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Joint Base Lewis-McChord Airman speaks with the President of the U.S.

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Todd Wivell
  • 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  What if you had the chance to speak to the President of the United States and ask him one question? What would you ask him? What you base your question on? What would you hope he would say to you?

For one Joint Base Lewis-McChord Airman that opportunity came to a reality when on Sept. 11th, Maj. Jennifer Moore, 62nd Airlift Wing Operations Group director of staff, had a chance to ask President Barack Obama her own question as part of the Defense Media Agencies Worldwide Troop Talk with the President.

For more than 60 minutes, the president fielded questions from servicemembers worldwide to include face-to-face audience questions, social media questions and questions from servicemembers from live feeds across the globe.

"When I was told I was selected for this opportunity, I was beyond grateful," said Moore. "Speaking to the President of the United States is a once in a life time opportunity and I was humbled to be the representative for the Air Force here at Joint Base Lewis-McChord."

The event started with the president remembering the historic references of Sept. 11th and thanked all servicemembers for what they do for United States.

"I grew up right down the road from the World Trade Center and my Dad worked their daily," stated Moore. "I couldn't think of a better day to get the chance to talk to the president as a military member who has been serving in the aftermath of that tragic day."

The president then started the question and answer session by hearing questions in reference to what he was going to look forward to most when he left the White House, events in Syria affecting our current military strategy, personal experiences and memories when 9/11 first happened and questions on the fact of a greater number of refugees coming into Europe and what the U.S. response should be.

It was then time for Moore to ask her question and from within the studio at JBLM her feed was broadcast live to the president.

"Both my husband and I have been serving side-by-side as C-17 and T-6 instructor pilots for the past 11 years and we have two amazing and thriving children.  How do you and Mrs. Obama know how to balance life and work to ensure your children will grow up to be successful in their future endeavor's?," was the question Moore asked.  

The president responded by first thanking both Maj. Moore and her husband, Maj. Rob Moore, 62nd Airlift Wing chief executive officer, for serving and passed on a note to tell her children that he said "Hi and that they should do what you tell them to do."

The president asked for the ages of the children and Moore responded with that and even showed a photo of her family to him, in which he responded "That's a good looking crew, their adorable."

"I'll give you the best advice that I can offer is...that the demands of your job are so extraordinary, you are always on the clock and you just got to get the job done and that puts a lot of pressure on folks," said the president. "One thing I know we can do is make sure our military is supporting families and that means making sure that housing, child care and all the things that go into supporting families when their stationed, particularly given how much they are moving, becomes absolutely critical."

He further referenced how Mrs. Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden work together to ensure we are supporting military families on an ongoing basis, including spouses who are not in the military but serve alongside their servicemember spouse.

He even referenced that fact of how they have looked into what can be done to support spouses who are transitioning with jobs.

"My question was very unique and I feel as though it allowed the president to relax a little bit from answering questions about politics," said Moore. "His demeanor changed when he started talking about his daughters and it is a good reminder to all of us that he is human too.

"This was hands down an amazing opportunity. I thought flying down to Antarctica a few months back was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my career. However, this was a once in a life time opportunity and to hear his voice on the opposite side of my ear piece was simply amazing.

"One of my favorite parts was showing my daughter this video later that night and for the first time in my career I could tell she was so proud of me as her Mom."

To view the entire Worldwide Troop Talk with the president, visit this link: