Will Senate back building the wall or rebuilding military bases?

Camp Lejeune is still a mess 6 months after Hurricane Florence. Where's the money for repairs?

NBC News
By Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains
March 30, 2019

The Marine Corps' top general says one "negative factor" delaying repairs is the diversion of resources to the military mission at the U.S.-Mexico border.

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — More than six months after Hurricane Florence ravaged North Carolina, hundreds of buildings at Camp Lejeune and two other nearby Marine Corps installations remain frozen in time, with walls still caved in and roofs missing.

The Marines say they need $3.6 billion to repair the damage to more than 900 buildings at Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River, and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point caused by the storm and catastrophic flooding in its aftermath. And while they have torn down soggy, moldy walls, put tarps on roofs and moved Marines into trailers, so far they have not received a penny from the federal government to fix the damage.

Now the Marine Corps' top officer is warning that readiness at Camp Lejeune — home to one third of the Corps' total combat power — is degraded and "will continue to degrade given current conditions." In a recent memo to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller cited, among other "negative factors," the diversion of resources to the border, where the Trump administration has sent active-duty troops to patrol and plans to use military funding to pay for a wall.

"Mister Secretary, I am asking for your assistance," wrote Neller in his memo, his second this year requesting that Spencer push Congress to provide more funds. "The hurricane season is only three months away, and we have Marines, Sailors, and civilians working in compromised structures."

Neller wrote that the lack of the money needed for repairs, and unexpected expenses like the U.S. military mission at the southern border, are "imposing unacceptable risk to Marine Corps combat readiness and solvency."
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But it is not just Camp Lejeune 

Air Force Needs Almost $5 Billion To Recover Bases From Hurricane, Flood Damage

The U.S. Air Force says it needs $4.9 billion in new funding over the next two and a half years to cover the costs of rebuilding two air bases hit by natural disasters.

About one-third of Offutt Air Force Base, in eastern Nebraska, was underwater earlier this month as flooding hit large swaths of the Midwest. And Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle was hit hard by Hurricane Michael in October.

The Air Force is asking for $1.2 billion in supplemental funding for fiscal year 2019 and $3.7 billion for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Congress would need to approve the funding.

Fort Campbell Hurricane Force Winds

Hurricane-force winds down trees, topple trucks and prompt outages around Colorado Springs
The Gazette
By: Jakob Rodgers
January 10, 2017

In El Paso County, 21 semis were blown over in a six-and-a-half hour span, Colorado State Patrol reported. Most were along Interstate 25, though at least four were toppled along Colo. 115 outside of Fort Carson. No serious injuries were reported.

Near-hurricane force winds continued to pound the Pikes Peak region Monday afternoon, uprooting trees into houses, ripping roofs from buildings, overturning nearly two-dozen semis and leaving thousands of children without after-school bus rides home.

An uprooted tree upended Dean Byrne's WWII-era German jeep in his front yard on Monday. (Kaitlin Durbin, The Gazette)

The winds – which gusted to 101 mph at one point – wreaked havoc across Colorado Springs while turning the Pikes Peak region into a dart board for dislodged tree limbs and other detritus from wind-ravaged buildings.
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Military-Civilian Police Officer Not Allowed in 7-11 on Memorial Day?

This story is in need of editing. Deitch is the veteran/owner and Sox is the dog. Hope they fix it.

Owner of 7-Eleven apologizes for kicking out veteran's service dog
New Jersey.com
By Dave Hutchinson
May 27, 2015

Deitch is both a military police and civilian police service dog, according to News 12.

PARSIPPANY — The owner of a Parsippany 7-Eleven has apologized to a veteran who was not allowed into the store on Memorial Day because of his service dog, according to News 12 New Jersey.

Veteran Michael Deitch said he was not allowed into the 7-Eleven on North Beverwyck Road because he had his service dog, Sox, with him, the report said. Sox, a 7-month-old lab-hound-mix, is federally protected under the American with Disabilities Act, the report said. read more here

Hurricane Sandy destroyed veteran's home but love rebuilt it

Marine flag rises over restored Ortley Beach home
Flag ceremony honors volunteers
Written by
Bob Vosseller
July 25, 2013

TOMS RIVER — The U.S. Marine flag once again flies beside the home of Michael and Audrey Gavala Jr. of the Ortley Beach section of the township.

The Gavalas’ two-story home at 207 Third Ave. was severely damaged during superstorm Sandy. Michael J. Gavala, 76, served in the Marines from 1956 to 1959. He and his wife Audrey, 74, lived in the home for 52 years.

A flag-raising ceremony Wednesday afternoon served to not only celebrate their return home after Sandy, but honored the volunteers who made that return possible. Watch the video above to see some of the ceremony.
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Soldier from New Jersey reenlists where home used to stand before Hurricane Sandy

GI re-enlists at N.J. home Sandy took away
By Dustin Racioppi
The Asbury Park Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 9, 2013

UNION BEACH, N.J. — A couple of days after Superstorm Sandy washed away their childhood home, Army Spc. Brock Vazquez and his stepbrother walked their old neighborhood pulling American flags they found in the debris and rubble.

They filled four plastic containers with about a dozen weather-beaten flags; their parents and siblings, meanwhile, had four plastic containers of their personal belongings left when the storm was done.

The family returned to their ground zero on Friday and unfurled a fresh new flag against a gun metal-gray sky. A harsh wind came off the Raritan Bay, which had risen up and violently taken their Brook Avenue home on Oct. 29. Snow fell onto the muddy hole where the house once was.

Both dressed in digital camouflage fatigues, Vazquez, 27, raised his right hand, and his stepbrother, Marine Sgt. Christopher Colgan, administered the oath.

"I, Brock Vazquez, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic ."

And with that, Vazquez, who is based in Newport News, Va., signed on for another four years in the Army. He could have signed his re-enlistment papers in an office in Virginia as he did two years ago. He could have signed them anywhere in the world, if he wanted.
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Deplorable House GOP scraps Sandy relief bill

Chris Christie On Sandy Aid: House Republicans Were 'Disappointing And Disgusting To Watch' (VIDEO)
Huffington Post
Luke Johnson
Sabrina Siddiqul
Posted: 01/02/2013

WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) lit into House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Republicans Wednesday for not holding a vote on a Hurricane Sandy relief bill.

"There is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House majority and their speaker, John Boehner," he said. "This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. Natural disasters happen in red states and blue states and states with Democratic governors and Republican governors. We respond to innocent victims of natural disasters, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. Or at least we did until last night. Last night, politics was placed before oaths to serve our citizens. For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch."
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House GOP scraps Sandy relief bill
Republicans abandoned a vote this session, infuriating NY lawmakers in both parties
BY LARRY MARGASAK
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAN 2, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — New York area-lawmakers in both parties erupted in anger late Tuesday night after learning the House Republican leadership decided to allow the current term of Congress to end without holding a vote on aid for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he was told by the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia that Speaker John Boehner of Ohio had decided to abandon a vote this session.

Cantor, who sets the House schedule, did not immediately comment. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters that just before Tuesday evening’s vote on “fiscal cliff” legislation, Cantor told him that he was “99.9 percent confident that this bill would be on the floor, and that’s what he wanted.”

A spokesman for Boehner, Michael Steel said, “The speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month.”

In remarks on the House floor, King called the decision “absolutely inexcusable, absolutely indefensible. We cannot just walk away from our responsibilities.”
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New Jersey National Guardsman sends help back home

Soldier sends supplies from Afghanistan to Sandy victims
by Toni Yates
News Team
Web produced by Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness News
December 6, 2012

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (WABC) -- After Hurricane Sandy hit, support poured in from all over the world, including war-torn Afghanistan.

A soldier from New Jersey who is stationed there is helping victims back here at home.

Private First Class Tommy Morris is serving in Afghanistan.

His proud father is standing with volunteers, who have for 11 years now, collected socks, toiletries, snacks and such and mailed them, overseas to our serving soldiers.

"ARMS sent 1 million packages," said Ronnie Micciulla, A.R.M.S.

But something interesting happened two weeks after Hurricane Sandy hit, the American Recreational Military Services volunteers, got a package in the mail themselves from Afghanistan.

"At first we thought it was our package that had been sent back, but we opened it read the letter, and all of us started to cry," Micciulla said.

There was a letter from PFC Morris who was worried about the needs of storm victims back home.

He collected supplies there and sent them here where volunteers are now doing double duty, not only caring for soldiers far away, but also supplying military families here left victim to Sandy.
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Firefighter answers call of duty for fallen son

Marine answers the call of duty for his slain son
by ERIC WILKINSON
KING 5 News
Posted on November 29, 2012

Mike Washington is one of three generations in his family who've dedicated their lives to serving others. The retired marine and 25 year Seattle firefighter taught his children the importance of being part of something bigger than themselves.

“I told them when people need help, why not help?” he said.

So, when Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast, Washington rallied the troops in the Northwest, bringing desperately needed relief to New York and New Jersey. For two weeks the Northwest members of "Team Rubicon," a nationwide band of military brothers and sisters, helped storm victims dig out of the ruins of their former lives. It was a proud moment for this humble marine.

“I look at these young people and they've stepped up before and now they're stepping up again and thriving,” said Washington. “This is what they were meant to do.”

But this story isn't about Mike Washington or Team Rubicon, or even the victims of Hurricane Sandy. It's about someone who never set foot in the disaster zone, but is helping to inspire much of the good work being done there.

That inspiration comes in the form of a black and white photo taped to Washington's firehouse locker, and a tribute typed below it. It’s a picture of hope and promise.

It’s a picture of Mike Washington’s 20 year old son, Michael, killed in action in Afghanistan.
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Manhattan VA Hospital Is Closed Indefinitely

Veterans Raise Concerns Since Manhattan VA Hospital Is Closed Indefinitely
By: Zack Fink
11/15/12
While some hospitals damaged in Sandy have timetables for reopening, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manhattan does not, which is raising flags among advocates for veterans, who say they need more information about where to receive care. NY1's Zack Fink filed the following report.

As the East River crested at the height of Hurricane Sandy, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manhattan sustained severe flooding in its basement. The electrical systems were destroyed by salt water and by Thursday there was still no running water.

As a result, the facility is closed indefinitely.

"Unfortunately I don't have a timeline right now. We've just gotten an elevator back-up," said Martina Parauda of VA NY Harbor Healthcare System. "We have some power on with an emergency generator that was brought in from our Providence VA facility, but we still have a long way to go to be operational for veterans."

The hospital was built in 1954, and served 20,000 veterans before being shuttered. Veterans are currently receiving care at other hospitals, including one in the Bronx and another in Brooklyn. The latter clinic is difficult to reach via public transportation.
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Hundreds of Veterans Help Sandy Victims and Each Other

Hundreds of Veterans Help Sandy Victims and Each Other
By JAMES DAO
November 14, 2012

They have come from as far as Alaska to tear down water-damaged walls and clear debris from flood-ravaged yards. They have been assigned team leaders and given marching orders. They have been asked to work in the rain, sleep on a gym floor and eat military Meals Ready to Eat. If that all sounds like a military humanitarian mission, well, that’s sort of the idea.

For the past week, hundreds of military veterans from across the nation have flocked to Far Rockaway, summoned by a beacon from Team Rubicon, a nonprofit created by veterans to help other veterans through a therapy known as disaster relief.

Team Rubicon was formed in 2010 by two Marines, Jake Wood and William McNulty, to help veterans who were struggling to find their way back into civilian life. The idea was to employ skills the veterans had learned in the military, combine them with some high-adrenaline action and give them a healthy dose of public service.

The result, they hoped, would be experiences that might renew the sense of purpose many veterans say they lose after separating from military life.

“We became a veterans service organization that happens to be good at disaster response,” Mr. McNulty said.
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Marines overcome hurdles, aid in storm cleanup

Marines overcome hurdles, aid in storm cleanup
Marine Corps Times
By Gina Harkins
Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Nov 13, 2012

NEW YORK — Jimmy Cioffi has lived in Staten Island, N.Y., for more than 25 years, but he can hardly recognize his own neighborhood.

The smell of rotting trash lingers in the air, wafting from garbage piled 10 feet high in the streets. Power lines hang down onto sidewalks; cars perch in unnatural places. Slippery thick brown mud cakes driveways and basements, brought in by the waves and storm surge caused by Hurricane Sandy, which pummeled the region Oct. 29-30.

Cioffi’s basement filled with water all the way to the ceiling and then up two more feet onto the main floor. His brother’s family, a few blocks away, had to sit in their attic for 15 hours before a boat came and rescued them, the lower levels of their home inundated.

“There was no chance to get out once you saw it coming,” Cioffi said. “When I saw the water coming under the door, I put towels down and they just washed away — it was like a river.”

Within days of the superstorm, which left homes destroyed, cities flooded, millions without power and scores dead, Marines were counting up their capabilities, preparing for a deployment within their own country. But before they could roll in to help, there were bureaucratic hurdles to be cleared. There’s a precarious balance between the quick response of military personnel in the wake of a disaster and the constitutional restrictions they face in getting troops on the ground.

And the Marines were quick to arrive on scene.
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Fort Monmouth Army Post in NJ to House Storm Victims

Army Post in NJ to House Storm Victims
Nov 12, 2012
Associated Press
by Angela Delli Santi

LINCROFT, N.J. -- New Jersey officials were readying a shuttered military base to temporarily house residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy as Gov. Chris Christie announced that gas rationing will end Tuesday morning.

Christie said he was confident the odd-even fuel rationing put in place in 12 northern counties to ease long lines and short tempers at the pumps could end satisfactorily at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

One of the state's biggest challenges, he said, has been restoring rail service because of all the flooding at rail stations and on tracks, and he seemed frustrated by those who are complain of two- to three-hour commutes into New York City.

"Sorry, we had a disaster," he said during a briefing Monday at a federal emergency management site in Monmouth County. "Take the ferry. It won't take you two or three hours. If you insist on doing things the way you've always done them and say, 'I don't care about the disaster,' well, then, you're going to wait."

The governor said Fort Monmouth will be taken out of mothballs and could house 400 to 600 families. Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable said families could begin moving in by month's end.
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Man hits lottery showing up to help after Hurricane Sandy

John Turner, Chicago Man, Wins New Jersey Lottery While Cleaning Up After Hurricane Sandy (VIDEO)
Huffington Post
Posted: 11/10/2012
For one man who travelled from Chicago to New Jersey to help clean up after Hurricane Sandy, the good karma from the effort cashed itself in early.

According to ABC Chicago, John Turner, 38, runs National Catastrophe Solutions of Chicago, a local water removal business.

Last week, Turner and his staff travelled to the Northeast to help the distressed owners of flooded homes, including some for free.

On Sunday, Turner had finished a long day of cleaning up in New Jersey when he bought a Championship Poker scratch ticket that turned out to be a winner. The ticket was worth $100,000, My Fox Philly reported.
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Team Rubicon spends Veterans Day Weekend helping after Hurricane Sandy

Hundreds of vets lend a hand in Sandy relief
By LEO SHANE III
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 10, 2012

The official New York City Veterans Day festivities take place Sunday in Manhattan, but members of Team Rubicon have been holding their own parade in Queens for the last week.

These volunteers — all skilled U.S. veterans — have been walking the main routes of the Rockaways, having traded their camouflage for uniforms of dirty jeans and group-issued T-shirts. The streets are clogged for their procession — but with storm surge sand and downed tree limbs, the remnants of SuperStorm Sandy and the nor’easter that arrived a week later.

Almost 400 veterans have joined the disaster relief organization’s efforts in the region, helping with search and rescue, shelter setup, aid logistics and basic cleanup.

“It’s our biggest effort to date,” said William McNulty, co-founder of Team Rubicon.

“The size and the scale of the damage down there is so huge. There are still blocks down there that haven’t seen much help. So we’re doing all we can to get to them.”

The group formed in 2010, with the goal of creating a rapid-response disaster relief team of U.S. veterans. They’ve sent volunteers to Haiti to work alongside Marines in earthquake recovery efforts; cleanup crews to Missouri and Texas after tornadoes; and evacuation teams to Louisiana after several hurricane landings.
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Clay Hunt

Marine from Jersey City happily deployed to storm relief

Marine from Jersey City happily deployed to storm relief unit in Staten Island
The Jersey Journal
By Anthony J. Machcinski
on November 08, 2012

When he left his Jersey City Heights home for the Marines in 2011, 2nd Lt. Gerard Farao never thought he’d be deployed near his home. Due to Hurricane Sandy, that’s exactly what happened.

When Sandy slammed New Jersey and New York last week, Farao, along with the rest of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was deployed to Staten Island to help in humanitarian relief efforts.

“I was hoping to be deployed to Afghanistan (when I first joined the Marines),” said Farao, 23, who is stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. “We have to be ready to go anywhere in the world within an hour. I just never thought it’d be here.”

When the storm hit, Farao, a Hudson Catholic graduate, immediately became concerned about family that remained in Jersey City.

“Once (Sandy) got north, I was calling, asking if everyone was all right and if there was electricity,” Farao recalled. “In a weird way, I kind of wished I was home to experience it, just because it’s where I’ve been all my life.”

Since arriving in Staten Island last week, Farao and his unit have helped provide generators, fuel and clean water to aid in disaster relief efforts all over the area.
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Staten Island residents desperate for Marines’ help

Staten Island residents desperate for Marines’ help
NOVEMBER 5TH, 2012
BATTLE RATTLE
POSTED BY GINA HARKINS

NEW YORK – Mounds of garbage and debris are piled along the streets in Staten Island, pick-up being just one of the many services residents haven’t had access to in Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath.

Evidence of people living normal lives just a week ago now line the curbsides of the New York borough devastated by last week’s superstorm. Appliances, furniture, children’s toys and other everyday items are just dumped at the edge of the streets, since residents ran out of garbage bags to pack them into days ago.

The smell of rotting trash lingers in the air. Power lines hang down onto sidewalks.

Cars swept away by the floods sit in unnatural places like the middle of fields or on top of rocks. Slippery, thick, brown mud cakes driveways and basements, brought in by the waves and storm surge that flooded the residential neighborhood so fast that that people barely had a chance to get to safe places. Some, unfortunately, never did.

But still, when you walk through the streets of Staten Island, what you see isn’t outward anger or sorrow. People are just getting to work, cleaning out their homes and helping each other. Residents from nearby communities drove or walked the streets, offering hot food, water and clothing to those left with next to nothing.
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Our chance to help
US Marines proudly on the job
New York Post
By GREGORY HUNT
November 6, 2012

Normally, I get fuel pumped into military vehicles; now I’m pumping water out of houses and apartment buildings in the Rockaways.

I’m a lance corporal in the United States Marine Corps, a bulk-fuel specialist with the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics group based out of Camp Lejeune, NC. We’re here to help, for as long as we’re needed.

Ten days ago, as we watched the path Hurricane Sandy was supposed to take, my heart sunk. I was born and raised in Bloomfield, NJ; I knew the storm was going to be bad — but nobody knew how bad.

For the following week, I’d watch the news each night and see the devastation and destruction of places where I had many childhood memories. So when I was given word that within 24 hours I’d be going home to help, there were no words to explain how happy I was.

I just got back in September from Afghanistan, my first deployment, where my job was to supply fuel to the convoys that patrolled the area of operation. I was hoping to get put right on my next deployment — but I never thought that it would be to New York, the city I visited so often with my dad as a kid.
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New Jersey Residents Can Vote By Email Or Fax

One of my cousins lives in Piscataway with her family and their power is still out but they feel grateful. One of their huge trees came crashing down, took out their deck and put a hole in their garage. They are grateful because if the tree came down the other way, it would have landed on the room they were in. They are also grateful for their neighbor with a generator and he has kept their refrigerator going so they have something to eat. My cousin was also happy IHOP was open. Just goes to show what can happen when people help out others. We're seeing that reported all over New Jersey and for now anyway, look like politics took a back seat by the tone Governor Christ set.

New Jersey Residents Can Vote By Email Or Fax, Governor Chris Christie Says
11/03/12

TRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey will allow residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy to vote by email or fax.

Officials announced Saturday that registered voters can vote electronically. A resident must submit a mail-in ballot application by fax or email to the local county clerk.

When the request is received, a ballot will be emailed or faxed back. Ballots must be returned no later than 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno says the effort will help alleviate pressure on polling places Tuesday. New Jersey is using military trucks in place of damaged polling places.

Officials say electronic voting is also an option for emergency workers. The option is already open to New Jersey voters overseas and in the military.
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New Jersey residents thank Marines for help

Jersey residents thank Marines for help
NOVEMBER 4TH, 2012
BATTLE RATTLE
BOAT OPERATIONS LIFE AT SEA MEU OPERATIONS
POSTED BY GINA HARKINS

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Residents of a community ravaged by this week’s super storm had some unexpected guests landing in one of their parks today in Super Stallion-style.

About 20 Marines and sailors left the amphibious assault ship WASP this morning and traveled to a city hit hard by Hurricane Sandy to help restore a ferry terminal that hasn’t been functional since the storm hit. The Marines were with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., which deployed Thursday in support of disaster relief efforts.

Hoboken residents riding their bikes and walking their dogs spotted the troops and stopped over to say thank you.

Marines in New Jersey
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Camp Lejeune Marines arrive in N.J. to help with recovery

Marines arrive in N.J. to help with recovery
Marine Corps Times
By Andrew deGrandpré
Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Nov 3, 2012

A contingent of Marine Corps engineers arrived Saturday in Hoboken, N.J., a storm-ravaged community across the Hudson River from New York City, to assist local authorities overwhelmed with the destruction created by Hurricane Sandy.

The Marines, members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., are working at Hoboken’s historic ferry terminal, Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine Corps spokesman, told Marine Corps Times. Located along the lower Hudson River, the facility is one of the New York metropolitan area’s major commuter hubs, linking northern New Jersey to Manhattan’s financial district.
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Army and Air National Guards lends support to 13 states hit by Sandy

Guard lends support to 13 states hit by Sandy
Amy Times
By Joe Gould, Jeff Schogol and Sam Fellman
Staff writers
Posted : Saturday Nov 3, 2012

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, more than 11,000 Army and Air National Guard troops were deployed to aid the storm-ravaged Northeast, saving lives, providing shelter and helping restore communities.

In New York, where power and transportation infrastructures were crippled by the storm Oct. 29 and 30, the National Guard planned to give out more than 1 million meals and bottled water to residents of areas affected.

Troops were manning more than a dozen distribution sites in hard-hit areas of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn soon after the Nov. 1 announcement, handing out meals supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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