First Lady Michelle Obama spoke Tuesday at a Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives club banquet at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., offering her support for military families.  

Read the complete story on the Air Force's Web site here.

Steilacoom resident and Air Force spouse Joan Brown will sign copies of her new book, "Move And Other Four-Letter Words," from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 9) at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in the Lakewood Towne Center.

Brown, who's husband spent three years stationed at McChord from 1976 to 1979, details through her own experiences the everyday challenges faced by military wives throughout the world and different branches of the service.

The book is a collection of humorous stories and chronicles the family's more than 20 moves. 

Copies can be purchased here, Barnes and Noble or other local bookstores. 

For families with young children, McChord's Sounders Lanes Bowling Center is the place to be on Thursday night from 7 to 10 p.m.

The 62nd Force Support Squadron hosts a bowling party celebrated on East Coast time with unlimited bowling, pizza, party favors and sparkling cider.

Tickets cost $13 each in advance at the Sounders Lanes front counter.

For more information, call 253-982-5954.

McChord Center United Service Organization Manager Tracye Kakely said today the center put together 100 holiday baskets full of non-perishable items for needy military families. Donations for the baskets came in from various volunteers and local businesses.

Representatives from the Marines and the 62nd and 446th Airlift Wings picked up the non-perishable items to deliver to the families in time for Christmas day.

Also, for more information on what the USO Puget Sound is doing in the local military community, become a fan on Facebook. In the search area, type "USO Puget Sound." 

In an effort to expedite the payment of vouchers and save airmen time when it comes to submitting documents, the McChord Financial Services Office will debut the eFinance system Jan. 1.

eFinance is a secure, paperless process to submit financial documents with automated assistance from the McChord Financial Services Office. The process is accomplished via a "Turbo Tax" approach to guide the member through a wide range of finance functions. The system may be accessed via a secure Web site application using a common access card and pin at https://efinanceworkspace.wpafb.af.mil or through the Air Force Portal under the Money-Finance Central link. Once accessed, the eFinance site uses an easy-to-understand question and answer session to walk the user through the process of travel, allotments and entitlements from start to finish.

eFinance is designed to process financial documents or route the user to the appropriate system that can. For example, if the user is accessing eFinance and wants to change direct deposit information, the system will automatically route them to myPay to accomplish the change. The capabilities of eFinance include both military pay and non-DTS travel transactions for both reserve and active duty members, excluding CED orders. Highlights of the system include immediate e-mail notification on the status of vouchers, the ability to scan or fax supporting documents and off-site submission capabilities for reserve and detachment organizations. This makes eFinance a one-stop system that gives the user the necessary tools to efficiently manage their Air Force financial affairs.

Starting Jan. 31, the McChord FSO will no longer accept paper documents that can be submitted through eFinance or MyPay. Visit https://eim.amc.af.mil/org/62cpts for a complete guide to submitting documents. The finance office will also open eight computer stations with scanners to assist any member with eFinance submissions.

For more information, e-mail  62cptshelp@mcchord.af.mil.  

McChord Force Support Squadron officials announced this week that they'll host a special screening of the classic holiday flick "A Christmas Story" at 6:30 p.m. Friday (Dec. 18) at the base theater.

All Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red Rider BB gun and everyone keeps telling him, "You'll shoot your eye out." The movie has to rank up there with "Christmas Vacation" as one of the best-ever holiday movies.

FSS officials will also be awarding a leg lamp door prize (just like the one Ralphie's father wins in the movie). 

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."