Building Bridges of Support

  • Published
  • By Jill C. Westeyn
  • Air Force Association member
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  In 2014, the Air Force Association amended its Air Force Spouse Scholarship Program to make it easier for spouses from across the Air Force to apply and better meet their needs. The renamed effort, the Mike and Gail Donley Spouse Scholarship program, is designed to encourage Air Force spouses worldwide to pursue an associate, bachelor's, or graduate/postgraduate degree.

In 2014, AFA divided $30,000 equally among the 12 scholarship recipients, one-third of whom were spouses of junior enlisted members. The winners reflect a cross-section of today's Air Force, embracing our total force family that spans the Active Duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve components along with the civilian workforce.

Each recipient may use the $2,500 scholarship to pay for any reasonable cost related to pursuing a degree, including tuition, books, transportation, or child care.

"This scholarship program has benefited all Air Force spouses, especially the spouses of our junior enlisted members who have the greatest need," said AFA Vice Chairman for Aerospace Education
Jerry E. White. "It is our way of focusing on the welfare of our Airmen and contributing to the Air Force family."

Additionally, it also gives us an outlet to emphasize our values of education and personal growth, White added.

The scholarship program does not cease its support once the scholarship check is sent. Instead, it connects each recipient with the local AFA chapter and Air Force command, resulting in a larger and more inclusive support network for the spouse. This also allows AFA field leaders and local chapter members to see the impact their continued support has on scholarship recipients and their families.

While AFA National staff manages the selection process, the local chapter-- or in some cases the AFA state or regional organization--takes over for the scholarship award ceremony. The chapter is encouraged to work with the local command to arrange a joint award presentation, if possible. One-third of the 2014 recipients were able to take part in such an event.

For example, Irene Johnigan, president of AFA's Cheyenne Cowboy Chapter in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Col. Tracey Hayes, Commander of the 90th Missile Wing, at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, presented Amy Underwood, the winning spouse from among the Air Force Global Strike Command applicants, with her scholarship during an event in the Cheyenne area in late July 2014. The chapter also invited Underwood to attend its monthly council meeting where she met chapter members and shared her thoughts on winning the scholarship.

"My husband has been encouraging me to go back to school for years now, and this award has enabled me to do just that," Underwood said. "The experience of being back in a classroom after 20-plus years is different than if it was right out of high school. There is a greater sense of accomplishment, ambition, and a true desire to learn all that I can."

Scholarship information is available online at http://www.afa.org/donleyspousescholarship. Deadline to apply is April 30, 2015.