Military Life
Army Reserve spouse Trina Heppner has a strong belief her family's future is bright.With what the family has been through over the past four years, Heppner is fairly positive things can't get much worse. After spending four years as an active-duty spouse while her husband Jonathan served with the Ranger Battalion
Military Life
The last time Ryan McKinnon deployed, things were different. He was an enlisted Soldier working as a medic. His oldest child, Sierra, was just two years old, and McKinnon's wife, Chrissy, was pregnant with his son Gabe. That was six years ago. After returning from that deployment, McKinnon enrolled in the Army's
Military Life
The Army has been the centerpiece in the Harris family's life for more than 10 years. The family has always lived in base housing. The children were born at military hospitals and played in on-base recreational soccer and basketball leagues. Staff Sgt. Tracy Harris, his wife, Jenise, and their two children, Tracy
Military Life
Just talking about the incident brought Melissa Ann Shenefelt to tears.A couple of months ago, Shenefelt believes elementary school officials mishandled a disciplinary incident involving her oldest son, Vinnie, a kindergartner who was diagnosed last year with Asperger's syndrome. While her husband was in the midst of a 221-day deployment aboard
Military Life
When her 5-month-old daughter Amanda is napping, there are times when Jennifer McPhee is on pins and needles. Those feelings are understandable considering what the Joint Base Lewis-McChord spouse has been through during the past two years. Jennifer and her husband Michael, a staff sergeant in the 17th Fires Brigade, lost their
Military Life
It’s the part of the day Joint Base Lewis-McChord spouse Brandy Brandenburg dreads.While her husband, Staff Sgt.Joshua Brandenburg, is in the midst of a year-long deployment, it falls on Brandy's shoulders to get her 19-month-old son Weston to take a daily puff from his inhaler. "I have to hold him down,"
News Articles
Airman 1st Class Leah Young admits that her generation is filled with people with a heightened sense of entitlement. "It's a very ‘give-it-to-me' mentality," said the 21-year-old Pittsburgh, Pa., native. It's also a mentality she refuses to identify with. "I embrace responsibility," she said. That attitude and determination was acknowledged recently as Young, a
Focus
Tuskegee Airman Capt. George Hickman loved aviation and airplanes so much growing up he often brought his small-scale airplane models with him to school. "The teachers took them away ... that broke my heart," he said with a laugh. That love of aviation at an early age helped fuel Hickman to a
Focus
For a couple of hours every Sunday, junior enlisted Airmen from McChord Field get the chance to impact lives at the Tacoma Rescue Mission. From serving food to cleaning up, members of the base's Rising Four group are giving back to the local community outside the gate. "Airmen like it a lot
Focus
Spc. Cody Lance gently nudged the throttle of his Humvee as the vehicle inched up the steep ramp guiding it into the cargo bay of the C-17 Globemaster III. With Tech. Sgt. Jeff Austin, a loadmaster with the 10th Airlift Squadron, giving the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Soldier visual commands, Lance carefully
Focus
There was a time when Lt. Col. Kimberly Scott was the only African American female C-17 Globemaster III pilot in the U.S. Air Force. While Scott considered the distinction an honor, it was something the Reservist in the 728th Airlift Squadron at McChord Field hoped would change. "I don't want to be
Schools
Jacob Hatzinger, a senior at Graham-Kapowsin High School, is heading to the nation's capital with big dreams and is looking to return home with a big check. In early March, Hatzinger will be one of 53 students taking an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to take part in the 2012
Focus
Even with the tomato sauce bubbling on the stove and the garlic bread baking in the oven, class was in full session. For one group of 12 Soldiers from the Warrior Transition Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the cooking lesson inside the battalion's billets was teaching more than just the tricks
Business News
Steve Cobb has spent a large chunk of his 25 years in the food service industry cooking and serving up hearty food to military members all over the world. Cobb worked in different dining facilities at military installations in Europe and the U.S. while his wife, Katrina, a master sergeant, served
Kids
Washington High School's Air Force JROTC marksmanship team is so good it's taking its show on the road. The unit's No. 1 rifle team is set to leave next week for the 2012 Air Force JROTC Service Championship Feb. 8-12 at Camp Perry, Ohio. The competition will give JROTC units and individuals
Veterans
Washington's Lottery announced its first gift of $150,000 to the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs from sales amassed by the inaugural Hometown Heroes Raffle during a ceremony Jan. 17 in Olympia. Last September, Washington's Lottery and the WDVA partnered to launch the first annual Hometown Heroes Raffle supporting veterans across
Focus
As all married couples know, the key to relationship harmony is each spouse making a sacrifice at one time or another - and sometimes daily - for their partner or for the good of the family. McChord Field spouse Jennifer Bargiel knows this all too well. Bargiel, also a Reservist with the
Focus
With an active group of more than 150 community partners, the McChord Field Air Force Association chapter already has a strong presence in the local military community. The chapter hopes to continue to build on all its support programs in 2012. New president Bill Striegel took the helm in Oct. 2011, and
Focus
Air Force Reservist Ronald Lagman has a great amount of pride for his Filipino heritage. In a matter of months, the rest of the Puget Sound will get a chance to see that pride played out on the big screen. Lagman, a staff sergeant with the 446th Aerospace Medicine Squadron at McChord
Focus
First Lt. J.T. Hearn was emotionally preparing himself to celebrate Christmas in Turkey separated from his wife Angela. The Hearns had met in pilot training and the couple got married in July 2011 prior to deploying together in late October with the 4th Airlift Squadron at McChord Field. They had come across
