Army Family Team Building Level III

Family Readiness Group Leadership

Sample FRG Phone Tree

Unit Spouses’ Telephone Tree

FRG Leader
555-1234

Point of Contact
Susie Q. Molly R. Emma A. Patty P.
555-3456 555-7890 555-2345 555-6789

Spouses within
unit
Dolly P. Rhonda L. Polly B. Amy G.
555-0123 555-4567 555-8901 555-1456

Janet J. Sally B. Toni H. Linda L.

555-9876 555-8765 555-7665 555-6554

Maura M. Betsy S. Kerry W. Karen D.

555-5443 555-4332 555-3222 555-5432

etc.

Date

2006/7 3.10 Handout 8-1

Army Family Team Building Level III

Notes
1. Questions to consider as you are developing your telephone tree: Will it be by company
or platoon? How will you keep it updated? How will you distribute the tree to the
individual callers? How will the tree work within the columns. How will the calls be
made?
2. The points of contact (POC) on top line can call everyone in that column or Point of
Contact on the top line starts the calling by calling the next person in the column and
that person calls the next person, and so forth.
3. Ask the POC if they are willing to make the phone calls. It is better to have willing
callers!
4. Don’t assign more than 6 callers to a POC if you can help it. This is a suggested number;
adjust it to your own circumstances.
5. Instruct the POCs that they are distributing information to the spouses and are in a
position of responsibility. Leave gossip out of this and don’t repeat “rumors” to others.
Tell the POCs to call the FRG leader back once all calls are completed.
6. Inform the POCs that they must respect confidentiality of personal information they
receive.
7. If long distance calls are involved, try to arrange the columns to minimize them. You
could divide spouses into columns by platoons, sections or geographical location. Ask
the commander if such calls can be reimbursed by the unit.
8. Remember to put a new date on the tree when you update it!
9. When giving instructions for using the tree, tell callers to identify the call as "THIS IS A
TELEPHONE TREE MESSAGE." It will indicate that the message needs to be transmitted
quickly.
10. Tell the group to report if there is a mistake in the information in the telephone tree, so
you can correct it.
11. Get the required information from the Unit Newcomer’s Information Sheet. Ensure that
the Privacy Act Statement was included when the spouse filled it out.

An example statement could be:

“This phone tree has been prepared in accordance with AR 340-2 (The Army Privacy
Program). All personnel listed on this phone tree have executed a privacy statement
and consent to the release and publication of personal data listed. Contents of this
phone tree will not be disseminated to unauthorized personnel including salespersons,
solicitors, and other personnel outside the Department of Defense.”

2006/7 3.10 Handout 8-2