Family Readiness Groups (FRG): Useful or Useless?

In this particular time of war, our military families are highly dependant on their family readiness groups, known to most as FRG. A family readiness group consists of the active duty soldiers' dependants. Normally, it will be run by the commander's wife. In some cases others will be asked to volunteer.

Any position in the FRG is voluntary. These men and women put a lot of time in to hold these positions. This is time that could very well be spent with their family, but when the time comes for them to watch their loved ones deploy it all pays off. That is, if the group is being run properly.

The first task of an FRG is to help the flow of information spread to the family members, but there are many, many other tasks that the group will perform. Fundraisers, Family outings, events for the soldiers and helping spouses who are new to the area or the military are a small part of what they do.

For many, these groups can be a second family, people who know how you feel and know what your daily life consists of. Even though it is beyond the requirements of an FRG these spouses bond together and you have someone to come to the hospital when your baby is born and the father is on a mission, someone who checks on you when you are so sick you cant get out of bed, some one to listen when no one else understands.

On the other hand, I'm sure that many have heard the horror stories of family readiness groups. Some spouses absolutely refuse to have anything to do with them. They claim the rumors, the politics and the stress is something they don't need. This is true in many cases. It is a horrible thing when your deployed husband or wife hears rumors all the way across the world, about something that isn't true.

As hard as some of these groups try to stop these things from happening, it's like fighting a losing battle, gossip will always happen.

So the question here is; are the family readiness groups useful or useless. As a military wife I have spent sometime as a member and as a leader of FRG, I can honestly say that I believe they are useful. Yes, I have had some bad experiences, but when I was new to the military I don't know what I would have done with out my beloved ladies of the FRG that helped me through one of the hardest times of my life, my husbands first deployment.

As time moved on and we were stationed at a different post we were put into a unit that basically had no FRG. There were valid circumstances for this, but no one wanted to take the position as leader. So having come from a wonderful previous FRG, I knew the value of having one, and I volunteered to take the position.

The point is that there will always be rumors, there will always be politics and there will always be stress. Even if your FRG is a terrible one and you decided to move home during deployment, you will still need this communication with them. These groups are a necessity, but can be a comfort if run properly.