For the Host Family
The Adopt an Airman – Welcome Home program is designed to provide airmen with an avenue to form new friendships in the local community and gather support beyond the formal work environment. If you can remember when you first left behind the comfort and security of your parents’ home, then you will understand the needs of the young men and women in the Adopt an Airman program. Rigorous military standards can tax even the most robust of spirits, producing feelings of great stress to make the grade in some airmen, and in others, moments of loneliness, homesickness and doubt. As a host family, you provide a home-away-from-home during an airman’s first years at Beale AFB. You serve as the airman’s mentor, friend, and adviser, a second family providing a caring environment to relax, away from the pressures of work and future deployments. You are also in the position to serve as a positive adult role model in helping airmen understand their role as career Air Force airmen and reinforcing positive social values.
The Adopt an Airman program attempts to match host families with airmen who share the same basic interests and characteristics, such as sports, hobbies, religion, and other activities with which they identify. Airmen can request host families by name, and families may do the same for airmen. When two airmen request the same family, both requests might be honored, dependent upon the desires of that family. When two families request the same airman, the program intends to honor the wishes of the airman.
The relationship established through the program can, and typically will, last for the full duration of time the airman resides in the Beale Air Force Base dormitories, unless one of the parties chooses to terminate the relationship early and notifies the community liaison. If all parties desire, they can also continue the relationship they have formed for a lifetime. Our goal in the future is to extend the program to include all single airmen (E1-E4) and junior officers (O1-O2) living off base.
For the Airman
The Adopt an Airman – Welcome Home program is designed to provide you with an avenue to form friendships and gather support beyond the formal work environment. Host families can offer you with a home-away-from-home and can serve as a valuable support network. All host families are volunteers and many become lifetime friends. They extend their home to you so you can spend time away from the dorm environment. Airmen should work with their supervisors on the base to get an application or contact bmlc530@gmail.com.
All host families are not alike, so your experience will probably differ from the experiences of others. Potential host families are vetted to ensure you experience is positive during your time with them.
Host families are encouraged to treat you as a family member, not simply as a guest. As a sponsored airman, you have certain responsibilities in their home. Your host family may set up different, or additional, rules for their home.