Page 5 - Fort Irwin High Desert Warrior, March 2021

4 High Desert Warrior www.aerotechnews.com/ntcfortirwin www.aerotechnews.com/ntcfortirwin High Desert Warrior 5
March 2021
March 2021
Community News

Sweet Moment: Fort Irwin veteran, spouses Fort Irwin wraps up the Fort Irwin Army Emergency

compete in national baking competition Combined Federal Campaign Relief campaign kicks o

Story and Photo by David Dupree
By Janell J. Lewis Ford cake, and a Halloween-themed spider cake,” NTC/Fort Irwin Public A airs
NTC/Fort Irwin Public A airs Johnson said. FORT IRWIN, Calif. — Fort
Even though the three, local bakers weren’t
FORT IRWIN, Calif. — Fort Irwin Army the top winners, they say they appreciated the Irwin’s annual Army Emergency
veteran Jazminn Johnson just started her home- opportunity overall. Relief campaign kicked o at the
based baking business, but she’s already o to “ is experience was fun and really eye Sandy Basin Community Center
a great start. opening to the amount of support and love I on Feb. 25.
“I started my business in October 2020,” AER has always been an im-
Johnson said. “After I medically retired from have,” Fritz said. “Blessed is truly an understate- portant tool to positively impact
the Army, I needed something new to ll my ment. I’m so grateful!” Soldiers’ lives. Command teams
time. A friend of mine at the time suggested I Johnson added, “It was eye opening that I send Soldiers to the local AER
start a home-based business.” can take my baking so much further than just o ces for nancial assistance in
Johnson owns Jazzy’s Sweets. She, along Fort Irwin.” times of need.
with two other home-based business owners, ey have advice for other entrepreneurs. e goal for this year’s cam-
Krystal Fritz and Latoyla Atkins entered the Krystal Fritz Jazminn Johnson “Stay humble, be yourself, and continue to paign is for each Mission Support
Greatest Baker competition last fall. Johnson give back/provide great customer service,” Fritz Command (MSC) at Fort Irwin
ended up placing fth out of hundreds of Greatest Baker of 2020, to, and a year’s supply port I would receive from this community, said. “ e rest will follow!! Also, be patient, to make 100% contact with all
entries. Fritz and Atkins placed 9th and 10th. from, the Stu ed Pu s factory, was featured in which lead me to serve Denzel Washington and kind and con dent!” uniformed Soldiers within their
“I saw two other local bakers were in the the Bake from Scratch Magazine, and the grand Michael B. Jordan, crazy!” Fritz said. “Truly Johnson said to take advantage of every
competition,” Johnson said. “I was hesitant at prize was taking home $10,000. love this community. ey are my family!” opportunity. Abraam Dawoud, Fort Irwin Public A airs formations, to hopefully boost up the contributions.
is is the 79th year for the Army-wide campaign. More than four million Soldiers have
rst to join because I just started my business It was hosted by Jen Barney, who is a two- e competition process worked by bakers “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t By David Dupree
and the other bakers had such great products time Food Network Baking Champion. posting their latest creations on social media, take,” she said. “If you want to get experience NTC /Fort Irwin PAO been helped with about $2 billion overall since its inception and the vast majority of funds are
and I wasn’t sure how mine would compare.” Fritz, owner of Fritz Delight, calls her busi- and the community supporting them by voting with something, the best way is by joining donated by Soldiers.
e competition was conducted completely ness the ‘Home of Ta y Grapes and Specialty on their greatestbaker.com pro les. Each round competitions or events that can further your FORT IRWIN, Calif. — e National Training Center and Fort Irwin has wrapped up “Essentially it’s Soldiers helping Soldiers, which makes it all the more special,” NTC’s com-
online and is touted as the world’s largest in- Cheesecakes’ and provides gourmet chocolate- lasted about a week. experience. Also, always put your best foot participation in the 2021 Combined Federal Campaign with representatives working in di er- manding general, Brig. Gen. David Lesperance said.
ternet competition for bakers. covered treats and other desserts. “I submitted a fancy cake with buttercream forward and come with a plan of how you ent corners of the community to inform, educate and request support. ey were able to come e funds help Soldiers and families with everything from rent payments and car repairs, to
The winner received recognition as the “I truly didn’t imagine all the love and sup- roses on the inside, my famous gooey butter want to make the competition work for you.” together even during this pandemic. utilities, medical bills and childcare.
e goal of CFC Southern California was to raise $300,000 and with the e orts of dedicated e campaign began on March 1 and runs through May 15.
From QUALITY, Page 1 representatives, the community contributed $4,000 towards that goal. CFC ran from Nov. 1, Lesperance and Command Sgt. Maj. William Justice completed their donation forms dur-
2020, through Jan. 15, 2021. ing the live event, followed by Garrison Commander, Col. Jeanette Martin and Command Sgt.
to upgrade and remodel the On Feb. 23, Fort Irwin’s Garrison Commander, Col. Jeanette Martin, along with the Gar- Maj. Paul Fedorisin.
barracks dayroom, while more rison Command Sgt. Maj. Paul, Fedorisin, presented certi cates to all uniformed soldiers who e event was hosted by Fort Irwin’s Army Community Services and streamed live on Face-
than $20 million has been ap- assisted the Army Community Service in reaching their goals. book.com/NTCfortirwin.
proved to renovate the existing
barrack buildings on post.
“Given our unique location, Fort Irwin’s NASA Complex plays role in Mars Perseverance Rover landing
mission set and work schedules, NTC/Fort Irwin Garrison Public A airs received news of touchdown rst, though the DSN
our single Soldiers deserve the complex in Goldstone, California, was listening as
best conditions that the Army GOLDSTONE DEEP SPACE COMMUNI- well. As Perseverance moved out of earth’s direct
can provide,” Fedorisin said, CATIONS COMPLEX — e Mars 2020 Perse- line of sight, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
which is why $180 million has verance Rover arrived on Mars on Feb. 18 and that (MRO) relayed engineering data to the DSN.
been approved to construct a was thanks, in part, to the Goldstone Deep Space NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN
three-phase barracks complex Communications Complex at the National Training (MAVEN) orbiter also provided a recording of land-
to improve the quality of life Center and Fort Irwin. ing data in a less processed le format so every detail
e rover left Earth July 30, 2020, and NASA of the historic event could be sent back to Earth.
of the Soldiers. was able to communicate with the spacecraft dur-
The High Desert community supported the
Over the next few years, the ing its dangerous entry, descent and landing phase achievement by using the hashtag #PaintTh-
Fort Irwin community is set to with NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) — three eTownRed. Barstow Community College, e Town
receive close to $300 million in complexes located in Spain, Australia and Goldstone, of Apple Valley and the Lewis Center for Educational
ments in infrastructure was not enough. life of Soldiers residing in the barracks
Steps have been taken to alleviate the was one of his main concerns. quality-of-life upgrades. right here at NTC/Fort Irwin. Research are a few of the businesses who were lit up
financial burden of providing quality “Renovating and improving the exist- “By investing in our Soldiers and their e DSN’s antenna complex near Madrid, Spain, in red for the event.
childcare for its Soldiers. A permanent ing barracks complex has been a priority families, we can provide quality housing,
20% childcare fee reduction has been for me as Command Sergeant Major of quality childcare, provide employment From OUTAGE, Page 1
implemented for CYS sta , as well as Fort Irwin,” Fedorisin said. “Our current for military spouses, and have a healthier
extending family childcare past 15 days. set of barracks covers every design the and more lethal force,” Martin said. torate of Public Works, Paul Schonenberger said any issues were addressed and corrected quickly. Southern California Edison crews conduct pole replacement, along with maintenance and repairs
Initiatives, such as expanding the exist- Army has used in the last 50 years and A link to the Quality of Life plans “Overall the scheduled outage went quite well,” Schonenberger said. “We were able to get on the power line that feeds the installation. SCE also uses the opportunity to conduct preventive
ing Child Development Center, will many of these barracks are mechanically can be found on the home page of the several poles replaced on the critical feed to the installation, as well as a number of issues cor- maintenance on the substations, completing and installing power poles and underground cables,
provide children with a larger play area challenged. While we and our Soldiers rected on the installation. No safety issues or concerns were raised. inspecting/testing/cleaning transformers, circuit breakers and voltages insulators and replacing
and provide sta with more resources to have done our best to maintain what we NTC website at: https://home.army.mil/ Facilities like the Commissary, the Postal Exchange and the Warrior Zone ran on a generator failing equipment and poles throughout post.
accommodate growing enrollment. have, these buildings have not kept pace irwin/application/ les/2216/1428/8352/ with a slight change in business hours for the day. Many residents decided to enjoy a day o post for the day or the weekend, but for those
For Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. with quality-of-life upgrades.” FICAs_QoL_Projects_FY21-FY29_ e planned outage is a preventative measure to reduce the chance of an unexpected power who stayed, there were be several options and activities provided by the Family and MWR and
Paul Fedorisin, improving the quality of Renovations are underway this year PAO_Posting.pdf outage on post in the future. It protects Fort Irwin’s single extension cord. During the operation, AAFES, including bowling, paintball, and movies at the newly-renovated post theater.

For more information go to home.army.mil/irwin For more information go to home.army.mil/irwin