FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA GIVES CREDIT TO MILITARY KIDS

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Military Kids Make Parents' Service Possible, First Lady Says
By Lisa Daniel
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2012 - First Lady Michelle Obama highlighted the shared sacrifices of military children while meeting with the teenage daughters of service members yesterday in Jacksonville, Fla.

"On behalf of myself and my husband, I want to tell you all truly how proud we are of you," Obama told hundreds of high school girls, along with some of their parents, who greeted her at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. "We are so proud of you.  We are inspired by you, and we are grateful for everything that you do for this country every single day."

Obama made the stop as part of the first anniversary this week of the "Joining Forces" campaign she started with Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, last year to help civilian Americans support military families.

"When we talk about how our men and women in uniform sacrifice so much and serve this country so bravely, we're not just talking about your parents," Obama said. "We are talking about all of you.  We're talking about our military kids and our military families, because we know that when your parents are called to serve, you all serve right alongside them.

The first lady recognized the girls for their frequent forced relocations and dealing with deployed parents.

"When your parents get that call to pick up and move halfway across the country, you pick up and move right alongside them," she said. "And then, just when you finally get settled in, just when you're feeling comfortable and make friends and start fitting in, what happens?  That call comes again, right?"

"It can't be easy," she said, "... to keep your spirits up through all those missed holidays, and missed birthdays, and times when you would give anything in the world to have them back home."

Obama, who distributed $250 department store gift cards to the girls, acknowledged that, for many, there will be an empty seat at their high school graduation, and moms and dads who aren't home to see them off to the prom.

Yet military kids often are leaders in their schools and communities who excel academically while taking on extra responsibilities at home, she said.

"Many of you have had to put on a brave face for maybe a younger brother or sister, even when you were worried," Obama said. "You've had to reassure your parents that you were OK, even when sometimes you weren't.

"You've done all of this because, ultimately, you understand that your parents are part of something far bigger than themselves," she said. "You know that they protect and defend the freedoms that every single one of us holds dear. You know that their service keeps this country safe every single day.  And you all are a vital part of that work.

"By working so hard ..., you give your parents the peace of mind they need to focus on their mission," she said. "With your service, you make their service possible.  And for that, we can't thank you enough."

THREE SIBLINGS DEPLOYED TO AFGHANISTAN

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Army Warrant Officer Weldon Malbrough Jr. shows a family photo with younger brother, Philip, and twins, Jessica and Jordan. Like Weldon, the twins both enlisted and are also deployed in Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mike McLeod

Face of Defense: Family Sends 3 Soldiers to Afghanistan
By Army Sgt. Mike McLeod
1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan, April 9, 2012 - As Army Warrant Officer Weldon Malbrough Jr. goes about his business on this dust-choked, dirt-basket-rimmed base here, he is one of many -- a paratrooper among paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division's "Devils in Baggy Pants" 1st Brigade Combat Team.

The 30-year-old force-protection staff officer also is one of three Malbroughs now deployed to Afghanistan. Jordan and Jessica, the family twins, followed Weldon into the Army, and with the pace of deployments in recent years, it was only a matter of time until their deployments overlapped.

It's not the first time their mother, Windy, has worried about more than one child in a war zone. Army Staff Sgt. Jordan Malbrough enlisted in 2005 and joined Weldon in Baghdad as part of the surge in 2007. Jordan now serves as an artillery radar operator with the 25th Infantry Division's 4th Brigade at Forward Operating Base Apache in Afghanistan's Khost province.

In recent years, the idea of families sending multiple children to the front lines has become part of the national consciousness thanks in large part to the movie, "Saving Private Ryan," in which three brothers are killed during World War II, and the last surviving brother is caught up in the Normandy invasion.
Windy has seen the movie, but it's one she has never internalized, with three of her four children deployed to Afghanistan.

"It's something they chose to do," she said. "To keep peace with my mind, I try to think happy thoughts." She still lives in metropolitan New Orleans, where she raised her children. Another son, Philip, works on an offshore oil rig.
"There is no worry-free time for mom," Windy said. "My kids are my heroes."
"She is such a strong woman," Jessica said.

Jordan enlisted at 17, and Jessica earned a college degree before enlisting. She was interested in an Army program to become a physician assistant or nurse, but that required three years of service. While her brothers pushed her hard to "drop a packet" and become an officer, she chose to enlist as a combat medic.

"I didn't want to push papers for three years," Jessica said.

Sgt. Jessica Malbrough deployed for the first time with the 4th Infantry Division's 4th Brigade to Kandahar, Afghanistan, a year ago. She has worked in the orderly room, provided cultural support on missions to capture insurgent leaders, and called in medevac helicopters to evacuate wounded soldiers.

"In the Army, you meet people and gain experiences that you just can't get anywhere else," she said.

The Malbroughs are a tight-knit family. Both sets of grandparents live within a few blocks. Being away from home for so long is difficult, Jessica said. It helps, she added, that she can call the man she looks up to the most, Weldon, or her best friend, Jordan. They relate to her Army service, and they're even in the same time zone -- a big deal when one is on the other side of the world from home, she said.

Back home, Windy uses her kids as a conversation piece with patrons of the accounting office that she manages. Most of the time, she feels like she is serving alongside her children, she said.
"People just say, 'Wow.' They don't understand how three siblings can be there at the same time," she said. "They all have great love for their country."

Weldon said people sometimes note that as the eldest of the three, he probably feels responsible for his siblings' well-being.

"We all enlisted during a time of war," Weldon said. "We all knew we were going to deploy. It was only a matter of time until they overlapped. I appreciate people's sentiments, but we all took an oath to do what we are doing."

GENERAL THURMAN SAYS NUMBER OF FAMILY MEMBERS IN KOREA SHOULD REMAIN AT ABOUT 4,600

The following excerpt is from an American Forces Press Service e-mail:

Thurman: Keep Accompanied Korea Tours at Current Level

By Karen Parrish

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2012 - Family-member-accompanied tours for U.S. service members in South Korea should not expand beyond the roughly 4,600 family members now authorized, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea told Congress today.

Army Gen. James D. Thurman testified alongside Peter R. Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, before the House Armed Services Committee today on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Given continued uncertainty on the peninsula and ongoing budget constraints, the general said, it's essential to maintain U.S. force readiness at its highest level, "given our requirement to 'fight tonight.'"

During his confirmation hearing before he took command of U.S. military forces in Korea, Congress asked him to assess tour normalization and force relocation, Thurman noted.

"It is my assessment that expanding tour normalization beyond our current authorization of 4,645 family members is unaffordable under the current construct," he said.

Force relocation plans are on track, Thurman said, adding that he will continue to assess them to ensure they place the right capabilities in the right places to meet operational requirements.

Defense Department officials have considered "tour normalization" in South Korea for a number of years. Then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in July 2010 that he was considering a two-year tour for single service members and a three-year tour for troops accompanied by their families.

Gates cautioned at the time, however, that the infrastructure such tours would require -- such as schools, hospitals and commissaries -- would make the change an expensive one.