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Efforts under way to form Panhandle military support group
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| Staff Sgt. Jason Parks and Specialist Damen Schlenker, both with the 168th Quartermaster Battalion of the Scottsbluff National Guard, are behind efforts to start a Panhandle-wide military support group. Services are needed for active and returning soldiers from all branches of the military, they said. Photo by Maunette Loeks |
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By MAUNETTE LOEKS
Staff Reporter
Two soldiers with the National Guard’s 168th Quartermaster Battalion know firsthand that support services are lacking after troops return home from war.
Specialist Damen Schlenker and Staff Sgt. Jason Parks have both served stints in Iraq. After returning from deployment, the two men said, they and their families needed time to re-adjust.
Parks, who had been deployed for 17 months from May 2006 to August 2007, said there are quite a few services for soldiers and veterans. For example, he said, his wife used a daycare assistance program while he was deployed that helped the family financially.
However, soldiers not associated with the National Guard lack support services for themselves and family during and after deployment, said Schlenker, who was deployed for 12 months, leaving in June 2006 and returning in August 2007.
“There is a void in the community for active duty soldiers in other branches, such as the Army and the Navy,” Schlenker said. While soldiers from different branches would typically congregate together, he said, in this area, soldiers have “to learn to come together and find something that helps everyone.”
The two men and Schlenker’s wife, Cristal, said it takes an adjustment when soldiers return home. They go from being with their military family to a real-world family. In past wars, she said, soldiers had long return trips back home during which they could work through combat-related problems informally with each other. Today, she said, soldiers are typically flown back stateside and reunited with their families within a few days or weeks.
“But we don’t pick up were he left off,” she said. “We have grown, he has grown. Things have changed.”
Parker said he, his wife and family also had similar adjustment issues. He said the process for evaluating soldiers also needs to work differently. Soldiers learn that admitting to health or mental health problems during assessments could delay their return home, he said.
Schlenker said reintegration trainings also need to happen in a timelier manner. The trainings usually take place after 90-days to allow soldiers and families time to be together. However, within that 90-days, Schlenker said, problems may have already started.
Parks said programs, such as a Unit Wellness Team established by the National Guard, is also striving locally to help returning soldiers deal with problems such as substance abuse and suicidal tendencies.
Another local effort has been put together and headed by the Veterans Upward Bound program at Western Nebraska Community College. Amy Reinpold, Family Assistance Center Specialist with the National Guard, said the effort evolved after a workshop last year to establish the needs of soldiers and families in the area.
In a press release, Marcia Stuckey, VUB program assistant, said the group will involve veterans to guide the topics and services that are needed locally and work with agencies on services that can be provided to meet their needs.
With the effort, programs throughout the community have come together to host a Panhandle Area Support Group for Veterans and Military Families. The support group will have its first meeting on Monday, July 6.
Subsequent meetings have also been planned for Aug. 3 and Oct. 5. All meetings are scheduled to be held from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Harms Advanced Technology Center in Room B132.
For more information about the Panhandle Area Support Group for Veterans and Military Families, contact (308) 635-6152; (308) 635-6042; or (308) 632-1284, Ext. 7778.
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