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Protecting American Lives and Property: The Air Force Reserve Command – DoD Roundtable
Protecting American Lives and Property: The Air Force Reserve Command – DoD Roundtable It is easy to forget the quiet professionals, not to recognize those who treat you politely or give you great customer service. Sometimes we are too busy or we just fail to respond when we should say thank you. This could not be truer than for three Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) C-130 aircraft missions that we rarely hear about because they are quietly and professionally doing their jobs in the background of natural or manmade disasters such as hurricanes, large fires, insect infestations and oil spills. They mitigate the disasters with unique (and sometimes venerable) equipment…
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“Remember those who gave their lives there” Korengal Valley, Afghanistan – DoD Roundtable
I spoke to heroes during this Roundtable! They defended us in a remote valley in Afghanistan and in the mountains around it. They fought a battle there on October 25, 2007 that resulted in the death of friends, injuries, moments of fear and terror. The responses of one man to the combat situation he found himself in earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor! Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta is the first person to receive the MOH since the Vietnam War who could receive it in person from the President. There have been others who received our nation’s highest decoration in our wars since Vietnam but unfortunately they were posthumously presented…
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Taking a Baseball Bat to Cancer
Sometimes life throws curve balls. I didn’t even know that I was up to bat! It was so hectic and now I see bases are loaded and I am NOT going to strike out, or walk or punt (wait… that’s the wrong sport!) See… I really didn’t know I was in the game. And then whoosh something flew at me and caught my breath.I think it was fear. But just like one pitch, it was thrown at me trying to get me off center, trying to get me to go after it, jerk away from it, recognize it and not ignore it. I did.Whoosh… next came uncertainty. How can I…
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Patriotism and My Community
I live in a great community! I have been here for about 9 years… (WOW! That’s a lot for this Air Force Brat.) I brought a newborn baby home to this same house that I am in now, 7 1/2 years ago. Over the past few years there have been rumors; hubs has seriously considered going Active Duty, or there have been job opportunities in other areas of the state (multiple times). With each rumble of moving I have been excited (You can take me out of the military-community, but you can’t take the ‘Brat’ out of me) but then a bit forlorn as I just /love/ our little slice…
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Angst and Insecurities
There is a bit of teenage-angst in my house right now. *J*, 16 years old, driver’s license, girlfriend, soccer, nearly-straight A’s, lots of friends from school, three parents that LOVE him, (I’m step-mom),want to give him his space and yet recognize that sometimes too much space isn’t good either. He’s not quite sure what to do with the raging hormones, the insecurities, the pull between friends, two families, and self. Mom is a single-mom. It is just Mom and *J* in that household. *J* is treated a little bit older, I suspect; perhaps more of a confidante. Dad is a dad of three sons and soon to be four, plus his lovely bride…
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Week in Review: Week of April 11 – 17 (Military News)
Here are ten of our most popular military-related articles for the week MilitaryAvenue.com: Faces Behind the Hero: Army Wife, Mom and writer, Jane: Meet our Face Behind the Hero, Jane. I love her thoughts below about a ‘Family Mission Statement’. What keeps your family together? What is the glue that binds? Where do you find the adventure that keeps life “interesting”? Thanks, Jane, for getting us all thinking about these things and not only being Army-Strong, but Family-Strong too!….“A Little Bit of Hope, Help…” “A Little Bit of Hope, Help …” is how US Navy CAPT James Wink, the chief engineer for Joint Task Force-Haiti responded to a question on…
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Medicine in Iraq in 2010 and Beyond – DoD Roundtable
Imagine trying to find a doctor or nurse in a country where 90% of the doctors fled after multiple devastating wars, an insurgency with criminal elements kidnapping physicians for ransom and a medical community that spent 35 years locked in a closet away from the rest of the world’s medical system by the dictatorial government under Saddam Hussein! The Iraq medical community has a long ways to go before recovering to its previous expertise! At one time this country’s medicine was the envy of the region! Now they are re-building with American assistance! We spoke with Dr. Adel Hanson, linguist/medical advisor, USF-I Health Affairs, Iraq Training and Advisory Mission (ITAM);…
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Finding the Positive in Goodbye
As a Military-Brat I know the pain that can be found in saying ‘goodbye’, whether a PCS on my family’s part or a friend’s family moving away. The tears, the fear of the future, the feeling of losing friends for forever. There was nothing easy about it but I do believe it influenced who I am, for the better. In 1984 my family PCSed from Lubbock, Texas (since closed Reese AFB) to Scott AFB, Illinois. I had my first real best-friend in Lubbock & it was my first real ‘goodbye’. We stayed pen-pals (this was before the world of email) for quite some time afterwards but at some point, many…
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The Fears of Reintegration
Thoughts have been welling around in my head for the last two weeks. Thoughts that can take any moment in the day down a windy slippery hill. Thoughts that I’m not sure what to do with. I am quite human you will soon discover. What is this fear lodged deep-down in my chest R&R was a couple months ago and it was better then our honeymoon. We were inseparable. We didn’t even have to be in the same room but I would just smile knowing we were in the same country, same state, same city, same house. I could nuzzle up to him at any point and just soak in…
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He’s Coming Home!
The countdown has begun in my home. Hubby will be for R&R, a two-week vacation with his family home from Iraq. I am excited & growing with anticipation as each day passes and we get that much closer. Yesterday, as I was tearing the dishwasher apart trying to figure out why it sounded like a dyeing cow, I began to think of what has changed since April 2008, when he left. (After all what else am I going to do as pieces and parts of a dishwasher are strewn across the kitchen.) My three-year older is potty trained. That is a pretty significant change. We saw Hubby for a few…
