Army to devote $1.4B to family action plan

Army to devote $1.4B to family action plan
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, October 17, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va. — With no end in sight to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has decided to allocate $1.4 billion to develop a new family action plan to support its half-million Army spouses and 700,000 Army kids in fiscal 2008.

That’s 14 times the $100 million the Army spent on family programs in fiscal 2007.

The money will be used to fund such efforts as peer support groups, camps, child care, and counseling, Army Secretary Pete Geren told the Association of the United States Army’s annual convention in Washington on Oct. 8.

In an “era of persistent conflict … we have a duty” to support Army families, Geren said.

The $1.4 billion, Geren said, shows “we are putting our money where our mouth is,” when it comes to the Army Family Covenant, a document unveiled by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey at AUSA last week.

The covenant says the Army will standardize and fund existing family programs and services, increase accessibility and quality of health care, improve soldier and family housing, ensure excellence in schools, youth services and child care, and expand education and employment opportunities for family members.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49557



uhc comment: $1.4B is slightly less than two days in Iraq. About fucking time.