There are many outstanding individuals within the various levels of the Department of Defense, Military Health System, and here, in the Office of the Chief Information Officer. It brings me great pleasure when the work that you do is formally recognized.

 

Such is the case with Tri-Service Infrastructure Management Program Office’s Wayne Speaks and Defense Health Services Systems’ Narinder (Nick) Saund.

 

Speaks and Saund were recently awarded Federal Computer Week Rising Star awards for their contributions to the military health information technology environment.

MyCAA, the popular military spouse employment program will resume Oct. 25, but with some significant changes, including a reduction in financial aid and an eligibility change that makes the program open only to spouses of junior service members.

 

The program was launched in November 2007 for spouses of junior service members, and was expanded to all pay grades and programs of study in March 2009. The program awarded a lifetime benefit of $6,000 to all military spouses. Enrollment was so overwhelming that it nearly reached its budget threshold in a few months, so it was put on hold pending review.

 

Under the new parameters, spouses of junior service members can apply for a maximum financial benefit of $4,000 for up to three years from the start date of the first class, with a $2,000 annual cap.

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, our nation’s service members are often repeatedly called to duty in dangerous places and exposure to combat is a common reality. The Department of Defense’s (DoD) scientific understanding of combat stress reactions has advanced rapidly to meet these new demands. These advances have allowed the department to enhance and refine its efforts to minimize the adverse effects of combat exposure and provide cutting-edge assessment and treatment when service members develop reactions. DoD programs address combat stress-related problems at all levels, including prevention, training, treatment and continued research.

An exact definition of Human Performance Optimization is like the abominable snowman: never captured and witness details vary. However, two of my colleagues and I mounted an expedition to capture the slippery beast and published a paper in the Summer 2009 Air and Space Power Journal entitled “Managing the Human Weapon System: A Vision for an Air Force Human-Performance Doctrine.”  We laid out for full public view three aspects of human performance: sustainment, optimization, and enhancement. Human performance sustainment maintains defined target performance levels throughout a career; optimization efficiently uses limited human resources through the process of Human Systems Integration (HSI); and enhancement takes the human beyond established and sustainable performance thresholds, most commonly through science and technology research.

Please take a moment to watch the video below: “Shoulder to Shoulder: I Will Never Quit on Life." It is an Army Suicide Prevention Program video that features vignettes with members of the Army family who received help for psychological distress or who assisted an individual in need.

Congratulations to TRICARE Management Activity for earning the League of American Communications Professionals Silver award in the 2009 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition for its preparation and publication of the 2010 MHS Stakeholders Report.

TMA develops the MHS Stakeholders Report every year to provide the MHS’s 9.6 million health beneficiaries, its leaders and staff, and the general public with an annual accounting of performance within the MHS, and its vision for the future. The report stands to serve as an overall annual benchmark for teamwork, commitment and innovation.

 

Since 2001, the LACP has been a major facilitator in establishing discussion of best-in-class practices within public relations, while also recognizing those who demonstrate exemplary communications capabilities. This year’s competition was exceptionally tough according to LACP, with the 2009 Vision Awards judging more than 4,000 submissions from more than 20 countries in categories ranging from creativity to message clarity.

You can download the 2010 MHS Stakeholders Report at the health.mil publications page: click here.

Post-deployment challenges will be the topic of discussion July 22, when the DCoE hosts a webinar from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern. The webinar will explore the challenges of returning home – readjusting to family life, returning to work and coping with a combat-related injury.

Webinar speakers will share their personal experiences coping with post-deployment and the transition to life at home.

This webinar will provide information that will be especially helpful to warriors and their families, but, as always, government employees, health care providers, subject matter experts and anyone interested in this topic are welcome to join.

To register for this event, or for more information send an e-mail to: DCoE.MonthlyWebinar@tma.osd.mil.

Please share this information with anyone you think would be interested.

 

 

According to Department of Defense (DoD) officials, more than 90 percent of military children attend public, private and charter schools (non-DoD schools). Losing a parent for a year is tough on kids and while many children do well during the year, some kids struggle with school. This month, I’m focusing on military children in non-DoD schools, guard and reserve kids in particular, and what you can do to help.

Children of guardsmen and reservists often live in places where there is less community support, as opposed to other military children, who can share their issues with a community of people dealing with the same challenges. Even if the children of an active-duty service member attend a non-DoD school, they almost certainly have many classmates who are military children. Teachers at these schools usually gain expertise about the unique challenges these military kids face. Also, these children come back at night to a base community with kids who are going through the same things they are. A child of a guardsman or reservist doesn’t have the same advantages and may be in a school where teachers don’t understand how deployment can impact school performance.

Here’s a tip from TRICARE.mil on fighting childhood obesity. This week is National Youth Sports Week.

Millions of children participate in youth sports each year. National Youth Sports Week is observed the second week of July and it’s a great time to actively promote sports involvement for children.

Sports are not only fun and teach children about teamwork, but they are a big help in the fight against obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than nine million American children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight. Obesity can lead to a long list of future health concerns, including diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, asthma, depression and orthopedic conditions.

The deadline for award submission is Friday, October 29, 2010, at 5 p.m. Eastern. A panel comprised of a senior female physician leader from each service, an OSD/HA representative, and some of the 2010 award winners will meet in November to screen packages and select the winners.

Nomination packages must be sent to the medical headquarters of each service, and each service will select 10 junior and two senior nominations to forward to the award panel. There are two main categories of award winners: one junior (03-05) winner from each service and one overall, MHS-wide senior (06) winner. Winners will be announced at the MHS Conference in January 2011.