Super Sunday

GiovanniStark Katana rock-climbing.

8:00 am PST: Morning Meet & Greet – Wake up with friends at the Army OneSource sim. Join us as we dish about our plans for today.

1:00 pm PST: Arm Wrestling – Come show off your muscles in the AOS sim, you might even win a prize.

6:00 pm PST: Rock Climbing – Join us in Second Life as we race to the top of the rocks. Make sure your harness has you strapped in tight. Prizes for the winners.

Remembering 9/11

We honor the memory of those that lost their lives on September 11, 2001. We mourn this national tragedy with family and friends. We thank our soldiers, fire fighters, public officials, spiritual leaders and all those than continue to serve towards healing, cooperation, and maintaining our freedoms.

Happy Camera Day!

I just learned from @ArmyWifeNetwork that today, June 29, is Camera Day.

This turns out to be the perfect day to share an amazing Flickr photostream I discovered today. Using a camera phone, Basetrack captures beautiful and haunting candid images of soldier life in Afghanistan.

A Navy Corpsman lays on a stretcher as he reads a magazine at Combat Outpost 7171 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on October 30, 2010. By Basetrack.

US Marines walk back to their base after a shura, a tribal meeting with elders from the nearby village in front of COP 7171 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on October 27, 2010. By Basetrack.

US Marines from Bravo Company’s Third Platoon, with the First Battalion, Eighth Marines, sitting around a Christmas tree with Female Engagement Team members at the Sher Ghazi base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on November 9, 2010. Note that these images combine four separate photographs and that only one Christmas tree actually existed. By Basetrack.

An elderly refugee from Helmand province listens a conversation at the Charahi Qambar refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan on February 14, 2011. By Basetrack.

Women wait in line to collect rations during a food distribution program for refugees at the Charahi Qambar refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan on February 14, 2011. By Basetrack.

I recommend going on over to Flickr and checking out all the photos.

Do you have any photos you’d like to share with us today?

Friendships from afar

Friends gather at the coffee shop

I want to share this poignant blog entry from Julie over at Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life where she talks about what it’s like to make friends and then have to leave them.

During deployments we find our own “battle buddies.” Those people who help us through the hardest part of this lifestyle. We spend holidays together, watch each others kids, cook meals, help fix household problems, listen when it is needed. We get close. Super super close. Then the men return and things change. Then we move and things change. How do we deal with this all?

Julie, like many members of military families, is grateful for the internet and social sites like Facebook that help keep us connected. That’s exactly what AOS in Second Life is all about, but instead of black text on a white screen, you can engage in real-time interaction through your avatars.  You can do things together like play a game, go dancing, watch a movie, or just sit and talk. This is the best part of Second Life, meeting and staying connected with people no matter where they are in the world.

Got a Problem? Let Us Crowdsource It For You

…on Facebook!

One of our favorite Army wives had a question, and we shot it over to the Army One Source Facebook page. In just a few minutes, our awesome community came up with a bunch of suggestions and ideas.

If you’ve ever got a question that Google can’t answer, toss us a note on Twitter @ArmyOneSource, and we’ll do our best to help you out.

Got Something To Say?

Have you ever taken a picture or written a blog post you think other military families might enjoy? Send us a link on Twitter to @ArmyOneSource, and we’ll retweet your thoughts to the universe.

An Older Soldier

I was reading something about how today’s Army is attracting “older soldiers” – men and women in their 30s. (Allow me a private “HARRUMPH” at the idea of 30s being old.)

Men and women in their 30s tend to have families. More baggage. More expectations. More needs.

And their families may already have routines and expectations that don’t include the Army lifestyle.

Are you the spouse of an older soldier? Do you know a new family on post that came late to the Army life? What advice would you like to have heard, or what would you like to tell these new people?