Posted on Jan 16, 2014
How beneficial is a FRG ( Family Readiness Group)?
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FRG started off as a group that served as a family when spouses were off on deployments to keep families informed and to encourage one another until loved ones returned. Lately FRG's are like the modern reality tv shows that are packed with drama and gossip. With so much gossiping going on there have been times where deployed SM never receive a phone call or a care package from their spouse. What happened to encouraging families and unified team building?
Spouses
Family
Servicemembers
FRG
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
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Since the arrival of social networking and the rise of internet usage the need to have FRGs to keep family members informed in the forum of monthly meetings has drastically changed. A lot of units are using FB and other social medias to keep families abreast of training calendars and field problems. The other unfortunate problem with FRGs is the decline in having good volunteers step forward to serve in key positions within a unit's FRG. It has been my unfortunate experience that the ones that do volunteer tend to live in the drama side of life and/or create certain circles within the FRG alienating those spouses that are of lesser rank or social standing. One of the toughest things to maintain in my time as a 1SG has been a good FRG team but is still a very important component of any command team and unit.
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SSG (Join to see)
1SG, I totally agree. Personally, I have come to despise FRGs since most of the ones I have seen are either clicks or gossipy networks. Sometimes both. Using social media is very beneficial in getting news and information across. In my last unit in Korea, my CO and 1SG were HUGE advocates of the unit being a family. They encouraged Soldiers to take care of their family and to remain in contact with them (in the states). The biggest thing they did was establish a FB page for the unit, which I was honored to be an admin for. The 1SG would constantly be posting all sorts of great information (fun and professional) from around the Korean peninsula. I was doing the same thing although my biggest contribution was in taking pictures of the unit (i.e. training events, ranges, cook-outs, promotions, etc). It felt great knowing the page was helping to keep family members in the states in "the know" as to what their Soldier was up to. Whenever I saw my clerk's mom or dad "like" a picture I posted of her, it is one of the moments that made me proud to be an NCO.
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COL Vincent Stoneking
1SG Rink,
I've got to agree. And, quite honestly, trying to establish and get the FRG up and functional has been the single most difficult element of my command over the last 2 years.
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IF, and I reiterate, IF, it is properly implemented and run, the FRG can be an invaluable tool to assist with the spouses and families during times of deployment, be they to a combat environment or a rotation to a CMTC site. The FRG serves as a link between the unit and the families that can serve to ease worries, fears, and ensure a good flow of information between the FRG and the unit. However, if it devolves into nothing more than a gossip club then it can do more harm than good, especially if individuals within the group "assume" the ranks of their serving Soldiers. I have seen both the good sides and the bad during my 26 year career and have seen first hand how it can negatively impact a unit and/or the families themselves.
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I agree with many of the comments or shall I say most. Prior to the advent of cell phones and computers and what not people had to gather or congregate to socialize. Today many people are so socially inept they can't function without social media. Echoing many here it really requires good volunteers.
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