MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --
The Department of Defense ordered military dependents to depart Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, March 29, to ensure their safety and security. For one family, this meant packing their belongings and relocating to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas.
Tech. Sgt. Johanie Ramirez, 22nd Force Support Squadron fitness operations NCO in-charge, had recently given birth and was given special permission to accompany her family back to the U.S.
Although the family was able to stay together, the process still proved to be a challenging one, even once they reached their destination.
“It was very overwhelming,” said Ramirez. “I had a lot to do like finding a house for my family.”
Besides the major stresses of house hunting and taking care of her family, Ramirez also had to worry about getting in-processed, she said.
One of her many stops included a trip to finance, where Senior Airman Jonathan Little, 22nd Comptroller Squadron customer service technician stepped up and provided much needed assistance.
“It was a unique situation that I’ve never had to deal with before,” said Little. “I don’t usually deal with evacuation vouchers so I had to go to the regulation and figure out what [she] was entitled to and [which unit] should file it.”
The process for filing this type of voucher proved to be more extensive than the ones Little usually handles.
“I had to reach back and coordinate with Incirlik because the vouchers are supposed to go through them, but obviously she can’t file them there,” he said. “So I filed [the vouchers] on Incirlik’s behalf.”
After hours of paperwork, Little helped Ramirez check one more item off her to-do list.
“It was nice to be able to help and let [her] know, ‘hey, we’ll try to help you out the best we can and get everything squared away’,” he said.
Since being at McConnell, Ramirez said Little, as well as the rest of Team McConnell, has helped make this transition as smooth as possible.
“He made it much easier,” said Ramirez. “He made the process quicker and answered all my questions. Everybody here has been extremely helpful.”