Military Community and Family Program Support for Quality of Life

Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools in Guam were able toaccommodate children of activated Reserve Component Members.• Operation Purple Camps – National Military Family Association (NMFA) withfunding from private foundations developed this no cost summer camp program inresponse to the need for increased support for military children, especially thosewhose parents are or will be deployed. Specific curricula were designed to helpchildren develop strategies for coping with their parent’s deployment.Future of Warfighter and Family Service ProgramsAs discussed earlier, unlike child and youth programs, Warfighter and FamilyServices (WFS) programs are not part of the Department's MWR reporting structure.Taken together MWR and WFS programs build the social fabric of the militarycommunity and provide an integrated approach to service delivery for troops and familiesand comprehensive support to commanders. The Department is currently working withMWR and WFS programs of the Military Departments to review all opportunities forgreater flexibility in the use of resources, and will seek future congressional support toachieve the goal of flexible support to MWR and WFS programs.SUPPORTING GUARD, RESERVE AND GEOGRAPHICALLY DISPERSEDPERSONNELWe continue to emphasize programs that target our geographically dispersedmilitary personnel and their families, including the National Guard and Reserves. TheJohn Warner National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2007 required the Departmentto carry out a joint family support assistance program for families of members of theArmed Forces in not more than six areas of the United States, of which up to three of theareas were to be geographically isolated from military installations. To address this, theDepartment launched a pilot program in six states (Arkansas, Hawaii, Minnesota, NewHampshire, Ohio, and Oregon). The response was overwhelmingly positive and an15