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i 

53–057 2010

[H.A.S.C. No. 111–85] 

OVERSIGHT OF FAMILY SUPPORT 

PROGRAMS 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

JULY 22, 2009 
(II) 

MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE 

SUSAN A. DAVIS, California, Chairwoman 

VIC SNYDER, Arkansas 

LORETTA SANCHEZ, California 

MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam 

PATRICK J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania 

HANK JOHNSON, Georgia 

CAROL SHEA-PORTER, New Hampshire 

DAVID LOEBSACK, Iowa 

NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina 

JOHN KLINE, Minnesota 

THOMAS J. ROONEY, Florida 

MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma 

JOHN C. FLEMING, Louisiana 

DEBRA WADA, Professional Staff Member 

JEANETTE JAMES, Professional Staff Member 

ROSELLEN KIM, Staff Assistant 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS 

2009 

Page 

HEARING: 

Wednesday, July 22, 2009, Oversight of Family Support Programs ................... 1 

APPENDIX: 

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 ....................................................................................... 31 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009 

OVERSIGHT OF FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

Davis, Hon. Susan A., a Representative from California, Chairwoman, Military Personnel Subcommittee ............................................................................. 1 

Wilson, Hon. Joe, a Representative from South Carolina, Ranking Member, 

Military Personnel Subcommittee ...................................................................... 2 

WITNESSES 

Kent, Sgt. Maj. Carlton W., USMC, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps ......... 7 

Lyman, Col. Cory, USAF, Assistant Director, Individual and Family Support 

Policy, Office of Secretary of Defense Reserve Affairs, U.S. Department 

of Defense ............................................................................................................. 4 

Myers, Arthur J., Principal Director Military Community and Family Policy, 

Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness, U.S. Department 

of Defense ............................................................................................................. 3 

Preston, Sgt. Maj. Kenneth O., USA, Sergeant Major of the Army .................... 5 

Roy, Chief Master Sgt. James A., USAF, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air 

Force ...................................................................................................................... 9 

West, Master Chief Petty Officer Rick D., USN, Master Chief Petty Officer 

of the Navy ........................................................................................................... 8 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Davis, Hon. Susan A. ....................................................................................... 35 

Kent, Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. .............................................................................. 88 

Lyman, Col. Cory .............................................................................................. 66 

Myers, Arthur J. ............................................................................................... 39 

Preston, Sgt. Maj. Kenneth O. ........................................................................ 74 

Roy, Chief Master Sgt. James A. .................................................................... 119 

West, Master Chief Petty Officer Rick D. ....................................................... 110 

Wilson, Hon. Joe ............................................................................................... 38 

DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Statement of the Fleet Reserve Association on Support for Military Family Programs Policies and Initiatives .......................................................... 135 
Page

IV 

WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE HEARING: 

Mr. Wilson ......................................................................................................... 145 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING: 

Mrs. Davis ......................................................................................................... 149 
(1) 

OVERSIGHT OF FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE, Washington, DC, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:01 p.m., in room 

2212, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Susan Davis (chairwoman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA, CHAIRWOMAN, MILITARY 

PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE 

Mrs. DAVIS. Good afternoon. Our hearing will come to order. 

I want to welcome all our witnesses. Today, we will turn our attention on the multitude of family support programs within the 

Services and the Department of Defense (DOD). 

While we have focused on several of these issues in the past, this 

is the first subcommittee hearing in over a decade that will solely 

focus on family support programs that are so important and vital 

to our military families during these challenging times. 

The burden of eight years of conflict have not only fallen on our 

servicemembers. A large portion of that burden has also fallen on 

their families, as well. And, unfortunately, their plight is often 

overshadowed. 

While the majority of Americans have been outstanding in their 

support of our men and women in uniform, sadly, the majority of 

military families in a recent survey revealed about 94 percent of 

military families felt that the average American does not understand the sacrifices these families are making. 

The toll is especially significant on those most vulnerable: our 

military children. The number of military children who are seeking 

mental health care since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom 

(OIF) has more than doubled. And many children are being forced 

to wait months to receive treatment because access to care is not 

sufficient. 

However, mental health is just one area where there are challenges. As we have found, there are issues that affect 

servicemembers going through the deployment process, pre-, during 

and post-deployment. And while their issues are slightly different, 

military families face their own set of hurdles during each phase, 

as well, and it is our responsibility to ensure that we work to address these issues and support our families as we do our men and 

women in uniform. 

I do not mean to imply at all that nothing has been done for families. Quite the contrary, the Services and the Department have un-
2 

dertaken significant effort—extraordinary in many cases—to improve programs and assistance for military families. 

But there is more that can and must be done to support all of 

those who defend our Nation, and that includes our military families. 

Today, we have asked the senior enlisted representatives from 

each of the Services to be with us. As the eyes and ears of their 

individual force, they know and understand what is happening on 

the ground level. 

We have also asked a representative from Reserve Affairs to be 

here to provide the perspective of the unique challenges Reserve 

and National Guard families face, as well as a representative from 

the Department who is responsible for all of these programs. 

So let me introduce our witnesses. 

Mr. Art Myers, principal director military community and family 

policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness, 

welcome. 

Colonel Cory Lyman, assistant director, individual and family 

support policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. 

Sergeant Major Kenneth Preston, sergeant major of the Army. 

Sergeant Major Carlton Kent, sergeant major of the Marine 

Corps. 

And Master Chief Petty Officer Rick West, master chief petty officer of the Navy. 

And Chief Master Sergeant James Roy, chief master sergeant of 

the Air Force. 

Gentlemen, welcome. We are very pleased that you are here. 

I will ask you to testify in the order that I just introduced you. 

And without objection, all written statements will be included in 

the record. Thank you once again for being here today, and we look 

forward to a very productive hearing. 

[The prepared statement of Mrs. Davis can be found in the Appendix on page 35.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Mr. Wilson, do you have any comments? 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOE WILSON, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM 

SOUTH CAROLINA, RANKING MEMBER, MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Chairwoman Davis, for holding this 

hearing. And thank you to each of our—today’s panel. 

And I am particularly pleased to see the senior enlisted personnel from the Services, and I know that one of my sons is a doctor in the Navy, and I am very grateful that he has provided for 

his chief noncommissioned officer (NCO) at the Portsmouth Naval 

Hospital to now be an intern in our office this month. So we appreciate what—what you do for our country. 

Meeting the needs of military families has never been more challenging or complex. We are a Nation at war, fighting on two fronts, 

and the strains of those wars translate directly and immediately to 

the families of the members of the Armed Forces. 

When you disrupt the military family unit by deploying a key 

member of that family, a host of issues arise that stress all aspects 
3 

of family life: economic, physical, and mental health, personal finances, interpersonal relationships, and many more areas. 

This subcommittee, the Department of Defense, and the military 

services have taken any number of initiatives to address the needs 

of military families. During my 31 years of service with the Army 

Reserve and Army National Guard as a legal assistance Judge Advocate General (JAG), I conducted pre-mobilization legal counseling 

and will preparation statewide. 

I appreciate what efforts have been made for military families, 

which I know firsthand as a veteran and as the grateful father of 

four sons currently serving in the military. 

Yet, despite all that has been accomplished, there remains evidence that the family support system may not be completely effective. While I know that the Department of Defense and the military services are committed to assisting and supporting military 

families, I am not convinced that the provision of those services is 

fully coordinated and integrated. 

So I am interested in hearing from our witnesses as to how effective the coordination and integration is. Also, I am interested in 

hearing where we must provide additional effort in the form of policy or resources to improve what already is being done. 

With that, Madam Chairwoman, I join you in welcoming our witnesses, and I look forward to their testimony. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Wilson can be found in the Appendix on page 38.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. 

I believe that we had asked our witnesses if they could try and 

condense their remarks into about three minutes, then that will 

allow for a lot of dialogue between the members and yourselves. I 

would appreciate that. 

So without objection, I ask unanimous consent that the written 

testimony from the Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) be included in 

the record, and we are delighted to begin. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on 

page 135.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Mr. Myers, would you please proceed, Mr. Myers. 

STATEMENT OF ARTHUR J. MYERS, PRINCIPAL DIRECTOR 

MILITARY COMMUNITY AND FAMILY POLICY, UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, PERSONNEL AND READINESS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Mr. MYERS. Chairwoman Davis, Representative Wilson, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, the Secretary of Defense 

and all the men and women of the Armed Forces, as well as their 

families, thank you for your strong support. We are very appreciative that you are holding this hearing. 

Our Military OneSource program is well tailored for its individually tailored services and its availability anytime from any place, 

which is particularly helpful for those who are geographically isolated from installation support. 

This program offers face-to-face non-medical counseling for military members and their families experiencing the normal stress of 

multiple deployments and reunions, as well as financial assistance 

and health and wellness coaching. 
4 

Additionally, we have placed military family life consultants in 

schools, selected by the military departments, to provide consultation, education, training and workshops to faculty, parents and 

children to help cope with deployments. We now have 399 military 

life consultants at our childcare and youth programs and summer 

camps. 

We are also assisting spouses to develop portable careers by offering military spouse career advancement accounts for 

credentialing and licensure. This initiative began in March, and already 34,000 military spouses have established accounts, and almost half who have started training are seeking careers in health 

professions. 

We appreciate the Congress’s focus on military families who have 

children with autism. However, we need your support to expand 

this attention to all military families with special needs, not only 

those with autism. 

Military families with special needs encounter multiple challenges navigating the maze of health care, education, and community support services they face each time they move. Several years 

ago, the Congress granted temporary authority for minor military 

construction of child development centers that allowed us to accelerate childcare capacity and increase spaces by 15,000 on a rapid 

basis. 

To meet our goals for childcare and to keep our members fit to 

fight and win, we require a similar authority for fitness centers 

and family centers and for childcare for children through 12 years 

of age. We need to extend the authority which ends this fiscal year 

through fiscal year 2012 and also increase the project threshold to 

$15 million. 

In addition, we need to eliminate the barriers to our partnerships 

with military community providers of childcare, such as relief from 

the Service Contract Act. Your staff has been very supportive of 

these initiatives and has contacted the committees with oversight 

of these areas for assistance. 

We appreciate your concern about ensuring continuity on program delivery and your understanding of our efforts and importance of moving the overseas contingency operations funding into 

the baseline funding budget. 

Thank you again for your strong support of the military members 

and their families. Those of you who are members of the Baby and 

Children Caucuses further represent the best interests and needs 

of all military children. I will be happy to respond to any of your 

questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Myers can be found in the Appendix on page 39.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you very much. 

Colonel Lyman. 

STATEMENT OF COL. CORY LYMAN, USAF, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY SUPPORT POLICY, OFFICE 

OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE RESERVE AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Colonel LYMAN. Chairwoman Davis, Congressman Wilson, and 

members of the subcommittee, thank you for your invitation to dis-
5 

cuss the status of family programs from the Reserve Affairs perspective. 

National Guard and Reserve members and their families are geographically dispersed throughout America’s communities. They 

have unique issues and opportunities. The Department is committed to support Reserve members and their families through policies that maintain strong family programs and through innovative 

efforts, such as the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. 

Great responsibilities have been placed on the shoulders of 

Guard and Reserve members and their families. On behalf of the 

Department of Defense, I express deep appreciation for the unflagging support given by this committee to the care and the support 

of dedicated and patriotic Reserve Component members and to 

their marvelous families who also serve and sacrifice. 

Reserve Component families address family needs—excuse me. 

Reserve Component family programs address family needs that differ in meaningful ways from active component families. For instance, Guard and Reserve families are community-based and connected. They are also dispersed geographically across some 4,000 

communities nationwide. These realities create challenges and also 

offer great opportunities to link with community resources. 

To help Reserve Component members through the deployment 

cycle, the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program was developed. 

This program is focused on the Reserve Component member, and 

it works hand in hand with the family program to enhance family 

readiness, and it helps to smooth many of the potential challenges 

of military deployments. 

The Department is committed to the success of this Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, and we appreciate this committee’s 

continued support of this visionary program. 

We will continue to collaborate with the many agencies and programs that help deliver critical family programs and Yellow Ribbon 

resources to every Guard and Reserve member and their family 

members nationwide. And, again, we are grateful for your essential 

interest and support. 

And I look forward to answering your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Colonel Lyman can be found in the 

Appendix on page 66.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you very much. 

Sergeant Major Preston. 

STATEMENT OF SGT. MAJ. KENNETH O. PRESTON, USA, 

SERGEANT MAJOR OF THE ARMY 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. Chairwoman Davis, Representative 

Wilson, committee members, thank you for the opportunity to sit 

before you today and represent the men and women of America’s 

Army. 

On behalf of more than 1.1 million men and women serving in 

the Army and their 814,000 family members, I want to thank you 

for your support. This committee has and continues to take care of 

our All-Volunteer Force who serve our Nation with loyalty, pride 

and honor. 
6 

I have brought three soldiers with me today to help answer your 

questions and to further help you help our warriors and their families. 

First, the command sergeant major for the Army Reserve, Command Sergeant Major Leon Caffie, who serves as the senior enlisted adviser for Lieutenant General Jack C. Stultz, the chief of 

the Army Reserve. 

The interim command sergeant major for the Army National 

Guard, Command Sergeant Major Victor Angry, who serves as the 

senior enlisted adviser for the acting director of the Army National 

Guard, Major General Raymond Carpenter. 

These two command sergeant majors represent more than 

560,000 soldiers and their families in the Army National Guard 

and the Army Reserve. 

I also have with me Sergeant Joel Dulashanti, who hails from 

Cincinnati, Ohio. Sergeant Dulashanti is 22 years old and enlisted 

in the Army in 2005. He deployed to Afghanistan along the Pakistan border in January of 2007. He performed operations as a sniper out of several forward operating bases, including Salerno, Tillman, and Warrior. 

On the 4th of May, 2007, he was caught in an ambush during 

a recon and was shot through both his left and right knees and his 

stomach. He is an above-the-knee amputee on his right leg, and he 

now works in the office of the legislative liaison, and he hangs out 

with me when I get the chance to come over here to Capitol Hill. 

The mission of the Army is to fight and win our Nation’s wars. 

Today, the American soldier brings unmatched skills in defending 

our Nation and our allies around the world. We currently have 

more than 260,000 soldiers currently forward deployed to 80 countries around the world. The large majority of these soldiers are forward-deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan in brigade combat teams, 

multifunctional brigades, functional brigades, and other force-enabling units. 

Additionally, 260,000 Army civilians are performing critical missions in support of the Army. 

During the past year, I traveled to visit, speak and listen to soldiers and their families all over the world. Soldiers and family 

members routinely list access to quality medical care as their biggest concern. One of the major accessibility challenges to getting 

quality medical care is finding sufficient health care providers outside our military installations who accept TRICARE payment. As 

one health care provider said, ‘‘I take TRICARE cases out of charity to help the Services.’’ 

Limited numbers of health care providers especially hurt our soldiers and families in geographically dispersed locations. While 

TRICARE is meeting their established standards for care available, 

I recommend a review of those standards to ensure they meet the 

needs of soldiers and families serving today at a higher operational 

pace. 

In closing, the centerpiece of our commitment to soldiers and 

their families is the Army Family Covenant, which we launched in 

October of 2007, and the Army Community Covenant, which we 

launched in 2008. Both of these initiatives institutionalize and fund 

the programs supporting our soldiers and their families with the 
7 

support that is commensurate to the quality service they provide 

to the Nation. 

Madam Chairwoman Davis, committee members, thank you. And 

I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Sergeant Major Preston can be found 

in the Appendix on page 74.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 

And I also want to thank the soldiers who have accompanied you 

today. And we look forward, if you would like to say something, to 

respond to our questions, we would welcome that. Thank you. 

Sergeant Major Kent. 

STATEMENT OF SGT. MAJ. CARLTON W. KENT, USMC, 

SERGEANT MAJOR OF THE MARINE CORPS 

Sergeant Major KENT. Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member 

Wilson, and the distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank 

you for this opportunity to report on the status of our family support programs that affect the quality of life and the well-beings of 

our Marines and families. 

As I travel around to see our units, both—they are deployed and 

at home stations, I continue to find highly motivated and dedicated 

warriors who know that they are doing important work for our Nation. 

The Marines are fighting our Nation’s battles on all fronts, to include, you know, deployed aboard naval vessels and at every U.S. 

embassy throughout the world. They are truly living up to our 

motto of ‘‘semper fidelis,’’ always faithful, to our Nation and our 

corps. 

They also know that the Nation loves them and supports them. 

They also know that the family support programs that we speak 

about today is evidence of your continued support to our Marines 

who are in a high operational tempo. These programs are critical 

to addressing the quality-of-life needs of our families. 

I firmly believe that the well-being of the Marines and their families have an impact on the readiness and the retention of our 

corps. 

The rigors of military life are challenging to the Marines, especially to their families, who have to cope with separations, relocations, and sometimes isolations. These stresses are heightened during wartime and compounded by the Nation’s issues, such as the 

state of our economy. 

The commandant has stated that Marines and our families have 

a reasonable expectation that the corps and the Nation will take 

care of them, and we continue to ensure that we live up to that 

commitment. 

In support of these programs is to provide the Marines and our 

families certain things to overcome the challenges that they face 

each and every day. 

Thank you for the long-lasting support, and I would be happy to 

answer any questions. 

[The prepared statement of Sergeant Major Kent can be found in 

the Appendix on page 88.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 

Master Chief Petty Officer West. 
8 

STATEMENT OF MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER RICK D. 

WEST, USN, MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER OF THE NAVY 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. Chairwoman Davis, Congressman Wilson, distinguished members of this committee, thank you 

for this opportunity to testify before you today. I consider this a 

distinct honor and privilege, not to mention one of the most important aspects of my position as a master chief petty officer in the 

Navy. 

I, like you, understand and very much appreciate that there is 

a definite linkage between the safety, security, and well-being of 

our families and our services’ ability to execute the mission. 

Our family members, those men, women and children who support our sailors, are both brave and strong. They are resilient and 

resourceful. And without a doubt, they are as every bit as dedicated and patriotic as those of us that wear the cloth of our Nation. 

They, more than anyone, fully understand that when their loved 

ones cross the bow of a Navy ship or deploys with one of our many 

units or squadrons, they become mom and dad, auto mechanic, 

handyman, and financial manager. Yet they and we often overlook 

is the fact that they are not alone. 

There are a myriad of programs and personnel standing by to 

support, which is the focus of our discussion today. It is a function 

of leadership to ensure our families are given the kind of quality 

of service they deserve. Just as important, we must inform and 

educate them as to the resources that are available. In doing so, 

our sailors have piece of mind and the ability to focus on their job 

knowing their families are safe and secure. 

We have programs in place that were created to assist our families in almost any situation. Through our fleet and family support 

centers—though our fleet and family support centers promote selfreliance, their cadre of outstanding staff personnel, along with our 

dedicated ombudsman, are at the ready to lend assistance or provide referral as needed. Each is engaged as I have ever seen. 

It has been stressing to every level of Navy leadership—I have 

been stressing to every level of Navy leadership that we can’t expect our Navy families to find out about these programs on their 

own. We have made great strides in improving our family programs, as well as communicating the efforts, yet there is still a 

great deal to be done. 

We must continue to ensure that every family member knows 

where to find information about emergency preparedness and other 

programs that encourage family readiness. 

Additionally, we often focus our efforts in fleet concentration 

areas. However, we must also be mindful of family members who 

depart or reside outside of these areas where traditionally sailors 

deploy, distancing themselves from the traditional means of Navy 

support. And I am confident that we are continuing to make improvements in these areas. 

Madam Chairwoman, our families have learned to live with the 

anxiety of war and stress of the military lifestyle. We understand 

and accept it. But that doesn’t mean leadership shouldn’t continue 

to do whatever we can to lessen that stress, for I firmly believe 

that how we support the families of those we send into harm’s way 

defines us as a Nation. 
9 

On behalf of our sailors and their families, I would like to thank 

you for the role each of you has and will continue to play in ensuring our Navy families are well supported and shown the level of 

appreciation they deserve. 

[The prepared statement of Master Chief Petty Officer West can 

be found in the Appendix on page 110.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you very much. 

Chief Master Sergeant Roy. 

And I want to thank you all for staying within that very short 

timeframe. 

STATEMENT OF CHIEF MASTER SGT. JAMES A. ROY, USAF, 

CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT OF THE AIR FORCE 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. Chairwoman Davis, Representative 

Wilson, members of this distinguished subcommittee, I appreciate 

very much the opportunity to speak with you today about the 

issues important to our airmen and their families. 

I would like to first thank you, Chairwoman, and the members 

of this committee and the entire House of Representatives for the 

extensive support our airmen and their families receive from you. 

We especially thank you for your visits to our wounded warriors. 

Our wounded warriors and their families who support and care for 

them sacrifice much. 

Our American airmen have answered our Nation’s call. No matter whether they are deployed overseas in contingency operations 

or whether they are deployed in places as a stateside base in support of the combatant command’s requirements, our airmen are 

doing an incredible job. 

Their families also serve. They support and care for their own 

airmen, volunteering across the spectrum of support activities 

and—and comfort other members of their family who experience an 

often absent parent or spouse. Yes, our military families serve honorably. 

Developing and caring for our airmen families are one of our top 

priorities. We have focused much on our efforts in this area. Some 

of our recent initiatives have concentrated on expanding childcare 

capacity, increasing childcare for Guard and Reserve families, improving financial readiness, and improving education and development opportunities for spouses and children. 

Our airmen are experiencing an increased deployment schedule, 

so we are also providing an increased deployment support, not only 

for our airmen, but also specifically for family members. We offer 

programs and services across every phase of deployment. 

We have more than 14,000 families with special needs requirements enrolled in our special needs program, the Exceptional Family Member Program. We have a good process for identifying families and facilitating personnel moves in assignments based on a 

special needs family requirement. 

However, we have determined the need for a companion program 

to provide family support as they move from location to location. 

We are improving our program to assist these families. 

We are also working to level the playing field of our military children who experience differences in academic standards and transfer and acceptance of course credits. We are also concerned with 
10 

viable elementary grade level promotions, graduation requirements, as well as eligibility in sports and extracurricular activity. 

We are working with states to loosen up the eligibility of unemployment compensation for our military spouses who are compelled 

to leave their job and be with their airmen. We are working to provide opportunities to train and license in portable career fields to 

abbreviate the job search timeframe for their spouse. 

We will remain engaged in our family support programs, and we 

plan to consistently improve these programs that we already have 

in effect. 

Thank you again for your continued support of our United States 

Air Force. And on behalf of America’s airmen and their families, we 

appreciate the opportunity to be here today. 

I look forward to any of your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Chief Master Sergeant Roy can be 

found in the Appendix on page 119.] 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. Thank you to all of you. 

I wanted to start with the statistic that I gave at the beginning 

of my talk. And, quite frankly, when I was in a meeting with many, 

many different spouses representing a number of different organizations, they shared the statistic that 94 percent of the American 

people do not understand the sacrifices that they are making. 

You have spoken about a number of initiatives that we have. 

And I applaud them, and I know the members of the committee do, 

as well. I mean, there has been tremendous progress made. And 

yet, you know, there is this sense. 

And I wonder if you could just reflect on that. What do you think 

that represents? And what should we be doing, what should the 

Services be doing to perhaps change that feeling that somehow it 

is partly isolation and maybe there are—what do you think it reflects that so many of our families would feel that way, despite the 

fact that there are a number of initiatives that are there to help 

them and support them? 

Mr. Myers, you want to start? 

Mr. MYERS. Well, what I believe is, I think the American public, 

it focuses on the military, per se. You know, when Mrs. Obama, 

when during the campaign, we had a meeting in the White House, 

and she indicated to us, she went around and met with normal 

families, and these family members would tell them of the sacrifices, the things they have to do, because the economy and so— 

well, then she talked to a military spouse about not beside only 

that, they had these continued deployments and so forth. 

So she didn’t realize that the military family faced that many 

challenges. When I was in military, I did all my tours in Vietnam. 

I can tell you, there was hardly any focus on families. And I remember in Vietnam—when we left Vietnam, we went back, there 

was not the support we have today. 

So I think, little by little, people are becoming aware of, it is just 

not the military member that serves. It is the entire, entire family. 

And I think it is catching on, but we have a long way to go. 

But having these type hearings, having Mrs. Obama, Dr. Biden, 

and so forth talking about it, I think people are starting to get educated and understand the sacrifices our military members and 

their families make. 
11 

Mrs. DAVIS. Anybody else like to comment? 

Colonel LYMAN. I would make a comment, ma’am. I believe that 

the Guard and Reserve and the way they are dispersed in our communities is an opportunity for neighbors and extended family members to get a sense for the kinds of sacrifices that are being made. 

I think that these families many times approach their challenges 

with tremendous courage and grace. And the people around them 

may not see the kinds of pressures under which they are functioning. 

One of the things that we are talking about a lot is community 

capacity building and finding ways to, since these families live 

away from military installations in so many cases, to build awareness within their community, to build coalitions of those who can 

provide support, and I think, as those efforts continue, that—you 

know, and it might be in the form of faith-based kinds of organizations, schools banding together, I think it is an opportunity for the 

community to learn the kinds of sacrifices that those families 

make. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Anybody else? 

Yes, please. 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. Yes, ma’am. And I think that, you 

know, we have made a lot of progress at getting out to the American public. And when you look at the 2.4 million men and women 

serving in the services, we are less than 1 percent of the American 

population, so it is very, very small. 

The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, very much 

apart from the Army perspective, lose out in our communities every 

day. And, you know, when there is a natural disaster and it is, you 

know, those soldiers out there that are providing relief in those 

communities, they are the ones that really directly impact and 

make an impact on Americans out there in those communities, you 

know, during natural disasters. 

But, you know, a lot of the things right now in the news have 

not been centered on a lot of what is going on now in the military. 

As operations begin to slow down and, you know, a lot of the bad 

news kind of stories now no longer meet the headlines, then, you 

know, it is not in the limelight, I think, for a lot of the American 

public. 

And I think that is why a lot of the military families feel that— 

you know, 94 percent of them feel that they just—you know, they 

are not connected out there with what the American public feels 

and sacrifices that they make every day. 

Sergeant Major KENT. Ma’am, Sergeant Major Preston touched 

on it, but I think the media has a lot to do with it. The negativity, 

you know, that they portray of the media, you know, sometimes, 

when—you know, when the military is doing a lot of positive 

things—I mean, you know, you ask the average military person, 

they are proud to serve, and they would do anything for this Nation, but you don’t usually hear the positive things. You always 

hear the negative things from the media. 

Mr. MYERS. One other thing that we are doing in Office of the 

Secretary of Defense (OSD), we have what we call an interstate 

compact that deals with 10 issues, like children go to different 

state schools. Every school teaches them different. So under this 
12 

interstate compact, we have the states sign up for it, and they go 

out and let the schools know how to deal with military children. 

Payday lending was in force in that. Right now, we have 25 

states that have signed up for that, and we have got the biggest 

one, in fact, the great state of California, it passed the assembly 

in two committees, Education and Judiciary, and we are hopefully 

in the future it will pass. So that is getting the word out to the 

community. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. I will move on to the other members. 

And perhaps at some point later on we can come back to some 

other thoughts that you have. 

Mr. Wilson. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you very much. 

And, Mr. Myers, in my opening statement, I indicated my interest in promoting effective and efficient coordination of different programs. I would like to know how you feel the programs are working 

together. 

And then, I agree with Sergeant Major Kent, that a lot of the 

good news just doesn’t get out, the Yellow Ribbon program. Could 

you sort of review other programs? And what is being done? I 

know, as a military family ourselves, I am so impressed by what 

is being done. But just generally state for all of us what the programs are and as to their effectiveness. 

Mr. MYERS. We have a number of programs. And we are working 

well with the Services to meet their needs. 

Recently, we had a conference where we brought in Guard and 

Reserves just to find out how the programs were working and what 

they need, especially on the Guard and Reserve, because they are 

displaced from the community. 

So we have programs just like a family support assistance team 

that goes out there before deployments. We will send military family life consultants, financial advisers to augment them for pre-deployment, post-deployment, leaving and so forth. They are displaced. 

We have worked with the Young Men’s Christian Association 

(YMCA) to give free membership when they deploy to not only 

them but their family members. We have about 19,000 signed up 

for free membership in the Y, 29,000 family members. 

We also have a military family—we have a Military OneSource 

where we will give non-medical counseling, and we have done it for 

12 sessions, and the medical community really likes it, because it 

is pre-screening. 

A lot of the people have problems that we have trained consultants. There are PhDs trained in consulting and so forth that can 

talk to them. We have financial counselors and so forth. And on 

these military family life consultants, we have actually put them 

at—with the Guard and Reserves, we have put them in our Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) schools overseas and 

our schools in the states. 

We have them in our family child development center just to talk 

to children about issues, because, you know, we are starting to see 

behavioral problem with all of these deployments. Plus, all the 

Services have programs that augment them. 
13 

The problem that we have with a lot of these programs—there 

are a lot of programs—is making sure people are aware of them so 

it is communication and then getting out this is available and so 

forth. 

In early September, we are having a conference for 1,600 people, 

bringing all these people from the military together, consultants, 

medical, people so—just to let them know what the programs are. 

But also the military services also have great programs that support our family members. And when I go overseas, the first thing 

a military member says to me is, how are you taking care of my 

family? Things are going well. If we are taking care of their family, 

they can focus on the mission. 

Mr. WILSON. And I am really grateful to serve with Chairwoman 

Susan Davis. This committee works together. And we want to be 

a resource for each of you and what—I like your input. 

I indicated from each of you as to what additional efforts can be 

made by way of either policy or resources. What can we do as a 

Member of Congress to help you? And we can just begin right there 

in and on over. 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. Yes, sir. As far as policies and 

resources, I would take that for the record back. 

I will tell you the support that you provide on a daily basis has 

been phenomenal. And Mr. Myers down here in the center, the support he provides for us is, as well, incredible. 

The five things I see for these programs to make it out—and we 

have kind of talked around it even from the first questions—is 

leadership, education, communication, execution, and then taking 

that feedback and making those programs work for us. 

I think there is things that we can do as far as the education 

piece to those families that, as in my opening statement, that we 

could do a lot better. And that is what we are working. But as far 

as everything that is in place, I would have to take that back overall to take a look at it, sir. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix beginning on page 145.] 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. Sir, one of the things I talked about in 

my opening statement was—was access to medical care. And as I 

travel, you know, probably the biggest concerns I get from family 

members is, you know, we have great health care programs that 

are out there, but it is sometimes the lag of getting into those 

health care and getting accessibility to it. 

One of the things that was mentioned in one of the opening 

statements, too, was health care out there, particularly counseling 

for children. You start looking now at, with the pace and tempo, 

what are we providing for children out there in the schools? 

And one of the things that we are looking at doing now upcoming 

is, with the Chief of Staff of the Army, a comprehensive fitness program to really get in and look at the five domains of fitness. 

And it is more than just physical fitness, but it is mental, it is 

spiritual, it is family, you know, to go in there and start to build 

resiliency, you know, among our soldiers and their families to better posture them for, you know, the current pace and tempo of operations that we are offering—— 
14 

Mr. MYERS. I believe one of the issues we have to work on—for 

a lot of these programs, in the past, we have been dealing depending on the supplemental funds. So we have to start—and we are 

starting—to move them into the baseline. 

When we went to the White House, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden 

had a bunch of focus groups just talking issues. And what she said, 

she wants these family support programs engrained in our government so, long after their administration has gone, these programs 

are continued. 

When I talk to the families—their one fear is, if the war winds 

down and so forth, these programs are going to stop. And I think 

that would be a great disservice to all of our people. 

Colonel LYMAN. I would speak specifically to the Yellow Ribbon 

Reintegration Program, which really is less than a year old in its 

push nationwide. Of course, it has roots that go further back in 

Minnesota. 

But that program, I think, the message that we would say is, is 

to continue to support that, give it time to develop and grow. It has 

been funded at the headquarters level in the baseline budget for 

2010. Excuse me, in—yes, for 2010. And we are looking to extend 

that in the out-years. 

And so that would be—that would be my recommendation. 

Thank you. 

Sergeant Major KENT. Sir, as we travel around speaking with 

numerous family members, thousands of family members, the big 

issue is medical care. We have a shortage of doctors right now, so 

it might take a family member weeks to get in just for a minor 

thing. 

So the issue is medical care, shortage of it, but quality is there, 

but it is a shortage of the doctors. 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. Congressman, thank you for the 

question. 

Along with Mr. Myers, I would like to add a comment on special 

needs. I opened it up in my statement and mentioned that. And it 

is something that we have been working. 

We realize that our program, we need to continue to work on 

that. I mentioned a companion program along with that. And we 

have added that to there, along with, as Mr. Myers said, the supplemental piece, we are trying to add that into our baseline, so that 

would be one thing. 

The other thing would be military education programs, as I mentioned before. And I listed somewhat of a litany of things that could 

be addressed by this committee here. 

Also, the Guard and Reserve for childcare for Guard and Reserve. We are teaming with the Guard and Reserve, and what we 

are trying to do is make sure that their families, their children are 

taken care of, as well. And that is an area that we could continue 

to use your help on, too. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. 

Mr. Loebsack. 

Mr. LOEBSACK. Thank you, Madam Chair. 
15 

I think everyone knows that the family support programs are absolutely critical to our military families. And I want to thank all 

of you for your service and for your efforts, but especially I am concerned about those in the Guard and Reserve who do not have the 

built-in community support of an active-duty base. 

It is for this reason that I do strongly believe that the Yellow 

Ribbon program must be as effective as possible. And, Colonel 

Lyman, I want to thank you for your testimony. I will have some 

questions here in a second for you. 

I have recently heard concerns raised in Iowa, where I am from, 

that the Yellow Ribbon program, while it is well intentioned, has 

some critical flaws. And I understand that it is, you know, a fairly 

young program, although, of course, the enduring family program 

preceded it. 

But it has some critical flaws in its implementation that has undermined its effective support for National Guard families. And I 

have got four things that I have heard so far; then I will have a 

few questions. 

One, the program does not feel personal. It can be alienating to 

families due to overuse of PowerPoint presentations—I know that 

probably that elicits a smile from all of us, right—rather than 

group discussions or active engagement of participants. 

Second, that meetings are often referred to as drill-back and are 

held in Guard facilities on drill weekends, which has led to decreased family participation due largely to the misperception that 

they are only for servicemembers. 

Third, that whereas the enduring family program, which preceded the Yellow Ribbon program in Iowa, included the Veterans 

Affairs (VA) at meetings in order to provide servicemembers and 

their families with one-on-one counseling and assistance on filling 

out paperwork. The current meetings do not involve the VA, even 

though we have a VA hospital in Iowa City, leaving some concern 

that families are not aware of what benefits are available to them. 

And, fourth, that the post-deployment meetings are not required 

to be held over a certain period of time, which has led to the meetings sometimes being scheduled very close together, despite the 

fact that oftentimes the stress of a post-deployment period does not 

kick in for several weeks or months after a servicemember returns 

home. 

So, Colonel Lyman, I am very interested in working with you to 

make sure that the Yellow Ribbon program works for our Guard 

families. And specifically, I hope you can address the concerns I 

have just raised, as well as the following, and I will list these four, 

and then you can respond now or in writing, if you would like, as 

well. 

How is it assured that meetings are family-friendly and help in 

an atmosphere where families feel comfortable discussing the challenges they are facing? How is information about the meetings disseminated to the families and participation encouraged? How is 

feedback gathered from the families? That is very important feedback. And how were existing family support programs and their 

best practices integrated into the Yellow Ribbon program, if at all? 

Colonel Lyman. And thanks for listening to my lengthy statement, as well. 
16 

Colonel LYMAN. Of course. Let me preface what I have to say by 

saying that, in my current role as the assistant director of individual and family support policy, I don’t sit in the Yellow Ribbon 

Reintegration Program office. 

However, I am quite acquainted with it and I would like to, in 

fact, give them the opportunity to respond in greater length to 

some of the things you are saying. 

However, I can address my perception, which would be that, as 

far as being family-friendly, there have been some advances even 

recently in cooperation with military family and community policy. 

They have provided and funded kits that provide materials to help 

care for and entertain and make family-friendly these events. 

They are providing these to each of the joint force headquarters 

in the National Guard, that includes movie in a box and other 

kinds of resources that children would find entertaining so that 

they are not sitting there saying, you know, ‘‘What am I supposed 

to do as a child?’’ And to try and involve them in the events. 

I attended down in Norfolk a pre-deployment fair put on by the 

Marine Corps, and there were other Services involved, also. Many, 

many family members were present. It was held in a very nice facility that was far from any base. 

And I know that at the local execution level, sometimes these 

may be placed at armories or head bases—there is also, however, 

the recommendation that they be held in a location where the family can feel relaxed and get the message that they are important 

to the military and that we want them to participate and feel welcomed. 

The feedback from family members, the Centers of Excellence for 

Yellow Ribbon Reintegration receives, in addition to reports of how 

many attended these events, they receive feedback reports. They 

become the clearinghouse for discussing best practices, pushing 

those ideas out so they will become part of other states’ efforts. 

The advisory group that is working above the Yellow Ribbon program has just been established, will be staffed by three-star-level 

individuals to also provide some guidance and direction to the program. 

I know that the events that I have heard about and the one that 

I attended, we did fill out a very detailed feedback form and I have 

provided that to them with some very constructive feedback, because I was out speaking to some of the different persons, families 

who were in attendance. 

So I know that at a local level, there is that effort to assess the 

event, to make sure that they are continually improving it. I am 

sorry to hear that there have been some negative experiences. That 

is something that I think could be very detrimental to the program. 

And we have got to make sure that across the board we have a 

high level of excellence and the people feel like, ‘‘This is something 

I want to come back to,’’ because we provide these at 30, 60, 90 

days. We want them to come back when it is offered again so they 

can receive information about programs that would fit for their 

level of recovery and development following their deployment. 

Mr. LOEBSACK. Thank you. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 
17 

Mr. LOEBSACK. And maybe there are just some growing pains in 

the program, too, to be quite honest. 

Colonel LYMAN. Of course. 

Mr. LOEBSACK. But I thank you very much. And any others want 

to respond in writing to my questions, I would be happy to take 

that, as well. 

Thank you, Madam Chair. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 

Mr. Kline—I am going to go on to Mr. Kline, but perhaps will 

pick up on that in a little while. 

Mr. KLINE. Thank you, Madam Chair. 

I am going to pick up on that for just a minute, because the gentleman from Iowa has described a situation which is the opposite, 

the antithesis of what was thought of when the Yellow Ribbon program was put into effect nationwide. 

And it is true that, to a large extent, some of the Yellow Ribbon 

programs in the legislation now came from Minnesota’s Beyond the 

Yellow Ribbon program. And I will tell you that the program now 

in Minnesota looks nothing like what was just described. 

The VA is always involved. We have a very large VA hospital 

there. They are there in strength, the veterans service organizations (VSO) there, the Lutheran Social Service, and many others 

are there. I have attended some of these events, and there are 

wives and husbands and mothers and fathers in attendance. They 

are not held in armories in Minnesota. They are held in very, very 

nice facilities. 

There are things in the program such as marriage retreats at one 

of the finest hotels in the Twin Cities that is nothing like an armory. The program, if it is working as the gentleman described, we 

ought to throw it out today, but I can just say without getting into 

a state-versus-state thing that the potential is there and the example is there for it to work and do what it is supposed to do. 

And the running the programs together in terms of time is exactly contrary to what I believe the law says and certainly the intention was, is you would come back at a 30-day period, a 60-day 

period, and a 90-day period, so that leadership can, in fact, assess 

the progress or perhaps lack of progress that might be being made 

in reintegrating. 

So that is a terrifying story, and I would love to talk to you about 

that later. 

A couple other really quick things. The chair mentioned the 94 

percent number. We were talking about families who perceive that 

their sacrifice isn’t perceived. And I am almost surprised, Madam 

Chair, that it is not 100 percent, because, in one sense, that is kind 

of the human condition. Until you have walked a mile in my shoes, 

you can’t really appreciate the pain that I am suffering. 

And it is absolutely true that military families arguably anytime 

have got some stresses because they are being moved. They are 

having to pack the kids up, move them out of school, even without 

the stress of deployment. 

So it is not at all surprising to me that military families feel like 

their sacrifices aren’t appreciated. And I certainly that while we 

have been doing everything we can to ease their sacrifice, but I 

don’t know that we could ever make public awareness to the point 
18 

where they—where people—families would believe that everybody 

understands that they are suffering. 

And then—and finally—or not finally—I still have time, so it is 

not finally. A number of you have mentioned—and, Sergeant Major 

Kent, you really hit on it, that there were concerns about medical 

support. And I think when you were talking about lack of doctors, 

you were talking about when the family goes to the naval hospital 

or perhaps the Army hospital—there aren’t doctors there. 

And we need to be alert to that. This subcommittee has got a lot 

of concern about that. And we should be paying close attention as 

we have looked at all sorts of arrangements to make sure that 

there are, in fact, enough doctors. 

But a couple of you mentioned TRICARE. My family used 

TRICARE and Champs or whatever. I forgot whatever preceded 

that. 

Mrs. DAVIS. CHAMPUS. 

Mr. KLINE. Yes, CHAMPUS, I knew it was something like that. 

And we didn’t like it, frankly. It is what we had, didn’t—seemed 

like it didn’t pay enough. We found too many doctors that wouldn’t 

accept it. 

And so I hope you will continue to tell us about those problems. 

If we have communities where you cannot find a doctor who takes 

TRICARE, that is unacceptable, and we need to work that. 

And then, finally, because the light is turning yellow, we now 

have a lot of programs. Mr. Myers, you listed a bunch. We have 

some read-ahead material here. There are just all sorts of family 

advocacy programs. 

And one of the things I think you said, Master Chief, is that, 

gosh, we need to get the word out to them. And I am struck that 

we have had this Military OneSource operation, which is there all 

the time, 24/7, literally where people can call in and ask questions 

about everything, what services are available, where the nearest 

babysitter is, practically. I think it is a fantastic resource. 

And I hope that we are exercising that. And if it is not working 

and if it can’t address those concerns about, well, what is available 

to me, we need to fix that. 

My perception is—I have visited a OneSource center. I have 

talked to the people who provide that service. My son and his—he 

is in the active in the Army now, and his family is very much 

aware of that. We need to make sure that people know how to use 

it and make sure it is doing what it is supposed to do. 

I see my—I have exceeded my time, and so I yield back. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you, Mr. Kline. 

Mr. KLINE. Thank you. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Dr. Fleming. 

Dr. FLEMING. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. 

I have heard a couple of comments. And, of course, Mr. Kline just 

mentioned the fact that adequate access to health care is a problem. My background, I was a physician in the Navy back in the 

1970’s. And we were really well-staffed, and getting CHAMPUS in 

those days was not that difficult. 

Being a practicing physician, though, in recent years, we found 

that the reimbursement was horrible for TRICARE. And you often 

didn’t get it at all. It actually began to cost—we had calculated it 
19 

cost more money to file for the money than it did to actually receive 

the money. 

So it became—I think the comment was charity care or something like that. That is literally the way it was our experience. 

Now, I know there have been some changes in that, one being 

that there is electronic filing of claims now that we didn’t have. So 

I am sure that is helpful. 

But in visiting around the—my district, I am still running into 

issues with that, not just with CHAMPUS, but also on base care. 

I visited Fort Polk recently, and a young lady I visited with was 

14 weeks pregnant and still could not get an obstetrical appointment. That is atrocious. 

Now, in that specific case, all the doctors are deployed. But there 

are plenty of—I shouldn’t say there are plenty of obstetrical physician in the area, but there are enough that she shouldn’t have to 

wait to 14 weeks. 

Yet I am shown surveys that the satisfaction rates among members who are receiving CHAMPUS care are very high. So I am really perplexed by what I saw on the other side of the fence, what I 

am getting as feedback, but then the reports that I am getting. 

So I would really open this up. Perhaps, Sergeant Major Preston, 

you might—since you kind of led with that—you might want to 

start by commenting on that. 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. Yes, sir. 

Sir, you are exactly right. And, you know, the challenge you have 

got is your Army’s health care professionals, they belong to units 

and organizations. And when that unit or organization deploys, of 

course, they take their health care professionals with them. 

What we are supposed to do is be able to continue providing 

health care to the families that are left behind, you know, through 

the TRICARE system by pushing, you know, our families off the installation to those surrounding communities. 

And, you know, from Louisiana, you know Fort Polk. There is not 

a lot of infrastructure there around Fort Polk to really provide immediate care. And I am surprised that it was—it has taken that 

long for a young lady down there to get that care in that length 

of time. So that is the challenge that we have been dealing with. 

And, of course, when you look at the number of health care providers out in the civilian community that take TRICARE, many of 

them were left with a bad taste in their mouth from dealing with 

TRICARE before, because of the length of time it took to get reimbursement. 

You know, I myself have dealt with a lot of cases overseas, particularly in Germany, where, you know, we have pushed family 

members out on the Germany economy to receive health care. And, 

of course, now you are dealing with, you know, health care providers in another country trying to get reimbursement. And that 

acerbates the length of time to get the payment in. 

I have sat down with the TRICARE management team, and they 

have laid out what they have done now to restructure and streamline that process to improve their system. So from where it was to 

where it is today, I would tell you it has come a long way and it 

has improved, but, you know, we have still got a ways to go. And 

there are some gaps in seams out there that need to be corrected. 
20 

Dr. FLEMING. Yes. Before I go to other panel members, let me insert that, really, CHAMPUS got the reputation—or TRICARE got 

the reputation that, of course, private insurance was the best, 

Medicare second best, Medicaid third, and, of course, TRICARE 

was the least desirable form of reimbursement. 

And oftentimes—and maybe it is the cynicism that we physicians 

sometimes have about that—it seems to work in favor of the payer 

for things to be inefficient. And that is one of my worries about— 

slightly changing the subject for a moment—about a governmentrun health care system, is we may see the same sort of things, 

again, longer waiting lines, rationing, and so forth. 

So it really comes down to how quickly—how timely payment is 

made and how adequate. There are plenty of doctors in this country who—and I am sure there are many more doctors, like myself, 

who for years saw patients knowing we weren’t getting paid adequately, but that was an acceptable thing for me. 

But there comes a point when you just can’t afford it any longer. 

And so adequate payment, timely payment is key for access of care. 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. And if I could add one thing—and, you 

know, Fort Polk is one of those communities that is somewhat isolated. And when I travel—last week, I was in Alaska and, you 

know, very isolated communities up there. And that also acerbates 

the challenge. 

And, you know, health care—there is a shortage of health care 

professionals, you know, in our country right now. And that hurts 

us not only from a recruiting perspective and filling our ranks, but 

also what is available outside of military bases. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you, Dr. Fleming. 

Ms. Shea-Porter. 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Thank you. 

I, too, have some questions about, when there are so many committees and so much organization devoted toward helping medical 

and families who either have medical needs or long deployments, 

how are they missing the message? 

And so I also agree with my colleague when he talks about Military OneSource, et cetera, et cetera. And I look at your framework 

and I look at all your efforts, and yet when I go and I talk to the 

families and I say, ‘‘Do you know there’s such-and-such?’’ And they 

say, ‘‘No, they don’t.’’ 

So somehow or another, we are still missing the mark. And so 

I sat and thought, and I said, ‘‘Well, what would I do if I wanted 

to get the message out in a military community?’’ I would put the 

phone numbers on a grocery bag. I would ask all the grocers in the 

community to put the phone number on the grocery bag, because 

that is where people go. 

I would put the number in a doctor’s office. I would put the number by a pharmacy. I would put the number wherever anybody is 

forced to stand in line. That is where I would put the numbers, because for all the money that we are spending and for all the good 

effort, somehow or another, they don’t know. 

And I have been on ships and I have asked them, and they tell 

me they don’t know. And I have been abroad. They don’t know. 

And I have been on local bases, and they don’t know. So something 
21 

is missing. And I just would put that out there that I know it must 

be very frustrating to you, also, that you have these services. 

Now, sometimes they do know, and then they tell me that they 

can’t have access because it is actually not available, that you simply don’t have the personnel to provide. And I have heard the stories about TRICARE. In my own family, we have experienced that 

with a cousin of mine. 

I would also like to address one other thing. I was a military 

spouse. And my husband was born and brought up—born on a military base. And I would say there is a different mood now. 

I would say that the families are under a great deal of stress and 

that they have shifted in the sense that we always felt that people 

knew. Sure, they didn’t know exactly how hard some things could 

be, but they kind of knew. And now, even though families know 

that we love them and that we honor them, they still feel more 

than ever before that we don’t really know what is happening to 

them. 

And I would attribute that to several factors. And one, I would 

say, is that constant deployment is taking its toll, that families 

don’t have a chance to rebuild. And I am very concerned about 

that. Those prolonged deployments, and the kids being spread out 

around the country, versus being on a military base and all of them 

in the same school. That is contributing. 

I heard a horrific story about a woman who had an asthma attack. Her husband is deployed. She had an asthma attack, and her 

little seven-year-old packed the bag and the little kid and went 

next door. This is isolation, and this is really something that we 

have got to address. 

The other part I am concerned about is what is happening to the 

children whose families have experienced injury. They have to 

move, and they have to go to a community, say, if they come to 

Walter Reed or they go to some other place. What is happening to 

those kids? 

And so that is what I really want to ask each one of you in particular. What is happening to the children once we have a wounded 

warrior and we have gotten past the first phase? What is the 

child’s life like? What are we doing? Are we leaving those kids unattended inadvertently by not making sure they have constant, 

constant support and that they are surrounded by people who understand their story? 

And, also, I would like you to please address dual deployments, 

because I think that that—it is terrible to have one parent out of 

the house when you are three years old. It is completely devastating to have both and not to know—and for them to keep being 

deployed. 

So, Sergeant Major Kent, I would just start with you—— 

Sergeant Major KENT. Yes, ma’am. 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER [continuing]. If you would be willing to answer. And I would like to hear your perspective and what you can 

do or what you believe can be done with the dual deployments, the 

long deployments, and the children of wounded warriors. 

Sergeant Major KENT. Thank you very much, ma’am. 

First of all, I would start off with the wounded warriors. About 

two years ago, we stood up a unit called the Wounded Warrior 
22 

Regiment. It is commanded by a colonel, and they have a sergeant 

major. And we have a unit on the West Coast, and we have a unit 

on the East Coast. 

And they have a 24-hour call center. And even if a wounded warrior exits the Marine Corps, they still make contact with them and 

their families. And this is a 24-hour call center. 

So we ensure that we lose nobody in the system. And we are confident, you know, that it is working, because we sent out teams, 

and they have town hall meetings, and they talk to families constantly, and we are confident that it is working because the chain 

of command is set up like any other unit, and they keep tabs on 

these wounded warriors 24 hours a day. 

And that call center is set up. And, you know, and I welcome 

you, ma’am, you know, to go down to Quantico, Virginia. The headquarters is there. And they can give you a thorough brief on, you 

know, exactly what they do there. 

Dual deployments for our warriors, we try not to do that, based 

on leadership. Now, sometimes, if they are in a critical job, it is a 

possibility that, you know, both of them may have to go. But leadership is very conscious and not to deploy two people at the same 

time, especially if they have small children. And we are confident, 

you know, that the leadership is actually looking at that. 

But sometimes, if they are in a critical job, you know, I am not 

going to sit here and just tell you anything. If they are in a critical 

job, they may have to go forward, both of them. 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Do they have an appeal process? Is there 

somebody they can go to if—and ask for it to be reviewed if both 

are being deployed? 

Sergeant Major KENT. Yes, ma’am. We have a chain of command 

all the way up. And I will be quite honest with you. The commandant and I, we get e-mails from Privates First Class (PFCs). 

So, you know, the Marines are not shy about bringing up issues. 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Thank you. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 

Dr. Snyder. 

Dr. SNYDER. Thank you, Madam Chair. 

Mr. Myers, you made the comment about special needs kids and 

autism and made the legitimate point that there are more special 

needs kids than just autistic kids. And I agree with that. 

I think, as you know, one of the problems our parents of autistic 

kids have is that autism gets caught up in this whole issue of mental health parity, which is autism doesn’t get treated as a physical 

illness. It gets treated as something that a lot of insurance hasn’t 

covered through the years and in a way that I think is unfair. 

And so that has created some gaps in coverage. I think that is 

where some of the interest has come from. And then, as you know, 

some of the therapies for autism are quite comprehensive and people-power-intensive and puts them in a special category, too. 

But I share your need about special-needs kids. I think you and 

I have talked before about the fact that my own view is that base 

commanders ought to about once a quarter or so hold a town meeting for special-needs parents and families, because my experience 

is that parents for a variety of reasons, the transit in and out of 

military bases, transit in and out of the military, but also because 
23 

of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 

(HIPAA) and privacy concerns, that there may be, you know, ten 

families on a base with kids with severe asthma, but they won’t 

know each other, because the caretakers can’t tell the other folks 

that they have there. 

This happened to me with a group of autistic kids. And I think— 

and I did talk about this before—where I asked the Air Force base 

to invite parents of autistic kids where I can meet with them. 

And, of course, if they didn’t want to meet me, they didn’t have 

to. But we talked for, I don’t know, 15, 20, 30 minutes before I realized that they had never met each other. They didn’t learn a damn 

thing from me, but they learned a lot from each other about what 

services were available. 

And, I mean, it was just like a tremendous weight off them that 

they actually could talk to parents. Well, I think that would be the 

goal. I think that is what probably what would be accomplished 

with some kind of an ongoing, regular set, everybody in the military at any base have—with their families—have some kind of a 

town hall meeting for parents of special-needs kids. 

And then, after the meeting, there could be the table for, you 

know, different kids have different needs, but that could be helpful, 

because it really is a challenge for our military. It is a big determinant of where people in the military want to go to be stationed 

is, what is there for my family? And I think it helps to have a supportive system. 

I wanted to ask one parochial question, if I might have you all 

help me. And it is about public school buildings. We have a situation at the Little Rock Air Force Base where a school building on 

base, owned and operated by the—I mean, operated by the local 

school district, who has the responsibility for replacing it, that everybody agrees is inadequate. And it has been an issue sitting out 

there for some time. 

The base commanders have been very aggressive—appropriately 

so—about making the case to the local school district that the 

building should be replaced. And the most recent disappointment 

is—and it was one of the reasons I voted for the stimulus bill, because there were dollars there to go for school districts around the 

country to help build school buildings. They are not going to use 

any of the federal stimulus dollars for this school building on this 

federal facility. 

And so my question is—and maybe this is not an issue that you 

all deal with—do we have other issues with public schools on military bases? Are they maintained well? Are they treated appropriately by the local school districts? Is that something any of you 

have looked at? 

Or, Mr. Myers, I will direct it to you. 

Mr. MYERS. I am not familiar off the top of my head about public 

schools on bases. You know, we have Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary School (DDESS) schools on some of our bases 

and DODEA schools overseas. But I would be more than happy to 

look into that. 

Dr. SNYDER. If you wouldn’t mind doing that. I mean, I feel for 

the school district, because the school district, like most of them, 

they do not have an overabundance of money. On the other hand, 
24 

I think—the point you all are making today is we have a special 

responsibility to our military families. 

And I talked to one parent who said it is a real downer when you 

are overseas to get an e-mail from your kid that the roof leaked 

again—literally leaked again—and hit his desk this time and ruined his papers and things. 

But, Colonel Lyman, do you have any comment? 

Colonel LYMAN. Well, I was just going to say, there is a working 

group that is between DOD and Department of Education that 

deals with a host of education issues having to do with that special 

population, and particularly with those communities that immediately surround military installations. 

And I represent the Reserve Component on that committee. And 

this is something I could certainly bring to their attention. 

Dr. SNYDER. Yes, well, and maybe it is an isolated situation. The 

very supportive community—and it is a district that doesn’t have 

an abundance of money. On the other hand, it is a, I think, a priority. 

The base is willing to donate land outside the perimeter that is 

federal land for the facility. That deals with some security issues, 

but also that is a big chunk of construction, if you have the land 

available. And it would be a great site. 

My time is up. Thank you. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 

Mr. Jones. 

Mr. JONES. Madam Chairman, thank you. 

And I want to thank those of you in the—at the panel for your 

service to our Nation. And I want to piggyback on Mrs. Shea-Porter. 

I have told this story many times, and I have got a reason to tell 

it again, to get to the point of what I want to ask you. Back in 

2007, I was invited to national reading day to be at Camp Lejeune, 

Johnson Elementary School. And as I finished reading Dr. Seuss to 

the children, there were 15 kids in the library, 6 years of age, 5 

and 6. 

And the questions were, as a child would ask, ‘‘Do you have a 

dog?’’ ‘‘Have you seen the President?’’ Those kind of questions. 

Now, the last child—this is a point I want to get to—the last 

child—and I made the announcement, ‘‘This will be the last question. I have to leave.’’ The librarian was standing there, and my 

staff, a retired Marine, Jason Larry. 

And the little boy looked up at me and he said, ‘‘My daddy’s not 

dead yet.’’ ‘‘My daddy’s not dead yet.’’ I was so shocked that it had 

to be at least 40 seconds—I couldn’t respond. I came out with a response of, ‘‘Well, God loves our moms and our dads.’’ 

And the reason I mentioned that, because I believe it was Sergeant Preston, in your comments—I was late getting here—or 

maybe your answer to a question. With knowing the shortage of 

psychiatrists, psychologist and medical doctors in the military—and 

another point I want to make before I ask the question. 

I won’t call the name of the Marine, but I was there for the sermon. He had given a guide dog to a Marine who was badly burned, 

badly burned. And thinking about the young man that said this 

about his father, and thinking about this corporal who was receiv-
25 

ing the guide dog, and knowing how badly he was burned, are we 

able to really help those children who, at five, six, seven, eight, 

think about their daddy not coming back or mom not coming back, 

or one coming back who is paralyzed, or one coming back whose 

face will not look normal again? 

Do you really feel that, in this shortage of medical professionals, 

that we are doing—I know we are doing the best we can do, but 

can more be done for those children? This preys on my heart for 

a long time, that these young children that would grow up with 

that different look out of the face of a father or mother or maybe 

their daddy didn’t come back. 

Do you feel that—under the circumstances, I am sure you do, 

that we are doing the best we can—but can more be done? I will 

go to you, Sergeant Kent, because I think you meant—I think you 

meant—Preston, excuse me. I think you mentioned counseling for 

children in a general statement. 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. And, sir, I will tell you that, you know, 

across the board, I mean, for all of us, we are working right now 

focusing on getting those counselors and those services into all of 

our schools. 

And one of the things that, you know, General Casey said last 

week as we were working through the details of this rollout of a 

comprehensive soldier fitness program, I mean, when you look at 

the five domains of fitness, one of those is families. It is building 

resilient families out there that are able to cope with the stresses 

of life right now that we have put on them. 

So one of those is being able to get those services out there into 

all of our schools and to be able to take care of the children, as they 

are growing up in all different ages. 

And we have done some of that right now with the child development new centers that are out there. And, of course, the next step 

now is a lot of our schools which are tied to public school districts. 

And there are a lot of best practices out there that are going on. 

We have got, you know, now family liaisons in a lot of the schools 

out there that have large military populations. 

You know, one of the things that I am very proud of, for the city 

of El Paso, you know, what they did was they have hired family 

spouses to work as family liaisons in the schools, where they have 

large densities of military children to help the children and the 

families integrate into the school district, but then also that they 

are there all the time with the children, so those that do need 

counseling and do need help, you know, we are able to get more 

of those services focused on the individuals. 

Mr. JONES. Does anybody else have a comment? 

Yes, sir. 

Mr. MYERS. A couple things. One of the problems that we have 

is, as we talk about mental health care and its access to health 

care, we had a Senate committee where we had spouses talk and 

they rated health care excellent, but access poor. 

And what we have found out, families with children, a lot of 

TRICARE providers will—a lot of health professionals will not accept TRICARE. So constantly we hear at Fort Campbell, these families have to travel to Nashville, an hour-and-a-half, to get the care 

and back. 
26 

So what we are doing is Secretary Thomas, he is actually going 

to go to Fort Drum and Fort Campbell with the TRICARE people, 

the health care people, just to find out if we can break it loose. 

Now, dealing with children, we have a great relationship with 

‘‘Sesame Street.’’ They did a national TV—the first one was dealing 

with the deployments. The second one that they came out recently 

was when Dad or Mom comes home differently. And these are family members who participate, losing arms and so forth. 

The next one they are going to do is loss of a loved one. So this 

helps the children. Plus, we have these family life consultants and 

our child development centers at the base just to talk to children. 

But our children, they have it rough. There are military members that will not put their uniform on at home. They leave it at 

work, because the kids, they see that, they think Dad or Mom is 

going to be deployed. 

Secretary Snyder—I mean, Dr. Snyder, when he said when he 

leaves for Washington, puts his tie on, the kids know you are leaving. So it is a big impact. 

Colonel LYMAN. May I? 

Mrs. DAVIS. Yes. 

Colonel LYMAN. One program that has been mentioned—and I 

just wanted to emphasize it here is Military OneSource. That is a 

program—I had a good friend whose son died in a tragic car accident, 17-year-old. He was just being eaten alive with his grief, suggested he call Military OneSource. 

He called them. Every time I am with him and he runs into 

somebody, he says, ‘‘This guy turned me on to OneSource. I got 

counseling that really changed my situation.’’ And I think that is 

an opportunity that is available to every family nationwide, because there are contracts with therapists in communities. 

And at one time, the session limit was six sessions per issue. 

That has now increased to 12 sessions per issue. That is a marvelous resource for anyone to make that call, get a referral to a 

therapist within easy distance of their home. I believe in most 

cases they would be able to do that and get that help. 

Mr. JONES. Thank you, Madam Chairman. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. If I could just follow up with that, are 

you all able to do public service announcements, getting that message out with the number? Is that something that all the major 

broadcasters, as well as cable, have accepted? And is there something that we can do to facilitate that? 

Mr. MYERS. That information is getting out on all the bases. We 

are doing TV announcements for overseas, base newspapers, and so 

forth, and the word is getting out, because I think this year the 

calls to Military OneSource have probably increased 40 percent. 

So families know about it. They are calling and so forth. But you 

still find these little pockets where they don’t know. 

So as I told you, Secretary Thomas is going out just to get the 

feedback, to pass the word, get the information out and so forth. 

And National Military Family Association (NMFA), they really help 

us getting the word out. So I think the word is getting out now. 

Mrs. DAVIS. If I could follow up on the issue of children, because 

I think that people think about the impact of deployments on children ages 6 to 12. And I think, Mr. Myers, you were at the Baby 
27 

Caucus meeting when they talked about the impact zero to five, the 

Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) found that children between those ages were highly impacted. 

And could you comment on that? And what do you think should 

be done? Are there additional studies we should be doing? Services—clearly we know there could be and should be and we would 

like to see more mental health workers that are able to relate to 

families with children at this age. But short of that, what else 

should we be doing to understand this better and the impact that 

that could have on the future productivity and the future life of 

that child? 

Mr. MYERS. Well, the Baby Caucus, I mean, that was really 

great. We had a number of congressmen, people there, and so forth, 

and they had professionals. They had Dr. Luster, who did a project 

focus study that is going to be coming out later this month. They 

had the wife of the The Adjutant General (TAG) from North Carolina, and they had a military spouse. Her husband was in the 

Guard. She was a few months pregnant. He deployed. He came 

back when the baby was six months old. 

But she tells the story, when he was gone, he would call. She 

would put the phone to the womb so he would talk to the baby, 

would put a picture of him in front of that baby. The only thing 

that disappointed her, when the husband came home, the baby 

bonded with her, and here she has been talking to the baby, the 

first word out of the baby’s mouth was ‘‘Dada.’’ 

So the father really liked it. And they gave us—they showed us 

some films of just dealing with babies. They had a parent dealing 

with a baby, interacting. The baby would point. The mother would 

look and so forth. 

Then they had the mother come back and sit in front of the baby. 

The baby did the same thing. The mother just looked at the baby, 

never moved. The baby pointed, nothing. All of a sudden, the baby 

starts hitting, screaming and crying. 

So it is getting the word that connection at that young age is so, 

so important. And you get—especially the Marines. You get these 

young Marines. They haven’t really even bonded maybe with their 

wife. They have young children. The bond with that child, so I 

think it is a great first meeting. 

I think they are going to do studies. And the more we get involved with that, I mean, that is a major impact, zero to three, because that is when they can develop developmental problems and 

so forth. But we really appreciate it. I know you are a part of that 

caucus. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, thank you. 

I want to just turn to another area which I have to do, I think, 

with just the changing environments that we all live in and the difference of so many women working and, in some cases, working at 

lower pay, perhaps, than their counterparts and, as military 

spouses often find themselves, quite mobile and unable to really establish themselves in areas. In the Air Force, about 50 percent of 

the women are working outside the home. 

Are we adjusting? Are we finding ways of really responding to 

that situation? Because, you know, it is not the traditional family 

unit in some ways that, you know, the military has grown up with, 
28 

where we relied on moms at home to be able to do many things 

and be there with families, where, in fact, they have to work today. 

And it is quite different. 

How are you responding to that? What has changed? And how 

are you evaluating any of the programs that are out there that 

have to deal with the dual working families in the services, as well 

as not necessarily both of them in the service? 

Mr. MYERS. Well, especially for military families that both work 

and our child development centers, people have to work longer. We 

have family daycare to put them in there. We have care 24 hours 

a day to take care of the children. But, remember, when someone 

deploys, mom or dad is home taking them to soccer, so forth and 

so on. 

Thanks to Congress, we have started these career advancement 

accounts where military spouses can come in and sign online to 

take college courses, get licensed for various things. You know, 

military spouses leave, you could be a schoolteacher in one state. 

You have to get a license in another state. So we have these accounts. And it is up to $6,000 where you can 

apply to get your license renewed, take college courses, get licenses, 

and so forth. And the majority—we have 34,000 spouses signed up 

since March for this program. And most of them are taking courses 

to go into the health care area. 

But the bases themselves, the squadron has things to support 

the spouse. But this is different. You know, when I was in the service, one spouse stayed home. So it is really—there is a lot of pressure on the family. And a lot of families also depend on their mother and father, grandmother and grandfather and so forth. The services also have programs to address that. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. Certainly an area that we need to work 

much harder on. 

We have a vote, and—six, six votes actually, so it is going to be 

some time. 

Mr. Wilson, do you want to follow up quickly with a question? 

And if we can get to Ms. Shea-Porter, then maybe we will close it 

out, since it is going to be an hour, and we will have some questions for the record. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Instead of a question, I just want to thank you. 

We have a circumstance, as Chairwoman Davis has identified, 

and that is that we have a higher percentage of married military 

personnel today than ever before. But I also see this as great opportunities for military families. 

To me, I know what it has meant for myself, for my four sons, 

for their families. It is very uplifting, their military service. It has 

created opportunities beyond imagination. 

The travel, when I visit with young people from my home state, 

whether it be in Guam or South Korea or Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, you name it, it is just so uplifting to see the opportunities for 

young people. 

And so as we are—as giving young people and military the opportunity to protect our country, you are also working with their 

families. And I just—I want to thank you, as I stated earlier. However we can back you up by policy or any other way, please let us 
29 

know. But it is just wonderful to know the opportunities for a person that wants to serve in our military. 

Thank you, and God bless each of you. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thanks. 

Ms. Shea-Porter, a quick question? 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Yes, I would like to thank you, also, for all 

that you are doing. 

But, Mr. Myers, I would like to ask you in particular, do you 

have any idea how many dual deployed you are actually dealing 

with? And do you know how many children of wounded warriors 

we have who have had to move? Do you have any idea how many 

have been displaced? 

Mr. MYERS. I would have to go to each of the services for that. 

But when I was with the Air Force, I dealt with the wounded warrior program. I can tell you, we had a military person assigned to 

that family to take care of that family. They had priority. They had 

all their childcare needs and so forth to make sure that they were 

accommodated. 

The one thing that we had pushed—and I think it is going to 

come in for legislation—in many cases, the spouse leaves her employment to go there, to take care of the injured person and access 

a non-medical attendant. So they are losing their income there. 

There are non-medical—it is a non-medical attendant. 

That person is out of the hospital—we should give them compensation to do that job. Taking care of children is extremely important. We had an airman that was burned over 80 percent of his 

body. He was down at Brooks Medical Center. 

People who have burns, unfortunately, a lot of them do not survive. We found out this person all of a sudden was not doing well. 

His family—problem was, he was afraid his three-year-old child 

would view him as a monster. We got the right people to talk to 

the family, the child. The child saw him as his father. Today, 114 

operations later, he is doing great and wants to continue to serve 

in the Air Force. 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I am very happy to hear you say that. We 

should compensate these families—— 

Mr. MYERS. Correct. 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER [continuing]. Because I have had a large number of them who have had to leave their homes to care for their 

loved ones. And I heard a particularly tragic story where this 

woman took care of somebody who now was paying her mortgage 

just out of the goodness of her heart because she was there with 

her son. And I don’t think that was ever our intention to leave 

these families hanging over a financial cliff, as well as an emotional cliff. 

Mr. MYERS. I agree. 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Thank you very much. 

I yield back. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. And I know Ms. Shea-Porter was on the 

trip, and we want to Afghanistan and met with many women there. 

And we did hear a number of stories, because they were single parents and, in some cases, having their parents or relatives care for 

the children and, in some case, even having difficulty getting access 

to medical services for that child. 
30 

And I think we tried to deal with some of those issues. But it 

is certainly an important one. 

Yes? 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. If I could, I would like to just talk to 

the dual military couples, just from an Army perspective. And as 

I spend a lot of time out on the road and I talk to a lot of military 

couples, and for all of them, they—you know, when they went to 

an installation as a couple, they have a choice. And what I advise 

them is always—is to go in as a couple and talk to the commander. 

And there are a lot of cases, military couples want to be deployed 

together, you know? You know, Tonya Gerard just left my office. 

You know, her husband is a soldier. You know, both of them have 

no children, and they want to be deployed together, so they are on 

the same deployment cycle, they can take leaves together, celebrate 

the same holidays and birthdays together. You know, for that couple, for them to be deployed together is what is best for them. 

And then you have those couples out there that have young children. And, of course, what they don’t want to do is be deployed at 

the same time. And by talking to the commander, they can get in 

different units and organizations that are on different deployment 

cycles. 

But for the single parents that are out there, as well as the dual 

military couples, you know, they are required to have a family care 

plan so that, you know, they have got those plans in place to make 

sure that their children are taken care of in the event that they 

are deployed. 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Right. So many repeated deployments, 

though, it is falling apart. Many of the family plans have fallen 

apart because it is now the third deployment. And, you know, 

Grandma is not as happy and as willing or unable to do that or 

the brother or whomever. So it is the repeated deployments, I 

think, that has put that extra strain on them. 

Thank you. 

Mrs. DAVIS. I want to thank you all for being here. I think, because of the fact that we are not going to be back here for about 

an hour, we are going to go ahead and conclude. 

I appreciate all the programs that you have shared with us and 

the initiatives. I think one of the things that we are very interested 

in, of course, is how you evaluate them. It is not just based on the 

number of people that participate, but are they being institutionalized? You know, are they seen as something that is going to be 

there for them and for the families? 

And so the extent to which you can get that kind of feedback will 

be very important to us. And we hope that we will have an opportunity to meet with you again, perhaps in a roundtable, to continue 

the opportunities to do that. 

So I want to thank you again very much on behalf of the families 

that you care about so deeply. And I want to remind you that we 

are very interested in making incremental, but continuing improvement always in how we treat our families. 

Mr. MYERS. Thank you for your support. We sincerely appreciate 

it. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you very much. 

[Whereupon, at 2:01 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 
A P P E N D I X 

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THE HEARING 

JULY 22, 2009 

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RESPONSE TO QUESTION SUBMITTED BY MR. WILSON 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. One specific area we could use your help and 

support is military spouse employment, of particular interest in these times of high 

unemployment. Efforts to address streamlining state-to-state certification and licensure in health services, education, financial services and potentially other occupational areas would be most beneficial as spouses frequently move between states 

with their service members. Also, opportunities to market military spouses to nationwide employers within Congressional districts could provide local solutions to 

corporate hiring needs while adding visibility to our spouse workforce. 

Current funding levels are meeting program requirements. [See page 13.] 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING 

JULY 22, 2009 

(149) 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MRS. DAVIS 

Mrs. DAVIS. Can each of you explain to the committee how the Department, or 

your individual Service, evaluates family support programs to determine whether 

they are meeting the needs of the families? What sort of process does your Service 

or the Department go through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of 

the programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e. family 

members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. The Department values ongoing, systematic Service member and family research and evaluation, especially critical in these times of 

change, to help guide us in best serving families. Along with social science research 

on families and quality of life issues, we have relied on three major sources of data 

over the past several years to help us understand the needs of families. 

1) Active Duty Spouse Surveys (2006 and 2008) cover a wide range of quality of 

life issues, including financial well-being, effects of deployments on children, 

spouse employment and education, and feelings about military life. The surveys provide the richest source of data we have to date about how families are 

faring across all the services. 

2) Three Status of the Forces Surveys a year poll Active Duty service members 

on their overall satisfaction with the military, retention intentions, perceived 

readiness, stress, tempo, and permanent change of station moves. Two surveys 

of the Reserve Components are also conducted each year. These surveys allow 

us to track trends and changes in the quality of life of Service members and 

their families. A rotating set of questions covers quality of life issues, including 

financial well-being, impact of deployments on children, use of services and 

programs like Military OneSource and Morale, Welfare and Recreation and 

family support. 

3) In May 2000, the Department funded the Military Family Research Institute 

at Purdue University to conduct basic research on quality of life in military 

families, with particular emphasis on implication for job satisfaction, performance and retention. 

In recognition of the increased burden placed on Service members and families 

during the Overseas Contingency Operation, the Department has made family readiness a high priority and has redesigned and boosted family support. Use of support 

programs has expanded as the programs respond to the needs of our military families. The Department has recently completed its first report to Congress on Military 

Family Readiness Policy and Plans, in accordance with NDAA 08 Section 581. The 

report addresses goals and measurement systems associated with family support 

programs in some detail. 

Developing outcome measures remains a work in progress due to the difficulties 

in applying meaningful measures to a military family’s readiness. In many areas, 

insufficient data exists to directly link program benefits to outcomes for military 

families. For example, outcome data on various service programs that assist military spouses with employment goals has been difficult to systematically collect as 

the Services have different delivery systems and different data collection methods. 

Standardizing and collecting program outcome measures will be a priority of research in coming years. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Can each of you explain to the committee how the Department, or 

your individual Service, evaluates family support programs to determine whether 

they are meeting the needs of the families? What sort of process does your Service 

or the Department go through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of 

the programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e. family 

members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations? 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. In fiscal year 2004, the Family and Morale, Welfare and 

Recreation command instituted an aggressive Army Community Service (ACS) Accreditation program. This comprehensive evaluation consists of over 190 standards 

which establish baseline metrics for common levels of service delivered within our 

military communities. As part of this extensive review, ACS staff, volunteers, and 
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customers participate in interviews with accreditation team members. Their input 

is used to validate findings and identify areas for improvement. 

In October 2007, the Army unveiled the Army Family Covenant as its commitment to provide Soldiers and their Families—Active, Guard, and Reserve—with a 

quality of life commensurate with their level of service and sacrifice to the Nation. 

The Army has aggressively improved a broad range of Family-oriented, quality of 

life programs to standardize services, increase accessibility to health care, improve 

Soldier and Family housing, ensure excellence in schools, youth, and child services, 

and expand education and employment opportunities for Families. The Army has 

made significant progress, but there is still much to do. 

As the Army Family Covenant nears its second anniversary, senior leaders want 

to know if improvements and investments in programs and services meet the needs 

of Soldiers and Families. We are conducting a series of town hall meetings at seven 

of our largest installations to meet with Family Readiness Group leaders and members to gather first-hand information from those most affected by deployments about 

how well the Covenant is meeting its commitments. Results from the town halls will 

guide further program and service improvement strategies. 

We also measure the effectiveness of Army support programs by regularly surveying Soldiers and Families to seek opinions, assess satisfaction, and most importantly, monitor adaptation to the unique challenges of Army life. These trends help 

us match the capabilities of Army programs to the expectations of our Soldiers and 

Families—keeping the Army strong, ready, and resilient. 

Finally, the Army’s customer-centric tool to communicate issues important to Soldiers and Families is the Army Family Action Plan (AFAP). The AFAP gives Soldiers and Families (Active and Reserve Component) a voice in shaping their standards of living by allowing them to identify and elevate issues and concerns to senior 

leaders for resolution. Although most issues can be resolved at local level, issues elevated to HQDA have resulted in 112 legislative changes and 159 policy changes. 

The AFAP also gives the Army leaders an assessment of how well deployment and 

Family support is working. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Can each of you explain to the committee how the Department, or 

your individual Service, evaluates family support programs to determine whether 

they are meeting the needs of the families? What sort of process does your Service 

or the Department go through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of 

the programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e. family 

members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations? 

Sergeant Major KENT. The Marine Corps uses Functionality Assessments (FA) as 

the internal program review process to maximize program efficiencies and ensure 

effectiveness. FAs are conducted in three phases, which include the evaluation of 

current programs (i.e., As-Is analysis); Benchmarking, a comparison of best business 

practices; and ‘‘To-Be’’ development. The ‘‘As-Is’’ phase is based on the information 

provided by the installations through a data call. During the ‘‘Benchmarking’’ phase, 

a professional firm is contracted to conduct an objective bias free study of like processes employed by our Sister Services and select public and private organizations. 

The As-Is and Benchmark information provide the basic tools and resources needed 

for the third and final phase, ‘‘To-Be’’. This phase is conducted as a week-long Working Group comprised of installation program specific subject matter experts and 

management, as well as headquarters program sponsors. Common deliverables 

achieved through the conduct of FAs include: 

• Mission validation and identification of critical requirements. 

• Redefining or refining core functions and tasks to establish an acceptable minimal level of service Marine Corps-wide. 

• Adoption of best practices identified in the benchmark study. 

• Development of common terms and definitions to help ensure data integrity, 

and to increase opportunities for benchmarking across the Corps with industry. 

• Identification of standard IT systems for data collection, admin, and modernization of service delivery. 

• Development of standardized staffing models based on defined metrics. 

• Development of performance measures to help determine program effectiveness 

and to quantify contribution to positive military outcomes (recruitment, retention, readiness). 

To-date, the Marine Corps has completed 24 FAs that encompass over 50 programs and support functions. The Functionality Assessments are also supported by 

customer surveys that capture invaluable data from a representative sample of the 

Marine Corps’ demographic. Additional national-level research efforts are used to 
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capture customer feedback and guide Marine Corps planning and programming decisions; most notably the Quality of Life (QOL) in the Marine Corps Study. The Marine Corps administered the fourth iteration of QOL Study during the 2007 timeframe. The Study results are instrumental in tracking and reporting Marine and 

spouse perceptions of QOL in a wide variety of life areas, such as housing, compensation, and healthcare to marriage, friendships, and children. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Can each of you explain to the committee how the Department, or 

your individual Service, evaluates family support programs to determine whether 

they are meeting the needs of the families? What sort of process does your Service 

or the Department go through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of 

the programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e. family 

members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations? 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. Navy family readiness programs and services 

are systematically evaluated through several mechanisms. To meet the DoD requirement for triennial inspection of all military family centers, Navy Fleet and Family 

Support Programs (FFSP) implemented in 1994 an Accreditation Program. Accreditation provides detailed analyses of program operation, to include identification of 

strengths and areas for improvement. It also provides an external, objective marker 

that the program meets accepted standards for organizational function and quality 

of service, and it ensures regulatory requirements are met in each management 

function and program area offered. The Navy Child and Youth Program (CYP) also 

conducts unannounced annual inspections by qualified Navy child development specialists, and partners in comprehensive accreditation programs with the National 

Association for the Education of Young Children for Child Development Centers and 

the Council on Accreditation for school-aged care. 

In addition to Navy accreditation processes, Sailors, family members, and command participants are surveyed on a recurring basis by installation Fleet and Family Support Program (FFSP) personnel to determine the effectiveness and quality of 

services offered. Programs are adapted accordingly in response to feedback about 

what does and doesn’t work. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Can each of you explain to the committee how the Department, or 

your individual Service, evaluates family support programs to determine whether 

they are meeting the needs of the families? What sort of process does your Service 

or the Department go through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of 

the programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e. family 

members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations? 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. The United States Air Force conducts a biennial 

Community Assessment where military members and their families are polled directly for their opinions about the effectiveness of family support and other quality 

of life programs. Information gathered from the Community Assessment is tabulated, reviewed and developed into a community action plan at the installation, 

major command and headquarters levels. In addition, individual installations are 

empowered to conduct focus groups and local needs assessments surveys to gauge 

their specific community needs. Once assessed, the community action plans are 

standardized for base implementation so families cross the Air Force are offered 

similar services. In addition, specialized programs are developed to meet unique 

needs. For instance, programs are developed based on unique needs, like an overseas assignment or a specific mission. To augment these forms of feedback, the Air 

Force also contracts assessment teams to independently survey the effectiveness of 

our programs. 

Mrs. DAVIS. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these important programs are being provided to families? Should the Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially 

during these difficult times for military families? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. The Department is fully committed to providing 

a high quality of life for military members serving our Nation and their families. 

These programs are lifelines of support for families, especially children and youth, 

who are stationed around the globe. Our commitment includes providing strong 

youth programs and services through adequate funding, strict oversight, continual 

staff development and strong family involvement. 

Current minimal funding for appropriated funds (APF) support for family and 

youth programs is 65%, however the Services are spending well over that amount. 

For example, in 2008 the Army spent 93.4%, Navy 74%, Air Force 70%, and Marine 

Corps 88% of APF. 

The effects of eight years of war on military children, youth and their families 

have taken its toll. Recent studies have found that a significant number, (approxi-
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mately 32%), of military youth, whose parents are deployed during wartime, may 

be at ‘‘high risk’’ for psychosocial problems which can include learning disorders; developmental disabilities; and emotional, behavioral and psychosomatic problems 

(msnbc.com and NBC News, updated 6:00 p.m. ET, Thurs., Aug. 13, 2009). Furthermore, research also shows a direct correlation between the levels of support receive 

and a lowering of risk levels. 

DoD appreciates the focus and attention Congress has placed on military youth 

programs. We continue our commitment to meet these expectations and share the 

passion for improving services to support military children, youth, and families. 

Mrs. DAVIS. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these important programs are being provided to families? Should the Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially 

during these difficult times for military families? 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. The Army continues to support the standard funding 

level of 65 percent Appropriated Funding (APF) which is sufficient to ensure the delivery of the Youth Programs. As part of the Army Family Covenant, the Army increased APF support in fiscal year 2009 for Youth Programs to mitigate the stressful effects placed on our Families due to eight years of persistent conflict. This increase has allowed the Army to expand youth programming to include outreach 

services for geographically dispersed youth, to offset fee discounts for youth sports 

and instructional programs for children of deployed Soldiers, to provide transportation support to allow youth to participate in after school activities, and to offer 

extended operating hours for youth centers that mirror the extended duty day in 

support of parental mission requirements. 

Mrs. DAVIS. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these important programs are being provided to families? Should the Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially 

during these difficult times for military families? 

Sergeant Major KENT. The Marine Corps appreciates the on-going support of Congress to address funding requirements for important family support programs. Although DoD policy establishes 65% as the minimum standard for funding MWR Category B programs (includes child and youth programs); the policy does allow 100% 

APF support for all authorized expenditures. For FY08, the Marine Corps MWR 

Category B funding was reported at 83%, which was an approximate $41M increase 

in total APF spending from FY07. This included baseline and supplemental funding 

expenditures. Beginning in FY10, CMC has directed a $110M increase to the family 

support baseline budget, which will help solidify efforts to transition programs to 

a wartime footing. 

Mrs. DAVIS. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these important programs are being provided to families? Should the Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially 

during these difficult times for military families? 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. Since youth programs have a limited ability to 

generate revenue from user fees and programs are often provided free of charge to 

encourage participation, the minimum funding requirement of 65 percent is appropriate. The remaining 35 percent is covered by non-appropriated programs. This 

percentage split does not limit the amount of appropriated dollars Congress can authorize for family and youth programs. Current funding levels are meeting program 

requirements. 

Mrs. DAVIS. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these important programs are being provided to families? Should the Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially 

during these difficult times for military families? 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. The Air Force operates over 82 Child and Youth programs world-wide and serves approximately 68,000 military dependents under the 

age of 18. Activities focus on five core program areas: Character and Leadership Development, the Arts, Youth Sports, Fitness and Recreation, Health and Life Skills, 

and Education and Career Development. The School Age program includes before 

and after school care, care on school holidays and during the summer months, specialty and summer camps, and part-day preschools for parents of children aged 5- 
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12 years. The Air Force Youth Camping Program offers a wide variety of summer 

camp opportunities in both residential and specialty camps and serves over 20,000 

children of military members. Mission Youth Outreach is a partnership between the 

Air Force and the Boys & Girls Club of America that provides one-year free membership for youth to attend any Boys & Girls Club in their community. 

The 65% funding requirement for Child and Youth Programs sustains basic program operating costs and allows for partial replacement of equipment. Increased 

funding would allow for initiatives directly targeting children of deployed members, 

augmentation of existing programs with specialized positions that help families deal 

with deployment-specific issues and family relocations, and enhance existing relationships with the Air Force partners like the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and 

4-H. 

The Air Force is committed to serving Airmen and their families by reaching out 

and assisting all members of the Total Force through robust child, youth and family 

programs, wherever the member resides. 

Mrs. DAVIS. One of the constant challenges for many family support programs is 

the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done to address this issue? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. Staff turnover is an on-going issue in family support programs especially overseas where many staff are military spouses who relocate every few years when their sponsor is reassigned. Turnover is an expected 

issue and one that is weighed against the benefit of military spouses’ career opportunities, experience, and ability to adapt to changing situations. Many military 

spouses who begin their federal careers overseas go on to similar jobs in CONUS 

locations. The Services report stateside family support programs do not show higher 

levels of staff turnover than other programs. Turnover is expected and steps are 

taken to employ relocating staff at the next duty station, thereby reducing the effects of staff turnover. 

The military Services have taken steps in recent years to improve recruitment 

and retention of support staff within their family programs and lessen the negative 

impact of turnover by increasing recruitment efforts, offering incentives, and reorganizing programs. Several of the Services have changed the manner in which they 

provide family support and have done away with the traditional ‘‘stove-piped’’ service delivery system where each staff member specializes in one program area. In the 

new delivery system, staff are cross-trained to provide services in several program 

areas. This concept works to lessen the impact of staff turnover by ensuring continuity and program knowledge and experience is not lost when a person leaves. 

Another effort to recruit and retain quality staff is in the area of payment and 

incentives. For child and youth programs, pay is fixed across the Department with 

increases based on successful completion of training and adequate performance. 

Child and youth programs typically offer educational incentives such as payments 

for college courses. 

Additionally, the Department has partnered with the 106 institutions which make 

up the public Land Grant University system to provide training and professional development for Military Community and Family Policy and family programs staff. 

One such effort is the Capitol Region Child Care Laboratory School—this model professional development program provides hands-on training in a military child or 

youth program setting linked to a university laboratory school and its faculty expertise. This Lab School will provide services for families while serving as a learning 

laboratory for students and professionals to enhance their training in child development, family support, and administrative management. The program will assist program efforts in enhancing professional development, as well as improve the overall 

quality and functioning of staff. 

Another program that will address recruitment and retention of military family 

program staff is the 4-H Military Internship Program, collaboration between the Department, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Land Grant University system. This Internship Program will recruit upper level undergraduate and 

graduate students to work within DoD programs such as child development centers, 

youth programs, and other family support programs. 

Mrs. DAVIS. One of the constant challenges for many family support programs is 

the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done to address this issue? 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. The Army Family Covenant in 2007 provided funding 

for an additional 477 positions for our 83 Army Community Service (ACS) centers 

worldwide. Until these positions are authorized in fiscal year (FY) 2010, the Army 

is using a bridging strategy of contractors and over hires to deliver the required 

services. These positions will bring ACS centers to the standards established by the 

1999 US Army Manpower and Analysis Agency staffing requirements. This will increase our base staffing in ACS centers by approximately one third (from 1,071 to 

1,414). We are currently reviewing additional manpower requirements for FY12 to 
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address current new missions acquired, without additional resources, since the 1999 

manpower surveys. 

Many of our Family Program positions are filled with military spouses. As Soldiers move, so do their spouses. While this turnover is challenging, we believe that 

the opportunities for professional positions in portable careers within the military 

community for our Families is a huge quality of life advantage. 

Mrs. DAVIS. One of the constant challenges for many family support programs is 

the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done to address this issue? 

Sergeant Major KENT. In 2007, the CMC took deliberate action to establish civilian family readiness officers and family support trainers. This action was necessary 

as much of the work prior to 2008 was performed by volunteers. Beyond these program areas, we have significantly increased our Exceptional Family Member Program and established a School Liaison Program. Our strategy for retention is to ensure competitive salaries appropriate to the position. However, it must be acknowledged that military spouses predominantly fill these positions at present. Therefore, 

we expect turnover to be high. While regrettable, the talent and expertise of military spouses allows these individuals to quickly acclimate to employment on another 

installation reducing effects of turnover. 

Our remaining challenge has been associated with family support programs that 

have been contracted out over time. Recent changes in OSD policy and Congressional direction for in-sourcing of contracts have presented an opportunity to, upon 

appropriate business case analysis, discontinue contracts at appropriate timeframes 

and establish nonappropriated fund personnel who are government personnel and 

salaries reimbursed by appropriated funds. We expect this action will have two significant benefits: (1) stabilize our staffing and resolve long-term vacancies and (2) 

return ownership and flexibility directly to the program and evolve services to meet 

our mission. At present, flexibility is greatly restricted due to contract terms. 

Mrs. DAVIS. One of the constant challenges for many family support programs is 

the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done to address this issue? 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. There is no known data that shows family support programs have a level of turnover that is higher than any other Navy program. 

We take pride in hiring military spouses and therefore it would be reasonable to 

assume that this practice would result in a higher level of turnover than non-Navy 

programs. However, losing a trained spouse from one location due to transfer often 

means the ability to hire a fully trained staff member at the next duty location. 

With respect to recruitment, we are proactive in identifying positions that can be 

virtual, preventing a break in service for the spouse when the active duty member 

is transferred. In addition, we encourage alternate work schedules where appropriate as a workforce incentive; maximize the family programs network in recruitment; and utilize Facebook technology as a recruitment tool. 

Mrs. DAVIS. One of the constant challenges for many family support programs is 

the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done to address this issue? 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. Airman and Family Readiness Centers (A&FRCs) 

across the Air Force see approximately 15 percent turnover annually. A&FRCs combat this turnover percentage by staffing their centers with Community Readiness 

Consultants (CRCs). CRCs are trained to provide customer service in any program 

area under the A&FRC umbrella. The CRC concept abandons the traditional stovepiped service delivery system and allows each staff member to provide full spectrum 

support. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps ombudsmen in 

my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the lack of access to funds 

that could be used to help reduce the financial burden on our volunteers or provide 

recognition for their service. Have the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would 

be the issues that need to be overcome to do so? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. Recognizing the vital role family readiness volunteers play in supporting Service members and their families is important. Volunteerism is essential to implementing military family support programs. Command-sponsored support groups run by volunteers range from informal to formal organizations of spouses and Service members’ parents or significant others and meet 

social needs for camaraderie, companionship, information, and serve as a forum to 

relieve loneliness and stress during deployment or periods of family separation. 

They also play a vital role in communication between commanders and families. 

Volunteer burnout and out-of-pocket expenses have been reported throughout 

military programs worldwide. While a robust volunteer network is crucial to support 

military families during times of deployment, we also acknowledge that more paid 

staff to support volunteers is needed. The Department is aware of the stress many 

of these dedicated volunteers are dealing with on a daily basis. The military compo-
155 

nents continue to look for ways to increase support to volunteers and to provide 

them with additional tools and resources. The Army has increased spending to over 

$45 million to hire 1,000 full-time staff to support the Family Readiness Program. 

The Marine Corps is spending $30 million over two years to shift from volunteers 

to paid staff. The Department applauds the Services’ efforts to assist volunteers by 

providing family readiness support to units down to the battalion level to help relieve some of the overworked volunteers. We understand more is needed. 

While military commanders may not compensate volunteers for the services they 

provide, they may reimburse them from appropriated or non-appropriated funds for 

incidental expenses incurred in providing services, including but not limited to long 

distance telephone calls, commuting, and childcare. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps ombudsmen in 

my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the lack of access to funds 

that could be used to help reduce the financial burden on our volunteers or provide 

recognition for their service. Have the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would 

be the issues that need to be overcome to do so? 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. The Army has made provisions to defray the costs incurred by volunteers in the conduct of their official duties. Army Regulations 608- 

1, Army Community Service Center and 215-1, Military Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Programs and Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities outline the use of appropriated and non-appropriated fund support for Family Readiness Group volunteers. These regulations provide detailed guidance for commanders and volunteers 

on how to obtain reimbursement for childcare expenses, mileage, telephone calls, 

and other appropriate expenses. Both regulations also address the use of funds to 

support awards and recognition ceremonies. 

Since 2007, the Army has added over 1,000 paid Family Readiness Support Assistants (FRSAs) who, under the supervision of unit commanders, work solely to 

ease the burden on volunteer Family Readiness Group (FRG) leaders. FRSAs do not 

replace volunteer FRG leaders, but rather provide administrative and logistical assistance, allowing volunteer FRG leaders to concentrate on assisting Families. 

FRSAs may also liaise between the FRG leader and the rear detachment commander. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps ombudsmen in 

my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the lack of access to funds 

that could be used to help reduce the financial burden on our volunteers or provide 

recognition for their service. Have the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would 

be the issues that need to be overcome to do so? 

Sergeant Major KENT. Reimbursement of volunteers for incidental expenses in 

support of their unit’s personal and family readiness program or in support of training programs provided by Marine Corps Family Team Building has been a top priority for Marine leaders prior to the development and implementation of the new 

Unit, Personal and Family Readiness Program. Such incidental expenses include 

mileage, telephone calls, tolls, parking, and childcare. These types of expenses are 

authorized for reimbursement using either appropriated funds or non-appropriated 

funds. Funding for volunteer reimbursement is subject to reasonable limitations established by Commanders as there may be competing requirements to consider. Currently, Marine Corps units located aboard Marine Corps installations are only authorized non-appropriated funds to support the personal and family readiness program, which includes volunteer reimbursements. Non-appropriated funding is the 

more available, flexible and usable type of funding for personal and family readiness 

events. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps ombudsmen in 

my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the lack of access to funds 

that could be used to help reduce the financial burden on our volunteers or provide 

recognition for their service. Have the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would 

be the issues that need to be overcome to do so? 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. Although Ombudsmen do not expect a salary, 

the Navy recognizes that serving as a command volunteer should not result in financial hardship and that Ombudsmen do occasionally incur expenses during the 

performance of their duties. Many of the expenses are authorized for reimbursement 

by OPNAVINST 1750.1F, 5.d(8), and such reimbursement is the responsibility of the 

commanding officer. Ombudsmen with children, ages 0-12, performing official duties 

are authorized child care through the Navy Child and Youth Programs at no cost. 

Commanding officers must provide appropriate funding resource support to the 

Ombudsman Program. The funding line item to support the Ombudsman Program 
156 

may use appropriated funds (APF) or non-appropriated funds (NAF). Based on a 

survey of 1,389 Ombudsmen in October 2007, 80% responded that they have no difficulty receiving reimbursements. 

Recognition of Ombudsmen is vitally important, and commands are encouraged to 

show their appreciation in a variety of ways using non-appropriated funds. While 

Ombudsman Appreciation Day is 14 September, through ongoing interaction, commands regularly show Ombudsmen their service is valued through appreciation dinners, ombudsman plaques and awards. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps ombudsmen in 

my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the lack of access to funds 

that could be used to help reduce the financial burden on our volunteers or provide 

recognition for their service. Have the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would 

be the issues that need to be overcome to do so? 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. Appropriated funds must be used for mission essential tasks. Appropriate funds are only available to help recognize volunteers who 

help carry out official Air Force functions. Nonappropriated funds and private organization funding is typically used to provide funding to recognize the contribution 

of volunteers. 

Mrs. DAVIS. When we think of military families, most think of the spouse and 

children. However, not all service members are married, but yet their families— 

mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support services when a single service 

member is deployed. What is the Department and the Services doing to support the 

families of single service members? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. The Department provides information and referral services and resources to parents of service members through Military 

OneSource 24/7, 365 days a year. 

The Military Services provide information and referral and resources to family 

members including parents and siblings before, during and after return of a member 

from deployment. Information about the resources is provided during pre-deployment outreach and workshops; through command newsletters and e-messaging; 

through outreach from rear detachment staff and/or family programs during deployment; and during reintegration and post-deployment workshops and training. Additionally, the Services invite parents to participate in Family Readiness Groups during deployment. 

Mrs. DAVIS. When we think of military families, most think of the spouse and 

children. However, not all service members are married, but yet their families— 

mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support services when a single service 

member is deployed. What is the Department and the Services doing to support the 

families of single service members? 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. The Army uses many service delivery mechanisms to 

inform all Soldiers (single and married) and immediate or extended Families on 

available services and programs. Army OneSource (www.armyonesource.com) is a 

focal point for information delivery, which provides accurate, up-to-date information 

on a variety of topics for Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve Soldiers and Family 

members. In fiscal year 2008, Army OneSource had more than 20 million hits per 

month. The Family Program Newsletter, a monthly update of topics related to Family readiness, is e-mailed to more than 75,000 subscribers who sign up at Army 

OneSource. 

Family Readiness Groups (FRGs) provide a critical link between extended Families, Soldiers, and units before, during, and after deployments. FRG membership is 

open to Soldiers, civilian employees, and immediate and extended Family members 

(parents, siblings, fiance ́es, and other loved ones designated by the Soldier). Virtual 

FRGs provide all the functionality of an FRG in an ad-hoc, online setting to meet 

the needs of geographically dispersed units and Families. The eArmy Family Messaging System is another tool for commanders to deliver messages through multiple 

devices such as phone, cell, text, PDA, and fax. 

Mrs. DAVIS. When we think of military families, most think of the spouse and 

children. However, not all service members are married, but yet their families— 

mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support services when a single service 

member is deployed. What is the Department and the Services doing to support the 

families of single service members? 

Sergeant Major KENT. Today, the Marine Corps Family is defined as more than 

just the traditional nuclear family definition of parents and children. Marines, their 

spouses and children, by default, should always be the primary focus of family readiness support. However, we readily acknowledge the role extended family members 

may play in fostering personal and family readiness, for both single and married 

Marines. Our Unit, Personal and Family Readiness Program was developed to be 
157 

inclusive of this valuable support resource. Single Marines and supported sisterservice members may now designate up to four contacts to receive official communication from their command and have access to the information and referral support provided by the unit Family Readiness Officer and the enhanced training opportunities. Additionally, we are in the research and development phase for the design of our organizational communication system, which will facilitate all-way communication for Marines, spouses and designated/extended family contacts and provide a portal for authorized users to access information on services available across 

a spectrum of programs. This endeavor is the capstone to implementing the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Guidance to ‘‘Improve the quality of life for our Marines and our families,’’ with the specific goal of ‘‘Ensuring our Family and Single 

Marine Programs have fully transitioned to a wartime footing in order to fulfill the 

promises made to our families.’’ 

Mrs. DAVIS. When we think of military families, most think of the spouse and 

children. However, not all service members are married, but yet their families— 

mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support services when a single service 

member is deployed. What is the Department and the Services doing to support the 

families of single service members? 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. All Sailors, to include single Sailors, have access 

to services provided at Fleet and Family Support Centers, to include deployment 

support, relocation assistance, clinical counseling, sexual assault and domestic abuse 

victim advocacy, personal financial management, life skills education, and transition 

assistance. 

We engage a single Sailor’s preferred point of contact during an IA assignment 

or the designated caregivers of seriously wounded, ill and injured single Sailors. We 

otherwise provide information to family members of single Sailors through our family support website, command Ombudsman program, and recently launched a Fleet 

and Family Support Programs Facebook page. Military OneSource and Military 

Homefront websites, as well as the Joint Family Support and Assistance Program, 

provide resources and information which are beneficial for family members of single 

service members. 

Depending on geographic location, extended family members are invited to attend 

family day events, deployment briefings, family readiness group events, and Returning Warrior Workshops, which are signature events of the Navy Reserve Reintegration (Yellow Ribbon) program. 

Mrs. DAVIS. When we think of military families, most think of the spouse and 

children. However, not all service members are married, but yet their families— 

mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support services when a single service 

member is deployed. What is the Department and the Services doing to support the 

families of single service members? 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. Since Operation Desert Storm, Hearts Apart (HA) is 

a vital element of deployment readiness activities hosted by the Airman & Family 

Readiness Centers (A&FRC) to help families stay connected to Airmen. Hearts 

Apart activities focus on deployment support for Airmen & families during pre-deployment and sustainment. HA also includes support to families separated due to 

extended TDY lasting 30 days or more and to families whose Airman is on a remote 

assignment. A&FRC offer a baseline of Hearts Apart services to aid families in feeling connected to the Air Force community. Morale Calls through base operators 

allow Airmen and their family members to connect through the Defense Switching 

Network (DSN) at a rate of 1 call per week for 15 minutes. Discovery Resource Centers allow computer access with webcams for family members to uplink with Airmen 

at deployed locations and some have video teleconferencing capabilities. Air Force 

Aid Society (AFAS) Community Enhancement Programs such as Give Parents a 

Break and Car Care Because we Care provide free child care and car safety checks. 

One hundred percent (100%) of Airmen are required to receive a pre-deployment 

briefing from the A&FRC at which time they identify family members left behind. 

Although some services are limited to family members enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, support may be extended simply through a 

newsletter, email, or phone call to parents, siblings, or significant others. At the 

briefing, all Airmen are asked by A&FRC personnel to identify family members or 

significant others that may require assistance or information during a deployment. 

A&FRC personnel distribute information and maintain monthly contact with family 

members or significant others in multiple ways. Outreach focuses on face-to face 

meetings at community events for family members of deployed Airmen. 

The Air Force is currently working on Caring for People initiatives that examine 

closely and enhance the support we specifically provide to single Airmen. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Mr. Myer, given the recent survey data from DMDC on the impact 

of deployments on children, is the Department of Defense undertaking any longitu-
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dinal studies on this issue that may be able to shed more light on what is needed 

to assist families under the stress of constant and extended separations due to the 

continued combat deployment of troops? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. The Department of Defense is launching a longitudinal component of the DMDC survey program in fiscal year 2010. A representative sample of Active Duty members and spouses will be followed over the next two 

years to better understand the stresses of deployments on families as well as the 

extent of existing support systems. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Mr. Myer, the recent study on combat related deployment on school 

age children conducted by the National Institute for Child and Human Development 

looked at the impact of deployments on children from ages 6 through 12. However, 

a recent DMDC survey found that children most impacted were between the ages 

of 0 to 5 years old. Are there any additional studies being conducted that would look 

at this specific population of children and what sort of prevention and treatment 

models may be needed to support these children and their caretakers? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. In the 2008 DMDC Active Duty Spouse Survey, 

spouses did indicate their child most impacted by deployment was 0-5 (53%). While 

important to note, it is driven by the demographics of the sample, 59% of whom had 

children in that age group. The average age of the most impacted child as reported 

by the parent was 6.1 years old. 

Boston University School of Social Work and the Boston Medical Center have received a four year grant from the Department of Defense (Army) to develop a family-based program to support the healthy reintegration of soldiers into their families. 

Designed for families with children ages birth to five years old, the goal of this 

home-based family program is to mitigate the impact of combat and separation-related stress upon the parent-child and family relationships. 

Through Coming Together Around Military Families (CTAMF), ZERO TO THREE 

has provided training, consultation, and materials to 12 military installations and 

2 medical centers around the nation; and provided support to several Joint Family 

Support Assistance Programs (JFSAP) as a means of addressing the unique needs 

of Guard and Reserve families. ZERO TO THREE contracted with the Military 

Family Research Institute at Purdue University to conduct a formal evaluation of 

the CTAMF trainings and anticipate having a final report in October. 

Resources, prevention and treatment programs currently being implemented are: 

• Child and Youth Behavioral Military Family Life Consultants (CYB-MFLC) provide support to children, parents, faculty, or staff at Child Development Centers, schools, and camps. 

- Support 151 child and youth programs on military installations. 

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 86 CYB-MFLCs will support 97 schools 

world-wide. 

- 30 CYB-MFLCs support Joint Family Support Programs in 30 states to serve 

families who are geographically isolated from installation services. 

- During the summer of 2009 more than 400 MFLCs are supporting more than 

300 summer camps with approximately 24,000 children. 

• Military OneSource provides face-to-face, electronic, and telephonic counseling 

on parenting/child issues and provides a myriad of other support and services 

to families. 

• Coming Together Around Military Families is a Department partnership with 

ZERO TO THREE to help build awareness of the impact of separation, injury, 

and loss on families with babies and toddlers. This program provides direct inservice training to DoD helping professionals in the fields of mental health, 

child development, family support, and pediatrics. 

• www.militarystudent.org is a website that offers an on-line course for educators 

and counselors to build their awareness of the impact of deployment and the 

military lifestyle to build systems of support. 

• Military Child Education Coalition provides Living in the New Normal courses 

for stakeholders interested in supporting military children as well as National 

Guard and Reserves Institutes. 

• Parents as Teachers is an internationally renown home visitation program deployed to high opstempo locations to support school readiness, identify special 

needs, and support optimum parenting skills. 

• Project FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress) is a family-centered resiliency training program based on evidenced-based interventions that enhance 

understanding, psychological health and developmental outcomes for highly 

stressed children and families. FOCUS has been adapted for military families 
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facing multiple deployments, combat operational stress and physical injuries in 

a family member. In March of 2008, the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery 

(BUMED) built a partnership with the UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience 

and Human Behavior to implement the FOCUS Project for United States Navy 

and Marine Corps families in order to address the impact of multiple deployments, combat stress, and high operational tempo on children and families. 

Through this unique collaboration, FOCUS services augment existing Navy 

Medicine and Navy and Marine Corps community support programs such as the 

Fleet and Family Centers and the Marine Corps Community Services in order 

to provide a comprehensive system of care that supports family readiness and 

wellness. 

• Military Families Learning Community: The major goals of the Military Families Learning Community are: 1) Provide education and training to National 

Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) category II and III sites on a variety 

of military-related issues; 2) Provide consultation and technical assistance to 

NCTSN Category II and III sites to facilitate NCTSN sites’ ability to provide 

trauma-informed, evidenced-based interventions to military families and children; 3) Identify key national and regional partnerships with NCTSN Category 

II and III sites, TRICARE, military treatment facilities, medical providers, and 

other federal, state and local partners, in order to provide a continuum and excellence of services for military families and children; 4) Extend knowledge and 

evidence based practices from NCTSN to larger community of providers to military families and children. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Colonel Lyman, how are Reserve and Guard families being informed 

of programs and services available to them, particularly opportunities to participate 

in Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Programs. Are families being provided the resources 

to be able to travel to these events? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. The Yellow Ribbon Program provides support 

across the entire deployment cycle and the success of Yellow Ribbon Programs and 

Family Readiness Programs are essential for unit readiness. Commanders at the deploying-unit level are responsible to communicate these programs throughout their 

organizations. 

The following resources help commanders communicate these programs: 

1) Well-developed family programs that include trained volunteers and formal 

and informal communication networks (e.g.: the Navy Reserve’s Fleet and 

Family Support Programs or the National Guard Family Program) 

2) Unit and family program newsletters sent to members and their families 

3) The Yellow Ribbon Program web-based event scheduling tool 

(www.dodyrrp.org) that allows Service members and their families to locate 

Yellow Ribbon events close to their homes. The scheduling tool opened on July 

1, 2009. 

4) Web-based tools that are advertised by the host Services and organizations 

that give families direct access to critical resources. For example: 

• Military OneSource at www.militaryonesource.com 

• DoD Military Community and Family Policy at www.militaryhomefront.com 

• National Guard Bureau at www.jointservicessupport.org/fp/ 

• Organizations such as National Military Family Association at 

www.nmfa.org 

Regarding family travel to Yellow Ribbon events, DoD policy requires the Services 

to budget for pay, allowances, and travel for members along with travel and allowances for an established number of family members (each service establishes its 

family attendance guidelines). 

Mrs. DAVIS. Colonel Lyman, studies have shown that the deployments impact our 

military children, given the unique challenges faced by Guard and Reserve families, 

what are the Department and the individual reserve components doing to ensure 

that families have access to the services and programs that they need particularly 

mental health resources? 

Mr. MYERS and Colonel LYMAN. The well-being of Guard and Reserve children is 

of great concern to the Department of Defense and numerous military and community resources are in place for support. Every Reserve component has established 

child and youth programs to ensure support services reach military families. Furthermore, with Guard and Reserve members living in over 4000 communities nationwide, military and community resources work in combination to serve the health 

and mental health needs of military children. 
160 

During and following deployment, Reserve component families have: 

• Full access to TRICARE resources (and civilian employer insurance where applicable) 

• Military OneSource available 24/7 for local access to masters-level, licensed 

therapists for up to 12 sessions per issue 

• Military Family Life Consultants (masters-level counselors) available in every 

state 

In addition, a variety of non-profit programs exist to provide support to RC families who are geographically dispersed. These efforts include, among others: 

• Operation Military Kids (OMK) an organization that supports the children and 

youth impacted by deployment. OMK has reached 88,000 military youth and 

provided information to 21,009 community members across the United States 

• Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) is a non-profit, world-wide organization focused on military children affected by mobility, family separation, and 

transition ensuring they receive quality educational opportunities 

• Children’s Camps and Educational Opportunities have been established to 

reach out specifically to military children and youth. For example, National 

Military Family Association (NMFA) established and supports Operation Purple 

Camp which in 2009 will host nearly 90 weeks of camp in 62 locations in 37 

states and territories. Purple camps have hosted over 20,000 kids since they 

started in 1994. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Sergeant Major Preston, one of the issues that have been raised is 

the Army provides 16 hours of respite care to families of deployed soldiers, but the 

problem is that the child care facilities are fully subscribed and are unable to provide the hours to families. Can you tell us is this specific to a handful of bases or 

a system-wide problem? 

Sergeant Major PRESTON. The Army has found no indication of a system-wide 

problem in offering 16 hours of respite child care (per child, per month) to the families of deployed Soldiers. While respite care in a Child Development Center (CDC) 

setting may not always be available ‘‘on demand’’ at every garrison, the Army has 

a wide variety of delivery methods beyond the CDC setting that allow the garrisons 

to meet the needs of most parents that wish to use it. 

Deployment respite care has been a key benefit to mitigate the stress felt by Soldiers and Families as a result of frequent deployment. Deployment respite care is 

provided through multiple delivery options, in addition to child care centers, to include Family child care homes, on-site child care sessions, summer camps for schoolaged children, child development homes, and trained babysitters. Since February 

2008, over 1.1 million respite care hours have been provided across Army Garrisons 

making this service one of our best received offerings system-wide. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Sergeant Major Kent, as you know, the Marine Corps and TriWest, 

the TRICARE contractor for the western region, have put together a pilot program 

to address the needs of autistic children at Camp Pendleton. Do you know the current status of this pilot program and are there any outcomes that may be useful 

as we seek to address support services for autistic children of military families? 

Sergeant Major KENT. The ‘‘Enhanced Access to Autism Services Demonstration’’ 

project, which took effect in March 2008, is being administered through TRICARE 

and allows eligible beneficiaries to have access to a greater range of existing evidence-based Educational Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders (EIA) services, through an expanded network of educational intervention providers. Based on 

an informal survey, families at Camp Pendleton are aware of TRICARE’s Demonstration project and are accessing its services. Nevertheless, we believe that even 

with the enhanced plan, current TRICARE coverage is insufficient for complete ASD 

medical services, particularly Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). 

Mrs. DAVIS. Master Chief Petty Officer West, the Navy has a significant population of Individual Augmentees deployed. What efforts has the Navy taken to provide the necessary support to their families that are no longer part of a ship or unit 

or may be geographically separated from a base? 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. The Individual Deployment Support Program 

begins 60 days prior to deployment and continues 180 days post deployment. An Individual Deployment Support Specialist (IDSS) from the Fleet and Family Support 

Center (FFSC) initiates contact with the IA Sailors and their family within 10 business days of receipt of a new file. Recurring contact, assessment and support, at an 

interval requested by the family, is provided by an IDSS and Command IA Coordinator. Support includes contact either by phone or in person, assessment of family 

needs, discussion of available family support programs and services nearest to the 
161 

family, facilitated referrals to nearby services, if requested, and mailing of IA information and materials. Efforts to reach remotely located families impacted by nontraditional duty assignments include using information technology to provide virtual 

IA family discussion groups and workshops, publishing a monthly family newsletter 

and IA Family Handbooks. When practical, deployment support programs and services have been adapted and provided specifically for family members of individual 

deployers. To date, FFSC Individual Deployment Support Specialists have served 

over 26,200 families of individual deployers. 

Command Ombudsmen are trained on the unique challenges and issues faced by 

families of Individual Augmentees and geographically dispersed families. As trained 

volunteers, Command Ombudsmen serve a vital two-way communication link between command leadership and family members providing personalized support and 

guidance to families adapting to the challenges of a mobile military lifestyle and extended operations necessary to meet the Navy’s maritime strategy. There are currently over 2,200 registered Navy Family Ombudsmen. Fleet and Family Support 

Centers provide training, consultation, coordination and support to Ombudsmen. 

The Navy Reserve Psychological Health Outreach Program provides two Outreach 

Coordinators and three Outreach team members to each Reserve Region (for a total 

of 25). These coordinators and team members provide outreach, support, and intervention to returning reservists and their family members to mitigate existing 

stressors and to address future concerns. The newly established DoD Yellow Ribbon 

Reintegration Program provides Reserve Component (RC) Service Members and 

their families support through all phases of the deployment cycle. The military services are sharing information regarding their deployment support programs so that 

RC personnel and families can attend events as close to their residence as possible. 

We are also using resources provided by Military OneSource, Joint Family Support 

and Assistance Programs, and the State National Guard Family Program Offices to 

deliver this critical information to our remotely located families. 

Mrs. DAVIS. The Army and Marine Corps recently began to hire paid family support personnel to assist with administrative support. Does the Navy have similar 

paid support personnel to help with your programs? If not, why has your service 

chosen not to support paid family support personnel? 

Master Chief Petty Officer WEST. The primary focus of the Navy Family Ombudsman Program is command communication, information, and referral. Ombudsmen 

are trained volunteers that liaison between commands and their families to keep the 

command informed regarding the overall health, morale, and welfare of command 

families. The program is designed to improve mission readiness through family 

readiness. A strong command Ombudsman Program ensures that families have the 

information necessary to meet the challenges of a military lifestyle. 

All Ombudsman Coordinators are paid positions that provide administrative support to commands and Ombudsmen. The support includes scheduling Ombudsman 

Basic Trainings and Advanced Trainings, and working with the local Ombudsman 

Assembly. They also coordinate and track training records for Command Ombudsmen, assist with the development of email and telephone trees, develop and maintaining rosters, and ensure that command and Ombudsman information is updated 

in the CNIC Ombudsman Registry. 

The Navy Preparedness Alliance (NPA) consists of five major commands that 

oversee the vast majority of programs affecting Sailors and their families. The principle NPA members are US Fleet Forces Command, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Chief of Naval Personnel, Chief of Reserve Forces and Commander Navy Installations Command. Their July meeting they assigned the NPA Working Group 

a task to conduct a Business Case Analysis (BCA) on the feasibility of hiring Family 

Readiness Advisors (FRA). The FRA would help in readiness and deployment support, dissemination of information and referral, serve as a command’s official communication to family members, and they would provide commands assistance in volunteer management. 

The Marine Corps Family Readiness Officer Program (FRO), a paid position, differs from the Ombudsman program, in that FROs have a higher level of responsibility within the command. In addition to serving as the liaison between the command and families they also manage, coordinate, and promote all matters pertaining to family readiness. As the primary point of contact concerning unit family 

readiness, the FRO is the subject matter expert for readiness events, conducts unit 

commander briefings, and ensures directives regarding family readiness posture are 

current. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Chief Master Sergeant Roy, how does the Air Force get information 

out to its families that may need support, particularly those families who may not 

live on a base or who was sent as an individual augmentee to a theatre of operation? 
162 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. Our main vehicle for getting information to Airmen’s 

families is the Airman and Family Readiness Center (A&FRC). While the center is 

focused on Airmen who are deploying, including individual augmentees, services are 

available to any Airman assigned to a particular base, including those who live off 

base. If they are unaware of A&FRC services prior to deployment, they will become 

aware because attendance at the A&FRC predeployment briefing is mandatory for 

all deploying Airman. At the briefing, all Airmen are asked by A&FRC personnel 

to identify family members or significant others that may require assistance or information during a deployment. A&FRC personnel distribute information and maintain monthly contact with family members or significant others in multiple ways. 

Outreach focuses on face-to-face meetings at community events for family members 

of deployed Airmen. 

A&FRCs take extra care to pinpoint whether the family will remain in the surrounding military community or choose to temporarily relocate to be near their familial support systems. Families are connected with the Airman & Family Readiness Center nearest to their location during the deployment. 

Mrs. DAVIS. The Army and Marine Corps recently began to hire paid family support personnel to assist with administrative support. Does the Air Force have similar paid support personnel to help with your programs? If not, why has your service 

chosen not to support paid family support personnel? 

Chief Master Sergeant ROY. The Air Force executes family readiness group responsibilities through numerous programs, including the Key Spouse program which 

has been successful through the support of volunteers and Air Force members. 

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