Maintenance group holds family open house

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Daniel Brosam
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  The 341st Maintenance Group held an open house at the 3-Bay Hangar June 27 for families of the unit to observe the mission these Airmen execute every day.

The open house began with words from Col. Kenneth Speidel, 341st MXG commander, about how the families of Airmen play a large supporting role in the mission conducted at Malmstrom.

"We wanted to do this to show our appreciation and say thank you to all the spouses and families for supporting their spouses in uniform," Speidel said. "We have a very difficult job here at Malmstrom but we have the best spouses in the missile wing and we could not do this without their support."

Packed into the hangar were more than six large vehicles and equipment from the 341st Munitions Squadron, 341st Missile Maintenance Squadron and the 741st Maintenance Squadron, the three squadrons that make up the maintenance group.

The vehicles were open and guests were able to enter and examine each one along with volunteers assisting the tour to answer questions.

One of the volunteers, Senior Airman Shaquille Stephens, 341 MMXS missile handling team technician, said events like this are important to help give everyone a better view of their job and see what they do in the maintenance career field.

"If (spouses) don't know what their Airmen do, they won't understand why they're out and why they're gone all the time," Stephens said. "I feel it's important for them to know why and what they're doing to help them relieve stress and show what is going on in their life at work and why it's so important for them to be away from their family for so long."

In between guests curiously inspecting all of the vehicles, they were also able to take a tour throughout the entire maintenance group building and the T-41 trainer where maintenance Airmen practice and prepare to take their skills out into the missile field.

Chief Master Sgt. Robert Rasmussen, 341st MMXS superintendent, was in attendance to help the group of family members who came to learn more about Malmstrom's mission.

"We're here showing our families what we do day-to-day in the maintenance group so they have a general understanding of our mission and what the spouses do every day," Rasmussen said. "Our spouses support us every day and it's good for them to be able to relate to what we're talking about, understand how important our jobs are and why we work late hours or have to come in early."

Lunch, consisting of pulled pork and cole slaw sandwiches, was provided by the group's booster club for all the hungry guests who came to show support for the maintenance group Airmen.

Speidel said he was very happy with the turnout of guests and the end goal was to say 'thank you' to all of the spouses who support their Airmen every day.

"I am pleased to see a lot of families in here," Speidel said. "The spouses are an integral part of what we do and they contribute to the active duty members every day. This was an opportunity to show them how much effort, equipment and expertise goes into executing Malmstrom's day-to-day mission."