Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker, left, and Joint Base Myer-Henderson
Hall Commander Col. Mike Henderson, right, retired U.S.
Army Lt. Col. C.J. Buche, center, poses for a photo after acceptin... VIEW ORIGINAL
Retired Army Lt. Col. C.J. Buche received the Emma Marie Baird Award during the April 12 Volunteer Recognition Ceremony on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.
The award is presented annually to an Army Community Service volunteer who has contributed more than 3,750 hours over a five-year period. Buche, an avid volunteer since 2009, contributed 3,758 hours, helping service members, their families and the ACS community at large.
She was the only volunteer across the entire Army to receive the award this year.
Buche has served as the ACS Association Board President, volunteer supervisor, front desk volunteer and been involved with many other aspects of ACS, such as the Army Family Action Plan and the Army Family Team Building Program.
She also organized holiday toy drives specifically for JBM-HH from 2012 to 2014, distributing donated toys to more 1,100 Army and Marine children on the joint base.
But her volunteer career began long before ACS. Buche is an Army veteran and military spouse to retired Army Col. Joe Buche, former commander of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).
She began her volunteer work when she was still in uniform, working as a Family Readiness Group adviser to help Soldiers and their families find necessary resources and prepare for deployments.
In her remarks at the ceremony, Buche said she read Emma Marie Baird's biography after learning she would be receiving the award.
"Lt. Col. Emma Baird was known as the mother of ACS," Buche said. "The Army figured out in October 1963 -- the year and the month I was born -- that they ought to be doing something with families. And they asked Lt. Col. Emma Baird to help with that. I have this connection to her, I feel like. She is part of my Army family."
And Buche's Army family is vast.
"Within the Army family I have those little pieces -- my Thrift Shop family, my chapel family, my larger Army family and my ACS family -- and I am truly, truly grateful for all of you," she said.
She also stressed that she would not have been able to accomplish all of her success within the volunteer sector without all of the other people who give selflessly of their time every year.
For more information on the Emma Marie Baird award, visit http://goo.gl/2zEyVW.
For more information about ACS, visit www.jbmhhmwr.com/army-community-service-acs.
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