27 April 2012 - The Gulf Defender

A2 | Gulf Defender Tyndall Air Force Base
Friday, April 27, 2012
RETREAT from page A1
about the hard times his
family had gone through.
He acknowledged Mary
for standing by his side.
But it was Mary who gave
an emotional speech during
which she broke down
in tears more than once.
Christopher uses a leader
dog to get around.
“Any injury is not easy
to live with,” Mary said.
“Sometimes you wonder
when this is going to end,
but it’s never going to end.
This is life.”
Mary said she and Christopher
were happy to come
to the retreat.
“What a chance to come
to a place and actually
start over again,” Mary
said, tears in her eyes.
She noted the auto dealership
sponsors, resort sponsors
and the “five star”
accommodations.
“You all should be so
proud of yourselves,” she
said, referring to the Bay
County residents who welcomed
the warriors to
town.
U.S. Marine David
Noblit, 24, of Herndon,
Penn., was in awe of the
reception he received
from the Panama City
and Panama City Beach
communities.
“I can’t even explain it. I
can’t even put it into words,”
said Noblit, who uses a
wheelchair after stepping
on an improvised explosive
deivce in Helmand Province,
Afghanistan, in October
2010. “It is more than
I thought it would be. It is
really overwhelming. On
the way here, seeing all
the flags and all the people,
this is really a great
Choose good passwords,
and keep them confidential
Passwords are very
important and are a common
form of authentication.
They are used daily to log
onto personal computers
and access email accounts
and even one’s bank
account. The more systems
we use, the more passwords
we need. Passwords should
be kept secret from those
who are not allowed access
to those systems or websites
you use. So sharing your
passwords with others is not
a good idea. Another good
practice is not to use the
same passwords for every
system or account you have.
If someone were to obtain
your password, they could
potentially gain access to all
of your information on every
system you use.
Cyber criminals have
community here that supports
all of us.”
U.S. Army Sgt. Anthony
Verra, 32, was on hand as a
guest speaker. Verra, from
Virginia, had been to the
Warrior Retreat last year.
“The first trip was overwhelming,
and this one is
probably more so,” Verra
said. “I think there was a
bigger turnout this time.”
Verra said the Bay
County area meant a lot to
him.
“It is a way to reconnect,”
he said. “After months and
months of therapy and hospitals,
surgeries and doctors,
it is really good to get
away from all that.”
Verra stepped on an IED
Sept. 22, 2010.
“I lost my left leg above
the knee,” he said. “It was
an amputation.”
His right leg is also gone,
as is part of his pelvis. His
hands also were damaged.
He now uses a wheelchair.
“Panama City is a place
everywhere else should
come to find a model of
what they should be like,”
he said. “The patriotism,
the love and sincerity and
compassion they have
here, it is unmatched.”
Earlier in the day, the
procession over the Hathaway
Bridge in to Panama
City was lined with residents
who welcomed service
members who had
come to the retreat.
Panama City Beach
Fire Chief John Daly was
out with a few of his firefighters
along the parade
route.
“Our department wants
to support the wounded
warriors,” Daly said.
easy access to giant lists of
potential passwords. These
lists contain hundreds of
thousands of words from
hundreds of languages,
making it easy for them to
“crack.” Keep this in mind
when choosing a password,
and watch for attackers
trying to trick you through
phone calls or email messages
asking for your password.
Never use personal
information that can be easily
guessed, for example, the
make and model of your first
car or your birthday. Passwords
that are not actual
words are harder to guess.
Try using the following tips
for creating challenging
passwords:
• Use long passwords (8
or more characters)
• Use special characters
“These are the men and
women that defend our
country. This is just a little
something we can do to
show our support.
“This is the third time
we have done this, and it
never gets old,” Daly said.
“I think that Panama City
and Panama City Beach
really roll out the welcome
mat for these wounded
warriors.”
Barbara Blum waved
her American flag on the
Hathaway Bridge.
“One of the reasons is
I have a nephew over in
James Haley Hospital for
a spinal injury,” Blum said,
referring the veterans hospital
in Tampa.
Senior Airman 1st Class
Shelby Brinkley, 23, is stationed
at Tyndall Air Force
Base.
“It is always important
to honor those who have
served and given and sacrificed,
whether it is the
ultimate sacrifice or being
injured fighting for the
freedoms of our country
and the brotherhood the
military has and the core
values we hold.”
The Warrior Beach
Retreat Inc. is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit established by
the Copes in 2009 to enable
wounded combat veterans
from the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars and their families
to bring honor and respect
to those who have served
their country. The Copes’
son Joshua was severely
wounded by an IED blast
in Baghdad, Iraq. He lost
both his legs from the knee
down, and both his hands
were injured, Linda Cope
said.
and numbers
• Never write down
passwords
• Never use your own
name
• Never use only a word
from the dictionary
• Never use keyboard
patterns (i.e. qwerty1234)
Use password phrases to
remember your passwords
more easily, for example:
1. Choose a phrase:
I love my mother very
dearly + mother’s birth
year 1924
2. Use the first letter
of each word and remove
spaces:
Ilmmvd1924
3. Replace some letters
with numbers and other
letters with numbers and
symbols:
1LmMvd!92$
Tyndall to see reduction
of telephone operators
By Airman 1st Class Christopher
Reel
325th Fighter Wing Public
Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCEBASE
— Full-time base operator
services are now
only available Monday
through Friday, 5 a.m.
to midnight.
The changes are
part of the Air Education
and Training Command’s
Culture of Cost
Consciousness. Headquarters
AETC is looking
to achieve cost
savings by using technology
to eliminate the
use of full-time base
operator services.
These services
include Hearts Apart,
morale calls, conference
call hosting and
the elimination of directory
and base locator
services.
“Rest assured, service
to our customers is
still a priority for AETC
— we just think there
are smarter and more
efficient ways to provide
these services,”
said Rebecca Meares-
Jones, chief of AETC
Computer Systems
Squadron’s Services
Flight.
Hearts Apart and
morale calls will be handled
through the use of
PIN access.
“Deployed members
who previously
called back to their
home station through
our operators (morale
calls) will use their pin
to complete calls automatically,”
said Jerry
Flowers, 325th Communications
Squadron
chief of operations
flight.
These changes will
take effect in phases
through complete
implementation on Oct.
1.
Beginning May 1,
the base locator and
directory services will
only be available during
duty hours, 7 a.m. to
5 p.m., Monday through
Friday. All calls during
nonduty hours will
PROSTITUTION from page A1
the past week conducting interviews
and investigating the scene
firsthand.
“They provided the commander
(of Southern Command) with a summary
of the evidence-collection
efforts to date,” Ruiz said.
He added that the colonel and
lawyer now will conduct face-to-face
interviews with witnesses and the
suspected military members.
“It is important for our investigating
officer to interview potential subjects
in person, so that if the subject
requests, they can be represented in
the interview by legal counsel,” Ruiz
said.
It is estimated the interviews will
take one week. When they are concluded,
the evidence will be submitted
EDITOR from page A1
and accepted a job as the editor of
the Gulf Defender, I had a few ideas
in mind.
After consulting with a few of the
officials at Tyndall, changes were
made.
We’ve added entertainment
listings and have a wonderful young
columnist, Laura Eggers, who is
helping us see the military through
the eyes of somebody who lives on
the base.
The newest change is the one up
top, the flag. The banner that goes
across the top had been around for
a very long time. I asked to have it
changed, and it took a while, but I can
be handled by an automated
call tree.
“By Aug. 1, Tyndall
is expected to have
all phases complete
and eliminate the consolidated
telephone
operator services,”
said Daniel Moran,
325th Communications
Squadron deputy director.
“All calls will then
be handled through the
automated call tree.”
The 325 CS is working
in coordination with
AETC headquarters on
implementation and
will work to minimize
impacts to the base.
“Manpower constraints
will drive us to
reduce operating hours
before all of the automated
solutions are in
place,” Meares-Jones
said, “but we will ensure
all possible actions
are taken to minimize
impact to AETC’s mission
and personnel.”
For your reference,
the Tyndall Guide is at
www.militarymediainc.
com/tyndall/.
to Southern Command’s staff judge
advocate for a legal review, which
Ruiz said can be a lengthy process. It
will then be turned over to the commander,
who will decide whether
Southern Command will take action
or if the case will be forwarded to
individual military service branches,
giving those respective commanders
sole discretion on how to handle the
case.
“We just have to wait for the investigation
to run its course,” said Lt.
Col. James Brownlee, public affairs
officer for the 7th Special Forces at
Eglin. “Anything we say could have
an effect on them.”
Further details were not disclosed,
with officials citing an ongoing
investigation.
say it is finished.
Now, compromise is always
essential when you’re dealing with a
team. I have the pleasure of working
with a great team, and I mean great.
We made the changes with the help of
those at Tyndall Air Force Base and
our design team.
Thus we have the new look for the
Gulf Defender. We all hope you like it.
If you have any ideas or wishes
for the Gulf Defender, please email
me and I will try my best to get back
to you. I would like to thank all who
serve and have served.
Randal Yakey
Gulf Defender Editor
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Editor: Randal Yakey
Phone: 850-522-5108
E-mail: ryakey@pcnh.com
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This publication’s content is not necessarily
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