Many military families face tremendous difficulties when a reservist is called into service. Spouses who are left behind might face financial hardship and feel marooned in a civilian world that doesn’t know how to help them. Support from the military can seem distant.

Times are changing, however. Since the Gulf War, there has been a shift in philosophy and support for all military families—active duty, Guard, and Reserve. 

Family Support

“We’ve learned a great number of lessons about family support,” says Col. James Scott, USAR, director of individual family support policy for the assistant secretary of defense for Reserve Affairs. “Our role is oversight. We try to put policies in place to ensure that families are prepared for self-sufficiency during a deployment.”

The National Guard Family Program

Dorothy Ogilvy-Lee, chief of the National Guard Family Program, develops the family readiness programs for 463,000 guardmembers in all 50 states and four territories. Each state also has a full-time family coordinator to oversee and help implement these programs. 

The program makes use of federal funding to cover the costs of distributing newsletters to ensure that families stay informed. “That way, families are up-to-date. They [will] already understand things like TRICARE and DEERS [the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System],” Ogilvy-Lee says. 

Along with the newsletters, another important component of family communication is the Guard’s Web site. Ogilvy-Lee is especially proud of the separate Web site for young people (listed on page 60). “We found out how isolated our Guard kids feel [as military children in a civilian world]. They are so thrilled when they can connect with other Guard kids.” 

In addition to these newsletters and Web sites, the program relies heavily on volunteer efforts. “We probably have 100 volunteers for every paid position,” Ogilvy-Lee says. In fact, most of the funding goes to train volunteers, who are usually spouses or parents of guardmembers. “Even siblings or grandparents may be involved because we are focused on the extended family,” Ogilvy-Lee explains. “We also have quite a few military retirees involved, because of the community nature of the Guard.”

But, Ogilvy-Lee says, the Guard’s family program is there for military families from any service. “We are the safety net—and it doesn’t have to be an emergency,” Ogilvy-Lee says. “Whatever you need, the National Guard can connect you.”

Award-Winning Guard Unit

“Families are not just in support of the mission—they are part of it,” says Sheila Murphy, director of the Family Readiness Network (FRN) for the 155th Air Refueling Wing in Lincoln, Neb., during the time it won the Air National Guard’s 2002 Outstanding Family Program award. 

When meetings revealed airmen were not using existing deployment pamphlets, the FRN developed a family preparation checklist. FRN volunteers consulted a judge advocate general to create a privacy act release enabling family members to avoid bureaucratic delays in dealing with issues such as pay problems or medical records. 

FRN educational fairs are held at venues as diverse as a zoo and the Strategic Air and Space Museum at Offutt Air Force Base (AFB), Neb. Child care is provided during these fairs, and typical topics include the FRN program and information about Red Cross benefits, consumer protection, and identity theft. 

The 155th offers a few programs to help support deployed troops and their families. One of them, “Morale Link,” operates with families and the community to send care packages to deployed members and provide dinners for personnel on holiday duty at the base. To help keep in touch, families and deployed members receive a cell-phone contact number that is answered by someone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is also a centrally located computer available for families to use to send e-mail. The FRN even videotapes events such as school concerts to send to deployed parents. 

Also, the Salvation Army helped the 155th add the “FRN Fuzzy Friends” program, in which each family member gets a stuffed animal when the unit member deploys. “The FRN is always present at send-offs and welcomes,” Murphy says.

Murphy attributes the program’s success to the efforts of those who are involved. “We have a top-notch group of ‘first shirts,’ ” says Murphy, “and are blessed with many volunteers including military, family, and members of the community who work closely with the FRN office.” 

The Army Reserve

Janet Glasser, family program manager for the Army Reserve, advises East Coast commands from Maine to Florida. She says that reservists once had a 60- to 90-day call-up notice; today the notice can be as little as 24 hours.

Glasser concentrates on training paid and volunteer staff for family readiness groups (FRGs). “We have guidelines that encourage units to provide outreach through telephone trees, newsletters, and Family Day activities for soldiers and their families,” she says. Each unit also is encouraged to develop an information and referral network focused on military benefits and helpful community service organizations and social services, such as the American Legion, Red Cross, and Army Emergency Relief societies. 

Volunteers often hold key positions in FRGs, and Glasser invites any interested person to serve. What can people do? “We need help with newsletters and [with] child care during meetings,” she says. Reliable local organizations willing to help on a consistent basis—such as church and civic groups or even individuals—are invaluable. 

The Naval Reserve

Approximately 500 dedicated volunteer ombudsmen are key to the Naval Reserves’ Family Readiness Program, says Yonna Diggs, ombudsman-at-large for the Naval Reserves since 1997 and wife of a medical corpsman reservist. “I directly support the [Department of Defense (DoD)] mission,” she says. “I serve ombudsmen throughout the country, coordinating policy so everyone’s on the same sheet of music.” 

Ombudsmen—in this case, unpaid spouses of reservists—are selected by commanding officers (COs) at all levels and are the primary liaison between COs and families. (The active duty Navy has its own ombudsmen.) 

“We stress that they will not act as counselors,” Diggs says. “They provide information on housing, child care, and family support in their local area.”

Reserve ombudsmen face special challenges, she explains, because they might be supporting people in five different states. In areas without military installations, ombudsmen work with chambers of commerce, churches, and civic and service organizations.

To train ombudsmen, Diggs travels nationwide and relies on technology such as e-mail and videoconferencing. 

Another innovation is the electronic town hall, which uses a satellite system. “If the ombudsman needs to get information out to families—say a unit has been affected by some issue like the [bombing of the] USS Cole—the ombudsman and the command support team can contact them.” Families can then assemble at the virtual town hall.

“After [Sept. 11], we had a town hall around the entire country,” Diggs continues. She says they aim for one or two such events a year. Families and reservists can call or fax in questions from anywhere in the world.

An Air Force Reserve Wing

Jack Watts is director of the family-readiness (FR) program for the 349th Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, Fairfield, Calif., a unit with more than 3,500 members from 42 states and two foreign countries. 

The members of the 349th are deployed in small groups with other units worldwide. “The Air Force calls up a ‘package,’ ” explains Watts. “When the message comes down, reservists may need to report within 24 to 48 hours. Before the FR [program] existed, there were god-awful problems for some families.” 

So the emphasis is on readiness. New reservists receive briefings and a 60-page deployment guide with checklists. “There are ‘dummy-proof’ steps, and we walk them through it,” Watts says. “We tell them to do one piece at a time, but be sure you do it, because it’ll bite you in the tail if you don’t.” 

The biggest “tail biter,” Watts says, is not having the family enrolled in DEERS. He also advises families to include in their checklists practical things, such as where the circuit breaker is and where to get the car serviced. In addition to the 349th’s official monthly publication, the FR coordinator mails a colorful quarterly newsletter packed with items such as helpful Web sites and scam alerts. The wing also has a well-publicized toll-free number—which is printed on convenient refrigerator magnets — and its own Web site.

Travis AFB’s FR program continues to support deploying troops and their families, and to stay up-to-date the 349th also keeps in touch with other FR offices on a regular basis. “We have a large active duty family support group on Travis and have just started up our fourth spouse-support group here,” Watts says. “We also have purple groups [joint services] and see people from the Army, Navy, and Marines.” 

The Coast Guard Reserve

Cmdr. Jeffry Bauer, USCGR, is commanding officer of Port Security Unit (PSU) 307 in St. Petersburg, Fla., a small Coast Guard unit with only 120 reservists and six active duty personnel. The unit won DoD Family Readiness awards in both 2001 and 2002.

While most Coast Guard reservists are integrated into active duty Coast Guard or Navy units, psu 307 is one of six reserve units protecting U.S. ships in foreign ports. Commissioned four years ago, it has deployed three times already, including six months last year at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, also called Gitmo. 

Deployments involve the entire unit. Last year, for example, only three members stayed behind as a supply chain and to provide family support. Under these circumstances, “it’s a great morale booster to know there’s a support network for your family,” says Bauer. The unit also carries two laptops that are available for troops to send and receive e-mail.

Bauer has high praise for unit ombudsman Lynda Lipke, wife of Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Lipke. The unit has a monthly newsletter that Lynda augments with her own more social and supportive newsletter. Lynda also organizes get-togethers at the drill site, and during the last deployment, she borrowed two videophones from Eglin AFB, Fort Walton Beach, Fla. “She had one which she took to unit social events,” Bauer relates. “The other was with us in Gitmo.”

Despite some groups’ best efforts, family troubles might arise after a deployment. To divert possible problems, Bauer addresses return preparations at formal unit meetings while reservists are still deployed, and senior personnel conduct additional training with small groups and individuals. “There are changes in the family during deployment,” he says. “You can’t assume it will go back to the same routine.” 

Bauer says information is the key. “The most important thing is to be honest with the unit and the families. We give as much information as possible.”

The Marine Reserve

Marine “brat” Cydnee Gentry is like many family-readiness volunteers — a longtime military family member. A graduate of Camp Lejeune High School in North Carolina, she met her husband while teaching at Lejeune after college. Today, he is an active duty Marine serving with the 4th Combat Engineer Battalion (CEB), a reserve unit in Baltimore. The 4th CEB, which won a DoD Family Readiness Award in 2002, also has companies in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee. 

Gentry is nearly active duty herself, volunteering many hours as the 4th CEB’s key volunteer (KY) advisor. She says the Marine Corps has a formal family-readiness training program for KYs, chaplains, and family readiness officers (FROs). “Our motto is ‘one team, one fight,’ ” says Gentry. “We don’t differentiate between active duty and reserves. We integrate our programs, and that’s important when you look at family and mission readiness.” 

When it comes to training, she says, “We decided to take our team mobile. We went to very remote areas.” The team includes Gentry, the battalion fro and KY coordinators, and the chaplain. They provide training for other Marine Corps reserve units as well as the 4th CEB.

“There are several KYs at each company level,” Gentry says. Each KY assists 14 to 16 specific families, whether their reservist is deployed or not. “Sometimes you just need someone to talk to,” says Gentry. “No one knows how you’re feeling unless they’re wearing your shoes.” 

Family Days are a popular way to bring families and Marines together and offer information about services such as the KTs, Red Cross, and TRICARE. “The extended family is always welcome,” Gentry says. “We have food, information, and a children’s carnival. We also show off Marine equipment. I think the families like to see what Dad or Mom does.”

Family readiness for both troops and family members clearly is a critical issue for the reserve components, one that is being vigorously addressed from policy makers in Washington to individuals such as Gentry. 

Perhaps Sheila Murphy of the Nebraska Air Guard wing sums it up best: “As more and more Guard and Reserve forces reach active and deployed status, the challenge of family readiness will greatly increase.

“We see a time when we will play an ever-increasing role in [the] total force. It is our firm belief that any person in service to our country has a family in service, and any family in service will always find help here or with any military family program.”