Family connected through communication Published May 1, 2008 By Staff Sgt. Ronald Lafosse 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- Not many spouses can say they have never seen a promotion ceremony in nearly 20 years. Angela Valentine, wife of Master Sgt. Joe Valentine, 22nd Operations Support Squadron air traffic controller, and family was able to witness her husband's promotion ceremony via a video teleconference call. Sergeant Valentine and his wife have been married for more than 22 years, and Angela has never witness any of his promotions until March 31. Sergeant Valentine was promoted to the rank of master sergeant at Thule Air Base, Greenland. "I had no idea what a promotion ceremony was until then," said Mrs. Valentine. "It was something that I never gotten to experience and it was unique," said Mrs. Valentine. "It was nice to be a part of that, for the boys and me." The people here at McConnell and there at Thule provided us with something that we could never get back, said Mrs. Valentine. Programs like VTC are just one of the many programs helping link deployed members to families back home. The Airman and Family Readiness Center produces a newsletter for spouses of deployed military members, which gives them a list of services available to them. The "My hero" doll is a new program offered by AFRC. Volunteers work to make dolls out of old uniforms and imprint an image of the deployed military member on the doll to be given to the children. "It didn't seem like to big of a deal to connect two people, but it meant a lot to the family, and that makes my job very rewarding," said Master Sgt. Susan Smith, a readiness non-commissioned officer at Airman and Family Readiness Center. If people would like to volunteer or donate to the AFRC programs, contact Master Sgt. Susan Smith, at 759-6020.