Archive for August 10th, 2007

From CENTCOM: Better Digs for the Dogs

August 10th, 2007 by xformed

Military Working Dog

Photo Credit: DoD Photo

From CENTCOM News Feed today:

Four-legged war fighters dwell in new abode

10 Aug 07
By Cpl. Ryan R. Jackson
2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (FWD)

AL ASAD, Iraq — Throughout the theatre service members are continually asking for and receiving operational gear they need to accomplish their mission.

Sgt. Aaron DeSalvo, a military working dog handler, walks his dog Kelsey through the obedience course at the new kennel facility, July 18. The facility has an improved break yard and larger obedience course, which is used to improve the dog and handlers teamwork skills.The latest troops on Al Asad to get new mission essential equipment were the four-legged war fighters, more commonly known as military working dogs, of Task Force Military Police, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, who received new kennels during a ribbon cutting ceremony, July 18.

The new kennels were approximately a year and a half in the making and cost approximately $400,000. The kennels are a huge step in the right direction to properly house and care for the dogs, according to 1st Lt. William Turner, military working dog officer in charge.

The facility features include running water and drainage, a rinse tub for washing the dogs, and larger training grounds and break areas.
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Category: History, Marines, Military, Military History | 1 Comment »

ValOUR-IT Marches On

August 10th, 2007 by xformed

FbL has the after action report of the Soldier’s Angels Conference in San Antonio, TX, specifically on the ValOUR-ITfront. Can you believe it? In 2 years, 1200 laptops have been passed out to those needing them? Take one wounded geek, put in a blog blender with a school teacher and push the “liquify” button. See what happens in two years:

Last weekend was the 2007 Soldiers’ Angels Conference, and the highlight of the event for Angels was a party at the Brooke Army Medical Center’s (BAMC’s) Fisher Houses in which 78 Valour-IT laptops were distributed to wounded Soldiers and Marines. This brings Valour-IT’s total laptop distributions to over 1200 in two years, and an additional 22 laptops are on standby at BAMC.

Valour-IT was able to distribute the 78 laptops at once thanks to a $150,000 grant [warning, PDF file] from the San Antonio Area Foundation (SAAF), which is by far the largest donation Valour-IT has ever received. The money must be used exclusively in Texas, but that will free up other donations to be applied to locations around the country. SAAF has five million dollars to distribute and this was the first round of grants. Valour-IT received the largest grant of this round (about $80,000 of it remains at this time).

In related news, Circuit City has been working with Valour-IT for some time now, helping us to stretch our donated bucks. They negotiate with their major suppliers to get the best dealer incentives and bulk rates available at any given time and pass that savings directly on to us.
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Read the rest of the story, for there’s plenty of great things happening around the SA/ValOUR-IT program! and…if you have a few spare bucks, I bet there’s a service member support charity that might appreciate them!

Category: Blogging, Charities, Military, Supporting the Troops, Technology, Valour-IT | Comments Off on ValOUR-IT Marches On

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