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CAFB spouse among 5 Very Important Patriot Award winners

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cecilia Rodriguez
  • 14th Flying Training Wing
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AETCNS) --  Columbus Air Force Base Defense Commissary Agency employee and Air Force spouse Robert Davison will share breakfast tables with military families across the country this summer.

A special-edition box of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes features his portrait among five 2005 Very Important Patriot Award recipients and will be available at military commissaries while supplies last.

The Very Important Patriot Award recognizes volunteers whose service contributes to improving the quality of life in their military or neighboring communities, according to the National Military Family Association's Web site.

The association runs the award program and is a member of "America Supports You," a Department of Defense program which showcases Americans' efforts to support servicemembers and their families.

Mr. Davison was recognized for his work as an officer of the 375th Medical Group Booster group and the "key spouse" for the 375th Medical Support Squadron at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., before his family relocated to Mississippi.

He was named 375th Medical Group and 375th Airlift Wing Volunteer of the Quarter and Year, and subsequently Air Mobility Command's Volunteer of the Year for dedicating more than 900 hours to the military community.

He directed fundraising that garnered more than $5,700, 10,000 free phone minutes and video phone availability for more than 40 families.

He coordinated a cookie drive for deployed members during the holiday season and collected more than 600 pounds of cookies and decorations, and then secured funding for shipping.

As chapter president of Operation Home Front and an active member of Soldier's Angels, Mr. Davison's contributions to the Scott Air Force Base community totaled more than $100,000.

He also identified a need to cater to injured troops returning home from Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.

"I have an active-duty son in the Army who's been injured twice and is on his way back to Iraq, so that makes the work even more important," Mr. Davison said.

He coordinated with the base commissary vendors and established a free pantry in the Aeromedical Staging Facility, which provided more than 1,000 pounds of snack food for the wounded passing through Scott AFB. He also provided backpacks filled with toiletries, blankets and clothes for the servicemembers and their families.

For these efforts, among numerous others, Mr. Davison received a $1,000 prize and a trip to Washington for an awards presentation in November.

(Editor's note: The four other 2005 Very Important Patriot Award recipients were Michele Canchola, a South Carolina Army National Guard spouse; Marine Cpl. Jeffrey Caraway; Marine Sgt. Clinton Firstbrook; and Chris Zaehringer, the son of a retired Air Force officer.)