Air Force Personnel Center - Key Spouse Program

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Key Spouse Program

The Key Spouse program is a commander's program that supports Airmen and their families during deployments, separations and emergencies. Key Spouses are volunteers who provide peer-to-peer support and resources for all family members in their assigned units. They enhance and encourage communication between units and families.

Squadron commanders bear responsibility for establishing and maintaining the Key Spouse Program to include the selection of new Key Spouses. The first sergeant serves as the primary point of contact. When selecting new Key Spouse candidates, Commanders and First Sergeants should look for qualities such as:

Good Communication skills
Dependability
Friendliness
A positive attitude about the Air Force

Commanders also appoint a Key Spouse Mentor who serves as an advocate for Key Spouse initiatives. Usually, Key Spouse Mentors have previous experience which they use to mentor junior spouses.

The Airman and Family Readiness Center provides initial and on-going Key Spouse Training. Initial training includes information about Key Spouse roles and responsibilities, boundaries, communication tips, protocol, suicide awareness and resiliency training. On-going training is also provided to keep key spouses up to date.

Key Spouses provide support to unit spouses through emails, texts, newsletters, social media or phone calls. Key Spouses are encouraged to be visible by attending unit functions, spouse pre-deployment briefings, base newcomers and Heartlink.

Key Spouse Training Key Spouse Program

Welcome to Key Spouse Training. We ask as members go through each module, they keep a continuity binder of all materials.

Below, each module's video and script are linked to documents or websites referenced in the respective video. Individuals who are experiencing issues viewing the videos on Apple computers should review the instructions in the Apple Viewing Guide.

Key Spouse Training Modules

Welcome and Introduction

Module 1 - Making Connections

Module 2 - Building the Team: Roles and Responsibility

Module 3 - Resources

Module 4 - Responding to the Call

Module 5 - Supporting Families During Deployment

Module 6 - Ready Set Go