Kalen Arreola

Yes, you can have a family and be in the Army! Forget that old saying, "if the army wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one," because it's garbage. Families are awesome and they support us in what we do!

Anyway, I wanted to take some time to blog about physical fitness and all the other Army-related stuff that you need to think about during pregnancy. Mostly because I'm pregnant myself and am trying to find ways to stay active, but I also wanted to spread the word that being pregnant is not a disability. My Army family at the 79th has been really great about supporting me throughout the whole experience and reinforcing that you can work and be preggers and be happy.

 [The photo is me at 18 weeks, but I'm definitely bigger now.]

To stay in shape, I do a one-hour strength training session two times per week with a personal trainer who has taken a course in how to train pregnant women. He focuses on body-weight exercises and pilates-style stretches to strengthen the core. He also has me do light weight lifting, but he has me move my muscles slower than usual to really get an extra burn from the workout. On off days, I also try to walk once a week and I do daily stretches. Trainers aren't cheap but you'll find that just walking does wonders on its own.

Never do any exercising that makes you feel dizzy or sick and always ask your doctor what is a good plan for you... obviously, I'm no doctor:). Discomfort is BAD (that I do know)!

Eating healthy foods, and doing exercise at least three times per week will keep you feeling energized, especially since growing a baby takes a lot of energy out of you.

Here are some other benefits of exercising:
1. Boost your energy
2. Sleep better
3. Reduce pregnancy discomfort
4. Prepare for childbirth
5. Reduce stress and lift your spirits
6. Improve your self-image
7. Get your body back faster after childbirth

*This list was taken from babycenter.com (great resource for mommies and mommies-to-be).*

Number four and number seven on the list are my most important reasons for staying healthy. If you are a military momma, you know you'll be taking a physical fitness test six months after your baby is due (at least the Army gives you 180 days to get back into shape). Not to mention, the baby is healthier when mommy is too.

Your chain of command will talk to you about your options when it comes to staying in the Army, so don't worry! Things you definitely have to consider before talking to them are - family care plan, working, health, staying in the military, getting out of the military - and all the affects of your decisions on income. Life comes fast, and in the Army, it is likely you'll deploy, so you have to consider everything before you make these big decisions.

Not only that, but all the energy you'll need for late night feedings, holding crying newborns, cleaning the house, going back to work and ... well, you get the idea. You will need LOTS of energy.

Here are some Army Regulations you should review so you are informed as to what you can and can't do. You may have to do a search in the PDF for the word 'pregnant' or 'pregnancy' so it jumps straight to the para. you need:

• AR 40–501 - Profiling pregnant Soldiers • 7–9, page 76 (by "profiling" the regulation means giving someone a medical profile for working out or working, etc. - it doesn't mean they are going to follow you around in a black car with a camera to see what you're up to every day)
• AR 600-20 - Army Command Policy
• DOD Directive 1308.1 - Para. 4.1.6. - Pregnancy
• Counseling Regs: Guard and Reserve - AR 135-91, Separations - AR 635-10, Active Duty Enlisted Separations - AR 635-200

I was also going to post something about women not being able to get Army Combat Uniforms... what's up with that? I wanted to post an awesome Web site and tell you some cool way to order them, but I have no idea. Anyone know any place to get maternity ACUs??

Best bet I know of is to order them through your chain of command (for enlisted) or an AAFEES (officers) if you live near one. They take a while to come in so order them the SECOND you find out you are pregnant. Sooner or later.. you'll need them. PLEASE post exercises or food tips or ACU ordering secrets if you have them! I would love new ideas.

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Okay, so I know my posts can be a bit too informative, and not so fun, but I hope I'm at least sharing good information. This is yet another, boring, informative one but guess what?!  It's awesome news!!

The Army is RETROACTIVELY paying Soldiers for their time on stop-loss. In case you haven't seen the movie, "stop-loss," in the United States military, is the involuntary extension of a service member's active duty service under the enlistment contract in order to retain them beyond their initial end of term of service (ETS) date. It also applies to the cessation of a permanent change of station (PCS) move for a member still in military service.

Anyhoo, the official-ese version of the announcement from Army G-1 (aka human resources command) explains where to go and what to do to receive the benefits (below). I know a couple of Soldiers I served with in Iraq that could definitely qualify. If you qualify, get your $$$$. Uncle Sam wants YOU to get paid. How often does that happen?

RETROACTIVE STOP LOSS SPECIAL PAY (RSLSP)

Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay is dispensing special pay to Soldiers, veterans, and survivors of Soldiers whose service was involuntarily extended between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2008. 

• Service members are eligible to receive $500 for every month or partial month served under stop loss authority. 
• To receive this pay, those who served under stop loss must submit a claim before 21 Oct 10. 
• The Army has created an online claim process for all components to apply at https://www.stoplosspay.army.mil. 
• The Army estimates at least 120,000 Soldiers and veterans qualify for the special pay. Currently, less than 20,000 have applied.

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The last two days of ROA have been pretty fun, and with great information from Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz about the way ahead for the Army Reserve. I have to say that I think we’re lucky to have the Chief of the Army Reserve that we have. He knows firsthand the challenges that Reserve Soldiers face just to serve, and he lived it himself. (the photo above is not of LTG Stultz but it's the same exact location, and it's from my lousy camera phone - sorry).

Also, these are not his EXACT words, unless it's in quotes. I paraphrased and some stuff is a bit harsher than what he actually said. Just warning you before you try and quote him off this! please don't :)

Here are some of the highlights:

Stultz outlined his “imperatives” that he plans to tackle within the next 12 to 24 months and they are all designed to help the Reserve become a more operational force and help the Soldiers do it.

SHAPING THE FORCE
1. Retain the best talent
2. Facilitate true continuum of service
3. Eliminate the cross-leveling of Soldiers for deployment
4. Push LTCs and SGMs who are not deploying and actively contributing to retire in order for younger, more eager generation to excel

CONTINUUM OF SERVICE
1. Focus recruitment on existing service members to boost number of CPTs, 1LTs, SSGs, and SFCs
2. Take resources from existing recruitment efforts and refocus on existing active duty/reserve component vs. non-prior-service members
3. Eliminate cross-leveling, redefine deployment to include homeland activations, stop the immediate cross-leveling of new recruits for OCO
4. “In my estimate it will take us at least two years. It’s not going to happen overnight.”
5. “We need to get better at managing careers.”
- Start with AGRs
- HRC tries to assign AGRs with little background on the soldier
- Reinstitute a board run by the army reserve to select AGRs. HRC shouldn’t choose, people who are less qualified can get positions if they’re on the list first
6. “Effective immediately, commanders in the field have the authority to put lieutenants and captains in command without permission from USARC.”

OPERATIONALIZING
1. differentiate AR versus NG
2.  resource the AR as operational force
3. reduce turbulence in the deployment schedule
4. ARFORGEN works for AR because it allows predictability but we need to really get it working properly – cost will be $1 billion per year or more to “work”
5. This is so important because the Reserve holds more than 50% of support operations and active duty needs to utilize USAR troops to be successful – long-term

ENTERPRISE
1. Maximize productivity, efficiency and responsiveness in four areas
- human capital
- materiel
- readiness
- services

BRAC
1. “we don’t have the facilities right now to move in the way which is required by law”
2. Two years the AR will have to execute most of BRAC without the proper facilities, manning

SUSTAINING THE FORCE
1. virtual installation
2. family programs
3. employer partnership
4. promotions for LTs and CPTs should be sooner – with the deployments the young officers are getting a lot of active duty experience but not promoted at the same time
5. we need to level the playing field for AGRs becaue they are limited in what they can do because AGRs can only fill AGR positions --- Should be able to interchange AD and AGR positions to better fill the entire Army force
6. Your job as a leader is to figure out how to reach each Soldier and team based on their background
7. The uncertainty of the economy makes it difficult to leave USAR and NG because it’s like having unemployment insurance

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This week has been quite interesting to say the least. I am on day two of the conference and I missed the entire morning portion... I tried to stick it out yesterday all day but my fever got the best of me so I slept in today. If I wasn't five months preggo right now I'd probably try to get up but I get nervous with the little one.

Anyway, at least I'm here!!

This picture is a view from my hotel near Dupont Circle in downtown. I reached the hotel at 2 a.m., Feb. 8th and then slept until 6 a.m. 

Unfortunately many of the speakers couldn't get into the city to do their briefings, but some did.

The first speaker I saw gave a great presentation on financial fitness. She was a representative from USAA and she talked about Roth IRAs, thrift savings plans, and how to retire securely - even if you choose to leave the military.

Three Money Fundamentals:

• Save, save, save
• Manage your credit and debt
• Invest for retirement

Some Other Key Points:

• New trend is stealing children's identity - do an annual credit check on your children (yes, even 1-year-olds) in case someone has taken their social security number to get credit. This scam allows bad guys to get away with credit fraud because the child almost never finds out until they turn 18 and tries to get a credit card. Can you imagine?
• Do not use commercial credit report services, like the one with the guy who sings in the commercials, use annualcreditreport.com.
• Stop thinking about purchases in monthly payments, instead focus on the interest rate. Visualize each interest rate you pay - car, home, credit cards - as different size holes in your pocket. Companies advertise monthly payments and show the lowest possible in order to get you to sign the contract, then you're stuck.
• Pensions may disappear and social security is a question mark because of the average life expectancy increase. Save in addition to your military and civilian retirement accounts to be safe.
• Deployed service members can save money in TSPs and Roth IRAs under their TAX FREE status. Only during deployment. Penalties occur if you take money out of these accounts early.

The next speaker I saw was Marshal Hanson, who is working very hard to increase benefits for the Army Reserve on Capital Hill. He has so many irons in the fire, but is passionate about veterans' rights and it's obvious when you hear him speak about the lack of benefits for Reserve Soldiers versus active duty.

He is working on legislation for all services and here are some of the things he mentioned:

• Getting TRICARE extended to 180 days before deployment versus 90 days.
• Get free dental restoration for veterans after deployment
• TRICARE for vets at age 60 retirement
• Authorize transitional care for wounded warriors
• Permit individuals who accumulate 20 years of service while in Selected Reserve to elect non-regular retirement
• Allow Reserve Component retirees to sit on active duty councils
• Enforce the expanded travel pay law for Reservists who travel for training weekends
• Give equal treatment to wounded National Guard and Reserve members, same as the active duty receives

Other ROA Goals

• Adjust duty travel reimbursements to include lodging and meals, and decrease mileage requirement to 50 or more miles, vs. 100 or more
• Allow retirement years of service to be based on actual years in the Reserve versus only counting the active duty days for deployments and training. It is possible for a Reservist to serve 20 years but only get credit for half that time - or less

How ROA Helps

• Develop position papers
• Publish articles in officer magazines
• Serve on committees to influence national policy

Our next speaker talked about the G.I. Bill. The biggest point she stressed was making sure to research each benefit on the VA Web site so you know what option offers the best benefits. If you are eligible for two benefits, you must choose one of the two. But, if you are eligible for three benefits, you can choose two out of three and all are transferrable to dependents. 

*If you aren't a member of ROA, JOIN NOW! They are thinking of raising the price soon. You get linked up with a great network and the benefits are great. Check out their Web site.

***

Well, those are all my notes from yesterday. I saw other speakers later that day, but unfortunately didn't take good notes:(. I hope to post better photos as soon as possible but I forgot my camera battery charger and card reader! Not likely to find an open camera store here either... 

Until tomorrow, I'm off to today's events. I'm starting to feel way better.

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Well, I thought my days would be pretty uneventful for the next few months, but of course, I was wrong. I am headed out to Washington, D.C. for the Reserve Officer Association National Conference. I am so excited! At first I wasn't but any change of scenery is fun and there are a few people living out there I am excited to see.

My official last day of work as an Department of the Army Civilian is tomorrow, but my command has no public affairs officer until April, so I'm going to work in military capacity until the first week of March, and then I'm not really sure after that. Hopefully I can stay here until the new PAO comes in so I can get them all set up, but we'll see. Money is tight these days, even for Army Reserve units.

Anyway, I'll be blogging about the things we learn at the conference. I love that the Army (reserve or active duty) always focuses on being a great leader. Not so for the civilian world. They simply acknowledge someone for their natural leadership abilities, but it is rare to see a company really develop their leaders the way the military does. This conference is just another learning tool for officers and hopefully we will take away some good things from it.

After that I am headed to the national archives to dig up the history of the 79th Infantry Division. The 79th Sustainment Support Command is adopting their lineage and reading about them has been fun. Can't wait to see what I dig up!

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Yesterday the DoD announced that the Reserve can send Soldiers out to Haiti! I am so excited. Obviously I can't go since I am expecting a little one, but I know some Soldiers who would love to go.

Public Affairs teams are getting formed right now so I'll be excited to see the great coverage our Reserve journalists put together.

After seeing the images, and news, and hearing about one woman's survival under the rubble for more than 50 hours, I just can't believe how amazing the strength of the human spirit can be! I am worried about the looters and armed gunmen running around because it will leave the young and old to fend for themselves. No matter how much the United Nations tries to assist, you can't get the food to the people if there is interference from bad guys. Same happened in Iraq when I was there, and I'm sure we will see more in Haiti.

Hopefully, with the help from all the countries, they can establish security there and get things under an organized chaos to enable rebuilding. Seems like it will take quite a while before that happens. My heart goes out to everyone there and everyone helping out.

I wanted to share some information in case you don't have it:

• The State Dept Operations Center has set up the following telephone number for Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747.
• The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation by mailing your donation with the designation to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or to your local American Red Cross chapter. Donations to the International Response Fund can be made by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online at www.redcross.org.

*Also, I put a link to the 302 MPAD blog on my previous post. We are moving it to a .mil site where it belongs (I made a boo-boo with that one). So I'll update the link once we get it where it's supposed to go.

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Well, I am going to try this again:). I just wrote an entry and lost the whole thing!! How's that for a first blog.

Anyway, I have been confused over what to write, so I'll just tell you stuff about me I guess.  I currently live in Southern California and I work for a brand-spanking-new command called the 79th Sustainment Support Command.

Ever heard of it? Well, that makes all of us because this type of command has never before existed. I happen to think that is pretty cool, but I won't bore you with details. I'm the acting public affairs officer right now, so I get to do really fun things for my job, like take pictures of special events, meet people from all different types of organizations and travel to different states.

I also get to do boring things like go to meetings and develop manuals, but we won't talk about the boring stuff.

Anyway, I have been in since 2003 and I've loved it so far. My husband and I are expecting our first little one in June 2010. We are going to find out if it's a boy or a girl soon. I've been back from Iraq since May 2008 and have friends in Iraq again who I really need to send some care packages to! PRONTO.

Hopefully I can post all the way through my pregnancy and tell you about some of the fun stuff we have going on in our area. I will also try to post up some links to fun things happening in So Cal for military families of all branches. If you want to become a print or broadcast journalist, check out the blog of my former unit, the 302nd MPAD. It's a great site.

I'll try and think of something better for my next post. It's nice to get your blogger feet wet -- at least for the first go!

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