My dh unit doesn't really have an FRG. we are trying to get one up and going. They put me as the leader. but how do i get people to want to come join it. I have sent out e-mails i have tried calling. but 55% of the woman gave wrong info. HELP! i just want to throw my hands up.

Well, if you got wrong information that won't help and I see your frustration.

You should be able to get some help from the Unit in concerns of getting information for the FRG. I know our FRG leader had gotten a form from the FRG Liason that all the soldiers and families had to sign with information. And if they didn't want to be contacted they would sign that form.

Maybe you can start there with the FRG Liason.

It's definitely hard to get something up and running from the ground up. It just takes a few willing people to jump start it and hopefully it would catch on fire and just spread from there Good Luck!

we had this problem as well. Send a letter to each AD member's house about it. Stating that you are starting this up and you want to make sure that everyone who wishes to be involved is. Include a questionaire with the letter that asks for their name, email, address, interests, what they would like to do, if they want to be involved, etc....as that can help.

Unfortunately you might not get that much feedback. The FRG's do get a bad rep and the AD members do not help and contribute to it. Many do not want their spouses to be involved with them at all thinking it is gossip and nothing more.

You can even talk to the command about this and find out what they feel and what they would like to do to help.Find out if there can be a meeting held in which all of them have to be there.

quote:

Originally posted by Navywifeinparadise:
The FRG's do get a bad rep and the AD members do not help and contribute to it. Many do not want their spouses to be involved with them at all thinking it is gossip and nothing more.

Yup. I was warned multiple times by the guys I worked with not to join the FSG when I got out. Kept me from doing it for quite a while too...the CO's wife didn't help in that regard (had a run in with her on the pier once the ONE time I showed up for the boat pull-in while I was active) and at that point the FSG was living up to the rumours unfortunately.

After the CO switched out I fell in love with the new CO's wife. She was such a doll, I couldn't say no when she asked me to come. She took care of "her girls" (all the wives) and was one of the sweetest women in the world. After she came, all the issues in the group went away as well and I became heavliy involved in the group.

I'm a sucker. Every time we move and there is an FRG in the new unit, I always end up getting involved. Half the time, I end up being the leader.

The first thing you need to do to get an official FRG started is to have the commander of the unit approve the FRG and write a sanction letter to appoint an FRG and Leader.

A way to get correct contact information. This is Army. Not sure if the other branches are like this. The soldiers are required to complete a USAR 107R form. This is the Army Reserve Family Programs Information Data worksheet. It contains soldier information and contact information. At the bottom of the form, the soldier has to sign whether he/she allows the release of this information to the FRG. The explanation of this form is in the regulation 608-1. It is confidential information for the FRG Leader to use to create a contact list for family members.

I have started an FRG basically from scratch. I use this form to get started. If a soldier in the unit has not filled one of these out, I contact the FRG Liaison (military member) and let them know so he/she can follow up with that soldier to complete his form.

Then, I call family members. Call and call and call until I get enough members to start a group. Even 3 people is enough to get started. Then plan the meeting and follow up with these people to be sure they show up. Oh, and don't forget to log all of your calls. Any calls that cost you money, you can get reimbursed for. Try to use phones at the unit if possible.

You can also ask the commander if you can have some "talk" time at the next training and introduce yourself to the soldiers as the leader and explain what an FRG is and does. Hand out slips of paper and ask the soldiers to write down their family members name and phone number of the ones that may be interested. I got some new volunteers that way.

Track all of your volunteer time as you would need to submit this into your regional Readiness Group. They keep track of all volunteers and you will get recognized for your time.

I would be happy to help you with anything you need to get started. I have attended several FRG training conferences and can get started in the right path.

Email me through my profile if you would like.

I've been quietly pondering this to myself for several weeks. DH has been at this command for almost 4 months now and I have not heard a single word from an FRG. Should I assume there isn't one? At his last unit, I got an email just a few days after he checked in. Or because we only have 3-4 month deployments that they just aren't very active? Who could DH ask to find out if there actually is one?

If there's isn't, I would love to try to start one. We're in an odd situation where there are only about 30-50 homes on post, everybody else lives off post. I know that a good majority of my husband's shop is married, but I've never met them, I've never even met his co-workers. Something about that just doesn't seem right to me and I'd love to encourage SOMETHING so that we're at least familiar with each other/have somebody to lean on if there's a problem/etc.

Thanks for any info.

Allie, have him ask his squad leader. If the squad leader doesn't know, have him check with the platoon Sergeant. Technically, every unit is required to have an FRG. Not saying that they all do though. Many times, they can't get anyone to lead it. If they don't have one and you would like to get one started, email me. I have tons of information that I can help you with!

Thanks, I'll have him ask this week and get back with you if we're on our own!

Well, as it turns out, we do have an FRG. I wouldn't know if we hadn't been told, though. I asked James to talk to the people you mentioned for contact info, maybe I just need to be more in the loop to hear about things going on.

Allie, since they do have an FRG, it should be the responsibility of the leader and the telephone tree volunteers to contact the spouses. Some FRG's are just not very assertive. You'd think they would be with spouses separated from their families.

Could they possibly have a virtual FRG? Not sure if I could put the link on here so if type in www dot armyfrg dot org it'll take you to it. You can then register and check if your husband's unit has one. If not, see if you can find out who the FRG Liaison may be. That person is the contact person on the military side for the FRG.

Yeah, I had checked the virtual thing when we first got here and nothing came up. I found a super outdated website, it hasn't been touched since like spring of last year.

I'm wondering if maybe the lady in charge is just ready to pass the buck but hasn't had anybody to pass it to. I'm totally willing to start with things, so I'm going to try to get her contact info, and maybe I'll still be contacting you.

That would be great Allie! Obviously, the person who is the FRG leader now isn't doing a very good job. Just let me know!

quote:

Originally posted by LadyHarleyRider:
Allie, since they do have an FRG, it should be the responsibility of the leader and the telephone tree volunteers to contact the spouses. Some FRG's are just not very assertive. You'd think they would be with spouses separated from their families.

It also could be because they never got the information. I lost count of how many times I got emails or phone calls from spouses saying I didn't know this or that. As it turns out they never got it because their AD spouses never gave us the right contact information and never had them fill out the paperwork. Almost wish that they would make it mandatory for it to happen.

I filled out that paperwork, so that is definitely not a problem here. He brought home a huge stack of stuff and we split it in half, everything that needed our info on it I just did it myself.

quote:

Originally posted by Navywifeinparadise:

quote:

Originally posted by LadyHarleyRider:
Allie, since they do have an FRG, it should be the responsibility of the leader and the telephone tree volunteers to contact the spouses. Some FRG's are just not very assertive. You'd think they would be with spouses separated from their families.

It also could be because they never got the information. I lost count of how many times I got emails or phone calls from spouses saying I didn't know this or that. As it turns out they never got it because their AD spouses never gave us the right contact information and never had them fill out the paperwork. Almost wish that they would make it mandatory for it to happen.

That's true about the paperwork. In the Army, the 107R is mandatory for them to fill out. With that said, I spent countless hours as an FRG Leader submitting lists to the Liaison of the soldiers that have not completed the form or gave wrong information.

I am in a similar situation. DH's leader just asked us if we wanted to be the FRG leaders and honestly I know almost nothing about FRG's. I have never been contacted by anyone in either place that we've lived. I am thinking about saying yes, just so that we can meet some people around here. But I have no clue what my responsibilities would actually be. Do FRG's do fun stuff like barbecue's or is it all information-type meetings?

Depends on the FRG, and if you're in charge then you can inject some life & fun into it. I finally found out about our FRG, and all they do is meetings, bake sales, and afghan sales.

quote:

Originally posted by Armywife777:
I am in a similar situation. DH's leader just asked us if we wanted to be the FRG leaders and honestly I know almost nothing about FRG's. I have never been contacted by anyone in either place that we've lived. I am thinking about saying yes, just so that we can meet some people around here. But I have no clue what my responsibilities would actually be. Do FRG's do fun stuff like barbecue's or is it all information-type meetings?

Armywife777, I have a ton of information that I can give you and websites that can help you. Just email me through my profile.

Also, ask the liaison if there is an upcoming Family Readiness Training conference that you could go to. They are very helpful to getting you the information that you need to get started. I have gone to a few of them. The military pays your way. You get expenses covered just as if it were a soldier going on TDY.

I know this is an old post.

Lady I sent you a message through your profile here about getting the FRG started.

Actually our current leader is leaving. The incoming commander is single, so the positions are up.

And I got talked into going for the co-leader position. Seeing the person who wants the leader position is pregnant and would like to share the responsibility.

I honestly think we can make a difference and do something about our poor FRG and turn it into something the families would like to be involved with.

I wish I had more ideas. Any help and ideas would be awesome!

quote:

Originally posted by Wyldheart:
I know this is an old post.

Lady I sent you a message through your profile here about getting the FRG started.

Actually our current leader is leaving. The incoming commander is single, so the positions are up.

And I got talked into going for the co-leader position. Seeing the person who wants the leader position is pregnant and would like to share the responsibility.

I honestly think we can make a difference and do something about our poor FRG and turn it into something the families would like to be involved with.

I wish I had more ideas. Any help and ideas would be awesome!

Got your email Wyld. Send me your email address and I'll send you a bunch of attachments and links that can help you. I don't think I can send email attachments through the profiles.