children welcome. The next meeting is Monday. For more information, call 301-677-5590 or email [email protected].

• Retired Officers’ Wives’ Club will hold its next monthly luncheon on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Club Meade. The program, “All You Need To Know About Furs,” will be presented by Mano Swartz Furriers, along with a mini fur fashion show featuring ROWC models. Learn how to choose and care for furs as you use them for warmth and fashion.

Cost of the luncheon is $18. Reservations are required by today. Call your area representative or Betty Wade at 410-551-7082.

Membership dues are $25 per year, but you may join from February through May now for half price. Members may bring guests at any time to the luncheons,

NEWS & EVENTS

EDUCATION

YOUTH

RECREATION

MEETINGS

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moviesCommunity news & notes

The movie schedule is subject to change. For a recorded announcement of showings, call 301-677-5324. Further listings are available on the Army and Air Force Exchange Service website at www.aafes.com.

Movies start Wednesdays to Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

PRICES: Tickets are $5.50 for adults (12 and older) and $3 for children. 3D Movies: $7.50 adults, $5 children.

Today through March 16

Today: “The Legend of Hercules” (PG-13). The origin story of the the mythical Greek hero. With Kellan Lutz, Gaia Weiss, Scott Adkins.

Friday & Sunday: “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” (PG-13). Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack. With Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley.

Saturday: “The Nut Job” (PG). An incorrigibly self-serving exiled squirrel finds himself helping his former park brethren raid a nut store to survive, that is also the front for a human gang’s bank robbery. With the voices of Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson.

Wednesday & March 9: “Labor Day” (PG-13). Depressed single mom and her son offer a wound-ed, fearsome man a ride. As police search town for the escaped convict, the mother and son gradu-ally learn his true story as their options become increasingly limited. With Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith.

March 6: “Her” (R). A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that’s designed to meet his every need. With Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scar-lett Johansson.

March 7, 8: “Ride Along” (PG-13). Fast-talking security guard Ben joins his cop brother-in-law James on a 24-hour patrol of Atlanta in order to prove himself worthy of marrying Angela, James’ sister. With Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter.

March 12, 15, 16: “The Lego Movie” (PG). An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together. With Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell. (3D March 12)

which are held on the first Tuesday of each month, except June, July, August and January.

For more information, call Genny Bellinger, president of the ROWC, at 410-674-2550.

• Monthly Prayer Breakfast, hosted by the Garrison Chaplain’s Office, is held the first Thursday of every month at 7 a.m. at Club Meade.

The next prayer breakfast is March 6.There is no cost for the buffet; donations

are optional. All Fort Meade employees, family members, and civilian and military personnel are invited.

For more information, call Diana Durn-er at 301-677-6703 or email [email protected].

• Meade Rod and Gun Club meets the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at Perry’s Restaurant and Odie’s Pub at 1210 Annapolis Road, Odenton, in the banquet hall in back of the building. The next meet-ing is March 6. Dinner is served at 6 p.m. For more information, call 410-674-4000.

• National Alliance on Mental Illness of Anne Arundel County offers a free support group for families with a loved one suffering from mental illness on the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Odenton (West County) Library, 1325 Annapolis Road. The next meeting is March 6. For more information, visit namiaac.org.

• Meade Branch 212 of the Fleet Reserve Association meets the second Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. at VFW Post 160, 2597 Dorsey Road, Glen Burnie. The next meeting is March 8. Active-duty, Reserve and retired members of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are invited.

For more information, call 443-604-2474 or 410-768-6288.

• New Spouse Connection meets the second Monday of every month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Community Readiness Center, 830 Chisholm Ave. The next meet-ing is March 10. The program provides an opportunity for all spouses new to the military or to Fort Meade to meet and get connected. For more information, contact Pia Morales at [email protected] or 301-677-4110.

• Calling All Dads meets the second and fourth Monday of every month from 4 to 5 p.m. at Potomac Place Neighborhood Center, 4998 2nd Corps Blvd. The next meeting is March 10.

The group is for expecting fathers, and fathers with children of all ages. Children welcome. For more information, call 301-677-5590 or email [email protected].

• Single Parent Support Group meets the

second and fourth Monday of the month from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at School Age Ser-vices, 1900 Reece Road. The next meeting is March 10. Free child care is provided onsite.

For more information, call 301-677-5590 or email [email protected].

• Bully Proofing Support Group meets the second and fourth Monday of the month from 4 to 5 p.m. at Potomac Place Neighborhood Center. The next meet-ing is March 10. The group is geared for school-age children and parents. For more information, email [email protected].

• Marriage Enrichment Group, spon-sored by Army Community Service, meets the second and fourth Monday of every month from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Commu-nity Readiness Center, 830 Chisholm Ave. The next meeting is March 10. For more information, call Celena Flowers or Jessica Hobgood at 301-677-5590.

• Fort Meade TOP III Association meets the second Wednesday of each month at 3 p.m. at the Courses. The next meeting is March 12. The association is open to all Air Force active-duty and retired senior noncommissioned officers. For more infor-mation, call Master Sgt. Jonathan Jacob at 443-479-0616 or email [email protected].

• Women’s Empowerment Group meets Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. to provide a safe, confidential arena for the support, education and empowerment of women who have experienced past or present fam-ily violence.

Location is only disclosed to participants. To register, call Tina Gauth, victim advocate, at 301-677-4117 or Samantha Herring, victim advocate, at 301-677-4124.

• Project Healing Waters meets Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Soldiers and Family Assistance Center, 2462 85th Medical Battalion Ave.

The project is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of wounded warriors and veterans through fly fishing, fly tying and outings.

For more information, call Larry Vawter, program leader, at 443-535-5074 or email [email protected].

• Spanish Christian Service is conducted Sundays at 1 p.m. at the Cavalry Chapel located at 8465 Simonds St. and 6th Armored Cavalry Road.

For more information, call Elias Mendez at 301-677-7314 or 407-350-8749.

• Cub Scout Pack 377 invites boys in first through fifth grades, or ages 7 to 10, to attend its weekly Monday meetings at 6 p.m. at Argonne Hills Chapel Center.

For more information, email

Cubmaster Christopher Lassiter at [email protected] or Committee Chairperson Marco Cilibert at [email protected].

• Boy Scout Troop 379 meets Mondays at 7 p.m. at Argonne Hills Chapel Center on Rockenbach Road. The troop is actively recruiting boys age 11 to 18. For more information, email Lisa Yetman, at [email protected] or Wendall Lawrence, Scoutmaster, at [email protected].

• Military Council for Catholic Women is open to all women ages 18 and older for prayer, faith, fellowship and service at Argonne Hills Chapel Center, 7100 Rockenbach Road. The Catholic Women of the Chapel meets Tuesdays from 9:45 a.m. to noon when Anne Arundel County schools are in session. Monthly programs are held Mondays from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

For more information, email Loretta Endres at [email protected].

• American Legion Post 276 is open to veterans and active-duty service members at 8068 Quarterfield Road in Severn. Breakfast may be purchased beginning at 9 a.m. Lunches may be purchased from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Happy Hour is from 4 to 6 p.m. Dinner may be purchased at 6 p.m. on Fridays and the fourth Sunday of every month.

Membership discounts are offered for active-duty military. For more information, call 410-969-8028 or visit americanlegionpost276.org.

• Fort Meade E9 Association meets the second Friday of every month at 7 a.m. in the Pin Deck Cafe at the Lanes. The next meeting is March 14. The associa-tion is open to active, retired, Reserve and National Guard E9s of any uniformed ser-vice. All E9s in this area are invited to attend a breakfast and meet the membership. For more information, go to e9association.org.

• Retired Enlisted Association meets the third Tuesday of the month from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Perry’s Restaurant, 1210 Annapolis Road, Odenton. The next meet-ing is March 18. For more information, visit trea.org or call Elliott Phillips, the local president, at 443-790-3805 or Arthur R. Cooper, past national president, at 443-336-1230.

• Military District of Washington Sergeant Audie Murphy Club meets the third Wednesday of each month from noon to 1 p.m. at the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Dining Facility in Virginia. The next meeting is March 19. All members and those interested in joining the club are welcome. For more information, contact Master Sgt. Erica Lehmkuhl at [email protected] or 301-833-8415.

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Story and photo by Brandon BieltzStaff Writer

Although cold temperatures chased the Fort Meade Highsteppers Track and Field club off the outdoor tracks for the winter, a handful of competi-tors refused to hang up their running shoes.

Several Fort Meade runners headed to the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex to compete in USA Track and Field indoor meets to prepare for the upcoming outdoor season, which begins in April.

“It’s a fun time because you get to do shorter distances, but it’s more competitive,” Ciara Thomas said.

The 9-year-old is among the several runners who have excelled indoors as she qualified for the USATF National Indoor Championships, which begin March 7 at the Prince George’s com-plex.

Seven of the Fort Meade competi-tors are ranked in the top 50 in the nation at their events.

The team also featured Hannah Salvador, the 8-year-old-and-under racewalk national champion, and Gabrielle Hill, district champion for the 9- to 10-year-old long jump.

Coach Cliff Timpson said the rea-son behind competing in the indoor

meets in the offseason is to provide continuous competition, which leads to improvement. With a small team, coaches are able to work closely with the competitors to help them cut times.

“It allows me to focus on each individual need and each individual strength,” Timpson said.

Ciara, who won a silver medal for the long jump in the Junior Olympics this past summer, is the only one slated to compete at the national championships next weekend.

Qualifying for the elite competi-tion, however, was not the goal of participating in indoor meets.

“We were just doing this indoors to keep her body moving. We weren’t expecting to excel on this as well,” said Sabrina Thomas, Ciara’s mother. “We’re very proud.”

The youngster ranks as the second-best long jumper in her age group and holds the second-best time in the 55-meter dash on the East Coast as well as a top-10 time for the 200-meter.

“It feels like something not a lot of people do,” Ciara said. “It’s lucky to be able to do that.”

Timpson said Ciara’s mindset is what separates her from the rest of the competition.

Whiz Kids: Fort Meade runners excel in indoor track

By Brandon BieltzStaff Writer

During last year’s inaugural season of the Child, Youth and School Service’s wrestling team, the Cougars had one wrestler bring home a title.

In the program’s second year, five Meade wrestlers were named champions during Sunday’s county championship meet at Meade High School. A total of eight wrestlers placed as the team fin-ished sixth out of 13 teams.

“It went pretty well,” coach Adrian Dance said of the championship meet. “We couldn’t be happier. We’re pleased with the outcome.”

The team of 30 wrestlers ages 3-13 featured many children new to the sport. Despite competing in its second season, the program only returned three wres-tlers, leaving the coaching staff to start from scratch.

With a large number of new wrestlers

— many under 7-years-old — coaches focused on the basics of the sports including the point system, and a few pinning combinations and takedowns.

Dance said he doesn’t want to take the wrestlers too far out of the box with complex moves at a young age, but would rather teach sound fundamentals.

“It’s learning the sport,” he said. “The objective is to put your opponent on their back.”

While the success in the mat is impor-tant to the coaches, Dance said they preach academics and that appropriate behavior comes before wrestling, setting the youngsters up for success outside the ring as well.

“We want these kids to have fun,” said Jesse Miller, acting director of Youth Sports. “If they win, that’s just some-thing extra.”

Throughout the season, the Cougars have been competing against much larger

teams and many have had more experi-ence than the Fort Meade wrestlers. But the team hasn’t backed down from their competition.

Dance credits the coaching staff for challenging the team in practice, creating a competitive attitude.

“The kids aren’t intimidated,” he said.

Dance said one the biggest hurdles for the wrestling team is simply the lack of popularity of the sport. But the Fort Meade program is “growing in strides.”

Miller agreed.“I’m very happy with the direction of

the program,” he said.Throughout the offseason, the team

will host clinics and continue to create a competitive wrestling program at Fort Meade.

“We’re heading in the right direction and we’re looking forward to build on it,” Dance said.

Meade wrestling closes out successful seasonMeade’s top finishers at county championships:• Conner Simmons, first place, 35-pound

weight class

• Blaine Wooleyhand, first place, 50-pound weight class

• Keion Flowers, first place, 65-pound weight class

• Keyshawn Flowers, first place, 70-pound weight class

• Dalen Crawford, first place, 75-pound weight class

• Ryan Knudson, second place, 60-pound weight class

• Cyrus Shams, fourth place, 40-pound weight class

• Aden Peirce, fourth place, 45-pound weight class

“She’s mature for her age,” he said. “Once she’s focused on what she wants to do, it’s very hard to change her mind. ... She’s a workout freak, she is a gym rat.”

During the winter months Ciara typically plays basketball, but this year she wanted to focus on improv-ing her times and jumps, Thomas said.

“The passion she puts into it is amazing,” she said.

After the indoor national champi-onships, Ciara will turn her attention to the Child, Youth and School Ser-vices’ Highsteppers team.

Once she gets back onto the out-door track, Ciara will pick up right where she left off — eyes set on another Junior Olympic medal.

“I’m getting faster times,” the youngster said. “I’ve been training.”

Ciara Thomas, 9, jumps during the Potomac Valley Assocation 14-and-under National Invitational at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex on Saturday. Ciara will be competing in the USA Track and Field National Indoor Championships, which begins March 7.

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Meade Mustangs weekly roundup

BasketballBoth Meade basketball teams closed out the regular

season with wins over Northeast on Feb. 19.Jatarrikah Settles’ 10 points led the girls team to a

62-37 win, while the boys won 73-62.

As the No. 2 seed, the boys basketball team will open the 4A East Section I playoffs at home on Fri-day at 5 p.m. against Chesapeake High School. The Mustangs (16-6) swept Chesapeake (8-14) this season, with a 75-71 win in January and 88-81 victory earlier this month.

The girls, who are seeded fourth in the playoffs, will face North County on Friday at 7 p.m. at Meade High School. Meade (15-7) has two wins over North County (9-10) this year — 45-42 on Dec. 12 and 73-54 on Jan. 24.

WrestlingMeade hosted the Anne Arundel County wrestling

championships on Saturday.The Mustangs finished the tournament in sixth

place, with Travis Chidebe (160) the team’s only cham-pionship winner. Jordan Riddick (182) also advanced to the finals.

For more coverage of Meade High School sports, go to ftmeadesoundoff.com/sports.

Story and photo by Brandon BieltzStaff Writer

With two minutes left in Sunday’s basketball game, the Fort Meade Patri-ots held a 13-point lead over Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

But as the clock ticked into final seconds, Fort Meade struggled to main-tain its lead as M-D-L pulled within 3 points. The Patriots’ defense held on long enough to extend the team’s win streak to four with an 81-77 victory.

“The team fell asleep,” said Mike McKenzie, who led the Patriots with 24 points. “You can’t quit at the end of the game. That’s when you have to stand strong. There’s no point in quitting at the end of the game.”

With the victory and an 86-78 win over Fort Belvoir on Saturday, the Patriots improved its Washington Area Military Athletic Conference record to 4-2.

“It’s another two wins this week-end,” McKenzie said. “We’re feeling real good.”

On Sunday, the two teams exchanged points for the first 10 minutes of the game. The Patriots created a lead in the final 10 minutes of the half for a 32-27 halftime lead.

Dararius Evans led the Patriots with 7 points in the half, while McKenzie and Gary Robinson each contributed an additional 5 points.

The Patriots pulled away in the second half as its defense shut down the M-D-L offense and created fast breaks up-court to develop a 69-54 lead. The 49-point second half was led by McKenzie, who scored 19 points, and Evans’ 11.

Near the end of the half, however, Fort Meade’s defense began to struggle. M-D-L quickly pulled itself back into the game in the final minutes of the game, cutting the lead to 79-74 with 10 seconds left.

Patriots fight off comeback to win fourth straight

M-D-L pulled within 3 points, but a free-throw by Robinson with four sec-onds on the clock sealed the game for the Patriots.

“We didn’t play smart enough in the defensive end,” said head coach Ronny Cunningham. “With a 10-point lead and a minute and 20-some seconds, you’re not supposed to lose a lead like that and have to fight to scratch out a 4-point win.”

McKenzie’s 24 points led the game. Evans scored 18 points, and Brandon Burns added another 11.

Despite the final two minutes of the game, Cunningham said the team’s inte-rior defense and rebounding were the best of the season.

“We’re still trying to find ourselves on the defensive end,” he said. “I was very pleased with how they played in the defense end, especially inside the paint.”

This weekend, the Patriots will travel to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jer-sey to play M-D-L again on Saturday and will then face the undefeated Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall at home on Sunday.

With their sights set on winning the conference, Cunningham said both games are must-wins this weekend.

“If we can get both of those games, we’ll be 6-2 and we’ll be one game behind Myer,” he said.

McKenzie said the team is eager to test itself against the top team in the conference, but will have to practice hard this week.

“Myer is going to be our measuring stick,” he said. “We want to see how good we are, and next weekend is going to be that weekend.”

Fort Meade Patriots’ Mike McKenzie avoids a Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst defender during Sunday’s game at Murphy Field House. McKenzie’s 24 points helped the Patriots improved to 4-2 with the 81-77 win.

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I’m OK with the U.S. losing to Canada in hockey and curling.

Everybody has to be good at some-thing, and it’s not like we don’t have basketball, football, baseball, NASCAR (big ups to Dale Jr.), NASTRUCK, tid-dlywinks, MMA, and just about every other sport to fall back on.

I’m also cool with us losing the biath-lon, ski jumping and the overall medal count to Russia. Even though soon after it was clear we’d have to settle for second, a rash of vomiting and other symptoms of sickness ran through our home.

As of Wednesday morning, some of it is still running … literally.

However, after 16 days of Sochi, there are two things from Team USA that I will not accept: Making excuses and giv-ing up.

Heading into speed skating, nobody expected the U.S. to be the Dutch, but with the likes of Shani Davis, Heather Richardson and Emery Lehman, we were expected to grab a couple of medals. So, when the team went 0-for-Sochi, it was fair to say they underperformed.

But what disappointed me about their performance were the lame excuses they gave for their failures — namely the uni-forms and elevation.

Seriously, you want us to believe Under Armour was the reason you moved around the short track like my dad used to drive? One of my most haunting images from my childhood is cars piling up behind my dad’s puke-green Chevette because he was doing 25 in a 45, down a two-lane road.

I felt similar watching our skaters fall tenths of a second behind, lap after lap, until finally we went from off the medal stand to out of the top 10. And all of that supposedly happened because of a suit or because Sochi is a little closer to the water than wherever they were training?

Have they not seen the UA Commer-cials? bit.ly/NwWMSt And unless my geography is wrong, doesn’t the U.S. have every single topographical feature that we could have used for training?

It’s not like we didn’t know for the bet-ter part of four years that the Olympics were going to be in Sochi.

A quick Google search, or even the globe in my office, shows that Sochi is on the Black Sea, so even if elevation was a problem, it seems like we could have

prepared for that well in advance.

But apparent-ly, it’s easier to blame geography or a suit than it is to admit we stunk, and to me, that repre-sents our country worse than poor performance.

So does packing it in.That is exactly what our U.S. men’s

hockey team did after they lost to Cana-da in the semifinals.

I understand our boys being stunned and hurt by the loss. It was clear their matchup with Canada was the marquee game of the tournament, and the U.S. threw everything it had at Canada.

But its goalie, Carey Price, stood on his head and made a proverbial Cana-dian Shield around Team Canada’s net. bit.ly/1bLVRsB So again, I was fine with the loss even though it meant I’d have to hear my wife’s taunts for another four years.

My issue came the next day when we lost 5-0 to Finland in the bronze medal game. I know bronze represents the second best loser, but that is better than being embarrassed by a team you are better than simply because you had your heart taken from you the day before.

There is no excuse for that when national pride is on the line.

A good Canuck friend of mine, Amir Khalifa, responded twice to my Face-book post that was similar to the second graph of this week’s column.

“You still lost. Suck it” was his first response the day we lost to Canada. Not overly creative and in a way, admitted my initial post was correct.

But then after the 5-0 flop to Finland, he came back with, “Time for a new list for Finland ... who will start us off ?” All I could do was like his comment because there was no comeback.

But taking a lesson from speed skat-ing, maybe I should have just blamed the uniforms.

If you have comments on this or any-thing to do with sports, contact me at [email protected] or hit me up on Twit-ter @ctjibber.

It’s gotta be the suits

Chad T. Jones, Public Affairs

Officer

Jibber Jabber - OpiniOnSports Shorts

AAU basketball tryoutsThe Meade Youth Basketball Association is hosting tryouts and registration

for spring basketball.• Tryouts for boys ages 14- to 16-years-old will be held Wednesday from

7:30 to 9 p.m. at Meade Middle School.• Tryouts for girls ages 8- to 11-years-old will be held Wednesday from 7:30

to 9 p.m. at Meade Heights Elementary School.• Tryouts for boys ages 8- to 13-years-old will be held March 6 from 6 to

7:30 p.m. at Meade Middle School.For more information, go to mybawildcats.org

Flag FootballChild, Youth and School Services’ Youth Sports is now offering NFL Flag

Football through USA Football for ages 6 to 13.Cost is $55 per player and includes an NFL-branded jersey, flag football

belt, game shorts and participation trophy.Two practices and one game will be held each week at the Fort Meade

Youth Sports Complex.Games will played Friday evenings.Flag football will be played as a spring and fall sport.For more information, call 301-677-1329 or 301-677-1179.

Spring sportsRegistration for spring sports is underway at Parent Central Services, 1900

Reece Road.Spring sports include soccer, swimming, baseball, track, flag football and

basketball.Participants can register at the CYSS Central Registration Office at 1900

Reece Road or online at https://webtrac.mwr.army.mil/webtrac/meadecyms.html.For more information, call 301-677-1149 or 1156.

Dollar DaysDollar Days at the Lanes is every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Bowlers receive a game of bowling, shoe rental, a hot dog, hamburger,

small fries, pizza slice or small soda for $1 each.For more information, call 301-677-5541.

Texas Hold ‘emTexas Hold ‘em no buy-in games are played Mondays and Wednesday at 7

p.m. at the Lanes.Games are free and open to the public. For more information, call 301-677-5541.

For more Fort Meade sports, visit quickscores.com/ftmeadesports.

For all your varsity and intramural sports schedules, scores and standings, visit

www.quickscores.com/ftmeadesports.