Mobile app connects Airmen to their base

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  In this day and age, social networking and online organizing have paved the way to a new era of communication among members within a community. It seems like most everyone stays connected through the use of smart phones.

One of the more popular features on phones nowadays is applications which offer a wide variety of services.

One app that is brand new and is catered towards bringing military communities together is called "My Military Communities," or MyMC2, and is the first mobile application in the Air Force that will put a list of every event at a base in the palm of your hand. The app is a free download and is now available through both the Android Market and Apple's App Store.

Developed by the 375th Communication Support Squadron web application development team at Scott AFB, the app pulls event listings from organizational Facebook pages that are officially associated with a base and consolidates them into one place.

So far Scott AFB, Ill., McConnell AFB, Kan., Travis AFB, Calif., and most recently Minot AFB, have begun using the program, with several bases in the process of coordinating involvement.

The app opens up to a main page that lists the next five events available at each base. Users then have the option to narrow or expand their search by organizational or event type categories.

For example, if an Airman was interested in finding something to do this weekend with his family, he could choose the "Recreation" category. That would then pull all of the upcoming events that fit the description. They may see that outdoor recreation is hosting a family day hike on Saturday. They could then click on that event, which would give him a more detailed description, including time, location and a contact number. Afterwards the member is offered the option of clicking a button and having the event automatically added to the calendar on the mobile phone. The individual could also call the organization or open the organization's Facebook or Web site right from the event posting as well as touch a map icon which will open up a native GPS app program for directions to the event.

This app can be especially useful for newcomers to the area. It was developed for Air Force and Department of Defense wide use, so those who move to a new base or travel somewhere for work can open this app and view the list of events for that base.

To download the app you may open your smartphones app store and search "My Military Communites" Or "MyMC2."

If an organization at Minot AFB would like to contribute in posting their events to the app, please contact the Minot AFB Public Affairs Office.

(Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs contributed to this article)