The Army Family Readiness Handbook - Fort Huachuca - U.S. Army

270 Pages·2002·6.25 MB·English

by  Susan Lee

T A F
HE RMY AMILY

R H
EADINESS ANDBOOK
The Army Family Readiness Handbook
Family Deployment Readiness for the Active Army,
the Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve
This handbook is a revised publication of the Operation READY (Resources for Educating about Deployment
and You) curriculum developed under a contract with Headquarters, Department of the Army, Community and
Family Support Center, and Texas Cooperative Extension of The Texas A&M University System.
Grant Administrator and Project Director
for Texas Cooperative Extension
Nancy Granovsky
Project Manager
Granville E. (Gene) Tyson
Editor and Design
Susan Lee
Production Coordinator
Diane Wisneski
Operation READY:
Resources for Educating About Deployment and You
Texas Cooperative Extension
The Texas A&M University System
in cooperation with
The United States Army
Community and Family Support Center
and Army Community Service
2002
The Army Family Readiness Handbook ii Operation READY
ABOUT THIS HANDBOOK
T
oday’s Army leadership recognizes that family readiness is inseparable from unit readiness. More
soldiers have families than ever before, and these include increasing numbers of single-parent
families and dual-military families. Soldiers who know that their families’ needs are being met, perform
better in the stress of deployment. And families whose needs are met during deployment will be in a
better position to welcome and support their returning soldiers.
The materials in this book are not just for active Army installations, however. All of the information is
designed to be equally useful for Army National Guard and Reserve units.
The handbook is organized into five chapters:
— Chapter 1 provides an overview of the role of family support activities in establishing and
maintaining deployment readiness, and outlines a concept of the Army’s “well-being” model for
family assistance planning, as well as information on AFTB and Building Strong and Ready
Families (BSRF). It is intended primarily for military units and their leaders, but it is useful
background for everyone.
— Chapter 2 provides information for Army personnel who have responsibility for providing family
support and assistance during deployment. The chapter includes suggestions for predeployment
briefing content relevant to both emotional and practical preparation, and discusses the special
roles of the Rear Detachment Commander and Family Readiness Liaison. The chapter closes with
a final readiness review.
— Chapter 3 provides material on planning for and coping with family separations. Informative
articles about the family dynamics of separation of mothers and fathers from children are key to
understanding and coping with separation. Tips on making reunion less stressful are included.
— Chapter 4 explains how a volunteer-based Family Readiness Group (FRG) program—a key
component of deployment-related family services—might be organized. Both military unit
personnel and volunteer FRG family member leaders who are involved in FRG program
development will find this chapter helpful.
— Chapter 5 includes resources and reference materials for volunteer leaders and Army facilitators of
ongoing FRG programs. Materials are included on developing ideas for FRG activities,
maintaining telephone contact with FRG members, publishing an FRG newsletter, and working
with volunteers. Volunteer job descriptions are provided.
Operation READY iii The Army Family Readiness Handbook
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This training material was developed by Texas Cooperative Extension, College Station, Texas, under
contract with the Department of Army and Texas Cooperative Extension, The Texas A&M University
System.
Valuable material came from the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) Newsletter No. 01, 3
January 2001, “Family Readiness: Techniques and Procedures on Family Support Initiatives.” CALL is
part of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), and is located at Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas.
The article “Wartime Separation of Mothers and Children,” by Penny F. Pierce and Catherine L. Buck,
came from the Marywood University Military Family Institute, Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is a center
for military family research.
The Army well-being information was provided by the Office of the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
The first edition of this document was largely edited from a handbook produced by the 25th Infantry
Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
We are grateful to many reserve component soldiers and civilian staff who gave of their time to provide
advice and counsel in the revision of this material.
Man has two supreme loyalties—to country and to family. . . So long as their families are safe, they will
defend their country, believing that by their sacrifice they are safeguarding their families also. But even
the bonds of patriotism, discipline, and comradeship are loosened when the family itself is threatened.
William Tecumseh Sherman
General, United States Army, 1864
Army readiness is inextricably linked to the Well-Being of our People. Our success depends on the whole
team—Soldiers, civilians, families—all of whom serve the Nation. Strategic responsiveness requires that
our support structures provide soldiers and families the resources to be self-reliant, both when the force
is deployed and when it is at home. When we deploy, Soldiers will know that their families are safe,
housed, and have access to medical care, community services, and educational opportunities. We have a
covenant with our Soldiers and families, and we will keep faith with them.
General Eric K. Shinseki
Chief of Staff of the Army
The Army Family Readiness Handbook iv Operation READY
OPERATION READY MATERIALS
The Operation READY curriculum is a series of training modules, videotapes, and resource books
published for the Army as a resource for Army Community Service (ACS), State Family Program
Coordinators (SFPC), and Army Reserve Family Readiness Program (FRP) staff in training Army
soldiers and families who are faced with deployments.
This revised curriculum includes the following training modules and reference materials:
— The Army Family Readiness Handbook
— The Army Leaders’ Desk Reference for Soldier/Family Readiness (new)
— The Soldier/Family Deployment Survival Handbook (new)
— The Army FRG Leader’s Handbook
— Family Assistance Center
— Predeployment and Ongoing Readiness
— Homecoming and Reunion
Videos developed for the Operation READY curriculum by University of California–Riverside
Cooperative Extension, to supplement the above materials are:
— Army Community Service: To Get the Most Out of Life, Think ACS (new)
— Introduction to Operation READY (new)
— Family Assistance Center
— Family Readiness Groups—A Place to Belong
— Practical Readiness—Smart Ways to Minimize Deployment Hassles
— Coping with Stress
— Making Your Reunion Work
Children’s Workbooks for use by parents with their children.
These materials have been distributed to all U.S. Army installations throughout the world, as well as to
U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard commands. The materials are distributed in hard copy form as
well as stored on CD-ROM disks. They are also available through the virtual Army Community Service
website, www.goacs.org. For copies of the above materials, check with your local Army Community
Service, Mobilization and Deployment office, SFPC and FRP offices.
Operation READY v The Army Family Readiness Handbook
The Army Family Readiness Handbook vi Operation READY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Army Acronyms..........................................................................................................................xiii
1. Command Leadership and Family Readiness...................................................................1
Why Be Prepared? .................................................................................................................3
The Army’s Stake in Family Health.......................................................................................7
The Army of the 21st Century............................................................................................9
Some Definitions Used in the Family and Soldier Readiness System..............................9
Reserve Component Considerations .................................................................................10
Army Well Being: A Framework for Taking Care of the Army .............................................11
What is Well Being, Particularly As It Relates to Families?.............................................11
Who Benefits from Army Well Being? .............................................................................11
What is the Army Trying to Achieve?...............................................................................12
Army Well-Being Goals....................................................................................................13
AFTB and the Building Strong and Ready Families Program...............................................14
Army Family Team Building (AFTB) Program ................................................................14
Building Strong and Ready Families Program..................................................................16
Summary................................................................................................................................17
Materials in This Book and Other Operation READY Modules ......................................18
The Family and Soldier Readiness System .......................................................................19
Center for Army Lessons Learned.....................................................................................19
The Army Leaders’ Desk Reference for Soldier/Family Readiness...................................20
Family Assistance Center.......................................................................................................21
Rear Detachment Commander ..........................................................................................21
Welcoming New Personnel....................................................................................................23
Sponsorship.......................................................................................................................23
Tips for Sponsors...............................................................................................................29
Additional Relocation Resources......................................................................................30
Backgrounder: Caring Is Not Enough....................................................................................31
Roles in the Family Support System......................................................................................34
Operation READY vii The Army Family Readiness Handbook
The Unit’s Role in Family Readiness ....................................................................................35
Unit Predeployment Family Readiness Responsibilities...................................................35
Training and Preparation...................................................................................................36
Unit Responsibilities for Family Readiness While Deployed...........................................40
Post Deployment Family Readiness Unit..........................................................................44
2. Predeployment: Family Readiness Processing ..................................................................45
Preventive Maintenance......................................................................................................... 47
Predeployment Briefings........................................................................................................49
Emotional Preparation ...........................................................................................................55
Emotions Run High Prior to Deployment.........................................................................55
Understand the Children....................................................................................................56
Communication Is a Stress Reliever .................................................................................56
Getting Adjusted................................................................................................................56
Children’s Behavior...........................................................................................................57
Reunion Dynamics............................................................................................................58
Practical Preparation..............................................................................................................60
Financial Preparation.........................................................................................................60
Powers of Attorney—Be Careful in Using These .............................................................61
Special Needs Assistance ..................................................................................................61
Crime Prevention, Safety, and Security.............................................................................61
Nutritional Health..............................................................................................................69
Don’t Forget the Family Car/Truck...................................................................................69
Family Housing.................................................................................................................69
Briefing Outline .....................................................................................................................71
Family Support during Deployment.......................................................................................73
Candid Comments from the Ranks ...................................................................................73
Family Readiness Groups’ Role in Unannounced Deployments ...........................................75
Role of the Rear Detachment Commander .......................................................................80
The Need for Family Readiness Groups ...........................................................................81
Role of the Family Readiness Liaison...............................................................................83
The Army Family Readiness Handbook viii Operation READY
Roles and Responsibilities.....................................................................................................85
FRL Duties ........................................................................................................................87
Deployment 101.....................................................................................................................93
Deployment 101: Soldier and Family Readiness Checklists.............................................94
Soldier’s Checklist ............................................................................................................ 95
To the Spouse ....................................................................................................................99
Emergency Contact Information .......................................................................................101
Spouse’s Checklist ............................................................................................................103
Monthly Financial Worksheet ...........................................................................................107
Individual Deployment Checklist......................................................................................109
Individual Deployment Family Survey .............................................................................111
Briefing Evaluation................................................................................................................113
3. Sustainment: Coping with Separation...............................................................................115
Survival Strategies .................................................................................................................117
Communications ...............................................................................................................119
Stress Management Techniques ........................................................................................122
Children and Separation.........................................................................................................126
Children and Their Feelings..............................................................................................126
Predeployment Suggestions ..............................................................................................127
Children and Reunion .......................................................................................................128
Seven Myths of the Absent Father ....................................................................................130
Wartime Separation of Mothers and Children...................................................................134
Backgrounder: Dealing with Separation ...........................................................................137
A Family Separation Workshop .............................................................................................140
Homecoming..........................................................................................................................143
Reunion Seminar....................................................................................................................145
Workshop Evaluation.............................................................................................................151
Operation READY ix The Army Family Readiness Handbook
4. Starting a Family Readiness Group Program....................................................................153
Are You Ready?....................................................................................................................155
What Is a Family Readiness Group?.................................................................................156
A Successful Start ..................................................................................................................159
Forming a Battalion-Level Steering Committee ...............................................................160
Unit-Level FRGs (Company/Battery/Troop).....................................................................161
FRG Linkages....................................................................................................................161
Keys to Success.................................................................................................................163
FRG Formation and Participation..........................................................................................165
Family Readiness Group Volunteer Leadership................................................................167
Organization...........................................................................................................................168
Formal Structure................................................................................................................168
Organization Structure ......................................................................................................168
Contact with FRG Participants..........................................................................................169
Unit-Level FRG Management...........................................................................................170
Battalion-Level FRG Management ...................................................................................171
Informal Structure ............................................................................................................. 173
Roles and Positions within the FRG......................................................................................175
Battalion-Level FRG.........................................................................................................175
Unit-Level FRG................................................................................................................. 176
Summary................................................................................................................................180
Successful FRGs in the Army Today .....................................................................................181
Family Readiness Group Organization and Operations....................................................181
Family Problems................................................................................................................181
Family Readiness Group Leadership.................................................................................182
Family Readiness Group Tasks before, during, and after Deployment.............................183
Training Family Readiness Group Leaders.......................................................................184
Other Considerations.........................................................................................................184
Family Readiness Group Questionnaire ................................................................................186
The Army Family Readiness Handbook x Operation READY