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Wisconsin Service Member Support Division

Wisconsin Service Member Support Division. 2010 State Family Program Conference Panel Discussion Questions Consolidated Responses. 2010 Panel Members. The Adjutant General Brig Gen Dunbar Asst Adjutant General Air Brig Gen McCoy

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Wisconsin Service Member Support Division

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  1. Wisconsin ServiceMember Support Division 2010 State Family Program Conference Panel Discussion Questions Consolidated Responses

  2. 2010 Panel Members • The Adjutant General Brig Gen Dunbar • Asst Adjutant General Air Brig Gen McCoy • Asst Adjutant General Army BG Anderson • Director, Joint Staff BG Legwold • Director, Manpower and Personnel COL Koon • Judge Advocate General (Legal) COL McKenna • Service Member Support Division Chief LTC Gross

  3. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 1 – The attendance at Yellow Ribbon Events has been strong when the Family Readiness Group (FRG) was actively involved in the planning and scheduling and was in effect a co-host. How do you think the attendance at events can be improved and what is the percentage of family participation do you want? • Response: The goal is to have 100% participation at the Yellow Ribbon events. With the busy lives that families lead, we need to use more creative means to send our messages, i.e., video teleconferencing, posting presentations, and webinars. Yellow Ribbon is a new program. Increasing communication between the staff and the FRG will increase participation. Tentative event dates for Yellow Ribbon events will be published as soon as possible upon alert notifications.

  4. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 2: When families or volunteers contact the Service Member Support Division (SMSD), what do you expect for a reasonable timeframe to expect a call back or email if the party is not available? • Response: Ideally a response or interim response should be received the same day, but at least within 48 - 72 hours. Time sensitive issues, such as Red Cross notification, require responses as soon as possible.

  5. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 3: Why was the 32 IBCT train up time extended? Would have it been easier on employers and families if it was completed in a Title 10 status? • Response: Hindsight is 20/20. The size of the 32 IBCT and the number of tasks required for the mobilization made it difficult to complete pre-mobilization entirely in a Title 10 status. Soldiers cannot be on Title 10 orders for more than a year. With 3,200 Soldiers, it was a difficult task to meet all of the training requirements and it was necessary to use a combination of Title 10 and Title 32 orders to achieve training readiness.

  6. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 4: How can we build connections and create more unity across the state for family members to use National Guard services regardless if the family is in Bayfield or Madison? FRGs seem to concentrate on families that reside close to the unit and not far away. • Response: The Service Member Support Division (SMSD) has a new website, www.wisconsinmilitary.org, that will assist families in locating resources where the family resides. Additionally, families may create an account in Joint Services Support www.jointservicessupport.org. This site lists deployment events and resources offered by Guard and Reserve Components around the state, allowing families build local, community connections as well as attending events close to home. The SMSD is launching the Community Wellness Program to support service members and their family from the day of enlistment/commission through retirement. The goal of the program is to provide the tools to deal with an issue before it becomes a crisis situation. The Family Program Conference is a good place to network and meet FRG Leaders across the state. Through networking, FRGs can complete a warm hand off to place families in touch with FRGs closer to their home.

  7. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 5: Why does it seem that the Family Program and Yellow Ribbon Program overlap? How do we know who does what? How can resources be used more efficiently? • Response: The programs do overlap, but one cannot work without the other. Prior to 2008, the Yellow Ribbon Program did not exist and Family Program was responsible for many of the programs/activities now handled by the Yellow Ribbon Program. We are working to communicate the changes in the programs. The success of these programs depends on communication at all levels (i.e. volunteer force, Commanders, Military Point of Contacts (MPOCs), service members, as well as the Yellow Ribbon Program staff). The Service Member Support Division will evaluate tasks and determine how to maximize the resources that we have through our various programs.

  8. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 6: How can we get more information on the Yellow Ribbon Event Agendas and what programming is available for families? I just found out that educational programs are available for children ages 6-17. • Response: When a unit is alerted, the Yellow Ribbon team will meet with the unit commander/rear detachment commander to establish dates and events for the unit’s entire deployment cycle. Once the dates are established, the unit can share this information through the FRGs. Individuals may learn more about the Yellow Ribbon Program and register for events at http://wisconsinmilitary.org/events/badger-yellow-ribbon/ and even watch videos from the Mobilization Brief and Reunion Brief events at http://wisconsinmilitary.org/events/badger-yellow-ribbon/.

  9. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 7: Can the Family Program allocate funds for the Battalion/Squadron level to continue sending a newsletter to Point of Contacts? The Point of Contact often does not live with the Soldier. • Response: State Family Program funds are not available at this time to cover the costs for non-deployed unit family newsletters; however, sending newsletters is a legitimate use of the unit’s Family Readiness Group Informal funds. For an alerted/deployed WIARNG unit, the State Family Program will fund 1-2 newsletters during the alert phase, then monthly newsletters through the deployment and Phase I of Reintegration.

  10. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 8: Are more programs/benefits being planned for the parents of Soldiers? Especially single Soldiers who have parents that are very involved in their lives? • Response: Our Military & Family Life Consultants (MFLCs) would like to create a support group model for parents of single service members that can be utilized state wide and are currently looking for an Family Readiness Group (FRG) who would like to be the pilot for this program. MFLCs are available to work with individual service members and their family members on a one-to-one basis or as a resource for FRGs and Community groups for life skills education and outreach. During the past year, some FRG leaders have taken advantage of this to bring an MFLC to the area specifically to provide support for parents of single service members.

  11. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 9: With the growth of the Family Program to now be part of the SMSD, what is the vision of the Family Program as it relates to volunteers? • Response: Building ready and resilient families and communities is a key factor that drives the vision of the Family Program and the Service Member Support Division. The military units, volunteers, and State Family Program Office each contribute to the success of achieving this vision. Striving to constantly improve and continue our programs will help ensure that we have resilient families, service members, and communities.

  12. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 10: Can we build more collaboration between FRGs in order to support families that live closer to other FRGs than the home unit? This includes not only events but also wellness calls? Some families are uncomfortable talking to strangers. If calls are received from the FRG, the families might feel more comfortable. • Response: The National Guard Bureau has tasked the FACs with making monthly wellness/outreach calls to the families of deployed service members. These calls help keep families connected to support services as well as inform or remind families of upcoming events for their unit. The FRGs may contact Bill Hasz, Family Assistance Center Coordinator, if they have ideas or suggestions about information to include in the wellness calls.

  13. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 11: To what extent have we considered expanding volunteer training through web conference technologies? • Response: Volunteer training/orientation and webinar trainings are available through Joint Services Support (JSS), www.jointservicessupport.org. Additionally, on the JSS website, there is a large course catalogue of training available for personal growth and development. The Family Program will work to develop training that can be delivered in a variety of formats to make it easier for volunteers to attend training with minimal disruptions in their personal lives.

  14. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 12: When do soldiers report back to their original unit after returning home [from deployment]? • Response: The Adjutant General approves the recommendation from The Assistant Adjutant General and the unit’s leadership regarding the date when service members will be released back to their original units.

  15. 2010 Panel Discussion • Question 13: The FMR database was updated recently. What are the details on the improvements or changes that were made? There are still issues with Soldiers not being attached to the right UIC. The FRG cannot make contact with these families because the UICs are wrong. • Response: The Family Program Office will work closely with the Rear Detachment to identify Soldiers who are missing from or have incorrect information in the FMR database. The wellness calls will be used as a check and balance system. When discrepancies are identified in the database, the FRGs, Rear Detachment Commanders, Family Assistance Centers, and Family Program Office have to work together to communicate and correct the deficiency. Ultimately, Soldier accountability rests with the Rear Detachment Commander. The Family Program Office is working with Army Personnel Staff to provide better guidance to the units participating in the Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP) to improve data integrity. At SRP, the Soldier verifies, enters, and changes the data in the FMR database. Recent features have been added to merge the master Soldier data with the Soldier POC data. This will make it easy to determine what Soldiers do not desire to report point of contact data or who have not been through the SRP process.

  16. Wisconsin ServiceMember Support Division • If you have other questions or comments that were not addressed at the Family Program Conference, please contact the Family Program Office at: 1-800-292-9464 • For more information about the Service Member Support Division, please visit our website: www.wisconsinmilitary.org

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