There's good news and bad news. The good news is that GLR Director of Personnel, Lt. Col. Marcia Cunningham, has won an all-expense paid trip. The bad news is that she is being deployed with the US Navy to Djibouti, Africa for the next 18 months. She reports for duty on October 6, 2006 and is tentatively scheduled to complete her tour in April, 2008. After preparation and training, her actual time in-country will be about 12 months.

Lt. Col. Cunningham has served in the Naval Reserves for the past 18 years and is a Senior Chief Petty Officer. As a Naval Storekeeper, she specializes in the area of Supply.

The US Navy assumed command of Camp Lemonier, which is located in the capital city of Djibouti, in July, 2006. The camp serves as the command center for the Combined Joint Task Force -- Horn of Africa. All branches of the service are stationed at Camp Lemonier with a total of 1,500 US and Coalition forces on
hand. The camp also supports an offshore command/listening post. Camp Lemonier was formerly a French Foreign Legion Outpost.

Djibouti is situated between Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Gulf of Aden. All of these areas are designated as having known terrorist links by the US State Department.

Lt. Col. Cunningham will be missed and everyone in the region will anxiously await her return.