AFRF continues supporting AF mission after 25 years

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Eric Schloeffel
  • 347th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  For the past 25 years, Moody Airmen and their families have had access to a support center with only one mission in mind: putting people first. 

The Moody Airman and Family Readiness Flight, formerly the Family Support Center, was the first of its kind in the Air Force and has seen just as many changes as the service and base it's attached to. 

"The support centers were established because there was such a drain of talent, as people were leaving the military after the Vietnam War," said Ann Lukens, AFRF flight chief for the past 17 years. "Moody was one of the first because there was concern our mission was greatly impacted." 

During that time, the flight focused its efforts on ensuring Airmen were getting reimbursed for such things as permanent change of station moves, which was then overlooked, said Mrs. Lukens. 

"We were approaching things with the thought that if you take care of the family and their needs, then you're taking care of the mission at the same time," she said. 

Initially, the Family Support Center started off by offering family life education to include a marital and family counseling program for couples. The flight soon expanded to serve the needs of families in a wide variety of capacities. 

Throughout the next 25 years, the flight continued to offer more to military families, including programs related to spouse employments, transitions, relocations and family readiness. 

"The first Gulf War helped us change our focus from family-centered activities to a broader view of the mission," said Mrs. Lukens. "We got involved with pre-deployment and post-deployment readiness to ensure members and families were prepared. We began to be seen as part of the military mission, which has been a big change for us. Everything we do now supports readiness, and in the end, every program supports the ability of the Airmen and their family to be able to not just survive but to thrive during deployments." 

The Airman and Family Readiness Flight makes taking care of our own during times of need a priority. One recent example was its support of a Team Moody Airman whose home and belongings burned during a house fire. 

"The family support center organized all of the donations for us and helped make us feel really comfortable about the whole situation," said Staff Sgt. Michael Slaton, 823rd Security Forces Squadron. "They took a lot of the stress out of the whole ordeal. The support we received was unreal, and I couldn't imagine going through our situation without it." 

In the past, the flight focused on giving this kind of support strictly to Airmen and their families. But recently, the Airman and Family Readiness Flight has involved itself with the needs of more than just the active duty community, which reflects the name change from the FSC, said Mrs. Lukens. 

"Our name change is a reflection of the breadth of the mission we have," she said. "We provide support to not just Airmen, but retirees and their family, and even our Department of Defense civilians. If anyone (related to the base) has immediate needs, we try to accommodate them." 

This attitude of doing whatever it takes to better the mission only improves the flight's chances of making the next 25 years just as successful as the past, said Mrs. Lukens. 

"If we went away, it'd be very clear in a short amount of time that people issues were not being taken care of," she said. "The Airman's need to be prepared is unchanging and to help them focus on their personal affairs have benefited them to a great degree." 

The Airman and Family Readiness Flight is scheduled to celebrate its 25th anniversary at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Airman and Family Readiness Center. All Team Moody members are invited to attend the event.