DAY ONE the Ops Room

Even Backpackers need an operations room when “Covering the Assignment”!  A quick glance at the room, finds large sticky note papers covering the walls, used to keep track of assignments for each day. We all sit around the conference table with our laptops plugged into extension cords to keep us all charged up! We plan to work early and stay late with our full schedule of events, but we make sure a quick run to a nearby coffee shop is on the agenda as well.  And during all this time, some nice program manager has on the agenda to find her way to Georgetown Cupcakes.

This day – is a day of learning and finding out about the road to resiliency through creative expression.  From learning more about writing, to hands-on portrait sessions, the Backpackers are fast at work with the teachers:  Mike, David, Hammond, and Derek.  While the class moves forward throughout the day, lots of activity goes on behind the scenes as Ms. D (Linda Dennis), Marynell, Scotty and Pedro work towards establishing a booth at the Washington Convention Center!

During the day, we had a special guest, Rick Kiernan, strategic communications for L3 and a former US Army Colonel with a Public Affairs a career that included working for 12 – 4-star generals, and serving as a spokesperson for the US Army at the Pentagon.  He shared with us a lot of information about “patches” and what they mean on the soldier’s uniform.  Then he went on sharing with us all about AUSA!  So, what are we to expect?

His words were simple:  information and inspirational.

Our Backpackers will be Covering the Assignment! following his guidance and we’ll be making sure we find the information and the inspiration to share with you, our readers!  More to come!

Special Thanks to Mama Lynch

Special thanks to Mama Lynch for her hospitality and her support!

We want to especially point you to the photo of Mama with her “new CG” of the Washington, D.C. District. (Flickr)

A little background for you, Mama saw this two-star general standing out in the distance, and she said to us, “Here! Let’s go and meet a 2-star!” One of our Backpackers asked this friendly two-star where he was from and he quickly answered: “Here. I am the new Washington, D.C. Commanding General!”  Around this same time, Mama Lynch realized that this tall man with two stars was her new “boss”.

Mama Lynch quickly said, “Oh, so you are the one who took General Holt’s place!  I have been waiting to meet you!”.

Isn’t that great? All it took for her to meet her new boss was one of awesome Backpackers!