European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 24, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                April 1985 the stars and stripes Page Iii map initiatives in Usa eur were lacking and fragmented among Many different organizations and the report Community commanders expressed concern that As expectations were raised by had announced programs and communities would be faced with meeting those expectations with pro Grams which were currently a resourced manpower shortfalls resulting from civilian end strength constraints had a severe Impact upon family re late services within Usa eur a 1984 air Force evaluation of its new family support centers concludes that the centers Are doing what they were intended to do and Are Worth the but the evaluation also urges the air Force to follow through on its commitment to develop the Csc program by ending the current slowdown on is construction and by appropriating enough Money to operate officials concede they have not yet turned the system completely solved All the or lived up to the pro family but they insist military families Are much better off they will compared to four or five years it is dramatic but we still have a Long Way to said Lawrence assistant Secretary of defense for installations and weve got to get More Relo cation i think weve got an awful lot of room for Elton weve got a lot of inertia out its very frustrating and its a hard said John chief of air Force family but were not beating our head against a we Are making Prog that Progress started in the late and it was prompted by a caught in the nations pos Vietnam dislike of the military and dissatisfied with the military were leaving in our most important problem when i came in was to keep said who assumed his position in As officials scrambled to find the roots of the problem and solutions to their attention turned to we  do much about overseas tour and those but we could do something to enhance family said Patricia base commander at we Bruecken Murphy was chief of the air Force human resources and development division in the Early its the efficient Way of doing its said David Deputy director for the navys family support its expensive to train if they Are Good we want to keep if Good people Are that contributes to family life was a critical one that caught Many High ranking officers off the reason Many had not realized that the military Post no longer was a me Only most service members Are during the last 30 service members have acquired and then in the number of dependents Well exceeded the number of service members million service members with More than million depend the percent of married service members had grown from 38 percent in 1953 to 55 percent in 1984 67 percent for the air 52 percent for the army and 54 percent for the the rate was substantially about 80 percent for service members with four or More years of their families changed the Way service members looked at their largely by the air Force and showed that service members will not reenlist if their spouses or children Are it was Clear that those intending to leave perceived the Navy As not being supportive of family concluded a 1982 Navy this and other studies showed that spouse attitudes Are the most important Factor related to re Tention decision among married men and women is spouse air Force photo Lawrence Korb stories by Mary Hladky photo direction by Stephanie James design by Imil Batko photo by Rudi Williams Robert Elton support for an air Force stated the air forces 1980 families in Blue without that Only 30 percent of the men and 26 percent of the women still make a career even before the studies came the Navy found out the system was Ripe for when one of its agencies of cd a professional meeting to discuss military organizers expected a handful of people to they Jyre astounded when about 600 showed 3 critical said Dick who at tended the meeting and now is director of the family Center at Pitburg it was one of those str Rige times when everything was the future leadership of the services Vone of the things that came out of this meeting was Tivix to one knew what the needs of families he knew the Navy decided to find its 1978 family aware Ness conference allowed families to speak they members made More than 200 recommendations Tor ranging from an orientation course for continued on Page in what families want the army and air Force have family action plans that list new programs or services families this Chart shows some of the re and what had been done about them by the the army family action plan spouses wanted to be Able to sign for quarters without Power of the army has changed a com Manders can allow spouses to family members living in the United states wanted dental care at military dental president Reagan has signed a Bill that allows family members to get dental care on a space available effective in this was not an Issue in family members in Europe Al ready get space available volunteers wanted to be reimbursed for expenses connected with their Volunteer army officials Are working on a decision is expected this parents stationed overseas wanted their Chil Dren who were enrolled in stateside colleges to be Able to Fly to and from College at government the services consider this one of their major victories for legislation authorizing the travel was approved in november family members wanted More family prac Tice the army has hired More family practice Doc but not enough to meet health officials wanted to hire More this fiscal but their request was not rated High enough to be included in army budget health officials will try parents complained that buildings used As childcare centers were unsafe and installations have renovated existing the army Hopes to build 25 new centers this year and families want increases in household goods weight this idea was killed by Pentagon officials last year during budget this officials have revived the several lawmakers also have introduced legislation to do Congress has not yet the services were Short nearly Homes for service members at the end of the services Are building and leasing new and Hope to eliminate housing shortages by military housing is still in usar about More units were needed in air Force family action plan families wanted Utility companies to reduce or eliminate Utility deposits for new families in Mili tary air Force Legal authorities said that such arrangements cannot be made by the a few have worked out deals with Utility companies to reduce Deposit the air Force also can make Loans to service families when they move into a new families wanted furniture rental services at this is not an Issue in Europe since furniture is the air Force is testing the idea at stateside bases families wanted the air Force to Start family support the air Force did beginning in thir Tayfour centers Are in 9 families wanted professional help for Domestic when this request was he air Force already had child abuse in it added spouse abuse families wanted More childcare All air Force bases have a childcare exceeds Supply at some and the centers Are not As a rates have increased spouses wanted employment education pro this and Many others requested by Fame were included among the duties of family support