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Mentors down the hall

  • Published
  • By John Stuart
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  For new Airmen arriving at Tinker -- many of them fresh out of tech school -- they usually notice one thing. Tinker is big. Although most go on to thrive in their new Oklahoma City duty station, those first few months of transition are pivotal.

Each quarter about 75 to 85 new Airmen arrive at the base dorms, ready to call Tinker their new home. They face a number of challenges, from professional to personal, as it's the first time away from home for many of them.

Fortunately for those Airmen, there are people ready and willing to help.

Staff Sgt. Rachel Bowers arrived at Tinker in 2004 as an Airman, somewhat disoriented and overwhelmed.

"It's big and I was just lost," Sergeant Bowers recalls. "I didn't have anyone to help me, show me where things were."

For Sergeant Bowers, she did find somebody to help. Her unit supervisor made the difference, as he showed her the ropes of Air Force life at Tinker. To the Tulsa native, it was an invaluable aid to her settling process. Now, some six years later, Sergeant Bowers is giving that same help to others as one of a handful of dorm managers on base.

With co-workers Staff Sgt. Rey Quiosay and Tech. Sgt. Trenell Brown, the trio from the 72nd Air Base Wing Civil Engineer Directorate, along with their civilian counterparts, make sure Airmen thrive in the dorms.

"We're really here for them. If they want to, we're here to talk about anything -- personal issues, work issues," Sergeant Bowers said.

The civilian and military cadre also assist in reporting maintenance issues and policing Airmen's quarters -- similar to resident advisors in a university setting.

The dorm managers are part of a new program at Tinker. Although their positions were already in place, the new initiative began in June and aims to focus more on mentoring in addition to managing facilities.

"I really enjoy being able to impact their lives and try to make them as comfortable as possible," said Meagan Gomez, one of three civilian dorm managers. Where the dorm managers -- under the jurisdiction of Unaccompanied Housing -- used to be a mix of civilian and contractor, it's now a team of entirely civilian and military personnel. Ms. Gomez likes what she sees, as do her co-workers Michele Speziale and Mary Martin-Smith.

"(The sergeants) have just been amazing, to get out there and plan a lot of fun things," Ms. Gomez said of her co-workers. The implementation of military dorm managers allows the Airmen someone to which they can more closely relate, Ms. Gomez explained.

"We were dealing with military members and their most personal aspects of life, so we thought we need military members back in the office here," Ms. Gomez said.

Recently an Airman came to Sergeant Bowers with questions about a bank statement. Interactions like this are a welcome sign to the dorm managers, as they want to help in whatever ways possible.

Each month Ms. Gomez teaches a two-hour class to financially prepare Airmen to move off base. The course covers topics like financial planning and the legalities of signing a lease, among other useful information.

Since the class' inception in 2008, not one of the participants has had to move back on base due to financial instability, Ms. Gomez explained. Since the dorms at Tinker are at a 98 percent occupancy rate with 850 residents, the class is a further safeguard against overcrowding.

Air Force life is one riddled with transitions, which over the course of a career invariably add up.

Sergeant Bowers remembers what would've made a difference for her when she first arrived at Tinker.

"If I had been appointed a sponsor or someone to say 'this is what to expect,' someone to tell me about the unit I was going to, that would've helped," Sergeant Bowers said. In the end she did find a person like that - her unit supervisor, who made a lasting impact.

Now, she and her co-workers are hard at work to ensure the Airmen of today have a similar network of support.

"I just try to go out of the way for others as someone did for me," Sergeant Bowers said.