Ellsworth works to help ease the minds of families, troops

By Katie Brown, Journal staff | Monday, February 05, 2007

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Part of providing deployed military members with all of the tools they need to do their job involves giving them the peace of mind that their families are taken care of while they are gone.

“The military member is feeling helpless because they can’t be there,” said Mary Lassalle-Adams, a community readiness consultant at the Airman and Family Readiness Center at Ellsworth Air Force Base. “If we can help military members worry less about their families, they can concentrate on the missions.”

The main organization for handling that work at Ellsworth is the Integrated Delivery System, which focuses on the needs of families on base.

The system is composed of the chapel, a health-and-wellness center, family member programs, the Airman and Family Readiness Center and some other agencies.

Lassalle-Adams said the system focuses on the three phases of a deployment: pre-deployment, deployment, and return and reunion.

“We work together to make (deployed) people have information about what happens to their family members while they are deployed,” she said. “We then support the family while the person is deployed and re-integrate the family when the service member comes home.”

Lassalle-Adams said the Airman and Family Readiness Center provides families with information to be sure everything is in order while an airman is deployed. That means making sure budgets are in order and all personal affairs are taken care of before deployment.

Lassalle-Adams said the center provides this help for airmen with families, as well as single airmen.

She said the center also works to connect airmen with their spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends or parents for morale calls. Each airman gets four 15-minute morale calls each month.

“We do what we can to make sure we are connecting them in any way we can,” Lassalle-Adams said.

She said the center is also responsible for getting information to commanders of deployed airmen in the event of a family emergency.

There is also a Key Spouse Program at Ellsworth. Those spouses are referred to as the “eyes and ears” of the commander. They receive information from the commander of a unit and can then share the information with others who have loved ones in the unit.

Lassalle-Adams said the Airman and Family Readiness Center contacts the family of a deployed Airman at least once a month to be sure contact information is current in the event of an emergency.

Social events are also held each month giving families of airmen the chance to share concerns, get to know each other and simply have a little fun.

“We try to keep them busy and keep them connected,” she said of the families of airmen.

The Give Parents a Break Program offers a four-hour period once a month during which parents with deployed spouses can receive free child care with the Air Force Aid Society picking up the tab.

“Whether they need to run errands, go out to dinner or just sit at home and watch a movie by themselves, it just gives them a break,” Lassalle-Adams said.

Car Care Because We Care is another program offered to spouses of deployed airmen. The program offers free oil changes and 16-point checks for the main car the family uses.

Once every month, the Airman and Family Readiness Center offers activities for families of deployed military members.

“Whatever is going on, the IDS team makes sure we’re connected to the families,” Lassalle-Adams said. “They need to know who the folks are to go to and know what resources are available to them.”

Lassalle-Adams said the work of the IDS is not complete when a military member returns home.

“We address the reintegration back into the family and into the work setting,” she said.

That involves couples communication classes and other resources.

“They go through a lot of changes when someone is deployed,” she said. “It can be a hard time.”

Contact Katie Brown at 394-8318 or katie.brown@rapidcityjournal.com