COMMANDER’S CORNER: EARTH DAY 2018 - PAGE 2 Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Vol. 62 No. 16
Baby’s diagnosis inspires cause By Audrey Jensen 21st Space Wing Public Affairs
(U.S. Air Force photo by Audrey Jensen)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Kambri Kulikowski, who had to get a gastrostomy tube surgically inserted at 3 weeks old, loves stuffed animals, said her parents, Kortni and Capt. Jeremy Kulikowski, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center cyber mobile command and control systems officer. Kambri, who was diagnosed with duplication syndrome, which affects her heart, swallowing and speech and motor skills development, kisses the stuffed rabbit that Jeremy and Kortni were inspired to create toy medical devices for the patients at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, April 12, 2018.
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Life went as expected for Kortni Kulikowski during all nine months of her pregnancy, and when her daughter, Kambri, was born in 2017, she was a healthy 9-pound, 21-inch baby. Everything seemed fine until she and her husband saw their daughter for the first time. “She came out blue,” Kortni said. “She wasn’t making noise. Her arms just fell back and she didn’t move — it was terrifying because the doctors told me it wasn’t normal. She wasn’t breathing and they couldn’t figure out what was going on. She wouldn’t eat and they ended up putting a nasogastric intubation tube in on day two, up through the nose and down through the stomach.” After Kambri underwent several tests in the hospital, Kortni and her husband Capt. Jeremy Kulikowski, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center cyber mobile command and control systems officer, learned their daughter was diagnosed with duplication syndrome, a disorder that affects swallowing, the heart, and speech and motor skills development. When Kambri tried to drink anything, the liquid went straight into her lungs instead of the esophagus. “She ended up in Memorial Hospital [in Colorado Springs] for three weeks,” Kortni said. It was only safe for Kambri to go home with her family if a gastrostomy tube was surgically inserted into her stomach. “When they were going to do surgery, I was terrified,” Kortni said. “After surgery it was hard to see her and her little belly all swollen. She had this G-tube and stitches all sewn in, it was heartbreaking.” “Even though a G-tube is a very low-risk surgery, and the surgeon who placed it does them almost every day, it was still traumatizing,” Jeremy said. While Kambri was in surgery, the staff comforted the Kulikowski family. “The hospital team was amazing,” Jeremy said. “They brought us a stuffed animal that had a little G-tube in it for Kambri’s older brother, Tristan.” “He couldn’t meet her while she was in hospital,” Kortni See Cause page 13
Air Force opens space training to allies, accelerates Space Acquisition Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) — Citing the National Defense Strategy, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced that beginning in 2019 the Air Force is opening its space training to allies during her keynote speech at the 34th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. April 17, 2018. “It’s time to build on years of collaboration to deepen our relationships with our allies and partners in space,” Wilson said. “We will strengthen our alliances and attract new partners not just by sharing
data from monitoring, but by training and working closely with each other in space operations.” The Air Force will add two new courses to its National Security Space Institute located at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, including one on space situational awareness, for U.S. partners and allies to learn more about collision avoidance, de-orbits and reentries. The service will also open more of its advanced courses on national security space to military members of allied countries.
See Space page 12
(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dennis J. Hoffman)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson delivers the key note address at the 34th Annual Space Symposium April 17, 2018, in Colorado Springs, Colo. During her speech Wilson announced new ways in which the Air Force will be more lethal, resilient and agile in space.
INSIDE News Briefs Classifieds Crossword
1-15 4 16 19
Pushed to the limit
Holocaust Remembrance
AF week in photos
Page 3
Pages 7 & 9
Pages 10-11