For example, the Airman and Family Readiness Center, an IDS organization, covers much ground when it comes to consultation and assistance.
As the name implies, A&FRC provides support for Airmen from any time in their career as well as their family members of Airmen. The center provides answers to questions Airmen or their families may come in with – from personal finances to preparing for deployments.
“We want people to feel like they can walk through our doors without a reason. You don’t have to have a reason or an emergency and be like, ‘OK, now I can go to the center.’ No! You can come here anytime and see what we have going on,” said Eric Thayer, director of the 88th Air Base Wing A&FRC.
With so many classes and different sections, there’s always something going on at the A&FRC. There’s a financial manager who can help Airmen moving out of the dorms or families saving for the future with budgets. For spouses who are new to the area, there are several classes, including a program called “Heart Link” and information to find a job.
There’s also a military family life consultant who is a trained therapist if someone just wants to talk to a professional without it appearing on his or her record.
As an IDS agency with such an array of programs and classes, it’s not uncommon for some of A&FRC’s services or classes to go unnoticed. So Thayer ensures his staff is also involved with base leadership.
“We have leadership consultation – we also liaison with the commanders and ensure that they know and the first sergeants know what we have to offer. Because they too are in the front line for information and support referral,” Thayer said.
Even if a person doesn’t know what it is they want, the A&FRC has a program that can provide answers – the Information Referral Program.
“Someone can come in here with anything and say, ‘I need this; where do I go?’ And that’s part of our job. One of our programs is listening and sometimes it’s as simple as finding a phone number for the JAG office. But it could be as big as a personal issue that’s impacting that person’s life and they’re looking for someone to talk to.”
The A&FRC is located on Area A in Bldg. 2, and is open from Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“We exist for the Airmen … And that’s what I tell my staff: ‘We’re not here for me; we’re not here for you; we’re here for the customer who is walking through the door.’”
For more information, call 937-257-3592 or visit their information page at www.wpafb.af.mil/afrf/.
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