Presidents Report June 2025
June 2025 Presidents report
This month has been a very busy one for the AFHM.
It started with the complete renovation of the Lawrence House bathroom. I took our Contractor Mike Rajeski, member and owner of Renovation and Repair Inc. to look over the plan when we found a water leak running into the first-floor ceiling from the bathroom radiator. The job had to start immediately to prevent more damage. We removed all the fixtures, removed the floorboards to access the plumbing and electric for upgrade. Looking under those 285-year-old floorboards was very humbling, almost eerie in a way. We agreed to move the sink to the opposite wall for better entry door access. We moved the electrical service to the opposite wall for the new vanity set up. Two of the walls were replaced with new sheet rock and the tile was all repaired and recoated with a beautiful white urethane. We installed a 7-foot storage cabinet next to the new sink vanity. A new wood floor was installed to match the existing flooring in the building as close as possible. The walls were painted colonial green to match the Conference room. Mike donated a new toilet to complete the beautiful renovation. He also spent a lot of time fixing the door, so it works correctly and the lock functions. We cannot replace it in order to maintain the integrity of the building as it was built. I installed a paper towel holder today and made sure everything was ready for primetime. Today’s meeting with the Governor’s council on Veterans affairs with Senator Vitale in attendance garnered many positive comments on the beauty of the upgrade.
I attended the Honorary Commanders golf outing in May and used the time to advocate for the AFHM. We picked up a new member and have one of the Air Wings looking to hold an off-base staff meeting in our Conference room. My new assignment is with the 514th Air Wing starting August 1 for a year. This is my third and final year as an Honorary Commander.
I attended the BCMAC dinner meeting at Johnson farm with many of the Commanders of Joint Base. Many of our senior Leaders are moving on to new assignments this month, so I will be working to form relationships with the new Leaders to further our place at Joint Base.
Bob Dutko and I attended the NJ Air Guard annual award luncheon at National Guard headquarters. There was a large turnout of Senior leaders from the Guard in attendance. Gen. Dutko (Ret) presented the CMSgt. Henry “J” Jones Award to three Airmen who excelled in their duties. The stories of sacrifice and support to America were humbling. Over half of the awards were given to fellow Airmen because the winners were on deployment overseas.
We took the Mobile Museum to the Burlington Jeeps on the waterfront June 8; we had a good turnout of members for support. We used our new grille and cooked hot dogs for lunch; we all enjoyed that little touch of fun. The Weather was not good, many Jeeps did not show up because of the rain and it was over too soon.
Some of the members of the AFHM attended a tour of Lakehurst Naval Air facility on June 10. We joined members of BCMAC on the tour hosted by Commander James Howell. We started with a tour of the Chapel of the Air; it is one of the most beautiful little churches you will ever see. Commander Howell is working to set up a schedule for services. I will try to let everyone know when the next services are being held. It is worth the trip. We then toured the facility where they make all the restraint cables and catapult gear for all our aircraft carriers, we also supply France with those items for their carriers. All that equipment is single sourced out of Lakehurst, we also learned it is the largest employer in Ocean County. We then went to Hangar 1 where the Hindenburg was once moored. It now has a 1/3 size aircraft carrier deck used for Naval training. All the Aircraft Commanders and XO’s are trained in that building. The deck crews from our carriers also train on that flight deck. If you watch flight ops on a carrier it is like a ballet, every person has an assigned job and that job affects the lives of everyone else on that flight deck. All in all, a great tour.
Today, Nelson Mellitz, Ron Hathaway and I hosted the Governor’s Council on Veterans Affairs. Senator Vitale backs the bills and was there for an open discussion. The primary topic was Senate bill 4376 and House bill 5520 calling for the separation of the Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs and the State VA. They are currently handled under the Command of The Adjutant General Yvonne Mays; her team does a great job with the affairs of DMAVA and the State VA. The 100% stance from everyone in attendance was “do not try to fix something that is not broken”. We gave many reasons to maintain the status quo, the 5 to 8 million start-up costs and the expected 5 million a year extra to run the two separate operations is a no brainer. The Senator seems to be ignoring the advice of Veterans who show him how the current system is working, and we can only hope the bill is defeated. The Governor is in support of the change. Let your thoughts be known to your legislators.
Finally, Roy found a pair of house cleaners to come to the Lawrence House and do a full spring cleaning. They were there on Tuesday for over 4 hours and the place looks great.
Thank you,
Bryan Branson
President
