Joint Base Lewis-McChord unit is 'taking care of Airmen from start to finish'

Published Jan. 28, 2011
By Airman Leah Young
62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- From providing Airmen with healthy food choices and exercise facilities to personnel records and mortuary affairs, the 627th Force Support Squadron here is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Airmen and their families.

"The force support squadron is important because we take care of the Airmen," said Capt. Joshua Tate, 627th FSS sustainment flight commander. "We care about morale and we are focused on providing a high quality of life for servicemembers and their families."

The 627th FSS provides agile combat support to 101 units in the 62nd Airlift Wing, 446th AW and the Western Air Defense Sector. It is committed to sustaining America's expeditionary and joint war fighting capability by executing support programs and personnel assistance for more than 60,000 active duty, retired, civilian and dependent personnel.

"Our mission is to provide not just for servicemembers, but their family members as well," said Captain Tate.

The 627th FSS is broken down into three separate flights.

The sustainment flight focuses on the maintenance and morale of Airmen and families. This flight provides services such as fitness centers, dining facilities, flight kitchens and lodging facilities.

"We ensure a high quality of life for our Airmen and their families," said Senior Master Sgt. David Walker, 627th FSS supervisor of food service. "In my department, we focus on providing Team McChord with as many food options as possible, including a totally healthy menu."

In addition to operating Joint Base Lewis-McChord's dining facility, the sustainment flight is in charge of providing servicemembers and their families a place to exercise and stay physically fit.

"Our leadership is focusing on making our Airmen more resilient, healthy and fit-to-fight," said Sergeant Walker. "We've established tons of healthy options at the dining facility and new wellness programs at the fitness centers. Our squadron is doing anything and everything possible to keep these Airmen fit, full and well rested."

The military personnel flight is another part of the 627th FSS. They are responsible for keeping all military records updated for active duty Airmen assigned to JBLM.

"We are responsible for all assignments, re-enlistments, I.D. card issue, Leave Web, in processing program, promotions, separations, retirements, official passports and more," said Master Sgt. Kevin Tirrel, 627th FSS supervisor of military personnel section.

"Basically, we process all the paperwork for Airmen. We make sure their records are always up to date."

The 26 Airmen assigned to the MPF are responsible for ensuring a high quality of life by making any transitions as smooth as possible.

"We guide the customers through all of the online programs and are always available if they have any questions," said Sergeant Tirrel. "We control the records of every person assigned here."

Taking care of an Airman throughout the entirety of their career is a big goal for the 627th FSS. They are also responsible for honoring fellow Airmen who have passed away.

"We are in charge of honoring all Airmen in our area of responsibility who have passed away," said Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Moore, 627th FSS honor guard noncommissioned officer in charge. "We work very closely with mortuary affairs and we attend funeral services to ensure Airmen get the proper respects they deserve."

While honoring their fellow fallen Airmen, the 627th FSS is also charge of mortuary affairs, causality notifications and readiness.

"Before an Airman deploys, they check in with us to make sure they're good to go," said Master Sgt. Jason Bairos, 627th FSS superintendent of installation personnel readiness. "We monitor all deployment taskings, predeployment training and everything that goes along with getting an Airman to the deployed location."

The 627th FSS's sole purpose is to "take care of Airmen," squadron officials said. They ensure a healthy lifestyle, organized records management and finally, proper respects for fellow fallen servicemembers.