LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
A Joint Base San Antonio military couple found a creative way to overcome the separation of 8,113 miles and a 9½-hour time difference to share a major event in their lives.
The use of modern computer technology at the Airman and Family Readiness Center enabled Capt. Teresa Hernandez to preside over her husband's April 29 promotion to master sergeant.
In a computer room at the AFRC early that morning, Tech. Sgt. Joe Hernandez, a 319th Training Squadron Military Training Instructor, reaffirmed the oath of enlistment via Skype to his wife, who is deployed to Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan.
Three 319th TRS leaders - Senior Master Sgt. Warren Rosebrough, first sergeant; Master Sgt. Sean Naglic, a training superintendent; and Capt. Troy Lane, director of operations - stood beside Sergeant Hernandez while he repeated the oath back to his wife as she watched and listened via computer from Afghanistan, and vice versa.
"I'm so excited and proud to do this from Kandahar," Captain Hernandez said, concluding with, "congratulations, Master Sgt. Hernandez. I'm so excited: hug, hug, kiss, kiss."
"Talk to you tonight," replied her husband. "I've got to get to work."
The Lackland obstacle course flight chief was just beginning his work day while his wife was completing hers as Defense Logistics Agency officer in charge at Kandahar. Captain Hernandez had been activated from her Reserve DLA assignment at Fort Sam Houston.
Since the February deployment, Captain Hernandez has called their home daily through Skype, a computer software application that permits video conferencing through a secure Internet connection, as the sun is going down in San Antonio while rising in Kandahar.
"Teresa gets to talk to our boys every single day," Sergeant Hernandez said. "She normally calls about 8 o'clock, which is 5:30 in the morning there.
"Technology is great. It's not the same as being here, but it's pretty close. It's the next best thing."
Sergeant Hernandez said it was his wife, installation deployment officer at Randolph Air Force Base in her civilian job, who suggested using the AFRC service.
"She was upset she wasn't going to be part of the promotion," Sergeant Hernandez said. "She used to work in family readiness and knew AFRC had Skype. I thought it made a lot of sense."
The couple is also grateful to the Lackland AFRC for their assistance in making a special occasion even more unique.
"We wouldn't have been able to do this if it weren't for them," Captain Hernandez said. "I'm so glad I got this opportunity."
"To do a promotion with my wife (while she's in Afghanistan) is special," Sergeant Hernandez said. "She's done my re-enlistments, and I'm fortunate she could pin on my master sergeant stripe. The AFRC was awesome. It's a great service they provide."
For more information about programs and services available to families of deployed military members, call the Airman and Family Readiness Center at 671-3722.