Military | Crestview News Bulletin

Tunnel to Towers Foundation pays mortgage on fallen service member's Crestview home

Written by archive on October 11, 2021. Posted in Military, News.

CRESTVIEW — The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has paid, in full, the mortgages on the homes of 50 fallen first responders and Gold Star families, including the family of U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jose J. Gonzalez of Crestview.

Gonzalez died in the line of duty on Aug. 21, 2019, serving during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, as a result of wounds sustained from small arms fire while engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan.

During his military career, Gonzalez deployed seven times, twice as a Marine in 2003 and 2005, and as an Army infantryman in 2009. As a Green Beret, he deployed to South America in 2014 and 2018, and to Afghanistan in 2016 and 2019.

Gonzalez left behind his wife, Brenda, and their two children.

Last week's announcement is the largest one-day mortgage payoff in Tunnel to Towers history, and was made possible by the outpouring of support the foundation received as America observed the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. All across the country, Americans showed their compassion for our nation’s heroes and support for The Tunnel to Towers Foundation through the organization’s Never Forget programs (Never Forget Walk, Never Forget Concert, NYC 5K Run and Walk).

“This year, Americans came together to remember the incredible loss of life that occurred 20 years ago when evil struck at the heart of our great nation," said Tunnel to Towers CEO and Chairman Frank Siller. "The Tunnel to Towers Foundation promised to never forget what happened on that day and so many people across the country have joined us on our mission of doing good by giving back to our heroes, both living and fallen.

"Thanks to the generosity of this great nation, the Gonzalez family and 49 additional families will never have to worry about making another mortgage payment, and will always have a place to call home,” he added.

The 50 homes are in 18 different states stretching from coast to coast, and will help the families of fallen police officers, firefighters, deputies, and service members of nearly every branch of military service.

The 50 homes paid off belong to:

20 police officers, Including 15 who responded to Ground Zero and lost their lives to 9/11 illness.
12 firefighters, including five who responded to Ground Zero and lost their lives to 9/11 illness.
1 sheriff’s deputy.
1 state trooper.
1 conservation officer.
6 U.S. Army members.
3 U.S. Navy members.
3 U.S. Marine Corps members.
3 U.S. Air Force members.

To learn more about these heroes and see a full list of the families receiving mortgage payoffs go to T2T.org.

On Sept. 11, 2001, FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller laid down his life to save others when America was attacked. For 20 years, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation has honored Stephen’s legacy by supporting the heroes who continue to risk life and limb in the line of duty.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation provides mortgage-free smart homes to our nation’s catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, and mortgage-free homes or mortgage payoffs to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation promised to deliver 200 homes this year in honor of its 20th anniversary. By the end of the year, Tunnel to Towers will have delivered 450 homes across its programs.

For more information on Tunnel to Towers’ mission to support America’s veterans, fallen first responders and Gold Star families, go to T2T.org and consider donating just $11 per month.

Follow Tunnel to Towers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @Tunnel2Towers.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Tunnel to Towers Foundation pays mortgage on fallen service member's Crestview home

Ballou named September 2021 Veteran of the Month

Written by archive on September 30, 2021. Posted in Military, News, veterans.

TALLAHASSEE — Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced Specialist Mark Ballou, who served in the Florida National Guard and as a Veterans Social Worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs, as the September 2021 selection for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Veteran of the Month.

Fried presented a proclamation honoring his service to Ballou at the September meeting of the Florida Cabinet.

The FDACS Veteran of the Month Initiative, established by Fried shortly after taking office in 2019, recognizes veterans who have excelled in service to fellow Floridians, and honors the contributions that the men and women in uniform have made to our state.

“I am proud to recognize Specialist Ballou for his significant contributions to our state and our country,” Fried said. “Specialist Ballou has dedicated his life not only to protecting the United States, but to helping his fellow servicemen and women. We know he will continue to do great work and to make Florida proud.”

Ballou served in the Florida National Guard and as a Veterans Social Worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Crestview. In the National Guard, he served as a Combat Medic and was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In Iraq, Specialist Ballou was tasked in performing guard duties, combat patrols, and quick situational response. During his deployment, he was wounded in combat and received a Purple Heart. After leaving the military, he became a VA social worker and served as a Readjustment Counselor at the Vet Center in Shalimar.

He currently serves as a Veterans Social Worker, and has had the opportunity to serve veterans in many different situations: from homeless veterans to justice-involved veterans. In the spring of this year, he celebrated 10 years at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Ballou’s military awards include the Purple Heart, Combat Medic Badge, and War on Terrorism Service Medal.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Ballou named September 2021 Veteran of the Month

Space Florida seeks Space Force training site

Written by Staff Reporters on September 23, 2021. Posted in Florida News, Military.

Mark Bontrager, vice president of spaceport operations for Space Florida, told members of the Florida Senate Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security Committee on Wednesday his agency is learning from the headquarters-selection process to prepare for when bidding gets underway for training locations.

“About 16,000 of those people need to be trained and equipped from the very beginning of the time from when they raise their right hand and show up as a young enlisted officer in that force,” Bontrager said.

Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello said Florida is well-positioned among states that could compete for the training locations because of a workforce that has decades of experience with the space industry.

“We have such a locus of space activity here, and therefore we have trained warfighters already,” DiBello said. “We are also looking carefully at the fact that we have a very, very strong modeling-simulation and digital-domain capability throughout the state, but certainly in Central Florida that is an essential element of training the warfighter of the future.”

Vandenberg Space Force Base, northwest of Lompoc, Calif., is already serving as one of the locations for the Space Training Readiness Command, or STARCOM, program.

Bontrager said it’s important for Florida to land part of the training process, as Space Florida leaders will have to repeatedly return to the facilities throughout their careers.

Space Force was created less than two years ago. In January, Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., was selected as the preferred location for the command headquarters, based on factors that included infrastructure capacity, community support and costs. A provisional headquarters remains in Colorado Springs, Colo., pending the permanent site being ready.

Patrick Space Force Base near Cape Canaveral was a finalist for the headquarters in a bid backed by Space Florida.

In December, former President Donald Trump’s administration renamed Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base as Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Patrick Space Force Base. There are only seven such named installations in the nation.

Bontrager said the Air Force in the command-headquarters selection process didn’t fully take into account what Florida offers, such as “unique financing capabilities” through Space Florida.

He added that Space Florida and Enterprise Florida, the state’s business recruitment agency, have continued to meet with Air Force and Space Force leaders in advance of the training-center selection process that could begin in the next 30 to 60 days.

“We are in the process of finalizing a statewide statement of capability that we are going to be able to bring to help the Air Force and Space Force understand those assets and capabilities that already exist in Florida and can be positioned in support of that Space Force mission,” Bontrager said.

Governor visits, announces $3.4 million funding to support military missions

Written by Staff Reporters on September 15, 2021. Posted in Military, News.

The following amounts will be distributed from state grants: $300,000 will go to Santa Rosa County for easement purchases around NAS Whiting Field to provide critical buffer zones, with another $60,000 to further develop Whiting Field Aviation Park. A total of $300,000 will be disbursed to Escambia County for easement purchases around NAS Pensacola to ensure operational sustainability. A total of $90,000 will go to Okaloosa County to encourage economic diversification around Eglin AFB, and to facilitate opportunities for entrepreneurs, defense contractors and the non-defense STEM sector. Lastly, $90,000 will go to Pensacola Chamber of Commerce for military members transitioning from active duty or government service.

“We are proud of what’s being done across the state to help the military footprint,” DeSantis said. “As we look to see the funding and where it would make the most sense, clearly this is one of the regions of the state that really stands out. We know the community will make good use of it.”

Many speakers stepped up to the microphone at the Wednesday morning press conference to thank DeSantis, county commissioners and the state of Florida for the financial help to help the area thrive.

Captain Paul Flores, the commanding officer at NAS Whiting Field, offered his appreciation.

“NAS Whiting Field is the busiest Naval aviation complex in the world,” Flores said.

According to Flores, 60% of all Naval aviators come through NAS Whiting Field, while 100% of Naval helicopter pilots train there. In all, 1200 pilots will train there each year.

“Whiting Field flies almost 20% of all Naval aviation flight hours, so you can imagine the impact that it has on the greater Navy and that’s the direct impact that Santa Rosa County has on the Navy … So, you can’t underestimate the impact that this base has on the Navy,” said Flores.

District 4 County Commissioner Dave Piech offered thanks to the state for its continued support of Santa Rosa County.

“We truly appreciate all you have done and do for us here in the panhandle. Dating back to 2007, these grants have been there to safeguard the busiest naval training complex in the world, NAS Whiting Field,” Piech said.

“To date, the totality of all grant programs in the state of Florida have protected over 12,000 acres of land and expended over $35,000,000 in matching funds,” he added. “We are very fortunate to have the continued military support for military operations through these grants in our county. We will see the impact results of these initiatives for years to come.”

Dane Eagle, the Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, expressed appreciation to DeSantis for his commitment to ensuring that Florida “remains the most military-friendly state in the nation.”

In his closing remarks, DeSantis touched on the 20^th anniversary of Sept. 11, the state’s continued support of first responders and law enforcement as well as new programs in the works to benefit them.

“One of the reasons why we are so supportive of our military and our first responders is that 9/11 reminds us more than maybe anything when things happen, tragedy strikes and people are in danger, it’s the people wearing the uniform that are going in,” he said. “You had the people running into the Twin Towers to help save however many hundreds, if not thousands of people, and yet many of them knew going in that they would probably never come out.”

DeSantis also announced a new program that will be brought before the state legislature that will offer $5,000 signing bonus for new law enforcement officers or officers moving to Florida from another state. This move comes in response to the “attacks on law enforcement” throughout the country.

“While other cities were trying to defund the police, we were funding them and then some,” DeSantis said.

Local family lays wreaths for military fallen

Written by Staff Reporters on December 10, 2020. Posted in Military, News.

Each December, volunteers bundle up against the cold and walk the silent rows of the nation’s military cemeteries, carrying armfuls of bright green Christmas wreaths.

Their goal is to lay a donated wreath on every grave they can. Some years, Barrancas National Cemetery sees less than 30% of their 40,000 graves adorned with a holiday wreath.

Holley Navarre doctor Joel Rudman and his family volunteer with the Fort Barrancas portion of national nonprofit Wreaths Across America to pay tribute to these service members and their families.

“Being a doctor in a military bedroom community, you see these people every day, and you wish there was a way to pay them back. This was our way of saying thank you,” Rudman said.

They have been participating for four years as a family, and each time they have found ways to make the experience special and more meaningful. Initially they just laid wreaths by section. Then they began to learn about the men and women buried there.

When they learned of five British soldiers who were buried at Barrancas due to dying in the U.S. during training in World War II, they made a point to lay wreaths on those graves. Rudman’s wife is British.

“Nobody is going to travel this far to lay a wreath on these graves, so we do,” Rudman said.

Last year, Rudman found out the husband of one of his patients was buried out there. He asked her if she would like for him to lay a wreath on her husband’s grave. She was touched by the gesture.

“We made it our duty to go find this grave and make sure it has a wreath on it,” Rudman said. “It made it a more meaningful event. It was such a personally rewarding thing.”

Then his son, Evan, had an idea. Evan is a junior at Navarre High School (NHS). The family purchased 100 wreaths for the 2020 Christmas season with the goal of identifying local families that need someone to lay a wreath on their loved one’s grave at Barrancas. He said sometimes people are not able to make it out to their family member’s grave for many reasons.

“If we are able to go out there, then that really helps out,” Evan Rudman said. “It’s the least we can do.”

Dr. Rudman said for families that lost their loved one in the line of service, it can be painful to come to the site themselves.

“There are people who have a loved one that is buried out there but haven’t been back out there because it can be so traumatic bringing all that back,” he said.

Auxiliary Unit 75 gives to shelter

Written by archive on December 10, 2019. Posted in Military, News.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Auxiliary Unit 75 gives to shelter

Special Operations survivors charity golf tournament registration open

Written by archive on November 7, 2019. Posted in Military, News.

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS — A golf tournament fund raiser for Special Operations survivors is scheduled.

Players and teams must register by the Nov. 10 deadline to participate in the tournament, which starts with check-in 8 a.m. Nov. 15 at Blackstone Golf Course, 108 Blackstone Lane, DeFuniak Springs. The shotgun start is at 9 a.m.

Registration is online at https://birdeasepro.com/flspecialopsgolf. Cost is $60 per player, and includes; BBQ lunch, team, individual, and door prizes, a $10,000 hole-in-one prize, 50/50 raffle.

Contact Mike Christoff, specialopsgolf@gmail.com or 850-384-0806, for more information or sponsorship.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Special Operations survivors charity golf tournament registration open

Bowling tourney helps wounded warrior

Written by archive on October 18, 2019. Posted in Military, News.

FORT WALTON BEACH — The Emerald Coast Association of Realtors-Community and Military Outreach Committee (CAMO) has held their annual bowling tournament to raise money for a Building Home for Heroes recipient.

The event, held last Saturday at Fort Walton Beach Bowling Center, benefited former Army Sgt. 1st Class James Pistole and his family.

“One of our committee members knew the family because they had coached their kids in little league, and then another member knew one of their moms,” CAMO chairwoman Chrissy Hartley said. “There were so many connections, so it just felt like it was the right family.”

Building Homes for Heroes is building Pistole, his wife and three children a home in Crestview.

Pistole is a double amputee who lost his left leg and hand after stepping on a pressure plate IED. He served in the Army for 12 years before being honorably discharged in 2009.

While conducting post-blast analysis in Iraq in 2007, Pistole was packing up when he noticed a fellow soldier’s infrared U.S. flag patch lying on the ground just outside the area he had cleared. He walked over to retrieve it but stepped on the IED on his way to his vehicle.

Pistole kept the patch and returned it to the soldier it belonged to when they were both at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio recovering from their injuries.

All proceeds from the bowling tournament will go toward the home being built for Pistole and his family.

According to Hartley, more than 200 people showed up for the tournament, which raised at least $12,000. The total will be anonymously matched by a donor through Building Homes for Heroes.

“Last year we raised about $10,000, and we wanted to exceed that goal and we did,” Hartley said. “I don’t have final totals yet, but this year will be the highest total we’ve raised in the last five years.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bowling tourney helps wounded warrior

American Legion Post 75 to host sock hop

Written by archive on September 24, 2019. Posted in Military, News.

CRESTVIEW — The American Legion Post 75 Auxilliary will host a '50s-style sock hop next month. It will feature UR12 Karaoke with Glenn Rhyne, contests and prizes for the best costume, hula hooping, the Twist, and more.

The event starts 8 p.m. Oct. 12 at the post, 898 James Lee Blvd. E, Crestview.

A 50/50 drawing and raffle will be held, and food will be available from Arnold's Café within the legion hall, staffed by the Sons of the American Legion.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: American Legion Post 75 to host sock hop

Crestview company to missionize Airlander 10 aircraft

Written by archive on September 17, 2019. Posted in Military, News.

CRESTVIEW — Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding in London last week with Vertex Aerospace LLC to deliver missionized Airlander 10 aircraft to the U.S. Department of Defense. The two organizations will partner together to provide joint proposals to the DoD for fully configured Airlander 10 aircraft.

Vertex’s Aircraft Integration & Sustainment division in Crestview will work with HAV to missionize the revolutionary aircraft that provides persistent multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, computing and communication capabilities. The Airlander 10 offers these capabilities to meet the challenges of multi-domain operations and a range of special missions.

“Together, Vertex Aerospace and HAV will provide our customers affordable aircraft optimized for long-endurance with a missionized configuration able to synchronize capabilities across all domains,” said Ed Boyington, Vertex Aerospace president and CEO. “This partnership allows us to support our U.S. armed forces as they move toward joint, multi-domain operations to combat the ambiguity of hybrid warfare.”

According to a media release, HAV, a British aerospace company, is the world leader in hybrid aircraft technology. Airlander 10 provides a versatile and innovative solution to many of the challenges facing aviation today. HAV’s Chief Executive Tom Grundy said last week at the Defence & Security Equipment International event in London that the two companies share a commitment to delivering affordable, high-quality products that respond to ever-changing mission requirements.

For more about Vertex Aerospace, visit www.vtxaero.com. For more about Hybrid Air Vehicles Lt., visit www.hybridairvehicles.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview company to missionize Airlander 10 aircraft

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