Fleet and Family Support Program celebrates 30th anniversary
by Bruce Moody
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Fleet and Family Support Program is marking 30 years of service to Sailors and their families the first week of July. On July 9, 1979, the first Family Service Center (FSC) opened its doors in Norfolk, Va. FSC San Diego opened its doors shortly thereafter.

In 1978, the Navy acknowledged that it was losing some of its very best people because of family issues. Then Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Thomas Hayward, wrote that his No. 1 priority was to improve retention by improving family awareness and implementing a family support program.

Shortly afterward, the first Navy Family Awareness Conference was held in Norfolk. The conference was originally going to be called the Family Support Conference but organizers changed the name to spotlight their goal to develop resilient and self-reliant families, not dependent families.

The conference concluded the Navy was insufficiently attending to family needs and the programs and policies designed to support families were inadequate and fragmented.

"Back then, the chaplains and the commanding officer's wife took care of everything," said Kathy Stokoe. Stokoe joined the newly opened Norfolk FCS as a volunteer. She was eventually hired and stayed on to make a career with the program, retiring in 2008 as Family Readiness Program manager in Washington.

"The chaplains told us that they knew the problems Sailors were having, but they were only intervening," Stokoe said. "They said educational programs, counseling for Sailors and their spouses would help them over the rough spots, and there would be fewer problems."

Dr. Ann O'Keefe was the Navy's first FSC director and attended the conference.

"One of the big misconceptions the early staff had to confront was that the FSC would work to retain people who didn't belong in the Navy," O'Keefe said. "In fact, we worked to keep good Sailors by acknowledging their strength. We set out from the beginning to provide proactive and educational programs that keep Sailors and families healthy and strong."

Today, the Fleet and Family Support Program continues to deliver its core mission with a growing number of programs and services focusing on deployment support, crisis response, career support and counseling for individuals, families and commands.

A Facebook and Twitter page was also added this week. The Fleet and Family Support Program's Facebook page is found at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-DC/Fleet-and-Family-Support-Program/105861457742?ref=mf. The Twitter address is http://twitter.com/Fleet_Family.

"We have to be were our customers are, and they are on social media sites," said Kathy Korth, Commander, Navy Installation's Family Readiness Program manager. "We need to join in the conversation that single Sailors and Navy families are having, so they are aware of how much the Navy values them and is prepared to empower them."

Thirty years after its inception, O'Keefe recalls another difficulty in standing up the program.

"People thought it would be just another flash in the pan," she said. "They said, why should I get involved? It will just go away."

But, it did not go away.

"I hope that this has shown that the Navy cares," she said. "Yes, it's part of retention, but it's the right thing to do."

O'Keefe describes her involvement with launching the first Family Service Center as the biggest, most wonderful part of her life.

To learn more about the Fleet and Family Support Program, visit http://www.ffsp.navy.mil/.