Deployed Airmen's families are not alone

Tech. Sgt. Melissa Hargis examines a piece of valentine candy that Mikayla, age 3, brought to show her. Mikayla and her mother, Kamille Benitez, attended the deployed spouses' dinner at the Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., earlier this month as part of the base's efforts to support spouses of deployed Airmen. Mikayla's father, Staff Sgt. Michael Benitez, is deployed to Afghanistan from the 50th Security Forces Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. Sergeant Hargis is assigned to the 21st Medical Support Squadron here. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Don Branum)

Deployed Airmen's families not alone

Published Feb. 13, 2007
By Staff Sgt. Don Branum
50th Space Wing Public Affairs

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNEWS) -- Deploying is a fact of life for Airmen in today's expeditionary Air Force, but it doesn't mean their spouses and families have to go it alone.

A deployed spouses' dinner here at the base chapel Feb. 2 reinforced that message for spouses and children from Colorado's Schriever and Peterson Air Force Bases, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and Fort Carson.

The Schriever and Peterson AFB chapters of the Air Force Sergeants Association sponsored the event while the chapel and commissary staffs here helped with facilities and food donations.

SeQuoya Whetstone was a first-time guest at the spouses' dinner. Her husband, Senior Airman Otis Whetstone, recently deployed to Baghdad from the 50th Security Forces Squadron here.

"Everyone's really nice," she said. "I'll definitely come back for the next dinner."

Elsewhere, Jennifer Rutledge hung out with spouses from Fort Carson. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Jason Rutledge, is deployed to Iraq from Fort Carson's 13th Air Support Operations Squadron.

Being an Air Force family on an Army installation is a unique experience, Mrs. Rutledge said.

"We hear a little bit of everything," she said. "Our mission support is here, but our squadron is at Fort Carson. It's been really good for me ... I think it's been really good for him, too."

Schriever and Peterson started their deployed spouses' dinners in 2005 and recently began combining the dinners in December 2006, said Master Sgt. Drew Holland, Peterson's AFSA point of contact for the dinner.

"It's an outlet for spouses," said Sergeant Holland, who is the first sergeant for the 21st Services Squadron. "It gets a little kinship going. It's a chance for leaders and first sergeants to see them and make sure they're okay. And it's a chance for their children to come out and play."

The commissary and base exchange also provide prizes for the dinners.

Sergeant Holland encouraged people to volunteer through organizations such as AFSA or their base spouses' clubs in support of similar efforts throughout the Air Force so that spouses know they're not alone.

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