Air Guard Spouse

The Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs

2009-06-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Story and photos by Master Sgt. Julie Avey

San Diego Regional Public Affairs

Battle Dress Uniforms (BDUs) travel with National Guard Members to temporary duty stations, deployments and drill weekends. Military members often pack up their BDUs, say goodbye to their families and travel to accomplish a mission. Now two young girls from the California National Guard family are packing up their things and traveling for their mission, called The Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs is a project to bring military daughters together from across California to share their experiences as military dependents. Moranda Hern, 17, daughter of Lt. Col. Rick Hern of the 144th Fighter Wing, and Kaylei Deakin, 16, daughter of Maj. Lorren Deakin of the 578th Engineer Battalion, plan to host a Military Girls Conference in Clovis, Calif., next spring, March 12-14. They hope 400 teen dependents and 100 female servicemembers will attend the two-day event. Hotel rooms will be shared by four teen participants and one servicemember.

“The conference will bring dependent girls from all [military] units in California together and link them with a common ground to share all of their experiences.” Kaylei said.

The project is in honor of parents who have had to pack up their BDUs and travel to overseas locations or natural disasters at home to serve their country.

Moranda and Kaylei hope to help other servicemembers’ daughters by sharing their own experiences. The girls grew up differently but connected as friends with common experiences; that is what they want to show others through the Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs project.

“At the conference, we want to connect on a deep level with our sisters by removing the mask and being a teenage girl,” Moranda said.

Moranda grew up around the Air Guard, and Kaylei grew up with the Army Guard. Moranda is an only child, and Kaylei is the oldest of three daughters. Moranda has a harder shell, and Kaylei is a bit more sensitive. The girls met at a National Guard Bureau symposium in St. Louis last year, and together they realized they had similar experiences as Guard children. For instance, they did not live on a base like other military children, but they still dealt with their fathers leaving on deployments or for natural disasters.

The girls put their thoughts and feelings together and started realizing that they could make a difference in each other’s lives and that they were feeling real emotions. They helped each other grow, get better grades and build each other’s self-esteem.

Once they focused their energy toward building positive experiences as daughters of servicemembers, they found opportunities. Last fall, Moranda and Kaylei were able to brief their Military Girls Conference ideas to Brig. Gen. Mary J. Kight, assistant adjutant general of the California National Guard, and Leslie Wade, wife of Maj. Gen. William H. Wade II, adjutant general of the California Guard.

In April, at The Adjutant General’s Symposium on Family Readiness in Burlingame, Calif., Moranda and Kaylei tugged the audience’s heart strings as they briefed their plans for next year’s conference. As a part of the brief, they shared their childhood experiences as dependents. The girls know all too well how family separation can affect youths. They have struggled in the past with grades and self-image, and they say their experiences were sometimes troubling but also positive and full of opportunity.

Kaylei has already been awarded the National Teen Leadership Award by the National Teen Leadership Program for spearheading an afterschool club for military children at her high school, and Moranda was honored with the Air National Guard Youth of the Year award.

Now they want to continue making a difference by sharing how being a military child has opened up opportunities for them. Moranda and Kaylei have many ideas for next year’s Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs conference. Topics for discussion will include college applications, self-defense, making decisions and setting goals.

After the conference, Moranda and Kaylei plan to use social networking tools such as Facebook, You- Tube and Twitter to maintain the bonds they expect to grow at the conference. They also plan to travel throughout California to interview military daughters for a video production, and they would like to create public service announcements about military children.

144th Fighter Wing - Year in Review

2009-02-24T17:31:00.000-08:00

The California Air National Guard Base in Fresno is home to the 144th Fighter Wing. The 144th Fighter Wing's mission is to provide air defense protection for California from the Mexican border to Oregon utilizing the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter aircraft. The 144th also supports the nation's Counter Drug Program and responds to state emergencies when requested by the Governor of California.

Kitty and The Chief

2009-02-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

Kitty is very upset about her man leaving yet again! Kitty is our cat and she frets when The Chief goes away for any length of time which means more than a day and she mopes around ignoring me and continually looking for him.

This all started when we first got her 6 years ago. The Chief went on a mission to Alaska for 4 weeks and it was pitiful. She wandered in to my office and looked at his chair to find he wasn't there and roamed endlessly looking for him and "meowing" as if to call his name. So, in her usual manner, she left with her nose in the air as if to say "he should be home it's past 3pm, so where is he?" She was so sad and very stressed at the entire situation and didn't want anything to do with me so, after 2 days I found the solution. Well, not the complete solution! I fished out dirty BDU's (Battle Dress Uniform) that were in the laundry basket, set them on top of chest of drawers and she was happy, she could still smell him! She stayed there for almost the entire 4 weeks laying on the BDU's.

Kitty came to our home after much discussion with The Chief about my need for a cat. The discussion started with the fact that he really preferred dogs and didn't really like cats and my argument was that cats were much easier as they are self-sufficient whereas dogs want all your attention and they are smelly! In the end he relented and said that we could have a cat but he still didn't like them very much. I found

Kitty online at the local shelter and immediately emailed the shelter to put her on hold as she was the one! We went and visited her and there were a number of other cats at the shelter who were all vying for our attention saying "Pick Me"! Kitty was in her cage and had her back to us and very disinterested in the whole affair but she was still the one. She was already 3 years old and had been owned by a lady who had died and she was probably annoyed at how her life had changed to that point. They said her name was "Moo" because she had the coloring of a friesian cow but once she came home she was always known as Kitty as The Chief always called her by that name.

I think Kitty heard The Chief say that he didn't like cats because she is making sure that he changes his mind. She may not be too visible during the day, but the minute he comes home she appears from nowhere and stays with him until he leaves for work the next day. She sits on his desk at home, she sits with him as he reclines watching TV (I might add, mostly asleep with the TV on!), she sleeps beside him in the bed and in the winter keeps his head warm as he is a bit light on the top so to speak. The Chief will never admit that he really does like her but I know that is untrue as he pets her and she give him "kitty hugs" with her front paws when he scratches in the right places.

I won't have to go through this for too many more days as the Chief will be returning from a four day TDY (Temporary Duty) in northern California and Kitty will be happy again when her man arrives home. So much for me wanting and getting a cat to keep me company when all she does is ignore me most of the time unless it is about food.

Air National Guard 144FW Honors a Young Hero

2009-02-09T22:39:00.000-08:00

Virtually every official Air Force photo ever taken (with the exception of those taken during basic training) shows an Airman with medals pinned to the left side of the uniform. The ribbons track the milestones and achievements of a typical military career. As we all know, the ribbons are awarded for a wide variety of occasions including good conduct and longevity as well as acknowledging awesome acts of valor and gallantry. The recipients of the latter, we call heroes. These are people we look up to and admire. These are the ones who set the bar of human achievement.

However, they are not the only ones who model heroism, bravery and great courage. There is another category of people to whom we could all turn for inspiration - children who face life threatening illness or injury. The “Young Heroes” program began when a Michigan Guardsman was visiting a family member in the hospital and encountered a child suffering the ravages of cancer. The Guardsman was dressed in his dress blues complete with all of his ribbons. The child asked him what the ribbons were for. The Airman explained what each one represented and, when he finished, the child asked, “What do I get?" That child’s question spawned a program of recognition that has proven to be a great way for the members of the Guard family to connect with those who also know suffering and sacrifice from the inside: children suffering from life threatening illness or injury.

What is the “Young Heroes” program all about?

In essence, it is an awards ceremony conducted by military members in a decidedly civilian environment. It is a significant public relations program between the military community and the civilian population it is sworn to protect. The Young Heroes program identifies children (ages 5 to 17) who model great courage in the face of tremendous suffering and pain associated with life threatening illness or injury. Once identified, these children are given a “Medal of Courage” minted in much the same way as other military awards. The awards ceremony is conducted in full military dress replete with a written citation, pinning the award on the recipient and the obligatory pictures all of which is followed by interaction with the assembled family members and other guests.

Today, Haley Michelle Collins, 12, was one of the children awarded the "Medal of Courage" and was honored as a fighter pilot for the day by the California Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing. Haley received a tailored flight suit, flew an F-16 flight simulator and watched an F-16 take off on afterburners. Hayley has a congenital heart defect and now lives in San Louis Obispo.

Introduction to Air Guard Spouse

2009-02-06T22:32:00.000-08:00

As an introduction to my blog I will tell you that I am the spouse of an Airman who now has 32 years of service to our country and he is a CMSgt. So as not to reveal his true identity as he would be mortified, I will refer to him in my blogs as either Chief or The Chief. He is a technician so our life revolves around the military.

The Chief is my hero and so are all the other Airmen at our Wing and especially the Maintainers as they are a breed unto themselves. I am very involved with the squadron as I am their Family Readiness Volunteer Coordinator so get to know them and their family members.

Background of our Wing:

The Fresno Air National Guard Base in California is home to the 144th Fighter Wing. The 144th Fighter Wing’s mission is to provide air defense protection for California from the Mexican border to Oregon utilizing the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter aircraft. The 144th also supports the nation's Counterdrug Program and responds to state emergencies when requested by the Governor of California. The Wing's current inventory of aircraft includes 21 F-16Cs.

The origin of the 144th Fighter Wing dates back to 4 April 1948, barely six months after the formation of the Air National Guard in September of 1947. On that date, the 61st Fighter Wing received federal recognition at Alameda, CA, followed by activation of the 144th Fighter Group on 2 June 1948 and the 194th Fighter Squadron on 25 June 1948. The 61st Fighter Wing was redesignated as the 144th Fighter Bomber Wing on 1 November 1950.

Throughout its history, the 144th has earned a number of honors and distinctions. The wing received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1967, 1973, 1978, 1988 and 1994. Other honors include winning the William Tell air-to-air weapons meet at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and numerous maintenance and safety awards. www.144fw.ang.af.mil

If you look in the skies above California you may see or hear them. I hear them every day as they take off and return home and refer to them as "The Sound of Freedom".

In my wildest dreams I never thought that I would be any part of the US military machine and would always be a far off observer of the U.S. military. The Chief and I married 6 years ago and that was my introduction to the life as a military wife and I was clueless. I had not even heard of the National Guard, did not know what it was about and certainly did not understand the language and acronyms and I am sure that The Chief got tired of my constant questions as I tried to learn what his job was. I am an import, a legal immigrant and now a U.S. citizen so, in Australia where I came from, there was no such thing as the National Guard although I was very keen when I finished school to join the Navy. I liked their uniforms and thought it would be a cool thing to sail around the world but other options appeared and it was forgotten.

In the future I will write about learning how to live with the military, the people of the 144FW, my experience as a Family Readiness Volunteer for both the Wing and the State of California and other events of interest.

If you are reading this you will learn that I am fluent in 3 languages; all English! I lived most of my life in Australia so there is Australian English with Aussie slang then I lived 6 years in Ireland which then changed to British/Irish English which has completely different pronunciations of certain words. Those two were easy to adapt to as the spellings was the same. The problem arises when I try the American English as the spelling changes (Thank you spellchecker!) and so does the meaning of words and I cannot come up the correct name for something. I am getting better as I learned to ask The Chief what something might be called after delivering him a description of what it is I want to buy or what I need. When he doesn't understand my "foreign language" he looks at me rather strangely then I know it is not the correct word in America. Luckily for him, I am a quick study and he doesn't have to go through this very often these days!