JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
A spouse orientation program designed to strengthen military families and enhance mission readiness will be offered twice this month at Joint Base San Antonio.
Heart Link, which was first developed in 1999 to help first-time Air Force spouses learn more about the service and their installation, will be presented from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 11 at the JBSA-Randolph Military & Family Readiness Center, 555 F Street West, and from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. May 16 at the JBSA-Lackland Gateway Club, 1650 Kenly Ave.
Subsequent sessions this year at JBSA-Randolph are planned for Sept. 14 and Nov. 2. Another session at the JBSA-Lackland Gateway Club is scheduled Sept. 12.
Heart Link’s overall objective is to “increase retention of members in the military by increasing spouse awareness of the mission, customs, traditions, protocol and support resources and services available to them.”
"Heart Link is a great program,” said Brandy Wright, JBSA-Randolph M&FRC community readiness consultant. “We want spouses to know they are the heart of the team. We want them to know they are important to the mission and to learn about all the resources that we have to offer.”
The Heart Link sessions at JBSA-Randolph typically include briefings on finances and resiliency as well as a tour of the Taj Mahal. The May 11 session will also feature a tour of the east flightline’s control tower.
“In addition, we have presentations by the protocol office and introduce a lot of the resources available, including the Military & Family Readiness Center, Military & Family Life Counselors and all the helping agencies,” Wright said. “There are so many things out there that we don’t take advantage of, so we want them to know all the military resources we have to offer.”
Heart Link also provides spouses with an opportunity to meet other spouses who face the same challenges unique to the military lifestyle, Wright said.
“Many of these spouses are new to the military lifestyle, and they may be away from home for the first time,” she said. “At Heart Link, you have other spouses you can connect with.”
Connie Eberhart, an Air Force spouse who attended the Heart Link session in November at JBSA-Randolph, said her favorite part of the program is meeting other spouses who are new to the area and going through the same challenges she faces.
“No matter how long you have been a military spouse, each new assignment brings the challenge of finding those people who become your support system and ultimately lifelong friends,” she said.
Although Heart Link is geared to spouses who have experienced the military lifestyle for less than five years, spouses with more experience are also welcome, including those who are newly assigned to JBSA.
Eberhart, who has experienced the military lifestyle for more than a decade as the wife of Master Sgt. Michael Eberhart, 19th Air Force CV-22 command evaluator, has attended Heart Link at each of her husband’s assigned bases and was part of the planning process for the program as Exceptional Family Member Program family support coordinator at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England.
“Even though I now consider myself a relatively seasoned spouse, each installation brings new information and JBSA-Randolph was no exception,” said Eberhart, whose current position is EFMP manager at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston. “It was such an amazing opportunity to hear about the history of the installation and be able to tour the Taj. I also love that all the base agencies I want and need to know about come to talk with everyone. I can get TRICARE questions answered, find out about volunteer opportunities, learn about the youth programs on the installation and keep up with current events all in one place.”
The resources military spouses learn about during a Heart Link session can help them achieve resiliency as they face deployments, frequent moves and other stresses of the military lifestyle with their other family members, said Wright, who is also an Air Force spouse.
“When military members deploy, their spouses are holding down the fort at home,” she said. “It’s so important for those military members to have supportive spouses. It makes it a lot easier for members to accomplish the mission.”
Heart Link is open to all service branches. To register, call the JBSA-Lackland M&FRC at 210-671-3722 or the JBSA-Randolph M&FRC at 210-652-5321.