Yellow Ribbon: New office established to oversee command's reintegration program

  • Published
  • By Bo Joyner
  • Air Force Reserve Command
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  The newly established Office of Deployment Cycle Support is up and running at Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga. Charged with managing the command's implementation of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, the office has its hands full making sure deploying Reservists and their family members are well taken care of.

"The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program is designed to assist Airmen and their families in facing the challenges of deployment, provide the family with information about the many programs and services that are available to help them, and address issues and concerns that families face when reintegrating back to their home communities," said Col. Mary Hill, DCS director.

The DCS office is small: Colonel Hill and Master Sgt. Juliet Alonso are currently the only two people assigned full time. They are working closely with the command's Integrated Delivery System team and local IDS teams throughout the command to implement the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program AFRC-wide.

Yellow Ribbon is a congressionally legislated directive that dictates that "deployment support and reintegration programs shall be provided for National Guard and Reserve members and their families. ... to minimize to the extent practicable the stresses of military service, particularly the stress of deployment and family separation." It stipulates that deployment support and reintegration programs shall be provided in all phases of deployment - pre-deployment, deployment, demobilization, and post-deployment and reconstitution.

"Most of our bases already do a good job of taking care of their people," Colonel Hill said. "But the nature of Reserve service makes it possible for some people to fall through the cracks. We want to make sure all Reservists and their family members are taken care of during all steps of the deployment process."

The DCS office will do this by providing policy guidance, collecting data on support events offered at AFRC units, identifying best practices, standardizing support requirements, and providing training and support to wings in meeting program requirements.

Colonel Hill is working closely with four Reserve locations that have post-deployment events scheduled between now and January 2009. The 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker AFB, Okla., started things off in November with the return of 155 security forces troops.

One provision of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program directive states that National Guard and Reserve commands shall hold reintegration activities at approximately 30-, 60- and 90-day intervals following demobilization or the end of a deployment for all members who are mobilized or deployed for 90 days or more.

The law goes on to state that Reserve members must receive appropriate pay and allowances for attending these deployment support and reintegration activities and that family members should also attend the events.

"This is one aspect of Yellow Ribbon that has been a bit of a stumbling block," Colonel Hill said. "Officials are still debating which family members should be included at these events and how their attendance will be funded.

"While there are still some details being worked out, the bottom line is we are asking an awful lot of our Reservists these days, and we owe it to them to make sure they and their families are taken care of. That's what Yellow Ribbon is all about."