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State of FORCECOM August 2012

Greetings Marines,

Well the 2012 International Conference and Muster is now behind us and
I would like to thank all of you that were there and who worked at the
event and attended the Marine Dress Mess and the Muster I hope you
enjoyed yourselves
I would like to congratulate the following Marines
Cross of Honor
Bobbie Baxter 506th MEU, 5BDE
Sword of Honor
Josiah Smiddy 287th MSG, USS Krakatoa, 12 BDE
Shield of Honor
Wade Hoover 226th MSG, USS Hellfire & Brimstone, 12 BDE
Star of Honor
Frank Stevens 503rd MSG, USS Thermopylae, 5BDE
Legion of Honor
225th MSG ,USS Bortas, 12 BDE
Cadet Cross of Honor (Grade 2)
Sean Smith 399th MSG, USS Issac, 20 BDE
Cadet Cross of Honor (Grade 4)
Victoria Gahrmann 173rd MSG, USS Dakota, 1BDE
Cadet Star of Honor (Grade 3)
Samantha Tolleson 300th MSG, USS Navras, 3 BDE
I would also like to give a shout out to my friend Jerry Stoddard on
being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
I would like to at this time congratulate the following Marines for
their participation in the SFMC Reading Challenge
The top 3 Readers in the Corps are
Joseph C Dorffner Jr from the 777th MSG with 71,318 pages
Leah Morgan from the 555th MSG with 56,027 pages
Mary Kane from the 161st MSG with 53,968 pages
The Top Cadet Readers as follows
Cadet Grade 2
Anya Walker from the 173rd MSG with 3341 pages
Benjamin Mabbit from the 380th MSG with 2164 pages
Sean Smith from the 399th MSG with 529 pages
Cadet Grade 3
Samantha Tolleson from the 300th MSG with 5119 pages
Ethan Schaffer from the 102nd MSG with 1515 pages
Cadet Grade 4
Victoria Gahrmann from the 173rd MSG with 519 pages
Marisa Glenn with the 225th MSG with 218 pages
The Top Readers from each Brigade not counting the Top Readers from
the Corps are
1st Brigade
John McLaughlin from the 173rd MSG with 25,251 pages
2nd Brigade
Anne Zecca from the 631st MSG with 9,442 pages
3rd Brigade
JJ Kelley from the 318th MSG with 24,391 pages
5th Brigade
Jari James from the 503rd MSG with 24,464 pages
7th Brigade
Pauline Lazarek from the 777th MSG with 44,550 pages
12th Brigade
Shirley Kolb from the 225th MSG with 36,808 pages
15th Brigade
E. Jerry Beaulieu from the 95th MSG with 12,025 pages
17th Brigade
Jennie Sontag from the 888th MSG with 8,898 pages
20th Brigade
Robert Mabbitt from the 380th MSG with 8,542 pages
The 3 Units in the Corps are as follows
1st 777th MSG from the 7th Brigade with an average of 35,195 pages
read per marine
2nd 161st MSG from the 1st Brigade with an average of 27,907 pages
read per marine
3rd 333rd MSG from the 3rd Brigade with an average of 9,028 pages
read per marine
Here are the Totals for the Top Units from each Brigade that
participated in the Reading Challenge
2nd Brigade 631st from the 2nd Brigade with an average of 1,578 pages
read per marine
5th Brigade 555th MSG from the 7th Brigade with an average of 8,004
pages read per marine
12th Brigade 286th MSG from the 7th Brigade with an average of 2,659
pages read per marine
15th Brigade 980th MSG from the 7th Brigade with an average of 1,315
pages read per marine
17th Brigade 888th MSG from the 7th Brigade with an average of 481
pages read per marine
20th Brigade 380th MSG from the 7th Brigade with an average of 1,190
pages read per marine
The Top 3 Brigades are as follows
1st Brigade with an average of 2,045 pages read per marine
7th Brigade with an average of 1,937 pages read per marine
5th Brigade with an average of 1,210 pages read per marine
Here is the Brigade Totals for the rest of the Brigades that
participated in the Reading Challenge
12th Brigade with an average of 1,054 pages read per marine
3rd Brigade with an average of 1,033 pages read per marine
20th Brigade with an average of 943 pages read per marine
15th Brigade with an average of 780 pages read per marine
17th Brigade with an average of 268 pages read per marine
2nd Brigade with an average of 156 pages read per marine
I was really impressed with the totals for this year’s reading
challenge as we had an increase of 151,972 pages and in the 2010 –
2011 reading challenge we had 7 Brigade participating whereas in the
2011-2012 reading challenge we had 9 brigades participating and this
time one of the brigades was one of the international brigades.
The total pages read in the 2010-2011 reading challenge was 765,217 pages read
The total pages read in the 2011-2012 reading challenge was 917,189 pages read
The biggest improvement came from the 3rd Brigade in 2010-2011
challenge they read 50,089 pages and in the 2011-2012 challenge they
read 168,340 pages Congratulations to the 3rd Brigade
I would like to give a shout out to the 20th Brigade as well as in
their 1st year in the challenge they reported 24,508 pages read
I would like to challenge all the Brigades to see if we can break the
1 million pages read mark for the 2012-2013 reading challenge
I get asked all the time what are the rules for the reading challenge
so here are the rules and stuff
To be considered an eligible submission all the following information
must appear on a Brigade’s report to FORCECOM for each marine:
Marine’s full name
Marine’s SCC number
Marine’s age (for Cadets)
Title of Book
Author of Book
Page count
ISBN number or publishers information
Failure to include all the above information will result in that
submission being discarded. COFORCECOM is not responsible for any lost
or incomplete submissions.
Contest Eligible Material:
Books in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, mystery, sci-fi,
thriller, romance, etc… are eligible and can be either in printed or
electronic form (Kindle, Nook, PDF, etc..). Books and materials such
as newspapers, magazines, comic books, cook books, and other such
books are not eligible. Audio Books can only be used if the
participant has a physical impairment or condition (blindness,
dyslexia, etc…) which prevents them from reading a printed book.
Marines using audio books must include the same information as a
printed book. Page counts for audio books are determined by using the
page count from the latest printed edition of the audio book in
question.
I would like to encourage all Unit and Brigade OIC’s to encourage the
cadets to participate in the Reading challenge and also to recommend
them for the cadet awards at the Brigade Level
Well that is all for this time
Remember Marines be safe out there and have fun as well
John Kiwi Kane
Master Gunnery Sergeant, SFMC
Commanding Officer, Forces Command
STARFLEET Marine Corps
forcecom at sfi-sfmc.org
It is Difficult to be a Good Non Commissioned Officer, if it was Easy
then they would have given it to the Officer Corps
– SMA William A. Connelly
“SOME PEOPLE SPEND AN ENTIRE LIFETIME WONDERING IF THEY MADE A
DIFFERENCE. THE MARINES DON’T HAVE THAT PROBLEM”…RONALD REAGAN 1985]]>