April is the Month of the Military Child.During this month, military connected organizations across the country pay tribute to our military kids – and rightfully so.There will be balloon bounces, face painting, movie previews and many activities aimed at celebrating the military child. But celebrations, though fun, are limiting.In order to truly support our military children, especially in today’s military environment, it is important we understand who military kids are, what current challenges they face, and where their strength and resilience comes from.According to the Department of Defense 2009 Demographics Report, there are approximately 2 million children of active and reserve component forces combined. Of these children, over 42 percent are five or below.In addition, children 10 years of age or below have not ever, in their lifetimes, been in a world without war.Several studies have pointed to the fact that our military children, although very adaptable, have been affected by the cumulative effects of stress and separations from their service member parent.A study conducted by Patricia Lester, M.D., et al, titled "The Long War and Parental Combat Deployment: Effects on Military Children and At-Home Spouses" found that children affected by parental combat deployments showed considerable resilience compared to civilian children on several psychological health measures.However, about one-third of the children reported clinically significant anxiety symptoms on standardized assessment. The study also showed that greater months of deployment separation and greater parental distress were risk factors for child emotional and behavioral problems.A similar study conducted by the RAND Corporation, "Views from the Homefront," also found challenges related to how children and spouses handled new household responsibilities, how children deal with the stress of parental deployment and reintegration, and how families addressed changes in parent-child and family relationships.The study identified a few groups that reported the most challenges: (1) spouses who had more emotional difficulties, (2) families experiencing more months of deployment, (3) older teens, (4) girls in dealing with the period of time when the deployed parent returns home, and (5) reserve component families.The study also showed that families with good communication between parents and kids were able to weather the stress of deployment better.These studies have helped us to quantify what we have always known anecdotally. Children do best when their parents are doing well emotionally; cumulative months of separation can take their toll, and symptoms of anxiety among some military children can persists even after the deployed service member has returned.However, military children are resilient. Both studies show that approximately two thirds of children in military families are coping well.What makes a military child so special? Why, in the face of so much adversity, do they manage to continue to thrive?Great answers come from the kids themselves. In "Ten Things Military Kids Want You to Know," a publication of the National Military Family Association, thousands of kids who attended the association’s "Operation Purple" ® camps were asked to name the best and most challenging aspects of a military life.Without missing a beat the kids’ top three answers were pride, service, and community.Pride, that comes from having a parent in the military serving their country. "I hope one day to be as great as him." Service because kids felt very strongly that they serve too, and community, because most military children live outside the gates in civilian neighborhoods and according to the toolkit: "They look within their community for friendship and support, especially during long deployments."Support for our children must come from many directions. We have seen a plethora of programs and initiatives created to support military children. All the way from Sesame Street to the White House, the message is loud and clear, we are proud of you.The first lady’s appearance on the "iCarly" show just to say "thank you for your service," Elmo and his dad singing "Proud" on Sesame Workshop’s popular "Talk, Listen, Connect DVD Series," and the public service announcements aimed at military families starring Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg show that community support is there and growing.The Army too has done its part. For those children that struggle with behavioral health issues the Army surgeon general in 2010 established the Child, Adolescent and Family Behavioral Health Office.Its mission is to serve as the Army surgeon general’s lead for developing, implementing and sustaining programs that achieve a behavioral health (BH) system of care promoting healthy, strong children and families.The CAF-BHO is the proponent for two key programs focused on the BH needs of children and families, the Child and Family Assistance Center (CAFAC) and the School Behavioral Health (SBH) service.The CAFAC’s goal is to consolidate existing family-based behavioral health departments and augment their capability to care for children and families through integration and coordination of these services and increasing the number of providers based on the needs of the installation.An example of how this has been done at Joint Base Lewis-McChord is described in the www.Army.mil July 13, 2010 article titled "Army Families Now have a One-Stop Shop for Behavioral Health Services."At JBLM, the Family Assistance for Maintaining Excellence, the Child Guidance Clinic and the School-Based Behavioral Health Program have been absorbed into the CAFAC.Madigan Army Medical Center now has a fully-functioning one-stop shop under one director.The CAFAC also provides one phone number that puts family members at JBLM in touch with providers who can deliver the care they need.The SBH offers access to behavioral health providers trained in child psychology, psychiatry and social work case management.Teams of these providers are actually embedded in the schools that military children attend and work in conjunction with other specialists who are working on behalf of the wellness and behavioral health needs of Army children.Currently, SBH programs have been established at over 40 schools at seven installations. These programs are only operating at on-post schools, but planning is underway to take the program to schools "outside the gate."It has been said that military children are our nations’ children.The transitional life that military kids live is also a life full of new experiences and opportunity. It is our job to ensure that as much as possible, those experiences are good ones.