Our Child Development Center (CDC) at Minot AFB welcomes new Military and Family Life Counselor (MFLC): Miss Odette Abbud Aguero! Military children and families experience unique challenges specific to their military lifestyle, so free, confidential counseling is provided as a short term, solution-focused service intended to help the child and family build important skills to tackle these challenges. If you are interested in receiving services, please fill out a “CYB Parent Acknowledgment Form,” which is available at the Front Desk of the CDC, School Office, or my office at 168 Missile Ave. Counselors can help service members and their families navigate the following issues:
-Improving relationships at home and work
-Stress management
-Adjustment difficulties
-Parenting
-Grief or loss
As our installation point-of-contact (POC) for all center and school-based MFLCs, I led Miss Odette Abbud Aguero’s MFLC Orientation and Training, which consisted of a “Military 101” training on information specific to the Air Force lifestyle and learning about how the culture is essential to helping military children, Child and Youth Programs (CYP) Organization-Structure, Installation Tour, and Military Parent Panel: an opportunity to hear true stories from military families about the issues military families face. This latter piece, my favorite piece, is a powerful session that truly enlightens our MFLCs who are sometimes unfamiliar with the challenges of military families. In this session, stories and specific needs relative to our unique mission at Minot AFB were shared by the following participants: Child and Youth Programs Flight Chief, Ms. Carolyn Becker; Child Development Center Director, Ms. Claribel Luna Torres; FCC Provider and military spouse, Ms. Connie “Nikki” Griffin; and myself. Miss Odette Abbud Aguero learned what a “PCS” is and about the infamous “spouse’s curse,” where everything that can go wrong will go wrong during a spouse’s deployment!
Throughout the duration of her time at Minot AFB, Miss Odette Abbud Aguero—and our other CDC MFLC, Ms. Megan Armenta, and school-based MFLC, Ms. Thelma Watkins—will participate in monthly meetings where I invite guest speakers to expose the MFLCs to additional local resources for our military families.
Miss Odette Abbud Aguero is now conducting child/family counseling services and supporting our CDC staff at the CDC located at 166 Missile Avenue for the next six months. We are lucky to have her and welcome her to our Minot AFB installation!
For more information on military and family life counseling, please visit: https://www.militaryonesource.mil/benefits/confidential-counseling/
Ms. Claribel Luna Torres and Miss Odette Abbud Aguero listen to CYP Flight Chief, Ms. Carolyn Becker (blue shirt) share information on the mission of Minot AFB during the Military Parent Panel held on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.
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