Family Strong Hawaii

Hawaii Army Weekly Newspaper Article, November 20, 2009

         "The Family Strong Series is a new way of looking at the issues and concerns that occur at each stage of a deployment, involving each of the family members."                                                                                       

      The Family Strong Series offered a lot of good information, information usable to any & all families.  My favorite of all the series was the "Parents Above Water."  The information shared provides an avenue, especially for those who are not around children everyday, a way to interact & understand children's behaviors.  I do hope a follow up class is offered!  Although this was the best for me, I benefited from all of the classes.  Each class was worth while!

       My daughter was not enthusiastic about giving up her Saturday to attend "class."  However, when she left the child's class, she was "all smiles" and only had good things to comment about the class and about her Daddy coming home.

      The binder also provided a lot of good information.  As a teacher, I shared this with the counselors at my school.  Several of the pages had information about how teachers should respond.  I hope this information will also be shared with other schools in our community.  Teachers want to help their students, but many times they are unfamiliar with deployments.  This can also positively influence our community, just by sharing the information!  Perhaps the school counselors could be invited to attend a class or two!

      Thank you so much for providing these great learning opportunities.  I hope the soldiers are given this same valuable information in their classes.

Sincerely,

Cindy Manzanares

2-14  Ace High

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      I for one, was wary of it, in the beginning. I signed up for a total of 7 classes, but was only able to attend four.

Warrior Returns

      This had to be the best class for spouses to truly grasp what goes on to their soldiers down range. The instructors for the class painted a very vivid picture, though not to the point of making it negative. The class I attended had more "first timers" and a few seasoned family members that have experienced deployments. We were able to comfortably discuss issues that I think would never have come up in any one situation outside of the class. For me, to learn all of the adjustments that my soldier has possibly undergone down range, and what to look for when he returns helped me to feel better prepared for his welcome home.

Money Talks

      I can honestly say that my family has it's finances in order, but I chose to attend this class to see if there was anything that I could add to what I already do. Again, the instructors made this class enjoyable and even brought to light some of the major reasons why military families seem to have financial difficulties after a deployment. I would never have known what to look for in our household, as far as spending, that would lead us down the path to major debt. To also learn the services that ACS has for PCSing families was a great relief. I learned that they could figure your pay for your new location to help you create a budget and prepare for the move. I also learned of a program regarding assistance with shipping a second vehicle that seems to hide in the shadows. This class made me discuss making involve my spouse a little more within the financial side of our home. I also requested for my soldier to attend an appointment with me so that we could be "squared" away when it comes time to PCS to our new duty station.

Getting to Know You

      This class had more emotion and situations brought out on a relationship level. It was taught by two very perceptive instructors who veered around the situations being brought up during the class. It was amazing to hear how one family member dealt with deployment and how another family member dealt with it in a total opposite way. The exercises done in the class were very interesting and what I learned there regarding the home life will be used in the near future to stregthen my relationship even more.

Self Care & Awareness

      I think that was the name. This was the one class that I can't really remember out of the four I took that day. Sorry!

      I can tell you that I was elated to hear that the program would continue here. I am looking forward to being able to take the Family Above Water class with my soldier. Some of these classes, I feel, would be even more beneficial if the couple were to attend. Thank you all for the opportunity to allow me to realize what my soldier goes through and giving me the tools to help with his reintergration when he returns.

Rosslyn Enriquez

HHC, 2nd BDE

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      I was amazed at the professionalism of the Family Strong Series. As an Army Spouse and a Soldier myself, I learned so many techniques to help me, my husband and children during the reintegration period.  I am confident our family will be well served by the superb classes.

V/R,

MAJ (P) Stacy Bathrick

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      The Family Strong Series was a great way to get information about reintegration, not only for first-timers but also for veterans of deployment.  I think the veterans were able to shed some light on their personal experiences as well.  It's great to be in a group of people where you are all in the same boat and can discuss some of the issues that may arise.  It's nice to know you aren't alone.  I thought it was a very good group of classes, very informative and fun.  Also, my children liked the child group classes a lot.   They actually got my 13 year old to open and my 8 year old wanted to go back again the next day!  I got a lot out of the classes and plan to put them to use next week when my hubby comes home!

Thank you!

Debi Townsend

Wife of SFC Townsend

HHC 1/27 INF