In this week’s podcast, we focus on what the Army is doing to strengthen Quality of Life (QoL) programs across the Army and provide resources that can help our military Families with issues they face each and every day.

With more than 67 combined years of military community experience under their belts, our Your Next Mission® video podcast guests, Dee Geise, Quality of Life and Soldier and Family Readiness Director for the U.S. Army, and Holly Dailey, Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Family Readiness Director, discuss what the U.S. Army is doing to sustain the quality of life for our Soldiers and their Families. They believe it starts with stabilizing Army Families in their day-to-day lives.

How is the Army doing that?

The Secretary of the Army officially chartered the Quality of Life (QoL) Task Force in March 2020 to develop a six-point campaign plan to outline a comprehensive approach to strengthening QoL programs across the Army.

• Understanding the poor conditions of Army housing and barracks, they are investing significantly to ensure Soldiers and their families have safe, quality, on-post living accommodations.
• Understanding that healthcare is a major priority with Army Families, they are working with the Defense Health Agency to create an integrated, efficient, and effective health care system to improve virtual health capabilities and transition health care delivery
• Childcare has become an ever-increasing problem for young Army Families for a myriad of reasons; some cause by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding this, the Army is increasing accessibility to affordable child care for our Army Families not only on base but also in partnership with the local communities.
• Spouse Employment is the center piece of this Quality of Life (QoL) Task Force initiative as the Army understands the issues military spouses have when moving from one town to another. This initiative will focus on helping spouses find meaningful employment and careers by maximizing hiring authorities and bolstering existing partnerships.
• Permanent Change of Station Moves have provided unwarranted stress for our Army Families. The Army continues to implement policies and initiatives to improve and streamline permanent change of station (PCS) relocations so that Soldiers and their Families experience safe, convenient, and predictable transitions to new homes.
• The Army is making significant infrastructure improvements at many installations across the service so that Soldiers and their Families can have ready access to Quality of Life (QoL) programs to help them thrive.

The Army Quality of Life (QoL)Task Force has made huge strides in the two years since their inception. They debuted a new system called the Civilian Employment Assignment Tool (CEAT) which aids civilian job placement from installation to installation. They’ve also started a My Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) program that awards up to $4,000 to select rank groups for certifications, national tests, degrees, and licensing.

If you are interested in learning more about the Army’s Quality of Life programs, or just want to get integrated into your military communities, reach out to your local Army Family Action Plan (AFAP) coordinators for information. Don’t forget to provide feedback about issues you and your Family may be experiencing and about how the Army leaders can best serve our Military Families.

For More Information

Watch Dee Geise and Holly Daily get into extensive detail about Quality of Life (QoL) issues on this week’s Your Next Mission® video podcast episode on our website or on our YouTube channel.

Your Next Mission^® video podcast was created to provide a resource to help Veterans and families through their transition from military to civilian life, and to help educate America about the military. YNM has proudly covered topics with some incredible guests ranging from transition, mental health, education, financial wellness, the military family, Veteran Affairs benefits to numerous charitable organizations serving our Veterans and families, a Medal of Honor recipient, Veterans Treatment Court, extraordinary stories of war and eight (8) U.S. Army Installation Commands including U.S. Forces Command and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.