Sgt. Matthew McAlpine and his wife, Lindsay, listen to a reintegration briefing for 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment soldiers Friday in Vilseck, Germany. (Seth Robson / Stars and Stripes)

VILSECK, Germany — The first time Sgt. Robert Reynolds got back from Iraq, he got four days of leave.

When he returned to Vilseck after 15 months in Iraq with the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment this week, he started a seven-day "reintegration" program designed to prepare 3,500 returning Stryker soldiers for life outside the war zone.

The program, run out of a newly built and yet-to-be-named facility at Vilseck, is split into seven modules where soldiers are briefed on things such as winter driving and other safety issues and where they get help from officials with tasks such as renewing ID cards, registering vehicles, signing up for college courses and updating military and financial records.

Doctors check the soldiers’ medical conditions and screen for brain injuries or combat stress, while dentists check their teeth.

On family day, married soldiers bring their spouses to briefings that offer advice on reuniting as a couple, while single soldiers meet BOSS (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers) representatives who tell them about ways to blow off steam in their free time.

Reynolds, 26, of Las Cruces, N.M., was one of a large group of Company A, 1st Squadron, 2nd Cav soldiers at the reintegration building on Friday.

On his fourth day back home he said he was happy to be wearing civilian clothes — a leather jacket he bought from an Iraqi — instead of the Army green he’s worn every day since he last went on leave eight months ago.

But he said he’d rather be back in Iraq doing his job as an infantryman instead of doing reintegration paperwork.

"Last time I got back, we just got off for four days," said Reynolds, adding that a few of the soldiers he came back with last time developed anger and drinking problems

The reintegration program seems like a good idea for younger soldiers coming back from their first combat deployment, he said

"I don’t know if that will help but we’ll see," he said.

While Reynolds was in a tent getting briefed by a chaplain about suicide prevention, another Company A soldier, Sgt. Matthew McAlpine, 21, and his wife, Lindsay, 26, were watching other married soldiers and their wives role-play as part of a briefing on sexual assault.

Lindsay McAlpine said the family day briefings touched on things such as sleep problems, nightmares and marital spats that can occur when a soldier comes home.

The couple said the part about sleep problems struck a chord.

Matthew McAlpine said he’d had irregular sleep patterns downrange and felt sleepy during the day but couldn’t sleep at night since he got back.

The couple appeared happy to be together with their 1-year-old son, Camden, who Matthew McAlpine last saw when he was 3 days old.

"I’m just getting to know my son. We had a birthday party for him two days ago, and I’m reading him stories before he goes to bed," Matthew McAlpine said.

The fact that all the tasks for the returning soldiers are centralized during reintegration makes life easier, he said.

"We are out of here by 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. every day so I get to see more time with my family," he said.

Maj. Robert Hellner, reintegration officer in charge, said reintegration is essential for units getting back from downrange missions.

"It is a great centralized mechanism for them to switch from being downrange to being back in Germany’s real world environment. The chain of command gets to look each soldier in the eye every day for seven days and make sure everything is OK," he said.

Sgt. Matthew McAlpine and his wife, Lindsay, listen to a reintegration briefing for 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment soldiers Friday in Vilseck, Germany. (Seth Robson / Stars and Stripes)

Married 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment soldiers and their spouses listen to a reintegration briefing in Vilseck on Friday. (Seth Robson / Stars and Stripes)

Single soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment listen to a reintegration briefing at Vilseck on Friday. (Seth Robson / Stars and Stripes)