Greetings to you Theodocia! Welcome aboard : ) Ohhhh, how far I have come with the lingo, abreviations and interpreting posts with no punctuation! ha! I'm sorry I don't know how to link it, but if you go to the Anysoldier Home page, about half way down, right under the row of anysoldier hearts, you'll see "Ranks of our contacts... click here" and it will give you the whole rundown. Hope that helps : ) Shelly

ps Jennifer posted re ranks too if you go back a page, she had some really good tips too!

If I read the Air Force ranks correct, the S might stand for Senior Airman and the 4 stands for E-4.

Senior Airman is equivalent to a Corporal in either the Army or the Marines.  

hello marty,my name is lori baumgartner and might i say this is a real treat for me to talk to a fellow soldier!!!I was in the ARMY for a VERY LONG TIME!!!!I joined in 1978 and i had to get out because of a few medical problems i was having.I was also national guard in arizona,i joined the guard in south dakota and ended up here in north dakota finishing up here.As you can tell by my name,OPFORGIRL i did opfor for many years!!!As far as i can tell,i'm the only woman here in nd that has done it.I guess the rest of the girls were WIMPS!!!!(LOL!!!)I love to talk to fellow soldiers because i think,once youv'e had THE TRAINING,your a soldier for life.I grew up,like you,in the army,my dad was a retired first-shirt and we went to different places,we never went to germany though.I went in 1979,and i gotta tell ya,BOY!!!WAS THAT FUN!!!!I'm 50 years old now,and still on the wild side!!You can take the girl out of the soldier,but you'll NEVER take the SOLDIER out of the girl!!!When i joined,wayyyyy back in 1978,the wac's were still around.and i think,i'm probally the last of my kind,unless i can find some on-line right here!!Well,you take care bud,and keep dodging that lead!!!!OPFORGIRL

Theodocia:

Some of the addresses that I have requested have the soldier's name at the top without giving a rank - like Sgt, LC, whatever. Underneath where it says "Soldier's Title" there are often abbreviations that I cannot translate. When I write, I would like to be able to address the soldier correctly. Can anyone move me on? I have never posted on a chat room and haven't a clue what I am doing but I am plowing ahead. The information on the page that shows "Ranks" does not tell me what an Air Force S4 is.

Theodocia,

I would address this person as Airman "Last Name".

 

Hi, all,

Or Hey, ya'll I should say from here in South Carolina. I found out about anysoldier right after Christmas in an Amazon.com forum of all places. Last year I had a chaplain contact to send things to, but he came home, so I was very glad to discover this. I'm trying to keep it sane. I already shop for Operation Christmas Child and our local countrysanta.org. (My husband doesn't mind as long as the stuff doesn't take up permanent residence.)

 Anyway, I live in Clemson which is a university town. Clemson U used to be a military school long ago. SC is pretty conservative outside of the universities. The news today (we have the Republican primary today) said SC has the highest military percentage of the population. My husband is an economics professor and has always done research for DoD especially in the area of military manpower. I stayed home when my kids (two girls) were little, then worked parttime, but currently I'm a volunteer for church and a number of local organizations.

This website is great and as I've explored it, I've found that any suggestions I thought I had have already been taken care of. I grew up in a semi-military family. My Dad was in WWII and Korea and then finished his 20 in the Army Reserves. My brother served in Viet Nam (he came home safely.) My husband did National Guard and Army Reserve time in the 70s. So I always wondered why my colored pencils included Lieutenant Blue and Lieutenant Green (Lt blue and Lt. Green).

I've gained new respect for our military by reading the posts here. Good Americans making the best of whatever situation they're in. And it's great to read all the forum posts for ideas. I got my first email response  a couple of days ago and it made my week. Well, this is way too long. But I feel like I'm in good company. Thanks to all of you as well as to the troops.

Mellie W

 

 

 

 

Hi Everone

It's about time I stopped lurking in silence, learning from all of you, and introduce myself.

I am a homemaker in California.  I have been mostly writing and e-mailing contacts for over a year, and I am attached to them all.  How could I not be.

My interests are  my family, MY CONTACTS,  church, and animals of all kind, and the outdoors.

My thanks go out to Marty, for enabling so many to be blessed.

Also, my thanks especially to Gran for all I have learned from you. It's nice to learn from someone who has done this for so long.

I am learning from all of you.

I'm finding it hard when a contact deploys home. So happy for them, but at the same time, so sad to have them pass out of my life.

This forum is a great way to communicate, so glad to have it.

                                   STILL WRITING

Al

It's time I stopped lurking around the site myself also.

 Well, my name is Bill as my username would suggest, and beleive it or not, my Aunt and Uncle are the ones that run this! =]

 I've been able to work for Aunt Suzie by making boxes, hauling them to the mail truck, etc.  It's quite an amazing job, in my opinion, being able to send supplies the soldiers will need.  Due to school I am only able to work on weekends, but I hope to be able to continue my work, as little as it may be, for Any Soldier.

Well, I guess thats my affiliation with Any Soldier.  Glad to meet you all. =D

-B!LL

 

Welcome Laurie, Mellie, Al and Bill!! How wonderful to have y'all aboard : ) And how nice for us you all seem like you've been supporting the troops for a while, I bet you have some great ideas for us! Look foward from hearing from you all! Shelly

Hello everyone;

My name (obviously from my screen name) is Colleen. Here goes at my introduction, I am 32 and as anyone who knows me will attest, I am truly a professional student. I work to support my educational curiosity. As far as my link to soldiers, I have none, other than a desire to support the troops. I neither come from a military background, nor do I have family members in the military. (My family has always worked in local law enforcement). I totally enjoy using this site, though I don't expect to spend much time in the forums other than to ask a question here and there. I really have no free time and when I do I spend it at the store picking up a few little things to send to the soldiers (which evolves into a large care package). I wish I could expand and impress with my introduction, but I guess I am rather dull, I work about 70 hours a week and spend time with my family. I have been using this site for a few months now and love it. ... In a nutshell, I'm the nut...

~Colleen

 

Hey!  I second STL's greetings! 

And Colleen, we are all nuts here - nuts about what we do and the people we support! You don't sound dull at all.  I hope you will pop in frequently to see what's being said and to add your 2 cents' worth!

Hi my name is Christian and I am a Capt in the Air Force.  I am 34 years old and currently stationed in Baghdad, Iraq.  This is my 3rd tour to a combat zone since 9/11.  I came across this site and wanted to sign up and would love to share some of my experiences with some of you that might be interested. 

I am from New England, Massachusetts where I grew up and currently live.  I enjoy working out, traveling, flying, boating, conversations and learning new things.   

Thanks for supporting our fighting men and women.

 

Welcome to the Forum, Christian. We are happy to have you here.  We all want to say Thank You! in a big way for your service.  You are appreciated and supported here.  When you say you've signed up, I hope that means as a contact, and that you are listed in the Where To Send column.  God Bless you and keep you safe. 
 

Christian -  I did find you in the new contacts.  Welcome!   Anything specific that you and your squadron might be missing from home or needing, don't be shy to ask for.  The support here is phenomenal.   Have a good day!

Welcome to ALL you newbie to the Forum and Family!  

Glad to have you here.  Looking forward to sharing posts with you. 

Hugs,

G.I.O.BARBIE

Dear Christian -- Hello and welcome to the Forum!  As Deni says, the support here is indeed *phenomenal* -- hey, we don't call ourselves *support junkies* for nothing   Marty even set us up with our own *support junkie* search tool on the Where to Send page

Again, echoing what Deni said so well -- you or your squadron needs something, just ask!  Seriously!  We're here to help!  Please give our best to your squad -- and thank you all for your service! 

Keep well & stay safe!

--Marilyn