Northwest Navy, Coast Guard train together

Navy divers and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team members from the Pacific Northwest met with Coast Guardsmen at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Quillayute River in La Push, Wash., for a week-long training evolution, June 22-26. According to Lt. Daniel Pick, officer in charge of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU ) 11 Det. Bangor, the Homeland Defense Interoperability Exercise provides an opportunity for both communities to learn how their counterparts work, while training together to complete their mission. “It’s an opportunity for multiple members of the EOD community to cross train and to work with the Coast Guard,” said Pick. “We do improvised explosive device awareness training with them, because they can come across vessels that they board that could very well have explosive components or explosive hazards, and we want to make sure they are as safe as possible. In turn, we learn what their procedures are for a rescue in the event we have a dive-related casualty.”
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Hospital Corpsman achieves meritorious advancement in Afghanistan

The high desert and rugged hills of the south eastern Afghan province of Zabul have long been unforgiving to many outsiders. Yet those who arrive and live in such a harsh environment sometimes find themselves on the receiving end, as Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Phillip Zarate recently did. Zarate was nominated for advancement under the Combat Meritorious Advancement Program for providing lifesaving assistance as part of the U.S. Army-led Saber Embedded Transition team in the far-flung region. Zarate is the sole U.S. medical provider for his team on Forward Operating Base Shamulzai, which is comprised of six other U.S. military personnel and approximately 60 Afghan National Army soldiers. The 21-year old corpsman from Fresno, Calif. has answered a litany of medical calls and combat-related emergencies during his year-long deployment.
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Tips from Navy Legal: The joys of fatherhood

She tells you she’s pregnant, what do you do? (A) Run like the wind, (B) Man-up to your responsibilities, or (C) Visit Navy Legal? While most men choose among the first two, every potential father should speak to a lawyer. We all know biologically there’s only one way to become a dad. But in the legal system there are three ways to become a father — what the law calls establishing paternity. The first way, presumptive fatherhood, exists when the mother is married.
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Boating, fishing resumes at Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes at Jim Creek has reopened for fishing and boating. In anticipation of the reopening, the lakes were stocked with 2,000 rainbow trout, 8 to 14 inches in length. Boat rentals are available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from the recreation office in building 4. Weekend rentals are available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the boathouse, located at Twin Lakes. Washington State fishing licenses and Jim Creek fishing permits are required for all anglers 15 years of age and older and are available for purchase at both the recreation office and the boathouse. Youth under the age of 15 are only required to have a Jim Creek fishing permit.
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Bailout package to help military families

It’s known as the Homeowner’s Assistance Program (HAP) and is run by the Army Corps of Engineers. Primarily started as a program to assist families negatively impacted by base-realignments, new regulations have expanded it to include “members of the Armed Forces permanently reassigned [PCS] during the mortgage crisis.” The program has two main benefits that are ultimately intended to limit your losses on the sale of your home when you move to your next duty station. The two categories are private sale reimbursement and government purchase. If you sell your house for less than 90 percent of what you bought it for, then you will be reimbursed up to 90 percent, including the closing costs. You would be responsible for the remaining 10 percent, which wouldn’t be too bad if you put anything down at your purchase time.
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