NOTE: Requests for participation in Heritage Day will not be accepted after 20 December.
The following is from USAF SSGT. Christopher Conover, Cryptologic Language Analyst with the 94th Intelligence Service at Fort Meade, MD.
Hello Again All 6994th Squadron Members,
Want to save some money?
Want to see the 94th Ops?
Want to see 6994th friends?
Want to go to tour DC?First of all, I hope you had a Happy Veteran’s Day. Once again,
Thank You for your service to this great nation! If you already heard all
the jazz I’m about to say, jump to here….
For those of you that don’t know me (maybe you missed the first
email, please read all below…), my name is SSgt Christopher Conover. I’m
an Air Force Cryptologic Language Analyst stationed at the 94th Intelligence
Squadron, Fort Meade, MD. Some of you may already be aware of our
organizational kinship; we are a spawn of the 6994th Security Squadron. This
is the second iteration of an invitation to a day in your honor, just in
case you missed the first one… I’m writing you this email because the 94th
Intelligence Squadron would like to have a Heritage Day in your honor. You
are the giants upon whose shoulders we stand in our fight for freedom, and
we want an opportunity to show you our appreciation in person by welcoming
you into the spaces of the 94th IS for a day.On February 28, 2014 (with March 14, 2014 as the inclement weather
day) we will be hosting Heritage Day, an informal event, in which we plan to
give you a glimpse into our operations as they are currently run, share some
battle stories between vets and active members, have some good food and
refreshing beverages (we turn on the beer-light on Fridays!!), and we are
planning much more! I know that the old Squadron Members of the 6994th
sometimes get together at reunions, and I would like to use this event as a
dual-hatted occasion to accommodate any activities you are interested in as
well.As a member of the 6994th, we would love to have you visit. YOUR
FAMILY CAN COME TOO!! I neglected to mention that the first time, so if
you’ve already sent your information but not your significant other’s or
other close family, then please do so for them soon. If you have even an
inkling that you might make it out to visit, we would want to hear back from
you soon. I’m sure you are all aware of the strictness of the security
precautions on the NSA Campus on Fort Meade, and because of that, we should
do well to consolidate information for your access requests sooner than
later. If we process a request, and then you can’t make it, no harm. But if
you want to come and don’t have access, that’s not good. So, let me
emphasize–we would love to have you visit, and if you think you MIGHT come,
please forward your information. We will be doing a ‘conference-access’
request with all the names of those who have RSVP’d by December 20th.The information we need from you, which you can send to me in an
email, is:First Name:
Middle Name:
Last Name:
Social Sec. #:
Birthdate:
Birthplace:
Citizenship:Get that information to me (for yourself and your guests), and we
should be able to press. I can be reached at [email protected]
so please forward your information to that email address.
I don’t like surprises and I don’t want to make any for you either, so
here’s the scoop.Upfront, I want to let you know, that our group will not be able to afford
all the costs of the event by ourselves. We will be asking for a landing fee
that will help to cover the cost of food & beverage, travel, and facilities.
DO NOT SEND ANY CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD INFORMATION!!We are asking for two different rates ($10 for everyone, and an additional $10 for those
partaking in the DC tour the next day). We are doing all the fundraising we
can to alleviate as much cost as possible, because this is an event for you
and we wish to honor you respectfully; however, money so far is tight. We
are setting the standard fee amount at $10/person and for those sticking
around to go on the DC tour will $20/person. I hope this is reasonable
enough not to deter you. By the way, this is Cash in Person—DO NOT SEND
YOUR CREDIT CARD INFO.Now that the money bit is out of the way, here’s what we have planned and
arranged; the updates you want to hear about…
…your feedback is welcome:1) Some of you thought you could not bring your family. You can absolutely
bring your family… send the same information you sent for yourself, for
your accompanying guest.2) We have finagled quite the deal for you at the Sheraton Hotel near BWI.
See link below to register and book; you will have to book your own rooms:– $60/night at Sheraton
– Free Breakfast
– All other amenities
– A special website has been made for 6994th hotel booking at the
discounted rate:
please check this special Sheraton website for more information.3) The Tentative plans for 27 February thru 1 March are starting to fill up
and flesh out; this is how it looks so far:27 Feb – check in at hotel for more distant travelers.
1800-2100: Rendezvous at location TBD (likely the hotel) for
confirmation of arrival, discussion of plans for the next day, and a “who’s
here?” Ice-breaker.28 Feb – Heritage DAY
0800-1000: Security in-processing (it won’t take you two hours… we
want to have folks go in waves/small groups).
1000-1200: Touring missions – We will be visiting different shops to
present the different missions of the 94th IS inside the Squadron building.
1200-1300: Luncheon – We will have a Chili Cook-off; prepared by the
94th IS members.
1330-1500: Cryptologic Museum and Fort Meade sites; moving to Community
Center on Fort Meade (tentatively).
1500-1600: Social Lamp is turned on, and the beer fridge is open.
Mission sharing, and Q & A for all.
Words from the Commander and Special Guests.
1600-COB: Trade war stories, until Close of Business.
COB: Return to hotels1 Mar – DC Tour Day (optional/first-come-first-serve)
0800-1500: Not sure at the moment the exact order of our site visits
but a visit to DC which includes the Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pool,
Vietnam Wall, Korean Wall & Memorial, WWII Memorial, and AF Monument at a
minimum. If there is other stuff you want to see, send me a note, and if
there’s enough hollering for something, I’ll make sure we can get it in.
Boxed lunch from Potbelly!4) What I’d like to know now, is who among you is interested in the tour
through DC. We want to make logistical plans for this trip, but a realistic
expectation is that not everyone will be available, be interested, or want
to stay the extra day. Worst of all, buses are not cheap, so we want to get
an idea for first-come/first-serve, and can we fill a bus (or two)?Let me know if you would plan on staying to tour with us on the 1st.
Remember touring DC is an extra $10.Kind Regards,
CHRISTOPHER R. CONOVER, SSgt, USAF
Cryptologic Language Analyst
94th Intelligence Squadron, DOG
9839 Emory Road
Fort Meade, MD 20755
Comm: 443-634-4821
[email protected]