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In many units Family Readiness Groups (FRGs), also known as Family Support Groups (FSGs), are the centerpiece of the family readiness effort. This chapter examines the organization and operations of successful FRGs in the Army today.

The main goals of the FRG are threefold:

• The FRG aims to serve as a link between the deployed unit and families, whether or not those families remain at Home Station. In this capacity, the FRG serves as a conduit for command information on deployment and redeployment dates, changes in the unit's status or mission, and other items of interest to family members.

• The FRG facilitates deployment and redeployment briefings and activities in conjunction with the unit commander, rear detachment commander (RDC), and installation support agencies.

• The FRG serves as a mutual support group for family members, stepping in with advice, personal counseling, or assistance when families have problems during the unit deployment.

The most effective FRGs are those established as part of the unit's ongoing and routine mission preparation, rather than those created just prior to deployment.

The organization of an FRG is a key element in determining how well the group functions during times of deployment. In support of Operation INTRINSIC ACTION in Kuwait and the stabilization force in Bosnia, the deployed units' FRGs developed effective organizational structures and operating methods in support of family readiness during the lengthy deployments.

In general, at the company or battery level, the FRG leadership commonly consists of a group leader, one or two assistant group leaders, and several points of contact (POCs). Each POC has responsibility for several spouses, and there is a phone tree set up accordingly. Whenever important unit deployment information is passed to the FRG leader, the phone tree is activated. Like a unit chain of command, each successive level of the organization is notified when a family member has a serious problem, or if the problem cannot be solved at the lower level. Additionally, many FRG leaders make a point of calling each member of the FRG once a month, and some groups have the FRG leader, the assistant leader, and the POC also call once a month. In those groups, each spouse receives at least three calls per month from unit FRG personnel. Furthermore, FRG leaders report that the dissemination of information is an incremental process; that is, they must use multiple means of getting the word out to all families, since some spouses participate more than others. The most successful FRGs are those in which FRG personnel maintain close and frequent contact with the RDC, the rear detachment NCOIC, and, as appropriate, the designated family readiness liaison. In effective FRGs, both the rear detachment and the FRG track family problems from the time they become known to the time the problem is resolved. (Some of the innovative methods for disseminating information throughout the FRGs are described in Chapter 2 of this newsletter.)

A Coalition Press Information Center in Bosnia, part of the command information program.

Family Problems

Leaders indicate that about 90 percent of family problems they encounter during deployments are financial. Too frequently, soldiers deploy without completely explaining what bills need to be paid. They also fail to provide their spouses with access to all of the financial instruments required to make those payments. FRG leaders cite the month immediately following a unit's deployment as the worst period for these financial problems. During that month, in addition to discovering that they did not know what bills to pay, where to pay them, or how to pay them, the demands and stresses of separation overwhelm many spouses, compounding financial problems. These problems and others identified by FRG personnel can be avoided in many cases through better communication between the spouse and soldier prior to the soldier's deployment.

FRG personnel identified "spouses that popped out of the woodwork," those spouses for which the unit had no records. Similarly, FRG leaders also identified spouses who spoke no English, spouses who had no means of transportation (or a driver's license) for them or their children, and spouses in need of counseling for depression and anxiety. FRG leaders cautioned against allowing rear detachment personnel to perform personal services for spouses (such as lawn mowing) based on ethical concerns. The word can spread quickly and soon everyone has a job they need completed. Like most unit commanders, FRG leaders generally reported spending 90 percent of their time on 10 percent of the people.

Family Readiness Groups of Task Force Eagle and Operation INTRINSIC ACTION units played a critical role in controlling rumors related to unit deployments, thus enhancing the units' command information programs and unit morale. Units had the responsibility to support rear detachment and FRG efforts with timely and accurate information. Company- or battery-level FRG leadership then used a variety of means to disseminate the information, including newsletters, monthly meetings, bulletin boards, telephone trees, and Internet sites. Additionally, rear detachment personnel and FRG leaders often positioned themselves at the Family Readiness Center during blocks of VTC time or at other places they were likely to find spouses. In short, the most effective family readiness operations were those in which deployed units, rear detachment personnel, and family readiness leaders talked frequently and substantively.

Bosnia deployment information on the bulletin board at the Family Readiness Center.

Key Lessons Learned

• The most effective Family Readiness Groups are those that have been in existence for some time and not created just prior to the deployment.
• Successful FRGs contacted families every month and maintained constant contact with many of them.
• Financial problems will probably be the first issue to surface due to a deployment.
• Dissemination of information should be accomplished using as many methods as possible and performed continuously in order to reach everyone.

The primary factor in determining the success of a unit's Family Readiness Group is the energy levels of FRG leaders. Company- and battalion-level FRG operations live or die based on the energy of the personnel leading the family support initiatives at Home Station and on command emphasis placed on FRG operations by the unit's leadership. In most cases, the best approach to identifying leaders of the FRG is to ask spouses to volunteer. Successful FRG leaders generally are charismatic, people-oriented, caring people who tend to volunteer their time in the community in other ways as well. Family Readiness Groups in which the commander or first sergeant's spouse took the lead without really wanting to be involved generally suffered later. At the same time, it is desirable to have someone lead the FRG whose spouse is of moderate rank within the military unit, since those individuals with less rank generally tend to get less information informally, or they get the information later in the process than those of higher rank. In any event, the spouses of company leaders should serve on the FRG steering committee, regardless of their general interest in FRG operations, to facilitate the general two-way flow of information and to assist the FRG in making organizational decisions.

Family Readiness Group leaders are identified as those who are energetic and keep going until the job is done. At the same time, many FRG leaders are overworked, particularly in cases where units are unexpectedly extended in the theater of operations. Additionally, support agency personnel noted that FRG leaders often tend to assist everyone by themselves instead of relying on agency personnel or other spouses within the FRG. Unfortunately, it was also noted that often other spouses, upon seeing that the FRG leader was willing to work all issues, were inclined to leave the myriad tasks to the FRG leader to accomplish alone. FRG leaders should delegate problem-solving, as appropriate, to other responsible spouses, installation support agencies, and rear detachment personnel.

Key Lessons Learned

• The energy of Family Readiness Group leaders can determine the success or failure of the group.
• Family Readiness Group leaders need to delegate responsibilities when assisting families.

A Family Readiness Group leader consults with a
Rear Detachment Commander at the Family Readiness Center.

Before. A functional Family Readiness Group has many tasks when a unit is notified of a deployment. Commanders and FRG leaders need to screen the soldiers to find those who have family members with special circumstances or special care needs. In addition to screening family members for pregnancies, exceptional family member medical conditions, and other situations prior to deployment, units should be aware of family members who might not speak English so that they can properly plan alternative ways to keep those family members informed. After identifying those individuals with special circumstances, it is then necessary to adapt an overall FRG plan for those family needs.

During. A Family Readiness Group should also determine which spouses plan on departing the Home Station area after the unit deploys. Some spouses may want to live with relatives for support during the deployment, so units and FRG leaders need to make special provisions to disseminate information to them and to assist with medical and dental care and other personnel services. Within the stabilization force (SFOR), informal sampling indicated that 10 to 25 percent of families in most units relocated away from the vicinity of the Home Station installation during the period of the deployment. In addition, some of the augmentees' families also relocated during their deployment windows. While the task force commander made arrangements for these families to have access to command information through a toll-free telephone number and a frequently updated website, some soldiers reported difficulties with family support. Specific problems included securing health and dental care, and access to commissaries and other military facilities. Additionally, soldiers reported problems with telephones (no DSN access) and difficulty in achieving access to command information at the unit level.

After. Once a unit learns that the troops are coming home, arrangements should be made to conduct reunion briefings. Deployed task forces that conducted well-prepared and comprehensive reunion briefings significantly reduced incidences of spousal abuse, DUIs, and other redeployment problems among unit soldiers. Some units provided group counseling and briefings on likely sources of friction among family members after a lengthy separation. The briefings included issues of control within the family, established routines within the family that may have changed during the separation, changed financial circumstances, and renewed relationships with children. Additionally, units conducted briefings aimed at ensuring that soldiers used alcohol responsibly upon their return, a particularly appropriate topic since alcohol had been off-limits during the months of deployment. Chaplains served as the primary action agent for briefings in the field, and FRG leaders and rear detachment commanders facilitated briefings at Home Station.

Key Lessons Learned

• Spouses have special concerns, such as pregnancy or language, which will require that the support plan be adapted to their needs.
• Determine which families will be staying in the area and which will live with other family members during the deployment.
• Reunion briefings are very important for the family to properly welcome home the soldier.

Some units went to great lengths to train their FRG volunteers. One Task Force Eagle commander conducted significant FRG training prior to the unit's deployment to support the effective execution of FRG tasks at Home Station. Training topics included:

The commander then conducted situational training exercises (STX) designed to ensure that FRG and rear detachment personnel could respond effectively to the inevitable challenges that would arise during the deployment.

There are a few other considerations that smaller units should keep in mind. Small units deploying to the theater of operations from posts other than the Home Station of the task force headquarters have special FRG coordination considerations. Task Force Eagle included a number of small units that deployed from Home Stations other than the division headquarters post. For these units (this includes active duty) there were special coordination and deployment considerations that impacted adversely on their family support initiatives. Several of these units, unlike the units belonging to the deployed division headquarters, were unable to reconnoiter the theater of operations prior to deploying. Similarly, given short notice in some cases and unclear mission guidance in others, these small units had difficulty getting installation support for the training of FRG personnel and for the Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP) activities needed prior to deployment. In many cases, there was little or no coordination between the gaining unit headquarters and the small unit augmentees until both units were on the ground in the theater of operations.