Yellow Ribbon Program Offers Information, Networking Opportunity before 2010 Deployment

  • Published
  • By Lt. Shawn M. Walleck
  • 911 AW/PA
PITTSBURGH IAP ARS --  With only a few shopping days left before Christmas, unit members stashed their Santa lists and set time aside to prepare themselves and their families for being apart during their upcoming 2010 deployment. To do this, Airmen attended a three-day pre-deployment conference sponsored by the Yellow Ribbon Program at Nemacolin Woodlands located in Farmington, Pa. Dec. 18-20.

Less than one week from the conclusion of the Operational Readiness Inspection the 911th prepared unit members for their January deployment by having more than 100 people attend the event. Airmen and their families received vital information pertaining to the deployment processes both overseas and on the home front.
"Our goal is for everyone to leave here with lots of information and knowledge. Knowing who to call or where to go for information is a powerful tool for deployers and their families and that is our main focus throughout the event," said Maj. Nicole Santoro, 911th Yellow Ribbon Program coordinator.

Once the ball drops in Times Square, N.Y. and the New Year begins, Reservists will see their climate change yet again, leaving behind the snow of Southwestern Pa. and trading it in for the regional climates of Southwest Asia. Although unit members don't have control over the weather, they do have control of how much information they and their families are armed with prior to their departure.

"I'm a single Airman, said Tech. Sgt. Raymond Chojnacki, an aerial porter from 32nd APS, and I never knew how much our unit took care of until attending this event. It's like a big mall where everything we needed to know was all together instead of going here and there like back at the unit. I really liked the event and the set up," he concluded.
Each morning began with group briefings on a variety of topics ranging from Financial Management to information from the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve. Then following each group briefing, Airmen and their families had opportunities to attend numerous breakout sessions ranging from 'Children and Separation Issues' to 'Maintaining a Healthy Marriage While Deployed.' The breakout sessions are the result of an evolutionary change for the program at Pittsburgh.
"This is the second time we've done the breakouts and the positive feedback we get reinforces the value of having these as part of the program," Maj. Santoro said.
"We attended the breakout session on helping our kids through the deployment and then we went to one on marriage. Today we'll go to another on financial management, which is great because it really covers all aspects of our lives, and not just one piece," said 1st Lt. Charlie R. Baker from the 758th Airlift Squadron.

"Over the past couple of days, a lot of things were cleared up," said Jennifer Westfall, a spouse of a deploying Airman. There's a separation from month-to-month as a Reserve family, unlike that of active duty. Often times we are given a name and a number of someone on the base, but here we can actually place a name with a face and the information given out this weekend definitely bridges that [month-to-month] gap. I'm glad we attended the event," Ms. Westfall concluded.