Transition unit more than just a pretty building

  • Published
  • By Air Force Staff Sgt. William Banton
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Behind the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson hospital, you can find facilities dedicated to providing support to injured Soldiers, Airmen and their families during their transition back to work.

The Warrior Transition Complex reached the one-year mark of providing support to improving the lives of the service members who transition through its care on March 2.

"This is about much more than a beautiful building," said Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Palumbo, U.S. Army Alaska commander, at the March 2, 2012 dedication. "This is a place to heal. This organization is the heart and soul of the warrior care that takes place inside these walls."

The move greatly helped increase the quality of facilities and make it easier for Soldiers and their families being closer to the hospital and support, said Army Staff Sgt. Tabatha Adams, a platoon sergeant with the Warrior Transition Battalion's Company A .

"Before, the Soldier Family Assistance Center was upstairs in the other building in two little small offices, and now they have a whole facility that can be used for families," Adams said. "That made a huge difference as far as making the family more involved with continuity of care."

As soon as a new Soldier is assigned to the WTB, leaders make sure their families are provided any help they need. For example, if the spouse doesn't have a job or is having problems finding a place to live, they are equipped to help them solve these problems.

Army Staff Sgt. Sundown L. M. Richardson, transitioning through the WTB, said he has benefited from the new facility and seen how it has helped those less fortunate.

"When I first got here, I had a body brace on all the way up to my neck and I was walking with a cane, so I couldn't really move too far," Richardson said. "Luckily I had my wife who drove me around all the time."

There are a lot of people who don't have those options, and the complex provides a place where these individuals can live in the barracks and still be close to the medical and rehabilitative facilities they need for recovery, Richardson said.

"Some of them may have PTSD issues, others may have physical limitations," Richardson said. "There are a lot of Soldiers here who can't drive vehicles because of the medications they are on and stuff like that, so it really benefits those Soldiers."

"I've always believed in one-stop shopping, whether we are doing Exceptional Family Member Program or reassignments," said Scott McCaleb, a clinical social worker and case manager with the WTB. "I used to be the EFMP and Family Advocacy officer over at [the JBER hospital], so if you do it at the hospital it's just a one-stop shop. If I need a signature from a doctor I would just get it. I don't keep moving a family all over the place, I could go get it."

When McCaleb started working for the WTB, around the time of the transition, the facility was located on JBER-Richardson with the SFAC located directly above it.

"We've always been close together, and I like that," McCaleb said.

When someone is transitioning from the Army or the Air Force, it's a great asset to be able to move them from active duty to veteran status at one location, McCaleb said.
The WTB is specifically dedicated to providing service members with the information and options available to them, as far as education and veteran benefits.

"The one thing I could say any Soldier could take away from this place is the business opportunities," Richardson said. "The Anchorage community and Alaska [provide] job opportunities into the military for Soldiers getting out."

Finding employment information is a concern for a lot of Soldiers, Richardson said. The WTB helps them find choices and options.

"The good thing about it is the Soldiers here get the training for the job while they are healing up," Richardson said. "So once they're healed and ready to leave the  Army and move on to the next step of their life, they move right into that job position."