Take advantage of Travis' benefits

  • Published
  • By Col. Steve Arquiette
  • 60th AMW commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  When I meet with our newest Airmen on Travis at the First Term Airmen's Center, I always ask them why they joined our Air Force. Aside from serving their country, education, health benefits coupled with travel opportunities round out the top reasons why they joined our Air Force. These young Airmen are excited to be beginning their careers and exploring all that serving in the Air Force offers. Many of us who've been around for a bit longer often get wrapped up in the busy ops tempo and forget to make time to take advantage of these benefits.

As many of you have heard, I'm a strong advocate for doing everything you can do for self improvement for both your professional and personal life. Obtaining your college degree [or advanced degree] can take you places that would be much harder, or even impossible, to get without one. As enlisted members, whether you want to be a Chief, maybe jump ship and become an officer as I did, or get out when your time is up, without an education, you won't have many options. For officers and civilians the same applies—higher education opens many doors. Never forget that there are many educational benefits available to you here at Travis. Mr. Jose Dorte and his team at the Education Center here on base offer many great options, so please contact them at 424-3444.

Team Travis is lucky to be the home of the David Grant Medical Center, the Air Force's second largest medical center. The huge array of advanced technologies available to you is absolutely impressive! While mobility and flying status can be a factor, surgeries such as PRK and LASIK and advanced dental care are available for military members. I encourage you to work with your doctors and supervisors to take advantage of the many medical benefits available to you and your families, especially while DGMC is in your own backyard.

Another benefit of being stationed at Travis is the opportunity to travel Space-Available. While this can only be used while you are on leave, flights depart for the Pacific and East coast daily, often with seats available for Space-A travelers. Popular vacation spots like Hawaii and Europe are common destinations for our aircraft and Space-A is a great way to see the world affordably. Call the Passenger Terminal hotline at 424-1854 for more information on the travel benefits available to you.
You'll find that one of the biggest benefits of serving in the world's best Air Force at Travis is the tremendous respect and support we have from our local civilian communities. They're very proud of you and what Team Travis does for our nation every day. I encourage everyone to spend time in the local community volunteering or even just talking to the residents.
T
hough we're all pretty busy here at Travis, please take advantage of the benefits the base and our very supportive local community offers. Deb, Stevie and I had a great afternoon last Saturday taking a tour of San Francisco Bay on a boat from the Travis Marina which is located right at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Sure we're all busy, but we've got to have some fun along the way! We're blessed to have so much that is so close - take some time to enjoy it! As always, please make smart choices with your activities and keep safety front and foremost in your minds.
BE PROUD! BE SAFE!!