Humanitarian assignments bring Airmen close to home, help them ‘be there”

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. --

When future Airmen begin their paperwork at a military entrance processing station, they are informed their assignments will largely be determined by “the needs of the Air Force.”

This need of an organization to fill job positions across the globe with qualified personnel often means Airmen will be stationed far away from their hometown, and the family who live there.

For many, this is part of the allure of military life -- yet when a family back home falls gravely ill or dies, being away can be a burden on morale and effectiveness for Airmen.

At the Air Force Personnel Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, a team of four NCO and two civilian personnel specialists work to bring, or keep Airmen close to home during emergencies involving immediate family members -- while still serving the needs of Air Force.

“We’re one of the few offices within AFPC that actually deals directly with people, families and faces,” said Lori Surgnier, the chief of the Humanitarian/Exceptional Family Members Program Assignments Branch at AFPC. “In the personnel world, you often only deal with numbers -- that’s just the nature of the job. But for us, it’s all about the people. That’s how I like to operate with my team to help our families who really need it.”

Currently, about 3,242 Airmen are directly benefiting from a humanitarian assignment at bases across the Air Force.