KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Nearly 250 people got their passports at Armstrong's Club here, March 23.
They then proceeded to fill them with stamps from 14 different locations, collecting site-specific souvenirs along the way.
But this wasn't some whirlwind European tour. The customized "passport books" logged their journey between information stations at the U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz second annual Total Army Sponsorship Program Sponsorship Rodeo.
The event saw a 38-percent increase in attendance from last year's offering and was deemed a success, according to Ivor Watson, chief of the garrison's military personnel division and coordinator of the TASP Sponsorship Rodeo.
"We had good representation from Baumholder units that sent Soldiers to participate," in addition to those from the Kaiserslautern Military Community, he said. "We had 14 information booths set up that folks rotated through every 15 minutes."
Those booths were staffed with experts in areas ranging from unit and spouse sponsorship to child and youth sponsorship, as well as civilian sponsorship, community reception, TRICARE, DoDDS, civilian personnel and more.
The purpose of the sponsorship rodeo is to ensure Army leaders have the knowledge and tools necessary to create and maintain an effective sponsorship program within their units, explained Watson.
"The rodeo is not intended as a training or informational event for sponsors," he clarified, "rather, it is intended for military and civilian leaders, supervisors, family readiness group leaders and unit sponsorship coordinators, to provide them information and tools to improve their organizations' sponsorship programs."
The garrison's sponsorship rodeo is the result of a 2015 U.S. Army in Europe Inspector General finding that USAREUR needs to improve the effectiveness of its sponsorship program. USAG Rheinland-Pfalz took the lead in organizing the first sponsorship rodeo last July. The next one is tentatively scheduled for spring 2017.
"This event is important," said Lydia Pete, Ready and Resilient Program Specialist, "because effective sponsorship contributes to unit and individual resiliency, readiness, cohesion and esprit de corps by properly integrating them into units and communities. It contributes to a stronger team, Soldier, civilian and family."
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