By Blake Farmer
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-940785.mp3
Nashville, TN – Army wives are free to move back to their hometowns while their soldier is deployed and many do, but staying near an installation has become more attractive. As WPLN's Blake Farmer reports, families are choosing to stay close to posts like Fort Campbell, where more than 17,000 soldiers are gone to Afghanistan.
For many wives like Kim Coleman, going home to be with family is a first impulse. That's why she went back to Alabama when her husband deployed in 2007.
"We just decided, you know what, we'll just go home where everyone knows us," Coleman explains, "where our family is and where we'll have a support system that we're familiar with."
"And was it the support system you needed at the time?" reporter Blake Farmer asks.
"Not really, no. I think probably in retrospect, looking back, it would have been better to be in a military environment, kept the kids in a military environment where other people there were going through exactly what we were going through," Coleman said.
This time, Coleman is living just a few minutes off post. The experience is common, says Ann Campbell. She's the wife of the 101st Airborne's commanding general. It has taken two decades with the Army for Campbell to fully realize her military family can be more sympathetic than blood relatives.
"They might understand you as a person best, yes. But do they understand your situation? No. They probably don't understand why there might be days or weeks that you can't hear from your spouse or why they can't really talk about what they're doing," Campbell said.
To help families cope with unique stresses of military life, the Army has added new counseling services and resiliency training. Since 9/11 the Army has also overseen the creation of structured support systems called Family Readiness Groups or FRGs.
"What are some ideas to drive for membership? Food. People come to FRG meetings when you have food," Lisa Peacock explains.
Wives and one husband of a deployed soldier discuss how to recruit other spouses and establish phone trees. The how-to session takes place in what was formerly a ballroom at the Fort Campbell officer's club. The once-members-only clubhouse has been converted into a Family Readiness Center open to all.
The Army uses the FRG's to pass important and sometimes sensitive information to spouses. Ann Campbell says they're also first responders after a soldier's death.
"Basically their job is to be there, answer the phone, answer the door, make sure children get off to school or medications are taken," Campbell said.
So long as families are nearby, Campbell says those care teams can arrive in a matter of minutes.
The Department of Defense has made family-oriented services a priority, even while trying to cut $100 billion from its budget. While massive restructuring will be needed, the Secretary of the Army says family support programs are not on the chopping block.