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Ring in the New Year with Thanks to Our Guard Members

Thursday, March 12, 2009

No matter where you grew up in the United States, you probably at one time or another watched the ball drop on New Year's Eve in New York's Time Square. Dick Clark has long since been replaced by new MCs, but there's still something special about the celebration.

After the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, there have been annual concerns that such a large gathering of people in New York is a tempting target for terrorists. The good new is that eight years later, thanks to federal police agencies, the New York Police Department and members of the New York National Guard, another end-of-year celebration has come and gone safely.

This past year New York Gov. David Paterson sent members of the New York Army and Air National Guard to assist city authorities with security, as well as standing by in case any emergency situation arose.

Guard Soldiers and Airmen conducted increased security operations at Penn Station, the PATH terminal, and LaGuardia and JFK airports, in conjunction with Port Authority personnel from both New York and New Jersey.

One of the units that were ready to respond was the National Guard's 2nd Civil Support Team, a full-time rapid response element that detects chemical, biological or radiological hazards. The 22-man detachment from Schenectady, N.Y., has worked with counter terrorism elements in the New York PD since 2000.

At the New York National Guard headquarters in Latham, N.Y., staff representatives manned and operated the National Guard's Joint Operations Center over the New Year to ensure that all was peaceful. The Guard also provided liaison officers to the NYS Emergency Management Office and the New York City Police Departments.
And while party-goers dancing among the confetti and rock music may have not appreciated all the security precautions that the New York Guard and NYPD provided, the men and women who provided that security got their "thank you" in the form of a joyful end to 2008 and peaceful beginning to 2009.

And it is important for Americans to appreciate that during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guard Soldiers and Airmen have paid a high price in both lost lives and time away from family and their civilian careers.

While the help the Guard personnel provided for the people of New York on New Year's Eve is more a traditional Guard role (i.e. responding to the needs of the Governor), Guard members have been deploying to combat zones at the behest of the federal government in numbers not seen since the wars in Vietnam and Korea.

While Guard members certainly understand that there is always the potential to be "activated" and sent overseas on 12-month deployments, this sacrifice has been asked of Guard members more and more frequently as the Wars in the Middle East continue. Many Guard members have sacrificed their civilian careers and time with growing families to serve their nation abroad.

During this New Year, Americans should be particularly grateful for both the domestic, as well as the international service, that Guard members have given the people of the United States since 2001.

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Posted by Allied Blogger Admin @ 9:26 AM • 0 comments

Pilot Program Has Navy Officers Working from Home

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

When most people think of service in the Navy, they think of sunsets at sea or duty stations in exotic ports like Hawaii or Japan, but for a select group of Navy officers they will soon be working from the not-so-exotic location of their homes.

The initiative is part of the Navy;s Virtual Command Pilot Program, which allows a select group of officers to work from home.

"This program will allow officers to fill career-enhancing billets without necessarily having to transfer to do so," said Capt. James Oakes, in the office of the chief of naval personnel (CNP) where the jobs will be located. "The pilot offers the opportunity to reduce permanent change-of-station costs for the Navy while providing stability for Navy families. It's a win, win."

The test program will initially be open to eight officer billets. The officers selected for these billets should be self-starters, capable of working independently and maintaining open lines of communication with their supervisors via phone and email. They must be able to travel periodically to their parent commands.

"It offers individuals the opportunity to work in high-impact positions while maintaining geo-stability to support personal and family needs," said Ferguson.

While the new pilot program is open only to select group of naval officers, Navy enlisted personnel shouldn;t fret because they can study right now for a civilian career that will help them work from home or work independently instead of being tied to an office or permanent location all day.

Enlisted Sailors can take advantage of Navy Tuition Assistance (TA) to train for a number of vocational careers where they can work from home or be their own boss.

Sailors interested in a medical career can enroll in a medical transcription program and train to work at home as a medical transcriptionist. This is a true "work-at home" career that provides an important service to doctors and medical centers.

Another position that will allow a Sailor to be free from having to work in an office all day is that of a real estate agent. And while it;s certainly true that the real estate market is down these days, it;s a sure bet that it will eventually pick up. Why not position yourself to be in a position to take advantage of it when it does pick up?

Sailors can also use Tuition Assistance to train for a career as a home inspector. These days very few people buy homes without hiring a home inspector – you can be the person that home buyers and real estate agents turn to when they need expert help.
Home inspectors work in the neighborhoods of America, meeting new people in a weekly basis and participating in an industry that affects millions of Americans. A home inspection career is a great bet for Sailors who enjoy working with their hands and are comfortable with tools and enjoy learning about the parts of a house.

In addition to the careers mentioned above, Sailors can also look into training for jobs like medical coder, licensed contractor, pharmacy technician or private investigator.

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