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24 | TH E M R EP O RT FEATURE www.4prescient.net 888.653.8357 Identify Associations Retrieve Pertinent Documents Determine Account Statuses Compliance & Complete Payment Services H O A A C C O U N T M A N A G E M E N T H O A A C C O U N T M A N A G E M E N T well as other programs that help military fami- lies with relief, resiliency and recurring family support services. Their annual "Military Child of the Year" Awards ceremony honors seven outstanding military children for resiliency, leadership, and achievement while facing the challenges of military family life. Six young heroes repre - sent each branch of the Armed Forces and the National Guard, and a seventh is recognized for Innovation. Each receives a monetary award. The Man Behind the Curtain B ehind every great organization is a great leader, and Operation Homefront has just that in its president and CEO, John Pray Jr. With a long military history and several years in other service positions, Pray, a retired brigadier general brings over three decades of experience to the table. For Pray, the position continues a lifetime of service. A 27-year veteran of the Air Force, he retired in 2007 to accept a position as the executive secretary of the National Security Council, where he worked directly for President George W. Bush, managing policy formulation in support of the President and other senior White House decision makers. When he accepted the position, Pray knew the job would very likely end once the new President was sworn in as expected, his gov - ernment service ended in early 2009, and Pray became the executive vice president for SPEC Innovations, where he helped the systems engineering company expand into new areas. He joined the USO later that year and led, for almost six years, a broad range of initia - tives in operations, marketing, communica- tions, information technology, entertainment and strategy, ensuring the USO met its com- mitments to service members, their families, and the donors that support them. Pray took the helm at Operation Homefront in 2015, taking his service one step further. Now, not only is he able to use his years of military service and knowledge on a daily basis; he uses it to better the lives of his fel - low service men and women, as well as their families—a job he never takes lightly. The Seed Was Planted P ray was first inspired to join the armed services by his parents, who took him at an early age to visit the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His father had served in the Army, retiring as a colonel when Pray was in the fifth grade. Though his mother didn't serve in any branch of the military, according to Pray, when "one person serves, the entire family does." When filling out his Air Force Academy application—using a manual typewriter—he listed "I want to fly airplanes" as his reason for entering the Air Force. Less than im- pressed with his brevity, his dad asked him to expound. "I added 'and get a good education,'" Pray said. His dad, satisfied, sent in the form and he was accepted. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1980—the first year females gradu - ated from the school. Since then, Pray has earned several addi- tional degrees, including master's degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the School of Advanced Airpower Studies, and the Air War College. He also completed senior executive programs at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, and Wharton. "I had such a wonderful career," Pray said, recalling some of his memorable assignments. One of those assignments came in 2003, when he became the wing commander at Dover Air Force Base. Pray remembers a somber, yet impor - tant, part of his job was to honor fallen service members on their final journey home. It was a somber, yet important duty, Pray said. But the most memorable operational mission of his career? Pray said it came in 1999 when he was the mission commander for a vital medical air drop at the South Pole. As part of the annual "Operation Deep Freeze" program in support of the National Science Foundation, It was was of the most daunting, challenging missions he had worked on to date. Operation Deep Freeze Helps Scientist in Need O n this complex mission, Pray was tasked with heading to the South Pole, where Dr. Jerri Nielson needed vital medi- cal supplies. Recently diagnosed with breast cancer, Nielson could not seek treatment due to harsh weather conditions, so Pray and his team were to deliver crucial cancer-fighting medications to help her begin her battle. To handle the job, Pray had to pull together all of the elements needed, approve all of the plans, and oversee the actual completion of delivery of medical supplies during the middle of winter, and according to Pray, it was not a simple task. "It's one of the harshest, most uninviting environments on the planet," Pray said. The South Pole is 9,000 feet above sea level, and the thin air makes flying aircraft much more challenging than it is at lower levels. That meant Pray had to obtain special gear, plan for refueling, account for the drag that an open door (for the drop) would have on the aircraft, and handle all of the other intricate nuances of the mission. "I had to make sure we had the right team and equipment for success," Pray said. According to Pray, it wasn't possible to use

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