JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia will host a Veterans Homecoming event at Fort Eustis, which will include food trucks, prizes and giveaways Feb. 8 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Fort Eustis Commissary and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service parking lots. Early registration at Fort Eustis will begin at 8 a.m.
AAFES, along with different vendors, will be giving the first 50 customers gift bags. They will also be giving away Amazon smart home items and the chance to enter to win a $100 gift card.
“Whether their service was 30 days or 30 years, it doesn’t matter to us,” said Donna Fontes, director of the 733d Force Support Division. “That doesn’t affect our degree of thankfulness. Our arms are open and we just want them to come in and enjoy our facilities.”
Morale, Welfare and Readiness will have displays and people in the commissary and AAFES parking lot assisting eligible Veterans and caregivers with registration for installation access as well as ensuring they know what services they can expect to receive when they visit JBLE. Upon entry onto the installation each veteran will receive a punch card with seven MWR locations for a raffle. To be entered into the raffle, each punch card holder will need to visit at least five of the locations to be eligible to win a weekend stay at one of the MWR cabins.
The event will also include giveaways at the commissary with prizes such as 55-inch TV, a brand-new washer and dryer and commissary gift cards. Commissary employees will be standing in the parking lot to help veterans sign up for the giveaways. The commissary will also hold a sidewalk sale for authorized customers.
All veterans or caregivers who want to have access to the installation Feb. 8 for the Veterans Homecoming event will be required to be enrolled in the VA health care and have a Veterans Health Identification Card, or VHIC. To enroll in VA health care, call 877-222-VETS (8387) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. EST, visit www.va.gov/healthbenefits/enroll, or register in person at a local VA medical facility.
January 1 of this year, the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security expanded commissary, military exchange, and morale, welfare, and recreation retail privileges to Veterans who are Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war, all Veterans with service-connected disabilities, and individuals approved and designated as the Primary Family Caregivers of eligible Veterans under the VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. The DoD, DHS. Defense Commissary Agency, military Exchanges, and MWR are honored to welcome home these heroes.
Additional information about the Expanded Patronage and the Feb 8 event can be found at www.JBLE.af.mil under the Veteran and Retiree Info Tab.