4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade Family Readiness
Welcome to Family Readiness
This web page has been developed to assist you and your family in preparing for deployments, unaccompanied tours and extended temporary duty assignments. The information will provide helpful information regarding on-post agencies and tasks which are essential for your family's welfare during those separations. Remember, preparation is the key to success.
What is a Family Readiness Group?
The Family Readiness Group (FRG) Program includes two phases, sustainment and deployment.
The sustainment phase is critical in developing the concept of family support and for building communication networks and providing information and education to all the groups' members. Family Readiness activities are aimed at developing a sense of community and partnership between the unit's families and the unit itself.
During a deployment, a crisis or an emergency, the FRG provides critical information flow and support. The purpose of the FRG is to enable a unit's family members to establish and operate a system through which they can effectively: gather information solve problems, and maintain a system of mutual support The Family Readiness Group Program has the potential to reduce stress and be the means through which a commander is made aware of a situation or problem.
The FRG does greatly assist in reaching a solution, or more importantly, preventing the problem in the first place. As a result, the FRG has a significant impact on the unit's readiness. The goals of the Family Readiness Group are: integrating all family members into the unit family and support system reducing social isolation, providing close personal support, assist in gathering and disseminating information and identifying resources, facilitating and establishing a sense of community, and enhancing a feeling of belonging, control, self-reliance, and self-esteem The success of a Family Readiness Group is dependent on family member interaction with each other and with the unit commander on a regular basis.
This interaction creates the network that identifies and helps solve family member concerns and issues effectively, and in a personal manner. Through involvement in managing a Family Readiness Group and interaction within a unit community, family members actually become a more important, integral part of that unit's activities.
Family members should be given the opportunity to: belong to the unit Family Readiness Group, make significant contributions, fill significant and satisfying roles within their community, and be a Family Readiness Group Leader Preparing for Separation: There is no denying that the military lifestyle, especially unexpected deployments, can disrupt the family unit.
As Soldiers prepare to deploy and leave, military families may experience:
- denial or shock
- disbelief and numbness anger
- frustration with separation demands
- feeling guilty about the military, spouse, and job guilt for not saying or doing more before the deployment
- children may feel they caused the departure
- depression - intense sadness, fatigue, loss of appetite, and withdrawal from the routine
- acceptance - realize and accept the situation
- resolve to continue on positively, confidence in handling day-to-day living
- awareness of increase in self-esteem and personal abilities
Knowing these feelings are normal and can help families cope. These stages normally occur in the order above; however, setbacks to previous stages can be triggered by a number of causes. Individual situations and types of deployment can influence the intensity and duration of each stage.
How to Manage Separation
Take good care of yourself and stay safe Make sure you eat right Shop and cook for nutrition Get enough rest Make time for physical exercise - walk daily, join an aerobics class, jog, bowl, etc. Treat yourself to a special outing - dinner, movie, shopping trip, or just a night out. You deserve it!
Don't go on spending binges or run up large phone bills; they will only create financial problems down the road Help manage stress by setting aside time to do something that you enjoy every day Avoid trying to do everything yourself Take advantage of military community support. Call people in your FRG when you need to talk Contact family, friends, neighbors, and spouses of other deployed Soldiers whenever you need practical or emotional support.
Get Involved in an activity, a hobby, a project, Church, volunteering. Talk about your feelings, doubts, and fears with a trusted friend, neighbor, coworker, or other spouses.
Seek professional help if you feel overwhelmed by your emotions, or if you suspect that someone in the family is having emotional problems.
Keeping in Touch
Help encourage a feeling of togetherness in the family during deployment by keeping the lines of communication open. Possibilities include:
- Letters, which are inexpensive personalized, and allow you to think about what you would like to share. Tip: share feelings directly, write as if writing a journal or diary, express affection and appreciation, answer and ask questions, and be honest (share how you managed the bad news)
- E-mail - Inexpensive and fast, although not as secure as letter mail (If available) Phone calls are more direct and personal, although they can inconvenient and expensive (always know the cost of each call so you can budget)
- VTC - video teleconferencing allows live interaction between the soldier and family member
- Pictures (including photographs and artwork by children) can be easily carried, proudly displayed, and looked at often, helping family members remember each other
- Tape recordings and videocassettes offer realism and can be played regularly, although they require special equipment. Hearing voices can make the absent one seem more real, closer and interested. Let children make a tape Calendar tag, this involves sending a small fold-over calendar back and forth in letters so the deployed parent and child can take turns marking off the days.
Safety and Security
Do not make it public knowledge that your spouse has been deployed. Tell children to do the same. Discuss what they should say on the phone. Keep emergency telephone numbers close to the phone at all times. Contact the police, rear detachment, or MPs for additional suggestions or at the first sign of suspicious activity. Seek help when you need it! Know your neighbors (you may need their help on an emergency basis).
