I’ve alluded to the BIG announcement on Facebook and Twitter so if you follow me over there you know what I’m about to say.

Several months ago, SGT Daddy decided to NOT re-enlist to continue his career in the Army. Today, he officially started with ACAP (Army Career and Alumni Program) as part of our transition out of the army. Yes by the end of the year, we will no longer be an Army family.

The BIG Announcement is that as of today I will not be continuing with my ArmyHousehold6 blog. (boy this  was hard to write ) It is with a heavy heart that I no longer will be blogging here at ArmyHousehold6.com. This blog has been a MAJOR part of my life for the last 5.5 years. It has been my saving grace through basic training, issues with Tricare for our kids, promotions, TDY’s,  3 PCS moves and of course the year long deployment.

I have made so many wonderful and close friends because of my little blog here. I love you all. I’ve been given so many wonderful opportunities and have been honored to be part of something amazing.   I truly never expected when I started “this blogging thing. ” back in November 2004.

Now I’m not giving up on blogging,  (did you really think I would ?) I’ll continue to blog about everyday life over at tammymunson.com. I hope that you follow me over there.  I will continue to leave ArmyHousehold6.com up as an archive for other army wives, girlfriends and family members looking for information, resources,etc.

I’ll still be involved with the military community through my volunteer work with Soldiers Angels and continue to support our troops, military families and of course  the milblogging community. As always, I’ll still be available to anyone of my military family member who needs help. I will always here for you.

I’m sure many people want to know where we are going. We will be moving to North Carolina (near Camp LeJeune area ) so I can work in the corporate offices of Jane Wayne, LLC. SGT Daddy (his real name is Dan ) will be getting a position in that area as well.

xoxo-
Tammy aka ArmyHousehold6

A couple of days ago , I came across a news article about the NFL requesting that non- NFL licensed merchandise with the WHO DAT slogan be removed from stores.

At first , I didn’t think much of it as I’m not up to speed on the happening in New Orleans. .

As I looked more closely at the article and tweets surrounding it , I realized there was a lot more to it.

For those that don’t know, I grew up in New Orleans. I attended my first Saints game at the age of 5 with my dad and my grandfather. I’ve attended tons of games since then.. most during the “Aints” years.

While I’m not the BIGGEST football fan (we all know how much I love hockey) I do have a special place in my heart for the Saints and of course my hometown, New Orleans.

To the people at the NFL – what you are doing is WRONG! I understand you own the Saints logo, colors and even the Fleur-De-Lis. I strongly disbelieve that you also own the “WHODAT” too. I urge you to share those copyright papers if you do.

The WHO-DAT term has been around since the 1890’s LONG before the Saints organization was born and the NFL. It has been used in songs,commercials, advertising,  marketing plans,etc for years … NOW all of a sudden it is a copyright/licensing issue?

I truly believe that this just about money.. plain and simple.  Shame on you NFL ! We didn’t let Katrina stop us  and we certainly won’t let the you!

Now for all you SAINTS fans – call or email the NFL and tell them to leave our “who dat” alone! Contact info : Dan Masonson – NFL 212-450-2081 212-450-2081 Dan.masonson@NFL.com

A BIG thanks to YatMediaLLC and FleurtyGirl for letting us all know what they are TRYING to do.

To Sean, Drew and the rest of the Saints — good luck in da bowl !! Bless you Boys!

– cross-posted on tammymunson.com /
]]> http://armyhousehold6.com/2010/01/29/who-dat-say/feed/ 3 http://armyhousehold6.com/2010/01/18/stolen-valor/ http://armyhousehold6.com/2010/01/18/stolen-valor/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:31:45 +0000 Tammy http://armyhousehold6.com/?p=1794 UPDATE: He has been identified !!!! Check out This Ain’t Hell for all the details!!

Do you know HIM? If so- contact me!

Many milbloggers are posting about this guy today and I’m joining the rest of  the MilBlog Mafia because quite frankly it pisses me off !

I don’t know a whole lot about the meaning and placement of ribbons, medals,etc on the uniform (other than what I help SGT Daddy with ) but even I can tell that something is not right!

What this Jackass (yes I said it ) is doing is disrespectful to EVERYONE who has served  or is serving!  They have earned the right to wear the uniform with these medals, ribbons, and pins  by their actions of unselfish bravery and sacrifice… not to mention the ones who have give the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE!

Fellow Milblogger (and recently retired soldier) Bouhammer lays it all out for you as well as a list of other milbloggers doing the same!

If you do know this man scum , don’t hesitate to contact me or Bouhammer directly at admin at bouhammer.com

As I get updates — I’ll post them !

UPDATE – 12/21/09 @10pm EST

The party was so much fun… and we managed to raise $550 in ONE HOUR for the Wounded Warrior Project!! Much thanks to all those that participated and Whitefence.com for sponsoring as well as donating!!

Yes you read that right … I’m excited for a Monday. You see… This Monday I’ll be co-hosting a Twitter Party with WhiteFence.com , starting at 9pm EST.

If you aren’t familiar with WhiteFence, I highly recommend you check them out. WhiteFence is a free service that helps people who are moving or looking to find the best deals on phone, Internet, television, electricity, natural gas and other home services.

Now this is no normal Twitter Party, there will be no gifts to give away. However there it is opportunity to have some awesome conversation, share our tips/tricks and help our wounded warriors …
you see every tweet that includes the party hashtage (#wfparty) a $1 donation will go to the Wounded Warrior Foundation. (up to $2000)

So how can you help get involved and raise money?
Well @whitefence and I will be talking about how how to make the holidays special when you’re loved one is overseas.  All you have to do is join in the conversation on Twitter (make sure to include the hashtag )

Make sure you follow me (@tammymunson) and Whitefence (@whitefence) so you don’t miss this fun event!!!

So spread the word to not only raise  money but awareness as well. If  you would like to make your own donation to the Wounded Warrior Project , you do do so at the WWP site as well!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at tammy @ armyhousehold6.com

Hope to see you there !

Tammy

The silence today is to show my support of a great American Hero, a friend and fellow military blogger – CJ Grisham.
(Read below)

Today — Wednesday 16 December 2009, many milblogs — including This Ain’t Hell, From My Position, Blackfive, Miss Ladybug, Boston Maggie, Grim’s Hall, and those participating in the Wednesday Hero program — are going silent for the day. Some are choosing to go silent for a longer period of time.

The reason for this is two-fold. First, milblogs are facing an increasingly hostile environment from within the military. While senior leadership has embraced blogging and social media, many field grade officers and senior NCOs do not embrace the concept. From general apathy in not wanting to deal with the issue to outright hositility to it, many commands are not only failing to support such activities, but are aggressively acting against active duty milbloggers, milspouses, and others. The number of such incidents appears to be growing, with milbloggers receiving reprimands, verbal and written, not only for their activities but those of spouses and supporters.

The catalyst has been the treatment of milblogger C.J. Grisham of A Soldier’s Perspective (http://www.soldiersperspective.us/). C.J. has earned accolades and respect, from the White House on down for his honest, and sometimes blunt, discussion of issues — particularly PTSD. In the last few months, C.J. has seen an issue with a local school taken to his command who failed to back him, and has even seen his effort to deal with PTSD, and lead his men in same by example, used against him as a part of this. Ultimately, C.J. has had to sell his blog to help raise funds for his defense in this matter.

An excellent story on the situation with C.J. can be found at Military Times: http://www.armytimes.com/offduty/technology/offduty_blogger_120809/ While there have been new developments, the core problem remains, and C.J. is having to raise funds to cover legal expenses to protect both his good name and his career.

One need only look at the number of blogs by active duty military in combat zones and compare it to just a few years ago to see the chilling effect that is taking place.

Milblogs have been a vital link in getting accurate news and information about the military, and military operations, to the public. They have provided vital context and analysis on issues critical to operations and to the informed electorate critical to the Republic.

On Wednesday 16 December, readers will have the chance to imagine a world without milblogs, and to do something about it. Those participating are urging their readers to contact their elected representatives in Congress, and to let their opinions be known to them and to other leaders in Washington.

Some milblogs will remain silent for several days; some just for the day. All have agreed to keep the post about the silence and C.J. at the top of their blogs until Friday 18 December. The issues go beyond C.J., and deserve careful consideration and discussion. We hope that you will cover this event, and explore the issues that lie at the heart of the matter. Contact the milbloggers in your area or that you know, and hear the story that lies within.

A Partial List of Participating Blogs:

This Ain’t Hell http://thisainthell.us/blog/
Boston Maggie http://bostonmaggie.blogspot.com/
Blackfive http://www.blackfive.net/main/
Miss Ladybug http://miss-ladybug.blogspot.com
Drunken Wisdom http://beerbrains.com/
Grim’s Hall http://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/
Frommyposition http://frommyposition.com/
CDR Salamander http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com

Grisham Legal Fund
c/o Redstone Federal Credit Union
220 Wynn Drive
Huntsville, AL 35893
Please write “Grisham Legal Fund” in the memo line if you use this option.

Milblogs have been a vital link in getting accurate news and information about the military, and military operations, to you. Today, many milblogs are gone and others are under attack from within and without. Today, you have the chance to imagine a world without milblogs, and to do something
about it. Make your voice heard by writing your congressional representatives and others, and by making donations as you see fit.

The battle for freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas is fought on many fronts and in many ways. Without your help, the battle may well be
lost.

Additional blogs supporting CJ:
You Served http://www.youserved.com
Bouhammer http://www.bouhammer.com
Pepple Drops http://pebbledrops.blogspot.com
Chromed Curses http://www.chromedcurses.com
Homefront Six http://homefrontsix.blogspot.com

…. all of our Wounded Warriors and Project VALOUR-IT!!

The Project Valour-IT fundraiser (and friendly bloggers’ competition) has come to a close. It was a fun time and some friendly ribbing among all the teams! (even though Team Army didn’t win this year )

All the teams managed to raise a grand total of  $103,246.00

Basically that means that over 170 wounded warrior will get to participate in the program!

Just wanted to wish a very happy birthday to the Marines!

Semper Fi!

image courtesy of FoxNews.com

My thoughts and prayers are with all of our military family at Fort Hood as well as those affected directly by this horrific act. If any of my readers at Hood need ANYTHING, please let me know and I’ll make sure to get you what you need!!!!

I just want to update real quick about what’s happening at Fort Hood.. these are the facts. I’m not going to speculate on ANYTHING (unlike certain members of the MSM)

• LTG Cone said all suspects were SOLDIERS!
• No kids were harmed .. they believe the situation is now under control. (at 3pm MT)
• The initial shooter (an Army major) died and the other 2 are now in custody.

Please remember – let’s not jump to conclusions on the speculations or rumors that we are hearing about. Let  CID, MP’s and FBI do their job and research the backgrounds of these guys before we start jumping to conclusions about the who and the why!

Now – as far as Obama’s press conference about Ft Hood. I think it was severely mishandled but what can you expect with someone who doesn’t have much leadership experience.

UPDATE
LTG Cone stated that MAJ Hasan was the ONLY shooter and that he is in fact ALIVE. Also – 13 people (including 1 civilian) have died and 31 wounded.

According to Fox News –

Survivors of the rampage that killed 13 and wounded 30 said the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, shouted “Allahu Akbar!” — “God is great!” in Arabic — before opening fire, base commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said.

I’m so excited to be a part of Team Army to help raise money for our wounded warriors and Project Valour-IT! I’m asking all of my readers, friends, family and anyone else – to donate what you can to Valour-IT! All the money raised goes to help our wounded warriors!

If you can’t donate (for whatever reason) and you’re a blogger/website owner – at least help spread the world about it and join a team! (preferable TeamARMY) .

If you’d like to donate a product, service,etc for me to auction off here at Armyhousehold6.com , please email me.

So what is Valour-IT?

Project Valour-IT helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries.  Items supplied include:

• Voice-controlled Laptops – Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.
  
• Wii Video Game Systems – Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
• Personal GPS – Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.You can read more about it here

courtesy of deltabravosierra.net

I had a blast at BlogWorldExpo 2009. I got to meet some of my favorite bloggers and social media types plus a whole new group of awesome and highly talented people.

I thought I was pretty well prepared for Vegas — after all I grew up in New Orleans and lived in the Twin Cities for awhile. I was not prepared for the pace at which Vegas runs at. (not to mention all the hookers aka independent contractors”)

I don’t think there was a single night, my roommate DeltaWhiskey and I  didn’t go back to our room before 2AM. Maybe I’m just getting old(er) and can’t keep up that pace anymore….

My first night there of course, there was a party to attend. I went to the Las Vegas Tweetup which happend to be at the same hotel that I was staying in . Most of the attendees were local people including my freind, Eleanor Prior.While at the tweetup, I spotted several of the  milblogger crowd. It was my first time meeting many of them so it was so cool and was a little awestruck.

The conference itself was awesome. We started bright and early Thursday morning. As we are getting off the monorail, I notice one of my favorite milbloggers CJ Grisham . The morning started off for me with a hitch. LaughingWolf (Blake) asked me to moderate the milspouse blogger panel.

I thought sure…SEMPER GUMBY ! I’m flexible … adapt and overcome! LOL

Our panel (with DeltaWhiskey and BarmyMama ) went pretty well I think. (especially for my first moderating a panel before) We discussed many things like how we got started as bloggers, OPSEC issues on blogs, and some of our best and worst moments as bloggers.

Of course I talked about my dislike of Army Wives (tv show) and Greyhawk told me that I had to go and ruin it for him. LOL

One of the things that came up was the mention of “Spouse Bootcamp” .. It prompted a really good discussion about how as spouses we need more support and knowledge is power. This is not the first time that something like this has been discussed but I was excited to see it talked about so openly in a public forum. I really hope that we see that move forward.

Even “Sgt Daddy’s story” came into the conversation which the majority of people liked the post and wanted to hear more of those kinds of 1st hand accounts. Afterward I was a bit nervous, when senior Army officer from the Army’s Social Media division approached. I thought UH OH! It was a very nice conversation in which she told me I was doing a great job and to keep blogging!!!

The rest of the panel discussions were just as great ! We even had some panelists calling in all the way from Afghanistan.

One of the topics of discussion was the future of milblogging. As a social media person (personally and professionally) I was excited to hear that our military community embracing the benefits of social media. It was also discussed about networking and having conversations outside our little military bubble. I think its time to share the great stories and realities that we have to share.

The nightlife was fun too! The entire Milblog Mafia (those are Chuck Z’s words not mine) had a blast hanging out at all the various places we ventured too. I was introduced to a new drink (and a very good one at that ) by Blackfive.. its called a Gimlet. By the way – Yes there are pictures of the nightlife but there is no need for a war or anything LOL amongst us all.  : )

One of the highlights was that I got to meet one of my readers, a friend and all around great guy – JihadGene! If you haven’t read his blog , I highly urge you to do so!!

All in all , I had a great time and made several new friends! Thank you for the best 4 days since SGT Daddy left for Afghanistan! You all are ROCKSTARS!!!! I miss you all already! I can’t wait to go back .. and next time I’m bringing SGT Daddy with me!  : )

To Rick Calvert (Blog World Expo CEO) and Laughing Wolf (Milblog Track Leader) — you guys out did yourselves!

To CJ, Blackfive, Toby, Beth , DeltaWhiskey, BarmyMama, Bouhammer, Mrs. Bouhammer, Greyhawk, Mrs. G., Chuck Z, Laughing Wolf, Mr. Wolf,Boston Maggie,  JihadGene, CDR Salamander, — can’t wait to see you all again at the Milblog Conf in DC next year! (if I missed anyone – I apologize)