The Vermont Military Family Community Network (VTMFCN) mission is to promote awareness of the unique issues facing our military members and their families. We strive to identify local, state, federal resources available to our Vermont service members, veterans, and their families. Please visit our Resources page for more information.
Our last “in person” MFCN meeting took place on Wednesday, 29 January 2020. We had two very special guests at this meeting: MG Gregory Knight, The Adjutant General (TAG) for the VTNG and Dr. Brett Rusch, Executive Director, Veterans Affairs at White River Junction, VT. The topic of the meeting was to discuss the potential upcoming deployments scheduled for the VTARNG. Both MG Knight and Dr Rusch addressed the issue of soldiers returning home from separations and experiencing different struggles and issues. Dr. Rusch noted that there are still 20 veteran suicides per day. Of those 20, 6 are involved with VA Services and only 2 or 3 are actively engaged in mental health care. These statistics are critical to pay attention to as service members return from deployments.
Another special guest was COL Dana Tourangeau, Deputy Chief of Staff Personnel. COL Tourangeau led the network through the stages of deployments: Notice of Sourcing then the Alert notice 12 months out and finally the mobilization order which happens about six months before separation. To help families prepare for deployments, Family Programs has Yellow Ribbon events scheduled for before, during, and after deployments. We bring together the resources such as financial, TRICARE, mental health, employment, etc. Our families are geographically dispersed and do not have access typically to these services, so these Yellow Ribbon events are crucial to educate our families.
Our next in person MFCN meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 14 July, 2021 at our Northfield Armory. Everyone is looking forward to coming together again.