[Vision2020] Army Sets Up Aid Centers; Families Alter Plans, Seek Refunds

[Tom Hansen]

>From the August 14, 200s edition of the Army Times -

The primary reason for my posting this article, and any future article
concerning the 172nd Stryker Brigade, is the close ties that one of our own
V2020 subscribers has with the 172nd Stryker Brigade and Fort Wainwright,
Alaska.

For you and yours, Mr. Strohok.

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Army sets up aid centers; families alter plans, seek refunds 

By Michelle Tan
Staff writer

The Army has set up family assistance centers at Alaska's Fort Wainwright
and Fort Richardson to help families of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat
Team cope with their soldiers' extended deployment in Iraq.

The centers are open seven days a week to deal with problems ranging from
financial difficulties and child care to legal issues and housing and
transportation concerns, said Maj. Kirk Gohlke, a spokesman for U.S. Army
Alaska. 

Most of the 172nd is from Fort Wainwright.

The Army also is sending to Alaska staff with expertise in areas such as
personnel, logistics and budget to help with the extension, Gohlke said.
 
"Everybody's just bending over backwards to help us sort through these
extension-related issues," he said.

But not everyone is happy.

The soldiers of the 172nd were extended just days before they were scheduled
to redeploy to Alaska. About 400 soldiers from the brigade had already
returned to Fort Wainwright after spending a year in Mosul, Iraq. The
extension, approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and announced July
27, is for up to 120 days.

Because the soldiers were so close to coming home, many families had travel
plans that now have to be rescheduled or canceled. In the week after the
extension announcement, online chat boards buzzed with stories from family
members who battled with airlines and travel agencies for refunds.

Carol Ernst of Centennial, Colo., had planned to fly to Fairbanks to welcome
home her nephew.

Ernst, who declined to provide her nephew's name for publication but said
that he's an officer, got a refund for her plane ticket after several terse
conversations with airline employees.

"The first lady I talked to said it was nonrefundable," Ernst said. "I said,
'What would your policy be if my soldier didn't come back?' She said, and
this is a direct quote, I wrote it down, I almost fell out of my chair,
'Well, it's a nonrefundable ticket.' I felt like I had been punched in the
stomach."

Sheryl Sheaffer of Sammamish, Wash., also had to fight for a refund. Her
son, Spc. Adam Sheaffer, 22, a medic with the 172nd, had planned to spend
his 30-day leave at home in Washington state. He also planned to fly to Los
Angeles to see his girlfriend and then to Washington, D.C., to visit his
brother, Scott.

Sgt. Scott Sheaffer, 24, returned July 24 after a year in Baghdad with the
10th Mountain Division. The brothers haven't seen each other since crossing
paths briefly in Kuwait last year.

After speaking to the airline on the phone without success, Sheryl Sheaffer
went to the airline's office at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport armed
with a letter from Col. Robert Ball, deputy commander of U.S. Army Alaska,
asking for consideration from airlines and travel agencies to reimburse or
change families' travel plans.

"The lady there gave me a refund," Sheryl Sheaffer said. "I thanked her
profusely [because] I was ready for a fight."

The Sheaffer family will celebrate Scott Sheaffer's homecoming on Sept. 9.
It was supposed to be a double welcome-home party.

"It just feels so strange to me that we've been planning this welcome home
for both boys and only one will be here for it," Sheryl Sheaffer said.

But the family's plans for a double homecoming could still come true.
Sheaffer's youngest son Dylan, 22, is a specialist with 10th Mountain
Division. He's in Afghanistan and is expected home in early 2007.

"We have a family lottery right now going to see who'll come home first,"
she said about her two younger sons. "To be perfectly honest, this mom is
ready for them to come home."

Kim White's son, Spc. Jacob White, 24, will have to postpone even longer his
long-awaited wedding reception and all the travel plans he had with his new
wife.

Jacob and Jamie White got married in Las Vegas two years ago, and her mother
was planning a wedding reception after the soldier got home, Kim White said,
adding that many families were upset by the short notice given to the
soldiers about the extension. Her son was waiting for his flight to Kuwait
when he found out.

"I was very mad. Not surprised, because I was a military brat. In the
military, you never write anything in ink but in pencil," she said. "It was
the way it was done. It was really maddening the way it was done. It was a
pretty devastating blow to everybody." 

Families who need help getting refunds for travel plans or with other
problems should visit or call the family assistance centers at: n Fort
Wainwright: (907) 353-4458 or (800) 352-9013. n Fort Richardson: (907)
384-1517 or (800) 984-1517.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.