Back in the states, we are on the job every day meeting community needs. Child care and youth programs help parents cope with daily work situations as well as being there during deployments. Librarians keep local programs humming along while providing special support to deployed units. We expand food and lodging programs when reserve forces come in to replace deployed forces. In short, we meet the community support needs of Air Force people everyday but are ready to rally special support when needed for the deployment mission.

Our mission is to help field commanders increase combat capability and improve programs promoting readiness, esprit de corps, and quality of life for Air Force people. Similarly, our vision is to provide combat support and service to the Air Force community through excellence in core competencies, focused innovation, and systematic delivery of products and services to meet their constantly changing needs.

This organization, created by the marriage of Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) and Services, provides the Air Force a unique capability to provide both combat support and community services anywhere in support of Global Reach and Global Power. The post-cold war period has not been one of decreased involvement for the Air Force or for Services. World events and national security decisions are driving an operations and personnel tempo that seriously impacts every aspect of Air Force life. These increased commitments have Air Force men and women deployed on missions enforcing no-fly zones and providing airlift and tanker support of military and peacekeeping operations around the world.

Our support to deployed forces has been direct and significant. At any given time, nearly 10 percent of our Services military force are deployed for real world contingencies and exercises. Services is engaged globally, and our people make a difference - everyday.

This web page provides field commanders and Services leadership with information needed to deploy customer-driven programs and assist them in making more efficient business decisions and standardized operations within their base-level Services organizations.

While we keep combat support and community service as our top priority, sound business practices are the keys to success at every location. Our food and lodging operations are ranked among the largest nationally. We serve approximately 100,000 children each day in our youth and child care programs. Our Nonappropriated Fund construction program contains more than 150 projects valued at nearly $300 million. In the Military Construction Program from FY00-05, $290M has been dedicated towards the construction and renovation of 32 fitness centers. In short, we are big business run by Air Force personnel for the military community.

As Mr. Art Myers, Air Force Director of Services, stated, "We have done a superb job of meeting every challenge we've faced. What Air Force Services is today is a result of hard work and determination of those who came before us - what we are tomorrow rests with us and with those that will follow - we must prepare them well. Air Force Services is heroes and patriots - people who unselfishly devote their lives to helping others."

Air Force Services,  headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a directorate under the Deputy Chief of Staff, Installations and Logistics (DCS/IL), Headquarters, U.S. Air Force. The Air Force Services Agency, (HQ AFSVA), a field operating agency under Air Force Services, is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Both organizations were formed during the reorganization of Morale, Welfare and Recreation and Services functions in 1993.

Air Force Services exists to provide combat support to commanders directly in support of the Air Force mission. We also provide community service programs that enhance the quality of life for Air Force members and their families. These programs indirectly support the mission by improving morale, productivity, and retention. Services offers a full range of military and community support programs at most major Air Force installations. Programs such as troop support, dining facilities, libraries, and fitness centers directly support the unit readiness mission by providing a physically and mentally fit force.

The Air Force is the only Service with trained personnel dedicated to delivering these services in a deployed environment. Our programs support overall military readiness and preparedness as they provide for the basic needs of Air Force people in a hostile or contingency situation. Finally, our family support and quality-of-life initiatives help attract and, more importantly, retain a quality force.

Funding:
Services activities are funded with a combination of taxpayer dollars-- appropriated funds (APFs) and self-generated, nonappropriated funds (NAFs) or troop dollars. The non-MWR mission essential programs, like food service, troop support and mortuary, are funded entirely by Congressional appropriations through the Air Force budget with APFs. Lodging, another mission essential program, is funded through a combination of APF and NAF dollars. To distinguish where APFs can be used in MWR programs, Congress has directed the grouping of the activities in three categories.
The categories are grouped according to their mission essentiality and ability to generate revenue. MWR activities that more directly support the warfighting mission are grouped in Category A. These activities are authorized 100% APF funding. Those activities that are essential to community and family support are grouped in Category B. These activities are authorized a significant level of APFs (defined as at least 50%), but have the capability to generate limited funds for their own support. Category C, while no less important to the Air Force quality of life, contains activities that have significant revenue-generating capability. These activities are authorized limited APF support. In general, they must generate enough income to cover their own operational costs. The activities are grouped below:

Use of NAFs:
NAFs are monies generated through the sale of goods and services to Air Force members and their families. They are returned to the Air Force community to support programs and activities not authorized APFs. Air Force and DoD policy are very specific on where NAFs may be used. They are intended to support the community as a whole rather than targeted to specific individuals or to short-term purposes.

Patronage:
Generally, all Services programs (except dining facilities) may be used by individuals who contribute to the Air Force mission. In addition to active duty personnel and their families, the other major users are Guard and Reserve personnel, Air Force civilian employees, and all categories of retired personnel. Active duty personnel and their families have first priority when bases must limit use because of space or other factors. For the most part, participation is rarely limited in any activity. Common exceptions include child care when there is a lack of space, golf tee times on the weekend, and in fitness centers during peak periods.

Fees And Charges:
With the exception of Child Development Center fees which are set by DoD, the Air Force policy is that goods and services should be priced to
(1) deliver value and encourage customer participation, and
(2) cover operating costs. Charging "what the market will bear" is discouraged.
Bases should set prices at the lowest level that will generate enough revenue to sustain operations over the long term. A benchmark in congressional guidance is that prices should be set no less than 25% below that off-base--consistent with commissary and exchange savings. This policy discourages the "nickel and dime" charges (such as a fee for towel service at fitness centers) that are considered a nuisance by the customer.

Clubs:
Clubs support the institutional value and tradition of the Air Force and membership in them is encouraged. Air Force policy is that separate officer and enlisted clubs should be maintained wherever possible. When separate clubs are not possible, they may be collocated or consolidated. Care must be exercised to maintain good order and discipline where they are collocated or consolidated.

Relationship to AAFES:
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) is chartered by Congress to sell products and services to Army and Air Force members worldwide and to generate profits to operate MWR programs. AAFES provides approximately 25% overall savings compared to off base, and generates profits that are split between AAFES (for construction and facility renovations) and the Services for MWR programs. Bases received this dividend in the form of a lump sum payment based on their AAFES store annual sales, and at some locations, in the form of new facilities from the central NAF construction program. AAFES has the primary right to provide resale operations on Army and Air Force bases. Services activities may offer resale items when these operations are incidental to the program being provided (golf balls at golf courses) or does not compete with products and services provided by AAFES.