Cold steel warms Airmen’s hearts

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Wendy Beauchaine
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (AFPN) --  The 446th Airlift Wing's aircraft maintenance crews are known for expertise on the job, but it is the tight, family like structure that helps keep them bonded together. Once again, they have come up with their own unique way to maintain that close-knit atmosphere, even while thousands of miles apart.

Eight months ago, Chief Master Sgt. Steven Slagle, of the 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, created a reminder for unit and family members to keep in touch with deployed Airmen. He designed a bracelet, modeled after the prisoner of war/missing in action bracelets, to serve as a reminder that a maintainer was deployed and likely experiencing long days, without the personal touch of being at home.

"After a deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, I became aware of how disheartening it can be to open your e-mail and see you haven't received anything other than business correspondence," Chief Slagle said. "Most everyone has e-mail and when you go to check it, and there's nothing there, it's almost an empty feeling. Here, the days run very quickly, but over there, a simple e-mail to a deployed person can make all the difference."

After Chief Slagle returned home, he made a point to try and keep in touch with his deployed friends and co-workers.

"When Senior Master Sergeant (Robert) Belletti was deployed for over 100 days, I tried to send him an e-mail every day, and I asked other people to send him something as often as possible," Chief Slagle said. "(When he) returned, he noted how nice it was to get news from home, even if it was a joke or a weather report."

That gave the chief the inclination to press forward with a project to help people remember those away from home. During his spare time, he obtained polished stainless steel sheet stock and created 40 bracelet blanks. Then he had them engraved with the name, rank, unit and flight of a deployed Airman.

"The first one probably cost me about $1,000 worth of materials and personal time," he said. "We make the bracelets for a squadron member to wear and a family member, too."

The first bracelet was made for Senior Master Sgt. Dan Morris, of the 446th AMXS. His daughter wore a bracelet to remind her about his journey.

"My friends would ask me about my bracelet -- it was cool," said Carly, Sergeant Morris' 12-year-old. "I would tell them my dad was out of the country and this was something to remember him with."

Another bracelet wearer, Senior Master Sgt. Ed Cruz-Segarra, a section chief with the 446th AMXS, wore Tech. Sgt. Roy Osman's bracelet.

"We have 400 people here -- I thought it was an honor to be asked to wear his bracelet," Sergeant Cruz-Segarra said.

While it can be an honor to wear the bracelet, there are rules and responsibilities the squadron has created to go along with the band. They include wearing the bracelet until the member returns home, maintaining communication, coordinating care packages, announcing the latest status or update of the deployed Airman during commander's calls, supporting family members through the 446th AMXS Top 3 Association, and presenting the worn bracelet to the returned Airman at a commander's call.

All these responsibilities aside, the communication portion appears to be the most significant to the deployed Airman.

"I e-mailed Roy regularly and I called his mother every few days to make sure things were OK, you know, the lawn, groceries, those kinds of things," Sergeant Cruz-Segarra said. "She lives in Steilacoom and I live in Puyallup, so I told her to call me any time -- even in the middle of the night, and I would come out to help if she needed me to."

"We wanted to make sure he knew, and she knew, that we were here for them," Sergeant Cruz-Segarra said. "You know, maintenance is maintenance. We're a little rough on the outside, but we're a tight group."