Air Force Sergeants Association CEO visits Tyndall

Published Oct. 22, 2015
By Senior Airman Dustin Mullen
325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The Air Force Sergeants Association Chief Executive Officer visited Tyndall Oct 19.

Retired Chief Master Sergeant Robert Frank heads the non-profit organization whose mission it is to the serve as the voice of Airmen on Capitol Hill. He came to Tyndall to directly communicate with members, and even non-members, of AFSA to give to insight into the group's activities and legislative changes that could impact service members.

Frank has been the CEO for more than 18 months.

"We advocate for the ones who accomplish the mission in the Air Force," said Frank. "We are able to reach out to every member of Congress and every senator as well as other various leaders in the Department of Defense and across the government."

According to the AFSA website, the association protects those who serve, and have served. The organization represents its members by advocating for their interests to America's elected and military leaders. With more than 100,000 members, the organization has a voice.

"We are truly a membership organization," Frank said. "The members decide what we advocate for and what we focus efforts on."

The organization has advocated for a long list of things that deal with benefits and the well-being of Airmen and their families.

"We have continued to advocate for benefits like the commissary, the GI Bill and Tricare for Life," Frank said. "We have been very strong in the veteran community as well. We supported the veteran choice card, which gives veterans with long wait times for VA appointments the opportunity to get seen sooner."

Another key topic for the association is better pay to those who serve in the armed forces.

"We supported closing the pay gap between the civilian sector and military sector for comparable jobs," said Frank. "We are now working to minimize that gap and keep it from growing.

"The administration has to make some tough choices based on what Congress gives them to work with," Frank added. "We continue to advocate to Congress to do what's right for Airman and if you have to cut, don't cut here first.

"We are very interested to see how the DoD rolls out the new retirement system if it's enacted," Frank said. "From a retention aspect it could pose problems down the road, but an Airman could spend four years in service and come out with some form of retirement."

Frank explained a big part of making the new program work would be the financial education Airmen receive and they need to understand it.

"If you are going to change the system, you have to teach people how to use it," he said.

"I bring information to the Airmen from Capitol Hill, but to me that is only secondary. To me, what is important is getting an open dialog with Airmen and receiving the feedback they give me. You never really know what is going on until you can get face to face with Airmen.

"Things that go on at Capitol Hill can often go ignored until it becomes a crisis," Frank explained. "So what I want is to get people interested, know what's going on and be involved."

Frank emphasized the importance of Airmen getting interested in professional organizations like AFSA.

"There are lots of organizations out there and many of them have great missions. I am a member of many myself." Frank said. "What I want our Airmen to realize is that as professionals we should belong to professional organizations. Find the one that resonates with you, find out what they are about and be part of it. Be involved."

Even after retirement, Frank is eager to continue serving and helping the service members who accomplish the Air Force mission every day.

"It's certainly an honor to serve and continue to serve," Frank said. "I retired a couple years ago and this gives me the opportunity to continue help. I am so proud of what our Airmen do. When I meet a young Airman who has sacrificed a lot to keep me free, it really inspires me."