FReeper Canteen ~ Road Trip: Fort Rucker, Alabama ~ 24 DEC 2013

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | laurenmarlowe

[Kathy in Alaska]

 

 

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~

Road Trip: Fort Rucker, Alabama

Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located mostly in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training base for Army Aviation and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) and the United States Army Aviation Museum. Small sections of the post also lie in Coffee, Geneva, and Houston counties.

The main post has entrances from three bordering cities, Daleville, Ozark and Enterprise. In the years before the September 11, 2001 attacks, the main post (except airfields and other restricted areas) was an open post with unmanned gates allowing civilians to drive through.

The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the dominant military facility at Fort Rucker. Training, doctrine, and testing are all key parts of the Center's mission to develop Army Aviation's capabilities. All Army Aviation training has been undertaken at Fort Rucker since 1973, as well as training of US Air Force and ally helicopter pilots.

 The Center is home to the US Army Aviation Technical Test Center (ATTC), which conducts developmental aircraft testing for Army Aviation. The United States Army Operational Test and Evaluation Command's Test and Evaluation Coordination Office and TH-67 primary and instrument training are both located at Cairns Army Airfield.

Operational units on the post include the 1st Aviation Brigade and the 110th Aviation Brigade handling Army Aviation training, and the USAF 23d Flying Training Squadron for the training of Air Force helicopter pilots. Additionally, due to the large number of Warrant Officers stationed there, the Warrant Officer Career Center and the Warrant Officer Candidate School are located at Fort Rucker.

Learn More About Fort Rucker HERE!

The United States Army Aviation Museum, located in South-central Alabama at Fort Rucker, maintains a collection of over 160 military aircraft, including one of the largest collections of military helicopters in the world. Public galleries represent the Army's involvement in aviation from the beginning days of the Wright brothers and early combat aircraft from World War I, to the highly technological machines flown by Army Aviators today.

Visit The United States Army Aviation Museum HERE!

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT~Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before. 

Please remember: The Canteen is a place to honor and entertain our troops. The Canteen is family friendly. Let's have fun!

We pray for your continued strength, to be strong in the face of adversity.

We pray for your safety, that you will return to your families and friends soon.

We pray that your hope, courage, and dignity remain unbroken, so that you may show others the way.

God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always

 

 

[Jet Jaguar]

Prayers up.

[MEG33]

With Deep Gratitude
Christmas Blessings To Our Armed Forces, Our Veterans
And Their Families

Please Click.."A Soldier's Christmas" by Michael Marks

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
***
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
***
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
***
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
***
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
***
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
***
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
***
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone
Away from my family, my house and my home.
***
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.."
***
" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
***
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.
**
God Bless And Keep Safe Those Who Stand Watch For Us

[MS.BEHAVIN]

*HUG*
Thank you, Cyber son!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[MEG33]

O God, please guide Ashley’s doctors as they treat her. Place your healing hands on her, Dear Lord, and give her strength.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Prayer warriors.....

FReeper mainleydawn's daughter, Ashley, needs prayers for bad burns.

[Kathy in Alaska]

No matter how many times I listen/read this, the result is the same...tears of pride for our military men and women.

Thanks for posting it. ((HUGS))

[MEG33]

Thank you, Kathy..I feel the same way.
(((HUGS)))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Prayers sent for Ashley and her doctors, as well as you, Dawn, and your families.

Fight On!! - click

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good merry almost Christmas Eve, Pro...((HUGS))

Is school out now? Do you have vacation projects?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Connie, and thank you for the tributes to our troops. *HUGS*

Ready? Everything in its place?

[MoochPooch]

Weather was surprisingly warm Sunday. Now it’s getting cold (again).

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, Marine...((HUGS))...all ready for Christmas?

Work is a zoo....the whole payroll has to be done by noon Tuesday instead of late Wednesday. Nose to the grindstone.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Stay warm! Do you have snow?

We were up to 30 yesterday...right now it is -1.

The whole winter has been like this...up/down/up/down.

25 is nice....and stay there all winter would be good. LOL!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good morning to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

((HUGS))Good morning, Ladies. Thanks for this morning's thread, Lauren. How's it going?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, E...((HUGS))....hope your ice is all gone and power is restored everywhere.

Merry Christmas Eve to you and Bo.

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night Troops, wherever you are.

Thank you for doing your part to help keep all of us free and safe.

Thanks, unique, for the pastries.

Coffee is always on........

How about a donut?

Cookies?

Veggies?

Snacks?

[Kathy in Alaska]

God bless and keep safe our troops worldwide.

Good night.

Statler Brothers ~ How Great Thou Art

[Kathy in Alaska]

Prayers for safe travel to and fro.