The ’s Path to Greater Resilience Voice forthe Army—Support fortheSoldier Association of the United Association Army the of n hm, eev seil riig n h referral the in training special receive home, ing Soldiers who deploy with their units and, upon return- are buddies battle 1 Level professional. health mental els to identify Soldiers who may want or need to see a gan universities. Soldiers are trained at one of two lev- effortcollaborative a in this upon Michi- several with draws program “Buddy-to-Buddy” Guard National Michigan The buddy.” “battle her or his and Soldier * State Efforts Introduction and suicideamongSoldiers. stress post-traumatic as such problems recurring to solutions unique finding of challenge the sharing all Columbia, of District the and territories three states, within 50 the across continue the will Guard National Army resilience build to steps More Kansas. and Montana Illinois, Delaware, Maryland, Wisconsin, , Hampshire, New California, Nebraska, vada, Ne- Michigan, include programs resilience creative epn ode rslec ad ee roiie by Army prioritized National Guard senior leadership. were and resilience Soldier deepen to need a of out emerged programs These tiatives. ini- health mental and support social comprehensive lies. With this in mind, several states have developed fami- their and Soldiers support further to programs establishing and methods seeking continuously are wars have taken on the National Guard, Army leaders ongoing and long two and deployments multiple that toll the to response ever. In than States Army United war, the Army National Guard is more integral to the torchbearerissuepapers/Documents/TBIP_ComprehensiveSoldierFitness_042010.pdf. Comprehensive SoldierFitness,” April 2010, see AUSA’sthe program, Toabout Army’sResilience: more resilience read “Building Paper TorchbearerIssue efforts ofthestates,territoriesandcommunities. The challenges. life’sindividualthe with do to much has resilient remaining in families and Soldiers our of success of face the thrive—in cope—even them helps that network a and ture struc- support a of part is family and Soldier each that recognizes Guard National The Army h esne f h ry ainl ur i the is Guard National Army the of essence The As the United States approaches its tenth year of The Army National Guard’s Path to Greater Resilience MG Raymond W. Carpenter, Acting Directorofthe Army NationalGuard * States with http://www.ausa.org/publications/ilw/torchbearercampaign/ ed towardappropriatetreatment bypeopletheytrust. guid- be can assistance professional needing Soldiers steps provided through the Buddy-to-Buddy program, the Withneeds. health behavioral about Soldiers low fel- with talking comfortable more feel often Soldiers that is program this of success the to key The sional. profes- health behavioral a or buddy 2 level a either source, referral appropriate next the for health logical psycho- of director program’s the contact buddies 1 mental not health professionals. For mental are health concerns, level they but concepts, psychological in 11 September 2001. These volunteers receive training to prior deployments from usually veterans, are combat volunteers 2 Level information. referral instruction for list receives trainer check- a has and Michigan 1 of University the through level Each works. net- media social and e-mail telephone, by buddies assignedwith contact process. in keep Soldiers These teams of veterans—similar in purpose to Michigan’s to purpose in veterans—similar of teams The Nevada National Guard devised reintegration ARMY, 2010–11 GreenBook,October2010 December 2010

“Buddy-to-Buddy” program. These teams go from the New Hampshire and Ohio have tackled behavioral state to the demobilization sites to talk to Soldiers about health initiatives through formal memoranda of agreement. deployment and combat experiences. They strive to im- Along with their respective state mental health groups, prove Soldiers’ comfort level with talking to one another, they have formed alliances for networked care. The area family members and professionals. This focus on reinte- of eligibility for Soldiers and families in need is thereby gration and communication is intended to help Soldiers broadened into a continuum of care. Related to this con- settle into a “new normal.” These reintegration teams tinuum of care is the preventive work many states and ter- interact with the state overseas contingency operations ritories are doing by focusing on resilience training. coordinators and transition assistance advisors. The Wisconsin Army National Guard, meanwhile, The Nebraska National Guard, building upon the has implemented a community wellness program that buddy-to-buddy theme, has concentrated its efforts to prepares Soldiers for the challenges they may confront strengthen resilience on fellowship groups aimed at help- throughout their careers. The goal of this program is to ing veterans and their spouses resolve issues related to train Soldiers, family members and civilians to identify combat stress and readjustment from trauma experienced the realities of challenging environments, develop skills while on active duty. The goal of the groups is to help to thrive and be resilient in the face of these realities and individuals cope more effectively with a wide range of learn how to use these skills to help themselves, fellow issues, including family and relationship discord, depres- Soldiers and those they lead. sion, anxiety, anger, guilt, impulse control, decisionmak- In addition to solely state- and professional-level ing, styles of communication and self-medication. The fel- lowship groups assist servicemembers in coping with the initiatives, a number of states have partnered with com- impact of combat experience and in understanding how munity agencies to secure the safety net surrounding deployments affect their lives and provide them with op- Soldiers and their families. For example, the Maryland portunities to interact with, support and learn from one an- National Guard developed a service called Partners other. Discussions of personal issues, situations and expe- in Care, a network of faith-based organizations whose riences are strictly confidential. These fellowship groups volunteers provide practical services for Soldiers and are hosted by the Lincoln and Omaha veterans’ centers. their families. Delaware, Illinois and Montana also of- fer Partners in Care networks, and the concept is mov- The California National Guard also focuses on the ing across the Army National Guard. A directory for unit importance of mental health awareness; however, un- leaders is maintained by the Joint Forces Headquarters like state programs that focus on creating support net- (JFHQ) Chaplains’ office in conjunction with participat- works, it puts the initial responsibility for spotting po- ing churches. The directory is distributed to commanders tential mental health issues on professionals. It has an of all units and identifies available services, locations and embedded psychologist program, whereby behavioral points of contact to help the commander refer the Soldier health professionals are assigned to units to increase op- or family to an appropriate agency or professional. The portunities for early intervention. Since 2006 more than participating congregation offers support to all referred 30 units have been a part of this program, helping thou- Soldiers and families within the limits of the congrega- sands of Soldiers with behavioral health conditions. With tion’s resources and abilities. Services include counsel- this program, Soldiers were able to receive treatment or ing, education and mentoring, emergency food, clothing, counseling for issues that otherwise might not have been household and auto repairs, housing and transportation. identified; individuals referred for treatment frequently show some post-traumatic stress symptoms. While all of these states have taken important and creative steps to sustaining reliance within the Army National Guard, the is at the forefront in developing a robust resilience training cur- riculum for Soldiers and families. Kansas Flash Forward for Leaders, a resiliency training course, consists of one eight-hour session addressing various topics, including stress, family issues, chaplain services and instruction on biofeedback (stress) evaluation. Each training mod- ule consists of a video, lecture and small group compo- nent. The program is partly based on stress inoculation training. Life Ties, part of the Kansas Flash Forward for Families program, is also underway. This training

2 www.ausa.org options are available and success rates are usually higher; • confidentiality, as feelings of ostracism and fears of stigma are real, despite efforts to minimize stereo- typing and insensitive reactions; • self-awareness, self-help and self-initiated resilience; • the essential role of the employer as a first-line defender; and • involving family members and helping the “support team” to understand the particular condition and the program provides a comprehensive range of education, need for coping skills. physical tools and skills to cope with high-stress envi- ronments, helping Soldiers and families identify and re- Federal Efforts solve potential problems. In addition to recognizing and relieving mental health Individual civilians have also started programs at the issues, the Army National Guard acknowledges employ- state level. Two daughters of an Illinois Army National ment outreach and attainment as another necessary step in Guard Soldier host the “Kids are Heroes Too” program— building resilience. The Job Connection Education Pro- a website where children of servicemembers share sto- gram (JCEP), the Employer Partnership Office (EPO), ries of what it means to them to be a military kid, what the Guard Apprenticeship Program Initiative (GAPI), the happens when a parent deploys or what to do if a parent General Educational Development Plus Program and the is involved in a serious or catastrophic incident. The pri- Patriot Academy are good examples of employment, cer- mary goal of the site is to normalize the experiences of tification and education outreach programs. military kids by connecting them in a geographically dis- JCEP is an Army National Guard employment ini- persed virtual environment and by providing a safe outlet tiative designed to help improve the quality of life of to share experiences and build resilience. National Guard Soldiers who are unemployed or under- Several Adjutants General have expressed interest in employed. This initiative focuses on how Soldiers seek, piloting virtual-reality exposure therapy as a way to in- obtain and retain civilian employment by assessing skills crease resilience as well as to treat post-traumatic stress and experiences that lead to updated resumes, effective interview training, job search training, and education effects. Individuals diagnosed with stress symptoms can and job expositions. JCEP aims to connect Soldiers to relive traumatic experiences in a controlled clinical set- civilian employment opportunities. JCEP staff work indi- ting, allowing them to better process stress related to vidually with Soldiers and closely with local employers war. Stress-inoculation therapy is administered as part of to establish formal relationships that match skills with virtual-reality combat training. Warfighter physiological the requirements of potential employers. Classroom ac- response to intense combat conditions is recorded dur- tivities and practical exercises result in improved Soldier ing stress-inoculation therapy and normal virtual-reality self-confidence, more job interviews and better employ- combat training prior to deployment. The predeployment ment rates. Currently, JCEP is operating as a pilot pro- measures constitute a baseline against which future mea- gram in Fort Worth and Houston, Texas; the Army Na- sures can be compared. tional Guard hopes to develop a JCEP in each state, in the These programs, as developed by the Army, states territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and local communities, reveal common threads and and within the District of Columbia. themes for resilience, including the importance of: Despite continuing efforts to increase education • the battle buddy and knowing that someone cares; benefits and placement services, the unemployment rate • a support group, especially including other combat among Army National Guard Soldiers has risen above veterans; 11 percent. This rate is higher than the 9.6 percent un- employment rate in the United States, according to De- • involving professionals, especially embedded be- partment of Labor November 2010 unemployment sta- havioral health specialists, when and where needed; tistics. The Army National Guard Employment Branch • early intervention; as with most medical conditions, has developed several initiatives to assist Soldiers in early detection usually means that more treatment connecting with employers. The Army National Guard

www.ausa.org 3 has been partnering with the Army Reserve since The Army National Guard also runs the Patriot June 2009 and brought the EPO program to Army Academy, the nation’s first accredited high school. Guard Soldiers in October 2009. The EPO assists The Patriot Academy is available to non-prior ser- Soldiers through its website and Program Support vice, split-training option high school drop-outs who Managers (PSMs). The EPO mission is to conduct are single with no dependents. Students enrolled at job searches by Military Occupational Specialty, ci- the Patriot Academy enter an accelerated path to earn vilian job title and region. Soldiers can apply and their high school diplomas while receiving military submit resumes from the EPO website directly to pay (E1/E2), training (including physical fitness) and a network of more than 900 EPO business partners community service experience. This program gives and Fortune 500 companies. students a second chance to obtain a high school To help Soldiers improve their job skills, the diploma and will ultimately benefit the student, the Army National Guard has also created the Guard Ap- community, the family and the nation. Since its in- prenticeship Program Initiative (GAPI), partnering ception in June 2009, the Patriot Academy has gradu- with the Department of Labor and the Department ated 127 Soldiers and is capable of growing to nearly of Veterans Affairs. GAPI helps Soldiers complete 500 Student-Soldiers per year. certifications and increase professional skills while Conclusion earning wages. Eligible Soldiers receive educational People—Soldiers and their families—are the first benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs and most important element of the Army. Caring for as they pursue an apprenticeship program. them is a vital part of the nation’s defense; it requires For entry-level employment, the Army National the utmost attention of leaders and citizens and de- Guard General Educational Development Plus Pro- mands significant application of resources. The Ar- gram enhances readiness by producing high school my’s values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, equivalency graduates and preparing Soldiers for honor, integrity and personal courage go beyond Sol- Basic Combat Training. The Army National Guard diers to include their families as well. Taking care of goal is a 95 percent graduation rate. So far, the fiscal Soldiers and families remains the number one prior- year 2011 success rate is 98 percent. The Army Na- ity for Army National Guard leadership. Resilience tional Guard continues to monitor progress, evaluate programs are intended to help Soldiers and their fam- results and remain flexible, while maintaining or im- ilies by giving them the tools to become even more proving success rates, one Soldier at a time. emotionally, professionally and financially resilient.

Useful Websites

Buddy-to-Buddy Volunteer Veteran Program (Michigan) http://www.buddytobuddy.org California Army National Guard, Operation Ready Families http://www.calguard.ca.gov/readyfamilies Program Kansas Flash Forward for Leaders http://kansastag.ks.gov/RESIL.asp?PageID=99 Life Ties, Kansas National Guard http://kansastag.ks.gov/RESIL.asp?PageID=343 Maryland Army National Guard http://www.mdarmyguard.com/images/pic1.pdf Nebraska Army National Guard Assistance Programs http://www.neguard.com/familyassistance Nevada Reintegration Program http://www.nv.ngb.army.mil/yellowribbon New Hampshire Army National Guard https://www.nh.ngb.army.mil Ohio Army National Guard http://www.ong.ohio.gov Wisconsin Army National Guard Wellness Program http://dma.wi.gov/dma/SHR/symmetry_wellness_topics.asp Employer Partnership Office (EPO) http://www.employerpartnership.org Job Connection Education Program http://jcep.info Guard Apprenticeship Program Initiative (GAPI) https://esc.pec.ngb.army.mil/rendercontent. aspx?contentID=163 General Educational Development Plus Program (GED Plus) http://www.nationalguard.com/benefits/enlistment-op- tions/ged-plus Patriot Academy http://ngpatriotacademy.com/ The Army National Guard’s Path to Greater Resilience Greater to Army National The Guard’s Path 4 www.ausa.org