Photo By Staff Sgt. Ali Stewart | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Matthew LARIVIERE 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron NCO in-charge...... read more read more
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At Spangdahlem Air Base, Airmen arriving at their first duty station are often left feeling nervous about integrating to the operational lifestyle and the daunting task of in-processing, but Staff Sgt. Matthew Lariviere, 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron NCO in-charge of Eifel Pride, and his wife, Célia, are making sure Airmen have a warm welcome to the Eifel region.
This is done through Eifel Pride, a two-week long course designed to help Airmen get to know the base while participating in base beautification, and providing ample time to complete computer-based training and other in-processing tasks.
“I remember when I got to my first base,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Lariviere, NCO in-charge of Eifel Pride. “I came in with nothing, and we didn’t have anything like Eifel Pride at Aviano.”
Lariviere may be one of the first mentors Airmen will encounter when they arrive at Spangdahlem, tasked with helping aide the process of CBT courses that Airmen must complete during their first weeks of arriving to base.
Célia became interested in the program as she watched the passion her husband had leading Eifel Pride and felt it was important to be involved. Thus, the brainchild of renovating the Eifel Pride room to feel like a more comfortable environment was born.
Célia drafted a plan to build furniture, plans to paint a mural, and added a comfy couch and desks so that there was a space to hold briefings in the room instead of having the Airmen move to a different location.
“It quickly became close to home,” said Célia. “By optimizing the morale of military members, we might be helping them and their families.”
Célia also brought in homemade crepes for the Airmen, and hopes to provide more breakfasts in the future. She hopes it will help them feel more relaxed during the stressful time of relocating to a new country thousands of miles from home.
“Tomorrow it could be my husband who goes through a lot of stress,” said Célia. “I would hope that someone would help to make him feel valuable.”
The new changes are scheduled to be completed around the beginning of November.
Lariviere’s time as the NCOIC of Eifel Pride is ending in November, but he hopes to leave a legacy for the new leaders of the program.
“I want to have all these changes done so that the next person only has to worry about maintaining them,” said Lariviere. “This environment needs to be welcoming, and the Airmen should feel comfortable here.”
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.18.2019 09:13 |
| Story ID: | 348191 |
| Location: | SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, RP, DE |
| Web Views: | 15 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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