Army Reserve Soldier, Movie Promoter Helps Troops Overseas

In the new movie, “Dear John,” Channing Tatum’s character, John Tyree, and his girlfriend have constant correspondence through letters they write to each other. Tyree, a constantly-deployed special forces sergeant, never knows what news the next envelope may deliver, but he is sure of one thing: those letters mean the world to him.

That was the theme of an event organized by Spc. Gregory Williams, an Army Reserve Soldier with the 361st Public Affairs Operations Center at Fort Totten, N.Y. (Williams is currently cross-leveled with the 139th Transportation Detachment as a transportation management coordinator).

Williams, whose civilian job is a movie promoter, coordinated with Screen Gems / Sony Pictures to show “Dear John,” a military romance film, to support Operation Troop Appreciation, a non-profit organization that sends care packages to servicemembers deployed in the Middle East.

Training center Combat Arms Regiment gets new commander

“It’s a wonderful day at Ft. Sea Girt!”

Those words,etched on a commemorative plaque, elicited a hearty chuckle from Col. James T. Corrigan, the outgoing commander of the New Jersey National Guard’s 254th Combat Arms Regiment.

He used those words to open every troop formation at the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt during his 25-month command, which ended Saturday.

Col. Corrigan is going to miss hearing soldiers belt out those words.

“The hardest part about leaving this unit will be missing the relationships with the people,” he said.

The bond the colonel forged with his troops was made abundantly clear as he gave special thanks to about 15 of them at a ceremony to mark the end of his command.

Col. Corrigan raised his head from his prepared speech several times to rattle off first names, last names and nicknames of people that have left an indelible mark on him, never once using title or rank.

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Reunion Briefings: bridging the gap

Thousand of families across the state went through the gut-wrenching ordeal of saying goodbye to husbands, wives and children at the start of the 50th Infantry Brigade Team’s historic deployment.

Welcoming them home will be a joyous event, for sure. But, the days, weeks and months after the deployment ends won’t be without stress, or even heartache as Soldiers try to ease back into the lives that went without them for a year.

With that reality in mind, the National Guard has been conducting a series of briefings for the families of the deployed troops.

Marie Durling, the assistant family programs director, has been using these forums to try to lower families’ expectations.

“If you’re expecting your Soldier to drop their bags and run in slow motion towards you while you stand their with your arms wide open, you might be let down,” Durling said during a briefing at the Lawrenceville Armory in early April. “Don’t expect that beach fantasy, because your Soldiers have been through different experiences than you and that may not be what they want.”

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Hill upset with team’s subpar performance

As soon as the final out was recorded to end the 12-5 spanking the Rutgers baseball team got from the University of Delaware, head coach Fred Hill Sr. began angrily voicing his feelings about the performance of his team.
Though it was hard to understand what he was saying, there are a myriad of things he could be complaining about.
Scarlet Knights’ pitchers gave up 17 hits and three walks. Junior pitcher Kyle Bradley, the starter, and sophomore reliever Sean Campbell were only able to record three strikeouts while being responsible for ten of the twelve runs. They combined to let six runs come across the plate when the Blue Hens turned the fifth inning into batting practice.

Knights finish season on emotional high

Photo by Dan Bracaglia

With a 7-0 victory over Connecticut, the Rutgers women’s tennis team put an exclamation point at the end of a season to remember.
This victory was the sixth straight and 10th in the last 11 attempts. It finalized the team’s goal of a 14-4 record.
Head coach Ben Bucca’s praise for the team captain cut through the bitter cold at the RU Tennis Complex and brought tears to the wind-beaten faces of the Scarlet Knights.

Holzberg, Ivey continue torrid start at doubles

Photo by Will Schneekloth

It is said that a whole is equal to the sum of its parts, but in the case of the freshman tennis doubles team of Jennifer Holzberg and Morgan Ivey, the whole is greater than its parts.
In singles, Holzberg is 9-4 while Ivey boasts a record of 10-2. But when they join forces for second or third doubles they are an astounding 10-1, with their only slip up coming against sisters on the nationally ranked Marquette team.
It is fitting that only a blood relation is stronger than the bond built by this dynamic duo.

Prince’s strong afternoon

It was win-or-go-home for the Rutgers women’s basketball team Saturday and playing at the Louis Brown Athletic Center meant junior guard Epiphanny Prince had only one option — and she played like it.
Prince recorded her fifth career double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four steals, all of which were game highs. She also added a block and an assist to her already impressive stat line.
Virginia Commonwealth head coach Beth Cunningham fully expected this type of performance.
“We knew, coming in, that she would be one of the most talented guards we’ve seen all season. She presents a tough match up for anybody,” she said. “A player of her caliber is going to get it going.”

Vaughn gains perspective in final year

Photo by Ramon Dompor

Senior center Kia Vaughn spent eight games coming off of the bench for the Rutgers women’s basketball team this season. After being placed back in the starting lineup against Providence last week, Vaughn said her stint as the sixth man taught her a very valuable lesson.
“It taught me to cherish every moment, whether it’s on or off the court,” she said.
That is exactly what she is doing. When asked to speak on the Connecticut Huskies, an opponent two games away, her answer came without a second thought.
“Right now I see St. John’s,” Vaughn said. “After that game … whoever. You know?”
But after that game, it’s not just “whoever.” The Scarlet Knights will play host as Geno Auriemma’s undefeated Huskies travel to the Louis Brown Athletic Center March 2 for the second showdown of the season.

Vaughn excels in return to starting rotation

Photo by Lamar Carter

Senior center Kia Vaughn started her first game since Jan. 24 and she made an immediate impact as she scored 10 of her team’s first 20 points. Vaughn also contributed nine rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot.
The post players for Providence had trouble trying to contain the 6’4” senior. Juniors Emily Cournoyer and Jessica Clark were given the task and they finished the game with four fouls each.
Numbers are not the only thing the senior brings to the table. Vaughn is also the emotional catalyst for Rutgers.
“When Kia [shows emotion] it fires us up,” junior guard Epiphanny Prince said.
Prince went out of her way to try to reignite the fire.
“I was looking at tapes trying to compare [Kia to her sophomore season],” Prince said. “I even told her to switch her hairstyle back!”

Freshman lead way in surprise game

Photo by Ramon Dompor

In a game that was an unexpected midseason addition, the only thing shocking, was the amount of fans in the seats.
The Rutgers women’s basketball team handily defeated SUNY Farmingdale, 85-25, last night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center after jumping out to a commanding lead and never looking back.

Freshman forward Brooklyn Pope pushed the opening tip to junior forward Myia McCurdy and after Farmingdale freshman Shemique Hooks poked McCurdy’s ill-advised pass out of bounds, the Knights regrouped and set up a play that found freshman forward Chelsey Lee wide open underneath the basket. Lee’s layup made the score 2-0 and that was as close as the Rams got to a victory in the game.

Eagles Steal Playoffs from Cowboys

Destiny. Redemption. Playoffs.

All three of those things took place when the Philadelphia Eagles overpowered the Dallas Cowboys by the score of 44-6.

Head Coach Andy Reid moved away from his pass-happy ways, calling 36 runs compared to 22 passes.

Donovan McNabb threw for 175 yards on 12 completions, two of them going to touchdowns.

The Eagles spread 135 yards between fiver rushers. The longest came from Correll Buckhalter in the latter stages of the third quarter. Buckhalter was also responsible for the longest reception of the day, a 59-yard catch-and-run at the beginning of the second quarter.