TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Football season is back in full swing and the kids are back in school, but September promises to be even more spectacular given two key "wellness" events scheduled throughout the month.
   You absolutely do not want to miss either Sept. 12 or Sept. 22, so please read on for more details. As you work on your four wellness engines -- the emotional, physical, social and spiritual engines -- please take advantage of all Tinker has to offer.
   For example, September brings to a close the command sponsored Lean Challenge where we will compete against all nine AFMC installations for most pounds lost through the more than 600 Tinker participants.
   Also, your spiritual and emotional engines can always be tuned up by supporting activities at the base chapel or by supporting events in the community. But perhaps most noteworthy are the two key events happening Sept. 12 and 22. These two are "don't miss" events so please do not fail to mark a "star" or an "asterisk" on your home and or office calendars.
   Financial seminar
   On Sept. 12, the Family Support Center will sponsor a free financial seminar for up to 700 participants.
   The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is coming from Washington, D.C., to provide a free four-hour financial seminar at the Tinker Theater. Who needs Suze Orman when you can learn directly from the SEC? Financial experts will talk to the Tinker community about improving your overall financial well-bring. Everything from budgeting to insurance to investments will be covered and the training is 100 percent free and open to all-military, civilians and dependents.
   The theater seats 700 and we are hoping for a full house so please contact the Family Support Center to secure your spot in this "once in a lifetime" opportunity to learn directly from the federal government how to improve your financial future.
   The instructors are professional wealth building experts and are coming to Tinker due to a $2 million federal grant that was given to the SEC to help improve the financial wellness of individuals working for the Department of Defense. It has been studied that military members and their families and military civilian employees often lag behind other sectors of society in their overall understanding of financial techniques to improve family wealth. As an initial quota, the base has been provided the following number of seats:
   U.S. Navy -- 100 seats
   72nd Air Base Wing -- 100 seats
   552nd Air Control Wing -- 150 seats
   76th Maintenance Wing -- 100 seats
   448th Combat Sustainment Wing --100 seats
   348th Aircraft Sustainment Wing --100 seats
   Other associate units and Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center staff -- 50 seats
   Call the Family Support Center at 739-2747 to reserve a seat. The class starts promptly at 8 a.m. and the doors will close after the first 700 attendees spot early and please be in your seats by 7:50 a.m. so the seminar can start promptly at 8 a.m.
   Kids Appreciation and Kids Understanding Deployment Operations
   Being around a military community can be very exciting for kids of all ages, especially since the military offers outstanding community support and family programs. There is nothing like the sound of jet noise beating up the Tinker pattern, but being around the military also has its drawbacks, like having mom or dad deploy for long periods of time.
   Tinker Air Force Base has established Sept. 22 as the day to show children just how exciting deployments can be and to help children understand deployed operations better. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on that Saturday, the Tinker Flightline opens up to kids of all ages and backgrounds to experience a deployment to "Camp Courage." The day will be an exciting learning experience for all kids on how the military deploys in support of military taskings.
   The day will start with kids going to the 552nd Air Control Wing auditorium to receive a fun pre-mission deployment brief. The children will then go through the actual Tinker deployment line and receive a Camp Courage Military ID card with photo (parents please e-mail a digital photo when registering for this event), then the individuals will receive a deployment bag and collect required items through the deployment line and dog tags will also be handed out to all kids.
   Then the deploying kids and accompanying adults will board buses and head to the Tinker flightline for an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft tour followed by fun activities at Camp Courage in Bldg. 230's Dock 2.
   Activities at Camp Courage include the following: a child friendly obstacle course, a jumpy castle, free hot dogs and drinks provided by the Air Force Sergeants Association, free ice cream provided by a local Chamber of Commerce and military face painting.
   A combat-type camp will also be set up in Dock 2 to show how military members often sleep and live at deployed locations. This entire experience is a great way to thank the Tinker kids for being such a cooperative part of the Tinker community.
   We absolutely are inviting all children of all ages associated with Tinker Air Force Base to come out for this 100 percent free event, but parents must pre-register with the Family Support Center and send in a digital photo of their child for their Camp Courage ID Card.
   We have had KUDOS in the past, but we have expanded the events this year to be even bigger than before like adding the U.S. Marine Corps displays and the Tinker Fire Department and Ambulance Service demos.
   Your kids will not want to miss this event and only five chalks of 50 children each are planned at 10, 10:45 and 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 and 1 p.m., so reserve your spot early. Call the Family Support Center today at 739-2747 or call Tech. Sgt. Jason Crosby at 739-2417.
   Thanks for supporting these spectacular September events and thanks for making Tinker such a great place to work and live. Please continue to be great wingman and strive for 100 percent support of the Tinker 500: 100 percent must have a Wingman; 100 percent Financial and Family Readiness; 100 percent elimination of suicides and suicide attempts; 100 percent live by 0-0-1-3 (zero underage drinking-zero DUIs-one drink per hour-three maximum drinks per day); and finally, 100 percent of Team Tinker maximizing all four wellness engines: emotional, physical, spiritual, and social.
   Please contact me at anytime if you have any questions about the Integrated Delivery System or any other wingman or wellness concerns. And have a great September!