JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Perpetual motion. That is how retired Gen. Tom Mikolajcik, a former wing commander at Charleston AFB and now a civic leader in the community, describes our base. Whether supporting Haiti operations as the lead airlift operation for the Air Force, working with the Navy to merge our installations or going downrange to augment ground operations, Team Charleston is always in the mix. We don't "ramp up" for an occasional event and then recover - "ramped up" is our way of life in a non-stop expeditionary environment dependant on mobility.
While the demands of today's operations are great, they've also given us something that is truly remarkable ... an Airmen force better trained across a wider range of skills and with more confidence in their abilities than we ever had when I was a lieutenant.
This is evident down to the smallest things we do here on base. For example, during the last few weeks I had a chance to tour the 628th Medical Group and interact with several young Airmen, many on their first assignment. I distinctly remember the first time I had to brief my wing commander one-on-one, and it wasn't until I was a captain with seven years under my belt and even then, I would rather have had a root canal.
I contrast myself back then to Airman 1st Class Felicia Williams today, who took me through the medial records section making me understand the importance of what they do and the pride they have in doing it. She was exceptional in her poise and confidence. Then Staff Sgt. Jonathan Cagle, with seven years under his own belt, briefed me as the sole individual servicing much of the equipment across the hospital. He is also already making plans for the development of his subordinate, who hasn't even arrived on base yet!
Exceptional individuals are not limited to the "uniform wearing" side-of-house either. I had the opportunity last week to meet Shannon Heiling, a spouse in the 17th Airlift Squadron. If you haven't noticed, today's expeditionary culture is driving a stronger focus on our families. If you have any doubt on the need for this, let me relay a statistic or two from a recent speech by our Secretary of the Air Force, the honorable Michael Donley, on Year of the Air Force Family.
At any one time, the Air Force generally has more than 40,000 Airmen in more than 135 countries across the world and "... beyond the strains of deployments, military children and spouses face challenges their civilian counterparts will never know or experience. Our school-age children move an average of six to nine times before their high school graduation. Due to these same moves, our spouses often have difficulty in realizing their own career aspirations and while over 50 percent already work outside the home, another 27 percent would like to find meaningful employment."
Our families need our support as they in turn support their military member. This is why I was excited to listen to Shannon, President of the recently chartered Team Charleston Spouses Club, as she outlined her vision of an organization built around social support, charity and education.
You'll see more on this organization in the upcoming months as they work to conduct their first charitable auction March 13 to raise funds for scholarships while continuing to build membership. Hopefully, in conjunction with our Key Spouse programs, we can extend the reach of good ideas now present in several squadrons across the installation with the goal of building a strong Air Force family culture around all our members, married or single.
We're busy here at Charleston and we're preparing to get busier as the Afghanistan surge continues to accelerate. However, we'll meet this challenge head-on like we've met every one before, with phenomenal Airmen surrounded by a dedicated and caring family made up of spouses, children, significant others, the community and others who fly by our side to support us at every step.