LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
In today's military, the reality is that all servicemembers should plan to deploy sooner, longer, and more often than ever before. Making plans for extended stays in locations such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and areas throughout the Pacific can be a daunting task for anyone who has never deployed before. However, there are many resources at Langley to help Airmen prepare themselves and their families.
According to Michael Pascucci, 633d Logistics Readiness Squadron installation deployment officer, 633 LRS processes about 250 servicemembers monthly. One of the best ways to prepare is to gather all the information possible about the deployment location.
"You need to teach your family everything you can about where you are going; what the weather is like, whether it's a city or rural area, how many people are deployed there... everything," said Mr. Pascucci. "That way they can understand the kind of things you are dealing with every day."
One great resource to help prepare servicemembers for their deployments is online at the Air Expeditionary Force Center website, which can be found on the Air Force Portal or
https://aef.afpc.randolph.af.mil.
Visiting the Airman and Family Readiness Center is one of the first things servicemembers should have on their to-do list when they receive notification of an impending deployment.
"The way that an active duty spouse, servicemember or DOD civilians can help prepare their family members is to make sure they attend a pre-deployment and a reintegration briefing with the deploying servicemember," said Tech. Sgt. Letrecia Williams, AFRC readiness noncommissioned officer. "We always encourage that because a lot of times the servicemember is not able to pass on the information, or they forget to pass on the information."
The AFRC has programs every month to help families cope with the absence of their Airman. For example, an end-of-summer barbeque is scheduled for August 20 at the Community Center on base. Multiple agencies will be on hand to provide information specifically for children, who can find it difficult to deal with a parent being gone to somewhere they have never heard of.
Another event designed to help children understand what is involved with deployments is an annual event called Operation Hero, where children have the opportunity to pass through a personnel deployment function line.
"It's a children's PDF line where the children go through and learn all the things they need to know to prepare for a deployment, as if they were deploying themselves," said Sergeant Williams. "They receive copies of orders, they get their own dog tags, they get an intel briefing; everything that their mother or father would receive when they were tasked to deploy."
Because children's behaviors and attitudes can change while one of their parents is gone for an extended period of time, there is a military life consultant who is available to talk with spouses and children while the servicemember is deployed.
The AFRC provides handouts to help cope with deployments like pillowcases and bags with a picture of the deployed member printed on it. All the family has to do is email a high-quality photo to
afrc.tap@langley.af.mil.
"About three times a year we have something called Family Readiness, which is offered to children, spouses and the military member," she said. "It's a free dinner at the Enlisted Club. About 12 different agencies come out, including legal, finance, Airmen and Family, Family Advocacy, the chaplains; all of them come out and set up a table with information about the services they provide."
Returning home from a deployment can be a challenge for families as well. In an effort to ease the transition back to life at home, several agencies on base have consolidated their efforts into "one-stop-shopping" at the re-integration briefing at Building 351, the Deployment Center.
"We always encourage the spouses to attend," said Sergeant Williams. If there are any types of underlying problems related to the deployment, the first person that would pick up on changes in behavior would be a spouse or significant other."
Free confidential telephone support groups are also available for spouses of servicemembers who have been deployed at least one time to Iraq or Afghanistan. The support groups are one hour and are available once a month for 12 months. Spouses learn ways to manage stress and solve problems related to reintegration, as well as receive education about post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other common problems. For more information or to enroll, call Spouse BATTLEMIND toll-free at (800) 636-8262 x7485 or visit the Web site at
www.memphis.va.gov/spousebattlemind.