When Sgt. 1st Class Salvatore Culotta enlisted in the Army two decades ago, he had a wife and a young child. He did not find the Army to be especially concerned about the needs of a soldier’s family.
On Tuesday, Fort Bragg went out of its way to show that has changed.
Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps, and top leaders of the Army post signed the Army Family Covenant at the Casablanca Neighborhood Center. The Covenant is a pledge to recognize the sacrifices of Army families and provide funding, health care, housing, education and other services.
“We are working on our seventh year of continuous combat,” Austin said. “In that seventh year, many of you have endured three or more deployments.”
The Army’s top brass signed the covenant Oct. 8, and similar ceremonies are going on at posts around the Army.
These days Culotta, 37, and his wife Lorie, 36, live on Fort Bragg and have seven children, ages 7 to 19. Their eldest daughter just got married.
The sergeant just returned from 15 months in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
His wife laughs out loud when asked about the challenges of taking care of the family while he’s gone.
“What wasn’t the challenges?” she said. “It went from two people driving, down to mom driving. Our oldest son goes to a classical high school. We had to carpool with friends to get him there. Piano lessons. Some of the kids wanted to do some sports this year, and we kind of had to wait on those.”
This year’s Army statistics show that about 69 percent of soldiers have families.
“Years ago, less than 20 percent was married,” said Capt. Brian Fickel, a Fort Bragg spokesman. “They have seen a significant increase over the last several years.”
Austin said after the ceremony that attitudes were different when he started out as a second lieutenant.
“I think the old saying when I came in in 1975 was that if the Army wanted you to have a wife and a family they would issue you one, for the most part,” he said. “We have come a tremendous distance in terms of our recognition of the sacrifices of the families and what they do for us in terms of their support.”
On Tuesday, Fort Bragg went out of its way to show that has changed.
Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps, and top leaders of the Army post signed the Army Family Covenant at the Casablanca Neighborhood Center. The Covenant is a pledge to recognize the sacrifices of Army families and provide funding, health care, housing, education and other services.
“We are working on our seventh year of continuous combat,” Austin said. “In that seventh year, many of you have endured three or more deployments.”
The Army’s top brass signed the covenant Oct. 8, and similar ceremonies are going on at posts around the Army.
These days Culotta, 37, and his wife Lorie, 36, live on Fort Bragg and have seven children, ages 7 to 19. Their eldest daughter just got married.
The sergeant just returned from 15 months in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
His wife laughs out loud when asked about the challenges of taking care of the family while he’s gone.
“What wasn’t the challenges?” she said. “It went from two people driving, down to mom driving. Our oldest son goes to a classical high school. We had to carpool with friends to get him there. Piano lessons. Some of the kids wanted to do some sports this year, and we kind of had to wait on those.”
This year’s Army statistics show that about 69 percent of soldiers have families.
“Years ago, less than 20 percent was married,” said Capt. Brian Fickel, a Fort Bragg spokesman. “They have seen a significant increase over the last several years.”
Austin said after the ceremony that attitudes were different when he started out as a second lieutenant.
“I think the old saying when I came in in 1975 was that if the Army wanted you to have a wife and a family they would issue you one, for the most part,” he said. “We have come a tremendous distance in terms of our recognition of the sacrifices of the families and what they do for us in terms of their support.”
1 comments:
what paper was that in, the paraglide?
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