Men from the 6th Military Police Company, 22nd MP Battalion took part in an AER Meets Financial Literacy Challenge on March 22 in Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. They learned information about the Army Emergency Relief Assistance Program, as well as financial advice from AER experts and Financial Readiness Program lawyers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Engaged soldiers divided into teams during the event to hear a combined AER and economic briefing before playing games to earn team points. Teams earned items by playing a game of Jenga or mini-golf after making wise financial decisions, and then took a turn at the Wheel of Life, which had lower or double the score if a person agreed to a product or chose to invest in a Thrift Savings Plan.
“The games help to illustrate how various decisions may affect you financially,” Scott Davis, FRP financial advisor, said. People often don’t understand how credit scores work or how valuable investments can be, so we try to find entertaining ways to explain it.
The AER challenge event was first offered by JBLM last year, and according to Mary Cron, JBLM AER commander, it is already gaining popularity.
“We have units that hold small group events like we do now, and then we have some units who are organizing a combined celebration with other units that will be held on a much larger scale,” Cron said. “It is really encouraging to see units acknowledge the significance of this event and request that we come visit with them.”
Cpt. Brandon Duran, commander of the 6th MP Company, 22nd MP Battalion, said he was excited to invite the AER team back after hearing positive feedback from his unit after last year’s inaugural event.
“The AER team’s ability to teach and share information with unique games keeps us engaged and helps us retain what they are teaching,” Duran said. “It’s a much better approach than PowerPoint. Senior NCOs with more than 17 years in the Army last year told us they learned more during the training than they did throughout their entire career.”
Duran said the AER team’s passion for helping soldiers is obvious and that they are a knowledgeable source for information.
In fact, helping soldiers is exactly why AER specialist Omar Henderson joined the AER team in January.
Henderson claimed that during his time in the military, when he was a First Sergeant signing off on AER requests, he was aware of the AER program. He continued to claim that he had no idea how many soldiers could benefit from the program until he joined it.
“It’s been eye-opening, really,” Henderson said. “Seeing things from both sides helps me have the knowledge of the program and the understanding of how much more we still need to educate soldiers on all the ways that it can help them. Although I’m still learning and growing, I truly believe that AER will allow me to impact the lives of soldiers and their families.”
The AER campaign will continue through June 14. The Armed Forces Community Service office can be reached at 253-967-9852 or email us at [email protected] for more information about the Financial Literacy Challenge. [email protected].