Melenie Evans and Laryn Hernandez, Army Community Service Center employees, test two of the four computer terminals in the Yellow Ribbon Room in Darmstadt, Germany. (Jessica Inigo / S&S)
DARMSTADT, Germany — Yellow Ribbon Rooms will be brimming with family members about the same time yellow ribbons are tied around the trees in the 233rd Base Support Battalion communities next year.
The Yellow Ribbon Rooms in Darmstadt and Babenhausen Army Community Service centers have the technology to help keep friends and families in touch throughout deployments.
“When you see a yellow ribbon tied around a tree it symbolizes troops are downrange. Our Yellow Ribbon Room recognizes they are downrange, but allows a connection while they’re deployed,” said Renee Brent, manager for the Outreach, Deployment, and Mobilization Program. “And just like a yellow ribbon stays around the tree until they get home, our Yellow Ribbon Room will stay open and available until the troops get home.”
The rooms, which opened in September, have four computer terminals with Web camera capabilities and fax and copy machines, something not every family has at home, said Patricia Hollis, the Darmstadt and Babenhausen ACS director. The Babenhausen room is on Babenhausen Casern and the Darmstadt room is on Cambrai-Fritsch Casern.
She said the ACS used Army Lessons Learned, a program that gathers information from previous deployments, and realized that family members need community support to have good communication with those serving downrange.
“Sometimes we assume all families have the capabilities to keep in touch with their spouse when they deploy, but sometimes they don’t,” Hollis said.
She explained that military moves sometimes keep home computers away from families when they need them the most: during the integration to a new military community.
Also, unlike video teleconferencing, the Yellow Ribbon Rooms allow for some privacy, Brent said. The Web cams come equipped with personal earphones and microphones for private conversations.
Community members in Darmstadt and Babenhausen may be tying yellow ribbons around the trees in early spring, according to Hilde Patton, V Corps spokeswoman.
“With the upcoming deployment, I expect a major increase in room usage,” Hollis said. She explained that when the rooms start filling with friends and family members that more rules would be enforced. She expects there to be waiting lists with set times and computer terminal instructions posted.
Hollis said the hours and the size of the facility might change when more troops are deployed from the 233rd. Currently, a deployed military police unit from Darmstadt and local reservists are getting the most use out of the room.
Presently, the Yellow Ribbon Rooms are open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
