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Quality of life for Laughlin's Airmen keeps improving

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  • By 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The Laughlin enlisted AFB club was filled with happy Airmen Sept. 22 when the 127 Airmen who reside in the dormitories here received word from the 47th Flying Training Wing commander, that their Basic Allowance for Subsistence was doubling.

Col. Michael Frankel, 47th FTW commander told the unaccompanied Airmen that they were now receiving Basic Allowance for Subsistence II. Laughlin will be the only Air Force Base where unaccompanied Airmen receive the additional BAS. 

BAS II is designed to provide a special rate of subsistence for enlisted members permanently assigned to single unaccompanied government quarters without adequate facilities for food storage or food preparation, and where a government dining facility is not available and the government cannot otherwise make meals available per references.

"This additional BAS is really going to improve the quality of food I am able to buy," said Airman 1st Class Billy McGregor, 47th Operations Support Squadron. "I have been limited in the past on what I could afford but now, that should not be an issue."

It was a nearly year-long process that began December of 2009 when Chief Master Sgt. Mike Hanning, 47th FTW command chief, began researching the possibility.

"It was obvious that our Airmen didn't have adequate food storage or preparation facilities," Chief Hanning said. "So, we started looking at what we could do to improve their quality of life."

His research showed that no other air force base received it. "It's primarily given at Naval facilities," Chief Hanning said. However, that didn't deter the chief on his quest.

"Economically, this makes sense because it would still cost us more money to have a dining facility on base," Chief Hanning said.

Finally, Chief Hanning had a convincing package to forward to get approval for the BAS II. The biggest fan for the new subsistence was Colonel Frankel.

"The Airmen here are their parents' treasures. It's my goal to be able to show any parent the dormitory and how much we strive to take care of their kids, and be able to do that with pride," Colonel Frankel said. "With the little to no cooking facilities available to them, this was the only right thing to do."

The package quickly got a thumbs up at the Air Staff level, enabling Colonel Frankel to share the good news with the Airmen who lived in the dormitory.

This news comes on the heels of the opening of the brand new theater room in the dorms. The new theater room contains a high-definition projector and 120-inch screen, 13 leather recliners, a Blu-ray player and surround-sound.

"The theater room is definitely one of the best parts about being stationed at Laughlin," said Airman 1st Class Justin Baez, 47th Operations Support Squadron. "And now that we're receiving BAS II, this has to be one of the best places for a young Airman to be."