Cover story

May sidewalk sales to offer discounts on everyday items at stateside commissaries

DeCA Corporate Communications

FORT LEE, Va. — Commissary customers stateside can enjoy significant savings while stocking up on their favorite items during the Defense Commissary Agency’s Military Appreciation Month Sidewalk Sale event in May.

“We are striving to be our customers’ grocery provider of choice,” said Bonita Moffett, DeCA’s director of sales. “These sidewalk sales help us do that by offering our stateside military members and their families a chance to realize extra savings during Military Appreciation Month.”

Weather permitting, most commissaries will have a three- or four-day outdoor weekend sidewalk sale event, featuring extra savings on a variety of everyday items. Event dates are subject to change, so patrons are encouraged to check the sidewalk sale web page for their store’s sale dates or talk to their store manager for more details or updates.

Customers have a variety of options to choose from. Sale items may include products such as cold cereals, snacks (nuts, chips, candy), flavored water and juices, energy drinks, beverages, pet food, international foods, baking goods, canned goods, nonfood items (paper towels, toilet paper, wipes, cleaning products), baby products, and health and beauty products.

Overseas customers should contact their local stores to see what specific promotions are occurring in their community.

“We can never thank our military enough for their dedicated service,” Moffett said. “However, at DeCA we can ensure we do our best to deliver a commissary benefit with the quality and savings they deserve.”

Trust, training earn reservist’s daughter gold

349th Public Affairs Staff

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — Emily Bradley, 14, set a new Mount Van Hoevenberg track record on March 15, as the youngest bobsledder to pilot a sled from the highest point of a 1-mile track at Lake Placid, New York.

Her inspiration and mentor is none other than her father, Tech. Sgt. Michael Bradley of the 301st Airlift Squadron at Travis Air Force Base. The aviation manager holds an impressive bobsled resume, including competing in the 2006 and 2010 U.S. Bobsled Team trials while assigned to the U.S. Air Force World Class Athlete Program.

Not every father can watch as his daughter speeds down a track at 80 mph. Bradley will never forget the first time he ever pushed his daughter down the track.

“It was gut-wrenching until she would get to the bottom,” Bradley said. “Emily just loved it! Now I know how my mom must have felt when she pushed me down the track the first time.”

He described passing down bobsledding to his daughter as surreal, but a proud moment for him.

Emily first became interested in bobsledding after watching the U.S. Women’s team win gold and silver at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The women were making history in the monobob event that was featured for the first time in competition category.

After the televised games ended, the elder Bradley knew his daughter was serious about giving the sled a run, so he made some connections with old friends still involved with the sport.

The timing was everything for the Bradleys, and it was in their favor.

Two weeks later, they were flying to the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation Development Camp at Lake Placid.

Emily was about to embark in a bobsled run down one of the most technically demanding tracks in the world. Her dad credits the Air Force for helping prepare him for moments just like the one she was about to experience.

“Both in active duty and now as a reservist, my training and professional

Jordan Craig photo Emily Bradley is pictured at Lake Placid, New York, during the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation Development Camp in March. The black monobob is her personal sled she trains with during the runs down the track. This IBSF camp visit was her first.

See TRAINING Page 14

TRAVIS TAILWIND

Serving Travis Air Force Base and the surrounding community 1250 Texas St., Fairfield, Calif. 94533 707-425-4646 | Fax 707-425-5924

Publishers: Foy S. McNaughton and T. Burt McNaughton Advertising Director: Bill Barno Distribution: Bob Franks Editor: Glen Faison Copy Editor: Todd R. Hansen Layout: Robinson Kuntz Photo Editor: Robinson Kuntz

Travis Tailwind is a publication produced by the Daily Republic. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, without written permission, is prohibited.

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CONTENTS

2 Cover story 6 Puzzle 11-12 Worship services 13-14 Classifieds

ON THE COVER

Tech. Sgt. Michael Bradley, 301st Airlift Squadron, Travis Air Force Base, pushes his daughter Emily off at the start of her run on the

The new future of Air Mobility Liaison Officer training

Staff Sgt. Sarah Brice

U.S. AIR FORCE EXPEDITIONARY CENTER PUBLIC AFFAIRS

JOINT BASE MCGUIREDIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. — With constant, real-world demands on an aging fleet of aircraft, out-of-the-box thinking is the linchpin for big changes in the way the U.S. Air Force trains its specialized air mobility officers.

Air Mobility Liaison Officers, or AMLOs, are senior Air Force pilots and navigators, hand-selected for training on everything from doctrine and command relationships to the complexities of aircraft landing zone and drop zone operations, radio communications, and the cultural differences between the Air Force, Army and Marine Corps.

“AMLOs are stationed worldwide,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Baker, Air Mobility Liaison Officers Qualification Course director. “Their mission is to ensure our sister services know how to utilize AMC airlift to better support their mission. AMLOs eliminate those friction points so the mobility enterprise operates smoothly.”

In order to train others and multiply force capabilities, Air Mobility Liaison Officers need to be proficient in their specialty. This is done through an eight-week Air Mobility Liaison Officer Qualification Course offered by the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Operations School.

The Air Mobility Liaison Officers Qualification Course class consists of six weeks of inclass training at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, followed by two weeks of field training in Colorado. The entire first week in the field, students receive handson experience coordinating and communicating with Air Mobility Command aircraft during

Courtesy photo

U.S. Air Force Maj. Jacob Hiles, an Air Mobility Liaison Officer Qualification Course student, controls the drop zone for a C-130 Hercules equipment drop, at Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colo. The course trains 10-15 AMLOs twice a year. There are a currently a little more than 55 AMLOs actively stationed across the globe.

See OFFICER Page 8

National Pet Month: During May, commissaries offer best prices on pet products

Kathy Milley

DECA PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST

FORT LEE, Va. – Pets fill our lives with unconditional love and loyalty, smiles and snuggles, teaching us daily how to find joy in the simplest things. During May’s National Pet Month, commissaries offer new and innovative pet products, giving our patrons new ways to reward their pet’s unwavering devotion.

“Pets are vitally important family members, but can be touchstones for the transient military family. Understanding their importance to our military customers, we want to be sure we offer the best products at the best prices to ensure a long and healthy life for the important military family pet,” said Bonita Moffett, the Defense Commissary Agency’s director of sales.

During National Pet Month, commissaries and their industry partners are offering new innovations in pet products and exceptional deals and giveaways. n Perfect Litter cat litter: lighter, clumping litter with exclusive wellness indicator that changes the color of the litter indicating your pet may be sick. n Spunky Pup: 30% savings on Buddy Caps Pork treats, Dogstoppers Salmon treats, Pup Tarts, Mutt Likes, and various flavors of Bark Brittle. n Milk-Bone: Up to 31% off on select varieties of dog biscuits and snacks. n Pupperoni: Up to 15% off on select beef dog treat products. n NUTRO: 30-pound bags of adult, senior and large breed dry pet food at 27% below prices of retailers outside the gate. n Nestlé Purina TV In-Store Giveaway: One lucky patron from each participating CONUS store can win a 50-inch 4K Smart Roku TV. n Nestlé Purina Fitbit and FitBark In-Store Giveaway: One lucky patron from each participating CONUS stores can win a Fitbit Versa 2 and a FitBark for their pet. n Nestlé Purina PCS online promotion: Active duty families on PCS status with pets can win a pet travel bag plus $500 toward their pet travel expenses.

To help counter rising prices, stateside commissaries launch massive Commissary Store Brands Price Shield Event

DeCA Corporate Communications

FORT LEE, Va. — Throughout the month of May, more than 900 Commissary Store Brand products will be priced at least 20% below on-shelf national brand equivalents during the Defense Commissary Agency’s Commissary Store Brands Price Shield Event. The event takes place at stateside commissaries, excluding Alaska and Hawaii.

The agency is working with its private-label supplier SpartanNash to launch one of the commissaries’ largest Commissary Store Brands events to date, said Jim Flannery, acting executive director of DeCA’s Sales, Marketing and Logistics Group.

“If you haven’t been to the commissary lately now is the time to return for huge savings,” Flannery said. “In this time of inflation, our Commissary Store Brands are fighting the good fight against rising prices with at least an extra 20-30-percent off our already low commissary prices.”

Commissary Store Brands categories include Freedom’s Choice (food items), Homebase

See PRICES Page 16

Command strengthens resilience through scenario-based stress inoculation training

Sean P. Houlihan

HEADQUARTERS AIR FORCE RESERVE COMMAND

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — Air Force Reserve Command’s Develop Resilient Leaders team recently completed a stress inoculation scenario-based training workshop to develop scenarios and build a framework for policy, training plans and tracking processes across the command.

“One DRL line of effort is to build resilient leaders through stress inoculation interwoven into challenging, realistic training,” said Chief Master Sgt. Jonathan Rapelje, Develop Resilient Leaders operations chief in Air Force Reserve Command’s Directorate of Manpower, Personnel and Services (A1) here. “This will provide insight into the attributes associated with both resilience and the warrior ethos, and prepare members for the highend fight.”

Develop Resilient Leaders team members will focus on the deliberate development of leadership skills without unnecessarily extending the length of training requirements. While training typically induces stressors, the impact of those stressors are rarely evaluated. Develop Resilient Leaders’ approach is to transition from simple stress induction to stress inoculation by focusing on stress response and engaged feedback.”

The chief went on to say the Develop Resilient Leaders team is incorporating stress inoculation principles into job qualification standards training tasks. This will help promote competence, boost confidence in airmen and their teams and encourage a conscientious mindset for accomplishing the mission while caring for oneself and other people while not disturbing required training during a unit training assembly.

Stress inoculation principles are currently in phase two of field testing within five Air Force specialty codes in an effort to validate the information before the Develop Resilient Leaders team goes command-wide with the program. The five Air Force specialty codes are 2T2 – Air Transportation, 3E3 – Structural, 3F0 – Personnel, 3P0 – Security Forces and 4N0 – Aerospace Medicine.

Chief Master Sgt. Raymond Ross Jr., Air Force Reserve Command’s Air Transportation functional area manager, said the 2T2 career field being included in the initial fielding is important since 2T2 reservists maintain a high deployment tempo.

“We are building our aerial porters to be resilient leaders regardless of rank,” he said. “We need physically and mentally prepared airmen who are ready to execute the mission when it is their time to deploy.”

Ross said the goal is to develop real-world scenarios for the more than 5,000 airmen in the career field that will allow them to respond appropriately to stressful situations they may encounter while performing their duties.

The 32nd Aerial Port Squadron, Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania, the 70th Aerial Port Squadron, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida, and the 80th Aerial Port Squadron, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, are currently involved with phase two field testing.

Throughout 2022, new units will be added to each of the five career fields at the rate of three units per quarter until all wings have been added. This metered approach to beta testing will allow the Develop Resilient Leaders team to assess progress, make changes and face challenges head-on.

“We Go The Extra SMILE”

Bryan C. Scott, D.M.D.

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See STRESS Page 16

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