Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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8 UCW APRIL 25-MAY 1, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Army Reserve turns 110 by BOB ERVIN On April 23, America's Army Reserve celebrated 110 years of history in service to the Army and the nation. What began in 1908 as a tiny corps of medical professionals held in readiness for service is today the Army's global opera- tional reserve force – meeting high optempo demands, gen- erating forces to support Army commitments worldwide and providing predictable capabili- ties to the Army and our global Combatant Commands. Established by Congress in 1908 with just 160 doctors and nurses, a somewhat larger organized reserve was created under the National Defense Act of 1916. A year later, when America entered World War I, more than 160,000 reserve soldiers were mobilized to help the U.S. Army defeat Germany and the cen- tral powers. By World War II, the reserves included more than 200,000, serving on every front. Through the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, the Global War on Terror and countless crises, operations and emergencies, America's Army Reserve has never failed to meet the challenges of its time – providing quick access to the mission-critical forces and capabilities the Army needs to initi- ate, sustain and prevail in major operations. Today, the nature of the threat is changing, and the Army Reserve is again rising to meet it, forging the most capa- ble, combat-ready and lethal federal reserve force in the histor y of the nation. At the tip of the spear is a ready force of some 600 units prepared to deploy quickly – some in less than 30 days – to fight, survive and win against emerging threats. A second level of effort is comprised of operational units prepared to deploy in 61-90 days for contingency operations, followed by units needed beyond 120 days. All will be pos- tured to move fast, engage quickly and win deci- sively on the battlefields of today and tomorrow. Looking ahead, America's Army Reserve will stay true to its roots as an expeditionary force, remain- ing f lexible, agile, innovative and attuned to the velocity of change in our time. And, it will continue to leverage the talent of the private sector for the good of the nation. For, at its heart, America's Army Reserve is and always will be an army of citizen soldiers committed to their communities, sup- ported by engaged employers. Highly skilled and educated in more than 148 different career fields, they are doctors, law yers, engineers, scientists, information and other spe- cialists on the leading edge of their fields. But they are also our relatives, neighbors and friends who not only defend our freedom and security abroad but secure the homeland, provide assistance in times of crisis or disaster and never fail to lend a hand when needed. The world is constantly changing, but one thing is constant: The Army Reserve will remain the dedicated federal reserve of the most decisive and lethal land force in the world. Ready now, shaping tomorrow, forging and sustaining the most capa- ble, combat-ready and lethal federal reserve force in the history of the nation. Happy Birthday, Army Reserve! BOB ERVIN, N.C. Army Reserve ambas- sador. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. The Army Reserve Ambassador Program was established in 1998 to promote awareness of the Army Reserve and the goals and objectives of the Chief of Army Reserve. What an honor by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Editor's note: Up & Coming Weekly sports editor Earl Vaughan was induct- ed to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association's Hall of Fame. We are proud to have Earl on our staff. Below are his thoughts on the event. Congratulations, Earl. There aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe my recent experience. This is the second time in my life I've been honored with selection to a hall of fame, the first one coming in 2012 when the Fayetteville Sports Club honored me. The NCHSAA ceremony was held at the Embassy Suites in Cary, and it could not have been a more perfect evening. I was joined at my table for this special moment by a mixture of family, friends and professional associates from my 40-plus year career at The Fayetteville Observer and now Up & Coming Weekly. There was my dad, the Rev. Earl Vaughan Sr., who thanks to his friendship with former Fayetteville Publishing Company publisher Ramon Yarbor- ough helped open the door to my career as a sports writer. My cousins, Tammy Hill and Dr. Marcia Lancaster, along with Tammy's husband Nick Hill were there. Tammy and Marcia have been more like sisters than cousins to me and have been fans of my work from the beginning. Two of my former Observer sports editors, Doug Mead and Thomas Pope, who put up with an assort- ment of aggravations from me over the years, took the time to attend. And then there was Melanie Grooms Garrett, one of the finest three-sport athletes I ever had the honor of covering when she starred at South View High School and later UNC-Pembroke. She was one of the best players for my good friend, the late South View softball coach Eddie Dees, who submitted my nomina- tion to the NCHSAA Hall of Fame. Finally, there was Trey Edge and his wife Kensley. I've known Trey since his high school days at Terry Sanford, and I was with him on one of the most disap- pointing nights you could imagine on an athletic field when his Bulldogs fell to Greensboro Page in a brutal way to lose the 1985 state championship football game. Trey has gone on to do play-by-play for DK Sports Inc. and host a Monday night sports talk show on WFNC with former Terry Sanford coach Bill Boyette. There were others in the room who shared the moment as well: fellow Hall of Famer and longtime Terry Sanford tennis and girls' basketball coach Gil Bowman, East Bladen coach and athletic director Patty Evers, officiating regional supervisors Neil Buie and Brad Allen, the latter also an NFL football official. Another good friend was Robeson County product and former state department of public instruction staff member Tim Brayboy. Evers, Allen and Buie all appeared on a video trib- ute that was shown during the banquet and had kind words to say about me, along with former Observer co- workers Sammy Batten and Jaclyn Shambaugh and former Douglas Byrd and Seventy-First football coach Bob Paroli, another fellow Hall of Famer. I can't begin to thank everyone who has made a comment complimenting me on social media, via texts to my phone and in personal phone calls as well. The hardest thing for me to wrap my head around is that my name now graces a display in the Simon Terrell Building at the NCHSAA office in Chapel Hill, where the names of coaching greats and administra- tive legends of this state are also honored. My role in high school athletics has been on the periphery compared to them. All I do is tell every- one else's stories, and I've tried to do that with two goals in mind. They are simply to be fair and tell the truth. That is what I plan to continue doing here at Up & Coming Weekly thanks to the generous support of publisher Bill Bowman, who has allowed me to keep doing the one thing I truly love in this world, covering high school athletics. Thank you to everyone for all the kind words, and most of all, thanks to the coaches, athletes and fans for reading what I've written. It's all about them and for them. I'm just along for the ride, and it's been an incredible one so far. EARL VAUGHAN JR., senior staff writer. COMMENTS? EarlUCWS- ports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638. The NCHSAA ceremony was held at the Embassy Suites in Cary, North Carolina. OPINION