On Friday, I had the pleasure of attending a military family support summit at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. The summit provided a great forum for educators, community leaders and private agencies to get together and collaborate on ideas and resources to support military families.

The morning panel featured a group of military teens who passed the microphone down the line answering a slew of questions designed to tap into subjects such as what it's like to be a military child, challenges each face when they change schools, how school administrators can better help incoming students and how each deal with their emotions when a parent is deployed.

Although some of the teens clearly weren't used to speaking in large groups(especially growing up in the age of MySpace and Facebook), I was impressed with how each one responded to the different questions.

When asked how she coped with her father's deployment, one teen responded, "I don't see it as coping — I see it as a part of my life and a part of our family."

Another teen said that while her and her older siblings were able to connect with their father on his deployment through letters and e-mails, she said her youngest sister (around age 5) was able to connect better with where her dad was and what he was doing through a gift from the country he sent her.

The panel was also emotional, as another teen said that one the most effective things a teacher can do to see how they are doing during a deployment is to listen.

"It can make our day," he said.

Another girl chimed in: "A hug can go a long way."

Armed Service Blood Bank Center hosts a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Chapel Support Center. The blood collected from the drive goes directly to aid wounded servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Interested donors (ages 17 and older) should weigh at least 110 pounds, have been feeling well for at least three days, be well hydrated and have eaten something prior to donating.

According to Victor Shermer with the ASBBC, the goal is to top the previous record of 56 units, which set at a blood drive at McChord earlier this year.

All of the blood donated will go to military members. After the quota for the blood headed to the area of responsibility is met, the remaining units will go to military hospitals in the Pacific Northwest.

For more donation guidelines and to check eligibility, visit www.militarylifeforce.com

WOW!

When you think about local companies that support their reserve and guard members, Boeing automatically comes to mind because of all its close work with the government.

But Microsoft was recently awarded the 2009 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award — the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers who support guard and reserve employees.

Maj. Stephen Oliver, a reservist with the 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and a Microsoft employee, was one of two reservists who submitted the company for the award.

Check out the print paper in the near future for more on this story.

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AMC PA) — Gen. Raymond Johns Jr. assumed command of Air Mobility Command from Gen. Arthur J. Lichte in a ceremony here Nov. 20.

AMC is responsible for providing rapid, global mobility and sustainment for America's armed forces. As the commander, Johns acts as the lead agent for all mobility air forces comprised of more than 130,000 personnel from the active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve. The command also plays a crucial role in providing humanitarian support at home and around the world.

Johns comes to AMC from the Pentagon where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. Past assignments with AMC include serving as the 62nd Airlift Wing commander, 60th Operations Group commander at Travis AFB, Calif., and senior director at the Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB.

Johns served at McChord from August of 1998 to July of 2000.

 "Though I've been away from the command for a few years, AMC is part of my blood," Johns said. "AMC is part of the fabric of my Air Force life."

Lichte is set to retire in January.

The Air Force announced the start of this demonstration a couple of weeks ago and we ran a short news brief in the printed Airlifter, but now McChord officials have released more information about the 62nd Airlift Wing's role. 

From the 62nd AW PA:

To reduce reliance on military specification products, simplify the fuel supply chain and save money, Air Force Petroleum Agency researchers will conduct demonstrations to use commercially available jet fuel instead of military standard JP-8 fuel.

In addition to McChord, the demonstrations of Jet A fuel versus JP-8 fuel will occur at Dover Air Force Base, Del.; Little Rock AFB, Ark.; and Minneapolis-St. Paul Air Reserve Station, Minn. Each base has C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III or C-130 Hercules primary-assigned aircraft. 

McChord's role in the demonstration is the injection of necessary fuel additives as fuel goes into flight line fuel tanks that are used to issue fuel directly to aircraft. During the demonstration, McChord officials will inject military additives at various points in the supply chain and have a business case analysis completed at the conclusion of the demonstration to see which option is best.

"We are uniquely dedicated to the switch and have begun receiving Jet A already," said 1st Lt. Brian Jorgensen, 62nd Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight commander. "The refinery is located in Tacoma, so it is conveniently located to McChord."

During the demonstration, suppliers can put Jet A fuel into shared pipelines, according to Jorgensen.

By eliminating the need for a specialty fuel like JP-8 and using a more readily available Jet A, refineries and fuel depots will be able to reduce infrastructure costs and save money which they will be able to pass along to the DOD.

Officials estimate the annual savings for the Air Force at $40 million.

Master Sgt. Mark Walker, Air Force Petroleum Agency project manager noted that another part of the initiative is sponsoring research that may lead to a reduction or elimination of certain military additives. By reducing the need for military additives, Air Force suppliers can reduce the logistics footprint during contingency operations, he added.

One of the key parts of the demonstration is the ability to inject military-specific fuel additives into Jet A prior to use like icing inhibitor, Jorgenson said. By injecting fuel system icing inhibitor further forward in the supply chain, the quantities can be reduced by nearly 60 percent, he said.

The demonstrations are set to run for 12 months. Afterwards, AFPA and Defense Energy Support Center officials will review the data to determine a future course of action.