A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families

Analyzes lessons learned from past efforts to support military and veteran families Recommends interdisciplinary approaches to responding to the needs of military-affiliated families Identifies potential issues for future leaders, researchers, and advocates Considers the strengths and weaknesses of current organizations

Linda Hughes-Kirchubel is director of external relations at the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University. She manages the organization's strategic messaging across multiple platforms and constituencies, advancing its mission in print and digital formats. The wife of a retired Army lieutenant colonel and mother of an Air Force staff sergeant, Hughes-Kirchubel joined MFRI in 2008, where she developed marketing communications and digital content management. Concurrently, she earned her master's degree in organizational communication from Purdue ande is currently pursuing a PhD, researching marginalization, stigma and disenfranchised grief. Before joining MFRI, Hughes-Kirchubel worked as an award-winning journalist in California and Indiana, covering politics, education and legal issues. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth is director of the Military Family Research Institute and the Center for Families and professor of Human Development and Family Studies atPurdue University. Her research focuses on relationships between job conditions and family life, with a special focus on military families and organizational policies, programs and practices. Her research has been widely published, and has been funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Henry A. Murray Center, the Department of Defense, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the state of Indiana, Lilly Endowment, and others. She serves on the editorial boards of several major family research journals, and is a fellow of the National Council on Family Relations and a recipient of the Work Life Legacy Award from the Families and Work Institute. She served on the Returning Veterans Committee of the Institute of Medicine and the Psychological Health External Advisory Committee of the Defense Health Board.

David Riggs is a clinical psychologist who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Deployment Psychology and research associateprofessor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Much of his work has focused on trauma, violence and anxiety, particularly the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders on the families of those directly affected. He has trained numerous student and mental health professionals, published more than 80 articles and book chapters, and presented numerous papers and workshops. Previous positions include clinical research positions at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety and the National Center for PTSD, as well as academic appointments at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Tufts University, Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Introduction to A Battle Plan for Supporting Military and Veteran Families.- Joining Forces: Lessons Learned.- Lessons Learned Inside the Pentagon.- National Guard Service Member and Family Readiness After Action Review: Lessons Learned and a Way Forward.- Confluence: Merging Reintegration Streams for Veterans and Military Families.- Ready or Not, Here It Comes: Navigating Congress and Caring for the Wounded and Their Family Members During War Time.- An Advocate's Lament: Creating a Strong Voice to Support Military Families at War.- Supporting Military Families: Learning from our Past to Create a New Future in Business.- The Higher Education Community: Educating America's Next Great Generation.- The Mental Health Response to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom: History and Recommendations for Change.- The Unique Role of Professional Associations in Assisting Military Families: A Case Study.- Nonprofit Contributions: Reflections and Looking Forward.- Community Mobilization.- Philanthropy for Military and Veteran Families: Challenges Past, Recommendations for Tomorrow.- The White Oak Retreat: Iterative Retreats as a Uniquely Effective Mechanism for Building Consensus and Coordinating Support in the Military Community, 2010-2016.- Lessons Learned and Future Recommendations for Conducting Research with Military Children and Families.- Serving Military Families Through Research: The View from the Ivory Tower.- Designing and Implementing Strategic Research Studies to Support Military Families.- Military Families Research: Department of Defense Funding and the Elements of a Fundable Proposal.