GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Grissom’s chaplain corps held four sessions of their resiliency event Friday and Saturday of the July super unit training assembly.
Resiliency Moments were gatherings allowing members to open up about current events causing stress, difficulties and life changes.
Some stories involved losses of friends and family members, uncertainties with jobs, feelings of isolation, and worries about the health and well-being of themselves and their friends and family.
Others have appreciated the extra time they get to spend with their immediate families at home.
On a light-hearted note, the bicycle and toilet paper shortages were discussed in each session.
Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Alex Jack, 434th Air Refueling Wing chaplain, shared a social media post he came across that he equated with resiliency. It was about making your own headlines and making the conscious effort to be positive and to make meaningful connections even in the face of adversity.
“There are a lot of things we can’t control, but what we can control is our responses; how we choose to respond and handle it; whether we keep a new daily routine; trying to stay as healthy as we can: physically, mentally, spiritually,” Jack said.
“We can control how much we watch the news and how much social media we take in. We can control making connections with family and friends, we just may not be able to control the way we do that.”
Whether directly or indirectly affected by the current conditions, the struggles may be different for everyone.
“It’s amazing how many different points of view that we shared with each other,” said Master Sgt. Hansel Orozco, 434 ARW Religious Affairs superintendent. “We don’t have that one answer to cover everything but we can get through it together and lift each other up.”
The chaplain’s office wants Grissom Airmen to know they’re not alone in this.
“You have us, as well as a host of other helping agencies at the base,” Jack said. “We’re willing to do face-to face appointments. If you don’t want to do that, we can do appointments via [video conferencing apps].”
The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. The Citizen Airmen from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.
Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.