President’s Notes, January 2025
It’s a new year! I want to thank the membership for electing me to this office. I will endeavor to meet your wishes and needs.
Yesterday, Tuesday 7 January, Ginny and I went out to Camp Garfield (the former Ravenna Arsenal) to get our new ID cards. As I understand it, for this year, 2025, you must have the updated ID card.
So, I signed up at https://idco.dmdc.osd.mil/idco/appointment for both of us. I received a nice email confirming the date, times and location. BUT, when I used MapQuest to find 1038 Adams in Ravenna, that led me to a suburb in north Ravenna, in the city! So tried using my Garmin device. No luck there either. So I looked up Camp Garfield on the internet. A location on the east side of the camp north of Newton Falls showed up. Loaded that into my Garmin and away we went.
I drove east through Kent and Ravenna, then east on 534 which turns into 5. Trundling along, about ten miles after leaving Ravenna, I saw a gate on my left side. It was open. I still had about 6 miles to go on my Garmin to the east entrance. Anyway, rolled up to the gate and the guard said I was at the correct entrance. We showed our ID cards and were directed to building 1000. Arrived at 12:45, well ahead of our first appointment at 13:20. The office had a posted note “Lunch 12-1”. So, we arrived early. There are chairs in the hallway for your use.
The young sergeant took us in as soon as she arrived. Did my paperwork, turned in my old ID, got my picture taken, two fingerprints taken on a small scanner, and the machine by her desk printed out my new card, Ginny’s card was checked – it was okay. The sergeant checked our status in DEERS, and we were done. Out of the building by 13:30.
My next two tasks are to update my VA and my Social Security sign-in credentials. The saga continues next month.
See you at the Wednesday luncheons, unless I have other meetings to attend.
Bill Maki
President, OWRC