As an all-volunteer military endures the brunt of an ten-year war on two fronts, we are seeing a pattern of brokenness in the family unit that amounts to a nothing less than a war on the home front. It is not business as usual for military families under these strenuous circumstances.
While the Department of Defense has come a long way in providing resources and tools to help families, it lacks the personal relationship that is required to reach into the everyday lives of the hurting spouses to bring help and healing.
Operation Faithful Support is a unique spouses program centered on building relationships. The dynamics of each group is far-reaching, from the spouse of a private enduring her first deployment, to the seasoned senior spouse who knows the ins and outs, and then some. Each individual comes with unique experiences of survival and accomplishment, ready to give and take from the group, whose focus is on strengthening marriages during what others may say are impossible times.
Ideally, Operation Faithful Support consists of 15-18 monthly sessions, beginning immediately after the servicemembers deploy, with the topic, Staying Emotionally Connected , and will continue meeting once a month with a target topic and an open discussion facilitated by the group leader. Topics include such subjects as What to Expect During R&R , and Redeployment 101 . Each session also employs an action assignment to keep the spouses focused on their goal throughout the month. These sessions will continue throughout deployment and into reintegration.
The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.
~Hubert H. Humphrey
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
~Jane Howard
Session 1 : Emotionally Connected / Independently Strong
Sometimes we say, “I can’t live without you”, when what we mean is “I don’t want to live without you”. Being able to stand on our own as a “dependant”, while working hard to stay emotionally connected is the strength of a military marriage during deployment and beyond. This session focuses on standing on your own without crumbling, while purposely avoiding the disconnection that can come from long term separation.
Download this session by clicking here!
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Crisis Session
In light of the recent developments in the unit, we executed an additional session on short notice. This was not an official briefing, or a "church service", but a facilitated discussion regarding the struggle and emotions you may be dealing with at this time.
Session 2 : The War of the Mind: What IF? vs. What IS
Having trouble sleeping? Is your mind constantly racing out of control with thoughts that keep you in fear, regret, or guilt? Join us for Session 3, where we will discuss how to take your thought life back, and gain control of what occupies your mind. You don’t have to be a victim to imaginations!
Additional Resources
Session 3 : Avoiding Toxic Relationships : Finding a Battle Buddy
Deployment is a stressful time in our lives. Let’s face it, we are going to need friends, family, and a valuable support network to make is successfully through the cycle. This session addresses what types of relationships will help us, what types will hurt us, and how setting healthy boundaries, even with family, can keep things from getting out of hand.
Join the Discussion on Facebook!
Battlefield of the Mind
www.amazon.com
Boundaries
Session 4 : What to Expect During R&R
Reality can never compete with fantasy! But understanding can make a fantastic reality! Don’t miss this enlightening session, where we share experiences, disappointments, joys and concerns about R&R! Make this one the best EVER!!!!
Session 5 : Spirit, Soul, and Body Healthy
Stressed? Burned out? Overwhelmed? Need to de-stress??? Please join us for a time of discussion at
OFS Session 5: Spirit, Soul and Body Health.
Session 6 : The Halfway Session
Notes coming soon.
_________________________________________________________________________________Session 7 : What to do When Your Spouse Says, "I don't love you anymore"
What to do if he says....the unthinkable. What if he says, "I don't love you anymore"? Did you know it is not uncommon for Soliders to disconnect from the homefront emotionally? It is not uncommon to hear a Combat Veteran express concern that he is no longer "in love" with his spouse. The fact is, if we can "grow apart", we can also "grow back together". Hearing these words does not have to mean the end of a marriage. Join us for Session 7 as we sort through our personal experiences and learn from one another!
Additional Resources:
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I Don't Want a Divorce
What To Do When He Says "I Don't Love You Anymore"
A Marriage After God's Own Heart
Session 8 : He's Not Your Girlfriend
Have you been waiting for a more "light-hearted" topic? Well, here it is! "He's Not Your Girlfriend" deals with the inherent differnces in the way we think, cope, and communicate as men and women! Do you ever feel like you are speaking two different languages? This session addresses WHY?
Session 9 : Finances - Avoiding the Potholes in the HWY to Success
Session 9 means we are in the final leg of this deployment! This session will focus on the" spend-o-rama" that follows redeployment, and ways to plan ahead, or avoid behaviors that can sabotage a successful reintegration. There is no "right" way, only tools to navigate what some call a redeoployment inevitablility!
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Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage: Unlocking the Secrets to Life, Love, and Marriage
Based on Mark Gungor's wildly popular seminar, Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage® builds on Gungor's success with tens of thousands of couples who credit him with enriching, and even saving, their...
Marriage Missions.com
What’s the most common argument among married couples?
Educated guesses might name sex, money, or kids. Survey says: money, hands down. Research says: that’s about right. For richer or poorer, money is a key spark in couple conflict.
It seems common sense to say that paper currency and coins are not themselves the root of the troubles, but it’s the underlying habits and attitudes, or “habitudes,” that drive how those financial instruments are used, or misused, spent or saved. And many people...
Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives
By Jocelyn Green
Jocelyn Green and the other writers in this book have connected to the hearts of military wives with compassion, grace and hearts full of mercy. These writers have been there and have brought to us as readers compelling devotions to connect us to the Lord, our spouse and the hope of a strong marriage during times of deployment. In all the work we have done in reaching out to military marriages, this resource, Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives, is the best tool we have ...
Faith Deployed. . .Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives
Includes contributing authors like Operation Faithful Support's Founder, Jill Bozeman! As husbands are being deployed multiple times, the women left behind desperately need encouragement and strength to maintain the home-front. Often lonely, frequently overwhelmed by the needs around her, and continually stressed by a unique lifestyle ...
From Our Own
Operation Faithful Support, Inc. (OFS) was founded by U.S. Army Spouse, Jill S. Bozeman and a team of spouses from the 502nd EN CO of the 19th EN BN at Fort Knox, KY. in 2009, prior to the company's OEF deployment. Immediately, CH (LTC) Thomas Cox began advising and supporting the development of the program for the unit's spouses. OFS, an instant success with spouses, was quickly embraced by the battalion and eventually the regiment. In 2010, as the 502nd spouses were gearing up to welcome their soldiers home, Jill was approached about developing the program for 3/1 IBCT, which she eagerly accepted. Operation Faithful Support is an all volunteer effort, and is offered as a ministry of love and support to the spouses of deployed service members.
OFS is currently serving 3/1 IBCT of Fort Knox, and is supported by four local churches, hosting both monthly meetings and emergency sessions.
OFS is a faith-based, pro-marriage, educational support program for all spouses of deployed service members irrespective of religious affiliation. OFS is designed to strengthen spouses on a monthly basis by hosting facilitated discussion groups on a pre-determined topic relevant to the deployment cycle. OFS is relationship centric, and emphasizes the need for combined community support for our nation's heroes and their families. OFS operates in courteous conjunction with FRG, Unit Command, Chaplaincy, and other Military resources and services, while maintaining its distinction as uniquely a spouse's program.
OFS is a 501 © 3 organization and your tax deductible gift is greatly appreciated!
With this program, we can make our Soldiers battle-ready, and our spouses MARRIAGE-Strong!
The News Enterprise
www.thenewsenterprise.com
The issue: Operation Faithful Support. Our view: Providing needed service. The United States has been at war nearly a decade and as deployments continue, another battle is brewing. It’s a fight for marriage. “Distance...
The Turret
www.turret.com
Whenever a Soldier deploys, it may seem as if everything falls apart at the same time for the spouse. The washing machine breaks. The lawn mower catches fire. The dog has a run-in with a skunk. There are also...
Deployment is filled with challenges for families. And for an Army wife, someone who will let her vent and confirmation that she’s not alone in her feelings are precious. One Sunday each month, wives of the...
I feel that you have given us the training we need for "battle". We have to fight our own war here in garrison. Without the love and support from the ladies in OFS I don't think I would be where I am today. The tools you have presented to us have helped 100 %
~Lynn G.
OFS is the exact non-threatening forum Army wives need to feel they are "normal" in their "world of doubt" while coping with deployment. It has been bonding and educational for all ages of spouses.
~Ami L.
OFS offers spouses the chance to get advice without asking for advice. This is especially nice for those of us "veteran spouses" that sometimes forget that we can learn new things too. Ideas are offered, but not pushed so it becomes a completely non-threatening environment.
Another great thing about it is that there is structure, but not so much that if the topic veers into another direction the facilitator appears to be frustrated.
Lastly, I like that we get different perspectives on the deployment. I really had never put myself into my mother-in-law's shoes until I listened to a mom talk about how it affects her.
~Melissa F.
In preparation for deployments, the company gave all of the "necessary" briefings. The spouses were invited, few attended. But even if all of the spouses attended these briefings, they did not address how to cope with the reality of the situation. They presented the facts, shared a few stories, and then we were on our own. OFS provides the next crucial step; support for the spouses when the issues addressed in those briefings become a reality, or maybe even support for the spouses so that those issues DO NOT become a reality.
Jennifer L
Currently, Operation Faithful Support meets monthly in the Fort Knox, Kentucky area at two locations (see addresses below map) in Radcliff. Sessions are held every 3rd Sunday from 4:00-5:30. RSVP on Facebook, by emailing the above contact, or through your company FRG Leader.
Free Childcare onsite infant to 12 years.
Radcliff First Assembly of God
Hosting 6-4, 1-6, BTSB, 201st, and 1-26 of 3/1 IBC
Would you like to start an OFS chapter for your unit? Contact us with the form above, and we'll be in touch soon!
