Celebrating the Year of the Air Force Family initiative with the DePLAYment Program

Published Jan. 13, 2010
By Staff Sgt. John Gordinier
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The Year of the Air Force Family initiative is an Air Force-wide program from July 2009 to July 2010

The program is a celebration of the families of servicemembers, and it has a two-fold purpose.

"We are celebrating, but we are also looking at the programs that we currently have," said Erica Brown, 20th Force Support Squadron community readiness technician. "Each agency is looking at their programs to see how they can improve and revamp those programs."

One of the new programs offered here is the DePLAYment Program.

The DePLAYment Program is part of the Year of the Air Force Family initiative, Ms. Brown said. The purpose of the DePLAYment Program is to provide families of deployed members free child care, youth classes, sports programs and much more during a parent's deployment. It is designed to provide support to the family of deployed servicemembers.

"When you think of families, if they are strong, they will better sustain a deployment and that's what we are trying to do with the DePLAYment Program," Ms. Brown added.

The DePLAYment Program has "key tags" that are given to the spouses and family members. They are available for pickup at the Airman and Family Readiness Center here. All a family member has to have is a copy of their spouse's deployment orders. Any deployment between July 2009 and July 2010 is eligible, and the "key tags" expire three months after the servicemember returns from deployment.

For people who want to know what kinds of programs are available in the Year of the Air Force Family and what events are going on around Shaw, they can go to www.myairforcelife.com and select Shaw, she concluded. It gives information about what kinds of events are occurring and when.

For more information, go to www.myairforcelife.com or contact the Airman and Family Readiness Center at 895-1252.