Enlisted Spouses' Club supports community

Published March 24, 2010
By 1st Lt. Neil Samson
366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- The Mountain Home Air Force Base Enlisted Spouses Club is a non-profit organization and uses cultural, educational and morale building activities to promote the general welfare of the Gunfighter community throughout the year.

The Enlisted Spouses Club raised approximately $5,000 last year for scholarships. It allows all military spouses the opportunity to volunteer within the community through yearly events such as the craft bazaar, bike rallies and holiday gift wrapping booth. Although all current members are female, membership is also open to male spouses.

"The ESC has been actively meeting every month for 10 solid years," said Maureen Elam, ESC president and spouse of Tech. Sgt. Justin Elam, 366th Maintenance Operations Squadron.

The club is always looking for members who want to support the community and it's one of the difficulties for the group.

"An obstacle to increasing membership to the ESC, is that some spouses have had bad experiences with an ESC from a previous base," said Lesley Root, ESC secretary and spouse of Airman 1st Class James Root, 366th Component Maintenance Squadron. "The Mountain Home ESC is drama-free and we have fun. We are here to talk and listen to anything."

Each month, the club tries to include something fun during their meeting. For March, they met at the bowling center for a Tuesday night out. In April, group members are looking forward to a self-defense class.

"One of the aspects of the club is to find things to do and for couples to get out," said Mrs. Elam. "You don't know much about Idaho if you don't venture around the state."

The ESC also provides an avenue of help, especially with recent deployments.

"All members share advice with each other about various topics, such as child care and how to help their children with their homework," said Mrs. Elam.

According to one NCO's wife, the extra help was appreciated and beneficial.

"It was difficult when I gave birth to my daughter while my husband was deployed," said Alisa Ittner, ESC vice president and spouse of Staff Sgt. Steven Ittner, 366th Security Forces Squadron. "The ESC helps because I'm able to talk to wives who have undergone similar circumstances with their husbands and their children."

The mainstay of the club is its charitable mission through community involvement. They support base and local charities and organizations to include the Enlisted Widow Home, Fisher House, Mountain Home AFB Youth Center, Special Olympics, a range of youth sports and school projects and various scholarships for spouses and high school seniors.

"We raise money for our spouses and children," said Mrs. Elam. "Our largest fundraisers are the annual craft bazaar in November and gift wrapping booth at the base exchange from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve. We are also looking forward to helping with the June bike rally and we are planning a dorm feed."

The dorm feed provides home-cooked meals to Airmen in the dorms who don't want to eat at the dining facility for dinner.

The ESC plans to continue their tradition of volunteering in the Mountain Home AFB community for years to come.

"Community involvement is the key. If anyone on base needs help, we are here to provide assistance," said Mrs. Elam. "The Air Force is a big family and we [the ESC] want to be a supporting part of that family."

The Mountain Home AFB Enlisted Spouses' Club meets the first Tuesday of the month at the chapel annex at 6:30 p.m. The meetings end around 7:30 p.m. when they begin a social hour.

To learn more about the ESC, call Maureen Elam at 587-3532 or e-mail mthmafbesc@gmail.com.

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Enlisted Spouses' Club supports community

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