McConnell event puts the focus on children of airmen

Usually when someone joins the military, it’s by choice.

Spouses, if the military member has one, are part of the decision as well.

But children are forced to live with whatever decisions their parents make.

“Military children have a special place in my heart,” said Col. Albert Miller, commander of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base. “They make sacrifices for our nation, but they never got a say in it.”

April is the Month of the Military Child at McConnell, and as part of that, the base has hosted multiple events for families of airmen throughout the month.

Saturday marked the 18th year the base has hosted its Family Festival of Fun in the Robert J. Dole Community Center.

At the festival, military children could play on inflatables set up in the gymnasium or pet goats in a petting zoo outside.

They could also learn more about what their parents do in the Air Force, test-firing pistols at targets (without actual bullets) and even watching an explosive ordnance disposal robot in action.

“I think a lot of children don’t realize what our jobs actually entail in the military,” said Tech. Sgt. David Jackson, who attended the festival with his 1-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son. “They all think we’re soldiers, but we all have different jobs. ... They get to see the different aspects of what all the service members do. We’re not all gun-toting guys.”

Senior Airman Danielle Lingham’s 2-year-old daughter, Allyson, spent part of her morning playing on inflatable slides and bounce-houses.

Lingham, a single mother, returned from her first overseas deployment fairly recently.

Leaving her 18-month-old daughter for 5 1/2 months was difficult, she said, though she “adapted well to the transition.”

Lingham grew up as the child of an airman, she said, so she knows what her daughter is experiencing.

“If we didn’t have (our children’s) support, we couldn’t continue in our careers,” she said. “If she wouldn’t have adapted well, I wouldn’t have continued in the Air Force. We have to keep boosting their morale.”

McConnell currently has just over 400 deployed active-duty airmen, according to Miller. With Reserve and Air National Guard components included, that figure increases to more than 500 airmen deployed overseas, Miller said.

Close to 100 Air National Guard members are considered “deployed in place,” Miller said, meaning they are performing active-duty operations but doing so out of McConnell.

Since 2001, more than 2 million children have had a parent deployed to a war zone, Miller said. Of those 2 million, 900,000 have had a parent deployed more than once.

“That’s a stressful time: What’s my parent doing? Are they safe? When am I going to get to see them again?” Miller said. “That’s one of the reasons we want to show appreciation for our military children and the sacrifices they make for us.”

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 5:28 PM with the headline "McConnell event puts the focus on children of airmen."