SFS secretary named AETC Spouse of the Year

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Frank Casciotta
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  For the second straight year, a Team Vance spouse is the Air Education and Training Command Key Spouse of the Year.

"I have no idea how I won this award," Raedawn Davis, the wife of Tech. Sgt. Cory Davis, from the 71st Operations Support Squadron Weather Flight, modestly said. "I just do what I always do."

Raedawn is also the 71st Security Forces Squadron secretary.

The goal of the Air Force Key Spouse Program is to promote a sense of community within the squadrons at a base.

Recently, a spouse of a 71st SFS Airman was in a car accident and the SFS member was TDY when it happened. Davis heard about the accident and immediately assembled volunteers to help.

"We've been in contact with the spouse and have made sure she had meals during her recovery," said Davis.

Davis said she's made it her personal mission to ensure the SFS spouses feel welcome and are well-taken care of.

"Some spouses haven't heard of Key Spouse Programs because it wasn't promoted very well at their last base, or this is their first base," said Davis. "Here, we try to do as much as we can for them."

Davis and other 71st SFS key spouses provide tours to new spouses who are unfamiliar with the military and what their Airmen are up to for 10-12 hours a day, she said.

"It really helps them get some perspective," said Davis.

The 71st SFS key spouses here also hold pre-deployment dinners for families and assign each of them a particular key spouse who will be partnered with the family for the duration of their Airman's deployment.

"I want these events to feel like a meet-and-greet in a comfortable setting," said Davis. "We also invite representatives from the Airman and Family Readiness Center and Mental Health to attend."

The 71st SFS key spouses also use their Airmen's hobbies to support the "handyman project," a program Davis came up with to assist spouses of deployed Airmen.

"We have people, talented people, here who have useful skills and are willing to help out," said Davis. "Basically, people know they can reach out to the Facebook page and ask for help with something -- car trouble or even snow shoveling, and there are people in the squadron who will help them."

"Members of Team Vance have won the AETC Key Spouse of the Year award four of the last seven years," said Col. Clark Quinn, the 71st Flying Training Wing commander during a wing recognition ceremony. "The strength of the program here is unique within AETC, and the women and men who participate in our program are among the best in the Air Force. 'Service Before Self' extends beyond the borders of an enlistment and into our family members. Vance's Key Spouses live by this core value, and their efforts never go unnoticed."