Photo By Staff Sgt. Parker Dubois | Army Community Service will host an upcoming Junior Leader Spouse Workshop for spouses...... read more read more
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Army Community Service at Joint Base Langley-Eustis hosted a Junior Leader Spouse Workshop for spouses of junior enlisted service members to discuss military traditions, provide mentoring and information about Family Readiness Groups, March 22, 2017.
The spouses gather bimonthly for these workshops to determine their leadership opportunities alongside their service member as they move up in the ranks. Some of the topics covered during the workshops include support channels, expectations and protocol.
“We have senior spouses as facilitators for the workshop, which allows participants to hear from people who have ‘walked the walk’ and can share their experiences,” said Donna Cloy, 733rd Mission Support Group Army Family Team building program manager. “The workshop is an informal setting where spouses can get some basic information, but more importantly they can ask questions from people who have lived this life already.”
According to Cloy, building relationships, support channels and networking is a major reason they host the workshop. By providing junior spouses with a mentor, they can receive guidance regarding their new environment, which can make a difference in adjusting to military lifestyle.
Through the workshop, military spouses discover ways to make a difference with new leadership skills. These skills also show them how to get involved in their service member’s unit, such as helping plan events or fundraisers for the units.
“Service members get a lot of training before they are placed in leadership roles, so why would we expect spouses to take on roles without giving them training as well,” asked Cloy. “We are hoping to give spouses the skills that will make it easy for them to decide to be involved in the unit and to feel prepared when they take on these roles.”
Tommisha Wilson, wife of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Tillman Wilson Jr., Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 128th Aviation Brigade instructor, attended her first workshop when she arrived to JBLE in 2014, she has since been inspired to teach resiliency and coping mechanisms to spouses at ACS.
After taking every course available for spouses at the ACS, Wilson began volunteering her time to get new spouses involved in the programs. Wilson’s passion for the training encouraged her to complete two internships with ACS while in school for her Bachelor of Science in Child and Human Services. Now working on her Master of Arts in Human Services, Wilson continues to advocate for the skills and networking ACS has to offer.
“The training at ACS empowers spouses to know what is going on with our service members,” said Wilson. “It made me want to share the knowledge I gained with other spouses and I just kept wanting to learn more so I could give back more.”
Wilson used the courses as a stepping stone toward ensuing a fulfilling profession and continues to work to make a difference as a Master Resilience Trainer for the ACS.
With classes ranging from communication time and stress management, to personal relationship and team dynamics, Wilson encourages spouses to take advantage of the courses ACS has to offer.
For more information on ACS courses or how spouses can get involved, call 878-3638.
| Date Taken: | 03.22.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 03.22.2017 16:19 |
| Story ID: | 227762 |
| Location: | NEWPORT NEWS, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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