The prospect of a nuclear bomb going off in the D.C. area is something that will hopefully remain in the realm of fiction.
Should the proverbial sum of all fears play out, however, equipment in Arlington will help the federal government manage the response.
A broad overview of the system — installed on county-owned property since 2016 — is included in an item on the Arlington County Board’s meeting agenda for this coming Saturday.
Details are not provided, and are said to be exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act, but a letter from an Air Force official included in a Board report says the system will aid in the investigation and the emergency response after any such explosion.
This system is designed to characterize nuclear explosions in urban environments. In the event of an intentional detonation such as a terrorist attack, information generated by the system is critical for the Federal Government’s efforts to determine who was responsible for and how to respond to the event. The information will be used to support law enforcement prosecution efforts and will be shared with the consequence management community as applicable (e.g. to contribute to damage assessments). However, the full disclosure of the location of our equipment, and information regarding its components and operations, would jeopardize the ability for the system to provide valuable information in a timely fashion to the law enforcement and consequence management communities, by giving insight into the system’s design and coverage, and possibly how to defeat the system.
Therefore, we request that our work with Arlington County on this project, including the Agreement and supporting documentation, be exempted from public disclosure under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act per Va. Code Section 2-2.3705.2, subsection 14 (plans and information to prevent or respond to terrorist activity or cyber-attacks, the disclosure of which would jeopardize the safety of any person). Supporting documentation includes, but is not limited to: program descriptions, what equipment is sited on Arlington County property and where, and details about the equipment (e.g. function, operations, engineering drawings).
The item is on the Board’s agenda this weekend because management of the system is being transferred from the Fort Belvoir-based Defense Threat Reduction Agency to the Florida-based Air Force Technical Applications Center.
Both military agencies have responsibilities related to nuclear deterrence and monitoring.
Don’t be alarmed if the sky over Arlington fills with low-flying aircraft and smoke tomorrow morning.
Arlington National Cemetery says residents can expect U.S. Air Force aircraft performing “low-level aerial demonstrations, which will produce smoke and noise.” The flyover will take place around 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Military aircraft frequently fly over the area as part of funerals at the cemetery. The flyovers are almost always loud and often unannounced, though the cemetery does provide a heads up on some — as in this case — via social media.
ANC Neighbors:
Wednesday, September 14, the @usairforce will perform low-level aerial demonstrations, which will produce smoke and noise. The flyover will occur at approximately 9:00 a.m. pic.twitter.com/mGnxT5WhCR
— Arlington National Cemetery (@ArlingtonNatl) September 12, 2022
Hundreds of K-5 students at Oakridge Elementary School packed 200 gift boxes to seamen and Marines serving on the USS Arlington.
The boxes sent to those aboard the 684-foot-long amphibious transport ship, named after Arlington County in memory of those who lost their lives here on 9/11, included handwritten cards as well as candy, chips, crackers, chewing gum, toothbrushes, challenge coins, ear plugs and other items.
It’s part of an effort to ensure an ongoing relationship between the men and women who serve on the USS Arlington and the residents of the county for which it is named.
Spearheading that effort is the USS Arlington Community Alliance, headed by retired Arlington County Police Department captain Kevin Reardon, who is president, and Del. Patrick Hope (D-47), who is vice president.
Reardon, who happened to know Lynne Wright, the Oakridge principal, brought to her the idea of the gift packages.
“It’s the little things that keep us in contact with the ship,” says Reardon. “And this is one of those things.”
Donated goods came from Arlington-based firms, including Nestlé (200 bags of candy), and were sorted and packed by students at the end of the school year and transported to the ship.
Running their hands through hundreds of pounds of temptation must have been a challenge for the children, right? Oh, you’d be wrong.
“The students have been practicing the intentionality of being kind to each other and members of our community,” Wright says. “Creating care packages for individuals on the USS Arlington was a natural extension of being kind to others.”
“We have been fortunate to have partnered with the USS Arlington for several years,” she adds. “Additionally, we have many military families in our Oakridge community, and this year we became a [Virginia Department of Education] Purple Star-designated school and have focused on better serving the military-connected child.”
Honoring Arlington goes both ways. Reardon says the ship’s main passageway, traditionally called Broadway, is named Columbia Pike. Arlington street signs and Pentagon shapes abound.
“The sailors are constantly reminded of why the ship was named ‘Arlington,'” he says. Those same sailors often visit Oakridge Elementary when they are in the area for the annual 9/11 memorial 5K race — which is now in its 20th year.
Arlington is currently renovating the Bozman Government Center at Courthouse and the new lobby of county government headquarters, when it opens, will have an exhibit of USS Arlington artifacts and video displays, as well as a sizable model of the ship.
Reardon, for one, will be happy when the pandemic-delayed renovations are complete.
“There are not too many people with a six-and-half-foot ship model sitting in their parking spot in their garage,” he says with a laugh.
And this is not the last those aboard the Arlington will hear from Oakridge kids.
“Generously building care packages for the USS Arlington was an outstanding opportunity to bring everyone together through kindness and care for our community,” Principal Wright says. “When school reopens, I know the school community will be eager to build more care packages for the USS Arlington.”
The $1.6 billion vessel, commissioned in 2013, is one of three named for locations where citizens were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, along with the USS New York and the USS Somerset.
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders, and other local technology news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.
The Arlington-based mobile app Sandboxx plans to roll out a new chatroom feature for military recruits and their families, in an attempt to increase communication and minimize dropouts.
Sandboxx plans to introduce “Muster” within a month.
The chatroom, which aims to mimic Slack, is for individual military recruiting stations for recruiters and new recruits in the delayed entry program, Sam Meek, app founder and veteran, told ARLnow.
The goal of Muster is to make sure that its users would be “getting that comradery experience in our military journey before basic training,” Meek said. Moreover, this new feature aims to help military recruiters measure the engagement of recruits in those programs.
The mobile app, profiled by ARLnow in 2016, is a communications app that lets family and friends write and send letters to their loved ones in basic training, as well as allowing military members to connect with other units.
Other recently added features include the digital wallet. That addition allows military members to receive gift cards from relatives and friends for purchases at the military exchange stores during basic training and beyond.
The new feature is an attempt to bring back the fellowship among new recruits that diminished during the pandemic.
Prior to Covid hitting, “a lot of our folks in the recruiting stations would get together once a week or once a month, and they work out and they talk about the ethos of the military journey,” Meek said.
However, once the pandemic arrived, those meetings disappeared. “Sandboxx is bringing back this kind of digital comradery,” he said. The new feature would also allow families and friends of each recruit to form a chat group in the app, where Sandboxx would upload information about the military.
“Not only can [users] read that, but they can communicate it and talk about it directly in their Muster chat,” Meek added.
Keeping new recruits engaged and reducing dropout rates are major goals for Sandboxx.
“One of the things we’re doing is making sure that we can keep really high engagement and we can help those recruiters keep those young 18-year-old and 19-year-old men and women in the delayed entry program and make sure they shift to basic training,” Meek said.
He added that preventing recruits from dropping out is “the biggest uphill battle” military recruiters are facing currently. Recruitment is also another challenge due to the pandemic and high employment rates.
Currently, the U.S. military is not recruiting enough people into most of its service branches. The Department of Defense has only attracted a total rate of 85% recruits across the Army, Navy, the Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force in fiscal year 2022.
Sandboxx is expected to keep up the new service member’s interest in the military by communicating with each recruit’s family and friends about benefits of joining the military.
“When that individual, if they do get cold feet and they start to get a little nervous about the military journey, the friends and family around them can assure them that this was a fabulous decision,” Meek said.
Arlington Resident Moving to San Diego — Baseball superstar Juan Soto, who recently moved to Arlington, has been traded by the Nats to the San Diego Padres. He’ll presumably take with him some photos and art that were framed at a Clarendon frame store. [MLB]
Fairfax Barricade Ends — Updated at 9:25 a.m. — A man reportedly barricaded in a condo with a rifle near Lake Barcroft has been taken into custody. The barricade situation prompted a Fairfax County police helicopter to circle over parts of Arlington for hours. [FFXnow, Twitter]
County Getting Part of Opioid Settlement — “It’s not a princely sum, but cash is cash and the Arlington County government is set to receive its share of a new payment based on a legal settlement with a number of opioid distributors… Of the first settlement payout, about $9.94 million will go to the state government’s Opioid Abatement Authority and about $4.07 million will be distributed to localities. Arlington is entitled to 1.378 percent of that latter figure, which works out to $56,034.” [Sun Gazette]
Ballston Quarter Gets Small Tax Break — “Owners of the Ballston Quarter retail-restaurant-and-entertainment complex came away from a recent Board of Equalization hearing with a very partial victory, as that body reduced the property’s assessed valuation but not nearly as much as its owners had sought. On a unanimous vote, Board of Equalization members on July 13 voted to reduce the assessment rate – which is used to calculate the property’s annual tax bill – from $91.1 million as determined by staff to $86.7 million.” [Sun Gazette]
Va. Sens. Celebrate Vets Bill — “Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine celebrated Senate passage of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 following obstruction efforts by Senate Republicans last week. This legislation will expand health care and benefits for toxic-exposed veterans under the Department of Veterans Affairs.” [Sen. Mark Warner]
YHS Grads Makes Youth National Team — “Yorktown High School graduate Lauren Flynn was named to the U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team soccer roster for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica from Aug. 10-28.” [Sun Gazette]
Feedback Sought for Eco Plan — “Arlington County would like your input on the draft Forestry and Natural Resources Plan. To assure future generations of Arlingtonians enjoy the benefits of nature, the County must identify what needs are urgent, what are aspirational, and how each can be addressed through both long-term initiatives, incremental change and immediate action.” [Arlington County]
Crash in D.C. Shut Down Chain Bridge — From WTOP’s Dave Dildine: “Chain Bridge closed both ways along with Canal Road and Clara Barton Parkway at the bridge. A crash occurred when traffic signals were malfunctioning. Witnesses say an officer was struck under the malfunctioning signals. These lights fall out of phase frequently.” [Twitter]
It’s Wednesday — Another hot and humid day. High of 90 and low of 71. Sunrise at 6:13 am and sunset at 8:19 pm. [Weather.gov]
A dog that served in Afghanistan is receiving a lot of special attention this week as his family prepares for a loving send-off after discovering he has an aggressive tumor.
A Nextdoor post about K9 Rony, the purebred Belgian Malinois living in Arlington, has garnered more than 500 reactions and 140 comments — and prompted Arlington County Police Department to honor him with a vehicle procession Tuesday.
Arlington County police decided to honor Rony “to show our respect and gratitude for his years of service,” a tweet from the department reads. “We are thankful for the time we got to spend with him and ask that you join us in keeping his family in our thoughts during this difficult time.”
On May 17, officers provided a vehicle procession tribute for K9 Rony to show our respect and gratitude for his years of service. We are thankful for the time we got to spend with him and ask that you join us in keeping his family in our thoughts during this difficult time. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/dyQ82OzlIg
— ArlingtonCountyPD (@ArlingtonVaPD) May 19, 2022
Rony served alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan for many years, his owners wrote in the Nextdoor post. He retired from the U.S. military where his service included over 380 combat missions, they wrote on the social network.
“A few days ago, Rony had to go to an emergency vet hospital where surgeons found an aggressive fast-growing tumor in his abdomen,” the post reads. “They do not believe he will survive the surgery. Together, we all realized that the kindest gift we could give to him is to allow him to pass away peacefully through euthanasia.”
The family invited users to send notes that will be read aloud to Rony during an “honorable and loving sendoff surrounded by those who love him” this Saturday. The messages will then be shared with other military working dogs and their handlers training for a future deployment, the post says.
The family also hopes to include the letters in a children’s book about the life of a military working dog.
“Military working dogs like Rony have helped protect our country alongside our men and women who serve,” the post reads. “Even after serving, they continue to love and inspire others.”
The full post is below.
Driver Crashes into Trooper’s Cruiser — A Virginia State Police trooper was radioing in a license plate during a traffic stop on I-395 near Shirlington when his cruiser was rear-ended. The trooper finished giving the tag number before telling the dispatcher about the crash. [Twitter]
Circulator Strike Continues — “The first day’s negotiations between a bus drivers union and the operator of D.C. Circulator since workers began striking were unsuccessful through Wednesday evening, increasing the prospects of a potentially lengthy outage of the city’s only public bus service.” [Washington Post]
Marymount Planning Child Care Center — “Marymount University is setting up a new child care center on campus in a renovation project that it said is designed to fill a critical, and deepening, local workforce need as those with young children return to the office. The Marymount Early Learning Academy for children aged 3 to 5 will open in the summer or fall of 2023, reviving the idea of an on-campus preschool that the university used to run in the 1990s before it closed down.” [Washington Business Journal]
Sexual Battery Incident in Pentagon City — “500 block of 12th Road S…. at approximately 11:40 p.m. on April 29th the male victim had entered into the elevator of a secure residential building when the unknown suspect followed behind him. The victim exited the elevator and walked down the hallway, during which the suspect grabbed his buttocks. The suspect then fled the scene.” [ACPD]
Air Force Colonel on Trial — “An official with the California National Guard charged with indecent exposure in Arlington in March is scheduled to go to trial in Arlington on July 18… the suspect entered the business and exposed himself to female victims, according to the ACPD.” [Patch]
Falls Church Lowers Property Tax Rate — “On Monday night, the Falls Church City Council approved a $112.8 million Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) that invests in public schools, core government services, walkability and traffic calming, environmental sustainability, and more, all while reducing the real estate tax rate by 9 cents… To mitigate the 11 percent overall increase in real estate assessments, the adopted budget includes a decrease in the real estate tax to $1.23 per $100 of assessed value.” [City of Falls Church]
It’s Cinco de Mayo — Mostly cloudy, with a high of 67 and low of 56. Sunrise at 6:07 am and sunset at 8:06 pm. [Weather.gov]
If you thought the Pentagon chicken was impressive, wait until you hear about the Pentagon courtyard bunny.
In what might be the world’s fluffiest and most adorable infiltration of a secure military installation, a bunny was recently spotted hopping around in the 5.1 acre outdoor courtyard at the center of the headquarters of the U.S. Dept. of Defense, ARLnow has learned.
There is no official confirmation of the bunny’s existence — the DoD said it does not keep tabs on small, harmless animals in the courtyard — but we have obtained photographic evidence, above, and an eyewitness account.
“I just wanted to highlight that while the Pentagon Chicken is receiving its 15 minutes of fame, the Pentagon Bunny actually successfully infiltrated the Pentagon,” a tipster tells ARLnow. “It is currently living peacefully somewhere in the Pentagon’s courtyard, a location that is likely the most heavily guarded rabbit burrow on the planet… that is until the restaurant in the Courtyard decides to have an extremely locally sourced courtyard-to-table special.”
Given that it is outdoors and has plenty of trees and people eating meals, the courtyard is naturally a hangout spot for birds, which can simply fly in. It’s unclear how a bunny would have hopped into a place surrounded by five rings of some of the most secure office space on earth, though there are some theories.
“Aside from birds I have not seen any other wildlife. That is why I thought the rabbit was so notable,” the tipster said. “A bunch of us were trying to figure out how the rabbit made it into the courtyard since there are no obvious points of entry. The current hypothesis is that the bunny was carried into the courtyard by the hawks that were nesting in one of the trees and dropped before it was fed to the offspring.”
A Pentagon spokesperson sent an appropriately non-specific response to ARLnow’s inquiry about the small mammal that’s apparently living inside the courtyard’s five walls.
“From time to time there may be various species of animals on the reservation that make it to the Center Courtyard,” said Sue Gough, Department of Defense spokesperson. “We normally do not intervene unless the animals create a hazard to building occupants, or the animal is at risk from our activities. In those situations, we will try to have it leave on its own accord, or capture it and release it to the environment where it is distanced from our activities (e.g., land adjacent to Boundary Channel).”
Pressed about this particular bunny, the official word from the DoD — which is a bit busy at the moment — is that they’re not sure.
“We don’t track individual wildlife unless there is a safety hazard to building occupants or the animal,” Gough said.
The Pentagon chicken, on the other hand, attracted national media attention after the Animal Welfare League of Arlington revealed that it had taken custody of the rogue poultry at the request of the DoD, after it was found wandering around a secure area outside of the building.
The chicken went viral on social media, now has its own t-shirt line, and even earned a Jimmy Fallon-sung ballad on the Tonight Show.
December 21, 2015 was the day that led Brooke Chaco to becoming an Arlington County police officer.
It was that day six years ago when her stepfather, New York Police Department detective Joseph Lemm, and five others were killed in action while serving in Afghanistan.
“It changed my whole life,” Chaco tells ARLnow. “It made me appreciate what law enforcement does even more.”
Chaco grew up in a family full of police and military veterans, but the profession didn’t much appeal to her until Lemm came into her life as a stepfather when she was about ten years old.
“I was a brat, for a lack of a better word, and didn’t want to give him the time of day,” she admits.
Lemm was a long-time New York police officer, serving for nearly 15 years, mostly in the Bronx. He was also staff sergeant in the Air National Guard and had been deployed multiple times. His stature may have been intimidating, but his demeanor was anything but.
In fact, his nickname among friends was “Superman,” due in part to sorta looking like the superhero’s alter ego Clark Kent and that Lemm could be all things to everyone he loved.
“He was just this big, gentle giant,” Chaco says. “He had a way with his words that gained people’s trust and got them to talk to him.”
In early 2015, Lemm was deployed again to Afghanistan and was looking forward to speaking with his family on Christmas with the hope he’d be home soon.
Four days before Christmas, however, a suicide bomber on a motorbike carried out an attack on his convoy during a patrol. Lemm was only 45 years old when he was killed and left behind his wife, then-16-year-old Chaco, and her four-year-old brother Ryan.
“I had to help raise [Ryan] after my stepfather passed,” she says. “He’s a very big part of my life and a big reason as to why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
The loss made headlines nationally and especially in the New York City area, where the New York Post wrote about how Brooke, a singer, paid a musical tribute to her fallen-hero dad at a memorial benefit for the family. (Earlier this year, the Post also wrote about a bridge in Westchester County being dedicated to Lemm.)
The tragedy helped Chaco find her calling.
She was hired into the ACPD — a force in much need of additional officers — this past April, even prior to graduating from James Madison University. Despite having a family full of officers, she’s the first woman in her family to join the police force. She loves New York and her family, but is looking to forge her own identity in Arlington.
“I didn’t want my peers to look at me any differently or my supervisors to look at me differently because of the sacrifice that my stepfather made,” Chaco says. “I wanted to make my own path.”
Chaco remains an officer in training. She graduated from the academy earlier this year and is now in the midst of field training, where she’s being paired with a more experienced officer. All in all, training to become a full time solo officer can take a little over a year. When that’s completed, and after a few years of patrol work, Chaco hopes to end up in the special victims unit.
(Updated at 11:25 a.m.) The annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery is set to take place this weekend.
The event is taking place on Saturday, Dec. 18. It will look a little different due to the pandemic, according to Wreaths Across America, the organization that puts it on.
Volunteers who wish to help place wreaths on the gravestones of fallen military servicemembers are required to register in advance. They will then show their email confirmation and a photo ID to participate, the event’s website says. Face coverings are required in any indoor part of the cemetery.
“We are committed to ensuring the safety of all those that want to participate, and as such, will have designated entry gates and times for a limited number of registered volunteers to enter,” Wreaths Across America said.
COVID-19 almost halted the event last year, as it was initially canceled but later reinstated — as former President Donald Trump rushed to take credit for the reversal. Last year, 1.7 million wreaths from Maine were placed on gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery and more than 2,800 other locations nationwide.
“As one of the largest veteran cemeteries in the United States, the goal of placing a wreath on every marker is lofty,” the nonprofit said. “Our volunteers are committed to Remembering and Honoring our nation’s veterans through the laying of wreaths on the graves of our country’s fallen heroes and the act of saying the name of each veteran aloud.”
This past Sunday, family pass holders had the opportunity to lay wreaths at their loved ones’ graves prior to public access.
Wreaths Across America is also accepting individual wreath sponsorships. In the past, the nonprofit has been the subject of scrutiny for its close ties to a Maine wreath manufacturer, both of which are run by the same family.
Arlington County police are planning a number of road closures in the area, associated with the wreath-laying event. More from ACPD:
The annual Wreaths Across America escort of handmade, balsam wreaths destined for Arlington National Cemetery will begin arriving in Arlington County on Friday, December 17th. The annual convoy of wreaths, originating in Maine and ending at Arlington National Cemetery, includes over 75 tractor trailers and numerous support vehicles that will reach the Cemetery at various times throughout the day.
On Saturday, December 18th, several thousand volunteers will descend upon the Cemetery and help lay wreaths on every gravesite throughout the property beginning at 8:00 a.m. The public can anticipate large crowds and heavy pedestrian traffic related to the event. Traffic is expected to be impacted in and around the immediate area and motorists are advised to allow for extended travel times and seek alternate routes to reduce road congestion.
First Lady Jill Biden is planning to visit Arlington on Friday afternoon.
Biden will “travel to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia to participate in a Toys for Tots event with military families,” according to the White House.
The event is scheduled for 3 p.m. It’s not open to the general public.
Locals should expect some rolling road closures in the area for Biden’s motorcade.
