Spouses fill their Airman’s shoes during appreciation event

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cory W. Bush
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron spouses participated in a Spouses’ Appreciation Day event at Aviano Air Base, Italy, April 12, 2017.

The day was hosted to help honor spouses for their everyday sacrifices on the homefront. It consisted of a squadron tour, multiple demonstrations of tasks and the ability to perform those tasks 31st AMXS Airmen perform on a day-to-day basis.

“Spouses’ day provided spouses with an in-depth view of how they directly support their Airmen and ultimately the mission,” said Master Sgt. Wallace Fortier, 31st AMXS weapons section chief.

To have the full maintainer experience, spouses donned their own rubber gloves and steel-toed boots, pushed tool boxes out to the flightline and got straight to fixing jets.

Throughout the day, spouses performed an intake and exhaust check, operated a targeting pod, helped load munitions, completed a wire repair, and even swapped out an F-16 Fighting Falcon tire.

“My husband has worked as a maintainer for nearly twenty years,” said Nikki Fortier, Wallace’ spouse. “This experience was overwhelming, and I’m glad I got a chance to see and do some of the things he has done during those countless 12-14 hour days. During those long days, maintainers have many different roles and hats they have to put on to get the job done.”

After the spouses’ day, the Fortiers and other maintainer families found a new perspective for one another’s roles and how it all supports the Aviano AB mission.

“My wife is the at-home commander. As Airmen, we spend a lot of time away from home, and she has been really supportive of my career and has always been there for our family,” said Wallace. “Sometimes the mission runs into family time and baseball games, but she has always been there for me when I can’t be.”

After a long morning on the flightline, Airmen and their families gathered for a picnic to finish the day.

“It was a great day. The spouses got an in-depth look at what their Airmen are responsible for every day, and the Airmen were reminded how important their spouses are to the mission,” said Wallace.