Stellar Award winner James Fortune & FIYA take gospel to troops

Jan 25, 2011

By Tim Hipps (Family and MWR Command)

Related Links

• Visit the Army MWR Website

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Three-time gospel music Stellar Award winner James Fortune is scheduled to headline Army Entertainment Division’s "Lift Up Your Spirit II" tour for troops in Korea and Germany with his band, "James Fortune & FIYA."
"For me, it’s just going to be amazing," said Fortune, who was honored Jan. 15 with 2011 Stellar Awards for Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year, Group Duo of the Year and Contemporary CD of the Year for "Encore," released Jan. 26, 2010.
"It’s the first time that I’ve been overseas to minister," Fortune said. "We see their sacrifice and hard work, but to be over there and be able to see them praising God and having a good time is going to mean a lot to me."
Fortune & FIYA, the female gospel group RiZen, and hip gospel performer Canton Jones will perform free shows at U.S. Army garrisons Feb. 9 in Hohenfels, Feb. 10 in Ansbach, Feb. 11 in Baumholder and Feb. 12 in Wiesbaden.
The gospel groups will be joined on stage in Germany by Sgt. Calvin Snead, a performer from the 2010 U.S. Army Soldier Show.
The tour will resume Feb. 17-22 at Camps Walker, Casey, and Humphreys and Yongsan Garrison, Korea.
Fortune said he hopes to deliver a "ministry of encouragement so they know how much we appreciate them, to lift their spirits, and to just really minister" to the Soldiers and their Families.
"I’ve actually toured with RiZen before, and Canton and I have done quite a few shows together," Fortune said. "He is high-energy, anointed, just really gets the place rocking when he’s on stage."
Canton "CJ" Jones has a Grammy nod, a Stellar Award nomination, three Gospel Choice Awards and four CDs in his portfolio. He has sold hundreds of thousands of albums and has several songs in regular rotation in the U.S. and abroad, including "Love Song," "Stay Saved" and "The Password."
Jones has shared the stage with hip hop heavyweights T.I., David Banner and Ludacris; established performers John Legend, Kirk Franklin and Patti LaBelle; and gospel powerhouses Smokie Norful, Dr. Bobby Jones and Kierra "Kiki" Sheard.
RiZen, a Stellar Award winning duo featuring sisters Adriann and Aundrea Lewis, was originally formed in 1995 as an eight-member praise and worship team at New Galilee Baptist Church in Saginaw, Mich., where their father, Luciose Lewis, serves as pastor. Only the sisters remain, and they signed with Verity Records to release their third CD, entitled "FREE."
Adriann and Aundrea were reared by a preacher who allowed them to listen to all kinds of music. Their early exposure to various musical styles continues to influence their sound. RiZen won Stellar Awards in 2004 for Best New Artist and 2006 for Best Traditional Group/Duo.
"Our mother was a musician, so she listened to all genres of music," Adriann explained. "To this day, I still love R&B artists. Some of my favorites are Tina Turner and Mary J. Blige. However, we grew up Baptist, so that’s all we knew when it came to our own singing and recording – and that’s where we get our signature sound."
"We grew up with the Gospel Music Workshop of America," Aundra said. "Through our mom, who is a piano teacher and choir director, we were introduced to the music of seasoned traditional gospel artists like Rev. Charles Nicks, Dr. James Cleveland, Albertina Walker, and Dorothy Norwood. However, we do love R&B, jazz and country music.
"Growing up, our parents allowed us to go to concerts, like New Edition and LL Cool J, and we were able to buy albums. We still have our Michael Jackson albums to this day. So even though our musical foundation is the Baptist church, we have a range of influences that occasionally pop up in our music."
Fortune feels fortunate to headline such a talented tour.
"It’s going to be a phenomenal show," he said. "I’m really looking forward to it."

Stellar Award winner James Fortune & FIYA take gospel to troops

Photo Credit: Ignacio \.

Soldiers from the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team review their paperwork at the first station of the U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder pre-deployment processing center. Here they receive an orientation on how the processing flow operates and they begin their half-day proce

 

BAUMHOLDER, Germany – The U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder stood up its pre-deployment processing center Jan. 25 to help Soldiers of the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team prepare for deployment to Afghanistan by the end of February.
As the key support agency for the 170th IBCT, the USAG Baumholder is preparing Soldiers for the long deployment by consolidating numerous service agencies such as medical, dental, legal and other supporting agencies under one roof. This one-stop-shopping facility allows Soldiers of the 170th IBCT to take care of their official and personal needs before departing Baumholder.
The USAG Baumholder has utilized this pre-deployment processing center for numerous brigade deployments and the operation is refined with each deployment. Everything a Soldier needs to take care of before deployment, such as ID card renovation, powers of attorney, family issues, immunization updates, medical counseling and more is centralized to streamline the pre-deployment process.
The brigade is deploying to Afghanistan to accomplish missions in support of the International Security Assistance Force and the people of Afghanistan. 3rd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment is already on the ground in Afghanistan and is conducting missions in support of the training of Afghan National Security Forces. They deployed in December. The remainder of the brigade deploys in late February for approximately 12 months.
"Our main goal is to take care of all of the administrative needs of the Soldier so that he is prepared and ready to deploy," said Capt. Andrew Chovancek, from USAG Baumholder’s Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security.
The Soldier arrives at the pre-deployment center with a packet that his unit provides him and after receiving additional paperwork and a couple of briefings from service agencies, he is given an orientation to the flow of events in the building and begins his processing.
"Our biggest section is medical. It is the largest and most important portion of the process that ensures the Soldier has received any and all required medical treatment," said Chovancek.
"The other half is the administrative portions which include all the garrison and installation support agencies such as housing, to make sure we are tracking within the garrison any washers or dryers, or loaner equipment that needs to be picked up. The community mail room ensures that all his mail is forwarded or held, depending on each Soldier’s circumstance.
We also update all of their SGLI 93′s in case something happens to the Soldier so that the entitlements go to where he wants them to," said Chovancek.
Army Community Service provides a number of their personnel throughout the day who offer consultations to further assist the Soldier in making decisions about numerous personal and official issues.
"finally, the unit provides their family readiness leader who ensures the Soldier’s POV storage and household good storage needs are in order. They also establish and confirm contacts here in the rear while they are deployed.
"Once they have completed their processing we make sure they have done everything they need to, including attending additional briefings that we provide at the Wagon Wheel Theater consisting of a medical threat brief, pre-mobilization legal briefing, and a finance entitlement travel briefing which includes information such as what happens when they go on leave and what benefits a Soldier is entitled to while he is deployed. Once they are done they get signed out and head back to their unit," said Chovancek.
The entire process only takes up a half day of the Soldier’s time, not to include the briefings at the Wagon Wheel Theater, which are scheduled at a different time.
By offering Soldiers this consolidated pre-deployment processing opportunity as well as an annual CARE fair and two deployment fairs, the USAG Baumholder and numerous support agencies are ensuring that Soldiers and families are fully prepared for the upcoming deployment.
The USAG Baumholder will continue to support the needs of families and rear detachment organizations as the Soldiers of the 170th IBCT, the Bayonet Brigade, accomplish their mission in Afghanistan.

USAG Baumholder readies Bayonet Brigade for deployment