First Lady Pool Reports of March 29, 2023

FLOTUS Press Pool Report #1 - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

First lady Jill Biden was scheduled to arrive at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wednesday afternoon, preparing to spend a few hours with members of the military and their families while touring one of the nation's most important Air Force bases.

The first lady often meets with military families when she travels, emphasizing ways to boost employment, child care and resources for military families.

Wednesday was to be no different as Biden is scheduled to meet service members at various Wright-Patterson missions.

She is also slated to meet with students and families at a local school known for serving children in military families.

The stop at the school was meant to highlight Ohio's Purple Star program, which recognizes schools' efforts to work with military families, many of whom have frequent deployments, causing their children to bounce from state to state and school to school.

In the Dayton area, with thousands of families connected to Wright-Patterson, numerous schools have earned the Purple Star designation.

To attain Purple Star status, schools must have a trained staff liaison who works with military students and families and the teachers who serve them. They must also have a dedicated web page featuring resources, and must complete one other step, which can include wider staff training or a military recognition event.

Biden's visit was part of her "Joining Forces" initiative ahead of April, the "month of the military child." The Joining Forces mission is meant to support those who also serve, including military and veteran families, caregivers and survivors.

With some 35,000 military and civilian employees, Wright-Patterson is the largest single-site employer in Ohio. Missions concerned with equipping and sustaining the Air Force are headquartered here, including Air Force Materiel Command, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Research Laboratory and many others.

REPORTABLE BACKGROUND FROM THE OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY

On Wednesday, March 29th, at 12:45 PM, as part of the First Lady's Joining Forces initiative and ahead of Month of the Military Child, Dr. Biden will visit Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Greene County, Ohio, to meet with military families. During the visit, Dr. Biden will tour a local Purple Star elementary school supporting military-connected children and host a listening session with military parents. The First Lady will highlight President Biden's investments for military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors in his FY 2024 budget proposal to Congress.

The mission of Joining Forces is to support those who also serve: military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors. The First Lady's work and priorities of Joining Forces are guided by the life experiences and the perspectives shared during listening sessions with military-connected families.

Visit to Beverly Green Elementary School
The First Lady will visit Beverly Gardens Elementary School, a Purple Star elementary school, supporting military-connected children affiliated with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Dr. Biden will visit a 2nd grade classroom and hear how the Purple Star program helps schools respond to the educational and social-emotional challenges military-connected children face during their transition to a new school. Military child education is a pillar of the First Lady's Joining Forces initiative.

Purple Star Schools Program
Every year, approximately 200,000 military-connected students in the United States transition into new schools. The Purple Star Schools program supports military-connected students during moves, parents' deployments, and the challenges of military life. A national grassroots effort, the Purple Star School initiative encourages states to develop a certification program that designates qualifying schools as friendly to the unique education and social-emotional needs of military-connected children.

Participants:

• Ohio's First Lady Fran DeWine
• Dayton Mayor Jeffrey J. Mims, Jr.
• Chad Wyen, Superintendent, Mad River School District
• Cristi Fields, Principal, Beverly Gardens Elementary School
• Pete LuPiba, Commissioner, Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission
• Amber Farkas, 3rd Grade Teacher, Beverly Gardens Elementary School
• Mrs. Stacie Boltz, 2nd Grade Teacher, Beverly Gardens Elementary School
• Ms. Alexis Fee, Student Teacher, Beverly Gardens Elementary School

Listening Session with Military Parents
After the visit at Beverly Gardens Elementary School, the First Lady will host a private listening session with military parents, including single parents, foster parents, and parents participating in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force to hear about their experiences and discuss how to continue to build support and resources for military-connected children. The listening session will have a pool spray at the top.

Dr. Biden will highlight her work with Joining Forces to support military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors, and emphasize President Biden's investments for the military community in his FY 2024 budget proposal to Congress, including through recent budget proposals to invest in the military child care system and innovative solutions for military children with disabilities.

The National Museum of the United States Air Force
Since 1923 the museum has grown from a small engineering study collection to the world's largest military aviation museum and is a world-renowned center for air and space power technology and culture preservation. The museum's once small engine collection now includes more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles, thousands of artifacts, and spans 20 indoor acres with additional outdoor Air and Memorial Parks that continue to grow every year.

Visit to Aeromedicine School Nurses and Specialists
The First Lady will meet with flight nurses and specialists at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAF) and view a mock in-air ICU demonstration.

U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAF)
The U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAF) is an internationally renowned center for aerospace medical learning, consultation, aerospace medical investigations and aircrew health assessments. They promote readiness and protect force and community health by using a range of tools and expertise including environmental and health surveillance, laboratory and risk analysis, process re-engineering, consultation and technological innovation to maximize operational health capabilities and to solve problems through ingenuity and partnerships. They train approximately 6,000 students each year.

Participants:

• Colonel Tory Woodard, Commander, United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine
• Chief Master Sergeant Esteban Salazar, 711th Human Performance Wing and Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine
• Colonel Leslie Wood, Medical Director for En Route Care, Air Mobility Command
• Major Desiree Raygor, Physician
• First Lieutenant Chelsey Unger, Registered Nurse
• Senior Airman David Osorio, Respiratory Therapist

The First Lady has prioritized military families through the Joining Forces initiative since day one of the Biden-Harris Administration. The First Lady has visited over 25 military installations; worked with?Joining Forces?partners to support over 30 events with the military-connected community; and helped coordinate the Administration's efforts to increase and raise awareness of resources and support for military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors. Most recently:

• February 2023: The First Lady traveled to San Diego, CA where she met with the crew and families of the USS Gabrielle Giffords, and visited The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at VVSD (Veteran's Village of San Diego) near Camp Pendleton to participate in a roundtable discussion with military family members, service providers, and local military leadership at the clinic.
• January 2023: The First Lady and Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks visited Fort Drum, New York, the home of the storied 10th Mountain Division, to meet with military spouses and community leaders to discuss improving employment opportunities for military spouses. During the visit, Dr. Biden met with military children participating in a "hearts" and crafts project at the installation's child development center. The "heart-work" was featured at the White House for Valentine's Day.
• October 2022: The First Lady spent two-days with service members and their families at U.S. Army Fort Benning, including visiting service members in basic training?and hosting a roundtable with military families enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP).

In honor of Month of the Military Child, the First Lady continues to uplift military-connected children:

• April 2022: The First Lady featured a temporary installation to the public tour route of the White House: artwork created by military-connected children across the country and those stationed around the world. The installation featured over 20 pieces of artwork sourced by the Military Child Education Coalition and Kids Rank.
• April 2022: The First Lady and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Knob Noster Public Schools' Whiteman Elementary School, located on Whiteman Air Force Base, home to the 509th Bomb Wing and attended Knob Noster High School's "Purple Up Pep Assembly."
• April 2021: The First Lady celebrated over two million military-connected children in the United States and paid tribute to military kids by encouraging Americans to "Purple Up!" and wear purple, the color representing support for every branch of service.

FLOTUS Press Pool Report #2 - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — First lady Jill Biden visited Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wednesday, emphasizing the importance of supporting the military as she visited with service members and their families, touring one of the nation's most important Air Force bases.

"I wanted to come talk to all of you today to hear about your experiences," Biden told a group of parents, in uniform and civilian attire, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. "The Bidens are a military family. My dad served in World War II. And my son was Army. He served in Iraq."

The first lady often meets with military families when she travels, emphasizing ways to boost employment, child care and resources for such families.

"I'm a military mom," she said at Beverly Gardens Elementary School in Riverside, which serves Air Force families stationed at Wright-Patterson. "I'm a military daughter. And a military grandma."

The first lady also met with flight nurses and specialists at the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine on the base's Area B, watching a mock in-air intensive care unit demonstration.

Medics explained to Biden the challenges of providing ICU-level care in the back of an Air Force C-130 under trying conditions.

"They can talk, they can breathe, they can bleed," one medic told Biden, explaining a lifelike mannequin on a gurney at the School of Aerospace Medicine.

Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander of Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) — of which the school is a part — stood with reporters as she snapped photos of Biden on the C-130.

Ohio's Purple Star schools program is meant to help schools respond to the educational and emotional challenges of children in military families, many of whom have frequent deployments, causing their children to move from state to state and school to school.

At Beverly Gardens, Biden met with Pete LuPiba, commissioner of the Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission, who founded the Purple Star program, as well Chad Wyen, superintendent of Mad River Local Schools.

She also helped second-grade students with math problems.

In the Dayton area, with thousands of families connected to Wright-Patterson, numerous schools have earned the designation.

To attain Purple Star status, schools must have a trained staff liaison who works with military students and families and the teachers who serve them. They must also have a dedicated web page featuring resources, and must complete one other step, which can include wider staff training or a military recognition event.

"We want to make sure the military and their families thrive," the first lady said at the museum. "One of the things that really is of ultimate importance to my husband is that the military gets what the military needs, what the families need."

"My job as the first lady is travel around the country and hear from our military, hear what's going right and hear what's going wrong and take it back to Joe," she said. "So when he's doing things like figuring out the budget, he knows that the military needs child care. I've heard that all across the nation."

At Wright Patterson, Congress has approved funding for a pair of two new child development centers.
Most of Biden's interaction with families at the museum and some of her interactions at the school Wednesday were closed to the media.

Biden's visit was part of her "Joining Forces" initiative ahead of April, the "month of the military child." The Joining Forces mission is meant to support those who also serve, including military and veteran families, caregivers and survivors.

With some 35,000 military and civilian employees, Wright-Patterson is the largest single-site employer in Ohio. Missions concerned with equipping and sustaining the Air Force are headquartered here, including Air Force Materiel Command, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Research Laboratory and many others.