Soldiers

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 Soldiers (WYPS‹=63<4,56

Sgt.  Joe  Campbell  spends  quality  time  with  his  daughters  Ceilidha  (left)  and  Rhynli  on  his  last  day  of  R&R  in  December  2010.  (Photo  by  Tawny  Campbell)

[  On  the  Cover  ] [  Coming  Next  Month  ]

   
Aedan   Turner,   4,   plays   with   his   dad,   Maj.    May  2011  -  Army  medicine
Dennis  Turner.  Dennis  is  a  nurse  anesthetist  
at   Landstuhl   Regional   Medical   Center   in  
Germany.  (Photo  by  Tawny  Campbell)
 Sgt.  William  Cox,  an  occupational  
therapist   at   Moncrief   Army   Com-
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4,  outside  the  Scales  Avenue  Child  
Development  Center  at  Fort  Jack-
son,  S.C.    (Photo  by  Crystal  Lewis  
Brown)

8
Features April 2011
4 Army  Family  Covenant
 Quality  of  life  for  Families  is  an  integral  factor  in  

Contents
the  Army's  ability  to  deploy.

8 Back  to  'Sesame  Street'

The  popular  TV  show  has  new  materials  that  
focus  on  helping  grieving  children.

14 Exceptional  Family  Member  Program

 Program  provides  comprehensive  community  

28
support  for  Families  with  special  needs.

18 Commitment  to  children

The  Army  increases  construction  of  child  care  and  
youth  service  centers.

28 Kids'  letters
 Letters  from  children  serve  as  morale  boosters  for  

39
their  deployed  Family  members.

39 Army  Kids  reporters

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a  day.

44 New  generation  of  musicians

 The  Fife  and  Drum  Corps  interacts  with  youth,  
sharing  music  and  camaraderie.
44
In every issue
24 Army News

48 Faces of Strength

Defense  Media  Activity-Army    |    Soldiers  magazine      |      2511  Jefferson  Davis  Hwy  ,  Box  31    |      Arlington,  VA    22202-3900      |  
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 DEFENSE
MEDIA ACTIVITY
ARMY PRODUCTION
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Secretary  of  the  Army   Hon.  John  McHugh  
Chief  of  Staff   Gen.  George  W.  Casey  Jr.  

We  Want  Your  Story  !

Chief  of  Public  Affairs     Maj.  Gen.  Stephen  R.  Lanza
DMA,  Army  Production   Col.  MaryAnn  Cummings  
   
Print  Communications  
    Staff
Editor  in  Chief   Carrie  McLeroy  
Managing  Editor   David  Vergun  
;OL(YT`PZV\YUH[PVU»ZNYLH[LZ[YLZV\YJLPUKLMLUZLVMV\Y Soldiers  Magazine  NCOIC   Master  Sgt.  Doug  Sample  
OVTLSHUK,]LY`KH`:VSKPLYZHUKJP]PSPHUZWLYMVYTHJ[ZVM Soldiers  Magazine  Writer/Editor   Elizabeth  M.  Collins  
]HSVY;OLOLYVPJHJ[ZWLYMVYTLKVU[OLIH[[SLÄLSKHUK[OL Soldiers  Magazine  Writer/Editor   Jacqueline  M.  Hames  
HJ[ZVMRPUKULZZMYVTO\THUP[HYPHULMMVY[ZKLTVUZ[YH[L[OL    
Z[YLUN[OVM[OL(YT`>L^HU[[V[LSS`V\YZ[VY`;VÄUKV\[ ARNEWS  Editor   Gary  Sheftick  
OV^ [OL +LMLUZL 4LKPH (J[P]P[` (YT` 7YVK\J[PVU JHU [LSS ARNEWS  Writer   J.  D.  Leipold  
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`V\YZ\ITPZZPVUZ]PHLTHPS[V! ARNEWS  Writer   Alexandra  Hemmerly-Brown  
   
  Art  Director   Peggy  Frierson  
Graphic  Designer   LeRoy  Jewell  
HZZPNUTLU[KLZR'HMUKTHTPS      
 Print  Management/Quality  Control     Richard  J.  Sowell    
Printing Gateway  Press,  Inc.,  Louisville,  Ky.  

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Soldiers   magazine   is   distributed   based   on   unit  
commanders’   requirements.   Commanders  
and   publications   officers   can   order   Soldiers  
through   the   Army   Publishing   Directorate   at    
Recipient  of  Awards  of  Magazine  Excellence
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Initial  Distribution  Number  (IDN)  050007. Thomas  Jefferson  Awards  
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Publication    2004  -  2006 2004 2009  
Elizabeth  M.  Collins

2 www.army.mil/soldiers
 DEPARTMENT  OF  DEFENSE
DEFENSE  MEDIA  ACTIVITY-­ARMY
2511  JEFFERSON  DAVIS  HIGHWAY,  BOX  31
ARLINGTON,  VA    22202-­3900

April 1, 2011

IN 1986, then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger established April

as the “Month of the Military Child,” to honor military children and youth
for their strength, character and sacrifices.

Soldiers magazine has dedicated this issue to the sons and daughters of
the nation’s servicemembers. This month’s content highlights programs that
support military kids, from child and youth support services to free online
tutoring. There is also a special section featuring letters from kids of all ages
to their deployed parents, and a story about how Sesame Street is helping
military children cope with loss.

Now, more than ever, military children face unique challenges. They
often must bear greater responsibilities than their non-military peers while
one or both of their parents are deployed. On behalf of everyone at Soldiers
magazine, I salute all the boys and girls and young men and women who
meet the demands placed on them with courage and grace. We hope you
enjoy this month’s issue of Soldiers.

Sincerely,

Carrie McLeroy
Editor in chief
Soldiers magazine

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Army Family Covenant:
Enabling Army Families to reach their full potential
By
 Maj.
 Gen.
 Reuben
 D.
 Jones
I
N an era of persistent conflict, our
Army Families are called upon to
endure many hardships and are no
less critical to mission success than our
Soldiers. Repeated deployments and ex-
tended separations place a severe strain
on our Families, which in turn affects
combat readiness, as well as enlistment
and retention efforts.
Lieutenant Gen. Rick Lynch, the
commanding general of Installation
Management Command and assistant
chief of staff for Installation Manage-
ment, summed it up succinctly when
he said: “Our Army is not going to
4 www.army.mil/soldiers
break because of our Soldiers…but it
might break because of the stress we’re
placing on their Families.”
Through research such as the Fam-
ily and Morale, Welfare and Recreation
Command’s semi-annual Survey of
Army Families, we know that quality of
life for Families is an integral part of a
Soldier’s decision to reenlist. By 2007,
when the Army Family Covenant was
unveiled, it was clear that quality of life
was also integral to the Army’s ability
to deploy.
A Soldier in a fighting position
needs to be facing forward, concentrat-
ing on the mission, not distracted by
Family concerns. The Covenant ensures
that Soldiers can find the resources
they need, when they need them, and
that they have the tools to remain self-
reliant. When Families are self-reliant
and have access to appropriate support
systems, our Soldiers are better able to
concentrate on their missions.
Lieutenant Gen. Jack Stultz Jr.,
Army Reserve chief and commanding
general, U.S. Army Reserve Command,
said, “To be successful as a military
we need four things: a Soldier, that
Soldier’s Family, the Soldier’s employer,
 “Never before in the history of our Army have we asked so
much of our Families. They are serving side-by-side with our
Soldiers, enduring their hardships, providing the unconditional
love and support that truly make our Army strong.”
—Gen. George W. Casey Jr.

Maj.  Gen.  Reuben  D.  Jones,  commanding  general  of  Family  and  Morale,  Welfare  and  Recreation  Command,  
talks  about  Family  as  the  Army’s  most  valuable  asset.    (Photo  by  Rob  McIlvaine)

D Standardize and fund Family pro- The Army Family Covenant is

grams and services. enabling us to reach that potential.
DIncrease accessibility and quality of While the Army has made sig-
health care. nificant and measurable progress in
D Improve Soldier and Family hous- improving Family programs, health
ing. care, housing, child and youth services,
D Ensure excellence in child, youth recreation, education and employment
and school services. opportunities, there is still work to be
DExpand education and employment done to build an environment where
opportunities for Family members. Army Families can prosper and realize
Now in its fourth year, the AFC their full potential.
commitment is enduring. Support Looking ahead, the covenant will
and a supportive community.” has extended all the way to the White continue the Army’s dedication to
I couldn’t agree with him more and House. “The readiness of our armed sustain and partner with Soldiers and
the Army Family Covenant covers all forces depends on the readiness of our their Families in order to build an en-
four. military Families,” First Lady Michelle vironment where they can prosper and
“Never before in the history of our Obama said. realize their potential—all essential in
Army have we asked so much of our To ensure that readiness, the Army sustaining an all-volunteer force. Y
Families,” said Gen. George W. Casey has doubled its investment in core
Jr., chief of staff of the Army. “They are Family support programs, and Casey
serving side-by-side with our Soldiers, has pledged continued support to this
enduring their hardships, providing the investment, saying: “The Army Fam-
Maj.  Gen.  Reuben  D.  Jones  is  the  com-
unconditional love and support that ily Covenant is one of the programs manding  general  of  Family  and  Morale,  
truly make our Army strong.” that we will continue to put the right Welfare  and  Recreation  Command.
The Covenant is built upon five amount of funding into so that Family
core commitments from Army leader- Programs can provide for all Soldiers
ship to: and their Families.” A look at the numbers, next page.

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 5
The Army Family Covenant:
A look at the numbers:
S
IGNIFICANT accomplish-
ments in improving Soldier and
Family readiness and well-being
over the past four years include:
DClosed chronic Army Community
Service staffing gaps by creating 477
new ACS positions.
DAdded 1,079 Family Readiness
Support Assistants in deployable ac-
tive, Guard and Reserve battalions to
provide administrative and logistical
support to deployed and rear detach-
ment commanders.
DEstablished more than 2,000 virtual
Family Readiness Groups, which offer
all of the functionality of traditional
FRGs in an ad hoc, online setting
to meet the needs of geographically
dispersed Families.
DIncreased military Family life
consultants from 112 in Fiscal Year 05
to 620 by FY10, to provide problem-
solving and nonmedical consulting
through confidential “walk around”
services.
DExpanded Survivor Outreach Ser-
vices to provide 24/7 support to sur-
vivors of fallen Soldiers, wherever they
live, with experts trained in benefits,
6 www.army.mil/soldiers
finances and grief counseling.
DEstablished Soldier and family
assistance centers at installations with
warrior transition units to provide
safe havens where wounded warriors,
DOD civilians and their Families can
gather for mutual support and cama-
raderie to aid physical, spiritual and
mental healing.
DExpanded hours of respite care
for Families with exceptional Family
members from 10 to 16 hours per
month.
DProvided child care discounts
and 16 hours of free respite care per
month to Families of deployed Sol-
diers, Family readiness group/Family
readiness support assistant personnel,
exceptional Family members, wound-
ed warrior Families, and survivor
Families.
DDecreased Family stress, increased
Family stability, and reduced costly
out-of-pocket home placements for
child care by providing more than 2
million hours of free respite child care
to Soldiers and Families.
DConducted 2,600 chaplain-led
“Strong Bonds,” retreats to provide
single and married Soldier and Family
relationship skills and education train-
ing for 160,000 participants, increasing
Soldier and Family resiliency, marital
satisfaction and reducing domestic
violence.
DCreated six community-based pri-
mary care clinics located near 11 Army
installations (opening in FY 2011),
which will include behavioral health
care providers and some laboratory and
pharmacy services.
DIncreased the number of behavioral
health providers by almost 40 percent.
DAdded 22 additional primary care
manager teams to increase medical
treatment facility capacity.
DIncreased the number of Web-en-
abled appointments by 13 percent and
the number of registered TRICARE
online beneficiaries by more than 10
percent, improving access to care by
giving Soldiers and Families the ability
to schedule their own appointments.
DExpanded and synchronized school-
based behavioral health programs.
DExtended operating hours of gar-
rison child development centers and
Family child care homes to accom-
modate a high operations tempo, to
include evenings, weekends and even
24/7 if needed.
DReduced the waiting lists for child
care spaces through aggressive construc-
tion of 80 child care centers in 2008 and
2009 (with 17 more to follow by 2014).
DProvided 24/7 online tutoring services
at tutor.com, ensuring military students
can always access academic assistance,
even when parents are absent.
DPlaced 140 school liaison officers to
help local school districts understand the
challenges faced by military students,
and successfully signed memoranda of
understanding with 373 school districts
to minimize academic disruptions for
transferring military students.
DPartnered with outside agencies on
many initiatives, such as the DOD
Interstate Compact on Educational
Opportunity for Military Children, to
remove barriers to educational success
imposed on children of military Families
through frequent moves and deployment
of their parents.
DAutomated and enhanced hous-
ing services by offering the Automated
Housing Referral Network, and Army
Housing OneStop.
DModernized more than 19,700 bar-
racks spaces through updates, renova-
tions and new construction, greatly
increasing space and quality of life for
single Soldiers.
DCompleted the privatization of
Family housing at all 44 planned
installations, providing Soldiers and
their Families with 23,000 quality new
homes, 18,000 renovated homes, and a
host of improved amenities to include
community centers, pools and splash
parks.
DIncreased support to warrior-in-tran-
sition Families by providing child care
during medical appointments, reduc-
ing child care fees and eliminating fees
for children of wounded warriors who
participate in instructional classes and
individual sports sponsored by Child,
Youth & School Services.
DExpanded the Army Spouse Em-
ployment Partnership between the
Army and Fortune 100/500 compa-
nies and military agencies. Since the
program’s inception in 2003, ASEP
has assisted more than 65,000 military
spouses in finding employment.
DBuilt a “digital culture” in FMWR
libraries, empowering Soldiers and
Families with 24/7 online access to
library resources via Army Knowledge
Online, Army OneSource, and Military
OneSource portals.
DUpdated fitness equipment at
FMWR facilities through a $20 mil-
lion, centrally funded enterprise buy,
ensuring Soldiers receive world-class
service directly contributing to mission
physical fitness requirements.
DStrengthened the Army OneSource
Internet portal to provide outreach to
geographically dispersed Soldiers and
Families of all components, wherever
they reside, through the entire deploy-
ment cycle.
DConstructed or renovated 18 Army
lodging facilities (1,315 rooms) to
meet Army Lodging Wellness Program
standards.
DDirectly supported 26,055 deployed
servicemembers (and 58,967 guests)
on rest, recuperation and block leave
at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort,
Shades of Green Resort and the Hale
Koa Hotel.
DExpanded the Better Opportunities
for Single Soldiers program to sup-
port single Soldiers through three core
components: leisure and recreation,
community service and quality of life.
DDeveloped and fielded Warrior
Adventure Quest to help Soldiers tran-
sition the “new normal” and reduce
the potential for high-risk behaviors
through high-adventure, high-adrena-
line activities. Y
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 7
From
 left:
 Nathan,
 Alex
 and
 Angel
 Guereca.
 
Together
  with
  their
  mom
  Patty
  and
  older
 
brother
 Rolando,
 the
 boys
 were
 featured
 
on
  “Sesame
  Street’s”
  “Talk,
  Listen,
 
Connect:
  When
  Families
  Grieve,”
 
talking
  about
  their
  experiences
 
after
 their
 dad,
 Sgt.
 Joe
 Guereca,
 
was
  killed
  in
  combat.
  (Photo
 
courtesy
 of
 Patty
 Guereca)

SESAME
STREET
New materials focus on grieving children
Story  by  Elizabeth  M.  Collins Elmo would never see him again, at and eventually confessing that it made
three-and-a-half, Elmo just couldn’t her too sad. At the same time, she
understand why he wasn’t coming lugged around a “special bag” holding

E
LMO wanted to play ball with to their family picnic or that Elmo a memory box full of mementos of her
one of his favorite people: couldn’t call him on the phone. father.
his Uncle Jack. The problem? Meanwhile, his slightly older Presented in “Sesame Street’s”
Uncle Jack was dead, and no matter cousin Jesse—a furry blue Muppet newest DVD for military Families,
how many times Daddy, Mommy and with pink pigtails—refused to even “Talk, Listen, Connect: When Families
Aunt Jill tried to explain that meant talk about her father, getting angry Grieve,” the storyline explores how

8 www.army.mil/soldiers
children often cope with loss, and sug- since his dad died six months ago.’ And Defense Centers of Excellence for
gests ways parents and other adults can I thought, ‘Wow, we’re doing some- Psychological Health and Traumatic
help them grieve and remember their thing right here,’ because that’s the Brain Injury, the video also features
loved ones. It’s also available online at first start, for this child to be able to real Gold Star Families describing their
http://www.sesamestreetfamilycon- cry…and maybe now some dialog can experiences, Families like Patty Guereca
nections.org/grownups/grief/. happen with the grandparents or with and her four sons. Their husband and
“It’s really engaging in a dialog other grownups in this child’s life, to father, Sgt. Joe Guereca of the 1st
with children about these times, and get this child sort of on a more positive Cavalry Division, was killed Nov. 30,
we’re hoping that seeing Elmo and trajectory,” Chwatsky continued, not- 2004 by an improvised explosive device
Jesse going through this will help be a ing the storyline is appropriate for all in Iraq.
conversation starter,” explained Lynn children who have suffered a loss, not “I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t
Chwatsky, Sesame Street’s assistant vice just military children. scream,” she said of her feelings the
president of outreach initiatives and Meant for parents and children to afternoon the casualty notification
partners. “Do we think it’s the end-all, watch together, it follows a popular officer came with the news that would
be-all? Absolutely not, but we do think series of DVDs featuring Elmo and change their lives forever. “All I could
it is a conversation starter…and we’ve friends dealing with deployments do was cry. And finally the chaplain sat
heard anecdotal feedback from Families (really an extended absence by Elmo’s me down on the couch and I told him,
who have used this. father, who goes off to “help” people— ‘I have three sons and I’m pregnant.
“There are children who never, the military is never mentioned), the What am I supposed to do now?’”
ever talked about it, and they watched adjustments required by homecomings She was so devastated that she
this and for the first time, they started and multiple deployments, and the didn’t know how to tell her children
opening up. I was at an event in Chi- changes Families undergo when a par- their father was dead—she just didn’t
cago…with Elmo. This one child ent (Rosita’s father) is injured or comes have “the heart to really tell them their
was sobbing the entire time. And the home different due to post-traumatic dad was not going to come home.
grandparent came up to me…in tears stress or a traumatic brain injury. They knew that everybody was cry-
and said ‘This is the first time he’s cried Created with help from the ing, but they didn’t know why.” Her

In  a  scene  from  “Sesame  Street’s”  latest  project  for  military  Families,  a  DVD  called  “Talk,  Listen,  Connect:  When  Families  Grieve,”  Elmo  and  his  father  Louie  talk  
about  Uncle  Jack,  who  recently  died.  Elmo  doesn’t  know  what  that  means  and  can’t  understand  why  he  can’t  still  see  his  favorite  uncle.  (Photo  courtesy  of  “Sesame  
Street.”  Reprinted  with  permission.  “Sesame  Workshop”®,  “Sesame  Street”®,  and  associated  characters,  trademarks,  and  design  elements  are  owned  and  licensed  
by  Sesame  Workshop.  ©  2009  Sesame  Workshop.  All  Rights  Reserved.)

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mother finally had to tell them the tantrums, that kind of stuff. There are resources for parents such as sugges-
day before the funeral, which wasn’t children who don’t want to participate tions for dealing with these challenges,
until that Dec. 15, Guereca explained in activities. There are children who as well as others, like anger at the
in the Public Broadcasting System are embarrassed. There are children deceased parent or a child who believes
special (http://video.pbs.org/pro- who don’t want to go to school and tell he or she is responsible for the parent’s
gram/1457370191/) that discussed people because they’re embarrassed of death.
the topic on primetime TV. what people will think of them or how Most important, according to
Hosted by “CBS Evening News” people will judge them. Chwatsky, is that adults be honest with
anchor Katie Couric, who had to “It really varies per child, and what children, and not shy away from using
confront her own grief, as well as that we’ve heard and our message to adults the word “dead.” They should never re-
of her six- and two-year-old daughters in these children’s lives is you’ve got place it with euphemisms such as “lost”
when her husband Jay Monahan died to listen to these children, and listen or “passed away.” A child can find a lost
of colon cancer in 1998, the special whether it’s their verbal cues or their toy, and a bus passes by, she explained,
highlights Patty and her four boys, the nonverbal cues, but you’ve got to listen leading young children to believe that
Family of a Marine who committed to what’s going on with these kids and the parent might come back.
suicide after returning from deploy- to be able to react to them based on “Make it concrete and simple for
ment, the wife and daughters of a how they’re acting,” she added. The a child,” she explained. “And, you
firefighter who died of a heart attack, Talk, Listen, Connect website includes know, Elmo, when he was talking to
the husband and daughters of a mother
claimed by breast cancer, and of course,
Jesse, Elmo and Elmo’s daddy Louie.
Both programs highlight behaviors
parents and other adults should expect,
such as Jesse’s anger and refusal to
discuss her father. Guereca’s children
started to worry about who would take
care of them if something happened to
her too, and she explained that their
grandmother would take care of them,
but when their baby brother Alex was
hospitalized with respiratory syncytial
virus and pneumonia, five-year-old
twins Nathan and Angel started worry-
ing all over again.
Their teachers did a good job of
keeping them and their older brother
Rolando, who was six at the time,
busy, Guereca said, but she was struck
by how differently the boys coped.
While Angel internalized everything,
thinking that if he didn’t talk about it,
he wouldn’t cry, Guereca explained,
his twin Nathan is far more open and
emotional. And little Alex, who just
turned six, “feels like he got cheated”
because he never met his father (but he
was ecstatic to meet Elmo).
“There are some children who
don’t talk about it,” added Chwatsky.
“They don’t acknowledge it…. They
are silent about it. Other children may
be angry and they start displaying
that anger in their behavior and their
actions. There’s a lot of regression in
young children. We may see children
with bed wetting or throwing temper

10 www.army.mil/soldiers
his dad about seeing Uncle Jack, Elmo
said something like ‘I’ll see him later.’
Elmo’s dad said, ‘You won’t. Uncle
Jack is dead.’ And as hard as it is to be
harsh, being concrete with children is
the best way to go, because if you’re
not honest with children about what is
going on, these children will get more
confused, and will later on struggle
because they didn’t have the truth. And
I think that sort of situation with Elmo
was a perfect example. Kids may hear
one thing: ‘Oh, Uncle Jack is dead,’ but
they may not internalize it or process
it, and it’s our job as the adults in their
lives to help them through that and
help them understand.”
It’s hard for anyone to process a loss
of that magnitude, Guereca cautioned,
explaining that even as an adult, at first
when the phone rang with an unfamil-
iar number, she would hope it was her
husband, calling to tell her there had
been some kind of horrible mistake. It
took about a month before her little
boys truly understood that their father
was dead and that he wasn’t coming
home. She and her mother just kept
emphasizing that he was buried and
in heaven. Daddy was still looking out
for them, and they could dream about
him, but they could never see him
again.
Adults should also be on the look-
out for ways that they can remember
and honor the fallen parent with their
children. Jesse’s memory box, for
example, is full of the things that make
her feel closest to her father (children
can also make a scrapbook): a photo-
graph, his favorite silly tie, a ticket to a
baseball game, wind-up joke teeth. She
writes poems expressing her feelings—
explaining that writing makes her feel
a lot better—and Elmo draws pictures
and wears a silly hat Uncle Jack gave
him.
In real life, Guereca and her sons
created a special room to honor Joe’s
memory, filled with his medals and
awards, including a Bronze Star; pho-
tographs; his Army books; rucksack;
some wooden helicopters and the flag
that draped his casket.

Elmo  and  real-life  grieving  Families  release  balloons  

with  messages  to  loved  ones  in  the  primetime  PBS  
special  that  accompanied  “Sesame  Street’s”  DVD  
“Talk,  Listen,  Connect:  When  Families  Grieve.”  Both  
programs   are   full   of   ideas   to   help   kids   remember  
fallen  parents  such  as  creating  a  memory  box,  writing  
poems,  drawing  pictures  or  creating  a  special  room.  
(Photo   by   Phillipe   Cheng.   Reprinted   with   permis-
sion   of   “Sesame   Street.”   “Sesame   Workshop”®,  
“Sesame   Street”®,   and   associated   characters,  
trademarks,   and   design   elements   are   owned   and  
licensed   by   Sesame   Workshop.   ©   2009   Sesame  
Workshop.  All  Rights  Reserved.)

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 “For us, it’s more of our sanctu- their place where they talk to their book page dedicated to his memory.
ary. I go in there when I’m sad or I’m dad,” she said, adding in an interview His sons, friends and battle buddies
stressed and just sit there and think that she brings her husband flowers will be able to share memories, stories
about everything. My boys use it as every month and is working on a Face- and photos, and the boys will get to
learn more about their dad.
Couric also told parents on the
PBS special that she asked all of her
husband’s friends and relatives to write
her daughters letters about their father.
She reads them a letter on special oc-
casions, and it’s something they will
always have. At the end of the special,
all of the children, including Elmo and
Jesse, tied letters and drawings to bal-
loons and released them in a ceremony
to symbolize an ongoing connection
to departed loved ones, according to
Chwatsky.
And it’s important to keep that
connection alive, whether it’s been six
months since a loved one’s death or
six years. That pain never goes away,
Sgt.  Joe  Guereca  of  the  1st  Cavalry  Division  died  in  Iraq  in  November  2004  after  stepping  on  an  improvised  
explosive  device  while  on  patrol.  He  left  behind  three  young  sons  and  a  wife  who  was  seven  months  preg- Guereca said. Families just learn to
nant.  (Photo  courtesy  of  Patty  Guereca)
adjust to it and cope with it and incor-
porate it in their daily lives.
“Grieving doesn’t come with a
manual,” she said, explaining that
friends and acquaintances shouldn’t
be afraid to reach out and bring up
the topic. “We all do it differently…
and being there for us, even if it’s just
spending one day with us…that means
a lot. Communication—that’s a big
thing for us, communicating our feel-
ings; and just getting to know us. It’s
not just, ‘Oh it happened,’ and be there
for a year and then six years pass by.
Just because six years pass by does not
mean that the grieving has left us. It’s
still there…. Talk to us still. Hang in
there for us. We’re still going through
Katie  Couric,  who  hosted  a  primetime  Public  Broadcasting  System  special  based  on  “Sesame  Street’s”  “Talk,   a lot. It doesn’t just shut off within a
Listen,  Connect”  project  for  grieving  Families,  poses  with  Elmo  and  Elmo’s  cousin  Jesse.  The  documentary-like   couple of years or within a couple of
special  focused  on  real  grieving  Families  (both  military  and  civilian),  and  showed  different  reactions  children  
might  have  to  a  parent’s  death.  Jesse,  for  example,  reacted  to  her  father’s  death  with  sadness,  anger  and   months. It doesn’t go away.” Y
initially  a  refusal  to  talk  about  him.  (Photo  by  Phillipe  Cheng.  Reprinted  with  permission  of  “Sesame  Street.”  
“Sesame  Workshop”®,  “Sesame  Street”®,  and  associated  characters,  trademarks,  and  design  elements  are  
owned  and  licensed  by  Sesame  Workshop.  ©  2009  Sesame  Workshop.  All  Rights  Reserved.)

Editor’s note: This is a follow up to a

story about “Sesame Street’s” programs for
military children that ran in the October
2009 issue of Soldiers magazine. The
story can be found at http://www.army.
mil/-news/2009/09/23/27722-can-u-
tell-me-how-to-get-to-sesame-street/.

12 www.army.mil/soldiers
‘Sesame Street’ comes to military Families
kids things to do when they miss their kids and about showing them a good
By  Elizabeth  M.  Collins deployed parents. time. As a matter of fact, we were there
“The message of the show really is with a six-year-old friend whose dad

T
O date, the Sesame Street Ex- aimed at deployments and the whole was in the middle of a tour in Iraq and
perience for Military Families idea is to give kids not only some con- I remember as we left, she said that this
has taken Elmo, Rosita, Zoe, crete things to do when Mom or Dad was ‘the best day ever’ and it was really
Grover and the Cookie Monster to has to go away like writing letters or sweet that she enjoyed it that much.
more than 90 bases in nine countries telling stories or making music togeth- “It gave her a little enjoyment, you
and 27 states, covering more than er, but also to help Families have those know, to kind of forget about her situ-
50,000 miles and performing about conversations,” said Lonnie Cooper, ation for a little while, and then they
250 shows for more than 150,000 the USO tour manager, who noted that gave handouts to the kids. My son still
military Families with the help of the Elmo is a rock star to five-year-olds. plays with his Elmo flashlight, so it’s
United Service Organizations. “Kids don’t always listen to their really a big hit. He seemed to have a
And according to “Sesame Street’s” parents, so when you can say, ‘Hey, do really good time with his friends.”
Lynn Chwatsky, the assistant vice you remember when Elmo said some- For updates, check the Talk, Listen,
president of outreach initiatives and times he misses his mommy or daddy?’ Connect website at http://www.
partners, everyone is hoping to bring kids understand that,” he continued. sesameworkshop.org/initiatives/emo-
the tour back late this summer, first “Kids get the message and that’s really tion/uso. Y
overseas and then to the States. what we’re trying to do: A, provide
“It has been a success greater than some entertainment and B, to help ease
we could ever have imagined. We the whole stress and strain of deploy-
have been to more places and touched ments.”
more Families than we ever could have Putting on the show requires an
thought,” she said. immense amount of work, not unlike
The half-hour show, full of music putting on a touring Broadway show,
and dancing that gets young children he added. But the smiles he gets from
out of their seats, cheering and scream- the kids make it all worth it—that, and
ing, starts with one simple ques- the hug he gets about once every show.
tion: “Do you miss your mommy or “I thought it was really great,”
daddy?” The response is almost always Army wife Hayli Morrison said of last
a resounding “Yes!” And all of those summer’s Fort Riley, Kan., show. “You
musical numbers are designed to give can tell that they really care about the

From  left:  Rosita,  Elmo,  Zoe  and  the  Cookie  Monster  dance  onstage  at  Andrews  Air  Force  Base,  Md.  As  
part  of  the  USO-sponsored  Sesame  Street  Experience  for  Military  Families,  the  characters  have  traveled  to  
military  installations  worldwide,  supporting  military  kids  and  helping  them  cope  with  parents’  deployments.  
(Photo  by  Elizabeth  M.  Collins)

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 13
Army boosts
‘exceptional Family’
resources
Story  by  Rob  McIlvaine

B
ECAUSE Soldiers and their
Families often report to a new
duty assignment before seeking
community services, the Exceptional
Family Member Program is now reach-
ing out to them through unit Family
readiness support assistants.
EFMP is a mandatory enrollment
program that works with other mili-
tary and civilian agencies to provide
comprehensive and coordinated com-
munity support, housing, medical,
educational and personnel services to
Families with special needs.
“FRSAs, part of the commander’s
Family readiness team, provide admin-
istrative support to the commander,
rear detachment commander, and
volunteer Family Readiness Group
leader,” said Sharon Fields, the Family
and Morale, Welfare and Recreation
Command’s EFMP program manager.
“We’re now training them to work with
the EFMP through Army Community
Service.
“The unit is the first place where
a Soldier reports. If he has concerns
about one of his children, the FRSA
will be readily available to be a guide
for on-base and community resources,”
Fields added.
An exceptional Family member
is a child or adult with any physical,

14 www.army.mil/soldiers
 Eduardo  Alejandro

EFMP  is  a  mandatory-enrollment  program  that  works  with  other  military  and  
civilian  agencies  to  provide  comprehensive,  coordinated  community  support,  
housing,  medical,  educational  and  personnel  services  to  Families  with  special  
needs.  

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 15
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emotional, developmental or intellec-
tual disorder requiring special treat-
ment, therapy, education, training or
counseling.
All active-duty servicemembers
must register with EFMP as soon as a
Family member is identified as having
special needs. The program, standard
across all services, documents the
services the EFM requires, and consid-
ers those needs during the personnel
assignment process (especially when
approving Family members for accom-
panied travel to overseas locations).
Working closely with the person-
nel and medical commands and the
Department of Defense educational
system overseas, EFMP prevents hard-
ship by ensuring the servicemember
and Family have all the support they
need in the receiving duty station
before they have a permanent change
of station.
Army Families deal with unique
challenges associated with military life,
especially when it comes to relocation,
according to Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch,
commanding general, Installation
Management Command. Not only do
16 www.army.mil/soldiers
Families have to find a new place to
call home, they also have to find new
health care and child care providers,
enroll children in new schools and
activities and build new friends and
support networks. These challenges are
not easy for any Army Family, but for
Families with special needs, they are
magnified.
“The EFMP is one way we can
keep some of the most important
promises articulated in the Army
Family Covenant: Providing access to
high-quality medical care, educational
opportunities and Family programs
that foster an environment in which
Families can thrive,” Lynch said.
Two factors have been identified
that hinder the effectiveness of the
program: Difficulties accessing the
appropriate resources, and a fear that
being identified in the EFMP will
adversely affect a Soldier’s career.
They are battling the latter through
information campaigns directed at the
Army’s leaders and Soldiers, clearly
stating that the program is designed
to help a Soldier develop a successful
career while still nurturing the develop-
ment and quality of life of his excep-
tional Family member.
“FRSAs have three primary respon-
sibilities when it comes to providing
information about EFMP,” Fields said.
“They direct a Soldier and Family
member who needs support services
and advocacy assistance to the EFMP
manager, refer Soldiers and Family
members to the military treatment
facility for screening and enrollment,
and network with the installation
EFMP manager and EFMP MTF staff
to assist with information and referrals
of eligible Family members.”
Access to resources is being ad-
dressed through the FRSA training,
and through an increase in the number
of “system navigator” employees in the
IMCOM organization.
IMCOM is adding 44 system
navigators to the existing EFMP staff
at 26 garrisons, both stateside and over-
seas. The system navigators will help
Families connect to the local, state and
federal resources they need.
The 26 garrisons include Fort
Hood, Texas; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Fort
Bragg, N.C.; Fort Campbell, Ky., and
 Schofield Barracks, Hawaii—the five
installations with the highest number
of EFMP Families.
While the EFMP provides an
invaluable service to Soldiers and their
Families, the Army is constantly seek-
ing innovative ways to enhance support
to Families with special needs.
Soldiers and Families need to
know that they will be able to find the
services necessary for the health and
well-being of all their Family members
before they depart for a new installa-
tion. According to Lynch, this is both
part of the Army’s promise to Families
in return for the sacrifices they make,
and its commitment to Soldiers, whose
strength and readiness are rooted in the
strength of their Families. Y

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Program  summer  camp.  Eleven  participants  spent  the  week  doing  arts  and  crafts,  playing  music,  going  to  local  animal  parks,  horseback  riding,  and  using  Kletterwald,  
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 17
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 Gen.  William  E.  “Kip”  Ward,  commander  of  U.S.  Africa  
Command,  meets  (from  left)  Jackson  Boyle,  22  months,  
Anthony  Richards  and  Arianna  Wilson,  both  2,  after  the  
Kelley   Child   Development   Center   ribbon-cutting   cer-
emony,  Aug.  23,  2010,  in  Stuttgart,  Germany.  The  center  
provides  full  day  care  to  86  children,  from  6  weeks  to  
kindergarten  age.  The  old  CDC  now  offers  hourly  care  
and  half  day  care.  (Photo  by  Susan  Huseman)

CYSS expansion
shows Army’s
commitment to kids

Construction zone
Story  by  Rob  McIlvaine  and  Bill  Bradner

A
LTHOUGH there was a mini
boom of construction dur-
ing the 80s, over the past four
fiscal years the Army’s Child, Youth
and School Services experienced an
unprecedented surge in construction,
resulting in increased access to modern,
affordable child development centers
for Army Families around the world.
“We’ve never done anything of
this magnitude,” said Peggy Hinson,
CYSS director with the Army’s Fam-
ily, Morale, Welfare and Recreation
Command. “This is a direct result of
Army senior leaders’ commitment to
Families.”
Over the past four years, construc-
tion on Army garrisons has been non-
stop. Twenty-two child care facilities
were built in 2007, 72 in 2008 and 56
in 2009, with several more in the plan-
ning stages for FY12 and beyond.
On-post expansion has also includ-
ed the renovation of existing facilities
to maximize spaces, and the introduc-
tion of innovative programs like Youth
Check-In Homes and Neighborhood
Activity Homes to provide spaces and
care for 11- to 15-year-olds outside of
traditional facilities.
“We’ve also constructed a number
of new youth centers, with one in
2007, 18 in 2008 and five in 2009,”
said Hinson.
“We’ve expanded our facility
designs to include mini child devel-
opment centers. These facilities can
accommodate 20 children and will
be open 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-
a-week,” Hinson added. “They will
be located at garrisons where there’s a
major medical center and a potential
need for overnight child care for the
children of shift workers, or those
working extended hours in support of
the mission.”
The hiring of CYSS staff, to include
teachers, caregivers, kitchen staff,
custodians and management personnel,
is also at an all-time high to accom-
modate the growing number of Army

18 www.army.mil/soldiers
 Ferdinand  Mels

Edward  N.  Johnson

Ongoing  construction  and  transformation  at  U.S.  Army  Garrison  Humphreys,  South  Korea.

deployment challenges facing Army newborns driving these changes. CYSS

child and youth facilities.
CYSS has consistently proven to be
a contributing factor in encouraging
Soldiers to remain in the military. The
program gives Soldiers peace of mind,
allowing them to concentrate on the
mission because they know their chil-
dren are safe and supervised by trained
and professional staff, and provided
access to quality child developmen-
tal programs. CYSS also works with
schools to mitigate the relocation and
Families.
The quality of care and services
does not go unnoticed by Soldiers and
Families. In the most recent Survey
of Army Families, 80 percent or more
of those polled said that Army CYSS
programs at their installations provide
positive growth and development op-
portunities for their children, and allow
parents to better concentrate on their
jobs. Just as importantly, respondents
said the programs play a role in influ-
encing Soldiers’ decisions to remain in
the Army.
It’s not just young Families with
is aggressively expanding services
off-post to support geographically
dispersed active-duty, Guard and Re-
serve Families, and is providing more
programs for school-age youth.
Off-post expansion for active,
Guard and Reserve Families includes
Military Child Care in Your Neighbor-
hood, a child care program that meets
the mission needs of Army Families
who are geographically dispersed and/
or live beyond a reasonable commuting
distance of a military base. In addition,
Army Child Care in Your Neighbor-
hood, provides similar services near

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 19
  Heather  Southall

Workers  continue  construction  on  one  of  two  identical  Child  Development  Centers  on  Bastogne  Avenue,  across  from  Fort  Campbell  High  School.  Once  complete,  
each  center  will  create  195  child  care  slots.  (Photo  by  Heather  Southall)

installations to accommodate local time connecting Families with qual- Referral Agencies, Operation: Military
population increases. ity, nationally accredited care. The fees Kids, and other organizations in local
For school-age youth, including are generally comparable to those paid communities to deliver quality educa-
those of National Guard and Reserve on-post. tion programs to children of deployed
Families, CYSS has also developed CYSS also partners with a number Soldiers.
Army School-Age Programs in Your of national civilian organizations such On post, the focus on teen support
Neighborhood and Army Youth Pro- as 4-H, the American Legion, Boys & is growing, in part, thanks to teen
grams in Your Neighborhood. These Girls Clubs of America, CHARAC- involvement.
programs reduce the high costs associ- TER COUNTS!, the Military Child “Army teens have played an active
ated with child care for geographically Education Coalition, the National As- role in helping to design our youth
dispersed Families, while at the same sociation of Child Care Resource and centers,” said Hinson. “We want to

20 www.army.mil/soldiers
Construction  workers  are  hard  at  work  to  meet  expanding  child  care  needs  in  Kaiserslautern,  Germany.  Over  the  past  four  years,  the  Army’s  Child,  Youth  and  School  
Services  has  experienced  an  unprecedented  surge  in  construction.

give them what they will use, and based Taitano, a CYS services specialist who designers drafts a solution to a design
on their input, we have developed is part of the furniture, fixtures and problem. They serve as a way of quickly
demonstration kitchens where they equipment set-up team. generating a design, while integrating
can learn to cook, video gaming areas, “From the time the garrison the aptitudes and interests of a diverse
climbing walls and unique art areas,” requests a new CYSS facility, we have group of people.
said Hinson. a series of kickoff meetings, known “This is a coordinated, multi-
“We even have sound mixing as a design charrette,” said Richard faceted approach where the architect;
booths where students can create their Miller, also a CYS services specialist interior designer; health, fire and safety
own music. Family members are actu- and member of the FF&E set-up team. (personnel); and financial manage-
ally surprised when they learn of the The word charrette refers to any col- ment professionals—in short, everyone
quality of our equipment,” said Janet laborative session in which a group of involved with the construction—come

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 21
 Soldiers Spouses

100%
83% 85% 82% 82% 84%
82% 83% 80%
80% 75%
71%
67%

60% 56%

40%

20%

0%
Sends message Helps minimize lost Helps minimize lost Plays a role in influ- Allows me/my spouse Provides positive
that the Army cares duty/work time due duty/work time due encing my decision/ to better concentrate growth and develop-
about its people to lack of child care/ to lack of child and my spouse’s decision on my/our job(s) ment opportunities
youth sponsorship youth services to stay in the Army for my children
options

Survey question: To what extent does providing Army CYS programs at your installation have a
positive impact on the following? Above graph shows percent reporting “moderate,” “great” or “very
great” extent. Source: 2005 Leisure Needs Survey, Army FMWRC, as cited in, What We Know About
Army Families, 2007 Update (ICF International)

together to develop and present their checks with the students, caregivers
plans,” Miller said. and management to make sure all
“This is a turn-key operation, products, such as the fabric on chairs, Bill  Bradner  works  for  FMWRC  Public  Af-
fairs.  Rob  McIlvaine  worked  for  FMWRC  
meaning that all the staff and students stand up to heavy use. If not, we do Public  Affairs  at  the  time  this  article  was  
have to do is turn the key and walk in. substitutions across the board.” written,  but  is  now  with  the  Army  News  
Service.
When we leave, the (facility) is at least CYSS programs and the services
95 percent ready,” he continued. they provide continue to evolve. For
The Army has come a long way in instance, FMWRC is working to
a comparatively short amount of time, provide child care services at fitness
and is working to ensure the newly centers.
constructed facilities are aesthetically “When the chief of staff and the
pleasing while staying within the secretary of the Army heard Families
construction and budget parameters saying, ‘We can’t get child care when
of standard designs. we want to work out,’ fitness centers
“We’re very proud of how our with child care were added,” said Bob
dollars and time are spent by buying Roadarmel, CYS specialist and fitness
equipment in bulk across the Army,” center child care lead.
said Nancy Dunn, a CYS program According to Roadarmel, the
specialist who serves as the contract- collaboration with fitness centers and
ing officer’s representative for the CYSS is growing.
enterprise procurement of FF&E for “We are extremely proud of these
CYS facilities. “We do quality control purpose-built facilities, constructed
on all of the products we buy. Our from the ground up with Army Fami-
team follows up after installation and lies in mind,” said Miller. Y

22 www.army.mil/soldiers
 ARMY NEWS
=PY[\HSYLHSP[`NHTLZOLSWPUN^P[O7;:+
I N the past six years, games such as
“Virtual Iraq” and a recent version
called “Virtual Afghanistan” have
tion. Dr. Albert Rizzo of ICT worked
with Cornell Medical College, Emory
University and Madigan Army Medical
Audio stimuli such as the Humvee
motor and bombs exploding can be
heard, Rizzo said, adding “We also use
evolved to help Soldiers returning from Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., to develop a smell machine which can pump out
combat with post-traumatic stress the program. up to eight different scents that are
disorders. The initial prototype of Virtual Iraq reminiscent of Iraq and Afghanistan—
The University of Southern Cali- was constructed by recycling art origi- things like gunpowder, diesel fuel,
fornia’s Institute for Creative Technolo- nally designed for the Xbox and the burning rubber, rotting garbage, body
gies began partnering with the Army Army-funded combat tactical simula- odor or Iraqi spices.” Smell is one of
in 2004 to develop virtual-reality treat- tion trainer “Full Spectrum Warrior.” the strongest triggers of memory.
ments for PTSD and motor rehabilita- The game engine, called Unity, is The aim here, he said, is to put
being used for the most current ver- the patients in environments that are
sion, Rizzo said. reminiscent of the experience that first
“You’re wearing a set of goggles traumatized them, and then to try to
that have visual panels for each eye customize those environments and pace
and there’s also tracking devices on the them so the patients can handle it.
headsets, so as you turn your head and Rizzo said that one study has
physically move your body around, the shown that 16 of 20 Soldiers who have
graphics update within the head moni- completed the treatment no longer
tor display and you get the illusion meet the criteria for PTSD. But he also
of being immersed within the virtual said that it’s not the software that is
environments,” he said. really helping Soldiers.
The patient may start off riding “The technology doesn’t fix any-
along in a Humvee through the Mojave body,” Rizzo said. “It’s the therapist
Desert with American signs. Most pa- and the therapeutic process of exposure
Master  Sgt.  David  Huff,  a  project  manager  at  the   tients can handle that, Rizzo said; they therapy that works the magic, so to
Center  for  Telehealth  and  Technology  at  Joint  Base   get used to the situation. And they begin speak.” Y
Lewis-McChord,  conducts  a  demonstration  using  
“Virtual  Iraq.”  (Photo  by  David  Sperry) to narrate some of their experiences. — ARNEWS/Rob McIlvaine

-PUKPUNLMÄJPLUJPLZTLHUZTVUL`[VTVKLYUPaL
S OME of the funds saved by trim-
ming a target $100 billion from
Department of Defense budgets will
the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle and
the Stryker.
“In Stryker, I think we’re moving
lio reviews, the service determined
it could terminate both the costly
SLAMRAAM surface-to-air missile
be used to modernize Army capabili- with a double-V hull,” Chiarelli said. program and the Non-Line-of-Sight
ties. “We have been completing some test- Launch System.
The four military services were ing and that testing has come out very In addition to reinvesting in
directed by Defense Secretary Robert satisfactory. We are pleased with it, ground vehicles like the Stryker,
Gates to achieve $100 billion in ef- and are moving ahead to provide addi- savings are being applied to upgrade
ficiencies over the 2012 to 2016 Future tional protection for the entire crew of systems like the Patriot missile and the
Years Defense Plan. The services would the Stryker—above what we have right Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar
be allowed to retain and reinvest these now with the flat-bottom hull—with system.
efficiency savings in enhancements of some of the add-on armor kits.” “Quite frankly, counter-rocket and
their own high-priority, war-fighting The general said the Army would countermortar are the threats that are
programs. be making improvements to both the affecting our troops downrange today.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Pe- Stryker and the Bradley. So with over a billion dollars in SLAM-
ter W. Chiarelli said money the Army The Army found efficiencies by RAAM savings, we were able to reinvest
has found through identifying ef- consolidating six Installation Manage- that in (C-RAM) and also in upgrading
ficiencies is now being used to reinvest ment Command regions into four, the Patriot,” Chiarelli said. Y
in programs like the M1 Abrams tank, for instance. Also, through portfo- — ARNEWS/C. Todd Lopez

24 www.army.mil/soldiers
 From  Army  News  Service  and  other  sources

=LOPJSLZ[YH[LN`PUJS\KLZÅLL[YLK\J[PVU
; HE Army’s new Tactical Wheeled
Vehicle Strategy, released in Janu-
ary, is the roadmap for managing and
modernizing the Army’s fleet of nearly
300,000 vehicles over the next 30
years.
“It represents a paradigm shift for
the U.S. Army,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas
Spoehr, director of Army force develop-
ment, of the plan that manages a fleet
worth some $70 billion.
In the past, similar strategies have
looked out only five or 10 years. The
new 30-year outlook, Spoehr said,
reveals a need to cut back in some areas
to meet budget requirements.
“As we looked out 20 or 30 years,
we found some aspects of our strat-
egy were going to be unaffordable,”
Spoehr said. “This strategy makes tough
choices today, in order to account for
these realities.”
<W[V TVYL49(7ZZ\JOHZ[OLZL[^VPU(MNOHUPZ[HU^PSSILHKKLK[V[OL(YT`»ZÅLL[\UKLY[OL
One of those tough choices is a new  Tactical  Wheeled  Vehicle  Strategy.
reduction in fleet size. By 2017, it’s
expected that the TWV fleet could the ability to accept armor, and then Equipment Transporter System and the
be reduced by as much as 15 percent, relinquish armor when it is no longer Palletized Load System.
said Lt. Col. Robert Lenz, Army G-8 needed,” Spoehr said. Today, a large part of the Army’s
programs. He said the cost savings from The TWV strategy covers Army light TWV fleet is the Humvee. While
that reduction, and from other changes tactical wheeled vehicles in four fleets: the Army is no longer buying new
in the strategy, will reduce the per-year light, medium, heavy and Mine Humvees, it is instead looking at recapi-
fleet procurement budget from what Resistant Ambush Protected. The light talizing some and procuring the Joint
had been projected at $4.4 billion a TWV fleet includes the Humvee and Light Tactical Vehicle.
year down to about $2.5 billion a year. will include the Joint Light Tactical Also part of the TWV strategy are
The Army will also focus on vehicle Vehicle. plans to incorporate about 18,000 to
versatility, Spoehr said. The medium fleet includes legacy 19,000 MRAP vehicles into the Army
“We’re going to procure trucks that 2 1/2- and 5-ton trucks, and the heavy fleet, and to transition the currently
are adaptable so they can be used in fleet includes the Heavy Expanded joint MRAP program to the Army. Y
many different environments and have Mobility Tactical Truck, the Heavy — ARNEWS/C. Todd Lopez

(YT`JVTTLTVYH[P]LJVPUZUV^H]HPSHISL
; HREE coins honoring the Army—a
$5 gold piece, a silver dollar and a
clad half-dollar—are now available for
2015, in conjunction with the Army’s
240th birthday.
The coins feature artwork that
purchase from the U.S. Mint. commemorates the Army at war, the
A portion of the proceeds from the Army during peacetime and the mod-
sale of the coins will go toward con- ern Army.
struction of the National Museum of The three coins range in price from
the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, just under $20 to $450. Y
For  more  information,  visit  the  U.S.  Mint  website  
Va. The museum is expected to open in — ARNEWS/C. Todd Lopez at:  www.usmint.gov/catalog.

4PMEJFST
t
"QSJM
 25
 The  Army  is  working  with  federal  
and  state  agencies  to  ensure  that  
Soldiers  like  Spc.  Ellane  Marquez  
JHUÄUKX\HSP[`JOPSKJHYL

however, 98 percent of
child development pro-
grams are accredited.
“We won’t connect
a military Family with a
program that we know is
not developmentally ap-
propriate and not high
quality,” said Lee Ratliff,
acting Community
Based Division chief
at Family and Morale,
Welfare and Recreation
Command.
“Child care is a
quality of life issue,” he
explained. “It’s vital our
Soldiers know their chil-
dren are taken care of,
that they are in a high-
quality environment.”
Army CYSS has
been working for more
than a decade to ensure
Army child care on
installations is fully ac-
credited. In recent years,
the focus has been to
work with the NAC-
CRRA to develop qual-
ity child care options
outside the gates.
More than 14,000
children of active-duty,
National Guard and

DOD to offer child care improvements for

Reserve Soldiers are currently enrolled
in Army-sponsored, community-based
programs that meet state licensing and/

geographically dispersed Soldiers, Families

or national accreditation requirements.
Building on the success of Army
Child, Youth and School Services, the
DOD plans to launch an initiative this
year to improve the quality and quan-

A
CCORDING to the National tity of child care available for reserve-
Association of Child Care component personnel and Families
Story  by  Bill  Bradner Resource and Referral Agencies, living in areas not directly supported by
barely 10 percent of child development a military installation child care system.
facilities nationwide are accredited. The DOD will coordinate with
Within the Department of Defense, federal and state agencies—including

26 www.army.mil/soldiers
health and human services and Head
Start—to improve the quality and
availability of commercial and commu-
nity-based child care.
This initiative will also enhance
efforts to secure quality, community-
based child care options by working
with state agencies, including health
and human services and Head Start.
The DOD can assist in the develop-
ment of more accredited programs, and
those that meet its standards of care
will be added to the list of approved
providers.
Once the facility or program is
approved, servicemembers and Families
from all services can receive prices
comparable to those on post through
military subsidies to the child care fees.
Thirteen states have been selected
to participate in the pilot program:
Alaska, California, Colorado, Dela-
ware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Ken-
tucky, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Myaa,  19  months,  helps  her  mom,  Staff  Sgt.  Myranda  Chaney,  a  supply  sergeant  at  U.S.  Army  Reserve  
Vermont and Washington. The states Command  G-2/6,  clean  up  after  a  CYSS  Thanksgiving  dinner.  Myaa  is  enrolled  in  the  CDC  pretoddler  class.  

were selected based on a variety of

criteria, ranging from lack of a military
installations to support of deployed Alma  Carriker  (behind  children),  an  after-school  program  assistant  with  Child,  Youth  and  Schools  Services,  
joins  a  group  of  children  in  welcoming  attendees  to  the  Educators  Appreciation  Reception,  Sept.  11,  2010,  
Soldiers (such as Vermont), and the at  Fort  McPherson,  Ga.  
impact on the existing child care sys-
tem due to high numbers of deployed

Kevin  Stabinsky
Soldiers (North Carolina, Kentucky,
Texas and Washington).
State liaisons will provide techni-
cal and training assistance to those
agencies and providers willing to take
appropriate steps to improve the qual-
ity of care.
“The end goal is to increase the
availability of quality child care no
matter where they live,” Ratliff said.
“But this will also help the U.S.
improve quality in early childhood
environments across the nation.” Y

Bill   Bradner   works   for   FMWRC   Public  

Affairs.

4PMEJFST
t
"QSJM
 27
 a
Writing you letter
Letter & Artwork of Ryleigh Raines, age 7

L
ETTERS from loved ones can serve as morale
boosters for deployed servicemembers. Soldiers
magazine reached out to Army families, asking
them to share letters Soldiers’ children had written to
their deployed parents.
While space limitations preclude us from printing
every letter received, the next several pages showcase a
selection of submissions from kids of all ages across the
country.
On behalf of everyone at Soldiers magazine, thank
you to all the Army kids who serve as sources of support
and encouragement, not only to their deployed parents,
but also to the other Family members who wait for them
to return. Y

“I miss you so much and I hope you

have a gratetime. I wish you cood
be here with me right now. I love
you somuch that is whey I wont you
Phoebe,   Ryleigh   and   Olivia.   (Photo   by   Tawny  
Sgt.  Billy  Raines  and  his  daughters  (left  to  right)  

here.” —Olivia Raines, age 8

Letter from
Phoebe Ra
in es, age 10
Campbell)

28 www.army.mil/soldiers
 Letter from Julissa Rivas, age 13
Tawny  Campbell

“I have good grades in my classes....

I wish you were here with us now....
We are all counting down the days
until you come home... Love you very
much.”

Sgt.  Ronnie  Rivas  and  his  daughter,  Julissa.  

(Photo  by  Simply  Taken  Portraits  by  Staci,  
printed  with  permission)

4PMEJFST
t
"QSJM
 29
 “Dear Dad, from Nathan and Bryan. I hope you
listen. Be strong. I miss you. I love you. Thaks for
the presents. God bless you.” —Nathan & Bryan Rodney

Artwork of Nathan & Bryan Rodney, ages 3 & 8

Staff  Sgts.  Gary  and  Peta-Gail  Rod-

ney  (parents  of  Nathan  and  Bryan).  
(Photos   courtesy   of   the   Rodney  
Family)

30 www.army.mil/soldiers
 with  permission
Simply  Taken,  Portrais  by  Staci,  printed  
Letter from Christian Campbell, age 14

“...Can’t wait for you to come

home so we can play blackops....
I love you and miss you lots.”

*OPLM>HYYHU[6MÄJLY9VILY[*HTWILSS
and  his  stepson,  Christian  Taylor.

4PMEJFST
t
"QSJM
 31
4PMEJFST
t
"QSJM

Tawny  Campbell
Letter from Ceilidha Campbell, age 7

“How is it going? I have new friends.

I love you soooo much!”

Sgt.   Joe   Campbell   and   daughters   Ceilidha  

and   Rhynli   (age   1),   before   his   deployment   to  
(MNOHUPZ[HU1\S`

“I got your letter and hung it on my wall....

Never be lonely. I love (you) so much, I
can’t explain! Not even by picture!”
Lt.   Col.   Randy   Wheeler   and   daughter,   Katie.   (Photo   courtesy   of   the  
Wheeler  Family)

32 www.army.mil/soldiers Letter & Artwork of Katie Wheeler, age 9

Artwork of Miriam Gygax, age 3 1/2

Capt.  Lucion  P.  Gygax  and  daughter,  Miriam.  Second  

daughter,  Amira,  right.  (Photos  courtesy  of  the  Gygax  
Family)

Artwork of Reilly Williams, age 6

“To J.R.”

Sgt.   1st   Class   J.R.   Williams   with   her   husband,  

Jason   and   daughter,   Reilly.   (Photo   courtesy   of  
the  Williams  Family)

4PMEJFST
t
"QSJM
 33
 Letter from Katelyn Hamilton, age 15

“I got a couple of bruises today and took

some hard falls.... I can’t wait for us to go
back to the states and look at colleges to-
gether. I love you. Be safe.”

*OPLM>HYYHU[6MÄJLY;OVTHZ;VT/HTPS[VUHUKOPZKH\NO-
[LY2H[LS`U7OV[VJV\Y[LZ`VM[OL/HTPS[VU-HTPS`

“I miss you so much... and want

you to come home soon.”

Letter from Riley Wenger Rodgers, age 13

Sgt.   Cory   Rodgers   and   his   stepson,   Riley.  

(Photo  by  Tawny  Campbell)

34 www.army.mil/soldiers
Tawny  Campbell

Clockwise  from  top  right,  Sgt.  Jose  Rivera,  daughters,  Misha  

HUK1PYLOHNLHUK^PML4HY`(UU

“Thank you for my DSiXL.... I can’t

wait til you come back....We miss you
so much daddy.”

Letter from Misha Rivera, age 9

4PMEJFST
t
"QSJM
 35
 Tutoring  for  the
 N.
 Johnson
24/7 online service available for
Soldiers’ kids
Story
 by
 FMWRC
 Public
 Affairs Free online tutoring at
L
IVE homework help, part of a
student support program dubbed
Study Strong, is available from
the Army’s Child, Youth & School
Services both in school-age and middle
school/teen facilities and at home. It
can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week at Tutor.com/army.
Tutor.com/army is an interactive,
one-on-one, tutoring service for all
active-duty servicemembers and their
dependants, as well as dependants of
military reservists, National Guard and
DOD civilian personnel when on active
duty in a deployed status. If a parent
returns from deployment and their child
is no longer eligible for the free service,
Families can elect to continue using the
service for a nominal fee.
With Tutor.com/army, educational
assistance is provided free for all ages,
from kindergarten to 12th grade, and
includes support for math, science,
English and social studies. Resume and
career-transition services are also avail-
able for adults.
“This is a free service for military-
36 www.army.mil/soldiers
21st century
Edward
to.” Y
www.tutor.com/army
connected students,” said Terri Spencer,
Fort Drum, N.Y., school liaison officer.
“When we found out about it, we im-
mediately started marketing as much
as possible. And when we say it is free,
everyone likes that.”
“Since people have begun using the
service, we have received a lot of posi-
tive feedback,” she added. “The tutors
online are always quick and responsive.
They are very positive and will help
the students until they understand the
answers.”
To participate in the program,
students first submit a one-time reg-
istration form to obtain a pass code.
Students then use it to log in from any
computer. When they enter their grade
level and the subject they need help in,
they are connected to the first available
subject-expert tutor.
Students and tutors work in an
online classroom using controlled
chat and interactive white board tools.
Students may also send computer files,
such as essays, to the tutor for review
and assistance.
Tutors are certified teachers, college
professors, professional tutors or gradu-
ate students from across the country.
They all undergo criminal background
and reference checks before being hired
by Tutor.com. They are prohibited from
asking for any personal information
from the student and from contacting
the student outside the online classroom.
The assistance is provided in a complete-
ly anonymous environment to protect
students’ safety and identity.
“I think overall the program is great,”
Spencer said. “My daughter has used it,
and it is a fun, interactive website. It is
also good for children of Soldiers who
are deploying, (especially when) the one
deploying is the parent who helps their
children with their studies.”
Conner Dooley, a freshman at
Radford High School in Hawaii, said he
“likes Study Strong because it’s easy to
use, it’s helpful and it’s not complicated.
“It’s always available no matter what
time it is,” he continued. “I have only
used it for math, but would not hesitate
to use it for another subject if I needed
IN addition to providing 24/7 online tutoring,
the CYSS Study Strong program supports
students through the following:
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FHQWHUVSURYLGHDIWHUVFKRROSURJUDPVIDFLOL
WDWHGE\WHDFKLQJSURIHVVLRQDOVLQWKHLUORFDO
VFKRRODJHDQG\RXWKVHUYLFHVIDFLOLWLHV
‡&<66\RXWKWHFKODEVXVHHVWDEOLVKHGWHFK
QRORJ\FXUULFXOXPLQVFKRRODJHDQGPLGGOH
VFKRROWHHQSURJUDPV
‡6.,(68QOLPLWHG,QVWUXFWLRQDOSURJUDPV
SURYLGHLQVWUXFWLRQDOHQKDQFHPHQWFODVVHV
‡+RPHVFKRROVXSSRUWLVSURYLGHGIRUWKRVH
)DPLOLHVZKRFKRRVHWRKRPHVFKRROWKHLU
FKLOGUHQ7KHVFKRROOLDLVRQRI¿FHUVVKDUH
RSWLRQVDQGUHTXLUHPHQWVLQFOXGLQJSDUWGD\
SURJUDPVIRUFKLOGUHQLQWKHDUWVSK\VLFDO
HGXFDWLRQPXVLFDFFHVVWRIDFLOLWLHVFRP
SXWHUODEVDQGDFDGHPLFPDWHULDOVWRVXSSRUW
KRPHVFKRROHGVWXGHQWVY
Information provided by FMWRC Public
Affairs.
Army’s Child, Youth and School Services
LQVWLOOÀWQHVVKHDOWK\OLIHVW\OHV

Edward  N.  Johnson

8th   Army’s   Good   Neighbor  
soccer  team  plays  a  friendly  
game   against   a   host-nation  
opponent  in  South  Korea.

Youth  sports
Story  by  Tim  Hipps

T
HE Army’s Family and Morale, Fitness director. “Fitness and health also fosters help from the homefront to
Welfare and Recreation Com- and outreach have been our focus make healthy living an enduring part of
mand supports a variety of for the last couple of years. I knew everyday life.

sports and fitness programs for children
aged 3 to 18, involving more than
83,000 youth annually, with some
68,000 participating in team or indi-
vidual sports.
Start Smart Sports, SKIES Un-
limited School of Sports, Triple Play,
Up for the Challenge and Get Fit, Be
Strong!, are just a few of the programs
FMWRC’s Child Youth and School
Services delivers to installations world-
wide. All but Get Fit, Be Strong! are
already in place.
The CYSS Sports and Fitness
program supports military readiness by
reducing the conflict between Sol-
diers’ mission requirements and their
parental responsibilities. They provide
consistent and comprehensive oppor-
tunities for military children to develop
their physical, social, emotional and
cognitive abilities, while maximizing
participation in affordable programs.
The Army’s child and youth sports
and fitness framework is divided into
four service areas: team sports, indi-

B
HBNF
QMBO
GPS
UIF
NJOE


vidual sports, fitness and health, and
outreach.
“We do a great job with team
sports and individual sports,” said
Donna McGrath, CYSS Sports and
we were moving into this fitness and
health realm just because of the trend
in society to try to combat obesity in
children.”
Fitness and health programs are
based on nutrition education/counsel-
ing and health promotion activities.
These programs are implemented
throughout the CYSS system, to
include child development centers,
Family child care, school-age services,
and middle school and teen programs,
at no cost to participants.
CYSS Sports and Fitness directors
provide outreach to both in-house
programs and private organizations
such as 4-H, Boys and Girls Clubs and
local parks and recreation activities.
The outreach helps CYSS capitalize on
existing programs in the communi-
ties surrounding the installations, and
includes training for parents of kids
enrolled in CYSS.
The Army also plans to piggyback
on First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s
Move campaign with Get Fit, Be
Strong!
To fulfill that goal, CYSS officials
strive to deliver a holistic program that
not only provides the latest in fitness
training, equipment and services, but
Triple Play
“We can start it in our centers—
health, fitness and nutrition—but if it’s
not followed through with the com-
munity and the parents, then it will just
continue as a vicious cycle where children
don’t eat properly,” McGrath said. “We
want to start children off by teaching and
emulating a healthy, nutritional lifestyle
in our programs, but we want to help
solidify it with the Family.”
CYSS provides several programs to
help youth deal with stress, develop skills,
instill discipline and attack obesity:
t
4UBSU
4NBSU
4QPSUT
QSPWJEFT
USBJOJOH

in sports skills (basketball, baseball, golf
and soccer), small- and gross-motor
development, hand-eye coordination and
sportsmanship for ages 3-7.
t
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4DIPPM
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4QPSUT

provides opportunities for kids from pre-
school through high school to participate
in entry-level sports and fitness activities
that not only contribute to their physical
development, but also to specific interests
not addressed by other CYSS programs.
t
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body and soul, is a dynamic wellness
program that demonstrates how eating
right, keeping fit and forming positive
relationships result in a healthy lifestyle
for youth.

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program for executing health, fitness
get the Army’s youth involved in some
type of physical activity and instill
Get F it,
and nutrition activities within CYSS
programs. The curriculum guide is ac-
companied by a resource kit with food
lifelong habits.
“We’re not a competitive sports
organization,” she said. “We’re recre-
Be Strong!
models, pedometers, fat and muscle ational and intramural. That’s why we “It is our health and fitness campaign to
models, yoga tapes, etc., to help sup- really promote and adhere to our 50
combat obesity that supports Mrs. Obama’s
port the learning environment. percent playing rule. When you join a
t
(FU
'JU
#F
4USPOH
JT
'.83$T
team, we want you to participate. We’re Let’s Move campaign.”
customized version of the President’s not interested in running programs
Challenge, a national
physical activity and fit-
ness awards program. Get
Fit, Be Strong! provides
continued opportunities
to keep young people
active through sports and
physical fitness activities
at higher levels of physical
development within the
youth programs.
“It is our health and
fitness campaign to com-
bat obesity that supports
Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move
campaign,” McGrath said.
“We know that (youth)
oftentimes don’t receive
the nutritional value, ac-
cording to USDA, that is
required for them daily,”
McGrath said.
“And they’re less active
at home because they are
living sedentary lifestyles,”
she continued. Play has
a significant value in a
child’s life. They need to The  CYSS  Sports  and  Fitness  program  provides  opportunities  for  military  kids  to  develop  physical,  social,  emotional  
and  cognitive  abilities.
be active. Play helps them
socialize and learn how to be a
member of a team. where children sit on the bench. It does The bottom line, McGrath said, is
“Because it’s not always avail- them no good to sit on the bench.” The about much more than just exercise.
able in schools, you see after-school 50 percent playing rule allows for each “It’s learning lifelong healthy habits.
programs trying to pick up that slack. participant to play at least 50 percent It’s not just a one-time deal. That takes
We know how valuable our sports and of the game. training and education, and that’s what
fitness program is, and that’s why it’s a “And that’s a constant struggle for we need to do with our kids. If we
significant portion of our framework in us because we have those folks who make it fun, entertaining, (and) excit-
school-age and middle-school and teen want us to run competitive teams, but ing, and wow them with our program-
programs.” we’re not built that way,” McGrath ming, then we’ll be successful."Y
According to Health and Human added. “We’re not structured that way
Services Department and President’s because when we start running com-
Challenge officials, children require 60 petitive teams, then we leave children
minutes of activity a day to burn the out. We want to include children in
calories they consume. our program. We don’t want to exclude Tim   Hipps   works   for   FMWRC   Public  
McGrath hopes these programs will children.” Affairs.  

38 www.army.mil/soldiers
 Soldiers  Radio  and  Television  
gave   kids   whose   parents  
are   affiliated   with   the   Army  
a   chance   to   be   reporters   for  
a  day.

Army KidS
reporting
T
HERE’S more than one way
Army journalists convey Sol-
diers’ stories so they resonate
with different members of the Army
Family. Former Soldiers Radio and
Television director Jini Ryan and
SRTV producer Chip Filiault reached
out to the children of Soldiers and
Department of Defense civilians to get
answers to questions from a young per-
son’s perspective. The segment, called
Army Kids, aired in Army Newswatch,
the Army’s flagship broadcast, and
brought their reports into the homes of
 Filiault
military Families around the world.
Several middle and high school stu-
dents rose to the challenge, and became
Army Kids reporters for a day. Excerpts
from their interviews offer a glimpse
at how the youth reporters related to
their subjects, and the stories that were
developed from their interviews.
Operation
 Purple
 Camp tor some day. The complete video story
In the summer of 2008, then-13-
year-old Corey Filiault served as the
first Army Kids reporter at an Opera-
tion Purple Camp in West Virginia to
Corey
see the positive impacts of the program
on children of deployed parents. The
daughter of a Department of Defense
civilian, she was already anchoring her
school announcements when she got
her first taste of Army broadcasting.
She hopes to be a lawyer or a book edi-
that we heard that someone else in the
can be found at http://www.army.mil/
media/amp/?bctid=745082693001
or http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=XSvGXCjv-Sc.
AK reporter: Do you guys worry about
him when he’s gone?
Audrey Zipperer, 13 (Dad in Army):
Of course.
Abigail Zipperer, 9 (Dad in Army):
Yeah, a lot.
AK reporter: What do you guys worry
about?
Audrey: We just worry that he’ll get
hurt. I mean it happens, things happen
over there, you can’t really stop them.
AK reporter: Your dad, has he ever
gotten hurt or have you guys ever got-
ten really, really worried?
Abigail: He got hit in the nose.
Audrey: Yeah, he got hit in the nose
once firing a gun by accident. It wasn’t
stabilized properly. But when he’s out
on missions, he lost some Soldiers.
And he was the commander of that
troop and it was hard.… Every time
troop had gotten hurt or was severely
wounded or anything like that we were
definitely really worried about him.

4PMEJFST
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 39
 Jeremy  Beale  tries  his  hand  at  archery  during  Operation  Purple  Camp.  
(Photo  by  Elizabeth  M.  Collins)

AK reporter: Is it helpful, now that
you’ve come to Operation Purple
Camp, that you see other people that
are going through the same things that
you are?
Audrey: Yeah.
AK reporter: Do you guys discuss it
at all?
Audrey: We do. We talk. We compare
things. We sympathize with people.
AK reporter: Who is in the Army?
Jeremy Beale, 16: Both my parents,
 for
 the
 troops
my mother and my father.
AK reporter: Wow. That must be really
tough.
Jeremy: A little bit. It’s tough knowing
that they can get deployed at any time,
but just having them with you most of
the time through your life, it’s pretty
cool.
AK reporter: Do they get deployed
one at a time usually, or have they both
gotten deployed at the same time?
Jeremy: There’s been certain instances,
not like them getting deployed to-
gether, but like one will get deployed
and one will go to another Army base
for a short period of time, maybe like
months or weeks.
AK reporter: Is that really hard?
Jeremy: Well, it’s hard for the deploy-
ment. But the other one on base,
usually they don’t send them too far
away, so he can come back and visit,
like maybe once a week. Having my
grandparents with me, it kind of helps
me through it because of the fact that
they’re like second parents to me.
AK reporter: By coming to Purple
Camp, does this help you…express
feelings or worries?
Jeremy: Actually it did. Before Purple
Camp, it’s not that I couldn’t talk to
people, but talking to them about the
military is not like one of our conver-
sations…. When I got here, the first
thing they had us talk about was how
our parents are doing and like what
branch of the military were they in,
and we just had random conversations
about our parents and what they did
and things like that.
AK reporter: Overall, would you say
that you’d like to join the Army?
Jeremy: I can’t join the Army, because
I have disabilities…which do not allow
me to join the military. I couldn’t, but
if I could, I probably still wouldn’t
because of the fact that I know being
a kid and moving a lot is really hard,
and I don’t know—if I had kids, I don’t
know if I could put them through that.
Collection
Katherine Arata was a 7th grader
when she volunteered to serve as an
Army Kids reporter to talk about the
troop-outreach efforts of the students
at H.H. Poole Middle School in
Virginia. The daughter of an active-
duty Army colonel, Katherine hopes
to become a CNN reporter. The
complete video story can be found
at http://www.army.mil/media/
amp/?bctid=95746712001.
AK reporter: What are you packing
up?

40 www.army.mil/soldiers
 Corey   Filiault   served   as   a   guest  
reporter  for  Soldiers  Radio  and  Televi-
sion  at  Operation  Purple  Camp,  where  
she   interviewed   kids   like   Audrey  
Zipperer   (on   the   rope).   (Photo   by  
Elizabeth  M.  Collins)

Katherine
 Arata AK reporter: How do you feel about
Lauren Smith, 8th grade: Just main
essentials like soap and toothpaste and
toothbrushes and socks and some food.
Jermari Woodson, 8th grade: Variety
of stuff…Frisbees, water guns, gum
and also playing cards, and other toilet-
ries—everything that a Soldier might
need over there.
AK reporter: How did you get dona-
tions?
Heather Reilly, 6th grade: Well, we
used Cullen (a fellow student), and he
dressed up as a Soldier Angel with little
wings on and ran through the school.
And we talked about it on our an-
nouncements.
AK reporter: So, how did you get
involved in this?
Cullen Guthrie, 8th grade: Around
here almost every Family has some
military or anything to do with it or
a parent that’s in the military. It’s just
nice to support them.
what you and your students are do-
ing today?
Stephanie Reilly, 8th-grade geogra-
phy teacher: I’m very proud of them.
They worked very hard…The SCA
(Student Council Association) sold
candygrams to raise money to buy
some of these items. Some of the items
were donated—some by 6th graders,
some by 7th graders and some by 8th
graders—so the whole school took part
in this. And the SCA took funds from
what we had earned and what we had
gotten from the candygrams and Mrs.
Gaylord and I went out and bought
some more supplies. Everybody likes
to get a package in the mail especially
when it’s filled with goodies, so I’m
really proud of the kids for participat-
ing in this.
AK reporter: Why are you helping out
here today?
Jermari: Well, because, really, my sister
is in the Army and I believe in making
a difference. And I like to be part of
someone’s life, helping them out, really,
that sort of thing.
AK reporter: If you could say one
thing to the Soldiers receiving this box
what would you say?
Lauren: I would say thank you for
their service because I know it’s hard
for me too having my dad been de-
ployed four times also, so, just thank
you for their service because I know
how much they sacrifice for it.
Mrs. Reilly: I would tell them good
luck and we appreciate what they’re
doing. One of the things that I teach
my students as a geography teacher is
there’s a lot of places in the world, but

4PMEJFST
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 41
 Katherine   Arata,   Army   Kids   reporter,  
talked  to  students  at  H.  H.  Poole  Middle  
School   in   Virginia   about   their   troop  
outreach  efforts.

this is the best and we need to appreci-
ate what we have and those people that
make it possible for us to keep that.
Army
 musicians
Kelleen Lincoln was entering
the 10th grade when she donned the
Army Kids reporter mantle to find
out what it takes to become a mem-
ber of the U.S. Army Field Band in
Maryland. Kelleen, the daughter of a
DOD civilian, is an avid violin and
viola player, and had a chance to jam
with an Army musician. The link to
 Lincoln
the complete video story can be found
at IUUQXXXBSNZNJMNFEJB
BNQ CDUJE.
AK reporter: So, how long have you
guys been playing your instruments?
Staff Sgt. Lauren Veronie, eupho-
nium player: Well, I’ve been playing
since I was about 12 years old. I picked
the euphonium first thing out of all the
options of band instruments. My mom
really wanted me to play the flute and
I wanted to do whatever the opposite
of what she wanted me to do was so I
picked something quite a bit bigger. It’s
the euphonium, it’s like a small tuba.
Staff Sgt. Jeanne Wiesman, French
horn player: I started when I was 13,
in 7th grade, and in our school we
had the choice of band or choir. And I
don’t have a singing voice so I looked
at all the instruments and I thought the
French horn was the prettiest and the
shiniest.
AK reporter: Do you enjoy playing
your instruments? Has there ever been
a time when you’ve thought, “Maybe I Kelleen
should put this down. There (are) other
things I could be doing right now?”
Wiesman: No, this is a great job happens to an instrument, it gets
because basically (like) we’re in band smashed or dropped or stolen, the
class, all day long. It’s a job where we Army is not liable for an instrument
get to do what we’re passionate about. that does not belong to it.
AK reporter: Do your instruments that AK reporter: What about your instru-
you play with this band belong to you, ment?
or are they from the Army, and…you Staff Sgt. Rachel Farber, vocalist and
borrow them? violinist: It’s from Palermo in 1790,
Veronie: Most of us play on Army- and as you can see, it’s just beautiful
issued instruments. It’s partly a liability and the sound is just like, it’s almost
reason. If we’re on tour and something like a viola sound. It’s dark and warm

42 www.army.mil/soldiers
 Staff   Sgt.   Lauren   Veronie,   a   euphonium  
player  with  the  Army    Field  Band,  told  Army  
Kids  reporter  Kellen  Lincoln  that  the  road  to  
becoming  an  Army  musician  is  challenging.  
(Photo  by  Robert  McIver)

and it’s just—, I wonder who played

this before, you know, for the past,
what, 200 years?

AK reporter: Is there any advice that

you would give young musicians pos-
sibly looking to go into military bands?
Veronie: I think one of the first things
you can do is find a great teacher on
your instrument. They will absolutely
guide you and help you be passionate
about it and get the instruction you
need. And you have to work really
hard—it’s not always an easy road.
Farber: Audition for everything you
can, play in anything you can play in
and just keep playing. Music is the
greatest gift in the world, and I’m
grateful every day that I can do it for
my country. Y

At   the   time   the   article   was   written,   Jini  

Ryan  was  the  director  of  Soldiers  Radio   Staff  Sgt.  Jeanne  Weisman  and  fellow  Army  Field  Band  Soldiers  shared  their  experiences  with  Army  Kids  
and   Television.   She   now   works   at   the   reporter  Kelleen  Lincoln.  (Photo  by  Robert  McIver)  
Environmental  Protection  Agency.

4PMEJFST
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 43
 Story  and  photos  by  

The  Fife  and   Staff  Sgt.  Alexander  Borisov

T
HE U.S. Army Old Guard

Drum  Corps
Passing  the  torch  to  the  next  generation  of  musicians
Fife and Drum Corps plays an
active role in telling America’s
story. It’s through its uniqueness that
it is able to pass on a passion for music
and history that its members say in-
spires and teaches the next generation.
As an element of the 3rd U.S. In-
fantry Regiment, “The Old Guard,” the
Army’s oldest active-duty infantry regi-
ment, The Old Guard Fife and Drum
Corps is one of the Army’s four special
bands. Its 69 Soldier-musicians serve
as goodwill ambassadors for the Army,
performing at more than 500 events
each year. From playing for the presi-
dent and honored guests on the South
Lawn of the White House to perfor-
mances in Hometown USA, the Corps
has become a national icon, reaching
millions of spectators annually.
The uniforms the Corps’ Soldiers
wear represent those worn by Gen.
George Washington’s Continental
Army, and their interactions with the
public bring that history to life.
“Playing at elementary schools al-
lows the Fife and Drum Corps a great
opportunity to reach today’s youth,”
explained Staff Sgt. Rebecca Davidson,
fife instrumentalist. “It’s a thrill to not
only see their faces light up when we
start playing but to leave knowing you
truly taught them a piece of American
history. It’s always the question-and-
answer session we do after a show that
gets the kids really excited.”
The Corps’ musicians said the
goal of a performance is to keep the
audience engaged and excited, and
they whole-heartedly embrace that
challenge. Corps members, who play
on handmade rope-tensioned drums,
10-hole wooden fifes and single-valve
bugles, maintain bonds with their
young fans long after a performance.
“Over the years, we’ve received
hundreds of pieces of fan mail from
children we’ve played for. We like to
think we ignite their love of history
at an early age,” said Sgt. 1st Class
Matthew Huddleston, U.S. Army Old

44 www.army.mil/soldiers
:[HMM:N[+LHUUH/HTT<:(YT`6SK.\HYK-PMLHUK+Y\T*VYWZÄMLPUZ[Y\TLU[HSPZ[SLHKZZ[\KLU[Z[OYV\NOT\ZPJK\YPUN[OL6SK.\HYK1\UPVYZ»>VYRZOVW
Guard Fife and Drum Corps Drum
Major. “It’s a Corps member favorite to
go through these letters and write them
back. It’s an interaction and experi-
ence you don’t see anywhere else in the
Army.”
With a strong following in the New
England and Midwest regions, fifing
and drumming is a vibrant pastime
for today’s youth with hundreds of
corps throughout the country. Through
direct interactions with these civilian
groups, the Old Guard Fife and Drum
Corps is able to do something no other
military band can: truly immerse them-
selves in a genre.
“Growing up with a daughter in
the tradition of fifing and drumming
was fantastic. As a father, something
that really touched me was watching
her face when she saw the Old Guard
perform in our hometown,” said David
Arns, a Midwest fife and drum corps
parent. “She looked at them as the rock
stars of the fife and drum world.”
The Corps’ strong outreach pro-
gram is at the heart of Soldier-young
musician relationships. Through dedi-
cated events and appearances such as
the annual Old Guard Juniors’ Work-
shop, the Soldier-to-youth interaction
is further fostered. In 2010, the Corps
hosted its sixth such event.
To commemorate its 50th anniver-
sary, Corps alumni and current mem-
bers volunteered to teach and mentor
workshop participants. The workshop
is a unique event within the Army,
and currently one of only a handful of
events designed specifically for the na-
tion’s younger generation.
The Corps’ Education Outreach
coordinator, Staff Sgt. Jay Martin,
explained: “Our goal here in the Corps
is to continue what we’ve done, what
we’re doing and foremost, what we’re
going to do, so we can push further
ahead in our outreach to today’s youth.
When you start such a groundbreaking
event like our Juniors’ Workshop, it’s
up to you to make sure it continues to
grow.”
Held on historic Joint Base Myer-
Henderson Hall, Va., just across the
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 45
:[HMM:N[:JV[[1HTPZVU<:(YT`6SK.\HYK-PMLHUK+Y\T*VYWZZUHYLKY\TPUZ[Y\TLU[HSPZ[WLYMVYTZ
^P[OHZ[\KLU[MYVT[OL6SK.\HYK1\UPVYZ»>VYRZOVW

Potomac River from the nation’s
capital, the weekend-long camp brings
together more than 100 young musi-
cians from across the United States.
The days are filled with a wide array of
classes ranging from music composi-
tion, marching basics and even a sneak
peak into the life of other Old Guard
elements. According to the partici-
pants, everyone has a great time.
Soldiers from the Fife and Drum
Corps are there to teach classes and
shuttle students between events
throughout the day. Members take par-
ticipants under their wings and make
sure their weekend runs smoothly.
Soldiers explained that it’s this close
interaction that fosters an environment
where each child wants to learn.
“The Juniors’ Workshop is the
highlight of my year. Obviously you
leave the weekend with a bunch of
musical advice, but the best part is
the experiences and (the) friendships
you form with Old Guard members,”
Patrick McHale, a 2010 Old Guard
Juniors’ Workshop participant, said.
“It’s like having an older sibling you
can really look up to.”
As Soldiers welcomed the par-
ticipants, the Corps building’s halls
bustled with excited chatter about what
the weekend’s activities would hold.
The workshop provides many kids
with the opportunity to meet with old
friends and quickly make new ones.
“Since I became a member of the
Fife and Drum Corps, to experience
the Juniors’ Workshop and to see all of
the kids running around, seeing their
friends and saying hello to our Soldiers,
never gets old. Some of them have

46 www.army.mil/soldiers
:[HMM:N[+LHUUH/HTT<:(YT`6SK.\HYK-PMLHUK+Y\T*VYWZÄMLPUZ[Y\TLU[HSPZ[JVUK\J[ZJOPSKYLUK\YPUNHUL_LYJPZLH[[OL6SK.\HYK1\UPVYZ»>VYRZOVW
been attending the workshop since it
started, and it’s so moving to see their
progress,” said Staff Sgt. Kara Loyal, a
fife instrumentalist. “More importantly,
you soon realize you’ve made lifelong
friends out of the students you teach—
there’s no greater event for everyone to
build camaraderie.”
The capstone of the weekend, and
something that lies within the core
of the fife-and-drum world, was the
jam session. Participants agreed that
was the moment they waited for all
weekend—an opportunity to play with
 Fife
 and
 Drum
 Corps.
the Soldiers of the Old Guard Fife
and Drum Corps. There’s no rhyme or
reason to how it’s pieced together—
the beauty lies in the simplicity and
spontaneity of the session, participants
said. The concept: Musicians gather en
masse, someone starts a song and the
entire collective joins in. The jam ses-
sion showcased the efforts of both the
Soldiers and their students. Brought to-
gether by music and a common thread
of patriotism, the young musicians
joined the ranks of the next generation
to carry on this American legacy.
“As keepers of the flame, we not
only chronicle the legacy of military
music, but we also look to the horizon
to ensure the art form continues,” said
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Frederick Ell-
wein, U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and
Drum Corps commander. “It’s about
inspiring the future leaders of our
nation through the interaction with
today’s Soldiers.” Y
:[HMM :N[ (SL_HUKLY )VYPZV] PZ H ÄMLY
HUK[OLW\ISPJHMMHPYZUVUJVTTPZZPVULK
VMÄJLYPUJOHYNL^P[O[OL<:(YT`6SK
Guard
4PMEJFST
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 47

Retired Lt. Col. James Graham
When Lt. Col. Rick Graham found an Afghan child in need of
medical care, he knew who to call on for help—his father, retired
Lt. Col. James Graham, a 28-year member of the Army National
*XDUG´,IDQ\RQHZDVJRLQJWRNQRZKRZWRKHOSWKLVFKLOG,ÀJXUHG
it was him.” James Graham and his wife, Roberta, immediately
raised the funds to bring the child, Quadrat, and his father, Hakim,
www.army.mil/facesofstrength
to the United States for the heart surgery the boy needed. When
Quadrat passed away after his return to Afghanistan, James and
Roberta Graham raised $13,000 to help Hakim build a clinic and
school in his village in Quadrat’s honor and name. The school and
the clinic continue to grow today with James Graham’s assistance.
The nation’s strength starts here.
THE BOTTOM LINE INCLUDES
MORE THAN A PAYCHECK

SERVICE: IT ADDS UP

Consider the benefits you don’t see on

your leave and earnings statement each
month. In addition to regular pay and a
housing allowance, the Army provides
access to health and dental care,
on-post services, tuition assistance
and generous retirement options.
Check with your career counselor about
reenlistment options and stay Army
Strong.

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