Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
National Guard soldiers en route to Iraq Sunday were offered a list to hand out to family and friends containing telephone numbers for services the Montana National Guard offers to help get people with relatives in all branches of military service through a time of deployment. “The families are the ones who always seem to get forgotten,” said Tim Rossow of Helena, president and acting chair of the National Guard’s 639th CS Supply Company’s Family Readiness Group. Rossow’s wi fe, Sgt . Michel le Rossow, is a soldier in the 639th, scheduled to leave Helena at 4 a.m. today for Fort Lewis, Wash, for its last stage of preparation before deployment to Iraq later this month or in early February. The three units of the company, with headquarters in Havre and detachments in Libby and Kalispell, boarded buses Sunday to travel to Helena. This is the second deployment for the 639th in four years. The company spent 15 months in Iraq, starting in January 2004 and returning to Montana in March 2005. The Montana National Guard has implemented several programs to help its soldiers and their families in the last few years, including a program to help with post-traumatic stress disorder that was created after the March 2007 suicide of Christopher Dana of Helena, who had served in Iraq. Several programs have been created to help National Guard soldiers and their families during and after deployment, including the new Yellow Ribbon program. That program is intended to improve access to programs such as health care and assistance in finding work after returning from a deployment. The list also includes contacts for the Family Readiness Group. Rossow said the Family Readiness Group primarily works to hold events for Guard soldiers and their families, and also to provide advice and assistance and referring them to help available through the Guard. Those programs can help with a variety of issues, including updates and news on deployed units; how family members can contact deployed solders; help with financial, legal and insurance issues; counseling resources; family concerns; day care and disability programs. Some of the contacts available for information and assistance include Family Readiness Assistant Misti Dauenhauer at (406) 324-3234; Julie Holder of the Helena office of the Family Assistance Center at (406) 324- 3232, and State Youth Coordinator Julie North at (406) 459-7819. For information on research, referrals, family issues, day care, disability, finance and other concerns, Mi l i tar y OneSource Consultant Bill Carroll can be reached at (406) 781-4986. To contact the Fami l y Readiness Group, call Rossow at (406) 853-7612 or Tammy Fiske at (406) 461-4611. (On the Net : Montana Na t i o n a l Gu a r d Fami l y Programs: www.montanaguardfamily. org. U.S. Department of Defense Military OneSource: www.militaryonesource.com)
