An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Airman and Family Readiness Center offers Heartlink to new spouses

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Janelle Patiño
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Military Spouses are not required to attend formal training, but they become a part of the Air Force family as soon as their spouses take the oath. In order for spouses to learn more about the military, the Airman and Family Readiness Center offers a program called Heartlink.

Heartlink provides information to help them adjust to the military way of life and helps them meet new friends at the same time.

"It's a quarterly Air Force spouse orientation where spouses learn military acronyms, protocol, rank, benefits and entitlements, resources on base and local area information," said Mr. Christopher Marble, A&FRC chief. "It's a great way to meet and network with other AF spouses, too."

The program was created by the Air Combat Command Family Matters program in 2002 and has been very helpful to the spouses.

"There is currently no limit as to how many spouses can attend the orientation so they can interact with as many people as they can," Marble said. "Another program where spouses can learn more about the military is Right Start which we offer monthly."

In every program there is, it's important to get feedback so they know what they have to do to improve.

"We've received good feedback ever since we started running the program," he said. "We often hear, 'I had no idea there were that many people there just to help,' from other spouses."

Heartlink is also a prerequisite to becoming a Key Spouse. The Key Spouse program is a formal unit program that offers informal peer-to-peer and wingman family support.

"This program is important because it promotes individual, family and unit readiness, establishes continuous contact with spouses and families, and strengthens the leadership's support team," said Marble. "The program increases awareness of installation and community resources and improves quality of life among unit families."

According to Marble, about 30 to 40 Air Force spouses attend each year here at Fairchild and the A&FRC encourages all spouses to attend Heartlink.

"We encourage them to attend regardless of their 'time in service' as they all have extremely valuable experiences and all have something to contribute to our mission," Marble said. "The program also provides something else that can be valuable to new spouses - a social contact network."

For more information about Heartlink, visit the A&FRC or call (509) 247-2246.