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McGuire Phoenix Spouse recognized - October 2008

  • Published
McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. --  Military families are unlike many other families. Frequent relocations - uprooting children from school and spouses from jobs - and the ever-present reality of overseas deployments, can cause stress for those families. Single servicemembers and their families, back home, also have to deal with the stress that accompanies the military lifestyle.

The Phoenix Spouse program, offered through the McGuire Airman and Family Readiness Center, provides military families with someone who can assist them in dealing with that stress before, during and after a deployment.

Each month, the Airman and Family Readiness Center will recognize a McGuire Phoenix Spouse for all of their hard work, dedication and commitment. We thank you all for what you do as Team McGuire members and Phoenix Spouses.

Full name: Gloria Basa

Unit assigned: 305th Civil Engineer Squadron

How long have you been a Phoenix Spouse? Five months

What activities have you taken part in as a Phoenix Spouse? I attended the Phoenix Spouse training. All three of the 305th CES Phoenix Spouses met with the new 305th CES Commander Lt. Col. Craig Cole and his wife, Theresa, to talk about our role and to plan some of our future activities for the 305th CES family. We are currently collecting items for care packages for our deployed troops, and we are also planning a get together for 305th CES members and families (especially our deployed families).

What do you find most rewarding about being a Phoenix Spouse? Being able to give our deployed members some peace of mind that there will be someone to reach out to their family members during their deployment. Another reward is when you actually help out the spouses and their children with their needs or by just being there when their other half is deployed. I also serve as an information highway for families and keep them informed on what is going in the squadron and around McGuire.

What do you think about this program? At some point, my family was (or will be again) a deployed family. We've experienced being a deployed family and we have some idea of what they are going through as a family during deployment. My husband and I are both from North Jersey, so during his deployments I have my family, friends and co-workers who were there to help me. The Phoenix Spouse Program is like all of the people who held out their hands to me before. Being able to help out is rewarding enough, but being able to give back the help that was extended to me when I was in the same situation is more rewarding.