A deployment support group is a group of military spouses who gather on a regular basis throughout deployment. Whether the deployment is three months long or 15, these spouses commit to being there for each other on a consistent basis.

Deployment support groups are unique because they offer a safe place for deployed spouses to discus the un-talked-about issues of deployment, empathize with one another, be there for one another and then encourage each other to carry on with head held high for another week. Deployment groups make great accountability groups, and really help their members to maintain a positive attitude throughout an otherwise trying and difficult time.

Some military support groups meet at a church or community building where they can pay a babysitter to watch children in another room. Others take advantage of free GWOT childcare hours and plan their events in coffee shops close to post childcare centers. Others still involve the children and meet in one person’s home once a week. Some ideas for your deployment support group:

·         Potluck and Pep Talk night. Gather together a group of spouses dealing with deployment on the home front. Host a potluck dinner at your house each week on the same day at the same time. Arrange for childcare in another room of your home, or choose to involve the children in both the potluck and pep talk. This way, you won’t only provide encouragement for other spouses dealing with deployment; you’ll also provide food to single parents and geographical bachelors/ettes who aren’t likely cooking as well as they did when they had spouses at home. Allot an hour for the potluck dinner and an hour for the book discussion. Ask participants to read one chapter at home each week and then discuss the chapter as a group using the discussion questions posted on this site under Chapter Discussion Questions for Military Personnel and Families.

·         Fresh Coffee, Fresh Attitude Hour. Set a weekly afternoon date at a favorite café or coffee shop. Invite a small group of spouses (three to four works best) to join you. Read one chapter of the book at home each week, and spend your weekly coffee date discussing the book questions for that chapter. This reading plan will take you through 17 coffee dates, or nearly four months of mochas.

·         FRG and Deployment Tea. Ask your Family Readiness Group leader to organize a company- or battalion/squadron-wide reading event for the ladies in your group. You might even be able to convince your chaplain to fund the books. Ask members to read one chapter per month to align with their own deployment schedules (each chapter in Blue-Star Banner discusses one month of the author’s life during deployment). Set aside 30 minutes at the end of each FRG meeting to enjoy tea and discuss that chapter of the book. If members read the month that corresponds to their own deployments, they will likely experience many of the same feelings as the author.

            If your support group reads one chapter each week, you could finish this book in four months. Or, if you read one chapter each day, you could finish this book in less than one month. Other books your group might read: Ellie Kay's Heroes at Home, Good Catch Publishing's The War Within, Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages.

Michelle Cuthrell