335th Signal Command (Theater) holds largest Yellow Ribbon event yet

Courtesy Photo | Members of the 319th Expeditionary Signal Battalion mingle and enjoy social hour during the first day of their pre-deployment Yellow Ribbon event in San Jose, Calif., March 9, 2012. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Alexandra Hays, 300th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)  

SACRAMENTO, CA, UNITED STATES

03.09.2012

Story by 1st Lt. Eric Connor 

335th Signal Command (Theater)

SAN JOSE, Calif. - About 265 soldiers from the 319th Expeditionary Signal Battalion and their family members gathered in San Jose, Calif., March 9-11, to participate in the largest pre-deployment Yellow Ribbon event the command has hosted since the program’s inception.

A total of nearly 1,000 participants took part in the informational event, which acts as a precursor to the 319th’s pending deployment to Kuwait later this year.

Families were educated on what resources are available while their loved ones are deployed such as Child and Youth Support Services, Tricare, military family life consultants, chaplain services, and personal financial consultants.

Participants also had the chance to meet Derrick Watkins (also known as Fonzworth Bentley), a reality TV star and musician, along with his wife actress Faune Chambers, when they stopped in on the event’s social evening, March 9.

Watkins, whose cousin is also an Army Reserve soldier, thanked the troops for their service and reminded the Family members to keep their soldiers in prayer.

Portions of the event also reminded 319th family members that they are not alone.

“This is all about the soldiers, but it’s really also all about the families,” Col. Mark W. Hunt, chief of staff of the 319th said about Yellow Ribbon events. “We will be here for you—the soldiers and the families—throughout the deployment.”

Congressionally mandated in 2008 as a way to keep families of Reserve and National Guard soldiers up to date and connected to assistance during deployments, it’s also a way to ensure Reserve Component families, who often do not live close to a military base, get the information they need.

U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Terry B. Mabe, motor sergeant for the 319th, said he was cross-leveled into unfamiliar units on his two previous deployments, and that both times his family wasn’t given much in the way of support.

“My wife wasn’t getting any kind of information from the units the first two times,” Mabe said.

This time around, Mabe said he thinks the deployment will be easier for his wife and daughter because Yellow Ribbon is providing them with support from the onset.

“Families aren’t the ones on active duty,” said Staff Sgt. Patricia A. Contant of the importance of involving families in the deployment process. “I think it’s so important to reach out to the family members in the community.”

Contant understands the importance of being kept well-informed firsthand—her fiancé is currently overseas.

As the assistant program director for the 335th Signal Command (Theater)’s Yellow Ribbon program, Contant stressed the importance of engaging the families directly, so they aren’t solely reliant on their soldier for information.

She explained that some soldiers who have previously deployed have commented on the helpfulness of the Yellow Ribbon program and the difference it’s made in their family’s deployment experience.

The 319th will have more Yellow Ribbon events to complete over the course of this deployment; one just for family members, and other events when the soldiers return home.

For more information on the Yellow Ribbon program, visit www.yellowribbon.mil.

• Date Taken: 03.09.2012
• Date Posted: 03.18.2012 19:13
• Story ID: 85431
• Location: SACRAMENTO, CA, US