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Airman, July-August, 2008 by Louis A. Arana-Barradas

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Airman Kelly Anderson doesn't consider herself a complete person, yet.

Granted, she's only 19 and has barely been in the Air Force a nanosecond. But she desperately wants to shed her sedate, York, Pa., upbringing and make an impact on the world.

Her first step toward doing this was joining the Air Force. The spunky Airman can't wait to finish security forces training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. earn her blue beret and join the coalition team fighting the war on terrorism.

The second step in her transformation is to vote, something she's never done.

"There are a lot of things happening in our government 1 don't agree with," she said. "But when you vote, you say: These are the things I believe in--the things I want to see change."

When she votes in the November 2008 presidential elections, Airman Anderson joins the millions of other servicemembers who've cast votes, many while serving in posts around the globe. It's a tradition dating to the turn of the 19th century, and all the wars that followed.

To ensure Airmen, Air Force civilians and their families get the chance to vote, the Air Force has an army of voting officers at all its bases worldwide that provides voting assistance--one for about every 25 people. At the top of that help pyramid are members of the Air Force Personnel Center's special programs branch at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.

In a nutshell, voting officers help people with the process of voting, no matter where they are, or at what level, branch chief Gil Harrison said. A retired senior master sergeant from San Antonio, he knows how important it is to provide the proper guidance.

"There are specific instructions for things all voting officers must do at each base for federal programs, as well as local voting programs," he said. "They're involved in all voting."

Voting officers mainly focus on the Federal Voting Assistance Program and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Voting Act. But with Airmen serving in all corners of the globe, they provide more than just voting information. They also provide guidance and information about absentee voting, which is even more important for the thousands of Airmen serving in the Middle East and other locations overseas, Mr. Harrison said.

"Whether you're going to vote at home, in Texas, Germany or Iraq, voting officers provide you with the means to do that," Mr. Harrison said. Voting officers down to the unit level have a responsibility to make contact with servicemembers, civilians and their families to remind them "how important it is for them to vote."

"But in the Air Force, we expanded that so our points of contact can help with local, state and other primary elections, too," Mr. Harrison said.

At Lackland's Medina Annex, Airman 1st Class Andrew Jennings passed the grueling airborne mission specialist course with the 344th Training Squadron. The Airman from Gillette, Wyo., will move to Tinker AFB, Okla., to finish his training to become a computer display maintenance technician aboard an E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft.

He's never voted either, figuring his vote wouldn't count much. But he's changed his mind, a change of heart brought on when he joined the Air Force. Now he can't wait to cast his ballot.

"Every vote counts," Airman Jennings said. "The whole is made up of many ones. So I'll vote in this election. Because I know the next president--whatever his or her views are--will have a direct impact on me as an Airman."

Absentee votes are important, Mr. Harrison said.

That was true during the 2000 elections, when there were problems tabulating Florida ballots, he said. The world spotlight fell on overseas ballots. Suddenly these votes, most from servicemembers, were vital to the election outcome.

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Airman Anderson was only 10 years old then and not much into politics. But she wants to get involved and today she now knows America's future is in the hands of its voters.

"When you vote, that's one more person who can help make change." she said. "We're one of the few countries whose people have a say in how their government runs. That's important to me."

For more help

For more voting information visit these web sites

* www.afcrossroads.com/votefund/voteMefault.htm

* www.fvap.gov/

* www.travel.state.gov/law/info/info_2964.html