Duke Field Reservists, families soak up benefits of combined Yellow Ribbon event

  • Published
  • By Dan Neely
  • 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. --  Sixty 919th Special Operations Wing reservists and family members joined 600 of their counterparts from three other Florida-based Air Force Reserve units at a hotel and conference center here to participate in a combined Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program event Aug. 15-16
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A legislatively mandated program, YRRP provides information, services, referrals and proactive outreach programs to members of the National Guard and Reserve, as well as their families, through all phases of the deployment cycle. Attendees at the event in Lake Buena Vista largely comprised a mix of recent war returnees and others preparing to deploy.

The intent of the program is to prepare Reserve and National Guard members and their families for deployments, sustain their families during deployments, and reintegrate the service members with their families, communities and employers upon re-deployment or release from active duty.

While not all inclusive, the event's informational briefings and kiosks featured Tricare health benefits for those deployed and returning, referral information for counseling services, veterans benefits; anger and substance abuse management; safety awareness; domestic violence awareness; marriage enrichment; and single service member issues.

Inside a packed conference center ballroom, Lt. Gen. Charles E. Stenner Jr., chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command, officially opened the event Aug. 15 with a keynote address. He drew from his own Reserve career to relate personal experiences with the unique challenges facing today's Citizen Airmen and their families, as well as why the YRRP was designed to support them.

"You have your [military] job, your family, your employer and your civilian life - it's a real balancing act," the general said. General Stenner heaped praise on the attendees for the vital role they play.

"You are superb in war fighting, and you are superb at home," he said. "You all do an absolutely fantastic job at whatever your mission is, and I'm proud to stand up in the Pentagon with the chief of staff and the secretary [of the Air Force] and tell them you're doing a wonderful job. I really relish going to those meetings where I can say these are my folks - these are Air Force Reserve members who are out there around the world doing the job on a daily basis."

Speaking directly to family members in attendance, he added, "Thank you. Please hang in there with us. I know you're proud of your family members who are out there doing that job, and you should be."

This latest YRRP event was the second such gathering for Duke Field reservists. One of the lead organizers, Master Sgt. Steve Morgan, said he was pleased to join his counterparts from Patrick and MacDill Air Force Bases and Homestead Air Reserve Base in using lessons learned from their previous experiences to make this event a success.

"We had a great event," Sergeant Morgan said. "I think it was very, very effective because we were able to institute a lot of advance planning ideas thanks to those past experiences."  Duke Field attendees found plenty to like about the two-day program.

"This event was quite informative, and overall I think it was just a warm, relaxed environment with very helpful breakout sessions," said Capt. Francine Ricks, a 919th Medical Squadron clinical nurse who returned from a deployment in July. "Just sitting back and listening to the different speakers break down things you wouldn't have thought of was a big help. I enjoyed it so much, and my kids enjoyed it as well."

Captain Ricks said she and her two children, age 17 and 15, enjoyed the opportunity to take advantage of military discount passes to nearby Disney World and Epcot Center after the day-long information sessions. Attendees also benefited from the hotel complex, in a gesture of patriotic support, greatly reducing its normal peak-season room rates to meet the military lodging cap of $109 a night.

In addition to the recent war returnees, other Duke Field members, like Master Sgt. Scott Peters, 919th MDS first sergeant, and his spouse, Yvonne, attended the event to prepare for upcoming deployments. Likewise, they were pleased with the overall YRRP experience.

"I liked the vast amount of information that was available," Sergeant Peters said. "A lot of our troops don't know what's out there for them, and as a first sergeant I'm glad to be here to get that information to bring back to them before they deploy so they know what they can do. If we can give them the knowledge they need at the beginning, when they come back it'll be a lot easier for their reintegration."

Ms. Peters viewed the experience as "an extremely integral aspect of deployment, especially for new Airmen. They and their families may not know what is available for them," she said.

Ms. Peters said she was especially pleased when Col. Jon Weeks, 919th SOW commander, offered family members his personal phone number should they ever need immediate assistance with various issues arising during their spouses' deployment.

"It was nice just knowing he did that for something as simple as a car breaking down or whatever when you're far from the base and your husband isn't there to help you and it's extremely frustrating," she said.