COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- To improve the Army Family's quality of life, Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians, retirees and family members from across the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command gathered for their annual midlevel Army Family Action Plan Conference in Colorado Springs, Colo., April 18-22.
A total of 33 delegates representing the command's many demographics were divided into three workgroups. Each group reviewed previously submitted issues, concerns and ideas, and prioritized the top two issues for their group. Everyone worked tirelessly with subject matter experts and each workgroup spokesperson briefed the top two issues to the commanding general and other senior leaders in the command on April 22.
During the report out brief, conference delegates cheered when their spokesperson called out the group name.
"I had no idea about the AFAP program until I attended the conference this week. This is an awesome program for the Army leaders to demonstrate that they do care about us," said Melva Tillar, one of the conference delegates.
The following subjects were briefed to the commanding general, and these will be forwarded to the Department of the Army Headquarters for further actions during the worldwide 2012 AFAP conference.
1. Orthodontic coverage options for family members.
Recommendation: Provide optional plans for family members at sponsors' expense to purchase expanded orthodontic coverage under the TRICARE Dental Plan.
2. Environmentally hazardous Army family housing.
Recommendation: Provide environmentally safe housing for family members.
3. TRICARE Prime Specialty Care Referrals between Regional Contractors.
Recommendation: Change current policy to allow TRICARE regions to accept referrals from the losing region to accommodate TRICARE Prime patients requiring specialty medical care upon arrival at the new duty station.
4. Support programs for Soldiers, civilians and families at remote locations.
Recommendation: Provide means to access relevant Army support programs, dependent on unique site needs, at all remote locations, regardless of total Soldier population.
5. Internal Department of the Army civilian career advancement opportunities.
Recommendation: Require increased career advancement opportunities for DA employees, GS-5 through GS-12 by utilizing existing developmental options as opposed to hiring externally.
6. Voluntary Leave Donation Program for Soldiers.
Recommendation: Implement a Voluntary Leave Donation Program for Soldiers.
AFAP provides the Army community a "voice" in shaping their standards of living and identifying issues related to the current environment. Army leaders trust and support AFAP, and it provides real-time information that enables commanders to respond more rapidly to resolve problems, implement good ideas and guides policy information.
Installations and local levels hold annual AFAP conferences where representatives of the entire community meet to identify, develop and prioritize issues they believe are important to maintain quality of life for Army Families.
Issues that are applicable beyond the local and mid-level conferences will be forwarded to the HQDA AFAP conference. The goals of the conference are to provide information on the implementation of AFAP issues and identify and prioritize issues for Army leadership for further actions to achieve the Army's overall goal of improving the quality of life for Army Families.
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