Army programs When Melissa Seamands became an Army wife 20 years ago, it was up to the spouse of the most senior officer in her husband's command to gather and disseminate information vital to the welfare of the unit's family members. Now, much of that job is done by family welfare programs.
help soldiers’
families cope
More than a dozen programs
provide aid in times of deploymentBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comDevon Bresser, proud to call herself an Army brat, recalls the days of how her mother's behavior could affect her father's promotion. "She was part of his OER (officer's efficiency report)."
In addition, the majority of the spouses three decades ago did not work, Bresser said. "Today, not only do they work, but now some of the spouses are men, or both of them are in uniform."
With family anxiety at Fort Shafter, Schofield Barracks and other Army posts in Hawaii almost as high as the "heightened state of alert" at these installations, the Army now turns to programs developed and nurtured out of the lessons learned from the Gulf War a decade ago.
Eileen McLaughlin, chief of the Army Community Service, which is responsible for the welfare of 65,000 soldiers and their dependents in Hawaii, said there are now more than 13 programs that cover the needs of spouses when the one in uniform is sent off to fight. But she said there are also programs dealing with domestic violence, spousal abuse, employment training and financial planning.
Even before the tragic events placed the country's military on its greatest state of alert since the days following the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, the Army has been trying to prepare not only the soldiers, but also their families for a deployment, regardless if it is for a few weeks for training or war itself.
"Everyone faces the possibility of deployment," said McLaughlin, who was an Army wife for 12 years. "We prepare families every day for that possibility."
Seamands, whose husband, Lt. Col. Tom Seamands, commanded the 556th Personnel Services Battalion until recently, said there is a "heightened awareness" at Schofield Barracks because of the possibility of deployment and war.
She commended Leilehua High School, which her two daughters attend, for the way teachers there handled the tragic events of Sept. 11. "The school did a good job of discussing the events and talking about the issues," Seamands said.
Bresser, who has three young children, said she was concerned until recently over the welfare of her husband, Capt. David Bresser, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot who will be sent to Bosnia for six months beginning in March.
She acknowledged that she is relieved that her husband is being sent to Bosnia, where much of the dangers are known, rather than to a yet-to-be determined mission in the nation's war against terrorism.
Seamands said that during her husband's 20 years in uniform, she had to go through only one major call-up: Her husband was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division when the unit was sent to Honduras in the late 1980s. Her husband was also stationed in Hawaii during Desert Storm a decade ago when a handful of soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division were sent to Persian Gulf.
Over the years, Seamands noted, the Army has made "great strides" to help the soldiers perform their jobs.
"If their families are taken care of," she said, "soldiers are more focused on their jobs."
McLaughlin said one of the ways the Army tries to help soldiers and their spouses adjust and cope with military life is a 42-hour course called Army Family Team Building.
These classes cover everything to help a spouse understand the Army and its customs, as well as provide information on benefits, entitlements and expectations a soldier faces.
More than 10,000 soldiers and their families participated in this voluntary program last year, McLaughlin said.
Bresser serves as a trainer in the classes. "We believe that knowledge is power," said Bresser, who has been an Army wife for 7 1/2 years. "We try to give the spouses as much knowledge as possible to become self-sufficient -- power them with knowledge so the soldiers can do their mission and not worry about their families."
Within each of Army units here, Bresser said, "there is chain of concern which the spouses can use to stay in touch."
These phone trees probably passed on information during the first few days of the Sept. 11 crisis, Seamands said, such as how to cope with the traffic and transportation problems facing the Schofield Barracks community when only one gate was open and the line of cars outside was miles long.
There are also monthly spousal information meetings and town hall sessions.
The Army also sponsors the Family Readiness and Resource Center at Schofield, where a variety of services and items such as sewing machines, computers, printers and copying machines are available.
There are also videoconference facilities available where families can communicate with a soldier who is deployed away from Hawaii, like the Sinai Peninsula, where the division sent soldiers on a peacekeeping mission earlier this year.
