COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- On Feb. 14, then Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody spoke during the U.S. Air Force presentation before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee.
“Our Airman and Family Readiness Centers serve as a crucial bridge with our families and military missions, encompassing 14 core programs to ensure the resiliency and readiness of Airmen and their families,” he said.
The Columbus Air Force Base AFRC is the service organization for base families and is a one-stop location where individuals can obtain reliable information and assistance on a wide range of important topics.
Our mission is “To promote, educate and facilitate, readiness and resiliency for airmen and their families.” Our team strives for excellence in customer service/support. We assist Airmen and their families with relocation, family readiness, volunteering, personnel financial readiness, local employment, Exceptional Family Member Program, casualty services/survivor benefits and information and referrals.
We have core activities and programs that apply to you, whether you are married or single, officer or enlisted, military or civilian. These are just a few of the core programs the AFRC offers.
Air Force Aid Society:
The Air Force Aid Society is the official charity of the U.S. Air Force. It promotes the Air Force mission by providing worldwide emergency assistance to members and their families, sponsoring educational assistance programs, and offering a variety of base community enhancement programs that impact member/family welfare.
Casualty Services:
The Columbus AFB Casualty Services Program’s primary goals are to provide prompt, accurate reporting, dignified and humane notification, and efficient, thorough, and compassionate assistance to the next of kin for as long as needed.
Survivor Benefit Plan:
Military pay stops when a member dies. The SBP is a government program that makes it possible for retiring members to ensure after their death, their eligible survivors receive a portion of their military retired pay in the form of a monthly annuity.
Employment/Career Focus Program:
Searching for a new job? The Airman and Family Readiness Center is the right place. The Employment Readiness Program provides no cost consultations, programs and services to help families in the job search process.
Exceptional Family Member Program:
Military family members with special needs face unique and often times stressful situations. Every Air Force family needs to know that enrollment in EFMP is mandatory for all active duty with a family member of special needs.
Family Life Education:
There exists a strong correlation between a military member’s ability to accomplish the mission successfully and the quality of his/her family experience. Because of this, the AFRC offers activities to promote a healthy family/work life.
Family Readiness:
Resilience is the ability to respond successfully to the challenges of life, and our program provides tools to help you anticipate and manage the challenges associated with the deployment cycle. Our goal is to ensure you and your family are fully prepared for your deployment, remote or extended TDY.
Key Spouse Program:
Spouses may remember what it felt like to be new to a base or to the Air Force. The Key Spouse Program is a chance to assist others, so they don’t travel the same bumpy road.
Military and Family Life Consultant:
The Military Family Life Consultant program provides non-medical, short term, situational, problem-solving counseling services to address issues that occur across the military lifestyle and help service members and their families cope with normal reactions to the stressful and often adverse situations created by deployments and reintegration.
Personal Financial Readiness Program:
Money should make lives better, not create stress. The AFRC can help customers develop sound financial skills and obtain consumer information through one-on-one counseling and/or financial workshops.
Relocation Assistance Program:
The Relocation Assistance Program at Columbus AFB will assist with information and education to ease the personal and family stressors military families experience with a permanent change of station.
Transition Assistance:
The AFRC can help navigate through transitions by utilizing “Goals, Plans, Success,” a program also known as Transition GPS. It is the Department of Defense’s transition program redesigned to ensure service members are better prepared to transition from military to civilian life.
Volunteer Program:
Volunteers provide invaluable support to the base and community, donating thousands of hours each month. Opportunities range from Columbus AFB Medical Center to the Airman’s Attic.
Air Force Families Forever:
A long-term aftercare program established to provide proactive outreach to family members who have lost a loved one who, at the time of death, served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force.
For more information about the AFRC and its programs, call 434-2790 or visit online at columbusafbliving.com.