By Bret Anderson
Jimmy Collins introduced our main speaker, Lieutenant General Gary Volesky, and pointed out that the United States Army celebrates its 244th birthday this year. He also invited members to join the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) Freedom Fest on the 4th of July. RSVP to Jimmy if you'd like to attend.
Lt. Gen. Volesky opened by placing JBLM in perspective for the state of Washington. It is the second largest employer in the state and provides jobs for 50,000 people. In a year, JBLM contributes nearly eight billion dollars to the Washington State economy.
JBLM is home to the First Corps, the oldest corps in the United States Army. It is celebrating its 100-year anniversary. Assigned responsibility to the Pacific, it is the only corps with units in other states including Alaska and Hawaii. This allows for training in both jungle and arctic environments.
The First Corps is charged with maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific. This important region has a large number of people and products. It is defined as a circle stretching from India to Japan, including all of southeast Asia. Central to the area is the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Sumatra. It is important because half of the shipping tonnage for America goes through that strait.
Realizing the importance of Pacific pathways, America and the army work to build respect and partnerships with Mongolia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and Pakistan. We face concerns about North Korea, China, and Russia, as well as violent extremist organizations. Also, as a good neighbor, we stand ready to help in the case of natural disasters because of the many tornadoes, earthquakes, and volcanoes in that region.
Why do people sign up for service in the army? Some start out looking for adventure or something to do after high school. After six months, this seems to change into wanting to be part of something bigger than just themselves.
The army wants to get great Americans to serve. Seattle is one of the top 22 cities that the army wants to recruit in. A lot of our troops come from the South and they want to attract more people from other areas. The army is working hard to get better at transitioning service men and women into civilian life. We want them to leave our army better than when they came in. It is interesting to note that 48% of retiring soldiers have stayed in the Pacific Northwest.
What can we do to support a service man or woman? The army has two programs: Get to Know a Soldier and Get to Know a Military Family or Spouse. Check the army website for more information.
Notes from the Q & A:
We have reduced the scale of our exercises and think that is a good thing.
The army has a huge space architecture. We have to be much more effective in the space and cyber domain. It is important to integrate all the domains.
As someone who has grown up in Washington, Lt. Gen. Volseky appreciates the natural environment.
We are not ever going to fight alone. We have to learn the nuances of other cultures and how to work with them. Everybody wants respect.
We constantly work to ensure that we get our joint partners, the navy, air force and coast guard involved. Every day we have JBLM soldiers somewhere in the world.
We’ll do what we are asked to do, but we will not violate the constitution.
To start the meeting, President Cindy rang the bell at precisely 12:30 pm and we began with a Greet-n-Grin on the topic: “Should the U.S. develop a space force branch of the armed services?”
Mike Colbrese and Burr Stewart led us in a rousing song, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, to hopefully energize our favorite team.
David Woodward gave us many inspirations. Of course, there is the future greatness of the Mariners. This is the anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote and we celebrate those who struggled so long to achieve it. We celebrate all civil rights proponents for their successes. This week also brings us Eid al-Fitr during which our Muslim friends and neighbors celebrate their faith and their commitment to caring for others. We celebrate the people of our military who serve and protect us. Indeed, we celebrate all those people across the world who serve a higher purpose. We all strive to serve a greater good and leave the world a better place when it is our time to go.
John Steckler gave us another of his memorable introductions, this time for new member, Jordan Hathaway, a passionate professional in hospitality at the Hotel Ändra.
Charley Dickey followed up with his own introduction of new member, Matt LeMaster, the scholastic heavyweight who brought up his college football team’s grade point average and is now a great deal-making lawyer.
This week’s Recruiter Rewards prize gift gasket from Taylor Shimizu went to Nancy Osborne. Daron Vchulek reminded us not to forget the farewell party for President Cindy at the yacht club. Celene Haque invited us to the annual kick-off party for Seattle City Rotaract on July 11 at 5:30 pm.
Closing thought from President Cindy: Not all of us can do great things. We can do small things with great love.
This week's Totem Report was written by Bret Anderson.jpg)
