FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (Sept. 23, 2010) -A,A Fort Leavenworth re-committed itself to supporting military families Sept. 17 by re-signing the Army Family Covenant.
The initial Army Family Covenant was signed on Fort Leavenworth in 2007, following an Armywide promise to families. There is a separate agreement, called the Army Community Covenant, for partnerships with outside organizations and communities.
Since its signing in 2007, the Army Family Covenant has provided Fort Leavenworth with financial resources to give discounts or free Child, Youth and School Services opportunities to families. Families have received thousands of hours of child care and Schools of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration and Skills (SKIES) classes at no cost. Fort Leavenworth was able to build a miniature golf course and skate park and is now constructing an additional building that will house more child care and after-school programs. Army Community Service's Exceptional Family Member Program offers free respite care, so that care providers of exceptional family members can take a break or run errands.
The Single Soldier Quarters received large-screen televisions with surround sound, electronic gaming devices, theater seating, table games, horseshoe pits, picnic tables and grills.
Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr., commander of the Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, said supporting families is central to the Army's mission. He said there has been a change during his 35-year career in the military.
"You cannot fight a war for nine years in persistent conflict with deployment after deployment, and then teach Soldiers in an all-volunteer Army without the Soldier's family standing behind him or her," Caslen said.
Combined Arms Center Command Sgt. Maj. Philip F. Johndrow agreed there had been a change in the way the Army views its Soldiers and their families. Upon joining the Army, he was initially advised not to get married.
"The best thing that ever happened to me in my life was getting married because it added stability to my life," he said.
Maj. William Shoemate, Intermediate Level Education student in the Command and General Staff College 2011-01 class, participated in the re-signing of the covenant. He and his wife, Capt. Alisha Shoemate, have a 2-year-old daughter, Anna. Last year, when Maj. Shoemate was deployed as chief of operations of the 130th Engineering Brigade in Mosul, Iraq, Anna was able to attend free SKIES classes.
"They're the backbone of what we do," Shoemate said of Army families. "We defend their freedom every day ... why not put forth the effort to ensure that our families get the most out of everything that we can offer as a military'"
Maj. Shoemate said he spent many years as a single Soldier, and the Army Family Covenant applies to them, whether or not they are parents.
"It applies to those single Soldiers as well, we're all part of one giant Army family," he said.
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