Ohio National Guard News

Ohio ISFAC celebrates 10 years of building
military-community partnerships

Story and photos by Staff Sgt. Michael Carden, Ohio National Guard Public Affairs

Mike Magnusson (from left), a transition assistance advisor for the Ohio National Guard, Julie Blike, director of ONG Family Readiness and Warrior Support, and Maj. Gen. Mark E. Bartman, Ohio adjutant general, prepare to cut a cake to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee. The committee brings together the military and national, state, regional and community resources to provide support to Military Families across Ohio.

Retired Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt, former Ohio adjutant general, recounts his experience with starting the Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee during its quarterly meeting Nov. 11, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio. The ISFAC works to facilitate partnerships between the military and national, state, regional and community resources, and celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, making it the oldest organization of its kind in the country.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (11/9/16) — More than 100 people representing 50 different organizations from across Ohio gathered Nov. 9 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee, an organization which facilitates partnerships between the military and national, state, regional and community resources.

“We knew we needed something to help Families,” said retired Maj. Gen. Gregory Wayt, former Ohio adjutant general who was instrumental in establishing the ISFAC, at a time when reservist mobilizations in support of the War on Terrorism were at their height. “Someone to help coordinate the support between agencies and something to support our service members. Not only our National Guard service members and National Guard Families, but also any service, any component.”

In late 2005, the Ohio ISFAC program was conceptualized by the Governor’s Office and the Adjutant General’s Department, with the first formal State ISFAC meeting held in early 2006. The quarterly meetings include partners with regional, state and national reach including senior military officials, state agencies, federal agencies, veterans service organizations (VSOs), and nonprofit agencies and organizations. In 2016, the meetings averaged nearly 50 attendees representing partner agencies, organizations and military leadership.

“It is incredible, it’s the only ISFAC in the nation that has stuck together for 10 years,” Wayt said. “It truly is a readiness enhancer for our units, it doesn’t matter if they are National Guard or other components because they are there to take care of the Families.”
The committee is augmented at the local level by six Regional Inter-Service Family Assistance Committees (RISFACs) throughout the state that build local partnerships with area military units, governmental and non-governmental agencies, private sector businesses, faith-based entities and local VSO chapters.

“When you join a unit in Ohio,” Wayt said, “you know that you are going to be taken care of.

For more information on how to get involved with the ISFAC, go to http://www.homefront.ohio.gov.