MILITARY MATTERS

MONTHLY REPORT FROM KEY WEST’S MILITARY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Key West Military Affairs Committee’s (MAC) mission is to foster and strengthen the relationship between the military and civilians in our community.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Summer months bring a lot of military member turnover and MAC has bid farewell to several military leaders while welcoming new arrivals. Some of the recent changes in command include USCGC Mohawk, Navy Branch Health Clinic and USCG District 7 with several more to follow.

MAC’S JUNE MEMBER MEETING

Guest Speaker: Marina LeGree from Ascend — Leadership through Athletics

Marina LeGree was the featured speaker at the June meeting of the Key West Military Affairs Committee. The founder and executive director of Ascend: Leadership through Athletics, she spoke to us about her work in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where she has empowered women by teaching them rock-climbing. She also worked through the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and continues to work in the region today. As a lead civilian advisor to the U.S. government’s stabilization program in the east of Afghanistan, LeGree addressed insecurity by working directly with the Afghan people, especially women and kids. She possesses a unique understanding of the challenges that face women and young people in Afghanistan and Pakistan and strives to create and provide opportunities for them. LeGree has also worked as a senior trainer and mentor to the United States government in Afghanistan, providing critical support to US troops and civilians in their stabilization mission. Anyone who desires to know more about this inspirational leader and her selfless dedication to others in remote and insecure settings should look up the “Ascend” organization.

Flag Day

National Flag Week is June 11-17, and Flag Day was June 14, so MAC members heard a presentation about our nation’s flag and its Pledge of Allegiance. President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on June 9 directing “the appropriate officials to display the flag on all federal government buildings during this week, and I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by displaying the flag and honoring all of our brave service members and revering those who gave their last full measure of devotion defending our freedoms. I encourage the people of the United States to observe with pride and all due ceremony those days from Flag Day through Independence Day, set aside by the Congress as a time to honor the American spirit, to celebrate our history and the foundational values we strive to uphold, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.”

NAS KEY WEST SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM HONORED

Commander Matt Gibson presented helicopter pilot Evan Cook and rescue swimmer Logan Meier to be recognized for their outstanding performance in rescuing the VFC-111 pilot who ejected offshore on May 31 before his plane crashed into the water 25 miles off NAS Key West.

JANICE GARY

is a writer, dog mama and author of the awardwinning memoir, “Short Leash.” Her lifelong love of the Keys led her to living local on the rock with her husband and their dog, Ozzy, the Canine Tornado. janicegary.com