Family Readiness Program
COMFORT FOR YOU WHILE THEY'RE AWAY!!!!
One day, orders will come and your Soldier will be deployed for a time. A military deployment means that your Soldier will be transferred to another place in the world to fulfill their contract of service. It will happen. There's no hiding that. Does this mean that they'll be placed in a place of danger? No. It merely means that they'll be away from you and the entire Family. This is understandably quite often the single hardest thing a Family can go through--everything from waiting for information to looking forward to every scrap of communication, no matter how small. You might even feel alone. But you're not. The Army Family is a strong one, with deep reserves of community and care to support all Families through this time. Next door is someone who's going through what you are or recently has. Across the street is someone else to be leaned on, talked with, or be there just to listen. In the Army Family, you're never alone.
Family Readiness Group (FRG)
This program is a command-sponsored organization of Family members, volunteers, Soldiers and civilian employees
associated with a particular unit. They are normally organized at company and battalion levels, and fall under the
responsibility of the unit's commanding officer.
FRG's are established to provide activities and support to enhance the flow of information, increase the resiliency
of unit Soldiers and their Families, provide practical tools for adjusting to military deployments and separations,
and enhance the well-being and esprit de corps within the unit. The activities emphasized will vary depending on
whether the unit is in pre/post deployment, deployed, or in a training/sustainment period at home station. Since
one of the goals of an FRG is to support the military mission through provision of support, outreach, and
information to Family members, certain FRG activities are essential and common to all groups, and include member
meetings, staff and committee meetings, publication and distribution of newsletters, maintenance of viral FRG
websites, maintenance of updated rosters and readiness information, and member telephone trees and e-mail
distribution lists.
Ideally, all Army units, both active and reserve, sponsor FRGs as an avenue of mutual support and assistance,
and as a network of communications among the Family members, the chain of command, chain of concern, and
community resources. The FRG also provides feedback to the command on the state of the unit "Family" and is
considered a unit commander's program.
