Flanked by First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, President Obama on Monday revealed an ambitious push to increase support for military families in a speech before about 100 invited guests, including Cabinet members, top military members and their spouses, and MFRI director Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth.
Obama spoke in the East Room of the White House as he released a 23-page report called "Strengthening Our Military Families: Meeting America's Commitment". The report includes Cabinet-level commitments and a description of nearly 50 initiatives that aim to "enhance the well-being and psychological health of the military family; ensure excellence in military children's education and their wwwelopment; wwwelop career and educational opportunities for military spouses; [and] increase child care availability and quality for the Armed Forces."
"It was an honor to be invited to Monday's event," said MacDermid Wadsworth."The Commander-in-Chief promised the troops that while they are overseas fighting for the country they love, their country is taking care of the people they love. As an advocate who tries to work every day to make sure that military families are well-understood and well-served, I am very heartened to see this."
In his remarks on Monday, Obama said that whenever he asked troops what they needed from him, the universal response was: "Sir, take care of our families."
"As Commander-in-Chief, I am determined to do everything in my power to make sure that we are fulfilling that request from our troops, that we are taking care of their families," Obama said. "We're not simply reaffirming our responsibility to our military families, we are upping our game."
To learn more about the event, visit the Department of Defense Web site.