OCR Text |
Show Sept. 12, 1996 Classes provide training to get Military sponsor program back in 'helping' mode ing a sponsor as well as to their job. It's the nature of that person." Brewer is trying to find and train that kind of person. Gen. Henry Viccelio, commander, Air Force Materiel Command, talked about this training at the Commanders' Con- by Lisa Ryan Hilltop Times staff Possibly the biggest enemy of a military family is moving to a different base every three to four years. Starting over means finding a place to live, getting the ference that Brewer recently attended. "He was quoting someone else, but he military member settled into work and maybe the kids into school and maybe said, 'We recruit the military member, even getting the family pet settled. but we retain the family too,' " Brewer During this difficult time, a sponsor said. can help alleviate some of the pain as"I tell sponsors to take care of people's sociated with moving. The performance immediate needs. If they arrive hungry, of a sponsor largely depends on the inget them to a place to eat," Brewer said. formation available for the new family or "It's important for the family or single the single military member coming to airman to feel connected as soon as Hill. In recent years, the problem was possible." where to get that sponsors did not know Brewer said the focus of the training ' information or to even how to be a is to get the sponsor involved with the inbound personnel they're assigned to. sponsor. Now that is all changed. There is a She said the training is about showing training session on sponsors how to handle different circummandatory hour-lon- g how to be a sponsor every Monday, 2 stances. For example, a single parent, or a dual military marriage, are instances p.m., at the Family Support Center. Every commander from Maj. Gen. Pat where a different approach is required. Condon, Ogden Air Logistics Center The class encourages sponsors to be commander, on down has attended the proactive and to do some things before the new personnel arrive at Hill. training session. (See Condon's comments on the program in the story below.) A review of the sponsorship program Air came out of the results of the 1995-9Force Needs Assessment Survey. General survey results showed that Air Force people wanted improved relocation services. Locally, the sponsorship program was reviewed by members of the Military Personnel Flight and the Family 6 Support Center. Getting involved "Some people coming to Hill will have fantastic sponsors. They'll ask and find out what your needs are and they will work and provide the things the member needs," Nancy Brewer, Relocation Program manager, said. "On the other hand, you can also find someone who comes in who didn't get a welcome letter or any other information. But sometimes there are reasons for that. Sometimes the move was done with little notice and there wasn't time to assign a sponsor. Now, with the training program, sponsors will know what's required and where to find it. "I really think how well a sponsor does depends on the person. You've got some people that will give 150 percent to be One focus is childcare "What I'm trying to promote really big is childcare. I hit two different ways of getting the sponsor involved in helping the inbound member with childcare," Brewer said. "One is to encourage the sponsors to get the new personnel on a childcare list as soon as possible, but I caution them to be careful about calculating the days before the inbound member's going to arrive because if not, the member's name goes to the bottom of the list," Brewer said. "For temporary childcare, the sponsor should start calling the Child Development Center two weeks prior to the arrival of the family. This frees up the adults to have some time to make other arrangements around base." The class suggests that sponsors put together a packet of information to send to the inbound member. Information on a bevy of topics from childcare to kennels for pets can be found at the Family Support Center. But there is also some research to do beforehand. The class suggests writing and sending a welcome letter to inbound personnel before he or she arrives. 15 Hilltop Tim In her tip sheet on how to write an effective welcome letter, Brewer suggests giving information as well as asking the inbound member what he or she would like to know about. Brewer suggests: Telling the person the sponsor's phone number, address and residential address. Telling about the base and the surrounding area. Arranging a post office box. Getting vehicle registration. Asking if there are any questions or special concerns. Asking if the newcomer needs childcare, kennels for any pets, etc. Wells thinks Brewer's training is a positive step. "Nancy gives a thorough training session. She touches on things you wouldn't have thought of; for example, getting a reservation for the family pet at a kennel," Wells said. "Those things are real eye openers. "The sponsors are also the ones who give the first impression of the base," said Wells. Wells said she sponsored a newcomer eight years ago. "Back then, you really didn't pay attention to the details, like a welcome letter, making that initial phone call and picking up the newcomer." Customer Service Chief, 2nd Lt. Telling them about base Juliana Adair, has been at Hill about and unit Brewer said that the sponsor sponsors three weeks and she said she got lucky everyone right down to the dog and the with her sponsor. "When I was in technical school in gerbil. Biloxi, Miss., he and his wife sent me a big package of information on housing, Give info, ask questions a base map and things to do outdoors," "We're trying to change an old Adair said, "and they got the packet from Family Support." paradigm. And that is when you're sponAdair said sponsorship training didn't soring a military member with a family, that means every member of the family exist before her sponsor called her. including the dog or any other critters "They made a reservation for me at they might have. Find out what their billeting and then I ended up staying needs are. The more information you can with them," she said. "It was a real easy give that family or single airman, that's transition. I was lucky they took the initiative." power for them," Brewer said. Brewer said that she also talks about sponsoring a single airman. They go to Some things overlooked She wishes, though, her sponsor would billeting when they get here, then to their units, and they sit around. have told her the things to keep out of "I've known some airmen who have storage like her battle dress uniform and gotten here and sat all day in their room some paperwork. She also wishes she because they didn't know where the base had been told about the emissions test exchange was," Brewer said.. required in order to get her car registered She believes in the effectiveness of her on base. Her department does newcomers' oriprogram and she hopes that this class will help change some old attitudes. entations as well as other things and so "This has to be treated like an official Adair went through the sponsorship duty. And the expectations are that you training herself and found it very user put 100 percent into your job and that friendly. "It gives you what to do by checklist you put 100 percent into this," Brewer said. and it breaks everything down," she "Some of the people I get into the said. "It's good for military members. training are going to be supervisors We're used to checklists. "It was very thorough," she said. "It someday, if they aren't already. We want to get to the point where supervisors gave lots of different options." Both Adair and Wells thinks this is a really understand that when their troop is being asked to be a sponsor, they will good program that can only get better. arrange work schedules so they can let They said if someone finds out he or she them off," Brewer said. going to be a sponsor, he or she should SSgt. Tamara Wells, assistant NCO in go to the next sponsorship training session. charge of customer service, Military Personnel Flight, said sponsors are chosen "Participation in the program could be inside units by individualized newcomer better," Adair said. "Some people might not be giving it enough credit or are lacktreatment and orientation (INTRO) monitors and that they try to match up adaisical." Adair would also like to see sponsors families with families and singles with the packets of information singles. But, she said, "There aren't custom-tailo- r enough sponsors. Sometimes people to fit the inbound personnel's needs have no sponsor when they get here." better. Proactive sponsorship program important to morale, Condon says nice to have Condon said. by Bill Orndorff Chief of Internal Information The thrust of the sponsor program is personal teraction, Condon said. The military sponsorship program is a valuable way to help members and their families move to new areas. It's one of the ways the military takes care of its own. Local sponsors and the information they provide are important to maintain the morale of military families. Maj. Gen. Pat Condon, Ogden ALC commander, sponsorship training recently attended the hour-loncourse, initiated recently by the Family Support Center, and found the information beneficial "The training program is a good one because it offers good common sense information that helps the sponsor communicate with the person they are sponsoring," he said. "It's the kind of information that, once provided to the person coming in, is designed to help them in that transition." face, a voice in a new organization that you can identify with," Condon said. "You can look upon that person with some trust because you know that they have been through what you're about to go through. It's somebody you can count on to just be helpful in making the transition and getting oriented into the new community." Sponsors are also encouraged to find out if individuals coming in have any special needs. Those who go through training are encouraged to make suggestions for future classes, so the training is constantly improving, Condon said. He noted that the Air Force had sponsors when he entered the service 32 years ago. "They helped me by giving me someone at the other end of the phone to talk to before I arrived and as I was trying to make plans to leave my current g "It now is and has always been one of personal con- tact, a "It's location,' somebody at the other end that you feel comfortable talking to. "The encounter with the sponsor in my experience hasn't been brief. It's been an initial encounter that further developed after we got to the new location. I ended up working alongside the individual who was my sponsor." Relocation Program personnel plan to train several members from each organization so the same people aren't always assigned as sponsors. "You typically use people who are regular members of the organization," Condon said. "There's obviously some work associated with that, and it takes time to properly prepare and execute the responsibilities of sponsorship. It's not something we want to give to the same people all the time, since they have regular e jobs they need to attend to. We try to spread the responsibilities as much as we can and put a large number of people through the training." The sponsorship training course was developed at Hill and has a local focus. full-tim- fPOOR I w--- ..- COPY J |