Airman and Family Readiness Center provides one stop assistance

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Scott Saldukas
  • Ramstein Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  The Ramstein Airman and Family Readiness Center is a one stop information center that is available for single, married, active duty servicemembers, retired individuals and the families within the KMC. 

The A&FRC was designed with the intent of making some things a little easier for servicemembers and their families. Group classes, individual meetings or even volunteer opportunities can all be done through the center. 

The A&FRC offers nine different programs that help servicemembers and their families deal with different issues. The programs are; The Personal Financial Readiness Program, Employment Assistance, Relocation Assistance, Readiness (Deployment Assistance), Air Force Aid Society, Information and Referral, Transition Assistance, Volunteer Resources and Family Life Education. 

"Our mission is to support the base populace," said Steve Rose, Supervisory Consultant at the A&FRC. "We want Airmen to know there is a place to go if they need support." 

The main priority of the A&FRC is to support Airman and their families. 

"We support the total force, military families and civilians here at the center," said Stacy Nichols, community readiness consultant at the A&FRC. "Everyone on the staff is trained in all of the areas we offer assistance with and are here to help people make better choices in areas they might not be too familiar with." 

Although the center offers many different areas of assistance, the busiest department is the Personal Financial Readiness Program. 

"Our most utilized program is Personal Financial Readiness Program," said Mr. Rose. "We offer classes in the center, within units that request special training, individual appointments for people that want help with budgeting, debt management, credit issues, and education on investing and saving. For all those reasons the PFR is the most utilized program." 

There are over 6,000 customers each year with a high percentage needing financial help or education and we believe that approximately 60% of our clients are utilizing the PFR Program in some way, added the supervisory consultant. 

To be proactive the center introduces a financial class in Basic Military Training, this is the first phase of the class. Airmen are introduced to phase two in tech school were they learn more financial information that let them apply it through their lives. Finally, the First Term Airmen Center, a two week course that tech school graduates attend upon arrival at their first duty station, offers the final phase of A&FRC's introduction to new service members. 

"The advice I received from the Airman and Family Readiness Center when I came to Ramstein really helped out," said Airman 1st Class Latasha Hawkins, 435 Mission Support Squadron Customer Service Representative. "It is nice to know there is someone to assist new Airmen when they arrive." 

The A&FRC has staff members that are qualified to help out in any situation which servicemembers and their families might face. 

"We actually affect a part someone's life all the time while in the military," said Mrs. Nichols. "We impact each stage of a servicemembers and their family's career." 

From the beginning of the Family Readiness Center in the early 1980's, the evolution has come a long way in assisting Airmen and their job environments. 

"The latest and greatest addition to our program allows us to take it directly to the units," said Mr. Rose. "Consultants will be assigned to designated squadrons to do unit assessments and will discuss the issues with the commanders then will deliver a plan back to the units helping to improve their issues. This new process saves time and man hours for the members of that squadron." 

The centers are located at all Air Force Bases state-side, overseas and in deployed areas. At these locations, private video teleconferencing is provided to enable families to talk with each other while they are apart. 

"We encourage everyone to stop in and see what we can offer to them," said Mr. Rose. "Even if you just want to stop by during the week to use the computers that we have open for the public." 

For more information, call the Airman and Family Readiness Center at DSN 480-5100/5900 or commercial 011-49-6371-47-5100/5900.