Benning: Tip of the Bayonet (URL blocked? go to www.army.mil/benning)

Helping deployed Soldiers maintain bonds

Photo credit: Sgt. Ben Hutto, 3-3 Public Affairs.

The 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division is helping married Soldiers improve their relationships with their spouses during their current mission in Iraq.

The 3rd HBCT mental health assessment, given three months into the brigade's current deployment, determined that marital stress was a main concern of the brigade's Soldiers.

"Strong Bonds marriage retreats, Family Life [program], and counselors are all examples of the support systems available to our married Soldiers to help them and their spouses during and after our deployment," said Col. Pete Jones, the commander of the 3rd HBCT. "We are near the mid-point of this deployment and our marriage retreats were designed to introduce techniques that maintain and build relationships."

click on headline for more

______________________________________________

Photo credit Vince Little/The Bayonet

Sand Hill gets new BCT unit

A new unit has cranked up on Sand Hill and will spend the next year turning civilians into Soldiers as an additional basic combat training agent for the 192nd Infantry Brigade.

An activation ceremony took place March 31 for 1st Battalion, 378th Infantry Regiment, a Reserve element that comes to Fort Benning from LaFayette, La. Leaders said the formation supports the Army's overall growth and provides the brigade with an extra training outfit to handle the recruit surge that typically hits Sand Hill every summer.

click on headline for more
______________________________________________

Soldier's dad walks for warriors

Photo credit By KRISTIN MOLINARO, The Bayonet

John Cote hit the road April 1 to tackle a 2,140-mile walk in the name of wounded warriors and their families. Cote, 56, is walking from Camp Pendleton, Calif., to Fort Benning in hopes of raising $2 million to benefit the Fisher House Foundation.

In his first week on the road, Cotè has already raised more than $14,000 for the charity, which provides free temporary accommodations near major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers to families of wounded service members during treatment and recovery.

click on headline for more

______________________________________________

Books for the Doughboys

Photo Credit: USAMHI.
National Library Week is not the only connection the Army has with the American Library Association (ALA). That relationship first started in 1917. After the United States declared war on Germany on April 6 ,1917, an ALA representative met with Secretary of War Newton D. Baker. As one participant noted, Secretary Baker kept "a room full of senators and diplomats and other dignitaries waiting" while he developed plans to provide adequate library facilities for the Doughboys.

Shortly thereafter, the ALA established a Committee on Mobilization and War Service Plans to examine ways of ensuring that Army personnel would have quick and easy access to books, newspapers, and magazines. Within three months of declaring war, the U.S. Commission on Training Camp Activities invited the ALA to assume responsibility "for providing adequate library facilities" for thirty-two of the Army's cantonments.

click on headline for more

_____________________________________________

Peek into the past

Who is Carson McCullers?

If you've never heard the name before, you're not alone. Although not a household name like Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner, Carson McCullers is considered one of the major writers of 20th-century Southern fiction.

And she's a big deal in Columbus. Along with Ma Rainey, Coca-Cola, steamboats and textile mills, she's one of the city's claims to fame.

click on headline for more
______________________________________________

Want to learn CPR? Free training available

Photo credit: Tiffany Nabors, The Bayonet

The West Central Georgia Red Cross will offer free CPR training to the public at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. April 17 at Freedom Hall.

This year's theme for the annual event is "Each 1 Save 1."

The Fort Benning event comes after the first training day, which was held March 20 at Columbus State University in observance of American Red Cross Month in March. American Red Cross Health and Safety Director Sandra Grant said 254 people were trained that day.

click on headline for more
______________________________________________

Families gear up for new fishing season

Children ages 15 and younger can participate in the first Family Fishing Night of the season, from 5 to 7 p.m. April 20 at Russ Pond, hosted by Outdoor Recreation.

The event, open to military ID cardholders and families, is free.

This is one of seven Family Fishing nights scheduled between April and October.

Parents aren't allowed to fish, but they can help their children. The child with the fish that weighs the most at the end of the event will win a prize.

More than 20 fishing poles will be available to children but they must be reserved in advance. Bait, including worms, will be provided. Although preregistration isn't
required, Beadle recommends it so the bait doesn't run out.

Registration continues until April 19. For more information or to register, call Beadle at 706-545-9636 or Outdoor Recreation at 706-545-7978.

Click here for more Fort Benning News