Over the next few months, service members and families will see a new social media effort to get the word out about available resources designed to help them as they navigate military life.
The first two programs being launched under this digital marketing strategy are aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect, and increasing financial readiness, said Rosemary Williams, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, told the Defense Department's Military Family Readiness Council Thursday.
Getting the information to service members and their families has been a longstanding problem, and officials researched "how to get the information to stick," Williams said, adding that DoD is going where the families are — online.
It's important for troops and their families to seek and get help before they hit a crisis, she said, adding that DoD and the services offer many resources to provide that help.
"It's not just a moral obligation, it's a national security issue," she said, noting how important family issues are to a service member's readiness.
About 80 percent of active-duty members live outside installations, and about 81 percent of active-duty members are younger than 35, she said. While the modes of communication are rapidly changing, troops and families still want timely and accurate information about resources that can help them.
This effort, along with improving and streamlining the Military OneSource website, and working to provide more mobile access to information and programs, are part of DoD's push to improve communication and awareness of existing services for troops and families. Those moves address some of the recommendations made by the readiness council in its annual report to Congress last year.
Brad Carson, the Defense Department's acting personnel and readiness chief, assured the council that he would convene meetings at least three times a year. The council has not met since last year.
Among the public submissions to the council was a request by Air Force spouse Angela Drake outlining concerns about cyberbullying of military spouses. She asked that the council be briefed on any efforts within DoD to address the issue, and that the council make recommendations to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on actions that can be taken to protect military families.
None of the council members brought up that topic for discussion or future consideration.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
