GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - Prim Jeyasingam wears a lot of hats these days holdings down the home front during her husband's deployment and serves as the 643rd Contingency Contracting Team's Unit Family Readiness Group leader.
A financial specialist with the Army Community Services in Grafenwoehr, Germany, Jeyasingam has been instrumental in helping build the FRG program for the 643rd. She said the FRG's success is the resiliency of the spouses and their resourcefulness in taking care of themselves.
According to Jeyasingam, it is important to take advantage of the resources available through the military network.
While working full time with Army Community Services, she makes frequent contributions to the ACS newsletter and says one of the most important jobs as an FRG leader is to keep the families channeled into the community with the right information.
"It's about value-added information as opposed to getting every piece of news coming at you. I'm not interested in crashing someone's e-mail box," said Jeyasingam. "Letting people know (things like) not to show up at the commissary during a force protection exercise is valuable."
Jeyasingam believes there are a few tips that good FRG members should keep in their backpacks.
"One of my tips for a family dealing with a deployment is always value who's in the room, not who isn't there. Daddy may not be here, but look to see who else is," she said.
This approach has helped her and her family deal with long deployments that often accompany the military lifestyle.
Jeyasingam's final tip for a successful FRG is the belief that unit members should stay informed. More experienced members may have ideas on how to make the FRG better and could help improve the quality of life for other families.
"You have to fully understand that for your Soldier the mission has to come first. Set the expectations for you and your family going in and you won't be disappointed," Jeyasingam said.
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