April is National Month of the Military Child

The Real Warriors Campaign is encouraging service members, veterans and their families to spend time with their kids during this National Month of the Military Child, while also raising awareness about the resources it offers.

Spokesperson Sheri Hall, the spouse of  retired Army Major Jeff Hall, shared some of the obstacles military families face, including her personal story of coping with her husband's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), following two tours of duty in Iraq.

Hall, originally from Guyman, Oklahoma, noted that while dating in high school, her husband shared his intentions to join the military.

"He said if I stuck with him, he would show me the world, and he really has. He had a 23 year career. He had a little break in service where he went to college, and went back into the Army as an officer," said Hall.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Hall noted that their lives had changed dramatically.

"When we got to Fort Riley, Kansas, and Jeff was getting ready to deploy, we did our best to prepare the girls and we shared the dangers. They knew the dangers and that their dad was going to war. We just kind of did our best to stay busy while he was gone, but never not thing about him. As a military family, you understand that mission always comes first, and that you are second or third in there somewhere," Hall said.

Hall noted that even when her husband was home, he was always training, but pointed out they understood that was their lifestyle. "To us it's not anything abnormal," she added.

It was when Jeff returned from service, that Hall and her daughters noticed he had changed.

"We knew something was different. He was separating himself from us. He didn't want to do as many things together as a family. He was happy to just be at home. He pushed us away," recalled Hall. She added, "That was hard for the girls because it wasn't the same Dad that they had known their whole lives."

Hall said she had difficult explaining to her daughters why her dad was angry and distant because she didn't understand it herself. "I did not have a resource like Real Warriors to be able to turn to at the time, so I kind of had to muddle my way through it. There was a time when Jeff wasn't wanting any help, so I had to find a way to encourage him to get help," said Hall. She was able to convince him by telling him to get help for the sake of their girls because they needed him.

The Real Warriors Campaign provides psychological health resources for families, including articles on how to find child care in a new community, prepare a pre-deployment checklist, gather important documents, identify community and military resources, and help children cope with a parent's separation.

More information about the Real Warriors Campaign can be found http://www.realwarriors.net/aboutus.

The campaign also encourages the use of the DCoE Outreach Center, a 24/7 call center staffed by health resource consultants to provide confidential answers, tools, tips and resources about psychological health and traumatic brain injury. To contact the Outreach Center, dial 866-966-1020, connecting through live chat or email at resources@dcoeoutreach.org.