Colonel David J. Smoker
Commander, 193d Mission Support Group
Requests the pleasure of your company
at the Retirement Ceremony
of
Chief Master Sergeant James A. Nelson
On the occasion of his farewell
for his 28 plus years of dedicated service
Sunday, the twenty first day of February 2010
At two o’clock in the afternoon
Constellation Cafe, Bldg 81
Middletown, Pennsylvania
At three thirty in the afternoon
Military: Duty Uniform
Civilian: Business Casual
Refreshments in the Constellation Cafe following the Ceremony
Shawn Michael Kovach
It is with great sadness that we post this obituary. Our best to Mike Kovach and his family.
MSgt Shawn Michael Kovach, 34, died Wednesday, February 3 at his home in Harrisburg after an illness. Kovach served in the U.S. Air Force from 1993 – 1999 and has been a member of the Air National Guard 193rd Special Operations Wing, Middletown, PA, from 1999 to-date. Most recently, he served as a Loadmaster Instructor. Kovach was a decorated veteran, having been deployed in Haiti, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, England, and elsewhere worldwide.
A 1993 graduate of Central Dauphin East High School and a 2003 graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, Kovach’s military achievements included: Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Aerial Achievement Medal; Joint Meritorious Unit Award with one oak leaf cluster; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with valor device with three oak leaf clusters; the Combat Readiness Medal; Air Force Good Conduct Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal; the National Defense Service Medal with one service star; Kosovo Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Armed Forces Service Medal with one service star; Humanitarian Service Medal with two service stars; Air Force Longevity Service with one oak leaf cluster; Armed Forces Reserve Medal with one “M” device; Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon with one service star; Air Force Training Ribbon; and NATO Medal.
He is survived by his wife, Lori Rissmiller Kovach; his father and his wife, SMSgt Michael S. and Kristie L. Kovach of Grantville; his mother, Sandra K. Witmer of Harrisburg; his paternal grandparents, Edward and Rose Kovach of Harrisburg; maternal grandparents Donald and Arlene Witmer of Harrisburg; brothers Michael S. Kovach, Jr. and Kurtis B. Kovach; sisters Stephanie Bilonick and her husband Timothy; Michelle French, Kaitlynn Kovach; his father-in-law and his wife, Barry and Carla Rissmiller of Elizabethtown; his mother-in-law, Teresa Rissmiller of Elizabethtown; his sister-in-law, Jami Zimmerman and husband, Mark; and his grandparents through marriage, Ralph and Virginia Rissmiller of Elizabethtown, and Robert and Kathryn Bowers, deceased; many aunts, uncles, and cousins who dearly loved, respected, and adored him. Most important to Shawn were his wife and family, duty and country.
Kovach will be buried with full military honors at the National Cemetery at Fort Indiantown Gap on Monday, February 8. Services will be held at the Gap’s Building 880 and will include: viewing/visitation from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.; service from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.; and interment at 2:00 p.m.
Trefz & Bowser Funeral Home, Inc., 114 West Main Street, Hummelstown, is handling the arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Kovach’s honor to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, P.O. Box 13483, Tampa, FL 33681-3483, or at www.specialops.org.
Online condolences may be shared at www.trefzandbowser.com
Scope Archive
Our older Scopes are now archived at Google Docs which is open to the members of the 193rd.
Click Here for the Scope Archive
This archive has been on the page but after talking to a member I realized it might be a little hard to find so I’m putting it in a Post today.
Each new Scope will have a post of its own. After a period of time (that we have yet to determined) we will move older Scopes to our Google Docs Archive until we run out of space. Scope’s come in PDF format and the creators of the Scope are not concerned with the file size as it is emailed around the base. However, storage on the web is never unlimited no matter what you may have heard to the contrary. We have several years to worry about storage space being reached but it will run out one day.
We have gone Mobile
The 193sow.org website has just been converted to Mobile Compliant format. We have also added those signed up on the old website email list.
What does Mobile Compliant meant to you? If you like to use your cell phone or mobile device to view websites you know it can be very hard to navigate and see information. The 193rd Association website now has a special feature. It automatically detects if you are using a mobile device to view the site. You are then seamlessly switched to a concise mobile phone view. When you look at the website on your PC or other regular computer you will see it as you normally would. Pretty slick, eh?
I will be making some changes to the website so the first page you see (home page) always contains the most recent posted items. That way you won’t waste your time navigating to the Latest News page.
You are now subscribed to the website if you received this email. You can go to the website and unsubscribe by entering the email address where you received this notification to unsubscribe. The box is on the top left side of our site under Subscribe2.
If you would like to contribute a text post you must either be a Registered user or Contact us. If you are not a Registered user you cannot use the contact form but you can post a comment directly under the Contact form. An admin will get back to you as soon as possible. You can also add comments under most posts.
If you did not notice we are also on Twitter. Anytime a post is updated on the 193rd Association Website a feed updates Twitter. For you Twitter fans you can follow us there if you don’t want to subscribe here.
Best to you all in the New Year!
January Scope
Click the link above to open the January 2010 Scope.