Congress designated May as National Military Appreciation Month in 1999 to ensure the nation was given the opportunity to publically demonstrate their appreciation for the sacrifices and successes made by our service members - past and present. Each year the president makes a proclamation, reminding Americans of the important role the U.S. Armed Forces have played in the history and development of our country. http://www.military.com/military-appreciation-month

Armed Forces Appreciation Month has a special significance for our family. For the past twenty-two years our oldest son has served as a Combat Engineer officer in the Army Reserve. In 2003 - 2004 he commanded an Army Engineer Firefighting Detachment in Iraq. He is currently on active duty for his second war-time deployment this time to Afghanistan where he is serving as the Engineer Officer of a Security Force Assistance Advisory Team (SFAAT) http://www.afghanwarnews.info/units/sfaat.htm that is advising and mentoring the Afghan Border Police (ABP) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Border_Police.

In the attached photo my son is seen with a Talon IV Combat Engineer Route Clearance Robot http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/files/DS08-126-TalonIVEngineer.pdf and two examples of commonly encounter Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). As the SFAAT Team's Engineer subject matter expert my son works closely with the ABP units charged with locating and disposing of IEDs.

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