MILITARY MATTERS

Groton — Branch 20 of the Fleet Reserve Association invites all students in seventh through twelfth grades to participate in the FRA’s 2015–16 Americanism Essay Contest.

Participants are invited to submit a 350-word essay centered on this year’s theme: Why I am Proud to be an American.

This national contest, sponsored by the FRA to promote a spirit of patriotism among America’s youth, offers a Grand National Prize of $5,000, with other recognition in each grade category.

Each entrant must be sponsored by an FRA member or branch.

Winners are selected at the branch level in each grade category, which are then forwarded to compete against winners from other branches in the Northeast/ New England Region.

Regional winners are then forwarded to the Association’s National Americanism Committee, where first, second and third place winners are selected in each grade category.

The grand national winner is selected from this elite group of writers and receives a $5,000 cash award.

Essays must be legibly written or typed on one side of the paper and each entry must include a cover sheet stating the entrant’s name, address, telephone number, name of school (or “home schooled”) and grade, the number of words in the essay, and name of the sponsoring member or branch.

Rules for the contest as well as the cover sheet can be found on the FRA’s home page at www. fra.org. All entries must be postmarked no later than Dec. 1.

To learn more about FRA’s Americanism Essay Contest, contact George Hyland, Branch 20’s Americanism/Patriotism Committee Chair, at (860) 4460731 or by email at hylandsfunhouse@aol.com.

The December Board of Directors meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Dec. 8 at the Branch Home. All members in good standing are invited to attend.

December brings Old Saint Nick to the annual Children’s Christmas Party, hosted by Unit 20 on Dec. 20 at the Branch Home, 242 Thames Street. He will have gifts for members’ children, grandchildren and guests up to age 10.

Children must be registered on the sign-up sheet located in Club 20 with their name, sex, age and gift suggestion ($20 maximum). In order to give Santa’s Elves ample time to select and wrap the perfect gift for each child, the sign-up deadline is Dec. 10. of Foreign Wars will conduct its Pearl Harbor remembrance service at 11 a.m. on Dec. 7. The public is invited to attend.

The post will hold its monthly meeting at 11 a.m. on Dec. 12. All post members are encouraged to attend.

The VFW will host a fundraiser spaghetti dinner from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 9 at the post home, 60 Stonington Road. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for kids under the age of 12. The public is welcome.

The monthly breakfast will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. on Dec. 20. Come down and enjoy your favorite breakfast. All are invited to attend.

For further information, call the post at (860) 536-3682.

Groton — Forty-one sailors of Class 15140 graduated from the Submarine Electronics Computer Field (SECF) Apprentice course on Nov. 19.

The SECF “A” school combines a core curriculum of electronics, fire control and sonar technician skills and abilities while emphasizing team training and cross-rating familiarization.

Seamen Jeffrey Lengermann, Joseph Menck and Jared Brimhall were class honormen.

Seamen Lukasz Osmanski, Daniel Delia and Shane Kern were recognized for personal excellence.

Seaman Apprentice Ryan Walker was meritoriously advanced.

The Submarine Electronics Computer Field Apprenticeship (SECF) training school is an eighteen-week course of instruction combining three ratings — sonar technician, fire control technician and electronic technician — in the same classroom, along with instructors from all three ratings.

SECF encompasses topics such as basic computer and electronic training and fire control systems, trigonometry and pre-calculus, AC/DC circuits, basic power supplies, digital systems, radar and microwave theory and operation, basic sound propagation, passive/ active theory, gram analysis, oceanography, naval security, acoustic systems fundamentals, sonar underwater acoustics, acoustics analysis, submarine target motion analysis, computer technology and maintenance fundamentals, sonar watch standing and shipboard noise control.

Sailors learn theoretical and practical knowledge of their respective ratings in an interactive multimedia forum with emphasis on hands-on skills and team concepts.

Approximately fifty percent of the course is taught in the Combined Operational Acoustic Employment trainer (COAET).

The Sailors’ learned and practiced skills are taught in four knowledge segments: basic maintenance, underway steaming, section tracking party and surface transit.

Graduating students are better prepared to meet the challenges of the fleet and have the knowledge and skills to be productive members as soon as they cross the bow of their submarine.

Groton

Norwich — Norwich Area Veterans Council (NAVC) will conduct a ceremony Monday, Dec. 7, in remembrance of Connecticut residents who lost their lives in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The ceremony will be held at 12:48 p.m. in the David Ruggles Freedom Courtyard at City Hall to coincide with the time of the 1941 attack.

Two Norwich residents died at Pearl Harbor: SK3 Harry Carlson and Seaman 1st class Mike Quarto. Both men were lost on the USS Arizona. The names of 16 other Connecticut servicemen lost in the attack also will be recognized.

For more information, contact John Waggoner or Dennis Baptiste at (860) 608-0472.