Instead of practicing gunnery, Staff Sergeant Burke now spends his days explaining the basics of banking to young recruits, helping overdrawn soldiers get out of hock, and guiding family members through financial emergencies while spouses are thousands of miles away. And nearly two thirds of the soldiers are married. At Fort Hood, where there are 41,500 soldiers and 71,650 additional family members, top brass have taken a number of unusual steps to make military life more tolerable for families. The commanding general has appointed 77 financial counselors like Burke, one for each battalion. Company commanders, the young officers responsible for grinding units into fighting shape, must now adjust training schedules for parent-teacher conferences.
Soldiers can use a tax center that prepares their tax returns for free.
The commanders believe these efforts will probably pay for themselves through improved morale and retention. More attention paid to families has coincided with lower rates of spousal abuse, child abuse, and drug-related incidents. The results are encouraging enough that officials from other bases have come to Fort Hood to study the program. Not all service members, though, are comfortable with the new approach. He complains about field exercises being halted at the end of the day when it's time for the troops to go home.