Welcome to new base housing

  • Published
  • By Col. Bryan Benson
  • 71st Flying Training Wing
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  Today is a very exciting day for me and countless other Team Vance members who have devoted three long years to making our new housing a reality. I hope everyone takes time out of their busy schedules to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the release of our first eight completed military family housing units today at 10 a.m.
This is a major accomplishment in quality of life for our Airmen here at Vance Air Force Base. As you probably know, I grew up as the son of a Navy master chief, and have been in the Air Force for my entire adult life. These new houses feature amenities that were rarely available in base housing in the past. All the homes are made completely of brick and feature much larger floor plans than traditional base housing. Each home is equipped with a two-car garage with garage door openers, covered patios, ceiling fans and most importantly storm shelters to protect our family members in the event of the traditional tornado weather that is synonymous with living in Oklahoma.
Because of these amenities, our new homes are equivalent to any new home you could find outside of the gates in any new subdivision and that was our goal and the goal of the Air Force when this project began.
Our Airmen are the backbone of our Air Force but they require the support of their families in order to get the mission done. Family support is essential to accomplishing our mission; because of that, families remain one of our most important priorities. It is very important we continue to support our military families. As the adage goes 'we recruit the individual, we retain the family.'
I'd like to extend my gratitude once again to all the key players that made this ribbon cutting possible. Certainly, many members of Team Vance were involved. However, it could not have become reality without the continuous, unwavering support from the Enid community. Again, I extend my warmest "thank you" to everyone that helped make this day possible.
Have a safe and enjoyable weekend. Please keep taking care of each other and follow all the principles of good Wingmanship. Thanks for all you do for America.