Every month the HBA President & Executive Officer attend Southwest Illinois Council of Mayors meetings. This month was sponsored by Mayor Roach of O’Fallon with the new SAFB Commander as the guest speaker. As the commander addressed the group she shared information that Scott AFB has been ranked the best base to serve at. The article below gives the details of what the qualifications were. BE PROUD that we have this honor for so many reasons including the beautiful homes and communities HBA members build. Pictured from left to right: Beth Jacob, HBA 2018 Acting President, Colonel Leslie Maher, SAFB 375th Air Mobility Wing and Installation Commander and Colonel Mike Hornitschek, former SAFB Commander and Director of strategic Development at StraightUp Solar Metro East residents can understand why our region’s largest and most prominent defense facility earned such a high rating, but many higher-profile host communities were probably surprised. According to Air Force Times, Scott and the other top-rated bases are “diamonds in the rough” that “provide good places for airmen to raise families and entertain themselves” as they do their duty and defend our country. Using independent public sources, Air Force Times editors produced ratings for each facility based on nine regional criteria and three base-specific factors important to service members. In calculating final scores, ratings for school quality, cost of living, and housing costs were judged to be the most important community considerations and were triple-weighted. Scores for regional crime rates and transportation were doubled, while ratings for air pollution levels, climate, unemployment rates and sales taxes received no additional weighting. Scott led the final tabulation with an overall score of 167, tied with Ohio’s Wright - Patterson AFB. 3 Scott topped the list due to superior ratings given to Southwestern Illinois for school quality, cost-of-living and affordable housing. Air Force Times calculated school ratings on a combination of standardized test scores, year-to-year student improvement and graduation rates, and then averaged scores for all rated schools within a 10-mile radius of each base. These ratings prove that our communities’ willingness to invest in quality education is paying dividends for the entire region, as well as for the families whose children are enrolled. If the study had also calculated the benefits of available postsecondary education opportunities, Scott AFB’s score would likely soar even higher. Scott is also the only base in the Air Force Times’ Top Ten that is served directly by a rail transit system. This is one more important factor that puts Scott in a class by itself. Among several comments by individual airmen included in the report, Metro Link was cited as a distinct advantage for Scott AFB service members. Article courtesy of Air Force Times
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