STRI PES Council aims to boost morale, let service members feel at home

Members of the Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce join the Military Affair Council because of varied reasons, but all with the same aim: to assist area service members.

Chamber members are eligible to join MAC, which maintains a relationship with all the U.S. military branches represented on the Space Coast — Air Force, Space Force, Navy, Army, Coast Guard and Marines.

A variety of business officials from defense contractors to hoteliers and other business owners are part of MAC.

Alec Hall’s membership evolved from his time in the military at Patrick Air Force Base. Today, he is the chairman of the Military Affairs Council.

“It was my wanting to meet people in my community,” Hall said of his seeking out the organization.

Today, “it’s an ability to give back to the military.”

The Military Affairs Council was formed in 1991. It provides support for military members and their families. The MAC is an all-volunteer group of Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber partners, both civilian and military, who work to enhance the quality of life for the enlisted members of the military services assigned to the Space Coast.

Brevard County has representation of military personnel from all branches. The Army National Guard has two armories here. The Navy has a port here for nuclear submarines and the Coast Guard maintains safety on the Space Coast’s waterways. The Air Force and the Space Force both have a strong presence on the Space Coast. The Marine Corps has a presence with its recruiting offices here.

In addition, Brevard County is home to about 68,000 veterans.

The council holds four primary events each year in support of the military, including a golf tournament and a banquet fundraiser.

It gives back to the military through support for junior enlisted members. It assists with a yearly junior enlisted appreciation picnic, attended by more than 600 active duty and reserve guard personnel. The picnic includes raffles and giveaways ranging from certificates for dry cleaning to hotel stays and other items donated by MAC/ Chamber partners. The council also recognizes outstanding community service by military personnel.

The idea is to boost morale for the enlisted military members.

The Council meets once a month — one month at Chamber member businesses and the next at a military installation. They receive updates from the local military and plan events to raise money to assist the military members.

Hall said some of those same military members might one day retire and move to the Space Coast. He said MAC wants those serving here to feel welcomed in the community.

“I want to make Brevard home for our military,” he said. SL

Golf proves to be helpful in long-term healing of a wounded warrior

BY MARIA SONNENBERG

Golf can be vexing and exhilarating. For wounded warrior Ken Gestring, it is also healing.

The camaraderie and challenges of the game have helped the retired Air Force master sergeant heal from the serious physical and psychological injuries he endured while deployed to Afghanistan.

Given a family with a father, four uncles and two brothers in the Air Force or Navy, Gestring knew he would join the military. He signed up in 1986, just before turning 21 in the idyllic-sounding town of Niceville in northwest Florida.

“It was indeed a very nice place to grow up in,” Gestring said.

The stories his middle brother related about his work as a medic at Eglin Air Force sealed the deal.

“I decided it sounded like a cool job,” he said.

His military career included coordinating medical evacuations in the Pacific and, in 2009, deployment to Afghanistan, where he served as senior team medic to provincial reconstruction teams tasked with checking on road and building projects funded by the U.S. government.

“I had been 23 years in the service when I got deployed,” Gestring said.

His luck had held for almost a quarter of a century, but the streak would soon end in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

While walking on a mission to locate a project, as a small group of Afghani onlookers watched, Gestring’s team was ambushed by an anti-Afghan forces sub-munitions attack.

“Shrapnel went everywhere,” Gestring said.

He knew he had been hit, but his duty trumped the pain and Gestring went to work.

“He provided care under fire without regard to his own personnel safety and injuries he sustained from the blast,” noted Brig. Gen. Dr. Kory Cornum, the 81st Medical Group commander, during a 2010 ceremony honoring Gestring at Keesler Air Force Base.

Gestring treated nine injured coalition forces and three Afghan National Police.

“His immediate response and swift tactical treatment during this mass casualty event saved their lives by preventing their injuries from becoming life-threatening,” Cornum added.

Unfortunately, there were some he could not save. Four Afghan children, part of the group of onlookers, perished.

“The kids were very hard for me to cope with, particularly since they were about the same age as my own children,” Gestring said.

It was only after the team arrived at a medical facility that Gestring discovered the extent of his own injuries. Shrapnel damaged three vertebrae, his rotator cuff, wrist, lower back and leg. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury and

PTSD. Gestring removed some of the shrapnel himself and returned to work immediately. He retired in 2011.

He calls his wife, Corina, his “caregiver and his calendar,” since the brain injury makes him forgetful. The couple moved to the Indian River Colony Club last year in part because of the golf.

“Golf has been a huge therapy,” he said.

Not only does it keep his body moving, but the game has connected him with other heroes through competition in the Wounded Warriors Games.

“We communicate a lot through golfing events,” he said.

A sponsor of a special tournament hosted by former President George W. Bush has provided Gestring with a lifetime membership to golf courses across the nation. When he plays, Gestring usually brings along his service Labradoodle, Meli, now a celebrity featured on the Golf Channel. He knows his injuries will never fully heal, but with the help of the friends he has made through golf and the physical challenges the game provides him, Gestring is ready for the future.

“Recovery is lifelong,” he said.

To watch the George W. Bush Institute interview of Ken Gestring, visit youtu.be/8xnB9QC0tW8 SL