Family Support Center hosts luncheons for leadership

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Marnee A.C. Losurdo
  • 512th Airlift Wing
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  The wing Family Support Center hosted its first commanders and first sergeant luncheons during the January UTA. 

Mrs. Tanya Rutland, wife of 512th Airlift Wing Commander Col. Ronald A. Rutland, paired up with FSC Director Laura Coseglia to host and cook the food for the luncheons at Building 263. 

The luncheon for commanders was held Jan. 7 and the luncheon for first sergeants was the next day. 

“Families and the support they provide to reservists are important to me, this wing and our country,” said Colonel Rutland. “It is our duty to support them when their spouse is away defending this nation.” 

“A lot of times the families don’t know where to start, so these luncheons were designed to reacquaint commanders and first sergeants to many of the FSC programs and let them know what a good resource they have in the FSC to reach out to families,” said Mrs. Rutland. 

The FSC provides information and assistance to the commander and unit leadership to address individual and family concerns as well as assists military members and their families, said Ms. Coseglia. The FSC provides support to families during times of local or national emergency, mobilization or deployments; information to family members about the installation and community resources; and emergency assistance when needed. 

“The luncheon also gave us an opportunity to ask leadership how it is that we can help them serve their reservists’ families better,” said Ms. Coseglia. “We (FSC) believe you recruit the member but retain the family. And, the only way to do that is to reach out to those family members and let them know we are going to support them because they support the servicemember.” 

The Reserve should be a family affair, according to Ms. Coseglia. 

“There is a good chance that reservists are going to be asked to serve many times throughout the year and that means that some families will spend longer times apart,” she said. “This presents a significant challenge for those families who are left behind.”
This is why the FSC Readiness Program is Ms. Coseglia’s first priority. 

“Reservists should have their personal affairs in order before deploying,” she said. 

“Reservists should ensure their family members have ID cards; they have an updated will and power of attorney; ensure their spouse has access to leave and earning statements through MyPay; and ensure their spouse knows the unit they are assigned to and has a point of contact,” she said. 

“By nature, people are reactive,” she said. “We are trying to teach reservists to be proactive so that when they get activated they are prepared and will make good decisions.” 

Reaching out to families is another challenge because the wing has reservists in 28 states, said Ms. Coseglia. 

One program that Ms. Coseglia and Mrs. Rutland believe will help reach out to families in distant states is the Key Family Member Program. This program invites reservists’ spouses or family members to assist the FSC in reaching out to families. 

“Any family member can adopt a family of a deployed reservist and their job is to contact that family and direct them to the FSC and let them know someone is there who cares for their well-being,” said Mrs. Rutland. 

“Family support is something that stems from the top down and wing leadership really has a vested interest in, and feels strongly about, taking care of reservists’ families,” said Ms. Coseglia.