Commentaries

Help tell the Air Force support service story

  • Published
  • By Ray Bowden
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
Things change. The only thing we can do is be mentally and physically prepared to roll with the changes.

Air Force support services can help.

Whether you are a first term Airman, a cadet, a chief master sergeant, a government schedule employee or a contractor, the Air Force has a support network staffed by experts to help.

We all think we can roll with the changes life regularly presents. After all, we're serving our country. Our worries and those events affecting us pale in comparison to our duty of accomplishing the mission, right?

Wrong.

Life is full of things that can affect us in a negative way, but the trick is not to let them affect us anymore than they have to.

When the Academy's command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Max Grindstaff, deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, several years ago, he had no idea that nine co-workers would die there in an inside attack. To put it lightly, the chief was troubled when he returned to the U.S. He got help.

When Master Sgt. Emily Gazzaway, the Academy's senior enlisted aide to the Superintendent, and her husband, Tech. Sgt. Billy Gazzaway, assigned to Peterson Air Force Base, had their first child, they were unprepared to deal with the aftermath of his death. The Gazzaways got help. 

We know the Academy could not conduct its mission without its civilian workforce. We also know some civilian staff members have faced challenges only surmounted by taking advantage of Air Force support services too.

We'd like to tell your story. If you're a civilian employee at the Academy and would like to share how these support services helped you overcome a tragedy or a difficult time in your life, call us at 333-7657.

Your story could motive others to get help too.

Commentaries - Articles

Help tell the Air Force support service story

  • Published
  • By Ray Bowden
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
Things change. The only thing we can do is be mentally and physically prepared to roll with the changes.

Air Force support services can help.

Whether you are a first term Airman, a cadet, a chief master sergeant, a government schedule employee or a contractor, the Air Force has a support network staffed by experts to help.

We all think we can roll with the changes life regularly presents. After all, we're serving our country. Our worries and those events affecting us pale in comparison to our duty of accomplishing the mission, right?

Wrong.

Life is full of things that can affect us in a negative way, but the trick is not to let them affect us anymore than they have to.

When the Academy's command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Max Grindstaff, deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, several years ago, he had no idea that nine co-workers would die there in an inside attack. To put it lightly, the chief was troubled when he returned to the U.S. He got help.

When Master Sgt. Emily Gazzaway, the Academy's senior enlisted aide to the Superintendent, and her husband, Tech. Sgt. Billy Gazzaway, assigned to Peterson Air Force Base, had their first child, they were unprepared to deal with the aftermath of his death. The Gazzaways got help. 

We know the Academy could not conduct its mission without its civilian workforce. We also know some civilian staff members have faced challenges only surmounted by taking advantage of Air Force support services too.

We'd like to tell your story. If you're a civilian employee at the Academy and would like to share how these support services helped you overcome a tragedy or a difficult time in your life, call us at 333-7657.

Your story could motive others to get help too.