Engineers Up!
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ENGINEERS UP! 2012 Newsletter Engineers Up! - 1 2 - Engineers Up! 2012 Newsletter Content PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE .................................................................................... 4 VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ........................................................................... 5 MCEA OFFICIALS & KEY SUPPORTERS ............................................................ 6 ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS ..................................................................................... 6 CHAPLAIN LETTER ............................................................................................ 10 LIEUTENANT GENERAL PANTER ...................................................................... 11 LIEUTENANT GENERAL WISSLER .................................................................... 14 BRIGADIER GENERAL NELSON ....................................................................... 15 BRIGADIER GENERAL BANTA .......................................................................... 16 HONOR ROLL ..................................................................................................... 17 IN MEMORIUM .................................................................................................... 18 FELLOWS ............................................................................................................ 23 ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES .................................................................................. 24 BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES ........................................................................ 25 FINANCIAL REPORT .......................................................................................... 32 CORPORATE MEMBERS ................................................................................... 34 2011 REUNION & AWARDS ............................................................................... 35 2012 REUNION ................................................................................................... 52 ENGINEER UNIT HISTORY ................................................................................ 54 MCEA: FROM A DREAM TO REALITY ............................................................... 73 SHIP’S STORE .................................................................................................... 74 A TOAST TO THE FLAG ..................................................................................... 75 Engineers Up! - 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The past four months since I assumed the mantle of your president from Col Ken Frantz have been very interesting. The seven major goals that were established in 1991 are still valid and provide our association with targets for which we can identify and seek to work toward. In summary: 1. Promote professionalism & fraternalism… 2. Renew/Perpetuate fellowship… 3. Locate those who served… 4. Preserve Memory of those who served… 5. Preservation of historical account of …engineering & contributions… 6. Foster solidarity… 7. Recognize & honor outstanding leadership… This last goal has been the hallmark and most significant aspect of our annual meetings. As many know, this is where we have honored the finest of the finest engineers in our Corps. The other six are extremely important as well, and we continue to evaluate what we are doing to address these. I am not going to go into great detail regarding each of these goals, hence the extension of ‘dots’ to reflect there is a great deal of information available to help our members as we collectively work to support these goals. I encourage every member to review the details of these goals and help us all to work toward achieving them. We are one brotherhood because we have common goals and experiences. (If you need more detailed information, please let me or our Executive Director know and we will be happy to get that information to you.) One way we can more carefully address a couple of these goals is through our Associate Directors (ADs). We have had several who have dropped out of this assignment and several others added to the group. You know, not only from your Marine Corps service but perhaps your civilian business experience as well that a chain of command, or delegation of authority makes every job easier and more attainable. In the next few months someone from our Executive Committee will be contacting you and seeking your willingness to take on the AD job in your area. We have in place a system of communication through the ADs wherein member contacts are provided so the AD can contact a few members to wish them “Happy Birthday”, or to verify our data base, or to remind them and invite them to our annual meeting. This is not a time-consuming effort and I have found it gives me a great opportunity to speak directly with our members (email is also a great way of keeping the lines of communication open!) I have been fascinated that while I didn’t know a fellow Marine, we each knew a common friend! Then we had a lot to talk about! (Sea stories?) The big news for this year is the design, fund raising and installation of a monument to our Marine Corps engineers on the grounds of the National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC) at Triangle, Virginia. As many know who attended our annual meeting in 2010, we visited the Museum twice: Once on a tour, and later for our awards banquet. So we know the excitement of that location. We are soliciting design options for this monument, intended to reflect the real role of engineers over time. We placed no restrictions on the design other than placed by the Foundation and the Museum (size of footprint, height, and such.) By the time you read this we should had moved well beyond the design stage and on to the cost issues. Interestingly enough, while we had not initiated a fund drive, we have already received funds for this purpose. Our financial guru George Carlson has already established separate accounting funds to isolate contributions for the monument so by now your contributions are accepted (non-profit, tax exempt.) This will be a major event for our association and all engineers, and I am looking forward to your support and seeing this to completion, soonest! The Museum is also looking to develop the next phase of its museum which is expected to include a significant display of our engineers. There are many details to be worked out, and as we have a liaison with the museum so hopefully our interests and concerns will be heard. It’s early, but we’ll keep you informed as the progress of this stage. Finally, there are many of our organization that we often skip over: I can’t identify all at this time, but we have many sponsors, corporate sponsors and through our Fellows Program that reach out to support our programs. We offer assistance to our Marines who are in financial need as well as others in personal conflict. We identify member and corporate donors in the Fellows Program as Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze. As your contributions are deductible, consider a good value for your charity! I am pleased and honored to represent our association and look forward to an open line of communication. Please call me or send me a note of your interests and concerns as to how we can continue to make our association even stronger and better! May God go with you, and Semper Fidelis! Jim Murphy President 4 - Engineers Up! VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE As every Marine, particularly a Marine Corps engineer knows, prior planning is often the difference between success and failure. Now as the current combat situation resolves and more and more of our troops come home, prior planning is central to make a Marine’s homecoming and transition to a different life a success. My comments are not to be seen as exhaustive or prescriptive but suggestive of a possible course of action to be taken by the family of the returning veteran, 1. Take the time to make an inventory of the changes that you have experienced during your veteran’s absence. You’ve changed! You had to deal with situations that were new and challenging and you learned and surmounted them. Your relationship with your family has changed as well. You not only have kept the home fires burning you have been the authority figure and the safety figure. Ask the question: What was my relationship with my Marine before deployment? What do you expect it to be post deployment? These are tough, tough questions but they need to be answered. 2. Make a list of what you remember about who your Marine was prior to deployment. What were his/her likes, what were some of his habits in regard to sleeping, eating, social interaction, and others. Absence can gloss over some habits and expand the memory of other habits. When you have this picture in your mind and on paper realize that that pre deployment person no longer exists, his /her absences from the family and cumulative experiences in a combat zone have made indelible changes to him. As you should now realize, this time has changed you as well. 3. Not all changes in your Marine’s behavior are PTSD or a consequence of TBI. Some changes are to be expected, some will be subtle some overt. Some of the changes may be in: a. Sleep habits, b. Spending habits, c. Social interactions with you, your children , neighbors, d. Mood swings, e. Eating habits. Changes however, that appear to be destructive of the basic character of your Marine are not to be ignored but documented and assistance sought in a timely manner. 4. Identify what the support/assistance resources are available in your community and make contact with them. Find out how you and your