Resiliency program helps Airmen, families strike work-life balance

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Airmen and other Air Force members are often asked to take assignments away from home, and then transition back to family life, which can be a surprisingly difficult transition. The Recharge for Resiliency, or R4R, program at Kirtland can help Airmen face that challenge.

R4R provides morale building, welfare and recreation activities. It is aligned with existing programs like the Airman and Family Readiness Center and it's "Hearts Apart" program, along with Kirtland Outdoor Recreation.

Working with other programs helps maximize the opportunities for families, according to Senior Master Sgt. Maurice Robinson of the Airman and Family Readiness Center.

"The good thing about this program is that it's multifaceted," he said. "It helps these families during the deployment by getting them out of the house and putting their mind on something other than the separation." He said it also helps families make the transition back to regular family life.

"Once their family member is back home from the deployment, it helps them to reintegrate and get used to being together again," he said.

R4R started at bases across the Air Force this summer. It will do a lot of good as it evolves and serves more families, Robinson said.

Families with members on assignment for the Air Force attended an R4R event Friday at Kirtland's Airman and Family Readiness Center. Children went through a scaled-down and humorous pre-deployment briefing, which included a talk about Afghanistan's large insects.

The kids received deployment packs with playing cards, water bottles, candy and Air Force camouflage hats. They were then bussed to the 58th Special Operations Wing to tour the wing's aircraft.

Charren Williams, whose husband is on his sixth deployment as a member of the 377th Air Base Wing, brought her four boys. She said she hoped the day out would give her boys insight into what their father is experiencing.

"We came today so they can see what their dad goes through before he leaves," Williams said. "I hope they get the sense of what the military members all have to go through. It's not fun or a vacation and it's a lot of work for their dad to leave."

The program is open to active-duty Air Force members with or without family members, Air Force Wounded Warrior members, family members of "fallen warriors" with Department of Defense identification cards, active-duty members of the Army, Navy and Marines assigned to Kirtland, deployed Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve members, and qualifying DOD civilian personnel and their families.

R4R activities at Kirtland include a dinner and movie nights, holiday gatherings, and excursions around New Mexico, including trips to Tent Rocks, El Malpais National Monument, the Sandia Mountains and Cochiti Lake.

Unit first sergeants can help Airmen determine their eligibility and coordinate with the Airman and Family Readiness Center to get into the program. For more information, call 846-0741 or visit the Airman and Family Readiness Center.