Military bases get families ready for war

Behind the battle plans and weapons checks, there are wills to be drafted and child care to contemplate. Life-insurance policies need updating, and mortgages must be located.

In these uncertain times, American soldiers are doing more than just honing their combat skills. They are organizing their personal affairs, and preparing their families for possible deployment. And the military wants to help.

Uncle Sam, it seems, is learning a new lesson: When a soldier's family is ready, a soldier is ready.

Here at Fort Hood, the largest post in the US, with 42,000 soldiers, dozens of services are available for families - from crisis and coping classes to financial-management workshops to child-development skills.

These resources are in place to handle the deployments that occur daily here. (Currently, Fort Hood soldiers are stationed in 20 countries.) But with the possibility of war looming, the classes are taking on new meaning - and filling up fast.

"As you can imagine, services we've offered all along are suddenly more valuable, and everybody wants it today," says Peggy Stamper, director of the Lane Volunteer Center, which offers the military family-readiness classes.

In addition to the mental preparation needed for a long deployment, spouses are taught some tangible lessons as well: Know where the important documents are kept, identify long-term caregivers for the children, update military identification, and make sure you have easy access to all financial assets.

TracyLynn Marquis has taken most of the classes, and feels as prepared as she can in this tumultuous time.

She and her husband, Josh, have been married only a short time, and this could be his first war-related deployment. "I worry all day, and sleep 12 hours a night. But I'll be ready when it comes. For now, I'm just sitting around, hoping it doesn't come," says Mrs. Marquis, without taking a breath.

The new trend toward family readiness has more to do with demographics than anything else.

During the Vietnam War, an overwhelming majority of American soldiers were single. Today, 67 percent are married. The military's motto has become: "You don't enlist soldiers; you enlist families," meaning the entire family has to support the lifestyle in order for a soldier to succeed.

But that attitude has been a long time coming, and could be reflective of attempts to bolster the military's dwindling ranks. For example, Fort Hood - which has one of the most extensive family-support networks - is only beginning to realize the full potential of military family readiness.

Ten years ago during Desert Storm, the programs here were uncoordinated and sporadic, and many soldiers' families didn't give them a passing thought.

Now the programs are "more formalized and given more validity by the commanders," says Ms. Stamper.

Anna Ramsey pops a pacifier in her 15-month-old's mouth. She and her husband, Jason, have been married two years, and he has never been gone longer than a couple of months.

"I'm worried, just like every military spouse," she says. "You don't know when they are going to leave, or where they're going, or even how long they'll be gone."

But she's preparing early and getting her support network in place, and believes she'll be OK if Jason leaves.

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