News 6 Mashup: Oct. 4, 2021

Here is a News 6 mashup of top stories for the week of Oct. 4, 2021, straight from AWN News 6 Correspondent, Jolene McNutt:

Federal Government Opening More Jobs to Military Spouses

Finding federal jobs as a military spouse has gotten a little bit easier. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced a “newly expanded and congressionally mandated Military Spouse Non-Competitive Appointment Authority.” In short, this means that there will be new ways for military spouses to apply to work as a part of the federal workforce. The jobs will be non-competitive appointments that “remove limitations such as relocation requirements, geographic restrictions, and arbitrary quotas.” These positions will likely utilize remote work opportunities for military spouses to take their careers with them.

Space Force Unveils New Uniforms

The U.S. Space Force has announced its new uniforms, and it’s getting a big reaction. The new service dress uniform has a dark blue jacket with a high collar and six silver buttons that angle from the right shoulder toward the mid abdomen. NPR said, “To many, the uniforms resemble those worn by officers in the sci-fi TV series Battlestar Galactica from the 2000s.” Additionally, the Space Force logo has been compared to the “Starfleet emblem” from the TV and movie series Star Trek.

Vet Tix Gives 10 Millionth Ticket

Vet Tix recently hit a milestone when it distributed its 10 Millionth ticket! Vet Tix provides free tickets for sporting events, concerts, performing arts, and family shows to veterans of all eras, currently serving military members (including the Guard and Reserves), and immediate family of those service members killed in the line of duty.

“By achieving this major milestone of distributing over 10 million tickets to our VetTixers, we’re able to give back by creating memories that will last a lifetime,” said Michael Focareto III, Navy veteran and founder and CEO of Vet Tix. Vet Tix has a sister organization called 1st Tix, which offers free tickets to current and retired first responders, which includes police, firefighters, EMT personnel, and 911 dispatchers.

Veteran Tickets Foundation Surpasses 10 Millionth Ticket Distributed Milestone

This Week in History

On Sept. 25, 1890, Sequoia National Park was established as our country’s second national park. Fast forward to Oct. 2, 1968, when Redwood National Park was also established. The sequoia and redwood trees are related but grow in different climates and elevations. Giant Redwoods and sequoias grow well over 300 feet tall and live 2,000 to 3,000 years. They also share a similar root system. One might think that growing so tall and living so long, the tree roots would go deeper into the earth. What’s amazing about these giant trees is that they have a shallow root system, only 8 to 15 feet deep. Where they get their strength to stand for thousands of years is through an intricate root system that spreads out more than 100 feet from each tree and intertwine with the roots of other redwoods or sequoias.

In effect, they hold each other up.

This fact is one of my favorites that I gleaned from Army Wife Talk Radio Episode #764, when Kori Yates from Planting Roots was our guest. Kori shared that these giant trees have to depend on like trees to hold each other up, other trees just are not big enough to hold them. It looks a lot like our military community—we need each other to hold us up, to thrive as a community. When you have enough of these giant trees holding each other up, they create their own ecosystem and even their own rain! It looks like our military culture: we send our roots out instead of down, and they intertwine with others like us, and eventually we can create our own ecosystem to help us thrive because we’re in this together.

If this hit you in the heart like it did to me, I’d encourage you to sign up for Planting Roots’ conference: Strength to Thrive on Oct. 23, 2021, in Colorado Springs. I promise you, this is not an advertisement! I was looking for a fun historical fact to share, and when I saw that the Redwood Forest was established, it pinged an old memory in my mind.

Some of us from the Army Wife Network team will be there to meet you in real life while you join with other military spouses for connection, encouragement, teaching, worship, and fun! Sign up now!