Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will travel to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery on Friday and will accompany First Lady Jill Biden to highlight the new universal pre-kindergarten program being implemented at Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools.
Austin also will conduct a troop engagement and give remarks announcing the fourth iteration of his “Taking Care of Our People” initiative, which is a top priority for the Department of Defense and a core readiness issue.
Austin, who retired from the Army as a four-star general, is an Alabama native born in Mobile, and an Auburn University alumnus.
Biden’s “Joining Forces” drive to support the families of service members includes a focus on education and the new pre-K program. Her professional background is in education, including stints as an English teacher.
“There are more than 2 million children in classrooms in the United States whose parents are active-duty military service members, National Guard or reservists, or military veterans. Military life can be unpredictable: these children often experience multiple moves, extended separation from family members, and increased fear for their parents’ safety during deployments,” Biden says on her website. “We must understand and account for the lifelong impact of service on military-connected children and ensure that children in veteran families, caregiving families, and surviving families will also be included in the initiative’s work.
“We also recognize that military children with disabilities, including those enrolled in DOD’s Exceptional Family Member Program, face additional challenges with changes of duty station. Joining Forces will advance programming to support military-connected children in their classrooms, and help ease the burdens created by the highly mobile military lifestyle.”
Similarly, Austin’s “Taking Care of Our People” work is aimed at dedicating resources, services, policies and programs to support the more than 2 million uniformed service members and 2.6 million family members across the globe.
The effort includes providing them a variety of financial services, health and wellness support, and online educational programs, among other provisions.
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