AW2 Community Support Network Update

Filed under Community Support Network, General, Non-profit by on February 2, 2010 at 10:13 pm {no comments}

By Sarah Greer, WTC Stratcom

Between December 15 and February 1, 12 new organizations have registered for the AW2 Community Support Network to demonstrate their support for AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and Families. I encourage you to visit their Web sites to learn more about the unique services each organization offers.

AW2 also recently hosted the first quarterly conference call with AW2 Community Supporters and focused on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), and AW2 encouraged AW2 Community Supporters to send their success stories for use in the AW2 blog and other AW2 publications. AW2 Veteran Matthew A. Staton also joined the call to discuss how he manages his PTSD and TBI and the important role AW2 Community Supporters have played in his recovery and transition.

Federal Organizations (registered between December 15 and February 1):

Additional Organizations (registered between December 15 and February 1):

Any AW2 Soldier, Veteran, or Family member can nominate an organization for the AW2 Community Support Network by contacting me at AW2CommunitySupportNetwork@conus.army.mil or (703) 325-0397. For more information, please visit the AW2 Community Support Network section of the AW2 Web site.

The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of Defense of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) sites, the United States Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations.

Adding The AW2 Blog to My.Army.Mil

Filed under DoD, General by on January 26, 2010 at 5:27 pm {one comment}

By COL Kevin Arata, DoD DMA

Screenshot of My.Army.mil Homepage

Screenshot of My.Army.mil Homepage

In an effort to create a more personalized browsing experience, the U.S. Army has launched, My.Army.Mil, the first user-customized Web site under the Department of Defense.

My.Army.Mil offers visitors the ability to sign-in and create a personalized destination for official Army information, ranging from traditional news stories to up-to-the-minute social media updates. Members of the AW2 community can even easily add the AW2 Blog to My.Army.Mil to make the Web site a one stop destination for all your Army news needs.

Really, the creation of this site is for you — the user. We want you to feel like this is your page, not just the Army’s page that we are thrusting upon you. We hope that this customizable ability on My.Army.mil makes you want to come to the Army’s Web site. You have the ability to make this page match your personality. So if you want to add an RSS feed to your pages from outside sources — that’s ok. If you want to get news from your favorite Army installations, that is an option as well. We want you to make this your one-stop shop for news — how you like it — as opposed to how we think you like it. I encourage you to play around with the widgets and see what interests you.

To create your own customized My.Army.Mil page, simply sign-in and authenticate with Google Friend Connect (AIM, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and OpenID) or AKO (Army Knowledge Online) username and password. Once you have signed up and created your account, you will be prompted to add and arrange a series of widgets to suit your specific Army information needs.

Here are some of the widgets that you can add and move on your My.Army.Mil page:

  • An All Services widget with feeds from the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy, and Coast Guard.
  • Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube widgets that sync with many Army organizations
  • My Army News widget with customized feeds from Commands, Corps, Divisions,
  • Installations, and traditional news sections
  • A Features widget highlighting stories of Valor, Army events, history and heritage
  • AKO (Army Knowledge Online) widget to log-in to AKO
  • Video widget with official Army videos, newscasts and raw footage
  • RSS widget that can pull multiple feeds from external sites

To add the AW2 Blog to your My.Army.Mil page, follow these simple instructions:

  1. Log in to My.Army.Mil with either your AKO username and password or another supported service such as Google, Yahoo, AIM, Twitter, or OpenID.
  2. Click on the “Add Widgets” button that appears below where it says “HOOAH! Welcome.”
  3. A menu will appear. From the “News” column on the far left, click on “RSS.” The RSS widget should appear in the “Widgets Added” column on the far right. Click save.
  4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you should see a widget box with the title “RSS” and a sub heading of “Front Page RSS Feed.” On the top line where it says “RSS” you should also see two intersecting arrows, two overlapping gears, and an X. Click on the overlapping gears.
  5. Once you have clicked on the overlapping gears, a drop down menu should appear with a web address for Army.mil’s RSS feed. Delete the web address and copy the AW2 RSS address (http://aw2.armylive.dodlive.mil/index.php/feed/). Paste the AW2 RSS address into the box. Click save.
  6. You have successfully added the AW2 Blog to My.Army.Mil.
  7. If you would like to move the AW2 Blog widget to another location on your page, hover your mouse over the intersecting arrows and hold the left mouse button down. Drag the widget to the location that you want and release the left mouse button.

For directions that include screenshots of each step, please click here.

Thanks for taking the time to check out My.Army.mil. I hope you find this is a useful Web site for you!

For additional information on My.Army.Mil, please visit http://www.Army.mil/MyArmy or contact ocpa.outreach@us.army.mil.

Wounded Warriors Gain Attention at AFAP Worldwide Conference

Filed under General by on January 15, 2010 at 6:21 pm {no comments}
AW2 delegates gather with GEN Casey, an AW2 Veteran’s service dog after the AFAP closing ceremony.

AW2 delegates gather with GEN Casey and a wounded warrior's service dog after the AFAP closing ceremony.

By Sarah Greer, WTC Stratcom

This morning, I attended the closing ceremony of the AFAP Worldwide Conference. I was impressed at how efficiently and effectively the Army listens to and addresses Soldier and Family issues. I had never seen an organization able to respond to its grass-roots base in such an effective and organized system.

Even more extraordinary was the attention it got from Army senior leadership – the Secretary, Chief of Staff, Vice Chief, and Sergeant Major of the Army all attended the report-out of the top five issues. Now, each of these issues will be assigned to an action officer, and the General Officer Steering Committee will regularly track the progress in resolving each of these issues.

Today was a great day for Army wounded warrior care. The top three issues directly affect wounded warriors and their Families and will make a significant difference in years to come.

The top five issues include:

  1. Monthly Stipend to Ill/Injured Soldiers for Non-Medical Caregivers
  2. Funding Service Dogs for Wounded Warriors
  3. Behavioral Health Service Shortages
  4. Family Readiness Group External Fundraising Restrictions
  5. Exceptional Family Member Program Enrollment Eligibility for Reserve Component Soldiers

GEN George W. Casey, Jr., Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, included warrior care in his remarks. He noted that the Army has made great progress, and that the Army has an important mission to return Soldiers to active duty or transition productive Veterans to civilian life. BG Cheek discusses this on a regular basis, and it’s very encouraging to see it echoed from such a high-ranking leader.

Army leadership also emphasized a new online tool, the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program (CSF), to develop a holistic fitness program with modules for Soldiers, Families, and Army civilians. The program focuses on five dimensions of strength: Physical, Emotional, Social, Family, and Spiritual. After taking an online assessment, Soldiers, Families, and Civilians will be able to use online training modules for the various dimensions of strength. The Soldier module has been online for a few weeks, and it’s only fitting that the Family module went live today, the same day as the AFAP Closing Ceremony. More information is available at: http://www.army.mil/csf/.

Attending AFAP was an eye-opening experience that helped me understand the wide variety of challenges facing Soldiers and Families, including the wounded warrior community. I am especially excited to see that the Army is standing behind wounded warriors and their recovery, and these AFAP issues are an important step in helping them have a more productive transition to life post-injury.

New Year’s Resolution

Filed under General by on January 1, 2010 at 9:30 am {no comments}
cheek1

BG Gary Cheek

By BG Gary Cheek, WTC Commander

It is an annual tradition to create New Year resolutions. Get fit, read more, travel abroad, slow down, get offline, or learn something. Life coaches say in order to succeed in your resolution it should be measurable. Don’t “get fit” – lose 10 pounds by March 1. Don’t “travel abroad” – visit Italy in May.

As I thought about the Warrior Transition Command in 2010, I realized my resolution would be “stay focused.” As in, stay focused on providing the support and resources required by our wounded warriors to ensure they step confidently into the future – whether that is back to duty or into civilian status.

Throughout the year, I will hold this command accountable for providing proof that we:

  • Excel in service to Soldiers and Families
  • Inspire warriors to be active towards a productive recovery
  • Develop successful alumni

From reviewing policies to creating new communication tools to working with employers to building a Community Support Network of organizations around the country who want to help … WTC will stay focused on ways to provide personal support for wounded Soldiers and their Families.

Wounded Warriors, I hope your resolution is to not only look to the future, but to plan for it. Work with your Family, WTU cadre, AW2 Advocate, and Triad of Care to outline what you need to do to reach your goal. And, I challenge you to think big. We have an active duty amputee in the Golden Knights, a blind Soldier who climbed Mount Rainier (14,410-feet), and a veteran with PTSD working to hire other wounded warriors at an international corporation. Your resilience inspires me every day – and you constantly show America what it means to be an Army Soldier.

AW2: Making Resolutions Every Day

Filed under General by on January 1, 2010 at 9:30 am {no comments}
Col. Jim Rice

COL Jim Rice, AW2 Director

By COL Rice, AW2 Director

Many Americans enjoy the New Year’s Day holiday because of the parties, fireworks, college football bowl games, and many other festivities that take place around the country. While I also take pleasure in many of these festivities, what I really enjoy is that many Americans will be evaluating their own lives and making plans to take action during the year ahead.

New Year’s resolutions can be common improvements, such as losing weight, spending more time with Family, reducing debt, or traveling more. More importantly, many will make resolutions to take values more seriously; serving others by being more charitable or volunteering more time to community organizations.

In the U.S. Army, the concept of constantly evaluating one’s self and making plans and commitments for self-improvement is a way of life. From taking the oath to serve our country with loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage to sweating it out daily to improve physical fitness scores — Soldiers make resolutions for improvement every day. As the AW2 Director, I have witnessed first-hand how our AW2 Soldiers and Veterans keep this commitment of constant self-improvement by focusing on their abilities rather than their “disabilities.”

In the past year, we have witnessed AW2 Soldiers and Veterans make commitments to go back to school to get a college degree, to participate in sporting competitions and outdoor recreations, to return to the Army, and to transition to productive civilian lives.

In 2009, the number of wounded warriors that AW2 supports grew 50 percent from 4,000 to nearly 6,000 Soldiers and Veterans, and our AW2 Advocates and staff continued to provide excellent personalized support. The reason for this is simple: our AW2 Advocates and staff make a resolution every day to support AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and their Families.

In 2010, I know that all members of the AW2 community will once again make a resolution to achieve life goals or to improve the lives of those around them. If you are making a resolution or goal for 2010, please share them with AW2 by posting a comment on this blog so that others may become inspired to set their own goals for the year.

COL Jim Rice

Director, U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program

Nominate a Case Manager

Filed under General by on December 30, 2009 at 3:36 pm {no comments}

Now is your chance to recognize a case manager that has made a difference. Nominations for the 2010 DoD/VA Case Manager of the Year Award are now being accepted. This award recognizes a case manager whose work has transformed their field and contributed to the greater good—not only for their clients but for the DoD/VA community as well.

Amongst other criteria, the nominating committee will evaluate nominees based on their contribution to:

  • Advancing DoD/VA Case Management
  • Exemplifying the “Standards of Care” and “Standards of Performance” as defined in Case Management Society of America’s “Standards of Practice for Case Management”
  • Demonstrating service excellence to clients and the DoD/VA case management community on a daily frontline basis
  • Incorporating innovation, creativity, and resourcefulness in his/her case management practice
  • Assisting others through military community service by utilizing their case management skills in a non-practice setting

Applications must be postmarked and submitted by 2 April 2010

Please click here for the Call for Nominations document for detailed information on the criteria and the application and nomination process.

BG Cheek Interview with C-SPAN

Filed under General, WTC Commander by on December 24, 2009 at 12:35 pm {no comments}

WTC Commander BG Gary Cheek appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal this morning to discuss warrior care. He answered questions live from callers phoning in from across the country. Many Veterans and Family members called in with questions and comments for BG Cheek addressing issues ranging from collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs to the role adaptive sports play for wounded warriors. You can watch his entire interview here.

Happy Holidays

Filed under General by on December 23, 2009 at 4:03 pm {no comments}

By COL Jim Rice, AW2 Director

Col. Jim Rice

COL Jim Rice, AW2 Director

On Christmas Eve, 1776, General George Washington led the Continental Army across an icy Delaware River with only 2,600 Soldiers to launch a successful surprise attack against the British camped out at Trenton, NJ. The challenges that General Washington and the Continental Army faced were daunting, but they overcame them through perseverance and strength in their commitment. Their victory inspired others and showed that independence was more than just a dream.

Throughout the year AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and Families have all shown what it means to be “Army Strong.” In 2009, we saw AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and Families climbing mountains, completing pathfinder school, attending college, and accomplishing their own incredible feats. The challenges our AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and Families overcome, and the accomplishments they make, are truly an inspiration to us all.

As an organization, the U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program has worked through a number of changes this year:

  • The number of AW2 Soldiers and Veterans with behavioral health issues such as PTSD and TBI continues to grow and our AW2 Advocates and staff provide our Soldiers and Veterans with a robust support structure
  • AW2 has included the requirements from the Department of Defense, ensuring that support for severely wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers is equal across all branches
  • AW2 changed commands from the Human Resources Command to the Warrior Transition Command to centralize and focus the Army’s warrior care efforts

To meet these challenges, our headquarters’ staff has hired and trained some of the largest AW2 Advocate classes in our program’s five-year history. At our Annual Training, we continued to set the standard high for AW2 Advocates and provided additional training on suicide prevention. We’ve implemented a Community Support Network to connect local organizations with severely wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers and Veterans living in their hometown. We also continued to listen to, and address, the concerns and issues facing our population whether they were issues identified during our AW2 Symposium in San Antonio, TX, or comments that were posted to our blog.

Thank you for your perseverance in 2009 and please have a happy and safe holiday.

COL Jim Rice

Director, U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program

Happy Thanksgiving

Filed under General by on November 25, 2009 at 10:44 am {one comment}

Col. Jim Rice

Nearly 150 years ago during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of Thanksgiving. The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history, resulting in the deaths of over 620,000 Soldiers and untold numbers of civilian casualties. Yet, it was during this dark hour that Lincoln called upon all Americans to give thanks and count their blessings. In his Proclamation of Thanksgiving, Lincoln emphasized that the “unequalled magnitude and severity” that the nation found itself in, made it even more important for the nation’s blessings to be “gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.”

Like the Families during the Civil War, many of our Families will be celebrating Thanksgiving without a loved one, as many continue to serve our country in Afghanistan and Iraq. For some, Thanksgiving may be a painful reminder of loved ones that have been lost. As an Army, we will never be able to fully express our gratitude and thanks for the Families that endure these hardships in defense of our country.

The theme of President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, and the events that soon followed, is that by coming together and remembering our blessings, we can find strength and triumph in the face of adversity. This theme is at the core of what AW2 aims to help accomplish for our country’s most severely wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers, Veterans, and their Families.

On this Thanksgiving, I am forever thankful for the strength of character and the perseverance our AW2 Soldiers and Veterans show every day to successfully transition back to duty or to civilian status. I am also forever grateful to the Families of our Soldiers and Veterans whose remarkable spirit drives their loved ones to push through and keep fighting. To our Soldiers, Veterans, and Families – thank you for everything you do – you are an inspiration to all of us.

I am also incredibly thankful for our fantastic staff at AW2. Working at AW2 is a tough job and we ask a lot of our staff to ensure that each AW2 Soldier, Veteran, and Family member gets the support they deserve. To our staff members, I thank you and I know you are as grateful as I am to be supporting our country’s most severely wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers, Veterans, and their Families for as long as it takes.

Lastly, I am grateful to live and serve in defense of our country.

Hooah and have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving,

COL Jim Rice

Director, U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program

Welcome to the WTC

Filed under General by on November 25, 2009 at 10:42 am {no comments}
BG Cheek

BG Cheek

By BG Gary Cheek

As the commander of the Warrior Transition Command (WTC), I’m honored to be given the opportunity to serve Soldiers and Families in this important capacity. The fact that I’m not a medical professional—instead I’m a career Field Artillery officer—is evidence that the Army sees the care and support of wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers not as just a medical responsibility, but as an overall Army responsibility.

The establishment of the WTC will better enable the Army to support you by integrating the Warrior Care and Transition Office (WCTO), the Warrior Transition Office (WTO), and the Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) into one command to serve as the Army’s organizational focal point for Army warrior care.

This marks a major milestone in transforming the way the Army delivers outpatient care and services—one that provides focused leadership for Soldiers and comprehensive program management across the Army and beyond. This transformation began with the establishment of the Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) in April of 2004 and continued in April of 2007 with the creation of 30+ Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) at major Army installations worldwide and Community-Based Warrior Transition Units (CBWTUs) located regionally around the U.S.

(more…)

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Write a blog for WTC

Warriors in Transition can submit a blog by e-mailing WarriorCareCommunications [at] conus.army.mil.