KSLA Salutes: Month of the Military Child

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - April is Month of the Military Child, honoring the children of men and women serving in the United States armed forces.

Thursday, April 1, kicked off a month of festivities on Barksdale Air Force Base with a parade for the Airmen and their families.

2nd Bomb Wing commander Col. Mark Dmytryszyn made a few remarks and signed a proclamation.

“For the parents out there, thanks for having the resiliency that you springboard off of with your children,” Col. Dmytryszyn said. “For the caregivers out there, thank you for taking care of our kids. For the kids out there, you don’t get a choice in this, but thanks for letting your moms and dads come to work, for letting them make the airplanes fly, and I think they owe you extra mac n’ cheese, maybe a few M&M’s and no broccoli or green beans. Military kids are awesome. Military kids go wherever mom or dad ask them to go and military kids need to be appreciated. So I am signing this today saying that April 2021 is Month of the Military Child here at Barksdale, home of Striker Nation.”

“The Month of the Military Child is very important because our military children don’t have those connections that our downtown community members have,” Deputy for the 2nd Force Support Squadron Catherine Savage said. “They don’t have grandma and grandpa or aunts and uncles living right next door. This is our way of taking care of them and saying thank you.”

Barksdale Life has a calendar of all the activities that will be held on base for Month of the Military Child.

While military parents continue their mission on base, the Child Development Center takes care of their children from six weeks old to five years old. Over 200 families are currently being served within the child care facilities.

“It’s educational programming that helps our children with life skills and helps them get ready for school,” Savage said. “There are several reasons the Child Development Center is so important. We are accredited through the National Association for the Education of the Young Child. It means we have gone through a rigorous program to ensure that we are providing quality childcare. The Air Force believes in affordable, quality childcare and accessible childcare. We work hard to make sure everyone who needs care can get it. We want everyone to feel like they can trust us to take care of their children while they go out and do their mission.”

KSLA wants to honor our ArkLaTex military children for Month of the Military Child. Every weeknight in our 6 p.m. newscast, we will be highlighting children from military families. To nominate your child, you can send your child’s photo, name, age and family member’s branch of the military they serve in to chandler.watkins@ksla.com.

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