Army Family Team Building Level I

Introduction to Military and Civilian Community Resources

Army Family Action Plan – AFAP

What is it?
ƒ Amaintaining
process that gives soldiers and families a voice – they can take an active role in
a quality standard of living within the Army.
ƒ Itindex.
gives leadership a tool to gauge quality of life needs and the Army-life satisfaction

ƒ Leadership can pinpoint issues and areas that need improvement and make resolutions.
ƒ By increasing the standard of living for soldiers and families, the Army becomes an
attractive long-term career and way of life.

How does it work?

ƒ It starts with people submitting issues, concerns or problems to the local AFAP office.
ƒ Local conferences discuss issues determining those that can be fixed within the local
community and those that need to be forwarded for higher level attention.
ƒ About 90% of issues are retained and worked at the local level.
ƒ MACOMs and HQDA also hold conferences to work issues and recommend solutions to
leadership.
ƒ A General Officer Steering Committee (GOSC) reviews issues twice a year and is the
deciding authority as to changes to policy, regulations and laws.
ƒ AFAP is a continuous process with feedback to the field as to the progress of issues,
status updates, and changes that have been accomplished.

Who can participate?

Active and Reserve Component Soldiers and their families, retirees, surviving spouses,
teens, and DA civilians.

AFAP Facts:

ƒ AFAP was the brainchild of Army spouses.

ƒ Each AFAP success story originated as an idea that someone decided to pursue.
ƒ The Army is the only DoD branch that has such a program.
ƒ Every year, more than 4,000 issues are worked at local levels.
ƒ Almost 500 issues have been raised to the HQDA level in AFAP’s 17-year history.
ƒ Issues raised to the HQDA level have necessitated changes in federal law, DA and Office
of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) policy and operational directives.
ƒ Many AFAP improvements impact quality of life for members of all services.
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Army Family Team Building Level I

Some AFAP Success Stories:

ƒ Service members’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) increased from $50,000 to $200,000.
ƒ Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) increased 11% (part of a plan to eliminate out-of-
pocket housing costs by 2005).
ƒ Military Savings Plan authorized – Thrift Savings Plan implemented.
ƒ AER provide grants
ƒ Temporary
days.
Lodging Expense (TLE) when moving to new location increased from 4 to 10

ƒ Dental insurance increased coverage for dental procedures and some orthodontic
services.
ƒ A DoD Reserve Component family member ID card was established.
ƒ where
A vehicle can be stored at government expense when a Soldier is reassigned to an area
shipment is not authorized.
ƒ Family Separation Allowance was increased from $75 to $100 to month.
ƒ TLE was authorized for first-term enlisted personnel and is being pursued for first-term
officers.
ƒ Family Support (Readiness) Groups were institutionalized.
ƒ DA PAM 608-47 (Guide to Establishing Family Support Groups) and Operation READY
training materials were developed.
ƒ Legislation granted the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to service members living
overseas.
ƒ Programs like Army Family Team Building (AFTB) and Better Opportunities for Single
Soldiers (BOSS) were born.
ƒ Informational and interactive web sites have been established to address retirement
information and planning, employment opportunities and application, and enlisted Soldier
assignments.

What can you do?

ƒ Submit issues to local AFAP offices.

ƒ Participate in conferences in various positions.
ƒ Volunteer to assist at conferences.
ƒ Stay abreast of AFAP issues by going to the AFAP web site: www.goacs.org and click on
AFAP.

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