Personal readiness means mission readiness

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Carey Shoff
  • 52nd Medical Group
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) --  Readiness -- one of my favorite topics! I’m not talking about chemical gear- and shot records-readiness. I’m talking about personal life-readiness, family and financial-readiness, if you will.

I have to be honest. As the 52nd Medical Group first sergeant, I have a higher motive for talking it up all the time.

You see, the more "readiness-minded" everyone is, the less workload I have during deployments and temporary duties. Just as orange juice "is not just for breakfast anymore," readiness and being prepared to deploy 24-7-365 are not just for those supporting flying operations.

Increasingly, individuals who traditionally did not deploy all that much in the past are getting the call, sometimes with very short notice. Even in those career fields where people are accustomed to frequent deployments, brand new troops are being deployed.

Are they ready?

Are we as supervisors preparing them and their families properly? I like to think we are. However, our preparations often focus on duty-related issues, so I’d like to share a few things that often get overlooked at the house.

Let's start with financial readiness

First and foremost, make sure that spouses and family members have access to money in some way, shape, or form. An automated teller machine card, an allotment to a separate account, access to a joint account -- something! You may not believe this, but I have helped plenty of spouses who could not buy food for themselves or their children because they were waiting to receive a check each payday from the military member who was deployed to Afsomewhereastan. With the unpredictability of the mail from some deployment locations, it could take weeks to arrive. Unacceptable!

What about your bills? If I told you that you were leaving tonight, could you pay all your bills on time from wherever you were? This is especially critical for you single folks out there. Why not use these new-fangled computers to your advantage. Set your bills up to be paid by allotment, electronic transfer, or pay them over the Internet. At a minimum, mail your payments early from your location.

Avoid having a buddy take care of your bills. There are way too many potential problems with that plan. I've seen them all; your bud may deploy at a later date, get separated from the Air Force early for a multitude of reasons, head out for 30 days of emergency leave, or be not so honest of a guy, just to name a few.

And how about family readiness? Does everyone who needs a power of attorney have one, and is it current? Does your spouse have a power of attorney to handle everything concerning your vehicles or other personal property? And speaking of vehicles, make sure your car registration is good through your expected return date if possible, and if it is not, work to extend it. Your spouse will need that car while you are gone and I am sure you will want to be able to drive it upon returning, and not have to deal with a 30 day non-op registration due to your registration expiring.

Do not forget the rent. Most landlords are not very happy when they don't get their money on time, or the amount isn't quite right due to the changing exchange rate. Again, you may find this advice very basic, but I worked four or five of these rent issues during a recent deployment.

Family care plans, anyone?

Everyone should keep in mind that while AFI 36-2908, Family Care Plans, only requires military-married-to-military couples with children to maintain a documented care plan on file with the first sergeant, it also requires all Air Force members with families to have a plan that reasonably covers all situations, both short and long term.

For those military-married-to-military couples who have children, and require a documented plan, is your plan up to speed? What if you both had to deploy tomorrow? Is your plan such that you can leave your children and feel comfortable that all of their needs will be met?

Bottom line folks! We are all susceptible to deployment at anytime. Just because you or troops from your particular work center haven’t gone anywhere since Gen. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier doesn’t mean you won’t get the call tonight.

Being as prepared as possible in your personal life allows you to focus full attention on the mission while in the combat zone. So take care of yourself and your family. Be deployment-ready 24-7.