Sponsors: gatekeepers to the community

When Pfc. Aubrey Schye, a 5th Military Police Battalion Soldier, got back from a six-mile road march, she walked right into a mandatory Army Community Service class on sponsorship responsibilities. 

Schye, 20, was among five attendees at the class held recently at U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern’s Kleber Kaserne.

Schye thought back to when she left the U.S. in late 2010, when no one really mentioned anything about a sponsor. She was just 18, fresh from high school, heading to her first duty station overseas. Thankfully, her sponsor reached out to her through Facebook. 

“You kind of think, ‘No one is going to be there,’” Schye said. “But they ended up picking me up over here when I got dropped off at the bus.”

Roderick Amodia, ACS’s relocation readiness program manager, began by explaining why sponsorship training is important and briefed attendees on how to care for newcomers.

Sponsorship training “increases awareness of command responsibilities for identifying, referring and coordinating with community agencies and programs to ensure successful integration,” Amodia said. “In a nutshell, ensure newcomers’ transitions are as smooth and stress free as possible.”

Capt. Steven Rauschbach, the 5th MP’s personnel officer, said he experienced the consequences of bad sponsorship.

“My first move, which was from after two years in Darmstadt to Fort Polk, was a catastrophe,” Rauschbach said. “There was no sponsor.”

Despite the fact that sponsorship training is mandatory for Soldiers, attendance is low, said Michelle Thomas, the garrison’s ACS director. Advertisements are posted on American Forces Network, in the Kaiserslautern American newspaper and on Facebook. It’s also mentioned each week at newcomers’ briefings.

In March, U.S. Army Europe mandated that sponsorship training must be done in person, rather than online as in the past. Still, by mid-year, less than 600 people in Kaiserslautern had attended.

“The training is available, and word about the program is out there,” Thomas said. “We’re just not getting the attendance.” 

The USAREUR order also says that government civilians will soon have to undergo inprocessing and attend culture college, Thomas said.

“Sponsors are truly the gatekeepers to a newly arriving Soldier’s perception of their new command and community,” Thomas said. “This initial interaction of the sponsor and Soldier will set the tone for this new Soldier’s experience while in the Kaiserslautern community or any new duty station in the world.”

After the class, Spc. Nathaniel Reynolds, 23, now sees his role as a sponsor as making sure he provides things necessary to an incoming Soldier, he said.

“I can take care of him, show him around and where he would go to take care of appointments — stuff like that,” Reynolds said.

Sponsorship training is available each month at Pulaski Barracks.

For more information, call 493-4203 or 0631-3406 4203.