1. www.facebook.com/3.6FA.1BCT.10MTN
Government Organization
3-6 Field Artillery
FRSA Flash
September 19, 2012
9/22 – Adirondack Railroad Fall Foliage Trip – Parks and
Recreation
9/22 – UFC at Winner’s Circle – BOSS
9/22 - Trash to Treasure 10-1PM - Crescent Woods Commu
nity Center
9/25 - Investing 101-ROTH IRA 9-11AM - ACS
9/25 – Teen Image-Makers Photography Club – Youth Center
9/25 – Family Night: Horseback Riding – The Commons
9/26 – At-Home Career Fair – Army Community Service
Have questions or con- 9/26 – Teen Cooking Club – Youth Center
cerns? Be sure to contact 9/27 – Federal Employment Workshop - ACS
your FRG Leader or FRSA. 9/27 - FRG Book Club - ACS
9/29 - Meet the Author: Hope Marston - McEwen Library
HHB 9/29 - Skate Jam - Youth Center
10/1-14 - Clothing Give-Away Drop-Off – ACS
Mindy Thompson
10/1-2 - 1BCT DONSA
Cindy Aldana 10/1 – Homemade Christmas Group – ACS
10/2 – English For Speakers of Other Languages – ACS
Alpha Battery 10/3 – BOSS 5K Fun Run – Magrath Sports Complex
Jill Burke 10/3 - OPSEC Safety for Families 10:30AM-12PM - ACS
10/4 – Employment 101 – ACS
Bravo Battery 10/5 - DIVISION DONSA
10/5 – Couponing Class – ACS
Tessa Conaway
10/5 - In Her Shoes: Living With Domestic Violence – ACS
Golf Battery 10/8 - COLUMBUS DAY/DIVISION DONSA
10/9 - EFMP Support Group – ACS
Rachel Hirons 10/9 - Key Caller Class – ACS
Advisors 10/9 - Build Your Own Business – ACS
10/12 - Veterans’ Information Day – Dulles State Office
Pamela Oeschger Building
10/13 - I’m Alone Youth Training - School Age Center
Melinda Thomas
10/19 - Coping with Deployment Class - USO
Family Readiness Sup- 10/26 - Daytreat 9:30AM-3PM - Po Valley Chapel
port Assistant 10/26 - Haunted Hayride - Remington Park
10/27 - 2BCT Haunted Hotel
Kimberley Williams 10/30 - Alpha Battery Change of Command

2. Family Matters Blog: Managing Military ID Cards Just Got Easier
By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service
The center has launched its RAPIDS http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/self_service/rapids/unauthenticated?
execution=e1s1 -- Real-time Automated Personnel Identification System -- self-service portal to allow
anyone with the Defense Department's common access card, or CAC, to apply for family ID or retire-
ment cards or update dependents' statuses online.
"It's really exciting," Mary Dixon, the center's director, said. "We've been working for some time now to
try to improve and transform our whole ID card application process so people can do things online and
not spend long hours going to a site and waiting to be seen."
The change may seem procedural, but its impact will be big for those who, without it, have had to
spend countless hours waiting in line with their families to get ID cards. Before RAPIDS, service mem-
bers, retirees and families had to go together to a Defense Manpower Data Center to submit an applica-
tion form and wait while the ID card is being made, Dixon said.
"This is big project," she said. "It takes away time from your work, and if you are separated – maybe the
spouse is out on a ship or on deployment or your child is away at college – it makes it a huge problem."
Now, the CAC holder can go onto the RAPIDS site, call up the listing of their dependents, and fill out
and digitally sign form No. 1172-2 for their family members to receive an ID card. That family member
then can go alone to the closest DMDC office – they are listed on the website and linked to Google Maps
<blockedhttp://maps.google.com/> for driving directions -- to pick up the card, Dixon said.
RAPIDS is a win for both the department and families, the director said. "You can do this from your
desk," she said. "As long as your computer is CAC-enabled, it could be from your home or office. You can
do it without going to a physical site, which is huge."
The site also allows you to get a DOD self-service user name and password, known as a DS Logon, that
allows you to access several DOD and VA websites with the logon information, rather than a CAC. DS
Logon, which is available only to CAC holders, also has a "premium account," which gives the highest
level of access, allowing you to view personal data about yourself in the DOD and VA systems, apply for
benefits online, check the status of your claims and update your address records. You must apply in per-
son for the premium account.
DMDC will continue to expand its self-service options to include changing email certificates and infor-
mation about family members, Dixon said. The upgrades include an effort to put the fingerprints of new
recruits into the system, so lost paperwork can easily be replaced, she said.
Dixon said she hopes the site also will one day include alerts for when an ID card is about to expire, and
will be integrated with DMDC's MilConnect http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/faces/index.jspx?
_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrLoop=1976018236000&_adf.ctrl-state=mvj0t2p8k_4 web-
site to access all DOD and Veterans Affairs benefits.
"We still have to have the face-to-face, which is important for legitimate ID proofing," she said. "But
we're saying, 'What are the ways to reduce the time you spend at the sites?'"

3. Enjoying the North Country

4. News From Your Sci-Tech Museum
Find out about:
1) Free Telescopic Observing Night To Feature Our Moon
2) Sci-Tech To Be Open On Columbus Day With A Special Deal
3) New Display Of Indian Artifacts
4) 100 Years of the Electronic Vacuum Tube
5) Strategy Game Club Returns To Saturdays
6) Our Wish List
1) Free Telescopic Observing Night To Feature Our Moon - Join us for a free observing session on Friday, September 21, at
8:00pm at the Perch River Air Monitoring Station. This is a free event, with telescopes set up to view a variety of celestial
phenomena, learn about some of the constellations, and see how to find directions from the stars.
2) Sci-Tech To Be Open On Columbus Day With A Special Deal - Sci-Tech will be open on Columbus Day, Monday October 8, from
10:00am to 4:00pm, with a special deal for children.
Any child who brings in a newspaper story about exploration or discovery on Columbus Day will be admitted for just $1.00
3) New Display Of Indian Artifacts - Don't miss a new display on Sci-Tech's first floor, showing a variety of American Indian arti
facts. Included in the display case are dolls, sewing tools, arrowheads, flint cutters, and even a totem. Tribes represented
in the display include our local Onondaga Nation, cliff dwellers, Mashpies, Navahoes, Seminoles, and more.
4) 100 Years Of The Electronic Vacuum Tube - The vacuum tube was critical to early electronic technology, and drove the de-
velopment of radio, television, telephone systems and computers. Although a crude forerunner was developed by Lee De Forest
in 1906, using what was known as the "Edison Effect" to demodulate radio signals, it was not until about 1912 that the modern
tube was born.
5) Strategy Game Club Returns To Saturdays - Our Strategy Game Club, the Syracuse Wargamers, play a variety of board and
card strategy games as well as chess. Starting on October 13, they will again be meeting each Saturday morning at 10:00am on
Sci-Tech's second floor. All teenagers are invited to participate
6) Our Wish List - To help us prepare new exhibits and programs, we'd like to ask you to look around your garage or basement,
and see if you have any of the items we are searching for. Our complete wish list is on our web site at: www.scitechcenter.org,
but there are a few items we hope to locate quickly. These are:
Bicycle generators - the type that rub against a bicycle wheel to power a headlight
High intensity illuminators - medical/fiber optic OK
Small kiosks - display units
Plexiglas - Acrylic plastic - sheets or scraps, but clean
Drill Press
Film reel winders - for 16mm or 35mm film, or editing station with reel winders
Low pressure sodium light (yellow light)
Micro-Amp meters
Small X-ray viewing box
If you can help with the donation of any of these items, please contact Steve Karon at Sci-Tech - 788-1340
Sci-Tech Center of Northern New York
154 Stone Street
Watertown, NY 13601

5. Happening at ACS

6. Looking for a job??
Check out our vFRG page as the ACS Job Bank is updated weekly!!! www.armyfrg.org.

7. Exceptional Family Member Program at ACS

12. Contents of this newsletter are compiled from multiple Military Family news sources. Material presented does not
represent the views or endorsement of 3-6 Field Artillery or the United States Army. This material is for personal use
of the readers. All readers are encouraged to do further research for all applicable restrictions and guidelines.