When Sybille White sees a problem, she doesn't waste time feeling sorry for herself. Instead, she gets to work on finding solutions.

That's how she ended up starting a working focus group for the Army Community Services Exceptional Family Member Program. The group has monthly meetings where everyone from medical professionals to EFMP members can get together to identify and address problems - and it's grown dramatically since starting five months ago.

"It's beyond our expectations, it really is," she said.

After 23 years as an Army spouse, White has learned a lot. Originally from Germany, life in the Army was a totally different world. Then, when her second child was diagnosed with autism, she had a whole new set of programs and terms to navigate.

After more than two decades of moving her family of five to and from duty stations, she's seen just about everything the Army could throw at her. But even an experienced spouse like her can take up to six months to find resources when an exceptional Family member has a new diagnosis, and life becomes even more complicated when the Family's servicemember is deployed.

It's an issue she brought up at a Transition Update with the Chief of Staff of the Army in 2007. Invited community members got to ask pre-approved questions, and White wanted to know what the Army was going to do to help Families like hers when one parent is gone so much of the time. Following the meeting an aide asked her to send any thoughts she had on the subject to him personally - and she did.

"The United States Army is a great organization, one that is known for helping and supporting Families," she wrote in the cover letter to a six-page outline of a Deployment Support Plan she devised. "However, much more support is needed for Families who have children with disabilities."

White was too inspired by the experience to stop there, though. Stationed in Hawaii at the time, she and another senior spouse lobbied hard to start a focus group to fix the problems that they saw around them.

Not everyone was supportive. A lot of people had an "If it's not broken, don't fix it" attitude.

That wasn't good enough for White.

"The EFMP system is not broken but it needs a lot of help," she said.

What started as a few spouses meeting to talk about their own problems expanded into a formal group attended by everyone from senior leaders to health care providers. It was so successful by the time she left, White was eager to try again when she arrived at JBLM last July.

Now she volunteers as the installation's ACS EFMP Army parent representative, and has helped coordinate a constantly growing group of stakeholders each month. Representatives from McChord, JBLM Child, Youth and School Services, I Corps and individual Families attend to talk about what needs work and how to change it.

"We're the squeaky wheel," ACS EFMP Manager Mary Herrera said at the group's July meeting.

With so much knowledge in the same room, it makes it a little easier to start coordinating efforts between organizations. The hope is that they can begin addressing kinks in the system before they become problems and provide better care for Families.

"The focus group is kind of giving us the opportunity to pull together," ACS EFMP social services assistant Jackie Kelly said.

It also lets Family members know that they are not the only ones having issues.

"It's nice to give folks a forum," Kelly said.

White is quick to point out that she couldn't have done any of this on her own. She's had help from many people around her, including the ones who encouraged her to keep speaking out when it seemed like nobody wanted to listen.

In the end, she doesn't think she's exceptional for making the group happen.

"Anybody could do this," White said.

"It's kind of up to you," she added. "The choice is yours."

To learn more

The ACS EFMP Working Focus Group meets once a month in the ACS Classroom in Waller Hall and is open to anyone. For more information visit the JBLM ACS EFMP Facebook page at www.facebook.com/#!/efmpjblm or call 967-9704 or 967-7166.

(San Francisco Chronicle)-- Lisa Hallett runs away her grief.

She runs to pound down the pain left from when her husband, Army Capt. John Hallett, died in an explosion in Afghanistan nearly two years ago. She runs to help heal other military widows. She runs to keep herself healthy, so she can be the best mom she can be for her three small children.

So far, the most she has ever run, at age 30, is 32 miles. But this coming Sunday, Hallett will bring her grief and her healing and her growing crowd of running comrades to San Francisco to try something she has never tried before.

Hallett will attempt an ultra-marathon, or 52.4 miles, as she runs in the annual San Francisco Marathon. She says 26.2 miles has just become too easy for her - and easy alone doesn't properly honor her hero husband.

To read the complete story, click here.

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Children of U.S. service members around the world will be honored throughout the month of April for their contributions to their families' well-being and sacrifices on behalf of the nation, a Defense Department official said.

Each April, Americans pause to recognize the nation's 1.8 million military children during the Month of the Military Child, which marks its 25th anniversary this year.

"It's really exciting that the Department of Defense, the White House and civic leaders recognize the sacrifices that military children make," said Barbara Thompson, the director of the Pentagon's office of family policy, children and youth. "It's particularly important during these times of conflict, when children are missing their parents and are sacrificing a lot, to say your sacrifice is recognized and we want to commend you for what you do for your family."

Throughout the month, military installations worldwide will host programs and activities for military children, including fairs, picnics, carnivals and parades, Thompson said. Communities also can get involved by sponsoring fun events to celebrate military children.

Military children's sacrifices and contributions have risen to the forefront in recent years, Thompson said, as people have become increasingly aware of the impact a decade of war is having on military families. Along with the typical military-related stressors of multiple moves and schools, children also have had to deal with long-term, multiple deployments and separations from one, or both, parents over the past 10-plus years.

More than 900,000 military children have had a parent deploy multiple times, she added.    

WASHINGTON (Defense Media Activity) - A new whole-of-government approach will bring the federal government's vast reach to help millions of service members and their families, a senior Defense Department official said yesterday.

"This is a very exciting time for those of us who have been working hard to support military families," said Barbara Thompson, director of the Pentagon's office of family policy and children and youth, said during a "DODLive" bloggers roundtable.

Thompson said the backing of President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, behind the effort to garner the support of every federal agency "is really quite amazing."

For the past year, numerous federal agencies and the National Security Council have been working on a report, titled: "Strengthening Our Military Families: Meeting America's Commitment." That 23-page report was released Jan. 24 in response to a presidential directive soliciting agencies for a more coordinated, comprehensive approach to improving federal support for military families.

Now, Thompson said, the next step is getting the word out about these new programs to the people they are supposed to support, noting that several teams and committees are in place to ensure an effective strategic communications plan. One of the teams, she noted, has been set up by Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a staunch advocate of social media.

"We are working with a variety of entities to make sure that we have a very solid communication plan to get this information down to the military families," Thompson said.

Some of the efforts under way include increasing the availability of child care and expanding spouse-employment programs to all military services. To support those stationed overseas, the spouse employment program has partnered with overseas companies in South Korea, Japan and Germany, Thompson said.

"We're looking at providing more user-friendly information on how to acquire a federal job with [the Office of Personnel Management]," she said, "and we'll be tracking how many spouses are employed by the federal government to see if all of the federal agencies who have committed to employing of military spouses see an increase in that availability."

In addition, the Interior Department will open up national parks to wounded warriors to aid in rehabilitation and recovery and will offer more conservation jobs to military youth.

The main focus of the communication plan will be communicating the availability of these new programs and initiatives to the military families they are intended to support, Thompson said.

To read more, click here.

Students at Mann and Woodbrook Middle Schools and Lakes High School will benefit from a $1.4 million grant recently awarded to Clover Park School District (CPSD) from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). Grant money will be used to enhance technology in the three schools to support math and science achievement and greater counseling support for students directly impacted by military deployment, reintegration and other behavioral and family issues.

CPSD's Board of Directors accepted the grant at their Oct. 11 meeting. The plans for spending the grant directly align with the district's Accountability Plan, which was created to help prioritize the work of district employees.

"We are thrilled to receive this grant award, which will help us strengthen our educational services to our schools outside of Joint Base Lewis-McChord with the highest population of military-connected students," said Debbie LeBeau, superintendent of CPSD. "The grant also helps to further reinforce our partnership with our military community as we improve the achievement of military-connected students."

Non military-connected students at Mann, Woodbrook and Lakes will also benefit from the grant.

This is the second grant awarded to CPSD from DoDEA. Last school year, the district received a $2 million grant to expand assessments to track student progress and diagnose skills of new students; expand its student data system to provide individualized achievement information to teachers; provide learning opportunities for students needing additional support; and to enhance college test preparation and continue to increase parental involvement.

The Puyallup Fair, which kicks off Friday, is offering free admission for active, retired and reserve military and National Guard and their family members, plus disabled veterans with a valid military ID on Sept. 13 and 20.

For more information, visit www.thefair.com.

Lakes High School senior defensive end Sione Potoa'e, who we profiled a couple months ago in the Ranger, is hard at work preparing for Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

He talks about the game and his preparation here.

The game can be seen on KING 5 at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

J.M. SIMPSON: DEPENDENT WORKS TO BE MISS WASHINGTON TEEN USA >>>

Elisabeth Jackson's personality and poise reflect well on the upbringing her parents have given her.

"I come from a military family, and I know how to work hard," she says.

Her father, Capt. Troy Jackson, is stationed at Fort Lewis.

"I also know how hard my dad worked to get where he is today, and I picked up on his example."

It is an example worth emulating.

Jackson is the current Miss Thurston County Teen USA.  The 17 year old is a Running Start student at River Ridge High School where she has earned a 3.7 grade point average.

Running Start is a program that allows highly motivated high school students take college classes at a local community college. 

Upon graduation from high school, Jackson will have also earned her Associate's degree, allowing her to enter a four-year university as a junior.

Her intelligence, stunning looks and willingness to improve upon herself combined to win her the title.

While attending a career day at another high school, Jackson spoke to an individual who told her about the Thurston County Teen USA pageant.

She wrote an essay that caught the attention of the judges.  In short order, Jackson was notified that she would be the Thurston County's Miss Teen USA.

Jackson says that vanity is not what drove her to compete.

"It was all about providing a positive image and improving upon myself," she says.

Her next goal is to compete in the Miss Washington Teen USA.  To that end, Jackson has been working hard to gain sponsorships. 

If successful in the state level competition, she would like to compete on the national level.

"To accomplish this goal is my dream," continues Jackson.

"No matter what the outcome, I will get something of value out of the experience."

Jackson hopes to use her current experiences to realize her dream of working in the movie production.

But perhaps the strongest point of Jackson's poised and polished personality is her insistence that dreams are to be pursued.

"If you have a dream, go after it," she says. 

"Going after your dream will not always be rainbows and gumdrops, but when you realize your dreams it feels great."