The 6th Medical Logistics Management Center hosted a Family and Pet physical training event at Nallin Farm Pond March 26 as part of 6 MLMC's Quality of Life Program.

The Forest Glen Child Development Center kicked off the Month of the Military Child with a Community Musical Instrument Parade, April 3.

Fort Detrick celebrated Earth Day with food, fun, games and the planting of an American Chestnut tree at the Community Activities Center, April 5.

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’s birthday. To commemorate, children around the nation participate in Read Across America, an annual motivation and awareness program that calls for every child to celebrate reading.  

Locally, at Lincoln Elementary School in Frederick, Md., active duty Army and Navy personnel stationed at Fort Detrick, helped 2nd through 5th grade students enjoy the reading experience by volunteering to read some of their favorite stories.

Recognizing the importance of getting school-aged children to embrace reading, Frederick Mayor Randy McClement scheduled a visit to the school to show his support of the community involvement military members have actively engaged with local residents.

“Reading establishes the fundamental tools that children will take with them throughout their lives. Having active duty, uniformed members of the military to come share the reading experience with Lincoln Elementary students is an invaluable exchange that will reap dividends for years to come,” the mayor said. “Our friends at Fort Detrick have always been a part of the community and will remain a welcome member of the Frederick family”      

Frederick is located in north central Maryland. As the county seat of Frederick County, it is the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. It is an outlaying community of Washington, Virginia and West Virginia and is the second largest incorporated area in Maryland behind Baltimore.      

Naval Medical Logistics Command (NMLC) is stationed in Fort Detrick, MD and is Navy Medicine’s Center of Logistics Expertise, supporting big Navy objectives by designing, executing and administering individualized state-of-the-art solutions to meet customers’ medical materiel and healthcare service needs.      

Much like Dr. Seuss meets the needs of children learning to read, NMLC personnel have adopted Lincoln Elementary School to provide continuing mentorship support.        

“Petty Officer [Julius] Wiseman has been coming to our school for years now and he has developed relations with our students that we know will have a lifelong affect,” said Ms. Marta     Droddy, the school’s counselor. “To have him bring his active duty friends here to read and to mentor the children simply strengthens the relationships he has developed and opens doors for more relationships to develop.      

For more information about Naval Medical Logistics Command, visit http://www.nmlc.med.navy.mil. For more information about Fort Detrick, visit http://www.detrick.army.mil.

The Intermediate Level Education is a course designed to prepare senior captains and majors for leadership positions in Army, joint, multinational and interagency organizations executing full spectrum operations. Previously known as CGSC, ILE consists of a common core curriculum that includes Joint PME 1 requirements and the required Branch and/or Functional Area specialized education or qualification course.

Customer service is the cornerstone to providing effective and efficient service to all of the Service members, Families, and Civilians who call Fort Detrick home. But it cannot be done without your help and involvement.

Is there ever an excuse not to work safely? In one sense or another we get confronted with this question every day. There are deadlines and people looking over our shoulders (sometimes literally), or the weather is nasty and we want to take that little short cut to get the job done quicker.

The Fort Detrick Child Development Center continues to provide this peace of mind to the mothers and fathers of Fort Detrick by once again gaining the National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation.

NAEYC Accreditation means our programs are high quality and provide a safe and nurturing environment while promoting development. Accreditation lasts five years and can only be obtained after undergoing a thorough inspection of curriculum, staff, nutrition, environment and ongoing relationships. Applicants must score at least 70 percent in their overall assessments. This year Fort Detrick's highest score was 95 percent.

Historical data shows that the Thrift Shop at Fort Detrick was organized on 8 January 1962.   “The objective was to provide an exchange or sales point for excess property of its members with any financial profits obtained to be devoted to the welfare and morale of the military personnel of Fort Detrick and their dependents.” (Quote from 1st Constitution and By-Laws)  Today, the objective of the Thrift Shop still remains the same.   In 2011 the Thrift Shop gave grants, scholarship, and donations in excess of $10,000.  Organizations and individuals who received grants  included:  the Chapel Programs; Army Community Programs;  Family and Moral, Welfare and Recreation Programs;  BOSS;  AMVETS;  Frederick Rescue Mission;  individual soldiers and their families, and the U.S. Army Garrison and Medical Research Materiel Command Solider and NCO of the Year.   

From Its humble beginnings to the current location in Building 11 on Porter Street, the Shop now has 12 rooms of items.   A Board of Directors made up of representatives, from all units on Fort Detrick with 0-6 Commanders, as well as, representatives from the Chapel, Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers Program, and the All Service Retiree Council governs the operations.

No longer able to recruit enough volunteers to maintain The Shop, five part time individuals are employed; a manager, three assistant managers, and a bookkeeper.  However, volunteers are always welcome and needed to process the massive donations and consigned item.  In 2011 volunteer donated nearly 1,000 hours of service to the Thrift Shop.   With support from the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Detrick of a building, which was once the aircraft control tower for Camp Detrick, the Thrift Shop is a self sustaining non-profit organization.

To celebrate their 50 years of Service the Thrift Shop will be serving coffee, punch and cookies, during the month of February2012.  The Shop will give away a $50 Gift Certificate one a week for 4 weeks, to be used at the Thrift Shop.  You do not have to make a purchase to participate in the drawing nor do you have to be present at the drawing to win.   Winners will be notified by phone or e-mail.  

During February, starting on Saturday 4 February at 9 a.m. the Shop will be holding its 50 cent sale of Thrift Shop property fall and winter clothes, shoes, and purses.  All other Thrift Shop property items will be 50 percent off. 

Applications are now available for the two $1,000 scholarships to be awarded in May.  Applications can be found on the Thrift Shop web page, or picked up at ACE, or the Thrift Shop.  Applications are also being sent to all the Frederick County High Schools.   The Scholarships are for undergraduate studies and eligible applicants are any individuals who are authorized consignors or dependent children of those who are authorized consignors at the Thrift Shop. 

The Shop is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10-3 and the 1st Saturday of each month from 9-12.  To see a complete schedule of dates open and closed please go to the Thrift Shop Web page and click on the tab for Expiration Dates.

Besides the donated and consigned items, The Shop sells Fort Detrick Ornaments, Nallin Pond Prints and White House Ornaments, profits from these items are dedicated to the scholarships and grants.   

Items purchased in The Shop can be paid for by Credit Card, Check or Cash.  The Shop is open to the public to shop, but rules on who can consign and other information on the Shop can be found on their web page by going to www.detrick.army.mil , click on Site Index, then the letter “T”, then on Thrift Shop.   You also can call for information at 301-619-2289. 

Fort Detrick is changing the hours of operation for several of its entry gates Jan. 17, to help improve safety and ease of use for all employees, families and visitors.

The change will make Old Farm gate available for visitors and deliveries 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This gate is the only gate authorized for visitors and deliveries, however, all others can still use this gate and any of the other open gates.

Would you like to start your New Year off by saving money, helping the environment, and reducing traffic and parking congestion? You can also decrease your stress levels and make local roads safer to travel. You can do all of this and more by diving in to the Pool. The Fort Detrick Van Pool Commuter program that is.

“Atten-hup.”

This is a cadence call one might hear while working on a military installation, but not what one would expect to hear in the middle of a gymnasium with 100 high school students.

At 7:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning at Frederick, Maryland's Linganore High School, cadets from the Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps mustered for command inspection.

A newly constructed, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-eligible building opened on Fort Detrick to serve as the headquarters for the Chemical Biological Medical Systems Joint Project Management Office and elements of the Naval Medical Research Center. The facility, which was celebrated in a ribbon cutting ceremony in Dec., is the newest LEED-eligible building constructed on Fort Detrick.

Fort Detrick’s community of excellence extends a helpful hand, in achieving New Year’s resolutions for 2012. The Army Substance Abuse Program is offering annual training at Strough Auditorium, entitled Prevention Strategies for the New Year. Great tips from the Nation’s leading experts, such as the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, help make healthy choices achievable. Committing to halt heavy drinking, stamp out smoking, or wean worries of smokeless tobacco? Join us, as we focus on setting our goals! Classes are from 10-11 a.m., Jan. 26.

One of the world's greatest advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the most influential men of our times. He was an outstanding civil rights activist who fought the "good fight" in his quest to see justice, peace, equality, and righteousness in America for all people. On January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, he entered the world as the first son and second child born to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King. In 1953, he married the former Coretta Scott, a music student and native of Alabama. Together they raised four children.