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Show QP!l' IM E S July 18, 2013 7 \G HER[TAiEL OF THEIR FATHERS FROM THE Courtesy of WOLF Makenzie Keith lines up her shot during Warrior Outdoor Leadership of the Future on July 15 at the Environmental Center in Eden. The WOLF camp is for children of fallen special forces soldiers. Leadership camp for children of fallen special forces BY MARY Lou GORNY Hilltop Times editor 0 n July 14, a group of 27 wet enthusiastic participants paddled their canoes around a small cove at the Middle Inlet Bay at Pineview Reservoir in Ogden Valley. The group, participants in the Warrior Outdoor Leadership for the Future, included a half-dozen or so second-year campers from 2012 and 21 first year participants. They arrived from all over the country, but they have a few things in common: They have all lost a parent in the line of special operations duty and they are all college students or have a college career in their near future. Visual Awareness Technologies and Consulting Inc., a Tampa-based firm, joined with the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) to put on the first camp in 2012. Both organizations are closely allied with the special operations community. A SOWF representative visits families within 45 days of the loss of a special operations duty parent to ensure the family knows the children will have support to receive academic scholarships and support through the college experience, at the behest of the foundation. Sarah Moola, VASI president, and her husband, Mike Vaughn, SOWF president, feel passionate about those families. "The cause has been near and dear to z+4 Darian Santiago pulls a canoe down the beach during Warrior Outdoor Leadership of the Future on July 14 in Huntsville. Teams of three had to find their way back to the beach while two participants were blindfolded and one leader gave directions to the two who could not see on how to work together to paddle their canoes. my husband's heart," said Moola. "The reason we got building," added Moola. The VASI president explained that although a lot is packed into the four days of activities, the emphasis is on an informal and laid-back outdoor atmosphere for a more advantageous setting to spark the participants' interest. The camp receives a lot of support from special started is because we wanted to give something back," she explained. The camp is a further opportunity to support the prospective and current college students as they get a chance to learn about leadership. "(At camp) each day gets a little bit more challenging and toward the end it's not just about the leadership skills. It's the camaraderie that they build. This is the time of building relationships, understanding team See WOLF I page 8 ENHANCED SECURITi a 559 ,400 410 111 ,419, it: I ojkb SSe. 5,1n1T K I Sat • M104611011 citt. IA! sso, 4,4r ?ors 5V- Gmtc ..• ,pr AT:1: 1 .4 . 45 0 0 40 , kzt MASTER SGT. CHRISTOPHER A. CAMPBELL/U.S. Air Force Heroes, 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron military working dog, takes a break after some intense training with his handler, at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, on July 2. The MWD is a vital piece of the security on a military installation whether at home station or deployed. Heroes is deployed from Hill Air Force Base. dis The wall of heroes is displayed at the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron military working dog flight office at a Southwest Asia location July 2. The wall represents all the current and previous MWDs and their handlers who have been deployed to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. Air Force encourages Airmen to be key part of SAPR solution BY STAFF SGT. DAVID SALANITRI Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs W U.S. Air Force graphic Gen. Larry Spencer, Air Force vice chief of staff, encourages Airmen to get involved with "Every Airman Counts." The initative is designed to foster communication between Airmen and senior leaders about sexual assault prevention and response. ASHINGTON 4 In an effort to address the growing concern of sexual assault in the Air Force, the service has kicked off an initiative to give Airmen the capability for their voice to be clearly heard called "Every Airman Counts." "I believe Airmen are a key part of the solution to this," said. Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward, the director of the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response office. "They understand the problem, and they know what needs to be done to help conquer it. Now we need them to share those innovative ideas with us and each other. We need our Airmen talking about this issue." To enable this dialogue, the Air Force SAPR office members designed a blog to share ideas, collect suggestions, concerns, stories and questions for Air Force leaders and SAPR officials. The SAPR blog site asks Airmen to make inputs on how the service can better combat sexual assault. "We can't fix this issue sitting in the Pentagon," said Gen. Larry Spencer, the Air Force vice chief of staff. "We need each and every one of you to get engaged in addressing this issue ... this crime, and it is a crime. We need to know exactly where you feel the issues are, so we can address them with laser focus. I need every one of you helping us find ways to ensure dignity and respect are prevailing qualities in our daily relationships." Content on the site will be driven in part by Airmen making firsthand posts. In addition to the blog, the Air Force is organizing web chats that will be moderated forums for realtime information exchange between Airmen, subject matter experts and senior leaders. Various experts in the SAPR area will host these discussions to gain a better understanding of the issues at every level. "We've been doing a lot of talking on this issue," Woodward said. "It's important that See INITIATIVE I page 11 |