Making the sacrifice: stories of military family are many

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Latanya Reid
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Military families are similar to any other but the challenges they face separate them from the ordinary. 

With elements such as deployments, permanent change of stations or temporary duties which causes a spouse to have to meet the needs of their military duties is never constant. 

Staff Sgt. Rachel Dellapietro, 6th Medical Operations Squadron cardiopulmonary laboratory technician, knows first hand the experiences of being a deployed spouse as well as living with a spouse whose job causes him to be away a lot. 

"I have a very understanding staff at the clinic, so when I have to pick our daughter up from school they allow me the time to get it done," said Sergeant Dellapietro. "When my husband is away there is only my daughter and I, additionally, his job requires him to be on shifts unlike mine." 

Her husband's job as an aircrew chief, also stationed at MacDill, requires him to be away in support of the mission. 

"When we met we knew that his job required him to be away a lot," she said. "I was at Lackland Air Force Base and he was at Tinker AFB but we came to MacDill on the joint spouse program." 

Relocating on the joint spouses pro¬gram helps families to stay together when stationed at other bases. The military accommodates couples by trying to keep them together. 

"At first when at Lackland I was the one that was away a lot," she said. "But when we got here at MacDill the roles switched." 

While most families have dealt with the deployment of a spouse or child there are also those who have to move from base to base. 

"The biggest challenge is making the sacrifice to leave their homes, school and current livelihood to move to the unknown," said Master Sgt. John Close, Airman and Family Readiness Center, program manager. 

After being in the U.S. Air Force for more than 20 years he has been able to travel the a lot but admits that having the support of his family helped greatly, especially in taking care of his 14 year old son. 

"It is very important to have a deployment game plan," said Sergeant Close. "It's great to have that support system from your family also, which is what I had." 

Sergeant Dellapietro believes that having a positive attitude is key, being supportive while your family member is away helps lift their spirits as well as yours. 

(Editor's note: This is the first article in a series of three covering: Making the sacrifice, the military families story)