Feedback contains information on updates and some background information that might be of interest to some readers. It also has comments from web site readers that might have wider interest than just to me. To that end, and to possibly prevent having to respond to the same questions and comments again and again, this page provides responses that answer some of your questions, even some you've not yet asked. Be forewarned that I write for enjoyment as well as for enlightenment, and hope that you'll appreciate my humor. If not, then send me a comment and maybe I'll post it here. Or maybe not.

As with other areas where I post items of interest, I'll include dates and have the newest first so you don't have to go scrolling through a lot of "old news" (is that an oxymoron?). To speed up page loading, entries have been divided by year, with larger years' entries split.

Jack Terwiel     

2002	2003	2004	2005: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec
2006: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec	2007: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec	2008: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec	2009: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec
2010: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec	2011: Jan-Jun   Jul-Dec	2012: Jan-Jun

December 23, 2007 – Hey Jack, Where Ya Been?
The web site has been unusually quite lately. The reason is that I've been trying to complete a number of tasks to prepare for the changeover of the Retirement Services Office to a new face; and to try to delineate the separation of tasks and responsibilities between the redefined RSO and my return to volunteer service to you. When I had some time to walk around Osan, I did take pictures, but I didn't have time to edit and post them. I caught up on that today.

The Army RSO will adopt a role more attuned to an Army RSO operating in the U.S. Mrs. Tarita Harris, the new Retirement Services Officer, will be supporting pre-retirees with briefings and counseling on retirement concerns such as the Survivor Benefit Plan. She will also be more directly supporting the Army installation retiree councils around Korea. She will be responsible for planning the Korea Retiree Appreciation Day at Yongsan, as well as leading or assisting in planning for Retiree Appreciation Days at other locations. For example, if USAG Humphreys decides to organize a Spring 2008 RAD, Tarita will be the primary planner. She will also assist Steve Davis as necessary in planning the USAG Daegu RAD, though Steve has two RADs under his belt and they get better each time. It would be hard to imagine how anyone but Steve could beat him at outdoing himself.

I will focus on providing the "personal services" such as applying for Social Security, resolving problems with the Internal Revenue Service, ensuring that benefits continue to flow without interruption, and the other tasks I've picked up in ten years of service. I will also continue maintaining the web site, the monthly e-mail newsletter and the Korean-language print newsletter for the widows. Tarita will start producing a quarterly print newsletter for retirees. This will cover the gap that started when I lost funding for the print newsletter. A number of retirees without computer access were left without the newsletter information. Also, the number of retirees who have actually signed up to receive the e-mail newsletter is very low, especially considering that a number of those who signed up live outside Korea. The new print newsletter should close that gap.

One task that kept me busy for awhile since the last web site update has been to write a Continuity Book based on my experiences with planning the 2007 Yongsan Retiree Appreciation Day. This will give Tarita something on which to hang her hat.

The other pressing task for me is to ensure that the downtown office we've prepared outside the Osan AB gate will be ready in January to provide the full spectrum of assistance you've expected from me. Most of what we need is ready. However, a couple of weeks ago, the wireless connection to the office stopped functioning and I've been very much involved in trying to get it working again. Nothing changed to cause the problem, as far as I know; it just stopped getting the signal down to the office. It's almost as is the signal generated by the Router that connects to the Internet suddenly got weaker. I may do some more testing to see if I can find a stronger signal an another channel, but as a backup I've ordered a new, more powerful Router.

The Military Retiree Assistance Office, as the new Songtan office is called, will be closed until after the New Year holiday period. Once it reopens on January 7, the office hours will be 0900-1500, Monday-Friday. Thereafter, both U.S. and Korean holidays will be observed (volunteers and Embassies can do that, you know).

In case you're interested, the Korean sign translates to, "Foreign Military Retiree (and) Widow Volunteer Service Office."

November 11, 2007 – Daegu Retiree Appreciation Day
Steve Davis pulled off another winner with the 2007 USAG Daegu Retiree Appreciation Day yesterday. With outstanding support from the Daegu community, retirees had lots of information and, most importantly if you can judge from the crowds, lots of medical care. In a number of photos in the slide show, one area consistently had a large crowd around it. That was the medical folks giving flu and pneumonia shots as well as medical screenings. On top of that, retirees were able to make appointments for more extensive medical checkups and for dental examinations and cleanings at the nearby medical and dental clinics.

The barbeque chicken and ribs, along with all the side dishes (including kimchi and rice) were excellent and the dessert pies were great, too. A cake was there, and the cake cutting was performed by yours truly (Jack Terwiel on the left) and Bill Christman, the Chairman of the USAG Daegu Retiree Council.

Speaking of the Retiree Council, we had the opportunity to bid a sad farewell to Vice Chairman Will Plumley, the dynamo who made the Retiree Council a reality and, together with Steve Davis, the Retiree Appreciation Day an annual event. Will is off to become the Deputy Garrison Commander at West Point.

With the prizes that Steve amassed for the drawings, the prizes just kept coming and coming. And finally – taking a cue from the RAD location in the Kelly Gym – prizes were awarded in two contests held for retirees, one for the top three finishers for the number of pushups in two minutes, and the other for the top three finishers for the number of situps in two minutes.

The first image in the slide show is the reception table where the retirees signed in and received their gift bag (shown under table). Reception was manned by volunteer active duty soldiers who signed up via the BOSS (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers) program. And they mingled with the retirees when things slowed down at Reception.

Each year it gets better, and I'm sure the Daegu area retirees are already looking forward to next year to see what Steve can pull off to outdo himself once again.

October 27, 2007 – Miscellaneous Photos
During the past weeks, I took some photos that I didn't get around to posting. I put some of them in yesterday's Feedback below. During one of the trips to Seoul for Retiree Appreciation Day planning, I arrived early and caught a sunrise over Seoul. A couple of weeks ago, I walked through the Osan Shopping Mall Food Court a little before 8am and it was completely empty. Today, I went through a little after 8am and it was nearly the same, with about a half dozen folks in two small groups.

On Oct 14, I got this Sunday morning shot of Osan from Hill 170. Today, I got this hazy view of Songtan in the morning. And I was caught by the beautiful designs of the boulders around the walkway next to the Shopping Mall. One of the displays captures many of the intricate designs created by the powerful forces of nature.

And finally, for those with crasser tastes I've added two more photos. The first was taken of a t-shirt in one of the stores alongside the Cultural Festival activities. It certainly didn't contribute to the cultural aspects, but it's funny. The second, from the Internet, was sent to me by a friend and contains a political statement

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October 26, 2007 – Jack Is Leaving the RSO; Couple of Photos
Jack Is Leaving the RSO: You may have heard by now that I've decided to leave the Retirement Services Office and resume volunteer service to you. Several factors caused me to reach this decision. The deciding factor was the task of planning the Retiree Appreciation Day for USAG-Yongsan. This effectively removed me from supporting the retirees and widows of Korea for two months. I still visited the different areas on Tuesdays and took notes, but I couldn't find the time to take the actions on those notes. I will remain in the RSO until the end of December to give me time to phase out and allow my replacement to phase in "gracefully."

And I will continue to produce the monthly e-mail newsletter and maintain this web site (and possibly/probably the rso-korea.com web site) for as long as I'm physically and mentally able.

Many of you know that I have operated an office outside of Osan AB since assuming the RSO position and have been available in that office on Saturdays from noon-4pm. In preparation for expanding my volunteer service, the downtown office has been expanded and now has a separate waiting area in the former office space. I've also come up with a name and logo. The Korean translates to "Foreign Retired Military [and] Widow Volunteer Assistance Office." I will no longer be traveling on a regular schedule, but will be available Mon-Fri 0900-1500 in the MRAO. Phone numbers are visible in the photos.

Couple of Photos: I took some photos that I thought you might find interesting. If you're familiar with Korea, you know that parking is a problem. To solve the problem, Koreans (and some of us non-Koreans) park illegally. I showed you one example of how Koreans handle it here (second item). I recently saw one that told the unvarnished truth with this sign in his window.

Reviewing the local flora and fauna, I found this butterfly perched on a flower about the size of a dandelion flower. And I found a toadstool that looked on a cool autumn morning like it had "stayed too long at the dance", so to speak.

September 16, 2007 – More Hill 180 Construction; Around Osan; Songtan Construction; Tribute to Anita Bryant
More Hill 180 Construction: Last weekend during my walk around Osan, I came upon some construction going up on Hill 180. This time, it's a fence going up between the USAF and ROKAF areas.

Around Osan: Today is the second day of Osan's case lot sale at the Commissary and preparations were underway for the opening. And here's an update of the Osan skyline from Hill 170. And for those of you who don't know my schedule, I travel on Tuesdays to bring RSO services to the people where they live. Today, I saw the ideal office location for the Mobile RSO. The front one is preferred; it looks newer.

Songtan Construction: We had some construction in our neighborhood and the way it was done was refreshing. They dug up the road between 9pm and 6am, leaving traffic to the main gate relatively unobstructed. I understand the construction is laying underground conduits to move utility lines out of sight.

There's some additional construction going on in our neighborhood, closer to home. My Songtan office (aka Jack's Office) is being renovated and expanded. The second store has emptied and I'm taking it over. That will become my office and the former office will become the waiting room. The new setup affords more privacy for individuals revealing personal information.

Tribute to Anita Bryant: Do you remember the Anita Bryant commercials for orange juice? "A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine." Well, I came up this group of guys getting their morning sunshine.

August 18, 2007 – Stairway to Heaven; A Sore Sight for Eyes; Spiderly Decorating
Stairway to Heaven: After checking out the high school construction, I decided to check out the stairway that serves as a shortcut to work from the CE dorm. However, it's not quite as short as it used to be and now involves detour to the Hill 170 road. On the road, the completed power station allowed for the removal of the temporary poles. I'm wondering what could be planned for the large open area behind the power station.

A Sore Sight for Eyes: You don't see too many junkers around the base these days, but here's a classic on Hill 180. Here's another view upon which to feast your eyes. Classic!

Spiderly Decorating: From time to time I'll come across the work of the industrious spider communities around the base. Here's a nicely decorated tree just awaiting Christmas.

August 1, 2007 – Cicada Life Cycle Events; New Housing; Hill 170 Construction; Parking Upgrade; Invisible Web Site Upgrades
Cicada Life Cycle Events: The loud buzzing sound you hear in the summer is from the cicadas, which emerge in the summer as part of their life cyle. Another part is that they shed their external shell leaving them vulnerable until the new one hardens. And then there's the the end of the life cycle, which makes the ants very happy.

New Housing: Here's photo taken from in front of the CE compound across from the AAFES Service Station. Rising high are new housing apartments near the Osan main gate.

Hill 170 Construction: It looks like the new power substation on Hill 170 is about finished.

Parking Upgrade: With the construction of the new Middle School at Osan AB, officers living in Building 736 lost their parking. However, it looks like they got an upgrade, since they're now in the new parking garage.

Invisible Upgrades: All of the web pages you see are typed in by hand. As a result, I will experience typos, or fail to put one character in a piece of code. The page may display properly, but the code won't be valid because of the errors. Whenever possible, i.e., when I can find time, I try to validate the important pages by running the code through an on-line validator. With this update, I've been able to validate three important items on the web site. The first is the newly-redesigned "Military Support Facilities in Korea" page I added last time (see below). The second is the Retirement Services Office page (access using RSO Korea button at left). On each of these pages, you will find at the bottom meaning the code is error-free. The third is the newsletter posted on the web site, where you will find at the bottom. This is the first newsletter that I've validated and all subsequent ones will be validated. Why bother? Error free pages load faster and are more stable in all browsers. (To give you an idea of the size of the validation task, the RSO web page initial validation resulted in 56 pages of reported errors. Many are repetitive, and one correction can resolve many of the cascading errors. Still, it's not a small task.)

If you use the Health Sites web page, all of the links on that page have been verified today to ensure they are operational.

July 14, 2007 – Finding U.S. Facilities in Korea; Order Your Korea Defense Service Medal
Finding U.S. Facilities in Korea: One of the web pages that has bugged me since the major redesign of this web site a couple of years back has been the one under Osan AB titled, "Facilities, Phones and Photos". It was Osan-centric and that became even more evident after I started working as Retirement Services Officer for the U.S. Army. I came to the realization that there are more U.S. installations in Korea than just Osan AB. Geez, I found that the Army, Navy and Marines are here, too. What a shocker! And another AF base at Gunsan!

In recognition of their presence, I decided it was time to do a major redesign based on that single web page. It took me awhile to come up with a design that would be workable, yet retain some symmetry while working with diverse information. Then it occurred to me that using links instead of trying to keep track of lots of information would be the solution. Yesterday was a day off for me, so I finally tackled the project. The result of about 10 hours of effort is the new web page, Military Support Facilities in Korea. There is only one advisory to be aware of when using the links on this page. When you access an AAFES link for the first time on a computer, it requires that you logon to the AAFES web site. This is done to ensure only authorized AAFES patrons can access the information. Subsequent access is automatic. If you access the AAFES link from a different computer, you'll have to go through the AAFES logon again.

Because this change has widened the scope of information presented on that page, I made a few other changes:

• On the home page, "Osan Info" is now "Korea Info"
• "Korea Info" will take you to the same page as before, but with some changes
  • - The navigation button that was "Korea Info" is now "About Korea"
  • - A new navigation button called "U.S. in Korea" is added to access the revised page
  • - The Quick Links below the Osan AB photo have been almost completely changed
• On the Osan AB page, the "What-Where?" button takes you to the newly-revised page, with links remaining at the bottom of the revised page to Osan specific information not otherwise replaced

I hope everyone finds the new format useful, and I just want to close by saying, "Welcome to Korea" (or at least to rao-osan.com) to the Army, Navy and Marines.

Order Your Korea Defense Service Medal: Thanks to Bob West for sending this link to step-by-step instructions for obtaining the Korea Defense Service Medal that you earned by your service in Korea.

July 2, 2007 – Summertime; Is This What It Means?
Summertime: Wandering Osan over the weekend revealed that summer is really here. The annual bike sale was in full force. Over at the picnic area, preparations were underway for a probable unit get-together. And I was even able to get close enough to a lazy dragonfly to snap the photo from only inches away.

Is This What It Means?: Wandering through the parking lot above the HTACC, I came upon a ROKAF member's car with a most unusual sign in the window. I think he means to say something like "courtesy call", but it came out like this. Signs in the windshield with a phone number are common and are intended to politely ask the person offended by the illegally parked car (a common practice) to call the owner to move it. (As a bonus with this photo, you get to see in the glass the reflection of my hands clutching the camera.)

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