Team —

As part of the prepping and winning the first 90 days of command, this post will discuss building momentum in your FRG. Is your FRG involved and do your Soldier’s families know about upcoming events? It is safe to say that having an effective FRG can help your command. This post will discuss 1) FRG principles and considerations, 2) previous posts that have tools, 3) discussion questions.
FRG Principles and Actions
I argue that a successful FRG program should include the following principles (not all encompassing):
1. Planning and Communication. Whether it is an upcoming FTX, deployment, or significant event, families should be aware and know as much details. Let’s be honest, some Soldiers may not communicate well with their families about significant events. As such, effective communication requires planning and transparency on your part.
• When doing your annual and quarterly training plan, build your FRG events into your CO training calendar.
• Find the right forum and frequency of communication. I used a quarterly newsletter and a monthly email to share the upcoming significant events. If deployment is on the horizon, I recommend more frequent emails. Usually the BN FRSA or Commander will decide on the frequency.
2. Participation and recognition. “If you build it they will come.” I quickly learned that FRG “norms” depend on the unit.
• Schedule the first event as a social/ introduction and ask for volunteers. The first meeting should discuss what families prefer as the
• Establish an in-processing requirement/ tracker to get to know incoming families. You can have your CO FRG leader organize this.
• Have a company recognition program where you recognize newcomers, baby births, and volunteers. Include this information in your newsletter.
3. Funds and events.
• FRG informal account has to be separate from any other account. See your local installation for additional policies (limits, fundraising etc)
• I recommend you have a quarterly company family event (pending optempo) it can be an org day, meeting, social, coffee, fundraising activity, etc. Include BN events (formals) to not overdo
•  one of our events was a Single Soldier Potluck in which families cooked for the barracks Soldiers. This allowed both single Soldiers and families to get together. I usually did pay-day activities that finished with the potluck.
• Other sources that can be of further assistance include the chaplain’s office, MFLC, ACS
Previous Posts with tools
1. https://juniorofficer.army.mil/discussion/newsletters/
2. https://juniorofficer.army.mil/discussion/family-readiness-group-frg-tips-experiences-and-resources/

Discussion questions (answer one or all)
1. How did you build momentum in your FRG?
2. What is a best practice or “not best practice” you experienced in your FRG?
3. What is the most significant challenge you experienced in building momentum in your FRG?

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