FORT JACKSON, S.C. (Army News Service, April 19, 2007) - The Army's senior spouse met with some of Fort Jackson's enlisted spouses during a forum Tuesday at the Post Conference Room.
Mrs. Sheila Casey has been a military wife for 37 years and is a mother of two and grandmother of five. She works full time as the chief financial officer for "The Hill," a newspaper that reports on Congress.
"I am learning how to balance this, traveling and working full time," Mrs. Casey said.
Currently, she is touring military installations across the world with her husband, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., who is the Army's top-uniformed officer, to meet with as many Family Members as she can because she wants to know what's going on in the Army community.
"We are living in very busy and very turbulent times with no obvious let-up in the near future," Mrs. Casey said. "One of the biggest myths is that spouses in the military are used to this."
She is an advocate for Army Families and wants to get a feel for the morale of the Families across the Army. Once she finishes hearing about the installations from the people who live and work on them and use the Army programs, she intends to press Congress for money to meet the needs of the Army.
There are two key subjects that she is concerned with about the Army Family life.
First, she said it seems Family Members don't necessarily want more Army programs; they want standardization of Army programs.
"They want to be able to go from post to post and get the same level of service at each one," Mrs. Casey said.
The second subject is about teen programs - she said she feels the teenage groups are forgotten in the spectrum of Army life, and that she would like to see more opportunities and programs arise for them.
"This is an opportunity for me to listen to all the Army's Family Members' needs and take them back to Washington," Mrs. Casey said. She said she is planning on playing a key role in shaping the future of Army Family life.
(Ms. Nichole Riley is assistant editor for the Fort Jackson "Leader.")