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Committed to caring in CAF: ‘24 people who really care’

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  While holding the advanced leadership training for youth coordinators from across Air Mobility Command on Dec. 8 here, Sidney Boyd remarked, "These are 24 people who really care..."

Boyd, director of training and professional development for the Southeast and Southwest U.S. for the National Boy's and Girl's Clubs of America in Atlanta, Ga., was referring to the 24 youth coordinators in his training course, but he also stated they are people who want to make a difference for military youth at their respective Air Force bases. In other words, he said they were "committed to caring," as shown in an AMC talking paper on the CAF culture.

In Air Mobility Command's Comprehensive Airman Fitness culture, "caring" is one of the five "Cs" of CAF. The others are "committing, connecting, communicating and celebrating." In the CAF talking paper, it refers to caring by stating, "We express we care for ourselves as well as those around us by willfully exhibiting integrity, empathy and respect in what we choose to do and say. When respect is widespread, each person is willing to take the initiative and act for the good of the organization as well as those around them."

The 24 youth coordinators, as part of the training, had to make a presentation on a project Boyd said would help their youth and teen centers become "world class facilities." Toni Johnson, a youth coordinator from Scott AFB, stated in her presentation her project was called, "Tune into teens." Her staff's planned efforts include increasing teen participation at the base youth center because they care about what teens have available for them at the base.

"We want to bring the 'cool' back into the youth center and draw more teens," Johnson said.

What might be the most "cool" thing demonstrated by the youth coordinators is their dedication to helping military family members know there are people working every day to make more options for military children.

"Staff at youth centers are professionals and continuously trained on how we can better your child," Boyd said. "It's a youth development program. A youth center is a place where youth can grow and learn more about today's society."

A team of youth professionals from Dover Air Force Base, Del., who include Wendy Jones and Kristy Grove are planning as part of an upcoming project to have art become a major part of youth center activities.

"We want to find a way to get children more interested in art and get them involved in the program," Jones said in her presentation.

Grove added the project name is, "Got art!" "We also want to see more teens involved in art and develop a love for art," she said.

Whether it's bringing in more teens or building an art program at youth centers, the effort falls in line with what AMC has been working on since the CAF culture began in July 2010. That effort includes resourcing through things like grants for military family activities such as youth centers. In August 2010, for example, AMC funded 168 CAF-related initiatives across the command. In early 2011, there was a similar effort.

"Providing resources targeted at taking care of Airmen and their families is not a new concept," states the AMC talking paper on CAF. "In addition to resources helping agencies receive within their functional stovepipes, helping agencies also benefit (through CAF) by combining efforts to provide quality programs and activities to Airmen and their families in a cross-functional venue."

The "24 people who really care" are a part of the greater AMC and Air Force populace who believe in the concepts and purpose CAF offers in taking care of Airmen and their families and building the resilient families the culture supports.

"Comprehensive Airman Fitness is a culture and a way of life," said Chief Master Sgt. Andy Kaiser, AMC command chief, in his letter to Airmen in August. "By embodying the four pillars of mental fitness, physical fitness, social fitness, and spiritual fitness, our Airmen don't just survive; they thrive in these formidable times. If we do not keep ourselves strong, then we cannot do the missions we are called to do."

For more on AMC's Comprehensive Airman Fitness culture, visit the CAF Web Page at http://www.amc.af.mil/caf.

(Note: This is the 21st in a series of 24 stories for 2011 by Air Mobility Command Public Affairs highlighting the Comprehensive Airman Fitness culture through a "commitment of caring." Comprehensive Airman Fitness, or CAF, is built on "four pillars" of fitness -- physical, social, mental and spiritual fitness -- and five "Cs" -- caring, committing, communicating, connecting and celebrating. "Comprehensive Airman Fitness reflects our commitment to developing a holistic approach to caring for our people that equips, enables and empowers everyone to grow more physically, socially, mentally and spiritually fit," Gen. Raymond E. Johns, Jr., AMC commander said in June 2010 while addressing CAF to AMC wing commanders. "It's not another program, but rather, a means to enhance mission effectiveness by intentionally investing in one another.")