Celebrate Black History Month  at a luncheon, Feb. 10, at 11:30 a.m. at the Benning Conference Center.
 

Upcoming events:

Youth Baseball registration begins Feb. 1. Call 706-545-1853.

The 1st Annual Darby Ranger Run originally scheduled for  Feb. 19, has been rescheduled to a date to be determined.  

The mother/son Buccaneers' Ball will be held at the Benning Conference Center Feb. 11. Tickets, $15 for mom and $10 for each son, will go on sale Jan. 10 at Omega Travel and MWR headquarters, Building 2783, Eckel Avenue.

From the Top

In February, Fort Benning's Equal Opportunity Office will host a Black History Month luncheon at 11:30 a.m., Feb. 10, at the Benning Conference Center. The theme for this year's celebration is African Americans and the Civil War. This luncheon is a great opportunity to learn about African American contributions to the military during the Civil War and how they have shaped the current military forces.

In December, the Army released the Army Diversity Roadmap - an ambitious plan to help prepare us for a changing America, as well as, a complex operational and battlefield environment. Embracing diversity by all - Soldiers, Family members and Civilians is crucial, as we have long ago realized that not only do we need to understand and appreciate the diversity and culture of our deployed environments; we also need to have more awareness of the uniqueness within our own formations.

African Americans make up nearly 21 percent of the active-duty force, and there are 37 general officers in today's Army; including General Lloyd J. Austin, Commander of U.S. Forces - Iraq, and General William E. Ward, Commander of U.S. Africa Command. 

We have to continue to adapt and become more agile as a force, while maintaining momentum and initiative for success in the future. Together, appreciating and respecting one another, we will have success and like our forefathers, continue to shape American history.

News 

Fort Benning gets first Australian LNO 

FORT BENNING, Ga. - The Maneuver Center of Excellence has made a permanent splash Down Under. Lt. Col. Michael "Mick" Ahern recently became the first Australian liaison officer assigned to Fort Benning. The close U.S. ally already had soldiers serving at the Maneuver Captains Career Course, but he'll act as the senior Australian Defence Force representative on post in a full range of official and community activities.

Ahern, who has a three-year assignment, arrived in late December from Sydney, where he was commander of the Australian Joint Proof and Experimental Unit. It's a key weapons and explosives ordnance test and evaluation agency for the Australian army, navy and air force.

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Local Army Reserve unit has openings

 

A local Army Reserve unit with a mission to groom noncommissioned officers for Drill Sergeants School has opportunities for Soldiers getting out of active duty.

The Columbus-based 3rd Battalion, 485th Infantry Regiment, is seeking Infantrymen and Soldiers in other military occupational specialties to fill a range of openings, said Maj. Ceci Riedel, the battalion operations officer.  

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Army releases 2011 Tactical Wheeled Vehicle strategy

WASHINGTON-- The Department of the Army today released its Fiscal Year 2011 Tactical Wheeled Vehicle strategy, defining how the Army will modernize and sustain its tactical wheeled vehicle fleets through Fiscal Year 2025.

 

This comprehensive strategy represents the culmination of nearly four years of study and analysis on the Army's TWV fleet of Light, Medium, Heavy and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected tactical vehicles.  

 

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AFAP Conference receives more than 120 issues

 

Members of the Fort Benning community submitted 126 issues to last week's Army Family Action Plan Conference.

 

Many of these were Interactive Customer Evaluation comments that were forwarded to the appropriate agencies; the remaining 59 issues were discussed in the work groups at the conference, said Stacie Boyer, AFAP program manager.

 

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Security Gains Should Hinder Insurgent Ability to Regroup in Spring

 
 

KABUL, Afghanistan--Insurgents will face a more difficult spring than in previous years as Afghan and coalition forces consolidate and expand on last year's gains.

 

Much progress has been made by Afghan and coalition forces in securing Afghanistan over the last several months, including dramatic changes in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, said Rear Adm. Greg Smith, communications director for the International Security Assistance Force.

 

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'Don't Ask' Repeal Plan Progressing Quickly

   

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2011 - The plan to end the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military is progressing quickly, senior Defense Department officials said here today.  

 

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Army Enterprise e-mail migration to begin in February

 

Although the road toward Enterprise e-mail may seem complicated, there is a clear map, leaders know where the effort is headed, and the economy sized e-mail box Soldiers have now is about to become a luxury sedan, about 40 times bigger.

 

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Wounded warrior delegation relates top concerns to senior leadership

WASHINGTON--Concern about competitiveness among peers ranks top among the concerns for severely wounded, ill and injured Soldiers who have been allowed to continue to serve on active or active reserve duty.

 

More than 30 such Soldiers were invited by the Army Wounded Warrior Program to present their top concerns to Army leadership Jan. 27, during a COAD/COAR forum in Alexandria, Va.

 

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3-D software becoming safeware for Soldiers with PTSD

ARLINGTON, Va.--In the past six years, virtual reality "games" have evolved from plain old fun into a complex exposure therapy application to help Soldiers with combat-related post traumatic stress disorder return "home" from Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

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Programs available at ACS to assist new military parents

 

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. --New programs are available on Fort Huachuca to assist new parents and parents to be. Army Community Services now offers the New Parent Support Program and Baby Boot Camp. The programs are free to all active duty personnel and their families.

 

Baby Boot Camp was developed to give expecting parents the education they need before their baby arrives.

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Dixie Road Construction Update Animation

Dixie Road Construction Animation from Fort Benning Television on Vimeo.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel as you will see in this animation of what the new flyover bridge will look like once the new underpass is built on the Lindsey Creek Interchange as part of the Dixie Road Construction project. The reshaped roadway allows for a free-flowing intersection to drivers coming on or off post. This widened corridor should be completed by fall and will help ease traffic woes especially with the increase in traffic anticipated when the Armor School reaches full operational capability in September. 

BN Commander escaped dictatorship, pursues dreams 

As a young boy growing up in Uganda, Joseph D'costa became inspired by America's role in World War II and told his teacher he wanted to go to the U.S. Military Academy someday.

"She laughed at me for my dream of going to West Point, telling me it would be impossible because I wasn't an American and Uganda had no ties to the U.S.," he recalled.  

"I still remember that to this day." The 13th of 14 children raised by an Indian father and African mother, D'costa was exiled to Austria at age 7 following Idi Amin's rise to power in 1971.  

Two years later, he came to the United States and ultimately got into West Point on a third and final attempt, earning his commission in 1989. Now a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, he just completed a 10-month mobilization at Fort Benning as commander of 1st Battalion, 378th Infantry Regiment, a Lafayette, La.-based unit activated to augment basic combat training for the 192nd Infantry Brigade on Sand Hill.

"When we talk about the diversity of Soldiers across our Army, Lieutenant Colonel D'Costa's life story is one that tells a great story and serves as a motivational and inspiring example for our Soldiers, DoD civilians and the nation's civilian population," said Lt. Col. Roger O'Steen, the brigade's executive officer.Shortly after Amin seized the Ugandan presidency in a military coup, D'costa's mother fell ill with pneumonia-like symptoms.  

Because of her Protestant faith, however, she didn't get proper treatment as Amin decreed that anyone not a Muslim would get sent to the back of the line for health care. She died at 42."For me, it was very devastating, to realize the person I depended on so much was no longer there," said D'costa, who was 6 at the time.

He said Amin then declared that anybody who wasn't 100 percent black had a choice: leave Uganda or face execution. D'costa's father fled to India, a brother and sister got sent to Italy, and he took exile in Austria with five other siblings. Three stayed behind."I was half, so I was considered impure and had to leave," he said.  

"Here's a black man saying, 'You are not the perfect race.' When you experience racism from your own race ... I was not expecting that."Idi Amin was killing so many innocent people when they weren't leaving the country fast enough. Books were burned. Even educated blacks got killed because they were considered threats to Amin.

"The "Butcher of Uganda," as he became known, ruled over the nation for eight years. The number of opponents who were killed, tortured or imprisoned varies from 100,000 to half a million, according to biographical accounts. The dictator was ousted in 1979 by Ugandan nationalists, after which he fled into exile.

In Austria, a Catholic priest looked after D'costa, who spoke Swahili in Uganda and never learned English. In time, he was taught German.D'costa said he told the priest about his desire to attend West Point. The priest was a friend of then-U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, who arranged for 9-year-old D'costa and several siblings to come to the United States. He went to live with an older brother in Englewood, N.J.After graduating high school in 1983, D'costa applied to West Point but got turned down.

"They said I'm not American and don't speak English well enough, the very thing that teacher was telling me would happen," he said.So he joined the Army ROTC cadet corps at Providence College. Following his freshman year, the department head offered him a full scholarship, but he'd have to abandon his West Point dream and remain at Providence.

"It would've been the easy way out," he said, "but I needed to know how far I was willing to commit. I had given up on that, but (the ROTC department head) said, 'If West Point is in your heart, you need to apply again.'"D'costa submitted a second application, but West Point was already at its 1,500-cadet limit, so he had to go to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at Fort Monmouth, N.J., for a year and then apply again. If turned down, he would've been too old for another shot but was finally accepted and became a 21-year-old "plebe."  

He served in the Gulf War as a field artillery officer. D'costa left the Army in 1994 but joined the Reserve two years later. Since then, he's deployed twice to Iraq, once to Afghanistan, and supported military relief missions following Hurricane Katrina and the Pakistan earthquake.D'Costa has been the 1st Battalion, 378th Infantry Regiment commander since 2008.  

A change of command ceremony takes place March 12 in Lafayette. He's set to leave Fort Benning on Feb. 11."I credit every success I've had to my faith in Jesus Christ, because I shouldn't be alive today. My life should've ended in Uganda," he said. "All these people I encountered along the way were put into my life to help me reach my goals. ... I never looked at my skin color as a reason I did not get to West Point at first. They were looking for certain qualities and tools I needed to learn."

D'costa will return to work in the private sector, but he's expected to graduate from the U.S. Army War College by July. From there, he'll learn if the Army has any further plans for him. The lieutenant colonel praised the U.S. military for preserving freedom around the globe and said he stays in the Army Reserve as a token of his appreciation.

"The United States could've said 'no' to me," he said. "Putting my life on the line for a country that took me in is a small price to pay. ... Freedom is so priceless, and all I have to do is serve in the reserves to continue saying 'thank you.' Until the Army tells me to get out, I'll stay. "This is the greatest country in the world. When I say that, I'm not just saying it because I heard it from somebody else. ... The majority of Americans don't know what it's like when you have no freedom."

D'costa ultimately hopes to work for NASA. In the late 1990s, he spent two years with the agency in a liaison role for Enron. "West Point seemed like an impossible goal ... but I kept pursuing that goal till I made it happen," he said. "You can achieve anything you want - you just have to put a little effort into it."

Watch the latest episode of 'The Benning Report'

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Taking care of the best military community in the Army!

Upcoming DFMWR events:

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Job Fair

Army Community Service's Employment Readiness Program, the Georgia Department of Labor and Columbus Technical College will host a job fair on Feb. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  at the Columbus Ironworks & Trade Center, 801 Front Street, in downtown Columbus.  At least 75 companies are expected to participate. Please bring at least 25 copies of your resume for possible on-site interviews.  For more information, call 706-545-2836.

Newcomers Orientation 

MWR's Army Community Service continues to host weekly Newcomers Orientations at 9 a.m. Wednesdays at Patch hall, Building 7. Free child care is provided with registration. Call 706-545-0403.

Fishing Tournaments 

Uchee Creek continues to offer monthly fishing tournaments with cash prizes and boat rental discounts for active duty Soldiers.  The next tournament is scheduled for Feb. 19.  For more information, go to http://uchee.benningmwr.com/ or call 706-685-3060 ext 200, 201 or 202.

Family Bowling Days every Sunday 

Every Sunday in February is Family Day at the Main Mall Bowling Center, next to the commissary on Marne Road. From 1-5pm, pay $40 for two games of bowling, four shoe rentals, and a meal for four. Add $10 for each additional family member.

Valentine's Day Brunch 

Join us for the Valentine's Brunch, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Feb 13, at the Benning Conference Center. Don't miss this Fort Benning tradition, featuring gourmet food, a chocolate fountain, a pianist and a fresh cut rose for each sweetheart.  Reservations are recommended.

Playground special 

Sweet deal! During the whole month of February, we're offering two-for-one indoor playground specials Monday through Friday at the Family Entertainment Center.  Bring a friend for free! For more information, call 706-545-4272.

Mardi Gras 

Celebrate Mardi Gras at the Benning Brew Pub. The fun starts at 7 p.m. Feb. 26. Includes an "in the spirit" costume contest, the crowning of a king and queen, limbo, free spicy jambalaya and drink specials. The Benning Brew Pub is located in Building 2784, Sightseeing Road, next to El Zapatas.

Paintball 

MWR's Outdoor Recreation will host Paintball in the Woodlands Feb. 18.  This event is free, and ODR offers equipment for rent or purchase. For more information, call 706-545-7978.

CG Golf Scramble 

Putt up or shut up! Test your game against the commanding general in

the CG's Golf Scramble February 24 at the Fort Benning Golf Course. $30 in advance, $35 on game day. Call 706-687-1940.

Disc Golf Tournament 

ODR will host its first Disc Golf tournament at 10:30 a.m. Feb 12 at Russ Pond for ages 15 and older.  There is a $10 entry fee. Prizes will be awarded.  To register, call 706-545-9636.

King Pond Treasure Hunt 

Take the family on a treasure hunt! ODR will host geocaching at Kings Pond Feb. 26 from 9 a.m. to noon. We will provide the treasure and the GPS. This event is free.

Kelley Hill Turbo Poker 

The Kelley Hill Recreation Center offers Lunchtime Turbo Poker from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. every Wednesday. Buy-in is $15, and cash prizes are awarded first and second place winners. For more information, call 706-544-3079.

Main Mall Bowling Center Family Day

Every Sunday in February is Family Day at the Main Mall Bowling Center, next to the commissary on Marne Road. From 1-5pm, pay $40 for two games of bowling, four shoe rentals, and a meal for four. Add $10 for each additional family member.

 

Valentine's Day Brunch 

Join us for the Valentine's Brunch, 10am-1:30pm, Feb 13, at the Benning Conference Center. Don't miss this Fort Benning tradition, featuring gourmet food, a chocolate fountain, a pianist and a fresh cut rose for each sweetheart. Reservations are recommended.

Research and Reference Skills

 Sayers Library's resident AKO expert, Laquita King, will teach two classes in the New Year.  On Feb 18, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., she will teach Basic Research and Reference Skills for College Students. Attendees must have an AKO account. For more information, call 706-626-2550.

• You'll find the most up-to-the-minute information on our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/BenningFMWRfans.

Museum needs a few good men, women and children

If you are friendly and outgoing, a "people person," The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center wants you. The pay is great: the satisfaction of giving back to your community and being part of a world class operation in addition to some museum perks.

There are currently about 200 volunteers at the museum and Lora Warren, Director of Volunteers, is looking for about 150 more.  

There is no need for experience  one-on-one training is provided. There are no age or hours requirements; Volunteers range from 14 to 86 years old and while some work two shifts a week some only are able to come twice a month. The shifts are generally four hours long: from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1  to 5 p.m Tuesday through Saturday and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  

There are many opportunities to be of service. You can meet visitors in the lobby, man the information desk, meet and greet those coming to graduations, provide tours of WWII Company Street and as Warren says "interact with the public to help them enjoy the museum experience."

In addition to hugs of thanks from Warren, volunteers get a shirt and name tag, two free tickets to the IMAX theater, a free small popcorn, a discount in the restaurant and, after 50 hours of service, a 25 percent discount on pavers.

In just a year and a half of operation, eight volunteers already have 500 or more hours of service. They and others who have given of their time are recognized with pins and certificates during regular ceremonies.  

For more information and to sign up call Lora Warren at 706-685-5810.