| May 2002 Minutes
INDIANA
CHAPTER
DINFOS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
P.O. BOX 26925
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 46226-900 1
The
sixteenth meeting of the Indiana Chapter of the D1NFOS Alumni
Association was held at 8:30 am on May 4, 2002, at The
Garrison at Ft. Harrison State Park. Attached is a listing of
those who attended.
The
first agenda item was an update on Ft. Harrison by LTC Chuck
Ricks, USA-Ret, who is now serving as Deputy Mayor of the City
of Lawrence. An overview of his remarks is as follows:
 | DFAS
employees who have been working temporarily in the old
Building #400 will start moving back to the General Bean
Center. |
| The
question again is what will happen to Building #400. There
is no way to use the former DINFOS broadcasting and TV
studios. These areas will be converted into classrooms. The
Community College of Indiana will expand to the second floor
into the old DINFOS classrooms. The college needs more space
as it has grown over the past year from 97 students to 1500. |
|
Looking ahead to 2003, plans will be presented to the Reuse
Authority to consolidate the PX and Commissary into one
building and build a new downtown for Lawrence. The first of
May a presentation will be made to the Marion County Library
board for a new library building along Otis Avenue. |
|
Development in Harrison Park is pretty much completed. There
will be a strip mall and a food store where the old steam
plant used to be, and a new restaurant will be built. |
| A new
super WalMart will be built east of Lawrence. |
| On
the south side will be the state headquarters of the VFW. |
| Due
to budget restrictions, there are no plans to build a new
Post Office. |
| The
old gas station building (an historical landmark) was torn
down when it began to deteriorate. |
| The
old mess hail is scheduled to be torn down. |
The
President of the Alumni Association called each attendee to
introduce themselves.
Manny
Harper and Perry Brandt mentioned the Indy reunion of 47
broadcasters who were with AFN during the Vietnam War. They
met at the Harpers home for a cookout, and bad a great time
exchanging war stories. Another reunion is being planned for
next year in California. A local newspaper columnist spent the
afternoon with the group, and a copy of his article is
attached.
Bob
Dittmer introduced the guest speaker, George Callahan and his
wife Diane. The Callahan’s are small business owners. Mr.
Callahan was one of the original Lawrence Fire Department
volunteer firemen, is actively involved in the Kiwanis and a
member of the Lawrence City Council. He was part of the
Indiana Task Force that went to the World Trade Center Twin
Towers in New York City to lend assistance. He was asked to
talk about his experiences to the assembled alumni.
| Mr.
Callahan showed over 150 slides he had taken of the disaster
and described how traumatic it was to be in the midst of the
rubble and see firsthand the devastation that had taken
place. |
| The
Indiana Task Force was at the site for two weeks helping in
any way they could. |
| He
described the show of patriotism by the number of American
flags that were displayed throughout the rubble. |
| Mr.
Callahan explained the profound effect this experience has
had on him emotionally. |
| He
mentioned how it helped the morale of those working at the
site when President Bush arrived. |
| Mr.
Callahan also displayed photos of how they were greeted on
their return to Indiana — how residents from Richmond to
Indianapolis showed their appreciation for what they had
done. He said that all of the members of the Task Force were
touched by the appreciation and concern demonstrated during
their welcome home. |
Mrs.
Callahan then concluded the presentation by saying that her
husband came back a changed person. His experiences that week
had a very emotional impact on him. She said it was her
insistence that he take his camera along as well as a notebook
to record his experiences daily. The notes and camera shots he
took have been invaluable in putting together this most moving
presentation.
Dr.
Rubak then gave an update from Colonel Hiram Bell on the
school at Ft. Meade as follows:
| First
of all, he extended his best from the new DINFOS to the
Indiana DINFOS alumni. |
|
DINFOS now reports directly to the Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Public Affairs. The office of the ASDPA is
conducted a comprehensive audit of public affairs throughout
DOD, and DINFOS is accomplishing a component of that audit
by assessing PA education and training conducted for non-PA
specialists by all the services. |
|
DINFOS has deployed teams to support PA training in Africa
and recently returned from a trip where they supported the
British MOD’s annual PA training effort. Also, the school is
entering upon partnerships with the State Department’s
Public Diplomacy Training Division of their Foreign Service
Institute. |
| A
comprehensive plan is being pursued to create a “Heritage
Hallway” honoring the legacy schoolhouses and convert the
front foyer to a memorial hall. |
|
William G. (Erik) Erickson, Jr., a retired Navy Journalist
recently employed at AFRTS HQ was killed in a recent tornado
in Maryland and his wife was seriously injured. They were
visiting their new home under construction when the tornado
hit and were apparently trapped as the house collapsed. (A
moment of silence was observed in his memory by those
present at the breakfast.) |
Concerning Alumni Association business, Colonel Bell had these
comments:
| As to alumni gift graduation awards,
it is probably feasible to recognize course distinguished
honor graduates with a token the association can sustain
over the long term. Stocks and material can be
pre-positioned at Ft. Meade and presented with the
assistance of an association member. |
| His intention is to move the
Association headquarters to the DC-Baltimore area and to
recruit a volunteer committee of local distinguished alumni
to establish a local chapter/committee to start this
process. This will be discussed in detail soon. |
Colonel
Bell also forwarded a copy of the Defense Information School’s
Strategic Planning Guidance. (See attached)
Dr.
Rubak also extended greetings from Colonel Walter Moore,
Colonel Ron Grubb and Tom Green from AFIS. He also mentioned a
newspaper article about a DINFOS Alumnus, Chuck Goad, who is
now an actor and appeared hi a recent episode of Law and.
Order.
The
meeting adjourned at 1100 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Jack Rubak
President
Helen C. Stritt
Secretary
|
