JBLM Headquarters

On 1 February 2010 Fort Lewis and McChord AFB combined under a Base Re-Alignment and Closure

(BRAC 2005) action designed to streamline military operations costs and processes.  It is a process that I have been involved with significantly over the last 14 months.  On this date we saw the fruition of all of our countless hours of work when we cased the colors of the US Army Garrison Fort Lewis, and uncased the colors of US Army Garrison Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  Just inside the double doors of this building is a display denoting the history of this building.  It was formerly the post headquarters and later a Division HQ and beginning in the 1970s the ROTC Western Region HQ.  The display includes a picture just like this of the building in 1954.  As of 1 February 2010 it once again is the Garrison HQ of the new Joint Base.  As a Lieutenant Colonel, Dwight D. Eisenhour occupied the office behind the bottom left window in the picture. 

I used rephotographic techniques to try to recreate the image on display.  For more information on the process of rephotography, see the Third View website at http://www.thirdview.org/3v/home/index.html. 

It was great being a part of the history of this installation.  I have spent 12 years here.  That is more than 1/8th of the time this post has been in existence.  I will truly miss it after retirement.

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The Washington Capitol

On a recent trip to Olympia, Wa, I had occasion to drive through the Capitol Mall.  I was very impressed with the number of monuments dedicated to the military and the sacrifices of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines for this country.  This is the approach to the Capitol Rotunda that you see in the center.  It was damaged in the 2001 6.8 earthquake whose epicenter is just nine miles north of this point.  To the left, the obelisk is a monument to all Congressional Medal of Honor awardees.  The sculpture to the right front is to all sevicemembers who have served this country in WWI.  In between where the ladies are standing is the POW/MIA Memorial.  A left face from here would face the Washington State Vietnam Memorial.  A walk through these grounds carries a significance and somber reminder that freedom is not free.  From those who died or dedicated their lives to open up this territory to those who died in service to this nation in Iraq and Afghanistan, There is a price to be paid for all that we enjoy.

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