CLAY NATIONAL GUARD CENTER, Marietta, Ga., Feb. 02, 2012 – Since time immemorial, Warriors have been welcomed home from distant battlefields. On a sunny January weekend in Savannah, the Georgia Army National Guard continued that tradition. Lieutenant Col. Mark London, Director of Soldier and Family Services, welcomed more than 200 Soldiers of the 877th Engineering Company, 221st ACE Team 2, and family members to the their first post-deployment yellow-ribbon event.

The Georgia Guard’s yellow-ribbon program serves as a series of stepping stones to help reunite families and Soldiers and reacclimatize Soldiers to the civilian world. Events are held 30 days prior to the return of a deploying unit and then at 30, 60, and 90 day intervals following the unit’s return. At this event, the focus was bringing families back together and providing tools to help Soldiers get jobs.

“The Adjutant General has been at the legislature every day this week advocating for Veteran’s jobs” said London in his opening remarks.“ London related recent success stories for Guard Soldiers seeking jobs but also noted the importance of the reintegration aspect of yellow-ribbon. “If you’re like me when I came back from Iraq you are still looking for IEDs along the side of the road. Does that sound familiar?” London asked to a sea of head nods. “We will help you reintegrate but we are also here to make sure that you do not have to face these things alone.”

Soldiers and family members were provided with two-and-a-half days of classes. Some of these classes dealt with the issues of reuniting families following a combat tour. Chaplain Leslie Nelson taught a series of classes dealing with “emotions of reintegration.” Steven Mansfield, a Military Family Life Consultant facilitated a discussion on reintegration for single Soldiers. Yellow-ribbon program manager Clovis McDowell and Yele Olanyi also assisted Veterans and family members with questions.

Attendees were given instruction in resume writing, personal finance and interview techniques. Lisa Kuyk, a testing administrator with Savannah Technical College assisted nearly 50 Soldiers in obtaining Georgia Work Ready certifications. Georgia Work Ready offers four certification levels: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. “Some companies will require a certification level and others will require a minimum score to be considered for employment,” explained Kuyk. To earn their certifications, Soldiers were tested in reading for information, applied mathematics, and locating information. Each test section took 55 minutes to complete and featured real-world questions.

Specialist Roger Carnes took the test along with his wife Vicki who could be heard encouraging her husband through the testing process. Their perseverance ultimately paid off as both Roger and Vicki scored at the Gold certificate level with two out of three scores in the platinum range. “These are very impressive scores,” Kuyk noted. The Rabun County couple hopes the scores will improve employment prospects as Spc. Carnes starts college.

“I was surprised at how much I learned,” said Staff Sgt. Peter Fontejon.

“They taught us how to translate military skills to civilian skills,” Sgt. Christopher Wiley agreed. “This weekend has been very helpful. There is a big mystery out there. Soldiers don’t know all the resources available to them. This event helped bring it all to light.”

Story and photos by 1st Lt. William Carraway

Public Relations Office

Georgia Department of Defense