An opinion article by MAJ Justin A. Winn
"We recruit Soldiers, but retain Families." – GEN James McConville.
AGCRA Editorial Note – The opinions and recommendations of the author do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the U.S. Army, Adjutant General’s Corps, or AGCRA.
I don't know if this is a localized issue or something the Army should investigate, but the number of Soldiers I worked with at my previous assignment who are on active duty and are single parents is increasing, and the number of Soldiers I have seen leaving the service because they don't think they can serve and be good parents is rising. The challenge here is tied directly to caring for Soldiers and balancing the mission requirements with the Family unit's needs.
The Army also restricts the accession of applicants into active duty. While other services allow single parents to be assessed for Active duty, the Army requires them to be assessed into a Reserve compo or give up custody of their children until their first term of enlistment is complete (AR 601-210). This seems inefficient and unnecessary given that the dependents would still be required to live with their Care Plan caregiver through Initial Entry Training whether they are going Active or Reserve component. Additionally, our retention numbers are skewed across the Army since Chapter 8 separations and Family Care Plan separations aren’t accounted for, and they equate to roughly 300 Soldiers per year, per division who choose to exit Active duty.
I hope this helps paint the picture for why I believe parent accessions and dual military service should be revisited as an Army Policy for accession and retention. Additionally, I believe accountability measures should be enacted to hold Commanders at all echelons accountable to our Army Families. For instance, “unit X” is preparing for an exercise, and the dates are set on the long-range training calendar 12-18 months in advance. There are no issues during this timeframe. Somewhere between six and nine months from the training, families will start planning their care plan execution strategies, buying plane tickets to take their child to their care providers, or bringing the care provider to them. Soldiers may also look to neighbors and friends in the area, creating its own risk level. The problem occurs once plans are set, plane tickets are purchased, and training timelines shift.
When training timelines shift within that six-month window, it is more likely to cost Soldiers more money or risk them being unable to deploy on time. While this may not be one of the biggest challenges the Army needs to address, there are some potentially easy solutions to offer Soldiers with family care plans that better accommodate their ability to afford their family care plans.
One potential solution would be to look at compensation for Soldiers who must employ their family care plans due to training requirements. That could be reimbursing travel costs and per-diem for the care provider. If this proves to be too costly, a more affordable option could be to implement the same opt-in that is afforded to the Married Army Couples Program, where the Army will attempt to assign Soldiers who choose to participate in the "Modern Army Families Program" within a specific mileage of the location of their care provider, reducing the financial burdens associated with activating a family care plan. Additionally, the travel days for moving their children to where they will receive care during a deployment or training should be non-chargeable. If someone takes extra days to spend with family, those would be chargeable, but the travel days would be non-chargeable. Finally, with our end state numbers in mind, allow single parents to assess onto Active duty and implement a tracking mechanism that accounts for Chapter 8 and family care plan separations in the unit’s retention numbers.