Key Spouse program to become standardized

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Rich Romero
  • 423rd Air Base Group public affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE ALCONBURY, England --  Attendees of a three-day workshop here March 14-16 finalized a standard Key Spouses Program for command-wide implementation.

The Key Spouse Program is an outreach effort of the family support center that uses commander- or first sergeant-appointed spouses in units to help address concerns and issues of the families of deployed members. These volunteers offer support, information and a personal connection to available resources as well as serve as a link between the unit commander and the families.

The 16 people who attended the workshop completed the training materials and methodologies to standardize a program for training new key spouses throughout U.S. Air Forces in Europe, and possibly the Air Force.

Air Combat Command sent its Family Matters superintendent and the Air Force Personnel Center wants to evaluate the products for possible use service-wide, according to Dr. Thomas Appel-Schumacher, USAFE Family Matters plans and programs chief.

“USAFE took the lead to update and improve program products that was sorely needed,” said Master Sgt. Roger Bullis, ACC Family Matters superintendent. “There was a lot we felt was missed out on in the past that needed to be incorporated into new material; most importantly, integrating key spouses into the unit and putting structure into the program. I think we’ve done that.”

For the past nine months, USAFE Family Matters and its family support centers have been developing these materials via telephone conferences and e-mails to replace the base-specific, informal program of the past.

“We’ve had informal training material and guides for years,” said Dr. Appel-Schumacher. “What we have now are synchronized reference materials for spouses and commanders. We enhanced, updated and standardized the material more so than before.”

Lt. Col. Suzie Kumashiro, 31st Mission Support Group deputy commander at Aviano Air Base, Italy, said that was important because commanders shouldn’t have to come up with their own training programs.

“We owe it to commanders and organizations to give them the program,” she said. “We don’t ask them to come up with training programs for other standardized positions such as superintendents or first sergeants. I want to see key spouses as a standardized position because their addition to the unit completes the team.”

From past experience as a squadron commander with an active Key Spouses Program, Colonel Kumashiro said they are absolutely vital.

“This is a direct link into one of the most important aspects of a unit..what families need,” she said. “This gets their needs stated to you, from the people living the needs, and it’s unfiltered. It’s coming from people who are living the needs, not someone who thinks they know what is needed.”

Workshop attendees included subject matter experts from all aspects of readiness support for families, current key spouses, a commander and first sergeant, representing every USAFE main operating base, a few geographically-separated units and even stateside bases.

Dr. Appel-Schumacher believes the program now emphasizes and legitimizes the position for key spouses.

“Since they are appointed by the commander or first sergeant, it lets people know they are dealing with someone in a leadership position in the unit,” he said.

Heidi Sobotik, a key spouse for the 100th Communications Squadron at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, has been asking for solutions to these types of issues with the program in the past. As a result, she was asked to be part of the solution.

“The orientation training for new key spouses really needed to explain how they accomplish their responsibilities,” she said. “The reference guide sorely needed updating. As the program grew, the guide didn’t and was always outdated. Those were two major issues we fixed.”

In her opinion, though, the biggest improvement was providing enough training and reference material for a new key spouse to succeed in that role rather than struggling to get by.

“We enhanced the training and reference materials enough that now a new single key spouse in a unit has the tools to be successful, when before that just wasn’t the case,” Mrs. Sobotik said.

Dr. Appel-Schumacher also hopes that the improvements in the program will encourage commanders to actively seek spouses instead of relying on them to volunteer for the position.