JOINT-BASE SAN ANTONIO-Randolph, Texas -- Two Reserve Citizen Airmen and their children were recently featured guests on ABC’s The Chew during an episode designed to honor military members and veterans, and to kick off the annual U.S. Navy’s Fleet Week in New York City.
Appearing on the popular daytime talk show May 20 were 340th Flying Training Group's 70th Flying Training Squadron Director of Operations Lt. Col. Maura George and her husband Operations Group Flight Commander Maj. Derik George, 302nd Airlift Wing, both in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
According to ABC, The Chew celebrates and explores life through food, with a group of dynamic, engaging, fun, relatable co-hosts who serve up everything to do with food -- from cooking and home entertaining to food trends, restaurants, holidays and more -- all aimed at making life better, fuller and more fun.
Recommended for the program by the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs’ New York office, the Georges met at Vance Air Force Base, Enid, Oklahoma in April 2004, and were married a year later. At the time, Major George flew KC-135s in Sioux City, Iowa and Lt. Col. George flew C-130s in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Since then, Maura has deployed four times, serving as a UH-60 Medevac Pilot in Iraq, and two tours as a C-130 pilot. During her 2013 deployment, when their kids were 5 years, 2 years and 9 months old, Derik was called up to fly fire suppression missions for the Black Forest fire in Colorado Springs.
His first deployment was in 2010-2011, when Maura was four months pregnant and chasing a two-year-old. His second deployment was in 2015 (and, a week before he left, the family experienced major water damage in their kitchen leading to significant home repairs while Maura was working full-time at U.S. Air Force Academy and taking care of the kids (then 7, 4, and 3) on her own.
On top of typical dual-military family challenges, the Georges had some close calls over the years. In July 2012, a Modular Airborne Firefighting System - or MAFFS - plane crashed in South Dakota. Derik was flying in the same area that day and was briefed at the same time that morning as the crew of the downed plane. In addition, in August 2014, Derik was a member of the C-130 crew that safely landed a MAFFS plane after the nose gear malfunctioned.
During The Chew appearance, the George family shared their thoughts about and experiences as a dual-military family, described their roles as Reserve Citizen Airmen pilots, explained how they work together to ensure their family has quality time together, and sampled some quick and tasty foods prepared by program hosts.