A C-130H Hercules flies during a training mission over Yokota Air Base, Japan, Sept. 24, 2013. The C-130H provides tactical airlift worldwide. Its flexible design allows it the capability to operate in austere environments. (Air Force photo by Osakabe Yasuo/Released)
By: FEDweek StaffThe senior-most officers and enlisteds in the Air Force and Space Force and their spouses shared a common message they all feel strongly about, during a panel discussion at the Air and Space Forces Association’s annual Air, Space and Cyber Conference.
“You’re allowed to take care of your family,” Chief of Space Operations John W. “Jay” Raymond told the audience.
Joining him and his wife Mollie on the panel were: Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., and his wife Sharene; Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger A. Towberman and his wife Rachel Rush; and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass and her husband Rahn.
Gen. Brown discussed the Air Force’s efforts to help airmen through a time rendered uncertain by the Covid-19 pandemic, high inflation, and international tension and conflict. Adjustments to the basic allowances for housing and subsistence helped, he said, but not enough.
“There’s been some engagement within OSD [the office of the Secretary of Defense] to take a look at some of our families – particularly those at the lower end of the pay scale,” Gen. Brown said.
The upshot could be a one-time payment to these families, he said, to help them get back on track.
Sharene Brown urged families to take advantage of key spouses on bases, who could prove to be invaluable resources.
“They might be trying to reach out to you,” she added.
With his wife sitting next to him, Rahn Bass nodded in agreement when the Air Force’s senior-most enlisted mentioned that he probably took their two daughters to Pizza Hut a bit too often during her deployments.
On a serious note, Rahn Bass, discussed the necessity for couples to communicate. “It requires that honest conversation with your significant other,” he said.
Roger Towberman agreed. “Know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” he said.
“We tell each other what works and what doesn’t,” Rachel Rush added.
Gen. Raymond noted that Space Force families are additionally burdened by the service having just been established.
“We’re building new career paths [and] going to bases they may have never gone before,” he said.
Mollie Raymond recalled the day a few months ago when she and her husband reviewed the Space Force’s first recruit graduating class, and taking pictures with new guardians and their families. She recounted a particular instance, in which the little brother of one female guardian at after one photo session.
“He looked up at Jay and said, ‘Please take care of my sister,’” Mollie Raymond told the audience. “Please think of your guardians and airmen as your sister,” she told the audience.
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