Maintaining mission readiness

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Deana Heitzman
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  When making important notifications about the death or serious illness of an Airman, the Air Force depends on a member's emergency record, which if not kept up-to-date -- can create a race against time.

Virtual Record of Emergency Data, or vRED, is an online document used to search for beneficiaries of service members' to be granted death gratuity and unpaid pay and allowances. It is also used to obtain phone numbers, addresses and any other information to help notify a next of kin.

"Notifying next of kin as soon as possible when something happens is very important to us," said Master Sgt. Agustin Nazario-Richard, 31st Force Support Squadron Airman and Family Readiness Center superintendent. "Most of the time, when we have problems notifying a family member is because the information on their vRED is wrong."

Nazario-Richard explains that when time becomes an issue, so does social media. If the notification is taking time, the members of the squadron or friends typically begin to send out condolences as soon as possible. Social media might be a popular way to express sympathy or concern, but according to Nazario-Richard, it's important to wait until formal notification to the family has been made.

During a proper NOK notification, a notification team consisting of a major or above, typically the member's commander, a medical officer and a chaplain, locate the family member at the address listed on their vRED. If the family member is not there, the notification team is not allowed to leave.

"We cannot stress having the proper addresses in the NOK boxes enough," said Michelle Tufano, 31 FSS AFRC community readiness specialist. "In previous cases, it took us almost 18 hours to notify someone's mother. We do not want roaming around a city trying to find a parent or a spouse. We want to notify them as fast as possible in a dignified way."

The vRED is also the method the Air Force uses to locate beneficiaries to grant death gratuity, which is all unpaid pay allowances and a lump sum payment of $100,000 to cover immediate and unplanned expenses associated with a service member's death.

"We encourage service members to address their beneficiaries by name rather than putting 'by law,'" said Tufano. "By selecting 'by law' there is a certain order we have to follow, which is as follows: Your surviving spouse, your children and then your parents."

Service members can also state who becomes responsible for the direct disposition of thier remains, work with the Air Force's mortuary affairs personnel, carry out all funeral arrangements and direct government disbursements to pay for authorized expenses. This is under the "person authorized for direct disposition" box in vRED and this person may be different from their beneficiary.

When filling out a vRED, there is a section titled "Additional Remarks." Nazario-Richard and Tufano recommend service members add remarks such as directions to a family member's home, specific burial requests, lack of parental involvement, family member seasonal addresses and an explanation of past marriages.

"Everyone wants to think 'It will never happen to me. I am just doing this to fill out the squares so people will get off my back.' But it is really important," said Tufano. "You never know what is going to happen tomorrow and you want it to make it as easy as possible to find your family if something happens."