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AFR Awarded Returning Warrior Contract
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January 23, 2009
A contract to provide hotel and event planning services for a program to help military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan reintegrate into civilian life was awarded to Armed Forces Reunions, Inc. (AFR). This marks the first time the workshop program has been put out to bid to civilian firms. AFR will manage hotel, food and beverage, and conference services to support workshops in 31 cities across the country beginning September 12, 2008 through July 31, 2010. The program will serve 4,100 Navy reservists and their spouses. AFR has planned and managed more than 1,500 military reunions and conferences in 80 cities throughout the United States. Capt. Virginia M. Torsch is special projects coordinator for the Office of the Chief of the Navy Reserve and the officer who awarded the multi-million dollar, small business contract to AFR. “We went to the private sector because it was most efficient way to use the funding and also allows us to provide hotel, meals and event services for spouses of the servicemen, which is very helpful in the adjustment and reintegration process,” Torsch says. “We selected AFR over other bidders because of AFR’s experience in planning and managing military conferences. Their understanding of military protocol and procedure is invaluable.” Ted Dey is president and founder of AFR, which has managed reunions and conferences for thousands of WW II, Korean War and Vietnam veterans and their spouses, usually coordinated by members of the veterans’ associations. The Returning Warrior Workshop is the first government contract for AFR. “We are very pleased to play a part in helping assist the men and women who have sacrificed so much in the service of our country,” says Dey. “We are the leading company in the country solely devoted to military meetings and have a unique understanding of their protocol and structures. We also have a vast network of hotel, hospitality and transportation contacts that enables us to efficiently handle the military’s needs in whatever cities they wish to convene in. The government contract opens up another dimension for us and was a great highlight for our 20th anniversary.” The first warrior workshops were held in Seattle, Washington on Sept. 12-14 and Baltimore, Maryland on Oct. 24-26. The workshops are designed to help ameliorate feelings of stress, isolation and other psychological and physical disorders and injuries that family, friends and employers often cannot fully understand, especially post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. AFR has experience with a broad range of veterans groups. Art Sifuentes is the Executive Director of the Marine Corps Aviation Association (MCAA), a retired Lt. Colonel in the Marines and former helicopter pilot. AFR has managed MCAA’s annual reunion and symposium for the last four years. “AFR is absolutely golden,” says Sifuentes from his office in Quantico, Virginia. “They work with the customer better than any other organization I’ve ever seen. The Returning Warrior Workshop contract will be a perfect fit for them because they understand military culture so well and how to match it with the civilian side of hotel, hospitality, transportation and catering services. They are a complete organization.” AFR will continue to expand its core business and has hired new staff to help grow its government contract sector. Molly Dey, senior event planner and director of operations for the company, says “I think our bread and butter will probably always be military reunions, but this contract opens doors for us to other types of military functions, more conventions, conferences and special events. Other branches of the service are already looking at the direction the Navy has taken and this will hopefully provide us the opportunity to serve all of the armed forces (reservists, active duty, and national guard) in new ways. This is an exciting time for our company.”
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