News

116th ACW earns top family readiness award

  • Published
  • By Major Renee Massey
  • 116 ACW/PA
Robins Air Force Base, GA --  Commitment to the management philosophy that the most valuable resource of any successful organization is its employees and that by taking care of the people; they in turn will take care of the mission is evident by the 116th Air Control Wing earning the state of Georgia's top award for family readiness.

The wing received the 2007 Georgia National Guard Outstanding Family Readiness and Support award, for the second year in a row, during the Georgia National Guard annual Family Readiness Workshop and Leadership Conference Aug. 12-14 in Atlanta.

"We have an extremely robust program that reaches out to over 2,600 Air National Guard, Air Force, and Army service members and their families," said Eileen Byrd, 116th Family Readiness coordinator. "In 2007, the wing deployed roughly 1,593 people in 12 separate deployments, and for each deployment pre-briefing, the 116th Family Readiness Office was there to establish contact with the service members and their families."

Immediately after each deployment, Mrs. Byrd makes contact with the member's spouse through use of a database comprised of email addresses and phone numbers. She also serves as a conduit between the spouse, the service member, and the unit. Day or night, she receives phone calls from spouses on a myriad of crises ranging from a family illness to broken house-hold appliances.

On one occasion, Mrs. Byrd assisted a family member after an Airman suffered a major heart attack while deployed. She coordinated with the American Red Cross, assisted the family member with travel arrangements, and was there to provide assurance and help alleviate stress.

With help from volunteers, the Family Readiness Office created the '116th Wing Yellow Pages.' This is a directory of wing members and their families who have a business or can offer a service at a reasonable rate to other wing members such as providing child care, lawn care service, and auto repairs to only name a few. The premise is to provide assistance to a spouse in need while their loved one is deployed.

Additionally, the Family Readiness Office provides assistance through its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. This program offers free preparation and electronic filing of federal and state income tax.

"2007 was a banner year for the program," said Mrs. Byrd. "We had 12 volunteers who prepared and filed more than 400 tax returns-- and the best news is we had zero errors!"
As the holiday season quickly approaches, the annual 'Family to Family Foundation,' supported by the Family Readiness Office and many kind-hearted wing and community volunteers, will kick off another year of bringing holiday cheer. The foundation provides gifts of clothing, toys and food to those in need. During last year's holiday season, the foundation assisted 192 families from the 116th ACW and the local community.

"Having a strong family support program is important to me," said Brig. Gen. Tom Moore, 116th ACW commander. "Our top priority is to take care of the members of this wing and their families, and this award is a measure of our successful program."

If you would like to volunteer or become a member of the 116th spouses information distribution list, call or email Mrs. Byrd at 201-1286 or eileen.byrd@garobi.ang.af.mil.