A majority of those working and living on McChord Field don't know exactly what the Retire Activities Office's mission is.

Dayle Pieper, the RAO's Volunteer of the Year, wants desperately to help change that.

After retiring as a major from the Air Force two years ago, Pieper moved back to her native Northwest to help her siblings with care for her elderly parents. A former intelligence officer at the Pentagon where she worked with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Pieper came to McChord a couple times a week to do her shopping and take care of any retirement paperwork odds and ends. She came across the RAO office in the base's customer service mall and immediately felt she could volunteer her time with anything the office needed.

"They are active, interesting people who appreciate anything you can provide for them," Pieper said of the RAO's volunteer force. "I thought (volunteering) would be a really helpful experience for me."

With a large percentage of the RAO volunteers in their 60s and 70s, the 46-year-old Pieper came in hoping to bring a bit of a refreshed perspective and some ideas to the table about how the RAO can better serve the active-duty and recently retired local military population.

"A lot of active-duty folks don't even know the RAO exists," Pieper said.

The former major first helped the group organize an outreach program so that volunteers could speak at TAPS briefings and let Airmen know about the office and what kind of advice it can offer to those who recently retired.

"For your entire active-duty career, you have people in your unit constantly making sure you get information that's going to help you along with your career," she said. "Once you retire, you have to go out and find that kind of information, and that's harder to do."

Pieper has also helped volunteers mobilize and get out into the active-duty community and attend leadership meetings to find out more ways the RAO can contribute.

"It's about having a better insight to what any (of the active-duty force's) needs are," Pieper said. "I feel like we've made a good first step."

RAO volunteers - both those who have served as well as spouses - have such a wealth of information that they love to share with those who stop by the desk, the former major said. She's also hoping her participation with the RAO can help rally some younger, recently retired Soldiers or Airmen to come volunteer their time with the organization.  

"We don't have any former Guard or Reserve volunteers," she said. "We'd love to have them."