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RSP Soldier and Family Readiness Specialist Newsletter
Inside this issue:
What is RSP? 2
Training Post of the month 3
Training Post of the month 4
Confidential Counseling 5
TRICARE 6
Child & Youth Program 7
Personal Financial Counselor 8
CONG Employment SPC 8
2021 Miltax Service 9
Notary Services 10
SFRS Contact Info 10
Volume 3, Issue 2
February 2021
Welcome to the Colorado National Guard Family! My name is Henry Hernandez Jr., and I am your Soldier and Family Readiness Specialist (SFRS). Your commitment to the country and state entitle you to numerous resources. My mission is to ensure that you and your family members can access these resources.
I am available to offer assistance in whatever way I can during your time in the National Guard. No matter where you go, you and your family members will have a SFRS there to provide support, guidance and assistance. I’m excited to be serving you during this transition from civilian to Soldier. Here is a little bit about myself: I am retired Army, and as a retiree of the CO Army National Guard, I am very acquainted with what you and your loved ones are going through while you attend Basic Combat Training (BCT) and AIT. Few, if any states, do a better job preparing their Soldiers for BCT and AIT than Colorado. This includes helping you to resolve any concerns that you or your family may have before, during and after BCT. If there are any concerns, whether they are simple questions or things keeping you up at night, please let me know and we can work together to locate resources or a solution. Whether it’s TRICARE, education benefits, power of
attorneys or wills, ID cards/DEERS, financial counseling, crisis management, even as simple as a mailing address or anything else you can think of, please reach out to me for assistance. If we can’t get you an answer, we’ll do our best to get you in touch with someone who can assist you.
As your SFRS I am available to help you and your family throughout your time with RSP, BCT and AIT. I am located at the Family Program Office 12200 E. Briarwood Ave, Ste. 160, Centennial 80112, 6am – 4pm, Tue thru Fri. If you have any questions please contact me by any method you feel comfortable, whether it’s a phone call, email, text or in person. If you wish to meet in person, please schedule an appointment as I may be out of the office assisting service members. In addition, visit the RSP Soldier and Family Specialist Facebook page or Instagram @co_rsp_fas frequently for upcoming events, job fairs, basic training information, and other information that you may find helpful.
On behalf of Colorado Family Program Office welcome to the CONG family, and we would like to extend our sincere appreciation to you and your family for your service as being a successful Soldier is truly a team effort!
Army Values:
Loyalty
Duty
Respect
Selfless Service
Honor
Integrity
Personal Courage
The Guardian
What is the Recruit Sustainment Program?
(RSP) Before you ship to Basic Combat Training (BCT), you will attend the Recruit Sustainment Program
(RSP). These weekends will be your introduction to BCT and will get you started and keep you on track mentally, physically, emotionally and administratively while you prepare for your career in the Colorado
National Guard. RSP drills give you an opportunity to start getting comfortable with the terminology and protocols that are part of Guard service—and you will be getting paid for the time you spend at
RSP. There are four phases to RSP as described below.
RED PHASE WHITE PHASE BLUE PHASE GREEN PHASE
Your 1st & 2nd RSP drill is Red Phase. In this intensive training, you will learn basics you need to know right away, like:
RSP Introduction
Army Structure
Chain of Command
Rank and Insignia
Customs and Courtesies
General Orders
Reporting Procedures
Drill and Ceremony
Physical Fitness
AKO & MyPay Setup
As you learn the Army structure, chain of command and rank insignia, you will quickly learn how to follow the rules and extend the proper courtesies to fellow Guard members.
Depending on the number of months between when you enlisted and when you ship to BCT, the length of your White Phase in the RSP will vary. In addition to physical training, instruction in this phase may include: Proper Wear of the Military Uniform
Army Values, Soldier’s Creed
and Warrior Ethos
Employ Camouflage, Cover
and Concealment
Tactics
Weapons Familiarization
During the White Phase, you will continue to focus on physical training and cover Soldier skills that will further prepare you for BCT.
At your final drill before shipping to BCT, in addition to physical preparation, you will cover all the final details that have to be taken care of before you leave. This allows the RSP Cadre one last quality check to ensure you're mentally prepared, administratively correct and physically fit for BCT
Green Phase courses are designed for recruits in the Split Training Option (STO) Program. Generally, these are Soldiers who joined the Army National Guard during their junior year in high school After you graduate from BCT and during your senior year of high school. Additionally, Soldiers in this phase are awaiting attendance of Advanced Individual Training (AIT). Training offers additional instruction in leadership and physical readiness.
So you've gotten orders to report to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for Army Basic Training. Welcome to the largest TRADOC (Training and Doctrine Command) post in the entire US Army! Basic Combat Training, often referred to as just Basic or BCT, is the introduction those wanting to serve as soldiers receive as they enter the Army. It is life-changing and something that you will always remember and look back on. Here at Fort Jackson, you'll soon come to learn the phrase "Victory Starts Here-Right Here!"
Where is Fort Jackson Basic Training? Ft Jackson is in Columbia, SC and is the U.S. Army 's main training center for Basic Combat Training.
Drill sergeants train 50 percent of the Army's BCT Training trainees and at least 60 percent of all females entering the Army every year. Fort Jackson makes sure new soldiers are well trained, disciplined, motivated and physically fit warriors who can live as prime examples of the Army's core values. You will need to get used to these values too, and start memorizing them: Loyalty, Duty, Respect Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage. Just use the acronym LDRSHIP (leadership) to help you remember!
What Units are at Fort Jackson? Fort Jackson's main mission is training in excess of 48,000 basic training trainees and 12,000 additional advanced training trainees and Soldiers every year. It's time to get excited about all the amazing things you're going to learn at Fort Jackson basic training. Remember, it won't be easy, but it will be worth it.
How Long is Army Basic Training? BCT at Fort Jackson takes 10 weeks to complete. Unlike high school or college, where you may have been in class and studying around six hours a day, the Army trains for about 12-14 hours a day, 6 days a week. You'll come to love Sundays, unless you've managed to "earn" some extra duty time during the week. There isn't a whole lot of sitting in classrooms, either. While we can't reveal too many secrets (because where would the fun be in that), we can give you an idea of what happens in BCT.
What will my Soldier do at BCT? Click to watch video
Week 0: Zero Week
Zero week is called reception, where trainees complete admin actions. Such as med examinations, setting up pay, and initial issue of equipment are all part of zero week. You'll get assigned to a company, platoon and infantry battalion in either the 165th IN BDE or the 193rd IN BDE.
Weeks 1-3: Red Phase
Training officially begins. You'll get to meet the Drill Sergeants who will be with you for the remainder of BCT. This can be a tough time for trainees due to the adjustments, but when you look back later, this phase was easy! Most classroom-type training occurs during your first three weeks, you'll learn about: Ballistics and Rifle Marksmanship Fundamentals, Personal financial management, Law of Land Warfare, Uniform Code of Military Justice (Military Law), Land Navigation, Physical Readiness, Nutrition Rappelling and navigating rope bridges, Drill and Ceremony, Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) Defense, Fieldcraft, and Patrolling.
Weeks 4-5: White Phase
This phase is sometimes called the rifleman phase or qualification phase. Your focus now -- how to identify, track, target, and effectively engage targets with a rifle. This is called marksmanship. Since marksmanship training is progressive, it will get harder and harder as you move through the phases. You'll learn a variety of things about firearms, such as:
How to Zero a rifle. How to align the rifle sites to hit targets. How to engage targets at various distances. How to engage targets at various distances using three different positions. Prone supported
Prone unsupported and Kneeling unsupported How to engage targets at various distances with limited time. How to prioritize and engage multiple simultaneous targets at various distances with limited time. How to engage targets at various distances, with limited and variable amounts of time, with a changing number of simultaneous targets available.
Weeks 6-9: Blue Phase
If you make it this far, you're almost there! Now you will be given opportunities to combine all of the skills you have learned in earlier phases of training to complete advanced combat tasks. But there is still a lot to learn:
Close combat and use of aiming tools such as lasers and optics
Patrol and attack as a squad
Maneuver and engage targets as part of a team
Employ "crew-served" and more powerful weapons M240B Machine Gun AT4 Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher and M203 40mm Grenade Launcher
Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT -- Fighting in a city)
Convoy Defense and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat
Long-distance Road Marching with combat load
Forward Operating Base (FOB) operations and Control Point operations
Week 10: Graduation
The final week of BCT! After completing the final training events, which include a week of field training and a 15km march in 'full battle rattle,' your are ready for Graduation Day! You are a SOLDIER!
TRICARE Reserve Select is:
A premium-based plan, Available worldwide
For qualified Soldiers and their families
TRS Monthly Premiums
Effective Jan1 - Dec 31, 2021
Service Member $47.20 month
Service Member &Family $238.99 month
www.tricare.mil
1-844-866-9378
Arapahoe County and The Child & Youth Program is offering Virtual Bakers’ Nights throughout the beginning of 2021. The first workshop will be Friday, February 5 at 5:00 PM. This session will focus on candy making and we will be making glass candy. Recipe and equipment list will be emailed to youth after registration. This event is FREE and open to CO youth ages 13-18 as of Dec 31, 2020
Schedule an appointment with a Colorado PFC by clicking links below!!
https://calendly.com/westerncolorado Mike Mancusi, CFP, Grand Jct
https://calendly.com/northerncolorado Susan Pascoe, AFC, Greeley
https://calendly.com/cosprings Steve King, CFP, COS
htttps://calendy.com/denver-centennial JJ Sackett, CFP, ChFC, Denver
Free Notary Public Services for Soldiers and Family members Henry Hernandez Jr. Notary Public, State of CO Commission expires May 6, 2024
Henry Hernandez Jr. Lead Soldier and Family Readiness Specialist 12200 E. Briarwood Ave, Ste. 160 Centennial, CO 80112 C:303-905-0009 Email: [email protected] Your satisfaction is important to me, please take 30 seconds to let me know how I am doing. www.surveymonkey.com/r/SFRSHernandez
Our Center at Denver International Airport welcomes over 125,000 currently serving military members, their families, as well as military retirees and their families each year.
We hope you’ll come visit the next time you’re flying through Denver!
Access: To use USO facilities, you need to have a current Active Duty, Guard, Reserve or Dependent ID card. We also accept military retiree ID cards if space is available. For reference though, VA issued ID cards or drivers licenses with Veteran shown on the card do not fall into the above categories. Hours: Our Center at Denver International Airport is open 365 Days each year, that includes weekends and all holidays. Our hours are 0500-2200 or 5am-10pm each day. Overnight Layovers: We do not have overnight USO accommodations Location: We are located inside the TSA Secured area on Concourse A’s Center Court on Level 4 between the airline clubs.
