International tax attorney, Vietnam veteran and Rosemary Beach resident Cym Lowell was the featured guest speaker at the Mid-Bay Rotary Club’s meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at Bluewater Bay Golf Course Club House. Lowell discussed his initiative, Operation: Next Chapter, and how the proceeds from the sale of his book, Jaspar’s War, are donated to Soldiers’ Angels Project: Valour- IT, to purchase voice-controlled laptop computers for wounded military heroes, who for various reasons, have lost the use of their hands. 

The Navarre High School NJROTC Raider Battalion participated in the ESCAROSA NJROTC drill meet, hosted by the Milton NJROTC Unit where they beat 11 teams to finish in first place. This further solidified their spot for the national qualifier scheduled for March 14 in Baton Rouge.

Commander Naval Installations Command selected Naval Air Station Whiting Field as the top shore installation in the Navy in its respective category Monday, Jan. 5. The award lauds the top Navy commands at shore for their installation management, program excellence and community outreach.

Pensacola’s Pearl Harbor Survivors and local authors Billie and Robert Nicholson will be honored by the National Naval Aviation Museum and the City of Pensacola with a special program Saturday, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m.

After serving President George H.W. Bush and the Anheuser-Busch family their favorite dishes for years, chef Bryan Jacobs launched a program to help veterans who are struggling the same way he once was.

Recognizing extraordinary heroism shown in combat, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James presented the Air Force Cross to an Air Commando during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Dec. 17. Master Sgt. Ivan Ruiz, a pararescueman deployed with the 22nd Expeditionary Special Tactics Squadron, was awarded the U.S. military’s second highest decoration for an airman. He earned the medal for protecting and saving the lives of two wounded teammates while under heavy enemy fire at close range during combat operations in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, Dec. 10, 2013.

For the third year in a row, Navarre High School’s NJROTC finished first in the annual orienteering competition at Camp McDowell Alabama.