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99 ARS Airman receives call from President Obama

  • Published
  • By Capt. Anastasia Wasem
  • NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan Public Affairs
11/29/2013 --  KABUL, Afghanistan -- When Master Sgt. Tim Farris, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan maintenance advisor, answered the phone on Thanksgiving, he had no idea that he would be speaking with President Barack Obama.

Farris, who is stationed with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron in Birmingham, Ala., and hails from Pineville, Mo., received a call from the President of the United States to thank him for his dedication and service as he serves a one-year deployment to Afghanistan.

"It was exciting and unexpected to have him call me," said Farris. "We talked about my family and I told him that my six-year-old daughter thought he was cool. He told me to tell her he thought she was pretty cool herself."

As a maintenance advisor to the Afghan Air Force, Farris is responsible for training and advising the members of the AAF as they move towards creating a sustainable and independent air force.

While deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, Farris not only advises the AAF, but also spends his free time working with Operation Outreach, a community service organization helping the local Afghan people. Farris makes "fuel pucks" every week that are made of paper and sawdust and used as an alternative heating source in Afghan homes. He also collects toiletries and clothing for donation to local orphanages.

"I was grateful to know that the President took time out of his day in order to recognize the work we're doing out here as well as my family's sacrifice," stated Farris. "Even though I'm deployed, this was definitely a Thanksgiving I will never forget."

Farris will head home from his deployment in January to his wife, Christina, daughter Ava (6) and son Abram (2). He will be reassigned to MacDill, Air Force Base, Fla., in June 2014.