I remember taking a couple pictures of all the poses, this one is my favorite. 

I remember taking a couple pictures of all the poses, this one is my favorite. 

OMG...No
words!  Rach I'll always have your back!

 I Love You!!

I don't have a story for this......who does!

While Russell was stationed at bridgeport he was my biggest coffee drinker. Every morning   he would come in and yell in his loudest voice "The Coffee was empty" before he had wlaked over to the machine and he also grabbed his favorite breakfast burrito.. I sure miss them days when he would literaly drive me nuts voer that coffee pot.. God bless Russell and We all miss you.So sorry you left us...

One of my favorite stories, and how I will probably always remember him is, Russ in his "swimming uniform".

We would take the RV's down to the bay or Santee Lakes just to hang out for the day.  On one such occasion, Russell emerged from the motorhome in his cowboy hat, flip-flops, and wearing what he called his, "swimming uniform".  I'm not sure if the picture does it justice, but it was a dark-green paisley material, with a terry cloth lining inside.  Apparently, it belonged to his late father, and he thought it was "very cool".  I'll always remember that day, and laugh out loud. 

As related above, Russ always loved to play around at work (while actually being true to his Information Assurance duties).  He would pull people's CACs from their computer if he saw it unattended.  But he wouldn't merely pull it  and keep it in his office, he would purposefully hide it in an obvious place, yet not readily noticeable by the victim !  In an overhead light or ceiling tile... on the face of a clock... taped to the bottom of their mouse, etc, lol !  Just to gently remind them of the rules.  Even got me a few times darnit !

And speaking of CACs... his running joke was in response to people referring to their 'CAC cards', he would say "oh, your Common Access Card - card?" inferring the erroneous repetitive use of the word 'card' with the acronym.

I also remember his dogs... lab animal rescues.  Another facet to this man's sense of decency and caring.

Mike and I got married on August 20, 2011.  Russell partook in my husband's surprise to me which was to have a Marine detail at our wedding.  As a former Marine, this was one of the greatest surprises I could have received but the greater surprise was to realize the Marine detail involved some of our closest friends, which included Russell.  As I looked back at my wedding pictures over the weekend I realized not only what a great day that was, but all the wonderful pictures we had of Russell smiling and being goofy.  I came across this picture of the Marine detail at our wedding and as I looked at it I couldn't help but laugh.  Marines have a lot of traditions and rules and one of the things you learn early on in boot camp is...Marines never smile in uniform.  It's obvious nothing could ever make Russell stop smiling!  This picture says it all...Russell is the only one with a cheesy grin on his face.  This is how my husband and I will always remember him!

While working with Russell at the Mountain Warfare Training Center, my husband, Mike, and I had the pleasure of calling him friend.  He always had a smile, a joke or a story to share......  his favorite thing to do, was keep up the tradition of turning everything on my desk topsy turvy as my husband would while he was deployed.  Russell took great pride in keeping this going whenever I would step away from my desk - to include once duct taping my new Coach handbag into my desk chair, my CAC card to the overhead credenza cabinet, my PC monitor upside down along with every other work item/accessory on my desk.  When I asked, "WHY?!"  He said, "Because that is what Mike would want me to do." 

I hope you are looking down now and knowing how many hearts and lives you touched and had an impact on, my friend.  You are so missed.