USAF Battles Terrorism with Love

This report comes from Staff Sgt. Marcus McDonald of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing:

Airmen participating in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism at nearby Bagram Air Field took time to spread some cheer and share smiles with the people of Afghanistan as part of an Adopt-A-Village visit here Nov. 3.

More than 1,200 pounds of winter clothes, blankets, school supplies and toys were distributed to the local village, according to Master Sgt. Edgar Langdon, Bagram's Adopt-A-Village coordinator.


"Our Adopt-A-Village program gives Airmen from the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing a chance to travel outside the gate and share some goodwill with the people of Afghanistan," said Sergeant Langdon, a native of Hatboro, Penn., deployed to Bagram from Davis-Monthan Air Force, Base, Ariz. "During this visit, we focused on efforts on items that'll hopefully come into good use as the temperature drops in coming months."

Chief Master Sgt. Debra Ballentine, 455th Expeditionary Mission Support Group superintendent, described the visit as "awesome."

"This experience gave us a chance to show the local community just how much we care," said Chief Ballentine, deployed to Bagram from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. "We're here in Afghanistan to encourage a spirit of cooperation. Adopt-A-Village visits are one of many ways in which we can do this."

Chief Ballentine, a native of Lacey, Wash., said the village children were delightful. "Many of them enjoyed getting their picture taken, especially when they were able to immediately see their picture after it was taken," the Chief said. "They were excited about getting school supplies and several even tried to learn a few words of English."