DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sgt. Carlos Robles, wife Joann, 3-year-old Carlos Jr. and 1-year-old Chareliz spoke briefly yesterday with Dee Athey, senior prevention specialist with the Army's family advocacy program. The Army is offering everything from financial services to family counseling to help families cope with upcoming deployments.
Dealing with
deploymentAn Army open house
discusses concerns over
what Schofield families
left behind will face
Sgt. Carlos Robles would like the Army to pay the cost of sending his wife and their four children to Puerto Rico to stay with her family while he spends next year in Iraq.
Stacy Gonifas' husband will be deployed to Afghanistan for a year, but after that he will leave the Army, and she wonders how they are going to ship their car and household items to Nebraska.
At a day-long open house yesterday, Army officials tried to answer these and many other questions and concerns for several hundred soldiers and their family members as the 25th Infantry Division prepares to send 8,000 troops to the two combat zones next year. Concerns raised ranged from pay to insurance to taking care of pets and more.
In February, 4,500 soldiers from the 2nd "Warriors" Brigade, aviation and combat support units will be sent to western Iraq with the 1st Marine Division to replace the 82nd Airborne Division. Two months later, 3,500 soldiers from the 3rd "Bronco" Brigade as well as members of the division's support, aviation and headquarters element will relieve the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan.
As the 25th Division prepares for the largest troop movement from Schofield Barracks since the Vietnam War, "it is also working to help families deal with the deployments," said Brian Dougherty, deputy director of the Army Community Service.
Dougherty's department conducted yesterday's open house at Schofield Barracks to call attention to more than 22 support services, including finance, housing, child care, religious, recreation, health and legal.
Gonifas praised the Army for conducting the open house.
"It's nice," said Gonifas, whose husband, Stephen, is a staff sergeant with the 3rd Brigade's 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment. "I had a lot of questions. There were rumors flying around on how long they would be gone and where they were going. ... It's better to deal with facts," she said.
Robles, a 27-year-old supply sergeant with B Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, would like the Army to cover the cost of sending his wife, Joan, and his four children -- ages 1 to 9 years -- to their hometown of Lares, Puerto Rico.
"I would feel better if she was there with her family," said Robles.
He was told that a soldier would need a special reason, like a medical or financial hardship, before the Army would subsidize such a move.
Schofield officials are trying to discourage soldiers from sending their families home because the Army would be unable to offer them help or keep them informed through family support groups.
"It's important to maintain contact and keep them informed," Dougherty said. "That is one of the things we have learned being the last major unit to deploy."
Special activities are planned, including several more open houses, video teleconferencing sessions and use of computers to stay in touch via e-mail. The Army also plans Web sites, newsletters, outings and free baby-sitting service for some to help those left behind cope during the deployments.
"I got good information here," Stacy Gonifas said after visiting the service center. "I am confident that he will do well. I just hope he gets enough to eat and time to sleep ... and I hope he gets his mail. I plan to write to him every day."
