Mobilization & Deployment

Building # 3338 Redye Road
256-876-5397

Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday: 7:00am - 4:30pm

Deployment and Mobilization Assistance - Helps soldiers and their families manage separations before, during and after they occur. Offerings include: readiness preparation, training and support.

The military force is being employed in many different ways due to global insecurity and natural disaster. To meet the large demands, military missions involve all components, Active, Guard and Reserve of the armed forces. As a result, all Soldiers are experiencing more deployments and wider array of missions. Units are configured in different ways when the force deploys. This means a high level of preparedness is required for Family Readiness Groups (FRGs). Establishing the capability to respond and adapt to unforeseen situations that arise quickly is needed. The FRG is a command sponsored program and is recognized as an official Army program. The FRG mission is to foster competent, knowledgeable and resilient families.

For an FRG to work effectively and support families, the Mobilization & Deployment Program at Army Community Service offers the following services:

Training to commanders, liaisons and leaders in all five phases of the Deployment Cycle, Pre-Deployment, Deployment, Re-Deployment, Post Deployment and Train-up/Preparation.
Training to FRG leaders in roles and responsibilities.
Operation Hello Honey video
Blue Star Banner Ceremony for families
Out-reach to families of deployed soldier, sailors and Marines
Waiting Spouse Group

Family Support During Deployment

Services Delivery Systems:

Family Assistance Centers (temporary operations set up to respond to emergencies that bring together a variety of helping agencies and usually open 24 hours a day.)
Family Centers (permanent installation agency charged with providing a wide range of services to support commanders, military members, and families). Guard and Reserve regional and state coordinators who identify and coordinate resources and develop strategies to ensure support for families wherever they reside.
Call Centers and Web sites that provide information and referral regardless of the family's location.

Examples of Services Provided:

Pre-deployment preparation to include financial preparedness, explanation of benefits, family care plans, emergency assistance, and many other topics.
Emergency services to include access to short-term crisis counseling service.
Assistance for families with special needs.
Spouse employment assistance.
Expanded child care support services such as extended hours of operation for child care facilities in areas with heavy preparation for deployment.
Consultation with families in preparing their Family Care Plans.
Unit-based family support groups and command supported volunteer networks that ensure accurate, timely information is passed from the commander to the spouses and family members.
Multiple sources of information available to parents, as well as spouses of deployed Service members.
Web-based materials designed specifically to assist parents in dealing with childrens' needs and concerns.
Complete materials and videos on a wide variety of issues of concern to families such as helping children and youth deal with the anxieties of having a parent in dangerous situations.
Post-deployment support addresses a range of issues relating to both married and single Service members. For Service members, reunion support begins in the theater of operations. Leaders and staff experts use briefings and group discussions to help Service members prepare to re-deploy back to home base. For family members, family centers and family readiness groups use newspaper articles, local cable TV and meetings to educate and inform the spouses on stress and wartime, tips on how to healthfully reunite with the Service member, and post traumatic stress.

Eligibility:

Information services are available to all family members including parents and other concerned loved ones of deployed Service members.

Other eligibility criteria are based on the particular service or benefit. For example, members of the Guard and Reserves and their families are eligible for TRICARE medical care benefits if the service member is activated for 30 or more days at a time. Additionally, Guard and Reserve families are eligible for readjustment counseling through the Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Centers.

HELPFUL LINK - My Army Life Too

FAMILY

Mobilization & Deployment

Family Support During Deployment