Groups discuss what Hanscom cares about

  • Published
  • By Sarah Olaciregui
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Last week more than 40 people gathered at the Hanscom Conference Center to share their thoughts and opinions during Hanscom's first Caring for People forum. The goal: identify, develop and prioritize issues that affect their personal and professional lives and identify these to leadership.

Volunteers ranged from military spouses to Department of Defense civilians, as well as officers and enlisted personnel. They discussed Housing, Single Airmen issues and Health and Wellness. In a separate forum, Hanscom teens voiced their concerns about life as military children.

"You're here today because you want to make a difference and you have something to say," said Col. Stacy L. Yike, 66th Air Base Group commander, during her opening remarks. "Today, I challenge you to identify the critical issues, identify who owns those issues and then identify ways to convey your ideas to those who own the issues."

The Air Force-mandated program took place throughout the entire day with the help of facilitators, subject matter experts and recorders.

After discussing single Airmen issues, on-base housing concerns, health and wellness topics and subjects of concerns to teens, representatives from each group briefed the top two issues to representatives of the Community Action Information Board (CAIB). These issues will be forwarded to Air Force Materiel Command where they will undergo a similar process to select those issues to be forwarded to the Air Force CAIB.

The Single Airmen support group didn't just discuss Airmen in the dorms. They conveyed that services available to single parents, such as unique child care support, was an important topic that needed more attention.

The group also brought up financial management for all single Airmen. They recommended creating an "expeditionary fiscal fitness mindset" across the Air Force, with financial courses incorporated into Community College of the Air Force and Career Development Course curricula.

The Health and Wellness group went beyond discussing the fitness center. The group brought forth concerns about the need to standardize education requirements for high school students from state to state and professional licensure for military spouses that must get re-certified as they move from place to place.

In addition, the group suggested establishing a civilian advocate program to act as first sergeants for the civilian workforce and allowing for more flexible work schedules for personnel, such as telework.

The Housing group brought up concerns about children of civilians or contractors attending Lincoln or Bedford schools. They also talked about the need for a clause to be included in the privatized housing contract to allow the base commander to provide more direction or for the company to abide by DoD instructions.

The main concern for teens was bullying. Although many anti-bullying laws and programs are in place in Massachusetts, the teens asked to increase consequences for bullying to children and parents, as well as a proposal for the Air Force to adopt a service-wide anti-bullying policy.

The teens also discussed base access for friends in order to bridge the gap between military and non-military teens at Bedford High School. They proposed allowing teens, 15 years or older, to sponsor friends on base. If that wasn't feasible, they proposed allowing either parents to co-sign or for a training programs to be developed for parents and teens that would allow them to sponsor friends on base.

"Our groups raised a lot of important points," said Lt. Col. Melissa Wells, CAIB executive director. "We can take a lot of the issues raised today and work on them at the local level through the CAIB."

Local issues identified will also be forwarded to Hanscom's Integrated Delivery System (IDS) team for resolution.

"This is an historic event," said Chief Master Sgt. Laura Noel, Electronic Systems Center interim command chief, during the closing remarks. "Important things are happening at Hanscom and throughout the Air Force and you are shaping our future."