DoD’s office of Military Community and Family Policy has come under some scrutiny over the past month or so due to the MyCAA accounts, but don’t let that single program cloud your entire judgment of a group of people who work tirelessly on behalf of military families.  The folks at MCFP also “own” plenty of the programs that we all care most about such as: military spouse employment, DODEA (schools), MWR and childcare.  In the latest edition of their newsletter, we learn that they have recently stood up a new Office of Community Support for Military Families with Special Needs, hopefully good news for the multitudes of families who have been clamoring for more oversight and assistance.

For families of currently deployed, recently returned or soon to be deployed servicemembers, the National Military Family Association has just opened up registration for their free week-long Operation Purple Camps.  More information and the application can be found at their site.  Aside from the traditional camps, NMFA also runs other retreats, so it’s worth stopping by their site to check it out.

Speaking of deployments, the folks at Build-a-Sign are offering free welcome home banners to military families.  I’ve had a lot of friends take advantage of this program and they reported back that it’s an easy process and the signs are wonderful.

DoD’s new Social Media policy is prompting a lot of folks to take a second look at the various platforms that exist out there trying to wrap their minds around the way the Millenials and many Gen-X’ers are now communicating.  For many, this can be a very uncomfortable process which they engage in very begrudgingly.  At a presentation I gave yesterday to a joint session of squadron commanders and their spouses, it wasn’t difficult to read the body language in the room – everyone looked quite rigid.  The majority had already made up their minds that social media was either (1) a waste of time or (2) too much of an PERSEC and OPSEC nightmare to even think about getting engaged and they weren’t budging.  It wasn’t my job to change their minds, but to simply present them with the information and give them another tool in their toolbox as leadership teams.

What’s interesting about the disconnect between those who do utilize social media and those who don’t is that the folks who don’t sometimes fail to recognize that the conversation is taking place with or without them.   Didn’t DoD learn this the hard way with the MyCAA debacle?  I think effective leaders in the future are going to need to understand and incorporate social media in their outreach and communications, or run the risk of being irrelevant.  The corporate world has certainly acknowledged this and some government agencies have begun to incorporate SM into their own outreach initiatives; an astronaut tweeting from space is certainly a nod to the fact that NASA understands the challenge they have in reaching Gen Y.  If you haven’t already seen it, make sure you check out this presentation about Gen Y perspectives.

Finally, don’t forget the applications for the Military Spouse Summit being sponsored by the Congressional Military Family Caucus are due March 26th for the April 23rd event.  Get that in now if you want to be considered.