AUSA Family Readiness is dedicated to providing Army families the tools and resources they need to help them manage the challenges of the military life cycle. 

Deployment and Marriage: First Cut is the Deepest

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Deployment and Marriage: First Cut is the Deepest

The first military deployment can take a heavy toll on a marriage, but the impact tends to lessen with subsequent deployments because soldiers and spouses show resiliency in adapting to meet the challenges, according to a new RAND Corp. study.

 “Associations Between Prior Deployments and Marital Satisfaction Among Army Couples” is based on surveys of about 1,300 Army couples married an average of eight years. The study found that couples who had experienced a first deployment reported significantly lower marital satisfaction than couples who had not.

AUSA Hosting Four Family Readiness Events

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AUSA Hosting Four Family Readiness Events

The Family Readiness Directorate of the Association of the U.S. Army has four free events planned in August and September aimed at Army families.

Secretary Fanning on Selling the Army Story

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Secretary Fanning on Selling the Army Story

Two months on the job, Secretary of the Army Eric K. Fanning said a key part of his position is making the Army seem more than numbers. That’s an easy case to make, Fanning said at a June 28 breakfast hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare, because the Army is the service “most connected with America.”

Firing Line: Military Spouses & Moms, We Appreciate You

In honor of both Military Spouse Appreciation Day, May 6, and Mother’s Day, May 8, the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) partnered with the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C., for the third-annual Military Mother’s Day Brunch.

On Saturday, May 7, the hotel welcomed more than 100 military spouses and their families for brunch, card making and cookie decorating.

How to Win a Scholarship: Quick Tips to Help Finance Your Education

1/20/2016 The flip of the calendar to 2016 shows some important deadlines are looming in the next weeks and months: the application due dates for many military-affiliated scholarships. If you are a military spouse pursuing a degree or certification, or if you are sending a child off to college or technical school, it is more important than ever to take advantage of these programs. Education costs continue to rise while military pay has remained virtually stagnant.

Firing Line: Personal Insight on a Walk Through Grief

I first attended an AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition in October 2014. I attended all the Family Forums, and the one that hit home with me most was “The Future of Our Military Children.” My husband and I were raising our two children when he and six others were killed in a helicopter crash near Moody, Texas, on Nov. 29, 2004. At the time of his death, our son Sean was 10 and our daughter Meghan was 13.

One Community, Support and Resiliency for All

I had the great opportunity to participate in the 6th Annual Forward March Training Seminar & Symposium in Fayetteville, N.C., representing the AUSA Family Directorate Spouse Advisory Group.I never attended this event before, so I was unsure of what to expect. In reading the registration information, this caught my eye:“We're extraordinarily proud of the impact we've been able to have with Forward March which extends far beyond the end of the 2-day seminar.

Happy Birthday National Guard

December 13, 1636 is the National Guard’s birthday. On this date 379 years ago, the very first militia regiments were formed. As our forefathers forged new ground, in a country that would become the United States of America, they formed local militias made up of men and boys from their local communities. This is how the idea of the Citizen-Soldier was born. Since that time, the Guard has participated in every U.S. conflict from the Pequot War of 1637 to our more current deployments.

Camo Christmas Memories

The colors of the season are all around us, and even began to appear well before the start of this festive month. The greens of holly and pine and the bright red of ribbons are accented by twinkling lights or silver and gold trimming. Like most of you, I grew up excited to see the arrival of these traditional signs of the holidays and eagerly anticipated all the family preparations that followed.

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