Offutt Oktoberfest THIS WEEKEND

55 WG ORI: What is it? How to be Prepared!

Note: I am not involved in the ORI, my information is based on prior experience and discussions with members of the 55th Wing.

From about September 10th-16th, Offutt AFB's host unit, the 55th Wing, will be in the midst of their ORI.

"What is an ORI?"

An ORI is an Operational Readiness Inspection. Many of you might have been involved in them yourselves, or your spouses might have been involved at other assignments, typically with flying or other more actively combat-ready units.

A team comes in from a separate base and evaluates how combat-ready the wing is. They'll assess a variety of things, from medical readiness, to disaster preparedness, to how quickly the wing can mobilize for a terrorist event.

"How does it impact me? Will my spouse be involved?"

Chances are, if you or your spouse works for AFWA, he/she will NOT be involved. AFWA is a tenant unit, meaning their responsibilities aren't directly associated with the flying mission at Offutt.

However, please keep your eyes/ears open for announcements regarding changes in traffic patterns and base services' closures during the ORI dates. ORIs typically will have events running 24-hours-per-day, and if they're exercising higher Force Protection Conditions, the gate lines could get very long, and parking near the commissary, BX and fitness center could be difficult as they barricade parking spaces nearest to the buildings.

Girl's Night Out, August 21, 2009!

Last Friday night some of the ladies met at Kobe's Japanese Steakhouse in Omaha for dinner, to honor two of the ladies whose families were PCSing in September -- Heather S.'s family to Holloman AFB, NM and Kristen F.'s family to Hurlburt Field, FL. We had a fun hibachi chef who kept us on our toes!

From 2009 08 21 2WS Spouses Kobe_Heather_Kristin Going-Away Dinner

From 2009 08 21 2WS Spouses Kobe_Heather_Kristin Going-Away Dinner

After dinner we caravanned over to the Cheesecake Factory for coffee and dessert! Yum!

From 2009 08 21 2WS Spouses Kobe_Heather_Kristin Going-Away Dinner

It was a lot of fun!

An Army Wife's Perspective on OPSEC

A good blog post that was cited by AF Live's Twitter Feed today. Worth spreading the word about this one. When your loved ones are coming/going, try not to advertise the details on Facebook and Twitter. Bad guys can get this information and possibly bring harm to our fellow brothers/sisters-in-arms.

http://armylive.dodlive.mil/index.php/2009/08/an-army-wifes-view-opsec-and-social-media/

Stained Glass Jewelry, July 17, 2009

In July the ladies got together for a Stained Glass Jewelry class, taught by Mrs. Susan Murphy, the AFWA Commander's wife. She provided the cut glass pieces that we assembled and glued onto a backing, then Susan baked the pieces in one of her kilns until they melted together.

What resulted were beautiful pendants.

I personally made 3 pendants in 3 different color families, so I have something that matches anything I choose to wear :-) I've worn all 3 already!

From 2009 07 17 2WS Spouses AFWA Ladies Stained Glass Jewelry

From 2009 07 17 2WS Spouses AFWA Ladies Stained Glass Jewelry

From 2009 07 17 2WS Spouses AFWA Ladies Stained Glass Jewelry

From 2009 07 17 2WS Spouses AFWA Ladies Stained Glass Jewelry

Baby Blankets, July 7, 2009

The ladies got together for their July monthly meeting and had a great time learning how to make baby blankets by cutting a fringe and tying together two large pieces of fleece fabric. By the time the night was over we had 6 blankets ready for new members of the AFWA family!

Connie brought all her tools to accurately measure the fringes:

From 2009 07 07 AFWA Spouses Blankets

Connie measures and cuts as Dawna looks on:

From 2009 07 07 AFWA Spouses Blankets

Tying together the edges...it was a great way to sit and catch up with friends while we worked!

From 2009 07 07 AFWA Spouses Blankets

From 2009 07 07 AFWA Spouses Blankets

Some of the completed blankets:

From 2009 07 07 AFWA Spouses Blankets

From 2009 07 07 AFWA Spouses Blankets

Scrapbooking Night, May 29, 2009

Our scrapbook night at Busy Scrappin' in Bellevue was a lot of fun! We made little picture frames that were very cute! We had a really great turn out...

Connie works hard on her frame:

From 2009 05 29 2WS Spouse ScrapbookingNite

Half the group works on their frames:

From 2009 05 29 2WS Spouse ScrapbookingNite

Rebecca did a little scrapbooking after she made her frame:

From 2009 05 29 2WS Spouse ScrapbookingNite

The 2WS Spouses and Airmen's Group is Joining the Blogosphere!

This is the group's blog site. The intent here is to allow the officers and members of the group to start a more two-way communication via blog posts and comments that can follow.

Another benefit of this blog is it's ability to tie together with Facebook pages and Twitter tweets. Hopefully this will be a great way for information to get pushed to the ladies who don't always have the time to look around for the next 2nd WS Spouse's Group events.

Feedback is welcomed, and the easiest way to submit your feedback is to use the "Comment" section at the end of this posting. Over the next few weeks there will be some growing pains as we try out new techniques and open permissions up to those who are most likely to post.

Enjoy!

-Patricia Vollmer

Webmistress