When life reaches 'The Turning Point'

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Somewhere on base there's a junior enlisted Airman balancing their checkbook and realizing that even after raising their right hand and enlisting, they still live paycheck to paycheck.

Elsewhere on base there's a Department of Defense civilian who seems to be sick every morning and can't quite shake their drinking habits. They realize this can't continue without jeopardizing their career, body or family.

Over in base housing there's a wife at home caring for a couple of small children and desperately trying to keep her house in order. Her husband is deployed and she is barely making ends meet, yet doesn't know where to go for help.

Have they finally reached The Turning Point ?
 
The Turning Point is the point in a person's life when they are fed up with their circumstances and decide to enrich their lives or minds - to seek help.

A past survey reported that nearly one third of Team Mildenhall's junior enlisted families had trouble living on their incomes and 32 percent of junior enlisted Airmen's spouses didn't know where to go to receive basic command or support information.

As a result of the final 2009 Community Action Information Board, the 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs office started an aggressive and informative campaign called The Turning Point.

This year, PA is refreshing the campaign to target newly assigned or previously uninformed members.

The base is working to create a dynamic avenue to channel massive amounts of information primarily to junior Airmen and their spouses. The idea is to expand public awareness, enhance spousal involvement, and bolster the public Web site pertaining to four focus areas: military preparedness, support for formal agencies, ability of spouses to cope with deployment, and relationship support.

What does that mean for Team Mildenhall?

Get ready to see a series of products on the base website, www.mildenhall.af.mil, and on the base's official social media page, www.facebook.com/RAFMilenhall.

Think back to those 32 percent of spouses, who didn't know where to go for information, by following The Turning Point on either RAF Mildenhall webpage, they can drastically increase their chances for a successful tour here.

These initiatives could mean a lot to a struggling junior family. Moreover, by delivering it through the website and social media, where members may leave comments, it provides an avenue for direct feedback and strengthens readiness.

By linking junior Airmen and their spouses to key programs, the 100th ARW strives to better help Airmen understand their roles, and their spouse's role in deployments. A major goal is to help build supporting relationships by targeting junior Airmen and aligning them with appropriate support agencies, better inform them by social media interaction and provide avenues for feedback.


Editor's note: The Turning Point is a recurring series scheduled to begin in May and culminate later this summer. Look for part 2 of The Turning Point on www.mildenhall.af.mil and www.facebook.com/RAFMildenhall soon.