By Staff Sgt. Stanford Toran, 7th Mission Support Command

POZNAN, Poland- Army Emergency Relief CEO, retired Sergeant Major of the Army, Tony Grinston, visits U.S. Army Garrison Poland to kick off the annual AER fundraising campaign on March 2, 2026.

Since 1942, The Army Emergency Relief’s mission is supporting the well-being of Soldiers and Army families by helping alleviate financial stress and promoting economic stability. The financial support includes $13.5 million in grants, $6.6 million in scholarships, and $49.4 million in zero-interest loans, which is the highest number of grants given in Army Emergency Relief history.

As financial readiness is a key component of Soldier’s personal readiness, it focuses on providing services and programs that take care of the Army’s most valuable asset, the Soldiers. This year’s campaign motto is “Empowering Soldiers, Enhancing Lives”.

This year the beginning of the new pilot program starts to provide support to activated Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers on Title 10 orders for 30 or more consecutive days. The initiative is providing limited financial grants for food, utilities, and other various forms of vehicle assistance travel.

“This pilot program will be great for our Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers”, said U.S. Army Reserve Col. Daniel Meyers, commander of the 510th Regional Support Group, 7th Mission Support Command. “With progress, we can ensure more opportunities are to come in the near future to better support our Soldiers”.

This pilot program aims to close the access gap for Army Reserve Component Soldiers and National Guard serving extended orders. Previously, Soldiers on shorter orders had limited access to AER support. As a result, those service members often fell into a gray area of eligibility. By expanding eligibility, the Army reinforces that readiness included financial stability.

“It is called Army Emergency Relief, not active army relief”, said Grinston. “We want to help Soldiers in all components as we are all one team to impact financial readiness in a major way”.

The eligibility criteria for the pilot program are Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers who are on title 10 orders for 30 or more days.

For many Reserve Soldiers balancing civilian careers and federal service, unexpected expenses can quickly compound. The pilot program ensures that when they answer the nation’s call, systems are already in place.

If successful, the pilot program could become permanent policy and strengthen trust between Reserve Component and Active Army.