MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR Reminders · 2019. 9. 30. · “I packed your parachute”, the man...
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1 September 2019 Issue 11 Read more to find out about your Coast Guard Spouses’ Clubs’ activities this quarter! Thank you for your continued support of your Coast Guard Spouses’ Clubs! MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR Hope this newsletter finds you all doing well. Hard to believe we are full on into Fall with the holidays around the corner. Today I want to share with you a story I received via email. I do not have the author, but, the story is about Charles Plumb, USN retired. He currently is a motivational speaker, you can find him on YouTube. The story that follows happened during the Vietnam war where he served as a jet pilot. After 75 combat missions, Capt. Plumb’s plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, “You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!” “How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb. “I packed your parachute”, the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today.” Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because, you see, “I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.” Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know. Now, Plumb asks his audience, “Who's packing your parachute?” Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory - he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety. While we are not physically packing parachutes, our Spouses’ clubs exist to provide support to our Coast Guard families. By coming together as a group we offer physical, emotional and maybe sometimes spiritual support to our spouses and families. I talk to many of you that are searching for ways to bring together your members to be able to provide this support. In a way you are “packing the parachutes” to help support your Coast Guard community. Reminders • Please send in any changes in board members so that our website correctly reflects your information. Send your changes to [email protected]. • We’d love to highlight your club. Please send information about anything you’ve done that we can use in our quarterly newsletter. Email Haley Clemmer at [email protected]. In This Issue Message from our chair Best Practice: Membership National Council Information Suicide Awareness Month Important Links 1 2 2 3 4
Transcript of MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR Reminders · 2019. 9. 30. · “I packed your parachute”, the man...
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September 2019 Issue 11
Read more to find out about your Coast Guard Spouses’ Clubs’ activities this quarter!
Thank you for your continued support of your Coast Guard Spouses’ Clubs!
MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR
Hope this newsletter finds you all doing well. Hard to believe we are full on into Fall with the holidays around the corner. Today I want to share with you a story I received via email. I do not have the author, but, the story is about Charles Plumb, USN retired. He currently is a motivational speaker, you can find him on YouTube. The story that follows happened during the Vietnam war where he served as a jet pilot. After 75 combat missions, Capt. Plumb’s plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, “You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!” “How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb. “I packed your parachute”, the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today.” Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because, you see, “I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.” Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know. Now, Plumb asks his audience, “Who's packing your parachute?” Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory - he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety. While we are not physically packing parachutes, our Spouses’ clubs exist to provide support to our Coast Guard families. By coming together as a group we offer physical, emotional and maybe sometimes spiritual support to our spouses and families. I talk to many of you that are searching for ways to bring together your members to be able to provide this support. In a way you are “packing the parachutes” to help support your Coast Guard community.
Reminders
• Please send in any changes in
board members so that our
website correctly reflects your
information. Send your changes to
• We’d love to highlight your club.
Please send information about
anything you’ve done that we can
use in our quarterly newsletter.
Email Haley Clemmer at
In This Issue
Message from our chair
Best Practice: Membership
National Council Information
Suicide Awareness Month
Important Links
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2
2
3
4
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BEST PRACTICE Developing Membership
In response to inquiries about best practice after affiliation the National Council
for Coast Guard Spouses’ Clubs has started a new article dedicated to addressing
this area.
Spouses’ Club membership has been an area of inquiry recently. Here are some
pointers to assist in growing your membership!
Set up booth or a table at Coast Guard events** (Coast Guard Day, Pre-
deployment events, Family Morale Events)
Send Welcome cards to new Coast Guard families joining your area
Modify your Dues system to meet the needs of your club (i.e. “Pay as you go”)
For Clubs covering a large area break your club into subsections with their own
lead to form local events to meet up (i.e. Zip Code Connections)
**Always obtain Command approval prior to setting up at events**
YOUR NATIONAL COUNCIL BOARD
Chair: Janice Lytle
Vice Chair: Heather Salls
By-Laws: Kim Allan
Treasurer: Morgan Mullins
Secretary: Jill Everingham
Communications Becca Glass
Directors: Haley Clemmer
Work-Life Liaison: Christine DeGraw
Honorary Advisors: Dawn Schultz
Donna Ray
Amy Vanderhaden
Nina Williamson
We are dedicated to establishing a central location
for our spouses to identify and connect with
spouses' clubs across the nation. Check out our
Club Directory here.
We would like to remind all clubs to please register
their club, including new officers, on the National
Council website: www.nationalcouncilofcgsc.org
We are here to help! Our committee members are
excited to connect with you and hear your questions,
ideas, challenges, and stories! Please email us at:
And don’t forget to “like” the National
Council of Coast Guard Spouses’ Clubs on
Facebook to stay up to date on all the
latest news!
National Council Information
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September is National Suicide Prevention Month
Resources
CG Support: Call (855) CG SUPRT (247-8778)
or go online for assistance finding mental
health support. https://www.cgsuprt.com/
The Health, Safety & Work-Life App: Contains
a variety of support contacts specific for each
district. It can be downloaded in iPhone and
Android versions. https://
allhands.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2017/03/27/uscg-health-
safety-and-work-life-hswl-mobile-app/
Military Crisis Line: For help, call 1-800-273-
8255 (Press 1), text to 838255, or chat
online. https://www.dspo.mil/Tools/Military-Crisis-Line/
Tricare: Getting mental health care
The process by which you can get Tricare
covered mental health care. https://tricare.mil/
CoveredServices/Mental/GettingMHCare
Defense Suicide Prevention Office:
Although this is a Department of Defense
program, it contains many resources and
articles available to Coast Guard fami-
lies. https://www.dspo.mil/
Suicide risk factors among military service
members. https://www.dspo.mil/About-Suicide/Risk-
Factors/
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Provides
immediate support online, through chats, or
by phone at 1-800-273-TALK(8255) https://
suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
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Child Care Subsidy and Program
Update
Latest ALCOAST update on August 4,
2019 Click Here
Child Care Subsidy FAQs: Click Here
Navy Child and Youth Programs Website for Coast Guard Subsidy Benefit Program: Click Here
License and Certification Reimbursement
for Spouses
“Members serving on active duty in the Armed Forces may be reimbursed for their spouse's qualified relicensing costs after
relocation from another state (including the 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District
of Columbia) due to PCS orders.”
For more info visit Program Website: Click Here
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance
CGMA has added some new programs to their already extensive list of support
services! Additions include PCS Childcare, breastmilk shipment assistance, as
well as educational assistance with tutoring for military/civilian employees and
their families.
Visit their website for more information on
their new and existing programs!
For assistance or more information call
1.800.881.2462 or visit
www.CGMAHQ.org/locations to find
