Weather squadron offers spouse orientation Published Dec. 11, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Curt Beach 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- The 26th Operational Weather Squadron offered a Key Spouse Program orientation for spouses of first-term Airmen of their squadron here Dec. 9. The Key Spouse Program is an organization of appointed, volunteer spouses helping other spouses. It is a program which offers peer-to-peer support to families. "We are hosting our very first mass orientation today," said Claire Alexander, Key Spouse Program mentor. "We have such a high volume of first-term Airmen who come here straight out of tech school that we decided we were going to start bringing in spouses and getting them familiar with the Air Force, the squadron, what their spouses do and explain how they play a part in that, what their role is." The orientation, which also included a tour of the squadron, aimed to familiarize spouses with base, unit and military life. "We want the spouses to feel comfortable coming here," said Alexander, who is a military spouse herself. "This is a total Air Force family." Five spouses attended the orientation, which the squadron is set to offer quarterly. "It was nice to meet the commander, the chief, the shirt; to learn the terminology and to see where they work, what they do, and where we can go to spend time with our spouses if we visit the squadron," said Janica Johnson, wife of Staff Sgt. Bryan Johnson. The Key Spouse Program strives to foster local support systems for unit families through outreach, education and events and maintains open channels of communication with spouses and families. "The information was extremely valuable," said Johnson. "I recommend this for any squadron." For more information, contact the program through facebook at https://facebook.com/groups/26OWSSpousesGroup.