First lady announces study of military families - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

First lady announces study of military families

More than 100,000 service members and their families will participate in a “landmark” study to help the administration understand the challenges these families face, first lady Michelle Obama announced Wednesday.

She said the president has also ordered a 90-day review among 20 federal agencies to develop a coordinated governmentwide approach to supporting military families. Helping service members and families is not just the responsibility of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, she said.

And more than the federal government needs to be involved, said Obama, speaking to the National Military Family Association’s summit. She issued a nationwide challenge to help American military families.

“This has to be all hands on deck,” she said. While there has been an outpouring of support for military families over the last eight years of war, she said, many military families are still not receiving the support they need. Spouses need better mental health services, and children need more support, she said.

The administration’s review will set “strategic military family priorities” for the next ten years and identify key military family concerns and challenges, according to a White House statement.

The Military Family Life Project, involving the study of more than 100,000 service members and families, will help identify these needs. Conducted by the Defense Department, the study will begin this month. Obama urged families selected to participate to share as much as they can about their quality of life and their experience of deployments.

“The more this nation knows about your priorities, the more we can do to meet them,” she said.

“The readiness of our armed forces depends on the readiness of military families,” Obama said.

Candace Wheeler, deputy government relations director for the National Military Family Association, said “I thought what she had to say was needed for our country to hear, and also our military families.

“There are a lot of people out in communities who want to put their patriotism to work. We need to help develop a road map to do that.”

DISCUSS: The study