Fort Belvoir’s chapels received about $20,000 in donations Sunday in support of its Chaplain Food Basket Thanksgiving Program for military families in need.

Installation Commander Col. Jerry Blixt hosted his first Board of Advisors meeting recently that laid out the status of Base Realignment and Closure and infrastructure projects affecting Fort Belvoir and the surrounding community.

As October drew to a close, residents in the northeast experienced a taste of Mother Nature’s fury - with certain parts of upstate New York and northern New Jersey reporting as much as a foot of snow.

Civil service employees of military medical facilities in the National Capital Region will become DoD civilians, and will no longer fall under individual service branch personnel systems, as Base Realignment and Closure requirements are put into action, according to a recent Joint Task Force CAPMED news release.

Defense Department civilians and military members who participate in the Thrift Savings Plan should try to stay calm after recent stock market gyrations have reduced many retirement account balances, senior officials said.

Installation commanders from all military services and the DoD began conducting “Financial Readiness Challenge” events nationwide to help military families deal with the effects of today’s economy.

No matter who won Tuesday’s presidential election, Defense Department officials will work to ensure a smooth and efficient transition to the new administration, DoD officials said Oct. 30.

The Army and the National Institute of Mental Health have begun a five-year, $50 million research program into the factors behind Soldier suicides and how to prevent them, Army Secretary Pete Geren told reporters at the Pentagon Oct. 29.

For their efforts in building more than 25,000 square feet of housing and administrative offices for 1st Cavalry Division Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 29 Air Force Airmen received cavalry combat spurs - symbolic of cavalry service in a combat zone. The Airmen received the spurs from the squadron’s commander at Forward Operating Base Hunter in Iraq recently.

The Coast Guard received a large budget increase for fiscal 2009 as part of the Consolidated Security Disaster Assistance and Continuing Appropriations Act, a senior Coast Guard officer said recently.