An official US Air Force article documents the story of MSgt Cesar Jurilla and his wife Cora, who have annually volunteered their time for the past 5 years to travel as part of a Catholic mission to the Philippines:

Every January for the past five years, Master Sgt. Cesar Jurilla, of the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Reconnaissance Wing, travels to these remote locations with his wife, Cora, as part of a team of doctors, nurses and nonmedical assistants…

The teams visit is coordinated with local priests who help identify needy areas. As with many of the missions in which US troops volunteer, the mission itself is supported by fundraisers and the volunteers travel out of pocket.

The trip is coordinated by the Filipino ministry of the San Bernardino Roman Catholic diocese.

US troops volunteer for these kinds of humanitarian trips frequently and around the world. The military often publishes these “human interest” stories both to encourage the internal Air Force audience and also to put a humanitarian face on US military personnel for the rest of the world.  One similar story once garnered the attention of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, who claimed the publication of the humanitarian trip story was a “textbook violation” of military rules.  The DoD disagreed.

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