22nd FSS aids furloughed workers

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class John Linzmeier
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  The 22nd Force Support Squadron continued its mission while most civilian workers were furloughed, enduring a reduction in staff and a higher demand to help Airmen and their families

The partially-manned squadron offered additional support for approximately 500 furloughed civilians over four days.

"As a commander, I think the toughest part was seeing people that you care about get sent home," said Lt. Col. Dianne Ferrarini, 22nd FSS commander. "These are people who care about their job and want to support the mission. We missed them terribly, and we are extremely glad they are back, because what they do is important and we need them."

The 22nd FSS assists base beneficiaries with child care, financial, recreational, and personal-development needs and more.

"They left only the number of people who are absolutely necessary to do the mission critical work," said Krista Jackson, 22nd FSS civilian personnel officer. "Everybody's workload became bigger."

To help reduce the effects of the furlough, the Airman and Family Readiness Center continued its financial counseling and budgeting assistance and offered to provide personalized memos to creditors.

The memos explain the financial impact of the furlough on a particular employee. This is used to make potential arrangements to extend due dates or make smaller payments for that employee.

"A downtown company is not going to say, 'we understand your furlough, we are going to just go ahead and pause your fees while you aren't getting paid,'" said Ferrarini. "That's something that we can do on base to help take care of our Airmen and families. I'm really proud of everything we did to take care of them as best as we could."

The squadron also offered to suspended childcare fees during the furloughed days.

Although the furlough only lasted a few days, it left Team McConnell with a costly but valuable experience.

"Since we had not undergone furlough in 17 years, this most recent furlough provides up to date experience," said Jackson, "In this sense, we are better prepared to face future challenges."

According to both Ferrarini and Jackson, maintaining an active flow communication between employees and leadership was one of the most effective ways to combat the pains from the furlough.

"It was a stressful situation, but still, everybody had such a great get-it-done attitude and, I was really proud of them," said Ferrarini. "We came together as much as we could, and the people who had the opportunity to stay handled it beautifully."