Air Force Families Forever (AFFF) is a long-term survivor aftercare program established to provide support to family members of deceased Regular Air Force and Reserve Component Airmen who died in an Active Duty, Inactive Duty for Training (IDT), or Annual Training (AT) status and whose relationship was established prior to the Airman’s death. This includes RegAF, Guard, and Reserve Airmen. Specific procedures have been devised to provide support to eligible Next-of-Kin (NOK) through Airman & Family Readiness Centers (A&FRCs) at installations closest to where the survivor resides.
Next of Kin (NOK): widow or widower (remarried or not), each parent (mother, father, stepmother, stepfather, mother through adoption, father through adoption, foster parents who stood in loco parentis), each child (natural, step-children, adopted), and each sibling (brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister) of an Airman.
Each active-duty installation’s A&FRC is the point-of-contact for NOK to receive long term support, including:
Information and Referral
◾ Engagement through targeted contact and incremental outreach
◾ Referral to eligible federal, state, and local resources to include partnering non-governmental organizations
Remembrance and Connection
◾ Connection to installation and community support networks
◾ Recognition/memorialization of deceased Airmen
◾ Coordination with installation leadership to include family members in the AF culture
Installation Access
◾ Sponsorship for NOK through the Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) process
◾ Introduction to installation approved Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) activities
For more information please contact Laura Mellon, Buckley Garrison AFFF Representative, @ 720-847-6681 or Laura.Mellon@spaceforce.mil
The local Airman & Family Readiness Center, or A&FRC, serves as the Installation Voter Assistance (IVA) Office. The IVA Office provides uniformed service members, their family members and overseas citizens with information and assistance on how to request an absentee ballot and vote absentee. These functions are accomplished through the use of two forms:
◾Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), which serves as a request for registration and a request for an absentee ballot; and
◾Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB), which serves as a backup in the event an official absentee ballot is not received.
Installation Voting Assistance Officers (IVAOs) at the A&FRC also provide civilians with access to the IVA Office information and assistance on procedures for registering to vote and updating voter registration information (e.g., change of address). This is accomplished by completing the National Mail Voter Registration Form (NVRF).
In addition to IVAOs, each Air Force unit is required to appoint Unit Voting Assistance Officers (UVAOs) to provide unit personnel with voting information regarding their home state, election dates and absentee voting registration and procedures.
To successfully vote absentee, UOCAVA citizens should:
◾Allow sufficient time to request, receive, and return the absentee ballot
◾Notify your election office each time your mailing address changes
◾Know your state’s absentee voting deadlines and procedures to ensure your ballot is properly executed and counted
◾Complete a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) if you do not receive your state absentee ballot in time to return it to your election office by the state deadline
Visit the A&FRC for more information about voting.
