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Base welcomes retirees

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Wiese
  • 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs

The 90th Medical Group hosted a Retiree Appreciation Day here, April 30, in the Trail’s End Event Center.

More than 150 veterans and loved ones from the Cheyenne community, northern Colorado and western Nebraska spent the day with base Airmen learning about the services the base has to offer retirees.  Those services include details on medical services available at the base medical treatment facility, changes to pharmacy practices, the Survivors Benefits Plan changes and legal assistance available from the 90th Missile Wing legal office.

“Retiree Appreciation Day is our way of not only thanking our retirees for their service, for their sacrifice and for everything they’ve done for us and for the country, but it’s also a way for us to let them know what this base has to offer them,” said Capt. Margaret Matthews, 90th Medical Operations Squadron Dental Flight, who spearheaded the event.

Personnel from various organizations, including the base chapel, 90th Force Support Squadron services, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and various medical services, manned booths full of information about base services.

Airman 1st Class Alvin Daniels, 90th MDOS Public Health technician, gave advice about health concerns while traveling. He said he is glad to be part of the event because he wants to help retirees learn vital skills that will help them.

“This is just like we’re paying it back,” he said. “We want to help them any way possible, but it’s never enough, they’ve done so much.”

Retired Staff Sgt. Brian Walker and his wife, Carol, have attended the base’s Retiree Appreciation Day for the past five years.

“It’s open, you can ask questions, and they can refer to the right place for any question you have,” Walker said. “What we like is the openness, the access to information we need. Also, it helps us to find out what new benefits we receive.”

Retirees of multiple branches of service attended the event, and that is exactly the intent of the day, said retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Mike Archer, base Retiree Activities Office director.

“It gives us all a chance to communicate and help each other out,” Archer said. “The [military] is a family — it doesn’t matter what branch you’re in.”

Archer, who organized the event with Matthews, stated it is a Department of Defense effort to support retirees going back more than 20 years.

For more information on base medical services, call 773-3461, and to reach the Retiree Activities Office, call 773-2309.