AF benefits: Airmen should understand pros, cons of military before separation Published May 5, 2008 By Staff Sgt. Chad Thompson 90th Space Wing Public Affairs F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- A supervisor runs through an enlisted performance report checklist to provide feedback to an Airman. But one important aspect of the feedback was forgotten: discussing Air Force benefits. This is something that happens more often than people realize, said Master Sgt. Jason Devereaux, career assistance advisor. "As supervisors, it is our responsibility to go over the military benefits with our Airmen, and one of the best ways to do that is going over the Air Force benefits fact sheet," he said. The career assistance advisor oversees Air Force retention and tracks what's affecting the retention rates on base. "Knowing and understanding all the benefits the Air Force offers is one of the key retention tools, and the difference between the military and civilian benefits is huge," Sergeant Devereaux said. One trend at Warren is that many Airmen don't understand their benefits, so Sergeant Devereaux holds a Right Decision class explaining those benefits. The briefings are held on the second and fourth Monday every month at 1 p.m. in the first term airman center. Right Decision is designed to give first- and second-term Airmen a chance to talk about the benefits in order to understand them and possibly rethink getting out of the military, Sergeant Devereaux said. "Most people think about our medical or dental coverage when they hear benefits, and that's not the case. There are a lot more," he said. "But even when Airmen hear zero-cost medical and dental, do they really understand what that means?" Sergeant Devereaux asks. "We don't pay anything for our medical or dental visits," he said. "We pay zero for enrollment fees; we don't pay any co-payments; we don't pay anything for prescriptions; our cost is zero." Sergeant Devereaux said, he has discussed medical insurance with a lot of civilian insurance companies, and they can't compete with Tricare's coverage. If Airmen can get to the point where they completely understand all the benefits they have, they may think twice about getting out of the military. "Sometimes we have disgruntled first-term Airmen or even second-term Airmen that just get out because they are tired of military rules," Sergeant Devereaux said. "Next thing they know, they are sitting outside the fence with a family and they don't have any medical coverage, they have no income and then they are trying to come back into the military." After educating Airmen about their benefits, some of whom had their minds made up about getting out, they might say, "Maybe I need to go back and rethink things before I decide to get out," Sergeant Devereaux said. That's what Sergeant Devereaux is striving for: providing information to Airmen who may make a rash decision to separate from the force without the proper education and knowledge they need to make the Air Force a career. For more information about retention, benefits, reenlistments, cross-training or special duty assignments, call Master Sgt. Jason Devereaux at 773-6668.