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From ‘Blizzard’ to... you name it

The folks who run the public affairs office at Fort Drum, N.Y., home of the 10th Mountain Division, are on a quest to rename the post’s newspaper, which has been known as “Fort Drum Blizzard” for 10 years.

As part of that search, Blizzard readers were asked in a May 29 communique to submit their suggestions for a new name in a contest whose prize has not been divulged.

After receiving 106 suggested names, the public affairs office staff narrowed it down to the five most popular and is now asking readers to weigh in on the short list.

The selections are:

• Fort Drum Patriot

• The Mountaineer

• The Northern Post

• The Pinnacle

• The Summit

A sixth selection called the “Wild Card” was The Mountain View, after the division’s current daily electronic newsletter from Iraq, where the division headquarters and two brigades are on a 15-month rotation.

So why change the name?

“It is more than just wanting to ‘rebrand’ the snow bound image of the post,” 10th Mountain spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Swiergosz said in an e-mail from Baghdad. “We understood the World War II legacy the paper’s name carried with it, and we thought long and hard about how changing that name would be perceived.”

The Fort Drum leadership, he explained, has already changed many of the post’s street names to reflect operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, while still paying tribute to previous generations of “Mountain soldiers.”

“But,” he said, “our current generation is making tremendous sacrifices and have earned their own place in history as well. Allowing them to take part in renaming their own command information newspaper is just one more way of acknowledging their heroic, ongoing service.”

Votes are due July 10 via e-mail to Karin.martinez@us.army.mil, with the subject line “Name Change Contest.”

Readers can also cast votes by fax to (315) 772-8295; or by snail mail to Command Information Officer, ATTN: Name change contest, 10000 10th Mountain Division Drive, Room 108, Fort Drum, NY 13602-5028.

Only one vote will be counted per person. The winner and new name will be announced in the July 17 issue of the Blizzard, which can be seen online at http://www.drum.army.mil.

The winner will be eligible for an unspecified prize from the directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.