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Red Cross Eases the Transition for Military Families
Written by
Lesly Hallman
, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
Friday, March 12, 2004 — First Sgt. Michael Naugle of the Florida Army National Guard returned home on March 6 after serving in Iraq for more than a year. It was a dangerous, difficult assignment, and he knew that back home his wife Colleen was worried about his safety. But he took some comfort in the fact that the American Red Cross was providing special support to his family while he was away.
As the United States military continues to support the rebuilding of Iraq, American Red Cross chapters around the country are reaching out to troops and their families as more reservists deploy to replace thousands of military members returning home. Through the American Red Cross “Get to Know Us Before You Need Us” program, chapters help ease the transition for families unaccustomed to deployments.
Community Outreach Manager Karen Woodward from the Armed Forces Emergency Service Center, Ft. Sill, Ok. talks with a group of servicemen on their way to Iraq in February. |
The program was created specifically to support the community-based military—those in the National Guard, Reservists, the Coast Guard, and others that are now serving in Iraq.
In the past two years since the program began the Red Cross has reached more than half a million “citizen-soldiers” and informed them of the benefits of the program.
Today, there are record numbers of troops leaving the U.S. and returning stateside at the same time—the most since World War II, according to the Department of Defense. With the continuing rotation of deployments, the community based military has a much greater responsibility than in the past. With that increased role in international military activities comes much more stress than many community-based military families are used to. Unlike most career military families, reservists and their families may not be as familiar with the military standard procedures surrounding overseas deployment.
Julie Burger, Senior Advisor for Armed Forces Emergency Services (AFES) and chairman of the American Red Cross Get to Know Us committee said that the Red Cross fills an important gap for those families. “The largest portion of troops we serve are the National Guard and Reserves,” said Burger. “With the downsizing of the active duty military, we knew the National Guard and Reserves would take a more active role.”
“They are the ones that are right now dealing with a lot of difficulty, perhaps more so than active duty military who leave their family on the base with legal counseling, medical care, and other services they have access to right on the base.”
Community Support Benefits Families
The Red Cross often has strong ties with local organizations and business in the community, and those partnerships benefit reservist families. “We work in partnership with aid societies, and if families meet the appropriate criteria, they can get financial assistance, for example,” said Burger.
Many of the families do meet that criteria – often they take a financial hit when a spouse is deployed from the National Guard or Reserves. “When they are deployed they don’t receive the same salary they are used to earning, unlike those in the active duty military,” said Burger.
“We know the pulse of the community, so we can refer them to other services as well. If the family car needs some work, we may have a partnership with a garage that can do the work for free.”
Each deploying soldier at the briefing gets a comfort kit with small comforts like soap, a toothbrush, razor and washcloth and toothpaste. |
The Greater Miami and the Keys chapter serve the 4,200 National Guard and reserve members and their families in the area, including Michael and Colleen Naugle. Matthew Walton, director of Armed Forces Emergency Services for the chapter, says his program serves families at all stages in the deployment process. They have reached nearly 4,000 of the services members and close to 6,000 family members in the area.
“We hold deployment canteens, providing everything from coffee and donuts to services for the family, including mental health counseling to help with stress of separation,” said Walton. “We even provide teddy bears to the children.”
While the reservists are away Walton’s group is in constant touch with families. “During the unit’s deployments, the families meet with a Red Cross family support person, or we visit spouse groups as often as we can, and upon the soldier’s return we hold another canteen to welcome them home.”
Colleen Naugle has been on both sides of those services, first as the wife of a National Guardsman, and also as family readiness coordinator for the Greater Miami Red Cross chapter. “Matthew [Walton] has been so helpful this year. We have had quite a few family members getting in touch with their soldiers through the Red Cross,” Colleen said. “In addition, some families have gotten counseling, and they’ve helped get care packages to the soldiers, even sending stockings for the holidays.”
Members of the 124th Infantry, Florida National Guard, say a special thanks to the American Red Cross. |
Walton and his team have developed strong relationships in all segments of their community. "We really did put a lot of effort into visiting all the units in our area, finding out who they were and who we needed to talk to, and we worked to become an integral part of their briefings,” he said. “We wanted to talk to them about family support and be put at the top of the list for units to call when there is going to be a deployment or a meeting of family members so we can present our services.”
“We hand out wallet cards with our address and numbers on one side and the service member’s info on the other, so we can reach them. On the other side is the soldier’s name, rank, SSN, and military address—information we need to contact the soldier. A lot of times when there is a family emergency, you can’t worry about remembering your son’s SSN.”
“People really appreciate what we do and they are grateful for our services,” Walton said.”
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