Video

Video by Airman 1st Class Aaron Hauser, Airman Rachel Webster

Holly Petraeus Visits Nellis AFB

Nellis Air Force Base

May 16, 2012 | 1:54

Holly Petraeus, the assistant director for the Office of Service Member Affairs in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, visited Nellis Air Force base this May to host a special "town hall" forum to talk to Airmen about current financial hazards and predatory lending. (A1C Aaron Hauser - Broadcaster, 99ABW/PA) Holly Petraeus, the assistant director for the Office of Service Member Affairs in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, visited Nellis Air Force base this May to host a special "town hall" forum to talk to Airmen about current financial hazards and predatory lending. (Holly Petraeus - Assistant Director for the Office of Service Member Affairs, CFPB) Well there's two reasons really why I go out and visit the bases, and I've gone to a lot of them in the last year. I think over twenty-five at this point. Partly I want the military personnel and their families to know about my agency and what it does. To know that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has an office of service member affairs. It's really there to help them when it comes to consumer financial products. And then I'm also on the road to hear from them because I get asked in Washington a lot "what are the issues that are impacting the military when it comes to finances?" and I want to be able to answer that from the horse's mouth. So it's important to come out and actually visit the bases Mrs. Petraeus also spoke on the dangers of local "military friendly" businesses. (Holly Petraeus - Assistant Director for the Office of Service Member Affairs, CFPB) You know there are those deals that cluster around military bases, I've heard sometimes it's described like bears at a trout stream. They're just waiting outside the gates and offer you pretty much anything you want to buy. I remember one that was near to me recently I saw a place in Virginia where you could actually rent rims for your car. Apparently if you can't afford to buy them and you want to look flashy, you can rent them. So there's just a million ways to be parted from your money and some of them do say, you know, "we love the military", "we're military friendly", so just because they say they love the military doesn't mean they don't want to pick your pocket. In addition to the town hall forum, Holly Petraeus took time to educate some of Nellis's senior leadership on how to help Airmen protect themselves. During a special “round table” discussion, they addressed some of the more current financial challenges facing service members and their families. Airman first Class Aaron Hauser, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.