Base mobilizes during finance week

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Nicholas DeFranco
  • 60th Comptroller Squadron financial services officer
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Military Saves Week is a financial readiness initiative endorsed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and implemented by installations across the Air Force.

The intent of the annual campaign is to improve readiness of Airmen, families and, ultimately, the mission through proactive and deliberate financial management. Travis always is a key participant in Military Saves Week.

This year's campaign occurred the week of Feb. 25 to March 1 and official results are in. Every year, there is a push for military members and their dependents to take the Saver's Pledge. It is a personal commitment to either save money, reduce debt, or just financially educate themselves to be able to live within their financial means.

In 2012, Travis finished No. 1 in the Air Force. This year's goals were to repeat as No. 1 in the Air Force and financially empower members of the Travis community. We did not disappoint.

This year the responsibility was put on members to take the Saver's Pledge. In previous years, group and squadron point of contacts would distribute and collect pledge cards and input them onto the Military Saves website. The problem was that, for some, it was merely putting their contact information on a piece of paper, which lost its meaning when the member handed the pledge card to their POC.

In 2013, the POCs urged members to log in and do it themselves. A free credit report with no strings attached was then provided as an incentive to do so. Putting personal responsibility on the member added to the value and meaning of the numbers. Travis finished with 1,245 Saver's Pledges, almost 16 percent of the entire Air Force total.

The second goal of financially empowering members of the Travis community also was achieved. There were 192 individuals who attended financial workshops offered by the Airman and Family Readiness Center, Armed Forces Bank and Travis Credit Union.

When Tom Bradley, A&FRC chief, was asked what was the biggest challenge with the campaign, he said, "Classroom space at the A&FRC. It was just too packed over here some days. What a great problem to have though."

This is a testament that the intent of the campaign was in full swing during the last week of February.

When Bradley was asked what is the best part of the campaign for him and his A&FRC staff, he said, "As a financial counselor, this is our Christmas time. It's a blast. We get to make a difference in so many people's lives. Military Saves can change your life. It's that awesome."