JAX AIR NEWS, NAS JACKSONVILLE, Thursday, June 18, 2009 Looking back to 1967... Photo by William Swisher Near the NAS jacksonville seawall along the St. Johns River,, a VP-30 flight engineer (top of the fuselage) checks the Wright Cyclone radial powerplants of his P2V-7 Neptune. This was the final Neptune variant produced by Lockheed that included upgraded powerplants, jet pods, improved wingtip tanks, APS-20 search radar, bulged cockpit canopy, b ti d MAD tail One of 311 built it would eventually be replaced by the Lockheed P-3 Orson. oI serva on nose anu initm i�. ",e u a I � *lt It WU-�- ~- --^--- - -7 - --- Standing by no snacks at baseball ,, By Sarah Smiley Special Contributor You can put away the Mother of the Year award. I haven't won it again. Last week's column, in which I expressed my frustration over snacks at children's athletic events, won me few friends. Believing that children will not perish from hunger during a two-hour baseball game puts you in an odd sort of minority. When kids are playing outside at home, mothers have to call them in and remind them to stop and have a snack. Out on the baseball field, however, they can't go more than 30 minutes without a bag of chips. Why? Because we as a society have trained our children to think this way, just as we have conditioned them to expect goody bags at birthday parties and prizes after a visit to the doctor or dentist. There is a material reward for everything. Many readers think I'm a fun-vac- uum. However, if it's kids' best inter- ests we are talking about, then the argument over treats after a game is a legitimate and important one. Participating in a sport is a healthy activity. Why niust it be rewarded with brownies? We already know that childhood obesity and diabetes are national problems. Being "good par- ents" in this context means teaching your children healthy eating habits. Conflict ensues when on the baseball field being a "good parent" is para- doxically defined as making sure that no one feels discomfort, whether it be hunger pain, the "pain" of sitting. on the bench and waiting your turn, or not being picked to play first base.. The children naturally want to feel good and have a reward. We as parents have unfortunately catered to them. Predictably, readers also expressed. frustration about baseball being FREEDOM To TRAVEL Visit Shamu for free By Erica Pefa-Vest Special Contributor nheuser-Busch - owners of Sea World Parks - I offers free admission to all active duty military, ready reserve members, Coast Guardsman or National Guardsmen who wish to visit any Sea World, Busch Gardens, Sesame Place, Adventure Island or Water Country USA park nationwide. . Since 2005, "Here's to the Heroes" has provided free admission for more than four million service members and dependants with dependant ID. "We take great pride in saluting our men and women in uniform," said Sea World San Diego Manager Andy Fichthorn. "For all of us at Sea World and Anheuser-Busch, it's an honor to show our appreciation for the sacrifices service members and their families make every day for our freedom." Anheuser-Busch has extended its program through 2009. What a great opportunity to take your family on a memorable vacation for minimal cost. To take advan- tage of this offer, log on to www.herosalute.coin or visit the entrance plaza of a participating park and show your Department of Defense ID. Unfortunately, inactive, standby and retired reserve members, military retirees, and civilian department of defense workers are ineligible for the program. For more information, visit your ITT office on base, or go to www. seaworld.com. For up-to-date travel deals and military discounts, log on to www.guidetofamilytravel.com. S played during din- nertime and lasting two hours. This is an understandable con- cern. Except plenty of parents manage to feed .|H their children a healthy snack before the game and then give them din- ner afterwards. Yes, that requires extra work, but we are moth- ers, the same people Sarah who can buckle car seats one-handed. We have never been short on creative ways to make things manageable. A frustration expressed by parents who agreed with my column is the fact that dinner on the bench is a dis- traction for the whole team. Taking food onto the field is a safety concern, but eating on the sidelines causes undue commotion when the players' attention should be on the game. It's respectful to watch your teammates when they are up at bat, but seeing the game from the bench also pro- vides more opportunities to learn the rules and strategies. Of course, the game is not the only thing to be learned. Inside a team sport there are other life lessons, many of which involve uncomfort- able things such as failure and disap- pointment. My fear is that we have become too opposed to letting our children experience these challenging situations. We want everything to be fair. There are no winners or losers. No one is better than anyone else. Everyone gets a treat. In Florida, Ford played the outfield for the entire first season. He sim- ply wasn't good enough to play any- where else. But he worked hard, paid attention and practiced. Getting what he wanted - became a motivator. . The next year he earned himself a spot at second base. And when he made his first triple play, he was rightly deemed MVP of that game, even though doing so could have ile potentially hurt other mile players' feelings. At the end of the second season, much to Ford's disappointment, he wasn't picked for the All Stars. Someone else had earned that reward. I resisted the urge to make Ford's pain go away. Back then I wrote, "Sometimes, being a mother means letting you experience things that will break my heart even as they build your character." The best advice I ever received about kids' sports was that moms meddling in the dugout interfere with one of the important rites-of-passage for boys - the joy, the pain and the triumph of baseball. For decades, the baseball diamond was a place where boys grow up. They learn to deal with disappointment, bumps and bruises, dirt in their eyes, and, yes,. even some teasing from their peers. They become a team play- er. They learn not to complain. They realize that meeting a challenge is the best reward of all. I don't think we are, asking too much of our children when we expect these things, or when we expose them to situations that may not have a reward and might not be "fair." In fact, I believe we are cheating them if we do not. BARRY MATI-rHEWS Job title/command: Community Planner NAVFAC-SE Asset Managment Hometown: Vidalia. Ga. h Favorite duty station/ Why? Fort Stewart. Ga.. because it's close to home. Last book read: The Rest of the Gospel by Dan Stone Favorite pastime: Camping and golf. Most Interesting Experience: Walking along the rim of the Grand Canyon with my wife and seeing the awesome grandeur of God's creation. Who is your hero? Jesus Christ I, BOWLING IS FUN FOR EVERYONE! * Weekly and grand prize drawings are open to all authorized MWR patrons and their guests. * Every time you bowl a game, you can enter a drawing for free prizes * Youth Bowlers 17 years of age and younger receive one FREE game of bowling every day until 5 p.m. ALL SUMMER LONGI Grand Prize Drawings on September 12 at 7:30 p.m. Grand Pitze * Ortando Family Vacation Package 4 adeul SeaWodd passes -2 nihi taoy of a stgsste Resorts properly m Ofando. FL st Runner Up - ~ AdMtuwos Th w Pal* Advntuf :4 jtil? AMW rhn6 Th� Pal, 'Or * odAYs 2 ,tthi$s stay at the 'awthoornt Sue& int Vhhostt. Ga 2nd RnnUer Up -A weekend in Daytona Beach 4 Day1tona 550 Epewrnce psa_.es 3.. niht t ify ar vt-. Vyti 0wct, Cosi..d Sy Mby FO, oale fflof fn i-ft Wrr,.ffon cal 904S4S2.343 Give-a-ways sponsored by .. ,... . 051kir News NAS Jacksonville Commanding Officer................... Capt. Jack Scorby Jr. NAS Jacksonville Executive Officer............................ Cmdr. Ellis Bowler Command Master Chief.............................CMDCM(SW/SS) Jeff Hudson Public Affairs Officer....................................................... Miriam S. Gallet Assistant Public Affairs Officer..................................Kaylee LaRocque , Naval Air Station lacksonville Editorial Staff Editor...................................:.................................................. Clark Pierce Staff W riter............................................................ 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Distribution by The Florida Times-Union. Advertisements are solicited by the publisher and inquiries regarding advertisements should be directed to: Ellen S. Rykert, Military Publications Manager 1 Riverside Avenue * Jacksonville, FL 32202 904-359-4168 Russ Martin, Advertising Sales Manager * 904-3594336 EN3 ANGELA REEDY Job title/command: NAS Jacksonville Command Career Counselor Office Hometown: Coward. S.C. Favorite duty station/ Why? NAS Jacksonville is a very caring command. Last book read: The Bible Favorite pastime: Praying. Most interesting experience: Prophetic dreams. Who is your hero? Jesus Christ FROM THE HOMEFRONT HEY, MONEYCHICI Hey, MoneyChic! I've been in the Navy for about ten years. With this much time invested, I've definitely made the decision to "stay in." Now that I've got a family to provide for, I watch every penny. One added burden to our family budget is repaying my student loans I had from before joining the Navy. It seems like I'll be paying on them forever. Do you have any salvation for me? MoneyChic says: Actually I've got some great salvation news for you. Check out the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This program offers loan forgiveness after 10 .years of public service employment. Serving in the military qualifies as public service! To qualify for the loan forgiveness, you must make monthly loan pay- ments for ten years (120 payments) while work- ing full time in public service. Most students borrow federal student loans from one of two major federal student loan programs. To see if your loans are eli- gible, check out www.nslds.ed.gov. For more information about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, visit www.equaljusticeworks. org/resources/student-debt-relief. This may just erase the remaining student loan debt that you have and free up some room in your family budget. Not a bad perk for serving your country.