As mentioned in a previous blog post, each branch of military service operates a form of retiree service tailored to the specific needs of their retirees. I plan to discuss each one briefly and we may as well take the services in alphabetical order. The Air Force Retiree Activities Program is authorized by AF Instruction 36-3106. Headquarters U.S. Air Force established the program to serve military retirees (along with their spouses, widows and widowers) while unifying the retired and active duty communities.
At base level, the Retiree Activities Office (RAO) or Satellite Retiree Activities Office (SRAO) is the focal point of the Air Force Retiree Activities Program, and its success depends on the support of the Installation Commander. The Commander appoints an RAO or SRAO Director and designates the installation Vice Commander as the installation RAO/SRAO Coordinator. The Coordinator maintains regular contact with the RAO Director and provides liaison between the active duty staff and the Director.
Retiree Activities Offices are manned by volunteers from all services plus any surviving spouses who wish to volunteer. Each office operates through command channels and helps retirees find answers to questions concerning survivor benefits, Veterans Administration services, Tricare and other health-related issues, base services, referrals for legal assistance, military pay, personnel actions, space-available travel, and many other subjects. They also work with various base agencies to set up Retiree Appreciation Day events and, on some bases, assist the staff of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) office. The TAP office assists and advises active-duty Airmen nearing retirement.
The Air Force Retiree Services Web site maintains an RAO locator application that lists contact information for all Air Force RAOs. They offer an assortment of good material on their “RAO” page. You can follow this link to find your nearest Air Force RAO or identify offices in any other areas of interest to you:
Most of the larger Air Force installations maintain a very good Web site and provide at least one page for use by their local RAO. I like the RAO presentation on the Joint Base Andrews site. Apparently, there is an exceptional RAO located on Andrews. Please take a moment (after reading this post of course) and follow our next link to the Joint Base Andrews RAO page:
When funding is available, an RAO usually publishes a newsletter that is both mailed to area retirees and linked to on the RAO Web page. I didn't find a link for an Andrews RAO newsletter; however, there is a newsletter link leading to nearby Bowling AFB. The Andrews RAO director apparently chooses to use another method of communication. He writes a weekly column for the base newspaper, the Capitol Flyer. I checked, and the director’s column is consistently filled with timely material of interest to retirees. Links to a number of columns are listed in the “News” section of the Andrews Web site, and a good collection of archived articles by the director is available on the Capitol Flyer site.
As a side-note, the entire Joint Base Andrews Web site is well worth some browsing time. For example, their Space-A Travel pages should be of interest to many retirees. Andrews hosts a major MAC Passenger Terminal, and I've heard some good comments about their staff and facilities. I also enjoyed the collection of “Aircraft Fact Sheets” in the “Library” section.
As a closing thought, I have noticed that regardless of the location or size of an Air Force Base, each Retiree Activities Office needs a few more volunteers to help staff the office and fill out the RAO team. Some retiree functions staff one central office and have one or more volunteers working each duty day. On larger bases, the RAO may conduct its business from a main office plus one or more smaller locations such as medical clinic, pharmacy, or community center satellite offices. Without fail, the director of each RAO invites any retiree or adult family member who lives near the base to give a few hours of their time and help support their local RAO. If possible, please consider volunteering to help your local RAO and other base functions.
Pat
Still Serving
