Fort Bliss Monitor

AFTB celebrates 10 years of service to Soldiers, families

Dustin Perry
Assistant Editor

The Army Family Team Building Program celebrated 10 years of service to Fort Bliss Soldiers and their families in grand fashion with a birthday party held at the Army Community Services building Dec. 16.
Celebrating the event were several AFTB staff and volunteers, Soldiers, other members of the community and Col. Bryon Greenwald, Fort Bliss garrison commander, who was the guest speaker.

“In 10 years, 45,000 people have passed through your classes,” said Greenwald. “Congratulations to all of you and thanks for all the great work you do.”

AFTB, often referred to as “Army 101,” is a program that was started after Operation Desert Storm. It offers training and support to military spouses who aren’t familiar with the slang terms, rank structure, leave and earnings statements, acronyms and other idiosyncrasies exclusive to the Army – things they need to know if their husband or wife deploys or relocates for temporary duty.

“Senior leaders and senior spouses came together and wanted to come up with a program that wasn’t just a support program; they wanted to offer training,” said Beth Spillane, the Fort Bliss AFTB program manager. “We train our Soldiers so they wanted a program to train the spouses. They brainstormed those ideas and that’s how they came up with the first level of Army Family Team Building.”

Spillane says with more deployments happening today and longer durations for them, there are more families left back home to handle various day-to-day challenges.

“When a spouse knows those basics – they know how to read an LES, they know what a sergeant’s rank looks like, they know what their Soldier is talking about when they say ‘platoon’ or ‘brigade commander’ – it makes it a little bit easier and they don’t feel so lost,” said Spillane. “If a Soldier can focus on the mission knowing their family knows how to solve these problems, it makes their life a little bit easier and puts their mind at ease.”

There are three levels that make up the complete AFTB course. Level I focuses on acronyms, chain of command, expectations of the military, impact of the mission on families, community resources, benefits, child education and financial management. Level II deals with leadership skills, communication, stress management, crisis coping and group dynamics. Finally, Level III strengthens cohesiveness, self-esteem, motivation, mentoring and understanding the organization of the Army.

“I have been involved with AFTB here at Fort Bliss since 1997, and honestly I’ve never had anybody walk out of our classroom saying that they didn’t get anything out of it,” said Spillane.

After Greenwald’s remarks, there was a video presentation produced by the Department of the Army and speeches by staff members Mary Hetz and Connie Mathews. Cake and punch was offered afterward.
For more information on attending classes or volunteering for the AFTB, call Spillane at 568-2382.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	January 6, 2005

	AFTB celebrates 10 years of service to Soldiers, families Dustin Perry Assistant Editor The Army Family Team Building Program celebrated 10 years of service to Fort Bliss Soldiers and their families in grand fashion with a birthday party held at the Army Community Services building Dec. 16. Celebrating the event were several AFTB staff and volunteers, Soldiers, other members of the community and Col. Bryon Greenwald, Fort Bliss garrison commander, who was the guest speaker. “In 10 years, 45,000 people have passed through your classes,” said Greenwald. “Congratulations to all of you and thanks for all the great work you do.” AFTB, often referred to as “Army 101,” is a program that was started after Operation Desert Storm. It offers training and support to military spouses who aren’t familiar with the slang terms, rank structure, leave and earnings statements, acronyms and other idiosyncrasies exclusive to the Army – things they need to know if their husband or wife deploys or relocates for temporary duty. “Senior leaders and senior spouses came together and wanted to come up with a program that wasn’t just a support program; they wanted to offer training,” said Beth Spillane, the Fort Bliss AFTB program manager. “We train our Soldiers so they wanted a program to train the spouses. They brainstormed those ideas and that’s how they came up with the first level of Army Family Team Building.” Spillane says with more deployments happening today and longer durations for them, there are more families left back home to handle various day-to-day challenges. “When a spouse knows those basics – they know how to read an LES, they know what a sergeant’s rank looks like, they know what their Soldier is talking about when they say ‘platoon’ or ‘brigade commander’ – it makes it a little bit easier and they don’t feel so lost,” said Spillane. “If a Soldier can focus on the mission knowing their family knows how to solve these problems, it makes their life a little bit easier and puts their mind at ease.” There are three levels that make up the complete AFTB course. Level I focuses on acronyms, chain of command, expectations of the military, impact of the mission on families, community resources, benefits, child education and financial management. Level II deals with leadership skills, communication, stress management, crisis coping and group dynamics. Finally, Level III strengthens cohesiveness, self-esteem, motivation, mentoring and understanding the organization of the Army. “I have been involved with AFTB here at Fort Bliss since 1997, and honestly I’ve never had anybody walk out of our classroom saying that they didn’t get anything out of it,” said Spillane. After Greenwald’s remarks, there was a video presentation produced by the Department of the Army and speeches by staff members Mary Hetz and Connie Mathews. Cake and punch was offered afterward. For more information on attending classes or volunteering for the AFTB, call Spillane at 568-2382.