USAFE reintegration program supports unit, individual redeployments

  • Published
  • By Capt. Chris Watt
  • USAFE Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  The increasingly joint nature of Air Force deployments means that many U.S. Air Forces in Europe Airmen redeploy individually without unit formation homecomings or base-wide “welcome home” parties. For those Airmen, homecomings usually consist of the smiling faces of family members pressed up against airport windows, anxiously searching amongst brown uniforms and green bags for a first glimpse of their returning loved one – still not a bad way to return.

As one of the one-year deployers now returning from Iraq, this reporter also recently experienced a difference in the post-deployment reintegration process that varies from the unit-focused programs for those returning with a deployed organization.

While Airmen in returning units fight jet lag in group briefings and redeployment lines, I was handed a DVD of the briefings with which I promptly met up with my wife with a lunch to go, a portable DVD player and a parking lot with a view of the forest and, voila – lunch and a movie. Granted, it wasn’t the most romantic lunch we’ve had, but it was a good way for both of us to learn valuable information about reintegrating our lives after a long deployment.

The taped briefings included information on finance, safety, dealing with stress and offered lessons in post-deployment family communication. I enjoyed the freedom of viewing the briefings on my own schedule, but I was also responsible to make sure I stopped by all the right offices and checked all the right boxes in the process.

“We have concentrated a lot of our efforts on unit redeployments,” said Alice “Tish” Zauner, USAFE Airmen and Family Readiness Branch Chief. “But we are also trying to focus our efforts on those redeploying individually. In fact the USAFE Reintegration Plan, by design, addresses the individuals returning. ”

Zauner explained that unit deployments are easy targets for focused leadership attention on reintegration briefings and issues because unit deployments affect such a large portion of such an organization. As a result, units that deploy together often have a built-in support system unlike those who return individually.

“We need to recognize that individuals returning deserve the same care and attention as the units returning,” said Zauner.

As more Airmen join our experienced Army colleagues on the ground for long deployments in combat zones, reintegration training is becoming increasingly important for all redeploying service members and their families – whether they return individually or with their deployed organization.

“We need to put our eyes on these folks and listen to what they have to say or recognize that at first, they may not verbalize their feelings,” said Zauner.

Along with multiple medical services available to returning Airmen to deal with post-deployment physical and emotional stress, base family support centers offer a variety of classes and services to assist families with a smooth reintegration of their returning loved one.

“We modeled the Air Force’s reintegration program on the well established Army’s program,” said Dr. Tom Appel-Schumacher, USAFE Airmen and Family Readiness Community Readiness Consultant. “From their experience, for example, we have learned that service members who have been deployed to a combat zone do not always experience problems right after redeploying. Usually problems happen three to six months down the road. So an effective reintegration program should extend beyond the initial homecoming.”

With these facts in mind, USAFE Airmen and Family Readiness members and base support organizations throughout the command continue to fine tune their available programs and ensure that returning Airmen and their families have everything they need for a successful post-deployment reintegration.