186th ARW guardsmen celebrate Family Day
Published 1:46 pm Monday, December 9, 2024
Col. Cynthia Smith, commanding officer of the Mississippi Air National Guard’s 186th Air Refueling Wing talks with troopers from Mississippi Highway Patrol during Family Day Saturday at Key Field. Photos by Thomas Howard
Families and Mississippi Air National Guardsmen enjoyed a day of community and fun Saturday as the 186th Air Refueling Wing held its annual Family Day celebration at Key Field.
The yearly event welcomes families of airmen stationed at the base to both give them an inside look at what their loved ones do as well as thank them for their efforts in supporting the service members in their family.
“Today is to say thank you that support our members when they’re at home, doing training or abroad,” said Col. Cynthia Smith, commanding officer of the 186th ARW.
Guardsmen at Key Field are required to maintain readiness to fly missions when and where they are needed, Smith said, and that type of commitment isn’t possible without support at home. Family Day, she said, is a day to recognize the children, spouses and other family members who also make sacrifices as military families.
“Just this year alone, we’ve had over 10% of our wing at any given time in locations around the world,” she said. “They could not do that without the support of their family, and that’s why we’re here.”
Family Day activities included bounce houses and inflatables, a mechanical bull, pizza, a visit from Santa Claus and more.
Deborah Fielder, who retired from the Guard in 2019, and now works with the American Legion, has been coming to Family Day for more than four decades. The annual celebration, she said, is a good experience for both the families and the guardsmen.
“It’s always a good thing for them to have Family Day. It’s a means for the family to come out, everybody join together and see the family members of the other veterans that are out here working,” she said. “And it gives them the opportunity to see what the dads, moms, sisters, brothers, all the members are doing in their job.”
For the past 21 years, Fielder has brought Christmas cards to Family Day for guardsmen and families to sign. Those cards are then distributed to veterans in state’s two Veterans Affairs hospitals and five veterans homes, she said.
“We’re delivering candy canes and Christmas cards to every veteran that’s in the nursing home and every veteran that’s in the hospital and every staff member that’s working to support those veterans,” she said.
Fielder said she started the Christmas card project prior to retirement and continued it through the legion. She works with a number of organizations and attends several events such as Family Day to get the cards signed throughout the year. Distribution is set to being Tuesday, she said, and continue throughout the week.
As residents gather with friends and families to celebrate the holiday season, Smith is asking Meridianites to keep in mind the service members and families who will not be together on Christmas due to their military service.
“I would just ask that everyone remembers the members that are deployed and far away from their families this Christmas and what sacrifices both they and their family members are making for the defense of our country,” she said.
