Military Family Appreciation Week begins Nov. 21, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a message Nov. 20 noting the observance. 

Here is the text of Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen's message:

"This month, as we celebrate our blessings, and give thanks for our freedom to enjoy them, we take great pride in honoring Nov. 21 through 28 as Military Family Appreciation Week.

"Families serve just as their uniformed servicemembers do. And the military family has rarely faced as many challenges as our families do today. After seven years of war, hundreds of thousands of families have served through multiple deployments in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, as well as many other locations throughout the globe.
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Representatives from more than 70 Kyrgyz businesses attended a Vendor Day to learn more about how to do business at Manas Air Base held Nov. 13 at the Bishkek Hyatt Regency in Kyrgyzstan.

Airmen from the 376th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron coordinated and hosted the event as a way to help local Kyrgyz businesses understand how to compete and bid for future base contracts and business projects.

"This event provided the opportunity for Kyrgyz businesses to meet the contracting personnel from the base they will work with on a regular basis if they bid for or win a contract," said Capt. Rochelle Smith, the 376th ECONS commander. "I expect that today's Vendor Day will translate into Manas AB being able to do business with more local companies in the future."
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More than 1,900 wounded servicemembers have benefited from their enrollment in a specialized health program to meet their unique needs during their rehabilitative process. 

"As we began seeing more wounded servicemembers returning to our region, we identified some unique needs that they faced as they went on about the business of healing," said Thomas Carrato, the program officer for Health Net Federal Services.

This specialized care program was created in early 2007 when officials at Tricare, the Defense Department's health care program, recognized a real need to meet the needs of wounded, ill and injured servicemembers, he said.
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Though the Air Mobility Battlelab deactivated here Sept. 24, one of its final initiatives shows great potential to help KC-10 Extender crewmembers do their jobs faster and decrease aircraft weight.

With the KC-10 Lightweight Cargo Net and Hoist Initiative, the Air Mobility Battlelab, or AMB, sought out ways to make raising and lowering the aircraft's cargo net easier. The net acts as a safety barrier between the KC-10's cargo deck and passengers seated in the forward section of the aircraft, and must be moved out of the way every time cargo is loaded or unloaded. The current net's 235-pound weight makes it very awkward and time consuming for crew members to raise and lower, however. The AMB explored two options to improve the situation: installing a mechanical hoist to raise and lower the net, and using new materials to make the net lighter.
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Defense Department officials have created the "Wounded Warrior Diaries," a multimedia Web tribute in which American servicemembers wounded in combat share stories of their service, including their hard-won battles on the road to recovery and the ups and downs of life in the wake of injury. 

The Wounded Warrior Diaries, launched Nov. 19, feature videos of servicemembers relaying their stories in their own words. The videos are accompanied by a written account of their experiences. The site kicked off with four diaries, and a new diary will be added each month.
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