Photo By Ashley Maldonado-Suarez | Pamphlets that make up the Key Spouse “survival kit,” created by Rhonda Mattice,...... read more read more
Subscribe
Mattice was recently awarded the Air Combat Command 2016 Key Spouse of the Year for her hard work and dedication to her squadron, wing and base.
“I have benefited greatly from being involved with the Key spouse program. It's about more than just keeping people informed,” said Angela Nash, 4th EMS Key Spouse. “Military spouses are strong, amazing and resourceful people! They are inspiring! I love to hear their stories. When spouses choose to share some of their time, experience and knowledge with others, the benefits are invaluable and amazing things happen!”
Nash added that the Key Spouse program is made up of people who care; being involved in a Key Spouse program helps connect people in their squadrons, leadership within that squadron and the resources provided on the base.
“Family is infinite; it is always going to be there,” Mattice said. “The job is finite. It’s a set period of time, and then it’s done. Nobody remembers what you did; nobody remembers you staying late. The people that are going to remember that are your family. You don’t want that to fall apart. You don’t want to sacrifice your family for your career because your career is not going to stay there. So I wanted to be a key spouse.”
Mattice went on to say how strongly she appreciated the Key Spouse Program while she was active duty after watching her flight mates struggle with balancing work and family.
Previously stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina and following the passing of her husband, the late Chief Master Sgt. Lee G. Mattice III, and their youngest son, Tyler Minton, in 2011, she moved back to Seymour Johnson AFB to begin a new life for herself.
She was hired as the 4th EMS unit secretary in January 2015 and volunteered to be a Key Spouse Mentor for her unit. This involved assisting the first sergeant and commander in managing the program.
“All these beautiful ladies had these wonderful ideas, but they weren’t getting traction because there was no continuity,” said Mattice. “There was no single point to make things happen. I asked if I could be that single point and help accomplish all the ideas they had.”
Along with helping the key spouses organize their program and kick off activities, Mattice helped create their reintegration hotline. The reintegration hotline is for the spouses of the squadron’s deployed members to notify the spouses as to when their military member is coming home while still maintaining operation security.
“We had all these deployed people and we thought, ‘How are we going to let all these spouses know when their military members are coming back while still maintaining OPSEC?’ So we created the re-reintegration hotline,” said Mattice. “The spouses sent in letters with all their contact information and information about their military member. We would send an email out to the spouses to contact us when we received new information about their spouse.”
In addition, Mattice said the spouses could call her phone once they got an email informing them to contact the hotline to find out exactly when their spouse is coming home; they just had to provide certain information to clear them. All the information was documented in logs, and it was a big success.
Mattice and other key spouses assist in keeping all the spouses on the squadron key spouse email distro list updated on all base, squadron and community information channels, keeping true to their mission statement: We want to have the most informed spouses on Seymour Johnson AFB.
“Ms. Mattice contributes to our Key Spouse program in countless ways,” said Nash. “She is our consistent link within the squadron, distributing vital information to the Key Spouses and the spouses. She plays an integral part in ‘activating’ all of our ideas. She helps take our thoughts and plans for the program to the next level. She gets things done. Rhonda is a servant leader.”
A couple ways Mattice offers her services are through the spouse “survival kit” and by making baby blankets.
The spouse “survival kit” Mattice puts together consists of pamphlets and other information about the base, the 4th EMS and everything they may need to know about being stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB.
“Rhonda Mattice puts her whole heart into her role as ‘Lead Key Spouse,’” said Nash. “This is not just something that she is involved in, Rhonda has a sincere desire to connect with spouses and assist with bettering their personal experience here at Seymour Johnson AFB and beyond, it's evident in how hard she works to serve others! She passes on her vast amount of experience within the Air Force and as a spouse to help change lives for the better.”
Mattice and other key spouses formed a committee to make hand-made baby blankets for expecting families within the squadron. Each baby blanket takes around eight hours of work and is specially designed for each family. On each blanket, the name, size, weight, day and time is embroidered for every family’s newborn.
She stated that with her original desire to be a key spouse, she never thought she’d get the opportunity once her husband passed away. It just meant a great deal to her that she could still give back with the role that she originally intended to partake in.
“I felt like I’m making him proud because he was a great man and a great chief,” Mattice said. “I wish he was still here, but I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be, and I’m very grateful for that. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to still serve my military community and be such a large part of this base. I just want to make him proud and do whatever I can to make our program and the base successful with my commander.”
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2016 17:24 |
| Story ID: | 194346 |
| Location: | SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 87 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, ACC 2016 Key Spouse of the Year: Rhonda Mattice, by Ashley Maldonado-Suarez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT