Group looking for volunteers to discuss life in the Air Force

  • Published
  • By Sarah Olaciregui
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The base will host the 2013 Caring for People forum on March 28 and volunteers are needed to help identify, develop and prioritize issues that affect their personal and professional lives.

Forum officials say the goal of the CfP is to allow community members to provide honest and thoughtful feedback for local, major command and Air Force resolution.

Volunteers can include military members and their spouses, Department of Defense civilians and retirees. There will be six areas of focus, including health and wellness, family support, deployment, single airman support and special needs family member support. A sixth forum will involve teens and will be conducted the evening prior.

"We're looking for servicemembers, civilians, spouses, teens and retirees to join the working groups to identify and discuss problem areas that are affecting life in the Air Force at Hanscom or the military as a whole," said Don Gonsalves, Community Support Coordinator. "We want as many people as possible to participate in order to get a true picture of what issues are out there and we want to know your concerns directly from those facing them on a daily basis."

The forum, which is Air Force mandated, takes place from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 28 in the Hanscom Conference Center, Building 1106.

After the forum, the issues and concerns will be presented to base leadership. Local issues will be given to the appropriate agencies to work on and find solutions. Air Force-level issues will be forwarded to Air Force Materiel Command and possibly to the Air Force Community Action Information Board for consideration

As a result of previous forums, for example, the Air Force established the Single Airman Support Program, assigned school liaison officers to all Air Force bases and enhanced services for exceptional family members.

Anyone interested in participating or offering a discussion topic should contact Gonsalves via email at donald.gonsalves@hanscom.af.mil or by phone at 781-225-1771.