Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Widemond | Sgt. 1st Class Richard Foutch (foreground), 2-306th Field Artillery Regiment, 188th...... read more read more
FORT STEWART, Ga. – The Total Army Sponsorship Program is designed to assist Soldiers, from private to colonel, with their permanent change of station moves by assigning them a sponsor to help integrate them into a new unit. It pairs new Soldiers with seasoned individuals at their new duty station and allows them to get a good sense of what to expect, on and off post, prior to arrival.
“With this being a TDA unit, it helped me know more about what goes on. It gives me a better assessment of what is going to be going on,” said Sgt. 1st Class William Holland, a Soldier PCSing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and recently assigned to 2-306th Field Artillery Regiment.
He was given a sponsor within a week of knowing that he would be coming to 188th Infantry Brigade.
A TDA unit, or Table of Distribution and Allowances unit, is a non-deployable unit with a specific mission. For the 188th, that mission is providing support to mobilizing Reserve component units.
Holland said the biggest challenge was learning how the 188th functioned.
“A lot of people don’t (know) what this unit is all about. When you see 188th Infantry Brigade, you think you are going to another infantry unit, but we are a training brigade, an AC/RC unit,” said Staff Sgt. Tray Davis, 188th’s senior human resource sergeant.
The 188th is a training brigade with both active duty and Reserve component battalions responsible for training, assisting and advising National Guard and Reserve units that are completing their Army Force Generation cycle in order to meet combatant commanders’ mission requirements. The majority of the Soldiers are observer-coach/trainers who use Army doctrine and a multi-component approach to help training units from across the United States meet their training goals.
Holland said this unit is an exception to the rule when it comes to senior noncommissioned officers who have been in the Army for a while.
“Most of us have been around long enough, no matter where you go, we know what to expect. This is my first AC/RC unit, so I wasn’t sure,” Holland said.
His sponsor helped welcome him to the unit, but Holland and his family relied on Internet research to navigate the local area.
“When I called him, he was already in town. He had already found housing and had a lay of the land. He said he would contact me if he needed any assistance,” Foutch said.
A sponsor contacts an incoming Soldier within 10 days of notification of sponsorship duties, and maintains communication until the Soldier signs into the unit.
Holland has been in the military for 17 years, and he said this is the first time he has had a sponsor. His sponsor, Foutch, has been in the military for 19 years and was there to answer any questions.
The TASP closely matches incoming Soldiers to peers of the same tenure and military occupational specialty so that the line of communications remains open. It is designed to reduce the stress that some may experience during a PCS move.
“The program is another means of communicating. When a person is sponsored by a peer, morale is boosted,” said Davis.
The Total Army Sponsorship Program is a commander’s program that enhances units readiness by integrating new team members and help set the conditions for success during a new Soldier's first three months at a new location.
| Date Taken: | 11.20.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.21.2014 14:23 |
| Story ID: | 148502 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 188th Infantry Brigade embraces sponsorship program, by SFC Stephanie Widemond, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
