Family readiness offices at military bases and posts across the country are discovering a unique set of challenges with this new generation of military personnel. As mentioned in a previous article, fathers are now serving as parents on “both sides of the wire" -- as deployed and as stay-at-home parents.  According to the Military Family Research Institute  of Purdue University, “more than 2 million military service members have been deployed since Sept. 11, 2001.” With multiple deployments to combat zones, military fathers have to find creative ways to be deployed but not detached from their…

On the eve of Memorial Day, local service members are preparing to lead commemorative events at the national and local level.  On Sunday, several soldiers from the Army Reserve's 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command of Moon were present in New York City when a Bronx street was named after a fallen solider.  The base's public affairs office also reports that its color guard will participate today in a ceremony at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Cecil Township. It also will send 100 soldiers to represent the 316th on Monday in the National Memorial Day parade in Washington, D.C. …

For the past two weeks, 24 other airmen at the 911th Airlift Wing and I have attended a non-commissioned officer leadership course. The 10-day workshop, first introduced in 1990, was specifically designed for Air Force reservists. It consists of leadership lessons that a reservist may use in civilian life and a military career. Students then are offered an opportunity to teach the skills to other Air Force reservists throughout the United States. The civilian portion was taught by retired Air Force Col. George Updegrove, who has taught leadership classes to Duquesne University students and …

It's been a busy month for Susan Smith, project coordinator of Operation Military Kids. On April 4, Pennsylvania Sen. Robert D. Robbins (R-Greenville) announced a resolution to observe the Month of the Military Child during April. In response, Operation Military Kids of Western Pennsylvania held several activities for children of military families, including a sleep-over at the Carnegie Science Center on the North Side. OMK also held its monthly meeting April 8 at Club Cargo Bay at the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon, where it plans to hold future meetings. Attending that meeting were …

Grace Coleman, executive director of Crisis Center North in North Hills, is no stranger to working with the military and their familes: She used to teach communication classes at McGuire Air Force Base and the Fort Dix Army Installation, both in New Jersey.  Now she wants to make connections with members of the military community in Moon. “From that experience of teaching communication in that environment, I got a pretty good glimpse of some of the issues and challenges men and women in the service face,” Coleman said. “When I came to this work, I started thinking about our outreach into the …

Earlier this month the U.S. Senate designated March 30 as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.” The resolution, introduced by Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, calls the country to remember March 30, 1973 -- the day that U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. "It's a little late," said Anthony LaRocca, who served in Vietnam as an Army Combat Engineer. "But it was important (to be welcomed home) to a lot of guys at the time."  LaRocca now serves on the board of directors for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Keith-Holmes Post No. 402 in Coraopolis.  The mission …

During a time when everyone in government is feeling the effects of budget cuts, from the federal level to right here in Moon, local military families can get help with finances, from maintaining good credit, to getting jobs to preparing taxes. Good credit is more valuable than ever in today’s economy. Knowing this, the Air Force has recently added a requirement that all first-term airmen go through a financial training course upon arrival to their duty stations. This training covers military pay, checkbook management, budgeting, credit management, car buying, insurance, saving and investing …

With talk this week of government shut-downs, everyone is looking for places to cut costs. In the past, military reservists felt this first. With the expense of maintaining an active duty force ever growing, however, the more agile reserve forces might be more appealing to lawmakers and Pentagon officials. But this doesn't come without a cost for service members, their families and civilian employers. Balancing "the triangle" is easier said than done. People join the reserves for many reasons and from a diversity of backgrounds. Some have already served in either the same or other branches of…

Club Cargo Bay seems to be a well-kept secret in the military community in Moon. Operated as part of the Services Department at the Air Force Reserve's 911th Airlift Wing, the club is seeking to get the word out about what it has to offer to both its own members and those in other branches of the military. The club is open to members of the 911th Reservists, and also to those in the 171st Air National Guard and the 316th. Still, it has had difficulty in getting out the word out about events and amenities it offers. The Club holds many annual as well as one-time events. Annual events include a…

The Yellow Ribbon Program  helps service members as they separate from and reintegrate with their familie before and after a deployment. Last month's local Yellow Ribbon program featured referral information, vendor booths and breakout sessions on the concerns and issues faced by pre-deployers, 30-60 day post-deployers and their loved ones. The event was coordinated by SMSgt. Anthony Cunningham, Yellow Ribbon Representative at the 911th Air Reserve Station in Pittsburgh. The program is a "DoD-wide effort to help National Guard and Reserve Service members and their families connect with local …

 Operation Military Kids held its first regional meeting for Western Pennsylvania last week. Representatives from Moon's 171st Air Refueling Wing and the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, the Washington Family Assistance, the Red Cross and Safe Schools were there to welcome the group to Allegheny County.   “Everyone [present at the meeting] had a strong military tie-in,” said Deb Krall, Family Readiness Coordinator at the 171st, “We’re seeking more community participation at our next meeting [in March].” OMK is a result of a partnership between 4-H and the U.S. Army, with one goal in …

Voice can be more than words or sounds. When poets talk about "finding their voice," they are thinking of something beneath the words -- something more intimate, personal. In the cry before an act of terror, it's not words that matter much. It is a complex web of emotion and belief which leads to an act of horror beyond humanity. When a soldier calls out a sign from his DFP (defensive fighting position) and waits for tense seconds in the dark, it is not merely the right countersign he waits for, but the familiar voice of a friend. And when, thousand of miles away, a wife, father or child …