Team,
I hope that this note finds you well. Through a series of good breaks, we are on the verge of resuming operations. While not at the level we would like, we are making progress and the ability to make an impact of the men and women forward is preferable to the state of limbo we have found ourselves in the past few months.
Our first sock shipments are less than three weeks away. We will be getting our first batch of 10,000 pair sometime during the week of October 15th, with the next batch following the week after.
We are more than a little excited!
With the exception of this month, we’ll be moving to a model where instead of getting one shipment every three months, we’ll be getting smaller shipments every to help us iron out the “feast-or-famine” model that we’ve found ourselves in for the past couple of years.
Though it has seemed like pulling teeth out of a chicken, we have also managed to find additional suppliers so that we now do not have to worry about future interruptions. Not due to COVID, not due to tariffs, not due to political posturing. No interruptions. Period.
We’ve been reaching out to units to find out the status of their deployments, if they are coming in, who their replacements are, in an effort to determine where the need is greatest so that we can get socks out to those units first.
What we are seeing is that, while there is a drawdown, there are enough American’s in harm’s way that our initial sock shipments will not be sitting in our storeroom for long. I cannot begin to tell you how good it is going to feel to be able to resume our mission in earnest.
While most people have been focused on the political gyrations going on in Washington, we continue monitoring the changes going on in the Military. We always try to understand what is coming down the pipeline so that we can be better positioned to help. As part of that process, I had an opportunity to hear an interview with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General David Berger as he spoke about the challenges facing the Marine Corps today.
Some of you may have heard that the Marine Corps is going through a major transformation in its force design. Moving away from a “land army” concept that it had moved towards over the past 17 years to becoming more tightly integrated with the Navy to meet its primary mission of becoming America’s force in readiness to deter any aggressor until the rest of the Nation’s armed forces can mobilize.
A lot of people have taken issue with a number of the changes that he has implemented such as removing tank battalions, combat logistics units, military police units, modifying artillery from long guns to missiles, his focus on diversity and the elimination of tokens of racism within the Corps bases and facilities. They are the most dramatic and sweeping changes that the force has undergone since its founding and while some may question it, we believe it to be timely and necessary for the protection of our Nation.
The primary strategy is based on the ability to move from an environment where we enjoy absolute superiority in the case of both numbers and technology and move towards the ability to fight in a peer-to-peer adversary. What does that mean? We are getting ready to fight Nations who are our own size such as China, Iran and Russia. These Nations all have the capability to target our ships from a long way off and so new means of getting our troops to the battle space to respond to the “area denial” of our enemies is critical.
But while he spoke about technology and tactics, logistics and medical care, budgets and political forces, the area that you could tell held his passion was the molding and development of the men and women who wear the uniform. There was one area that caught my attention when the discussion focused on diversity in the ranks.
There has been a lot of discussion about how to integrate women into basic Marine infantry and officer training. While General Berger talked about the barriers that stood in the way today, he spent a few minutes talking about what made Marines unique to other branches of the armed services.
He talked about the basic building blocks of the Marine Corps, the individual Marine and the Platoon. That while other services ended their training at a certain hour, the Marine Corps drill instructors work with the recruits late into the evening helping them to understand that they are part of something larger than themselves and that their duty goes beyond themselves and encompasses the man or woman beside them. His example being when you say I cannot make it, the Marine next to you says, “yes you can, and we’ll do it together”.
He spoke about the Marine Platoon as the reason why the Marine Corps wins battles. That there are 50 individuals who think and act as one. All focused on their mission, all focused on their joint survival. All tied to their core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment.
While the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq may be winding down, the winds of war blow elsewhere. If there are Americans willing to step forward in order that the hammer strike falls on them instead of our Nation and her people, we will be there to stand with them. We will continue to help by making sure that each Marine in every Platoon never has to want for socks.
It was our mission when we started, it is our mission today. Can we keep going?
Yes, and we’ll do it together.
We have been in a holding pattern not only in our ability to ship but also to generate the resources to provide this capability since March. To that end, we are happy to announce our next fundraiser, our next edition of the America Shoots for Her Troops series, the “Socks for Heroes Invitational” at Raahauge’s on Saturday, November 14th. We hope you will mark your Calendars and join us. More information will be forthcoming or you can go to our website at http://socks4heroes.com/events
We are back in business and can use your help. Please take a moment to donate or help us get the word out by forwarding our message off to your friends who support the Military.
Thanks for joining us in our position in this fight!
Jim Hogan
In memory of our son, LCPL Donald Hogan
Posthumously awarded the Navy Cross
KIA 8/26/2009 Nawa, Afghanistan
We honor his memory by caring for Americans wherever they serve in harm’s way