Every Airman has a story, what's yours?

by Airman 1st Class Joshua Smoot
341st Missile Wing Public Affairs

2/6/2015 - MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- We've all heard it, "every Airman has a story," but not many actually tell their stories.

On Feb. 27, six individuals from across Malmstrom Air Force Base will share stories of how they overcame adversities to include cancer, divorce, alcoholism, depression, immigration, disadvantaged circumstances, the illness of a parent and the survival of an improvised explosive device blast.

"Storytellers is way for someone to hear from others about life events that created a struggle and what tools they used to make it through," said Lori Muzzana, 341st Missile Wing community support coordinator and one of Malmstrom's Storytellers.  "The average individual feels internally that they are alone with these struggles.

"Our best way to learn is from each other," she added. "Sometimes knowing that someone else went through such an event and that they came out on the other side okay is comforting and can be enough of a push for them to seek help."

Storytellers was created to encourage Airmen to share stories, to get the stories out in the open and to watch them change lives.

Airmen are bombarded with training and development opportunities every day. There are tons of online videos and slideshows, lunch-time briefings, multiple-day conferences and more. Each and every approach aims to develop our Airmen, increase their resilience and security, and strengthen the Air Force. However, some approaches are often forgotten. Airmen sometimes skip through slideshows, tune out under fluorescent lighting or simply bore from the directive approach.

"Storytellers takes a different approach," said Senior Master Sgt. Lee Hoover, co-creator of Storytellers. "Our goal is to create an experience that sticks with people long after the final bell."

Storytellers relies on a relaxed vibe versus a formal setup by using a professionally-lit personal stage with no podium or fluorescent lighting in sight, and well crafted, cutting edge graphics and videos.

"Add what history has shown to be the best way to learn - through raw, personal stories from peers - and you have an experience that propels Airmen into a greater sense of resilience, motivation and pride," Hoover said.

Most of these stories have a learning point and not all of the stories are the same. One of the unique things about Storytellers is the fact that the speakers are peers, not simply commanders.

Storytellers started a little over two and a half years ago and has since spread throughout the globe at different Air Force bases.

"The bases that host Storytellers don't do it because they are being directed to, they do it because they want to," said Tech. Sgt. Kitsana Dounglomchan, co-creator of Storytellers.  "That's super important.  I think we're up to somewhere around twenty some bases now.

"From Incirlik Air Base to Bagram Airfield, Kadena Air Base to Ramstein Air Base and to (stateside) bases, this program is everywhere and it's everywhere because Airmen have decided to host Storytellers on their own."

"Storytellers began with an idea," Hoover said. "Dounglomchan and I wanted to do something to inspire our fellow Airmen, but we wanted it to be different. We wanted to break the mold of a typical base event.

"We knew stories were one of the best ways to convey a message, so we put our collective minds together (along with some phenomenal teammates) and Storytellers was born," he added. "It was always a way to motivate and inspire Airmen, through Airmen. We all have stories, we all come from different backgrounds and have experienced different challenges. It's important we understand and learn from our differences, or in many ways - our surprising similarities."

Malmstrom's Storytellers event is scheduled to be held at the Grizzly Bend at 8:30 a.m. and is free to military members, their dependents and civilians.

To register for the event,  call the base Chapel at 731-3721 or visit www.341fss.com/detour2.