In February, Costine went to Iraq as a member of a DLA Support Team. He said he had wanted to deploy a couple years earlier so he could join his son, who was deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. But that didn\’t work out, and he ended up leaving as his son was returning. 

Costine found a totally different Army than he remembered when he arrived in Iraq. \”The weapons were different. I used an M16 when I was in,\” he said. The Army\’s primary individual combat rifle now is the M4. \”The soldiers\’ attitudes are very much a wartime attitude. A lot of soldiers now are coming into the military and going straight into deployment.\” 

While deployed, Costine supported the Army directly at several forward operating bases, including Camp Speicher, in Tikrit; Camp Warrior, outside of Kirkuk; and Camps Diamondback and Marez. 

\”Each place was different. One had concrete buildings that also served as our bunkers,\” he said. \”I could touch everything in my living quarters by standing in the center of the room.\” Living conditions varied greatly from base to base, he added. At one, Costine discovered that the restrooms came complete with bullet holes. 

\”Speicher is considered a rest and relaxation base, and Warrior, Diamondback and Marez are \’hot spots,\’\” Costine said. He spent close to four months at Warrior.
\”I could see the city of Kirkuk from the base, and compared to the other bases, it was a small and underdeveloped area,\” Costine said. 

\”We were attacked at least five days a week,\” he recalled. \”Sirens would go off telling us we needed to take cover in the bunkers, and it was common to see columns of smoke coming up over the city and to hear gunfire almost daily.\” 

Diamondback and Marez are close to the Turkish border. \”I think their proximity to the border makes them hot spots,\” he said. At Diamondback, he provided support to three brigades. 

Costine was the sole DLA representative embedded with the Army Materiel Command blast team at Warrior, Diamondback and Marez. A blast team has experts in ground and air vehicles, weapons, ammunition, and supply. It provides front-line support for items that can\’t be handled through normal supply systems. His expertise as a weapon system support manager allowed him to help the logistics assistance representatives on the blast team. 

\”Work days were long and busy, processing non-mission-capable reports,\” Costine said. \”It was nothing to have people come knocking at your door in the middle of the night needing help getting a part.\” He said he averaged 67 supply assistance requests daily, adding up to a little more than 10,000 during the six-month tour. 

\”I would work the items from the DLA perspective, and the [logistics assistance representatives] would work it from the [Army Materiel Command] side,\” he said. \”Once we found the best method of getting the part, it would be taken off the report.\”

Costine worked with other DLA support teams through weekly teleconferences originating in Baghdad. 

\”We would review questions and potential issues,\” he said. \”We looked for an answer on items we needed immediately, and looked for fixes to ensure they were on the shelf next time.\” 

This was Costine\’s first visit to Iraq, and one of the differences he noticed immediately was a lack of trees and grass. \”It was nice to see all the greenery when I got back,\” he said. 

\”Temperatures were between 112 to 114 degrees in the daytime,\” he said. \”Bottled water was stacked everywhere on pallets. If the air conditioning broke, that was an emergency work order, and a crew came out within 40 minutes to fix it.\” The nights felt cold at 80 degrees because of extreme temperature changes, he said. 

Costine said he received some memorable support from stateside DLA employees, who were ready and willing to assist him during the deployment. He recalled one employee from the Defense Supply Center in Columbus, Ohio, who \”bent over backwards\” to help.
\”Daniel Haughey would have given me his home phone number if I asked for it,\” he said. \”He became my go-to guy and did wonders to support us.\” Costine arranged for a flag that had flown over Mosul to be given to Haughey to show his appreciation.
\”I feel as if I\’ve accomplished something; it was something gnawing at me,\” Costine said. \”I would go again.\” 

(Cathy Hopkins works in the Defense Supply Center Richmond public affairs office.)

PHOTO: Students from the local school with the piano, Dawn Watson and GCHS supervisor Jim Martin .

DOG TRAINING BUSINESS NOW OPEN-The Gloucester City Zoning Board approved the commercial variance for a dog training business Brother of the Wolf to operate at 700 Market Street. The vote was 7 to 1 with one member abstaining. Dawn Watson, the owner, holds training classes for dogs by appointment.

Last month the Gloucester City Planning Board upheld Zoning Officer Joseph Stecklair’s earlier decision to disallow the Market Street resident from operating a dog obedience school out of her home unless she first applies for the appropriate use variance. Stecklair said the property is in an area zoned as residential.

Stecklair had directed the applicant to seek a decision from the Zoning Board on the matter, but Watson first opted to appeal Steckler’s decision. In a split vote, the Planning Board members passed a motion requiring the applicant to apply to the Board for the use variance which was approved at the Board\’s Wednesday, Oct. 21 meeting.

UNION ENDORSES LEVINS-United Steelworkers (USW) Local 10-1 announced today that they have unanimously endorsed \”one of their own\” for Gloucester City Council, Independent Candidate Wil Levins.

\”Wil Levins is an outstanding young man who exemplifies the best of our Local,\” said USW Local 10-1 President Jim Savage. \”We are proud to call Wil a member of Local 10-1 and we’re equally proud to see Wil run a campaign that his fellow citizens can be proud of. Wil is a dedicated Union member, friend and co-worker. His work ethic, loyalty, and sense of fairness are admirable qualities and we believe that the residents of Gloucester City would be well-served being represented by him during these difficult economic times. The employees of Gloucester City who are currently without a contract deserve better, and we’re positive that Wil Levins will work hard to treat them fairly.\”

USW Local 10-1 represents approximately 650 refinery and dock workers at the Sunoco Philadelphia refinery and the Sunoco Logistics Eagle Point dock facility.

Dan was an avid participant and volunteer of the Brooklawn Wiffleball Tournament. He was an avid fan of the Baltimore Orioles. Dan was born and raised in Gloucester City NJ. A graduate of Gloucester Catholic High School, Dan began his education at St. Mary Elementary School, Gloucester City.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend his viewing on Friday evening from 6 to 9 pm and again on Saturday morning from 9 to 10:15 am at the McCANN-HEALEY FUNERAL HOME: 851 Monmouth St., Gloucester City. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 am at St. Mary’s R.C. Church: 426 Monmouth St. Gloucester City. Entombment New St. Mary’s Cemetery Mausoleum, Bellmawr.

A total of 59 men and women who have played important roles in the world of Camden County sports are celebrated in the Hall of Fame, not counting the 14 to be inducted this year.

The first inductee was the late Arnold Cream Sr., who fought under the name Jersey Joe Walcott and became heavyweight champion of the world at the age of 37. He was the oldest man to win the title when he knocked out Ezzard Charles in 1951.

\”Athletics play an important role in our community and creation of the Hall of Fame under the leadership of Sen. Jim Beach, while he was County Clerk, recognizes the importance of the role played by sports at all levels, but especially high school, in Camden County,\” Nash said.

This year’s honorees are the late George \”Cap\” Baker, who coached Haddon Heights football from 1934 to 1953; Maryanna Watson Barr, considered the greatest scorer in the history of field hockey while at Gloucester High School from 1959 to 1962; the late Michael \”Mickey\” Briglia, who started his long coaching career with the Cherry Hill West baseball team in 1958 then served for 25 years as coach of the Rowan University baseball team; Joanne Burke, considered the finest female athlete in South Jersey history for her multi-sport record at Camden Cathjolic; Bill Collins, a coach for 34 years at Highland High School, including 30 years as head track coach.

Also, Edward Gramigna, a three-sport star at Camden Catholic and quarterback and kicker at the University of Pennsylvania when the Quakers were playing big-time football; Joe Hartmann, for starring in football, basketball and baseball at Haddonfield Memorial High School in the late 1940s; Football Coach Jim Horner, who built three high school championship programs at Haddon Heights (1969-75), Cherokee (1975-92) and Haddonfield Memorial (1995-2002), and Gary Melchionni, a basketball star at Bishop Eustace High School, who went on to Duke, where he was all-ACC and, later, with the Phoenix Suns in the NBA.

Also, Joe Murphy, who earned 12 varsity letters at Gloucester Catholic High School, then returned to his alma mater after college to coach and become the school’s athletic director before moving on to Washington Township High School; Sue Schooley, a fine athlete at Camden Catholic who became a successful lacrosse and field hockey coach at Cherry Hill East High School; Bill Ulrich, who guided the Sterling High School girls program to an amazing record of 446 wins and 73 losses; Bill Wagner, a standout at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden in the mid-1950s before returning to Wilson to coach baseball, basketball and football before moving on to Cherry Hill East, and Virginia Brown Whitaker, an outstanding athlete at Haddon Heights High School before coming the first woman in South Jersey history to handle the position of athletic coordinator at the combined Cherry Hill High Schools.

MOUNT EPHRAIM-On October 6, 2009, Office Max sponsored a national campaign called, \”A Day Made Better\”. Mary Bray Elementary School was fortunate to be selected from thousands of schools in the Mid-Atlantic region.

A team of five Office Max representatives arrived at Mary Bray with classroom supplies and resources worth more than $1000.

Photo: Office Max representatives and Mrs.. Shapley, second from left

The school administration and guests walked into Mrs.. Shapley’s classroom to surprise her. The administration congratulated Mrs. Shapley for being selected. An Office Max representative then began to show Mrs. Shapley the many supplies and resources provided. Some of the items included were a digital camera, color printer, and a teacher chair. Mrs. Shapley also received many pens, pencils, glue sticks, crayons, markers, and other supplies to be utilized in her classroom.

The Office Max representatives also provided Mrs. Shapley’s students with soft pretzels and drinks. The Mary Bray staff was given a sheet cake to celebrate in \”A Day Made Better\”.

The Mary Bray Elementary School is very thankful for being selected for \”A Day Made Better\” and for all the wonderful classroom supplies. After seeing the surprise on Mrs. Shapley’s face, it was determined that Office Max succeeded in their plans to have \”A Day Made Better\” for a teacher.

SOURCE Press Release October 19, 2009

was asked to come for a second, digital, mammogram. I wasn’t too surprised, I’d often had to do two in a row. But I did have a slight odd feeling about it. It was discovered that I had not one, but two tumors. They were stage 3 and one of them was \”open\” meaning easily ready to spread. I was totally in shock. I just wanted to hear the doctor tell me that I wasn’t going to die. After a biopsy and more tests it was decided that a singe-side mastectomy would be the best solution for my diagnosis. I must say that I had an amazing surgeon . . . right after she said \”mastectomy\” and I asked \”Am I going to die?\” . . . her response was \”This cancer is a nuisance and we just have to kick it’s butt!\” I was ready to do that.

James was quite vocal around town about getting rid of Crothers and Kaye. He was Deputy Chief, and as soon as Crothers got promoted to Chief, James filed his retirement papers. He also received more than $45,000 in vacation and sick time, along with full medical benefits. As soon as James became mayor, he decreased Crothers’ pay and other department heads were given raises.

The reason Gloucester City Council did not go to court was because they knew they would lose. In my opinion, this is a personal witch hunt by James against Crothers.

Patricia Gibboni, Gloucester City

SOURCE GLOUCESTER CITY NEWS