Around the Force

DoD launches campaign
for obesity and
nutrition awareness
Tricare Management Activity
The Defense Department has launched a “groundbreaking” obesity and nutrition awareness campaign aimed at improving the health and well-being of troops, retirees and their families across the services, DoD’s top health affairs official announced Feb. 9.
Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs and TRICARE Management Activity director, joined First Lady Michelle Obama at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., to unveil the campaign, which involves improving nutrition standards militarywide for the first time in 20 years.
Read more at http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=67129.
Learn more about healthy living programs and preventive services from TRICARE at www.tricare.mil/healthyliving.
Taliban leaders captured
International Security Assistance Force Joint Command
An Afghan and coalition security force captured two Taliban leaders and a suspected insurgent during an operation in the Maidan Shar district of Afghanistan’s Wardak province today, military officials reported.
Both captured Taliban leaders directed attacks against Afghan government officials, and acquired and built improvised explosive devices for use in attacks, officials said.
In other Afghanistan operations today:
n A combined force in Helmand province’s Musa Qal’ah district captured a Taliban leader who coordinated direct-fire and roadside-bomb attacks in the Musa Qal’ah and Sangin districts.
n In the Shinwar district of Nangarhar province, a combined force captured a Taliban facilitator who distributed explosives, firearms and ammunition to insurgents throughout the province.
First Lady unveils military spouse employment report
American Forces Press Service
Alongside some of the nation’s top officials, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will unveil an employment report this week intended to ease military spouses’ ongoing issues with occupational licenses, White House officials announced Monday.
Joined by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the first lady and Biden released the report, titled “Supporting Our Military Families: Best Practices for Streamlining Occupational Licensing Across State Lines,” at the Pentagon yesterday.
The report outlined opportunities and best practices for states to better support military spouses serving in professions with state licensure requirements, according to a White House news release.
The report notes that military spouses move from state to state far more often than the general population as they accompany their service member to assignments across the nation and world, the release said.
These frequent moves can create difficulties for military spouses seeking to maintain their careers. Spouses serving in professions that require state licenses or certification bear disproportionately high financial and administrative burdens since credentials from one state don’t always transfer to another state, the report explained.
This burden negatively affects employment for more than 100,000 military spouses, the report notes.
Among the nearly 50 professions that state licensure requirements affect are teachers, nurses, speech pathologists, dental hygienists, physical therapists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, physician assistants, emergency medical technicians and dieticians, the release said, noting that 11 of 50 states have enacted legislation that supports portability for military spouses with occupational licenses.
Nearly half of military members are married, the release noted. Military spouses have indicated their employment plays a key role in their financial and personal well-being, and is a factor in their family’s decision to stay in the military.
This report is the direct result of President Barack Obama’s Presidential Study Directive, released in January 2011, which called on all sectors of the government to find new ways to provide military families with the support they need and deserve.
The directive spurred federal agencies to make nearly 50 military-support commitments, ranging from child care to health care to spouse employment.