At your installations and commands, you see the daily work of defense and service officials who seek to improve the lives of troops and their families.
Most military families will never actually meet those people. But rest assured that for some of them, that mission is a passion.
One is Meg Falk, who worked for the Navy, and later, for DoD’s family policy office in the Pentagon, before retiring 10 years ago. “We appreciate all you’ve done and the encouragement you still give us to fight the good fight and do the good work,” Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association, told Falk in presenting her with NMFA’s “Support of Military Families Award” Sept. 29.
Those who know Falk describe her passion for families, her selflessness, her determination.
“She was all about military family programs before military families were in vogue,” said Rene Campos, who worked with Falk for years and is now deputy director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America.
That wasn’t easy. Campos said Falk “staunchly pushed the envelope with military and civilian leaders” about the importance of family programs.
“She is the reason these programs are an institution within the military … and the direct linking of these programs to recruiting, retention, readiness and ultimately, national security,” Campos said.
NMFA lists a few of Falk’s accomplishments on behalf of military families now and in years to come:
*She unified the Pentagon’s and service’s family programs after 9/11, identifying gaps and pulling together resources to prepare for the ensuing war and beyond.
*She was responsible for setting up the Pentagon Family Assistance Center after 9/11 to care for loved ones of the victims.
*She wrote policies to institute family support programs, such as family centers, on military installations.
*She helped develop new casualty and mortuary affairs policies and funeral honors policies.
*She helped staff at the military treatment facilities at then-Walter Reed and then-Bethesda establish family assistance centers for wounded warriors; and helped write policy and coordinate programs for tracking transportation of the wounded from war zones to MTFs.
*She was key in establishing Military OneSource, particularly its non-medical counseling services.
True to form, when Falk received her award from NMFA, she was reluctant to take credit, instead turning attention to former co-workers. “I didn’t do this by myself,” she stressed.
Campos described Falk as “humble, selfless, and giving. … Her whole being is to make others’ lives better.”
And service members and their families are the beneficiaries.
