Military Deployment Reintegration Resources

Military redeployment & reintegration resources

Books on redeployment & reintegration from deployment - LINK

Opportunities for military veterans to share their stories - LINK

Scroll down the page for more information on:

Reintegration resources for military children

Reintegration resources for the service member and family

Reintegration resources for military children

Sesame Street for Military Famlies

http://www.sesamestreetformilitaryfamilies.org

You’ll spend weeks preparing for this special day, and the full military homecoming experience may last for weeks afterward. However, as with any highly anticipated event, the reality for your family could be different from their expectations. Having your loved one back is wonderful, but returning home from deployment is also another significant transition. With advance planning and some military homecoming ideas, you can prepare your child for the joys–and occasional stresses–of having his family together again.

The Comfort Crew for Military Kids

http://www.comfortcrew.org/militaryheroes.html

The Comfort Crew was created to make sure that military families and their kids have the best resources available to help them through the tough situations of deployment, reintegration, reintegrating with an injury, losing a parent in war, and other unique challenges that the community faces.

The Comfort Crew programs are provided to military families completely free of charge, and combine customized in-person live experiences, animated DVD's, and guided journals to open kids up to talking about the "tough stuff." These unique edutainment experiences allow us to talk about serious subjects in a way that is accessible to children. All Comfort Crew kits are designed to support children ages 6-12.

This comprehensive set of resources focuses on the unique needs of military families who are dealing with the effects of reintegration and transition to civilian life. This resource includes the DVD, Together Again! Helping Military Families Reconnect, our mascot stuffed animal, Cuzzie Jr., a journal for each child 6-12, and other items to help the family reconnect.

Reintegration resources for the service member and family

American Red Cross Reconnection Workshops

http://servicesarmedforces.redcross.org

Reconnection Workshops, which are free and confidential, focus on individual and small group discussion that enhances the likelihood of positive reconnections among family members and others in the community, and the successful re-engagement of service members and veterans in civilian life.

Workshops assist those impacted by a military deployment and bridge all branches of the Armed Forces. We invite Reserve, National Guard, active duty service members, veterans and their families to participate.

Adult participants can choose from five different topics, and children/teens can choose from two different topics. Sessions and materials focus on learning useful skills, developing effective coping mechanisms, and where to find resources.

AMVETS Warrior Transition Workshops

http://www.amvets.org/amvets-in-action/warriorreintegrationproject/

AMVETS Warrior Transition Workshops are post-deployment training programs for service members and veterans, with a focus on those struggling with combat stress (PTS) and readjustment issues resulting from one or more deployments. The program is a 3-day hands-on; de-Boot Camp, reintegration training program. The workshops are provided at no cost to the veteran.

Buddy to Buddy (Michigan)

http://buddytobuddy.org/

The mission of the Buddy-to-Buddy Volunteer Veteran Program is to use trained veteran volunteers to help OEF/OIF/OND military Service members and veterans overcome the stigma around asking for help and link those who are facing challenges throughout the deployment cycle with appropriate resources that will optimize their quality of life.

Military OneSource (Chill Drills Playaway Audio Book)

www.militaryonesource.mil

The stress of combat and other traumatic situations can linger long after your deployment has ended. Back home, it takes time to adjust. It can be hard to sleep, hard to talk, hard to be patient -- with yourself, your family and friends, even with cars and trucks on the road. Many of these feelings lessen with time. Meanwhile, you can teach yourself to relax more by using this recording.

Be sure to refer to Military OneSource for other helpful resources.

Operation Healthy Reunions

http://www.nmha.org/reunions/resources.cfm

Mental Health America is proud to champion Operation Healthy Reunions, a first-of-its-kind program that provides education and helps to bust the stigma of mental health issues among soldiers, their families, and medical staff to ensure that a greater number of military families receive the prompt and high-quality care they deserve.

In partnership with the leading military organizations, Mental Health America distributes educational materials on such topics as reuniting with your spouse and children, adjusting after war, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Operation Supply Drop

https://operationsupplydrop.org/integration/

Respawn – Led by Chief Medical Officer, Erik S. Johnson, to bring the “Healing Power of Gaming” to our recovering veterans.

Professional Development – Working with individual professionals and supportive businesses to assist transitioning veterans in job search, growth and success.

Team Building Outings – Structured outings following a model of 10 young veterans with 10 professionals with an emphasis on building relationships which will provide support and accountability.

Thank You Deployments – Nominated VIP experiences provided to veterans that have shown their service never stops. Past experiences include: Professional Sports, X-Games, Video Game & Entertainment Expos, Super Car Racing and Outdoors Sports.

#CoffeeOps – Year-Round Fundraising & Awareness Campaign proving that you can “Give a Little, Do a Lot!”

Real Warriors

www.realwarriors.net

The Real Warriors Campaign is an initiative launched by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) to promote the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration of returning service members, veterans and their families.

Returning from the War Zone

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/reintegration/guide-pdf/FamilyGuide.pdf

A guide for family of military members.

The Independence Fund - Operation Resiliency

https://independencefund.org/pages/operation-resiliency

Each year, more than 6,000 veterans take their own lives. Operation RESILIENCY focuses on the mental health and wellbeing of our veterans in order to prevent veteran suicide and improve the overall quality of the life for our veterans and their families. The Independence Fund and the Veterans Health Administration Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP) have partnered together in order to make an immediate impact on the lives of our veterans and their families. The structure is a mutually beneficial manner that advances and improves veterans’ mental health and wellbeing and expands and promotes community collaboration to increase access to mental health resources for all Veterans and their families and prevent suicide in the veteran community. This partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides peer mentorship and resource sharing through reunions of veterans from high casualty units. The reunion retreats will be an opportunity for each veteran to regain the sense of camaraderie lost after leaving their unit. Together, The Independence Fund and the VA are combating veteran suicide and reuniting these veterans with independence. The goal is to ensure the unit that experiences the battle together, experiences healing together.

Resiliency retreats will be focused on company-sized units that deployed and conducted combat operations in support of our nation. Retreats are held over a four-day period. Each nomination will be carefully vetted. Please submit a request form to nominate an individual unit. Each nomination package MUST include a letter from the company leadership (Company Commander or Senior Enlisted Leadership), stating the timeframe the unit was deployed and a general overview of the combat operations they experienced.

Veterans' Safe Driving Initiative

www.safedriving.va.gov

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in veterans in the early years after returning from deployment. Don't let that happen to you.

Don't drink and drive.

Don't ride with a drunk driver.

Always wear your seat belt—driving, in the passenger seat, or in a back seat.

If you ride a motorcycle, always wear a helmet and ride sober.

Mile for mile, your risk of a fatal crash is about 35 times higher on your motorcycle than in your car.

You are home now.

Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program

www.yellowribbon.mil

Promoting the well-being of National Guard and Reserve members, their families and communities, by connecting them with resources throughout the deployment cycle.