The National Military Family Association noted with interest your Jan. 30 article on a recent Army study of 559 military children ("Army college study says soldiers’ children are resilient").
Our association — which commissioned the earlier RAND Corp. research mentioned in the article — appreciates the Army’s contribution to the information that we know about military families. We need more research to guide our efforts to support military children and their families more effectively.
We are pleased to note commonalities among the research studies. Both highlighted the importance of strong family ties during deployment and the well-being of the at-home caregiver in a teen’s ability to cope with deployment. The Army’s findings on pride in a parent’s service and a need for validation of that from the community track closely with content included in our "Top 10 Things Military Teens Want You to Know" tool kits, based on feedback from teens who participated in our Operation Purple summer camps.
Our association’s study included in-person interviews with 1,500 children and the nondeployed parent or primary caregiver of each, from across all service branches. The research delved into peer relationships, family relationships and academic engagement as well as anxiety — and uniquely pointed to a need for increased support of teens during a parent’s post-deployment reintegration into the family.
As the voice of military families for more than 40 years, our association looks forward to continuing to lead community dialogue on improving support for military families. To that end, we will hold a summit in May designed to further engage key stakeholders in examining available research, identifying successful programs, and developing action items to further support military children and their families.
Joyce Wessel Raezer, Executive directorNational Military Family AssociationAlexandria, Va.