REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama -- U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command Soldiers, family members and civilians were brought together from around the world to support the command's Army Family Action Plan virtual focus group meeting via video teleconference Oct. 2.
USASMDC/ARSTRAT members at Redstone Arsenal; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Fort Greely, Alaska; and Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, shared thoughts and ideas to help the command and the Army become a better place for members of the Army Family.
"I want to thank everyone for participating in AFAP," said Brig. Gen. Gregory S. Bowen, SMDC deputy commanding general for operations. "I have done a lot of AFAPs during the course of my career and I have watched a lot of interesting discussions and a lot of great ideas get brought up and elevated up to the Army level. This is a great chance to influence things at the Army and Department of Defense level through policy changes, legislative action, different programs and services. It is a grass roots approach to making the Army a better place.
"The whole idea is to create better communities, better programs and a better quality of life for our Soldiers, civilians, families, retirees, surviving spouses and everyone who is involved," he added. "The bottom line is about making the Army better. It is important we get input to the senior level from the folks who are living it every day."
The Army Family Action Plan is a voice of all components of Army families. AFAP is a primary tool for communicating with the Army's senior leadership and reaches across the Army to identify, prioritize and elevate quality-of-life issues to Army senior leaders for action and resolution.
The team reported to Lt. Gen. David L. Mann, SMDC commanding general, and SMDC Command Sgt. Maj. Jerome Wiggins on Oct. 2 with issue titles and recommendations for the leaders to take to Department of the Army headquarters.
"The importance of AFAP is for leadership to have an opportunity to resolve issues that affect Soldiers and their families and if we can't solve it at our level, we can elevate it to the Army level where we can get resolution," Wiggins said. "AFAP is a great opportunity for Soldiers and family members to bring issues to the command and make it known to leadership and let us go out and execute our jobs and provide resolution.
"This is a great event and the Army needs to keep doing this," he added. "And if the Army chief of staff is doing this at his level, we have a responsibility to keep doing this at our level."
The issues brought up to the command team are as follows:
Issue Title 1: Expansion of Military Spouse Preference eligibility.
Recommendation: Allow military spouses to claim Military Spouse Preference for up to 12 months after the sponsor has arrived at their new duty station, regardless of when the spouse joins their sponsor.
Issue Title 2: USASMDC/ARSTRAT Soldiers and families not being well received when arriving to gaining command in the greater Colorado Springs area.
Recommendation: Develop comprehensive method to assist Soldiers and families arriving to Air Force installations in Colorado Springs area.
The members of the Huntsville workgroup were: JoAnna Brunson, Capt. Chris Carnes, David Crouch, Tamatha Dinoto, Staff Sgt. Diane Hoffman, Holly Nichols and Abby Ricks.
The members of the Colorado Springs workgroup were: Phyllis Baez, Tisha Crespin, Staff Sgt. Joseph Dirksz, Capt. Sam Irizarry, Chris O'Brien, Sgt. Carlos Ortiz, Sgt. 1st Class Charles Rice, Joy Shepherd and Spc. Nathan Tobin.
During the conference, KC Bertling, SMDC Soldiers and Family Program manager, said AFAP is a program for all those who have any issues with quality of life as Army families.
One SMDC leader and team member talked about how team members can elevate issues to Army senior leaders.
"The importance of AFAP is a voice to help flush out problems that affect not only the Soldiers but also the families," Irizarry said. "It helps to elevate issues to command and Army level in order for those issues to get rectified. I wanted to be a part of the process because I recognize that the families and civilians of the Army have a voice and this is an important mechanism to help them amplify that voice to the highest levels of Army leadership."
The AFAP program provides a mechanism for all individuals who comprise the Army's global force -- Soldiers of various ranks, dual military and single Soldier parents, retirees, Department of the Army civilians, survivors, wounded warriors and their family members to identify issues of concern that impact the quality of life of Army members.
The AFAP process operates at three distinct levels -- garrison and tenant unit issue submissions; Headquarters, Army staff issue vetting; and AFAP General Officer Steering Committee member command focus groups.
Since 1983, more than 700 issues have entered AFAP, with more than 500 issues resolved. To learn more about SMDC's AFAP program, contact (256) 955-4082, or email Kum.C.Bertling.civ@mail.mil.
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