REAR D Welcome Letter

Rear Detachment Welcome Letter
Dear Spouses and Families,

Welcome to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division Family! I would like to provide some information about our team and how we may be able to assist you as Spouses and Families of deployed Soldiers. I am a Field Artillery officer and have been stationed at Fort Riley for almost four years. I was the Rear Detachment Commander for 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery from July 2006 until taking command of the 1st Brigade Rear-Detachment on 11 October 2007.

Our Rear-Detachment First Sergeant, has a wealth of experience helping both Soldiers and their Families. The 1st Brigade Rear Detachment Family Readiness Support Assistant (FRSA) for the MiTT (Military Transition Team) also offers an excellent avenue of experience and assistance. She may be reached at 785-239-1042. Her primary goal is to help you become connected with local spouses in your area who also have Soldiers on MiTT teams. This group of spouses is known as a MiTTIN (Military Transition Team Information Network) and aid in local support and social activities. The FRSA can also provide information for local agencies in your area that may provide assistance if the need arises.

The Rear Detachment is here to assist Spouses and Families as best we can by providing information to you. Unfortunately we cannot provide information or an update on what a team is doing in Iraq or Afghanistan or their mailing address. Due to the number of teams deployed and for security reasons it is not possible for us to give these updates that you would receive with a typical deployment under a Brigade, Battalion, or Company. The information we provide is contact information for different agencies (i.e. Red Cross, Military One Source, Army Emergency Relief, etc.) if a situation arises where you need assistance.

The most critical and heart wrenching part of what the Rear Detachment does is casualty notification. If your loved one is injured or killed the Rear Detachment assures that the appropriate Family members are notified. Though we hope we never have to use it, it is essential that you keep the Rear Detachment informed if you will be out of town or if you have an address or phone number change. The update can be done by telephone or by email through the Fort Riley link at http://www.riley.army.mil/Units/1BCT1ID/RearDet1Bde.aspx or the virtual FRG site at https://www.armyfrg.org. Once at the site click on "Contact 1/1ID Rear D" located in the upper right hand corner. The phone numbers to call are 785-239-9980/5519/1042/1599/and 5125. If you have any questions for the Rear Detachment you can use the above link and previous listed phone numbers to contact us for answers.

Please don't hesitate to call us if you have any questions, we look forward to assisting you in any way we can.

CPT/ FA

Commanding