Explore
If you consider yourself a Pacific Northwesterner, you're probably aware fall isn't the season to stay inside, it's the time to grab a rain jacket and get outside. Thurston County is the perfect fall destination offering plenty of family-friendly parks and trails to explore, plus some recommended eats to discover. Percival
Veterans
If you are a wartime veteran who meets certain income, net worth, age or disability requirements, or you are a surviving spouse, then you may be eligible for VA's pension benefits. But did you know that VA's Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits, or enhanced pension, can boost your pension
News Front
WASHINGTON - Soldiers and families paying unusually high living costs may qualify for a short-term increase in their housing allowance from October through December 2021, finance officials said Sept. 23. To receive the payout, soldiers in designated areas will need to apply through their unit S-1s and show they have incurred
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Even though Washington is known as the evergreen state due to the Douglas Firs and pine trees that remain green year-round there are plenty of places to see stunning fall foliage near Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) with stunning color. These colors really seems to pop when contrasted with the evergreens
News Front
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD - The Western Air Defense Sector hosted a Radar Operations Orientation Course for 12 members of the Royal Malaysian Air Force's 2nd Air Division, 330th Squadron, Aug. 2-27. WADS helped U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Pacific Air Forces plan and execute the training under the National Guard's State Partnership
Family
Tori Reim describes herself as lighthearted. "I am really easy going, and I try to see things from other people's points of view," she began. "I feel like too many people take life much too seriously." Reim grew up on a ranch outside of Sahuarita, Arizona, a small mining town just south
Veterans
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs launched a new initiative with community dental care providers to help improve dental care access for veterans enrolled in VA health care who are currently ineligible for VA dental services. VETSmile: Connecting Veterans with Dentists in their Communities started early July to help eligible
News Front
On Sept. 14, 2021, the Army announced its plan to comply with the Secretary of Defense's order requiring all service members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Army has made COVID-19 vaccines part of our normal medical readiness requirements and began mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations of soldiers using the FDA approved
News Front
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD - With just a quick drive over to Lewis North on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, one can find a rather explosive scene. That's because it's home to the 3rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion. The unit's main purpose is the construction, deployment, disarmament and disposal of military and civilian ordnance. As one of several mutual aid contracts JBLM has with off-base communities, the JBLM EOD team covers most of Washington, western Oregon and northern California with explosive
News Front
Space Force Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond made the announcement at the Air Force Association meeting in Washington, Sept. 22. The transfers are scheduled to be effective Oct. 1, 2021, if the DOD budget is passed and signed. "We're one team with our sister services and over the last year-and-a-half we have
News Front
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD - Earning the name "America's Airlift Wing" doesn't happen overnight. To ensure that reputation stays with the 62nd Airlift Wing takes years of dedicated work from each airman, each team and each flight of the C-17 Globemaster III. As of August 2021, the 62nd AW added another
News Front
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - Ten Army Materiel Command employees have received the highest performance award given annually in recognition of innovation, leadership and dedication to the mission. The awardees include Julian Villar Jr., Army Sustainment Command, Installation Property Book Officer for Supply and Services Division, Army Field Support Battalion Joint
News Front
JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD - A new legacy begins at 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) as the first female soldier from the unit graduates one of the toughest courses in the U.S. military, the U.S. Army Ranger School on August 27, 2021. With an attrition rate of more than 60
Family
WASHINGTON - The Army is currently piloting a new Exceptional Family Member Program online enrollment process to improve the assignment research and selection process for EFMP participants, G-9 officials said Sept. 9. Close to 300 soldiers and family members are participating in the initial test of the integrated Army Enterprise EFMP
Explore
After a year and a half of no live theater on stage, Tacoma Musical Playhouse, Tacoma Little Theatre, Lakewood Playhouse, Olympia Little Theatre, Harlequin and all theaters in Tacoma and Olympia are once again able to welcome people into their auditoriums, and actors, singers and dancers onto their stages. In
News Front
WASHINGTON - The Army outlined its plan today to fully comply with the Secretary of Defense's order requiring all service members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Army began implementing the Secretary of Defense's order on Aug. 24, following DoD and White House guidance. Before then, vaccines had been optional. "This
News Front
The growing division between civilians and the military is akin to a long-term marriage that is headed for divorce court. For all intents and purposes, it looks like the perfect marriage - the nice house, the right friends, and a comfortable income. But behind the scenes of this upper middle-class union,
News Front
WASHINGTON - Twenty years ago, terrorists hijacked four flights and launched a series of attacks that changed all of America. At 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center's north tower in New York, followed by a second attack on the south
Focus
As Robert Ezelle prepared to go home after the horrendous events of 9/11, he took a last look out over the operations floor in the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) building at McChord Field. "We had those old green radar screens, and those scopes were never blank," he recalled. "But on that
Military Life
Amy Shick is involved with Army life. As a youngster she was small, loud and hyperactive. Growing up in Redding, CA, her family always had hamsters, bunnies, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, birds, pigs, donkeys, cows, ponies and horses for her to be with. "Not all at the same time!" she exclaimed. Moving to
