Low or no turnout means changes for the Yokosuka Individual Augmentee Spouse support group, said IA Program Coordinator Lalanie Jamison. With about 100 IAs currently deployed in Yokosuka, Misawa and Okinawa, Jamison is trying to bolster more widespread support for the families left behind. (Allison Batdorff / S&S)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Yokosuka’s individual augmentee spouse support group is getting overhauled.
Low or no turnout has plagued the group in recent months, so changes are under way to boost attendance, said Lalanie Jamison, the Fleet and Family Support Center’s IA program coordinator.
Navy individual augmentees deploy downrange to provide forces to Army and Marine Corps ground units, helping ease the strain on those services.
Changes for the Yokosuka individual augmentee spouse support group are to include evening meeting times, adding guest speakers and planning events dedicated to IA families, Jamison said Wednesday.
If she has her way, even the group’s name will go.
“We’re thinking of calling it an IA coffee meeting to remove the stigma of ‘support group,’” Jamison said. “Some people don’t like the implication that they need help.”
But IA spouses often need a hand, as the disjointed nature of an IA deployment doesn’t allow for widespread support, Jamison said.
Individual augmentees deploy alone, not as a unit. Most of the Navy’s IAs work with the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they can be deployed anywhere and attached to any military branch, Jamison said. About 100 IAs from Yokosuka, Misawa and Okinawa are downrange, Jamison said.
“IAs usually come back saying they had a positive experience, but they are really out of their element over there,” Jamison said, ticking off examples like getting used to another branch’s lingo and carrying around machine guns.
For spouses and families, the main challenge is “the fear of the unknown,” Jamison said.
“A lot of sailors don’t talk about work, so their families are unfamiliar with the IA process, and because it’s just one person, the command may not have the answers,” she said.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Glen Mulkey agreed. He thinks not enough is known about the Navy’s individual augmentees. The U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka corpsman was an IA in Afghanistan and pledged to improve support after he returned in January, he said.
Mulkey said he and his wife almost lost their cost-of-living allowance due to housing regulations that didn’t consider IA deployments.
“We may leave with little warning, and so we’re left to figure out what we need to do as we go along,” said Mulkey, who was notified of deployment only about a month before he deployed. “I want to try to help future IAs know who to go to and who to ask.”
Mulkey and his wife will be the guest speakers at the Yokosuka IA group’s next meeting at 5:30 p.m. April 15.
Other activities are also in the works to support IAs, including a seminar for IA families April 9 and a bowling discount April 12 for “IAs and families, past and present,” Jamison said.
“It’s really becoming a community effort,” she said. “I hope it continues to grow.”
For more information, contact Jamison at 243-3372. Virtual support meetings also are online.
