Fort Bliss Monitor

Army Emergency Relief
Fort Bliss kicks off campaign tomorrow

Master Sgt. Steve Miller
Public Affairs Chief

MASTER SGT. Scott F. Reed

JCOC orientation program
The Joint Civilian Orientation Conference is a week-long, multi-service orientation program for civilian public opinion leaders who have limited knowledge of national defense issues. JCOC participants attend briefings, observe exercises, fire weapons and participate in training. It is the oldest existing Pentagon program which began in 1948. The Secretary of Defense and his staff select the participants and this is the only civilian orientation program that he sponsors. This year, the JCOC-69 will tour Fort Bliss, on Friday for the Army portion and will depart in the evening to continue their road trip to visit other services.

Unit project officers have been trained, so Team Bliss is ready to kick off its annual Army Emergency Relief fund campaign.

The kickoff event is slated for 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Fort Bliss Officers’ Club. All unit project officers are required to attend the kickoff, which will feature Maj. Gen. Michael A. Vane, commander of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Center and Fort Bliss. Vane is expected to receive a donation from Tri-West as part of Friday’s kickoff.

The annual AER campaign will run through May 23, and there’s no time to extend the campaign, local AER officials say.

“Everything has to be to Headquarters, AER by May 23 to process the allotments through [Defense Finance and Accounting Service] in time,” said Janice Gamel, post AER coordinator. “The allotments run from June of this year through May of next year.”

AER provides emergency financial assistance to Soldiers, retirees, widows and family members, as well as assisting members of other military branches. Some categories of assistance include food, rent or utilities; emergency transportation and vehicle repair; funeral expenses; medical/dental expenses and personal needs when pay is delayed or stolen. AER also provides undergraduate-level scholarships, based primarily on financial need, to children of Soldiers.

“Last year, this post gave out more than $900,000 in interest-free loans and grants,” said Zenaida Gutierrez, who conducted the training of project officers for this year’s campaign. The post collected just over $178,000 during the 2004 AER campaign.

Reader’s Digest named AER, along with the U.S. Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots program, as two of the best-run charities in America in a November 2003 article. AER and Toys for Tots and 10 other charities were, “… highly regarded by organizations that investigate and rate charities, and all keep their fund-raising costs low. They’re groups you can trust with your dollars,” the magazine said.

“The scope and magnitude of the Army’s current global commitments create unique hardships for Army people,” Vane wrote in a recent memorandum. “This (AER) assistance makes a great difference in the lives of young families struggling to meet the demands of Army life.”

Gutierrez emphasized that unit project officers and their keyworkers need to make 100 percent contact of all Fort Bliss personnel eligible for AER assistance as soon as possible so the post can meet its goal and conclude the campaign on time.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	April 28, 2005

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	Army Emergency Relief Fort Bliss kicks off campaign tomorrow Master Sgt. Steve Miller Public Affairs Chief MASTER SGT. Scott F. Reed JCOC orientation program The Joint Civilian Orientation Conference is a week-long, multi-service orientation program for civilian public opinion leaders who have limited knowledge of national defense issues. JCOC participants attend briefings, observe exercises, fire weapons and participate in training. It is the oldest existing Pentagon program which began in 1948. The Secretary of Defense and his staff select the participants and this is the only civilian orientation program that he sponsors. This year, the JCOC-69 will tour Fort Bliss, on Friday for the Army portion and will depart in the evening to continue their road trip to visit other services. Unit project officers have been trained, so Team Bliss is ready to kick off its annual Army Emergency Relief fund campaign. The kickoff event is slated for 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Fort Bliss Officers’ Club. All unit project officers are required to attend the kickoff, which will feature Maj. Gen. Michael A. Vane, commander of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Center and Fort Bliss. Vane is expected to receive a donation from Tri-West as part of Friday’s kickoff. The annual AER campaign will run through May 23, and there’s no time to extend the campaign, local AER officials say. “Everything has to be to Headquarters, AER by May 23 to process the allotments through [Defense Finance and Accounting Service] in time,” said Janice Gamel, post AER coordinator. “The allotments run from June of this year through May of next year.” AER provides emergency financial assistance to Soldiers, retirees, widows and family members, as well as assisting members of other military branches. Some categories of assistance include food, rent or utilities; emergency transportation and vehicle repair; funeral expenses; medical/dental expenses and personal needs when pay is delayed or stolen. AER also provides undergraduate-level scholarships, based primarily on financial need, to children of Soldiers. “Last year, this post gave out more than $900,000 in interest-free loans and grants,” said Zenaida Gutierrez, who conducted the training of project officers for this year’s campaign. The post collected just over $178,000 during the 2004 AER campaign. Reader’s Digest named AER, along with the U.S. Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots program, as two of the best-run charities in America in a November 2003 article. AER and Toys for Tots and 10 other charities were, “… highly regarded by organizations that investigate and rate charities, and all keep their fund-raising costs low. They’re groups you can trust with your dollars,” the magazine said. “The scope and magnitude of the Army’s current global commitments create unique hardships for Army people,” Vane wrote in a recent memorandum. “This (AER) assistance makes a great difference in the lives of young families struggling to meet the demands of Army life.” Gutierrez emphasized that unit project officers and their keyworkers need to make 100 percent contact of all Fort Bliss personnel eligible for AER assistance as soon as possible so the post can meet its goal and conclude the campaign on time.