She's new to Fort Sill and to being the director of Army Community Service, but she's no stranger to taking care of Soldiers and their families.
Jean Mills was the deputy director of Family Programs at IMCOM Headquarters, before taking the reins of ACS, and she brings knowledge and years of experience to the job.
"I've worked in ACS as the Employment Readiness Program manager and then was the Family Readiness Program manager at the Installation Management Command Northwest Region. I also worked as the Well-Being Program manager at Accessions Command, which included Child, Youth and School Services, SHARP, recreation and other programs. This position afforded me experience in most of the Family and MWR programs," said Mills. "I've learned about the different programs and services step by step."
According to Mills, she wanted to work at the garrison level and all of those jobs have led her to the position at Fort Sill.
"On a personal level my daughter, son-in-law and two perfect grandchildren live in Oklahoma so I am much closer to them now," she said. "At the headquarters level, I did make a difference for Soldiers and their families, but there isn't an opportunity to see programs being used daily. At the garrison level I enjoy meeting people face to face, and I especially like being part of a team that works with Soldiers and families every day."
Mills' experiences have taught her a few lessons that she wants to incorporate at Fort Sill.
"What I have learned is that we need to start prevention and education as soon as the Soldier and his (or her) family are recruited into the Army."
According to Mills, if family members and the Soldiers can be taught immediately what it is to be part of this Army -- through Army Family Team Building classes or through the many training opportunities and one-on-one services provided through ACS -- the better prepared they are to be part of the Army family and to thrive when issues or problems come up.
"I think by providing people the education and prevention training they need as early as possible, the more resilient they are and the better prepared for whatever life in the Army brings," said Mills.
ACS offers information and training in every aspect of military life from employment and financial training to building resiliency and AFTB.
"I think the one thing most new Army family members should get involved in is Army Family Team Building Level I. It teaches about the Army acronyms, chain of command and many basic things like reading your LES. If they come to the garrison knowing some of these things, it's definitely a step up. The other good thing about Level I is the networking with those in the training. It gives them an opportunity to make friends and meet the people around them."
ACS programs
Mills said Fort Sill ACS programs are as good as anything she has seen in her career. "We have excellent programs available here at Fort Sill and a well trained staff.
"I would like to let the community know that ACS is not the place to come to only when you have problems. I think that sometimes the perception is people who go to ACS are already experiencing problems but ACS is much more than that," said Mills. "We are here for prevention, support and information."
According to Mills, there is no stigma to come to ACS. "We can really help people make a difference in their lives through financial planning, volunteering, employment readiness, Army Emergency Relief, Family Advocacy programs and support during demobilization, to name a few."
Mills said she would like to get the word out about the virtual Family Readiness Group program. "This is a program that a rear detachment commander or any commander can use and it's free and secure. A commander can set up this site; it's like an FRG for the people in the unit the Soldiers' parents, siblings or spouse. You can send messages, post pictures and communicate with family members in a secure environment," she said. "If you have a virtual FRG, you have access to eArmy messaging, the commander can send a message and it goes out to whoever signed up by text, email or phone. So if there's something that happens downrange they can send information on it or more information to come. It's called vFRG."
With the ebb and flow of what's going on at the garrison, ACS continues to strive to provide the services needed at any given time. The most important role of ACS on post is to ensure people know they can come to ACS for anything. "Whatever they need or want is available through ACS."
Future of ACS
Mills does have a wish list. "If I could do anything I would add more staff to ACS because right now we're covering the bases but we aren't able to do the extras."
"Currently, we are one person deep with staff. Our staff is cross-trained in other programs and can step in when needed, however some of our programs are very specialized and have specialized experience and education requirements."
Mills would also like to get more involvement in some of the classes offered through ACS. "We are marketing the classes and we put out calendars and schedules that anyone can attend. We recently had a Care Team training in which three people signed up but 17 showed up for the training, so we are getting participation."
Mills' main goal is to support the staff and work very hard to get more staff in ACS. This translates to better support for our Soldiers and families.
"We are doing strategic planning in February to look at the next generation of people and clients and how they like to get their information and training. I think that some people don't want to come to in-classroom training so we plan on looking at ways to deliver the information and training to them," said Mills. "We are looking at an app and Web-based support and how to deliver the information to our clients in the future. We plan on taking a whole day for strategic planning with the staff to look at how we can keep the classes or classroom environment and also offer virtual support or the quick answer for those using their Blackberry or cell phone," she said.
"In addition, with dwindling resources, it's important for me to ensure we don't duplicate effort," said Mills. "We will be looking at areas we can partner with other agencies also."
Her message
The overview is a good one for Mills who is ready to dig in and become a part of the ACS team. "I'm happy to be here. I'm very lucky in the support I receive from my leadership, namely Brenda Spencer-Ragland. I love Fort Sill and the people here who have so much pride in what they do," she said. "I have seen leadership that is concerned about families and supportive of what we do at ACS and feel concern for our families. I am very happy with the support I've received personally, and I have a great staff that cares about what they're doing."
Mills said she believes in working as a team. "We (the staff of ACS) are working closer and closer as a team to assist families. We're all in this together, and that reflects back to the Soldiers and families."
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