| News |
Updated materials in Operation R.E.A.D.Y. reflect Army, deployment changes |
||||
|
By
Victoria Palmer
Preparation for any deployment, whether a field training
exercise, unit rotation into an overseas theater or a yearlong
unaccompanied tour demands soldier and family readiness on the home
front, says the Army Community Service Deployment Readiness Program
manager.
"A better prepared family member, a better informed family
member means that that soldier doesn't have to come home and take care
of issues and problems," said Holly Gifford, who works at the
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Va.
To better prepare soldiers and families to meet the challenges
of deployment, the Army has updated its Operation R.E.A.D.Y. training
materials. R.E.A.D.Y. stands for Resources for Educating About
Deployment and You.
The new training modules and accompanying videos were
introduced to family readiness and mobilization and deployment program
managers at the Army Community Service Mobilization and Deployment
Training Workshop in Atlanta, Ga.
"They're awesome," said Tammy Wommack, the ACS Family
Assistance coordinator from Fort Campbell, Ky. "Very updated and
modern, what we really needed."
While the Operation R.E.A.D.Y. materials originally developed
in 1995 were still good, they were outdated, said Gifford. "We
needed to bring them into the 21st century," she said.
Operation R.E.A.D.Y. helps soldiers and families prepare to
cope with the changes that come with mobilization and deployment.
The program consists of a series of training modules developed
for commanders, soldiers and families before, during and after
deployment. Topics include financial readiness, separation issues,
communication and coping resources and strategies. Modules also
address how to establish and maintain a family assistance center and
family readiness groups. The new training materials are designed as a prepackaged tool for installation and reserve-component family program staff and commanders to use in ensuring ongoing soldier and family readiness and for use in pre-deployment briefings. The materials provide hands-on information in an easy-to-use format, said Gifford. The updated materials reflect uniform and mission changes, videos have been shortened and made more contemporary, and new material has been added. "The new Operation R.E.A.D.Y. materials reflect how we are doing business today," said Gifford.
The new materials include printed materials with lesson plans,
handouts, video discussion guides and PowerPoint presentations, and a
series of accompanying videos. Both the printed materials and training videos also are
included on a set of CD-ROMs.
There also are children's workbooks, divided into age groups,
that address the needs of military children before, during and after
deployment.
Kathryn Palmer, Fort Gordon Mobilization and Deployment
Manager, noted the self-help format of the new materials makes them
easy to use for soldiers and families. "I can go through it and
do a class in minutes," she said.
Godofredo Posadas, Relocation Readiness/Deployment and
Mobilization Manager at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., said the
materials will help soldiers maintain readiness.
"I wished they had this when I was on active duty,"
said Posadas, a retired command sergeant major and 27-year Army
veteran. "It helps a lot. It's easy to follow and easy to
understand."
The shortened length of the videos is much more conducive to
maintaining audience attention, said Wommack.
"I think it's still very good," she said about a
video on the topic of reunion that generated some debate among the
workshop audience. "It gives you a nonthreatening way to open up
discussion of what can be a very delicate subject, but also a very
important subject for the reunion process," she said.
Operation R.E.A.D.Y. is not just for families, stressed
Gifford.
"Single soldiers face a whole different series of
challenges when they deploy," she said. What will happen to their
home or apartment, who will care for pets and how will bills be paid
are among the issues single soldiers need to prepare for long before
they receive mobilization orders, said Gifford.
A new desk reference guide for commanders also has been
developed.
"So far, what I've seen is great," said Sandra
Landry, Family Program coordinator responsible for a four-state area
for the 75th Division (Training Support), an Army Reserve unit based
in Houston, Texas. "It's going to pull a lot of things
together" when making presentations to commanders on resources
for deployment readiness, Landry said.
"If we can give commanders something that is condensed and
easy to read that lays out what we can offer them and what the
benefits are of supporting this training within their units, then it
makes our job much easier educating them on what we can do" to
support unit mission readiness, said Wommack. Posadas said he makes a point of personally contacting commanders and meeting with them to educate them about the Operation R.E.A.D.Y. program and that he recommends other mobilization and deployment program managers do the same.
"When I get back," he said, "I'm going to talk
to them (commanders) again to keep them up to date." Gifford said all the new Operation R.E.A.D.Y. materials will be out by the end of October and will be placed on the ACS Web site at www.goacs.com. Operation R.E.A.D.Y. is part of the Army's Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Family Programs, an activity of the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Va. It is one of more than 200 MWR programs the Army provides for soldiers and families worldwide.
Further
information is available at the Army MWR Web site at www.armymwr.com. (Editor's
note: Victoria Palmer is with the Public Affairs Office of the U.S.
Army Community and Family Support Center) |
