For over 40 years, the Department of War has used the month of April to honor the children of military personnel. Moody Air Force Base continues this tradition, highlighting the important role military families play in supporting the nation.

Moody AFB supports military families with facilities and programs for over 500 children, including the Child Development Center (CDC) for young children and a Youth Center for older kids and teens. CDC director Rebecca Reynolds aims to celebrate both children and staff throughout April. The 23d Force Support Squadron is marking the month with weekly events, starting with a kickoff and ending with a Purple Up Parade, honoring the challenges and sacrifices of military children

“We are honoring and acknowledging the fact that they give up a lot themselves that no other kid would ever really have to experience,” said Maj. Krystal Muddamalle, 23d FSS commander. “This is a very unique thing that our military children have to face. It shows that we believe in them, and we acknowledge that their support is the reason why a lot of these families continue to serve.”

Recognizing the challenges military children face is part of ensuring that service members can both support their families and remain fully focused on their duties, highlighting the need for balance and communication within the unit.

“It’s important to be mission ready while having the time to provide family support,” said Col. Kenneth Roberts, 23d Mission Support Group commander. “We understand that we want to support our family, and as much as we can, we need to balance that out and it’s tricky. It’s squadron commander, squadron leadership, supervisors and Airmen communicating and understanding what it is that we’re doing. When we get all that right, as we do right here at Moody, we can win at the Mission.”

This emphasis on balancing mission readiness with family support extends beyond the ranks, inspiring programs like those led by Alicia Stasiulis, who works to ensure military children feel recognized and valued amid the unique challenges of their lifestyle. As a Navy military child herself, Stasiulis understands the challenges military kids face. Being able to move gave her the opportunity to understand different cultures and different backgrounds of people.

“Moving gave me a baseline,” Stasiulis said. “It set me up to know that everybody's base experience is going to be different, that I can’t view them just from my lens.”

With that foundation of understanding and care, military children like Jaiden Trollman are able to step into leadership roles and shine, showing that their contributions and voices truly matter. This year, Jaiden Trollman became the runner-up at the Georgia State Military Youth of the Year Competition. Jaiden serves as Keystone Club president at her Boys and Girls Club, advocating for teens, organizing community service activities and participating in team-building exercises.

“It’s important to know that we have teens and younger kids like us that we can talk to,” Jaiden said. “That we have a designated time for us to be recognized and that they can talk about us and know we are kids, too.”

Through the experiences of children like Jaiden Trollman, it’s clear that supporting military kids goes beyond recognition; it’s about giving them the tools, confidence, and voice to thrive. In doing so, Moody AFB strengthens families, strengthens the mission, and honors the next generation who will carry its legacy forward.