LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – Tech. Sgt. Rafael Franjul, 47th Flying Training Wing Judge Advocate Office NCO in charge, strives daily to balance the rigors and demands of his U.S. Air Force job with family time.
“I devote every moment I am not working to try and make sure my family knows how important they are to me,” Franjul said. “I do this by spending time with them doing activities we both enjoy.”
Through the good times and challenging times, Franjul sees his family as his strength, the ones who give him understanding and the ones who give him inspiration.
As the legal office’s NCOIC, his job is to make sure that everyone in his office has what they need to accomplish the mission.
“Some days I work on the finance budget such as the government purchase card, program funding, and the temporary duty funding,” Franjul said. “Other days I work on training the paralegals and our attorneys with less experience. Every day I need to be ready to find or get supplies for my folks to be able to do their jobs.”
His duties keep him busy on the day-to-day basis, his family is always the reason behind his perseverance.
As people with families know, life can throw wrenches in the way sometimes and times aren’t always easy. For Franjul, an example of this happened while he was on TDY. His family got a bad stomach virus, and none of them could get to the store for food or medicine.
“The officer in charge of my section purchased Gatorade, soup, and crackers then delivered it all to my house the same day I found out they were sick,” Franjul said. “These memories help me appreciate what the Air Force has done for me, and remind me that I could make similar memories for others around me.”
Another unique experience the military has provided for Franjul’s family were the experiences of traveling and living in different parts of the United States and other countries across the world.
“We have also been able to go camping in Belgium, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic,” Franjul said. “I got to visit many cool countries that not everyone gets to go to visit, at no cost to me.”
Overall, Franjul values his time with his family and the diverse experiences they’ve had together in the Air Force. They have kept him grounded and motivated during his military career. He hopes after his Air Force retirement, he can travel with his family during the summers and enjoy new experiences.