Air Force officials hold Caring for People Forum

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Patrick Brown
  • Defense Media Activity-San Antonio
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) --  More than 200 Air Force behavioral specialists, chaplains, family advocacy personnel and other family support members gathered to discuss how to care for the Air Force family April 1 in Arlington, Va. 

The Year of the Air Force Family: Caring for People Forum started in a hotel in the shadow of the Air Force Memorial and blocks away from Arlington National Cemetery. 

The forum is the official start of the Year of the Air Force family and will provide professionals from around the Air Force an opportunity to discuss issues and develop programs to better suit the needs of the Air Force family. 

"It's vitally important to take care of our family members because they take care of us," said Lt. Gen. Richard Y. Newton III, the deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services at Headquarters Air Force. 

"We have Airmen deployed in over 135 different locations across the world," he said. "All the while, we still have Airmen launching F-22 (Raptors) off the flightline at Langley (Air Force Base in Virginia), maintaining and safeguarding (intercontinental ballistic missiles) at Minot (AFB in North Dakota) in all kinds of weather ... so my message to you is this: this is not a passing fancy of ours for 2009; this will be the year of the family. It's about taking care of our families because they are absolutely vital to our Air Force and our nation." 

General Newton stressed that family members are part of the Air Force team and must be provided for in order for the Air Force to maintain excellence in air, space and cyberspace. 

"I want you to roll up your sleeves and think broadly in terms of how we can provide more support for our family members as they serve alongside us, so they are better prepared to meet the challenges that Air Force life has to offer." 

Dr. Angela Huebner, an associate professor with Virginia Polytechnic Institutes and State University's Department of Human Development was the keynote speaker. Dr. Huebner conducts research on military family issues, particularly those related to deployment adjustment. Her work is widely cited and often used to help inform family support initiatives. 

In her last Defense Department study, Dr. Huebner worked with military children face-to-face and said the most immediate impact of her work helped to give the children a sense of community. 

"I feel like it gives them an idea that they are not alone," she said. "In our study, these kids were sitting around talking to each other about how they dealt with stress. One young person would say they might deal with it by writing in a journal and another would have another idea, so they got to come up with a whole new repertoire of things they could do when they got stressed." 

Dr. Huebner echoed General Newton's stance on the Air Force family and the branch's duty to commit to its family. 

"There are a lot of issues facing military families today," she said. "The more we can get that out there, including what's going well, the better off they'll be. They're giving such a service to the country and we need to be able to give that back." 

Forum attendees broke into working groups to discuss needs and initiatives in five areas: deployment support, family support, school support, special needs child support, Guard and Reserve family support and single Airman support. The groups are scheduled to present its top five initiatives to General Newton April 2. 

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

View the comments/letters page