A&FRC briefing + spouse = deployed spouses parking spots

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Christopher Campbell
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  
The Airman and Family Readiness Center has many services for spouses on RAF Lakenheath, and they just added another to the list.

The new program is designed to provide convenient parking spaces at some designated locations for spouses of deployed Airmen.

"This idea came from brainstorming about ways to get spouses to attend the brief so they could understand all of their benefits available to them while their military member is deployed," said Col. Cassie Barlow, 48th Mission Support Group commander.

Spouses are not always given the information they need, or the military member asks the wrong questions, which is another reason the A&FRC invites spouses to attend their briefings.

"There are some spouses who say, 'I did not know about this program or that one', so we started this program to bring them out, inform them and give them a free parking space," said Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Aumiller, A&FRC Readiness NCO.

Once the decision was made, Colonel Barlow contacted the A&FRC and the 48th Civil Engineer Squadron commander to see what it would take to make it happen. The whole process took less than one month from start to finish, and now it's available to the spouses.

"The CE squadron let me know the parking spots were marked and ready, so I put together a decal, sent it to Colonel Barlow for approval, and the next day I was ready to hand them out," said Sergeant Aumiller.

There are six parking spaces throughout the base -- two at the BX, two at the hospital and two at the commissary. In order to utilize the spaces, spouses will receive a decal that hangs from the rear-view mirror. All valid decals will contain vehicle make and model details, a start and end date and the signature of an A&FRC representative.

Sergeant Aumiller went on to explain, "The only mandatory requirement is they have to come to our briefing. Once you do that, I will sign off on your decal."

Spouses whose Airmen are already deployed can use the program if they attend a briefing or have proof of attending the briefing earlier.

"We prefer the squadrons coordinate with the A&FRC and schedule a mass briefing where we can tailor it to their needs with other base agencies," added Sergeant Aumiller.