We're proud to bring you the Guard and Reserve Support Network (GRSN) Newsletter, comprised of news and information from Employer Support of
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The Guard and Reserve Support Network is a Department of Defense partnership of programs supporting the needs of the National Guard and Reserve community. GRSN is comprised of:
The Guard and Reserve Support Network is a Department of Defense partnership of programs supporting the needs of the National Guard and Reserve community. GRSN is comprised of:
During the devastating 2017 hurricane season, the very first responders on the scene were those who braved the hurricanes while they were still well out at sea. They are the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (53rd WRS) Hurricane Hunters, whose mission it is to collect crucial data about the storms so that communities on the ground can know how to respond ...
The 2017 hurricane season has been one of the most devastating in recent memory, with Harvey dumping historic amounts of rain on Texas, Irma devastating Caribbean islands and forcing Floridians to take part in one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history, and Maria causing massive infrastructure damage to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Recovery efforts will be going on for weeks, months, and years.
Largely, residents of the communities affected and politicians alike have praised the organization and effectiveness of response efforts. Early responders were a varied bunch–from local police and National Guardsman to sleep-deprived healthcare workers, and even fellow residents.
But, it might be argued, the very first on the scene were those who braved the hurricanes while they were still well out at sea. The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (53rd WRS) Hurricane Hunters flew at minimum 10 missions into the eyewall of Hurricane Harvey before it made landfall, collecting crucial data on wind speeds, directionality, barometric pressure, and the exact size and location of the storm’s center.
The data they gathered helped meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and across the country to understand the power and trajectory of the storm, in part making possible those “spaghetti models” that project possible paths of a storm. More importantly, such data informs communities on the ground about how to respond. Governors can declare states of emergency, mayors can issue evacuation orders, National Guardsmen can prepare to mobilize—to list a few.
Largely, residents of the communities affected and politicians alike have praised the organization and effectiveness of response efforts. Early responders were a varied bunch–from local police and National Guardsman to sleep-deprived healthcare workers, and even fellow residents.
But, it might be argued, the very first on the scene were those who braved the hurricanes while they were still well out at sea. The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (53rd WRS) Hurricane Hunters flew at minimum 10 missions into the eyewall of Hurricane Harvey before it made landfall, collecting crucial data on wind speeds, directionality, barometric pressure, and the exact size and location of the storm’s center.
The data they gathered helped meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and across the country to understand the power and trajectory of the storm, in part making possible those “spaghetti models” that project possible paths of a storm. More importantly, such data informs communities on the ground about how to respond. Governors can declare states of emergency, mayors can issue evacuation orders, National Guardsmen can prepare to mobilize—to list a few.
Who They Are and What They Do
Made up of approximately 40 pilots along with numerous other personnel based out of Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, the 53rd WRS is equipped to fly as many as three reconnaissance missions simultaneously and is ready to respond within 16 hours’ notice of a mission.
According to one metric, the data the Hurricane Hunters collect is as much as 30 percent more accurate than other data sources, such as satellites. This can make a huge difference for communities and emergency managers on the ground who must decide quickly how to respond to a storm’s threat.
In 2012, as the massive Hurricane Sandy set its sights on the Northeast Coast of the U.S., 53rd WRS crewmembers were flying missions into the storm. At the time, Maj. Sean Cross, an Aircraft Commander, highlighted the crucial role he and his crewmembers play:
“We are the eyes and ears of the forecasters on the ground. We will fly this storm up until the very last second that it makes landfall so that the absolute latest information is available to those forecasters. Better information quite literally means saving lives.”
Hurricane Hunters 
Flying specially equipped WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft, a typical mission lasts approximately 11 hours and can cover as many as 3,500 miles. While two pilots and a navigator work out a path into the storm at a typical altitude of about 5,000-10,000 feet, the Aerial Reconnaissance Weather Officer analyzes atmospheric data collected by the plane’s instruments to refine the flight path. Once the plane has reached the storm’s eyewall, the dual-hatted Loadmaster and Dropsonde Operator, “drops a sonde,” a measuring device similar to a weather balloon, except that it descends from a parachute.
Data from the dropsonde and numerous other instruments is sent in real time via satellite to the NHC, which uses it to refine its forecasting models and passes the information on to the emergency management community and the general public.
Notwithstanding the Hurricane Hunters’ expertise and familiarity with these missions, the flights are dangerous and turbulent. One pilot described flying into a hurricane as something like going through a carwash with gorillas jumping on your car. Despite the dramatic nature of the flights, the Hurricane Hunters’ safety record has been extraordinary. They haven’t had a serious accident since 1974, when six crewmembers of the now-defunct 54th WRS were lost at sea during a reconnaissance flight in the South China Sea.
Origins in a Dare
In 1943, as the Surprise Hurricane threatened Texas, a group of American and British pilots at an Army instrument flight school in Bryan, Texas argued about the capabilities of the planes they were flying. Some of the British pilots claimed that the training aircraft at the flight school, the AT-6 Texan, wasn’t well-enough equipped to withstand a flight through the approaching storm.
Lieutenant Colonel Joe Duckworth took up the challenge, and grabbing his favorite navigator, headed off for the eye of the hurricane. With a successful return, hurricane hunting was born. This mission proved the viability of storm reconnaissance, and a year later the 3rd WRS, precursor to the 53rd, began their hurricane hunting duties.
While it may be impossible to quantify the number of lives or disaster relief dollars they may have saved over their more than 70-year history, one thing is clear: The Hurricane Hunters are an intrepid bunch, occupying the front lines of potentially catastrophic storms to inform our preparation and response.
Bringing Them All the Way HomeThe story behind the federal program that uniquely serves to keep our nation’s National Guard and Reserve ready and resilient started as a personal one. The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program had its beginnings in the work of Maj. Gen. (ret.) Larry Shellito, whose own reintegration experiences and the turmoil after Sept. 11, 2001 led him to create "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" for the Minnesota National Guard. As YRRP prepares to celebrates its 10-year anniversary as a federal program, we take a look back at its not-so-humble origins ...
The story behind the federal program that uniquely serves to keep our nation’s National Guard and Reserve ready and resilient started as a personal one. On Jan. 29, 2018, the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program celebrates ten years of making their mission personal, and unparalleled.
It could be said the seeds of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (YRRP) were planted in the reintegration experiences of a Vietnam veteran—little community support, grave misunderstandings of trauma-induced behaviors, and scant resources for helping Service members recapture lives left behind.
Officially launched by the Department of Defense in 2008, YRRP had its beginnings in Minnesota as “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon.” The Minnesota program was in large part the result of one man’s mission to change the patterns he encountered and improve how Service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan experienced reintegration.
Larry Shellito, a Vietnam vet and retired Maj. Gen., came to this decision while serving as Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard between 2003 and 2010.
In the years after 9/11 as troops from the Minnesota Guard, the famed “Red Bulls” cycled through deployment, reintegration, and for many, redeployment and reintegration, few were asking for help, but signs that help was needed were hard to ignore. Early on, Shellito noticed a rise in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder and an alarming incidence of suicide: the first three deaths reported while he was in command of the Minnesota Guard were suicides.
“We had waves of deployments and disruptions. Coming back, Service members were changed. We found the Pandora’s box was opened, and all these ghosts were coming out. But steadily we found ways to address them.”
Look Them in the Eye
Shellito enlisted the support of his Guard chaplain, and they launched a hunt for funds to support the health and well-being needs of returning troops. They hit on the idea of selling “Support our Troops” license plates. As the coffers grew from the successful sales, they used the proceeds to fund training programs for vets, focusing especially on education, finances, and unemployment issues. They negotiated an ongoing contract with Lutheran Social Services in Minnesota, which provided counseling services for vets across the state. And they connected with The Patriot Guard program, an assembly of motorcyclists who accompany the motorcade at veteran’s funerals as a show of respect and support.
Beyond the practical services these initiatives provided for Service members, Shellito said their efforts were also about raising awareness of veterans’ issues in the wider community—from service providers to educational institutions to the general public. And sometimes, with the veterans themselves; it was not uncommon, he recalled, for troops to think they didn’t need any help. However, spouses and family members tended to be more open and willing to accept help. After all, the families needed support too.
“The key strength of the program was people getting together to do good deeds,” he added. “It gave us a sense of purpose and community that transcended other things; it was family taking care of family.”
Plus, he said, the events gave leadership an opportunity to reconnect with their troops to see up close how they were faring—a chance to “look them in the eye,” he said.
Gradually, all of these independent efforts morphed into a program that could be supported and sustained, and they named it “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon.”
Seeds Planted
When he shipped off to Vietnam as a draftee, Shellito was a freshly minted second lieutenant. Although young and inexperienced—many of the troops were on their second and third tours—he was nonetheless a certified jungle expert and parachutist, and he quickly found himself assigned as the leader of a five-man team. For much of the time, he and his team lived with the South Vietnamese and South Koreans, and had very little contact with other Americans or direct supervision of their operations. They got immersed in their allies’ cultures, which Shellito recalls as a phenomenal experience.
That all ended in 1970 when he suddenly received orders to return home. Within 10 days, he was stateside. One night, he went out bar hopping with some friends. When he mentioned he had just gotten back from Vietnam, one woman remarked, “Oh, you’re one of those guys sucking up our tax dollars.” “That was a reality check,” he said. “I learned very quickly not to talk about my service, unless I was in a safe environment.”
That experience, and others like it, led Shellito to think about how things could be different, how the public could better understand the sacrifices Service members make.
But those ideas would have to wait. Instead, he went to school on the GI Bill and received a degree in Education in 1972. He started student teaching in Alexandria, Minnesota and later became President of Alexandria Technical and Community College. Still, money was tight in the early days, especially after he and his wife added two daughters to the family. At the advice of a friend, he joined the National Guard partly to augment his income.
From the 70s through the 90s, he worked his way through the ranks, graduating from the Army War College and receiving a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Minnesota. Among many awards and honors, he received the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star.
Then came September 11, 2001. This was a game-changer for Shellito, a division commander at the time. “In my mind, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon really started here,” he said. “Scenarios were playing out with the young troops that replicated what I went through in Vietnam—the shock and disruptions to personal and family lives with notices of deployment, and the same scene post-deployment.”
It reminded Shellito of when he was drafted into the Vietnam War some 30 years before. He had just finished college and was about to take his first real job. “Ten days after graduating from college, I was at Fort Dix, New Jersey,” Shellito said. “I lost my job, my girlfriend, everything.”
The Work Continues
When Shellito became Adjutant General of the Minnesota Guard in 2003, the door swung open for him to take action on what had been a long-simmering desire to improve support for Service members, helping them to better prepare for deployment and providing tools for reintegration back into civilian life after a deployment.
Between 2003 and 2007, the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program took off in Minnesota under Shellito’s leadership. As it grew beyond its means, however, Shellito cast about for a way to preserve the program and found strong allies in former Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton, former Minnesota Rep. John Kline, and Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, former Chief of the National Guard Bureau. Kline sponsored a national bill in Congress and in January 2008 the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program took effect.
It’s from this date that YRRP measures its ascendance, and in January 2018, it will celebrate a milestone: 10 years supporting Guard and Reserve members. Since its launch, Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program has supported over 1.5 million Service members and their families.
After retiring from the military in 2010, Shellito now serves as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. From this vantage point, he further recognizes the pressing issues the YRRP program continues to address and will for some time—among them, homelessness, healthcare and housing for aging vets, employment, traumatic brain injury, and PTSD.
“The fact that we had the largest and longest deployed unit in the Iraq war made our work uniquely challenging,” said Shellito. “The need was there, and we filled it in the state of Minnesota. I honestly believe the Yellow Ribbon program saved lives.”
In large part, that’s thanks to a comprehensive reintegration approach encapsulated by the goal and mantra of Shellito’s program: “Bring them all the way home.”
For more information on the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, go to www.yellowribbon.mil.
What the Forever GI Bill means for Guardsmen and ReservistsFor Guardsmen and Reservists, qualifying for the Post-9/11 GI Bill is about to get easier. And for many, the benefits will be better.
On Aug. 16, President Donald Trump signed the so-called “Forever GI Bill” into law. His signature follows unanimous votes in both the House and Senate to approve the law ...
For Guardsmen and Reservists, qualifying for the Post-9/11 GI Bill is about to get easier. And for many, the benefits will be better.
On Aug. 16, President Donald Trump signed the so-called “Forever GI Bill” into law. His signature follows unanimous votes in both the House and Senate to approve the law.
The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017, as it’s officially named, includes major expansions to the GI Bill, the first since the 2008 Post-9/11 GI Bill. At its core, the legislation lifts the 15-year expiration on using the GI Bill for tuition assistance, thus making it a lifetime benefit for all active military members and retroactive for veterans who retired after Jan. 1, 2013. But there are many other expansions to the bill, some of which affect Guard and Reserve members specifically.
Most significantly for Reserve Component (RC) members, there are new avenues for attaining active duty status that count toward GI Bill benefits. Previously, only those called to active duty under presidential order for national emergencies were eligible, but the benefit now applies to other types of mobilization as well.
The crux here is in 10 USC § 12304, the mobilization authority adopted in 2012 that made it easier to call up Guardsmen and Reservists to active duty for situations not necessarily tied to armed conflicts or national emergencies. This led to deployment scenarios in which active-component troops would accrue GI Bill credits, while the RC members working alongside them would not.
“We work the same hours as active duty people doing the same job,” remarked one Marine reservist in a 2016 Stars and Stripes article. His seven-month deployment to Honduras did not qualify him and 300 other members of his unit for education benefits. “The government is saying our sacrifice isn’t worth as much as it is for those on active duty. But we leave behind families and our civilian careers too.”
The Forever GI Bill rectifies this. Now, RC members called to active duty by a governor in response to an emergency or natural disaster (12304a) or when the DoD mobilizes RC members in support of a combatant command (12304b) are also eligible.
This expansion of benefits retroactively applies to all RC members mobilized after Aug. 1, 2009, but payment for classes does not begin until after Aug. 1, 2018.
Also of note to RC members, the bill allows certain members who had been receiving Reserve Education Assistance Program (REAP) benefits, which was phased out in November 2015, to transition to benefits under the Post-911 GI Bill.
In addition to these reserve-specific provisions, a number of major overhauls impact a wider swath of Service members. This list captures some of the highlights:
Awards Purple Heart recipients GI Bill eligibility regardless of active duty time served
If you’ve received a Purple Heart, you are eligible for the GI Bill, no matter how long you’ve served.
Increases payment for certain benefit tiers
If you’ve served on active duty for less than 36 months but more than 90 days, you’ll get partial benefits based on a tiered payment system. In the new law, those who’ve been on active duty more than 90 days but less than 6 months will see their payments bumped from 40 to 50 percent of the maximum amount payable, while those active between 6 months and 12 months will see a 50 to 60 percent payment increase.
Provides extra funds for students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs
The law establishes the Edith Nourse Rogers Scholarship, which offers $30,000 to STEM program enrollees who have used up all their GI Bill benefits and have at least 60 semester/90 quarter hours credit toward a STEM degree. It also will pay those who already have a STEM degree and are working on a teaching certification and establishes the High Technology Pilot Program, which, under certain circumstances, provides full education benefits to training programs not necessarily associated with a school.
Extends the Yellow Ribbon Program to recipients of the Fry Scholarship
The new law connects two important aspects of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The Fry Scholarship is available to spouses and children of Service members who have died in active duty after Sept. 11, 2001. Scholarship recipients can now take advantage of the Yellow Ribbon Program, which provides funding for students to attend participating private institutions and graduate programs.
Restores benefits lost at schools that close
If you’re receiving education benefits and your institution abruptly closes during a semester, you’ll get your full benefits back for that semester.
From Ceremony to Nominations: The Freedom Award Cycle Starts AnewFor the last 21 years, just as surely as kids flock back to school, the close of August has coincided with the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. This year, the Pentagon ceremony, held Aug. 25, honored 15 companies for their exemplary support of employees who serve in the National Guard or Reserve.
With the successful completion of the 2017 ESGR Freedom Award season, it’s time to look forward to next year. On Oct. 1, ESGR began taking nominations for the 2018 Freedom Award ...
From Ceremony to Nominations: The ESGR Freedom Award Cycle Starts Anew
For the last 21 years, just as surely as kids flock back to school, the close of August has coincided with the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. This year, the Pentagon ceremony, held Aug. 25, honored 15 companies for their exemplary support of employees who serve in the National Guard or Reserve.
The award is the highest form of recognition given by the U.S. government to civilian employers for their support of Guard and Reserve members and their families.
Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, who presided over the ceremony, said to employers, “We really do, here in the Pentagon, do our best to take care and provide for our men and women but you and your organizations go the extra mile and you make our jobs easier.
“Here in the Pentagon we say leadership casts a long shadow. Your shadow is long. Your employees see it. The communities you operate in see it, and it manifests itself at this level as the will of the nation,” the deputy secretary added.
The ceremony included leaders from the DoD Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program, or ESGR, previous award recipients, current and former DoD personnel, congressional representatives, and Guard members and Reservists and their families and friends.
Shanahan welcomed singer and entertainer Marie Osmond as a special guest. Osmond related her experiences growing up in a military family and gave an impassioned talk about the privilege of having entertained troops around the world. The all-veteran vocal group 4TROOPS also performed at the ceremony.
For this year’s award, Service members submitted 3,064 nominations, and ESGR state committees along with the DoD had the daunting task of whittling down that merited list to 15 exceptional organizations.
Shanahan said the award recipients represent the best of the best and come in all shapes and sizes, from 40 employees to 150,000; from Georgia to Arizona, Wyoming to Massachusetts; from services to products.
To view all of the nominees, semifinalists, finalists, and recipients for 2017, visit FreedomAward.mil.
A New Season Upon UsWith the successful completion of the 2017 ESGR Freedom Award season, it’s time to look forward to next year. On Oct. 1, ESGR began taking nominations for the 2018 Freedom Award.
Although the award ceremony is the capstone event, the true essence of the award lies in the commitment these outstanding employers make to work environments that promote readiness and resilience in the Guard and Reserve community. It’s patriotism expressed as company and organizational policy.
If you are a Guard or Reserve member whose employer has supported you in your military career as well as your job with them, consider nominating them. Doing so not only gives your employer recognition, it also helps raise the bar nationwide for all employers.
ESGR will be gathering nominations from Guard and Reserve employees until Dec. 31, so act fast! You can begin the nomination process by filling out the form at www.FreedomAward.mil.
Coverage of the award ceremony by Cheryl Pellerin of DoD News, Defense Media Activity provides the basis for this story.
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