Air Force Aid Society
Emergency Assistance - Loan Application
Education/Scholarship Assistance
Community Enhancement Programs
Assistance to Other Branches - Headquarters AFAS
The Air Force Aid Society (AFAS) is the official charity of the United States Air Force. Its three-pronged charter promotes the Air Force mission by providing worldwide emergency assistance to members and their families, sponsoring educational assistance programs, and offering a variety of base community enhancement programs that impact member/family welfare.
Eligible members have access to interest free loans which can assist in meeting financial needs and obligations relating to food, shelter (rent/mortgage), utilities, living expenses, emergency leave expenses, moving assistance, primary vehicle repair, and expensive family member medical or dental procedures. Loan Application
Eligibility:
- Active duty members and their dependents
- Retired Air Force personnel and their dependents, but not on a continuing basis. Case by case review.
- Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve personnel on extended duty over 15 days, away from their home station, under Title 10, U.S. Code.
- Spouses and dependent age children of deceased Air Force personnel (who died on active duty or in retired status).
If you feel you require emergency financial assistance, please contact the Airman & Family Readiness Center at 777-4681 to meet with one of our staff.
7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
After hours emergency, please contact your First Sergeant.
Emergency Assistance
Everyone faces tough challenges in life. The Air Force Aid Society exists to provide assistance to you and your family in time of need.
AFAS assistance is active duty oriented. Our top priority is to relieve distress of active duty members to allow them to focus on their jobs. If the military member is deployed, on remote, or in the process of PCS, the spouse will need a Power of Attorney, obtainable through the base legal office, to receive Air Force Aid financial assistance.
AFAS maintains an open door policy that encourages individuals to apply for assistance when they feel an emergency situation exists -- but keeps the door open for commander involvement when a personal problem reaches the point of significantly affecting the performance of duty.
What AFAS can assist with:
Basic Living Expenses
Emergency Vehicle Repairs
Emergency Travel Expenses
Moving Expenses
Funeral Expenses
Medical/Dental Expenses
Emergency assistance usually combines an assessment of the emergency situation and an evaluation of the personal budget to arrive at a decision to make an interest free loan, a grant, or combination of both.
Loan Application
Falcon Loan
Effective 3 March 2008, the Air Force Aid Society has provided a new loan available to active duty Air Force members.
The Falcon loan is a loan of $500 or less that can be used for emergency needs such as basic living expenses (rent, utilities, food), car repairs, emergency travel, or other approved needs.
The streamlined application requires no budget information, or backup documentation. The check is written directly to the military member.
Applying for a Falcon Loan is as easy as 1-2-3
1. Download and fill out the Application
2. ID card and current LES required
3. Call and schedule an appointment at the Airman & Family Readiness Center 777-4681
To be eligible for a Falcon Loan, you must be an Active Duty Air Force member or spouse with Power of Attorney stationed at an Air Force base with an Airman and Family Readiness Center, and cannot have a current Air Force Aid Society loan. You will be expected to repay your Falcon Loan by allotment within 10 months or by your ETS if less than 10 months.
Receiving a Falcon Loan does not make you ineligible to receive a standard Air Force Aid Society loan/grant while you are repaying your Falcon Loan. However, you are ineligible to receive a second Falcon loan until the first Falcon Loan has been paid in full. Back to back Falcon Loans are not approved.
For more information on the Falcon Loan, please visit your Airman & Family Readiness Center or the AFAS website at www.afas.org
Educational Assistance
General Arnold Education Grant Program
Recognizing the increasing cost of education, the AFAS created this program in 1988. The program provides $2,000 education grants for tuition, books and fees, or other direct education expenses.
Eligibility:
- Sons and Daughters of Active Duty, Title 10 AGR/Reserve, Title 32 AGR performing full-time active duty, retired, retired reserve and deceased Air Force members
- Spouses (stateside) of Active Duty members and Title 10 AGR/Reservists
- Surviving spouses of deceased personnel
The AFAS Grant Program application deadlines for the 2009-2010 academic year are March 6, 2009.
You should allow enough mailing time to ensure that the preliminary application and all other forms are received in time to meet deadlines.
There will be no extensions to the grant program deadlines!
For full details and application procedures go to:
http://www.afas.org/Education/body_grant.cfm
General Brown Spouse Tuition Assistance Program (STAP)
AFAS offers this program to all OVERSEAS bases where employment opportunities are generally limited. Students are selected on a needs basis and 50% of unmet tuition is paid, subject to terms and annual limitations.
Eligibility:
All spouses of Active Duty Air Force personnel, who accompany members (Command Sponsored) to OVERSEAS locations participating in the program are eligible candidates. Individuals who wish to participate must submit a completed application for STAP to the overseas Base Education Office.
Contact your local Airman & Family Readiness Center for application deadlines for each term.
For full details and application procedures go to:
http://www.afas.org/Education/body_stap.cfm
Community Enhancement Programs
The Air Force Aid Society offers a variety of programs that improve member/family welfare
Child Care for Volunteers - Child Care for PCS Program Give Parents a Break - Bundles for Babies
Youth Employment Skills - Heart Link
Car Care Because We Care
The program allows a spouse whose sponsor will be deployed over 30 days to receive preventive maintenance (oil/filter change & lube) on the family’s primary vehicle. If additional repairs are needed, the spouse is referred to the AFAS to apply for a loan if necessary.
Child Care for Volunteers
Recognizing the importance of volunteers to the base community, the Air Force Aid Society provides funding for the Child Care for Volunteers program at Hill Air Force Base. Child care expenses through a licensed Family Child Care provider are paid for volunteers who support program which benefit the Air Force community. The program is not meant to pay for child care for volunteers in resale (Thrift Shop), fund raising, or social activities. Contact the Volunteer Coordinator at the Airman & Family Readiness Center at 777-4681 for details.
Child Care for PCS Program
The Air Force Aid Society (AFAS) will pay up to 20 hours of child care (per child) in licensed Family Child Care (FCC) homes. Families with PCS orders can obtain a Child Care for PCS Certificate at the Airman & Family Readiness Center. Families can receive a certificate at both the base from which they are departing and at their new base. Certificates are good only at the base at which they are issued -- unused hours do not transfer from one base to another.
Families may use the 20 hours of child care within 60 days before the family's departure from a base, and 60 days after arriving at the new base, for a total of 40 hours per child.
Give Parents a Break
The Air Force Aid Society (AFAS) recognizes that Air Force families are subject to unique stresses due to the nature of military life -- deployments, remote tours of duty, extended working hours, etc. Families are often separated from spouses as well as from extended family members who might otherwise offer support. The purpose of this program is to offer eligible parents a few hours break from the stresses of parenting. Active duty Air Force families may use this time to suit their personal needs.
AFAS will pay the cost of having the base Child Development Center (CDC) and Youth Center open once a month for families referred under the program.
Active duty Air Force families eligible for the "Give Parents a Break" program would include those where a parent is feeling stress due to:
- the military member being deployed or TDY
- having a child with special needs
- an emergency situation, such as illness of a family member
- the family recently moving to the base
- unique circumstances or hardships
Note: A referral certificate must be issued by the Airman & Family Readiness Center.
Bundles for Babies
If you are an active duty member or spouse of an active duty member who is expecting a baby or you are a new mother, contact the Airman & Family Readiness Center (777-4681) to sign up for a "Bundles for Babies" class and, upon completion of the class, receive a free "bundle" that the Air Force Aid Society purchased from the Gerber Company. Included in the "bundle" is:
- Large canvas tote bag w/AFAS logo
- Thermal weave plaid cotton crib blanket
- Chambray towel set
- Chambray wash puppy
- White knit crib sheet
- 2 pack printed cotton receiving blanket
- 4 pack cotton diapers
- 2 pack sleep-n-play
- 2 pack onesies
- 2 pair booties
Classes are open to all ranks and are not limited to a first pregnancy.
What a wonderful opportunity to learn more about parenting skills, meet other expectant parents, and receive a great gift for your precious bundle. Contact your A&FRC today for details! 777-4681
Classes are held from 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Airman & Family Readiness Center. To register, call 777-4681.
Youth Employment Skills
The Youth Employment Skills (YES) Program is an on-base volunteer program for high school students. This program, is a joint effort between AFAS and Air Force Family Member Programs Flight to offer high school students an opportunity to learn valuable work skills, "bank" dollar credits toward their post-secondary education/training, and have a positive impact on their base community.
YES allows high school students to "bank" $4 in grant funding for every hour volunteered in an on base function. Students may accumulate as much as 250 hours over all 4 years of high school combined, for a potential maximum of $1,000 toward their future vocational-technical or academic endeavors. In addition, the base will be credited with $2 for every volunteer hour, to be used in support of base youth program enhancements (up to $10,000 per year).
Eligiblity Requirements:
- Dependent sons and daughters of Active Duty Air Force members, assigned to a participating base, and living on or off base.
- Enrolled in a high school attending full-time as freshmen, sophomore, junior or senior.
Contact the Youth Center 777-2419 to enroll in the program.
Student volunteers must complete YES Program Enrollment Application for each year of participation. Program year is from 1 June through 31 May.
Heart Link
The objective of the Heart Link Program is to strengthen military families and enhance mission readiness. Appreciating that spouses play an important role in re-enlistment decisions, therefore impacting retention, a major program goal is to help spouses, especially those with the Air Force five years of less, acclimate to the Air Force/military environment.
The next Heart Link is held quarterly.
Call the Airman & Family Readiness Center at 777-4681 to register!
Attach March Heart Link Flyer
Assistance to/from Other Branches
The military relief societies have cross-servicing agreements to
provide financial assistance to personnel of other services when their
own relief society representatives are not nearby. Assistance will be
provided by AFAS sections to Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast
Guard personnel and their dependents when an Army Emergency
Relief (AER), Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS), or
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance (CGMA) office is not readily
accessible.
Contact Hill AFB Airman & Family Readiness Center at 777-4681 for assistance.