FORT CAMPBELL, Ky., March 8, 2012--Amongst the ranks of the Army, there is a professional, highly trained and caring corps of Soldiers that are prepared to do the unthinkable. As casualty notification and casualty assistance officers, their duty is to inform a Family that their loved one has passed and to help guide the survivors through the months and bureaucracy ahead. These men and women are disbursed throughout the units here at Fort Campbell, and they are always at the ready.
Most local CAOs have been designated by their unit and some have come from other garrisons. According to Kimberley McKenzie, Casualty Assistance Center chief, the CAO program is a Department of Defense program and the CAOs at Fort Campbell cover a territory that encompasses all of Tennessee and the lower 51 counties of Kentucky.
Each CAO attends a two-day Army structured class, but at Fort Campbell, the CAC has added a third day to personalize the training and add extra assistance and support for the CAOs by bringing in local subject matter experts to answer questions.
"Fort Campbell [training] expanded because our Gold Star Families and CAOs had given their input on how to make [the program] better," said McKenzie. "We have tremendous support at Fort Campbell, and within the community people had said I'd like to be a face rather than a PowerPoint slide."
The training is restricted Army wide to Sergeant 1st Class, Captain, or Chief Warrant Officer 2 and above. The rank of the CAO assigned to a Family is always equal to or higher than the rank of the deceased. Typically, the combat brigades at Fort Campbell are tasked to provide a certain number of Soldiers for the training. Currently, there are 691 certified CAOs at Fort Campbell and the installation must always maintain a minimum of 42.
When it comes to requesting a CAO from a unit to help a Family, the brigades currently assigned to CAO duty work hand in hand with the CAC.
"The tasking is an additional duty. No one joins the Army for this mission," said McKenzie. "The brigades run the tasking, we tell them what we need and then they provide names of those available who have been certified and trained."
The program is set up to provide service to the Families of active duty and activated guard and reserve service members. First, a CNO will notify the Family of the death and then a CAO is assigned exclusively to assist the surviving Family as a liaison with the military.
McKenzie says that "If [a CAO] is on a case, they are on appointment orders for '120 days or until completion.' The mission is finished when the Family that [a CAO] is appointed to has received all benefits and annuities."
In addition to the recent death of a Soldier, a CAO might be used in the repatriation of remains of a Soldier lost years ago. This is the case for Fort Campbell CAO, Sgt. 1st Class Joe Billups from Golf Forward Support Company, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, who was assigned to help the Family of Korean War Soldier Pfc. Frank Jennings from Decaturville, Tenn.
Jennings, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, was reported as missing in action by the unit on April 25, 1951 after an offensive between Dongducheon and Uijong-bu, Korea. Now, almost exactly 61 years later Jennings will be returned to his Family and receive plane-side honors April 9th and full military honors at his funeral on April 14th to celebrate his service.
Just as if Jennings' death had occurred today, Billups says that he is helping Family "with all arrangements, awards and personal items. I handle [the] funeral honors, or whatever the military may owe the Family."
Billups is honored to serve the Jennings Family saying that he is "on call 24/7 for the Family."
"At first they wanted to know when I was available [to help]. They couldn't understand that I was always available. 'What about Sunday?' they would say. [It] doesn't matter, I'm here 24-7," said Billups.
Funeral preparations and plane side honors are the bulk of Billups' task at this point.
"[The Family] is asking for the dog tags and certain lapel pins that a case manager told them were available," he said. "The remains are being flown in from Hawaii and they're going to give me anything that belonged to him to pass on."
For Billups, with a background in military funeral honors, working with the Jennings Family has been "an enjoyable experience."
McKenzie notes that helping a Family to repatriate a Soldier is greatly different than helping in the case of a recent death.
"We see that our current survivors are just trying to go from day to day," she said. "They are still in the initial [shock], they have lost their Soldier, they have lost a loved one and those emotions are clearly of grief and all that entails."
McKenzie continues that "for the [repatriated remains], we find that it is giving that Family closure. Though the grief is still there and they have still lost their Soldier, the years have passed and so it's more of a joyous time to bring that Soldier home. They know that they that they can rest and properly pay that respect and those honors."
"It's immeasurable, to speak with the Families about that," said McKenzie. "To see that and give them a sense of closure is a different feeling, it's almost like a peace or comfort. It's almost like you were a part of [celebrating] something as opposed to the sadness that you see in the [recent] deaths that is very heart-wrenching."
When assisting a Family grieving over a recent death, the emotions are raw and it can often affect a CAO. Self-care is stressed and encouraged by the CAC.
"Self-care is a big portion of their training because they are placed in high stress, high emotion and high visibility missions to provide for [a] Family that has lost their love one," said McKenzie.
CAO's are given a "toolkit" during training to help them deal with their own emotions during their detail to a surviving Family. Often this will include contacts with Chaplains or Army One Source.
McKenzie says that it is important for CAO's to keep the lines of communication open with the CAC if they are experiencing their own emotional distress because "there are no do-overs. So, everything they do, they're [held] to a higher standard. It is a zero-defect mission."
While the CAC and the CAOs cannot bring a loved one home, McKenzie emphasized that they "will make sure that this part is done right [for the Family], as far as their annuities and benefits." She also assures that the job will be done with great care and professionalism.
"It's not a mission that anyone will volunteer for, but it's the most valued mission that anyone will do in their entire career," she said. "If you think about a Family that lost a Soldier, that casualty assistance officer is potentially the last face of the Army for that Family. They will remember that forever."
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