Hours of Operation
Monday – Friday: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Hours
Address Information
Bldg. 72
Address
Military & Family Readiness
About Us
The RAF Croughton Military and Family Readiness (M&FR) offers a multitude of programs and services aimed at improving the quality of life for all military members, DoD employees, and their families. The staff at our M&FR are key resources on the installation and a gateway to accessing all of the resources available to you. They provide information, support and services to help you balance the demands of family and the overseas military lifestyle.
Please call DSN (312) 236.8158 or COMM +44.01280.70.8158 for more information.
The M&FR is one part of the overall installation support system, which is the network of agencies, programs, services, partnerships and individuals that supports your personal and family life readiness, mobilization and deployment readiness, and relocation and economic readiness. The M&FR should be one of your first stops upon arriving at any installation as our programs and services are an important resource for you and your family.
Employment Assistance
Need assistance with career planning? The overall goal of the Employment Assistance Program is to enhance the marketability and employability of family members, transitioning military members, and DoD civilians. Achieving this goal means addressing these program objectives: assisting in career planning; helping family members learn job-search skills, and increasing opportunities for paid and volunteer employment. The training and information provided can help you identify and reach your employment and career development goals, manage employment challenges associated with a mobile lifestyle and develop job search skills.
The M&FR provides federal and private sector resume workshops.
Military Spouse Employment Partnership
MSEP is part of DoD’s broader Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) initiative, which seeks to strengthen the education and career opportunities of military spouses by providing career exploration opportunities to help them understand their skills, interests, and goals; education and training to help them identify academic, licensing, or credentialing requirements that can help them reach their career goals; employment readiness assistance to optimize their self-marketing skills; and employment connections that help them find and maintain a rewarding career. MSEP, a targeted recruitment and employment solution, creates employment connections that provide companies with direct access to military spouses seeking career opportunities and spouses with direct access to employers who are actively recruiting. MSEP currently has more than 360 partners, who have hired over 120,000 military spouses.
Employment Resources
Spouse Programs
Click on the tabs to find out more infomation about all the programs we offer for our Spouse’s.
Key Spouse Program
The primary purpose of this position is to work with unit leadership to plan, coordinate, and execute the unit’s Key Spouse Program.
This program impacts mission readiness and retention by ensuring families have appropriate information and resources to meet their needs.
Readiness and Deployment
Deployments, extended TDYs, and remote/unaccompanied assignments are synonymous with life in the military and present unique challenges for members and their families. Family Readiness prepares the entire family for separation through planning, education, and direct one-on-one support.
Resources are available for the whole family including deployment literature, children’s activity books and much more. Post-deployment assistance is also offered as a part of the returning member’s reintegration process.
Reintegration support is offered to both the military member and to family members. Reintegration and Pre-deployment briefings are held throughout the month. Spouses are highly encouraged to attend.
Readiness
Provides advice and resources on family readiness issues and assistance to family members before, during, and after times of mobilization, separation or evacuation. The M&FR Readiness promotes preparedness for these situations through family education briefings like pre-deployment, and reintegration seminars, spouse support groups, the Hearts Apart program.
In addition, the Family Readiness maintains contact with spouses during separations through email and monthly phone calls.
Heart Link
Service two Our FREE full day Heart Link Program is designed to strengthen military families and enhance mission readiness. Our goal is to educate spouses (especially those new to the Air Force family) and assist in their acclimation to the military environment, the program is open to any military spouse new to the Croughton area.
Heart Link includes orientation activities consisting of presentations from base agencies, and interaction with other spouses. By the end of the day, each spouse should walk away knowing they are an important and respected part of the Croughton, Welford and Fairford team!
Personal & Work Life
Personal & Work Life services promote community wellness and assist with the readiness and resiliency of the force across the life cycle.
Services include intervention, prevention/enrichment consultation and skills building designed to enhance work/life competencies for individuals, couples and families. Focus is on promoting, enriching and improving work/home balance, resulting in increased quality of life and resiliency. Activities will be educational and offered through individual and group settings to meet identified community needs.
Loan Locker
Items are available to Active military and their families moving in or out of the RAF Croughton, RAF Welford and RAF Fairford community and those temporarily assigned here. While you are waiting for your household goods, we have dishes, happy lamps, GPS and pots & pans that you can check out.
CALL NOW TO CHECK OUT OUR STUFF!!
Military & Family Counselor Program
Maureen Barnard
base at the moment.
Financial Assistance
Personal Financial Readiness Program
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Financial assistance is given when a qualifying individual cannot otherwise pay for specific basic needs due to an emergency situation. Our office can also act as the liaison to our sister services such as Army Emergency Relief and Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.
AFAS Loans/Grants may be given for verifiable emergency situations including food, emergency travel, vehicle repair, rent, and the prevention of utility disconnection. AFAS is the official charity of the U.S. Air Force and promotes the Air Force mission by helping “to relieve distress of Air Force members and their families and assisting them to finance their education”.
AFAS can provide emergency assistance to help with short-term financial difficulties. In addition, AFAS offers a multitude of special programs for Air Force members and families. For more information or to request assistance, please contact the M&FR or go to the AFAS and sister service websites at:
Air Force Aid Society and Emergency Financial Assistance
Stephen Fineman, ChFC
Installation PFC | Personal Financial Counselor
Building 72
Mobile: 07562791740
Email: PFC.Croughton.USAF@zeiders.com
Relocation Assistance Program
The M&FR’s goal is to ease the personal and family stressors military families experience with a permanent change of station (PCS) by providing assistance, counseling, sponsorship training, and education throughout all phases of the relocation process.
Service members stationed at RAF Croughton, RAF Fairford, and RAF Welford will need to in-process with the M&FRC to schedule their mandatory Newcomer’s Orientation
Information & Referral
Information and referral is at the heart of everything we do at the M&FR. We will answer your questions or provide the service you need. If we cannot answer your question, we will connect you with other resources. Whether you are new to the United Kingdom and/or Air Force – you may have questions about living overseas or about different base agencies. An integral function of the family center, information and referral services can assist you in identifying and clarifying needs to determine appropriate forms of assistance and help locate needed services and programs available both on and off your installation, and national resources. When you aren’t sure who to ask, ask the RAF Croughton M&FR.
Computer Resource Center
The computer resource center provides computers with Internet access for customers to use at any time during the computer resource center hours. Computers can be used for job search, resume writing, checking private e-mail accounts, online banking etc. All computers offer internet access for family members and those not authorized to use the base network.
Looking for the most current information on moving tips or other military installations?
Transition Assistance
Provides retiring and separating military members, and their family members the tools and training required by the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) act of 2012 to make a successful transition from the military to civilian life.
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The program consist of three phases beginning with Pre-separation counseling, which is recommended to be completed two years prior to retirement or one year prior to separation. Phase two is the 5-day Transition GPS (Goals, Plan, Success) Workshop which includes the Department of Labor Employment workshop, a comprehensive VA Benefits briefing and classes to ease the transition to civilian life. The final phase of the Transition Assistance Program is the Capstone where commanders and TAP counselors verify service members are ready for a successful transition. More information can be found at the DoD TAP (www.dodtap.mil) website.
