📜 Post with us on Reddit
📝 Create a new article
🏭 Create a company page
🇬🇧 - in English
🇫🇷 - en Français (FR)
🇵🇹 - em Português (PT)
🇩🇪 - auf Deutsch (DE)
🇯🇵 - 日本語で (JA)
Sponsored articles

You can edit almost every page by Creating an account and confirming your email.

Air Force Enlisted Village

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki



Air Force Enlisted Village
Gated community
Nickname(s): 
Bob Hope Village[nb 1]
CountryUnited States
StateFlorida
CountyOkaloosa County
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
32579
Area code(s)850
Websiteafev.us

The Air Force Enlisted Village (AFEV) is a military-affiliated[1] nonprofit age-restricted gated community that focuses on retired United States Air Force and Space Force enlisted veterans and their spouses. At its core, AFEV "offer[s] a home for and financial assistance to widows of retired enlisted Air Force members"[2] regardless their income.[3]

AFEV resides in an unincorporated area formerly part of Eglin Air Force Base that is serviced by the Shalimar, Florida post office. It encompasses the Bob Hope Village for independent living, Hawthorn House for assisted living, and Victory Village (under construction)[4] for wounded veterans. It is a designated voting precinct where residents cast ballots on-site for local, state, and federal elections.[5]

History[2]

  • 1967 Preliminary research and concept for Air Force Enlisted Widows Home Foundation
  • 1968 Incorporated as the Air Force Enlisted Men's Widows And Dependents Home Foundation[3]
  • 1971 Foundation granted nonprofit 501(c)(3) status
  • 1973 Foundation recognized as an official Air Force charity
  • 1975 Teresa Village opens in Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Bust of Bob Hope with a quote attributed to President Ronald Reagan calling Bob Hope Village "a fitting tribute to a great humanitarian and the spouses who stood by Air Force enlisted members as they served their country."

Bob Hope's involvement

Hollywood icon Bob Hope, the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces",[6] became involved with the foundation in 1978 after his longtime friend Col. Bob Gates told him about it.[7][nb 2] Hope and his wife visited the campus and held benefit shows for the foundation until their deaths.[2]

  • 1980 Air Force sells land to build the Bob Hope Village
  • 1984 Construction begins on the Bob Hope Village[9]
  • 1985 Bob Hope Village opens[1]

Expansion of charter

  • 2000 Name changed to Air Force Enlisted Foundation Inc.[10]
  • 2003 Name changed to Air Force Enlisted Village Inc.[11]
  • 2004 Corporate charter expanded to provide assisted living[2]
  • 2005 ‍Hawthorn House (Assisted Living) opens
  • 2011 ‍Memory Care wing at Hawthorn House opens
  • 2013 Teresa Village sold
  • 2015 ‍Bob Hope Village 5 opens, creating a consolidated community
  • 2020 ‍Bob Hope Village 6 opens
  • 2021 Air Force sells land to build Victory Village[12]
  • 2025 Bob Hope Village 7 and the Victory Village begin construction[4]

Notable residents

Bob Hope Village

This series of apartment complexes provides a home for retired Air & Space Force enlisted members and spouses age 55 and older[nb 3] who can live without a dedicated caregiver.[1] Eligibility includes retirement from active duty, the reserves, and the guard.

All residents and employees receive an emergency alert necklace

Villages 1–4 comprise a single story apartment complex that gives highest priority to surviving spouses regardless their income. Villages 5–7 are a group of modern multi-story apartment complexes that focus on retired Air & Space Force enlisted members & spouses.[2]

Assisted living

Hawthorn House accepts military veterans, spouses, and dependents who require assisted living or memory care.[16][17] The Victory Village now under construction will provide a retirement community for wounded service members and their caregivers.[4][12]

Amenities

Core amenities include the nonprofit 501(c)(3) fund that gives destitute surviving spouses a home, a food bank that augments state & federal food programs, and a free laundromat.[18][19] AFEV has arranged with the Eglin Air Force Base pharmacy to pick up residents' prescription medicine, and a mobile X-ray service is available for residents on TRICARE temporarily confined to their apartment.[8][20][21]

The campus provides 24/7 security[22] and the Dolores Hope All Faiths Chapel provides scheduled religious services for Catholics and Protestants broadcast live on a free cable channel.[19] Another amenity comes from local airmen who volunteer to help residents by moving furniture, flipping a mattress, and hanging decorations.[23]

Ballroom in The Commons building

The Commons

This central hub provides amenities such as a restaurant, hair & nail salons and barber, pickleball courts, heated swimming pool & Jacuzzi, exercise rooms with workout machines, a library, and a ballroom featuring DJs & musicians.[22]

Shuttles & taxis

Shuttles take residents on a weekly basis to two military commissaries and various local stores, and excursions include watching the Blue Angels practice aerial maneuvers. AFEV also operates a taxi service so residents can visit doctors and dentists in the local region.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Employees and residents use the formal name and nickname interchangeably, but "Bob Hope Village" is the group name for numbered villages.
  2. ↑ AFEV named their welcome center for Gates in recognition of his service.[8]
  3. ↑ "Younger applicants in need, whose active duty sponsor has just died, may be admitted for up to one year."[15]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rosencrans, Evan (January 31, 1986). White Paper Study: What Future Relationship, If Any, Should The Air Force Have With Retirement Homes? (Report). United States Air Force. pp. 4–5, 9–15.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Our History". Air Force Enlisted Village. Archived from the original on July 19, 2025. Retrieved November 11, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Articles of incorporation and amendments". Air Force Enlisted Village. 1968. pp. 8–13.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Michelle Gigante. "Eglin AFB, Air Force Enlisted Village invest in Victory Village". Eglin Air Force Base. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved November 11, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  5. ↑ "Polling Places [precinct 31]" (PDF). Okaloosa County, Florida. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 11, 2025. Retrieved November 11, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  6. ↑ Tracey Lyles (August 19, 2014). "Bob Hope: First and only honorary veteran of the Armed Forces". United States Army. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  7. ↑ Lauren Sage Reinlie (August 13, 2014). "'A legitimate legend' is laid to rest". Northwest Florida Daily News. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Our Campus". Air Force Enlisted Village. Archived from the original on July 19, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  9. ↑ Air Force Enlisted Village (January 18, 1984). "Stone marker".
  10. ↑ "2000 name change". Air Force Enlisted Village. 2000. pp. 5–7.
  11. ↑ "2003 name change". Air Force Enlisted Village. 2003. pp. 1–4.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Victory Village boundary survey". Air Force Enlisted Village. 2019.
  13. ↑ Jarrod Grammel (August 14, 2012). "Enlisted village cares for AF widows, families". Air Force Link. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on June 4, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  14. ↑ Jordan, Jodi L. (February 9, 2007). "Air Force Enlisted Village earns 4-star rating". Air Force Link. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on December 12, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  15. ↑ "FAQs: What You Want to Know". Air Force Enlisted Village. Archived from the original on August 4, 2025. Retrieved November 11, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  16. ↑ "Hawthorn House". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
  17. ↑ Staff Sgt. Natalie Fiorilli (April 8, 2025). "98-year-old pilot sees Skyraider legacy live on in AFSOC's OA-1K Skyraider II". Air Force Link. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on June 26, 2025. Retrieved November 13, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  18. ↑ "Air Force Enlisted Village helps surviving spouses". United States Air Force. March 20, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Featured Garden Apartment". Air Force Enlisted Village. November 13, 2025. Archived from the original on August 4, 2025. Retrieved November 13, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  20. ↑ "Pharmacy prescription refills option 3". Eglin Air Force Base. November 19, 2025.
  21. ↑ "Portable X-ray services". TRICARE. November 19, 2025.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Campus Amenities". Air Force Enlisted Village. November 13, 2025. Archived from the original on July 9, 2025. Retrieved November 13, 2025. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  23. ↑ "Not just a place to live, a place to call home". United States Air Force. September 12, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2025.


This article "Air Force Enlisted Village" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Air Force Enlisted Village. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.


Retrieved from "https://en.everybodywiki.com/index.php?title=Air_Force_Enlisted_Village&oldid=6253582"
License CC BY-SA 3.0
Powered by MediaWiki