Vol. 41, No. 44 Thursday, October 31, 2013

News/Features: page 3‘There I was...’

Week in photos: page 4Images from the week

News/Features: page 6Beirut bombing memorial

News/Features: page 16Oyster reef buildup

Community: page 21Events, Chapel, more...

In the last week more than 300 youths from the surrounding area visited MacDill Air Force Base. As a way of giving back to the community in which they live, service members from around the base volunteered their time to interact with the youths for the Bigs for a Day event and ROTC Day.

For the youngsters- page 12

Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Shapiro Photo by Senior Airman Michael Ellis

Photo by Senior Airman Michael EllisPhoto by Senior Airman Michael Ellis

AROUND THE AIR FORCE

MacDill ThunderboltPublisher: Bill BarkerEditor: Nick Stubbs

The MacDill Thunderbolt is published by Sunbelt Newspa-pers, Inc., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force. This commercial enterprise newspaper is an authorized publication for distribution to members of the U.S. military services on MacDill. Contents of the MacDill Thunderbolt are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by the U.S.

government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force or the 6th Air Mobility Wing.

The appearance of advertising in this publication, includ-ing inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force, 6th Air Mobility Wing or Sunbelt Newspapers, Inc., of the products or service advertised.

Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.

Display advertising or classified advertising information

may be obtained by calling (813) 259-7455. News items for the MacDill Thunderbolt can be submitted

to the 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs office, 8208 Hangar Loop Dr., suite 14, MacDill AFB, FL 33621, or call the MacDill Thunderbolt staff at 828-2215. Email: thunder.bolt@us.af.mil.

Deadline for article submissions is noon, Wednesdays to appear in the next week’s publication. Articles received after deadline may be considered for future use. All submissions are considered for publication based on news value and time-liness.

Every article and photograph is edited for accuracy, clarity, brevity, conformance with the “Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual” and Air Force Instruction 35-101.

COMMANDER’S ACTION LINE

The Action Line provides two-way communication between the 6th Air Mobility Wing commander and the MacDill community. A 24-hour record-ing service is provided so personnel may submit questions, concerns or comments. Call the Action Line at 828-INFO (4636) or email macdillwing-commander@us.af.mil.

Website: www.macdill.af.mil

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MacDillAirForceBase

MacDill on the web

by Staff Sgt. Russ Scalf19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

I’m sure by now most people don’t need to be reminded that October is breast cancer aware-ness month.

How could you have missed it? With all the ribbons, “Save the Ta-Tas” T-shirts, bracelets, earrings, shoe laces and other pink doodads it’s fairly hard to forget.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a soapbox about the big business of breast cancer. Anything that brings attention to the importance of early detection and funds to research for innovative technolo-gies and advanced treatments is a good thing, period.

What is often forgotten in the sea of pink are the individuals on the front lines who are actually fighting the disease. In the three months between the time football players stop wearing pink shoes and the Super Bowl, roughly 58,000 women and 500 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and they each have a story.

Three years ago I had the dis-

tinct and life changing privilege of telling the story of Air Force Capt. Candice Adams Ismirle. As a press operations officer at the Pentagon, she was a vibrant and outgoing 29 year old public affairs officer, co-worker and friend. In October 2010 she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Triple negative is a particularly aggressive and vile form of the disease, known for its ability to grow fast, avoid detection and spread to other parts of the body. When she and her husband, Maj. Ryan Ismirle an F-15E pilot, agreed to open their entire lives to the prying eyes of my digital camera, I’m not sure that any of us could have predicted the ways it would change our lives.

Over the course of the next 18 months I recorded their journey, as she combated her disease. On a typical day of documenting I would leave my house around 4 a.m. to make the hour-long trip in to Washington, D.C., and accom-pany her to a seemingly endless regiment of appointments and treatments. After waiting out the

effects of the day’s dose of chemi-cal medicine I would pack up and head for home, usually getting to sleep around midnight.

That was the easy part. My role in this drama was utterly simple compared to Capt. Ismirle’s. While undergoing treatment, she wrote notes to the cancer that was at-tacking her body. The culmination of our efforts was a photo and vid-eo roadmap to fighting breast can-cer titled “Pink Kisses; cancer MY way,” which can still be seen at www.kissestocancer.com. I could describe to you about the heart-break and hard times, of which there were plenty, but that’s just not Candice’s story. She chose to do something different, and pure-ly remarkable. She was resilient in the situation she was dealt, and vowed to never allow herself to play the role of cancer’s victim. Whichever way her story ended, she made one modest promise; to celebrate the life she had.

In one of her notes she wrote, “You’re serious, nothing to take lightly, and I respect the gravity of you because you take life, but

I choose to minimize you because you were never going to take mine... It’s important you know that I am not your victim. I choose to celebrate life, rather than sim-

Cancer support includes more than just a ribbon

Photo by Master Sgt. Justin Pyle

Staff Sgt. Russ Scalf and Capt. Candice Adams Ismirle, in a photo from April 8, 2011, at Fort George G. Meade, Md.

See COMMENTARY, Page 18

NEWS/FEATURES

by Tech. Sgt. Jessica Fleurimond6th Contracting Squadron

My name is Tech. Sgt. Jessica Fleurimond, and I’m a contracting officer at the 6th Con-tracting Squadron.

On Jan. 29, I had just returned from leave after running the 2013 ING Miami Half Mara-thon when I was approached by a few of my coworkers asking if I was excited. Thinking they were referring to my finishing the half marathon, I replied with, “Yes, I’m glad that is over with!”

They asked me again, as if I had not under-stood the question the first time around. “Are you ready for the deployment to Kabul?”

Having just returned from leave and still being exhausted from the run, I immediately asked them if this was a prank, when from around the corner came my supervisor to con-firm that this was not a prank. My supervisor informed me that I was indeed tasked to deploy and that I would be formally notified by the

superintendent soon. I stood there in complete shock. Having never deployed in my 13-year tenure and still learning the ins and outs of my current job, immediately I was filled with many emotions. Most important, I knew there was a huge task at hand, and I needed to start planning everything out.

A few hours later, my superintendent sat me down and informed me that I was tasked to deploy to Kabul, Afghanistan with a reporting date of Sept. 15. I realized I had nine months to get everything ready. Anyone who knows me well knows that I like getting things done as soon as I’m tasked, but in this case I am un-able to do that and it was a bit frustrating.

Next came my briefing with the unit deploy-ment manager. I came prepared with tons of questions, since this is my first deployment, and I wanted to ensure I had all my ducks in a row when the time came for my departure. They informed me that I was required to at-tend a pre-deployment combat course titled,

See ‘THERE I WAS,’ Page 14

News briefs ‘There I was...’

Courtesy photo

Tech. Sgt. Jessica Fleurimond, 6th Contracting Squadron contracting officer, recently reported for her first deployment. Her advice to deployers is to begin preparations early, as time goes by more quickly than you might imagine.

Marines to celebrate birthdayPlease join the Marines of MacDill Air

Force Base as they celebrate the 238th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps with a cake cutting ceremony in the base theater Nov. 6 at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony will include the presentation of the cake, with the first piece presented to the oldest and youngest Marines present. Once the ceremony concludes, cake and punch will be served to all guests.

Sidewalk sale in; warehouse sale outThe MacDill Commissary sidewalk sale

is reopened effective Nov. 1. Come shop for savings every Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The MacDill Commissary warehouse sale has been discontinued.

Buc coming to MacDillNov. 5 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Tampa Bay

Buccaneer Doug Martin, number 22, will be visiting and signing autographs for military personnel at the Commissary. For questions please contact Rohanda Atkinson, MacDill commissary secretary, at 813-828-8911.

Flu vaccine availableThe 6th Medical Group is ready to protect

you. All dependents, retirees and beneficia-ries, we have the flu vaccine for you. The In-fluenza vaccine is available at the MacDill Immunizations Clinic during normal duty hours, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. We close at 11 a.m. on the third Wednesday of the month for training day. The Brandon Community Clinic will have walk-in Influenza vaccinations available Tuesday-Friday from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Annual boat regattaOpen to all units and mission teammates,

the annual cardboard boat regatta is set for Nov. 8 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the base beach. In addition to the boat race, there will be food, music and fun. Top prize in the race is a $500 gift certificate.

WEEK IN PHOTOS

Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Shapiro

Members of the Joint Communication Support Element participate in a four-day combat life saver course at MacDill Air Force Base, Oct. 23. Each member of the JCSE must undergo yearly certification and recertification prior to each deployment.

Photo by Senior Airman Melanie Bulow-Kelly

Jason LeClair, 6th Maintenance Group transient aircraft servicer; Staff Sgt. Michael Weaver, 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron distribution su-pervisor; and Scott Ramsauser, 6th MXG lead transient aircraft servicer, inspect and refuel a visiting F/A-18 Hornet Blue Angel, Oct. 25, at Mac-Dill Air Force Base. The single F/A-18 stopped at MacDill to be refueled and then departed in continuation of its mission.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Shapiro

Tech. Sgt. Stanley Mays, 6th Maintenance Squadron nondestruc-tive inspection specialist, inspects an X-ray of an aluminum tube at MacDill Air Force base, Oct. 23. Mays verified that the precision welds were within Air Force certification standards.

by Staff Sgt. Brandon Shapiro6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

Lightning never strikes the same spot twice, right? Well, for Army Blackhawk helicopter 27107 that was true, until a second strike blast-ed its tail rotor, leaving it once again grounded.

Noticing unreliable compass deviation, the testing crew of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 5th Batalion-159th Aviation Regiment set out to find the source of the problem.

Remembering the characteristics that result-ed from the aircraft being hit eight months prior, the maintainers searched for signs of a lightning strike—and that’s exactly what they found.

“Up on one of the tail rotor paddles we found various burn marks which are telltale signs of a strike,” said Avery Whetstine, an aircraft me-

MacDill Airman rectifies helo twice hit by lightning

Photo by Airman 1st Class Ned T. Johnston

Tech. Sgt. Stanley Mays, 6th Maintenance Squadron nondestructive inspection special-ist, checks magnetic readings on an Army Blackhawk helicopter’s stabilator in Clearwa-ter, Fla., that was struck by lightning Oct. 24.

See LIGHTNING, Page 17

by Airman 1st Class Ned T. Johnston6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

On Oct. 23, 1983, a violent bombing ripped through the barracks of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines Landing Team in Beirut, Lebanon. The attack resulted in the deaths of more than 240 Marines, soldiers and sailors.

In commemoration of the tragic event, Mac-Dill hosted an official remembrance ceremony at the U.S. Central Command memorial Oct. 23.

In attendance were more than 100 military members from both U.S. and coalition forces, Beirut veterans, and family members of those whose lives were taken.

Key note speaker for the ceremony was Lt. Gen. Robert B. Neller, Marine Corps Forces Cen-tral Command commander, who started by pos-ing the question, “So why do we remember?”

Continuing, Neller stated, “It’s because wheth-er you’re a Marine, Air Force, Army, Navy, or a civilian, we all hold ourselves up to the motto of semper fidelis. We are faithful to those we honor today.”

“Oct. 23, 1983 was a long time ago,” said Neller. “Most people here weren’t born yet or even old enough to remember where they were that day. Regardless, don’t let today go by without taking a moment to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.”

Following his speech, Neller, accompanied by Sgt. Maj. Lawrence P. Fineran, MARCENT command sergeant major, presented a wreath to honor those killed.

MacDill remembers Beirut bombing with commemorative ceremonyNEWS/FEATURES

(Above) More than 100 military members from both U.S. and coalition forces bow their heads during a benediction at the Beirut memorial observance at MacDill Air Force Base, Oct. 23. (Left) Lt. Gen. Robert B. Neller, Marine Corps Forces Central Command commander, speaks with Nelson and Peggy Weyl, the parents of Staff Sgt. John R. Weyl, a Marine killed in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.

www.macdi l l fss .com

Retiree Appreciation Day, originally scheduled for Sat-urday, will be held Dec. 7, with a day of activities and free services at MacDill Air Force Base.

Partial schedule:u 7 a.m.-1 p.m.: A pay-as-you-go brunch at Diner’s Reef u 8 a.m.-11 a.m.: Legal As-sistance at the Legal Office, Bldg. 299 u 9:30 a.m. Cake cutting cer-emony at BX food courtu 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: General in-formation at the Retiree Ac-tivities Officeu 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: Health Fair at the MacDill Clinic u 9 a.m.-2 p.m.: V.A. consulta-tion at the MacDill Clinic u 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: ID card issue or renewal at Pass and ID u 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: Casualty as-sistance at Pass and ID u 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: DFAS consul-tation/pay record review at Pass and ID

Retiree Appreciation Day postponed

story and photo by Senior Airman Melanie Bulow-Kelly 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

MacDill’s Health and Wellness Center teamed up with the Florida

State Massage Therapy Association to host the first annual “Caring Hands Support Our Troops” event in observance of National Massage Therapy Awareness Week on MacDill Air Force Base, Oct. 25..

The Caring Hands event was organized as a way to educate military members and their spouses on the different massage therapy options, and the physical and mental health advantages that are associated with each.

Incorporated into the event were 12 specialized forms of massage therapy, which use various techniques to target specific health concerns.

Lending their hands were 22 licensed practitioners who volunteered their time to introduce and provide demos of numerous bodywork and massages at stations throughout the HAWC.

“Our goal for the day is to increase and promote public awareness of the benefits of massage therapy as part of a healthy and active lifestyle,” said Jane Kordish, licensed massage therapist. “We will also be stressing the importance of visiting a well-trained licensed massage therapist.”

The turnout for the event was more than anticipated, with lines of

NEWS/FEATURESCaring hands come to MacDill

Sport massage is one of 12 specialized forms of massage therapy of-fered during the first annual Caring Hands Support Our Troops at the Health and Wellness Center MacDill Air Force Base, Oct. 25. The event was organized as a way to educate military members and their spouses on the different massage therapy options, and the physical and mental health advantages that are associated with each.See HANDS, Page 18

Photo by Senior Airman Michael Ellis

Staff Sgt. Marcus Dawson, 6th Security Forces Squadron mili-tary working dogs handler, and K-9, Dagi, perform a suspect bite scenario Oct. 21, during Bigs for a Day at MacDill Air Force Base.

Photo by Airman 1st Class Ned T. Johnston

Col. Scott DeThomas, 6th Air Mobility Wing commander, talks to middle and high school students from the local area at ROTC day, Oct. 18, at MacDill Air Force Base. DeThomas spoke about his career in the Army National Guard, Air Force and his time at the Air Force Academy.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Shapiro

Elizabeth Harris, little for a day, uses her newly acquired face painting skills she received during MacDill Air Force Base’s annual Bigs for a Day event, Oct. 21. Harris and dozens of other children from the local community paired up with service members for a day of military “show-and-tell.”

Photo by Airman 1st Class Ned T. Johnston

Montia Blackwood, senior at Kathleen High School, looks through the boom window of a KC-135 Stratotanker static dis-play during ROTC day, Oct. 18, at MacDill Air Force Base.

For the youngsters

Photo by Airman 1st Class Ned T. Johnston

Col. Scott DeThomas, 6th Air Mobility Wing commander, talks to middle and high school students from the local area at ROTC day, Oct. 18, at MacDill Air Force Base. DeThomas spoke about his career in the Army National Guard, Air Force and his time at the Air Force Academy.

Photo by Senior Airman Michael Ellis

Airman 1st Class James Giles, 6th Civil Engineering Squadron firefighter, explains how to operate the hydraulic water sys-tems to two littles Oct. 21, during Bigs for a Day at MacDill Air Force Base. Approximately 100 local youths were paired up with military members and toured various work centers around the base.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Shapiro

Elizabeth Harris, little for a day, uses her newly acquired face painting skills she received during MacDill Air Force Base’s annual Bigs for a Day event, Oct. 21. Harris and dozens of other children from the local community paired up with service members for a day of military “show-and-tell.”

Photo by Airman 1st Class Ned T. Johnston

Maurice Roberts, sophomore at Dumbar High School, sits behind the wheel of a marine patrol boat during ROTC day, Oct. 18, at MacDill Air Force Base. Roberts and other high school students were briefed on what MacDill’s marine patrol does.

For the youngsters

Combat Airmen Skills Training. The UDM provided me with an out-processing checklist and a task list of ancillary training that I needed to complete via hands-on or computer-based training. I put together my own to-do list covering all military requirements and family care plans as I wanted to ensure I stayed on track.

I went home and spoke to my spouse about my tasking and also no-tified my siblings. We eventually sat down and spoke to my 7-year-old son about my upcoming mission and he, of course, asked some questions and we answered as best we could in terminology he could comprehend. My brother came from Massachusetts to assist my spouse with our son during my absence, but he had to go back due to an unexpected situa-tion. Immediately after my brother’s departure, my military family and some friends came to our rescue and offered their support, and this meant everything to us.

As the months passed, I continued to work on my out-processing check-list and completing my CBTs. I visited many base agencies, i.e. medical, legal, FSS, LRS, and CATM to accomplish all that was required. Each of these agencies provided me with exemplary service, and I extend my sincere gratitude and thanks. Aug. 26, I departed to CAST, which was held at Camp Guernsey, Wyo., for the two-week pre-deployment combat training. I ended up being sent home on the fourth day of training due to an ankle injury. It was pretty devastating for me, because I wanted to finish what I started. Unfortunately, there was nothing that the cadre could do at that point. I am not one to quit that easily, so on the next du-ty day back at home-station, I immediately reported to my primary care manager to get checked out and cleared to return to training. Sept. 16, I returned to training with a higher drive for success. I was deploying with a M4 and M9 so I had to carry both with me everywhere on top of wearing 50 pounds of training gear. It was a total of 10 days of training, with no breaks in between. The training gave me experience of what to expect and how to survive in a war zone.

My favorite parts of training were Urban Operations and the Field Training Exercise. For both of these exercises, we did a series of sce-narios while armed with simulation ammo in our weapon systems. The cadre were hiding in various buildings; we had to move our team to various points around the buildings staying out of the kill zone while responding to injured victims. My least favorite part of the training was the Highly Mobile Multi Wheeled Vehicle or Humvee rollover and Land Navigation. I love roller coasters, but this rollover was pretty intense and the land navigation was rough, tons of hills, and valleys. The cadre and curriculum at CAST were fantastic; I definitely learned a lot.

Being notified and preparing for a deployment is very overwhelming. Some of the obstacles that I ran into made it that much more stress-ful and overwhelming, but with perseverance things worked out. If I could offer any advice to anyone, it would be that when getting ready to deploy, one should not wait until the last minute to take care of pre-de-ployment requirements. It is so easy to put things off thinking we have time, but it goes by fast and before you know it, it will be time to go. The more you take care of in the beginning, the faster the process and it gives you more time to spend with your loved ones prior to departing. Doing these things helped my process go smoother. I’m looking forward to my deployment and fulfilling the mission at hand.

‘THERE I WAS’From Page 3

by Airman 1st Class Sarah Hall-Kirchner and Airman 1st Class Tori Schultz6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

About 65 volunteers from Team MacDill and Tampa Bay Watch, added 1,209 bags of fossilized shells to the bar along the shores at MacDill Air Force Base, Oct. 17 and 18.

“We started this about eight years ago, using two different aspects, oyster domes and oyster shell bars,” said Andy Lykens, Tampa Bay Watch environmental scientist.

The 120-pound, concrete oyster domes act as a reef to which oysters attach and grow, said Ja-son Kirkpatrick, 6th Civil Engineer Squadron contractor and oyster reef project organizer and manager.

Bags of shells act as a barrier, trapping sedi-ment once it flows over them and preventing some erosion from occurring. Shoreline stabi-lization comes from the shell bags and domes reducing wave energy, which promotes marsh grass to grow.

“This project stabilizes the shoreline, im-proves water quality and enhances our natural habitat,” Kirkpatrick said.

A single oyster can filter up to 20 gallons of water per day, improving water quality.

Diversified habitats increase food sources and encourage marine life and plants, such as man-groves, to live in MacDill’s coastal waters.

“The base saw a need to anchor the shoreline due to erosion from the shipping channel and storms,” said Lykens. “This has been a collabora-tion to save the shoreline for MacDill Air Force Base.”

Since 2004, Team MacDill and the local com-munity have been rebuilding the shoreline. Add-ing about 6,000 oyster domes and approximately 5,300 feet of reef to the habitat, the project has done what it is meant to do: prevent erosion, at-tract wildlife and grow the amount of plant life.

“The work done this week brings us closer to finishing up phase four of the oyster reef shore-line stabilization project,” said Kirkpatrick. “To date, we have installed over 6,000 domes and 100 tons of oyster shell along the southeastern shoreline, protecting approximately 4,500 linear feet of shoreline.”

Future events are planned and more informa-tion can be obtained by contacting Kirkpatrick at 813-828-0459.

Building up MacDill’s shoreline ecosystem

Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Shapiro

Andy Lykens, Tampa Bay Watch environmen-tal scientist, seats an artificial reef bag in the waters off the coast of MacDill, Oct. 17. Lykens and 64 others placed 1,209 bags in efforts to reduce wave erosion along MacDill’s coastline.

chanic for the 5thB-159th AR’s aircraft. “We couldn’t believe that it had happened to the same aircraft again.”

After ripping apart the tail section from rotor to horizontal stabilator to assess further damage, the maintenance crew noticed electrical arching had occurred, leaving “off the charts” magnetization.

“This sort of rare but hazardous occurrence is more than likely the cul-prit for the errant magnetic fields that are affecting our magnetic flux valve,” said Staff Sgt. Mark Bradley, Aviation Support Facility Clearwater aircraft inspector. “Due to the nature of the findings, we must rely on our Air Force counterparts to diagnose and fix the problematic areas.”

That’s when the skill and expertise of Tech. Sgt. Stanley Mays, 6th Maintenance Squadron nondestructive inspection specialist, was called into play.

“Upon hearing about the lightning strike, I knew that there were go-ing to be major magnetization issues, but after taking the readings, I was shocked to see just how high they actually were,” said Mays. “This was a first for me; it’s not often that a NDI specialist conducts a procedure like this.”

After completing a series of specialized demagnetization procedures over the mounting section of the tail’s stabilator, the readings were returned to normal and the problem areas were neutralized.

As the aircraft is again pieced back together and functional checks are made, the members of the 5thB-159th AR are keeping their fingers crossed that the demagnetization is what was needed to get the search and rescue aircraft flying once again.

LIGHTNINGFrom Page 5

people at each station waiting for their turn to relieve a little stress.“When I heard about the event I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to at-

tend,” said Chief Master Sgt. Todd Farlee, 6th Logistics Readiness Squad-ron superintendent. I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of the benefits that come from getting a massage, but after visiting several stations I soon found out there was much more to learn.”

From start to finish, the event catered to more than 110 participants with more than 140 demonstrations and instructions given.

“The event was superb, exciting, and included lots of energy,” said Joan Craft, HAWC health promotion director. “Due to the success we ex-perienced and the overwhelming positive feedback we received from the attendees, we are definitely going to host this another time.”

HANDSFrom Page 10

ply survive it. Love, Candice.”I have made a promise also, to genuinely care about every human

captured in each frame I shoot and every line I write; usually my fel-low Airmen. I never fully grasped the power of an image or responsibil-ity that comes along with telling someone’s story before Pink Kisses.

That idea of caring for each other is a view shared by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody. During a recent visit to Osan Air Base, South Korea, Welsh said, “Caring for each other is one of the Air Force’s three keys to success, along with common sense and communication. I know that all of you care a lot -- you care about each other, your professions, your families -- but think about the job. We have to fight and win the na-tion’s wars,” Welsh said. “We’ll never be good enough at that job so we have to get better all the time. Think about the people you work with, that you’re sitting beside, think about your family and theirs. We’ll never care enough about them -- we have to care more.”

The first step, Welsh continued, is to learn about each other.“Every Airman has a story,” he said. “Their stories are incredible,

unique, uplifting, sad, inspirational, just incredible, and everybody in here has one. If you don’t know the story you can’t lead someone as well as you could otherwise. It’s really that’s simple. It’s all about understanding each other, because the better we know each other, the better we’ll take care of each other, the prouder we’ll be, and the better our Air Force will be. That’s the Air Force I think we all want to be part of.”

Last week I received a painful message from a colleague. Ismirle’s cancer had returned and she was in surgery to remove a tumor from her brain. I immediately felt as helpless and vulnerable as she had ap-peared in many of my images.

Yesterday I booked a flight to D.C., I am headed back for round two. While I’m only an observer with a camera, I’m going to do the only thing I know how: help my wingman kick cancer’s butt, again.

COMMENTARyFrom Page 2

MACDILL COMMUNITYEVENTS

FridaySeaScapes Beach House

Membership Breakfast, 6:30–9 a.m. Omelet station, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, country fried potatoes, diced fruit, toast, grits, creamed chipped beef, yogurt with granola, coffee, decaf, hot tea, and orange juice. AF Club members: free; spouse: $6.95; non-members: $7.95. Great place for staff meet-ings. Call 840-2020.

Base Marina AreaMarina Mania from 10 a.m.–3

p.m. Join us as we christen the new ADA boat. Try out our new recreational products. This event features boat rides, peddle kayaks, water bikes, bouncy castles, and Mike the Magician, complimenta-ry hot dogs/chips. Recreational ac-commodations to support wound-ed service members and disabled guests will be highlighted during this event. Call the Marina at 828-4983 for more information.

SeaScapes Beach HouseFamily Fun Night—Nautical!

3–7 p.m. Welcome aboard for a nautically-themed Friday Fam-ily Fun Night with a DJ, family food and drink specials, and kids’ activities and crafts. Boat rides 3–5 p.m. Bouncy castle and family cardboard boat building 4:30–6:30 p.m. Relax and enjoy the water-front view. Adult meal: $9.95; kids’ meal (12 & under): $2; free ice cream sundae bar (peanut free) with all meals. Call 840-1451 for more information.

Saturday SeaScapes Beach House

Summer in the Fall Beach Party, 6–8 p.m. Complimentary light appetizers, drink specials, live music, and dinner buffet. Call SeaScapes at 840-1451.

Protestant serviceSunday - 11 a.m. - Contemporary Service Sunday - 9:30 a.m. - FAMCAMP Service

Islamic serviceFriday - 1:30 p.m. - Muslim Prayer Service

Catholic servicesSaturday - 5:30 p.m. - Mass

Sunday - 9:30 a.m. - Mass

Monday-Wednesday - 12:10 p.m. Mass

Call the chapel at 828-3621 for more information or visit the chapel web siteat http://www.macdill.af.mil/macdillchapel.

CHAPEL SCHEDULE

Motorcycle safety is a top priority in the Air Force, and MacDill will be doing its part to help keep riders upright and drivers aware of the often hard-to-see motorcycles with a special event scheduled for Fri-day at the MacDill Commissary parking lot. For more information, contact Staff Sgt. Marc Villanueva at 813-968-3971.

Job Title: Network integration specialist

Hometown: Murrieta, Cal.

Short-term goals: I intend to earn a score of 90 or higher on my second set of CDCs and then complete my CCAF degree within the next six months.

Long-term goals: I am planning to complete a Bachelor’s de-gree in Information Technology in the next several years.

Advice to others: Pursue as many opportunities as possible to enrich your professional and personal life. Don’t just dream; make a plan!

Role model(s) and why: My father inspired and fueled my love of learning. My mother taught me that people can endure and even thrive through anything life sends their way.

Why did you join the Air Force?: I needed a greater sense of purpose and direction in life. I wanted to help protect our nation and work toward mastering a technical field while do-ing so.

Senior Airman 1st Class Daniel Hester6th Communications Squadron

DIAMOND SHARP