Fairchild hosts landmark military family caucus

Published Oct. 24, 2011
By Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Buzanowski
92nd Air Refueling Wing PUblic Affairs

FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- In the first-ever Congressional Military Family Caucus event held outside the nation's capital, Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Georgia Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr., co-chairs of the caucus, listened to Eastern Washington military families, service members and veterans at Fairchild Air Force Base Oct. 17.

About a hundred military and family members attended the event facilitated by state and federal leaders as well as support agencies from Fairchild - discussing issues such as:

Health care
Employment
Housing
Guard- and Reserve- specific beneficiary challenges
Exceptional Family Member Programs (for family members with diseases, disabilities and handicaps)
Deployments, manning and in-garrison stressors
Education & schooling

The forum was a unique opportunity for service members and family members in Eastern Washington to voice concerns directly to a bi-partisan panel of legislators.

In addition to the representatives, Robert Gordon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy; and Tom Riggs, Washington Guard Military Families, joined the opening panel to hear concerns on behalf of all attendees in an open forum.

The audience asked a range of questions. One concerned civil servant asked about the future of about 40,000 military family life consultants. Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers said one of the goals of the caucus was to try and identify which programs are effective and figure out how to highlight what's working and protect that program as the caucus moves forward. Congressman Bishop said if military life consultants were cut, the impact on families would be felt and the need for those consultants would be accelerated.

An Army sergeant asked on behalf of 12 of his Reserve Soldiers about healthcare issues for military members who had recently returned from deployment with injuries. Also, he said those on active duty are compensated and paid until they see a medical review board and that civil servants are compensated. As a traditional Reservist or Guardsman, however, it creates a financial hardship. Secretary Gordon said they are looking at ways to improve transition - three agencies (DoD, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Veterans Employment and Training Services) have formed a task force to look at this issue specifically. Riggs added that "the right people know about this problem and are committed to solving it."

After praising the Fairchild Airman and Family Readiness Center for the services and support they provide spouses looking for employment, a Fairchild spouse pointed out the difficulty in maintaining a career from one location to another. All of the panelists said this was a common problem brought to the caucus' attention. Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers said research would need to be done to determine how much of the solution would be done at the state level. Riggs pointed out that Washington State does have unemployment benefits for spouses who have to quit their job because of a military move; Congressman Bishop said there's work to be done in making it easier to transfer licenses from one state to another and Secretary Gordon said there are 96 companies seeking employees who are able to telecommute.

One retired Army veteran cautioned the panelists about raising healthcare costs for veterans because their incomes are fixed. The panel said they understood that retirees made decisions for their households based on what the healthcare benefits and costs to them were at the time. "We can't in good conscious break faith with the people who have served," said Congressman Bishop.

Congressman Bishop said the caucus was also an important means of educating his colleagues, staffers, military leaders and the public about the mental health impacts of 10 years of our nation at war.

"This caucus was a great opportunity for military families to have their voices heard by lawmakers and we were happy to host the event," said Col. Paul Guemmer, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander. "Team Fairchild has a culture of taking care of our active duty military, National Guard, Reserve and civilian counterparts in order to be that unbeatable team that our nation demands of us. This means making sure everyone's concerns, particularly those of our families, are heard and addressed."

All of the panelists either served in the military, married a spouse who served in uniform, grew up as a military child of a service member, or raised a child who joined the military.