HOSC awards $17,000 in scholarships Published May 10, 2012 By Airman 1st Class Siuta B. Ika 49th Wing Pubic Affairs HOLLOMAN AIR FORC BASE, N.M. -- The Holloman Officers' Spouses' Club held a ceremony to recognize and award members of Team Holloman with college scholarships May 8 at the Officer's Club. The HOSC gave each of the 10 scholarship recipients $500-$3,000 to use in their future education endeavors. "In all, we gave away $17,000 to the 10 recipients," said Diane Larson, HOSC scholarship chair. "We do this every year. People that can apply for the scholarships are dependents of active duty, retirees, deceased, and reservists. It's open to anybody within Otero County, Lincoln County, and Doña Ana County. Some of the recipients this year were spouses - both enlisted and officer's spouses - and some of them were high school students that are graduating this year, so there's a good mix." Recipients of the scholarships had to complete an application package, which included a written essay, documentation of their school transcripts with their grade-point averages, their involvement in the local community, proof of their academic achievements, and two letters of recommendation. "We had 13 applications that came in, and after the application deadline date, I chose a selection committee of five people that are not associated with the HOSC to review all of the applications," said Larson. "In March, the committee met and they scored the applications based on a weighted judging system. Each section of the application was worth a certain amount of points and the top 10 applications received scholarships. Whoever had the highest point total was awarded the highest scholarship - $3,000 - and the next highest received $500 less and so on." Col. David Krumm, 49th Wing commander, shared his thoughts on the scholarship fund with the recipients at the HOSC's scholarship award ceremony. "All of you have done so many things to give back to the community, and this is a wonderful thing that's happening for each and every one of you," he said. "I hope you use this to take that next step in your education. There's nothing more valuable than education. I received a scholarship, and without that I could not have gone to college and had the opportunities that have been afforded to me, so I know this is really important." One misconception among the local populace, Larson said, is that the scholarship is only available to officer's wives and dependents, but every year scholarships are given to enlisted spouses and dependents like Valeria Fleming, wife of Airman 1st Class David Fleming, 49th Materiel Maintenance Squadron power production specialist. "This is going to help tremendously, especially since I don't qualify for a lot of the funding that most spouses receive," said Fleming. "I already have a bachelors and I'm pursuing a doctorate, so this is a huge burden being lifted. Honestly, whenever I applied I didn't think I would get anything because I already have a degree, but I thought I should give it a try anyway. I was just hoping for a $500 scholarship, so I was so surprised to get $3,000." Although they funded the entire $17,000 for the scholarships, the HOSC also gives to other charitable causes. "This is really a wonderful organization," Larson said. "It's an amazing function that we have to give money to not only the scholarship recipients, but also to local charities. All of the money we earn from our big fundraiser - the auction that we have every fall - and the Thrift Store, which makes about $2,000 a month, goes to scholarships and local charities." Applications for 2013 scholarship recipients will be available in January, Larson said. "I send them to the library here on base, the education office, the Airman and Family Readiness Center, schools in town - the Christian schools, the high school, Tularosa, Cloudcroft, and NMSU-A," she said. "It's the same process every year, so if anybody is interested, apply." For more information about the HOSC and HOSC-sponsored events, contact the Thrift Store at (575) 479-0529.