Disaster Recovery Journal- Volume 13, Issue 3 - Summer 2004 Issue

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Summer 2004 Issue

DISASTER RECOVERY
JOURNAL

P. O. Box 510110
St. Louis, MO 63151
(314) 894-0276
Fax: (314) 894-7474
Internet www.drj.com
E-mail drj@drj.com

PUBLISHER &
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Richard L. Arnold, CBCP
richard@drj.com

SENIOR EDITOR
Janette Ballman
janette@drj.com

MANAGING EDITOR
Jon Seals
jon@drj.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Ed Pearce, CBCP
ed@drj.com

COPY EDITORS
Richard Sandhofer
richards@drj.com
Pamela Clifton
pamelaclifton@hotmail.com

ADVERTISING
Robert Arnold
bob@drj.com

_____________

Corporate

President/CEO
Richard L. Arnold, CBCP
richard@drj.com

Vice President
Robert Arnold
bob@drj.com

CONFERENCE COORDINATOR
Patti Fitzgerald, CBCP
patti@drj.com

CONFERENCE REGISTRAR
Merce Knese
mercedes@drj.com

CIRCULATION
Laura Baugh
laurab@drj.com

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Jeff Dato, MBCP, KPMG
John Jackson, IBM
Edward S. Devlin, E.S. Devlin & Associates
James Hammill, CBCP, JMH Consulting Inc.
Pat McAnally, SunGard Availability Services
Brian Turley, Strohl Systems
Belinda Wilson, Hewlett-Packard

INTERNATIONAL
CONTACTS
England: Thom Hetherington
Business Continuity
Phone: 0161-237-1007
thomh@tempus.demon.co.uk

Australia: Anthony J. Harvey
Journal of Business Continuity
Phone: 0011-613-953-0055-8
fax: 0011-613-953-0528
sector@notability.com.au

Japan: Shinji Hosotsubo
Quake Japan Co., Ltd.
Phone: 03-3215-2880
fax: 03-3215-2881

Brazil: Jose Carlos Ferreira
Disaster Recovery Mercosul
Phone: 55 11 3666-9506
conc2000@uol.com.br
www.drms.com.br

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Family Readiness Groups Worth Replicating

By DR. THOMAS D. PHELAN

When my niece, Heather, called to tell me she was speaking at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., as part of a training program for Family Readiness Groups, my ears perked up.
Her husband is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Rangers currently serving in Iraq. While he commands his unit in Iraq, she is actively involved in various efforts to assist and support military families back home.
Much of what she could share with me seemed worthy of consideration by emergency management and first responder units who might benefit from similar support systems for their families. Additional FRG information is available at The Army Community Service Web site at www.armycommunityservice.org.
The Family Readiness Group (FRG) is an officially command-sponsored organization of family members, volunteers, and soldiers belonging to a unit, that together provide an avenue of mutual support and assistance, and a network of communications among the family members, the chain of command, and community resources. FRGs help create a climate of mutual support within the unit and community. Basic FRG goals include supporting the military mission through provision of support, outreach, and information to family members. FRGs play an integral part in the Family and Soldier Readiness System (FSRS).
Family support groups first started appearing in the early 1990s when thousands of National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers were called to active duty to support the Gulf War. Many reserve-component units were initially overwhelmed by phone calls from family members seeking services the Army offered, but spouses didn’t know where to access them. Once established, unit FSGs acted as a focal point to pass that information on and information between the deployed soldiers and families.
One tool is the newsletter. Since the FRG newsletter is designed to reach all family members, its tangible and intangible importance cannot be overemphasized. The FRG newsletter represents one aspect of the FRG outreach program and communication system. Its purpose is to:
1. Create a family camaraderie similar to that shared by the soldiers;
2. Relay information from the command and FRG in an effort to reduce social isolation and convey the command’s concern for the soldier and family;
3. Inform family members about installation, unit assistance programs, and local civilian agencies that may be available to families for both routine and emergency services;
4. Bridge the communication gap between the military unit and family members, thus helping family members better understand not only what the unit is doing, but why;
5. Inform the spouse of unit-sponsored activities;
6. Provide the spouse an opportunity to realize that others are experiencing many of the same tensions and strains unique to life as part of the military community.
A family readiness group provides support to those left behind during unit deployments. FRG volunteers help with morale and provide assistance when spouses or their children encounter problems. Soldiers can better focus on their mission when they know someone is taking care of their families.
Training is provided to FRG leaders. The Army publishes a 152-page FRG Leader’s Handbook.
“The 15-hour, three-day course brought together elements of Project Ready, a mobilization and deployment program, and Army Family Team Building,” said Angela Crist, program service coordinator for Army Family Team Building. “It’s everything you ever wanted to know (about running an FRG).”
“Family readiness group training isn’t mandatory,” she said, but it is beneficial.
“Many times people volunteer or ask to become leaders and all they have to fall back on is personal experience,” said Crist. “We’re here to help them run their FRG more successfully; give them the tools to have a successful group.”
Ten students learned about public speaking, how to manage a meeting, deployment readiness, and other topics. Army Community Service staff, subject-matter experts from the community, and Army Family Team Building volunteer instructors taught the classes.
The Army’s Family Readiness Group model is one that should be replicated through partnerships between businesses and public emergency response organizations. Dealing with family issues during an emergency can only mitigate further difficulties for employees and emergency responders. Business leaders may find this an excellent opportunity to support local emergency responders by offering training support, newsletter production, and facilities for responder family meetings and updates during a disaster.
At PPBI, we support such partnership initiatives with training offered at DRJ conferences and on-site at your location when provided the support to do so. We are developing a new course on partnership development to be offered in Orlando, 2005. The new course will provide participants with best practice examples of private/public partnerships, and the fundamental guidelines for creating such a partnership in your community. For additional information contact us at PPBImail@twcny.rr.com.

Dr. Tom Phelan is president of Strategic Teaching Associates, Inc. and training director for PPBI. His family includes three lieutenant colonels (his daughter, son-in-law, and niece’s husband), two Marines (retired), and one Army Ranger. They have served in Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq starting with Desert Storm. Dr. Phelan received the New York State Senate Liberty Award for his service at Ground Zero, Sept. 11-23, 2001.