Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Widemond | The Tressider family puts together a collage of images and words that best represents...... read more read more
FORT STEWART, Ga. – Rozine Tressider, military spouse, did not want anyone to go through what she had gone through.
She was a new spouse nine months pregnant with her first child, and her husband, then Spc. Robert Tressider, was deploying for a year. It was his very first deployment, and the unit he was with had a family readiness group but it was not well supported. She felt isolated.
“I had no one there to help me except for two neighbors,” Rozine recalled.
She used her experience as a catalyst for joining and volunteering for FRG positions ever since then.
“I started out as a key caller, and became an FRG assistant and got hooked from there,” she said. Now, 14 years later, she and her husband, Staff Sgt. Robert Tressider, 2-306th Field Artillery Regiment, are assigned to the 188th Infantry Brigade and the volunteering continues.
The key caller is responsible for keeping families informed and helps welcome new members into the FRG. As the FRG assistant, Rozine was primarily responsible for putting families in touch with community and installation resources such as Army Community Services.
Tressider is the family readiness liaison for his battalion, providing administrative support to the Soldiers and families, and acting as a link between the battalion commander and the FRG.
He met Rozine in college and plans on making the military a career. Through his 14 years, he has been deployed four times, with the last one in 2010. He does not have to worry about leaving his family for a year at a time, however the operational tempo takes him away from his wife and three kids from time to time.
He is an observer-coach/trainer who goes on missions to various geographic location in support of training, advising and assisting National Guard and reserve units in order to help them maintain force readiness. These missions occur throughout the year, however the summer months are the heaviest when most reserve training units have their annual training cycle.
When he is not on mission, he spends as much time with his family as he can.
“At lunchtime, I go in and help out, then I go back to work. It may be only be an hour a day, but I help out as much as I can,” Tressider said. His wife volunteers for a non-profit organization located in Hinesville which provides support to Soldiers and family on Fort Stewart.
“We provide financial education and readiness--making sure military families are well informed, and are able to take care of themselves during deployment or permanent changes of station,” explained Rozine. Her personality is a good fit for the job.
“Personality is 100 per cent important. The interaction and the patience she shows is excellent,” said Yvonne Smith, another volunteer with United Military Care. She said Rozine’s demeanor and the way she deals with Soldiers and spouses helps put them at ease and lets them know that it is okay to ask for help every once in a while.
During the summer months and school breaks, her children come in to help out as well. The time they all get to spend together is important in building resilience and maintaining family cohesion.
“It’s nice that they included their children,” said Christina Anthony, overseer of the Hinesville/Fort Stewart office. United Military Care has a main office in North Atlanta.
The Tressiders said they have become stronger and tighter because they volunteer together.
“We don’t take anything for granted. With him having been through four deployments, each a year long and us losing friends to deployments, we don’t take anything for granted.”
| Date Taken: | 12.01.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 12.11.2014 06:53 |
| Story ID: | 150041 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 112 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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