Before candy gets stocked in supermarkets for the upcoming Halloween season, teams already will be busy taping at overseas locations throughout the world for special greetings to be aired during the holiday season.
Three separate broadcast teams from the Joint Hometown News Service in San Antonio are boarding planes this week to begin taping video holiday greetings of service members and their families stationed overseas during the holiday season.
Service members and civilian employees from all branches of service, their family members, and DOD civilians are eligible to participate, according to Erich Schwab, this year's holiday greetings coordinator. According to Mr. Schwab, who also is the European team chief, three teams comprising three members per team will travel to the Pacific, Europe and Southwest Asia theaters, setting up their cameras in more than 60 locations.
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America's support of our troops and their families has been a welcome theme during this past decade of war. The stories of support are abundant, from top leaders encouraging Americans to salute troops to neighbors pitching in to help a deployed family.
Some people have taken this support even a step further, creating innovative programs and organizations that are doing extensive work on behalf of military families.
Eight of these organizations were lauded for their efforts to improve military families' quality of life during the 11th Annual Newman's Own Awards ceremony Sept. 1.
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When servicemembers go outside the wire here for missions on the ground, they have a "big brother" in the sky.
That big brother is the MQ-1B Predator from the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron.
"My Dad used to be an Army Ranger, and he used to do the same kind of stuff as the guys that are going into harm's way," said Senior Airman Ashley Burchinal, a 46th ERS mission intelligence coordinator. "So it's personal for me to help provide support for the guys on the ground, and hear them say 'thank you' when we debrief them."
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A senior NCO assigned to Pope Air Force Base recently defeated top chess players from each service to take home the top prize during the 2010 Interservice Chess Championship.
Master Sgt. Dan Ranario, of the 3rd Aerial Port Squadron, will join the U.S.-led team participating in the 2010 NATO Chess Championship.
"It was really exciting to do so well in this year's tournament because this is my last year competing," Sergeant Ranario said. "I will be retiring this year, so I'm glad that I will get to be a part of the U.S. team and hopefully we will do well in the NATO tournament."
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Kadena's dining facility staff has found a new use for social networking websites to keep Airmen informed.
"When people ask us where the menu is, we tell them it's now on Twitter," said Tech. Sgt. Lacey D. Brown, the 18th Force Support Squadron Marshall Dining Facility manager. "Now you can (view) it at home, work and even on a cell phone."
Before the idea of "Tweeting" the menu, the staff used a telephone answering system to provide menu updates, but it became inefficient and out-dated. Now that the "KADENADFAC" Twitter page is active the new menu is typically posted an hour before each meal.
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The Partnership for Public Service is soliciting nominations for the 2011 Service to America Medals. These medals recognize the accomplishments of the U.S.'s best public servants.
Nomination eligibility extends to career civilian federal employees. The nominee must have shown a commitment to public service and demonstrated a significant accomplishment within his or her particular government field that was innovative, high impact and met a critical need for the nation.
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The Armenian military deployed its only rapid response medical package for the first time during a recent medical field training exercise here.
Joining them in Armenia were medical professionals from the 3rd Air Force and the Kansas Air National Guard who watched the expeditionary medical support go up and simulated patients brought through for treatment by Armenian doctors and nurses.
"What I'm looking for is their thought process on how they're going to employ EMEDS," said Lt. Col. James Baldock, a 3rd AF deputy surgeon. "And whether they can get it set up quickly and manage the entire medical system."
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I have gained a wealth of knowledge during my career, but one point remains at the top of the list ... love your people.
Through Lorenz on Leadership articles and presentations, I have shared countless personal stories. While they always have different themes, one constant is the wonderful examples and lessons from people I have met. Our Airmen are priceless. They are what make our Air Force the most powerful in the world.
Loving your people is a personal tenet I fervently believe in and live to uphold each day. It is core to my passion and drive as a member of the armed forces and is an essential trait for leaders. Our military force's diverse makeup of servicemembers and their families are themselves powerful reminders of the special charge we have been given as leaders in service to our country.
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Coalition airpower integrated with Operation New Dawn partners in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during
operations Sept. 5, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
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Coalition airpower integrated with Operation New Dawn partners in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during
operations Sept. 4, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
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