April 2014 Scuttlebutt
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The Scuttlebutt Newsletter P.O. Box 4561 Glen Allen, VA 23058-4561 April 2014 JAMES M. SLAY DETACHMENT MARINE CORPS LEAGUE MEETING Virginia Society of CPA’s 4309 Cox Rd, Glen Allen VA I-64 Exit 178B The Fourth Saturday Of Each Month Next Meeting 26 April 2014 0830 Breakfast - 0900 Meeting www.richmondmarines.org (804) 417-4569 JAMES M. SLAY DETACHMENT MARINE CORPS LEAGUE 2 AUXILIARY NEWS The Auxiliary’s April meeting will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2014. Time: 8:30 a.m. Breakfast 9:00 a.m. Business Meeting Location: Virginia Society of CPA’s 4309 Cox Road, Glen Allen, VA ELECTION OF OFFICERS Our election of officers for 2014-2015 will take place at this meeting. In addition, plans will be finalized for the May Installation of our new officers. VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY SHEETS Now is the time to prepare our Volunteer Activity Sheets to be turned in to President Debbie Boudreau in early May. The dates to be covered are May 1, 2013 through April 30, 2014. These activities are compiled and sent to the National MCLA. Debbie e-mailed the forms and instructions to each member on March 26, 2014, and for those who do not have e-mail, information will also be available at the April meeting. See you on the 26th!!! 2 3 James M. Slay Detachment Marine Corps League The Scuttlebutt Richmond, Virginia NEWSLETTER www.richmondmarines.org A P R I L 2 0 1 4 Jim Barrett Marines This month the Detachment celebrates its 50th anniversary serving the Richmond Commandant area. We are the oldest continuously active Detachment in Virginia and perhaps Kimo Caprara the most active. We will be blessed to have James M. Slay’s children attending our business meeting on 26 April. We will hold elections, have new officers Sr Vice sworn in, and celebrate the life of Col. Slay and his legacy. I hope to see as Commandant many of you as are able attending our breakfast meeting on the 26th. Joe Washington That same morning the Hermitage High School Junior ROTC cadets will be Jr Vice hosting a field meet for the Junior ROTC cadets in the Richmond area. Several of you will be helping out with the meet. Commandant You’ve also seen the challenge coin we are having made in recognition of our th Mike 50 anniversary. I hope you will all order one. They should be available in 4 – Satterwhite 6 weeks from the foundry. Everyone needs a challenge coin so you won’t get caught without it. Adjutant Dress for the 26th April meeting will be red blazers (if you have one) and red Mike Kelley MCL cover. Judge Advocate Semper Fi, Jim Barrett Bill Wagner From Bruce Steeley… (April 17, 2014) Chaplain Today is the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the James M. Slay Detachment. Our detachment was originally chartered on 17 April, 1964 with 23 members, three who remain Randy on our membership roles today. Our three Charter Members are Marines Jerold Evans, Abernathy Joe Pippen and Fred “Buddy” Smith. They are to be congratulated for their fifty plus years of service to our Detachment, our Country, and our Corps. I hope they will continue Sergeant at to serve with us for many years to come. Arms Our regular monthly meeting will be held on Saturday April 26, beginning at 0830. We will celebrate our anniversary with a visit from several members of the Slay Russell Wyatt family and a traditional cake cutting. In addition, we will hold our annual election and Paymaster installation of our detachment officers. Department of Virginia Commandant Roy Smith will be traveling down from Shenandoah Virginia to conduct the swearing in ceremony. Lee Smith Our 50th Anniversary Challenge Coins have been ordered and are expected to be ready for distribution at our May meeting. You should have received an order form via Quartermaster email from Jim Barrett last week. If not I will have some at the meeting. If you wish to or- der a coin the price is $7.00 per coin if you pick them up at the meeting and $8.00 per coin if Russell Wyatt they have to be shipped. Checks for payment are preferred. Please make checks payable to Web Sergeant James M. Slay Det. 329. Many thanks to Marines Chip Houston, Bruce Strong, Lee Smith, Wes Pruitt and Kevin Tom Milhausen for their assistance in the designing of these coins. O’Connor Scuttlebutt I hope all of you will be able to join us for this grand celebration on Newsletter the 26th. Semper Fidelis, Editor 3 JAMES M. SLAY DETACHMENT MARINE CORPS LEAGUE 4 22 March, 2014 Care Packages (Herb Delbridge) (Due to “stuff happens”, the minutes of Virginia War Memorial Activities (Mike the March Meeting were lost. Here is the Agenda for that Meeting) Cross or Bruce Steeley) 0900 Call to Order Military Order of Devil Dogs (Bill Akers) Opening Ceremony Holicky-Sitter Luncheon (Wes Pruitt) Secure Quarters Junior Vice Commandant (Joe Washing- ton) Post Colors Adjutant (minutes from previous meet- Pledge of Allegiance ing)(Mike Satterwhite) Opening Prayer Paymaster (Russell Wyatt) Declare Meeting Open for Business Chaplain (Bill Wagner) Recognition of Guests Roll Call of Officers 1964 – 50 Years of Service to the Richmond Commu- nity - 2014 Application for New Members (if applicable) Raymond Walter Bongiorno Standing Committee Reports Balloting on Applicants Old Business Swearing in New Members Report from the Nomination and Election Officer Reports Committee Senior Vice Commandant (Kimo Caprara) New Business Honor Guard (Lee Smith) Closing Ceremony USO – Richmond Airport (Bruce Patton) Retire Colors Ft. Lee (Ron Echols) Closing Prayer Range Days (Lou Seigel) Senior Vice Commandant McGuire Hospital Activities (Bill Wagner or Declare Meeting Closed Cecil McNair) Adjourn Jr. ROTC (Cecil McNair) 4 JAMES M. SLAY DETACHMENT MARINE CORPS LEAGUE 5 Marines and their family members have unleashed a wave of anger directed to the Sgt. Maj. Of the Marine Corps. “Lower pay and slimmed-down benefits will make Marines more disciplined and less wasteful” In comments before a Senate Armed Services Committee panel on Wednesday. April 9th, Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Michael Barrett dismissed lawmaker concerns that proposed compensation trims in the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal would hurt troops’ morale or desire to serve. “Marines don’t run around asking about compensation, retirement modernization,” he said. “That’s not on their mind. As I talk to thousands of audiences, they want to know into whose neck do we put a boot next. “They want to know about what new equipment are we getting, are we continuing to modernize. Just because the budget sucks, does that mean we’re not going to get our new gear?” “I truly believe it will raise discipline,” he said. “You’ll have better spending habits. You won’t be so wasteful.” (Marine Corps Times) Barrett’s comments came in contrast to his counterparts in the other services, who conceded to senators that lower pay raises, scaled-back commissary offerings and smaller housing stipends would be problematic for many service- members. The sergeant major of the Marine Corps issued a letter to all Marines on Friday trying to explain his recent congressional testimony in which he said Marines preferred better equipment over high pay and that lowering pay raises would improve discipline. Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Micheal Barrett said his words were misreported, which caused Ma- rines to believe he doesn't care about their quality of life and level of pay. "Recent reporting of my testimony may have left you with a mistaken impression that I don't care about your quality of life and that I support lower pay for service members. This is not true," Bar- rett wrote in the letter. However, he maintained that the growth in pay and benefits must be slowed down in order to en- sure the Corps can pay for better equipment. "Nobody wants less. ... But if we don't slow the growth of our hard-earned generous compensa- tion/benefit entitlements that we have enjoyed over the past decade, we don't have sufficient dol- lars for what we need -- investment in our warfighting capabilities and our wonderful Marine and family care programs," Barrett wrote. The top enlisted Marine's letter comes following a backlash from Marines who responded harshly to Barrett's statement to Congress saying he supported the proposal for a 1 percent pay raise for ser- vice members. The 1 percent raise would be the lowest raise in years for troops and would fail to keep up with inflation. Barrett is only the latest Pentagon leader to tell Congress that pay and benefits need to be either reduced or slowed down. Pentagon brass have made the case that personnel costs must come down to maintain readiness. The service secretaries and chiefs have repeatedly pointed out that pay and benefits represent the fastest-growing portion of their budgets. The sergeant major of the Marine Corps' testimony especially stood out because he told Congress last Wednesday that “lower pay would improve discipline within the Corps”. Barrett told lawmakers that Marines have "never had it so good" in his three decades of service when describing the benefits packages and level of pay. Continued on Page 6 5 JAMES M. SLAY DETACHMENT MARINE CORPS LEAGUE 6 Sgt. Maj. Barrett Controversy Continued…. "If we don't get a hold of slowing the growth, we will become an entitlement-based, a health care provider-based Corps, and not a warfighting organization," Barrett said. In Friday's letter, Barrett told Marines that “now is a time that requires sacrifice and selflessness”.