Since September 11, 2001, all branches of our federal government, as well as state and local governments, corporations, advocacy groups, philanthropies, researchers, and many others have taken action to support military families during and following their service. Often, these efforts were mutually supportive, but sometimes they competed or conflicted with each other. While many efforts were successful, others failed to achieve their potential or were misdirected. To better understand these dynamics, the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University called together experts representing many sectors to present, discuss, and reflect with one another with the goal of building a contingency plan for supporting families for the next major conflict. Participants were given the mission of distilling messages and action items for future leaders about the action items they should immediately implement when they realize that transformational change in family support will be required. Rather than attempting to identify specific programs or policies that should be created, the focus was on processes that should be put in place, questions that should be asked, and experts who should be consulted when trying to make good choices. The event was called the “Battle Plan for Supporting Families Symposium,” and this book is the result.

This work was supported in part by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Military Family Research Institute, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

   Linda Hughes-Kirchubel M.A & Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth M.B.A., Ph.D.

Corresponding author

Correspondence toLinda Hughes-Kirchubel M.A.

Editors and Affiliations

1. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Military Family Research Institute College of Health and Human Sciences Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

   Linda Hughes-Kirchubel

2. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Military Family Research Institute, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

   Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth

3. Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

   David S. Riggs

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