LT. COL. LEES BROOME, USAF RETIRED

Following Col. Lees Broome’s retirement from the USAF, in 1974, he has spent most of his time helping Air Force active duty personnel, military retirees, military veterans and their families.

He is a member of Barksdale Air Force Base (BAFB) Louisiana committee, “Friends of Family Support,” that meets four times a year. The committee promotes quality of life issues and activities for all the 7,800 Barksdale active duty and reserve personnel and their families. They plan and conduct fundraising activities, make requests for funds from charitable sources, determine expenses not covered by appropriated or non-appropriated funds. Lees is also a member of BAFB’s Volunteer Advisory Council (VAC), which meets twice a year. VAC is responsible for base funding and policy recommendations for all base volunteerism, maintains a forum to address base volunteer issues, recognition of all base volunteer efforts, and provides local, regional or national and logistical support to the base volunteer resource program.

He is a member of Barksdale’s “Base Exchange (BX) Advisory Council” and is also a member of Barksdale’s “Commissary Advisory Committee.” The BX and Commissary Committee each hold 4 meetings per year to improve quality of life service, solve suggestions and complaints from Active Duty, National Guard, Reserve, Retired Military and their families, who utilize these base facilities. Lees is the representative for over 19,500 local military retirees and their dependents on these committees.

Lees is a member of the Northeast Louisiana War Veterans Home Ancillary Committee that meet at the Home in Monroe, LA which is about 115 miles one way from his residence. The War Veterans Home has accommodations for 156 male or female patients living in 4 different wings: Maximum Nursing Care; Alzheimer’s; Ambulatory; and Limited Nursing. The committee meets 4 times a year to assist in setting policy, obtaining donations, plans and supervises all the Home’s activities. During 2004, we arranged for a local elementary school art class to make Valentines and local JROTC Unit to address these valentines to all the Home’s patients. He also got local individuals to donate 124 pieces of all types of men’s clothing in large and extra large sizes, plus a United States Flag, POW/MIA Flag and the Louisiana State Flag.

As a member of the Northeast Louisiana Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Advisory Council, he served as Vice President for the last two years. This local RSVP has 837 volunteers over age 55, who contributed 154,000 hour at 93 volunteer stations in 2004. Lees established an RSVP volunteer station for BAFB Retiree Activities Office, base’s Family Support Center and Air Force Association (AFA) local chapter at the base. The RSVP Advisory Council meets 4 times a year to develop, assist, advise and evaluate all volunteer programs for the local RSVP. The Council works directly with the RSVP director on all RSVP projects each year. During 2004, Lees performed 2,589 volunteer hours and drove 6,335 miles at his own expense to perform his volunteer service locally and around the state.