THE DROP - The Fall 2025 issue of The Drop is ready to download from the SFA Teamhouse web site. At the top of The Drop menu area is a link to a pdf which lists articles from The Drop. Currently you can download all 4 quarters of The Drop for the years 2008 through 2024. There are some copies back to 2005 plus a few copies of the earliest mimeographed versions.
All the obituaries from 2005 to the current copy of The Drop have been extracted and added to the obituary section of the Documents folder. Instructions on how to search the obits can be found in Member Support > FAQ.
Thanks for being patient gents. There are a lot of good ideas for sympathy, memories and feelings we want to share with Brooke and she appreciates the hell out of it i assure you.
She has come to the conclusion that it's easiest on her to just have text messages.
Brooke writes:
Please do not send flowers or cards. A text is preferred. Let me know if you want to talk but no pressure at all. If you feel moved to do something, in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to PBS in memory of Hector Meletich. My email is hectorbrooke@yahoo.com if that is needed ️ and my TEL 541.646.8873
I'd like to say Hector was a great friend to me. He was always quick witted and a smooth South FL New Yorican. And did i mention soul, he had a lot and a fine one at that. If you knew his amazing mom you would also credit her with his suave demeanor.
We stayed in touch and often exchanged chuckles, views and kept eachother up to date on our exploits and subjects such as whats happening with the boys from Co.C. My most lasting memory is of his making an introduction to my dear friend Brooke who completed his life and his world.
With loss and love, Hector will be well kept by those who knew him.
Yours, GuyOctober 15, 2025
Hello Members and Friends of the Association,
We regret to inform you of the passing this morning of our dear friend and fellow warrior, Hector Meletich.
From Hector's widow: This is Hector's wife, Brooke. I am heartbroken to inform you Hector passed away this morning. I'm not sure I will be able to respond to many texts today, but I just wanted you all to know. He thought so much of you all and your time together ️.
Guy Clark sent a short statement converted to photo below.
We have no funeral service information at this time.
I appreciate the love & concern each of you have given my family, as my daughter fights cancer. Words cannot
express our gratitude. I would like to thank everyone who has been praying for Tracye,
Yesterday I received the below update from my daughter, Tracye is still in Baptist hospital. She is a fighter & will never give up.
Thanks,
William H. “Bill “ Eades Jr.
Dear Dad and friends,
A lot has been going on; I've been in Hospital since August. The cancer tumors spread to my small intestine and shut my tummy off so I was starving.
They went in with 2 surgeries and put bypasses around so I can eat. Just when we were getting that under control, my liver was failing because the drains
were blocked, so I had 2 more surgeries to put in external bags. I'm in amazing amounts of pain but hopefully the right path!
If my liver is functioning I can resume chemo and get it on the run again. I'm getting toward my end but I’m determined to fight for this life till I can't.
Thank you for supporting me!
Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers during this difficult time I love you all and feel the love. Please know it brings comfort.
The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 115 of June 23, 1936 (49 Stat. 1895 as amended), has designated the last Sunday in September as “Gold Star Mother’s Day.”
Army infantry officer calls new XM7 ‘unfit for use as a modern service rifle’
Officials with the Army and Sig Sauer pushed back on the findings of the research, which was conducted by an Army infantry officer and presented at this year's Modern Day Marine exhibition in Washington, D.C.
A soldier engages targets with the Next Generation Squad Weapon system’s XM7 rifle and XM157 scope during testing of the rifle and scope on June 13, 2024. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy.
An Army infantry officer has made a series of criticisms of the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle, which is meant to replace the M4A1 carbine.
The Army introduced the XM7 rifle and XM250 light machine gun — both of which chamber a 6.8mm round — partly due to concerns that modern body armor could stop the 5.56mm rounds fired by the M4A1 and M249. The bigger round is also meant to give the XM7 an increased range based on lessons from Afghanistan.
But Army Capt. Braden Trent presented his research into the XM7 at the Modern Day Marine exhibition in Washington, D.C. — research he claims shows that the rifle is inferior to the M4A1.
As part of his research, Trent said he visited the 1st Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne,” 101st Airborne Division, which was the first active-duty Army unit to receive the XM7. Trent said he interviewed more than 150 soldiers and disassembled 23 XM7 rifles.
His 52-page report on the subject, which included testing with experts, ballistic research, and input from soldiers, concluded that the XM7 is “unfit for use as a modern service rifle,” Trent said on April 29 during his presentation at Modern Day Marine.
Trent said his research has shown that soldiers equipped with the XM7 in a live-fire exercise quickly run out of ammunition because its magazine only holds 20 rounds. He also said that gouges and scratches can form in the barrel after firing more than 2,000 rounds, the rifle’s weight makes it hard for soldiers to maneuver.
also said that soldiers told him that nearly all of their engagements in a military exercise were taking place within 300 meters, negating the XM7’s advantage at longer ranges, he said.
“The XM7 is a tactically outdated service rifle that would be better classified as a designated marksman rifle, if that,” Trent said during his presentation. “This rifle is a mechanically unsound design that will not hold up to sustained combat on a peer-on-peer conflict.”
Sig Sauer and the Army respond
However, a representative of Sig Sauer, which the Army selected in 2022 to build the Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle and machine gun, disputed Trent’s findings.
“We have a very large staff of individuals that work daily on that rifle to ensure that every aspect of its performance is scrutinized, every aspect of its safety is criticized,” said Jason St. John, the senior director of strategic products for Sig Sauer. “We are highly confident that we have provided the U.S. Army soldier with a very robust weapon system that is not only safe, but it performs at the highest levels.”
St. John said he did not want to issue a point-by-point rebuttal for all of Trent’s conclusions “because most of them are patently false.”
David H. Patterson, Jr., a spokesman for Program Executive Office Soldier, also said that the Next Generation Squad Weapon is well suited for close combat. Specifically, the weapon “provides greater effects within 300 meters,” he said.
“As the secretary of the Army and chief of staff highlighted in their Army Transformation Initiative memo to the force, ‘Yesterday’s weapons will not win tomorrow’s wars,’” Patterson wrote in an email on Monday to Task & Purpose. “The Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program provides unmatched lethality to our Close Combat Force (CCF). The Army is committed to accepting soldier feedback and enhancing weapons for optimal use.”
A soldier conducts training with the XM7 at Fort Stewart, Georgia, June 20, 2024. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Turner Horton.
Not an official report
Trent is currently a student at the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Warfare School and was presenting his personal views on the subject, and his research for the school’s fellowship program is not sponsored or endorsed by the Army, Marine Corps, or Defense Department, according to his research paper, which was obtained by Task & Purpose.
