U.S. Africa Command is developing an information and support network aimed at helping U.S. military families who live and work in Africa.

"Gen. (William) Ward and Mrs. (Joyce) Ward are very dedicated to taking care of the families of service members who support Africa Command," said Valerie Lubin, chief of the command's Quality of Life Division. "This is still evolving...to develop an AFRICOM 'family.'"

The command brought together 20 spouses of Defense Attaches and Office of Security Cooperation chiefs to gather their feedback during the second Families on the African Continent conference, led by Joyce Ward, wife of U.S. AFRICOM commander, General William E, Ward, February 3-6, 2009.

It was held concurrently with the 2009 Theater Security Cooperation Working Group conference, U.S. Africa Command's annual capstone event to plan security assistance programs in Africa for fiscal year 2010 and 2011.

Lubin said the command wants to send the message that family matters are important to the command. "We're able to speak with them face-to-face about the challenges they may have living in Africa," she said of the conference. "It also gives them a forum to address concerns close to them."

Ward said the individual feedback each representative brings and "the need and desire for us to get together and to know each other" are the most productive aspects of the conference.

"It's about taking care of each other," she added.

During the conference, the spouses created focus groups to address specific topics areas, which will be shared with Africa Command leadership.

"Our purpose here is not to resolve issues, but to address the issues the group has already identified, make sure they are articulated correctly and make sure we understand the issue and the root cause," Lubin explained. "We take them back and do the research and present them to leadership for action."

One way U.S. Africa Command is advocating improved communication is through a section within its Harmonieweb portal. Called "AFRICOM Family," it focuses on sharing family-related information that addresses the unique challenges of an assignment to Africa.

Kim Madden, who moved to Dakar, Senegal, just two months ago, said she has already felt well-connected to other families because of the emphasis U.S. Africa Command places on communication.

"It's a nice feeling that someone cares about what you're going through and what you're dealing with," said Madden, whose husband, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Sean Madden, is the defense attache at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar.

"Just having the intranet site, having all the information resources available...it's going to be great to share this when I go back," she added.

During the conference, grass-roots efforts also were in the works to create a Family Readiness Group (FRG). An FRG is a command-sponsored organization of family members, volunteers and military members that support and assist each other and improve communication flow among its members.

"We're taking a holistic approach to quality of life," Lubin said, "that is not just for the people on the continent. It's for service members in Stuttgart or deployed to the Horn of Africa, too. We want to ensure that the services and programs that support the AFRICOM family are consistent, equitable and available."