New coordinator to focus on resiliency Published Oct. 24, 2012 By Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Foster 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- As the Air Force is tasked to forge ahead, making difficult fiscal and personnel decisions while maintaining its operational tempo, an Airman's resiliency may be tested. Luckily, a new position has been created to help ease the stress of these extra demands. A Community Support Coordinator position was recently created at each base in the Air Force to help Airmen and their families withstand, recover and grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. For Hanscom's new CSC, it is important that all aspects of an installation's resiliency efforts are focused on the positive. "I'm here to ensure the four pillars -- mental, physical, social and spiritual health -- are being met for every one of our base personnel," said Donald Gonsalves, Hanscom CSC. "I hope that having a centralized focal point for everything concerning resiliency will make it easier for people to find the information needed." The position was created after a follow on report to the Fort Hood, Texas, incident in 2009 where 13 people were killed and 29 others injured. "We want to make sure that everyone is able to weather the different life situations that come up," said Gonsalves. "They need to understand we are a community that cares...No matter what's going on, we have an outlet and a support agency to help with the situation." Some of the CSC's responsibilities will be to serve as the executive director of the installation Community Action Information Board, the Integrated Delivery System chair and the Installation Caring for People coordinator. Gonsalves, along with a team of Master Resiliency Trainers, hope to educate and support base personnel with any resiliency related issues. Four people from each installation have been chosen as MRTs for their base and will attend training at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., after completing 20 hours of online training. Once completed, the MRTs will be responsible for passing along their knowledge to Resilience Training Assistants from each unit on base. Every unit will have a different number of RTAs, depending on their size. "The hope is that when personnel are in need of any type of resilience assistance, they have a trained person to help within their unit," said Gonsalves. "The saying is, 'it takes a village,' and that's what we are. We all need help at one time or another." One of the first tasks Gonsalves received as the base CSC was to help coordinate a weekend for the surviving families of military members who have died while serving in the military. The program is run by the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and is used to facilitate peer-based emotional support and assistance for all those whose loved ones died while serving in, or in support of, the Armed Forces, according to their fact sheet. The 150 family members will arrive at Hanscom Nov. 2 and will attend seminars and grief counseling throughout the weekend. If interested in volunteering for the welcoming event, mentoring during the seminar or helping with refreshments, contact Master Sgt. Raymond Merring at 781-225-2765 or email raymond.merring@hanscom.af.mil. Gonsalves added that he is looking forward to getting out, talking to the people and solving issues with community action plans. "I'm excited about finding out what will make a difference," he said. "I want to find out what people think is best about the community and what can be improved." For any questions concerning resilience, contact Gonsalves at donald.gonsalves@hanscom.af.mil.