Issue 1 – 2019 FROM THE PRESIDENT Donald W. Gates, Col, USAR Greetings Department and Happy Holidays! By the time this newsletter arrives, the holiday season will be over, so I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday. From my position (foxhole for the Army and Marines) the ROA needs to start focus- ing on recruiting new members. We need to tailor the organization to the new members or our numbers will continue to decline until we are no longer relevant. The bright news is that our changes has shown some progress, and we have had new members join this year. We need to be aggressive in our approach and talk to new members. Donald W. Gates, COL With this in mind, I have changed the location of the 2019 Convention to make it more accessible to all members. I am also opening up the speaker sessions for attendance to America Legion, MOAA, and VFW members who want to hear some great speeches as well as have an opportunity to mingle with fellow veterans of any organization. Please get with your colleagues to attend the event. Unfortunately, we don’t have the speakers lined up, but don’t worry it will be worth your time. Here are the details, and please send in your registration early. 2019 ROA Annual Conference, Saturday, April 13, 2019 Theme: New and Emerging National Security Threats Admission Fee: $20 each; ROA, American Legion, MOA, VFW, Veterans/Guests 0800 - Registration + Breakfast 0900 - 0915 Welcome & Introductions 0915 - 1000 Michael Powell, Director, NCC, US Board Patrol, (Invited) 1000 - 1015 Break 1015 - 1100 National Level speaker from the National War College (Invited) 1100 - 1115 Break 1115 - 1200 Senior Level Coast Guard Sector Detroit (Invited) 1200 - 1220 Lunch 1220 - 1255 Luncheon Speaker—Veteran’s Court—Judge Fucca (Invited) VFW Post 345 1300 - 1330 ROA General Meeting Session in the small hall. VFW Post 345, 27345 Schoolcraft Rd., Redford, MI 48239 (Intersection of I-96 and Inkster Rd.), Hall phone # 734-538-6294.

For those of our members who have provided an email address, your newsletters will now be coming to you via email as an attachment. This will reduce our costs as we currently send out over 600 newsletters. If you receive your newsletter via mail, please consider signing up for an email copy to help reduce newsletter expenses. As always, our thoughts and prayers are with those in harm’s way and their families. Colonel Don Gates PAGE 2 T HE M ICHIGAN R ESERVIST – ISSUE 1 - 2019

From the Air Force Vice President Jack W. Bronka Lt. Colonel, USAF, Retired, Vice President Air Force Section

F35 Combat Power Exercise: Active and Reserve I have to recognize that as far as reserve mis- sion integration, the Air Force is outstanding. Pic- tured here are F35’s on the runway with pilots from the 388th active duty wing and the 419th reserve wing taxiing on the runway in preparation for a com- bat power exercise November 19, 20 at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. During the exercise, the wings confirmed their ability to employ a large force of jets against air and ground targets, demonstrating the readiness and lethality of the F35 Lightning II. As the first combat- ready units in the air force both the active duty and F35 Combat Power Exercise reserve wing are ready to deploy anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice.

Both wings conducted a combat power exercise launching dozens of F35A aircraft within a condensed period of time. Th wings fly between 30-60 sorties per day from Hill’s flight line. During the exercise, they launched roughly the same number of sorties, and aircraft took off in 20-40 second intervals.

Launching aircraft from multiple squadrons simultaneously presents various challenges and allows the wings to evaluate the capabilities of maintenance professionals, as well as pilots and command and control teams.

As the Air Force’s only combat ready F35A units, the 388th and 419th FWs must be prepared to launch any number of aircraft to sup- port the national defense mission at a moments notice.

Do you think there was any level of competition between the wings?

Article extracted from the 388th PA article published 19 Novem- ber 2018 T HE M ICHIGAN R ESERVIST – ISSUE 1 - 2019 PAGE 3

ROTC Director ROA Department of Michigan, Colonel Keith Sousa, US Army Reserve (Retired) ROTC SCHOLARSHIPS Greetings and Happy Holidays. With the rising cost of college tuition, books, and other expenses of geting a higher education, one great way to cover these expenses is by being awarded an ROTC scholarship.

The Air Force, Army, and Navy all offer up to four year scholarships for high school scholarship recipients, and two, three and four year scholarships available for col- lege students who are already attending, depending on how many years of college they have already com- pleted. The Marine Corps offers two, three, and four year scholarships as a part of Navy ROTC. The Air Force, Army and Navy also offer Nursing ROTC scholarships for those students who have completed at least one year of college. Included within these scholarships, are funds to cover tuition, books, fees, and provide a monthly cost of living stipend. Stipends vary from $300 per semester for Freshmen to $350 for Sophomores, to $450 for Juniors and $500 per semester for Seniors. To be eligible for scholarships, students (high school or college) must be U.S. citizens (or have the ability to become citizens by the time of commissioning) , have scored 1180 on the SAT exams, or ACT composite of 26. In addition, students must be at least 17 years old by the time they accept a scholarship, and no older than 31 at the year of commissioning. For students already attending college and looking for a two, three or four year scholarship, they must have achieved a GPA of 2.5 out of 4, and have completed at least 30 semester hours (45 quarter hours), and no more than 120 semester hours (203 quarter hours) The Navy also offers ROTC scholarships to students enrolled in Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) (which are comprised primarily of Black or Hispanic colleges or universities) who have achieved an ACT of 21 or higher. These students receive tuition, $375 per semester for books, and $250 - $400 monthly stipend.

Each of the scholarship applicants for all ROTC programs (Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy) must also complete a physical fitness test (tests differ depending on the branch of service) along with letters of recommendation prior to being awarded a scholarship. ROTC scholarships and the additional fees for books, and other stipends may vary depending on the school. In the state of Michigan, the schools that offer ROTC scholarships include; Central Eastern Michigan (Army) , Eastern Michigan University (Army), Ferris State University (Army), Michigan State University (Air Force/Army), Michigan Tech (Air Force/Army), Northern Michigan University (Army), The University of Michigan (Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy), and Wayne State University (Army).

ROTC scholarships are excellent ways of paying for college for those students who, upon graduation from ROTC become commissioned Officers and are willing to take on greater responsibility, leadership roles, be responsible for those Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen within their commands, and to be accountable for millions of dollars of equipment. So, if you have kids, grandkids, family members or friends who have children who are interested in finding ways of funding higher education, as well as serving as leaders in the military, ROTC scholarships may be a great opportunity for them. PAGE 4 T HE M ICHIGAN R ESERVIST – ISSUE 1 - 2019 Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, NOAA ROA Department of Michigan, CDR Jim Semerad, US Navy (Retired)

Navy Update We are closing out 2018 and ushering in 2019. It is important to reflect on the developments in 2018 and consider the challenges in the new year. In 2018, Detroit, Michigan celebrated the port visit of 2 LCS ships in November, PCS 11 USS Sioux City and PCS 13 Wichita. The signifi- cance is that these ships are built in the Great Lakes at Marinette Marine north of Green Bay, the only shipyard building Navy ships in the Great Lakes. USS Sioux City (LCS-11) is a Freedom- class littoral combat ship of the Navy. It is the first ship named after Sioux City, the fourth- largest city in Iowa. The ceremonial “laying of the keel” was on 19 February 2014, at Marinette, Wisconsin. The ship was constructed by Fincantieri Marinette Marine and launched on 30 January 2016 after being chris- tened by its sponsor, Mrs. Mary Winnefield.

Sioux City was acquired by the US Navy from Lockheed Martin and the Marinette Marine shipyard on 22 August 2018 along with USS Wichita (LCS-13) in a double delivery. The ship was commissioned at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on 17 November 2018. CDR Mark Ernst and some members of the Commanders Club in Michigan attended the ceremony. The ship will be assigned to the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf.

USS Wichita (LCS 13) will be commissioned Jan. 12, 2019, at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., near Jack- sonville, where the ship will be homeported, Navy officials have announced. USS Wichita is the 13th vessel in the Freedom class of littoral combat ships, the Navy’s fastest and most versatile warships. Congratulations to Army again this year for the Army Navy game win. Members of the US Naval Academy Alumni Assn and Westpoint enjoyed the fellowship at George Murphy's Restaurant (Country Club) in Livonia. Captain Lawrence G. Getz III took over NROTC Michigan in June from Capt Dennis. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and raised in , . A graduate of the University of San Diego, he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science in 1988 and went on to receive a Master’s of Science from Tulane University in 1990. He entered the Navy via Aviation Officers Candidate School.

The Secretary of the Navy is Richard V. Spencer, General Robert B. Neller is Commandant of the Ma- rine Corps and Adm John Richardson is Chief of Naval Operations. Your best Navy News website is https://www.navy.mil/index.asp T HE M ICHIGAN R ESERVIST – ISSUE 1 - 2019 PAGE 5 Department Publishes New Website The Department of Michigan has published a new website as part of the service to our members. Please go to https//:roami.org to visit the newly designed website. The chapter also maintains a private yahoo group which can be accessed from the members section of the website as well as a public Facebook Page lo- cated at https://www.facebook.com/roamichigan.

2019 State Conference Invited Speakers The Executive Board has invited the following speakers. Acceptance and confirmation of speakers is still pending but the interesting topic of and theme of New and Emerging National Security Threats will certainly be an interest State Conference. Invited Speakers—April 13, 2019 Conference (New Location)  Michael Powell, US Border Patrol Intelligence Division  Coast Guard Sector Detroit, Homeland Security  Judge Fucca Veterans Court  Dr. Charlie Pasquale, Professor at National War College

The final list of speakers will be update and published to the Department Website listed above. Please honor the hard work of your executive committee and joint us for this most interesting and productive confer- ence. Remember we will have a business meeting at the conclusion of the conference and we have multiple positions open for nomination and election. Reserve Officers Association Department of Michigan 6779 Serenity Drive Troy, MI 48098

Phone: 248-879-7357

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The Michigan Reservist Opinions expressed herein are those of the editor or columnists and are not necessarily those of the Department of Michigan or the Reserve Officers Association of the United States. Newsletter Editor LTC Scott D. Murdoch [email protected]

DEPARTMENT CONFERENCE 2019 EARLY REGISTRATION. Registration cost will be $20.00, which includes both a continental breakfast and lunch. We encourage you to attend this important conference! You can make your advance registration by e-mail to [email protected] or mail this form and your check - made out to ROA Department of Michigan - for $20.00 to:

Reserve Officer Association 6779 Serenity Drive Troy, MI 48098 ------ROA 2019 STATE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION Check Enclosed______

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ADDRESS: ______

CITY: ______STATE: ______