Volunteering Marine family wins award
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 30, 2009 13:52:00 EDT
Thirteen-year-old Jordan Leanes fixes up broken bikes and donates them to charities. His twin sister Syvannah organized a project to help wounded warriors through their church.
The twins, along with the other five members of their Marine Corps family — volunteers all — were named the National Military Family Association’s family of the year in the association’s 40th anniversary celebration Oct. 28.
It was all about military families, from first lady Michelle Obama’s videotaped message honoring and pledging support to military families, to videotaped messages from each service’s senior leader describing the accomplishments of the nominated families. And while members of Congress and a number of senior defense and civilian officials attended, the stars on stage and the constant focus were the military families.
Before he presented the award to the Leanes family, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, recognized military families “past, present and future.”
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/military_familyaward_103009w/
Showing posts with label National Military Family Association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Military Family Association. Show all posts
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Camps offered to families of deployed troops
Camps offered to families of deployed troops
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 20:50:53 EDT
Service members and their families who have experienced deployments within the last 15 months are eligible to attend a free four-day camp at one of four national park locations, sponsored by the National Military Family Association.
In addition, families who attend these Operation Purple Family Retreats will receive a $200 stipend per family when they arrive at the retreat site to cover the cost of travel.
Families will be paired with specialized field science educators who will guide them through activities like nature hikes, canoeing, beach exploration, and arts and crafts. In addition, FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress), a program designed to help military families build resiliency to face the challenges of multiple deployments, will provide activities to help the families strengthen their relationships, according to the NMFA.
Eligible are service members from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard — active duty, National Guard or reserve — as well as families of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/military_familycamps_090309w/
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 20:50:53 EDT
Service members and their families who have experienced deployments within the last 15 months are eligible to attend a free four-day camp at one of four national park locations, sponsored by the National Military Family Association.
In addition, families who attend these Operation Purple Family Retreats will receive a $200 stipend per family when they arrive at the retreat site to cover the cost of travel.
Families will be paired with specialized field science educators who will guide them through activities like nature hikes, canoeing, beach exploration, and arts and crafts. In addition, FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress), a program designed to help military families build resiliency to face the challenges of multiple deployments, will provide activities to help the families strengthen their relationships, according to the NMFA.
Eligible are service members from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard — active duty, National Guard or reserve — as well as families of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/military_familycamps_090309w/
Saturday, June 27, 2009
1 in 8 combat troops needs alcohol counseling
1 in 8 combat troops needs alcohol counseling
Military testing pilot programs to erase stigma of seeking help
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jun 27, 2009 8:51:52 EDT
One in eight troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan from 2006 to 2008 were referred for counseling for alcohol problems after their post-deployment health assessments, according to data from the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.
Service members complete their initial health assessments within 30 days of returning home.
The authors of the study, published in the Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, compared numbers of active-duty service members who had an alcohol-related medical encounter with those who received counseling for alcohol, noting that studies have shown troops with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to be substance abusers.
Defense officials said they are aware of the data. “Substance misuse/abuse is a psychological health issue, and thus one we are actively involved with,” said Navy Capt. Edward Simmer, Senior Executive Director for Psychological Health Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health.
In recent years, a number of soldiers and Marines have been discharged because of a “pattern of misconduct” stemming from alcohol abuse. Earlier this month, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli ordered military leaders to do a better job of getting treatment for soldiers or discharging offenders if they have received help and still have problems.
In an internal memo, Chiarelli wrote that “a growing population” of soldiers with substance abuse problems — identified either through urine tests or through “alcohol-related actions” — have not been referred to the Army Substance Abuse Program by their commanders.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/army_alcohol_062709w/
Military testing pilot programs to erase stigma of seeking help
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jun 27, 2009 8:51:52 EDT
One in eight troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan from 2006 to 2008 were referred for counseling for alcohol problems after their post-deployment health assessments, according to data from the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.
Service members complete their initial health assessments within 30 days of returning home.
The authors of the study, published in the Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, compared numbers of active-duty service members who had an alcohol-related medical encounter with those who received counseling for alcohol, noting that studies have shown troops with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to be substance abusers.
Defense officials said they are aware of the data. “Substance misuse/abuse is a psychological health issue, and thus one we are actively involved with,” said Navy Capt. Edward Simmer, Senior Executive Director for Psychological Health Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health.
In recent years, a number of soldiers and Marines have been discharged because of a “pattern of misconduct” stemming from alcohol abuse. Earlier this month, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli ordered military leaders to do a better job of getting treatment for soldiers or discharging offenders if they have received help and still have problems.
In an internal memo, Chiarelli wrote that “a growing population” of soldiers with substance abuse problems — identified either through urine tests or through “alcohol-related actions” — have not been referred to the Army Substance Abuse Program by their commanders.
Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association, sees a deeper issue.go here for more
Troops “fear seeking help, so they self-medicate,” she said. “You’ve got competing stigmas going on here.”
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/army_alcohol_062709w/
Monday, June 23, 2008
Summer camps for veterans' kids help ease strains
Summer camps for veterans' kids help ease strains
By MARY HUDETZ
The Associated Press
Monday, June 23, 2008; 4:19 AM
LARKSPUR, Colo. -- At a dining hall filled with the chatter of summer campers eating lunch, the photos on one wall bear witness that this is no ordinary camp.
Pictures of mothers and fathers in uniform are adorned with notes in the bubbly penmanship of youngsters whose parents have or will serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"My dad," reads a note taped to the photo of a man in Air Force uniform. Another, written in thick, red marker: "So me and my brother all have to be strong and make sacrifices for my dad because we all want him to come back."
About 100 youths are attending this free, weeklong camp in the tiny Rocky Mountain town of Larkspur organized by the National Military Family Association. The association is hosting 10,000 campers in 37 states this summer _ up from 1,000 youths at 12 camps when the program began in 2004.
click post title for more
By MARY HUDETZ
The Associated Press
Monday, June 23, 2008; 4:19 AM
LARKSPUR, Colo. -- At a dining hall filled with the chatter of summer campers eating lunch, the photos on one wall bear witness that this is no ordinary camp.
Pictures of mothers and fathers in uniform are adorned with notes in the bubbly penmanship of youngsters whose parents have or will serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"My dad," reads a note taped to the photo of a man in Air Force uniform. Another, written in thick, red marker: "So me and my brother all have to be strong and make sacrifices for my dad because we all want him to come back."
About 100 youths are attending this free, weeklong camp in the tiny Rocky Mountain town of Larkspur organized by the National Military Family Association. The association is hosting 10,000 campers in 37 states this summer _ up from 1,000 youths at 12 camps when the program began in 2004.
click post title for more
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