Editor:
In 2011, Leavenworth County was one of more than 5,100 communities across the United States to hold an American Cancer Society Relay For Life. In fact, 3.5 million participants nationwide raised $385 million for the fight against cancer last year.
The annual Relay For Life has become the signature event and primary fund raiser for the American Cancer Society.

It’s an annual event for many. Friends and family will gather around the flat screen across the Sunflower State Feb. 5 in a midwinter tradition known as Super Bowl Sunday.
While sharing the latest cheese dip or hearty bowls of chili, many also may be more inclined to drink and drive. This is why the Kansas Department of Transportation is urging Kansans to plan ahead to avoid driving impaired. KDOT Traffic Safety Spokesperson Chris Bortz is encouraging everyone to be proactive.

The Army Professional Forums recently reached 250,000 members.
The 250,000th member was Staff Sgt. Matthew Taylor, a counter-improvised explosive device instructor from Fort Polk, La. Taylor said he joined to ensure that his unit “was tracking the most current trends, TTPs, and equipment used in the C-IED fight.”
The Army Professional Forums began in 2004 with four officers who were preparing to assume command of companies and wanted to learn lessons from those who had gone before them. This marked the beginning of CompanyCommand.com. At nearly the same time, a group of noncommissioned officers began a forum to share online with each other at SquadLeader.com. Both forums were gifted to the Army.

Facebook. It seems like everyone, and everything, has a Facebook page. From middle school students to U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, millions of people, businesses and military organizations log on to Facebook every day to share information, interests and news.
For members of the U.S. military and other government agencies, Facebook makes keeping in touch with friends and family easier than ever. With a click of the mouse, Soldiers can communicate with friends in Japan and family in Nebraska, sharing any details of their lives and occupation that they please from wherever they are. This is, of course, where the problem with Facebook lies.

Last fall, 66 people positively changed their financial future through Financial Peace University at Frontier Chapel.
FPU is a 13-week DVD course taught by nationally syndicated radio host and financial counselor Dave Ramsey.
FPU teaches particpants how to develop a plan for their money so they are able to build lasting wealth. Topics include saving for emergencies, getting out debt, investing for retirement and college, and giving. The lessons empower and provide hope to everyone from the financially secure to the financially distressed.

Recent news items about the use of Army medical evacuation, or medevac, helicopters in Afghanistan contain troubling information. The reporting suggests that putting red crosses on medevacs, and not arming them somehow, is putting injured Soldiers’ lives at risk. The facts do not support these assertions for several reasons.
First, there is no evidence, implied or proven, that the enemy deliberately targets medevac helicopters, but we know from hard experience that the enemy does try to shoot down any and all U.S. and coalition aircraft. Further, all helicopters in Afghanistan fly in pairs as a force protection matter. It’s the way we do business and to suggest that arming medevac aircraft would result in crews launching sooner is a dubious assertion.

The Fort Leavenworth Lamp welcomes letters and comments from readers.
Letters should be typed or legibly printed using capital and lowercase letters. Writers should try to keep letters less than 500 words, but exceptions to this limit will be considered.
All letters selected for publication will be edited for style, brevity and clarity. Form letters, political letters, personal attacks, and other letters deemed inappropriate will not be published.
Send them to: Letters to the Editor, Fort Leavenworth Lamp, Command Information, Public Affairs Office, 290 Grant Ave. Unit 6, Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-1417, fax to (913) 684-3624 or e-mail to editor@ftleavenworthlamp.com.

New members of the Fort Leavenworth community planning to rent or lease a home can do several things to avoid landlord-tenant problems.
First, start searching for housing early. Find out as much as possible about the prospective landlord and property before signing a lease. Sit down and talk to the landlord, check with the housing office to see if any complaints have been filed against him or her, and talk to fellow Soldiers and current residents to find out if this landlord is one who can be trusted.

At 35, and 17 years into my career in the Canadian Forces, I consider myself fortunate to be attending Intermediate Level Education at the Command and General Staff School here in Fort Leavenworth, smack dab in the middle of the United States of America.
I am not alone in counting my blessings. At any given time, there are approximately 135 international military students stationed at Fort Leavenworth at CGSS and the School of Advanced Military Studies. Each of us is richer for the experience and will leave the United States with a greater understanding of American society, culture and politics, and having made many great friends.

What should consumers do if they feel a local business is dishonest with them? How can they file a complaint against that business?
Most large and small businesses operate their business with honesty and integrity. There are exceptions, however, and because service members and their families are frequently the target of consumer offers, it is important to know what they can do if they feel they have been cheated.

With election activity steadily picking up, Defense Department officials are in the process of issuing regular election-year guidance to remind military and DoD civilians that they’re subject to rules regulating their involvement in political activities.
This issue — one the department regularly addresses during election periods — came to light last week after an Army Reserve Soldier appeared in uniform endorsing a political candidate.

The beginning of a brand new year is a great opportunity to pause and reflect upon our daily lives and what we wish to accomplish in the year ahead. This includes appreciating our many blessings as a nation, an Army and individuals.
Appreciation for these blessings can be seen in our annual celebration of the birth of the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jan. 16. This national holiday was set aside beginning in 1983 to honor his legacy as a visionary and courageous leader of the greatest civil rights movement in our nation’s history.

To the incoming Intermediate Level Education class 2012-02 — let me start by congratulating you on your career thus far and welcoming you to ILE.
Next, let me dispel any rumors you may have heard that Army ILE is a two-month course taught over a 10-month period.
The best year of your life is what you make of it.

Now more than ever, leaders from the squad up through the chain of command “get” safety and its importance to the mission.
Leaders have gotten back to the basics of leadership, becoming more involved in pre-combat checks and inspections, taking a more active role in training and simply ensuring every standard is met every time. By getting the mission done and doing it safely, today’s leaders are setting a superb example for the Soldiers in their charge, especially those who will assume leadership roles in the future.

The Fort Leavenworth Lamp is one of the primary methods for getting information to the Fort Leavenworth community.
Clubs, organizations, units and activities all know this and submit items to be published in the Lamp.
Publicity representatives are sometimes puzzled when the “notice,” “announcement,” “ad,” “article” or “news release” they sent in is either changed drastically or not published at all. There are several reasons this may happen.

There is much discussion in the halls of the Pentagon these days about the role of the Army, and I’d like to share with you my thoughts on the issue.
Without question, 10 years of war and today’s austere economic environment will have a profound impact on our Army. But to put it simply: in these uncertain times — perhaps especially in these uncertain times — the Army is central to our nation’s defense.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command and several of its subordinate organizations have embraced social media to help tell the ACC story.
According to Art Forster, director of the ACC Office of Public and Congressional Affairs, the command began experimenting with social media in 2009. Since then, web and social media have become a vital part of ACC’s public affairs strategy.

The origin of the nation’s state National Guard organizations sprang from the forming of militia in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century.
The Massachusetts colony was founded in 1630. At that time, more than 5,000 men, women, and children had made the two-month voyage to the New World, leaving the relative comfort and safety of England behind in an effort to break free of religious intolerance, and to manage their communities the way they saw fit.

The Mission Command Battle Lab kicked off the fiscal year 2012 experimentation campaign Nov. 15-17 with the Engagement Experiment, the first event in a series along the “Army of 2020” line of effort.
This experiment was a discovery learning event focused on the Army’s requirements to shape and deter (joint phases 0 and I). This effort educated the community of practice on the diplomatic, information, military and economic required capabilities and interdependencies in phases 0/I and produced a product that informs stakeholders and senior leaders on the whole of government’s ability to set the theater.
The Army Capabilities Integration Center has designated the MCBL to lead its FY12 experimentation campaign. The campaign consists of a series of six seminars, conferences, and human-in-the-loop simulation-driven experiments designed to address designated learning objectives and provide a forum for proponent battle labs to inform learning demands.

One of the world’s greatest leaders was a gate guard who worked at the main gate of Fort Benning, Ga. What made Mr. McCoy so great was that he knew his job was more than checking ID cards. With his awesome attitude, he conveyed that he cared to every person passing through his lane.
Somehow he succeeded in making a difference just through his genuine message of “Welcome Home!” I talked with many people who came into contact with him — Soldiers, parents visiting their Soldiers, civilians going to work, and visiting retirees who were stationed at Fort Benning years ago; and all agreed — he made a difference.