MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Air Command and Staff College faculty and leadership gave spouses of Academic Year 2010 students a chance to see what their counterparts will be doing during the year, and a chance to see what the River Region has to offer ACSC families, Tuesday at ACSC.
Lt. Col. Robert Rowell, ACSC 21st Student Squadron commander, said this year's class has 510 students, and more than 300 spouses attended the exchange day program. They first received information in Wood Auditorium from ACSC commandant Brig. Gen. Anthony Rock and others regarding events for the coming academic year.
"The purpose of this day is to welcome spouses to the ACSC family and show them what their husbands and wives will be doing this year," he said. "We have also arranged some of the ACSC seminar rooms as an information bazaar where they will also be able to get information about the base and local area."
Toward the end of the event, the colonel said it was going well and spouses seemed to be absorbing the information and getting to know each other.
Staci Rowell, Colonel Rowell's wife and advisor to the spouses group, said she was pleased with the turnout, and as overseer of the ACSC Steering Committee, she would help spouses run the events of the coming year.
"Today, I will let the spouses know how they will receive information about ACSC events throughout the year," she said. "I will also impress upon them the importance of our largest fundraising event, the sale of ACSC cookbooks, which support the International Family Orientation Program. Without the cookbook sales, there wouldn't be an IFOP."
Ms. Rowell said there are 77 international officers attending ACSC AY10, and they and their families need the assistance IFOP provides. She also said the exchange day was designed to help spouses have fun with their year at Maxwell-Gunter.
Jennifer Gordon, wife of ACSC student Maj. Kevin Gordon, said she was impressed with the exchange day program and learned a lot about what will happen during the year.
"I'm impressed and excited about what is coming up," she said. "I also like the parts about the baby-sitting services available, and it was interesting to hear what my husband will be doing in class this year."
Rebecca Newell, wife of ACSC student Maj. Neal Newell, said she liked the atmosphere at Maxell-Gunter.
"I'm enjoying how family oriented it is here. Not every base we have been to has been this family friendly," she said. "I was also surprised by the number of people from around the base and the local community who came to provide information at the information bazaar. That is impressive."
Jose Peredo, husband of ACSC student Maj. Eleanor Peredo, said his expectations for the exchange day were met by those who put the program together.
"I came in here under the impression they would educate us on what our spouses would be doing, and they did," he said. "It gave me a good overview of what my wife's coming year will be like, and I'm especially impressed with what the students will be learning."
Mr. Peredo said he is "of Latin decent," so he keeps up with international events and was glad his wife would be attending ACSC with such a large number of international officers.
More than 50 base and community organizations gathered at the college for the open house and the information bazaar that capped the day's events. During the orientation segment of the program, spouses were briefed on ACSC activities to include the Fall Festival, fundraisers, the newsletter, the international officer spouses' culture day, trips and tours offered and the Winter Festival. They also received information about the local public school system, daycare, Airman and Family Readiness and the ACSC spouses Web site.