Page 24 - 21st Century Defense 100th Anniversary WW1

viable in the future. That is why, effective in 2020, Purple
Heart and Medal of Honor recipients, veterans with service-
connected disabilities, and family caregivers will be eligible to AUTHOR BIO
use MWR retail and lodging facilities. Extended benefits such Arthur G. Sharp is the author of
as these will help alleviate concerns of deployed warfighters eighteen books and 2,500 articles.
and their families and provide an incentive for them to remain He edits the Korean War Veterans
with the military of the 21st century. Association’s 80-page bimonthly
magazine The Graybeards, the 1st
The MWR’s mission is to employ professionals whose goal is Marine Division Association’s quarterly
to boost warfighters’ and their family members’ morale and 32-page publication The Old Breed
resiliency in every possible way. The services provided can be News, and the Chosin Few Association’s
anything from bowling centers to financial counseling, health quarterly magazine, The Chosin Few.
and wellness programs, and spouse employment programs. Most recently authored Atomic Cannons
MWR is more than a service to the services though. It is an and Nuclear Weapons: A Mystery of the
example of the commitment the military has to its members Korean War (for more information see
to keep them focused on their missions as the backbone of the advertisement on page 21). Sharp,
a highly trained, always ready, fighting force, secure in the who holds B.A. (University of Hartford)
knowledge that the families they leave behind are well and M.A. (Trinity College, Hartford, CT)
taken care of. degrees in history, served in the US
Marine Corps from 1958-62. He also
As the old military saying goes, “All hands turn to work.” That
is what is happening with the armed forces as they prepare to taught various courses for over 30 years
fight the wars of the future. Everyone from the soldiers in the at the college/university level.
field to the students at the military academies, the specialists
at MWR, and the generals at the Pentagon are “turning to
work” as they make the US a safer and more secure nation
as we go deeper into the 21st century and get a head start
for the 22nd.

Marines hike to a cold-weather training site in Iceland,
during Trident Juncture, a NATO training exercise.
Photo by Marine Corps Lance Corporal Menelik Collins.

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