Focus
Many Servicemembers who leave active-duty transition into the Reserves as a way to maintain their ties to the service they've come to love. Yet keeping a foot in both the civilian and military worlds isn't always easy. For the past 13 years, Tech. Sgt. Charlene Taylor has been serving in the
Operation Family Support
The ministry at Life Center Church in Tacoma hosts an annual SHE Soiree, which is intended to give female members of the congregation and their friends a night out. This year, it added a new component in the form of a Military Spouse Lounge. Thus, in addition to motivational speakers, musical
Veterans
A few years ago, the Nebraska College of Technical Agricultural (NCTA), which is affiliated with the University of Nebraska, announced a new program: Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots. The two-year technical program targets Servicemembers transitioning out of the military and looking for a civilian career. "An estimated 45 percent of the
Jobs
When Servicemembers transition from a military career into a civilian career, there are often obstacles. Hire America's Heroes, a locally based nonprofit organization, is striving to help address that problem. In May, it hosted an event on Joint Base Lewis-McChord to entertain companies that were open to hiring veterans. During the
Operation Family Support
Recently the city of Lakewood, in partnership with the Washington State Employment Security Department and other local economic development organizations, was awarded a sizeable National Emergency Grant in the amount of $4.8 million though the Department of Labor, which made the grant available as a result of the Base Realignment
Focus
For the past 15 years, Trisha Hatfield Graves - a former mortgage loan processor - has been teaching Pilates classes. For most of that time, it's been at her own studio, the Pilates Center of Olympia. "I opened this at a time when no one south of Seattle had opened a
Operation Family Support
On May 20, the Fort Lewis Family Member Scholarship Fund held its 2011 awards ceremony and presented 26 military spouses and children with scholarships. On average, the group raises $23,000 annually, yet this year it raised $28,700 from a variety of sources, including private donations, the Armed Forces Bank, the
Military Life
Every 24 hours, five or more babies are born at the Madigan Healthcare System on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In 2009, the hospital saw its highest amount of births to date: 2,457. Then in 2010, due to deployments, that number dropped off by close to 500. Yet this year, with the
News Articles
On April 29, the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord hosted an outdoor combat awards ceremony at Stadium Bowl in Tacoma, Stadium High School's historic waterfront field. The event was out of the ordinary since the 75th Ranger Regiment, which falls under Special Operations Command and has battalions
Business News
For Denise Dhane there are two types of people in the world: those who ‘get it' and those who don't. It's a phrase she uses freely when someone understands the sacrifices of the military or bestows generosity and goodwill to any of the servicemembers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Quite simply,
Military Life
Though the Woodbrook Hunt Club (WHC) was only officially registered in 1926 with the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, huntsmen have been hunting in this area for more than a century. The WHC credits its military neighbor, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, for its existence, since its members' ability to conduct rides
Health
About 25 percent of women experience some period of infertility during their reproductive years, which is typically from age 15 to 44. Causes of infertility vary, as does treatment, and the cost can often be prohibitive, leaving active-duty and dependent females to wonder what TRICARE covers. "I find that when you speak
Military Life
In 2009, Katelyn Davis, who at the time was newly married to Army Sgt. Jeff Davis, started a blog in order to keep her and her husband's faraway families and friends up to date. The two had been high school sweethearts and grew up in a very small town in
Schools
In the Steilacoom Historical School District, close to 50 percent of the student body comes from a military family. So it should come as no surprise that the Military Child Education Coalition extended an invitation to Steilacoom High School (SHS) to implement the Student 2 Student (S2S) program. S2S, which
Veterans
Everyone wonders what the secret of staying young is, but who actually knows? "The secret is keeping active and having the satisfaction of doing things to help people," said Samuel Jones, 88, a retired colonel who voluntarily joined the Army in 1942 to fight in WWII. He spent three years
News Front
According to the calendar it's almost PCS season, the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day when the military moves more than one third of their total shipments for the year, which is about 600,000 across all of the branches. Last summer, the military moved 230,000 families and this year, due
Operation Family Support
Air Force wife Alane Pearce has been dealing with the military for more than two decades, but in the past few years, things had changed a lot since her husband started to be away from home a lot more. "I was having a hard time balancing life and helping my son
Resources
Forbes.com 2007's top 10 list of pet-friendly cities included both Portland, Ore. and Seattle, placing the Pacific Northwest in the top-tier. The list (which hasn't been repeated by the magazine since) was based on a variety of factors, including the amount of public park acreage, especially dog parks. Dog parks, especially
Focus
Valerie Morillo says that the name Dharla has always sort of represented her alter ego, so when her husband vetoed giving their daughter the name, she decided to bring the name to life a different way, with the birth of Dharla's Boutique. At first, she focused on arts and crafts,
Operation Family Support
"To me running is about doing something affirming to remind me that I am living and surviving," said 29-year-old Lisa Hallett, who is a co-founder of the running group wear blue: run to remember. On Aug. 20, 2009, Hallett's life changed forever when her husband, and father to their three children,