YoAFF ends, base initiatives continue

  • Published
  • By Chrissy Cuttita
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Even though the Air Force's Year of the Air Force Family campaign ended July 31, base agencies said they will continue to work together to create the best support to military and civilian families here.

"Success was clearly defined by our participants," said Lisa Splinter, the installation's point of contact who works at the Airman and Family Readiness Center here as a supervisory community readiness consultant. "Together, we accomplished all of the 12 goals within our YoAFF strategic plan."

Eglin's strategic plan and goals were based on Air Force guidance focused on four pillars - Health and Wellness; Airman and Family Support; Education, Development, and Employment and Airman and Family Housing.

"The year really referred to a larger audience than just families," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz in a July 15, Air Force News article. "It referred to family members, single Airmen, retirees, civilian employees of the Air Force and so on. In a broader sense, what we really were seeking to do is rekindle that sense of community we have had as an Air Force."

Before implementing YoAFF events on base, Team Eglin held a special focus group led by Horace Larry, SES, Deputy Director of Air Force Services Headquarters, to determine the needs and concerns of the population here.

According to Ms. Splinter, the list of more than 150 events created goes on and on, touching all support agencies on base that collectively make up Eglin's Integrated Delivery System. This list included Home Front Heroes, the education center's open house, Health and Wellness Center sponsored fitness events, Air Force's Caring for People program plus multiple programs for personal and social development of our military children.

"While some define success by quantitative measures, like large numbers of participation, it's important to consider qualitative data as well," Ms. Splinter said. "For example, the smiling faces of children participating in Hearts Apart Bowling while their mom or dad is deployed, the personal tear felt thank you received from the mother of a special needs child at our recent 'Kids Day' event to the numerous couples' whose marriages were strengthened at a marriage retreat."

Through feedback from leaders and Airmen across the Air Force, General Schwartz said there were several issues brought to light.

"A couple of them were somewhat surprising," he said. "Some of them were not. One thing that we are not as good at as we need to be is how we assist our family members and families with special needs children. Another area of concern is, not surprisingly, education."

Eglin proved to be no different. As the base agencies engaged with their customers they came up with new and creative services based on their needs like the new Exceptional Family Member Program Working Group with representatives from on and off-base agencies. The group meets monthly to coordinate efforts in support of the needs and concerns of these very special military families, to include orientations for inbound Eglin families. They hope the network will create an opportunity for parent connections and allow access to information on relevant topics.

Another YoAFF generated initiative was the Portable Career Development for military spouses, giving access to a self-directed career interest inventory and typing skill development software called Staffcentrix Home-Based Career and Telework Job Development Program Training.

"It's important to hear feedback from the community as this helps to uncover our blind spots," Ms. Splinter said. "Determining activities, services, and support needed by our Airmen is a continual process, and as base level helping agencies within the IDS, we continue to ask questions and listen to the targeted populations within the Air Force Family to ensure agencies provide need based services."

This is one of the reasons why the A&FRC created their own Facebook and Twitter accounts to support the Air Force family through social networking.

"With the advent of technology, society is moving from a marketing push to a marketing pull," said Ms. Splinter. "Information is customarily pushed out to key mediums like the 96th Force Support Services Web site. The A&FRC Facebook page gives individuals the opportunity to pull the information that meets his or her needs."

Throughout the year, YoAFF initiatives expanded base services provided to single Airmen, deployed families and wounded warriors in the community. Additionally, they ensured civilians didn't feel left out of the title "Air Force Family."

Representatives from the Employee Assistance Program, Civilian Health Promotion Service offered presentations within the pillar of Health and Wellness. Additionally, the A&FRC offered a targeted event for DoD Civilians called "Do What You Love." In this workshop, participants used the Myers Briggs Type Indicator as a tool to determine their "type" which then facilitated growth and awareness within their personal and career development.

"This class was extremely successful and spawned multiple teams across the installation to request their A&FRC community readiness consultant to offer the seminar for team building within their organization," Ms. Splinter said.

"Team Eglin YoAFF initiatives developed at base level cut across all targeted populations within the definition of the Air Force Family," she continued. "Eglin also spent $165,000 on DePLAYment events and activities, outspending all other bases within the command."

Participation in YoAFF emphasized time, attention and focus in evaluating the changing needs and concerns of the Air Force Family combined with the realization of limited resources to provide relevant services and activities.

Accessing what the Air Force is doing right and what it can be doing better to support the service's family was the focus of the YoAFF initiative and Eglin will continue that assessment even past the year's end.

Knowing that programs must stay relevant, realizing what works today may not tomorrow the importance of the changing needs and expectations of the Air Force Family, Ms. Splinter said base agencies will continue to seek base input to the question, "how can we make things better?"