Troop Supporters Send Christmas Packages

TBE Troop Supporter Brian Little counts the boxes to get started with the
packing while other TBE supporters to the right of him – Mike Long, Aris
Tanone and Joe Krypel – watch along with the Huntsville High students.

As Christmas approaches, Service members serving overseas and away from their families during the holidays are not forgotten by Teledyne’s Troop Supporter organization.  The organization held a packing party Nov. 9 to put together a holiday shipment of goodie boxes to those on the Troop Supporter list.  The boxes should arrive about Christmas to let our Soldiers know they are appreciated for their sacrifices this holiday season. 

In recent years, volunteer Aris Tanone has coordinated the purchase of items sent and the box packing efforts on Redstone Arsenal, but the recent packing party was led by Byron Bonds, who originally started the Troop Supporter organization in 2003.  In addition to heading up the coordination of the Christmas shipment, Bonds also arranged the on-site visit of local Huntsville High Students, so they could observe how the effort all works – the items that are sent to the troops, costs involved, and shipment of the boxes.  The students plan to take this information back to their school and start their own supporter organization.

Students followed the lead of Troop Supporter Long and NASA Troop
Supporter Pam Stone in packing the boxes and then joined in to finish
the job.

Troop Supporter volunteer Patty Anderson added a special touch to the contents of the holiday boxes by spearheading the effort to have children from the on-site day care center make brightly decorated holiday cards with special messages written on them for each of the soldier’s boxes.  The children made over 30 cards that were sent to the troops – enough to share with others in their unit.

Since the last shipment, TBE employee Jeff Willis, US Army Staff Sergeant, returned home in October as has TSI employee MAJ Jim Richards.  (Richards is still on active duty stateside until May 2010.)  Maj. Nathan Underwood, son of Troop Supporter Debbie Underwood, also returned home from Egypt Oct. 28 in time to celebrate his Dad’s birthday with his family.  He’ll deploy to Kuwait in January 2010 for 6 months.  US Navy Mass Communication Specialists Paul Dillard, Robert Whelan, and Richard Wolff, all citizen sailors of TBE employee and Navy Senior Chief Joe Krypel, are due to return to the states in December.  SSG John Samuelson, US Army, son of a friend of Aris Tanone, finished his third tour of duty in Iraq, was then stationed in Germany, and is returning home in December.  Spec Adam Henderson, son of Troop Supporter Robin Henderson, is due to return home from Iraq Nov. 20.

Little, far right, and TBE’er Fred Rose, second from right, work with the
students in packing the boxes.

Seven soldiers currently serving overseas will receive a holiday box from TBE’s Troop Supporters.  They are:  Lt. Aaron Bedy, US Navy Public Affairs, stationed in Baghdad; Master Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gerald (Jerry) Woller, US Navy, Combat Camera – Central Command Area of Responsibility; Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Doug Waite, US Navy, Combat Camera – Central Command Area of Responsibility; Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Kevin Elliott, US Navy, stationed in Afghanistan; Chief Mass Communication Specialist Rodney Furry, US Navy, stationed in Afghanistan (all of the above were submitted by Krypel); CW2 Todd Long, son of TBE employee Mike Long, US Army, stationed in Afghanistan; CW4 Scott Turvey, US Army, stationed in Iraq.

From left, Tanone, Krypel, Long oversee the kids filling out the US
Customs forms required to ship the boxes, while Rose tapes up a box.

Lead coordinators of the effort are assisted by other Aerospace Systems employees, NASA employees, and other MSFC contractors, who are also Troop Supporter members.  Several others assist with the effort on the TBE main campus as well.  Since the organization’s inception, dozens of people have contributed items and money to ship boxes to our deployed troops, and over 45 deployed soldiers have been the recipients of the boxes.

If you are interested in joining this very worthwhile effort or would like to add a friend or family member’s name to the recipient list, please contact Byron Bonds (byron.bonds@tbe.com), Jennifer Whitworth (jennifer.whitworth@tbe.com), Brian Little (brian.little@tbe.com), or Aris Tanone (aris.tanone@tbe.com).

From left, front row, Huntsville High students Kathryn Morse,
Jessica Rose, John Russell, Sydney Hulebak, Kyle Doiron, Alexandra
Hoagland, and Phillip Brol show off their completed packed boxes. They
are shown with some of the TBE overseers of the effort, from left, back
row, Krypel, Long, and Bonds.