WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 8, 2007 -- “We’re committed to providing a strong supportive environment where families thrive,” said Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, speaking to more than 400 attendees at a Family Forum of the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting in Washington. During the session Casey unveiled a new initiative called the Army Family Covenant. Its goal is to provide more meaningful support to Army families.
 
 Casey’s wife, Sheila spoke about how she and her husband traveled this summer to installations across the country to learn from soldiers and their spouses their concerns about family life in the Army. They visited active forces, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard members on large and small installations across the country, from Alaska to the mid-Atlantic.
 
Mrs. Casey, a 30-year Army spouse whose husband spent a 32-month deployment in Iraq, recalled that a large majority of the spouses she spoke with expressed feeling “stressed and stretched.” She also learned that many spouses favored increased funding and institutional support of existing family programs, over establishing new programs.
Such discussions, the Caseys said, helped form the basis of the Army’s new Covenant with Families. “We really haven’t treated families as a readiness issue [until now],” Mrs. Casey said.
 
 Casey laid out his strategic vision for improving family programs, which includes an increase in funding totaling $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2008.
 
“We are putting our money where our mouth is,” said Casey. Some of the money will go toward increasing the accessibility and quality of healthcare (both physical and mental health); reducing the stigma of PTSD so those who need treatment get it; improving soldier and family housing with a goal of eliminating all inadequate housing by 2010; expanding access to quality child care; and expanding education and employment opportunities for Army spouses, said Casey. Casey noted that the money for these programs comes from supplemental funds.
 
Asked if the Army would require mandatory counseling as a way to remove the stigma of PTSD and combat related stress, Casey said “We’re not at the point of mandatory counseling, but there are post deployment mental health screenings. It’s going to take us awhile to get there.”
 
Brig. Gen. Belinda Pinckney, commanding general of Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command, detailed improvements that have already been made to family programs, noting that “We’ve never had the level of support from the top down that we have now.”  For instance, Pinckney said, 1,011 new Family Readiness Support Assistants are being hired now. By fiscal year 2009, the Army child care capability will fill 80 percent of the demand for childcare, an improvement of 8 percent over 2008. Similarly, by 2009, the Army expects the number of youth program spaces to grow to 47,096, up from 20,674 this year, she said.
 
 Asked if respite child care would be extended to spouses of soldiers in noncombat areas, like Korea, Pinckney responded that spouses of such service members would not be eligible but that the suggestion would be considered.
 
Other speakers detailed new and ongoing supports aimed at families. Mr. Frank Emory, Soldiers Benefits Service Program Manager, discussed myarmybenefits.us.army.mil, which he says provides more easy-to-find material about benefits, including “benefit facts” pages organized by state, life event, and a variety of other areas for easy navigation.
 
Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz and his wife, Lauralyn, introduced their “virtual installation concept,” which aims to provide every Army family with access to installation services regardless of their location, they said.
 
Col. Kevin Gerdes of the Minnesota Army National Guard discussed a new reintegration program being rolled-out in his area dubbed “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon.” A central component of the program involves bringing soldiers and their families back to the installation 30, 60 and 90 days after redeployment to participate in educational sessions about Battlemind and related topics, substance abuse, as well as seek any necessary medical treatment.
 
POC:
John Grady
Director of Communications
Association of the United States Army
(703)-907-2613
jgrady@ausa.org