FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. – Fairchild Air Force Base hosted the 16th Annual Military Family Summit at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, Aug. 14, 2024, as a unique opportunity to bring together servicemembers and their families with Department of Defense leaders, U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Sanford Bishop Jr. and military family support organizations. The summit is held annually to discuss the most pressing issues facing all military personnel and their families today, including pay and benefits, community integration and transition, and the health and well-being of families and children. During the summit, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy E. Black provided remarks as the keynote speaker. Fairchild AFB is one of only two bases that holds an Annual Military Family Summit. Below are some of the questions and topics covered in the Q&A.
Q: What plans should the Fairchild family be aware of concerning base housing availability?
A: Currently, on-base housing is doing well, and most individuals are waiting only about a month to get on-base housing and off-base availability is fantastic! In 2022, the average wait time was six months. The local community has opened a lot of housing. Over the last three years, our Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates have increased locally, between 40% and 50% depending on the anchor points.
Q: What kind of solutions can we look forward to concerning food insecurity?
A: The Fairchild food pantry has been open since 2021, and we’re meeting the needs of 187 families this year alone. That number has grown in recent years. In 2021, we saw around 180 families, then in 2023 we saw 197 families. I expect that number to grow as we continue to build the information regarding our facility and ensure that people feel comfortable coming to our facility.
Q: What can we expect in support of families with special needs children and family members?
A: With all the challenges of places not accepting Tricare, we have done a good job of becoming creative in finding ways to seek help. Families can find somebody who can help in communities such as the Eastern State Hospital and state agencies. We also have a 100% free special needs military binder on our website. The website allows you to put together all the medical documents as a complete picture and allows you to hand them off to doctors and therapists to seek help. Exceptional Family Member Program (af.mil)
Q: Spouse unemployment is a very real problem, what is being done to ensure that spouses have as transferable jobs as their military counterpart?
A: State law requires us to accelerate licensure of military spouses so that within 30 days of their application getting into our system we are required to issue the license. Not only are we in compliance with that across all our various licensing programs we have about 40 programs to ensure the maximum amount of people are helped.
Q: To go along with spouse unemployment, a big factor with that is childcare, what improvements can we expect in that area?
A: There is some legal leeway in co-op care, as well as if you have someone come into your home that is considered a nanny and does not fall under our 10-hour requirement, here at Fairchild we have had a lot of success looking at applicable waivers for each unique situation. Reach out to our childcare development center for further coordination. We have a lot of support from our leadership to explore these waivers.