Oct. 10, 2011 -- Secretary of the Army's remarks at AUSA Family Forum

By John McHugh, secretary of the ArmyOctober 11, 2011

Colonel [Martinson], I appreciate that introduction and I want to say from the outset that -- and I can say this without fear of contradiction -- that this is the best-looking audience we've appeared at so far. Guys, I don't mean you -- although you're looking pretty good as well.

I want to begin by adding my words of congratulations to the Barnhart family for their selection [as 2011 AUSA Army Family of the Year]. To those of you who had a chance to attend the opening ceremony you got to hear a little bit about the dedication, the devotion, and the efforts that they bring to serving their Army community in trying to make a difference.

It doesn't just start and end with mom and dad, it goes right down to their four children as well -- four young adults really -- folks who are really showing what it means in the Army to be a true Army family with the passion and the commitment to just try and reach out and make a difference. So, congratulations to all of you who did such a great job representing Army Families everywhere.

This is my third Family Forum, and -- from my very first one back in 2009, very soon after I had the honor of becoming the 21st Secretary of the Army -- to me it's always been critically important.

You heard Ms [Sylvia] Kidd say, it provides us a chance to hear from you to have an interaction, a dialogue to learn from folks like yourselves who are on the ground, facing these challenges each and every day, as to what you're worried about; what we're doing that perhaps we're doing well -- so we don't inadvertently take a path away from those kinds of programs; what we're not doing well -- where we have gaps, where we have redundancies; your concerns -- the kinds of things that are going to help us decide what works, what's worthy of keeping, and how we can go forward together.

I spoke this morning about the changing fiscal and economic realities of this nation, and it's something that we are all going to have to face together. And it will. In fact it already has. As you've heard to a certain extent here this morning -- impact our Army and the way in which we do business. But there has to be some things that we keep ever foremost in our minds.

As you know, just last month we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the attacks of September 11th. And every day since then, as you know better than most people in this nation, we have been an Army at war. It's been your husbands, your wives, your children, your families who have carried the burden for America. And that, I believe very strongly, means we have a great obligation to you -- a great debt that we must keep ever in our thoughts.

We talk a lot about the Army family. You hear it on our radio and our television promotions. You read about it in virtually any Army publication, and it's important that we talk about it. It's important that we remind ourselves -- but it can't just be a bumper sticker.

It has to be a commitment that all of us bring to our jobs, to our avocation virtually each and every day. So that we never forget that while these great Soldiers, men and women in uniform, are forward deployed -- wherever that deployment may take them -- and we're in more than 80 countries across this planet -- that back home, there are folks like yourselves who are struggling as well and who are holding that family together and who are keeping that Soldier in your minds and giving them the motivation to come back to all of you.

Now, resourcing, as I said, will be a challenge. I think that we have made good dedication of our funds in recent years. When all of this concern about families and family programs began, the Army was spending just over $600 million dollars a year in support of those kinds of initiatives. Today, we more than double that. And, probably, if we had the resources we could have doubled it yet again.

I want to make a commitment here to you -- to let you know that while we're going to look at ways in which we can do things more efficiently, we owe that to ourselves -- we owe it to the taxpayers of this nation. Where we will try and make decisions as to how you feel what is working and what is not. We may change some things. I'd like to think those changes will be for the better. But, we will not make Army family programs the bill payer for other kinds of initiatives. [applause] That's a place we've been in the past and it's a place I don't want to help take us back too, and I know you don't wish to see that either.

So, this is a critically important forum for us to celebrate the Army family, but also, as I said, to help us get a little bit smarter as to what celebration of the Army family means in terms of sustaining those programs and making sure that you have what you need to remain part of the greatest land force -- the greatest force for freedom -- that the world has ever known. The United States Army.

So, I'm thrilled to be here and I'm particularly happy to be here with the 38th chief of staff of the Army, and I sure as heck hope I can keep this one a little bit longer than I kept the last one. But, however long he stays, he's going to make a big difference and I'm glad he's where he is and we'll work this together.

Related Links:

Video: AUSA 2011 Military Family Forum - America's Families Our Leaders Speak, Part 1

Video: AUSA 2011 Military Family Forum - America's Families Our Leaders Speak, Part 2

Video: AUSA 2011 Military Family Forum - America's Families Our Leaders Speak, Part 3