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NMFA Honors Military Families, Names Family of the Year
(December 10, 2010) |
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ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 7, 2010 – An Air Force family was named the National
Military Family Association's 2010 Family of the Year today for their selfless
service to the nation and to their community.
The association honored a family from each service before announcing the
Mullins, of Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, had earned the top honor. |
Families like the Mullins “embrace their service
to the nation, are role models in their
community, and understand that together they
truly can make a difference in the lives of
others,” Mary Scott, the association's chairman
of the board, told a packed audience during the
association's 2010 Leadership Luncheon.
Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley presented
the award to Trasi Mullin and her six children:
Briley, Ali, Brian Jr., Catie, Cormac and Jack.
Lt. Col. Brian Mullin is deployed to Iraq, but
happened to call just after the ceremony ended.
Trasi Mullin raced to talk to him as soon as she
could break away from the people rushing to
congratulate her.
“I can't believe it; I'm shocked,” Mullin told
her husband. He replied that he wasn't shocked
because he knew she deserved the honor, she said
with tears in her eyes.
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Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Carrol H. "Howie" Chandler poses with the Mullin family, the National Military Family Association's 2010 Family of the Year, at the association's 2010 Leadership Luncheon in Arlington, Va., Dec. 7, 2010. Chandler presented the Mullin family with their Air Force Family of the Year award shortly before they were awarded with the association's top honor. |
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Mullin's 12-year-old daughter, Briley, said she
could tell her dad was excited about the award.
“I know he really wishes he was here,” she
added. |
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While honored her family was chosen, Mullin said she believes any of the
families honored would have been an outstanding choice. “We're a simple
representation of all the thousands and thousands of families, not just in the
Air Force, but across all branches,” she said.
The Mullins were honored for their participation in the community as religious
educators, Scout leaders and volunteers for medical causes. The children help
out by mowing the lawns of families with a deployed servicemember and also
started a collection to help with relief efforts in Haiti.
The ceremony also honored the six other families contending for the
association's Family of the Year title, with one family traveling in from as far
away as Japan. The families each represented a uniformed service branch -- the
Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, U.S. Public Health Service and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration –- and had earlier been named
their service's Family of the Year.
The finalists include:
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Army Family of the Year: the Campbell family from Landstuhl, Germany
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Navy Family of the Year: the Seidel family from Colts Neck, N.J.
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Marine Corps Family of the Year: the Francis family from Okinawa, Japan
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Coast Guard Family of the Year: the Kennedy family from Beaufort, N.C.
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USPHS Family of the Year: the Seligman family from Potomac, Md.
- NOAA Family of the Year: the Heesch family from Gulfport, Miss.
Top leaders from each branch presented the families with their service-level
Family of the Year award during the ceremony.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. presented the Campbells with the
Army Family of the Year award. Army Sgt. Joseph Campbell, home on leave from his
deployment in Afghanistan, was able to join his wife, Tawny, and children,
Ceilidha and Rhynli, at the event.
Casey thanked them for going above and beyond what was expected. “I've been a
member of the Army family for 62 years; I was an Army brat,” he said. “The one
thing that's been a constant is the general feeling of a family ... and the
willingness to reach out and help others. And I can't think of a better
representation of that spirit than the Campbell family.”
The National Military Family Association is a nonprofit organization committed
to strengthening and protecting the families of men and women currently serving,
retired, wounded or fallen. |
Article and photo by Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010 |
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